Tuesday, February 25, 2003
Causus Belli #1234556789
There have been reports of Hussein working on unmanned drones to disperse bio-weapons over America.
He already has.
They are called mosquitos. With West Nile Virus.
254 deaths and 4000 infections all over America last year alone.
Why is that bastard still breathing?
There have been reports of Hussein working on unmanned drones to disperse bio-weapons over America.
He already has.
They are called mosquitos. With West Nile Virus.
254 deaths and 4000 infections all over America last year alone.
Why is that bastard still breathing?
Monday, February 24, 2003
My old friend
Bo Diddley was on the front page of the NY Times last weekend, with a great 2-page spread inside. However, since it was the Times, they only told half the story, as usual.
They didn't mention Bo's new CD, "My Eagle is Pissed". And certainly not this or this picture! This would have made a good counter-balance to the pictures of the protesters on the top half of the fold.
The first time I met Bo, he was working out in the yard, wearing a T-shirt that said "Ass-Kickin' Southern Rock n' Roll" with a Confederate flag on it. I thought "This is a MAN who knows who he is!". And so he does.
Keep on Rockin', Bo. And thanks for all the great tunes!
Bo Diddley; American.
Bo Diddley was on the front page of the NY Times last weekend, with a great 2-page spread inside. However, since it was the Times, they only told half the story, as usual.
They didn't mention Bo's new CD, "My Eagle is Pissed". And certainly not this or this picture! This would have made a good counter-balance to the pictures of the protesters on the top half of the fold.
The first time I met Bo, he was working out in the yard, wearing a T-shirt that said "Ass-Kickin' Southern Rock n' Roll" with a Confederate flag on it. I thought "This is a MAN who knows who he is!". And so he does.
Keep on Rockin', Bo. And thanks for all the great tunes!
Bo Diddley; American.
Sunday, February 23, 2003
Things I saw at the Web Parade today
Kim Dutoit's post of author Joe Galloway's (We were Soldiers Once, and Young) excellent ramblings on 'who likes who?'
Devil's Excrement reports on Venzuela's Commie Dictator Chavez, who is murdering, raping & torturing. Also packing the Courts with gangsters, cancelling elections and working with Castro & Kadaffy to import Muslim terrorists. Can't we do one for the oil, for a change?
The House passed a bill extending farm credit to Castro last year. We'll never see a penny of the money if we do this and the taxpayer will be on the hook. Why prop up our sworn enemy, JFK's assassin? Tell your Senator. Cuba Libre.
Little Green Footballs reports our boy Sami al-Arian was funding "Not in Our Name" protests.
i'm shocked.shocked.
Jeff Brokaw knows what a free Iraq might look like...from Free Iraq.
and Zee has an elegant bloghome.
Kim Dutoit's post of author Joe Galloway's (We were Soldiers Once, and Young) excellent ramblings on 'who likes who?'
Devil's Excrement reports on Venzuela's Commie Dictator Chavez, who is murdering, raping & torturing. Also packing the Courts with gangsters, cancelling elections and working with Castro & Kadaffy to import Muslim terrorists. Can't we do one for the oil, for a change?
The House passed a bill extending farm credit to Castro last year. We'll never see a penny of the money if we do this and the taxpayer will be on the hook. Why prop up our sworn enemy, JFK's assassin? Tell your Senator. Cuba Libre.
Little Green Footballs reports our boy Sami al-Arian was funding "Not in Our Name" protests.
i'm shocked.shocked.
Jeff Brokaw knows what a free Iraq might look like...from Free Iraq.
and Zee has an elegant bloghome.
Bill Clinton
attended the Grammy's MusicCares awards last night, looking tanned and rested, except for the bruises on his temples from Demi Moore's breast implants.
He gave U2's Bono an award for "Best Sidekick to a Retired Republican Treasury Secretary" and a Special Merit Badge of Hono for Bono as "Rock Star Most Generous with Other People's Money".
In a prepared speech, Clinton said, "Lets imagine the future. What if he (Hussein) fails to comply and we fail to act, or we take some ambiguous third route, which gives him yet more opportunities to develop this program of WMD? He will conclude that the international community has lost its will. He will then conclude that he can go right on and do more to rebuild an arsenal of devastating destruction. And some day, some way, I guarantee you he’ll use the arsenal."
The crowd was stunned into silence. Realizing his faux-pas, Bill said "Oops! That's what I said in 1998! What I really wanted to say is 'If you immediately think it's us versus them, then this will not be a world for your children to grow up in'."
With that, all the Foreign Policy experts in Show-Biz went wild with approval, as Bill silently mouthed the words "All I wanna do is be your human shield!" to Sheryl Crow.
(thanks to The Ville! )
attended the Grammy's MusicCares awards last night, looking tanned and rested, except for the bruises on his temples from Demi Moore's breast implants.
He gave U2's Bono an award for "Best Sidekick to a Retired Republican Treasury Secretary" and a Special Merit Badge of Hono for Bono as "Rock Star Most Generous with Other People's Money".
In a prepared speech, Clinton said, "Lets imagine the future. What if he (Hussein) fails to comply and we fail to act, or we take some ambiguous third route, which gives him yet more opportunities to develop this program of WMD? He will conclude that the international community has lost its will. He will then conclude that he can go right on and do more to rebuild an arsenal of devastating destruction. And some day, some way, I guarantee you he’ll use the arsenal."
The crowd was stunned into silence. Realizing his faux-pas, Bill said "Oops! That's what I said in 1998! What I really wanted to say is 'If you immediately think it's us versus them, then this will not be a world for your children to grow up in'."
With that, all the Foreign Policy experts in Show-Biz went wild with approval, as Bill silently mouthed the words "All I wanna do is be your human shield!" to Sheryl Crow.
(thanks to The Ville! )
No one
has been more eloquent on the need to remove Hussein than Tony Blair. And he deserves praise for it.
Yet, in England, the dimunition of the rights of the English people continues unabated.
Scotland Yard now has a "Diversity Directorate". And I thought "Homeland Security" sounded Orwellian! England has become so "diverse", that one day you can be a Taliban soldier, shooting at British troops, and the next day
you'll be granted a British visa and welfare benefits.
If, for example, you write a sentence like: "There is but one Moon-god; and Mohammed is his murdering, raping, theiving, half-mad prophet," that can earn you a knock on the door by the Directorate, and a 2-year sentence; a stiff penalty usually reserved for mass-murderers.
Theo. Dalrymple reports of a Govt. functionary who visited a small bookstore, demanding to see the 'black authors' section. When told repeatedly that the store did not segregate books based on the skin color of the authors, the petty commissar stormed out, crying "This is a racist bookstore!" and slammed the door.
Then there is the case of the country-dweller who suggested rural Britons deserved protected minority status. Evidently, England has just the right amount of minority categories, and suggesting any more or less is a hate-crime. How very...French.
One can't help but wonder if someday Iraqis will enjoy more freedom than Englishmen.
Here in America, Sen. John McCain has also been eloquent on the war effort. Again, we thank him.
But politicians are now discovering what was in the McCain -Fiengold Campaign Finance Reform bill they passed.
It seems to me that organizations that have millions of members who each contribute a small amount to further their beliefs are the very definition of democracy. But they are suspect under CFR.
Indeed, even politicians giving speeches to other politicians is criminalized in some cases. Candidates may not appear before the Governor's Associations.
The First Amendment was crafted to protect political speech, but has been construed to protect virtual child-porn, among other things.
One day, some enterprising politician may rent the space on George Clooney's left buttock, in one of those rare moments when it is not in use. The ad placed there, if viewed 29 days before an election in violation of McCain-Fiengold, could unduly influence 29 young ladies and millions of movie-goers to vote for the wrong candidate's election.
Not to mention giving Justice Kennedy a migraine and Justice Ginsberg a strained neck. The Court could remain confused for decades; not unlike Mr. Clooney.
I said "election".
has been more eloquent on the need to remove Hussein than Tony Blair. And he deserves praise for it.
Yet, in England, the dimunition of the rights of the English people continues unabated.
Scotland Yard now has a "Diversity Directorate". And I thought "Homeland Security" sounded Orwellian! England has become so "diverse", that one day you can be a Taliban soldier, shooting at British troops, and the next day
you'll be granted a British visa and welfare benefits.
If, for example, you write a sentence like: "There is but one Moon-god; and Mohammed is his murdering, raping, theiving, half-mad prophet," that can earn you a knock on the door by the Directorate, and a 2-year sentence; a stiff penalty usually reserved for mass-murderers.
Theo. Dalrymple reports of a Govt. functionary who visited a small bookstore, demanding to see the 'black authors' section. When told repeatedly that the store did not segregate books based on the skin color of the authors, the petty commissar stormed out, crying "This is a racist bookstore!" and slammed the door.
Then there is the case of the country-dweller who suggested rural Britons deserved protected minority status. Evidently, England has just the right amount of minority categories, and suggesting any more or less is a hate-crime. How very...French.
One can't help but wonder if someday Iraqis will enjoy more freedom than Englishmen.
Here in America, Sen. John McCain has also been eloquent on the war effort. Again, we thank him.
But politicians are now discovering what was in the McCain -Fiengold Campaign Finance Reform bill they passed.
It seems to me that organizations that have millions of members who each contribute a small amount to further their beliefs are the very definition of democracy. But they are suspect under CFR.
Indeed, even politicians giving speeches to other politicians is criminalized in some cases. Candidates may not appear before the Governor's Associations.
The First Amendment was crafted to protect political speech, but has been construed to protect virtual child-porn, among other things.
One day, some enterprising politician may rent the space on George Clooney's left buttock, in one of those rare moments when it is not in use. The ad placed there, if viewed 29 days before an election in violation of McCain-Fiengold, could unduly influence 29 young ladies and millions of movie-goers to vote for the wrong candidate's election.
Not to mention giving Justice Kennedy a migraine and Justice Ginsberg a strained neck. The Court could remain confused for decades; not unlike Mr. Clooney.
I said "election".
al-Arian Nation
Sami al-Arian & his family were allowed to come to this country. He and his brother-in-law, Mazzen al-Najjar, were given jobs teaching our young people at the University of South Florida. He and his family were photographed with candidate Geo. W. Bush. He and his son were both invited to the White House. His children attend major universities, his son working for a congressman.
And, as thanks to America, he and his brother-in-law Najjar funded suicide bombers who killed Americans & Israelis, and sponsored pep rallies for the first WTC bombers. If he felt that way about the first attempt to level the buildings, how must he feel about the 19 hi-jackers? Is this the New American Dream?
Najjar was finally deported after being made a hero/victim by NPR types. And al-Arian was just arrested, but that may not stop the NY Times from continuing to defend him as they did after his O'Reilly Factor appearance. However, his conviction is by no means assured, as the Wen Ho Lee case demonstrates.
Stephen Emerson has written about this in "American Jihad", as has David Tell at Weekly Standard.
David Frum tells how the son, Abdullah al-Arian, attended a meeting at the White House about the President's Faith Based Initiative. His father's name popped up and he was asked to leave, which created a big scene, with the President and the Secret Service apologizing. Yet his father had been allowed to visit only weeks earlier for a Muslim-American political briefing. Then came Sept. 11...and the son penned a typical Ethnic Grievance Industry screed for Newsweek.
I no longer support the Faith-Based Initiative. I do not trust that the money will not end up in Arafat's coffers.
Frum ends with this: "There is one way that we Republicans are very lucky - we face political opponents too crippled by political correctness to make an issue of these kinds of security lapses. At least - so far. But who knows? The day may come when some Democrat decides he cares more about winning elections than he does about liberal pieties. Against the day, is it too much to ask a wartime White House - please, please choose your friends more prudently!"
I support the President, as does Frum. But this is a Security issue, not a political issue. Those "liberal pieties" are the President's liberal pieties. It's not his friends he needs to choose more carefully, but his beliefs.
If the President, with all that security apparatus, can't keep a terrorist out of the White House, how does that bode for the rest of us?
Sami al-Arian & his family were allowed to come to this country. He and his brother-in-law, Mazzen al-Najjar, were given jobs teaching our young people at the University of South Florida. He and his family were photographed with candidate Geo. W. Bush. He and his son were both invited to the White House. His children attend major universities, his son working for a congressman.
And, as thanks to America, he and his brother-in-law Najjar funded suicide bombers who killed Americans & Israelis, and sponsored pep rallies for the first WTC bombers. If he felt that way about the first attempt to level the buildings, how must he feel about the 19 hi-jackers? Is this the New American Dream?
Najjar was finally deported after being made a hero/victim by NPR types. And al-Arian was just arrested, but that may not stop the NY Times from continuing to defend him as they did after his O'Reilly Factor appearance. However, his conviction is by no means assured, as the Wen Ho Lee case demonstrates.
Stephen Emerson has written about this in "American Jihad", as has David Tell at Weekly Standard.
David Frum tells how the son, Abdullah al-Arian, attended a meeting at the White House about the President's Faith Based Initiative. His father's name popped up and he was asked to leave, which created a big scene, with the President and the Secret Service apologizing. Yet his father had been allowed to visit only weeks earlier for a Muslim-American political briefing. Then came Sept. 11...and the son penned a typical Ethnic Grievance Industry screed for Newsweek.
I no longer support the Faith-Based Initiative. I do not trust that the money will not end up in Arafat's coffers.
Frum ends with this: "There is one way that we Republicans are very lucky - we face political opponents too crippled by political correctness to make an issue of these kinds of security lapses. At least - so far. But who knows? The day may come when some Democrat decides he cares more about winning elections than he does about liberal pieties. Against the day, is it too much to ask a wartime White House - please, please choose your friends more prudently!"
I support the President, as does Frum. But this is a Security issue, not a political issue. Those "liberal pieties" are the President's liberal pieties. It's not his friends he needs to choose more carefully, but his beliefs.
If the President, with all that security apparatus, can't keep a terrorist out of the White House, how does that bode for the rest of us?
Saturday, February 22, 2003
Happy Washington's Birthday!
Did you know...
that he was actually born on Feb. 11, 1731, but the calendar was changed 1752, which moved his birthday to Feb. 22.? (London merchants tried to avoid paying taxes on the missing days that year.)
that his expedition to remove the French from the Ohio Valley fired the first shots of the French & Indian War?
that during an engagement of that war, he warned Gen. Braddock about marching his Redcoats through the woods in European style? As a Continental, his advice was scorned. The troops (and the General) were slaughtered. Washington had 4 bullet holes in his coat and 2 horses shot out from under him and he sensed the growing separation between England & her colonies from that day.
that he sponsored several lotteries during the Revolution without invoking "education" or "parks"? (They were to pay for the war effort.)
that he distilled fine whiskey at Mt. Vernon after his Presidency?
that he freed and pensioned his slaves, and wrote a letter to his Atty. General saying that he would side with the North if a Civil War came?
The more I know about him, the more I respect him. We were blessed to have him.
on our Judeo-Christian heritage:
"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men & citizens."
on Higher Education without faith:
"And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure--reason & experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
on runaway spending:
"As a very important source of strength & security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible... that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it--avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of Peace to discharge the Debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear."
on soveriegnty & Europe:
"...we may choose peace or War, as our interest guided by justice shall Counsel.... Why... entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European Ambition, Rivalship, Interest, Humour or Caprice?"
on assimilation & loyalty:
"Citizens by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you...must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism..."
- President George Washington, Farewell Address, Sept. 19, 1796
Did you know...
that he was actually born on Feb. 11, 1731, but the calendar was changed 1752, which moved his birthday to Feb. 22.? (London merchants tried to avoid paying taxes on the missing days that year.)
that his expedition to remove the French from the Ohio Valley fired the first shots of the French & Indian War?
that during an engagement of that war, he warned Gen. Braddock about marching his Redcoats through the woods in European style? As a Continental, his advice was scorned. The troops (and the General) were slaughtered. Washington had 4 bullet holes in his coat and 2 horses shot out from under him and he sensed the growing separation between England & her colonies from that day.
that he sponsored several lotteries during the Revolution without invoking "education" or "parks"? (They were to pay for the war effort.)
that he distilled fine whiskey at Mt. Vernon after his Presidency?
that he freed and pensioned his slaves, and wrote a letter to his Atty. General saying that he would side with the North if a Civil War came?
The more I know about him, the more I respect him. We were blessed to have him.
on our Judeo-Christian heritage:
"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men & citizens."
on Higher Education without faith:
"And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure--reason & experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
on runaway spending:
"As a very important source of strength & security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible... that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it--avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of Peace to discharge the Debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear."
on soveriegnty & Europe:
"...we may choose peace or War, as our interest guided by justice shall Counsel.... Why... entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European Ambition, Rivalship, Interest, Humour or Caprice?"
on assimilation & loyalty:
"Citizens by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you...must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism..."
- President George Washington, Farewell Address, Sept. 19, 1796
Diplomacy
is not an end in itself, as many on the left believe.
It is a means to an end.
Teddy Roosevelt won the Nobel Prize for his diplomacy. So has Yassir Arafat. This tells you everything you need to know about modern diplomacy (and modern the Nobel Committee).
Jaques Chirac took a day off from dining with cannibalistic African dictators to grant TIME Magazine an interview. He called the uni-polar world of America's lone super-power status "dangerous", and hoped for the day when China, if not Europe, would counter-balance America.
Which is the same theory Sec. Albright advanced to justify transferring weapons technology to China. Would anyone be surprised to find she was French, too?
Why it is "dangerous", they never explain. But the bottom line seems to be the same old Blame-America-First reflex somehow written in the genetic code of the Trans-nationals. I don't recall China liberating France 3 times in the last century...maybe I missed it.
France sank that Greenpeace ship in the harbor because they were against France's ATMOSPHERIC nuclear testing. And France is supposed to be mad at US because we didn't ratify Kyoto? Hello, Thomas Friedman!
Hell, Pakistan has a more responsible nuke testing policy than France.
Not to mention Chirac was willing to give his personal friend Saddam everything he needed to nuke Israel. Then lie about it. That's diplomacy.
Diplomacy has given us TR's war-ending mediation & Camp David. Very good. But it has also given us Munich, Yalta and Oslo. To those who think it hasn't been tried, I maintain that we have tried little else BUT diplomacy.
Abraham Lincoln was under great pressure to have peace talks with the South, but he knew that even the announcement of such talks would demoralize the Union Army, and could lead to a permanent breach of the Union and slavery for years into the future. It would have saved tens of thousands of lives, however. How would today's Anti-war crowd have chosen?
The first great purpose of decent government is to protect the security and freedom of it's citizens. And diplomacy is a tool to accomplish that end.
Not vice-versa.
is not an end in itself, as many on the left believe.
It is a means to an end.
Teddy Roosevelt won the Nobel Prize for his diplomacy. So has Yassir Arafat. This tells you everything you need to know about modern diplomacy (and modern the Nobel Committee).
Jaques Chirac took a day off from dining with cannibalistic African dictators to grant TIME Magazine an interview. He called the uni-polar world of America's lone super-power status "dangerous", and hoped for the day when China, if not Europe, would counter-balance America.
Which is the same theory Sec. Albright advanced to justify transferring weapons technology to China. Would anyone be surprised to find she was French, too?
Why it is "dangerous", they never explain. But the bottom line seems to be the same old Blame-America-First reflex somehow written in the genetic code of the Trans-nationals. I don't recall China liberating France 3 times in the last century...maybe I missed it.
France sank that Greenpeace ship in the harbor because they were against France's ATMOSPHERIC nuclear testing. And France is supposed to be mad at US because we didn't ratify Kyoto? Hello, Thomas Friedman!
Hell, Pakistan has a more responsible nuke testing policy than France.
Not to mention Chirac was willing to give his personal friend Saddam everything he needed to nuke Israel. Then lie about it. That's diplomacy.
Diplomacy has given us TR's war-ending mediation & Camp David. Very good. But it has also given us Munich, Yalta and Oslo. To those who think it hasn't been tried, I maintain that we have tried little else BUT diplomacy.
Abraham Lincoln was under great pressure to have peace talks with the South, but he knew that even the announcement of such talks would demoralize the Union Army, and could lead to a permanent breach of the Union and slavery for years into the future. It would have saved tens of thousands of lives, however. How would today's Anti-war crowd have chosen?
The first great purpose of decent government is to protect the security and freedom of it's citizens. And diplomacy is a tool to accomplish that end.
Not vice-versa.
A History Lesson
A 2-term Southern Democrat President leaves office after having grossly neglected our national defenses. Soon afterward, America is attacked and buildings burn, including a Federal landmark in the nation's capital. The year is 1812.
A Republican President takes office after a divisive election. Soon, the nation is at war. The President, often called a 'simpleton' and a 'dictator' by Democrats, rejects their calls for appeasement and mediation by France. The year is 1862.
A Fascist Dictator, bent on destroying the Jews and using poison gas on civilians, tries desperately to produce nuclear weapons. His Axis partners launch a devastating sneak attack on America. Except for a few brave Frenchmen, France becomes largely neutralist or collaborationist. The year is 1941.
Anything here sound familiar?.
A 2-term Southern Democrat President leaves office after having grossly neglected our national defenses. Soon afterward, America is attacked and buildings burn, including a Federal landmark in the nation's capital. The year is 1812.
A Republican President takes office after a divisive election. Soon, the nation is at war. The President, often called a 'simpleton' and a 'dictator' by Democrats, rejects their calls for appeasement and mediation by France. The year is 1862.
A Fascist Dictator, bent on destroying the Jews and using poison gas on civilians, tries desperately to produce nuclear weapons. His Axis partners launch a devastating sneak attack on America. Except for a few brave Frenchmen, France becomes largely neutralist or collaborationist. The year is 1941.
Anything here sound familiar?.
Sunday, February 16, 2003
Subject: Marine's view
Not as lean, Not as mean, But still a Marine.
DO NOT FORGET"
I sat in a movie theater watching "Schindler's List," asked myself, "Why
didn't the Jews fight back?"
Now I know why.
I sat in a movie theater, watching "Pearl Harbor" and asked myself, "Why
weren't we prepared?"
Now I know why.
Civilized people cannot fathom, much less predict, the actions of evil
people.
On September 11, dozens of capable airplane passengers allowed themselves
to be overpowered by a handful of poorly armed terrorists because they did
not comprehend the depth of hatred that motivated their captors.
On September 11, thousands of innocent people were murdered because too
many Americans naively reject the reality that some nations are dedicated to
the dominance of others. Many political pundits, pacifists and media
personnel want us to forget the carnage. They say we must focus on the
bravery of the rescuers and ignore the cowardice of the killers. They
implore us to understand the motivation of the perpetrators. Major
television stations have announced they will assist the healing process by
not replaying devastating footage of the planes crashing into the Twin
Towers.
I will not be manipulated.
I will not pretend to understand.
I will not forget.
I will not forget the liberal media who abused freedom of the press to
kick our country when it was vulnerable and hurting.
I will not forget that CBS anchor Dan Rather preceded President Bush's
address to the nation with the snide remark, "No matter how you feel about
him, he is still our president."
I will not forget that ABC TV anchor Peter Jennings questioned President
Bush's motives for not returning immediately to Washington, DC and
commented, "We're all pretty skeptical and cynical about Washington."
And I will not forget that ABC's Mark Halperin warned if reporters weren't
informed of every little detail of this war, they aren't "likely -- nor
should they be expected -- to show deference."
I will not isolate myself from my fellow Americans by pretending an attack
on the USS Cole in Yemen was not an attack on the United States of America.
I will not forget the Clinton administration equipped Islamic terrorists
and their supporters with the world's most sophisticated telecommunications
equipment and encryption technology, thereby compromising America's ability
to trace terrorist radio, cell phone, land lines, faxes and modem
communications.
I will not be appeased with pointless, quick retaliatory strikes like
those perfected by the previous administration.
I will not be comforted by "feel-good, do nothing" regulations like the
silly, "Have your bags been under your control?" question at the airport.
I will not be influenced by so called,"antiwar demonstrators" who exploit
the right of _expression to chant anti-American obscenities.
I will not forget the moral victory handed the North Vietnamese by
American war protesters who reviled and spat upon the returning soldiers,
airmen, sailors and marines.
I will not be softened by the wishful thinking of pacifists who chose
reassurance over reality.
I will embrace the wise words of Prime Minister Tony Blair who told the
Labor Party conference, "They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of
the innocent. If they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000, does anyone
doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it?
There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no
point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: defeat it or be
defeated by it. And defeat it we must!"
I will force myself to:
-hear the weeping
-feel the helplessness
-imagine the terror
-sense the panic
-smell the burning flesh
- experience the loss
- remember the hatred.
I sat in a movie theater, watching "Private Ryan" and asked myself, "Where
did they find the courage?"
Now I know.
We have no choice. Living without liberty is not living.
-- Ed Evans, MGySgt., USMC (Ret.)
Not as lean, Not as mean, But still a Marine.
Keep this going until every living American has read it and memorized it
so we don't make the same mistake again...
Not as lean, Not as mean, But still a Marine.
DO NOT FORGET"
I sat in a movie theater watching "Schindler's List," asked myself, "Why
didn't the Jews fight back?"
Now I know why.
I sat in a movie theater, watching "Pearl Harbor" and asked myself, "Why
weren't we prepared?"
Now I know why.
Civilized people cannot fathom, much less predict, the actions of evil
people.
On September 11, dozens of capable airplane passengers allowed themselves
to be overpowered by a handful of poorly armed terrorists because they did
not comprehend the depth of hatred that motivated their captors.
On September 11, thousands of innocent people were murdered because too
many Americans naively reject the reality that some nations are dedicated to
the dominance of others. Many political pundits, pacifists and media
personnel want us to forget the carnage. They say we must focus on the
bravery of the rescuers and ignore the cowardice of the killers. They
implore us to understand the motivation of the perpetrators. Major
television stations have announced they will assist the healing process by
not replaying devastating footage of the planes crashing into the Twin
Towers.
I will not be manipulated.
I will not pretend to understand.
I will not forget.
I will not forget the liberal media who abused freedom of the press to
kick our country when it was vulnerable and hurting.
I will not forget that CBS anchor Dan Rather preceded President Bush's
address to the nation with the snide remark, "No matter how you feel about
him, he is still our president."
I will not forget that ABC TV anchor Peter Jennings questioned President
Bush's motives for not returning immediately to Washington, DC and
commented, "We're all pretty skeptical and cynical about Washington."
And I will not forget that ABC's Mark Halperin warned if reporters weren't
informed of every little detail of this war, they aren't "likely -- nor
should they be expected -- to show deference."
I will not isolate myself from my fellow Americans by pretending an attack
on the USS Cole in Yemen was not an attack on the United States of America.
I will not forget the Clinton administration equipped Islamic terrorists
and their supporters with the world's most sophisticated telecommunications
equipment and encryption technology, thereby compromising America's ability
to trace terrorist radio, cell phone, land lines, faxes and modem
communications.
I will not be appeased with pointless, quick retaliatory strikes like
those perfected by the previous administration.
I will not be comforted by "feel-good, do nothing" regulations like the
silly, "Have your bags been under your control?" question at the airport.
I will not be influenced by so called,"antiwar demonstrators" who exploit
the right of _expression to chant anti-American obscenities.
I will not forget the moral victory handed the North Vietnamese by
American war protesters who reviled and spat upon the returning soldiers,
airmen, sailors and marines.
I will not be softened by the wishful thinking of pacifists who chose
reassurance over reality.
I will embrace the wise words of Prime Minister Tony Blair who told the
Labor Party conference, "They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of
the innocent. If they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000, does anyone
doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it?
There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no
point of understanding with such terror. Just a choice: defeat it or be
defeated by it. And defeat it we must!"
I will force myself to:
-hear the weeping
-feel the helplessness
-imagine the terror
-sense the panic
-smell the burning flesh
- experience the loss
- remember the hatred.
I sat in a movie theater, watching "Private Ryan" and asked myself, "Where
did they find the courage?"
Now I know.
We have no choice. Living without liberty is not living.
-- Ed Evans, MGySgt., USMC (Ret.)
Not as lean, Not as mean, But still a Marine.
Keep this going until every living American has read it and memorized it
so we don't make the same mistake again...
This is getting out of hand
Sen. Hillary Clinton announced that she would be undergoing surgery for prostate cancer. "They caught it early so don't worry about me...I'll be fine," said the Senator.
Gen. Wesley Clark announced that he was going through menopause. "The hot flashes aren't so bad...and the hormone treatments are helping me get in touch with my feminine side," he claimed.
Rep.Dick Gephardt surprised everyone at his candidacy announcement, telling reporters: " I was talking to my
Mom(tm) and she told me my real father is Little Richard," said the nearly translucent lawmaker.
Join us next week, when we'll learn that Tom Daschle's growth was stunted as a child by volunteering for the first smallpox vaccine, Howard Dean has developed the cure for cancer but can't release it until after the election and Carol Mosley-Braun is Princess Di's twin sister.
Sen. Hillary Clinton announced that she would be undergoing surgery for prostate cancer. "They caught it early so don't worry about me...I'll be fine," said the Senator.
Gen. Wesley Clark announced that he was going through menopause. "The hot flashes aren't so bad...and the hormone treatments are helping me get in touch with my feminine side," he claimed.
Rep.Dick Gephardt surprised everyone at his candidacy announcement, telling reporters: " I was talking to my
Mom(tm) and she told me my real father is Little Richard," said the nearly translucent lawmaker.
Join us next week, when we'll learn that Tom Daschle's growth was stunted as a child by volunteering for the first smallpox vaccine, Howard Dean has developed the cure for cancer but can't release it until after the election and Carol Mosley-Braun is Princess Di's twin sister.
Saturday, February 15, 2003
From the sanctity of his hot-tub
Mr. Cleo gives Joe Lieberman a Kaballa reading to help him reconnect with his roots.
The Happy Fun Pundits do the same for Sen. John Kerry, happily & funnily.
Mr. Cleo gives Joe Lieberman a Kaballa reading to help him reconnect with his roots.
The Happy Fun Pundits do the same for Sen. John Kerry, happily & funnily.
SHARPTON PICKS VEEP!
In a surprise announcement, Democratic Presidential candidate, The Most Reverend Al Sharpton, told the media he had picked his Vice-Presidential running mate.
"These other candidates been dissing me. They say 'Who's your runnin' mate, Al?' and 'Pick me, Al!', but I don't think they really mean it. In fact, they just stopped Washington, D.C. from holding the first primary in the country, 'cos they know I'd win. Well, I got news for 'em; D.C. will hold the first primary! They're going to have to disqualify my delegates. Now I got another surprise for 'em. "
"My Running Mate, on our platform of Stop the War & Racial Unity, will be...David Duke!" (gasps) "David, come on up here and say a few words."
"Thanks, Al. You're my main man! Now some of you may be wonderin' how Al & I got together. But I think I can explain it by asking some questions."
"Al, isn't this a racist imperialist war, as I've said in my editorials in the Arab press?" (Sharpton nods in agreement).
"And isn't America run by ZOG?" (oh, yeah!)
"And doesn't one drop of Black blood make a person black, Al?" (uh-huh!)
"And shouldn't black students have their own lunch tables and dorms?" (you betcha!)
" And inter-racial dating...none of us like that, do we, Al?" (tell it, brother!)
"So, as you can see, the Rev. & I agree on many things. I was so proud of Al when he called for 'white interlopers' and 'diamond merchants' to get out of Harlem. That last riot he incited got 8 people killed. Now that's "Gettin with the Pogrom!", Al. Where I come from, we call that 'lynching'. Al's the only Civil Rights leader to have conducted his own lynchings, and he gets visited by Al Gore & Bill Bradley and gets to share the stage with all those others Democrat candidates. Why, I couldn't get the Louisiana Lottery to return my call if I had the winning ticket! You gotta respect a Party that sticks by it's principles like that!"
"Thanks for those kind words, David. Now get yo' sorry cracker ass outta here, fo' I bust a cap in yo' ass."
"Thanks, Al. I feel the same way about you. See you in Iowa."
"Whatever, man."
Demoral of the story:
When you sleep with the Kristollnachters, you wake up with glass splinters in your ass.
In a surprise announcement, Democratic Presidential candidate, The Most Reverend Al Sharpton, told the media he had picked his Vice-Presidential running mate.
"These other candidates been dissing me. They say 'Who's your runnin' mate, Al?' and 'Pick me, Al!', but I don't think they really mean it. In fact, they just stopped Washington, D.C. from holding the first primary in the country, 'cos they know I'd win. Well, I got news for 'em; D.C. will hold the first primary! They're going to have to disqualify my delegates. Now I got another surprise for 'em. "
"My Running Mate, on our platform of Stop the War & Racial Unity, will be...David Duke!" (gasps) "David, come on up here and say a few words."
"Thanks, Al. You're my main man! Now some of you may be wonderin' how Al & I got together. But I think I can explain it by asking some questions."
"Al, isn't this a racist imperialist war, as I've said in my editorials in the Arab press?" (Sharpton nods in agreement).
"And isn't America run by ZOG?" (oh, yeah!)
"And doesn't one drop of Black blood make a person black, Al?" (uh-huh!)
"And shouldn't black students have their own lunch tables and dorms?" (you betcha!)
" And inter-racial dating...none of us like that, do we, Al?" (tell it, brother!)
"So, as you can see, the Rev. & I agree on many things. I was so proud of Al when he called for 'white interlopers' and 'diamond merchants' to get out of Harlem. That last riot he incited got 8 people killed. Now that's "Gettin with the Pogrom!", Al. Where I come from, we call that 'lynching'. Al's the only Civil Rights leader to have conducted his own lynchings, and he gets visited by Al Gore & Bill Bradley and gets to share the stage with all those others Democrat candidates. Why, I couldn't get the Louisiana Lottery to return my call if I had the winning ticket! You gotta respect a Party that sticks by it's principles like that!"
"Thanks for those kind words, David. Now get yo' sorry cracker ass outta here, fo' I bust a cap in yo' ass."
"Thanks, Al. I feel the same way about you. See you in Iowa."
"Whatever, man."
Demoral of the story:
When you sleep with the Kristollnachters, you wake up with glass splinters in your ass.
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Silencing the Lambs
A Canadian classroom has banned teaching children how to spell the word "gun". This is so indicative of the liberal mind. Perhaps banning the word "war" can make wars go away too. It would at least make it harder for liberals to use their children as props at the anti-war rally; a child holding a sign saying "Stop the " just doesn't carry the same punch, does it?
Sharpknife recommends banning the word "The". After all, so many bad things follow it; i.e., The Terrorists, The North Koreans, The Clintons, etc.
"Good Morning , Class."
"Good Morning, Ms. Chretien."
"Who did their homework, last night? Everyone? Good!...Okay, Jean; read us the sentence you wrote."
"Yes, Ms. Chretien. (ahem)...'The gun-men fled.' "
"Jean, you know we don't use the g-word here. Try again."
"(ahem) 'The men fled'."
"Jean, we don't say 'the' anymore, either. Does anyone know what else is wrong with Jean's sentence?...Yes, Hillary?"
"Women Good...Men Bad!"
"That's right, Hillary! Now read your sentence again, Jean."
(ahem) "fled."
"And 'fled' is a slanted word that implies guilt; and we all know criminals are never guilty; only Society. Now read your sentence one more time, Jean."
(ahem) .
"That was wonderful. Now would anyone else like to read their sentence?"
(silence)
"Very good, class! We are really learning how to express ourselves! (bell rings) Alright, it's time for Art class...did everyone bring a jar of urine?"
A Canadian classroom has banned teaching children how to spell the word "gun". This is so indicative of the liberal mind. Perhaps banning the word "war" can make wars go away too. It would at least make it harder for liberals to use their children as props at the anti-war rally; a child holding a sign saying "Stop the " just doesn't carry the same punch, does it?
Sharpknife recommends banning the word "The". After all, so many bad things follow it; i.e., The Terrorists, The North Koreans, The Clintons, etc.
"Good Morning , Class."
"Good Morning, Ms. Chretien."
"Who did their homework, last night? Everyone? Good!...Okay, Jean; read us the sentence you wrote."
"Yes, Ms. Chretien. (ahem)...'The gun-men fled.' "
"Jean, you know we don't use the g-word here. Try again."
"(ahem) 'The men fled'."
"Jean, we don't say 'the' anymore, either. Does anyone know what else is wrong with Jean's sentence?...Yes, Hillary?"
"Women Good...Men Bad!"
"That's right, Hillary! Now read your sentence again, Jean."
(ahem) "fled."
"And 'fled' is a slanted word that implies guilt; and we all know criminals are never guilty; only Society. Now read your sentence one more time, Jean."
(ahem) .
"That was wonderful. Now would anyone else like to read their sentence?"
(silence)
"Very good, class! We are really learning how to express ourselves! (bell rings) Alright, it's time for Art class...did everyone bring a jar of urine?"
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
Sen. Harry Reid
was full of faux-outrage today when Orrin Hatch used the phrase "weapons of mass obsruction" to describe the Democratic obstruction to Estrada's Circuit Court nomination.
Reid said his family was out looking for duct tape. Good. Maybe that's what it will take to get you to see your duty. Your families are also put at risk when you fail to defend America.
You need to stop back-stabbing the President, saying, for example, that the War on Terror is different from the Iraq invasion. They are one in the same, and you know it.
Sen. Mary Landreiu put out a commercial during the election which played on the Spanish radio station in New Orleans. It said she supported Estrada's nomination. Election over...promise over. Lying bitch.
was full of faux-outrage today when Orrin Hatch used the phrase "weapons of mass obsruction" to describe the Democratic obstruction to Estrada's Circuit Court nomination.
Reid said his family was out looking for duct tape. Good. Maybe that's what it will take to get you to see your duty. Your families are also put at risk when you fail to defend America.
You need to stop back-stabbing the President, saying, for example, that the War on Terror is different from the Iraq invasion. They are one in the same, and you know it.
Sen. Mary Landreiu put out a commercial during the election which played on the Spanish radio station in New Orleans. It said she supported Estrada's nomination. Election over...promise over. Lying bitch.
Sen. Evan Bayh
was so concerned about the nuclear threat posed by North Korea, he actually asked CIA's George Tenent questions about the subject.
Which was more than Democrats did when The Clinton Administration was giving them and their Chinese pals all our nuclear and ICBM technology.
Thanks for your belated concern, Senator.
Here's some questions for you.
Why did your party scoff when North Korea was included in Pres. Bush's "Axis of Evil"?
Why does your party still oppose a "Missile Shield"?
Will Democrats ever grow up?
was so concerned about the nuclear threat posed by North Korea, he actually asked CIA's George Tenent questions about the subject.
Which was more than Democrats did when The Clinton Administration was giving them and their Chinese pals all our nuclear and ICBM technology.
Thanks for your belated concern, Senator.
Here's some questions for you.
Why did your party scoff when North Korea was included in Pres. Bush's "Axis of Evil"?
Why does your party still oppose a "Missile Shield"?
Will Democrats ever grow up?
I'm pissed
Our government is telling us to buy duct tape to seal our homes, and Congress rises to the challenge by debating the threat posed by...telemarketers?
Rep. Ed Markey ranted about the "invasion" of the American home by telemarketers and proposed a national "no-call" list.
News Flash: Telemarketers are WAY down on my list of shit to worry about.
You assholes have failed to protect this nation from blood-thirsty mass killers with your Open Border, Multi-Cultural, Bash-America, Gut our Intelligence Agencies, Demean Law-Enforcement, Run the Military into the Ground Agenda...but you're going to protect my home from "invasion" from telemarketers with a "no-call" list?
Tell you what; put me on a "No-Anthrax" list. Get serious about protecting my home from TERRORISTS.
F***** Assholes.
Our government is telling us to buy duct tape to seal our homes, and Congress rises to the challenge by debating the threat posed by...telemarketers?
Rep. Ed Markey ranted about the "invasion" of the American home by telemarketers and proposed a national "no-call" list.
News Flash: Telemarketers are WAY down on my list of shit to worry about.
You assholes have failed to protect this nation from blood-thirsty mass killers with your Open Border, Multi-Cultural, Bash-America, Gut our Intelligence Agencies, Demean Law-Enforcement, Run the Military into the Ground Agenda...but you're going to protect my home from "invasion" from telemarketers with a "no-call" list?
Tell you what; put me on a "No-Anthrax" list. Get serious about protecting my home from TERRORISTS.
F***** Assholes.
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
TR speaks to us from across a century...
"We have met to-day to do honor to the mighty dead. Remember that our words of admiration are but as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals if we do not by steady preparation and by the cultivation of soul and mind and body fit ourselves so that in time of need we shall be prepared to emulate their deeds. Let every midshipman who passes through this institution remember, as he looks upon the tomb of John Paul Jones, that while no courage can atone for the lack of that efficiency which comes only through careful preparation in advance, through careful training of the men, and careful fitting out of the engines of war, yet that none of these things can avail unless in the moment of crisis the heart rises level with the crisis..."
"I wish that our people as a whole, and especially those among us who occupy high legislative or administrative positions, would study the history of our nation, not merely for the purpose of national self gratification, but with the desire to learn the lessons that history teaches. Let the men who talk lightly about its being unnecessary for us now to have an army and navy adequate for the work of this nation in the world remember that such utterances are not merely foolish, for in their effects they may at any time be fraught with disaster and disgrace to the nation's honor as well as disadvantage to its interest. Let them take to heart some of the lessons which should be learned by the study of the War of I8I2."
"As a people we are too apt to remember only that some of our ships did well in that war. We had a few ships -- a very few ships -- and they did so well as to show the utter folly of not having enough of them. Thanks to our folly as a nation, thanks to the folly that found expression in the views of those at the seat of government, not a ship of any importance had been built within a dozen years before the war began, and the Navy was so small that, when once the war was on, our opponents were able to establish a close blockade throughout the length of our coast, so that not a ship could go from one port to another, and all traffic had to go by land. Our parsimony in not preparing an adequate navy (which would have prevented the war) cost in the end literally thousands of dollars for every one dollar we thus foolishly saved. After two years of that war an utterly inconsiderable British force of about four thousand men was landed here in the bay, defeated with ease a larger body of raw troops put against it, and took Washington."
"I am sorry to say that those of our countrymen who now speak of the deed usually confine themselves to denouncing the British for having burned certain buildings in Washington. They had better spare their breath. The sin of the invaders in burning the buildings is trivial compared with the sin of our own people in failing to make ready an adequate force to defeat the attempt. This nation was guilty of such shortsightedness, of such folly, of such lack of preparation that it was forced supinely to submit to the insult and was impotent to avenge it; and it was only the good fortune of having in Andrew Jackson a great natural soldier that prevented a repetition of the disaster at New Orleans. Let us remember our own shortcomings, and see to it that the men in public life to-day are not permitted to bring about a state of things by which we should in effect invite a repetition of such a humiliation."
"We can afford as a people to differ on the ordinary party questions; but if we are both farsighted and patriotic we can not afford to differ on the all-important question of keeping the national defenses as they should be kept; of not alone keeping up, but of going on with building up of the United States Navy, and of keeping our small Army at least at its present size and making it the most efficient for its size that there is on the globe. Remember, you here who are listening to me, that to applaud patriotic sentiments and to turn out to do honor to the dead heroes who by land or by sea won honor for our flag is only worth while if we are prepared to show that our energies do not exhaust themselves in words; if we are prepared to show that we intend to take to heart the lessons of the past and make things ready so that if ever, which heaven forbid, the need should arise, our fighting men on sea and ashore shall be able to rise to the standard established by their predecessors in our services of the past."
"Those of you who are in public life have a moral right to be here at this celebration to-day only if you are prepared to do your part in building up the Navy of the present; for otherwise you have no right to claim lot or part in the glory and honor and renown of the Navy's past." -Pres. Theodore Roosevelt at Annapolis, 1906
"We have met to-day to do honor to the mighty dead. Remember that our words of admiration are but as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals if we do not by steady preparation and by the cultivation of soul and mind and body fit ourselves so that in time of need we shall be prepared to emulate their deeds. Let every midshipman who passes through this institution remember, as he looks upon the tomb of John Paul Jones, that while no courage can atone for the lack of that efficiency which comes only through careful preparation in advance, through careful training of the men, and careful fitting out of the engines of war, yet that none of these things can avail unless in the moment of crisis the heart rises level with the crisis..."
"I wish that our people as a whole, and especially those among us who occupy high legislative or administrative positions, would study the history of our nation, not merely for the purpose of national self gratification, but with the desire to learn the lessons that history teaches. Let the men who talk lightly about its being unnecessary for us now to have an army and navy adequate for the work of this nation in the world remember that such utterances are not merely foolish, for in their effects they may at any time be fraught with disaster and disgrace to the nation's honor as well as disadvantage to its interest. Let them take to heart some of the lessons which should be learned by the study of the War of I8I2."
"As a people we are too apt to remember only that some of our ships did well in that war. We had a few ships -- a very few ships -- and they did so well as to show the utter folly of not having enough of them. Thanks to our folly as a nation, thanks to the folly that found expression in the views of those at the seat of government, not a ship of any importance had been built within a dozen years before the war began, and the Navy was so small that, when once the war was on, our opponents were able to establish a close blockade throughout the length of our coast, so that not a ship could go from one port to another, and all traffic had to go by land. Our parsimony in not preparing an adequate navy (which would have prevented the war) cost in the end literally thousands of dollars for every one dollar we thus foolishly saved. After two years of that war an utterly inconsiderable British force of about four thousand men was landed here in the bay, defeated with ease a larger body of raw troops put against it, and took Washington."
"I am sorry to say that those of our countrymen who now speak of the deed usually confine themselves to denouncing the British for having burned certain buildings in Washington. They had better spare their breath. The sin of the invaders in burning the buildings is trivial compared with the sin of our own people in failing to make ready an adequate force to defeat the attempt. This nation was guilty of such shortsightedness, of such folly, of such lack of preparation that it was forced supinely to submit to the insult and was impotent to avenge it; and it was only the good fortune of having in Andrew Jackson a great natural soldier that prevented a repetition of the disaster at New Orleans. Let us remember our own shortcomings, and see to it that the men in public life to-day are not permitted to bring about a state of things by which we should in effect invite a repetition of such a humiliation."
"We can afford as a people to differ on the ordinary party questions; but if we are both farsighted and patriotic we can not afford to differ on the all-important question of keeping the national defenses as they should be kept; of not alone keeping up, but of going on with building up of the United States Navy, and of keeping our small Army at least at its present size and making it the most efficient for its size that there is on the globe. Remember, you here who are listening to me, that to applaud patriotic sentiments and to turn out to do honor to the dead heroes who by land or by sea won honor for our flag is only worth while if we are prepared to show that our energies do not exhaust themselves in words; if we are prepared to show that we intend to take to heart the lessons of the past and make things ready so that if ever, which heaven forbid, the need should arise, our fighting men on sea and ashore shall be able to rise to the standard established by their predecessors in our services of the past."
"Those of you who are in public life have a moral right to be here at this celebration to-day only if you are prepared to do your part in building up the Navy of the present; for otherwise you have no right to claim lot or part in the glory and honor and renown of the Navy's past." -Pres. Theodore Roosevelt at Annapolis, 1906
Sunday, February 09, 2003
J. Bottum
at Weekly Standard has an interesting piece on the 'Tempest at the Tea Party', the controversy surrounding the invitation of poets to the White House.
Mrs. Bush, a former librarian with a very real interest in literature, had the class to invite a group of poets to the White House, without reference to their politics. A large number of them chose to reciprocate by telling her they wouldn't pee in her punchbowl. Only because peeing in a punchbowl just isn't done...without a performance-art grant from the NEH.
As Mr. Bottum points out, it violates every superstition of their ever-shrinking cult to believe that a Stepford Wife like Mrs. Bush could comprehend their Stanza-nista stance.
They were, however, reluctantly willing to grace us with their presence, if allowed to turn the event into an Anti-war demonstration to educate the masses and 'speak Truth to Power'. How noble. How irrelevant. How...poetic.
The poets' dreams have been realized; they inhabit a truly class-less society; i.e., each other.
This is merely moral grandstanding from the farthest bleacher seats of American life. They have marginalized themselves with their inconsequential noodlings; where 'Che' always rhymes with 'fey'.
Yes, poets can touch us with the turn of a phrase. But lately, all they have succeeded in doing is re-defining the word 'Laureate"; it now means "he who can write an anti-American screed in his sleep."
They still believe "poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world."
But we're already chock full o' unacknowledged legislators; Hans Blix, The 9th Circuit, Teacher's Unions, PR firms, reporters, bureaucracies, boards, UN Commissions on Anything & Everything, The EU, the WTO, Clerics who think the Day the lion lays down with the lamb can be hastened merely by calling the 'lion' a 'lamb'. Or at least telling the lamb it would be better for everyone concerned if he could just pretend the lion wasn't chewing on his leg.
Sorry, bards; there's just no room at the Inn. There's an unacknowledged legislator on every street corner.
Though we could use some poets.
Don't you know it?
at Weekly Standard has an interesting piece on the 'Tempest at the Tea Party', the controversy surrounding the invitation of poets to the White House.
Mrs. Bush, a former librarian with a very real interest in literature, had the class to invite a group of poets to the White House, without reference to their politics. A large number of them chose to reciprocate by telling her they wouldn't pee in her punchbowl. Only because peeing in a punchbowl just isn't done...without a performance-art grant from the NEH.
As Mr. Bottum points out, it violates every superstition of their ever-shrinking cult to believe that a Stepford Wife like Mrs. Bush could comprehend their Stanza-nista stance.
They were, however, reluctantly willing to grace us with their presence, if allowed to turn the event into an Anti-war demonstration to educate the masses and 'speak Truth to Power'. How noble. How irrelevant. How...poetic.
The poets' dreams have been realized; they inhabit a truly class-less society; i.e., each other.
This is merely moral grandstanding from the farthest bleacher seats of American life. They have marginalized themselves with their inconsequential noodlings; where 'Che' always rhymes with 'fey'.
Yes, poets can touch us with the turn of a phrase. But lately, all they have succeeded in doing is re-defining the word 'Laureate"; it now means "he who can write an anti-American screed in his sleep."
They still believe "poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world."
But we're already chock full o' unacknowledged legislators; Hans Blix, The 9th Circuit, Teacher's Unions, PR firms, reporters, bureaucracies, boards, UN Commissions on Anything & Everything, The EU, the WTO, Clerics who think the Day the lion lays down with the lamb can be hastened merely by calling the 'lion' a 'lamb'. Or at least telling the lamb it would be better for everyone concerned if he could just pretend the lion wasn't chewing on his leg.
Sorry, bards; there's just no room at the Inn. There's an unacknowledged legislator on every street corner.
Though we could use some poets.
Don't you know it?
The Texans I know are better than this.
When Ronald Reagan was shot and taken to the hospital, a pair of his cufflinks disappeared. It's possible they were lost in the frantic effort to save the President's life, but, more likely, they were taken by someone as a souvenier.
I can assure you that the cufflinks have never brought joy to the posessor; only guilt and shame. They can never be shared or admired, only hidden away. To be so selfish at a time of national disaster is disgusting.
Those who have picked up pieces of the Columbia; Do the right thing or you will live to regret it, even if you are never caught. Perhaps you were caught up in the moment, but NOW is the time to do the right thing.
If your family were in a grisly accident, would you appreciate looters poking around in the wreckage? You might even have something that could save the lives of future astronauts.
Have we become a nation so infected with the 'celebrity-culture' that we feel no shame in grave-robbing?
That's not how my Momma raised me.
How 'bout you?
When Ronald Reagan was shot and taken to the hospital, a pair of his cufflinks disappeared. It's possible they were lost in the frantic effort to save the President's life, but, more likely, they were taken by someone as a souvenier.
I can assure you that the cufflinks have never brought joy to the posessor; only guilt and shame. They can never be shared or admired, only hidden away. To be so selfish at a time of national disaster is disgusting.
Those who have picked up pieces of the Columbia; Do the right thing or you will live to regret it, even if you are never caught. Perhaps you were caught up in the moment, but NOW is the time to do the right thing.
If your family were in a grisly accident, would you appreciate looters poking around in the wreckage? You might even have something that could save the lives of future astronauts.
Have we become a nation so infected with the 'celebrity-culture' that we feel no shame in grave-robbing?
That's not how my Momma raised me.
How 'bout you?
Friday, February 07, 2003
Animal Farmascists
An Open Letter from P.E.T.T.errs (People for the Ethical Treatment of Terrorists) to the Donkey Dictator, Yassir Arafat.
My Dear, Dear, Dear, Most Excelling Excellent Excellency, Defender of the Indefensible, Totally Innocent Victim of the Brutal Aggression, Man of Peace and Fellow Terrorist,
It has come to our attention that a donkey has bin Laden with explosives and sent to blow up innocent Israeli schoolchildren. This is outrageous! Donkeys should never be injured in that way! If it's not too much of a burden, Your Beastliness, we would appreciate it if you could find a humane animal-free alternative.
We've also noticed that your wife is carrying around 250 lbs. of extra blubber, sorely needed by the Peshawarian Panda community during the remainder of the harsh Afghan winter. Also, please have a word with Ms. Hannan Ashrawi; she has taken to wearing an entire black-footed ferret pelt on her upper lip. A fatwa fur, if you will. It disturbs the camels. Once they see it, they refuse to breed anymore.
Thank you for taking time out from Swiss banking and machine-gunning children to think of fuzzy little bunnies, kitties and donkeys. You are truly a Moral Giant among goats.
P.S. That reminds us...could you refrain from using rat poison on the nail bombs? Certainly there must be another effective poison you could use that wouldn't harm our brother-rats.
Yours in obvious moral superiority,
Ingrid Newkirk, the human-like President of P.E.T.T.errs
"There are no bad horses...only bad horses' asses."
An Open Letter from P.E.T.T.errs (People for the Ethical Treatment of Terrorists) to the Donkey Dictator, Yassir Arafat.
My Dear, Dear, Dear, Most Excelling Excellent Excellency, Defender of the Indefensible, Totally Innocent Victim of the Brutal Aggression, Man of Peace and Fellow Terrorist,
It has come to our attention that a donkey has bin Laden with explosives and sent to blow up innocent Israeli schoolchildren. This is outrageous! Donkeys should never be injured in that way! If it's not too much of a burden, Your Beastliness, we would appreciate it if you could find a humane animal-free alternative.
We've also noticed that your wife is carrying around 250 lbs. of extra blubber, sorely needed by the Peshawarian Panda community during the remainder of the harsh Afghan winter. Also, please have a word with Ms. Hannan Ashrawi; she has taken to wearing an entire black-footed ferret pelt on her upper lip. A fatwa fur, if you will. It disturbs the camels. Once they see it, they refuse to breed anymore.
Thank you for taking time out from Swiss banking and machine-gunning children to think of fuzzy little bunnies, kitties and donkeys. You are truly a Moral Giant among goats.
P.S. That reminds us...could you refrain from using rat poison on the nail bombs? Certainly there must be another effective poison you could use that wouldn't harm our brother-rats.
Yours in obvious moral superiority,
Ingrid Newkirk, the human-like President of P.E.T.T.errs
"There are no bad horses...only bad horses' asses."
"Horses Don't Fly"
but cowboys do. At least, Frederick Libby did.
A century ago, he was a young cowboy from Colorado. His wanderlust took him to Canada, where he joined the Canadian Army as a truck-driver, never having driven a truck before. This was back when Canada acted like a real country. Once in France, he joined the Royal Flying Corps as an "observer" ,i.e., the 2nd man in the 2 man crew who acted as gunner/bombardier/navigator/photographer. He shot down a German plane on his first time out, and eventually had some two dozen 'kills' , becoming a pilot in the new single-man aircraft.
Capt. Libby speaks in an almost Twain-esque voice, 'tho as a Westerner, he's quicker to the point than the Southerner Twain.
You may ask "Noel, why would I care about this book?"
Well, as Cicero said ; "Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to be always a child. If no use is made of the labors of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge."
And we already have gobs & gobs of middle-aged children. Please refrain from being one. Thank you.
Plus, it's funny. Capt. Libby says things like "There are no bad horses; only bad people." and " The French mademoiselles are all for winning the War; they are with you down to their last chemise." This was back when French men still had hair under their arms...and French women didn't.
If you read it, you'll learn what Capt. Libby thought of the "Red Baron", meeting Billy Mitchell, & making the World safe for Democracy.
He was presented the Military Cross by King George for his bravery.
And that's something we all could use these days.
but cowboys do. At least, Frederick Libby did.
A century ago, he was a young cowboy from Colorado. His wanderlust took him to Canada, where he joined the Canadian Army as a truck-driver, never having driven a truck before. This was back when Canada acted like a real country. Once in France, he joined the Royal Flying Corps as an "observer" ,i.e., the 2nd man in the 2 man crew who acted as gunner/bombardier/navigator/photographer. He shot down a German plane on his first time out, and eventually had some two dozen 'kills' , becoming a pilot in the new single-man aircraft.
Capt. Libby speaks in an almost Twain-esque voice, 'tho as a Westerner, he's quicker to the point than the Southerner Twain.
You may ask "Noel, why would I care about this book?"
Well, as Cicero said ; "Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to be always a child. If no use is made of the labors of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge."
And we already have gobs & gobs of middle-aged children. Please refrain from being one. Thank you.
Plus, it's funny. Capt. Libby says things like "There are no bad horses; only bad people." and " The French mademoiselles are all for winning the War; they are with you down to their last chemise." This was back when French men still had hair under their arms...and French women didn't.
If you read it, you'll learn what Capt. Libby thought of the "Red Baron", meeting Billy Mitchell, & making the World safe for Democracy.
He was presented the Military Cross by King George for his bravery.
And that's something we all could use these days.
The "ia's" have it.
Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Labia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia signed their own letter of support for the U.S. position. Alright, "Labia" is not really it's own country...yet. 'Tho it does wield an enormous amount of power! Just seeing if you were paying attention. And Ireland's leader says he would have signed on to the first letter, if asked.
This is all good. However, Croatia is backsliding into Communism and is probably merely seeking US aid dollars.
And our 'eternal friends', the Saud Frauds, are hell-bent on turning Croatia into one large madrass, according to Jeffery T. Kuhner at NRO.
Mark Steyn has a good piece on why we should just get out of the UN; to me, no longer a fringe position (if it ever was). The UN may actually do some good things we can't do ourselves; I just can't imagine what that could possibly be. But the harm it does is measurable and constant.
Steyn has another brilliant new piece on Powell's speech...we're going in, at long last.
As we must.
Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Labia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia signed their own letter of support for the U.S. position. Alright, "Labia" is not really it's own country...yet. 'Tho it does wield an enormous amount of power! Just seeing if you were paying attention. And Ireland's leader says he would have signed on to the first letter, if asked.
This is all good. However, Croatia is backsliding into Communism and is probably merely seeking US aid dollars.
And our 'eternal friends', the Saud Frauds, are hell-bent on turning Croatia into one large madrass, according to Jeffery T. Kuhner at NRO.
Mark Steyn has a good piece on why we should just get out of the UN; to me, no longer a fringe position (if it ever was). The UN may actually do some good things we can't do ourselves; I just can't imagine what that could possibly be. But the harm it does is measurable and constant.
Steyn has another brilliant new piece on Powell's speech...we're going in, at long last.
As we must.
Thursday, February 06, 2003
92 years ago
Dutch Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois. "He looks like a fat little Dutchman. But, who knows, he might grow up to be President someday," said his father.
"My mother...told me ...everything in life happened for a purpose. She said all things were part of God's Plan...My mother, as usual, was right." As was his father.
Ronnie went on to live his American Life, and we are all the better for that life.
He left the party of his youth, sensing it's anti-American, anti-freedom direction while many of us were yet children.
One of my favorite Reagan anecdotes:
A student protester arrogantly told Ronnie that Reagan's generation couldn't possibly understand the complexities of modern life with it's jet engines & nuclear power. When the student paused for breath, President Reagan replied, "You're right. We didn't have those things when we were young...We invented them." Ba Da Bing!
What this President knew:
"We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever."
"The house we hope to build is not for my generation but for yours. It is your future that matters. And I hope that when you are my age, you will be able to say as I have been able to say: We lived in freedom. We lived lives that were a statement, not an apology."
Ronnie, we're glad we knew ye.
Happy Birthday, Dutch.
Dutch Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois. "He looks like a fat little Dutchman. But, who knows, he might grow up to be President someday," said his father.
"My mother...told me ...everything in life happened for a purpose. She said all things were part of God's Plan...My mother, as usual, was right." As was his father.
Ronnie went on to live his American Life, and we are all the better for that life.
He left the party of his youth, sensing it's anti-American, anti-freedom direction while many of us were yet children.
One of my favorite Reagan anecdotes:
A student protester arrogantly told Ronnie that Reagan's generation couldn't possibly understand the complexities of modern life with it's jet engines & nuclear power. When the student paused for breath, President Reagan replied, "You're right. We didn't have those things when we were young...We invented them." Ba Da Bing!
What this President knew:
"We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
"...peace is the highest aspiration of the American People. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will never surrender for it, now or ever."
"The house we hope to build is not for my generation but for yours. It is your future that matters. And I hope that when you are my age, you will be able to say as I have been able to say: We lived in freedom. We lived lives that were a statement, not an apology."
Ronnie, we're glad we knew ye.
Happy Birthday, Dutch.
Wednesday, February 05, 2003
Hey Mr. Talleyban
Mickey D. Nostradumbass puts on the rubber glove to examine Fidel's house pet, Harry Belafonte.
Ouch!...that's gotta hurt!
Mickey D. Nostradumbass puts on the rubber glove to examine Fidel's house pet, Harry Belafonte.
Ouch!...that's gotta hurt!
It's Party Time!
Today is Mike's B'day...stop by and wish him well. Mike may be just a little ...inclement by this hour, but the door's propped open, beer's in the fridge & the girls are dancin' to the Rockabilly! Whatcha waitin' for?
Update: Mike says the party's off...'til this weekend!
Tomorrow is Ronald Reagan's B'day. Hmmmm...could be a good day for, oh, I dunno...smashing America's enemies!
Just a thought.
Today is Mike's B'day...stop by and wish him well. Mike may be just a little ...inclement by this hour, but the door's propped open, beer's in the fridge & the girls are dancin' to the Rockabilly! Whatcha waitin' for?
Update: Mike says the party's off...'til this weekend!
Tomorrow is Ronald Reagan's B'day. Hmmmm...could be a good day for, oh, I dunno...smashing America's enemies!
Just a thought.
Note:
Haloscan or something seems to have eaten some comments posted recently. No one was deleted.
Heck, comments are the best part of this thing!
Haloscan or something seems to have eaten some comments posted recently. No one was deleted.
Heck, comments are the best part of this thing!
Since we're quoting...
"Hell is God's great compliment to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human choice."
-G. K. Chesterton
"Hell is God's great compliment to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human choice."
-G. K. Chesterton
Tuesday, February 04, 2003
The Wit...
"There are two things that are more difficult than making an after-dinner speech: climbing a wall which is leaning toward you and kissing a girl who is leaning away from you."
"Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room."
"I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."
"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it."
...and Wisdom...
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."
"Kites rise highest against the wind---not with it."
"The heights of great men reached and kept, Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upwards in the night."
"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."
...of Sir Winston Churchill.
"There are two things that are more difficult than making an after-dinner speech: climbing a wall which is leaning toward you and kissing a girl who is leaning away from you."
"Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room."
"I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."
"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it."
...and Wisdom...
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."
"Kites rise highest against the wind---not with it."
"The heights of great men reached and kept, Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upwards in the night."
"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."
...of Sir Winston Churchill.
Ted Kennedy orders yet another round
of voting on the War, saying a lot has changed sinced the last vote.
I just read a 20 year-old editorial piece last night in which Europeans were supplying Hussein with weapons technology, the UN was unhelpful and/or totally useless & the media were blaming Israel for defending itself.
Help me!...I'm spinning at the searing rate of change!
Maybe we should have 2 Congresses...one to pass symbolic legislation and one to do the serious work of repealing stupid laws. They could both work night & day for years to come.
Of course, Teddy just wants to take shots at the Administration and stop this mad "Rush to War". Or, to paraphrase Lileks, what a "Rush to War" would look like if the Sherriff spent 12 years getting the posse together.
Teddy has been busy basking in the glow of the Boston Globe, who pointed out that Mary Jo Kopechne would really appreciate his work on Medi-Care...if only she were, uh, you know, alive.
And our Nantucket Whaler has been trying to de-fund the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System.
This is the system that has caught, among others, two al Qaeda operatives trying to enter the country; their fingerprints were found on papers in the caves of Afghanistan. I'm sure there is a perfectly innocent explanation. Even some Teddy hasn't used himself.
Here's a thought; instead of trying to criminalize the Confederate battle flag down South, perhaps Teddy should get rid of this local abomination;
"This hand, enemy to tyrants, By the sword seeks calm peacefulness with liberty."
The Official Motto of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
We just can't have that kind of talk around 'Havahd Yahd'.
At least, not anymore.
Guess a lot has changed, after all.
of voting on the War, saying a lot has changed sinced the last vote.
I just read a 20 year-old editorial piece last night in which Europeans were supplying Hussein with weapons technology, the UN was unhelpful and/or totally useless & the media were blaming Israel for defending itself.
Help me!...I'm spinning at the searing rate of change!
Maybe we should have 2 Congresses...one to pass symbolic legislation and one to do the serious work of repealing stupid laws. They could both work night & day for years to come.
Of course, Teddy just wants to take shots at the Administration and stop this mad "Rush to War". Or, to paraphrase Lileks, what a "Rush to War" would look like if the Sherriff spent 12 years getting the posse together.
Teddy has been busy basking in the glow of the Boston Globe, who pointed out that Mary Jo Kopechne would really appreciate his work on Medi-Care...if only she were, uh, you know, alive.
And our Nantucket Whaler has been trying to de-fund the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System.
This is the system that has caught, among others, two al Qaeda operatives trying to enter the country; their fingerprints were found on papers in the caves of Afghanistan. I'm sure there is a perfectly innocent explanation. Even some Teddy hasn't used himself.
Here's a thought; instead of trying to criminalize the Confederate battle flag down South, perhaps Teddy should get rid of this local abomination;
"This hand, enemy to tyrants, By the sword seeks calm peacefulness with liberty."
The Official Motto of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
We just can't have that kind of talk around 'Havahd Yahd'.
At least, not anymore.
Guess a lot has changed, after all.
I don't watch much TV,
but I understand they are in full 'Princess Di'-mode.
Which is why I don't watch much TV.
I feel it like everyone else, but this is a more serious time.
I've already seen a lifetime's worth of burling flags in super slow-mo.
If Elton John issues a re-make of "Rocket Man", you'll know it's time to build that bomb shelter.
So have a good cry, say your prayers and honor our Fallen.
Then suck it up; we're moving forward.
Isn't that what astronauts do?
but I understand they are in full 'Princess Di'-mode.
Which is why I don't watch much TV.
I feel it like everyone else, but this is a more serious time.
I've already seen a lifetime's worth of burling flags in super slow-mo.
If Elton John issues a re-make of "Rocket Man", you'll know it's time to build that bomb shelter.
So have a good cry, say your prayers and honor our Fallen.
Then suck it up; we're moving forward.
Isn't that what astronauts do?
Monday, February 03, 2003
"An airborne United Nations"
is how Katie Couric described the Columbia crew.
No. Unlike the UN, they were principled, dedicated, brave & actually accomplishing some good. Nice try, though, Katie.
Did you know Christa MaCauliffe was of Arab descent?
Does that mean the Challenger disaster an "act of Allah" too?
Or was it a Zionist Conspiracy(tm), you half-mad, barking Moon-god worshippers? Hard to keep your superstitions straight, isn't it?
I was thinking about Col. Ramon's role in the FRENCH reactor raid...I remember how Europe & the media howled.
If it helps you lefties, think of it this way: Destroying that facility was..."Deconstructionism"!
"Arms Control", really.
When they saw it in their bomb-sites, let's call that "Weapons Inspections". Followed immediately by "Disarmament"!
I'm so glad I could help you wing-nuts support the War.
Helping.
That's what we do here.
is how Katie Couric described the Columbia crew.
No. Unlike the UN, they were principled, dedicated, brave & actually accomplishing some good. Nice try, though, Katie.
Did you know Christa MaCauliffe was of Arab descent?
Does that mean the Challenger disaster an "act of Allah" too?
Or was it a Zionist Conspiracy(tm), you half-mad, barking Moon-god worshippers? Hard to keep your superstitions straight, isn't it?
I was thinking about Col. Ramon's role in the FRENCH reactor raid...I remember how Europe & the media howled.
If it helps you lefties, think of it this way: Destroying that facility was..."Deconstructionism"!
"Arms Control", really.
When they saw it in their bomb-sites, let's call that "Weapons Inspections". Followed immediately by "Disarmament"!
I'm so glad I could help you wing-nuts support the War.
Helping.
That's what we do here.
Aaron the Liberal Slayer
has some great stuff up.
Arafat's Uncle reviews the troops.
Which country bombed Iraq's French -made Nuke Factory...first? And what did Hussein say to make it stop?
A link to the WSJ's editorial on the Israeli raid some 20 years ago...
all this and Stupid German Chemical Company Tricks, too! (hint: This is why we warn you kids not to start the Zyklon-B habit...it's so darn hard to stop!)
Check it out HERE!
has some great stuff up.
Arafat's Uncle reviews the troops.
Which country bombed Iraq's French -made Nuke Factory...first? And what did Hussein say to make it stop?
A link to the WSJ's editorial on the Israeli raid some 20 years ago...
all this and Stupid German Chemical Company Tricks, too! (hint: This is why we warn you kids not to start the Zyklon-B habit...it's so darn hard to stop!)
Check it out HERE!
Allah!: The Playgoy Interview
Our own Prophet of Profit, dead French guy Michel de Nostradumbass gets an exclusive interview with the Moon-god Himself!
They discuss everything from fashion to fascists, weather to war...and Star Trek, too!
So hop on board...the Boogie Quatrain is leaving the station!
Our own Prophet of Profit, dead French guy Michel de Nostradumbass gets an exclusive interview with the Moon-god Himself!
They discuss everything from fashion to fascists, weather to war...and Star Trek, too!
So hop on board...the Boogie Quatrain is leaving the station!
Sunday, February 02, 2003
Four months ago
the shuttle Atlantis lost a peice of foam, which then hit it's fuel tanks. There was little apparent damage, and it failed to bring the craft down.
Days ago, the shuttle Columbia lost a peice of foam on takeoff, which struck the wing. It is suspected that this loosened a heat tile, causing the disaster.
Former NASA officials had warned of safety concerns for years.
In 1993, The World Trade Center was bombed by militant Islamists who had been allowed to enter this country. They failed to bring the building down. And the 6 people who were killed were treated as minimal. The Death penalty was not even sought.
On Sept. 11, the terrorists, here both legally & illegally, finally succeeded in bringing the buildings down.
Former Intelligence and Immigration officials had warned of safety concerns for years.
Our Intelligence capability and our control over our borders are the 'heat-tiles' that protect our society from disasters in a super-heated world.
While the shuttles will be grounded until the problems are resolved, our borders are still largely open.
That's odd.
Got Borders?
the shuttle Atlantis lost a peice of foam, which then hit it's fuel tanks. There was little apparent damage, and it failed to bring the craft down.
Days ago, the shuttle Columbia lost a peice of foam on takeoff, which struck the wing. It is suspected that this loosened a heat tile, causing the disaster.
Former NASA officials had warned of safety concerns for years.
In 1993, The World Trade Center was bombed by militant Islamists who had been allowed to enter this country. They failed to bring the building down. And the 6 people who were killed were treated as minimal. The Death penalty was not even sought.
On Sept. 11, the terrorists, here both legally & illegally, finally succeeded in bringing the buildings down.
Former Intelligence and Immigration officials had warned of safety concerns for years.
Our Intelligence capability and our control over our borders are the 'heat-tiles' that protect our society from disasters in a super-heated world.
While the shuttles will be grounded until the problems are resolved, our borders are still largely open.
That's odd.
Got Borders?
It's Official.com!
The FCC announced today that every single American now has their own blog.
The 300 people who read the announcement could not be reached for comment, as they were busy posting their own takes on it.
In related news, Pres. George W. Bush wrote on his website, www.hey!overhere!payattention!i'mthepresident!.com
"Sorry about the light posting; been kinda' busy. BTW, we just invaded Iraq. Flame War!"
In the Comments, an 'Ari F.' urged others to 'ignore that troll named 'Helen' and maybe she'll go away."
The FCC announced today that every single American now has their own blog.
The 300 people who read the announcement could not be reached for comment, as they were busy posting their own takes on it.
In related news, Pres. George W. Bush wrote on his website, www.hey!overhere!payattention!i'mthepresident!.com
"Sorry about the light posting; been kinda' busy. BTW, we just invaded Iraq. Flame War!"
In the Comments, an 'Ari F.' urged others to 'ignore that troll named 'Helen' and maybe she'll go away."
Saturday, February 01, 2003
When I was a child (here we go!)...
astronauts were heroes.
The names of the Mercury astronauts; Alan Shepard, Deke Slayton, Scott Carpenter and Gus Grissom, among others, were as well known as John, Paul, George & Ringo.
Then came the Gemini & Apollo programs; lives were lost, but great missions were accomplished.
But somewhere along the line, "heroes" went out of fashion. It was the time of the leftist Anti-hero.
Now, I can be as cynical as the next guy (okay, more so), but I now make it a point of using words like "hero" and "brave" and "patriot" entirely un-cynically.
I'm 'taking back the words', as they say.
"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel," said Dr. Johnson famously. But he did not mean patriots were scoundrels. He meant FALSE patriots were scoundrels.
Besides, patriotism is not the last refuge of scoundrels.
The Democratic Party is.
astronauts were heroes.
The names of the Mercury astronauts; Alan Shepard, Deke Slayton, Scott Carpenter and Gus Grissom, among others, were as well known as John, Paul, George & Ringo.
Then came the Gemini & Apollo programs; lives were lost, but great missions were accomplished.
But somewhere along the line, "heroes" went out of fashion. It was the time of the leftist Anti-hero.
Now, I can be as cynical as the next guy (okay, more so), but I now make it a point of using words like "hero" and "brave" and "patriot" entirely un-cynically.
I'm 'taking back the words', as they say.
"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel," said Dr. Johnson famously. But he did not mean patriots were scoundrels. He meant FALSE patriots were scoundrels.
Besides, patriotism is not the last refuge of scoundrels.
The Democratic Party is.
Just last week there appeared here a quote;
"Give me a fast ship, for I intend to go into harm's way," spoken by an American patriot & hero, Capt. John Paul Jones.
Surely the astronauts aboard the Columbia understood this. Exploration and defending liberty are inherently dangerous.
And while they were expanding our horizons, make no mistake; they WERE defending our freedom.
Don't kid yourself. The Chinese dictatorship is hell-bent on gaining a military advantage over us in space.
We can never allow that.
If you doubt it, let me assure you that there is rejoicing in Beijing this morning. Also, in much of the Arab world.
There is probably no way to calculate how many lives Col. Ramon may have saved by helping destroy Iraq's French nuclear reactor.
We would like to think of Space as an area of co-operation among nations;
But why would a country that builds gulags and guard towers for it's own subjects on Earth act any differently in Space?
So many people have risked all to give us a Space Program.
Gen. Yeager, on the dangers of flight:
"They found that a bolt on the aileron cylinder was installed upside down. Crew chiefs in every Sabre squadron were ordered to inspect their airplane's wings...(we) found the culprit. He was an older man on the assembly line who ignored instructions about how to insert the bolt because, by God, he knew that bolts were supposed to be placed head-up, not head down. Nobody told him how many pilots he had killed."
"We lost a lot of people, mostly the victims of pilot error. Nearly 20 test-pilots, some of them good friends, bought the farm during those years. One guy was killed just closing the canopy to his B-47...Flying at super-sonic speeds, a pilot has a couple of seconds to take decisive corrective action when something goes alarmingly wrong."
"But there were some fatal accidents that made no sense."
"Driving into Edwards via the main gate," (named for Capt. Glenn Edwards, killed testing the Flying Wing)," a visitor crossed James Fitz-Gerald Boulevard, en route to base headquarters. Fitz had been my back-up pilot on the X-1...He was the best takeoff and landing pilot I ever saw. Nobody remembers that Fitz was the second pilot to break Mach 1...He was a West Pointer, with a beautiful young wife and a new baby..." and, returning from the Air Races, his plane crashed, killing him.
As with Joe Wolfe, Neil Latham and all the others.
These are men & women whose sacrifices have enabled us to live & live freely. Including, ironically, the freedom to remain historically ignorant, or worse, actively ungrateful.
Gen. Yeager spoke of the Golden Age of Flight, over a half-century ago.
John Paul Jones spoke of the distant struggles of 2 centuries ago.
Yet there remains the constant;
Freedom isn't Free.
Into the Honor Roll:
Mission Commander Rick Husband
Pilot William McCool
Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon
Payload Commander Michael Anderson
Mission Specialist David Brown
Mission Specialist Laurel Clark
Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla
...with the Thanks of a grateful Nation.
"Give me a fast ship, for I intend to go into harm's way," spoken by an American patriot & hero, Capt. John Paul Jones.
Surely the astronauts aboard the Columbia understood this. Exploration and defending liberty are inherently dangerous.
And while they were expanding our horizons, make no mistake; they WERE defending our freedom.
Don't kid yourself. The Chinese dictatorship is hell-bent on gaining a military advantage over us in space.
We can never allow that.
If you doubt it, let me assure you that there is rejoicing in Beijing this morning. Also, in much of the Arab world.
There is probably no way to calculate how many lives Col. Ramon may have saved by helping destroy Iraq's French nuclear reactor.
We would like to think of Space as an area of co-operation among nations;
But why would a country that builds gulags and guard towers for it's own subjects on Earth act any differently in Space?
So many people have risked all to give us a Space Program.
Gen. Yeager, on the dangers of flight:
"They found that a bolt on the aileron cylinder was installed upside down. Crew chiefs in every Sabre squadron were ordered to inspect their airplane's wings...(we) found the culprit. He was an older man on the assembly line who ignored instructions about how to insert the bolt because, by God, he knew that bolts were supposed to be placed head-up, not head down. Nobody told him how many pilots he had killed."
"We lost a lot of people, mostly the victims of pilot error. Nearly 20 test-pilots, some of them good friends, bought the farm during those years. One guy was killed just closing the canopy to his B-47...Flying at super-sonic speeds, a pilot has a couple of seconds to take decisive corrective action when something goes alarmingly wrong."
"But there were some fatal accidents that made no sense."
"Driving into Edwards via the main gate," (named for Capt. Glenn Edwards, killed testing the Flying Wing)," a visitor crossed James Fitz-Gerald Boulevard, en route to base headquarters. Fitz had been my back-up pilot on the X-1...He was the best takeoff and landing pilot I ever saw. Nobody remembers that Fitz was the second pilot to break Mach 1...He was a West Pointer, with a beautiful young wife and a new baby..." and, returning from the Air Races, his plane crashed, killing him.
As with Joe Wolfe, Neil Latham and all the others.
These are men & women whose sacrifices have enabled us to live & live freely. Including, ironically, the freedom to remain historically ignorant, or worse, actively ungrateful.
Gen. Yeager spoke of the Golden Age of Flight, over a half-century ago.
John Paul Jones spoke of the distant struggles of 2 centuries ago.
Yet there remains the constant;
Freedom isn't Free.
Into the Honor Roll:
Mission Commander Rick Husband
Pilot William McCool
Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon
Payload Commander Michael Anderson
Mission Specialist David Brown
Mission Specialist Laurel Clark
Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla
...with the Thanks of a grateful Nation.
