Three things that piss me off. (Can of Worms?)

Jess, Charlie, Liberal Avenger, these statements are not directly attacking you. Please don't get bent out of shape or pissed off by the topic. I'm hoping some to the more aggressive readers on your sites get wind of this and hopefully some sites that are really far to the left. These words are not meant for you, but them. (Unless, of course, you find yourself guilty of some of this. Then I'm asking you as politely as possible to please curb your tone.) If I offend anyone with this I apologize agead of time.

If you've noticed, there aren't too many Liberal, Progressive, Left-wing, Democratic blogs that I comment at. In fact, there's only about three that I frequent in comments; LOSLI, Pusillanimous Wanker II and one I can barely sometimes but is still a good blogger at heart (I just try to steer clear of politics over there...sometimes I can't help it though), The Liberal Avenger. The reason for this is some of the crap I read on the "other side" just pisses me off to no end. For a while now, I've been trying not to blog angry but enough is enough. Fortunately, I've been able to narrow my anguish down to three topics I do my absolute best to avoid at all costs. These three arguments tell me that Republicans or conservatives in general are not welcome:

Bush is Hitler!

Bush is not Hitler. Bush is nothing like Hitler. If you think he is you might want to go visit Auschwitz or one of the other death camps to get a better perspective on what the hell is being implied by that statement. Do you really think Bush is trying to create some Aryan race of super humans through human experiments? Is he trying to exact some sort of sick genocide against all of "them thar dirty A-rabs"? No, he is not.

I will not pretend that I am an expert on all things Nazi. In fact I've got a fairly limited angle on WWII history in general. I highly doubt with all of the elitist powers in the libboshpere that you are either. Please stop trying to make some obscure reference from a Nazi SS general to something Bush said. You probably don't know the real context and are only trying to snag sound bites. It's a sure-fire way to show me that you're not open to anyone else's opinion but your own.

Iraq (or Afghanistan) is just like Vietnam!

More than likely, you were born after the Vietnam conflict had already ended. Some of you that should know better, like John Kerry, continually try to drag it back out. It's like uncle Dick telling you how much better we have it today or how things were back in the day. You don't really care what he has to say but you have to listen because he's earned the right to say something. When they do it you sit there and accept it. When you do it you don't demand the same sort of tolerance. Again, unless you're a historian that's taken trips to Vietnam, done personal interviews with the Vietcong, or poured over historical texts you haven't earned the same lee-way that uncle McCain has, so don't talk about it like you know that Iraq is "just like Vietnam". You don't, so don't fake it.

I hate all Republicans and everything they stand for!

This is actually a Howard Dean quote from the final DNC forum before the Feb. 12 vote for Chairman. Here's the full sentence:

I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for, but I admire their discipline and their organization.

That is just a genuinely bad sentence. The first part of the sentence actually negates the second part. That is, of course, you believe you can admire something you hate. To go back to my first point, would that be like admiring Hitler's work ethic even though you hate him?

This isn't the only phrase of similar architecture. There are several others out there: "How could millions upon millions of Americans be so dumb?", "I don't really hate Bush, I just hate every policy he's tried to enact." or "I'm sorry world, we tried." could replace the phrase above. As far as I'm concerned we are one nation. You don't have to say "under God" if you don't want to. I'm not trying to force you and it pisses me off when you try to force me. I don't like being called dumb. When you hate all Republicans and their policies you are hating me. When you apologize to the world you are saying that our way is wrong and you just got out-voted, or we had the wool pulled over our eyes, or we were fooled by the vast right wing conspiracy.

I am a Republican because I believe in the majority of the important policies drawn up by them. Is it stupid, ignorant or idiotic to have hope in things Democrats do not?

Hey, something I don't really understand: Is Bush and evil mastermind or is he just plain stupid? We all know it can't be both ways. Saying he's a stupid evil mastermind would just sound silly, unless he's an Austin Powers character. Wait, that is silly.

I don't think I'm the only one that feels this way. I'd be willing to bet that several other people out there feel excluded by the three topics mentioned above. Maybe the next time you publish something that falls into one of these categories you'll think twice. Maybe now that you know it actually hurts people when you say these things you'll tone it down a bit. I know I can't tell you to do anything. What I can do is ask, and I'm asking as nicely as I know how.

Truly amazing pianists and violins

Just a couple of videos we've been revisiting at work.

First off is Bobby Yang erupting. Remember the kick ass into to the "You really got me" tune by Van Halen? You ever heard it done on violin? Neither had I until Bobby Yang rocked it.

BOBBY YANG ERUPTS!
(link to his site: http://www.bobbyyang.com)

The other one we've been talking about has sort of become our work song. Remember the Super Mario Bros. tune? Ever heard it played on the piano? Ever heard it played on the piano blindfolded? Ever heard it played on the piano blindfolded and then every other Mario Bros. tune thereafter? Ever heard it palyed on the piano blindfo....starting to get the idea? The whole thing runs over ten minutes. What's up with all these Asian musical bad-asses?

MARIO ON THE PIANO

(Link to another source: http://gprime.net/video/blindfoldedmariopianist2.php)
If that doesn't work go Here: http://gprime.net/video/ and click on: blindfolded mario pianist take 2

Extra link info added for the browser impaired.

Proud to have voted.

I'm sure you're all getting tired of the "great day" the Iraqis had yesterday but though patootie, have some more.

Unlike most people, I frefer to visit those blogs that don't envelop you in their massiveness. Loser's Blog is one of those blogs.Ferid has kept rather quiet, and as a result doesn't get too much traffic. He's an Iraqi you can get a word in edgewise with. Speaking of which, he's just elated about Sunday. If you don't believe me go check out his site. HERE

Here's an excerpt:

The history will record how Iraqis challenged even death today; with a turnout of 72% Iraqis showed the other civilized face of this country, showed the world that the culture of kidnapping, beheading and mass killing does not belong to them, they are like the rest of nations willing for democracy, peace and justice...and May the god bless our 36 brave martyrs who knew they might die today but came after all…

Yes, he did vote.

Climate change disaster feared by 2026

THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!

"Time is running out to avoid a two degree rise," said Mark New, a climate expert at Oxford University who made the 2026-60 projections in the report commissioned by the WWF.

First off, the global climate has proven itself flexible by several degrees with our without our help. I'm not really too concerned with it.

The real reason for posting this is the name of the organization involved, the WWF. Does anyone else still want to call it the World Wrestling Federation? If I remember right, McMahon had the rights to the name long before some tree huggin' weenies tried to sue for it. Does anyone not see the hypocrisy in this? It shoud be the World Wildlife Foundation that saves birds, or polar bears and the WWF should be smashing bodies through breakaway tables. Enough of this WWE crap!

Tens of thousands protest Gaza plan

And just like that (snaps finger) we're at loggerheads in Israel.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Israelis have opposed to a plan to uproot settlers from occupied Gaza have staged their biggest rally for months to demand that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon put the pullout to a referendum.

It's like two spoiled brats fighting over a toy. There's no reason for it. In order to have peace concessions have to be made. Unfortunately, both sides don't want to give up their precious Gaza.

You know what? Screw Gaza, nobody gets it. What do you when two children are fighting over a toy? That's right, you take it away. It works every time. They cry about it for a while, or sometimes just sit there stunned, then go about their business like the toy was never there. Lets take Gaza away from everybody. Let's take away their toy.

So what do we do with the settlers?

¥
One idea would be to kick them all out. Make a fresh start on the land. Give it over to the UN so we could kick Kofi Annan and the rest of them out of the U.S. It's not that I hate the UN so much as it is I don't feel it's good and proper for the UN to be on any one country's home soil. It sort of gives the impression that we've got home field advantage. Maybe if they had their own autonomous state there wouldn't be the same petty jealousy that can inadvertently happen in situations like that.

The problem with this plan is that none of the people living there want to move. Would you like the government telling you that you had to move to make way for some snotty foreigners? Yeah, I didn't think so. If this happened the terror in the region would be at an all time high. Israel might even start in on the action. So this plan is a no-go.

¥
Create a third state. Call it Gazaland, Gaza Stripperville, Palisrael, Israelistine, hell, name it Promised Land. Just make the documentation to have it a third and independent state from either country. Look, a good portion of the Palestinian people hate Israelis and vice versa. If we make Gaza it's own state then those that aren't mean and hateful bastards can build the area up together, withought racial hatred. Maybe someday Promised Land or whatever could be the "good example" these people need to set aside their differences.

Maybe I'm just a fool. Who knows?

Thirty-Five at close of polls

That is the number of lives that were given up in the name of democracy today. I hope this number can remain at zero for the whole day. I am not naive enough to believe that nothing will happen today but one can hope, and pray.

Many times throughout history people have laid down their lives for the hope that one day they our their countrymen will be a free people. Free from tyranny and oppression. Free from threats upon themselves and their families. Free to have a life that is their own, that they can do with as they see fit. Today is a day of freedom.

This day is not just a day for the Iraqi people. It is a significant day for everyone the world over, from Iraq to Israel, from France to America, from Germany to Australia, from Afghanistan to Russia, from China to Iran. Everyone in the world has a stake in this one day. Everyone will be watching to see what unfolds this day. The outcome of which is yet to be foretold.

What will come of this day? Will it be a pleasant Iraq day? A day with which there will be celebrations in the streets? Will the Iraqi people take back their country from the grip of terror this day? Will this become a hallmark for peaceful Democracy throughout the Middle East, the likes of which all Arab nations will rise up against oppression, rise up against tyranny? Will they defeat the grip of terror, fighting and death that has plagued the land of Canan since biblical times?

Or will this be a day of mourning, a day of death and destruction the likes of which will make the strongest of strong men weep at the very thought? Will terror rip through this country till the land is no longer recognizable from the blood of its people? Will death and hate consume this country in a fiery end? Will this be just another battle in the struggled lives of the Cananites?

This fine Iraqi morning we do not know the answer to these questions. In one cycle of the Earth we will know the truths that lay before us. This day of the lord we shall be witness to a great happening upon the earth. In a rare glimpse we will see what God's plan has in store for us all. We will one time see though the eyes of the lord but not be blinded by his glory. We shall see with our own eyes, in cold and cruel terms what is to become of Iraq and maybe deeper to the rest of the world.

I am no pastor and this is no sermon, but I cannot help but sense we are being guided by the spirit of the lord this day. The ominous silence you feel is not the growing anticipation of what terrorists have in store. It is the anticipation of what God almighty will bring forth upon the earth this day. The vote that is given today is not just for the Iraqi people. It is a vote for freedom throughout the world. It is a vote for peace on earth.

If there is peace, there will be peace. If there is death, there will be death. Today it is that simple. Today there are no more simple terms than a vote from the land of Canan.

May God bless all of the world and keep it safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Following is the best a simple man like myself can do to stay up on affairs as they occur. I will do my best, but something will invariably be missed. If a gunman opens fire, if a bomb takes a soul, if anything happens and I haven't posted it here please let me know and I'll add it.

Start time is: 11:59 EST

12:29 EST Nine out of ten MSM hack agree: Iraq election begins under shadow of violence. (You'd think they'd be smarter that to steal all their stuff from Reuters. Come on people! Get original with your headlines!)

12:41 EST One blast at a polling station reported by FOXNEWS Television. Ro reports of injuries as it blew up at a checkpoint and not the polls themselves. Count is still Zero.

01:03 EST Neat fact. It is a requirement by the intirim Iraqi government that 1/3 of the candidates in this election be women. Out of the 111 candidates on this ballot that's at least 37 female candidates. Talk about equality! Reoprts of bombs in Baghdad, but still no casualties reported. The number remains at zero.

01:12 EST A report from AP has that suicide bomber at the polling station killing one patriotic Iraqi soldier. I pray he did not die in vain. APNEWSWIRE

01:44 EST Ayad Allawi, the Prime Minister, has just finished voting. Both the Prime Minister and the President have voted....Wait! Breaking news! Kerry's going to vote for the Iraq elections...hold on! No! He's voting against the elections now....Okay, yeah, it's a bit uneventful so far. I am not complaining though. Hopefully, no news is good news. (Was Al gore on the ballot?)

02:06 EST It's just after 10 A.M. Iraq time. Two more people were killed in mortar fire in Baghdad. There was also another death of a policeman near the town of Hilla. It is believed that towns in the heavy Sunni areas. Total is now counted as four souls given for the freedom of their country.

03:11 EST It's lunch time, 11 A.M. in Iraq. Some people are saying they're coming in droves. Others call it a scared trickle. I call it a miracle we've only lost four brave souls so far. No, I'm not complaining. Something of note, even CNN's Amanpour (I think that's how you spell it.) has got a smirk on her face. How rare is that!?! If Geraldo had a bigger smile on his face it would wrap all the way around to the back of his head.

Something else of note: Some of the more libera..no, that's not the right word to use here. Some of the more terror sticken parts of Iraq have not opened many of their polling places. Instead, they've opened stations on the outskirts of the cities to allow for those that want to vote.

It's 3:18 EST 11:18 Iraq time and still just four souls lost after four hours of voting. I'm going to take a nap. I'm tired. I need some sleep.

Before I go, just one paper quote from AP:

Even in the small town of Askan in the so-called "triangle of death" south of Baghdad — a mixed Sunni-Shiite area — 20 people waited in line at each of several polling centers. More walked toward the polls.

It's starting...

13:05 EST The polls in Iraq are now closed. FOXNEWS is showing Iraqis dancing in the streets! There's one old guy they keep showing that looks like he's trying to do either "the Bird" or "the chicken dance", I can't tell which. Early voting estimates show ove 60% of the eligible population voted. Some estimates have it as high as 72% voter turnout. Remember, we had only 60% voter turnout for our elections and they were the best ones in years.

The terrorists had no tricks up their sleeves. THey tried no tactics that they hadn't tried before. It's getting old and tired. Mortar fire and suicide bombings killed a total of 44 people including the nine suicide bombers. If you look above, I'm only showing 35 souls lost today. remember, I'm only counting those on the side of freedom. Today Iraq had a choice to make. Instead of cowering in their homes they chose freedom and are dancing in the streets!

--FIN--

Iraqi Freedom

This article will be to chronicle the events of the Iraqi election as we get them from the news sources.

A rocket explodes in front of the U.S. embassy in the green zone. Two Americans are killed and four injured. Withing hours the attackers are pinpointed, surrounded by helicopters, surrounded by troops and all three (correction: five) were taken into custody. FOXNEWS.

Small riot after a bag stirs a bomb scare in Australia. It turns out there's a bunch of Wahibis that were protesting the vote that caused the small riot. THey were carrying that same black flag the terrorists were carrying. Wouldn't that be considered inciting a riot and punishable by the law? Oh well, maybe laws are more liberal in Australia. FOXNEWS.

Fedid the great (A real live Iraqi) has just posted his first statement this year. Go get his take on things. Seems he only blogs when he's happy. Today, the day before the elections, he's happy. Go figure! LOSER'S BLOG.

Insurgents killed 17 Iraqis and 1 American soldier on Saturday. Why this is only a by-line to the rocket attack in the green zone I don't know, but it is. REUTERS.

Omar, over at Iraq the Model, appears to be thumbing his nose at the tyranny of oppression. If he was speaking any more freely I'd accuse him of being American. You go Omar! IRAQ THE MODEL.

Hammorabi is going to say NO...and YES!...huh? Here's the excerpt:

Our voting is:
No to the terrorists!
No to the dictatorships!
No to hate and racism!
No to the fascists!
No to the Nazis!
No to the mentally retarded tyrants!
No to the ossified, narrow-minded and intolerants!

The Iraqis are voting in few hours time for the new Iraq.

We are going to create our future by ourselves not by dictators.

We are going to say:
Yes for the freedom and democracy!
Yes for the civilized Iraq!
Yes for peace and prosperity!
Yes for coexistence!
Yes for the New Iraq!

He's got more but that's the gist. HAMMORABI

Jeff Jarvis has pretty much covered all of the Iraqi bloggers on this. I'll be sticking to news stories from now on. BUZZMACHINE.

3 hours 15 minutes until polls open. Everything seems rather quiet in anticipation of this monumentus occasion. Something I should have mentioned earlier:

Freinds of Democracy are live blogging this as well. They're a bit more reputable than me, but it's not going to stop me, NO SIR! I'll be running this until my wife kicks me off the computer. Exactly how much more clout to they have than me? Just check out C-SPAN from 2-4 P.M. EST for the answer. It will be live webcast HERE as well. Unlike me, again, they've got REAL LIVE IRAQIS doing REAL LIVE JOURNALISM. I guess that would make them real and live?

08:36 EST - The suspect grab has climbed up to seven for the U.S. embassy bombing earlier. In other news (for some reason included in this article instead of being its own): Earlier on Saturday, eight people were killed in a homicide bombing and a roadside explosive killed a U.S. soldier. 2 1/2 hours until the elections. :)
FOXNEWS

Well, it's 10:30EST. I just checked the news. I can't see anything relovent that I haven't posted above. I'll be closing this out in about 20 minutes and starting up the one that will run all day. The title will hold a body count unless it changes from miniscule to morbid. If it goes morbid I may be closing this blog down, changing my name to Nietze and running around with a "Buck Fush" sign like all of the rest of the socialists.

Sharon, Abbas to Meet in Two Weeks

I'm sure everyone is getting sick of me harping about how cool the potentiality of peace between Israel and Palestine may be. I'm sure you think that nothing will come up it and there's no sence wasting my time talking about it.

Well, tough. Suck it up. Too bad. I'm talking about it and there's nothing any one of you can do about it. (Borrows evil vincent price laugh from DC. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. First Afghanistan, tomorrow Iraq and after a couple of weeks Sharon and Abbas will be at the table for negotiations. Hooray! The only thing that needs to happen now is for Iran to have a rebellion, and that's not too far fetched.

This isn't exactly a guarantee of things to come. Yasser had gone to the table many times and always went home empty handed. He refused sensible negotiations every time. The only possible excuse is that Sharon was just not capable of proper negotiations. Well, we'll see how this all goes down in a couple of weeks.

If you're an Iraqi reading this, may Allah bless you as you go to vote.

Screw the bloggies

Okay, I just got back from looking at the blog categories for the bloggies. I only recognize three or four blogs on the list. Wankette somehow got nominated for like five awards. Does anybody over there have a clue about what makes a political blogger? The only two choices I recognized were Eschaton and Wonkette. That's it? That's the best they could come up with?

Needless to say, I didn't vote. I got sick of it all and gave up. REDICULOUS!

Que esta el tequila?

For those of you that speak english as a second language I have added a translator for both French and Spanish on the right sidebar. The French translator is not necessarily for the French. I'm sure there are many French Canadiens that prefer the language of snoot.

Enjoy.

Two bits on Ted "Chippaquiddick" Kennedy

Okay, we all heard the remarks. The for right is calling for his...wait, they're afraid of him. They haven't said squat, except for a few media outlets like Savage, (sorry members of the right, I really dislike what Savage has to say.) Limbaugh and Pat "the Fallaffel King" O'reilly. (It's just a harmless jab. Get over it.)

Right on queue they've stated exactly what they would be expected to say, in unison:

His Words are Killing Americans and destroying democracy for Iraq!!!

...ummm, no. Not quite. Unless he gained some new gun like on the planet of Dune it ain't happening. Ted may have his ominous mysteries but being Moadib is not one of them. Words don't kill very often, unless you scream fire in a crowded theatre, but that's something different, hopefully.

So what's my take on it? What do I think about it? I think he's doing what he can to marginalize the Iraqi elections politically. He's doing what he can to play damage control for his beloved party, even if it makes himself look bad.

Okay Jeremy, What the hell are you talking about?

What I'm talking about is everyone has believed for some time now the the elections in Iraq are going to turn into a great big mushroom cloud with thousands upon thousands of Iraqis and Americans killed. By the end of the day some might have even fathomed Zarqawi standing on a ten foot tall pile of dead bodies, hands at his hips in one of those "king of the mountain" poses, laughing at the stupid and foolish American infidels.

I'm sorry to say this, but that would be the absolute best scenario for the Democratic party. It would kick everything Bush stands for sqarely in the balls. If this were to happen I doubt even the hardest hard line Republicans would be able to stare it in the face. The only natural thing for any red (or blue) blooded American would be to vote against the party that stretched America's neck out so that terrorism could lop our heads off. (No intention of any joke there for those that have been decapitated in Iraq.) It would mean a windfall for the Democratic party come election time, or maybe even before then.

Great, so if it's a complete disaster the Democrats get to feed off of the carcass of Iraq's false Democracy?

Hold on there sparky. Democrats don't want to kill anyone. Even though they would be the beneficiaries of such an act I doubt any blue blooded Democrat wants to see anyone die in this. (Except maybe Zell Miller who just want's to challenge people to duels all the time.) Democrats, traditionally, have been the most compassionate caring people on the planet. Go get a head count from the Peace Corpse and you'll probably find an 80% ratio of democrats in it.

Okay, great! They don't want to kill anyone. Could you get to the marginalization part?

Right, marginalization.
By saying that this election in Iraq does not make solid and safe Democracy he hopes that it will form some sort of subconsious damage control. It allows the Democratic party to critique the monthly tolls of death and lawlessness. It plants the seed of paterned loss in Iraq that gives you the retrospect to believe that free elections in this area are not really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.

That's a load of crap! What he said was completely preposterous! No one would believe all of that! It's all made up stories. It won't make one lick of difference in anyone's hearts and minds!

On the contrary. If it was really that insignificant we wouldn't hear it in the news and half the 'sphere wouldn't be blogging about it today. Even if every word that man said was a bold faced lie there are those that will believe them because he's a respected Senator in the United States. People will not feel the need to fact check and those that do just dismiss his words as frivolity will be adding to the ponderance on the statements. It's a very functional phychologic tactic. The only way to dismiss his words effectively is to dismiss them with hard facts.

That's the trick of it. Most of what he said was at least partially defensible. The beliefs that he shot down were accepted beliefs by some, if not all in some cases. The one I remember the most was the "Falujah will break the back of the insurgency" statement. Many in the media were trying to push people into saying it. The MSM asked the question several times "Will Falujah break the back of the Insurgency?" Every time, the answer was no, it will not finish them off. However, the seed of understanding was pushed into the minds of Americans that this event would be the end of attacks. That was an inadvertent lie to the world.

Let me give you another example in the media: Michael "share your bed" Jackson has been had the crap beat out of him in the media. Nearly everyone that has uttered his name on television calls him a predator of the worst kind. We still don't have any direct evidence in the matter other than the testiminy of one teenager. Until the jury comes back with a hanging decision he is an innocent man, period. The seeds of thought over Michael Jackson have made him a guilty mind in over half of America's minds. Yet, there has still been no trial. Thank you media for being judge and jury.

Now, back to Teddy. Most of his ideas will be shot down, like I just did with the Falujah incident. Some will become the topic for heated debate. Others still with be difficult to gain a foothold against. Overall though, it will make us think about what is, and is not going right in Iraq. It is an attempt to marginalize the election to the American people. It's an attempt to save his party in case the Iraqi elections are more valid than our own. It's a sacrifice fly ball so the runner on third base can score for his team.

As preposterus as I find many of his statements I have to hive him, "gulp" , respect for taking one for the team.

Sharon-Abbas Summit in Sight After Talks

Abbas has had his people talk to Sharon's people. Their people have agreed upon having a summit to try and hook this deal up! Currently, no date has been set for the summit. I hope it's soon..befor the Hamas or some other terrorist organization try and assassinate Abbas.

...All we can do now is pray.

Top U.S. General: 15,000 Insurgents Killed or Caught

Okay everybody. Here's the good quotes:

U.S. and Iraqi forces have killed or captured 15,000 people over the past year in their fight against an insurgency ravaging Iraq.

Our total losses are at about 1,300 to 1,400. Not to morbidly compare combat losses but: Better than a 1 to 10 ratio.

But he conceded that the number of car and suicide bombs had increased and that Iraqi security forces were not capable of dealing with the violence themselves.

The numbers of Iraqi forces continues to climb. Estimates of around 120,000 to 150,000 are on the ground as of today. They're not ready today, but there will come a day when we can pack up and leave.

The level of violence in 14 of the 18 provinces in Iraq is four incidents or arrests a day...It is primarily confined to four provinces. It has not spread to 80 percent of the population.

Is this supposed to be the rotating four provinces everyone keeps talking about? To go out on a limb, guestimate the 80% of non-violence in Iraq to vote. Even if there's only a 60% vote that still matches the U.S. election. Afghanistan had an 80% turn-out, if you were wondering.

Up to 14 million Iraqis could vote...I would see most of the violence in the Sunni areas and a good part of it in the Baghdad area, I would expect low levels of violence in the Shi'ite areas.

I get a total population of 22,000,000 Iraqis, men, women and children. Lets see, carry the one, that's about 64 percent of the total population. If he's right and 14 million Iraqis vote they've got a more legitimate government than our own!

Well, we've got until Sunday to postulate on what will happen. I'm fairly optimistic about it. I'm thinking of running a pool as to how many people are actually killed on Sunday, but I'm not too sure if it would come off as morbid. I wouldn't want to offend anyone about this. It's too important for that.

4 more days!

Boxer's Rebellion

Today Condoleeza Rice was voted in to Secretary of State 85 yea to 13 nay. I'm not going to make some cheesey "basking in the glow of the mandate" statement because those numbers tell a different story than that. That's right, the numbers show something a bit deeper than a simple vote her in or out.

We sort of have to break the numbers down a bit to understand where I'm going with this. We know for fact that all of the Republicans voted for Rice. That covers 53 of the 100 total votes (two Republicans did not vote). That leaves 45 democratic or independent votes. Rule of thumb would suggest that all, or mostly all of those votes would go against Rice. That was not the case. There was a 13 to 32 split within non-Republicans. This may not look like much, but it covers 28.8% of all non-Republicans.

So here's my hair-brained theory: There is a serious split in the Democratic party between the Boxerites and the Clintonites. It looks to me like we've got a good old fasioned cat fight in the Democratic party. Could this be foretelling the future female dominance in the Democratic party one way or another? Who knows. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. Let's look at the two philosophies and see what we can see.

BOXERS
The Boxer camp believes that the only way to truly strengthen the party is to show how different they are from the Republican party. They will go to extremes to be against the Republicans. The standard theory states that the reason Kerry did not win was because he was shown as "middle of the road" when he should have been presented as a true liberal. Grandstanding, fighting all Republican proposals without regard for content and even using their anti-conservative gestures as a method for garnering campaign contributions. In this group all tactics are acceptable. They are fighting for the life of the Democratic party and feel they must set themselves apart from the "middle of the road". A good portion of this group are carryovers from what can be dubbed "Deaniacs". According to the Rice vote, the following congresspersons are believed to be part of this camp:

Akaka (D-HI)
Bayh (D-IN)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Dayton (D-MN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Harkin (D-IA)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Levin (D-MI)
Reed (D-RI)

Clintonians
This group, the majority, believes a strategy of appearing "in the middle" will garner more votes come election time. They work within the system of polite debate and only go against Republicans on obviously partisan issues, Attourney General Gonzales for example. I'm not sure if they really believe many of the ideals they are trying to project and in real belief terms I would suggest that Hillary has a more liberal mindset than Barbara. This is just my opinion, but Hillary does not fool me for a second. I've heard her speak on several issues and she is not being true to her beliefs. She's courting tactics to gain favor with those that aren't familiar with her and hopefully grow support within the Demcratic party. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure some of the members of this group believe in centrism, but Hillary is probably not one of them. The suspected members of this party branch, according to the Rice vote, are:

Baucus (D-MT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Clinton (D-NY)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Leahy (D-VT)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Wyden (D-OR)

So there's the theory on the floor. I'm sure some of these names will cross back and forth before lines are drawn. I would suspect that Biden and Feinstein will be two names you see bouncing around both sides. You may want to keep an eye on these list of names as the months roll by and decisions are made. It might prove itself to be true. (Of course, this could be a big mistake as well.)

If, however, this party separation hold itself through to 2008 the Democrats will truly be a party divided. It will be an ugly sight to see. They could become so torn amongst themselves that even Jeb Bush could walk away, hands down, with an election in the bag.

Even if the party splits right down the middle with no end in sight there is still a chance for them though. It would require a presidential nominee from the strong side and a vice presidential from the weak. Maybe we could see a Kerry/Obama ticket, or a Byrd/Lieberman ticket in 2008. How knows? The Democratic party might even put the two cats together and have the first all female nominations of Clinton/Boxer. Only time will tell.

VW 'outraged' by viral suicide bomber ad

Click on the link. Watch the ad. I Wish VW could start sending these VW Polos to everyone in Iraq.

Is this insensitive? Maybe.

It is funny? Hell Yeah!!

Hat tip to Fark.

Tearing Down Illegal Shacks?

Tearing down illegal shacks in the Gaza Strip.

Take a wild guess as to who's tearing down shacks in the Gaza Strip? Go back and read the article. I had to read it a couple of times myself. I thought they'd got their names mixed up. This never would have happened with Mr. checkerboard-tablecloth-for-a-hat.

Okay, for those too lazy to click a link it's Mahmud Abbas doing what everyone would expect from Ariel Sharron. This appears to me to be the difference between a leader of terrorists (Arafat) and a leader of democracy (Abbas).

This just makes me sort...well...happy. No, that's not right. Ecstatic! Yeah, that's a better word for it. Never before have I seen Palestine take action to reign in their own people. Hell, I didn't even know they had a bulldozer!

Here's a news excerpt:

Up to 3,000 Palestinian police began patrolling the northern half of the Gaza Strip, mainly along the border with Israel, over the weekend.

The Palestinians have police? They have more than 3,000 police? I thought they just had the Hamas to rule the streets. Wait, let's try and add two and two here...If they have police it means they can control lawlessness in their own country. If they can control the lawlessness they can rid themselves of most of the Hamas and other terrorist organizations. If they can stop the Hamas there will be little to no more bombings of Israelis. (okay, this is getting sort of Yoda-ish. Just bear with me.) If they don't asassinate Abbas, no more bombings means a chance at........ Wait for it.............................


Peace

Hat tip to Jane at Armies of Liberation. She blogged it first.

Cold sucks!

No, it's not really snowing here. I just thought I'd add some cold sentiment to the site. I hope it's not too chilling.

Let me know if you're getting system lag from the snowflakes. I'm attempting to test the practical limits of an active webpage.

P.S. The link to the live radio stream keeps changing and I'm not going to hunt it down every day. If anyone has a good link to a stable station I'm all frostbitten ears. May your heater not go out....and for those of you in California could you please send us some warmth? We could use it over on the Right coast.

US plans 'robot troops' for Iraq

Think Short Circuit with an M240 machine gun and a bunch of camaras.


This new robot, which is a modification of the Talon bomb removal robot, runs about 200,000$ and can save lives. I know this could be considered a rather ominus sign, but the gameboy style controller and Virtual reality goggles they're planning on installing makes the gadget geek in me a bit giddy.

Another good side to this gadget titled SWORDS (Special Weapons Observation Reconniassance Detection Systems) is believed to eliminate the majority of "shooting errors" you get. Some of those deal with the inaccuracy of the human form to shoot straight and the other would allow people to get a better look at what's really around the corner so civilians are less frequently shot at. I hope they put it out soon.

A cool mom?

Admit it. At one time in your life you would have just loved some hot looking mother to get you loaded and take advantage of you. Sure, you've probably had a crush or two on your high school biology teacher, or physics or whatever. You might have even gone as far as sent him or her a love note. None of you had a teacher, or freind's mom (M.I.L.F.) that would oblige your teenage hormones. You would have thought she was a really cool mom.

Today I've got a different perspective on these things. Those days of raging teen hormones are gone. There have been several stories in the news of older ladies taking advantage of young boys. It bothers me deeply. Somehow my mind glances back to the huge stipend the Catholic church gets hammered for every time something like this happens to a minister and a teenage boy. For some reason that's sicker in many people's minds than a teacher or someones mom. There's still only one word for both types of people: PEDOPHILE.

Simply because it's every hormone laden boy's dream to "make it" with a hot older woman doesn't make it any less sick. Next time you hear about some young boy in a sex scandal with a much older woman try to think of who else falls into the same category of perversion. Hopefully, this has provided some with a better perspective on the topic. Was she really just a "cool mom"?

It's cold, Carson died, Rose Mary Woods died.

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What is a mandate?

Over the past few months this word, mandate, has been thrown around rather liberally and I'm not sure if everyone gets the original concept behind it. For the direct answer I'm going to go to my Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary. So, to page 1,167 starting with "manageress" and ending with "mandible":

man-date (man'dât), n., v -dat.ed, -dat-ing. --n. 1. a command or authorization to act in a particular way on a public issue given by the electorate to its representative: The president had a clear mandate to end the war 2. a command from a superior court or official to a lower one. 3. an authoratative order or command: a royal mandate 4. (in the League of Nations) a commission given to a nation to administer the government and affairs of a former Turkish territory or German colony. 5. a mandated territory or colony. 6. Rom. Cath. Ch. an order issued by the pope, esp. on commanding the preferment of a certain person to a benefice 7. Roman and Civil Law. a contract by which one engages gratuitously to perform services for another. 8. (in modern civil law) any contract by which a person undertakes to perform services for another. 9. Roman Law. an order or decree by the emperor, esp. to govorners of provinces. --v.t. 10. to authorize or decree (a particular action, as by the enactment of law. 11. to order or require; make manatory: to mandate sweeping changes in the election process. 12. to consign (a territory, colony, etc.) to the charge of a particular nation under a mandate. [1540-50; { L mandâtum, n. use of neut. of mandâtus, ptp. of madâre to commission, lit., to give into (someone's) hand. See MANUS, DATE1]

Okay, so why on earth would I want to include all 12 definitions in the biggest dictionary I could find? Quite simply to show that there is no equivocation to quantity in the word mandate. This means that by winning the election by any margin whatsoever, President George W. Bush has a mandate. Does his mandate grow stronger or waeker by the actual quantity of people that voted for or against him? No. It contains a simple positive or negative. There is no such thing as a measure to mandate. You either have it or you don't.

This next part may require a little bit of thought. It includes some asumptions and the understanding of the word mandate. I know it sounds like such a simple word, but the United States has seen fit to butcher this word to suit their needs. The only true definitions for the word are directly above you. Anything else is a fabrication of smoke an mirrors.

Assuming that there is only a yes and no to a mandate you can still have a stronger or weaker mandate when speaking of collectives. The house and the senate are collectives. They hold several mandates joined or disjoined together into separate political parties. Both the Democratic and Republican parties have mandates (according to definition 1) in the government. Currently, Republicans have more individual mandates in both the house and the senate. This could be interpreted as a stronger mandate, a greater mandate, a larger mandate than the democratic party.

The part that I'm trying to elude to here is that total votes for president do not matter in the least. There is absolutely only one way the make President Bush's mandate any stronger, greater or larger is to have more Republican senators or congressmen. At this point it still only strengthens the Republican party's mandate, not really the president's mandate.

I can't stress the votes thing enough. One extra vote is a mandate. Ask Christine Gregoire if she's got a mandate in Washington State today. Is it a strong mandate? Is it a weak mandate? Does it matter? A mandate is a mandate, period. If It's President Bush or Governor Gregoire (if appeals fail) it's still a mandate, like it or not.

...almost forgot something I've been wanting to say for a while:


MANDATE BITCHES!!!

Streaming Audio

Hopefully I've solved the music dilemma. I've figured out how to plug a live stream into my site. I've also relocated the on/off button to the top of the right sidebar. Currently it's set to KGB FM San Diego. They used to be my absolute favorite radio station in the world. Unfortunately, they've gone classic rock. Classic rock is okay and all, but I'm a bit more modern. Case in point: I just spent about 20 minutes trying to find a live feed for Green Day - American Idiot. I don't like the politics behind it much (or maybe I do?) but you have to admit, it rocks. Anyway, maybe if JulieB could forward me her live radio feed she'd never know the difference. Until then, the on/off button is just to the right of the screen.

Since I'm not going to post anything worthwhile today (like I do on any other day?) I've added the coveted "What people are saying" sidebar item. It's directly under the profile stuff on the left. Feel free to send my your donations, praise, angst, money, etc. (If you want on the list make something up and put the message here.)

...maybe I could find a good death metal station?

UPTATE!: I just went to the KGB site and noticed that Dave, Shelly and Chainsaw are still working there! I must have left over 10 years ago and they're still there!

SHUT UP!

Okay, I turned the little song thing off. I thought it might be getting annoying to some people. If I'm mistaken I can turn it back on. Heck, I'll even do requests! Maybe I could figure out to link to a live stream someday?

Anyway, for now it's off.let me know yea or nay. Free democracy and all that jazz.

Something else I figured out that Charlie let me know works is the big red W in place of the standard web picture on the URL bar. It works in Firefox and Mozilla but not IE or bloglines. If anyone knows how to fix that let me know. I'm always open to suggestions.

The last thing I've been thinking about doing is adding some sort of "What people are saying" section. Is that overdone or is it still an alright thing to do. (I've got so much sidebar now I don't know what to do with it all!)

Strange search engine hits

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Bowling for Bodyguards

Damn! You just can't make stuff like this up!

Michael Moore's bodyguard was arrested today and New York's JFK airport. Before I thell you what he was arrested for let me set the stage for you. I know most of you are thinking "What for?" "This one's a no-brainer.", but just in case someone has been in a cave for the past five years or so.

Michael Moore's first big hit was a film called Bowling for Columbine. Instead of me regurgitating the movie I'm just going to give you someone elses review of it:

The Movie Gazette

After watching "Bowling For Columbine", you could be forgiven for being left with the impression that sharp-eyed documentarist Michael Moore has one of the few sane voices left in gun-totin', junk food-munching, war-mongering America. Thankfully, it's not quite that cut and dry - but Moore certainly has a way of making you sit up and take notice.

Centred around the horrific shooting incident at Colorado's Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, Moore sets out to uncover the facts behind gun culture in American society. Why do such a whopping number of shootings occur in the US every year in comparison to the likes of Canada and the UK? Why is there a general perception among the American people that crime rates are on the increase, despite the reverse being true? Why is a normal everyday bank handing out free weapons in return for opening an account? These are just some of the questions asked, but unsurprisingly left more or less unanswered.

Well, that should be one question answered. Moore's bodyguard was arrested for carrying a firearm in New York without a valid license. He's licensed in Florida and california, but not New York. Patrick Burke, the bodyguard, has been taken to Queens for booking.

You just can't make good copy like this up!

FOXNews OWNS the Cable News Market

Cruising around the net I ended up on Drudge's site. It could be gone by the time you read this, so here's the viewership numbers for the 17th:

CABLE NEWS RACEMON, JAN. 17, 2005

[VIEWERS]
FNC O'REILLY 2,719,000
FNC HANNITY/COLMES 1,730,000
FNC SHEP SMITH 1,626,000
FNC GRETA 1,470,000
FNC BRIT HUME 1,445,000
CNN LARRY KING 1,442,000
COMEDY DAILY SHOW 1,049,000
CNN ZAHN 535,000
MSNBC MATTHEWS 530,000
CNN AARON BROWN 467,000
CNN COOPER 363,000
MSNBC SCARBOROUGH 349,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 342,000

FOXNews OWNS the top 5 spots. I know 2-5 are rather close to smiegelLarry King, but O'Reilly nearly doubles the numbers. I think it's safe to say that this isn't Scarborough country. heh.

Thank-You Barbara Boxer!

Today I'd like to make a special shout out to Barbara Boxer. You have really made my day. No, I'm not being cynical or snarking on her. I'm really pleased, giddy, actually. Many people are all pissed off and grumpy about what she dared say to Condi. "It was an uncalled for attack!" "What a mean partisan hacktevist!" "Barbara is just a mean person!"

Sorry, I just can't be the mean repug on this one. It's just too funny.

The fact of the matter is all she did was embarass herself. The point of the hearing was to question her about subjects, not to scold her for being a "liar".

The thing I want to thank Barbara most for is giving conservative bloggers everywhere something juicy to blog about. I've seen at least three articles about it on Blogs for Bush alone! So from the bottom of my heart, thank you Barbara for giving us all some good material.

I guess this goes back to the "If everyone was jumping off a bridge" article. Please stay tuned for I nice long article about my new-found favorite headliner! Love ya' Barbie!

(By the way, do not search for boxer rice in Google images. Gay anime porn warning!)

Democratic disownment

Something I've been noticing for some time now is an instant disownment by the majority of the Democratic party when anyone chooses to decent. You don't know what I'm talking about? You're in denial? Look, it happens and we all know it. There have been a few good examples of this in the last year or two.


Zell Miller - I challenge you to a duel!

Zell Miller has been the posterchild for unwanted Democrats since early in the presidential elections. He's been called a Zell out, The Evil Emperor from Star Wars, The Duelist and a host of other mean and hateful things. Many have gone so far as to say that Zell Miller has never really been a Democrat. Well, he was Democrat enough to be Bill Clinton's keynote speaker in the 1992 DNC.


Ed Koch - Kerry doesn't have the stomach to go after terrorists.

Former mayor of New York, Ed Koch, has always taken flack from the DNC for his forthright views. Somehow I don't think calling him gay qualifies as political rhetoric. Come on people, the best you can do is call the man a homo? At least you could have a little couth. Call him wishy washy and inefective as a leader. Don't get all confused with his sexuality.


John McCain - I don't doubt the sincerity of my Democratic friends. And they should not doubt ours.

We're still claiming John McCain, even after the bill he proposed with Kerry. Sure, we call him a wild card. The fact of the matter is many Republicans would just love to see McCain be nominated for the top seat, loose cannon or not. I count myself as one of them. Sometimes he's got Democratic leanings. Big deal, he's a good candidate. Many Democrats would even vote for him. This brings to question our next victim.


Joeseph Leiberman - Republican in Democrat's clothing

Why does everybody hate Joe? It can't be because he's the only Jewish candidate the Democratic party has had, is it? Is it because he thinks rationally and speaks plainly? Is it because he never reaches a critical mass? Nope, Joe is supposedly hiding his strong ties to religion, even though he refuses to work on Sundays. That and he's a socal conservative that is more Rupublican than democrat. Just because he's close to the middle doesn't make him a Republican.

The DNC doesn't really seem to hold the market on disenfranchizing those that go against the grain. I'm probably going to get labeled a racist bigot or something for this but I'm going to put my nuts on the anvil for this one. Please don't hammer them too flat.

Minorities, predomanently democratic and religious minorities, have a problem with conservative minorities. They're called all manner of things. The question I hear time and time again is: "How could you go against your own party? " Well, here's the answer by Judge Clarence Thomas: "I reserve the right NOT to have my views dictated to me as if I were an intellectual slave." It's not just blacks though. Let's start this section with a hispanic.


Attorney General Gonzales - But he's a "Conservative" hispanic.

If someone wants to bring up the terrorism legal wranglings you cank kindly take your comments elsewhere. This is about something else. Gonzales started his life as the second of eight children living in a two bedroom house in Houston. There is talk of him becoming a member of the supreme court. Do people recognize that he has risen to the highest post any hispanic has ever had in the United States? No, he doesn't qualify because he's a "conservative" hispanic. I guess you have to be a liberal to be considered hispanic. Sorry Alberto, your heritage doesn't mean squat. Maybe he could replace Clarence Thomas when he retires? (If someone can find the quote my Nancy Pelosi saying that she would have prefered a liberal hispanic it would be greatly appreciated.)




Clarence Thomas - I Am a Man, a Black Man, an American

Many moons ago, when Clarence Thomas was sworn in as a member of the supreme court, he became what many considered the most powerful black man in America. Somehow, it was his own people, the black community that did not feel that way. They were, in fact, his sharpest critics. It hearkens to the more recent, even more powerful black leader, Colin Powell. With or without the Anita Hill scandal, he was still being attacked with the same "Uncle Tom" rhetoric that Colin has had to endure today. All because he had differing views. Mr. Thomas did not back down though. When the attacks were the most heated, and the black community was calling for his head, he showed his worth with this speech.


Colin Powell - White House of Uncle Thomas

Colin Powell is the most powerful Black man in the world. He weilds more political power than even Kofi Annan, the leader of the U.N. Why then is he the biggest target of black on black racism (There, I said it.) we've ever seen? To prove the point I'll just mention one name: Harry Belefonte. Yes, he called him a slave.

Okay, one more that leads into the last example: Colin Powell is Uncle Tom and Condie Rice is Aunt Jemima. (The radio host later apologized...to Aunt Jemima.)


SIDENOTE: With just a little work, Condi could look like Janet...no...really!
Condi Rice - Aunt Jemimah White House

Condeleeza Rice has seen her share of crap. She's a genious of a woman (or man) that has my utmost intellectual respect. She could use some tips from Janet in the cosmetics department, but other than that, I have no harsh words for her. Yesterday, in fact, she went through her congressional hearing and it appears that she will be easily approved as not only the most powerful black person on the face of the earth, but the most powerful woman in the world as well. Of course, everyone just dismisses her as just another Bush monkey. How sad is that?


Bill Cosby - Don't blame the white man for something that's our own fault.

Bill Cosby has been taking a lot of heat for the comments he makes. He says it's the black man's own fault for not picking themselves up by their bootstraps, forcing themselves to get an education and making something of themselves. He says it all begins with better parenting, not better welfare systems or affirmative action plans. Here's an excerpt from one of his speeches:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids – $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics.'

He added: "They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't,' 'Where you is' ... And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. ... Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. ... You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth!"

These comment do not bode well for a large section of the ACLU. They were none too pleased with Bill Cosby's words and have spoken out against them on occasion. For them it is the government's responsibility to fix things, the Democratic government, not the Republican.

My code, The hard way.

Someone asked me for a copy of my wesite code. It's a little trycky to put stuff out withought having your own file server. Anyway, go HERE, right-click on the link that says The Warmonger's blogsite HTML and select "save-as". You should see the textfile.

Alternately, you can click on that link and go to "VIEW" / "SOURCE" to get the same thing.

Happy hacking.

NOTE: The red, white and blue stripes I set up to separate the sidebars do not show up in Firefox or Mozilla. If someone knows why this is I'm all ears. I'd love to be able to fix this for the blogging eletists out there.

Inauguration week

Well, four years have passed since us evil repugs stole the country. A lot of things have happened since then. Terrorists have become the first and foremost word on all of our tongues. Taxes have been reduced. The unemployment rate is about the same as it was at the begining. We're at the tail end of our second war. The deficit is at an all time high, but it appears to be turning around. We're at a pivot point in our nations history.

This week, on the 20th of this month, the republican party will be dropping 40 mil on one hell of an inauguration bash up in D.C.; exactly what they spent last year.

Other than this, I'm in no real mood to blog. I'm a bit distracted for some reason. Enjoy the inauguration week decorations!

I Have A Dream

by Martin Luther King, Jr,
delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Here is an MP3 of the speech. You can read along if you wish.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves, who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we have come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must ever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

martinlutherkingIhaveadream2.jpg (11261 bytes)

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecutions and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. And this will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!" And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring -- from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring -- from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring -- from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring -- from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring -- from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that.

Let freedom ring -- from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring -- from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring -- from every hill and molehill of Mississippi,
from every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual,

"Free at last, free at last.

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

The entirety of this post was obtained from American Rhetoric.

Psst, the Deficit Is Shrinking - Larry Kudlow

Toni found something truly remarkable. Charlie, Jesse, any other liberal nay sayers out there may want to get really close to your monitors and read this excerpt carefully:

This week’s Treasury report on the nation’s finances for December shows a year-to-date fiscal 2005 deficit that is already $11 billion less than last year’s. In the first three months of the fiscal year that began last October, cash outlays by the federal government increased by 6.1 percent while tax collections grew by 10.5 percent. When more money comes in than goes out, the deficit shrinks.

At this pace, the 2005 deficit is on track to drop to $355 billion from $413 billion in fiscal year 2004. As a fraction of projected gross domestic product, the new-year deficit will descend to 2.9 percent compared with last year’s deficit share of 3.6 percent.

Here's the original article. Look, I know it's just newsmax, but you should be looking at the regular media on this one closely. Is anyone even talking about this? It this just another propagandist lie? Or is the whole theory about increasing taxes to decrease the deficit a crock?

UPDATE: Here's some verification, all the way from China: Xinhua

UPDATE2: ...and SeattlePI

Michelle Malkin: BODY POLITICS

Okay, this is the kind of person that ticks me off.

"I sort of felt ashamed, and didn't really want to be associated with being an American," said Rothchild, who lives in New York City and voted for John Kerry.

Hey! Guess what chuckles! You don't have to be associated with America! There are loads of countries out there that will take a goober like you! Go forth and find one!

Mostly, it's just his comment that ticks me off. I'm proud to be an American even though he's not. He had the right to vote for anyone he wanted to. He should be proud that he voted for Kerry. In fact, I'm proud that everyone who voted for Kerry did so. Of course, I'm prouder that more people came out to vote for Bush but that's a different story.

The point is that many people don't realize that other countries don't have the same freedoms we do. Try to get a party together to vote out Chirac. It won't happen. He's got control and won't let go of the reigns. They don't vote the same as we do anyway. Hell, take a look at what happened in the Ukraine. The opposition candidate was poisoned for cripes sake. Your ability to vote is an exercise in freedom that a sparse few other countries have. Be proud of it.

As for the other aspect of the article, the count me red and count me blue bracelets seem to me as an attempt to further divide us as a people. Is there a count me purple bracelet out there? Yes, I know. The purple link doesn't exist. I guess we really are a nation divided. Maybe we should change the republican color from red to grey so it could be like old civil war times? (Absolutely no racial connotations intended, especially considering what Monday is.)

Atheist loses Bush prayer fight

This is a good thing.

It's been going on since George Washington. Why should we stop now?

What would happen if we decided to kowtow to their lawsuits? How about no inauguration at all? Doesn't the President have to swear in? Doesn't that entail putting your hand on a bible? Oh, but that's about Bush's faith in God. Hey, waitaminute! So's the prayer!

Look, I know you liberals are in a snark shortage, (or at least that's what Kos said a while back.) but I'm sure you could spare a cup or two for the sake of a good atheism fight.

Vindication or Vindiction?

Yesterday, while flipping through the big three: FOXNews, CNN and MSNBC, I happened upon a tirade by Anus Imus in the Morning on MSNBC. He was going off on Dan Blather for being the one guy that didn't get the axe. I can't say I blame him too much. Dan has always been rather arrogant about his position in life.

It really struck me as odd that a devout liberal such as Imus would be bashing Rather so hard. He really was really put off by it. Maybe it's his regular demeanor, but he was really sounding vindictive. It was if no one else mattered but Dan. The entire CBS echalon could have been fired and Imus wouldn't care because Dan the man was still standing there.

I have not been without my fair share of jabs at Danny boy myself, but this should be the end of it. More people were let go from CBS than anyone expected. Their ratings are abyssmal. Dan himself will even be stepping down early, before his already announced retirement. The blogging world has been vindicated. Truth and justice have been vindicated. America has been vindicated. Why are some people still trying to drag this through the mud?

I think there is a pattern in American life that deems this acceptable behavior. It should not be. It's rude and it's wrong. still, we have a history of dancing on the graves of our adversaries. We do everything we can to rub salt in the would of defeat. You don't believe me? Here are a few examples of when vindication turns into vindiction:

The most recent example of poor sportsmanship is the recent faux mooning for the Green Bay fans by Randy Moss. Green Bay fans are some of the most loyal fans you'll find in any American prefessional sport. They own their team outright as a city. What Moss did really cheesed a lot of Wisconsin residents, as well as football fans. The NFL has sinced fined randy 10,000$ for the offense in the hopes that it will cut the cheese.

Maybe if this was Warren Moon?

Kan enywun spel potato(e)? Whut I'm deweeng hear is en egsample of beeng vindicktive two Dan Quayle. Potato(e) has bean a verry commun wurd to mispell four longer than Quayle has ben alife. Us bloggers hav speling broblems sumtimes az wel. Still, peepole incist in caulling him Mr. Potato with an e.

BTW: Is that Uday Hussein with him?

Potato(e)

FLIP FLOP! FLIP FLOP!
Didn't we just get over this one? Kerry was tired (at noon, twice, in a practiced stump speech), and he made a mistake in the way he spoke. Sure, it was a good plan to point his failed verbology. I'm sure it won a few votes here and there. There were about a dozen different commercials that highlighted this one mistake. I myself am a bit guilty for pointing to this phrase a bit too often. I'm being vindictive about it and I should stop. Besides, there are many more reasons to pick on Kerry without calling him a flip-flopper.

I actually voted for the 87 Billion dollars before I voted against it.

Since I just did a Democrat, here's a Republican gaffe. We are all familiar with Ronald Reagan's lost battle with Alzheimers. However, it never stopped Americans from dancing all over his repeated "Well, I don't recall" answer on so many questions. To this day, some people still use that line in a Reagan-eque way if they don't remember something. The guy died of this disease for cripes sake! Have a heart people!

I can't recall

What Michael Jackson wants to do with his nose in the privacy of his own home, as long as it doesn't involve small children, he should be able to do it. His current court case not withstanding, Michael is one wierd dude. Probably his strangest and most ridiculed attribute is his nose. Great, they guy had several really bad nose jobs. I feel more bad for him than I do want to laugh at him. I'm sure just about every one of us would like to change a feature or two about them. That flabby belly, the heavy thighs, that huge mole on you cheek. (Please, get rid of the mole Rick. It scares small children.) If I had the spare cash like he does, I'd have gone under the knife myself.

Plastic Man

As everyone knows, it was the blue dress that Bill Clinton soiled. Not just America picked on him for this. The best ads spoofing Clinton were actually overseas. One in particular that I remember was one where the secret service went into Monica's home, snuck out with a dress, cleaned it and returned it to her closet without notice. Okay, he did wrong. He's paid the price. Let's move on with life. No more Monica jokes.

I did not have sexual relations with that woman. Not once.

This last example comes to us by the way of the hottest new online game on the market today, World of Warcraft. In fact, this game has become so popular that Blizzard has stopped making copies of the game because all of their servers are overloaded. One of the biggest contribuors of the game is something called PvP, or Player Vs. Player where you can defeat other people in the game. Once you have killed their character, the game offers a couple of special features to use. If you are playing an undead you can feed off of the corpse. If you are not you can freely dance on the dead. Is this really necessary? Have we gone this far?
Link to W.O.W. dancing.
World of Warcraft - dancing?

I'm just trying to figure out what has drawn us into bad winning so deeply? Can anyone explain to me what we gain out of beating a dead horse except a whole mess of glue? When the game is over it's over. There's no need for gesticulating in front of the loser; no need to call someone your "biatch". Maybe a roucous round of hooting due to excitement, shake the other guy's hand and congratulate him on a good game. It's time to stop being so vindictive.

The Daou Report

Cruising through my daily hits from Sitemeter, I noticed a slight boost in average daily traffic. Digging a little deeper, I noticed about 80% of my links were coming from The Daou Report.

If you're not familiar with the Daou Report, it's sort of a quick grab of what different bloggers are saying within the last 12 hours or so. This is a rather cool idea and has already proven to boost my readersip by more than a few. I think I'll be suggesting my articles to them on a frequent basis. It's already recieved proven results.

For those of you reading this who have come from The Daou Report please stay a while. Everyone's welcome. I hadn't expected company so the place is a bit untidy. (take not of the cluttered right sidebar and lack of much recent substance.) I'll have a decent post or two up for everyone to nibble on during their visit. I just wasn't expecting company. You see, the website quote placed on The Daou Report:

"The Left swore that if Bush were re-elected, we'd see death camps, oppression, and an end to America as we know it. Stunned by this revelation, of how easily my dreams of rounding up leftists and doing downright evil things to them could be attained, I salivated, waiting for Election Day. If Bush doesn't get cracking soon, I'm going to be disappointed."

Wasn't really mine. It was a comment left by reader who signed my guestmap. His blog is Mr. Beamish's Crankfiles. I was just posting a link update with my usual commentary and welcome when I got linked. If you want to go over to his site because of his comment feel free, I don't mind. If you'd like to peruse the site here I don't mind that either.

So relax, talk amongst yourselves while I get the drinks and "whore devour"(spelling) ready for your consumption.

Slipping linkage

It's about that time again. It's time for me to go through my comments, my guestmap and even my e-mail to update links. Today I've got a mess of them. Probably about 7-10 give or take. This one I'm going to have to paraphrase just to save time, so lets get started.

1. The first one I'm doing is Ginger. If you've been to the regular haunts around my sphere of unfluence you already know Ginger. She's the "hot or not" girl. You can frequently find her over at LOSLI and Pusillanimous Wankers (II). Yes Ginger, I do remember you.

2. Next on the list is The Crankfiles. He hasn't commented yet, but he signed the guestmap so here he is. I'll just let the guestmap comment do the talking for him:

The Left swore that if Bush were re-elected, we'd see death camps, oppression, and an end to America as we know it. Stunned by this revelation, of how easily my dreams of rounding up leftists and doing downright evil things to them could be attained, I salivated, waiting for Election Day.

If Bush doesn't get cracking soon, I'm going to be disappointed.

3. Well what can be said about Smoke Eater? Lets see, Texan? Check. Blog Machine group member? Check again. Runs in circles just like me...wait..strike that, reverse it: Runs around the same circles as me? Yup. Anything else you want to know? Go check the site.

4. How can you go wrong with a name like The Cheeky Spew? Honestly, I don't think you can. Even better, Shep gave me an ego boost. He called me a heavy hitter. I never thought of myself as a heavy hitter. Unless, of course, your're talking about a weight problem then I get it. Anyway, enough about giving me a big ego, lets talk about the site.

The Cheeky Spew is...well...a cheeky spew. I'm haven't waded too far into the site, but you don't need to go too far to realize Shep likes to eat the liberal media for breakfast. Other than that, he's got a bunch of cool "digital widgets" (HA! I just coined a new term!) A babelfish translator, random scroll boxes, an online user counter (that I'll probably be stealing later) and a bunch of other things. Go see what you can pilfer.

5. The Alternative Energy Blog is something I fully support, condone, suggest, appreciate and admire. As the title suggests, it's a blog about Jack Straw...NOT! This Londoner (my first BTW) has been able to come up with alternative energy sources from around the globe. It's a rather impressive compilation. Another thing some of my readers may enjoy is that he also uses the alternative energy browser: Firefox. I personally prefer Mozilla, the big brother of Firefox, but everyone has their own tastes.

6. St. Monk is rather depressed about the Seahawks screwing up yet another playoff. Quite frankly, he's a bit torqued about all of the Seattle teams screwing up. Quite frankly, I am too! Knowing what teams he roots for you can tell where he's from. Mom, Ed, Annie, any other Pacific Northwest bloggers in the area, go give him a warm welcome if you haven't already.


7. Insert-Blog-Here.

No, I can't be that cruel to leave it as that. It would fit, but I can't. He's just recently been to his first gun show and has a nice lengthy two part article on economics that I still need to read. (Don't worry, I'll get there.) Just an anecdote: When trying to set up Patty-Jo's site one of the URL's we tried was http://insertbloghere.blogspot.com. It looks like it wasn't available here either.

8. Russ Vaughn of Blackfive sent (spammed) me a nice poem that I posted. I guess that deserves a link. Here you go Russ. (If you need more info on Blackfive you haven't been in the blogosphere long.)

9. This one is sort of funny. I'm going to link to Dave Marco's Shining Light in Dark Corners. No, I'm not doing it because I need more liberals on my list to make me look "fair and balanced". I don't see that happening any time soon. I'm linking to hiim because he sent (spammed) me an article he wrote so I went to visit. From what I've seen, he's a clear, concise, thought provoking progressive with a talent for writing. Overall, he just seems like he needs to be on the roll.

10. Last but not least, I ran into this Spare White Guy hanging around. I guess there's a surplus of us or something because there it is, a spare white guy. Scroll down to his "Playing with my new toy" movie. Try not to drink anything while you're doing it. I've still got that Diet Coke sizzle going on in my nose.

Well, that's it. That's all I have for now. Something I've realized after looking at all of these blogs is that I really need to get my act together and start blogging for real again. If I don't one of the fine bloggers on this list will eat me for lunch.