.......Judith Weiss over at Kesher Talk has a cyber support group going for the folks out there who like myself are pro-gay-marriage, pro-choice, pro-drug-legalization, against establishment of relgion, but also pro-war.
The Superman of the blog world, Glenn Reynolds, is among these folks as well.
His quote here sums it up pretty well-
A reader emails:
Before the war in Iraq, I would imagine you were usually considered a centrist. Now, whenever I see you mentioned in the media, it's "Conservative blogger Glenn Reynolds." . . . if you are for the war, no matter how liberal your other beliefs are, you are conservative. If you are against the war, you are normal. What gives?
Glenn responds:
I've pretty much given up fighting it, because yes, that seems to be the definition. Pro-gay-marriage, pro-choice, pro-drug-legalization, but pro-war? You're a "conservative."
Most of the people who know me well would say that I'm not very conservative, and do hold many liberal views. Much like Mrs Weiss, I voted for Gore in 2000 and Clinton in 92 and 96. Despite this record, the moment I try and defend Bush for things that he didn't even do, I get branded an uber-conservative Bush lackey.
Many people won't say it, but they imply some sort of Bush hand associated with 9/11, conspiratorial wise- he knew and did nothing, he actively conspired to hide what he did know, etc.etc. This is lunacy. Not only that but it dangerously places the blame wheere it doesn't belong.
Islamic Terrorists had been planning 9/11 for almost a decade. They are the ones responsible. Period.
I have yet to make a final decision on whom I will vote for in the next election, but Kerry has shown me absolutely nothing in terms of what he will do to fight and win this war any better or differently than Bush. And as I have said before, all of the domestic stuff means NADA-ZIP-ZILCH-ZERO if these terrorists are able to pull off the size of attack they want to.
One mushroom cloud over Manhattan and gay marriage or stem cell research will be a long distant memory. So will modern life as we know it.
So far, Bush has defeated and toppled two regimes that were directly supporting, funding and arming Islamic terrorists. Iran and Syria shoud be next.
Bush wants to get rid of the Mullahs in Iran, Kerry wants to give them nuclear fuel with the "hope" they use it correctly.
You tell me who sounds more responsible.
Update: There's a liberal democrat belief running around out there that no one who voted for Gore in 2000 will be voting for Bush this year. They couldn't possibly be more ignorant. Opinion Journal has this listing of letters of these people who like myself look to be pulling the Bush lever in November.
My favorite letter that sums it up-
I wanted to e-mail the gent who claimed virtually no one who voted for Gore in 2000 will vote for Bush in '04; however, no e-mail address was available for him. Perhaps you might forward my message.
I accompanied my parents as they campaigned for John F. Kennedy; my husband and I went door-to-door for George McGovern; I've lived in major urban centers my entire adult life, haven't had a TV since '75, lived abroad during much of the '80s, speak and write Japanese, have an advanced degree but no children, and produced and hosted a feminist radio show on an NPR affiliate in the '70s, and of course voted for Gore in 2000. All very nice and leftish.
However, I believe George W. Bush is one of our greatest presidents and I will cast my vote for him in November. I can only speak for myself of course, but if a committed lefty like me can change her mind, all I can say is carry an oxygen tank, you might get buried in that landslide you're predicting.
--Kelly Colgan Azar
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
For those interested- The Perseid Meteor Showers-........
...For all of those who enjoy watching the skies in August during the meteor showers, this year looks to be an excellent oppurtunity to see plenty of streaking shots. The best nights to see them will be between the 11th and the 12th, early morning hours.
From Sky and Telescope
2004: An Excellent Year for the Perseids
By Joe Rao
Circumstances will be nearly ideal for watching the annual Perseid meteor shower at its predicted maximum late on the night of August 11–12. Many families on August vacations at dark, country sites discover these meteors on their own, and late-summer campers often pull their sleeping bags out of their tents to enjoy this Old Faithful shower.
Update for Mike Jericho: Mike was bummed that the Southern Hemisphere never gets to see that much in the way of Meteor Storms, so I did a little hunting and FEAR NOT MIKE! Just wait until 2006 and you get to see the Leonids, they are pretty cool too...
From Sky and Telescope
2004: An Excellent Year for the Perseids
By Joe Rao
Circumstances will be nearly ideal for watching the annual Perseid meteor shower at its predicted maximum late on the night of August 11–12. Many families on August vacations at dark, country sites discover these meteors on their own, and late-summer campers often pull their sleeping bags out of their tents to enjoy this Old Faithful shower.
Update for Mike Jericho: Mike was bummed that the Southern Hemisphere never gets to see that much in the way of Meteor Storms, so I did a little hunting and FEAR NOT MIKE! Just wait until 2006 and you get to see the Leonids, they are pretty cool too...
Jesus H Christ in a Chickenbasket is this guy funny.........
.......who you ask? Jay Pinkerton.....that's who.
I stumbled acorss this cartoon here, and proceeded to damage my ribs from laughing. Then I made the unfortunate decision to read through his archives here, and found the following article that will have anyone who has tried to reassemble an IKEA computer desk crying in pain from laughing so hard.
How to assemble an IKEA Computer Desk
And Jay goes on the blogroll.....and I get a new keyboard.
You have been warned, so don't come crying to me about how you spit coffee all over your monitor....
I stumbled acorss this cartoon here, and proceeded to damage my ribs from laughing. Then I made the unfortunate decision to read through his archives here, and found the following article that will have anyone who has tried to reassemble an IKEA computer desk crying in pain from laughing so hard.
How to assemble an IKEA Computer Desk
And Jay goes on the blogroll.....and I get a new keyboard.
You have been warned, so don't come crying to me about how you spit coffee all over your monitor....
Monday, August 09, 2004
Candidate for Most Misleading News Headline of the Year........
"Asteroid Threat 'To Cease Within 30 Years'"
By John von Radowitz, Science Correspondent, PA News
Killer asteroids will essentially cease to be a threat within the next 30 years, a leading expert said today.
Scientists are discovering near-earth asteroids (NEAs) so fast that the chances of one hitting the Earth with no warning is likely to become minute, said Dr Benny Peiser.
Since 1995 the number of known NEAs had shot up from just 300 to 3,000.
By 2008, it was expected that 90% of the estimated 1,000 to 1,200 asteroids big enough to wipe out civilisation would be found, said Dr Peiser, one of the world’s leading asteroid experts from Liverpool John Moores University.
The rest of these space rocks, measuring more than a kilometre across, would probably be detected within the next 20 years.
Two powerful new telescopes due to start operating in the next few years would find as many asteroids each month as have been discovered in the last decade, said Dr Peiser.
“Within the next one or two generations we will no longer have asteroid impact disaster movies,” he said at a science briefing in London.
“The good news is we have now developed not just the knowledge about the threat we face but also potentially the technology with which to deal with it.”
Future discoveries and space missions would provide information about how to deflect an asteroid on collision course with the Earth.
Within 20 to 30 years, search systems would exist with the ability to detect 90% of all NEAs larger than 150 metres across.
Dr Peiser said if an asteroid did hit the Earth it would be most likely to strike an uninhabited region or an ocean.
First of all, the threat of an asteroid striking the planet is never going away. We will get struck by a large asteroid again. It is not a question of if, but a question of when. As far as our upgrades in telescopes are concerned, we have made major strides in our ability to fully scan our solar system and pick out potential NEO's. NASA is to be commended for their efforts in this area. I might as well add that they still aren't spending enough money in this area, but hey, what do I know anyways.
Dr. Peiser states that we have also developed the "potential" technology to deal with the threat. I would like to hear more about this technology, because it is my understanding that we currently have absolutely NOTHING available to mitigate a large NEO moving at the insane speeds that they do. Small ones, maybe, but lets once again think about this- a large 1km plus asteroid, potentially made of iron and other metals, moving at speeds ranging from mach 10-mach 20, would not be an easy thing to stop. I would enjoy hearing Dr Peiser expand on this theme.
There is also the talk of "future" missions and discoveries that will save us, but that is not an answer for right now. Until we have the technology, we are still screwed if one is found. We have nothing even remotely capable of dealing with this kind of problem. We can barely keep the Space Shuttles from falling apart and they want us to believe we have something ready for this?
The last part of the briefing from above involves the statement that even "if an asteroid did hit the Earth it would be most likely to strike an uninhabited region or an ocean". Yeah, so? It really doesn't matter where something 1 km or bigger hits, the effects of the impact would be felt worldwide in multiple forms of instant death. From the shockwave to the possible tidal wave, any asteroid of this size will cause unimaginable damage.
For a decent study that was performed concerning the impacts, visit the Sandia Labs sight for more information. A brief sample-
"This computer-generated image by Sandia National Laboratories' scientists shows the impact of a 1-km comet (or asteroid) hitting in the open ocean. The comet and 300 to 500 cubic kilometers of ocean water would be vaporized nearly instantaneously by the tremendous energy of the impact. The impact energy of about 300 gigatons of TNT would be equivalent to about 10 times the explosive power of all the nuclear weapons in existence in the 1960s at the height of the Cold War."
Sleep well.
Friday, August 06, 2004
Ok, you can all just shut the hell up now............
...This is directed at all of the folks out there who didn't support the war in Iraq because they didn't believe that Saddam was connected to Arab Terrorists.
YOU WERE WRONG.
Ansar al-Islam (Supporters of Islam) Jund al-Islam Soldiers of God
General
Ansar al-Islam is a radical Kurdish Islamic group that is supportive of Saddam Hussein's regime. This group is located in the pseudo-autonomous Northern Iraq. This group has ties with Taliban and al-Qaeda. It is the most radical group operating in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
Background
Ansar al-Islam was established in December 2001 after a merger between Jund al-Islam, led by Abu Abdallah al-Shafi'i and the Islamic Movement splinter group led by Mullah Krekar. Both leaders are believed to have served in Afghanistan. The group is based in Biyarah and surrounding areas near the border with Iran.
Activities
Ansar al-Islam recent activities include: razing of beauty salons, burning a schools for girls, and murdered women in the streets for refusing to wear the burqa. It has seized a Taliban-style enclave of 4,000 civilians and several villages near the Iranian border. It is also responsible for ambushing and killing of 42 Kurdish soldiers. Ansar al-Islam is in a state of war with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). It was responsible for the assassination in 2001 of a senior official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Franso Hariri, and for the attempted killing of Burhan Salih, head of the PUK-led Iraqi Kurdistan regional government. However, Ansar al-Islam is not in armed confrontation with the KDP.
Strength
About 700 members.
Additional Info
According to some reports, the group has received $600,000 from al-Qaeda, and a delivery of weapons and Toyota Land Cruisers. There are also reports stating that Ansar al-Islam received $35,000 from the Mukhabarat branch of Iraqi Intelligence Service, in addition to a considerable quantity of arms. The leader of Ansar al-Islam, Mullah Krekar has been captured in September of 2002.
_____________________________________________________
Did everyone catch that? Ansar al-Islam, an Arab terrorist group that was (emphasis on the "was" part) based in Iraq, had direct ties to Al-Qaeda and Saddam. Got that? DIRECT TIES TO TERRORISTS TRYING TO KILL US.
Since we removed Saddam guess what happened-
Iraq Evidence Led Feds to Albany Mosque
Friday, August 06, 2004
ALBANY, N.Y. — Information found in Iraq led federal investigators to become suspicious of an Albany, N.Y., mosque leader, FOX News has learned.
Last summer, U.S. troops discovered Yassin Muhhiddin Aref's name, telephone number and address in a book left behind in a vacated terrorist training camp, a U.S. official told FOX News. The book also revealed that Ansar al-Islam, the group running the camp, had given Aref a title: "the commander."
Aref, 34, is the Imam of the Masjid As-Salam mosque in Albany, N.Y. He and one other mosque leader were arrested Thursday and charged with helping an undercover informant posing as a weapons dealer who was plotting to buy a shoulder-launched missile that would be used to kill the Pakistani ambassador in New York City.
Aref and Mohammed Mosharref Hossain (search), the 49-year-old founder of the mosque and owner of the local Little Italy Pizzeria, were allegedly collaborating with someone who was not a terrorist but an informant participating in a sting operation; no missile ever was exchanged.
People wonder why I get so worked up when the media and others continue to perpetuate the lie that the war in Iraq was a distraction from the war on terror.
THIS IS WHY.
These psychos were trying to help the undercover agent buy missiles to shoot in New York. THEY WERE DIRECTLY TIED TO IRAQ. WE DISCOVERED THEM BECAUSE OF OUR EFFORTS IRAQ.
WAKE UP FOLKS. THIS WAR IS NOT OVER.
YOU WERE WRONG.
Ansar al-Islam (Supporters of Islam) Jund al-Islam Soldiers of God
General
Ansar al-Islam is a radical Kurdish Islamic group that is supportive of Saddam Hussein's regime. This group is located in the pseudo-autonomous Northern Iraq. This group has ties with Taliban and al-Qaeda. It is the most radical group operating in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
Background
Ansar al-Islam was established in December 2001 after a merger between Jund al-Islam, led by Abu Abdallah al-Shafi'i and the Islamic Movement splinter group led by Mullah Krekar. Both leaders are believed to have served in Afghanistan. The group is based in Biyarah and surrounding areas near the border with Iran.
Activities
Ansar al-Islam recent activities include: razing of beauty salons, burning a schools for girls, and murdered women in the streets for refusing to wear the burqa. It has seized a Taliban-style enclave of 4,000 civilians and several villages near the Iranian border. It is also responsible for ambushing and killing of 42 Kurdish soldiers. Ansar al-Islam is in a state of war with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). It was responsible for the assassination in 2001 of a senior official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Franso Hariri, and for the attempted killing of Burhan Salih, head of the PUK-led Iraqi Kurdistan regional government. However, Ansar al-Islam is not in armed confrontation with the KDP.
Strength
About 700 members.
Additional Info
According to some reports, the group has received $600,000 from al-Qaeda, and a delivery of weapons and Toyota Land Cruisers. There are also reports stating that Ansar al-Islam received $35,000 from the Mukhabarat branch of Iraqi Intelligence Service, in addition to a considerable quantity of arms. The leader of Ansar al-Islam, Mullah Krekar has been captured in September of 2002.
_____________________________________________________
Did everyone catch that? Ansar al-Islam, an Arab terrorist group that was (emphasis on the "was" part) based in Iraq, had direct ties to Al-Qaeda and Saddam. Got that? DIRECT TIES TO TERRORISTS TRYING TO KILL US.
Since we removed Saddam guess what happened-
Iraq Evidence Led Feds to Albany Mosque
Friday, August 06, 2004
ALBANY, N.Y. — Information found in Iraq led federal investigators to become suspicious of an Albany, N.Y., mosque leader, FOX News has learned.
Last summer, U.S. troops discovered Yassin Muhhiddin Aref's name, telephone number and address in a book left behind in a vacated terrorist training camp, a U.S. official told FOX News. The book also revealed that Ansar al-Islam, the group running the camp, had given Aref a title: "the commander."
Aref, 34, is the Imam of the Masjid As-Salam mosque in Albany, N.Y. He and one other mosque leader were arrested Thursday and charged with helping an undercover informant posing as a weapons dealer who was plotting to buy a shoulder-launched missile that would be used to kill the Pakistani ambassador in New York City.
Aref and Mohammed Mosharref Hossain (search), the 49-year-old founder of the mosque and owner of the local Little Italy Pizzeria, were allegedly collaborating with someone who was not a terrorist but an informant participating in a sting operation; no missile ever was exchanged.
People wonder why I get so worked up when the media and others continue to perpetuate the lie that the war in Iraq was a distraction from the war on terror.
THIS IS WHY.
These psychos were trying to help the undercover agent buy missiles to shoot in New York. THEY WERE DIRECTLY TIED TO IRAQ. WE DISCOVERED THEM BECAUSE OF OUR EFFORTS IRAQ.
WAKE UP FOLKS. THIS WAR IS NOT OVER.
Thursday, August 05, 2004
Colin Powell, PJ O'Rourke, Volvo's, Beatles, Elvis, and our Zero Sum World...
.......Via Beck over at Incite (recently added to ye olde blogroll) comes this fascinating interview with Colin Powell by PJ O'Rourke. PJ is one of my favorite writers, and his attitude definitely makes for an entertaining read.
Colin Powell is also probably one of the most misunderstood people within the current administration I have ever seen. People from either side of the political fence constantly berate him for being either a Bush lackey (if they are Dems) or a soft multilateralist appeaser (if they are Repubs). I think he is one of the greatest things to happen to this country in years. In this interview he highlights the specific problems facing this country and the World, and shows how America has taken on the responsibility of lifting up the undeveloped nations of the world since the other major powers are either unwilling or incapable of doing so.
And of course, this being a PJ O'Rourke interview, he does the whole socio-political thing and then seamlessly jumps to Volvo's, Elvis and the Beatles.
My personal favorites from the interview-
(I asked the Secretary why the defense spending of our closest allies was, proportionately, so much less than our own.)
P. J. O'ROURKE: The powers that are on our side, why aren't they pulling on their oars? I mean, the EU has as big an economy and as big a population as we do.
SECRETARY POWELL: First of all, I do think they're on our side. I think we had a big hiccup on Iraq, and we lost some of them. But that'll swing back. The pendulum will come back our way because we do have more common interests than disagreements: terrorism, the world trading system, so many other things. Now, the reason we have to spend so much more is that there is no German navy preserving peace in the Pacific, there are no British troops standing guard in Korea, there is no need for any of our European Union friends to have the ability to project an army in a week or two from wherever they are to a place like Afghanistan.
P. J. O'ROURKE: But, why not?
SECRETARY POWELL: Because they have never felt that that was their destiny or their obligation. The United States entered into partnerships and believes it has these worldwide obligations. Nobody can move things like we can. They have never invested in it. Now, with the EU up to twenty-five nations, they're looking at whether or not this is where they should be putting their investment. And I think they should. But their domestic constituencies will not permit the kind of spending on defense that our domestic constituency permits. The Germans are dropping their defense spending and reducing the size of their armed forces. Whereas we've held steady for some years, and now Congress is passing laws to increase the size of our army.
The American people have always been more willing to shoulder this burden than our European friends, particularly now when the Cold War is over. There is no Iron Curtain, there is no Soviet Union, and the average European citizen looking around sees some of these out-of-the-way places like Afghanistan and the Balkans and Iraq. They're willing to do a little there, but they're not willing to put up to three or four percent of their GDP into defense spending the way we are."
Powell would probably make a great president, but I have a feeling that after he feels he has done all he can in his current position, he'll want to just go back to running volunteer organizations and banging on Volvo's. I can't blame him, he definitely deserves it.
Colin Powell is also probably one of the most misunderstood people within the current administration I have ever seen. People from either side of the political fence constantly berate him for being either a Bush lackey (if they are Dems) or a soft multilateralist appeaser (if they are Repubs). I think he is one of the greatest things to happen to this country in years. In this interview he highlights the specific problems facing this country and the World, and shows how America has taken on the responsibility of lifting up the undeveloped nations of the world since the other major powers are either unwilling or incapable of doing so.
And of course, this being a PJ O'Rourke interview, he does the whole socio-political thing and then seamlessly jumps to Volvo's, Elvis and the Beatles.
My personal favorites from the interview-
(I asked the Secretary why the defense spending of our closest allies was, proportionately, so much less than our own.)
P. J. O'ROURKE: The powers that are on our side, why aren't they pulling on their oars? I mean, the EU has as big an economy and as big a population as we do.
SECRETARY POWELL: First of all, I do think they're on our side. I think we had a big hiccup on Iraq, and we lost some of them. But that'll swing back. The pendulum will come back our way because we do have more common interests than disagreements: terrorism, the world trading system, so many other things. Now, the reason we have to spend so much more is that there is no German navy preserving peace in the Pacific, there are no British troops standing guard in Korea, there is no need for any of our European Union friends to have the ability to project an army in a week or two from wherever they are to a place like Afghanistan.
P. J. O'ROURKE: But, why not?
SECRETARY POWELL: Because they have never felt that that was their destiny or their obligation. The United States entered into partnerships and believes it has these worldwide obligations. Nobody can move things like we can. They have never invested in it. Now, with the EU up to twenty-five nations, they're looking at whether or not this is where they should be putting their investment. And I think they should. But their domestic constituencies will not permit the kind of spending on defense that our domestic constituency permits. The Germans are dropping their defense spending and reducing the size of their armed forces. Whereas we've held steady for some years, and now Congress is passing laws to increase the size of our army.
The American people have always been more willing to shoulder this burden than our European friends, particularly now when the Cold War is over. There is no Iron Curtain, there is no Soviet Union, and the average European citizen looking around sees some of these out-of-the-way places like Afghanistan and the Balkans and Iraq. They're willing to do a little there, but they're not willing to put up to three or four percent of their GDP into defense spending the way we are."
Powell would probably make a great president, but I have a feeling that after he feels he has done all he can in his current position, he'll want to just go back to running volunteer organizations and banging on Volvo's. I can't blame him, he definitely deserves it.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
How not to deal with Islamic Terrorism.........
......(Via LGF)
Incredible article detailing the evolution of Islamic Jihad over the internet in this months New Yorker by Lawrence Wright...Here's a link....
It also examines the disasterous consequences of attempting to appease Islamic Terrorists, most specifically in regards to Spain and the Islamic fundamentalists attempts to revive the Crusades by making their Jihad out to be a war against Christianity. They apparently want Spain back. Not so sure what Spain thinks about this.
Perhaps the most telling point of the article in regards to appeasement is the discovery that the Madrid Train bombings in which hundreds were murdered and thousands injured were most likely planned before even 9/11/01.
"One of the most sobering pieces of information to come out of the investigation of the March 11th bombings is that the planning for the attacks may have begun nearly a year before 9/11. In October, 2000, several of the suspects met in Istanbul with Amer Azizi, who had taken the nom de guerre Othman Al Andalusi—Othman of Al Andalus. Azizi later gave the conspirators permission to act in the name of Al Qaeda, although it is unclear whether he authorized money or other assistance—or, indeed, whether Al Qaeda had much support to offer. In June, Italian police released a surveillance tape of one of the alleged planners of the train bombings, an Egyptian housepainter named Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, who said that the operation “took me two and a half years.” Ahmed had served as an explosives expert in the Egyptian Army. It appears that some kind of attack would have happened even if Spain had not joined the Coalition—or if the invasion of Iraq had never occurred."
As it is said, President Bush, FASTER PLEASE.
Update: Wow, who'd a thunk it...This truly is a head scratcher- REPORT: IRAN LINKED TO MADRID BOMBINGS. So you're saying the Iranian Government might be involved with International Islamic Terrorism? I'll be damned..
Incredible article detailing the evolution of Islamic Jihad over the internet in this months New Yorker by Lawrence Wright...Here's a link....
It also examines the disasterous consequences of attempting to appease Islamic Terrorists, most specifically in regards to Spain and the Islamic fundamentalists attempts to revive the Crusades by making their Jihad out to be a war against Christianity. They apparently want Spain back. Not so sure what Spain thinks about this.
Perhaps the most telling point of the article in regards to appeasement is the discovery that the Madrid Train bombings in which hundreds were murdered and thousands injured were most likely planned before even 9/11/01.
"One of the most sobering pieces of information to come out of the investigation of the March 11th bombings is that the planning for the attacks may have begun nearly a year before 9/11. In October, 2000, several of the suspects met in Istanbul with Amer Azizi, who had taken the nom de guerre Othman Al Andalusi—Othman of Al Andalus. Azizi later gave the conspirators permission to act in the name of Al Qaeda, although it is unclear whether he authorized money or other assistance—or, indeed, whether Al Qaeda had much support to offer. In June, Italian police released a surveillance tape of one of the alleged planners of the train bombings, an Egyptian housepainter named Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, who said that the operation “took me two and a half years.” Ahmed had served as an explosives expert in the Egyptian Army. It appears that some kind of attack would have happened even if Spain had not joined the Coalition—or if the invasion of Iraq had never occurred."
As it is said, President Bush, FASTER PLEASE.
Update: Wow, who'd a thunk it...This truly is a head scratcher- REPORT: IRAN LINKED TO MADRID BOMBINGS. So you're saying the Iranian Government might be involved with International Islamic Terrorism? I'll be damned..
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
I'm Irish, so I don't really need a reason to drink........
......but the latest good news about Red Wine certainly doesn't hurt.
I personally prefer a good Chinon, but I'm biased because I got to visit the area in the Loire Valley when I was younger.
Slow news day, so I leave you with a gratuitous Shark picture in honor of the passing of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.
Sharks RULE!! Puny Humans...
I personally prefer a good Chinon, but I'm biased because I got to visit the area in the Loire Valley when I was younger.
Slow news day, so I leave you with a gratuitous Shark picture in honor of the passing of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.
Sharks RULE!! Puny Humans...
Monday, August 02, 2004
For My Best Bro in Beantown...............
.........He's like family to me, known him since I was two years old. He's still in Taxachusetts, and has never really left to live anywhere else. He's a smart dude, and has done quite well for himself- beautiful wife, cute kid, nice house, decent job- I'm proud of the guy. He deserves it too, as he's worked very hard to get where he's at today.
Needless to say, we've had our political differences in the last couple of months. Today he decided to call me and rant on about how Iraq never attacked the US, Bush is an idiot, the Bin Ladens got a free ride out of the US after 9/11, etc.etc-your basic Moore conspiracy drivel.
So I promised I would put up some links to counter what he's arguing.
Iraq and the US-
Previous Attacks on the US (scroll to the bottom for more links)
Iraq and Terrorism
Winds of Change Report on the Senate Intelligence Committee Report
Stephen Hayes- Iraq and Al-Qaeda, The Clinton View of Iraq-Al-Qaeda Ties
Post 9/11 Flights-Bin Laden Family
Snopes Hashes it out.
If my best Beantwon Bro reads this and has any comments or points of contention to raise, feel free to hit the comments below....and bring it big or don't come at all...
"Jack, why are you unpopular with the Chicago Police department? Jack?"
Needless to say, we've had our political differences in the last couple of months. Today he decided to call me and rant on about how Iraq never attacked the US, Bush is an idiot, the Bin Ladens got a free ride out of the US after 9/11, etc.etc-your basic Moore conspiracy drivel.
So I promised I would put up some links to counter what he's arguing.
Iraq and the US-
Previous Attacks on the US (scroll to the bottom for more links)
Iraq and Terrorism
Winds of Change Report on the Senate Intelligence Committee Report
Stephen Hayes- Iraq and Al-Qaeda, The Clinton View of Iraq-Al-Qaeda Ties
Post 9/11 Flights-Bin Laden Family
Snopes Hashes it out.
If my best Beantwon Bro reads this and has any comments or points of contention to raise, feel free to hit the comments below....and bring it big or don't come at all...
"Jack, why are you unpopular with the Chicago Police department? Jack?"
Oh no he didn't.....................
.......John Kerry's senior foreign-policy adviser to the campaign, James P. Rubin, has some thoughts on how he will deal with Iran and their Nuclear Weapons program.
"John Kerry regards an Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism armed with nuclear weapons as unacceptable. He has a multiple-part strategy that is much more realistic than the Bush administration's. One is to rejoin and work through the international legal framework on arms control. That will give greater force to the major powers if they have to deal with violators. Secondly, he has laid out, I think in the most comprehensive way in modern memory, a program to secure nuclear materials around the world—particularly in the former Soviet Union but also in the places where research reactors have existed that could be susceptible to proliferation. The point is to try to prevent Iran from ever getting this material surreptitiously. Thirdly, he has proposed that rather than letting the British, the French and the Germans do this themselves, that we together call the bluff of the Iranian government, which claims that its only need is energy. And we say to them: "Fine, we will provide you the fuel that you need if Russia fails to provide it." Participating in such a diplomatic initiative makes it more likely to succeed."
Say what now? You're going to "call Irans bluff"?
Hey James- THERE IS NO BLUFF TO CALL!!!
"Iran's top diplomat said Saturday the country won't accept any new internationally imposed obligations regarding its nuclear program and that the world must recognize Iran as a nuclear-capable nation.
"We won't accept any new obligations," Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told reporters, suggesting a toughening of Iran's position two days before the 35-nation board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, meets to discuss Iran's nuclear program.
"Iran has a high technical capability and has to be recognized by the international community as a member of the nuclear club," Kharrazi said at a press conference. "This is an irreversible path."
The IAEA has wrestled for more than a year with what to do regarding what the United States and its allies say is a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program. Iran has rejected such allegations, saying its nuclear program is geared toward generating electricity, not making an atom bomb.
Kharrazi insisted Saturday that Iran won't give up its development of the nuclear fuel cycle, the steps for processing and enriching uranium necessary for both nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. Iran says it has achieved the full cycle, but is not now enriching uranium."
A country with a vast oil supply needs to have Nuclear reactors for energy? Are we that stupid?
And Rubin wants to "call their bluff"? What the hell is he talking about? They already said they have the fuel and are processing it whichever way they want. There isn't any grey here. Iran wants Nukes. They are working with the Soviets to make them. Our own intelligence services are showing that Iran has learned well from Saddam how to hide their activities at their nuclear complexes.
I posted about this before, but just to jog everyones memory-
Let's observe.
Lavizan-Shian Site- August 11-03
-March 22-04
There is no bluff to call Mr Rubin. They are trying to make nukes. They have stated numerous times that they want to nuke Israel as soon as they get them. Israel will not wait for a green light to pre-empt this. The pictures above indicate that Iran is working to actively conceal their efforts in regards to Nuclear weapons, so having the toothless international community get involved would be a waste of time. So would sending more "fuel" to Iran to "call their bluff". We need to work with the freedom and reform movements in Iran and help them overthrow the Mullahs. We should not be negotiating with the government at all. For more information why this policy would be a disaster, please click the Blog Iran link to your right.
"John Kerry regards an Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism armed with nuclear weapons as unacceptable. He has a multiple-part strategy that is much more realistic than the Bush administration's. One is to rejoin and work through the international legal framework on arms control. That will give greater force to the major powers if they have to deal with violators. Secondly, he has laid out, I think in the most comprehensive way in modern memory, a program to secure nuclear materials around the world—particularly in the former Soviet Union but also in the places where research reactors have existed that could be susceptible to proliferation. The point is to try to prevent Iran from ever getting this material surreptitiously. Thirdly, he has proposed that rather than letting the British, the French and the Germans do this themselves, that we together call the bluff of the Iranian government, which claims that its only need is energy. And we say to them: "Fine, we will provide you the fuel that you need if Russia fails to provide it." Participating in such a diplomatic initiative makes it more likely to succeed."
Say what now? You're going to "call Irans bluff"?
Hey James- THERE IS NO BLUFF TO CALL!!!
"Iran's top diplomat said Saturday the country won't accept any new internationally imposed obligations regarding its nuclear program and that the world must recognize Iran as a nuclear-capable nation.
"We won't accept any new obligations," Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told reporters, suggesting a toughening of Iran's position two days before the 35-nation board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, meets to discuss Iran's nuclear program.
"Iran has a high technical capability and has to be recognized by the international community as a member of the nuclear club," Kharrazi said at a press conference. "This is an irreversible path."
The IAEA has wrestled for more than a year with what to do regarding what the United States and its allies say is a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program. Iran has rejected such allegations, saying its nuclear program is geared toward generating electricity, not making an atom bomb.
Kharrazi insisted Saturday that Iran won't give up its development of the nuclear fuel cycle, the steps for processing and enriching uranium necessary for both nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. Iran says it has achieved the full cycle, but is not now enriching uranium."
A country with a vast oil supply needs to have Nuclear reactors for energy? Are we that stupid?
And Rubin wants to "call their bluff"? What the hell is he talking about? They already said they have the fuel and are processing it whichever way they want. There isn't any grey here. Iran wants Nukes. They are working with the Soviets to make them. Our own intelligence services are showing that Iran has learned well from Saddam how to hide their activities at their nuclear complexes.
I posted about this before, but just to jog everyones memory-
Let's observe.
Lavizan-Shian Site- August 11-03
-March 22-04
There is no bluff to call Mr Rubin. They are trying to make nukes. They have stated numerous times that they want to nuke Israel as soon as they get them. Israel will not wait for a green light to pre-empt this. The pictures above indicate that Iran is working to actively conceal their efforts in regards to Nuclear weapons, so having the toothless international community get involved would be a waste of time. So would sending more "fuel" to Iran to "call their bluff". We need to work with the freedom and reform movements in Iran and help them overthrow the Mullahs. We should not be negotiating with the government at all. For more information why this policy would be a disaster, please click the Blog Iran link to your right.
Friday, July 30, 2004
Kerrys Acceptance Speech.............
.....I watched some of it, but I couldn't hear all of it because we were at the bar. Regardless I read the transcript this morning to get filled in, and I was not impressed.
Many bloggers have reviewed it more eloquently than I could hope to, this by Charlotte Allen at the Independent Womens Forum, or James Lileks latest, but I will comment on what I had hoped to hear but didn't.
I wanted to hear Kerry say SPECIFICALLY how he planned to take the war on Terror to the enemy's front door, much the way Bush has with Iraq and Afghanistan, instead we got more crap about international coalitions, how we are "going it alone"-once again like Edwards- ignoring the fact that we have numerous other countries that have troops fighting alongside ours in Iraq and Afghanistan. This point is beginning to piss me off, and if I was serving in say the Polish Army, I would be VERY pissed off. Because we're Polish we don't count? What the hell is that?
Kerry had this line that made me scratch my head.
"As president, I will fight a smarter, more effective war on terror. We will deploy every tool in our arsenal: our economic as well as our military might, our principles as well as our firepower."
Principles? Hoo-kay. I'm sure Mohammed was worried that we would start using our principles in Iraq-GAME OVER DUDE!!-since we have been, I don't know, saving them up I guess?
Then he followed it with this line-
"In these dangerous days, there is a right way and a wrong way to be strong. Strength is more than tough words."
This may be true, but how does this wash with your bold "principles" strategy? Shower them with strong principles?
Then there's this-
"We need a strong military and we need to lead strong alliances.
And then, with confidence and determination, we will be able to tell the terrorists: You will lose, and we will win."
I'm sorry, but this won't get Achmed to put the RPG's down and go vote for his local councilmen. The terrorists already know they can't beat us on the battlefield, they have to use beheadings and extreme violence to try and scare us away. Telling them they will lose is the military equivalent of pissing in the wind.
I was disappointed that he didn't mention anything about Iran, nothing about Islamofascism, nothing about the specific things he wants to do to defeat our enemies. He did mention adding 40,000 troops, but none of the Officers in Iraq are saying they don't have enough troops. Everything else he proposed is pretty much already being done. What else? Are you going to face down the Mullahs? He made a reference to the Saudis, but it was in relation to developing more efficient engines, not fighting terror. John, we are going to need Saudi oil for at least the next twenty years. There is no magic pill. The best way to remain secure is to push reform on the Saudis by, oh I don't know, ESTABLISHING DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST MAYBE?
Not one single speech that I'm aware of from the Convention placed this as the most important issue facing our nation. Islamofascism stems from the LACK of democracy and equality rampant in most Arab societies. Defeating the enemy on the streets and forcing a country to take on Democracy worked in Japan, German, and South Korea, why doesn't anyone realize this is what is needed now?
We shall see how Bush does at his convention, but I imagine this will be one of his major points to come across. If I were him, I would point out that he has started the long and difficult process of reforming the culture that is producing the Jihadists, and he must continue to do so by forcing regime change in Iran and reform in other countries in the Arab world.
Many bloggers have reviewed it more eloquently than I could hope to, this by Charlotte Allen at the Independent Womens Forum, or James Lileks latest, but I will comment on what I had hoped to hear but didn't.
I wanted to hear Kerry say SPECIFICALLY how he planned to take the war on Terror to the enemy's front door, much the way Bush has with Iraq and Afghanistan, instead we got more crap about international coalitions, how we are "going it alone"-once again like Edwards- ignoring the fact that we have numerous other countries that have troops fighting alongside ours in Iraq and Afghanistan. This point is beginning to piss me off, and if I was serving in say the Polish Army, I would be VERY pissed off. Because we're Polish we don't count? What the hell is that?
Kerry had this line that made me scratch my head.
"As president, I will fight a smarter, more effective war on terror. We will deploy every tool in our arsenal: our economic as well as our military might, our principles as well as our firepower."
Principles? Hoo-kay. I'm sure Mohammed was worried that we would start using our principles in Iraq-GAME OVER DUDE!!-since we have been, I don't know, saving them up I guess?
Then he followed it with this line-
"In these dangerous days, there is a right way and a wrong way to be strong. Strength is more than tough words."
This may be true, but how does this wash with your bold "principles" strategy? Shower them with strong principles?
Then there's this-
"We need a strong military and we need to lead strong alliances.
And then, with confidence and determination, we will be able to tell the terrorists: You will lose, and we will win."
I'm sorry, but this won't get Achmed to put the RPG's down and go vote for his local councilmen. The terrorists already know they can't beat us on the battlefield, they have to use beheadings and extreme violence to try and scare us away. Telling them they will lose is the military equivalent of pissing in the wind.
I was disappointed that he didn't mention anything about Iran, nothing about Islamofascism, nothing about the specific things he wants to do to defeat our enemies. He did mention adding 40,000 troops, but none of the Officers in Iraq are saying they don't have enough troops. Everything else he proposed is pretty much already being done. What else? Are you going to face down the Mullahs? He made a reference to the Saudis, but it was in relation to developing more efficient engines, not fighting terror. John, we are going to need Saudi oil for at least the next twenty years. There is no magic pill. The best way to remain secure is to push reform on the Saudis by, oh I don't know, ESTABLISHING DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST MAYBE?
Not one single speech that I'm aware of from the Convention placed this as the most important issue facing our nation. Islamofascism stems from the LACK of democracy and equality rampant in most Arab societies. Defeating the enemy on the streets and forcing a country to take on Democracy worked in Japan, German, and South Korea, why doesn't anyone realize this is what is needed now?
We shall see how Bush does at his convention, but I imagine this will be one of his major points to come across. If I were him, I would point out that he has started the long and difficult process of reforming the culture that is producing the Jihadists, and he must continue to do so by forcing regime change in Iran and reform in other countries in the Arab world.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
You just can't make this stuff up folks.....
.......(via SonofNixon)
`Tea' bagged, nothing brewing
By Dave Wedge
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Undercover cops snatched a Bl(A)ck Tea Society organizer from a Copley Square demonstration and found a teen carrying a urine-filled balloon as authorities brace for the final - and possibly the most heated - day of Democratic National Convention protests.
One Balloon: 10 cents.
One Flannell Shirt: $15 at Marshalls
One Black Anti-Proletariat Nike Cap: $10
One urine soaked trustafarian too stupid to handle even a urine filled balloon without dousing himself with it: PRICELESS
`Tea' bagged, nothing brewing
By Dave Wedge
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Undercover cops snatched a Bl(A)ck Tea Society organizer from a Copley Square demonstration and found a teen carrying a urine-filled balloon as authorities brace for the final - and possibly the most heated - day of Democratic National Convention protests.
One Balloon: 10 cents.
One Flannell Shirt: $15 at Marshalls
One Black Anti-Proletariat Nike Cap: $10
One urine soaked trustafarian too stupid to handle even a urine filled balloon without dousing himself with it: PRICELESS
John Edwards Speech at the Convention: "Kerry and I will do the same things as Bush, but We'll Raise your Taxes too".........
...Just finished reading the speech that Edwards made at the convention last night.
I can see how he made lots of $$$ as a trial lawyer, he really tugs at the heart strings, like a good prosecutor should.
I have stated on numerous posts that I want to hear what exactly the Democrats are proposing to do either better or differently than Bush to defeat the various Islamic terrorists trying to kill Americans and their allies. Saying "we will fight terrorism" is not an answer. I want to hear specifics.
Here are some of the specifics that Edwards proposed-
"We are approaching the third anniversary of September 11th, and I can tell you that when we're in office, it won't take us three years to get the reforms in our intelligence we need to protect our country."
Really? Because the last Democrat in office was responsible for creating walls between each security office within the government, and it took the Patriot Act to tear them down. Put me down for a vote of no confidence on this first proposal.
Edwards then proposes a list of things that Bush has already been doing.
"We will build and lead strong alliances and safeguard and secure weapons of mass destruction. We will strengthen our homeland security and protect our ports, safeguard our chemical plants, and support our firefighters, police officers and EMTs. We will always use our military might to keep the American people safe."
Nothing new or different or better than the current strategy. No points for this. Edwards proceeds to mention about 87 times that because Kerry served in Vietnam, he will be able to use the military more effectively. History shows that most former military presidents were horrible war-time presidents. FDR was never enlisted in the military, for example. Serving in Vietnam wasn't a litmus test for the democrats before, why now? Oh, because Kerry served in Vietnam and Bush didn't. Right.
Other proposals-
"We will double our Special Forces, and invest in the new equipment and technologies so that our military remains the best equipped and best trained in the world. This will make our military stronger so we're able to defeat every enemy in this new world."
Doubling our special forces sounds good, but our military already is the best equipped and best trained in the world. I suppose we could do more, but this still isn't really a big difference from what Bush would or is doing. After this, Edwards ventures in to fantasy land...
"But we can't do this alone. We have to restore our respect in the world to bring our allies to us and with us. It's how we won the World Wars and the Cold War and it is how we will build a stable Iraq. "
Again, John-John, we have allies dying with us in Iraq attempting to build this stable government. And everytime either of you make the accusation that we don't have allies helping us, you insult those foreign forces who have helped us. This has to stop. If I was Australian hearing this I would be pissed.
"With a new president who strengthens and leads our alliances, we can get NATO to help secure Iraq."
NATO? Um, John, Bush already tried. There are numerous NATO troops in Afghanistan already, and they are stretched thin as it is. NATO doesn't really have anything to offer us right now.
This one got me all excited, then I felt like I was stood up by my prom date-
"We can ensure that Iraq's neighbors like Syria and Iran, don't stand in the way of a democratic Iraq."
Because, oh I don't know, we'll liberate these countries too? No? We'll just ask nicely then. Just like Iran has been so obedient with its Nuclear programs, and reforms for Human Rights. See? Just ask real nice and everything works out. That was easy enough.
"We can help Iraq's economy by getting other countries to forgive their enormous debt and participate in the reconstruction."
Again, nothing that Bush isn't doing already.
The big problem I have is that Edwards doesn't give any specifics to how we are going to solve these problems, he justs says he will solve them.
For instance-
"With our credibility restored, we can work with other nations to secure stockpiles of the world's most dangerous weapons and safeguard this dangerous material. We can finish the job and secure all loose nukes in Russia. And we can close the loophole in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that allows rogue nations access to the tools they need to develop these weapons."
John-John, unless you plan on emliminating the Iranian regime, this is a freaking fantasy. And how do you propose to get Kim-Jong on board with this program?
Ask nicely?
I hope Kerry has more specifics, because this speech did nothing to convince me that the Democrats are planning to approach the war on terror any differently than Bush is already doing.
Update: This cartoon will fit nicely in this post- Cox and Forkum doing there thang...........
I can see how he made lots of $$$ as a trial lawyer, he really tugs at the heart strings, like a good prosecutor should.
I have stated on numerous posts that I want to hear what exactly the Democrats are proposing to do either better or differently than Bush to defeat the various Islamic terrorists trying to kill Americans and their allies. Saying "we will fight terrorism" is not an answer. I want to hear specifics.
Here are some of the specifics that Edwards proposed-
"We are approaching the third anniversary of September 11th, and I can tell you that when we're in office, it won't take us three years to get the reforms in our intelligence we need to protect our country."
Really? Because the last Democrat in office was responsible for creating walls between each security office within the government, and it took the Patriot Act to tear them down. Put me down for a vote of no confidence on this first proposal.
Edwards then proposes a list of things that Bush has already been doing.
"We will build and lead strong alliances and safeguard and secure weapons of mass destruction. We will strengthen our homeland security and protect our ports, safeguard our chemical plants, and support our firefighters, police officers and EMTs. We will always use our military might to keep the American people safe."
Nothing new or different or better than the current strategy. No points for this. Edwards proceeds to mention about 87 times that because Kerry served in Vietnam, he will be able to use the military more effectively. History shows that most former military presidents were horrible war-time presidents. FDR was never enlisted in the military, for example. Serving in Vietnam wasn't a litmus test for the democrats before, why now? Oh, because Kerry served in Vietnam and Bush didn't. Right.
Other proposals-
"We will double our Special Forces, and invest in the new equipment and technologies so that our military remains the best equipped and best trained in the world. This will make our military stronger so we're able to defeat every enemy in this new world."
Doubling our special forces sounds good, but our military already is the best equipped and best trained in the world. I suppose we could do more, but this still isn't really a big difference from what Bush would or is doing. After this, Edwards ventures in to fantasy land...
"But we can't do this alone. We have to restore our respect in the world to bring our allies to us and with us. It's how we won the World Wars and the Cold War and it is how we will build a stable Iraq. "
Again, John-John, we have allies dying with us in Iraq attempting to build this stable government. And everytime either of you make the accusation that we don't have allies helping us, you insult those foreign forces who have helped us. This has to stop. If I was Australian hearing this I would be pissed.
"With a new president who strengthens and leads our alliances, we can get NATO to help secure Iraq."
NATO? Um, John, Bush already tried. There are numerous NATO troops in Afghanistan already, and they are stretched thin as it is. NATO doesn't really have anything to offer us right now.
This one got me all excited, then I felt like I was stood up by my prom date-
"We can ensure that Iraq's neighbors like Syria and Iran, don't stand in the way of a democratic Iraq."
Because, oh I don't know, we'll liberate these countries too? No? We'll just ask nicely then. Just like Iran has been so obedient with its Nuclear programs, and reforms for Human Rights. See? Just ask real nice and everything works out. That was easy enough.
"We can help Iraq's economy by getting other countries to forgive their enormous debt and participate in the reconstruction."
Again, nothing that Bush isn't doing already.
The big problem I have is that Edwards doesn't give any specifics to how we are going to solve these problems, he justs says he will solve them.
For instance-
"With our credibility restored, we can work with other nations to secure stockpiles of the world's most dangerous weapons and safeguard this dangerous material. We can finish the job and secure all loose nukes in Russia. And we can close the loophole in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that allows rogue nations access to the tools they need to develop these weapons."
John-John, unless you plan on emliminating the Iranian regime, this is a freaking fantasy. And how do you propose to get Kim-Jong on board with this program?
Ask nicely?
I hope Kerry has more specifics, because this speech did nothing to convince me that the Democrats are planning to approach the war on terror any differently than Bush is already doing.
Update: This cartoon will fit nicely in this post- Cox and Forkum doing there thang...........
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Tman's Mom has spoken................
.......and being the good little lawyers son, I will respond in kind. For those who wonder what life is like when my Mom and I are together, here's a little taste. We like to argue. And it's her fault that I do. I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of her in court, but since I don't have that problem, here I goes.....
Tman's Mom wrote-
"Timothy, Timothy, Timothy.....where did I go wrong??"
Yes, my real name is Timothy. And you didn't go wrong Mom, I just finally moved out of liberal land and saw the world a little less grey than I used to.
"Monday night's speeches were eloquent, inspiring and calculated (of course.) Gore was self-deprecating but displayed his knowledge of the mistakes we have made in foreign policy,"
Such as? Are we forgetting that what Bush did in regards to foreign policy since he has been in office is basically what Gore was proposing to do while he was vice President? Don't you remember the Iraq Liberation Act? What annoys me the most about the democrats criticism of the war in Iraq is the fact that they were proposing the exact same thing and making the exact same connections between terrorists and Hussein that the Bush administration did. So because he's a republican it's all suddenly wrong? Sorry, try again.
"Carter deserves respect as the most humane ex-pres we have ever had,"
He may well have been the most humane, but I don't think he should be lecturing anyone about how to deal with terrorists.
"and Clinton was his charismatic self, and Hillary, carpetbagger that she is, is a role model for women who seek a future in politics."
But is this a good role model? A carpetbagger?
"I know that you support the war, 68 more people dead today, the country in chaos...yes, Saddam had to go but at whose expense?"
The entire country is not in chaos.
Some examples:
"With additional production increases expected, oil exports this year could add $14 billion to Iraq's threadbare budget, compared with a little more than $5 billion last year, said a senior official with the Coalition Provisional Authority, the occupation government."
"The front page story about Iraq actually concerns its new interim constitution, which, if approved, would be the most progressive such document in the Arab world. Even before the hard bargaining began, there was wide agreement on many of its major features, including the freedom of speech, press and assembly and the free exercise of religion.The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, equal treatment under the law regardless of gender or ethnicity, as well as civilian control over the military."
Doesn't quite sound as chaotic as CNN wants you to believe. Saddam had to go, and since no other country in the world besides the US and the COALITION OF COUNTRIES WHO ARE STILL SUPPORTING OUR ACTIONS (remember them) were willing, we had to do it. It was either that, or let a psychotic billionaire with a penchant for supporting international terrorism and building WMD's continue to do what he was doing while he massacred his own countrymen.
"As far as our allies go...we need them, we need to be able to work with them without pissing them off as our arrogant president delights in doing."
We have allies helping us in Iraq. I think the allies you believe we need who aren't supporting us would be say, Germany and France. Guess what? I don't think we should sacrifice a single policy on the altar of appeasing either Germany or France. The US has subsidized their own militaries for 60 years and effectively provided them a security blanket against Russia during the Cold War. Our troops should leave Germany and let them protect themselves, watch how fast their economies tank once they are forced to spend some serious GDP on defense. If it pisses off France and Germany I say -GOOD.
"It's the stupidity and arrogance that make Bush unbearable...coupled with the fact that he's not running the country (wouldn't know how to)Cheney is."
MBA from Harvard, the first Governor in Texas history to be elected to consecutive four-year terms, yeah what an idiot. Mom the "Bush is so dumb" argument is getting old. They don't just give away MBA's at Harvard, no matter how hard you try and convince me otherwise. And Bush didn't need Cheney while he was getting re-elected governor in Texas.
"Come back to the bright side...leave the darkness...if it takes Kerry to get us there, so be it."
Who's the more foolish: the fool or the fool who follows him?
I have no darkness in my views, and I haven't ruled out Kerry yet. But as I said in the other post, he has to tell me what he's going to do differently or better in regards to ISLAMOFASCISM, or he doesn' get my vote.
I love you too Mom.....
Update: For those wondering why I think we shouldn't listen to the French when it comes to foreign policy need look no further than this latest bleat from Mr. James Lileks...
Tman's Mom wrote-
"Timothy, Timothy, Timothy.....where did I go wrong??"
Yes, my real name is Timothy. And you didn't go wrong Mom, I just finally moved out of liberal land and saw the world a little less grey than I used to.
"Monday night's speeches were eloquent, inspiring and calculated (of course.) Gore was self-deprecating but displayed his knowledge of the mistakes we have made in foreign policy,"
Such as? Are we forgetting that what Bush did in regards to foreign policy since he has been in office is basically what Gore was proposing to do while he was vice President? Don't you remember the Iraq Liberation Act? What annoys me the most about the democrats criticism of the war in Iraq is the fact that they were proposing the exact same thing and making the exact same connections between terrorists and Hussein that the Bush administration did. So because he's a republican it's all suddenly wrong? Sorry, try again.
"Carter deserves respect as the most humane ex-pres we have ever had,"
He may well have been the most humane, but I don't think he should be lecturing anyone about how to deal with terrorists.
"and Clinton was his charismatic self, and Hillary, carpetbagger that she is, is a role model for women who seek a future in politics."
But is this a good role model? A carpetbagger?
"I know that you support the war, 68 more people dead today, the country in chaos...yes, Saddam had to go but at whose expense?"
The entire country is not in chaos.
Some examples:
"With additional production increases expected, oil exports this year could add $14 billion to Iraq's threadbare budget, compared with a little more than $5 billion last year, said a senior official with the Coalition Provisional Authority, the occupation government."
"The front page story about Iraq actually concerns its new interim constitution, which, if approved, would be the most progressive such document in the Arab world. Even before the hard bargaining began, there was wide agreement on many of its major features, including the freedom of speech, press and assembly and the free exercise of religion.The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, equal treatment under the law regardless of gender or ethnicity, as well as civilian control over the military."
Doesn't quite sound as chaotic as CNN wants you to believe. Saddam had to go, and since no other country in the world besides the US and the COALITION OF COUNTRIES WHO ARE STILL SUPPORTING OUR ACTIONS (remember them) were willing, we had to do it. It was either that, or let a psychotic billionaire with a penchant for supporting international terrorism and building WMD's continue to do what he was doing while he massacred his own countrymen.
"As far as our allies go...we need them, we need to be able to work with them without pissing them off as our arrogant president delights in doing."
We have allies helping us in Iraq. I think the allies you believe we need who aren't supporting us would be say, Germany and France. Guess what? I don't think we should sacrifice a single policy on the altar of appeasing either Germany or France. The US has subsidized their own militaries for 60 years and effectively provided them a security blanket against Russia during the Cold War. Our troops should leave Germany and let them protect themselves, watch how fast their economies tank once they are forced to spend some serious GDP on defense. If it pisses off France and Germany I say -GOOD.
"It's the stupidity and arrogance that make Bush unbearable...coupled with the fact that he's not running the country (wouldn't know how to)Cheney is."
MBA from Harvard, the first Governor in Texas history to be elected to consecutive four-year terms, yeah what an idiot. Mom the "Bush is so dumb" argument is getting old. They don't just give away MBA's at Harvard, no matter how hard you try and convince me otherwise. And Bush didn't need Cheney while he was getting re-elected governor in Texas.
"Come back to the bright side...leave the darkness...if it takes Kerry to get us there, so be it."
Who's the more foolish: the fool or the fool who follows him?
I have no darkness in my views, and I haven't ruled out Kerry yet. But as I said in the other post, he has to tell me what he's going to do differently or better in regards to ISLAMOFASCISM, or he doesn' get my vote.
I love you too Mom.....
Update: For those wondering why I think we shouldn't listen to the French when it comes to foreign policy need look no further than this latest bleat from Mr. James Lileks...
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Soon the Death Star will be fully operational.............
....So is this picture a foreshadowing of events to come in the remaining major league baseball season, or is just a really cool picture from Cassini?
The dark side is strong........
WE MUST DEFEAT THE DARK SIDE!!!
The dark side is strong........
WE MUST DEFEAT THE DARK SIDE!!!
The Democrats decide not to bash Bush at the Convention.....
........and then proceed to bash Bush like there's no tomorrow...
First a confession.
I have not decided who I will vote for in November. My family has probably made up their mind already, and due to their allegiance to the progressive liberal mantra Kerry's their guy. The problem I'm having is that I don't see it as all that progressive anymore. In fact, I don't see anything progressive at all coming from the mouths of the Democratic candidates. I hear Gore and Clinton and Carter (Carter? Who's idea was that?) but they all say the same crap that I have heard from every liberal pundit out there. And I disagree with all of them on the most important issue: NATIONAL SECURITY. We can argue about Gay abortions or whatever after we solve this whole "DEATH TO AMERICA!! DIE INFIDELS!!" thingy.
Al Gore-
“And of course, no challenge is more critical than the situation we confront in Iraq,” Gore said, to thunderous silence. “Regardless of your opinion at the beginning of this war, isn’t it now utterly obvious that the way the war has been managed by the Administration has gotten us into very serious trouble?” (Applause; now slower and growly:) “Wouldn’t we be better off with a new President who hasn’t burned … his … bridges to our allies (biggest applause), and who could rebuild respect for America in the world?”
First of all, a majority of Democrats voted to give the president power to go to war against Iraq, not to mention Gore himself ranted that we should remove Saddam with military force if needed back in '98. So this statement reeks of hypocrisy to begin with. Your opinion was the same as Bush's four years ago Al, you are being disingeniuous. And to say we burned our bridges would come as a suprise to countries like England, Australia, Poland, or Italy, or a number of other countries currently assisting us in Afghanistan and Iraq. Those bridges are not only intact but fully operational.
Then there is this common theme that makes me want to smash things whenever I hear it-
Gore again-
"We have to be crystal clear about the threat we face from terrorism. It is deadly. It is real. It is imminent.
But in order to protect our people, shouldn't we focus on the real source of this threat: The group that attacked us and is trying to attack us again -- al-Qaida, headed by Osama Bin Laden?
Wouldn't we be safer with a president who didn't insist on confusing al-Qaida with Iraq? Doesn't that divert too much of our attention away from the principal danger?"
Pardon me Mr. I-invented-the-internet, but al-qaeda is hardly the only group terrorizing western interests. If you would call it what it REALLY is -ISLAMIC TERRORISM, or otherwise known as ISLAMOFASCISM, you would make more sense. And for your information, according to not only our intelligence, the other major powers intelligence, and the current Iraqi administration, Saddam was VERY involved with these groups. To continue to try and make the argument that Saddam and Islamic terror were not connected is pretty much beyond ignorance at this point. It is now at the point where it is DANGEROUS to bury your head in the sand. Iran is actively involved with International terrorism. Should we go and give them a big hug too? Because that's the only thing I heard suggested (Thanks Jimmah-now go make some Peanut butter). The outright refusal to admit the who what and where of the current threat is an indication that the Democrats have no intention of taking the fight to the terrorists. Everything will be fine if we can just get France back on board. Hoo-kay. Lying about the connections between Iraq and Islamofascism, which the Dems themselves were pushing just a few years ago, is downright dangerous and shameful.
What I have yet to hear from any of the Dems is this.
Besides sending out our ambassadors to every corner of the globe with ass-kissing lips a buzzing, what exactly are you proposing to do to stop Islamic terrorism?
Bush said straight up, you're either on the terrorists side, or you're not. If you are, you have been put on notice, and we will be coming to deal with each of you in our own special way. Afghanistan and Iraq were two of the immediate big fish. Bush made the case, and removed two tyrannical governments, thus draining the swamp. No hugging needed. And as a bonus, many of those terrorists who wished to kill Americans but couldn't afford the fake-passport and plane ticket to New York decided to join the Jihad in Iraq and Afghanistan. What they didn't differentiate is that the Marines are much better prepared to fight suicidal fanatics than those civlians in the Upper West side. I believe that the ratio is like 90-1 right now for Jihadi/US Soldiers in the fatality category. Are we going to kill them all? Of course not, but we should take advantage of the oppurtunity to cut down the numbers of those who would kill many of us if they could. That's what Bush has done. Argue all you want about whether or not it was done as efficiently as it could be, he did what I think needed to be done. Go kill the bastards. I don't care if Germany and France don't agree with us, in fact let's stop subsidizing Europes defense and put our troops where they are needed. Go kill the bastards. They have thrown down the gauntlet and said straight up- we want you either enslaved to Islam or dead. Then they made good on their word and killed a bunch of us. Diplomacy will not help us now. Just go kill the bastards. The Marines say it best- No Worse Enemy, no Greater Friend.
I listened to and read the major speeches so far from the convention. I heard plenty of things that the Dems think we did wrong. I have heard little to nothing of what they would do instead, aside from the "let's all join hands and sing kumbaya until the terrorists go home".
Kerry, you have your chance. I am on the fence on a number of domestic issues-being libertarian slanted leaves me little common ground on either side.
Kerry either tells me what he's going to do better and/or differently than what Bush is doing to defeat Islamic terror, and I'm all ears.
If not, I'm afraid I'll be following Zell Miller's footsteps. I agree there are more issues to the race this year, but none more important to me than what the president is elected for- to serve and protect the American people.
First a confession.
I have not decided who I will vote for in November. My family has probably made up their mind already, and due to their allegiance to the progressive liberal mantra Kerry's their guy. The problem I'm having is that I don't see it as all that progressive anymore. In fact, I don't see anything progressive at all coming from the mouths of the Democratic candidates. I hear Gore and Clinton and Carter (Carter? Who's idea was that?) but they all say the same crap that I have heard from every liberal pundit out there. And I disagree with all of them on the most important issue: NATIONAL SECURITY. We can argue about Gay abortions or whatever after we solve this whole "DEATH TO AMERICA!! DIE INFIDELS!!" thingy.
Al Gore-
“And of course, no challenge is more critical than the situation we confront in Iraq,” Gore said, to thunderous silence. “Regardless of your opinion at the beginning of this war, isn’t it now utterly obvious that the way the war has been managed by the Administration has gotten us into very serious trouble?” (Applause; now slower and growly:) “Wouldn’t we be better off with a new President who hasn’t burned … his … bridges to our allies (biggest applause), and who could rebuild respect for America in the world?”
First of all, a majority of Democrats voted to give the president power to go to war against Iraq, not to mention Gore himself ranted that we should remove Saddam with military force if needed back in '98. So this statement reeks of hypocrisy to begin with. Your opinion was the same as Bush's four years ago Al, you are being disingeniuous. And to say we burned our bridges would come as a suprise to countries like England, Australia, Poland, or Italy, or a number of other countries currently assisting us in Afghanistan and Iraq. Those bridges are not only intact but fully operational.
Then there is this common theme that makes me want to smash things whenever I hear it-
Gore again-
"We have to be crystal clear about the threat we face from terrorism. It is deadly. It is real. It is imminent.
But in order to protect our people, shouldn't we focus on the real source of this threat: The group that attacked us and is trying to attack us again -- al-Qaida, headed by Osama Bin Laden?
Wouldn't we be safer with a president who didn't insist on confusing al-Qaida with Iraq? Doesn't that divert too much of our attention away from the principal danger?"
Pardon me Mr. I-invented-the-internet, but al-qaeda is hardly the only group terrorizing western interests. If you would call it what it REALLY is -ISLAMIC TERRORISM, or otherwise known as ISLAMOFASCISM, you would make more sense. And for your information, according to not only our intelligence, the other major powers intelligence, and the current Iraqi administration, Saddam was VERY involved with these groups. To continue to try and make the argument that Saddam and Islamic terror were not connected is pretty much beyond ignorance at this point. It is now at the point where it is DANGEROUS to bury your head in the sand. Iran is actively involved with International terrorism. Should we go and give them a big hug too? Because that's the only thing I heard suggested (Thanks Jimmah-now go make some Peanut butter). The outright refusal to admit the who what and where of the current threat is an indication that the Democrats have no intention of taking the fight to the terrorists. Everything will be fine if we can just get France back on board. Hoo-kay. Lying about the connections between Iraq and Islamofascism, which the Dems themselves were pushing just a few years ago, is downright dangerous and shameful.
What I have yet to hear from any of the Dems is this.
Besides sending out our ambassadors to every corner of the globe with ass-kissing lips a buzzing, what exactly are you proposing to do to stop Islamic terrorism?
Bush said straight up, you're either on the terrorists side, or you're not. If you are, you have been put on notice, and we will be coming to deal with each of you in our own special way. Afghanistan and Iraq were two of the immediate big fish. Bush made the case, and removed two tyrannical governments, thus draining the swamp. No hugging needed. And as a bonus, many of those terrorists who wished to kill Americans but couldn't afford the fake-passport and plane ticket to New York decided to join the Jihad in Iraq and Afghanistan. What they didn't differentiate is that the Marines are much better prepared to fight suicidal fanatics than those civlians in the Upper West side. I believe that the ratio is like 90-1 right now for Jihadi/US Soldiers in the fatality category. Are we going to kill them all? Of course not, but we should take advantage of the oppurtunity to cut down the numbers of those who would kill many of us if they could. That's what Bush has done. Argue all you want about whether or not it was done as efficiently as it could be, he did what I think needed to be done. Go kill the bastards. I don't care if Germany and France don't agree with us, in fact let's stop subsidizing Europes defense and put our troops where they are needed. Go kill the bastards. They have thrown down the gauntlet and said straight up- we want you either enslaved to Islam or dead. Then they made good on their word and killed a bunch of us. Diplomacy will not help us now. Just go kill the bastards. The Marines say it best- No Worse Enemy, no Greater Friend.
I listened to and read the major speeches so far from the convention. I heard plenty of things that the Dems think we did wrong. I have heard little to nothing of what they would do instead, aside from the "let's all join hands and sing kumbaya until the terrorists go home".
Kerry, you have your chance. I am on the fence on a number of domestic issues-being libertarian slanted leaves me little common ground on either side.
Kerry either tells me what he's going to do better and/or differently than what Bush is doing to defeat Islamic terror, and I'm all ears.
If not, I'm afraid I'll be following Zell Miller's footsteps. I agree there are more issues to the race this year, but none more important to me than what the president is elected for- to serve and protect the American people.
Monday, July 26, 2004
Hoo-kay........that was an interesting weekend........
........First off- Note to self: Do not argue with the pavement at 2:00 on Saturday morning. It's not very conversational, and extremely unforgiving if you try and smack it around. Let's just say I learned my lesson, and will not be fighting gravity or the pavement again anytime soon. Thank goodness I have friends who were kind enough to record the lopsided results of that particular contest in photos. Nothing like digital pictures to make sure no one forgets, right? Well, you blogreaders will have to look elsewhere for those pictures. I embarass myself enough without visual assistance.
In the sports world we have much exciting news.
The Tour de Lance is over, as Lance becomes the only person in history to win it six times. And he did it consecutively, which will be very difficult to match, especially if Lance is still competing in the race. The speculation for another Tour for Lance has begun already, but if Lance is anything like he was this year next year, no one can touch him. He has truly dominated this race for six years, and has proven that he belongs on those top ten greatest athelete lists. Where you put him is somewhat irrelevant, but he has Jordanesque dominance in his sport. Good on ya Lance!
FIGHT CLUB!!!
(way to leave the mask on Varitek, good strategy. Now everyone thinks you're a pussy. Next time take it off and close the fist when swinging at A-Rod.)
Then we have the Evil Empire visiting my native birthplace of Boston to write yet another chapter in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry. As usual this fine sport produced a battle worthy of the great Ali-Foreman matches, and on Saturday, after they got done beating each other up they actually played some Baseball. Saturday nights come from behind victory coupled with the brawl could be a turning point for the Bosox, we shall see. Taking two of three from the evil empire works for me. And a game winning homer off of Rivera was twice as nice. Let's not forget, it's only July.
Then we have the Ricky Williams retirement story. Ricky stood to lose $650,000 of salary for smoking pot this season. My guess is Ricky decided he would rather retire and do what he wanted than force himself to conform to the NFL's rules and requirements. There is a statistic I heard last night on ESPN that said something like 80% of the NBA are regular users of marijuana. If that's true, it has to be similar in the NFL. To say that any sport is pot-free would be silly. Just legalize the damn stuff and leave the players alone. If Ricky was smoking a joint and still running for 1800 yards, how can you argue that it's bad for the game? Steroids are different, for obvious reasons, but Pot was not enhancing Rickys game, it was simply a relaxation tool. I don't blame Ricky for anything, it's not his obligation to play in the NFL, he can do whatever he wants. If he decides he wants to do something else, then he should do something else. End of story. But I am certainly not disappointed to hear the Titans opening day will be against a team whose season is essentially over before it started. Travis Minor? I can't wait.
To recap: The Red Sox, Lance Armstrong, the Nashville Pavement and The AFC East won big this weekend, and the Yankees, France, my forehead and Dolphin fans got spanked. That was definitely an interesting one. On to the week..........
In the sports world we have much exciting news.
The Tour de Lance is over, as Lance becomes the only person in history to win it six times. And he did it consecutively, which will be very difficult to match, especially if Lance is still competing in the race. The speculation for another Tour for Lance has begun already, but if Lance is anything like he was this year next year, no one can touch him. He has truly dominated this race for six years, and has proven that he belongs on those top ten greatest athelete lists. Where you put him is somewhat irrelevant, but he has Jordanesque dominance in his sport. Good on ya Lance!
FIGHT CLUB!!!
(way to leave the mask on Varitek, good strategy. Now everyone thinks you're a pussy. Next time take it off and close the fist when swinging at A-Rod.)
Then we have the Evil Empire visiting my native birthplace of Boston to write yet another chapter in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry. As usual this fine sport produced a battle worthy of the great Ali-Foreman matches, and on Saturday, after they got done beating each other up they actually played some Baseball. Saturday nights come from behind victory coupled with the brawl could be a turning point for the Bosox, we shall see. Taking two of three from the evil empire works for me. And a game winning homer off of Rivera was twice as nice. Let's not forget, it's only July.
Then we have the Ricky Williams retirement story. Ricky stood to lose $650,000 of salary for smoking pot this season. My guess is Ricky decided he would rather retire and do what he wanted than force himself to conform to the NFL's rules and requirements. There is a statistic I heard last night on ESPN that said something like 80% of the NBA are regular users of marijuana. If that's true, it has to be similar in the NFL. To say that any sport is pot-free would be silly. Just legalize the damn stuff and leave the players alone. If Ricky was smoking a joint and still running for 1800 yards, how can you argue that it's bad for the game? Steroids are different, for obvious reasons, but Pot was not enhancing Rickys game, it was simply a relaxation tool. I don't blame Ricky for anything, it's not his obligation to play in the NFL, he can do whatever he wants. If he decides he wants to do something else, then he should do something else. End of story. But I am certainly not disappointed to hear the Titans opening day will be against a team whose season is essentially over before it started. Travis Minor? I can't wait.
To recap: The Red Sox, Lance Armstrong, the Nashville Pavement and The AFC East won big this weekend, and the Yankees, France, my forehead and Dolphin fans got spanked. That was definitely an interesting one. On to the week..........
Friday, July 23, 2004
Photo Shop Genius.....thank you Allah.......
.................There are your basic Photoshops and then there is genius.
Something Awful this way comes. Enjoy- my personal favorite was the William Shatner-
.
Classic...
Something Awful this way comes. Enjoy- my personal favorite was the William Shatner-
.
Classic...
Thursday, July 22, 2004
The Eddie George Era is Over.........Antoine Smith to replace him?
.............A sad day for Tennessee Titans fans as Eddie George was officially released from his contract yesterday. The difference between what the Titans could pay and what Eddie wanted was somewhere around $1 million. I know, sad. Eddie is a freaking millionaire and decided he wanted to get more money somewhere else.
Obviously, Coach Fisher and other teammates have to respect his decision, but I don't.
Eddie, you are a moron. You were worshipped in Nashville as a God. You were paid handsomely for the years you played with the franchise. You owned a restaurant downtown which was popular. You played with future hall of famers every Sunday. The Titans have one of the winningest records over the last five years in the NFL. You know we will be in the playoffs this year. We have STEVE MCNAIR. You were the emotional leader of the team. You had a fan base that loved you, I would always stick up for you when you had a bad game, or did something stupid.
No more.
You lost all sympathy with me. I no longer will argue you belong in the Hall Of Fame, even though I think you do deserve to be there. You don't deserve to have anyone from Nashville support you after the selfish way in which you handled yourself throughout this whole soap opera. A million frickin' dollars? That's all you needed?
Well guess what dumbass. Wherever you end up, you will most likely get less money, and less playing time. Brilliant. The Titans gave you a $1 million dollar roster bonus to keep regardless of the contract, which you did. Then they offered you $1.5 million plus incentives. You would have been the starter, although obviously you would have received less hand-offs this year. You said no. Now you're going to end up as an obscure footnote when the Titans win the Super Bowl. Nice move.
I hope you end up with the Bengals. And I hope even more you end up in the AFC North where your best friend Ray-Ray will get to beat on you twice a year.
........sigh.............
The latest rumor has the underrated Antoine Smith, formerly of the New England Patriots, signing with the Titans. He is similar to Eddie, a bruiser type running back in the classic "three yards and a cloud of dust" style. He also has veteran experience, as he has been wearing a Super Bowl ring two out of the last three years. Last season my best bud and I were commenting on how underrated he was. Now we will get to see if we were right.
Au revoir Eddie. We already have removed the giant mural of your picture from the Stadium. The way you left us will make it that mush easier to forget you.
Update:Sounds almost official- Antoine Smith signs for $475,000...
Obviously, Coach Fisher and other teammates have to respect his decision, but I don't.
Eddie, you are a moron. You were worshipped in Nashville as a God. You were paid handsomely for the years you played with the franchise. You owned a restaurant downtown which was popular. You played with future hall of famers every Sunday. The Titans have one of the winningest records over the last five years in the NFL. You know we will be in the playoffs this year. We have STEVE MCNAIR. You were the emotional leader of the team. You had a fan base that loved you, I would always stick up for you when you had a bad game, or did something stupid.
No more.
You lost all sympathy with me. I no longer will argue you belong in the Hall Of Fame, even though I think you do deserve to be there. You don't deserve to have anyone from Nashville support you after the selfish way in which you handled yourself throughout this whole soap opera. A million frickin' dollars? That's all you needed?
Well guess what dumbass. Wherever you end up, you will most likely get less money, and less playing time. Brilliant. The Titans gave you a $1 million dollar roster bonus to keep regardless of the contract, which you did. Then they offered you $1.5 million plus incentives. You would have been the starter, although obviously you would have received less hand-offs this year. You said no. Now you're going to end up as an obscure footnote when the Titans win the Super Bowl. Nice move.
I hope you end up with the Bengals. And I hope even more you end up in the AFC North where your best friend Ray-Ray will get to beat on you twice a year.
........sigh.............
The latest rumor has the underrated Antoine Smith, formerly of the New England Patriots, signing with the Titans. He is similar to Eddie, a bruiser type running back in the classic "three yards and a cloud of dust" style. He also has veteran experience, as he has been wearing a Super Bowl ring two out of the last three years. Last season my best bud and I were commenting on how underrated he was. Now we will get to see if we were right.
Au revoir Eddie. We already have removed the giant mural of your picture from the Stadium. The way you left us will make it that mush easier to forget you.
Update:Sounds almost official- Antoine Smith signs for $475,000...
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
UN Votes to Let Terrorists Kill More Jews..............
(I mean uh)- UN Assembly Tells Israel to Tear Down Barrier
By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to demand that Israel obey a World Court ruling and tear down its West Bank barrier.
The vote in the 191-nation assembly was 150-6, with 10 abstentions.
All 25 European Union (news - web sites) countries voted in support of the Palestinian-drafted measure after its Arab sponsors approved a series of amendments proposed by the EU bloc over days of intense negotiations.
Israel responded-
"Thank God that the fate of Israel and of the Jewish people is not decided in this hall," Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said after the vote. "This resolution cannot but embolden those who are the true enemies of the Israeli and Palestinian people."
Seeing as how the US was one of the No votes siding with Israel, safe to say the fence will stay. It is kinda funny though that the UN even voted on it. I mean, did anyone really think Israel would get approval from the UN on this? They spend the majority of their time discussing the various ways they can strongly word a resolution against Israel, because that's really the extent of their influence and authority. A strongly worded resolution. Without the US backing up what is in the resolution, it's not even worth the paper it's printed on.
It really bothers me to see that the UN Ambassadors from most of the world are unable to fathom that the security fence Israel is building is a direct result of the Palestinian baby killers actions. I've heard people comparing the fence in Israel with the Berlin wall. This is absurd. The Berlin wall kept people from LEAVING. The wall in Israel is only there to keep people from sneaking in to their country and murdering their children. Palestinians still come and go every day through the checkpoints. Aside from the fact that they are both structures, the two walls have nothing in common.
And for the Irony of the Day, The United Nations has decided to move 20 people working in UN facilities in Gaza - about a third of its foreign crews - to the UN headquarters in Armon Hanatziv in Jerusalem. The UN says it's because the IDF is conducting operations too close to their offices, thus endangering them. It's certainly not because of the civil war about to erupt in the Palestinian areas. Oh no. It's all the JOOOS fault. So the UN decides the safest place for it to be is in Israel, behind the fence they voted to knock down. Which of course makes absolutely no sense. But then again, we are talking about the UN, which continues to find new ways to highlight its increasing irrelevancy.
By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to demand that Israel obey a World Court ruling and tear down its West Bank barrier.
The vote in the 191-nation assembly was 150-6, with 10 abstentions.
All 25 European Union (news - web sites) countries voted in support of the Palestinian-drafted measure after its Arab sponsors approved a series of amendments proposed by the EU bloc over days of intense negotiations.
Israel responded-
"Thank God that the fate of Israel and of the Jewish people is not decided in this hall," Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said after the vote. "This resolution cannot but embolden those who are the true enemies of the Israeli and Palestinian people."
Seeing as how the US was one of the No votes siding with Israel, safe to say the fence will stay. It is kinda funny though that the UN even voted on it. I mean, did anyone really think Israel would get approval from the UN on this? They spend the majority of their time discussing the various ways they can strongly word a resolution against Israel, because that's really the extent of their influence and authority. A strongly worded resolution. Without the US backing up what is in the resolution, it's not even worth the paper it's printed on.
It really bothers me to see that the UN Ambassadors from most of the world are unable to fathom that the security fence Israel is building is a direct result of the Palestinian baby killers actions. I've heard people comparing the fence in Israel with the Berlin wall. This is absurd. The Berlin wall kept people from LEAVING. The wall in Israel is only there to keep people from sneaking in to their country and murdering their children. Palestinians still come and go every day through the checkpoints. Aside from the fact that they are both structures, the two walls have nothing in common.
And for the Irony of the Day, The United Nations has decided to move 20 people working in UN facilities in Gaza - about a third of its foreign crews - to the UN headquarters in Armon Hanatziv in Jerusalem. The UN says it's because the IDF is conducting operations too close to their offices, thus endangering them. It's certainly not because of the civil war about to erupt in the Palestinian areas. Oh no. It's all the JOOOS fault. So the UN decides the safest place for it to be is in Israel, behind the fence they voted to knock down. Which of course makes absolutely no sense. But then again, we are talking about the UN, which continues to find new ways to highlight its increasing irrelevancy.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
This is an incredible story..............
The S-Train Canvas posts about his recent reunion with a former enemy. Years later the two men manage to put the past where it belongs and move on. Much therapeutic release ensues. An amazing story....Thanks for sharing it S-Train...
Blogspot says we can have pics now?...............
Ok, well then, let's test it..........
This is a picture all Titans fans should know and love.....
This is a picture all Titans fans should know and love.....
Monday, July 19, 2004
What would we do without Experts? (slogan shamelessly stolen from James Taranto-Opinion Journal)
(via Futurepundit)
Sun Energy Output At Over 1,000 Year Peak
Sami Solanki, Professor at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich Switzerland, says the Sun has been burning more brightly over the last 60 years than over the previous 1090 years.
“We have to acknowledge that the Sun is in a changed state. It is brighter than it was a few hundred years ago, and this brightening started relatively recently – in the last 100 to 150 years. We expect it to have an impact on global warming,” he told swissinfo. "
You see the sun, which warms the planet, might be expected to have an impact on GLOBAL WARMING. One might also imagine the sun having an impact on GLOBAL MELTING someday as well. Just so you know.
Man, I guess those guys back in England during the Crusades had some nice Solar Thermometers around to measure and record accurate solar temperature readings.
I guess we should all listen to the experts and, um, I don't know, block the sun for a while?
Maybe that'll help. That and more beer.
(this post brought to you by Newcastle)
Sun Energy Output At Over 1,000 Year Peak
Sami Solanki, Professor at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich Switzerland, says the Sun has been burning more brightly over the last 60 years than over the previous 1090 years.
“We have to acknowledge that the Sun is in a changed state. It is brighter than it was a few hundred years ago, and this brightening started relatively recently – in the last 100 to 150 years. We expect it to have an impact on global warming,” he told swissinfo. "
You see the sun, which warms the planet, might be expected to have an impact on GLOBAL WARMING. One might also imagine the sun having an impact on GLOBAL MELTING someday as well. Just so you know.
Man, I guess those guys back in England during the Crusades had some nice Solar Thermometers around to measure and record accurate solar temperature readings.
I guess we should all listen to the experts and, um, I don't know, block the sun for a while?
Maybe that'll help. That and more beer.
(this post brought to you by Newcastle)
Iran should be liberated, and their regime eliminated............Part V....................
(via LGF)
US sets sights on toppling Iran regime.
"THE US will mount a concerted attempt to overturn the regime in Iran if President Bush is elected for a second term.
It would work strenuously to foment a revolt against the ruling theocracy by Iran’s “hugely dissatisfied” population, a senior official has told The Times.
The United States would not use military force, as in Iraq, but “if Bush is re-elected there will be much more intervention in the internal affairs of Iran”, declared the official, who is determined that there should be no let-up in the Administration’s War on Terror.
To what extent the official, known to be hawkish, was speaking for the White House was unclear, but his remarks are nevertheless likely to cause alarm in Europe. He hinted at a possible military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying that there was a window of opportunity for destroying Iran’s main nuclear complex at Bushehr next year that would close if Russia delivered crucial fuel rods. To destroy Bushehr after the delivery would cause huge environmental damage. The rods would allow the Iranians to obtain enough plutonium for many dozens of nuclear weapons, he said."
It appears quite obvious now that Iran's Mullarchy has seen the writing on the wall, and they will now start to get desperate to pull out all the stops in every way possible. The connections between Iran and Arab Terrorist groups are too numerous to mention, so we shouldn't have to have the same bullshit argument about these connections that everyone did with Saddam.
You would think that when a Saddam or a Mullah comes out and publicly admits the connection that there wouldn't really need to be any arguments. You'd be wrong.
Arab Terrorism may be one thing, and we all know that had an Al-Qaeda had the oppurtunity to kill more of us on 9/11 they would have in a heart beat. But now we have this-
Iran's 9/11 role revealed: reports
"THE September 11 commission's report, due out Thursday, says Iran may have facilitated the 2001 attacks by providing eight to 10 al-Qaeda hijackers with safe passage to and from training camps in Afghanistan, according to media reports today.Time and Newsweek produced similar reports quoting congressional, commission and government sources.
They said Iran relaxed border controls and provided "clean" passports for the so-called "muscle hijackers" to transit Iran to and from Osama bin Laden's camps between October 2000 and February 2001."
I wonder, had we learned about this connection on say, November 2001, would Iran still have its Mullarchy? I seem to remember Iran being awful quiet for the rest of 2001.
Either way, if another attack is successfully performed in the US prior to the elections, and we find ANY WHATSOEVER connection between the attack and Irans Regime, we need to take the gloves off and turn that Iranian Nuclear Weapons facility at Bushehr (someone explain to me why a country that has more oil than anything else needs a nuclear plant FOR ENERGY) in to a parking lot.
Oh wait........Iran city pix blitz puts FBI on alert
"WASHINGTON - The FBI is more worried about workers at Iran's UN mission in New York when it comes to suspicious photo surveillance of city landmarks than those from any other nation, sources said yesterday.
"The staff of the Iranian mission seems to be the most active in taking photos and video" of potential terror targets, one U.S. law enforcement source said.
On Tuesday, the State Department announced the expulsion of two security guards at Iran's United Nations mission. The duo was tailed by G-men in New York last week as they videotaped St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, Central Park and transit buses, sources said.
The FBI watched the men shooting video from the hip and concealing cameras with clothing, according to the sources.
Iranian agents have been stopped at least six times for similar activity in the past, NYPD and federal officials have said.
"Should [Iranian officials] start sharing these photos with people we don't care for, it may do us harm," said a federal law enforcement source.
Yesterday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) stood in front of the mission's offices at E. 40th St. and Third Ave. and blasted Iran for "spying and deception" that puts "everyone at risk."
"Time after time Iranian employees have gotten caught red-handed," Schumer said. "If it happens once, you say it's unusual. If it happens three times, something is wrong."
Iran is on America's list of state sponsors of terrorism for its notorious ties to Hamas and Hezbollah and for allegedly protecting Al Qaeda leaders.
Iran's mullahs also have been accused by Washington of allowing Jordanian terror kingpin Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi to freely cross the border with Iraq."
Meester Boosh, Faster please.....
Update: Michael Leeden elaborates- "The Discovery of Iran: Are you sitting down? Iran is a terrorist state. What a surprise! Terrorists at Iranian military bases! Who ever would have imagined such a thing? "
US sets sights on toppling Iran regime.
"THE US will mount a concerted attempt to overturn the regime in Iran if President Bush is elected for a second term.
It would work strenuously to foment a revolt against the ruling theocracy by Iran’s “hugely dissatisfied” population, a senior official has told The Times.
The United States would not use military force, as in Iraq, but “if Bush is re-elected there will be much more intervention in the internal affairs of Iran”, declared the official, who is determined that there should be no let-up in the Administration’s War on Terror.
To what extent the official, known to be hawkish, was speaking for the White House was unclear, but his remarks are nevertheless likely to cause alarm in Europe. He hinted at a possible military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying that there was a window of opportunity for destroying Iran’s main nuclear complex at Bushehr next year that would close if Russia delivered crucial fuel rods. To destroy Bushehr after the delivery would cause huge environmental damage. The rods would allow the Iranians to obtain enough plutonium for many dozens of nuclear weapons, he said."
It appears quite obvious now that Iran's Mullarchy has seen the writing on the wall, and they will now start to get desperate to pull out all the stops in every way possible. The connections between Iran and Arab Terrorist groups are too numerous to mention, so we shouldn't have to have the same bullshit argument about these connections that everyone did with Saddam.
You would think that when a Saddam or a Mullah comes out and publicly admits the connection that there wouldn't really need to be any arguments. You'd be wrong.
Arab Terrorism may be one thing, and we all know that had an Al-Qaeda had the oppurtunity to kill more of us on 9/11 they would have in a heart beat. But now we have this-
Iran's 9/11 role revealed: reports
"THE September 11 commission's report, due out Thursday, says Iran may have facilitated the 2001 attacks by providing eight to 10 al-Qaeda hijackers with safe passage to and from training camps in Afghanistan, according to media reports today.Time and Newsweek produced similar reports quoting congressional, commission and government sources.
They said Iran relaxed border controls and provided "clean" passports for the so-called "muscle hijackers" to transit Iran to and from Osama bin Laden's camps between October 2000 and February 2001."
I wonder, had we learned about this connection on say, November 2001, would Iran still have its Mullarchy? I seem to remember Iran being awful quiet for the rest of 2001.
Either way, if another attack is successfully performed in the US prior to the elections, and we find ANY WHATSOEVER connection between the attack and Irans Regime, we need to take the gloves off and turn that Iranian Nuclear Weapons facility at Bushehr (someone explain to me why a country that has more oil than anything else needs a nuclear plant FOR ENERGY) in to a parking lot.
Oh wait........Iran city pix blitz puts FBI on alert
"WASHINGTON - The FBI is more worried about workers at Iran's UN mission in New York when it comes to suspicious photo surveillance of city landmarks than those from any other nation, sources said yesterday.
"The staff of the Iranian mission seems to be the most active in taking photos and video" of potential terror targets, one U.S. law enforcement source said.
On Tuesday, the State Department announced the expulsion of two security guards at Iran's United Nations mission. The duo was tailed by G-men in New York last week as they videotaped St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, Central Park and transit buses, sources said.
The FBI watched the men shooting video from the hip and concealing cameras with clothing, according to the sources.
Iranian agents have been stopped at least six times for similar activity in the past, NYPD and federal officials have said.
"Should [Iranian officials] start sharing these photos with people we don't care for, it may do us harm," said a federal law enforcement source.
Yesterday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) stood in front of the mission's offices at E. 40th St. and Third Ave. and blasted Iran for "spying and deception" that puts "everyone at risk."
"Time after time Iranian employees have gotten caught red-handed," Schumer said. "If it happens once, you say it's unusual. If it happens three times, something is wrong."
Iran is on America's list of state sponsors of terrorism for its notorious ties to Hamas and Hezbollah and for allegedly protecting Al Qaeda leaders.
Iran's mullahs also have been accused by Washington of allowing Jordanian terror kingpin Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi to freely cross the border with Iraq."
Meester Boosh, Faster please.....
Update: Michael Leeden elaborates- "The Discovery of Iran: Are you sitting down? Iran is a terrorist state. What a surprise! Terrorists at Iranian military bases! Who ever would have imagined such a thing? "
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
What a great All-Star game................
The Rocket misfires, let's call it payback for all the times he choked in a Red Sox uniform. Manny hit one out off of him and Soriano threw one in for good measure.
We were watching closely before Manny hit his out and both myself and best bud were saying "there's no way Roger will throw that inside pitch again to Manny, he'll destroy that thing." Sure enough, like he was still wearing Red pinstripes, inside curve, weak 84 mph pitch, Manny crushes to left field. Thanks Roger, that was kind of you.
Then there was Ortiz, who makes it two Red Sox to hit HR's in the game. That was nice.
However, the best suprise of the night was Ali. He came out to throw the baseball, and looked like he was still having the shakes pretty bad, and folks at the bar were saying "poor Ali, what a shame", etc.etc. But Ali had some suprises in store. He broke out in to his float like a butterfly, and threw a few jabs at Jeter, which made the entire bar crowd erupt in applause and laughter. He even capped it off by holding Rabbit ears over A-Rod during the picture taking session. For those who thought that Ali isn't quite there anymore, he showed differently. He may not be the same, but he still has the fire inside. It was a great moment, and everyone at the bar had smiles afterwards.
Sometimes, there are moments in sports that you suddenly feel better about people, and this was one of them...
Now back to my Red Sox denial syndrome, and sweet anticipation for the Titans to start.....
We were watching closely before Manny hit his out and both myself and best bud were saying "there's no way Roger will throw that inside pitch again to Manny, he'll destroy that thing." Sure enough, like he was still wearing Red pinstripes, inside curve, weak 84 mph pitch, Manny crushes to left field. Thanks Roger, that was kind of you.
Then there was Ortiz, who makes it two Red Sox to hit HR's in the game. That was nice.
However, the best suprise of the night was Ali. He came out to throw the baseball, and looked like he was still having the shakes pretty bad, and folks at the bar were saying "poor Ali, what a shame", etc.etc. But Ali had some suprises in store. He broke out in to his float like a butterfly, and threw a few jabs at Jeter, which made the entire bar crowd erupt in applause and laughter. He even capped it off by holding Rabbit ears over A-Rod during the picture taking session. For those who thought that Ali isn't quite there anymore, he showed differently. He may not be the same, but he still has the fire inside. It was a great moment, and everyone at the bar had smiles afterwards.
Sometimes, there are moments in sports that you suddenly feel better about people, and this was one of them...
Now back to my Red Sox denial syndrome, and sweet anticipation for the Titans to start.....
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
If you don't want to hear about why you were wrong for opposing the war in Iraq on the basis of ties to terrorism..
..Then don't read this...
The bottom line
Everything Powell said at the UN regarding Iraqi ties to al-Qaeda (which is pretty much the same as what President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, and others said going into the war) appears to have reflected the consensus of the broader intelligence community.
(via Protein Wisdom)
The bottom line
Everything Powell said at the UN regarding Iraqi ties to al-Qaeda (which is pretty much the same as what President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, and others said going into the war) appears to have reflected the consensus of the broader intelligence community.
(via Protein Wisdom)
Hey Kids! It's Time for Summer Camp-Palestinian Style!........
(via LGF)
Come on everybody- you remember this one, right?
"Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda
Here I am at, Camp Intifada
Bombs we're building, belts we're making
And we may get to kill some Jews if it stops raining..."
Hurry up with that fence guys....
Come on everybody- you remember this one, right?
"Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda
Here I am at, Camp Intifada
Bombs we're building, belts we're making
And we may get to kill some Jews if it stops raining..."
Hurry up with that fence guys....
Go Get 'Em Boys.............
.......Iraq Police Net Over 500 Suspects in Baghdad
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi police seized more than 500 criminal suspects in raids in Baghdad Tuesday, an Interior Ministry source said.
"Till now the police have arrested 527 people in Rusafa," the source said, referring to a swathe of Baghdad on the east bank of the Tigris river. He said the raids had begun in the early hours and were still under way.
"The number (of detainees) is more than we expected," he told Reuters, adding that those held included suspected drug dealers and weapons traders.
He said the raids would continue in the Rusafa area, and would be expanded to other areas of the capital.
"Organized crime is present in many areas, and we have to end it," the source said.
Reuters then goes on to say the bleedingly obvious with this statement-
"The former Iraqi president released all common criminals as part of an amnesty in October 2002, a move that many say has contributed to a surge in crime."
Ya think? I wonder if perhaps any of these suspects are also perhaps not Iraqi's at all?
Since the news media would have to admit that they are terrorist-appeasing, dictator-fellating sellouts to actually report the news right now, we have to rely on Iraqis to tell us the rest of the story.
Mohammed at Iraq the Model has am interesting conversation with a fellow Iraqi-
One square kilometer.
At the end of his conversation Mohammed wonders aloud- "Then I told myself: if some Iraqis, living in Iraq, watching the changes being done under their noses fail to see the truth and still depend on the media to tell them what’s going on in their own country then how can we blame people who live thousands of miles away for thinking similarly!?"
We wonder the same thing Mohammed.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi police seized more than 500 criminal suspects in raids in Baghdad Tuesday, an Interior Ministry source said.
"Till now the police have arrested 527 people in Rusafa," the source said, referring to a swathe of Baghdad on the east bank of the Tigris river. He said the raids had begun in the early hours and were still under way.
"The number (of detainees) is more than we expected," he told Reuters, adding that those held included suspected drug dealers and weapons traders.
He said the raids would continue in the Rusafa area, and would be expanded to other areas of the capital.
"Organized crime is present in many areas, and we have to end it," the source said.
Reuters then goes on to say the bleedingly obvious with this statement-
"The former Iraqi president released all common criminals as part of an amnesty in October 2002, a move that many say has contributed to a surge in crime."
Ya think? I wonder if perhaps any of these suspects are also perhaps not Iraqi's at all?
Since the news media would have to admit that they are terrorist-appeasing, dictator-fellating sellouts to actually report the news right now, we have to rely on Iraqis to tell us the rest of the story.
Mohammed at Iraq the Model has am interesting conversation with a fellow Iraqi-
One square kilometer.
At the end of his conversation Mohammed wonders aloud- "Then I told myself: if some Iraqis, living in Iraq, watching the changes being done under their noses fail to see the truth and still depend on the media to tell them what’s going on in their own country then how can we blame people who live thousands of miles away for thinking similarly!?"
We wonder the same thing Mohammed.
Monday, July 12, 2004
Tennessee? Are you sure that's a big football state?..............................
...........All 31,000 Tennessee Titans single game tickets were sold out in 19 minutes on Saturday.
It didn’t take long for single-game tickets to all 10 Tennessee Titans home games in 2004 to disappear Saturday morning. Nearly 31,000 tickets went on sale to the general public at 10 a.m., and just 19 minutes later all regular season games were sold-out, with only scattered singles for the two preseason contests vs. Cleveland and Green Bay remaining by 11 a.m., said Marty Collins, Director of Ticket Operations for the Titans. “It’s truly a credit to the great fans we have,” said Collins, who noted tickets for the Titans’ Aug. 7 scrimmage vs. Atlanta are still available. The Titans have now sold-out 63 consecutive games since the Coliseum opened its doors in 1999.
A little more than a month until preseason kicks off. Can I say that again? Thanks, I will.....
A little more than a month until preseason kicks off.
It didn’t take long for single-game tickets to all 10 Tennessee Titans home games in 2004 to disappear Saturday morning. Nearly 31,000 tickets went on sale to the general public at 10 a.m., and just 19 minutes later all regular season games were sold-out, with only scattered singles for the two preseason contests vs. Cleveland and Green Bay remaining by 11 a.m., said Marty Collins, Director of Ticket Operations for the Titans. “It’s truly a credit to the great fans we have,” said Collins, who noted tickets for the Titans’ Aug. 7 scrimmage vs. Atlanta are still available. The Titans have now sold-out 63 consecutive games since the Coliseum opened its doors in 1999.
A little more than a month until preseason kicks off. Can I say that again? Thanks, I will.....
A little more than a month until preseason kicks off.
Friday, July 09, 2004
You can't make this stuff up folks............................
.............So check this out. As most of you may know, Israel is building a twenty foot high wall around most of the country to stop the baby killers from having free access to their day-cares, because apparently the Israelis frown upon people slaughtering their infants on purpose. And so far the fence seems to be working.
Security Fence's Effectiveness
01/07/2004
A comparison of the number of attacks within Israel carried out by Samaria-based terrorists after the anti-terrorist fence was built, and the number of attacks carried out by the same terrorist groups before the building of the fence, reveals a drop of some 90 percent in the ability of these terrorist groups to perpetrate attacks within Israel.
In the 11 months between the erection of the first segment at the beginning of August 2003 and the end of June 2004, the Samaria-based terrorist groups have succeeded in carrying out only three atrocities within Israel. All three occurred in the first half of 2003, during which 26 Israelis were murdered and 76 wounded. (In two of the cases, the terrorists infiltrated via areas in Samaria where the fence was not yet completed. In the third, a female terrorist entered through the Barta'a crossing using a Jordanian passport.)
In contrast, during the 34 months from the beginning of the violence in September 2000 until the construction of the first continuous segment of the anti-terrorist fence at the end of July 2003, between Salem and Elkana in Samaria, Samaria-based terrorists carried out 73 atrocities (suicide bombings, shootings, car bombings) within Israel (including Jerusalem) in which 293 Israelis were killed and 1950 wounded.
A comparison of the above data shows a decrease of slightly more than 90% in the number of attacks: from an average of 26 attacks a year before the fence, to three attacks after erection of the anti-terrorist fence. This means a decrease of more than 70% in the number of Israelis murdered: from an average of 103 slain per year before the fence to 28 after erection of the fence. Similarly, this means a drop of more than 85% in the number of wounded: from an average of 688 a year before the fence to 83 wounded per year after it was built.
While the number of attacks dropped sharply, the number of attempted attacks that were foiled in various stages of preparation since the erection of the anti-terrorist fence in August 2003 remained high. During this period, the security forces prevented dozens of attacks by Samaria-based terrorist groups in the final stages of preparation. As a result of the arrests of terrorists and heads of cells, 24 explosive belts and bombs were discovered.
The conclusion is inescapable that a major factor in the sharp drop in the number of attacks carried out in Israel by Samaria-based terrorists in the past few months is the effect of the anti-terrorist fence on their operational patterns. This is in addition to the various preventive actions taken by the army in Judea and Samaria, particularly since Operation Defensive Shield.
But the World Criminal Court (yeah, I know) has decided that the wall must come down. I'm not exactly sure who enforces the rulings of this court since the US said thanks, but no thanks to membership of the court (on account of that whole constitution thingy). France maybe? A ha. Ahahahaa. (sorry, couldn't resist, but how funny would that be-"Pardon Monsieur Goldstein, but do you have a leeesance forzeese fahnce?"). But that isn't even the funniest part.
This is what you simply can't make up-
"The wall ... cannot be justified by military exigencies or by the requirements of national security or public order," said Judge Shi Jiuyong of CHINA as he read out the ruling."
China said you can't have a wall.
China, the country with a wall that you can practically see from the moon, says Israel can't build a fence to stop fanatical baby killers from trying to kill their babies.
China. I'm telling you folks, you simply can't make this stuff up.
Hey Shi Jiuyong, you are a hypocrite. Please shut-up. Thank you.
Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid gets the understatement of the year award with this quote-
"We will abide by the ruling of our own High Court and not the panel in The Hague with judges from the European Union who are not suspected of being particularly disposed toward Israel."
I guess he's still a little concerned about that whole "KILL THE JEWS" thingy. Go figure.
Security Fence's Effectiveness
01/07/2004
A comparison of the number of attacks within Israel carried out by Samaria-based terrorists after the anti-terrorist fence was built, and the number of attacks carried out by the same terrorist groups before the building of the fence, reveals a drop of some 90 percent in the ability of these terrorist groups to perpetrate attacks within Israel.
In the 11 months between the erection of the first segment at the beginning of August 2003 and the end of June 2004, the Samaria-based terrorist groups have succeeded in carrying out only three atrocities within Israel. All three occurred in the first half of 2003, during which 26 Israelis were murdered and 76 wounded. (In two of the cases, the terrorists infiltrated via areas in Samaria where the fence was not yet completed. In the third, a female terrorist entered through the Barta'a crossing using a Jordanian passport.)
In contrast, during the 34 months from the beginning of the violence in September 2000 until the construction of the first continuous segment of the anti-terrorist fence at the end of July 2003, between Salem and Elkana in Samaria, Samaria-based terrorists carried out 73 atrocities (suicide bombings, shootings, car bombings) within Israel (including Jerusalem) in which 293 Israelis were killed and 1950 wounded.
A comparison of the above data shows a decrease of slightly more than 90% in the number of attacks: from an average of 26 attacks a year before the fence, to three attacks after erection of the anti-terrorist fence. This means a decrease of more than 70% in the number of Israelis murdered: from an average of 103 slain per year before the fence to 28 after erection of the fence. Similarly, this means a drop of more than 85% in the number of wounded: from an average of 688 a year before the fence to 83 wounded per year after it was built.
While the number of attacks dropped sharply, the number of attempted attacks that were foiled in various stages of preparation since the erection of the anti-terrorist fence in August 2003 remained high. During this period, the security forces prevented dozens of attacks by Samaria-based terrorist groups in the final stages of preparation. As a result of the arrests of terrorists and heads of cells, 24 explosive belts and bombs were discovered.
The conclusion is inescapable that a major factor in the sharp drop in the number of attacks carried out in Israel by Samaria-based terrorists in the past few months is the effect of the anti-terrorist fence on their operational patterns. This is in addition to the various preventive actions taken by the army in Judea and Samaria, particularly since Operation Defensive Shield.
But the World Criminal Court (yeah, I know) has decided that the wall must come down. I'm not exactly sure who enforces the rulings of this court since the US said thanks, but no thanks to membership of the court (on account of that whole constitution thingy). France maybe? A ha. Ahahahaa. (sorry, couldn't resist, but how funny would that be-"Pardon Monsieur Goldstein, but do you have a leeesance forzeese fahnce?"). But that isn't even the funniest part.
This is what you simply can't make up-
"The wall ... cannot be justified by military exigencies or by the requirements of national security or public order," said Judge Shi Jiuyong of CHINA as he read out the ruling."
China said you can't have a wall.
China, the country with a wall that you can practically see from the moon, says Israel can't build a fence to stop fanatical baby killers from trying to kill their babies.
China. I'm telling you folks, you simply can't make this stuff up.
Hey Shi Jiuyong, you are a hypocrite. Please shut-up. Thank you.
Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid gets the understatement of the year award with this quote-
"We will abide by the ruling of our own High Court and not the panel in The Hague with judges from the European Union who are not suspected of being particularly disposed toward Israel."
I guess he's still a little concerned about that whole "KILL THE JEWS" thingy. Go figure.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Do you remember how Paul Bremer left Iraq with his tail between his legs and not even giving a speech?.......
Yeah, Me neither. If I ever meet the guy, drinks are on me.
And we'll cover the bartenders tip and leave the rest on CBS's tab....
Oh, and here's the speech he made, which made some Iraqi's cry with joy....which we didn't hear about in the US media because the US Media is the one with the tail between its legs right now...
The future of Iraq belongs to you, the Iraqi people. We and your other friends will help, but we can only help. You must do the real work.
The Iraq your children and their children inherit will depend on your actions in the months and years ahead. You Iraqis must now take responsibility for your future of hope. You can create that future of hope by standing fast against those who kill your police and soldiers, who kill your women and children, who wreck Iraq's pipelines and power lines, and then claim to be your champions.
You can create that future of hope by supporting your government and the elections they are pledged to bring you. You can create that future of hope in a thousand different ways by sharing through your words and deeds a personal commitment to a stable and peaceful Iraq.
You, Iraq's Kurds and Arabs, Shi'a and Sunni, Turkomen and Christian, you are more like each other than you are different from one another. You have a shared vision of how a united Iraq can, again, be a beacon of hope to the region. You have a shared hatred of the violence inflicted on you by those who abhor your vision. And you have a shared love of this wonderful, rich land.
Let no one pit you against each other. For when Iraqis fight Iraqis, only Iraqis suffer.
I leave Iraq gladdened by what has been accomplished and confident that your future is full of hope. A piece of my heart will always remain here in the beautiful land between the two rivers with its fertile valleys, it's majestic mountains and its wonderful people.
And we'll cover the bartenders tip and leave the rest on CBS's tab....
Oh, and here's the speech he made, which made some Iraqi's cry with joy....which we didn't hear about in the US media because the US Media is the one with the tail between its legs right now...
The future of Iraq belongs to you, the Iraqi people. We and your other friends will help, but we can only help. You must do the real work.
The Iraq your children and their children inherit will depend on your actions in the months and years ahead. You Iraqis must now take responsibility for your future of hope. You can create that future of hope by standing fast against those who kill your police and soldiers, who kill your women and children, who wreck Iraq's pipelines and power lines, and then claim to be your champions.
You can create that future of hope by supporting your government and the elections they are pledged to bring you. You can create that future of hope in a thousand different ways by sharing through your words and deeds a personal commitment to a stable and peaceful Iraq.
You, Iraq's Kurds and Arabs, Shi'a and Sunni, Turkomen and Christian, you are more like each other than you are different from one another. You have a shared vision of how a united Iraq can, again, be a beacon of hope to the region. You have a shared hatred of the violence inflicted on you by those who abhor your vision. And you have a shared love of this wonderful, rich land.
Let no one pit you against each other. For when Iraqis fight Iraqis, only Iraqis suffer.
I leave Iraq gladdened by what has been accomplished and confident that your future is full of hope. A piece of my heart will always remain here in the beautiful land between the two rivers with its fertile valleys, it's majestic mountains and its wonderful people.
Read it, think about it, read it again......Then go show it to one of your Moore fawning friends and watch their heads explode.........
......This is probably already cruising at light speed over the blogosphere, but James Lileks punts Michael Moore like a Craig Hentrich 70 yarder in his latest bleat..
One of my favorite parts (Moores words are in bold, cause, ya know, he likes things BIG)-
We continue:
If you are one of those who love what President Bush has done for this country and believe you must blindly follow the president to deserve to fly the flag,
Stop. This is a perfect example of prose from someone who either does not understand his opposition, or chooses not to grant that they have a legitimate basis for opposition. Or, it’s just bad sophomoric writing. If you are one of those who love what President Bush has done for this country and believe you must blindly follow the president to deserve to fly the flag. Yes, that’s me. Me deserve fly flag! Me blindly follow! Hulk smash!
you should ask yourself some difficult questions about just how proud you are of the America we now inhabit:
Oh, no: not the difficult questions! Biggles, stab him with the leaden accusation.
Are you proud that one in six children lives in poverty in America?
No. I’m ashamed. I think we should be more like British Columbia, where one in six children lives in poverty. No – wait. Er - next question.
But before we move along, I’d like to echo what Dennis Prager said about this today: child poverty is closely tied to unwed motherhood. You want a poor kid, have one when you’re young and the father’s contribution consists of bimonthly Pamper drops. If Mr. Moore wishes to lead society back to a place where unwed motherhood is frowned upon and men are expected to marry the women they impregnate, I’ll be right there with him.
Are you proud that 40 million adult Americans are functional illiterates?
This is addressed in “Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man.” As the authors note: the survey to which Moore refers also says (quoting MMIABFSWM) “in the next paragraph, [the survey] goes on to note that 25 percent of those people who scored in the lowest literacy category were immigrants who have learned little or no English. And in classic Moore fashion, he also fails to disclose that nearly 19 percent of the group he includes in the uneducated masses are actually people who have ‘visual difficulties that affect their ability to read print.’”
The authors also note that when it comes to the highest level of literacy skills, “the US figure is 21.1 percent, compared to 16.6 percent in the UK and only 13.4 percent in Germany.” I’m sure there are those who find calamity in those numbers, too, some sort of gap in the distribution of literacy skills. The rich get wordier while the poor are unable to afford the new, longer words, and have to make do with hand-me-down single-syllable slang.
Read. The. Whole. Damn. Thing.
One of my favorite parts (Moores words are in bold, cause, ya know, he likes things BIG)-
We continue:
If you are one of those who love what President Bush has done for this country and believe you must blindly follow the president to deserve to fly the flag,
Stop. This is a perfect example of prose from someone who either does not understand his opposition, or chooses not to grant that they have a legitimate basis for opposition. Or, it’s just bad sophomoric writing. If you are one of those who love what President Bush has done for this country and believe you must blindly follow the president to deserve to fly the flag. Yes, that’s me. Me deserve fly flag! Me blindly follow! Hulk smash!
you should ask yourself some difficult questions about just how proud you are of the America we now inhabit:
Oh, no: not the difficult questions! Biggles, stab him with the leaden accusation.
Are you proud that one in six children lives in poverty in America?
No. I’m ashamed. I think we should be more like British Columbia, where one in six children lives in poverty. No – wait. Er - next question.
But before we move along, I’d like to echo what Dennis Prager said about this today: child poverty is closely tied to unwed motherhood. You want a poor kid, have one when you’re young and the father’s contribution consists of bimonthly Pamper drops. If Mr. Moore wishes to lead society back to a place where unwed motherhood is frowned upon and men are expected to marry the women they impregnate, I’ll be right there with him.
Are you proud that 40 million adult Americans are functional illiterates?
This is addressed in “Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man.” As the authors note: the survey to which Moore refers also says (quoting MMIABFSWM) “in the next paragraph, [the survey] goes on to note that 25 percent of those people who scored in the lowest literacy category were immigrants who have learned little or no English. And in classic Moore fashion, he also fails to disclose that nearly 19 percent of the group he includes in the uneducated masses are actually people who have ‘visual difficulties that affect their ability to read print.’”
The authors also note that when it comes to the highest level of literacy skills, “the US figure is 21.1 percent, compared to 16.6 percent in the UK and only 13.4 percent in Germany.” I’m sure there are those who find calamity in those numbers, too, some sort of gap in the distribution of literacy skills. The rich get wordier while the poor are unable to afford the new, longer words, and have to make do with hand-me-down single-syllable slang.
Read. The. Whole. Damn. Thing.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Triple Extra Drink Warning/Sneeze Gaurd/Spit take..............
............I believe Allah may finally have some competition....
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! THIS IS EXTREMELY FUNNY !!! I DON'T OWE YOU A NEW KEYBOARD!!
Florida is Ready for 2004
(via the Leatherpenguin)
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! THIS IS EXTREMELY FUNNY !!! I DON'T OWE YOU A NEW KEYBOARD!!
Florida is Ready for 2004
(via the Leatherpenguin)
Forgot to post about this before.............................
.......Great story here about 18 year old Bryan Henderson who decided to test his right to challenge the liberal orthodoxy at his high school. Basically he had enough of his history teacher fawning over Chomsky all day, and decided to put up some posters from Protest Warrior.
You may have seen some of them before-some examples-
"End the Arab Occupation of Jewish Land"
"Saddam only killed his own people it was none of our business"
Teach was obviously none too thrilled. So she did what most Chomsy fawning uber-liberals do when faced with this problem- crush the dissent! Ad Hominem attack! They must be stopped!- problem was, this kid came prepared.
As it is said in the blogosphere, read the whole thing....
You may have seen some of them before-some examples-
"End the Arab Occupation of Jewish Land"
"Saddam only killed his own people it was none of our business"
Teach was obviously none too thrilled. So she did what most Chomsy fawning uber-liberals do when faced with this problem- crush the dissent! Ad Hominem attack! They must be stopped!- problem was, this kid came prepared.
As it is said in the blogosphere, read the whole thing....
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Fourth of Joooly Weekend Recap...................
.............And what fun was had.....Many parties, much music, many beers, much good food, blow whole bunches of things up. At one point as we were loading the mortar rounds of fireworks, some of us were joking how clearly insane these terrorist fuckers must be to mess with a country that likes to get drunk and blow things up to celebrate its birthday.
You would think that it would be dumb to challenge our country to a fight, stating that we are weak and run away at the first sight of violence.
Judging by this years fireworks displays, which were extended another day due to the wacky calendar this year, you would REALLY have to be an idiot to believe that.
We blow the crap out of things for fun. And now some two bit arabian gangsters want to see if we'll cut and run? Those towels are wrapped a little too tight fellas. Ask Osama and Saddam how much we've cut and run. And good luck finding Osama, he's currently, um, indisposed. Saddam probably will have plenty of free time soon though.
Muscial Theme Song for the Weekend
Artist: The J. Geils Band
Song: Love Stinks
You love her
But she loves him
And he loves somebody else
You just can't win
And so it goes
Till the day you die
This thing they call love
It's gonna make you cry
I've had the blues
The reds and the pinks
One thing for sure
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
Two by two and side by side
Love's gonna find you yes it is
You just can't hide
You'll hear it call
Your heart will fall
Then love will fly
It's gonna soar
I don't care for any casanova thing
All I can say is
Love stinks
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
I've been through diamonds
I've been through minks
I've been through it all
Love stinks
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
And that should cover how the romantic aspects of this weekend fared. On to the recap.
Friday: Night gets in to full swing at Jacksons early, around 7:00. Beers, Jagers, onwards and upwards. Went over to Bound'ry/Chu/Southstreet for a bit, back to Boscos for a pizza (duck szechuan-mmm tasty). Dropped of my bud at home, as he was expecting company from out of town. I went back to Jacksons and had a strange encounter with a small ceramic doll dressed up as this mexican dude with a cactus for a penis. For some reason, the doll and I didn't get along, and let's just say he won't be bothering anyone ever again. Seriously, ever again.
Saturday: Woke up, walked back to my truck which was conveniently parked where I had left it the previous evening. I needed a walk anyways. Went to meet up with the fellas after a haircut and some food. Made repeat visits from last night, except this time we had a much larger group, and proceeded to make much more trouble. That was of course, until each member starts getting their individual booty calls. This means that by around 11:00 the party was winding down. Back to Jacksons for nightcap, and walk back to best friends house, once again leaving the truck where it will do no harm.
Sunday Morning Get woken up around 3:00 in the morning by best friend and old friend of ours from high school who was in town. Their method of waking me up meant putting a cold Jager bottle on my head/belly. That meant me waking up and drinking, thus postponing the inevtitable hangover until later that evening. Went to breakfast, met yet another group of friends, had more drinks, went to the pool to float around for a while and (that's right, you guessed it) drink more. Then proceeded to go to a Jam party where we got to play music and blow stuff up for hours on end. I was pretty much done by 11:00, and homeward bound we were.
Monday Breakfast and Coffee at Bongo Java, then proceeded to rest until the final party of the weekend. Watched this really cool show on Discovery called "the Planets" which had some amazing photography from our various satellites zooming around the solar system (see the astronomy section to the right for more interesting links.) Finally got our bass player for the band back from hiatus, and had an excellent practice, despite adding more blisters to the ones that I started the previous night. (Note to self:must remember to pace oneself after not playing for a month or two. Hands look like damn sausages this morning.) Went to a friends day after the fourth party, and had some great food and beers with what seemed like half the service staff of Nashville. At around 9:00, the heavy artillery round of fireworks arrived, and we proceeded to light up White Bridge road like a christmas tree for about an hour or so. We had eleven or so guys manning mortars and stocked up for a grand finale that was pretty damn cool. Definitely the most stuff I've even blown up at one time. Left that party, went for a nightcap at Dan McGuiness and called it a night.
A very fun weekend, minus the usual drama. Very excited to be practicing again, and this could mean I'll have some gig blogs forthcoming.
Hope y'all had a good weekend too....back to reality...
You would think that it would be dumb to challenge our country to a fight, stating that we are weak and run away at the first sight of violence.
Judging by this years fireworks displays, which were extended another day due to the wacky calendar this year, you would REALLY have to be an idiot to believe that.
We blow the crap out of things for fun. And now some two bit arabian gangsters want to see if we'll cut and run? Those towels are wrapped a little too tight fellas. Ask Osama and Saddam how much we've cut and run. And good luck finding Osama, he's currently, um, indisposed. Saddam probably will have plenty of free time soon though.
Muscial Theme Song for the Weekend
Artist: The J. Geils Band
Song: Love Stinks
You love her
But she loves him
And he loves somebody else
You just can't win
And so it goes
Till the day you die
This thing they call love
It's gonna make you cry
I've had the blues
The reds and the pinks
One thing for sure
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
Two by two and side by side
Love's gonna find you yes it is
You just can't hide
You'll hear it call
Your heart will fall
Then love will fly
It's gonna soar
I don't care for any casanova thing
All I can say is
Love stinks
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
I've been through diamonds
I've been through minks
I've been through it all
Love stinks
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
(Love stinks)
Love stinks yeah yeah
And that should cover how the romantic aspects of this weekend fared. On to the recap.
Friday: Night gets in to full swing at Jacksons early, around 7:00. Beers, Jagers, onwards and upwards. Went over to Bound'ry/Chu/Southstreet for a bit, back to Boscos for a pizza (duck szechuan-mmm tasty). Dropped of my bud at home, as he was expecting company from out of town. I went back to Jacksons and had a strange encounter with a small ceramic doll dressed up as this mexican dude with a cactus for a penis. For some reason, the doll and I didn't get along, and let's just say he won't be bothering anyone ever again. Seriously, ever again.
Saturday: Woke up, walked back to my truck which was conveniently parked where I had left it the previous evening. I needed a walk anyways. Went to meet up with the fellas after a haircut and some food. Made repeat visits from last night, except this time we had a much larger group, and proceeded to make much more trouble. That was of course, until each member starts getting their individual booty calls. This means that by around 11:00 the party was winding down. Back to Jacksons for nightcap, and walk back to best friends house, once again leaving the truck where it will do no harm.
Sunday Morning Get woken up around 3:00 in the morning by best friend and old friend of ours from high school who was in town. Their method of waking me up meant putting a cold Jager bottle on my head/belly. That meant me waking up and drinking, thus postponing the inevtitable hangover until later that evening. Went to breakfast, met yet another group of friends, had more drinks, went to the pool to float around for a while and (that's right, you guessed it) drink more. Then proceeded to go to a Jam party where we got to play music and blow stuff up for hours on end. I was pretty much done by 11:00, and homeward bound we were.
Monday Breakfast and Coffee at Bongo Java, then proceeded to rest until the final party of the weekend. Watched this really cool show on Discovery called "the Planets" which had some amazing photography from our various satellites zooming around the solar system (see the astronomy section to the right for more interesting links.) Finally got our bass player for the band back from hiatus, and had an excellent practice, despite adding more blisters to the ones that I started the previous night. (Note to self:must remember to pace oneself after not playing for a month or two. Hands look like damn sausages this morning.) Went to a friends day after the fourth party, and had some great food and beers with what seemed like half the service staff of Nashville. At around 9:00, the heavy artillery round of fireworks arrived, and we proceeded to light up White Bridge road like a christmas tree for about an hour or so. We had eleven or so guys manning mortars and stocked up for a grand finale that was pretty damn cool. Definitely the most stuff I've even blown up at one time. Left that party, went for a nightcap at Dan McGuiness and called it a night.
A very fun weekend, minus the usual drama. Very excited to be practicing again, and this could mean I'll have some gig blogs forthcoming.
Hope y'all had a good weekend too....back to reality...
Friday, July 02, 2004
Some days you just don't want to hear about it anymore.................
.........As some of the readers here (all five of them) may know, I was born and raised in Boston, and didn't leave until I went to college. I was a rabid Boston sports fan, and had many epic nights hanging out with family and friends watching the Celtics win, the Bruins beat people up, and the Red Sox and Patriots embarass our home state.
But none of them were worse than the Red Sox. They were like that girlfriend who throws a little your way and then loves to show her friends how she can make you beg like a dog. Bucky Effing Dent. Bill Effing Buckner. Aaron Effing Boone. And that's the short list.
Last year I had a trip planned with some friends to go see the Patriots/Titans game in Massachusetts (they play in Foxborough, thus the name the "New England" Patriots. Yeah, like Maine gives a shit about the Patriots.) This game was in October, during the Red Sox annual October heartbreak, and the Sox were playing Oakland in the wild card during our trip. Before we left, I attempted to warn the Tennessee natives that it is dangerous to get caught up in the Red Sox in October, like dating a married woman, it never works out (I'm having WAY too many girlfriend/wife references in this story, I apologize. Ugh..).
Unfortunately, the warnings went unheeded. And to make it worse, I, who since '99 have pretty much sworn off the Bosox for my own good, started getting in to it again as well. We went to the Titans/Pats game and three of the four of us were decked out in full Titans gear, which probably was not the wisest thing to do in Foxborough. When we got to our seats, we were of course surrounded by your typical drunken Pats fans who (ahem) took exception to our choice of attire. We immediately explained to them that we were also Sox fans, and immediately we were all buddies again. During the Football game, the Sox were playing the A's in the playoffs at the same time, and every once in a while they would flash some highlights of the Red Sox scoring, etc. We went from cursing the guys next to us to high-fiving them minutes later throughout the whole game. As they say in Beatown, it was bizzzaaah doood.
We stayed in Boston for a couple days after the game and ended up watching the Sox beat the A's to move on to play the Evil Empire for a chance to get back to the world series. After beating the A's we spilled out on to copley street with a few dozen other drunken Bostonians and began a chant heard in Boston more often than Beat LA- YANKEES SUCK!! YANKEES SUCK!
For those who watched the series betwewen the Evil Empire and the Sox last year, you know the story, Pedro stays in too long, Aaron Effing Boone, etc. AD FREAKING INFINITUM.
Last night the Sox finished their third consecutive game in New York and lost in the 13th inning with half of the Yankees either in the hospital or on the bench. I get to work this morning and my friend from New York, a huge Yankees fan, left a message on my voicemail.
"Hey Tim, why don't you just get it over with and join the dark side. I can't even make fun of you anymore, it's just too tired at this point. I've used up all my jokes. Even saying Ortiz went to the Bill Buckner school of fielding doesn't get the same laughs at it used to. Have a good day. 1918."
Last year this bastard called my office before the Yankees/Red Sox series started and instructed all of my coworkers to litter the office with post it notes with the number 1918 written on all of them (for those who don't know the reference, that was the last year the Red Sox won the World Series.) Everywhere I went, the bathroom, breakroom, all over my desk, were these post it notes. The bastard.
I gotta tell you folks, it's hard not simply succumbing to the dark side. I am so freaking tired of the broken record that is the Red Sox vs.the Yankees that I feel like throwing my hands up and falling at the altar of the Babe himself....
The Dark Side is strong.........
But none of them were worse than the Red Sox. They were like that girlfriend who throws a little your way and then loves to show her friends how she can make you beg like a dog. Bucky Effing Dent. Bill Effing Buckner. Aaron Effing Boone. And that's the short list.
Last year I had a trip planned with some friends to go see the Patriots/Titans game in Massachusetts (they play in Foxborough, thus the name the "New England" Patriots. Yeah, like Maine gives a shit about the Patriots.) This game was in October, during the Red Sox annual October heartbreak, and the Sox were playing Oakland in the wild card during our trip. Before we left, I attempted to warn the Tennessee natives that it is dangerous to get caught up in the Red Sox in October, like dating a married woman, it never works out (I'm having WAY too many girlfriend/wife references in this story, I apologize. Ugh..).
Unfortunately, the warnings went unheeded. And to make it worse, I, who since '99 have pretty much sworn off the Bosox for my own good, started getting in to it again as well. We went to the Titans/Pats game and three of the four of us were decked out in full Titans gear, which probably was not the wisest thing to do in Foxborough. When we got to our seats, we were of course surrounded by your typical drunken Pats fans who (ahem) took exception to our choice of attire. We immediately explained to them that we were also Sox fans, and immediately we were all buddies again. During the Football game, the Sox were playing the A's in the playoffs at the same time, and every once in a while they would flash some highlights of the Red Sox scoring, etc. We went from cursing the guys next to us to high-fiving them minutes later throughout the whole game. As they say in Beatown, it was bizzzaaah doood.
We stayed in Boston for a couple days after the game and ended up watching the Sox beat the A's to move on to play the Evil Empire for a chance to get back to the world series. After beating the A's we spilled out on to copley street with a few dozen other drunken Bostonians and began a chant heard in Boston more often than Beat LA- YANKEES SUCK!! YANKEES SUCK!
For those who watched the series betwewen the Evil Empire and the Sox last year, you know the story, Pedro stays in too long, Aaron Effing Boone, etc. AD FREAKING INFINITUM.
Last night the Sox finished their third consecutive game in New York and lost in the 13th inning with half of the Yankees either in the hospital or on the bench. I get to work this morning and my friend from New York, a huge Yankees fan, left a message on my voicemail.
"Hey Tim, why don't you just get it over with and join the dark side. I can't even make fun of you anymore, it's just too tired at this point. I've used up all my jokes. Even saying Ortiz went to the Bill Buckner school of fielding doesn't get the same laughs at it used to. Have a good day. 1918."
Last year this bastard called my office before the Yankees/Red Sox series started and instructed all of my coworkers to litter the office with post it notes with the number 1918 written on all of them (for those who don't know the reference, that was the last year the Red Sox won the World Series.) Everywhere I went, the bathroom, breakroom, all over my desk, were these post it notes. The bastard.
I gotta tell you folks, it's hard not simply succumbing to the dark side. I am so freaking tired of the broken record that is the Red Sox vs.the Yankees that I feel like throwing my hands up and falling at the altar of the Babe himself....
The Dark Side is strong.........
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