The Netherlands now practices post-birth abortion

Dutch Hospital Euthanizing Gravely Ill Babies

A hospital in the Netherlands — the first nation to permit euthanasia — recently proposed guidelines for mercy killings of terminally ill newborns, and then made a startling revelation: It has already begun carrying out such procedures, which include administering a lethal dose of sedatives.

They call it "euthanasia," but it's nothing more than abortion after the children are born. Remember: if your child isn't perfect, kill it.

UPDATE: Dawn has more - including some comments about Planned Parenthood - here.

UPDATE 2: Captain Ed has some good comments here.

AP uses erroneous question in abortion poll

LifeNews.com has exposed the fact that a recent Associated Press poll about abortion used an erroneous question about Roe v. Wade:

The AP survey questioned whether or not Americans believed President Bush should appoint a Supreme Court judge who favors overturning the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

Conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs, the poll qualified the question by first telling respondents that the "1973 Supreme Court ruling called Roe v. Wade made abortion in the first three months of pregnancy legal."

But, that's not true.

"Roe v. Wade allows absolutely no limits on reasons for abortion until nearly six months into pregnancy," explains National Right to Life legislative director Douglas Johnson.

In fact, Roe v. Wade made abortion legal for any reason at any time until "viability," the 22-24 week point in pregnancy where an unborn child, with medical assistance, can survive on her own outside of her mother's womb.

This misrepresentation of Roe v. Wade likely skewed the poll, so the results are highly suspect.

Proof that all good things really do come to an end

Ken Jennings lost on Jeopardy today after a 74-game winning streak that netted him over $2.5 million. He was ahead going into Final Jeopardy, but not overwhelmingly ahead like he usually is. He had $14,400 vs. his opponent's (only one made it to Final Jeopardy) $10,000. This was due to his missing two Daily Double wagers and none of the contestants being able to answer what I consider to be some really stupid categories. Plus they decided use a lame marketing ploy and tied the episode into the release of the "Seinfeld" DVDs, so they had categories that were about the show or were formatted to match the show in some way. So basically, it was a commercial for the DVDs. All in all, it was just not a good episode all around.

What I've learned about getting noticed

There are a lot of big-time conservative blogs out there dominating the landscape. They've got good articles, a great track record, and lots of support. There's still room for the little guys, however. You just have to get noticed. Here are some tips based upon what I've learned these past months:

1. Read, read, read. Read the news. Read other blogs (conservative, liberal or otherwise). Read websites of note.
2. Learn what gets people's attention and what bores them silly. Stories of profound saddness, profound probity, profound lunacy and profound hilarity almost always draw attention.
3. Find something to distinguish yourself: a niche (i.e. a subject that few or no one else covers - example: the Dawn Patrol covers Planned Parenthood's lunacy), a writing style, an attitude, a clever blog title. There are lots of possibilities.
4. "Piggyback" on others. This is probably best accomplished by posting what you've found on other blogs and through the use of trackbacks (i.e. links to your website on other blogs you've piggybacked on that are produced either manually or automatically through HTML code).
5. Comment on often-read blogs and be sure to include a link to your website. Most comment sections have a box which will link you blog through your name. If the blog has a weekly contest of some sort (Wizbang and Captain's Quarters both have weekly photo caption contests), participate. If you win or even get an honorable mention, it'll help.
6. Make contacts. This includes the occassional exchange with and link on a well-known blog to a full-blown semi-professional relationship with regular links. (I say "semi-professional" because we are, after all, nothing more than pajama-wearing pundits. *winkwink*)
7. Discover a provable "scoop" and let the bigger bloggers know. Now, admittedly, this isn't easy and relies on a bit of luck. As a personal example, I will cite the online news photos of President Bush with derogatory filenames that appeared on Netscape/CNN shortly after the election. A friend alerted me to that and I quickly emailed other bloggers after confirming it. I ended up getting a link on Michelle Malkin's blog, which caused a huge spike in my blog hits. (I still get hits from that link from time to time.) As a counter example, I will cite the C^BS Memogate scandal, which shows that you need to make sure your scoop is provable.

Well, that's it for now. If I think of more tips, I'll add them. I'm also open to other people's tips, so don't be afraid to share them in the comments.

Ask President Bush To Make The Mount Soledad Cross A National Monument

American Family Association Action Alert

Save the historic cross from another ACLU-backed removal

A 43-foot tall cross that was erected atop Mt. Soledad in San Diego, California 50 years ago to honor our nation’s veterans faces imminent removal unless we act now. An ACLU-backed atheist has waged a 15-year court battle to force removal of the famous cross. And a federal court has ordered the city of San Diego to remove it.

However, one option remains. Federal law known as the Antiquities Act authorizes the President to designate landmarks and structures as national monuments and make the property on which the monument stands federal property. President Clinton used this law to establish numerous new national monuments during his term. In addition, the Historic Sites Act allows the Secretary of the Interior to designate certain sites national historic landmarks and bring them under the care of the National Park Service.

Just this month, on Veterans’ Day, a new plaque was added to the Mt. Soledad Memorial to honor President Reagan, further strengthening its status as a monument worthy of national protection. Thus, it is fitting that the President formally designate Mt. Soledad as a national memorial park for veterans, and save it from destruction at the hands of the ACLU.

ACT NOW!

Please send an urgent email to President Bush TODAY and ask him to make Mt. Soledad a national memorial. Scroll down this page to find a pre-written letter to the President, which you may edit or send as is.

And please, forward this e-mail to one friend.

Sincerly,

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

This court decision is ridiculous. This is a historic war memorial that needs to be saved from the Secularists like this atheist who has dubbed defenders of this memorial "Jihad Jesus Republicans." Please visit the webpage (linked at the top of this entry) for the email/letter form. I personally recommend sending the message in letter form. It just seems to me like that would garner more attention.

View of the Republic blog

Dan Meyers is a high school student with a lot of sense and sensibility. (I hope that's not a copyright infringement. You never know these days. Heh.) His blog can be found here and the post that first impressed me (the first one I read, in fact) is here. It's nice to know that there actually are some young people out there who aren't falling for the socialist agenda of the left which is so prevalent in schools today.

President Bush saved thousands of museum pieces in Afghanistan

Paul on Wizbang makes a really good point here:

Remember the bogus Baghdad museum story? For those of you who missed it, after Baghdad fell, the media ran wild with the story that the Baghdad museum was looted and 30,000+ pieces were stolen or destroyed. This was blamed exclusively on George Bush.

The media even reported many times that the Oil Ministry was guarded but the Museum was not, outraging the Bush haters.

The problem was of course, the whole story was bogus. After weeks of the media harming on it, the truth came out that (as I recall) 6 pieces were unaccounted for out of 30,000+ and the Oil Ministry was not guarded but the museum was.

So if Bush gets the blame for that, why has he not gotten credit for this....

Kabul museum treasures emerge from hiding places

More than 22,000 treasures from the Kabul Museum in Afghanistan, long thought to have been lost in the war against the Soviet Union and the subsequent cultural purge by the Taliban, have been located in bank vaults and other safe places where they were hidden by museum officials.

The priceless Bactrian gold collection, precious ivories, bronze statues and other artifacts of 5,000 years of history on the Orient's Silk Road — virtually all of the museum's most precious items — were preserved despite the devastation engulfing the country, archaeologists said last week.

The discovery of the Bactrian gold was announced this summer, but a just-completed inventory revealed that virtually all of the museum's most precious items are intact, said Oxford University archaeologist Fredrik T. Hiebert.

...

...

It is no exaggeration to say the removal of the Taliban saved these antiquities. So, following the media's footsteps, I credit George Bush.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

Marine shows us the ultimate meaning of "Semper Fi"

Marine sacrifices his life for others in grenade blast

Sgt. Rafael Peralta built a reputation as a man who always put his Marines' interests ahead of his own.

He showed that again, when he made the ultimate sacrifice of his life Tuesday, by shielding his fellow Marines from a grenade blast.

...

One of the first Marines to enter the house, Peralta was wounded in the face by rifle fire from a room near the entry door, said Lance Cpl. Adam Morrison, 20, of Tacoma, who was in the house when Peralta was first wounded.

Moments later, an insurgent rolled a fragmentation grenade into the area where a wounded Peralta and the other Marines were seeking cover.

As Morrison and another Marine scrambled to escape the blast, pounding against a locked door, Peralta grabbed the grenade and cradled it into his body, Morrison said. While one Marine was badly wounded by shrapnel from the blast, the Marines said they believe more lives would have been lost if not for Peralta's selfless act.

"He saved half my fire team," said Cpl. Brannon Dyer, 27, of Blairsville, Ga.

More trouble for the U.N. - Where will it end?

Reuters is reporting the investigation of sexual abuse committed by U.N. peacekeepers in the Congo:

The United Nations is investigating about 150 allegations of sexual abuse by U.N. civilian staff and soldiers in the Congo, some of them recorded on videotape, a senior U.N. official said on Monday.

The accusations include pedophilia, rape and prostitution, said Jane Holl Lute, an assistant secretary-general in the peacekeeping department.

Captain Ed of the Captain's Quarters informs his readers that this scandal, which is much, much worse than what happened at Abu Ghraib, has been around for months, yet few people have heard about it. As the good Captain puts it, "Does abuse only become noteworthy when Americans are accused of it?"

Please excuse any typos

Sometimes my brain works faster than my fingers.

More ridiculous educational secularism

Something is very, very wrong in this country when religion can't be mentioned in schools even in a historical perspective:

Students Free to Thank Anybody, Except God

Young students across the state read stories about the Pilgrims and Native Americans, simulate Mayflower voyages, hold mock feasts and learn about the famous meal that temporarily allied two very different groups.

But what teachers don't mention when they describe the feast is that the Pilgrims not only thanked the Native Americans for their peaceful three-day indulgence, but repeatedly thanked God.

"We teach about Thanksgiving from a purely historical perspective, not from a religious perspective," said Charles Ridgell, St. Mary's County Public Schools curriculum and instruction director.

School administrators statewide agree, saying religion never coincides with how they teach Thanksgiving to students.

This isn't education. It's promoting ignorance! Teaching children about the religious faith of the Pilgrims, the only factor that motivated their lives, is teaching "from a purely historical perspective" and is not in any way, shape or form against the First Amendment.

BTW, I hope everyone notices and appreciates the irony in the school's name.

(Hat tip: Captain's Quarters.)

Planned Parenthood's idea of "abstinence"

WARNING: Semi-explicit material on sex ahead. Proceed cautiously.

I just gotta keep going back to Dawn Eden because she's so darn smart and can slash through the bull droppings that PP leaves in its path. In her latest scoop, Dawn takes PP to task for promoting the new definition of "abstinence" that includes things like cybersex, anal sex, oral sex and masturbation (both the solo and mutual kinds). None of those things are considered sex, even though three of them contain the word "sex." Go figure. I guess we have Bill "I did not have sexual relations" Clinton for that.

What really boils my blood is PP's non-chalant attitude towards mutual masturbation on their Teenwire website. On this page, PP has this to say:

Hours of kissing sounds nice, huh? How about a little mutual masturbation that ends with orgasm? Get creative — talk to each other (before, during, and after you fool around)! Things can get pretty steamy even without having sex, as long as you keep in mind that you will not, no matter how tempted you are, have intercourse.

Now, I have no idea where PP gets the idea that mutual masturbation will never lead to intercourse "no matter how tempted you are." What a load of garbage! I simply cannot believe they are seriously spreading this as healthy advice. As Dawn so eloquently puts it, "which is harder—never beginning that 'Bolero' dance, or getting all the way to the fourth movement before suddenly turning on the red lights?"

But wait! Just when you think it can't get any worse, it gets much, much worse:

If this is the route you choose, watch it with direct genital contact. Sperm are hardy little guys — and they can swim up into the vagina even if the semen only gets on the vulva. That can cause pregnancy and infect you with STIs, so be careful.

This "advice" is so completely and unbelievably dangerous that I am just stunned. "Watch it with direct genital contact." "Watch it?" "Watch it?" Is that supposed to be PP's idea of a warning to teens? Or how about this: "so be careful?" Please, spare me. In general, teens aren't known for consistantly being careful. This becomes even more true when they are having (non-sexual) fun. When it comes to sexual activity, the last thing on teens' minds in the heat of passion is going to be the words "watch it" and "be careful."

And, of course, no mention of using any sort of contraception is made. Not that using contraception would make PP's ridiculous "advice" any more acceptible. I just thought it was interesting that they left out what they supposedly support.

Three quotes - Can you see a difference?

"The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity."
--George W. Bush

"The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the Hand of God."
--John F. Kennedy

"God who gave us life, gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever."
--Thomas Jefferson

Yeah, I don't see much difference either.

Edit to add some further thoughts:
I was reading David Limbaugh's "Persecution" (which I highly recommend, btw - it's in paperback now) and he highlighted these three very similar quotes and pointed out that when President Bush said those words, there was a great outcry from the secularist factions in our society. They treated the words - as they always do whenever he expresses his faith - as being both a personal offense to them and a violation or near-violation of the separation of church and state. In their self-righteous indignation, they threw out phrases like "it makes us feel like second-class citizens." Of course, feeling and actually being are two completely different things, but not that you'd see that distinction made in their protestations.

Some may claim that "times have changed" - whatever relevence that has. The times may have changed, but the Constitution has not. Not in regards to this issue. Thomas Jefferson, the very man who coined the phrase "separation of church and state," said those words without repercussion. John F. Kennedy said those words without repercussion. George W. Bush said those words and the secularists were jockeying to be the first to throw stones at him. If these people had lived during Jefferson times, do you think they'd have thrown stones at him, too? I highly doubt it. Secularists turn to Jefferson as the paragon of their beliefs and agenda, yet he himself wasn't anywhere near their false portrayl of him. That quote is one of many that the secularists typically ignore (see this page for a good example of that) and hope that Christians don't ever find.

In response to the first three quotes, a member of the TheologyWeb.com forums provided the following three quotes from the same people which show that they all also understood/understand what the "separation of church and state" really means:

"I will be your President regardless of your faith, and I don't expect you to agree with me necessarily on religion. As a matter of fact, no President should ever try to impose religion on our society. A great -- the great tradition of America is one where people can worship the way they want to worship. And if they choose not to worship, you're just as patriotic as your neighbor. That is an essential part of why we are a great nation."
--George W. Bush

"We do not want an official state church. If ninety-nine percent of the population were Catholics, I would still be opposed to it. I do not want civil power combined with religious power. I want to make it clear that I am committed as a matter of deep personal conviction to separation."
--John F. Kennedy

"Believing that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their Legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State."
--Thomas Jefferson

I am not against the separation of church and state. Not in the way it was originally intended. I *am* against the current atmosphere of hostility between religion and government today. That hostility is one thing that I'm sure Jefferson never wanted, and I'm equally as sure that if he were alive today, he would not back the secularists' agenda. I am for freedom. I am for freedom of speech and the free expression of religion. I am *not* for things like preventing kindergarteners from saying grace with their friends before eating, as Kayla Broadus of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., was back in 2002. That's not freedom. That's tyranny.

Two New Jersey schools continue the tradition of hyper-separationism

Dawn Eden, the Petite Powerhouse and ever-gracious and kind host of the Dawn Patrol blog, has had an excellent op-ed piece published in the New York Post about two New Jersey schools eliminating religious music from their holiday concerts:

THE people of South Orange and Maplewood, N.J., where I went to high school, are going to find some thing missing from their towns next month — the sound of schoolchildren performing holiday music. The district has banned students from performing music related to any religious holiday — defeating the purpose of the schools' traditional "holiday concerts."

Two things should be noted about this article. First, Dawn is Jewish and says this:

Performing in front of the townspeople, I also learned something about the power of inspirational music to bring people together. I knew that the lyrics about the Messiah weren't about my religion's Messiah. Yet I couldn't help but be moved at how Handel's intensely beautiful music, sung by teenagers in intricate four-part harmony, had such an uplifting effect on the listerners, many also not Christian.

Second, even an atheist attorney is denouncing this decision:

Even First Amendment lawyer Ron Kuby, an avowed atheist, is on the side of the angels. "Unfortunately, it's always easier to stifle the speech than to risk a lawsuit," he says. "But this serves no one's interest. It infuriates the religious community without any corresponding benefit to maintaining the separation between church and state."

[Infuriating the religious community for no other purpose than to infuriate the religious community is a primary goal of many people, unfortunately.]

I, of course, completely agree with them both. While "the Messiah" is primarily religious, it is also one of the greatest pieces of musical art ever written. The "Hallelujah Chorus" in particular belongs on the same level as "the Last Supper," the Sistine Chapel ceiling, Michaelangelo's "David," and other great works of art that are primarily religious in nature. If we take "the Messiah" out of the schools because of its religious content, do we then also end the teaching of those things from school art and history classes? Schools that do things like this are only robbing our children of valuable experience and knowledge.

Dawn's blog also has more on the topic, including links to defenses of religious-themed holiday music by the American School Board Journal, the National Association for Music Education, the First Amendment Center, and the Anti-Defamation League. She also links to this wonderful post by an atheist who actually is a voice of true reason and tolerance.

More evidence why the U.N. needs to be kicked to the curb

Just three words: corrupt, corrupt, corrupt:

CHINA and Russia were named yesterday as Sudan's main arms suppliers.

The report, by Amnesty International, came as the United Nations Security Council prepared for an extraordinary meeting today aimed at securing peace in the strife-torn African country.

Amnesty said the two countries, permanent members of the Security Council, had consistently shipped weapons to the Khartoum Government.

The arms were used against civilians in the 20-year conflict in south Sudan and during the crisis in Darfur, in the west of the country, which had forced 1.8million villagers from their homes, Amnesty said.

Details of the weapons trade will put pressure on China, the largest single investor in Sudan's oil industry, and on Russia. Both have used their vetoes on the Security Council to block economic sanctions against Sudan.

Just for the record, 70,000+ people have died in the Sudan due to the genocidal war. And as the article mentions, 1.8 million have been forced from their homes (and into refugee camps - and you know what those are like). All this on the heels of the revelations regarding the Oil For Food scandal. It's time to end the U.N. They are an ineffective and corrupt organization that is leading to the deaths of the people they claim to be looking out for.

(Hat tip: Megapundit)

WARNING: great risk of severe head trauma ahead

Alright, kids. I'm going to provide a link to a blog, but I want to make sure everyone practices safety first. The blog in question will cause you to have a strong, almost undeniable urge to bang your head on your desk or computer screen in frustration and disbelief at the stupidity it reports. Because of this, I urge everyone to either don a helmet of some sort or place a pillow or two in front of you to soften the blows. Alright, is everyone ready? Here we go:

Zero Intelligence:
Fighting School Board Tyranny Inanity since 2004

GOOD! (And good riddance)

Just a small step, but one in the right direction:

WashingtonPost.com Drops Ted Rall's Cartoons

NEW YORK WashingtonPost.com is no longer running the cartoons of hard-hitting liberal Ted Rall.

Rall said he thinks the site dropped his work because of a Nov. 4 cartoon he did showing a drooling, mentally handicapped student taking over a classroom. "The idea was to draw an analogy to the electorate -- in essence, the idiots are now running the country," he told E&P.;

"That cartoon certainly drew a significant amount of negative comment from our users," said WashingtonPost.com Executive Editor Doug Feaver when contacted by E&P.; But he added that the decision to drop Rall was a "cumulative" one that had been building for a while.

"Ted Rall does very interesting work," Feaver said. "Some of it is not funny to an awful lot of people. We decided at the end of the day that it just did not fit the tone we wanted at WashingtonPost.com."

Rall goes on to lamely try to both defend his actions and express empathy to developmentally disabled people, but he stops short at an actual apology. He then tries to lay the blame at the feet of the Washington Post by claiming that they had "no problem with 99% of my work" and that one "boneheaded" drawing was what got him dropped. Well, duh! Mistakes are like that, Rall. Sometimes there aren't "do-overs" and "mulligans." Sometimes you have to pay a high price for one mistake.

More from the culture of death

I just simply do not understand abortionists. That term means not only the doctors who peform abortions, but the people who see no problem with abortions, too. I know these people are worldly - they love the world and its ways and they hate God and His ways, and God says in Proverbs 8:36 that all who hate Him love death. I still can't wrap my mind around how these people can justify killing babies for no other reason than that they exist. Maybe I just am not supposed to. Maybe it's better if I don't.

But something in me deeply desires to understand what drives people to do things like the following:

Police Suspect Teens Tried To Abort Fetus With Bat
Parents Accused Of Burying Remains
UPDATED: 11:53 AM EST November 18, 2004
Two Michigan teens may face charges after they allegedly used a baseball bat in an attempt to abort a fetus.

Police said a 16-year-old girl became pregnant and had a miscarriage in October at her home, outside of Detroit.

After an investigation, Michigan State Police determined that before the miscarriage, the girl and a 16-year-old boy -- the father of the unborn child -- may have attempted to abort the fetus.

"Without getting graphic, it involved a baseball bat and at some point the child was miscarried and that brings us to where we're at now," said Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith.

Smith said the male youth would hit the pregnant teen in the abdomen with a decorative-type wooden baseball bat every other day for three weeks.
"The length at which these two 16-year-olds went to abort this unborn child is just disturbing," said Smith.

Police were also investigating to determine if the parents of the two teens would face charges after they apparently decided to bury the fetus in the back yard of a home in Armada Township, Mich.

The parents apparently did not know of the pregnancy until the teen miscarried, police said.

Investigators with the Michigan State Police Post in Richmond exhumed the remains of the fetus from the back yard on Monday.

The remains were taken to the Macomb County Medical Examiner's office where an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death and how long the mother had been pregnant.

No charges have been filed, but Smith said the two teens may face charges as serious as manslaughter.

Abortion by any means and any cost, it seems.

(I'll get a link up when I find or am supplied with one. This was posted without a link on the TheologyWeb forums.)

Planned Parenthood advocates misuse of prescription drugs

No one exposes the awful truth about PP like Dawn. Check out the following about PP promoting the misuse of prescription drugs to induce abortions:

The article describes the efforts of Women on Waves, a group whose mobile abortion clinic operates on a boat off the shores of countries where abortion is illegal. While battles with European authorities have temporarily grounded their ship, the group has found a way to enable even the women it can't reach to have illegal abortions, via online instructions on how to get and use the abortion-pill misoprostol without a prescription

...

The article links directily to the Women on Waves Web site, which in turn gives detailed instructions on using misoprostol for the off-label purpose of abortion—a practice that the drug's own manufacturer shuns, warning it can lead to ""uterine hyperstimulation, rupture, and perforation."

Consider this: if anyone else were to advocate the misuse of prescription drugs and even supply them for that express purpose (though I won't be surprised if they falsely claims they are supplying it for use in treating ulcers), they'd quickly and rightfully find themselves locked away for a very long time. But since this is the "right" of abortion we're talking about, it's considered "noble." Just freaking sickening.

Oh, and this is cute. If you click the link to WoW from PP, you get this message:

Planned Parenthood has not necessarily reviewed and does not endorse the material you are about to view.

Pardon my language, but like hell they don't!

Reading between the lines

This:

Panel investigators also echoed the findings by Duelfer, head of the CIA-led Iraq Survey Group, that Saddam's regime gave lucrative contracts to buy Iraqi oil to high-ranking officials in Russia, France and other nations.

Could certainly shed some light on this:

French President Jacques Chirac has said in a newspaper interview that Britain has gained nothing from its support for the United States-led invasion of Iraq.

...

"Well, Britain gave its support but I did not see much in return," Chirac was quoted as saying in Tuesday's Times. "I am not sure that it is in the nature of our American friends at the moment to return favours systematically."

Sounds like the French are really missing those bribes and kickbacks from Saddam.

"Stormin'" Norm Coleman: "...and I'm all out of bubblegum"

Saddam Got $21 Billion from UN Oil Program -U.S. Panel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's regime reaped over $21 billion from kickbacks and smuggling before and during the now-defunct U.N. oil-for-food program, twice as much as previous estimates, according to a U.S. Senate probe on Monday.

The monies flowed between 1991 and 2003 through oil surcharges, kickbacks on civilian goods and smuggling directly to willing governments, Senate investigators said at a hearing.

"How was the world so blind to this massive amount of influence-peddling?" asked Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, head of the investigations subcommittee.

I'd like to take a moment to thank the Democrats for holding the "Paul Wellstone Memorial Political Rally" back in October 2002, which ensured Coleman a spot in the Senate.

BTW, for those not in the know, the "bubblegum" quote (the complete version is, "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick @$$... and I'm all out of bubblegum") is from the movie "They Live," starring "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Horrible movie. Great line.

[Hat tip: Muzzy.]

NewsMax hits one out of the ballpark

Couldn't have put it better myself:

Fallujah Marine in Trouble for Pulling a Kerry

The television press was awash Monday night with video of a U.S. Marine entering a Fallujah terrorist nest filled with dead snipers who, moments earlier, had been shooting at his unit.

Upon discovering that one of the snipers is still breathing, the Marine shouts a warning to his buddies, the screen goes dark and a gunshot is heard - suggesting that the Marine finished off the wounded terrorist.

Iraq war critics are already salivating at the prospects of another Abu Ghraib-like military fiasco.

Not so fast, say the folks at FreeRepublic.com, who point out that John Kerry got a Silver Star with Combat V [for valor] for committing the same sort of "atrocity."

In fact, the February 1969 incident was considered by Kerry supporters to be his finest hour.

Patrolling the Bay Hap River, Kerry and his crew discovered they were about to be ambushed by a Viet Cong soldier who had just popped up at the shoreline with a loaded rocket launcher in his hands. With the VC about to fire, Kerry crew mate Thomas Bellodeau shot and wounded the attacker, saving the entire boat.

Only then did Kerry leap to the shore to chase the wounded enemy down - finishing him off behind a hootch.

When critics suggested that Kerry's actions that day were something less than heroic, they were hooted down by the press.

Certainly the as-yet-unnamed Marine in Fallujah deserves, if not the Silver Star, the same slack the press cut Kerry.

Contraception: it's just all fun and games

The Dawn Patrol exposes the contraceptive industry marketing their products in questionable ways. I'd really like to know how these things are supposed to promote an air of seriousness and responsibility.

"Advice" columnist promotes abortion

Advice Columnist Urges Woman to Stay With Boyfriend Who Suggested Abortion

"Chicago, IL (LifeNews.com) -- A Chicago Tribune columnist is catching fire for recommending that a mother take her 22-year-old daughter to an office of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion operation."

The story only gets worse from there. I especially was sickened by the part about the mother waiting while the daughter had her consultation and then taking her to the drugstore "and wait with her while she gets her prescription filled." Prescription for what? Contraceptives? Why, when the woman is already pregnant? The automatic assumption by the "advice" columnist is that the daughter will abort the baby after the consultation, so she will either be getting RU-486 and/or contraceptives for AFTER the abortion. Pretty sick.

Splitting hairs...er...blogs

Well, I decided to start a new blog: the REAL Jesusland. It will encompass my purely religious writings of a personal nature. Shock and Blog will continue to involve religious matters in the public square (e.g. "separation of church and state" issues, etc.).

Boycott Proctor and Gamble

Well, P&G; may not support the Church of Satan, but they do support homosexuality. Join the boycott and refuse to purchase these products.

Vandalism and arson called "civil disobedience" by Republican-haters

Three people in Raleigh, N.C., have been charged with felony vandalism for an attack on the local Republican HQ. Anarchists are defending the "Raleigh 3" as "misunderstood," and the vandalism and attempted arson as "civil disobedience:"

E-mails to WRAL defend the attack on the GOP offices as a calculated non-violent destruction of property driven by opposition to the idea that power and domination are necessary for society.

My county (and state) may have gone to the Democrats...

...but the county voter turnout was over 94%! Daaaaaaaang!

Ted Rall insults the developmentally disabled

From the supposedly tolerant and compassionate people who brought you the racist cartoon of Condi Rice (which was quickly covered-up, of course) comes more ignorant, intolerant garbage. I'm with Kevin Aylward, who states (hyperbolically... or maybe not):

If anyone wants to gather 20-30 special-ed students and bus them to New York to beat the **** out of Ted Rall, I'll chip in a couple bucks...

Arafat's dead - liberals begin sickening millions

With the press falling over themselves to heap praise and adoration upon a dead terrorist, sometimes you just need to hear from the little guys:

In the last images we see of Yasir Arafat, gone is the sidearm, the military uniform and the badazz expression. We see him instead in a jumpsuit, waving to the crowds from his compound, and then being taken to the hospital. He is weak, shaking, and blowing kisses. At one point, he tries to kiss the hand of a man who is helping him.

At one level, his mind is all but gone and he's reduced to something almost infantile. He knows nothing of Palestinian politics - he's just a small, pathetic, mentally enfeebled old man.

But I see something else, too. With so much of his mental faculties gone - all the hopes, the planning, the scheming, the cares of everday work - with all of that gone nothing is left but the very basis of the person underneath the facade of Yassir Arafat - and it's a joyous being who wants nothing but to give love to everybody around him.

I am glad that inner being was liberated at the end of Yassir Arafat's life.

Yeah, I had to force back the vomit after reading that, too.

PBS' "Frontline's" homophobia quiz

Homophobia Questionaire

I've answered the quiz and my score was 28, which is slightly below the mean and is considered "non-homophobic." While it's not the ultimate proof that I am not homophobic, it is another shovel of dirt into the grave of that accusation (which some have directed at me).

NOW he's dead

[Terrorist] Leader Arafat Dies at 75

And to think... Just a couple days ago, he was only sleeping...

Not one bit

We're Not Sorry

My first rabid moonbat has taken roost

I seem to be slowly but surely clawing my way towards blog notability. First, Michelle Malkin linked to Shock and Blog, now I've acquired a moonbat by the name of Headless Lucy. The Decapitated One's more interesting posts can be found here, here, and here.

Welcome aboard, Lucy!

Another lie from the left

A popular liberal claim these days is that more people voted against President Bush than any other president in history. Wizbang puts this lie to rest:

Clinton 1992 - votes against: 59,515,688 (57% of total)

Bush 2004 - votes against 56,307,601 (48% of total)

End of story.

It sucks to be Michael Moore

First the election, then football games (see below), now the Golden Globes:

"The Passion of the Christ" will be considered for Golden Globe awards, but "Fahrenheit 9/11" won't.

...

The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. does not give out awards for docus, so it does not consider the genre in any other race, which KO's "Fahrenheit," released domestically by Lions Gate, IFC Films and Fellowship Adventure Group.

...

"As for 'Fahrenheit,' we felt it would be unfair to tell other documentarians ' "Fahrenheit" qualified and yours didn't.' Again, we follow our rules and it did not qualify. It would be unfair to make an exception."

...

At an HFPA meeting Thursday, some members had proposed a special award to Michael Moore -- more of a career award, for boosting the art form of the documentary than a "Fahrenheit" recognition -- but the motion was defeated by the membership.

Garrison Keillor continues to be an embarrassment for the Democratic party

Some of you may remember Garrison Keillor's bizarre rants regarding the battle for Paul Wellstone's seat in the Senate. Well, he's not improved since then. The following transcript of a recent Prairie Home Companion is courtesy of a Powerline reader:

We're over it. We've moved on. We're just fine. The election was days ago. Days ago. Much has happened since then. We've practically forgotten about it here [laughter] in our rush to enter into new activities, new frontiers, new projects. I am now the chairman of a national campaign to pass a constitutional amendment to take the right to vote away from born-again Christians. [enthusiastic audience applause] Just a little project of mine. My feeling is that born-again people are citizens of heaven, that is where there citizenship is, [laughter] is in heaven, it's not here among us in America. If you feel that war in the Middle East is simply prophecy fulfilled, if you believe that tribulation and suffering are just the natural conditions of life, if you believe that higher education is vanity, unnecessary, there is only one book that one need to read, if you feel that unemployment is -[glitch]- dependent on him and drawn you closer to him. [laughter] If you feel -[glitch]- lousy healthcare is a portal to paradise, [applause] then you don't really share our same interests, do you? No, you do not.

Yep. The party of tolerance. That's what the Democrats are NOT.

He's not quite dead yet

Shamelessly borrowed and adapted from this transcript:

CART MASTER:
Bring out your dead! [clang] Bring out your dead! [clang] Bring out your dead! [clang] Bring out your dead! [clang] Bring out your dead! [cough cough...] [clang] [...cough cough] Bring out your dead! [clang] Bring out your dead! [clang] Bring out your dead! Ninepence. [clang] Bring out your dead! [clang] Bring out your dead! [clang] Bring out... [rewr!] ...your dead! [rewr!] [clang] Bring out your dead!
CUSTOMER:
Here's one.
CART MASTER:
Ninepence.
YASSER ARAFAT:
I'm not dead!
CART MASTER:
What?
CUSTOMER:
Nothing. Here's your ninepence.
YASSER ARAFAT:
I'm not dead!
CART MASTER:
'Ere. He says he's not dead!
CUSTOMER:
Yes, he is.
YASSER ARAFAT:
I'm not!
CART MASTER:
He isn't?
CUSTOMER:
Well, he will be soon. He's very ill.
YASSER ARAFAT:
I'm getting better!
CUSTOMER:
No, you're not. You'll be stone dead in a moment.
CART MASTER:
Oh, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations.
YASSER ARAFAT:
I don't want to go on the cart!
CUSTOMER:
Oh, don't be such a baby.
CART MASTER:
I can't take him.
YASSER ARAFAT:
I feel fine!
CUSTOMER:
Well, do us a favour.
CART MASTER:
I can't.
CUSTOMER:
Well, can you hang around a couple of minutes? He won't be long.
CART MASTER:
No, I've got to go to the Robinsons'. They've lost nine today.
CUSTOMER:
Well, when's your next round?
CART MASTER:
Thursday.
YASSER ARAFAT:
I think I'll go for a walk.
CUSTOMER:
You're not fooling anyone, you know. Look. Isn't there something you can do?
YASSER ARAFAT:
[singing] I feel happy. I feel happy.
[whop]
CUSTOMER:
Ah, thanks very much.
CART MASTER:
Not at all. See you on Thursday.

Or maybe Arafat is just "pinin' for the fjords."

Maureen Dowd sticks her foot in her mouth (again)

Michelle Malkin makes a great point here:

So, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd writes that America is heading back to the Dark Ages, as the Bush Administration rushes to replace science with religion:

W.'s presidency rushes backward, stifling possibilities, stirring intolerance, confusing church with state, blowing off the world, replacing science with religion, and facts with faith. We're entering another dark age, more creationist than cutting edge, more premodern than postmodern. Instead of leading America to an exciting new reality, the Bushies cocoon in a scary, paranoid, regressive reality. Their new health care plan will probably be a return to leeches.

That comment about leeches is supposed to be a snort line at the expense of us religious Neanderthals. But the joke is on Dowd. The hard science bureaucrats at the FDA recently granted approval for leeches as medical devices

*lol!!!* Poetic justice to be sure!

Michael Moore just can't win in Ohio

First "he" lost in Ohio to President Bush. That resulted in the following rant on the bigger rant of Michael Moore's "17 Reasons Not to Slit Your Wrists":

7. Once again we are reminded that the buckeye is a nut, and not just any old nut -- a poisonous nut. A great nation was felled by a poisonous nut. May Ohio State pay dearly this Saturday when it faces Michigan.

Well, not only did Ohio State beat Michigan State (NOT Michigan - there's a difference that Moore apparently failed to notice), but they won BIG: 32-19. I guess Michigan paid dearly for their mistake of voting for Kerry. (Sorry, Sis!) Way to go, Ohio!

Current liberal plan #1

"Deny President Bush's mandate. Deny, deny, deny."

From Katie Couric to Kos, they are hell bent for leather on denying President Bush's mandate.

Then there are the people who are all nuts over maps. Yeesh! I think this comparison says more about the people making and agreeing with it than it does the people they are trying to comment on (i.e. Republicans).

I particularly like when people try to argue that "51% is not a mandate - it's a slight majority." Their golden boy Clinton never got over 50% of the vote. I guess for his 8 years, he didn't have a mandate. Yeah, like the liberals would ever argue that.

Drop off of news stories about al Qaqaa

Here's a run-down of the news stories about the supposed theft of explosives from al Qaqaa the week before the election:

Results 1 - 50 of about 1,220 from Oct 25, 2004 to Oct 26, 2004 for qaqaa.

Results 1 - 50 of about 773 from Oct 26, 2004 to Oct 27, 2004 for qaqaa.

Results 1 - 50 of about 812 from Oct 27, 2004 to Oct 28, 2004 for qaqaa.

Results 1 - 50 of about 1,250 from Oct 28, 2004 to Oct 29, 2004 for qaqaa.

Results 1 - 50 of about 883 from Oct 29, 2004 to Oct 30, 2004 for qaqaa.

Total: 4938. Now for the week of the election:

Results 1 - 50 of about 65 from Nov 1, 2004 to Nov 2, 2004 for qaqaa.

Results 1 - 15 of about 15 from Nov 2, 2004 to Nov 3, 2004 for qaqaa.

Results 1 - 21 of about 21 from Nov 3, 2004 to Nov 4, 2004 for qaqaa.

Results 1 - 50 of about 167 from Nov 4, 2004 to Nov 5, 2004 for qaqaa.

Results 1 - 11 of about 11 from Nov 5, 2004 to today for qaqaa.

Total: 279. Simply amazing. Now that President Bush has been re-elected, it seems the media has given up on the story.

This has got to be a joke

If this is not a joke, it does a very good impersonation of one:

Sorry Everybody

(Watch out for some strong language.)

The election is done but the violence continues

Vandals Hit GOP Headquarters in N.Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Vandals spray painted vulgar messages on the walls of the North Carolina Republican Party headquarters and left a burned effigy depicting President Bush and Sen. John Kerry, police said.

I don't know why they included Kerry. Perhaps they're mad at him for losing.

I got your mandate RIGHT HERE!

I knew the leftists would never admit that President Bush has a mandate. Republicans won the White House *again*, won more majority-sustaining seats in the House and Senate, won more state governorships, etc. President Bush is the first son of a former president to win re-election, he won more votes than any president in history, won the largest percentage of votes since his father won the presidency in 1988, won two formerly blue states (Iowa and New Mexico), and came closer to winning other blue states than he did in 2000 (Wisconsin by 1%, Minnesota by 3%, etc.). In 2000, he lost the popular vote by about 500,000 votes. This year, he improved that by FOUR MILLION votes (i.e. he won by 3.5 million votes). He did all this despite all the attacks thrown at him by the left: Michael Moore, George Soros, MoveOn.org, MTV, CBS, the New York Times, the Guardian, anti-war activists, etc.

Of course, CNN's election polls have shown that of the people who cast Kerry votes, 40% were actually voting for Kerry and 70% were voting against President Bush. Yes, that's 110%, so obviously 10% of the people polled chose both. So only 30% of Kerry votes were strictly for him. That translates to only about 16,784,822 votes. Include the 10% that said both, that still only comes to about 22,379,762 votes.

Like it or not, admit it or not, President Bush DOES have a mandate, thank you very much.

286-252: Hey, I was pretty close

Iowa, the last of the two former blue state holdouts (the other being New Mexico), has finally been called for President Bush. That means the final EC count is 286 for President Bush and 252 for Kerry. My prediction (posted elsewhere) was Bush winning the EC and popular votes with Kerry not breaking 250 EC votes. I didn't predict exact numbers because I didn't really feel like doing the math. Had Kerry not carried New Hampshire, as President Bush did in 2000, then Kerry wouldn't have made it past 250 EC votes.

CNN blames Netscape for insulting picture filenames, but...

...both CNN and Netscape are owned by Time Warner. So a Time Warner company is blaming and asking for an apology from another Time Warner company. Apparently, they really do believe that we're as dumb as they say we are for re-electing President Bush.

Planned Parenthood: they're actually FOR parental consent...

...when it comes to something as dangerous as minors giving them feedback. When it comes to minors getting abortions, however, then they think parental consent or even parental notification is not needed.

Ridiculous.

Katie Couric again: no mandate for President Bush

Katie Couric and Chris Matthews were talking on NBC News at Noon and Ms. Couric stated that President Bush had "a majority, but not a mandate."

Why do I get the distinct impression that nothing would ever constitute a mandate for President Bush with these people?

An awesome picture of the downfall of a great evil

Speaks for itself (unless you haven't seen the "Lord of the Rings" movies):

Under scrutiny, the CBS "eye" crumbles...

CNN removes Bush "a--h---.jpg" pic, but keeps "moron.jpg"

As of right now, the picture is gone from this page, but it is still available on CNN's server here. I wonder if CNN will issue an apology for these...

Much thanks to Michelle Malkin for linking to my humble little blog. (Okay, so I was jumping around like an idiot when I first saw it. Sue me.)

Also thanks to the Captain's Quarters blog for giving me a hat tip.

And last, but not least, much thanks to my friend Harbinger, too. Remind me to buy you a well-deserved drink sometime.

UPDATE: CNN has finally removed the "moron.jpg" picture. I wonder if there were any others that slipped under the radar. They probably aren't online anymore or won't be for long if they are. My guess, as I said before, is that one person was behind these filenames and they have probably been fired now. CNN still needs to apologize. Will they?

UPDATE 2: Thanks to the wonders of the Internet Age, these webpages as originally published aren't completely gone. There are a few archive sites that have them. Some surfers and bloggers have also saved screenshots and such.

CNN hides insult against President Bush in picture filename

My good friend Harbinger brought this to my attention. Go to this CNN.com webpage, right-click on the photo of George and Laura, and check the properties for the filename. (Alternatively, try saving the picture and see what filename automatically comes up.) Oh, sure. This is probably the doing of one person, but CNN is responsible for the actions of all its employees. This is going to hurt them.

I need a vacation

Bush won. Major Republican victories nationwide. It can't get much better than this. I feel a bit burned-out on news coverage, though. I need a break. I'm going cold-turkey on most news for a few days. I'm kind of sick of the anti-Bush people's post-election loss bitterness and pettiness, too. The less I am exposed to that, the better. I think I'll just stick to the most egregious stories of extremist liberal insanity.

Speaking of Katie Couric...

I just heard her talking to a guest about people not accepting this election as a mandate for President Bush because of how close elections in some states were. Man, these liberal hacks are pathetic. President Bush has won the popular vote - the ONLY thing they based their "no mandate" statements on in 2000 - by a HUGE margin, but they still find some way to say he doesn't have a mandate. Yeesh!

A bright morning for Republicans, a gloomy mourning for Democrats

It's sunny here today even though my state didn't go to President Bush.

I remembered Ann Coulter writing about Katie Couric wearing black the day after Gore conceded in the 2000 election. Out of curiosity, I tuned in to NBC's Today Show today and guess what. She's wearing black. So are others. Sure, Kerry hadn't conceded yet, but I think they (and other Democrats) knew what everyone else knows: President Bush won.

Obvious voter intimidation at my polling place

For a few years, now, the place when I vote has obviously been intimidating to liberals. It's the new National Guard Armory. Not only that, but when it first opened a few years back, the anti-war liberals in town made a big fuss about a display in the entrance that featured a big ol' cannon pointing at the front door. Now, if that isn't Democratic voter intimidation, I don't know what is! lol!

Kerry's shameless pandering of black Christians

Kerry Reaches Out to Black Voters in Tight Race

"Liberally quoting from the Bible and opening his brief remarks by intoning "through many dangers, toils and snares I have come, it is grace that brought me safe thus far and tis grace will bring me home," a reflective Kerry told the congregation: "These have been long months."

...

In an indirect dig at Bush, Kerry declared "faith without works is dead"

...

"For the next four years we're going to work to do what we need to do to heal the wounds of this country, to be one America," he said. "We are going to get the job done. Help make this happen, let's walk in the footsteps of the Lord."

Sickening.

Hat tip: the Dawn Patrol

Don't let the door hit you on the way out

It ain't shameful joy because she did this to herself and got what she deserved:

Part time instructor Spero resigns from Fort Lewis College

Fort Lewis College President Brad Bartel announced today the immediate resignation of Maria Spero, a part time instructor at the college.

Spero admitted to kicking student Mark O’Donnell in response to a political t-shirt he was wearing at Gazpacho New Mexican Restaurant in downtown Durango. On Oct. 28, the president asked for an investigation of the incident involving Spero and O’Donnell.

That was a Republican shirt he was wearing.

"Fort Lewis College will not condone any actions by its employees that interfere with a person’s free speech whether it occurs on or off the campus," said Bartel. "These rights are inherent in our public liberal arts college. Physical confrontation by any faculty, staff member or student at Fort Lewis College is not tolerated."

Neither individual knew each other prior to the incident.

The college will proceed immediately to fill the teaching position to ensure that no loss of class time will occur for Spero’s students.

Nah-nah-nah-nah! Nah-nah-nah-nah! Hey-ey-ey! Gooooood-byyyyyyye!

All but forgotten: disenfranchising U.S. soldiers in 2000

Lest we forget...

Soldiers' Votes Could Decide Election

During the chaotic 2000 election, thousands of troops overseas voted for president, only to have their ballots rejected. Others did not receive ballots at all. And some found the entire process confusing.

...

In 2000, Florida officials disqualified 1,527 military votes because they lacked postmarks. George W. Bush won Florida - and the presidency - by 537 votes.

The military traditionally votes Republican. In one recent informal survey of the armed forces and their family members, 72 percent of respondents said they favored Bush over Democrat John Kerry.

The Democrats found any and every reason to reject overseas absentee ballots (primarily from U.S. troops) while fighting tooth and nail for "dimpled chads" to be counted as votes for Gore. Will it happen again? If the election is close again (and let's hope it's not), I wouldn't be surprised if it does. If the Democrats truly wanted every vote to count 4 years ago, they would've let the military absentee ballots count. Of course, that would've meant that Gore wouldn't have had any hope at all of winning by harvesting enough votes through dubious means.

It's already been shown this year that military personnel are favoring Bush by a 4-to-1 ratio. With so many personnel overseas this election year, they truly could be the deciding factor. Let's all hope and pray that they are given the chance!