All I can ask is WHY

We're giving- yes GIVING free money to the terroristic Palestinians?
At least "W" could tell them to ACT like they were halfway civilized before receiving the bribe.

The results are in

for the winner of the 2004 Bulwer-Lytton parody contest.
From this:
"It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents--except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford

To these:
She resolved to end the love affair with Ramon tonight . . . summarily, like Martha Stewart ripping the sand vein out of a shrimp's tail . . . though the term "love affair" now struck her as a ridiculous euphemism . . . not unlike "sand vein," which is after all an intestine, not a vein . . . and that tarry substance inside certainly isn't sand . . . and that brought her back to Ramon. Bulwer-Lytton Winner Dave Zobel Manhattan Beach, CA

She sipped her latte gracefully, unaware of the milk foam droplets building on her mustache, which was not the peachy-fine baby fuzz that Nordic girls might have, but a really dense, dark, hirsute lip-lining row of fur common to southern Mediterranean ladies nearing menopause, and winked at the obviously charmed Spaniard at the next table. Jeanne Villa Novato, CA

As he entered the room within which so many a wild night of their sweltering love affair had been spent, the White Rabbit regarded her with benevolent eyes, her posture such that he suspected something was wrong, but before he could speak Alice unburied her face from her trembling hands and between her intense sobs he made out the words, "I'm late . . . I'm late."

Cory Gano
Camas, WA

It was a dark and stormy night--actually not all that dark, but more dusky or maybe cloudy, and to say "stormy" may be overstating things a bit, although the sidewalks were still wettish and smelled of ozone, and, truth be told, characterizing the time as night is a stretch as it was more in the late, late afternoon because I think Oprah was still on. Gregory Snider, MD Lexington, KY

Go read the rest, if you dare.

Let there be bussing

Expanded public transportation, that is. According to this A.P.T.A. article, 98% of respondents agree.

"With traffic congestion, pollution, and oil shortages all getting worse, now is the time to shift to affordable, efficient public transportation," APTA director Howard Collier said. "Fortunately, as this report shows, Americans have finally recognized the need for everyone else to do exactly that."
Of the studys' 5,200 participants, 44 percent cited faster commutes as the primary reason to expand public transportation, followed closely by shorter lines at the gas station. Environmental and energy concerns ranked a distant third and fourth, respectively.
Anaheim, CA, resident Lance Holland, who drives 80 miles a day to his job in downtown Los Angeles, was among the proponents of public transit.
"Expanding mass transit isn't just a good idea, it's a necessity," Holland said. "My drive to work is unbelievable. I spend more than two hours stuck in 12 lanes of traffic. It's about time somebody did something to get some of these other cars off the road."

Don't forget growing government bureaucracy's, too

Public support for mass transit will naturally lead to its expansion and improvement, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said.
"With everyone behind it, we'll be able to expand bus routes, create park-and-ride programs, and build entire new Metrolink commuter-rail lines," LACMTA president Howard Sager said. "It's almost a shame I don't know anyone who will be using these new services."
Sager said he expects wide-scale expansion of safe, efficient, and economical mass-transit systems to reduce traffic congestion in all major metropolitan areas in the coming decades.

The American Public Transportation Association is kicking off a "Get on the bus" drive.

Collier said he hopes the study serves as a wake-up call to Americans. In conjunction with its release, the APTA is kicking off a campaign to promote mass transit with the slogan, "Take The Bus... I'll Be Glad You Did."
The campaign is intended to de-emphasize the inconvenience and social stigma associated with using public transportation, focusing instead on the positives. Among these positives: the health benefits of getting fresh air while waiting at the bus stop, the chance to meet interesting people from a diverse array of low-paying service-sector jobs, and the opportunity to learn new languages by reading subway ads written in Spanish.
"People need to realize that public transportation isn't just for some poor sucker to take to work," Collier said. "He should also be taking it to the shopping mall, the supermarket, and the laundromat."

Hang up and DRIVE

I'm really getting tired of that hour long commute twice a day. People do me, and the rest of the drivers on the road a favor- HANG UP and DRIVE !

There were almost two wrecks in front of me because the drivers were too busy jacking their jaws at somebody miles away. I almost got T-boned a day ago because a blond teen-ager couldn't be bothered to stop at a STOPSIGN in her BIMMER because she was f*cking with her phone.

There are studies out (you go find the stats) that a person on a cell phone is as bad a driver as someone with .08 B.A.C.- I think they drive like they're even drunker than that. And ummmm LEGISLATORS... handsfree phones aren't the answer.

Truckers have been using C.B. radio since it's been available. The BIG difference is that they're talking to other DRIVERS. Not conveying some abstract idea to someone thousands of miles away, or giving instructions about how to unjamb the coppier.

Give it up already

Christ, Bush has won every national election he's been in NUMEROUS times each. He won several times in the 2000 FLA theft attempt. Now in OHIO, MSNBC is reporting - on guess which side - the problems there.

Mostly in DEM controlled precincts
Again.

How many times are TAXPAYERS going to have to pay for the Liberals temper-tantrum?

via Drudge

pro islamofascists don't have much of a handle on history, do they?
Posted by Hello

Via Zombietime

Finally, , ,scientific proof

That conservatives and Liberals think diferently.

Christopher Orlet says in his blog that Liberals are more emotionally driven.

According to researchers at UCLA, differences were noted mainly in regard to the expression of empathy: "One Democrat's brain lit up at an image of John Kerry 'with a profound sense of connection, like a beautiful sunset,'" according to researcher Joshua Freedman. Brain activity in a Republican shown an image of Bush was "more interpersonal, such as if you smiled at someone and they smiled back." In other words Republicans may be better at building real and realistic relationships, while Democrats are more likely to see the connection between a Democratic victory and continued and unimpeded flow of government handouts.


Go read the rest, it's good.

More tax on the "poor"

According to WOAI 1200am in San Antonio, a DEMOCRAT state senator up in Austin is advocating raising the cigarette tax by $1 a pack.

Yep as most people know, the majority of smokers are in the lower education and income brackets.

I guess as long as it's for the "good" of the people- and advanced by a Dem, it's ok to target the poor for a tax increase. But where are the advocates for the poor? The ones who always jump on the bandwagon when a Republican wants to change ANYTHING about the tax structure when it affects the "poor".

Why do illegals need drivers licenses?

I'm sitting here looking at properties in Marion, and have O'reilly on in the background. He's got an anti illegal guy on and a Lib. Both are arguing about illegals w/ drivers licenses, and if it's needed or not. It sounds like Hannity and Colms.

Anyway, the question is WHY let illegals have drivers licenses, or any other quasi-legal ID? I know, the Libs and their fellow travelers say "it's a "safety issue".
HOW? They were breaking the law when they came here, have been driving without a DL or insurance since they got the vehicle. Does ANYBODY actually think that an illegal will go through all the BS involved in getting a "real" DL? What about the outrageous insurance premium?
I guess the answer to that is get the GOV'T to insure them (cringing) to, ya-know be sure they're "legal". That goes with the FREE schooling -bilingual of course wouldn't want the kids to actually KNOW English in America, FREE medical care-thanks taxpayers,
free/reduced food/WIC, etc- thanks taxpayers again.
These are the people coming from a (more or less) anti-American third world country dragging us the US down to their level with their third world living habits. We don't/won't do a damn thing because it's politically incorrect to expect them to accommodate themselves to us, the US.
You have all these apologists out there bending us to their will. WHY? Are they too LAZY to learn to live like an American? Are they to pendejo to learn to live like an American? Is their third world civilization BETTER than ours?
I want to know WHY we have to accommodate them. No other culture came to America and EXPECTED us to change to their will.

EDWARD LEE PITTS (american)

I wrote about the crybabies of Rummys Q & A with the troops yesterday. Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Edward Lee Pitts is embedded with the 278th Regimental Combat Team got the two Reserves to ask his questions.


From: EDWARD LEE PITTS, MILITARY AFFAIRS
Sent: Wednesday, December 8, 2004 4:44 PM
To: Staffers

Subject: RE: Way to go

I just had one of my best days as a journalist today. As luck would have it, our journey North was delayed just long enough see I could attend a visit today here by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. I was told yesterday that only soldiers could ask questions so I brought two of them along with me as my escorts. Before hand we worked on questions to ask Rumsfeld about the appalling lack of armor their vehicles going into combat have. While waiting for the VIP, I went and found the Sgt. in charge of the microphone for the question and answer session and made sure he knew to get my guys out of the crowd, , ,

Then the asshat goes on crowing for 3 more paragraphs.
Pitts off, Lee

ViaDrudge

But are they "real" vets?

Remember all those "nam vets" who were having all that trouble. The ones wanting gov't help because of their experiences? The ones who, after just a little research turned out to be fake vets?

According to "advocates" the Iraqi vets are starting to turn up in homeless shelters.

"I drove off in my truck. I packed my stuff. I lived out of my truck for a while," Seabees Petty Officer Luis Arellano, 34, said in a telephone interview from a homeless shelter near March Air Force Base in California run by U.S.VETS, the largest organization in the country dedicated to helping homeless veterans, , ,
, , ,A gunner's mate for 16 years, Arellano said he adjusted after serving in the first Gulf War. But after returning from Iraq, depression drove him to leave his job at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He got divorced." There are no Gunners Mate rates in the SeaBees, GMs are temporaraly assigned to Battalions.


And they talk about gov't medical care. I know gov't medical care, that's why I want my own Dr.

Read about it here.

They're there -I'm not, but, , ,

I know it's from MyWay News, but doesn't this strike you as a bunch of crybabies?

Spc. Thomas Wilson had asked the defense secretary, "Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles?" Shouts of approval and applause arose from the estimated 2,300 soldiers who had assembled to see Rumsfeld.
Rumsfeld hesitated and asked Wilson to repeat his question.
"We do not have proper armored vehicles to carry with us north," Wilson, 31, of Nashville, Tenn., concluded after asking again.

U.S. soldiers and Marines in Iraq are killed or maimed by roadside bombs almost daily. Adding armor protection to Humvees and other vehicles that normally are not used in direct combat has been a priority for the Army, but manufacturers have not been able to keep up with the demand.

Wilson's ex-wife, Regina, said she was not surprised he challenged Rumsfeld. Ex? Because he shoots his mouth off?
"It wouldn't matter if it was Bush himself standing there," she said. "He would have dissed him the same."
Wilson joined the National Guard in June 2003; previously, he had served about four years in the Air Force, beginning in 1994. Ok, so the guy KNEW what he was getting into.

Wilson and others, however, had criticisms of their own - not of the war but of how it was being fought.
During the question-and-answer session, another soldier complained that active-duty Army units seem to get priority over National Guard and Reserve units for the best equipment used in Iraq. Crying about what other troops have is as old as armies are.
"There's no way I can prove it, but I am told the Army is breaking its neck to see that there is not" discrimination of that kind, Rumsfeld said.

Yet another soldier asked how much longer the Army would continue using its "stop loss" power to prevent soldiers from leaving the service who are otherwise eligible to retire or return to civilian life at the end of their enlistment. I didn't read the whole contract

Rumsfeld said this condition was simply a fact of life for soldiers in times of war. Critics, including some in Congress, say it's proof the Army has been stretched too thin by war.
"It's basically a sound principle, it's nothing new, it's been well understood" by soldiers, he said. "My guess is it will continue to be used as little as possible, but that it will continue to be used."

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., told Rumsfeld in a letter Wednesday that his response to the question about armored vehicles was "utterly unacceptable" and that it was the duty of the government to provide safety equipment.
"Mr. Secretary, our troops go to war with the Army that our nation's leaders provide," he wrote.
I'd REALLY like to see Sen DODDs voting record on military spending.

At the Pentagon, spokesman Larry Di Rita said production of armored Humvees had increased from 15 to 450 a month since fall 2003, when commanders in Iraq started asking for them because of insurgents' heavy use of roadside explosives.

Tough love, Iraqi style

The returning inhabitants of Fallujah will, in addition to bioscans, be required to WORK! Now you're going to hear Liberals really squeal.

According to Boston.com the military will use something we used, , , to some effect in Germany and Japan.
The citizens will be required to work for pay.
The Iraqi gov't knows the mindset of their people, we ought to listen.

Via Boing Boing

Jesus is everywhere

Now He's in a tooth X-ray.

OK, so who's going to jail here?

The French pulled a drill, and in the process, LOST about 5oz. of plastic explosives. They put it in some passengers bag, but "lost" it when the drug dog couldn't find it.

Ok, so it's not dangerous, but how is the unknowing passenger going to explain 5oz of PLASTIC EXPLOSIVES in their luggage

Doggie Islands , , , brought to you by your liberal pals

That's right, Doggie Retirement Islands. I was looking for things about Marion, Tx. when I came across Dog Island.

Yes, send your favorite dog to Doggie Island to live free, like he wants to. He secretly wants to be a WOLF. He doesn't want to be living in your air conditioned house on a sofa. He wants to have to hunt down rabbits, and fight other dogs for the privilege. He looks like he's contented lying on your bed getting free goodies, but secretly he resents you.

"Over 2,500 dogs are already enjoying a better life at Dog Island. Separated from the anxieties of urban life, dogs on Dog Island are healthy dogs who live a natural, healthy and happy life, free from the stress and hardship associated with daily live among humans.
They live with almost limitless space, and tens of thousands of rabbits, rodents, fish and other natural prey. Surrounded by thousands of other dogs, this is the only place for them to be truly social and create healthy families."

Some of the the FAQs:
"My dog is very high strung and often gets into fights with other dogs. I can control this now, but what happens when fights break out on the island?
Fights break out occasionally, but this is not a real issue, because eventually, the dogs learn to get along. Every now and then some dogs gang up and kill and then eat another dog, but this is just natural, and it's okay for it to happen now and then, but normally this is not the case."

"My dog seems happiest lazy and warm, curled up by a fire. Will he really be happier at Dog Island?
Yes. Studies have shown that dogs with this lazy tendency also lack a luster for life which is revived by connecting to the great outdoors. Dog Island stands by it's beliefs in giving dogs a real chance to connect with nature and find their true life mate."

They even have a picture of a dog enjoying the sunset --Awwwww.

Do they have Doggie Drs, along with doggie husbands and wives? To take care of little things like Ticks and Fleas, mange, Heartworms, Intestinal worms, grooming shaggy dogs? Just to to keep humans at bay, where they belong, so doggies can enjoy nature in all its glory?

It's a liberal self parody

You just can’t make up what the BocaNews.com has to say about those immature, selfish, haughty, whinny liberals progresives reality biased Kerry supporters. This time they had so many needing ‘help’ that they were treated en mass.

“The first of several free (free? NOTHING is FREE, who’s tax dollars are paying for it?) noontime therapy sessions at the American Health
Association in Boca Raton was designed to treat what mental health
counselors have dubbed Post Election Selection Trauma (PEST).
“If I had a cardboard cutout of President Bush, and these people wanted to
throw darts at it, I would let them do it,” Robert J. Gordon, AHA executive
director, told the Boca News after the session. “It’s no joke. People with
PEST were traumatized by the election. If you even mention religion, their
faces turn blister-red as they shout at Bush.” Of course- they’re LIBERALS.

“I’m scared,” said one man. “Democracy is at stake and nobody is rising to
protest this president.”
“I want to be a patriot, but it’s impossible to be a patriot in an immoral
war,” ( I thought Liberals were trying to over turn “morals”) said another participant, a woman. “Bush is breaking up marriages and dividing families by keeping our troops in Iraq.” We won’t mention “No Fault” divorce, will we?

“The media outlets, especially Rush Limbaugh and his ilk on talk radio,
scare our patients to death,” said Gordon, facilitator for the meetings.
“More than anything else, people with PEST tremble physically.”

According to AHA officials, symptoms of PEST are similar to post-traumatic
stress disorder. They include nightmares, sleeplessness, hostility,
listlessness, and emotional outbursts including threats to leave the
country. Sounds like the DU to me.
“There’s an overall sense of emotional helplessness and abandonment,” said
Sheila Cooperman, a licensed AHA psychotherapist from Delray Beach. “In
psychology, we call it ‘learned helplessness.’


I won’t ruin the rest, just go read and laugh at them.

Which country would you think that an election didn't matter?

Wrong, it's Liberal Amerikkka. they had a vote in Arizona where the voters, tried of paying out the ass for illegals voted to tie gov't services to citizenry. The liberals are going to court to stop this "discrimination." In case you didn't know, the majority of Arizona voters are citizens of Hispanic extraction.

William Perry Pendley writes in Mountain State legal
, , , " Not so in Arizona. There “liberals” are in court claiming that an initiative adopted overwhelmingly by Arizona’s voters will cause “intimidation” because it will, in part, require voters to prove that they are citizens of the United States and entitled to vote in its elections. It is a legal battle that, at some time in the future, could be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and that, even today, is being argued by citizens of other states where similar legislation is being considered.

More than 190,000 Arizona residents signed petitions to place the Arizona Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act initiative, Proposition 200, on the ballot. On Election Day, despite the opposition of Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano and senior U.S. Senator John McCain, to name two prominent politicians, the initiative passed by a vote of 56 to 44 percent. Given that the annual cost of providing public benefits to Arizona’s illegal aliens exceeds $1 billion, or about $700 per household, voters felt something had to be done about illegal immigration.

Whether “something” will be done is yet to be determined. Days after the election, the American Civil Liberties Union, Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, National Council of La Raza, Service Employees International Union, Chicanos Por La Causa, and Valle del Sol all announced their intention to sue to prevent certification and implementation of Proposition 200. (Some of these groups went to court earlier to strike the initiative from the ballot; those efforts failed.) A week later, Arizona’s Attorney General ruled that Proposition 200’s requirement of proof of U.S. citizenship for receiving public benefits—such as welfare, public housing assistance, disability, retirement payments, and taxpayer-subsidized postsecondary education—is narrower than proponents and voters intended, , ,"

Notice that the bold (no pun inteded) groups are the same ones you hear about whenever America wants to get back to her roots of Moral law, and personal responsibility?

Read the rest.

You can only hope more of this happens

Via LGF

Over at the Free Muslims Coalition they're trying to get a petition out to hold muslim clergy responsible for inciting violence.

Yeah, I know it's as much to their culture as a "seventh inning stretch" is to us, buthey, ya gotta start somewhere.

Give 'em an attaboy.

Today is AIDs Awareness Day

Just to let you know, so you can feel bad about all the people who got it by using unsafe sex, and intravenous drugs.
The AIDs Activists want YOU to know that there is STILL no cure. The fact that back in the 80's, when the CDC was trying to get a handle on it, they (AIDs activists) protested because the same procedures that stopped Polio, Small Pox, and the rest were "too Invasive of privacy".

These are the ones who "do" anyone willing, any where, any way. Who condemn smokers because of their addiction to tobacco (because they deserve it- filthy habit). Who condemn Bush for "not doing enough" in the fight against AIDs.

I know there are people who acquired this disease through no fault of there own. They have the AIDs activists of the 80's to thank for putting their selfish agenda before the health and wellbeing of their fellow human beings.

Still too wet to work

The good news is that my bridge is open. The Blanco river is just below the driving surface, guess Hays Co. knows what they're doing afterall.

Woke up this morning to frost over everything. Kinda pretty.

After I'd gone to work signed in and came home, I was met by this:



Yes, that's mud, and I don't want to know where it came from.

Really, I don't.Posted by Hello


Update: She was digging in the fire pit, that's wet ashes all over her face

Some in Arab MSM are starting to get it

from MEMRI


Free Elections in the Arab World Occur Only in Occupied Iraq and Palestine
In an article titled 'Democratic Occupation?' columnist Salama Ni'mat, the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for the London Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat, wrote:

"The Arab concern for … the legitimacy of Iraq's upcoming elections, and for the representation of [Iraq's] entire political, ethnic, and religious spectrum is outrageous. Anyone who watches what is going on could, if he did not know the truth, almost believe that the Arab countries – which throughout their history have never known what elections are – have become the [countries] most keen that Iraq's upcoming elections will reflect the will of the Iraqi people, with all its elements – and will particularly [reflect the will of] the Sunni minority that in Saddam Hussein's day was, for well-known reasons no one even questioned, [considered] a 'majority.' , , , ,

'What Prevents Arab Regimes from Holding Free Elections is Fear of the Will of the Peoples'
"It is well and good for the Arabs to demand the right of political representation for the Sunni Arabs out of concern for them in the face of the tyranny of the other Iraqi groups and out of concern for national unity and the ideal relative representation. But we do not understand why this concern does not apply to the many Arab countries that do not permit their minorities to announce their existence, let alone their right to [political] representation.

'Ask the Arab League Why the Media in Occupied Iraq and Palestine Enjoy Freedom Under the Occupation, While the Media in the Other Arab Countries Do Not'
"Although the Taliban's regime of darkness has become history, and Saddam Hussein sits in his cell awaiting trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the Arab regimes still act as if nothing has happened. Further, [they act] as if history is not happening as long as they do not acknowledge its existence and do not announce it in the papers and on the television channels, [all of] which they control. Can anybody ask the Arab League why the media in occupied Iraq and Palestine enjoy freedom under the occupation, while the media in the other Arab countries do not?

Read the rest.

Oh, no,,, Kojo-say it ain't so

The Washington Times reports:
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday he was disappointed in his son for accepting payments from a key contractor in the oil-for-food program for more than four years longer than had been previously acknowledged.

Kojo Annan, 31, had been employed from 1995 to 1997 at Cotecna Inspection SA, a Geneva-based firm that had been inspecting humanitarian goods imported by Iraq with U.N.-administered proceeds from its oil sales. He served briefly as a consultant until 1998.

But the younger Mr. Annan continued to receive as much as $2,500 a month from Cotecna until February 2003 as part of a "no compete" agreement, according to chagrined U.N. officials, who have said for years that the payments ended in late 1998.

"Naturally, I was very disappointed and surprised, yes," the secretary general told reporters yesterday morning. "I understand the perception problem for the U.N., or the perception of a conflict of interest and wrongdoing."

Ok, so Koffi is disappointed because he thought his son STOPPED getting kickbacks? He's disappointed because he missed out on his cut for four years? He's dissapointed that his son took kickbacks at all?

I could live comfortably on $30,000 tax free per year.

I'm not going to get into the UN charging Iraq for the "investigation" into the scam. Just seems to me that Iraq ought to be considered a payed-up member untill. . .ohhh 2025 at least, or the last of this generations Iraqies can't remember the oil for Fraud program.

Open my bridge, dammit

As I mentioned a week ago, we had ALOT of water in central Texas. The Blanco river was at flood stage, and all the low water bridges were closed. Well it's been 5 days since the river fell below the low water bridges (most of them anyway), but Hays County STILL has them closed. That back road saves 20 min off my trip into San Antonio.
I know we won't have any rain for about 5 days, so the river won't rise. I just got back from checking, and it's still locked.
If I wasn't such a law-abiding citzen, I'd use my 3' long master key on that lock.

Frothing anti-Bush protests in Canada

or, what happens when you call a protest and nobody shows up?

Oh, the Auariumanity

New Crystal Clear disinfectant sparks letter to customers
By ANITA MILLER - News Editor
If you're a customer of Crystal Clear Water Supply Corporation and you have an aquarium, make sure to check your mail. The company recently mailed out notices informing of a change in the disinfectant the company uses for water treatment.
Effective Dec. 1, the company will abandon the use of chlorine to disinfect water and instead use chloramines - are toxic to fish.

"Aquarium type life will definitely be affected, said Mark Speed, general manager of Crystal Clear, adding that aquarium owners will be able to purchase a chemical to add to water to neutralize the risk to fish.
Speed said the change of disinfectant was spurred by new government limitations on certain byproducts that form when water is treated with chlorine, although he stressed that neither byproduct - trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids - have been scientifically proven to be harmful within the scope of normal exposure.
The company's water exceeded the government restriction following the flood of July 2002, prompting a switch from chlorine.
"We exceeded the maximum contaminant level not on a regular basis but one time during a unique event," Speed said. Nevertheless, he said the company "immediately realized this was something we'd have to contend with and started researching what our alternatives are."

Chlorine is cheap, efficient and relatively save- lets outlaw it.

Oh, and by the way; as an afterthought, this was added, , ,
Chloramines can also cause health problems for persons dependent on dialysis machines, necessitating a pretreatment using a charcoal filter. "People in the medical industry that have dialysis equipment, the equipment is already modified. It's a simple process," Speed said.

Blame Canada. . .

Listening to Fox and Friends this morning, hearing E.D. hill and Brian talk about how, exept for Wayne Gretzki and the western part, Canadians dislike us-the US.
I'd have to say that it's mostly their history- the French inflence (Quebeck) and our culls (Viet Nam draft dodgers). You roll these up and let them feed on each otherfor 30 plus years, add in a touch of east coast Liberalism, and what do you get?
You get the current uberliberals in charge of government up there. You have to remember, most Canadians are conservatives, they're just overpowered by the east.

London Historical Pic

I did mention that the Conductor is a Brit? Well, she'd like the Big Ben panorama if only the semi-nekkid woman would move.

Via Son of Nixon
The Conductors reaction was, "Crikey, she must be freezing!"

O'Reilly defending Dan Blather?

Yes it's true, by now you've at least heard about it on alot of sites.
I've got a feeling it's not so much Bills friendship with Dan, as what Bill recently went through on his own. Remember, the producer?

So I'm willing to give O'Reilly a bit of slack there, but I'll be listening.
Bill, I don't watch CBS news, but I can find something else to watch at 7PM, too.
To paraphrase Kate, "I have a remote, and I know how to use it

No wonder Bill Clinton is so smart

I was going to post about the old "He's everyone's President" bumpersticker, but Blogger ate it. I'm getting kinda tired of either not being able to get into blogger, or it eating posts (yeah, Good for the bogosphere, I know). Very funny.

Anyway I was changing the Word of the day when I caught this from Wired
about liars being smarter.

Straight from the Guardian, where else?

Israel is shocked, I repeat shocked that a border checkpoint would make a PALESTINIAN prove he had a working violin.

No child left unmedicated?

Phyllis Schlafly-"Big Brother is on the march. A plan to subject all children to mental health screening is under way, and pharmaceutical companies are gearing up for bigger sales of psychotropic drugs.

Like most liberal big-spending ideas, this one was slipped into the law under cover of soft semantics. Its genesis was the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health created by President George W. Bush in 2002.

The commission recommends "routine and comprehensive" testing and mental health screening for every child in the United States, including preschoolers. The president has instructed 25 federal agencies to develop a plan to implement the commission's recommendations.

The commission proposes using electronic medical records for mental health interrogation of both children and adults for mental illnesses in school and during routine physical exams. The commission also recommends integrating electronic health records and personal health information systems.

It recommends "linkage" of these mental examinations with "state-of-the-art treatments" using "specific medications for specific conditions." That means prescribing more expensive patented antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs., , ,


So, not only did this get in because (as usual) nobody read the bill before they voted on it, on Capital Hill or in Illinois:

, , ,Illinois became the first state to jump on board. By near-unanimous votes in 2003, the General Assembly passed the $10 million Illinois Children's Mental Health Act creating a Children's Mental Health Partnership, which is expected to become a model for other states. The partnership's plan, released July 16, calls for periodic social and emotional developmental examinations to be administered to all children, and for all women to be interrogated for depression during pregnancy and up to a year postpartum. When the partnership showcased this plan with five public hearings stacked with bureaucrats and social service workers, a political tempest erupted, with state legislators saying they had no idea this was what they had voted for. (of course not)

So Every child (is that illegal, too?) is going to be tested by (a left leaning) Gov't shrink? And the results are going to be linked (by computer?) just to be sure everyone can find out what kind of psychiatric problem a PRESCHOOLER was diagnosed as having so it can be "treated" for his entire life.
Will this be going into Credit files, and Employer databases, too?

Read the rest, it'll make you see red.

Post Office Looking to raise rates, again

OK, who wants to pay at least 41 cents to mail a First Class letter? Pay a bill? Send Grandma a Birthday card? The Post Office wants you to. According to the Motley Fool:
, , ," USPS was counting on the passage of some legislation by Congress, which would have relieved it of the obligation to pay about $3 billion in annual pension obligations for employees who are also military veterans. That legislation is now expected to fail, and, in anticipation of that event, USPS "went postal" with its rate hike. But this Fool wonders: If a subsidized government-run pseudo-monopoly cries for help in the wilderness, will anyone hear? , , ,

Ok, so they have competition from FedEx, UPS, e-mail, and several other businesses. The question I have is, they're a monopoly in bulk mail, and First class letters still.
Why not stop wasting money on TELEVISION ADS? Why not increase productivity?
I pay most of my bills online, and use e-mail quite a lot.
I use the USPS for mailing packages overseas. But if they do raise rates, I'll go find somewhere else, simple as that.
I'll keep using the USPS as long as it's cost effective to me. If they want to raise rates somewhere, raise the cost of bulk (junk)mail.

You raise my rates, I'll walk.
Deliver that.

Remember Pink Floyds "Brick in the Wall" album?

Remember the kids who sang the "we don't need no education" chorus?
Well, according to the Scotsman, they've decided that it would be nice to see some royalties of Mr. Floyd.

I've been thinking about this song all day

Eat steak, eat steak eat a big ol' steer
Eat steak, eat steak do we have one dear?
Eat beef, eat beef it's a mighty good food
It's a grade A meal when I'm in the mood.

Cowpokes'll come from a near and far
When you throw a few rib-eyes on the fire
Roberto Duran ate two before a fight
'Cause it gave a lot of mighty men a lot of mighty might
--The Rev. Horton Heat

I'm getting tired of turkey.

Ginger or Mary Ann?

Which castaway are you?
Take the quiz.

Canada needs to step lightly

I was wondering what kind of 'nut sandwiches' I'd find in a link from Little Green Footbalsand was scanning the site (it didn't take long, since I don't read French) when at the bottom of the first page I saw:

"Report warns retaliation possible for removal of al-Qaeda associates

TORONTO - A new Canadian intelligence report says terrorists might attack Canada in retaliation for the arrests of several al-Qaeda associates who are being deported for reasons of national security.

In the report, titled Al-Qaeda: Potential Threats to North American Targets, the federal government's threat analysis unit said Canada's efforts to deport al-Qaeda suspects could trigger a violent response.

'Canadian agencies have aggressively pursued removal proceedings against inadmissible classes of foreign nationals associated with al-Qaeda constituents, which may also provide extremists with an impetus to attack Canadian interests.' "

The article goes on to say that Al Quada considers Canada a legitimate target because they helped in Afganistan, and they're part of the war on terror.
Oh yeah, and they deport known terrorists, too.

Go read it all.

Am I good, or what?

I even beat the Washington Times.


Knaves: The self-pitying Kerry voters and those who coddle them, for a childish exchange of offers and acceptances of forgiveness.
Shortly after John Kerry lost the presidential election to President Bush, the American left lost something more: Any semblance of self-respect. A Web site quickly popped up called SorryEverybody.com that allows those with nothing better to do with their lives to leave pictures of themselves asking forgiveness from the world for the re-election of Mr. Bush. Some 6,000 pictures later and now there's a Web site called ApologiesAccepted.com that features citizens of the world doing what its namesake suggests.
But (wouldn't you know it?) those pesky red staters have started their own Web site called YourWelcomeEverybody.com. A surprising entry comes from "Osama bin Laden," who says, "I am so sorry, world! Freedom will spread now! And there's nothing I can do! Damn the evil of democracy!" Admittedly, the authenticity of bin Laden's entry could not be verified.
For being ridiculous, the minds behind SorryEverybody.com and ApologiesAccepted.com are the Knaves of the week.


I had these posts up from Your Welcome and Sorry Everyone almost a week ago- Nov. 21.
(Well, ok so did alot of other blogs,,, but still-well I did beat the Times, and you know, , , well that should count for something )

Is the US the only country that keeps kids in school till they're 18?

As far as I know, no European country keeps their kids in regular school until their 18th birthday (or 12th grade). The English boot them when they're 16, the Germans do too, unless they get tech school or college. It just surprised me that Canada would, too (don't know why,I just was).

I was glancing thru a post on Drudge about some stupid yearbook prank in Montreal. I was coasting down when I saw -
"We have concluded that the two offensive comments were intended as a 'secret' that the two 16-year-olds thought no one would notice," he wrote in a letter sent yesterday to the parents of all LCC students. "The incident stemmed from a personal disagreement between two boys and was isolated in nature."

Mr. Bennett said that it does not reflect the views of the school's 745 students, and that the authors have Jewish friends and are not anti-Semitic.

The culprits got letters of reprimand in their files but cannot be disciplined because they have graduated."


Ok, I didn't graduate from college, or win any scholastic awards. In High School I was a B/C student because I didn't apply myself, but I did stay until grade 12 with a state that (back then) had a decent education system. Anyone reading this who has any kind of decent English (the class, not the country) background can see that I wasn't an English Major. As a matter of fact, I HATED composition in school. Kinda ironic that I chose this as a hobby, huh?

I don't know about Canada, or the rest of Europe, but the conductor and passengers are from the UK. The way I understand their schooling is - they start about a year earlier. Oh, they have "Whole Language" over there, too, the Brits just sound smarter because of their accents, not their education system.

Our approach is basically do the core curriculum of 3-4 classes fairly deep, and expand as the student goes up in grade. The English way is kind like spreading butter, spread it out over everything- very thin, and keep adding layers till graduation. If I understand what I was told when the 13 yr-old was having her problems. (Ok, part was that she was put a grade above where she would have been in the UK, another part was her "friends", part 3 was needing stronger glasses, and the last was their division -not to mention she was pulling the 'we didn't do that yet' trick).
Suffice it to say that she stayed back and will until she "gets" the way we do things here. She had motivation to undestand our long division, and can do it now! She knows that working with fractions, you can't do something to the bottom without doing something to the top- like taking the bottom half of a layer cake and leaving the top doesn't work well.
At least she's giving it her best.

Hopefully we will have done what parents are supposed to do. I hope that our two will be self sufficient adults, and at least not be anchors on the ship of civilization.

Oh the horror

I was over at protein Wisdom trying to steal understand his writing style, when I clicked on this link. I was looking at a road I used to drive back when I was a "urine Bomber"- and THIS leapt out at me:

"That same section of road already was partially blocked because of a semi-trailer accident the night before that shattered 76,000 bottles of beer across the highway".

In a related case of questionable morals, , ,

Seems a fake Saudi princes is sueing AmX for giving her a credit card.
I guess we not only need big Gov't to hide porn from us, but now big business is supposed to be shrinks, too:
"Prosecutors say the woman - 40-year-old Antoinette Millard - posed as a Saudi princess to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. She is now suing America Express saying she was mentally incompetent when she opened her account and the company should have known it."

Does the fact that she lives in a blue state have anything to do with it?
That is if it really is true- seeing as WHO put the story out.

Something everyone's interested in, , ,sex, money and the internet

Can you believe it? Google is getting sued by a porn site for showing nekkid wimmin. From Wired.com:, , ,"Perfect 10 ,says Google is providing unauthorized access to thousands of its copyrighted pictures. The company charges a monthly membership fee of $US25.50 for
its website. Google displays the images from rogue websites operated in foreign countries, according to Perfect 10's lawsuit. The search engine also provides links to password hacking sites that provide ways to gain illegal access to Perfect 10's website, the suit alleges.

Ok, so,,,,that's news? Just because some people can surf for free porn, is
that BAD? I mean I can use a browser, why should I pay for it when I can find it for free?

"Perfect 10 publisher Norm Zada said he was targeting Google because the
company was using the allure of naked women to draw more visitors to its site and generate more advertising revenue."
That's a real eye-opener there, isn't it.

BUT the Federal Gov't is going to protect us from ourselves. Regina Lynn over at Wired News Culture section has some good points. You really need to read the final sentence of the first page- sums it up very well.

Inbedded reporters for terrorists

Lately I've been reading the idea about reporters reporting for the islamofascists to get, you know-BALANCE.
Yeah, like the majority of Main Stream Media isn't on it's knees for them now. I don't know why it's just now being talked about when I saw, and posted this back on Nov. 07.

Am I doing some kind of time tripping here, since it's not the first time I'd preposted something that caught fire later? Or am I finding my little niche in the blogarchy?

More on liberal whining

Deroy Murdock over at National Review Online makes a good analogy in his piece on politics of division.
He starts:
-Imagine that you and I were neighbors, or even friends. One day, I drop by to visit. Eventually, I suggest that our community has become dangerous and that you might consider buying a gun and taking shooting lessons. As you extinguish your fourth cigarette in half an hour, I also observe that quitting smoking is the single best thing you can do to improve your health.
You suddenly capsize your coffee table and scream, "You talk like Hitler. Damn you and your family!" whereupon you announce that you will move to another state because you cannot stand living next door to me.

Now, would this make me divisive, or you unhinged? (guess it depends on which side you're on)
A paragraph down, he makes this apt remark:
-Today's American Left is largely responsible for the division they so loudly condemn. They have every right to chide President Bush's policies, lament his reelection, and propose better ideas. Instead, the Left throws parched logs onto the national political bonfire, then curses the ensuing flames.

It is a good read, too bad the ones that need to understand this-won't.

Go read it, if it's too long then skip the examples you already know about anyway.

If a pictures worth a thousand words, this must be a dictionary

I found this link for Fallujah pics over at Cold Fury.

It's something the MSM won't be getting around to show you. They've got better things to do like, ummmm, oh yeh analyzing the "real" reason Dan Blather decided to leave now- and who his replacement will be. The REALLY important things.

I'm not even going to the torture pics, you can find that easily enough.


*Note to self* send another mail to Cold Fury,, , then get trackbacks working

My analysis of the guy who got "THE" Marine video, you know the one

From Kevin Sites Blog

Selected exerpts and comments

To Devil Dogs of the 3.1:

Since the shooting in the Mosque, I've been haunted that I have not been able to tell you directly what I saw or explain the process by which the world came to see it as well. As you know, I'm not some war zone tourist with a camera who doesn't understand that ugly things happen in combat. I've spent most of the last five years covering global conflict. But I have never in my career been a 'gotcha' reporter -- hoping for people to commit wrongdoings so I can catch them at it.
This week I've even been shocked to see myself painted as some kind of anti-war activist. Anyone who has seen my reporting on television or has read the dispatches on this website is fully aware of the lengths I've gone to play it straight down the middle -- not to become a tool of propaganda for the left or the right.
(Ok, I can let that go)

It's time you to have the facts from me, in my own words, about what I saw, , , "
", , , what I did was right or wrong. All the other armchair analysts don't mean a damn to me.

Here it goes. "
It's Saturday morning and we're still at our strong point from the night before, , ,
, , ,We'll be back clearing some of the area we passed yesterday. There are also reports that the mosque, where ten insurgents were killed and five wounded on Friday may have been re-occupied overnight. (remember this)

I decide to leave you guys and pick up with one of the infantry squads as they move house-to-house back toward the mosque, , ,
We hear gunshots from what seems to be coming from inside the mosque. A Marine from my squad yells, "Are there Marines in here?"

When we arrive at the front entrance, we see that another squad has already entered before us.
The lieutenant asks them, "Are there people inside?"
One of the Marines raises his hand signaling five.
"Did you shoot them," the lieutenant asks?
"Roger that, sir, " the same Marine responds, , ,
, , ,Immediately after going in, I see the same black plastic body bags spread around the mosque. The dead from the day before. But more surprising, I see the same five men that were wounded from Friday as well. It appears that one of them is now dead and three are bleeding to death from new gunshot wounds. The fifth is partially covered by a blanket and is in the same place and condition he was in on Friday, near a column. He has not been shot again. I look closely at both the dead and the wounded. There don't appear to be any weapons anywhere.
While I continue to tape, a Marine walks up to the other two bodies about fifteen feet away, but also lying against the same back wall.

Then I hear him say this about one of the men:
"He's fucking faking he's dead -- he's faking he's fucking dead."
Through my viewfinder I can see him raise the muzzle of his rifle in the direction of the wounded Iraqi. There are no sudden movements, no reaching or lunging.
However, the Marine could legitimately believe the man poses some kind of danger. Maybe he's going to cover him while another Marine searches for weapons.
Instead, he pulls the trigger. There is a small splatter against the back wall and the man's leg slumps down.
, , ,
I am still rolling. I feel the deep pit of my stomach. The Marine then abruptly turns away and strides away, right past the fifth wounded insurgent lying next to a column. He is very much alive and peering from his blanket. He is moving, even trying to talk. But for some reason, it seems he did not pose the same apparent "danger" as the other man -- though he may have been more capable of hiding a weapon or explosive beneath his blanket. (maybe he didn't feel threatend because YOU could have stopped something)
But then two other marines in the room raise their weapons as the man tries to talk.
For a moment, I'm paralyzed still taping with the old man in the foreground. I get up after a beat and tell the Marines again, what I had told the lieutenant -- that this man -- all of these wounded men -- were the same ones from yesterday. That they had been disarmed treated and left here. (remember the shooting from THIS mosque? Why wouldn't they be re-armed, or booby trapped?), , ,
, , ,In the aftermath, the first question that came to mind was why had these wounded men been left in the mosque? (Maybe in the confusion of city fighting, they'd been forgotten- or they felt AMERICANS needed treatment before terrorists?)

, , , (BIG gap here), , ,

We all knew it was a complicated story, and if not handled responsibly, could have the potential to further inflame the volatile region. I offered to hold the tape until they had time to look into incident and begin an investigation -- providing me with information that would fill in some of the blanks.
, , ,(space), , ,

I knew NBC would be responsible with the footage. But there were complications. We were part of a video "pool" in Falluja, and that obligated us to share all of our footage with other networks. I had no idea how our other "pool" partners might use the footage. (REALLY? Yeh, I'd assume Al Jazzera would air it with all the caveats that NBC was supposed to- not to INCITE anybody, ya know) I considered not feeding the tape to the pool -- or even, for a moment, destroying it. But that thought created the same pit in my stomach that witnessing the shooting had. It felt wrong. Hiding this wouldn't make it go away. There were other people in that room. What happened in that mosque would eventually come out. I would be faced with the fact that I had betrayed truth as well as a life supposedly spent in pursuit of it.

When NBC aired the story 48-hours later, we did so in a way that attempted to highlight every possible mitigating issue for that Marine's actions (Yep we lead by saying "the shooting of a wounded prisoner of War). We wanted viewers to have a very clear understanding of the circumstances surrounding the fighting on that frontline(A wounded POW was shot in a Mosque). Many of our colleagues were just as responsible(He's guilty, he's guilty). Other foreign networks made different decisions, and because of that, I have become the conflicted conduit who has brought this to the world."

Times, they are a changing, , ,

America under Bush/Hitler
( For you literal minded libs progressives, it's a parody- like like your hyperbole about starving kids, and stripping Medicare)

"Let’s stipulate for the sake of argument that everything the Left claims to fear about the Bush admin and mainstream red-state America is true.

Yep, that’s right, you commie bastiches, we’re coming for you. It’s only a matter of time now until you hear that late-night knock on the door you’ve been dreading all along. Our jack-booted gendarmerie (gendarmerie??? that's French!!) is going to be working overtime rounding up every non-white and non-rich subject of our fascist regime, and we’re going to be baking every last one of you into pies that we’ll then refuse to share with the poor and hungry. We’ll be baking those pies in coal-fired ovens, and those ovens will be devoid of any sort of exhaust-scrubber whatever, because we want to release all the toxic gases and chemicals we can into the atmosphere.

We’ll be spiking the rivers with DDT, alar, thalidomide, and whatever other chemical bugaboos we can think of so as to pollute the drinking water, too. We’ll cram the landfills (which will be more numerous than ever) with deadly silicon breast implants, and we’re going to wipe our asses with copies of the Kyoto Treaty, , ,

We’re going to subjugate the entire world through violence and capitalist exploitation. We’ll be sending our duped, mindless killerbot soldiers to the remotest corners of the Earth to deny freedom to every little brown person currently enjoying an idyllic, bucolic existence in harmony with unspoiled nature, every racial, religious, and cultural minority who has thus far lived relatively free of the sting of our rapacious lash. We’re all going to get rich from it, and we’re going to make the poor noble Bob Cratchets and Tiny Tims of the world pay for our sumptuous lives of piggish, rankly self-indulgent consumerism, and then we’re going to kill them when we’ve bled them completely dry.

Yep, it’s all true, every bit of it; the New Gulags, which we Nazified Tolkien geeks like to refer to as Barad Ashcroft, or just Shrubthanc, have been under construction since early 2001 and are almost ready to open for business. The ultra-right-wing corporate media establishment has known all along, and have been helping us cover it all up, , , and it’s all going to be done because Jesus told us to, and that’s the only reason we’re ever going to need. Because hey, we’re stupid.

Michael Moore? Dead soon, at our hands, as punishment for daring to dissent. Karen Finley? Ditto. Hillary Clinton? She’ll be crawling around our (segregated) private club on all fours in a Playboy Bunny costume, forced to beg for the privilege of bringing us drinks, dropping grapes into our mouths, and mopping the floors with her hair—just to remind any of you other strong, uppity women who might get ideas about overturning the established patriarchal order who’s really in charge here. Other younger, more attractive women will be forced into sexual slavery, and abortion will absolutely not be an option for dealing with the inevitable unwanted pregnancies that will result. Rusty coathangers will be available at the door, although using them will be punishable by electrocution—electricity provided by the nuke plants that will be on every corner and completely unregulated and unsafe. But it’s just as well that they are our slaves, because there ain’t gonna be no welfare to help them out, and they’re not going to be allowed to work at anything other than pleasing their oppressors.

We’ll be burning the UN HQ in New York down, of course, and we’ll be locking all the delegates inside the building before we set it alight. Then we’ll be invading France, just to teach ‘em a lesson about how we Texas cowboys do bidness. The world’s oil, of course, is ours, and we’ll be boiling tons of it and pouring it over the heads of those who refuse to acknowledge our Xtian God. There’ll be no stem cell research, there’ll be no health care at all for the poor (whose numbers we will be increasing by every means we can think of), and if you dare to complain about life in the New Conservative Amerikkka, we’re going to kill you for it.
, , ,

It's a great rant, wish I could come anywhere near that - without all the foul language that I'd feel necessary to include

Read the rest at Cold Fury
Via Mudville Gazette

Things I'm not hearing enough of, , ,

80% of Iraqi Debt to be Written off by G7
From News Ltd :

"The US, Germany and other G7 nations have agreed to write off up to 80 per cent of Iraq’s $US120 billion ($154 billion) foreign debt in a move that could pave the way for a wider international accord, officials said.

The breakthrough came today in talks between German Finance Minister Hans Eichel and US Treasury Secretary John Snow on the margins of a meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the G20 group of rich and developing nations. " , , ,
From The Command Post


Muslims march against terror:

"Some 20,000 people took to the streets in the western German city of Cologne on Sunday, waving German and Turkish flags, to protest against the use of violence in the name of Islam.

The marchers had two starting points -- a mosque and a cathedral -- and converged in the middle of the city for the event organized by the Islamic-Turkish Union with the slogan "Hand in Hand for Peace and Against Terror.", , ,
Via Instapundit

The BBC reporting on the UN oil for fraud program
UN knew of Saddam's oil-for-food thefts: BBC

"The United Nations knew that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was stealing from the oil-for-food program - and, by extension, starving his own people - but did little to stop it, according to a special report by the BBC at the weekend.

After a six-month investigation, the BBC said it had evidence that Saddam took billions from the oil-for-food program, and that "these abuses were widely known about at the time". The BBC said there was evidence that Saddam demanded a kickback from companies that wanted to do business with Iraq under the oil-for-food program." , , ,
"The BBC sent a reporter to Iraq and Jordan to track down people involved in the oil-for-food program, which has been described as the largest financial swindle in history. Virtually all said that Saddam took kickbacks from companies who sold goods to Iraq, and that the UN knew this. The businessmen - most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity - said it was standard to pay commissions, that nobody complained, and that was the price of doing business with Iraq."
, , ,
"The allegations have left the UN fighting for its reputation. The oil-for-food program is being investigated by six US congressional committees and by the UN itself.

Many UN officials believe the US is trying to divert media attention towards the oil-for-food program as a way of punishing the UN for failing to back the war in Iraq.

Others believe the US is using the investigations as a way of distracting attention from the war. Mr Shay said: 'Well, the UN is sure making it easy (to attack).'"(snicker)
Via Ace


A Black organization Condemming the Lefts racist hate speach
, , ,
"The Faith Based Leadership Council, a group of over 200 black clergy and members of the faith-based community, said cartoonists Jeff Danzinger, Pat Oliphant, Garry Trudeau, the Post and the Times have used racial stereotypes "to conduct their personal character assassination of" Rice's integrity because she chose to serve the Bush administration.

"These cartoonists believe that the liberal views of the Washington Post and New York Times somehow provides cover for them to engage in racist attacks upon Dr. Rice and other minority in the Bush Administration," said Oliver N.E. Kellman, Jr., executive director of the FBLC, in a statement.

"Mr. Danzinger's, Mr. Oliphant's and Mr. Trudeau's racist depictions of Dr. Rice are of the most twisted Ku Klux Klan/Skinhead Mindset. I am astonished that the NAACP, Rainbow-Push and other traditional civil rights groups did not denounce this type of trash from the very first day it was reported," Kellman said in a statement.

"Instead, they are silent witnesses to this racially motivated character assassination because of Dr. Rice's politics," he added. "The FBIC believes in the advancement of all Americans, no matter their political affiliation, gender or ethnic background.

"Dr. Rice has been singled out for persecution by a handful of bigoted liberals who have characterized her as a steppin and fetchin sambo," said Kellman, adding that he believes "they feel threatened and disturbed by the fact that Dr. Rice will soon be the most powerful Black woman in the United States as Secretary of State.", , ,

Read it all- bold emphasis mine.

Via Q and O

At least some "progressives" get it

It's just too bad they're in Egypt:

"'Why Do We Talk by Means of Bullets, and Hasten to Make Sweeping Accusations of Unbelief?'

"Why can't we see things as the rest of the world sees them? Why do we always feel that someone is conspiring against us, and that he is the cause of our problems and our cultural and economic backwardness?… Why are we not able to criticize ourselves and [why do] we view anyone who tries to do so as an enemy of the nation and of its principles, and other things of this kind that make some people afraid to think?…(Sounds alot like our "progressives" doesn't it?)

"Why do we talk among ourselves by means of bullets, bombs, and car bombs, and when we disagree we hasten to accuse [our interlocutor] of unbelief and of being dragged after the West and the East? Why don't we recognize that nobody among us has the answer to all the questions and whoever pretends to have the absolute truth is nothing but a pretender? Have we heard that in any respectable country the parties and political streams talk by means of bullets, as sometimes happens between the various factions in Gaza and as is happening now in Iraq?…"

'We Kill, Blow Up Cars, and Slit Throats in the Name of Allah, Yet Protest When Others Depict Muslims as Terrorists'

"Why are we the only nations in the world that still use religion, Islam, and the name of Allah in everything – in politics, economics, science, art, and literature. We kill in the name of Allah, blow up cars in the name of Allah, and slit throats in the name of Allah and Islam, and then we protest when others depict the Muslims as terrorists. We indiscriminately kill doctors who went to provide medical care to Afghans, and then we protest when the world describes these acts as acts of terror. We blow up embassies and trains [and consequently] children, women, and citizens with no connection to our cause are killed, and then we protest when the world describes these extremists, who view themselves as Muslims, as terrorists."

Read the whole thing at MEMRI

Your welcome

The lefties have their "sorry" site, and we have a "new" one called Your welcome everybody. Problem is they don't have nearly enough pics from the winners.
Here's one, hope it was taken on election nite.

"W" doesn't look like the only one who got lucky that nite.
Posted by Hello

It's kinda sad, really

Here you have a liberal apologist site called Sorry Everyone! , and after all the free publicity they got from the bogosphere - there are only 6,079 pictures in the gallery- from 57,288,97 leftist voters in the US.
I mean it's been up since before the election, and even D.U.'s been talking about it.
You need to get off your butt and send in those "sorry" pic with your sad pouting lip and compassionate head tilt. Oh, before you write something up, be sure to kill a 12 pac like these two did. Think he missed his mouth a couple times with the marker?

Looks like Texas is #1 in something else

According to the San Marcos Daily Record the animals are fighting back.
Talk about a meat explosion, You should see one geting hit by a truck on the highway , , , um, um, um um, um.



Far more people have died in Texas motor vehicle collisions with animals than in any other state, a new study indicates. And many of these fatalities could have been prevented if motorists had worn seatbelts or motorcyclists had worn helmets. . . .

. . .
Texas recorded 161 fatalities in the 12-year study compared to the next most hazardous state, Pennsylvania, which had 85 fatalities during the same time period. The study also showed that the number of vehicle-animal collisions is rising. Hanna said this was a direct result of more traffic on Texas rural roads and the state's abundant wildlife

By the way, hitting a 1,000 lb plus steer isn't very good either. It'll total anything that hits it- (and they don't come equipped with reflectors)

This is one woman the islamofacists need to worry about

Remember the bound and blindfolded C.A.R.E. worker the terrorists shot?
The Polish woman found eviscrated and hacked limb from limb in a dirty alley? (20 nov. update- - the Poles say she was released today) . . . ok, then- WHO was the blonde woman found mutilated in the alley?
Here is one American woman that WANT'S them to try the same thing with her.

Yep,,, the song fits, , ,


She likes to shoot her gun,
Shootin' at the target of love.
She likes to load her chamber,
Hot and tight like a black leather glove.
She's a little freak, but she'll take you in.
You might be sittin' at the end of a firing pin.
Gun love, gun love, gun love,
She's a real gun lover,
Gun love, gun love, gun love,
She's a real gun lover tonight.

-ZZ TOP (Gun Love)

A musical update from Japan

From an e-mail:

Stevie Wonder has just finished a sell-out concert in Japan and after the applause has died down he asks the crowd if there's anything they'd like him to play. This little Japanese fella at the front is jumping up and down, shouting and waving his arms like a madman and Stevie asks him what he'd like him to play.

The Jap shouts "Play a jazz chord, play a jazz chord" so Stevie belts out a 2 minute solo in F minor on his piano and the crowd are in raptures. "No, No" he shouts "play a jazz chord, play a jazz chord." A little bit bemused Stevie does a 3 minute impromptu in A major and gets the crowd rocking. The little fella shouts "No, No, I want you toplay a jazz chord." Stevie gives in and says "how does that go then?" To which he replies.
.

.

.
{in your best Japanese accent}

.

.

.
"A jazz chord................. to say................ I ruv you!"

Clinton Presidential Center

Clinton Presidential Center.
BWAAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahaha.
Talk about trailer trash,,, can't say I'd want that thing in MY trailer park. Or the inhabitants.

Seriously, look at it-it looks just like a singlewide.

Who's worse, us or them?

There's been plenty said about the Marine who shot a terrorist lying against a wall-in a mosque that was used as a fortification, (you know pulling a Kerry) but where is the uproar about the execution of a bound and blindfolded WOMAN? Remember her? The C.A.R.E. worker who'd been helping Iraqies for 30 some years. I'm not sure, but I'm sure Al Jazeera said they wouldn't show THAT execution tape- (too telling I guess about who we're really fighting).

Oh, yeh, how can I forget. It's the Islamofscist terrorists and brutal dictators get the pass, while Bush-Hitler is castigated for imposing democracy on those unable to appreciate self rule.

The Three Brakemen- new one on the left
Posted by Hello

Things I'm getting damn tired of hearing

1. Laments for the head PLO terrorist We should be singing "Ding Dong, the witch is dead" He's an Egyptian conman who used innocent blood to enrich himself by BILLIONS of dollars in the name of the Palestine people

2. The Scott Peterson show The ONLY reason it's plastered all over TV is that Lacy was a babe. Next for your viewing pleasure The Lori Hacking extravaganza. (I don't mean any disrespect to either woman who made the mistake of marrying the scum- besides the "caring" "considerate" news media will be much worse) I am just getting tired of the media HYPE about what they decide will be major news.

3. The crying over election results AM I the only one? I already said something about it Tues.

Any one else been noticing- Kerry stickers in the fast lane?

I don't know, it just seems like I've been noticing more vehicles sporting Kerry/Edwards stickers in the fast lane- driving the speed limit.

I was thinking about this, and came upon a reason, maybe. The fast lane IS as far LEFT as you can drive and still be on the road, and if you're such a rabid Kerry fan then you don;t want to have anything to do with the FAR RIGHT anything. There they are, driving as slow as they want in the fast lane like the self-centered petulant adolescents that they're proving themselves to be.

Is this traffic congestion a "Vast Leftwing Conspiracy" to payback the majority of voters who didn't let them get their way? I want to get this divisive campaign behind me and get on with life like I did in the Clinton years (and the Gore fiasco)- why won't the Left?

I'm trying to find other thing to read, and to write about- but it sees like I'm the only one who wants to.

Brakeman update- he got his rabies shot, and a "found" ad in two papers. We'll see if anyone comes forward. His name will be Shadow.

Don't fly past semis

Been feeling kinda crappy these last couple days, so I don't feel like writing alot- just now finishing up "stuff" on the computer. I finally got my soldiers name and addy from Operation A/C He's an MP. We're still trying to find the U.K. equivalent.

Anyway, Conductor was feeling bad on the way home too, so she decided to let a guy flying up behind her pass her in the fast lane. She slid behind a semi doing the speed limit as the guy flew passed. A mile down the road- on the side was Speedy Gonzalas and Officer Friendly. She couldn't get into the fast lane again because Mario Andretti was pulling up past her-- guess who she saw talking to Officer Happy? Conductor decided to stay put and follow Mother trucker, just- you-know to see how many more surprises people were going to get. One more West of New Braunfels, and a reinforcement came up the last onramp before the two lane construction zone. Naturally if you're in a construction zone, you don't want to be slowed down by a semi and a little red car- especially if you're driving a $65,000 Escalade.....

Anyway- when I said put your foot in the carb to pass a semi in an earlier post; I didn't mean doing 90 in a 55 MPH zone.

Like the nice policeman sayz... Have a nice day
BTW- in Texas, traffic fines double when workers are present in a construction zone.

First the crude facts, now the refinery facts

I had asked an expert about refineries in the U.S. here are his answers.............
Here is my fist posting on fuel prices that you may want to read first.

The cost factor in building any new refinery today comes mainly from environmental issues. The cost of building a refinery that will meet the ever changing (and needed) environmental restrictions can be very expensive indeed. the only refinery that I personally know of that can process "Sour" crude is the ChevronTexaco plant in Pascagoula Mississippi. The process to remove the excess of Sulfur and heavy metals that makes "Sour" crude "Sour" takes a special process. To upgrade current refineries to accommodate this process would probably be even more expensive than actually setting up a complete new refinery.
This excerpt from the ChevronTexaco site may give you an idea of the process.
"Because about 80 percent of the crude oil processed by the Pascagoula Refinery is heavier oils that are high in sulfur and metals, our complex Residuum Desulfurization (RDS) Unit is an important part of our operations. In the RDS Unit's six 1,000-ton reactors, sulfur and nitrogen and metals are removed from FCC feed and the residuum,( a thick tarlike substance that is found at the very bottom of the separation towers after product separation) which is the heaviest oil that comes from the vacuum distillation at the Crude Units. The sulfur is converted to hydrogen sulfide and sent to the Sulfur Unit where it is converted into elemental sulfur. The metals attach to the reactor's catalyst and are eventually recovered. Nitrogen is transformed into ammonia which is removed from the process by water-washing. Later, the water is treated to recover the ammonia as a pure product for use in the production of fertilizer."
Regarding the second part of your question, I don't have the exact percentage available. However It has been said that to manufacture an average home computer system, it takes about 1 1/2 gallons of crude oil.
Hope this helps.



Petrohawk


William "Hawk" Howes ILS Answers -

Regarding last refinery built,
"No new refineries have been built in the US in the past 25 years. And petroleum industry experts say anyone would have to be crazy to launch such an effort -- even though present refineries are running at nearly 100 % of capacity and local gasoline shortages are beginning to crop up.

Why does the industry appear to have built its last refinery?
Three reasons: Refineries are not particularly profitable, environmentalists fight planning and construction every step of the way and government red-tape makes the task all but impossible. The last refinery built in the US was in Garyville, Louisiana, and it started up in 1976.
Energy proposed building a refinery near Portsmouth, Virginia, in the late 1970s, environmental groups and local residents fought the plan -- and it took almost nine years of battles in court and before federal and state regulators before the company cancelled the project in 1984.

Industry officials estimate the cost of building a new refinery at between $ 2 bn and $ 4 bn -- at a time the industry must devote close to $ 20 bn over the next decade to reducing the sulphur content in gasoline and other fuels -- and approval could mean having to collect up to 800 different permits. As if those hurdles weren't enough, the industry's long-term rate of return on capital is just 5 % -- less than could be realized by simply buying US Treasury bonds.
"I'm sure that at some point in the last 20 years someone has considered building a new refinery," says James Halloran, an energy analyst with National City Corp. "But they quickly came to their senses," he adds."



Source: Investor's Business Daily

And after all that, The rumor is a new refinery is being built in Arizona! If I get any further info on that one I'll let you know.

Petrohawk

Have any other questions? Try one of our experts at http://www.allexperts.com

Also, there are over 200,000 miles of liquid carrying pipe in the U.S. that need maintenance, repairs, and uprating continuously.

A commenter said that Houston was able to refine sour crude till the EPA banned it

The two Brakemen
Posted by Hello

Long day

It's been a long and kinda crappy day, drive home had lanes full of morons. You've seen them, the ones that brag about never having had an accident; but leave a trail of twisted metal in their wake.

Had to just relax- so I put in my "Rev. Horton Heat" CD and rockabillied home.

Relaxing actually.

The Conductor reported the same stupidity on her way home- she stayed in the slow lane and let them play tag.

Been hearing gripes about fuel costs

Now that our national migrane is over for another four years, we can talk about other things.
Lets get some of the real costs of fuel, as I understand them. There's a lot that goes into energy production- this is an extremely simplified version- "Kurts notes on cliff's notes" if you will.

Here are my two main sources- they're both readable.
Oil industry Stats
Crude Oil Info sheet

First PRODUCTION- what percent is produced and imported from where: Gibson Consulting gives us these facts:
Country Production Rank & Production1999-- Early 2002 Rank and Production
1. Saudi Arabia 7.7 million barrels/day-- 3. 7.7 mb/d
2. Former Soviet Union 7.1 million barrels/day-- 1. 8.6 mb/d
3. USA 5.9 million barrels/day-- 2. 8.1 mb/d
4. Iran 3.6 million barrels/day-- 4. 3.7 mb/d
5. China 3.2 million barrels/day-- 7. 3.3 mb/d
6. Norway 3.0 million barrels/day-- 6. 3.4 mb/d
7. Mexico 3.0 million barrels/day-- 5. 3.6 mb/d
8. Venezuela 2.8 million barrels/day-- 8. 2.8 mb/d
9. United Kingdom 2.7 million barrels/day-- 10. 2.6 mb/d
10. Iraq 2.5 million barrels/day-- 11. 2.4 mb/d (Boy, they sure need NUKES for cheap energy -ed)

A barrel of crude is 42 gallons (American gal) This is what you get out of it:


Petroleum Products Yielded from
One Barrel of Crude in 2000
Product=Gallons
Finished Motor Gasoline -19.69
Distillate Fuel Oil- 9.70
Kero-Type Jet Fuel -3.99
Residual Fuel Oil- 1.76
Still Gas -1.89
Petroleum Coke -2.14
Liquefied Refinery Gas -1.76
Asphalt and Road Oil -1.34
Naptha for Feedstocks- 0.63
Other Oils for Feedstocks- 0.50
Lubricants -0.46
Special Naphthas- 0.13
Kerosene -0.17
Miscellaneous Products- 0.17
Finished Aviation Gasoline- 0.04
Waxes- 0.04

Total -44.41 (You'll notice that they "gained" 2.41 gal of product) A barrel of 42-U.S. gallons of crude oil yields slightly more than 44 gallons of petroleum products. This "process gain" of volume is due to a reduction in the density during the refining process. Think of popcorn.

Now we come to The cost part-which is always changing.
Some of the factors involved are:
-The price of Crude is up- as high as $55 per barrel (light, sweet crude -ed)
Refinery capacity in the US is near its maximum. (more on this later -ed)One refinery in California is to close later in 2004. Oil tanker capacity for trans-oceanic shipping is also 100% reserved for the forseeable future, and shipping costs have nearly tripled.
The US deficit, around $500 billion in 2004, causes the value of the dollar to decline. Because oil is priced in dollars, no matter where in the world it comes from, producers want higher prices in order to maintain their income.
Local requirements for special gasoline blends to meet environmental regulations result in smaller batches, which are more expensive for refineries to produce. Applies especially to California.
Costs reflect distance from refineries (transportation cost). In the US, 50% of gasoline is refined in the Gulf Coast.
Taxes. Federal excise tax on gasoline is about 19¢ per gallon; state tax averages about 23¢ per gallon; in California there is an additional 7.5% sales tax.
Any time there is a problem with a pipeline or refinery, it can impact the supply of gasoline at least in local markets, and the price can spike.
Credit card fees paid by retailers amount to about 3.5%, or 7 cents a gallon at $2.00 per gallon.

Now that we have some basics, here's a cost breakdown:
Expense Amount
Production cost 60¢
Producer profit 8¢
Refining cost 13¢
Marketing cost 5¢
Transportation cost 15¢
Retailer cost 6¢
Refiner, marketer,
transp. & retailer profit 10¢ ( that's one DIME split between 4 people - remember the 7cent credit card fee?) -ed)
US Taxes 19¢
Average state taxes 23¢
TOTAL $1.59

More on refineries later- I'm taking up too much space now.

Just saw Team America

How do I describe it? The gratuitous violence? The language? The PUPPET sex? The piles of dead and mutilated puppets?-----AWESOME.

You have to know the Team Southpark would knock it out of the park.
(pun intended)

Naturally the Hollywood elite didn't like it. It made fun of of them and everything they stand for. It's a must see for anyone not mesmerized by Michael Moore.

I guarantee it won't win an Oscar- just because it's too true.

Go see it, just be aware of the language "AMERICA F**K YEAH", the puppet sex, and the awesome fight scenes.--oh,, and Kim Jung Il-he MAKES the movie.