Teddy Had It Right

I've been doing my so-called "day job" and getting nutted-up whilst others around me were obstructionists, I was under a time crunch, and subsequently not getting sleep at night because the mind wouldn't shut down. I'm sure you've all been there. Therefore, the dearth of posts.

In the meantime, a friend sent me a wonderful quote from President Teddy Roosevelt, which bears repeating here:

In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.

But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American . . . There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all.

We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile.

We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language . . . and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.

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Even back in 1907, Teddy had it right.

A Saturday Night's Leisurely Reflection: Cats, Port Pubs and Population

Ever try to write whilst a cat refuses to get off the damn laptop keyboard?

My cat -- eh, excuse me, kitten, Mose (after jazz/blues pianist Mose Allison) just won't leave me alone tonight and has taken it upon himself to attempt to delete most of the train photos I'd taken earlier today by walking across a succession of seemingly-random keys primarily revolving around "delete."23----------
Sorry. Cat across the keyboard again. I put him down and he came right back up again, not only onto my lap but thence onto my shoulders, where he is now, purring like crazy. I must admit that his motor, as issued by the factory, is without peer.

Simultaneously, I am listening to a wonderful jazz recording, recently reissued, only 3 days away from its original recording date (though 49, almost 50 years ago) of 11-29-1957. This is the Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall. Some reissues are noteworthy for their performance but not the recording itself; this copy, on Blue Note, stands head and shoulders above others for the performance itself and the recording, which has great emphasis on the highs and midrange. You can hear Shadow Wilson really working the cymbals on "Epistrophy."

In any event, I was reading over comments on a recent post and came across that of Rebecca's where she said:

Blo,Great post, and yes it was a setback, not a catastrophe. The GOP nationally is not going down the tubes. I think we are regenerating, and the dems may even find a 'further right' conservative in office in 2008. In 2006 it is highly probable that the liberal republicans will get voted out of office.

For whatever wacky reason (if you can translate the rational linkage, please let me know), that made me think of a recent article I read in the 11-18-05 issue of The Week regarding population.

Yes, yes, I know, The Week can be said to be a large repository of the Left Wing though they would heartily disagree. But I subscribe to a number of what might be termed "left" leaning publications if for no other reason than to discover what the issues and topics of the week have become for a certain thrust of the culture. I receive The Nation, and the UK version of The Economist as well as The Guardian -- though none of this stuff is cheap -- the Economist subscription runs $100 a year (at a discount!) and the other very important magazine (though not leaning necessarily to port) I subscribe to, Janes Intelligence Review, is a paltry $450 a year.

"Go to the library!" I can hear you say now. "Stay away from publications beginning with the word 'The' " (that would necessarily and rudely deal me out of my subscription to The Weekly Standard). Except the library won't have what I want. Nice try, though. All they cover are the Left Leaning MSM and DEM papers. And I can easily crank them up over the internet via sophistry, lies and purposely-skewed demographics I've provided to acquire their passworded access. Depending on which website you choose, I range from a one-legged black lesbian UAW worker named Burt to a displaced transgender homemaker with "Paxil issues" generating less than $30,000 per year.

Go figure.

In any event, on page 15 of issue 234 of The Week, the magazine attempts to explain the difference between what Paul Ehrlich forecasted in his book The Population Bomb and what is occurring today and what may actually occur in the future.

Portrayed in what is a smarmy, "accepting," yet clarion call to those on the left:

Why Are Whites Having Fewer Babies?
Actually, not all whites are. Whites in the West and the South have more babies than those in the Northeast. People who describe themselves as socially conservative are having far more babies than those who consier themselves liberal. The political implications of the phenomenon have already been felt.

Continuing:

In What Way?
The segments of the white population that are growing are in the "red" states, and lean heavily Republican. "Conservative, religious-minded Americans are putting far more of their genes into the future than their liberal and secular counterparts," says Phillip Longman, author of The Empty Cradle. "If Metros don't start having more children, America's future is Retro."

_____________________________________

The clear but unstated conclusion here is that, unless the Left gets into the mix, an entire ideology is imperiled -- as the Right will create nothing but future generations of genetic philosphic mutants.

But, my God, think of the conflicting implications: the Left, with its culture of death embracement, abortion, bereft of ideas, may actually have placed itself on the periphery due to something as simple as procreation.

Holy crap!

How ironic is that?

(If you were thinking something like "reap what you sow" -- shame on you!)

My cat just put himself to bed -- it's almost 10 PM.

A Reflection On the Fornicalia Special Election: Tom McClintock Says It Best

Following the November 8th Special Election in Fornicalia every major proposition went down to defeat with a resounding "no" from the electorate.

We as conservatives can either fold our tents and decamp, or we can regroup, coalesce and fight back. Tom McClintock is running for Lt. Governor of Fornicalia and, as such, I receive his campaign newsletter. Within this newsletter was an article that provided an absolutely sterling insight into the special election results and what it means for the GOP and the state.

I feel compelled to reprint a portion of the speech Mr. McClintock gave to the Los Angeles County Republican Central Committee on November 15, 2005:

Just days after leading England safely through World War II, Winston Churchill suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of British voters. As he watched the dismal results roll in, Clementine sat beside him, patted his knee and said, “Well, if you ask me, Winston, it’s a blessing in disguise.” Churchill growled, “Well at the moment, madam, it is very well disguised, indeed.”

Tonight I’d like to point out a few blessings in this election – however well disguised they might seem at the moment.

The first is that we didn’t lose any ground in this election. Propositions 73 through 77 were attempts to move us back in a conservative direction and although they failed, we’re not any the worse off. And don’t forget, the Left tried to move us in their direction with Propositions 79 and 80, which would have socialized the pharmaceutical and energy markets. Both of those measures were ALSO soundly defeated – and they were defeated by a greater margin overall than the Governor’s
measures. In fact, the two most conservative measures – 73 (parental abortion notification) and 75 (paycheck protection) did the best, and the two most liberal measures – 79 and 80 – did the worst.

The second blessing is the fact that to defeat the Governor’s initiatives, the Left had to outspend the Governor by well over $50 million. They can’t keep outspending us by that kind of margin, and when there’s a level playing field, the result will be dramatically different.

The third is that although the specific measures were all defeated, every poll that asked whether voters favored the general principles of the initiatives reported overwhelming public support. It was not the underlying philosophy that the people rejected. That’s why the left had to resort to a “Tsunami of lies and distortions,” as Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Weintraub observed. For example, they attacked the redistricting reform for giving the final say over district lines to judges when in fact, that measure gave the final say TO THE VOTERS. Empires built on lies don’t last very long. My favorite was the last two days, after they had spent over $100 million on negative ads, they went back to voters and asked, “Tired of all the negative ads? Then just vote NO.”

Fourth, although the Governor’s approval rating has been forced down – there is one political institution that consistently fares even worse: the liberal Democratic state legislature.

And fifth, in San Diego, voters overwhelmingly elected the Republican candidate against the Liberal Democrat in that city’s mayoral election – beating her by six points in her own district.

I’m not going to pretend that Tuesday’s election was anything for us to celebrate. Voters rejected some of the most sensible propositions ever put to a vote: that government should live within its means; that politicians shouldn’t chose who gets to vote for them; that teachers should demonstrate sustained competence before they’re granted lifetime tenure; that public employees have a right to decide for themselves what candidates they’ll support with their own money; and that parents have a right to know if their teenaged daughter is being spirited out of school to have an abortion. The rejection of these measures was a major setback in the cause of reform and a major victory for the government unions that are now ascendant, emboldened and unchallenged in their domination of our political and legislative process.

But I do make these points to illustrate that the situation is far from hopeless. And as we review the election results and re-assess the political landscape, we need to keep things in perspective. In the grand scheme of things, this was a setback; not a cataclysm.

Tom is correct; this was not a cataclysm but a temporary setback. Doomsayers are predicting a total crash and burn of the GOP, in Fornicalia and nationally. I don't believe this is true at all! There are already plans being made for 2006. And last Friday was a very bad day for the Democratic party when they indicated, en masse, their fear of alienating the voting public.

We've taken some body blows but we have not even come close to putting down a knee.

Moonbat of the Week Award

And the award goes to:

Congressman John R. "Jack" Murtha (D), Pennsylvania's 12th District.

For a "nobody" Democratic congressman, the 73-year-old Murtha (ever hear of him before?) certainly made a stir this past week, suggesting that the United States totally pull out of Iraq in 6 months. Period.

But wait, there's more. This is a former Marine, decorated, and at one time considered a Hawk amongst Democrats.

From his own official website, Murtha says "The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion." Further, he writes:

Our military has done everything that has been asked of them, the U.S. can not accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. IT IS TIME TO BRING THEM HOME.

Wrong, Congressman Murtha. Literally: dead wrong.

I'll honor your past; I'll honor your serving in the Marines. And that is where my honor ends. I will not honor, however, your lack of stomach or balls for staying the course in a Presidential strategy that will determine the future security of our entire nation.

I do not know why you have chosen your path. But your fellow Democrats have left you hanging in the breeze. In fact, the entire Congress has left you, and rightfully so, you callow defeatist, because even the most left-leaning socialist realizes this is a failed strategy and will not play with the American public.

The Democrats Fold When Actually Opposed:

After folding themselves earlier this week, another Republican mustered the cojones to make a proposal to the Dems: put up or shut up.

In a 403 to 3 vote, the Democrats elected to shut up.

From Worldnetdaily.com:

Following three hours of intense debate, the House voted this evening 403-3 to reject a non-binding resolution to immediately withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.

Responding to a call yesterday by Democratic Rep. Jack Murtha of Pennsylvania to withdraw troops from Iraq, House Republicans had scheduled a quick vote this evening to settle the issue and put lawmakers on the record.

The Republican alternative read: "It is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately." It was proposed by Rep. Duncan Hunter of California.

During the House session late Friday afternoon, Democrats erupted in anger when Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt of Ohio quoted Ohio state Rep. Danny Bubp, a Marine Corps Reserve officer. "He asked me to send Congress a message: "Stay the course,'" she said. "He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message, that 'Cowards cut and run. Marines never do.' "

The House went nuts. But a return message was sent. And these overpaid assholes stayed in their seats until midnight.

Murtha is still a Chamberlain Moonbat, and his military record won't extricate him from this, nor should it.

And the Republicans are finally, finally, starting to fire back.

I hope it isn't too little too late.

WSIS Summit: ICANN To Remain In Charge of Internet

Those nations wishing the UN to take control of the entire internet had their hopes deflated as the recent World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) concluded:

Negotiators from more than 100 countries agreed late Tuesday to leave the United States in charge of the Internet's addressing system, averting a U.S.-EU showdown at this week's U.N. technology summit.

Under the terms of the compromise, the new group, the Internet Governance Forum, would start operating next year with its first meeting opened by Annan. Beyond bringing its stakeholders to the table to discuss the issues affecting the Internet, and its use, it won't have ultimate authority.

________________________________________________

A smattering of common sense has been upheld in the world.

When the Cat's Away, the Republicans Fold; the US: a Confirmed Paper Tiger

From the DailyKos:

The good news -- Republicans are finally starting to come around on Iraq, making noise about applying some accountability to the war effort. And more good news -- Republicans are proving that Democrats are, in fact, the party of ideas and they are,in fact, bereft of them. Otherwise, they wouldn't be stealing our ideas. And the challenge -- we need to cut out the middle men in 2006.

And so you see, whilst President Bush is away in Asia (and slapping him resoundingly in the face), the entire Republican party caves in to Democratic pressure and places the party and the nation on the road to the above photograph. A rather spectacular assumptive leap to make, is it not? Allow me to explain in a moment. But first, a letter from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D, Nevada):

November 14, 2005
TO: SENATE DEMOCRATS
FROM: SENATOR REID
SUBJECT: YEAR -END REVIEW AND OUTLOOK FOR 2006
The last few days of our session and the December recess will be an important time for our Caucus. President Bush and his Republican party are collapsing across a wide front. Voters doubt their integrity, oppose their policies, abhor their performance and differ with their priorities. And, last week's Democratic victories confirm what we already knew - the American people want honest government and leaders who share their priorities.

Over the next several weeks, we will have tremendous opportunities to reinforce with the American people that Democrats are committed to addressing the priorities of the people, while Republicans have spent the last year enacting the agenda of special interests and the radical right. Our unity in fighting for America's priorities such as lower gas prices, a real plan for security and a better economy -- as well as our success in defeating the Republican efforts to privatize Social Security, preventing the Republican trigger on the nuclear option, forcing a real investigation into the manipulation of intelligence, and blocking the irresponsible tax cut bill -- has reaped real benefits for the Democratic Party, and for America.

We can't stop now. It's incredibly important that we take this message home during the upcoming recess and focus on the many missed opportunities in the Republican Congress over the last year to address America's priorities, and begin to lay out a real agenda of reform that will set the nation in a new direction.

This memo provides a brief review of activities in 2005 and important planning for 2006.

In yesterday's vote involving every Republican:

The overall measure, adopted 98-0, shows a willingness to defy the president in several ways despite a threatened veto. It would restrict the techniques used to interrogate terrorism suspects, ban their inhuman treatment and call for the administration to provide lawmakers with quarterly reports on the status of operations in Iraq.

The Democratic proposal called for specific dates and timetables for an Iraq troop withdrawal. The Republican version called for no specific dates but "quarterly reports" on progress made. Both versions are advisory in nature but reflective of the Senate in toto. Again, Senate Republicans crossed the line and provided a wonderful Democratic victory the likes of which they are crowing about today.

The Republicans caved on ANWR; now they've caved on the President. In an even larger body blow not simply involving politics but the literal future of this nation:

In a mixed bag for the president, the Senate also voted to endorse the Bush administration's military procedures for detaining and prosecuting foreign terrorism suspects at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay. But the provision approved on a 84-14 vote also would allow the detainees to appeal their detention status and punishments to a federal appeals court in Washington.

That avenue would take the place of the one tool the Supreme Court gave detainees in 2004 to fight the legality of their detentions - the right to file habeas corpus petitions in any federal court.

So in one foul stroke we have now given and confirmed enemy combatants' access to the entire American judicial system, taken them out of the military purvey and placed them strictly under our Constitution. We have taken a massive pre-9/11 step backwards, as though those 3,000 souls crushed to pulp in the twin towers didn't pay their ultimate mortal prices. I find this despicable to the core.

If you don't think the Islamists completely understand the meaning of our senatorial move, the most degrading and undermining military abandonment to date, consider this from the original letter from al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri to Iraqi insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi, dated July 9, 2005 (making it clear that not only are al-Zawahiri and bin Laden symbolic leaders to the global jihad, but the two are still active in running their terror network as well):

So we must think for a long time about our next steps and how we want to attain it, and it is my humble opinion that the Jihad in Iraq requires several incremental goals:

The first stage: Expel the Americans from Iraq.

The second stage: Establish an Islamic authority or amirate, then develop it and support it until it achieves the level of a caliphate- over as much territory as you can to spread its power in Iraq, i.e., in Sunni areas, is in order to fill the void stemming from the departure of the Americans, immediately upon their exit and before unIslamic forces attempt to fill this void, whether those whom the Americans will leave behind them, or those among the un-Islamic forces who will try to jump at taking power.

There is no doubt that this amirate will enter into a fierce struggle with the foreign infidel forces, and those supporting them among the local forces, to put it in a state of constant preoccupation with defending itself, to make it impossible for it to establish a stable state which could proclaim a caliphate, and to keep the Jihadist groups in a constant state of war, until these forces find a chance to annihilate them.

The third stage: Extend the jihad wave to the secular countries neighboring Iraq.

The fourth stage: It may coincide with what came before: the clash with Israel, because Israel was established only to challenge any new Islamic entity.

I would advise any and all visiting my blog to read the entire contents of the letter.

In a similar vein, the Wall Street Journal said: "If Osama bin Laden is alive and looking for signs of flagging U.S. will to fight the war on terror, he need look no further than our national debate about interrogating his compatriots and others who would do us harm. . . [Senator] John McCain. . .has pushed an amendment through the Senate that would effectively bar all stressful interrogation techniques. The danger for American security is that this would telegraph to every terrorist in the world that he has absolutely nothing to fear from silence should he fall into U.S. hands."

Andrew McCarthy from the National Review Online wrote:

We should be asking this question of each and every member of Congress who claims to support the McCain Amendment: If we had credible information regarding an ongoing al Qaeda plot to detonate a nuclear weapon in the continental United States, and we had just taken into custody an al Qaeda militant who was in a position to know where and when the attack was to occur but who was refusing to cooperate, are you saying we would need to let thousands of Americans die rather than harm a hair on the terrorist's head in an effort to extract the information that might save them?

If the answer to that question is "no," you have no business voting for the McCain Amendment.

If the answer is "yes," you have no business serving in a government whose first obligation is the security of the governed.

Our pulling out of Iraq and, moreover, providing a public timetable for this flies in the face of not only standard military thought and strategy but plays perfectly into the hands of al Qaeda. The Japanese, for example, were not kind enough to provide us with a timetable for the attack on Pearl Harbor; clearly an oversight on their part. On the other hand, for whatever inestimable reason the allied forces in World War II likewise failed to provide the Germans and Axis forces with a timetable for Operation Overlord.

With regard to the so-called quarterly "reports" advocated by the Senate, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said "The Department of Defense and the Department of State send literally dozens of Iraqi-related reports to Congress each year already" and that the Pentagon alone sends Congress "I don't know, it's something over 900 reports total every year" on an array of subjects. "I hope someone reads them," Mr. Rumsfeld said.

Someone indeed. You wouldn't be thinking more grandstanding now, would you? A Democratic political ploy once more? One that the Republicans bit into literally hook, line and sinker? Or would that be too jaded a thought for an entire party schooled in politics?

Now place yourself in the form of a soldier stationed in Iraq, and reading that not only has support for your presence flagged on the Democratic side, but it has flagged on the side of your former staunchest supporters, the GOP. Would you not be asking yourself: then what in the hell am I doing here, placing my future and that of my friends in harm's way?

But let's go a bit further. I wonder what al-Jazeera has to say about yesterday's revelation? That would be:

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said: "We want to change the course. We can't stay the course." The Senate added the Republican policy to a defence bill the Senate is hoping to complete work on as early as Tuesday.

Overall, the bill includes provisions that, taken together, mark an effort by the Senate to rein in some of the wide authority lawmakers gave Bush after the 11 September 2001 attacks. The measure includes White House-opposed language that would prohibit the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees and standardise interrogation procedures used by US troops.

The New York Post weighs in:

Et tu, Bill Frist?

It's disturbing enough that Democrats have become so hostile to America's efforts to fight terror, particularly in Iraq.

But now Republicans — like Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist — also seem to be peeking at the polls and going all wobbly on the Iraq campaign.

It's pathetic.

And dangerous.

I concur and add: it's not just dangerous; it's playing precisely into the overall al Qaeda plans, as they realize Iraq is the global "line in the sand" for all of Islamism. AQ knows our recent history: we have little public stomach for dissonance and discontent. Witness Haita. Witness Somalia. Witness Iraq in 1991. Witness more persons' attempts to make this Vietnam. We cut and run. We don't have the endurance and commitment -- not the military commitment, mind you -- the public and, moreover, our political administrations' commitment.

By doing this, in the course of one 24-hour period, we have now almost guaranteed a NBC MCE occurring on continental United States soil. Because, until a nuclear, biological or chemical mass casualty event takes place, we have conclusively proven that we did not and do not thoroughly understand the dynamics and forces playing against us on a global terrorist Islamist venue.

So yes, when the cat is away, the rats emerge. PowerLine calls it "two parts grandstanding to one part suicide."

A commenter on DailyPundit.com wrote: "Today, four years after thousands died at the WTC, the Pentagon, and in a Pennsylvania field, unserious and posturing politicians in Washington still don't seem to understand that this is no longer politics as usual. I think most of these bozos do understand that we either fight Islamofascism now, or fight it later. But they are making the personal calculation they'd rather make the fight later - after they have retired on fat pensions, most likely, so that somebody else will have to make the tough, necessary decisions they don't have the spine for today.

This is a frightening turn of events on a whole host of levels and please consider this, dear people: NBC events might not just occur in New York. They can occur in your home town as well -- and may involve you.

________________________________


This newest comment just in from ex-President William Jefferson Clinton:

The United States made a "big mistake" when it invaded Iraq, former President Bill Clinton said Wednesday, citing the lack of planning for what would happen after dictator Saddam Hussein was overthrown.

________________________________

Keep going, politicians, keep going.

I can hear the dosimeters starting to click from here.

UN Dilutes Language; Still Wants Internet Control

I can't see but I just had to go here, late in the day: the UN still wants control of the internet but is softening a bit of its language in hopes of ameliorating some US concerns -- but make no mistake, it still believes the United States is being oppressive in its ICANN control insistence -- despite the internet having been developed under a US DARPA heritage.

Tomorrow's start of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunisia was originally to be about funding projects for technologically-poor nations. Instead, it will center primarily around Internet governance: oversight of the main computers that control traffic on the Internet by acting as its master directories so Web browsers and e-mail programs can find other computers.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a semi-independent group that ultimately answers to the U.S. government, "is responsible for managing and coordinating the Domain Name System (DNS) to ensure that every Internet address is unique and that all users of the Internet can find all valid addresses. It does this by overseeing the distribution of unique IP addresses and domain names. It also ensures that each domain name maps to the correct IP address."

The UN wants to replace ICANN with a multinational group answering only to the United Nations. The new language, however, has been typified as "far less specific" than prior drafts.

Further, the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) says, in a new study, that relinquishing control to the UN could have far reaching dangers which could jeopardize freedoms and fleece taxpayers -- US taxpayers.

After so many conspiracy hoaxes over the years, there is now a serious, ominous effort to replace the efficient and adaptable non-profit entity guiding the Internet with a new UN-sponsored agency," said NTU Government Affairs Manager and Issue Brief author Kristina Rasmussen.

Censorship, bureaucratic corruption (in re the UN "oil for food" program) and taxes are all huge unanswered issues. Specifically, in terms of taxes, the NTU writes:

Since the Internet's infancy the UN has crafted detailed proposals to tax online traffic. Rasmussen calculates that one 1999 plan for a "bit tax," adjusted for today's number of Internet users, would raise 12 trillion dollars this year -- roughly equal to America's Gross Domestic Product. Even less ambitious money-raising models such as the independent, Switzerland-based "Digital Solidarity Fund" could feasibly be transformed into future collectors of compulsory Internet taxes and fees.

Corruption, censorship, control and unlimited taxation -- all reasons that the European Union is pushing its compromise proposal on how to govern the Internet. The EU's executive commission said today that their new proposal is "gaining international support ahead of this week's U.N. technology summit."

We shall see.

Thoughts and "Taking a Break"

There's a lot happening in the political world, tons of things I'd like to bloviate about. Such as: the Republicans sabotaging ANWR; the Republicans doing a "end-around" on President Bush and wanting an "extrication plan" from Iraq; Republican Rick Santorum holding Bush at arms' length (and apparently not doing well locally), and the real truth about Iraq's WMDs. I salivate even thinking about these topics.

But I'm going to take a break for the rest of the week as I find proper eyesight has a great deal to do with making cogent posts. My right cornea is scratched and its subsequent irritation is absolutely maddening. I still have to attend to my "day job," and being in bright light, wind and weather is not helping a lot. Luckily, the doc says eyes heal rapidly. But it's certainly made me appreciate good eyesight!

My Cats, Lost Cats, Rescued Cats and Schrodinger's Cat

It's late Sunday afternoon on the Left Coast and, sitting on the second floor of my Sierra Nevada aerie, I'm watching the sun shoot through the branches of the conifers and onto the last remaining deciduous trees, their yellow leaves slowly settling to the rich, needle-covered earth below. I moved wood this weekend, from my big woodpile to the secondary wood source on my deck, and then stocked the pile inside the house next to the stove. Winter is coming and I need to be ready.

I know that winter is here when I remove all the chairs from the deck, the umbrella, the tables, and take them below to the shed. I did that this weekend too. I could use a propane fill; I'm at 65% and it's time to get on the list for a topping-up -- I wonder what I'll pay?

I'm rambling and I know it. It just feels this way. I originally was going to post about the Republicans, about President Bush, and perhaps post my Moonbat of the Week award. That just went out the window. For today, for right now, I'm over politics. Don't want to go there. I'm just going to go where the muse takes me and, for now, it takes me to cats.

I've had cats all my life. I have to admit I'm a cat guy and not a dog guy. Dogs are too loud, too needy, too over-the-top. Sure, I've had dogs but only when I left home. We always had cats at home -- that's probably why I am why I am. I didn't have a dog as a kid. I've had a few dogs but they just didn't satisfy like a good cat. How weird is that? You thought chicks only dug cats? Well, I'm guessing it's my personality getting in the way.

Here I go with the admission: I'm pretty much the iconoclast. I am not by nature a People Person. I dislike big cities, noise, bustle, loud people, too many people, people in general. I would not do well in New York. I lived in San Francisco for a time when I was very young but couldn't do that now. I work in Sacramento, Fornicalia. But if I stay there too long I become anxious. At the end of my work week I cannot wait to flee. I drive over the speed limit up I-80 to reach my offramp, 70+ miles away.

I get up here, amidst the pines and blue skies and clouds and wandering roads and railroad tracks and I know I am home. The weight comes off my shoulders. The second I open the door to my house I feel totally unfettered. Make no mistake; when you get home I wish you the same feeling. If you can find that feeling in a housing tract or an apartment, more power to you. I know people who could not survive if they were more than 40' from a Starbucks or a bus line, or a mall, a theatre, a museum, a Thai restaurant, a freeway, a Pier 1 Imports.

That's them. It sure ain't me.

So this weekend I went looking for another cat. I found a small cat rescue facility in lower Placer County, in Auburn. I found this great place where rescued and adoptable cats are kept in little apartments where actual people could enter the actual apartments and actually touch the cats. What a concept!

That's how old I am. Animal shelters now keep the adoptees from the potential adopters. They cite reasons like cat viruses and diseases and the like. And they're probably right, I must admit. But you can't touch the animals. You can maybe stick a finger into a cage but, if caught, you have to swab gross stuff over your hands and atone. Say three Hail Marys and turn around a couple times. And then they kick you out.

Because you had the actual TEMERITY to want to touch the animal you're thinking of saving.

Yeah yeah yeah, go ahead, rag on my ass: you don't understand, you don't get it, they're keeping the cats disease free, blah blah blah blah. And then they put all those cats to death and they burn them and brush their ashes into bins and they go out with the rest of that day's trash into the green dumpster. No big deal.

Turns out this out-of-the-way shelter has a higher placement rate than all other regular shelters. I wonder why this would be?

In any event, turns out I put in my chit to be a volunteer at the shelter. Because I felt I could actually make a difference in that place. Because it is different. And it's not smack dab in the middle of a Massive Population -- so they can afford to act and be and present themselves as they are. In ancient Egypt, for example, the cat had a special place in its culture. They were highly valued, not least for the practical reason that mice and rats could destroy a town's food supply. Cats were often given golden jewelry and allowed to eat at the human table. Killing a cat was a capital offence and when a cat died the household would go into mourning. The Egyptian god Bast was a cat-god.

Which brings me to this weekend: I got my pneumonia shot and I got whacked in the eye. Both were painful.

I found, by sheer whimsy, a place that was delivering flu and pneumonia shots. I opted for the pneumonia shot for one very solid reason: the avian flu is coming. One does not die from the flu; oh no. One dies from pneumonia contracted via the flu. Hence my shot. I'll be receiving an additional flu shot later this week. I would recommend your doing the same. A day later the injection site pulsed with a dull throb. But I'd do it all over again.

Later, whilst at the shelter I described above, a cat tagged me in the right eye with her paw. I think her claw might have been out for a moment. In any event, my eye swelled shut, teared up and is still somewhat painful. It's sensitive to light and, 24 hours later, is red and uncomfortable. It feels precisely as my eye felt when I once contracted conjunctivitis.

So sorry. No amazing political post. Just a stream-of-consciousness post that doesn't mean much of anything to anyone. Except to me.

I've always had cats and I want another cat. I'll work for a rescue cat shelter. And what of Schrodinger's Cat?

_______________________________________


Here's Schrödinger's (theoretical) experiment: We place a living cat into a steel chamber, along with a device containing a vial of hydrocyanic acid. There is, in the chamber, a very small amount of a radioactive substance. If even a single atom of the substance decays during the test period, a relay mechanism will trip a hammer, which will, in turn, break the vial and kill the cat. The observer cannot know whether or not an atom of the substance has decayed, and consequently, cannot know whether the vial has been broken, the hydrocyanic acid released, and the cat killed. Since we cannot know, the cat is both dead and alive according to quantum law, in a superposition of states. It is only when we break open the box and learn the condition of the cat that the superposition is lost, and the cat becomes one or the other (dead or alive). This situation is sometimes called quantum indeterminacy or the observer's paradox: the observation or measurement itself affects an outcome, so that it can never be known what the outcome would have been if it were not observed.

_____________________________________


I posit: was it worth killing the cat?

What Is a Conservative?

From Wikipedia:

All conservatives value tradition. Tradition does not mean simply custom, habit or nostalgia for the past, though custom does inform tradition and sustain it. For a conservative, tradition is composed of standards and institutions that have been shown to promote the good, and therefore they find authority in tradition and apply it in politics. This authority, be it a person, a literature or a way of life, is rooted in the past, and thus cannot easily change .

To keep tradition alive, conservatives pass it down from generation to generation, embodied in the eternal verities or the sophia perennis.

Conservatives accept traditional values as authoritative, and judge the world around them by the standards they have come to trust. Many conservatives believe in God, and believe that He is not only the creator of the universe, but also the Author of those conservative values they espouse.

Since conservatives believe tradition supercedes the political process, the laws and constitutions of liberal democracies that permit behavior that conflict with traditional values cause friction in their eyes. Conservatives in a democracy choose to participate, separate, or resist. They often participate in liberal republican politics, using government policy to impose or preserve their values. Good examples of this are the Christian Democratic parties in Europe.

Another method of conservative reform, imposing their values on the public, is common among nationalist or religious conservatives. This can take a relatively benign form, such as Conservative Christians trying to order public school students to pray, or a more violent form, such as Islamists putting to death anyone who blasphemes. Armed conservatives who consider their tradition to be absolute for all may become revolutionary conservatives. In Europe the Catholic-nationalist-conservative regimes of Salazar and Franco are examples.

Though relatively rare, a modern example of conservatives who withdraw from society and attempt to live their lives in traditional ways is the Amish.

The above is a common thread from the internet regarding conservatism.

Some of my high points regarding Conservatism, would be:

• Self-reliance, individual responsibility
• Fiscal conservatism
• Belief in a higher power or authority
• Smaller government
• Traditional mores, values and familial structure
• Nationalism and sovereignty

There are many, many more, of course; these are but a few that come immediately to mind.

So:

In your mind, what is a Conservative? Not a Republican; a conservative.

What are your bullet points and, in addition, what is the first or most important aspect of a true conservative?

I suspect we'll be a bit of "all over the map" but, once in, I plan to assemble the responses and see if I can list, in order, the most important points of conservatism. There's a reason for all of this; temporarily, just humor me if you would be so kind.

Take it away:

USMC: Happy Birthday & Thank a Veteran!

God Bless America.

The finest, most powerful, most beneficial, most reviled political experiment any group of mongrels, misfits, rejects and risk-takers ever assembled into a nation.

And let's please say Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corps, celebrating its 230th year -- the few, the proud, the Marines -- and once a Marine, always a Marine. Semper Fidelis.

After several attempts by the American colonies reconcile the Crown and the American people, the Colonial Congress decided to assume a more serious attitude. A congressional committee drafted a resolution that created a new unit: the Continental Marines. The entire legislative body approved the resolution on November 10, 1775, the celebrated birthday of the US Marines. Robert Mullan (owner of Tun Tavern, the Philadelphia inn where the original resolution was drafted) was named a Marine Captain, and Samuel Nicholas (owner of another local tavern) was designated commandant of the Continental Marines.

By the time you read this, it will be Friday, November 11th, Veteran's Day. I wrote this post three times; the first was a lengthy missive detailing the history of the US military. Too long. I wrote a second piece; still too long and too over-the-top.

I'm making the newest post much shorter, and it gets down to this: 652,000 + Americans have given up their lives for this country, with almost 1.5 million wounded. The United States is an honorable and good country, no matter what anyone says. And our soldier have been, are, and always will be the best of the best.

Without a strong military, without men and women willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, without secure borders, everything else we do is secondary and, truly, of little consequence. How quickly we seem to forget this, even on Veteran's Day.

If you see a soldier today, walk up to them, shake their hand and thank them for their service. Go to Soldier's Angels and support a young soldier in Iraq. And take a moment, if you will, to reflect on what it means to be an American -- and ask yourself why it is that so many people, if we are such a bad country, still die trying to reach our shores.

Yes, God Bless America, and God Bless the American soldiers, for they keep us safe and secure.

More Fornicalia Thoughts: Where To From Here?

I just left some comments on Fetching Jen's blog (go there now and read her newest post!) and those comments got me to thinking: time to expand on similar issues here.

Using a phrase I like, "doing the logical extension," I have attempted to forecast and plot the future for the Fornicalia Republican party, and here is what I conclude:

We conservatives and Republicans left Arnold twisting in the wind yesterday. Unfortunately, he didn't do himself many favors either.

I believe, in general, Republicans need to get out of the Nice Guy mindset and start to FIGHT. I want Bush to fight. I want Arnold to fight. Show me some guts! Show me flame and spirit! Yank out the truth and trumpet it long and hard! Precisely what Arnold didn't do when the Dem Machine made the propositions not about the issues, but about him. He needed to do that the microsecond the Dem gloves came off.

To me, Arnold has shown a growing interest in carrying out a number of conservative ideas: no licenses for illegal immigrants, no gay marriage blessing, repeal of the fiscally onerous vehicle registration tax, the advocation via our recent propositions of state fiscal responsibility and accountability, the limiting of those very special interests, redistricting --

Okay, sidebar rant for a moment: Thank you, John Doolittle, Republican, for spending GOP money to oppose Proposition 77, you conehead! By the way, sir, I live in your district so take a wild, fanciful guess who I'm not voting for next time around?

Ideally, for governor I'd like to see Tom McClintock sitting in that chair, period. Despite the fact that I sent him $500 of my hard-earned money and received nothing in recognition -- I just wanted a "thank you" letter, sir, though I see you cashed my check. I dislike being set on Ignore Mode. Grrrr. . .

Despite that, McClintock can be a bit overwhelming because he's too logical for a politician and may actually scare people with his laser beam-like issue focus. The best part about Tom McClintock? He actually has answers to issues. Detailed answers, insights and, more importantly, actual solutions and ideas.

McClintock can, admittedly, come off as a tad aloof and arrogant. But there's no denial that his thoughts and plans utilize logic, common sense, and are based on his senatorial and political experience. He is no neophyte to the political or budgetary games in Fornicalia.

Thinking further, McClintock is in the running for Lt. Governor of Fornicalia. We could theoretically end up with Arnold re-elected, and Tom as LG. If so, it would seem, to me, that it's always easier to make a run for governor from the inside, so to speak.

Therefore: Arnold needs all the support he can get so that McClintock can step up when Arnold steps down.

We left the Austrian Oak wafting about last Tuesday and that was wrong; now we need to support him more than ever for two reasons: to enable the fruition of his visions (please don't go centrist, Arnold), and to slot McClintock in for the future governship.

Mothers: What It Means To Have a Live-In Boyfriend

To those of us in the Right-thinking vein, this gets applied under the "common sense and logic" category; to some strata of overeducated white people and some Liberals, there will be a severe intake of breath and perhaps even an attempt to push a very important study to the side.

Go here to see the abstract of a referenced study from the November 2005 issue of the journal Pediatrics. Go here if you wish to see the full text of the article.

The point of the article is this: young children who live with their mothers' boyfriends or other unrelated adults are 48 times more likely to die from child abuse.

Not twice as likely; not ten times as likely. Almost 50 times as likely.

Please first note what isn't here: not likely to die from fathers.

Also: single parenthood is not the culprit, mother or father.

It is the "presence in the household of unrelated adults, usually a male boyfriend, that dramatically increases the risk."

The core of their paper:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate household composition as an independent risk factor for fatal inflicted injuries among young children. We analyzed 8 years of the Missouri CFRP data to test 2 hypotheses: (1) that children residing in households with adults unrelated to them are at higher risk of inflicted-injury death than children residing in households with 2 parents and no other adults; and (2) that children living with a single parent were at no greater risk of inflicted-injury death than children living with 2 parents as long as no other adults lived in the home. Secondary objectives included conducting a descriptive analysis of perpetrator characteristics including gender, relationship to decedent child, and whether the perpetrator was a member of the decedent's household at the time of the child's death.

Two important factors the authors discovered:

• There was no increased risk to children in households with step or foster parents or with a single parent and no other adults.
• It is a misconception that children in single-parent households are more likely to die from inflicted injury.

I repeat (and will continue to believe, as will many of my fellow bloggers): there is no other ideal for a child other than a full and complete traditional family to include one biological mother, one biological father, and a strong, lasting relationship between the two.

On one level: a very important study. On another: so very sad.

The Dawn of a New Tomorrow

In Fornicalia, every proposition on our ballot went down in engulfing flames. Not just little but Bigly and Ugly. At first blush, our electorate took their collective right fist and rammed it into Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger's stomach. For someone who knows how to punch and fight, Arnold exhibited little if any will to put up his dukes, much less unleash his own barrage of counter-blows.

Common sense got beaten down by a barrage of repetitive, misleading ads that were occasionally outright lies. The campaign against Gov. Arnold was absolutely effective and, as such, Fornicalians sent a remarkably conflicting message to the rest of the country, and that would be: yes, we hated Gray Davis and voted him out, voting Arnold in under the guise of regime change trumpeting our need to turn government "back to the people" and remove the influence of "special interests." Then we said we liked things just as they were via this election. Huh?

Except, of course, that "our own" oxen were subject to becoming gored and special interests once again stomped on clearheaded ideas. As I've always indicated, never let rationality, common sense, proportion and logic get in the way of a good screwed-up decision process. Hence, the ill-educated Fornicalia electorate spoke; and what they said is:

• We can't be bothered to actually read the propositions;
• We are confused when more than a couple propositions are on the ballot;
• When we hear lies repeated more than twice, we believe them;
• When things are the least bit confusing or we as voters are the least bit fatigued, it's easiest to simply vote no;

So here's what we believe in Fornicalia:

• Parents have no right to be notified before abortions can be performed on girls under 18;
• Teacher tenure will continue to be 2 instead of 5 years;
• Any Fornicalia union can continue to use members' dues for any political purpose against the wish of the individual member, who has no say;
• There are no spending limits for the State of Fornicalia; we may continue to spend more than we receive in taxes from the taxpayers;
• We like our gerrymandered districts in Fornicalia; it keeps those currently in power and gosh, why should we brook those pesky incumbents?
• There should be no discount prescription drug program for the state (fine by me);
• There should be no incentives paid by the state to prescription drug companies (fine by me);
• We will not re-regulate our energy market (fine by me).

In San Francisco (you'll really appreciate this!), voters decided to ban handguns and oppose the presence of military recruiters in city schools. City of San Francisco residents passed their Proposition H, which requires city residents who already own guns to turn them in to police by April 1, 2006, and makes it illegal to buy, sell, distribute and manufacture firearms and ammunition in the city.

One out of 8 US citizens currently live in Fornicalia, the 6th largest economy in the entire world, not just our nation. Sturdy American stock of all ethnicities settled in Fornicalia originally because it offered the dawn of a new tomorrow, there was promise of an unfettered future where people could make their fortunes with hard work, minimal if any regulation, new hopes and adventures.

But here's the rub: according to the New York Times, in 2004 half a million people left Fornicalia for other parts of the United States, while fewer than 400,000 Americans moved into the state. The net outflow has risen fivefold, to more than 100,000, since 2001, an analysis by Economy.com, a research company, shows -- except that immigration from other countries and births have kept the state's population growing.

In the San Francisco, Fornicalia area, more people are leaving than arriving. Housing prices are beyond horrendous and this has the the literal driving force behind the trend. Most people move to adjoining states like Nevada, Washington, Oregon and Arizona, but the trending also indicates more folks moving to the Southeast and Midwest.

Whereas financial issues weigh heavily upon the minds of those leaving Fornicalia, I submit that an even greater emerging issue will be social and political philosophies.

To all this I say: Fornicalians will in fact reap what they sow; this is the Dawn of a New Tomorrow, taxpayers will foot the ultimate price, and we get what we deserve.

To the rest of you in other states: beware. What happens in Fornicalia first happens elsewhere later. So guess what? Here come our "state-d" thoughts, beliefs and trends!

Are ya ready?

_______________________

An afterthought: Arnold Schwarzennegger really is a fighter at heart. He's been a huge competitor and this has translated to his being a clever and productive businessman. Arnold has taken a big hit; he may be down but don't count him out.

The New and Improved BZ Blogroll!

Since beginning to regularly post in October of this year (though I've been on Blogger since June of 2004), in one meagre month I've somehow managed to cultivate a loyal band of readers, some new friends, and insight into the worlds of other Bloggers. I've been in digital contact with Kansas, Texas, Washington, Oregon, Missouri, Georgia, Florida, New York and other portions of Fornicalia.

I find this absolutely astounding. And quite admittedly, a whole lot of fun.

It became more fun when I updated the look of the blog itself, figured out how to add links, add photographs (like the Northern Fornicalia Mesomorphic Zippered Squirrel to the left -- not your average rodent and found only in the Sierra Nevada Mountains), change titles and the like.

In other words, personalize and customize it just a bit more. I'm still working on the "add a photo to your profile" thing. And some day I'll figure out how to add more titles to the blogroll bar.

Oddly enough, that nicely transitions to an update of my blogroll. I had initial aspirations of linking up with the Western Alliance in the Sacramento, Fornicalia area (where I work), but there exists no application form for this and I fear my request to Eric Hogue, who likely receives 179 e-mails per day from various nutjobs like myself, has been placed on Ignore Mode.

With that in mind, and in consideration of those who have so scrupulously supported me in my freshman blogging efforts, I realize I must remake my blogroll. To wit:

You may already know Mahndisa Rigmaiden from Manhdisa's Thoughts, an exquisite and detailed blog consisting of "ethics and morality discussions with a bit o' physics." Her posts are heavily researched, annotated, and open a wide variety of discussions on tons of topics -- hence her vast comment sourcing and the reason for her being a comment magnet of the First Degree in the Blogosphere. She has been an unflagging supporter and promoter of my site, and for this I humbly doff my hat. Thanks, Mahndisa!

Speaking of hats, one must always visit the Big White Hat, a God-fearing Texan with a Texas-sized heart who couples his thoughts by way of an incredibly facile writing style. BWH can put more thought, emotion and insight into one paragraph than I can in an entire post. I challenge you to read one of his posts and not pause, exhale, and reflect on the deep meaning within. He's just that good.

Fetching Jen delves into local (meaning: Sacramento, Fornicalia) power politics and describes herself as "a modish, semi-hip, conservative woman of today's world." She's a founding member of the Western Alliance of bloggers, and absolutely had me hooked when I first read her post about a "right student," where her son delivered a remarkably mature analysis of abortion in his class at school. Go here and see what her son said -- and don't dare miss her posts!

Eddie Lamperts' A Conservative's Conservative blog offers the "deep thoughts of a proud right winger," by way of erudite, educated observations of the political world. Eddie is precisely what he professes to be: a true Right Winger and sharp-witted advocate of the GOP. Smartly equipped to handle the most acerbic of left wing attack, Eddie writes with panache, a touch of sarcasm and an eye to God.

One day Little Miss Chatterbox started appearing on my comments, and I knew I had to find her blog, The Chatterbox Chronicles. I can relate to her having a bit of an epiphany whilst upgrading the look of her blog -- and a very nice job you've done, I might add! She asks: "What happened on Fox News? What is Rush talking about today? Has something happened to provoke the ire of conservatives everywhere? Little Miss Chatterbox is happy to tell you all about it!" A mother of four with wonderful religious insight, LMC writes with authority, style and charm.

A resident of America's true Kansas heartland, Rebecca of Revka's Take is a mother, likewise with four children (all sons -- kinda like my mom!), who has taken on the huge task of homeschooling her eldest -- and I can sure see why, with the 9th Circuit's recent ruling! A big fan of Anne Coulter (and what Right-thinking person isn't?), Rebecca is pondering the transition from a political bent to a bit of a home journal about the raising of autistic children. She writes with clear and present passion and, quite frankly, I'd kinda hate to see her give up the political spectrum entirely. When I want to immerse myself in the passionate right artery, I go see her!

And, of course, the usual assortment of high-powered suspects, bloggers and idealogues.

All subject to change. Member FDIC. Batteries not included. Contents may have settled during shipping. Go get 'em!

Election Day: Thoughts And Recommendations

Get Out And Vote
No matter where you are, exercise the American right to vote today and participate in your local elections. In Fornicalia, some amazingly-important propositions are on the ballot; I'll deal with that in a moment. Absentee voters: please, please tell me that ballot isn't still laying on the kitchen counter!

Doing The Logical Extension
Whilst enroute my very early morning workout, through a rain-streaked windshield, I began to attempt analysis of the next attacking point for the Liberal agenda -- and it was gloomy. But foreseeable. Here is what I think may be next in the approach pattern:

First, the Dems via the DEM lost the senate. Strike one. Then they lost the Presidency -- twice (and boy, that grates!) -- to a man they perceive as slightly brighter than the average doorknob. Making the situation more critical is the fact that they're in the process of losing another bastion of control, the US Supreme Court -- now even more critical because the SCOTUS allowed the doorknob's second election! Heresy! The potential SCOTUS turn to the right will be cemented if GWB receives the opportunity for a third appointment via a Stevens retirement. Strikes two and three. But wait, there's more: it isn't "sticking" to Cheney; it isn't "sticking" to Frist; it isn't "sticking" to Delay; it isn't even really sticking terribly well to Libby. McCain and DeWine and Graham are all indicating they likely won't recommend a filibuster of Alito -- wow, it isn't looking too keen.

But the Dems are not yet out. If you were in their corner, bloodied, beaten, leaking plasma and losing your traditional DEM stranglehold (newspapers are bleeding readers; on my Left Coast, the San Francisco Chronicle's circulation fell 16.4%!) what would your next tack be?

My prediction? Hit the foundation of the nation: voting. First, an attempt to nullify the senate, then the Presidency, then the courts, now there will be attempt to nullify the process of voting. Look for the next push: the voting isn't "fair," the process is "flawed," the system is in "question," people (always minorities) are being "disenfranchised." Sure, you've heard it all before. Expect an even larger, more forceful push.

For the Fornicalians: My Take On the Propositions
Prop 73: Parental Notification: YES
Kids can't get issued an Advil from a school nurse without calling Washington, DC and filling out two pounds of forms. This is a no-brainer, if for no other reason than current policy makes parents immaterial and lets government decide what's good for your kids. And hey, you didn't really need to know your daughter had an abortion anyway, right? I mean, if you actually said no, you wouldn't be your kid's best friend anymore -- and we can't have that.

Prop 74: Teacher Tenure: YES
Again, pretty simple. One step towards making teachers accountable and perhaps even moving towards a real, honest-to-goodness merit pay for real, honest-to-goodness good teachers.

Prop 75: Paycheck Protection: YES
I'm currently a member of an organization that spends my "association" dues as it damn well pleases. My money, none of my input. Boston Tea Party? Taxation without representation? Sound familiar? My, how the unions are going to squall on this one.

Prop 76: Live Within Our Means: YES, YES (and then for those of you who just tuned in): YES
Takes a page from the Dummy's Guide To Budgets: do not spend more than you make. Huh. Imagine that. What a concept.

Prop 77: Redistricting: YES
This would allow some fresh blood into the system. Go for it, Arnold!

Prop 78: California Prescriptions: YES
Nothing more than letting market-driven forces decide the cost of prescription drugs and pushing down health care costs.

Prop 79: Prescription Drug Discounts: NO
Sure, the State of California needs to get into the pharmaceutical rebate business. Not. Quote: "One-time and ongoing state costs, potentially in the millions to low tens of millions of dollars annually, for administration and outreach activities to implement the new drug discount program. A significant share of these costs would probably be borne by the state General Fund." Who sponsored this initiative? The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

Prop 80: Electrical Re-Regulation: NO
We just went through this. And we still won't (read: Greenies have stopped us from) build more power generation stations in California. This would re-regulate the industry, killing competition. Here's the key phrase: "Imposes restrictions on electricity customers' ability to switch from private utilities to other electric providers."

Now, go out and win elections -- Fornicalians: put your vote where your mouth is. My union ox is getting gored and I'm voting for Prop 75! You too can "do the Right thing."

French Riots: Not Getting Any Better

The riots in France aren't stopping and the French still seem oddly paralyzed by the scenario, though police are reacting -- and getting injured as well. Shot at, oddly enough, by those who shouldn't have weapons -- France being regulated by very strict gun control laws.

Still, the DEM and European media insist on portraying the rioters are mere "youths" -- as though this were merely the resulting of adolescent, rebellious growing pains. The rioters are Muslim. They are chanting: "It's Baghdad here."

The appeasing is already beginning throughout Europe. In Monday's Mark Steyn commentary from The Washington Times, Steyn writes: "Today, a fearless Muslim advance has penetrated far deeper into Europe than Abd al-Rahman. They're in Brussels, where Belgian police officers are advised not to be seen drinking coffee in public during Ramadan, and in Malmo, where Swedish ambulance drivers will not go without police escort. It's way too late to rerun the Battle of Poitiers."

Today on Bill Bennett's Morning In America, he featured British journalist David Pryce-Jones, author of The Closed Circle. In a 12-31-2004 piece about the Islamization of Europe, Pryce-Jones wrote:

Does this (Islamist) crisis amount to a "clash of civilizations"? Many people reject that notion as too sweeping or downright misleading. Yet whether or not it applies to, say, the situation in Iraq, or to the war on terror, the phrase has much to recommend it as a description of what is going on inside Europe today.

As Yves Charles Zarka, a French philosopher and analyst, has written: "there is taking place in France a central phase of the more general and mutually conflicting encounter between the West and Islam, which only someone completely blind or of radical bad faith, or possibly of disconcerting naiveté, could fail to recognize."

In the opinion of Bassam Tibi, an academic of Syrian origins who lives in Germany, Europeans are facing a stark alternative: "Either Islam gets Europeanized, or Europe gets Islamized." Going still farther, the eminent historian Bernard Lewis has speculated that the clash may well be over by the end of this century, at which time, if present demographic trends continue, Europe itself will be Muslim.

Continuing, this morning David Pryce-Jones said on Bennett's show:

There's a new Intifada going on, that's what it is, a sort of uncoordinated uprising of disaffected Muslims, and they are saying that's their identity, and they don't like France and they don't like being French. And there's no sense of organization which in some ways makes it more sinister, the fact that it has now spread over the entire country.

There are some really astonishing figures. Since January the first of this year there have been 28,000 cars burned in France and 70,000 incidents of violence. That is astonishing. That means several hundred cars burned a day.

It has obviously been building up for a very long time and it has caught the French state completely by surprise. It is a Muslim uprising and it is nothing else but that. They have decided that they're not going to integrate, they've decided that they want separatism. Part of the thing that is so difficult for outsiders to understand is that they want all the advantages and the privileges and the rights, but they're not prepared to give anything in return. If they don't like it, they really shouldn't be there at all, should they?

And it isn't just France. All over Europe there's an Islamization going on. The British shouldn't be so smug; we had Muslims and black rioting a few weeks ago. There are riots in Holland, and there are riots in Denmark.

I think one of the things we need to see in the next few days is whether this is the beginning of a really strong Muslim anti-European Intifada.

The French state is completely and totally baffled; it doesn't know what to do. We've had the extraordinary silence of Jacques Chirac. We had the equally extraordinary example of Mr. de Villepin; what he's done would make Neville Chamberlain proud. And Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister, who called them (the rioters) scum, he's risking his position because he's taking a stand. He is risking his position because he is calling for a clampdown, for law and order. This can only be done through the gendarmerie; this can only be done by force.

The state is now closing factories, it's put thousands of people are on the dole, it's unsafe to take trains, and they can bring France to a halt.

It looks as if there are only two possibilities. Either taking a firm stand, which means enforcing law and order, which is Sarkozy's position, or de Villepin's position which is to surrender.

If they use force, and there is bloodshed, then I think Sarkozy is finished. People will say, the attempt to enforce law and order will have created much more trouble than it was worth. Then the surrender will succeed, and what we shall actually have is infinitely greater Islamization as the result of it.

The French are tough on terror, but they're not tough on people inside the country. The thing that is very striking is, the places where the Muslims are rioting are unpoliced. But now the police are being taken in by bus, but they're unfamiliar with the terrain. The rioters escape inside alleys and into parks and hideaways and underpasses and so on.

What we see here is that the French state, for all its tough talk and the way it's clamped down on terror, had taken no precautions at all to deal with something like this. There aren't armored vehicles; they have torched hundreds of police cars. Why aren't the police in armored vehicles? They're going against Molotov cocktails, and that shows a total lack of preparation. And that in itself shows a failure of analysis.

Mr. Bennett mentioned that a listener recently watched a BBC program and noticed that not once did the BBC refer to the rioters as Muslim. Mr. Pryce-Jones responded:

The BBC has completely given up its integrity. It is now just a
propaganda organ for the Left.

Look, what's actually happening is that thousands of French people are being put out of work. And many thousands of people have lost their livelihood, they've had their shops burned out, their businesses burned out, banks have been burned out and robbed. This is the beginning of anarchy. Can that be a good thing?

Bill Bennett asked: why should America be concerned, and what are the policy implications?

It means that we all have to consider very, very carefully what we're going to do with the Muslim communities in our midst. We have to make quite sure that they assimilate. If they don't assimilate and go the way of separatism, there can only be violence, and we are seeing that now in France.

The first recorded death due to the riots has occurred today, as a 61-year-old man beaten into a coma has died.

As urban unrest spreads to neighboring Belgium in apparent copycat attacks (5 cars have now been torched outside a Brussels train station) and possibly Germany, the French government faces growing criticism for its inability to stop the violence, despite massive police deployment and continued calls for calm. The police are also afraid that the types of weapons they face could soon include grenades.

The match has been struck; it is apparent that other fuses are now being lighted.

Paris IS Burning: Further Reflections

I did a bit more research last night and again attempted to see through the DEM cloaking device to the various root cores of the violence in France, and tried to forecast where this might lead. Oddly enough, I think perhaps I can distill it down to the following paragraphs whereupon, afterwards, I shall give my stab at hypothesizing about its effects and ramifications.

The DEM has typically cast this story as various disaffected rioters upset with the deaths of two teenage boys who were electrocuted attempting to escape the police. Wrong. The rioters are young Muslim males and the rioting now has nothing to do with their two deaths.

These rioters have no money and are unemployed. Partially correct; most are unemployed but they also are what the British would call "on the dole;" France is a socialist society.

The rioters are now second-generation Muslims (France is now 14% Muslim, with 5 million, the biggest Islamic population in all of western Europe), non-integrated into the country, whose parents hailed primarily from Algeria, say 30 years or so ago. The Muslim rioters are not French and they are not Algerian. Algeria flatly refuses to repatriate any.

France refused to assimilate them, the populace dislikes them, so they built enclaves where hatred, disrespect for the hosting nation, for French culture, mores, a secularized society that was not theirs, built and built and built. And France did nothing -- to the point where French police declared certain areas to be absolutely unenforceable and left everyone to their own devices. Hatred, discontent, a "huddling, bunker effect" leads to the disaffected breeding their own bubbling, boiling cauldron of rancor, and is a perfect medium for the creation of Islamist extremism.

The riots began back on October 27th. And there appears little evidence that the police are making a significant dent, and that the riots will stop any time soon. Some are even theorizing that France will be the location of a new Intifada where the goal will be to wrest control of the entire country, where already more than 1 in 10 is a Muslim.

"What we notice is that the bands of youths are, little by little, getting more organized," arranging attacks through mobile phone text messages and learning how to make gasoline bombs, Hamon said. Police found a gasoline bomb-making factory in a derelict building in Evry south of Paris, with more than 100 bottles ready to turned into bombs, another 50 already prepared, as well as stocks of fuel and hoods for hiding rioters' faces, senior Justice Ministry official Jean-Marie Huet told The Associated Press.

All of France, western Europe, perhaps even the UK, had best be prepared for the ramifications if the rioting continues unabated. You can rest assured that, with ten, soon to be eleven and more days of rioting, messages are being delivered, e-mail sent, calls made, and an unofficial Al Queda presence will soon (if it has not already) turn to a real presence of those who know how to craft much more than Molotov cocktails.

Unstanched, this rioting wound will likely be the galvanizing point, a stepping-off point, an escalation of the continued violence and terror utilized by Islamist extremists against western societies -- any society that is not steeped in Islam.

I poked fun at the French in my last post because, basically, anything French provides me a target-rich environment. They are collectively a nation of Moonbats. But this, now? It's beyond Moonbat. Either the French will come down hard and draw lines in the sand, or the situation will escalate beyond their borders and people will die.

People do what they can, when they can, because they can -- if they are not stopped.

The First Ever Bloviating Zeppelin "Moonbat of the Week" Award

And the award goes to:

France.

A country? I thought awards went to people.

Well gosh, boys and girls, for my very first award, I decided to make an exception.

Why France, you ask (I suppose perhaps I should be just a little bit ashamed; after all, they are such an inviting and easy target for one to mock)?

All seriousness aside, it has nothing to do with their wines (Fornicalia wines are every bit as good if not better) or their cheese or their vast tracts of unshaved body hair or lack of hygiene -- dammit, Jim; there I go with the cheap shots -- or their wonderful cars (man, those Renaults, Citroens and Peugeots -- huh, I wonder why we don't import them any more?).

It has everything to do with ten, count 'em, ten days of Muslim rioting. And the French response to same.

Let's see. What has the French government done? Oh, yeah; they had some really, terribly harsh words for the rioters:

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin -- who cancelled a trip to Canada to tackle the crisis -- said the violence was "unacceptable." President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday called for calm, warning that an escalation would be "dangerous."

In the meantime, rioters have burned close to 1,000 vehicles, nursery schools have been burned, firefighters and police officers have been the targets of bullets, rocks, bottles, Molotov cocktails and more. The French claim 250 arrests have been made. Puh-leeze. . . I can make 250 arrests at any Ozzy Osbourne concert.

Faced with such violence and mayhem, I'm certain the Chirac government is seriously considering an unconditional surrender.

What ostensibly began as upheaval following two Muslim teens getting electrocuted whilst climbing a fence at an electrical transmission facility in order to evade the police, has now turned into night after night after night of rioting orchestrated via the internet and cellular telephones.

France is now, essentially, reaping what it has sown. And I must admit I have but little sympathy for the French government or its citizens -- who, by the way, though you'd never read about it, despise the Muslims.

Ah yes, that liberal, generous, accepting, non-judgmental, admirable Euro culture? Check this: You think unemployment is "horrible" in the United States? The October US unemployment dropped 0.1 percent from September, to 5.0%. The unemployment rate for France is over 10%, twice the US national average.

Yes, those accepting Euro cultures, the French in particular, are reaping what they have sown in terms of unlimited immigration, non-assimilation, elitism, and conciliatory non-judgmentalism.

The French, unfortunately, remind me of oh-so-many American mommies and daddies I see in stores and restaurants, telling their belligerent, spoiled children: "Tommy, don't do that. Tommy, I said, don't do that. I'm not kidding. Tommy put that down. I'm about to get really harsh. Tommy, stop that. I'm going to make you stop if you don't stop that. I told you, Tommy. Stop. I really mean it, now. Tommy stop that." Blah blah blah.

France: how stupid are you? You couldn't see this coming?

Evidently not. And you appear to be disinterested in stopping it.

= MOONBAT.

Why We Do What We Do

From the ending of Sydney Pollack's 1975 movie Three Days of the Condor:

TURNER:
Jesus, what is it with you people? You think not getting caught in a lie is the same as not telling the truth.

HIGGINS:
It's simple economics, Turner. There's no argument. Oil now. Ten or fifteen years it'll be food or plutonium. Maybe sooner than that. What do you think the people will want us to do then?

TURNER:
Ask them!

HIGGINS:
Now? (shakes head) Huh-uh. Ask them when they're running out. When it's cold at home and the engines stop and people who aren't used to hunger -- go hungry. They won't want us to ask. (quiet savagery) They'll want us to get it for them.

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I've been reading blog after blog after blog after blog about any number of topics. On any number of issues. My mind was reeling after attempting to process all this information. Perhaps a bit of sensory overload occurred, but I attempted, actually on my off-duty day (and not at work), to step back and see if there was any form of commonality to these seemingly divergent threads.

And you know what? There was.

Globally. Then nationally. And it got down to this:

We did what we did because we could.

Everyone does.

It's as simple as that.

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This cuts through any and all arguments. Who. What. When. Where. Why. How.

It's all about PITAP. PITAP?

I call this: Positioning In Time And Place.

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I challenge you: prove me wrong.


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A nation, a people, a community, a group, a click, even an individual, does what it can when it can because it can.


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What does this have to do with you? With me? With us as a nation? With us as divergent political groups? With us as a planet?

Everything.

Recognition is power. As is realization.

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Let us consider, for just a moment, and as an example, the indigenous American Indian. Many persons ascribe glorious and positive aspects to this culture; in truth, in many cases Native Americans were overbearing, repressive, female-suppressing warmongers. Do you think that, for example, if they had experienced their Bronze Age first, and then their Industrial Age, they would have embraced Euro invading forces from overseas? I submit they would have slaughtered whom they could, when they could, to stem these assailing forces.

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And this brings me back to today.

It is easy to blog and write about the hideous travails and ideosyncratic ideations, documentations, abrogations and simulacrums of that which we hold normal. We generally write about what we consider to be something disparate from the norm. War. Injustice. Violence. Right. Wrong. All within the context of our cerebral and idealogical interpretations and, more importantly, our primal and base beliefs.

What do I define as normal? In my ideom, I define normal as those who read me within the continental United States, who can read and interpret English, and who are sufficiently educated to find a computer, seek the internet, log on to same, and then purposely, PURPOSELY, seek my website.

There are literally millions and millions of websites. Why have you sought mine? What brought you to my poor, miniscule slice of the web today?

It would be: that which you find normal within your sphere of relativity.

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So what is normal? Is it normal to find a porcelain bathroom with a toilet?

Is it normal to find a table in a restaurant where you can be assured there will not be an IED affixed to its base?

Is it normal to enter Nordstrom and find the socks you wanted?

Is it normal to take your 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe and fill its tank with $2.49/gallon gas for $74 and then complain?

Is it normal to wash your clothes and bedding every week with Tide and wish the Kenmore washer had more settings?

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What would you do without oil?

What would you do without your connection to the internet?

What would you do without this Winter's depletion of your wood or heat?

Take away your car. How would you get around? How would your life change?

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The United States is repressive. Horribly repressive.

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It's easy to criticize the United States.

Whilst enjoying free universites. On student loans. Embraced by the Constitution. On various forms of welfare.

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H.R. 1606 is not yet in effect. So I can write this. I can have an opinion. I can make my website as attractive as, say, that of General Motors.

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To those who would want to destroy the United States:

You set this goal at your own peril. You make your comments, rally the populace, circle the weakest-minded of our genetic pool.

If the shoe were on the 1975 foot, no matter the political leaning, I would bet this would equal the belief: get what you need to get when you need to get it.

It's funny: hunger and darkness tends to cut through the most base of political leanings.

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Why does the United States do what it does?

Because it can because it can. Because, quite frankly, we have God beside us.


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And because it's right.





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Period.







Thus endeth my blog post.


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