Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Just as I thought.

The Onion explains the deviousness of Al Gore.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Cleaning up the act

I think it's about time, as OpinionJournal's Daniel Heninger notes today.

Friday, November 10, 2006

When Al Qaeda gloats over our election ...

... one has to wonder who they fear the most. Reuters has this article today. My opinion is the terrorists figure the US is weaker now. They may be right, and that is really sad.
Reuters' bias really shows, by the way in these scare quotes:
Bush said he was open to any idea for a new approach and publicly reaffirmed a belief that "victory" was possible.

Obviously "victory" is a foreign word to Reuters. With "stories" like this, I'm not sure Reuters is a real "news organization."

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Reminder to self:

Slap the next person who uses the phrase "back in the day."

Sunday, October 22, 2006

New pix

Here are some pictures of me in character as Reverend Gideon, doing my "sermon" and pseudo-gospel singing at the pre-finals pep rally for Concord Band. The choir is Band Moms and Dads. In case you didn't know, Indiana is a little crazy when it comes to marching band competitions. My son Dylan is a senior in the band and so it's MY last year as a Band Dad too. Anyway, this was fun.

Monday, October 2, 2006

Double-secret no-tolerance watch

This is so stupid, I wonder if there's more to the story we're not being told. The New York Times reports that an art teacher with 28 years in the classroom has been suspended for taking her fifth-graders to an art museum where they saw (gasp) nude art. A parent complained and the teacher's out on her fully-clothed rear end.

If it been an exhibit of erotic art the kids saw, I could possibly understand, but nudity is classic. Nudity (involving the right people) is beautiful. And it IS art. I grew up with an appreciation of this because my father is an amateur artist (quite good, actually) who painted nudes and hung them in the house from the time I was five or six years old. I did have friends who thought it was weird, but to me it was only natural. We didn't run around naked in our house, we just appreciated ART.

I hope this woman gets her job back, with a big-time apology, but she probably won't. And that's sad.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Why we should be very afraid of Ahmadinejad

Andrew Sullivan posted this today. I had heard it discussed in the broadcast media, but Andrew brings it home. The President of Iran is a fanatic, in thrall to a death-obsessed fanaticism. Very dangerous.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Muslim Rage -- SSDD

Muslims are enraged (again) over some things the Pope said. See Muslim fury grows at Pope's speech | the Daily Mail

Is it me, or do these people pretty much LIVE to be enraged? Reminds me of the armies of the "offended" here in the US, only more violent, and with weapons. Oh, yeah, and suicide bombers.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Japanese time warp?

This song is so infectious -- like the GoGos best stuff. Reminds me of the French "Yeh yeh" girls like Sylvie, too. Corny, but it's FUN, dammit.

Friday, September 8, 2006

Ground Zero Blues

Daniel Heninger laments how 9/11 patriotism and unity have devolved into a disgusting political morass. In OpinionJournal today.

You Can't Handle The Truth Dept.

Democrats are fighting hard to get ABC to drop its 9/11 miniseries, even threatening ABC's right to broadcast. This is Stalin-esque, and proves what bullies the Democrats really are. Agree or we'll shut you up. No wonder they want us to lose the war to the Islamo-fascists. They have so much in common with them.

To the specific point, as Andrew says, Clinton shouldn't get a pass on being clueless and inept in the run-up to 9/11, nor should Bushes I & II. Of course the miniseries is a dramatization. But if the essential facts are correct (and I understand that they are), then they should be presented. The Dems are trying to censor anything that makes them look bad, even if it's the truth.

Thursday, September 7, 2006

Summer pix

Summer 2006
Aug 20, 2006 - 4 Photos

I will probably ad pictures to this album later on, but there are a few in there now. Click on the picture above to view it.

This is exceedingly cool,

I am already thinking of ways to use this idea.

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

Andrew on Iran

Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: The Iran Debate. Whatever you think of the Iraq war or George Bush, we can't go soft on Iran. Which means, in my opinion, we can't trust the left to defend us and keep us safe.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Take a look if you wanna.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Sullivan on Kurtz

It's a pessimistic view, but it's also the reason we can't turn chicken in the war on terror. Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: The Gloom of the Hawks.

A turn to the left in the upcoming congressional elections could be disastrous for our defense, because the left inevitably promots negotiation and appeasement with terror maniacs. Whatever we disagree about in our war in Iraq, we can't afford to leave or lose. And we can't afford to let our guards down. The recent foiled terror plot proves it.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Why tax cuts work

Pete DuPont in OpinionJournal. I used to wonder why Democrats can't understand how tax cuts help everyone. Actually, I believe they DO understand, but they don't really care. The "tax cuts for the rich" chant has become monotonous, predictable (and wrong), but it goes on because it sells to those whose understanding of economics is minimal (thanks to a liberal-dominated public school system.)

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Net neutrality not so simple

As the WSJ says, when Moveon.org wants something, it's a good idea to think twice. Here's the latest from OpinionJournal.com. Why Google wants to invite the government to regulate the internet further is beyond me.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Demarée the Graduate

Yes, well, this is old news (a month old), but Demarée has finally finished up at Ball State and has taken up residence in Wheaton, Illinois, where she is still looking for gainful employment. I'm proud of you, Bumbum.

Sunday, June 4, 2006

The Photographed History of Technology

Digg.com had a posting about the OAC's huge historical database of technolgoy related photos, but there is a lot more there. The images section alone is bigger than just the tech section, and has some pretty fascinating stuff. Check it out.

read more | digg story

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Algore Abroad

Is it really appropriate for the former holder of the second-highest office in the USA to be talking like this in another country? Tell me a Republican who did this kind of stuff during the Clinton Administration's years. I don't there's an example of it. Gore should be an embarrassment to the Democratic Party. The fact that he's not speaks volumes.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Click It or Ticket -- the downside

Although I find him kind of hard to listen to when he fills in for Rush, Walter Williams is a brilliant man and a guy I wish we could clone and put in every college economics program, or, better yet, in every high school civics class.

I recently got nailed by the local gendarmerie for not having my seatbelt fastened. In addition to ticking me off, it also seemed ridiculous that four (count 'em) FOUR county cop cars were required to man a seatbelt check station. Professor Williams makes a great case for why (besides the $25.00 fine) this sort of thing SHOULD tick me off. Read on.

As the professor says, fastening my seatbelt is a good idea, and I should be doing it. But should I be compelled to do it? We've reached the stage in this country where the justification for a law -- essentially the threat of the use of force to guarantee compliance -- is that "it's a good idea."

Here are some other good ideas:

  • Wash your hands before eating.

  • Change your oil regularly.

  • Get exercise three times a week, at least.

  • Call your mom once in a while.

  • Floss


Are all of these worthy of a law to make sure we do the right thing? Should four county mounties come to my door and arrest me for waxy yellow buildup on my floors? Surely clean floors are a "good idea" too.

We've actually reached this level of intrusion on the smoking issue. Second-hand smoke, although not nearly the health threat the zealots imagine, is being attacked on all fronts. In neighboring St. Joseph County, even BARS cannot allow smoking. Private bars. Where people LIKE to smoke. Where the owners WANT people to be able to smoke and enjoy themselves without having to go outside (and leave the bar). Not smoking is a good idea. We've now got a gun to the head of people who want to smoke, and in most cases aren't really bothering anyone who doesn't.

As Professor Williams suggests, it is time we stop forcing people to do EVERYthing we think is a good idea. For one thing, sometimes the laws involved are dead wrong and/or based on bad evidence, second-hand smoke being a case in point. For another, and this will sound cliché, this is America. We aren't supposed to be rounding people up for personal habits, preferences, perversions or even just plain idiocy. We don't do it here. Unless you smoke and won't fasten your seatbelt.

That's all from me. I'll be driving off in my old Honda, smoking a ciggie, seatbelt off, dirty hands and unflossed teeth. Try to stop me, coppers.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Galileo all over again

In OpinionJournal today is an article by Richard Lindzen that brings Michael Crichton's novel "State of Fear" into the world of reality. How much of our so-called science is truly reliable? An excerpt:
So how is it that we don't have more scientists speaking up about this junk science? It's my belief that many scientists have been cowed not merely by money but by fear. An example: Earlier this year, Texas Rep. Joe Barton issued letters to paleoclimatologist Michael Mann and some of his co-authors seeking the details behind a taxpayer-funded analysis that claimed the 1990s were likely the warmest decade and 1998 the warmest year in the last millennium. Mr. Barton's concern was based on the fact that the IPCC had singled out Mr. Mann's work as a means to encourage policy makers to take action. And they did so before his work could be replicated and tested--a task made difficult because Mr. Mann, a key IPCC author, had refused to release the details for analysis. The scientific community's defense of Mr. Mann was, nonetheless, immediate and harsh. The president of the National Academy of Sciences--as well as the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union--formally protested, saying that Rep. Barton's singling out of a scientist's work smacked of intimidation.
All of which starkly contrasts to the silence of the scientific community when anti-alarmists were in the crosshairs of then-Sen. Al Gore. In 1992, he ran two congressional hearings during which he tried to bully dissenting scientists, including myself, into changing our views and supporting his climate alarmism. Nor did the scientific community complain when Mr. Gore, as vice president, tried to enlist Ted Koppel in a witch hunt to discredit anti-alarmist scientists--a request that Mr. Koppel deemed publicly inappropriate. And they were mum when subsequent articles and books by Ross Gelbspan libelously labeled scientists who differed with Mr. Gore as stooges of the fossil-fuel industry.


Is this the atmosphere in which other areas of scientific inquiry, such as AIDS and cancer research, operate? Apparently it is. And that's what we truly should be alarmed about. The likes of Al Gore should not be controlling scientific inquiry. Neither should George Bush, for that matter.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Ann, I think this may be a step too far.


Ann Coulter is a very sharp witted pundit. She does go over the top at times, and I think I can appreciate when she's doing so simply for the drama. Her new book title is over the edge, not just over the top. It's not that I'm liberal or religious (neither). It's that this is the stoooopidest argument that should be made against liberalism I've seen. I haven't read the book, so maybe there's more to it than this, but I don't like the fact that somehow the conservative wing has become perceived as the self-annointed "God" wing of politics. This doesn't help.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Editorial Judgement 101

Drudge report: "This just in... Both TIME and NEWSWEEK are planning high impact covers of Cheney for newsstands starting tomorrow, with each magazine rolling out top staff bylines and thousands of words on the (Cheney) hunting incident."

Either the news cycles are just too quick, as Drudge suggests, for print media to react and drop what should be a dead story, or there's an agenda at work here.

Or maybe there's a kind of third answer, which is that the media are purposely making the unimportant seem important, while ignoring issues such as the revelations of the recent Saddam tapes, the treasonous speeches of Al Gore in the Middle East, and others. Are we being distracted from something bigger? I wonder.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

The new appeasement culture needs to look at history

Andrew Sullivan | The Daily Dish: "I'm tired of these excuses for self and actual censorship, saying free speech is only legit if it doesn't offend someone's religion. Free speech is at its most legitimate when it is offending people. That's how societies change. And the absence of it is one reason so much of the Arab-Muslim world is an economic, cultural and political basket-case. These cultures need confronting, not enabling."

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

First Grader Suspended for Harassment

Reported in Breitbart.com. I certainly hope Diane Gosselin, the principal of Downey Elementary School in Brockton, Mass, is proud of herself for mishandling this. Now a little boy is potentially scarred for life and has to worry about something that only exists in the minds of the adult perverts in the Brockton school system. Playtime and little girls are now something to be feared by this child. Little boys tease little girls sometimes. Little girls tease little boys, too. Kids touch each other. Someone should grow up in Brockton, and it's not any of the kids in question. Things like this can be handled in a much more mature way. The problem is the adult in this case, along with an institutionalized bias against boys, and a perverse sense of political correctness. Congratulations, Ms. Gosselin.

Monday, February 6, 2006

It's not just "Bush's war."

As if it ever was. The "Islamic Rage," which now appears to have been orchestrated (the infamous cartoons appeared in September), is threatening everyone. More proof here. These bastards want to reserve the right to say anything they want to about us and our culture, but deny the same right in reverse to the rest of the world. Freedom of speech means people can say bad things about you right along with the good things. Europe and the rest of the world should not be apologetic to this perverse philosophy. A number of years ago, Ayn Rand made the case for the importance of philosophy, at a time when the fashion was to think it was strictly an academic exercise. The deaths of Theo Van Gogh and numerous journalists, not to mention the 9/11 tragedy, prove it is anything but that.

Saturday, February 4, 2006

What the...? Dept.

USATODAY.com reports that the Federal government is going to now help us have better marriages.
Feds turn eye to healthy marriages: "Congress approved a $750 million, five-year plan aimed at building healthier marriages Wednesday as part of its deficit reduction bill.
The measure now goes to President Bush. It includes $100 million a year for marriage-related programs and $50 million a year for fatherhood programs. This is the first time Congress has earmarked money for marriage programs, says Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution's Center on Children and Families."
Do we actually need a government program for this? I mean, aren't there enough counselors, churches and bartenders out there to give us advice on this subject? Why does government know what a "better" marriage is?

I'm ashamed of Republicans for coming up with it. Just because I don't want my government subsidizing welfare moms (a family-destroying policy, by the way) doesn't mean I want them "helping" me or anyone else with our marriags. This goes for busybody Republicans as well as nanny-state Liberals: leave us the hell alone.

Friday, January 27, 2006

If this smells like a shake-down, it's because it is.

The legal system that spawns the creeps who engage in this kind of lawsuit culture needs a major overhaul. Unfortunately, the public really believes this to be a noble cause. Check it out. John Stossel, get a camera crew together. These jerks are serious.
this is an audio post - click to play

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Why is this guy still getting a podium?

Spouting off about Canada: Gore accuses big oil of bankrolling Tories.


I guess this means Gore would like the left/socialist government that's made Canada's economy a loser for years to stay in power. Gore shouldn't get a fifth of the ink he still gets.

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Friday, January 20, 2006

The power of the blogosphere (and other new media)

And why the left doesn't control the dialogue anymore.

Peggy Noonan in OpinionJournal makes some great points. Here's an excerpt:
Eleven years ago the Democrats lost control of Congress. Then they lost the presidency. But just as important, maybe more enduringly important, they lost their monopoly on the means of information in America. They lost control of the pipeline. Or rather there are now many pipelines, and many ways to use the information they carry. The other day, Dana Milbank, an important reporter for the Washington Post, the most important newspaper in the capital, wrote a piece deriding Judge Alito. Once such a piece would have been important. Men in the White House would have fretted over its implications. But within hours of filing, Mr. Milbank found his thinking analyzed and dismissed on the Internet; National Review Online called him a 'policy bimbo.

Could Democratic senators today torture Clarence Thomas with tales of Coke cans and porn films? Not likely. Could Ted Kennedy have gotten away with his 'Robert Bork's America' speech unanswered? No.
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