India and Pakistan At Brink of War

Two very large problems with that:

• 1. The countries are next door to each other;
• 2. They both possess nuclear arsenals.

The threats from Pakistan are already starting:

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday warned India against any "over-reaction" after the militant attacks in Mumbai and vowed the "strictest" action if Pakistani involvement was proved.

"Whoever is responsible for the brutal and crude act against the Indian people and India are looking for reaction," Zardari said in an interview with Indian CNN-IBN television.

"We have to rise above them and make sure ourselves, yourself and world community guard against over-reaction," he said according to an interview transcript issued by the Press Trust of India.

The Indian government has blamed "elements in Pakistan" for the attack by Islamist militants against multiple targets in Mumbai that left nearly 200 people dead.

From the UK Daily Mail:

The only terrorist captured alive after the Mumbai massacre has given police the first full account of the extraordinary events that led to it – revealing he was ordered to ‘kill until the last breath’.

Azam Amir Kasab, 21, from Pakistan, said the attacks were meticulously planned six months ago and were intended to kill 5,000 people.

He revealed that the ten terrorists, who were highly trained in marine assault and crept into the city by boat, had planned to blow up the Taj Mahal Palace hotel after first executing British and American tourists and then taking hostages.

Britain has not only tolerated but embraced Islamists for years; here is the result:

A banned Islamic terrorist group funded with cash raised in British mosques is believed to be behind the Mumbai attacks.

Kashmiri separatists Lashkar-e-Taiba, ‘The Army of the Righteous’, which has strong links to Al Qaeda, is accused of previous terrorist outrages in India.

And intercepted telephone and radio communications before and during the latest attacks apparently suggest a link.

And despite British mosques likely being a cash source, the terrorists from Pakistan were told to ‘target whites, preferably Americans and British’.

This is now India's own '9/11'. Clearly sourced from Pakistan. The death toll is suggested to exceed 300 persons.

If anyone in Britain, the United States or the western world believe that you can lay down with Islam and not be bitten, this and thousands of prior events -- plus those certain to come in 2009 on the heels of this new presidential administration -- should convince otherwise.

That is, if you're listening.

BZ

Islam: The Religion of Peace and Tolerance

"Islam is as Islam does."

. . . and also by what it tolerates.

BZ

Cartoon by Ronny Gordon at American Thinker.

Giving Thanks

For what am I thankful on this, a purposeful day of Thanksgiving? Why, that would be:

• I am thankful that, despite the hard years of abuse, I am among the living, can still stand erect;
• I am thankful for the rock-solid support and dedicated love of my incredible wife;
• I am thankful my father is still alive, has left the hospital and is back in his nursing home;
• I am thankful that I have a job where they need me more than I need them
• I am thankful that I have a modest cabin that I have completely redesigned by myself;
• I am thankful that I live amidst the natural beauty of the Sierra Nevada mountains;
• I am thankful that, when all things were considered and done, I lived the life I chose, plotted my own path, hitched my star to no one else's, was beholden to no one and yet, in my own small way, became successful in a venue where I originally had no reason to be;
• I am thankful that I had the wondrous opportunity to live my life as a child in the late 50s and early 60s, to have experienced the freedom and naivete that no child can or will enjoy today;
• I am thankful that I was born with all my limbs, with my mind, complete and functional;
• I am thankful that I was born of American parents of The Greatest Generation;
• And I am thankful that I was born in an American hospital on United States soil;
• This nation being, of course, the last and best hope for the entire planet.

God bless you and your family, my dear readers, on this day of thanks.

Thank you for continuing to frequent my blog, for believing in me, for coming back day after day, for being, in truth, My Dearest Readers.

Live long and prosper.

BZ

For more thanks, please see LMC here!

World Submarine Racing Championships, 2008:

China accelerates from the start.

Great Britain surges from behind.

Australia puts the pedal to the metal!

North Korea knocks out South Korea!

U.S. comes from behind for the win!

BZ

P.S.

Sorry, but with all the political excrement I've had to endure this week at work, it's the best I could do today.

Militant Islam Loses Two Cases

1. APPEALS COURT BACKS WARRANTLESS SEARCHES ABROAD:

From the New York Times:

A federal appeals court in Manhattan upheld the convictions on Monday of three Al Qaeda operatives in a ruling that bolsters the government’s power to investigate terrorism by holding that a key Constitutional protection afforded to Americans does not apply overseas. Related: [(Opinions (In Re: Terrorist Bombings) (Findlaw.com)]

The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit holds for the first time that government agents may obtain admissible evidence against United States citizens through warrantless searches abroad.

2. HOLY LAND FOUNDATION DEFENDANTS FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS:

From the Dallas News:

A jury on Monday determined that the Holy Land Foundation and five men who worked with the Muslim charity were guilty of three dozen counts related to the illegal funneling of at least $12 million to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

The unanimous verdicts are a complete victory for the government, which streamlined its case after a mistrial last year, and worked hard to carefully educate jurors on the complex evidence presented in the massive case. Guilty verdicts were read on 108 separate charges.

In retrospect this is good news and, at the same time, troubling news. In the first case, it is disturbing that it took a court to interpret the obvious: the US Constitution does not apply overseas. Captain Obvious would be proud.

In the second instance, it is disturbing that it took two attempts to win this case, fifteen years and millions of dollars.

Steve Emerson said on Bill Bennett's Morning In America (Tuesday), that it was the most significant terrorism trial in the history of the United States. This has exposed many other groups as well; CAIR was also revealed to be a front for Hamas, Mr. Emerson said. It is a great "tell" that NO Islamic group has supported the case or now, the verdict. The Muslim America Society has called the ruling "not legitimate," CAIR is blistering, every other "mainstream" Islamic group is upset because, after all, these other groups are "fronts" themselves as well. All these groups are simply going to bleat that the ruling is another "attack" on Islam -- to which I would reply in one succinct word: bullshit.

Should SOFA result in American troops leaving Iraq next year en masse, the fight is clearly not over and, in my opinion, efforts will be redoubled by Militant Islam on our domestic soil. Militant Islam still continues to recruit in prisons and in mosques. This would be precisely the perfect time to conduct a strike on our homeland for these reasons: 1) Obama is perceived as inexperienced and flaccid; 2) America is extended and 3) Another strike would certainly hurl our economy completely over the precipice.

BZ

Boy, Do I EVER Need A Larf Today:

BZ

A Point To Ponder

Right now it's late Sunday as I write this post, about 40-degrees outside, and the sun is casting some beautiful and final afternoon rays around the deep yellow and green leaves from the deciduous trees, interspersed with the many pines and firs on my property. I've been scouting about on the internet hither and yon, visiting sites, discovering new places to see and, in the interim, have commenced to pondering about many aspects of our world, our nation. I'm in a contemplative mind.

Have you ever wondered how things got to be the way they are now, perhaps in a more global, more overarching fashion?

I think it distills down to one fundamental difference between two very separate strata of society, and that is this:

It is my considered opinion that not nearly enough politicians, judges and policy-makers lose their jobs with little or no backup in place; suffer the consequences for poor decisions; treat money with which they are entrusted like it's their own; are beaten; robbed; stabbed; shot; had their checking and savings accounts emptied; are gang raped; are sodomized; have had immediate loved ones injured or killed by criminals; have had to wonder how they'll meet next month's bills; are depersonalized by the criminal justice system; are forced to buy an actual used car as an adult; are left naked and bleeding from their anus in a wet alley at night by a person they can identify later.

The more that power brokers, politicians, judges, have the luxury of making their decisions in a vacuum, the more society at large suffers. It removes the personal aspect of "bad."

And trust me, as all us common folks know: "bad" is very personal.

Your thoughts?

BZ

The GOP Fractious

Whither the Grand Old Party?

Quite frankly, I simply do not know.

Most of my blogging associates have posted about the future of the GOP, well, weeks ago. You'll note that none of my posts, to this point, have been reflective of Republicans. I've been, I suppose you could say, "processing."

I wish I could say that I've come to a clear conclusion.

For my dearest readers, you know that I tried to keep a positive bent right up to the bitter end. And in many ways I really did feel that way. Right up to the bitter end.

Because I simply refused to either NOT vote in the presidential election or vote for Barack Hussein Obama. McCain/Palin was it. That's how it all shook out. And that's how I was going to vote. And so I did. I made this fact more than clearly known.

The polls went up and down. And despite having the liability of John McCain on the ticket, the final popular vote was 52% for Barack Hussein Obama and 48% for McCain/Palin. To me, that's no "mandate" and no "ass kicking" per se.

Think about that for a moment, if you will. As screwed up as the McCain campaign was with, essentially, a Democrat running on the Republican ticket, Barack Hussein Obama just did NOT "walk away" with the vote. And he had so, so many aspects working in his favor:

• The DEM/MSM drank all the Kool Aid he offered;
• The MSM provided, literally, millions of dollars worth of free advertising to his campaign;
• Barack Hussein Obama had millions of dollars more than McCain in his war-chest;
• Barack Hussein Obama worked the internet like it's never been worked before;
• People were SO tired of George Bush;
• Barack Hussein Obama was young, fresh, well-spoken in front of a TelePrompTer;
• He said essentially nothing more than his repetitive and broken-record chant of "change";
• It was the tired, doddering, ancient white guy and one hot chick against the clean black guy;
• The DEM/MSM purposely avoided Rezko, Ayers, Wright, Pfleger, Obama's spinal philosophy;
• Barack Hussein Obama embraced Joe Biden as his Veep;
• Barack Hussein Obama made any number of verbal slips (58 states!);
• Barack Hussein Obama has even less experience than the current Governor of Alaska;

And yet, despite all these factors aligned against the Republican Party and the McCain/Palin ticket, the election really did come right down to the wire.

Upon reflection that's actually quite astounding, if you ask me.

And here's Captain Obvious weighing in:

McCain wouldn't have made it by himself. It was the clear, new, breath-of-fresh-air presence of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin which generated whatever excitement existed on the GOP side. And McCain, being the ignoramus that he was and is, insisted on shutting her down. And being the neophyte she is, she obeyed.

I'm revealing nothing new when I write that John McCain has been the historic despoiler of the GOP. His Gang of 14, his McCain/Feingold bill, his amnesty ramdown package for Illegal Invaders caused any number of true Conservatives to hock just a little bit of burning throw-up into their collective throats. He should obey his inclination and simply re-register as a Demorat.

And yet, still, I determined to take the McCain/Palin ticket over Obama for the clear and delineated obvious reasons. Yeah yeah yeah, I know all things about McCain. And yet, that's how much I wanted to defeat Barack Hussein Obama.

Here are the Sad Facts about the current GOP:

• Roughly 4.1 million Republicans failed to vote this election as compared to 2004.

Recognizing this, is it any wonder that we lost?

THERE ARE NOW TWO CAMPS:

Resultingly, there are two philosophical camps believing they have the answer:

Camp One:

We need to re-think everything. We need to be more inclusive, we need to give up some of our more exclusive ideals in order to bring a greater number of persons on board -- because, after all, winning tickets consist of how many people you can swing to your side. Life moves forward. We should do no less. How can we get the Young, the Suburbans, the Mexicans onto our side? Are their inclinations really so completely opposed to ours? it must be asked.

For example, who comprised the two largest parties promoting Proposition 8 (redrafting the Fornicalia Constitution to define marriage as an act between two persons, one male and one female)? Yes, that would be blacks and Mexicans. A fact that few wish to address.

With that kind of Social Conservatism, how can we bring those alienated people on board the GOP? And speaking of that SC, why aren't we willing to concede that we shouldn't predicate our entire party on the back of the abortion issue? How long are we going to insist it's a federal issue rather than a state issue?

Free thinking blacks, Mexicans, minorities, freedoms, don't have necessarily to be mutually exclusive when it comes to the Republican Party. Individual strength really does = collective strength.

Camp Two:

We, Conservatives, go astray when we fall from The Basics. We need to ensure that our Conservative Triumvirate is met:

• Fiscal Conservatism: less government, balanced budgets, less spending, fewer taxes; you can't tax and spend your way out of a deficit;
• Social Conservatism: the tenets of western religion place us on the track; our government was founded upon religious principles; abortion, gay marriage - these are abominations that will drag us down societally and collectively;
• Defensive Conservatism: these United States of America need to be sovereign, answerable to naught but domestic positions, strong, vast, overwhelming. We would rather be feared than respected. If something is in the best interest of this country that's the overarching determinant.

What Happened:

The GOP simply got out-spent. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. And, naturally, we were our own worst enemy.

When we actually possessed the greatest amount of power we:

• 1. Not only were reluctant to wield such power;
• 2. We couldn't coalesce around said power.
• 3. We were fractious.

The Demorats, on the other hand, never had or have a problem with steamrollering any administration extant. Whatever power they have they wield and utilize.

Additionally, there really is the President Bush Factor:

• Adequate communication is, like, totally dude, Job 34;
• He has no concept as to how to convey his message to the masses;
• He equates "nice" to "power." Wrong.
• Every other country equates "nice" to "weak."
• He spent like the worst Demorat.
• Billions of dollars to Africa for AIDS? What the hell were you thinking?
• You had a thought or philosophy? Then why didn't you stick with it?
• When did your "approval ratings" go up? When you were angry with conviction!
• When you abandoned The Basics, then Conservatives abandoned you.
  

Yes, President Bush kept this country free from further domestic terrorism; we'll always owe him that.

And he's one primary reason we are where we are now.

At the short end of the stick.

And you know, despite all that, we still weren't all that far away.

To me, that still bespeaks volumes about Leftists and the Demorats.

To which camp do you belong?

BZ

Patriot Chip Implants

THE PATRIOT MICRO CHIP is intended to be implanted in terrorists. The implant is specifically designed to be installed in the forehead. When properly installed it will allow the implantee to speak to God.

It comes in various sizes:

The exact size of the implant will be selected by a well-trained and highly-skilled technician. The implant may or may not be painless.

Side effects, like headaches and nausea, are temporary.

Some bleeding or swelling may occur at the injection site.

Please enjoy the security we provide for you.

Best regards,

-The U.S. Military (while we still have one)

BZ

How Demorats See My Country

BZ

Why I Still Like Newt Gingrich

Yes, you've seen this video before -- please see it again. Newt simply swept over this reporter; he had no reply and neither did any of Barack Hussein Obama's supporters. This is what we could get with Newt as RNC chairman. Yeah, a lot of you will exclaim NG is "more of the same." I politely disagree. Newt is an educated, scholarly fighter with a great and accomplished knowledge of history. This is not to say that Michael Steele is a poor choice; I simply think Gingrich is better, a "name," and can get people writing checks again which, after all, is incredibly important.

BZ

Economy

Oil is at a three year low, closing at less than $50 the barrel.

When the rules can change at any moment, can you fault investors for not doing so?

A final settlement coming out of Washington on the automakers? No; not just yet.

Are the CongressCritters actually beginning to "listen" to the people? Will it be a bi-partisan "thumbs-down"?

At this point the Big 3 were told to come back on December 2nd, eleven days from now, with a viable plan as to the administration of the cash they could potentially receive. Whereas the Demorats were initially eager to provide Detroit with billions of dollars, well, since it would now appear there may be consequences to this loan and there are many objections to a wholesale loan -- they have evidently decided to re-decide.

Trust me, when Pelosi and Reid met with Detroit's Big 3 representatives on Thursday, November 6th, the deal was already done. The very next day GM bleated that their future was bleak, nocturnal, moribund. Imagine that.

The automakers came to Washington, in their corporate jets, with no plan. They just wanted the cash. Waggoner (GM), Nardelli (Chrysler), Mulally (Ford) and Ron Gettelfinger of the UAW came crawling for same.

And what has president-elect Obama broadcast about all these issues? Essentially nothing. Nothing means that he mustn't commit. Non-commital = non-pigeon-hole-able.

Corporate taxes in America are some of the highest in the Western world. Why?

And you know what had a hand in this "change of direction"?

Talk radio! CONSERVATIVE talk radio. Internet. Blogs. A bit by Fox.

You can be assured, therefore, that we are in the Demorats' sights.

BZ

Let The Hypocrisy Commence

The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of the pie so that someone else can have more."

-Michelle Obama

The photo is that of a receipt from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, whereupon Mrs. Obama called for room service, Suite 29 M. At 4:04pm on October 15th, she ordered two lobster hors d/oeuvres @ $50, two whole steam lobsters @ $100, one order of Iranian Osetra caviar @ $150 and 1 bottle of Bollinger champagne @ $44 for a total of $447.39.

Please also see the included photo for "discounted" W-A room rates (through Expedia.com). I chose the smaller "one bedroom" only double suite, for an example, at $47,710 a night. Sorry, breakfast not included.

Michelle and Barack Obama: a Presidential couple "for the people."

BZ

Visit From the CT-2, Our U-2 Variant

Because I work on one portion of a deactivated military base, I am privy to witnessing some very interesting aviation events, to include a Habu flyby, C-17s, US Navy C-135 reconnaissance aircraft, P-51 Mustangs, an Antonov AN-124-100, B-52s, C5s, Soviet helos and all-black T-38 trainers from Beale AFB.

The blacked-out T-38 trainers from Beale are flown by U2/TR-1 pilots from the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, keeping up their flight hours. They'll generally appear in pairs and shoot a number of landings, then disappear.

This morning one of only two two-seat U-2 trainer aircraft, modified from the single-seater U-2/TR-1 and designated the CT-2 -- with the second (trainee) cockpit mounted behind and above the cockpit of the (training) pilot in command -- came to visit.

Go here for an excellent article about a typical U-2 mission.

Suffice to say this was a very rare treat -- to be witness to one of only two aircraft extant worldwide, an aircraft of such importance and such history -- not to mention an aircraft that may not exist much longer in the USAF inventory.

On approach, the CT-2 was very quiet and graceful. Its wings rocked minimally and its speed overhead was rather slow. At the end of the runway the pilot trainee hit the throttles and the aircraft made its roar known. A glorious sight to see and hear!

Enjoy the photos (taken with my Sony A300 DLSR); I simply couldn't do politics or personal issues today.

BZ

My Father's Face

No, I'm not trying to wring Sunday's post out for as many comments as possible; things have been very busy personally. I've been squeezing work in between caring for my father and attending to any number of requisite allied items. It is massively fatiguing and mentally taxing to say the least.

I had to place my father into a skilled nursing facility on Wednesday, November 5th (Goodbye, House). Since then he's had to enter the hospital twice for more serious medical complications; first, to have the hematoma on his left leg examined further and for a blood transfusion, and then again on Sunday because the massive hematoma (roughly the size of a very thick paperback book) on his left leg literally burst. He was taken back to Mercy Hospital.

Everything is declining geometrically, it seems. He has an atrial fibrillation, cellulitis, his blood count is all over the map, he is perenially tired. His left leg hurts terribly, his back hurts terribly, everything hurts terribly. Luckily he is now on morphine which, I must admit, creates some very unusual conversations with him.

Worse, however, is the fact that today he was placed onto oxygen. They also wanted two X-rays; one for his chest and one for his left leg. I suspect the doctors want the chest X-ray to determine if he has pneumonia and the leg X-ray to see if his hematoma is in fact a bone tumor. The wound nurse entered his room earlier Monday to decree that the open site is larger and much deeper than she expected.

In his condition, he could succumb from blood clots, a heart attack, pneumonia. He can barely move, is hooked to three IVs, a BP cuff, air bed. I am certain that this is not even remotely how he envisioned himself going. Enfeebled, powerless, limbs uncontrolled, fingers grasping and pulling on his gown, at the bed covers with grim determination but for no reason.

I looked at my father's face tonight. Skin the thickness and color of onion paper once soaked with water, now dried, eyes clouded, cracked lips, discolored bruises all up and down his stick-like arms and the backs of his hands, white hair tousled, his face unshaven. He couldn't get comfortable. He raised his arms out to me, I took his hands, then he snatched his arms back as though his brain hadn't commanded that effort in the first place. He would begin a long-winded exposition then words would fail after a minute. His eyes would limp to half-mast then close.

All the things he's done in his life, all the things I've done with him, how he married my mother in 1942, how they raised three boys in the 50s and 60s, how he retired as a full USAF Colonel in 1984, how he took his wife on numerous cruises, how he watched his wife pass away at a different Mercy Hospital in the same town in May of 2002, a nasal canula strapped around her ears and face. It was the only time I ever saw him weep openly, at her bedside, her face and cheeks cooling. He wept unabashedly. It was frightening to me.

I am jolted back: just as a nasal canula surrounds my father's face now, back behind his ears.

This is not my father, but it is my father. This will be me one day, perhaps very soon.

I'll consider it a miracle if we have my father alive on Thanksgiving, much less in the hospital or a nursing home.

BZ

The Obamas And Their Supporters: Nothing But Class

BZ

The Left: Where Tolerance, The Law & Grace Never Matter

Those who claim to be the most tolerant are the least tolerant.

Those who claim not to hate are the most hateful.

The Left.

In Fornicalia, Proposition 8 passed (defining marriage as that between one man and one woman). Proposition 8 passed in roughly the same margin that Barack Hussein Obama obtained the presidency by vote: 52% to 48% (Prop 8 specifically: 52.2% Yes to 47.8% No). Black support for Prop 8 exceeded 2-to-1. Leftists can't understand what happened, except to exclaim that they were duped. Duped! But they have a plan.

In 2000, Fornicalia voters (myself included) passed Proposition 22 with 61% of the vote, which added a section to the California Family Code to formally define marriage in California as a union between a man and a woman.

Then, in 2004, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's decided to, unlawfully, authorize the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples by the City and County of San Francisco. The 3,995 marriages were annulled by the California Supreme Court, but San Francisco began a legal challenge that was consolidated with other cases as In re Marriage Cases.

As a result of this the Fornicalia Supreme Court (on May 15, 2008 via a 4-to-3 vote) ruled that the statute enacted by Proposition 22 and other statutes that limit marriage to a relationship between a man and a woman violated the equal protection clause of the California Constitution. It also held that individuals of the same sex have the right to marry under the California Constitution.

Hence, the creation of Proposition 8 -- duplicating the same effort as Prop 22.

Now, the Left has decided that the "will of the people" isn't fair and, after all, it was "only" a 52-to-48 percentile margin and thusly what's lawful doesn't apply to them. Just as with the popular vote for Barack Hussein Obama, the people "spoke" -- only, this time, the Leftists don't like the speech.

Numerous protests have occurred but, more pointedly, another tactic has emerged whereupon the Left even more clearly announce their intolerance and hatred:

A man who works in Sacratomato, Fornicalia made, evidently, the very serious error of both donating money to the Yes On 8 campaign and being a member of an artistic clan. But of course, if you're in the Arts, a common gay stronghold, you'd best be prepared for discrimination if you don't place your toes precisely on the line.

From the LA Times:

Scott Eckern, the Sacramento theater director whose political donation in support of California's Prop. 8 ban on same-sex marriage has become a lightning rod in the debate over gay rights, resigned today. He said he wanted to protect the California Musical Theatre, his artistic home since 1984, from further controversy.

In truth, what happened was this: those opposed to Prop 8 went digging into so-called "public" records regarding donations and discovered that one individual wasn't toeing the Liberal Leftist line. Then they sought to excoriate and condemn his freedom.

Those persons who hold tolerance and understanding up as their Mantras thence decided:

Marc Shaiman, the Tony Award-winning composer (“Hairspray”), called Mr. Eckern last week and said that he would not let his work be performed in the theater. “I was uncomfortable with money made off my work being used to put discrimination in the Constitution,” Mr. Shaiman said. He added, however, that the entire episode left him “deeply troubled” because of the potential for backlash against gays who protested Mr. Eckern’s donation.

One comment included the obviously brain-addled:

Hypocrisy and Hate go hand-in-hand... Prop 8 supporters have one commonality: religion. While 70% of black voters unconscionably favored prop HATE = 8 it certainly wasn't because they were black, otherwise 100% would have. Distressed as I am that the percentage was both surprising and lopsided it's the affect of religion. Around the world, conflicts are virtually always religious-based. Bible Spice Palin was stumping with red meat speaches which have resulted in violence and possibly a recent killing in MA. These are not disconnected issues. Remember Mathew Shepherd?

So, according to the above comment, only betrayal-"niggers" voted for Proposition 8?

Another comment actually posited some consideration:

Regardless of one's stance on Proposition 8, it is terrible to see a man forced out of his job for his personal religious beliefs. Of course, if religious groups threatened a boycott over a gay employee of some company, and that company fired that individual, people would be screaming "discrimination." In a free society, people are allowed to disagree over lifestyle choices, behaviors and beliefs.

Having been to a few musicals, I find the community anything but tolerant, and often downright insulting, to views and ideologies (religious, right-wing) different than their own. The hypocrisy amazes me.

Of course, the really sad thing is that we don't see organizations and companies standing up for the personal choices of their employees and members - too many in society are not brave enough to stand up and encourage the "agree to disagree" attitude.

Besides, if you're holding groups responsible for the personal contributions of people involved with that group, then you're as "evil" and irrational and bigotted as those you claim to be fighting against.

This heralds a New Low for the Left: check the contributory rolls and then excoriate those with whom you disagree: those who are the most vulnerable in terms of their employment.

The gloves are completely off, Boys and Girls. This is a tactic you can expect in the future, particularly when Prop 8 goes back to the ballot: "expose" those who contribute, "out" them, then stand back for the business retribution.

How many of you, now, think that WE should even REMOTELY "play fair"?

Those who claim to be the most tolerant are the least tolerant.

Those who claim not to hate are the most hateful.

They are completely prepared to utilize harrassment, predisposition, overburdening numbers and actual violence to achieve their ends.

What are we prepared to do, to counter this?

BZ

Courts Want To Stop US Defense?

The United States 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (historically, the most overturned court in American history, thankfully) recently ruled that the US Navy could not operate its sonar during training exercises in southern California waters due to alleged "harmful affects" on sea creatures and mammals such as whales, dolphins, etc.

This 9th Circuit ruling was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).

On Wednesday, November 12th, the SCOTUS overturned the 9th Circuit (WINTER, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, ET AL. v NATU-RAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, INC., ET AL), to allow the United States Navy to use its sonar.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the majority and cited "public interest" in crafting the opinion, saying the Navy's need to conduct realistic training with active sonar to respond to the threat posed by enemy submarines outweighed the interests proffered by the environmentalists.

The injunction leveled upon the US Navy by the 9th Circuit required that it stop using sonar when marine mammals were spotted within 2,200 yards of submarines and vessels utilizing sonar, and to reduce sonar decibel levels under certain ocean conditions.

This time, common sense prevailed and the ability of the United States to continue training to actually defend itself won the day. Still and all, it was a 5-to-4 decision.

Come the time for one, two or even perhaps three potential SCOTUS appointments during the Obama presidency? Obama could nominate, oh, William Ayers or Angela Davis and, with sufficient support, install one of them into SCOTUS.

Here is a typical reactive comment to this ruling, from the LA Times blog:

This ruling makes me sick. We just can't seem to get it: everything, our entire eco-system, is interconnected. All man does is poison and disrupt the natural harmony of the planet. And the planet will swat us off its face like a irritating gnat one day in return. Wake up! I say dismantle the Navy and honor the whales.

Dismantle the navy. Dismantle the economy. Dismantle our entire defense system. Dismantle our Constitution. Dismantle our society and our entire nation.

We won this one. Today.

Tomorrow? I see illogical and unnecessary catastrophe looming on the immediate horizon, my dear readers.

BZ

Sarah Palin's Future

It appears that corrupt Senator Ted Stevens (R, Alaska) may possibly be re-elected for his seventh full Senate term; results are not yet final.

That said, there is a forecast that I should care to submit for your consideration:

I posit that Senator Stevens should and will be expelled from the US Senate due to his conviction on seven felony counts last month related to his failure to report gifts from lobbyists.

If Senator Stevens is expelled or, more likely, he decides to resign, that will initiate proceedings to begin for a 90-day special election to replace him. It would also give Republicans a chance to keep the seat out of Democratic hands.

In my opinion, Governor Sarah Palin should step up immediately to vie for this position.

Some Conservatives (and most Leftists) have expressed their obvious rancor in re Palin. I, however, believe her to have an important future with the GOP. So, you want her to acquire experience? You want Palin to acquire savvy, credibility, veritas? This would be the perfect opportunity.

THIS JUST IN:

The acknowledgement of the lies revolving around Sarah Palin are just now starting to come in. From Yahoo News:

NEW YORK – MSNBC was the victim of a hoax when it reported that an adviser to John McCain had identified himself as the source of an embarrassing story about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the network said Wednesday.

David Shuster, an anchor for the cable news network, said on air Monday that Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, had come forth and identified himself as the source of a Fox News Channel story saying Palin had mistakenly believed Africa was a country instead of a continent.


Eisenstadt identifies himself on a blog as a senior fellow at the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy. Yet neither he nor the institute exist; each is part of a hoax dreamed up by a filmmaker named Eitan Gorlin and his partner, Dan Mirvish, the New York Times reported Wednesday.


The hoax was limited to the identity of the source in the story about Palin — not the Fox News story itself. While Palin has denied that she mistook Africa for a country, the veracity of that report was not put in question by the revelation that Eisenstadt is a phony.

And of course this revelation comes, oh, nine days after the election.

The DEM/MSM are such the incredible whores.

BZ

History Repeats Itself?

A Georgia Congressman wonders out loud:

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Republican congressman from Georgia said Monday he fears that President-elect Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist dictatorship.

"It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he's the one who proposed this national security force," Rep. Paul Broun said of Obama in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. "I'm just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may—may not, I hope not—but we may have a problem with that type of philosophy of radical socialism or Marxism."

Broun cited a July speech by Obama that has circulated on the Internet in which the then-Democratic presidential candidate called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.

"That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it's exactly what the Soviet Union did," Broun said. "When he's proposing to have a national security force that's answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he's showing me signs of being Marxist."

Obama's comments about a national security force came during a speech in Colorado in which he called for expanding the nation's foreign service.

"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set," Obama said in July. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

Just as I wrote back on July 18th, Obama knows he cannot lawfully utilize the American military domestically. A "national security force," call me paranoid or not, cannot bode well for the American people at all -- a force equally as strong as the military.

You must ask yourself again: what's the point? President-elect Obama has lost faith in all local police and sheriff forces nationwide? Every one of them? Since July? And what was that one predicating event, do you think? Any one event? Any reason to negate police forces answerable to their local levels?

I can only see one point, myself. Do what I call the "Logical Extension."

What's your Logical Extension?

BZ

RNC Chair

Word is flittering about that Newt Gingrich or Michael Steele may be interested in RNC (Republic National Committee) Chairman.

Another individual, Jim Nussle (Director of the OMB) plans to run for RNC chair as well.

As far as I am concerned, the RNC needs new blood and it needs it now. Michael Steele would bring that fresh blood but -- I'm not convinced he's the teeth-gnashing, flesh-and-gristle fighter we'd need.

Newt Gingrich would be great -- he's certainly no shrinking violet and he knows his way around a bare knuckles brawl -- but I'd have to examine his stand on the environment in much greater detail. Gingrich has said, essentially: "you want me, you got me."

I wrote letter after letter to the RNC last year (actually, I stuffed their return envelopes with my "form letter") clearly stating that, until they came around and made President Bush clean up his Conservative act (like that would happen) they weren't about to receive another penny from me. I was a man of my word.

I'm sure many, many other Conservatives were of a like mind and, hence, the funding for McCain was geometrically exceeded by Obama. No shocker there.

And that's still true. No money for McCain now, no money for the RNC.

You elect Newt Gingrich or Michael Steele as RNC Chair -- you know what? I might write you a check again, boys and girls. "No Names" for the RNC can just Go Home. Unless, of course, you just don't mind getting your ass handed to you. Again.

BZ

Tax, Biases Revealed, Repeal by EO

Here comes the taxation and the spending. First, in New York City, it's "tax all the bridges":

Sources tell CBS 2 HD that putting tolls on some or all of the East River bridges is part of the bailout plan being considered for the MTA. "People coming into the city should be paying for some of the service they get," Schwartz said.

Tolling all four bridges may be a heavy lift for Mayor Michael Bloomberg right now, which is why it's possible tolls could be put on just two. Another option is to have tolls only during morning and evening rush hours. Sources say putting tolls on all four spans could raise almost $1 billion for mass transit.

The Washington Post dares to write the truth (by Deborah Howell):

The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts.

Barack Hussein Obama plans to use his power of the Executive Order immediately:

WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Obama plans to use his executive powers to make an immediate impact when he takes office, perhaps reversing Bush administration policies on stem cell research and domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.

And, of course, there must be more handouts the likes of which I wrote about on Friday:

Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a letter Saturday to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the administration should consider expanding the bailout to include car companies.

But who's to say the Demorats and Leftists don't have a sense of humor, eh?

Incidentally, don't expect McCain to be on board with Conservatives post-Obama; expect another iteration of the Gang of 14 and other obstructionist measures taken in sympathy with any number of Demorat ideals. Just an Important Safety Tip from BZ to my dear readers.

BZ

Our New Nation

Our, sadly, current national outlook. (Thanks, Roland.)

BZ

P.S.

Must go visit Dad; my brother from San Diego is now in town, along with my nephew. Dad was moved from the skilled nursing facility to a local hospital; his condition had worsened. He is stabilized now and reaping the benefits of more effective medications to ease his pain. Also, please click the title link.

Demorats' Job One: Elimination of Free Speech

As I prognosticated some time ago, the first order of business for a Demoratically-controlled government would be the elimination of Free Speech or, more specifically, anything other than their speech.

The very DAY of the election, New York Demorat Chuck Schumer said on Fox News:

Asked if he is a supporter of telling radio stations what content they should have, Schumer used the fair and balanced line, claiming that critics of the Fairness Doctrine are being inconsistent.

“The very same people who don’t want the Fairness Doctrine want the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] to limit pornography on the air. I am for that… But you can’t say government hands off in one area to a commercial enterprise but you are allowed to intervene in another. That’s not consistent.”

That's what the Demorats believe: dissent, or the ability of Conservatives to communicate and speak their minds on talk radio is pornographic.

You will note, of course, that the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" only applies to radio, where Conservatives have a horrid capitalistic lock; it does not apply to TV, newspapers, magazines, or any other form of communication where the Left have a lock -- after all, that wouldn't be "fair" to the Left.

Michele Bachman won. Norm Coleman in Minnesota won over the manic idiot Al Franken. Mitch McConnell won. It's not quite a filibuster-proof US Senate. Tom McClintock beat Demorat Charlie Brown in my 4th Congressional District. And moreover, in Fornicalia, that bastion of The Left, Proposition 8 won -- which stated that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, overturning the Fornicalia Supreme Court which took it upon itself to make its own law instead of interpreting it. Gloria Allred recently said she'll be leading that battle -- wait -- where? Oh yes, that's right, all the way back to the Fornicalia Supreme Court.

You think the fight just ended?

Oh no no no no, my fellow Conservatives.

The fight has just begun.

BZ

NO! NO MORE! ENOUGH!

You might not have heard, but Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid met with American automakers yesterday as well as with members of the UAW. Shock of shocks, today, following that meeting, the automakers are screaming that they need financial assistance, and they need it now, to the tune of billions of dollars or -- zounds! -- they'll go bankrupt!

What happened?

In my opinion, they all cut a deal with Pelosi, their hands outstretched. Then they agreed to bleat, in unison the next day, that Life was much more dire than even they originally thought. They can't make it! They need help! No, not physical help; they need cash. Your cash. My cash. The "government's" cash.

Pelosi cut that deal because, in order to protect Obama and the Demorats, she can't have any of the Big Three tanking in the first few months of the administration promising change. Yes, that would be change but not of the variety sought. Chrsyler is the weakest of all and, just wait, Ratan Tata (India's Tata Motors) has his eye on that company, mark my words.

In my opinion: ENOUGH. That's IT. Let anyone and everyone from this point on simply FAIL.

THIS MUST STOP.

BZ

Goodbye, House

This entire week has been challenging, to say the least, on many, many levels. Not the least of which was family-involved.

Those reading my blog for a period of time know that my father has been traumatized by a number of medical conditions over the years. He has had five major open-thoracic operations within about a three year span. He had colon cancer twice yielding two huge tumors, two colostomies, then two resections. Followed by an operation for an aneurism. He has a stint in one of his arteries. Recently, he was diagnosed with leukemia.

But he's a man of The Greatest Generation and he was tougher than tough. Yes, we were forced to place him into a skilled nursing facility on three prior occasions, but he managed to fight his way out every time by sheer determination. He became mobile and was able to go back home, despite having lost his wife and my mother in 2002 to COPD linked with smoking. He has reached the age of 88 by sheer force of will.

In seeking his independence, however, he became increasingly less stable. A few falls and, recently, I determined he couldn't even walk. He essentially stopped eating and couldn't take care of himself personally. I saw this, spoke to my brothers, and decided that I couldn't trust Dad to be in the house all by himself without very close monitoring, 24/7.

Yesterday, I had to place him in a nursing home. And it cuts me to the quick. I feel like the worst possible betrayer, a bad son, and it literally tears my heart.

Unfortunately, it is the same nursing home from which my grandmother passed away in 1979, but it's close to the house and "in the community" so to speak, and they remembered him from his past association there.

It killed me to see my father prostrated in bed at home, in huge amounts of pain, unable to move or gain a bathroom. He was self-medicating and no one could assure that he wasn't under- or over-medicating himself. And it pained me further to see the look on his face when I broke the news of his having to lose his home, his car, his neighborhood, his independence.

So it was that on a cool, clear day, yesterday, that my brother and I had to lift him bodily on the seat of his walker, out to my car.

He sat quietly in my idling car, parked in the driveway of his first and only home, where he and his wife had lived since 1947, where my two brothers and I had been raised, where he was a leader in the military and had attained the rank of full bird Colonel in the United States Air Force, where he was able to retire, where he and his wife enjoyed friends, family, Thanksgivings, Christmases, seen their grandchildren grow and attend college . . .

He turned and, in a small voice, looked through the window and said: "Goodbye, house."

My heart is about to burst.

BZ

This WAS It, America

And apparently, America was little in the mood for listening to rationality, logic, cogent thoughts and a sense of its own mortality. America itself has drunk the Kool Aid including my two nieces and my nephew.

And I suppose, then, that America is about to receive what it justly deserves.

This nation failed to look beyond that of the current administration's foibles and see what needs to be seen in the future. Once again, because this culture is so terribly susceptible to such, it has relied upon feelings and emotions to chart its course -- the very worst markers to be utilized in such a decision.

This is a very bad world, fraught with death, violence, danger. Packed with the greatest number of nations ever considered that would wish harm upon this country. Envious of America, jealous of America, her power, her wealth. And whose only goal is to bring it down.

Welcome aboard, America, to the "change" you so desired. You wanted it, you got it. But when the "change" that you so deperately demanded somehow fails to appear in the manner and fashion you so nobly envisioned in your fevered dreams replete with Historical Alzheimers, don't come complaining to me. I might suggest that would be the perfect time to sit down in your chair, relax, elevate your feet and have a nice steaming cup of Shut The Fuck Up.

Then wait for your government check, you parasites.

BZ

P.S.

First order of business for Demorats in the first year of control: retribution, revenge, "NO," increased taxes, increased spending, no discipline, and punishment for the GOP and Conservatives.

This Is It, America:

Election Day, 2008.

This is where America proves whether it possesses a modicum of intelligence extant, or whether it decides to simply vote The Pendulum and against G.W. Bush.

DO NOT LOSE THE FAITH.

THE GAME IS AFOOT.

DO NOT LISTEN TO THE POLLS OR PROJECTIONS.

THERE ARE CARDS UP SLEEVES OF A LARGE NUMBER OF PERSONS WHO HAVE HERETOFORE BEEN VERY SILENT,

BUT WILL MAKE THEIR VOICES "HEARD" COME WEDNESDAY MORNING.

Don't stay home. Your Conservative vote counts. Vote McCain/Palin.

BZ