American Appeasement

Some call it dhimmitude.

So Stop Expecting me to be nice!

New research suggests just that older people with above-average intelligence tend to be disagreeable.



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Brussells Journal under Siege

By the Belgian government.

The Brussells Journal is an invaluable source for news and opinion in Europe, particularly from a Christian and democratic perspective. Increasingly, the Belgian government has attacked the Journal and it's principals. Recently Belgium has attacked home-schooling
and now accuses the Brussells Journal of racism. I read BJ regularly and have never seen any racism but don't take my word for it. Ask Howard Kurtz.

Destroy Mass Transportation

Observations on how regulation destroys innovation and improvement.

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Cause and Effect

What happens when you let terrorists in? There goes the neighborhood.

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Chaffee - Laffey Debate

MSM Reports on the Chaffee vs Laffee debate for the Senate seat in Rhode Island. Anchor Rising has the summary and links.
Earlier Anchor Rising posts summarize questions and responses. Go to the main page and scroll down to see all of them.
Some surprises - Laffey doesn't like Rumsfeld.

Technorati Tag Lincoln Chaffee

Deja Vu - All Over Again

For those of you who missed the 60's, you are seeing the same anti-war hysteria that drove the US to retreat with our tail between our legs. Don't be fooled again.

This means that if Democrats retake Congress, we will be back where we were in Vietnam circa 1975. Early that year the Congressional left blocked funds for our allies in the government of South Vietnam, weakening its defenses even as Hanoi massed for an attack. Within weeks, the North was on the march and the last American helicopters were leaving Saigon. The stakes are just as serious today in Iraq. The defeat in Vietnam could at least be contained elsewhere in Southeast Asia, although the Soviet Union was clearly emboldened to assert itself via proxies from Afghanistan to Central America.

Opinion Journal has a refresher course for non-baby boomers.

I Know You Were Worrying About This

It's Official! Pluto Is Still A Planet!
Just shows what happens when you start lowering your standards.
An international panel has unanimously recommended that Pluto retain its title as a planet, and it may be joined by other undersized objects that revolve around the sun.

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Efficiency is Important to the Chinese

Especially when they execute 10,000 to 15,000 per year. So those clever Chinese have developed an execution-mobile.

HT Cheatseeking Missiles

All new healthy beer made with Green Tea!

The latest green tea brew isn't something from a tea pot -- but a beer bottle. Wisconsin micro brewer BluCreek is coming out with a new beer called Zen. The idea is to give a brewski the supposed health benefits of green tea.

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Click it

If you have driven anywhere recently, you have been bombarded by messages on the oh so usefull freeway messageboards telling you to click it. or ticket. My son was the recipient of one of those tickets recently after he un-clicked his belt 1/2 block from our house and was chased to our driveway by a friendly CHP officer. You probably think that this is the result of the nanny state being solicitous about the well-being of its citizens.

Not hardly.

State and local law enforcement agencies have a huge financial incentive to dole out as many tickets as they possibly can -- in order to qualify for the federal grant boodle dangled before their noses like a savory pork chop in front of a hungry blue tick hound.

And what about the serious crimes that aren't persued while our law enforcement officers extort money from law-abiding citizens?

California alone went through $2.6 million this year to fund its May 15-June 4 "Click It or Ticket" dragnet. This in a state with a huge crime problem (real crime; you know, murders, rapes, assaults and that kind of stuff) and a teeter-tottering fiscal situation that, you'd think, would call for austerity and reordering of priorities to the essentials. Do "seat belt checkpoints" qualify? What about it, Ahhnoold?

All we need for complete chaos is for our law enforcement organizations to complete their conversion to cash cows.

Technorati Tag police

The 2996 Project

Maybe you haven't heard about the 2996 Project. I hadn't until last week. It is a project to have one blogger post a tribute for each of the 9/11 victoms on 9/11. I just volunteered and received my asssignment.

They still need volunteers. I learned about the project here.
You can volunteer here. and spread the word.

Chaffee Can Offer Only One Thing to RI Republicans

From Anchor Rising, more background and this quote:

The continual pounding of the message that only Senator Chafee can beat Whitehouse leaves the impression that all Chafee has to offer is that he can hold the seat for the GOP. "Vote against Laffey, not for Chafee." I'm not sure if this pragmatic approach is appealing enough to the more ideologically minded GOP primary voter. And I'm not sure if it does much to help Sen. Chafee as far as laying groundwork should he win the primary and have to face Whitehouse. By leaning so heavy on the anti-Laffey tactic, he isn't giving many reasons for the General election voter to support him. It's a tough spot.

Maybe this suggests that Chaffee is in trouble. If he loses the primary, the seat will probably go Democrat. Given the damage Chaffee has done the Rpublican agenda, I would say a Dmeocrat win that takes out Chaffee is a win for Repbulicans.

Technorati Tag Lincoln Chaffee

Futurama on Global Warming

Our handsomest politicians have the answer.

No more free lunch in Las Vegas

It is now illegal to feed the homeless.
Council officials decided to curb the charity practice, with possible fines of $1,000 and six months imprisonment, after complaints from residents.

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Tax imposed to fund Spanish-American War in 1898 finally ends

The Spanish-American War has been over for more than 100 years, and now so is the tax imposed back in 1898 to help fund it. Now that this is finally accomplished, maybe we can finally look at social security.

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What's next for the nanny state gestapo?

Fast Food!

Cooking four normal sized hamburgers in a fast food joint emits the same amount of VOC's (volatile organic compounds) as driving a current model car for 1,000 miles.....In New Jersey, 16,000 restaurants release 2,226 tons of particulates, more than all of the heavy diesel vehicles in the state (1,329 tons).

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Australia's 1,600 foot 'Solar Tower' that can power a small city

Now all we need is a small city.

""The tower will be over there," Davey says, pointing to a spot a mile distant where a 1,600-foot structure will rise from the ocher-colored earth. Picture a 260-foot-diameter cylinder taller than the Sears Tower encircled by a two-mile-diameter transparent canopy at ground level."

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NAACP and Tar Babies

“Anyone running for public office should remove from their vocabulary any language that is sensitive to any ethnic group. ‘Tar baby’ is one of those phrases,” Gordon told the Herald.

Bruce Gorden is President of the NAACP and he was deeply offended by Mitt Romney's reference to Tar Babies in connection with the catastrophic Big Dig in Boston. Well maybe not deeply offended but it was a good opportunity to attack a Republican.

Betsy wonders about his priorities.

Mendacious just doesn't cover it.

Main Entry: mendacious
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: dishonest
Synonyms: deceitful, deceptive, duplicitous, equivocating, erroneous, fallacious, false, fibbing, fraudulent, insincere, knavish, lying, paltering, perfidious, perjured, prevaricating, shifty, spurious, untrue, untruthful, wrong
Antonyms: truthful
Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.2.1)
Copyright © 2006 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.


Words cannot do justice to this vile, hateful man. The self-righteous
doo-gooder that gave up Iran to islamofacsism before we ever knew what islamofascism was.

In the Washington Post, he argued that the the problem is that Israel keeps violating Un Resolutions.

The general parameters of a long-term, two-state agreement are well known. There will be no substantive and permanent peace for any peoples in this troubled region as long as Israel is violating key U.N. resolutions, official American policy and the international "road map" for peace by occupying Arab lands and oppressing the Palestinians. Except for mutually agreeable negotiated modifications, Israel's official pre-1967 borders must be honored. As were all previous administrations since the founding of Israel, U.S. government leaders must be in the forefront of achieving this long-delayed goal.

My vocabulary is inadequate to describe this man. Help me out.

Technorati Tag Jimmy Carter

German Farmer Outstanding in his Field

"I couldn't repair the roof if I only bred pigs," said Mr. Gärtner, a self-confident fellow with a spiel that is far more entrepreneurial than agricultural. "We have to compete worldwide these days. Pork from Brazil costs half as much as German pork. Our costs are simply too high."

So what does he do to make $600,000 per year? Find out here.

From Dig

Sean Lynch says,

Thank goodness I don't live in Germany. It's bad enough subsidizing all those rich Prius drivers here in California and watching them speed by me solo in the carpool lane. That is, when I’m not on my motorcycle.

Optomism About the Middle East

With all the fuss and bluster about the Israeli fight for life going on, this sounds good.

Looking at the many countries who are, for a change, siding with Israel here I'm beginning to think that what's unfolding now is something that was prepared for, as part of the next stage in the war on terror -- isolating terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah and punishing their patrons like Syria and Iran. If I'm right, that will be very good for the Lebanese, and, eventually, for pretty much everyone in the Mideast except jihadist loonies and their backers. I hope that's true, anyway.

LA Real Estate Sizzles

Zillow.com is your source for details about your neighbor's house - or the market in general. Here they compile property values in LA from hot to cool. If you prefer San Francisco, then go here.

Counting Votes Leading to $3 Gas

Starting with Carter, and including Clinton and the current Congress, the blame for three bucks a gallon gas lies with Democrats whose energy policy has been limited to punishing those who look for more of it.

The rest at Investor's Business Daily.

Don't Be Discouraged

Thomas Sowell says we are winning.

Forget Global Warming

Here is something serious to worry about.

The Earth could be about to turn upside down. The planet's magnetic field is showing signs of wanting to make a gigantic somersault, so that magnetic north heads towards Antarctica, and magnetic south goes north. Compasses will point the wrong way, and migrating birds, fish and turtles are going to be very confused.

Some experts have stuck their necks out to predict that we can expect the next reversal some time in the next 2,000 years. The process would probably then take anything between 100 and a few thousand years - not even a blink in the history of Earth. We can only guess what life would be like during that reversal. Anyone trying to navigate with a magnetic compass is going to have a tough time, but what is going to happen to all those birds, fish and other animals that migrate vast distances using their own internal magnetic compass? Will they have time to re-draw their magnetic maps and get new bearings?

The whole story here.

Nanny State Wrong Again

It's another summer weekend, when millions of families pack up the minivan or SUV and hit the road. So this is also an apt moment to trumpet some good, and underreported, news: Driving on the highways is safer today than ever before.

This may seem non-controversial now, but at the time the debate was shrill and filled with predictions of doom. Ralph Nader claimed that "history will never forgive Congress for this assault on the sanctity of human life." Judith Stone, president of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, predicted to Katie Couric on NBC's "Today Show" that there would be "6,400 added highway fatalities a year and millions of more injuries." Federico Pena, the Clinton Administration's Secretary of Transportation, declared: "Allowing speed limits to rise above 55 simply means that more Americans will die and be injured on our highways."

It didn't happen that way.

Free Minnesota

Whether Ed Felien is the Pulse of Minnesota or whether he is just feeling up the Pulse of Minnesota is unclear from out here in California but he proposes a new Declaration of Independence for blue states like Minnesota. After the preliminaries, he begins:

The people of Minnesota have a long list of unresolved grievances against this President and his compliant Congress and Supreme Court.

and concludes:

Therefore, be it resolved, we shall seek all peaceful and nonviolent means to disaster

You can fill in the blanks here.

At Least It's Not from Drilling

Musk oxen, the shaggy ice age relics that once vanished from Alaska, are dying in big numbers on the North Slope.

Mysterious deaths for the reintroduced musk oxen in Alaska - but only in ANWR.
Details in the Anchorage Daily News.

What Mexico Does Right

There are problems a'plenty south of the border but when it comes to elections Mexico scores a 10.

This city was voting to fill six seats, including that of the president and the mayor. Voters presented identification cards and were handed six large ballots, one for each open office. The names of candidates were also color-coded to assist the illiterate. Voting booths were small, waist-high writing tables enclosed by hanging plastic sheets printed with the reassuring words, "The vote is free and secret." Voters emerged from the booths, folded the ballots and slid each one into the box corresponding to the contested seat. To complete the process, thumbs were marked with indelible ink and ID cards were returned. Observers from each party monitored the flow.

I wonder why it's ok to show an ID to vote in Mexico but not here?

Danish Justice

Here is more evidence that the Danes take the defence of their principles seriously.

This week, for the very first time, a court in Europe sentenced nine members of the same family for the honour killing of a female relative.

Insanity Continued

Earlier I posted on the refusal of our national leaders to see that continuing the denial fpr any form of energy exploration in the US can only cause continued dependence on foreign energy. Here is an example of the convoluted reasoning that leads to this situation. Southern Californians are very aware of the decades-long effort to restore the condor to its historic place in the skies. They aren't very beautiful birds, particularly up close, but they are big and endangered. Now with a proposal to drill for oil in a tiny portion of the Los Padres National Forrest, we learn that the red legged frog, the steel head trout and the beloved condor may be affected. Therefore we should do nothing to make that oil available. And so it goes everywhere drilling is proposed. No matter how small the area affected, no matter how trivial the threat, we hear that this drilling must be stopped. From the LA Weekly, an example of how our energy policy is foiled by well-meaning people who understand threats to nature but not to their future.

The Definition of Insanity

..is doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. In yet another example of the insanity of our elected leadership, let's look at our energy dependence. What should we be doing? Actually using oil and gas we know exists in the US might seem obvious.

Pierre DuPont calls it an adiction to regulation.

So expanding America's energy production is the obvious priority. Common sense would suggest that we should begin tapping into the estimated 102 billion barrels of oil sitting under America's Outer Continental Shelf and in Alaska. That domestic supply could replace America's importation of foreign oil for some 25 years.

But what we see from Congress is a continuation of the past 25 years blocking any new drilling.

But our country's political establishment, from Congress to the press and the presidency, has worked for a quarter century to prevent increases in our energy supply.

And they are not about to stop now even though these policies take us farther and raather away from energy indepence.

Technorati Tag Congress energy

Who Watches Soccer in the US?

It's apparently the American intellectual.

Soccer has become a favorite pastime of the American intellectual. "Many people would say that soccer is the latte or the Subaru of the sporting spectrum," says Matt Weiland, who, with Sean Wilsey, is co-editor of The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup, a new compilation that reads like a roll call of the soccer intelligentsia.

And Laer thinks he know why.

Yeah, all well and good, but if you as me (and since you're reading this, I guess you have) it's really just the intellectual elites' herd mentality. They won't admit to it, of course, but they are social wildebeasts, thundering along in tight packs of each other, swinging this way and that with remarkable unity. Today, they're hoofing for the World Cup.

Haircut courtesy of The Manolo

Technorati Tag world cup style

Bad News for Lincoln?

From the Providence Journal June 17:

More than 14,500 Rhode Island Democrats have switched their voter affiliations within the past six months to participate in the Sept. 12 Republican primary, a figure that experts say will probably help incumbent Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee in his campaign against Cranston Mayor Stephen P. Laffey.

Anchor Rising has more.

Technorati Tag lincoln chaffee RINO

Lincoln Chaffee - Primary Update

Rhode Island bloggers sense desperation in the Chafee Republican primary campaign for reelection to his Senate seat. Chaffee is the quinessential RINO, opposing Republican posistions andjudicial nominations with impunity from Republican leadership and receiving money from the Senate Republican Committee while making a mockery of the Republican platform. Anchor Rising notes the lies that Chaffee is using in his campain against Steve Laffey for the Republican nomination. And check out the comments.

Technorati Tag lincoln chaffee RINO

Airbus Loses Altitude

Airbus is undoubtedly losing altitude while Boeing is gaining. In the past 18 months, for example, Boeing has been winning more new orders in the long-haul market. It is the success of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner that is forcing Airbus to move to an all-new design for its A350 passenger jet.

Meanwhile the 380 is requiring major overhauls at airports it will service. Read about it at the Financial Times.

Home Schooling Under Siege

Brussells Journal editor threatened with prosecution over homeschooling his child. It seems the Belgians regard homeschooling as parental neglect.

A chilling quote from his wife's post.

The fact that a growing group of children seems to be escaping from the government’s influence clearly bothers the authorities. Three years ago a new school bill was introduced. The new bill refers to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and it obliges homeschooling parents to fill out a questionaire and sign an official "declaration of homeschooling" in which they agree to school their children "respecting the respect [sic] for the fundamental human rights and the cultural values of the child itself and of others."

Technorati Tag home schooling

Up With Whole Foods

For years I avoided Whole Foods Market. I refuse to pay more for ugly organic produce and am repulsed by eco-freaks. One trip to Whole Foods, however, turned me around. The organic produce wasn't ugly. They have great fish - most markets fish is marginal- and gorgeous meats. They have bakery goods and prepared meals to take out and the stores are beautiful. So I shoped at Whole Foods until I moved 25 miles away from the only store in Sacramento. I never felt good about shopping there because I did not want to provide funds for crazy people. I refuse to eat Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream even though I know that the two lefties who started it sold out. Well now I feel better about Whole Foods.

On May 13, 2004, John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, spoke at FreedomFest in Las Vegas. He defended business and explained his path from lefty to the dark side.

Were we profitable? Not at first. Safer Way managed to lose half of its capital in the first year — $23,000. Despite the loss, we were still accused of exploiting our customers with high prices and our employees with low wages. The investors weren't making a profit and we had no money to donate. Plus, with our losses, we paid no taxes. I had somehow joined the "dark side" — I was now one of the bad guys. According to the perspective of the Left, I had become a greedy and selfish businessman. At this point, I rationally chose to abandon the leftist philosophy of my youth, because it no longer adequately explained how the world really worked.

Read the whole thing and head right over to Whole Foods.

HT Right Wing News

The Legalistic Left

Jay Tea has some thoughts about the left's dependence on the legal system for it's victories. He concludes with this comment about viewing the war through legal glasses:

the legalistic model for the war on terror is a comforting one. It is reassuring to think that no matter what happens, justice will prevail. That there is always a calm, reasoned, civilized venue for the settling of grievances. That the law is supreme, and that all men and women are equal before the bench.

Congress is Mad

Not angy mad but insane mad. They dither and rant about energy dependency on foreign oil and refuse to drill for the oil we know is here. No other country in the world is this crazy. Paul Dreissen compiles the insanity.

Canada is drilling in the Great Lakes. China and Cuba are planning to drill 45 miles off the Florida coast. In 60 years of drilling off our shores, there has only been one accident where significant oil reached shore (1969 off Santa Barbara). We cle
arly need the oil and gas. And yet Congress won’t budge.

But the governor of Oregon has the solution. It's the CAFE standards. All we have to do is legislate them higher and then nobody can buy anything but econoboxes

Losing WW IV

Shrinkwrapped looks at what it would mean to lose the war.

In the short to medium term, losing does not necessarily mean that Shariah law is instituted in the United States, though that would certainly be incontrovertible evidence that we have lost. I think we can lose in many other ways, smaller but in the long run just as deadly; in the next 5-10 years, losing the war would include any of these possibilities:

1) Europe descends into chaos or surrenders to Shariah.

2) Tel Aviv is destroyed by a nuclear weapon and/or the state of Israel is effectively destroyed.

3) Western nations descend into chronic recession and depression because the price of oil reaches unbearable heights.

4) The United States surrenders to isolationism and abandons Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.

5) The worst case scenario is one in which the United States ceases to be a functioning Democratic Republic after a series of attacks which kill enough and terrify enough.

Now possibly these seem like extreme possibilities to you but consider that there are many who believe that:

The United States economy, as currently constituted, cannot maintain itself without an international enemy. The defeat of one enemy, Soviet Communism, did not result in a "peace dividend." Instead it led to a desperate search for a new enemy to justify a continuation of the Military-Industrial-(Political-Academic-Media) complex. Then Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and "Islamo-Fascism" – George Bush’s “Axis of Evil” – obligingly stepped forward to fill this role. And so we continue to build multi-billion dollar aircraft carriers and submarines, and an unworkable missile defense system, and we have reinvigorated our atomic weapons program, to fight the new enemy: fanatics armed with box-cutters, and armed brigands hiding in the caves of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

So long as self-defence is regarded as unnecessary, we are in serious danger. Read Shrinkwrapped here and the moonbat here.

Price Gouging 101

Betsy has more faith in our legislators than I do. She thinks they are ignorant.

Prices at the gas pump must be some of the hardest prices for sellers to manipulate through monopoly and gouging. They're posted in large letters right there at the pump for everyone to see. If politicians would learn some basic economics, they would stop making these wild accusations just so they can demonize someone and make political points.

I think they are sniveling, lying miscreants who will say or do anything do get reelcted. Excluding, of course, being straight with their constituents.

If they really wanted to learn, Betsy has the introductory course from Walter Williams.

Technorati Tag politicians

We Are a Nation That Has a Government

Mark Steyn writing on the tone-deaf legislators in Washington is reminded of a great line from Ronald Reagan.

''We are a nation that has a government -- not the other way around.''

He skewers the legislative disasters produced by Congress - like the oppressive Sarbanes-Oxley reporting requirements that are driving businesses out of the country and then produces this zinger of a comment:

I said the other day that McCain and Specter and Sarbanes and Lott and the rest were presidents-for-life of the one-party state of Incumbistan. ... Incumbistan is a government that has a nation.

Don't miss the rest.

Bad Idea

Arizonans will consider a proposition to award $1 million to one random voter after each primary and general election. I agree with John.

Maybe Fences Do Make Good Neighbors

The illegal immigrant problem in the US is coming to a head here, but it is having an impact in Mexico too.

Ah, but there are new voices of change, of reason, of self-awareness in Mexico, in place of the hoary anti-gringo rants: the beginnings of a transformation of the debate.

Read it here.

Good Advice

In the idyllic Sierra foothills, this time of year, it's good to know your snakes.

Legal System Musing

I went to court with my son this week. He was caught in a sting at his job for selling alcohol to an under aged decoy. Naturally they had to fire him and end his six-month career as a convenience store clerk. (This could lead me into a long diatribe about the law-maker's fixation on alcohol and tobacco as the twin peaks of evil in our society but that is not where I am headed today). The court scheduled his arraignment this week and my son, in his ignorance, asked his dad for advice.

I gave him suggestions based on my understanding of court processes. Dress up, admit that you did incorrectly read the ID and that you did sell alcohol to a minor, be contrite and respectful to the judge. I was hoping that for a first offence, there might be a waived or reduced fine and a stern warning about another offence. This was based upon an understanding that the job of a judge was to make a judgment. Silly me. My understanding of the court system is based on an old vision of the courts that possibly never existed.

We get to the court, pass the metal detector and take our place in the chamber. Looking around I see two other well-dressed young men sitting with a parent. The remaining people are dressed like they just rushed in from digging a cesspool. Well, I think, so much the better for my son.

Then the judge appears. He just sidles in and sits. No "ll Rise". No robe. No ceremony. I don't think we would have noticed if he didn't start talking. He begins to tell us why we are here. What to expect and what not to expect.

“You see”, he explains, -and I am paraphrasing here-"You have two choices. You can plead guilty or not-guilty. No contest has the same result as pleading guilty." Of course he is a lawyer, so it took him much longer to say. He went on for a long time about other issues related to sentences essentially saying that he might offer something special and if he did you would have to take it now. And that if you choose 'not guilty' you had better get yourself a lawyer.

Well, my son had decided that he was guilty and unless there were mitigating circumstances regarding the 'sting''there was no way he could argue not guilty. So no problem, we sit and wait for our turn.

The first person called been arraigned for the same offence as my son (or almost, she had sold tobacco to a minor but apparently that is just as evil as alcohol). She pled guilty. The judge asked it she really meant it. She repeated that she really really meant it so he sentenced her to a fine of $724 and two year's probation during which time if she broke any other laws something bad would happen.

Well, we picked up our jaws from the floor and discussed the $724 fine. How was he going to pay it now that he has lost his job. We almost missed the judge offering payment options to the woman. It seems that he would give her payments of $50 per month until it is paid. She took his offer and the clerk called the next miscreant.

She was a nicely dressed woman appearing for DUI. Same script, only her fine was $1,000. Then my son was called. Same script again. Same fine as the first woman. We picked up the paper work, left the court house and drove home.
The whole process leaves me with several thoughts, not one of which is favorable to the justice system.

First, what was the point of the judge? There was no 'judging' going on in that courtroom. Everything was black and white, yes and no. There was no reason for the judge to be present, particularly since his salary and office expenses were probably costing $150/hour or more. There was no justification for a person of any sort. The process could have been handled by a computer program or even a dumb form. There was no reason to even go to the court house.

Second, if you insist on making people appear in a courtroom, then give it some posture. Dress the judge in a robe. Have all rise when he enters the court and treat the court process as something important rather than a borinh administrative excercise

Third, what is really important here? Do we want people to respect the law and the legal processes? Or is this just another excuse to pad government revenue? What is happening to our legal system? The only experience most people I know have with the legal system is to extort money. The only time you see a cop is when he is ticketing you for a seat belt violation or other trivial nanny state offense. And when you go to court, it is just to grind you through the process and take money. It won't be long before normal citizens start resenting the money spent on law enforcement because you can't find a policeman when you actually have a crime but you know he is right there hiding behind a tree when you forget your seatbelt.


Technorati Tag judges justice

Phil Ochs Remembered

One of the reasons that I enjoy Shrinkwrapped is that we share coming of age in the seventies and the perspective it gives to understanding today. First of all, many of the leadership shared this with us although most seem not to have graduated to the real world after leaving the shelter of college. Second, he is a smart guy, trained in understanding the human mind and a clear writer.

Today he ties a recent appearance of Anthony Weiner, a congressman from Brooklyn on the O'Reilly Factor with the anti-Viet Nam War protest activists of the 60's and 70's and specifically Phil Ochs, about whom he says:

The signs of the Narcissistic egocentricity so much a part of the Baby Boomer generation were unmistakable in his music, but at the time we were relatively unaware of our provincialism, safe in our anti-War moral superiority and unconcerned about the fate of our brown brothers in Vietnam who we were all sure would be much happier with us gone and the country under the peace loving and justice committed Communists of the North.

Weiner told the nation that the "War is Over" and that in so many words we should leave now. So little has changed. Shrinkwrapped deserves a full read. Find it here.

Working with the Senate

Jay Tea thinks the Senate has it almost right.

...if this proposal is good enough for illegal aliens who broke our laws coming here, and break other laws by working under the table, why isn't it good enough for Americans like me who obey the laws and follow the rules? I'd gladly pay $2,000 a year for those kind of salary and job security guarantees. In fact, I'm already paying it.

After all, I'd hate to think that the government would engineer a situation where it's actually better to be an illegal alien than an American citizen...

No kidding!

More Here.

President Carter

Wins second book award.

....the conservative panel that annually awards the J. Gordon Coogler Award for the Worst Book of the Year has conferred the 2005 prize on Jimmy Carter. Jimmy published a book; he wins the Worst Book of the Year Award -- once again. This is not Jimmy's first Coogler. He has now won the award twice. No other literary impostor can make that claim.

To this point I have always inserted 'arguably' when I describe Jimmy as the worst President in our country's history. Now that I find others who agree, I will never qualify that statement again.

Be sure and read more about this nasty man like this:

In fact no prior president has spoken as rudely and dishonestly of his successors or of his country as has Jimmy. The acerbic Harry Truman came to loathe President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In public, however, Harry minded his tongue. Jimmy's presidential achievements were even more modest than those of Bill Clinton and of Gerald Ford, and his blunders on the domestic and foreign policy fronts are unsurpassed and possibly unsurpassable. What is more, he writes bad books.

And don't forget that son Jack is running for Senate in Nevada. We can have too much of a bad thing. And Carters are a bad thing!

Technorati Tag jimmy carter

This Isn't Funny

Neon Cruise

Mark your calendars for a once in a lifeline event. It's the third anniversary of LA Observed, the blog that keeps you up to date with LA and you can celebrate with a two-hour tour of neon masterpieces in LA after a tour of the museum. Details here.

Problem Solving

I will bet that the Senate will have trouble with this.

Finally

Mr. Wehner is deputy assistant to the president and director of the White House's Office of Strategic Initiatives. Today he writes on the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal and online to refute the four assertions that the fever swamp and MSM has made against President Bush.
1. The president misled Americans to convince them to go to war.
2. The Bush administration pressured intelligence agencies to bias their judgment
3. Because weapons of mass destruction stockpiles weren't found, Saddam posed no threat.
4. Promoting democracy in the Middle East is a postwar rationalization.

If you have not read it yet, get over there now and prepare to respond to the political parrots who repeat the mantra.

And let us hope that the White House is ready to defend itself more readily in the future.

Vicente Fox to Campaign in US for Immigation Reform

The Fat Guy is not amused.

What the hell?! This is where I ask, what the freaking hell? Do I need to go down to Mexico and start fomenting political turmoil to try to get the Mexican citizenry to fix their OWN broken-ass country? I mean, that’s kind of the deal here, right? Mexico is so unfixable that their politicians are coming to America to stump for Americans to shoulder the burden of their political and economic failures that drive the ir citizens to our country.

And he has a suggestion.

Einstein Rolls Over in Grave

In the past few years, scientists have found ways to make light go both faster and slower than its usual speed limit, but now researchers at the University of Rochester have published a paper today in Science on how they've gone one step further: pushing light into reverse. As if to defy common sense, the backward-moving pulse of light travels faster than light.

But its not as bad as it seems because..

"no information is truly moving faster than light," says Boyd. The explanation is here.

Hybrid Sense

"When you have technology that costs $6,000 but the customer is willing to pay $2,000, you have a problem. We are not ready to mass-market a technology where you are losing your shirt on every car" -- Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn answering a student's question about why Nissan doesn't produce hybrid cars, quoted in Forbes.

HT OpinionJournal

Our Troubled Universities

Ward Churchill may be on the way out at Colorado but anti-semitism is way in at Irvine.

This may explain it.

Why are we having so much trouble getting our conservative policians to perform? Maybe this is it.

I'm Back

I'm a 'glass is half-full' kind of guy. I can almost always look at the long-run and believe that we are getting to a better place. Part of this is long years experience with life. I have lived through some pretty bad times - Jimmy Carter's Presidency for example and learned that the sun is still coming up each day. I have listened to various left-wing loons over those years lamenting that the end of the world as we know it is near. Paul Erlich or the Club of Rome have been regarded as serious by shallow media and an unthinking public and are now gone without ever having to say they were all wrong and apologize. So I should have been better able to put the caving of our supposed conservative leadership to the siren call of the left in perspective.

What brought me back from my funk?

First of all, I have to thank Aaron who finally drank the Kool-aid he has been warning his readers about. I have depended on Aaron to educate me about California Republicans, encourage me to get involved and not just complain and support the first Republican congressman I have had in a long time despite my concerns that he won't act on Social Security.

Up until this time, I could indulge my funk, have a good pout and count on soldiers like Aaron to fight the good fight for me. With Aaron od'ed on Kool-Aid and threatening every incumbent, I have no choice. I have to pull my own weight.
So here I am ready to put some money to good use in the elections and willing, for the first time, to invest some time as well. Times are serious. Politicians are poor implements for moving this country forward but they are what we have and like mules they can be persuaded to do what you want once you get their attention (usually with a 2X4).

And so, having a positive attitude again, and taking charge of my destiny rather than whining and waiting for someone to do it for me, I find that this country may be on the right track after all and Bush may not be finished. Now if I can just keep Aaron off the Kool-aid.

McCain on McCain

When I was a young man, I was quite infatuated with self-expression, because, if memory conveniently serves, I was so much more eloquent, well-informed, and wiser than anyone else I knew.

and he hasn't changed.

Election Optomism

Many are negative about the ability of the Republicans to hold both houses of Congress this fall. They suggest that 2006 may be the Democrat's 1994. One contrary view thinks the GOP will hold.

I've put myself way out on a limb here. The conventional wisdom holds that the GOP is finished. I believe the House and Senate will look in 2007 pretty much as it does right now, perhaps with a few more Democrats. I am either a contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian or I am stupid. Or I'm right.

Read his opinion here.

Where I Stand, sort of.

It was an exciting mail run on Friday. Requests for money from Yale and the President. Yale was easy. Yale admits Taliban - no money. Since the Yale President has not spoken, we have to assume yes, for now and toss the request.
The President's request was more difficult. I do support the President for the war and his judicial appointments. I am very frustrated, however, about the budget and border security which is totally out of control and for which he seems to have no concern.
So what do I do. In the form are these cute little stikers, much like the ones in the magazine sweepstakes. One says 'YES' and one says 'NO' to the question, "Can the President count on your support?" And under the 'NO' position, it says "I agree with Reid and Pelosi."
Well I don't agree with Reid and Pelosi but I also don't agree that the President is taking care of all the issues that are critical now and I don't believe that he is leading the country. So I said 'NO'.
That doesn't mean I won't change to yes sometime in the future, or that I think Democrats deserve any power but I certainly hope that there is some way to get the message to Republicans that I expect more than coruption and cowardice.
Am I being silly? Perhaps. Am I still in a blue funk? Absolutely. Will I listen to the President tomorrow? Of course. But it will take more than one speech to get me back to 'YES'.

How not to anger Americans

Some advice from Frank:

Some people are making a guide on how Americans should act so foreigners will like them. That is so stupid. Americans are powerful, armed, and have short attention spans and even shorter tempers; foreigners should be much more concerned with angering us. If we get mad enough, we'll just call up our Congressman and have your country nuked. So, as a service to foreigners, here is A FRANK GUIDE TO FOREIGNERS:

Your Government at Work

Erik notes a OSHA warning label which certainly suggests bad stuff.

Gloves: Not required.
Eye Protection: Not normally [my emphasis] required.
Respiratory Protection: Not normally [my emphasis] required.
Other Protective Equipment: Not normally [my emphasis] required.
Engineering Controls: General ventilation normally [my emphasis] adequate.
Leak and Spill Procedure: Before attempting clean up, refer to hazard data given above. Small spills may be absorbed with non-reactive absorbent and placed in suitable, covered, labelled containers. Prevent large spills from entering sewers or waterways. Contact emergency services and supplier for advice. [my emphasis]
Waste Disposal: Review federal, provincial, and local government requirements prior to disposal. [my emphasis]
Storage and Handling Requirements: Keep out of reach of children. Store in a closed container away from extreme temperatures and incompatible materials.

What is it?

Energy Rant

From the American Spectator, a rant about what has gone wrong for so long about energy in the US. An excerpt.

Congress and various bureaucracies have messed up this nation's energy policies for decades -- and it is the liberals, which means almost all Democrats, who have been responsible for the mess. One big problem, for instance, is not with the oil supply but with refining capacity. No new refineries have been built in three decades. Why? Because they aren't profitable. Why? Because environmental regs have skewed the market too much, at least until last year's Energy Bill (a mix of good policies and horrible ones) provided new incentives for refineries that soon should catalyze investment in new plants.

Read the rest.

Pierre has had enough.

I know just how he feels.

I hired you bunch of virtual incompetents to run the government not make excuses on why it isn't happening. Mineta is still in office...arrrgggghhh. My 74 year old mother is still being subjected to hour long searches when she flies simply because there isn't one single person in our government who thinks that is fucking absurd. Besides its easier to pick on a German Grandmother than Ali the bomb carrying Islamic fanatic, we wouldn't want to get the Muslim Voting blocs panties in a wad (as if the average Muslim is ok with allowing bombs on board because of PC worries). Nope no longer amused. I am used to being in the minority and long for the days when I didn't have to watch my side act like a bunch of knuckleheads. Bring on the minority status we did better then!

He is going to stay home in November. And I thought I was in a funk.

Fjordman on Life in Scandinavia Today

Forget your vision of scandinavia as a peaceful, welfare society blissfully drifting further into irrelevance. Instead the tiny Scandinavian countries may be the first in Europe to fall from Western democracy to Islamofascism. The latest Fjordman Report is just out.

Sweden is a semi-totalitarian country. It’s all about façade. On the surface, Sweden is a tolerant nation and peaceful democracy. In reality, there is massive media censorship by a closed elite that is scared of having a debate about immigration.

Norway celebrated 100 years as an independent state last year. Judging from the new Discrimination Act and the runaway Muslim immigration, perhaps the anniversary should be called “From independence to colonization”. At the same time as their women are no longer safe in the streets because of immigrant gangs, the authorities respond by making Norwegians de facto second-rate citizens in their own country.

Read the rest
Technorati Tag Eurabia dhimmitude.

Vote on a Slogan for Republicans This Year

From the IMAO political strategy these suggestions.. or add yours.

* "Because your only other choice is the Democrats."
* "We admit it; we have a culture of corruption. Help reelect us, and we'll cut you in."

* "No, seriously, are you actually considering to vote for a Democrat?"

* "Who needs a slogan; Dieblold will rig things for us."

* "Come on; we could burn down your house and still be a million times better choice than the Democrats."

* "We've gotten so fat and lazy with our power, we're not even going to bother with a slogan."

* "Whoever came up with the phrase 'lesser of two evils' is a genius."

* "Oh yeah... we do have to motivate you to the polls somehow. How about you elect us, and we'll consider doing something about illegal immigration?"

What Students Want.

New study on college ratings for professors gives insight about what students these days look for in their education delivery systems.

As far as students - or whoever is rating professors on the open Rate My Professor site- are concerned, nothing predicts a quality instructor like hotness.

More here.

HT Instapundit.

60's Alive and Well in Sacramento

On my way through downtown Sacramento today to get my hair cut, I pass the intersection of 16th and J. Today the peacenics were out with their great American chicken flags and some hand lettered signs. 'Peace Now' was one. Another was 'Stop the American occupation'. And finally. 'Honk for Peace'. It took me back and what amazed me was that the four activists were way too young to have done this 30-some years ago.

Finally, when I passed through the intersection, nobody honked.

Debunking the Left

Major Mike goes after the same issue that I was addressing last week. I called them axiom. He calls them premises. I like axiom better because you don't question axioms. They are proven true. Premises are still assumptions and the left will not permit questioning of their premises. But I quibble. In Part I he demolishes the assumption that Presidents benefit from going to war. Stay tuned to Major Mike for part II.

Yale Taliban

The Yale Taliban has faded from attention due to the lack of interest from MSM and the deafening silence from Yale itself. The situation has not gone away however with the Taliban Hashemi's request for admission to the degree program.

Now Yale faces the question of whether to admit Mr. Hashemi on a more formal basis to a program that leads to an undergraduate degree. Yale's president, Richard C. Levin, declined a request for an interview and has generally not spoken publicly about Mr. Hashemi. He did tell The Yale Daily News, the student newspaper, that the admissions office would decide whether to allow Mr. Hashemi to pursue a Yale degree.

More from Captain's Quarters.

Political Axioms

I liked geometry in high school. It was perhaps my favorite subject, bringing together logical reasoning and mathematics. I liked the beauty of building from a set of universal truths to prove hypotheses. Parallel lines never intersect. The sum of the angles of a triangle equals 180 degrees. It was very satisfying to use those axioms to create more complex understanding of two-dimensional space. Because of the universality of the axioms, the application of logic guaranteed the truth of a geometric proof.

I was reminded of geometry yesterday when politics came up during lunch with my co-workers. My new supervisor, whose politics were unknown to me, started discussing the upcoming elections. I knew other co-worker's political positions and I pretty much pass on political discussions with them but I was interested in hearing where the supervisor's thinking would fall given that our work is analytical and financial. What surprised me was an immediate dismissal of Bush as a lightweight avenging his father or furthering the interests of big oil. To him, these were axioms – universal truths- upon which he could prove his hypotheses. To me, they were Democrat talking points - assertions with little or no credible evidence. And he threw them out forcefully and smoothly moved on to ridicule the war, the Bush administration and Republican hopes for elections as if his assertions proved the hypothesis.

At lunch today, I was at my desk getting ready for a meeting when another co-worker fussing about the price of gasoline, complained that Bush had not done anything to keep the price down. I asked her what he could do, curious to hear her solution. Well, she didn't have one. "Someone should survey the population to find out," she said. Then as as afterthought, "He could change the CAFE standards." Another woman added, "It's all over for Bush." These are women who understand the economics of electric utilities but cannot understand that gasoline prices are driven by forces not controllable by the President.

Fellow Western Alliance Blogger Fetching Jen quotes Thomas Sowell in a recent post
"In a democracy, we have always had to worry about the ignorance of the uneducated. Today we have to worry about the ignorance of people with college degrees."
Well, that is what I see in my co-workers. I see no evidence that Socrates was involved in their learning experiences. They have learned their political axioms from Democrat talking points presented endlessly by the liberal media and it never occurs to them to question these 'truths'.

So back to geometry. In geometry, you take certain truths (axioms) and from them your build a world where you an predict and define new circumstances based upon these truths. But the critical issue is that axioms are really true. They have been tested over millenia and they still work. So when you use them to prove hypotheses, the proof stands.
What I saw with my co-workers were were intelligent fools. They accept assertions about the President or world conditions without demanding proof and use them as axioms to support otherwise untenable conclusions.

There is no proof that Bush was committed to War in Iraq but if you want to believe he was then you will accept assertions as truth because you either don't or can't reason for yourself. And it is impossible to argue or discuss with these people because they won't challenge their axioms. Whether the cause of this mental disability is the state of higher education (or lower education for that matter) or the result of lock-step media outlets that spout these assertions as unquestioned truths, I can't say. It wasn't the way I learned to think.

Futile Gesture

If, like me, you are flat out disgusted with the pandering to illegals from our elected officials and their refusal to close the borders, here is a place for you to make your feelings clear. Not that anyone cares what you or I think about it.

Technorati Tag border security

May Day Whine

My Illegal-free day.

How did I spend my May Day? I did not go to work but not in protest, only because it was my day off. I did not join with the illegals in their marches. I did not even listen to news or talk radio because I did not want to hear about illegals and their demands or listen to our worthless elected officials pander, waffle and evade responsibility.

Instead, I worked in the yard, playing catch-up with planting and cleaning deferred by the interminable rains over the past two months. It was a very good day. I accomplished some things which will make my yard more enjoyable this summer and felt good about it. I did not see or miss one illegal. Neither did I blog or read my usual blogs.

I did not think about the wretched state of our political leadership, the world crisis that is Iran and the campaign against victory in Iraq. I did not think about the arrogance and selfishness of Trent Lott, John McCain and the others. And I understand completely, the mindset of conservative voters who see no need to vote since a Republican majority seems to lose all sense of conservative values. I, too, no longer believe that a Republican majority will represent and support my conservative values. They have adequately demonstrated their total indifference to conservatives.

I will vote, but then I always have voted. I will vote Republican, but then I always have voted Republican (except for the 60’s while I worked through my college indoctrination). I think that there will be many conservatives who will not vote. What I won’t do is believe that it will make any difference. This is going to be a disastrous year for Republicans but it may be the only way to set this country right.

Somebody argue me out of this funk. PLEASE

10 Reasons Why We Need $4.00 Gas

1. Regular folks will be even more inclined to ignore environmental crazies.
2. The Government can stop subsidizing alternative fuels
3. Regular folks will recognize that it makes sense to drill offshore and in ANWR
4. Mass-transit will be full and won't need tax subsidies
5. So many people will buy hybrid-vehicles that the carpool lanes will be clogged
6. The Government will be afraid to raise the gas tax.
7. I can drive the speed limit on my commute.
8. Al Gore will be paralyzed by conflicting directives
9. Haliburton will rule
10. Congress members will get only economy cars.

Technorati Tag gasoline

What he said!

Regarding the gas price hysteria, Conservative Schooler gives a California perspective on what a trumped-up crisis this really is. And Willisms shows us more dimensions.

Lincoln Chaffee - Too Liberal

The Club for Growth has not only endorsed Steve Laffey as the Republican candidate for Lincoln Chaffee's Senate seat.. and it uses the 'L' word.
View it here.

Technorati Tag Lincoln Chaffee

My Earthday Celebration

Earthday might be a nice idea if it had not been hijacked by environmental wackos. I have had the perfect Earthday. I finished getting all my new plants in the ground. It is an overcast day - perfect for planting and a possibility of rain tonight just to settle them in.

Now I only have to worry about how they look together and what I have to fix next year but I am going to take the positive attitude they they will look wonderful.

Now to the airport for two days in LA.

Who's a moron?

Here is a link with a little something for everybody. Daily Kos, Lincoln Chaffee, the Sierra Club and somebody is a moron.

"Who?", you ask. And "Why?" For the Who, check here. And for the Why, here.

And Happy Earthday.

Technorati Tag lincoln chaffee sierra club

Epiphany

Powerline highlights a post from Betsy's Page about Howard Kurtz' profile of Brit Hume in the Washington Post. It wasn’t the profile so much as an anecdote cited that woke me up about why I am so frustrated with our government today.

"Hume says he came to feel "out of step with ABC News' natural tendencies." He recalls challenging an assignment about how the first President Bush "isn't doing anything" by saying: "Has it ever occurred to you that this guy's a Republican and Republicans don't believe that government is the solution to all the country's problems?"

And it isn't the people in the anecdote. It is this line:

'Republicans don't believe that government is the solution to all the country's problems.'

If you take that one statement as a definition of being a Republican, who in our government today qualifies? I'm still trying to find one.

Technorati Tag republican government

Garden Log - 1

So far this week we have had three days of sunshine, more consecutive days than we have seen for two months. The rainfall has been astronomical, setting records and filling rivers all over northern California. This is a good thing in many ways. Lots of water for cities and agriculture and generating electricity will be available this year.

But I was nearing the end of my rope. My wife has long wanted to move to Seattle, purely for the rain. I was able to talk her into Sacramento partly, at least, from the promise that it rained more in Sacramento than in LA. It does rain more here but the past two months have been ridiculous. We might just as well have moved to Seattle.

But the real point of this post is that it is the middle of April and I haven’t been able to plant anything in my yard.

This is the second summer for my immature landscaping. Last year I hesitated to plant because I wasn’t sure what a Sacramento summer in my yard would be like and what plants buy. I bought just a few plants and, in the fall, some bulbs. The plants are still there and will maybe have some presence this year but the bulbs were the only thing making the rain bearable. I will definitely do more next fall.

But this spring, I got ambitious about beefing up the rather sparse plantings around my back yard patch of grass. I carefully selected some plants and ordered asking for mid April delivery. Well, they arrived as specified and I was hoping for the opportunity to plant last weekend but the weather didn’t cooperate. Right now, my plants are sitting on the outdoor dining table waiting for the weekend and I am hoping that we don’t move quickly from Spring to Summer with a heat wave that will wipe them out before I get a chance to plant.

I want to get this project done because I still hope to create a tomato bed in time to grow tomatoes this year since homegrown tomatoes are so far the only benefit (garden-wise) of the move from coastal southern California to Sacramento.

Oh, by the way, the brugmansia seems to love Sacramento. Who knew?

Technorati Tag gardening

Count the Generals

We know about the generals speaking out against Secretary Rumsfeld because its all over MSM but do we know how many generals are not speaking out? Brain Shavings does.

Yale President Speaks

The Yale Eline today includes this from the President, finally speaking about the Special Programs at Yale under which the Yale Taliban got on campus.

Statement of Richard C. Levin regarding Yale's Special Student Programs
President Richard C. Levin '74 PhD has announced that a review of Yale's non-degree and degree-granting Special Student Programs has raised questions as to whether the programs' admissions practices have been consistent with the established criteria and the standard that should prevail for Yale. As a next step, Levin said he and the dean of Yale College will convene a subcommittee to define admissions criteria for the programs that are consistent with the high standards and moral purposes of a leading institution of higher learning.

He continues to say "Our review has raised questions whether the admissions practices of the non-degree Special Student Program have been consistent with the published criteria, let alone the standard that should prevail."

You can read the whole statement here.

It sounds as if they will ask the Taliban to go elsewhere, but this is Yale, however, so common sense may not apply.

Technorati Tag Yale Taliban

Chafee Going Down?

I certainly hope so. There is not much attention paid in California to Lincoln Chafee's re-election campaign in Rhode Island but he is symbolic of what is so wrong about with our Republican majority. Despite national support from Libby Dole's NRSC, it appears that local Republicans support actual Republicans.

Anchor Rising keeps a window open on politics in Rhode Island and calls attention to this from the Washington Post.

Technorati Tag Rino lincoln chaffee

Where are the No Nukes Crowd When You Need Them?

Which reminds me - where in the hell is the "No Nukes" crowd now that we finally need them. You young ones out there probably don’t remember this, but in the late 1970’s the Hollywood idiocracy settled on nuclear power as the ranking evil of the day. This was one debate Bruce Springsteen, Jane Fonda and Jackson Browne actually won. Much to our detriment, not a single nuclear power plant has been built stateside since Bruce was crooning against them.

Dean checks out the news and muses. Scroll down to April 14 but its all good.

There is a Reason for Junk Science

It's government funding.

If you're a scientist working for private industry, it helps to invent something useful. But if you're a scientist trying to get funding from the government, you're better off telling the world how horrible things are.

Technorati Tag junk science government-waste

When Iran Nukes us, Don't forget to thank Jimmy

History takes a long time to unfold and by the time it does, everybody forgets who is responsible for the path we are on. In the case of Itan and its nuclear agenda, it is this guy.

This smug, self-righteous, control-freak, the 39th President of the United States. The man who drove the misery index to the stars. For those of you born too late too have experienced pehaps the worst four years in our country's history, I am Coyote has prepared a refresher.

Technorati Tag jimmy Carter Iran

A Better Idea

Since our own government seems incapable of acting to stop the invading hordes at the borders, Frank suggests we work on Mexico. We have been going about this all wrong.

This just in from France

France is struggling to reduce polygamy which has been illegal since 1993.

And is losing control of its schools..

Technorati Tag dhimmitude France

Why do Democrats want to inport poverty?

One question surrounding the current immigration debate is why Democrats, leftist activists have become so invested in maintaining a wage-depressing flow of immigrants into America. (It's pretty obvious why the Republican business class favors it).

A second question:

Where Were the Marxists for Open Borders when the Berlin Wall was Still Standing?

Some answers at Anchor Rising.

Junk Science

As the government and MSM worry us about running out of oil, global warming and, in my neighborhood, asbestos, take a breath and reveiw the top ten list of scare stories from the past.
The Top Ten are:

# Dioxin will kill you

# Cell phone-induced brain cancer

# Electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) cause cancer

# Pesticides and PCBs disrupt hormones which cause bad things to happen

# Soot in ambient air causes tens of thousands of premature deaths every year

# Obesity statistics

# Bio-tech and genetic engineering

# PETA: Milk drinking makes for future felons

# Acrylamide in French fries will kill us all!

# Global Warming

Check out the details at Willisms.

Technorati Tag junk science

Illegals do not speak for Legals

Despite the Illegals Demonstrating all over the place, lets not forget the citizens who earned their right to be here. Just because you have a latin heritage doesn't mean that you condone invasion and demands for legality from the illegals.

Many Latinos fear being ostracized for their negative views of illegal immigrants, said Phoenix resident Frank Barrios, 64.

"There are a lot of Hispanics that are upset about the illegal just the same way as the Anglo population," said Barrios, a third-generation Mexican-American who traces his family's roots in Arizona to the 1870s. "That group is larger than many people would believe."

More here and here.

The Harry and Nancy Show

Introducing Operation Steel Gazelle A Smart, Multi-Slide Plan For Toughening American Security with Smartness. A tease:

HARRY: Don't worry Nancy - before we redeploy the soldiers out of Iraq, we will pass a tough new assault weapons ban in Iraq to keep these dangerous weapons out of the hands of civil war gangs. We will back it up with a roadside bomb amnesty program, and after-madrassa programs for at-risk insurgent youths.

NANCY: Sounds almost too, good to be, true. But there be must a catch!

Iowahawk has the rest.

A Tale of Two Immigrants

Polipundit tells the stories of Vikras and Oswaldo and their experiences working in the US.

Name the Author.

As far as I can see, it is the principal cause of the decadence so visible today in the Muslim world and, though less absurd than the polytheism of old, its social and political tendencies are in my opinion more to be feared, and I therefore regard it as a form of decadence rather than a form of progress in relation to paganism itself.

Alexis de Toqueville posted by Laer. Prescient about Islam as about the US. I think I need to check out the book he is reading.

Mexican Flags

Here's another take on the students demonstrating with Mexican flags.

There’s another factor at play: youth. I remember the evolution of my political thinking in high school, the sense of awakening when I began to discover and embrace the beauty and riches of my Mexican heritage, and began to feel anger and resentment toward what I perceived to be injustices and prejudices against Mexicans in the U.S. In time, complications and nuances to ideas lead to more mature thinking.

Read the rest at LA Weekly.

One Democrat sees Good News

Even though Democrats are missing opportunities while

The Republicans know better. They analyze, they scheme, they think things through, they act aggressively and ruthlessly, and thus they win.

The 'Good News' he sees is the splitering of the support for the President and the War on Terror - Iraq Front.
But in order to stop the Republican agenda, what does he recommend? Perhaps a Democrat position on the war. Not at all.

He recommends a campaign to end election fraud which he views as the only way Republicans win elections. Aha!, you think, finally Democrats will agree to requiring identification at the polling place. Perhaps they will also want to put more money into cleaning up voter registration lists. Well, you would be wrong.

The problem is

because GOP partisans build the unauditable machines, write the secret software, and count 80% of the votes, “the people’s will” at elections is essentially irrelevant. The election results are simply what the GOP wants them to be, as they were in 2000, 2002, and 2004, and as they will be again in 2006 – provided conditions remain essentially as they are now.

So now we know why Republicans win.