$195M spent on a TV series

In the weeks before the inauguration ("coronation" to my left-leaning readers), Bush-bashers were complaining about the $40M being spent on "a party."

Now word has come that the A&E; network has shelled out a record $2.5M for each of the 78 episodes of "the Sopranos." That comes out to $195M total. For a TV series. Someone please tell me where the left's outrage at that is. I'd really like to know.

Is that an impudent finger, or did you just vote?

Mothers always say that it's not polite to point, but I think they should make an exception for this.

Angel in the Waters - a great prolife children's book

Dawn points us to Angel in the Waters, a wonderfully written and very moving children's book. You can read and purchase the book online.

What if he had been shot?

Michelle Malkin points out the ridiculousness of attributing a vehicular death to the vehicle itself:

A WNBC headline: Man In Wheelchair Struck, Killed By SUV In Bronx

Actually, he was killed by the driver of the SUV, wasn't he?

The story continues:

Police said 41-year-old Juan Jimenez was crossing Broadway near 230th Street at about 5:44 p.m. when a late model black Mitsubishi SUV hit him and pinned him under the vehicle with the wheelchair.

The vehicle then fled the scene, leaving Jimenez in the street.

The vehicle fled the scene? This anti-SUV bias is getting a little ridiculous, isn't it?

Presumably, had the man been shot, the headline (and story) would've been along the lines of "Gun Shoots Man" and it would have been reported that "the gun fled the scene."

Oh, no. We're not pro-abortion. We're pro-choice. Really!

Dawn brings word of Planned Parenthood's latest foray into message clothing for the discerning abortionist. (Dawn's running a caption contest for that photo, too). "Fund Abortion." Cute. And we're supposed to believe these people are "pro-choice, not pro-abortion?" Give me a break! If that were true, why don't the shirts say "Fund Choice" instead? Ridiculous.

Army babe

Risawn.

'Nuff said.

Except for this.

Someone doesn't like Gianna Jessen

Gianna Jessen is the survivor of an abortion. No, she didn't have one. Her mother did and Gianna survived it.

Anyway, I checked my SiteMeter today and someone or a couple of someones came to S&B; after searching for the phrases "shut Gianna Jessen up," "Gianna Jessen boo hoo" and "Gianna Jessen scam." Weird.

CanadianCynic bursts a blood vessel

POP!

Goodbye, Mr. Gatsby and Mr. McHue. Life is just too damned short to listen to the infantile drivel of self-absorbed jackasses like that. From this point on, I am simply going to delete any comments made by either of these two gentlemen. No discussion, no negotiation.

If either of these individuals have something they want to say to my audience, they're more than welcome to say it on their blogs, which you can find here and here, respectively. If you like that kind of childish rhetoric, hey, knock yourself out. If you feel compelled to leave a note over there, you're welcome to do that, too.

I, on the other hand, am tired of debating with children. Time to, as they say, move on.

Well, it's his right, but I gotta say that it's a strange situation. First of all, the post that apparently set him off wasn't even directed at him. I responded to a comment by a self-righteous, self-appointed authority on correct spelling and proper grammar who, as you can easily see, obviously has no idea what either of those things are. He took me to task for missing the first "r" in "prerogative," so I returned the favor by pointing out all of his rather blatant errors. It looked a little something like this:

roflmbo!!!

Anon: that's "PREROGATIVE" you idiot.

Oh, gee. I missed a letter. Gosh. The horror. I must be a moron or something.

I've forgotten exactly what I said at this point, but I think it amounted to something along the lines of giving Anon a taste of his own medicine.

Anon: CC this last few weeks of your blog is getting tedious.

When addressing someone, a comma always follows their name, you idiot. "This" should be "these," you idiot. "Is" should be "are," you idiot.

Anon: takes too much time and effort to read the typo's, misspelled words, poorly crafted sentences;

Sentences begin with capital letters, you idiot. "Typo's" is a painful error in making the word "typo" plural. "Misspelled words" and "poorly crafted sentences" are hilariously hypocritical condemnations considering your own post, you idiot.

Anon: and that doesn't even take the ridiculous sentiments hurled from mchue and gatsby.

It doesn't take it where, you idiot? "McHue" and "Gatsby" are capitalized, you idiot.

Anon: it just ain't worth the brain power to slug through it any longer.

"It" should be capitalized, you idiot. "Ain't" is not proper grammar, you idiot.

Anon: - on the remote chance the spamming stops,

Sentences begin with capital letters, not dashes, you idiot.

Anon: i will check in from time to time. i miss the intelligent repartee,

"I" as a pronoun is always capitalized, you idiot.

Anon: rants (sans gatsby/mchue),

Again, "Gatsby" and "McHue" are capitalized, you idiot.

Anon: and overall cynical pov's.

Abbreviating the phrase "point(s) of view" requires periods after each letter, you idiot.

Anon: i just need a break so, signing out from california...

"I" and "California" need to be capitalized, you idiot. Proper punctuation is always necessary, you idiot.

That response apparently was the straw that broke the hoser's camel's back. I have no idea why. I guess CC just prefers that only hypocrites and fools post on his blog. It fits, especially considering his earlier post in which he berated me for deleting posts and banning people. CC is an angry, vulgar leftist who doesn't practice what he preaches and can't respond to challenges. Sad. Truly, truly sad.

(Personally, I think he's just jealous that he doesn't get links on DailyDean like I've gotten on Michelle Malkin's blog.)

CanadianCynic just doesn't get it

On A View From the North, vulgar left-wing mouthpiece CanadianCynic is trying to attack me with whatever he can no matter how impotent. Check this out:

IRRESISTIBLE UPDATE: I fought this -- truly, I did -- but, finally, I have to draw your attention to the Wonkette-bashing article on McHue's website where, down in update four, we read:

You can't say they weren't warned. I've cleaned out the vulgar, trollish comments and banned those responsible.

"Banned"? "Banned", you say? My word, this can't be the same Jinx McHue who, only recently, was so adamantly defending the notion of free speech, could it? I'm shocked, shocked, that McHue insists on wandering over here on a regular basis, dumping his insulting, right-wing swill all over my blog, and yet apparently denies some of his critics the same freedom over there. Gosh, if I wasn't feeling so charitable, I'd suggest that McHue was a complete hypocrite.

Fish. Barrel. Boom.

Contrary to CC's false portrayl, I've never stated that free speech is absolute. In fact, he should know this as I have made comments about the issue on his own blog here:

Freedom of speech is not absolute. You cannot enter my home and say anything you want. You cannot say anything you want over a school P.A. system. You cannot lie under oath (well, you can, but you'll get in deep trouble for it... unless you're Bill Clinton). You cannot engage in protest activities in private or semi-private places where others don't want it, and usually you can't protest in public without special permission and licenses.

And here:

CC: And no one was claiming that free speech was absolute and unlimited.

Oh, really?

"To wit....the US Constitution states that Free Speech is a given. Therefore, to suppress it is wrong. There is nothing more to declare."

Sure sounds to me like Gaz is saying the freedom of speech is absolute. "Free speech is a given, therefore, to suppress it is wrong." If someone cannot say whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want, that is suppressing free speech. If you come into my home and I say you can't swear or blaspheme my religion, that is suppressing your free speech. If a school prevents students from saying whatever they want over the P.A. system, that is suppressing free speech.

CC: This is known as a "strawman argument" -- misrepresent your opponent to refute a position they never took.

Yes, it is. Glad to know you recognize your own argument for what it is.

CC: But, as I said, let's humour Mr. McHue. I'm not sure what he's suggesting here -- that there's no such thing as a right to free speech? Surely that can't be it.

No, it's not. We have a right to free speech, but that right is not absolute. I'm not even suggesting that. I'm asserting that because it's true.

CC: But let's use his own logic, not on the First Amendment, but on the Second. Many conservatives would claim that the Second Amendment gives them the right to bear arms.

Yes, we do, but again, that right is not absolute.

CC: Using McHue's own logic (which he cannot now disavow),

I don't disavow my own logic, but I do disavow your false portrayl of my logic, hypocrite.

CC: we can similarly say that the right to bear arms is not absolute.

Of course it's not! Geez, man. What was it you said above? "And no one was claiming that free speech was absolute and unlimited." Despite the fact that someone actually did do that, apply that statement to your argument, if you can. "And no one was claiming that the right to bear arms was absolute and unlimited." Contrary to the statement about free speech, this statement is actually true. I never said anything at all about the right to bear arms before this post.

CC: You can't bring weapons to schools. You can't take them on airplanes, and so on, and so on. So what would we conclude from this? Apparently, according to McHue, there is no right to bear arms.

And I trust we can all see just how absurd Mr. McHue's position is.ROFLMBO!!! No, but we can see just how absurd your false portrayl of my position is. I never said anything even close to the effect that since freedom of speech is not absolute, that means there is no freedom of speech. THAT ARGUMENT IS ENTIRELY YOUR OWN LYING FABRICATION.

CC: As if we needed any help.

You need all the help you can get, my friend. Desperately.

CC: Cue: Mr. McHue scrambling frantically to change the subject so as to not admit that he just made a fool of himself. Again.

lol!!! Who's fabricating false arguments I am supposedly making? Who's babbling on about the Second Amendment? YOU are the one scrambling frantically to change the subject, CC. It is YOU who cannot admit being wrong and a fool.

Again and again and again and again.

Notice that CC failed to respond to that last post.

Anyway, this is my response to his latest attack:

It's very simple, simpleton. My blog. My rules. Don't follow them? Expect consequences. It's the same as if you entered my home and started spouting off obscenities.

Besides, the comments I deleted and the posters I banned offered nothing but obscenities. Posters who actually offered something worth responding to but used an obscenity or two had their comments editted only to remove the obscenities and the posters were not banned.

You know, if you don't like my "insulting, right-wing swill" and prefer only to have your vulgar, left-wing offal, then edit out my posts and ban me (I don't remember if that can be done with the base Blogger comments, though). It's your site and that's your perogative.

Nice attempt at once again falsely painting me as a hypocrite, though. Too bad the fish you're shooting at are fake and the barrel is imaginary.

If he bans me, I would have no problem with that. It's his blog and he makes the rules. I would just have to resign myself to responding to his leftist offal here. *winkwink*

Moloch rules

This is just a great blog: Moloch Now.

Our emotional earth

There's environmentalist wackos and then there's environmentalist wackos:

'A bad case of fleas'

The act of war deliberately and thoughtlessly wounds, poisons and handicaps the life-sustaining womb of all mankind. The Earth reacts, as any living thing would, when attacked. Earthquake, tsunami, flood, tornado, hurricane, mudslide, and resulting loss of life may be the natural emotional response.

We must behave responsibly and live peacefully or we may all be "shaken" off like a bad case of fleas.

Millie Mitchell
Fort Collins

"The natural emotional response," eh? Oooooo-kay. So, um, not to be indelicate, but, uh, what happens when the Earth gets turned on? On second thought, maybe I don't want to know that...

(Courtesy Michelle Malkin, who calls this the "stupidest explanation for the tsunami. Ever." She's right.)

Inauguration Day: straight from the moonbats' mouths

This is one of the most hilarious things I've ever watched. Inauguration Day found the moonbats in full bloom. Pay particular attention to their mindlessly repeated catch phrases, the questioning of the election (but not the "more accurate and trustworthy" exit polls!), and the glowing remarks about Socialism and Communism. You just can't make this stuff up, folks.

DailyDean: "Optimism? What's that?"

Howard Dean's head shill Kos calls it as he sees it [through dung-stained glasses, of course]:

More Iraqis are dying now than died during Saddam's regime. The torture rooms are still open for business. Iraq is now a prime terrorist recruitment and training ground. "Democracy" is nowhere to be found. Civil war is imminent. Our armed forces are being degraded into paper tiger status. The war has cost us international support and respect. We no longer have the ability to respond to genuine threats.

I'm not sure where he's getting all this from. Probably from the usual place: the same oriface where his head is located.

New computer up and running!

The difference between this one and our 6-year-old computer is amazing! The speed is a major, major improvement. Memory (both RAM and the hard drive), too. We also got some excellent speakers and a woofer with the system, which makes the music, games and DVDs so much better. Oh, did I mention it plays DVDs? Heh... The speed has also improved our web surfing. We're still on dial-up, but the faster computer makes it seem twice as fast as it was on the old one. We don't have any great need for a faster connection, so we're just going to leave it as is for now.

[Special note for M.E.: check my Blogroll!]

Rolling Stone backtracks, accepts Bible ad

Their excuse explanation? "Internal miscommunications." Okay. Whatever.

I haven't read anything beyond excerpts of the TNIV, but from what I've seen, it is a particularly controversial translation which I think is unnecessary. It's kowtowing to the radical left critics who think the Bible denegrates women because they don't understand it. However, I can see the possibility of some good coming from it. If it opens up the door to the Bible and other translations for people who would normally not be interested in them, great! Ultimately, though, the Gospel is not dependent on whether gender-neutral language is used or not. People need to know that they are guilty of sin and need salvation through Jesus Christ. That's all that really matters.

Moonbat bloggers' pity party: DailyDean

Unfortunately, Kos has avoided directly commenting on the inauguration. Instead, he's devoted time to smearing Alberto Gonzales, boring us with boring t-shirts, supporting Spongebob Squarepants' involvement in a pro-homosexual video aimed at children, touting a ridiculously unlikely presidential run by Barack Obama in 2016 (after becoming governor in 2010), rambling on about Florida politics, and babbling inanely about the Democrats' "war" in opposing President Bush.

I guess the trauma of accepting the reality of a second term for President Bush is too much for him. At least he's got his "hard-earned" proceeds from being a shill for Howard Dean to tide him over.

Moonbat bloggers' pity party: Wonkette

Just having a look around at the liberal blogs (or psuedo-blogs in the case of Wonkette) and I'm amused at all the b---hing and moaning going on. You can almost hear them weeping. Here's some choice remarks from Wonkette (from a sea of inanity):

Whitest. Inauguration. Ever. More trophy wives, cowboy hats, and fur coats -- than you'd ever see on a "Dallas" episode.

Odd... Us sane people didn't notice this. I saw plenty of people of color, the only trophy wives I saw were named Clinton and Kerry, the only cowboy hat I saw today was on Don Imus earlier this morning, and the few fur coats I saw looked pretty dang warm.

11:40AM: Trent Lott reminds us that Americans have been gathering for over 200 years to welcome their new presidents a "peaceful and dignified ceremonies." And then, he said, "there's this year, which is a $40 million obscenity of corporate whoredom."

lol! The voices in Ms. Cox's head are not only starting to express themselves through the voices of people she's listening to, but they're continuing to spread lies and misrepresenations.

11:46AM: Is this church or something? What's with the hymn?

Oh, boo-hoo-hoo! Go cry to Michael Newdow. Maybe he can lose a lawsuit over it in your name, Ana.

11:49AM: Cheney getting sworn in. F***, this is really happening, isn't it?

Yes, it is. It's not your usual alcohol-induced hallucinations, woman. Deal with it. MoveOn, as they say.

Wait, did you hear that? He swore to protect us from "all enemies foreign domestic and made up. . ." They're warning us this time!

Another appearance by the voices in her head.

11:58AM: Four more years, minus about a minute. Just keep the bourbon coming.

What's more hilarious than plain moonbats? Drunk moonbats!

12:00PM: Pre 9/11, America was in "repose" and on "sabbatical." Or maybe he's just talking about himself.

Only in Michael Moore's wet dreams - the ones in which he is always right and never lies.

One can only imagine that Ms. Cox has drank herself into a stupor and has passed out in a gutter somewhere. Drinking at 11 in the morning (or earlier!) onward. A sign of a likely alcoholic. No wonder Wonkette is so worthless.

Liveblogging the Inauguration: Spot the Moonbat Edition

I'm watching the inaugural events today on C-SPAN (less commentary) and I will be updating every so often to report on moonbat sightings. I expect to see the "turn your back on Bush" people interspersed throughout the crowd along the parade route, sign-holders and possibly even egg chuckers like there were during the last inaugural parade.

In fact, as I was typing this, I had my first moonbat sighting. Some guy was speaking and refering to a new poll saying that %55 of Americans believe the war in Iraq is wrong. C-SPAN cut away to other events, however, so I didn't get to see the rest of his rant.

UPDATE: Moonbats galore on C-SPAN2! They're getting their very own exclusive coverage.

UPDATE 2: Lots of close-ups of President Bush's limo, unfortunately. It was a short drive to the Capitol, though, so there probably wasn't much to spot.

UPDATE 3: Head moonbat himself, John "Effenheimer" Kerry, has been spotted.

UPDATE 4: Billary!

UPDATE 5: Jimmy Carter.

UPDATE 6: Anti-moonbat sightings: George H. W. Bush and wife Barbara, Jenna and Barbara Bush, and Liz and Mary Cheney.

UPDATE 7: The classiest First Lady to occupy the White House in sometime, Laura Bush, sighted making her way to the portico.

UPDATE 8: Another class act: Lynn Cheney.

UPDATE 9: Dick Cheney's making his way down the stairs.

UPDATE 10: I'm apparently watching the wrong station. Wizbang is reporting that C^BS is giving a lot of camera time to Democrats. No surprise there.

UPDATE 11: The man of the hour, your president and mine, George W. Bush is on his way. I won't be blogging through the swearing in.

UPDATE 12: Popped over to the other stations while the band is playing. John Kerry's getting a lot of screen time on the big 3 and shrill protesters are screaming into a microphone on C-SPAN2. Couldn't take too much of either of those...


NEWS FLASH!!!

Early reports are saying that Michael Newdow's head just exploded due to a prayer being said at the inauguration. Film at 11.


UPDATE 13: Experiencing technical difficulties with Blogger. Grrr!

UPDATE 14: Heard some moonbats trying to shout over President Bush's excellent speech. They eventually were drowned out by people chanting "USA! USA! USA!"

UPDATE 15: Flipped over to the loud, shrill moonbats on C-SPAN2. Such anger. Such hate. "Hey-hey! Ho-ho! Your racist war has got to go!" I didn't realize that getting rid of a brutal dictator and his supporters was a matter of racism. Some guy right now is ranting about gay marriage and the constitutional amendment supporting traditional marriage.

UPDATE 16: "Racist! Sexist! Anti-gay! Bush, Cheney - go away!" It's like I'm listening to 4th graders.

UPDATE 17: My son is imitating the inept, impotent chanting. Time to change the channel to something more mentally stimulating... like a soap opera.

Joke, scam or the real thing?

This device, which screws in between your TV and cable cord, supposedly blocks the Fox News channel. I can't tell if this is a joke, a scam or the real thing. First of all, if you don't want to watch Fox News, do what the liberals always tell us conservatives to do when some TV show decides to boost its ratings by showing voluminous amounts of female flesh: turn the channel. Also, all modern TVs have had the ability to delete channels from the auto-programmed line-up. In fact, they've had this ability for some time, now. Why do you need to send someone $8.95+S&H; for some piece of metal that supposedly does something you can easily do yourself?

Sanctity of Human Life Week, Jan. 16-22

32 years ago this Saturday, 7 Supreme Court justices, swayed by the misleading arguments and outright lies of Sarah Weddington and others, issued a ruling that opened up the gates of Hell and loosed the worst holocaust the world has ever seen. Since 1973, 45 million helpless, innocent, unborn children in this country (over 800 million worldwide) have been stabbed, cut, torn limb from limb, chemically burned, had their brains sucked out of their skulls only seconds from being completely out of the birth canal, and had any number of other horrific "procedures" performed on them in the name of "choice" and "convenience." These are human beings. That they are in the womb and at an earlier stage of development than you and I are is irrelevent. They aren't "clumps of cells" (not anymore than you and I are) or "the same as a skin cell." They are unimaginably precious, worthy of being loved, and a great gift from God. They are not worthy of being put to death just because people who can't keep their pants on "aren't ready to have children." It really makes you wonder how people who claim they aren't ready to have children can justify engaging in the one activity that produces them.

In honor of those who are fighting for the lives of those who can't fight for themselves and in rememberence of the lives that have been lost, this week is Sanctity of Human Life Week.

Pro-life links:

The Dawn Patrol - Planned Parenthood's and NARAL's worst nightmare

LifeNews - News source focusing on life issues from conception onward

Roe No More - The truth about Roe v. Wade straight from the person who knows best: Norma Corvey (formerly "Jane Roe")

Abortion Facts - More truth about abortion

Gianna Jessen's story - She survived a brutal abortion procedure in 1977, but she wasn't the mother

AbortionTV - Huge pro-life information source (WARNING: some graphic content, but not really on the main page)

My pitiful blogroll

I've really been neglecting it. I'm going to have to start adding to it soon. Probably after the new computer comes next week.

Possible cover-up regarding an offensive skit

Michelle Malkin cites a FIRE article (originally found by Joanne Jacobs) that leads to a press release on the gross double-standard Florida’s Indian River Community College has when it comes to Christians:

Florida’s Indian River Community College (IRCC) is engaging in a campaign of repression against a Christian student group for attempting to show Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ on campus. In November 2004, the college banned the Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) from showing the film because it was R-rated, despite the fact that the college has hosted a live performance entitled “F**king for Jesus” that describes simulated sex with “the risen Christ.”

What's interesting is that the FIRE page includes this link, which should go to the skit's script. It doesn't. It bounces back to the FIRE page. I've tried a different browser, tried to access the script from the main script page, and even had someone else online check the link. All resulted in the bounce back to the FIRE page. I had to find a cached copy of the script page through Google. I think someone's trying to cover up something here.

CORRECTION: It actually turns out that the script apparently has been replaced by some kind of corrupted copy of the FIRE press release. Looks like someone did a bad cut-n-paste job from the source for the original FIRE page. It must have been done today, since the FIRE press release was posted only today. Bizarramundo!

I guess the people at NoShame.org felt quite a bit of shame over this particular skit.

UPDATE: Welcome fellow Michelle Malkin fans! (Or "welcome back" to some of you.)

UPDATE 2: Here are a few more links to other skits offensive to Christians that NoShame.org should be feel shame about:

Godburger
Father, Forgive Me
The True Meaning of Easter(n)
Movie Review: The Passion of The Christ
God's Law MUST Be Obeyed

And those were the easier ones to find due to their titles. I don't see anything that jumps out at me as being about Allah, Buddha, or any other deity or religious figure than those of the Judeo-Christian religion. I'm actually not particularly surprised by that.

UPDATE 3: FIRE has replaced the link to the altered NoShame.org page with a link to a copy of the script on their own website. (I may be responsible for that as last night I emailed the Director of Legal and Public Advocacy for FIRE about the change to the NoShame.org page.)

[Hat tip to "Xavier" of the TheologyWeb.com forums for verifying this for me.]

Blogging funk

I'm still around! Just haven't felt much like posting lately. Got a case of the blahs. I think it has something to do with this freezing weather we're getting.

Captain's Quarters World Relief Day: January 12th

[IMPORTANT NOTICE: I've pre-dated this post so it stays on top for the next few days. Please check below this post for my usual posts.]

Captain Ed has designated January 12th as CQ's World Relief Day. The good Captain and his First Mate urge all of us to donate all our take-home pay for that day to World Vision. Donating above and beyond that total is, of course, very welcomed. (It's actually something I plan on doing as I will be working only 3 hours that day.) Give 'til it hurts, as they say.

UPDATE: Well, after a brief discussion, my wife and I decided to send our donation to Mission of Mercy, the organization through which we sponsor a child in India. I still encourage everyone to join in the cause no matter where you send your donations.

Bizarre answering machine message

A woman erroneously called our phone number tonight and our Callwave Internet Answering Machine recorded her message. Here's the transcript, which admittedly doesn't do the bizarreness of the message justice:

Yeah, I want to talk to somebody here. And they'd better get on the phone if they're there. Because I got a phone on my butt and they want to shut my phone off and it ain't gonna happen in here. And who I know in here that's gotta a [unintelligible] towards me, I'm gonna get a attorney on their butt and I lose my phone, they're gonna lose theirs and I'll make sure of it. And I'll swear up in front that they'll lose their phone. I don't monkey around. This one they're monkeying with the wrong lady this time. So... You listen, you answering machine. Cuz this time, [unintelligible] pay for this one. So help me God on it. So, BYE-BYE!

She's got a phone on her butt? What the heck???

Does this fall under "irony" or "poetic justice?"

Well, whatever the case, this man's fate definitely falls under the heading of "stupidity:"

In this vein, we note with a sense of both sadness and irony a couple of articles recently called to our attention. The first is a 17 September 2004 editorial published in the Daily Nebraskan and entitled "Individual Rights Buckle Under Seat Belt Laws," by Derek Kieper, a 21-year-old senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, in which the writer inveighed against mandatory seat belt laws, opining that "Uncle Sam is not here to regulate every facet of life no matter the consequences," and that "Democrats and Republicans alike should stand together to stop these laws that are incongruous with the ideals of both parties." In the midst of his editorial he noted:

As laws become increasingly strict for seat belts, fewer people will respond positively by buckling up in response to the laws. There seems to be a die-hard group of non-wearers out there who simply do not wish to buckle up no matter what the government does. I belong to this group.

Evidently his words were far more prescient than any of us might have wanted, as an article in the 4 January 2005 Lincoln Journal Star reported that Mr. Kieper not only died in a car crash, but the tragic mishap that claimed his life was the very type of accident in which seat belts have proved so effective in saving lives — preventing passengers from being ejected from vehicles

It's always sad and tragic when people die like that, but you have to admit the guy was just asking for it.

The bogus "100K dead Iraqis" figure refuses to die

Last year, the Lancet reported that a study estimated that the military action in Iraq has resulted in the deaths of 100,000 Iraqi citizens. That number was picked up by the liberals and has been used as an anti-Bush mantra ever since. The problem is that the estimate has been debunked as an ridiculously soft number. What the study actually said was that the researchers felt with ninty-some percent certainty that the number of dead fell somewhere between a couple thousand and a couple hundred thousand. That's quite the point spread! The 100K figure was chosen for no real reason and there is no proof that it is true. (Alternatively, there is more than sufficient proof in countless mass graves of Saddam's massive slaughter of the Iraqi people.) It was nothing more than a guess. In fact, it would have been just as "reasonable" to use the lowest estimate, the highest, or any number in between. These facts don't stop liberals from using the 100K figure, though.

Democratic election strategy #1: recount until you win, then stop counting

As with the Florida 2000 election, the gubernatorial election in Washington state shows once again that when Democrats caterwaul "Count every vote!" what they really mean is "Count until we win and then stop counting!"

The new media--talk radio, bloggers and independent watchdog groups--have followed up their success in exposing Dan Rather's use of phony memos by showcasing another scandal: Washington state's bizarre race for governor, which features a vote count so close and compromised it allows Florida to retire the crown for electoral incompetence.

Indeed, and what would have happened in Florida had the Supreme Court not stopped the bogus recounts has happened in Washington. After the first vote count, Republican Dino Rossi was in the lead. After the first recount, that lead was cut. After the second recount, Democrat Christine Gregoire ended up in the lead by 129 votes. And that's when the recounts stopped, of course. The Democratic candidate had the lead and that's all that matters to the Democrats. Nevermind that just like Florida in 2000, hundreds of military personnel have had their votes disqualified for ridiculous reasons. They, of course, don't fall under the "count every vote" mantra. Nevermind that in at least one county, there are hundreds of votes over the number of voters that can be accounted for. Nevermind that ballots are apparently being mishandled and manipulated, much like what happened in Florida in 2000. The Democratic candidate "won" so that means every vote counted.

For more coverage about the irregularities in the Washington election and the Democrats' strategies in stealing the election, check out the wealth of information at Sound Politics.

MSM fails to report voting irregularities in Palestine

Captain Ed reports on the amazing lack of media coverage on the suspicious activities during the Palestinian election. He writes:

Now that sounds pretty suspicious to me. They only got one-third of eligible voters to the polls during the entire legal time that they were open -- but managed to find almost the same amount to vote in the next two hours? Had this happened in Iraq, the American press would be screaming "FRAUD" in 32-point headlines, and everyone knows it.

A bit hyperbolish, I think, but essentially correct. The MSM has a soft spot in their brains for Arafat's selected - not elected - successor and they would never sully his "good" name.

Captain Ed ends with the following:

All in all, the response of the Western media comes to nothing short of a whitewash. The mid-stream rule changes and the subsequent voting pattern gives a pretty good indication of rampant fraud. The American media climbs all over Ohio for a few long lines at polling stations but misses this altogether. It's a shameful performance by the mainstream media.

Shameful, yes. Surprising, no.

Principal cancels dances, students whine

Students at Lemoore Union High School in California (Lemoore is south of Fresno) have had their remaining school dances cancelled by the principal because of their refusal to heed his ban on "freak dancing." (For those who don't know, "freak dancing" akin to something you'd find done in a strip joint, except the girls aren't being paid to do it.) The student response is, well, not unexpected:

"Some students save up all year to buy a dress or rent a tuxedo and buy flowers for the prom," said student body president Zohra Lakhani, a 17-year-old senior. "To crush everyone's dreams, it's not fair."

Awww! "It's not fair!" It's so easy to imagine this person throwing themself on the floor and pounding their hands and feet while screaming their head off. (Gosh, those gender-neutral pronouns are goofy. I wish the article had been more explicit on whether Zohra was male or female. I'm guessing female, but you never know.)

[Purloined from Captain's Quarters.]

Tsunami donations: the Bushes vs. the Kerrys

Last week, word came out that President Bush personally donated $10,000 to the tsunami relief. Some people, like this tool, used that information as a basis on which to bash him once again:

WOW, a whole .00077 of his wealth.

Of course, now that it's been reported that Teresa Heinz Kerry and her trophy husband have donated $450,000, you can expect those critical of President Bush's donation to continue to be the hypocrites they are. Depending on who's doing the estimating, THK's wealth is somewhere between $500M and $1B, which would mean her donations falls between the range of .0009 and .00045 of her wealth. Not only that, but the $450K wasn't even out of her own pocket! It was through charities run by the Heinz corporation. Do you think the Bush-bashers will be equally critical of the Kerrys? Of course they won't! Whatever President Bush does, it's a lose-lose situation for him when it comes to the people who hate him. Whether $10,000 or all $13M of his assets, they'd criticize him. They've got two arguments: either he's not being generous enough or he's showing off by being overly-generous. Of course, they never say exactly what amount would fall between the two extremes because there is nothing between them. Not to these clowns. As I said, it's lose-lose for the president no matter what he does and I've come to the conclusion that his critics won't ever listen to reason on this issue. They'll just continue to mindlessly [ab]use the issue in order to have yet another thing about him to complain about. It doesn't pay to keep trying to get it through their thick skulls, so I just have my say about their erroneous criticism and their hypocrisy (e.g. when it comes to the Kerrys' donation) before I do what they cannot: MoveOn.

Please rate the stupidity of this quote

"I'm coming to the conclusion that any view held of Christianity will be a caricature to Christians unless it is the view that it is true."
--steamer (TheologyWeb poster notorious both for straw man attacks on Christians and Christianity, and for being too thick-skulled/stubborn to understand that they are straw man attacks)

Please rate the stupidity of steamer's quote on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being "stupid" to 10 being "hilariously stupid."

Another denial of service attack?

Once again, I am unable to get to the exact same blogs as I noted in an eariier entry. The moonbats really are after these conservative blogs, aren't they?

Another Minnesota blog

Melissa Speaks Out is a conservative blog hosted by a student at the [liberal] U of M in [liberal] Mankato in [liberal] Blue Earth County. For the geographically-challenged, here's where Mankato is located. Ironically enough, the city and county are located right where the Minneota River takes a radical left turn. Coincidence? I think not!

Another critique on Wonkette

Last March, the Evangelical Outpost had some rather choice remarks about Wonkette, which can be found here. Here are some excerpts:

There is only one form of blogger that is more tedious that the navel-gazer who posts about the eflluvia of their daily lives and that is the blogger who gazes at other people’s navels, especially those who do so looking for lint.

...

Both sites [Wonkette and Gawker] are published by entrepreneur Nick Denton whose Gawker media also includes blog sites dedicated to reviewing p*rn (Fleshbot) and gadgets (Gizmodo). Denton is to snaky blogs what Mark Burnett is to reality TV: a well-connected insider whose projects gain attention simply because of his “brand.” This helps explain why his blogs attract attention despite the fact that they completely suck.

...

Jack Shafer ... refers to these blogs as “the twin offspring of a date-rape incident between Drudge Report and the original Spy magazine”

...

These blogs don’t even produce a sugar high, just the bad aftertaste left by a third-rate knockoff of Sweet N' Low.

Yet notice that both blogs are mentioned in major daily newspapers (as well as Shafer‘s Slate column). Can the attention that they have received truly be attributed to their content? Or is it simply that US magazine-style blogs will inevitably receive more attention that Wilson Quarterly-type content providers?

The major daily newspapers mention Wonkette (and Gawker, though not so much, I think) and portray it as what a "real" blog is like because it's sickeningly liberal. If Wonkette had a conservative slant, it would be barely a blip on the MSM radar screens. And, as EO mentions (and I have mentioned), Cox's rich backer helps matters a lot, too.

Strange...

I can't access Wizbang, Powerline, or Captain's Quarters right now. Captain's Quarters was having trouble with a whacker earlier this week - someone who knew how to use multiple IP addresses. I wonder if there's a D.O.S. attack going on.

UPDATE: It was a DOS attack with many, many right-wing blogs affected. Powerline, Wizbang, Michelle Malkin, Captain's Quarters, Instapundit, and likely more. Real nice, moonbats. On the one hand, you caterwaul for "fair elections where every vote is counted," but then you turn around and pull crap like this. You're a bunch of idiots and hypocrites, which is par for the course. I could say some other really unkind things, but I think Cheney said it best when he told Leahy Pat to...

Survivor of Pinatubo comes full-circle

This is just plain cool:

ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN - Standing in the hangar bay of this mammoth aircraft carrier, Seaman Joviena Kay looks across the waves toward the devastated coast of Sumatra, remembering a time 13 years ago when she huddled on the same deck with evacuees from another great Asian disaster.

Joviena was 6 years old then, a refugee from a volcano. The Filipino-American eventually joined the U.S. Navy, and she is serving on the ship that rescued her as its sailors help the survivors of an earthquake and tsunami.

...

In her few spare moments, the soft-spoken sailor counters homesickness by keeping in touch with her mother via e-mail.

"She's proud of us, trying to help out here," Joviena says. "She just tells me to be careful."

Many others are proud of her, too.

[Pilfered from Captain's Quarters.]

Abu Ghraib quiz

Greyhawk of The Mudville Gazette tests your knowledge of the Abu Ghraib scandal with the following questions:

1. The famous "60 Minutes" photos from Abu Ghraib were

a. Taken over a period of several months

b. All from one night

c. All from one week

-------------------

2. Who were the victims in those photos, and why were they singled out for abuse?

a. Iraqi cab drivers / mistakenly identified as terrorists

b. Suspected Al-Qaeda Terrorists / Intel officers acting under orders from the Pentagon had carefully instructed the guards at Abu Ghraib in the effectiveness of humiliation in getting terrorists to "sing", and actively encouraged it's use.

c. "Insurgents" / High Command needed info quickly to stem the rising tide of violence during Ramadan

d. Ordinary criminals in prison for their crimes, of no intelligence value/they were brought to the high security area for fighting among themselves at another area of the prison.

-------------------

3. Throughout Fall 2003 SSg Ivan Frederick, a guard at Abu Ghraib, was continuously emailing his concerns about conditions home to his family, but higher ups ignored them.

True or False
-------------------

4. The highest ranking of the accused torturers at Abu Ghraib were Reservists, not Active Duty. What were their civilian occupations?

a. Republican precinct Chairmen

b. WalMart Stockboys

c. Postal workers

d. Prison guards

-------------------

5. Lyndie England was an administrative worker at the prison. Why was she present for the torture session?

a. Not enough "real guards" due to poor planning

b. She was celebrating her Birthday with her boyfriend, and had violated orders to be there

c. The naked pyramid was scientifically proven more effective if a female was present

d. Direct orders of Donald Rumsfeld

-------------------

6. The Army suppressed the story of Abu Ghraib until the 60 Minutes broadcast.

True or False
-------------------

7. The Army investigation began

a. After 60 Minutes aired the photos when General Taguba was sent to find out what happened

b. Shortly after the event when a fellow guard learned of the photos and reported the abuse to higher ups at Abu Ghraib

c. When Frederick alerted his family to what he was being forced to do

d. When photos began showing up on weblogs operated by the guards

-------------------

8. How were the pictures made public?

a. Discovered after months-long investigations by reporter Seymour Hersh and 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes

b. Handed to Hersh by Gary Myers, his old pal from the My-Lai court martial who was coincidentally representing SSG Ivan Frederick, the highest ranking individual charged with torturing prisoners at Abu Ghraib, immediately after the preliminary hearing in which they were released to the defense

c. Handed to a representative of 60 Minutes by relatives of SSG Frederick

d. Discovered posted on weblogs operated by the guards

-------------------

9. General Taguba in Senate testimony blamed events on

a. Poorly supervised individuals acting on their own

b. Unnamed Pentagon bureaucrats

c. The military culture

d. Individuals carrying out what they believed to be legal orders

-------------------

10. SSG Frederick:

a. Was given a slap on the hand

b. Was found guilty by court martial despite the valiant efforts of his top-notch defense team to identify the "real criminals"

c. Pleaded guilty at start of court martial

---------------------------------------------------------

Write down your answers and check them here.

New vehicle

I am now the proud owner of an evil SUV. Sue me.

U.N. nixes adoptions of tsunami orphans

Dawn Eden brings word of the U.N.'s insane position on people offering to adopt children orphaned by the tsunami:

Unicef Australia chief executive Carolyn Hardy says her organisation will not support or encourage inter-country adoptions.

"We believe children are best left where they are in environments that are familiar to them, in a culture that's familiar to them, speaking a language that they know, and in the schools that they're already going to," she said.

"To uplift them out of their country to Australia or anywhere else would be an absolute last resort."

The only problem is, of course, that the "environments" these children are in now are NOT familiar to them. The "environments" have been absolutely devastated by the crushing, killing force of a tsunami. "The schools that they're already going to" are probably gone. Many of their family members and friends are dead. They now face a very unfamiliar "culture" of hunger, pain, disease, danger and death. So, quite frankly, the U.N. can take their anti-adoption position and cram it. Let the children be adopted. THEY WILL ADJUST!

Child tips off coalition forces to weapons, truck bomb

CHILD'S TIP LEADS MULTI-NATIONAL SOLDIERS TO A LARGE WEAPONS CACHE

MOSUL, Iraq -- Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), 25th Infantry Division (Light), discovered a large cache of weapons and munitions based on a child’s tip during operations on Jan. 3 in northern Iraq.

An Iraqi child led Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, to a large cache of weapons in an abandoned building during a patrol in western Mosul that consisted of 30 60 mm mortars, 21 rocket propelled grenade rounds, dynamite, various roadside bombs and components, five RPG launchers, more than 100 mortar fuses, grenades, ammunition and intelligence documents.

Soldiers also discovered a stolen fuel truck in the configuration stages of a truck bomb. The discovery of the truck bomb possibly saved the lives of hundreds of people.

Let's hope and pray this will lead to more Iraqis coming forward with what they know or have seen. God bless that child!

Gee, and here I thought the U.N. was running the show

As Powerline notes, the AP is reporting that the U.S. is now spearheading the relief effort in areas affected by the tsunami. You'll excuse me if I take a brief moment to say...

"YEAH, BABY!!!"

See, this is why the world needs the United States. We're the only ones with the money, the know-how and the cajones to get things rolling instead of holding countless meetings and hemming and hawing about the lodging of those we send to help (like the U.N. is doing). We also send more than bureaucrats:

Aussies and Yanks continue to carry the overwhelming bulk of the burden, but some other fine folks also have jumped in: e.g., the New Zealanders have provided C-130 lift and an excellent and much-needed potable water distribution system; the Singaporeans have provided great helo support; the Indians have a hospital ship taking position off Sumatra. Spain and Netherlands have sent aircraft with supplies.

The UN continues to send its best product, bureaucrats. Just today the city's Embassies got a letter from the local UN representative requesting a meeting for "Ms. Margareeta Wahlstrom, United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Secretary-General's Special Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance in Tsunami-afected countries." Wow! Put that on a business card! And she must be really, really special because she has the word "coordinator" twice in her title!

The many U.N. coordinators aren't doing a very good job of coordinating. Thank God (and I never say that lightly) we have President Bush leading the way in this.

2004's Most Obnoxious Quotes

Right Wing News has compiled a list of The 40 Most Obnoxious Quotes Of 2004. Good stuff. Made me laugh quite a few times. (Watch out for some bad - though slightly editted - language.)

Why did MSNBC delete this story?

In searching for news stories about President Bush supposedly being "insensitive" towards the tsumani disaster in Asia, I discovered that MSNBC has removed this story (cached copy) from their website. It still can be found using their archive search (search for "insensitive tsunami"), but it comes up as "File not found." Other older articles (some dating back to early 2004) are still available, so why not this one?

Thanks a bunch, Ana Marie!

After the initial spike of hits from Ms. Cox's link to my site on Wonkette, the hits are leveling off and... they've roughly doubled from hits I was getting before the spike. That's not much, but any improvement is a plus. Slowly but surely I'm building a readership base, and that's how it should be. I will get by on my own merits and on being myself, not on paid advertising by a rich backer and being a fabrication meant to draw "clientele" and revenue for him.

You don't Che...

Jay Nordlinger brings us news about the efforts to get Che Guevara-themed items removed from the New York Public Library gift shop and Burlington Coat Factory's inventory: they were a complete success! (Hat tip: the Dawn Patrol.)

What's really important in giving to the needy

The smartest young woman I know takes a few moments to opine on the tsunami relief efforts and reminds us all about what's truly important in helping those in need.

And yes, this does run contrary to my earlier comments about France. I admit that I was wrong about criticizing France for their initial funding instead of looking at the bigger picture that every little bit helps the tsunami victims. Just goes to show you what some wise words will do to a person. (Thanks, Lorraine.)

Washington 2004 = Florida 2000?

Apparently so, at least as far as the gubernatorial race goes. Sound Politics is compiling a number of stories about the strange goings-on up there.

The state of the world at the end of the 2004

Instapundit calls this a must-read. I whole-heartedly agree.

The Blue and the Red - civil war in the 21st Century

Ever since the 2000 election, the term "red stater" has been used by the liberals as an insult. (Actually, its usage died down after a while, but the latest election brought it back.) It's used in place of terms the liberals are afraid to use: stupid, uneducated, backwards, religious fanatics, hateful, bigotted, etc. In fact, its usage has an intolerant, almost racist feel to it, which is really not surprising considering that liberals are the worst or the worst when it comes to hypocrisy. They say that everyone has a right to believe and be and do whatever they want to "as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else," but then they turn around and vomit out insults at "red staters" for believing and being and doing what they want even though it doesn't hurt anyone. Liberals try to claim that "red staters'" do cause harm in what they believe and are and do, but such arguments are as flimsy as they come. "Intolerance!" they cry, weeping bitter tears while avoiding the truth of their own intolerance. "Hate is not a family value!" they caterwaul while spewing foul-mouthed epithets at any conservative who crosses their path. If you missed coverage of President Bush's trip to Canada, tune into the circus the liberals are going to hold during his presidential inauguration (or, as they often mindlessly repeat, his "coronation") later this month. You'll see very clearly what I mean.

I live in a blue state, unfortunately, but hopefully that's changing. We have a Republican governor, our Representatives are split 50-50, and one Republican Senator, which will hopefully become two in 2006 with all the garbage the Democrat is pulling. The last two presidential elections have been fairly close - within 4 percentage point - so it possible this state could turn red at some point in the near future.

Now despite living in a blue state, I consider myself a "red stater" and I am very proud of that fact. I'm not stupid, uneducated, a fanatic or anything else the liberals want to pigeon-hold me as just because I'm a "red stater." I love to read (and not just the Bible! *gasp*), I enjoy all sorts of music (not just Christian music! *gasp*), and I don't hate or look down on homosexuals or anyone else (*gasp*). Other "red staters" I know here and elsewhere around the country are pretty similar to me, too. In fact, I'm sure that liberals would be hard-pressed to find anyone outside of characters like Fred Phelps who fit their prejudiced view of "red staters."

But, of course, the epithet will stand for now because liberals are too afraid to look beyond it and see the actual people they are insulting. They're are also so bitter at losing more and more ground every election that they can't bring themselves to examine their own shortcomings and instead fabricate shortcomings for conservatives in order to explain away their loses. This attitude will only result in the further destruction of the Democratic party. They will continue to lose more and more voters and more and more elections because their vile rhetoric turns people off. It's become a war of words. The Blues are losing and it's their own fault.

Migraine's suck

I've been in bed most of the day. Started out the day going to work, migraine increased, couldn't keep any food or drink (not even water) down, ended up throwing up a few times, called in a replacement, came home, slept for a bit, went to the emergency room, got a shot, came home, threw up again, crashed for another few hours, woke up, still had a bad migraine, went back to sleep for a few more hours, woke up, migraine was pretty much gone, but now I've got that "slept too much" feeling.

Migraine's suck.