Box of Rocks, Pt. II

First: no, I didn't go back to get a puppy. I know that, the way my life is situated, getting a pup would be unfair to the puppy. I am nothing if not a realist.

Second: I felt a bit better today. I went out train chasing with my camera. I caught train after train running both east and westbound. The ground was dark and damp, saturated with last night's rain. The sky was cobalt blue and resounded with crystal clarity. I feel compelled to post a photo.




Third: our so-called "union" is hamstrung with internal strife that may cost the membership not just thousands of dollars, but potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in suits extant. My union is, unfortunately in Fornicalia, a "closed shop" -- meaning that I have no choice: the dollars for my "association" WILL be taken from my paycheck. However, as the dysfunctional competing president, vice-president and board no longer represent me and, in my opinion, no one but their diminutive-brained selves -- well, I cannot halt the deductions from my check, but I believe a law exists whereupon I CAN choose between the "association" and, for example, a CHARITY that I designate.

Is there anyone sufficiently versed in the area that can confirm this option for me in Fornicalia? Can you quote this law for me? Given the choice, I determine NEVER to provide another PENNY to my union and, if the option is available, I would designate my union dues be sent directly to my local Law Enforcement Chaplaincy.

Fourth: the Coonies came to eat the cat food I leave nightly for my three feral cat buddies in the neighborhood. I don't leave the water anymore because the Coonies invite all their friends and cousins, conduct a massive hand-washing session and leave a bowl of dirty water. I've seen them bring out the bristle brushes, Palmolive soap, comb their hair, apply hair gel, some nice Ralph Lauren spray. And they're fun to watch.



Fifth: I subscribe to DirecTV but none of the premium channels. I don't get HBO or CineMax or anything else. Showtime is FREE this weekend. So I've been watching a bunch of movies, and Californication, Brotherhood and, of course, my favourite: DEXTER. I have all three of the Dexter books authored by Jeff Lindsey. Grand fun.

Sixth: Go Green Bay Packers! Brett Favre is the last of a breed: a player who feels more obligated to the team than to himself. Unlike, for example, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice -- who jumped ship for their last seasons.

Life is short. Find your loved one. Take her or him into your arms tonight. Tell them what you really think about them. Realize what an incredible value they are in your life. Be good.

Go Pack!






BZ

Box Of Rocks

I'm starting a new post-prototype, entitled "Box Of Rocks" -- when I am motivated to go "stream of consciousness" and a series of not-necessarily-congruent thoughts predominate.

The past four days have been pretty much reprehensible; I caught the creeping mange recently which presented itself in the form of a running torrent down my throat and thusly hocked up into numerous Kleenex and down the drain of the shower. These monstrous green glops resembled thriving Santa Cruz banana slugs and seemed to pulse with a fluorescent life of their own, making a slapping sound when they struck the shower stall floor. It's been entirely disgusting. So I've not felt nor looked my sterling best -- interspersed with bouts of rib-aching coughing. And sneezing. Theraflu, Airborne, Sudafed and Zicam tablets.

I finally had to venture out from my mountain aerie for mail, food and supplies. The act of driving down to a nominally-stocked market (17 miles away) was taxing. I was fatigued when I returned early this afternoon. Enroute back, I chanced upon a station wagon parked in an open dirt area adjacent Highway 174. Two people sat on the tailgate, a large cardboard box in front of them. A nearby cardboard sign read: "FREE PUPPIES."

I drove by, squinched up my forehead a number of times, shook my head, growled, then battled my inner self for a few seconds. I pulled over into the parking area of a great Italian restaurant and stopped. The inner argument continued: go stop go stop go stop. Finally: go. I turned around and went back.

The cardboard box contained six black and white puppies. They were in fact free. The owners, of not the greatest collective of teeth extant, were however desirous and honorable of acquiring good homes for their group. The pups banged and climbed and rolled and tumbled about in the box. I don't know what possible breed they were, and the owners were no help, saying only that a black dog came to their home now and then and that, three weeks ago, threw pups under their deck. They appeared to be fat, ornery, active and in good spirits. They really did tear at my heart.

I picked one up and every sense drew in the puppy. It squirmed and made The Puppy Noise as it dug its nose into the flesh of my arm. It had dappled random spots of black onto its white fur and appeared to be short of coat. Its ears were down and floppy. Its nose was short, blunt. It had a thin black tail and sharp-ass little puppy claws. Then, of course, it had The Puppy Smell. I found myself actually burying my nose into its back. Inhaling. The Puppy Smell. Nothing else like it that exists in the world. The Puppy Smell.

Who knows what this pup would have grown up to be? Long of leg? A runner? A retriever? I had immediate visions of myself and a prancing black and white dog taking long walks in the cool air of the approaching Winter. Watching as long mixed manifest Union Pacific trains pounded the rails, with my obedient young dog sitting next to me. Taking drives to new places; exposing the dog to all sorts of new experiences and situations. Sitting in a chair, relaxing, three or four Winters hence, snowfall outside the window, a good fire in the stove, the dog coming and resting his head on my knee. Looking up into my eyes. Little eyelashes. Brown eyes.

Heavy sigh.

And then I thanked the owners and drove away.

It's just not in the cards.

BZ

P.S.

Man, Winter is apparently here. It was cloudy all day and crept cold. I actually squatted down and lit the pilot for the house heat for the second time in one week. And boy am I glad I did so: at 3 am, the time I'm writing this addendum, it's 31-degrees outside. The rain last night came in torrents, overwhelming the gutters and sliding off the roof in front of my huge windows in massive sheets. It was great!

Forbes 400

Forbes magazine has released its annual top 400 richest persons in America, with its 25th anniversary issue.

Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (1917 to 1990) brought Forbes magazine into the forefront of business journals and his son, Malcolm Stevenson ("Steve") Forbes Jr. (1947 - ) is current President, CEO and EIC of Forbes. Steve Forbes ran for President on the GOP side in 1996 and 2000.

I subscribe to Forbes, not because I'm any kind of investment hound (I can barely balance my own checkbook, much less my future retirement; numbers and finances stun me blind) but because it's a good source of information and insight.

The "Top Ten" in the 2007 Forbes 400 (all estimates, according to the magazine, are conservative):

1. William H. Gates III

Worth: $59 billion

Age: 51; married, 3 children

Runs: Microsoft, Medina, WA

2. Warren Buffett

Worth: $52 billion

Age: 77; widowed, remarried, 3 children

Runs: Brookshire Hathaway, Omaha, NB

3. Sheldon Adelson

Worth: $28 billion

Age: 74; divorced, remarried, 5 children

Runs: Casinos, Las Vegas, NV

4. Lawrence Ellison

Worth: $26 billion

Age: 63; thrice divorced, remarried, 2 children

Runs: Oracle, Redwood City, CA

5. Sergey Brin

Worth: $18.5 billion

Age: 34; married

Runs: Google, Palo Alto, CA

6. Larry Page

Worth: $18.5 billion

Age: 34; single

Runs: Google, San Francisco, CA

7. Kirk Kerkorian

Worth: $18 billion

Age: 90; thrice divorced, 2 children

Runs: Casinos, Investments, Las Vegas, NV & L.A., CA

8. Michael Dell

Worth: $17.2 billion

Age: 42; married, 4 children

Runs: Dell, Austin, TX

9. Charles Koch

Worth: $17 billion

Age: 71; married, 2 children

Runs: Oil, commodities, Wichita, KS

10. David Koch

Worth: $17 billion

Age: 67; married, 3 children
Runs: Oil, commodities, NYC, NY

Some general statistics:

Oldest member of Forbes 400: John Simplot, 98

Youngest member of Forbes 400: John Arnold, 33

Members of Forbes 400 who are self-made: 270

Members of Forbes 400 who inherited their entire fortune: 74

Members of Forbes 400 who inherited a part of their fortune: 56

Greatest source of wealth, Forbes 400, 2007: investments

Greatest source of wealth, Forbes 400, 1982: oil

How Fast They Make $1,000:

Kirk Kerkorian: 3.5 seconds

David Geffen: 22.5 seconds

Oprah Winfrey: 31.5 seconds

Ralph Lauren: 39.5 seconds

Bill Gates Makes:

$16.4 million a day

$685,000 an hour

$11,400 a minute

$190 a second

Cost of Living Luxuriant:

Face Lift, 2006: $14,500

Face Lift, 2007: $17,000

Shoes, wingtip, John Lobb, London, 2006: $4,128

Shoes, wingtip, John Lobb, London, 2007: $4,566

Hatteras 80 Motor Yacht, 1,550hp Cat engine, 2006: $4,870,000

Hatteras 80 Motor Yacht, 1,550hp Cat engine, 2007: $5,118,000

Kinda puts you in your place, doesn't it?

BZ

Result

Well, you knew this was coming:

Ahmadinejad lauded in Iran for "Lion's Den" visit
TEHRAN - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have faced ridicule in the United States by suggesting there were no homosexuals in Iran, but he won praise at home on Wednesday for taking his country's case to "the Lion's Den".

Generally, politicians and media in the Islamic Republic -- even some who have previously criticised the president -- described Ahmadinejad's visit to New York as a triumph and denounced the university president who called him "a petty and cruel dictator".

But wait; there's more:

By fearlessly and courageously walking into the 'Lion's Den' ... he is sure to become even more of a hero in the Arab-Muslim street than before," the daily Iran News wrote.

And, of course, more:

Around 200 lawmakers hailed Ahmadinejad's "historical and memorable" stay in New York, saying in a statement his "courageous" speech on Monday had made Muslims happy while angering Iran's enemies like Israel, the Mehr News Agency said.

What a wonderful propagandist puppet the United States made, allowing Ahmadinejad to make his speech at the UN and then, further, inviting him to speak at a so-called "prestigious" university. What a willing dupe we were, what useful idiots. Is this not precisely what myself and hundreds of other Conservative bloggers wrote would happen following his speech at Columbia?

Thank you Columbia University, you have just assisted in further legitimizing Ahmadinejad the Mad in the Islamic world, as well as making life for all Israelis and, as an extension, the rest of the planet even more dangerous.

Next time, perhaps we could deign to lean into the punch a little more, eh?

BZ

H.C.R. 40

There may be an actual smidge of sanity left in politics:

A House resolution urging President Bush "not to go forward with the North American Union or the NAFTA Superhighway system" is – according to its sponsor Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., in an exclusive WND interview – "also a message to both the executive branch and the legislative branch."

As WND previously reported, on Jan. 22 Goode introduced H.C.R. 40, titled "Expressing the sense of Congress that the United States should not engage in the construction of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Superhighway System or enter into a North American Union with Mexico and Canada."

Representative Goode was quoted by WND as saying: "You won't hear the leadership in the Republic Party admit it, but there are many in the House and Senate who know that illegal immigration has to be stopped and legal immigration has to be reduced. We are giving away the country so a few very rich people can get richer."

President Bush has tagged those who might suggest the SPP could turn into a veritable North American Union as conspiracy theorists: "You lay out a conspiracy and then force some people to try to prove it doesn't exist. That's just the way some people operate," Mr. Bush said. Representative Goode also told WND:

President Bush's position is that we need to carry out NAFTA and we need to have this free flow of goods with Mexico and Canada," Goode explained. "Well, Bush's approach involves a derogation of our sovereignty and it also undermines the security and the safety of the country.

"It will be much easier for a truck to get a container on the west coast of Mexico and haul in a biological or radiological or nuclear weapon than it would be if you are going to have to unload the trucks on the Texas-Mexico border and put the goods and material in a U.S. truck," he continued.

"The problem is that the NAU, NAFTA Superhighways and SPP all go back to money," Goode stressed. "The multinational companies want their goods from Mexico and China because they want the cheap labor."

And of course, dear readers, please forget not that China currently enjoys "permanent normal trade relations" with the US, and was placed on "most favored nation" trade status at one point. Yes, the same China whose products and food we are finding to be less than adequately built and prepared.

How much longer shall we continue to sell our very souls for cash and votes? Yes, I mean you, Republicans. Yes, I mean you, Demorats.

BZ

Larf

It's what they do.

BZ

Syria: Clear Danger

The truth about the Israeli air strike on a Syrian location September 6th has been confirmed. Israel, up to now, had been suspiciously silent about the affair. I wrote about the incident and its implications for Israel, Syria, Iran and North Korea here. Israel is still at its highest alert.

Benjamin Netanyahu told NewsMax:

Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has broken a two-week official silence over the Israeli air strike on Syria, acknowledging for the first time that it was a government operation and hinting that it was a major success.

“I was privy to the matter from the outset and I gave my backing,” he told Israeli television on Wednesday. “But it's too early to be discussing this.”

Asked if he had congratulated Prime Minister Ehud Olmert once the mission was over, the conservative leader said: “In person? Yes.”

Netanyahu shed no new light on the targets the Israeli F-15-I jets took out, which remains a tightly-held secret.

Speculation in the Israeli and the U.S. media has focused on a suspect shipment from North Korea, possibly of nuclear-related material - that arrived in Syria just days before the Israeli Air Force struck in the early morning hours of Sept. 6.

Reports in both Israel and the United States speculated that North Korea sold Syria nuclear weapons material – and possibly a nuclear warhead – which prompted Israel to launch the strike.

North Korea could simply be seeking to earn money before its facilities are dismantled” under the disarmament agreement reached with the United States, one official speculated. “Or Syria could have agreed to stockpile equipment or material for them until some later date.”

Americans, the DEM (Defeatist, Elitist Media) and our government seem to be shocked that Syria would attempt to acquire a nuclear program. But considering the totality of the circumstances, the tentacles of Iran are everywhere, and extend clearly to Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and every other country adjacent -- including North Korea and Russia.

And yet we allow the Iranian President to come to the US, to make his propagandist statements, to take center stage, to invite him to an alleged institution of higher learning. And take the stage he shall, trot out his rants he will, take complete advantage because he is not stupid, but rather very plotting. We play into Ahmadinejad's hands at our expense.

Make no mistake, dear readers. It is the bulk of the world against the United States. And it is because the US appears to be weak once more, perceived as a Paper Tiger -- and because the rest of the named nations realize that a loosely-linked but organized coalition of nation-states work more effectively against the Great Satan. If you doubt it is because we appear weak, ask yourself: do you believe that this conglomertion would occur if Reagan were President? I would wager not. In truth, Reagan did not help with his minimal response to the bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon. But the Paper Tiger perception was enforced time and again during the Clinton Administration to the point where AQ realized "if at first you fail (1993), try, try again (2001)."

Every generation thinks it lives in the most dangerous of times. I truly believe that, in toto, these are the most dangerous of times for the United States -- the last, best chance for the survival of the entire planet.

BZ

Engrish

I've always thought that, if I had extra time and/or the ability to do so (or upon my retirement), I'd want to start a company that did nothing more than write Instruction Manuals for various devices and pieces of equipment. In my opinion, this is an horrible vacuum that needs to be filled by logic and sensibility.

-- Primarily because most manuals utilize English as a second, third or fourth language OR because most manual writers have little if ANY concept of how to relate the product to the average consumer.

In other words: HRITIN PRAIN ENGRISH, HRITEBOY.

An absolutely WONDERFUL warning tag I observed on the Tank scooter owned by my brother in San Diego:

Proof of my point doesn't get any better than that.

BZ

P.S.

You wanna whole lotta fun, G.I.? Go here for Engrish.com!

'Jacket's Visit

Morton Kondracke and Juan Williams can't understand what the problem is with Iranian President Ahmadinnerjacket speaking at Columbia University this coming Monday, the 24th, confirmed by CU President Bollinger. Has there been even one peep from a CU trustee? A faculty member? A donor? An alumni?

Both Williams and Kondracke believe 'Jacket should be heard. That he should be given the forum.

I disagree -- just a bit, eh?

He was finally denied access to Ground Zero in New York -- but certainly not because Mayor Bloomberg was doing his job. For Christ's sake, Bloomberg invited the man. And let his Police Commissioner take the heat for the over-riding denial -- in pussified terms of "security." When braced on the fact, Bloomberg and his office remain stultifyingly silent.

There might be a few things Columbia should consider prior to hosting 'Jacket:

-- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the head of a state sponsor of terror clearly supplying weapons and expertise to kill and wound Americans in Iraq.

-- He has supplied Hezbollah with the rockets used to wage indiscriminate war against the civilians of Israel last year.

-- Iran has a long record of organizing and directing bloody terrorist assaults around the globe, including the attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983.

-- Ahmadinejad stated in June of this year: "God willing, in the near future we will witness the destruction of the corrupt occupier regime," referring to Israel.

-- Back in 2005, Ahmadinejad loudly and publicly proclaimed that Israel "must be wiped out from the map of the world."

This is the urging of genocide, a violation of all the law of nations. A violation of UN strictures.

Yet he is welcomed with open arms by this same UN.

Rudy Giuliani, who removed Yassar Arafat from NYC's Lincoln Center in 1995 (a move, shockingly-enough, criticized by the Clinton Administration), said in re Admadinejad's impending visit:

Under no circumstances should the NYPD or any other American authority assist President Ahmadinejad in visiting Ground Zero. This is a man who has made threats against America and Israel, is harboring Bin Laden’s son and other al-Qaeda leaders, is shipping arms to Iraqi insurgents and is pursuing the development of nuclear weapons. Assisting Ahmadinejad in touring Ground Zero – hallowed ground for all Americans – is outrageous."

Meanwhile, back at the Beltway, the Demorats and their sniveling syncophatic Moveon.org Lockstep Leftists are completely SILENT on this issue. Best not to stir the restive herds, they figure. And not without good reason, eh? This'll all blow over in time, eh? Because, after all, it has been proven time and again that the American electorate has precisely ZERO collective historical memory. Eh?

This UN venue, the potential Ground Zero venue, is about nothing more than PROPAGANDA. Not even necessarily propaganda on the world front; it is all about propaganda INSIDE IRAN and the portrayal of Ahmadinejad as a worldly individual willing to travel to the proverbial "belly of the beast" and exit unscathed.

Do we learn nothing of history? Do we have no concept of the vast power of propaganda?

The UN and even the US are offering themselves to this manipulative Islamist as nothing more than Useful Idiots.

BZ

Too Stupid To Live

First: check out this video. Then:

A man in Oregon nearly died after a pet rattlesnake that he put in his mouth while drinking with some friends bit him inside his throat. Matt Wilkinson said when he put his eastern diamondback rattlesnake down his throat, he immediately noticed a shot-like sensation.

Huh. D'ya think?

This guy needs to have his Human Card revoked. Almost did.

BZ

I Know The Answer

I know why this is true:

President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress registered record-low approval ratings in a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday, and a new monthly index measuring the mood of Americans dipped slightly on deepening worries about the economy.

Only 29 percent of Americans gave Bush a positive grade for his job performance, below his worst Zogby poll mark of 30 percent in March. A paltry 11 percent rated Congress positively, beating the previous low of 14 percent in July.

But why? Most everyone can tell you, on both sides of the aisle, why they believe the approval ratings for President Bush are down. But why is it, pray tell, that ratings for the U.S. Congress are at their lowest since the Mesozoic Era?

Very simple: those disenchanted with the GOP believe the GOP has cast aside its very Conservative foundation. I would tend to agree. Which is why I write no more checks to the RNC.

Those who vote Demorat think the Dems aren't nearly sufficiently Left, and believe the Dems have sold out because America is still in Iraq.

The problem with President Bush and the GOP is that they are disorganized, tired, old, have no central focus and are content to be blown around by the prevailing political P.C. prairie winds. Sure, we hear some Republicans giving occasional lip service to many of the core Conservative ideas I hold dear: a smaller federal government, decisions pushed down more to the local level, budget cuts, controlled borders, tax cuts, a resolute, decisive, well -funded, well-led military determined to protect this nation and her interests, et al. But in my opinion we've seen way too much moderation on the part of the GOP for the bulk of the last eight years.

We held the power, ladies and gentlemen, and failed to use it. We failed to communciate, we failed to hold to our platform, to our past, to our ideals, and we let the federal budget expand shockingly. We seemed to be embarrassed to embrace our core values in the face of persons who possessed nothing more than louder voices -- certainly not common sense, logic or proportion.

And we seem to have completely forgotten history. So sad.

I would provide two Barry Goldwater quotes for your perusal at this point:

I could have ended the war in a month. I could have made North Vietnam look like a mud puddle.

I believe him. And:

I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

As far as I am concerned, the defense of liberty includes the survival of my nation, securing it against threats from within and without! From within in terms of illegal immigration and the porosity of our borders, as well as the growing Islamification of my country (Dearbornistan in Michiganistan, to start). And from without in terms of all those countries who exist simply to see the mighty fall. That issue is a post in and of itself.

So, Congress experiencing the lowest ratings ever? To me, no surprise. Sadly, with some exceptions, more and more, both sides of the aisle are becoming one and the same.

BZ

P.S.

Sorry, couldn't pass this one up at the last moment. From Traction Control:

Just Wait

It's happening now in the UK. Not long until it occurs in the US:

A muslim dentist made a woman wear Islamic dress as the price of accepting her as an NHS patient, it is alleged.

Omer Butt is said to have told the patient that unless she wore a headscarf she would have to find another practice.

Later this month, Mr Butt will appear before a General Dental Council professional misconduct hearing, which has the power to strike him off.

It is claimed that the 31-year-old dentist asked to speak to the woman in private after she turned up for an appointment at his clinic in Bury.

According to the charges, he questioned her on whether she was a Muslim and told her that if he was to treat her she would have to wear Islamic dress.

He is also said to have read out a number of religious rules to her.

He then told his nurse to give the patient her own headscarf to wear, the accusation says.

One thing you should not miss from the article: "Mr Butt is the older brother of former Islamic extremist Hassan Butt, who once declared he had 'no problem' with terror attacks on Britain and who said that September 11 "served the pleasure of Allah".

In the meantime, Iran and Syria are clearly working with each other, as indicated in the Tuesday, 09-18 Jerusalem Post:

Proof of cooperation between Iran and Syria in the proliferation and development of weapons of mass destruction was brought to light Monday in a Jane's Defence Weekly report that dozens of Iranian engineers and 15 Syrian officers were killed in a July 23 accident in Syria.

According to the report, cited by Channel 10, the joint Syrian-Iranian team was attempting to mount a chemical warhead on a Scud missile when the explosion occurred, spreading lethal chemical agents, including sarin nerve gas.

My hope is that you read that properly: Iran and Syria are working to install chemical WMD weapons on a Russian Scud missile. And what might, do you suppose, those countries do with such a device? Buff it to a resolute shine? Install it in a nearby park? Launch it towards Israel or American troops in Iraq?

Finally, Hugh Hewitt is publicly wondering what actually occurred during the Israeli "Operation Orchard" strike into Syria on September 6th (see my post on this yesterday). It is clear that Israel managed to completely overcome Syrian air defense. And the Middle East is agog with the feat. Something very important occurred; the Israelis are close-mouthed and leaking not a drop. Did the Israelis fly F-16s through Turkey? Did they hit a cache of Iranian weapons destined for Hezbollah as written yesterday? Some say no. So why is Israel so quiet? Is there a connection with North Korea and nuclear programs? Was a NK ship involved? Carrying prohibited cargo? The Golan Heights are certainly on high alert on the border between Israel and Syria. If the Israelis bragged about the strike, would that have forced the hand of Assad? Bret Stephens in OpinionJournal.com seems to believe so.

It should be eminently clear, to all my rational non-tinfoiled readers, that the United States cannot afford to deal with Iran, Syria, North Korea and even Russia in a vacuum; they are all packing heat collectively. And working in concert.

Islam is working day and night to infiltrate the Western world as evidenced by the first article above. Islam is working day and night to bring down the Western world from without. From within and without, dear readers. Both at once. And using all available tools.

We should use all the tools at our disposal as well. We don't need to suspend our civil liberties wholesale. But we do need to take logical, timely and available steps to protect our society. Again, as Spock said: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."

Wake up, Americans: Islam is as Islam does. And I can hear deadly footsteps approaching from all sides.

BZ

Israel At Highest Alert

According to Yoni the Blogger, Israel is at the highest state of alert due to its recent (September 6th) actions in Syria. IDF and other soldiers did not go home for Rosh HaShana. In case you hadn't heard, Israel sent elite troops into Syria, with some F-15s, and took out a massive cache of weapons to include numerous rockets -- weapons that were slated for delivery to Hezbollah fighters.

Yoni also indicated that Syria is in the midst of attempting to slap together a nuclear program as soon as possible. Further:

A website affiliated with the Iranian regime, Assar Iran, claimed Monday that Iran has more than 600 missiles pointed at targets in Israel. Missiles are also locked on United States positions in Iraq, according to sources in the Islamic Republic. The missiles, identified as Shihab-3s, will be launched if either Iran or Syria are attacked.

The problem with this: Iran's air defense system, purchased from Russia, is precisely the same ADS, purchased from Russia, that Israel defeated in an instant when making the strike in Syria.

Yoni says:

War is coming.

(Syrian President) Assad, in "Mafia terms," needs to make his bones and he cannot survive by allowing this Israeli air strike to go unanswered.

He must hit Israel or risk losing his life in a coup, and when he hits Israel it will be the start of a war. He also hopes that the international community will step in and stop the war in a few days time and reward him in the negotiations after the war with the return of the Golan.

Remember Yoni's rule number one for dealing with Arabs: never negotiate.

Read or heard about this in the MSM, right?

Wrong.

BZ

President For a Day

I ran a similar post back in 2005.

Then, as now, I would posit:

You are now President of the United States, George W. Bush. It is Monday, 9-17-2007. Current events are precisely as they appear today.

The Challenge:

List the top five line items that you would address, by priority, to repair whatever damage you may perceive has been inflicted to the Bush Presidency.

If you believe the President is on track, list five other issues or areas that you think should be addressed during the remainder of the Bush term.

Be professional, be positive. This is not an exercise in complaints but an exercise in solutions. It is easy to complain; it is much more difficult to provide viable and innovative answers to global and national issues.

The ball is now in your court, and the White House is now in your hands.

Go.

BZ

Influence

Do you write posts "ahead" in Blogger or whatever blog-host you utilize? I do. I save them and then make an extraction when time permits or the proverbial "time is right." I had to look back to June of this year in order to access this draft; I wanted a reflective piece for Sunday, and I believe I've found the right one. This is one of the most heartbreakingingly-personal posts I've ever exposed:

INFLUENCE:

A recent comment at Texas Fred's blog got me to thinking: who influenced you? Who helped make you what you are today?

There was a man who was a major, major influence and, I now believe, had even a greater influence on what I aspired to be and what I've become.

Hugh Arthur McGraw. Or "Baby Huey" as some in Patrol called him then. But never to his face. He perished so young and somehow I've managed to survive. I looked high and low for photos of him that I could post. All I could find was a wrinkled photo of me in 1975, smiling with innocent and naive fervor, unknowing of what was yet to come, with my mentor sitting in the passenger seat. Note the gloves on his hands. A bit on this in a moment.

It's time this hero was recognized, and that I acknowledge him for what he was.

He died at age 36, in his beloved Porsche 914, from a cardiac arrest. He drove from one job to another in the morning, because he worked almost constantly to support his kids, his new wife, his job.

He stood 6'2" and weighed 330 pounds. His wrist was 10" around. His hands were the size of catcher's mitts. And his damaged hands were almost constantly covered by gloves. This was his greatest misperception.

Most thought he wore gloves because he featured himself a "bad ass."

In truth, he wore black leather gloves because he was embarrassed for the numerous scars on the palms and backs of his hands -- he was a welder. And he was embarrassed for his "working class" background and the fact this his hands and nails were cracked, dirty, brown.

Some did call him "Baby Huey." And perhaps most of those persons were closest to the truth. He was huge, make no mistake. He possessed power to spare and beyond.

Yet he managed to consistently rein in his power, harness it, and unleash it only when prodded to the most extreme. He consumed cola drinks almost 24/7. Only many years later did I finally realize: he was merely trying to stay awake for his wife and his committments, because of all the jobs and appointments he had in each and every given day.

When children or animals were threatened on our various calls, whilst I was a Reserve Deputy with him, no power or trials or venues were spared. If there was one thing he despised, it was the powerful lording their power over the powerless. And I learned that trait from him, despite my being significantly less a physical presence than he, at 5'9" and 175 pounds.

I learned these planetary constants from Hugh:

There is actual Good;
There is actual Evil;

- Evil prospers when Good recedes; one cannot let Evil prosper;
- People predominantly want to live;
- Only the ignorant or foolish wish to immediately die;
- Life is a fight;
- Nothing worthwhile is easy;
- Deal with facts;
- Check your emotions at the door;

Hugh was big, he was huge, he was Larger Than Life.

I can remember our working Beat 14 in 1975, one of my first weeks as a cop, in Rancho Cordova, late at night, and because he had worked all day and all night he fell asleep. I was a Reserve Deputy at the time. And he always made me drive. I was in the driver's seat of our green-and-white Plymouth Fury, parked, writing reports. He was snoring. And I felt this overwhelming compulsion to protect him.

He was huge and he was exposing his vulnerability.

I resolved to protect him. Always.

He showed me how to drive fast, safely; he showed me how to anticipate the railroad tracks, the curves of Florin Road, the corners. He trusted me, as a Reserve, to be contact officer on most of our calls once I had some time behind me. He was always understanding and tolerant of my mistakes. He never yelled. All he'd have to do is frown and I'd know: uh-oh.

He said: always cover your partners. Always cover your Sergeant. Listen to the radio. Know where everyone is. Remember their last call.

At the time we didn't have laptops or terminals in the cars. We had a single radio head. We had five channels. We didn't have portables. When you left the car you left your ability to communicate. It was assumed you would win, supercede your call and be available for the next.

I can remember my first CPR call: 1977. A small child had fallen into his parents' pool. They called the Sheriff's Department number. We responded. His body lay in the deep end, at the bottom. I hate water. Hate it. Yet I dived in and pulled the child to the surface. I remembered my training: have a hard surface. Tilt the head. And the child died. He died in my hands.

The parents wouldn't go into the pool and get him; I went in to get him. I just assumed that's how it was then. And I figured I failed. Failed horribly.

That night, I drank irresponsibly at The Cove. And then I went next door to The Standard Club and drank some more. The next day Hugh took me aside and centered me as best he could.

I went from him to various other training officers on the department.

I became the Best Man at his wedding with Polly, his new wife, along with Phil and Dave. He was too much and too soon and too over the top and too emotional and too rational. He was larger than life. So much larger than life. Physically, mentally, ideologically.

Quite frankly he made me what I may be today, in terms of logic, proportion, rationality, common sense, facts, truth, ethics, honesty, courage.

I saw his worst and I saw his best.

I saw him, whilst in a scooby cell at the Old Main Jail, take a pederast we had just arrested and literally press the man against the padded wall, up the wall, so that his feet were dangling a good 6" above the floor, holding him one-handed by the throat -- now, a-la Darth Vader. He would never have done that had the man not deserved it. I believed it then and I believe it now.

I saw him, at a riot call on Edison just east of Watt Avenue, pick up a man and throw him, bodily, completely, over the hood of our car and into the westbound lane of traffic adjacent our vehicle. I hadn't seen the man coming. I realized later: he intercepted this man and saved me from violence. I hadn't seen the swinging baseball bat in the man's hands. I hadn't see the man at all.

He drove a Porsche 914; he worked a welding job from early in the morning until the beginning of his swing shift, from 1500 to 0100. He worked two or more jobs. Every day. He scarred his hands by performing manual labor and was ashamed.

He died doing what he considered to be normal: making money to keep his family afloat, to provide for his son and daughter from a prior marriage.

His heart simply succumbed to the stress. And yet he possessed the largest imaginable heart in my entire world. Then. And now.

He became the greatest influence in my job.

I make no apologies: the tears flow down my cheeks as I write this. In remembrance. Of the good times and the innocent times. And yet he managed to check my innocence at the door and bring me past the threshold of my naivete and into reality.

He was background. Always background. He taught me, he trained me, he propped whatever good I possessed into the foreground.

I can't find any photos of Hugh right now. And perhaps he meant it that way. I can only find a photo of what I've managed to achieve despite my inner failings and because of his influence. I progressed from a Reserve Deputy, to another department where I ended up taking a man's life and being investigated by the FBI and exonerated, to a full time deputy for my original department in 1980, to a Reserve Training Officer, to a full-fledged Training Officer with Corporal Stripes, to a Detective, to a US Marshal, the FBI, to my current position of Sheriff's Sergeant.

Hugh: Whatever meagre manner of success I've managed to achieve in my career, I couldn't have done it without you.



My friend.



My hero.



BZ

3:10 to Yuma

The new James Mangold film (director, Walk The Line), 3:10 to Yuma, is absolutely excellent.

Wonderful acting by Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda. An old fashioned, classic Western with bad guys, good guys, good bad guys, and bad good guys. Highly recommended; you won't be disappointed.

BZ

Demorats

The Demorats are pissed:

Even if those proposals draw the 60 votes needed to overcome a Senate filibuster — a level that has eluded Democrats this year — any real strictures on the president would face a veto, frustrating war critics and raising the prospect that roughly as many American troops might be in Iraq a year from now as were there a year ago.

The Demorats are upset because it might appear that the so-called Surge is having an affect:

BAGHDAD, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida militants in Iraq have taken heavy losses in two joint U.S.-Iraqi raids north of Baghdad, the U.S. military reported Thursday.

The Demorats have made essentially no comment whatsoever on the despicable "General Betray Us" posts on MoveOn.org -- see the photo above, direct from the website itself.

The Demorats have made no comment on the fact that the NY Times discounted its customary rates for the MoveOn.org advertisement:

Moveon.org confirmed it paid $65,000 for the full page ad headlined "General Petraeus or General Betray Us."

The New York Post ran a story on Thursday asking why the basic rate of $181,692 for such an ad was discounted.

The Demorats (Clinton & Biden) have also taken cash from Oscar Wyatt, accused of making millions of dollars of kickbacks to Saddam Hussein:

Since the mid-1990s, they’ve cut checks totaling more than $670,000 to national committees and candidates for federal office, including donations to the earlier campaigns of four current presidential candidates in addition to Richardson: Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Joe Biden of Delaware and Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Sam Brownback of Kansas.

Hell, that's expected of them lousy Republicans -- but those HONEST Demorats?

The Demorats can't pull off an Iraq exsanguination in order to please their Far Left Rank:

The Democrats, meanwhile, have rallied against the plan. But they find themselves in a box - lacking the votes to pass legislation ordering troops home by spring but tied to a support base that wants nothing less.

"We will continue the fight," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday.

The Demorats aren't playing well in their own sandbox:

John Edwards isn’t exactly a shrinking violet when it comes to criticizing Hillary Clinton, or bringing up the Clintons’ past scandals – recall his “the Lincoln Bedroom is not for rent” speech. In fact, that speech came on the 23rd of August, just a few days before the whole Norman Hsu mess exploded on the nation’s front pages.

The Demorats don't believe there is any kind of terrorist threat, believe in the goodness of Islam, and believe in hamstringing our nation's ability to defend itself:

The Demorats (mostly Hillary) stepped in the Hsu fundraising fecal material:

Until recent weeks, Hsu was a darling of Democratic politicians, donating at least $600,000 himself during the last four years and raising far more than that from associates.

Among the candidates to whom he donated was Obama -- a total of $7,000 in 2004 and 2005. Obama recently gave that same amount to charity. Hsu's associates have given Obama at least $12,600 more.

The biggest recipient of his largesse was Clinton. Aides to the New York senator estimate that Hsu raised $850,000 for her presidential campaign. The Clinton campaign announced earlier this week it would return the $850,000 to 260 donors.

But wait; didn't the Demorats pledge to run the most ethical Congress in history -- like Bill Clinton pledged to run the most ethical presidency in history?

One bright spot in this rant of pessimism; at least the "celebrity" (and I use this word VERY loosely with the la-hoo-zer Kathy Griffin) Demorat hod carriers are still stupid and offensive:

Griffin, at the 59th annual Creative Arts Emmy Awards held recently, was honored for having the Outstanding Reality Program, overtaking ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" after several attempts.

"I guess hell froze over," Griffin announced. "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this. He had nothing to do with this. Suck it, Jesus! This award is my god now."

Aaahh -- at least the Demorat Left is nothing if not predictable. Inane, yes, but predictable.

BZ

Expect LNG Prices To Rise

Wonderful. And just in time for Winter:

Explosions Strike Mexico Gas Pipelines
By MIGUEL HERNANDEZ

The Associated Press

Monday, September 10, 2007; 11:55 AM
VERACRUZ, Mexico -- Six explosions believed to be the work ofsaboteurs ripped apart natural gas pipelines for Mexico's state oil monopoly early Monday, sparking fires and prompting authorities to evacuate thousands of people and shut down two highways.

Ah yes, another reason to embrace illegal immigrants; we certainly need to import their terrorist coneheads as well:

Mexico is a major oil producer and exporter, with oil and related taxes accounting for over a third of the federal government's revenue. The U.S. imported 12.7 million cubic feet of natural gas from Mexico in 2006, about 0.3 percent of total imports that year.

Natural gas futures rose 5.5 cents to $5.56 per 1,000 cubic feet in late morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after initially rising more than 20 cents on news of the explosions. Mexico's stocks opened lower amid the reports of sabotage.

Perfect timing assholes, I need to fill my 500 gallon tank for the impending Winter.

BZ

Giuliani: Illegal Immigration Is NOT a Crime

Rudy Giuliani may have stabbed himself in the heart recently. I have two "hot button" issues and this is one of them. From a Glenn Beck interview with presidential candidate Giuliani:

GLENN: Right. But isn't illegal immigration a crime in and of itself?

GIULIANI: No.

GLENN: Aren't you saying --

GIULIANI: Glenn --

GLENN: You're protecting criminals by saying that being treated as a criminal is unfair.

GIULIANI: Glenn, it's not a crime. I know that's very hard for people to understand, but it's not a federal crime.

GLENN: It's a misdemeanor but if you've been nailed, it is a crime. If you've been nailed, ship back and come back, it is a crime.

GIULIANI: Glenn, being an illegal immigrant, the 400,000 were not prosecuted for crimes by the federal government, nor could they be. I was U.S. attorney in the southern district of New York. So believe me, I know this. In fact, when you throw an immigrant out of the country, it's not a criminal proceeding. It's a civil proceeding.

GLENN: Is it --

GIULIANI: One of the things that congress wanted to do a year ago is to make it a crime, which indicates that it isn't.

GLENN: Should it be?

GIULIANI: Should it be? No, it shouldn't be because the government wouldn't be able to prosecute it. We couldn't prosecute 12 million people. We have only 2 million people in jail right now for all the crimes that are committed in the country, 2.5 million. If you were to make it a crime, you would have to take the resources of the criminal justice system and increase it by about 6. In other words, you'd have to take all the 800,000 police, and who knows how many police we would have to have.

GLENN: So what's your solution?

GIULIANI: My solution is close the border to illegal immigration.

GLENN: How do you do that?

GIULIANI: You do that by building a fence, a physical fence and a technological fence, and the technological fence is more important than the physical fence. The technological fence would alert you to illegals approaching the border well in advance so the border patrol can get there and stop them. You deploy the border patrol every 50 miles along the border.

I've already outlined this on a map. I did this in detail about two weeks ago. And then you have the border patrol stop people from coming in, literally stop them from coming in. If you did that for a year or two, you would end it.

You also have a tamperproof ID card that every person from a foreign country should have that comes into the United States. The goal has to be, yes, you're allowed to come to the United States but you have to identify yourself before we let you in, and we have to be sure you're a safe person. And then if you come in, you'll be in the computer base, you'll be able to work, you will have to pay your fair share, you'll have to pay taxes but we have to end it right at the border by having the resources to stop people from just walking into this country and not identifying themselves.

Only the federal government can do this.

If the federal government doesn't do this, there is no way that the local governments in this country can handle it other than in a practical way.

\

If you make people that are just going to be here for the next 20 years, if you put them in a situation of danger and risk, you're going to have more crime in your communities.

Oh really? Is that correct? Perhaps you can hear the enamel grating from my teeth at this point; nevertheless: Agree? Disagree? Make your own decision.

BZ

Identify The Demorat

Hey kids, can you identify the Demorat in the sea of four other Republicans?









Good luck!


BZ




P.S.
Demorats: as a public service, the answer is available for only $29.95; I take all major credit cards and money orders.

Away

What a relaxing day it's been. How strange, and how wonderful.

The wife and I decided it was time to get away from the localized Central Fornicalia madness and partake of our Fornicalia coastline. It's been hot as hell recently (no, not Global Warming -- around the Central Valley it's called "summer") and, for the area, relatively humid. When I write of heat, I'm indicating temperatures around 105 to 110-degrees. Not where I live in the mountains, but where the wife's house is, in Sacratomato -- which is also where I work. We both agreed: it was time to head for the coast.

We enjoy staying in Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, Santa Cruz, Capitola, Eureka, Ft. Bragg, Mendocino -- anywhere we can see the ocean, we can hear the waves, and enjoy relief from the heat.

It's strange, because I'm writing this post in the same chair you see my wife occupying in the photo above, on her laptop, connected to the internet available in the room. At the same time, it's about 55-degrees outside, overcast, and I can see the ocean fog running for shore. I can hear the tumultuous cascading of the waves, and I'm watching them strike a series of rough rocks just outside the window. I have my camera mounted on a tripod from the little veranda, so I can catch any really monumental waves -- like the last series I just missed because I was writing this sentence -- in hopes of snagging another photo for the post.

We've decided that today, after procuring breakfast, we'll be banana slugs and simply leave the door open so we can read, write, and just savor the essence of the coast. I have a few Heinekens nearby (imagine that), my wife has a wine cooler on the table, I'm writing this post and she's sewing a sock monkey for the truck we're going to buy soon, to replace her ancient 1990 Toyota pickup.

Despite the gray day, the impending fog, the lack of sun, we both find the surroundings utterly beguiling and relaxing. We're enjoying identifying the dogs we see walk by. We're marveling at the turn of the gulls as they wheel mere feet from the veranda. I can see the ocean now, changing to a deeper green than it was a few mere minutes prior -- why is that? A small flock of ducks just zipped by. And now and then, too far for the zoom on my camera, we can see the popping heads of seals surfacing for a breath and a bit of orientation.

We'll be here another three days, and likely doing the same thing: not much and/or, what we wish when we wish. I'm starting Daniel Silva's The Messenger, and my wife is beginning James Rollins's The Judas Strain. We are both rabid and voracious readers; we adore that in each other.

I'm convinced: if I were to win the lottery, I know my two immediate choices would be to live in the mountains above the snowline, or by the ocean. And, ultimately, I know my final choice would be to live in the Pacific Northwest, by the ocean. Northern Fornicalia, Oregon or Washington state. Living next to the ocean wins, hands down.

If you won the lottery, where would you live?

BZ

Honor Our Heroes

The following has been winding through the internet and its message bears repeating here for my readers:

THE PASSING OF A GENERATION

by CPT. Stephen R. Ellison, M.D.

I am a doctor specializing in the Emergency Departments of the only two military Level One trauma centers, both in San Antonio, TX, and they care for civilian emergencies as well as military personnel. San Antonio has the largest military retiree population in the world living here.

As a military doctor, I work long hours and the pay is less than glamorous. One tends to become jaded by the long hours, lack of sleep, food, family contact and the endless parade of human suffering passing before you. The arrival of another ambulance does not mean more pay, only more work.

Most often it is a victim from a motor vehicle crash. Often it is a person of dubious character who has been shot or stabbed. With our large military retiree population, it is often a nursing home patient. Even with my enlisted service and minimal combat experience in Panama, I have caught myself groaning when the ambulance brought in yet another sick, elderly person from one of the local retirement centers that cater to military retirees. I had not stopped to think what citizens of this age group represented.

I saw "Saving Private Ryan." I was touched deeply. Not so much by the carnage, but by the sacrifices of so many. I was touched most by the scene of the elderly survivor at the graveside, asking his wife if he'd been a good man. I realized that I had seen these same men and women through my emergency department and had not recognized what magnificent sacrifices they had made. The things they did for me and everyone else that has lived on this planet since the end of that conflict are priceless.

Situation permitting, I now try to ask my patients about their experiences. They would never bring up the subject without the inquiry. I have been privileged to an amazing array of experiences, recounted in the brief minutes allowed in an emergency department encounter. These experiences have revealed the incredible individuals I have had the honor of serving in a medical capacity, many on their last admission to the hospital.

There was a frail, elderly woman who reassured my young enlisted medic, trying to start an I.V. line in her arm. She remained calm and poised, despite her illnessand the multiple needle-sticks into her fragile veins. She was what we call a "hard stick." As the medic made another attempt, I noticed a number tattooed across her forearm. I touched it with one finger and looked into her eyes. She simply said "Auschwitz." Many of later generations would have loudly and openly berated the young medic in his many attempts. How different was the response from this person who'd seen unspeakable suffering.

Also, there was this long-retired Colonel, who as a young officer had parachuted from his burning plane over a Pacific island held by the Japanese. Now an octogenarian, he had a minor cut on his head from a fall at his home where he lived alone. His CT scan and suturing had been delayed until after midnight by the usual parade of high priority ambulance patients. Still spry for his age, he asked to use the phone to call a taxi, to take him home, when he realized his ambulance had brought him without his wallet. He asked if he could use the phone to make a long distance call to his daughter who lived seven miles away. With great pride we told him that he could not, as he'd done enough for his country and the least we could do was get him a taxi home, even if we had to pay for it ourselves. My only regret was that my shift wouldn't end for several hours, and I couldn't drive him myself.

I was there the night MSgt. Roy Benavidez came through the emergency department for the last time. He was very sick. I was not the doctor taking care of him, but I walked to his bedside and took his hand. I said nothing. He was so sick, he didn't know I was there. I'd read his Congressional Medal of Honor citation and wanted to shake his hand. He died a few days later.

The gentleman who served with Merrill's Marauders, the survivor of the Bataan Death March, the survivor of Omaha Beach, the 101-year-old World War I veteran, the former POW held in frozen North Korea, the former Special Forces medic -- now with non-operable liver cancer -- the former Vietnam Corps Commander. I remember these citizens.

I may still groan when yet another ambulance comes in, but now I am much more aware of what an honor it is to serve these particular men and women.

I have seen a Congress who would turn their back on these individuals who've sacrificed so much to protect our liberty. I see later generations that seem to be totally engrossed in abusing these same liberties, won with such sacrifice.

It has been my personal endeavor to make the nurses and you enlisted medics aware of these amazing individuals when I encounter them in our emergency department. Their response to these particular citizens has made me think that perhaps all is not lost in the next generation.

My experiences have solidified my belief that we are losing an incredible generation, and this nation knows not what it is losing. Our uncaring government and ungrateful civilian populace should all take note. We should all remember that we must -- "earn this."

These people, well called The Greatest Generation, to include my mother and father, saved not only this country, but literally saved the entire planet from enslavement. I received this e-mail from my father, an 87-year-old retired USAF Colonel, who served in World War II and during Vietnam, both in active duty and as a Reserve. As I am fond of saying: "If it had rivets, he flew it."

God bless America. God bless The Greatest Generation.

BZ

You're Kidding Me

C'mon people, are we really this stupid?

Someone has been calling grocery stores and discount stores around the US, threatening to blow up employees and customers via some kind of hidden bomb, if the employees don't wire money to an overseas account.

NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Large grocery and discount stores across the country have been targeted by a caller who threatens to blow up shoppers and workers with a bomb if employees fail to wire money to an account overseas, authorities said. Frightened workers have wired thousands of dollars — and in one case took off their clothes — to placate a caller who said he was watching them but may have been thousands of miles away.

Okay, so you're in a store. The manager shuts the front doors and screams: "Everyone, listen, listen! A man has called to say that there is a bomb in the store and it'll detonate unless we all take off our clothes!"

Do you:

A: Laugh until you stop;

B: Punch Manager in face;

C: State: "____ you."

D: Walk out the door or break the glass in order to do so;

E: All of the above.

BZ

P.S.

The obvious answer is -- well, you know.