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Sorry for the lack of news today, but it is hot.
Memphis is under a Heat Advisory, the Heat Index is expected to hit 105 today. Which means it will be hotter than an oven in my apartment. I'm going to go and hug the air conditioner in my bedroom. I'll see you later when I feel a little better.
I heard this on Rush yesterday, and I thought I would pass it along. Here is a press release from Freestar Media. They intend to build a "Lost Freedoms Hotel," complete with a "Just Desserts Cafe" and a museum to document the lost freedoms we have had in America at the hands of the Supreme Court.
The twist is they intend to tear down Justice David Souter's home and place it on his property, taking the property under Kelo.
I see no reason why Justice Souter has been singled out for this honor. I think the same thing should happen to the other 4 Justices that voted for Kelo as well. Make it a chain of hotels.
This may be the only way we can hold these justices feet to the fire is to let them experience the fallout of their decisions first hand.
Good Luck to Freestar Media.
The FEC is looking into regulating blogs. FEC Debates Blog Rules.
The big question is this: Are bloggers journalists? Well, they are in the strictest sense of the word. A journalist is someone who journals, or records his experiences. The difference between an amateur and a professional is the pro has someone paying him to write these stories for their publication.
Granted, I think if a blogger is paid by a campaign to build up a candidate and attack the competition, this needs to be disclosed, as with other parts of the law. But if someone is doing it freely, then no regulation should be permitted.
I blog about what interests me. I'm in all likelihood not going to get paid for my efforts here, and beyond an occasional hit on the tip jar (rattle, rattle) I'm not going to get paid. I pay my own way around here and I refuse to accept any regulation as to what I can and cannot say.
The First Amendment has already been curtailed, let's not let it slide any further.
It was in 1856, in the case of South v. Maryland that SCOTUS ruled that you can't hold the police responsible for not protecting you. It has been upheld by every decision since. Well, yesterday Castle Rock, Colo., v. Gonzales, 04-278 came along and reaffirmed it, and added restraining orders to the mix.
Police can not be held liable if someone breaks a restraining order and the police do nothing about it. A restraining order isn't worth the paper it's written on.
911 is truly state-sponsored Dial-A-Prayer. Dial it and hope they get there in time before you get murdered.
Or you can be a rugged individualist American, and shoot the bastard before he can hurt you and your family. Your choice, your life.
My advice, get a gun and learn how to shoot it. Make the decision now to shoot the criminal who is threatening you so you don't hesitate when the moment comes.
I wish I could carry a gun again, but I have this little idiosyncrasy of sticking the business end in my mouth. So I have to depend on other things for personal protection. Less-than-lethal options that may or may not successfully drive off any attacker before I am killed.
Protect your family.
The smashing of personal property rights has begun. Economic hype clouds judgment.
Just hours after the Supreme Court's decision Thursday, Freeport officials began efforts to seize waterfront property from two seafood companies as part of an $8 million marina development,...
Companies that has been in business for over 50 years now must close and be destroyed to "revitalize downtown."
And all you have to do is believe the developers. Of course they hype all of the positive stuff, how everything is going to go perfectly. But things rarely do. Cost overruns, and the dreaded "we built it, but nobody came." Or not enough people came. New construction that never gets completed, or quickly becomes blighted. What then? Destroy it all and let the seafood companies back in? I don't think so.
This is a travesty of justice and some way must be found to stop it. Contact your state legislators and have them at least introduce legislation to stop this Socialization of America.
Well, I just noticed this morning that I am no longer a Flappy Bird in the TTLB Ecosystem. I have been upgraded to an Adorable Little Rodent. I'm #4681 in the system, so I've got a ways to go before I can even move up another step in the ecosystem.
Thank You to all who visit my page, and keep coming back. Tell all your friends, and don't forget to hit the tip jar on the way out!
The court has ruled in the matter of McCreary County v. ACLU, and has found for the American Communist Liberals Union. The Ten Commandments, in the eyes of SCOTUS, constitutes an endorsement of one religion over another, even though the Commandments are in the roots of both Judaism and Christianity. It is also our foundation of common law in this country.
We are seeing the moral underpinnings of this country being knocked out one-by-one. Soon we will have nothing to stand on and the society and law will crash downward into anarchy.
This Constitution we live under was written for a moral people. Without those morals we cannot survive.
Remember that.
Just another example of how the MSM is biased, I learned on Fox News Sunday this week that someone noticed something strange.
ABC, CBS and NBC all carried Karl Roves comments the day after they were made. But what about Dick Durbin and his Nazi comments? ABC and NBC only covered the apology, CBS didn't cover the story at all.
Classic Liberal bias. make Clarion calls when a Conservative says something, but ignore the most egregious comments and accusations by a Liberal. If they apologize, cover it in passing, if at all.
Things that make you go "Hmmm..."
I found this article, Durbin Apology - Not Accepted!
It nails Senator Durbin to the wall, and gets a few spare nails into his fellow Democrats as well.
Here's the kicker:
In fact, both Durbin and his spokespeople said he would never apologize.But after the deluge of protesting letters, faxes, emails and phone calls Durbin received and his "friend," Chicago mayor Richard Daley (okay, that's one Democrat!) called his charges "a disgrace" – and probably after he read the respected Rasmussen poll that found only 14 percent of the American public agreed with his egregious comparison of prisoner treatment at Gitmo to Nazi tactics – Durbin finally shed a few crocodile tears as he puled out that: "'I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood."
Some apology! The senator who fancied that his statement was based on ideological grounds was not so ideological after all! When he realized that he might not get the money he needs for his reelection and that his slander might result in even more losses for his party in 2006 and 2008, he choked out a mea culpa worth nothing at all: "I have come to understand that was a very poor choice of words…" [bold emphasis mine]
In fact, he never really apologized for his comments, he apologized if you took his comments the wrong way! Of course he's right in his comments, you just misunderstood him because he's so smart being a Senator and all, and you're just a stupid average American.
Feh.
Ed Klein, author of "The Truth About Hillary," can't get an interview to save his life. Why not? Because the MSM won't do anything to tarnish the image of our illustrious next President, Hillary. Only Fox news has had him on, and even that was under great pressure not to do so.
This woman has the collective testicles of the MSM in her lockbox, and she will refuse to give them back if any of them speak with this guy. Of course, the MSM doesn't want to be locked out of Hillary's campaign, which is the reason why they are not granting Ed the normal rights of a blockbuster-selling author. Hillary won't let anybody in how speaks badly of her. So I guess Fox is out. I'm glad that someone has their own testicles around here.
Here is a more in depth story about what is happening in Kelo et al v. City of New London: Supreme Court Rules Cities May Seize Homes.
This is what I mean by Liberals legislating from the bench. We have a clear statement of the Fifth Amendment, limiting government, and the majority of justices ignore it.
Here is the Fifth, for those of you who were asleep in American History and Civics:
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 offense 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.
Unfortunately, "public use" now means improving the tax rolls because a property or group of properties aren't bringing in enough tax revenue.
This will lead to a lot of seizures of private property. Not today, not tomorrow, but soon. A developer no longer has to negotiate with the property owner, he just has to go to the ruling council and say "I can do better with this property than the present owners."
Yesterday was a dark day indeed for individual rights.
The Liberal double standard has never been more clear. Dems Say Rove Should Apologize or Resign.
After making the remarks that I quoted yesterday, Liberals are coming out of the woodwork, severely stung by Roves' remarks.
They are calling on Rove to be fired, apologize or resign. For telling the truth. For stating the obvious. But yet all of these Liberals screaming over Roves remarks were strangely silent when Senator Durbin (D-IL) called our servicemen and women Nazis. To call our troops Nazis, to compare them to the likes of Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot does nothing but stain our troops and make the crimes of Hitler, et. al., a lot less grotesque. Senator Durbin trivializes the millions murdered, exterminated by these three men.
But Hillary, Reid, Pelosi, et. al., think our troops are Nazis. Otherwise they would have said something against Durbin.
So when Rove fully and completely skewers Liberals, they squirm on the spit and try to shift the focus off them. Too bad.
One more quote by Rove that I didn't put up yesterday:
"Let me just put this in fairly simple terms: Al Jazeera now broadcasts the words of Senator Durbin to the Mideast, certainly putting our troops in greater danger. No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals."
'Nuff said.
This just in: SCOTUS upholds the new eminent domain laws, where a persons land can be taken away from you in order to develop a larger tax base. Supreme Court Expands Reach of Eminent Domain.
And so the trot becomes a run. The pace of our loss of rights is accelerating quickly. Soon we won't have any rights left. The direct violations of our Constitution is becoming frequent and flagrant.
The case is Kelo et al v. City of New London, 04-108.
*cry*
Mike and I are both hermits. We use Wednesdays to get out and meet other people. Both of us love to play Epic:Armageddon. It's a win-win situation.
Anyway, we held a 5,000 point battle last night and it was a truly epic battle.
I was trying out my new drop pods, so I had to have a spacecraft to drop them from. I picked a battle barge that showed up on turn 3. More about that later.
Both of us spent turn 1 developing positions for our forces. He teleported one set of Terminators in and smashed one of my two Tactical detachments right off the bat. I smashed a thing or two, but the turn went to Mike.
Turn two went to me. I smashed things left and right (the flanks that is). But he made a Thunderhawk drop that smashed my center, getting a battle point for Break My Spirit for destroying my largest point unit. I teleported my terminators in against some Scouts, and the Scouts chased the Terminators off.
Turn three was my moment to shine, but not quite enough. My orbital strike landed dead on his highest point unit. I had to pick a spot before we even laid a single unit on the board and I picked exactly where he sat. I then dropped an entire Company of Tacticals behind his position, but they were a little out of position. I almost got Break Their Spirit, but his Supreme Commander made his invulnerable save.
Mike ended up with a 3-0 Battle Point win, a well-deserved win for him, after all of the pastings I have given him.
I'm still analyzing the after battle reports, and it looks like the orbital drop was not that good of an idea. It worked perfectly, I couldn't have asked for any better results, but it was too little too late. I couldn't contest his objectives, and he had firm control of mine. If I had kept these forces on the ground, and used the spacecraft points for something else, I would have had a better chance of defeating him.
Good Job Mike!
During a recent speech, Karl Rove nails the fundamental differences between Conservatives and Liberals. Rove: Democrats Didn't Understand 9/11 Consequences.
"Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Rove said Wednesday night. "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war."
Therapy and understanding doesn't help in keeping a bully from attacking you. You get back up and knock his ass on the ground. Then you kick him while he's down and step on his throat. That makes him think twice about attacking you again.
"Conservatives saw what happened to us on 9/11 and said we will defeat our enemies. Liberals saw what happened to us and said we must understand our enemies."
I understand our enemies perfectly. They hate the US and everything that it stands for. Personal freedom, multiple ways of worshiping God, a strong economy and power in the world. They want to destroy the US. See? I understand. I am also going to help take action to see that it doesn't happen again.
I understand not only my enemy, but myself as well. I understand that we must defeat these enemies so they cannot strike at us again. We must destroy what created the hate, so that no more terrorists are created. We can never kill all of the terrorists, they are like roaches, always hiding from the light and only coming out when your back is turned.
I understand that it is either them or us. One of us will survive this fight and I am doing everything in my power to make sure it is our side that prevails.
I hope you are as well.
I want you to read this, GREEN Flaming SUVs: A conversation with convicted ecoterrorist Jeff Luers
This Liberal apologist piece throws nothing but softballs at this guy, who was convicted of burning 3 SUVs and got 22 years for his efforts.
But what is important here is his blind obsession with "protecting the environment from evil corporate entities." He has drunk the kool-aid without a second thought.
Remember, these were the people who said we would run out of oil in the 90's. That we were suffering from Global Cooling before Global Warming. That our too clean air was accelerating Global Warming, etc., etc., etc.
These nut cases have been wrong on every point they have ever made, and will only get it right once only on blind luck, rather than sound science.
These people have converted to the Church of Environmentalism, and there is nothing you can do to change their mind. All you can do is lock up the violent ones for a long time.
Judo is known as 'the gentle art' because it uses your opponents force against himself.
This is exactly what happened in this RNC press release, Republican Party Lets 'Wild' Democrats Speak for Themselves.
The ad consists of nothing more than direct quotes, from the mouths of DNC leaders such as Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, Dick Durbin, Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid. The ad shows their hate and contempt for people not of their mindset.
Keep an eye out for it.
Senator Dick Durbin D-IL, has expressed regret that he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar yesterday.
I truly doubt the Senator is remorseful about comparing American troops at Gitmo to Nazis, Soviets and Pol Pot, but you never know.
He has uttered the words, now let us see if his heart changes. Again, I doubt it. He has been a Liberal all his life and there is no reason for him to change now.
Liberals bash America and American troops, period. These things stand against everything he stands for. If you don't believe me, you can always look at his Web site, durbin.senate.gov.
It seems the Bush tax cuts don't help just the wealthy. Record Number of Americans Paying No Taxes .
And these aren't the rich that are paying no taxes, but rather the poor and middle class citizens.
"Despite the charges of critics that the tax cuts enacted in 2001, 2003 and 2004 favored the 'rich,' these cuts reduced the tax burden of low- and middle-income taxpayers and shifted the tax burden onto wealthier taxpayers," states a report by the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research organization founded in 1937.[...]
For instance, a married couple with three children and $40,000 in income can take a $9,700 standard deduction and $15,500 in personal exemptions, bringing their taxable income down to $14,800. They would owe $1,505 in taxes.
But with three children, they would get $3,000 in child credits, leaving them with no taxes owed – and a $1,495 refund check.
It is the lower taxes that allow the lower and middle class to spend more, stimulating the economy, allowing for increased growth and in the end, more taxes generated. Just because we are not collecting taxes from these people does not mean we are not getting tax revenues. Quite the opposite, tax revenues are at an all time high and climbing. We are even catching up on the deficit, paying that off, getting closer to a balanced budget. Now all we have to do is rein in the pork-barrel spending of both Republicans and Democrats and we might be able to make some headway.
Let's keep the tax cuts, shall we?
It seems that ONE court in this land doesn't have their heads up their ass. Maryland Court Rules Ten Commandments Display Constitutional.
It seems that a small park passed to a Fraternal Order of Eagles that contains a Ten Commandments display is allowed to keep the display.
The court properly recognized that the Ten Commandments are the basis of modern law, and they should be displayed for all to see.
Finally.
Without admitting he is giving up, he is giving up. Bush Backs Soc. Sec. Bill Without Accounts.
Which is sad, really. I had hoped he would be able to prevail, but between the MSM lying, and the Republicans failing to push the reform necessary, it was doomed.
This will undoubtedly embolden the Dems, who if they can start eking out wins, they don't have to be in power, they can just threaten and scare the Republicans into doing whatever the Dems want.
Sad.
Here you go. I found this and I wanted you to have it, so that you may better understand what is wrong with me. Bipolar Disorder: More Common Than Expected?
About Bipolar DisorderBipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression, is a brain disorder. It causes unusual shifts in a person's mood, energy, and ability to function, says the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
Bipolar disorder is severe. It's not the same as the normal ups and downs of life. Bipolar disorder can have extreme effects, raising suicide risk.
Like other mental illnesses, bipolar disorder is treatable. However, it needs consistent attention. In that regard, it's like diabetes or heart disease -- long-term illnesses that take a lifetime of careful management, says the NIMH.
Like a diabetic must check their blood sugar several times a day, I must analyze my emotional state several times a day as well. I must keep close watch on myself and watch for signs of manic or depression. Either can lead to dire circumstances.
Read WebMD's "Medical Reference: What is Bipolar Disorder".
Thanks for reading and trying to understand.
The speed in which our rights are being trampled is increasing. Supreme Court Upholds State Eminent Domain Rules.
Between this ruling, San Remo Hotel v. City and County of San Francisco, 04-340, and the next case expected to be ruled on concerning Eminent Domain, the rights of the State to condemn private property so that the land may be turned over to developers to redevelop the land and increase the tax base will be made legal.
This is a perversion of what is clearly meant by our Founding Fathers. Eminent domain was to be used for roads, parks and government buildings, not strip malls and high priced housing. Hear that high whining sound? That's Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, et. al., spinning in their graves.
This is a travesty, and what you get when you have Liberals in the courts, who are able to "interpret" the Constitution any way they want to.
Feh.
In a related story, the TSA tells every oversight agency to stick it. TSA Secretly Gathered Data on Airline Fliers.
In direct violation of Federal law and an order from Congress, the TSA is maintaining a secret database of fliers information. In essence, the TSA has told Congress to stick it.
This just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about flying now, don't you?
The war that the MSM is waging against the resolve of the people of the US is working. By displaying all of the deaths and the truck bomb blasts, but not the good things accomplished, they are successfully turning public opinion against the war. Poll shows dissatisfaction with Iraq war.
This war was not about WMD, but about brining a fundamental change in the middle east. AND IT IS WORKING. It is working so well that terrorists are coming from all over the world to fight in Iraq, to prevent that democracy from standing on its' own two feet, stable and free.
Thankfully this President is not driven by polls. He does what is right and for as long as he is in office, the troops will stay until the job is done.
Despite what the Liberal MSM says, our troops are winning the war. Never forget that.
I'm not down, I don't have to hide, I just can't get my head around commenting today. I found an interesting article on Laffers Curve and tax cuts, but I just don't know what to say.
Maybe tomorrow.
After installing my third plugin to stop comment spam, I am taking a leap of faith and I turned unmoderated comments back on.
Have fun!
Really stressful day today, and it's only 10:45. The wife had an important appointment that she couldn't keep, and I need to go in and reverify my disability. After I hide in the closet for a while, I need to go and take care of this.
Talk to you later.
Here is a disturbing piece: Your ISP as Net watchdog.
The U.S. Department of Justice is quietly shopping around the explosive idea of requiring Internet service providers to retain records of their customers' online activities.Data retention rules could permit police to obtain records of e-mail chatter, Web browsing or chat-room activity months after Internet providers ordinarily would have deleted the logs--that is, if logs were ever kept in the first place. No U.S. law currently mandates that such logs be kept.
This is a bad idea. Bad, bad, bad. This, if instituted, would be a major blow to the 4th amendment. Of course the courts will rule that private companies are doing it so it isn't an issue, but when Federal law mandates it, it does become an issue. Keeping records for any post incident fishing expeditions is a clear violation of my privacy.
But then again, we are in the trot phase of trampling our freedoms. Soon violations like this will become commonplace as raindrops, as we all run to the government to "protect" us, and they say, "Sure, you just have to give up some of your freedoms that you don't use."
Those who surrender Liberty for Safety deserve neither.
Godwin's Law, for those of you who are not familiar with it, is this: During a discussion, the person who calls the other party a Nazi has lost the moral high ground and has subsequently lost the argument.
Well, Senator Dick Durbin has lost this argument: Durbin Supports the Troops. I quote in its entirety because of the temporary nature of the page:
Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, took the Senate floor yesterday and likened American servicemen to Nazis (link in PDF):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:On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. . . . On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.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.We are fighting an enemy that murdered 3,000 innocent people on American soil 3 1/2 years ago and would murder millions more if given the chance--and according to Dick Durbin, our soldiers are the Nazis.
Let me tell you this. We are NOT working people until they die, we are OT starving them to death, we are NOT cutting off fingers with wirecutters, we are NOT throwing people off of buildings for fun, and we are NOT doing a lot of things that Stalin, Pol-Pot, the Nazis, et. al, did do.
We are not engaging in these behaviors for the sake of seeing these people humiliated or whatever. We are after information from people who are actively engaged in trying to kill as many Americans as possible. Don't think for one minute that if we released them they would not go back to their terrorist cells and take up where they left off.
We, the public, will never know about the information gleaned from these men. For each plot foiled that we see on the news, 10 or 20 more are stopped without fanfare. And that's how it should be. Our lives should not be constantly interrupted by news of plots stopped. Why? Because it would compromise our ability to stop the next one.
These men are being treated far more humanely than they have ever had it in their lives. Three hots and a cot, call to prayer 5 times a day, respect for their religion, and all we want is information. If you don't provide it, then you get the treatment. But not until then.
Remember that.
I found this article and I wanted to share it with you: Democrats Must Reconnect With Middle Class.
The Democrats might have been the party of the middle class, but no more. They are too busy pandering to the Far Left Wing of kooks and moonbats that they are moving away from the center where most people are. You can see why in the text of this opinion piece:
On the domestic front, Democrats should aggressively devise a strategy to increase the number of Americans who have health insurance, even if it does costs some money. We should be willing to tell our friends in the auto industry that they should make more fuel-efficient cars. More fuel-efficient cars will help save energy (making us less dependent on foreign oil) and will force the American auto industry to modernize in a way that it can better compete with foreign car makers and ultimately save American jobs. [emphasis mine]
This is where the Democrats message is getting out loud and clear, and it is being rejected by a majority of Americans. They want to force things down our throats, even if we don't want them. They believe they are better judges of things and us poor peons should not question our Philosopher-Kings.
We the People are supposed to tell the government what to do, not the other way around. And as long as the Dems have this mindset, they will not be the party in power.
In a related story, Democrats reject President Bush's retirement plan and propose one of their own: RAISE TAXES. Lifting Payroll Tax Cap Won't Save Social Security.
In another "soak the rich" move, Democrats want to eliminate the cap on Social Security, which will unnecessarily burden those who already pay the largest portion of taxes. This will extent the viability of Social Security for a few years, at the expense of the general economy. By taxing the "rich" even more, less money will be invested into the economy, slowing growth or even causing a recession.
Why, why, why? I think the final paragraph sums it up rather nicely:
Opponents of the president’s plan are doing us a favor by laying their cards on the table. This is a debate we should have. Do Americans want a massive tax hike in exchange for propping up the current Social Security system for a few more years? Or do they want fundamental reform that gives them more ownership and control of their money?
When you asked them in an unbiased manner, the universal response is to give the people more control over their retirement. Which is what we should be doing.
From Paul Harvey:
"The reason why a man gets weak in the knees when he sees a woman in leather....
....Is because she smells like a new truck."
From the AP, via The Washington Times:
I quote:
A former Bush team member during his first administration is now voicing serious doubts about the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9-11. Former chief economist for the Department of Labor during President George W. Bush's first term Morgan Reynolds comments that the official story about the collapse of the WTC is "bogus" and that it is more likely that a controlled demolition destroyed the Twin Towers and adjacent Building No. 7. Reynolds, who also served as director of the Criminal Justice Center at the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas and is now professor emeritus at Texas A&M University said, "If demolition destroyed three steel skyscrapers at the World Trade Center on 9/11, then the case for an 'inside job' and a government attack on America would be compelling." Reynolds commented from his Texas A&M office, "It is hard to exaggerate the importance of a scientific debate over the cause of the collapse of the twin towers and building 7. If the official wisdom on the collapses is wrong, as I believe it is, then policy based on such erroneous engineering analysis is not likely to be correct either. The government's collapse theory is highly vulnerable on its own terms. Only professional demolition appears to account for the full range of facts associated with the collapse of the three buildings." [Emphasis mine]
This moonbat, who is given a shot at a headline only because he is a former Bush administration member, is just so far out in left field he's in the bullpen.
First of all, to bring down a building like the WTC, you would need a lot of explosives, and access to the main supporting structural members of the building. You would need to weaken these members while installing the explosives. This is a precise and time-consuming event, not easily hid from the occupants of the tower. You would then need an unheard of precision by the hijackers, to hit that particular area of the building, and have all of the explosives survive intact. Then, you need to keep the detcord from cooking off or burning through during the hour the fires were raging through the building before you finally set off the explosives, brining down the building.
Let's get this straight. 200,000 pounds of AIRPLANE struck Tower 1 and a separate 200,000 pounds of AIRPLANE Tower 2, causing massive fires and melting the support structure. Occams Razor applies here. I am not a structural engineer, but neither is this moonbat. I don't know what brought down Building 7, other than it was indirectly caused by the collapse of the Towers.
Sheesh.
"If God had intended for Man to walk about naked, we would have been born without clothes on!"
*sigh* It really seems that California prosecutors have a lot of room for improvement. They couldn't get OJ, they couldn't get Jacko.
At least Michael has promised not to share his bed with little boys anymore. We'll see how far that goes.
I must say I am one of the 48 percent of Americans that believe that he is a child molester, and it was a weak case that failed to prove that to the jury. Even some members of the jury believe he's a molester, it's just that the State couldn't prove guilt.
Only time will tell what happens next.
You gotta love the Left. They are so wacky in a childish way it's funny.
I found this blog this morning, and the accompanying How to Talk to a Conservative About Social Security (If You Must).
Of course, they couldn't even think of an original title, they had to steal from Ann Coulter.
And they quote from such reliable *cough*sputter*hack* sources as the Washington Post, New York Times and LA Times, and we all know just how unbiased these newspapers are towards anything Bush.
They ignore little things like the architect of Social Security himself, FDR wanted private accounts, and he said that we need to reform SS by the 60's. They also conveniently forget how their own poster boy Bill Clinton said the same words that President Bush now speaks, but Clinton was called a "visionary" and Bush is called a "liar."
They claim that there would be no difference between SS growth (3%) and investing in the same funds that Government workers invest in (~10.99%).
Their inconsistencies are too much for me to list individually, check it out for yourself, and keep in mind just where the "facts" come from.
I'm not telling you want to think, I present the facts as I see them and let you make the decision for yourself. Unlike Liberals, who want you to spout the party line and not think about it.
Oh, yeah. Don't forget to read the comments.
Here is part of a leaked logbook detailing the "torture" we inflicted upon the 20th 9/11 hijacker, Mohammed al-Qahtani.
Here's a partial list:
I don't see anything that I could not go through. I certainly wouldn't want to go through anything like that, but it's certainly not like what came out of Saddams torture rooms.
Things like acid baths, cutting off toes and fingers, throwing them off buildings, raping their children and wives in front of them, etc., etc., etc. That's torture.
The people who claim "TORTURE!" have no reference to what torture really is. They don't understand the true depravity of the human condition that allows one person to do true torture upon another person. They just don't know.
But now you know.
Straight from Drudge:
AL FRANKEN OVERSTAYS WELCOME AT TALK FEST Mon Jun 13 2005 08:31:35 ETAIR AMERICA's Al Franken became “The Guest Who Wouldn’t Leave” after receiving an award at a talk-radio convention in New York over the weekend.
NY POST's John Mainelli reports Monday: The liberal talk-show host was finally forced off the stage -- amidst shouts from supporters and detractors -- after an acceptance speech became a nearly half-hour rant against Bill O’Reilly and the Iraq war.
“Al, hurry up,” said Michael Harrison, publisher of TALKERS mag, the convention sponsor.
“It’s freedom of speech,” said Franken, referring to the Freedom of Speech Award he’d just been given by the magazine.
“It’s not freedom to kill everybody’s evening, so why don’t you wrap it up,” Harrison argued.
“I’m talking about the war in Iraq and I have about two pages left, and I think the people in Walter Reed [Army Medical Center] who’ve been injured deserve the last two pages of my speech,” Franken countered.
“There are people walking out,” said Harrison. “We gave you the award and it’s time to leave.”
“Everyone who wants to leave can leave,” said Franken, addressing hundreds of talk-show hosts and radio execs at a cocktail reception in a downtown hotel.
“Now don’t leave!” Harrison urged the attendees. “We honored you. Now honor us. Don’t kill our party.”
With that -- while some shouted “keep going, keep going” and “let him finish” -- the Air America star wound down his rant by talking about his visits with Iraq-war vets.
“The soldiers were so magnificent,” Franken said, appearing to suppress sobs.
Why does this stuff have to turn into garbage like this? You're just supposed to say "Thank You" and sit back down. Not launch on a multi-page diatribe on whatever pissed you off this morning.
But then again, he's a Liberal who likes to hear himself talk and thinks he has something important to say.
Feh.
A quote from this article rankled me, which is why I'm posting about it. Survey: Most States Allow Driving Speed Cushion.
Here is the quote:
"Law enforcement needs to be given the political will to enforce speed limits and the public must get the message that speeding will not be tolerated," said Champagne, who also is executive director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission.
There are two types of laws codified in our lawbooks, biblical and "relative," for lack of a better term. Biblical laws are based on the Ten Commandments, such as thievery, murder and the like. These laws are rooted in our moral makeup.
Relative laws, however, have no basis other than the ruling body decided to make a law that made a particular act unlawful (illegal is a sick bird). Such as spitting on the sidewalk, or businesses must be closed by 6pm on Sundays. Speed limits are part of these relative laws.
I live on a major thoroughfare of Memphis. This section of road is 3 lanes each way, with a center turn lane. My speed limit here is 40mph. About a mile thataway, the road narrows to two lanes and no center turn lane, and the speed limit drops to 35. But there are plenty of other roads just like that section of road that have a 40 limit. It's all based on the whims of those who make the laws.
I can understand why Law Enforcement provides a cushion on our highways. It's a relative law, and any time the lawmakers want to make the speed limit 100mph, they can.
This attitude that "speeding will not be tolerated" comes from someone who sets the laws and expects it to be followed just because they said so. This is a little man who likes his power and wants everybody to bend to his will. Too bad the average American doesn't bow easily to relative law authority.
I'm not telling you to disobey any law, but to know where and how these laws come about.
Here is an interesting article, rife with wrong assumptions and conclusions: Anti-BB Gun Project Deemed Too Dangerous.
I like the fact that these kids performed due diligence on just how destructive BB guns can be. I do not support their conclusion that BB guns are too dangerous for young adults. I also love how the school administrators label an air-powered gun a firearm. It is not. It requires gunpowder of some kind to become a firearm.
BB guns are supposed to be an award of maturity, a reward for being responsible. Not just because the kid wants one and will hold his breath until he gets it. BB guns are dangerous, when used irresponsibly. But then again, anything is dangerous when used irresponsibly. No mention is made of the millions of BB guns that are used correctly and responsibly by young adults.
When I was a kid growing up, they used to sell an 1873 Winchester carbine replica that shot spring-loaded bullets. It functioned in every way as the original firearm, from loading the bullets into the magazine to ejecting the "spent" cartridge and loading a new one when you racked the handle. But this was a day when parents and kids were responsible. First of all, children were taught the rules of firearm safety before they got to fire that Christmas present. If the kid did something wrong with it, the gun was taken away. If he hurt somebody with it, his parents paid for the damages. Nobody sued the manufacturer, because everybody knew and accepted the risks.
Nowadays, no one accepts responsibility for their actions, and the manufacturer must be held accountable for selling a dangerous product.
Where did we go wrong?
We stopped teaching responsibility to our young ones. Responsibility to those around you, and to take responsibility for your own actions.
Which is a rather sad state of affairs. There were a lot of things wrong with the 50's and 60's, but there were a lot of things that were right as well. I just wish what was right then, such as personal responsibility, standing up and taking the blame when you did something wrong still held true today.
Here you go. This is what the Liberal "friends" have brought us to: Privacy Rights Eroding Down Slippery Slope.
Two recent news items share a common theme: Privacy rights are under attack.Though each item offers a "good" reason for the chipping away of privacies — such as the confidentiality of medical records — the cases are so legally tangled that analysis becomes blurred and "bad law" based on judicial activism becomes more possible.
When you have activists on the bench, they want to "fix" things "that are wrong." So they use their power as a judge to make up new law or rulings out of whole cloth, instead of ruling on existing law.
This is why the Liberals in the Senate are obstructing these nominees. These nominees are what as known as "strict constructionists," or people who rule on the law, not their own beliefs and feelings.
SCOTUS just handed down a new interpretation of the Commerce clause, "If it might be involved in interstate commerce, it's interstate commerce." Which is unmitigated bullshit. Either it is or it isn't. If it is, then the Feds can regulate it. If it isn't, then they can't. This ruling is crap, and the 6 to 3 favor tells me that we need new people on the bench, ones that won't take such a nuanced view of things.
Privacy of our papers and persons is right there in the Constitution. The right for us to be private is to keep government out of our lives and involved in its own business, instead of ours.
I wrote before that just like a baby, our loss of freedoms will be by a single step. Then another. Then another. Soon the steps will become a walk, then a jog, then a run. We are in the walking phase right now.
I see every day the rights we used to enjoy walking complacently to the showers. This must stop, now.
Here's another view on Social Security. The Alpha and Omega of Social Security Reform.
This isn't about money, it's about power. As long as the Democrats can dole out Social Security, they have the power. When control passes to the individual, the Dems lose it. And Dems/Liberals hate that. They can only exist as long as there is an underclass that "depends" on them for survival. That's why the Great Society was founded. To create an underclass of people dependent on the government, then voting for the people who promise them the most money.
Let the Socialists (they prefer to be called Progressives or, if one insists, Liberals) scream about risky investment schemes. If they understood basic economics, they would be capitalists and Republicans anyway.Over half the U.S. economy is represented in the stock market. If the stock market crashes, the economy crashes. If the economy collapses, the stock market collapses. They're one and the same.
If the economy collapses, then money will become worthless, as hyperinflation ravages the country. The last thing you will be worried about is your 401(k), as you will be fighting just to survive. This is the point that the Liberals miss. Or maybe they do understand but refuse to accept any facts that they didn't think up themselves.
It's your money, you should get to keep it.
Jimmy Carter, our esteemed 39th President, has called for the closing of Gitmo. Carter Calls on U.S. to Shut Down Gitmo.
Let's get this straight. Those imprisoned at Gitmo are not enemy combatants. That term is reserved for those in uniform and service to their country. The only thing keeping these animals alive is the fact that they may hold critical intelligence about terror organizations such as Al Qaeda. In other wars, combatants out of uniform were summarily shot as spys. No trial, no rights, no nothing but a dozen bullets.
The detainees do not deserve the rights reserved for American citizens, since they are not American citizens. They do not deserve the comforts of the Constitution, simply because they are not members of America. They are sworn enemies, determined to bring down America any way they can. Those that we have released have gone back to their terrorist organizations and rejoined the fight against us.
One last point:
Despite his criticism of Guantanamo Bay, Carter said Amnesty International should not have called the prison "the gulag of our time" in a report last month. President Bush has termed the report by the human-rights group "absurd."Carter said the alleged abuses at Guantanamo Bay could never compare with the forced labor camps operated by the former Soviet Union.
For once, Jimmy and I agree.
It's acting up again. I found a wonderful article that I want to comment on, but I also want to go and bang my head somewhere. 1 in 4 U.S. Adults Suffer Mental Illness, Substance Abuse.
The sad news is a lot of substance abuse is by people who have some kind of mental disorder, and they are trying to self-medicate with illegal drugs. It works for a while at least, but at the expense of burning holes in their brain. Literally, holes. Looking at their brains with a SPECT scan, you can see black holes where the brain cells are dead.
Mental health is more than just "being crazy." It's about life balance. Spend time at work, with family and engaged with satisfying hobbies. Don't sweat at home about work, and don't sweat about anything when doing your hobby. Just don't let your hobby take up all of your time. Don't use it as an escape from family problems.
Stress is a major factor in leading to clinical depression. Feeling overwhelmed will bring anybody down. Recognize what is within your control, and work those things. Trying to control what is not in your control hurts more than it helps.
If you think you need help, get help. It is always better to have and not need than to need and not have.
Well, I'm doing my civic duty right now by giving blood. I give at LifeBlood every chance I can. So should you.
I decided to give platelets this time. That is where they take some blood, centrifuge it, then return the whole blood while keeping the platelets. Giving platelets takes about an hour in these new machines, and you can give every week instead of once every 8 weeks with whole blood. They said if I do well with this donation I can start giving two units worth of platelets at a time.
Platelets are used to help cancer patients, and they are only good for three days, so there is a constant need for platelet donations.
I am able to post this while giving blood because this office has on-chair Internet access. You can surf, or watch a DVD, or play games on this computer. I am typing this with one hand while they are taking and returning blood in the other arm.
I can't stress enough the importance of giving back to the community. I have been donating for about 8 or 10 years now, and I am just a few pints short of my 5th gallon. If I can start giving two units at a time, I could be at my 40th pint by the end of the month.
People contribute to society different ways, this is mine. Please consider how you give back to society.
Wow. I guess Fox is fail and balanced if they let the likes of this idiot on their website. President's Stubbornness Delays Social Security Solution.
The author, Martin Frost, is a former Congressman. He was defeated in the last election cycle, but I don't know by whom.
Anyway, he brings up the standard Democrat talking points, raise taxes on the rich and up the retirement age. He can't consider private accounts, that would give the citizen power over his own money. He would rather dole out a bare sustenance to our retirees rather than let them invest their money in the same funds as Government employees. He would rather keep your money than let you keep it ans pass it on to your heirs when you die.
And we are talking about millions of dollars for each individual here. If you made $7.50 an hour for your entire life from 18 to 65, never getting a raise, investing President Bush's 4% into Social Security, that would leave you $946,800 in your account, enough to live on $75,750 a year, not touching the principle and still leave 4% to account for inflation. Now imagine if you invested 15% instead of only 4%, you would have several million dollars to retire on, and still leave it to your family.
While Democrats leave FDR one step short of sainthood, they neglect the fact that even he only expected Social Security to last to the 60's, and as part of his original plan, he had private retirement accounts. So selective are the Democrats.
Don't let them fool you. Raising taxes and delaying retirement only postpones the inevitable. Let's change the system and make it soluble forever.
SCOTUS has a list of things to consider, you can find the list in the article: Major cases to be addressed in this term.
The one I am interest in is this one: Kelo v. City of New London, Conn. — May a city use its eminent domain power to condemn private property that is not in a blighted area and that would be turned over to private economic development?
I certainly hope that they rule against New London. Seizing land just to give to a developer, who will then raise the tax base is just plain wrong. I understand that a lot of municipalities are cash strapped, caught between rising inflation of costs and unable to raise tax rates. But that does not condone the seizing of property not directly involved in the public interest.
This practice needs to stop, too many lives have been ruined because of this. Sure you get money for your property, but not what you could get if you sold it on the open market.
SCOTUS needs to stand up for the citizens for once.
When the Macintosh first came out, it was on the Motorola 68000 chip. When Motorola balked at Apples requests, the PowerPC chip was brought over to IBM. Now, Apple is changing its architecture again and this time going to Intel chips. Report: Apple to Announce Intel Switch Monday.
This will be better for Apple than anyone thinks. This will force Apple's OS Tiger (10.4) into direct competition with Windows. When they can both compete on the same low cost machines, Apple should see it's market share increase, simply because it is the better operating system by far. Apple has had a crutch all of these years, selling non-upgradeable machines at high cost and high margin. With this gone, they can concentrate on just developing applications and OS.
I wish them luck.
I need to start reading my own blog's history.
Today is the one-year anniversary of the passing of the Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan. Please come back, we need you more than ever.
Growing up, I did a lot of reading into Naval history, especially WWII. I have played many, many tactical and strategic Naval wargames. Today is a special day, the anniversary of the Battle of Midway.
The battle of Midway was not the battle to validate the power of the Aircraft Carrier. That was the Battle of the Coral Sea. This was the battle where Japan was dealt it's first defeat in 400 years, and it turned the tide of battle in the Pacific.
Isokuro Yamamoto, the Chief of Naval Operations for the Imperial Japanese Navy, knew from before Pearl Harbor that he could not defeat America. He promised 6 months of control of the Pacific, no more. He also said that the only place where Japan could dictate terms of surrender would be the White House. He knew that if awoken, the industrial might of the United States was unbeatable. While Japan had a small fleet of supremely excellent sailors and airmen, America had tens of thousands that were "good enough." He saw what other thought was a paper tiger arise with a sense of vengeance on December 7th. The original plan was to declare war and then attack within an hour, but delays in the Japanese Diplomatic service mistimed it, making Pearl Harbor a sneak attack. But I digress.
June the fourth, 1942 dawned with the bulk of the Japanese carrier fleet poised Northwest off Midway Island. Four of the six carriers involved in the attack of Pearl Harbor were there. Hiru, Soryu, Akagi, Kaga. The other two, Shokako and Zuikako, damaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea, would meet their fates later during the Guadalcanal Campaign.
It has been said that the winner of a war is the one who makes the least number of mistakes. America won the battle, they could have lost at Midway, but it was Japanese blunders, at both the tactical and strategic level that led directly to their defeat.
First of all, a diversionary attack at the Aleutian Islands was supposed to draw the American carriers out of position. By the time they could react to the attack on Midway, the airfield there would be under Japanese control and contributing in the effort to crush the carriers approaching to retake the island. This assumes everything goes right in battle. A very BIG ass-u-me.
Second, their intelligence was spotty at best. They could not confirm the positions of any American carrier. They assumed that the Yorktown was out of action and they would only be facing two American carriers. They also keyed off of Admiral Halsey, our most experienced carrier Admiral. What the Japanese didn't know was Halsey was out sick, and a cruiser Admiral, Raymond Spruance would be leading the task force.
Once the battle was underway, the Japanese were unsure how to outfit the bombers. Do they fit them with contact bombs for a second strike at Midway, or do they equip the bombers with torpedoes and delay-fused bombs for ships? It was this indecision that left fully armed and fueled aircraft on deck when Lt. Cmdr. Clarence W. McClusky and his men dove out of the sky, loaded with 500 pound bombs. The American attack was devastating, gravely wounding three of the four Japanese carriers.
Following our forces back, the Japanese strike severely wounded the Yorktown, already wounded from Coral Sea. She would be later sunk by the Submarine I-168.
The battle dragged on for another two days, while American forces devastated the retreating Japanese remnants.
All-in-all, it was a variety of factors that contributed to the Japanese loss. An overly intricate plan, indecision to continue the airfield attack vs. preparing for the possibility of American carriers, bad intelligence and arrogance in the Japanese officer corps, led to their defeat. They led with their chin, we merely hit them with an uppercut.
And yet it could have gone so differently. I have won Midway quite handily from the Japanese side, I merely operated under the assumption that there were enemy carriers out there and the island was not going anywhere. After approaching Hawai'i from the Northwest, that would have been the last direction I would have approached Midway from. I have never pulled the same tactic twice on the same opponent. I always operate unpredictably. That doesn't mean I act rash, but rather I keep on the offensive and keep my opponent reacting to my moves.
Thanks for the post about this Mike.
I am not up to full speed and I apologize for it. I can't get interested and involved with the articles that I should be.
I want to say a lot about the FEC rulings regulating political blogs, about how the Greens are starving us of energy, and so on. But the necessary emotional involvement won't come. I don't get to be enthused about these and more subjects.
I think it may be family pressure. There are several things I need to do for my family and my fear of failure is holding back my progress. Even though I know if I don't do it, it will mean failure.
I'm doing my best, which is all I can hope to do.
Cover me. I'm going in.
Well, ICANN, the people who control the domain names and extensions (such as .com, .net., .org, etc.) have created some new ones, most notably .xxx, specifically for porn sites.
I think this is a wonderful idea. If you can get all of the porn sites to adhere to this new domain, it would prevent a lot of accidental exposures to porn by children.
A few years back, I was looking for a schedule of our local museum for a particular event. I went to the obvious page and got an eyeful. Thankfully that porn site is no longer in existence (I just checked), but it proves that anybody can happen across porn with a click of the mouse.
The only problem I see is they are charging $60 a year instead of the normal $6 a year. I don't think that is exactly fair, but with all of the money being made by porn, I can understand a little price gouging.
Let's hope all porn sites end up under this domain.