More Common Sense for the Twenty First Century

2010-09-24T10:40:00.002-05:00

I rarely have an occasion to blog about non-politics here recently, but then, thanks to the Omaha World Herald, that changed today.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100924/NEWS01/100929831

This is the column from Robert Nelson, of the Omaha World Herald. The UFL has put a franchise here in Omaha called the Nighthawks. Now, Mr. Nelson wonders the meaning of the name.

Mr. Nelson proves just how much of an idiot he is with this post. Anyone in the area knows Bellevue, just south of Omaha, is the home of Offutt Air Force Base, and also of the United States Space Command. Anyone who is familiar with the Air Force knows the stealth fighter used by them is called the Nighthawk.

Thus, the team's name is the Omaha Nighthawks.

DUH!

The logo of the Nighthawks is the stealth fighter flying through the 'O' for Omaha. It's a great logo. Also, considering who we have on the team (Jeff Garcia as quarterback, Robert Ferguson as a receiver, Ahman Green as running back, and Maurice Clarett as either running back or wide receiver as he tries to resurrect his career), it points to an explosive offense.

Mr. Nelson, however, is completely ignorant of the fact, or else is trying to be witty and failing at it miserably. It just shows the quality of the only full newspaper in Omaha has degenerated along with the rest of the mainstream media over the years.

2010-04-30T10:13:00.002-05:00

A Little Prediction or Two

I have a couple of predictions to make here, so I can then come back with an 'I told ya so' comment.

1) Marco Rubio and Charles Djou will win their elections.
2) Any chance of offshore oil explorations by the current administration are now null. However, it will turn out to be sabotage that caused the spill.
3) The Super Bowl matchup will be the Dallas Cowboys vs the New York Jets
4) The World Series matchup will be St Louis Cardinals vs the Tampa Bay Rays
5) Chelsea will win the Premier League by 1 point over Manchester United
6) Though I'm rooting for the USA first, Italy second, and Germany third, it will be Argentina that wins the World Cup - Messi is just too damn good.
7) After November, there will be far too many candidates running for President on the Republican side. Because my proposed change as to how to do the primaries was ignored, Republicans will end up with a less than ideal candidate vs Obama, giving him a chance to be reelected.

2009-07-17T10:04:00.002-05:00

Space, the final frontier...

As you are well aware, Star Trek the new movie opened in May of this year. What you may not be aware of is the fact I am a big fan of Star Trek, though not obsessed with it like some people. I have done some things on my other site (http://davidlightfinger.com/wordpress/) referring to the political aspects of Star Trek in relation to the Obama fiasco.

I am also looking forward to playing Star Trek Online, the MMO game from Cryptic Studios. This game will allow you to play one of the myriad of races of the Star Trek universe and align yourself with either the Klingons or Federation in a conflict starting in 2409. This is 30 years after the movie Star Trek Nemesis.

Here is the issue: Star Trek Online is continuing the path set forth by Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. It is not in the JJ Abrams reboot of the series. This has people confused, up in arms, or thankful depending on who you talk to about it.

I'm in the thankful category.

Much of the confusion stems, though, from an error in perception that I personally thought was very clear in the movie, but obviously was not by all the head scratching. This surrounds the events being told in the Star Trek movie in flashbacks (if you can call them that) by Nero and by Prime Spock. In these flashbacks, it is stated Romulus was destroyed and that's what triggered Nero's insane revenge.

The timeline of the event is:
1) A star near Romulus starts to go supernova. The energy of the star threatens the time-space continuum.
2) Nero and Spock go to Vulcan, to get what is called in the movie 'red matter' which will basically cause a short term black hole to suck up the energy of the supernova. If they get back in time, Romulus won't be destroyed.
3) Even with new ambassador to Vulcan's help, Jean Luc Picard, the Vulcans hesitate to help the Romulans. Nero rushes back only to see Romulus destroyed.
4) Spock secures the red matter and loads it on the Jellyfish, a ship created by Geordi LaForge.
5) Nero and his crew go to a Romulan resource station and integrates the Borg tech being researched into their ship, making it the Narada pointy monster in the movie. He then proceeds to wipe out a Klingon fleet led by Worf sent to stop him, and then confronts Data and Picard with the Enterprise-E.
6) Spock arrives near where Romulus used to be and thinks he must sacrifice himself to stop the supernova. Thus, he uses the red matter to cause the black hole. Nero shows up, attacks Spock, and causes the time warp anomaly that starts the Star Trek movie.

Okay, now the question - how do I know all of this? It is in the comic book Star Trek: Countdown, which Cryptic Studios is calling canon for the Star Trek Online game. Now, the problem is only #6 of the above is shown in the in-movie flashback, specifically in Spock's mindmeld with young Kirk. #3 (Romulus's destruction) is shown in Nero's portion of the flashback. The rest is in the comic.

Now, second question, just where does the universes split timelines? It is in #6 above. At the point the Narada and Jellyfish are drawn into the anomaly created by the red matter, the timeline splits. The Narada appears first, and the movie starts. Romulus is destroyed in the Star Trek Online universe, the 'prime universe' containing all the old shows. Prime Spock is now in the alternate universe, the 'JJverse' as some call it.

Yes, unless you understand the theories of the multiverse from comic books, this can all be overwhelming. Another suggestion is to view the TNG episode called Parallels, where Worf starts jumping into different alternate timelines until they all converge at one location with hundreds of Enterprises. This is what is happening here.

Star Trek Online's timeline is now separate from the JJ Abrams movies. The movies, and any tie-ins, will be tightly controlled by CBS/Paramount. Cryptic Studios controls Star Trek Online's timeline (though licensed from CBS). They are integrating novels, comics, and other things that can be added fairly seamlessly.

So please, stop the whining on the STO forums about how this is all working out. People seeing the movie for the first time are now looking into all the franchises and a whole lot more fans are coming about because of this. I think this is a good thing in the long run. Star Trek, despite its flaws, is one of the most cerebral of all science fiction series and sometimes it tosses you for a loop, as above. In the end, though, you are richer for it.

2009-07-17T10:03:00.001-05:00

Wow. Six months since I have posted a non-political rant here. Well, there is one coming shortly.

2008-12-25T18:03:00.002-06:00

ESPN has an obsession with Brett Farve.

Last Monday night, during the Green Bay - Chicago game, Tony Kornheiser could just not stop talking about Farve, comparing Farve to BOTH Aaron Rodgers and Kyle Orton, wondering how Green Bay would have ended up if Farve would have stayed a Packer, etc.

Last night, Farve gets interviewed and makes yet another veiled reference to possibly retiring after the year, and suddenly, it is the number one story on ESPN for the rest of the night, including during the football game where Notre Dame stomped a mudhole into Hawaii.

Tomorrow, even though Greeny won't be on his usual morning show, all it is going to end up being is about the Jets vs the Dolphins. Lip service will be paid to Chad Pennington and the Dolphin success, but all the questions and comments will be phrased in a Jet-centric manner.

Brett Farve is past his prime, and has been for a few years now. He got a good season last year because he got a running game from Ryan Grant and the Green Bay defense did not get riddled with injuries. This year, Grant, his backup Brandon Jackson, and the Green Bay defense all had injury issues. Aaron Rodgers put up pro-bowl numbers yet every single game he plays, here's the Farve comparison. Meanwhile, over on the Jets, Farve has two decent running backs in Leon Washington and Thomas Jones, both of which made the pro bowl...and the Jets are losing.

Win or lose, we're going to be subjected to the Farve retirement saga yet again for the next year. I'm so disgusted by the coverage by ESPN on Farve that I am now hoping the Jets get clobbered by the Dolphins, putting them out of the playoffs so I don't have to listen to the glowing praise of an old, broken down quarterback who should have retired while he was ahead. I now want to go through the 'Oh, woe is me' schtick by Greeny because I am sick of his man-crush. It will be all the better if it is Pennington, the man the Jets dumped in order to get Farve, who has the last laugh.

For the record, I'm a Pittsburgh fan. Normally, the Dolphins, Jets, or Packers are not even in a consideration for a game - especially since I do not play fantasy football any longer. The team I used to loathe was the Cowboys (like many in the US), but ESPN has caused me to put the Jets on the top of that list now.

Thanks Kornheiser and Greeny.

2008-11-26T08:36:00.003-06:00

In an effort to split things up (and to keep things sane), I'm looking into turning this blog into one more concerned with personal things, my work as a web design/administrator, and my hobbies.

My political rantings will be continuing in a blog tied to a domain name I completely own and control, and which will end up being tied to my new work with the #dontgo Movement (http://dontgomovement.com).

For those of you who don't know, I am the Northwest Region coordinator for #dontgo. In the next few weeks, you will be seeing a lot of exciting things coming from us. My region is geographically the largest. Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska all fall in my region. The good news in this is very good Republican governors (Sarah Palin in Alaska, Dave Heineman in Nebraska), but also the liberal hotspots of Seattle and Portland.

In this, if you are a conservative or libertarian blogger in the states mentioned, please contact me! One of the projects with #dontgo will need help from a multitude of bloggers at the grassroots level. The benefits from this are the increased traffic to your blogs, which is always wanted by those of you who get ad revenue.

2008-11-05T22:23:00.002-06:00

Look, folks, I know my tirades against Obama and the Democrats can be rather venomous. However, spewing death threats, sending out malicious viruses and other such acts is stupid.

I keep saying Obama is the new Mussolini. Remember, Mussolini's economic plan worked up to the point where Italy got stupid and decided to carve out an empire from Ethiopia. Now, all indications that will happen exactly the same, though a tad bit more north (Darfur, Sudan is the northern border of Ethiopia). All indications are Obama's allies are going to try to smash opposition through oppression, but maybe Obama does have a clue. Perhaps he realizes he won, against those big meanie talk radio hosts, so there is no reason for a Fairness Doctrine as the Democrats don't have to run scared of the radio.

Okay, and maybe pigs will fly out of my rear tomorrow, too.

Still, I'm willing to wait on my complaints until AFTER Obama gets into office. Well, against him. Thankfully, the Republicans, as wishy washy as the Senate bunch is, has the votes to filibuster some of the worst things that may come down the pike.

In the meantime, I'm really looking into going to CPAC. Conservatives need to ditch the refuse that drug us into this mess and take back the Republican party from the spineless.

2008-10-30T13:51:00.003-05:00

Jumpstarting a Movement

Many sites have been speculating about how the fiscal conservative movement, combined perhaps with help from libertarians, can reconfigure itself for the next election. As I stated on The Next Right blog in the comments concerning this, I believe a 'cloud'-like approach is how we should organize.

Here's the idea:

Set up a certain core of bloggers having specialties on the different aspects of government. For example, a conservative blogger for health care issues, a conservative blogger for environmental issues, etc. These would be true experts in the field in question, not just people like myself (though I could probably handle the high-tech or terrorism blogs).

These are interconnected to one another through a conservative portal. This overall arcing site would tie everything together. Now, theoretically, this would be the RNC website, but if the elitist snobs currently in charge are not removed, the site will have to be elsewhere.

In addition, resources need to be provided for campaigns. Anyone who is a conservative (defined, btw, via a questionnaire), and running for elective office would be allowed to have a small site. This site would allow connections for donations via a service like Slatecard among other resources. These sites would be designed by someone with web experience, though content could be maintained by the various campaigns or via RSS feeds from campaign websites.

Again, resources will also have to be non-electronic in this situation. We cannot let non-conservatives run unopposed, especially in national and high state offices. Yes, this means fielding and providing support to primary opponents of RINOs. No one should be complacent in their office.

We have to be willing to spend the money to make this movement work. We have a lot of disjointed pieces out there, from the talk show hosts, to sites like The New Right, to sites like Free Republic, to candidates like John Culberson, etc. Web 2.0 constructs like Digg, Twitter, Facebook and the like exist, but they are underutilized.

Lastly, we need to move to a next generation of leadership for the fiscal conservative movement. John McCain is going to lose this election more because he looks old than due to principles. Many in our party qualify, but the only way to get them into leadership is to remove the old guard Ford Republicans from their lofty perches. Positions need to be by merit, not by seniority.

We have a good start with all of this, but I don't know if we'll be able to drag McCain over the finish line. In the future, we have people like Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, Eric Cantor, and others, and they give us a great potential. Win or lose, we must put things into motion or else that potential will be lost.

2008-10-29T12:58:00.003-05:00

Duck Tales

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points for today concerned Obama, and whether he is a socialist or not. O'Reilly seems to think he's not, but he ended his commentary with "If it quacks like a duck, it may not be a duck."

Let's look closer at this, using the 'duck' analogy:

Obama got his 'wings' underneath him by working as a community organizer with the group ACORN, whose charter is a mirror image of socialist policies.
Obama got his 'feet wet' in politics at the home of William Ayres, an avowed Marxist and former terrorist. Obama also endorsed Ayres book, with his picture and dedication inside on original publication.
Obama 'groomed his feathers' amongst a group called the New Party, a group of Socialists based in Chicago. Obama has denied being a member, but Chicago newspapers at the time disagree with that assessment, calling him a member of the group.
Obama has been 'flapping his beak' about redistribution of wealth, using terms almost identical to that of Karl Marx.
Obama is going to cause middle America to fund most of the 'bill' he's trying to impose on corporations, either through job losses or higher prices.

So, Mr. O'Reilly, I think there is more than a 'quack' to prove Obama is a socialist.

2008-10-28T12:37:00.001-05:00

I saw this posted on the infamous 4chan.org boards. What's so sad is it is quite true, despite the Obamadrones trying to shoot it down.

Notice to All Employees

As of November 5, 2008, when President Obama is officially elected into office, our company will install a few new
policies which are in keeping with his new, inspiring issues of change and fairness:

1. All salespeople will be pooling their sales and bonuses into a common pool that will be divided equally between all of you. This will serve to give those of you who are underachieving a 'fair shake.'

2. All low level workers will be pooling their wages, including overtime, into a common pool, dividing it equally
amongst yourselves. This will help those who are 'too busy for overtime' to reap the rewards from those who have more
spare time and can work extra hours.

3. All top management will now be referred to as 'the government.' We will not participate in this 'pooling'
experience because the law doesn't apply to us.

4. The 'government' will give eloquent speeches to all employees every week, encouraging it's workers to continue to work hard 'for the good of all.'

5. The employees will be thrilled with these new policies because it's 'good to spread the wealth.' Those of you who have underachieved will finally get an opportunity; those of you who have worked hard and had success will feel more
'patriotic.'

6. The last few people who were hired should clean out their desks. Don't feel bad, though, because President Obama will give you free healthcare, free handouts, free oil for heating your home, free food stamps, and he'll let you stay in your home for as long as you want even if you can't pay your mortgage. If you appeal directly to our democratic congress,
you might even get a free flat screen TV and a coupon for free haircuts (shouldn't all Americans be entitled to nice looking
hair?) !!!

If for any reason you are not happy with the new policies, you may want to rethink your vote on November 4th.

2008-10-27T12:14:00.003-05:00

In my previous post, I talked of things that will happen under an Obama presidency. Let me now switch gears and discuss a few things that won't happen.

Net Neutrality as it should be
As it is envisioned, net neutrality is supposed to make it so internet service providers do not block content. It is also supposed to prevent the government from imposing censorship. It is the latter part that will not happen. Why do I say that? Remember which party was involved in trying to censor rock album lyrics? It was Tipper Gore and the Democrats who attempted that. Who was the primary sponsor of the anti-child pornography bill, to restrict minor's access to porn? Senator James J Exon, a Democrat from Nebraska was the primary sponsor. (For those who do not know, Senator Exon was also the primary sponsor that created the Internet...not Al Gore, who was just a co-sponsor). Which candidate is in the back pocket of RIAA and MPAA? Obama, who I expect will force any net neutrality bill to include an exception for bit torrent traffic: the exact protocol trying to be freed up by many of those proposing net neutrality. As such, we will not achieve true net neutrality under Obama.

Slowdown of jobs going overseas
As in my previous article, businesses are going to have to make a choice in either raising prices or else reducing costs to pay for Obama's tax increases. A number of companies, including Obama supporters like Google, are eyeing Europe and specifically Ireland for facilities. These will increase in size as the tax burden rises, causing a high tech job drain far greater than what India's call centers have provided.

Decrease in obesity in poor families
The more food prices increase, the more people forsake good meals for cheap, fat-filled meals. Despite efforts by Obama's allies to 'punish' fast food for the obesity epidemic, it will only get worse as the price of food goes up.

Major scientific breakthroughs by the United States
For the next few years, as R&D budgets are cut by companies, and price controls imposed on things like medical products through universal health care, the amount of progress towards scientific breakthroughs will slow. Europe and China, however, are poised to take over in this area. With India now looking towards manned space missions to the moon, China well on its way towards that goal, the European space station and advances there all will dwarf our accomplishments in these areas. Frankly, with the amount of money Obama will be spending on his social engineering experiment, NASA will be nearly depleted.

Education scores
Many who look at our school system realize government interference and dependence on the teacher's union have been an abject failure. Throwing more money at the problem will only make it worse. Add to that a major falacy behind socialism/communism: to have enough people to work in certain jobs, if you are not providing incentives for them to join the workforce, you will have to force people into those jobs. Yes, this is honestly why liberals want illegal immigrants because any attempt to force people to take the menial jobs would cause a civil war. I believe it was Brave New World that had the education system that preselected your career. I know that Futurama's first episode was entirely about this, where people are 'chipped' to determine what career they can become. This is the only way true socialism, the removal of 'greed', and all the other buzzwords of liberalism can come into being. Education scores will continue to fall, and the teacher's union will push to try and eliminate home schooling as an alternative. This is the 'dumbing down' of America many conservatives talk about. Meanwhile, Europe and especially Asia will rise, adding to the scientific progress mentioned above.

I realize I am being a pessimist. But all of these, and many more, will come to pass by electing someone whose entire vision is 'Hope and Change'. His change will be for the worst, and the worst possible scenarios are not something I really want to live through.

So, please America, listen to me and others like me who see through the smokescreen. Do not vote for Obama. If, for some reason, you feel you cannot vote for McCain, vote for Barr. Do not vote for the dissolution of our way of life by voting for Obama.

2008-10-23T09:51:00.003-05:00

We predict a lot of things in America: sporting events, weather, and political polls among others. Well, I have some predictions on what will happen if Obama gets elected president.

Inflation above 10%
Obama's tax plans are to supposedly 'reduce the taxes' on '95% of Americans'. However, what is going to happen is a shift in the tax burden from the more obvious income tax to a hidden tax behind every single good and service we pay for in this country. Unlike the FairTax, though, which eliminates all taxes except for an obvious, above-board sales tax, Obama's plan will be hidden and only seen in one statistic - inflation. See, corporations do not actually pay any tax they are assessed. It looks like it, but in actuality, they pass those taxes off to the consumer in higher prices. Obama's doubling of the tax on corporations will just double that portion of a product you purchase. Add to that my next prediction, which will increase the salary-based portion of a product's price, and you can see how inflation is going to end up being worse than under Carter.

Minimum wage will be raised
The minimum wage was originally intended to make sure people were not being forced to work at substandard conditions. Now, it is a hidden welfare program...for labor unions. Why is that? Well, union wages are tied to the minimum wage. As the minimum wage goes up, so does the amount paid to union workers, and it is normally not a 1 to 1 basis. An increase in the minimum wage ends up increasing salaries across the board, thus causing inflation mentioned above.

Unemployment will rise
Companies will have a choice, raise prices due to the policies above, or else move overseas. The only other alternative is cutting workforce, a move already happening in the tech industry. Either way (leaving the country, or cutting jobs), unemployment will rise and continue to rise.

Universal health care will cause our standard of medical care to fall
It's nice to have health insurance coverage, and having health care affordable to those who can't afford it is a good thing. Unfortunately, in the attempts to be beneficial, the government is sticking its nose in where it shouldn't. The result is going to be long waiting periods, fewer doctors, and no money allocated for research into areas of medicine we need to explore. With universal health care, though, comes universal price controls on health care services. Price controls always lead to shortages, as those providing the service lose money. Many doctors currently practicing will retire instead of dealing with the paperwork and garbage generated by the government red tape. The end result? Don't get sick.

Interest rates will rise
Once Ben Bernake is replaced by Obama, the old school economists which have been proven wrong again and again will be back in control. Can you say, Robert Reich, Fed chairman? Since inflation will be rising as above, the reaction from old school economists is to raise interest rates to try and stop inflation. Raising interest rates tightens the money supply. Now, if you have actually been listening to those in favor of the monetary bailout program for financial institutions, the reason that it had to be done is to 'loosen' the money supply for loans...not tighten it.

The combination of above, plus the tightening of money supply will lead to a depression as bad, if not worse, than the Great Depression.

Here are some minor things you will see:

Troops will be withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan, only to be forced into Sudan, creating a greater crisis as China moves to oppose us.
Welcome to the new Cold War, with China replacing Russia as our opponent. See, Obama will move to protect Africa while ditching the Middle East. Unlike Iraq and Afghanistan, where we had to remove the governments first before we could fix things, Obama will try not to do that with Sudan. This will create a major incident for Obama. If he tries to remove the government, though, it could end up a bigger mess. Sudan is a no-win situation in any event, unlike Iraq and Afghanistan where some success could be quantified.

Iran will either get a nuke, or Israel will act to stop them.
This is, I believe, what Biden was referring to. And I think Biden showed his hand in saying Obama will chastise Israel, instead of Iran, if Israel moves.

Global 'climate change' advocates will get Kyoto passed
Even though many scientists believe we are going into a cooling period, the global warming crowd will get their dream treaty of Kyoto signed by an Obama administration. The restrictions in that treaty will cause even more costs to be passed onto the American people, despite claims of taxing 'Big Oil'. See my inflation statement above. Just what we need is more pressure in that direction.

CSPI will attempt a class action lawsuit against fast food restaurants
Local attempts at these lawsuits have been stymied. With Obama in charge, though, I expect to see a large national suit similiar to the tobacco suit which has done so much to curb smoking...not.

Smoking will be prohibited in cars, and in homes with children
This is where the smoking nannies are headed. It is all 'for the children', you know.

RIAA and MPAA will step up lawsuits against citizens for minor infractions
Folks, there is no coincidence that almost every performer, entertainer, and executive in the music and film industries are backing Obama. It is not because of policies, but it all comes down to money, and you are going to end up paying for it.

Attempted implementation of the Fairness Doctrine
The liberals like this 'fairness' garbage too much, and think they can blunt the Republicans by trying to bring back this old version of censorship. First, I think there already are contingency plans against this sort of thing by radio. Second, I think there are plans to make sure television stations and newspapers fall into it this time. This is going to backfire big on the Obama backers, as they lose the anti-Bush libertarians.

Abortion on demand
No restrictions on abortion will be passed, and many current restrictions will be repealed.

Internet purchases will be taxed
Democratic governors are pushing this issue, and have for a number of years. A combination of Republicans and Democrats in Congress have prevented this from happening. However, the biggest advocate of taxing the Internet is none other than Nancy Pelosi. With the votes she can muster on her side, I predict sales tax will be implemented for sites such as Amazon and eBay.

Slavery reparations
The Civil War has been over for 140+ years. No one is alive today who was a slave. My family moved to this country just after the Civil War in one case (dad side), and after the turn of the century on the other. My family never owned slaves in its entire existence, so why am I the one blamed for slavery and why do I have to pay out of my pocket for it? Yet, Obama's cronies will push for compensation for slavery years after the fact. Let us get this straight: the Asian-Americans interned in World War II deserved reparations. I believe American Indians deserve just compensation for the land which was stolen from them (but not return of that land). But slaves were not only given freedom, but they were allowed to take over plantations that were surrendered.

I, among other conservatives and libertarians, will be labeled as a racist.
I'm really expecting this to happen no matter the outcome, but the amount of intimidation used against those speaking out against Obama and his policies will only grow worse until someone cracks. When that happens, things are going to get really ugly. In the interim, expect to see a resurgence of the KKK or other like-minded groups. The more people are called racist, the more apt they are to start acting that way. It is negative reinforcement, but Obama's policies that will hurt inner city people far more than they expect have to have a scapegoat in order to protect Obama. Will it get as bad as Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe? If it does, this county will be headed towards a second Civil War. I hate to be a pessimist on this, but I can see it happening.

For the record, I am NOT a racist. I wanted JC Watts to run for President. I would have voted for Condi Rice. I get along will with all of my multicultural co-workers. My dad's entire construction crew was either black or hispanic, or a combination thereof and I worked a season with those guys. But I will still be labeled one because I will never kowtow to any Marxist, no matter their skin color.

There are many more things that will happen, all of which will restrict our freedom and our pocketbooks in the next four years. Of course, we'll be told things are just fine, etc. by the press in order to placate Obama's goons.

2008-10-07T13:30:00.000-05:00

Economists Statement On Barack Obama’s Risky Economic Proposals

100 ECONOMISTS WARN THAT WITH CURRENT WEAK FINANCIAL CONDITIONS BARACK OBAMA’S PROPOSALS RUN A HIGH RISK OF THROWING THE US ECONOMY INTO A DEEP RECESSION

ARLINGTON, VA – Today, McCain-Palin 2008 released the following statement signed by 100 distinguished and experienced economists at major American universities and research organizations, including five Nobel Prize winners Gary Becker, James Buchanan, Robert Mundell, Edward Prescott, and Vernon Smith. The economists explain why Barack Obama’s proposals, including “misguided tax hikes,” would “decrease the number of jobs in America.” The prospects of such tax rate increases under Barack Obama are already harming the economy. The economists conclude that “Barack Obama’s economic proposals are wrong for the American economy.” The proposals “defy both economic reason and economic experience.”

The full economists’ statement on Barack Obama’s economic proposals and a complete list of economists who support it follows:

Barack Obama argues that his proposals to raise tax rates and halt international trade agreements would benefit the American economy. They would do nothing of the sort. Economic analysis and historical experience show that they would do the opposite. They would reduce economic growth and decrease the number of jobs in America. Moreover, with the credit crunch, the housing slump, and high energy prices weakening the U.S. economy, his proposals run a high risk of throwing the economy into a deep recession. It was exactly such misguided tax hikes and protectionism, enacted when the U.S. economy was weak in the early 1930s, that greatly increased the severity of the Great Depression.

We are very concerned with Barack Obama’s opposition to trade agreements such as the pending one with Colombia, the new one with Central America, or the established one with Canada and Mexico. Exports from the United States to other countries create jobs for Americans. Imports make goods available to Americans at lower prices and are a particular benefit to families and individuals with low incomes. International trade is also a powerful source of strength in a weak economy. In the second quarter of this year, for example, increased international trade did far more to stimulate the U.S. economy than the federal government’s “stimulus” package.

Ironically, rather than supporting international trade, Barack Obama is now proposing yet another so-called stimulus package, which would do very little to grow the economy. And his proposal to finance the package with higher taxes on oil would raise oil prices directly and by reducing exploration and production.

We are equally concerned with his proposals to increase tax rates on labor income and investment. His dividend and capital gains tax increases would reduce investment and cut into the savings of millions of Americans. His proposals to increase income and payroll tax rates would discourage the formation and expansion of small businesses and reduce employment and take-home pay, as would his mandates on firms to provide expensive health insurance.

After hearing such economic criticism of his proposals, Barack Obama has apparently suggested to some people that he might postpone his tax increases, perhaps to 2010. But it is a mistake to think that postponing such tax increases would prevent their harmful effect on the economy today. The prospect of such tax rate increases in 2010 is already a drag on the economy. Businesses considering whether to hire workers today and expand their operations have time horizons longer than a year or two, so the prospect of higher taxes starting in 2009 or 2010 reduces hiring and investment in 2008.

In sum, Barack Obama’s economic proposals are wrong for the American economy. They defy both economic reason and economic experience.

Robert Barro, Harvard University

Gary Becker, University of Chicago

Sanjai Bhagat, University of Colorado

Michael Block, University of Arizona

Brock Blomberg, Claremont-McKenna University

Michael Bordo, Rutgers University

Michael Boskin, Stanford University

Ike Brannon, McCain-Palin 2008

James Buchanan, George Mason University

Todd Buchholtz, Two Oceans Fund

Charles Calomiris, Columbia University

Jim Carter, Vienna VA

Barry Chiswick, University of Illinois at Chicago

John Cogan, Hoover Institution

Kathleen Cooper, Southern Methodist University

Ted Covey, McLean VA

Dan Crippen, former CBO Director

Mario Crucini, Vanderbilt

Steve Davis, University of Chicago

Christopher DeMuth, American Enterprise Institute

William Dewald, Ohio State University

Frank Diebold, University of Pennsylvania

Isaac Ehrlich, State University of New York at Buffalo

Paul Evans, Ohio State University

Dan Feenberg, NBER

Martin Feldstein, Harvard University

Eric Fisher, California Polytechnic State University

Kristin Forbes, MIT

Timothy Fuerst, Bowling Green State University

Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Hudson Institute

Paul Gregory, University of Houston

Earl Grinols, Baylor University

Rik Hafer, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Gary Hansen, UCLA

Eric Hanushek, Hoover Institutions

Kevin Hassett, American Enterprise Institute

Arlene Holen, Technology Policy Institute

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain-Palin 2008

Glenn Hubbard, Columbia University

Owen Irvine, Michigan State University

Mike Jensen, Harvard University

Steven Kaplan, University of Chicago

Robert King, Boston University

Meir Kohn, Dartmouth

Marvin Kosters, American Enterprise Institute

Anne Krueger, Johns Hopkins University

Phil Levy, American Enterprise Institute

Larry Lindsey, The Lindsey Group

Paul W. MacAvoy. Yale University

John Makin, American Enterprise Institute

Burton Malkiel, Princeton University

Bennett McCallum, Carnegie-Mellon University

Paul McCracken, University of Michigan

Will Melick, Kenyon College

Allan Meltzer, Carnegie-Mellon University

Enrique Mendoza, University of Maryland

Jim Miller, George Mason University

Michael Moore, George Washington University

Robert Mundell, Columbia University

Tim Muris, George Mason University

Kevin Murphy, University of Chicago

Richard Muth, Emory University

Charles Nelson, University of Washington

Bill Niskanen, Cato Institute

June O’Neill, Baruch College, CUNY

Lydia Ortega, San Jose State University

Steve Parente, University of Minnesota

William Poole, University of Delaware

Michael Porter, Harvard University

Barry Poulson, University of Colorado, Boulder

Edward Prescott, Arizona State University

Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard University

Richard Roll, UCLA

Harvey Rosen, Princeton University

Robert Rossana, Wayne State University

Mark Rush, University of Florida

Tom Saving, Texas A&M University

Anna Schwartz, NBER

George Shultz, Stanford University

Chester Spatt, Carnegie-Mellon University

David Spencer, Brigham Young University

Beryl Sprinkle, Former Chair Council of Economic Advisers

Houston Stokes, University of Illinois in Chicago

Robert Tamura, Clemson University

Jack Tatum, Indiana State University

John Taylor, Stanford University

Richard Vedder, Ohio University

William B. Walstad, University of Nebraska

Murray Weidenbaum, Washington University in St. Louis

Arnold Zellner, University of Chicago

2008-09-22T09:09:00.002-05:00

The speech Sarah Palin was going to give at the UN demonstration against Iran, blocked by the liberals in the Obama camp because Sarah is more articulate than their presidential candidate: (thanks to the New York Sun for printing this)

I am honored to be with you and with leaders from across this great country -- leaders from different faiths and political parties united in a single voice of outrage.
Tomorrow, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will come to New York -- to the heart of what he calls the Great Satan -- and speak freely in this, a country whose demise he has called for.

Ahmadinejad may choose his words carefully, but underneath all of the rhetoric is an agenda that threatens all who seek a safer and freer world. We gather here today to highlight the Iranian dictator's intentions and to call for action to thwart him.

He must be stopped.

The world must awake to the threat this man poses to all of us. Ahmadinejad denies that the Holocaust ever took place. He dreams of being an agent in a "Final Solution" -- the elimination of the Jewish people. He has called Israel a "stinking corpse" that is "on its way to annihilation." Such talk cannot be dismissed as the ravings of a madman -- not when Iran just this summer tested long-range Shahab-3 missiles capable of striking Tel Aviv, not when the Iranian nuclear program is nearing completion, and not when Iran sponsors terrorists that threaten and kill innocent people around the world.

The Iranian government wants nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran is running at least 3,800 centrifuges and that its uranium enrichment capacity is rapidly improving. According to news reports, U.S. intelligence agencies believe the Iranians may have enough nuclear material to produce a bomb within a year.

The world has condemned these activities. The United Nations Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend its illegal nuclear enrichment activities. It has levied three rounds of sanctions. How has Ahmadinejad responded? With the declaration that the "Iranian nation would not retreat one iota" from its nuclear program.

So, what should we do about this growing threat? First, we must succeed in Iraq. If we fail there, it will jeopardize the democracy the Iraqis have worked so hard to build, and empower the extremists in neighboring Iran. Iran has armed and trained terrorists who have killed our soldiers in Iraq, and it is Iran that would benefit from an American defeat in Iraq.

If we retreat without leaving a stable Iraq, Iran's nuclear ambitions will be bolstered. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons -- they could share them tomorrow with the terrorists they finance, arm, and train today. Iranian nuclear weapons would set off a dangerous regional nuclear arms race that would make all of us less safe.

But Iran is not only a regional threat; it threatens the entire world. It is the no. 1 state sponsor of terrorism. It sponsors the world's most vicious terrorist groups, Hamas and Hezbollah. Together, Iran and its terrorists are responsible for the deaths of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s, in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, and in Iraq today. They have murdered Iraqis, Lebanese, Palestinians, and other Muslims who have resisted Iran's desire to dominate the region. They have persecuted countless people simply because they are Jewish.
Iran is responsible for attacks not only on Israelis, but on Jews living as far away as Argentina. Anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial are part of Iran's official ideology and murder is part of its official policy. Not even Iranian citizens are safe from their government's threat to those who want to live, work, and worship in peace. Politically-motivated abductions, torture, death by stoning, flogging, and amputations are just some of its state-sanctioned punishments.

It is said that the measure of a country is the treatment of its most vulnerable citizens. By that standard, the Iranian government is both oppressive and barbaric. Under Ahmadinejad's rule, Iranian women are some of the most vulnerable citizens.

If an Iranian woman shows too much hair in public, she risks being beaten or killed.

If she walks down a public street in clothing that violates the state dress code, she could be arrested.

But in the face of this harsh regime, the Iranian women have shown courage. Despite threats to their lives and their families, Iranian women have sought better treatment through the "One Million Signatures Campaign Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws." The authorities have reacted with predictable barbarism. Last year, women's rights activist Delaram Ali was sentenced to 20 lashes and 10 months in prison for committing the crime of "propaganda against the system." After international protests, the judiciary reduced her sentence to "only" 10 lashes and 36 months in prison and then temporarily suspended her sentence. She still faces the threat of imprisonment.

Earlier this year, Senator Clinton said that "Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is in the forefront of that" effort. Senator Clinton argued that part of our response must include stronger sanctions, including the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization. John McCain and I could not agree more.

Senator Clinton understands the nature of this threat and what we must do to confront it. This is an issue that should unite all Americans. Iran should not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. Period. And in a single voice, we must be loud enough for the whole world to hear: Stop Iran!

Only by working together, across national, religious, and political differences, can we alter this regime's dangerous behavior. Iran has many vulnerabilities, including a regime weakened by sanctions and a population eager to embrace opportunities with the West. We must increase economic pressure to change Iran's behavior.

Tomorrow, Ahmadinejad will come to New York. On our soil, he will exercise the right of freedom of speech -- a right he denies his own people. He will share his hateful agenda with the world. Our task is to focus the world on what can be done to stop him.

We must rally the world to press for truly tough sanctions at the U.N. or with our allies if Iran's allies continue to block action in the U.N. We must start with restrictions on Iran's refined petroleum imports.

We must reduce our dependency on foreign oil to weaken Iran's economic influence.

We must target the regime's assets abroad; bank accounts, investments, and trading partners.

President Ahmadinejad should be held accountable for inciting genocide, a crime under international law.

We must sanction Iran's Central Bank and the Revolutionary Guard Corps -- which no one should doubt is a terrorist organization.

Together, we can stop Iran's nuclear program.

Senator McCain has made a solemn commitment that I strongly endorse: Never again will we risk another Holocaust. And this is not a wish, a request, or a plea to Israel's enemies. This is a promise that the United States and Israel will honor, against any enemy who cares to test us. It is John McCain's promise and it is my promise.

Thank you.

2008-08-29T10:12:00.002-05:00

It is now official.

I will be voting for John McCain with absolutely no reservations now for President of the United States.

What made me drop my reservations?

Simple: John McCain chose someone who should be an inspiration to us all to be his vice presidential nominee - Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska.

Sarah Palin will be attacked by the Left as being too young, too inexperienced, and with no foreign policy experience. Sounds a whole lot like the Left's presidential nominee, but with one major exception. Sarah Palin has accomplished tangible change in the former corruption that gripped the state of Alaska. Contrast this with Mr Change who has always been all talk and no tangible results, except for getting a good job for his wife and a house through a convicted felon.

Sarah Palin has the experience as an executive, something sorely lacking in all the rest of the people on the tickets. That viewpoint, and that ability to manage multiple departments, is critical for the job. Honestly, it is why Bush was a better choice over either Gore or Kerry, regardless of political leanings - GWB had the experience in managing people.

Palin is more than a pretty face, she is smart. She also knows energy policy, as she has managed the state where much of our domestic oil has been supplied. She also would not have been elected if she did not have a true concern for the environment, not this fake anti-capitalist movement that has gripped the Left.

Palin knows the family, having five children of her own. Her oldest is deploying to Iraq, so the typical Michael Moore claptrap does not work on her saying politicians don't have their children going off to war. Palin is also pro-life, realizing the importance of children being able to experience the world as we have, at minimum.

I am very pleased with the choice of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate. She will make an excellent Vice President.

2008-08-27T12:30:00.002-05:00

I've been doing a lot of Twittering this month, but very little on the blog end of things. I find that Twitter is a great little product, where I can type my thoughts as they come to me in 140 byte-sized chunks.

But I need to explain a bit about my last couple of Tweets.

Today, Wednesday, August 27th is when Barack Obama's VP pick, Joe Biden, speaks at the convention. Tomorrow, Barackus Husseinus Obamatine speaks at his mock Roman stage ala Invesco Field. The news media is going to be swarming all over the speech, analyzing every little tidbit they can on Friday.

In the process, McCain's VP pick is going to be buried.

For maximum effect, McCain needs to come out today, by 2:30 central, and announce his VP choice. This will get the media to start contrasting the two VP candidates against one another, where McCain's choice should win the comparison. This totally disrupts Biden's speech bump that will lead into Obama's speech tomorrow, and forces it to not be buried on the back pages on Friday, when the media is having their orgasms of delight over whatever Obama says.

2008-07-30T12:53:00.002-05:00

Once again, we have a situation with Obama and company playing elitist. Obama got in front of an audience and said America needs to drop driving SUVs and using so much air conditioning. Of course, right after the speech, he jumped into an SUV with the air conditioner blowing full blast.

To any sane individual, this is hypocrisy at its height. But see, that's the problem with many on both the right and left...for them it is not.

Once again I go back to the book I loathe so much, Plato's Republic, to explain the situation that is going on with things like this, or Al Gore's ranch able to power a small town while he whines about global warming.

In Republic, Plato envisions what he considers the perfect society. Three layers comprise this society - the Intellectuals, the Soldiers, and everyone else. The Intellectuals make the rules. The only voting that occurs involves those selected for this elite group. The common folk and the soldiers do not vote on anything. They just sit there and realize, gee...these Intellectuals are so smart, they know what's best for us moreso than we do. So, they sit there and take it. This means the Intellectuals are immune to their own pronouncements, if the want to be, as they 'know better'.

This is exactly the mentality of the liberal elite running the Democratic party. They seem to think they know what is best for the masses, but the elite, being the Intellectuals above, can exempt themselves from the rules. Many in the Republican party hierarchy think this same way these days.

I'm sure you can see the obvious problems with this, but I'll spell them out anyways. Freedom is surpressed, if the Intellectuals want it to be. Only they have the freedom to think and act, everyone else must obey their orders. This is not a free society that Plato envisions, and is why Aristotle challenged this view.

There is no room for capitalism, religion, or other things that promote diversity in this kind of society. It is a command-driven economy and society. For most of us, this is totalitarian, and some would call it Marxist or Naziism.

Well, surprise...Marx based Marxism on Plato's Republic, or a variant thereof. Surprise, so did Adolf Hitler base his Mein Kampf off of Plato's Republic. The only difference between the two was the forces of internationalism vs nationalism. Read Marx and read Hitler, and you see how much the two parallel with the exception of this one factor.

We conservatives and libertarians must reject this supposed 'perfect society', because it isn't perfect. This is a society envisioned by a philosopher before weapons were made of steel, let alone things like gunpowder, or technology existing today like telephones and computers. This is a society where ignorance was assumed, and thus why the Intellectuals were isolated and led because they were the only ones informed.

That is not the society of today. With cell phones, the internet, the media, and other avenues to get at the facts, we are all Intellectuals if we so desire. We are not preselected, like Plato envisioned, to become an Intellectual. We make it happen ourselves.

We cannot keep putting into power people who think like Plato on either side of the aisle. Unfortunately, because too many people are buying into the Republic's false premises, we end up like we are today, on the verge of destroying our working society trying to emulate a 2,200 year old philosopher's vision. A vision that, when attempted previously over those years, has failed miserably time and time again.

2008-07-25T11:36:00.003-05:00

Disaster recovery plans. Everyone has them. Even the incompetent boobs at FEMA have them.

Except my company.

This is what you get when the people in government have their priorities all screwed up. As you may or may not know, I work for a merged city-county IT department...who can't get along with itself, let alone with the customers some days.

It's time for me to vent a little on this, as I'm just tired of saying 'I told you so'. This is not rocket science we are talking about here, this is about data recovery in the case of a disaster. You know, like a tornado blowing through the center of town, etc.

Let's add to that data integrity issues as well. I've been working for three weeks to find a way to convert an old postgresql database into the db2 format needed to run the java application built to replace my little, poorly designed php application. Not possible. The data is too mucked up in my system, combined with the idiosyncracies of DB2. Thus, the solution is data entry.

Between the two areas, my mental state is fractured.

At least in 2 weeks, I'll be in Las Vegas at DefCon 16, on a 'business trip' that I get to pay for myself...because my company is too cheap to do so, even though I'm the guy who has to defend our web servers and applications from the Chinese.

Detect a little bitterness? Naw, couldn't be...

2008-07-13T00:23:00.002-05:00

I have been involved over the past week in the controversy and discussion concerning social networks and their restrictions by Congress against their members using them.

First, I have to say this is the first issue in a long time that has really gotten me motivated into getting the word out to friends and others I know. I'm glad to have discussed things with Representative John Culberson of Texas over Twitter. Twitter is a great service. (I'm @Ltfngr there)

Second, I find it sad that many on the left do not understand how restrictions of any sort on free speech will hurt them just as much as it hurts us on the right, no matter our profession. Congress should be the place, if anywhere, where free expression of ideas should be allowed. Now, I have no problem with putting a couple of things in place - no Twittering/Qiking on the floor, for example - but honestly, members of Congress were elected to lead, not cower like sheep when the topic of Internet accessibility is brought up.

Third, this entire controversy just shows how out of touch both sides' leadership has been when it comes to the Internet and social networks. Moveon.org, who I rail about usually, was a pioneer in using social networks to get their message out. It is time for the right to get their head out of the sand and do the same, and do it better.

Fourth, and last, though the truth can get obscured and denied on the Internet, when the truth finally spreads, it triumphs. Failure in using the Internet to spread the truth has led to idiots out there believing all sorts of conspiracy theories, social marxism, and blinds people to the intentions of people. Traditional media cowers and is afraid of the truth getting out on the Internet, and those who got the jump with their lies are beginning to be exposed (again, Moveon, Code Pink, Acorn, and other marxists nee 'progressives'). That's why some are jumping to try and block open discussions by Congress over social networks. They are afraid of the truth getting out there. Congressional leaders are afraid of the truth of their incompetence getting out to the masses.

And before you bash me, please understand there are some, like Dan Young of Alaska, who are labelled as Republican that I have similar problems with. The idea behind compassionate conservatism have been co-oped by those in favor of big government that claim to be from the right. The more light that opens up, the more these sorts will be exposed for the frauds they truely are, regardless of party.

2008-07-08T21:06:00.003-05:00

So, the House Democrats are so afraid of the truth getting out to the people and constituents, they want to restrict members access to the Internet social networking sites, such as Twitter, Blogger, and YouTube.

Please note: All of these sites are FREE, though they may have advertisements. Facebook, Myspace, etc. do not violate any sort of 'franking' rules what so ever. The restrictions placed on 'franking' are primarily so members do not spend taxpayer funds on campaign messages that are strictly politicking, versus real information.

Surprise, all members have campaign websites that DO just that. At least, all members that have at least a bit of intelligence.

Here we have the Democrats, who so many of the liberal 'techies' out there support, attempting to stifle free speech protected by the First Amendment over the Internet.

This is a violation not only of that, but of Net Neutrality, advocated by...you guessed it, as many liberals as conservatives out there!

Think about it - Democrats: The Party of Censorship. A few videos, a few ads, and I think a lot of the young people support currently backing Obama suddenly begin having second thoughts. This is an issue that could be the key to driving a large wedge between the Congress and presidential vote, let alone between the presidential candidates.

I hope the weak willed in the Republican party finally begin the push back against the 'inevitable' Democratic victory in the House by just pounding this issue to death, endorsing Net Neutrality for all - meaning all forms of media.

Let's take back this issue, shall we?

2008-07-03T16:19:00.002-05:00

Google Shuts Down Anti-Obama Sites on its Blogger Platform, NewsBusters.

What they did was go to the Blogspot addresses found on the site of the NoObama coalition called Just Say No Deal and constantly hit the "mark as spam" link so that Google's Blogger would be flooded with spam warnings. This caused Google/Blogger to freeze the sites marked.

Apparently, this campaign merely took advantage of Google/Blogger's flawed system of finding spam blogs. So, it looks like what we have here is an Obama dirty trick to shut down political opposition. Looks like Obmatons aren't much for that whole democracy thing, eh?

Interesting little tidbit there, isn't it? This is the kind of garbage the Communists supporting Obama engage in, in order to stifle free speech. This is what is coming when Obama is elected. Expect stories like this to become more and more frequent as they try to suppress the truth about their Manchurian candidate.

2008-06-26T12:52:00.002-05:00

How many homicides are committed in Washington DC in a year?

So far, according to the police's website, there has been 65 through May. Down 1 from last year. (why the website says -2 just proves more things)

In comparison, as of April, Omaha had 11, equal to last year.

Omaha operates under the state's concealed-carry law. Washington DC, twice the size of Omaha, had 6 times the homicide rate. They operate under a total gun ban.

Sorry, Obama...once again, the liberal theory flies into the wall of the real.

On how many issues are the liberal intellectual 'theories' about how things should work fail? Gun control is but just one of those areas. But why the RNC, McCain, and those wealthy enough to be able to help them make ad buys do not act on this sort of information is beyond me. I am beginning to hark wistfully back to the days of 'straight talking' Ross Perot. Though I think the man was crazy, he at least put the statistics in front of people.

2008-06-11T09:59:00.004-05:00

I've decided it is time for me to be even more vocal. Yes, this means I am finally enabling comments on the blog.

Due to what I have seen at other conservative blogs, I have had commenting turned off for quite a while now on this one. I did not want to sit and have to play policeman while I have other things to do. Contrary to what you may think, it was not because I did not want criticism of my views, but I want true, constructive criticism. Unfortunately, there are too many people who cannot behave rationally when it comes to the Internet.

What I am not going to promise is a more regular schedule of postings on the blog, though the comments may unintentionally do that. The last time I promised to put more comments onto the blog, it was 8 months before I started posting again.

2008-06-04T12:41:00.002-05:00

The Democrats are about to run out of real estate. There is only a few more months of the 'Love Guru' influence on Obama before he has to start stating what 'change' he is really touting.

Those in the know realize the 'change' Obama is for is change towards a government more in line with that of the National Socialists. Do you really think Obama will legalize drug usage beyond medical marijuana? Do you really think Obama will stop the attacks on piracy by the RIAA and MPAA (especially considering most of the members in the sponsoring organizations of those two entities have endorsed him)? Do you actually think we'll get out of Iraq? Do you think he will actually rescind the Patriot Act?

If you believe any of that, you had better look again at the candidates running. Obama is the candidate for those advocating a police state, not freedom. It amazes me how he can put up a smokescreen and avoid the truth like he does.

2008-05-29T14:52:00.002-05:00

A huge deal is being made in the news media concerning Scott McClellan's new book that supposedly 'exposes the truth' about the Bush administration.

Of course, all those media outlets are neglecting to state the publisher of the book is owned by a company controlled by George Soros. Remember the story a few weeks ago about David Brock (the previous Republican turned ultraliberal) going to meet with Soros in New York about something? I am guessing McClellan's book was the subject of that meeting.

McClellan, like his namesake from the Civil War, has decided to harm a sitting president in the middle of a war based primarily on promoting freedom by coming out and attacking him. Now, whether he turns out as rabid as Brock has will be determined. However, this does prove one major thing about the Bush administration even if most of the speculation in the book about what happened in meetings McClellan did not attend is not true:

The Bush administration's hiring practices leave something to be desired.

This is why 'yes-men' are the worst possible thing to surround yourself with when you are in a position of authority. Sorry, Scotty, but that's what you were. You may now be having a crisis of conscience, but you were a yes-man. Now, you are a yes-man to Brock and Soros because you want to be liked, even though the only reason you kept the job you had was because you kowtowed well.

Let's be honest, McClellan's ineptitude at his job is one of the prime reasons Bush's ratings are now abysmal. The decline started because of McClellan's inability to be a spokesman. That started the Bush administration on the wrong foot, and it has spiraled downward ever since.

2008-05-23T14:30:00.001-05:00

This from Lynn Abbey:

I'm still sorting this out myself, but realizing that pretty much
everyone on this list is at least peripherally aware that I was
married to Bob Asprin, I thought I should pass the word...

Bob died yesterday afternoon (May 22, 2008). It was sudden and
unexpected, probably a heart attack. A friend was supposed to take
him to the airport as he was scheduled to be Guest-of-Honor at Marcon
this weekend.

She found him on his sofa with one of Terry Prachett's books open on
his chest.

I hope he had simply dozed off and passed in his sleep.

When my thoughts are a bit more organized, I plan to post them...and
some pictures from the good times...on my blog
(http://www.lynnabbey.com/blog).

It's a strange, strange day....

Lynn

I am losing way, way too many of my inspirations this year. First, William Buckley, then Gary Gygax, and now the sudden death of Robert Asprin, author of the Thieves World, Phule's Company, and other books.

I feel old.

2008-05-20T11:00:00.002-05:00

I am really getting fed up with my own party on a number of things.

First and foremost: let's get our house in order before we can claim to have the ability to get the country in order.

There have been way too many philanderers, cheats, etc. elected to office as Republicans. The fact Dan Young, to take an example, is still leading in the polls even after the 'road to nowhere' garbage is just shameful. He is the poster boy for earmark corruption. The fact the national organization turns a blind eye to people like him just helps with Obama's 'change' bull.

Next, the party needs to get some spine. Stop trying to kiss up to the press, they will never be on our side. In the end, it is truth that will win the day. Yes, the American people CAN handle the truth when they are presented it. It is the Left that has to run behind smoke and mirrors.

Tell the truth about Obama's communist advisers. Tell the truth about his affiliations with black separatist terrorists. Tell the truth about his hatred of Jews and the Israeli state. Tell the truth about his 'change' being nothing but a smokescreen in order to force us to a lower standard of living.

Tell the truth about candidates running for the House and Senate that say one thing, but then do another when they get elected. Show them examples. Use their old campaign promises against them.

Point out the truth about the rape gangs supported by Saddam Hussein. Point out that the standard of living of the average Iraqi is improving by leaps and bounds. Show how women, and religion, are no longer being suppressed due to our invasion of Iraq. Stop letting the Left frame the war with the entire WMD mistake, when that was but one reason to get rid of Hussein. Put some of the Iraqis who have welcomed us to free them on our advertisements.

Third, stop hamstringing ourselves by not talking about the real issues. The Left politicizes the war, yet we cannot? That's ridiculous. It is time to put it out there. Even if you believe in climate change, point out that we've already been wrong on some things like the ozone layer, so emphasize more money for research, not radical plans based on some ubiquitous 'carbon footprint' baloney that has only been concocted within the past two years.

We've already blown it by putting up as our nominee one of the worst candidates we could find. Now we're stuck with him, but that doesn't mean we cannot prove Obama and his buddies at Daily KOS and MoveOn are infinitely worse for the kind of 'change' they will attempt to bring. 'Change' for the sake of change never, ever works out.

2008-05-09T09:08:00.002-05:00

I was listening to Mike & Mike this morning, and they had a little argument concerning whether a football coach watching film was more or less intellectual than a chess match.

Here's the problem: I would never let anyone called an 'intellectual' or 'academic' make policy decisions, decide our leadership in the country, etc. Of course, the 'eggheads' (as mentioned by a Clinton supporter) all are on the Obama bandwagon, and yet another reason not to support the man.

Of course, you college students out there who want to be a part of that 'intellectual' crowd are going to wonder why I make such a statement.

An academic works in the field of theory. You make a theory, try to prove or disprove it. If it is disproven, you create a new theory and start again. If it is proven, then you declare it good and move to another area to start the process again.

An academic, though, does not adapt on the fly. They deal in the black and white, not the shades of gray. Something is either right or wrong when it comes to theories.

Now, a football coach, businessman, farmer, or even president of the United States does not have the luxury of a stop and start. A farmer, if his crops are not growing at a slow pace, does not have the luxury of halting everything, replanting his crop, and trying again. A president does not have the luxury of stopping an action or policy suddenly and restopping it, as the momentum is carried through. Even if a mistake is made, that mistake carries on for a long time and in many cases needs to be 'rode out' to the end. It isn't enough for a coach to stop and start a defense because it does not work, he has to adapt the defense as the game is being played and fix any fundamental errors through teaching between games. He can't just dump the entire defensive team and start over.

In the lives of non-academics, actions have far reaching consequences. Things can change over days, months, and even years. For an example, we just cannot suddenly stop Nafta. That has consequences. We cannot just stand up and walk out of Iraq. That has consequences not only for us, for the Iraqi people. You can debate until you are blue in the face about whether we should have attacked in the first place (Personally, I wish the secondary reasons were emphasized more on this, as I think going in WAS a good idea), but you just can't 'stop the theory' like I describe above that the academics want. The world does not work like a laboratory.

Here's another example: the global warming crowd have whined for years about the fact the ozone layer hole needs closing. We must close the hole, they trumpeted. Now, the hole IS closing, and guess what? It's causing MORE warming by doing so. Again, the world is not a lab. Actions have consequences, and many of those consequences cannot be foreseen even by the academics and their theories.

It is frustrating that we are going to elect the academics' chosen candidate for president. By the time we all realize he's in over his head, the damage will be done.

2008-03-21T11:14:00.002-05:00

Forty eight years ago, due to the fact certain individuals could not read the Constitution, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act.

Around the time of that action, and the various marches and demonstrations, Martin Luther King spoke the words "I have a dream." He dreamed of a world where skin color made no difference. He dreamed of a world where 'content of a man's character' was what defined him in society.

Forty years later...

We have a black political candidate who, like other 'leaders' in the community cannot get over, not only forty years ago, but 140 years ago. Martin Luther King asked for men to look forward, to propel our country to greatness. The popular black leadership have no desire to try and move forward, just mire all of us in the past.

Mr. Obama claims he is for change, but the only change he wants is a change to a socialist police state. He associates with those who advocate a violent overthrow of the country he's trying to become president of, and yet the media is so afraid to report on this because they may be labeled as 'racists'.

Because we whites are so afraid of that label, we're going to let Obama get a pass on his true politics. In order to avoid 'offending' people, we're going to end up with Karl Marx.

All this race talk is being used to obscure the truth about Obama's politics. I admired Martin Luther King, who was shot just before I was born. Martin Luther King was a great man, and those that truly emulate him, I respect. I've read the 'I have a dream' speech dozens upon dozens of times. The entire point of that speech is 'Let's move forward, into the future, and make the world better for all of us in the American Way.' It was not 'Let's push backwards and start racial divisions and impose the worst economic and social environment possible to destroy the American Way.'

Remember, folks...popular elections heralded in such prime examples of Obama's politics as Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hitler, and Mugabe.

2008-03-06T11:39:00.002-06:00

In less than a week, two of my idols have passed away.

First, mentioned in a previous blog post, was William F. Buckley, who helped define what it is to be a conservative.

On March 3rd, I lost my second idol.

E. Gary Gygax helped create the hobby I have enjoyed since 1977, when I first discovered the game of Dungeons and Dragons as a 5th grader. Bored out of my skull at Wednesday night church, my friend at the time, Jim Rapchinski, brought a new book with him. That book ended up changing my life.

Oh, my first adventure wasn't spectacular to say the least. It was 'In Search of the Unknown', the module that came packaged in the blue box. I died in the first encounter, with the character I chose out of the back of pregenerated characters. Not surprisingly, it was a kobold that did my poor little fighter in, but that little kobold hooked me.

Over the years, my love of the game waxed and waned. I always came back to it, however. Fifteen years later, I was writing for Hero Games and the Champions RPG, but my Dungeon Masters Guide, Player's Handbook, and Monster Manual did not collect dust. Twenty years later, I had moved on to writing things for Shadowrun, but I always kept coming back to the various incarnations of Dungeons and Dragons.

As August approaches, and the fourth edition of the game about to debut, the grandfather of gaming has passed away. Those millions of people playing World of Warcraft, Everquest, or another fantasy game either online or off have Gary to thank for the kickstart he gave.

Some of you know what Gary went through over the years. His love of his creation blinded him many times to the things going on around him. Because of that, he ended up losing control of his game's publication. His later attempts at games seemed half-hearted sometimes, but he was gentlemanly enough to not become a vocal critic of what happened to his creation.

Gary was a critic, though, to those who subscribed to his private mailing lists. In politics, he was very libertarian in thinking, yet as pro-defense as anyone after 9/11. On gaming, he mourned what he once called his biggest failure, allowing the skills in Oriental Adventures. With 2nd, and then 3rd editions focusing so much on dice rolling to resolve skills, Gary stated that role playing was suffering.

Gary begrudingly accepted online games for the same reason. Gary was all about taking the role of a character in the game, and not relying on player dice rolls. This seemed contradictory for the man whose works were scattered with so many random tables and generators, but Gary created those tables for the gamemaster, not the player.

A few years ago, when I was trying to get 'Living Erde' off the ground and before the RPGA squashed all non-company games from its line up, I met Gary at GenCon. He was the nicest man, willing to talk your ears off about fantasy genres. But, even then, you could tell his health was failing. Honestly, I am surprised he lasted as long as he did with his health issues cropping up.

Still, at the age of 70, E. Gary Gygax died way before his time. Many different tributes to Gary have made comments about 'failing his saving throw vs death', and he would have laughed at them. That was the thing about Gary, he had gone through his stage of being bitter about losing control of TSR, Inc., but in his later years, he could laugh at himself. He appeared as himself in an episode of Futurama, again making fun of his attraction to random tables.

The world is going to miss Gary. Even though I did not know him very well, I know I already do.

2008-02-27T12:44:00.002-06:00

I just logged into Drudge Report to check on what the hot stories were today. I thought it would be yet another Obama vs McCain vs Hillary story, but instead I was confronted with:

RIP, WFB

I did not have to click on the link to know who 'WFB' was.

William F Buckley was one of the main reasons I call myself a conservative. The story of how he built National Review, and energized the emerging conservative movement has inspired me and helped shape my political views over the years.

WFB's views and my views are almost identical down the line.

All I can say is at least he won't be around to watch the near communist Obama taking on the liberal McCain for president.

God speed, Mr. Buckley. We will miss your insights and guidance through the rough waters ahead.

2008-01-31T14:07:00.000-06:00

Well, the reason I believe the primary system needs reformed has come true. It looks like the Republicans are going to bend over and support someone whose mental stability I question.

This front-loaded primary system is inherently unfair on both sides of the aisle. Voting should take place in the primaries in reverse population order, so the small states get their say in things, and the larger states like California can be how a candidate coalesces their popularity into a victory.

Instead, come May when I get to vote, I'm only going to have one candidate on the ballot. (maybe 2, if Ron Paul doesn't drop out).

Between McCain and Paul, I'll go Paul. Seriously, despite all my griping in previous columns, at least I know how Paul will act.

I'm actually beginning to hope for Bloomberg to run, which is scary as I normally hate third party candidates.

2008-01-04T14:28:00.000-06:00

Well, Huckleberry and Droopy have won their respective caucuses over in Iowa.

Now they get to see whether they can stand the heat about to be thrown their way. I suspect Obama can survive the Clinton attack better than Huckabee will withstand Romney's assault.

Unfortunately, I'm now resolved to the fact we're getting someone worse than George W Bush no matter who ends up on top. Within a year after the election, I expect both sides to come to the same conclusion.

Thank God in 2012, Mike Johanns will be ready to run.

2008-01-02T12:35:00.000-06:00

Iowa, here's the appeal:

Vote for Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Alan Keyes, or Duncan Hunter.

Although I do a lot of Romney defending here, I cannot say I'm sold on him. Keyes and Hunter will be out of the race by the time I get the chance to vote, unfortunately. Iowans, you have that chance.

On the Democrat side, none of the above, or write in Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, or someone else that actually holds the principles of FDR and JFK. None of your current choices do that at all. They hold to the principles of Che Guevarra, Josef Stalin, and Mao Tse Tung. The Republican candidates are bad, but the Democrats have much worse.

Hopefully, this country will still be around in four years after this fiasco and we'll get someone with a clue to run and stop the slide that starts November 2008.

2008-01-02T12:25:00.000-06:00

I never thought I would discuss religion so much on this blog. I especially never thought Republicans would be so bone headed as to make it an issue in the presidential campaign.

But, here we go again.

Is Mormonism a cult?

When it was first formed, yes. But...so was Christianity when it first formed. It was a Jewish Cult.

Unlike Islam, though, or today's cults like the cults that have killed themselves due to comets, supposed invasion, or putting firewood up against the door when the government was using incendiary rounds, those that have followed the Mormon faith have allowed themselves to adapt to make their faith less of a cult and more mainstream.

Yet, here we have the bigots going after them yet again in the press and on the campaign.

Meanwhile, someone with a blatantly Islamic background, due to his own name, is not asked one iota of questions about his faith, whether he's a Muslim or not, or other questions that could actually impact the security of the country. Nor is someone who funds a major leftist organization asked about his cult, Scientology. Nope. Those cults we don't talk about. We have to dredge out attacks that are over a hundred years old against the one 'semi-complete' package conservative that has popularity.

Nice job, Huckabee.

2007-12-31T12:04:00.000-06:00

The Iowa Caucus is in three days, and being next door in Omaha, I get to hear the lovely commercials put out by the Democrats.

One such commercial is from the NFA (I believe that is the National Farmers Alliance, a radical 'no corporate farm' group). Every one of their ads touts the John Edwards Reform 'Plan', aka no lobbyist money for politicians, especially those representing corporate farms. Boo hoo hoo. They claim this ad is not supporting any one candidate, but once I figure out what the procedure is, that logic is going to get challenged.

Anyways, the main ad running these days talks about how family farmers are being shut down, and the corporations are getting big profits and how that hurts the middle class...

...except they neglect to state the next step in the process, and what happens when John Edward's plan gets implemented:

1) Corporation-ran farms make a profit
2) Shareholders of corporation-run farms are given the profit that is not rolled back into the business
3) The majority shareholders of these corporation farms are pension funds.
4) Thus, if you cut back, or try and eliminate the profit from the corporate-run farms, you directly hurt those pension funds invested in the system.
5) When a non-SSN individual goes to retire, they expect a pension fund to be there for their retirement. But, if it is bankrupt because a profit could not be made by the corporation-run farm and thus no dividends increasing the fund, you have no retirement income and become destitute.

So, do you help a handful of farmers who do not use techniques to increase their yields or are too stubborn to be purchased by a larger conglomerate, where most are allowed to continue to work their field at a set wage with that pension as a result in most cases. Or, do you threaten the pension plans of numerous other companies and LABOR UNIONS in the process of kissing up to the complaining farmers?

This is the PRIME reason John Edwards should never become president.

2007-12-28T10:55:00.000-06:00

Single-issue candidates should never be elected to political office. That has always been my motto, even though I have supported candidates verbally in the past who are single issue.

In this campaign, we have not one or two, but five that I can see running. Two, Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich, are running solely on withdrawal from Iraq. The reason I call these two single issue is it dominates everything they do, and when you look at their positions on other issues, you know you cannot elect either to the presidency. Ron Paul would not have voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and thinks the emancipation of slaves by Lincoln during the civil war was illegal. Kucinich wants a communist state, and sees ufos in his spare time.

Three others also are single issue, but have yet to go through the scrutiny of their beliefs like Paul and Kucinich. One, Tom Tancredo, has withdrawn from the race. He was running solely on the immigration issue. Though immigration was important, Tancredo could have shown his conservative credentials better if he got off the subject every once in a while.

The last two single-issue candidates are both Republicans: Mike Huckabee and Rudy Guiliani. Sorry supporters of both, but Huckabee's only credentials is his opposition to abortion. Otherwise, his views on other subjects mirror Hillary Clinton. How can Republicans focus just solely on abortion and hope to win, when the president has little to no influence on the reversal of Roe v Wade?

Guliani is running as the mirror opposite of Paul and Kucinich, in that he's running on his record concerning 9/11. But when you start looking at his other positions, those not being broadcast to the voters, he's not that much better than the Democrats.

Thus, I'm down to Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, and Duncan Hunter. I wish Duncan had the cash flow Huckabee received just by being endorsed by Chuck Norris. This race would be good then, as I think Duncan is one of the best candidates issue-wise. Instead, we conservatives have Fred Thompson, who is portrayed by the media as 'Sleepy' from the 7 dwarves, and Romney, who since he is Mormon has to fight against bigotry by those supporting Huckabee and has some shakey credentials himself since he's a 'born again' conservative (using the religious analogy).

Honestly, though, I'll take a neo-con Romney over 'sleepy' Fred at the moment, but that may change. Fred's statement on Pakistan was right on, but Romney's wasn't bad either.

Please, though, folks...stop with the Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee bandwagons. Neither would make a good president. Look deeper than their one issue and use logic, not emotion, to decide who to vote for.

The country depends on it.

2007-12-28T09:18:00.000-06:00

Definition of a football fan: Someone who, since their team sucked so bad, will go to a bar on a cold Thursday afternoon and watch the 'Bowl Game that Never Happened' simulated on a Playstation 3 console.

150+ people showed up at DJ Dugout here in Omaha yesterday to do just that. I was one of them, but I go to the remotes for ESPN 1620 The Zone radio all the time, so I can be excused. It was just nuts, however, for people to be cheering in a standing room only bar for a video game.

All I can do is echo Damon Benning (former Nebraska running back) - Nebraska fans are borderline nuts.

(Btw, Nebraska beat Notre Dame 34-31 on a fourth quarter comeback and field goal in the last minute. Don't think ND did that well...they got 21 pts off turnovers/kickoff returns)

2007-12-27T17:58:00.001-06:00

I hope the American people pay attention to the events happening in Pakistan today.

Here was a very smart, strong willed, crusader for democracy who was gunned down by Islamic terrorists.

America, Al Quaeda and the rest of the Islamic fundamentalist world will not 'negotiate', do not want 'democracy', and will kill to prevent either from occurring.

Wake up and smell the coffee. Bhutto is dead, and we're all next. Get your heads out of your rears and understand this, and have the moral fortitude to do what it takes to get rid of these fanatical cultists forever.

2007-12-19T09:31:00.000-06:00

I am really getting sick and tired of the religion-bashing taking place in the presidential race.

Mike Huckabee attacked Mitt Romney on being a Mormon, the media attacks Huckabee on being a Baptist minister, Hillary attacks Obama through her surrogate army on his ties to muslims, etc. The atheists attack all three candidates on having a religion, period.

The worst of the bunch is the last, however. I will always maintain that the lack of belief in God is just as much a religion as belief in God. The First Amendment of the Constitution states the government cannot impose a religion on the people. In other words, they cannot force atheism on us, either!

It is just frustrating to see this country spiraling into the same mistakes that destroyed the Roman Empire. You would think the so-called 'intellectuals' on the left would see this, but they are blind to their own destruction. No wonder the extremist Muslim position is gaining strength as people rebel against the atheists who have seized power in the country.

2007-12-12T10:56:00.000-06:00

The National Review endorsed Mitt Romney today for the Republican primary.

After reading that endorsement, as well as the transcript of the Hugh Hewitt interview concerning it, I think may give Mitt the push he needs to go forward.

I've been waffling a bit on my own pick, seeing what was going to come out. Yet, I've been on the Mitt mailing list from the start. I did not know why at the time, but Mitt seems to pass most of my litmus test I mentioned a few days ago in this blog. It is definitely turning out Mike Huckabee is not fitting the test, with all the incidents concerning immigration and furloughs that are coming to light.

A small minority may attack Romney on his religion, but I will tell you one thing. I have relatives that are Mormons, as well as friends that are Mormons. They are about the nicest, most likable, people that you will ever meet. They are generous to a fault. I have absolutely no problem with voting for a Mormon.

2007-12-06T09:58:00.000-06:00

As many of you have heard, a 19 year old with severe mental issues went on a sniping binge in the largest shopping mall here in Omaha yesterday. He killed 9 people and wounded 5 others using a modified SKS rifle.

Here is what I posted on Free Republic in response to a thread on the matter:

It was obvious this kid (and even if he was 19, he was still a kid in my eyes as he had never grown up emotionally) had planned this for a while. He timed this with the President’s visit, knowing most law enforcement would be away from the store. He had previously scouted the store, as he knew right where to go to have the best vantage point for ‘sniping’ of all the malls in Omaha (Van Maur has a big open area, with a nice railing around the third floor where one can brace a gun...no other store has as good of view in any of the malls in town)
All the warning signs were there of the kid about to go off, like the original poster stated. This is a tragedy that could have been stopped by those who knew the kid.

And, of course, CNN immediately trots out things like ‘mall security’, and ‘are you safe in a mall’ instead of looking at the real cause of the problem: clueless idiots not paying attention to signs right in front of them.

To the poster that said an SKS is not an assault rifle: sorry, yes it is. It may be only single shot, but it is a variant of a fully automatic gun. Though it might be used by some for hunting, it is not what this area calls a hunting rifle by any means. This SKS, according to witnesses, was also firing 3 round bursts. This means it was modified back to its assault rifle roots.

I am very much a supporter of the 2nd Amendment, but the weapon the kid was carrying is exactly the weapon banned by the assault weapon law. That brings up the question on how someone mentally instable like he was could get a hold of one of these weapons. Rumor was he stole it from his step father. But this also means none of those assault weapon provisions in law would have prevented this, thus proving how useless they are. A psychopath can get a hold of one of these weapons, yet law abiding citizens cannot defend themselves and thus end up becoming victims. One person with a pistol to defend themselves could have prevented 8 other deaths, but you won’t hear that on the liberal media.

Now, a little clarification: 'Robbie' the shooter had more than enough signs pointing at a kid that was a ticking time bomb. He lost his girlfriend, his job, etc. all within the last two weeks. He was to be in court next week for a misdemeanor charge against him. He had a fascination with guns, killing, and threatening people. His step father owned the SKS, and 'Robbie' not only knew about the gun, but how to break in to take it. He showed the gun off to the stupid woman he was living with the night before, for God's sake!

The feigning of surprise by the lady and her son, who was 'Robbie's friend is a bunch of baloney. Unfortunately, the kid did this just after the President had left Omaha, thus all the national media was still in town. CNN is having an absolute field day on this, filled with half-truths in order to promote their agenda. Thank god for our local folks as they have a clue on how to report for the most part.

Yesterday was a tragedy. Let's not make it even worse by misinterpreting what really happened to fit a political agenda.

2007-12-04T08:36:00.000-06:00

Is it too much to ask for to have a real conservative actually in the race for president, that could poll more than 2%?

This is the most frustrating election ever as there are no candidates until you get to Duncan Hunter that would get my vote at any other time.

Here's all I am asking for:

1) A Candidate that will protect innocent lives. By this, I mean both protect society from murderers and protect children from abortionists, as well as sex offenders.

2) A Candidate that understands we cannot have people with no medical history, and no way to determine whether they violate #1 above, running over our borders without restriction.

3) A Candidate that realizes protecting our citizens does not need to go to the extremes of the supercomputer in I, Robot, who basically wanted to imprison everyone in order to better 'protect' them from themselves. This includes forcing things like government-run 'programs' to 'help' people, thus making them slaves to the system.

4) A Candidate that believes interfering with life in the home, and in private, is only applicable in a situation where lives are being put into direct danger, not indirect danger via second hand smoke and other trivial actions

5) A Candidate that realizes we are the enforcers of political and personal liberty in the world, and thus we must act against those who oppress their people. Totalitarianism cannot be defined by the words 'left' and 'right', there is either freedom or oppression no matter the basis of the supposed political beliefs.

Five key traits I want in the president. Rudy violates #1, Huckabee violates #2, many candidates violate #3 and #4, Ron Paul violates #5. The only candidate that fits all of these is poor Duncan Hunter, who is being ignored by everyone because he doesn't have a strong personality and can't get the fundraising to offset that disadvantage.

On the Democratic side, I've yet to find a candidate that even adheres to 1 of those traits I've listed.

Thus, when it comes to the general election, I'll vote for the person who matches the most of those five traits I've listed - therefore holding my nose to do it. But, I would much rather have someone that agrees with a few of my positions than none at all. Some would argue I should not vote then, but I cannot let a person who believes in none of the five have a free ride.

2007-11-27T08:37:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving is over, and it is now time for the silly season. Silly season is that time between Thanksgiving and until it is decided who is going to run against one another for the presidency.

In all of my years of following politics, never have I so wanted a 'None of the Above' check box on my ballot. All of these idiots running are so not worthy of my vote. Maybe something will change, but I cannot get on any bandwagon yet.

The one bandwagon I can get on is the 'ESPN needs sense knocked into them' bandwagon. ESPN, now filled with young, 'hip', east and west coast reporters have lost all perspective on sports in general, let alone football specifically. Once again, the football nation is now flyover country to the country club crowd populating major media, and ESPN is not immune to this despite having people from midwest schools.

The latest was just today, where the substitute host for Greeny was bashing the Nebraska coaching position that's open, then had Lou Holtz bring up the Frank Solich firing once again.

Now, if ESPN reporters were real reporters and looked at the real story, they would find the following:

1) Frank Solich had a 7-7 season the previous year, and many Nebraska boosters were seeing his offense wallow in frustration that year.
2) Stevie 'The Vision' Pederson, the new athletic director, had to give Frank one more year as Frank was still Tom Osborne's buddy and Tom still had more clout politically than Stevie at the time. Stevie forced Frank to change his coordinators, however (something that was brought up by Tom in the Bill Calahan firing press conference, and thus still a sore spot for Tom)
3) If Frank had won the national championship, Stevie was still going to fire him.

The dynamic here is 'The Vision'. The infamous mediocrity line by 'The Vision' is now burned into the minds of the people of Nebraska. The firing of Frank was between 'The Vision' and the boosters vs the 'old guard' that Frank embodied.

Turn the chapter 4 years later. Tom's back, Stevie 'The Vision' is out. The coach Stevie hired turned out to be a bust, there is no way else to put it. The last man to officially coach the Huskers is the front runner for the job, Bo Pelini, who was one of those replacement coordinators mentioned above.

But, if you are a football man and not some country clubber, Nebraska can be (and I state CAN) one of the best jobs in the nation.

1) Nebraska fans are the most loyal in the nation. Think about it: who else in the country could sell out the entire stadium even when we get bombed 73-39 the week before by a team we used to crush on a constant basis?

2) Nebraska actually has fewer of the 'rabid' fans than most colleges, and the 'rabid' fans are far more bark than bite. We've never rioted on campus because our team lost. We give standing ovations to opponents, even if beaten. Sure, we have our hotheads, but there are far fewer than most colleges.

3) Football is important to Nebraskans because it is the one sport we support. We support events, like concerts, the College World Series, etc. but for a fandom, Nebraska football is it. We don't have pro teams, and the minor league pro teams we do have we don't have ties to. However, natives of Nebraska usually have some relative that has gone to UNL at some point. It is the only fully Division I school we have. Other states have at least two: a XXX and XXX State (Kansas, Kansas State, etc.) that divides loyalties.

So, if a coach wants to be treated like royalty, and loves the game of football, Nebraska has to be one of the top jobs in the country. If, however, you are only looking for cash, it isn't. If you mind living with people looking over your shoulder, watching your every move, it isn't. They won't say anything, but the eyes are still there and I know that makes a lot of coaches nervous.

Yet, when our biggest scandal in our school's history is because a star player from California beats up his girlfriend, which does not even get on the police blotter in most college towns, that's saying something.

Nebraska is a top football job, period. But, that does mean there are standards to be met and if you can't handle those standards, you are not worthy.

2007-11-22T15:37:00.000-06:00

The amount of blogs out there giving advice to bloggers is amazing. All these so-called 'experts' giving all this advice.

Let me tell you something of a small secret: I've been online since before what is now the Internet took off. I started on BitNet, which was the university kludge system that attempted to mimic what the military had. My cousin was on the committee that decided to privatize NSFnet, the basis of today's internet (btw, James J Exon had far, far more to do with creating the internet than Mr Enviromentalism who only put his signature on the bill as a cosponsor).

So, what's the point of the 'establishing credentials' schtick? Simple: I've been around for a darn long time and here is my advice to bloggers: ignore advice.

The sites I administer for work are rated something like 2 million + in Alexa. But, when you are looking for information on the City of Omaha, we have the official page. When you are looking for the Douglas County Sheriff's office, we have the official page.

Page ranking and all that jazz may soothe your ego, but if you provide real information, you will be found.

Now, if you may notice not very many people probably come here, because I don't advertise like a mad fiend like most bloggers. Frankly, I don't care. I'm doing this more to vent and if people find this site, great. That's one reason why I don't have comments enabled. It's similar to why Rush Limbaugh hardly ever has a guest interview on the radio: his show, and thus like my blog, is about the person who is hosting. I know this may seem a bit selfish, but why taint my page with views I may or may not agree with? I just can't see it. It also opens up to flamewars, something I am really, really sick of in my life.

So, I suggest bloggers stop attempting to have their rears kissed by the adoring public and just do what comes naturally - writing, pontificating, etc.

2007-11-22T03:21:00.000-06:00

As I sit here, I'm reading a number of articles on 'Intelligent Design'. This is one of those fustrating issues where people on both sides are arguing semantics instead of pointing out what something really is.

1) Sorry those on the right, Intelligent Design is NOT a scientific theory.
2) Sorry those on the left, Intelligent Design is a way for those with religious beliefs can reconcile them with scientific discoveries. It is, by nature, anti-atheist and will remain that way because...
3) Atheists cannot dispute the theory, no matter how hard they try and ridicule it.

Yes, I have always believed in what is now called Intelligent Design since 1st grade when I first started hearing about the Theory of Evolution in science class. It wasn't even a 'doctrine' yet, but it has always been what I've believed. There is absolutely no place where there are infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters typing Shakespeare. That's the kind of hokey randomness the atheists want us to believe. I'm sorry, but the universe has way too many 'laws' that cannot have been created randomly at the spur of the moment.

But a number of advocates of Intelligent Design want it taught in school. Uh, sorry, but Intelligent Design is something that honestly needs to be taught in church, not school. Not that I agree with what is currently taught in school, because I have also believed from the start that atheism, though it claims to be the absence of religion, is a religion itself because of that. Because you cannot prove one way or another that it is right. Just like any religion cannot be proven it is technically right until you die and you discover which religion is correct...but since you're dead, you can't really come back and tell us which religion is correct barring phony parlor tricks (which, since phony, won't tell you anything anyways).

So the resolution to this entire thing is for both sides to back off. Back off pushing Intelligent Design as something to be taught in schools, and back off attacking Intelligent Design with insults like the 'Flying Spaghetti Monster'. Teach Intelligent Design in Bible study class in church, and the decline of religion amongst youth may get reversed. But if both sides continue down the same path, then nothing is going to get accomplished.

Until you die, then you will find out the truth.

Oh, and atheists: if you are going to support the Muslim extremists, you may want to reconsider your vocal comments about 'Flying Spaghetti Monsters'. You see, that's an insult to Islam as well as Christianity, if not moreso. To the extremists, that's a death sentence which only serves for you to find out more quickly the truth than you probably want to know.

2007-11-21T11:07:00.000-06:00

I listen to the Mike and Mike show on ESPN radio in the morning while getting up and heading to work. Today, Mike Golic, the ex-Philadelphia Eagle was trying to explain how side bets/bounties work in the locker room and why they are not bad things.

He failed miserably on part two.

This all comes about as the NFL is investigating the Green Bay Packers on side bounties made before the Minnesota Viking game, basically promising money if the Packers defense held Adrian Pedersen under 100 yards rushing. Pedersen, of course, got injured during the game.

Now, I think what Golic was trying to justify is a bounty like the one above: hold someone under x amount of yards, intercept the football x times, etc. get some pocket cash for dinner that night. I don't really see an issue with a bounty like that. In fact, in the card game of Legend of the Five Rings has national bounties for like 'highest ranked Dragon player, I'll give X'.

However, a bounty like 'take Pedersen out', I have issues with. Because of his rambling, I don't know if Golic feels the same about paying to deliberately hurt someone. He implied that the infamous 'bounty game' between the Eagles and Cowboys was 'okay'. That game featured one of those 'cause injury' bounties I have a problem with (in this case, it was a bounty on the kicker who had switched teams in the offseason).

This sort of bounty needs to be, at minimum, discouraged. At most, whomever made the bounty needs to be charged in criminal court for assault.

2007-11-20T17:57:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had a moment where you just have to do a double-take and go 'what'?

I just had one after seeing the headline: Clinton Sharpens Attack On Obama's Experience

Okay, Hilary. I don't like you, and would vote for any except Kucinich in the Democratic pileup before you, but this is a losing strategy. A one and a half term Senator telling Obama he doesn't have the experience. Meanwhile, sitting in the race is Senator Joe Biden. Biden, like McCain on the Republican side, holds the true experience card.

If Biden had the brains, he should strike with that card and pummel both Obama and Clinton with it, and pummel them hard. Of course, he won't because he's just a shill in the race to help Clinton win instead of a legitimate candidate in my opinion.

2007-11-19T23:06:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine has written a module for the Heroes of Rokugan campaign, and we're trying to arrange when my usual gaming group can play it. I'm really proud of him, and that makes at least six friends I can name off the top of my head that have published in the gaming world one way or another.

I, personally, have more than one thing that I was paid for and despite the fiasco involved in the first couple of things (see my webpage for the full story on that), I still have the writing bug. I've been writing numerous things already for my Heroes of Rokugan character and John (the author above) has mentioned trying to do a module together.

Now, before you ask: I'm almost 40, and yes, I've been a role playing gamer for more years than many gamers have been on the Earth. It has not been easy dealing with people whose political leanings I agree with for the most part attacking gaming. The problem is ignorance breeds fear, when it is not justified. It is an all together different thing when you are not ignorant and still have a fear of something.

But one thing I fear is collaborating on any more writing projects, due to my past experiences. It doesn't help that I can get too detail oriented and nitpicky for my own good. For example, it isn't enough that I create a game world for a campaign, but I have to go all the way to having the statistics for the clerics of the religions. I'm also, obvious by reading this blog, very politically minded, however my gaming group is not.

I'm still probably going to take John up on his offer. I really like the game setting and the politics involved in the campaign, so I think I have something to contribute to it.

2007-11-19T22:58:00.000-06:00

It is rare for me to have pain a number of days in a row. Wednesday, of course, I had a kidney stone. That's real pain. However, over the weekend I've had pain in my neck that continues until today.

It's enough pain that even a fairly powerful pain killer cannot get rid of it completely. So, tomorrow...off to the doctor I go. Third time in six days I get to fork over examination fees.

My other pain is psychological. I really hate being a spendthrift, but some stretches it happens to me. The past two weeks have been one of those sprees, and I know it will catch up with me soon enough. Luckily, I am not one of those foolish people that must go out the day after Thanksgiving and spend my heart out. Of course, I'm doing it a week early, but I guess I will survive. Well, I will if this pain goes away.

2007-11-18T02:05:00.000-06:00

You know, I think there is a lot of confusion out there on terms and terminology.

I think a lot of 'liberal' bloggers out there really are 'libertarians', but have been taught incorrectly as to what they really are.

The problem is with the word 'liberal'. That term no longer has the classical definition. For that, I actually blame the neo-conservatives. This confusion has people not understanding what they really believe in.

'Conservative' is also now defined differently than it used to be as well, again adding to the confusion.

I'll give a couple of examples of this:

1) A 'liberal' is for more government control, whereas a 'conservative' is for less government control, especially in the way of economics. Now, this is almost exactly the opposite of what the textbook definitions say. A textbook 'liberal' wants liberty, and as much freedom to do what they want. Meanwhile, a 'conservative' wants status quo, at minimum, and to hold back the reigns of liberty to impose order.

Under textbook definition, I'm a liberal. Yet, I'm labeled a 'right wing' or 'conservative', thus I fall into using those terms myself.

2) Many who call themselves 'anarchists' on the left support government-enforced equality, and thus are called 'liberal'. Again, anarchy is freedom to do what you want, without any government control. Wouldn't you think that would then be closer to 'capitalism', which is by textbook the freedom of companies and individuals to work within the economy how they want? Should they not, then, be the biggest BACKERS of Wal-Mart and Microsoft, instead of the biggest detractors?

It also confuses the fact when the two parties at the beginning of the United States were the Whigs (conservatives by textbook) and the Democratic-Republicans (liberals by textbook). By World War I, the Whigs were gone and replaced by the Republicans, and the Democrats had merged with the 'Populists', thus their philosophies switched on economic but not social issues. This has muddied the waters so bad, it has confused just about everyone.

Now, to muddy it even further: the National SOCIALIST German Workers Party is labeled at the 'far right' by those today calling themselves 'liberal'. But, they were socialists...it's right in their name. Plus, they were formed by a labor union. This is textbook 'conservative', but it is not modern 'conservative'...it's modern 'liberal'!

Thus, I think all the tags out there need to be revised. Stop with the Orwellian double talk, and get things straightened back to their original, textbook, terms and I think a lot of people will reconsider just exactly what they really are.

That might just be the way to get this country, and the world, straightened around.

2007-11-16T13:47:00.000-06:00

I had to sign up for three different conventions today, so needless to say I have a couple of comments.

First, I love http://www.travelocity.com a lot. I booked a couple conventions years ago through them. In the last couple of years, I've booked a trip around the Western US (with my dad), our trip to Hawaii for Pearl Harbor last year, and two of the three conventions I'm going to starting in January. With the exception of the one year where I screwed up the dates (my fault, not theirs), I've been extremely pleased with them.

Second, I really wish American Airlines went to more places, cheaply. Instead, on trip #2, I jump airlines between American, United, and Continental. After my last trip to Europe, Continental is not my favorite airline at all. The seats were very uncomfortable, so I hope this trip won't be as bad as it is shorter.

Third, the lower the flight time, the better these days. I've done three 11+ hour trips in a 'row' now, and I just want to get on and off the plane.

And if I get subjected to 'Georgia Rule' as a flight movie again, I'll scream. (Both the Hawaii and the last Europe trip had that movie.) Lindsey Lohan and Jane Fonda. *massive cringe*

So, now you ask, what conventions am I going to?

Weekend in Rokugan, JBossWorld, and GenCon. Yup, I'm going back to gaming conventions for the first time since my mom passed away. Plus, work is going to eventually pay for the JBossWorld convention.

2007-11-15T18:38:00.000-06:00

Just some random thoughts for today:

1) Watch how the media comes out to attack Barry Bonds for the grand jury charge of perjury...then compare it to the media's response when the perjurer was named Bill Clinton.

2) Look, I am as mad as anyone for the poor performance of the Nebraska Cornhusker defense, but expressing those feelings with death threats makes us look like Miami Hurricane fans. I hope whomever called Coach Cosgrove with those threats is locked up and the key thrown away.

3) If Hilary is the "smartest woman in the world", how come she is doing blatantly stupid things in this campaign? She's doing a wonderful job of attempting to flub her once almost-guaranteed nomination.

4) I may have to eat crow on my Huckabee comment. It looks like Thompson doesn't know how to shift out of first gear so their places might get reversed. It also doesn't hurt Huckabee to be endorsed by internet icon Chuck Norris.

5) More MMOs need to go to Hellgate: London or Guild Wars schemes. ie, play for free but if you want better goodies, fork the dough per month. On that note, NCSoft really needs to come up with something similar to SOE's Station Pass system.

6) Two thirds of my costume for Weekend in Rokugan has arrived. The last piece, though, concerns me as it is coming from China. Who knows what toxic chemicals are involved in its manufacture?

2007-11-14T15:22:00.000-06:00

You know, when you walk on wet gravel with tennis shoes, how you get those small rocks in the grooves?

The pain you receive when something that darn small moves between your kidney and your bladder is very much out of proportion to the size.

At 2 am this morning, that's what started happening with me. I've never felt that kind of pain before, and finally at 4:30 am I called my dad to take me to the emergency room.

I was back home by 7:30 am, due to modern medicine (read: morphine), after a CAT scan confirmed the little intruder making its way out. At about 8:45 am, the agony was over as it finally came out.

What's sad is I think this has happened before, and I thought it was bursitis (which I get in my neck and shoulder when it gets around 40 degrees...which is has been the past couple of days).

Yeesh!

2007-11-14T15:16:00.000-06:00

I must say I'm shocked.

You would think Ron Paul, with his libertarian views, would not be supported by various Nazi groups in the country.

However, not only is he, but some of his key fundraisers have ties to Neo-Nazi groups.

Now, if you have ever read my previous rants from last year, or even further back, you know I am vehimently against Nazism in any form. I also take great offense whenever conservatives are compared to Nazis, as they have zero in common when you actually go in and look at the facts.

I've stated many times, using comparisons, how the Democratic platform has far more in common with Adolf Hitler than John F Kennedy.

But it seems those Neo-Nazis that supported Pat Buchanon as a dark horse candidate have chosen Ron Paul as their standard bearer this go around.

So, Ron Paul supporters...go to www.townhall.com and read Michael Medvid's open letter to Ron Paul on this situation. Then, please give a reasonable explaination on why Ron Paul is courting one of the worst evil movements the world has ever seen.

2007-11-13T13:01:00.000-06:00

Well, I did discover someone is reading my posts :-)

And this is why you never put a counter on your page. If you want to keep track of who comes to your site, set up Google Analytics.

Seriously, though, they asked why I am down on Mike Huckabee, as he's polling so well in Iowa.

Well, as much as I think Mike is a good man, I believe he is this campaign's beneficiary of the 'Iowa No-Name Bump'.

Let me explain. It seems every campaign season that comes around to Iowa, someone come out that is really surprising. That person, then, proceeds to flounder by South Carolina's primary and is out of the race. I'm afraid since the one-issue candidates are falling a bit faster this time, Governor Huckabee is going to be this years 'if only...'. Phil Gramm is an example of this kind of candidate, as he looked a lot stronger in Iowa than he really was and withdrew only a couple of more primaries into the campaign.

I do admit sometimes this works in reverse in Iowa. Someone who should have done well comes in, say...third. This kills that candidate as well. If you want an example of this, just ask Howard Dean.

Iowa can give a bump as well. John Kerry and John Edwards capitalized on the Dean fall. But, since we're into our third year of campaigning for the Presidency, I don't think we're going to get a surprise from Iowa. Nationally, Huckabee is coming in fourth (despite what Ron Paul supporters say), but with the "accelerated" (as much as you can call this campaign that considering they started the day after the Iraq invasion) primary season, the two nominees are going to be set by the end of February. That's not going to be enough time to generate the cash to get people motivated.

By the way, don't worry about the Republican cash flow not coming in. The majority of the party is sitting in a wait-and-see mode. We don't have a definitive candidate yet, though Pat Robertson endorsing Rudy Guiliani has started up the anti-Guiliani stories early from the supposed unbiased media. Its the general election that matters, and many money men from the Republican side are waiting until then to make their move.

2007-11-08T12:49:00.001-06:00

Some governments in the world need a swift kick in the ass. That kick administered by the United States Armed Forces.

1) Burma aka 'Myanmar' - This incident was the number one news story while I was on my trip to Europe. And what happened with the UN envoy that was sent there? Nothing. Just like I expected. The monks in Burma died for absolutely nothing. No gains, no negotiations with the military junta, nothing. I really feel sorry for the protestors out in various capitals, begging for the United Nations to do something, because they got nothing like I expected. Burma just emphasizes why the United Nations is a joke.

2) Venezuela - Chavez wants to create his own personal fiefdom in South America, and his has all the communist Hollywood crowd just cooing over him. This man is the next Pol Pot, and once again, the liberals are just going to kiss his behind and not let us do anything to him before he kills half of his country off.

3) Zimbabwe - Mugabe's already down that path, and he's getting more psychopathic by the day. If you thought Ethiopia was bad in the 1980s, Zimbabwe will blow that famine out of the way as the most devastating...and they don't even have a drought like the Ethiopians had at the time.

4) North Korea - Mr Kim is also psychopathic, but I still think his life will eventually end from someone on the inside.

5) Iran - What is Iran's death wish? Seriously, all the posturing is bad enough but Ahmadinejad's lovely devotion to causing a global jihad to try and usher in the return of the Mahadi is probably the greatest threat of these five to the United States. And the moment he tries it, Iran will be turned to glass by the Israelis. I have no doubt in my mind that unless this fruitcake is removed from power and real democracy restored in Iran, I'm going to see the first nuclear attack since Nagasaki in my lifetime. All in the name of a religion who represses freedoms and ignored by the left due to their hatred of George Bush.

6) Sudan - One thing the Democratic leadership won't tell folks is the moment we get pulled out of Iraq when we're in charge, we'll be in Sudan in an even less stable situation. However, this is one time where I say we do need to intervene. What the Sudanese government is pulling is nothing short of genocide and as the defender of freedom in the world, we do need to act with the amount of force no liberal will tolerate against Sudan.

We've got a few others that are starting down the path on this list: Pakistan and Nicaragua have returned to flaky. Russia and China still have their issues and both seem to be regressing than progressing like they were in the 1990s. Old hotspots like Bosnia, Somalia, and the like still are smoldering.

Meanwhile, both sides completely ignore this in their presidential debates. The only person that seems aware of these threats is sitting as President.

2007-11-07T13:31:00.000-06:00

My prediction:

After Iowa and New Hampshire, we'll be down to four Republicans:

Rudy Guliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, and Ron Paul

I honestly think Huckabee and McCain will show so bad in both, they'll drop out. Who they endorse might make things interesting, but I expect McCain to be the only one giving a push and that push going to Guliani. Paul will remain in for a while, due to his internet following, but eventually he'll bow out or go for an indie run.

We'll be down to five Democrats:

Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, and Dennis Kucinich

Richardson will only be around to try to make a good showing, in order to try and get the VP slot from Hillary winning. If Obama wins, or Edwards wins, the other will be the VP slot. Kucinich will ride it to the end, even though his only chance is to get all the pod people and Elvis to recruit on Mars for votes.

2007-11-07T13:22:00.000-06:00

More whining today about Hillary being 'beat up' by those mean, vicious bullies running against her for the Democratic nomination.

Tell me, Hillary...how do you expect for people like Ahmadinejad, who believe in sharia law and that women are second class citizens, to listen to you?

How do you even expect to step into an area controlled by sharia law, and walk out alive?

A woman who has a clue can do such a thing. Former Prime Minister Bhutto in Pakistan, for example, has the guts to tell people like Musharraf where to stick it. Margaret Thatcher was no-nonsense. The current leader of Germany can be forceful without looking like she's reading off a script, or with James Carville's hand stuck up her back.

But Hillary won't quit this race, and will keep whining. Though I don't want any of the Democrats as president, only Dennis 'I carry a constitution in my pocket, but can't read it' Kucinich rates worse on my scale.

2007-11-07T13:10:00.000-06:00

Ron Paul is getting a little publicity today for his supporters getting a fundraising record of $4 million in a 24 hour period.

I would support Ron, except for two major issues. First, he does not understand the meaning behind the war in Iraq. He's an isolationist, which honestly can't be done in a global economy. We have to protect freedom for everyone, not just those in the United States. The Muslim states, and especially those that subscribe to sharia law, are probably the most totalitarian of all. His ignorance of that fact would eventually end us up in worse situation than we were on September 11, 2001.

Secondly, Ron is pro-abortion. For someone who claims the truth and morality angle, I cannot fathom how killing babies is an issue other than freedom for the young to live. The mother gave up her rights the moment she got pregnant. If she didn't want to get pregnant, then she and her mate should have used protection. Unlike a number of conservatives, I don't have problems with those over the age of 13 getting protection from being pregnant.

Note that age: 13. Yes, the age of 'majority' is 16 (to drive), 18 (for most everything), and/or 21 (drinking). However, traditionally the age of majority is 13 in both the Western and Eastern world. Again, this is an area where I cannot be labeled a conservative. On the other hand, it does mean I also advocate throwing 14 year olds that murder into real prison and not these locked dorm rooms and then get let out at 18.

2007-11-05T13:56:00.000-06:00

For those who know me, you know I used to belong to the RPGA (mentioned below), as well as played in the Living Rokugan campaign.

I'm rejoining the Heroes of Rokugan (new name, and not tied to the RPGA) campaign and have been pretty cryptic about what I'm playing.

So, here's the answer:

2007-11-05T13:46:00.000-06:00

Even though my throat tells me that a cold is in my future, this has still turned into a good day. I finally got the server I've been working weeks on to work, so now the next test becomes Friday when I try to put it into our DMZ.

I do have a question, though. Why do hackers from other countries attack little city and county servers like I administer? We have zero information that a hacker could ever want, unless they just wanted to disrupt things. I would think a hacker would be more likely to go after a .mil site, or a .gov site that was state-related.

My second question is why behind the Koreans (who are bored), Chinese (who are either bored or working for their government), are people in Holland the third highest source of hackers going after our sites? I could think of a lot of things to do in the Netherlands instead of attempting to break into some American city's website.

2007-11-05T11:13:00.000-06:00

Time for a little sports...

I know he wants to be nice and all, but Tom Osborne has got to give the entire Nebraska coaching staff the heave-ho.

Getting beat by 76 is bad enough, but Kansas? You've just got to be kidding.

As I wrote in an email to the local sports talk station, Xerces personally killed the general who caused the Battle of Thermopole. The Romans fired generals continuously until they found Scipio to fight Hannibal of Carthage. Lincoln fired generals constantly until he found Ulysses Grant.

Who else kept getting sacked in history until the replacement produced results? Just about every major conflict in the world had someone either fired or executed after battles that were 'blow outs'.

As another said on a message board, when it was said Nebraska wouldn't settle for mediocrity, the fans and supporters weren't thinking that meant we'd zoom right past mediocrity for total incompetence.

Fire Callahan and company, and fire them now. Stop digging a deeper hole to get out of come the end of the season. Stop the bleeding now.

2007-11-02T14:03:00.000-05:00

What goes around, comes around.

Honestly, I've been in a depression for three years or more. Frankly, it sucks. I have to take medicine to sleep, on top of my thyroid problems. I've gained at least 20 pounds since the start.

And now, one of the people that triggered the initial depression has just gone through the exact same thing that started my descent.

However, I'm resolving right here and now that I'm not going to let him get to my point. He's a good guy, if a bit too idealistic...but then, over three years I'm a realist.

2007-11-01T20:22:00.000-05:00

I rejoined a couple of Yahoo Groups today, or at least tried to do so.

The first, a club I was a founding member of, let me join but has me set on moderation. Boy, makes me feel good that people who I thought were friends were so scared of my opinions when I left that they locked me out.

The second requires administrator approval. Now, this I can understand but the group isn't that big. If it has so many issues with spammers getting in, then the spammers have no clue who they are dealing with: broke adults. :-)

2007-11-01T15:37:00.000-05:00

Next year, at GenCon 2008, Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast will be rolling out a new, 4th edition of the Dungeons and Dragons game.

Now, being a somewhat conservative person, I understand the need for the creation of a new edition of the game every so often. The money needs to keep flowing in, and I do not begrudge the fact they are going to do it.

I will, though, scream at the top of my lungs on how this new 'version' is conceived completely irresponsibly by those at Hasbro who do not understand paper and pencil gaming. For example, the new system is going to have new books for players and monsters every year.

Not a problem, you might say. They do this anyways. But, this time they are not going to include all the 'core' classes and monsters in the first book. In the past, every new book just added more options onto the basics of the game. This time, you won't get the basics all up front.

Huh?

This sounds like a computer game that has jumped from beta before being finished, not a paper and pencil game. Let's have 'content updates', and game 'patches' when the players in the RPGA find exploits in the system. That way, we'll have 'game balance' between the classes and races.

Sounds just like a computer game, doesn't it? Hasbro does not get it. People like paper and pencil games because they are NOT computer games. I mean, I love computer games and play them religiously (3 level 60s on WoW, working on 50s in Matrix Online and CoH/CoV currently), but I like to step away from the computer and actually roleplay with my buddies on weekends when I'm in the mood. Many of us do.

When the man instrumental in the creation of the original game, Gary Gygax, has to sigh about all of the 4th Edition talk coming out of Hasbro, you know someone has lost touch with those who they are attempting to write towards.

Oh sure, there still will be plenty of sheep going along and buying these new rules. For example, most of the RPGA will buy the rules, even if they don't like them, because they will be forced by the RPGA (owned fully by Hasbro's marketing department, btw) to use the most current rules system if they want to continue to play. Others will buy the rules, and will try to justify Hasbro's marketing.

Roleplaying will be forever changed in August 2008, and not for the better. I do not want a computer game on paper; I want a paper game that I can roleplay. Leave the computer games to the computer, Hasbro, and wake up.

2007-11-01T15:09:00.000-05:00

Surprise.

Yes, I am actually getting back to this. I promise.

The political bluster is finally getting to a point where I'm going to have to comment on some of the things going on, and I'm getting back into some of my other hobbies. Thus, it is time to get back to this and start blogging again.

Yeah, right. Last time I said this...well, you can check the date on the last post. Yeesh. I'm bad about remembering things like blogging. I just am doing too much to think any longer. I'm hoping things will improve THIS time, though.

2006-03-07T08:40:00.000-06:00

It's been at least a half a year since I posted here.

Welcome to the Chaos that is my work life.

Anyways, I have to give my thoughts about Oscar night, and just how stupid the Hollyweird left is. Let's take for example, the winners tonight in the major categories:

Supporting Actor - George Clooney
Clooney's role is that of a CIA man who is trying to guarantee oil access.

I checked and no, Osama Bin Laden is not in the writing credits of this one. Except for the actress in the movie not wearing a burkha, this movie would be deemed Caliphate-safe.

Supporting Actress - Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz portrays a passionate activist whose investigation into the dealings of an international pharmaceutical company leads to her murder.

Ah, but this one is different than Clooney's, even though it is against the United States and capitalism. See, she's an uppity female without a burkha, who is obviously educated. Women receiving schooling is a crime under Sharia Law. Because of the three strikes, Weisz would face the death penalty in the Caliphate.

Leading Actor - Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman portrays author Truman Capote in the years leading up to the writing of his best-known book, "In Cold Blood."

Unfortunately, Capote was a homosexual. Making of a movie showing homosexuality is not acceptable to the Caliphate. In addition, homosexuality is a crime punishable by death in Sharia Law. Pediophilia is not, btw.

Leading Actress - Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon plays country singer June Carter, whose strength and compassion guide her through the early days of her relationship with Johnny Cash.

Yet again, the Caliphate rears up and smites this movie, because in Sharia Law, women are not allowed to sing in public. It is, once again, a death sentence to do such a thing.

Best Picture - Crash
The lives of a diverse group of people living in Los Angeles connect and clash over the course of two days. As a series of events unfolds that will heighten already-existing racial and cultural tensions, individuals are brought face to face with complexities that their prejudices have prevented them from seeing.

The drinking, the swearing, the showing of streetwalkers, and other reasons would make this movie not one that would have been made by the Caliphate. Not that a variant would be made, but you sure would not have 'hip hop' lyrics, and the oppressed race would be Muslims, not blacks.

What conclusion is reached in all of this? Hollywood, with its "Can't we all just get along" mindset is blinding itself to reality. The Caliphate trying to be formed through agents of the Muslim Brotherhood - Hamas, Al-Qaida, PDLP, Islamic Jihad, etc. is the greatest threat to world peace and freedom. Hollywood is the ultimate expression of freedom in the world, which is why the United States is considered the Great Satan...not because we support the Jewish people. In essence, Hollywood is causing the problem that they think they can ignore.

I call it ignorance...ignorance that has been perpetuated by blinders formed by following the ultraliberal/progressive line of reasoning in recent years.

2005-08-17T12:42:00.000-05:00

You would think that I'd post more than once every two months...

You would also assume, then, that I have time to do so.

I have another 'rant' that I am formulating as I type, but it will be a second post for later. In the meantime, I'm struggling to figure out just why things are not working concerning work.

2005-06-16T12:24:00.000-05:00

Geez, I really haven't been posting much here at all.

But, it is time to resume my streaky posting once again.

What woke me up? Statements by three 'Democrats'...but, they no longer qualify as being called such. No, they have gone over the boundary of good sense and political discourse.

So, I am as well.

Dick Durbin, Howard Dean, and locally Barry Rubin are all, to a man, the result of the Democratic race baiting, anti-Democracy clamor.

1) They are all three socialists, which means they want the government to control and drive the economy.
2) They are all protectionist, wanting to enrich the labor unions at the expense of the American consumer.
3) They are all for gun control, specifically restrictions on the right to bear arms by the general populace.
4) They are all against religion, being backed by 'new age' religions such as Scientology and bigotted against Christians.
5) They are secretly racists. They attack Jewish people, blacks, and hispanics if they are not on their side. In fact, they use racial epitaphs to describe these folks, such as Rubin's 'Tio Thomas' (spanish for Uncle Tom) in describing the Douglas County Nebraska election commissioner. Many of their supporters go farther, attacking Jews and Christians in very virulent terms that not even the Islamists do.

1 through 5 were the hallmarks of another political organization back in the 1930s and 40s: the National Socialist German Workers Party.

Deny it as much as you like, but the 'New Democrats' or 'Progressives' are, in fact, neo-Nazis in disguise. Why more people cannot see this is beyond me, but then, it shouldn't be a surprise...the Nazis fooled three countries (Germany, Austria, and Italy). What is so sad is they constantly call conservatives Nazis. And the news media supports them with such a lie, even like the news media trumpetted Neville Chaimberlain with his idiotic 'Peace in our time' deal with Hitler.

So, I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being called something I vehimently oppose, but those calling me such support in secret.

I know few people read this, but it needs to get out there. It needs to be trumpetted and proven to be true by others.

Progressive = Nazi, and don't you forget it.

2004-11-22T10:45:00.000-06:00

Last Friday, driving home from a very late night at work, I heard about the fight between the fans and the Pacers. Yesterday, the commissioner of the NBA, David Stern, issued his suspensions.

Now, I realize suspensions in this case are needed, to prevent players from pulling this stunt again. However, I feel the sentence on Ron Artest, though he is a certifiable looney, is too much. Half the season would have been fine, considering it was the fans that provoked him into action.

But what sanctions are there going to be against the fans? I'll tell you: none. That's right, the NBA will do, in all honesty, nothing. And this will cause the fans to get even more belligerent. This was not the only incident involving 'fans' in the past week or so: an Oklahoma Sooners 'RedNeck' was bumped into by a Nebraska Cornhusker player during warmups, and is now suing the player for assault. Also, during that game, we had the traditional orange throwing by the Sooner fans. Last time that occurred, an official was beaned and was in the hospital for quite a while with a concussion.

What happened to the fans? Nothing.

Here is what I would do: For the NBA - take 5 games, one for each division opponent to the Pistons (whose fans caused the fight), and turn those 5 games from home games to away games for the Pistons...and do not allow any refunds or discounts to the season ticket holders.

For Oklahoma - Change one conference home game next year to an away game.

In both cases, the fans will actually be punished, and will be put on notice that if you act up, you could well cost your chance to see further games. Both the Pistons and the Sooners would lose revenue from those games, which acts as a defacto fine to those organizations for not keeping control

And for Ron Artest? If I were him, and the suspension is upheld, I would sue the NBA for providing an unsafe working environment. That's exactly what happened, and the NBA is at fault for not having sufficient security available to handle the situation.

2004-11-05T16:45:00.000-06:00

I normally only write to my local paper. Today, though, was an exception because it plays right into previous posts here.

The post I refer to is at http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_58164.asp.

Dear Editors,

I am not a Tennessee native, I live in Nebraska, another 'red' state. I read, however, the article by Mr Tim Price calling conservatives and those who voted for Bush 'fascists'.

Mr. Price needs to go back to his history books at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and learn a little bit about what the meaning of the word 'fascism' is, as well as the related term that the left like himself like to label us conservatives as - Nazis.

Nazism first stands for 'National Socialist German Worker's Party'. This should first raise some suspicions about where Mr. Price is directing his statements, considering those of the Left in this country are the socialists. If one then looks into Mein Kampf, written by Hitler, you discover the four basic tenets of the Nazi beliefs. This includes control of the mass media to indoctrinate the people, as well as control of major industry. People are to become dependent on the goodness of the state to provide for them, while they work for the glory of the state. In other words, social programs keep the people in line. Lastly, of course, is the hatred of the Jewish people, but what does Hitler really say about this? He says the Jewish people control the banks, therefore the Nazis must take the banks back. But, Hitler also states that the Jews created Communism in order to subvert the Socialist ideals.

When Mr. Price, and others of his ilk, attack 'fascism', he is in fact attacking nationalism. Honestly, nationalism is a separate creed than fascism. Fascism and Nazism deal with the economics and government. Nationalism, however, is opposed by internationalism on one hand, and anarchy on the other. When those that support Mr. Price claim they are anarchists, they are in fact internationalists. Anarchy is the total absence of government. This does not mean people are 'equal', in fact anarchy is exactly the opposite of that. People are what they are, and the most powerful people rule. The days of the Tennessee frontier after the Revolutionary War are much closer to an anarchy situation than what the so-called anarchists want this day and age. They want communism, or in general parlayance, government-controlled equality. Everyone is to be forced into being equal. Not only is that the opposite of anarchy, it is also the opposite of capitalism.

As has been shown in the world, forced equality does not work. Freedom does. On Tuesday, the people of both Tennessee and Nebraska joined with over 50 million other people to vote for capitalism, for national pride which could be called nationalism, and for freedom.

Mr. Price and others want to take away your freedom in order to enforce their version of equality. Remember that the next time you go to the polls to vote.

2004-11-02T10:05:00.000-06:00

Well, today is the day.

Do we reelect a President who saw us through 9/11, and understands the goals of terrorists?

Or do we elect a wimp, who can't show he really has any sort of plan at all?

You know who I am voting for, and though I am in a 'Red' state, I have already voted and encourage people to go out and vote FOR freedom, FOR women's rights, FOR America, in other words: FOR George W Bush.

2004-10-27T13:40:00.000-05:00

Dear President Bush,

I want to thank you very much for running, and becoming, the President of the United States when you did. I do not believe this country could have survived as well as it has with another person in the most important profession in the world. You were strong while the media was panicking. You did what was right, first coming to my hometown, where we have the greatest military communication complex in the world, and then when you went to New York, to Ground Zero, you gave the speech of your life to a grieving nation.

But, you did not just stop at that. You understood the threat of terrorism. So, you took the fight to their backyard, since they had attacked our backyard. What has happened in Afghanistan has been nothing short of amazing, cementing with the election of a president of that country just today.

People continue to not understand your actions concerning Iraq. Iraq sponsored terrorism. Those who attack you do not understand there are more terrorists out there than just Osama Bin Laden. You know this, and with your leadership, not only is the evil of Saddam Hussein ended, but Libya has abandoned its nuclear program.

Domestically, I want to thank you for cutting my taxes. The increase in the exemption for individuals you got through Congress has improved my standard of living. In no small part due to the tax break, I am now the proud owner of a home.

My mother died just this June, due to medical complications from the medicine she was taking. However, if she was in the medical system that has been proposed by your opponents, she would have died long ago. People in Canada wait months for hip replacements, her original issue. She had osteoporosis, one of the many diseases that are being looked at for stem cells, so again, I want to thank you for being the first President to actually fund stem cell research.

So, thank you, Mr. President. I am rooting for your reelection.

2004-10-25T13:10:00.000-05:00

Once again, an article appears in the media which claims Kerry is smart, Bush is dumb, and we Bush supporters are stupid.

Guess what?

The smartest woman in the world, Marilyn Vos Savant, supports Bush.

I support Bush, and my IQ has been measured in the 99th percentile.

Bush's IQ has been measured in the 95th percentile.

Kerry's IQ has been measured in the 91st percentile.

Bush may not have gotten good grades in school, but neither did I...because, in my case, my classes did not appeal to me. When the class did, even if it was outside of my field of study (Native American History and English Literature come to mind as qualifying), I did well. Same with the President. So, the President could not remember the name of some leaders of nations...at least he knows it isn't 'Lambert Field' either. He may not know where Saddam hid his WMDs (though Syria is a good educated guess), but he does know small things - like the Buckeyes play in Ohio and not Michigan, that being a mother is the most important job in the world, and that one should always double-check publicity photographs before being released to the media.

He also knows that if he's relying on votes from Animal Rights activists, one should not go hunting and kill a goose and be photographed with it.

There is a difference between intelligence and wisdom. Kerry may be intelligent, but he sure has shown how much of a moron he is in the wisdom department.

And what we need is a WISE leader, not a smart one.

2004-10-25T11:33:00.000-05:00

Let's take a look at the headlines for today:

Kerry flubs question from sympathizer Couric
Edwards' Wife claims no riots if Kerry elected
Kerry lied about meeting Security Council
Kerry takes campaign donations from Osama front organization
US Military did not secure WMD-grade explosives in Iraq fast enough

4 hits on Kerry...in reality, 5 hits. If there were no WMDs in Iraq, then why have such high-grade explosives available?

God, I hope Kerry loses. We cannot survive him as President. I am very, very, very nervous though.

2004-10-20T15:05:00.000-05:00

Hugh Hewitt has on his website a contest: in 250 words or less why vote for Bush, and why not Kerry.

I think I can do it in less:

George W Bush is a man that tells it like it is, to the best of his ability. It may offend, it may irritate, but no matter what the Left claims, he tells what he believes is the truth. He is fighting for America against the terrorists, for the safety of our families, for the spreading of our way of life and freedom throughout the world. He is doing all of this, and helping out less than $200k people by giving them tax breaks, and helping those making more than $200k to make more jobs.

John Kerry is a man who could not tell the truth if he tried. He believes in old, tired, and disproven communist/socialist philosophies, not in free enterprise. He is fighting against America, because he believes in One World Government, ran by the French and the UN. He is peddling a health care plan that would have killed my mother 9 years ago, because she would have died having to wait for a hip transplant. He wants no one but his Hollywood buddies and billionaire financiers to make over $200k.

That's why we CANNOT allow him to become President, and why we need George W Bush back in office for the next four years.

2004-10-14T13:57:00.000-05:00

From the President's reelection website:

John Kerry in the Senate: "The Man Who Wasn't There"

Yesterday on ABC's World News Tonight, John Kerry attempted to refute the notion that he has a thin record in the United States Senate, stating, "I've introduced many pieces of legislation that are the law of the land today…" The reality is that during his 19 years in the United States Senate, only five bills and four resolutions John Kerry has been a lead sponsor on have become laws. These bills and resolutions are listed below, following a quote from Dick Morris on Kerry's meager Senate record during the Clinton years.

Dick Morris: Kerry Is A "Back-Bencher." "Where did his 20 years in the Senate go? Oddly, his absence of biography confirms the impression I formed of him during my White House years: He's a back-bencher. I never can recall a single time that his name came up in any discussion of White House strategy on anything. He was the man who wasn't there." (Dick Morris, "The Bagel Candidacy," The New York Post, 7/30/04)

Kerry's Five Bills That Became Law:
A Bill To Amend The Small Business Act With Respect To The Women's Business Center Program. (S. 791, Latest Major Action: 12/9/1999 Became Public Law No: 106-165)
A Bill To Redesignate The Federal Building Located At 380 Trapelo Road In
Waltham, Massachusetts, As The "Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center." (S.
1206, Latest Major Action: 4/14/1994 Became Public Law No: 103-234)
A Bill To Authorize Appropriations For The Marine Mammal Protection Act Of
1972 And To Improve The Program To Reduce The Incidental Taking Of Marine Mammals During The Course Of Commercial Fishing Operations, And For Other Purposes. (S. 1636, Latest Major Action: 4/30/1994 Became Public Law No: 103-238)
A Bill To Authorize Appropriations To Carry Out The National Sea Grant
College Program Act, And For Other Purposes. (S. 1563, Latest Major Action:
12/4/1991 Signed by President)
A Bill For The Relief Of Kil Joon Yu Callahan. (S. 423, Latest Major Action:
11/19/1987 Became Private Law No: 100-2)
Kerry's Four Resolutions That Became Law:
A Joint Resolution Designating The Week Beginning October 20, 1991, As
"World Population Awareness Week." (S.J. Res. 160, Latest Major Action:
10/30/1991 Signed by President)
A Joint Resolution Designating November 13, 1992, As "Vietnam Veterans
Memorial 10th Anniversary Day." (S.J. Res. 318, Latest Major Action:
10/24/1992 Became Public Law No: 102-518)
A Joint Resolution Designating September 18, 1992, As "National POW/MIA
Recognition Day," And Authorizing Display Of The National League Of Families POW/MIA Flag. (S.J. Res. 337, Latest Major Action: 9/30/1992 Became Public Law No: 102-373)
A Joint Resolution Designating October 22 Through 28, 1989, As "World
Population Awareness Week." (S.J. Res. 158, Latest Major Action: 10/25/1990 Signed by President)

So. This means I have passed more resolutions in Model United Nations in high school than John Kerry has in 20 years in the Senate of both bills and resolutions. It means I have almost an equal number of resolutions passed by the Republican State Committee of Nebraska as Mr Kerry has had in his entire tenure in the Senate.

Why in the world is this man so close to becoming our next President?

2004-10-14T09:36:00.000-05:00

So, Kerry brings up Lynne Cheney's daughter, then when she responds, she is personally attacked by John Edwards' wife?

This is out and out unprofessional, and frankly disgusting.

2004-10-05T08:15:00.000-05:00

Here's the 'rub':

Don't believe ANY poll until the election.

Every single poll has a major flaw, and thus every poll is unreliable. That flaw is no one can accurately guess how many Republicans are going to be coming out to vote in relation to the number of Democrats.

Democratic numbers should be the same as 2000. The only 'increase' that could be gained is by the brainwashed youth that have adopted Michael 'McStupid' Moore's tripe as true. However, that age group is notorious for not going out to vote on election day.

Republicans, though, are a mystery. Will the personal attacks by the Democrats bring out Republicans in a backlash? Will the fact Bush sometimes takes moderate positions cause some Republicans to stay home? Will Republicans be mad about how the Democrats acted in 2000 and come out in retaliation? These questions stand unknown at this time.

With these questions, the correct ratio of Republicans to Democrats cannot be garnered. The 'Reagan Democrats' are also going to be a major factor. I honestly think these are the Democrats that are going to swing the election, not some mythical 'Independent' voters. If the Reagan Dems, like Ed Koch and Zell Miller, go to Bush, Kerry's sunk.

In addition, in most states the urban areas are oversampled in polls. This usually means Republicans getting 3 to 5 pct more in the actual election than the poll claims. This happened with Dole vs Clinton, Bush vs Gore, and the midterm elections between those two races and the ones in 2002.

So, ignore the polls. The only poll that counts is November 2nd.

2004-10-01T13:43:00.000-05:00

Am I fustrated today...

I watched some of the debate last night between Kerry and Bush. Bush had ample opportunity to drive a stake into Kerry's campaign, but he just would not follow through with it. It seems as if he was coached by his people to 'play nice'.

I'm tired of playing nice when it comes to people who are trying to sell the US up the river. I'm tired of giving lip service to things, when America obviously needs a smack in the face wake up call.

I'm going to try and get a full list of questions that were asked in the debate, then I will answer them my way on this blog. I expect it will offend some people, but so be it. I'm tired of pussyfooting around. I'm tired of the Democrats trying to wimp out in not taking the fight to those that are against the United States. They want others to do the fighting. Gee...Rome did the same thing, by hiring barbarian tribes to be the Roman Army...except those 'barbarians' turned around and destroyed the remnants of the Roman Empire, plunging the world into a Dark Age until 1086, when William the Conqueror took over England.

2004-10-01T13:12:00.000-05:00

1. Do you believe you could do a better job in preventing another 9/11?

It is inevitable that the United States will be attacked in the future. Some day, some how, something is going to slip through and cause harm to the citizens of the United States. We must remain vigilant against attacks, however, to minimize the one that does make it through. We must strengthen our borders and our defenses to stop those attacks which can be prevented. Reducing our defenses by eliminating things such as the Patriot missile system, like my opponent once attempted to do, will make that day come much sooner.

2. Would the Election of Sen. Kerry increase the chances of 9/11-like attacks?

Yes, and here is why. Senator Kerry has stated he wants us to react, rather than proact, when it comes to terrorism. He cannot deny his statement on this matter. This means we will not prevent an attack against the citizens of our country if that attack originates outside of our borders. Under the Kerry proposal, we would have to wait again for another 9/11 before we go after any other terrorist organization other than Al-Qaida, or else we would have to wait for permission from other countries to defend our people. That is not an option. There are dozens of organizations that use terror, and as many countries that fund them. The only way to stop them from attacking us is by taking the fight to them, not waiting for citizens of the United States to die. Senator Kerry's statements and actions would embolden the terrorists to make attempts that they currently cannot, as they are back on their heels, defending and not attacking. In football, they say the best offense is a good defense, but no American citizens lives are at stake in a football game.

3. What Mistakes has Bush made?

A mistake made was to trust principles would talk louder than money to certain countries in the world. These countries have decided that the graft gained through the Oil For Food program, a program rife with corruption and ran by the United Nations, was more important than the lives and freedoms of millions of people in the world. Senator Kerry is making the same mistake if he thinks those countries will miraculously come to the party if he becomes President. They won't.

A second mistake was to trust in the intelligence provided by an emaciated intelligence community, devastated by cuts made in the previous administration, and wanted to be made deeper by my opponent. I wish I would have known sooner that our intelligence community was so handicapped that I may have been able to put more money towards fixing our shortcommings in this area.

4. "What about Senator Kerry's point?" Bin Laden v. Saddam?

Osama Bin Laden is not the only terrorist in the world. Saddam was harboring Abu Nidal, the man described by the American Press as the most dangerous man in the world...until Osama and Al-Qaida came on the scene. Saddam was also harboring Al-Zarqwai, a name now very familiar to us due to his beheading of Americans and others in Iraq. Al-Zarqwai split from Osama a few years ago, but the press and my opponent do not seem to acknowledge this fact. In addition, many other terrorist organizations exist. We stated that we are going to go after those states that support the terrorists...all terrorists, not just Al-Qaida. In the future, this may very well include some nations that we are currently allied with. Terrorism must be curtailed, to protect innocent lives around the world.

6. As president, what would you do, differently to increase the Homeland Security of the U.S.?

First thing is to fight illegal immigration into this country. Terrorists can slip in through either of our two borders at any time. All illegal immigrants need to be sent back home, or else they can file for the legal papers like legitimate immigrants can and do.

Second is to increase training and security at our airports and ports. Even with the implementation of the Homeland Security department, our airport screeners have tested poorly in their ability to stop suspicious passengers and luggage.

Third, we stop this silly notion of political correctness when it comes to searching passengers and baggage. We know who the terrorists are, and to search citizens who obviously pose absolutely no threat to our security, while letting those that can pose a threat through the system because we do not wish to offend them has compromised our security far more than can be imagined.

8. Criteria for bringing troops home?

I have criteria for bringing our troops home. However, showing our hand will again embolden terrorists to just 'sit tight' and wait us out. I can say, at the minimum, though, a stable election process in Iraq, along with ironclad guarantees of protection of the rights of the population against any attempt at a dictatorship is required. This includes the rights of women, children, and religious worshippers to go about their own business as free citizens.

10. You spoke to Congress...How do you ask a man to die for a mistake?

I do not believe Iraq was a mistake. I do not believe Afghanistan is a mistake. Bosnia was not a mistake. It was a mistake to leave Somalia. That's the difference. We abandoned the people of Somalia to their fate because we got scared. We're the greatest nation in the world. By being scared off by two bit warlords, it emboldened both Osama and Saddam, and others like them. The soldiers of Blackhawk Down were abandoned by this country. That's what the mistake is, to leave business unfinished. The men who are fighting for the rights of women in Iraq, so that they can go to school, get an education, and not be beaten by their husbands and blamed for being raped, are not dying for a mistake. They are making the ultimate sacrifice to give a chance for freedom. That was how our country was founded, and how come our country is still free today.

11. What was the miscalculation of conditions.

That the Baathists would stand and fight, instead of going underground to fight a terrorist war against us. The other miscalculation was the extent that the radical Muslims would enter the country before we could secure the borders, and become entrenched to fight us. That is now being resolved. You will be hearing in the days and months ahead about how we are rooting these interlopers out. But it is going to take time, energy, effort, and the intestinal fortitude to weather some bad news. We cannot cut and run like we did in Somalia, and like how Senator Kerry wants us to run. To do so would doom us to the same fate as what befell Rome.

12. To Kerry: You have accused the president of lying. Give us examples.

My opponent may not have called me a liar, but his surrogates and the 527s supporting his campaign have. They have called me everything from Hitler to the more evil than Osama Bin Laden. I would like to ask my opponent to repudiate these statements here, today, just as I have repudiated those that have attacked Senator Kerry on personal issues.

I will also point out that Senator Kerry had a chance to see the same intelligence I did concerning both the Yellowcake from Niger, as well as other pieces of information Secretary Powell made public in front of the United Nations. After seeing those items, Senator Kerry stated early in his campaign that anyone who didn't believe Saddam should be taken out does not deserve to become President. He voted to authorize force, when he did not in 1991. So, yes, I may have been told misinformation by our intelligence agencies, but so was the Senator, and he came to the same conclusion I did at the time. To not admit that is disingenuous.

13. Has the war in Iraq been worth the 1,052 lives lost in Iraq?

In order to free women and children from the tyrrany they were subjected to, in order to establish a democracy and religious freedom in a land of intolerance, in order to remove a supporter of terrorists and a threat to the world order, yes. I have to say that those men and women did not die in vain. They died trying to bring freedom to a land who has suffered so long without it. If you think I am not remorseful, or think I do not care about their lives, you are very wrong. I wish there had been another way, but it was painfully obvious diplomacy had failed. A previous President said the US must 'walk tall, and carry a big stick'. In Iraq, we had no choice but to resort to the stick. The hardest thing to becoming President is ordering young men and women into battle. Such a decision is not made lightly. But, in Iraq, it was the right decision for the women and children.

That's just some of my answers concerning the debate. Yes, a lot more edgy than what Bush gave, and in some cases very much differing from both candidates.

2004-09-08T10:58:00.000-05:00

As the details of what happened in the Russian school come out: kids shot in the back, teens raped, little children brutally murdered by knives, why has the media ignored this story and the fact the terrorists that caused this were Islamic?

Why doesn't the media show the fact that such a thing could happen right here, in the United States, just as easily?

Oh, wait. It didn't happen here...because the terrorists against us are occupied in Iraq and hiding from us in Afghanistan/Pakistan.

What will happen if we pull out of those areas prematurely because of, say, the election of Mr. Kerry?

That's right. We'd be subject to the same depraved attack, because Mr. Kerry does not believe in preemptive strikes against terrorists. He would sit back and wait until more innocent Americans were killed and tortured before he would bother to get involved.

And if that terrorist attack were a nuclear attack, or other WMD?

Mr. Kerry's record already shows what we could expect. He wrote up an executive order back when he was Lieutenant Governor of Massachussetts...denying any emergency management funding or other funding in order to evacuate people from anyplace subjected to a nuclear attack.

That's right, America. Mr. Kerry not only won't stop terrorists until they act, but he's on record that he won't spend money to save the survivors of such an attack.

How in the world can this guy still be close to being elected?

2004-09-07T18:08:00.000-05:00

Here it is, folks...

Bush Guard Service, The True Story
ChronWatch ^ 8/26/04 Gordon Bloyer
This is the only place that you will get the full and true story of President Bush’s Air National Guard service. There are no UNANSWERED questions. There are no missing records.
He did not miss any meetings. The truth is known. You can find everything in this article, in other publications but none of the others are complete. You have to put them all together to get the full story. It is a shame that our national "objective" media refuse to do their job and put the whole story together.
First, in answer to the charge that Bush was AWOL or missed meetings, George Bush was NEVER assigned to the Alabama Guard. This is a myth promoted by the "objective" media. Here is what really happened. Here is what the head of the Alabama Guard said.
Turnipseed states Bush was never ordered to report to the Alabama Air National Guard. He points out that Bush never transferred from the Texas Air National Guard to the Alabama Air National Guard. He remained in the Texas Guard during his stay in Alabama. This was confirmed by the Texas Guard. And Turnipseed added that Bush was never under his command or any other officer in the Alabama Guard.
Turnipseed added that Bush was informed of the drill schedule of the Alabama Guard as a courtesy so he could get credit for drills while in Alabama for his service record in the Texas Guard. There was no compulsory attendance. This was also confirmed by the Texas Guard.
This was reported in the Chicago Sun-Times and has never been picked up by any other news organization. Turnipseed then also added. For Bush to be "AWOL" or "away without leave," he would have had to have been assigned to a unit and under its command.
For the liberals reading this, go back and read it again. You see, Bush did NOT miss any meetings. The whole argument is nonsense. He got permission from his commanding officer to go to Alabama and attend meetings as a courtesy so he could attend when he could. Another part of this attack is that no one saw Bush at the meetings he did attend. It was reported that Turnipseed never saw Bush. Read what was reported about that.
Turnipseed reversed gear after retired Lt. Col. John "Bill" Calhoun went public to say that not only did he remember Bush in Alabama, but that it was Turnipseed himself that introduced the two. Oops. And really...the media is completely asleep at the switch on this one. How many people that you saw a few times do you remember from 30 years ago?
Why didn’t fellow pilots see Bush in Alabama? The planes being flown by the Alabama Guard were not the same as the F102 that Bush was trained on. Why would pilots see him if he was not flying?
That is why Lt. Col. Calhoun came forward to say that Bush was in his office for study and drill time. Remember he was not assigned to the unit, he did NOT have to be there.
The following is from a letter by Col. William Campenni (Ret.) published in the Washington Times.
There was one big exception to this abusive use of the Guard to avoid the draft, and that was for those who wanted to fly, as pilots or crew members. Because of the training required, signing up for this duty meant up to 2½ years of active duty for
training alone, plus a high probability of mobilization. A fighter-pilot candidate selected by the Guard (such as Lt. Bush and me) would be spending the next two years on active duty going through basic training (six weeks), flight training (one year), survival training (two weeks) and combat crew training for his aircraft (six to nine months), followed by local checkout (up to three more months) before he was even deemed combat-ready. Because the draft was just two years, you sure weren't getting out of duty being an Air Guard pilot. If the unit to which you were going back was an F-100, you were mobilized for Vietnam.
Avoiding service? Yeah, tell that to those guys. The Bush critics do not comprehend the dangers of fighter aviation at any time or place, in Vietnam or at home, when they say other such pilots were risking their lives or even dying while Lt. Bush was in Texas. Our Texas ANG unit lost several planes right there in Houston during Lt. Bush's tenure, with fatalities. Just strapping on one of those obsolescing F-102s was risking one's life.
Here is some information that the "objective" media avoids telling you. John Kerry joined the Navy Reserve, he did not JOIN the Navy. The Reserve was just like the National Guard. Kerry did NOT know he would be sent to Vietnam.
George Bush joined the Guard for a SIX-year term. If you are drafted, you only have to serve TWO years. Bush probably did not need to pull strings to get into a jet fighter unit. Jets required a greater time commitment than normal Guard postings. Pilots from the unit that he joined were being sent to Vietnam. All the publications that have researched this have concluded that there is NO evidence that he used any
influence to get into the Guard. The liberal publications will say that there is no evidence, but it is still suspicious. That is a good journalistic standard?
So, do you get it, Bush joined a unit that at the time was serving in Vietnam. The following is research from aerospaceweb.org ........
Nevertheless, we have established that the F-102 was serving in combat in Vietnam at the time Bush enlisted to become an F-102 pilot. In fact, pilots from the 147th FIG of the Texas ANG were routinely rotated to Vietnam for combat duty under a program called "Palace Alert" from 1968 to 1970. Palace Alert was an Air Force program that sent qualified F-102 pilots from the ANG to bases in Europe or southeast Asia for periods of three to six months for frontline duty. Fred Bradley, a friend of Bush's who was also serving in the Texas ANG, reported that he and Bush inquired about participating in the Palace Alert program. However, the two were told by a superior, MAJ Maurice Udell, that they were not yet qualified since they were still in training and did not have the 500 hours of flight experience required.
Furthermore, ANG veteran COL William Campenni, who was a fellow pilot in the 111th FIS at the time, told the Washington Times that Palace Alert was winding down and not accepting new applicants.
As he was completing training and being certified as a qualified F-102 pilot, Bush's
squadron was a likely candidate to be rotated to Vietnam. However, the F-102 was
built for a type of air combat that wasn't seen during that conflict, and the plane was withdrawn from southeast Asia in December 1969. The F-102 was instead returned to its primary role of providing air defense for the United States. In addition, the mission of Ellington AFB, where Bush was stationed, was also changing from air defense alert to training all F-102 pilots in the US for Air National Guard duty. Lt. Bush remained in the ANG as a certified F-102 pilot who participated in frequent drills and alerts through April of 1972. ... By this time, the 147th Fighter Wing was also beginning to transition from the F-102 to the F-101F, an updated version of the F-101B used primarily for air defense patrols. Furthermore, the war in Vietnam was nearing its end and the US was withdrawing its forces from the theater. Air Force personnel returning to the US created a glut of active-duty pilots, and there were not enough aircraft available to accommodate all of the qualified USAF and ANG pilots. Since USAF personnel had priority for the billets available, many of the Air National Guard pilots whose enlistments were nearly complete requested early release. The ANG was eager to fulfill these requests because there was not enough time to retrain
F-102 pilots to operate new aircraft before their enlistments were up anyway. Bush was one of those forced out by the transition, and he was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant in October 1973, eight months before his six-year enlistment was complete. Bush had approximately 600 flight hours by the time he completed his military service.
The folks at aerospaceweb concluded.........
While Bush did not see combat in Vietnam, it is also obvious he was not seeking a way to avoid the risk of being sent to Vietnam. At the time he was training to be an F102 pilot, ANG units and that aircraft type were based in Vietnam.
In conclusion, there is no evidence Bush got special treatment to join the Guard. He did NOT miss any meetings, he was not assigned to the Alabama Guard. The reason the so called "objective" media holds on to this myth is that it lets them keep asking, where was Bush? The issue of his being grounded is also answered because he would no longer be flying since his plane was obsolete and he did not have enough Guard time left to train in a new jet. You don’t need to report for a physical if you are not flying. Duh!
Kerry joined the Navy Reserve and did not expect to go to Vietnam. When Kerry did go to Vietnam the swift boats were not doing river patrols. They were doing coastal patrols and were not in much danger. That is when he volunteered to join the Swiftee’s. The assignment of those boats was changed after he was accepted for the duty. Surprise, he got action and the rest is disputed history.
The information in this article was published in "George Magazine", "New York Times", "Washington Times", "Chicago Sun-Times", "Washington Post" and aerospaceweb.org.
About the Writer: Gordon Bloyer has been called a Renaissance man by Ronn Owens of KGO radio in San Francisco. Rush Limbaugh read from a letter by Gordon on his national radio show. President Ronald Reagan invited Gordon to the White House to thank him for his support. He has appeared on numerous radio and television shows. The Gordon Bloyer Show can be seen at http://gordonbloyershow.com .

2004-09-07T14:12:00.000-05:00

I hate to be overly cautious at this point, but I am. Be on the lookout for stupid accusations coming from the Democrats over the next few weeks, like, say...the charges from Kitty 'I can lie if I want to about anything' Kelley.

I bet the Kerry campaign wishes she would have waited, so they could use it before it is all debunked. Once again, the gang who couldn't spin straight strikes again.

Each time the Kerry campaign pulls one of these boners, they lose a percentage point. Eventually, they're going to end up with 40 pct of the vote - the 'I hate Bush and will vote for a serial rapist before I vote for Bush' crowd.

However, and I will again point this out: why do you on the left hate Bush? I have NEVER heard a straight answer to this question. You give some sort of a vague answer about Iraq, or maybe the Patriot Act, but those things have NOT affected you in the slightest, except to slow you down going through an airport. Trust me, I know they haven't. So, why the hate? Going back to my previous thesis, is it really because you are now national socialists, and you oppose Bush who is an international capitalist?

2004-09-02T09:53:00.000-05:00

It's been a few days since I've posted anything on here, due to other committments.

However, I'm back with a very simple message.

Democrats, are you one of the Democrats who joined the party of Roosevelt, Truman, and JFK, or have you joined the Democrats due to Jane Fonda, George McGovern, and Michael Moore?

If you are the former, look at your party. Your party used to be for making America strong. Their philosphy was to strengthen American workers and American products to outdo anyone else in the world. Now, your party has selected someone who has gone to China in order to outsource jobs, is for the United Nations to direct our troops, and is for treaties like the Kyoto Protocol, that will remove freedom from the American people.

This isn't why you joined the Democratic Party. This is not the candidate you should be supporting.

Read the words of Zell Miller's speech. He's a Democrat, and he's mad as hell that the party he joined has been co-opted by the rabid Marxists. Ed Koch is another Democrat upset at the way his party is moving towards Marxism. The Truman Doctrine contained Marxism in Europe. JFK fought against Marxism in Cuba and in Vietnam. Yet, you have allowed the Marxists to take over your party.

Why?

2004-08-25T13:54:00.000-05:00

Okay, Democrats. Here it is: the eyewitness account of GWB in the National Guard.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=14805

As you can see, you Rats have bitten off more than you can chew on this.

Stop the lying.

Now.

2004-08-23T14:46:00.000-05:00

I want to give some kudos to the Minnesota Republican Party for creating a new website called 'When Angry Democrats Attack'. It can be seen at http://www.whenangrydemocratsattack.com/ .

This is the kind of thing that needs to be shown to Americans - how far off the deep end the Democrats have become.

I stand by my assertation that the Ruckus Society, ANSWER, and the rest are really one organization, modelled off of Hitler's SA brownshirts. Note, by the way, the fact they keep trying to call Bush a fascist/nazi when they are the ones embracing the goals of naziism.

2004-08-23T09:30:00.000-05:00

Someone on Free Republic has provided a handy little list that continues my premise, which has pretty much been implied in previous accounts, that the current leadership of the Democratic Party is, in fact, the successor to the National Socialist German Workers Party...the Nazis. Why those Democrats like Dick Gephardt don't realize the path they are spiraling down and stop this is beyond my comprehension. Why the Jewish Democratic voters and the African-American Democratic voters don't understand that they are being turned into second class citizens by the party they support is mindboggling.

Here is the list:

Kerry and Hitler were both "War Heros" with medals.
Kerry and Hitler were heros in wars that their nation "lost".
Kerry and Hitler were both "Wounded" in that war.
Kerry and Hitler are both opportunists.
Kerry and Hitler are dedicated to overthrow the existing order.
Kerry and Hitler were both leaders of radical organizations willing to use violence to win.
Kerry and Hitler used national dissatisfaction with the war they fought in to gain political prominence.
Kerry and Hitler are both adopted by the super-rich as a vehicle to take political control.
Kerry and Hitler are both socialists.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. That's exactly what is happening here, but by calling us on the conservative side 'nazis', it allows them to deflect where the true nazism is coming from.

2004-08-23T09:24:00.000-05:00

I am reprinting here the letter from the Bush-Cheney campaign concerning the Kerry campaign putting out a totally false advertisement:

Dear Station Manager:

Your station is being asked to run an ad from John Kerry's presidential campaign wrongly accusing Bush-Cheney '04 of violating the campaign finance laws. We ask that your station set the record straight.

It is completely false and without any evidence that the Bush "campaign supports a front group attacking John Kerry's military record," as the Kerry ad states. The Bush-Cheney campaign flatly rejects this baseless allegation of illegal coordination between Bush-Cheney '04 and a group called Swiftboat Veterans for Truth. The ad running on your station contains this false and libelous charge. Coordination with Swiftboat Veterans for Truth would be a violation of federal campaign finance laws. 11 C.F.R. 109.21.

Sadly, the Kerry campaign is using this falsehood for which it publicly admits it has no evidence to distract attention and gain free publicity. Attached is a verified transcript from a CNN interview in which Mr. Kerry's own spokesman, Tad Devine, could not present even one piece of hard evidence to back up the Kerry campaign's allegations.

The attached CNN Inside Politics verified transcript shows that Kerry campaign spokesman Devine is basing his charges solely on a newspaper article, "...it's in the New York Times today." However, not even this newspaper article presents evidence of "coordination." What has been reported are the Kerry campaign's unsubstantiated charges along with the explicit denial from the Bush-Cheney campaign. In fact, after inquiring about the alleged coordination reported in the New York Times story relied on by Mr. Devine, Wolf Blitzer, based on an earlier interview with a reporter who wrote the New York Times story, corrected Devine by stating, "They don't have any hard evidence backing it up." In other words, the allegation contained in the commercial running on your station is based on nothing more than the Kerry campaign's false accusations, having them reported in the media, and then the Kerry campaign referring to the published false accusations as proof.

The Kerry campaign is hiding behind the law which does not permit your station to reject this false advertising by a candidate. But your station can insure that the record is clear in your total program. We ask that you to do that.

Respectfully,

Ken Mehlman
Campaign Manager

2004-08-20T12:46:00.000-05:00

My email to MSNBC:

Dear Sirs,
I have normally kept quiet about journalists letting their political ideology cloud their actions on television. This time, however, two of your 'journalists' have gone too far.
Chris Matthews remarks and explosion towards a fellow journalist, Michelle Malkin, were uncalled for and show the fact that Mr. Matthews should remove such a distinguished title as 'journalist' from his resume. Even on an opinion show, a journalist is to strive to find the truth out about what is happening. Mr. Matthews, however, has refused to do such in not doing an investigation of "Unfit For Command", and has personally attacked by lies and innuendo those who have appeared on his show. The transcript of the program clearly shows Ms Malkin is correct in her statements about what happened on the program. Mr. Matthews should be made to apologize for both his actions on his program, and his press release which perpetuates the falsehoods that are disproven by his show's own transcripts.
Keith Olbermann, however, has gone beyond this, personally attacking Ms Malkin. Since when are personal attacks against a female permitted by MSNBC, NBC, and General Electric? MSNBC removed Michael Savage from the air for similar statements. Mr. Olbermann should be removed from his television program immediately, as what happened to Mr. Savage on your own network.
In previous years, accusations such as being put out by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth would have been thoroughly investigated by the news media, and either proven or disproven. Neither Mr. Matthews or Mr. Olbermann, or their staffs have done such an invesigation. Such an investigation, by an unbiased and thorough journalist, is the only way to resolve the truth behind the accusations.
Insulting Ms Malkin's statements on the Hardball program is not journalism, nor are insults on Ms Malkin's character.

2004-08-18T12:42:00.000-05:00

Another campaign commerical idea:

Start with a picture of Leon Klinghoffer.

"This is Leon Klinghoffer, an American citizen with Jewish ancestry. He was on a cruise liner called the Achilles Lauro with his wife and other citizens of all nationalities. The Achilles Lauro was attacked by terrorists, led by this man..."

Show picture of Abu Nidal.

"Abu Nidal. At the time, the press heralded him as the most dangerous terrorist in the world. Abu Nidal escaped authorities, after killing Leon Klinghoffer. He fled to the one man who said he would protect him..."

Show picture of Saddam Hussein.

"Saddam Hussein. In the recent liberation of Iraq, Abu Nidal was killed, as were other terrorists and members of many terrorist organizations. To say Saddam Hussein did not harbor terrorists, or did not help the terrorist cause is not supported by the facts of these men being found on Iraqi soil, being protected."

Show picture of Saddam's statue being torn down.

"Iraq no longer supports terrorist organizations, thanks to the help of the Coalition of the Willing, 52 nations working together to stop people like Saddam Hussein from spreading terror. On November 2nd, you have a choice. Either stop terrorism before it can happen, or wait until more people lose their lives like Leon Klinghoffer."

2004-08-17T08:57:00.000-05:00

"Comedian" Al Franken (comedian in quotes because I have never found the man funny, even on SNL) wrote a book about Liars, trying to call conservatives, Republicans, and especially George W Bush a liar.

Yet, once again, the liar proves to be John Kerry and those, like Franken, who support him.

The latest? John Kerry claiming to be Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Uh, John...that was Bob KERREY. He doesn't even spell his last name the same!

I also love the fact that John had to have his personal barber flown out to the west coast to give him a trim. I'm sure someone out there is glad their $1000 contribution to Kerry's campaign paid for a haircut.

I just wish the American people weren't so blind to the realities of the world. I have been harping on those realities since 1985...I was a junior in high school then, and even then I understood. Yet, there are too many people both older and younger than me that are so blind as to not get what the world has turned into. These are the same folks that sat in front of their houses as Attila marched through the streets. These are the people that caused Athens to fall to the Spartans, and caused Rome to fall to the German barbarians. Conservatives? We're the Franks under Charles Martel, who pushed back the Muslim invaders of France. We're the Reconquista forces of Spain, driving out the invaders of our lands. We're the Hungarians, who stopped both Turkish forces and the Mongol horde.

And we are the Americans, who have been attacked twice on our soil. We defeated the first aggressor, and now they are an ally. We will defeat the second aggressor too, but only if we don't turn into the patricians of Rome by electing John Kerry.

2004-08-16T08:31:00.000-05:00

Matt Margolis, the main blogger over at Blogs for Bush (http://www.blogsforbush.com) had this to say the other day:

It seems like Kerry just can't seem to get anywhere. Putting Edwards on the ticket didn't help him. Their convention didn't help him. Millions of dollars spent and a two week tour didn't help either. The reality of the situation is that Kerry is a weak candidate and the American people are rejecting the Kerry-Edwards campaign's message.
John Kerry is in big trouble. With two weeks to go before the GOP Convention, we can expect big things from the Bush campaign and I believe we'll see Bush open up a lead that Kerry will fail to catch up to.

I really respect Matt, and the amount of work and effort he has put into the site (I'm on the blogroll here). But...

Oh, come on, you knew I was setting that up...

Anyways, I think the Bush campaign needs a brain transfer on the way things are being run in this campaign. I see the great ads coming from the RNC and the Bush campaign, but...something just seems to be missing. Mind you, the other side is just coming out with hatred and venom spewing all over, but I feel there needs to be an edge to Bush's campaign that is not there. Thank god Karen Hughes and Peggy Noonan are coming back into the campaign organization. I hope it will be enough.

To expect any sort of big bounce to come out of the Republican Convention is an error. I don't think there will be a big bounce, but I do think the bounce is going to be larger than the minor bounce Kerry had. That's because Bush, when push comes to shove, makes one helluva stump speech. He did in 2000, which propelled him forward into the general election, he did on 9/11, and I think he'll do it again.

Another thing that needs to be done cannot be coordinated by the Bush campaign. Look at my two proposed ads earlier in this blog. Those kinds of ads really cannot be put out by Bush...but they CAN be put out by people like RightMarch or Club for Growth...the Republican 527s. We really need a big donor or two to offset the big 3 Democrat donors that are funding Media Fund, MoveOn, and the like. Has anyone thought of approaching Michael Dell to offset Stephen Bing? Or the Walton siblings to offset George Soros? Has anyone thought of doing advertisements that attack, not John Kerry, but directly target MoveOn/Media Fund/etc.?

The Republicans in the US Senate kowtowed to the Democrats, and got ran over. We cannot afford to have the same happen in the race for President.

2004-08-13T13:23:00.000-05:00

This is a big recommendation for using Blogger/Blogspot for your blogs.

A few days ago I complained about the Kerry ads appearing on my site, and they have now given me a complimentary subscription to the Ads-Free membership.

At least SOMETHING is working today :-) Thanks Blogger!

2004-08-13T08:55:00.000-05:00

John Kerry has to be a pathological liar. Now, he's changing his story to where he now claims he was in Cambodia in January, 1969.

Next, it will be Chinese New Year, February 1969.

How many Democrats are now kicking themselves for not selecting Gephardt, instead of Kerry, to beat Howard Dean?

2004-08-13T08:32:00.000-05:00

Here's another campaign commercial that really needs to be produced. It is based on a rather famous (around Nebraska) ad that was aired by Bob Kerrey's campaign for Governor vs Kay Orr:

Older woman: Hello. I am here today to talk to you about negative campaigning. The presidential campaign of 2004 has turned into the nastiest, most negative campaign ever.

[play clip from the MoveOn.org Hitler ad]

This is the kind of campaign advertising we have been getting this year. Comparing a political candidate to Hitler in an advertisement is purely negative. This ad, and others like them, have been created by an organization called MoveOn.org. They are not the only advertisements attacking the character of a sitting President. There are many of them, and many other statements that do not focus on real campaign issues.

[play clip from Michael Moore attacking Bush]

Legitimate campaign ads, though they might be negative, focus on things like a candidate's record, and not hatred. Hatred is what is motivating these people and organizations. Citizens of the United States of America should demand political advertisements focus on the record of the candidates in question and statements those candidates have made, and not personal attacks.

[play clip of John Kerry calling Bush supporters goons]

As of now, most of these disgusting advertisements are coming from groups that oppose the President. Yet, the Democratic candidate has said:

[play clip of Kerry calling for civility in political advertising]

Please call the Democratic Party today and ask them to follow their own advice, both for themselves and the organizations that support their candidate for president. America is not a place where hate should be tolerated.

2004-08-12T13:23:00.000-05:00

I just have to laugh.

The day AFTER I write about how you cannot treat terrorists with kid gloves, John Kerry says he wants to wage a more 'sensitive war' against terror.

I think the families of 3000 American citizens could tell you where you can stick your sensitivity, John...

2004-08-12T11:23:00.000-05:00

I've had it with the Democrats.

Message to Bush and Cheney: Stop pussyfooting with these guys. The Democrats have basically dropped all civility, so drop the gloves and get in there.

And by all means, don't blow this election by being timid.

Put out an ad showing the following:

CLEARLY show the World Trade Center attacks. Then excerpt after those images lines from the President's speech at Ground Zero.
Force people to REMEMBER.
Then show Kalid Muhammad's face...Abu Nidal's face...other terrorists we have captured or killed, including Saddam Hussein, Uday and Qusay. List their crimes...those killed, who they killed.
Then ask the question. Do you want a strong leader who has been able to use the military to capture or kill terrorists like these, or do you want a weak leader, who can't even decide on what to vote for or against when it comes to terrorism?

The press and the Democrats will go into a tailspin, whining about the commercial. Who cares about them. This is about our freedom. This is about the survival of the United States of America. This is about American lives, lives that are going to be lost in the millions if John Kerry is elected.

2004-08-12T11:02:00.000-05:00

On days like these, I wish I could run for political office. The amount of wishy-washy coming from Republicans is just amazing to me. Thank god for people like Ann Coulter, David Horowitz, and others out there that have stopped kowtowing to niceties.

I cannot run for political office due to four factors:

My grades in college, especially my first college, were low
I did some things back in my college days that George W Bush would call 'irresponsible'...not drinking, smoking, or drugs, though...but still would be damaging to any sort of political aspirations
I have had bouts of depression that required medication
I don't have the finances

The other three could be counteracted by the fourth, but alas it is not to be. Thus, I am stuck being a web designer for local government, when I want to be out there kicking liberal butt.

The reasons I think I would make a good elected official...NOT politician:

I can motivate and lead people to greater things. (Been proven)
I know proper English language, both for speaking and writing, though I do tend to speak like a construction worker more often than not (my dad was a construction worker for many years)
I can give rousing speeches in front of people. I did so in 1985 at the Young Americans for Freedom convention (I wish that organization would restart...the College Republicans just aren't doing enough IMHO)
I won't BS people with what the problems are in America and how I feel they need to be fixed
I've worked in government bureaucracies for a number of years, and know where the red tape blocks real progress
I am a conservative, but with a few libertarian leanings on some issues...NOT drugs, though!
Though I am not a church goer, I believe in God and that God should not be excluded from either government or education, as God's teachings form the basis of morality that is the foundation of both

I wish I could run at this point. America needs those like me to become elected officials, not the rich wimps and lawyers.