In a cave

Just in case you haven’t been out of your house for a couple of weeks – it’s the best video on the web…

Money, Sure And No Timetable

I don’t mean to brag…but I did predict this…

War funding bill heads to Bush – Capitol Hill- msnbc.com

Of course, they approved, actually they GAVE Bush the $190 Billion for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

How can you take the Democratic party seriously when they blame the MINORITY Republican party in the House and Senate for bullying them into approving the spending bill.

It makes no sense…and they want us to elect a Democratic President.

Technorati Tags: Election 2008, Iraq, Spending Bill

The New Republic OUTS Baghdad Diarist

I don’t know about you, but I like to hear stories from Iraq about soldiers gaining the trust of the Iraqi people. Helping them to build a school or making their neighborhood safe for them to go to the market. Stories like these are hidden deep, I mean deep, amongst stories of civilian causalities, troop deaths, and botched security patrols. The more popular stories, amongst liberal bloggers, are those that question the morales of American troops. Stories like: War Bonds, Dead of Night, Shock Troops.

I don’t know if you want to spend the time and read them….They’re fiction, lies. The people responsible for running these stories, The New Republic. Today, after 4 months of denials and protecting their ’source’, they decided to come clean. The editor of The New Republic offered a 14 page apology. Actually it was an explanation why TNR was justified and that Beauchamp only became unreliable after being investigated by the military.

The truth of the matter, well my opinion, is that they are both liars, the TNR editor Franklin Foer and the author of the stories Scott Thomas (pseudonym for Scott Thomas Beauchamp). I believe The New Republic was eager to publish a story that would make our troops look bad because TNR is against this war. Making our troops look bad breaks Americans willingness to keep our troops in harms way and has us asking to bring them home. TNR tried to isolate themselves from the stories, in case they were false, so they conveniently gave Beauchamp a pseudonym protecting his true identity and making it impossible for anyone to verify the stories. Yes, I think TNR doubted these stories from the beginning. It wasn’t hard to come to this conclusion, why would you need to take 14 pages to justify your actions unless were trying too hard to cover your tracks. Maybe not cover tracks but dot all the ‘i’s and cross all the ‘t’s. The most convincing explanations are usually the shortest. You learn this being around kids, teenagers.

Read what others, the ones responsible for breaking this thing wide open: Bob Owens at Pajamasmedia

Technorati Tags: The New Republic, Baghdad Diarist

Yes, reality television is a bit disgusting, but I like many people sort of like it.  In particular, and I truly have no good reason, like The Bachelor.  As many people know the most recent show caused a stir when the Bachelor decided he didn’t want to continue a relationship with either of the two final women.  Personally I thought his reasons were scattered and lacked any real logic.  He maintained he cared for them, especially one whom he almost proposed to, but yet he did not even want to continue a relationship.  How one professing such feelings and then decides he isn’t sure so he ends the relationship without even trying to have a normal relationship first – garbage.  Of course on the same show they brought in Trista and Ryan, who seem to be the most successful of the shows, along with their new baby.  The only other apparent “success” story was Bryon and Mary who have been living together for over 2 years.  That was Tuesday.  Then I saw this article – apparently 3 days later Mary was arrested for hitting Byron in the mouth.  So, maybe trying to find “true love” on a 5 week television show doesn’t work out that great – maybe this current Bachelor was right – then again, this is America, doesn’t great t.v. ratings come first, true love second?

Death of common sense

The following is a quote from an editorial written as an obituary for Commons Sense.  While parts were questionable, this one was by far the most accurate:  Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. His health declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin, sun lotion or a sticky plaster to a student; but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Man Rules

A new list of rules, made by men, for women.  It’s been floating around for years, but these are the top: 

1. Learn to work the toilet seat.  You’re a big girl. If it’s up, put it down.  We need it up, you need it down.  You don’t hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

2. Ask for what you want.  Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work!  Strong hints do not work!  Obvious hints do not work!  Just say it!

3. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

4. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That’s what we do.

5. If you think you’re fat, you probably are.  Don’t ask us.

6. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

7. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done.  Not both.  If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

the death of common sense

Why is New York windy, because New Jersey sucks.  Don’t feel bad for New Jersey, they have rightfully earned the right to be the butt of all these jokes.  The newest debacle by the State of New Jersey – suspending a 2nd grader for drawing a stick figure shooting a water gun.  These people are absurd and have no business running a school district, much less teaching our children anything.  Blind enforcement of words on a piece of paper.  Is that what we pay administrators to do?  Is that what we want to teach our children?  That you replace any common sense and ability to think with dependency on “no tolerance” polices?  How about a “no tolerance” policy on laziness.  Yes, it might take more work to have to make a decision on what is appropriate or not, but in the end you get better results and a better community.  I won’t even bother commenting on the parents who complained about the water gun stick figure picture – they have no business being in charge of raising a child – oh wait, they aren’t, they want a school district to do it for them.

Free Holidays

Not that I don’t like a free holiday as much as the next guy, but have we completely stopped looking at the rationale for holidays?

This past Monday was Columbas Day.  I’ll wait while you explain the concept…  What still no explanation?  Oh, he discovered America?  Hmmm, no that goes to the Vikings No, I don’t credit Native Americans with “discovering” America as they were already there, likely from thousands of years earlier having ancestors cross a land bridge from Siberia, so no being born somewhere doesn’t give you “discovery” credit.  Plus, Vikings built ships that went across the ocean while the rest of the world could barely make a canoe – so they get credit.  But I digress.  Columbus, he didn’t discover anything, in fact he didn’t even discover what he wanted to, America was a total accident.  So now what?  Oh, well maybe he made the first permanent settlement – nope.  So what is so special about Columbus?  Honestly he is the Vanilla Ice of explorers – he wasn’t the first, he wasn’t the best and he didn’t stay around long, but he did make America popular for white people.  Personally, being of Irish, Cajun/French and Italian heritage, how can I not get excited about a Spanish henchmen explorer who “discovered” America for the 2nd or 3rd time?