Green and Gold.

Tamaracksmall1, originally uploaded by maurelius.

A fall Saturday up north. The golden trees are tamarack pines, the only pine tree that loses its needles over winter. The green trees are either balsam, spruce, or fir trees.

All the years of seeing this I always wanted to snap a shot and finally I do.

Good Night.

Prince Charlie and His Charm Offensive.

Prince Charles is going on a charm offensive on behalf of Islam.

When I was in the UAE Prince Charles was in the news quite a bit and once he came to visit. I recall one letter to The Gulf News editor that noted Prince Charles is an adulterer and the Sharia dictates adulterers are to be stoned.

Prince Charles, we know you are a nice guy and most Muslims are nice people as well. This however does not change the fact that there are Muslims who want to stone you for your adulterous ways. It is those Muslims we do not tolerate. It is those who kill their sisters or daughters in the streets of London to preserve the family honor, it is those who would dictate to you what you can and can not eat, read, see, hear that we are fighting against.

Alito Poll.

Hugh Hewitt has a blogpoll up on the Samuel Alito nomination check it out and vote in it!

Alito.

The nomination of Judge Alito seems to be a uniting pick. Both sides of the political debate are uniting with their own and it promises to be a brutal fight. I suspect before it is all over it will be apparent the left will be poking through his rubbish, trying to get at video and library records etc.

In the end Alito will be confirmed and any threats of filibuster are doomed to fail. If the Democrats attempt filibuster the Gang of 14 Deal is off and any Republican with presidential aspirations will not support the filibuster or oppose rules amendment. In fact, certain Republican members of the Gang of 14 have declared any attempt to filibuster means the deal is off.

Under the Fitzmas Tree.

Source: Cox & Forkum - Blue Fitzmas

They still are huffing, puffing, and pouting!

MoDow

Drudge has his own big caption the photo contest.

The contest challenges readers to caption a dark photo of Maureen Dowd sitting at a bar. There are some real good ones.

Up North.

Light blogging weekend.

We all need a break every now and then, right? Anyway am up north, yesterday we pulled the dock out of the lake. That job is much quicker than putting it in. Boat is being processed out of the lake right now and then after that is done we get the boat lift out, for the first bit that is easy then it involves one heck of a whole lot of grunt work.

It is overcast today and not too cool not too warm (50s). Those leaves yet on the trees have no reason to fall today.

I took quite a few pictures of tamaracks. The tamaracks still have their needles and they are a brilliant gold color. Next to the other pine trees they a great photo and prove that God is a Green Bay Packer fan, in the fall he paints the bogs with the colors of green and gold.

Father Bob at St. Mary's (in Phelps) had an interesting sermon this morning. It defintely worthe commenting on here but just not now.

Anyway have a good Sunday.

Vindication Feels Good.

Back on October 24 I blogged about Al Franken's idiotic comments on how Libby, Rove, Bush, and Cheney were going to be executed. I trackbacked to the MRC blog I referred to and received 500+ visits. That blog also elicited quite a few comments all except mine and one other were hostile.

One commentator going by the pseudonymn Pepper stated:

Uuuh, it looks like there will be 12 indictments, so folks, this looks like it could lead to something much bigger than just outing Plame.

Source: Blogger Beer Comment by Pepper.

Pepper then left a whole pile of links (which I did not check out) and told me to stop repeating right wing talking points. As I have pointed out the irony was rich because all Pepper was doing was repeating leftist talking points.

Well, Merry Fitzmas Pepper how do you like that pile of pony $#!+ under your Fitzmas Tree? You know, at least my talking points were based on reality and not wild fantasy.

One last thing on this before I go. In that conversation I NEVER took it as a fact there would be no indictments, I never took it as a fact there would be indictments (BTW, an indictment is a far thing from guilt). All I was doing was to say lets wait. Now, you may rightly point out my whole blog ridiculing Al Franken was based on an assumption itself, and yes it was. The facts as they have been coming out and the relevant laws did not support the conclusion those people were rocketing to.

Pepper, August et al welcome to the reality based community.

Libby Indicted.

As expected from last night's reports Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been indicted for making false statements to the grand jury. It seems the focus is on the statement where he first learned of Plame's identity as an employee of the CIA. So announces Fox News.

This is far from the wild rantings of "treason" the left has been screaming, much closer to Martha Stewart than to Ethel Rosenberg.

Also, indictment does not mean guilt and denial of ones liberties. The government now has to prove in a court that Libby's statement was intentionally false. Of course, the left just assumes the guilt here and quite honestly they can believe in pink winged unicorns too.

So now that charges have been announced and are much less what the left was hoping for what is going to be their line? Fitzgerald is a Rovian plant? Fitzgerald was bullied (the same man who prosecuted the Dapper Don aka John Gotti)?

Hey Al Franken, no one is going to be executed in this case, and even if this reporting is off no one is going to be executed or charged with outing Plame.

One last note.

National Review's Jonah Goldberg notes at The Corner

You know that ancient saw (told in a zillion different ways so please don't email me your favorite version) about how the optimist is the kid who gets a pile of horse manure for Christmas and declares "there's got to be a pony in here somewhere!"

Well, truly that is a Fitzmas parable now for all concerned.

Source: The Corner Jonah Goldberg - FITZMAS PONY

Fox News Reports...

That Patrick Fitzgerald is going to be holding a press conference in about an hour from now.

Fox News reports and does so confidently that Karl Rove will not be indicted, however they confirm the other tidbit from last nights story that Patrick Fitzgeral will continue his investigation focusing on Karl Rove.

Karl Rove's attorney shortly will make a public statement concerning all of this.

I Stumbled Upon a Search Phrase.

Hehehehe,

Sometime ago I recall seeing a little thing about FRNECH MILTIARY VCITORIES and if you put the properly spelled phrase into google and hit "I feel lucky" you ended up at a hillarious google spoof. Did you mean French Military Defeats it asks. I blogged about that here a couple of weeks ago.

Well, that phrase is probably landing about 20 visits or so per day at Blogger Beer. Hey its nice, and I hope It will yield a regular reader or two but sooner or later it will fade (Just like the Pope and Beer thing did). I searched Google and Blogger Beer turns up #10 on the list.

BTW, I use the misspelling above because I don't want to mess up the joke.

Notice from the Truth In Advertising Commission.

NOTICE TO BLOGGER BEER READERS.

On the 27th of October, 2005 approximately 10:29 pm (CDT) Blogger Beer ran a misleading advertisement for the Kofi Annan Crack Security Squad (KACSS). Unfortunately, the advertisement was full of untruths or half truths, we have Specialist Lenny Guist here to translate for you. the advertisement may be seen here in full.

Are you afraid for your life? People are trying to kill you, who do you turn to? You don't trust the Americans after all, they killed the sons of your client. You are afraid of the Iraqi Police because they are traitorous collaborators. Who is a lawyer for a mass murdering tyrant to turn to?

This quote is accurate. The KACSS is very good at protecting tyrants who steal and murder. What the UN is not so good at is protecting innocent people depending on the UN troops to protect them from murderers, thugs, and tyrants. They either do not bother or run away.

Have a voluptuously beautiful daughter in your house or entourage? No need to fear, the KACSS will never notice.

Half true. However, if you have pre-pubescent boys or girls in your home or entourage then you had better hire a separate security contingent for them.

Be very careful when hiring the Kofi Annan Crack Security Squad!

Back to Blogger Beer.

A Word From Tonight's Sponsors.

Are you afraid for your life? People are trying to kill you, who do you turn to? You don't trust the Americans after all, they killed the sons of your client. You are afraid of the Iraqi Police because they are traitorous collaborators. Who is a lawyer for a mass murdering tyrant to turn to?

Simple just call the us at the UN and we will be glad to send the Kofi Annan Crack Security Squad. (KACSS) No need to fear anymore, we will guard you after all KACSS is all about protecting and coddling mass murdering, stealing tyrants. Have a voluptuously beautiful daughter in your house or entourage? No need to fear, the KACSS will never notice.

Just look for the blue helmet!

One More Thing.

The stories that Drudge points to note that Karl Rove will remain under investigation.

If that along with all else, is accurate the worse Karl will get is a similar charge of perjury or obstruction. The talk of treason is nothing but a wild dream.

If True...

The lefties are going to be going "POP" tomorrow!

HT: KJL at The Corner.

Drudge is reporting that Scooter Libby only is going to be indicted for perjury or obstruction or similar.

Now, before I get going too far here, I am still waiting for official announcements and am serving here to pass on what is being reported.

Okay got it! Drudge is linking to stories from the New York Times.

If this is true it will be fun tomorrow listening to the lefties exploding with rage. I wonder what will become of Fitzmas?

Weighty!

HT: The Philippine Times World News Feed.

The statement the other day by the president of Iran to wipe Israel off of the face of the earth is causing quite a stir. Europe as a whole has condemned the statement. However, Iran is probably not concerned about most of Europe. They may meet talk and talk and talk and talk, then write and write and write, then break open bottles of champagne and congratulate themselves for upholding world peace. Of course, Iran and their fellow travelers ignore the Europeans and carry on and in the end world peace is not served well at all (if anything it is served up to the wolf that is Iran).

However, this ITN story reports words that have gravitas:

Tony Blair has warned Iran that the world will not allow them to undermine international peace and security.

The move comes after the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be "wiped off the map".

The Prime Minister expressed anger and "revulsion" over the comments and said that the president's behaviour was "totally unacceptable".

He added: "There has been a long time in which I have been answering questions on Iran with everyone saying to me 'Tell us you are not going to do anything about Iran'.

"If they carry on like this the question people are going to be asking us is 'When are you going to do something about this?'.

"Can you imagine a state like that with an attitude like that, having a nuclear weapon?" [emphasis added]

Source: ITN - Blair issues warning to Iran

Lets hope for the sake of all involved Iran can change its attitude without have to take stern measures. However, the fact there are nations in the world willing to take such stern measures means their words carry weight.

Was Harriet Miers Mistreated?

Was Harriet Miers mistreated by her opponents? In short, no and Arlen Specter is wrong.

No, she was not mistreated. Why not?

The debate centered on a couple of things. It centered on her qualifications, was she qualified to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Surely, we are allowed to question a nominee's qualifications. I thought her qualifications were sufficient but many did not. No mistreatment here.

Another point of debate was that over her judicial philosophy. As you may know, this was my main concern. What was Harriet Mier's judicial philosophy? I was willing to wait until the hearings to make my judgment here. Now, once again surely it is well within bounds to debate her judicial philosophy. The problem here, was no one was quite certain what it was, however it was definitely starting to form from the murkiness, and I do not think any conservative much cared for it.

Now, did you hear any name calling being done by prominent right wing commentators? How about mid-tier commentators? There was little. I never recall hearing people snooping through her rubbish bins, or video store records (funny how we can snoop through a judicial nominee's garbage, video store records, or credit reports but we dare not look at a terrorist's library records).

There is more blog material in this now former-situation.

No, Harriet Miers was not mistreated. She was not treated gently but not mistreated.

Icon.

You may have noticed a new icon for Blogger Beer. It is made out of a photograph of a pitcher of Killian's Red. I will probably develop a new one, as most it is not extremely obvious as to what it is.

More On Meirs.

Well, the Meirs mess is over. I was on the verge of changing my position from neutral to negative as every new information find revealed leftist-activist judicial tendencies. I oppose activism from both right and left wingers it just boggles my mind President Bush would appoint a person who had leftist activist tendencies.

Now we can stop fighting each other and concentrate on our true opponents.

Miers is out!

Reports from the Corner have Harriet Miers witdrawing her nomination and the President accepting the withdrawl.

Last night on Brit Hume's show the All Stars predicted she wouldn't make it but she would hang in their longer.

Exaggerated Eye Rolling!

If this article doesn't get you doing it then...

NEW YORK - A jury ruled Wednesday that the Port Authority was negligent in the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 — a long-awaited legal victory for victims of an attack that killed six people and wounded 1,000.

The six-person jury ruled that the Port Authority, the agency that owned the World Trade Center, was negligent by not properly maintaining the parking garage, where terrorists detonated more than a half-ton of explosives in a Ryder van. It said the negligence was a "substantial factor" in the allowing the bombing to occur.

Source: Yahoo News AP Writer Samuel Maull - Jury Faults Port Authority in '93 WTC Bomb

WTF? Some Islamists bomb the WTC, they arrest and convict them, they arrest and convict the Blind Sheik as the ring leader and it is the Port Authority's fault? Oh yeah, yeah yeah yeah. I know, someone has to pay the lawyers and the only thing they will get from the Blink Sheik is a fatwa.

Ridiculous.

Widgey Wins!

Widgey Wins the caption contest. Not bad, but the lack of competition surely helped him out.

He bit his tongue after saying the Packers looked pretty good at halftime.

James Wigderson of Wigderson's Library & Pub

This is the picture he blogged.

Here is the link to his blog: Wigderson Library & Pub.

They Want What?

Saddam's lawyers refuse to work with the court trying Saddam until they get better security. Guess what? They want seucrity provide by the crack Kofi Squad Security–the UN!

ROFLMAO!

Do you remember the Buckwheat Assasination skits from Saturday Night Live some years ago? Is that what these lawyers want? That is what they will get.

Guard1: Hey! He's got a gun!
Guard2: Run run run!
Lawyer: Ouuuuuccccccccchhhhhhhh [falling to the ground mortally stricken], gurgle gurgle gurgle ahhhh.

In addition the lawyers will have to hire additional security for their children.

Its the Eyes!

As many of you are aware USA Today published a photograph of Condeleeza Rice with her eyes much much brighter than the what the rest of photo warranted.

Well, an e-mail campaign ensued and USA Today corrected the photo and issued a lame explanation.

See here for the original (the real original) and the photo that USA Today published. See!

Now, USA Today tries to explain that it was a slightly excessive use of brightening and sharpening. Uhhhh, I don't buy it. I routinely brighten and increase contrast on my photos and what was done there (on the USA Today photo) was the eyes were isolated and altered to suit some agenda not belonging on a so-called reputable news organizations. I could see such a photo on MoveOn.org or similar but on USA Today? No way.

Here is Michelle's followup on the affair. I am going to play around a bit with the photos myself and see what happens.

Actually the first thing that came to mind was a story of a buddy. Him and his sister took a shot of President Clinton and put snake eyes into it. They then took the photo to a Democrat booth and surreptitiously put the photo on their booth and then watched. It took the Dems some time figure it out. That is what happened today with that photo of Condeleeza Rice, not some accident.

Life, Liberty, and the Watching of TV.

Today Rush played soundbites from some Democrat whining about how Republicans are fighting a bill to fund digital to analog converters for analog TVs. Not too far into the future, all television broadcasts will be in digital, so if you have an analog TV then you need to get a converter box to watch TV.

Well, a little research indicates that yes indeed the congress is working to mandate a deadline to convert to digital broadcasts (not quite certain how the Feds get that power but I digress) and the one source I see notes that the bill proposes $4.8 Billion (or similar amount) to subsidize the purchase of converter boxes for poor people.

N- effin -O!

You do not have any such right to watch TV in any sort of transmission mode. To watch TV you have to earn enough to purchase a TV and to pay for the service (if you have cable or satellite). If you want to watch TV after the cutover to digital then you have to earn enough to purchase the box or a digital ready TV. Simple, we all know its coming get ready and if you miss it and have to go sometime without TV I am quite sure you will be okay. In fact, among trendy lefties (usually though not exclusively) it is a badger of honor not to have a TV or to have not watched it.

This is obscene. You know, I am not one to condemn the West in general for living the lives we do, but even the poorest of us are envied as wealthy in much of the world. Our people are too poor they can not afford an effin digital converter? Tell that to someone in Africa, the Philippines, Bangladesh, or India.

Here is one source of information on this. MSNBC had some articles I was going to link to but it froze my browswer.

A Report from Iraq.

Many supporters of the Iraq war complain about how the Mainstream Mastadon's do not cover the situation in Iraq fairly. They cite the MSM's bomb du jour stories as the only thing we hear from Iraq.

If you have an internet connection this need not be. Read Michael Yon's blog. He doesn't update too often, maybe once per week but it is good.

His latest dispatch is based on the latest Iraqi election. There is a distinct difference from that dispatch and some of his others, notably the distinct lack of action, its very boring theme (bored not complacent)which is a good thing!

The Minnesota National Guardsmen, who might have been in pitched combat if this were January, were lounging about in lawn chairs, wearing full kit, ready to fight if the Iraqis needed help. But no calls were coming. Apparently the only help anyone needed was for lunch delivery.

Source: Michael Yon - Purple Fingers

The whole atmosphere of the blog is along those lines and one thing is apparent the Iraqi Army and Police are coming up to standards. Remember to fight a unit has to supply as well as fight as a team. Getting what you need, in the amount you need, in the place you need, at the time you need it is never easy even in peaceful situations (the inability to get logistics right nearly put KMart out of business).

Michael makes many comments throughout his more recent blogs about how the Iraqi Army is brave and fighting.

BTW, I just blogrolled Michael Yon's site.

Party!

Source: Cox & Forkum - Grim Countdown

The left is throwing grim celebrations the nation over.

Just remember what was captured on by ABC's John Miller in may of 1998

Our boys no longer viewed America as a superpower. So, when they left Afghanistan, they went to Somalia and prepared themselves carefully for a long war. They had thought that the Americans were like the Russians, so they trained and prepared. They were stunned when they discovered how low was the morale of the American soldier. America had entered with 30,000 soldiers in addition to thousands of soldiers from different countries in the world. ... As I said, our boys were shocked by the low morale of the American soldier and they realized that the American soldier was just a paper tiger. He was unable to endure the strikes that were dealt to his army, so he fled,...After a few blows, it forgot all about those titles and rushed out of Somalia in shame and disgrace, dragging the bodies of its soldiers. America stopped calling itself world leader and master of the new world order, and its politicians realized that those titles were too big for them and that they were unworthy of them. I was in Sudan when this happened. I was very happy to learn of that great defeat that America suffered,...

Source: Osama Bin Laden in an interview with ABC's John Miller from May 1998.

This was not due to low morale of our soldiers. Our soldiers get the job done if permitted, that was an example of poor leadership from the very top.

Yes, as much as the left denies they are working for the jihadists they are doing the Jihadist's bidding just as sure the left never claimed to be working for Joe Stalin or the USSR, but they worked on the same goals. What is the difference?

BTW the cartoon is from Cox & Forkum, who we also welcome to the Blogger Beer blogroll.

To TomInWestBend.

First, thanks for stopping by, reading, and commenting on Blogger Beer.

To answer your question to me, no I usually don't get those kinds of comments, in fact it is rare I get ANY comments. The blog that the sizable comment exchange happened on was the result of a flood of traffic the likes of which Blogger Beer has never seen before. That blog drew roughly 520 visitors to Blogger Beer when I was averaging about 61/day up to that point.

It was a fortuitous trackback that did it and nothing real crafty or clever on my part.

Thanks piping up I was starting to feel real lonely!

Pipes vs. Gerecht

Last night on CSPAN I caught a little debate between Reuel Marc Gerecht and Daniel Pipes.

They were debating, fast tracked democracy vs. slow tracked democracy in the Middle East. Daniel took the slow track position and Reuel wants it fast tracked. Note, I do not say liberal governance (if you think Saddam should still be in power in Iraq you are not a liberal maybe a leftist, the closing comment show what is need for liberal Islamic governance) which is different from democracy.

Daniel Pipes arguments came down to one thing. Is it a good idea to let Hamas or Al Qaida govern a nation? That, fast tracking Democracy in the Middle East will most likely result in Islamists taking power (Islamists are concerned about your lack of faith in Islam and are interested in forcing its belief upon you, as opposed to pious Muslims who practice their faith and do not try to coerce you into belief). This is a very valid concern.

Reuel Marc Gerecht OTOH, does not think this is as big a danger as Daniel believes. He makes a couple of points. Islamists coming to power through violent revolution, Marc claims, are much more dangerous than Islamists who come to power via the ballot box. Marc also points out that the Middle East has been under a "gradual transition" to Democracy for sometime now and it is (with Iraq and perhaps Lebanon being exceptions) no such thing.

Marc doesn't think Hamas coming to power is as bad as Daniel believes. In the course of taking power they will realize that having power does not mean being able to do whatever one wants. In fact a member of the Egyptian Embassy described how an Islamic firebrand won election to Egypt's lawmaking body and was all set to lay down the Sharia. The firebrand quickly learned it wasn't easy to convince everyone else to go along with you, that is he moderated on entering office.

Both men make very good points. I recall when I lived in the Middle East chatting (online) with some locals about democracy and Algeria. She complained (with some justice) that when the Islamic parties in a democracy win an election the military intervenes and cancels the election. This is essentially what happened in Algeria in the early 1990s

In the first ballot, in December, the FIS wins 188 seats in the National Assembly. This is just 28 seats short of an overall majority. It seems a safe bet that the party will achieve that majority in the second ballot, due in January 1992. But the ballot never takes place.

Three days before the polling booths are due to reopen, the army intervenes to cancel the election. It is an action which plunges Algeria into years of civil war.

Source: History World - HISTORY OF ALGERIA

That is the Islamic parties can not win here. They play by the rules the rules get canceled, they play outside the rules they get labeled terrorists, and they have a point. This is very different then playing by the rules and losing, it is playing by the rules and winning to be denied the prize.

The most interesting comment that was uttered came from Marc. It but it went something like this: There can not be a Thomas Jefferson without a Martin Luther. Marc hopes the Islamic Martin Luther shows up soon and also believes it will not be quite as bad for the House of Islam as it was for Christianity and Germany when Martin Luther came onto the scene.

I tend to lean slightly to Marc's side.

Welcome!

Let us all welcome MCBRIDE'S MEDIA MATTERS to the Blogger Beer blogroll.

A Serious Misstep By President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Bob at Mindanao blog has been reporting on an increasingly growing flow of stories reporting that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (of the Philippines) is getting ready to sign away at least a portion (that some speculate will lead to the whole of) of Mindanao to the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front)

There is more news today in regards to the possibility that Mindanao will be carved into pieces and part given to the MILF as part of a peace agreement in the region.

As we reported on this blog two days ago, the Arroyo government had tentatively agreed with the MILF to give them a part of Mindanao as their own country. Well, today, reaction has started to appear in other media.

The Daily Journal has reaction from Zamboanga Mayor Celso Lobregat. Lobregat says that the entire region will be gobbled up once the first part is sliced up and given away, as is currently planned. Lobregat further says that Gloria Arroyo has a new policy of "Peace at all costs."

Source: Mindanao - The Carving up of Mindanao - Follow Up

Hmmmm. Well until now GMA has been a very crafty and tough political fighter. Many of the elected officials of Minanao support PGMA and have threatened Manila with secession if PGMA is ousted. Well, here we have PGMA cutting loose that support. Why should the officials from Mindanao support her now?

So if the leaders of Mindanao elect to stay in the Republic PGMA may just give them away to the MILF which Bob says is 80% Christian and those 80% are not going to sit still while the Sharia is imposed on them. In additon "other governments" (wink-wink) might be concnerned a tropical Afghanistan is being set up.

The alternative is to secede on their own terms.

Of course, this all could be disinformation being sown by those trying to bring PGMA down, but it does fit a pattern.

Wretchard's Prescience.

Remember the Galloway hearings in the senate some months ago?

Remember how everyone thought Galloway came out the winner because of his flowery insults and bombast? Remember how Coleman and Levin were utterly without defense under Galloway's withering attacks?

Well, the point of the hearings was not to trade insult but to establish fact and elicit testimony. Wretchard (from the Belmont Club) noted this immediately after the affair

In the exchange above it is abundantly clear that both Coleman and Levin simply wanted to enter Galloway's denial of having discussed Oil for Food business with Tariq Aziz in the record. Levin immediately ends his questioning after eliciting Galloway's "Never". Coleman is content to merely establish that Aziz and Galloway were "friends" who had met "many times" before saying "I have no further questions of the witness".

Source: The Belmont Club - Playing to the Galloway

Wretchard recalls the testimony and adds some new speculation

(Speculation alert) ... Playing to his gallery, Galloway boomed, "I can assure you, Mr. Zureikat never gave me a penny from an oil deal, from a cake deal, from a bread deal, or from any deal." Nice touch about the cake and the bread. Perhaps he couldn't imagine, at the time, why these yokels were asking him simple questions that were beneath his level of rhetorical ability. [emphasis added]

Source: The Belmont Club - Playing to the Galloway

Yes yes yes. It was all just fun and games at the hearing wasn't it? The senate was full of stuffy old pompous men, right who could not compete with an old master?

Well, Coleman & Levin played it cool and it seems Galloway charged right into the middle of a trap. This story is far from over (like the Packer-Viking game wasn't over at halftime) this should be interesting.

Al Franken Dreams.

Ahhhh Al Franken again!

Michelle Malkin reports on how he made a promotional video of him beating a conservative book reading guy.

Michelle Malkin has some snippets from the video and a link to the video. She also reminds of us previous violent Franken meltdowns.

It is rumored Al Franken is considering a run for the Senate in Minnesota, fat chance of that happening (winning that is). With the Gloria Wise affair, his comments on Letterman the video, and previous incidents there is way too much commercial material for his opponent.

Welcome To The Jungle.

JungleSmall, originally uploaded by maurelius.

It gets nicer here every day!

A Little Leftist Perjury & Scandal?

Hmmm,

Powerline & LGF came out almost simultaneously with reports that George Galloway is being accused of taking bribes from Saddam Iraqi government and of perjuring himself in front of the Senate.

The only article I've seen on the report is in Britain's left-wing Independent; the article is titled "Galloway lied over Iraqi oil payments, says Congress report." An excerpt:

"In a report issued here, Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman and his colleagues on the Senate Subcommittee for Investigations claim to have evidence showing that Mr Galloway's political organisation and his wife received vouchers worth almost $600,000 (£338,000) from the then Iraqi government."

"We have what we call the smoking gun," said Mr Coleman, who will send the report to the US Department of Justice and the British authorities. The MP could face charges of perjury, making false statements and obstructing a Congressional investigation.

Galloway, of course, denies receiving any money from Saddam; he claims to have supported the tyrant for free.

Source: Powerline - More Evidence Surfaces on Galloway and Saddam

LGF reports on the same story. Hmmmm, we will see stay tuned.

Dissent vs. Treason.

Commentor Scott says

Dissent is patriotic. It is what got America here in the first place. If everybody had just sat around defending the honor of the King, talking about staying the course, ignoring the facts, etc... we would still be a British colony.

Source: Blogger Beer Comments.

The confusion of dissent with treason is obvious. Treason is not dissent. I am sure Code Pink considers themselves to be brave dissenting patriots

Remember the Americans burnt to a crisp and hung from a bridge in the Fallujah uprising? Code Pink donated over $650,000 to those Fallujah terrorists (Code Pinkos call them "refugees.")

Back on U.S. soil, Code Pink harasses badly wounded American soldiers, protesting them outside the Walter Reed medical facility in Washington, DC. Code Pinkos disrupted last week's Congressional confirmation hearings on UN Ambassador nominee John Bolton, shouting and unfurling banners against him. They are also shadowing military recruiters to foil recruiting efforts. The upside: there won't be enough soldiers to protect Code Pinkos' rights and freedoms.

This is Marla Ruzicka's beloved Code Pink. It's time to stop worshipping at the alter of this false heroine.

Source: Deb Schlussel for Political USA - Treasonatrix Barbie: Meet the Real Marla Ruzicka

That is not dissent it is treason.


Finally Scott says "If everybody had just sat around defending the honor of the King, talking about staying the course, ignoring the facts, etc... we would still be a British colony." Ummm, those who defended the honor of the King went to Canada, the utopia of the left in this nation.

Anyway Scott, thanks for reading & commenting!

A Golden Find.

The Empress is off today and is going through things and starting preliminary packing. In going through some stuff she found some gold jewelry I purchased (while in the Middle East) and intended to give. Unfortunately for the recipients it didn't happen. In one case that is a good thing.

What is gold going for now?

A Leftist Actually Believes Treason Is Possible.

Wow!

Or course the left believes it treasonous to advance America. Here is the quote from Al Franken

"And so basically, what it looks like is going to happen is that Libby and Karl Rove are going to be executed" because "outing a CIA agent is treason," left-wing author and radio talk show host Al Franken asserted Friday night, to audience laughter, on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman. Franken qualified his hard-edged satire: "Yeah. And I don't know how I feel about it because I'm basically against the death penalty, but they are going to be executed it looks like." Franken later suggested that President Bush is at risk of receiving the same punishment, since Karl Rove likely told him what he did, but he added a caveat: "I think, by the way, that we should never ever, ever, ever execute a sitting President."

Source: NewsBusters - On Letterman, Al Franken Jokes About Execution for Treason of Rove, Libby and Bush

This man is considering a run for the job that Mark Dayton is quitting (Minnesota's other senator), this is probably going to doom him.

I guess I should not be flabbergasted a leftist actually believes in treason. Of course providing aid and comfort to the Islamist terrorists in Iraq is not treason it is patriotism, and trying to defeat Islamist terrorists and establish a beachhead of liberal governance in the Middle East is treason.

HT: The Drudge Report.

Leisurely Sunday Caption Contest.

Caption, originally uploaded by maurelius.

This guy may know what he is doing but can you come up with a clever caption? Winner announced Tuesday!

Free Piglet!

The HT: Michelle Malkin THE CARTOONS ISLAMISTS DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE. Actually I saw the one some time ago and left a comment somewhere about that.

However, Piglet the character from Whinnie the Pooh is under attack. IIRC in an office somewhere in the UK a worker had a little Piglet stuffed toy (or similar) on their desk or in their office. Well, someone complained that Piglet offended them! For the love of God, its just a toy cartoon! Anyway instead of telling the complaining employee to grow up and just ignore Piglet the employee with Piglet was ordered to remove Piglet. So now employees in this office can not have anything piglike. I wonder if their lunches are inspected for pork?

Michelle points to this site for some good information on the fight to free Piglet from dhimmnitude.

Relapsed Catholic obtained the real cool shot of Piglet getting ready to Crusade.

Check these out. Now, before you roll your eyes about the Brits just think about the war on Christmas in this nation.

I include "West Midlands" in this post because this is the area where Piglet is exiled from (piggy banks, or anything resembling from a pig) and want to draw readers to this blog. Make sure you check out the links provided!

OMG!

Oh my God, that did not just happen!

Yes it did.

Halftime!

Its halftime and this Packa fan is feeling very upbeat! Lot of football still to go, though.

17-0!

17-0! Longwell hits a 53 yard field goal! Halftime is very very close.

BUMBLE!

VIQUEENS RETURN IT TO THE PACKER 20 ONLY TO FUMBLE IT OVER!

14-0!

TD! FARVE TO CHATMANN! VIQUEENS LOSE A TIMEOUT!

All blogs today are backdated to keep the caption contest at the top.

7-0!

TD PACKERS! PACKERS UP 0-7! YAHOOOOOOO!

A Dead Parrot in the UK.

LONDON (Reuters) - A parrot that died in quarantine in Britain had contracted bird flu but officials do not yet know if it was the lethal strain which has sparked alarm in Europe in recent weeks, the Agriculture Ministry said on Friday.

Source: MyWay News - Bird flu found in parrot in British quarantine

Can you imagine the scene when the found the parrot?

...C: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.

O: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue...What's,uh...What's wrong with it?

C: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with it!

O: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting.

C: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.

O: No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage!

C: The plumage don't enter into it. It's stone dead.

O: Nononono, no, no! 'E's resting!

C: All right then, if he's restin', I'll wake him up!

(shouting at the cage)

'Ello, Mister Polly Parrot! I've got a lovely fresh cuttle fish for you if you show...(owner hits the cage)

O: There, he moved!

C: No, he didn't, that was you hitting the cage!

O: I never!!

C: Yes, you did!

O: I never, never did anything...

C: (yelling and hitting the cage repeatedly) 'ELLO POLLY!!!!!

Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your nine o'clock alarm call!

(Takes parrot out of the cage and thumps its head on the counter. Throws it up in the air and watches it plummet to the floor.)

C: Now that's what I call a dead parrot.

O: No, no.....No, 'e's stunned!

C: STUNNED?!?

O: Yeah! You stunned him, just as he was wakin' up! Norwegian Blues stun easily, major.

C: Um...now look...now look, mate, I've definitely 'ad enough of this. That parrot is definitely deceased, and when I purchased it not 'alf an hour ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it bein' tired and shagged out following a prolonged squawk.

O: Well, he's...he's, ah...probably pining for the fjords.

C: PININ' for the FJORDS?!?!?!? What kind of talk is that?, look, why did he fall flat on his back the moment I got 'im home?

O: The Norwegian Blue prefers kippin' on it's back! Remarkable bird, id'nit, squire? Lovely plumage!

C: Look, I took the liberty of examining that parrot when I got it home, and I discovered the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been NAILED there.

(pause)

O: Well, o'course it was nailed there! If I hadn't nailed that bird down, it would have nuzzled up to those bars, bent 'em apart with its beak, and VOOM! Feeweeweewee!

C: "VOOM"?!? Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised!

O: No no! 'E's pining!

C: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker!

'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies!
'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig!
'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!!

THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!

Source: Monty Python's Dead Parrot Skit.

No one will ever again take a story seriously when it involves Brits & Parrots.

Sorry this blog is proving very irksome today!

I am neutral on the Miers nomination.

In order to register my opinion of the Mier's nomination with The Truth Laid Bear I hereby officially announce my position on the Harriet Mier's nomination to Supreme Court of the United States of America.

I am neutral on the Miers nomination.

I will admit I am starting to fall but am still open to the hearings.

Note: This blog is backdated (from 8:00 am to 12:01 am) to keep the photo caption contest on the top of the blog.

Twitting Phishermen.

I love to twit phishermen, unfortunately their ISPs can be quick to pull the plug on them.

Phishing is the span you get from an e-mail doctored up to look like an Amazon or E-Bay not telling you your account may be suspended if you don't verify your billing information. They direct to their website setup to harvest this information with the purpose to steal your billing information so they can steal from you. The websites look can look very good and very authentic but they are not.

If you suspect you have a phishing e-mail, mouse over the link and see what the actual website you are going to is! For example XYZ's website is here does not take you to XYZ's website (they did have one at one time, no idea what happened to it) but another website, it is extremely easy to fake the link. When your mouse moves over the link your e-mail client (my e-mail client exposes the actual link as well, but I suppose MickeySoft clients do not) should expose the target website (the target in the above link is www.newbayanihan.org). So, it should be relatively easy to detect a phishing scam (as Amazon & EBay etc have probably spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to tell us they will never send an e-mail soliciting such information) right away.

I love to get them actually. My general inbox is set up to NOT render HTML encoded pages so I have a quick idea that something is afoot. I sometimes (if I am feeling playful at the time) try to visit the phishing page and fill in bogus and insulting data. For example my name may be F.U. Ahole and similar. However, I have seen pages that run checks upon credit card numbers (all credit card numbers are specially encoded so as to be able to tell if they are a valid credit card number from performing a set of mathematical calculations on them, of course there are other checks but a checksum calculation is the first step), and if their phishing pages does that then I give up and report it.

I got a phishing spam about 15 minutes ago. I clicked on the link and the page came up as suspended. Good for that ISP, and oh-well I have better things to do (like write a blog on phishing).

Update:
August 8, 2006 7:22 anchor text chagned in link above.

Why?

Why does it seem my vocabulary shrinks to second grade level when I try to write poetry or play scrabble?

Welcome GOP3!

A stirring round of applause please for GOP3 The Triumvirate the latest addition to Blogger Beer's blogroll!

Impossible!

Is it possible for President Bush to adequately fund any leftist favored program?

I ran across this at Dummocrats the top ten reasons Kris wish Kerry would have won the election. A good laugh and of course some leftist stumbled onto it and left their own top ten list.

Let's save some money on those dikes -- uh, whoops -- but "Brownie's doing a heck of a job"

Source: ThatAlsoWouldBeMe's Comment

Ummm, there have been many reports that President Bush was sending much more money than President Clinton to Louisiana to take care of these problems. However Louisiana and New Orleans decided to spend the money is their concern and fault.

It got me to thinking. You ever notice how the left complains about how President Bush is too stingy? I wish the President would realize no amount of lavish spending on the left's projects will buy them off. President Bush could allocate every bit of wealth our nation possesses to education and the Teacher's Industrial Complex (TIC) and Teddy Kennedy would still be complaining how No Child Left Behind is underfunded.

Of course some of these same leftists then turn around and talk about fiscal restraint. Of course, they are just farting in the wind, but the Republican Party as a whole can not claim to be the champions of fiscal responsibility.

President Bush, catch a clue and veto the next pork laden bill to cross your desk and shame on the Republican controlled Senate for shooting down Tom Coburn's (R-OK) amendments to divert pork spending to reconstruction spending. Hats off to those 13 & 15 senators who voted for fiscal repsonsibility (Senator Russ Feingold D-WI is included in that list, way to go for a change Senator Feingold!).

Week VII Wild Guesses in New Format.

NFL Week VII Prognostications.

Visitor

Home

Predicted Winner

KC

Miami

Miami

Another coin Flipper! Played early due to Wilma.

The Green Bay Packers

The Vikings

The Green Bay Packers

Is there any doubt? NO! OMG WTF?

Lions

Browns

Browns

Colts

Texans

Colts

Saints

Rams

Rams

Steelers

Bengals

Bengals

Chargers

Eagles

Eagles

Whew!

49ers

Redskins

Redskins

Cowboys

Seahawks

Seahawks

Equal on the D + Seahawks@home + Slightly better Seahawk O = Seahawks V

Ravens

Bears

Bears

Bills

Raiders

Bills

Bills win on Oakland penalties

Denver

Giants

Denver

Sorry Donkey fan, I just doomed your team. What did I tell you!

Cardinals

Titans

Titans

Jets

Falcons

Falcons

Incorrect Prognostication.
Correct Prognostication.

Updates

1. 8:52 pm 10/23/2005. I stand at 6-7 with one game to go, perhaps I can reach .500 again. This week I performed a bit of analysis. Oh well, it pays in the long run.



2. 8:37 am 10/25/2005. I stand at 7-7. Despite my analysis these were just as good as "wild guesses".

KC @ Miami

Hmmmm.

Miami.

DeLay's Request.

To have the judge recuse himself is quite fair.

The judge whined about how Republicans finding themselves in front of a Democrat judge always ask them to recuse themselves. Well, when you are notoriously partisan involved in a case that amounts to a prosecution of a Republican because they are Republican, expect it. You did it quickly for Kay Bailey Hutchinson, why now do you whine?

Is this a Crime?

Prosecutors must determine whether it was part of an effort to undermine the credibility of Plame's husband. Leaking the identity of a covert agent can be a crime, but it must be done knowingly.

Source: Yahoo News - White House Defense Shaky in CIA Leak Case

Ahhh, so we see the real crime here is not any damage to the CIA but undermining the credibility of Joe Wilson. Since when is the credibility of a pathological liar protected by law?

Also interesting is something that contradicts earlier reports about Judy Miller. Earlier reports had Judy testifying she could not remember where she found out about Valerie Plame. However, this story states

In Miller's case, she was interviewing Libby on June 23, 2003, for a story on the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq when the vice president's chief of staff suggested a CIA tie for Wilson's wife, Miller has said.

"This was the first time I had been told that Mr. Wilson's wife might work for the CIA," Miller wrote in a first-person account over the weekend.

Source: Yahoo News - White House Defense Shaky in CIA Leak Case

Contradictorama!

Night Time Photo.

p1010429small, originally uploaded by maurelius.

I took this shot at High Cliff State Park about a week ago. The Empress and myself were there to view sunset. This photo was taken moments after sunset and I do have some sunset shots.

Good Night.

The RSS Reader.

Has helped me in my blogging quite a bit.

I pick up on stories much quicker now than before. I have two subscriptions which are pure news feeds. One is a news from the Philippines feed and the other is a world news feed, both are created by The Philippine Times.

Also, I don't waste so much time now d'loading the full content of other blogs, I see a story that appeals to me I can pull it up in full otherwise just nevermind.

Those two feeds I describe above account for quite a few Blogger Beer words today, I am very glad I have them.

Michael Ray Aquino Pleads Not Guilty.

Two updates in the Aragoncillo & Aquino spy case.

NEWARK, N.J. -- A former Filipino police official pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he passed classified information about Filipino leaders obtained from an FBI intelligence analyst to current and former officials of that nation.

Michael Ray Aquino, clad in a green jail uniform and shackled at the wrists and ankles, did not speak during the 30-minute hearing before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls. The plea was entered by his lawyer, Mark A. Berman.

The FBI analyst, Leandro Aragoncillo, has been in plea negotiations, leaving the possibility that Aquino could face the charges alone. Aragoncillo, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in the Philippines, had worked in the vice president's office at the White House as a U.S. Marine.

Both men were arrested in September and have been held in federal custody without bail since then.

No trial date for Aquino was set. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karl H. Buch said a new indictment with more charges would probably be brought against Aquino.

Source: Newsday - Former Filipino Official Pleads Not Guilty

Michael Ray Aquino has an interesting history. He is accused of murdering a media figure in the Philippines. I will gather up the details later one. Another story dated on the 10/20/2005 also talks specifically about more upcoming charges against Aquino.

"The indictment that stands today is not the indictment that the government will go to trial on," Assistant U.S. Attorney Karl H. Buch said during the arraignment of Michael Ray Aquino. Buch did not specify what the additional changes might be.

Source: Newsday - Former Filipino Official Pleads Not Guilty

Well, they are probably looking into other charges that will help to minimize the amount of classified information that must be handled in pressing the case.

The contents of the classified information [leaked by Aragoncillo] have not been made public, but, according to the FBI complaint, appear related to efforts to unseat Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Outside court, Berman [Aquino's attorney] said Aquino "is not a supporter of the present president" and was friends with an opposition Philippine senator. The politician has said he received "shallow" information from Aquino and Aragoncillo.

Aquino, who rejected a plea deal, had known Aragoncillo for about a year, Berman said.

"He definitely had documents, had information from Aragoncillo," Berman said, but reiterated his claim that nothing was marked as classified, and Aquino had no reason to believe they were.

Source: Newsday - Former Filipino Official Pleads Not Guilty

Hmmm. Erap (Joseph Estrada who was President of the Philippines and deposed by current president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo GMA) has admitted to receiving this information and my guess is Senator Lacson is the senator referred to above. Does this mean extradition request?

Update:
May 5, 2006.
The latest is that Mr. Aragoncillo has plead guilty.

82-15. Sugar!

The Coburn Amendment was tabled on a vote of 82-15.

82-15, WTF? I thought Republicans were supposed to be for restrained spending. Hmmmm.

BTW, the roll call is here.

Updates:

1. 10/20/2005 8:04pm
Over at the BBA commentor Scott points to this vote as the vote I am talking about. In both cases the fiscally responsible measure was voted down.

So You Want to Blog?

Iowahawk has pointers and they are not bad and they certainly are hilatiously funny.

Here is Iowahawk on pith:

Blog Dimension 1: Pith. In today’s go-go-go world, readers need their opinions now. They need them fast and to the point. Remember rule number one: do everything within your power to increase the economical verbal tersity of your posts, because what is increasingly certain in this increasingly time-strapped blog market in which we blog in, it is the growing situation in which John and/or Mary Q. BlogPublic will not stand for some endlessly meandering blog entry, all ‘gussied up’ in some flowery punctuation, blithering and yammering on and on and on and on, never – or frequently seldom ever – getting to the crux of the point that the blogger (or group blog, or web diarist, or whoever) is arguing in favor, or possibly against, of, which frequenty creates a frustrating situation for those many, many readers who have increasingly decreased time to keep wading through a seemingly endless -- and often redundant -- yammering and blithering post by a blogger that keeps repeating himself and/or herself without her or him or them ever finally getting to the original objective point of their article, or post.

To demonstrate the power of pith, let’s look at the example of top blogger Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit. When he links to a story with his famous "HEH," readers instantly recognize that this is shorthand for "here is a thing that somebody emailed me that sounded mildly amusing. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to resume ogling the hot coeds walking by my office window."

This is exactly the kind of no-nonsense, to-the-point pith that readers value, and has helped establish Instapundit as America's most feared blog brand. As a new blogger, you too can leverage the power of pith, but don't violate existing pith trademarks without proper permission. All too often I've seen a casual unlicensed 'HEH' by a rookie blogger backfire, their lives shattered as they are hounded into bankrupcy and alcoholic ruin by Reynolds and his relentless legal copyright thugs.

The lesson here is clear: as a good blog citizen, you should respect others' pithword rights, or at least create a cheap knockoff. The good news is that I've done an exhaustive records search, and discovered that the following somewhat similar pithy link words were all untrademarked: HO, HAHAHA, HEE HEE, SNORK, SNORNK, BWAHHHA, CHAH, HUH?, WTF?, GAH, PHEH, OMG, and YIRF. The bad news is that now I've copyrighted all of them and their variants, and have put Glenn Reynolds on retainer.

Source: Iowahawk -
How to Blog Good, Part 2: Style-ize For Maximal Impactfulness

Bill O'Reilly would be proud!

Another Presidential Power?

I can not recall who it was, but Rush noted how some woman federal legislator wants to empower the President to set gasoline prices.

Rolling my eyes and heavily sighing!

I thought the left was opposed to corporate meddling in politics? Then they propose this? If you think corporation meddling in politics is bad now wait until the government starts setting the prices of products.

Hey, I got an idea. Why don't we have the President set the price of her house? I am supporter of the President's perhaps I can get him to tell her to sell it to Claudia and myself for $10.00 (Ten US Dollars and no cents). Just leave a comment when you are ready to move out, okay?

Tom Coburn Is Straight On Right!

This has been buzzing around the blogosphere for a sometime now.

About time a Republican stands up for fiscal responsibility! What is this about?

Well, one of the examples of outrageous pork in particular is the infamous Alaska Bridge to Nowhere. Tom Coburn a freshman senator from Oklahoma has offered an amendment to HR Bill #3058 to defund the funding of the Alaska Bridge to Nowhere to the reconstruction of the Twin Spans bridge in Louisiana.

This amendment will transfer funding from the wasteful pork project, the "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska, to the repair and reconstruction of the "Twin Spans" bridge in Louisiana. According to published reports, the Alaskan pork project costs $220 million for a 5.9-mile bridge connecting Gravina Island (population 50) to the Alaskan mainland. The cost of the bridge alone would be enough to buy every island resident his own personal Lear jet.

Source The Club For Growth - The 'Bridge to Nowhere' and the Minimum Wage

Whoooohaaaaa! How about that! Hey, instead of buying one lear jet per person I think one per family should do.

In all seriousness, we need more legislators like Mr. Coburn. Now, is everyone jumping up to support this move? Nope, note the following from Powerline

Mrs. R. reports that Patty Murray is now speaking against the Coburn Amendment, and has just issued a threat against any Senators who vote for the amendment: we on the Appropriations Committee will take a "long, hard look" at any projects in your state. Can anyone say, "culture of corruption"?

Source: Powerline - Nice State You've Got Here, Too Bad if Anything Should Happen to It

Some pork barrel recipients have stood up and revoked their bacon, good for them (better yet would be not to have asked for it). Now, how about going through all recent appropriations and rubbing out a whole bunch of them?

Larry Wilkerson's Lack of Constitutional Understanding.

Larry Wilkerson Colin Powell's former chief of staff is whining how the President took over foreign policy. Hmmm, seems to me Mr. Wilkerson the Constitution grants the conduct of foreign policy to the President. If State Department personal don't like it then they can resign or get fired.

Its pretty simple Mr. Wilkerson, you do not determine foreign policy not even your former boss (or the current Secretary of State) in the end it is the President. Yes, I know you are being crafty and saying it was the VP & Rumsfeld who took over the State Department, but they did not do so on their own.

State Department working with the other Cabinet departments is supposed to carry out the Foreign Policy aims of the President, not set the policy.

Now obviously the various upper level officials of the departments advise the President but at the end of the day it is the President's job to set foreign policy.

WTF?

Joe Wilson speaks and answers a few questions but leaves one wondering.

SAN FRANCISCO - American troops should be taken out of combat and used in limited ways only, such as training Iraqi troops and giving air support, Joseph Wilson, husband of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame, said Tuesday night at San Francisco State's McKenna Theatre.

Source: Inside Bay Area - Joseph Wilson, husband of outed CIA agent, speaks at SF State

Huh? What is the job of soldiers? It is to fight. Why don't we take policemen off of the streets and have them drink coffee and eat doughnuts all day?

Some in the audience urged him to run for political office. But Wilson said he'd been a true child of the 1960s and had ``too many wives and taken too many drugs. And, yes, I did inhale.''

Source: Inside Bay Area - Joseph Wilson, husband of outed CIA agent, speaks at SF State

No wonder he is a pathological liar, he has constant flashbacks.

One of 45,000? Osama Bin Laden Dead in Quake?

That is, is Osama Bin Laden one of the 45,000 or so reported killed in the recent Sout Asian earthquake?

The paper further quoted a Washington terrorism expert, Bruce Hoffman, as saying that if Laden had managed to escape the earthquake, he might have made his way to Kashmir. Also, there was a possibility that he could have made his way back to the Toba Kakar Range in Afghanistan, veteran CIA officer Milt Bearden said and added "if Bin Laden is dead, the world will never know. We just have to wait until somebody drags out his body and says this is Bin Laden. My bet is that won't happen."

Source: NewKerala.com - Did Osama die in the Oct 8th quake?

Well, the paper referrd to is The Daily Times fro Peshawar Pakistan.

Who knows? The The Daily Times quotes a terrorism expert:

One Washington terrorism expert, Bruce Hoffman at the Rand Corporation, said that if Bin Laden had managed to escape the earthquake, he might have made his way to the disputed Kashmir region. There is also the possibility that he could have made his way back to the Toba Kakar Range in Afghanistan. But veteran CIA officer Milt Bearden said: "If Bin Laden is dead, the world will never know. We just have to wait until somebody drags out his body and says; This is Bin Laden. My bet is that won't happen."

Source: The Daily Times - US, UK teams search quake rubble for Osama Bin Laden (MI6/SAS team joins US Special Forces sifting through Balakot)

Hmmmm.

Yes, I agree with the Mr. Hoffman's assessment, we will never know. Absent a capture or him being killed by one of our guys, Mr. Bin Laden is likely to die a quiet and anonymous death. This is hardly unprecedented remember the Israelis put in a lot of effort to track down and arrest Josef Mengele but he too died an old man's death. We are not out to "impeach" Bin Laden we are out to end what he started, Al-Qaida started with him but does not end with him.

Lotto Site is Busy.

I have been trying to get to the Wisconsin Lottery website tonight. No can do, it is getting hit real hard tonight.

The Java Jive.

Not what you think.

Some years ago at this website I have along with my ISP I created a java applet. The java applet animates the Grateful Dead bumper sticker with the Dancing Bears. It was cool, and I very quickly thought up some improvements but, I that has always been low on my list of to dos.

Well, I need a project to motivate myself to learn the programming language and I am dusting off the dancing bears project. I am having to reacquaint myself with the basics of the language and I have a real neat development environment to help myself along.

Again as then, the real time consuming part is the artwork. I found a high quality image of the bears from which to make the needed images.

Here are the improvements.

1. I will use eight steps instead of five.


2. Each color of bear will have its own thread and each will run independently of the other.


3. Will consider adding speed controls.


4. Will consider adding a tune.

Faulty Assumptions.

From the New York Times via The Anchoress:

A final report had long been considered an option for Mr. Fitzgerald if he decided not to accuse anyone of wrongdoing, although Justice Department officials have been dubious about his legal authority to issue such a report.

By signaling that he had no plans to issue the grand jury’s findings in such detail, Mr. Fitzgerald appeared to narrow his options either to indictments or closing his investigation with no public disclosure of his findings, a choice that would set off a political firestorm.

Source: The New York Times via The Anchoress - What exactly is being spun, here?

Now, those who have made their conclusions already are obviously jumping to the conclusion that since no report will be forthcoming, that indictments will come instead. These people are giddy about it.

As I have said repeatedly I am refraining from jumping to any conclusions here.

Fact of the matter is a report without special permission from a judge issuing a report on grand jury proceedings is illegal! Without that judicial permission no final report will come with or without indictments.

Think about what grand juries are. A person summoned to testify in front of a grand jury has no representation but are confronted by prosecutors, and by the jurors. Furthermore, there is no resort to the fifth amendment. If you are asked a question you answer it or ask Judy Miller what happens. So, there are good reasons for keeping what goes on in a grand jury secret. If an indictment is forthcoming then the facts of the grand jury become public.

Now, the leftists have already tried & convicted the people involved in this case (i.e. they have come to believe Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, et al guilty) and they can do so (however, they do not have the right to revoke someone's civil liberties). However, before anyone's civil rights are revoked we have this thing called due process (which is lacking in a grand jury) and the government must prove the guilt of the accused instead of the accused having to prove their innocence.

The Anchoress sees what is afoot:

So, what is this whole NYT article, really? Is this simply the Democrats feeding a new meme, planting a new narrative to the press, in order to hedge their bets so that if the desired indictments don’t come down the pike, and no “final report” does, either, the mechanism to raise political hell is already in place? A mechanism based on a lie? A way to discredit everyone connected to this sham-scandal and begin re-beating the incessant drums of hate and doubt and…oh yeah, impeachment?

Source: The Anchoress - What exactly is being spun, here?

Creating Crime.

Byron York at National Review Online goes over the two laws that might be used to prosecute someone revealing classified information might be charged with. In the end Mr. York concludes these acts do not apply and if any indictments they might be along the lines of perjury (but everyone commits perjury right Clinton supporter?) or obstruction of justice (again everyone does that, right Clinton supporter?). As one former intelligence official states in all likely hood no crimes were committed until the investigation started.

Given the difficulties with prosecutions under both the Espionage Act and the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, it appears that if Fitzgerald is indeed moving toward indicting anyone, he might well choose to base the charges on allegations of obstruction of justice or the making of false statements, either to Fitzgerald's investigators or to the grand jury. "At the end of the day," says the former intelligence official, "this could end up being a situation where there wasn't a crime until there was an investigation." [emphasis added]

Source: Byron York for National Review Online - Indicted? For What? (In Plamegate, has anyone read the Espionage Act lately?)

Go to the Corner as well to read a very well reasoned and highly intellectual e-mailed response Mr. York received.

Spanish Want Three Third ID Soldiers.

HT: The Drudge Report.

MADRID, Spain - A judge has issued an international arrest warrant for three U.S. soldiers whose tank fired on a Baghdad hotel during the Iraq war, killing a Spanish journalist and one other, a court official said Wednesday.

Judge Santiago Pedraz issued the warrant for Sgt. Shawn Gibson, Capt. Philip Wolford and Lt. Col. Philip de Camp, all from the U.S. 3rd Infantry.

Jose Couso, who worked for the Spanish television network Telecinco, died April 8, 2003, after a U.S. army tank crew fired a shell on Hotel Palestine in Baghdad where several journalists were staying to cover the war.

Source: Yahoo News - Spanish Judge Issues Warrant for Three GIs

Wretchard at the Belmont Club addressed this sort of thing sometime ago at his blog I commented its fine to issue such warrants but apprehension is quite another thing. Its like winning a judgment in a money dispute, the judge says the defendant owes you money, now you have to collect it. Wretchard while agreeing to the premise of my comment stated there is a bigger battle here. That is along the PR war being fought.

If every accident in Iraq is portrayed as a war crime than we are in trouble. In fact with reporters it seems there are no accidents. A reporter can be hanging out with the terrorists with his camera in the middle of a shootout and when the reporter gets shot there are howls of indignation. What it seems people are demanding is Top Secret shooting.

Top Secret was the spoof movie of WWII flicks that came out in the 80s and IIRC it was created by the guys who made Airplane. In one scene the good guys are fighting hand to hand with German soldiers and it is all mixed up. Chocolate Moose takes his huge machine gun and opens up and sprays lead on the whole crowd, and in the end only the German soldiers are killed.

You know, part of Iraq are....a war zone.

"...a cross between a bad romance novel and a soap opera script."

HT: The Drudge Report.

Senator Barbara Boxer is publishing a novel. Guess what? Republicans & conservatives are the bad guys in it! Shock. Oh my God, did Barbara Boxer say a bad thing about us conservatives? I take issue with the comment below "...has created a dark and stormy night for Republicans." If what the Mainstream Mastadons say about us doesn't deter us (as a whole) then why would a waste of paper from Senator Boxer cause problems? Oh was that a sarcastic comment, like the sarcasm I utilize above?

Sen. Barbara Boxer's debut novel has yet to be published, but it already has created a dark and stormy night for Republicans. They're mostly villains in "A Time to Run," a suspense tale penned by the California Democrat.
The New York Times questioned Mrs. Boxer's portrayal of Republicans as "snakes" and Democrats as "saints" in the book, which chronicles the adventures of a diminutive redhead who assumes her husband's Senate seat after he is killed, then tries to foil the nomination of a conservative woman to the Supreme Court.

Source: The Washington Times - 'Saints' fend off 'snakes' in Boxer's political novel

Attacking the President's Critics.

Now that it seems the Plame thingamcdooodooo is about to finish up the idea that the President's critics should not dare be criticized is once again being taken as a given.

Why?

Why does Joe Wilson IV get to attack the President and when challenged everyone oooohhhhh-ooooohh attack dogs, digital brown shirts etc etc etc. Does not the first amendment apply equally to ones critics AND supporters?

Challenge the counter-point do not act aghast the President's supporters respond in kind.

Comfort Package Drive!

Passing this on. Came to my attention last night at the OCRPP Exec Commitee meeting and the article was forwarded to me by the person pushing this. Please help if you can. I was in the Middle East in much-much better circumstances and those little touches from home were very much appreciated, so much more for our soldiers.

Call +(920)730-3933 for more information.

By Kaylin Kerstner - Special to the Press Star
A patriotic theme is apparent throughout the room - in the thick red carpeting, bold blue curtains, adorned couch and hanging afghan. Military photographs decorate the wall and the afternoon sun shines on a blue star banner hanging in the window. Annette Meyer gingerly runs her fingers over a handmade commemorative quilt displayed on the wall of her home, honoring her son, Luke Herbst, who was stationed in Baghdad for a year (March 2004-2005) and currently is serving in Texas. This is Meyer's "military room."

Meyer distributes Christian dog tags to families and soldiers, inscribed with the scripture Joshua 1:9, "I will be strong and courageous. I will not be terrified, or discouraged, for the Lord my God is with me wherever I go." Meyer says, "Since I have been through this difficult war trial with my son, my heart has a burden to reach out to the neighborhood military families. Through this ministry, I share with them the comfort that the Lord has given to me."

"The Faith of the American Soldier," written by Stephen Mansfield, inspired Meyer to research the dog tags online and purchase them for area parents. "Mothers and fathers don't even take them off," Meyer emphasized. "One mother said she wouldn't until her son returned home."

"These dog tags are not lucky charms, but a reminder of who to turn to - our Lord Jesus Christ for strength and courage," Meyer affirms. Created by world-class Christian athlete Kenny Vaughan, hundreds of thousands of America's military servicemen and women carry tokens of his faith lesson into battle. Thus far, 620,000 soldiers worldwide wear them. More than a million Americans wear the Shields of Strength dog tags that Vaughan first created to help him remember what God taught him about the power of faith in the face of adversity.

Subtle signs along the way have uplifted Meyer and fueled her passion for this ministry. She explains, "To encourage my son, I sent him stanzas of 'What a Friend We Have in Jesus.' The next day at church we sang that song and the pastor went on to tell its history."

Meyer recollects another defining moment more recently, "My husband and I were riding to church on our Harley and I was admiring the flags in Readfield when the Lord gave me this thought; 'Why don't you sell dog tags at Caledonia Day?'" With only thirteen days to prepare, Meyer continued to pray and was enlightened by a scripture passage at her church, 'not by power, not by might, but by the spirit,' in reference to Zechariah 4:5-7.

Meyer is a blue star mom by the Lord's leading. One morning around the Fourth of July, Annette prayed, "Lord, should I look into this blue star banner?" The following day, the family went to visit Luke in Texas. Stopping at a wayside, Meyer remembers, "I was looking at an Abraham Lincoln sign and when I turned around I saw a Blue Star Memorial Highway sign - a literal sign that He wanted me to help somehow." That same weekend, the family watched "Saving Private Ryan" and Meyer noted a beginning scene when the mother learns her three sons died - in the window was a blue star banner.

Back in World War I, families displayed a blue star service banner in their window to let others know they had a loved one serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. The blue star banner is now an American tradition, reminding us that war touches every neighborhood in our land.

When a soldier puts on his or her combat uniform the family also puts it on. It is a sacrifice for both the soldier and the family.

In everything, Meyer places her trust in God. "I pray, 'Lord, You have to lead me because I want You to have the Glory.'" She also admits, "I'm on my knees a lot."

Meyer radiates joy and laughs often, making those around her feel completely at ease. "I feel like I'm in Jesus' arms right now," she beams.

Meyer is a member of S.O.S. (Supporting Our Soldiers) of New London. The group originally started out creating stamped cards to show support for the soldiers in our area going to Iraq. S.O.S. then expanded to include soldiers' wives, husbands and parents. In May 2005, they emerged with Shields of Strength dog tags. S.O.S. also receives monetary donations to pay for tags for the soldiers themselves.


Suggestions for Donated Items

Powdered Gatorade, Tang, sweetened Kool-Aid
Stationery supplies, pens, papers, envelopes - no stamps needed in Kuwait

Snacks, chips in containers - Cracker Jack, beef jerky, Slim Jims, crackers
and canned cheese, nuts and seeds, trail mix, salsa

Instant oatmeal, coffee, tea, cocoa (small indiv. packets)

Sweets - M&Ms, Little Debbies, Rice Krispie treats, dry cereal, dried fruit,
power bars, gum, Tootsie Rolls, granola bars, lollipops, hard candy. Items
containing chocolate chips are fine. Non-meltable chocolate.

Ramen noodles and packaged soups

Disposable cameras

Soft cover books, magazines

Hometown papers - (Press-Star is donating)
CDs and DVDs

Puzzles, cards, cribbage boards, journals, crossword puzzles, yo-yos, frisbees, dart boards, hackie sacks
Zip-Loc bags of all sizes

Personal items - shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, deodorant, tube shaving cream, disposable razors.

*Cash donations* If you would like to help with the postage all money collected will go 100% towards this.

Did You Hear What I've Heard Followup.

I don't buy it, just passing it along.

Did You Hear What I've Heard?

That the Plame Investigation is going to force VP Cheney out. Who is going to replace him? Condeleeza Rice setting her up for 2008!

I tell you that Karl Rove is a genius!

Comprehensive Story on the Wilson Affair.

Stephen Hayes writes a long and detailed article for The Weekly Standard that basically retells the whole story behind the so-called outing of Valerie Plame. The story is long, clicking on the print version button & printing it off, and then read the article. Here is the ending of it:

ON JULY 22, 2005, the New York Times published a lengthy, front-page article detailing the work of two senior Bush administration officials, Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, on the Niger-uranium story. A seemingly exhaustive timeline ran alongside the piece. In 19 bullet points, the Times provided its readers in considerable detail with what it regarded as the highlights of the story. The timeline traces events from the initial request for more information on the alleged Iraqi inquiries in Africa to Joseph Wilson's trip to Niger; from the now-famous "16 words" in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union to the details of White House telephone logs; from Bush administration claims that Karl Rove was not involved in the leak to the naming of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, and on from there to the dates that White House officials testified before the grand jury.

As I say, seemingly exhaustive. But there is one curious omission: July 7, 2004. On that date, the bipartisan Senate Select Intelligence Committee released a 511-page report on the intelligence that served as the foundation for the Bush administration's case for war in Iraq. The Senate report includes a 48-page section on Wilson that demonstrates, in painstaking detail, that virtually everything Joseph Wilson said publicly about his trip, from its origins to his conclusions, was false.

This is not a minor detail. The Senate report, which served as the source for much of the chronology in this article, is the definitive study of the events leading up to the compromising of Valerie Plame. The committee staff, both Democrats and Republicans, read all of the intelligence. They saw all of the documents. They interviewed all of the characters. And every member of the committee from both parties signed the report.

It is certainly the case that the media narrative is much more sensational than the Senate report. A story about malfeasance is perhaps more interesting than a story about incompetence. A story about deliberate White House deception is perhaps more interesting than a story about bureaucratic miscommunication. A story about retaliation is perhaps more interesting than a story about clarification.

But sometimes the boring stories have an additional virtue. They're true.

Source: The Weekly Standard - The White House, the CIA, and the Wilsons ( The chain of events that gave rise to a grand jury investigation.) [page 2 of 2]

Read the whole story and remember things are not as simple as what the Mainstream Mastadons are making them out to be. The story is much more complicated and so too is the law. Unfortunately, this is yet another leftist fairy tale that will never go away.

Of course critics may say this is distracting from the issue at hand. No it isn't. The Plame investigation is a sideshow and it is Wilson and the Mainstream Mastadon's who have played a wonderful game of distraction.

A Distinct Possibility.

The AP via Yahoo news reports that Scooter Libby's testimony & Judy Miller's notes contains inaccurate information. The information indicates that the belief was that Valerie Plame worked for a overt part of the CIA.

The inaccurate information could suggest Libby thought Plame was not an undercover spy, and therefore didn't know her identity was classified. The incorrect piece of information could lead back to a source or sources who were engaging in a larger effort to undercut Wilson's credibility. Or, as former top FBI official Danny Coulson suggests, it could simply mean that Libby's information came from "dinner talk" involving people who were uninformed.

Source: The AP via Yahoo News - Inaccurate Info May Help CIA Leak Probe

If true, what does it mean? It means no crime. Saying so & so is a CIA employee is not a crime. The law in play here is very detailed and specific and inadvertent leaks are not covered. Of course, the article speculates Libby's source may have been working to damage Valerie Plame. However, this gives credence to Bob Novak's claim that it was widely known that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA that it wasn't a deep secret in Washington Society.

Of course, this sort of information is not supposed to be getting out to the public and therefore is not completely trustworthy, but it underscores the fact we do not know everything that has gone on. I do hand it to the AP reporters for considering the fact the information on Valerie Plame could have been plain old "dinner talk" and not the nefarious plot those with Bush Derangement Syndrome characterize it to be.

Gouging?

Our Governor Doyle is in Washington D.C. now with other Democrat governors trying to get a gas gouging investigation going.

Governor Doyle, what is a fair price for gas? Come on now you seem to talk about gouging so obviously you know the best price for gas.

If any sort of gouging is going on, its government gouging the taxpayer!

Updates:

1. 10/18/2005 7:30 am.
Wendy at Boots & Sabers reports on a DJ ripping Doyle for this trip.
Yes, I did call Governor Doyle a "pansy" on the radio today. I cannot believe that [***]hole is in Washington trying to figure out how to lower gas prices when OTHER STATES AREN'T PAYING AS MUCH AS WE ARE."
Source: FuzzMartin.com - Doyle = Pansy

An Adorable Little Rodent.

I don't know that rodents are adorable typically I consider them filthy disease ridden vermin.

However, in this case I agree. I am fairly certain now, Blogger Beer is solidly an adorable rodent in the The Truth Laid Bear (TTLB) ecosystem. The TTLB ecosystem is a probably the best known blog ranking system out there. The blogger puts a little code in their blog and TTLB uses that to measure traffic as well as sources of traffic.

The two things TTLB tracks. Unique daily visits and inbound links. It seems the ranking within the ecosystm mainly depends on inbound links. Yes, I do watch this closely it is a means of measurement.

If you do not measure you can not improve.

So dear readers, I want to thank you for helping me to make Blogger Beer what it is (a growing blog) and I hope you continue to make Blogger Beer a regular part of your reading.

Zarqawi Gets a Project Manager.

Iowahawk is at it again! This time Abu Musab Zarqawi's guest column is griping about the fact project managers are starting to take control of the New Caliphate Century project.

Yeah, I got a question, I thought. How many consultants did you hire to put together this box-and-arrow cluster[****]? But, since it was close to lunch, I kept my mouth shut. Then Achmed the Saudi raises his hand. Now, you have to understand, Achmed is pretty much the team wise[***], so half the room was smiling and the other half was cringing when he stood up. “Imam,” he says, “let’s go back to phase number one on your waterfall chart. Ummmm, how does this expel-the-crusaders thing happen again?”

So Zawahiri just sorta stands there, mute for a minute, and says, “well, er, the vision statement is really very simple. We build mindshare with the masses with six-sigma beheading QC processes, and then the kaffirs will run away like in Vietnam. We just need to be ready for it, like the Vietnamese.”

Achmed just stands there and looks at him, completely deadpan.

“No seriously, this is exactly what happens with best-of-breed insurgencies, like Vietnam,” says Zawahiri. “It’s in all the books.”

So then, Achmed does this sarcastic confused look, and starts scratching his temple with his left stump. Man, it’s a good thing they broke for lunch, because I thought I was going to [****]ing crack up.

Source: Iowahawk -
I Hate My Boss

The ironic thing I was just reading some project management articles and they use quite a bit of the same vocabulary the Zarkman was reporing on Zawahiri using. Read the whole thing for yourself!