June 29, 2005

Just Desserts for a Justice

I know most of you have probably seen this already, but it's worth another plug:

On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of [Supreme Court Justice David] Souter's home.

Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare [New Hampshire] will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land.

[...]

Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans.

If that hotel ever gets built, you can bet I'll be taking a trip to New Hampshire. Yee hah!

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My Husband Lives Across the Street

Leave it to Californians to be on the cutting edge of married life: living apart.

No, not couples who separate for a while in order to evaluate their marriage, nor couples who maintain two residences because one may "commute" to a job far away and come home on weekends. Literally, men and women who are married, but who live either next door to one another, across the street, or across town.

It's almost a trend. A 2003 census report found that 3 million married couples lived in separate residences (although that statistic must include many who are separated in the "this-isn't-working" sense). Some live in different units in the same apartment building. Some live in separate cities. Some just divide up the house they have into two addresses with one electric bill.

Why would people who want to commit legally not want to live together?

Donna Guadagni, 46, is one of those happy beings. A high school art teacher, she has a well-ordered place of her own in the sleepy former mill town of White Pines in Calaveras County. In June she will marry Dave Wallace, 55, but there will be no "we're-moving-in-together" garage sale to get rid of the duplicate appliances. Wallace lives an hour down the mountain in his own house, and both will keep their houses. The distance is not ideal: Guadagni said she'd prefer what Minnie and Mickey Mouse have -- living next door to each other with a path going from front door to front door. But she likes her own space, and her intended has fits of creative energy, not to mention seven hot rods in the yard. Wallace dreams of a 10-car garage with a modest house at each end.

These are obviously people who belong to the "ME" generation, and whose own needs are more important than the needs of others. Living with someone else takes patience, commitment, and the ability to compromise...qualities that are obviously unimportant to couples who take the marriage plunge but maintain separate addresses.

The article doesn't feature any couples who have children, but what about those couples, if they indeed exist? Do Joey and Sally take turns living in each house, or does one spouse visit the house with the kids in it? That sort of arrangement is difficult at best when a divorce is involved. How do you explain it to them? "Mommy and Daddy are married, but Mommy just likes to live alone." The kids will grow up not knowing how to live in a traditional relationship, not knowing how to compromise, argue and make up, and give of oneself.

And how about those expenses? It can't be cheap to maintain separate abodes. The couples featured in the article are all older, with established careers. Young people just starting out don't usually have the kind of cash flow that would allow them to maintain two residences, especially in an area as pricey as the San Francisco area. But expenses don't seem to affect the decision as much as way of life.

Not surprisingly, different styles can have a lot to do with the decision to live apart. When she thinks of living with her husband, [Juliana] Grenzeback said, "I get anxiety attacks." [Joshua] Brody describes his own style as archival. It's a dark apartment with a music studio in the middle, and other rooms hold shelf upon shelf of 45s. Brody's kitsch postcards -- "Seattle at night," "Florida at night," etc. -- decorate the wall next to the front door.

Then why marry? Why not just be "boyfriend and girlfriend?" Having your cake while not having to live with it (to paraphrase a marriage therapist from the article) is just another way of saying you're too self-absorbed to think about someone else's needs. It's a sad commentary on the devolution of society when couples are no longer "us," but "me and me."

*This post also appears on Lifelike Pundits.*

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June 28, 2005

Like, 9/11 is, Like, Sooo 2001!

Woody Allen, everyone's favorite film maker and cradle snatcher, says 9/11 is insignificant in the big scheme of things.

This from Page Six of the NY Post:

WOODY ALLEN thinks 9/11 is like, so yesterday! The neurotic New Yorker tells Teutonic title Der Spiegel: "As a filmmaker, I'm not interested in 9/11 . . . it's too small, history overwhelms it. The history of the world is like: He kills me, I kill him, only with different cosmetics and different castings. So in 2001, some fanatics killed some Americans, and now some Americans are killing some Iraqis. And in my childhood, some Nazis killed Jews. And now, some Jewish people and some Palestinians are killing each other. Political questions, if you go back thousands of years, are ephemeral, not important. History is the same thing over and over again." Unlike Allen's movies?

While that may be true, it's kind of premature to put 9/11 into history's dustbin in 2005, doncha think, Woody?

Keep on trying to stay relevant, Woody...it's not like your movies are doing it for you.

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What's Really Going On In Gitmo?

Plenty...and it's not what the Left and the MSM would have you believe.

Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu, writing for Front Page Magazine, visited Gitmo and saw firsthand how the detainees are treated. Even more importantly, he saw how the detainees treat the soldiers in charge of watching them.

Many of the orange jumpsuit-clad detainees fight their captors at every opportunity, openly bragging of their desire to kill Americans. One has promised that, if released, he would find MPs in their homes through the internet, break into their houses at night, and Òcut the throats of them and their families like sheep.Ó

Isn't that cozy? How about this one:

As I mentioned in yesterday's column, many of the most dangerous inmates regularly attack the guards, pelting them with feces, urine, semen, and spittle, not to mention the constant threats they make against the guards' families. Even this terrorist, casually munching on donut after donut, says he would happily kill every American he could get his hands on: military or civilian; man, woman or child. The woman in charge of behavioral analysis at Gitmo -- a dedicated Ph.D. who has two years of experience with these people and has just extended her stay -- added, 'This man is proud of what the did, the people he killed, the targets he attacked, the plans he made, and the money he raised for al-Qaeda. He met with Osama bin Laden frequently. He tells us these things as a proud jihadist fighter."

And we worry about what torture the soldiers inflict?

Cucullu, of the Green Berets, has written two columns about his trip for Front Page. Read them here and here. Oh, and let me know what you think about the donuts.

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June 27, 2005

Iran's New President: Terrorist

So who's Iran's new president? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hardline politician whom many in the West are looking at with a jaundiced eye.

Trey Jackson has an important post, including photos, that tells the world who this man is and what his agenda is. Note: the photos are NOT for the squeamish or faint-hearted. However, I think it's necessary for those of us who are dedicated to freedom for all to see them, and understand who and what we are up against in the war against state-sponsored terror.

Somehow I doubt Sean Penn will mention this in his "report" for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Thanks to Kitty, who e-mailed me the link.

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June 26, 2005

Well, Well, Well...Lieberman Responds!

Color me surprised...my illustrious senator, Joe Lieberman, responded to my e-mail asking him to please let me know his position on Dickie Durbin's comments on the Senate floor likening our troops to Nazis, Stalinites and the Khmer Rouge. Here's his reply in its entirety:

Dear Ms. Meister: Thank you for contacting me to express your thoughts regarding commentsmade by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) regarding the treatment of detaineesat Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I appreciate the time you took to voice yourconcerns and I welcome the opportunity to respond.

I understand your outrage about any insensitive or inappropriate remarksmade by public officials. Those of us who hold offices of public trustmust be held accountable to the highest ethical and moral standards - in our actions, words, and conduct. Senator Durbin has publicly apologized for his statements.

My official Senate web site is designed to be an on-line office that provides access to constituent services, Connecticut-specific information, and an abundance of information about what I am working on in the Senate on behalf of Connecticut and the nation. I am also pleased to let you know that I have launched an email news update service through my website. You can sign up for that service by visiting http://lieberman.senate.gov and clicking on the "Subscribe Email NewsUpdates" button at the bottom of the home page. I hope these are informative and useful.

Thank you again for letting me know your views and concerns. Please contact me if you have any additional questions or comments about our work in Congress.

Sincerely,

JIL:rlb

Gee, do you think he wrote it himself? And it was dated 6/24; well after Durbin's apology.

What a load of bull puckey. There was nothing there about how he felt about Durbin's statements, and plenty about "here's some information about what glorious things I'm doing on your dime." Why didn't Lieberman, a devout Jew, denounce Durbin's comments? Even if he wasn't Jewish, why didn't he? Why didn't that pompous doofus Chris Dodd? Dodd couldn't even be bothered to answer me, so I suppose I can give Lieberman (or the minion who wrote it) that much credit.

But here's the answer: for all of Lieberman's support of George W. Bush's stance on national security, he is not his own man enough to stand up to the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate. Like all party weasels, Lieberman doesn't want to annoy those in the clique, for fear of being shunned by his so-called friends. He'd rather bury his convictions than risk alienation...and possibly much-needed support when it comes to re-election. The same, of course, can be said for Dodd, but I think Dodd probably agrees with much of what Durbin (and Pelosi and Reid and Boxer) stand for.

I'm sick of the lot of them.

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More on Hillary 2006

I've posted about New Yorker-by-political-convenience Hillary Clinton and the upcoming 2006 Senate election on Lifelike Pundits.

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This 'n' That: Sunday Morning

Sorry I've been MIA for the last couple of days...Friday was super busy at work, and yesterday I spent the day at my mother's pool. It's the only way to beat the heat that's currently enveloping Connecticut and the rest of the region! Today I plan on bringing the kids to the movies...it's the only chance we'll have at air conditioned comfort! Contrary to public opinion, all Republicans aren't rich, and we don't have central air in my modest ranch home...and my attic fan is broken. :-(

Anyhoo, here are a few of items of interest that I stumbled across this morning:

Rabid Donkeys On the Loose: This excellent photo collage from Willisms, with commentary and linkage galore, highlights the recent follies of leading Democrats as they bray their way through the headlines. Hat tip: Michelle Malkin.

Lorilei posted a comment on my blog, and I checked out hers. It's called Never in Vain. What's it about? Here are Lorilei's own words: A collection of stories about interactions between our American soldiers and the Iraqi people. Stories of friendship, respect, fear, sadness and hope. . . positive stories that show our men and women have not made sacrifices in vain. It's a blog worthy of your time, and I hope you check it out soon.

Third Wave Dave has a lovely photo (and accompanying commentary) of Ted Kennedy...be sure your stomach is empty when you look at it.

Aaron, my co-blogger over at Lifelike Pundits (and one helluva guy), posts about Barrack Obama, questioning Obama's fundraising for former Klansman Robert Byrd, and the double standard that exists in the perception of black conservatives and black "progressives."

Enjoy...and stay cool today!

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June 23, 2005

The Party of the Impotent Cries Foul

Read what I have to say about the Democrats' latest carping on Lifelike Pundits.

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Commentary on PETA

Last week, I posted about the PETA employees who were caught dumping animals they had killed...animals they had told the veterinarians they took them from that they would find "good homes" for.

Today, Debra Saunders talks about the incident, and about PETA, in her Town Hall column.

Except PETA apparently prefers to spend donations not caring for flesh-and-blood animals entrusted to it, but on campaigns attacking medical researchers, meat eaters or women wearing furs. It is as if PETA prefers the idea of animals to animals themselves.

Read it all here. And think before you write out a donation check to PETA. Your money would probably be better spent at your local shelter.

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Blaming Bush for Baldness

This morning, as I waited to get on the train that takes me into New York, the topic of conversation among us on the platform turned to the young man from Bethel, Connecticut, who stole a plane from the Danbury Municipal Airport and flew it to the Westchester County Airport...while drunk. See, I catch the train from Bethel and Danbury is right next door, so there was quite a bit of local interest in the story.

One gentleman who rides regularly said, "And this is the president who is in charge of defending this country?"

I said, "You can't blame the president for some stupid kid who stole a plane from the Danbury airport."

He replied, "Yes I can. I can blame him for everything. I can blame him for [my] being bald."

Such is the attitude of the left...blame Bush for everything. Not about baldness, of course, but to make the assumption that Bush can be put under a microscope when some stupid 20-year-old and his 16-year-old pals take it into their heads to steal a small plane from a small regional airport is really ludicrous. What about the airport iteslf?

Danbury police suspect Patricio and the two teens slipped through a hole in the fence about 100 yards from where the plane was parked. The hole was small and overgrown with brush, and apparently had been there for a some time, police said.

[...]

[Airport manager Paul] Estefan said it was more likely [Phillippe] Patricio entered the airport through the gate after punching in an access code.

It turns out Patricio is a student pilot who lost his regular driver's license because of multiple drunk driving arrests.

So who's at fault here? That will take some time to figure out, and there will certainly be a lot of finger pointing by everyone involved. But to blame President Bush personally is not only ridiculous but unproductive. It's as bad as those who blamed him for the actions of the soldiers involved in the Abu Ghraib embarrassment. What happened to the personal responsibility of the perpetrators?

It's almost as bad as blaming Bush for one's baldness.

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June 22, 2005

Great Photo!

Supposedly this is a real photo of a real KFC (I still call it Kentucky Fried Chicken...I'm old school) in New York state. I don't know if it's been Photoshopped or not, but it's darn funny.

Many thanks to my friend Karen for passing it on!

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June 21, 2005

Illegal Immigrants: The Hidden Costs

Please click here to read my post on this topic over at Lifelike Pundits.

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Durbin Apologizes...Now What?

Dickie Durbin has apologized. Was his apology heartfelt? The words sounded good, but his future actions will be what really count. We'll be keeping an eye on you, Senator.

Oh, and I never did get a reply about Durbin from my senators, Dodd and Lieberman. I'm not surprised about the brushoff from Dodd...he's a pompous ass...but I thought Lieberman had a little more integrity. Yes I know senators are busy, yada yada yada, but hey, I'm busy too. I work full time with a long commute, I have two children, and I volunteer with the Girl Scouts and my local community theater. I don't have a staff to help me with little tasks like sorting through mail and getting my morning cuppa joe.

Thanks for nothing, Senators.

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Bolton Blocked...Again!

Good gravy...the Party of the Impotent just can't help itself. Once again, the Dems have blocked a vote on John Bolton for UN ambassador.

"We ought to move on and get a different nominee," argued Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.

No, Doddy, you should just vote on the candidate at hand. (Boy, am I glad I can say I never voted for Dodd!)

Well, if it's another candidate they want, Blame Bush has a great candidate: Saddam "Cuddles" Hussein:

While Bully Bolton is a bullying bully who bullies his subordinates, Saddam jokes withand gives fatherly advice to his captors. Bolton holds grudges against those who don't march lockstep to the beat of his drum, but Saddam has no hard feelings for the chimp who bombed his palaces in the incorrect order and then chased him down a spider hole. Bolton belittles the very organization he seeks to work for, yet Saddam has a long record of cooperation with the UN, and would sooner eat a bowl of Fruit Loops than defy France.

Hey, stranger things have happened. Who could hate a guy who likes Doritos?

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June 20, 2005

9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America

This is a site I discovered while visiting Chrenkoff's blog, and it serves a highly important purpose: to inform the American public about plans to sensitize the World Trade Center site in a politically correct fashion.

So tell me, at Ground Zero, should we carve in cement and bury in an underground 50,000 square foot museum the names of the nearly 3,000 people that Islamic terrorists murdered that day? Should visitors to the World Trade Center's memorial be left to wonder what happened that day and where the artifacts of 9/11 are? Above ground, should we build a park with reflecting pools, a cultural center, and a 300,000 square foot International Freedom Center where visitors can hear lectures and discussions on why they all hated us, what we did to bring 9/11 upon ourselves, and the correct world-view future generations must choose so they won't hate us and attack us anymore? Why not also discuss all of man's inhumanities to man, especially those by Americans on Americans and all the other people in the world, since time immortal while we are at it in order to promote our own political agenda?

Does this all sound like a good idea to you?

Not to me, and it shouldn't to you either. We need to make sure the PC, hate-America Left doesn't hijack Ground Zero for their purposes. Link the site and do what you can to show your support of an appropriate memorial for the lives lost on 9/11.

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PC Nonsense in Berkeley...What Else?

Jeff over at the Bernoulli Effect has this little tidbit:

On June 22, the school board of the Berkeley Unified School District will vote on whether to change the name of Jefferson Elementary School to Sequoia Elementary. "Debate over the name of the school has continued for more than two years after several teachers, including an African American mother of three former Jefferson students, said Jefferson's name offended them," reported the San Francisco Chronicle. A group of teachers and parents had circulated a petition that read, in part, "A school name which fails to acknowledge or respect the depth and importance of their people's collective sorrow is personally offensive." The name change was ultimately supported by vote of staff, students and parents.

Are they going to petition to have Jefferson removed from the nickel next? And how much of this nonsense that the students "supported" do they really understand?

My high school alma mater changed its mascot from the Indians to the Nighthawks about five years ago...not because any American Indians complained, but because a crunchy granola science teacher thought it would be a good idea. Oh, and the same high school has also just gotten rid of its class ranking system (although valedictorian and salutorian will still be chosen)...presumably because it will be less "traumatizing" for the kids than having their progress compared against that of others.

Oy!

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How Will I Die?

You scored as Natural Causes. Your death will be by natural causes, though not by any disease, because that is another option on this test. You will probably just silently pass away in the night from old age, and people you love won't realize until the next morning, when you are all purple and cold and icky. Natural Causes 87% Bomb 53% Suicide 47% Posion 47% Eaten 33% Accident 33% Cut Throat 33% Suffocated 27% Drowning 20% Stabbed 20% Disappear 13% Disease 0% Gunshot 0% How Will You Die?? created with QuizFarm.com

Well, that's comforting...I think! Thanks to Two Dogs at Mean Ol' Meany for this eye-opening quiz!

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Lieberman and Dodd: No Reply Yet

I have not yet had the pleasure of a reply from either of my esteemed Senators, Joe Lieberman and Chris Dodd, on their position regarding Dickie Durbin's traitrous remarks comparing our American soldiers to Nazis.

Don't politicians care about keeping their constituents=voters happy? I thought rule one was to suck up to anyone who might be unhappy about what's going on in government affairs. Come on, guys...show some backbone!

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Bob Geldof: Integrity Shines Through

Bob Geldof...er, Sir Bob Geldof, former frontman for the '80s Brit band Boomtown Rats, has put a ban on Bush bashing at the upcoming Live 8 concert fundraiser:

"Please remember, absolutely no ranting and raving about Bush or Blair and the Iraq war, this is not why you have been invited to appear," Geldoff said to the manager of a top recording artist, who asked not to be identified. "We want to bring Mr. Bush in, not run him away."

The point of Live 8 is to raise funds for Africa's poorest countries.

While I feel that throwing money at Africa isn't going to solve its problems as long as corrupt governments are in place, Geldof's heart is in the right place. And, he shows great strength of character with his request to performers to keep their personal opinions about other issues to themselves.

Oh, and according to the same report, Bono of U2 has gotten some flak from fellow "artists" regarding his recent hobnobbing with President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair:

Fellow Irish star Sinead O'Connor says, "I think you risk losing your credibility by going to a party at Downing Street. I would draw a line at drinking wine and eating cheese with the Prime Minister."

Don't worry, Sinead...you wouldn't be asked.

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June 19, 2005

Bush Stands Firm on Iraq

President Bush is showing once again what true leadership is all about by refusing to set a pullout date for our troops in Iraq:

"The terrorists and insurgents are trying to get us to retreat. Their goal is to get us to leave before Iraqis have had a chance to show the region what a government that is elected and truly accountable to its citizens can do for its people," Bush said in his weekly radio address.

[...]

"Some may disagree with my decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power, but all of us can agree that the world's terrorists have now made Iraq a central front in the war on terror," he said. "This mission isn't easy, and it will not be accomplished overnight."

Why is it that some lawmakers, who supposedly know what they're doing, can't understand this simple concept? Pull out now, and we may as well have not gone in at all. The Iraqis need support now and for the forseeable future. When, and only when, they are able to establish order and keep it on their own, will it be time for our troops to leave.

George W. Bush is standing firm. He is not allowing self-important senators or public opinion polls to sway him from what he believes is the right thing to do. Unlike his predecessor, who worried more about the good opinion of not only the American public but the world at large, Bush worries more about doing what's right.

We like to make fun of countries like France for being the first to cut and run in the face of danger and uncertainty. Why are we rushing to do the same thing we ridicule others for?

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June 17, 2005

New Blog: Bloggers for Censure

Check out this new blog by Mike Mikkelsen:

Welcome to Bloggers for Censure. This is intended to be a public/group blog, and all contributions will be reviewed and most likely, posted. So please send all stories, tips, ideas, and links to blogsforcensure@gmail.com for inclusion. Right now there's just oneof me, and trying to hit the ground running. All assistance in time, ideas, content is much appreciated. Thank you.

Go on, send him something...or at the very least, link him on your blog if you have one. Dick Durbin and his Senate cronies need to know how we feel about this!

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Iraq: Another Bad Comparison

Head on over to Lifelike Pundits to see my post regarding another moonbat "comparison" of what's happening with the war on terror. It's lunacy, I tell you!

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Durbin: Contact Your Senator

I did. Here's what I e-mailed to both Senators Dodd and Lieberman:

I am writing to ask for you to publicly denounce recent comments by Senator Dick Durbin equating our soldiers to Nazis. In a time of war, Senator Durbin's comments were not only ill-timed but crass, inappropriate, inflammatory, and highly damaging to the efforts of our soldiers overseas. I am appalled that Durbin's fellow Democrats are either silent or supportive of his remarks which, to me, are almost traitrous in nature. I would like to know where you stand on this issue. As a public official, Durbin should know better, and his actions should have appropriate consequences. If this is "support for the troops," we might as well give up now. I look forward to your reply.

I suggest you do the same. If you don't know your senator's e-mail address, click here to find it.

If and when I get replies, I will post them.

UPDATE: Van Helsing over at Moonbattery has a great reminder for Senator Durbin how little he knows about what he speaks.

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PETA: Not So Ethical After All

Have you heard? Two PETA workers have been arrested for cruelty to animals:

Two Hampton Roads employees of Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have been charged in Ahoskie, N.C., with animal cruelty after dumping dead dogs and cats in a shopping center garbage bin, police said Thursday.

[...]

Local officials and veterinarians said they were told that PETA would find homes for the animals, not euthanize them. PETA has scheduled a news conference for Friday afternoon to discuss the charges.

[...]

But veterinarian Patrick Proctor said that authorities found a female cat and her two "very adoptable" kittens among the dead animals. He said they were taken from Ahoskie Animal Hospital.

Meanwhile, PETA is up to its usual tricks, comparing meat consumption to eating people. Chris over at Lucky Dawg News has a photo that will either make you laugh or make you cringe...or both.

I am all for the humane treatment of animals. But PETA goes beyond that, likening animal consumption to the Holocaust and basically caring more about animals than people. I am enjoying the fact that they're being shown for the radical morons they really are.

For more on PETA's follies, check out the website PETA Kills Animals.

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A Soldier's Perspective

I can't say anything but read this...you will be glad you did.

And say a prayer for our soldiers while you're at it.

Hat tip: Baldilocks

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Oliver North: Our Media's Death Wish

Oliver North's column on Town Hall today is a must-read with regard to the MSM's reporting of the "abuse" at Gitmo.

Nor will anyone at Time magazine be arrested for publishing classified data on U.S. military interrogation techniques at Guantanamo. But there should be no doubt that the material detailed in the periodical is now being incorporated in the next editions of training manuals used to indoctrinate members of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Abu Sayyaf, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, et al. That begs a broader question about the whole controversy surrounding the Guantanamo detention facility: Does our so-called mainstream media have a "death wish"?

Click here to read it all.

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June 16, 2005

Daily Kos: Gitmo a Violation of US Constitution

That's right, folks...from the horse's...er, donkey's mouth:

The hell with our Constitution:

[...]

The Wingers are freakin' out about Durbin right now, trying to shut his efforts to speak the truth. But if they really wanted to protect the soldiers (six
more who have been killed today), the way to do it is to stand for basic democratic principles and ideals.

Such as the one that dictators and tyrants use torture, democracies do not.

It's true that the Sixth Amendment to our Constitution guarantees the following:

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

But then take a look at the Fourteenth Amendment:

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

And let's not forget the Fifth Amendment:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

The Constitution and its Amendments were written with U.S. citizens in mind...not citizens of other nations who seek to destroy us.

Sorry, Kos.

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What About the Uninsured?

Kitty Litter has the scoop from AggravatedDoc:

"Uninsured" is not synonymous with "unable to get emergency medical care." Each and every medical blogger can explain that when people show up at our door, we take care of them. Period. It is charity care, but people should not be so naive as to believe that the costs of delivering that care are not passed on to the insured population.

Duh!

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Senator Dick Durbin: US Soldiers Are Nazis

He didn't say it exactly like that. But here's what he did say:

When you read some of the graphic descriptions of what has occurred here [at Guantanamo Bay]--I almost hesitate to put them in the [Congressional] Record, and yet they have to be added to this debate. Let me read to you what one FBI agent saw. And I quote from his report:

[...]

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. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.

When will Durbin (D-Il) be taking on an advisory post with Amnesty International?

Of course he won't apologize...what good leftist would? There's more yammering about the U.S. "abandoning the Geneva Conventions," of course. But let's be clear about who is being detained at Guantanamo: men who have no particular country of allegiance, wear no uniform, fly no flag, attempt to blend in with civilians in order to ambush properly uniformed soldiers, kill civilians on purpose, and are instructed to claim abuse in captivity even when no abuse is taking place. Not only are they not eligible for recognition under the Geneva Conventions, but they get a lot better treatment than they deserve.

This is not Hogan's Heroes, folks. This is war. War is nasty. Our enemies, the Islamic jihadists, are nasty. They will stop at nothing for their cause...the spread of radical Islam throughout the world...unless they are stopped by us and our allies (the MSM wouldn't have you believe it, but we do have them.)

I don't have a lot of love for my senators, but I'm thankful I'm not represented by traitors like Sentator Durbin of Illinois. Yes, he's a traitor. He'd much rather kiss up to those who wish us ill than stand up for the men and women who put on a uniform and defend his right to spout his traitrous trash.

The man is a disgrace to the public office he holds.

UPDATE: Baldilocks weighs in on Guantanamo; the wonderful Christopher Hitchens has an excellent take; The Man at GOP and the City has some info on Nazi dolls on display in the Village.

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June 15, 2005

Those Poor, Downtrodden Gitmo Detainees

My heart just bleeds for these guys. Held in our all-American gulag, being questioned about terrorist activities, not allowed to go back to the Middle East in order to kill innocent civilians and coaltion soldiers...yes, it's a tear jerker with Hollywood-like proportions.

These guys are thugs. But you won't hear that from the hate-America left or the MSM (some say those two terms are interchangable).

Take the case of Louis Pepe and Mamdouh Mahmud Salim. According to Jonah Goldberg's column today,

Salim, a reputed top lieutenant of Osama Bin Laden, was being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a high security federal jail in lower Manhattan. Pepe was a guard there. On November 1, 2000, Salim plunged a sharpened comb into Pepe's left eye and three inches into his brain. Salim and a compatriot also beat Pepe savagely, in their effort to get the guard's keys and orchestrate an escape for himself and two fellow terrorists awaiting trial. Believing Pepe was dead, the attackers used his own blood to paint a Christian cross on his torso. Pepe was an experienced correctional officer, a member of the elite MCC Enforcers Disturbance Control, and he weighed in at 300 pounds. He survived the attack with brain damage, crippling disabilities and an unending stream of surgeries.

And this was before 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq. No, Salim wasn't being held at Guantanamo. But this is the kind of beast the guards deal with at Guantanamo on a daily basis. And Louis Pepe...who's worrying about his violated rights? Has Amnesty International called him and his family with condolences or advice?

How about this from the Washington Times. A sharpened metal object was found in a prisoner's cell at Guantanamo Bay while he was taking a bath elsewhere. (I wonder how many baths the soldiers get?) While the prisoner was being moved in order to search the cell more thoroughly,

"He was extremely aggressive from the moment we went in," said the 28-year-old guard, whose job it was to "push the detainee back" as another guard quickly handcuffed the prisoner.

Before the cuffs could go on though, things went wrong and the detainee forced his hands up under the first guard's plexiglass face mask and began digging for the eyeball.

"He tried to insert one finger into my eye socket, then he transitioned into a fishhook maneuver," the guard said. "He got his finger into my mouth and was trying to rip my cheek off." After another moment, the detainee's hands were forced down and into the cuffs.

Yeah, these guys are just misunderstood souls. How dare we try to get information from them by depriving them of sleep, playing obnoxious music or forcing them to bark like dogs? Gosh, you'd think we were electrocuting their private parts or passing them live through plastic shredders. (Oh, was that done already? Saddam Hussein, you say?)

To sing the tired refrain, we can't just do whatever we'd like to these guys. There are rules, and they are followed. Those soldiers who are found breaking them are punished...the military's kind of funny about following regulations. But whatever information we can get out of the detainees by a little humiliation, by a few sleepless nights, by a little warbling from Christina Aguilera...I'm all for it.

The alternative is to let these guys back out...and for them to rejoin al-Quaeda and other terrorist forces, killing American and coalition soldiers, and any innocent bystanders who happen to be in their way.

Or a prison guard just doing his job like Louis Pepe.

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June 14, 2005

Nation of Islam and Sensitivity Don't Go Together

Since the security officer for Louis Farrakhan has been hired to provide sensitivity training to the police force in New Orleans (NOPD):

Captain Dennis Muhammad has conducted sensitivity training in other cities such as Buffalo and will be paid $15,000 for his services, which NOPD Chief Eddie Compass says are needed in New Orleans. Compass says there are people in New Orleans who have complained about police treatment and are Òanti police.Ó Compass believes that the Òmembers of the Nation of Islam have some type of relationship with these people.Ó

However, as Jeff Crouere reminds us, the Nation of Islam isn't exactly the group to turn to when you're looking for sensitivity toward the public at large. The following statements have been attributed to Farrakhan and other Nation of Islam members:

• Whites are Ã’blue eyed devils.Ó
• Jews are Ã’bloodsuckersÓ
• "Hitler was a very great man."
• Jews controlled the slave trade and currently control the government
• Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad believed that whites were created by an evil Black scientist and that there will be "The Great Decisive Battle in the Sky" when a space ship will kill all white people by bombing the earth
• Muhammad believed that white people should relocate to Europe and that racial integration was wrong

So much for tolerance from the "religion of peace".

UPDATE: Thanks to Two Dogs for catching a typo...I have changed "space whip" to "space ship." Will my dream editing job go down the tubes? Stay tuned...

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Arnold Shows Californians How It's Done

How? Read my post on Lifelike Pundits about Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest history-making moment in California government.

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It's Flag Day...Time to Let Old Glory Shine

Every day can be Flag Day, but today is the official day to get your flag out (if you haven't already done so) and show your pride in being an American.

Click here for some history behind Flag Day. Woodrow Wilson...who would have thought it?

And here is an article on Front Page Magazine today, written by Allan Wall, a National Reservist serving in Iraq. Betcha didn't know this:

No one may fly, display, post or place the U.S. flag in, on or over vehicles, command posts, captured equipment, structures, buildings, monuments or any other location in Iraq.

Because:

Displaying the American flag counters the perception that we are liberators and partners for Iraq's future security and stability. Public display of the U.S. flag in Iraq creates false perceptions and unfounded suspicions that U.S. forces intend to permanently occupy Iraq.

It's ridiculous, of course, but there it is. I'm sure we have the PC police to thank for that.

So to honor our flag and honor our troops, let it fly high...today and every day.

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June 13, 2005

Puhleeze: Madonna Regrets "Sexual" Past

From This Is London:

'Sometimes I was being overtly sexual for the sake of showing off when I didn't need to be. I think I hurt myself,' the singer told the American magazine, Ladies' Home Journal.

Isn't she closing the barn door after the horse got out? It's so easy to "regret" these things when one is living in the lap of luxury the behavior provided. I'd believe her regrets a lot more quickly if she gave all of her money to charity and devoted the rest of her life to good works.

But then, they don't call it La La Land for nothing...

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Bomb Blueprints Go Missing at UN

Why the heck isn't this story getting more press? In addition to the usual misplaced money,

Now electronic drawings that give comprehensive details of how to build and test equipment essential for making nuclear bombs have vanished from the UN and UN investigators are saying they could show up sale anytime on the international black market...

In essence, the missing blueprints detail how to manufacture the components for a uranium centrifuge, what materials are needed, how to assemble the machines, and how to test them.

Canada Free Press has all of the details.

Heaven forbid the MSM should print another embarrassing story about the continued bumbling at the U.N. by Kofi and Pals. (Sounds like one of those old children's shows from the '50s and '60s, doesn't it?)

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Double Standards?!

Double standard: n : an ethical or moral code that applies more strictly to one group than to another.

And boy oh boy, when it comes to America and the rest of the world, double standards abound, even in our own "progressive" circles. Take what Mark Steyn has to say in today's Washington Times:

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's kleptocrat strongman, destroyed a mosque the other day. It was in Hatcliffe Extension, a shantytown on the edge of Harare, razed by the "police." Mr. Mugabe is an equal-opportunity razer: He also bulldozed a Catholic-run Aids center...

The point is the world's Muslims seem entirely cool with Infidel Bob razing a mosque. Unlike the fallout over Newsweek's fraudulent story about the Koran being flushed down a toilet, no excitable young men went bananas in Pakistan; no Western progressives berated Mr. Mugabe for his "cultural insensitivity." And sadly most of the big-shot Muslim spokespersons were still too busy flaying the Bush administration to whip their subjects into a frenzy over Hatcliffe Extension's pile of Islamic rubble.

What??? (Please imagine me saying that in the same tone of voice as Mrs. Broflovski on South Park.)

You see, boys and girls, no matter what America does, America is wrong. We could withdraw all troops from Iraq today and then be asked "how could you?" when the country was once again overrun by murderous thugs and fanatics. We could give all of our money away today and tomorrow become one of the Third World countries we are always accused of downtrodding, and yet we'd still be criticized for not having given our money away yesterday and becoming a Third World counry today.

Despite the fact that we provide much of the worldwide monetary, food, military and medical aid to less fortunate countries on a regular basis, it's never enough. Remember how we were "stingy" during last year's tsunami crisis? And when's the last time anyone stepped forward with aid for America during a crisis such as the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, or our country's crisis in the aftermath of 9/11? Lives were lost, financial foundations were shaken, yet Americans weren't considered worthy of any kind of help from outsiders.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that we need such aid. But it's galling, to say the least, that we're always the first to be called upon, and then criticized when it doesn't meet certain "standards." And no one wants to help us, ever. We are, remember, the Great Satan, a country out to dominate the world with Coca Cola, Levis and Paris Hilton. (Ooh, that left a bad taste in my mouth...sorry.)

Back to Steyn and the comparisons of Gitmo and gulags:

Why would a human-rights organization want to trivialize the murder of millions in totalitarian death camps by comparing them with a nondeath camp that flatters every aspect of the inmates' culture? If Gitmo's a gulag, what words are left for the systemic rape practiced by the butchers of Darfur? Or is it because they've so exhausted the extremes of their vocabulary on Guantanamo that the world's progressives have so little to say about real horrors like Sudan?

Go ahead and read all of Steyn's excellent observations. And just remember the meaning of the phrase "double standard," and how it's applied to America by our pals in the MSM and on the "progressive" left.

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June 11, 2005

PBS: Past Its Prime?

My observations on the continued existence of PBS can be found on Lifelike Pundits. Let me know what you think!

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Celebrity Follies

Let's take a quick look at what's going on in the hallowed halls of Hollywood:

Sean Penn now fancies himself a journalist. He's "reporting" for the San Francisco Chronicle on the elections in Iran. Wonder what he'll say about the "Death to America" chants?

Katie Holmes has apparently bought into the Scientology thing with her rabid new boyfriend, Tom Cruise. According to Cruise, she "digs" it. I wonder how much she'll enjoy digging her career's grave like her new amour? According to an Entertainment Weekly poll, 61% of respondents like Cruise less after his recent spate of Scientology and Holmes rantings, 3% like him more, and 36% have no opinion change. She'd better hope the new Batman movie does well...

Russell Crowe is running around apologizing for his latest assault charge against a hotel clerk in New York. He said on Letterman recently he was hoping to be able to apologize to Nestor Estrada, but "he's not answering his phone." Sorry, Russell, but not everyone is as enamored of movie stars as you might think.

Madonna, in addition to being a (cough) highly-esteemed children's writer, is now planning to become a hotelier. She has recently purchased a Georgian house in London with plans to create a Kabbalah hotel and drop-in center. Just what we need, Madonna giving a spiritual uplifting to the masses.

Finally, of course, we're all breathlessly awaiting the verdict of the Michael Jackson case. About 2,200 journalists from over 30 countries are in California, notepads and cameras at the ready.

"The appetite for Michael Jackson is insatiable," said Graeme Massie, who has covered the trial for Splash, a British news agency. "In the U.S., people may believe that Jackson's star has fallen, but in Europe it still shines brightly."

That figures.

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June 10, 2005

Senator Durbin...Angry Beaver of the Week

Yes folks, itÕs that time againÉthe unveiling of the Angry Beaver of the Week. This weekÕs honor goes to Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin, as he rushes to ScreaminÕ Howard DeanÕs defense over the DNC chairmanÕs recent explosive remarks.

"I think we all understand what's happening with you all," said Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin, in remarks echoing Hillary Rodham Clinton's blaming a "vast right-wing conspiracy" for her husband's legal-ethical woes.

"The right wing has got the agenda moving. Fox [News Channel] and everybody's got the agenda. It's all about Howard Dean. You've bought into it," Mr. Durbin said.

Uh huhÉsure. WeÕve bought into it. Just what have we bought into, Mr. Durbin?

Who is the one who has been shouting Òevil,Ó Òbrain-dead,Ó Òcorrupt,Ó and ÒliarsÓ regarding the Republicans lately? Did Karl Rove somehow possess DeanÕs body and force the words from his lips? Is it the RepublicansÕ fault that Dean is incapable of civil political discourse?

Maybe Dean has Tourette's syndrome. That'll be the Republicans' fault as well...Karl Rove might have put something in Dean's water glass.

When even high-profile Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi and John Edwards do their best to distance themselves from DeanÕs vitriol, then that's news!

DeanÕs inability to control his public comments about the competition is reflecting badly on the Democrats. That, and no clear-cut rebuttals to Republican policies, are part of the reason for the decline of the DemocratsÕ political clout.

If the Dems canÕt control their party chairman, how do they expect to gain control of the Senate and, ultimately, the White House?

So keep on playing the blame game, Senator DurbinÉit only serves to make the Democrats look more and more foolish as time marches on.

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June 09, 2005

Angry Politicians vs. the Voters

On Lifelike Pundits today, I showcase an excellent (as always) article by Peggy Noonan on the angry spewing by certain Democratic leaders of late, and add my two cents.

Also, be sure to see what Mark at Decision '08 has to say about it.

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Commencement Speaker with Conservative Views Steps Down In Face of Boycott

According to today's San Francisco Chronicle, writer Richard Rodriguez will not be speaking at California State University East Bay's commencement on Saturday, due to a threatened boycott based on his views on education.

Rodriguez is the author of Hunger of Memory, a memoir that covers his entry into Sacramento, California schools knowing just 50 words of English, and goes up to his university studies and activities in the reading room of the British Museum.

Rodriguez is known for his opposition to bilingual education and affirmative action. The following is an excerpt from an essay he wrote back in 1997:

In truth, most of us who have benefited from affirmative action over the last 25 years have been middle-class Americans, not cultural minorities. But because we come from numerical minority groups, we have been able to advance. We advanced on the backs of those less fortunate. The exclusion of others of our race or ethnic group from college made our presence within the institution important. To put the matter more plainly: because many Hispanics were absent from college, I was able to be rewarded.

To avoid controversy, Rodriguez decided to step aside, and someone else will speak in his place.

Sarah Gonzales, a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at CSU agreed with the students' complaints:

"We need to teach our students to be able to listen to diverse opinions, but they also need to be able to respond," said Gonzales, who is also a school board member in Hayward. "As a commencement speaker, he gets free air time."

What, now people can't listen to opposing viewpoints if they cannot say anything to rebut them right away? Whatever happened to being polite? Students at the Columbia Business School had to listen politely to Indra Nooyi, CFO and president of Pepsico, compare America to the "middle finger" of the hand in comparison to the rest of the world. (Pepsico and Nooryi are now under fire...as well they should be.)

Colleges and universities are known for having more leftwing commencement speakers than conservative ones, and to my knowledge, they are generally not boycotted. (If you can think of any boycotts of leftwing speakers, please note them in the comments section of this post.) Ben Shapiro wrote about the phenomenon in 2004. In a nutshell, conservative students basically have to "suck up" leftwing views both while in school and at graduation.

So I find it disturbing that students at CSU East Bay can't deal with a speaker, for a half an hour or so, whose views they may not agree with. Part of college life is supposed to be learning how to act like an adult...and part of being an adult is being able to listen politely to something when the situation demands it.

Part of the problem with our politically correct world is that some people's opinions count more than others. It's a sad commentary on society.

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June 08, 2005

Results Count

(This article is also posted on Lifelike Pundits.)

I read an interesting article in the Washington Post today (published on June 5). Written by college professor Alicia C. Shepard, itÕs called ÒA's for Everyone.Ó DoesnÕt that have a nice, feel-good ring to it? WouldnÕt it be great if everyone could get an A in everything?

Shepard has discovered that her students think so too. In a nutshell: students think that hard work automatically translates into top grades.

Hard work is important. Very few of us have the brilliance to put forth little effort yet yield results like EinsteinÕs theory of relativity. But what is hard work? Who is to judge who works hard and who doesnÕt?

Obviously an instructor can see who participates in class, who turns in well-written papers, who performs well on a test. These are what the teacher uses to compute grades. Student claims of Òworking hardÓ are subjective at best. How does Shepard know if a studentÕs concept of Òworking hardÓ means starting the paper weeks before the due date or the night before? In the world of academia, results are what count.

Shepard thinks part of the problem is grade inflation in high school, as well as parental expectations of getting what they pay for. ÒPure and simple, tuition at a private college runs, on average, nearly $28,000 a year. If parents pay that much, they expect nothing less than A's in return. "Therefore, if the teacher gives you a B, that's not acceptable," says [Arthur ]Levine [Columbia TeacherÕs University president], "because the teacher works for you. I expect A's, and if I'm getting B's, I'm not getting my money's worth."Ó

In the real world, if your performance at work is below par, you donÕt get the promotion, bonus or raise. You may even be fired. Higher education is not only supposed to prepare you with the skills to get that dream job, but also life skills regarding realistic expectations and that results, not subjective feelings about Òhard work,Ó prevail.

If everything in life was easy to attain, what would its worth be?

As for Shepard, sheÕs learned her lesson:

ÒA few hours after I entered my final grades, I got an e-mail from a student, at 1:44 a.m. She was unhappy with her B. She worked so hard, she told me. This time, though, I was prepared. I had the numbers to back me up, and I wouldn't budge on her grade. No more Professor Softie.Ó

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Whose Line Is It Anyway?

It's Wednesday, and at noon that means the week is half over. Woo hoo! On your Interet travels today, be sure to check out these fine posts from around the blogosphere:

Lowering the voting age from 18 to 16? The Man has the scoop.

It's not all about Kerry anymore. What? Someone had better tell him that...namely ThirdWaveDave.

What, me worry? Pat at Brainster tells us of some paltry regrets held by a 1960s terrorist.

"Proof" that the U.S. sunk the Kursk nuclear sub can be found at Photios. Conspiracy theory, anyone?

And, Michelle Malkin has the latest on the prof at Brooklyn College who called religious people moral retards...it seems he's not going to head the sociology department there after all.

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June 07, 2005

Jimmy Carter: Useful Idiot

Please click here to read my post on Lifelike Pundits regarding the latest nonsense to come out of the mouth of Jimmy Carter. Will this man ever stop being an embarrassment to the American people?

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Dennis Prager Takes On Amnesty International

Not one to mince words, columinst and talk show host Dennis Prager is letting Amnesty International (AI) have it with both barrels.

The topic is, of course, the comparison made recently of the prison at Guantanamo Bay to the Soviet Gulag. AI's secretary general Irene Khan said in a speech:

Guantanamo has become the gulag our times, entrenching the notion that people can be detained without any recourse to the law.

If Guantanamo evokes images of Soviet repression, "ghost detainees" � or the incommunicado detention of unregistered detainees - bring back the practice of "disappearances" so popular with Latin American dictators in the past.

That, of course, is nonsense, and Prager spells it out for us:

For the record, at Guantanamo there are about 520 prisoners, the vast majority, if not all, of whom have been rounded up in anti-terror warfare. They were non-uniformed terrorists who are not subject to Geneva Convention rules on prisoners. But even if they did wear uniforms, they would await release at the end of hostilities. They are, even according to Schultz, provided with medical care and a fine diet that honors their religious codes, and they are allowed to practice their religion.

Now compare the estimated 20-30 million prisoners sent to the string of camps across the Soviet Union. They obtained no medical care, were served portions of food inadequate to human survival, and were frozen and worked to death by the millions. Moreover, virtually everyone sent there was entirely innocent of any crime. Every prisoner of the Gulag would have given anything to be a prisoner in Guantanamo.

Prager continues to cite just how bad things were for those in Stalin's Gulag. It's not a pretty read. He also points out that hatred of America, and specific hatred of George W. Bush, is a big motivator behind the current AI stand.

I couldn't agree more. When an organization that says it stands for human rights can trivialize the brutality of the Gulag in order to score a meaningless point against President Bush and American policy, that organization loses all credibility.

There's a word for it: pathetic.

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June 06, 2005

Why I'm Leaving Wachovia

I bank with Wachovia. Not by choice in the beginning...a few years ago, they bought out First Union, whom I had been banking with since switching from People's...long story.

In any case, I'm leaving Wachovia. Not because I'm a bank-hopper, looking for the best interest rates on my savings account. Heck, right now my savings account is empty. No, I'm leaving Wachovia because they're the latest corporation to kiss up to the slavery reparations gang.

Before you all gang up on me and call me a horrible person who doesn't care about the evils that happened in this country during its infancy and early years, just hear me out. Slavery is bad. Bad, bad, bad. No matter who is the slaveowner and who is the slave, slavery is evil and should be stamped out. Has anyone been discussing the status of slavery that still plagues the world?

That being said, who can remember a little ol' war called the Civil War (also known as the War Between the States, or the Northern Aggression...depends on where you live)? This war was fought because of the federal government wanting to override states' rights...the right to own slaves. Southern states were willing to go their own way in order to keep that right, which was legal at the time. I'm not talking about morality here, I'm talking about legality. And, what began as an instrument to keep the United States whole became something even greater...an end to slavery in America.

I also realize that even after emancipation, life wasn't a cakewalk for blacks, and problems plague many black communities to this day. But is throwing blood money at people the answer?

Slavery in the U.S. was stamped out during the Civil War in 1863. To own another human being became illegal. Period. Legal mechanisms finally caught up with morality. So why are companies whose former incarnations might have profited off of slavery (which was legal at the time, as Two Dogs reminds us), bending over backwards to apologize for something over which current executives had no control?

I never owned slaves. No one I know ever owned slaves. No one who is alive today was a slave (at least not in the sense we are discussing in this forum). My ancestors came over after slavery was abolished, and so not even my forebears owned slaves. Why should I feel guilty? Black people who came over after slavery was abolished didn't have forebears who were slaves. Will they be due money? Whites and blacks have intermarried...who is to pay whom? Free blacks in the U.S. before the Civil War owned slaves. Will their descendants have to ante up? American Indians were known to enslave captives during times of war between tribes. Are they shouting for reparations from each other?

Who is going to decide who is responsible now for something that was abolished 142 years ago?

Unfortunately, this is not an issue about righting a past wrong. It's an issue of money and power. Liberal white guilt is running rampant in this country, and there are those who are more than ready to capitalize on it. Yes, capitalize...sorry, but even those with so-called "enlightened" motives are out for money where they can get it. (Just check out Jesse Jackson...have you ever seen him in a cheap suit?)

They say that if you forget history, you are doomed to repeat it. I'm not saying we should forget. What I am saying is that some of us are wallowing in the past at the expense of our future. Continuing to pit white against black is harmful and shameful.

And so, adios to Wachovia, the latest casualty in the reparations battle. I think I'll join my company's credit union instead.

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June 05, 2005

Two Dogs' Treatise on Re-Education of Social Deadbeats

In his inimitable style, Two Dogs over at Mean Ol' Meany takes on white liberal guilt over our past with slavery, and those who wish to make a profit off of that guilt. Here's a preview:

You see, there is a notion that the United States is an evil, Capitalist country that developed on the backs of the Africans that were sold as slaves here. While an intelligent person would say, "But, Two Dogs, every country on the face of the planet has had at one time or another, the stigma of allowing slavery.", the morons on the Left seem to think that only the US should be held responsible. Ah, you poor, poor, pitiful fools.

Go ahead, read it all. Good, good stuff.

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EU Backlash Continues

Unhappy with their recession and high prices, Italians are considering going back to the lira.

With elections due next spring and the nation in recession, Italy's politicians are becoming increasingly sensitive to public anger over economic difficulties and likely to be worried about any anti-European backlash in the wake of "no" votes from France and the Netherlands over the new European Union constitution...

"I have no nostalgia for the lira. But from the citizens a cry for help is reaching our ears," [Labor Minister Roberto] Maroni said. "The euro is the legitimate child of the European model which, with worry, we're watching fail," he was quoted as saying.

Whether or not they do it, only time will tell. And of course, even if Italy goes through with it, it may only be a temporary measure.

It seems that Tony Blair is also giving up "on Europe as an issue worth fighting for." Bravo, Mr. Blair.

In other EU news, both Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder want the other European nations to move on with the ratification process, despite depressing "no" votes from both France and Holland.

French voters who felt the charter imposed "ultra liberal" economic values and worried about losing jobs and Dutch voters wary about losing influence in an expanded bloc, have sparked a bout of soul-searching among European leaders over how to reconnect with an increasingly disillusioned public.

As I have commented before, the major problem with the concept of the EU is trying to cram all of the different values, cultures, and idiosyncracies of each individual country into a "one size fits all" category. Slicing Europe (and part of the Middle East) into pieces after both World Wars, using lines drawn on a map with no thought as to regional differences, didn't work either.

Some worry that, if Europe doesn't unite under an EU umbrella, that the countries might go back to their feuding (and possibly warring) ways. That's always possible...no one can predict the future. But it's obvious that Europe, much less the rest of the world, is ready for a Star Trek-type civilization, where one central government controls all of the world's countries and everyone lives in harmony.

Sorry, UN-fanatics, but loyalty to one's country still means a lot for many of us, both here in the U.S. and abroad. And that, in my opinion, is why the concept of the EU is falling apart.

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June 03, 2005

Exciting Additions to the Blogroll

I've done a bit of tweaking to my sidebar. As you'll see, I've separated the international blogs from American ones in order to highlight them better. And while I like all the blogs I've listed, I've marked my favorites with an asterisk...the ones I visit frequently.

In case you didn't know, I'm a proud member of the American Flag League Blogroll. Scroll down to check out other blogs who wave Old Glory proudly.

Also, please take note of several new additions to my blogroll (one American, several not):

Third Wave Dave -- a Californian with conscience.

An Englishman's Castle -- good news from over the pond.

Deleted by Tomorrow -- an interesting way of looking at nothing.

Polblog - News Poland 24/7 -- Polish news with views.

Tim Worstall -- A Brit who says it's all trivial. YOU decide.

Be sure to give these fine blogs a look-see!

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Howard Dean: Angry Beaver of the Week

Oh, Howie wins this weekÕs award hands-down. With his ranting and raving across the country about evil Republicans going on nonstop, he definitely could use a sedative and, perhaps, the services of a psychologist.

Seriously: when discussing having to work all day and then spend long hours in line to vote, Dean commented, "Well, Republicans, I guess, can do that because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives."

Of course, ÒDemocratic Party spokeswoman Karen Finney was quick to clarify: Dean was referring to "Republican politicians and Republican leadership, not hardworking American people."Ó Silly us!

If thatÕs true, how many Democrat politicians really Òwork?Ó John Kerry was a prosecuting lawyer for a short time before entering politicsÉhe has made his money by marrying wealthy women. Teddy Kennedy was born into money made by a prohibition bootlegger and has pretty much been in politics his whole life. Nancy Pelosi is a millionaire, Barbara Boxer worked in news for a few years before joining the public payroll, and Harry Reid has been on Capital Hill since 1986ÉitÕs been a long time since he did any real work. (According to his official bio his father was a miner, but Reid became a lawyer before entering politics.)

Face itÉmost politicians in both parties donÕt do any real Òwork,Ó as in having a typical job that pays typical wages. Most of them come from money (sometimes earned, sometimes inherited). They get paid a nice salary, have a great pension package (no Social Security for them), only work on The Hill for part of the year, and get perks like free haircuts, lunches, travel allowances and a luxury spa/workout facilityÉ.all on the taxpayersÕ dime.

So for Dean to make that kind of comment, even if it did refer to ÒRepublican politicians and Republican leadership,Ó is really beyond the pale.

LetÕs not forget his other comments in recent months that refer to Republicans as Òbrain-dead,Ó Òevil,Ó and Òcorrupt.Ó

So what gives, Howie? Still feeling a little bitter that your own party didnÕt even want you as candidate for president last year, throwing you over for that milksop John Kerry? Nasty rants might garner headlines, but they arenÕt pulling in the cash. The DNC reported $16.7 million raised in the first quarter of 2005, compared to the RNCÕs cash cache of $34 million.

People may laugh and chuckle when they hear HowieÕs obnoxious, mean-spirited jabs. But ideas, not rhetoric, are what get the votersÕ attention. Dean doesnÕt have any ideasÉif he does, heÕs doing a poor job of getting them across. Calling Republicans evil, corrupt, brain-dead and essentially lazy is not a great way to get Republicans to vote for the Democrats.

Keep it coming, HowieÉyour Angry Beaver of the Week award is well deserved. WeÕre looking forward to what else you can do to enhance the image of the Republican party, at the expense of your own.

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June 02, 2005

Tom Cruise's Rantings

I did manage a post today regarding Tom Cruise's bloviating about Scientology and his new girlfriend...check it out on Lifelike Pundits.

bloáviáate ( P ) Pronunciation Key (blv-t)intr.v. Slang bloáviáatáed, bloáviáatáing, bloáviáates
To discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner: Òthe rural Babbitt who bloviates about ÔprogressÕ and ÔgrowthÕÓ (George Rebeck).

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Thursday Afternoon Tidbits

Ugh...I had to skip work to go to the doctor today to deal with this horrendous case of poison ivy. I'm not up to much in the way of posting at the moment...so I thought I'd give you a taste of what's happening elswhere on the Web:

Tom at hamstermotor takes on the differences between liberty and freedom.

Iraq the Model gives us an update on the drafting of the Iraqi constitution.

According to Cicero over at Winds of Change, the thumbs-down to the EU constitution is more about an insecure self-image among Europeans at large.

Two Dogs' latest stab at a personality/leadership test yields an interesting result.

Religious conservatives up in Canada are getting the shaft...Angry in the Great White North has some concise commentary.

Finally, City Journal's Kay S. Hymowitz explores the reasons why black children (especially those in urban settings) are falling behind.

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June 01, 2005

Nr: The Dutch Turn Thumbs Down to the EU Constitution

"Nr" means "no" in Dutch (I think...correct me if I'm wrong). And that's what the Dutch people overwhelmingly said today when they voted against ratifying the proposed EU constitution. Turnout was 62%, with 63% voting no.

What's next?

In France, the prime minister stepped down (he was probably prompted to), and replaced with Jacques Chirac's pal Dominique de Villepin after the French people said "no" quite clearly.

Britain may not hold its referendum as a result of the French and Dutch results.

Turkey, a country with hopes of entering the EU, played down the significance of the French no, even though the possibility of Turkey becoming a member state partly prompted the no vote.

The completion of a European Union, which just six months ago seemed a foregone conclusion, has now been thrown into a state of confusion, its future cloudy and unclear. If six members vote against ratification before the deadline in September of 2006, the constitution is as dead as the Colonel's fried chicken.

Ralph Peters, writing in today's NY Post, has a theory: good old fashioned tribalism.

If anything should strike us about this turn from Greater Europe back to a Europe of competing parts, it's how wildly the intellectuals were wrong and how ineffectual elite power monopolies proved in the end. For a half century, Europe's approved thinkers insisted that a new age had begun, that historical identities were dying. The wealth and power of a borderless Europe would rival, if not exceed, that of the United States.

Instead, we see a squabbling, grasping continent. Far from feeling solidarity with their Polish or Hungarian counterparts, French farmers view them as the enemy. Labor unions in Germany and France have turned Slavic job-seekers into bogeymen who'll rob the daily bread from the native-born.

Indeed, we cannot forget that Europe is made up of many distinct, separate peoples and cultures. Just 60 years ago, many of those countries were involved in the devastation known as World War II, where Germany and ultimately Japan (though not European) sought to conquer friend and foe alike.

And only a couple of weeks ago, a poll taken across Europe about the French revealed many negative attitudes toward those would-be leaders of the EU. (Pretentious, vain, self-obsessed and humorless are among the adjectives used to describe them.)

Alliances are one thing. They're necessary and usually beneficial to all concerned. But as Peters says in his column,

Group identity is indestructible. Despite genocide, Armenia rose again. Poland's back. The phony Yugoslav identity died in a storm of bullets, leaving behind antique nations. The Soviet empire dissolved into bloody nationalism. Irish pubs have conquered the world, but it's hard to find an EU-themed watering hole.

Nationality first...that's why the EU is in dire straits.

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80 Years of Marriage and Counting...

Can you imagine? British couple Percy and Florence Arrowsmith are celebrating their 80th wedding anniversary today.

The Arrowsmiths, who have three children, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, claim the key to their long marriage is not to go to sleep on an argument. They say they always kiss each other and hold hands each night before going to bed.

It just goes to show that not all the news in the world is bad.

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Kathleen Parker Talks Trash...Paris Hilton, That Is

Today, Kathleen Parker's Town Hall column focuses on the woman many of us have come to know and despise: Paris Hilton.

I haven't quite put my finger on the moment when Paris Hilton became a household word - whether it was her 2003 TV reality series, "The Simple Life," in which she and co-star Nicole Richie (daughter of Lionel) made fun of the rural poor by dressing down to "play" farm. Or whether it was her debut on the World Wide Web as the star of a home video in which she and her then-boyfriend, shall we say, share their love.

Yes, isn't it fun to make fun of hard working yokel types? I suppose, though, that she knows a bit about hard work, considering the bad publicity she had to fend off after her video debut.

Parker wishes for the good old days:

As long as we're feeling nostalgic, remember when a tramp was a tramp? In these liberated times, there's no such thing. Yesterday's trash is today's socialite, a jet-setting culture creature who just wants to have a little fun. What's so wrong with that?

She continues:

Moral relativity makes explanation nearly impossible. Instead, we resort to a few simpler truths: sex sells, money doesn't equate to class, and - while we're wallowing in cliches - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Because apparently, Paris' mother Kathy will be starring in a show called "I Want to Be a Hilton," where contestants vying for a year in high-society Manhattan and a $200,000 trust fund learn about fashion, etiquette and media wrangling. (The show is being produced by Paris' dad Rick.) It must be hard for Kathy, a former child television star, to see Paris getting all of the attention, so she is now cashing in on her daughter's infamy.

Will Paris make a special guest appearance to show how to best coordinate one's navel ring with the rest of her glitzy accessories, including her new fiancee, shipping heir Paris Latsis? (Paris and Paris...how revolting. I give the marriage two years, tops. Dumb-as-a-post Britney Spears' marriage to sleazy Kevin Federline may last longer.)

Ah, Paris...when will your blasted 15 minutes finally end? When will it be safe to watch television or open a magazine or newspaper without seeing your bronzed skin and hair extensions? When will you become so desperate for a bit of press that you (allegedly) grope a stranger in public like Christian Slater?

Not soon enough for me.

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The American Flag League!

Following Two Dogs' lead over at Mean Ol' Meany, I have joined the American Flag League blogroll, brainchild of William Teach at Pirate's Cove. You should do it too! Be the first one on your block.

Click here for more details!

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