Thursday, April 20, 2006
Once again, our President misses a chance-
"Maa'm, I don't know who you are. But together we will give this man an example of why America is great. You come up here and take my place on this rostrum for 5 minutes. That will be more important than anything I have to say".
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
My felony crime...
I was teaching riding lessons in Weston, Connecticut. The next town over is Westport, a famed artistique community which parades its oh so bien pensant sensibilities proudly. One of the ways it does so is to decorate the town on "United Nations WEEK" with the flags of all nations. April 27 fell during U. N. week, and I was in Westport that day on some errand at about noon.
I drove past the Cuban flag. I drove past the Red Chinese flag. I drove past the Soviet flag. I'm sure on League of Nations day in 1941 they had the Nazi and Japanese flags up.
And then I got to the very middle of the bridge over the river.
I could no more have not done what I did than I could have stopped myself from breathing. I braked the car and got out. While the BMW and Mercedes drivers honked, I climbed up on the railing of the bridge. So no one would think this was a result of a gust of wind, I broke off the top half of the 8 foot 2x2 flag pole, ripped the banner away and threw it in my trunk. With a cheery wave I drove off.
There were the predictable IRATE OUTRAGED letters in the local rag. My letter of explanation to the rag was not printed.
I called the police to turn myself in a couple of days later. The man who answered turned me over to "the detective handling the case".
"Lieutenant Soandso here. You want to turn yourself in for the flag vandalism? Where are you, we will come and pick you up."
"You do know what flag it was that you will be arresting me for tearing down, don't you?"
"No, what was it?"
I told him.
Long silence.
"Um, I think you are mistaken. No crime was committed on the Westport Bridge. We don't need to know where you are. Thank you for calling and have a GOOD DAY."
April 27, 1980.
Proud of it. I'd do it again.
(True, it was the old Shah one, but the Revolution was a year past. The communists on the town planning board just hadn't access to the new one yet, or were too ignorant to know it had changed. They meant Iran.)
I drove past the Cuban flag. I drove past the Red Chinese flag. I drove past the Soviet flag. I'm sure on League of Nations day in 1941 they had the Nazi and Japanese flags up.
And then I got to the very middle of the bridge over the river.
I could no more have not done what I did than I could have stopped myself from breathing. I braked the car and got out. While the BMW and Mercedes drivers honked, I climbed up on the railing of the bridge. So no one would think this was a result of a gust of wind, I broke off the top half of the 8 foot 2x2 flag pole, ripped the banner away and threw it in my trunk. With a cheery wave I drove off.
There were the predictable IRATE OUTRAGED letters in the local rag. My letter of explanation to the rag was not printed.
I called the police to turn myself in a couple of days later. The man who answered turned me over to "the detective handling the case".
"Lieutenant Soandso here. You want to turn yourself in for the flag vandalism? Where are you, we will come and pick you up."
"You do know what flag it was that you will be arresting me for tearing down, don't you?"
"No, what was it?"
I told him.
Long silence.
"Um, I think you are mistaken. No crime was committed on the Westport Bridge. We don't need to know where you are. Thank you for calling and have a GOOD DAY."
April 27, 1980.
Proud of it. I'd do it again.
(True, it was the old Shah one, but the Revolution was a year past. The communists on the town planning board just hadn't access to the new one yet, or were too ignorant to know it had changed. They meant Iran.)
An hilarious locution...
Someone said to a friend of mine, "You should be working 24-7".
His reply, 'I do- 24 hours a week, 7 months a year."
May be old, but it made me laugh.
His reply, 'I do- 24 hours a week, 7 months a year."
May be old, but it made me laugh.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Can Harvard hire this man to be its new president?
Ha. Like that will happen. It's some big mistake that he's the boss at the Sorbonne.
"I know people will say I'm a horrible reactionary but I'm very angry about the ignorance and the stupidity not just of youngsters but of the French because we have the youth we deserve."
If you click on the blue paragraph above, the article I quote from will appear as if by magic.
If you click on the blue paragraph above, the article I quote from will appear as if by magic.
I wish this woman was a legislator or judge...
Never happen, though. She thinks too clearly.
"IKyle Huff decided he wanted to end my son's life. Kyle Huff decided to kill all of those kids. Not his arsenal, not his family, not alcohol, not drugs. Not anything or anyone except Kyle Huff. I'm angry with everyone who is trying to make themselves feel better about this by blaming anything or anyone except the person responsible.
When are we as human beings going to stop making excuses for our behavior and the behavior of others? Yes, I agree, there are always reasons. We are human after all and make mistakes and wrong decisions, but we make them."
If you click on the blue paragraph above, the article I quote from will appear as if by magic.
When are we as human beings going to stop making excuses for our behavior and the behavior of others? Yes, I agree, there are always reasons. We are human after all and make mistakes and wrong decisions, but we make them."
If you click on the blue paragraph above, the article I quote from will appear as if by magic.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Princess Diana's ditch...
I know this is old, bur her memorial is a GUTTER.
With a CONCRETE TUNNEL.
It cost FIVE AND A HALF MILLION POUNDS. Another QUARTER OF A MILLION ANNUALLY FOREVER.
For once, the government got it absolutely perfect.
"It is a fitting tribute to the Princess of Wales..."
If you click on the blue paragraph above, the article I quote from will appear as if by magic.
With a CONCRETE TUNNEL.
It cost FIVE AND A HALF MILLION POUNDS. Another QUARTER OF A MILLION ANNUALLY FOREVER.
For once, the government got it absolutely perfect.
If you click on the blue paragraph above, the article I quote from will appear as if by magic.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Another great Filthy movie review...
I've always loved this character's writing, and he's usually right about the movies, too.
"How many senior citizens would you be willing to shoot in the head to make every twelve-year-old smile once for eight seconds? How about for ten seconds? How many more would you kill to make those kids smile a second time? Don't answer if you hate old people because then you'd only be killing them to make yourself smile. Go ahead and answer if you're like me and don't give a shit whether or not kids are happy. "
If you'll click on the blue words, the article from which I'm quoting will appear as if by magic.
If you'll click on the blue words, the article from which I'm quoting will appear as if by magic.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
The American settlement on religion...
The American settlement on religion has been on my mind lately. Since I visited Shawbak, I've been musing on religious war.
Our bien pensants deny it, our ignorant stay that way, and "moderate Moslems" stand up like "moderate Germans" in 1936. But we are in a religious war anyway. Why don't we see it and deal with it as one?
The modern European experience with wars of religion dates to the 16th and 17th centuries. The conflicts between the Catholic and Prostestant princes during that era were between competing rulers. Faith might have started as the tool, excuse, or marker for that power, and the power was the ultimate goal for those rulers. But the tool turned on them, and the populations eventually engaged in a genuine religious war. They fought to exterminate an idea, and thus the lives of all those who believed that idea. The wars of religion were even worse than civil wars- which of course they were, too.
But unlike civil wars between two princes and their adherents, religious wars have one terrible difference. Surrender is not possible. Catholics, unlike Confederates, could not accept defeat because surrender was damnation. The loser must die, or make an essential change to his very soul.
So the wars continued until one side won or lost, and by 1700 every country in Europe was, officially and overtly, Catholic or Protestant.
Eighty years later, the recently free American colonies founded their Republic. The English Civil War, a religious war, was only two long lifetimes in the past. The founders had been nurtured on tales of that heroic and frightening time. And many of them were true, serious religious believers.
Yet they lived in a place which was a patchwork of sects. There was no king, whose faith the new country could follow. More importantly, these men had just fought a civil war together for their shared belief in liberty. They really really believed in that, all of them.
So they came up with an historically new solution. There would be no state faith, no wars of religion here.
Granted, much of Europe was already heading toward tolerance. Few places actively punished religious dissent, cetainly England had slacked off substantially. But the United States made it the law.
And it worked pretty well. The Europeans adopted the idea, many of them officially and all unofficially. And those of us in the West have grown up with that. The aberrations, Germany 1933-40 and the continuing Irish wreck, have proved the rule to us.
Religious tolerance has eroded the power of religion as a source of real conflict. Almost everyone in the west looks on Eric Rudolf as an evil nut. Not even Farrakhan or Robertson advocate killing heretics. That's given us two serious problems.
First, we have gotten to the point that we cannot understand a war of religion in our hearts, like we cannot understand eating dogs and cats. We really and truly do not comprehend burning buildings and killing people over cartoons or books in a toilet. And because we can't understand it, we don't deal with it appropriately. We are like our ancestors trying to deal with cancer by exorcism.
This goes for both the lefties and the neocons, though the neocons at least make SOME sense. They seem to have figured out that peace requires that our enemies stop doing what they do. The left thinks we can negotiate the commands of Allah.
But to paraphrase Trotsky, religious war is interested in us. There are millions of people who truly believe that killing us is a command of God. Whether it makes sense to us or not is irrelevant. Because we have lived so long without war at home, we can't really imagine it.
I see a similar reaction from non typical victims of violent crime. They simply cannot process that they were robbed, beaten, or raped for NO REASON AT ALL BUT THE JOY OF THE CRIMINAL. The entire event was without reference to the victim as a person, they were just there. What a terrifying and depersonalising thought- to be just an object. No wonder victims blame themselves. Better to have had one's jaw broked "because I smarted off" than "because he could".
This is behind the weak nature of our justice systems- our legislators don't imagine that there are people who LIKE to do bad things to genuinely innocent people. Truly imagining predators among us is so frightening that they pretend that criminals are just misguided or confused. The very idea that a person who rapes can be "rehabilitated" is facially stupid. So stupid that only judges and legislators can accept it. But the rapists are out there, and they will be what they are.
The second, deeper problem our fortunate history gives us flows from our loss of passion about faith. We cannot seem to understand, on a really deep level to BELIEVE, that liberty IS a religion. Our faith in reason and tolerance does everything for us that Sharia does for Hamza. I t provides us with rules, a culture, values, protection, survival, a whole life. We live and thrive by and through free exchange of thought and goods. Without that liberty we might still exist, but we would not be us anymore. We'd be Cuba or Libya.
Our faith is complete. It is, to us, so self evidently right that we actually believe it's impossible to disagree. We seem to think that our enemies can somehow be persuaded, by force or example, to accept our ways. Since getting along has worked so well for us, we truly wonder: can't we all just get along?
But we aren't getting along, any more than the Moslems are.
We are in an aggressive religious war against Islam. We attack it every minute with our voting women and our ill mannered children and our drugs and our internet. The theocracies of the middle east, and their powerful religious heirarchies, cannot survive in the same world as western values any more than Castro or Kim, who wall themselves off .
Thirty years ago, we weren't in the same world, the Moslem places and the West had little interaction. Now we are bumping into each other everywhere. The barren sands of Yemen are polluted by reruns of Friends, and fathers in Dearborn try to force their daughters to stay home and marry their cousins.
We can't all just get along.
And in a religious war, surrender is impossible.
If you don't think we have a state religion that is also real, that we hold in our hearts, that we willingly kill and die for, click on the paragraph below and read the whole thing. I dare you.
"IThe World Trade Center is not America. Oh, in a way it is - a marvel of engineering, a hub of wealth creation, designed by a man of Japanese ancestry, constructed by hand by citizens whose people came from Europe, Asia, Africa. Men who prayed to one God, to many, to none. All colors and creeds constructed that building; like any skyscraper in any American city, the World Trade Center was the legend of Babel refuted in stone and glass.
But it was merely a manifestation of America. If the terrorists had a finer grasp of American culture, they might have headed for the Empire State Building. It has a greater claim as a national symbol. It went up during the overture to the Depression, a statement of optimism in a world of compounded doom. Its lines are serious and austere, yet romantic and ennobling. A zeppelin docked at its summit; King Kong climbed its cliffs. Even the name contains the contradictions of America - we are an empire, yes but an empire whose provinces are knitted together by an idea. A concept. A bold proposition: citizenship is not based on blood, on clan, on tribe, but on a belief in an ideal. "
Our bien pensants deny it, our ignorant stay that way, and "moderate Moslems" stand up like "moderate Germans" in 1936. But we are in a religious war anyway. Why don't we see it and deal with it as one?
The modern European experience with wars of religion dates to the 16th and 17th centuries. The conflicts between the Catholic and Prostestant princes during that era were between competing rulers. Faith might have started as the tool, excuse, or marker for that power, and the power was the ultimate goal for those rulers. But the tool turned on them, and the populations eventually engaged in a genuine religious war. They fought to exterminate an idea, and thus the lives of all those who believed that idea. The wars of religion were even worse than civil wars- which of course they were, too.
But unlike civil wars between two princes and their adherents, religious wars have one terrible difference. Surrender is not possible. Catholics, unlike Confederates, could not accept defeat because surrender was damnation. The loser must die, or make an essential change to his very soul.
So the wars continued until one side won or lost, and by 1700 every country in Europe was, officially and overtly, Catholic or Protestant.
Eighty years later, the recently free American colonies founded their Republic. The English Civil War, a religious war, was only two long lifetimes in the past. The founders had been nurtured on tales of that heroic and frightening time. And many of them were true, serious religious believers.
Yet they lived in a place which was a patchwork of sects. There was no king, whose faith the new country could follow. More importantly, these men had just fought a civil war together for their shared belief in liberty. They really really believed in that, all of them.
So they came up with an historically new solution. There would be no state faith, no wars of religion here.
Granted, much of Europe was already heading toward tolerance. Few places actively punished religious dissent, cetainly England had slacked off substantially. But the United States made it the law.
And it worked pretty well. The Europeans adopted the idea, many of them officially and all unofficially. And those of us in the West have grown up with that. The aberrations, Germany 1933-40 and the continuing Irish wreck, have proved the rule to us.
Religious tolerance has eroded the power of religion as a source of real conflict. Almost everyone in the west looks on Eric Rudolf as an evil nut. Not even Farrakhan or Robertson advocate killing heretics. That's given us two serious problems.
First, we have gotten to the point that we cannot understand a war of religion in our hearts, like we cannot understand eating dogs and cats. We really and truly do not comprehend burning buildings and killing people over cartoons or books in a toilet. And because we can't understand it, we don't deal with it appropriately. We are like our ancestors trying to deal with cancer by exorcism.
This goes for both the lefties and the neocons, though the neocons at least make SOME sense. They seem to have figured out that peace requires that our enemies stop doing what they do. The left thinks we can negotiate the commands of Allah.
But to paraphrase Trotsky, religious war is interested in us. There are millions of people who truly believe that killing us is a command of God. Whether it makes sense to us or not is irrelevant. Because we have lived so long without war at home, we can't really imagine it.
I see a similar reaction from non typical victims of violent crime. They simply cannot process that they were robbed, beaten, or raped for NO REASON AT ALL BUT THE JOY OF THE CRIMINAL. The entire event was without reference to the victim as a person, they were just there. What a terrifying and depersonalising thought- to be just an object. No wonder victims blame themselves. Better to have had one's jaw broked "because I smarted off" than "because he could".
This is behind the weak nature of our justice systems- our legislators don't imagine that there are people who LIKE to do bad things to genuinely innocent people. Truly imagining predators among us is so frightening that they pretend that criminals are just misguided or confused. The very idea that a person who rapes can be "rehabilitated" is facially stupid. So stupid that only judges and legislators can accept it. But the rapists are out there, and they will be what they are.
The second, deeper problem our fortunate history gives us flows from our loss of passion about faith. We cannot seem to understand, on a really deep level to BELIEVE, that liberty IS a religion. Our faith in reason and tolerance does everything for us that Sharia does for Hamza. I t provides us with rules, a culture, values, protection, survival, a whole life. We live and thrive by and through free exchange of thought and goods. Without that liberty we might still exist, but we would not be us anymore. We'd be Cuba or Libya.
Our faith is complete. It is, to us, so self evidently right that we actually believe it's impossible to disagree. We seem to think that our enemies can somehow be persuaded, by force or example, to accept our ways. Since getting along has worked so well for us, we truly wonder: can't we all just get along?
But we aren't getting along, any more than the Moslems are.
We are in an aggressive religious war against Islam. We attack it every minute with our voting women and our ill mannered children and our drugs and our internet. The theocracies of the middle east, and their powerful religious heirarchies, cannot survive in the same world as western values any more than Castro or Kim, who wall themselves off .
Thirty years ago, we weren't in the same world, the Moslem places and the West had little interaction. Now we are bumping into each other everywhere. The barren sands of Yemen are polluted by reruns of Friends, and fathers in Dearborn try to force their daughters to stay home and marry their cousins.
We can't all just get along.
And in a religious war, surrender is impossible.
If you don't think we have a state religion that is also real, that we hold in our hearts, that we willingly kill and die for, click on the paragraph below and read the whole thing. I dare you.
But it was merely a manifestation of America. If the terrorists had a finer grasp of American culture, they might have headed for the Empire State Building. It has a greater claim as a national symbol. It went up during the overture to the Depression, a statement of optimism in a world of compounded doom. Its lines are serious and austere, yet romantic and ennobling. A zeppelin docked at its summit; King Kong climbed its cliffs. Even the name contains the contradictions of America - we are an empire, yes but an empire whose provinces are knitted together by an idea. A concept. A bold proposition: citizenship is not based on blood, on clan, on tribe, but on a belief in an ideal. "
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Stop financing Chavez! Boycott Citgo!
You know Mr. Chavez? Mr. Castro's bum boy? The one who says that the U. S. is the world's biggest terrorist?
He pays for his anti Americanism at all those lovely Citgo gas stations. I stopped buying there when he had his little coup, but I've not seen it discussed and people may not know. We ought to boycott Stalinito's stop and robs.
Not that I think it will actually happen, of course. Most Americans seem too stupid to catch the link between the money they spend here and the pockets into which it goes. At least judging by the amount of wasted petroleum I see. And even if they do figure it out, they can't be bothered to cross the street to go to another gas station.
Still, we might cost Chavez a little pin money, if we publicise the connection.
"In the 1990s, CITGO was purchased by Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. "
If you click on the blue paragraph above, the article I quote from will appear as if by magic.
He pays for his anti Americanism at all those lovely Citgo gas stations. I stopped buying there when he had his little coup, but I've not seen it discussed and people may not know. We ought to boycott Stalinito's stop and robs.
Not that I think it will actually happen, of course. Most Americans seem too stupid to catch the link between the money they spend here and the pockets into which it goes. At least judging by the amount of wasted petroleum I see. And even if they do figure it out, they can't be bothered to cross the street to go to another gas station.
Still, we might cost Chavez a little pin money, if we publicise the connection.
If you click on the blue paragraph above, the article I quote from will appear as if by magic.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Damn, it's too warm for a scarf now...
If you click on the blue paragraph above, the article I quote from will appear as if by magic.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Hillawhore...
I just love this so much. Big champions of the American worker, single mothers, liberation of strong women. Ha Ha Ha.
"My husband does all that money stuff, I'm just a girl". Tessa may have made that fly, but not even the MSM can sell it on Senator Clinton. Or is it Rodham again now?
My favourite
"Mrs Clinton's tough stance that the deal represented an "unacceptable risk" to national security has caused UAE officials some consternation."
I'll bet it has, a million and a half doesn't buy much Democrat, does it?
"Hillary Clinton, a leading opponent of DP World's takeover of some US port operations, was this week forced to admit that she did not know her husband had advised Dubai leaders on how to handle the growing dispute."
If she had been a Republican "forced to admit" would have been "claimed", or "asked people to believe".
My favourite is this bit-
"It was part of an effort by the emirates, said a person close to UAE officials, to forge a close relationship with a former US president who is influential and highly regarded in the region."
"PART"? A million and a half is PART? What is out there we don't know about yet? Under the new Cheney standards, aren't the Clintons responsible for alerting the national media instantly?
I really like "forge a close relationship". There are at least 3 single words that cover the concept of forging a relationship with cash, Mr. Journaliste.
Buy, rent, and whore.
If you click on the blue paragraph above, the article I quote from will appear as if by magic.
"My husband does all that money stuff, I'm just a girl". Tessa may have made that fly, but not even the MSM can sell it on Senator Clinton. Or is it Rodham again now?
My favourite
I'll bet it has, a million and a half doesn't buy much Democrat, does it?
If she had been a Republican "forced to admit" would have been "claimed", or "asked people to believe".
My favourite is this bit-
"PART"? A million and a half is PART? What is out there we don't know about yet? Under the new Cheney standards, aren't the Clintons responsible for alerting the national media instantly?
I really like "forge a close relationship". There are at least 3 single words that cover the concept of forging a relationship with cash, Mr. Journaliste.
Buy, rent, and whore.
If you click on the blue paragraph above, the article I quote from will appear as if by magic.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Can a police blog be "charming"?
Because that's what this one is. After all my years dealing with crime and "the system", it's nice to remember what it was like to be fresh. I'd rather be new and hopeful than all beat down and realistic.
Maybe somewhere inside I still am.
Maybe somewhere inside all of us that earnest rookie still keeps us willing horses pulling.
"By the time I finished my shift I was quite tired but had thoroughly enjoyed myself. I had actually worked as a police officer and was treated as such by both the officers and the public. I couldn’t wait to get home to tell my family - and I couldn’t wait for my next shift."
If you click on the blue paragraph above, the article I quote from will appear as if by magic.
Maybe somewhere inside I still am.
Maybe somewhere inside all of us that earnest rookie still keeps us willing horses pulling.
If you click on the blue paragraph above, the article I quote from will appear as if by magic.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
They hate us, we fear them...
No matter how many tears the white man cries, he is still the enemy. "When... you are driven to trek across a desert in order to mow those people’s lawns for them, the humiliation is doubled."
They ARE winning. It's obvious, we are acting like losers. Our military power is being used to "build democracy". Not to protect us, or to make us feared.
There will be a time- this week? Some day in 2011? when our defeat is clear. Savannah or Honolulu or Topeka will be a smoking hole, and some president will be unwilling to retaliate. Unable to even think, "Patience my ass, I'm going to kill something." The rockets will sit in their silos, so some president can take the "moral high ground". So he can send a message that live Arab civilians are more important than dead Americans. That's the message of the Cole, the Khobar towers, and so many other outrages followed by measured response.
This fool we have now is supposed to be the tough side of our culture. A winner says something like "This is the free world. We publish what we like." Only a loser says "We're sorry we offended you." The Arabs know what it means as they burn our embassies and WE counsel OUR restraint..
Westerners who have not seen war, westerners who haven't travelled to the third world, have NO IDEA what it is like out there. The world outside the west is, in large part, just like the worst housing project in your town, minus the nice amenities. The strongest and meanest rule, period. Our enemies can't believe that we are so weak, that we accept such humiliation. We will not wake up until we have no choice, and probably not then.
The article I link to below says truths that are simply unsayable in general public discourse, beter than I can. Dislike the truths, but that does not make them false.
If you don’t think we fear them, read some of the responses by people like the British Foreign Secretary to the recent Muslim riots. They are full of passion and rage; we are full of smug illusions. They dream of slaughter and sacrifice; we dream of celebrities and gadgets.
They ARE winning. It's obvious, we are acting like losers. Our military power is being used to "build democracy". Not to protect us, or to make us feared.
There will be a time- this week? Some day in 2011? when our defeat is clear. Savannah or Honolulu or Topeka will be a smoking hole, and some president will be unwilling to retaliate. Unable to even think, "Patience my ass, I'm going to kill something." The rockets will sit in their silos, so some president can take the "moral high ground". So he can send a message that live Arab civilians are more important than dead Americans. That's the message of the Cole, the Khobar towers, and so many other outrages followed by measured response.
This fool we have now is supposed to be the tough side of our culture. A winner says something like "This is the free world. We publish what we like." Only a loser says "We're sorry we offended you." The Arabs know what it means as they burn our embassies and WE counsel OUR restraint..
Westerners who have not seen war, westerners who haven't travelled to the third world, have NO IDEA what it is like out there. The world outside the west is, in large part, just like the worst housing project in your town, minus the nice amenities. The strongest and meanest rule, period. Our enemies can't believe that we are so weak, that we accept such humiliation. We will not wake up until we have no choice, and probably not then.
The article I link to below says truths that are simply unsayable in general public discourse, beter than I can. Dislike the truths, but that does not make them false.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
President Bush is a leftist AND a fool...
"The recoil should not be your first clue you grabbed the wrong gun."
Mrs. Meiers was foolish enough, but the ports deal? The Dubai deal IS old news, but the real question is, why do we have ANY foreign company running ANY U. S. port????
EVER?
We need to get back to American nationalism. We have spent too much effort trying to buy friends, rather than demanding that others earn our friendship. These tinhorn tyrants are just fake friends anyway, and even Joan Jett knows about those.
Mr. Lileks says it best-I would rather we had a system devoted to worrying about ifs and maybes instead of adopting an official policy of Whatever.
Mrs. Meiers was foolish enough, but the ports deal? The Dubai deal IS old news, but the real question is, why do we have ANY foreign company running ANY U. S. port????
EVER?
We need to get back to American nationalism. We have spent too much effort trying to buy friends, rather than demanding that others earn our friendship. These tinhorn tyrants are just fake friends anyway, and even Joan Jett knows about those.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Senator Says He Did Nothing Improper With Love...
At last, a legislator says something bad about bribery. Only after being implicated, of course, but still it's nice to hear something other than praise for traitors.
Plus, what a great headline!
To offer a bribe or to take one is, to me, tantamount to treason as it subverts justice and the integrity needed for our form of government to work.
Plus, what a great headline!
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Theodore Roosevelt and Coretta Scott King...
When King Edward VII died in 1910. former President Roosevelt happened to be in England and was invited to attend the funeral. It was a huge pageant and procession, which was governed by ancient medieval rules.
The various presidents of republics, having no titles of nobility, were assigned to march behind the Emperors, Kings, Dukes, and Barons.
The President of France found it unreasonable that he had to follow a bunch of titled nobodies, and told Roosevelt so. T. R.' reply-
"For God's sake, keep quiet. This is a funeral."
I am only saying.
The various presidents of republics, having no titles of nobility, were assigned to march behind the Emperors, Kings, Dukes, and Barons.
The President of France found it unreasonable that he had to follow a bunch of titled nobodies, and told Roosevelt so. T. R.' reply-
"For God's sake, keep quiet. This is a funeral."
I am only saying.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Cherie Blair dhimmi bum, dead multiculturalism, Arthur Miller is trash...
Click on the each text for the entire article.
The Boomers' Final Crime...
It looks as though the lazy, self indulgent "boomer" generation is about to stick us with their medical and nursing home bills.
But that's not their last crime on following generations. About 2010 or so, they will start to want that 401(k) money. And having degraded its value with their demand for handouts, they won't want to pay the deferred taxes- on which all the estimates of revenue are based.
I feel confident that they will use their voting power to make those taxes go away. Thal about an inflation bomb going off! The mechanics are simple, the Fed will just crate YET MORE money.
I am looking out for the 401(k) Tax Forgiveness Act of 2012 (or 2016).
But that's not their last crime on following generations. About 2010 or so, they will start to want that 401(k) money. And having degraded its value with their demand for handouts, they won't want to pay the deferred taxes- on which all the estimates of revenue are based.
I feel confident that they will use their voting power to make those taxes go away. Thal about an inflation bomb going off! The mechanics are simple, the Fed will just crate YET MORE money.
I am looking out for the 401(k) Tax Forgiveness Act of 2012 (or 2016).
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Jenna Jameson and Albert Einstein...
Yesterday I was part of a conversation in which someone mentioned Professor Einstein's opinions about political matters as if they were the last word.
Of course I said, "Hold hard there, what difference do his opinions make?"
"He was a GENIUS!"
"A genius at math and self promotion, how does that make him an expert about other stuff?"
"He was a GENIUS. He's a lot smarter than you and me."
"So what? Jenna Jameson can give a better blow job than you or I, that doesn't make her a heart surgeon."
Feel free to use it if you'd like next time someone trots out someone whose skill in one area is used to make them an expert in another. It definitely got the point across.
Of course I said, "Hold hard there, what difference do his opinions make?"
"He was a GENIUS!"
"A genius at math and self promotion, how does that make him an expert about other stuff?"
"He was a GENIUS. He's a lot smarter than you and me."
"So what? Jenna Jameson can give a better blow job than you or I, that doesn't make her a heart surgeon."
Feel free to use it if you'd like next time someone trots out someone whose skill in one area is used to make them an expert in another. It definitely got the point across.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Cartoon heroes...
With apologies to AQUA,
"The editorial staff of the alternative weekly New York Press walked out today, en masse, after the paper's publishers backed down from printing the Danish cartoons that have become the center of a global free-speech fight."
"...even on the far margins of the world-historical stage, we are not willing to side with the enemies of the values we hold dear, a free press not least among them."
Please CLICK HERE for the article I offer for your attention.
"The editorial staff of the alternative weekly New York Press walked out today, en masse, after the paper's publishers backed down from printing the Danish cartoons that have become the center of a global free-speech fight."
"...even on the far margins of the world-historical stage, we are not willing to side with the enemies of the values we hold dear, a free press not least among them."
Monday, February 06, 2006
An important victory for free speech...
Among all the cartoon craziness, there was an important victory for free speech that no one seems to want to notice. Nick Griifin, a British politician, was criminally tried for saying some truths about some Muslims at a public meeting.
The jury acquitted him on one count and did not convict on the others. This letter to The First Post lays out the facts better than any news story, including the actual "criminal" words used- calling some rapists "bastards" and saying that Islam is a "wicked" and "vicious" religion, whose Koran encourages ill treatment of non Muslim women.
Please CLICK HERE for the article I offer for your attention.
The jury acquitted him on one count and did not convict on the others. This letter to The First Post lays out the facts better than any news story, including the actual "criminal" words used- calling some rapists "bastards" and saying that Islam is a "wicked" and "vicious" religion, whose Koran encourages ill treatment of non Muslim women.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Watching Zimbabwe collapse...
I've added a really worthwhile blog to the sidebar,
sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/
.
The author lives inside Mugabe's abbatoir, and is blogging the collapse of civilazation there from the inside.
I wish "the west" could do what's right there, but it won't happen. Jesse Jackson would get all upset if we saved thousands of African slaves from a Ukrainian style famine.
The author lives inside Mugabe's abbatoir, and is blogging the collapse of civilazation there from the inside.
I wish "the west" could do what's right there, but it won't happen. Jesse Jackson would get all upset if we saved thousands of African slaves from a Ukrainian style famine.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Government- YOU TAXPAYERS- bail out the league...
..."you and me and anyone who pays taxes or uses the Royal Mail is subsidising the League Against Cruel Sports. "
To the tune of FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS.
Please CLICK HERE for the article I offer for your attention.
To the tune of FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS.
Monday, January 23, 2006
My Boss...
Is great. Not just competent at the work, but good about getting the best out of us. Plus a recogniser of a great truth, "Most of what we do is just getting other people to do what they are supposed to do."
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Friday, January 20, 2006
Australian liberal minister commits street robbery...
In the last election, Mr. Howard barely beat Mr. Latham- an opponent of Australia's alliance with the United States.
This lunatic was nearly prime minister of Australia last election. Now he's robbing people personally, not just through socialism.
A reporter had the AUDACITY to take his PICTURE on the PUBLIC STREET.
So he grabbed the reoprter's $12,000 camera, and when the reporter demanded it back, hit the reporter.
That's robbery with violence. What does that carry in Australia? 3-6 years here for a first offender. Which he's not.
"It looks like he spent a good hour hopping into it with a claw hammer..."
Please CLICK HERE for the article I offer for your attention.
This lunatic was nearly prime minister of Australia last election. Now he's robbing people personally, not just through socialism.
A reporter had the AUDACITY to take his PICTURE on the PUBLIC STREET.
So he grabbed the reoprter's $12,000 camera, and when the reporter demanded it back, hit the reporter.
That's robbery with violence. What does that carry in Australia? 3-6 years here for a first offender. Which he's not.
"It looks like he spent a good hour hopping into it with a claw hammer..."
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Meat bribery is legal...
Yes, according to the D. A., bribes of meat, and actions taken to alter the criminal process under the influence of meat, are not criminal.
Cheap meat, too.
"Even without a direct exchange, however, dismissing tickets as a favor has “a bad ring to it,” said Joe C. Loser Jr., dean of the Nashville School of Law.
“But I don’t know of any statute that prohibits it.”
How about Tennessee Code 39-16-402, Official Misconduct:
A public servant commits an offense who, with intent to obtain a benefit...(5) Receives any benefit not otherwise authorized by law".
Or, 39-16-102, Bribery of a Public Servant:
A person commits an offense who (2)While a public servant... accepts any pecuniary benefit upon an agreement or understanding that the public servant's ... action as a public servant will thereby be influenced".
Yes, triviality is a defence to both charges, but that's a question for jurors, isn't it?
Please CLICK HERE for the article I offer for your attention.
Cheap meat, too.
"Even without a direct exchange, however, dismissing tickets as a favor has “a bad ring to it,” said Joe C. Loser Jr., dean of the Nashville School of Law.
“But I don’t know of any statute that prohibits it.”
How about Tennessee Code 39-16-402, Official Misconduct:
A public servant commits an offense who, with intent to obtain a benefit...(5) Receives any benefit not otherwise authorized by law".
Or, 39-16-102, Bribery of a Public Servant:
A person commits an offense who (2)While a public servant... accepts any pecuniary benefit upon an agreement or understanding that the public servant's ... action as a public servant will thereby be influenced".
Yes, triviality is a defence to both charges, but that's a question for jurors, isn't it?
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Beautiful truths about us and the Chinese...
"Cultures are not equal. Cultures can be ranked in a clear if changing hierarchical order and for most of our history the Chinese have ranked far higher than we do.
By chance we got to the magic of capitalism first and in the nineteenth century were able to dominate and humiliate the Chinese in one of the very few but most shameful episodes in our island story. Now that the Chinese have discovered the virtues of capitalism they will soon return to their former pre-eminence. Go in humility to the exhibition at the Royal Academy, a humility enhanced by a realisation that our grossly inadequate educational system does not equip us with a proper knowledge of Chinese characters, symbols and society. They know all about us and understand us, easily appropriating our past achievements. We know nothing about them and our arrogant ignorance of China is our disgrace today and our downfall tomorrow. "
Please CLICK HERE for the article I offer for your attention.
By chance we got to the magic of capitalism first and in the nineteenth century were able to dominate and humiliate the Chinese in one of the very few but most shameful episodes in our island story. Now that the Chinese have discovered the virtues of capitalism they will soon return to their former pre-eminence. Go in humility to the exhibition at the Royal Academy, a humility enhanced by a realisation that our grossly inadequate educational system does not equip us with a proper knowledge of Chinese characters, symbols and society. They know all about us and understand us, easily appropriating our past achievements. We know nothing about them and our arrogant ignorance of China is our disgrace today and our downfall tomorrow. "
Friday, January 13, 2006
Eric Watson beat the fix!! #$%^&* voters...
Do try to follow this tragic story.
Republican was elected, but when he arrived in Nashville he lined up at the corruption trough with the machine Democrats, and became their go-boy.
Then he was caught with his hand in the jar, and resigned- but his replacement was appointed by the county commission in the smallest, majority Democrat, county in the gerrymandered district. So no problem, he was replaced with a machine Democrat, that gave her the incumbency advantage in the special election. Good enough to deter any significant Republican from running. Perfect resolution- replace RINO with actual Democrat as a result of a Democratic bribery scandal.
But then those CITIZENS have the AUDACITY to elect a REPUBLICAN NOBODY. He might even be a GENUINE REPUBLICAN.
Love that democracy, eh Mr. Speaker?
Please CLICK HERE for the article I offer for your attention.
Republican was elected, but when he arrived in Nashville he lined up at the corruption trough with the machine Democrats, and became their go-boy.
Then he was caught with his hand in the jar, and resigned- but his replacement was appointed by the county commission in the smallest, majority Democrat, county in the gerrymandered district. So no problem, he was replaced with a machine Democrat, that gave her the incumbency advantage in the special election. Good enough to deter any significant Republican from running. Perfect resolution- replace RINO with actual Democrat as a result of a Democratic bribery scandal.
But then those CITIZENS have the AUDACITY to elect a REPUBLICAN NOBODY. He might even be a GENUINE REPUBLICAN.
Love that democracy, eh Mr. Speaker?
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Sticking the antis...
I love this sort of thing. I always send lefty solicitations back empty, no telephone books because in the U. S., the post office doesn't charge return free mail by weight.
Please CLICK HERE for the article I offer for your attention.
And this is optimistic...
Please CLICK HERE for the article I offer for your attention.
And this is optimistic...
Friday, January 06, 2006
And a first class news assembler and observer...
Continuing with the theme of cleverer people than I, please read the Dinocrat. Assembler of news and thinker thereon, but more importantly a digger after information with a wide perspective.
My favourite- "You can tell who is winning and who is losing by who has a sense of humor".
Please CLICK HERE for the article offered for your attention.
My favourite- "You can tell who is winning and who is losing by who has a sense of humor".
I return...
I thought I'd take my own advice for depression and get busy.
So, to start with, here's an article which reminds me how not clever I am...
Please CLICK HERE for the article offered for your attention.
So, to start with, here's an article which reminds me how not clever I am...
Friday, November 11, 2005
Amman sense of humour...
Background- the new king recently renamed most of the Amman streets. Most streets now have a commonly used name, an old official name, and a new official name.
The main street has traffic circles, in Arabic "doowar". One says a thing is at "the first circle" (doowar al-awal), "the fifth circle", etc.
The target hotels were near the third circle.
The joke is that the third circle will be renamed...
" doowar al-Kaboom ".
The main street has traffic circles, in Arabic "doowar". One says a thing is at "the first circle" (doowar al-awal), "the fifth circle", etc.
The target hotels were near the third circle.
The joke is that the third circle will be renamed...
" doowar al-Kaboom ".
Bomb reaction at Lawrence's castle...
Went to the desert castles and then Azrak today. Azrak was for a short time Lawrence's headquarters in 1917 and has a 3 ton stone door, which I could still swing open and closed.
The guide's son is 17. He told us that when he sits his national examinations later he hopes to score well enough to enter the military academy "to fight to stop these people".
Jordanian flags everywhere. Maybe the flag industry arranges these outrages?
Weather is clear and 45-65 every day.
The guide's son is 17. He told us that when he sits his national examinations later he hopes to score well enough to enter the military academy "to fight to stop these people".
Jordanian flags everywhere. Maybe the flag industry arranges these outrages?
Weather is clear and 45-65 every day.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Amman wedding party murder details...
Turns out the martyr who blew up the wedding actually pushed his way into the group.
They weren't collateral damage, they were the goal.
Allah akbar!
A very good question from Claire-"*who* was in that wedding party?" The answer is, nobody in particular. Weddings are a big deal here, and families often schedule wedding parties for big hotels. The night when there is NOT a wedding party- with traditional musicians and dancing- is fairly unusual. There's no indication that there was targeting of anyone in the group personally, for who or what they were. The murderer was trying to make the point that he and his ilk were after "innocent civilians".
To Azrak tomorrow, then to dine at the Royale.
They weren't collateral damage, they were the goal.
Allah akbar!
A very good question from Claire-"*who* was in that wedding party?" The answer is, nobody in particular. Weddings are a big deal here, and families often schedule wedding parties for big hotels. The night when there is NOT a wedding party- with traditional musicians and dancing- is fairly unusual. There's no indication that there was targeting of anyone in the group personally, for who or what they were. The murderer was trying to make the point that he and his ilk were after "innocent civilians".
To Azrak tomorrow, then to dine at the Royale.
Amman demonstrations...
Demos in Amman at the murder sites. Lots of pictures of the King.
Little interest in the root causes or in understanding points of view. Surprisingly, the demonstrators lack nuance or subtlety. The simple brown folk are just angry at the MURDERERS. They need Chomsky, quickly!
Fun jihad fact- we all know that corset bombers fire their heads straight up. Did you also know that the martyr's noggin has enough velocity to punch right through a ceiling?
Little interest in the root causes or in understanding points of view. Surprisingly, the demonstrators lack nuance or subtlety. The simple brown folk are just angry at the MURDERERS. They need Chomsky, quickly!
Fun jihad fact- we all know that corset bombers fire their heads straight up. Did you also know that the martyr's noggin has enough velocity to punch right through a ceiling?
New Amman bomb...
Local gossip is that at least one more bomb has been found, destined for the Meridien.
At least the Royale was spared, they have the best cashews...
Now, out to the streets!
At least the Royale was spared, they have the best cashews...
Now, out to the streets!
On the Amman streets...
I went out for a walk in Sweifiyeh this mid day. The streets are not apparently any less busy, and the people seem subdued, more intense but unfrightened.
Of course it's difficult to tell with them, because I don't speak Arabic. And 2 Arabs saying hello is about like 4 Englishmen having a fistfight, restrained they aren't.
Three people have come up to me to find out if I am "Ameriky". All have expressed anger at the murderers and solidarity with the free. They have been at pains to point out that "This is not Islam."
I'm told downtown is very subdued, mourning has been declared and many places are closed. MUCH police and security presence.
Of course it's difficult to tell with them, because I don't speak Arabic. And 2 Arabs saying hello is about like 4 Englishmen having a fistfight, restrained they aren't.
Three people have come up to me to find out if I am "Ameriky". All have expressed anger at the murderers and solidarity with the free. They have been at pains to point out that "This is not Islam."
I'm told downtown is very subdued, mourning has been declared and many places are closed. MUCH police and security presence.
A morning walk in Amman...
I went out for a walk this morning. Alas it was too early, no one was out on the "Arab street".
I will be walking again about 10.30 along Sa'eed al Mufti street south of the 6th circle. Green shirt and faded black jeans, spectacles if anyone wants to take a more specific shot.
"UPDATE THEN! BACK TO YOU CHRISTISTIANEANE!!!"
I will be walking again about 10.30 along Sa'eed al Mufti street south of the 6th circle. Green shirt and faded black jeans, spectacles if anyone wants to take a more specific shot.
"UPDATE THEN! BACK TO YOU CHRISTISTIANEANE!!!"
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Amman pulling together...
The telephone is ringing off the hook, neighbours knocking on the door. All checking on my host's safety, and cursing the killers.
The historian in me recalls that for 3 years it was the declared and specific intent of the British, and the undeclared but desired goal of the American, air forces to break German and Japanese civilian will by terror bombing. These bombings continued almost daily, randomly killed hundreds of thousands, caused unimaginable suffering, and smashed economies.
THEY FAILED MISERABLY.
Dream big, Zaqarwi.
The historian in me recalls that for 3 years it was the declared and specific intent of the British, and the undeclared but desired goal of the American, air forces to break German and Japanese civilian will by terror bombing. These bombings continued almost daily, randomly killed hundreds of thousands, caused unimaginable suffering, and smashed economies.
THEY FAILED MISERABLY.
Dream big, Zaqarwi.
Oddly enough,
I had just returned from Damascus and was discussing dinner with my host in Swefiyeh, an Amman suburb. We had planned to dine at a restaurant in one of the hotels. Unfortunately, the Stalin inspired Syrian customs delayed my return for an hour, so it was by then too late for us to bother to go out.
That was at 8.30. Secretary Rice and I now share the experience of directly receiving a very loud message.
Tomorrow I will continue with the day as planned, having a dental cleaning. The coombes of Somerset don't frighten me, I'm CERTAINLY not running from Zaqarwi's addled human bombs.
That was at 8.30. Secretary Rice and I now share the experience of directly receiving a very loud message.
Tomorrow I will continue with the day as planned, having a dental cleaning. The coombes of Somerset don't frighten me, I'm CERTAINLY not running from Zaqarwi's addled human bombs.
Here I am in AMMAN...
Yes, have been for the past week, doing all sorts of interesting things. Including dining at a hotel and watching a marriage reception. On November 8...
Then it got MORE INTERESTING.
This is terrible but not unexpected. Jordan has for a long time been a seeker of peace and tolerance in the middle east. That makes us a target, and many attempts have been foiled.
This is typical of our loser enemies, blowing up happy wedding parties. Big heroes.
Jordanians, like the people of the U. S., Australia, and other targets, are stronger of heart than the small and evil men who hate the human love of peace and liberty. They will survive and triumph over the enemies of civilisation.
More later.
Then it got MORE INTERESTING.
This is terrible but not unexpected. Jordan has for a long time been a seeker of peace and tolerance in the middle east. That makes us a target, and many attempts have been foiled.
This is typical of our loser enemies, blowing up happy wedding parties. Big heroes.
Jordanians, like the people of the U. S., Australia, and other targets, are stronger of heart than the small and evil men who hate the human love of peace and liberty. They will survive and triumph over the enemies of civilisation.
More later.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Cindy Sheehan Alert!
Today I rode the train from the terminal of the Atlanta airport out to my gate. Standing on one side of me in the train was a USMC Lieutenant Colonel, and on the other side was La Sheehan. YES, it was her, ankle tattoo confirms identification.
No entourage, no press, no nothing. Looks like the 15 minutes are over.
I have always said that I'm in no position to judge how another should react to the loss of a child. I consider that she was driven crazy (crazier?) with grief, at least I hope that she did what she did out of madness rather than ego.
She did just look tired and pathetic. I hope that she can find peace, she is still a gold star mother.
The Marine officer didn't recognise her, and was amazed when I told him after she got off the train.
I LOVE travelling with a tv-be-gone, I can turn CNN off at will.
Now I travel onward, to the world of sand and camels.
No entourage, no press, no nothing. Looks like the 15 minutes are over.
I have always said that I'm in no position to judge how another should react to the loss of a child. I consider that she was driven crazy (crazier?) with grief, at least I hope that she did what she did out of madness rather than ego.
She did just look tired and pathetic. I hope that she can find peace, she is still a gold star mother.
The Marine officer didn't recognise her, and was amazed when I told him after she got off the train.
I LOVE travelling with a tv-be-gone, I can turn CNN off at will.
Now I travel onward, to the world of sand and camels.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Kill a cow business idea????
If the lobster tank just isn't doing it for you any more...
Please CLICK HERE for the article I’m offering to your attention.
My favourite line? "...the three cows he bought at auction are females."
My favourite line? "...the three cows he bought at auction are females."
Monday, October 17, 2005
An interesting young man from Memphis...
Have a look at LeShaun Fosset.
"My point is that you don't have to go to a rally in Washington, DC to realize simple and common sense: take care of your family, be a responsible citizen, don't allow crime to exist in your community, put God in you life, etc. These are core values. No one should have to tell you how to do that, nor should you get a standing ovation and a pat on the back if you are already doing it. "
"Print this out and use it to kill vegetarians. If only there were something you could print out that would kill hippies…"
Please CLICK HERE for the article I’m offering to your attention.
"My point is that you don't have to go to a rally in Washington, DC to realize simple and common sense: take care of your family, be a responsible citizen, don't allow crime to exist in your community, put God in you life, etc. These are core values. No one should have to tell you how to do that, nor should you get a standing ovation and a pat on the back if you are already doing it. "
"Print this out and use it to kill vegetarians. If only there were something you could print out that would kill hippies…"
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