The San Diego Cross Stays

This just in, from WorldNetDaily:

In a major victory for backers of San Diego's Mt. Soledad cross, an appeals court ruled today in favor of a voter measure that authorized transfer of the land beneath the memorial to the federal government.

A panel of justices from the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled 3-0 that Proposition A was constitutional, overturning a decision by Superior Court Judge Patricia Yim Cowett that invalidated the measure. The court also reversed a $275,000 attorney fee award received by an ACLU-backed lawyer for plaintiff Phillip Paulsen, an atheist who died last month.

"We are quite pleased with the court's decision," said Charles LiMandri, the West Coast Regional Director for the Thomas More Law Center, which argued the case. "It protects the will of the people and their desire to preserve a historical, veterans memorial for future generations."

I wanted to get the info out now; more on this tomorrow.

BZ

Gridlock-Vu All Over Again

All is not lost and all is not bleak -- or perhaps as bleak as we bleated. After reading Dick Morris, he reminds us:

Dick Morris: Pitiful Democrats

For all of the dire warnings and pre-election commotion about the impact of a Democratic majority in Congress, the fact is that — now that it is upon us — it can do little or nothing but harass the administration.

There is no real danger of any legislative action emerging from this Congress. Yes, the president has a veto the Democrats cannot override, but nothing will ever make it as far as the desk at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., are just spinning their wheels.

In the Senate, there is no such thing as a majority. Ever since the elder Bush's administration, the filibuster has become routine. No longer reserved for civil-rights issues or for egregious legislation, it now is used to counter even motions for recess and adjournment. Members of the Senate are no longer subjected to the indignity of standing on their feet and reading a telephone book. Rather, the gentlemen's filibuster applies.

The majority leader phones the minority leader and asks if a filibuster is in effect. With his feet up on his desk, the Republican replies that it is and the Democrat, despite his majority, does not even think about bringing up his bill for consideration unless he has a good shot at the 60 votes required to shut off debate. In the Senate, 51 votes determine who gets the corner office, but to pass legislation, one needs 60.

In the House of Representatives, with its 435 members, the Republican Party needed a simple majority — 218 — to rule. The Democrats need considerably more. The normal rules of a mathematical majority do not take into account the fractious nature of the Democratic Party.

Where the Republican majority best resembled the Prussian Army — disciplined, unified and determined — the Democratic majority in the upcoming Congress is disunited, dispersed and divided into myriad caucuses and special interest groups. One could purchase the Republican majority wholesale by making a deal with the speaker and the majority leader. But to get the Democratic majority in line, one has to buy it retail — caucus by caucus.

First, one has to go to check with the Black Caucus — hat in hand — to see if one's bill has enough liberal giveaways to round up its forty or so votes. Thence to the Hispanic Caucus for a similar screening. Then, with one's legislation weighted down with liberal provisions added by these two groups, one has to sell it to the Democratic Leadership Council moderates and, even worse, to the Blue Dog Democrats — the out and out conservatives.

If you are fortunate enough to pass these contradictory litmus tests, you then have to go to the environmentalists, the labor people, and even the gays to see that your bill passes muster. Only then can you begin to hope for House passage.

The result of this labyrinth is that the relatively moderate bill you first sought to pass ends up like a Christmas tree, laden with ornaments added to appease each of the caucuses. Unrecognizable in its final form, it heads to House passage.

This road map will be familiar to all veterans of the Clinton White House of 1993 and 1994. The most recent administration that had to deal with a Democratic House, the shopping from caucus to caucus and the festooning of moderate legislation with all manner of amendments will seem dejà vu to all of the early Clintonites. When Clinton proposed an anti-crime bill with a federal death penalty, he needed to add pork projects in the inner city like midnight basketball to get it past the Democrats in the House.

Nancy Pelosi will face the same obstacle. By the time her legislation emerges from the lower chamber, it will bear little resemblance to what she had in mind, liberal as that might have been. As Clinton said, after he watched the mangling of his legislative program by the various caucuses in the House, "I didn't even recognize myself."

Once the highly amended liberal legislation emerges from the House, it will make easy fodder for a Senate filibuster. So left leaning that it stands no chance of attracting 60 votes, it will be dead-on-arrival.

So forget the nightmares about an amended Patriot Act or restrictions on wiretapping for homeland security. Don't worry about House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel's, D-N.Y., ravings about the draft or the rumors of a tax increase. It's not going to happen.

What is the Democratic majority good for? One thing and one thing only — to give their party control of the committees and the subpoena power that goes with it. The two House Democratic majority can only make noise and make trouble. It can't pass legislation.


Eileen McGann co-authored this column by Dick Morris.

Everyone should read this; every Conservative, that is.

BZ

We Need More

More illegal Mexican immigrants. More more more.

Why? So they can kill more naturalized Americans.

WorldNetDaily writes:

WASHINGTON – While the military "quagmire" in Iraq was said to tip the scales of power in the U.S. midterm elections, most Americans have no idea more of their fellow citizens – men, women and children – were murdered this year by illegal aliens than the combined death toll of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan since those military campaigns began.

Though no federal statistics are kept on murders or any other crimes committed by illegal aliens, a number of groups have produced estimates based on data collected from prisons, news reports and independent research.

Twelve Americans are murdered every day by illegal aliens, according to statistics released by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. If those numbers are correct, it translates to 4,380 Americans murdered annually by illegal aliens. That's 21,900 since Sept. 11, 2001.

Total U.S. troop deaths in Iraq as of last week were reported at 2,863. Total U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan during the five years of the Afghan campaign are currently at 289, according to the Department of Defense.

This translates to 12 Americans are murdered daily by illegal aliens, and 13 killed daily by drunk illegal alien drivers, according to King – for another annual death toll of 4,745.

That's 23,725 since Sept. 11, 2001.

And who drives with no license or insurance? Illegal immigrants perhaps? Again, from WND:

While no one – in or out of government – tracks traffic accidents caused by illegal aliens, the statistical and anecdotal evidence suggests many of last year's 42,636 road deaths involved illegal aliens.

A report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Study found 20 percent of fatal accidents involve at least one driver who lacks a valid license. In California, another study showed that those who have never held a valid license are about five times more likely to be involved in a fatal road accident than licensed drivers.

Statistically, that makes them an even greater danger on the road than drivers whose licenses have been suspended or revoked – and nearly as dangerous as drunk drivers.

While police do not routinely ask drivers about their immigration status, New York's Rockland County District Attorney Michael Bongiorno – who has prosecuted more than 20 felony cases this year involving people accused of both unlicensed driving and drunken driving – estimated that two-thirds of about 70 drivers charged in Spring Valley with misdemeanor counts of driving while intoxicated and unlicensed driving were illegal immigrants.

"Unfortunately, the undocumented drivers here do that (drive unlicensed) more than the natives,'' said California Highway Patrol Officer Wendy Hahn. "If they've been involved in an incident, they flee because they don't want to deal with immigration.''

Peter Wagner, author of a report entitled "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration," wrote:

While the vast majority of illegal aliens are decent people who work hard and are only trying to make a better life for themselves and their families, (something you or I would probably do if we were in their place), it is also a fact that a disproportionately high percentage of illegal aliens are criminals and sexual predators," states Peter Wagner, author of a new report called "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration."

"That is part of the dark side of illegal immigration and when we allow the 'good' in we get the 'bad' along with them. The question is, how much 'bad' is acceptable and at what price?"

Yes indeed, at what price -- monetarily and in the body count of AMERICANS?

BZ

The State of My State

IN FORNICALIA:

1. 40% of all workers in Los Angeles County (L.A. County has 10.2 million people) are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants, working without a green card.

2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.

3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.

4. Over 2/3rds of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal, whose births were paid for by taxpayers.

5. Nearly 25% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.

6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.

7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.

8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.

9. 21 radio stations in L.A. are Spanish speaking.

10. In L.A. County 5.1 million people speak English. 3.9 million speak Spanish. (There are 10.2 million people in L.A. County ).

(All the above from the Los Angeles Times)

NATIONALLY:

- Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops, but 29% are on welfare.

- Over 70% of the United States ' annual population growth (and over 90% of California , Florida , and New York )results from immigration.

- The cost of immigration to the American taxpayer in 1997 was, (after subtracting taxes immigrants pay), a NET $70 BILLION per year, [Professor Donald Huddle, Rice University].

- The lifetime fiscal impact (taxes paid minus services used) for the average adult Mexican immigrant is a NEGATIVE number.

- 29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.

HOW MANY MEXICANS VIEW MY COUNTRY:

On February 15, 1998, the U.S. and Mexican soccer teams met at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Mexican even though most lived in this country. They booed during the National Anthem and U.S. flags were held upside down. As the match progressed, supporters of the U.S. team were insulted, pelted with projectiles, punched and spat upon. Beer and trash were thrown at the U.S. players before and after the match. The coach of the U.S. team, Steve Sampson said, "This was the most painful experience I have ever had in this profession."

DID YOU KNOW:

Did you know that immigrants from Mexico and other non-European countries can come to this country and get preferences in jobs, education, and government contracts. It's called affirmative action or racial privilege. The Emperor of Japan or the President of Mexico could migrate here and immediately be eligible for special rights unavailable for Americans of European descent.

Corporate America has signed on to the idea that minorities and third world immigrants should get special, privileged status. Some examples are Exxon, Texaco, Merrill Lynch, Boeing, Paine Weber, Starbucks and many more.

ABOUT MEXICO:

Were you aware that Mexico regularly intercedes on the side of the defense in criminal cases involving Mexican nationals?

Were you aware that Mexico has NEVER extradited a Mexican national accused of murder in the U.S. in spite of agreements to do so?

FORNICALIA COUNTIES:

According to the L.A. Times, Orange County, California is home to 275 gangs with 17,000 members, 98% of which are Mexican and Asian. How's your Fornicalia county doing?

LET US NOT FORGET OTHER IMMIGRANTS:

According to a New York Times article dated May 19, 1994, 20 years after the great influx of legal immigrants from Southeast Asia , 30% are still on welfare compared to 8% of households nationwide. A Wall Street Journal editorial dated December 5, 1994 quotes law enforcement officials as stating that Asian mobsters are the "greatest criminal challenge the country faces." Not bad for a group that is still under 5% of the population.

THE REALITY OF FORNICALIA EDUCATION:

Is education important to you? Here are the words of a teacher who spent over 20 years in the Los Angeles School system. "Imagine teachers in classes containing 30-40 students of widely varying attention spans and motivation, many of whom aren't fluent in English. Educators seek learning materials likely to reach the majority of students and that means fewer words and math problems and more pictures and multicultural references."

AND THIS ISSUE IS STILL NOT A PRIORITY FOR THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION OR THE DEMOCRATS.

Why is that?

BZ

Sunday & The Typical Left: " Senator, do you know there's a girl found dead in your car?"

Antone Bettencourt - Chappaquiddick resident - 9:30 AM - Saturday - July 19, 1969

____________________________


You were drunk.

You ran off the road.

So damned what; you were connected to the Big Name of Big Names in the area.

You were Teflon; you managed not only to dodge the Kopechne bullet but every subsequent bullet.

Here was her car and how she died:

Better left forgotten.

Have YOU forgotten?

BZ

Traitorous Fuck

Apologies for the bad word in the title but I'm sure you'll get over it; the cash, once again, bespeaks volumes.

Our B-2 stealth technology has been sold.

To China.

(Spoken in the vocal tone of Gomer Pyle:) "Surprise, surprise!"

According to the Washington Times, the technology relates to the B-2 bomber's engine exhaust system and its ability to avoid detection by infrared sensors. The Times reports that the information was sold to Chinese officials by former defense contractor Noshir S. Gowadia, an Indian-born citizen charged with spying in a federal indictment released by prosecutors in Hawaii.

So then, the billions and billions of dollars YOU spent to enable our F-117 fighters and B-2 Spirit bombers to enable their mission(s) has been for nought?

According to the Times, court papers say Gowadia is charged with making at least six secret visits to China from 2002 through 2005, and being paid at least $110,000 by Chinese officials for highly classified defense technology supplied through January. He may have been paid as much as $2 million.

Bill Gertz wrote:

He also helped the Chinese modify a cruise missile so that it can intercept U.S. air-to-air missiles, and helped Chinese weapons designers improve testing and measurement facilities, the court papers state.

Most of the indictment, handed up Nov. 8, outlines how the engineer helped China develop a radar-evading stealth exhaust nozzle for a cruise missile engine.

Additionally, the court papers indicated that Mr. Gowadia sent e-mails to Israel, Germany, and Switzerland in 2002 and 2004 that contained data labeled "secret" and "top secret" that was related to U.S. stealth technology intended for use in the TH-98 Eurocopter and for foreign commercial aircraft.

One computer file found in Mr. Gowadia's Maui, Hawaii, home was a file containing the radar cross-sections of U.S. B-1 and F-15 jets and the Air Force's air-launched cruise missile, information that would be useful to countering those systems by anti-aircraft missiles or other air defense weapons.

But of course there's more:

Mr. Gowadia worked for B-2 developer and manufacturer Northrop Aircraft Inc. from 1968 to 1989 as part of an ultrasecret special access program for the B-2, and later as a Northrop contractor involved in classified research on missiles and aircraft. He also worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1990s.

I have a few suggestions, one immediate:

Give ME access to Gowadia. All I ask for is, as Pantera sings: "Five minutes alone."

I would solve your future problems with this traitorous fuck.

I'd gleefully volunteer to put the suppressed .22 magnum bullet into his brain pan. Give me the option and I'd give you either the two meter shot or the contact burn into his temple with powder stippling.

Give me a garrot, I'd slip the wire around his neck and pull until my muscles were oxygen-depleted.

I've had cancer twice, you can arrest me and try me, I couldn't care less given access to this traitorous fuck. I might even beat it given my acting skills.

Or just put me into a sealed room with him, lock it, and go away for an hour. I'm 5'9" and 240 pounds but, considering my mental bent, there'd be no contest. I don't care: I'm pushing 60, he's in his late 30's. You could open the door to find I'd attempted to break and then succeeded in cracking every bone in his body. Every knuckle I possessed would be likewise broken but, then again, I'd heal.

Give me a pencil. Just one pencil. I'd make sure I'd already rammed it into his trachea, his temple, up under his mandible, into his left eye socket.

Give me a balpeen hammer and I'd sock it through his fucking heart. I'd watch my own nails break from my fingers as my teeth pulled tendons from his neck, my eyes closed, his warm blood pulsing over my throat and lips, slicking back my hair, running rivulets down my chest. I have a huge Bite Complex, perhaps even larger than that of Hannibal Lecter. I could see myself severing his trachea and avulsing all vertical muscles and the carotid.

Do not doubt, for a moment, that I would do this for my country, to this traitorous fuck.

BZ

Thanksgiving

My fiance and I had a small dinner for ourselves at my cabin tonight. Instead of opting for turkey we stuffed lamb and cornish game hens with garlic, basil, lemons and almonds. We rubbed them with extra light olive oil and then grilled them on the barbeque.

I had lighted candles and the house was bathed in natural light. I started a fire and the logs warmed the air. The cabin smelled of various candles, some garlic and an XM radio channel played New Age in the background. The sun declined to the west, creating shadows and then darkness. My feral cat friends came for their own Thanksgiving feast and they received fresh pieces of game hen and lamb.


My Christmas tree was already set up and festooned with lights from the day before, in preparation for this night. I'd already wrapped some packages and set them next to the tree; packages for my fiance, my father and brother. My Holiday stuffed bears were also set out, and a new wreath adorned my front gate.

I am still alive and for that I am thankful.

Be close to your family and friends, and hold them close.

BZ

November 22nd

The aircraft touched down at Love Field on a beautiful autumn day; skies were blue and clear, the mood was that of much anticipation. The destination was to be the Dallas Trade Mart, where a speech would be made during that luncheon. The motorcade left the airport at 11:50 am.

The vehicles had already stopped twice to greet cititzens; it was now creeping at 11 miles per hour. In a case of serendipity, Agent Rufus Youngblood happened to look up at the clock atop a building and mentally noted: 12:30.

The building? The Texas School Book Depository.

Shots were heard. The entire event lasted roughly six to eight seconds -- seconds that were to not only change the world, change the United States, but ultimately to change the way its citizens viewed its government. And the Age Of Conspiracy was born.

Texas Governor John Connally was hit in the wrist, shoulder and leg. President Kennedy's wounds would be disputed from then until now. What is incontrovertible is that he officially died at Parkland Hospital four miles from Dealey Plaza.

CBS reporter Walter Cronkite, with much emotion, removed his glasses and said:

From Dallas, Texas, a flash, apparently official. President Kennedy died at 1:00 pm central standard time, two o'clock eastern standard time, some thirty-eight minutes ago."

And a nation sat transfixed and stunned.
Initially, certain frames of the Zapruder Film were never shown -- such as the above frame where the bullet strikes President Kennedy's head. Agent Clint Hill rushed to the presidential Lincoln and pushed Jacqueline Kennedy back into the rear seat, after she had climbed out of the back seat in an attempt to retrieve parts of her husband's skull which had been sprayed behind. She said to Agent Hill: "I have a piece of his brain in my hand."

Was this a conspiracy and who was involved? Who profited? Who benefited politically, and who benefited fiscally? Did Johnson benefit and was he involved? Were the Cubans involved? Was our government involved? Was the CIA involved? Was Organized Crime involved?

Why was it that it appeared everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong? What happened to Kennedy's brain? What happened to his coffin? Why was Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated? What is it that Gerald Ford actually knows? What does Arlen Specter actually know?

It is still remarkably disturbing to people (like myself) who lived during those times that one person or a cabal of individuals could assassinate our President on our own soil, and that so much could go wrong in the ensuing investigation -- and that we still hold no suspects.

President Kennedy died that day, as did the national feeling of a "New Frontier."

Who was responsible?

Why do we not know conclusively?

And why are records, 43 years after the event, still sealed?

BZ

The Match Struck?

As far as Hezbollah, Syria and Iran are concerned, blood is in the water and ladles of chum are being hurled overboard from the Global Bucket O' Chum.

Animals, primarily predators, can inherently sense fear in their fellow animals and many humans as well. Sharks, for example, know when to strike via their ampullae of Lorenzini, dark pores in the skin that are capable of detecting minute electro-magnetic fields, temperature variations and the weakness of any given item of prey. Their primeval ganglion, formed millions of years ago, are nothing if but efficient.



Islamists in the Middle East are nothing more than the most base of animals. Make no mistake: animals. But very cunning animals, using our history, our thoughts, our media, our very political climate against us.

And our political climate has most definitely changed.

In the past two days the following events have occurred in the Middle East:

Pierre Gemayel, Lebanon’s Industry Minister and son of a former President, was shot dead yesterday in his car in a Beirut suburb. It was the first assassination of a leading anti-Syrian figure in almost a year.

But please realize: not one attempted assassination, but two; one was unsuccessful:

Three hours before Mr Gemayel’s murder, gunmen opened fire at the offices of Michel Pharaon, the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs. No one was hurt.

At first blush: good for him, but of little consequence -- until one realizes:

Under the Lebanese Constitution, a government can continue functioning unless one third of the Cabinet resigns or is incapacitated. The resignations and Mr Gemayel’s murder mean that if another minister is removed the Government will fall.

Resignations, you ask? What is this? Read:

The shooting came a week after six pro-Syrian ministers resigned from the 24-seat Government, plunging the country into turmoil.

This is nothing more than an overt attempted coup of Lebanon by Hezbollah, on behalf of Syria -- controlled overtly and covertly by Iran. And Ahmadinnerjacket. Syria and, by logical extension, Hezbollah acts and dances only but upon the behest of Mockmood Ahmadinnerjacket.

Several of the 52 Americans who were held hostage in the US embassy in the months after the revolution say they are certain Mr Ahmadinejad was among those who captured them.

Hugh Hewitt wrote an incredibly nascent sentence today when he printed on his blog:

If Iran/Syria/Hezbollah are misjudging the impact of the elections on President Bush's ability to conduct the war, the time to communicate such a message is right now, not a week, or a month, or sixth months from now.

Also of GREAT import is this factoid from Yoni Tidi, an Israeli of dual citizenship:

Syrian President Invited to Visit Tehran
00:55 Nov 22, '06 / 1 Kislev 5767

(IsraelNN.com) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has issued an invitation to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to visit Tehran for talks together with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, according to the Reuters news service.

Al-Assad was invited to join the summit scheduled for the coming weekend between Iraq and Iran. The meeting is expected to focus on how to end Iraqi violence and prevent a civil war.

And so why do you suppose that might be -- considering the past two days' events?

Also today:

Hizbullah Announces $300-million in Support From Iran
02:20 Nov 22, '06 / 1 Kislev 5767

(IsraelNN.com) The Hizbullah terrorist organization announced Tuesday night it has received $300-million in funding from Iran “for the purpose of rebuilding” its infrastructure.

Senior terror leader Naim Kassam told reporters the organization has received funding from other Arab nations a well, but declined to specify which ones, in a report published Tuesday in the London-based newspaper “A-Sharak Al-Awast.”

Kassam added, “Everyone in Lebanon receives money from other countries, but the question is what the conditions are. Hizbullah’s decisions are not influenced by economic support from Iran.”

Look not at each event in and of itself, but step back and take in the perspective in the form for which it was meant to be viewed:

• The United States are weak;
• Israel is weak;
• There is confusion in Western Europe;

There is chum in the water, dear readers.

And, in the United States, I wonder who helped move the buckets on deck? I would submit: both sides of the aisle.

And is this the match strike to ignite the entire Middle East?

BZ

Eight Years After Clinton Left Washington

BZ

Let The Reality Commence

The Passion Of The Pelosi:

Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, is in the process of making, along with the Democrats themselves, an amazing discovery. It's like they, akin to the GOP, have to make miraculous discoveries election after election because they appear to:

1) Have no sense of history and
2) Have no memory.

Nancy Pelosi's "honeymoon" is over; it lasted, what, just a hair over 24 hours?

Then she got slammed by her own kind, kinda like a big ol' WWF Slapdown.

Hence my title: "Let The Reality Commence."

Pelosi chose the aging reprobate and ethically-challenged Jack Murtha as her "second in command." Murtha is a wanking Moonbat, to be kind. Yeah, he served in the military, blah blah blah. I wrote about her choice here.

Then Murtha got voted out as quickly as the Dems voted 175,937 to 0 to axe Mad Jack.

"It was a serious misstep and inexplicable to me," former Republican leader Dick Armey chortled. "I just hope she does more of it."

Pelosi wanted to push through lobbying and ethics reforms -- but evidently didn't get the memo stating Murtha thought her reform measures were, quote: "total crap."

Additionally, as the Pelosi-Hoyer-Murtha battle was boiling, Democratic water-carrier and Major Dem Apologist James Carville and pollster Stan Greenberg -- both of whom are close to the Clintons -- loudly called on Howard Dean to resign as Democratic chairman, saying the party could have won more House seats if he had spent its money more wisely.

Will she listen? Will she realize what a dead anchor Howard Dean is truly?

She does, in my estimation, have one mindset to make things work on one level. It is a mindset I wholeheartedly wish the GOP had found within itself now, and in the future. Pelosi once said to some Time magazine writers a few months ago:

The Speaker-to-be puts it in more graphic terms. At lunch with a group of TIME correspondents a few months ago, she said Republican attacks on her would not work, because she wouldn't let them. "If people are ripping your face off," she said, picking at a chicken salad dressed only with lemon wedges, "you have to rip their face off."

Good strategy. GOP: ARE YOU LISTENING?

Evidently not.

Heavy sigh.

Then there are more internal politics.

According to NewsMax.com, Hillary Clinton:

. . . fears that the California congresswoman will rival her as the leading woman in her party, a position Hillary held before the Democrats took control of Congress in the midterm elections.

Another concern for Hillary, according to a source, is that if Pelosi is seen as a failure in her role as speaker, that could convince many that a woman isn’t up to handling a top job in Washington. “Hillary loses whether Pelosi succeeds or fails,” the source said.

Others see more problems with the Hillary-Pelosi dynamic. Writing in the New York Post, Deborah Orin-Eilbeck states that Pelosi’s rise “might ruin Clinton’s 2008 dreams.”

According to the columnist, “Pelosi comes across as a shrill anti-military, anti-prayer, sharply partisan super-liberal who angrily insults Republican foes as ‘immoral.’

Here is another Reality Check for Speaker Pelosi:

It is very easy to criticize and kvetch from a distant point whilst those under the gun attempt to make critical decisions. And then, on top of that, offer no alternative decisions whatsoever other than the two letter word:

"NO."

The Democrats are nothing more than the party of NO. No this, no that, no no no.

Here is the Democratic version of our future:

Speaker Pelosi: you'd best get your best minds together and corral them quickly. Because whilst you bloviate and speak in terms of wildly generic talking points, the best of the best Islamists are still planning and plotting and now looking upon this electoral turnover as only beneficial to them.

Why might that be?

Or are you even asking that question?

There is also this:

The Democrats have gained control of the House of Representatives, but the numbers show that they have a precarious hold on power, according to an analysis by Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform.

The House now has 59 Democrats who were elected in districts that voted for George Bush in 2004. But there are only nine House Republicans elected in districts that went for John Kerry in 2004. Therefore, the 59 Democrats are in more difficult districts than the nine Republicans.

Norquist and his organization calculate that if the Republicans in 2008 won only those districts that voted 58 percent of more for Bush in 2004, they would gain 19 seats. And if they won only those districts that went 55 percent or more for Bush, they would pick up 33 seats.

You are now in a position of Power. You will have to make decisions; critical decisions. Now shoes are on other feet. You will have to provide ideas, alternatives, thoughts, plans.

I remain unconvinced the Dems and the DEM are up to it.

BZ

Propagandist Feet

I went to go see the animated movie Happy Feet on Friday night with my fiance, who had anxiously been awaiting its arrival. She enjoyed the movie greatly; alas, I fear, I read much more into the movie than did she. I suppose I'm simply wired that way. And that way is this:

Happy Feet, whilst admittedly being a remarkable feast for the eyes and ears (mostly for the eyes), is also one major piece of Eco-Propaganda and Anti-Humanist Propaganda.

The kids may, admittedly, care peripherally. But it is another in a continuing series of movies and animated features emphasizing that "civilization bad, nature good;" "religion bad, secularism good."

Not unlike the elder 1970 book Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, Happy Feet relies upon one small bird deciding to make a decision and take a line going "against the grain" of the "traditionalists" and the "status quo." Clearly, the status quo is portrayed as oppressive, unthinking, marginal, inconsiderate, illogical and ritualistic. The Elder Emperor penguins are "pigeonholed" (sorry, couldn't pass up that one!) as unmoving, unsympathetic zealots, meant to be interpreted as those who are linked to religious inclinations -- but of course, with "ageist' intonations -- i.e., "youth good, age bad."

Guess what Boys and Girls?

Y'all gonna get to be pushing 60 -- if'n you're fuckin' lucky.

The bottom line is this: "aliens" seem to be decimating the fish supplies for all the penguins, along with the minimizing ice floes. The "aliens" are humans with their fishery ships and "Mumbles" (the main character of Happy Feet voiced by Elijah Wood, who cannot sing but makes his way in the penguin world by means of tap-dancing) is captured and then placed into captivity within a penguin tank. His ability to "tap dance" results in his being tagged electronically which then results in the "aliens" recognizing the entire herd's ability to dance -- which then translates into the United Nations' confusion and then cessation of fishery exploitation by humans.

And Lovelace leads them there -- a penguin adorned as King by the plastic six-pack keeper he's managed to have caught around his neck. Gosh; another bestiality ploy by humans.

Allow me for a few sentences to cut to the chase. The Japanese and the Russians have traditionally been the worst offenders in the fisheries wars. Asians and Whites. Slant Eyes and Blanchers. Can I possibly make this more racist or offensive, in order to prove my point?

I'm not convinced of Global Warming. In my opinion this is a cycle in the Continuing Big Picture of this planet. Nor am I convinced that age is bad and caucasoid is bad.

But that's just me.

Simply be aware of the fact that, when you take your precious little ones to the theatre for ANY movie these days, there is always an Agenda.

Repeat: there is ALWAYS an Agenda.

And for those of you who just tuned in:

Happy Feet is a nothing more than a fabulous artistic expression . . .

With an agenda.

BZ

P.S.

Happy Feet really is a feast for the eyes. This movie features animation taken to another level entirely -- plus lots of rotoscoping. I freely admit: I have never seen animation taken to this degree of clarity and reality.

. . . another reason your children will believe every moment of every message portrayed or even hinted-at. . .

Nothing Unusual Today

BZ

What, Me Worry?

What, me work?

So you want to be like Europe?

The Democrats certainly believe that's an area to emulate and, because of this, you must realize they will do their best to ensure its policies and beliefs become those of this country.

Except for one little teeny-weeny problem: Europe doesn't work. Literally and figuratively. A little wordplay there.

Let's take Germany for example. I would suspect that Germany rather typifies societal and governmental norms in the European Union. And Germany is beginning to suffer from the exact things that Democrats believe we need in the United States.

I would highly suggest you read this complete article from der Spiegel, Germany's premiere publication now online. As you might suspect much of the German media leans a tad to the left yet, despite that, this kind of article was published in their "mainstream media."

The situation is that critical. Here are excerpts. To wit:

Faced with poor job prospects, high taxes and an intrusive bureaucracy, more and more Germans are choosing to emigrate. Most of those who leave, though, are highly qualified -- which could mean devastating economic consequences.

The consequences for the United States, if we are listening, are absolutely enormous.

They are tired of living in country where landing a job is like playing the lottery, a country where not even half of citizens live from gainful employment and a country in which even academics in their mid-40s are already considered problem cases when it comes to job placement. In other words, they are fed up with living in a country where all opportunities already seem to be taken: opportunities to succeed in one's career, to own property and to achieve prosperity.

Stop right there. What might be the largest difference between Europe and the United States? Would that be the actual ownership of property? Home ownership? An actual investment in not only one's job, one's culture on all levels to include religion but an investment in what some call hard or physical assets? When one owns something, doesn't that person tend to take better care of that in which they have a greater investment -- again, on all levels?

I would submit they do. Further:

Nowadays doctors are moving to Norway, engineers to the United States and agricultural experts to New Zealand. Germany is becoming a net exporter of people.

Who will pay for all services, when no one works in order to pay for demanded entitlements?

The country's pension system is losing contributors just as vast numbers of baby-boomers are gradually entering retirement. The demographic crisis is getting worse, especially when one considers that deaths outnumbered births by 144,000 in 2005, and that this gap is continuing to widen.

In the United States, self-considered "elite" and "progressive" cities such as San Francisco and Seattle have the fewest number of children in the nation, per capita.

When you have a goal, when you work for that goal and when you achieve that goal and can keep it and hold it, your investment in that goal is total and complete. You are invested in your country, your local state or entity and, equally important, your community. Those who have achieved nothing not obtained on the coattails of others lack this appreciation for work and investment. And I submit that there you have Europe. People primarily live in apartments. They are subsidized and supported to a great degree by their government(s).

Read this again: ". . .a country where not even half of citizens live from gainful employment." Did you process that? More than half of Germany's citizens are "on the dole." And of that massive number, are they all paraplegics? Blind? Not even remotely.

To a degree Europeans are correct: the United States is lagging behind them. We have not yet experienced, societally and culturally the negative aspects of their collective Western culture. And they have made and are making huge mistakes -- finally to the point where there are public admissions of societal and cultural bankruptcy. To have something like this article actually written, approved by editorial staff and then printed for all in Europe to read bespeaks volumes.

The Europeans took a path and finally, bit by bit, they are becoming cognizant of their series of mistakes. With government. With entitlements. With immigration. With over-regulation. With losing sight of long term goals. With even having goals. When people cannot benefit from the fruits of their labors, what motivation is there to even wish to work? That is, further, in my estimation, a killing of the very human soul.

But it is not just the highly qualified who are finding the courage to try their luck in another country. More and more average citizens -- many of them in financial straits at home -- are finding the courage to make a fresh start. They iron laundry in hotels in Austria's Southern Tyrol resort region, wait tables in restaurants in Italy and cook dumplings in Austria's Stubai Valley. Nothing is beneath them, and anything is better than collecting unemployment in Germany.

The virtual killing of the human soul: ". . .anything is better than collecting unemployment in Germany."

We need to look at this so-called "European Model" and learn from its mistakes.

Because if we do not, we are destined to repeat their mistakes on our domestic soil. And we are well on our way to duplicating their erroneous path. A path, they are finally acknowledging, that is literally and figuratively unworkable -- and wrong.

BZ

At The Minnesota DMV, 2039

Akhbar al Akhbar, Region of Minnesota DMV Imam, uses technology to capture photographs of newly graduated Class 43 for their soon-to-be-issued Riding/Driving Licenses.

BZ

The More Things Change

The lovely and beauteous Nancy Pelosi, soon to be the Speaker of the House, has decided she wishes the equally-beauteous and sensible John P. Murtha to be House majority leader.

You recall John "Jack" Murtha -- I made a few, ahem, "posts" about some of his proclivities and beliefs in the past. Those who recall know I typified Mr. Murtha, a war veteran, as one who is well grounded, logical, rational and having perspective and proportion. And then there was that Moonbat Of The Week thing.

A couple times.

Once I read of this decision, the little girl's voice from Poltergeist rang in my head: "they're here."

From WorldNetDaily:

Some Democratic lawmakers and watchdog groups say they are baffled that Pelosi would go out of her way to back Murtha's candidacy after pledging to make the new 110th Congress the most ethical and corruption-free in history.

Oh c'mon, what's the issue? -- more crap spread by GOP fuddy-duddies? Perhaps something like this:

Though only 13 seconds of those tapes are available publicly showing Murtha conditionally declining a $50,000 bribe "at this point," in his words, a 1980 Washington Post report by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative columnist Jack Anderson revealed a shocking transcript of recordings never released to the public.

Anderson characterized the Pennsylvania Democrat's interaction with the FBI as "perhaps the saddest scene on the secret Abscam videotapes. ... He refused to take the money, but his reason was hardly noble."

"I want to deal with you guys awhile before I make any transactions at all, period," Murtha explained. "After we've done some business, well, then I might change my mind. ... I'm going to tell you this. If anybody can do it – I'm not B.S.-ing you fellows – I can get it done my way. There's no question about it."

Murtha went from boasting about his ability to get things done in Congress to explaining his hesitation about taking money.

"All at once, some dumb [expletive deleted] would go start talking eight years from now about this whole thing and say [expletive deleted], this happened," Murtha says, according to the transcript. "Then in order to get immunity so he doesn't go to jail, he starts talking and fingering people. So the [S.O.B.] falls apart."

The FBI undercover officer then suggests: "You give us the banks where you want the money deposited."

"All right," agreed Murtha. "How much money we talking about?"

"Well, you tell me," says the FBI undercover operative.

"Well, let me find out what is a reasonable figure that will get their attention," said Murtha, "because there are a couple of banks that have really done me some favors in the past, and I'd like to put some money in."

Here's what Murtha says after the public video cuts off: "…You know, we do business together for a while. Maybe I'll be interested and maybe I won't. Right now, I'm not interested in those other things. Now, I won't say that some day, you know, I, if you made an offer, it may be I would change my mind some day."

The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, CREW, questioned Pelosi's endorsement of Murtha, listing the congressman in its report "Beyond DeLay: The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and five to watch)."

Just like Clinton: the "most ethical administration ever."

Yeah right.

BZ

Trains Keep-a-Rolling

Today I awakened at 7 am sharp and could not go back to bed. Sunday is usually a great day to sleep in but that was not going to occur.

I ended up taking breakfast at The Summit restaurant in Soda Springs at about the 7,000-foot level in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Great breakfast!

I shot some photographs of the Donner Lake area and spied a Union Pacific train heading downhill past Shed 47, which is on the south side of Donner. I shot this next photograph in Norden as the UP train headed downhill in dynamic braking mode.



"Downhill" became a recent issue with another train where two Harsco employees recently lost their lives. I decided I would hike to this spot, to see if I could approach the area for photographs. This decision cost me four hours hiking, 7 miles over rocky ballast, and yielded an area not unlike that of a ghost town.

Two men died here. I could smell the diesel fuel all over. The winds blew and the pines shed their needles. Two light generators sat unattended. Pizza boxes were discarded about. A cardboard box marked "drinking water" sat atop a generator. I afforded myself a few of these bottled waters. Like most derailments I've seen, wheelsets sat pushed aside. At first blush, the train on which they were riding began to accumulate speed downhill and efforts to scrub this speed yielded no results. Perhaps by my accompanying photo you can see that the train derailed to the right on a curve to the left.

Union Pacific managed to re-open the two damaged tracks. The track on the left is the downhill or westbound track. The right track is for uphill traffic. A slow order is in effect for this area.

Of the cars present, I could see that those remaining had burned horribly. Whilst I was examining the wreckage, an eastbound #6 California Zephyr Amtrak passenger train passed at 10 mph under a yellow caution flag.

No doubt, each and every passenger, and every crew member looked closely at the wreckage remaining at this site where, clearly, two persons perished.

Passengers note this with amusement; train crews shake their heads and speculate: could this have been me? What will my family say upon my passing?

UP purposely opens the trackage as quickly as possible so that commerce can continue.

And the trains keep rolling.

BZ

Veterans Day, Part III

My father was born on April 13th, 1920.

They married on April 24th, 1942, in Lake Tahoe amidst no one other than themselves -- to the chagrin of their respective families.

From there my father was shipped to the 8th Air Force for his requisite tour and then back to California. It was decided that he would become an instructor in the B-25 Mitchell at Mather Air Force Base.

He said that, whilst there, he came across Jimmy Stewart who was more of a man than a greater percentage of others he encountered.

My mother died on May 14th, 2002. She ran out of air.

The rains of 2006 are beginning.

BZ

Veterans Day, Part II

My grandfather, on my father's side, served in World War I.

My grandfather's name was Verto Alley.

He was born on March 13th, 1896, and passed away at the age of 82 years, 7 months, 21 days, on November 4th, 1978.

My father told me, even now, that his goal was to at least match the number of years on this planet by his father.

My Dad has survived any number of operations and, despite them, turned 87 this year. He has managed to survive his own father by 5 years.

As far as he is concerned, according to what he told me, everything past 82 is gravy.

In 1917, Verto was just 21 years old. Before that, he attended the Kansas City School of Law in 1914 at the age of 18.

Despite the potential of his attending law school, and his passing of high school at a remarkably young age, he served in World War I.

The photo at the right is what he carried during the war, of his then-girlfriend and later his wife, Kay Johns.

How glamorous and romantic is that?

That would be like pilots carrying photos of their girlfriends covering certain instruments on each flight they mastered.

On the earth, "ground-pounders" carried photos of their gals in the liners of their helmets.

Navy pilots carried their gals in their cockpits.

This specific photo carried my grandfather through World War I.

I knew my Grandmother as Katherine. I see that Verto called her Katy.

He did whatever it took to get him through.

He survived the war, married Katy, and my father was the result plus two uncles:

Richard: my father;

Bill: the youngest (and went down on the carrier Yorktown during WWII);

Jim: still lives in Highland Park, TX today.

There will be another post.

BZ

Veteran's Day, Part I

Instead of writing about the meaning of Veteran's Day as I suspect many will today, I wish to show you the men who served my country and whom I call my family. As I collect and write this post, I am listening to the soundtrack from the HBO series Band Of Brothers, inspiration that, to this day, makes my eyes water when I hear its orchestral notes -- such as they are now, though I continue typing.

(Please note that, depending on how many photographs Blogger will allow me to publish at one time, I may have to break my thoughts into a number of smaller posts.)

Charles A. Johns served in the Civil War for the North. He was my great-grandfather on my father's side. Here is a photograph of Charles Johns taken shortly after the Civil War itself. He had a brother named Lafayette Johns.

Charles Johns served his nation during the Civil War as a Second Lieutenant, Company "K", the 9th Regiment, of the Kansas Volunteers Cavalry. He was promoted to 2nd Lt. at Topeka, on the 22nd of November, 1864, by Kansas Governor Thomas Carney.


I have Charles Johns' original promotional papers as well as his original discharge. His discharge is on the right, and indicates that he served three years in the war and was honorably discharged on the 24th of June, 1865, at DeValls Bluff in Kansas, under Government Order #83. Further, his discharge papers indicate he was born in Germany, was 25 years of age upon discharge, 5'9", light complexion, blue eyes, sandy hair and, by occupation, when enrolled, a "clerk."

The photo on the left is from a hand tinted original photo I have of Grandpa Johns from the 1920s.

Clearly, my family had served in the Civil War on the side of the United States. Reparations? Besides not being a viable plan and a ridiculous idea on its face, I and the line of my family owe no reparations to any one for any reason.

If anything, those desiring reparations owe my family, me and my future kin extended reparations for fighting on the proper side over 131 years ago.

Blogger has now limited the photos I can upload so it is time to conclude this post.

BZ

A Good Day, A Bad Day

It's a good day for the United States Marine Corps: Happy 231st Birthday to our USMC fighting men! Marine Commandant Mike Hagee writes here about this day and what the Marines mean to a free United States.

It was a bad day for moviegoers: Jack Palance died today at the age of 85. His family said he was actually 87.

Palance, a wonderful "bad guy" in the movies, kept me enthralled with his work and was one of the most down-to-earth actors around. He received his Oscar for 1991's "City Slickers" and, besides being a WWII veteran, was a heavyweight boxer.

Anyone remember the '91 Oscars when Palance dropped to the floor and whipped out a number of one-armed push-ups in front of millions of television viewers?

It was a bad day for my area where, not more than five miles from my house in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a train derailment occurred yesterday in which eight persons were injured and one man was killed.

Today, a second man feared missing, was found dead in the wreckage. The first man was crushed horribly; the second was burned beyond recognition in the ensuing fire.

The train was not a standard Union Pacific freight train, nor an Amtrak passenger train -- the sights usually seen on the rails adjacent my house.

Instead, it was a Harsco Track Technologies rail grinding train, on contract to the Union Pacific Railroad. A rail grinding train usually consists of two custom diesel-electric locomotives on either end, with various cars in the middle to include a water car, fuel car, two cars for the crew and the actual grinding cars. Six of the ten cars derailed and chewed up over 1,400 feet of track.

A Placer County Sheriff's Department representative, Lt. Chal DeCecco, said "If you look at the crash site, it looks like excessive speed was a factor."

The yin and yang of Life.

BZ

One Part of the Equation

President Bush is still providing indicators he cannot or purposely is refusing to understand the concern that America has with ILLEGAL aliens.

When meeting recently with "Conservative" reporters, National Review reporter Byron York brought up the issue of illegal immigration; President Bush said, in response (per Byron York himself on the Bill Bennett show this morning: I heard this with my own ears) that he doesn't believe it's that large an issue as he isn't hearing many people mention much about it. York appeared to be reticent, due to the timbre in his voice, in even mentioning this to Bennett.

Despite everything that has occurred, it is plain that either President Bush is a completely ignorant dullard, or he is purposely avoiding having to secure our American borders. At this point, particularly after the massive drubbing Conservatives took yesterday, these are the only two polar opposite conclusions I can reach.

What could otherwise be the point for saying this? Either Bush has a purposeful agenda he is revealing to no one, or he really is beyond hope.

To some, this may seem to be "post election Bush Bashing."

But here's what happened: until listening to Bennett on the way to work very early this morning I was planning to write about some of the potential results of the Democrats coming into power within the House and Senate. Bush himself was not on my scope.

Bush put himself on my scope this morning.

And I really have had enough of this.

The United States of America is finding itself taken apart with illegal immigration.

• It is draining our limited resources;
• It is taxing our social programs;
• Our Emergency Rooms are being utilized as general health care check-in facilities;
• Unfiltered aliens are bringing TB, hepatitis and other diseases into our country;
• Mexicans are refusing, more and more, to assimilate;
• The country is ENABLING this lack of assimilation;
• Untaxed cash is returning directly to Mexico;
• Coyotes are killing their own countrymen and women;
• The borders are worse than porous; anyone can come through;
• For any reason;
• Including pieces of "equipment;"
• Including Islamists.

What part of that, President Bush, is difficult to comprehend, to really manage to wrap your brain around?

In the meantime, more people; no, more AMERICANS die at the hands of ILLEGAL ALIENS:

Three students -- two North Carolina University students and a 16-year-old – have been killed by an illegal alien, who allegedly was driving drunk, and already had a record of crime in the United States.

Authorities say Pastor Rios Sanchez, 55, is expected back in a North Carolina court on Nov. 15 on charges he killed Helen Meghan Hughes, 22, of Summerville, S.C., Jennifer Carter, 18, of Jacksonville, N.C., and Hughes' stepbrother, 16-year-old Ben Leonard.

Mark Krikorian writes, in National Review Online:

What’s more, if legalizing illegals is so widely supported by the electorate, how come no Democrats campaigned on it? Not all were as tough as Brad Ellsworth, the Indiana sheriff who defeated House Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Hostettler, or John Spratt of South Carolina, whose immigration web pages might as well have been written by Tom Tancredo. But even those nominally committed to “comprehensive” reform stressed enforcement as job one. And the national party’s “Six for 06” rip-off of the Contract with America said not a word about immigration reform, “comprehensive” or otherwise.

That's because widespread amnesty for illegal immigrants is NOT a "popular" idea with Americans, you blithering idiots.

Those persons perishing in the car crash involving Sanchez were, essentially, murdered.

And still we move along merrily concerned with gay marriage, bringing down crosses and bringing down America.

Maybe we really do all deserve to see this country go down in flames if we lack even the wherewithal to support and defend her. Maybe we don't deserve freedom.

BZ

Hello GOP; Here's Your Ass

First: GOP sycophants, get over it; I reserve the right to say whatever I wish about the GOP for any period of time.

-- I get to rag on the GOP for being stupid in any number of ways. GTFOI.
-- I get to make my future plans for the GOP clear and distinct.

Let the ragging commence (and it won't stop with this post):

The GOP got their asses handed to them. And it occurred this time for any number of reasons. But throughout it all the future plans, in my opinion, and the roadmap is clear. I shall lay out this easy roadmap -- one that should have been followed, without deviation, from the start. Finding the roadmap in October, much less discovering the route, is too little too late.

I'll keep it simple from the beginning:

There will be, I suspect, some Moderates cloaked as Conservative Poseurs bleating: "See? See? See? The GOP is too Right Wing, too Conservative for people to back! The future plan for the GOP must be to get back on track and try to encompass: be everything to everyone! Go for the numbers!"

Do not be distracted, duped or derailed by any single person or group of so-called GOP'ers saying anything even remotely like this. This is not correct. It is a lie.
________________________________

This is the reason, this is our plan:

THE REASON:
The Republicans got their asses handed to them because they abandoned their Conservative base and principles.

THE PLAN:
Only by re-discovering and closely adhering to Conservative Principles will the GOP find its mind, its place in politics, and begin to reacquire its greatness. It needs to secure its true Political Base and reawaken an awareness of its core principles and precepts.

________________________________

This isn't the end of the world, boys and girls.

And over the course of the next few days, weeks and months I shall lay out, in greater depth, the reasons the GOP tanked and stand back for a greater, more global view of what it means for the future of the GOP and, moreover, Conservatives. For if we do not come to terms with our past, our history, and understand what we did to enable this turnover, we run the risk of allowing history to repeat itself. We must learn from our history.

Folks, we're not dead; we just smell funny right now.

BZ

Adorable Little Rodent

In the TTLB, I have now been elevated to "Adorable Little Rodent" status.

That is up from my "Flappy Bird" status.

There is only one way for that to occur, and that is for more persons to visit my site and read my mind dribblings.

So I wish to thank all who visit my blog, my Usual Suspects and new readers to the blog!

Today, I am all out of politics. I'm not doing politics, I'm not writing about politics, I'm politicked-out. End. Fini. Zero. Zed. The null set.

I suspect tomorrow will be a huge, HUGE day for Blogdom. The GOP may get their asses handed to them. And they may render a few surprises.

Thanks once again to all my readers! You are the best.

BZ

Show Up

Vote. Do it tomorrow.

That's the point of this post.

Get out and vote. If you've still not opened your absentee ballot, open it today, now, and complete the ballot. Take it physically in to your appropriate entity.

Get out and vote.

Drive to your polling place and take the fifteen minutes, or half hour, or hour, or whatever time necessary, to register your intentions.

Your failure to do so is your failure to become involved in the Democratic process and, as such, clearly, you lose your right to bitch about what "those bastards" did. You don't vote? Not interested? Pissed at Bush? Pissed that your vote "doesn't count?"

Then take a big cup of Shut The Fuck Up when your country takes a direction you don't like.

Get out and vote.

And I voted for the GOP.

Yes, my teeth were gnashing, trust me. Flecks of enamel were flying about as I filled in the little black bubbles on my ballot. My personal dentist made over $1,000 as a result.

I responded to Texas Fred in his comments section of one of his posts and went over my standard litany of objections to President Bush, the GOP, yadda yadda yadda. I vented. I might still vent again. Depends.

But I had to back up and consider the bottom line for me. And RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman says it this way:

Even more dangerous is that Democrats truly seem to believe that Iraq is completely separate from the greater war on terror. Al-Qaeda's leaders are not confused about the importance of Iraq to their goal of global jihad. Osama bin Laden's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has said his goal is to use Iraq as a base to launch further attacks, with the goal of creating a new caliphate in the Middle East. On Tuesday, we must ask ourselves: Would surrendering Iraq to the enemy so they can use it as a base from which to launch attacks make us more or less safe?

Voters face another choice Tuesday: Republicans have cut taxes every year since George W. Bush was elected president. Democrats, on the other hand, have said outright that they plan to raise your taxes. If you're a typical American family with two kids earning $30,000 a year, the Democrats would raise your taxes by more than $2,000. They'd raise your gas taxes just as gas prices are finally coming down. Where would it end? Well, the man who would be in charge of tax policy in a Democrat-controlled House came right out and said it: No tax increase will be out of bounds.

Republicans want to eliminate the death tax once and for all. Democrats want to bring it back. Republicans want to explore new sources of energy to bring gas and heating prices down. Democrats want to block domestic exploration. Republicans want small businesses to be able to band together to provide health care to their employees at a reasonable cost. Democrats don't believe entrepreneurs and their employees should have that freedom. Republicans want all parents to be able to choose where they send their kids to school. Democrats would limit that choice to the rich and powerful. The list goes on and on.

There is one more choice voters face Tuesday: The Senate has approved two superb new Supreme Court justices, John Roberts and Sam Alito. Republicans supported Justices Roberts and Alito because they understand that judges need to interpret the law, not invent it. Many Democrats, on the other hand, vocally fought — and then voted against — Justices Roberts and Alito. Why? Because they depend on activist judges to hand them the victories they can't win at the ballot box.

I suppose that pretty much sums it up. I went the "I want a viable Third Party" route. I went the "I just won't vote to display my displeasure" route. I went the "screw all the damnable politicians" route.

Then I came to my senses and marked my ballot.

You there; I'm writing to you.

Get out and vote.

BZ

Hussein Sentenced To Hang

Saddam Hussein was found guilty today, Sunday, and sentenced to hang for his crimes.

On Baghdad streets citizens are dancing.

As might be expected, Saddam Hussein was a bit chagrined and unhappy with the decision.

Whilst the verdict was delivered, Hussein refused to come to his feet and had to be lifted by the equivalent of two court bailiffs.

Hussein was convicted of ordering the deaths of 142 Shiaa men and teenaged boys in the town of Dujail in 1982.

I submit that those were the least of his crimes but -- one makes the best of what one has when one has them.

Here's a shocker: "Amnesty International described the trial as 'a shabby affair marred by serious flaws.' "

Newsflash to Amnesty International: it was also a trial held in his own country by his fellow countrymen. It is their court system. It was their procedural system. US military personnel did not preside. Whatever conclusion was reached, was reached by his fellow Iraqis.

Tough shit, Saddam. Thems're the breaks.

The moribund EU, of course, has to weigh in:

The EU opposes capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances, and it should not be carried out in this case either," Finland, current holder of the rotating EU presidency, said in a statement.

Also, not to be outdone:

Before Saddam and Barzan Ibrahim appeared, Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of the Revolutionary Court that issued the execution orders against Dujail residents, was sentenced to death. He screamed "Allahu Akhbar" (God is Great) as Rahman delivered his verdict. The judge flicked his wrist and ordered the guards to drag Bandar back to his cell.

So how many persons died under Saddam Hussein? From a quite liberal website:

Tom Grey answers David Crow's request the empirical basis for his statement on the number of dead under Saddam Hussein. "See http://www.gbn.org/ArticleDisplayServlet.srv?aid=2400&msp=1242. Here is an excerpt:":Along with other human rights organizations, The Documental Centre for Human Rights in Iraq has compiled documentation on over 600,000 civilian executions in Iraq. Human Rights Watch reports that in one operation alone, the Anfal, Saddam killed 100,000 Kurdish Iraqis. Another 500,000 are estimated to have died in Saddam's needless war with Iran. Coldly taken as a daily average for the 24 years of Saddam's reign, these numbers give us a horrifying picture of between 70 and 125 civilian deaths per day for every one of Saddam's 8,000-odd days in power."

And that consists of those that are known.

Saddam: see ya; wouldn't wanna be ya.

BZ

A Few Downhill Reflections

Sorry; I'm going to ramble a bit.

Autumn; one of my favorite seasons. I love the colors of the turning leaves, the chill in the air, the yellow leaves on the deciduous trees just outside my second story writing window. I have a cherry tree just a few feet outside that window and its colors and thickness indicate the seasons. Now, it still has the bulk of its leaves attached but they are floating down to the damp ground below, in its own time.

I also drove to Lake Tahoe today, as a mind releaser and to experience the spectacular mountains, clouds, colors, textures and scents to be encountered. While the outside temperature ran from 60 and then to 50 and then to 40, I had the driver's window open so I could feel the mountain air in my face. The heater warmed my feet and the ambient temperatures, lowering, kept me vibrant and engaged.

Needing groceries, I stopped at the Raley's at Incline Village and then rocketed down the hill on my new Bridgestone Potenza G009 tires.

BZ's little 2.5L Subaru wagon kept up with and exceeded the bulk of the downhill traffic and three of us, me, a new 2007 Chevy Suburban, and a Suzuki Hayabusa -- the fastest standard production bike in the world, with a stock top speed of 194 -- traded positions as we diced and carved the curves past Truckee, Soda Springs, Yuba Gap, Emigrant Gap, Blue Canyon, and below.


This black Suburban with no plates was driven, I could see, by a solitary young man who could not have a small Subaru, piloted by an aging, gray-haired relic such as myself, not only on his ass but challenging his pole position when he could not keep a consistent speed because his mind lapsed. I instantly sussed him up as young, stupid, long on engine but short on experience. I watched his lines on the roadway and concluded: fresh meat.

The Hayabusa entered into the fray and things became interesting, at least for myself. I knew what this bike could do and, I'll wager, the rider did too. With a smoked helmet and leathers, I could not determine the rider's age but, with his actions, I could guess: a male with experience not only in terms of speed but freeways as well. He was toying with us but having fun as well. Both he and I knew full well that at any moment he could have twisted some HP from his right hand and warped into another dimension. But he chose not to. His lane changes were slow, deliberate, in front of us, behind us, but definitely in consideration of our greater collected bulk.

We ran down the long straight towards Emigrant Gap at 105 mph +. The freeway was clear and the wind was bubbling my cheeks not unlike Colonel Stapp on the rocket sled. The guy in the Hayabusa was maybe in third gear. We cornered uphill and right towards Blue Canyon. The Suburban got stuck behind a trailer in the right lane. The good thing about this triad is that we didn't do stupid things to keep up with each other. I passed the Suburban in the left lane, tipped my The Ridge cap at him, and he waited politely for traffic to clear. The Hayabusa produced some hole shots when necessary and split some occasional lanes.

Of course I shouldn't have done this and I'm way too old to engage in these activities but my reptilian brain refused to switch off and for that I am indebted.

In any event I experienced, pushing 60, the free wind upon my face, canyon carving, excessive and forbidden speed, in the company of two others who appreciated our pack for about a half hour.

It was the quickest I'd ever gotten down The Hill.

It was a 2003 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport 2.5L engine with 76,293 miles on the clock vs. a 2005 Suzuki Hayabusa at 1.3L and a blacked-out 2007 Suburban at 5.7L.

Quite frankly, I had a whole buttload of fun.



Then, because it was cold, I stoked up the first fire of the season in my stove. A little hot chocolate, a few beers, some chicken on the BBQ outside?

BZ

P.S.
By the way, I am an EVOC (Emergency Vehicle Operations Course) supervisor and instructor for CHP, my department, fire personnel and all emergency responders in my area.

Kids: don't try this at home.

Okay; I was bad. How bad was I?

Self Explanatory

BZ

John Kerry Shows His True Colors -- And Those of the Dems and the DEM

There is clearly a long and deep anti-military bias in the American media. And the press will likely do everything it can to bury John Kerry's remarks.

But what happened is that John Kerry actually had the temerity to express the true feelings of the Dems and the DEM: any force wielded by George Bush cannot be good -- despite Clinton's Somalia, Clinton's Haiti. Kosovo? Chechens?


Some persons even called Dennis Prager this morning to indicate the words attributed to Kerry were nothing but lies. But the truth is the truth.

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney said, in response to Kerry's comments:

Senator Kerry owes an apology to the thousands of men and women serving in Iraq, particularly the many patriotic soldiers from Massachusetts who come from all backgrounds to defend our freedoms. As Governor, I represent thousands of Massachusetts National Guardsmen. They are more diverse, educated and prepared to do their job than at anytime in our country’s history. No matter where you went to school, or how many degrees you have, most people understand the strength of our nation comes from every corner of America.”

Kerry is so completely and totally wrong. America's military isn't fueled by a draft. It is fueled by an entirely volunteer force. Hugh Hewitt said today: "When you attack the war you end up attacking the warriors." And that is so true. The trite phrase one customarily hears from many people, "I support the troops, but I'm against the war" is an impossibility. The war is attacked; now Kerry has legitimized attacking the troops themselves and that is reprehensible.

Reprehensible.

And as the photo indicates, Kerry is indeed giving the finger to the troops despite his lame retort that "it was a joke." And, of course, no apology because, under it all, those are his true feelings and those of the Dems and the DEM. Tonight there are Liberals in the northeast drinking their martinis at elite cocktail parties, New Yorkers and Washintonians, slapping their respective backs wishing they'd had the guts to say the same.

President Bush said today that Kerry's comments were insulting and shameful, and that "the members of the Unites States military are plenty smart and they are plenty brave. And the Senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology."

So true.

What did Kerry say? Go here.

You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well; if you don't you get stuck in Iraq.

Kerry wasn't laughing, he wasn't smiling, he wasn't upbeat and joking, he was quite downbeat. Listen to his voice and draw your own conclusion. This was clearly not meant as anything even remotely resembling anything humorous. The comment was meant to be about the President? I don't think so at all.

Additionally, I have a different take on his comments than others have indicated. I believe that, due to the nature of his audience, that of a college, that his comment was couched in terms of education; that is, following your education, if you attach yourself to the military you are stupid. Because only stupid persons or ill-educated people or persons with no education would "resort" to serving in the military and being shipped to Iraq for our Commander In Chief.

In essence, Kerry believes that anyone serving in our current military forces is mentally defective. Because, after all, if you buy off on anything President Bush does, you're defective.

I don't agree with everything Bush has done; on many issues he and I depart completely. He has overspent. He pissed away billions of our tax dollars on the senseless issue of AIDS in Africa. There has finally been a bill authorizing the construction of a 700 mile fence on our Mexican border but not written by Bush. He has called the Minutemen "vigilantes." Big Government has thrived under Bush.

John Kerry made a stupid statement. If he'd fallen on his sword and apologized the DEM would ensure the issue died rapidly. Trust me. This won't die.

And even some Democrats have said to ABC News, Tuesday, "I guess Kerry wasn't content blowing 2004, now he wants to blow 2006, too."

Contrition? Not a chance. Kerry said in response to the "attacks" over his comments:

It disgusts me that a bunch of these Republican hacks who have never worn the uniform of our country are willing to lie about those who did."

Kerry, who is considering another run for the White House in 2008, angrily fired back. His statement called Republicans "assorted right-wing nut jobs."

And at a hastily arranged news conference in Seattle, Kerry said: "I apologize to no one for my criticism of the president and of his broken policy."

Kerry said the comment in question was "a botched joke about the president and the president's people, not about the troops ... and they know that's what I was talking about."

Good politics: when you're wrong, and everyone knows you're wrong, and even persons in your audience cringe, not only deny but attack.

Wonder what'll happen if the GOP ends up keeping the House and Senate?

BZ