Wednesday, July 27, 2005

It's a Beautiful Day

I did something completely unexpected today. I ran a 24:45 3-mile today (a 27:41 3.3). How did I do this? I credit 3 things. First, this was the most beautiful day today. If the Z was running, I'd pull off the t-tops...if I could spell, I'd keep talking about how nice it is (is it gorgouse...no, gorgous...no...stupid phonics). Second, I had a week of rest from my runs (friday, I had MEPS as well as monday). Third, I ran into a nice lady and her daughter. She asked what I was training for and when I said that it was for the Marines, she told me "good for you" and then bent down to her daughter (maybe granddaughter) and said, "he's going to be in the Marines." The awed look the little girl gave me suddenly made me understand the gravity of what was just said. In her short time in being a citizen of the United States(she looked to be about 4), she had a full understanding that a Marine is set apart...someone who has gone the extra mile (literally)...someone who has volunteered to put his or her life on the line to protect that little girl. The pride that look gave me caused me to push harder than I have in my 5-months doing my runs. I'll probably feel the pain tommorrow...but then again, pain is just weakness leaving the body.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

I Love Chrenkoff

In light of his recent reading, Chrenkoff has this hilarious post:

Sorry that blogging is a bit light today (or Friday morning US time); I'm pretty stuffed after the whole week and need to have an early night to recharge for a busy weekend (including blogging, of course!).

Been reading Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack" and the new Harry Potter. Decided to give the Harry Potter a preference, since I already know how "Plan of Attack" ends (the plot's pretty simple - under the impression that the evil wizard who almost killed his father in Kuwait in 1993, He Who Must Not Be Named, is in possession of both "The Sorcerer's Yellowcake" and "The Chamber of Torture", young Harry Potter invades Iraq, liberating the country but in the process getting caught up in "The Prisoner of Abu Ghraib" scandal, as well as being embarrassed by the discovery that He Who Must Not Be Named did not really have "The Goblet of Fire", or even an active program to produce one. Undaunted by these setbacks, Harry Potter tries to establish "The Order of Phoenix" throughout the whole region, and manages to win re-election, having defeated "The Half-wit Prince". To be continued.)

Air Force gets a New Toy!

I've been waiting for this ever since I first saw one grace my TV screen:

The Air Force's newest warplane, the F/A-22 Raptor, is scheduled to make a flyby at the Vectren Dayton Air Show in July, air show officials said Thursday.

Not yet operational, the stealthy Raptor is the Air Force's most advanced and most expensive fighter jet. The first combat-ready F/A-22 was delivered this week to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for maintenance training.


More pictures n'stuff are at Blackfive. For those too lazy, here's one:



I think I just wet myself.

Idiots, morons, and down right classless...

I am rarely driven to cuss...but, this does a pretty good job:


Vandals torch 20 U.S. flags, car
Neighbors rally around family that just buried son-in-law soldier

FAIRFIELD - American flags, lining the lawn of the mother- and father-in-law of fallen U.S. Army Pfc. Timothy Hines Jr., were heaped in a pile early Saturday and burned under a car parked in front of the home - less than 24 hours after Hines was buried in Cincinnati's Spring Grove Cemetery.

Jim Wessel, Hines' father-in-law, said he thinks that the fire was a random act of vandalism.

The flames totaled Sara Wessel's car.

Sara is Hines' sister-in-law and Jim Wessel's oldest daughter. She had been staying at the house on Sando Drive since the family returned last week from Washington, D.C., where they were visiting Hines at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Hines, 21, was buried Friday after more than 400 people mourned his passing and celebrated his life at the Vineyard Community Church in Springdale. He was buried with full military honors, leaving behind a pregnant widow who expects to give birth in about two weeks and a 2-year-old daughter.

Hines died last week from injuries suffered when a roadside bomb exploded June 19 in Baghdad.

Sara Wessel woke up when the flames set off the car alarm.

"Whoever set the fire used about 20 flags that were given to me by friends," Jim Wessel said. "If it wasn't random vandalism, what statement were they trying to make?"

The 20 flags were replaced with more than 200 by Saturday afternoon. The flags came from family, friends and neighbors.

"We have a great neighborhood," Wessel said.

Police said the fire started about 5:30 a.m.

"What happened to this family is a tragedy; what occurred (Saturday) morning is despicable," Fairfield Police Chief Mike Dickey said in a prepared statement. "We will take every step to identify the persons responsible and hold them accountable."


Don't blog when angry...don't blog when angry...don't blog when angry...

Army gets a Cool Toy...Again

Straight from science fiction, is the microwave gun:

Troops in Iraq will soon be shooting an experimental weapon that fires an invisible beam of energy instead of bullets to repel insurgents without killing civilians.

Millimeter-length radiation fired by the Active Denial System penetrates just below the surface of the skin to cause an excruciating burning sensation until it is turned off. Extensive testing has shown no lasting damage, the military said.

The weapon will be demonstrated in public this summer and in Iraq within months. It is the first in what could become a catalog of energy beams that aim to ease one of the war’s toughest problems.

Troops guarding checkpoints, bases and convoys regularly face oncoming people or vehicles of uncertain intent. Troops open fire rather than risk a bomb attack.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari complained about mistaken shootings to U.S. officials, and the U.S. command in Iraq asked the Pentagon this spring to speed shipment of the non-lethal beam weapons.

The first prototype, developed for the Marines, sits atop a special Humvee that has a hybrid gasoline-electric drivetrain. The propulsion batteries double as a power source for the gun, which looks like a satellite dish and is aimed with a joystick.

“It is not a silver bullet, but it will help our Marines and soldiers from having to go lethal before it’s necessary,” said Sue Payton, deputy undersecretary of defense for advanced systems and concepts.

The ADS is one of a range of “directed-energy” weapons, some dating to president Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars” programs. Already being tested in the field are low-power lasers that would temporarily blind opponents.

The ADS follows more than a decade and $50 million of research into millimeter-wave weapons. The Army plans a version for its Stryker vehicles, and the Air Force is developing an airborne variant.

One major concern is public acceptance of the weapon.

“We have tested this thing every way from Sunday” to make sure it’s safe, Payton said, adding that she had insisted scientists fire the gun on a raw egg to make sure the 95-gigahertz beam wouldn’t cook it like a microwave oven.

“Initially, it felt like someone had opened an oven door, and you felt a rush of heat,” said Rich Garcia, a spokesman for the Air Force Research Labs, who was one of hundreds of test subjects. “Within milliseconds, it became intolerable.”


I want one!

Jane Fonda can't Learn from Veitnam Lessons

Not again...

SANTA FE, N.M. - Actress and activist
Jane Fonda says she intends to take a cross-country bus tour to call for an end to U.S. military operations in
Iraq.

"I can't go into any detail except to say that it's going to be pretty exciting," she said.

Fonda said her anti-war tour in March will use a bus that runs on "vegetable oil." She will be joined by families of Iraq war veterans and her daughter.

They plan to return to the Santa Fe area, where she was promoting her book, "My Life So Far" on Saturday.

Prompted by a question from the audience, Fonda said war veterans that she has met on a nationwide book tour have encouraged her to break her silence on the Iraq war.

"I've decided I'm coming out," she said.

Hundreds of people in the audience cheered loudly when Fonda announced her intentions to join the anti-Iraq war movement.

"I have not taken a stand on any war since Vietnam," she said. "I carry a lot of baggage from that."

Fonda incited controversy in July 1972 when she was photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun while on a tour of the country to drum up support to end the war


Anyone else catch that? Let's hear that quote again:

"I have not taken a stand on any war since Vietnam," she said. "I carry a lot of baggage from that."


So to demonstrate the valuable lessons learned at Vietnam, she's going to do the same thing. Wow. Citizen Smash has a roundup of quality comments.

When Atheists' Children Rebel

Citizen Smash has an awesome story on what happens when an atheists' child discovers the rich Christian history of San Degio.

“I’d had all I could take, at that point. I told Jaime that we didn’t believe in Jesus, that it was all a story that people told their children to get them to behave. ‘You aren’t baptized,’ I told him. ‘We’re not Christians.’

“He started bawling. He didn’t stop until we got to the car. ‘What’s wrong?’ I kept asking him. Finally, he stopped crying long enough to answer. ‘I want to be a Christian, Mommy! I want to go to Heaven -- I want to be baptized!’”

My wife and I stare at each other in disbelief.

“Matt and I have both tried to talk him out of it,” Dianne continued. “But it’s his choice. I blame the City of San Diego for allowing people to maintain all these Christian symbols on city property."


The Lord works in mysterious ways... Read it all.

The Funeral Crashers, cont'd

The story (my link here) of Pennsylvania Lt. Governor has now reached the fallout stage:

"Probably, in all honesty, she didn't even know she was acting inappropriately, she's so out there," said Goodrich, of Indiana. "The business card, I will always believe, was handed out as campaign fodder."

Knoll said in her letter that she arrived too late to offer her personal condolences. That rankled Rhonda Goodrich, who said she believed Knoll came to get publicity.

"She didn't have time to be with Amy or Joe's parents, but she made time for the TV cameras," she said. "That's where I'm still a little bitter." Goodrich said Knoll remarked to Joseph Goodrich's aunt that "our government" was opposed to the war.


Original news link here.

ab Hugh's Rules of Intellegence

Dafydd at Captain's Quarters this excellent post:

Thinking about the terrible shooting of Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes, shot to death in London by police who mistook him for a suicide bomber, recalls some rules of intelligence and analysis that we should always keep in mind:

1. The Law of Imperfect Precognition: Sometimes there is no "right choice." Throw the dice.

2. The Law of Imperfect Postcognition: Not even hindsight is ever really 20-20.

3. The Law of Colliding Interests: Five different people can each make a rational decision and still wind up in a melee.

4. The Law of the Rational Onion: There is always another layer of analysis that contradicts everything you've already concluded. At some point, you just have to stop.

5. The Law of Models: There is a real reality out there, whether you can see it or not. And it bites.


Good Stuff.

Acadamia Nut wants Draft

At Captain's Quarters, Captain Ed takes a New York Times opinion peice apart after it calls our volenteer armed services "mercinaries." After referring to it as a problem, the article's author then presents his "solution" : a draft.

Some will find it offensive to call today's armed forces a "mercenary army," but our troops are emphatically not the kind of citizen-soldiers that we fielded two generations ago - drawn from all ranks of society without respect to background or privilege or education, and mobilized on such a scale that civilian society's deep and durable consent to the resort to arms was absolutely necessary. ...

The life of a robust democratic society should be strenuous; it should make demands on its citizens when they are asked to engage with issues of life and death. The "revolution in military affairs" has made obsolete the kind of huge army that fought World War II, but a universal duty to service - perhaps in the form of a lottery, or of compulsory national service with military duty as one option among several - would at least ensure that the civilian and military sectors do not become dangerously separate spheres. War is too important to be left either to the generals or the politicians. It must be the people's business.


It is the peoples business. The downfalls of a draft are vast and numerous. Just let the people who want to serve, serve.

Captain Ed rips this up well:

Once again, we have academics attempting to transform our military from history's most efficient and effective armed forces into a social program. We learned thirty years ago that compulsory service creates more disciplinary problems, law enforcement issues, and greater social stress. We spent a decade transforming our services into a highly motivated fighting force, one that could fight anywhere and anytime with high speed, superior logistics and production, tactical supremacy, and tightly coordinated strategic planning.

Instead of appreciating that outcome while allowing Americans a free choice to serve their country -- upholding our basic traditions of freedom by avoiding conscription -- Kennedy instead wants us to strip people of their freedom to choose and force them into uniform so that he can feel better about the balance of economic strata in our military services.

Jack Kelly at Irish Pennants (and a brilliant columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) has a solution for Professor Kennedy. If he wants better socio-economic representation in the services, he can start by "telling your students at Stanford that they should enlist." At the least, he can campaign to get places like Stanford -- which also hardly represents the socioeconomic composition of America -- to stop blocking ROTC programs and recruitment efforts. That might address the problems that Kennedy decries and allow more exposure for young men and women to the "noble calling" of serving this country.


Well said, Captain.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

When Democrats Need a Clue

If there is one thing all people should know about funerals, is that you shouldn't be politicking at them. This should be especially true of military funerals for those who have given the ultimate sacrifice:

The family of a Marine who was killed in Iraq is furious with Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll for showing up uninvited at his funeral this week, handing out her business card and then saying "our government" is against the war.

Rhonda Goodrich of Indiana, Pa., said yesterday that a funeral was held Tuesday at a church in Carnegie for her brother-in-law, Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, 32. She said he "died bravely and courageously in Iraq on July 10, serving his country.

...

What really upset the family, Goodrich said, is that Knoll said, 'I want you to know our government is against this war,' " Goodrich said.


Milblog "Blackfive" has the links.

Red States != Welfare States

Note: For those who don't know != means "not equal."

Someone finally followed up on Mr. O'Donnell's claims that Blue States are the producers and Red States are welfare states. In this excellent Chicago Tribune article, Meg Kreikemeier takes both Mr. O'Donnell and Mr. Howard Dean to task for making unsubstantiated, right-bashing claims. Included in the article is this little gem:

For several years, two organizations have been researching political contributions and found interesting statistics. The Center for Political Integrity and the Center for Responsive Politics found similar patterns in political contributions; that Republicans receive contributions from many small donors and Democrats rely on unions and the wealthy.


It's good stuff.

My Spotty Posting

I've been away for a bit and slowed my posting significantly this weekend. I was actually doing some testing for the Marines (yes, I'm talking with them about joining the reserves). I wasn't able to complete my physical (which, I'm told consists mostly of walking around in weird positions). Unfortunately for me, this means I'll be getting up at 3am tommorrow morning in order to get there in time. Fortunately, this means I'll be talking to the Officer Selection Officer (OSO) tommorrow. I'm really looking forward to that in light of my ASVAB test score. Anyway, I suspect this means I'll be posting more on this tommorrow.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Uh...What the Crap...

Only in Seattle:

Seattle man dies after sex with horse
Police say death was accidental, investigate farm on cruelty suspicions


SEATTLE - A Seattle man died after engaging in anal sex with a horse at a farm suspected of being a gathering place for people seeking to have sex with livestock, police said Friday.

The horse involved in the incident was not harmed, and an autopsy of the unnamed man concluded that “the manner of death was accidental ... due to perforation of the colon,” a police spokesman said.

“The information that we have is that people would find this place via chat rooms on the Web,” said Sgt. John Urquhart of the King County Sheriff’s Department.

Although sex with animals is not illegal in Washington state, Urquhart said that investigators were looking into whether the farm, located in Enumclaw, 40 miles southeast of Seattle, allowed sex with smaller animals that resulted in animal cruelty, which is a crime.

“If you’re talking about sheep or goats, there could be some issues,” Urquhart said.


*Speechless*

Global Warming...Why I'm not Concerned

CNN.com has an article up titled "Scientists: Humans cause global warming." My big issue with the whole crying and gnashing of teeth dealing with global warming is that these same scientists say the Earth is millions of years old...and throughout that whole time the climate has changed many times in various ways and for various reasons. Noting a 35-year raise in temperature and screaming that we're all going to die horrible deaths a la "The Day After Tommorrow" doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Let us not forget that in 1975, climatologists were screaming and crying about *GLOBAL COOLING*

I watched a fascinating documentry on the Discovery Channel dealing with how a massive and sudden climate change brought down Egypt's Old Kingdom. Would these same scientists claim that a population of approx. 27 million individuals (or .4% of our current population) somehow caused a climate change from the burning of all those torches? Or, *gasp*, could it be something the world does simply on it's own.

I suppose that rapid population growth could have an effect...but I disagree with running around pulling out our hair to try to lower "greenhouse gasses." The Kyoto Accords are not what the US needs right now. I believe technologies are being perfected that will reduce those emissions. Hybrid cars, for example, are doing this now. In fact, when they make a nice sporty coupe with 250-300 hp and gets 50+ mpg, I might have to buy one. Heck, maybe Lotus will make an eco-Elise.

Citizen Smash says it well:

1. The planet is currently in the midst of a warming trend. Depending on how you define "warming trend," one can argue that this has been going on for just the past thirty years, as long as we've been keeping detailed records (about 150 years), or since the peak of the last ice age (20,000 years ago).

2. Some portion of the warming over the past century was most likely due to human activity, but how much is difficult (if not impossible) to determine.

3. Climate change is ongoing and inevitable. There is nothing we can do to stop it, or even slow it down noticeably. The Kyoto Treaty is useless. Whether the future brings us balmy temperatures, stormy weather, or another ice age, we have no choice but to go along with it. Any human attempt to engineer a 'better climate' will ultimately do more harm than good.

4. Extreme weather events are not a new phenomenon, and cannot be linked to global warming. Any scientist who claims that a specific weather or climate event is "evidence" of mankind's impact upon the natural environment is being foolish (and deserves to be mocked).

5. Our best course of action is to continue studying and observing the world we live in, anticipate any dramatic changes that are likely to happen, and prepare our civilization to carry on in whatever climate the future might bring.

The human race has survived an ice age, droughts, floods, earthquakes, massive volcanic eruptions, and several pandemics. There's no need for drastic measures. With a little prudent preparation, We'll be just fine.

A Small Footnote to Some "I told you so's"

With this morning's terrorist attack in London, the next stream of "I told you so's" will begin to issue forth from the left...constantly screaming that the actions in Iraq have led to this situation. To disagree, The Anchoress has provided a photo post of all the terror attacks performed prior to the Iraqi invasion.

Read it and try not to be moved.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

A Sad Day for Star Trek Fans

Actor James Doohan, known through out the series as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, has died this morning. Despite the sadness of his passing, this article has some information I didn't know about Mr. Doohan:

At 19, James escaped the turmoil at home by joining the Canadian army, becoming a lieutenant in artillery. He was among the Canadian forces that landed on Juno Beach on D-Day. "The sea was rough," he recalled. "We were more afraid of drowning than the Germans."

The Canadians crossed a minefield laid for tanks; the soldiers weren't heavy enough to detonate the bombs. At 11:30 that night, he was machine-gunned, taking six hits: one that took off his middle right finger (he managed to hide the missing finger on screen), four in his leg and one in the chest. Fortunately the chest bullet was stopped by his silver cigarette case.


Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Boys Die...Parents See Dollar Signs

Continuing the progressive culture side-effect we like to call entitlement and liability, a sad situation becomes even more sad.


Lawyer: Boys were alive in trunk during search

CAMDEN, New Jersey (AP) -- Three boys who suffocated in a car trunk last month were trapped alive for at least 13 hours, slowly succumbing while police searched their neighborhood, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The boys, ages 5, 6 and 11, died between 13 and 33 hours after they climbed into the trunk on June 22, said the Camden County prosecutor's office, citing part of an autopsy report. The deaths were ruled accidental.

Relatives searched for the boys for three hours and then called authorities. A two-day search that included dogs, helicopters and boats on the nearby Delaware River ended on the night of June 24 when the father of one of the boys found them dead in the trunk, just a few feet from where they had been playing.

Several experts told The Associated Press last month that it was likely the boys would have passed out within an hour or two of becoming trapped.

The question of when Anibal Cruz, Jesstin Pagan and Daniel Agosto died is crucial, in part because of the possibility of lawsuits against officials.

If the boys were dead by the time police were called to the neighborhood in this impoverished city, it may decrease the families' chances of success in a lawsuit against officials.

So far, no legal complaints have been filed, and the mother of one of the boys said Tuesday the report's finding does not mean she will sue.

"I don't think me and my husband want to go through that. Suing anybody or getting a lawyer isn't going to help us bring him back," Iraida Agosto said.

However, a lawyer for Anibal Cruz's family said responsibility for the deaths is now "squarely on the shoulders of the police."

"I think the numbers speak for themselves," Peter M. Villari told The New York Times. "They were certainly alive when the police arrived and certainly well after the search started."

Villari did not immediately return a call seeking additional comment Tuesday.

Villari said last month that he was hired by Anibal's mother, Elba Cruz, in part to see if police or anyone else may have been responsible for the deaths. He said at the time that it was not clear whether she might sue.

A report from prosecutors on issues including why searchers never looked in the car trunk is due next week.

"It would be inappropriate to comment on other aspects of the case until we have established a clear and complete picture of the events and discussed our findings with the families," Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi said in a statement Tuesday.


Note that one family has some common sense:
Suing anybody or getting a lawyer isn't going to help us bring him back," Iraida Agosto said.


...and then the entitlement creeps in from another family:

However, a lawyer for Anibal Cruz's family said responsibility for the deaths is now "squarely on the shoulders of the police."


Um...so, why didn't the family check the trunk when they started looking? If the police were led to believe the kids had run away, then I'd really question the statement "squarely on the shoulders of the police."

I'm just dissappointed to see what appears to me to be a money-grab in such a sad situation. 5 and 6 are a bit on the young side to play completely unsupervised...so where were the parents. How did they get the trunk open? Just a couple of quick questions before lawsuits against the American Taxpayer start breaking out.

Monday, July 18, 2005

My Running Improves

Recently, I got my hands on the physical qualifications for the Marines. That in hand, I now have more fitness goals for myself. Previously, I would just run for 30 min...no particular distance...just 30 min of constant running. With the help of my wife, we've now set some goals; the first of which I met today. I finally found my current 3-mile time at 27-minutes last friday which gives me 46 points (more on what this means in a moment). Today, I made it to 26:40...which bumps me up two more points. To say the least, I'm very pleased.

I'm now adding to my workout some pull-ups. I currently estimate 9 (3 sets of 3). I'm hoping to increase this to 12 in short order and continue increasing with an eventual goal of 20. Add to this my 70 crunches and you now have my new concentration fitness-wise.

My goal is to break into 2nd class PFT, which requires 175 points. With my current abilities, I'm at 163. A breakdown of the points system is available here.

All-in-all, I'm pleased. At 180, I'm below maximum weight (barely). With a body-fat percentage of 16.1% I am also below the maximum BF of 18%. I hope to continue to drop my 3-mile times and increase my other excercises. We'll see what comes.

Good News from Iraq part 31

Nope, that 31 isn't me being sarcastic...Chrenkoff has posted 31 separate ...uh, posts that the mainstream media has refused to let slip into the spotlight. As always, this post from the past month is increadible long...read all of it anyway. Anyway, read it here.

Adulters' Greeting Cards?

File this under the "It's too strange to be true...so it must be true" label.

Adulterers need cards too

BETHESDA, Md. — One morning at breakfast, Cathy Gallagher told her husband she wanted to start a line of greeting cards for adulterers.

There was a pregnant pause. And then he said, "I think it's a great idea."

Lucky for him, Gallagher doesn't plan on patronizing her own business. "You don't have to be a murderer to write a murder mystery," she says.

Nor, apparently, does one need to be unfaithful to write a Christmas card that says, "As we each celebrate with our families, I will be thinking of you."

Gallagher says her Secret Lover Collection of 24 cards is the first line exclusively for people having affairs, and she expects hot sales. She says half of married people have had affairs (though some studies show the figure to be far less — more like 15% of married women and 22% of married men, according to the University of Chicago). From former President Clinton's relationship with "that woman" to shenanigans on TV shows like "Desperate Housewives," affairs are out in the open.

"Look at the soap operas. It's all about forbidden love," Gallagher says in her Bethesda office, where the walls are painted red and pink. "Look at how many people on soap operas are having affairs. That's real. And I think that's why this is so scary — these cards are real, and for a lot of people it hits very close to home."

...

The cards feature acrylic paintings on the cover, done by an artist in Virginia and predictably heavy on deep shades of red, with long verses by Gallagher inside. Some of them read as if they were written by a dropout of the Hallmark school of greeting-card writing: "My soul has been searching for you since I came into this world.

"All my life I have had this emptiness inside, like a part of me was missing and I was incomplete …

"And now I can't imagine my life without you … Even if I have to share you."

There's a card for office romances that begins, "The weekend apart is finally over," and an apology card that describes how hard it is not to be able to call and smooth over "our misunderstanding."

There's even a breakup card that says, "I can't go on like this anymore … I guess our timing just wasn't right."

But there's also a card urging the receiver to leave his or her spouse. "Let's live our lives together and finally be one," it says. "I can't imagine not having you in my life. Let's start living our lives for 'us.' "


Is it just me, or does this sound like a bad idea? I'm all for capitalism and all, but I'm not sure this is a market you want to tap. As much as it is romantized in modern entertainment, adultery is a downright bad idea. Other than doing those moderately bad things like, oh...I don't know...RUINING PEOPLES LIVES, it's just bad morals. After all, did these people not make a *VOW* to stay faithful? Is not their word...their honor, important to them? Ahh...enough ranting from me...anyway, I suspect this won't really fly because it creates evidence...it's awefully had to say you're being faithful when you're signing your Hallmark Adultery Card.

I think there are much wiser routes in life. As the Marines say, "Semper Fi" (always faithful).

L.A. Times Demonstrates why They are Losing Readership

...and they are being highly dishonest about it. Patterico has the lowdown on the L.A. Times playing not so nice games and correcting themselves without a proper correction. The offending paragraph deals with President Bush's SCOTUS canadates:

They thought Rehnquist’s illness would force his retirement, and they intended to move quickly to replace the conservative chief justice with a reliably conservative federal appeals court judge. The leading candidates were all white men.


Other than being a flat out lie (there's at least two hispanic people I can think of under concideration), isn't that statement kinda...well, racist? At any rate, they apparently corrected themselves on the online article:

They thought Rehnquist’s illness would force his retirement, and they intended to move quickly to replace the conservative chief justice with a reliably conservative federal appeals court judge. The leading candidates were all men.


Cute...and they wonder why people don't read newspapers anymore. Read the whole thing for the in depth analysis.

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Which SciFi/Fantasy Character are You?

This site has floated about the blogosphere the past couple of days. It turns out that I'm Harry Potter:

Gifted and studious, you willingly approach the perils ahead with the help of your talents and friends.

I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me.


And my wife is Galadriel:

Possessing a rare combination of wisdom and humility, while serenely dominating your environment you selflessly use your powers to care for others.

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.


Fun stuff.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

More Socialist Crap

President Chirac pulls some lines from Atlas Shrugged...albeit from the wrong side.

“Certainly, their unemployment is lower than ours. But if you take the big elements in society — health policy, the fight against poverty, . . . spending involving the future — you notice that we are much, much better placed than the English.”


Yes, I'm sure this all for the "greater good" n'stuff, but how are you going to pay for those policies? With rocks?

Let's not forget, PM Tony Blair answered this a couple months ago:

"Some have suggested I want to abandon Europe's social model," Blair told the European Parliament last month. "But tell me: what type of social model is it that has 20 million unemployed in Europe, productivity rates falling behind those of the United States; that is allowing more science graduates to be produced by India than by Europe; and that, on any relative index of a modern economy -- skills, R&D, patents, IT -- is going down not up."

A Man with no Shame

CNN.com brings us this story: African jailed for running as woman.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- A Zimbabwean court has jailed a man masquerading as a female athlete, court officials said on Thursday.

Samukeliso Sithole -- a triple jumper and runner who competed as a woman at several international sports events -- was convicted on charges of impersonation and offending the dignity of a woman athlete who undressed in his presence, unaware he was a man.

"He was sentenced to four years imprisonment, but six months were suspended. Effectively he will serve three-and-a-half years," said a court official in Kwekwe, central Zimbabwe, where the case was heard.

Sithole won a gold medal at a regional tournament in Botswana in June last year and won five medals at a youth championship in Mauritius. He also competed in javelin and shot-put competitions.

Sithole told the court at his first appearance that he had both female and male organs and that he lived as a woman after consulting a traditional healer. A medical examination showed that he was a man.


He should have contacted these guys.

Um...Wow

I'll let the article speak for itself: Brazilian bandits pull off big boob job.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Armed bandits in Brazil robbed a vehicle carrying more than 400 breast implants, officials said Tuesday.

“It happened last week, but we only learned about it recently as our clients started complaining. It is the hottest period of the year in terms of implant sales,” said Margaret Figueiredo, director of silicone implant manufacturer Silimed.

A spokesman for the state postal service confirmed that assailants, apparently men, robbed the postal van with implants Thursday night in Rio de Janeiro. Each Silimed breast implant costs nearly $400.

The popularity of Brazil’s plastic surgery pioneer and trendsetter Ivo Pitanguy, whose clients include celebrities such as Sophia Loren, has made the tropical country one of the leading international nip and tuck venues.

Figueiredo explained demand is the highest in July, during the southern hemisphere winter, as women schedule surgery during the winter school holidays, which precede the beach season.

Figueiredo said the implants, each bearing an individual number, could now only be sold for clandestine surgeries. Horrific stories abound in Brazil about the illegal operations, which can cause gangrene and death.


*speechless*

Awesome!

I was going to wait until later to blog, but this was way too good to ignore right now...children of the 80's rejoice, there will be a new transformers movie next July 4th!

Transformers, the long-planned, live-action movie based on the robot-morphing cartoon, comic and toy franchise, will roll into theaters July 4, 2007, DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures announced Wednesday.
Michael Bay (The Island, The Rock) will direct;
Steven Spielberg will executive produce.

Children of the 1980s likely will be champing at the tie-in lunchbox.

"The diehard fans will like it as long as it stays true to Transformers roots and doesn't stray too far from the ideals that we grew up with," Brendan Reilly, co-Webmaster of The Transformers Archive (www.tfarchive.com), said in an email interview about the movie announcement. "The casual or un-familar fan will need to see something awesome to win them over, although a 40-foot robot is usually pretty cool."


If they screw up, there'll be a lot of upset 80's kids...but I'm hoping Steven Spielberg will keep it good. With shows like Animanics and Tiny Toon Adventures under his belt, he's definately had some winners. As for Michael Bay, I really don't know that much about him. I did like the Rock...except for the over the top use of the f-word (I know some pretty profane people, but none of them says it every other word). Anyway, we'll see next Independance Day.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

And You Thought the Wendys Chillie Finger Saga was Bad...

This specialness comes from the UK: Man used electric underpants 'to fake heart attack'


A judge yesterday threw out a claim by a man who, the court heard, used "electric underpants" to give himself fake heart attack symptoms.

Marcus Danquah, 41, of Kirton Lindsey, Lincolnshire, had sought up to £300,000 in damages after claiming that a wrongly wired £34.50 Morphy Richards 42400 Comfi Grip iron gave him a heart attack.

But the company alleged that he had wired the iron so that it became live and would give an electric shock to anyone who touched it. It also claims that he used the "amps-in-his pants" device in his underwear to create false reading on a hospital heart monitor.


Wow...I don't think you could pay me enough to wear "amps-in-his-pants" underwear.

Why Our Educational System Needs Work

Captain's Quarters has the agenda from the National Education Association's July 7th Assembly...and it's really sad. You see, as the largest Education Union (you know, education...like in the union's title), it's nice to see how important EDUCATION is...oh, wait...is it?

1. [Defeated, no description]
2. Fighting Wal-Mart
3. Investigating the positions of financial firms regarding Social Security privatization
4. Adding "multiethnic" and "other" as options on ethnicity questions
5. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the NEA and ATA
6. Forming coalitions to "protect" Social Security
7. Explaining the difference between two different pension plans
8. Requesting an article for their newsletter on "health problems from exposure to fragrance chemicals".
9. Getting outside funding to allow 25 more people to attent the EPA Tools for Schools Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Symposium
10. Creating a workgroup on health care
11. Sponsoring "political training" for Congressional candidates friendly to NEA priorities (see above!)
12. [Defeated, no description]
13. Opposing "billionaire Eli Broad and any other entities to remove elected school boards from cities"
14. Repealing the Social Security offset and explaining the differences between states' approach to Social Security for teachers who move


Yup, that's right the National EDUCATION Association's agenda has the first EDUCATION-related item at NUMBER 15!.

It's nice to see they want to fight WalMart...but wait, if Walmart wasn't around, how much more would it cost for supplies? And how will those not in a position to spend the extra money on said supplies going to get them?

But wait, there's more! Captain Ed says it best:

Five of the top 20 have to do with Social Security politics. Only two items in the top 30 have anything directly to do with educating children. As Michelle Malkin points out, however, they made room during their efforts to demand a withdrawal from Iraq (number 61), oppose CAFTA, (number 63), and support the boycott of Gallo Wines (number 47).

If I wanted to parody the NEA, I couldn't draft a better list than this. Anyone arguing that this special-interest group has the welfare of children as its first priority should read this list carefully and often.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

A Former ACLU Lawyer Speaks Out

In this excellent interview from stoptheACLU.com, a former lawyer for the ACLU speaks it as it is:

“The ACLU is involved in the secular cleansing of our history. This is not just a fight about free exercise, but about the protection of our American history. The ACLU want to deny America the knowledge of their Christian heritage.”


Read it...all of it.

How Much the French Hate the US Revealed

In what has to be the most disturbing thing I've read in awhile, the Transatlantic Intellegencer posts a question from a school exam and what it really means:

The following figured among the essay questions in the final exam in history and geography given in French junior high schools [collèges] last week, i.e. to 14-15 year old students:

“How was American power contested on September 11, 2001?”

This amounts to presenting the Islamist attacks against the world’s greatest democracy ... as one form of contestation among others. A good illustration of the training in anti-Americanism provided by the Ministry of Education.


This is a must read, and I highly recommend reading the whole post.

What Toyota/Lexus Needs to Build

I know this is old n'stuff, but a recent online discussion brought it back to my memory. This is the Lexus IS430:



The MillenWorks built Lexus “IS430” was unveiled at the 2003 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Commissioned by Lexus to highlight the immense potential of the IS300 chassis, the concept is powered by an enhanced 4.3-liter V8 engine from the Lexus GS430. The V8 engine is paired with a Getrag 6-speed manual transmission and a lightweight flywheel, driving the rear wheels through a high performance limited slip differential and GS430 driveline components. MillenWorks engineers estimate that the modifications are good for 60% more horsepower at the rear wheels.


Sounds like a pretty good family hauler to me.

Ultimate Urban Assult Vehicle

As a fan of the Battletech universe, this caught my fancy. It's an eBay auction for a 'Mech. I suppose licensing it would be a pain, but stomping SUVs into the ground might be kinda fun...


Specifications:

Chassis Type: X (Anthromorphic\Humanoid)
Approx Dimensions: H 18' x W 8.5'
Weight: 3000 lbs ( 1.5 tons )
Power\Drive: 18hp Briggs and Stratton \ Hydraulic Cylinders

A few Features of the NMX04-1A:

* 12 volt electrical system
* Key start ignition
* Lighting system
* 3000psi hydraulic system.
* 40pts of possible movement.
* Clamp styled hands with optional locks for full on crushing or just gentle clasping as full ram extension.
* Weight stabilizers.
* Removable foot plates for increased traction.
* 2 x Flame Throwers, one on each arm.

This prototype is piloted by one person and simple to operate. All controls are within arms reach.

Nevermind the Slow News Day

After I made my last post, I went to Little Green Footballs and was irritated enough to post again after reading this story:

Islamic groups and anti-war activists criticized the Guard on Monday after learning that one Guard soldier had a historically suspect flyer touting World War I General John J. Pershing as a hero for executing Muslim terrorists with bullets dipped in pig’s blood to deny them entry to heaven.

“Maybe it is time for this segment of history to repeat itself, maybe in Iraq?” states the flyer that was posted outside a cubicle in the Guard’s Civil Support Division. “The question is, where do we find another Black Jack Pershing?”

The flyer, which has circulated since Sept. 11 as a hard-line tale for fighting Islamic terrorists, raised concerns for some activists about the mind-set of Guard soldiers.

“It’s troubling to see a governmental organization dedicated to the security of our country promoting culturally and religiously insensitive ideas,” said William Youmans, media relations manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Santa Clara. “It’s very possible to combat terrorism without offending the cultural values of a major world religion.” ...


It's also very possible that terrorism offends the cultural values of a major chunk of the world's population. This type of whining bugs the crap out of me. Why the crap do we need to be concerned about being insensitive when we're at *WAR*.

Now, I don't actually see a problem with the US instituting this as an active program. You see, as a non-uniformed, enemy non-combatant, the Geneva conventions allows for executions. I say we take the less co-operative inmates from Gitmo and follow Gen. Pershing's example. If anyone complains, we simply smile and say, "well, they should have thought about the possiblity of missing out on paradise if they got caught." This fixes any problems with Gitmo, and serves as a deterant from future attacks. If they want to use religion as an excuse to kill, why don't we use the same religion as a deterant?

Slow News Day?

Well, it's not exactly a slow news day, as the Blogosphere and the Media are going nuts over the whole Karl Rove thing. Personally, I'll wait for the information to come out...but for now, it's sounding an aweful lot like it's a non-story and the Media is pulling its standard job as a Democratic voice.

In much more interesting fare, there have been arrests in the London Bombings...it also appears the bombers were of the suicide variety.

Captain's Quarters ends on this note:

The BBC characterizes the police mood as "buoyant" regarding new developments in the investigation. It sounds as if British terrorist hunters may be close to identifying the major players in this attack.

Monday, July 11, 2005

We Must get Out of There

It is time to take a serious look at our involvement there. The land is too large to secure all of it. Invaders are constantly pouring in, the enemy can roam anywhere, we can't possibly police the whole place. We had to take it by force, but it causes us nothing but trouble. The government is unstable and in the process of changing. Refugees are fleeing by the thousands, driven from their homes. Every night on TV are photos of death and destruction. The place is subject to natural disasters, which we are supposed to bail them out. There are more than 1000 religious sects there which we do not understand. Each day reveals that it is nothing less than a sinking ship.

It will cost billions to rebuild, which we can't afford. We can't even secure the borders. Why are we still there? Why in the hell are we allowing more Americans to be killed in this dangerous land?

It is becoming clear, we must pull out of California.


via FerrariChat.com poster RacerX_GTO

Reality-Based Arguements?

The rampant rumors of Sen. Clinton running in '08 continue to, well...run rampant. For the time being, she's already using standard democratic lines:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton went on the attack against President Bush in a speech Sunday, accusing him of damaging the economy by overspending while giving tax cuts to the rich. ...


Captain's Quarters rebutts this best:

Hillary appears to have a problem with reality. Unemployment has reached its lowest point in years, down to 5%, lower than the average unemployment rate during her husband's terms in office. The economy continues its strong growth, showing an annual growth rate in GDP for the last two quarters of 3.8%. In fact, the economy has continued to gain so much strength despite the effects of energy-price spikes that the Fed has increased its base lending rate for the ninth time to keep the economy from overheating.


Yup, the democrats continue to use their "reality-based" arguements. The question is what reality are they talking about?

MoveOn.org Tries to Look Sane

In a rather amusing move, MoveOn.org want's to "hide" thier leftist extremism...

The key message for the event: “The momentum is finally shifting away from extremism. We will not accept a extremist nominee. This is not about conservatism vs liberalism or Republicans vs Democrats, this is all about extremism vs moderation and we’re on the side of moderation.”

The MOVEON host reminded his guests: “We don’t want to come across as leftist, liberal activists. We want to come across as we are- regular folks who are finally saying enough is enough to the extremists; that we’re not falling for their extremist rhetoric anymore and we’re finally going to expend the effort necessary to get our country back.”

Fazio: “Please stay on message and just know that ANYTHING you say can be taken out of context and used against the effort.”

One last suggestion from Fazio to his liberal MOVEON party-goers: “Oh, because a photographer will be here, might I suggest we put away our ‘Bush is a Liar’ t-shirts. Let’s look like they do.”


Yeah, because asking for a Judge that will Judge and not legislate from the bench is definately extremism...and I thought liberals were all about not hiding their "inner-self" and being who they are and all that jazz.

Movie Review: Batman Begins

I'll be honest, when I first heard there was going to be another Batman movie, I cringed. As a huge fan of the animated series that has aired through-out the 90s and Batman Beyond, I love the whole concept of the Dark Knight. However, after the suitibly dark and mildly creepy Batman movie with Micheal Keaton, they all seemed to become worse than each before. I generally liked each star selected for each bad guy (I mean, Jim Carey was the best Riddler hands down...and Tommy Lee Jones was an awesome two-fact), but the sets became too comic-bookish. The Incredibles was less cartoonish than any of the last Batman movies.

After it was released, I started to hear good things about Batman Begins...and so my interest was peaked. Now that I've watched it, I'm impressed. The movie takes the viewer from events early in Bruce Wayne's life into the birth of batman. The starts the movie of in an interesting manner, because most of these events are relegated to various flashbacks. Instead of focusing on the creation and destruction of one of Batman's many foes, this movie fills up with how Bruce became Batman with more emphasis on character development and a little less on action. This isn't particularly bad...just different.

My main complaint is simply the camera gets too close to any fights, so you can't really tell what's going one. I suppose this is to give the viewer the impression they're in the fight, but it does nothing for attempting to be impressed with the actor's fight scenes. Liam Neeson does well in his role...but it's just close enough to some previous roles that you may begin to think he's a Jedi Master talking about the force instead of anger.

In the end, I give Batman Begins a 4/5. The movie closes well, with a scream for a sequel...or would go directly into the 1988 Batman movie. We'll see what happens, but I enjoyed the movie.

Friday, July 08, 2005

Why Socialism Sucks

I have some pretty strong feelings about socialism, but I have to say Tony Blair sums it up the best:

"Some have suggested I want to abandon Europe's social model," Blair told the European Parliament last month. "But tell me: what type of social model is it that has 20 million unemployed in Europe, productivity rates falling behind those of the United States; that is allowing more science graduates to be produced by India than by Europe; and that, on any relative index of a modern economy -- skills, R&D, patents, IT -- is going down not up."


...and the American left want to walk down Europe's path?

Thursday, July 07, 2005

A True Fan

Is laid to rest in style...in his recliner:

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- James Henry Smith was a zealous Pittsburgh Steelers fan in life, and even death could not keep him from his favorite spot: in a recliner, in front of a TV showing his beloved team in action.

Smith, 55, of Pittsburgh, died of prostate cancer Thursday. Because his death wasn't unexpected, his family was able to plan for an unusual viewing Tuesday night.

The Samuel E. Coston Funeral Home erected a small stage in a viewing room, and arranged furniture on it much as it was in Smith's home on game day Sundays.

Smith's body was on the recliner, his feet crossed and a remote in his hand. He wore black and gold silk pajamas, slippers and a robe. A pack of cigarettes and a beer were at his side, while a high-definition TV played a continuous loop of Steelers highlights.


I doubt my wife would let my viewing take place at Indianpolis with some Ferraris circling the track at speed (or afford it), but it's a nice thought...

(hat tip, sejgirl)

God Bless Britain

With so much news still coming out of the cowardly bombing of London, I imagine everyone is overwhelmed. Instead of commentary, I will just keep thoughts and prayers to those effected by this stupid act...and I'll post the lyrics of Rule Britannia.

When Britain first at Heaven's command,
Arose from out the azure main,
This was the charter, the charter of the land,
And guardian Angels sung this strain,

Chorus
Rule, Britannia, Britannia rule the waves,
Britons never will be slaves!

The Nations (not so blest as thee)
Must in their turns to Tyrants fall,
While thou shalt flourish great and free,
The dread and envy of them all.

Chorus

Still more majestick shalt thou rise,
More dreadful from each foreign stroke;
As the loud blast that tears the skies,
Serves but to root thy native oak.

Chorus

Thee, haughty Tyrants ne'er shall tame:
All their attempts to bend thee down,
Will but arouze thy gen'rous flame,
But work their woe, and thy renown.

Chorus

To thee belongs the rural reign,
Thy cities shall with commerce shine;
All thine shall be the subject Main,
And ev'ry shore it circles thine.

Chorus

The Muses still with Freedom found,
Shall to thy happy coasts repair; Blest Isle!
With matchless beauty crown'd,
And manly hearts to guide the Fair.

Chorus

Mostly Just a Note to Myself

With today's terror attack on Britain, there's resurging discussion on terror and the war on Iraq. This post is mostly just a note to myself on the arguement for links between Al Qaida and Iraq.

Link to the resolution
passed by congress (for the rather short memories of liberals:
Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens, and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq;

Whereas Iraq continues to aid and harbor other international terrorist organizations, including organizations that threaten the lives and safety of United States citizens;

Whereas the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, underscored the gravity of the threat posed by the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by international terrorist organizations;

Whereas Congress has taken steps to pursue vigorously the war on terrorism through the provision of authorities and funding requested by the President to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such persons or organizations;

Whereas the President and Congress are determined to continue to take all appropriate actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such persons or organizations;


The actual connections are listed from powerline here:


a) Ansar al Islam, an al Qaeda branch, manufactured ricin for use in attacks on Europe.
b) Saddam hosted al Qaeda's number two leader, Zawahiri, in the 1990s.
c) Saddam harbored, and put on a government pension, one of the few perpetrators of the first World Trade Center bombing who escaped apprehension.
d) Saddam harbored Abu Nidal, once the world's most famous terrorist, until, for reasons that remain mysterious, Saddam apparently had him murdered shortly before the war began.
e) Saddam harbored Abu Abbas, organizer of the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijacking in 1984; Abbas was captured in Iraq during the first days of the war.
e) Zarqawi, the world's most deadly terrorist, fled Afghanistan when the Taliban fell at the end of 2001 and went to Iraq. Why? Because he knew that terrorists were welcome under Saddam.
f) From Iraq, Zarqawi organized the murder of American diplomat Lawrence Foley in Jordan.
g) From Iraq, Zarqawi organized and financed a chemical weapons attack on Jordan that could have killed tens of thousands. The perpetrators of that scheme are now on trial in Jordan.
h) Saddam paid the families of suicide bombers to encourage terrorist attacks against Israel.

Others Posts from:
Powerline: September 11 and Short Term Memories

Powerline: Pessimism is Not a Policy

CQ: Media Reaction to 9/11 links
CQ: The Big Fat Connection the Media Forgets
NRO: The Reason we're in Iraq

Who's Lying about Iraq

CNN Displays Anti-Military Bias...Again

Yup, CNN.com is at it again. In this article about a tour of Gitmo, the writer stumbles all over themselves trying to make the military look bad:

CNN tours Gitmo prison camp
Military rules prevent crew from getting full picture

From Ben Wedeman
CNN

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (CNN) -- President Bush himself challenged reporters to visit the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay amid allegations that American troops mistreated suspected Islamic terrorists held there, so CNN took him up on the offer.

Bush's challenge was first issued at a news conference in June and repeated during a Wednesday visit to Denmark.

It came as the U.S. military scrambles to counter allegations that prisoners at the camp have been mistreated and their Islamic faith mocked by American interrogators.

"These people are being treated humanely. Very few prison systems around the world have seen such scrutiny as this one," Bush said Wednesday.

"And for those of you who are here and have doubt, I suggest buying an airplane ticket and going down and look -- take a look for yourself."

But military ground rules -- including censoring video shot at the facility -- made it nearly impossible for a CNN crew that visited the prison the same day to get a full picture of the prison.

A lawyer for some of the detainees called press tours of the camp "one big charade."


The article totally skips all the steps taken to ensure detainees are treated well...and then follows up by listening to inmates and lawyers screech about torture (not exactly who I trust in most situations). These people seem to forget that all of these people have sworn to kill as many Americans as they can...I and suspect most would not hesitate to do so. This is not the time to live in a Care-Bear world. We are at war, and these are enemy combatants.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

The United Church of Christ has chosen to divest from Israel:

Today is a sad day in the history of the United Church of Christ. Today, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ has voted in support of divestment over the wishes of the committee assigned to discern the issue. The committee, which spent hours reviewing three different resolutions, drafted their own resolution titled "Resolution concerning use of economic leverage in promoting peace in the Middle-east" and clearly and intentionally removed any reference to the term 'divestment'. Members of the United Church of Christ National Office drafted an alternative resolution overnight without the input of the committee studying the issue and without consulting the Pension Boards whose funds this issue concerns. Specifically, Curtis Rueter, chair of the Wider Church Ministries board of directors, with assistance from Peter Makari, Area Executive for the Middle East and Europe of the Common Global Ministries Board, presented the General Synod with the last minute resolution that was voted on with less than an hour of discussion on the floor of the General Synod.

With this action, the United Church of Christ has effectively placed a wedge between itself and the Jewish community. The process of developing the divestment proposal essentially hijacked the discernment process and was done with the noted objection from committee members. The simple fact that National Office staff manufactured the resolution reflects a lack of leadership of John Thomas who refused to speak directly to the issue of divestment before General Synod and ignoring the concerns raised by our Jewish brothers and sisters.

On a personal level, I want to apologize to our Jewish brothers and sisters who will be most affected by this resolution. It is my hope that the UCC will understand the pain that it has caused and change direction.



James Hutchins


This is very sad. Although I am not of the same denomination as the UCC (especially because I'm a Weslyan/Armenian among other reasons), I see this as a poor decsion for the whole of the Christian community. The reasons for this divestment seem far more partisan, rather than led by those seeking God's will. Israel, although not perfect, has been vilified far beyond what they deserve...and this action shows the blind eye many have turned toward the actions of many Palastinians. All in all, I find this to be a very sad day.

Only in Europe

Story Link is here.

Teachers' 'threesome with pupil'
2 July 2005

Two female teachers have been suspended for allegedly having a threesome with a 16-year-old male pupil.

But police are understood not to have pressed charges because the teenager did not complain of any crime.

The alleged incident involving teachers from Albany School in Hornchurch, Essex took place a day before the boy's GCSE exams started, it was reported.

The Evening Standard said staff and students had been to the Harrow pub to celebrate the end of lessons before going back to a member of staff's house.

It was there the teachers and the boy were alleged to have had sex, the newspaper reported.

A spokesman for Havering Borough Council said: "Once the London borough of Havering became aware of matters concerning members of staff at one of our schools being involved in inappropriate behaviour outside school hours it acted swiftly to initiate an investigation into those rumours.

"Pending the outcome of that investigation, two members of staff have been suspended.

"The council will not be able to comment further until those investigations are complete."


*Speechless*

You've Got to be Kidding Me

In one of the most bizaar things I've heard, a Russian Astrologer is attempting to sue NASA because the Deep Impact probe "ruins the natural balance of forces in the universe."

MOSCOW - NASA’s mission that sent a space probe smashing into a comet raised more than cosmic dust — it also brought a lawsuit from a Russian astrologer.

Marina Bai has sued the U.S. space agency, claiming the Deep Impact probe that punched a crater into the Comet Tempel 1 this week “ruins the natural balance of forces in the universe,” the newspaper Izvestia reported Tuesday. A Moscow court has postponed hearings on the case until late July, the paper said.

Scientists say the crash did not significantly alter the comet’s orbit around the sun and said the experiment does not pose any danger to Earth.


Specialness. I thought the dark ages were over...

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Liberals Freaking out Reveal Themselves

At another blog, Decision '08, Mark posted up his Top 10 Liberal Reactions to the resignation of Justice O'Conner. While it is entertaining, something caught my eye in number 2:

Since FDR's court-packing scheme panicked the gilded Age SCOTUS in letting the New Deal go forward, liberalism has depended on the court to confirm and support liberal progress as a matter of idealistic principle.

With a SCOTUS led by Scalia and Thomas, atop a Federalist Society judiciary, liberalism will be castrated, impotent for a generation or more. There is no law or program at a State or Federal level, which they could not eviscerate. And, they would.


Wow. This person is fully admitting that in our *DEMOCRACY* the Supreme Court is the only way they can defeat majority rule...a rather important part of democracy. With this in mind, we move to the number one quote:

until [sic] bush [sic] sends a moderate to the senate [sic], I want a government shutdown. I don't care what the effect is. Every last remaining shred of basic democratic ideals could die because of this resignation.


So in defense of democracy, we ignore what the majority has voted for. Am I the only one confused?

Saturday, July 02, 2005

Why the Right Hate the Radical Left

This rather disturbing post at indymedia (a far left site) illustrates the contempt the radical leftists have for the very system that made the United States the great nation it is today.

This July 4th is Flag Burning Day!

Every summer good Americans don their best red white and blue, and gorge themselves on beer and hotdogs to celebrate our independence from England, but from its very beginnings this country has been built on illegitimacies. The Indians helped the first few pilgrims to survive on thanksgiving and in return the colonialist settlers massacred the natives, stole their land and declared themselves sovereign. The “Fore Fathers” were the colonial American elite; they were among the richest men in the new country. The British King restricted them from taking some Indian land, so they revolted promising many of the soldiers large parcels of land in payment for fighting. Perhaps the slave holding founders had noble intentions when they constructed a system of governance that limited its own power, but even before its independence the state was just the strong-arm of big business. And since then the government has only grown more and more coercive in its aim of imposing American corporate interests everywhere it can around the world, so when the leaders talk about how “Independence Day” is all about freedom and democracy it reeks of hypocrisy. July 4th has only ever symbolized the independence of the New World royalty. So on this Fourth of July we call on you to express your feelings on their “Independence Day” by burning a flag in a nationally coordinated action. Together we will show the elite that we are everywhere and that we completely reject the false principals this holiday is based on.


After I cooled off a bit, I re-read it. The point that every anti-capitalist seems to completely miss is that every single person (even the indians) could work to earn money...to start their own business. The keyword is opportunity. Every company in the US didn't magically appear...it was worked for. People saw opportunity and grabbed it. There are no slaves on which this system rides...it's purely the motivation to succeed. This system rewards those who work hard. The only benefit I see in a socialist system is you don't have to work hard to get the same thing...so where's the motivation to succeed, to do well? With nothing to work toward, you end up with lower productivity.

Anyway, when it comes to this July the 4th, I plan on saluting the founders of our wonderful country, the men and woman throughout history who fought for it, the great freedom we all have, and God for the opportunites we have here today. With that, I'll ignore the insulant toads like this one.

Friday, July 01, 2005

If Only I had 3.3 Million...and My Wife Let Me Spend It....

Then I could buy this:

The new owner of Michael Schumacher's race winning F2004 Ferrari is today feeling a cool $3.3m poorer. Sold at a rare auction in Maranello, the grand prix car won the first five races last year. About 62 per cent of the lots were sold, auction house Sotheby's said, a total of $12 million.

"This was another strong display of the boundless passion for the Prancing Horse brand," said brand development director Giulio Zambeletti in an email statement. He revealed: "The price paid for the (F2004) is a record for a F1 car."


There is, however, a catch:

To protect the car's technological secrets, though, the owner will have to wait until January next year before it can leave Ferrari HQ. He can, though, drive it at Fiorano.


To bad he won't be cruising about town and down the highways with it...

A Man's Man

Dang!

NAIROBI - A 73-year-old Kenyan grandfather reached into the mouth of an attacking leopard and tore out its tongue to kill it, authorities said Wednesday.

Peasant farmer Daniel M’Mburugu was tending to his potato and bean crops in a rural area near Mount Kenya when the leopard charged out of the long grass and leapt on him.

M’Mburugu had a machete in one hand but dropped that to thrust his fist down the leopard’s mouth. He gradually managed to pull out the animal’s tongue, leaving it in its death-throes.

Liberals Caught Years before They Spoke

The Post Intellegencer is a rather liberal Seattle newspaper that is having some problems:

The Times has been trying to get out of the agreement with the P-I's parent company, The Hearst Corp., since April 2003, saying the agreement is no longer profitable because of changes in the market. The Times seeks to invoke a clause in the contract that allows either paper to end the agreement if it suffers three consecutive years of losses.

Hearst argued that the Times shouldn't be allowed to count losses caused by extraordinary events, such as the 49-day strike against both dailies in late 2000. The Times argues that under the language in the contract, no such exception exists, and the court agreed.




"Storms are an act of God," wrote Bertram Scudder, "and nobody can be held socially responsible for the weather."

-Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Media Bias...What Media Bias?

In what has to be the most bizaar comment ever made in a news article, Rueters demonstrates it's anti-American bias:

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch woman who swears by a daily helping of herring for a healthy life celebrated her 115th birthday on Wednesday as the oldest living person on record.

Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, a former needlework teacher, was born in 1890, the year Sioux Indians were massacred by the U.S. military at the Battle of Wounded Knee.

The passionate soccer fan celebrated her birthday in a nursing home in the northern Dutch town of Hoogeveen.


Um...ok. Usually, if you referance a historical mark to put a date in perspective, one would use a *RELEVANT* fact. What the actions of the US military has to do with a Dutch woman is beyond me.

UPDATE: Captains Quarters has more:

Was Wounded Knee the only historical event of 1890 that Reuters could discover? Given that the article mentions the German occupation during World War II and the fact that Andel-Schipper had to sell her jewelry to eat, perhaps Reuters could have mentioned that Kaiser Wilhelm fired Bismarck that year, aggregating absolute power to himself and setting the stage for two World Wars. At least that would have some tangential relationship to Andel-Schipper.