Wednesday, August 30, 2006
The Presbyterian USA's Publishing House is cranking out a book by David Ray Griffin, an ordained minister from the Disciples of Christ Christian Church, titled Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11.
In it, Griffin suggests that President Bush orchestrated 9/11 in an effort to "promote the U.S. Empire on the pretext of global terror."
Griffin says that we Americans need to "supplant America's demonic regime with a system of global government."
http://www.srnnews.com/
This is the Left, folks. These are the people that have control of the Democrat Party. Conservative and Republican has come to mean wanting to preserve a self governing, national autonomy, while the Democrat Party is being pushed towards bowing to the United Nations and "a system of global government."
I know of a man in Iran who thinks he is uniquely qualified to head the global government.
Anyway, David Ray Griffin is into something called Postmodern Spirituality. He explains it this way:
There are so many different ways to describe postmodern spirituality. You can say it's pacific, it's ecological, it's a spirituality of creativity, it's a reenchantment of the universe. But perhaps the best way to get at it, as a summary term, would be pan-en-theism: the idea that the world is in God - God is something like the soul of the universe - and God is present in all things. As some mystics have said, we swim in God.
http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC24/Griffin.htm
I'm convinced that David has been swimming in something, but it's not God. Anytime a minister gets through an entire paragraph about spirituality without mentioning scripture, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, he loses all credibility. But then, that's something that the religious left has been working towards for some time.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Michael Barone writes in Real Clear Politics:
There seems to have been a change in the political winds. They've been blowing pretty strongly against George W. Bush and the Republicans this spring and early this summer. Now, their velocity looks to be tapering off or perhaps shifting direction.
When asked what would affect the future, the British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan famously said: "Events, dear boy. Events." The event this month that I think has done most to shape opinion was the arrest in London on Aug. 9 of 23 Muslims suspected of plotting to blow up American airliners over the Atlantic.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/08/a_gop_terror_bump.html
When push comes to shove the American voter will remember Harry Reed bragging that the Democrats had killed the Patriot Act. They'll remember all the Democrat posturing over the evils of the NSA wiretaps. They will easily discern who is concerned about protecting us and who is concerned about the civil liberties of terrorists. They'll remember who supported our troops and who supported the prisoners at Guantanimo.
Well, they'll remember all that - if - the Republicans choose to lead and hold the Democrats' feet to the fire.
Luke 15:32 In the following years the younger son worked diligently to earn what the father had so freely bestowed upon him. But the guilt and regret of shaming himself and his family never completely left him and often stole his joy.
33 Though reconciled with his brother, their relationship was never the same and was forever tainted with unspoken suspicion, distrust, and resentment.
34 When he took a wife, his lost innocence haunted their marriage bed, as the immorality in his past proved to be a lingering stumbling block for him and his bride.
35 His past dependence upon strong drink was a distracting temptation in stressful times, that robbed his confidence.
36 The son was restored in his father's house, but his innocent heart and his good name were forever lost to this world. And though he found salvation in his father's arms the son learned that his sins had left an itching scar. He was forgiven and reborn. Still, his disobedience had its price.
Disclaimer: Though the above verses may hold some insight into man and the effects of sin, they are not a part of scripture and are not divinely inspired.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Key words: Katrina... Hurricane... Suffering... FEMA... Bush... Racist... Levee... Chocolate... Devastating... Ad nauseum...
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, winner of the coveted Chuck Schumer "Find Me a Camera" Award, is back in the news saying, "You guys in New York can't get a hole in the ground fixed, and it's five years later. So let's be fair," ...fair to everyone except the government, of course.
New Orleans residents have complained that the government's response to 9/11 was far more timely than its response to Katrina.
My response is this: The American tax payers have spent, and are spending, an incredible amount of money so that the people of New Orleans can continue to live below sea level, rebuild their industry of sin and debauchery, and provide a good living for prostitutes, panderers of all modes of personal degradation, criminals, thieves, and other city officials.
I think it would be more appropriate for the Mayor and citizens to simply say "thank you," and then just shut up.
Friday, August 25, 2006
ORLANDO (AP) - With the death of Mickey in 1996, it was only a matter of time until those, whose careers were launched upon the success of the fabled rodent, would be touched in a negative way.
Reached in Orlando, Florida, Mickey's widow exclaimed, "It's all so cruel. I'm sorry I've lived long enough to see it all fall apart. This wouldn't have happened if my husband was still alive. He adored that stupid dog." It is rumored that the beloved Minnie has turned to drinking and hardly touches her cheese.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Women may buy the morning-after pill without a prescription - but only with proof they're 18 or older, federal health officials ruled Thursday, capping a contentious three-year effort to ease access to the emergency contraceptive.
Girls 17 and younger still will need a doctor's note to buy the pills, called Plan B, the Food and Drug Administration told manufacturer Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Uh huh... Every High School and Middle School girl in America will have access to as many of these pills as they want.
My understanding is that this pill prevents the fertilized egg from implanting itself in the womb.
It sounds as if it works as a kind of "chemical" IUD (Intrauterine Device), a birth control method that may have aborted more babies than all the "abortion mills" combined.
But opponent Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, said Plan B's wider availability could give women a false sense of security, since it isn't as effective as regular birth control. Wright also worries that adult men who have sex with minor girls could force the pills upon them.
"Statutory rape is a very serious problem. This decision is going to allow statutory rapists to rely on this drug to cover up their abuse," Wright said.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060824/D8JMREMO0.html
I believe the more proximal negative effect will be an escalation of sexually transmitted diseases. Using a condom is like kissing through a screen door, and it doesn't take young people long to figure that out. The psychological effect of holding this new "protection" in her hand, will give sexually active females the misguided confidence to abandon the less pleasurable, though pathogenically safer, method of birth control.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
We Americans can take only so much bad news and bickering. When at war, we adopt patience for only a short period of time between victories.
Through the diligence of the Democrats, the UN, and the mainstream media, Iraq may well become the quagmire that all those on the Left have worked so hard to achieve. Religious zealots need but a modicum of hope and encouragement to complete their rapturous slide into insanity - and encouragement has been provided. President Bush has led ably for the most part, but his enemies in America have constituted an insidious second front from which even the best and bravest soldiers could not protect us.
And, President Bush somewhere made the fatal decision that we would fight a gentleman's war against animals from the dark ages. Never before in the history of warfare has so much advantage in firepower been sacrificed on the altar of world opinion.
The Left criticizes the President for his "cowboy image." But America loved the cowboy as we charged through Afghanistan kicking Taliban butt. We cheered him as he toppled Saddam with ease. But then the cowboy got a little soft. He allowed religious leaders in Iraq to form militias. He allowed whole cities to become harbors for terrorists. He allowed Syria and Iran to influence and undermine. He allowed our guns to fall silent before our enemies were defeated.
I sometimes wonder if history will judge President Bush to be a weak leader. I believe that he has been weak against those in Congress who, instead of being corralled, have been allowed to speak treason. He has been weak against those in the media who aid and abet the enemy by publishing information that makes us less safe.
I've wondered how the President's faith has led him in this struggle. I believe him to be a very decent man with a tender heart. And this, mixed with faith, might mitigate his responses to the evil that threatens us, and its facilitators on the Left.
I would council him by saying that governments were ordained by God, and to them the golden rule does not apply. We can be thankful for that. The golden rule makes very poor foreign policy when dealing with hate-filled pseudo-religious thugs.
Anything can happen in the President's last two years in office. Iraq may stumble forward into peace, or it may fall backwards into civil war. In November of 2008 will Islamic Fascism be on the run, or will we be facing a terror-sponsoring nuclear Iran?
It's hard to be hopeful when we are still frolicking with the United Nations, looking for our legitimacy. Watching the U.N. lie, subvert, and vacillate only adds to Americans' frustration and sense of futility. When we should be marching forward and striking at those who threaten us, we instead find ourselves fretting in the corner, lost in some identity crisis - with our confidence balanced in the hands of our Confessor Politic, Kofi Annan.
President Bush's policies may represent the last gasp of American autonomy. Let's pray that in his last two years we see a flourish of independent American resolve and a brash, vulgar, uninhibited display of military might.
That would soothe our frustrations quite nicely.
Monday, August 21, 2006
I was doing a little business today, and while talking to the owner of the store, the conversation drifted to politics. She said, "I'm really sick of the way things are going over in the Middle East."
I thought, "Oh boy, here we go," expecting to hear how we are failing in Iraq.
Instead she said, "I can't believe we're tying Israel's hands. I think we should just go in, nuke 'em, and start over."
Now you don't expect to hear this kind of bloodthirstiness from a Hoosier grandmother, but she was calm and looked me straight in the eye when she said it, which lead me to believe that it wasn't the first time she had expressed this opinion. I was more politically correct when I said,
"I rather hate the idea of killing women and children..."
She answered, "That's why we need to do it, because they kill children."
This women was straight out of the 1940's. She had no time for nuance. She reasoned in black and white - good and evil. To her, our enemy is easily understood as evil because they kill children. She sees no way to reason with people like that. How do you handle an evil that would go into a Russian school and kill children? How do you handle a society that produces and celebrates a suicide bomber who boards a crowded bus and kills children? This woman would strike with everything she had so that in the future no despot anywhere would dare to harm a little one.
But children die in Russia and we just shake our heads. Israeli children die and it doesn't really surprise us anymore. But what happens when terrorists shoot children at Lincoln Middle School? When a suicide bomber enters Washington Grade School, and little 7-year-old Nicole who sang for church last Sunday has to be identified by dental records... What will we be willing to do then?
We face an enemy of millions. They treat their women and children like chattel. They treat those outside their religious circle as infidels who must convert or die. They reside inside countries and cultures surrounded by like-minded people who support them (or perhaps fear them). They will hate us no matter what we do and will seek to kill us as long as they live. Sadly, some of them are twelve years old and their homicidal path is set in stone.
For a number of reasons we are functioning as a country in denial. One third of us favor adopting the French response - backing up and appeasing until our freedom is gone. One third of us back a floundering politically correct war, hoping to kill our enemy and keep the world liking us. And a third of us are paying no attention whatsoever.
There is a grandmother I know who is ready to take care of business once and for all.
Right now we are being played for the fools we are - A paper tiger - A superpower that is more concerned with its image and "fighting fair" than securing its safety from two bit theocricies and tinhorn dictators. What a pathetic sight.
I don't want us to use nukes. But why does modern morality insist on a fair fight?
As of yesterday (20 August) three tropical storms will have formed in the Atlantic in an "average" year, which is the same number that have formed this year so far.
In the hurricane category, this year is decidedly below normal, with no hurricanes so far, while by this date 1.5 hurricanes have formed in the average of years 1944 though 2005.
Reason for the Season?: Cooler Sea Surface Temperatures
Part of the reason for the slow season is that tropical western Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are running about normal, if not slightly below normal.
In contrast, at the same time last year SSTs in the same region were running well above normal.
The cooler SSTs in the Atlantic are not an isolated anomaly. In a research paper being published next month in Geophysical Research Letters, scientists will show that between 2003 and 2005, globally averaged temperatures in the upper ocean cooled rather dramatically, effectively erasing 20% of the warming that occurred over the previous 48 years.
Media reports over the last year have suggested that, since global warming will only get worse, and last year's hurricane activity was supposedly due to global warming, this season might well be as bad as last season. But it appears that Mother Nature might have other plans.
http://www.weatherstreet.com/hurricane/2006/hurricane-atlantic-2006-below-normal-season.htm
Yes, before we wreck the nation's economy and return to a pre-industrialized age, maybe we should give it some thought.
Were there little Al Gores and other doomsdayers running around during the heatwaves of the 1930's or the previous record year for Hurricanes in 1933? Perhaps there were a few, but there is no way that there were as many scientists running around looking for attention and a government grant.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
British holidaymakers staged an unprecedented mutiny - refusing to allow their flight to take off until two men they feared were terrorists were forcibly removed.
The extraordinary scenes happened after some of the 150 passengers on a Malaga-Manchester flight overheard two men of Asian appearance apparently talking Arabic.
The incident fuels the row over airport security following the arrest of more than 20 people allegedly planning the suicide-bombing of transatlantic jets from the UK to America. It comes amid growing demands for passenger-profiling and selective security checks.
It also raised fears that more travellers will take the law into their own hands - effectively conducting their own 'passenger profiles'.
If every Muslim, male and female were thoroughly searched before every flight, this kind of thing wouldn't happen. The flying public would be safer and there would be less animosity on display all around.
Patrick Mercer, the Tory Homeland Security spokesman, said last night: "This is a victory for terrorists. These people on the flight have been terrorised into behaving irrationally.
"For those unfortunate two men to be victimised because of the colour of their skin is just nonsense."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401419&in_page_id=1770
When people's lives are being threatened by young Muslim men it is quite rational for people to fear young Muslim men. In fact it's quite rational for young Muslim men to fear each other.
In the long run it might be more economically sound for the airlines to chip in and finance a "separate but equal" policy for air travel. There would be a small fleet of jets for Muslims only, and then there would be separate jets for the rest of us. Would that be politically incorrect?
Perhaps. But I'll bet that if we put it to a vote...
Thursday, August 17, 2006
I don't think that Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon. What happened is that Israel is holding almost 10,000 prisoners, (terrorists, as we say in Greentown) so when the militants in Lebanon or in Gaza take one or two soldiers, (and the rockets fired at Israel?) Israel looks upon this as a justification for an attack on the civilian population of Lebanon and Gaza. I do not think that's justified, no.
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,431793,00.html
Thanks, Jimmy. Yes, President Jimmy Carter knows a great deal about how to deal with terrorists and dictators.
When Jimmy was president he undermined the Shah of Iran, with concern for human rights, and facilitated Khomeini's rise to power... which certainly has worked wonders for Iranian human rights and American interests.
Then he did a bang-up job securing the release of 400 Americans taken hostage by those human rights-loving Iranians.
President Carter has also distinguished himself by propping up and justifying such human rights icons as Yasser Arafat and Fidel Castro.
I won't even bother to mention the double digit inflation, unemployment, and interest rates, that accompanied his banner four years as president. I've already patted this guy on the back way too much.
Suffice it to say, when Jimmy Carter speaks, America would be wise to listen... And then do the opposite of whatever he says.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
We Still Worship Baal
Tomorrow morning at 4:10 AM, I will have finished reading the Book of 2nd Chronicles and I will be glad to be done with it. It's basically an abbreviated rehashing of 2nd Kings and has made me quite weary. But I can't tell my 85 year-old father that he inspired me to read the entire Old Testament - if I don't read the entire Old Testament. (I'm only half done...goodness!)
Some people skip the OT thinking that it has nothing to say to them, but there is so much there that mirrors today's world and today's America.
Obviously the Israelites are still fighting with the local heathens.
In this country there is a great deal of Baal worship going on, just as there was in Israel in the time following Solomon. I have an altar in my den, my computer room, and my bedroom. Just early this morning when I was having trouble sleeping I saw some temple prostitutes advertising a video they wanted to send me. Such pretty little things. Such pretty, cheapened, degraded, and lost little things.
God found a king of Judah named Manasseh quite detestable because he erected altars to Baal and sacrificed his own son. How many American babies were sacrificed to Baal last year?
We were created to be worshipers. We can't help ourselves. And the more we take God from schools - our government - our daily lives... the more we replace Him with this usurping substitute. I think Baal became much more deadly when we stopped calling him by name. He has been with us since the Garden and is always there to defile that place in our hearts reserved for God.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
FNC senior VP John Moody's internal message to Fox News personnel about the kidnapping:
"The rumors are true: two of our employees have been abducted in Gaza. We will report this fact via our Israel correspondents. Do NOT do any other segments on it. Do not book guests on this topic. Do not comment officially and of course, not on the air, about it. DO pray for their release. I will keep you posted."
What I find most troubling is that there is no claim of resposibility and no demands. I'm hoping the idea was to use "live" abductees as trading tools.
Evidently the best way to handle it is to give it as little attention as possible, because there is little or no mention of it anywhere... then again I don't watch that much TV, and wouldn't know.
But I have a question. We see these pretty little girls in dangerous situations, reporting from the Middle East. We get to know them and they become like a favorite niece. What would be the reaction if one of these were kidnapped? Would it be handled differently?
Does putting young women in this situation compromise not only their safety but the safety of those who would seek to save them?
I would never want to impede the career of anyone, but there are certain realities that trump political correctness.
Perhaps Great Britain gets it.
THE Government is discussing with airport operators plans to introduce a screening system that allows security staff to focus on those passengers who pose the greatest risk.
The passenger-profiling technique involves selecting people who are behaving suspiciously, have an unusual travel pattern or, most controversially, have a certain ethnic or religious background.
The system would be much more sophisticated than simply picking out young men of Asian appearance. But it would cause outrage in the Muslim community because its members would be far more likely to be selected for extra checks.
...and, they would find it much more difficult to blow up planes.
Officials at the Department for Transport (DfT) have discussed the practicalities of introducing such a system with airport operators, including BAA. They believe that it would be more effective at identifying potential terrorists than the existing random searches.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2313135,00.html
Well I guess so! But don't expect this kind of common sense to spring up here anytime soon.
I think it's a great idea to make the so-called moderate Muslims feel the pinch. It is after all these moderates that justify the actions of the homicidal lunatics that share their faith. It's the moderate Muslims throughout the world that tolerate the Sharia Sham and the Jihad Johnnies... and criticize us in a de facto passive aggressive assault on the West. Let the Muslim moderates live with the fruits of their tolerance and inaction.
Canning Tomatoes
You can't have too many quarts of canned tomatoes. Picture - if you will - a cold December afternoon... snow is swirling outside in the blustery wind. Wearing your favorite gray sweatshirt you sit down for a late lunch of Macaroni and Cheese and spinach that you grew last spring in your garden. Suddenly you think, "Hey, this meal needs something more!"
You smile.
With head held high you hurry to the refrigerator and take out the Ball Jar that has been chilling there. Warmth and satisfaction wells up in your soul as you dip the red treasure into your favorite little bowl.
As you savor the delicious fruit, you pity the poor schmucks in your neighborhood who were too lazy... or too old... to grow tomatoes and can them. But does your pity move you to call them over to share in your orbs of delight? I don't think so.
My tomatoes... My Precious...
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Most polls suggest that the Republicans may be in trouble this fall. But why? A rundown of the facts suggest that their leadership has protected Americans from terrorist attacks since 9/11. They have laid down a preemptive policy that has changed the face of the Middle East. The Arab world is still violent and dangerous, but we are fully engaged with our relentless enemy, increasing our influence - and more importantly, increasing our ability to gather intelligence about threats here and abroad.
The Democrats have an equally impressive record. Their ceaseless attack on the Bush Administration's Iraq policy has given hope to Islamo-fascists in Iraq, Syria, and Iran, encouraging bombers, kidnappers, and murderers to hold on until after the fall elections and the presidential contest of 2008.
The leaking and politicizing of the NSA wiretaps has tipped off foreign and domestic terror cells to our once covert surveillance methods, and Barbara Boxer actually sought legal advice as to whether the wiretaps were an impeachable offense.
On the Senate floor, Russ Feingold denounced sneak and peek warrants, the delayed-notice warrants which adopt the "radical notion" that the government should not notify terrorists that they are being investigated, a common sense practice invaluable in preventing "flight" and the destruction of evidence.
The Democrats have consistently endeavored to undermine our ability to fight terrorism time and again - and not quietly or behind closed doors. Last December Harry Reid, the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, bragged about it at a political rally saying, "We killed the Patriot Act!"
Part of the Patriot Act, American wireless surveillance, played a key role in stopping the recent terrorist plot to down more than ten airliners over the Atlantic.
So why are the Republicans in trouble?
This is the way I see it:
1) George Bush tends to do the right thing, but lacks the skills, the will, or the energy to sell the war to the American people. The Republicans in Congress have distanced themselves from the President and the war effort, a political move that undercuts both the administration and their own image as congressional leaders.
2) The Republicans disappointed and demoralized their political base when they failed to acquiesce to our wishes to close the porous border to our south - and went so far as to propose legislation that would make the problem worse. The utter frustration this has caused among Republican voters was vastly underestimated by the GOP, and will no doubt effect voter turnout.
3) The rising cost of fuel and natural gas prices have not been politically offset by increased drilling, leaving the consumer with little hope of relief. While it's true that it's the Democrats who are blocking such measures, the feckless Republicans have been unable to market this point.
4) As I've said before, a large portion of the American people are hedonistically lobotomized and believe that their birthright is the unencumbered search for the next pleasure, regardless of ongoing events throughout the rest of the world. With these individuals anything that involves sacrifice and a long term commitment - is a tough sell. Besides, these vacuous souls who have the emotional maturity of Paris Hilton, are unlikely to follow current events - other than those offered by Comedy Central's lying little Leftist-loon, Jon Stewart, described in this sentence with all respect due.
5) And finally, with the help of the liberal media, the Democrats' fait accompli in the areas of unwavering negativity, unsubstantiated allegations, and unchallenged and ignored acts of veiled treason - is truly remarkable. And instead of screaming "treason," the insecure, cordial timidity of the Republicans and their personal search for identity, popularity, and love from the media has won the day - facilitating this outrageous behavior on the part of their political adversaries.
The informed voters already know who they are going to vote for this fall, so the election lies in the hands of the Great Unwashed. I believe what the war-weary, simple-minded American voter really wants - is to elect some people that will make the Islamo-fascists either go away or start liking us. (Simple!) Unfortunately for us all, electing Democrat majorities that further emasculate our president and encourage our enemy is not the answer.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Skyepuppy... blogosphere goddess, came up with the term Europeasement which was brilliant and left me green with envy and ripe with cyber-jealousy (ripe, I tell you!) since I've never made up a word before.
Will Malott's Blog be out-done? I think not. The entire staff at MB spent half the night coming up with its own pathetic attempt at brilliance and finally settled on Hezbologna. (pronounced Hez-bo-lo'-nee) Now the only problem is determining what it will mean.
When pictures from Lebanon are doctored or staged... that is Hezbologna.
When Oakwood Hospital, in Dearborn Michigan provides tax-paid Medicaid deliveries to pregnant, foreign Muslim women with fraudulent social security numbers and those kids are now U.S. citizens, and their American birth certificates can be sold in the Muslim world's black market... THAT is Hezbologna.
When there are public rallies on the streets of Dearborn in support of Hezbollah, a group responsible for killing countless Americans... THAT is Hezbologna.
Whenever the collective racist voice of CAIR (The Council on American-Islamic Relations) preaches to America about how we are unfair and shouldn't use words like Islamo-fascist... THAT is Hezbologna!
The entire staff at Malott's Blog encourages the free world to liberally incorporate Hezbologna into its lexicon until Wikipedia acknowledges its presence... and the green pages of Skyepuppy's blog becomes a metaphor for her verdant envy!
I've had a stressful week. Cut me some slack.
WWIII?
I think it's here, and sooner or later the world will fight it. Radical Islam, from terrorists to those who teach hatred in grade schools, must be annihilated... to the point where moderate Muslims begin policing their own. Until then, we are all living like Israel... in constant danger and in a perpetual state of siege.
Political correctness is the sustaining air that CAIR and other Muslims breathe. But PC thinking and unearned, undeserved civil liberties will eventually take a back seat to love of family... in Dearborn and around the world.
I believe procrastination will prove to be deadly... as it always has been. But these things take their course.
I wonder what the people of Israel think when they see Radical Islam infecting Europe and the United States? Israel has absorbed so much criticism from the western world. But maybe they know that sooner or later the western world will come around.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Two men were charged Wednesday with money laundering in support of terrorism after authorities said they found airplane passenger lists and information on airport security checkpoints in their car.
Deputies stopped Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of Dearborn, Mich., on a traffic violation Tuesday and found the flight documents along with $11,000 cash and 12 phones in their car, Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks said.
It wasn't clear what significance the airline information might have. (Not clear to whom?)
Abulhassan and Houssaiky admitted buying about 600 phones in recent months at stores in southeast Ohio, said sheriff's Maj. John Winstanley. They sold the phones to someone in Dearborn, a Detroit suburb, Winstanley said.
Vessels (Asst. County Prosecutor) declined to say how the phones, cash or flight information involved terrorism.
http://michellemalkin.com/
I'd like to make myself available to any of the officials involved in the above story who aren't clear about what was going on.
I think most 5th graders could come up with a simple solution for dealing with immigrants whose religion and culture lends itself to, supports, and is historically involved in terrorism. 5th graders would propose the silly, politically incorrect notion that immigrants, students, and tourists from this religion and culture should not be allowed to come here.
Breathe deep the gathering gloom,
Watch lights fade from every room.
Because of the incredible good taste that I have consistently displayed on my blog page, I have received literally tons of requests for lists of my favorite songs. So OK, OK, I give in.
The following are the best lyrics for the month of August:
Dealin' card games with the old men in the club car.
Penny a point ain't no one keepin' score.
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
Feel the wheels rumblin' 'neath the floor.
And the sons of pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their father's magic carpets made of steel.
Mothers with their babes asleep,
Are rockin' to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.
It doesn't get much better than that. Thank you Steve Goodman.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
HARTFORD AP- Radical Islam scored a huge victory yesterday in its war on Western Civilization by defeating Joseph Lieberman in his primary bid for the U.S. Senate. Senator Lieberman, the former vice presidential candidate for the Democrats, was often a lone voice among liberals that called for resisting the theocratic juggernaut threatening the Middle East and much of Europe, Africa, and Asia. Reaffirming the United State's "paper tiger" image, Connecticut Democrats voted for retreat on Tuesday, a move that will no doubt influence both Democrats and Republicans, and encourage Muslim terrorists in the Middle East and around the world to continue to threaten, kidnap, behead, and bomb straight into the U.S. elections in November.
The Islamo-fascists' winning strategy showed promise soon after the fall of Baghdad, and with each be-heading and bombing, we in the news media stood at their side broadcasting the defeatest message upon which the terrorists' ultimate victory depends. And with its allies in the anti-war movement and the Democrat Party, Radical Islam hopes to further erode American confidence and resolve by causing a premature pull-out from Iraq, propelling their movement forward and insuring little resistance as they move towards domination and intimidation of much of the world.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
How many Muslims are in the Middle East? How many Jews? Who has tremendous monetary income from oil? Who has the best economy? Who needs foreign aid to feed its people... and who has made the desert bloom?
Whose servants spend countless hours on their prayer rugs only to be defeated in every battle?
A discerning mind must conclude that either the Muslims are following the wrong god, or he simply doesn't approve of terrorism...
On my way to work this morning I was listening to Twila Paris singing "Days of Elijah", and when she got to the part where she sings "There is no God like Jehovah"... over and over again... I thought, "We need to get this song played on Al Jazeera!"
BP began shutting down the nation’s largest oil field yesterday after an inspection detected heavy corrosion and a small leak in a critical pipeline in its Prudhoe Bay operation in Alaska. The emergency drove already-high world crude oil prices to just under $77 a barrel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/business/08oil.html?ei=5065&en=bbf2fbcdaaa1e08a&ex=1155700800&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
Last week the prissy junior Senator from Indiana, Evan Bayh, sashayed into the Senate Chambers and voted against extending drilling for oil and natural gas in the Gulf of Meh-hee-ko. (Evan and his family have plenty of money and so he can afford higher gas prices. And, he is seeking the presidency and needs the wacko environmentalist vote)
But one must ask, "When Evan was donning his panties this morning, did the news from BP trouble him? As he ate his breakfast soufle and sipped his coffee with his pinkie pointed high in the air, did he consider that his vote might "tick off" us ordinary peasants?"
No. Evan has made a career out of speaking from both sides of his mouth, and the average Hoosier voter, though conservative, is not adequately sophisticated in his thinking to see through this pretty little man and notice that he in no way represents our interests.
So this evening when Evan slips into his silk jammies and listens to Liza Minneli singing showtunes... he will smile... confident in his ability to pull the wool over the eyes of simpletons.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Europe’s transformation into Eurabia is still dismissed as absurd by many Europeans who choose to ignore the effects of unassimilated Muslim populations in their cities. But it’s the absurd—as seen in some recent accommodations to Muslims—that might finally force them to avert their eyes no more.
The wandering eyes of men will no longer be a concern for certain women in a popular Italian resort on the Adriatic Sea. The city council of Riccione has come up with a way to enable Muslim women to enjoy the sand and sea without being fully clothed: opening sections of the beach exclusively for their use. Muslim women will now be able to cast off their headscarves and robes because men will be banned from certain portions of the beach. These stretches of sand will also be fitted with tents and have only female lifeguards and waitresses in order to ensure that the Islamic law requiring women to be covered in the presence of men is not broken.
Muslim inmates in London prisons have recently benefited from an even more bizarre surrender to the tenets of multiculturalism. After Muslims complained that they had to face Mecca while sitting on the toilet, they weren’t told to think about the effects breaking the law would have on their ability to fulfill certain aspects of Islamic law. Personal responsibility was instead taken by the British government, with the Home Office agreeing to rebuild the toilets by turning them 90 degrees. Muslims reacted not with gratitude but by expressing a sense of entitlement. One former prisoner said, “The least the Prison Service can do is make sure people can practice their religion correctly in prison.”
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23712
So it goes.
A devoutly religious woman with whom I once worked told me she prayed while on the toitee. I suppose that's OK, but it seems a little disrespectful. In the Old Testament the Israelites used to clean up before they approached God. I also think prayer is always best done on one's knees unless that is not possible. But try suggesting that at your Church and notice the looks you get.
We are a strangely and uniquely proud lot of Christians.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
In 1971 Woody Allen made a film he named "Bananas" which among other things was a spoof about how a Latin American Revolutionary, a kind of Fidel Castro, turned out to be insane after he wrested power, and made people wear their underwear on the outside... or something like that.
Yes, Woody Allen is a Lefty, but back then JFK was still a fond memory and since he did battle with Castro, Fidel was not as popular with the Left as he is today.
Peggy Noonan is not a Lefty and suggests that the murdering tyrant that the Left adores (and Democrats would praise if they didn't need the Cuban votes in the swing-state Florida) may in fact already be dead:
It has long been my bitter hunch that the man I can't help think of as the last monster of the 20th century, Fidel Castro, creator and warden of the floating prison to our south, would die of old age in a big brass bed, a snifter of brandy in one hand and a good cigar in the other. No firing squad, no prison. He'd leave thinking he got away with it all. He had that kind of luck. The devil takes care of his own.
Now Cuban authorities say Castro has temporarily stepped down due to ill health. And it is possible this is true. It is just as possible that Castro is dead, and that what we are witnessing is not the graceful and temporary relinquishing of power--that would be unlike our Fidel, whose frozen fingers would more likely have to be peeled off the steering wheel with the back of a hammer--but the spinning of the death of a monster whose sudden departure might shock the people of Cuba into something like movement toward progress. And so Fidel is "sick" and his brother "stepping in." One suspects that in the coming weeks Castro will "take a turn for the worse," and that Raul Castro will take to hurried midnight visits to an empty hospital room, offering afterward to the waiting media both color coverage and play by play: "The tubes have been taken out. He mouthed the words, 'Tell the people I love them, and leave them in good hands.' "
Then, once the spontaneous mourning demonstrations have been arranged, will come word of his passing.
The pre-positioning of Raul solves a potential struggle for succession and inhibits competitors.
How about this: Treat it as an opportunity. Use the change of facts to announce a change of course. Declare the old way over. Declare a new U.S.-Cuban relationship, blow open the doors of commerce and human interaction, allow American investment and tourism, mix it up, reach out one by one and person by person to the people of Cuba. "Flood the zone." Flood it with incipient prosperity and the insinuation of democratic values. Let Castroism drown in it.
That is how to undo Fidel, and Fidelism. That's how to give him, on the chance he's alive, a last and lingering headache. That's how to puncture his mystique. Let his people profit as he dies.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110008741
As Noonan says, the 40 year-old economic embargo has served its purpose in that anyone with half a brain (this obviously excludes the Leftists in this country) can see disaster illustrated in the Communism of Cuba. (prounced koo-bah)
Still, let's talk to the Cubans of Florida and hear what they think about this idea. They are the families who lost their homes and land to the Revolution. They are the widows and orphans of the men who lost their lives in the Bay of Pigs debacle when President Kennedy demonstrated his lack of character and courage... letting the brave freedom fighters die on the beach.
These people who were personally persecuted by Castro and betrayed by the over-rated, morally bankrupt JFK, should be heard before we jump in and make new policy.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
When I finally grow up I want to be more like Skyepuppy because she has an amazing ability to consistently discover interesting stories to blog about. I often lie in wait and poach these stories from her site... bring them back here... and write about them.
What's she gonna do... fire me?
Anyway, in my latest raid I noticed the Pupster had found this fascinating story about marriage and divorce. The article is here: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51386 and is a must-read.
I never married and have pretty much given up on the idea. Still, my house is big enough for two and any woman who saw my garden might be tempted to try putting up with me.
I always wanted a garden because I love to eat. My first winter here found me looking out my back window at that rectangle of land that would be my garden, imagining how the vegetables would taste.
April finally came and I planted my spring crop, but there was a problem. The garden was full of thistle seeds. Needless to say, by the end of May my hands had been stuck a thousand times as I pulled thistles, not allowing any to go to seed... thus producing a thistleless future.
With my summer crops came a new and bigger problem as the heavy rains of 2003 revealed that my garden drained poorly and I nearly lost all my tomatoes. I thought about giving up, but I read about how to plant my tomatoes in wide, raised beds... and though it's a lot of work, my tomatoes now thrive.
In the last four years I've learned how to fertilize the soil and protect the plants from rabbits, but something tells me that when I'm eighty years old I'll still be learning about that little rectangle of land as new problems come and are solved.
This time of year on my way to work I notice other gardens. Sometimes their corn looks taller or maybe their tomato plants look healthier, but I know every garden comes with its own set of problems. And it's funny, when people offer to bring me vegetables from their garden before mine are ready, I honestly don't want them. There is just something about the satisfaction of growing your own that makes it worth the wait... that makes it taste sweeter.
I looked out my back window this morning as I sipped my coffee, and though I certainly didn't see perfection, the corn is high and producing nicely. The tomatoes have a bit of blight, but Ill work on that next year. I have this year's garlic braided and hanging in my kitchen, and my fall peas hold a great deal of promise as they begin peeking through the soil.
I could have spent years looking for the perfect piece of land, the perfect kind of soil... but I don't think perfection is out there. The land is somehow less significant than the work, and the garden you make from it. And with time an amazing bond forms between you and that little rectangle of land that God entrusted to you... as you bathe in the satisfaction of knowing that you took it and grew a garden... and made it the best it could be.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Hizballah officially declared an open-ended war on the United States last night during a formal pre-recorded speech of its leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, who said Israel was little more than a pawn in the hands of America.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23709
There! I think everyone (even perhaps Democrats) can understand this. Hizbollah is a subsidiary of Iran and based on their track record I think we can take these people at their word. So, we are at war.
Maybe we need a nation-wide referendum on how to fight this war. It could be on the fall ballot.
Check one or more strategies:
1.____ Bomb the living crap out of Iran.
2.____ Bomb the living crap out of Syria.
3.____ Bomb the living crap out of anyone that threatens us.
4.____ Sit on our hands and wait for them to come for us.
(Democracy is good.)
Check a strategy:
1.____ Use "proportional" force against our enemies.
2.____ Use everything we've got and end this thing once and for all.
Check another strategy:
1.____ Use ground troops.
2.____ Just keep bombing until they cry uncle or they are all dead.
Check one or more plans:
1.____ Build a wall along our border with Mexico (pronounced meh-hee-ko)
2.____ Imprison employers who hire illegal aliens.
3.____ Systematically deport illegal aliens.
4.____ Close our borders to Muslim tourists, Muslim students, and Muslim immigrants.
5.____ Bomb the living crap out of Iran.
What good is it to be a super power when any big-mouthed tyrant with an AK-47 can threaten your peace and prosperity? I've had enough. How about you?
The radical Muslim world might come out with a line from Casablanca:
"From every corner of [Islam], thousands would rise to take our places. Even [Americans] can't kill that fast."
Really?
Thursday, August 03, 2006
It's hard to predict the future.
Who would have thought that the Democrats could defeat our efforts in the war on terror? ...And accomplish this task with impunity? But it is amazing what can be done when you have the willing cooperation of the national media and when your opponents (the fractured, disappointing, and much over-rated GOP) are feckless and timid hand-wringers who are very, very sorry that they are conservatives.
We know how Rome fell. In our era I believe the Liberal frame of mind will conquer Western Civilization, and what is left will be easy prey for conquerors less versed political-correctness.
The United States may hold on for some time, but with the fourth estate creating its own version of the news... With the government governing by polls rather than by laws and conviction... With the public soft and hedonistically lobotomized... It's just a matter of time.
Enter China. Strong. Focused. Not interested at all in allowing fanatics to immigrate. Decisive. Pragmatic. Homogeneous. So unlike the Liberal West, rejecting multi-culturalism and liberal dogma. Practical in its handling of threats and challenges.
With Europe in shambles and the United States an amalgam of cultures with no direction or identity, China may shoulder its way above the chaos and reign as the last super power... the last island of settled cultural identity... Besides Israel, of course.
I know. Maybe it's the heat.
(no, really...)
Global dimming may be the yin to global warming's yang.
The theory is that the amount of sunlight, or solar energy, falling on the earth has been dropping steadily over the past 50 years or so.
That could mean, scientists believe, that global dimming is actually mitigating the effects of global warming.
Oooooooo K.
The answer is fascinating. Global dimming seems to be caused by air pollution. As pollutants from vehicles, factories, power plants and the like make their way into the atmosphere, they carry with them tiny particles such as ash and soot compounds.
Those particles reflect sunlight away from the earth, and the greater the presence of these particles, the greater the effect on the amount of solar radiation that reaches the surface.
Meanwhile, the world's industrial nations seem to finally be reining in particle pollution. Ironically, that could be the catalyst that speeds up global warming.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060727/global_dimming_060727/20060729?hub=TopStories
And blah blah blah. Methinks the reduced particle pollution is accompanied by reduced CO2 emissions, so it should "all come out in the wash" as we say in Greentown, and the loony environmentalists need to come out with something else for the weak-minded to worry about.
Carrots
I am the Carrot King of Greentown . No brag, just fact. Above are some of my subjects before I was forced to thin them out, an unpleasant but necessary job. I planted them in mid June in raised beds and they will turn incredibly sweet in the cool of October. Below are some babies I planted circa July 1st.
You ask, "But Mr Malott, could I maybe learn to grow carrots that are as good as yours?"
No.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Tuesday to open 8.3 million acres of federal waters in the central Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling, setting up a confrontation with the House which wants even more drilling in waters now off-limits.
Supporters said the measure would be a major step toward producing more domestic energy and forcing down natural gas prices that have soared in recent years.
The Senate approved the measure by a vote of 71-25. It now must be reconciled with much broader drilling legislation passed by the House in June. Those negotiations are likely to begin in September.
SENATOR EVAN BAYH of Indiana continued his prissy dance to the Left by voting against the bill, placing himself to the Left of Hillary Clinton who supported it.
Gardening Tip #5
Blight
This is a rather unpleasant little problem that often effects gardens after one or two years. Blight causes the leaves of tomato plants to turn brown and die, and reduces the length of time a tomato plant will continue to produce tomatos into the fall.
It is caused by a fungus that lives on decaying tomato vines in the soil. When the weather gets warm and the rain hits the soil, the fungus splashes up on the lower vines and starts its destruction of the foliage.
Once it starts, there is little you can do. But mulching under young plants in the spring will prevent the fungus from splashing up on the plant. And using any common "tomato dust" might also help. It is also helpful to rotate your tomato plants to different areas of the garden each year.
But once you've got it, the only thing to do is fertilize liberally with a "Miracle Grow" or another good liquid fertilizer and hope for new growth.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
We know the Israeli military kicks butt. We know Jews make good comedians. But was there a reason God picked them to be His "Chosen People" and does He still favor them?
The French Ambassador to England evidently doesn't think so and recently made a diparaging remark about Israel. The remark is mentioned below after a few facts from Israpundit:
The Middle East has been growing date palms for centuries. The average tree is about 18-20 feet tall and yields about 38 pounds of dates a year. >
Israeli date trees are now yielding 400 pounds/year and are short enough to be harvested from the ground or a short ladder .
Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, can lay claim to the following:
The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel. Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.
The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel. Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel. The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel. Voice mail technology was developed in Israel. Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel .
Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world (after the U.S, Russia and China).
Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.
Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.
According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security. US officials now look (finally) to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.
Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people --as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed. With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world -- apart from the Silicon Valley, U. S.
Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U. S. Outside the United States and Canada , Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.
Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.
Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.
Israel has the world's second highest per capita of new books.
Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.
Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.
Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well.
All the above while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other county on earth.
AND THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR IN ENGLAND SAYS :
"ISRAEL IS NOTHING BUT A SH___Y LITTLE COUNTRY"
http://www.israpundit.com/archives/2005/09/i_never_tire_of.php
I left out about half of Israpundit's facts.
All things considered, the future for Israel looks brighter than that of France. I think we all know which is the crappy little country.