Save Regina.

Check out this website.

It gives details on a woman from the Congo who is living an upright life in the Milwaukee area. She was opposed to the Congo govt and spent time in prison over there (the descriptions I see make Abu Ghraib look like a holiday). She and her husband started a family and were in the process of purchasing a house when she was told they needed new work permits.

In the process of obtaining those permits it was discovered her petition for asylum was rejected. In their usual diplomatic way she was notified that she was to be deported back to the Congo. It sounds like she will get a welcome reception of about five riflemen upon her return.

As you all may know my wife and I have worked with the USCIS (formerly known as the INS) and have not had any serious or even mid-level problems but our case did not have the asylum factor to contend with.

Ms. Bakala according to her bio has been leading a life worthy of emulation by all of us. She should be allowed to stay.

Judy Judy Judeeeee

Judy Miller has finished testifying in front of the Grand Jury.

I can think of no reasonable explanation of her holdout.

However, it is quite clear she was holding things up not the Administration.

Another note. WImP Radio this morning was reporting on it and they were reporting on an assumption. That assumption is the President's Administration leaked the name. Funny, I thought that what the investigation was to determine. Why investigate, right?

The Last Bit.

Dedicated to the man whose death I wrote about last night.

Fourteen Days

Day One
What is happening to me?
I fall to the floor.
I struggle to get up.
I cease to breathe.

Day Two.
I stare at the ceiling.
The warm air wafts over me.
Someone soon should find me.
Where are they?

Day Three.
What is that smell?
The ants and flys begin to swarm.
Someone soon should find me.
Where are they?

Day Four.
The gas builds.
The gut bloats.
Someone soon should find me.
Where are they?

Day Five.
Does no one care?
Has everyone forgotten?
Someone soon should find me.
Where are they?

Day Six.
Am I to rot here?
In this domestic time capsule?
Someone soon should find me.
Where are they?

Day Seven.
One week of staring.
At the ceiling so drab.
Someone should have found me.
Why haven't they come?

...

Day Fourteen.
Two weeks now.
What's that sound at the door?
Someone is knocking.
What do they care?


Good night.

Ronnie Earle On The Big Screen.

YAB! Guess what that means! It means Yet Another Blog.

Three big coinciding events, the Delay indictment, the Roberts confirmation, and Judy Judy Judeee getting out of prison.

Anyway this is yet another blog on the Earle vendetta (I want to use Dune language and call it kanlee).

For the last two years, as he pursued the investigation that led to Wednesday's indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Travis County, Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle has given a film crew "extraordinary access" to make a motion picture about his work on the case.

Source: National Review Online Byron York - Coming Soon: The Ronnie Earle Movie The DeLay prosecutor has let a film crew follow him through the whole case.

Oh my oh my. Ronnie Earle a legend in his own mind a star of a film. I hope it is a tragedy and from the way things appear it could very well be.

What will be the title of the film: The Tumble of Ronnie Earle? Poooorrrrr Ronnie!

What is This About Again?

Judith Miller, The New York Times reporter who has been jailed since July 6 for refusing to identify a source, has been released, The Inquirer has learned.

Miller left an Alexandria, Va. jail late this afternoon, a jail official said.

She was released after she had a telephone conversation with the Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, sources said. In that conversation, Libby reaffirmed that he had released Miller from a promise of confidentiality more than a year ago, sources said.

Source: Michelle Malkin - JUDITH MILLER: FREE?

What is this Judith Miller stuff about again? Ohhhhh, that's right the leftists were making a fuss about Karl Rove and she figured into that mess. Well, they are back to Tom Delay, how long before the return to Karl Rove?

Michelle reports it is unclear if Judith will testify. Well, ht to Kathryn Jean Lopez at The Corner (alerting us to a Breitbart story):

After nearly three months in jail, New York Times reporter Judith Miller was released Thursday after agreeing to testify in the investigation into the disclosure of the identity of a covert CIA officer, two people familiar with the case said.

Miller left the federal detention center in Alexandria, Va., after reaching an agreement with Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. Legal sources said she would appear before a grand jury investigation the case Friday morning. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the grand jury proceedings.

The sources said Miller agreed to testify after securing an unconditional release from Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, to testify about any discussions they had involving Plame.

Source: Breitbart - Miller Agrees to Testify in CIA Leak Probe (via Al-Pazeera).

Judy, Judy, Judeeee. What do you have to say? Enquiring minds want to know!

The Civilization on the Edge of Forever.

Some of you may recognize the title of this blog. The proper title would be The City on the Edge of Forever Star Trek (Original Series) episode #28.

By a strange set of events (which are inconsequential to my line of though here) Spock and Kirk are forced to time travel. They end up in late 1930s New York City and wind up living among the destitute. They quickly come to the attention of a woman by the name of Edith Keeler who runs the mission they work at and hang out at.

Spock jerry rigs up a device to read his recorder and play it back. One of the results of this playing back of the recording (Spock was recording the events that led up to their needing to time travel) showed the woman Kirk was falling for was a saint needed to die. Why? In the original set of historical events she died and early death and was of no consequence, we know the world events from the 1930s and 1940s. In the track of history they were on, the 1930's and most particularly the 1940s were way out of whack.

Edith Keeler rose to national prominence as a pacifist leader and delayed the entry of the United States into WWII. This as it turns out gave the Third Reich time to develop nuclear weapons before anyone else and the rest is alternative history as they might say. As it turns out Kirk and Spock correct the historical accident by letting a road traffic accident (RTA) occur unhindered that McCoy prevents in the alternative history.

Think of what might have happened if Hitler would have developed nuclear weapons prior to the Allies? A ferry load of Norwegian civilians were killed because their ferry carried German heavy water, and Werner Von Heisenberg was targeted for assassination.

Is this the log we are rolling on now? I fear the pacifists could be leading us to another fools bargain right now. 10 lives saved, $100.00 for now for 1,000,000 lives and $1,000,000,000 in the future.

I am sure I am not the only one to have blogged on this episode of Star Trek with this context.

Deep Into The Bench!

Bill Roggio talks about Ramadi and the fight for it.

While our side does not fully control the town it can not be said the terrorists (ie the other side for the morally muddied) control it either.

But it is clear the city not fully secured. Local groups of insurgents are operating in the city, intimidating neighborhoods at times, employing IEDs, setting up ambushes and sniping at Marine and Iraqi police forces. This does not constitute control of the city. Al Qaeda does not have a secure foothold in Ramadi; this is the city where al Qaeda was attacked by the predominantly Sunni Dulaimi tribe when they threatened to murder Shiites who did not leave the city. The organization is stalked by Coalition forces, as the recent arrests of four key members of the Nu'man Brigade, including the leader, demonstrates. Al Qaeda and the insurgency certainly are not in control of Ramadi.

Source: The Fourth Rail - Controlling Ramadi

However, what is most interesting about Bill's blog is the picture of recently captured terror cell members. See this picture of captured terrorists, one of them the leader of the cell. All with one exception look to be very young, so young I can easily picture teaching these guys in one of my classes. Al-Qaeda and the terrorists in Iraq are deep into their bench.

While we must be careful not to think simple body count tallies indicate progress, we must understand a dead terrorist can not teach new terrorists, and the school of hard knocks for terrorists is very hard indeed.

Patience, fortitude, and determination fellow Westerners.

NPR Has That Market Cornered.

Michele Malkin talks about Error America (aka Air America or Air scAmerica or Air Ameriscam) doing a telethon to raise funds to pay back The Children it stole money from.

Guess not enough listeners fell for that panhandling scheme to keep Lanpher on board.

Lanpher's actions certainly speak louder than Air America Radio CEO Danny Goldberg's huffy words--posted over at The Huffington Post.

Source: Michelle Malkin: INSIDE AIR AMERICA: AL'S PAL BAILS...AND PHILLY STATION DITCHES, TOO

NPR finally has competition, and will win bigtime! At least NPR picks on adults and not children.

Right Vs. Right.

The Jawa Report calls on Tom DeLay not to just resign from his position of leadership in the congress (that he has done) but to resign from the congress period.

Tom Delay should resign from Congress. Did he do anything illegal? I've no idea. Campaign finance laws are like the tax code: so complicated as to lose all meaning to the average citizen. But whether or not Delay broke any laws is beside the point in my mind. He is the poster child for the peddling of Washington's largess to special interests.

Source: The Jawa Report - Tom Delay, Please Resign (UPDATED)

Here we go again, that booga-phrase special interests. I am sorry, that is the job of congressmen to look after the special interests of their constituencies. If you don't like the special interests of Tom DeLay then work to defeat him at the ballot box, don't expect him to resign for it.

There is a second and unrelated reason Delay should resign. Tom Delay hurts the Republican Party and helps the Democratic Party. I don't really care if Delay hurts the Republican Party. I am a big believer in the two-party system--as long as those two parties are Republicans and Libertarians. What I am not a big believer in are the statist principles at the core of Democratic philosophy and which are increasingly becoming part of Republican practice.

Source: The Jawa Report - Tom Delay, Please Resign (UPDATED)

Huh? How does not rolling over on what certainly seems like a cheap sham indictment help the Democrats? If Tom DeLay is convicted (I would be surprised to see the case get to trial) or pleads then we can call for his resignation until then let us at least give him the presumption of innocence due to all Americans.

Now, Tom DeLay has certainly done his share to earn the ire of small government conservatives or perhaps has not done enough to earn their praise. His latest statement on how the budget does not contain enough pork to pay for hurricane relief certainly has a lot of his normal supporters up in arms and perhaps those supporters are on the sidelines now.

Absent a conviction or a plea deal Tom DeLay should not step down from his office for him to do so would reward ... corrupt use of a DA's office.

Update
9/29/2005 3:31 pm CDT
Dr. Rusty Shackleford linked to this note on The Jawa Report. Says I don't agree that is true. Thanks for the link and don't worry I will not be delinking The Jawa Report or any such thing.

What we are engaging in is an open and honest debate about what we as conservatives should do. Our representatives will not be marching out Congress in lock step, our movement will not surround the wagons as tightly as the Democrats do. This is not a sign of disarray or weakness it is a sign of strength!

Ronnie Earle, Tom DeLay, and Vince Biskupic.

Well Ronnie Earle got his indictment. Its not like he has never gotten one before against a politician he was after. He got an indictment of Kay Bailey Hutchinson some years ago and it amounted to very little.

Byron York wrote an article for National Review Online last June where he talks about Ronnie Earle how he is not the cleanest whistle either.

A grand jury in Travis County, Texas, last September indicted eight corporations in connection with the DeLay investigation. All were charged with making illegal contributions (Texas law forbids corporate giving to political campaigns). Since then, however, Earle has agreed to dismiss charges against four of the companies - retail giant Sears, the restaurant chain Cracker Barrel, the Internet company Questerra, and the collection company Diversified Collection Services - after the companies pledged to contribute to a program designed to publicize Earle's belief that corporate involvement in politics is harmful to American democracy.

Source: National Review Online Byron York - "Dollars for Dismissals" The prosecutor in the DeLay case dropped charges in exchange for cash to pet cause.

How very interesting. Those of you familiar with the 2002 Wisconsin elections may be (should be) familiar with the case of Vince Biskupic failed candidate for Wisconsin Attorney General. Of course the left in the State was all worked up over this case not just before the election but for quite a bit afterwards too.

By signing a secret agreement to "donate" $5,000 to police and court programs "as a sign of remorse," Banks, a machinist, bought his way out of being charged with a felony in 1996, according to public documents obtained by the Wisconsin State Journal. Eight others involved in the case were charged with felony perjury and convicted of felony and misdemeanor offenses for helping an Appleton man conceal $75,000 in lottery winnings in a divorce case.

Source: madison.com - Justice for Sale

Read the whole of both articles.

In the end Vince Biskupic was never reprimanded for the charges, even a state ethics boards did not do so. I know Vince and he is a good man. The problem here is Vince was raked over the coals for arranging pre-trial deals where the defendants came out worse financially than if they would have been convicted (and of course the county would be worse off too) and groups working to prevent crime were better off. Now Ronnie Earle engages in much more egregious examples of the behavior and nary a word is said.

Search for "Vince Biskupic" and contribution at Truth in Justice and do the same for "Ronnie Earle" and contribution. Why the difference?

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

Wow!

When we left for Florida it was still summery out up here in WI. I ate some sweet corn the days before we left, and had BLT sandwiches for breakfast and lunch. I fear neither will be consumed again by myself until next July. Just before we left I also bought some lemons, limes, and oranges to make my favorite citrus juice concoction. However, it just doesn't seem appropriate anymore and probably will not until May or June '06.

It is defnitely fall up here now, last week it was not.

On Family.

While on our way back from Florida and lounging in DTW (Detroit's airport) I phoned a buddy in response to a voice message. He said the father of another friend was found dead in his house.

The coroner performed an autopsy and figures the man was there for about two weeks dead before he was found. A neighbor had not seen him for a while and called the police and when they entered the house, it was obvious.

How very sad. Yet another realization what a precious and special gift my family is. This is not the first time this has dawned on me, only the latest.

When I hear neighbors and other friends talk about how their parents are divorced and don't speak to each other, or they themselves haven't talked to a parent or sibling in years (by mutual consent) it makes me see my family as special and not run of the mill.

By run of the mill I don't mean humm-drum, I mean growing up I thought everyone had a family like mine.

Families are meant to be around for each other, and children are not supposed to start from scratch.

Even when I was half-way around the world, I always felt close to my family. Even now, I have famly half-way across the world; family I have not met I feel close to them.

When you are born all you have is your family, and pray when you pass from this earth you still have family.

ROP In Action in Denmark.

LGF relays a report from Denmark of a Pakistai woman killed in broad daylight in a Danish street.

Here is the link to the Little Green Footballs story.

This is what we are fighting, so the next time some nutter from Code Pink yammers on about supporting the Jihadis tell them this is what they support!

The MSM.

Rich Lowry from The Corner recently participated in a discussion of journalism.

I tried to make the case that everyone has trouble being objective, which is why we need a yeasty media environment in which everyone gets held accountable and criticized. But these people think that whatever their opinions are represent truth, and any effort to dissent from them is by definition folly and error. They are obviously annoyed and scared by the more competitive media environment, and yearn for the days when their power within the media was untrammeled and their “truth” uncontradicted.

Source: The Corner Rich Lowry “DON'T CRITICIZE US, WE'RE JOURNALISTS”

The MSM journalists are acting like petty tyrants losing their power.

A Tlumpet Fanfale Prease!

A lousing tlumpet fanfale prease for Silly Pigs!

Silly Pigs is a new blog just started up in the last few days/weeks and somehow or another they have blogrolled Blogger Beer. So they get a mention and a spot on my blogroll for the courtesy.

They also get a Thank You for reading & blogrolling Blogger Beer!

A Tlumpet Fanfale Prease!

A lousing tlumpet fanfale prease for Silly Pigs!

Silly Pigs is a new blog just started up in the last few days/weeks and somehow or another they have blogrolled Blogger Beer. So they get a mention and a spot on my blogroll for the courtesy.

They also get a Thank You for reading & blogrolling Blogger Beer!

The Martyrs of the NYPD Are Turning.

HT: The Jawa Report.

According to this Al-Pazeera story the number of NOLA police who deserted their posts post-Katrina was not as bad as I speculated (and certainly not as bad as some had speculated), but it was still pretty bad.

NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans police chief says 249 officers — nearly 15 percent of the force — could face a special tribunal because they left their posts without permission during Hurricane Katrina and the storm's chaotic aftermath.

Source: Yahoo News AP - N.O. Police Say 249 Officers Left Posts

Those people are the first responders and a significant portion of the first responders did not respond. This is what the defenders of President Bush (of which I am one) have been saying, those responsible for the immediate management of the disaster did not manage their disasters well and made an awful situation worse than what it should have been.

BTW, some may point out my previous post about the MSM which Al-Pazeera is a card carrying member, however at this time I am confident the numbers are accurate. Like I said earlier estimates up to a 2/3rds desertion rate were incredible, recall I took a shot at the 20% level which while high is pretty close.

The Tarpit Bound

Catching up on the news. The big topic on the Rush show today is the Mainstream Mastadons aka the Mainstream Misleaders aka the Mainstream Media.

The MSM talks about holding to account the powerful. They have power and they need to be held accountable as well.

The big story going around it seems is how the MSM was so wrong about the mayhem around NOLA post Katrina. All of those wild stories about murder and mayhem in the Superdome turned out to be very wrong and some analysts are saying these outlandish stories may have held the relief efforts back.

The media is supposed to be like an umpire or an official in a sporting event. Silent and in the background, when the MSM like an umpire becomes the focus of the play or the story something bad is happening.

Back!

From Florida.

It was real great visiting all of our out of states friends and family, but it is good to be back. There is nothing quite like one's own bed.

The flights going there and coming back were pretty hum-drum, but some may say the stormy weather we flew through to Detroit were not. I pretty much slept through the stormy weather.

The weather was warm and humid but not intolerably so. The day we arrived we had a lot of rain and it was off and on. Getting in front of a TV it was clear the rain and the windy weather was Rita-spawn, not Rita. The next day was partly cloudy and very warm and humid. We went golfing and it was real warm out there. I was soaking it in. However, towards the end I was always on the lookout for shade, as the sun was intense and I did not have any sunscreen on. When we finally got back to the clubhouse the air conditioning felt wonderful. We had our lunch and returned to the out of doors. I did not recall it being soooo hot & humid!

My cousin's wedding was nice. The minister who presided was a stand up comedian. One line was "is that your final answer?" None the less it was nice. We were treated to a little piano recital prior to the ceremony we heard one piece in full and it was the middle movement of Beethoven's Pathetique Piano Sonata. It was nice I had never heard the piece played live before.

The reception was very nice. A full review of the dinner will happen later.

There is something very alluring about the tropics. It goes beyond the heat and the humidity since we can get hot and humid weather up here.

Our trip back was okay, we checked out of the room and our Aunt and Cousin came to get us and we hung out at their house for a bit and then went to lunch. Then we returned to their house until it was time to leave for the airport.

We returned to our house in Appleton at about 1:00 am CDT. It was a long day and indeed a long and enjoyable weekend.

Florida Night

P1010393small, originally uploaded by maurelius.

DRIBBLING FOUNTAIN
GENTLY DANCING LIGHTS
FLORIDA NIGHT

Golfing!

Yikes,

I golfed for the first time in 10 years or so today. The first hole was promising I was near the hole in two good shots but that was it. I struggled the rest of the day with an occasional good shot. On the last hole I hit the pin from about 20 yards out, that was a cool ending to an 18 hole disaster.

I was on a course in Orlando Florida that expects the players to be somewhat good, the marshall came by near the end of our 18 and jacked us up for slow play. Oh well, live with it!

Tears From the Onion!

Tears of laughter that is!

The Onion reports on the terrible events that led to the death of OCindy Bin Sheehan's other son:

Before Sheehan moved to New Orleans, he was a struggling coho-salmon fisherman in Oregon's Klamath Basin. However, when the Bush Administration relaxed federal protection of the endangered fish, Sheehan's catch became contaminated with mercury. He gave up fishing and moved to Oakland, CA, where he opened a free clinic, which lost its federal funding in 2002 for giving out oral contraceptives to poor women.

Source: The Onion -
Bush Braces As Cindy Sheehan's Other Son Drowns In New Orleans

ROFLMAO! Read the whole thing for yourself!

While the Onion tilts left they are not at all afraid of giving well deserved pokes to looney leftists!

Bette Middler, Kos, Du & Rush.

Rush today had a very long monologue welcoming the likes of Bette Middler, OCindy Bin Sheehan, Markos Molitsas, the Howard Deans, et. al. into the political debate. Those activists often rip the Democratic politician for being to mealy mouthed and spineless. Rush says they are correct.

I agree. Rush's main point was the politicians do not have to expound Democratic beliefs because there are plenty of activists and journalists who are quite willing to do so. So, the Democratic politician then talks in fuzzy nebulous terms and does not have to take a position and therefore loses elections. There is an irony in all of this.

The right has long decried the dishonesty and the open support of the left by the MSM. Conservative politicians can not let the media or celebrity figures speak for them, they have to come out unambiguously on what their beliefs are. Was John Kerry for higher or lower gas prices? Higher or lower taxes? For or against the $87 billion dollars? Those who pay attention knew what he was for but for most people it takes more than a wink. This need for conservative politicians to speak plainly is crucial to getting their beliefs out accurately.

Or course it may be argued lefty politicians are afraid to speak unambiguously for fear of turning off the electorate and losing elections. Can it really be much worse? How can they advance their cause unless they espouse it?

The mainstream left is not as mainstream as it appears. The only way for them to turn things around is to admit and engage the debate openly and honestly. The politics of this nation cycles, unless the Dems come out honestly they may miss the next cycle and another more honest group may catch it.

Leftists Under The Bed! A Child's Nightmare.

HT: Rush Limbaugh.



This is funny! Finally a children's book to promote conservative values. The left is screaming! According to reports from Rush the left is trotting out the usual rants. This is propaganda, the Nazis did this, etc etc etc.

Well as the old saying goes, what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. We don't need the left lecturing us on propagandizing the children.

Sounds like the book's theme is a couple of children set up a lemonade stand to earn money to buy a swingset. Leftists icons then come and regulate and tax the children out of business.

Update:
If you want to purchase the book for you child This is where you need to go!

Too Weak and/or Corrupt?

Another LGF blog worth noting.

Some international peace activists visit Mahmoud Abbas and ask him to dismantle the terrorist organizations. He tells them to mind their own business.

Hmmm. Well, does anyone think the PA will do anything? There is a third option I don't mention in the title of this blog. First possibility, the PA is too weak to stop the terror groups. Second is the PA is too corrupt to do anything but to suck the blood of the Palestinians and world. The third possibility is the PA doesn't want to stop the terror groups and in fact wants them to continue what they are doing.

I choose option #3.

Lost Luster.

Longtime readers may know I like Condeleeza Rice. In fact I have blogrolled a couple of blogs that specialize in urging Condeleeza to run for President of the United States of America.

However, that shine is coming off of Ms. Rice for myself.

In a blog at Little Green Footballs Charles Johnson takes Condeleeza to task for issuing statements that ignore or disregard the obvious.

The essence of the blog is Condeleeza is expressing hope elections in the West Bank proceed apace without Israeli interference even if Hamas, the mortal enemy of Israel, participates. Another report Charles includes in the blog is about how there is quite a bit of weapons smuggling going on from the Sinai to Gaza.

Come on Condeleeza, remove the fog from Foggy Bottom!

Good Monring.

Well, Week II of the NFL season is complete and I fared pretty poorly at 10-6. I tell you the Giants are a team I can never predict, they lose games they should win they win the games they should lose. If I flip a coin for them I would probably do not better or worse. This is a good thing though. Because I detest Eli Manning, I hope his career flounders with mediocre teams and the Chargers win multiple Superbowls over his career.

Some The Sporting News commentator said we can't blame him for steering his career. Well, you see the NFL has a system to help the poor teams improve, in fact most sporting leagues have similar structures. Why not let the up and coming Superstars choose their teams, this way we can bring back sports dynasties.

Dan Rather is crying (litterally) about the changes in the news profession. MSM can be mainstream media, mainstream misleader, or mainstream mastadons. Dan was dancing at the edge of the tarpit and fell into it. Fake memos Dan, fake memos. More on this later.

Slow Blog Day. Some Quickies.

Not a whole lot happening. Some quick thoughts.

A Savage Mind
===============================
Michael Savage was getting himself worked up over traitors selling our jobs to the lowest bidder and hence shipping our jobs to China and so on. I wonder which way he bargains prices? You don't suppose he bargains prices up, do you?

Nagging Doubts
===============================
Mayor Nagin reversed himself on the suggestion to come back home to NOLA. President Bush and his team reminded the good mayor there is another hurricane soon to be in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mayor Nagin reversed his suggestion while reminding everyone who was really in charge in NOLA. Yes yes Mr. Mayor whatever you say, will you also be in charge in the next disaster? BTW, did you know he Mayor Nagin is actually a Rovian plant?

Lovely Rita Meter Maid
===============================
I am going to Florida for a wedding this weekend. Maybe I will see Lovely Rita... but I hope not. The groom in the wedding will be every bit as entertaining to this inquisitive mind as he was when Katrina was developing. The groom's life ambition is to become the director of the national hurricane center.

The SCOTUS Scrum
===============================
Judge Roberts will soon get his Judiciary Committee vote. I see a party line vote there and a confirming vote in the full senate. My guess is it will be about 62-38 for confirmation. Any Democrat with Presidential aspirations will vote against him, lest the wacky left become upset.

Update 9/29/2005
Wrong. The committee vote was not split along party lines and the final vote was 78-22.

Lunacanid Mormoops Watch
===============================
OCindy Bin Sheehan is in the news again. I see no reason to wish her off of the stage. Her moonbatty statements are golden. She was calling out Hillary Rodham Clinton (HRC)! Apparently OCindy believes HRC despite her vote is opposed to the action in Iraq and wants to cut and run. So, OCindy wants to meet with HRC and has called her office. Wonder if she will camp outside of HRC's office?

In another story OCindy was on some talk show and a mother whose husband was killed in Iraq stood up and denounced OCindy. Way to go, take care as I am sure you are now receiving death threats from the "peace advocates".

One commentator on another blog complained rather bitterly we should ignore OCindy. Why? OCindy's antics need to be brought out for all to see the lunacy of the wacky left.

28 ¢/gallon gasoline!
===============================
A buddy of mine informs me the other day a Van Zeeland's service station location mistakenly set one of their pumps to dole out 28 ¢/gallon gasoline. Needless to say he filled up every gas consuming item and every gas holding vessel he had. Just as he was going to fill up his last vehicle the station got wise and shut down all of the pumps. Apparently they went FOUR HOURS like this. The clerk complained how it had better not come out of her pay, probably will not, probably should. Geeze, hours of no one from that pump paying more than $20.00. Oh yeah, its common Mr. Suburban owner comes in and often times squirts in just a gallon of gas.

My buddy prefaced the story by saying Van Zeeland's got a little payback for their "gouging" right after 9/11. I didn't go into it, but I bet many of those people who paid $5.00/gallon on 9/11 also go to the Oneida Casino thinking they will come back a winner. That is, they paid $5.00/gallon because they thought (with some part rational some part herd some part panic) they would be paying $5.50/gallon or higher in the very near future. Van Zeelands had to pay some fines and the like, this all amounts to government sponsored holdup.

Anyway ttyl

Children in Charge.

Appearing on ABC's "This Week" four days after Katrina's floodwaters swamped New Orleans, Landrieu complained: "If one person criticizes [Louisiana], or says one more thing, including the president of the United States, he will hear from me - one more word about it after this show airs and I - I might likely have to punch him - literally."

After saying she stood by her ugly comments, the Louisiana Democrat also offered praise for the president on Friday, saying the Katrina reconstruction plan he outlined in his speech was "innovative and bold."

Source: News Max - Sen. Mary Landrieu: I'll Still Punch Bush

Now wonder why NOLA is such a mess. Mary Landrieu's comment is juvenile at best. Adults do not threaten others with violence when criticized. Adults do not waste goodwill making such comments especially when they are in need!

Indeed. NOLA's plight is not over. Those who are supposed to be in charge still can not coordinate. There are statements telling people from certain parts of the city they can return and there are other statements telling all people not to return. One would think, they would catch a clue and start coordinating with each other. Sigh.

A big HT to Michelle Malkin.

Are you going to punch ME Mary?

Prognostications Week II.

Here are the predictions for Week II of NFL action. Will update the blog after each game's results become known!

NFL Prognostications Week II
Visitor	Host	Predicted Winner
Baltimore	Tennessee	Tennessee
Comment:
Buffalo	Tampa Bay	Tampa Bay
Comment:
Detroit	Chicago	Chicago
Comment:	Even though the Bears are #1 in the NFC North - The Bear's Still Suck!
Jacksonville	Indianapolis	Indianapolis
Comment:
Minnesota	Cleveland	Minnesota
Comment:	Shocking! The Viqueens lose again!
New England	Carolina	Carolina
Comment:	Go with the champions until they give you reason to doubt. I now have reason.
Pittsburgh	Houston	Pittsburgh
Comment:
San Francisco	Philadelphia	Philadelphia
Comment:
Atlanta	Seattle	Seattle
Comment:
St. Louis	Arizona	St. Louis
Comment:
Cleveland	Green Bay	Green Bay
Comment:	WTF? It is looking like a long season up here in the Frozen Tundra.
Miami	New York Jets	Miami
Comment:
San Diego	Denver	Denver
Comment:
Kansas City	Oakland	Kansas City
Comment:	Oakland, the land of unwanted toys.
New York Giants	New Orleans	New Orleans
Comment:	When picking a Giant's game I might as well flip a coin.
Washington	Dallas	Dallas
Comment:	Is Dallas fan in for a long season too?

Updates:

1. With two games to go I am at: 10-4. Although I did not publish my picks from last week I do have them written down and will tally them up in the final report.


2. 9/20/2005: 10-6 for the week.

Follow Up On Airiheadia's SUV.

Doug From Upland was the man who tipped off Michelle Malkin and let the world know the Sierra Club sends SUVs to get their guests comments on Blogger Beer!

Thanks for stopping by Blogger Beer, Doug from Upland. Over at Free Republic Doug From Upland publishes a complete report of the going ons at this conference. As you expect energy opulence is not eschewed by anyone. Misleading characterizations are abundant.

For example:

they had a brochure about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that they want to save...the pictures had animals, trees, and plants...what they didn't say is that the very miniscule amount of land on which they want to drill to extract oil is a great big freaking sheet of ice...just plain ice...there is nothing there...it is good for ice skating and oil drilling

Source: BWAHAHAHAHA - Sierra Club Summit in San Francisco: Gore in an Escalade, Arianna in a Suburban DFU reporting from the scene | 9-11-05 | DFU

AlGae in an Escalade? Airheadia in a Suburban? Airheadia claims to own a Honda Prius, hmmmmm, maybe she uses when it not in chartered jets and limousines, you think?

Do As I Say, Not As I Do!

Sugar! I wanted to title this blog: SUVs For Me, But Not For Thee. Another Michelle Malkin trackbacker beat me to it!

Michelle Malkin picks up on Arianna Huffington being driven around in a Sierra Club hired SUV. Not just any SUV but the king of 'em a Chevy Suburban.

Michelle talked to a Sierra Club representative about this:

I interviewed Sierra Club national spokesman Eric Antebi by phone yesterday, who confirmed that the group sent the SUV. He blamed an "outside contractor," which he declined to name, for the rather dissonant choice of vehicle.

"It is ridiculous," Antebi admitted. "It's something we regret and we've learned our lesson."

Curious, I asked Antebi whether any of the staff at the Sierra Club headquarters owned and drove SUVs. He stumbled and said the group didn't keep track of who drove what. It's "a personal decision," he explained. "People drive different cars for different reasons." [emphasis added]

Well, um, exactly. Now, wouldn't it be nice if these anti-SUV green busybodies took the same attitude towards the rest of us and left our car choices alone?!

Source: Michelle Malkin - DRIVING MISS ARIANNA

I love the response to Michelle's query People drive different cars for different reasons. Why then do Sierra Club HQ staff members get a pass and not others? Can we say elitism?

A big part of leadership is example. If you expect those who work for you to work three days without sleep then you had better be ready to do the same yourself. If you work tirelessly to ban SUVs and to discourage people from buying and driving them then you had better not drive them yourself. If you recognize that you have a particular reason to drive a big vehicle then you have a lot of gall bashing others from driving those same big vehicles.

Go visit Michelle Malkin's website for the complete story and a photograph.

My Point Exactly!

If Americans loved judicial activism, liberals wouldn't be lying about what it is. Judicial activism means making up constitutional rights in order to strike down laws the justices don't like based on their personal preferences. It's not judicial activism to strike down laws because they violate the Constitution.

Source: Ann Coulter via Townhall - Actually, 'judicial activism' means 'E=mc2'

Seems like I must also post this one over at the Jawa Report!

Also, please note its LEFTISTS not liberals.

GUILTY*(6a + 3b)!

Chai Vang has been found guilty of six counts of first degree intentional homicide and three counts of attempted homicide. HT: Badger Blog Alliance & Jib.

Mr. Vang will be spending the rest of his life in Portage WI.

Legislation Does not Trump the Constitution.

One idea many are picking up by from the debate on the role of the courts is the courts have little business striking down legislation. This is being driven by the right-wing narrative that the left is trying to enact their agenda by doing a legislative end-run via the courts. That is if the left can not get a legislature to repeal a law they dislike, they find a judge to declare it unconstitutional. If the left can not get a law passed they desire, they find a judge to declare the law of their desire a constitutional imperative.

That is reprehensible but the antidote is not to declare the will of the legislature paramount. The laws the legislature passes must fall within the boundaries laid down by the Constitution.

Over at the Jawa Report I have gotten into a little comment section discussion on this topic. A particular poster declares right wing judges/courts have struck down more legislation than others. Of course the immediate reaction is to recoil but when you think about it, it makes sense right wing judges would probably strike down more laws than leftists especially in the current political environment.

For example there was a law on the federal books that prohibited drugs and guns within a given distance from schools note:

In United States v. Lopez, the Supreme Court declared the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 (GFSZA) an unconstitutional exercise of Congress's Commerce Clause power. The repudiated statute made it a federal offense "'for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.'"

The Court offered several reasons why the ban on possession of firearms in school zones was unconstitutional. First, the Court noted that possession of firearms is not an activity traditionally associated with the federal power over interstate commerce. Regardless of this [*pg 638] fundamental problem, the statute could not be upheld because there was no rational basis for concluding that possession of firearms in a school zone affected interstate commerce and there was no "jurisdictional element" to ensure that in each case the possession affected interstate commerce. Ultimately, the statute was unconstitutional because it was not an exercise of any of the three broad categories of Congress's Commerce Clause power: (1) power over the use of the channels of interstate commerce; (2) power over the instrumentalities of interstate commerce, or things in interstate commerce; and (3) power over activities substantially affecting interstate commerce. [ed. footnote references removed]

Source: Duke Law School SETH J. SAFRA - THE AMENDED GUN-FREE SCHOOL ZONES ACT: DOUBT AS TO ITS CONSTITUTIONALITY REMAINS

Essentially the Federal government is prohibited from regulating affairs that stay in a state and do not affect other states. The Constitution allows the federal government to regulate business and trade that crosses state lines, this is the commerce clause. The Federal Government tried to claim their ability to pass a law such as the one struck down above arises from the commerce clause. This is quite obviously absurd and the court recognized this.

This is not an example of judicial activism. Now, if the court asked itself what result would we like to see and said "We'ld like to see this law upheld" and then came up with reasoning tailored to get the result it wanted despite the clear wording in the constitution then that would be judicial activism.

That is, Congress is all to happy (Republican or Democrat) to try to get power it does not rightly have! When that happens the Courts must step in. This is why our nation needs not activist judges left or right.

Self Administered Posterior Kicking!

I was thinking of writing a satire/parody piece. The theme was going to be that of leftists screaming for the withdrawl of troops from Occupied New Orleans. I should have done it earlier as the left has already done for me. I tell ya!

Incredible. How does one say it? Self parody? Yeah, self-parody. That's what I thought!

This is True!

Wow!

Listening to Rush he was reading an excerpt from OCindy Bin Sheehan's latest rant.

I don't care if a human being is black, brown, white, yellow or pink. I don't care if a human being is Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or pagan. I don't care what flag a person salutes: if a human being is hungry, then it is up to another human being to feed him/her. George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans [emphasis added] and Iraq, and excuse his self from power. The only way America will become more secure is if we have a new administration that cares about Americans even if they don't fall into the top two percent of the wealthiest.

Source: Cindy Sheehan on Michael Moore.com

I thought for sure Rush had inserted a little humor into the rant. Nope, its really there pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans the new face of the Democratic and the left in this nation! Keep it up, we thank you for it.

Excuse me now while I go take a shower.

This is Self Defense?

Many of you know about the Chai Soua Vang trial in Sawyer County Wisconsin.

Chai is using self-defense as his defense but I tell you what has come out to date does not even come close to backing up justifiable self-defense.

There was a gang of eight hunters who confronted Vang for trespassing. Six of them were killed by Vang. Some of these people were shot in the back, one victim was shot after running 500 feet. Among the eight victims there was only one gun and the man with that gun describes having to get it off of his shoulder and was himself shot before he use it.

The defense teams talks about the gang of eight using slurs against him and claims they shot first.

First, the slurs. Did they call him names? Probably, but that is no defense this is something parents teach their children. Sticks and stones, right?

The second claim is that the gang of eight shot first. This is a more legitimate defense than the first but what I have heard so far does not indicate this is valid either. The testimony and everything I have heard indicates the gang of eight did not shoot first. In any event self-defense does not give a person carte-blanche. One person may have been fair game for a self-defense action the man with the gun.

Chai Vang needs to be sent away.

UWGB Faux First Amendment Controversy.

A little controversy has erupted at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay (UWGB).

The Chancellor of the University pulled a painting off of the wall of their art gallery. The piece was entitled Patriot Act and was a picture of President Bush with a gun to his head. Yes, the usual argument is being made in opposition of the chancellor, and that is of the anti-thought of censorship.

Censorship would be the destruction of the piece. Censorship would be the incarceration of the faux-artist. Censorship is NOT the denial of venue. Does the fact that I can not waltz into the State Assembly and say whatever over their microphone mean censorship? If I went to Dottie LeClair's house here in Appleton and put up a banner saying "Republicans Rule, Democrats Drool" and she tore it down, would that be censorship?

If the UWGB Chancellor would deny wall space to a picture entitled Bullseye with James Earl Ray and Martin Luther King Jr. would that be censorship (no it wouldn't it would be good sense)?

Thanks to Jerry Bader from WTAQ for reading my note over the air and for the bullseye example above.

Update 9/18/2005 11:43 am CDT.
Welcome LGF commentary readers. Sorry, no pix of the sophomores of UWGB or anything more insightful. I did not pick up on the little teapot tempest until after it occured. In fact, I am quite surprised the whole thing is notable enough for Charles J. to bring it to LGF reader's attention. Thanks for visiting!

Moderate Judges.

Now the Senate is looking for moderate judges, mainstream judges. What in the world is a moderate interpretation of a constitutional text? Halfway between what it says and what we'd like it to say?

Source: Justice Scalia in a California speech as related by National Review September 25, 2005 Vol LVII No. 17 page 6.

There are signs that Judge Roberts holds the above view. The question about sticking up for the little guy and his response is a case in point.

Judges do not need to update the Constitution, there is a well established process in place to update the constitution.

Tickling My Funny Bone.

The History Channel is airing a show on 9/11.

They have a shot of Richard Clarke being asked what he would have done had he known the two terrorists the CIA were tracking in Malaysia were in the USA.

Mr. Clarke stated he would have pushed to get their pictures on every newspaper and on Americas Most Wanted etc until they were captured. What fantasy nation does Mr. Clarke live in? Can you imagine editors & publishers doing that? The only story coming out of that request would be how awful our government stereotypes Arabs.

Were the events of 9/11 not so serious I would have been ROFLMAO!

Right vs. Wrong Not Rich vs. Poor or Big vs. Small.

One of the general themes and indeed specific questions asked of Judge Roberts is if he would stand up for the small guy. That question or general philosophy assumes (or ignores all together) the small guy is always right and the big guy is always wrong. What nonsense.

In the end I hope our fine leftist senators understand this point. I think they just might; I have a hard time believing they would excuse a poor guy who brutally murders a wealthy family (but then again...). In the end I think their objective was to get Judge Roberts to say something like he did. They can then run around and quote Judge Roberts out of context saying he is against the little guy.

Please tell me Senator Schumer (IIRC it was him who posed the question) tell me you don't believe it is always right to fight for the little guy?

Principal vs. Reaction

Wretchard at the Belmont club notes the debate between Christopher Hitchens and Lord Haw-Haw aka George Galloway.

I will not excerpt the blog, but go and read the whole thing.

It is very clear that Hitchens was making the principled debate and Galloway was trying to scare people into capitulation.

Now, don't mistake Christopher Hitchens as a right winger. HE IS NOT! He is a dedicated leftist and sees that radical utopian Islam is diametrically opposed to liberal government. Liberal government that allows for open and free debate. Liberal government based on the consent of the governed. That is, he sees radical utopianism Islam as a threat to the West that must be confronted.

Hitchen's insults were even based on substance. Hitchens responded that if he had found home in a bottle, Galloway was still traveling from one dictator to the next, looking for a kennel he could call his own. (excerpted from Galloway Versus Hitchens at the Belmont Club), whereas Galloway could only call Hitchens a drunk.

I know for a fact I will always have differences with the left. Certainly we will never agree on most economic matters, will not agree on the role of tradition and religion in our lives and so on. None the less I can not understand how so called liberals can become cheerleaders for such illiberals as Saddam Hussein, Abu Musab Zarqawi, Osama Bin Laden, et al. Yes, I know the left will say they do not support any of them but they certainly are working hard and feverishly to counteract any action against those individuals. It isn't their motives that matter it is the results of their actions that matter.

What I've Been Waiting For!

Iowahawk finally has a piece out ripping the Left on their reaction to the Katrina disaster.

I have been anxiously awaiting this piece and here is a peak:

Now, as the floodwaters recede, the survivors of Bush/Katrina face an even greater danger: the danger of complacency. Even as you read this, Chimpy's pals in FEMA and the Red Cross are buying off evacuees with food and cheap blankets and debit cards, slowly robbing the survivors of God's most precious gift - the gift of focused political rage.

Source: Iowahawk - Every Little Bit Hurts (Iowahawk Special Guest Commentary by Joshua Markos Mikos Atrios For the Angels of Indignation)

If you are visiting here check out: how Prsident George W. Bush could have used the Kyoto Protocols to save New Orleans. I think you will get a hoot out of it! Also be sure to check out Blogger Beer for my latest commentary.

Flashback!

Watching and listening to the grilling of Judge Roberts yesterday reminded me of something that occurred about one year ago.

Remember John O'Neill and Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC's Scarborough Country? A question would be put to Mr. O'Neill and O'Donnell would immediately start screaming, yelling, ranting, raving at Mr. O'Neill. I recall hearing a bit of it, O'Donnell would keep yelling you can't answer that can you? Well, no he was unable because O'Donnell would keep yelling at him. Hard to answer a question when someone is screaming "can't answer that can you?" constantly.

That is exactly how it seemed yesterday with Biden and Kennedy question Judge Roberts. They would put a question to him and as soon as Judge Robert tried to answer they would start butting in with objections and complaints about how they didn't like the answer. It got so bad Senator Specter had to enforce decency and ask the senator's to allow Judge Roberts to answer.

Bin Laden Mortally Sick?

Strong rumors are floating about that Osama Bin Laden is seriously ill and in need of medical attention. Check out Captain's Quarters for more details.

Constitution & Punishing Innocents.

Senator Leahy is trying to get Judge Roberts to say the Constitution does or does not bar the punishment of innocents. Specifically the conversation revolves around the death penalty.

The Fifth Amendment states

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; [emphasis added] nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Source: The Bill of Rights

Now, nowhere do I see a prohibition of punishing the innocent. In fact, the word we use when determining the innocence or guilt of a suspect is reasonable doubt and that is as good as it can be in our imperfect world.

Before you get all worked up, the idea we have as a culture and a nation is the innocent are not to be punished. Surely the founding fathers did not intend to setup a system that punishes the innocent, but the problem is this imperfect world of ours. This is why they say nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. My guess is they imagined it would happen from time to time the innocent would be falsely accused and punished, and they set things up to minimize the chance the innocent are wrongly punished.

No, the constitution can only discourage and give the suspected a good chance to prove their innocence.

Of course Judge Roberts can not say as much in the hearing, but I am not under the microscope.

The President's Comments Yesterday.

Will certainly not quiet his critics. However, they are much more adult than his critics and certainly more adult than Nagin, Landrieu, Blanco et al.

Most people realize the true scale of what happened in NOLA and the surrounding area and realize that those in Government do not have a magic wand to make things better in a snap.

Now go back to yesterday's post about the speed of the response. What is different between this and the other hurricanes referred to? While the Federal government has changed administrations over the course of time the people, policies and procedures in FEMA are largely the same. What is different is the State & Local governments.

It was the state governmnet that turned away the Red Cross. It was the city that left dozens of busses to be ruined instead of using them. It was the city that rejected a rumored offer of help by Amtrack, it was the state & local that turned down offers of assistance from Florida.

The left pounced very quickly this time.

Alleluia!

Our corner is getting blacktopped!

About effing time! However, today may be the last day of the year where open windows would be highly desirable.

This is Slow?

The usual reporting out there was the reaction by the Federal Government to the Katrina aftermath was slow. However, did you know

For instance, it took five days for National Guard troops to arrive in strength on the scene in Homestead, Fla. after Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992. But after Katrina, there was a significant National Guard presence in the afflicted region in three.

Journalists who are long on opinions and short on knowledge have no idea what is involved in moving hundreds of tons of relief supplies into an area the size of England in which power lines are down, telecommunications are out, no gasoline is available, bridges are damaged, roads and airports are covered with debris, and apparently have little interest in finding out.

So they libel as a "national disgrace" the most monumental and successful disaster relief operation in world history.

Source: Jack Kelly of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - No shame-The federal response to Katrina was not as portrayed

What I find real ironic is we hear Nagin, Blanco, and Landrieu and their defenders say yeah we had those busses but where would the drivers have come from? But then they turn around and were demanding a whole corps of National Guardsmen the day after Katrina came through. Of course the stories circulating are that up to 2/3rds of the NOLA police force deserted their posts (however, I place little faith in that but numbers like 20%-30% seem more reasonable to me). Our nation saluted the bravery of the New York City Police and Fire Fighters, now we have the same departments in NOLA giving these vocations a black eye.

I also suppose the decision to deny the Red Cross access to the Superdome should be investigated.

The Congress & Ending War.

The power of the purse is quite a bit more powerful than one thinks it is.

Quite clearly, the power to declare war is vested with the Congress. However, I see nowhere where congress can explicitly declare and end to a war. Sure, the congress can pass a resolution but I do not see the President is bound by it. There is plenty of power for Congress to end a war by defunding the venture.

This defunding has happened in the past and is not a powerless power.

Staring Stare Decisis in the Eye.

Stare Decisis is the Latin for to stand by that which is decided and is the concept of legal precedent.

Precedence is also much abused in today's legal environment. The courts and the left (in particular) have selectively embraced stare decisis. Again, like my previous discussion on constitutional privacy stare decisis is used by the left to preserve the rulings they prefer and nothing more than that. Stare decisis is not important to the left in other cases.

Precedence is important but it can not and should not be protection for bad rulings in the past. Does precedence mean Dredd Scott was decided correctly and should be the law of the land? No. Bad rulings should be welcomed back to the SCOTUS and done up properly.

No. Precedence does not take precedent over other considerations.

Privacy.

Privacy is indeed a constitutional consideration but it has come to be abused.

The right to privacy has too often been a sheepskin to disguise wolves. The left has a policy they wish to enact and can not get it done legislatively. They then redress their policy preference in the sheepskin of "right to privacy" and then they get the judiciary to rule in favor of that policy.

Obviously the right to privacy can lead to patently absurd outcomes, and these outcomes are getting closer to reality.

Privacy in and of itself is not a right.

The Grilling Commences.

No, this is not a food or restaurant review.

The grilling of John Roberts for the job of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is well underway.

So far the main points hit so far are privacy, precedence, and Sen. Leahy is/was trying to get Roberts to grant a new power to Congress. Leahy was trying to get Mr. Roberts to say the congress has the power to declare the end of a war above and beyond the power of the purse.

Congress has no such power, they have the power to declare the start of a war but then it is in the executive's power to end it. Of course, the Congress can always defund such enterprises. The discussion on this allowed Leahy to take a cheap shot over Iran-Contra.

More on the way!

Replacement.

Let us say your house burns down. You go to the insurance company to collect on your homeowner's policy. What do you hope happens? Do you hope you collect enough money to replace your house, or do you hope they pay you the cost of your house when you built?

Duhhh, you hope they pay you the cost to replace your house. The same goes with gasoline. The cost of gasoline is based on replacement price. I have a gallon of gas, yes I paid $3.00 for it, now if I have to pay $3.05 to replace that gallon, what am I going to charge for it? If I charge $3.01 I can not replace the gallon and go out of business.

Read This!

Byron York reports on the MoveOn protest in front of the Whitehouse. Things did not go quite as planned, not only was there another larger protest going on regarding Darfur, but people were ready to counter MoveOn. Read the below excerpt from Byron's article and read the whole thing. Way to go Mr. Taylor very brave!

With that, Taylor began an impassioned, impromptu speech. "Now, please try to figure out what's going on in this country," he said, his voice booming. "There has been an enormous outpouring of goodwill from people on both sides of the political spectrum. You know, when those soldiers and national guardsmen go into the homes of the victims, they don't ask, are you Republican, are you Democrat. They ask, do you need help? What can we do to help you? I wish that this crowd out here would have the same attitude, because all you're doing is trying to tear the country apart for political purposes."

At that point, another man, a MoveOn protester, came up. Unlike the others, he wasn't angry, and, finally, things lightened up a bit.

"Do you think the protesters would be complaining about Bush's reaction if we weren't in Iraq?" the man asked.

"Yes," said Taylor.

"Why?"

"Because you hate him."

"So?" the man said with a shrug and little laugh of acknowledgment.

"Everything he does, for crying out loud," Taylor said.

"OK, I agree with that," the man said, laughing some more.

The honesty disarmed Taylor. "Well, thank you," he said, "that's the first honest thing I've heard out here today."

Source: National Review's Byron York - SHAME ON BUSH! SHAME ON BUSH! When MoveOn rallied at the White House, things didn’t go exactly as planned.

The Sioux Fall's Brewery: A Review.

Greetings & Felicitations Blogger Beer reader.

Yes, a restaraunt review already! We are on vacation and away in Sioux Falls SD visiting Augustus and Adria and their new family member Judia. Last night we went to the Sioux Falls Brewery.

YABPR: Yet Another BrewPub Restaraunt

Augustus threw three choices at us for dinner last night. I am always up for a brewpub so that was it. The Sioux Falls Brewery is located downtown Sioux Falls in what Augustus believes to be an old brewery, how appropriate. The building indeed have all the properties one would expect of an old mill type building. Inside the main barroom and dining room was huge and with the sparse crowd it seemed even bigger. It seems the owners are into 60's music as the specials board was done up in pshycadelic colors & style. Also, the name of their red ale Grateful Red tipped it off. Too bad I left my bootlegs in our car.

Scenery and Ambiance

The ambiance was fine but seemede geared towards a more rock-n-roll crowd, not a knock just a fact. The scenery outside the windows was downtown typical parking lots, streets, and buildings. Though the buildings in the area were worth looking at.

The Bar

I ordered a beer to start off with. You guesseed it the The Grateful Red. It was good. I ordered a cabarnet with my dinner and that too was good. Overall the bar appeared unremarkable but adequate.

The Wait

With us being about the only people in the joint we did not have to wait long for anything.

The Food

The salad was pathetic! Limp pieces of iceberg lettuce with a couple of cucumber and tomato slices. It gave me cause for concern. However, when the entrees came out I was surprised. I ordered their steak and shrimp dish. The steak was prepared to my specification, was sufficiently tender and tasty, and had a wonderful spice package, fresh cracked pepper (which lingered in my mouth for sometime) and other spices was just right. The shrimp was good too, it was breaded in some sort of coconut batter and the cocktail sauce had some real zing to it. In addition the meal included vegetables and a potatoe. The vegetables made up for the poor salad and the potatoe (mine was baked) was a—potatoe. I tried Claudia's fish and thought the sauce was overwhelming, don't order the fish with the dill sauce.

In Short (order)

• The view: 3/5 (0 is looking at a stockyard)


• The ambiance: 3/5 (0 being stud walls)


• The menu: 2.5/5 (0 being "you get what I give you")


• The food: 3/5 (the salad holds this rating back & 0 being irish sausages)


• The service: 4/5 (0 being you have to wash your dishes)


• Overall: 3/5 I would like to visit this place again. This time bringing my own music!

Overall, I enjoyed the night there the food was on the whole good. If you ever find yourself in Sioux Falls I recomend stopping there. The lack of people was not due to the food but Augustus indicates to me it is more of a cultural thing. Go to this restaraunt you will not regret it!

Away!

Just a notice that Claudia and I will be travelling for the weekend (a long one). I will definitely have access to the I'net (broadband too, whoooo-hoooo!) but I don't know how much time I will have. Most likely some brief commentary in the morning and at night.

ttyl
[\/]A

The Palestinian Godfather.

Some interesting news out of Palestine of late.

The bigger of the two stories (one involved the murder of Christians) is the murder of the cousin of Yasser Arafat (or Arafish as he was labeled by Little Green Footballs).

The former head of general security in Gaza, Moussa Arafat, was killed before dawn Wednesday when gunmen stormed his home here, dragged him outside and shot him in the street. The incident threatened to aggravate tensions among Palestinian factions and security services struggling for power in the Gaza Strip following Israel's evacuation of its 21 Jewish settlements here.

Source: The Washington Post via The Jawa Report

Wretchard compares the action to one of the moves Hitler made to consolidate his power and sees similarities to certain activities in the streets of America

The manner of Mr. Arafat's death suggests his assailants didn't care who knew they were coming for him and were confident that the Palestinian authorities, in whom such touching confidence is reposed, would never intervene in time, if they had any intention of coming at all. Nor were they mistaken. After assaulting Arafat's home by main force they dragged him into the street for disposal -- probably to make a point. How many murders happen like that?

Not many. Unless you count gangland hits. Although the Times reports that "the police told news agencies that they were investigating a report that Mr. Arafat's son, Manhal, 29, considered a close aide, had been kidnapped in the raid" one gets the feeling that the dividing line between "militants" and security authorities of the Palestinian Authority -- the very same ones the International Community relies on to break the "cycle of violence" -- and criminals is a thin one indeed.

Source: The Belmont Club - Speechless in Gaza.

He is very close to being right. The problem with the Palestinian Authority isn't that it is weak (though it is), it is that it is corrupt. How many billions of aid money have been rained down on the PA? What is happening with it? This all sounds like gangland activity.

Wretchard than brings up the reference to The Night of the Long Knives.

There will be those who may take the view that these incidents are unavoidable bumps on the road to the eventual liberation of Arabs from the Israeli yoke, a road signposted by the UN-funded banners which read "Gaza Today. The West Bank and Jerusalem Tomorrow". The question of course, is what if they are not regrettable incidents, but events which characterize the new regime in Gaza? Many of those who rejoiced at Ernst Rohm's demise in the Night of the Long Knives comforted themselves by believing it was a case of one set of hoodlums rubbing out the other. It was true; but it was also irrelevant.

Source: The Belmont Club - Speechless in Gaza.

No, this man's death will not bring peace to the suffering wretches of Palestine. It is certainly not the prelude to a good situation.

I Am Here!

No, Mary Landrieu did not find me and beat me senseless. I have been busy with other projects and the such.

Also, how much more can be said about Katrina and the reaction to it than has already been said? Other than that the only thing real newsworthy was the Chief Justice passing away.

Also, The Jawa Report reports on the freeing of American Roy Hallums who was in terrorist hands since last November. Also, the passing of Bob Denver (aka Meynard G. Krebbs, aka Gilligan) is worth noting.

Hope to be able to resume this business sometime tonight.

Defending The Federal Government.

There is a whole lot of heat coming from the Mainstream Misleaders about the reaction to Hurricane Katrina.

A couple of things. Before Hurricane Katrina came ashore President Bush declared the Gulf states a disaster area. Friday the President was urging Governor Blanco to federalize the LA National Guard. Of course we have the picture of the busses adding to the mess instead of helping out.

Powerline passes on how the NYT editorialized against flood control on the Mississippi:

Anyone who cares about responsible budgeting and the health of America's rivers and wetlands should pay attention to a bill now before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The bill would shovel $17 billion at the Army Corps of Engineers for flood control and other water-related projects - this at a time when President Bush is asking for major cuts in Medicaid and other important domestic programs. Among these projects is a $2.7 billion boondoggle on the Mississippi River that has twice flunked inspection by the National Academy of Sciences... [snip]

Source: National Review's Media Blog - NY Times Ed Board: Fairweather Flood-Control Fans

Now, without reading more of that NYT editorial I am not certain the work they were talking about was in Louisiana, for all I know it could have been proposed work up in La Crosse Wisconsin and that would be silly. However, there is much wenching going on that is just out and out silly. In fact, reports indicate the levee that broke was the most recently reinforced levee.

Also, we have Mary Landrieu talking about punching those who criticize the local officials in Louisiana. Hey Mary here is my e-mail, contact me and I will give you my address and I will give you a free shot!. What good is that? Certainly, I hear you, what is needed now is unity and working together there is plenty of time after the mess is all cleaned up to analyze how things can be improved (as opposed to finding out who was at fault). The problem is, President Bush and the Feds are being blamed for every inaction, every poor decision, every missed opportunity.

It wasn't the President's job to pull those hurricane plans out of the drawer and to start executing them (the now soggy plans, probably still in their file drawer in the NOLA townhall). It wasn't Michael Chertoff's job to order those busses to high ground and to be ready to roll for evacuation purposes. It wasn't the President's job to call up & release the National Guard troops to federal control. In fact, the President and the Feds were begging Louisiana state officials to release those troops to Federal control.

bus_yard

bus_yard, originally uploaded by maurelius.

I recall hearing how mayors & a governor from another nearby hurricane prone state ;-| had these vehicles moved to higher ground. So, after the hurricane they were ready to bus people out if need be.

These busses are only polluters not transporters.

A Warning!

The National Guard is finally entering New Orleans in force. Here is a quote from someone from this contingent of guardsmen:

Blum of the National Guard said 7,000 National Guardsmen arriving in Louisiana on Friday would be dedicated to restoring order in New Orleans. He said half of them had just returned from assignments overseas and are "highly proficient in the use of lethal force." He pledged to "put down" the violence "in a quick and efficient manner."

Source: Yahoo News the AP

The above statement is a very big deal. Quite a bit of the problem with at least the aid efforts launched to date have been lack of security. Many reports of aid convoys being shot at. While that is not over it will end soon!

Rebuilding New Orleans.

Denny Hastert was a goof for saying we will give up on New Orleans. The loss of the city would be too big of an impact for our nation to handle.

Not only is there a fair amount of oil drilling and refining that happens in the area there is much shipment that goes on. I recall hearing substantial amounts (like half and greater) of our farm produce exports leave via New Orleans. The states along the Mississippi River would lose in such an erasure.

In fact, in the end we will all be surprised at how quickly New Orleans is rebuilt. I recall dire predictions in dealing with such catastrophes in the past and how quickly they were dealt with. Specifically the Kuwaiti oil fires. I remember hearing all sorts of gloom and doom about how they would be burning for years. Well, IIRC they were put out well within a year.

Right now it all seems insurmountable but there is a clever saying we all know: A trip of 10,000 miles begins with a single step.

Some Points About the Response.

First off I issue the following disclaimer: every human effort can be improved upon.

With that in mind I want to offer some reminders before we go on a rampage of blame regarding the government reaction to the disaster in New Orleans.

The National Guard IS NOT a rapid reaction force.

It really isn't. We all know the schtick by now, don't we? A guard unit gets orders and the members in turn receive theirs. Those orders have to give the guardsmen and women some time to get their personal affairs in order! So, it does take some time to get them to a location.

Katrina's Point of Landfall Was Not Well Known Until Sometime Saturday.

Some comments I hear say there was a three day heads up. This is wrong. I was hanging with a relative (actually soon to be, he is marrying a cousin shortly) from the Western edge of the Florida panhandle with ambitions to be the director of the National Hurricane Center. I was sitting with him Friday evening looking at projected storm tracks. Landfall at that time was anywhere from Florida all the way to the West of Louisiana. There was not enough certainty for massive evacuations.

New Orleans is Not the Only Place With Problems.

New Orleans is not the only place with problems. Recall there are problems in Mississippi, Alabama, and the rest of Louisiana. The damage isn't restricted to the coast either. All those areas need help too.

Admittedly the greatest concentration of woe is in New Orleans but it is not the only place of woe.

The Lawlessness Requires Mogadishu Like Action.

There have been numerous reports of supply convoys being shot at, hospitals being besieged by looters, helicopters being shot at etc. There may be supplies but until security can be established most of those supplies are not going to get to the people. This means military convoys are going to be setup to guard vehicles going into deliver supplies and to extract evacuees. Those do not happen at the snap of a finger.

The Area IS Completely Devastated.

No electricity, no gas distribution, no ordinary communications (cellphones, regular phones, satellite phones & gear only like we seen the correspondents using in Afghanistan) no...

New York City on 9/11 was devastated in a local area, for the most part all the normal infrastructure was there and in working order to provide support.

Usually...

It takes some act of provocation to get people to act & talk stupidly. Recently all needed to get the left to do so is to just give them a broadcast medium.

Arthur Chenkoff has conveniently gathered up some leftist commentary that are shining examples of the above.

He quotes Bradblog (noted below), he quotes another leftist blogger who goes even farther and refuses to help period. He quotes not one but two German ministers who hope to save their jobs by lashing out at America. He quotes mid-grade Democratic congressmen and former officials from President Clinton's administration (highly placed ones as well).

Thanks Arthur! This way others and myself do not have to visit those disgusting blogs know what they are saying.

A couple of the commentators in the blog are no better.

Keep it up leftists, you are just losing votes!
BTW, here is a scene for Kyoto worshippers.

Finding Glee in Katrina.

Yes, its true. The person finding glee isn't a foreigner they are an American.

IÂ’m not going to post the piece I started to write.

My original reaction to the Katrina catastrophe was going to be: “NOT ONE DIME.”

For an hour or so, I contemplated the idea of turning it into a crusade: No-one in the blue states (where the money is) should give one dime of aid to the victims of this hurricane, which devastated Bush-friendly regions.

Why did I flirt with such a callous attitude?

Because it should be obvious to all that this tragedy was not just an act of God. Dubya and his diety [sic] conspired to transform mere disaster into an unprecedented mega-catastrophe. ... [ed. Dan Darling reminds us the influenza epidemic of 1918 was far worse in terms of death]

So why was I thinking of starting a movement against giving aid to the stricken areas?

Because these are red states. They voted for Bush. These ninnies obviously wanted these policies, and they deserve to live with the consequences of their votes.

Source: Bradblog via Little Green Footballs.

I don't want to visit Bradblog and give him any traffic. Isn't this disgusting?

First off blue state goof, who feeds you? Where does the gas for your limos & luxury jets come from? It isn't being refined in Upper Manhattan. The bread you buy isn't produced in Queens.

Apparently the saving grace is New Orleans voted for Kerry so Bradblog relents in his judgement.

One last note: But let us make one thing clear: We WILL politicize this issue. You will? Really, I never would have guessed. Excuse me, I have to go take a shower after reading such dirt.

They make fun of the religious but what is all of this talk on their part?

Way too Frequent a Story!

There is a familiar story becoming way too common.

When a vehicle comes to a spot in New Orleans to deliver aid or to move people to safer ground those vehicles are getting shot & sniped at. Of course, we are hearing the story of the helicopter being fired at near the Superdome.

New Orleans is beginning to turn into a city straight out of a science fiction movie.

Ayn Rand.

I was just reading how OCindy bin Sheehan is going to protest a Blue Angels event.

What we could use is a some commentary from Ayn Rand in a moment like this. I would imagine she would have some choice words. I recall reading some commentary from Ayn Rand comparing and contrasting the crowd celebrating the moonshots vs those at Woodstock. It was good!