Friday, April 30, 2004

Olliver North rips Andy Rooney a new one in this op-ed, They’re heroes to
me. I wrote about Andy’s article here, the original article is no longer
online.
May 1 marks the start of Military Appreciation Month. Millions of Americans
will show their gratitude for the troops in a variety of ways. When Lance
Corporal Conyers appeared with me the other night on Fox News’s “Hannity &
Colmes,” Sean Hannity showed his appreciation to Conyers by promising to
buy him a big, thick, juicy steak from Ruth’s Chris steakhouse when he gets
home. What are you going to do for them, Andy, other than criticize? One
thing you could do to show your appreciation for our troops who are
defending your right to speak is to shut the hell up.
Amen.

// posted by Mark @ 4/30/2004 09:57:06 AM
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Thursday, April 29, 2004

Dangerous lawnmowers

I happened across this via two blogs, Busy Mom led me to No Quarters which
led me to this article Most lawn mower accidents result of human error. The
good news is you don’t understand the why of the article until it’s too
late. Good stuff.

// posted by Mark @ 4/29/2004 01:06:05 PM
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Repeat that bears repeating

We’ve been down this road before. Explaining how if we can get the dominoes
to fall the right way in Iraq, the rest of the Arab world could very well
follow, bringing stability to an unstable place in the world. Iraq Key to
Arab World Democracy explains what is going on.

Let me quote the important part of the article:
Just as Americans toughed out the dark days of the titanic battles with
Nazism, fascism and communism last century, so must we tough out the
titanic battle with Islamic fascists this century.

Look at the enemy in Iraq. His savage tactics — killing civilians and
soldiers alike, Iraqis and coalition forces indiscriminately — indicates
what Iraq would be like should we cut and run.

The barbarians would again wreck havoc there. Rather than sickening torture
and brutality being inflicted by Saddam’s regime, it would now be inflicted
by local power brokers.

No great improvement for a lot of American prestige, blood and treasure
spilled.

The enemy now fights in Iraq with fierce determination. But for what? To
end American occupation? That’ll happen in 90 days or so, with Iraqis
assuming sovereignty. To restore Saddam? The coward — who sent millions of
young Iraqis to die in battle, and himself meekly surrendered with a rifle
in his lap — would be torn to sheds were he not incarcerated, and
protected, by American troops. To establish a mullah-cracy, as in Iran?
Just go next door and ask Iranians how they like life under their corrupt,
incompetent and vicious mullahs.

No, the enemy’s purpose is to end any U.S. attempt to spread decency and,
yes, democracy in the Arab world. The stakes are high in Iraq. If it goes
right there, peaceful transformations can go right in Egypt, Jordan, the
Gulf states –even Saudi Arabia and Iran.

If Iraq goes even wrong-er, the more reasonable Arab countries will be on
the defensive, getting even worse than now. Our own battles against Islamic
fascists (search) will be even more isolated and difficult than now.

Sure, we’re doing all this for Iraq’s future. But we’re doing this for our
own future, too. We must stay the course, lest increasingly dark dots paint
our future.
This is important to remember. We make or break the next hundred years
right now in Iraq.

// posted by Mark @ 4/29/2004 10:44:16 AM
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Death in perspective

I bring this up because there are people who wail about “all the deaths in
Iraq.” I want to bring some perspective onto this subject.

First of all, we have lost approximately 527 soldiers in the year since we
brought down the statue of Saddam. We are currently attempting to pacify a
section of Iraq that Saddam couldn’t pacify.

We lost 17,401 people last year, just from DUI accidents. That’s about
1,450 people a month. 47 a day, every day. And these deaths are young and
old, male and female, black and white. Children are dying in these cars
because some idiot thinks he can drive better drunk than sober.

Here’s another statistic. We lose about 5,000 babies a year, all under the
age of three. If losing a soldier is a tragedy, then losing a child is a
catastrophe.

These soldiers are dying for something. They are dying to provide a peace
that the world may yet see. Dying in a DUI accident, or in a diaper pail is
a wasted death.

Please, make the distinction and don’t let our military deaths become
wasted deaths.

// posted by Mark @ 4/29/2004 10:31:57 AM
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Air “Hate America” radio

Another article on Air America, suggesting that nobody is listening.
America Tunes Out Leftist Hate Radio.

No numbers are given, but anybody who isn’t already a deep liberal is
quickly tired of the diatribe coming from those stations. I tried giving it
a listen, I really did. But the constant cutting-down of everybody made me
feel like this was a multiple-hour comedy show, or I was in the 8th grade
all over again.
The only thing they did was ridicule: the CIA, the military, the cops,
President Bush, you name it. This is Hate Radio.
With hate speech like this, you’re only going to get the already converted,
and alienate any moderates and certainly not win any conversions from the
Conservative side of the aisle. At least when Rush puts something down, he
puts the action down, not the person and he backs it up with facts. This
wins people over from both the Liberal and moderate camps.
Liberals and Democrats have a tendency to only talk to each other.
According to their ratings, no one else is tuning in. The Democrats should
heed the maxim, “Where all men think alike, no one thinks very much.” And
no one tunes in. The overwhelming popularity of Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and
conservative websites such as FrontPage Magazine prove where America really
stands. It does not stand with the Left, and it certainly does not stand
with Air America.
The party of diversity has none. They refuse to listen to any ideas other
than their own. They refuse to look at facts. I can’t blame them, when
you’re as wrong as often as they are, you’d ignore the plain, clear facts
too.

// posted by Mark @ 4/29/2004 10:17:05 AM
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More Big Brother

It seems this town of wealthy people are over-reacting a bit. Florida town
will soon have cameras and computers running background checks on every car
and driver.

This is going too far, but then again they have the money to pay the taxes
to make their little town an electronic fortress, most likely to the same
standard that their own houses are wired up to.

This is the hard way that they will find that computers are as fallible as
people. All that needs to happen is one plate gets misread and get crossed
with either a stolen car or a car of a violent felon. Then a felony stop
gets performed on a rich lady and that security system for the town will be
tossed out so fast it will make your head spin.

Freedom is like air. You never notice how valuable it is until it’s gone.

// posted by Mark @ 4/29/2004 10:04:42 AM
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Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Humor Wednesday

I thought this was about high blood pressure.

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// posted by Mark @ 4/28/2004 10:40:56 AM
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Stick a fork in him…

…he’s done.

When the Village Voice, that last bastion of Liberalism says that Kerry is
unelectable, you better believe it. John Kerry Must Go and there is no
doubt about it.
With growing issues over his wealth (which makes fellow plutocrat Bush seem
a charity case by comparison), the miasma over his medals and ribbons (or
ribbons and medals), his uninspiring record in the Senate (yes war, no
war), and wishy-washy efforts to mimic Bill Clinton’s triangulation
gimmickry (the protractor factor), Kerry sinks day by day. The pros all
know that the candidate who starts each morning by having to explain
himself is a goner.
I love the smell of burning Liberals in the morning. When they set
themselves on fire by making stupid mistake after stupid mistake, it smells
like…victory.

Oh, sure, the fight hasn’t begun yet, we’re still firing ranging shots. A
brilliant move at the Democrat convention would be to actually nominate
somebody else instead of Kerry, which would screw up the GOP machine. We’re
so invested and set-up to devastate Kerry that if they elect an
Edwards/Clinton ticket (or Dean/Edwards, etc., you get the idea) instead,
there will be some grinding of the gears as we reset to take care of the
new contender.

Don’t take it for granted that Kerry will make it. The GOP has done such a
good job of burning Kerry at the stake and he is such an uninspiring
candidate, that the majority of people voting for him are doing it because
he’s not Bush. Imagine if they found a truly popular candidate.

Don’t take it for granted that we’ll be facing Kerry in November.

// posted by Mark @ 4/28/2004 10:38:42 AM
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Good News!

I found this article, It’s Morning After in America, and my spirits are
buoyed.
If you listen carefully, you can hear something shifting deep beneath the
manic surface of American culture. Rap stars have taken to wearing designer
suits. Miranda Hobbs, Sex and the City’s redhead, has abandoned hooking up
and a Manhattan co-op for a husband and a Brooklyn fixer-upper, where she
helps tend her baby and ailing mother-in-law; even nympho Samantha has
found a “meaningful relationship.” Madonna is writing children’s books.
Gloria Steinem is an old married lady.

Yessiree, family values are hot! Capitalism is cool! Seven-grain bread is
so yesterday, and red meat is back!
It is a somewhat long article, but it provides example after example that
things are looking up in the old US of A. The bad things are down, the good
things are back. It looks like the nuclear family is reforming and so on.
It did my heart good to read these things and it should do the same to you.

Happy day to you!

// posted by Mark @ 4/28/2004 10:18:22 AM
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Ribbons and Medals

4 Mile Creek, run by an Army officer currently in Iraq, lends his
commentary in the debate over Ribbons vs. Medals. I couldn’t have said it
better myself.
(Update) I’ve earned all my medals and I’m damn proud of them. The ribbons
I wear on my uniform, that represent those medals, also represent the pride
I feel in what I do for a profession, the sacrifices my family has made
during my deployments, and the recognition I’ve received for being a good
soldier.
Throw them away?
Hell, I better be buried with ’em on.
Amen, brother, amen.

// posted by Mark @ 4/28/2004 10:09:10 AM
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Conflict of interest

Well, well, well. It seems that the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court was the keynote speaker at an MLGBA (Mass. Lesbian
and Gay Bar Association) event. It’s still being hashed out as to whether
it was a fund raiser or not. Author of Homosexual Marriage Ruling is Under
Fire, Won’t Budge.

This new information shows that a conflict of interest exists with Justice
Margaret Marshall, whether she admits it or not. She should have recused
herself from the case, which would have resulted in a 3-3 tie and thrown
the case out. Instead, it passed 4-3 and Justice Marshall wrote the
majority opinion.

Shame on you Justice Marshall.

// posted by Mark @ 4/28/2004 10:02:56 AM
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Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Eugenics

This article brought up some interesting points. Kerry’s kiss of death.

Margaret Sanger, who founded Planned Parenthood, had some rather, um,
strong views on parenthood back then.
Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood had this to say about
blacks, immigrants and indigents: “…human weeds, ‘reckless
breeders’,’spawning…human beings who should never have been born.’ (Pivot
of Civilization).

On the extermination of blacks: “We do not want word to go out that we want
to exterminate the Negro population,” she said. “If it ever occurs to any
of their more rebellious members.” (Woman’s Body, Woman’s Right: A Social
History of Birth Control in America, by Linda Gordon).

Like advocates of population control at the United Nations, Sanger believed
that couples should be required to submit applications to have a child, as
she wrote in her Plan for Peace Birth Control Review, April 1932.
I lost the quote, but it said that Hitler got his idea for exterminating
the Jews from the American eugenics movements. I know the laws against Jews
were nothing more than an expanded set of Jim Crow laws. Which would
explain why Hitler thought America would join him in his war.

The 30’s was an, interesting, period of our history. While it has been
romanticized, I don’t think I would want to go through it. Between the
Depression, racism and a build up to a world war, it must have been even
more scary time than now. Too bad I can’t ask my parents about it any more.
They died three months apart about two years ago.

To get back to modern times, if word of Ms. Sangers manifesto (especially
if PP still uses it) gets out, it could really hurt Kerry. I hope it does.

// posted by Mark @ 4/27/2004 09:50:56 AM
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Guns are icky to Europeans

In another display to show that Europeans are out of touch with reality, US
Air Marshals are being denied on trans-Atlantic flights. U.S. Lets Europe
Veto Air Marshals.

We are up against an enemy that understands nothing but the use of open,
naked force. That’s what they want to use on us and we must be willing and
able to inflict twice as much back on them to either wipe them out or get
them to realize that it’s not worth it.

But these Europeans, who all just want to get along, don’t want armed
people (even if it is police) on airplanes. Of course, should a 9/11 happen
to them, then they will arm the planes better then the Israel’s airline
(the name escapes me).

Some people just don’t see the train coming at them.

// posted by Mark @ 4/27/2004 09:37:43 AM
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Jessie’s got Foot-in-Mouth

Jessie Jackson, that ever loved shake down artist, has been denounced for
his comments about Iraq. Black Activists Denounce Jesse Jackson For Calling
War in Iraq ‘Murder’.

The murdering bastards in Iraq are not the American troops, but rather the
cowardly insurgents they are fighting. It is the homicide bombs that are
killing the children and other innocents in Iraq, not our soldiers.

Another Liberal suffering from Cranial-Rectal Inversion. (That’s medial-
speak for he’s got his head up his ass)

// posted by Mark @ 4/27/2004 09:30:08 AM
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Monday, April 26, 2004

Wow

While I got some things done today, I also had two major attacks and three
minor ones. What a day. It is very upsetting to be sidelined for a couple
of hours, cowering in a corner or under the covers, unable to do anything
about it.

// posted by Mark @ 4/26/2004 08:24:49 PM
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Do you really want HIM in the White House?

Watching Meet the Press yesterday, they had a poll for the Democrats and
the largest percentage of those who would vote for Kerry (38%) would do so
because simply he’s not Bush. Which means 38% of the Democrat electorate
would probably vote for Satan before they would vote for Bush.

Simply, it’s seething hatred against a man who is doing the right thing
without lamenting over it. Bush is quietly doing what he sees as the right
thing to do, without having to consult polls or focus groups. Bush is a man
of inner strength, strong morals and a clear set of core values, none of
which is possessed by either the prior president, nor the current Democrat
contender.

I think this is what pisses the Left off more than anything. Bush sees
things in black and white instead of the intellectual “nuanced” view of
infinite shades of grey. His clear idea of good and evil clashes with the
Liberal outlook of “those people aren’t really bad, they’re just
disadvantaged.” They may be disadvantaged, but that is no excuse for the
outright evil of wanting to kill other people wholesale simply because we
believe differently than they do.

Liberals who moan and wail over this war hold the belief that the US
deserved 9/11. Those people have no idea as to the true relationship of
such things as war and peace.

The opposite of war is not peace, but slavery. For as long as there are
people who are willing to violently push their agenda, your choices are to
either violently resist or submit. Never forget this.

// posted by Mark @ 4/26/2004 11:56:19 AM
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Rocketry news

There has been a lawsuit going on for some time between the National
Association of Rocketry and the Tripoli Rocketry Association vs. BATFE.
Well, the judge in the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC agreed with
the rocketeers and told the BATFE to get their grubby little fingers out of
our hobby.

The ruling is rather specific, but it’s a crack and we are going to try and
make it wider faster than the BATFE can nail it shut.

If you want to help donate, please go here.

Thanks.

// posted by Mark @ 4/26/2004 11:25:09 AM
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Today in history

Boy was this a busy week. Last Monday was Waco and Oklahoma City, Tuesday
was Columbine, now today was Chernobyl. Conducting unauthorized
experiments, one of the nuclear reactors exploded and then melted into the
offices under the reactor. Hundreds of people died from radiation exposure,
thousands more from cancer brought about by the radiation. The cloud
reached into parts of Eastern Europe.

The town is deserted today, except for the reactor operators who continue
to operate the remaining reactor and supply power to the (relatively)
unaffected towns in the surrounding area.

// posted by Mark @ 4/26/2004 10:37:52 AM
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Ignoring the minority vote

I got this from a NewsMax email alert, so I’ll quote the whole thing here:
Kerry Ignores Black Congressman

America’s self-described would-be “second black president” has a lot of
work to do to shed his image as an uptight, condescending New Englander.

This was obvious during Kerry’s visit this past week to Palm Beach County,
Fla.

Our reporter on the scene was surprised by the crowd at Palm Beach
Community College.

The speech was billed as part of Kerry’s “college tour.” But only a handful
of young people bothered to show up.

Kerry’s campaign claimed 3,000 attendees. We counted only a few dozen
blacks and even fewer Hispanics. Bad news for a party that takes the black
and Latino vote for granted.

Of course, the Massachusetts Democrat exploited the few blacks who did show
up by stacking the benches on stage with an unusually high percentage of
his “multi-cultural” campaign. Such a nice photo opportunity, accurate or
not.

But Kerry’s discomfort with nonwhites was apparent in the way he introduced
the VIPs campaigning with him.

He gushed over Sens. Bob Graham, Bill Nelson and Joe Lieberman and insisted
that each one take the spotlight for a softball question from the crowd.

And he practically ignored the black congressman who was with them, Rep.
Kendrick Meek.

Finally, midway through Kerry’s harangue, which he had labeled as a “town
meeting,” Kerry suddenly dropped a reference to Meek – and then ignored him
for the rest of the rally.
Yes, yes, yes. The party of tolerance and diversity. We all know how well
blacks were integrated into the “first black presidency.” Oh, that’s right.
They weren’t. They ran smack dab into that infernal glass ceiling. They
were there for tokens, and I ain’t talking subway tokens.

It’s really a shame when it comes right down to it. The “champion” of the
black people does more to keep them in their place than the so called
“slavemaster Republicans.” Just remember, when it came down to the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, the Republicans were FOR it, the Democrats were AGAINST
it.

It’s the Democrats that had the KKK members, it’s the Democrats that stood
in the doorways of schools and colleges and said, “You filthy [N-word]s
ain’t getting in here!”

Don’t forget your history.

// posted by Mark @ 4/26/2004 10:18:13 AM
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Friday, April 23, 2004

I apologize

I know you’re waiting for my witty, rapier-like remarks on Liberals and
stuff like that, but my attacks are back. I get to spend an hour or two
researching and writing, then have to spend more time hiding under the
covers or in the closet. I haven’t had the mental clarity to bring forth
the comments that I would like to on the world. My comments on news
articles have been placeholders to keep things rolling here.

When I feel better, I might try working on expanding my core values over
there to the right. Who knows. I have a medication appointment next
Wednesday, let’s hope I can get a positive change to my cocktail.

// posted by Mark @ 4/23/2004 10:18:47 AM
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I agree

This Earth Day, Progress Worth Celebrating has some worthwhile points, only
because the person writing the article has good, solid facts to back him
up.

Despite what the eco-nuts are screaming, our air is cleaner, our water is
more drinkable and things are better than they were in 1970. From the
article, here are some numbers:
Average vehicle emissions are dropping about 10 percent per year as the
fleet turns over to inherently cleaner vehicles, including SUVs.

Auto emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds are down
67 percent since 1985, according to EPA data.

The percentage of the U.S. population served by water systems with no
reported violations of regulatory standards rose from 79 percent to 94
percent during 1993 to 2002.

Private efforts such as Ducks Unlimited have been successfully conserved
habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife.

“Toxic” chemical releases have declined by 55 percent since 1988, while
industry output has increased by 40 percent thanks to productivity gains
and technological improvements.
I like those numbers. The bad news is I’m getting a 404 when trying to get
the report that they came from. Here’s the link anyway, hopefully they will
get it fixed soon: “2004 Index of Leading Environmental Indicators”.

Here comes the caveat:
But now in many, if not most, areas of environmental protection, we have
reached the point of diminishing returns and we must look hard to see
whether we are producing real benefits for the costs incurred.
For those of you who don’t know what the “point of diminishing returns”
means, let’s put it this way:

You have a computer that you want to upgrade. For $100, you can double its
performance. You like what you got even better, so you invest another $200,
but this time you can only squeeze out a 50% increase of performance. Then
only 25%, 12% and so on, until it costs $1000 to get you a 1-2% increase of
performance. Is that small increase of performance worth that amount of
money?

So we are faced with here. If we poured an almost infinite amount of money
into it, we possibly could reach perfection, but is there an acceptable
level that is “good enough?” Of course the eco-nuts want perfection, they
have no real-world realities to get in their way of a perfect nature. We
all want perfection, but most of us realize that we can’t have our
lifestyle as it is today without some pollution. We just have to find out
what is an acceptable level and work towards that.

I don’t like pollution, but I accept a limited amount as a byproduct of our
society. One that has transportation that can take me around the world in
hours. A world that has miraculous medical practices. An existence where I
don’t have to live in a dirt floor hut and worry about dying of old age
because I’m 42. Eco-nuts may think that kind of “natural” existence is the
way to go, but I don’t.

// posted by Mark @ 4/23/2004 10:13:19 AM
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Kerry War discrepancy

Here is an interesting article, Discrepancies noted in Kerry’s record show
that he grabbed some action for himself.

At least one and probably more actions were claimed by Kerry that were not
his.
Vietnam combat records posted on John F. Kerry’s campaign website for the
month of January 1969 as evidence of his service aboard swift boat No. 94
describe action that occurred before Kerry was skipper of that craft,
according to the officer who said he commanded the boat at the time.
This puts a hole in his boat, doesn’t it? After all, “sexing up” reports
that could be easily countered with the facts does seem to be a frequent
way this campaign shoots itself in the foot.

It could be Kerry’s head is so far up his ass that he thinks he can say
anything and not worry about other people coming up with the facts to
disprove him.

Shame on you Mr. Kerry.

// posted by Mark @ 4/23/2004 09:46:56 AM
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More Kerry funny stuff

I liked this story, I thought it was funny. Kerry Says His ‘Family’ Owns
SUV, Not He.

Like the difference of who ‘owns’ the SUV matters. My wife can’t drive, but
for numerous reasons, she owns our (dead) family vehicle. I’m the one who
drives it because I have the license. Same thing here. It doesn’t matter
who owns the vehicle, as long as someone in the immediate family does, then
in essence, so does John.

Get over it, you have a gas-guzzling SUV, whether or not you admit it.

// posted by Mark @ 4/23/2004 09:38:52 AM
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Thursday, April 22, 2004

Jobs going overseas

You know, I usually don’t watch The West Wing, but it’s the only thing on
before Law and Order. Anyway, they had one scene where CWA (Communication
Workers of America) reps were in the White House trying to hold the
administration to a promise to keep their jobs in America instead of
“letting” them go overseas. That’s what brought my attention to this:
Outsourcing Debate Tainted by Myths, Misconceptions.

It is very important that you read this article and know the facts of the
case instead of relying on limited anecdotal evidence. While we lose
certain jobs overseas, we pick up more from insourcing, other countries
outsourcing to us.
But that’s not usually the way it works. Many times, American companies
will create new jobs specifically for overseas workers, jobs they’d never
consider if forced by law to give them to Americans, because they’d be too
expensive. Many recent domestic start-up companies have spent their first
few years of existence employing only overseas workers, with a few
executives here in the U.S. overseeing things. Once they’ve established
financial footing, these companies can then expand, and begin to hire more
expensive American workers.

America is actually a net importer when it comes to jobs. Far more foreign
companies come to America to hire people than American companies go
overseas to hire cheap foreign labor. We’re even a net importer of tech
jobs.
There are only some things you can outsource, other things must stay here
in the US because you just can’t run wire and do installs from India.
There’s no doubt people get hurt in the short-run when the economy shifts
and embraces new business models, but it’s been that way since the
industrial revolution. Those self-correcting measures have in the long run
made us the most prosperous, comfortable and productive society in history.

And it will always be like that.

// posted by Mark @ 4/22/2004 09:58:11 AM
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Diaperless babies

Here is another classic example as to why the far-Left environmentalism
groups are wacko. They now want to get rid of diapers because they are a
hazard to world health and contribute to landfills. Diaperless Babies Seen
As Earth-Friendly Solution.

Their idea is to “get in tune with the baby to predict their movements.”
Yeah, right. And their solution is to hold the child over the toilet,
bucket, bush, etc, providing we correctly predict the moment has arrived.
Incredibly, some environmentalists actually prefer that the foul messes we
normally capture in diapers and landfills, spill instead onto our linoleum,
carpets, and even our children,” [Robert] Bidinotto told CNSNews.com.
And just to show you how stupid and hypocritical these eco-nuts are, here’s
a quote:
[Scott] Noelle finally chose to go diaperless and looked to traditional
cultures for inspiration. “How I longed for a simple, dirt-floored, baby-
friendly hut like that of a Yequana family,” he wrote.
If Scott really wants a dirt floored house, why doesn’t he live in one? I’m
sure he would love the rest of the natural things the Yequana have to worry
about, like dying of old age at 40, rampant disease, 1/3 of babies dying in
the first year of life, a good portion of women dying in childbirth, etc.

He has it so good that he doesn’t know how good it is, which is probably
why him and his fellow nuts long for the old life. They don’t realize how
tough of a time our ancestors had it.

// posted by Mark @ 4/22/2004 09:48:03 AM
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Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Humor Wednesday

Another great hit from the folks at Despair.Com.

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// posted by Mark @ 4/21/2004 11:18:41 AM
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No MI5 in the US

This article, MI5-Style Intel Agency Could Be Hard Sell in U.S. talks about
a CIA equivalent agency tasked with intelligence gathering domestically
here in the US.

This is a bad idea. Law enforcement already has these apparatus’ in place,
and with Homeland Security, we are already skating the edge of having a
secret police. I do not want a Gestapo spying on every move I make,
especially with extra-Constitutional powers that such internal security
forces might want “to do their job the right way.”

Therein lies the path to a police state, and that is the last place I want
to live in.

Papers, please?

// posted by Mark @ 4/21/2004 11:08:42 AM
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Who’s side are they on?

I found this article on Yahoo!, Heinz Co. Is Campaign Weapon for Bush and
thought that irony is pretty ironic.

While Mr. and Mrs. Heinz is running for president under the Democrat
banner, the actual company where their millions are coming from is in
support of President Bush.

I just thought is was funny that her own company is aligned the other way
from her and her husband.

// posted by Mark @ 4/21/2004 10:59:46 AM
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Tuesday, April 20, 2004

Out of time

Gotta get ready and go to work. See you tonight.

// posted by Mark @ 4/20/2004 09:27:34 AM
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Non-citizen voting

This article, Immigrants’ voting rights becoming a major issue has me a
little unnerved.

While the story goes out of its way to say (several times) that “non-
citizen voting is not prohibited by the Constitution,” it still isn’t
right. The Oath of Citizenship, whose first part is, “…that I absolutely
and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign
prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore
been a subject or citizen…” So it assumes that immigrants still have
allegiances to their country of origin until they become American citizens.

Which leads to an interesting question. What if, a group of Arabs filled up
a school district, elected a majority of sympathetic politicians and, by
using the force of the majority, started calling for anti-US propaganda to
be taught in these schools? Don’t laugh, because it could happen. We are
already on that verge with the Liberals in control of the schools, it
wouldn’t be too far to start active anti-American “teaching.”

Anything can happen. It’s up to the citizenry to make sure that it doesn’t.

// posted by Mark @ 4/20/2004 09:27:06 AM
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Monday, April 19, 2004

I did a bad thing

I played hooky from work Saturday so I could attend a Rogue Trader
tournament. Games Workshop (the people who own Warhammer 40K) opened a
manufacturing facility here in Memphis, and they used some of the warehouse
space to create a “Battle Bunker,” a 2,000+ square foot gaming area.

Anyhow, I played three games and I had the same results as the tournament
at MidSouthCon. One game I was obliterated, one game I obliterated my
opponent and one game I barely won. With 26 players in the tournament, I
finished a respectable 9th. No certificates this time, but I did enjoy
myself. Please don’t tell anybody at my work, okay? Thanks.

// posted by Mark @ 4/19/2004 09:22:11 AM
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Anniversary

Today marks the anniversary of two heinous acts in American history. In
1993, an overzealous Federal Agent force burned the Branch Davidians to
death. A truly black day in history, when you have a government kill its
own citizens wholesale, whatever the reason.

Also, at this moment, today in 1995, our worst case of domestic terrorism
took place at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Never forget these incidents. If we do, they will happen again.

// posted by Mark @ 4/19/2004 09:01:29 AM
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Friday, April 16, 2004

American Empire

A thoughtful read, An Empire? You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet, brings up the
point of how we could turn into a true empire building country.

If we get a NBC attack in this country (and I’m betting on one between
10/10 and 10/31/04) we are going to find out who did it, then show the
world exactly what a saturation-level nuclear strike does. That will be our
big stick. Then we will speak quietly, asking for every terrorist, every
cell, every organization, and those who do not comply, wash, rinse, repeat.

What would an American empire look like? Post-war Iraq shows we couldn’t
afford to use our military to directly rule multiple nations, so our Empire
would most likely use the Roman Empire’s tactic of letting favored local
elites govern while we maintained control of the military. We would also
surely keep a close watch on nuclear power plants, pesticide producers and
pharmaceutical manufacturers and end the conditioning of future terrorists
by preventing schools and the media from bombarding innocent youths with
virulent anti-American propaganda. Most importantly, however, our Empire
would improve the living conditions for the majority of people in the lands
we conquered.
Except for those we obliterated to get everyone’s attention, of course. Any
resistance, any uprising, we pull our troops back and destroy the city.

If there is not a radical change towards peace in the Muslim faith, if the
people do not rise up and silence these hate-spewing clerics, we may have
to wipe out the entire region. I do not write those words lightly, because
I certainly do not want a billion deaths on my hands.

Something must be done, and no American can do it. We can only change
conditions, we cannot change hearts. Those who are filled with hate will
hate us no matter what, and if those who really want peace do not offer
them up to us, we may be forced to “Kill them all and let God sort them
out.” Actually, the proper quote was “Kill them all. God will recognize His
own.”

Please do not make us do this. Because if there is a NBC Event (and I ain’t
talking television) we will.

// posted by Mark @ 4/16/2004 07:34:04 PM
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The Big Weenie

Now details are coming out about just how courageous Mr. Kerry was in
Vietnam. Kerry’s War Wound Called ‘Fingernail Scrape’.

You would think that Mr. Kerry had earned those Purple Hearts, but after
this story I don’t think so. It has been previously reported that out of
three “wounds,” he only spent one day in the hospital. And don’t cha
know…
Kerry was awarded two additional Purple Hearts for subsequent wounds that
have also been described as minor. He then invoked a little-used regulation
that entitled a triple Purple Heart winner to return to the United States.
So he only spends four months in-country, and then bails out on a
technicality.

The citation for his medal also basically reads, “After taking fire from
shore, Lt. Kerry grounds his boat, jumps out and shoots a dead VC.”

Some hero.

// posted by Mark @ 4/16/2004 07:17:05 PM
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I’ll never see the light of day

This article, 1996 PDB Detailed al-Qaida Plot shows just how stupid the
Clinton Administration was.

Here was a PDB that laid the whole plan of 9/11 out and it was not even
thought of worthy of the “Great” Clintons attention.

And it will never see the light of day because the one person who was
responsible for it IS SITTING ON THE COMMISSION HERSELF. I forget her name,
but multiple people have called for her resignation and she has refused.
She should be giving testimony instead of on the commission. But the sole
reason why she is on the commission and not testifying is to cover Clintons
ass.

So the commission is turning into a partisan duck shoot, with Bush as the
only target.

UPDATE: From Alpha Patriot:

On the subject of [Jamie] Gorelick recusing herself from the commission,
according to staffers chairman Gov. Tom Kean asked Gorelick if she would
step down but “she flat out shut him down”.
“She’s on that commission for a reason, and it isn’t because of her
brilliant legal mind,” says a former DNC and Clinton White House staffer.
“She’s there to make sure Bush and his team look as bad as possible and to
protect the Clintons and Reno.”

// posted by Mark @ 4/16/2004 07:06:44 PM
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Out of time

I’ve got some things on the hook, but I’ve run out of time to get to work.
I’ll see you tonight.

// posted by Mark @ 4/16/2004 09:56:29 AM
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Thursday, April 15, 2004

SO FUNNY!

I found this via USS Clueless and once I started going through the comics I
was howling so hard my sides started hurting.

Hello Kitty meets (and defeats) Call of Cthulhu. ROTFLOL. Go see Hello
Cthulhu and be sure to read from the beginning.

[pic]

// posted by Mark @ 4/15/2004 09:46:32 PM
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Comments are enabled

Okay folks, I’m taking a big step here and opening my posts up to comments.
Please don’t troll or ad hominem me too bad 😉

// posted by Mark @ 4/15/2004 11:04:26 AM
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Kill Bill, Vol 1

Kill Bill is the 4th film by Quentin Tarantino, but I only have Pulp
Fiction and From Dusk Till Dawn in addition to Kill Bill. I have been
meaning to pick up Jackie Brown for a while, but have never gotten around
to it.

I got Kill Bill, Vol 1 on DVD yesterday, to refresh myself of the story
before I see Vol 2 in a few days. Vol 1 is, in classic Tarantino style,
telling the story from the middle to the beginning and then to the end. It
has gore galore, in an homage to Akira Kurasawa’s movies. It also throws in
a lot of John Woo’s martial arts spinning moves, and even a bit of
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I’ve been told that Vol 2 is more Spaghetti
Western than martial arts, just to keep things fresh.

Tarantino has also made statements about Vol 3, which should come out in 15-
20 years when the kid actors are old enough to be adults and continue the
story.

No spoilers here, just rent the damn movie, okay? On my say so, you can
tell the clerk at the video store that I sent you. He may look at you like
you’re crazy, but that’s just part of the code.

// posted by Mark @ 4/15/2004 10:18:39 AM
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Air America Trouble

It seems that Air America is having cash flow problems. They lost two of
their five stations yesterday because they didn’t pay their bills. STATION
OWNER CLAIMS: AIR AMERICA ‘BOUNCES CHECK’; LIBERAL RADIO NET TAKEN OFF IN
LOS ANGELES, CHICAGO AFTER ONLY TWO WEEKS

Remember, AA is like one big infomercial, they are paying for every second
of air time, as opposed to other talk stations paying for the shows and
then recouping the cost by selling commercials.

Here’s the full story, since Drudge put it on one of his temporary pages:
After just two weeks on the air, Air America Radio, the fledgling liberal
talk-radio network featuring Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo, appears to
have encountered serious cash-flow problems.

The CHICAGO TRIBUNE is developing a story, insiders tell DRUDGE, on how the
network was pulled off the air this morning in Chicago and Los Angeles, the
network’s second- and third-largest markets, because, the owner of both
stations said, the network bounced a check and owes him more than $1
million! A charge the network strongly denies.

A Chicago source familiar with the situation said a Multicultural
representative showed up at WNTD’s offices Wednesday morning, kicked out
Air America’s lone staffer overseeing the network’s feed to the station
from New York, switched over to a Spanish-language feed, and changed the
locks on the doors…

Air America filed a complaint Wednesday in New York state Supreme Court
charging Multicultural with breaching their contract and seeking an
injunction to force Multicultural to restore the Air America broadcast on
both stations.
An interesting turn of events, don’t you think? To be fair, they did sign
on one new station somewhere in the Northwest, but I’m not sure where.
Frankin just kind of glossed over the whole situation. “We lost two
stations, but we did pick one new one up, and on to other things…”

// posted by Mark @ 4/15/2004 10:02:01 AM
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The George you don’t know

This appeared in an issue of the American Rifleman and was reprinted with
permission for Newsmax.

America’s New King George.
In 1776, the American people threw off the oppressive yoke of King George
III, and created the most free society the world had ever seen. But today,
another King George – a Hungarian-born billionaire named George Soros, who
rules a shadow empire by funding a global agenda that includes borderless
civil disarmament – has made Americans less free than at almost any time in
our nation’s history.
Read the rest.

// posted by Mark @ 4/15/2004 09:52:33 AM
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Democracy needs daily work

While I can’t stand the positions of Liberals, they are there for a reason,
to keep me honest. They cause me to critically examine my thoughts and
actions to help me make sure that I am doing the right thing. Liberals
provide a balance, their Yin to my Yang, and I wouldn’t have it any other
way.

Now comes this: Democracy May Fail in South Africa.

With an end to a multiple party system, especially when that single party
has Marxist objectives, disaster for true democracy cannot be far behind.

This situation makes clear that democracy is not a sure and natural thing,
as long as people grab for personal power. The people must want freedom
from the grassroots. South Africans are giving away freedom for safety, and
we all know what Benjamin Franklin said about that.

This also disheartens me about Iraq. All of our sacrifice, all of our blood
may come to naught if the people don’t want freedom as Americans experience
it. We can defeat all of the Ba’athists and foreign terrorists, but if they
create their own government that is little different from what they had
before, it will have all been a waste.

Freedom must be earned, it can never be given. And it must be done so every
day.

// posted by Mark @ 4/15/2004 09:49:43 AM
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Witticisms

Some people collect stamps, some collect cars. I collect the wisdoms
written on bumper stickers. I keep finding and losing this link,
BumperTalk, where you can get almost anything you want as far as a bumper
sticker goes. Please check it out.

I may try to tackle some code to put this stuff at the top of my page, like
American Realpolitik does.

// posted by Mark @ 4/15/2004 09:27:15 AM
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Wednesday, April 14, 2004

More attacks

I meant to put this stuff up last night, but I was having attacks all day,
and they got worse when I got back to my apartment.

Anyway, enjoy.

// posted by Mark @ 4/14/2004 10:29:43 AM
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I’ll bet you didn’t know

Texas didn’t officially rejoin the Union. They introduce a bill every year
to secede from the Union, which gets voted down by a vote or two. There
were a couple of paperbacks about a Texas that did secede from the Union,
and they were hilarious.

Anyhow, if Kerry wins, how do you expect that vote to go?

Hat tip to Alpha Patriot

The Republic of Texas

Texas has given all those complainers plenty of time to get used to the
results. After seeing the whiners along the inauguration route, the folks
from Texas have decided that we might just take matters into our own hands.

Here is our solution:
#1: Let John Kerry become President of the United States (all 49 states).
#2: George W. Bush becomes the President of the Republic of Texas.

So what does Texas have to do to survive as a Republic?

Space: NASA is in Houston, Texas (we will control the space industry).

Defense Industry: We have over 65% of it. (The term “Don’t mess with
Texas,” will take on a whole new meaning.)

Gasoline: We refine over 85% of the gasoline in the United States.

Oil: We can supply all the oil that the Republic of Texas will need for the
next 300 years. Yankee states? Sorry about that.

Natural Gas: Again we have all we need and it’s too bad about those
northern states. John Kerry will figure a way to keep them warm….

Computer Industry: We currently lead the nation in producing computer chips
and communications: Small places like Texas Instruments, Dell Computer,
EDS, Raytheon, National Semiconductor, Motorola, Intel, AMD, Atmel, Applied
Materials, Ball Semiconductor, Dallas Semiconductor, Delphi, Nortel,
Alcatel, etc., etc. The list goes on and on.

Health Centers: We have the largest research centers for Cancer research,
the best burn centers and the top trauma units in the world and other large
health planning centers.

Education: We have enough colleges to keep us going: U.T., Texas A&M, Texas
Tech, Rice, SMU, University of Houston, Baylor, UNT, Texas Women’s
University, etc. Ivy grows better in the south anyway.

Labor: We have a ready supply of workers (just open the border when we need
some more).

Industry: We have control of the paper industry, plastics, insurance, etc.

National Defense: In case of a foreign invasion, we have the Texas National
Guard and the Texas Air National Guard. We don’t have an army but since
everybody down here has at least six rifles and a pile of ammo, we can
raise an army in 24 hours if we need it. If the situation really gets bad,
we can always call Department of Public Safety and ask them to send over a
couple of Texas Rangers. 🙂

Food Supply: We are totally self sufficient in beef, poultry, hogs and
vegetable produce and everybody down here knows how to cook them so that
they taste good. Don’t need any food.

This just names a few of the items that will keep the Republic of Texas in
good shape. There isn’t a thing out there that we need and don’t have.

Now to the rest of the United States under President Kerry: Since you won’t
have the refineries to get gas for your cars, only President Kerry will be
able to drive around in his 9 mile per gallon SUV. The rest of the United
States will have to walk or ride bikes.

You won’t have any TV as the space center in Houston will cut off your
communications. You won’t have any natural gas to heat your homes but since
Mr. Kerry has predicted global warming, you will not need the gas.

Signed, The People in Texas
I think it’s time to move to Texas…..

// posted by Mark @ 4/14/2004 10:25:30 AM
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Off the cuff

Found on USS Clueless from a comment thread on The Anti-Idiotarian
Rottweiler, this nice rendition of Gilbert and Sullivan. Written by George
Turner.

I am the very model of a modern left wing democrat.
I vent my spleen and prattle in forums on the internet.
I can’t hold long a single thought. I need to take my Ritalin.
Now what was that you asked of me? Did I just take my vitamin?
I cannot lose an argument, so why don’t you get used to it.
I won’t concede a single point, even if there’s no truth in it.
No matter what you say to me, I’ll post back an ad-homenim.
Regardless of the things you do, you’re all BushHitler’s supermen
They call me Post-It Note’s bleat boy, and I post crap like it was true.
On all the countless websites that my drivel is cross-posted to.

Chorus:
We call him Post-It Note’s bleat boy, and he posts crap like it was true.
On all the countless weblogs that his drivel is cross-posted to.
On all the countless weblogs that his drivel is cross-posted to.

Your weblog I will litter with my often posted snivelling
And you all have to pay the bill, supporting all my drivelling.
My posts sum up in six bad lines of mindless dreck and scribbling,
But lots of carps and doodoo too, plump out my posts with twiddling.
Impossible to penetrate much less on which to cogitate
I don’t see how you can relate, to my simplistic mental state.
I will flame you with invective till you yield to my perspective.
Of socialist utopia when we join the big collective.
My whole outlook is progressive my belief is so obsessive
All your taxes are regressive cause with stuff we are possessive.

Chorus:
His whole outlook is progressive his belief is so obsessive
All our taxes are regressive cause with stuff they are possessive.
All our taxes are regressive cause with stuff they are possessive.

I’m ignorant of simple facts, both social and historical.
So don’t confuse me with your lies, just argue metaphorical.
No matter what you say to me, I’ll argue opposite you see.
If provably you show I’m wrong I’ll change the question joyfully.
My facts are bad, conclusions too, my arguments erroneous,
You’ll be crying oh “boo hoo”, cause I’m so sanctimonious.
My learning is extensive but is nothing more than Chomskyia,
Designed to fan my hatred of the Empire called Amerika,
Your ruler soon is coming down, we’ll crush him like a big ass clown
John Kerry soon will wear the crown, so I don’t care if you all drown.
I am the very model of a left wing personality.
I intersperse mendacity with vacuous opacity.

Chorus:
He is the very model of a left wing personality.
He’ll intersperse mendacity with vacuous opacity.
He’ll intersperse mendacity with vacuous opacity.

*Applause*

// posted by Mark @ 4/14/2004 10:11:37 AM
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Kerry, in his own words

How can a man speak such words and then contradict them so thoroughly? My
Argument for the War (Before I Changed my Mind).
I mention these not because they are a cause to go to war in and of
themselves, as the President previously suggested, but because they tell a
lot about the threat of the weapons of mass destruction and the nature of
this man. We should not go to war because these things are in his past, but
we should be prepared to go to war because of what they tell us about the
future. It is the total of all of these acts that provided the foundation
for the world’s determination in 1991 at the end of the gulf war that
Saddam Hussein must: unconditionally accept the destruction, removal, or
rendering harmless under international supervision of his chemical and
biological weapons and ballistic missile delivery systems… [and]
unconditionally agree not to acquire or develop nuclear weapons or nuclear
weapon-usable material. [emphasis mine]
I cannot understand how people can support a person who holds two views,
almost simultaneously, on the same subject. You thought it was a joke when
you read about it in 1984, but here he is today, as real as you or I.

Please help us stop this man.

// posted by Mark @ 4/14/2004 10:05:53 AM
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Placeholder to keep it fresh

This question before the SCOTUS is important enough to keep in the
attention of the American people. Parental Rights and the Pledge once again
goes over the fine points of Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow.

This case now has two points on what the SCOTUS has to decide. Does the
Pledge of Allegiance violate the bogus “church and state separation,” and
whether or not the dad has any standing to bring the case in the first
place.

Now I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t play one on TV, but this case should be
decided thusly: A) The non-custodial parent does have a limited say in the
raising of the child, and B) the Pledge stands as-is.

I am presently a non-custodial parent, and I would like some standing in
having a say in how my son is raised. So my interest in at least part of
this case is personal.

// posted by Mark @ 4/14/2004 09:55:19 AM
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Monday, April 12, 2004

Second Shift

I have always wanted to greet you, my dear readers, with fresh posts each
morning. That seems to be a fading wish right now. My attacks are back, and
are debilitating me once again. Luckily they are only in the morning to
early afternoon, so if I can just get through that time I’ll be okay.

I’m going to try running this blog on the second shift, writing at night so
you have something in the morning. The bad news is it will be with
yesterdays time stamp. We’ll just have to see how it works out.

After the attacks subsided, I was able to finish my latest Warhammer 40K
piece, a Land Speeder Tornado.

[pic]

I just noticed the crooked sticker, and destroyed it accidentally trying to
fix it. I have to find my stash of stickers around here somewhere and fix
it.
// posted by Mark @ 4/12/2004 08:22:21 PM
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Air America

I encourage you to listen to Air America. It is important that you do so.
Not because they have anything important to say, but rather that if all you
listen to is Rush, Sean, Glenn, et. al., all you will do is make your mind
mushy.

I listened to the last hour or so of Unfiltered, and was not impressed. One
of the hosts called President Bush “warmonger” instead of by name and they
had a guest on that was so radical that CNN wouldn’t use him. She also
liked saying several times that the President spent 40% of his time on his
ranch in Crawford. I don’t think she realizes that in this day of instant
communications, he can be anywhere in the world and effectively run the US
government.

They also had a couple of “commercials” that stuck out in my brain. One was
about Iraq, where they said things like, “This country has not been
aggressive, it does not have WMD, let’s invade it!” The other commercial
was a “Living Wage” one complaining about a health care company charging
$17 per hour, but paying the person doing the work only $7. It doesn’t talk
about the qualifications for the job are minimal, like not even a high
school diploma. If that’s all the qualifications you have, why should you
be paid more? I’ll talk more about this later in the post.

The O’Frankin Factor was boring and so vanilla bland it wasn’t funny. They
did have an interview about this guy and his book, talking about the old
Liberal saw of “making the rich pay their fair share.”

Frankin has a friend who is a Ditto-Head. They have a short talk every day
and Frankin plays a sound bite of Rush saying something and having his
friend defend it. I would consider this unfair, as I don’t think this
friend has the qualifications to do the job. And of course, the quote is
taken out of context to make it seem so extreme that Frankins position
appears to be moderate. I’ll talk more about this in a paragraph or two.

The last I listened to was Randi Rhodes. I would rather shave with a cheese
grater than listen to her, she is that filled with anger and invectiveness.
I could literally only stand a few minutes, both her tone of voice and what
she was saying got to me.

Back to Rush: The quote played today was about how the Liberals preached
“Don’t resist” during hijackings and that has been wrong since the first
hijacking. If the first hijacked aircraft had met with the same resistance
of Flight 93, we would not have had any other hijackings. Just like Jewish
passivity led to places like Auschwitz and Treblinka, the hijackings of the
70’s lead directly into the WTC and the Pentagon. I can assure you there
will never be another aircraft hijacking again, simply because (finally)
the passengers will no longer allow it.

Back to the Living wage: I want to talk about this “Living Wage.” There are
all kinds of good paying jobs out there, but you need to work to get them.
You have to complete high school with good grades, then go on to college or
a technical school and learn a trade. If you don’t invest in yourself, how
can you expect to get a good paying job? Being 30 years old and just a HS
graduate does not qualify you for a $40,000 a year job. Now if you spent
years in the military and learned about operational systems, electronics
and computers, then spent years as a work shop supervisor, being a leader,
then you can say you are qualified for a position like that.

The jobs that pay less than $10 an hour are meant for the young kids who
are still living at home, giving them spending money while they are still
going to school. You aren’t meant to live on such a wage and support a
family. You are supposed to go to an advanced school and make something of
yourself so you can make the big money.

// posted by Mark @ 4/12/2004 07:24:05 PM
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This crosses the line

Andy Rooney used to be funny, in a curmudgeon kind of way. This is plain
nasty and undeserving: Our soldiers in Iraq aren’t heroes.

This really chaps my hide. A hero is a person who is full of courage.
Courage is where you are scared witless but do what needs to be done
regardless. Every man and woman, in uniform and out, who are not Iraqis but
still went to make a difference in this country, and maybe the world in
general are scared shitless. Any person who goes into combat and is not
afraid is a fool.

I want to slug something I am so upset. Because this stains everybody in
uniform. Your odds of getting killed in a peacetime exercise or even daily
operations is way more than in the civilian world. In the Navy, you could
get killed just performing maintenance onboard ship. All it would take is
one person to ignore a tag-out at the wrong moment and you’re gone. And
that is at the dock, let alone at sea.

It takes bravery to put on a ballistic vest, get a weapon and march into
combat, be it in Iraq or on the streets of your local municipality. It
takes special people to run into a situation when everybody else is running
out. And our soldiers, military, police and firefighters, do just that
every day.

Ignore the words of this ignorant bastard. His distinguished military
career consisted of one bombing raid in WWII where he was an observer.

// posted by Mark @ 4/12/2004 06:24:55 PM
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Who’s watching you?

Another article about how much you are watched in Britain. As surveillance
grows, so does concern about privacy in the closely watched nation.

Having someone watch you 300 times in a day would be very unnerving to me.
It just doesn’t seem right to me, but then again I have protected freedoms
that Subjects of the Crown in Britain does not.

This is a very immature statement:
“I don’t see a problem with the cameras,” Codrington says. “If you’re not
breaking the law, then you have nothing to hide, right?”
Especially in light of an earlier part of the article, where I quote:
The invasion of privacy sometimes ruins lives. In Manchester, a TV show
broadcast a CCTV still of a man accused of using a stolen bank card. It
later turned out that the camera operator had submitted the wrong photo,
but the apology came too late. The man lost his job and eventually suffered
a nervous breakdown.
Nothing like having a governmental employee with an axe to grind against
you really sticking it to you and/or your family, right?

You really need to get a copy of Will Smith and Gene Hackman in Enemy of
the State and watch it. Then decide if your privacy is being invaded.

// posted by Mark @ 4/12/2004 06:00:39 PM
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Movies and Yesteryear stuff

I found an interesting archive of old school movies, commercials and the
like. You can find it all at the Prelinger Archives.

Enjoy.

// posted by Mark @ 4/12/2004 05:46:28 PM
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Doing poorly

I’m not all that well this morning, I’m struggling to contain a medium
sized attack and failing at the attempt.

More to come later, I do have some things I want to discuss, plus I plan on
listening to Air America to get a direct opinion about it.

Later.

// posted by Mark @ 4/12/2004 09:26:41 AM
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Sunday, April 11, 2004

2K Rollover!

I’ve always been one to watch the zeros roll around on the odometer of the
vehicle I drive, it runs in the family. I just figured it out, from the
time I started counting hits until 1,000, it took 119 days. To get from 1k
to 2,000, it only took 86 days. I’m moving up in the world! That means I
went from an average of 8.4 hits/day for the first thousand to 11.6
hits/day for the second thousand.

Let’s spread the word out there about me and let’s try for 15 hits a day!
Woohoo!

Thank you to all of my visitors, especially those who hit the reload button
a lot!

// posted by Mark @ 4/11/2004 06:43:27 PM
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Saturday, April 10, 2004

Lack of sleep

I finally tracked my sleep pattern. I took a sheet of paper to bed and
recorded every time I woke up.

Here’s the list:

I went to bed at 9:30

I woke up at:

10.30
11.37 – 67 minutes
12.19 – 42
01.36 – 77
02.00 – 24
02.35 – 35
02.54 – 19
04.09 – 75
05.00 – 51

As you can see, I’m not getting more than an hour of sleep at a time. I’m
pretty sure this is from the Abilify, since this started when I started
taking them. This is not good, since you need about 90 minutes of sleep to
get into a REM state.

// posted by Mark @ 4/10/2004 09:16:33 AM
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Friday, April 09, 2004

*SNIFF*

I tbink I half a code. *sniff* *sniff* *sneeze* Either that or my allergies
are really out of control. Either way, I feel miserable. I’m lucky my work
place is closed for Good Friday. The bad news is they are open tomorrow.
I’ll have to see how I feel tomorrow morning.

// posted by Mark @ 4/9/2004 09:23:37 AM
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Slavery

Slavery Lawsuit Could Go The Way of an Earlier, Failed One. Let’s get this
straight folks. When you analyze the distribution chain of the slave trade
back in the old days, the chain started with one village of BLACKS raiding
another village, putting them in bondage and taking them to the coast to be
sold to the Dutch traders.

That’s right, Blacks put Blacks into slavery. And it’s still going on today
in parts of Africa. Today. This minute. Now.

And these coddled people, who cannot imagine the conditions their ancestors
were enslaved from, have some noble notion about how their ancestors (and
present cousins) live. They want money for it.

I have no problem offering them a plane ticket (round-trip) from the US to
Ghana, Chad, et. al. and let them experience life as their cousins do. I am
quite sure they will come back with a healthy appreciation of their life
here in the US.

// posted by Mark @ 4/9/2004 09:19:25 AM
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VDH Friday

Victor Davis Hanson hits another one out of the park with this article,
Western Cannibalism.

Out of all the recent chaos emerges one lesson: Appeasement of
fundamentalists is not appreciated as magnanimity, but ridiculed as
weakness – and, in fact, encourages further killing. A shaken Spain elected
a new government that promised to exit Iraq. In return, the terrorists
planted more bombs, issued more demands, and then staged a fiery exit for
themselves. France, as is its historical wont, triangulated with the Muslim
world and then found its fundamentalist plotters all over Paris. The Saudi
royals thought that they of all people could continue to blackmail the
fundamentalists – until the suicide-murderers turned their explosives on
their benefactors and began to blow up Arab Muslims as well. General
Musharraf once did all he could to appease Islamists – and got
assassination plots as thanks.

Read the whole thing.

// posted by Mark @ 4/9/2004 09:06:43 AM
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Thursday, April 08, 2004

More stupid activists

This woman upsets me. Aggrieved parents appear to refute activist’s claims.

This is the story of a little girl who was killed in her front yard by a
coyote. A coyote who came out of the wilds looking for food because there
are too many coyotes because they are protected.

This is what got to me:
[Pamelyn] Ferdin, a former child actress, said again Wednesday that she
does not believe the girl died from a coyote attack. “I stand by my beliefs
that a coyote did not kill (the girl).”
I’m not surprised, I’m not shocked, I’m not even disgusted anymore. The
patent stupidity of this woman is so evident I wonder how she draws breath.
When faced with the facts, she still sees what she wants to through her
twisted paradigm.

My only concern is Ms. Ferdin might convince other people. It scares me
that her stupidity might spread.

// posted by Mark @ 4/8/2004 12:02:49 PM
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No better friend, no worse enemy…

…is the saying of the US Marines. And they proved it the other day.

Hat tip to Cox and Forkum. US marines bomb Fallujah mosque.
After the insurgents holed up in the mosque struck a humvee vehicle with an
RPG, lightly wounding five soldiers, the marines opted for their heavy
weaponry.

First a warplane fired off guns, then a Cobra helicopter shot off a
Hellfire missile at the mosque and finally an aircraft dropped a laser-
guided precision bomb, Byrne said.

[…]

The head of the Marines First Division, General James Mattis, defended the
attack, warning if rebels used places of worship in their war against US
forces, his troops would not hesitate to strike them at sacred sites.

“If they barricade themselves inside a mosque, we are not going to care
about the mosque anymore than they do,” Mattis said.
The gloves are off and we made the message clear that there are no safe
places for these bastards to hide.

// posted by Mark @ 4/8/2004 11:52:29 AM
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Wednesday, April 07, 2004

Humor Wednesday

[pic]

// posted by Mark @ 4/7/2004 01:24:19 PM
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Guess I’m not okay

Sorry for no postings this morning, I had a medium sized attack. Guess I’m
not as well as I think I am. I hope you enjoyed the two prior posts.

// posted by Mark @ 4/7/2004 10:39:32 AM
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Tuesday, April 06, 2004

To my Liberal readers

I want to bring some reason to those of you who don’t agree with me.

If you think 9/11 was a good thing like the guy here if you think we
deserve more 9/11 scale attacks, please go away because I can’t reason with
you. I don’t need your hits if you have such a mindset.

Now that I have your attention, please ask yourself, do you want another
terrorist attack? No matter who the president is, would another 3,000-5,000
dead do anybody any good?

What would you do to prevent that attack? Nothing? Anything? Something in
between? We’ve tried nothing, all it did was invite more attacks. We tried
treating it like a police matter and punishing those directly responsible
and we got two towers knocked down as a result. We’ve tried nothing, we’ve
tried being policemen. With the fact of 9/11, and the possibility of more
such attacks, we are left with the sole option of doing anything and
everything to prevent another such attack.

Ask yourself, where do you want the terrorists carrying out attacks, New
York or Najaf? Boston or Baghdad?

As long as one Muslim believes that we are the Great Satan, there will be
more attacks. The very existence of this kind of people is a direct threat
to us and our way of life. As long as we are willing to put up with people
like bin Laden, the question is not “are we going to be attacked again,”
but “when and where will we be attacked again.”

To what extent are YOU willing to go to prevent another attack? Retribution
does no one any good, the victims won’t come back to life because we wiped
out those responsible. It is better to save everybody’s life on both sides
by preventing the attack in the first place.

Monumental change does not come without a price, and we are paying that
price in blood today. But the question still remains, do we pay with the
blood of hundreds of soldiers today to prevent the spilling of innocent
blood by the thousands tomorrow? It is a question that demands an answer,
and right now it is being answered in the streets of Iraq rather than the
streets of the United States.

I’ve related this before, but it’s worth repeating again.

In the miniatures wargames I play, I have learned to carry the battle to
the enemy. I bring the attack to him, forcing him to fight on his side of
the board on the defensive. As long as I can carry the fight to my enemy
and make him react to my plans instead of carrying out his own plans, I win
about 80% of the time. When I act defensively and let him bring the battle
to me, I always lose.

And so it is in Iraq. Right now we have all of the terrorists and former
Ba’athists in one section of Iraq, and as long as they concentrate their
forces against our armed forces, they do not have the ability to attack us
here in the States.

The conditions in the Middle East are deplorable compared to those in the
United States. The only way to move up in their world right now is by dying
gloriously and taking out infidels with them, earning 72 virgins in the
process. The best way to solve that is to show them a better way. We need
to show them freedom. The freedom to choose their own path rather than
someone else telling them what to do.

This is a difficult process that will take years to get it right. It took
us 8 years under the Articles of Confederation before we wrote the
Constitution. South Africa is still working on democracy after 10 years.
Whoever thinks the Iraqis will get this democracy thing right the first
time is living in a fantasy world.

It is not going to be easy, but then again, those things worth having are
never easy to get.

// posted by Mark @ 4/6/2004 06:15:59 PM
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Intellectual dishonesty

When I’m not on the computer in the mornings, I listen to Glenn Beck.
Despite his biting sarcasm, he is a first rate commentator.

This morning, he took on Frank. Frank is a classic liberal, Bush lied, etc.
But he blinded himself to reality. Frank made a wonderful case about Bush
and Iraq (twisted, but wonderful), but when compared to other American
actions, he just stuttered for a moment and began the Bush lied all over
again. Frank talked about how world opinion is against us in Iraq, but
“forgot” that it was against us in Bosnia as well.

This is how you defeat a Liberal. Let him make a case against Bush, then
compare what Bush has done to what Clinton has done. You drive the Liberals
into an apoplectic frenzy when you confront them with their own words.

The next time a Liberal confronts you about Bush lied, point out that the
UN and Clinton said the same things about Iraq.

When they hit you about Bush’s “unilateral” non-UN approved action in Iraq,
point out Bosnia.

It makes sense to a Liberal that Clinton does one thing and it’s okay, but
when Bush does it also, it’s bad.

All this does is reveal the deep, pathological hatred Liberals have for
Bush. All this would have been okay if Gore had done it. Bush could stand
on his head and spit nickels and the Liberals would not be happy. As long
as there is a Republican in the White House Liberals will complain and hold
their breath until they turn blue, just like little children.

And that is how you have to treat Liberals, like little children. You have
to be firm with them, point out where they are being silly and send them to
bed without a story.

// posted by Mark @ 4/6/2004 06:13:00 PM
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Monday, April 05, 2004

On a more technical matter

This article, Call waiting: Cell phone interference disrupts some police,
fire radios talks about the interference that cell phones are making in the
police and fire radios.

I agree with the assertion that this will cost somebody’s life, and soon.
Lack of communication will get you killed when you are a police officer.

There are two plans on the table, first is to make the cell companies clean
up their act and equipment and stop producing the interference. Second is
to reband the spectrum so that public safety and cell phone frequencies are
not so close.

Nextel, the major culprit in this story, has a plan they can profit on.
They pay for rebanding the public safety radios and give up some of their
spectrum (costing them $850,000,000) and getting a different part of the
spectrum, worth about $3,000,000,000 (that’s billion). The problem is this
plan will take about 3-4 years to do.

I like to see both solutions implemented. Get rid of the interference now,
and reband everybody to permanently solve the problem.

I just don’t like to see someone profit off of a problem they are the
source of. It makes it seem that it was done at least somewhat
deliberately.

// posted by Mark @ 4/5/2004 09:05:46 PM
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Spain is getting picked on, still

Well, it seems like the bomb on the tracks was by the same group of
bastards that set off the bombs on the trains. It also seems like most of
the group has been killed or tracked down. Terrorists Warn Spain of
‘Inferno’.

The terrorists want Spanish forces out of Iraq as of yesterday the 4th,
which the only way that could have happened was if they had just abandoned
all of their equipment on the ground as-is and just jumped on the next
flight home.

Since the deadline was not met, will what is left of this or any other
terror cells start new bombings? Of course, now that the first demand was
given into, there will be more demands, and more, and more. How about,
“More Spaniards will die if the Prime Minister doesn’t appear on TV and hop
in a counter-clockwise direction with one foot in the air?” That is just as
sensible as any demand the terrorists have.

// posted by Mark @ 4/5/2004 08:44:44 PM
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Air America encroachment

I was slightly wrong in my last post about Air America.

Normally, syndicated shows are bought by the station. The station then uses
the commercial time to pay for the show fees, operating expenses and then
make a profit.

Air America is having to pay to have it’s message put on the air. The
station(s), recognizing sucky programming when they see it, want their
money up front from AA because they are doubtful that they can actually
sell advertising space on these “shows.”

Now comes this article, WLIB plans to go Black at night.

This was an all-Black station, until AA came along. Now it’s only Black
between Midnight and 5am. And the listeners of the station aren’t too happy
with all of these White folk coming in and taking over their air time.

This station used to reach out to all types of Black listeners. Now they
are going to carry garbage like “the O’Frankin Factor.” If AA was planning
on driving the Black vote to the GOP, this will do it in very short order.

// posted by Mark @ 4/5/2004 08:28:44 PM
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Consequences of your actions

It seems that Senator Kerry is in a bit of a quandary. Politics cloud
Kerry’s Easter plans. Being a pro-choice Catholic, his Bishop is
threatening to withhold Communion if he doesn’t straighten up and adhere to
the church’s teachings and positions.

Which is maybe why he’s been stumping in non-Catholic churches lately.
Mr. Kerry was in St. Louis on March 28, but he sidestepped the Communion
issue by attending New Northside Missionary Baptist Church, where he quoted
a few verses from the second chapter of James.

Yesterday, Mr. Kerry again worshipped at a Protestant congregation: Charles
Street African Methodist Episcopal Church in Dorchester, Mass.
It seems to me that he should go Protestant so he can avoid all of his
problems with the Catholic Church.

But I’m just a crazy guy that lives in Memphis.

// posted by Mark @ 4/5/2004 07:57:54 PM
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Counting down the minutes

Until the cable guy gets here. I just hope it’s not Jim Carrey…. 😉

I’ve got business to do after I get back on-line, so you’ll get a double
dose of bloggedy goodness tomorrow.

// posted by Mark @ 4/5/2004 09:54:49 AM
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Saturday, April 03, 2004

Finally, RSS

I’m still not sure what RSS is, but when I registered with Blogstreet
tonight, they had the option so I signed up for it. Hopefully it will
increase my readership. The more hits I have, the happier I am.

And you want to keep me happy.

// posted by Mark @ 4/3/2004 08:50:05 PM
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The shoals of reality

I’m a little late in bringing this to your attention because my bandwidth
has been reduced from the size of the Mississippi to a coffee straw. So my
reading has been severely restricted.

Bill Whittle at Eject! Eject! Eject! has come up with Chapter Two of his
latest creation. Here is but a sample:
It is not a palatial hall of great minds looking for answers and then
testing them in the real world; it is a basement in your parents house
filled with lazy and filthy hippies eating your leftovers and drinking the
last of your milk. Intellectualism is certainly not the same as
intelligence, and more and more, it is becoming antithetical to
intelligence. When well-off people who call themselves intellectuals drive
their SUV’s to march in support of Marxism, you can see the chasm between
intellectualism and intelligence in full flower. When elitists who fancy
themselves brighter and more compassionate than the rest of us choose to
support the Taliban, with its stoning of women and execution of homosexuals
in football stadiums before mandatory audiences, over a representative
democracy with unparalleled structural protections of minorities and
freedoms of expression, then self-styled intellectuals have abandoned
intelligence altogether, as well as morality, reason, compassion and indeed
sanity.
Read the rest, then ask yourself where you are, the chartroom or on the
weather deck.

// posted by Mark @ 4/3/2004 10:03:53 AM
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Friday, April 02, 2004

Bearing arms

Here is another knee-jerk piece of legislation: Congress eyes citizenship
oath.

It talks about the softening the Oath of Allegiance given to people
becoming full citizens, changing several sections.

Now, I don’t necessarily have a problem with the new wording, as the leak
has presented them. What bothers me is they (the U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS)) are supposed to have a 60 day comment period,
where they ignored this period for some reason, likely to stifle any
opposition to the changes.
During his testimony, [Congressman] Mr. Ryun said USCIS acted hastily to
change the wording, ignoring the standard 60-day period for public comment.

“The proposed changes intended to make the language more modern, but
instead would transform an absolute commitment to the Constitution into a
conditional statement and thereby weaken our citizenship,” said Mr. Ryun,
noting the elimination of “the call to bear arms.”
It could be that the USCIS officials in question are holophobes. You never
know.

// posted by Mark @ 4/2/2004 10:34:56 PM
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The elephant in the room

Well, the GOP has finally declared that there is an elephant in the room.
GOP Rails at Kerry’s ‘Unprecedented Criminal Enterprise’.

It has long been on talk radio and all over the blogosphere that the 527’s
are 90% Liberal and doing their damnedest to unseat President Bush,
bypassing the Campaign Finance Reform Law. The very law these people were
screaming over to make fund-raising more ‘fair.’
“Simply put, the Kerry campaign and the Democratic Party have been unable
to fund-raise to a level of hard dollars that they think is necessary for
their campaign efforts,” the GOP complaint says.

“Instead, they have chosen to rely on an illegal conspiracy of donors and
shadowy groups to defeat President Bush.”
It seems that the Democrats have been hoisted by their own petard on this
one. They create a complex law to hinder raising shady money. Then, when
the Republicans beat them at their own game, using these rules, the Dems
have to cheat to even stay in the game. They have to funnel large amounts
of money prohibited to the candidate into these 527 (section of the tax
code) committees and organizations such as MoveOn.org and their ilk to keep
the political ads rolling and trying to sway public opinion.

I hope either the Republicans form a few of their own 527’s to even the
score, or plug this hole in the CFR law.

// posted by Mark @ 4/2/2004 10:22:26 PM
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I thought they surrendered?

Another bomb has been found in Spain, on another train line. Bomb Found on
Spanish Train Track.

The article dismisses al Qaeda as being responsible, but you never know.
Anyhow, I thought surrendering and withdrawing troops from Iraq would stop
the bombing?

I guess not. The more you give into bullies, the more you get picked on,
not only by the original bully, but all of the others join in on you.

// posted by Mark @ 4/2/2004 09:07:47 AM
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Don’t trust them

This Op-Ed piece from Newsmax, The Truth Is Not in Them, rips the left-wing
media a new one, and rightfully so.
This is serious business. The very future of the nation is at risk thanks
to the socialist elite who dominate the mainstream media. They have an
agenda, one that begins with an all-out effort to defeat George W. Bush as
a first step in putting the United States back into the hands of one of the
most sinister and malignant political forces ever to seek power over the
American people – what passes for the once honorable Democrat party now
firmly in the hands of a corrupt socialist elite.
You can’t be any more serious than that. John Kerry and his Socialist
policies will undo all of the good that President Bush has done, and cause
more damage on top of that.

Despite his high poll numbers at the moment, you have to admit that Kerry
is as boring as a sack of potatoes. He lacks the energy and charisma to
energize his base enough to actually go out and vote. That and the fact
that it appears that everything he has is against Bush, but has no plan of
his own outside of, “I wouldn’t have done it that way!” There are a lot of
things he’s against, but not so many things he’s for.

I think that the majority of voters will see that the one person who is
doing the right thing is Bush. While Clinton opened his presidency with the
phrase, “We are the most ethical administration the country has ever seen,
” (to be followed with so many “-gates” that it wasn’t funny). Bush has set
the ethical standard for past and present administrations to be measured
against.

Kerry doesn’t have a leg to stand on ethically. He is on the both sides of
every issue and that alone will defeat him. The Bush political ads just
have to have video of Kerry saying one thing, then contradicting himself.
Play ads like that for the next few months and let’s see how well Kerry
fares.