Steyn on the Iraqi Election

Mark Steyn is simply the best. In his latest article, Europe has completely been undressed:

In Europe and North America, the western Left have got on the wrong side of this movement. Shame on them - particularly those who've accused me of "Islamophobia" these last three years; I'm not the one marching in the streets against Muslim democracy and insisting that Arabs much prefer the "security" of dictatorship.

In contrast to the inspirational images from Quagmire Central this weekend, in Europe you can find a few Spaniards brave enough to go into the streets and sneer at Iraqi voters and the moronic Bush, but mustering the courage for anything else is harder. On Sunday night the scheduled attraction at the Rotterdam Film Festival was Submission Part One, a short film about a Muslim woman forced into an arranged marriage to be beaten by her husband and raped by her uncle.

The film's director, Theo van Gogh, was subsequently murdered by Islamists, and the screening was supposed to be part of a debate on freedom of expression. Instead, it was cancelled at the last minute for "safety reasons".

If Theo van Gogh hadn't been killed, he'd doubtless already be working on Submission Part Two, a short film set backstage at a European film festival about a Western culture so reflexively craven that nothing can rouse it to defend itself. Submission Part Three will be about the first Muslim woman to have her unemployment benefit cut for refusing a job as dominatrix in a Frankfurt bondage dungeon.

The Western media might want to rethink their basic narrative: the Iraqi people just took a great leap forward. It's Europe that's looking more like an unwinnable quagmire.

In case you haven't noticed, Iran is now bookmarked by 2 countries that have held elections. U.S. officials are starting to state that maybe Israel will go and blow up those nuclear facilities. North Korea appears to be folding in on itself...

W. already has quite the legacy, and we've got four more years!

Freedom: Look for a cross and Jesus

Read how North Korea may very well be falling apart. If true, this is a wonderful development. North Koreans are starting to leave via an underground escape route provided by a christian network. Here is my favorite paragraph from the column:

Yet North Koreans confirmed that they knew that escapers to China should look for buildings displaying a Christian cross and should ask among Korean speakers for people who knew the word of Jesus.

Isn't that the most awesome thing you've read all day?

(Link via PoliPundit)

"My Daughter, Maybe You.."

As the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz passed last week, this particular story got past our ever thoughtful, eagle eyed MSM. I think they were concerned with parkas or something. Anyway the linked story is profound and a certain tear jerker. Here's a taste:

"Why did they make me an orphan? What right did they have to kill my family? What right did they have to kill my people? Why did they burn my whole family here?" cried Miriam Yahav last Thursday from the podium at Auschwitz, at the ceremonies marking 60 years since the liberation of the extermination camp that she survived. "I stood here, naked, in the snow and the cold, a girl of 16. It was here that they brought my family and burned everyone. Here they took away my name and gave me a number instead. Here I became a number."

Yahav was not scheduled to speak at the ceremony, attended by heads of state from around the world.

"The night before [the ceremony] I could not sleep," Yahav tries to explain. "My whole life passed before me, I felt immense anger, and I wanted to shout. Then, when President Katsav got up to speak, without thinking much, I took off my coat and stood behind him. It was 15 degrees below zero, but I was not cold. I didn't feel anything, only the anger that had built up in my gut for 60 years. When the president finished speaking, I told him that I wanted to add a few words. He moved away from the microphone and I walked up to it and asked, Why? I wanted everyone to hear my cries, even though I knew that no one would give me an answer."(/snip)

Read the whole thing to understand the title of the post.

(Link via The Corner)

Podhoretz Gives a Spanking!

BWA HA HA HA HA HA HAH HA! If you read nothing else today, go read John Podhoretz spank Michael Moore, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and some journalist at Newsweek. Soooo many victims with one column, now THAT IS talent! Here's a very small taste concerning the Iraqi election that was held yesterday, in case you didn't know:

It's a big fat gigantic winning vindication of the guy that the Moores and Kennedys and millions of others still can't believe anybody voted for.

And they know it.

And it's killing them.

Go get it all.

Beating HIV in Babies

Years and years ago I staffed an HIV clinic in Louisiana filling prescriptions. Back then, our understanding of HIV and how to fight it was still in its infancy. Working in the hospital, I also remember working up the first physicians' order for an intravenous infusion of AZT for the Labor and Delivery floor. The strategy that I played a very small role in implementing was a miracle in the making.

In 1990, as many as 2,000 babies were born infected with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS; now, that number has been reduced to a bit more than 200 a year, according to health officials. In New York City, the center of the epidemic, there were 321 newborns infected with H.I.V. in 1990, the year the virus peaked among newborns in the city. In 2003, five babies were born with the virus.

Across the country, mother-to-child transmission of H.I.V. has dropped so sharply that public health officials now talk about wiping it out.

But these facts I find outrageously mystifying:

The stigma of AIDS posed a significant barrier to the flow of vital information. While the state started an AIDS surveillance program in 1981 and tested all newborns for H.I.V. beginning in 1988, for years the program was conducted blind, meaning that no names were attached to the data. If a mother gave birth to a sick child, she would not be told that she or the child had H.I.V. Often the mother would not learn that both had the infection until the baby showed serious, usually fatal symptoms. And health workers did not track down and notify sexual partners of those who had the disease, a standard practice with other sexually transmitted diseases.(/snip)

Dr. Guthrie S. Birkhead, director of the AIDS Institute and the Center for Community Health at the New York State Department of Health, said that in 1997 the state finally began attaching patient information to the newborn H.I.V. tests it conducted and then passing that information along to a patient's doctor, so that mothers could get treatment.

In 1998, a state law was passed that required hospitals to conduct immediate testing of newborns. The results could be learned in 12 hours, and patients could be treated promptly.

"The newborn testing became a safety net," Dr. Birkhead said.

Although New York was hit harder by AIDS than any other state, New York lagged when it came to AIDS reporting, said Dr. Torian, of the city's health department.

"It is very hard for us to understand at this point," Dr. Torian said. "It felt from the public health point of view, and even from the personal view of the mother, not to be a rational stance."

In the last four years, only one baby has been born with H.I.V. at Harlem Hospital Center. Gone are the days when every bed in an orphanage created to take in children born with H.I.V. was filled as quickly as it became available.(emphasis mine)

It took until 1997 to do what should've been going on since the disease was first described. This is nothing short of criminal. Matter of fact, probably just as criminal as the French's behavior with the HIV virus and their country's blood supply.

Iraqi Election Link Round-Up

Today is a great day not just for the Iraqi people, but for all of the United States and the coalition whom has sacrificed to bring this day to fruition. Before I get to the link round-up, I'd like to quote what a USAF surgeon, Major Chris in Balad, Iraq, spent his time doing on election day. From an e-mail:

Today are the Iraqi elections. We have been alternating time glued to the CNN broadcast and taking care of the casualties coming in. Last night a few American soldiers were admitted and will be quickly airlifted out to Germany. Polls opened at 0800 and since then we have seen a trickling of Iraqi civilian casualties from the many mortars, suicide bombings and improvised explosive devices (IED) directed at the polling stations.

We are about to operate on a 7 year old boy who accompanied his father to vote. They were 100 feet from the entrance when there was an explosion and a fragment hit the boy in the head, fracturing his skull. Luckily, his brain seems ok and hopefully he will recover with his faculties intact. We are also taking care of a 17 year old girl shot in the neck and an elderly woman with multiple fragment injuries to her legs. Certainly not anyone who deserves to be a victim of war. There is no justice in these events.

Without giving away anything specific, I want to tell you about some of the preparations we have made for the elections. We have minimized activities with mass gatherings and put a hold on recreational activities. Many of the creature comforts of the base are closed today. We are wearing armor at all times and traveling in pairs. Here are Brian and I in our “battle rattle” as we call the Kevlar helmet and the Kevlar vest with ceramic plates in front and back. Together, these items weigh 35 pounds.(/snip)

I know that I am witnessing history as I watch the bravery and spirit of the Iraqis coming out in droves to vote. Beyond the hollow threats of weapons of mass destruction and links to Al Quaeda, seeing this great thing happen makes even a cynical critic of the war like me hopeful. Even if this war was started for the wrong reasons and we have suffered for it, I will be the first to embrace a positive result. Even as I watch the reports of suicide bombers and attacks on voters in Bagdad and Mosul, I am praying and wishing for their safety. We stand ready to help anyone hurt in the process. The danger the Iraqis are facing as they exercise a right that we take for granted points out how blessed we are to live free. Our country may need to learn how to get along with international institutions better, but we sure do know how to live.

Well enough of my yakkin’ ! You all take care and have a great day wherever you are in the world. But first, pause and give propps to the brave Iraqi people as they step out and make a stand.

May all of our soldiers stay safe today and everyday. I am a proud American today and am very proud of the Iraqi people. It took a lot of bravery to go out and vote today. Something that we very much take for granted.

Instapundit has several great link round-ups here and
here. Powerline has been busy as well, click here for photos from the day, and here, scroll down and check out the little girl in the post.

INDC Journal has one of the best linkage/excerpt posts around. You definitely don't want to miss that one.

A.B.D.

Another writer that I've come to admire and very much enjoy is Debra Saunders of the San Francisco Chronicle. She must feel very lonely over there most of the time. She has written an excellent column on what she heard at a DNC forum in Sacramento.

In that spirit (sort of), there were two words I heard a lot during the forum: The real enemy is not Iraqi insurgents. The real enemy is Karl Rove, the GOP bogeyman. Rove, damn him, sold the Bush agenda to 51 percent of the electorate.

It's funny how the Democrats denounced the GOP evil genius, all the while suggesting that they could be Rove, only better. So they treated issues as if issues were mere packaging, not ideas with consequences. Rosenberg noted the party's need to "revitalize our message" -- hence, the de-emphasis on Iraq.

Sacramento-based Democratic strategist Roger Salazar supports Fowler because he believes the party has to move to the center. "You have to have a broader appeal than just the base," he said. And: "The sooner we sober up, the sooner we'll take back control of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave."

The rub: It was that thinking that prompted Democrats to nominate John Kerry, who voted for a war most Democrats opposed, and went on to lose the general election.

Political consultant Katie Merrill warned that it is a mistake for observers to judge the race for DNC chairman based on the reaction of activists. Only 65 DNC members in that room, and some 440 nationally, will vote for the chairman on Feb. 12. The DNC members will be looking for a solid nuts-and-bolts chairman.

She added that while California might lean heavily toward Dean, Democrats in the South and Midwest want Anyone But Dean. And that A.B.D. push, I think, is about issues and message.

The two most prominent Beat-Dean Dems are Fowler and Frost.

Fowler summed up the A.B.D. argument when he told the Associated Press, "Dean had the oranges, but he couldn't make orange juice."

What does that even mean?

The real question is: Does it matter if you win, if you lose what you stand for?(emphasis mine)

The Dems problem is summed up with the bolded question. They lost what they stand for in the last election because they knew it was not a winning strategy. If you feel you have to sell-out to get elected, you must start asking yourself what that says of your policies and ideas. Which is why republicans will continue to win in the future. The Dems sold out to special interests a long time ago, and haven't had a new idea or thought except on how to steal elections. They've had their wake-up calls delivered in election after election now.....

But hey, I'm not complaining. ;)

AP Bias?

If you are still operating under the illusion that the press is basically good and want to present the facts in an unbiased fashion, well.....you really need to go and read PowerLine's impressive deconstruction of the AP's 'world wide skeptics' of the Iraqi election. Really, go....and read a top to bottom spanking that can only lead to one conclusion: Unadulterated hatred for Bush/America and the outright chearleading for the failure of an entire population to embrace freedom and democracy. Think I'm wrong? Go see for yourself.

CNN: Covering the Spread

You must check out this screen shot posted at Ace of Spades. CNN has certainly covered all of the bases on this one! One can only wonder how many times this happens at CNN, since no one is watching, it's hard to know.

Thank You Hollywood!

This story has me laughing my tail off!

HUMAN EVENTS has learned that a billboard blitz "thanking" Hollywood for the reelection of President Bush will be unveiled early next week.

The advertisements feature the faces of liberal Hollywood icons Michael Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Ben Affleck, Martin Sheen, Chevy Chase, Barbara Streisand, and Sean Penn, and offer thanks to Hollywood their help getting President Bush reelected.

Two versions of the billboard were created, both "thanking" Hollywood -- the first for "4 more years" and the second for "W. Still President."

This is the stuff that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Start a Revolution

I recently posted on Evan Coyne maloney of Brain Terminal and how he is being described as the right's answer to Michael Moore. Evan has added another video to his collection from interviews he conducted with protestors at the inauguration of President Bush. It is a must see, especially the last minute or so. Everyone up to that point looks just a little silly and harmless, but then they start talking about how wonderful socialism and communism is to them. Don't miss the school teacher leading the socialist group. Wonder how many parents know that little fact about their kid's teacher?

Enough!

God,

Please stop the snow.

Thanks.

Flipping Hillary

Here we go folks, Hillary is definitely positioning herself for '08, and unfortunately for her, it looks like she took some notes from the one and only John Kerry.

ALBANY, Jan. 24 - Proposing new political language about abortion rights for the Democratic Party, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said today that friends and foes on the issue should come together on "common ground" to reduce the number of "unwanted pregnancies" and ultimately abortions, which she called a "sad, even tragic choice to many, many women."

Mrs. Clinton, in a speech to about 1,000 abortion rights supporters at the state Capitol, firmly restated her support for the Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide, Roe v. Wade. But then she quickly shifted gears, offering warm words to opponents of abortion - particularly members of religious groups - asserting that there was "common ground" to be found after three decades of emotional and political warfare over abortion.

"Common ground"...oh yeah, there's a lot of that on this issue. To try and play both sides of this issue is clearly intellectually dishonest and in the end this clearly will not work. The passions on this issue are way too high for a middle ground. Anyway, what 'middle ground' would be acceptable to anyone who believes life begins at conception? Hillary clearly does not 'get it'.

Oh yeah, Have I mentioned that if Hillary is the Dems nominee in 08, that I will become a maxed out contributer and the biggest activist for the Republicans that is allowed by law? Uuuugh!

Getting Hitched

Why in the world does anybody care about this?

Blizzard Blogging

Too Much Snow?

How do you know when there is just way too much snow? When your 5 year-old looks out the window and says: "Mommy, there is no way I'm going out there!"

The wind is wicked-bad right now. (Note to non New Englanders: 'Wicked' is used often up here in place of the word 'really', ie, wicked-good, wicked-cold, wicked-hot...you get the idea.) Not only is it still continuing to snow, but the wind gusts are blowing the snow horizontally causing huge snow drifts.

What $20 will buy you in a blizzard:

Luckily we live off of a main artery that the snow plows have tried to keep clear. Last night around 2 A.M., my hubby was trying to make his way home from work and tried to park out on the street to get into the house. There was too much snow on the side street that leads to our driveway. A guy in a snow plow came by and told him that the city would tow his car and fine him if he parked there. So the guy offered to plow up to our driveway and clear a place for him to park.

My hubby asked: "How much is that going to cost me?"

Snow Plow guy: "How much money do you have on you?"

Hubby: "I've got 20 bucks in my wallet."

Snow Plow guy: "That'll do!"

My Attempt at Photo Blogging: (Maybe I'll get an InstaLaunch for using a digital camera! ;)
Note: All photos were taken through the window and with a Kodak EasyShare DX4330

This first photo is of a bush just one hour into the snowstorm from yesterday:


Next we have a picture of the same bush this morning:


Here, notice the snow drifts beneath the row of shrubs, there is a 2 foot stone wall there that is completely covered:


So, yes, we are all stuck inside today watching movies and playing. Thankfully we have plenty of hot chocolate and, most importantly to those under age 5, marshmellows.

UPDATE: Here is a couple walking down a main road. I can't imagine where they feel they must go right now. The snow has really picked up something fierce.

UPDATE II: Here are the boys in the snow later in the afternoon. The sun actually came out and we had a nice, clear, blue sky. Note that my smaller son is up to his chest. This snow was nothing but powder. I quickly realized that it was dangerous for them to be out in the yard in the snow drifts. At one point he was buried up to his armpits. So after pulling him out a few times, we quickly headed right back indoors!
Remember, we're from the south and are not use to this type of snowfall.

Killing Babies in the U.K.

The joys of socialized medicine can be found here:

Charlotte Wyatt, who weighed just 1lb when she was born prematurely, was given only months to live after a hospital won the legal right last autumn not to resuscitate her if she stopped breathing.

Doctors secured the ruling, against the wishes of Charlotte’s parents, on the grounds that she was brain-damaged and it was in the baby’s own interests not to be resuscitated since it would prolong her suffering and would be “purposeless”.

Doctors expected that Charlotte, now 15 months old, would succumb to an infection that would prove fatal without emergency intervention. However, she has survived 3½ winter months since the ruling; there is also evidence that her breathing is becoming stronger and she is less dependent on an oxygen supply — an improvement confirmed by hospital sources. The family claims she has some sight and can hear clapping.

Yesterday Carol Glass, a friend of the Wyatts, said: “Doctors said Charlotte would not live to see her first birthday and that was months ago. The hospital then said she was unlikely to make it through the winter months, but we are now a good way through.

Can you imagine someone forcing you to let your baby just die? How powerless must a parent feel to visit their baby with a court-ordered "Do Not Resuscitate" sign above the crib.

Then there's this little tidbit: "Darren Wyatt is allowed to visit his daughter only if accompanied by a security guard."

I guess they're scared he might try to save his baby against their wishes. Just plain sick.

However, gentle reader, the U.K.'s new adoption of a society of death does not stop there. Oh no, no, no...Go read The Anchoress report on the trend of aborting babies with cleft palates in Britain.

American Idol Disaster

I never watch network TV anymore, although, I must admit that I've been anxiously awaiting the start of American Idol. There must be something said about watching people, willingly under delusions of grandeur, go on national TV and make complete fools of themselves. It really is quite funny, and do not doubt, these first few weeks are the best. Once the show gets serious, it's not so much fun to watch anymore. I'm not sure what that says about me or the gazillions of other people watching for the same reasons, but if you missed the most talked about, worse singer ever, here is the video of the entire disaster. It really is funny, and I'm going to be nice and show restraint by not even mentioning how unfortunate the selection of those white pants were. See how nice I'm being?

Brave Anti-Protestors

You must go and read Smash's latest account of their local Protest Warrior group's mission in San Diego. I love reading about how these brave folks who go and challenge the protestors and anarchists. Though, as Protest Warrior has become more well known and has grabbed more press for their presence, it is getting more dangerous for them. Their website is awesome and has many fascinating stories to read; go check them out.

Cry Babies

Cox and Forkum have perfectly depicted the two biggest cry babies of this past week:
I don't know which is worse, their behavior or the fact that a pretty large number of people walk into a voting booth every 6 years and actually pull the lever for these baffoons to represent them. Think about it.

Pat of Irrelevance

Bill of INDC Journal expresses a thought I've had many, many times. He wonders outloud why Pat Buchanan has not been put out to pasture. One of many things that really bugs me about him is that he is the token 'conservative' on MSNBC other than Scarborough. Uuugh! What a baffoon.

Here's what John Podhoretz reported of Buchanan in his Commentary piece "WW IV":

A cognate count in this indictment held that the invasion of Iraq had been secretly engineered by a cabal of Jewish officials acting not in the interest of their own country but in the service of Israel, and more particularly of Ariel Sharon. At first the framers and early spreaders of this defamatory charge considered it the better part of prudence to identify the conspirators not as Jews but as "neoconservatives." It was a clever tactic, in that Jews did in fact constitute a large proportion of the repentant liberals and leftists who, having some two or three decades earlier broken ranks with the Left and moved rightward, came to be identified as neoconservatives. Everyone in the know knew this, and for those to whom it was news, the point could easily be gotten across by singling out only those neoconservatives who had Jewish-sounding names and to ignore the many other leading members of the group whose clearly non-Jewish names might confuse the picture.

This tactic had been given a trial run by Patrick J. Buchanan in opposing the first Gulf war of 1991. Buchanan had then already denounced the Johnny-come-lately neoconservatives for having hijacked and corrupted the conservative movement, but now he descended deeper into the fever swamps by insisting that there were "only two groups beating the drums . . . for war in the Middle East—the Israeli Defense Ministry and its amen corner in the United States." Among those standing in the "amen corner" he subsequently singled out four prominent hawks with Jewish-sounding names, counterposing them to "kids with names like McAllister, Murphy, Gonzales, and Leroy Brown" who would actually do the fighting if these Jews had their way.

There you have it, Buchanan and John Kerry opposed the 1991 Gulf War. What an idiot.

Not a Chance

Many of you may have seen the Amber Alert on the 11 year-old boy that was kidnapped by a man that had been living with them. Thankfully, that child has been found alive. After reading the details in the story, you realize how desperately deprived many children are of any glimmer of hope at having a decent chance in life:

Frederick Fretz (search), 42, picked up the boy Tuesday from his school in Dunnellon, Fla., police said. Their drive ended about 375 miles to the northwest when their car stalled on an exit ramp off Interstate 75 north of Atlanta.(/snip)

The boy's father, Ivert Kirkirt, said he was going to Georgia to reunite with his son.

Kirkirt says Fretz never told him he had been convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy in Pennsylvania in 1991. Authorities issued an Amber Alert (search) on Wednesday to notify the public and other law enforcement agencies once they learned about the conviction.

Kirkirt had invited Fretz to move into his home in October after they served time together in the Marion County, Fla., jail — Fretz for domestic battery and marijuana possession, Kirkirt for a probation violation on an aggravated battery charge. While in jail they realized that they had known each other as teens in New Jersey.

Paging all parents: If someone looks like this:

Just maybe, you wouldn't want them around your child. This really isn't rocket science folks. There are some books you can judge by their cover.

Taking on Secularist and Godless Reason

Dennis Prager spanks the theory that reason without God always leads to good:

It is sheer nonsense -- nonsense believed by the godless -- that reason always suggests the good. Mother Teresa devoted her life to feeding and clothing the dying in Calcutta. Was this decision derived entirely from reason? To argue that it was derived from reason alone is to argue that every person whose actions are guided by reason will engage in similar self-sacrifice, and that anyone who doesn't live a Mother Teresa-like life is acting irrationally.

Did those non-Jews in Europe who risked their lives to save a Jew during the Holocaust act on the dictates of reason? In a lifetime of studying those rescuers' motives, I have never come across a single instance of an individual who saved Jews because of reason. In fact, it was irrational for any non-Jews to risk their lives to save Jews.

Oh, that is just a taste of his brilliant take-down of the Age of Reason. You must read the whole thing, your brain will double in size. My guarantee.

"No Rest for the Weary"

As always, Charles Krauthammer has an interesting take today on two fronts: 1) On where W has brought us to this point, and 2) How the world will be divided in the coming decades. If Charles is right, we won't be floating around on clouds, drinking champagne and slapping each other on the back when the War on Terror is won. There is two parts: the good news and the bad news, here's the latter:

I'm talking about the other, more subtle challenge to Pax Americana: the first stirrings of what might become an anti-American coalition involving at least two Great Powers. The most remarkable fact about the post-Cold War era is that for the first decade and a half no such opposition emerged. Historically that is almost unheard of. Hegemonic powers, such as Napoleonic France and imperial and Nazi Germany, tend almost inevitably to spur the creation of a coalition of Great Powers to oppose and contain them.

That may be beginning again. The quiescence with which Russia accepted the Soviet collapse may have run its course. Russia's helplessness at the loss of Ukraine followed a long string of humiliating losses: first the external Third World empire, then the outer Eastern European empire, then the inner empire of 14 Soviet republics.

Add to this NATO's attack on Serbia, Russia's traditional Balkan ally, and the expansion of NATO into the Baltic states. Vladimir Putin's Russia, already moving decisively back to traditional czarist authoritarianism, then suffered political defeat in Ukraine, which it considered its natural patrimony. This only compounds and embitters the feeling of alienation from the West in general and from the United States in particular.

It is no accident that Russia has begun hinting at making common cause with China. This is potentially ominous because of China's rising power and its status as the leading have-not nation on the planet, the Germany of the 21st century. In December, during the week of the rerun Ukrainian election that finally brought the pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko to power, Russia made two significant moves toward China. First was the announcement of intensified economic cooperation in developing Russia's vast energy resources. More ominous was the Russian defense minister's Dec. 27 announcement of, "for the first time in history," large joint military exercises on Chinese territory.

China in turn is developing relationships with such virulently anti-American rogue states as Iran. Add such various self-styled, anti-imperialist flotsam as Syria, North Korea, Cuba and Hugo Chavez's Venezuela, and you have the beginnings of a significant "anti-hegemonic" bloc -- aimed at us.

This is not a new Cold War. The United States will still remain the vastly predominant world power. But it is a challenge that history has waiting for us on the day the war on terrorism is won, and perhaps even before. There is no rest for the weary.

There you go folks, you've been warned. God I hope he is wrong, the thought of my kids having to fight more wars is more than depressing. Let's hope that W reads Charles as well and is formulating long-term plans to deal with such a threat.

The Right's Answer to Moore

Evan Coyne Maloney of Brain Terminal was one of the first conservative bloggers I discovered when I was a green internet surfer, trying to find something interesting to read. He has been profiled in an article in the New York Sun today. Evan has been recognized as one of the best up and coming conservative film makers. Not only do I recommend reading the Sun's piece, but go and discover his website. He has many interesting videos to watch.

Mr. Maloney then turns his camera to the case of Steve Hinkle. A student at California Polytechnic State University, he was disciplined by school officials after posting a flyer promoting an upcoming speech by a black conservative who equated welfare and slavery. The school dropped charges against Mr. Hinkle only after a civil-liberties organization sued, saying the university was violating freedom of speech.

To top it off, Mr. Maloney interviews Sukhmani Singh Khalsa of the University of Tennessee, a Sikh convert who received a death threat by e-mail from another student angry over his conservative opinion pieces in the student newspaper. The university refused to punish the author of the e-mail, who called Mr. Khalsa a "towel head" and reportedly urged students to shoot the student in the "face."

"The problem on campus becomes who defines harassment," Mr. Maloney said in a recent interview with The New York Sun. "Who on campus is going to stand up to a multicultural office or a diversity office?"(emphasis mine)

Exactly. I've argued here many times that the favorite word/phrases the liberal wackos love to hide their agendas behind is either 'multiculturalism' or in the name of 'diversity'. I invite you to go and learn.

VW Bomber

Say you work for an Ad company trying to land a big company like VolksWagon.....What kind of commercial would you come up with? Maybe something funny or clever, right? Oh! Oh! I know...pick me, pick me! How about a really funny commercial with a trendy outside cafe with lots of people enjoying the sunshine, and then there's this suicide bomber in a VW detonating his TNT vest!! Oh yeah!! That'll get those executives excited about signing us on.

Idiots. You have to see it to believe it.

Hat tip to Lee at Right Thinking.

UPDATE: Go and read Wizbang! on what is believed to be the real source of the above commercial. Regardless of who made it for whatever reason, it is one of the most tasteless pieces of film, no doubt...

How Low Can the NYTimes Go?

Go to PowerLine to read their take on how disgustingly low the NYTimes will go regarding how one reporter has endangered the life of the Iraq the Model bloggers. If you are a subscriber to this 'paper', read the post and think about what your money is helping to fund.

Jib Jab Press Release

If you enjoyed this past summers Jib Jab videos, you're craving for more is about to be fulfilled at 12:00 a.m. on January 19th. Michelle Malkin makes the annoucement that the video's song that will be parodied is "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain". Go on over to Michelle's post to get all the juicy details.

Cool Science

Here is a cool read about the latest computer chip advances for giving quadriplegics a little more control over their lives. Let's hope this technology not only continues to mature, but that it also becomes affordable.

THAT's a Whopper

Wizbang has the story and pictures up of a 100 pound female being the first to eat a 6 pound hamburger in under a three hour time limit. Here's exactly what she had to eat:

But nobody had finished the big burger in the three-hour time limit since it was introduced on Super Bowl Sunday 1998. In addition to the meat, contestants much eat one large onion, two whole tomatoes, one half head of lettuce, 1 1/4 pounds of cheese, two buns, and a cup each of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, relish, banana peppers and some pickles.

Of all the items listed, it was the 1 1/4 pound of cheese that caught my eye. That's alot of cheese!

The pictures are priceless, like this one:

MoonBat Math

Reason #4556549887 to keep moonbat liberals OUT of the educational system. Read and see how they destroyed math scores for one small town with one itsy, bitsy little policy change. Where, you ask? Why Massachusetts of course.

The school department was recently forced to publicly admit that the sixth-grade MCAS math scores have steadily declined over the past three years to the point where 32 percent of sixth-graders are now in the "warning" or "needs improvement" category. This means that if we were to attach a letter grade to these sixth-grade MCAS math results it would be a D-plus, with only 68 percent of the students passing. Brown Middle School fared so poorly that it is now subject to be placed under the federal No Child Left Behind Act for failing to keep pace under the minimum "adequate yearly progress guidelines."

The school department offered no tangible explanation for these declining scores other than to admit that they have no explanation, as articulated by Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Carolyn Wyatt (salary $106,804), "[The results] have decreased, incrementally, each year and continue to puzzle us." She went on to admit that this downward trend is peculiar to Newton and "is not being seen statewide." Again, she offered no explanation, but she did assure the School Committee that her assistant, Math Coordinator Mary Eich (salary $101,399), is currently investigating the problem.

Unless the current decline in the sixth-grade math MCAS scores is reversed, within four years the rate of passing for sixth-graders will dip below 60 percent. Since the school department has neither an explanation nor a solution to the problem, and since it's likely that these same highly paid administrators will still be in their positions overseeing this problem for which they have neither an explanation nor a solution, there is every reason to assume that this downward trend will continue.

The School Committee, those elected overseers of the school department, offered no instructions, challenges, or demands to those administrators under whose watch this downward trend occurred. The committee members, who are on a first-name basis with these bureaucrats, apparently have an unspoken rule against demanding explanations from their school department friends. Besides, Superintendent Young would never permit his School Committee to publicly challenge his school administrators. So no one was subjected to scrutiny, no one was held accountable, no one was put on notice. The members sat passively and did nothing, just as these bureaucrats expected.(emphasis mine)

Ahhh yes... Liberals never, ever, never admit that their policies are wrong or devastating. And here, gentle reader, we have a situation where you could picture the three little monkeys: Hear no evil, See no evil and speak no evil. Because, as we all know, it's much more important to sacrifice the minds of children to ensure that the defunct liberal policy continues. Sound familiar? Can anyone say welfare state?

The only logical and remaining explanation is change that occurred in the Newton math curriculum itself - the subject matter of what is taught and how, what is emphasized and what is not, what has been omitted and what is new. In short, what has changed in the elementary and middle school math curriculum to have affected such a dramatic decline in the MCAS scores?

Answer: the new math curriculum, otherwise known as anti-racist multicultural math.(emphasis mine)

How can anyone,with two neurons to rub together, not see that this is the stupidest thing ever attempted in the name of education. Beware all parents: Libs love to use the word "multicultural" to hide their policies and intentions. Who can argue with "multicultural" right? Again, just read my post Charter School Perversion to see how liberals used that word to hide the fact they wanted to teach kindergarteners about homosexual lifestyles. I kid you not. Let's continue:

Between 1999 and 2001, under the direction of Superintendent Young and Assistant Superintendent Wyatt, the math curriculum was redesigned to emphasize "Newton's commitment to active anti-racist education" for the elementary and middle schools. This meant that no longer were division, multiplication, fractions and decimals the first priority for teaching math. For that matter, the teaching of math was no longer the first priority for math teachers, as indicated by the new curriculum guidelines, called benchmarks, which function as the primary instructional guide for teaching math in the Newton Public Schools.

In 2001 Mr. Young, Mrs. Wyatt and an assortment of other well-paid school administrators, defined the new number-one priority for teaching mathematics, as documented in the curriculum benchmarks, "Respect for Human Differences - students will live out the system wide core of 'Respect for Human Differences' by demonstrating anti-racist/anti-bias behaviors." It continues, "Students will: Consistently analyze their experiences and the curriculum for bias and discrimination; Take effective anti-bias action when bias or discrimination is identified; Work with people of different backgrounds and tell how the experience affected them; Demonstrate how their membership in different groups has advantages and disadvantages that affect how they see the world and the way they are perceived by others..." It goes on and on.(/snip)

Meanwhile, the sixth-grade MCAS math scores keep going down. Yet the architects of this PC lunacy will sit there with a collective straight face and whine to us that they have no idea why these scores have declined since 2001.(emphasis mine)

Again, the three monkeys in action. These educators shoud be taken out and flogged. This is one of the most egregious, ridiculous educational columns I've read in a long time.

And where were the parents? On the first day of school for my son I received detailed goals and performance expectations, all spelled out in detail. Did they look at one homework assignment? How could they not realize their kid was stupid in math? Wouldn't the lack of pluses and minuses and division symbols clue them in?

Get involved parents! No school is immune; and you have to be pushy and let them know that if they attempt any of this moonbat craziness with your child's mind, YOU will be in their office. We must all make it very uncomfortable for them. As you can see above, they will never scrutinize their own policies or failures, no matter how far down the tubes your kid is going. How bad do the test scores have to get for a change? Recognizing and pointing out this kind of BS is the part I like about No Child Left Behind.

UPDATE: Welcome PoliPundit readers! Click the home button and browse for awhile!

UPDATE II: Welcome Wizbang! and David Limbaugh readers, please have a look around.

UPDATE III: Everyone interested in this debate should go here and here to become very well read concerning the "math-is-racist" theory that is not just confined to Massachusettes.

Slamming the Myths

IMAO is countering the myths of blogging with the facts for the folks that may be confused about the practice.

You must read them all, but here is my favorite (of many):

MYTH: Bloggers are just a bunch of ill-informed polemicists writing in their pajamas.
FACT: Not all bloggers wear pajamas while blogging. I myself wear boxers, a gun belt, and a bandolier. One of the contributors to Power Line is famous for wearing a gorilla costume while writing.

I'm not quite ready to divulge what I wear while blogging.

The Campus Revolution

There is a revolution going on in our country and it is occurring on our college campuses. Via Real Clear Politics I came across this gem describing the revolution in detail. New programs and organizations are in place to fight the campus left. It is a little long, but well worth it to understand the climate college students are facing. Here's an example of how ridiculous the libs have made once-upon-a-time standard college courses:

The leftism that so angers these students includes the hey-ho-Western-civ-has-got-to-go theories that inform college courses from coast to coast. “In too many classrooms,” says former Reagan education secretary William Bennett, “radical professors teach their students that Western thought is suspect, that Enlightenment ideals are inherently oppressive, and that the basic principles of the American founding are not ‘relevant’ to our time.”

College course catalogs often read like satires. Want to study English lit at, say, Penn? Freshmen take introductory classes like “Secrecy and Sexuality in the Modern Novel,” taught by—no joke—Heather Love. In the course description, Dr. Love explains that “many of the books that we consider ‘great literature’ ”—the obligatory postmodern scare quotes signaling the supposed absurdity of the idea of aesthetic quality—“are noted as much for what they don’t say as for what they do.” Deconstructing Herman Melville and other dead white males, Dr. Love promises to uncover “what, if anything, they are hiding” about homosexuality, pederasty, and incest. That’s for first-year students. Dr. Love’s upper-level course “Theories of Gender and Sexuality” focuses on “reproductive rights; pornography, ‘sex work’ [prostitution in human-speak], and free speech; . . . and transgender activism,” among other themes that seem to have zilch to do with English lit. Other English majors get to explore “postcolonial literature” with Professor Cynthia Port, who relies on radical authors Edward Said and Frantz Fanon to “revise imperial narratives, challenge assumptions about identity and otherness, and scrutinize the politics of language.”

And a word from my hometown on the social pressures placed on students:

Some conservative students feel considerable pressure to “grow.” Jennifer Mickel, a pretty Princeton sophomore majoring in Near Eastern studies, is a Presbyterian from Monroe, Louisiana, and a moral traditionalist. She’ll drink a bit, but random hookups are a big no. And she gets flak for it. “Many of my girlfriends describe their sexual exploits in graphic detail and tell me that I need to get over my ‘penis fear,’ ” she confides. Many Princeton males, she says, expect sex, or at least “intimate preludes to it,” to follow a conversation and a dance—and certainly a bite to eat. “I just don’t understand how boys and girls alike can throw around intimate acts so lightly,” Mickel laments. Things are different back in Monroe, where the rules of courtship still apply (a point made to me about their hometowns by several southern students). Lots of students, she says, do eventually get into serious, almost-married relationships at Princeton, but these often grow out of “repeated hookups.” “Perhaps, in a way, it’s like a new kind of dating,” Mickel reflects wryly.

The indoctrination that has been occurring for years is unforgivable and it is nice to see that the beginning of the end of liberal dominance has arrived. It is just the beginning, with a long road ahead, but hey, you have to start somewhere.

If you think that this sort of thing is limited to college, you are sadly mistaken. I invite you to read about a High School student's battle with resisting the Noam Chomsky bile that was being taught in his classroom. And then of course, if you missed it, there is my very own experience with Charter School Perversion. Then there is Brain Washing 101 if you prefer to have the case laid out in movie format. There is no excuse for not being informed.

That's right parents, around every corner as early as pre-school, the educational system is set up to indoctrintate your child into something that may be against everything that you believe in, and unless you are active and paying attention, they will win. Actively protect your child's mind because the vultures are circling.

The Red Dress

This proves it folks! The world is going to hell in a handbasket.

See BS - My Take

Due to computer difficulties I did not comment on the RatherGate Investigation, sohere is a pretty good story that sums up the whole affair pretty nicely for those of you who have been living under a rock.

My observations of this whole affair is how terribly sad these people are. Trusting a tin-foil hat wearing maniac with your entire career shows how horribly blinded by vile hatred these people had become. Mary Mapes deserves to lose her career. Hitting rock-bottom is the only thing that may actually help her 'get mugged by reality'. Though, I doubt it. Mapes and Rather are lost causes. Remember that neither have ever admitted that the memos were fake. So sad.

They've lost it all due to blinding hatred.

The questions that remain are how many other times did Mapes and Rather knowingly lie to us to move forward the DNC agenda? Fair question these days. Only a major, major shake-up will even begin to build any type of credibility. However, establishing credibility would seem to start at admitting your faults and the obvious truths of the day.

So much for credibility.

UPDATE: Don't miss Charles Krauthammer's take on the whole affair.

Let's Vote!

Wow! Thomas Friedman has written a sane column that many could agree with. Who knew?? Go check it out....sanity from the left, you might want to take a picture while you're there.

Law & Lesbians

I quit watching Law and Order years ago, but I was an avid "Homicide: Life on the Street" fan. 'Homicide' was such a non-formula show, then to see such a formula show such as Law and Order, it became very boring to me and I never went back. I fear there will never be another show as good as 'Homicide' again. I digress...

Well, you never know what you're going to miss if you never watch network TV. (Yes, scroll down to the title "Is it because I'm a lesbian", and actually there is much more in the more recent posts on the same issue at The Corner.) I tend to agree, it is odd to throw out such a bomb with no previous indication. Wonder if the ratings are getting low? Doesn't matter to me, I'm still not watching. I was waaaay spoiled by 'Homicide'.

Terror Profit

This is one of the sickest, most crude things I've read in a while. How someone could look at the devastation and horror of 9/11, and devise a plan and lie to profit from it, is beyond me. What a loser.

Our Guy

Start your day off right and go here to view a fantastic pictorial of W.'s daily life and perspective in the White House. Here's one of my favorites:


Is he comfortable in his own skin, or what?

Thanks to Right-Thoughts for the link.

MacQueasy

We're a Mac family. I freely admit it. This is all due to my hubby, who loves them. Earlier this week my Powerbook fried. It was no longer charging, and finally, I looked at the power cord and noticed where it was leading into the back of the laptop was pratically frayed open and you could see sparks within the cord. Not good for computers. So now I'm working off of our PC desktop, and I really shouldn't complain. It is a nice system that many people would love to have in their homes....it's just not a Mac. We even discussed buying one of these. Everytime I use a PC, in my mind I hear over and over....."The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations".., and I feel like I'm using a rotary phone again. However, no matter how much you might like a company's products, that company can still really, really screw up. If this story is true, I am sick to my stomach. With everything wrong with the world and our over taxed court system, this is unforgivable:

Last week, Apple filed suit against ThinkSecret for allegedly misappropriating trade secrets following a report about a $500 monitor-less iMac and new iWork software, a productivity suite to rival Microsoft's Office.

Albert Muniz, a marketing professor at DePaul University and an expert in brand communities, said Apple should likely have waited until after Macworld to file suit, but rushed to court to purposely fuel the rumors.

"It's about generating more publicity," he said. "They have legitimate concerns about plugging leaks, but they're trying to generate more publicity. To quote P.T. Barnum, 'There's no such thing as bad press, as long as they spell your name right.'"

Muniz doubted Apple planted the rumor -- as some in the Mac community have suggested -- "but they figured since it's out there, let's louden it up a bit."

Gary Allen Fine, a sociologist at Northwestern University who specializes in rumor, gossip and contemporary legend, also said it's likely Apple timed the lawsuit to generate news.

"If (the story) gets into the broader media, and you get them reporting as news a $500 computer, that's a lot of free advertising," he said. "You're telling the whole country about a new product."

But like Muniz, Fine said the strategy was risky if it alienates the customer base.

You're damn straight it will alienate the customer base. Apple needs to get it together and stop this publicity seeking misuse of our courts. Members of their 'base' are not necessarily the demographic that don't pay attention to the world around them. This is stupid, stupid, stupid of Mac. I will not be forgetting about this anytime soon. I hope they drop this silliness and get back to making the sexiest, smartest computers around.

UPDATE: Jay Reding has a different take on this issue, that Mac really is trying to plug the holes in the R&D department. I hope that he is right.

Kittens are Yummy!

My computer is fried, and I mean that quite literally. I can only blog by begging my hubby for his laptop. Therefore, blogging will be light until I get either a fixed computer or a new one. So I'm missing the whole CBS farce investigation report. Check out the big bloggers for that one.

You must check out Cox and Forkum's cartoon in honor of today's report. They take on the report's notion that bias or partianship had no role in the airing of forged documents. I saw this cartoon and could not quit laughing:

Doesn't it say it all?

Link Round-Up

Here are a few links to top off your weekend. Enjoy:

Sean Penn gets a rightous spanking from Lee at Right-Thinking, as he should. This is one of Lee's longer posts and is well worth the read. There is only one or two examples of graphic language...but it is too good to miss! You have been warned!

When you get through enjoying Sean's spanking, go and read DJ Drummond's NFL satire at PoliPundit. It's great and makes the Dems look rather silly.

Then for a more serious read, go read Jack Kelly point out how Democrats express their racist tendencies. The fight for the Supreme Court is going to be great entertainment to watch and the next four years are going to be very interesting if the past week is any indicator!

Yuckey Cruise

One of the first things we're gonna do when we get out of the grey, wet, snowy Northeast is take a nice long vacation. And what we want to do more than anything is take a Disney cruise. But when stuff like this hit the news....No Thank You.

The outbreak of a Norwalk-type virus (search) aboard the Enchantment of the Seas (search) sickened 108 passengers and eight crew members, said company spokesman Michael Sheehan. It was traced to a man who had symptoms two days before boarding the ship Monday, he said.

A special cleaning of the 1,950-passenger ship was expected to delay a scheduled departure Saturday for a few hours, officials said.

Symptoms of Norwalk-like viruses include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea and last up to 48 hours.

These boats have to get a handle on this type of thing. First off, they have to warn people who are sick not to board, and for passengers that are ill, reschedule their vacation without penalties. Really....isn't a cruise line's reputation worth that bit of effort? It may take some talking to ever get me on a cruise. Yuck!!

"From Arafat's Shadow"

I've heard the optimism and you probably have as well. Now that Arafat is dead, there will be an avenue for peace between the Palestenians and Israel. While we all hope that to be true, if you've been listening as Charles Krauthammer has, you will not be so disillusioned. All you have to do is listen. Some of us know that the arab world's only goal is to push Israel into the sea, not make peace. This has not magically changed. Let's look at what Abbas has been saying as documented by Charles:

Dec. 30: Abbas, appearing in Jenin, is hoisted on the shoulders of Zakaria Zbeida, a notorious and wanted al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist. Abbas declares that he will protect all terrorists from Israel.

Dec. 31: Abbas reiterates his undying loyalty to Arafat's maximalist demands: complete Israeli withdrawal to the 1949 armistice lines, Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, and — the red-flag deal-breaker — the "right of return," which would send the millions of Palestinians abroad not to their own country of Palestine but to Israel in order to destroy it demographically.

Jan. 1: Abbas declares that he will never crack down on Palestinian terrorism.

Jan. 4: Abbas calls Israel "the Zionist enemy." That phrase is so odious that only Hezbollah and Iran and others openly dedicated to the extermination of Israel use it.

What of Abbas' vaunted opposition to violence? On Jan. 2, he tells Hamas terrorists firing rockets that maim and kill Jewish villagers within Israel, "This is not the time for this kind of act." This is an interesting "renunciation" of terrorism: Not today, boys; perhaps later, when the time is right. Which was exactly Arafat's utilitarian approach to terrorism throughout the Oslo decade.

Some of the American and Israeli responses to Abbas are enough to make you weep. Spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Israel: "We don't think it is useful to focus on every statement by every official; what's important is the process." Official in Prime Minister Sharon's office: "Words don't count in the Middle East; what counts are actions."

Have we learned nothing? In the Middle East, words are actions.

I, too, was hoping for a dramatic change in this conflict, but well....denial and hopeful thinking are powerful things.... And in case you didn't know, Abbas is also a holocaust-denier.

You must read all of Charles, an excerpt can never do his work justice.

UPDATE: Cox and Forkum have kindly drawn a cartoon to go along with my post. From my title to this cartoon....there are some shared brainwaves somewhere....

Turning Tricks

Richard Gere has been taken to task for well, being a prostitute for terrorists. Don't people ever learn? You are judged by the people you associate yourself with.

Then there’s Gere’s other co-star in the Palestinian Get-Out-The-Vote ad:  Hanna, the Greek Orthodox Church’s Arab spokesman in Jerusalem. 

Well, sort of. 

Hanna was fired by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate because of his open support for terrorism.  But Hanna continues to claim he speaks on behalf of the Church, anyway.

He has repeatedly expressed his support for homicide bombers and “all forms and methods” of “resistance,” not only against Israel, but also U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

Hanna proudly paraded his views to HAMAS’ news agency:

'These martyrdom freedom fighters are the heroes of the people, and we are proud of them. We categorically reject suspicious attempts to cast suspicion on their deeds. They are not suicidal, as some are claiming. Nor are they terrorists, as others are claiming. They are resisting the occupation.”

Hanna also said, “We support the martyrdom [suicide] operations without any reservations, regardless of what skeptics and opponents of this form of resistance are saying.”

In a January 2003 sermon marking the Epiphany and the baptism of Jesus, Hanna said, “We do not believe in so-called 'peace with Israel' because peace cannot be made with Satan. Israel is the greatest Satan. No concession and no truce must be made [with Israel]. Any type of peace with this entity is concession, submission, and retreat from pan-Arab and national principles….  We encourage our youth to participate in the resistance, to carry out martyrdom attacks.”

Hanna has repeatedly traveled to Syria and Lebanon to meet with Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of Hezbollah, the terrorist group that murdered over 300 U.S. Marines and civilians in Beirut.

Remember that Gere claimed to be 'speaking for the world' in his little PSA with these terrorists. Will you pay to see one of his movies again? I certainly will not.

Oh yeah, that excerpt above just describes one of the other participants. You really should go and read about all of them. You know, your brain will be bigger for it, or something like that...

Stupid Tsunami Quotes

Chrenkoff has a most excellent list of the 12 Most Stupid Tsunami Quotes. They are all troubling in some way, but I find number eleven to be especially disturbing. Go find your most troubling quote.

(Link via InstaPundit)

Religious Relativity

Here is a wonderful read on Albert Einstein, the man who brought us the theory of relativity. Learning this in college was one of the more interesting times in Physics class. Einstein believed in God, which in itself makes him a stand-out scientist, and here is his reasoning of God and the universe:

Einstein's theism, such as it was, was his faith that God does not play dice with the universe -- that there are elegant, eventually discoverable laws, not randomness, at work. Saying "I'm not an atheist," he explained:

"We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many different languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is."

What an awesome, sane sentiment from a man of science!

About a month after the election, I was sitting at a noon conference having lunch at the hospital. Noon conference is an hour-long educational hour for medical residents. I usually send my pharmacy students as well, and it is attended by about 45 people from many different backgrounds and countries. The speaker for that particular day was a GI doc. As the conference continued it became apparent that he was a big-time liberal still coming to terms with the outcome of the election. While there are many shocking things that he blurted out during this 'medical' talk, there was one that really stood out and was especially insulting.

I can not even remember what exactly brought it up, but out of nowhere he says "Everyone here believes in evolution, right? Of course we all believe in evolution, there are no Republicans here? Surely not...no one here believes in creation, we're scientists, we're all smarter than that..."

As I write this I realize, even more, how incredibly pompous this guy was with his assumptions. Rhode Island is a deep blue state, but 39% did vote for Bush, which means roughly 4 out of every 10 people are sane up here ;) I can assure you that I was not the only 'creationist' in the room...how many people did he offend? No telling.

But most of all, for all of his bloviating, self-importance and proclaimed higher intelligence, Einstein would have laughed at him, and it was Einstein's mind that "changed the world."

Duplicating the Past

Lee at Right-Thinking has a nice little pictorial to get your day going. Confused about Islam being called the Religion of Hate Peace? Go and be confused no more. Some things never change.

Media Distortion 101

Once again the media smells red-meat and they just can't help themselves. I guess their mothers never taught them self-control. Michelle Malkin has a detailed post up on how the media, along with college professors, are completely misrepresenting someone's statements and have completely manipulated the situation into a bizarre free-for-all. The problem is that they are actively trying to destroy reputations and careers. This is one of the worst evils I've seen in a long time. Tomorrow... what if you're the target?

The people doing this are suppose to be the people we trust for the truth. What a sad statement this is for the left. Where is a speck of integrity? After reading Michelle's post, I've realized the Dems are no where near pulling themselves out of this horrible path they've stumbled down. The only time they can claim superficial good times, the Clinton years, is when they were acting like conservatives.

This is the type of story that I want to spread to as many people as possible, as this is the only way to fight big media and leftist college professors.

THAT's What I'm Talking About!

Right Thoughts bring us this link about an american sniper with the longest confirmed kill.

R RAMADI, Iraq (Jan. 02, 2005) -- Seen through a twenty-power spot scope, terrorists scrambled to deliver another mortar round into the tube. Across the Euphrates River from a concealed rooftop, the Marine sniper breathed gently and then squeezed a few pounds of pressure to the delicate trigger of the M40A3 sniper rifle in his grasp.

The rifle's crack froze the booming Fallujah battle like a photograph. As he moved the bolt back to load another round of 7.62mm ammunition, the sniper's spotter confirmed the terrorist went down from the shot mere seconds before the next crack of the rifle dropped another.

It wasn't the sniper's first kill in Iraq, but it was one for the history books.

On Nov. 11, 2004, while coalition forces fought to wrest control of Fallujah from a terrorist insurgency, Marine scout snipers with Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, applied their basic infantry skills and took them to a higher level.

"From the information we have, our chief scout sniper has the longest confirmed kill in Iraq so far," said Capt. Shayne McGinty, weapons platoon commander for "Bravo" Co. "In Fallujah there were some bad guys firing mortars at us and he took them out from more than 1,000 yards."

Ladies and Gentlemen: Your tax dollars at work. That's impressive!!

Semper Fi!!

Correction: Longest confirmed kill in Iraq!

2 Points!

You have to see this video! Tip of the hat to Patterico for the link showing a cheerleader being tossed through a basketball net. Ouch! Watch and wonder: Would this be considered a lay-up? Oh, and as Patterico pointed out, based on the concern of the male cheerleaders for the girl they threw through the net, this thing looks legit. Good Golly Miss Molly!!!

Note: If you don't have broadband I don't know how well it's going to do. It took a while to load for me....(about 3 minutes)...and I do have broadband. But oh, was it worth the wait!!

Update: Commenters over at Patterico are calling it fake, but it is funny as heck.

Winter Sky

Here's a little New England winter sky for everyone. One of my favorite shots is upward through the limbs of trees. Enjoy.

Photo was shot in Pawtucket, RI...My front yard.

On the Ground

I'm just now discovering the blog "The Diplomad". It is written by insiders of the State Department and boy do they have some good stuff. Go and scroll, but here's a sample of 1st hand knowledge of the bureaucratically paralyzed UN.

The post below reports on the impending arrival of Ms. Margareeta Wahlstrom "United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Secretary-General's Special Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance in Tsunami-affected countries."

She has spoken! At a large meeting this afternoon, she and the local UN rep, Mr. Bo "Please Wear Blue" Asplund have announced the arrival of yet another "United Nations Joint Assessment Team." But this one is very, very ultra- special. According to the UNocrats, it's not "just another assessment team." Oh, no, banish that thought! You see, "This assessment team will coordinate all the other assessment teams." In addition, the UN will set up a "Civil-Military Coordination Office to coordinate [that word! that word!] all military assistance because the military do not have experience in disaster relief (!)"

Let the mockery begin . . . .

Oh Yeah! I'm ROFLMAO!!! Can one person defend sending a dime to these UN idiots?

Kofi and the Rats

Cox and Forkum perfectly illustrates how pathetically rock-bottom Kofi has fallen to. Too bad he doesn't know it:

Steyn and the Tsunami Wave

Mark Steyn is putting everything into perspective, as he always does:

But whoa, hang on. It turns out those pushy Yanks are doing way too much, at least according to Clare Short, formerly Britain's international development secretary (until she stormed out of Tony Blair's Cabinet to protest the Iraq war). President Bush roused her ire by announcing Washington would coordinate its disaster relief with Australia, India and Japan. To Miss Short that had a whiff of another "coalition of the willing." "I think this initiative from America to set up four countries claiming to coordinate sounds like yet another attempt to undermine the U.N.," she told the BBC. "Only really the U.N. can do that job. It is the only body that has the moral authority."
   
"Moral authority"? Hey, maybe now that the Oil-for-Fraud gig's dried up, Kofi Annan's son could head the relief effort.
    
But Miss Short has usefully clarified what it means when the world says "America" isn't "giving" enough "aid." It means the government isn't giving enough money to Jan Egeland's U.N. office. That's the only "giving" that counts. That Pfizer has given $35 million, which is more than most G7 governments have chipped in, doesn't mean anything. That Amazon.com's customers donated more than $6 million in 48 hours doesn't count. The ships and troops send by America are of no consequence. What Jan Egeland means when he talks of "stinginess" is you're not ponying up enough taxpayer bucks to his departmental budget. That's the only measure of global compassion that matters, and he doesn't want to have his time wasted with a lot of chit-chat about any of this other stuff: It's my way or the highway, he says — if, indeed, such a thing is said in Norwegian. Anyway, it's Norway or the doorway. As it happens, the United States pays 40 percent of Mr. Egeland's budget. But, even if the budget was tripled and the U.S. paid 70 percent of it, that wouldn't be enough.

America can never give enough, and when we try, it's too much. You can never win with these asshats. The sooner the United Nations are dissolved of all opportunity to steal, kill, rape and enable dictators and terrorists the better. People are starting to notice!

The Holy War

The War on Terror is a Holy War. GWB will never say this, but anyone who thinks differently is just kidding themselves:

"Young mujahideen (holy warriors) from the al-Qaeda Group of Jihad in the Land of Two Rivers assassinated a tyrant from among the Americans' agents, the governor of Baghdad, may God liberate it (Baghdad) and the whole of Iraq," said the statement, whose authenticity could not be confirmed.

"We tell every traitor and everyone who is loyal to the Jews and the Christians that this will be your fate," it said.(emphasis mine)

For a long time, I've had my own theories on God's intention in the middle east. I believe that Mohammed was the false prophet and God is cleaning house. Iraq is home to what is considered the 'cradle of civilization'...where it all began. What if now, Iraq could become the 'cradle of christianity' for the region. Freedom of Religion is God's purpose, along with bringing justice, IMHO.

And to further make the point that there is no "Religion of Peace", check this quote out:

Khomeini accordingly delivered notorious rebuke to the Islam-is-a-religion-of-peace crowd: “Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those [who say this] are witless. Islam says: Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all! Does this mean that Muslims should sit back until they are devoured by [the unbelievers]? Islam says: Kill them, put them to the sword and scatter [their armies]….  Islam says: Whatever good there is exists thanks to the sword and in the shadow of the sword! People cannot be made obedient except with the sword! The sword is the key to Paradise, which can be opened only for the Holy Warriors! There are hundreds of other [Qur’anic] psalms and Hadiths [sayings of the Prophet] urging Muslims to value war and to fight. Does all this mean that Islam is a religion that prevents men from waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls who make such a claim.”(emphasis mine)

Case Closed.

Where's His Shirt?

Ya gotta hate it, when all you're trying to do is plant bombs under civilian cars, and those locals just won't leave you alone! What is the world coming to?

(Hat tip to CJ a PoliPundit reader)

Top 40

If you haven't read this list from Right Wing News of the top 40 Most Obnoxious quotes, well, you are missing out. Go find your favorites and reaffirm to yourself that the 'Right' is the right side to be on.

Jimmah and the Killer Rabbit

Wow! I guess I was just too young to remember this one. Not too often will I be linking to an April 1979 article, but this was just too good...and with pictures!

So go and find out what you get when you mix an incompetent president in a boat and an attacking, swimming rabbit! You wouldn't believe it without the proof.

(Link via Right-Thinking)

Moonbat Heaven

When my husband and I were moving to Rhode Island 18 months ago, we were excited and knew at that point, we could end up anywhere 2 years from that point. We're here in RI enduring a 2 year fellowship.

We even played around with the idea of staying in New England, thinking we could send our kids to the great Universities of NE and they would have even more great opportunities than we had.

Well, after 18 months in Moonbat Land, we are no longer confused. We will be heading back, somewhere in the South, to bring up our boys in good, God-fearing country, and after reading this, they can go to any University they like....just please NOT in New England....Puhleeeaze...not anywhere in New England. (You could add California to that plea as well.)

If I had categories for my posts, this would definitely be filed under "the idiocy of man".

Robin and the Troops

Well, not just any troops. The tall female on the right of Robin Williams is my sister-in-law. She is a physician and is part of a critical care team that airlifts our wounded from Baghdad to Germany. She's been there for about 4 months now and hopes to be headed stateside in a few weeks. May she come home safe and very soon!

It really says a lot about Robin Williams that he willing to go over and entertain our hard-working troops.

Tsunami Photos

These photos are, by far, the most impressive I've seen of the Tsunami Wave. If I had to guess, the folks lining up to watch the waves probably didn't make it. Here's one of the most terrifying shots I've seen:

I have no words. Go see them all.

(Link via InstaPundit)

UPDATE: Looks like the above photo is not from the Tsunami of last week fame, but from a Tsunami that occurred in China about two years ago. However, still an impressive photo. In light of this wrinkle, I can not vouch for the authenticity of the above linked photo page.