Iraqis Start to Get It

Iraqis Start to Get It

Think we could recruit a large, highly motivated force of Iraqis who will help us keep the peace in their country. Certainly, a great many more of them understand our quest today than did before barbarians blew up their mosque.

Imagine a White Candidate With This Baggage

Imagine a White Candidate With This Baggage

At least Robert Byrd has had the good sense to denouce his former pals in the Ku Klux Klan. Cruz Bustamante still feels all warm and fuzzy about Mecha.

Bustamante a Racist?

Bustamante a Racist?

With all the attention being given to the political affiliations of Arnold Schwarzenegger's estranged and deceased father (most noticably by the perky Katie Couric), isn't worth looking at California gubernatorial candidate Cruz Bustamante's affiliations. He is personally associated with an organization whose motto reads, "for the race everything, for those outside the race, nothing." This organization has used violence to advance its cause. But the Cruzer refuses to disassociate himself. Will the ever vigilant and unbiased media notice?

Terrorism Ceases in Israel

Terrorism Ceases in Israel

It should be good news that Israel does not terrorist attacks anymore, but it isn't. These days, our leftist media has stopped characterizing bus bombing as act of terrorism, choosing instead to refer to attacks upon children as acts of "militancy."
Clearly our unbiased and ever vigilant press has chosen to anoint Palestinian child killers with some legitimacy.

Ireland to Tax Obesity

Ireland to Tax Obesity

Why not? New Zealand taxes cow farts. Why shouldn't Ireland tax fat?
I'm really not that old, but I can remember when stuff like this was considered a joke.

War Monger Find Iranian WMD's

War Mongers Find Iranian WMD's

The war mongers at the United Nations have discovered highly enriched, weapons grade uranium at an Iranian nuclear power plant, proving that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons.
I'm waiting for Howard Dean to accuse George Bush of warmongering.

The Great Gall Stone Heist

The Great Gall Stone Heist

You probably didn't know it, but gall stones are valuable. A friend of mine had a gall stone removed. I asked him if he had the doctor save it for him and he seemed to think I was crazy. But, as you can see from this story, some people will go to great lengths to steal gall stones.

There's a Record for Everything

There's Record for Everything

The world bog snorkelling record has fallen.
Although, I guess there are some things for which records are not kept. I recall long ago when a woman wanted to establism a record for the most men screwed in one day. She invited the Guinness Book or World Records to document her feat, but they declined. Nevertheless, she spread her legs for hundreds of men that day anyway, her husband being last in line. Talk about sloppy seconds!

The End of Affirmative Action?

The End of Affirmative Action?

Even proponents of racial preferences must agree that someday, they must end. And now, a judge in Boston, who favors affirmative action has ended it in the Boston Fire Department.
"..the city has achieved its goal of racial parity among entry-level firefighters," he concluded. And so, whites who had applied for jobs that were given to lower scoring whites must be hired.
I would have preferred that he had ended affirmative action the grounds that racism is immoral and unconstitutional, but I've always said that affirmative action must have an expiration date.

Vacation

Vacation

Leaving on vacation today and will have only the most limited access to computers ( A nearby internet cafe). So blogging will be very light until I return. But, at least I'm not taking the whole month of July off, like somebody I know.

California, All Over Again

California, All Over Again

A big reason for California's current economic difficulty is that it placed environmental concerns above the need for electrical power generation. Now, it appears that the entire Eastern third of the United States is headed for the same black hole.

Can you say, "nuclear."

"Progress" Being Made In Iraq

"Progress" Being Made In Iraq

Meanwhile, the Washington Post, a "newspaper" which supposed prints "news" can't keep scare quotes out of its headline.
Of course there is progress being made in Iraq. The "Washington Post" just doesn't want to "report" news that does not "conform" with its "agenda."

"CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 8 -- President Bush today began building a broad, new case that progress is being made in postwar Iraq despite the steady casualties besetting U.S. troops. But he refused to estimate how long the reconstruction of Iraq might take, or how much it might cost in lives or dollars."

Just how the hell is he supposed to know how many more soldiers will die?

You Mean - Saddam Assisted TERRORISTS?

You Mean - Saddam Assisted TERRORISTS?

Surely you don't mean that warm an fuzzy Saddam Hussein that the Democrats have taken such a shine to lately? He helped terrorits - including Al Qaeda? Didn't Al Gore, Howard Dean, the French-looking John Kerry and Bob Graham just tell us that we were lied to about that?

Why is this in Australian media and not on the front page of the New York Times? Because the NYT would rather print crap like this. (registration required)

The NYT claims that those mobile biological weapons laboratories were actually for producing hydrogen for filling balloons. Really! That's what the New York Times actually says!

Rhesus Monkey Shortage Slows Medical Research

Rhesus Monkey Shortage Slows Medical Research

Research on everything from bioterrorism to AIDS is being slowed by a monkey shortage. I have a solution. Let's just use animal rights activists.

Listening to Rush

Listening to Rush


"Son, you seem to have a lot on your mind lately. Why not hop up on Daddy's knee and clear your mind.
"Okay Daddy."
"What's bothering you?"
It was just something my teacher said. "Daddy? Why did we attack Iraq?"
" Because the president lied and said that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction."
"That's what my teacher says. But I don't know. How do you two know that the president lied?
"Well, we haven't found any weapons."
"We haven't found Saddam Hussein yet either. Does that mean that he never existed?"
"Don't be a smart Alec."
" No really Daddy. Didn't Saddam Hussein admit that he had weapons of mass destruction back in 1991?"
" Yes he did."
"And didn't Saddam Hussein obstruct United Nations weapons inspectors so that they could not destroy his weapons?"
"Yes, that's true enough. But what does that have to do with anything?
"And didn't the inspectors confirm that he had tons of chemical and biological weapons that needed to be destroyed?
"Yes."
"So, are you telling me that Saddam Hussein kicked the inspectors out in 1997 so that he could destroy his weapons and dismantle his weapons development program in secret?"
"Now you are getting rude."
"Sorry Daddy. I'm just having trouble understanding how people can believe that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. After all, the president did tell us that we could wait no longer before attacking because, "In the judgment of my military advisers, a swift response would provide the most surprise and the least opportunity for Saddam to prepare."
"You'd expect George Bush to say something like that."
"But, actually, it was Bill Clinton who said that, back in 1998."
"Do you want to get spanked?"
"No Daddy. I'm just trying to get a little wiser. Besides, British Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed with the president when he said. "We are delivering a powerful message to Saddam: If you act recklessly, you will pay a heavy price." Isn't Tony Blair a liberal too, or does liberal mean something different in other countries?
"Tony Blair is a liberal, but he was misled by George Bush, just like all the rest of us."
"But, Tony Blair said that in 1998, when Bill Clinton was still president. Why would Tony Blair be listening to the Governor of Texas?"
"Honey! Where's my paddle?"
"No Daddy! Please help me. Where did America go wrong? My teacher says that the United States is an evil, imperialist nation. I don't want to believe that."
"Well, we should have paid more attention to the international community. This wasn't like the first George Bush. He put together a real coalition to fight the first Gulf War. That gave us international legitimacy. This George Bush is a unilateral cowboy."
"But, I see where the Secretary of Defense said that: 'This is a real coalition. 'These are countries who are pledging their assistance and material support, and we are very happy to receive it.' Doesn't that give us legitimacy?"
"Oh Pooh! That Donald Rumsfeld will say anything to get us into a war."
"But that wasn't Donald Rumsfeld. It was Bill Clinton's Defense Secretary, William Cohen, who said that."
"My patience is wearing very thin, little man."
"Didn't you believe it when the Secretary of State said that, 'We must be prepared to act, and I am very grateful that others are prepared to stand with America. Our aim is to limit, to reduce substantially, Saddam's ability to produce biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.' The secretary also said that we didn't need the approval of the United Nations or anyone else to act in our own self-defense."
"I have a feeling that you're not talking about Colin Powell."
"No, that was Madeline Albright."
"Yes, I was beginning to see a pattern. Now it's my turn to ask a question. Where did you learn all this stuff?"
"Listening to Rush Limbaugh with Mommy."
"Aargh!!!!!!!!"

Random thoughts, observations and animadversions.

Random thoughts, observations and animadversions.

- For reasons that have never been entirely clear to me, presidential candidates have been required to know how much a loaf of bread or a half gallon of milk costs. Apparently, this knowledge was required to prove that a candidate was still in touch with the common man.
This has never made a great deal of sense to me. I was somewhat more concerned when George W. Bush could not recall the full name of the newly elected president of Taiwan in 2000 or who was the military dictator of Pakistan was. But, in his defense, he was not making grandiose proclamations about China policy.
Nevertheless, the press roasted him. His other transgressions included calling Greeks "Grecians," and Kosovars "Kosovians." Not a single eyebrow was raised when Al Gore referred to Bosnians as "Bosniacs."
It was therefore no surprise that the press pretended not to notice when leftwing darling, Howard Dean could not answer the very straightforward questions about our military force structure posed to him by Meet the Press host Tim Russert. He had not the vaguest notion of how many men were in uniform, guessing that there were somewhere around one and two million. Dean whined, on air that, expecting him to know that was like, "asking me who the ambassador to Rwanda is."
The difference is that, Howard Dean has been pontificating about military policy. Indeed, he has made opposition to Bush's military policy the centerpiece of his campaign. Will he ever be held accountable? I don't know. You may as well ask a Bosniac.
- In any event, Howard Dean has exerted a great influence upon the rest of the Democratic field. Barely known outside his barely known state, the former governor of Vermont has catapulted to double digit support among the 9 person Democratic field of presidential contenders. His eighteen or nineteen percent is the envy of most of the field. Only John Kerry, the French-looking senator from Massachusetts and Connecticut's US Senator Joe Lieberman share his perch. As such, these other candidates are trying to outflank Dean on the left and the entire democratic field has grown more shrilly critical of George Bush's foreign policy, even calling him a liar for accusing Saddam Hussein of pursuing weapons of indiscriminate slaughter.
But, he still only commands about a fifth of the vote. Are the Democrats willing to abandon the center to compete with Howard Dean's kooks? It sure seems so.
- Speaking of those ephemeral weapons, one has to make quite a considerable leap of faith to believe Saddam over George W. Bush. To believe that there were no weapons programs, one has to believe that Saddam harassed and eventually chased the UN inspectors out of his country so that he could destroy his existing arsenals and eliminate his WMD-making infrastructure with nobody noticing. I'm not quite ready to believe that even Saddam was that irrational.
- I saw a picture of the French-looking John F. Kerry the other day at a Des Moines political rally. He was riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle without a helmet. I'd like to see George W. Bush do that, so I could hear the press castigate him for setting a bad example for children.
- The French-looking North Korean dictator Kim Jong Ill won reelection recently with 100% of the vote. As I recall, the last dictator to win 100% of the vote had a career change shortly thereafter.
- Why isn't CNN trumpeting Kim's unanimous reelection as enthusiastically as it celebrated Saddam Hussein's?
- It's not as if they've learned anything. After admitting that they had tailored their news coverage of Iraq to mollify the Ace of Spades, the Clueless News Network admitted that it had been less than aggressive in covering the unrest in Iran, for the purpose of mollifying the mullahs.
- One bit of news that did not get nearly the coverage it deserved was a story from Oberlin, Ohio. Black parents were furious that a white teacher might be assigned to teach black history at Oberlin High School. How would the New York Times react if white parents complained about a black teacher teaching European history? I suspect the reaction would be less tolerant.
It's all part of the lowered expectations that liberals have for blacks in the first place.

Religion of Peace Update

Religion of Peace Update

"The stone hits the bridge of her nose with another thud. She screems again and again. This time the blood comes down from inside and outside her nose. Probably, her nasal bridge-bone is broken, causing the bleeding from inside her nostrils as well. Though her wounds are grave, as you can imagine, her screems by now are not as vociferous as earlier, and her tears help to wash some of the blood on her cheeks. Her vision has completely gone with the blood coating.The next stone hits her again. A piece of flesh pops out. No, its not, oh god, it really can't be her eye-ball. It is so bloody that you cann't really make out."

A blow by blow account of an Islamic woman sentenced to death by stoning in an Islamic court.

When Teacher Run the Asylum

When Teacher Run the Asylum

Germany lets teachers run its schools and is now reaping the rewards. Once among the finest in the world, Germany's student aptitude has plummetted. Of course, this is to be expected when liberals, who cowtow before unions run things. Performance standards go out the window.
But, I'd bet that German teachers can speak German. In Massachusetts, they don't even expect their superintendant of public instruction to speak or write English.

Compelling Reasons

Compelling Reasons
In a departure from tradition the United States Supreme Court handed down a flurry of decisions that has dramatically remade the United States government. Liberals hailed the change. Conservatives are curiously silent.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court established the precedent of the “compelling reason” for nullifying inconvenient Constitutional obstructions to the exercise of government authority. The University of Michigan employed a clearly unconstitutional system of racial favoritism in it admissions program. Because the Fourteenth Amendment prohibited unequal treatment under the law, a government program that rewarded people based upon their skin color clearly violated this principle.
So well received was this precedent by such proponents of a “living constitution” as the New York Times, the Supreme Court declared that it would use the principle to inaugurate other needed modifications to the law of the land.
First of all, in a 7-2 decision, The Court decided that, henceforth, the Second Amendment was suspended. From this day forward, no citizen had the right to keep and bear arms. The Court declared that a modern, civilized society required a pacific populace that could not resist the goodwill of the government. Therefore, there exists a compelling reason to override the clear text of the amendment.
“After all,” read the majority opinion, “in truth, there can be no such thing as tyranny, since the citizenry is the government.”
The New York Times approved.
In a dissenting opinion, justices Scalia and Thomas complained that The Court had no authority to simply suspend those provisions of the Constitution that conflicted with the exercise of government power.
“It is precisely the potential for tyranny exercised by the majority over the minority that such limitations upon the exercise of power were written into the constitution,” wrote justice Thomas for the minority.
“Besides,” wrote justice Scalia, “there were no cases before the court that touched upon the Second Amendment. Heck! We weren’t even in session. I was vacationing in Florida and justice Thomas was at a birthday party for his niece. Where the hell did this come from?”
Next, The Court, in another 7-2 decision, pronounced that compelling environmental concerns required that the Fifth and the remainder of the Fourteenth Amendment be suspended.
“The Earth is in such immediate peril that such luxuries as private property and due process can no longer be tolerated,” The Court concluded. “Requiring environmentalists to prove their claims only permits the damage done by polluters to inflict irreversible environmental destruction. As such, there exists a compelling need to give unlimited authority to Al Gore on such matters. We hereby empower Al Gore to confiscate all cars that get less that 50 miles per gallon and to inspect all homes for thermostats set too high or too low, or lacking 1.6 gallon per flush toilets.”
Writing for the minority, Justice Antonin Scalia simply asked, “Are you people nuts?” Justice Thomas could only shake with outrage.
The Court next decided that the Congress was too corrupted by big moneyed special interests and did not actually represent the will of the people they were elected to represent. Citing a “compelling interest” in good leadership, The Court, in another 7-2 decision declared the Congress null and void, put them all on generous pensions and sent them home. The Court also noted that, as the current president agreed with all of The Court’s decisions in its last session, he was of no consequence either and reduced him to a ceremonial head of state. “We made him. We can break him,” read the majority opinion.
Once again, justices Scalia and Thomas dissented. “Help! Help! They’re dragging us away in chains! They’ve hauled us to the edge of a bottomless abyss, and they’re going to throw us in! AAAAaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!
In a unanimous 7-0 decision, The Court declared that henceforth, only seven justices were needed to sit in judgment and, that as the Congress and the president no longer had any authority of such matters, they would sit in judgment for life and would choose their own replacements. There was after all, a compelling need for The Court and only the members of the Court were worthy to judge their successors.
Finally, The Court decreed that all other judicial bodies were superfluous and the term Supreme Court was redundant. Henceforth, these seven justices would be known collectively as, “The Court.”

Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong

Five years ago, if someone had approached a Hollywood film studio with a story about a young man who conquered cancer, then went on to win the world’s most grueling athletic event 5 years consecutively, that screen writer would have been laughed out of town. Who could possibly believe such nonsense? It’s better to concentrate on more believable scenarios, like a supernatural evil that wants to take over Middle Earth using a ring that focuses evil’s power, or a young orphaned wizard who saves Hogwarts again and again.
About 13 or 14 years ago, a small fraternity knew that someone special was moving among them. While still a teenager, Lance Armstrong established dominance in what was then the obscure sport of triathlon. He began his triathlon career as a 13 year old and was competing as a pro by age 16. As an 18 year old, Lance was putting serious whuppin’s on some of the best in the world. Back then Michael Pigg was consistently the best in the world at international distance triathlon. In his last triathlon, Armstrong left Mike Pigg more than a minute and a half behind, a huge gap for that distance. On the winner’s podium that day, he then announced that he was leaving triathlon to become a full-time cyclist.
It turned out to be a good career move. But there was little evidence of that in his first pro race. In the 1992 Classico San Sebastian, Armstong finished dead last, a full 27 minutes behind the pack. As he learned, a good cyclist will always outride a great triathlete. Armstrong would have to remake himself if he was going to compete in this new endeavor.
He recovered from his humiliating introduction to professional cycling to win a stage of the Tour de France just one year later. He would win another stage two years later. The next year after that, Lance Armstrong had it all. He had the number one ranking as the world’s best cyclist. He also had testicular cancer.
What happened next is well known. Given only a fifty percent chance of survival, Lance Armstrong deposited a few aliquotsof sperm in a tank of liquid nitrogen and surrendered his testicles to the surgeon’s knife. The doctors dug tumors out of his head and out of his legs. Those in his lungs they fought with chemotherapy and won.
Only two years after his diagnosis, Armstrong was racing professionally again. His old Cofidis Team dropped him like a bad habit when his cancer was discovered. This opened the door to history. The United States Postal Service was delighted to sign Armstrong and surround him with one of the strongest teams in history.
But, nobody could have predicted what would happen the next year. It’s almost inconceivable that any American could win the Tour. International cycling is like international soccer. Americans just don’t do it very well. Sure, Greg LeMond won three tours from 1986 through 1990. But, that was considered a monumental aberration. It would be like a French team winning the World Series. Americans simply did not win the Tour de France. In fact, Americans rarely even saddled up at the Tour. LeMond himself was only the second American to ever ride in the Tour.
Remarkably, LeMond’s last two wins occurred after a near fatal hunting accident. LeMond lost three-quarters of his blood supply in that shooting. Somehow, it would not be the American way to win easy.
Very few riders can even dream of winning the world’s most grueling endurance competition with a perfect body. To win after a near fatal shooting or a battle with cancer is inconceivable.
And yet, the inconceivable did happen. Lance Armstrong did indeed overcome seemingly impossible odds to win five consecutive Tours de France. And now he stands on the precipice of history. Including Armstrong, only five riders in history have won five Tours. Only one other rider, Miguel Indurain, has won five consecutive Tours. Many Europeans have suggested that Armstrong retire after five, sharing the record with Europeans. There were also people in this country who thought that Cal Ripkin should take a day off after equaling Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played.
Ripkin didn’t. Armstrong won’t. Americans don’t bow before barriers. We smash them.

McGovernick Democrats

McGovernick Democrats

Like Karl Rove, I'm a big Howard Dean fan. I see the nomination of Howard Dean as Democratic self-immolation for a generation. We could have seen that in 1972 if Richard Nixon had simply been satisfied with winning by a huge margin. Unfortuantely, the paranoid Nixon seemed to fear something about McGovern had to result to dirty tricks. The result was that , instead of a Republican dynasty, we suffered through 4 years of the Carter horror.
Howard Kurtz has an excellent piece on the Democrats pending self destruction. You should read it.