Today's Commentary

Boston Tea Party 2010 in Pictures

2010-04-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

Yes it has been a while since I posted anything. Chalk that up to the usual business of work, fatherhood and 5-6 hours of sleep. And like many of you, I have been screaming at my TV and radio since, oh say, shortly after January 2009. I did play hooky on April 14th and get to the Boston Common for the Tea Party for a few hours. But like the radical, hating, fringe maniac I am, I needed to skip out in the middle of it to take a conference call with a customer. Anyway, below are some pictures. Enjoy!!

Tuff

Clearly the Boston Tea Party was loaded with racist haters like this guy pictured above.

This guy won my vote for best "I love Sarah" sign. There was stiff competition...

The vitriol and hate was ubiquitous!

So, I'll give this guy credit for a funny sign, but aren't the conservatives supposed to be the racist, sexist, xenophobe haters?

Sarcasm was everywhere.

This jack-booted thug came to kick some serious ass...

More Tea Party racists...

And knuckle-dragging haters!

Just in case Chris Matthews was watching, this guy was prepared.

Now two things hit me when I took this picture. First, are not these polar-bear-hugging liberals being rather sexist? I thought that was my job. Second, the last thing these two need is another sandwich.

Among the flagrant racism, homophobes found a home at the Tea Party.

Racists, haters, homophobes, and now Teamsters. There goes the neighborhood!

Shortly after I took this shot, this young hater screamed "Heil Hitler!"

The longer the lame-stream media writes off the Tea Party advocates (like yours truly), as the scum of America, the worse the spanking will be in November.

Profiling? Who needs it??!!

2007-06-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

Yes it has been a while. But it is Q4 and happily, business has picked up. I won't bore you all with more details than this, but suffice to say, much has been going on both on the home and work fronts so my opinionated prose has been meager at best. In fact, I believe things are going to get busier, rather than easier - which is fine. So I'm going to go with a more succinct format on these rants, which I would rather not do, but the alternative is dropping it completely, and we can't have that now can we?

So has anyone flown thru JFK recently? If so, I'll bet you are just thrilled that we live in a dreamy, diversified society, where all are welcome regardless of their race, religion, or ethnicity - or apparently whether or not they care to obliterate us all:

NEW YORK -- As first reported by NewsChannel4's Jonathan Dienst, three people were arrested and one other was being sought Saturday in connection to a plot to blow up jet-fuel lines at John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials said.

Four people have been charged. Three suspects are in custody: Russell Defreitas, Kareem Ibrihim and Abdul Kadir. Another suspect, Abdul Nur is still at large.

http://www.wnbc.com/news/13431721/detail.html?dl=mainclick

Ahhhh. Isn't diversity swell?? Here's my favorite part of the news story:

In discussing JFK airport as a target, Defreitas exulted over JFK airport’s symbolic importance, according to a U.S. Justice Department complaint:

"Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow .... They love John F. Kennedy like he’s the man .... If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It’s like you can kill the man twice."

Hmmmm. "It's like you can kill [John F Kennedy] twice." You know I wonder what the uber-liberals of our nation think when they hear this? You know, the folks that break out the kneepads and Scope everytime JFK is mentioned? The 'diversity-is-king' crowd which holds the 35th POTUS at the pinnacle of the alter of liberalism, must gasp when someone who is 'just like us' is on the record as wishing to ruin another one of Jackie's designer outfits.

Face it - diversity for it's own sake in one of the stupidest ideas of our time. Well, that and global warming.

Rest in peace Allan Kelly.

"Gun-Free Zones"

2007-04-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

From American Heritage Dictionary:

ac·qui·esce (āk'wē-ěs') v. To consent or comply passively or without protest.

I watched the events of the Virginia Tech shooting yesterday horrified for the students and their parents. Between yesterday and today, there has been (and still is) a virtual cornucopia of speculation by the media in the absence of any hard details. No one knew why there was a 2 hour gap between the shootings, who the shooter was, or why he did it. But one thing I did know was that by the time the morning editions of many newspapers came out there would be chorus of editorials chiming in to remove the last chance any of the 32 victims had at self defense.

Like a bedraggled feral cat looking for it's morning milk, the NY Times came in towing the liberal party line like a partially gnawed mouse:

Sympathy was not enough at the time of Columbine, and eight years later it is not enough. What is needed, urgently, is stronger controls over the lethal weapons that cause such wasteful carnage and such unbearable loss.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/opinion/17tue1.html?th&emc=th

Not to be outdone by their socialist brethren on this side of the pond, the enlightened of Europe have taken this opportunity to tell us all how stupid we are.

In the strongest editorialized image of the day, German cable news broadcaster NTV flashed an image of the former head of the National Rifle Association, the US gun lobby: In other words, blame rifle-wielding Charlton Heston for the 33 dead.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,477686,00.html

From The Independent (Britain):

There is no sign of attitudes hardening. Despite the opposition of every police force in the land, Congress in 2004 allowed to lapse a 10-year federal ban on semi-automatic assault weapons, a particular favorite of violent criminals.

This is what happens when someone who doesn't know what they are talking about decides to climb on the soap box. The AWB did not ban semi-automatic weapons, only combinations of things like a folding stock, bayonet mount, grenade launcher, etc in conjunction with a removable magazine. If the AWB was not allowed to sunset, yesterdays victims would still be just as dead. Initial reports indicate the shooter used two pistols which in all probability were not covered by the AWB. If you find someone who says we need to reinstate the AWB, ask them specifically what an "assault weapon" is.

Not to be outdone, the Germans are proving themselves even more idiotic:

From Bild (Germany):

Now we will probably begin discussing the overly lax gun laws in the United States. There, buying a machine gun is often easier than getting a driver's license.

Owning a "machine gun" or a fully automatic firearm (not to be confused with semi-automatic) is regulated by the ATF and requires extensive federal licensing. They have been banned from sales to the general public since 1934. It's amazing that a continent like Europe, which allegedly craves diversity, wants us to be just like them when it comes to firearms.

Does anyone wonder why shootings like this happen at schools? Maybe this is a clue:

HB 1572, which would have allowed handguns on college campuses, died in subcommittee.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006

A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly. House Bill 1572 didn't get through the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety. It died Monday in the subcommittee stage, the first of several hurdles bills must overcome before becoming laws.
...
Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus."

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/wb/xp-50658

I'm wondering how safe Larry and the university community at Virginia Tech is feeling today? Am I the only person who thinks that a "gun free zone" is little more than an invitation to a shooting gallery? Just because a killer is insane, that doesn't mean he's stupid. Bad people, like the rest of us, will almost always follow the path of least resistance. Until Virginia Tech (Et U of Al) stops acquiescing to their utopian visions of Oz, they should change their nickname from "Hokies" to "Clay Pigeons".

When A Picture Is Worth 1000 Words

2007-04-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

Or several pints of blood.

Here's the original pic:

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070330/480/e42dd752c6364d8eae2c5d6e13c0c8fb

If You Take Al Gore at His Word, You Are Insane

2007-03-31T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers,

Yes, I have been busy lately. The usual time-sinks have been augmented lately by a vigorous swath of travel for work. I now consider myself an expert in low-end business expeditions; sort of a Liberace of the Hampton Inn circuit, except with no musical talent, no flamboyant attire and no desire for other men. Last week I traveled through the diabetes belt and this week I was on the far-left coast. While there, the brave city officials from San Francisco banded together to fight the greatest threat to humanity we have ever faced. Somehow the land of Haight-Ashbury dug deep and decided to ban plastic bags:

Shopper after San Francisco shopper had praise Wednesday for the Board of Supervisors' vote banning plastic checkout bags at supermarkets and chain drugstores.

Some were so excited they put down their plastic checkout bags to talk about it.

"We need to get rid of a hell of a lot of this stuff," Ora Gosey, 56, said outside an Albertsons in the Western Addition. As the retiree spoke, she inched away from a case of grape soda she had placed on the ground as if it didn't belong to her. It was double-bagged in plastic.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/29/BAGOGOTSAS1.DTL

Priorities are an incredible thing. You go girls.

And while waiting at my SFO departure gate for my flight to LAX, I was graced by the presence of none other than Paula Abdul. She's much shorter than I imagined, despite the heels (which would make any self respecting stripper jealous). Paula had a bit of a problem standing still though. She looked like she made the trip from Los Angeles in a small sailboat, not an airplane. Must have been the stilettos. So much for my brush with fame. Funny how things aren't quite what they seem on TV.

It's like that with nomenclatures. Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that the scam of the century has undergone a naming shift? It seems that the term 'global warming' is starting by get bumped in favor of the much more fashionable 'climate change'. I wonder why? I suspect it could be that the global warming skeptics (you know, the sane people among us) have started to bubble up to the point where the Al Bore's of the world are getting a little nervous. Lord knows they have staked their political and financial futures on this snake-oil. Even a recent editorial in the NY Times has dared to question the extreme nature of the Gorebot's fire and brimstone claims. (And yes I know, referring to the editorial section of the NY Times is like referring to the cooking section of a Julia Child book):

In talks, articles and blog entries that have appeared since his film and accompanying book came out last year, these scientists argue that some of Mr. Gore’s central points are exaggerated and erroneous. They are alarmed, some say, at what they call his alarmism.

“I don’t want to pick on Al Gore,” Don J. Easterbrook, an emeritus professor of geology at Western Washington University, told hundreds of experts at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. “But there are a lot of inaccuracies in the statements we are seeing, and we have to temper that with real data.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/science/13gore.html?ei=5070&en=f873cd1bf8e2367a&ex=1175486400&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1175390419-ROXQh2l0+39p6I4GLfyrGQ

Uh-oh... Maybe just in case we get a cooler than usual summer, the alarmist crowd can always blame the freak May snow storm, the higher than normal number of tornadoes or the spike in possum carcasses splattered along the interstate on the Karl Rove CO2 factory buried in the foothills of Colorado (right next to where Dick Cheney keeps his secret levy-crushing ray gun).

But let's cut to the chase. Why do I think that if you believe Al Gore, you are insane? Do I spend all my spare time tracking weather patterns? Have I debunked the greenhouse gas theory with a Mister Science kit in my basement? Did an aparition of Shirley Mclain appear in the vapors spewing from the twin tailpipes of my 8 Cylinder Ford giving me near-celestial enlightenment? No, no and no. Do I think our climate is changing? You betcha! Four times a year!

I think people who take Al Gore at his word are insane for one simple reason, he REFUSES to debate anyone who disagrees with him:

"I believe that is one of the principal reasons why political leaders around the world have not yet taken action," Gore said. "There are many reasons, but one of the principal reasons in my view is more than half of the mainstream media have rejected the scientific consensus implicitly — and I say 'rejected,' perhaps it's the wrong word. They have failed to report that it is the consensus and instead have chosen … balance as bias.

"I don't think that any of the editors or reporters responsible for one of these stories saying, 'It may be real, it may not be real,' is unethical. But I think they made the wrong choice, and I think the consequences are severe.

"I think if it is important to look at the pressures that made it more likely than not that mainstream journalists in the United States would convey a wholly inaccurate conclusion about the most important moral, ethical, spiritual and political issue humankind has ever faced."

http://www.dicksonherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070228/NEWS01/702280434/1297/MTCN02

Hmmm. That's some pretty tough language. Until you read this part:

Gore would not answer any questions from the media after the event.

And what is a "scientific consensus" anyway? If a bunch of scientists agree that something is true, does that make it a fact? If it requires a vote, then by definition, it has not been proven. But if politico-climate hacks convince enough people that "climate change" has more dire consequences than oh, say Islamic terrorists, they have an edge in the election cycle. Why? Because when defense against terrorism is the defining election issue, these same liberal hacks lose big. You could almost say there is a scientific consensus building around it.

Well here's a guy who probably agrees with Gore, and I'm sure he considers himself quite sane:

Wed Feb 28, 2:45 PM ET
OTTAWA (AFP) - A former Canadian defense minister is demanding governments worldwide disclose and use secret alien technologies obtained in alleged UFO crashes to stem climate change, a local paper said Wednesday. "I would like to see what (alien) technology there might be that could eliminate the burning of fossil fuels within a generation ... that could be a way to save our planet," Paul Hellyer, 83, told the Ottawa Citizen.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070228/wl_canada_afp/canadaenvironmentkyoto_070228180440

So if this space alien technology is so great, why the hell did they crash on earth? Did Baldar let the Mrs. take the flying saucer to the mall? She never did check the rear view mirror.

The Ducks are to Blame!

2007-02-27T06:24:00.000-08:00

So the other day, I came home from the office and was confronted by a curious, yet troubled Mrs. Tuff. No sooner had my winter coat, which had protected me from the ravages of global warming, but put to rest for the evening when I was grilled about the day's events. Apparently our 2 year old had a minor gas attack during the day, at which point he exclaimed "Oh! I stepped on a duck!"

For the record, I will neither confirm nor deny any knowledge of where he obtained this phrase.

Speaking of greenhouse gases, it looks as though Al Gore has won an Oscar for "Best Politically Correct Documentary Based on Hype," during the Academy Awards. (Not that I watched this exercise in Madonna-like self gratification.) You know I'll bet that bronze award is nestled snugly on top of one of his many fireplaces - and I have a feeling he can put it on a different fireplace each day of the week:

Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).

In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.

Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.

http://www.tennesseepolicy.org/main/article.php?article_id=367

Oh well - do as I say, right?

And in more salacious entertainment news, one of the female contestants on American Idol has had some rather, um, compromising photographs of her appear on the internet. Some of them are so bad I won't link them - but if you do a google search on Antonella Barba, I'm sure you will find them. It will be interesting to see if her next (musical) performance will suffer any ill effects as a result of this.

My prediction? She'll suck.

In more entertainment news, director James Cameron claims to have made a discovery which has put the world of Christianity into complete turmoil:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The burial site of Jesus has been found and suggests he had a wife and son, according to highly sensitive claims in a documentary by "Titanic" director James Cameron and Israel-born Simcha Jacobovici.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070226/ts_alt_afp/usisraelreligionchristianityarchaeologyfilm;_ylt=AnBVb2rZCmPWSJrTbZD0osLMWM0F

World wide, outraged Christians are rioting, demanding the beheading of director Cameron, and burning the regional offices of American movie studios around the globe. To date, over 150 deaths are directly linked to the mayhem caused the perceived insult to Christianity. ...Oh, what's that? Oh, my mistake. I guess only Buddhists do this kind of rioting when their religion is in any way challenged.

Lastly, is there any shock that the former head of an ACLU chapter is a disgusting, pedophilesque, creep? (Allegedly I mean). Well, it would be if you worked for MSNBC, CBS News or CNN. I did a search on these websites for "Charles Tierney" and saw no reference to this story from ABC:

Feb. 23, 2007— Federal agents arrested Charles Rust-Tierney, the former president of the Virginia chapter of the ACLU, Friday in Arlington for allegedly possessing child pornography.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by ABC News, Rust-Tierney allegedly used his e-mail address and credit card to subscribe to and access a child pornography website.

The complaint states that federal investigations into child pornography websites revealed that "Charles Rust-Tierney has subscribed to multiple child pornography website over a period of years."

As recently as last October, the complaint alleges, "Rust-Tierney purchased access to a group of hardcore commercial child pornography websites."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2900174&page=1

Kudos to ABC News for actually having sprouted a pair and reported this story and not leaving it as a Fox News exclusive - again.

I suspect CBS, MSNBC and CNN were busy covering a story about someone stepping on a duck.

It's Quiz Time!!

2007-02-02T19:58:00.000-08:00

So, I know nobody like quizzes, but today I am compelled.

Question 1. When does a senior member of the US Senate get to use their position of power to influence tax payer funded military contracts to the benefit of their spouse?

Question 2. When do the major news organizations (print and network) completely ignore facts available in public records which indicate a tremendous conflict of interest with a member of the US Senate?

Question 3: How can an elected official continually defy the wishes of their constituency with little regard as to if they will be re-elected?

These are tough questions. Are you ready?

Answer 1: When the Senator is a liberal Democrat.
Answer 2: When the Senator is a liberal Democrat.
Answer 3: When the Senator is a liberal Democrat.

As you look over the story below, keep in mind one question. Why is this not reported in the SF Chronicle, LA Times, NY Times or the Boston Inquirer (sorry, I meant Boston Globe)?

And so, the newly appointed chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is now duly in charge of regulating the ethical behavior of her colleagues. But for many years, Feinstein has been beset by her own ethical conflict of interest, say congressional ethics experts.

As chairperson and ranking member of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee (MILCON) from 2001 through the end of 2005, Feinstein supervised the appropriation of billions of dollars a year for specific military construction projects. Two defense contractors whose interests were largely controlled by her husband, financier Richard C. Blum, benefited from decisions made by Feinstein as leader of this powerful subcommittee.

http://metroactive.com/feinstein/index.html

Yep! Now I know this must be old news to you since I'm sure EVERYBODY reads metroactive.com - right? Those of you who know my previous rants on Senator Fineswine, remember that she has been a staunch proponent of virtually limitless gun control - but just for peons like you and me. She carries, but what's a little hypocrasy between friends?

From 1997 through the end of 2005, with Feinstein's knowledge, Blum was a majority owner of both URS Corp. and Perini Corp.

Hmm... What do you suppose they talked about at the dinner table? Here's one clue:

She lobbied Pentagon officials in public hearings to support defense projects that she favored, some of which already were or subsequently became URS or Perini contracts. From 2001 to 2005, URS earned $792 million from military construction and environmental cleanup projects approved by MILCON; Perini earned $759 million from such MILCON projects.

And here's another:

The tale thickens with the appearance of Michael R. Klein, a top legal adviser to Feinstein and a long-time business partner of Blum's. The vice-chairman of Perini's board of directors, Klein was a partner in Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, a powerful law firm with close ties to the Democratic Party, for nearly 30 years. Klein and Blum co-own ASTAR Air Cargo, which has military contracts in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Klein also sits on the board of SRA International, a large defense contractor.
In an interview with this reporter in September, Klein stated that, beginning in 1997, he routinely informed Feinstein about specific federal projects coming before her in which Perini had a stake. The insider information, Klein said, was intended to help the senator avoid conflicts of interest. Although Klein's startling admission was intended to defuse the issue of Feinstein's conflict of interest, it had the effect of exacerbating it.
....
In theory, Feinstein would not know the identity of any of the companies that stood to contractually benefit from her approval of specific items in the military construction budget--until Klein told her.
Klein explained, "They would get from me a notice that Perini was bidding on a contract that would be affected as we understood it by potential legislation that would come before either the full congress or any committee that she was a member of. And she would as a result of that not act, abstain from dealing with those pieces of legislation."
However, the public record shows that contrary to Klein's belief, Feinstein did act on legislation that affected Perini and URS.

Yes sports fans, there will be ethics reform in Congress. Corruption is about to get ALOT worse. Why? Not because one party is more corrupt than another. Because the major media outlets are going to let the Donks skate. The article in Metroactive is long, but worth the read. Here's one more tidbit for you, just in case you aren't convinced already:

Here are a few examples from the Congressional Record of questionable intersections between Feinstein's legislative duties and her financial interests:

- At a MILCON hearing in 2001, Feinstein interrogated defense officials about the details of constructing specific missile defense systems, which included upgrading the early warning radar system at Cobra Dane radar on Shemya Island, Alaska. In 2003, Perini reported that it had completed a contract to upgrade the Cobra Dane radar system. It has done similar work at Beale Air Force Base in California and in the United Kingdom. URS also bids on missile defense work.

- In the 2002 MILCON hearings, Feinstein questioned an official about details of the U.S. Army's chemical demilitarization program. URS is extensively involved in performing chemical demilitarization work at key disposal sites in the United States.

- At that same hearing, Feinstein asked about the possibility of increasing funding for anti-terrorism-force protection at Army bases. The following year, on March 4, 2003, Feinstein asked why the antiterrorism-force protection funds she had advocated for the year before had not yet been spent. On April 21, 2003, URS announced the award of a $600 million contract to provide, among other services, anti-terrorism-force protection for U.S. Army installations.

- Beginning in 2003, both Perini and URS were awarded a series of open-ended contracts for military construction work around the world, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. Under Feinstein's leadership, MILCON regularly approved specific project "task orders" that were issued to Perini and URS under these contracts.

- At a March 30, 2004, MILCON hearing, Feinstein grilled Maj. Gen. Dean Fox about whether or not the Pentagon intended to prioritize funding the construction of "beddown" maintenance facilities for its new airlifter, the C-17 Globemaster. After being reassured by Fox that these funds would soon be flowing, Feinstein said, "Good, that's what I really wanted to hear. Thank you very much. Appreciate it very much, General." Two years later, URS announced a $42 million award to build a beddown maintenance facility for the C-17 at Hickam Air Base in Hawaii as part of a multibillion dollar contract with the Air Force. Under Feinstein's leadership, MILCON approved the Hickam project.

- In mid-2005, MILCON approved a Pentagon proposal to fund "overhead coverage force protection" in Iraq that would reinforce the roofs of U.S. Army barracks to better withstand mortar rounds. On Oct. 13, 2005, Perini announced the award of a $185 million contract to provide overhead coverage force protection to the Army in Iraq.

Ahh well, at least it's not "blood for oil!"

A Bad Hair Day for the Press

2007-02-02T19:03:00.000-08:00

For those of you not in the New England area, you may have missed the fact that Boston, the city of 600,000 people and home of some of the worlds most presitious universities and medical centers was held hostage by 38 'Lite-Brites.' Cable news channels on Wednesday shot their entire afternoon programming on video of Boston police directing snarled traffic and metro bomb-squads detonating what ended up being part of a cheesey marketing campaign for the Cartoon Network. It stuns me that the illuminated cartoon characters have been present in 10 other major cities, yet this stunt turns Boston ass over tea kettle.

The perps? Two adolescents in their late twenties, performance artists by trade. Apparently they are quasi-permanent liberal art students who hope to be the next Penn and Teller. Unlike some of the local talk radio dweebs, I consider these guys harmless - in addition to useless.

Now normally I would hold guys (ahem) like Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens in a bit of disdain. However, they recently did something I truely admire. They made the swarming local press with their cheesey stock questions like "how do you feel?" look like the idiots they truely are. A very prudent expenditure of their 15 minutes of fame, in my humble opinion. Good job boys - now get a job!

If you haven't seen this pair in action, check it out on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apE4m_JQw_s

Damn It's Hot Outside!

2007-01-31T11:54:00.000-08:00

Now, I know in my last message of peace and love, I expressed concern about being the one-trick-pony that rants about nothing but the scam of the century (yea, global warming). But until another terrorist attack on our soil originates from the welcome mat we call the southern US border, it seems nothing else is filling the news broadcasts these days. Well, nothing else besides the nipple-shattering cold we are experiencing here in the northeast and ice storms in Texas.

Technically, this diatribe is not about global non-warming, but on how the media is trying to separate you from your cash by accepting global warming as fact - without proof of course. Take a look at the picture that comes with this rant. It was sent to me by a Thinker. It shows an ominous image of a nuclear power plant and comes with this opening paragraph:

WASHINGTON - Human-caused global warming is here, visible in the air, water and melting ice, and is destined to get much worse in the future, an authoritative global scientific report will warn next week.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070123/ap_on_sc/warming_climate_report

So why does a story from an "AP Science Writer" include this photo? Because the AP thinks you are bunch of IDIOTS! Here's the lowdown on that spooky-looking "smoke" coming from the top of the cooling tower from Pennsylvania:

The heat boils water, creating steam. The steam or water turns a turbine, which spins the shaft of a generator. Inside the generator, coils of wire spin in a magnetic field and electricity is produced. The steam condenses and changes back to water, and then is returned to the generator to be heated again, producing more steam. The white cloud you can see coming out of the top of a nuclear power plant isn't radioactive-it's just steam rising from the cooling tower.

http://www.energy.vt.edu/vept/education/Nuclear.asp

So the other day, I am watching Fox News, when the lovely Megan Kendall reported on Congressional grandstanding over a new report on the competition for research grants - I mean global warming. The quote was from Moonbat CA Rep Henry Waxman and is done to the best of my memory.

"It appears there may have been an orchestrated campaign to mislead the public..."

So what's the first thing that pops into your mind? Well, if I was a non-thinker, it would be something like 'CONSPIRACY!! CHENEY!! HALLIBURTON!! BIG TOBACCO!! SCOOTER LIBBY!! THEY ARE OUT TO KILL US ALL!'

But I'm like you - I think. Thus what popped into my head was 'I wonder what part of his quote was not captured in that draconian, alarmist, video clip. A quick google search showed this result from the AP and was carried by USA Today and ABC NEws:

"It appears there may have been an orchestrated campaign to mislead the public about climate change," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. Waxman is chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and a critic of the Bush administration's environmental policies, including its views on climate.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-01-30-congress-climate_x.htm
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2836034

Hmmm. So now we have gone from "mislead the public" to "mislead the public about climate change." A few more clicks and we get this story, ON THE SAME QUOTE, from the LA Times:

WASHINGTON -- The new Democratic chairman of a House panel charged today that the Bush administration tried to mislead the public about climate change "by injecting doubt into the science of global warming and minimizing the potential dangers."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-ex-climate30jan31,0,253239.story?coll=la-home-nation

So now, we have gone from "mislead the public" to "mislead the public about climate change" to "[mislead the public about climate change] by injecting doubt into the science of global warming and minimizing the potential dangers."

Well isn't that what science is all about? Being skeptical? Expressing doubt? Not calling something a 'fact' until it can be mathematically proven? It seems the LA Times has unwittingly done us skeptics a service in their single-minded effort to drive the alarmist message home. Next time you run into a global warming chicken-little, ask them this:

Explain exactly how we know the amount of CO2 produced by man and how much is produced from other sources.

Explain exactly how we know that CO2 leads to global warming - please cite an empirical source, not the knee-jerk greenhouse gas theory.

Explain how the temperatures that are used to illustrate warming over the last two centuries were taken, how accurate they are and how the measurements were used to create the data seen in the media - and why are they not listed with percentage margins of error?

Can we tell the exact temperature range for a given day/week/month/year, oh say, 400 years ago?

Explain how we can know the number and intensity of hurricanes for a given location before historical records and satellite imagery.

How was storm strength measured before the barometer was invented?

Explain exactly how you know sea levels are rising. Is it everywhere?

You get the idea. I could opine more, but I need to throw another log on the fire!

Facts? WeDon't Need No Stinking Facts!!

2007-01-19T20:56:00.000-08:00

Hello Thinkers,

Before I get into my rant, I want to provide you all with a VALUEABLE public service announcement. You may be in a similar situation as the tuffster, owning a small library of analog video that you want to convert to digital format and DVDs. Over the break I purchased Pinnacle's Studio 10 and MovieBox USB. It allows you to connect a video camera (analog or digital), capture the content on a computer, edit it and burn a DVD. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!! I have spent DAYS working around the bugs in this P.O.S. and STILL cannot get it to function properly. According to CNET, this product is "very good," rating it at 7.1 out of 10. Funny thing though, according to the people who paid for this product and logged into the CNET site, this product is "abysmal," rated at 1.7 out of 10. If you want some insight on how to capture analog video on your computer, email me offline. For God's sake, don't buy Pinnacle Studio 10.

http://reviews.cnet.com/Avid_Pinnacle_Studio_Plus_10/4505-3670_7-31528139.html?tag=pdtl-list

Now for my philippic.

I'm a bit concerned about going to the well too often. Among the many worthy candidates of my disdain, I have been focusing on the Scam of the Century lately. But a recent imbecilic "Viewpoint" column from the January 10th Lawrence Eagle Tribune - And the blog from a "climate expert" from The Weather Channel have frosted my butt lately. And what do you have to do to be a "climate expert" anyway? I look out the window, there's some snow on the ground and the trees are blowing. Do I need a "climate expert" to tell me it's cold and windy outside?

First the article from my local paper. Brian Watson writes about The Scam of the Century (a.k.a. global warming) and uses some less than convincing arguments to promote his perspective. First, he talks about what he has seen locally:

"On a walk in the local woods one recent Saturday I saw more than a dozen painted turtles basking in the wetlands. That's an alarming site in mid-winter."

That's jim-dandy, but the article appeared on January 10th, meaning 'a recent Saturday' was at the best in early January, maybe late December. We don't know since he doesn't specify the date, but in any case winter begins on or about December 22nd, which makes 'a recent Saturday' prior to Wednesday, January 10th not "mid-winter." But who cares about facts when we are discussing The Scam of the Century anyway... Next, this author makes the ad hominem attack:

"There is no longer any significant scientific debate regarding climate change. Only a handful of scientists - most funded by the energy industry - along with the popular press, perpetuate the notion that doubt remains on this topic."

So a scientist who is funded by the energy industry is a tainted sell-out, but a scientist who is fighting for a government grant by being a "global warming" alarmist is as pure as the driven snow. Lastly there is this coup de grace that really drives the point home, silencing anyone who dare doubt that man made global warming will kill us all in 5 years or less.

"Have you ever met a teenager or college student who dismisses global warming? I'll bet not."

You know what? I bet he's right on that one....

So clearly, the global warming crowd cannot PROVE that my 8 cylinder car is cooking off the arctic ice sheet. So what is left? Why trying to shut them up, that's what. If you recall on this diatribe:

http://tuffbeingright.blogspot.com/2006/12/islams-holiday-message.html

I outlined how Sens. Rockefeller (D., W.Va.) and Snowe (R., Maine) told ExxonMobil to shut up and tow the line with global warming, or else. Why? Because the global warming crowd cannot win a fair fight in the arena of debate. Another recent example comes from a "climate expert" (you know I can't even type that without giggling anymore) from The Weather Channel. Heidi Cullen - oh excuse me, Dr. Heidi Cullen thinks that if any meteorologist does not follow the party line on "global warming," they should have their AMS credentials revoked:

"If a meteorologist can't speak to the fundamental science of climate change, then maybe the AMS shouldn't give them a Seal of Approval. Clearly, the AMS doesn't agree that global warming can be blamed on cyclical weather patterns. It's like allowing a meteorologist to go on-air and say that hurricanes rotate clockwise and tsunamis are caused by the weather."

http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/?from=blog_nav_permalink&ref=/blog/weather/8_7877.html

Ironically enough, hurricanes DO rotate clockwise south of the equator. They are called cyclones.

CYCLONE - An area of closed pressure circulation with rotating and converging winds, the center of which is a relative pressure minimum. The circulation is counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

Here's another blog entry from Heidi Cullen - oh excuse me - Dr. Heidi Cullen showing that she is experiencing her own sort of "global warming."

"I've read all your comments saying I want to silence meteorologists who are skeptical of the science of global warming. That is not true. The point of my post was never to stifle discussion. It was to raise it to a level that doesn't confuse science and politics. Freedom of scientific expression is essential."

http://climate.weather.com/blog/9_11592.html

Of course! How stupid of me to assume that pulling AMS certification of a meteorologist who dare disagree with The Scam of the Century would stifle discussion. Oh well, the good doctor is still reasonably hot-looking, so I suppose her career as a Weather Channel meteorologist is safe.

And just for good measure, 'Blink' Pelosi has announced a new Global Warming committee:

"I promise to do everything in my power to achieve energy independence ... and to stop global warming," Pelosi said.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/18/D8MNUUOG0.html

Well Blink, you can start by telling Fat Teddy to let them build a windmill farm in the middle of the race course for the Seagram's Chappaquiddick Invitational. Then let's get some nuke plants sparked up, how about in San Fran?

And just in case you are wondering, it's snowing in Malibu:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cold18jan18,0,1404930.story?coll=la-home-headlines

And the oranges are freezing in Fresno:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070117/D8MN2K3G1.html

Global warming?? BRRRR!!!!

2006: The Year in Haikus

2007-01-05T21:01:00.000-08:00

Hello Thinkers,

Before we get to the third annual Tuffbeingright Haiku Festival, I just wanted to make one quick comment on a couple seemingly unrelated items. First, some of you may recall a fictional rant I composed back in April of 2005 called "An Evening on the Southern Border". It is one of my favorites. If you are new to "The Thinkers" check it out. The second item is Nancy Pelosi's comments after her recent coronation as House Speaker:

"For all of America's children, the House will be in order."

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/LEAKED_ADVANCED_REMARKS_OF_SPEAKER_PELOSI_0104.html

You know, I always hate it when politicans say they are doing something "for the children." Because basically that means they have no logical reason for doing something (usually some commie-socialist legislation) and they have to fall back on the sappy heart strings to shut down the argument against them. It also implies that if you don't agree with them, you hate children. It is a stupid argument for the idiots among us - period.

And what if you don't have kids? I guess that means the legislators who make these arguments have license to screw you.

So, by now you may be wondering what do these two items have in common? Well it may interest you to know that a border post manned by the US Border Patrol and National Guard was overrun by gunmen from south of our border:

"The Border Patrol says the incident occurred somewhere along the 120 mile section of the border between Nogales and Lukeville. The area is known as a drug corridor. Last year, 124-thousand pounds of illegal drugs were confiscated in this area."

http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/borderstory0104-CR.html

So given that gunmen overran a US border station in an area known as "drug corridor," what is the Nancy Pelosi led house going to do... you know - "for America's children?" Yes, you already know the answer - not a damn thing. Enjoy the brave new world folks. Not that the Republicans were any better - in the Senate anyway.

But enough of the doom and gloom. The change of the calendar is upon us and it is haiku time! Any mindless puke can wax poetic the year past, just look at Matt Lauer if you doubt me. But here, we love a challenge. Cast the news events and news makers of 2006 within the tight restrictions of haikus, while keeping the spirit of the story alive. This is not simple task, which is probably why I only do this once a year. So for those of you who have forgotten how to write haikus like that one you did for that stupid 10th grade english project, here they are:

1. Haiku-poems consist of respectively 5, 7 and 5 syllables in three units. In Japanese, this convention is a must, but in English, which has variation in the length of syllables, this can sometimes be difficult.

2. Avoiding similes and metaphors.

3. Retaining Japanese values.

As is the case every year, I have decided to ignore rules 2 and 3 completely, and will only loosely follow rule 1. Once again, I have replaced rules 2 and 3 with the following Tuffbeingright-Haiku rule:

1A. Have fun at the expense of others.

For those of you new to the Thinkers list, or those with a soft spot for nostalgia, the previous two years of haikus are here:

For 2004,

and for 2005.

So here they are. For your entertainment - the people and events of 2006 - the year in haikus:

Border security debate in the senate

Porous feckless border
"But we need the votes real bad"

More burrito Senator?

Saddam Hussein
Tin horn despot,
Swingin under a tree,
"H" "A" "N" "G" "I" "N" "G"

The '9/11 was an inside job' crowd
"Jews. Rove. They did it.
The evidence is obvious.
My cat told me so."

Mike Nifong and the duke lacross non-rape case
White perp, black 'victim'
"Hmmm... I really need the votes...
Guilty! Hang em high!"

Sandy Burgler
Docs damage, must hide.
"Crinkled papers pinch my nuts."
Don't fret, he will skate

The mountain climbers who died on Mt Hood, OR
Veteran climbers
"Hey, lets climb in December!"
Shhh... Darwin at work

Taco Bell, Olive Garden, et al
Yummy food, feeds gang
"I'll have extra lettuce please...
My guts are coming up!"

Paris Hilton
Bling, Booze, puny dogs
Pantiless crotch photos? "Whatever!"
"A job? What's that?"

Steve Irwin
"Krickey! Huge Stingray!
Lets F with it on camera!"
Shhh... Darwin at work.

Kim Jung Il
New nuclear weapons
US foreign policy twinges
"Me get new slut now!"

Mohammed Cartoon Jihad
Religion of Peace.
"What, you say that's not true?
We kill you infidel!"

Jeffrey Skilling, Dennis Koslowski, et al
How to hit profit goal?
"Hmmm, just erase this number here..."
Grab your ankles boys.

Katie Couric
Aged uppity skank.
Shifts to do "serious" news.
Dozens watch her talk.

Madonna adopts an African boy
Latest fashion trend.
But if he must do chores,
Is that slavery?

John Kerry
"The military are idiots!!
Uhh.. I meant Bush is an idiot!"
Range targets look like John.

Islam's Holiday Message

2006-12-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

Hello Thinkers,

Before I start up with Islam's holiday message to you all, I must indulge myself with the gratifying affirmation of my own basal genius. I TOLD YOU SO!!!! If you recall my October 13th rant, I asked where are all the hurricanes that the "climate experts" said were going nail the northeast?

Well, a little bit late to the party, the Tampa Tribune online has decided to weigh on this topic late last November:

With cataclysmic predictions that hurricanes would swarm from the tropics like termites, no one thought 2006 would be the most tranquil season in a decade.

http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBHKNBE0VE.html

Again, "climate experts" not only cannot predict an accurate hurricane season - but BLOW THE FORECAST like Patrick Kennedy on a road-side sobriety test. Thus, how in the hell are we to believe their fire and brimstone wailing on the SCAM OF THE CENTURY (known by some as "global warming") which projects massive long term natural disasters (as well as short term funding grabs)?

Undaunted by something as annoying as facts, what do the representatives of the left do to those who dare to express an opinion which differs from the enviro-nut party line? Why they tell them to shut up - or else!

On October 27 Sens. Rockefeller (D., W.Va.) and Snowe (R., Maine) sent a letter to ExxonMobil's CEO requesting that ExxonMobil end its financial assistance and support of groups and individuals who reject global warming claims, and urging it to "publicly acknowledge both the reality of climate change and the role of humans in causing or exacerbating it."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1750702/posts

Here is some of the text of the letter from Senators Snowe and Rockefeller:

We are convinced that ExxonMobil's longstanding support of a small cadre of global climate change skeptics, and those skeptics access to and influence on government policymakers, have made it increasingly difficult for the United States to demonstrate the moral clarity it needs across all facets of its diplomacy.

Ahhh... Here we see that only those who accept without question the word of the fund-hunting "climate experts" can speak with "moral clarity" from the high ground. But there's more:

Similarly, we have seen press reports that your British subsidiary has told the Royal Society, Great Britain's foremost scientific academy, that ExxonMobil will stop funding other organizations with similar purposes. However, a casual review of available literature, as performed by personnel for the Royal Society reveals that ExxonMobil is or has been the primary funding source for the "skepticism" of not only CEI, but for dozens of other overlapping and interlocking front groups sharing the same obfuscation agenda. For this reason, we share the goal of the Royal Society that ExxonMobil "come clean" about its past denial activities, and that the corporation take positive steps by a date certain toward a new and more responsible corporate citizenship.

Did you read between the lines here? ExxonMobil must "come clean." They have participated in "denial activities." George Orwell would be proud. What Senators Snowe and Rockefeller are saying here is "knock it off.. or else!" Not a threat to be taken lightly from US Senators.

And finally here comes the money grab. Since they are losing the battle in the forum of open ideas, the left must shut down those who object to their will. Funding must be sent to the "climate experts" only - how else can we pay for their hurricane forecast for 2007?

Further, we believe ExxonMobil should take additional steps to improve the public debate, and consequently the reputation of the United States. We would recommend that ExxonMobil publicly acknowledge both the reality of climate change and the role of humans in causing or exacerbating it. Second, ExxonMobil should repudiate its climate change denial campaign and make public its funding history. Finally, we believe that there would be a benefit to the United States if one of the world's largest carbon emitters headquartered here devoted at least some of the money it has invested in climate change denial pseudo-science to global remediation efforts.

http://www.seeingtheforest.com/archives/2006/12/letter_from_sen.htm

But what the hell. It's Christmas time. I'll give the "climate experts" a break for now. Time for peace on earth, right? And who better to give the "Peace on Earth" message than someone from the "Religion of Peace." Well good news from across the pond. Earlier this year, Islamic leaders in the UK have issued a joint message denouncing violence against "innocents." Whew! For a minute there I thought Islamic leaders wanted to dominate the globe and institute Sharia law:

Islamic leaders across Birmingham have issued a joint message against terrorism in a bid to tackle mistrust of Muslims in the UK.... It states: "That killing of innocent civilians is absolutely forbidden in Islam and anyone who contemplates or commits any such act, does so against the teachings of Islam."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/5111092.stm

Sounds good, eh? But here's the rub. Innocents are Muslims only. Non-innocents are you, me and everybody else who is not a Muslim. Here's a text snippet from a recent BBC interview with Shiekh Omar Bakri:

BBC: Your own leader, Omar Bakri [Mohammed], said quite simply "I condemn the killing of innocent people" on the 20th of July. Why won't you say what he says?

Choudary: At the end of the day, when we say "innocent people" we mean "Muslims". As far as non-Muslims are concerned, they have not accepted Islam. As far as we are concerned, that is a crime against God.

And if you think I'm making this up, here's the 3 minute interview from youtube. To see the reality of what we face today, I highly recommend you watch it before youtube wises up and shuts it down:

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/185741.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maHSOB2RFm4

So much for the "Religion of Peace." That's why I don't wish anyone "peace" during Christmas, but I do wish them something most Christians don't get under Islamic law - freedom.

The Not-So-Brave New World

2006-11-09T07:31:00.000-08:00

¡Hola Thinkers!

¡Recepción al mundo nuevo! Prepárese para los cambios a continuación. Opinión adiós al país que usted conocía. ¿No es maravilloso?

...what's that? You don't like getting emails in Spanish? Start getting used to the idea.

There have been oodles of punditry and speculation on why the Republicans lost both the US House and Senate this election. As I see it, one of (or maybe more than one of) the following scenarios occurred:

1. The US of A is becoming a more liberal nation and this election simply reflected that. Our voting citizenry is craving higher taxes, kid-glove treatment of criminals, amnesty and privileges for anyone who makes it into this country illegally, and less freedom of the marketplace.

2. More dead registered Democrats came out to vote than expected. And it's amazing how in two short years, all the problems with voting machine malfunctions have miraculously been solved! The only time I remember anything like this is when all the news stories on homeless people disappeared after Bill Clinton won his first term.

The new (NY) statewide database of registered voters contains as many as 77,000 dead people on its rolls, and as many as 2,600 of them have cast votes from the grave, according to a Poughkeepsie Journal computer-assisted analysis.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061029/NEWS01/610290381/1006/NEWS

3. The Democratic political machine got smart, supported moderate and possibly even conservative candidates where necessary. Registered Democrat and some Independent voters were highly motivated by their opposition to the war in Iraq, while conservative voters were highly motivated by ... NOTHING!!!

For the past 12 years, the Republicans have had the ball in at least the House, yet they have shown that are politicians first and anything else a distant second. Remember the "Contract With America?" Even though it was a House initiative, it was a perspective that, at least in concept, defined most Republican office holders, from local to federal levels.

Here's the "contract" in case you forgot: http://www.house.gov/house/Contract/CONTRACT.html

Republicans were supposed to be for smaller government, less spending, rule of law, and term limits among other things. What did we get? A morbidly rotund bureaucracy that Jenny Craig couldn't stop from growing, more pork than a Rosie O'Donnell between meal snack and a complete disregard for protecting our nations borders. I won't even touch the term limit fiasco.

Democrats may say that the Iraq war was the actual vote this week, but that would not explain why Joe Liberman won and Lincoln Chaffee (along with John Hostettler-Ind. and Jim Leach-Iowa) lost. I will contend that the nations conservatives were less than impressed with our free spending, "Republican" Congress, a no-veto President, and a group of "leaders" who started at their fidgeting feet like a kid who just smashed mommy's Lenox vase when the issue of illegal immigration came to the forefront.

So to conservatives across the country, remember this valuable phrase:

¡Es hora de asir tus tobillos! (It is time to grab your ankles!)

My Predictions for the 2006 Mid Term Elections

2006-11-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

Hello Thinkers,

I've been a bit busy, but cannot let the mid term elections go without adding my own personal clairvoyance - a la Shirley Maclaine. So here they are - my fearless predictions for this Tuesday night and beyond!

Enjoy,
tuff

(PS. And don't forget to vote! But only if you agree with me!)

PREDICTION 1: Despite the gleeful headlines from the NY Times heralding Democrat seizure of both the US House and Senate, Republicans will not lose control of either. I have always felt there was a 10% rule when reading coverage of pending elections from the Lame-Steam Media. If "the polls" say race is neck-and-neck, the Republican wins by roughly 10%. If "the polls" say the Democrat has a non-trivial lead, the race is really tight. If "the polls" say the Republican has a huge lead going into the election, the media buries the story and reports heavily on the latest social crisis de jour ripping at our nation's very fabric.

PREDICTION 2: Despite the Republicans keeping the House and Senate, the NY Times will still report November 7th, 2006 as a significant Republican loss.

PREDICTION 3: Nancy Pelosi will not blink.

PREDICTION 4: No later than Wednesday morning, Howard Dean will cover his ass by making vague references to Kerry's "botched joke" as the reason for his party's failure to make huge political advances this year.

PREDICTION 5: Katie Couric will still be the least viewed "news anchor" of the big 3 networks on election night. After a major CBS focus group convenes to address the problem, she will add a house plant (or a kitten) to her news desk as a guaranteed way to appeal to a wider viewing audience.

PREDICTION 6: Chris Matthews will be rushed to the nearest hospital with heart palpitations.

PREDICTION 7: Despite supporting in state tuition rates and drivers licenses for illegal aliens, MA gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick will win the states corner office - but by a much smaller margin than "the polls" indicate (5% or less - see the 10% rule from PREDICTION 1 above). Massachusetts will continue uncontested as the political laughing stock of the nation with a liberal Democrat State House, Senate and Governor. God help us.

PREDICTION 8: Electronic voting machines will be blamed for 'irregularities' in minority communities only. Jesse Jackson issue a press release claiming proof of vote tampering and will call out for the electoral college to be replaced in 2008 with a CNN/Gallup poll of likely voters in Berkley, CA.

PREDICTION 9: Ned Lamont will lose resoundingly as Connecticut Republicans give the nod almost exclusively to Joe Lieberman. Sporadic laughter will be heard from the voting booths in the Consitution State.

PREDICTION 10: Alot of drinking will be done in Hyannis on Tuesday night.

**BONUS PREDITION***: Terrorists around the world will emphatically support all Democrats for elected office in 2006. Oh wait, that's already happened:

JERUSALEM – Everybody has an opinion about next Tuesday's midterm congressional election in the U.S. – including senior terrorist leaders interviewed by WND who say they hope Americans sweep the Democrats into power because of the party's position on withdrawing from Iraq, a move, as they see it, that ensures victory for the worldwide Islamic resistance.

The terrorists told WorldNetDaily an electoral win for the Democrats would prove to them Americans are "tired."
...
They rejected statements from some prominent Democrats in the U.S. that a withdrawal from Iraq would end the insurgency, explaining an evacuation would prove resistance works and would compel jihadists to continue fighting until America is destroyed.
...
"Of course Americans should vote Democrat," Jihad Jaara, a senior member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group and the infamous leader of the 2002 siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, told WND.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52747

Arrogance Kills

2006-11-02T07:17:00.000-08:00

So the other day, Mrs. Tuff took Tuff Jr. into Boston and picked up our 18 year old from her dorm. While I was happy to have the entire family back under one roof, they did come home sooner than expected, and less than halfway through my recently acquired DVD, "Jenna Jameson Does the Dude Ranch." Right at the part where Rocky the Quarter Horse learns to remove Jenna's bra with his massive teeth, they charged into the house and let me tell you it was an uncomfortable moment to say the least. It didn't help that I was wearing my "All Women are Blithering Idiots" t-shirt, either.

As I stared at their faces, each turning shades more closely resembling my last lobster dinner, I said the only thing that came to my mind: "Gosh, I'm really sorry that you are offended by this."

So I can understand what John Kerry is going through right now. Just in case you have been living under a rock for the past few days, at a rally for California Democrat gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides, John Francois Kerry said the following:

"You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/30/politics/p174330S38.DTL&type=politics

Note the quote from Angelides at the bottom of the SFGate article: "We are going to make history." And boy have they ever.

The bruhaha has shown no sign of slowing down. Whether Kerry is trying to look strong in the face of adversity (AKA not be swift-boated again) or simply maintain his air of intellectual superiority, every step he has taken since has landed him in bigger and bigger cow-pies.

First there was the defiant non-apology posted on his web site:

I'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium, or doughy Rush Limbaugh, who no doubt today will take a break from belittling Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease to start lying about me just as they have lied about Iraq. It disgusts me that these Republican hacks, who have never worn the uniform of our country lie and distort so blatantly and carelessly about those who have.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=23164_Kerry_Goes_Ballistic&only
http://www.johnkerry.com/news/releases/release.html?id=33

I wonder if this means Kerry wants only military veterans to disgust him. That's fine with me. It worked two years ago like a charm. Next there was the 'botched joke' non-apology on "Imus in the Morning" (a show I never listen to anymore since Don Imus reminds me too much of Madeline Albright):

A day after rejecting calls to apologize for his remarks, Kerry, appearing on the "Imus in the Morning" radio show on MSNBC, declared: "I said it was a botched joke. Of course, I'm sorry about a botched joke."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061101/pl_nm/usa_elections_kerry_dc

This one is just full of crap. Kerry said what he meant and meant what he said. Only the bluest of liberal Kool-Aid drinkers can believe Kerry has a high opinion of the US military, or that he can relate to someone who is happy just to get their bills paid every month. Yet even at this point, he does not directly address the content of his statements, only the misexecution of an alleged joke. Are we to expect that this was a slip of the tongue from someone who testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971 as follows:

"They [US Service men in Viet Nam] told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country."

...and said the following to Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation on December 4th of 2005:

And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs.
http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/face_120405.pdf

The piling on has continued. Campaign invitations for John Kerry are drying up faster than Scotch bottles at the Kennedy Estate in Hyannis:

A congressional candidate in Iowa said swiftly he no longer wanted him to appear at a scheduled rally. Kerry abandoned plans to attend events in Minnesota and Pennsylvania. "Whatever the intent, Senator Kerry was wrong to say what he said. He needs to apologize to our troops," said Rep. Harold Ford Jr., locked in a close Senate race in Tennessee.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/01/D8L4H6DO0.html

And now for the Johnny Gigolo's third non-apology, we get a written statement (how brave!):

"I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform and I personally apologize to any service member, family member or American who was offended," Kerry said in a statement.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061101/pl_nm/usa_elections_kerry_dc

Note that he never admits what he said was WRONG. He is sorry that his words were "misinterpreted". Clearly it takes a big man to admit he made a mistake and sincerely mean it, and clearly, Lurch is not a big man at all. A sincere man would also do this in person, in front of the largest audience he can find, not hiding behind a piece of paper or a web server somewhere.

The amount of energy put into a real apology is nothing compared to what is being spent on his latest political death-spiral. But John Francois simply cannot be seen as anything other than the smartest man in the room. He is too important to be bothered with such petty humility. What he does not realize is that arrogance kills and is never forgotten.

I could elaborate more on this, but I have to go and rustle up a DVD out of the trash can.

(ps. Just in case I do run for a public office someday, I will now state for the record that I do not, nor have I ever owned a Jenna Jameson DVD - at least one that included a horse named rocky.)

Where Are All The Hurricanes??

2006-10-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

Yes it has been a while since I have posted my sanguine prose. I could bore you with my reasons why, a la slimeball sexual predator Mark Foley (R-FL):

- I was abused as a child by the parish priest
- I am a victim of alcoholism
- I struggle with inner demons

Or like any respectable Kennedy (I know... oxymoron) who realizes at least some of these excuses are getting passe, I could blame the prescription meds. Sadly, I've just been too busy to do little more than yell at the TV.

And it's not like there hasn't been anything to discuss either. Let's see, we have North Korea testing nuclear devices - maybe. We have the first blasts in the unofficial 2008 presidential campaign between Hillary Clinton and John McCain. And locally, we have a fabulously interesting race for Governor in the People's Republic of Massachusetts which includes a woman as the Republican candidate running against a black male Democrat. If Healy (R) wins, she would be the first woman to be elected into the state's corner office. What do local women's organizations think about this? No need to guess on this one, Deval Patrick (D) has already picked up the endorsements of Planned Parenthood, NARAL and NOW - you go girls! Smooth talking Deval (a Clinton appointee as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights) is taking some heat for his legal escapades prior to this race. Deval either lied about, or completely forgot, details of his correspondence with a convicted rapist trying to get parole. Also as a criminal defense attorney, he was successful in getting the death sentence of a Florida cop-killer overturned (who is now eligible for parole). Then there's that whole in-state tuition thing for illegal aliens that Deval wants me to pay for. It'll be an interesting November.

On the national side, apparently Harry Reid had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar of organized crime and tasty Las Vegas real estate deals.

THE BEST CASE for Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) is that he was sloppy about financial disclosure rules in accounting for a real estate deal on which he made a $700,000 profit. The more unattractive case is that the senator's inaccurate description of the investment was an effort to disguise his partnership with a Las Vegas lawyer who's never been charged with wrongdoing but whose name has surfaced in federal investigations involving organized crime, casinos and political bribery since the 1980s.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101201486.html

Hopefully Harry won't get sucked in if a Pelosi-led House decides to "drain the swamp." But all of these juicy topics must be swept aside as again I focus on "The Scam of the Century."

GLOBAL WARMING UPDATE!!

Yes folks, even as I write this, the US midwest and Great Lakes region is in the fiery grasp of GLOBAL WARMING! Buffalo, NY has reported 14 inches of snow at the airport and over 2 feet of the white stuff in other parts of the region. Temperatures in Chicago are barely above freezing. Most of Michigan is under a "snow and blowing snow" advisory.

We are not even halfway through October!

All of this had me thinking about the predictions for the 2006 hurricane season that were made several months ago. Remember them? I seem to recall projected 2006 hurricane tracks going right through New York City and New England. AccuWeather forecaster Joe Bastardi said "The Northeast is staring down the barrel of a gun."

Doom and gloom! Fire and brimstone! Such were the forecasts for the US and the most densely populated areas on the east coast:

"As bad as Katrina was, it can be worse," an expert at National Hurricane Center warned. "We expect there to be six landfalling storms this year along the Gulf and Atlantic Coast and the East Coast certainly looks to be at the highest risk of just about anyone," an Accuweather.com Meteorologist told *CBS News*.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/22/national/main1639437.shtml

Well? Where the hell are they? Now mind you, I'm not complaining about a lack of storm related destruction. However, if the "experts" blow a forecast for major storms over a 6 month period, I am not going to believe them when they say that "global warming" is going to destroy our planet over the next century. I am especially not going to believe these claims when their most stalwart chicken-little spokesperson (AKA Al Gore) continues to rape the land, invest in Big Oil, and piss through fossil fuels in his 10,000 sq ft home in Tennessee.

Yet there are enough people out there sheepishly willing to accept the claims of "experts" who state that any deviation from the meteorological average is a clear sign of human induced "global warming." Do they believe that the planet is on some central thermostat that keeps atmospheric anomalies and natural weather trends at bay?

While the weather may never be predictable, politicians obsessed with money, power, or congressional pages certainly are.

Pacifism Kills, Torture Saves

2006-08-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

It seems you can't swing a dead cat these days without hitting some anti-US, anti-Bush, anti-war liberal, screaming something about the rest of the world hating us. Hell, you can't even fly a plane across the pond without some pacifist fruitcake from Vermont screwing things up. Catherine Mayo recently forced the diversion of a London to DC flight due to radical behavior, including urinating in the cabin aisle. James Taranto has uncovered several articles by Mayo for the Daily Times of Pakistan. Here are some excerpts of her "enlightened prose":

I think the US people have forgotten that President Bush didn’t win the election. He only got the job because they couldn’t decide what to do with pregnant chads in Florida. He was put in the White House because someone had to be there when Clinton left.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/print.asp?page=2003%5C02%5C25%5Cstory_25-2-2003_pg3_7

When people come into my room they comment on the map. I really have nothing to say about it. I am a citizen of the world. My friends in the US don’t like to send me e-mails anymore. Some mornings, my Inbox is empty. They have expressed guarded concern about their un-elected president. Congress is in recess. The Department of Homeland Security is in full swing.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/print.asp?page=2003%5C03%5C04%5Cstory_4-3-2003_pg3_7

Like their troops, Americans are plagued by questions about why they are in Iraq. No WMD, no Al Qaeda, no regime change. But they can’t admit this to themselves. Never in history has the US made such a bad mistake. Americans are wandering around in the dark, hoping that someone will provide an intelligent explanation soon.

http://dailytimes.com.pk/print.asp?page=2003%5C07%5C22%5Cstory_22-7-2003_pg3_4

I am an American child of the 1960s. We defied the standards of our parents and declared that a war was unjust. And we were heard. We changed the way humans think. We dared to say that the human race does not have to fight wars. Ever. All conflicts can be settled by peaceful means.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/print.asp?page=2003%5C03%5C18%5Cstory_18-3-2003_pg3_6

Now that last piece is important, especially the vacuous comment about "all conflicts can be settled by peaceful means." One of the most ubiquitous rallies cries of the lunatic left (eg. "Bush Lied, Baby Harp Seals Died!") has centered around the death of innocents caused by the zealous religious right and its war machine. So the next time you bother to debate someone who is of this inclination, ask them this: "Would you support the use of torture to thwart a possible terror attack?" Chances are they won't say "yes." It will either be "no" or "it depends".

If they say "it depends," juice the pot. Tell them the threat is somewhat vague, and the torture techniques are real, not just watching 24 hours of "Oprah." Eventually they will either get to "no" or put such restrictions on implementation that torture is a nonstarter. Then remind them of the recently thwarted attempt (shhh... by Muslims) to blow several transatlantic flights from the sky. Also make them aware of this (if they aren't already):

Reports from Pakistan suggest that much of the intelligence that led to the raids came from that country and that some of it may have been obtained in ways entirely unacceptable here. In particular Rashid Rauf, a British citizen said to be a prime source of information leading to last week's arrests, has been held without access to full consular or legal assistance. Disturbing reports in Pakistani papers that he had "broken" under interrogation have been echoed by local human rights bodies. The Guardian has quoted one, Asma Jehangir, of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, who has no doubt about the meaning of broken. "I don't deduce, I know - torture," she said. "There is simply no doubt about that, no doubt at all."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,,1844559,00.html

No one will argue that taking the fight to the Jihadists results in the tragic deaths of innocent people. Yet to adopt an appeasement strategy also means the death of innocent people. Specifically in this case the hundreds or thousands who would have died if these terrorists (shh... Muslims) accomplished their attack. So both pacifism and aggressive response results in the death of noncombatants. The difference is dhimmitude or liberty. Peace is good, but freedom is better.

PS. To whomever pulled the bloody toenails out from Rashid Rauf's feet - Thank You!

If Al Gore Says It, It Must Be True...

2006-08-10T07:04:00.000-07:00

GLOBAL WARMING UPDATE!!! The recent string of thermometer popping temperatures have broken record highs across the nation! From California to Maine, Texas to Minnesota, Americans are suffering from oppressive heat! We are all going to die!!

In unrelated news, it is August.

It certainly has been a warm one recently eh? I think Al Gore had taken some advice from his political strategists and worked a bit on his timing. If you recall back in January 2004, he ranted on about how the current administration was on the cusp of singlehandedly bringing down all of civilization as we know it by ignoring the obvious threat of global warming. I was in NYC for unrelated work at the time of this speech, and the cold was nipple-shattering:

Yesterday the erstwhile veep came to New York, where he delivered one of the silliest speeches in American political history. The topic was "global warming," the temperature outside in the single digits. The sheer ludicrousness of warning of warming in the middle of an exceptionally cold winter was widely noted in the press but apparently lost on Gore, who decided against rescheduling his speech so as to make it less preposterous.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110004568

Now, Al Gore has come out with his movie, "An Inconvenient Truth" during the dog days of summer. Hmmm. I wonder if Al Gore lives the "carbon-neutral" lifestyle he professes for all of us, or is he like Robert Kennedy who tells us all to drive hybrids while he buzzes from place to place in a private jet? Or is he more like Uncle Teddy, who abhors the thought of damaging his yacht's gelcoat on a windmill in Nantucket Sound? Tough to say - or at least it was until this article came out from USA Today:

But if Al Gore is the world's role model for ecology, the planet is doomed. For someone who says the sky is falling, he does very little. He says he recycles and drives a hybrid. And he claims he uses renewable energy credits to offset the pollution he produces when using a private jet to promote his film. (In reality, Paramount Classics, the film's distributor, pays this.)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-08-09-gore-green_x.htm

Of course it is easier for glass house occupants to throw stones, when you are not quite sure which glass house they are in at any one time:

Public records reveal that as Gore lectures Americans on excessive consumption, he and his wife Tipper live in two properties: a 10,000-square-foot, 20-room, eight-bathroom home in Nashville, and a 4,000-square-foot home in Arlington, Va. (He also has a third home in Carthage, Tenn.) For someone rallying the planet to pursue a path of extreme personal sacrifice, Gore requires little from himself.

Ahh, as usual, the message from this self proclaimed leader in the effort to save the planet: "I am more important than you."

Then there is the troubling matter of his energy use. In the Washington, D.C., area, utility companies offer wind energy as an alternative to traditional energy. In Nashville, similar programs exist. Utility customers must simply pay a few extra pennies per kilowatt hour, and they can continue living their carbon-neutral lifestyles knowing that they are supporting wind energy....

But according to public records, there is no evidence that Gore has signed up to use green energy in either of his large residences. When contacted Wednesday, Gore's office confirmed as much but said the Gores were looking into making the switch at both homes. Talk about inconvenient truths.

Well, you may say that what one person does to modify their lifestyle matters little compared to the Bush-conspiring minions of BIG-OIL who systematically trash the planet and wipe out our fragile ecosystem one yellow-crested titmouse at a time. And you may very well be right:

So why, then, didn't Gore dump his family's large stock holdings in Occidental (Oxy) Petroleum? As executor of his family's trust, over the years Gore has controlled hundreds of thousands of dollars in Oxy stock. Oxy has been mired in controversy over oil drilling in ecologically sensitive areas.

OK, maybe he just hasn't gotten around to signing up for wind power yet. And maybe he shouldn't have cancelled the mint julep social with his stock broker and financial advisor last month - but at least he isn't raping the earth!

Humanity might be "sitting on a ticking time bomb," but Gore's home in Carthage is sitting on a zinc mine. Gore receives $20,000 a year in royalties from Pasminco Zinc, which operates a zinc concession on his property. Tennessee has cited the company for adding large quantities of barium, iron and zinc to the nearby Caney Fork River.

Oh Damn! Well I guess that Al Gore doesn't consider our planet in mortal danger after all. Otherwise he would surely be leading us by example and use wind power, divest his oil holdings, stop treating the land like a cheap elemental whore, and live in smaller (and fewer) houses. But if he refuses to do these things while he continues to wail about our imminent planetary demise, why should I change any of my habits unless it directly saves me either money or time?

If only Al Gore could create a renewable energy resource the same way he invented the internet:

"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/03/09/president.2000/transcript.gore/

Maybe Al could figure a way to harness suction power. He certainly seems to think there are alot of suckers out there.

The Sky is Warming! The Sky is Warming!!

2006-06-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

Those of you who know me in person understand that I consider messing with someone's brain a treasured pastime. Those who know me really well realize this as a dominant gene in my bloodline. When I first started at my present job (in 1990), someone had broadcast an email asking for input on how we, as a company, should recognize "International Womans Day." I replied to her (and everyone else) that she should bake us something. The last time I bought a bag of dog food with my credit card, I was asked by the attitude-soaked girl behind the pet store counter for an ID. Normally I would have provided my driver's license, but she had a peace symbol for a belt buckle and more shiny hardware pierced into her ears and face than I keep in my tackle box. I showed her my high-capacity firearm license. The look was priceless.

Earlier this year I bought a 2001 Crown Vic. It rides great and was well maintained by the previous owner who installed floodlights that turn on with the cars headlights. On a recent Friday morning commute I witnessed a car make multiple idiotic maneuvers including a sharp cut across 4 lanes of traffic on Rt. 128, barely making the exit ahead, the same exit I take for the office. I decided to have some fun and managed to get behind the driver who was stopped at a red light. He looked in his rear view mirror alot and apparently did not know how to differentiate an unmarked police car from what I was driving because his road ettiquette improved immensely. He quickly pulled into the first available strip-mall parking lot, staring at me as I drove past. Not one business in that plaza was going to open for at least another half hour. It made my day.

It seems as though others enjoy bewildering strangers too. Specifically I am referring to "climate change experts." Recently the AP published their latest Chicken-Little Alert which claimed:

The Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, probably even longer. The National Academy of Sciences, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Thursday that the "recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia." A panel of top climate scientists told lawmakers that the Earth is running a fever and that "human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming." Their 155-page report said average global surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere rose about 1 degree during the 20th century.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/06/22/D8IDB6500.html

Now I know that at least some of you are convinced that global warming is real, human activity is to blame, and we should do something about it ASAP. Why? Well look at the evidence. Polar ice sheets are shrinking, carbon monoxide levels are up, and hell, look at last the last hurricane season! Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it. Not only do I believe any warming trend is miniscule if it exists at all, I think it is pretty arrogant to place the blame for it on the shoulders of tiny humans and their machines. Let's take a look at some of the evidence offered in this story, shall we?

For all but the most recent 150 years, the academy scientists relied on "proxy" evidence from tree rings, corals, glaciers and ice cores, cave deposits, ocean and lake sediments, boreholes and other sources. They also examined indirect records such as paintings of glaciers in the Alps.
...
The scientists said they had less confidence in the evidence of temperatures before 1600. But they considered it reliable enough to conclude there were sharp spikes in carbon dioxide and methane, the two major "greenhouse" gases blamed for trapping heat in the atmosphere, beginning in the 20th century, after remaining fairly level for 12,000 years.

So these scientists looked at tree rings and pond goop. Does this prove a defined temperature range from 1600 to 1850? They don't say that it does. "Scientists" also used someone's painting to support their apocalyptic claim. What if the long-dead painter was in a chilly mood when they depicted the glacier? What if the artist was gripped in fear over a predicted ice age? What if a big hairy house-fly got stuck in the white paint and added 50 miles to the ice sheet?

In addition, this article is careful to say that CO2 and CH4 are "blamed" for trapping heat in the atmosphere, not that it is proven. Why then, do they make these claims? The untold story, as is common, can be found in the last sentence:

The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization chartered by Congress to advise the government of scientific matters.

Ahhh... The money line. It astounds me that the same people who think Haliburton pulls the economic chains that drive our national policies don't bat an eye at a group funded to study "global warming." Would anyone care to guess what would happen to the NAS charter if they said "the planet may be warming a little bit, but it's not really anything we need to worry about, and we can't prove that humans are having any effect." Their funding would disappear faster than a pork chop on Rosie O'Donnell's dinner plate. Does anyone remember last winter? Let me refresh your memory:

The Czech Republic is suffering through one of its coldest winters in more than 50 years, with frigid temperatures snarling public transportation, taxing natural resources and claiming more than a dozen lives nationwide, mostly homeless. It's so cold out, the Prague Zoo has moved all of its penguins indoors. Some temperatures in the country have hit their lowest point since the 1940s.

http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2006/Art/0202/news1.php

It was so cold, the damn penguins couldn't take it! That tells me two things: 1. it aint global and 2. it aint warming. I am just waiting for the AP or Reuters news story that claims one of the indicators of the pending global warming disaster is a precipitous drop in temperatures.

Here are some other people who agree that *if* there is any warming of our planet, it is not because of that SUV your neighbor is driving:

Climatologists and astronomers speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Philadelphia say the present warming may be unusual - but a mini ice age could soon follow. The sun provides all the energy that drives our climate, but it is not the constant star it might seem. Careful studies over the last 20 years show that its overall brightness and energy output increases slightly as sunspot activity rises to the peak of its 11-year cycle.
...
That, say scientists in Philadelphia, could be a more significant cause of global warming than the emissions of greenhouse gases that are most often blamed. The researchers point out that much of the half-a-degree rise in global temperature over the last 120 years occurred before 1940 - earlier than the biggest rise in greenhouse gas emissions. Using ancient tree rings, they show that 17 out of 19 warm spells in the last 10,000 years coincided with peaks in solar activity.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/56456.stm

For many years now, human-caused climate change has been viewed as a large and urgent problem. In truth, however, the biggest part of the problem is neither environmental nor scientific, but a self-created political fiasco. Consider the simple fact, drawn from the official temperature records of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, that for the years 1998-2005 global average temperature did not increase (there was actually a slight decrease, though not at a rate that differs significantly from zero).
...
Since the early 1990s, the columns of many leading newspapers and magazines, worldwide, have carried an increasing stream of alarmist letters and articles on hypothetical, human-caused climate change. Each such alarmist article is larded with words such as "if", "might", "could", "probably", "perhaps", "expected", "projected" or "modelled" - and many involve such deep dreaming, or ignorance of scientific facts and principles, that they are akin to nonsense.
...
First, most government scientists are gagged from making public comment on contentious issues, their employing organisations instead making use of public relations experts to craft carefully tailored, frisbee-science press releases. Second, scientists are under intense pressure to conform with the prevailing paradigm of climate alarmism if they wish to receive funding for their research. Third, members of the Establishment have spoken declamatory words on the issue, and the kingdom's subjects are expected to listen.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/04/09/do0907.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/09/ixworld.html

I like that word - "frisbee-science." Don't you??

Ambiguous scientific statements about climate are hyped by those with a vested interest in alarm, thus raising the political stakes for policy makers who provide funds for more science research to feed more alarm to increase the political stakes. After all, who puts money into science--whether for AIDS, or space, or climate--where there is nothing really alarming? Indeed, the success of climate alarmism can be counted in the increased federal spending on climate research from a few hundred million dollars pre-1990 to $1.7 billion today.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110008220

Gray is perhaps the world's foremost hurricane expert. His Tropical Storm Forecast sets the standard. Yet, his criticism of the global warming "hoax" makes him an outcast. "They've been brainwashing us for 20 years," Gray says. "Starting with the nuclear winter and now with the global warming. This scare will also run its course. In 15-20 years, we'll look back and see what a hoax this was."
...
Al Gore (not a scientist) has definitely been heard - and heard and heard. His documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," is so important, in fact, that Gore crisscrosses the nation destroying the atmosphere just to tell us about it.
http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_3899807

Professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, in Australia gives what, for many Canadians, is a surprising assessment: "[Al] Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention."
...
Appearing before the Commons Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development last year, Carleton University paleoclimatologist Professor Tim Patterson testified, "There is no meaningful correlation between CO2 levels and Earth's temperature over this [geologic] time frame. In fact, when CO2 levels were over ten times higher than they are now, about 450 million years ago, the planet was in the depths of the absolute coldest period in the last half billion years." Patterson asked the committee, "On the basis of this evidence, how could anyone still believe that the recent relatively small increase in CO2 levels would be the major cause of the past century's modest warming?"
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/harris061206.htm

And then there is this, my personal favorite:

Research presented at a major European science meeting adds to other evidence that cleaner air is letting more solar energy through to the Earth's surface. Other studies show that increased water vapour in the atmosphere is reinforcing the impact of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
...
This trend received some publicity under the term "global dimming".
...
Dr Wild dismissed this picture. His analysis suggests that "global dimming" and the man-made greenhouse effect may have cancelled each other out until the early 1980s, but now "global brightening" is adding to the impact of human greenhouse emissions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4880328.stm

Well dammit all! What is it? Warming? Dimming? Brightening??? I can't take it anymore. And it's not the heat, it's the stupidity. The next time anyone brings up hurricanes like Katrina to support their global warming nonsense, ask them if they have looked at the Gulf of Mexico on the map lately. Did they notice its shape? Could it be that it was formed by thousands and thousands of years of category 3, 4 and 5 hurricanes gouging out the land long before central air conditioning and Bourbon Street came along? But hey, what the hell do I know? I'm not a government funded "climate expert."

The moral of this story? Don't be duped by what you think you are seeing. And just so you don't panic every time you get tailed by a Crown Victoria driven by a guy with sunglasses and a buzz-cut, remember that the ones used as unmarked police cars have a black grill, not a chrome one... Or do they???

The "Electoral-Immigration" Maps for 2006

2006-06-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers,

Regular readers have probably figured out that of all the issues on which I rant, criminal immigration is near the top of things that cook my shorts. And they would be right. Now, is pressing "1" for English every time I call any automated phone system really having a detrimental effect on my life? No. Have I lost my job to a "temporary guest worker?" No. Am I witnessing rampant criminal behavior from illegal aliens in my neighborhood? Well, yes actually. A few years ago I was a witness in a trial where a crack-addicted illegal alien from Central America was driving around in a stolen Chevy Celebrity wagon, violently snatching purses, but that's a story for another time.

As I've mentioned many times, it is the principle of the rule of law, along with the obvious implications of unchecked illegal immigration that fries my enchalada. So instead of continuing to beat a dead caballo, I am going to conduct an experiment. This November, America is going to the polls for midterm elections, which are usually a yawner, unless of course you are running for an office. Would it not be interesting to see how the various Governors, Senators and House Reps fare based not on party affiliation, but on their position with respect to illegal immigration? Not Republicans vs. Democrats, just Pro Enforcement vs. scum sucking commie bastards, er, sorry - Anti Enforcement. And once these races are identified, produce an electoral-immigration map, similar to the one Dan Bin Rather sat in front of in 2004 - HA HA HAHAHAHA! ...sorry Dan.

The trick of course is twofold. First you need to figure out what the candidates position is, and second, you have to track ALL the races where at least one candidate has a firm stance on this topic - and trust me, there are a lot of races. Addressing the sheer volume of elections is simply a matter of brute force. However, how does one figure out where a candidate stands on illegal immigration? For incumbents, that is relatively easy. There are websites that track the voting records of Congress on any number of issues. Luckily for me, illegal immigration is one of them. Granted, you have to take a bit of a leap of faith on the objectivity and opinion of a third party, but my investigation of multiple sites have shown a pretty clean alignment of classification.

Non-incumbants are a bit tougher. In order to be counted they have to make clear public comments on their position or they have to submit responses to a questionaire like the one found at:

http://www.betterimmigration.com/candidates/2006/candidatesurvey2006.html

The likelihood that yours truely will accurately capture a non-incumbents position without having them complete a survey like this is slimmer than Mary-Kate Olsen. But let's think about what will make a worthwhile experiment for us this November. I believe the interesting elections to watch need to be:

1. Contested - for obvious reasons.
2. Outside of a socialist pit, like MA or Berkley, CA. Within any of these "red zones" there simply will not be enough diversity of thought to allow for an Anti-Amnesty candidate.
3. At a minimum have an incumbent with a clear voting history (either Pro Enforcement or commie scum) on illegal immigration.

The first step is to figure out where we are right now with the Senate and House (I'll try to map the Governor races if I can). In order to make the current electoral-immigration map, we need to determine the "color" of a state. This will be done using a simple majority. Since we are not tracking Republican vs. Democrat, I will not use red vs. blue. Instead, I will use the color variation between the US and Mexican flags. Blue will be Pro Enforcement, Green will be Anti Enforcement (so yes, in this case, "blue states" are good ones). In addition, the simple majority will only be for races in 2006. For example, in Massachusetts Ted "El Puerqo Grande" Kennedy is up for election this year, while Jean Francois Kerry is not. If (PLEASE GOD, PLEASE!) El Puerqo loses, MA will be colored blue in the post-election senate electoral-immigration map, even though the final tally of US Senators from the People's Republic of MA would be 1-1 with respect to Pro/Anti Enforcement. Thus this electoral-immigration map will track the *change* in representation based on the 2006 vote. And obviously, we are not tracking real electoral votes, but only the shift in Congress, if any, based on the November tallies. States without races, such as Alabama which has no Senate race and Hawaii and Delaware which have no House races this year, will be removed from the map. States with no clear Pro/Anti choice will be white.

There are some interesting things I've discovered. For example:

Sen. Sheets Byrd from West Virginia who is up for election is SOLIDLY in the Pro Enforcement crowd.

EVERY Senator and House Rep from MA is "green." Ug.

The Maryland senate race includes Michael Steele. Two of Sen. Schumer's (D-NY) staffers are accused of identity theft and acquiring Steele's credit history. Mr Steele is running against Kweisi Mfume, the former CEO of the NAALCP.

In Nevada, Jack Carter, the son of the former president, is running for the Senate. We'll see if Nevada is hoping for an economic malaise this November.

Patrick Kennedy is running uncontested for his seat in Rhode Island. What in the hell are you people thinking down there?

There will be alot to watch this November. Future posting will include more detail on various state races, how I arrived at my blue-green-white selection criteria, any corrections I receive, and of course - my opinions! Be sure to check in between now and November!

Via Con Dios!
El Tuff

ps. Feel free to email me any corrections, oversights or opinions.

Dumb As A Brick

2006-06-16T06:56:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

As you know, I have spent most of my efforts in the blogosphere pointing out the failed "logic" of the left and rank hypocrisy of liberal icons. Time after time history points to the fact that liberals are, for the most part, just flat out wrong. Yet now I must admit I'm starting to wonder if they are right about one thing - and one thing only: George Bush IS an idiot.

In every poll I have seen, the vast majority of tax paying, voting, LEGAL Americans want drastic measures taken to secure our borders AND oppose blanket amnesty for those who ignore our immigration laws. Most of the people in my social circles don't understand why the FELONY of falsified documentation seems to be routinely ignored for illegal aliens. I personally don't see why an illegal alien would price themselves out of their existing job market by becoming "legal" and forcing their employer to pay higher wages and taxes. And don't get me started on drug smuggling, MS-13, terrorists, or the influx of 3rd world diseases that were effectively eradicated from this country decades ago. Despite this, George Bush continues to pursue and open-border, pro-amnesty policy. As far as I am concerned, the best possible outcome for legal citizens is not comprehensive reform, but congressional deadlock, and enforcement of existing laws.

Recently I have come across three interesting web sites. I heartily recommend them all. The first is Stop the Invasion (http://stoptheinvasion.blogspot.com/). This one of the best blogs I have seen in a long time and certainly a fabulous resource for how those we give the consent to govern have voted on our behalf. The research and analysis on this site is five-star, and it is dedicated to real immigration reform.

The next is NumbersUSA (http://www.numbersusa.com). It provides report cards on elected officials as well as information on the negative effects of illegal aliens. They appear non-partisan and refer to themselves as an "immigration-reduction organization."

Last is Send-A-Brick (http://www.send-a-brick.com/). Pictured above are the bricks I am mailing to President Bush and my House Rep, John Tierney (who has a horrible voting record on illegal immigration issues). I suggest you visit all these sites and consider taking some action. Letters, faxes and emails do get counted. Below is the letter I attached to the brick I am sending to W. I suspect I'll be getting some strange looks when I go to the Post Office at lunchtime!

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush,

I am a lifelong conservative and have supported you since the presidential race in 2000. While in office, I have backed your tenure, supporting the tax cuts, our military in Afghanistan and Iraq, and your efforts to overhaul Social Security. Even when I have disagreed with some of your actions (eg: signing McCain-Feingold, your inability to control government growth and spending) I have been an advocate of your administration.

That support however, is now over. Why? Your refusal to give any meaningful priority to the security of our national borders. I do not accept your argument that immigration reform must solve all issues in one comprehensive (A.K.A. big government) solution. The invasion of the US by 12 million illegal aliens brings a tremendous strain on our nations law enforcement, health care and other resources.

Your "comprehensive immigration reform" is AMNESTY, plain and simple. Your assertion that those who came here illegally must go to the back of the line is MEANINGLESS when that line stays inside the US border. It also is a slap in the face to the law-abiding immigrants who must leave the US as a requirement of their work visas. I personally know several who work as engineers and as physicians who have been forced to leave the US in the past few years because of this. Your solutions reward criminal behavior and punish those who follow the rules.

You once said, "family values do not stop at the Rio Grande." While family values may not stop there, our national security certainly starts there. Your negligence of our porous borders is almost criminal in a post September 11th world. I refuse to support in any way - with my vote or with funding, any elected official that does not rigorously support a secure border first, before addressing any other issues related to immigration and illegal aliens. Enclosed you will find a brick. It is my donation to a secure border, and a reminder of your abandonment of your conservative constituency. I hope that you will reverse your insane open-borders, pro-amnesty policies. Otherwise, I will be staying home on election day this year and in 2008. If a Democratic White House and Senate is what it takes to purge the Republicans of pro-amnesty, big government RINOs, then so be it. Remember, no wall – no vote!

Sincerely,

Tuff

Read My Lips: "NO NEW AMNESTY!"

2006-05-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

Those of you outside of New England might not know this, but the northeast corner of the People's Republic of MA has been getting pounded for the past several days with hellacious rain. It has been non-stop. Massachusetts and New Hampshire have declared a state of emergency, as has the southernmost county in Maine. I was surprised to see my hometown listed among the carnage of rainfall reports around the state last night, receiving over 12 inches of rain with this last storm and now another 3+ inches is in the forecast thru this week. As I look at the regional NEXRAD out of Taunton, I can see two more nice orange bands lining up Cape Ann and the North Shore in their sites.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060515/D8HK5HI00.html

In addition to the tasks associated with our oldest child's proms, recital and high school graduation party later this month, our dog recently had an operation to remove a toe that had a nasty growth on it. Zak has been walking with a noticeable limp from tenderness in his right front paw, and I have been walking with a noticeable limp from tenderness in my ass where my wallet used to be. Adding salt to the financial wound, for the next several days, we have to wrap our dog's bandaged paw in a plastic bag, put him on a leash and walk him out to the back yard to answer his call of nature. This has added a certain Je ne c'est quoi to the usual drudgery of my AM ritual since instead of just letting him out in morning, I am getting up 20 minutes early to stand in the darkness of bone-chilling downpours, cursing my canine while he sniffs for just the right spot to take a dump. From time to time he stares at me, two big brown eyes centered inside a big wet plastic cone, probably laughing inside - if dogs can do that. What used to take just a few seconds now takes the better part of a painful half an hour.

So, why am I whining about this situation? There is a point, believe it or not. The pain of my new morning routine and the pain of the time wasted is a perfect analogy for Bush's primetime speech on immigration reform I had to suffer through last night. While he spoke of "protecting our border" and even made a token gesture of utilizing the National Guard, I know (and most of you probably know) that it is cheap, hollow rhetoric. How do I know this? Simple, George "Open Border" Bush is a creature of habit. If you recall this tidbit from my last rant, Federal agents, in a well covered dog and pony show, arrested almost 1,200 illegal aliens and several managers who hired them. Where are they now?

For even before [Homeland Security czar] Chertoff had spoken (but not before blogger Michelle Malkin had predicted it), four-fifths of the illegals arrested had been ... released. Two hundred and seventy-five of them were deported. The rest were sent away in return for a promise to return for a court hearing. Many, probably most, will disappear. And since the government's computers were "down," their brush with immigration enforcement may not even be officially recorded.

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/67461.htm

And last night, Bush made these statements:

We are a Nation of laws, and we must enforce our laws...

For many years, the government did not have enough space in our detention facilities to hold them while the legal process unfolded. So most were released back into our society and asked to return for a court date. When the date arrived, the vast majority did not show up. This practice, called "catch and release," is unacceptable -- and we will end it...

At the same time, we must ensure that every illegal immigrant we catch crossing our southern border is returned home....

As a result of these actions, we have ended "catch and release" for illegal immigrants from some countries....

And Bush expects us to believe him? And for what country have we stopped this "catch and release" policy? Liechtenstein?? Even his childish shell game with the National Guard is destined for uselessness:

Guard units will not be involved in direct law enforcement activities -- that duty will be done by the Border Patrol.

Will Bush ask the Guard get tea and crumpets ready for the overstretched Border Patrol when they come off of their shifts?

And we will give state and local authorities the specialized training they need to help federal officers apprehend and detain illegal immigrants.

...funny how he did not address the 'Sanctuary Cities', like Cambridge, Chicago and San Francisco. But the part that really frosted my walletless butt was his setup for the big amnesty program:

Fourth, we must face the reality that millions of illegal immigrants are already here. They should not be given an automatic path to citizenship. This is amnesty, and I oppose it. Amnesty would be unfair to those who are here lawfully -- and it would invite further waves of illegal immigration.

Some in this country argue that the solution is to deport every illegal immigrant -- and that any proposal short of this amounts to amnesty. I disagree. It is neither wise nor realistic to round up millions of people, many with deep roots in the United States, and send them across the border. There is a rational middle ground between granting an automatic path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant, and a program of mass deportation. That middle ground recognizes that there are differences between an illegal immigrant who crossed the border recently -- and someone who has worked here for many years, and has a home, a family, and an otherwise clean record. I believe that illegal immigrants who have roots in our country and want to stay should have to pay a meaningful penalty for breaking the law...to pay their taxes...to learn English...and to work in a job for a number of years. People who meet these conditions should be able to apply for citizenship -- but approval would not be automatic, and they will have to wait in line behind those who played by the rules and followed the law. What I have just described is not amnesty -- it is a way for those who have broken the law to pay their debt to society, and demonstrate the character that makes a good citizen.

So basically, if you have been adept at breaking our immigration laws, you will be "punished" by being put at the back of the line - but a line that STAYS IN THE US! That sounds alot like amnesty to me.

Tonight, I want to speak directly to Members of the House and the Senate: An immigration reform bill needs to be comprehensive, because all elements of this problem must be addressed together - or none of them will be solved at all.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/may2006/nf20060515_7922.htm

Who says George? Secure the border first. Make sure it is secure and THEN let's talk about what to do with the people who have ignored our immigration laws. In a post 9/11 America, our negligence of the porous border situation is nothing short of criminal. The steps needed to secure our country are the same ones you need to keep mice out of the house (something I've learned much about over the years). Step 1, remove the food supply. Step 2, arm the perimeter - heavily and permanently. The order is unimportant. In fact, neither step is time-bound. Both must be constant. Even if you are for letting Pedro into the country to pick your lettuce, then drugs, terrorists and criminals are going to use the same open border like a tick on a mouse's back.

The fact that this fundamental security issue is virtually ignored by every elected official, with the possible exception of Tom Tancredo and House Republicans, is what makes listening to Bush's 'tough talk' so agonizing. Apprehension of employers who hire illegals has completely disappeared under Bush, and there is nothing other than useless gesturing to mark the start of the election season the way the changing leaves mark the fall.

http://www.teamamericapac.org/

What Bush, Kennedy, and the rest of the open border crowd don't seem to realize is that when it comes to problems associated with amnesty and uncontrolled borders - when it rains, it pours.

A Day Without Illegal Aliens? How About a Decade Instead??

2006-05-02T07:04:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

A while back I posed this riddle to you:

Q: What is a racist?

A: A conservative who is winning an argument with a liberal.

Now it seems that I have adjust the answer to be:

A: Any citizen who thinks our immigration laws should be enforced.

I do not think I have seen a non-terrorism issue unify the taxpaying, (legally) registered voters of this country like the illegal alien issue has in recent months. And if not for the House of Representatives (thank God for short terms in the House), we would probably all be be looking at a US flag with thick red and green vertical stripes on it. It is absolutely stunning to me, not only that the White House and Senate are ready to replace Uncle Sam with Pedro the Pinata, but that I am being labelled a racist simply because I believe in the rule of law (unlike Bush and the US Senate). Under this definition, the vast majority of legitimate Americans, on both sides of the political chasm, are racist as well. What most of us "racists" want is pretty simple and quite frankly should have been done by now:

1. Stop the uncontrolled flow of people coming into this country. A nasty wall or fence would be good, along with the National Guard. Anti-personnel land mines would be a nice touch, but not necessary - yet.
2. Punish hard those who knowingly hire illegal aliens. (Hint: Pretend they evaded taxes.)
3. Repeal the "Anchor Baby Amendment" which subverts our immigration laws.
4. Make English the official language of the US.

...then we can talk about "temporary guest workers."

I find my moniker of "racist" as quite odd since, assuming I was not betrothed to the lovely and charming Mrs. Tuff (a semi-frequent reader of my blog), I would never kick Selma Hayek out of bed for eating galletas. Does that sound racist to you? Sexist maybe, but definitely not racist. In addition, my issue has never been with immigrants, regardless of their origin. My issue has been with the problems that come from uncontrolled illegal immigration.

Our nation has to be the one to determine when and if we allow foreign nationals to enter this country. When our economy is strong, we allow more. When the economy hits a cyclical skid, we allow less. This has to be left up to America - period, not the whims of those who cannot improve the situation in their homelands. In fact, if the desire to enforce our immigration laws was racist, then why are black activists joining the Minutemen to protest the virtually unchecked flood of illegals aliens over our southern border?

Black Activists Join To March With Minutemen
Apr 23, 2006 7:54 am US/Pacific

/(CBS)/ /LOS ANGELES/ Several black activists plan to join members of the Minutemen Project to protest illegal immigration, which organizer Ted Hayes touted as the "biggest threat to blacks in America since slavery."

http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_113105613.html

It's funny how when you reward a particular behavior, you seem to get more of it:

Guest-Worker Hopes Spark Rush To Border
Apr. 12, 2006 11:31 AM

*NOGALES, Mexico (AP)*—At a shelter overflowing with migrants airing their blistered feet, Francisco Ramirez nursed muscles sore from trekking through the Arizona desert - a trip that failed when his wife did not have the strength to go on..... The shelter’s manager, Francisco Loureiro, said he has not seen such a rush of migrants since 1986, when the United States allowed 2.6 million illegal residents to get American citizenship. This time, the draw is a bill before the U.S. Senate that could legalize some of the 11 million people now illegally in the United States while tightening border security.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0412mexico-border-rush12-ON.html

Even what appears to have been a recent "crackdown" on illegal aliens and those who hire them was little more than a cheesy attempt by the Bush administration pandering to what used to be it's base.

And last Wednesday federal agents "swooped" on plants in 26 states belonging to IFCO, a U.S. subsidiary of a Dutch firm supplying wood pallets and plastic containers to industry, and arrested 1,187 illegal immigrant workers. Seven former and current IFCO managers were also charged with employing illegal aliens. The next day, Homeland Security czar Michael Chertoff held a press conference to stress that such tough enforcement of immigration law, internally as well as at the border, would now be the rule.

Having established its willingness to crack down on illegality, the administration's political machine crossed its fingers and hoped that this display would now help passage of the "Not an Amnesty" law. All this was not only timely; it was powerfully symbolic. What it symbolized, however, was not the tough enforcement of immigration law but its colander-like leaky ineffectiveness.

For even before Chertoff had spoken (but not before blogger Michelle Malkin had predicted it), four-fifths of the illegals arrested had been ... released. Two hundred and seventy-five of them were deported. The rest were sent away in return for a promise to return for a court hearing. Many, probably most, will disappear. And since the government's computers were "down," their brush with immigration enforcement may not even be officially recorded.

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/67461.htm

I wonder if W's administration equates their drooping poll numbers to the abnegation of their conservative base? Even compared to the Clinton administration, the enforcement of immigration laws under Bush has been not just "liberal" but downright "socialist." From the same article:

The Clinton administration in fact managed some (albeit patchy) "internal" enforcement of employer sanctions. For instance, the period 1995-1997 saw 10,000 to 18,000 worksite arrests of illegals a year. Some 1,000 employers were served notices of fines for employing them. Under the Bush administration, however, worksite arrests fell to 159 in 2004 - with the princely total of *three* notices of intent to fine served on employers. Thus, worksite arrests under President Bush have fallen from Clintonian levels by something like 97 per cent - even though 9/11 occurred in the meantime.

Amidst all this, May 1 was designated as "A Day Without Immigrants." Notice how they try to guilt us into feeling bad by not calling it "A Day Without Illegal Aliens." We have gone from calling them what they are, illegal aliens, to "illegal immigrants", to "undocumented workers", to "temporary guest workers." And the press has never questioned the nomenclature of "A Day Without Immigrants." Why is that? Are they stupid? Do they not know that most Americans comprehend the difference between legal and illegal immigration? It couldn't be that they are promoting an agenda, could it? And if we cannot trust the media to see through this razor thin veneer of terminology, how are we supposed to believe the idea that these illegal aliens are all "hard working" and "peaceful?" Now, for the bonus prize, does anyone out there know what other special anniversary May 1st is? These guys know the ANSWER:

Rally organizer tied to Marxist party

By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
April 11, 2006

One of the key organizers of the immigration protests and rallies nationwide, including yesterday's in Washington, is a group whose leaders are tied to the Workers World Party, a Marxist organization that has expressed support for dictators Kim Jong-il of North Korea and Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition, which also has proposed a nationwide boycott on May 1 to protest congressional efforts at immigration reform and border security, is an offshoot of the International Action Coalition, an anti-capitalism group founded by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

...Its March 25 rally in Los Angeles and its planned "Great American Boycott of 2006" on May 1 are part of a series of large-scale events that the coalition hopes will sway lawmakers to put millions of illegal aliens in the United States on track toward permanent residency and U.S. citizenship. ANSWER has denounced attempts by Congress to secure the United States' borders and criminalize illegal aliens as "racist," saying all working people should back full amnesty for all of the estimated 10 million to 12 million illegal aliens now in the United States.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060410-094710-4817r.htm

...Ahhh, anarchists, communists and illegal aliens. Could it get any better? Sure! How about throwing Islamic groups with ties to terrorism into the mix:

Joining illegal immigrants in their march on May 1: radical Islamic front groups the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), the Muslim Students Association (MSA), the Muslim American Society (MAS), and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR): CAIR are now in the mix- will march with illegals.

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=20300_Muslim_Groups_Will_March_with_Illegals&only

And just in case you think I've gone off the conspiracy deep end, here are some photos of the May 1st rallies that you WON'T see in the NY Times:

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005112.htm
http://forums.pwchicago.com/viewtopic.php?p=5392#5392

So you have a group of communists and anarchists who are relatively small in number but well organized. Add to that a large number of not-so-organized illegal aliens who want to continue living off of your tax dollars. Then throw in other anti-US fringe groups and what do you get? A Reuters puff-piece about the countless throngs of people demanding "immigration rights."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A one-day nationwide strike and business boycott gathered steam on Monday to demand legal rights for millions of illegal immigrants, with many U.S. businesses shutting down voluntarily to avoid disruption.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060501/ts_nm/usa_immigration_dc_4

All of this brings to mind one critical question I cannot seem to find an answer to. Why do all these other countries suck so much? Swarms of illegals are coming from south of our border waving their national flags and demanding "rights" (ie. your cash). Well, why can't their countries develop the things that attract so many immigrants to this country? You know, highways, rail systems, universities, hospitals, and growing economies? According to most of the world, America is evil - right? We are little more than war mongering, child murdering, baby harp seal clubbing (no wait - those are Canadians), fat, lazy Americans. Why would anyone want to live here, among us? It's not like these nations are poor in natural resources. Mexico's oil export revenues are expected to reach $25 billion in 2006 according to the US DOE.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/opecnon.html

And this report was done in June of 2005, before the most recent runup in oil prices.

The fact is, there is no answer to why illegal aliens should be given any preferential treatment, and trying to do so is a slap in the face to those struggling to immigrate to the US legally. One of whom, a co-worker, I had to say goodbye to last week because work visa restrictions forced him to leave the country for at least one year. And he contributes more to this nation and our economy than someone picking heads of lettuce. This is just one example of the people I have met in the medical and technology industries who have been forced to leave the US while illegal aliens have been swarming over the Rio Grande by the millions. But try to explain to people that your issue is about those illegally entering this country regardless of their skin color and you are still pegged as another Sen. Robert Byrd.

All of this is too much to think about right now. Maybe I'll peruse Selma Hayek's website for the rest of the day.... Ewww! How racist of me!

What Would Jack Bauer Do?

2006-03-27T06:28:00.000-08:00

Hello Thinkers!

I've never been one to be on the bleeding edge of TV programming -especially from the non-cable networks e.g. ABC, NBC, FOX, WB, et al. (Mrs. Tuff would argue that I've never been on the bleeding edge of anything besides a steak, but that's another story.) A few years ago it was suggested that I watch Fox's 24. I didn't. I heard more buzz about it. I still didn't watch it. Yet for whatever reason, earlier this year I sat down on a Monday evening with a martini (yes, I drink on school nights), tuned into FOX, and have been living in Bauerville ever since.

Apparently I'm not alone. If I'm reading this data right, 24 is immensely popular according to Nielsen ratings, taking a close number 2 consistently in it's time slot.

http://www.tvweek.com/page.cms?pageId=10

There are also blogs dedicated to the show, such as http://blogs4bauer.blogspot.com/ which follows the trail of cadavers and empty shell casings each week and adds its own 'unique' take on the program.

The show is well written, suspenseful and it sprinkles in enough - ahem, scenery from time to time, to keep things interesting. Yes, you do have to take some of it with a grain of salt when you realize that Jack Bauer can get from LAX to any location in greater Los Angeles in 15 minutes or less. Despite this, 24 seems to have developed a cult following that borders on addiction. A couple weeks ago, I think I figured out why.

Jack Bauer was interrogating a bad guy played by Peter Weller, a.k.a. RoboCop, who knew information that would help locate massive amounts of a lethal nerve agent about to be unleashed by terrorists on metro LA. With his quarry handcuffed on a couch and time running out, Jack points his semiauto at RoboCop's knee and tells him to start singing. However, RoboCop is unphased and tells Jack to go ahead and shoot - that he won't divulge any secrets. Realizing that crippling this perp won't get him what he needs, Jack points his gun at RoboCop's innocent wife and pulls the trigger, shattering her femur to get the conversation back on track.

What did this represent? A damn the 'torpedoes of protocol' approach to getting the job done. A situation where the end clearly justifies the means. A character willing to do the ugly, nasty things needed to advance the greater good - in this case, saving countless lives.

(Note to self: next time our 17 year old forgets to clean her room, Mrs. Tuff gets it.)

These concepts, which seemingly appeal to working and tax-paying Americans, appear to have been lost on the majority of todays Lamestream Media. But I guess that happens when your sole focus is bringing down a president you didn't vote for. Just ask John Green, an exec from ABC, who sent this message from his blackberry after a Bush Kerry debate in 2004:

Are you watching this? Bush makes me sick. If he uses the "mixed messages" line one more time, I'm going to puke.

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash9ab.htm

Hmmm. I guess there's no liberal bias in that newsroom.

Anyway, back to that means/end thing. The NY Times, in their fervor to keep flogging the Abu Ghiraib dead horse, ran a story about an alleged iconic figure from the prison. They also ran an "oh yea" story about the torture of Tom Fox. Who's he? Funny you would ask that:

Tom Fox, a member of the anti-American Christian Peacekeeper Teams, has been murdered by terrorists in Iraq who held him hostage for more than three months, the New York Times reported on Saturday. On Sunday, the paper carried a follow-up report that Fox "had apparently been tortured by his captors before being shot multiple times in the head and dumped on a trash heap next to a railway line in western Baghdad."

The story of Fox's death ran on page A8; the story of his torture, on page A10. So what made the Times' front page on Saturday? Yet another story about Abu Ghraib.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110008085#torture

So when a westerner gets tortured and executed by Jihadists (and for what reason?), the story gets buried, even if he doesn't. But when there is a chance to rehash an old story about how the US military tries to extract intel that may save a serviceman's life, that gets top billing. Oh, and the subject of the NY Times front page story? Ooops!:

In an e-mail interview, a spokesman for CID confirmed that investigators had concluded the photograph shown on the front page of the Times was not Qaissi. "We have had several detainees claim they were the person depicted in the photograph in question," the CID spokesman told Salon. "Our investigation indicates that the person you have cited from the NY Times is not the detainee who was depicted in the photograph."

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/03/14/torture_photo/

Looks like the NY Times editorial staff went back to the Dan Bin Rather school of fact-checking for a graduate degree.

I don't know that many people in my social circles who would object to the "torture" of Jihadists, especially if it was done for the purpose of saving the lives of our overseas servicemen. I know for a fact that Jack Bauer wouldn't care. Yet the NY Times and other news media outlets just won't let this story go even long after the rest of America (again of the working and tax-paying variety) puts whatever objection to these actions they might have had behind them.

Another example of the Bauerism of America is the public reaction to the NSA wiretaps, and the divergent media frothing over the issue.

WASHINGTON - President Bush's monthlong campaign to convince the public that the government's eavesdropping program is an essential anti-terrorism tool appears to have made an impact, a new AP-Ipsos poll suggests.

Some 48 percent now support the administration's program to monitor - without a court warrant - some U.S.-based calls with suspected links to terrorists. That's up from 42 percent last month. Half now say the administration should have to get a warrant, down from 56 percent one month ago.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,184314,00.html

Personally I have no problem with the US government listening to my next phone call with Jihadists aiming to destroy America. But apparently, some students at Georgetown University, and the press that covered this story, do. Earlier this year several GU students interrupted a speech by AG Gonzales, holding up a banner that read:

"Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither" Ben Franklin

However, Ben Franklin's quote was:

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

The version that appears on the Statue of Liberty's pedestal reads:

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/004368.htm

Hmmm, back to the books, kids. Funny how the press didn't correct these young prodigies. I have to believe that the hijacking of airplanes and the deaths of 3,000 innocent people rises above the level of a "little safety", temporary or otherwise.

So amid a flood of whining, defeatist comments from the press about "illegal wiretaps" and the fury of captured Jihadists being "tortured" or "humiliated" by scantily clad female interrogators, is it hard to believe that a Jack Bauer character appeals to Joe Six-Pack? I don't think so. While the banal anti-US vexation continues to spew from the NY Times and their idiot cronies bemoaning the horror of captured Jihadists forced to listen to Christina Aguilara, countless households across the US are cheering Jack Bauer as he shoots, stabs and chokes his way through a littany of terrorists. At least I can think of one American household where that is happening anyway. Meanwhile, NY Times editors are queuing up their Tivos for the next episodes of Project Runway and Oprah.

So is the Times making another disconnect with the American public? Could be - or maybe they are still too busy going over the exit polls from the 2004 election. I could go on with more examples of their defeatist liberal bias, but it's Monday and my new favorite show is on soon.

What Happens When You Don't Take Your Meds.

2006-02-21T06:40:00.000-08:00

Hello Thinkers.

Yes it has been a while hasn't it? For the past several weeks, work and domestic obligations have been keeping my tempered prose off the wire. However the past few days have brought the northeast into the fiery grip of global warming. With temperatures struggling to get out of the 20's, yours truely has been able to catch up on some lost nap time as well as various news stories. While there are many items of late worthy of my loving attention (e.g. the neanderthals revolt over cave drawing of Mohammed and the triple witching of Dick Cheney, guns and his snubbing of the Lame-Stream media) one seemingly trivial blurb caught my ear during the Sunday politial news shows. It was an exchange between Chris Wallace from FNC and Sen. Bayh of the Abortion Party on Fox News Sunday. First the setup question:

WALLACE: ...When Democrats disagree with the president about the NSA wiretaps, about the Patriot Act, about the conduct of the war in Iraq, shouldn't voters continue to see them as too weak and too soft?

BAYH: No, Chris, I don't think so. And the perception is one that is inaccurate. But if it's a perception that most Americans perceive, it's one we've got to address. ...Too often we Democrats are viewed as being weak. We need to be both tough and smart.

OK - nothing earth shatterring so far. In fact Sen. Bayh, who actually seemed fairly grounded in reality has not said anything any sane person would disagree with. But here comes the kicker:

WALLACE: But, Senator Bayh, I just — I mean, you, obviously, as an individual senator can take any position you want, but the fact is that your Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, said at a news conference we've got the tape, we killed the Patriot Act.

It was Nancy Pelosi who talked about getting out of Iraq. I mean, this isn't image or spin. These are positions taken by the leaders of your congressional party.

BAYH: Well, we're about to reauthorize the Patriot Act. There was an attempt to filibuster it this week. It was defeated. I think only three votes supported that. So the vast majority of Democrats, Chris, are in favor of protecting this country.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,185343,00.html

Let's repeat that last sentence from Sen. Bayh, shall we?

"So the vast majority of Democrats, Chris, are in favor of protecting this country."

...WELL THANK CHRIST FOR THAT, HUH?

The fact that Sen. Bayh felt the need to say that speaks volumes about the Abortion Party. Apparently that sentence means that there is a non-trivial number of Democrats who are in fact fully opposed to protecting this country. The donkey has been hit with this brick so many times, yet it refuses to see the next brick coming each time it is raised. Only the shrewedest of politicians from the Abortion Party (ie. Sir Hillary) know that the calculus of sweeping the primaries means decimation in a general election.

Remember last December when a passenger on American Airlines flight 924, claimed to have a bomb while the plane was on the ground in Miami? He apparently forgot to take his meds - and what happened to him? And so it is with today's Abortion Party. While their collective collapse is not as quick as that of a man who has just caught several rounds of jacketed hollow points, it is just as certain.

Nancy Pelosi, the wild-eyed gal from the Senate (known by her closest friends as "no-blink"), believes that a thoroughly directionless organization is a *good* thing! You know, it's diverse!

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said yesterday that Democrats should not seek a unified position on an exit strategy in Iraq, calling the war a matter of individual conscience and saying differing positions within the caucus are a source of strength for the party.

Pelosi said Democrats will produce an issue agenda for the 2006 elections but it will not include a position on Iraq. There is consensus within the party that President Bush has mismanaged the war and that a new course is needed, but House Democrats should be free to take individual positions, she sad.

"There is no one Democratic voice . . . and there is no one Democratic position," Pelosi said in an interview with Washington Post reporters and editors.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/15/AR2005121501814.html

...And remember these fairly recent comments from the head of the DNC, Howard Dean:

(SAN ANTONIO) -- Saying the "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong," Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean predicted today that the Democratic Party will come together on a proposal to withdraw National Guard and Reserve troops immediately, and all US forces within two years.

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=C36A87B9-63A0-4CDE-AA91-B41571AFD3AF

Whether you agree with Dean or not, these statements are going to get him no further than the visitor lobby of the Oval Office. Does he honestly think that the majority of voting Americans are willing to support him with comments like this?

Now for the piece de resistence. Last December, the former (and if he gets his way, future) presidential candidate, John Francois Kerry appeared on CBS's Face the Nation. Bob Scheiffer asked Kerry about Joe Liberman's view of the Iraq war. Part of Kerry's response included this stunning tidbit:

You've got to begin to transfer authority to the Iraqis. And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs. Whether you like it or not...

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/face_120405.pdf

And this gigilo wonders why didn't connect with "middle America" in 2004. You just can't make this stuff up! US troops are now terrorizing Iraqi woman and children in the middle of the night... priceless!

So with their own words, you have seen how the Abortion Party leadership are anti-military, pacifist, directionless and defeatist. Now why is this a problem - albeit a comedic one? Simple. While Republican politicians are generally more in line with my personal views, and those of most voters, they are still politicans. With the Abortion Party spouting a "don't vote for us" message to sane Americans, our nation will move more and more to a single party system. While I do not believe the US will completely adopt this, the closer we move to it the more likely it is that the majority party will abuse its power. Out of control spending and thinking that having our nations port security managed by an operation headquartered in the UAE are just two examples.

So for God's sake Dems, get back into the mainstream and take your meds!!

2005: The Year in Haikus

2005-12-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

Hello Thinkers,

It is that time of year again. While not as politically heated as last year, 2005 certainly had its share of memories. From Howard Dean telling the nation that he "hates Republicans and everything they stand for," to Cindy Sheehan shattering her glass ceiling and becoming the most despised "Gold Star Mother" in America, it has been an interesting ride. What better way to celebrate the Christmas Season than to look back at the year in a way which will make every grammar school English teacher I had, roll in their sacred graves. May the nuns rest in peace.

Yes it is time for "2005: The Year in Haikus." The annual literary challenge for the Tuffster as he tries to cram as much slander as possible into three lines as emaciated as Mary-Kate Olsen. For those with a penchant for nostalgia, last year's Haikus are here:

As a reminder to those of you unfamiliar with Haikus, here are the three basic rules of format:

1. Haiku-poems consist of respectively 5, 7 and 5 syllables in three units. In Japanese, this convention is a must, but in English, which has variation in the length of syllables, this can sometimes be difficult.

2. Avoiding similes and metaphors.

3. Retaining Japanese values.

As was the case last year, I have decided to ignore rules 2 and 3 completely, and will only loosely follow rule 1. Once again, I have replaced rules 2 and 3 with the following Tuffbeingright-Haiku rule:

1A. Have fun at the expense of others.

So here they are - submitted for your perusal. The people and topics of the past year. "2005: The Year in Haikus."

Merry Christmas!
-Tuff

Brad Pitt
Bad flick, hot costar.
"No Jenn, we're just FRIENDS..."
Headboard goes THUNK! THUNK!

The "Torture" of Captured Muslim "Insurgents" by the US
Miring in dark cells.
"Get her boobs out of my face!!"
Scream the terrorists.

Nancy Pelosi
Human or robot?
Spin blathering mannequin.
Hey Nancy! Blink Dammit!!

Tookie Wiliams
Liberal hero.
"Slaughters four but hey, so what?"
Whew! Thank you Arnold!

Katie Couric
Biased as they get.
Useless aging news trollop,
But still a nice rack.

Cindy Sheehan
Nails on a chalkboard.
Your fifteen minutes are over!
The book signing abyss.

Dan Bin Rather
Poor liberal fool.
"Story of my dreams come true!
Run with it! Uhhh, oops..."

Ted Kennedy
White House dream crashes.
Like a full crystal tumbler,
Or a submerged Olds.

John Kerry
So close yet so far -
Take solace with TERR-AYY-SAH.
Wrap yourself in man-hands!

Global Warming
The sky is falling!
Bush and big oil are to blame.
Did you feel that draft?

Valerie Plame
Secret agent girl?
A Langley parking sticker -
Is on her windshield

Tsunami
Ocean ebbs curiously.
Hey! Wow! Let's go check it out!
Shhhh... Darwin at work.

The SCOTUS Imminent Domain Ruling
Liberal judges rule.
Sorry Gramps, we need taxes!
Here, have a doughnut.

Howard Dean
Proof of DNC folly.
The donkey maintains its slide.
Please keep him in '08.

Michael Jackson
I am innocent!
Here kid, have some Jesus Juice.
Let's play "Nude Twister."

Tom Cruise
Big star, new religion.
Ditches wife for younger meat.
No blood to the brain.

Our Pediatrician has an Agenda

2005-11-30T08:27:00.000-08:00

The human immune system is an amazing thing - when it works, anyway. I never knew this until Tuff Jr. was born, but apparently a newborn's "mature" immune system is inherited from the mother. This gives the child a fighting chance against the plethora of microscopic nasties out there while it grows and its own system gears up to take over. It's a pretty ingenious mechanism, until your kid starts mingling with other infantile petri dishes and brings home their first cold.

And so it has been at Castle Tuff these past few weeks. Sweatshirts of mine that once were monotone were quickly changed into groovy tie-dyes of baby phlegm and drool that Jerry Garcia could not have designed as dada and mama stayed up trying to get our son to sleep. As luck would have it, Tuff Jr. was scheduled for his one-year doctor visit and vaccinations just as his worst symptoms were subsiding. We had the usual questions about the shots he was to receive, side effects, thimerosal content, etc. but before anyone addressed them, we received some sheets of paper that were "about the immunizations." What we received were three sheets of paper. Two of them described the pending injections and one of them was from the American Academy of Pediatrics, titled: "1 to 2 Years, Safety for Your Child." It was the first page.

Just below the title was the following information:

"Did you know that injuries are the leading cause of death of children younger than 4 years in the United States? Most of these injuries can be prevented."

So, as a concerned - and often paranoid father, I continued to read. This paper then went on to list the preventable fatal injuries apparently most common to young children. I guess I should not have been surprised at what I read next, but I was. The very first preventable injury listed was:

"Firearm Hazards - Children in homes where guns are present are in more danger of being shot by themselves, their friends, or family members than of being injured by an intruder. It is best to keep all guns out of the home. Handguns are especially dangerous. If you chose to keep a gun, keep it unloaded and in a locked place separate from the ammunition. Ask if the homes where your child visits or is cared for have guns and how they are stored."

After this were other potential and avoidable lethal hazards for children. In order, they were:

Poisonings
Falls
Burns
Drownings
And Remember Car Safety

(I am not listing the discussion following these topics for brevity.)

So being the "Think Globally, Shoot Locally" kind of guy I am, I decided to do a little research. The most recent compiled data I could find to list causes of death for age groups was the "National Vital Statistic Report" for 2000 from the CDC.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr50/nvsr50_15.pdf

Lo and behold, what did I find?

On table 9 - page 27, "Accidents" was the leading causes of death of children 1-4 years old, just as the American Academy of Pediatrics said (12.1 per 100,000). But then, on table 11 - page 34, the category of "Accidents" is broken down as follows:

Transportation accidents: 4.6 deaths per 100,000
Drowning/Submersion: 3.3 deaths per 100,000
Smoke/Fire Exposure: 1.9 deaths per 100,000
Accidental Falls: 0.2 deaths per 100,000
Poisonings: 0.2 deaths per 100,000
Other: 1.8 deaths per 100,000

Now since the American Academy of Pediatrics saw fit to list "Firearm Hazards" first in their paper, where might you imagine that this cause of death fits on the scales of the CDC report?

Accidental discharge of firearms: *

Yep! A freaking asterisk! That means according to the footnotes of table 11, the figure "does not meet the standards of reliability or precision." Which means it is BASICALLY ZERO per 100,000. And since "Falls" are listed at 0.2, we have to assume that the accidental firearm hazard is far enough below this to earn the coveted asterisk.

So let's be good sports and include another related category from the same table of the CDC report shall we?

Discharge of firearms, undetermined intent: *

There it is again! That damned asterisk!

Now look at the list from the CDC. Transportation accidents, at 4.6 per 100,000 are far and away the leading cause of death for children 1-4 (Of the 4.6, motor vehicle accidents comprised 4.3). Yet the American Academy of Pediatrics saw fit to put that cause last. And while discharge of firearms (accidental or undetermined origin) didn't ever register in the CDC report, the American Academy of Pediatrics put that first - presumably because it presents the greatest danger.

Why?

Let's take a closer look at the helpful insight from the American Academy of Pediatrics:

"Children in homes where guns are present are in more danger of being shot by themselves, their friends, or family members than of being injured by an intruder."

Pretty persuasive "fact" huh? The original argument by the American Academy of Pediatrics is in regards to children in the home of a gun owner (legal or illegal? They don't say). Then they provide a statistic that a child can be shot by "themselves, their friends, or family members," implying of course that it is the parent's gun being used. It's a shame they don't state this though, eh? It is also interesting that they include the group "friends." However as is pointed out by John Lott, "friends" or "acquaintances" can mean many things:

"You are referring to the often-cited statistic that 58 percent of murder victims are killed by either relatives or acquaintances. However, what most people don't understand is that this "acquaintance murder" number also includes gang members killing other gang members, drug buyers killing drug pushers, cabdrivers killed by customers they picked up for the first time, prostitutes and their clients, and so on. "Acquaintance" covers a wide range of relationships."

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/493636.html

Lets look at what else this handout to parents said:

"Handguns are especially dangerous."

How do they know this? There is no data from the report that indicates whether handguns, rifles or BB guns cause the most accidental deaths, since the category has an asterisk. How are they getting this data?

I believe that this statement outlines their overall motivation:

"It is best to keep all guns out of the home."

Why on earth would the American Academy of Pediatrics give top billing to a cause of death for children that does not even register with the CDC? And why do they list the primary cause of accidental death for this same age group last, on the back side of the handout? They even give it an "oh yea" level of importance by stating, "And Remember Car Safety" - like I'm going to forget and leave Tuff Jr. on the roof of my car when I pull out of the garage.

The only feasible explanation is that this organization has an agenda - and apparently this agenda is more important to them then our children's health. It seems that the American Academy of Pediatrics has caught a political virus that they would be better off being immunized against. Time to turn your head and cough.

Prince Charles and "Islam's Strengths"

2005-11-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

Prince Charles: Ugly AND Stupid

You know, I'm beginning to think that Prince Charles and Al Gore were separated at birth. Ann Coulter once aptly described Al Gore as the token white guy who can't clap his hands in rhythm with the choir or the rest of the congregation. Her data points on this fitting analogy were his decision to grow a beard (thus enhancing his manliness) shortly before Islamic terrorists attacked the US and his decision to talk about the evils of global warming on a bitterly cold January 2004 day in New York City.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110004568

And now Prince Charles, stumbling down a similar vein, has decided the US has been a bit too hard on Islam since 9/11:

The Prince, who leaves on Tuesday for an eight-day tour of the US, has voiced private concerns over America's "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam's strengths.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/30/nchas30.xml

Hmmm... I wonder which of "Islam's strengths" we are all missing out on. Could it be the tolerance Islam has for alternative lifestyles?

Iran Hangs Gays:

Two gay Iranian teenagers -- one 18, the other believed to be 16 or 17, were executed this week for the "crime" of homosexuality, on July 19. The two youths -- identified only by their initials as M.A. and A.M., were hanged on July 19 in Edalat (Justice) Square in the city of Mashhad in north-eastern Iran, on the orders of Court No. 19. The hanging of the teens was also reported by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/22/102249/246
http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2005/07/iran_executes_2.html

...OK, I guess that's not it. Maybe one of "Islam's strengths" is the way it helps the victims of sexual abuse, like rape and incest:

Almost two months after having hanged a 16 years-old girl, the ruling Iranian ayatollahs are to commit another human crime by condemning another young girl to stoning.

According to Iranian and foreign press, Zhila Izadi, a 13 years old girl from the north-western city of Marivan had been condemned to death by stoning after being found that she had been pregnant from her 15 years-old brother. ...

While Zhila as been sentenced to stoning, her brother, jailed in Tehran, is to receive only 150 lashes, in accordance with Islamic laws.

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/002804.php
http://www.iran-press-service.com/cgi-bin/moxiebin/bm_tools.cgi?print=243;s=1_17;site=1

Hmmm... I guess that's not it either. Maybe one of "Islam's strengths" is the way they help the mentally disabled:

A teenage girl with a mental age of eight is facing the death penalty for prostitution in Iran. The trial comes only four months after the hanging of another mentally ill girl for sex before marriage in a case that has prompted a human rights lawyer to prepare a charge of wrongful execution against the presiding judge.

The girl, known as Leyla M, is in prison while the Supreme Court decides on her "acts contrary to chastity", among the most serious charges under Iranian law. Under the penal code, girls as young as nine and boys as young as 15 can be executed.

In an interview on a Persian-language website, the 19-year-old says she was forced into prostitution by her mother at the age of eight. Amnesty International refers to reports that say she was repeatedly raped, bore her first child aged nine and was passed from pimp to pimp before having another three children.

She told the website: "The first time I was taken to a man's house by my mum I was eight. It was a horrible night and I cried a lot but then my mum came the next day and took me home. She bought me chocolate and cheese curls."

http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/004290.php

All right, let's just say that part about the post-child-rape chocolate and cheese curls is one of "Islam's strengths" we Americans are failing to appreciate, and move on. Prince Charles continues:

The Prince raised his concerns when he met senior Muslims in London in November 2001. The gathering took place just two months after the attacks on New York and Washington. "I find the language and rhetoric coming from America too confrontational," the Prince said, according to one leader at the meeting.

Interesting. Now note that this article about Prince Charles came out just days after the president of Iran gave the world this bit of insight into what he believes is one of "Islam's strengths":

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday lambasted Israel and Zionism and quoted the late Ayatollah Khomeini calling for Israel to be "wiped out from the map."

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/10/27/ahmadinejad.reaction/

Funny, I don't recall Prince Charles mentioning anything about this. But just in case you think that these are just the actions of a rogue government which has 'hijacked' a religion of peace, take a peek across the pond to the lovely autumn in Paris where, as of this writing, riots and arson in predominantly Muslim suburbs have been going on for eight straight days. This violence is starting to form a ring around Paris - almost one would say, a crescent. This activity has culminated to date in what appears to be yet another one of "Islam's strengths":

A handicapped woman was doused with petrol and set on fire by youths during another night of rioting in Paris. The 56-year-old suffered third degree burns to 20% of her body in the attack. Witnesses said a youth poured petrol over the woman and then threw a Molotov cocktail on to the bus she was traveling on in the suburb of Sevran.

Other passengers were able to flee but she was unable to escape because of her disabilities.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-13457760,00.html

...Ahh, other passengers were able to flee, but not help the disabled s'more - how French of them. Tell you what Charles, how about you pack your bags and get the hell out - and that goes for the horse you rode in on (AKA Camilla) as well.

Miers Withdraws

2005-10-27T06:20:00.000-07:00

Obviously one of you forwarded my last post to the White House. Good Job!

The conservatives said they were upset by the emergence yesterday of two speeches in which Ms. Miers said that self-determination should guide decisions involving religion and the law, and in which she cited conservative betes noires Janet Reno and Justice Ginsburg as female role models.

http://www.nysun.com/article/22140

The only thing Ginsburg and Reno should be used for is... a reminder of what we are opposed to. (You though I was going to say "target practice" didn't you?)

Is Miers NUTS? Remember, Justice Ginsburg wants the age of consent lowered to 12, wants to legalize prostitution, believes "international opinion" should influence SCOTUS rulings, hates the concept of a 'Boys Club' and 'Girls Club', and believes co-ed prisons are a jim-dandy idea:

But the left is so reliant on its balance argument that when Republican senators, and this writer, pointed out that Justice Ginsburg had posited that prostitution was constitutionally protected and that the age of consent should be lowered to 12, the same people who have distorted the records of Bush judicial nominees echoed in outrage and obfuscation. The problem is that it's true.

In papers Ms. Ginsburg wrote while she worked for the ACLU, she argued against criminalized prostitution and said that it was "arguably within the zone of privacy protected by recent constitutional decisions." In lawyer-speak that means that she, at least, tended to think prostitution fell under the constitutional right to privacy. She did not say "some would argue" or that it was "arguably not within the zone of privacy." And if arguably Mrs. Ginsburg did not aim, as her defenders say, to lower the age of consent, she was guilty of sloppy lawyering when she recommended that a statutory-rape law that had the consent age at 16 be replaced by a proposal that had it at 12.

But that is not all. The woman nominated to replace Roe's leading dissenter, Byron White, was not only pro-abortion, she wrote that the federal government should be constitutionally required to subsidize elective abortions. She urged coed prisons; criticized the Boy and Girl Scouts for perpetuating "gender" stereotypes; and suggested that "Parents Day" might replace Mother's and Father's day. Ms. Ginsburg had also opined that a law restricting the rights of bigamists "is of questionable constitutionality since it appears to encroach impermissibly upon private relationships."

http://www.opinionjournal.com/nextjustice/?id=110007324

More on Miers actions are here:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/27/D8DGD4B82.html

...including this tidbit:

Other candidates mentioned frequently included conservative federal appeals court judges J. Michael Luttig, Priscilla Owen, Karen Williams, Alice Batchelder and Samuel Alito; Michigan Supreme Court justice Maura Corrigan; and Maureen Mahoney, a well-respected litigator before the high court.

Amen! Let the cat-fight begin!

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

2005-10-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

So, I've held off on this topic for as long as I can. Earlier this month, President Bush achieved what could be his most arrant consensus, permeating across all political boundaries with his nomination of Harriet Miers for Supreme Court Justice. Unfortunately, the consensus was "...huh?"

Having picked a virtual nobody from nowhere, W has sent journalists (and others) scattering like marbles tossed on an ice rink looking for clues on who Harriet Miers is and more importantly, what to make of her. Wisely, most democrats seem to be content to sit back and watch the drama unfold before them while conservative commentators bicker back and forth. Some, like Senate minority leader Harry Reid even warmed up to the selection, saying "I like Harriet Miers."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051003/pl_nm/bush_court_miers_dc

Hmmm... Bad juju.

So what is my take on this selection? Dump her!

I have unequivocally supported W in 2000 and 2004 for the primary reason of SCOTUS nominee selection. Granted, there were other reasons - not the least of which being the alternatives were hypocritical, special-interest whoring, liberal buffoons. No matter what else W did or didn't do, picking SCOTUS nominees was going to have the single biggest and most lasting effect on our nation and our day to day lives. And yes, bigger than a war in Iraq.

Bush promised to select nominees that were "in the mold of Scalia and Thomas." Great! That's what I want. However, as is well known among those who pay attention, stealth nominees have not been kind to conservatives.

If Harriet Miers is not a Scalia-Thomas clone, this will be a huge betrayal by those who elected Bush, who anticipated at least one opening on the SCOTUS bench during his term. This betrayal, in my opinion, could never be forgiven. Certainly there are alternatives to Miers with a much clearer judicial history.

Now lets say she is a Scalia-Thomas clone. She is also 60. One of the stated reasons Bush selected Miers is that he knows she won't change her opinion in 20 years. This I agree with since she likely will not be breathing in 20 years.

The fact is nobody knows about Harriet Miers. Addressing this, Bush has said, "trust me." While I do not question his whose overall honesty and integrity, I do not trust him with a matter this important. He simply does not have the track record for me to do this.

President Bush has betrayed me with his amnesty program for illegal aliens - oh sorry, "temporary guest workers." He betrayed me by signing that horrible attack on the first amendment called the McCain-Fiengold campaign finance reform bill. He betrayed me by showing no ability to control runaway discretionary spending. He has never vetoed anything. How "conservative" is he?

The new estimates show that, under Bush, total outlays will have risen $408 billion in just three years to $2.272 trillion: an enormous increase in federal spending of 22 percent.

Government agencies that Republicans were calling to be abolished less than 10 years ago, such as education and labor, have enjoyed jaw-dropping spending increases under Bush of 70 percent and 65 percent respectively.

http://www.cato.org/dailys/07-31-03.html

That article from the CATO institute is over 2 years old. Do you think these drunken sailor ways have improved?

I suspect that neither Bush, nor the Republican senate feels they can get a known, strong conservative nominee through - even though the improperly named "nuclear option" would allow them to do so, quite legally. Why? Because democrat senators, knowing their counterparts are enjoying the tax funded pig-trough as much as they do, will shut down all senate "business" (a.k.a. vote buying) if judicial fusion occurs.

I believe Bush selected Harriet Miers because he trusts and believes in her. I however, consider neither Bush, and by association Miers, conservatives.

How to Succeed Without Really Trying

2005-10-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers,

Some of you have asked me what I think about W's selection of Harriet Miers for Supreme Court Justice. I'll get that opinion out this week. In the words of President Bush, "Trust me."

However, this event developed over the weekend and with most interesting news articles, there are at least 3 other "unwritten stories" that are there if you look close enough, sometimes more. After a long Saturday morning of baby tending and removing computer viruses, I took a lunch break and hit the couch. I did the usual quick channel surf over a bowl of soup and stopped at FNC. There was a large crowd of black men breaking into a store with blaring text at the bottom of the screen indicating this was happening in Toledo, OH.

From what I saw and heard reported, an American Nazi group planned a march in Toledo protesting gang violence. (I'll leave the usual First Amendment debate out of this.) As one might expect, counter protests began and things got ugly fast. Fox had a live local feed from a helicopter camera crew as roving gangs of almost exclusively young black men looted a store, broke into a bar (eventually burning it) and terrorized the neighborhood. Once the violence started, the American Nazi group march was ended and they either left or were escorted from the area.

I quickly surfed the other news stations as the violence, captured live, was unfolding. I knew the answer to my unspoken question before I touched the remote. Only Fox was covering this.

So what was the headline from ABC News/AP on Sunday?:

"White Supremacists Riot in Toledo, Ohio"

and

"Mayor of Toledo, Ohio, Declares Emergency, Sets Curfew After Hundreds of White Supremacists Riot"

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1220242&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

...Now granted, I was not in Toledo to witness this. However, I did watch it for the better part of an hour and the only white people I saw (and hence the only ones who could be logically considered "White Supremacists") were the news people reporting it. So for this event, and the aforementioned news story, here are the "unwritten stories" that I see:

1. Misleading reporting - in this case outright lies.
2. Journalistic Sin of Omission.
3. A society doing the stupidest thing imaginable.
4. Case study: How to get the results you want with the least possible effort.

First there is 1. Misleading reporting. The headline of the article EXPLICITLY states that the rioters were "White Supremacists." In the interest of political correctness, ABC News and AP wants you believe that white supremacists were the ones who looted the stores, burned down a family tavern and rioted. They didn't.

Next, let's look at 2. Journalistic Sin of Omission. The ABC/AP article does little, if anything to inform you that the looting and arson was done by roving gangs of young black men - and not white supremacists as their headline says. Would this standard of reporting be the same if young white men rioted at a Louis Farrakhan march? Reading the article, you might be able to figure out what happened - or you might not.

TOLEDO, Ohio Oct 16, 2005 - Protesters at a white supremacists' march threw rocks at police, vandalized vehicles and stores and cursed the mayor for allowing the event. Mayor Jack Ford said when he and a local minister tried to calm the rioters Saturday, they were cursed and a masked gang member threatened to shoot him. At one point, the crowd reached 600 people, officials said.
...
Rioters set fire to 86-year-old Louis Ratajski's neighborhood pub, Jim & Lou's Bar, but he and his nephew escaped the flames.
...
One group of men pounded on a convenience store, and others overturned vehicles.
...
"It's exactly what they wanted," Ford said of the group that planned the march, which was canceled because of the rioting.
...
Officers wearing gas masks fired tear gas canisters and flash-bang devices designed to stun suspects, but the groups continued throwing rocks and bottles.
...
Finally, police marched shoulder-to-shoulder down the street shouting to people to stay inside, and the crowd of several hundred broke up.

...Also, of all the images that ABC News could put on their website, they chose one obscure enough to mask the features of the "protesters."

I do not, nor have I ever supported the American Nazi party. But if they were out to protest against your demographic, would you think the best response is arson and looting? This brings us to 3. A society doing the stupidest thing imaginable and 4. Case study: How to get the results you want with the least possible effort.

The best thing these "protesters" could have done was to prove the American Nazi party wrong. Instead, they chose to add credibility to the Nazi's argument. Just plain stupid. I'm certain the Nazi's were toasting their horrible success late into Saturday evening. Probably at about the same time ABC News and AP decided to throw their credibility out the window.

I expect ABC News will either rewrite or kill this link as it is a flagrant example of PC bias in their reporting. Check out these sites that are covering this and include screen shots of the original ABC/AP news story:

http://newsbusters.org/node/2277
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003733.htm

Damn Those Socialist Dolphins!

2005-09-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

The first time I saw this story on MSNBC, I was amazed. Eight dolphins swept out to sea by hurricane Katrina were found a few hundred yards off shore from their devastated aquarium. Workers from the aquarium had found them after a desperate search and were communicating with the animals - however the hell they do it.

GULFPORT, Miss. - In an 'unheard of' rescue operation, eight dolphins that were swept out of their oceanarium by Hurricane Katrina have been rediscovered hundreds of yards out at sea where trainers are tracking, feeding and caring for them.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9343538/

Being one who enjoys the ocean and the wildlife contained therein (especially blackened - or grilled with lemon, capers and butter) I was touched by the interaction taking place between diverging branches of the evolutionary tree. Once the amazement wore off, my thoughts were: Let them go free. They have earned it. They have been through enough! That was until I heard (and subsequently read) this statement from Moby Solangi, president of the Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport, Mississippi (no that name is not a joke):

"When we first saw them, they were really starving. When they saw their trainers, they were absolutely flipping."

Then it dawned on me. If these aquatic mammals could vote, they would be called sea-donkeys. Sure enough, further statements from Jeff Potter, a marine biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service concurred:

"More than likely, they've lost all their hunting skills, their social skills."

What a fitting analogy to the dolphins' bipedal peers in New Orleans. Neither animal has the ability to fend for itself. Both rely exclusively on the care and feeding from either aquarium handlers or the Democrat machine which has installed itself as overseer and master. However, at least the dolphins appear to have expressed some form of gratitude for the saving of their lives. In a September 10th interview on Fox News, Alicia Acuna and Bob Sellers interviewed a man whose useless ass was saved in an evacuation from New Orleans to Houston. The video of this interview is here:

http://thepoliticalteen.net/2005/09/10/fword/

Here is a partial transcript:

Alicia Acuna: Uh, the anchor in New York would like to know - his name is Bob - he would like to know what it is that you would like to happen. What do you want?

Unknown Man: What I would like to happen? I would like for them to give us at least $20,000 apiece [motions to girl on his arm], so we can, you know, get our life together, you know. We didn't ask to come on that that that bus slave... it's like a slave ship, it's like, you know, back in history, you know, they put us on a slave ship, they separated us from our family, they did it - You know, this is just modern day slavery, you know? Just give us what the f**k we deserve...

BOB SELLERS: Wh-wh-wh-whoa, woah... hold on. Hold on. That- that's, that's enough. I mean you've made your point, sir. We thank you very much for being with us, but Alicia?

Unknown Man: [Still talking off-camera] It's just like a slave ship...

Ahhhh, gratitude. And for those of you wondering why our government let down these people who chose to take the waiver on personal responsibility, here is what the local and state officials, largely democratic, have been doing with your tax dollars:

Senior officials in Louisiana's emergency planning agency already were awaiting trial over allegations stemming from a federal investigation into waste, mismanagement and missing funds when Hurricane Katrina struck. And federal auditors are still trying to track as much as $60 million in unaccounted for funds that were funneled to the state from the Federal Emergency Management Agency dating back to 1998.

And who was president in 1998? Why this must be all Clinton's fault!! Remember, these guys were on trial BEFORE Katrina hit.

The report also said the Louisiana agency had misspent $617,787 between May 2000 and September 2003.

Questionable expenditures identified by the inspector general included $2,400 for sod installation, several thousand dollars for a trip to Germany by the deputy director, $1,071 for curtains, and $595 for an L.L. Bean parka and briefcase. The inspector general also challenged unspecified spending for camera equipment, professional dues and a 2002 Ford Crown Victoria.

I wonder how long those curtains and that LL Bean briefcase held back the flood waters? But wait, there's more:

Louisiana's emergency office receives money directly from FEMA. It passes on much of the funding to local governments that apply for assistance. The audit reports said state operating procedures increased the likelihood of fraud and corruption going undetected.

For instance, a Nov. 30, 2004, report by Tonda L. Hadley, a director in the Denton field office, examined $40.5 million sent to the Louisiana agency, mostly for the Hazard Mitigation program. The report found that the state's emergency office did not have receipts to account for 97% of the $15.4 million it had awarded to subcontractors on 19 major projects.

***97%!!!! And while FEMA may be no model of efficiency, they make state and local agencies in Louisiana look like FEDEX:

About $2.8 million of the refund sought by FEMA went to consultant fees. Most of that money went to Aegis Innovative Systems, a Baton Rouge firm hired by many parishes to administer the flood buyout program. Aegis owners include Mark Howard, a former official at the Louisiana agency.

State Sen. Reggie Dupre said it appeared that parishes employing Aegis were especially successful in winning money from the state emergency preparedness agency.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-money17sep17,1,5736422.story?page=1&ctrack=1&cset=true&track=mostemailedlink&coll=la-home-headline

There is just no other way to say it. Anybody who thinks more government control, higher taxes and more regulations are the way to go is an idiot.

And Kayne West said, "George Bush doesn't care about black people." What about the corrupt officials that blew our tax dollars intended to help the local New Orleans infrastructure? Did they care about black people? And just for laughs, here are some lyrics of various Kayne West tunes that go far in promoting academic achievement, moral standards and personal responsibility in the black community. First, some lyrics from the love ballad "Gold Digger" from the album "Late Registration":

WARNING: Explicit Lyrics Follow!! (I know, you're shocked)

(She did me wrong)
Now I ain't saying she a gold digger (When I'm need)
but she ain't messing with no broke niggaz
get down girl gone head get down (I gotta leave)
get down girl gone head get down (I gotta leave)
get down girl gone head get down (I gotta leave)
get down girl gone head

and this touching verse:

18 years, 18 years
She got one of yo kids got you for 18 years
I know somebody paying child support for one of his kids

And now some timeless lyrics from "School Spirit", from the album "The College Dropout":

I'ma get on this TV, momma
I'ma, I'ma break shit down
I'ma make sure these light skinned niggaz
Never ever never come back in style
Told 'em I finished school, and I started my own business
They say, 'Oh you graduated?'
No, I decided I was finished
Chasin' y'all dreams and what you've got planned
Now I spit it so hot you got tanned
Back to school and I hate it there, I hate it there
Everything I want I gotta wait a year, I wait a year
This nigga graduated at the top of my class..
I went to Cheesecake, he was a motherfucking waiter there

And finally, this lovely sonnet from "Bonnie and Clyde Freestyle":

I mean my credit was so pathetic I couldn't get a debit
I fill out for a car but shit they always debt it
My girl come over try to help me shine
How you gonna help me get a car your credit worser than mine
But everytime I get a check you be first up in line
Told you bout gold-diggin bitch it's worser than lying
You better grow up before I blow up
Have weed rolled up when I show up

The dolphins should have bolted when they had the chance.

Das Fairy

2005-09-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

Tuff Jr. will be 10 months old very soon. Over the past week or two, he has gone from being mostly stationary - able to roll over and vacillate on all fours, to steadily crawling in an intended direction. This has exponentially increased what I call his 20RD, or "20 second radius of destruction." 20 seconds being the round-trip time it takes me to grab a cup of coffee from the kitchen. This has taken it's toll on dada, among others. The dog is acting peculiar lately, and I suspect it has something to do with the fistfuls of yellow hair regularly found in the grip of my progeny.

So yesterday, I had to do a double take at the dentist office waiting room when I read the insanity printed before me in the Tuesday, September 20th Boston Globe. I was unsure if the fog of sleep deprivation, along with the lack of coffee (a gift of compassion for the hygienist) was causing hallucinations.

Usually, I link you all to stories I expand upon, but this time I could not find an online version at boston.com, so you'll have to trust me.

Apparently there was a very close election in Germany last Sunday between Gerhard "Das Fairy" Schroeder, the two term chancellor of the Social Democrats and Angela Merkel from the Christian Democratic Union. The Globe story refers to Merkel as "unabashedly pro-American" and Schroeder's Social Democrats as "left-centrist" - which really means "communist pig" to the rest of the mainstream US.

Merkel, in addition to being pro-US, "has urged Germans to become more self-reliant and to expect less from government." Hmmm - I like this chick already. Pulling themselves up will certainly give Germany a better view as France plunges down the toilet faster than a Koran. And for those of you socialist pansies who think the "Euro-way is best" and are card-carrying members of the "Blame America First" crowd, the Globe reports that:

"Germany is suffering its highest unemployment in the post-WWII era, and economists say the government must cut taxes and loosen labor laws to make the country more competitive."

Remember, this is the Boston Globe reporting this!

Germany under "Das Fairy" Schroeder has openly fashioned itself as a counterbalance, not an ally to the US. Neighboring nations are a bit jittery given the electoral instability in the Fatherland and the history of the last century. I have not checked the overseas markets recently, but I imagine oven-futures are going up faster than crude oil.

But here is the real kick in the ass - and it ties in to countless other rants I have made on the double standards applied to liberals, and how rules just don't apply to them. According to the Globe, Angela Merkel defeated "Das Fairy" by 35.2 percent to 34.3 percent. It was a narrower than expected victory likely due to last second fear-mongering tactics by Schroeder's party, but nonetheless, still a victory for Merkel. What was the response from "Das Fairy"? To quote the Globe:

"Analysts were at a loss to explain Schroeder's assertion that, somehow, because Merkel had not done as well as expected earlier, he deserved to remain in power even though his party came in second in the balloting."

Unbelievable - yet very believable. Why? Because he's a liberal, and the rules - you know, they just don't really matter. Heinrich Oberreuter, a professor of politics at the University of Passau said it best:

"It is very astonishing, proclaiming himself champion because he didn't lose so badly."

It is not hard to believe that "Das Fairy" would pout and hold his breath until he is proclaimed winner when he has lapdogs in the Social Democrat party like secretary Klaus Uwe Benneter, who told local TV in an interview:

"The voters made clear they don't want Frau Merkel. I think we have the task of fulfilling the voters' wish that Gerhard Schroeder remain chancellor."

...And the French capitulated to these guys? Jeeeezee!

The Antidote for Culpability

2005-09-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

Have you ever been exhausted from the demands of life? Not the physical demands, like cleaning up the house, or working on some major domestic project - but the day to day concerns that require little physical exertion. Did I pay all the bills? Is my dog barking too late into the night? How will the kids do in school? All these worries can make you just as beat as if you had spent the day landscaping.

But fear not my friends! If this is a problem, I have a new miracle cure - simply be a liberal. Case in point. The ongoing, but scantily reported scandal involving The Gloria Wise Foundation and Air America. I won't go into the details of how the Foundation, which receives millions of our dollars to help inner city children and the elderly, decided to give Air America over $800,000.00 during their startup. Yep! That's right - your hard earned tax dollars, close to a million of them, went to pay Al Franken and Janeane Garafalo to sit in front of a microphone and blame Bush for everything from global (non) warming to the surge in illegal immigration (well, maybe they have a point there).

However, others are going an excellent job tracking the Air Enron story. Check out the details here:

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003544.htm
http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2005/08/staffers-worried-about-aars-future.html

My interest however lies in the wonderful elixir, the cure-all of culpability, being a liberal.

You see, in a recent interview on Fox News, William Press (formerly of the CNN show CrossFire... I know, I never watched it either) went on a no-holds barred defense of his idealogical sty-mates at Air America. Here are some excerpts from his interview with Neil Cavuto:

PRESS: So we agree, we agree the culprit here are the directors of this boys and girls club, or the executive director, who loaned this guy this money. They're the ones ought to be under investigation. The point I'm making is, this has nothing to do with the people who are now on the air on Air America, or that are now running Air America.

...that would be fine Bill, old man, except Air America hasn't come close to paying back the "loan" yet. Here's some more:

CAVUTO: --is it worth exploring to you--seriously--is it worth exploring to you whether the dots connect here, and whether there was a point in Air America's history where its very survival somehow was assured by this money? Whether you disagree with that or not, that that not maybe didn't happen, but to explore it?

PRESS: Let me just put a fact on the table. This loan occurred before Air America ever went on the air. When Air America went on the air they found out that--

...and why was this "loan" never disclosed until after it was blasted out in the blogosphere and in few select newspapers?

http://tuffbeingright.blogspot.com/2005/07/thank-you-for-donating-to-air-america.html

And what about the snake oil cure for culpability that I promised earlier? The warm soft glow of blamelessness is not far. Here is one of Bill Press's final statements of the interview:

PRESS: Hey Jim, Jim, Jim, nobody at Air America today is involved in this. Nobody, period. Get off it.

http://homepage.mac.com/mkoldys/iblog/C168863457/E825417812/

...And there it is! These are liberals at Air America - they are not to blame. So what if the previous management took your money intended for disadvantaged children and Alzheimer's victims? Air America has a whole new crop of saints at the helm now and all this should be water under the bridge.

I wonder how Bill Press feels about reparations?

I did do a google search and came up empty on any comments he may have made on that subject, but I did find his home page. On this he maintains a series of essays. I did not have the stomach to read them, but here are some titles:

Wal-Mart: Welcome to the new American Taliban
Don't blame diversity for Jayson Blair
Let the U.N. make the peace
Stop the bleeding: Shut down Guantanamo Bay
Arab world hates us - but don't blame Newsweek
Why Senate must reject John Bolton
Bush declares war on Social Security
Kerry makes clean sweep of debates
CBS fiasco doesn't let Bush off the hook
Swiftboats sink under waves of truth
Michael Moore's daring film
Capture of Saddam doesn't change a thing
Kerry Presidency Off to Strong Start (HA HA! I LOVE that one!)

http://www.billpress.com/columnsarchive.html

So based on this, I have a fairly good idea what he probably thinks of reparations. Of course Corporate America is evil, but Air America is nice... so let them be. Ironically, Bill Press is collecting funding to start his own liberal network. Apparently not all of that money is, shall we say, clean.

http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2005/09/unimpressive-financial-backers.html

Hypocrisy, thy name is Bill Press.

What Bias in the News Media?

2005-07-29T06:10:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

This is a quick one, since I don't need to add much. Next time someone errantly points out the "conservative bias in the media", ask them what they think of Helen Thomas. In case you don't know who this bridge troll is, Helen is the 'one hundred and thirty something' liberal member of the White House press corps. Frequently she sits front and center in the briefing room. Recently she was reported as saying:

"The day I say Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself. I think he'd like to run, but it would be a sad day for the country if he does." Thomas told The Hill newspaper, "All we need is one more liar."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,164011,00.html

Now remember - she is not a political analyst, not an opinion writer (well in reality that's all she is, but she'd never admit it) - she is a REPORTER.

Yep! No bias in the media there. Other memorable quotes from Her Heinous include:

"This is the worst President ever. He (Bush) is the worst President in all of American history."

- Published in an article by John Bogert in the Torrance, California Daily Breeze January 19 2003. According to Thomas this was supposed to be off the record. The reporter (assumedly Bogert) asked for her autograph after she spoke at the event. As she signed his copy of her book, he said to her, "You look sad?" She responded by saying "Well I am. I'm covering the worst president..."

"At the earlier briefing, Ari, you said that the President deplored the taking of innocent lives. Does that apply to all innocent lives in the world? And I have a follow-up... My follow-up is, why does he want to drop bombs on innocent Iraqis? ..."

- White House briefing, January 6, 2003.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Helen_Thomas

More of Helen's unbiased prose may be coming out in a memoir, rumored to be titled "For Whose Face the Clock Stops."

Thank You for Donating to Air America!

2005-07-28T06:01:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

I wish I could take credit for the following gem of wisdom, but I cannot - and I honestly cannot remember where I heard it from, but here it is. As a general rule, when you spend your money on yourself, you watch how much you spend and how effectively you spend it (a.k.a. getting your money's worth). When you spend someone else's money on yourself, you care less about how much you spend, but you want to be sure it is spent effectively. When you spend your money on somebody else, you care more about how much you spend and less about how effectively it is spent (just hang on to the receipt in case they don't like it). But when you spend someone else's money on somebody other than you, you care neither about how much you spend, nor how effectively it is spent.

Why the prologue? It helps explain in plain English why I cannot stand tax-and-spend liberals and their socialist agenda. The latest spectacle of hypocrisy comes courtesy of the liberal talk radio network Air America and the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club. I love stories like this. This one was highlighted on Michelle Malkin's blog.

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003117.htm

You remember Air America, right? They are the collection of liberal fools that were supposed to crush the plethora of conservative talk radio voices that no doubt transmitted subliminal messages tricking the otherwise sane residents of Ohio and Florida to vote for Bush. It never ceases to escape me how anyone can believe advertisers will flock to a radio talk show that tells their listeners that pay too little in taxes, need to be softer on criminals, and if they are white males - are lower than whale crap. Well it seems that Air America may have found a way out of their recent money issues. The problem is their solution, described later, is illegal.

So you know about Air America, what is the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club?

Since 1977, Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club has been helping youth from tough Bronx neighborhoods stay out of trouble, stay in school and succeed in life. Serving nearly 15,000 young people each year at 32 locations (elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, public housing facilities and community centers) in the Bronx.

We Provide

- A safe place to learn and grow...
- Ongoing relationships with caring, adult professionals...
- Life-enhancing programs and character development experiences...
- Hope and opportunity.

http://www.gloriawise.org/bgcabout.html

Sounds like a dreamy utopian oasis in the gray, dreary, slave labor camps of Halliburton, Inc. huh? The Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club even runs "Camp Air America" in Harriman State Park, 40 miles from New York City. However, the connections between Gloria Wise and Air America appear to be more than just coincidental. Interestingly, NY Daily News reports the loss of funds for the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club with vigor:

A Bronx congressman yesterday praised the smooth takeover of dozens of programs serving thousands of youngsters and seniors across the borough after the city yanked funding from two sponsoring agencies that have come under a cloud.

The nonprofit Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club and its affiliate Pathways for Youth found their city contracts, running into the millions of dollars, abruptly ended last month by the city Department of Investigation.

But only buried at the end of the story is a weak connection made with Air America to the scandal:

According to published reports, the allegations involve Charles Rosen, the founder of Gloria Wise who has stepped down as executive director, investing city contract funds in Air America Radio, the liberal talk radio network. Evan Cohen, Air America's former chairman, had served as Gloria Wise's director of development.

Funny how this story isn't getting on the AP or Reuters news wire. Somehow I have to believe that if you replaced "Air America" with "Rush Limbaugh" or "Sean Hannity," the press would be all over this story like Semtex on a Palestinian. You have to go to a local paper, The Bronx News for the real juicy story:

The Bronx News has learned, through informed sources, that the diversion of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club in Co-op City to the liberal Air America Radio is at the center of the city's probe of corruption at the local club. The money, which was reportedly paid to Air America as a loan, was supposed to be paid back with interest, two unidentified informed sources told the News. One source added that Air America officials, led by an official of the Gloria Wise Club, agreed to help the local club by publicizing its activities.

It gets better:

At the center of the investigation, in addition to Charles Rosen, the charismatic leader of the local club for the last 15 years, is Evan Cohen, who resigned, under fire, as chairman of Air America Radio shortly after its start as an alternative to conservative talk radio. Cohen, at the time the alleged transfers of funds from the Gloria Wise Club to Air America took place, was also the director of Development for the local boys and girls Club, the News has learned. One source told the News that $480,000 in funds from the Gloria Wise Club is involved in the city's investigation of illegal transfer of funds from the local club.

http://www.gothamgazette.com/community/12/news/1733

So basically, screw the kids and old people with Alzheimer's, so long as Al 'Hear the Pin Drop' Franken and Janeane 'The Pig' Garafolo get their chauffeur driven limousine. But hey, their hearts are in the right place - so what if your tax money isn't? Very often I am chided because I believe that virtually all government funding for social programs like Gloria Wise, and other "entitlement" programs should be scrapped (with the exception of programs for veterans, police, firemen, the incapacitated, etc.) and be restructured to what they were originally - charity. I firmly believe that for every dollar these programs lose by returning revenue to the taxpayers, a dollar (or more) in savings can be realized by the removal of bloated government overhead run by people who cannot be fired. If you recall in the Dicken's classic, "A Christmas Carol," Scrooge stunned the two men who came to him on Christmas Eve asking for donations by denying them alms. In years past, charitable donations of 10% of your income were commonplace. Today, the ability to select where the majority of your donations go, or even withholding them during times of your own financial crisis is gone. Now the lion's share of most of our "donations" go into the black box of taxation to be distributed as the government sees fit. And that is fine as long as you enjoy going to an art museum to view "Piss Christ" or listen to NPR rant on about global warming.

Apparently now we can add Air America to our list of compulsory charitable "donations."

One Sixth of a Retraction...

2005-07-24T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers,

Well I must be doing something right. Why? Because I have received several hatemails from my last post on the shooting of what now appears to be an innocent man in London's Stockwell tube station. In addition to pushing these rantings to my list of like-minded Thinkers, and posting most of the same commentary on http://tuffbeingright.blogspot.com, I also guest-post once in a while to http://www.barking-moonbat.com. This was the case yesterday morning when "Shoot to Kill" was posted there. Later in the day, I sparked up my PC to check emails and the top My-Yahoo news headline read 'British Police Admit Shooting Wrong Man.'

Hmmm. And yes, I had emails. Lets look at a few of them, shall we?

You don't f***ing "stitch" SUSPECTS. Your as heartless and the bastards that implemented 911. Taking joy in the death of others. Nice....

Here's another satisfied customer:

It's f***ers like you, on all sides, that are the real problem.

This next rocket scientist probably thinks I wrote my last post AFTER I found out the guy was a Brazilian electrician:

They guy wasn't a terrorist. Your saying that the more innocent folks we eliminate the better, and that the killing of an innocent man will some how send them a message? You are proposing we gun people down for LOOKING like a terrorist? The guy was an electrician. How did he know they were police?

The fact he asked that last question says quite a bit, eh?

Then he proceeds to quote a bunch of New Testament scripture to me, mostly from Matthew. Although I spent more than enough time in Catholic schools, I've never really been in a 'turn the other cheek' mode since 9/11. I am finding the vengeful God of the Old Testament much more to my liking these days.

There were others, but I think this one sums up the collective sentiment best.

You poor stupid f***wit. Get back to f***ing Yankyland and stop polluting Britain.

Glorious! So let's take a look at the main points I made in "Shoot to Kill":

1. The British cop who killed the man now identified as having no ties to the recent terrorist attacks is a hero.

I'll get back to this one later.

2. The man who was killed was "petrified" and I clearly took joy and satisfaction in his suffering and eventual demise.

Whoopsie. The deceased may have been very stupid getting on a London subway wearing a heavy coat in July, especially after two recent bomb attacks. And he may have been trying to commit 'suicide by cop' by refusing to halt when commanded to do so by police. His death does not cause me jubilation. Not now that he appears to have no connection with any terrorist groups. However, given the circumstances surrounding the last minutes of his life, when Darwin is at work, it is best not to disturb him. And yes, if this guy had any affiliation with the 7/7 or 7/21 terrorists, I would be gleefully toasting his messy ruination.

3. It is about time someone handled terrorists with the appropriate response.

Still correct. Terrorists continue to select "soft" targets. The response must be swift and brutal. Appeasement and focus groups are nothing more than a symbolic ankle grab.

4. Suspected terrorists should be killed quickly, not cornered or imprisoned because A. it's fun, B. wounded terrorists can still kill innocent bystanders with the flick of a switch, and C. terrorists need to know they are being hunted ruthlessly.

Still correct.

5. Islamic leaders, certainly those in the UK are sociopaths and schizophrenic.

If you doubt this, reread the quotes from Islamic leaders in "Shoot to Kill."

6. Stitching the suspect was the appropriate action.

Here's a report from the FT of London:

According to police sources, the man who was shot dead had been observed leaving a house in London that was being watched in connection with bomb incidents earlier in the day. He was followed by a police surveillance team backed by armed officers, none of whom are thought to have been carrying photographs identifying the suspect.

He was followed on to the Underground system where exactly what happened remained unclear last night. The police version is that when the man reached Stockwell station, he began to act suspiciously and broke into a run, at which point the armed unit challenged him to stop.

The man, who is understood not to have been carrying any package or container, is thought to have been shot after he boarded a train that had stopped at the station.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/453316bc-fb15-11d9-a0f6-00000e2511c8.html

So getting back to 1. and at the same time addressing 6. Was this a good shoot and is the shooter a hero? Absolutely! While the death of Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes is a tragedy, avoiding this circumstance was totally within his grasp. Conversely, the British police were left with one choice - to protect their country and save her citizens - even that pacifist fairy that called me a "stupid f***twit."

Shoot to Kill

2005-07-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

It is a great day in Britain, indeed! Why? Because there is at least one Churchill left in the island nation. After two bomb attacks (shhh... by Muslims) on London subway and bus lines in as many weeks, Tony Blair reaches out to Islamic leaders and the BBC decides not to use the word "terrorist" to describe those that slaughter civilians because they are concerned their credibility is undermined by the "careless use of words which carry emotional or value judgments".

http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/12/nbbc12.xml

Yet deep inside this land of politically correct BBC fairies, one nameless British hero has personified the stoic resolve of the Churchill's England. What did this paladin do to win such accolades? He was able to literally look inside the mind of radical Islam by blasting out the brains of a terrorism suspect at the Stockwell tube station. Statements from witnesses include:

"He half-tripped, was half-pushed to the floor,” Whitby said. "One of the police officers was holding a black automatic pistol in his left hand. They held it down to him and unloaded five shots into him. I saw it. He's dead, five shots, he's dead."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163313,00.html

Sweeeeet!! And it gets even better! The suspect suffered before his demise:

Witnesses said about 10 armed, plain-clothed police officers chased the suspect. He tripped, and, after telling bystanders to get down, police shot him dead.

"They pushed him onto the floor and unloaded five shots into him. He's dead," witness Mark Whitby told the British Broadcasting Corp. "He looked like a cornered fox. He looked petrified."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163428,00.html

It is about time someone handled terrorists with the appropriate response. When I discussed this with Mrs. Tuff, she expressed concern, claiming that the guy was down, cornered and not going anywhere. Why turn him into a pin cushion? My response was threefold.

First, if it feels good, just do it.

Second, bombers are not like muggers. Even a breath away from death, a nutty Muslim can still press a switch in his pocket and take several innocent bystanders with him. You can't just wound them, even mortally. You must instantly neutralize the threat - this means turning the central nervous system of the bad guy into a Picasso. Do it "for the children."

Third, Muslims across the globe need to learn an important lesson. Don't screw with us. When was the last time you heard of terrorist cells attacking mainland China? I wonder why that is? Even if this guy was innocent of terrorist activity, wasting him was the right thing to do. Pretty harsh, huh? Islamic leaders in England have made it that way.

In a country with no Patriot Act, England has allowed radical Muslim leaders to fester inside their borders. These Islamic chieftains are sociopaths and schizophrenic. They "discredit" killing innocents, but then say - or at least imply, that these same killings are justified:

Shahid Butt said he believed the threat to Britain would reduce if it pulled its troops out of Iraq. He said: "At the end of the day, these things [violent incidents] are going to happen if current British foreign policy continues. There's a lot of rage, there's a lot of anger in the Muslim community.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/PA_NEWA1320651122037874A00?source=PA%20Feed

OK, just do what they say and all will be well. But wait, there's more:

A new poll says about a quarter of British Muslims sympathise with the motives of the London bombers, if not their methods. And the survey in London's Daily Telegraph shows one-third of British Muslims believe Western society is immoral.

The poll asked Muslims if they felt the July the 7th suicide attacks in which 56 peopled died were justified, and six per cent said they were.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16021697-23109,00.html

And just in case you thought terrorism would "go away" if we just got out of Iraq and Afghanistan, divested from Israel, or some other asinine 'demand de jour' from the Muslims, here's a glimpse into their real motivations:

Bakri said he would like Britain to become an Islamic state but feared he would be deported before his dream was realized. "I would like to see the Islamic flag fly, not only over number 10 Downing Street, but over the whole world," he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/22/AR2005072200709_pf.html

And the buffoons from the left calls the US "imperialist?" These nutty sheikhs claim that the west should grieve over the deaths of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan by US troops as well as the citizens of London. I wonder how they feel about the Muslims killed by the Taliban or Saddam Hussein or now in yesterday's attacks in Egypt.

So now in this climate, a man leaves a house suspected and watched by police. He heads to a London subway station in the middle of summer wearing a heavy coat. Police at the tube station order him to stop. He bolts, trips and police catch him. Was stitching the suspect an appropriate action by police? You betcha!

Buenos Días! Where Do I Vote?

2005-07-07T06:21:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

London has just been attacked. Hmm... I wonder who did it? Catholics? Presbyterians? Jews? Baptists? At this time it is not known exactly how many explosions, injuries and deaths have occurred. It is no small irony that this attack came during the first G8 where global terrorism was not the primary topic. Instead the summit focus is on the feel-good fallacy of global warming. By the way, it is July 7th and the forecast high temperatures for the next three days in Boston are 63F, 65F and 67F... brrrr! I'm just waiting for someone from chicken-little intelligentsia to explain to us idiots that a primary indicator of catastrophic global warming is that the temperature really doesn't rise that much - if at all... but more funding for studies is needed. Hopefully Blair and friends will get back to real issues and the deaths of innocent Britons will not be in vain.

In other recent huge news, the recent retirement of Justice O'Connor is the harbinger of what should be the biggest political battle of Bush II's career. I say "should" because it is yet to be determined if W will actually nominate a justice who will rule on cases using the Constitution as it is written and originally intended - or will he roll over like a fat seal and pick a "moderate" to take O'Connors seat at the bench. This will be one to watch sports fans. Sen. Kennedy's drunken diatribes on the senate floor alone will be worth the price of admission. Since liberals cannot get their national interests to win at the ballot box (remember the spanking gay marriage took in the 2004 elections), their only recourse is to get liberal judicial activists to legislate from the bench. Pelosi, Schumer, Clinton, Feinstein, Dodd and the rest have brought their family prayers to the alter, drank their last saki and tied the Rising Sun bandana to their heads. There is no turning back for them. This is what the elections for the Senate and Oval Office are all about. The person who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave means nothing compared to who sits on the SCOTUS bench. I would gladly trade a lifetime appointment of Hillary Clinton as POTUS for nine 20-something Scalia clones ruling in the highest court of our land.

But this recent tragedy in London and the looming SCOTUS tempest are not the topics of today's rant. They will be coming to a diatribe near you soon though. My ongoing frustration with the sieve we call a southern border was rekindled by a news article I recently stumbled across. Apparently the good citizens of Arizona have had enough of the Mexican tsunami. The influx of illegal aliens is estimated to cost each Arizona household $700 annually in public benefits. Reacting to these costs and the crime associated with illegal immigration, the voters of Arizona have proposed Proposition 200, which includes the following:

Requires new voters to document their U.S. citizenship when they register to vote.
Requires voters to present a photo ID at the polling place.
Prohibits public agencies from accepting insecure identification cards to show eligibility for public benefits, unless the issuing agency has verified the immigration status of the cardholder.
Requires state and local government employees who discover a violation of federal immigration law to make a written report to federal immigration authorities.

The supporters of Prop 200 claim:

"Proposition 200 will not change the types of benefits that are denied to illegal aliens. Federal law already defines the types of state or local benefits for which lawful immigration status is required."

Clearly these measures will protect the integrity of the voter rolls against corruption and fraud. I won't go into all the details of Prop 200, but if you want more info, see:

http://syninfo.com/prop200/initiative.html

And of course, the lunatic left that opposes this proposition cannot win this discussion on facts. So what do they do? You guessed it, they play the race card. They "oppose all anti-immigrant bills because they jeopardize the well being of our communities and the reputation of our state." These liberal weanies claim these measures that protect ballot box integrity, "are a racist attack on our Latino communities."

http://www.defeat200.org/

Can't win on the topic? Attack the opponent.

Note that if you go to the defeat200.org site, and click on the "about us" link, they say:

"The Campaign to Defeat Prop 200 is a grassroots campaign run mostly by energetic volunteers, too countless to name here."

...too countless to name? Or too afraid of the INS?

So if you run into a non-thinker at your local Ben+Jerry's, who believes in 'voting rights' for illegal aliens, you may be thinking "What would Tuff say?" The answer my friends is simple. Just ask them, "so what do you think they do in Mexico on election day?"

"Arizona's contentious ballot proposal would require voters to show proof of their U.S. citizenship when registering to vote and proof of their legal residency when applying for government benefits. In Mexico, it has been that way for years."

http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special29/articles/1019Reverse19.html

Imagine a country where:

"to get a driver’s license or social security card, foreigners must present their visas. Illegal aliens need not apply. To vote, everyone must show proof of citizenship. In addition, more than 201,000 foreigners were deported last year, and another 9,000 were denied entry at airports and the border."

Sound like the Naziesque dreamland-USA promoted by jack-booted, pro-Bush, neocon thugs? Guess again amigo. It is daily life south of the Rio Grande.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16848

So why should the voting requirements for Mexicans be more restrictive in their own country than in the one they entered illegally? I would love to point the collective finger at Democrats, but too few Republicans are taking up the task of stemming the tide of these criminal aliens. In fact in many states all you need to register as a voter is a valid drivers license. This sounds swell except "there are currently 10 states that allow illegal aliens to attain valid state issued identification identical to that of any United States citizen."

http://www.nationalledger.com/commentary/article_1366.shtml

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who I once considered a viable presidential option (and who I now consider a PITA-RINO) opposes this measure. Why? Why in God's name would you not want proof that the person voting is in fact a citizen of this nation? The deafening silence from Republicans on this topic is sickening. If Hillary Clinton takes illegal immigration as her signature issue in her upcoming election (for president or senator) there will be many republicans floundering in her massive wake. And I will have no pity for them whatsoever.

To see more of the costs of illegal immigration, check out the Immigration Blog at:

http://michellemalkin.com/immigration/

This Land Is Your Land, This Land Was My Land...

2005-06-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

Today's Commentary: June 26th, 2005

So when you woke up this weekend from your evening slumber, did anything feel different? It should have - thanks to "The Red Five." And no, I'm not speaking of Luke Skywalker's wingman. I speak of the communist bastards, Supreme Court Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy. Remember them? They are the ones who want so badly to be well received by their socialist buddies in Paris, that they invoked "the overwhelming weight of international opinion," to redefine our Constitution and its interpretation of the death penalty. I hope they enjoy France after this session closes. Be sure to check on granny before you go, comrades. You wouldn't want her to turn into a creme brulee the way grandpa Pierre did last summer.

And why would the actions of The Red Five make you feel any different? Simple. Because of their recent ruling, anyone who wants your home and property can take it whenever they want as long as they promise the local town government that they will build something - anything that will increase the tax revenue for the town. This represents a frightful shift from the Constitutional text of "public use" to the socialist utopian concept of "public benefit" as noted by dissenting Justice Thomas:

"This deferential shift in phraseology enables the Court to hold, against all common sense, that a costly urban-renewal project whose stated purpose is a vague promise of new jobs and increased tax revenue, but which is also suspiciously agreeable to the Pfizer Corporation, is for a 'public use.'"

Just in case you missed it, The Red Five sided with the town of New London, CT and decided to screw the property owners in the case of KELO V. NEW LONDON. A case which undoubtedly has King George III laughing his ass off from the great beyond. The town of New London has decided, in the name of increased tax revenue, to invoke the power of eminent domain, dumping the taxpayer peasantry for a shiny, new corporate taxpayer. Lets take a look at the opinion (by Justice Stevens) of the 5-4 ruling.

First, Comrade Stevens notes that the property in question is not dilapidated:

"There is no allegation that any of these properties is blighted or otherwise in poor condition; rather, they were condemned only because they happen to be located in the development area."

Then, he clearly admits that this is not REALLY for "public use":

"On the other hand, this is not a case in which the City is planning to open the condemned land-at least not in its entirety-to use by the general public. Nor will the private lessees of the land in any sense be required to operate like common carriers, making their services available to all comers."

Since he has clearly stated that this ruling is in fact, in violation of The Constitution, Comrade Stevens begins to blur the lines:

"Those who govern the City were not confronted with the need to remove blight in the Fort Trumbull area, but their determination that the area was sufficiently distressed to justify a program of economic rejuvenation is entitled to our deference. The City has carefully formulated an economic development plan that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including–but by no means limited to–new jobs and increased tax revenue."

Oh, I see. The town says "Hey, we can do better. Lets hire some lawyers," and that's all she wrote for the residents of the "condemned" property.

In cases mentioned in the opinion, eminent domain was used to condemn properties that were "beyond repair" in D.C. or to trust-bust an oligopoly in land ownership which artificially inflated prices and rents on Oahu. Neither of these are the case in New London.

If you need any more evidence that this ruling goes against everything our nation of limited government was founded on, consider that the NY Times editorialized that this is a great ruling:

"The Supreme Court's ruling yesterday that the economically troubled city of New London, Conn., can use its power of eminent domain to spur development was a welcome vindication of cities' ability to act in the public interest." ... "Connecticut is a rich state with poor cities, which must do everything they can to attract business and industry. New London's development plan may hurt a few small property owners, who will, in any case, be fully compensated. But many more residents are likely to benefit if the city can shore up its tax base and attract badly needed jobs."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/opinion/24fri1.html

Justice O'Connor writes in her dissenting opinion about the property owners, excuse me, the serfs of New London who will be effected:

"Petitioners are nine resident or investment owners of 15 homes in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood of New London, Connecticut. Petitioner Wilhelmina Dery, for example, lives in a house on Walbach Street that has been in her family for over 100 years. She was born in the house in 1918; her husband, petitioner Charles Dery, moved into the house when they married in 1946. Their son lives next door with his family in the house he received as a wedding gift, and joins his parents in this suit. Two petitioners keep rental properties in the neighborhood."

Ahh - screw 'em. As long as the town of New London can satiate its ever increasing appetite for tax revenue.

But hey, its for the public good right? And the NY Times thinks its a great idea, right? I mean, I'm sure the land used will be put to good use, right? Justice O'Connor answers that question for us:

"Petitioners own properties in two of the plan's seven parcels –Parcel 3 and Parcel 4A. Under the plan, Parcel 3 is slated for the construction of research and office space as a market develops for such space. It will also retain the existing Italian Dramatic Club (a private cultural organization) though the homes of three plaintiffs in that parcel are to be demolished. Parcel 4A is slated, mysteriously, for 'park support.' .... At oral argument, counsel for respondents conceded the vagueness of this proposed use, and offered that the parcel might eventually be used for parking."

Think about the ramifications. Who will this ruling most likely be used against? The politically connected?

I suppose we should at least be grateful that the town of New London was honest about their reasons for this land-grab. The bald-faced focus on increased tax revenue as a "public benefit" to rationalize this perverted ruling effectively means none of us are safe from wealthy, politically connected land developers who can now low-ball a property owner on the value of their holding by using the threat of eminent domain.

Personally, I am not the least bit surprised that the liberal Red Five, decided to screw the 'little guy'. Like most liberals in positions of power, they ditched any pretense of principle when the opportunity to increase government control and tax revenue reared its ugly head. The Red Five would bulldoze a daycare center to make way for a Marlboro plant if they thought a buck was to be made by it.

I will leave you with this tidbit from Justice O'Connor's dissent. Just in case you still believe that the America you are in now is the same one you were in last week:

"If legislative prognostications about the secondary public benefits of a new use can legitimate a taking, there is nothing in the Court's rule or in Justice Kennedy's gloss on that rule to prohibit property transfers generated with less care, that are less comprehensive, that happen to result from less elaborate process, whose only projected advantage is the incidence of higher taxes, or that hope to transform an already prosperous city into an even more prosperous one."

Chilling, indeed. Welcome to the Brave New World. This is why the looming battle for SCOTUS is literally a battle for our livelihoods.

Turban Durbin and the History Lesson

2005-06-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

Today's Commentary: June 17th, 2005

Hello Thinkers!

Yes, it has been a while. My 2 month blogging hiatus has been due to numerous factors. Fatherhood has consumed a great deal of time and energy - and still does. What little time is left is spent being a capitalist pig and destroying the ecosystem with yardwork and landscaping. In addition, I have been politicked out. After this summer, the midterm election rhetoric (and the opportunities to ridicule the candidates) will be kicking into high gear. I feel the need to rest up.

It is not as if there has been nothing to write about since mid April. For all you guilt-ridden fans of global warming out there, I have bad news. A shivering Elvis has left the building. May in New England was one of the coldest on record:

"May 2005 saw just four days even in the 70s, according to Brown. He said the average daily high temperature of 59.2 last month was a new low, undercutting the 61.8 mark set in 1967. The normal average daily high temperature for May in Durham is 69. If you were inland on May 28, count yourself lucky. You felt the month's high mark of 76. The 50.7 degree overall temperature for May was second coldest on record to the 48.9 mark set in 1967."

http://theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=55658

I wonder why Al Gore didn't show up to to rail on the Bush administration for not talking global warming seriously. You know, like he did in January of 2004 in NYC during a bitter cold snap with "near-record low temperature and single-digit wind chill."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36624

It was probably wasn't cold enough for him. On a related note, if you haven't read Michael Crichton's book "State of Fear", get it. While the story itself is fictional, the supporting documentation (about the joke called global warming) is real and noted. Don't expect "State of Fear" to land on Oprah's book club though.

Then there's the Dr. Dean and Mr. Hyde - A.K.A. the Karl Rove operative sent to make the DNC look like a bunch of slack-jawed idiots. Some of Howard's past gems include:

"We got rid of [Saddam Hussein]. I suppose that's a good thing."
(I promise that I will) "repeal every dime of President Bush's tax cuts."
"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for, but I admire their discipline and their organization."
"[Republicans] all behave the same. They all look the same. It's pretty much a white Christian party."
"You think the RNC could get this many people of color into a single room? Maybe if they got the hotel staff in there."

Thank you Howard. I can only hope the Democrats keep this political cancer near and dear to its lymph nodes. Clearly Dean is on the proper track to win back 'red' states.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/276020p-2 36422c.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl e.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/06/07/MNdean07.TMP
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17718-2005F eb11.html

However for sheer buffoonery, this week's special mention goes to Sean Penn. It seems Sean has left the bong behind and traveled to Iran as a reporter for the SF Chronicle. However he seems confused about the "Death to America" chant spoken at Friday prayers.

"I understand the nature of where it comes from and what its intention is, but I don't think it's productive because I think the message goes to the American people and it is interpreted very literally."

Brilliant!

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050614 /od_nm/iran_penn_dc_1

Like the tides, the list of liberal lunacy continues whether I am too busy to post or not. However, the recent comments from Illinois Senator Turban Dick Durbin have awoken me from blogging slumber. Describing a report from the FBI on the treatment of Gitmo detainees, Turban Durbin said:

"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime - Pol Pot or others - that had no concern for human beings."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ ap/20050616/ap_on_go_co/guantanamo_durbin_1

OK, so let's see.

Under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, approximately 2 million people, many of whom were scientists, doctors and teachers, were murdered simply because they did not fit into the nationalized agricultural industry. Most victims starved to death while working to harvest crops which were exported.

http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/samey.htm

The Soviet gulags detained, tortured and killed an estimated 20 million during their operations.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=19771
http://www.townhall.com/bookclub/applebaum.html

And apparently, Turban Durbin needs a refresher in 20th century history as to what happened under Nazi-controlled Europe. (Note - there are graphic images at the sites listed below.)

http://www.auschwitz.dk/
http://www.annefrank.dk/
http://www.deathcamps.info/Photos.htm

While referring to opposing parties, politicians from both sides have used the Nazi reference more times than I can count. However, Turban Durbin's vitriol was directed at the armed forces of our nation which is the only thing standing between his fat, pansy, socialist ass and a large group of fanatical sandmonkeys who consider it their religious obligation to kill him.

Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead Democrats. The cliff is a long ways off! Sometime soon you will be looking at your present minority position as "the good old days."

April 14, 2005 - Ahh Paris! The wine! The women! The muggings by Muslims!

2005-04-13T05:23:00.000-07:00

So imagine this. In the capital city of an industrialized nation - a member of the G8, there occurs a peaceful protest by high school students, almost all of them blacks and Arabs. There are tens of thousands of them upset with government cuts and education reforms. Suddenly, bands of white youths in the hundreds move in and attack the protesting students.

The black and Arab victims offer little resistance. And the less resistance they offer, the more the white kids attack, beating and kicking them while they lay defenseless on the ground. The white kids yell at the protestors calling them 'little blackies.' The attackers say that they are 'taking revenge on the blackies' and beat up other white students who try to protect the defenseless victims. These are called sellouts.

There is no doubt about it. This attack is racially motivated. To make matters worse, the news media in this G8 nation glosses over the story. They do nothing to raise the awareness of this race riot and senseless attack. The overseas media - including the US news organizations, turn a blind eye to the suffering of the protesting students and their inability to speak freely without fear of retribution.

Sounds horrible, huh? Doesn't quite seem like "the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society," right? Apparently it DID happen, in of all places, that bastion of "progressive thought" (can you say L'Oxymoron?), France.

Oh, there is one thing I forgot to mention.

The white students? They were the ones peacefully protesting, and the black and Arab kids? They were the thugs on the attack - several hundred of them:

"On March 8, tens of thousands of high school students marched through central Paris to protest education reforms announced by the government. Repeatedly, peaceful demonstrators were attacked by bands of black and Arab youths--about 1,000 in all, according to police estimates."

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/446loxwa.asp
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/005655.php

But wait, just like the TV ads for Ginsu Steak Knives, there is more:

"Some of the attackers openly expressed their hatred of 'little French people.' One 18-year-old named Heikel, a dual citizen of France and Tunisia, was proud of his actions. He explained that he had joined in just to 'beat people up,' especially 'little Frenchmen who look like victims.' He added with a satisfied smile that he had 'a pleasant memory' of repeatedly kicking a student, already defenseless on the ground."

Nice, huh?

"Rachid, an Arab attacker, added that even an Arab can be considered a 'little white' if he 'has a French mindset.' The general sentiment was a desire to 'take revenge on whites.'"

..and, if you call before midnight tonight:

"One black student he saw come to the defense of a fellow student under attack by three blacks was called 'a white sellout' by the assailants."

In case you want to see pictures of ebony and ivory... living together in perfect harmony:

http://no-pasaran.blogspot.com/2005/04/just-waiting-for-white-riot-ils-ne.html

http://www.racismeantiblanc.bizland.com/silenceselectif/bid68.htm

Now, like any red-blooded American male, I enjoy watching the arrogant French being jostled from their cheese party and 35-hour work week by a bloody nose. However, beyond this sugary taste of instant gratification, there are other things that thinking people might consider.

First, the MSM has ignored this story. A search at cbsnews.com on the string: "France riot March student race" came up empty. Same for abcnews.com and msnbc.com. Even Fox did not appear to have reported this story. It seems the MSM won't consider it a race riot when blacks and Arabs are doing the thumpin'. And what the hell? It was only several hundred of them that actually beat anyone up. And it was only in Paris. It's not like that's a population center or anything. Clearly this was just a simple misunderstanding - now let's get back to the marathon coverage of Terri Schiavo, Pope John Paul II, Charles and Camilla.

Second, why would the MSM ignore a major race riot in central Paris? Simple. The attackers, blacks and Arabs (hint: code word for Muslims) are part of the "protected minority." A bomb went off in Bagdad? Must have been "insurgents." Only imperialists from America kill Muslims. Someone overpowered the grandma-guard in an Atlanta courthouse and is on a shooting spree with her Glock? Be on the lookout for a man with a "dark complexion." Think I'm being paranoid? When was the last time you saw a commercial for a domestic violence organization that depicted a black or hispanic man as "the bad guy?" This ad from endabuse.org would have you think that only overweight, middle-aged white men are capable of mental and physical abuse.

http://endabuse.org/programs/display.php3?DocID=9916

And third, what do you get when you combine a country ripe with examples of historical cowardice, a politically correct news media and a wave of immigration that preaches hate and intolerance? You get the nation of France descending on its final lap around the toilet bowl. Hang on to the turd, Jacques!

Watch this one closely folks, and remember this when the French call us barbarians for sentencing serial pedophile murderers to death by lethal injection. Two world wars began in the continent SCOTUS considers its moral lighthouse. The US had to save the whining, pathetic French each time. Bad things happen "en trois."

April 4, 2005 - An Evening on the Southern Border

2005-04-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

Hello Thinkers!

Grab a cup of coffee and join me if you will, in the desert of southern New Mexico...

The burnt smell of smokeless powder was beginning to fade. His nose was welcoming the returning smell of the southwest desert, in particular the creosote bush he had seen so much of before the sun set. But his ears rung painfully. At his feet, now on the soil of the Great Satan, lay his escorts. They were both in pools of blood being soaked up by the thirsty ground. Just two minutes earlier, they had made the last mistake of their lives. They had turned their backs on the diminutive Abbas.

After a brief stop for water and to rest his blistered feet, Abbas had motioned for the Mexicans to continue their trek into the US. They were happy to do so. The pair were being paid more than triple their usual fee for getting their guest into New Mexico and were fronted half when they met their new travel companion in Mexico City 5 days earlier. The catch was they had to avoid their usual illegal immigrant trails. They chose one of the less traveled drug running routes in the general area Abbas had suggested. It was more desolate and far less likely to encounter border patrols. If there was an afterlife, now the Mexicans knew why the Syrian wanted it this way.

When Abbas had indicated his rest was over, his escorts stood and turned north. They began joking and talking about the big money party they were going to have with their favorite whores once they got to Los Angeles. Neither of them had seen Abbas reach in his front pocket for his Makarov. Abbas could not see the fixed blade of the front site against the back of their heads, yet at point blank range, it didn't matter. One hollow point bullet in the base of each skull was enough to do the job, but Abbas gave them both one more for good measure.

He rolled the cadavers and was fishing through their pockets, looking for his $30,000. He would need the money more than they would. Once the cash was secured, he straightened up, not enjoying the noticeable pain in his back. He had been warned about this by The Medico. There was no time to waste. He thought about leaving the spent shell casings behind but did not want to tempt fate by handing over more clues than necessary - not now when he was on the cusp of jihad. He decocked the East German semi-auto and placed it in his waistband. Removing the flashlight from his pack, he let the light slice through the cool evening air. The shine from the brass was easy to spot against the desert ground. Each reach brought the pain in his back to the front of his mind. The Medico had given him a series of pills in increasing strength for when his pain worsened. Back in Mexico City, the Imam had warned Abbas not to use the medication until he absolutely needed it. His head needed to be as clear as possible. Abbas returned the flashlight to his pack, pulled out his handheld Garmin GPS and hit the power button. He waited for the unit to triangulate with the satellites overhead and thought about what else his Imam had said.

This jihad, Abbas was told, would be unlike any other, and would easily kill more infidels than the great nineteen had taken on September eleventh. Instead of highjacking planes, Abbas would carry the revenge of Allah in his blood. A blood that ran hot when his youngest brother left their home in Syria to fight the infidels in Iraq. A blood that boiled when Abbas heard that his brother was blown to pieces in front of a mosque in Fallujah. A blood that now carried what The Medico had placed there in his Mexico City hotel room. The Medico was not Mexican, he was Libyan. The gloves he wore were not thin hospital latex gloves, but thick rubber. Whatever was in the syringe, The Medico wanted no part of. He was not willing to run the smallest risk of being pricked. Abbas knew this was a one-way ticket once The Medico stuck his arm, and that is the way he wanted it. Abbas knew his brother was waiting for him in paradise. He missed his brother terribly. The Medico on the other hand, knew the painful death smallpox would cause, and that his three million dollar fee would set him up for life in San Paulo.

The GPS unit had synched. Abbas was close. He had less than two miles to go north northeast and just about thirty minutes to get there. He stepped over the bodies of his escorts and headed off. On the flat ground, this would not be a problem as long as his back held out. He took his first pain pill to ensure his timeliness.

When Abbas got to the destination indicated by the Garmin unit, he would be picked up by Hussein - or Henry as he was known at the Texas Oil refinery in Texas City. Henry worked there in the kitchen preparing food and had stolen a security badge and uniform for Abbas. Henry did not know Abbas, nor did he know about the smallpox incubating within him. Henry would not know his true role in this jihad. The Imam said it was best this way. The reality was that it was not uncommon for jihadists to think twice about their plans after spending time within the borders of the Great Satan, as Henry had done.

Tomorrow morning, Abbas was to go to work with Henry, and stay there until he was certain he was spreading the revenge of Allah to the workers of Texas Oil via their cafeteria lunches. From there, he was to execute a similar operation at the Marathon refinery for two days with the help of another unwitting accomplice. With whatever strength was left, he was to travel to the malls and cinemas of Austin. Under no circumstances, was he to allow himself to be caught by any police or official before his death. It was best not to tip the hand of Allah. His deathbed would be a hotel room in central Texas, paid for with the money he lifted from the Mexicans. He would be long dead before his cash ran out and the hotel manager came knocking. By then his task would be complete. The less the infidels knew, the better the revenge would spread. The care package from The Medico would help him fight the pain and malaise for as long as possible.

The Garmin unit Abbas held in his hand told him he had reached his destination. He looked to the west. In the distance, headlights approached through the dry evening air and eventually stopped. Abbas retrieved his flashlight and flashed it twice at the car. The headlights replied in kind as they resumed their approach. Abbas let out a long sigh and sat next to the road, lowering his head, resting his back. His jihad had begun.

...think this couldn't happen? Think your "Compassionate Conservative" president will protect you? Guess again.

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040810-123433-8727r.htm
Immigration plan envisions 'incentives' to illegal aliens
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Millions of illegal aliens in the United States would be free from arrest and deportation, have access to tax-deferred savings accounts and Social Security credits, and get unrestricted travel to and from their home countries under President Bush's guest-worker program.
According to previously undisclosed details of the president's plan, which some critics have described as a limited amnesty, the proposal offers numerous "incentives" for the 8 million to 12 million illegal aliens to come "out of the shadows," Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson, the nation's border and transportation security czar, told a Senate panel.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0318syrians18.html
Syrians caught; in U.S. illegally
2 indicted on charges of impersonating Americans
Susan Carroll
Republic Tucson Bureau
Mar. 18, 2005 12:00 AM

TUCSON - A federal grand jury Wednesday indicted two Syrian men on charges of impersonating U.S. citizens after Border Patrol agents stopped them in southern Arizona and found an undocumented Mexican immigrant in their car.

According to a criminal complaint, Ala Salem Mamoud Al-Kurdi and Mohamed Tamman Nakchgandi, both citizens of Syria, were pulled over by Border Patrol agents on Feb. 18 on Arizona 86, a highway that runs through the Tohono O'odham Nation, a vast reservation southwest of Tucson.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20050329-1933-mexico-iraqisdetained.html
MONTERREY, Mexico – Four Iraqis were detained at an airport in the border city of Mexicali for allegedly carrying false passports, and two more were caught at a highway checkpoint, authorities said Tuesday.

The four Iraqis arrived Friday at the airport in Mexicali, across from Calexico, California, on a flight from Mexico City and were detained after immigration officials discovered the Dutch passports they were carrying were false, said Abraham Sarabia, an attorney general spokesman in Baja California state, where Mexicali is located.

http://www.nbc4i.com/news/4316893/detail.html
HEATH, Ohio -- Two men have been arrested in the case of a young woman who said she was raped, NBC4's Karin Hirschey reported.

Authorities said the two men are illegal immigrants from Mexico, which has led to the involvement of federal immigration and customs officials.

Daniel Rodrigues Arriaga, 25, and Carlos Suarez, 18, are in jail for allegedly raping the young woman Wednesday night. Three additional suspects, however, are still on the loose.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml%3Bjsessionid%3DO04PIGUA0EFXCCRBAEOCFEY?type=worldNews&storyID=8000120
TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican police said on Thursday they had arrested four drug cartel hit men who used acid-filled tubs to dissolve their victims' remains.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/14/gang.arrests.ap/
U.S. crackdown nets 103 alleged members of MS-13 gang
MS-13 called an emerging threat to U.S.
Monday, March 14, 2005 Posted: 2:24 PM EST (1924 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 100 alleged members of the violent Central American street gang MS-13 have been arrested in a nationwide sweep, authorities said Monday.

Using information from local and state law enforcement agencies, federal agents charged 103 members of the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, gang with a range of criminal and immigration charges. The arrests came in the New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Newark, Miami and Dallas metropolitan areas over the last several weeks.

Officials said MS-13 is one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the United States, and the majority of its members are in the country illegally. The gang has carried out beheadings and grenade attacks in Central America and is known to hack their enemies with machetes in cities along the East Coast in the United States.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20050311-103449-5962r.htm
Illegals at power plant prompt call for legislation
By Stephen Dinan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Illegal aliens using false Social Security numbers were able to enter and work as contract painters at a power plant in Florida, including work near one nuclear reactor. Officials at Progress Energy, which runs the Crystal River Energy Complex in Citrus County, say they followed federal regulations and that the contractor should have better vetted its employees.

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050328-125306-7868r.htm
Gang will target Minuteman vigil on Mexico border
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

NACO, Ariz. -- Members of a violent Central America-based gang have been sent to Arizona to target Minuteman Project volunteers, who will begin a monthlong border vigil this weekend to find and report foreigner sneaking into the United States, project officials say.
James Gilchrist, a Vietnam veteran who helped organize the vigil to protest the federal government's failure to control illegal immigration, said he has been told that California and Texas leaders of Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, have issued orders to teach "a lesson" to the Minuteman volunteers.
...
The MS-13 gang has established major smuggling operations in several areas along the U.S.-Mexico border and have transported hundreds of Central and South Americans -- including gang members -- into the United States in the past two years. The gang also is involved in drug and weapons smuggling.
Gang members in America have been tied to numerous killings, robberies, burglaries, carjackings, extortion, rapes and aggravated assaults. Authorities said that the gang has earned a reputation from the other street gangs as being particularly ruthless and that it will retaliate violently when challenged.
The MS-13 gang, with 20,000 members nationwide, has risen in recent months to such prominence that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, has begun a nationwide crackdown on gang members in this country -- as part of a sweeping law-enforcement initiative known as Operation Community Shield.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/breaking/033105_agentx.php
March 31, 2005
Al-Qaeda made surprising advances in 'Agent X' bioweapon, report says
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Al-Qaeda had progressed much further toward developing a particular biological weapon before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks than the United States realized, the presidential commission investigating intelligence on weapons of mass destruction found.

The intelligence community was surprised by al-Qaeda's advances in a virulent strain in the disease, which the commission identified only as "Agent X" to prevent al-Qaeda from knowing what the U.S. government has learned.

The discovery of al-Qaeda's work came only after the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan removed the Taliban from power, according to the report.

"Al-Qaeda's biological program was further along, particularly with regard to Agent X, than prewar intelligence indicated," the report reads. "The program was extensive, well-organized, and operated for two years before Sept. 11, but intelligence insights into the program were limited."

It was not so advanced that al-Qaeda had a functioning weapon, the report says.

U.S. officials have previously said they found signs of al-Qaeda's work in anthrax weapons in Afghanistan, but it was not clear if Agent X referred to anthrax. Other diseases that may be turned into weapons include smallpox, plague and Ebola.

http://www.bbriefings.com/pdf/1043/acambis_tech.pdf
...
Independently, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Russian scientists have identified smallpox (variola) as the greatest bioterror threat. The virus is highly contagious, has a low infective dose, is stable, could be easily deployed and kills approximately one-third of those it infects. As a result, variola is capable of affecting public health and medical infrastructures on a very large scale.
...
The US lists Iran, Iraq, Libya and North Korea as countries under suspicion of having variola virus stocks. No conclusive evidence that variola proliferation has actually taken place has been presented in public. According to the Washington Post1, a US intelligence review also indicated that the Al Qaeda network has made attempts to obtain the virus.

March 18, 2005 - Coffee? Tea? Liberal Ideology??

2005-03-18T09:16:00.000-08:00

Hello Thinkers!

After many feigned attempts and at least two broken New Year resolutions, I finally decided to heed the advice of numerous public service announcements, verbal 'nudging' from Mrs. Tuff and get my first physical in about 3 years. Before sending me on my way with the expected warnings on salt intake and exercise, the good doctor scheduled me for blood work the following day which required 12 hours of prerequisite fasting. The next morning at 7:30 I waited for the doors of the lab to open, upset that I was behind a dozen retirees who clearly had less planned for their morning than I did. It was close to another hour before my name was called and my arm was jabbed.

Leaving the facility, my hunger pangs were more than noticeable. Since I was late for work anyway, a stop at the nearby Starbucks was in order. It was a negligible detour on my commute. Entering the caffeine chamber, I noticed it was empty save for one customer at the register handing over her money for a tall white chocolate mocha with soy - or whatever it was.

Amidst this post rush hour lull, there were three women busily working. One at a contraption that reminded me of a steaming Jules Verne time machine, one wiping down the mini euro-tables working her way back behind the counter, and one at the cash register taking money from the aforementioned customer. I stopped and stood behind the patron as she collected her change.

The three employees, all in their mid to late 20's, were feverishly discussing the previous evenings antics between the table cleaner (now behind the counter and standing at the second cash register) and her date. Based on the rapid inter-employee verbal exchanges and individual body language, I deduced the date was a disaster. I was impressed at my ability to perceive the obvious, since hunger and my ongoing battle with sleep deprivation was taking its toll.

With a snap of the change purse, the customer ahead of me departed. The three worker bees, now all behind the formica hive, continued their riveting discussion, oblivious to my presence. Having long since learned never to attack, verbally or otherwise, someone who was about to prepare my food, I patiently waited and stepped forward, where I continued to wait.

Eventually I was served. I left Starbucks with my black sugarless coffee, not offended but a bit amused. Clearly, these women were so consumed by their coworkers story, snowballing within their own microcosm, they became completely unaware of their immediate surroundings.

And so it has also been with the political and activist left. The past few weeks and months have not been good to liberals, leaving them punch-drunk from a seemingly endless squall of disappointing events. Kerry and the democrats in congress, Daschle not the least among them, took painful losses last November. This is despite the hard work of media outlets across America doing their best to bash Bush and help Kerry get elected:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050314/ts_nm/media_report_dc

November 2nd, 2004 may have seemed like the bottom for the left, until they found a shovel and started digging.

Two of the casualties, Dan bin Rather and Eason Jordan crossed lines that might have never been exposed were it not for the fledgling blogosphere that both of these old media fossils likely dismissed in their glittering arrogance.

Elsewhere, in a dramatic change from the Clinton's position on drilling Americas natural resources, a major legislative roadblock to oil production in ANWR has been lifted. Tree fondlers from Cambridge to Berkley are up in arms over the decision. However, the residents of Alaska don't seem too upset about the idea:

"Oil exploration in ANWR would take place on just 2,000 acres of its 1.5 million acre coastal plain, which amounts to a tiny fraction of Alaska's protected lands. The land is on the coastal plain, a tiny sliver of the huge wildlife refuge."

Yet the overwhelming negative response from the arrogant, elitist left is typical. They know better than even the people who live in Alaska:

"The essential needs of Alaska's working families all across this vast and beautiful state depend on the responsible development of our natural resources. For us, environmentally responsible development oil and gas development in a tiny portion of the Arctic refuge means jobs, the opportunity to improve our schools and other public services. If oil exploration and development in ANWR is delayed, we ultimately hurt the Fairbanks and Alaska economy. We also hurt a trained work force from Fairbanks who work on the North Slope. The opening of ANWR to exploration would be the best economic news to hit this state in many years. It would mean thousands of jobs for Fairbanks families and billions of dollars for the state of Alaska in royalties and taxes."

http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7252~2747942,00.html

The PETA panties are in a knot now.

Ruthlessly, Bush jammed salt in the open wounds of the MoveOn.org minions by making two brilliant appointments. First, John Bolton, a harsh critic of the UN was named as our ambassador to this ragtag collection of banana republics. Second, despite the buzz among the MTV crowd that U2's Bonor might be appointed head of the world bank, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was selected for this role in a crushing blow to U2 fans everywhere. I can envision Bush and Cheney together, drinking 16 year old scotch in the oval office, doubled over laughing, slapping each other on the back as they watched the buffoons at CNN report that Bonor was in the running for a job they already had pegged Wolfowitz for.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/07/news/newsmakers/bono_worldbank/

The NY Times could not withhold their petty liberal bias over this matter:

"Despite the displeasure of some diplomats who had hoped that the administration would appoint a person without the almost radioactive reputation of a committed ideologue, they said that they expected Mr. Wolfowitz to receive the approval of the World Bank's board of directors in time for Mr. Wolfensohn's departure in May."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/16/international/16cnd-bank.html?hp&ex=1111035600&en=a89b74f3f9df28e8&ei=5094&partner=homepage

The supposed Waterloo for Bush, Iraq, may be showing a silver lining even among the liberal media. The 'Bush lied about WMD' crowd is letting the NY Times story of "massive looting" of Saddam's weapons facilities roll off their back like water off a duck.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/13/international/middleeast/13loot.html?oref=login

This is what the NY Times calls "looting":

"In the weeks after Baghdad fell in April 2003, looters systematically dismantled and removed tons of machinery from Saddam Hussein's most important weapons installations, including some with high-precision equipment capable of making parts for nuclear arms..."

and:

"in four weeks from mid-April to mid-May of 2003 as teams with flatbed trucks and other heavy equipment moved systematically from site to site."

I can see these Iraqi "looters" now, on the streets of Fallujah:

"Hey Mohammed! Bitchin' ride - Allah be praised! Is that a Ford 350?"
"No Achbad! It's a Uranium 238!"
"Wow! Nice pipes!"
"They're aluminum!"

Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks this way:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2114820/

And the Ted Kopechnes of the world must be watching in horror as positive changes are afoot in the Middle East. Days after Sen. Chivas made a speech claiming American military was the problem in Iraq, not the solution, millions of Iraqi's risked death to vote for their new leadership. I would link you to that speech on Teddy Kopechne's website, but it was removed. Since then the Lebanese have demonstrated in the hundreds of thousands for the removal of Syrian troops and occupation from their border, in defiance of Hizballah.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050314/wl_nm/lebanon_dc_8

Afghanistan, now ignored by the MSM, are electing women to their legislature.

http://www.afghanwomenslink.org.uk/news/newsitem.jsp?newsid=186

Need more proof that these are wonderful days? Check out the discussion boards at the Democratic Underground:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3283238
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3282936
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1664868
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1664464
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3282864

HA HA HA HA!

Yes thinkers, these are lousy days for the liberals and by definition, great days for America. Maybe they should relax and get a cup of coffee. Hopefully they are not in a hurry.

March 10, 2005 - Dan bin Rather: A Profile in Bias

2005-03-10T06:31:00.000-08:00

Hello Thinkers!

Last night I tuned in - albeit late, to Dan bin Rather's final broadcast as CBS Evening News anchor. To my surprise (and to the credit of modern day medication) Bin Rather did not choke up as the sun set on his platform of liberal bias. However, there was a tremendous irony in his final sign off. Bin Rather, for reasons unknown, spoke of courage. With a token tip of the hat to members of the military and victims of the recent tsunami, Bin Rather spoke of courage and explicitly addressed:

"To my fellow journalists in places where reporting the truth means risking all."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/08/eveningnews/main678731.shtml

To which journalists was Bin Rather referring to? Fox News reporters the exposed the UN Oil for Food scandal? John Stossel? The bloggers who discredited the bogus Bush-bashing TANG reports that Bin Rather drooled over in a 60 Minutes story just weeks before the 2004 election?

Look closely. Bin Rather saluted the courage of his "fellow journalists", meaning those who share his liberal, elitist prism through which he views the world. This prism, ratcheted to the extreme as Bin Rather has done, in conjunction with his utter and unmistakable disdain for things non-liberal, has pushed Bin Rather to the point of being a sociopath.

When confronted with the glaring reality that government issue typewriters from the 1960's cannot produce variable-width fonts and superscripts, Bin Rather exhibited his unique style of courage - stonewalling critics and towing the liberal party line. When the disinfecting power of daylight became obvious to even Bin Rather, his courage reached it's peak with the termination of his subordinates, a delayed retirement and the stunning admission that - OK, the documents may be fake, and the questionable source may have an agenda, but dammit the story is REAL!

Was it courage that made him be the only major media anchorman to avoid the Gary Condit(D) scandal? Was it courage that drove Bin Rather to be the keynote speaker at a Texas Democratic fundraiser?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A34557-2001Apr3?language=printer

Lets take a look at some other examples of "Bin Rather courage":

"The new Republican majority in Congress took a big step today on its legislative agenda to demolish or damage government aid programs, many of them designed to help children and the poor."
- CBS Evening News, March 16, 1995.

"There was no doubt Republicans in the House had enough votes tonight to pass another key item in their agenda to rip up or re-write government programs going back to the Franklin Roosevelt era. It is a bill making it harder, much harder, to protect health, safety, and the environment."
- CBS Evening News, February 28, 1995.

"The Republican convention opens in New York to re-nominate George W. Bush and showcase the party's, quote, 'moderate side.' Will voters buy it?"
- CBS Evening News, August 30, 2004.

"If we could be one-hundredth as great as you and Hillary Rodham Clinton have been in the White House, we'd take it right now and walk away winners....Tell Mrs. Clinton we respect her and we're pulling for her."
- To President Clinton, via satellite, at a May 27, 1993 CBS affiliates meeting

"I'm all news, all the time. Full power, tall tower. I want to break in when news breaks out. That's my agenda. Now, respectfully, when you start talking about a liberal agenda and all the, quote, 'liberal bias' in the media, I quite frankly, and I say this respectfully but candidly to you, I don't know what you're talking about."
- To Denver radio host Mike Rosen, November 28, 1995.

http://www.mediaresearch.org/notablequotables/2005/nq20050228.asp

I'll bet he took alot of crap from his NYC cocktail party crowd for those comments! The meteor has struck Bin Rather's world of uncontested liberal bias. He can only gaze as the dark cloud of independent information sources descends to choke him into obscurity.

Courage! What a joke! Bin Rather has about as much courage as college professor making anti American statements in an ethnic studies class at Colorado University.

March 3, 2005 - The Supreme Court of France Has Spoken!

2005-03-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

Hello Thinkers.

I must be getting old - and maybe the word "getting" could be omitted. 15 years ago, a story like this would have been ne'er a blip on the radar screen. It would have been reported during my commute as I was listening for the traffic report and would have, at most, evoked an odd look at the radio.

But not anymore. Now my wrinkled ass is about as frosted as it gets on a news story. This week, a deconstructionist, socialist pig majority of SCOTUS members chose to usurp the will of the people in twenty states, redefine the Constitution, and ban capital punishment for convicted criminals under 18 years of age - regardless of the circumstances of their crime. Even if you disagree with the death penalty, you should be very concerned at the illogic used by the newly self-appointed Kings of the SCOTUS majority.

The case (Roper v. Simmons) involves Christopher Simmons. When he was eight months shy of his 18th birthday, Simmons terrorized and brutally murdered Shirley Crook. Mrs. Cook was abducted from her home, bound with duct tape and electrical wire and thrown off a railroad trestle into a river - alive and conscious. Prior to the murder, Simmons told his friends they could "get away with it" because they were minors. He was right.

Simmons overpowered Crook, and subjected her to his whims and amusement, and then destroyed her with utter contempt. Similarly, Kings John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy have subjected the US Constitution to their "living document" prism, subservient to the latest opinions from France, and the content of today's Montel Williams Show.

His Highness, Anthony Kennedy penned the opinion of the majority, basing his apologia on three points. First, execution of those under 18 violates the "cruel and unusual punishment" clause based on "the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society". Second, a national consensus that those under 18 are less culpable than those over 18. And third (gag), "The overwhelming weight of international opinion."

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04slipopinion.html

To support his irresponsible opinion, King Kennedy writes the following:

"Defense counsel reminded the jurors that juveniles of Simmons age cannot drink, serve on juries, or even see certain movies, because the legislatures have wisely decided that individuals of a certain age aren't responsible enough." Yet later on that same page Kennedy concedes, "Simmons was absent from home for long periods, spending time using alcohol and drugs with other teenagers or young adults." So even though he is too young to drink (and by flawed implication too young to understand what it means to murder), he did it anyway. Knowing he could "get away with it" certainly indicates to me an adult understanding of murder.

In what is among the most maddening of Kennedy's prose, the Pasha of Pointlessness states, "To implement this framework we have established the propriety and affirmed the necessity of referring to 'the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society' to determine which punishments are so disproportionate as to be cruel and unusual." So basically what this means is that a jury of citizens is, unlike the "Enlightened Five", too stupid to consider the severity of a crime, the age and condition of the criminal and the surrounding circumstances when determining punishment. Think about Kennedy's statement: "We have established the propriety and affirmed the necessity of..." Yes, they know better than the peasants of the capital punishment states. This is amazing in its arrogance.

Get this - Kennedy then claims, "In Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U. S. 815 (1988), a plurality of the Court determined that our standards of decency do not permit the execution of any offender under the age of 16 at the time of the crime." So fifteen years ago, SCOTUS decided it was OK to execute 16 and 17 year olds, but since then, the Constitution's meaning has changed drastically. Where is the standardized, reliable process of logic in reaching this conclusion? Do we as a nation feel safe doing ANYTHING that was legal 15 years ago if SCOTUS can turn on a dime like this? Again - regardless of your position on the death penalty, you should be tremendously alarmed at the lack of predictable procedural thought being followed in court opinions. Why does this court think that the Constitution was written to protect popular opinion? And you know that 21 will be the next "age of maturity".

As Justice Antonin Scalia points out in characteristically brilliant dissent, The opinion of the 'Red Five' rely on content from the American Psychiatric Association to conclude that "When a juvenile offender commits a heinous crime, the State can exact forfeiture of some of the most basic liberties, but the State cannot extinguish his life and his potential to attain a mature understanding of his own humanity." Yet Scalia points out, "In its brief in Hodgson v. Minnesota, 497 U.S. 417 (1990), the APA found a 'rich body of research' showing that juveniles are mature enough to decide whether to obtain an abortion without parental involvement." It's good to be King Kennedy, huh? Just cherry pick the stats that support your current mood and you're done.

To support Kennedy's view of national consensus, the Sultan of Arrogance writes, "the rejection of the juvenile death penalty in the majority of States; the infrequency of its use even where it remains on the books; and the consistency in the trend toward abolition of the practice provide sufficient evidence that today our society views juveniles, ...as categorically less culpable than the average criminal." Yet does he take into account that murderers under 18 represent a small percentage of overall murderers? And why does he infer that because it is a low number, we must rule it out as an option, regardless of the heinous nature of the crime, in ALL cases? And if there is a national consensus against the execution of those under 18, why has no successful presidential candidate embraced this as a major component of their platform? Even Clinton didn't touch this one. Again, the voting peasants of America are too stupid and must have these important decisions made for them.

The flagrant disregard for the Constitution culminates with, "the overwhelming weight of international opinion against the juvenile death penalty." I wonder which international opinion the justices chose to kneel before. Could it be Islamic law? You know, the kind where an Iranian teenage girl gets a potentially lethal 100 lashes for having sex?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/25/world/main676473.shtml

Or could it be the international opinion, again from Islamic law, that the crime of "Fasad fil-ardh" (spreading mischief in the land) requires death? This category of crime includes rape, adultery and homosexual behavior.

http://islam.about.com/cs/law/a/c_punishment.htm

The global Muslim population is huge. Is this is the "overwhelming weight" SCOTUS refers to?

Subverting the Constitution and our national sovereignty is nothing short of a crime. But I suppose the Kings want to be well received when they visit Paris this summer.

And why does Ruth Ginsberg, who believes that 12 year olds are mature enough to consent to sex, believe that 17 year olds cannot adequately comprehend the concept of murder. Think back - WAY back. Which concept did you understand first? Death or orgasm?

http://www.inoohr.org/ruthbaderginsburg.htm
http://www.reclaimamerica.org/pages/NEWS/newspage.asp?story=2366
http://www.cathfam.org/PR042303.html

In case you are curious, here are a few examples of "the evolving standards of decency" that mark our maturing society.

- Efrain Perez and Raul Villarreal of Harris County (Houston), convicted with three others of the gang-rape and beating deaths of Jennifer Ertman, 14 and Elizabeth Pena, 16. Perez and Villarreal were 17 at the time. Pena's father, Adolph, on Tuesday wore a T-shirt with the girls' photos printed on it. "These people are animals," he said at a news conference held by Harris County murder victims' relatives. "They're the scourge of the streets. If they get out, they will kill again."

- Robert Springsteen of Travis County, convicted at 17 in 2001 of the infamous 'Yogurt Shop' slayings in which four teenage girls were bound, gagged and fatally shot in the head at a yogurt shop a decade earlier.

- Jorge Alfredo Salinas, who at 17 carjacked a man in Hidalgo County in July 2001, fatally shot him in the head, and left the man's 21-month-old daughter to die of dehydration and exposure strapped in her car seat in a brush area near the Rio Grande.

http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=85de330985d9fa01

None of these ambitious youths will receive the punishment that a jury has decided for them. SCOTUS thinks we are too stupid to consider all the factors. Say good-bye to the rule of law. Say hello to the rule of man.

February 28, 2005 - A Weekend in San Francisco

2005-03-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

Hello Thinkers,

As you know, it has been a while since I've composed a rant. Between Tuff Jr's christening, preparing my taxes, a busy work schedule and another business trip to Than Franthisco (where I'm writing this from now), my opportunities for blogging have been a bit limited. However, on the night before my flight back home, which is now a race with a winter storm heading up the east coast, I have some moments to opine.

Than Franthisco is a nice city. The architecture is neat, the trolley cars are nostalgic and a decent cup of coffee is never far away. In fact if it wasn't for the people (most of them anyway), I'd actually consider living out here. However, I found myself particularly homesick when I walked past a crazy taking his Sunday shower at a drinking fountain on Market and Powell streets at eight in the morning. The streets were otherwise a ghost town.

And while being away from my usual internet connections has kept me a bit out of the loop for the past few days, it has also afforded me the opportunity to peruse the San Franciso Cronicle. The Saturday, Feb 26th edition had two stories I found to be of particular interest.

First, an Oakland man named Patrick McCullough was recently arrested. His crime? He shot a 17-year old who was part of a gang of approximately 15 'disadvantaged youths' who surrounded and attacked McCullough as he walked from his front door to his driveway. This crowd of young high achievers apparently was disenchanted with McCullough for disrupting their drug deals in front of his property. McCullough was punched, hit with sticks and saw the 17-year old in question reach for a gun when he discharged his own weapon, ending the attack. Bullets will do that, you know.

So somebody 'splain to me how this works. You legally own a gun. You are attacked by over a dozen drug dealers on your own property. They punch you, threaten you, one of them pulls a gun. By the grace of God, you get off the first shot, ending the encounter. Next thing you know, you are cuffed, jailed and released on $15K bail - and the deputy DA in Oakland is unsure whether or not he will press felony charges.

In a recent editorial (Gun Ban in San Francisco - How Gay is That?!), I told you that the single most effective deterrent to violent crime is to allow trained, law abiding citizens the right to carry concealed weapons. Now I will also tell you that gun control laws hurt the law abiding poor and minorities the most - despite what Babs Streisand, Ted Kennedy, Oprah Winfrey, et al, would tell you.

http://tuffbeingright.blogspot.com/2005/01/january-31-2005-gun-ban-in-san.html

Partick McCullough is 49 years old, worked his way through college, is a navy veteran, and -oh yea- he's black. He and his wife cannot afford to move since they bought their home under a first-time buyers program to provide "neighborhood stability" to North Oakland and would lose any equity if they sell before 2014.

I wonder where the NAALCP stands on this issue?

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/26/MNGKVBHHQ11.DTL

The second rivetting story from Saturday's SF Chronicle is about Iris Rivera from Redwood City. She is apparently the third person to sue the bay area Gorilla Foundation, home of Koko the "talking" ape, and its president, Francine "Penny" Patterson. Koko cannot talk, but apparently she can perform some rudimentary sign language. What fascinating messages are we getting from a non-human who has been trained to communicate with us across the Darwinian chasm? Koko wants to see Iris' breasts. And apparently Iris disagreeably obliged Koko half a dozen times in a two month period last summer. Now, Iris is claiming pressure from her employer to appease Koko's mammalian requests.

Of the three women suing the Foundation, only Iris went to the extreme of exposing herself to her captive audience. Iris apparently reached her limits when Koko indicated that she wanted to spend some quality time with Iris. Koko's salacious message included "Let down your hair. Lie down on the floor. Show your breasts again, Close your eyes" This was apparently followed by (Koko's) heavy breathing. It is unknown if Koko was peeling off singles as enticement.

One of the other women suing Patterson and her foundation, Kendra Keller, specifies some interesting exchanges in her suit - which includes wrongful termination. One incident states "On at least two incidents in mid-to-late June 2004, Patterson intensely pressured Keller to expose herself to Koko while they were working outside where other employees could potentially view Keller's naked body. ... On one such occasion, Patterson said, 'Koko, you see my nipples all the time. You are probably bored with my nipples. You need to see new nipples. I will turn my back so Kendra can show you her nipples.' "

Thank God for the progressive left, huh?

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/18/BAGM9BDI191.DTL

Funny, I don't remember this part of the PBS special on Koko the gorilla who pets kittens and has a 1,000 word vocabulary in sign language. Can Koko be sued herself for this harassment? Has she ever signed hate-speech? Did Koko request a trip to MA with Iris for the purpose of marriage? Surely those who want to assign Constitutional 'rights' to animals or who want to sue on their behalf to stop things like sonar tests by the US Navy would want to know this before they open a can of litigious worms.

http://www.irishdolphins.com/webpilot/list/details.asp?l=5&contentid=73
http://compassionatetraveler.org/art/2001-06-01.htm

Just what *is* my neighbor's dog thinking when he craps on my yard?

Ironically, Koko the gorilla and Ted Kennedy have NEVER been seen together. Lois Lane and Jimmy Olson are getting suspicious.

Too much time on the left coast must be spiraling my mind to new depths. Maybe I'll take a shower before bed to clear my brain. I wonder if that drinking fountain is open on Market and Powell?

February 11, 2005 - Teachers and Treason

2005-02-11T12:41:00.000-08:00

Hello Thinkers!

I have seen many news stories in the past that leave me utterly speechless, but I cannot remember being this stunned by what appears to be a trend in the headlines today. What in the hell is up with all these SMOKIN', blonde haired, 20-something teachers doing the moaning mambo (oh, excuse me - "raping") their teenage students?? And even more importantly, where were they when I went to school?? My primary and secondary learning institutions doubled as the penultimate resting place for every penguin-raisin in upstate NY. At St. Edmunds, the nuns fell asleep in class more often than the students - no lie.

Between Mary Kay Letourneau, Debra Lefave, and now Pamela Turner, these teenage kids are living a life even Hugh Heffner can only dream of. Granted their mugshots may not be flattering, and highway-orange is a difficult color to match eye shadow with, but the perp walks these temptresses of tutelage make are more like a runway strut for the Miss Pedophilia competition. I don't imagine any of these boys are kicking them out of the bunk bed for spilling Juicy-Juice.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146797,00.html
http://www.abcactionnews.com/stories/2004/11/041130lafave.shtml

These women, unlikely to be hired again as teachers, can probably find gainful, post-penitentiary employment with the CIA as 'terrorist torture specialists'. Although they might be over-qualified.

Maybe I'm just bitter. But at least I'm not as bitter as civil rights attorney, Lynne Stewart. It seems Ms. Stewart will be living the socialist dream of a state-funded lifestyle, with all the trappings. In case you missed it, she was recently convicted of sending messages to associate terrorists from her client, a radical Egyptian sheik named Omar Abdel-Rahman.

http://www.tkb.org/CaseHome.jsp?caseid=332

Abdel-Rahman was convicted of conspiracy to bomb several sites in New York, including federal office buildings and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels that run between NYC and New Jersey. Apparently some of Omar's charm rubbed off on Ms. Stewart. She is quoted as saying during her trial, "To rid ourselves of the entrenched, voracious type of capitalism that is in this country that perpetuates sexism and racism, I don't think that can come nonviolently."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050210/ap_on_re_us/terror_trial_5

(WARNING!! If you follow the link above, it includes a photo of Ms. Stewart - who has a face that a case of beer and a kilo of Viagra dust couldn't cure. Do not say you weren't forewarned.)

Now, I'm not 100% sure what the "voracious type of capitalism...that perpetuates sexism and racism" she is speaking of, but if I have to pick, Regis - I'll say "D. Islam," and that's my final answer.

A Reuters article posted immediately following her conviction described Ms. Stewart as "a defender of the poor and unpopular."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=7&u=/nm/20050211/ts_nm/crime_lawyer_dc

(WARNING!! This link also features a picture of Ms. Stewart!)

Nice job by Reuters. I wonder how Stewart would have been described if their NY office was on Omar's hit list.

I find it interesting how articles like this make the newswire rather quickly. Yet other equally interesting news moves like molasses, if at all. You know - really interesting stuff, like the news chief at CNN claiming that he knew of a dozen journalists in Iraq who were *targeted and killed* by the US military. This appears to be the unsubstantiated claim by Eason Jordan at the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Switzerland, on January 27th. Funny, I didn't hear about this from Dan bin Rather, did you? A search at cbsnews.com never mentions Jordan except for an email buried in Dick Meyer's feedback section.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/20/opinion/meyer/main584753.shtml

Good luck finding it! I will not even waste my time looking on CNN's site. I only saw this on TV news for the first time yesterday on FoxNews, yet it has been the buzz of blogs like Powerline, Littlegreenfootballs, and MichelleMalkin among others for well over a week.

http://homepage.mac.com/mkoldys/iblog/C168863457/E1261261976/index.html
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/
http://www.michellemalkin.com/
http://www.powerlineblog.com/

Think about it. A top exec at CNN announces to an international community, with no evidence, at a major economic forum, that the US military is making a practice of targeting journalists in Iraq for execution - and the MSM is giving him a complete pass. Yet they slam Rumsfeld for saying that we go to war with the army we have, not the one we want.

Even screaming liberals Rep. Barney Frank(D-MA) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), who were in attendance, were outraged. Some papers like the Miami Herald and the Washington Post are starting to pick up the story. Most of them require an online subscription, but here's one that doesn't:

http://www.nysun.com/article/8866

Jordan has been feverishly backpedaling like the dog that bit the beehive. How CNN can state they have no liberal bias when their news chief makes comments like this is beyond me. I can only assume that CNN is hoping for some more young, buxom, nymphomaniac school teachers to creep into the news and get the building pressure, and the monkey-blogs, off their backs. Thank God for media critics in pajamas!

January 31, 2005 - A Gun Ban in San Francisco? How Gay is That?!

2005-01-30T10:51:00.000-08:00

Today's Commentary: January 31st, 2005

Hello Thinkers!

How is that "global warming" treating you all today? It was so damn hot this January morning in the People's Republic of Massachusetts that my back door was frozen shut.

If you have a blog on blogger.com like I do ( http://tuffbeingright.blogspot.com - an archive of these editorials), you may have seen a link on the admin screen asking if you want to advertise on your site. Being the shameless capitalist that I am, I submitted my blog figuring I had nothing to lose. Below is their response to me shortly after my submittal.

Thank you for your interest in Google AdSense. After reviewing your
application, our program specialists have found that it does not comply
with our policies. Therefore, we're unable to accept you into Google
AdSense at this time.

We did not approve your application for the reasons listed below. If
you are able to resolve these issues, please feel free to reply to this
email for reconsideration when you have made the changes.

Issues:

- Sensitive content

---------------------

Further detail:

Sensitive content: Google believes strongly in freedom of expression
and offers broad access to content across the web without censoring
search results. At the same time, we reserve the right to exercise
discretion when reviewing sites for AdSense. We've found that your
website contains content that we don't allow at this time. AdSense
policy doesn't currently accept sites that advocate against any
individual, group, or organization.

What a bunch of homos!

Speaking of homos, it seems the residents of the left coast are simply never content playing second fiddle to anyone. Especially the Land of Oz known as San Francisco - they have the 9th Circuit Court making some of the most insane rulings in the nation, they are the epicenter of pacifism in the face of Islamofacists, and they were so pissed by being beaten to the gay marriage punch by Massachusetts, they cranked up the fairy-mating full speed, in violation of California law, just to prove - mirror, mirror, that THEY were the gayest of them all.

But now it seems San Francisco has set their sites, so to speak, on ripping the title of "Murder Capitol of the US" from Washington, DC. How are they doing this? By filing legislation to completely ban all handguns from their city limits. Not just carrying in public, mind you - but a total ban on handguns from any and all homes and businesses. Existing gun owners would have to turn them in.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/12/15/state1859EST0145.DTL

The stated goal of this legislation? It is "a response to San Francisco's skyrocketing homicide rate, as well as other social ills. There have been 86 murders in the city so far this year [as of the Dec 15th date of the SF Gate article] compared to 70 in all of 2003."

So who was the bay area rocket scientist that decided "Hey! Let's do what Washington, DC did!"

For 14 of the past 15 years, Washington DC has held two infamous national titles. They are the aforementioned murder capital of the US and home of some of the most restrictive gun laws in the US. These are apparently not only unrelated in the minds of Ted Kennedy, Diane Feinstein and Michael Moore, but mutually exclusive. This is of course, despite the fact that each of them have a gun - or armed guards to protect them.

Yes, Michael Moore needs a gun to protect his fat ass, but he believes you don't:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,144921,00.html

And yes, Ted Kennedy needs a gun to protect his fat ass, but he believes you don't:

http://www.ccrkba.org/pub/rkba/press-releases/CC-Snoopdogg.htm

And yes, Senator Diane Feinstein needs a gun to protect her fat ass, but she believes you don't:

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a393009843f7b.htm

While I will concede that the DC gun ban is not the exclusive cause of high murder rates in DC, it is not a difficult leap of faith to conclude that armed criminals will be most active in areas where the public cannot fight back.

So how do politicians get their constituencies to follow their flawed logic? Misinformation. During the early 1990's, the Clinton administration claimed that according to the CDC, eleven children a day are killed by guns. These messages were accompanied by visuals featuring blonde haired, blue eyed toddlers reaching for a revolver in a closet or nightstand. The reality? In order to get the 11-a-day figure, you had to include "children" in their 20's - the vast, vast majority of whom were gang members involved in drug transactions or turf wars. I guess that's not a visual the soccer moms would probably relate to, huh?

Then there's the dangers of "aquaintance murders". You may have heard that a house with a gun in it is 10 times (or whatever) more likely to have a friend or relative killed in it. Sounds nasty, eh? That is until you find out that the term "friend" includes members of rival street gangs.

According to John Lott's book, "The Bias Against Guns", more children under five die by drowning in 5 gallon plastic water buckets than do children under ten by any type of accidental gunshot.

I could go on debunking stories of "cop-killer" bullets, plastic handguns that evade metal detectors, or guns that just "go off" a la Jayson Williams, but then I would have to tell you that the tooth fairy does in fact, not exist.

By the way, who here can define "assault weapon?"

So why the misinformation from various organizations? Government funding and revenue from antigun private foundations. There is money to be made by trying to disarm law abiding citizens. This is not a small task, considering a recent Gallup poll found that 40% of American adults own a gun and 1/3rd of American adult women own a gun. Think about those numbers.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000745373

John Lott also wrote a book titled "More Guns, Less Crime." I don't know if I would suggest you read it. The book is not an easy read. Lott is an economist and he did a dizzyingly impressive statistic analysis on gun control laws and their effects on crime. His findings? There is no more effective deterrent to violent crime (rape, murder, robbery) than to allow trained, law abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons. Even non-gun owners benefit. However, certain types of property crime that avoids direct victim contact (ie. car theft) does rise. But hell, I'll take that over a knifepoint mugging any day.

And if you don't believe Lott, think about this scenario. You need to score some Oxycontin in a big way. You stake out a dark mall parking lot late one night and see two people walk out to their cars. One is a lady in her late 70's carrying a purse over her shoulder. The other is a man in his 30's with a conspicuous bulge high on his right hip under his jacket. Question: Which one are you going to mug? Answer: Neither! You are going to wait until another woman in her 70's walks out of the mall alone.

And by the way, before I get tagged for being homophobic for my earlier remarks, I will state emphatically that I am not anti gay. I could not care less what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their homes. In fact here's a bunch of homosexuals that I support. Why? Because they get it:

http://www.pinkpistols.org

I have no idea how Matthew Shepard felt about 2nd Amendment rights, but he might be alive today had he exercised them.

January 18, 2005 - The Kennedy Manifesto

2005-01-22T19:27:00.000-08:00

Today's Commentary: January 22nd, 2005

Hello Thinkers,

Last weekend I spent most of my waking hours preparing the homestead for my week-long business travel to the west coast. This was my first trip away from home after the birth of Tuff Jr. and I wanted to ensure an easy (as possible) week for Mrs. Tuff during my absence. Among the prep work was the task of checking the mousetraps. Living on what was once farmland has many wonderful advantages, but the siege of small, furry, tennants at will is not one of them.

So on saturday evening, I headed down to the garage to recon the traps. The cold and clouds outside were setting in. With a crisp click, I turned on the overhead lights and followed the foundation wall to my right. Success! Through the fog of my warm exhale, I could see the days catch curled over the edge of the wooden Victor trap. However, something was odd. Almost every other small varmin that squeezes its way into my castle, only to fall victim to the Iron Maiden of the miniature mammal world, is discovered in a virtually identical state of rigor. Their nose is just barely touching the peanut butter bait. Their neck, snapped by the wire, has a visible crevass that segments their once uniform body, making them look more like a large fuzzy ant than a mouse. Their black, Marty Feldman eyes are permanently staring directly up into the unforgiving space over their heads. They are trapped forever in time, like the victims of Vesuvius, saying "What the F---?" in mouse-speak.

But this specimen was different and I noticed it right away. Luckily, CSI was on the case. Close inspection showed the body was in tact - no segmentation. The peanut butter was gone. The eyes were shut. As I rotated the plyers which held the trap, I saw new evidence and deduced the cause of death. The tensioned wire had closed not on this mouses neck, but on it's foot. The wood underneath the foot had bite marks, indicating the mouse had not only survived the snap, but tried to escape. Probable cause of death? Either starvation or hypothermia.

It was at this point that I could not escape the obvious analogy. The baiting of this mouse with a tasty treat (Skippy crunchy) is like the "DEMOCRATIC BLUEPRINT FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE" given by Senator Chivas on January 12th, 2005. The cold, slow death this mouse suffered is what would happen to our nation if these blueprints became anything more than the liberal pipedream that they are. Kennedy's ideas sound undeniably wonderful - almost unarguable. Yet they are the song of the siren which draws us to the rocks, and snaps down on our foot with a rusty metal wire, holding us until we wither away - drained and unable to resist the burden of government control. Since you all are time-constrained, working Thinkers, paying for our nations clean needles, I will provide for you some excerpts from Ted "A Blonde in Every Pond" Kennedy's speech. And of course, my commentary.

Early on, Ted talks about how close he thinks the 2004 election was and emphatically states, "I categorically reject the deceptive and dangerous claim that the outcome last November was somehow a sweeping, or a modest, or even a miniature mandate for reactionary measures like privatizing Social Security, redistributing the tax burden in the wrong direction, or packing the federal courts with reactionary judges."

...Of course. The news is bad, so simply ignore it. Being oblivious to the reality of 4 million votes is the key to accepting Kennedy's blueprint. His inebriessness continues, "We have an Administration that falsely hypes almost every issue as a crisis. They did it on Iraq, and they are doing it now on Social Security."

...Crisis? You mean like the global warming "crisis?" The healthcare "crisis?" The education "crisis?" Kennedy's ilk are the incestuous breeding ground of any "crisis de jour". Without a "crisis" to justify separating you from your cash, liberal democrats would have nothing to talk about.

But the siren song is just beginning: "We must open new doors and new avenues for all Americans to make the most of their God-given talents and rekindle the fires of innovation in our society. By doing so, we can turn this era of globalization into a new era of opportunity for America. Universities and school boards cannot master the challenge alone."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/college/2003-12-08-prepaid_x.htm

...So despite the insane rise in college tuition (during the past five years, average tuition at a public four-year college has risen about 40%), universities and school boards cannot do it alone. Get your checkbook out. Ted is compelling you to save the day. He continues, "I propose that every child in America, upon reaching eighth grade, be offered a contract. Let students sign it, along with their parents and Uncle Sam. The contract will state that if you work hard, if you finish high school and are admitted to college, we will guarantee you the cost of earning a degree. Surely, we have reached a stage in America where we can say it and mean it - cost must never again be a bar to college education."

...Why does the United States government need to get involved in "a contract" regarding my child's education? And why must I be taxed to subsidize the latest "entitlement", a college education, for someone else? Why can they not get a loan? What if they decide to drop a few classes along the way and it takes them 6 or more years to complete college (as is often the case)? Will my "tuition bill" be amended? What if they change majors? How much skin will they put into the game? Why is everybody else's kid suddenly my problem?

I know this may seem hard to believe, but Ted wants to spend your (and my) cash like the drunken sailor he is. The singing continues, "We should encourage many more students to pursue advanced degrees in math and science. We should make tuition in graduate school free for needy students in those disciplines. And we should make undergraduate tuition free for any young person willing to serve as a math or science teacher in a public school for at least four years."

...Sounds good, huh? And a lean, effective government agency will oversee all of this, right?

Ted continues his diatribe on all the wonderful things you should pay for, like new schools, and high speed internet access for every classroom, home and business in America. And you thought your cable bill was high now, eh comrades? Kennedy also makes a few statements stunning in their irony. He states, "We should invest in mass transit, to reduce the pollution in our air and the congestion on our roads."

...you mean like that leaking "Big Dig" that you bilked the nation over $14 billion for? How much of an upgrade to Boston's mass transit could that have financed? But then we wouldn't have that nice "Rose Kennedy" park where the old highway used to be, now would we?

The lunacy drones on: "We should stop the non-scientific, pseudo-scientific, and anti-scientific nonsense emanating from the right-wing, and start demanding immediate action to reduce global warming, and prevent the catastrophic climate change that may be on our horizon now."

...There's that "global warming crisis" again. As I write this, it is 4 degrees above zero (F) in Boston. How he says that with a straight face is beyond me.

Like most conservatives, I agree with a good portion of the overall flowery goals Sen Chivas espouses. Greater access to education, caring for the needy, etc, but let's call - and treat - these things as they really are. They are charity, not "entitlements" to be demanded from me because someone else thinks the end, and their bloated means to get there, are a good idea.

I could go on, but you get the gist. If only Ted and the rest of the Michael Moore wing of the far left was in control of our nation - and your wallet, it would be a wonderful place. You can read Ted's speech in its entirety at: http://kennedy.senate.gov/~kennedy/statements/05/1/2005112713.html

But I will leave you with this tidbit from Larry Kudlow, a former economist for the Reagan administration. He writes in an article posted the day after Teddy's speech:

"The explosion in tax revenues has been prompted by the tax-cut-led economic growth of the past eighteen months. With 50 percent cash-bonus expensing for the purchase of plant and equipment, productivity-driven corporate profits ranging around 20 percent have generated a 45 percent rise in business taxes. At lower income-tax rates, employment gains of roughly 2.5 million are throwing off more than 6 percent in payroll-tax receipts. Personal tax revenues are rising at a near 9 percent pace."

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/larrykudlow/lk20050113.shtml

The moral of the story? If you want to feed the poor, lower my taxes.

...and stay away from that peanut butter. It gets mighty sticky. Just ask the mice.

January 14, 2005 - "Here LIES CBS News..."

2005-01-13T06:43:00.000-08:00

Today's Commentary: January 14th, 2005

Hello Thinkers,

"Here Lies CBS News..."

Is that going to be the inscription on the tombstone of CBS News or will it be Dan bin Rather's salutation at the top of his evening news broadcast? Probably both.

Based on what I am seeing from the internal report released by CBS on what is now known as "Memogate", I am going to make the following (obvious) prediction for the 2006 midterm elections and even more so for the 2008 presidential election:

All the talk about Democrats embracing traditional "values" is crap. Things are going to get worse - WAY worse.

I make this prediction not based on personal clairvoyance, but because I see the following trends:

1. Democrats are continuing to elevate internal fringe groups, and maintain the "bunker mentality."
2. The mainstream media (MSM) still doesn't get it.
3. Any single political party "in charge" will lead to our national demise.

The two major political parties are roughly composed of the following constituencies:

Republicans - Those who believe in limited government, strong military, being tough on crime and a "dead" Constitution. While many of these people are upset with the shift away from some of these values by the current (and past) administrations, they are not crazy enough to embrace a "better fit" in political parties or candidates at the cost of (an apparently inevitable) slide towards socialism. They remember Ross Perot and Ralph (The Man) Nader.

Democrats - Those who believe in greater government control over their lives, greater taxes on the ubiquitous "rich" (ie. you), a weaker military, less culpability for criminal behavior and preferences based on race or gender. In addition, a greater portion of active Democrats seem to be fringe groups whose primary drive consists of saving the mudskipper, voting rights for felons, homosexual 'rights', etc.

Many ex-Democrats can honestly say that the Democratic Party has left them - including those who maintain a "D" suffix on their voter registration. The voice of the party fragments, whose transitory alignment crystallizes only during campaign season, has drowned out their old-school counterparts in the din of the Democrat echo chamber. Ask a PETA member what they think of Zell Miller or Joe Lieberman. Watch this year as the Democrats take every chance possible to shred Bush, his nominees, and his policies (a.k.a. the "bunker mentality").

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,144082,00.html

While there are plenty of nuts affiliated with either party, I believe the media's focus on the "Religious Right" of the Republicans is seriously misplaced. Many conservatives believe in a strict textual interpretation of The Constitution followed closely by the standards of our society that have been in place for over 200 years - a la Justices Scalia and Thomas. For example, saying "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, because it does not recognize an official religion such as The Church of W. The oft noted "wall of separation between Church and State" is not in the Constitution, but part of a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut. The idea that this should define our nation as being completely void of any religious reference is ludicrous and has no basis in our history nor the Constitution. If you agree with this then you are apparently part of the media-defined "Religious Right".

Still the MSM doesn't get it. Look at how they are handling Memogate. CBS has fired the producers, but left the overseers of the machine that spawned their Bush hatchet-job, Heyward and Bin Rather, in place. Their own story on the report focuses on the described "myopic zeal" in getting the scoop on a "big story".

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/10/national/main665727.shtml

The looney Mary Mapes, producer of the story, is still singing with the Titanic orchestra.

http://homepage.mac.com/cfj/CBS_mapes_statement.pdf

In her statement she says, "Much has been made about the fact that these documents are photocopies and therefore cannot be trusted, but decades of investigative reporting have relied on just such copies of memos, documents and notes."

...Actually, you idiot, much has been made that these documents are obviously forged and were refuted within hours of the 60 Minutes story.

She continues with this doozey, "It is noteworthy the panel did not conclude that these documents are false."

...Yes - and OJ WAS found to be innocent.

Mapes concludes, "I am heartened to see that the panel found no political bias on my part, as indeed I have none."

...Then why did you rush a negative story on Bush weeks before a presidential election without a thorough vetting process and without presenting any opposing data like the interview with the family of the deceased alleged author of said report? Was the Cracker-Jack internal investigative team looking for a CBS memo titled "Let's use our liberal bias to alter the election." ?? Would they say the same thing if the players were Kerry instead of Bush and Fox News instead of CBS?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationalpolitics/2002032742_bushguard11.html

Even Bin Rather, after the wheels began coming off the cart, chimed in with a statement amazing in its irony:

"My colleagues and I at '60 Minutes' made great efforts to authenticate these documents and to corroborate the story as best we could. . . . I think the public is smart enough to see from whom some of this criticism is coming and draw judgments about what the motivations are."

...Indeed we can, which is why your ratings SUCK, Dan!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A12809-2004Sep10?language=printer

Even if proven with concrete evidence, this story would probably have not changed the 2004 election outcome. But the fact that CBS tried to manipulate the process, is huge. The main story here should be the ongoing liberal bias of CBS News and Bin Rather - not how he was "stretched thin", or the "broken trust with his producer", as the likes of Andrea Mitchell and Tim Russert claim on Imus. Watch the reports on this story and where the "concern" is reported to be.

As I see it, the MSM is continuing its course to the left - steady as she goes. And I view the alphabet soup news networks, NY Times, Boston Globe, et al as the best barometer for what the Democrat party is thinking and where it is also going - in this case, destination: electorate obscurity.

And this is bad for all of us. Without some sane alternative to keep one party, even Republicans, in check, we are in some serious trouble. They are after all, politicians.

January 6, 2005 - 2004 - The Year in Haikus

2005-01-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

Today's Commentary: January 6th, 2005

Hello Thinkers,

Maybe I am being subliminally programmed. It could be that while I read, nap or otherwise am engaged in useful endeavors, the background clatter of TV shows like "Will and Grace", "Queer Eye", "Trading Spaces", "Trading Spaces - Family Edition", "Trading Spaces - Holiday Special", "Trading Spaces - Families with Pet Penguins" or "Trading Spaces - The Best Of" are having an effect. But for whatever reason I am feeling "artsy" enough to revisit a once dreaded grammar school English class assignment, the Haiku. Why we were taught about Haikus in English class, I'll never know. By the time my son takes an English class, they will probably be making Piñatas, if they are not doing this already.

Regardless, being filled with a lust for culture, I revisited the rules and syntax for creating Haikus. For those of you needing a refresher, they are:

1. Haiku-poems consist of respectively 5, 7 and 5 syllables in three units. In Japanese, this convention is a must, but in English, which has variation in the length of syllables, this can sometimes be difficult.

2. Avoiding similes and metaphors.

3. Retaining Japanese values.

I could put links to Haiku sites that explain this in more detail, but neither you nor I care. Also, in my exercise, I decided to ignore rules 2 and 3 and replaced them with the following tuffbeingright-Haiku rule:

1A. Have fun at the expense of others.

Of course the challenge with Haikus is to convey the essence of the subject in this terse format. Emboldened for the task, I submit them for your perusal. I only ask that if a future commentary opines the virtues of male figure skating, one of the nearby Thinkers will have mercy and kill me.

So here they are. The people and topics of the past year. 2004 - The Year in Haikus.

Global Warming
Earth cooks so they claim
Movie says it must be true
Damn, its cold outside

Ted Kennedy
Fat drunken royalty
The splash, the drowning, the flee
He stays, we are fools

Teresa Heinz-Kerry
Once probably hot
Known never verbal restraint
Now the skank - poor John

2004 Presidential Election
Copley Square parties early
Polls query women, minorities
Midnight rain, their hangover

Dan Bin Rather
Bald face liberal whore
Boomerang of bias strikes his ass
The foot fits - eat it

France
Once germane, now feckless
Like an aging barroom tart
The arrogance, the smell

Diane Feinstein
Anti gun crusader fights
Disarms citizens, felons care not
She needs gun, you don't

Post 2004 Presidential Election
Lib fury, blame the gays
Media elite cannot understand
Baldwin still won't leave

Micheal Moore
Facts pesty, left is right
Cutting room floor the witness
Pass the doughnuts please

Yasser Arafat
People poor, wife gaudy
French idol this terrorist pig
Did he bite pillows?

The UN
Tin horns blast loud, clear
Zion, America suck! Saddam nice!
Send us more cash please

Amber Frey
Nice guy but too good?
Fate twists, spotlight, peddle book
Keep your clothes on please

Indiana Pacers
I am sports hero, god
Hey! Hey! Who threw that beer?
Kick your ass, Mo Fo

Ron Reagan's Funeral
Pageantry national grief
Loved by most, achievements vast
Clinton is pissed

Swift Boat Veterans
Not so fast Johnny
Cambodian Christmas? Not!
Kerry will ignore. Oops

January 4, 2005 - Social Insecurity

2005-01-03T07:55:00.000-08:00

Hello Thinkers!

This year I made a New Years resolution to be less of a political junkie. But since my alternative hobby, changing diapers, isn't as much fun as I was led to believe - well, lets just say it was a short fall off the wagon. In fact it was as short as making it to page B1 in my Sunday local paper. On the Sunday Forum of the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, Massachusetts congressman Marty Meehan makes his pitch as to why privatization is not the answer to fixing social security.

For the benefit of those not in the People's Republic of MA, Marty Meehan claimed some level of national infamy by standing firm and not allowing the terror attacks of September 11th - and the deaths of approximately 3,000 innocent victims - to impede his partisan cheap shots at President Bush.

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/523090/posts

So when W promotes privatizing social security, expect Marty to be leading the charge of the Red Brigade against it. In fact if Bush was going to provide free hydrogen cell cars to poor gays and lesbians funded exclusively by taxing Halliburton, I'm sure Marty would find SOME reason to rally opposition.

Back to Marty's editorial, the full text of which is at:

http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20050102/LN_002.htm

First, Marty educates us on some history. Pull up a chair kiddies. The master storyteller begins, "because Social Security started paying benefits at the same time it started collecting taxes, the program operates on a pay-as-you-go basis. In other words, the taxes paid by today's workers go directly to pay benefits for today's retirees." This statement, while not completely false, is at best, misleading (which effectively proves that Marty penned this piece himself). A more accurate version would read, "the taxes paid by today's workers have been shamelessly mugged by legislators from both sides of the aisle to fund pork projects, special interests and if there is any coin left over, an ever-diminishing pittance is paid the intended recipients."

But even Comrade Meehan cannot deny the bloodied state of what he calls "the most successful government program ever created." The future of this palmy institution? As Marty describes it, "the Baby Boom generation will soon begin to retire, increasing financial strains on the program. By mid-century, taxes will be enough to pay for only three-quarters of benefits."

Hmmm. Social Security will insolvent in less than 50 years? I'll be damned. I guess that DOES make it the most successful government program ever created.

So how would this Massachusetts liberal resolve the issues surrounding the most auspicious government failure ever devised? In a stunningly uncharacteristic way - tax increases.

Meehan breathlessly drools on, "Simply by rolling back President Bush's tax cuts for millionaires (one of many available options to extend the fiscal health of Social Security) we will be able to keep paying benefits until 2079 and still have money left over."

I'll bet you didn't see that one coming Thinkers. Or should I call you all "millionaires" as Marty undoubtedly wants to. As you probably know, social security taxes go into the general "pig-trough", not to a dedicated "lock-box". Thus social security recipients receive their checks only after we finish paying for things like Serrano's "Piss Christ."

This should explain why Ted Kennedy, Bella Pelosi, and every other leeching liberal politician hates the idea of a privatized social security account for American workers. It has nothing to do with your best interest. It has everything to do with politicians giving up revenues that are suddenly removed from the black box of government control and influence and placed into an account - your account. Who knows, people may start getting the nutty idea that they, not Congress, control their destiny.

While all details of Bush's plan are not public, some aspects have been openly discussed. They include:

- allowing a portion of your social security tax to go to a private account
- investment options are regulated for safety and soundness, similar to the Thrift Savings Plan currently available to federal workers
- if you don't like the idea, you don't have to do it

Sounds good to me. But the liberal left, personified by Meehan, is pulling out all the stops to scare America into allowing government hands to remain deep in your pockets. Marty warns, "Over the last century, there have been three separate 20-year periods when the market stayed flat. Over the last 40 years, the stock market has suffered ten plunges averaging 28 percent. While wealthy investors can wait out bear markets, most workers nearing retirement do not have that long-term luxury."

So Marty is equating "the market" with a managed, diversified portfolio of equities. He talks about stock markets "plunges" when it is common knowledge that over the long haul, equity investments have outperformed just about every other investment vehicle available to the general public. And he ignores the provision to opt out.

Face it. Marty knows he is smarter with your money than you are and come hell or high water, he wants to prove it.

I am no economist. But I don't need to be one to know that I can get a better, safer return controlling my investments than paying for bloated government overhead consisting of federal employees that even Donald Trump cannot fire.

Meehan should be ashamed that he is playing the politics of fear to keep Americans from having the option to improve their long term circumstances. Yet in the stolid vipers nest of Massachusetts politics, Meehan is admired.

If you want to see what your social security 'nest egg' will look like once Marty Meehan gets his hand on it - well, I've got some used diapers to show you.

December 23, 2004 - Peace on Earth? Screw that!

2004-12-23T09:35:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Thinkers!

Peace - the annual quest during Christmas time.

I have been wishing everyone I run into a Merry Christmas, or when apropos, Happy Hanukkah. So far, no one has sued or accosted me, but there are still a few shopping days left this season. I'll keep you updated. I am patiently waiting for my Christmas present from CBS. Or in CBS's case - let's call it a 'Winter Solstice' present. We wouldn't want to offend anyone, now would we? Specifically, I am waiting (with bells on) for the report on the 60 Minutes "memogate". It was supposed to be released after November 2nd, so as not to "interfere" with the election. How thoughtful. I suspect that CBS has the deflectingly terse press release ready to go and they are waiting for a major catastrophic news event to bury it under. Since Dan bin Rather likely considers Inauguration Day 2005 to be a disaster of Biblical proportions, expect the memogate report to surface then, unless terrorists strike the US beforehand.

Speaking of bin Rather, rumor is afoot that Al-Qatie Couric may be replacing him as news anchor. Would that be swell? How better to show their diversity than to replace their male, aging, socialist, bleeding-heart, blame-America-first, liberal teleprompt reader with a female, aging, socialist, bleeding-heart, blame-America-first, liberal teleprompt reader.

Included in the vast pool of news that CBS will probably ignore are some holiday wishes from radical Islam to our brave friends, the Spaniards. It seems Spain's measured retreat is not quite what the Islamofascists were hoping for. Three members of the religion of peace and love were "part of a radical Islamic cell looking to buy explosives in a central European country for a terrorist attack in Spain."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-12-22-spain-arrests_x.htm

They must have been looking for a pattern of full scale appeasement and retreat the likes of which only the French seem to courageously muster. I say this because two French journalists kidnapped in Iraq four months ago have recently been released. And just in case total capitulation just isn't enough, there's always protection money for the schoolyard bully. While Chirac has not admitted to paying off these terrorist kidnappers, those savage unbiased news hounds at Reuters are on this like Paris Hilton on a bone:

"[French Defense Minister (can you say L'Oxymoron?)] Alliot-Marie said the captors had never asked for a ransom. Asked on television if Paris would say if it had paid them off, she nodded and said: "Why would we hide it? Who'd see anything wrong with that?"

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=586&e=2&u=/nm/20041222/wl_nm/iraq_france_hostages_dc

Huh? Nevermind - it's the French.

After the release of the hostages, the French terror alert code has been lowered from "Surrender" to "Appease". Good thing they care more for their 'journalists' than they do for grandma - but the French never had to miss a vacation for these reporters.

But hey, it's Christmas. You know - peace on earth, good will towards men. Surely there must be signs of hope in this country that our differences can be put behind us - right? Not if you are in Irving, Texas, where a Muslim group held a tribute to a "great visionary." No this was not a tribute for Mohammed, it was a tribute for Ayatollah Khomeini. You know, the "visionary" who said:

"Those who study Islamic Holy War will understand why Islam wants to conquer the whole world."

...And who wooed the crowds of the faithful with:

"Why do you only read the Quranic verses of mercy and do not read the verses of killing?"

...And who won over the most sentimental, big hearted of Muslims with:

"Qu'ran says: Kill, imprison! Why are you only clinging to the part that talks about mercy? Mercy is against God."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/122204dnediayatollah1.256a.html

So how can one guarantee peace in this environment? Simple! You surrender.

All things considered, France was very peaceful from its fall in 1940 until about June 6, 1944. Eastern Europe was quite placid behind the Iron Curtain, at least that's what their news reports said... And I am certain that the United Islamic States of America would be a swell place, void of terrorist attacks and war. Under Allah's warm glow us men could all gather for Sunday football games, drink Samuel Abdula's Boston Lager (non-alcoholic) and watch as women accused of adultery were summarily executed during halftime. Pass the fries please.

Sad as it may seem to the Left, our capitalist economy and society built on Judeo-Christian beliefs did not become the worlds only superpower by turning the other cheek, but by kicking butt-cheek when we had to.

Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai said the following at his recent inauguration:

"Today whatever we have achieved -- the peace ... the reconstruction ... the fact that Afghanistan is again a respected member of the international community -- is because of the help that the United States of America gave us. Without that help, Afghanistan would be in the hands of terrorists, destroyed, poverty stricken and without its children going to school or getting an education."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/07/afghanistan.inauguration/

America didn't do this with placation. America did this by killing bad guys - period. Karzai knows this. Most of us know it. Dan bin Rather doesn't.

So when someone wishes you peace this holiday season, remember this tuff-ism:

Peace is good, but freedom is better.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all the Thinkers!

And for those of you serving our country domestically or abroad who may find this in your inbox, Thank You!

-tuffbeingright

December 8, 2004 - What is a communist Senator from Massachusetts to do now?

2004-12-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

Today's Commentary: December 8th, 2004

Hello Thinkers!

"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other." -- Ronald Reagan

I am leery of including myself in this collective pool of Thinkers as the addition of a newborn has certainly dropped my IQ by at least 40 points. The other day I made myself a sandwich and as I was bundling up a stack of cheese in Saran Wrap, I "shushed" it reflexively. I suppose I should consider myself lucky that I did not stick a pacifier between the slices. But while my intelligence has dropped, my wisdom has grown. I now know that there is nothing - nothing more disgusting than the bowel movements of a newborn. Nothing.

Well, strike that. There may be something more disgusting. Of course I speak (again) of Senator Chivas from the People's Republic of Massachusetts. Yes, the same senator I have previously referred to as the gelatinous fat on the SPAM of liberal politics. Fatcat Teddy clearly shot his political load in the presidential election season of 2004. He pulled out all the stops from the Democratic primaries through the final spanking, promoting the election of... um... what's-his-name... the French guy who looks like Herman Munster... well, never mind. And Senator Chivas did it the best he possibly could. During the primaries, when he knew he would be well received by the liberal base, he led the charge. After the Democratic convention in Boston, he held back knowing that his presence on stage would shift the opaque centrist veneer of the platform to the left (assuming he was standing on the left). From supplying senior staff members, to getting out on the campaign trail himself, Teddy gave it his all - only to realize that the golden age of bloated, communist, tax and spend liberalism has left him behind. We can now only imagine the bygone world in which his breed, the Myassissaurus, once roamed, feeding freely on the lush green of steadily increasing tax revenues. Sadly, His Liberalness took part in driving the 2004 presidential campaign off the bridge and into the water.

In the end, only so many tears can fall into a tumbler that is already filled with scotch. But what is an aging, overweight relic with little more than a used maxipad for a liver to do with himself when the voters of America denied him what could be his final shot at a back door 'casting couch' in the Oval Office? Why he becomes hopelessly self absorbed - that's what. Since there is little chance of his promoting large scale meaningful legislation in this post (leaking) Big Dig era, Senator Chivas must turn inward for glory. Yes, the University of Virginia is going to "record an oral history of the life and career of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a six-year, multimillion-dollar project that is the center's first effort to chronicle the history of a sitting senator."

http://www. boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/12/06/oral_history_planned_for_sen_kennedy?pg=full

Selflessly, Kennedy suggested the idea himself. Previously, U of V's oral history collection has only been of past presidents. The oral history of Bill Clinton however, remains behind the check-out counter and wrapped in plastic. Expect a truly hard-hitting and objective analysis from academia.

Teddy is not the only elitist undergoing severe self reflection in order to avoid the possibility that their principles of wealth redistribution, government control and reverse discrimination have been rejected by the majority of voting Americans. Michael Moore is now thoroughly convinced that Democrat politicians need to embrace Hollywood elitists even tighter if they wish to regain 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Moore is confident that he did not alienate voters, but he kept what's-his-name from losing by an even wider margin.

Moore says to critics of his activism, "It's actually the opposite. Democrats need to embrace Hollywood because this is where they need to come to learn how to tell a story." He believes that the Democrats did not have as compelling a story to tell, and that is why they lost.

http:// story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=584&ncid=584&e=11&u=/nm/20041207/pl_nm/people_moore_dc

Like most of the liberal elite, Moore believes that all they need to do is 'repackage' their communist, deconstructionist policies and the people will buy it. He believes that most voters like the nomenclature of "Stupid White Men" and agree that crime, poverty and the low expectations of minorities are the exclusive culpability of capitalism. If you ever watched "Bowling for Columbine", Moore tries to blame the murder of six year old Kayla Rolland on Dick Clark. Why? Because the mother of the shooter (another six year old) worked at Clark's restaurant and had to leave her son with his uncle while she worked. Nevermind that the uncle lived in a crack house where loaded firearms were readily available.

Undeterred, Moore believes Hollywood is the yellow brick road leading to political Oz. He continues, "And I think we need to turn to Hollywood, because who wouldn't vote for Tom Hanks or Paul Newman or Robert Redford or Oprah?"

Well Mike, that would probably be me - and about 59 million of my friends.

November 19, 2004 - The Olive Branch

2004-11-19T08:26:00.000-08:00

Today's Commentary: November 19th, 2004

Hello Thinkers!

After some false alarms, it looks like monday is the day we will be bringing another angry, white male into the world. Keep up the Thinking fight while I'm away. Enjoy your turkey, and remember our men and women overseas who will be keeping our holiday travels safe.

How about that UN huh? Like a weekend camper with a beer cooler at their side and not a shower in sight, even they can't take their own stink sometimes. A quick peek at the NY Times, Washington Post and other news sites showed no mention of this breaking story - now there's a shocker! I had to get this one from the pac rim:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/117929/1/.html

We will have to see what comes of this, but don't expect to get any updates from Dan bin Rather. He's busy humping Clinton's leg over the new presidential library in Little Rock.

Keep an eye and ear out and notice how well some liberals are treating the recently nominated black, female Secretary of State. Here's a primer to get you started:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/20041119/ap_on_re_us/radio_host_remark_2&printer=1

http://postcards.ucomics.com/get/?MsgID=b1b2d4566eed6495df563d90603dca11&sit

Now, which party is it that looks out for the best interests of minorities again? Where is the outrage from the NAALCP? or the National Organization of Whiners?

Lastly, I submitted the following letter to my local paper, The Lawrence Eagle Tribune for their letters to the editor section. They have printed all my previous submissions with some minor edits. I suspect they will do the same with this. It may be time to take out insurance on my mailbox.

Most people end their holiday letters by wishing you "peace." Since you all are Thinkers and can appreciate the difference, I will wish you something better...

Freedom,
-tuffbeingadad

Ever since John Kerry's concession speech, liberal Democrats and the media elite have opined that President Bush needs to extend an olive branch to the party that lost senate seats, house seats and the white house in the 2004 election. Examples of how to do this correctly include nominating moderate to liberal justices for SCOTUS, adopting policies that were rejected by the majority of voters and appointing Cabinet members that would provide "balance." Funny, I never recall hearing a similar appeal to balance Clinton's Cabinet. Be that as it may, I would like to extend my own olive branch to these same media and Democrat elites as a way to heal our nations ideological chasm. In addition, I too would like to make some requests.

Please continue to think that my opposition to the redefinition of marriage, an institution which has not deviated for thousands of years, means that I am a lynching homophobe that would march all gay people to a gas chamber, given the chance. Please continue to believe that I know no gay people that I would call a friend.

Please continue to believe that you know how to spend my money better than I do.

Please continue to think that because I oppose partial-birth abortions and non-parental notification for minors seeking an abortion that I would ban all abortions in all circumstances. Please also continue to believe that I am a Bible-thumping Christian that postulates all non Christians will go to hell - not because of their actions, but because they do not share my faith.

Please continue to believe that the democrats resounding loss is because they have not moved to the left far enough. Please continue moving in that direction. The cliff is way, way off in the distance. Trust me.

Please select Howard Dean to replace Terry McAuliffe as the head of the DNC. Please continue to exclude Joe Lieberman from any real shot at the presidency.

Please continue to support Tom Daschle in his efforts to block President Bush's judicial nominees. Oops, never mind.

Please continue to describe the US Marine in Fallujah who shot an unarmed, injured terrorist as a war criminal, despite the fact that booby-trapping the dead and wounded in Iraq is common practice. Please also continue to hold John Kerry in high regard for shooting a lone, fleeing, teenage Viet Cong in the back.

Please continue to refer to the radical Muslims in Iraq who behead civilians and who executed aid worker Margaret Hassan as "rebels" and US troops as "occupiers."

Please continue to lionize Michael Moore, and hold him in a position of reverence in the Democratic party.

Please continue to believe that law abiding citizens have no right to defend themselves against armed criminals.

Please continue to believe that on the night of November 1st, Vice President Cheney rose from his coffin in the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue bunker, turned into a bat, and flew to Ohio and Florida to sabotage the voting machines.

Please continue to think that Teresa Heinz would have made a swell first lady.

Please continue to believe that because I voted for President Bush, I am a knuckle dragging idiot without a shred of common sense. And that because of my selfish vote, I have denied the world a flood of stem cell based miracle cures for everything from AIDS to paralysis.

But most of all, please, please, please continue to believe that arrogance is a desirable characteristic which will continue to serve you well in 2008.

November 15, 2004 - Liberal Ideology Effect

2004-11-16T07:33:00.000-08:00

Today's Commentary: November 15th, 2004

Hello Thinkers!

As I write this, I am deep inside the recently renovated tuffbeingright bunker, far behind the enemy lines in the blue People's Republic of MA. As the early snow falls from the November sky, we are at B minus 9 days - where B can stand for baby, boy or bedlam, take your pick. We are also at W plus ten days - where W can stand for win, whoppin', or just plain W.

As I listen, off in the distance that's not the surf I am hearing - it is wailing and the gnashing of teeth. I sometimes wonder if describing my residence as a bunker behind enemy lines is a bit excessive or even paranoid. Quite possibly - but then I look at what the left is writing and saying and decide that I'm as sound as a pound, baby. In fact, I'm starting to think that liberalism could in fact be described as a mental health "issue". It could go by the nomenclature Liberal Ideology Effect, or LIE. Some of the symptoms of this condition appear to be excessive post-election depression, accompanied by irrational behavior, delusional arrogance, vertigo, fainting, violent tendencies and even death.

This may sound a bit harsh, especially in the climate of reconciliation that even Johnny Hair has implored us to create. However, I will submit to the Court of Thinkers the following evidence. You will have to decide for yourself if the minions of the left are suffering from LIE.

Lets examine the first symptom of LIE, post-election depression accompanied by irrational behavior. Now, would I be a bit depressed if my candidate lost? Sure, but life - if not liberty, would go on. I would not however consider emigrating, seeking professional therapy, or promote state secession. A new battle would be at most 4 years away and despite the periodic cynical nature of my prose, I consider myself an optimist. However, some actions appear to be the initial manifestations of mild cases of LIE. In Boca Raton, trauma specialists have to date, treated 15 ailing Kerry supporters with 'intense hypnotherapy'. The afflicted were observed "threatening to leave the country or staring listlessly into space. They were emotionally paralyzed, shocked and devastated." The Boca Raton therapists have used the term 'post-election trauma', probably because the designation 'sucker-cha-ching' was already trademarked by John Edwards, LLP. To me, it sounds like LIE.

http://www.bocanews.com/index.php?src=news&prid=10127&category=Local%20News%20%20&PHPSESSID=dbedc967e0ac261e440983dcdc5d7660

A popular idea among the ailing is the idea of blue state secession. It appears to some that the blue states can get by just fine without the red states. Sure they would take the northeast, California, Washington and Oregon and a few refueling stops in fly-over country. However, what I believe would be more appropriate would be the secession of the blue counties. This way the super-genius liberals could be sure they weren't hindered by any knuckle draggers as they create their socialist nirvana. Hopefully they are not claustrophobic, because blue space for them would be at a premium.

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20041109-122753-5113r.htm

The next major symptom of LIE, delusional arrogance, seems to be especially rampant in the blue state centric print media. Writers such as Maureen Dowd have been on a personal jihad - convinced that the red state morons are not worthy to clean her shoes. Finding op-eds that describe conservatives as, at best misinformed and more commonly greedy, homophobic, troglodytes are not hard to find. But 59 million of us are also suffering slings and arrows from across the pond too. In one of the most disgusting displays of unbridled arrogance, the UK's Register has published a letter to the "Red-State Victors", from what must be a whining Kerry supporter in the US:

"President Kerry would have helped us to help you, which is all that we ask. It pains us to see you in wage slavery. It pains us to see you so ignorant and uneducated, and so eager to place yourselves in bondage. Yes, we live better; but we wish you to live better too, even if it means sacrifice on our part."

it gets better:

"We should let you rot. We should secede and leave you to fend for yourselves. Then you will see firsthand just how dependent you are. We are sick of fighting for you by fighting against you."

I highly suggest you follow this link and read this open letter in its entirety:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/07/blue_state_to_reds

Well gitchi gitchi ya ya da da - I get it now! I am an idiot because I didn't believe John Edward's claim that electing Kerry/Edwards would definitely cure paralysis and other ailments within a few short years.

While this was a letter from and to US citizens, I am certain it did not break the Registers heart to print it. Location probably influences to some degree the true opinion of the Europeans. Their perception of America likely varies depending on whether they are from a part of Europe who's ass we saved or a part of Europe who's ass we kicked.

The warning signs of LIE get more ominous with progression of the imbalance. As impossible as it may seem, fainting and vertigo have hit the brave, selfless souls in the acting community. The NY Post's Page Six recently reported:

November 11, 2004 -- VINCENT D'Onofrio, the star of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," passed out while shooting the hit TV series yesterday morning — prompting insiders to gossip that the actor is "losing it."

Hmmm. Sounds like an advanced case of LIE. Lets read on:

D'Onofrio, a big Kerry supporter, was said to be devastated over President Bush's re-election. "When PAGE SIX wrote about 'Law & Order' putting up signs forbidding political discussions on set, it was funny," our source said. "Those signs were put up because of [D'Onofrio]."

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11112004/gossip/pagesix.htm

As this ailment progresses, the manifestations make arrogance and fainting seem like childs play. As LIE victims approach terminal stages, violent tendencies emerge. For your consideration:

http://www.whenangrydemocratsattack.com

Also, the Democratic Underground was buzzing with talks of large scale riots if Bush "stole" another election. Check out some posts from DU patrons "T Wolf" and "colonel odis."

T Wolf Tue Nov-02-04 11:00 AM
I feel that it would be better to take down the entire farce that used to be America if it is so far gone as to be unrecognizable, and unendurable.

--------

colonel odis Tue Nov-02-04 11:34 AM
there aren't enough cops or soldiers in this land to stop a couple million pissed off democrats who decide to descend on washington

but if the republicans have any ambition of being a party in the next 10-15 years, they may want to step aside this time and rebuild their party. otherwise, it will probably be open season --literally and figuratively -- on republicans.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1271744

Some open minded liberals are dispensing with the formality of riots and are promoting immediate implementation of extermination. Observe clips from this post on billmaher.com from "moulty":

At this point in time, would it be morally defensible to apply a "final solution" to republicans?

Is it now morally excusable to organize midnight raids on republican groups in the red states and "terminate" them with extreme prejudice?

Watching Bush's acceptance speech on wednesday, with the Cheney's on stage as well....who would not have liked to see a bomb go off under the stage and wipe out the whole despicable slimy lot of them? And hopefully the shrapnel would have gone to the second deck and blown Mary Matalin's head off as well.

http://boards.billmaher.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=newshow&Number=621788&page=&view=&sb=5&o="

So much for the "Party of Ideas."

Finally, LIE can apparently result in death. After Kerrys concession speech, a supporter from Georgia drove to Ground Zero in NYC with a shotgun and committed suicide.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041107-054014-5053r.htm

In a very real sense, this man personifies the post-Clinton democratic party elite. Their brains are about 8 feet behind them and they are approaching room temperature. The proof? They are convinced that the party just isn't left enough for America. The names being tossed around to replace Terry McAuliffe are: Howard Dean, Donna Brazille, Harold Ickes and others that clearly appeal to mainstream America.

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20041109-120715-2470r.htm

Sweeeet. Whoever had that idea, well I'd like to shake their hand, just so long as they wash it first.

November 3, 2004 - Morning in America

2004-11-03T10:33:00.000-08:00

Morning in America

Hello Thinkers!

Will Elizabeth Edwards please report backstage for a sound check? Your solo begins in 10 minutes. Tonight's dessert, humble pie ala mode, compliments of Crow's Eatery of Copley Square, will be served shortly.

Yes Thinkers, it is a highly caffinated "Morning in America." For some however, it is "Mourning in America." And a sweet one it is. It is time to reflect on just some of the history that was made in the past 24 hours.

George Soros spent $25M and got what? An ass whoopin'. His attempt to buy the election came up empty when the voters of fly-over country, the vast, vast majority of whom will never see his kind of wealth, told him to stick his wads of cash back - not in, but near his wallet. Being rich does not make you right. Maybe Teresa can give him some pointers on this lesson. Later though, she's still in class.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6214764/site/newsweek/

Tom 'The Gatekeeper' Daschle is going to have to warm up the tractor. But don't worry. If his crop fails next season, this "man of the people" can always rely on his wife's paycheck as a lobbyist for - get this, evil big business. In particular, this former Miss Kansas lobbies for the airline industry. You know, the companies that got a huge chunk of your money after September 11th. In fact one of her clients, American Airlines received over half a billion in cash grants - taxpayer funds - that it won't have to repay. Funny, I never heard Dan bin Rather talk about that.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0201.mencimer.html

Daschle isn't the only congressional democrat heading back to the farm. Republicans are looking at a gain of at least 2 seats in the senate at the time of this writing, maybe 4.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=222088

Even a ringing endorsement from Usama bin Laden could not move the electorate for Kerry. True to his Islamic principles, UBL used both the carrot and the stick, threatening "red" states with rivers of blood after November 2nd, and claiming "blue" states will have "chosen to make peace with us." This must be the support of unnamed foreign leaders Kerry spoke about during the campaign.

http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/33124.htm

And true to his pacifist ways, Kerry took a poll to determine what to say about bin Laden's support. The last principle Kerry ever saw was in his boarding school.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&u=/ap/20041031/ap_on_el_pr/cheney_37&printer=1

Supporters of gay marriage took it in the shorts yesterday and surprisingly, didn't like it! Whoever got the gay marriage issue on the ballot is brilliant. I have to believe this topic, which was crushed in Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, and Oregon probably did more to energize the conservative base than any other ballot initiative. Ultimately, as one of The Thinkers pointed out to me this morning, we have the Massachusetts highest court to thank for this. To them, I express my gratitude - you fools.

http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200411\NAT20041103a.html

However, Bush's victory of the electoral and popular vote (something Clinton never did) underscores, in my humble opinion, a microcosm of our society, the aging main stream media, and liberal arrogance. Now before I get in trouble, I am not saying all liberals are arrogant. I have several liberal friends - well, maybe not today, but eventually they will come back around after an appropriate period of sorrow - and they are not arrogant. What I am saying is that it feels real good to take the arrogant liberals and stick their heads in the toilet bowl of socialism and flush, like we did today. For your consideration I offer the following "swirlies" that I noticed.

First as I surfed between Fox News and the alphabet soup agencies, only Fox consistently used the term "President Bush." Bin Rather, Jennings, Brokaw, et al made reference to "Senator Kerry" and "Mister Bush." It is PRESIDENT BUSH you bitches! Get used to it!

Second, the media gleefully reported exit poll data supporting Johnny Hair. If you watched any of CBS' election coverage, this merriment turned to panic as bin Rather called Florida for Bush. His cadence put the pedal to the metal going through the math that might have kept Kerry alive. As the evening dragged on, bin Rather's face began to resemble the electoral map - mostly red, with blue ears.

Third, at about noon yesterday, the Dow was up over 100 points on the falling price of oil. Then as the exit polls showed Kerry momentum, all gains were lost. This was reported as "the markets reaction to uncertainty." Right! I think it was the markets reaction to Kerry socialism. Scuttlebutt from Wall Street indicates this as well. Funny how the DJI is up over 100 points on news of Kerry's concession. Must be that "certainty" thing again.

Fourth, Ted "Jabba the Hut" Kennedy predicted early a Kerry win in no uncertain terms. Hiding out in the Kerry bunker of Copley Square was no safe haven from the shock and awe of the Florida and Ohio JDAMs. Hopefully tears don't ruin the taste of vermouth. Drown, you pig!

And last, in a display of non-character that rivals his senate record of non-voting, Johnny Hair made his supporters wait outside in the cold rain for hours as the results came in. At 2:30 in the morning, he sent his lap dog, the boy blunder out to do his bidding while he was likely being soothed by Teresa's manly charm.

Holding on to hope and arrogance, some Kerry supporters waited out to the bitter end, like a woman from Ireland who told a reporter, "It clarifies the fact that American people aren't so smart. If I could, I would have voted for Kerry."

http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewPolitics.asp?Page=\Politics\archive\200411\POL20041103d.html

And these people wonder why they cannot get the majority of American voters.

Well, Johnny Hair can take solace in one aspect of his loss. Now he doesn't have to make all those plans he kept talking about.

On to Fallujah!