Archive for February, 2008

God Speaks To Gore

Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

    Al Gore certainly won’t debate or discuss his insane notions of man’s effect on the planet with anyone who doubts him, so God has decided to tell Gore directly that he’s dead wrong. Coming straight from the top, as it were, should be recognized as an admonishment that we are not nearly as significant as we dream, but I’d still wager that the message will fall on deaf ears and blind eyes.
    
     He’s been trying, God has, with subtle little messages like snowing on a global warming protest to gently nudge Gore, et al, to tone it down a bit. He’s been sending signals that He alone controls what happens here, not we mere children of His, but He finds Himself increasingly forced to use ever more blunt signs. He shakes His head slowly; we’re so dense. I hope He doesn’t resort to the practice some frustrated, terrible parents do of shaking more than His own head!

     There are articles like this one beginning to make the rounds and, proving that He even loves the Godless commies in China, he has not left them out of His example. And, just to show that He has a Supreme sense of Humor, He has even included places like Afghanistan to deliver this message.
    
     The message should be clear: “AL! THIS IS THE LORD! SHUT UP, ALREADY!!” My biggest fear is that Gore’s relentless goading of God will really piss the Big Guy off because, as George Carlin once mused (and I take literary liberty here),  Is God so all powerful that he can create so much snow that He Himself can’t shovel it? What happens then?
    
     We could be in for a long, cold, bleak winter. I just hope I can save enough money for one of those really cool “snow-cats” that Scatman Cruthers drove to his ultimate demise in The Shining. If Gore and his ilk don’t stop, God may show off.
-Woody

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McCain/Times Update

Sunday, February 24th, 2008

New York Times ombudsman slams article on McCain
Feb 23 06:48 PM US/Eastern
The New York Times‘ ombudsman strongly criticized the newspaper’s insinuation this week that White House hopeful John McCain had a tryst with a female lobbyist 31 years his junior, nearly 10 years ago.
“The newspaper found itself in the uncomfortable position of being the story as much as publishing the story, in large part because, although it raised one of the most toxic subjects in politics — sex — it offered readers no proof that McCain and (Vicki) Iseman had a romance,” public editor Clark Hoyte wrote in the Times’ online edition.

 

In an article signed by four reporters that raised more backlash against the daily than the candidate, the Times Thursday cited unnamed McCain advisers who, “convinced the relationship had become romantic,” had asked Iseman to keep away from the senator.

“The article was notable for what it did not say,” wrote Hoyte in his column to be published Sunday. “It did not say what convinced the advisers that there was a romance.

“It did not make clear what McCain was admitting when he acknowledged behaving inappropriately — an affair or just an association with a lobbyist that could look bad,” he said of alleged comments McCain made to his advisers.

Hoyt also criticized Times executive editor Bill Keller’s explanation that the article’s main thrust was not the alleged affair but the political favors the Republican bestowed on a lobbyist, which Hoyt said “ignored the scarlet elephant in the room.”

“A newspaper cannot begin a story about the all-but-certain Republican presidential nominee with the suggestion of an extramarital affair with an attractive lobbyist 31 years his junior and expect readers to focus on anything other than what most of them did. … The stakes are just too big.”

“The pity of it is that, without the sex, the Times was on to a good story,” Hoyt added, recalling that McCain, 71, had been reprimanded in the past for cozying up to lobbyists — the influence of money in politics is a recurring issue in Congress.

On Saturday, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Newsweek all said McCain’s denials about the Times’ article contradicted earlier statements of his that he did have contacts with two business clients of Iseman, 40.

Meanwhile, several conservative media commentators who up to now had been critical of McCain rallied to his side against The New York Times, which they consider a bastion of liberal, left-wing America.

LINK

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A Cornered, Wounded Wolverine

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008

    Those who have known about Hillary Clinton’s proclivity for extreme vitriol all along should not be surprised in the least at her latest salvos launched at Barack Obama. I’m certain that Dick Morris could have predicted this long ago, but Hillary is pulling out almost all the stops in her effort to seize control of America.

     Her rhetoric today belies an obvious envy of perhaps the only person ever to “out-politick” her and her husband: Karl Rove. Certainly though, she is capable of much worse than Rove could ever dream. She has boundaries to live within as a candidate, where Rove had none. Rove never had to debate on national television and didn’t have to personally win over the voting public. The life of a behind-the-scenes campaigner is so much sweeter. But neither Clinton would ever acquiesce that much control to anyone but themselves. Just ask Morris.
    
     So,  trailing badly going into Texas and Ohio, bruised and bloody, Hillary has been forced to take the reigns personally and it will not help. She is not capable of projecting a congenial persona, and the absence of such in the candidate herself will only serve to further alienate voters. Obama got this far on charisma…Hillary’s further rejection of what little she had will be akin to tossing gasoline on a fire.
    
     In this article today, she has effectively “dropped the gloves”, a hockey term for getting ready to fight for real. In the article, she says, “Enough with the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove’s playbook.”
    
     Huh? She is going to make a feeble attempt at claiming the high road even as she prepares to descend to whatever level necessary to win this nomination. I truly must marvel at her chutzpah, and I also have to wonder how many people will follow her. Surely her hardcore believers will be there but then again, none of this effort would be needed on them anyway. All this speaks of is obvious desperation.
    
     The old adage is, “Never corner a wounded animal”. The advice is sound, because the wounded animal will do anything to survive. Sometimes, though, they just get snuffed out by a superior being.
-Woody

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No Good Deed…

Friday, February 22nd, 2008

  *Sigh* So here we are…the brave souls who set out to save Planet Earth. We have instituted policies requiring citizens to sort their refuse into designated bins for the purpose of recycling, thereby reducing waste. We have begun turning agriculture into a fuel industry (despite our own plaintive wails over the “starving” people of the planet). We have come a long way as a species, you and I, in our regard for our host. Funny how arrogance always has a way of creeping in…

     The internet is a great place, it really is, for people to share ideas (or to trade barbs over the same). It is also a valuable tool in getting people to connect with those ideas to save the environment. Websites are prolific, offering purportedly good ideas to homeowners seeking to either save money on energy or to reduce their carbon footprints, or both. Alas, the information is coming too fast, faster than the research available to advise caution.
    
     The Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL) was portrayed as the best invention since the Wheel, a device that would let us enjoy the illumination we had become accustomed to with the incandescent lamp, but at a fraction of the cost. Additionally, since we’d had exposure to fluorescent lights for years,  the CFL was attractive because it did not require special fixtures, with ballasts, to utilize them.  The other benefit recently touted was that by saving all of this energy, we’d reduce Global Warming. Man, what a slam dunk!
    
     Well…those of you old enough to remember will recall the dangers of mercury, a neurotoxin at high exposures. Years ago, mercury was the big scare and it was going to kill us all. Remember?
    
     Here comes the bad news…these CFL’s contain small amounts of mercury and cannot be simply tossed in the trash. No, they require special handling when disposal becomes necessary. And how many have been sold? Reportedly, almost 300 million were sold in 2007 in the U.S. alone.
    
     The global warming alarmists have succeeded in creating a huge market for these bulbs and indeed, people have been happy with the savings they have seen and the longevity of the bulbs themselves. What happens next could be interesting. When these bulbs, which tout a 7 year life-span, begin to burn out, people will then scramble for ways to get rid of them.
    
     I smell another tax code in the making…
-Woody

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Will The “Old Gray Lady” Be Available At The Checkout Line?

Thursday, February 21st, 2008

    Proving yet again that the Jayson Blair debacle was no anomaly, The New York Times has taken another step towards tabloid credibility. But mere credibility is not all that’s at stake with this latest episode of betrayal of the public trust. It’s a direct assault on the principle of journalistic integrity and purpose. Almost equally as disturbing is the increasingly cavalier attitude the Times exhibits toward the obviousness of their agenda.

     One of the great blessings America offers is freedom of the press, and that freedom is there as a safeguard against tyranny, a truth meter if you will. The press is supposed to be objective and give us the story, not what it wishes the story to be. In the past decade, perhaps longer, the press has shown a transparent bias, but it has been accepted in a way because people recognized it and dealt with it by migrating to alternate sources.
    
     What we have here, however, is the Times perpetrating an outrageous shell game on the public. Instead of merely reporting on the progress of the presidential candidates through the course of the primaries they have actively plotted a course by misleading their readers. In other words, they have been doing what they can do to promote John McCain as the Republican nominee for the purpose of knocking him down once he attained that status.
    
     When the timing of the story of McCain’s alleged infidelity was questioned, the Times defended itself. To paraphrase Executive Editor Bill Keller, the Times publishes stories when they are ready. To quote him, “This story was no exception. It was a long time in the works.”
    
     Is that a fact? Then why would a “highly respected newspaper” such as the Times endorse a candidate that they were prepared to smear? Less than a month ago, the Times Editorial board Wrote this piece. It was titled:
Primary Choices: John McCain
    
     “In it, they wrote: We have shuddered at Mr. McCain’s occasional, tactical pander to the right because he has demonstrated that he has the character to stand on principle.“
 

    
     While that was being written the Times was busy building the case that McCain was a man of bad character because “he cheated on his wife”.  If this isn’t a clear-cut case of attempted king-making (or Queen-making, as the case may be), I don’t know what is.
    
     At this point, I wouldn’t even insult my parakeet with this rag.
-Woody

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John R. Houk/Slant Right

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008
Posted by johnhouk on Feb 16, 2008
John R. Houk
© February 16, 2008

The Global War on Terror (GWOT) and terminating transnational terrorists such as al-Qaeda should be the primary focus of the next President of the United States.

Obama and Clinton either offer sweet slogans to woo the youth or highly socialized programs that are utopian and sound good yet essentially will cost the taxpayers a bundle. The fringe Democrats as a whole wish to continue a transformation of America into Secular Humanism in which America’s Christian heritage is proclaimed archaic and alternative lifestyles are validated as morally relative. Thus the homosexuals will call Christians hate mongers (the ones that are Scripture oriented anyway), the abortion mills will prosper, all mottos of God related to government will be erased (e.g. In God We Trust), the southern borders WILL be opened to Hispanics to make America a two culture nation and probably more I have missed.

Obama and Clinton’s biggest card to get elected is to prove that American lives are being wasted in a war that is lost. The Mainstream Media (MSM) being left oriented runs propaganda to brainwash the American public that the GWOT on terror being fought in Iraq is lost. The facts are very much to the opposite of the propaganda.

In fact Iraqi politicians are saying the same thing that Conservatives that want to WIN the GWOT are saying; viz. that an American pull-out would cause a regional instability that would lead to a genocidal blood bath in which transnational terrorists such as al-Qaeda would proclaim themselves the little spark that defeated the most powerful nation in the world – the Great Satan America.

This would lead to a rallying cry for more terrorist activities in the West because Islamist terrorists are not merely in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, the Palestinian side of Israel or wherever to merely give America a black-eye. NO! The rallying cry would resound to the past of Mohammedanism founder Mohammed: it is a vision to take the Theo-political cult globally and force world submission to Allah and its harsh Sharia Law.

This is a vision to ultimately terminate Western variations of Democracy and civil rights and replace them with Mohammedan supremacist thinking.

I found a blog post at Truth in Conviction by J. Grant Swank, Jr. I do not agree with everything Swank writes, particularly in this article. However Swank places the GWOT in perspective and what would happen if Obama or Hillary won the White House AND why McCain should be the man in the White House. Swank seems to insinuate a belief that Obama will win the White House to America’s detriment. Swank also insinuates that McCain is the best man to be in the White House to win the GWOT; however because of his age and lack of charismatic connection to younger voters, McCain will ultimately lose to Obama.

Read Swank’s post entitled “OBAMA / CLINTON INVITE AL QAEDA US-TAKE OVER.” For me the post is an example as to why Conservatives need to get over the negative issues McCain presents and unite behind him to keep the fringe Dems out of the White House.

JRH

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Scopes v. State, Again

Saturday, February 16th, 2008

   Back in 1925, John Scopes decided to incorporate the teachings of Darwin into his curriculum, an act that landed hin in deep trouble with the State of Tennessee. It was the trial that made Clarence Darrow a household name. It also pitted science against something that is usually unshakeable; faith.

     Faith is something that cannot be proven, it is simply believed. As a consequence, it also cannot be disproven, only scoffed at by non-believers. Science, on the other hand, must be proven to be believed.
    
     So what happens when scientists begin to insist that their findings be taken on blind faith? Aside from the obvious chaos it creates, it wreaks havoc on the general public, many of whom take headlines at face value and rarely have the time or the inclination to investigate further for themselves. In other words, they have faith in the scientists. Here’s why that can be a dangerous thing.
    
     California is considering making the theory of anthropogenic global warming a state mandated curricula, effectively teaching the children that their parents are responsible for destroying the planet. Despite the fact that there is much dissent on that “conclusion”, the idea is to foment a particular attitude towards the problem regardless of settled fact.
    
     Too bad the moniker of Scientology is already spoken for by Elron Hubbard. The name would have been perfect for AGW disciples. Hey, maybe if Al Gore makes a carbon offset offer to Tom Cruise, they can work out a deal for the copyrights.
-Woody

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What Hath We Wrought?

Friday, February 15th, 2008

      I felt the need to write this down while the subject matter was still fresh in everyone’s minds, what with the recent shooting by a former student. The news wires and the blogosphere alike are already working feverishly to find solutions to what is increasingly being referred to as an “epidemic”. I maintain that solutions may prove to be elusive since I also maintain that we created the problem in the first place.

     Since the very first moment that Man attained cognitive reasoning he has strived to improve virtually everything around him. There are those who would argue that the effort has not been without fault and collateral damage, and I would agree. Man was not designed to be perfect and we have no business trying to achieve perfection in an inarguably chaotic environment, but it seems we will never learn.
    
     Baby Boomers grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons. Most of us suffered no ill effects from the “carnage” we witnessed as Bugs Bunny shot Yosemite Sam in the face point blank with a cannon. More importantly, none of us ever thought that it would be a good idea to try the same on our friends. We had rules we lived by and were well grounded in them. More important still is the fact that our parents strictly enforced those rules, and they were backed up by the neighbors, whom we feared equally as much as our parents.
    
     In this litigious society we have conjured, it is incredibly ironic that some Boomers now insist that “it takes a village” to raise a child. I can say with certainty that if one of “the villagers” today attempted discipline such as I received at the hands of Mrs. Carey from across the street, they would be arrested and incarcerated for child abuse. Their own children would subsequently live in squallor in the wake of the massive multi-million dollar lawsuits that would ensue.
    
     We have sought perfection by removing the stigma of the loser in making winners and losers terms that no longer apply. If one child loses, his self esteem may be impaired. At the same time, we drill into our childrens’ psyches the need to excel at studies. Why? So that they become successful in life. Is it any wonder that they are mentally discombobulated?
    
     Add to all of this the fact that we have become so paranoid about letting the kids out to play, as we did as children, that we keep them indoors and give them “safe” activities like virtually shooting virtual people on the TV monitors through the wonders of X-Box. Discombobulated just made the leap to psychotic, combined with a dose of desensitization to violence. What a formula.
    
     What we have accomplished through our arrogant social engineering endeavors since the 1980’s is evidenced by the violence we have seen perpetrated by young adults, to a certain degree, and teenagers to a larger degree. We have removed “personal responsibility” from the vocabulary and the societal conciousness of parents and children alike. So what we have now is a generation of people who feel entitled to success while expecting immunity from any form of competition, and they are angry when the formula does not work.
    
     Oddly, while they seemingly exhibit all the signs of mental incapacity, they are still savvy enough to know where to strike. They are deranged enough to kill wantonly and yet they possess the understanding that only they will be the bearer of firearms in a “gun-free” zone. Competition removed coupled with guaranteed “success”.
    
     Every facet of authority and punditry is engaged in a combined effort to “fix” the problems presented by these rampant killings. The methods they propose will only make matters worse. They are still in pursuit of perfection.
    
     My solution is to get the kids out playing. Let them fend for themselves in the schoolyards, learning how to deal with the harsh realities life serves up. Let them learn how to win, and how to get over loss. And for God’s sake, let them experience a well-intentioned ear-tug from Mrs. Carey.
    
     And perhaps the most important tool we can utilize to expedite a return to a more simple time; if we let the kids out to play, make the punishment for anyone who would harm them swift and most severe. Make it clear that we are seeking a return to better days and anyone who attempts to impede that “progress” will be harshly dealt with.
    
     The existence of guns is not the problem and therefore, removing them will not be an effective corrective measure. That much should be obvious by now. No, what is needed is a correction in the mindset of the kids, an undoing of the damage we have done.
-Woody

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The Deafening Silence

Monday, February 11th, 2008
     George Orwell’s timing may have been off by a bit, but his vision was true enough. Call it what you will, novel or prophecy, but 1984 is certainly approaching fast. Yet, there is an eerie complacency amongst the populace that has not been demonstrated in regards to The Patriot Act. I find that odd, to say the least.
    
     On the one hand, we have an act of Congress, albeit at the behest of the President, that is very large in scope and was enacted in direct response to one of the worst attacks perpetrated against us in this countries history. On the other, we have a creeping encroachment on the very liberties we hold dear and yet, the alleged champions of such have been largely silent. I have yet to hear one peep of protest from the ACLU or any of the myriad individual plaintiffs who have continually been heard mourning the loss of privacy as a result of the Patriot Act.
      
     The Patriot Act was designed to protect us from further attack. The arguments against the act were that we should never surrender liberty for security. Fine, that is a completely reasonable ideology. So why is it ok to fulfill the prophecy of 1984 to accomplish the same goal on a smaller scale? There’s the rub; smaller scale equals under the radar. Cancer doesn’t suddenly knock you down and kill you; it begins undetected and slowly spreads until you die. Government has been studying…
    
     Did I neglect to identify the creeping encroachment? Ah yes, I believe I did. Let’s get to that, my apologies.
    
     The District of Columbia has begun monitoring live cameras around the city. New York City is already working on installing surveillance cameras throughout the cities parks. How far behind the rest of the country may be is anyone’s guess but the question remains; why is this being ignored? Why are the masses content to bask in the security of being watched at every turn for their safety, but incensed when they think someone may be listening to their phone calls?
    
     Again, it’s all about baby steps. Baby steps that will stomp us flat when the child matures. It’s easy to spot an imposing figure and assume he is a threat to your well being. No one suspects any such thing from the toddler. Nor do they usually expect the worst from that nagging pain, the pain of cancer working its magic.
-Woody

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