How About a Little Teamwork?

As of 10PM EST 28 Feb, only 4 people voted on why Larry is unhappy. I need a little help here pipple. It won't ask you for any information personal or other wise and there are no pop-ups, spyware or any other trash. What is on the post is all there is.
You know from reading me that I'm not in the "tricks" business.
Get with the program!

The Rattle and Hum in the Middle East

The Syrian-backed Lebanese government resigns in response to protests.

Egyptian opposition welcomes decision on multiparty presidential elections.

A little over 2 weeks ago, the Saudis had their first "conforming" elections.

A little over 3 weeks ago, the Iraqis had their elections.

A little over 4 weeks ago, the president spoke at length about the advance of Democracy in his Inaugural Address

So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.

This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary...

America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.

The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of generations. The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it. America's influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America's influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause.

A little over 2 months ago, The Afghanis had their elections.

The Donks hate this stuff. It's not that they hate Democracy. They just hate any success that could be attributed to the President they hate.

So What Are You Trying to Say?

I was watching Casablanca on TV today and during a commercial break was flooded with images of delicate young ladies wearing flirty and feminine dresses of silk and chiffon. The "Sixpence None The Richer" Song There She Goes was the soundtrack. It was an advertisement for birth control pills.

I guess that's OK, but during the omnipresent legal disclaimer, the voice over says: "Does not protect against sexually transmitted disease."

The lawyers thought it was an important detail to point out to their target audience. What are they saying about the flirty sexually active female? That she's a nitwit?

"But Doctor, I can't have HIV! I'm on the pill!"

If this is a measure of the intelligence of the women that are using birth control, we should be grateful to each and everyone of them. They are vigilantly protecting the species. There are some genome sequences that aren't worth proliferating.

What's next, an oven mitt with a disclaimer that says it shouldn't be used for surgery?

Why is Larry Unhappy?

If you aren't happy with who you are, smile! You could be Larry

Larry is obviously miserable, so it would be in poor taste to make fun of him. But certainly one can learn from him. I've been itching to try out one of these web polls. You can help us both out by sending this around so the maximum number of people see it. Maybe it will find it's way into the VRAM of a lonely lady in Orange County, NY. Take a minute and pick an answer and take care you don't end up like Larry.

Pop Quiz on Happiness

Why is Larry unhappy?

He's married and in debt. He's fallen out of love. He's an accountant. He feels trapped and helpless He's forgotten what's important He's living to supply the needs of others

View Result

Free Web Polls

The Problem in His Own Words

Drudge reports on Ken Auletta's "Sign-Off" in the 7 March issue of The New Yorker. In the Drudge story, The last line is a quote from Dan Rather.
Quothe Dan:

"In the end, I believe in the dream, the magical mystical kingdom of CBS News. It may exist only in our minds, but that makes it no less real."

Dan, that's why you are not an anchorman anymore. Believing the memos were real, wanting them to be real, hoping they are real and praying for them to be real does not make them real. Only reality can make something real. We are not interested in knowing what you would like to believe happened. We are interested in knowing what actually happened.

As for the "magical mystical kingdom of CBS News", I don't think I could say it better than that. CBS is like Disneyland, a place where reality is an inconvenience.

In journalism, truth is hard currency and credibility is credit. CBS has borrowed on its credibility until it's bankrupt. They can rebuild if they focus on reporting the present instead of trying to shape the future.

From CBS in New York, It's Sergeant Pepper's Magical Mystical Evening Wild Kingdom of News. Brought to you by Mutual of Omaha.

The Rattle and Hum in Europe

Dick Morris does a great job of slicing and dicing the dynamics of the current geopolitical momentum viv-a-vis "Dubya the Great".

The Democrats are in disarray with their putative candidate, Hillary, moving to the center, while the party elects leftist Howard Dean as its chairman. More and more, the Democrats are not merely inconsistent, wrong and/or misguided — they are the worst of all possible things you can be in Washington: irrelevant.

...Tony Blair is winning his election in the U.K. — having trailed for most of last year — because of the increasing success in Iraq. What once doomed him to defeat — cooperation with Bush — now boosts him to re-election.

... Jacques Chirac faces the embarrassment of trying to rescind the 35-hour work week, the foremost achievement of his previous four years in office. It is not stimulating employment, as he had hoped, and its repeal is igniting an anti-Chirac sentiment all over France.

...German Chancellor Schroeder just got trounced in the local elections in Sedgwick-Holstein, and his failure to push through many of his labor-law reforms is looming larger in domestic German politics.

...Vladimir Putin was upended in Ukraine and has faced an increasingly restive and demonstrating Russian public.

...Europe feels itself beset by the worst form of anti-Muslim prejudice. Assailed by self-doubt over their failure to do anything positive about Iraq, they watch the growth of neo-Nazi forces attacking the massive migration of Muslims into the European Union.

When sides were being chosen, Tony Blair called it right and Chirac, Schroeder and Putin called it wrong. They played to short term interests instead of strategic influences. They shall now pay the price.

As I've said before "Ignore reality at your own risk."

In Response to a Comment

I received a comment to the recent blog about HIV statistics.

"I wonder if you'd feel the same way about someone who gets heart disease or becomes morbidly obese from eating fast food, or someone who develops type two diabetes. What about alcoholics? Would your compassion extend to someone injured while driving too fast?

Unless we want to turn people away from emergency rooms, we pay for health issues one way or another, and emergency care is the most expensive type of care there is."

I can't afford to send my own kids to college, and they aren't eligible for government assistance, but my taxes go to send the children of others (even illegal immigrants) to college. How can that be right? Is that justice? I'm not rich. But I pay.
Should I be responsible to pay for the care of some morbidly obese person that has sat on the sofa for so long that their skin has grafted to the fabric? Under what rule of justice?

Why should my life energy be extracted at the point of a gun (enforcement of tax code) to repair the damage that a person does to themselves through self-destructive behaviors? It's not about a lack of compassion. It's a realization that some people don't take responsibility for their own lives and those people will shift as much of the cost of their own lives to me as they can. When I pay their way, I steal their self-esteem. When I enable destructive behaviors, I help them destroy themselves. The survival instinct is a good thing. I have seen the transformation that occurs when someone is put in a "sink or swim" situation. It's a glorious, inspiring thing to behold.

Human beings are at their best when they do and create, not when they leech and beg. Turn of the faucet, the survival instinct kicks in, they begin to perform. I've raised kids, And I've seen what happens when you stop doing things for them and make them do for themselves.

As for the simile about driving too fast - insurance premiums are based on risk. And that insurance should cover that E-room care. We all should be held responsible to do everything for ourselves we can, and there are luxuries that we don't deserve if we don't earn them. Should a doctor be forced at a point of a gun to give care to someone who can't pay? Under what rule of justice?

Should a human that has done nothing and created nothing be entitled to the same care as someone that has invented free renewable energy or found a cure for HIV? Under what rule of justice?

Let charity be charity, but do not put any program in place that makes people dependent. It destroys their soul. If you are going to destroy souls, you'll do it without my approval. My version of compassion is based on self-reliance and economic success, not dependence and subsistence. I believe the human spirit and human accomplishment matter. I believe in people more than they believe in themselves. But I also know that some people will take as much as they can for free.

By eliminating the subsistence society, we'll help more people than we'll hurt. If somebody chooses to sink, that's their choice. The truly helpless will get charity from traditional sources. We are a generous people.

Sorry for the long answer, but it's not simple, is it?

The Difference Between Iraq and Vietnam

• Vietnam was a single nation/people artificially divided by armistice. Iraq is not.
• The US strategy in Vietnam was a holding action. In Iraq it is victory through total liberation.
• Vietnam was a surrogate war against Peer/Near-Peer opponents. Iraq is not.
• The insurgent combatants in Vietnam were primarily Vietnamese. In Iraq they are foreigners; Syrians, Saudis, Jordanians and others.
• Communist Socialism was popularly thought viable during the Vietnam era. Radical Islam is not.
• There are no drafted US personnel in Iraq. 100% volunteers
• Iraq has huge reserves of natural resources to collaterize it's needs.
• During Vietnam, the media had the ability to control the information sphere.

If you have more, I'll add them.

African-American HIV Rate Doubles

And it's caused by everything except irresponsible behavior.

Researchers and AIDS prevention advocates attributed the high rate among blacks to such factors as drug addiction, poverty and poor access to health care.

Poverty can cause you to get HIV.
Drug Addiction can cause you to get HIV.
Poor Access to health care can cause you to get HIV.

This is a pack of lies meant to blame society for a disease that is primarily spread by risky behaviors. It's meant to shape the information sphere to separate you from your money. It's a victimism play.

No one ever got HIV from an empty wallet.
No one ever got HIV from a clean needle or a snort of coke.
No one ever got HIV from not going to the doctor. And the only thing a Doctor can prescribe to keep an infected person from infecting someone else is a fatal dose of poison.

I'm not heartless. I truly feel for people that get this dreadful disease from a blood transfusion, dental procedure or some other unpredictable situation. But I have no inclination to buy expensive drugs for someone that plays the HIV lottery and loses.

The angle is to spend enough of your money to find a cure and eliminate the consequences of the risky behaviors.
Just like abortion. A convenient way out of the situation. What they don't explain is that if HIV were eradicated, the same behaviors still spread Hepatitis, other STD's and what ever else blood-borne illnesses.

But according to this article, behaviors have nothing to do with it. It's drug addiction, poverty and poor access to health care.

Whaddaya say suckers? Are ya gonna pay the freight?

Memo to Everyone...

Our lives lose value if we do everything and enjoy nothing.

Once in awhile, do less and enjoy it more.

You know who you are...

Ward Churchill - Hypocrite, Vandal, Coward and Liar,

Ward Churchill is on the record advocating destruction of public and private property and commission of terrorist acts. "To what end?" one might ask.

Destruction of Western Culture? The same western culture that fuels that university that pays his wages? What culture besides western culture would pay his wages? The Chinese? - - Numba Ten Fat Chance, they'd execute him. The Arabs? Not! Africa? With what? This hypocrite advocates destruction of the only culture in the history of the world that would pay him to spout his lunacy.

As petty revenge for civil fines, he claims to damage public property. He destroys things that you and I pay for. He is not getting revenge against the state or the system, he inflicts his damage on "the people." He is a vandal. The same people that he harms, not only fund the institution that pays his wages, they also have to clean up his damage.

He does not engage in terrorism, he is an impotent westernized version of a "Blind Sheik" that incites others to die for his cause. If he truly believes what he spouts, he doesn't personally act on it. Is he an elitist that believes that he's too valuable to die for his cause, or he is a coward who is afraid to act on his belief. Maybe both. Hypocrite and Coward.

No Native (hyphenated) American heritage. Not no way, not no "How." He's been spouting that line of crap for so long that he believes it. But no one else does. Liar.

Ward Churchill is a lucky man. He's lucky for two reasons. One - He doesn't move in the same circles that I do. Which makes it unlikely that our paths will cross at random. And Two - He's more valuable to the right as he is. He's a perfect example of why the left isn't trusted with control of the government anymore. He and Michael Moore are priceless to us.

Subtract It From What You Owe Us

Apparently the same Germans who required two ass kickings in the first half of the last century followed by millions of dollars and 45 years of economic and security assistance, now feel entitled to compensation for the inconvenience and economic loss caused by security measures taken during President Bush's visit to Mainz.

I did 3 tours in Germany. One during the Cold War; Reagan was President and Pershing II missiles were the hot issue. 100,000 Americans were stationed there. I was there when the wall came down. Democracy was on a roll and West Germans were terrified of the cost of unification with their socialist cousins. I was there for Bosnia-Kosovo. The Europeans didn't lift a finger until the Yanks took the lead.

When we'd land at a German airport and were obligated to pay landing fees, it would be charged off against the war debt. As far as I know, they still owe us. The Marshall Plan and Cold War security don't come into that.

OK we'll pay for your inconvenience. Compensate us for the expenditures under the Marshall Plan and don't forget to compound that at a modest rate, say, 6% per year.

By one estimate, the cost of Marshall Plan to the United States was approximately $13 billion over four years or approximately about 1.5 per cent of the American Gross National Product.

Across 55 years the $13Billion would double to $26B then $52B then $104B.

So as soon as you Germans come up with the rest of the war debt and your share of the $104 Billion, subtract what we owe you from what you owe us. We'll be waiting for the bank wire.

Your mind...is a terrible thing.

Objective discrimination is good. It is a process of separating things on the basis of measurable characteristics. It might also be separating that which has value from that which doesn't. Discrimination is a mental activity.

Arbitrary or random discrimination is not good. This is discrimination that has no basis in value or purpose. This is a component of chaos.

What's the point of this? It is your nervous system that discriminates. Nerves - Senses - Brain. No matter how menial the task, it is your brain that makes the action of your muscles useful. The brain tells the muscles how to place the shovel so as to dig a straight trench. The fast food server translates your words into an order on a computer screen and gives you the change. The aircraft pilot is in a constant loop of sensory-decision-motor skill activity.

If you were put to work on a treadmill to generate power and were paid market rates, you might be able to earn a dollar or so per day. As an "unskilled" laborer, you might get minimum wage or a little above. That difference is because of the expectation that your brain can discriminate and make decisions that produce or protect value.
A high priced lawyer might make $400 per hour. You can bet that he's producing value or protecting it if someone's paying him that much.

If you are making your living with your body, you are screwing up. It’s your mind that makes your muscles worth a damn.

Your mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Great Storms...

Great Storms announce themselves with a single breeze.

I heard on Fox today that a group of Iraqi civilians detained some insurgents (terrorists) that were setting up roadside IEDs and called in the Iraqi Police. The terrorists were arrested.

They have their own people enforcing the law. They've had elections and no serious authority suspects the outcome. They want Peace, Prosperity and Rule of Law. This is going to snowball as long as we don't have anymore huge embarrassments.

I've searched the web frantically for the story but can't find it. A permanent link to the person who can.

Million Dollar Baby

Clint Eastwood has produced and directed a masterpiece of cinema. But unlike so many films that garner the love of the critics, it not a film about the virtues of sleaze, narcissism, crime or the demise of virtue. It is a simple and moving film about hope, courage and the overwhelming power of will. It shows the ways that love can both cripple and redeem us. And it sends you away remembering that what you get is determined by what you're willing to pay.

Life isn't about the amount of breaths in your life, it's about the amount of life in your breaths.

No film is loved by everyone. If you don't like boxing, stay home. If you don't want to watch the agony of imperfect people making the best of imperfect lives, stay home. If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch. Because this film is one of the big dogs. And I mean that in the best possible way.

This film reminds of us of an important truth. Sacrifice is the road to glory.

Write that down. It's important.

Now They're Really, Really, Really, Mad.

Zawahiri has issued another warning. They've had all they can stand and they can't stand no more. They're going to kill some more infidels.

Thanks for the news flash. And when was the last time they weren't focused on killing infidels? 13 Centuries ago? Perhaps we don't understand their culture very well. I'll admit that, but they don't understand ours very well either.

You can lull westerners into ignoring dangers by singing sweet songs of peace and disarmament, but you can't threaten us into submission. Send your soccer team, we'll kick their ass. Send your armies, we'll roll across them. Send your terrorists, we'll hunt them down and lock them up. The few that actually do damage will just steel our resolve.

Bring it on punk. Send all your punks. We enjoy the target practice. Snap. Thud. Crack. Snap. Thud. Crack (The snap is supersonic bullet going through the skull of the guy next to you. The thud is the body hitting the ground. Then you hear the rifle.) Snap. Thud. Crack. It's a beating rhythm. It's the beating of your ass. This beating continues until you hide out of range in the mountains of Pakistan.

Here our differences are made clear. You have a cultural attachment to having your ass kicked. You're good at it. You've had lots of practice. We have a cultural attachment to being the best at everything. We're good at it. We like kicking ass. It's kind of a hobby. Our two cultures have this whole Yin-Yang thing going on - don't they?

A man who is hiding for his life and doesn't dare show his face is threatening us. Excuse us if we don't just abandon our western ways and submit to your backward culture and your oppressive religion. The only people that are afraid of you are your women. But we'll make you a deal. Select a couple of surrogates to present a reasonable plan for detente with the west and we'll consider that proposal in exchange for the surrender of You, Bin Laden, and Mullah Omar.

No? You think you want to escalate? OK. We'd like to escalate too. You knocked down a couple of skyscrapers and killed 3,000. We've done regime change in two countries by force and a half dozen others through incremental reforms. You are pinned into a wilderness and we've increased our spank in your backyard.

You can't imagine how much we've improved our techniques in the last few years. We need a place to test them. Name the place, punk.

Follow the Money

About 5 years ago, former liberal and talk radio personality Michael Medved wrote a book about the profitability of PG and PG-13 rated movies compared with R rated movies. When you look down the list of the most profitable movies in history, Passion of the Christ is the only one in the top 10. Matrix Reloaded, Beverly Hills Cop, The Exorcist and Saving Private Ryan make 5 in the top 50.

It appears that the free market is working. Hollywood is making less R rated films. It seems they've decided that putting butts in seats is more important than making movies that meet their definition of art. Could the opinion of the consumer be more important than that of the producers and directors?

Can you imagine the crass commercialism of it? To make movies that people want to see instead of art? I'm so disappointed. Those scurvy corporate sellouts. How will we live without 50 movies a year that have the F-word as the centerpiece of dialogue? How will we continue to procreate without graphic portrayals to show us how? And how will we sleep at night without bloody visions of gratuitous violence to tuck us in?

Over 30 years, the complaints from politicians, social scientists, religious leaders and parents didn't make a dent. But leave a trail of dollars and these swine will follow like vultures after roadkill. (Oops! mixing metaphores) Those principles of artistic integrity go down the tubes to satisfy the corporate greed they publicly disdain.

You hear me? I'm talking to YOU! You've taken your first step. Now admit it to yourself that you are capitalists. Stop spouting that socialist crap and become part of the solution.

Tort Reform

President Bush just signed legislation that changes the way civil litigation is handled. It is designed to do one thing. It is designed to increase your standard of living.

Here's how. Since no one in America starves to death except as the outcome of a malicious act, quality of life in this nation is not at the subsistence level. The poor in America have television sets. In the rare case that homelessness is the outcome of unearned hardship, it is usually brief. If you are willing to get up in the morning and go to work, you will have a watertight roof over your head at night. I point this out because we are not a nation of hunter-gatherers and dirt farmer scratching at the ground with sticks in order to eke out our subsistence. Subsistence is assured. (even for the indigent)

Since we are beyond subsistence, material goods and technologies determine quality of life. Technologies and goods that allow us to do things faster, to multi-task, or automate the mundane leave us free to work on relationships, spiritual health, entertainments and leisure. Together all of these things enhance quality of life.

Junk lawsuits do not punish corporations. They punish consumers. The hated CEO or business owner does not roll over and decide to operate his business at a loss because he loses a lawsuit. He just raises prices. He hires lawyers to write long-winded disclaimers and waivers and he passes those costs on to you. He does not pay his legal costs. You pay his legal costs when you buy his product. Twenty Percent of the cost of a ladder and 50% of the cost of a football helmet.

New nuance to an old phrase: It's the Cost of Doing Business. You just keep raising the price. If your product is as good as the competition, he's going to have the same cost. You both have to pay it.

Whether the ladder comes with a 19 page safety instruction boooklet or not, people fall off ladders and get hurt. They get hurt because mass bends time-space which causes an effect known as gravity. The victim didn't need a 19 page safety booklet to tell him about gravity. He knew enough about gravity to know he needed a ladder because every time he tried to levitate to that necessary height, gravity kept pulling him back down. Hard. Fast. Unforgivingly. Gravity causes impacts. Impacts can be dangerous. Buying a ladder is an implied statement ", I need something to allow access to a place that I will fall from because of the effect of mass on time-space. Therefore, I am buying this 20 foot telescoping vertical bridge across time-space.

Football is dangerous. Bodies running around as fast as they can in a confined space. The intent is to control the momentum and position of an oblongated pneumatic device of animal hide. This requires impact. A clue would be the fact that people wear pads and helmets for this activity. Armor. They wear armor. But no armor is impenetrable. No armor will protect you from the Magic BB. Ask any pilot, soldier or the captain of the Titanic. Dale Earnhardt's death was from a Magic BB. So was that Formula 1 driver, Ayrton Senna. Objects moving in a confined space collide. Impacts can be dangerous. Buying a football helmet is an implied statement. "I intend to run as fast as I can at an oncoming human being and attempt to stop him with my body."

Like guns, ladders and football helmets do not maim people. Impacts maim people. When you go up a ladder time-space is storing energy for your descent. When you take off from the line of scrimmage, you are in an energy state. If you bleed off the energy slowly, you'll be fine, but if the earth or someone else bleeds it off all at once, you could get hurt.

Junk lawsuits are a way of attempting to shift the unintended consequences of one's actions to someone who was providing a product, service or convenience that you chose to employ. But they do not shift the cost to the merchant or manufacturer. They shift the cost to the next consumer. And that next consumer is you.

By making it easier to defend against junk lawsuits and harder for people to make you pay for the unintended consequences of their own activities, GWB just increased your standard of living. Unless you are a parasite lawyer.

This reform will not protect firms or people that are guilty of egregious negligence or conspiracy. But it will protect you and I from filling the pockets of sycophant lawyers and their irresponsible clients.

Important Instructions for Handling Human Beings

It's easier to think you know what someone else wants, than it is to know what someone else wants.

It's easier to think you know what someone else needs, than it is to know what someone else needs.

It's easier to think you know what someone else should do, than it is to know what someone else should do.

When tempted to muck around in the lives of others, two things to remember: Don't shoot from the hip and always use a light touch. Precision and finesse.

It is plans and dreams that shape human action. Use precision and finesse when you are allowed to help someone organize their plans and dreams. You are shaping their life.

How Much is a Story Worth?

The debit card readers were out of order when I stopped for gas on Pennsylvania Avenue a couple of days ago. I went inside to let them run the card and when I came out I was approached by a wreck of a human being with a big smile on his face.

Excuse me, sir. I'd like to get something to eat. Can I pump your gas for you?

If you've read this blog much, you know I'm not an advocate of the undeserving poor. I noticed that he did not beg, but offered to perform a service for remuneration.

I can give you a couple of bucks to get something to eat...

He didn't take the bait.

No sir, I'm not going to take your money if you don't let me pump the gas.

What could I say?

OK, you got it. Go ahead and fill er' up.

My name is Shorty and I've fallen on some tough times recently. But I know how to deal with tough times. You just gotta keep on keepin' on.

Yeah, that's all you can do.

He chatted on for a bit, waiting for the automatic shutoff to fire. Finally, he pauses for a moment and looks me straight in the eye.

I'm gonna ask you an important question. You'll think it's easy, but it's not. I'm positive you'll get the answer wrong. So think about it before you answer.

OK, what's the question?

What is the greatest nation on God's green earth?

This nation, the United States of America.

Nope, That's not it. It's a good answer but it's not the greatest nation.

He timed it perfectly. He finished pumping the gas, put the nozzle back on the pump and put the gas cap back on my trusty bimmer. I fell right in to his trap.

OK you tell me, Shorty. What's the greatest nation on earth, then?

He winked and held out his hand.

The greatest nation is a do-nation!

If he'd taken the money without pumping the gas, I would have given him a couple of bucks. I laughed and gave him a fiver. A good story is worth at least that much.

The Majik 8 Ball Predicts...

The Majik 8 Ball predicts that Howard Dean is not the DNC Chairman on 31 Dec 2005. I know this is bold. I know I might have to eat crow. I just can't miss the opportunity to be the first.

This buffoon just makes me cringe. He makes Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton seem as "establishment" as Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson. How he lasted as a governor (even in Vermont) escapes me. The fact he got elected as the chief executive of a state frightens me. Within the last couple of weeks, he's grabbed great headlines with his proclamation of hate for Republicans and his charitable identification of people of color with low paying service industry jobs.

News flash for Howard. Republicans don't care how you feel... or feel about them and if Fair Skinned Elitist Democrats had any sense, they wouldn't either.
However "people of color" everywhere should be outraged. In one statement he summed up the last 40 years of shallow liberal condescension. "I... Howard Dean hereby allocate all people of color to the Hotel Staffing wing of the Democratic Party."

Howard, if you are is as good a physician as you are a politician, it's good that you don't practice. If I were a past patient of yours, I'd schedule myself for one of those full body scans to look for medical paraphernalia you might have misplaced.

I predict the treatment will do more damage than the ailment. I wonder if the bill GWB signed today will bar the DNC from suing you for malpractice.

McCarthyism - McCarthyisn't

I am a McCarthyist. I'm proud of it. I believe in tracking down and prosecuting America's enemies both foreign and domestic.

Senator Joseph McCarthy has been slandered and libeled by the left as some sort of intolerant Nazi for the past 50 years. The reality is that he was relentless in hunting down and prosecuting spies and traitors in the Dept of War/Defense/State. He was in the Senate, which means he had nothing to do with the Hollywood 10, the House Un-American Activities Committee or blacklisting. He had nothing to do with the most famous event of McCarthyism.

Nixon was hated by the left because he also prosecuted spies, traitors and other leftists. He got the conviction against Alger Hiss. The left insisted that Alger Hiss was innocent. What the left hasn't told you is that the NSA was decrypting Soviet cables under a program called Venona and insiders to the intelligence knew that Alger Hiss was guilty. If you ever thought the left took particular pleasure in taking down Nixon, this is the reason. He prosecuted the darlings of the left.

Venona proved Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were guilty too but there are scores of wonderful print accounts of the innocence of Julius and Ethel. The Soviets had front organizations print handbills to protest their innocence. They were just innocent victims of intolerance who were passing atomic secrets to the Soviets. The periodic protestations of their innocence stopped when Venona was declassified, ending the discussion for good.

Even though McCarthy was fully vilified by the time he died, he was given requiem mass and substantial official recognition in Washington. I suspect that it was because the insiders knew that he had sacrificed his name, prestige and comfort to hunt down America's enemies. He sacrificed his name on the alter of national defense. He was right, the perps were guilty, and the insiders knew they were guilty, but the best evidence couldn't be used because the Soviets would know that their mail was being deciphered.

The thing we call McCarthyism was persecuting non-government employed civilians for their political beliefs. McCarthy wasn't there. So from now on I will call it McCarthyisn't

McCarthy prosecuted government employees that were betraying their country. And I shall practice McCarthyism any time I have the chance.

Behaviors of Success Pt III

Sometimes liberals and other victimists assert that the poor in America and elsewhere can't break out of poverty because the lack of resources stacks the system against them.

Oh yeah? How come "resource rich" Africa is in the economic toilet, and resource deprived Japan is one of the G7?

Could it have to do with a stable economic environment, the rule of law and behaviors of investment?

Success has little to do with what you start with and plenty to do with what you do with it. Write that down. I ought to be famous for saying it.

A hundred and fifty years ago the Japanese decided they were going to infuse western productivity into their culture. Even in light of the recent tough years, Japan overcame its shortage of material resources by developing it's intellectual and labor resource.

Don't stand around and complain about what you don't have. Do something with what you have.

Wow! There I go again.

A Homeless Shelter Maybe... But A Nuclear Submarine?

The latest and last Seawolf Class Nuclear sub will be named afterJimmy Carter. I don't get it. I was in the military when he was dismantling us in the face of an overwhelming Soviet threat. I remember being told that if the Soviets bolted across the Fulda Gap, we'd get our asses pinned against the English Channel if the reinforcements didn't arrive in time. (I also remember the leftists telling us that the "march" of Leninist Socialism was inevitable.) I remember "national malaise", the misery index and 13% inflation. During the 1980 Presidential Campaign Ronald Wilson Reagan said:

A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And a recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.*

Jimmy went on to headline for Habitat for Humanity - a worthwhile charity that I support. One that makes the recipients invest time and effort in construction as part of the program.
Jimmy qualified in Nuke Subs. Perhaps he spent too much time thinking about nuclear firestorms. But the fact is that he became a big wuss about defense. Who knows where we'd be today if he'd won in 80'. Probably boycotting the Olympics over the Soviet annexation of Japan.
He gave us peace in the Middle East through the Camp David Accords, a Nuclear North Korea through a technology for empty promises deal (our technology, their empty promises) and a pungent Caribbean dish called "Haiti Aristide"

Perhaps we should christen it The Jimmy Carter Home for the Incontinent.

Hoo-Hah!

*The Reagan economy ran like a street racer for almost 20 years. One or two contracting quarters in 18 years from 1983 to 2001.

A Cool Little Song

Before I had wrinkles, I used to seek out undiscovered artists to listen to something different than everyone else. This cool little tune called "Then I'll Really Love You" is the kind of thing that would have caught my ear. Not polished enough to take all the natural edge out of it and irreverent enough to be rejected by average sheeple. She's a Manhattanite Artist so you'll have to ignore her blind leftist politics while you have a listen.

Crouching Communist, Paper Dragon

Is China ready to do a nosedive like Japan? Interesting article here. It might be a good time to take a little off of the table if you've been investing in China. Especially if you got your clock cleaned in 2001. China has not learned all the lessons of capitalism yet. We went through a score of serious boom-bust cycles before we instituted an effective central banking system to take the edge off. Their money controls and lending practices are politically driven. This should scare your yen out of the yin-yang exchange.

Republican Dreams Come True

Howard Dean is the chairman of the DNC. Let us give thanks. May God bless them and keep them, as far from the political center as possible.
He met with "valued" Democratic constituency groups today. What do these constituency groups have in common? Here's the list. See if you can find the subtle thread.

• The "gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender victims of a racist, sexist, homophobe nation run by rich white guys" group
  
• The "african-american victims of a racist, sexist, homophobe nation run by rich white guys" group
  
• The "hispanic-american victims of a racist, sexist, homophobe nation run by rich white guys" group
  
• The "female victims of a racist, sexist, homophobe nation run by rich white guys" group
  
• The "downtrodden worker victims of a racist, sexist, homophobe nation run by rich white guys" group

Find a person that creates an identity crafted around victim status that believes the solution to all problems is activism and legislation, I'll show you a liberal. 100% of the time.

Find a person that thinks the world is a complex but wonderful place where the right behaviors will normally get you what you earn, and I'll show you someone that's a conservative. Perhaps not always, but 95% of the time.

I've never seen victimhood inspire, Listen to King's "I have a Dream" Speech. The title rings with optimism. It opens like a rumble and finishes like an earthquake. It's not about victimhood. It's about opportunity.

If you moderate Democrats aren't terrified, you should be. You just elected Bozo the Clown as trail boss of your wagon train as you head into the wilderness. Go Howard, Go! You know where you want to take the party. The Republicans are rooting for you too.

Leftward Ho!

Just in Time for Easter

Mel Gibson will please new audiences with a re-edited and less brutal version of The Passion of the Christ in time for the Easter holiday. I found the original film profoundly moving but considered it to be more than my wife would be comfortable with. As such, she missed both the beauty and brutality of it. Mr Gibson is one of the few in Hollywood that understands that audiences are not homogenous. The submission of his masterpiece to the editors' knife was something I'm sure he painfully considered. He made a good choice. He serves those that felt compelled to forego the film due to personal sensitivities about violence and/or their feelings for the Christ.

Perhaps they that abhor violence and love the Christ so much that they were unwilling to see the original deserve the film more than any other group. After all, that's what He wants from us.

War Should be Expensive

War is not a good thing. Sometimes war is a necessity to protect liberty and value, but it does not create value. It destroys life and value, AKA "blood and treasure".
It is expensive for the population that loses in both blood and treasure. For this reason, war should be expensive for the victor also. When it is expensive, reasonable parties will explore other options first. If it is not expensive enough, then it becomes too convenient an option. As we evolve toward unmanned combat systems, I fear for what it may bode.

Cheap, easily employed, unmanned systems will reduce the cost of war and shift the burden of casualties. It will not be the soldier that is the casualty of war. It will be the civilian. These tools will allow the decimation of the defenseless with little or no risk of cost to the attacker.

Economics 101. If something is handy and cheap, it will be common.

Be careful what you wish for.

Valentines Day is Abhorrent

According to Religious Leaders of the Holy Kingdom and India, Valentine's Day is abhorrent. Let that soak in...

A celebration of love and romance is banned. Can any of our multi-culturist friends tell me why we should be tolerant of a culture that is intolerant of love and romance?

The value of a thing is the relationship between its cost and what it gives in return. What does Islam deliver that is worth such a cost? I am waiting for an answer. I expect I'll wait a long time.

The Islamists want to install a world-wide Caliphate. They want you to submit, convert or die. Until the Leftist Kooks (Ward Churchill, George Soros) can explain why they think murderous zealots are not the problem but Western Culture is, they will not be allowed near the controls of government.

Phony Indian Uprising at Credibility Gap

Ann Coulter takes Ward Churchill to task in her weekly column (Sitting BullS**t) and does a fine job of it, so this won't take long.

What I've seen missing in descriptions of this whole affair is that the University of Colorado is supposed to be an institution of learning. This means that statements of fact require support before being accepted as "science". Perhaps this is why Gay, Womens and Native American Studies' are "studies" instead of "science". There's little or no "science" involved.

Native American tribal registrars deny the validity of Ward Churchill's claims of Native American ancestry. His claims of combat duty are unsupported. So are his comparisons of 9/11 victims to "little Eichmanns."

Do you know who Eichmann was? He was the maliciously effective executive behind Hitler's "Final Solution". He crafted an efficient genocide of Jews for the "Third Reich". He actively supervised the design of the holocaust. He had malice.

Perhaps Amerika is not doing everything we could to sustain ignorant and useless cultures around the globe. Maybe we aren't shipping enough of our wealth to the penniless masses who produce nothing, invent nothing and contribute nothing. Maybe we just don't care enough about cultures that can't feed themselves. I know I don't. I am not a multiculturalist. I measure cultures the same way I measure everything else, by comparing it's output to it's input. I care about the people, but I don't hold myself accountable for their culture. If I sustain them I perpetuate a useless culture that is a plague upon the people that carry it. I become complicit in their hardship.

I am apathetic toward people that insist on perpetuating backward, oppressive, nepotistic, misogynistic useless cultures. Just like an addict, the way out is by bottoming out. Once they bottom out, they start to make changes. Examples: 19th century Japan, the 20th century Soviet Union and Post WWII Europe, 21st Century China, India and Pakistan, Ireland, Malaysia.

Yes, there is much support for the theory that poverty is rooted in culture. Therefore, I am apathetic.

But apathy and malice are two different things. The Regents of UC should be using their spank to teach Ward Churchill the difference.

Ward Churchill is a liar. He is an opportunist. He is a vulture that has made a living claiming to be something he isn't.
He's "whitey", pretending to be a "hyphenated" american, a pacifist pretending to be a combat veteran and a nit-wit pretending to be a man of learning.

A man of learning? From what I can tell, he hasn't learned anything.

Hoo-Hah!

A Dangerous Development

The story of a new strain of HIV is not good news. Last I heard, it took about 8 weeks for an infected person to show positive on an HIV test. That time may have since reduced by better testing, but it must still take some time. This new strain of HIV goes to work killing it's victims almost as soon as it could possibly be detected.

It will pass to faithful spouses from wandering mates.
It could find use as a lethal weapon by some bitter victims.
It will be a scourge upon the poor, gays and the sexually adventurous.

I don't wish it on anyone. I don't approve of high risk behaviors, but I don't wish it on anyone.

Better and Betterer

First, Dan Rather. Now, Eason Jordan

It's wonderful that we've gotten to the point where "The Press", the sanctified fourth estate that holds itself to be the final check and balance on government, is held to the same standard that they apply to Republicans. That is, if you screw up - we will hound you out of your job.

Now if we could just get into the banks of Hollywood.

Hoo-Hah!

Dinner Plans

To the liberal buddy's house for dinner tonight.

This means that:

Food will be good
Open and honest political discussion will be forbidden
Show tunes will be on the stereo or "Friends" will be on TV
I'll come home covered in cat hair.

It's nothing like my Bachelor Residence:

Food Sucks
Political Discussion is Brutal
Classic Movies or Classic Music
I shed on myself

Hoo-Hah!

The Liberal Spin Machine...

The Lib Spin machine is actively propagandizing against Social Security Reform. I stepped out of the Pentagon for lunch today and was accosted by leaflet-eers on the street. "Bush is destroying Social Security" quothe they.

I said: "I want reform. I want the money to go into an account with my name on it!"

The Response: "But Bush is Lying"

I said: "The Democrats have been lying to me about Social Security all my life- it's the Republicans turn.

They were speechless.

Hoo-Hah!

Ronald Reagan Stamp

From "The Therapist"

Washington--House Democrats today took the occasion of the Postmaster General's unveiling of the new, Ronald Reagan commemorative postage stamp to demand "a stamp that tell the other side of things," going so far as to deliver a protoype "anti stamp" for illustrative purposes.

An aged but undaunted Nancy Reagan unveiled the new presidential stamp today at a ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, in Simi Valley, Ca., and seemed nonplussed by all the hoopla.

"Let them say what they want, " she said. "The American people would have re-elected Ronnie's stamp before they would've elected John Kerry. They just need to get over it, and accept the facts."

Get the rest here.

Zawahiri's Hypocrisy

Osama been Hiden's right-hand man has reportedly released a tape that contained the following:

Liberty as construed by the Americans was based on "usurious banks, giant companies, misleading media outlets and the destruction of others for material gain," charged the voice in the recording aired by Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera.

Are there some Muslim "non-usurious" banks? I'd like to apply for an interest free loan, please. Yeah, we all know the fiscal generosity of the Arabs, Persians and Pashtuns. They're famous for it.

The evils of giant companies? What would you know about it? Except that the Mercedes that carries your useless ass is built by a giant company.

Misleading Media Outlets? You have Al Jazeera, we have CNN. Not sure which is worse? Neither am I. You have one point.

Destruction of others for material gain? The #1 cash crop of the Taliban was Opium for illegal traffic. Hypocrisy.

This moron has no idea of how the world works, but it makes him sick that he isn't in charge. If these lunatics get their way, it's back to the dark ages for all of us. Mud huts and filthy water for all.

Hey Morons! You cannot have the comforts generated by production without intellectual freedom. Islam is the enemy of intellectual freedom. It needs a reformation. Now.

People Do What They Do...

As I've said before: People do what they do because they want what they want. In this little story, it goes to about 3 levels. Read on.

Jack wakes up at home with a huge hangover he can't believe. He forces himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins next to a glass of water on the side table. And, next to them, a single red rose!

Jack sits up and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed.

Jack looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotlessly clean. So is the rest of the house. He takes the aspirin, cringes when he sees a huge black eye staring back at him in the bathroom mirror, and notices a note on the table: "Honey, breakfast is on the stove, I left early to go shopping--Love you!"

He stumbles to the kitchen and sure enough, there is hot breakfast and the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table, eating.

Jack asks, "Son...what happened last night?"

"Well, you came home after 3 A.M. Drunk out of your mind. You broke some furniture, puked in the hallway, and got that black eye when you ran into the door."

"So, why is everything in such perfect order, so clean, I have a rose, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me?"

His son replies, "Oh THAT! ... Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off, you screamed, "Leave me alone, lady, I'm married!"

Broken furniture - $85.26
Hot Breakfast - $4.20
Red Rose bud -$3.00
Two Aspirins -$.38

Saying the right thing, at the right time.........Priceless.

Why does she do what she does? Because she sees what she wants. She wants a man that will honor her even when blind drunk.

Why does he honor her even when he's blind drunk? Because she makes it worthwhile to him.

If you aren't getting what you want, is it because you aren't earning it?

Hoo-Hah!

Things to Do Today

Today would be a good day to recommend a favorite post from this blog to a friend. Traffic fell off a little today and I'd like y'all to work on fixing that. The way I see it, we've divvied up the responsibilities and I got the writing job and you got the reading job. If ya don't wanna post a comment, pointing someone at the site would be the next best thing.

Also, when I looked at the domain counter, navy.mil was beating af.mil and army.mil for percent of traffic. I would hope that Air Force and Army readers aren't going to let that stand.

Yes, I have my sign out: "Will Work for Site Traffic and Comments."

Hoo-Hah!

The Source of Power and the Road to Victory

Ultimately, power (political, diplomatic, economic, military, and industrial) originates in ideas and concepts and is exercised through the utility and control of those ideas and concepts.

In other words, it is the intellect of man that gives man domain over the earth* (and other men).

On the industrial and military side, it's the stronger metal, the faster jet, the more powerful engine, the deeper oil well, the more accurate lathe, and so on. On the political and economic side, it's domestic tranquility, rule of law and a stable structure for commerce that allows the formation of power. Diplomatic power is the ability to wield the others to obtain results externally.

You can either choose to be part of the empowered or part of the controlled - there is no third path.

No matter how you slice it - the best ideas and concepts always win in the end. And the people who control and use those concepts end up in charge. It just takes longer when you have stupid people blocking progress.

When you put your good ideas to work, you are part of the winning side.

Hoo-Hah!



*Theists will assert that God gave man his intellect and thereby gave him domain. I typically stay away from the theistic view because I like pillaging the the liberal viewpoint on their own terrain. I'll not give them refuge from their stupidity simply because they don't accept the premise of a universal determinant of good and evil.

If Eason Jordan Were Right...

And we were intentionally targeting journalists, would it be a bad thing?

I know that sounds bad, but hear me out.

As any student of war can tell you, wars are won in the mind of your enemy as much as on the battlefield. Because of this, there is an aspect of military operations known as Information Warfare. INFORMATION IS A WEAPON!

When a journalist with a political agenda fails to tell the whole story or slants the story toward one side or the other, it is the use of an information weapon. In times where the conflicting populations are united against each other, it has negligible effect. But in the current war it's different. This is a highly divisive war, both in the US and in Iraq as well as Europe. What would Iraq be like today if all the good news was broadcast as effusively as the bad news? What if Al-Jazeera was supporting the US effort and reconstruction? (but also telling the full truth)

Arguably, there would be less resistance, less anti-Americanism, more security, more Iraqi willingness to step up and more international help. You can argue that the press that wanted a broader coalition is actively helping the forces that are keeping it from happening. By providing coverage and encouragement to the insurgency, they are also costing American lives.

I repeat: There are Anti-American attitudes in the press that are costing American Soldiers their lives.

Under the Law of Armed Conflict, you can engage almost anyone on the battlefield that has a weapon unless they are trying to surrender. However, our current rules of engagement don't permit it unless there some hostile intent in most situations.

Let's see; "A person on the battlefield with the ability to employ an information weapon designed to cause the US to fail in Iraq." Sounds like a legal target to me. "All enemies, foreign and domestic". I know our troops would never do this nor would the leadership condone it but a shot at Michael Moore would tempt all of us.

In the 21st century battlespace, a hostile reporter can do the campaign more harm than a hundred nit-wits with suicide vests.

But Eason Jordan is a vacuous morally vacant product of liberalism. He believes what he wants to believe in spite of the evidence. (or lack of it)

Move him to the top of the Target List just in case we get the green light.
See Day By Day to see why CNN reporters are safer than the others.

Hoo-Hah!

With A Sunrise Like This...

the day should have gone better.

The only the bright side? Something to measure other days by.

But there WAS a remarkable sunrise.

If I didn't Know You, I'd be Confused

The Illegal U.S. Occupation of Iraq is a War crime and a Sin
War is NOT the ANSWER/Thou Shalt Not Kill/Love Your Enemies

I do have some questions.
If war is not the answer, what IS the answer when someone kills 3000 and destroys billion$$$ of property?
If war is not the answer, why didn't we leave Milosevic alone?
How should we have dealt with Hitler?
Was Abraham Lincoln a war criminal?
Was Clinton's "UN-sanctionless" bombing of Kosovo legal? I don't think Milosevic thought so.
Is Bill Clinton a war criminal?
Should we get our troops out of Iraq but leave them in Bosnia and Kosovo?
If the UN denies sanction to your war, are you required to commit suicide to keep the other side from being war criminals?
If an illegal war is a sin, does that mean there is a God?
Are you breaching the separation of church and state?
Does that mean we can have prayer in school now?
Is there a Supreme Court ruling that sin is illegal?
Does that make gay behavior illegal?
Does that mean that the Boy Scouts can use public facilities?
Are we to love ALL our enemies?
How do you love someone with a explosive vest?
If they blow up should we love the pieces?
Is Howard Dean is supposed to love the Republicans?
Did you know that when translated directly from the Hebrew the translation is "Thou Shalt not Murder'?
Is abortion murder or killing? Because someone dies.
Do you know the difference between killing and murder? If I were to walk up to you and start murdering you one by one, a cop would come up and kill me in your defense. I would be a murderer, he would not. You are being protected by the threat of deadly force.

Do you see any hypocrisy in your intellectually, morally and philosophically bankrupt behavior?

Howard Dean Hates Me...

He hates Republicans.

Yanno?

I often hear the Donks throwing around the word "Hate." The refer to the Republicans as the Party of Hate. And the Republica Party of Newt Gingrich was trying to cut spending based on the Politics of Hate. There's just one problem with this: I rarely hear the word come out of a Republicans' mouth, and when it does, it's in the context of "we will not tolerate hate and bigotry."

Howard Dean Hates the Republicans. I do not hate the Democrats. I think the liberal wing of the party is whiny, shallow, and intellectually and morally bankrupt, but I do not hate them. I disapprove of specific behaviors. I don't hate anyone - I don't believe in it. I rarely use the word. I never use it to express my feelings. I don't like celery very much, but I don't hate it.

I admire the blue-collar working class Democrat of old that is part of the back-bone of America, but the party he or she believes in has been hijacked.

I think Barbra Streisand and Martin Sheen are nitwits. But I don't hate them. Michael Moore is a liar. But I don't hate him.

In George Orwell's 1984 - The ignorant masses of the socialist state must pour into the squares and streets for the "two minutes hate" to vent their anger at the mythical "Emmanuel Goldstein, enemy of the state".

In 2005, Howard Dean will lead the ignorant masses of the socialist party to vent their anger at a mythical party of hate that only exists in their minds. It will last until election 2006 and it will be known as the "Two Years Hate". It will do them no good.

The inspiration that comes from hate cannot overcome the inspiration that comes from love. And you can quote me on that.

A Gentle Voice.

Artful and poignant prose from a Physician. Allow me to introduce you to Dr. Charles. There's a permanent link to him on my sidebar too.

The Majesty that is the English Language Part II

More priceless nuggets, these from youngsters. I tried to find an originator to credit, but this thing is in about a million places on the web. Origin unknown.

Marriage in the Eyes of a Child

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY?

You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.
-- Alan, age 10

No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with.
-- Kirsten, age 10

WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?

Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then.
-- Camille, age 10

No age is good to get married at. You got to be a fool to get married.
-- Freddie, age 6 very wise for his age)

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?

You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids.
-- Derrick, age 8

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?

Both don't want any more kids.
-- Lori, age 8

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE

Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.
-- Lynnette, age 8 isn't she a treasure)

On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date.
-- Martin, age 10 wise beyond his years)

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR?

I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns.
-- Craig, age 9

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?

When they're rich.
-- Pam, age 7
The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that.
-- Curt, age 7

The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.
-- Howard, age 8 this one has very good morals)

IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?

I don't know which is better, but I'll tell you one thing. I'm never going to have sex with my wife. I don't want to be all grossed out.
-- Theodore, age 8

It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them.
-- Anita, age 9 bless you child)

HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?
There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?
-- Kelvin, age 8

And the #1 Favorite is........

HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?

Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck.
-- Ricky, age 10

The Source of Unwanted Consequences

It's never what you know, (conscious knowledge)
Rarely, it's what you don't know you know (unconscious knowledge)
Sometimes, it's what you know you don't know. (conscious ignorance)
Mostly, it's what you don't know you don't know (unconscious ignorance) that will hand you your ass every time.

If you want to avoid unwanted consequences, be aware of the gaps in your knowledge.

That includes the things you may believe that are patently false. As Ayn Rand urges us in "Atlas Shrugged:, "Check your premises".

Constantly.


More on "knowing what you don't know" in a post called Einstein's Puzzle

People Do What They Do...

Because they want what they want. As simple as that seems, it's enormously complex.

It's hard for Americans to comprehend that there are people who believe that a representative republic is an abomination before God. But the actual things that people want are shaped by environment and culture to a huge degree. Parents define value for the following generation. Islam teaches that there is no law except that given by Allah. This directly contravenes to the concept of a representative government.

Turkey, benefiting from an infusion of Western Culture that was absorbed by the Ottoman Empire, was the first Islamic country with a representative government. It has been difficult and at times precarious. Kemal Ataturk is revered within Turkey as the father of their country. He fused western values with Islamic traditions in a viable manner.

As a rule, most value systems are not very portable. Value systems define cultures and are the root of inter-cultural conflict. Colonial powers viewed indigenous peoples as inferior savages based on incompatible values. The spread of Christianity and Western Culture was not vicious, it was thought to be an elevation of a backward people.

Another example of a culture clash was when American GIs had to deal with the code of honor (Bushido) of the Japanese Soldier that demanded death rather than surrender. So foreign a concept. Battlefield chivalry went out the window. Bloody hell was the result.

If you want to change what people do, you have to change what they want. We did it to the Warsaw Pact with western goods; Sony Walkmans and Levi's 501s.

There will be no peace in Israel, until the Arabs use maps that show the State of Israel. As long as they want Israel to "Not Exist", there will be no peace.

There will be no peace in Iraq until those who want to restore a Ba'athist government are wiped out or driven to cower in fear.

When you see conflict, look for the objectives and trace those back to values. That's where it all starts.

I've tackled it in much greater length (11 pages) here.

Avoiding the Company of Unsavory Characters

During the mid-90's, the Donks blinded the CIA by banning the use of unsavory characters and groups as sources. It's a matter of congressional record. Bob Torricelli, assisted by Bill Clinton, and the rest of the Donks, laid the foundation for 9/11.
Bob Torricelli had to abort a Senate bid because one of his unsavory contributers got convicted. Bill Clinton knows about associating with unsavory characters too.

A System of Protections

A comment by a kook here, urges me to discuss this. The comment implies that a warrior is a form of parasite. It goes to the core of why the electorate no longer trusts Hilly, Teddy and Company with the defense of this nation.

He or she takes me to task for my years of service as that ate up all those tax dollars. I'll get to that in a minute.

Let me ask the kooks and nitwits:
What does a policeman get you?
Why put your money in a bank?
Why use a title company?
Do you lock your doors in New York City?
Why do we need the FDIC or the SEC? (Women's and Gay Studies Majors will probably need to look those up)
Courts, Judges and District Attorneys?
Jail Cells?

They are a set of measures that provides a system of protections. They cost money. They don't produce value, but they safeguard value. It's like that fancy alarm system at the bank. It's part of the "cost of doing business".

Unprotected valuables disappear because the vast majority of people are willing to relax the "Golden Rule" if there is a direct and immediate profit in it. Locks and banks keep honest people honest. Police, courts, and jails visit consequences upon the those that violate the sanctity of ownership. But unlike our society, some societies regard the use of force as the path to wealth. In these places, despots and tyrants gather power and then gather wealth. They do not create wealth, they steal it.

The system of protections needs to be sufficient for the value that is being protected. And since the United States of America is the biggest pile of wealth in the world, it needs a big system of protections.

Now, what did I do except eat up tax dollars?

I got up on about 6500 mornings and put the uniform on. I did physical training on half of those days. Hundreds of thousands of push-ups, sit-ups, stretching and strength exercises. Thousands of miles running and jogging. Hundreds of miles carrying a rucksack with 50-100 pounds in it. My knees, hips and back remind me of these things daily.

I jumped out of planes 5 miles up and fell for two minutes before opening the parachute. I stood in the back of a plane on a zero-moon night and jumped even though I knew that unseen obstacles on the drop zone could kill me.
I waded chest deep into an alligator infested swamp to recover a comrade that was lost.
I missed birthdays, anniversaries and holidays with my family, because I was halfway around the world.
I lost most of the hearing in one ear. The one that takes the brunt of the noise when I shoot.
I've lived away from my family for two years so my kids could stay in the same school and I could be where I was needed.
But I'm OK with these things. They left me ready and able to do things that average people cannot imagine. I trained dozens of troops to do the same.

And by participating in huge military exercises in Germany and Korea, we sent a message that making a withdrawal from our bank would cost more than the tyrants and despots could carry away.

What did the taxpayer get for his money? Another year with the "rule of law" and the "sanctity of contract". Reasonable people know that a system of protections is necessary to protect their valuables. If you run your mouth that those protections are the problem instead of the "cost of doing business", you alienate the folks that work hard to produce wealth and want to protect it.

Hilarious.

Go see this.

Then come back and thank me.

Hoo-Hah!

You Know an Insurgency is in Trouble When...

This Happens.

It's a good reason for the Second Amendment too.

Thanks to Beaker

Senator Kennedy May Be Right

Senator Kennedy's call for an exit strategy in the wake of Iraq's elections may have some merit. After all, having an exit strategy can save your ass if you lose control of the situation and find yourself sinking in a quagmire or a wind swept pond in Massachusetts. The police diver testified that young Mary Jo might have survived for as long as two hours breathing the air trapped in the car. I doubt it was longer than 15 or 20 minutes. But alas...poor Mary Jo (most certainly panicked and disoriented in the dark, inverted, and submerged car) didn't have an exit strategy.

Yes, Senator Kennedy IS right. It's important to have an exit strategy. Especially if you're mostly interested in saving your own ass.

Mary Jo probably spent her last minutes believing that she would be rescued. Certainly she knew of the legendary aquatic lifestyle of the Kennedy clan. Certainly he would be back any second. Certainly....Certainly...Cert...

Unfortunately, Kennedy is pro-choice and he chose to abort (the rescue attempt)

Sometimes saving your own ass is not the most important thing. Sometimes, it's best to go for the glory or die trying. He made the wrong choice in 1969.

It was 35 years ago last summer. Now Senator Kennedy would like to abort the opportunity for Iraq to become a stable democracy and change the dynamic of the entire Middle East.

35th Anniversary, maybe we should pitch in and buy him an Oldsmobile...

and a bottle of scotch.

Pleasing Everyone

In the e-mail today:

An old man and a young boy were traveling through their village with their donkey. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Later, they passed some people that remarked, "What a shame, he makes that little boy walk."They then decided they both would walk!

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey.

Now they passed some people that shamed them bysaying "how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey". The boy and man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and was swept away in the current.

The moral of the story?

Don't bother trying to please everyone, you'll just end up losing your ass.

Perpetuating Dominance

Picking up on this thread, it would be a really good idea for the US Congress to authorize a really big prize for each significant leap in energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Think of the impact if we were able to license everyone in the world clean energy at a quarter of the price of oil. What if a brilliantly designed house provided it's own energy half of the time?

In the industrial age, energy was cheap but manufacturing was labor intensive and expensive. Now it's reversed, What if we put ourselves to work building devices that are difficult to manufacture but unimaginably energy-smart. Things that represent the magnitude of leap we've made with micro-processors. What if we put ourselves another ten years out in front of everyone else?

We can change the value of oil two ways, increase the supply or reduce the demand. Increasing the supply doesn't seem easy or smart. But if we can change the value of oil, we can change the power and influence of those that control it.

And by owning the alternative, we continue to swing the biggest bat on the third ball from the sun.

The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Peter Drucker

Determine Your Economic Outlook

The world is a ___________ place. 1) complex, 2) challenging, 3) dismal, 4) brutal,

It’s brimming with ___________________. 1) opportunity, 2) competition, 3) conflict, 4) greed,

The origin of wealth is ________________. 1) production, 2) luck, 3) cheating the poor, 4) government programs,

Count up the digits in front of your answers,


3 - See you at the yacht club
4 or 5 - You've been studying
6 to 8 - You're missing something
9 to 12 - You have a future serving up trash in either the fast food industry or academia

25 Signs You Have Grown Up...

Just recieved by e-mail.

25 SIGNS YOU HAVE GROWN UP
1. Your houseplants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
5. You hear your favorite song on an elevator.
6. You watch the Weather Channel.
7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of hook up and break up.
8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."
10. You're the one calling the police because those %&@# kids next door won't turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
13. Your car insurance goes down and your payments go up.
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You no longer take naps from noon to 6 PM!
17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.
18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset rather than settle your stomach.
19. If you're a gal, you go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22. "I just can't drink the way I used to" replaces, "I'm never going to drink that much again."
23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.
24. You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY

25. You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't apply to you and can't find one to save your sorry old butt.........then you forward it to a bunch of old pals and friends cause you know they'll enjoy it and do the same.

Tinkerbell, Democracy and My Favorite Socialist

What do Tinkerbell and Democracy have in common?
You have to believe in them or they'll die. Especially if they've been poisoned.

The 2004 "I believe in Tinkerbell and Democracy award" goes to...envelope please... Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain.

How good it must be to be Tony Blair. Courageous and stalwart in the supporting role. Standing firm in the face of withering domestic fire. It was tougher on him than Dubya. He had everything to lose and little to gain. I'd love to buy him a good bottle of whatever he drinks, but only if he pays the tax. He's my favorite Socialist.

The 2004 "I'm Afraid of Captain Hook and Terrorism" award" goes to...envelope please... Prime Minister Zapatero of Spain.

How hard it must be to be PM Zapatero. To have surrendered your nation's share of the credit just 7 months short of the prize. Honor and courage don't live here no more. They got foreclosed. I'm sure he's a decent and capable man, but I wouldn't want him covering my back in a fight.

The 2004 "Three Little Pigs Award" goes to...envelope please... Kofi, Kojo, Jacques, Marc Rich (Bill Clinton's Buddy) and all the other Oil for Food Profiteers.

Hoo-Hah

About Women

Mason has a thought-provoking post about what's wrong with women. Go read it. Trust me gals, you'll like it too.

The Courage of Old Europe

I heard talking heads on FOX News today all "a-twitter" about whisperings of the You-Row-Peons (French and German) joining the effort to build the new Iraqi democracy. How Courageous! This wouldn't have anything to do with the success of Sunday's election would it? Not to mention the prospect of tapping that huge sea of oil that America is currently holding in escrow for the Iraqi people.

I think the precursor to any such opportunity should be a formal apology to the Iraqi People from any nation that did business with Saddam since 1991 and a formal apology from the United Nations for both sins of commission and omission.

I'm not demanding apologies to Dubya and the US of A for strategic reasons.
1) It's France and Germany, what they say or think doesn't mean that much since they are second-rate anyway.
B) The Iraqi's are figuring out who their real friends are - an apology to the US makes Europe look like friends of Iraq that misread the issue.
III) There are people in Iran and Syria that are watching what's going on in Iraq and would like a piece of democracy. Let them gravitate toward the US instead of France and Germany.
d) Back channel to the French and Germans that they can have a piece of Iraq as soon as they clean up the mess in The Sudan.


There were no Coalition Casualties in Iraq on 1 and 2 Feb.

Hopefully it will be a bit safer for the troops from here on. We wouldn't want to have the French whip out that legendary can of French Whup-ass.

All I Wanted Was to Take Care of Business

Just came in the E-mail:

I  was sitting on a toilet at the airport when I heard a voice from the other stall saying:
"Hi, how are you?"

I'm  not the type to start a conversation in the restroom but I don't know what got  into me, so I answered, somewhat embarrassed
"Doin' just  fine!"

And the otherperson says:
"So what are you up  to?"

What kind of question is that? At that point, I'm thinking this is too bizarre so I say:
"Uhhh,  I'm like you, just traveling!"

At  this point I am just trying to get out as fast as I can when I hear another question.
"Can  I come over?"

Ok  this question is just too weird for me but I figured I could just be polite and end the conversation. I tell them,
"No........I'm  a little busy right now!!!"

Then  I hear the person say  nervously...
"Listen, I'll have to call you back. There's an idiot  in the other stall who keeps answering all my questions.

Hoo-Hah

Wanted or Needed; Which is Better?

Here's a quick analysis of the question.

Do the people in your life feel wanted or needed? Try to remember that "not everything is all about you."

Make someone feel wanted. Men, Valentines day is coming up. Do something about it now. Women, March is just around the corner. Your man wants a steak.

That's all I have to say about that.

Hoo-Hah!

The End of Days

Yesterday Comrade Hillary's spin machine rushed the truth to the media. That was a totally new experience. ( I wrote about that yesterday here).

Today a liberal columnist admits the possibility that Bush could be proved right in Iraq.

This is monumental. It shows depth of character. It show a willingness to look at the realities and have perceptions changed by new facts. I'm not used to these behaviors from the Donks. It must be a sign.

Yeah it's a sign. It's a sign they're starting to figure out why they're getting their ass handed to them every two years.

As the R.E.M. tune goes:

It's the end of the world as we know it... and I feel fine.

P.S. And if that's not enough: The Mayor of Baghdad suggests raising a statue of Dubya to replace that one of Saddam that got broken.