The Weekly Opinion.....once a month

What? More Torture?

2006-10-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

Now, the Washington elitists and Democrats all over the country still like to talk about the supposed torture techniques being used by our military and other Governmental agencies. I would have hoped by now that they could stop with this Junior High antics of accusing everything the President does as being either 1)illegal, 2)immoral, or 3)inconsiderate. The fact is, is that we as a society are fighting a War on Terror. What these liberals fail to realize is that we must do what we can in order to prevent further acts of terrorism against our country, against our citizens, and against our families. Because the fact of the matter is this: They will stop at nothing to achieve their desired goal of eliminating this world of Americans. We shouldn't sit there questioning our officials as to how we interrogate someone. We shouldn't let this be the sole focus in fighting this War. We can't undermine the officials at every attempt to obtain information from known terrorists. What will people say should we capture someone high level and they give us, what we in the military call a "10-digit grid coordinance" to bin Laden's hideout. We go in SWOOOP and capture him. All because this information was obtained through 2 minutes of Waterboarding. Will people say, "Oh no, we have to give him back...we got this information illegally...it's the Fruit of the Poisonous tree?"

I recently did a little research into "Waterboarding." Waterboarding is this:
"The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt. According to the sources, CIA officers who subjected themselves to the water boarding technique lasted an average of 14 seconds before caving in.[3]"

Now, Merriam-Webster defines Torutre as this: "the infliction of intense pain (as from burning, crushing, or wounding) to punish, coerce, or afford sadistic pleasure."

So, I looked up forms of torture that, according to alot of liberals, bears striking resemblence to Waterboarding.
1)Buzzer (chicharra): a method of torture in which the person is repeatedly shocked through wires or other conducting objects that are attached to parts of the body (e.g., ears, eyes, eyelids, genitals, gums, soles of feet)

2)alanga: a method of torture in which the soles of the feet are repeatedly struck with either hard (e.g., canes) or pliable (e.g., wires) objects,

3)Bell (campana): a method of torture leaving no external marks in which the person's head is placed within a pail or other metal container which is then struck repeatedly, causing sudden loud sounds and reverberations

4)Torment of the sticks (Supplice de baguettes): a method of torture in which two sticks are placed through a wire encircling the person's head and are slowly turned, tightening the wire

Now, many of these aforementioned torture tricks are the types that Americans should never use and probably never will (Who knows). But, Waterboarding, by all definitions and purposes, does not hurt the person. It does not leave marks nothing permanent like the ones above.

The War on Terror must be fought in a way that will allow us to win at all costs. Waterboarding is the smallest, most likely not used, form of torture for the bad guys. They would rather cut your heads off on tv. But think of this:
Would you rather have interrogators asking questions of Kahlid Sheik Mohammed, mastermind of 9/11, with no forms of coercion? All while he's sitting there patiently? Mr. Interrogator asks a question. KSM just sits there silently. This process is repeated a hundred times and all hundred times, NOTHING. So, the liberals all over the country are outraged because we don't have answers yet on this person's activity and the whereabouts of bin Laden. They question the need for the CIA and undermine, repeatedly, President Bush's attempts to make this country safer. So, we decide to use a form of Waterboarding. Instantly, KSM begins to understand, through inner fear, unwanted thoughts of death, and the IDEA of instantly dying what it must have been like for the victims of 9/11 in the Twin Towers on that morning. He starts to talk because his mind doesn't want to suffer like that again.. All after only 3 minutes of water being poured on someone's head. Believe me out there reading this, the terrorists ARE NOT GOING to sit there and take into consideration how nice we are to their bretheren once they're captured. They don't give a shit about how much food we give them and how much time they get to read the Quran each day. They will not think about that and they'll reach for the sword, speak to Allah, and then slice your head off. If I was captured by the enemy and I had my choice of torture techniques: Waterboarding or head getting sliced off....I'd say "LET'S GO SWIMMING BOYS, LAST ONE IN IS ROTTEN SCUMBAG!!!"

Hot Rod or Not Rod....hopefully NOT

2006-10-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

I'm sure by now, the State of Illinois has seen all the ads done by the proverbial Chicago Machine. But, another thing that is for sure is the lies that a $15 million dollar war chest can finance will go even further. See, what Republican candidate Topinka CAN'T do is play on the same field as Blagojevich in terms of playing stupid, lying commercials. You all know the ones where they play the videos of Topinka standing alongside former Governor George Ryan and that ignorant female voice says "What was she thinking?". They protray her as being apart of the $5 billion dollar deficit that is plagueing Illinois. They say it's her fault the budget isn't correct. Too bad they don't tell you the real truth about the Blagojevich administration. The part where Hot Rod's partly to blame for the deficit being as low as it is himself. She's the Treasurer. She only says how much money this state has. She can't make the fiscal decisions that the General Assembly and the Governor can. Once those decisions are made, the Comptroller, remember him (a Democrat), signs the paycheck and dishes out the funds.

The Governor's newest ad protrays the Treasurer as opposing a Veteran's Health Care initiative. The commercial has her soundbite saying "You gotta do more than just attend funerals." There's alot there that I hate about politics. It's easy to cut soundbites from anyone and then proclaim it's their normal statements on the subject. I mean, Michael Moore made millions off movies where he takes people's words and then turns it against them to benefit his on radical views. Besides, how can a candidate for Governor oppose a Veterans's Initiative when her own son is a Major in the JAG Corps out of the 110th Mountain Division, US Army??? Rod's handlers don't say that. His commercials are only doing one thing and that is DEFLECTING AWAY FROM HIS OWN PROBLEMS AND PLACING BLAME ON SOMEONE ELSE SO NO ONE NOTICES THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATING HIM . It's easy to be someone as high as the Governor and have your cronies deny your actions and blame someone else for it.

State politics are different than federal politics. It appears as though state politicians do not have to endorse their commercial ads. Under the McCain-Feingold Law, federal politicians must endorse their ads that their campaigns put out. "I'm George Bush, and I endorse this ad."....remember that?

BTW, that ad that Topinka put out, the one that had Rod stuttering and stammering about the $1500 check that was given to his daughter, was legititmate. Too bad Rod can't answer for that. Can't explain why a personal friend's wife was given a DNR job and then a week later his daughter, who's 7 or 8 years old, was given a $1500 check "for her birthday.' Learn what you will, but within the next 6-10 years (if not sooner) Rod Blagojevich will come under more federal indictments for his hiring practices and other racketeering crimes. Then, people will say, "We shoulda voted for that Topinka lady."

Hypocracy and the Left Wing

2006-10-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

Now, with all the hoopla centered around the recent "discovery" of a gay Congressman trying to solicit underage pages with his email, it's been seen by many of the Left Wingers as an opportunity to seize control of the House of Representitives thus advancing whatever agenda they have. Many Democrats are now calling for Speaker Hastert's resignation from the House. Sen. Durbin nearly reprimanded Rep. Shimkus, a fellow Illinoisan, for his role in overseeing the Page program. Now, while I may not agree that what Congressman Foley did, I do however, disagree with the hypocracy that the Left somehow enjoys on a routine basis. Take a column from Ann Coulter for example. Now Ann has a very difinitive way of expressing her Conservative ideology and in ways that either pisses people off or in a way that speaks to everyone the way they wanted it said.

Quote:
"Foley didn't claim he was the victim of a "witch-hunt." He didn't whine that he was a put-upon "gay American." He didn't stay in Congress and haughtily rebuke his critics. He didn't run for re-election. He certainly didn't claim he was "saving the Constitution."

She goes on to say,
"In 1983, Democratic congressman Gerry Studds was found to have sexually propositioned House pages and actually buggered a 17-year-old male page whom he took on a trip to Portugal. The 46-year-old Studds indignantly attacked those who criticized him for what he called a "mutually voluntary, private relationship between adults."

Now, what she says is true passed events that happened. While several key Reps. and Senators may not have been in office then, it strikes at the very center of the conversation on "Do as I say, NOT as I do."

More:
"When the House censured Studds for his sex romp with a male page, Studds — not one to be shy about presenting his backside to a large group of men — defiantly turned his back on the House during the vote. He ran for re-election and was happily returned to office five more times by liberal Democratic voters."

Now, back to Speaker's situation. Many people on the Left, including some Republicans, called for the Speaker's resignation. Tom Kaeding, a candidate in some Senate race in the south, is still calling for the Speaker to resign. I'm not even going to say what would happen to a first timer candidate trying to score cheap points against a career politician like Hastert.

Anyways, Coulter goes on to say:
"No one demanded to know why the Democratic speaker of the House, Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, took one full decade to figure out that Studds was propositioning male pages."
"But now, the same Democrats who are incensed that Bush's National Security Agency was listening in on al-Qaida phone calls are incensed that Republicans were not reading a gay congressman's instant messages."

An so it goes, she's getting better now. This is the hypocracy at it's best:
"Let's run this past the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals: The suspect sent an inappropriately friendly e-mail to a teenager — oh also, we think he's gay. Can we spy on his instant messages? On a scale of 1 to 10, what are the odds that any court in the nation would have said: YOU BET! Put a tail on that guy — and a credit check, too!"

"When Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee found unprotected e-mails from the Democrats about their plan to oppose Miguel Estrada's judicial nomination because he was Hispanic, Democrats erupted in rage that their e-mails were being read. The Republican staffer responsible was forced to resign."

"But Democrats are on their high horses because Republicans in the House did not immediately wiretap Foley's phones when they found out he was engaging in e-mail chitchat with a former page about what the kid wanted for his birthday."

"The Democrats say the Republicans should have done all the things Democrats won't let us do to al-Qaida — solely because Foley was rumored to be gay. Maybe we could get Democrats to support the NSA wiretapping program if we tell them the terrorists are gay."

Now, should the Democrats win the majority in the House back for the first time in 12 years, their agenda is this:
--Begin impeachment proceedings against bush for the Iraq War. The same war in Iraq that most of them voted for.
--Implement policies that that 9/11 commission recommended, but wasn't due to Bush
--Raises taxes to pre-2000 times, in accordance with raising the minimum wage to $7.25/hr.
---there are others to lenghy to list.
But it's the same song and dance by the Democrats:
Do as we say, not as we do.

The polls that have been out there suggest that the Democrats still have no idea on how to adequately protect America the way Republicans do.

Just When You Thought....

2006-10-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

Afternoon filth star Jerry Springer couldn't get any worse, in comes Maury Povich. Today, I saw an episode where a black female was testing 4 men to see who the father was. Now, typically the audience jumps all over one of the two guests. Today, they got on the male "father." Keep in mind that she is testing the 4th person...FOURTH!!!!

MP: "In the case of 7 month old ******, so-in-so, YOU ARE THE FATHER."
Black Male: *sighs*
Black Female: "Whutchu going to do? Whutchu going to do? Whutchu going to do? Whutchu going to do?"
BM: gets up and leaves while audience gets mad at him.

Now, my question is this? How can that woman question him about what he's going to do. WHY ARE YOU (lady) ON MAURY POVICH NEEDING TO GET 4,5,6,10 MEN TESTED???

Some people's priorities are really not in line.

2006 Fantasy Champ!!!!

2006-09-30T03:30:00.000-07:00

As the title suggests, I laid claim to my first ever Fantasy Baseball championship beating out a worthy opponent. Now, the week doesn't "officially" wrap up until Sunday night, but due to a substantial margin of victory in about every major catagory THAT COUNTS, I am calling the win Saturday morning.

I did start out the season tied for first with the league commish, but due to some outstanding managing skills and great play by my team, I quickly took the lead and stayed in first up until the All-Star break. It was then that my lead flaundered and i quickly dropped that lead and was left in 6th place. Not knowing whether I was playing for the Toilet Bowl championship or the real title, my team played some good ball and I was given the 4th seed by the end of the regular season. The commish and my current opponent both wound up with bye weeks. I started out against the commish once again and played good the first part of the week. That failed me as we ended in a tie with me getting the tie-breaker due to regular season victories. I then took on another worthy opponent but all for not as I kicked his ass to. Unfortunately for him, he gave up on the rest of the play-offs and off-loaded his players to free-agency/waivers. A good general manager that I am, I quickly picked up two great players in Abreu and A. Jones. Both players have contributed great success to this title victory. I have done some calculations, I have determined that after and 8-4 lead, my worst score can be 7-5. At best, I can finish the week 9-2. I need some strong bullpen support with some Saves and I need the other team to commit 2 more errors to earn that column's point to garnish the 9-2. K's and Holds aren't going great since two of my Hold guys are currently closers for their teams. He's got 5 starters the next two days, 2 maybe 3 SP have decent teams that still want the Wild Card. Better hope they ALL win their games in order to take that coloumn away. Every other column has my name written all over it and there is no mathmatical possibility with the next two days of a drastic come-from-behind win. I may say right now that it wouldn't come down to a tie. But, I could be wrong (rarely, I'm not).
BUT, as it stands with the "other team," I am, as of Saturday morning, declaring victory of the 2006 Fantasy Baseball League.

"Cubbie Faithful!!!, now that you won the 2006 Fantasy season, what are you going to do?"

"I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!"

Is she Presidential material?

2006-09-28T07:36:00.000-07:00

“I’m certain that if my husband and his national security team had been shown a classified report entitled ‘Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States,’ he would have taken it more seriously than history suggests it was taken by our current president and his national security team,” she told reporters on Capitol Hill.

I guess she failed to remember that 6 months after first taking office, B. Clinton had all Presidential Daily Briefs and CIA Intel briefings cancelled. Read almost any credible book about the past 15 years concerning the War on Terror and there is something in each book that talks about that very tidbit that this President-wannabe always forgets.

Golf and Tiger Woods

2006-09-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

So, my question is this: Are the Europeans desperate in having the US Team at a lower level of play? I mean, Tiger has been on a ROLL the last 6 out of 7 tournaments. He won the British Open and the US Open.

Sergio Garcia calls out Tiger. Big misstake rook. The definition of Golf: Playing an 18 hole game at least 3 days out of the week (if not 4) against 75 other players. You play against the course...not the players. There's a difference Surge. Count the trophies in your case versus Tigers and we'll see who is the best golfer in the WORLD.

BOTTOM LINE:
You're the European team worried about Tiger. So, a host country dimes his wife out in tabloids who happens NOT to be the woman pictured just to rattle his cage. Good job people. GREAT sportsmanship. BTW Surge, your Preperation H Open trophy still isn't as shiny as Tiger's WGC NEC Invitational from 2001. Quote from Tiger Woods.com:
Woods was selected as 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 Player of the Year by the PGA TOUR (Jack Nicklaus Award), the PGA of America, and the Golf Writers Association of America. (All years in which he won at least 2 of the 4 majors)

Once again the title reign vs. Garcia's:
Well, put it this way...Tiger has more titles at number 1 and perhaps number 2 to run circles around Sergio Garcia 57 times.

Am I right...or am I right?

2006-09-14T02:54:00.000-07:00

Suppose for a minute that someone in this country had made a film documentary about former President Clinton getting assassinated set in 1996. How many liberals would it take to sue that person and everything they owned? Who would've thought about that then? Imagine a motion picture depicting President Clinton, while campaigning in Florida, or some other state, getting shot whilst approaching a hotel enterance. Liberals then would be outraged. Imagine a big name Democrat candidate for President in 2008, say an actress portraying Hillary Clinton, getting shot and killed. You would go deaf at the liberal outrage in the media.

Now imagine a film depicting an actor playing President Bush getting shot inside a hotel enterance. Where's the outrage? Nahh, it's just Free Speech. There's nothing wrong with that. I'd go so far as to bet a million dollars that there are some left-wing libs out there, that while condeming this film in public, secretly clap at the fictitious outcome behind closed doors and within close, inner circles.
Major Democrat party leader, "At least now we can spare the general public the embarassment of another impeachment."

Folks, it's one thing to have an actor "parody" a president, such as in Murder at 1600, or The American President where they poke fun at a President who never served, emblematic of Clinton. It's quite another when you actually have the President being shot and killed.

My Biggest Question:

2006-09-13T18:38:00.000-07:00

Who really cares anymore?

I just hope they don't start reruns of that pathetic, unfunny show. I mean, the only real comedic parts of it was the cracked out actions of both of them.

God Bless America

2006-09-09T23:37:00.000-07:00

Today is the day that we remember. You see the docudramas on Discovery channel. The made-for-tv movies on ABC. But, it's the very words of the survivors themselves that instill vivid reminders of what they had to endure that day. Some of these re-enactments only visualize what "might have" happened. Whether what did or didn't happen doesn't matter. The victims that day didn't deserve what they got. If you don't tear up at that mere thought, you don't have a conscience. You don't have someone in your life that could have been there. The conspiracy theories are abound and I, for one, have seen a bunch of them. But one thing is for sure...WE WILL NEVER FORGET THE LIVES THAT WERE LOST THAT DAY. May God rest their souls and have a special place for them in Heaven.

Dear Katie,

2006-09-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

The tabloids say things like that because Tom's a major weirdo these days. Jumping on sofas on national tv is one thing, claiming that due to his Scientology beliefs he has the medical credentials to slam another person is another. Fact is Katie, Tom may be a good guy, but as long as he thinks he's Scientology's gift to everyone else, people will stay make fun of him. It's good material for comedians and tabloids.

Sincerely,
Reality

A Comparison Please...

2006-09-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

What does this picture and me have in common? Nothing until October 1st. T-minus 30 days and counting. Boy this sucks.

C'Mon, really?

2006-08-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

This guy's confession has more holes in it than Swiss Cheese, no pun intended. But so people question whether this guy did actually do it. Now, my theory about this is that any person with the Internet can research this crime and somehow "believe' that they are the killer. Someone these days can actually become so infatuated with a crime, say Lacy Peterson, and they can take on that personality where they believe in their mind that they were the killer. So, yes, he does in some ways "look" like a pervert or someone that could have done this if you think about it. But like I said, when the media blows a story like this so far out of the water, people can come out and say they were the killer just by a) wanting the attention, and b) knowing enough about this crime. All we gotta do is allow this guy his day in court. It's not like this crime took place 20 days ago and the killer is quickly apprehended. This was 10 years ago and the evidence has to be re-evaluated. So until then, leave this guy alone and stop making him to be the next coming of Christ, or the next Elvis.

Then and Now

2006-08-22T16:06:00.000-07:00

Timeline:
November 2000, this man, Senator Joe Lieberman as Vice-Presidential candidate with Al Gore lose the Presidential election to now president George Bush. In controversial action, nearly every liberal and known Democrat rally around those two and convince them to not give up and to keep fighting the results until it was victorious for them.
August 2006, Joe Lieberman loses the Connecticut primary to anti-Iraq War guy Ned Lamont. Lieberman, in old fashion form from 2000, vows to stay in the election as an Independent. Most liberals and known Democrats are now telling Lieberman to give up and rally around Lamont to take on the GOP challenger. What a turn of events. Just goes to show that if you're a liberal and you support the president on just one topic, you don't stand a chance for re-election. Remember Zell Miller? The proud southern Democrat who opposed virtually every Bush policy except for the War on Terror. Miller was cast aside as a traitor based on one ideal belief of protection.

The Comedy Roast

2006-08-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

She used to be hot but this is what happens when 20 pounds of rubber and BOTOX look like after it's shoved in your upper lip. During the roast, the drugs eventually took over her personality and it made her a Courtney Love-look alike.

And I'm Proud....

2006-08-18T18:42:00.000-07:00

...to be an American,
Where at least I can look at this.

A Preview of Things to Come

2006-08-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

As of press time, the score was 11-3 St. Louis over Chicago. But, I must remind avid StL fans of previous encounters at the Friendly Confines.

My Frustration as a Cub's fan

2006-08-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

With the trade deadline holiday come and gone, the Cubs once again missed an opportunity to acquire some golden talent. As I mentioned before, there were some possible trade rumors that affected the Cubs and possibly A-Rod. Now this deal comes as a shock to many seeing as how NY wouldn't want to deal A-Rod. Since Chicago is one of a few teams that could take his contract and manage the money, I could see how some would disagree with that trade.

Then there was the Walker and Maddux deal. San Diego acquired Walker in exchange for a 19-year old RHP. Maddux went to LAD in exchange for Cesar Izturis. Combined, Izturis brings more to the table than both Cedeno and Perez in terms of skill. So my question...and then answer is, why weren't players such as Rusch, Perez, and perhaps another lack-luster bullpen guy traded? Answer is that since some of these guys, especially Rusch, haven't faired so well in the last couple of months to years, is why would any other team want our baggage when we don't either?

SOLUTION:
Allow someone like Mark Cuban or Donald Trump to outright buy the team as both have been rumored tobe interested in. Have an owner that CARES about winning and not about how much profit they turn as a result from a losing season. People out there want to playfor Chicago and be apart of that team that finally wins the World Series. BUT, players are aware that the front office management is not big on that dream. Why has Steinbrenner been so fortunate to acquire such talent? Because players want to play for a contender every year and if NY gives that chance, then you will always see players like A-Rod, Abreu, Damon flocking for the House That Ruth Built.
We need to build a solid rotation. A statistic given said that Greg Maddux has never been placedon the DL despite having pitched about 4,000 innings. Kerry Wood's been on the DL twice this year. BUT, that is as a result of management working his arm too much.
Now, aside from a rotation, the bullpen could be a bit better. The lineup isn't half bad once everyone's firing on all cylinders. Lee will be healthy come next year. Assuming Ramirez options his contract and stays in Chicago, the field of Lee, Cedeno, Izturis, and Rameriz will be good. Keep Pierre in CF and bring up Felix Pie next year and drop him into LF and keep Jacque jones in RF and we could have a good team. But, like I said, the bullpen and rotation need a very strong overhauling in order to crack the 60 win category. If not, the Loveable Losers will once again be watching the Southside go farther in the playoffs.

Nobel "Peace" Prize?

2006-07-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

Count Betty Williams out as someone who rightly deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. Willams, speaking at a conference overseas, rose to give a very unapologetic speech to...schoolchildren. "I don't know how I ever got a Nobel Peace Prize, because when I see children die the anger in me is just beyond belief. It's our duty as human beings, whatever age we are, to become the protectors of human life." Sht earlier clarified her statment, "Right now, I would love to kill George Bush." Her young audience at the Brisbane City Hall clapped and cheered.
Lets do the math shall we?
Bush:
Liberated approxitmately 50 million people.
Overthrew a dictator that killed his own people and one that authorized the capture and torture of anyone who politically opposed him.
Gave Iraq back control of their country's most prized resource: oil.

Williams:
Ms Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 30 years ago, when she circulated a petition to end violence in Northern Ireland after witnessing British soldiers shoot dead an IRA member who was driving a car. He veered on to the footpath, killing two children from one family instantly and fatally injuring a third.

I guess if you're so far to the left, it doesn't matter what you say. No harm, no foul. But, if the situation was reversed, I know for a fact that the Laughable Libs would be outraged.

John Kerry's at it again....

2006-07-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

This time, the ever so opportunistic Senator, who rarely misses a chance to admonish the nation for not electing him President, said a few things in Michigan recently regarding the Israeli conflict that made the Drudge Report just moments afterwards. Said the losing Democratic candidate: "If I were President, this wouldn't have happened." So, Kerry thinks that he would have just resolved something that has been an ongoing conflict for the last half century? Now Lebanon brought this all on it's own. They deserve what they are getting by being a state sponsor of terrorism by allowing Hezbollah free reign throughout their country. Remember they were the ones that crossed the Israeli border and kidnapped two soldiers in an attempt to use them as bargaining chips for other prisoners. So they picked a fight with a bigger group of people. Now, the part where Sen. Kerry is far from right is that fact that if we would have gone in there and dealt with Hezbollah in a negative way, how quickly do you think Iran would have intervened on their behalf. Face it Kerry, there's much more to it than just saying those few words like he so selfishly did. Just another attempt at him undermining the diplomacy that real politicians muct deal with on a regular basis. The foreign policy section that the President uses is much more available and resourceful than that of Congress. Congress can't necessariyl dispatch the State Department across the pond the way the President can. Sen. Kerry must learn the truth and that truth is: Let Israel face this themselves and force Lebanon and Hezbollah to back down and turn over those soldiers or else you run the risk of forcing other nations into a situation that no one really wants to be in. Remember World War 2? The conflict that, until December 1947, we remained neutral in because it wasn't our fight? It wasn't until Pearl Harbor that we were fully engulfed in a srious war. So, as John Kerry so elequantly puts it in his words, no...it's not as simple as saying that this would not have happend if he were President. In the words of Napoleon Dynamite, "IDIOT..."

It's been a awhile...

2006-07-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

As the title suggests, I'm not quite sure I literally meant that I'd be posting once a month. Sometimes it's just whatever comes to mind and apparently....nothing's been in my mind. Until now.

SPORTS:
The trade deadline is coming up soon. I don't expect to see anything positive from the Cubs since they are practically out of the race as far as numbers are concerned. The only thing I can see happening is someone like Zambrano or Ramirez being traded to a possible contender. But, the club would only lessen their chances for next year. There, I said it. The only the Cubs can amount any sort of playoff team is to have everyone healthy. We already showed people what the Cubs could do when they had hitting. When the had fielding. AND, when they had starting pitching. We finally got a decent bullpen to keep leads late in the game. But at the beginning of the season, we saw disappointments with Prior and Wood. I think there was too much of a burden placed on a young arm like Wood's. He's a great pitcher and the club didn't preserve it when they needed to and we get the results we have now.

MIDDLE EAST:
We're seeing another fall out in the Mid East involving Lebanon and Israel. These two countries have had an unofficial cease-fire since about 1948...or better yet, they haven't ended the war they started back in that time. It started again when Lebanon kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and Israle hasn't backed down since that happened. I believe that Lebanon is sorely outmatched against Israel. The USA has since sat back for now claiming that it's still not our fight. We remain neutral because its like two 6 year olds fighting. Then the 18 year old older brother, the USA, steps in to help. It's just not fair. We stay back because someone like Iran or North Korea hasn't stepped in yet. But, I don't see that happening yet, if at all. Israel is also a smaller military version of the American military. Their Air Force is quite good and capable of matching with anyone in the Mid-East. Their militaryforces outnumber the Lebanese forces 186,000 to 61,000 or so. The Lebanese military has no Air Force at all. See, it pays to have the USA on your side.
Speaking of this whole thing, the island of Cyprus is the location where Americans and other civilians are being sent to in order to evacuate safely. That is also the place where I was deployed to for about 90 days. Brings back memories.

INTERNET:
There's this little program that Google offers that is quite remarkable. It's called GOOGLE EARTH. You can zoom in, using satellite technology, to about 200 feet above a location and pratically see someone standing in a driveway waving at you. I'm well on my way to marking all the baseball parks in the country.

MOVIES:
Pirates of the Caribbean 2 came out as well as Superman Returns, You, Me, and Dupree, and Miami Vice. All 4 movies I really want to see.

I knew there were some other things that I wanted to mention, but I can't remember what it was. So, this is a good stopping point for now.

Memorial Day is upon us and....

2006-05-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

It's sad that in this day and age, some people forget the meaning of Memorial Day. Being in the military, on the police force, or anything else for that matter that earns the title of "Memorial Day" gets set aside so that we can use it for a Barbeque day. I think that, for the most part, it's good to gather with people and have a BBQ in the afternoon. But what about the Memorial Day ceremonies at local National Cemetaries? People still go to church on Christmas morning (whatever the date may be at the time) and then have the family thing later that day. But we forget all to often the meaning of this day. Labor Day is a good day to stay home from work and have the end of summer BBQ as Memorial day is the start of it all for summer. But let's not forget, as I'm sure most/all of you don't, why we celebrate a day called Memorial Day. The Picture Peeved posted at the front says it all. Military men and women all over the world are in harms way. Police/firefighters are put into harms way everyday. God Bless America and everything it means to us on this Memorial Day as we remember what was given throughout history. Some people can't share this holiday with their loved ones. So let's remember them tomorrow.

Public Display of Stupidity

2006-05-18T22:46:00.000-07:00

Is what I would use to describe the New Black Panther Movement. That's right. I beleive that the attendance they had at the Durham courthouse was nothing other than ignorance and stupidity. "Justice will be done," is what one "Panther" yelled. Now, I've asked this question before. Flip everyone around and change the skin color and ask what sort of racial problems would be happening? Story:

One white female stripper raped by 3 black football players. No DNA linked the players but nonetheless were charged the same way these young men have been charged. A New White Cheetah movement went to Durham to protest the black players. The New Black Panther movement would be there to stand behind the players indicted saying that this was racial hatred toward the players. White people chant "Justice will be done." The opportunistic Jesse Jackson is on hand decrying the wrongful protest by the whites and calling for arrest for hate crimes. Think it couldn't happen, just watch what Jesse stands behind and what he doesn't. This is the double standard that the people like the Black Panther movement have over the others. If it were black players, they would be there to show the support for the players despite anything about a white female being raped.

That saying at the beginning of "COPS" ""All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law."

Wait a Minute

2006-05-15T23:20:00.000-07:00

Now, I don't comment on too many things everyday or every other day, but lately, it's too easy to find new material. Where do I begin? We'll keep it simple tonight. Two topics. One:

The District Attorney, a.k.a. State's Attorney, brought yet another indictment against a third Duke Lacrosse player. The charge? Rape. now, here is the Defense's argument, as is mine, about this whole thing:
1: None of the players tested for DNA, the blueprint for everyone's body, tested positive post-rape analysis.
2: The accuser identified the 3rd person with approx. 90% certainty and when pushed only described the guy as being the one if he had the mustache he had that night. Pictures that the Defense will provide will show the 3rd person as having no mustache the day before, the day of, and the day after the party.
3: The DNA that was found inside the victim was that of her BOYFRIEND.
4: The police found the victim after the party drunk and passed out inside the vehicle of another female. No signs of traumatic rape visible.
5: And the one is left up fior debate...the DA, Nifong, was just re-elected after promising to "bring more charges." Imagine the lawsuit if this person's testimony is made up and the DA does all this for a campaign. The DA has the authority and ability to his/her job, I won't dispute that. but when there are 2 murder suspects in Durham released on $50,000 bail and 2 suspects that can't even be positively identified through DNA released on $400,000 bail (the number may be higher or lower, but nevertheless is FAR MORE than the murder suspects got), you do the math.
6: Upon the police showing up at #3's apartment with the search warrant, #3 and roommates HELPED the police look for the evidence they wanted. VOLUNTARILY gave email accounts, papers, etc. to show the police that they had nothing to hide. now, either two things occured. 1, they know they are 100% innocent and are willing to proce it themselves, or 2, they know nothing about the law and just gave stuff away without the comfort of defense counsel present. I think 1 for right now.
So you see? The problem the DA will have is trying to connect a rape to three people who's DNA, alibi, and evidence show that they didn't commit the rape in question.

Now, onto President George Bush's speech tonight. It turns out that CNN "inadvertently" displayed the rehearsel speech that the President was working on prior to the actual speech. The video showed the President speaking the words set before him and then looking off-camera towards speechwriters for different clarifications. Now come on folks, if you don't think that CNN has some sort of left-wing bias towards the President, I'll sell you ocean front property in Arizona at discount price. It was only 2-3 months ago that the same network displayed a black "X" over V.P. Cheney's face. They said that the showing was accidental. I can't believe that for a moment.
I will say that Fox News is every bit as "Fair and Balanced" as they claim to be. Don't believe me. Watch 24 hours of their broadcasts. Not 24 straight hours, but about 24 "1" hour broadcasts. You see a pattern where liberals and conservatives are treated fairly. There is always someone on to talk about something with the other side there for a rebuttal. If a liberal goes first, then the conservative has the final word and vice versa. Find that on CNN.

Have a nice day folks

ONE MOMENT PLEASE...a rebuttal

2006-05-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

I just saw on CNN the latest poll between Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The poll said that Clinton did more to help the economy than did Bush. I could say that when Clinton was in office, the economy was better due in large part to the booming 90's. From 1990-1999, America was almost near perfect in everything it wanted to be. The Internet took off at the rate of millions of dollars per day. Computers got faster and better. Jobs were created steadily. Now, from 2000-2004, the economy was bouncing back from the tragedy of 9/11. The Stock Market was lowered to record numbers than before. Big companies felt the sting after the terrorists attacks due in large part to people being fearful of another attack. Sure, the economy then in the 90's was alot beeter than the economy was between 2000 and 2004. America had a different country after that day and the President recognized that and took steps much to the disagreement of the democrats make it right again. That leads me to this statement from the poll: Clinton did more to unify the country than Bush did. Yeah, because everyone and their mother who didn't understand the Constitution rallied against Bush and the job he was trying to do for America. Sure, he isn't perfect and there are some things I disagree with him on, but that doesn't mean he isn't trying to do the best job for this country. I don't mind having my phones tapped if it means there won't be another attack...why? Because i have nothing to hide.
Anyways, I felt like discussing that CNN poll for a moment because I diasagreed with the main premise for the poll itself. Bush's numbers are down to their all time lowest, why not throw another poll out there to say that we here at CNN would rather have Clinton in office again. Debate that. It'll be challenging not to say what all the other far left libs are crackling about.

The End of the Week

2006-05-13T15:08:00.000-07:00

Well, another week has past. My Cubbies are slipping further and further back in the standings. I'm not quite sure, but thsi year is definitely a year that we start thinking about what lies ahead in the future of the entire team. I say that not as a person giving up. Someone told me last night that they thought that Dusty baker would be fired by month's end. I can't say that I agree with him on that assessment. Dusty's been given a large task right now. It's difficult to manage a team as young as it is. The entire outfield is playing together for the first time ever. Not that Pierre and jones aren't good players, but it's a transition for all of them. The starting rotation isn't what Cubs fans wanted to see this year. both Prior and Wood aren't starting the season off great. We have to rely on Maddux, the ageless wonder, to support the entire rotation. Zambrano hasn't gotten the run support that he needs. Derrek Lee is out with an injury. So, it doesn't help Baker's chances that we have had some bad luck. Can't blame the front office. They went out and got players that were needed. Sure, now that some people are injured and the rotations isn't the best we've had, the easiest thing to do is call for people from Hendry to baker to be fired. I don't agree. We made it to the NLCS on good pitching and good hitting. We finally got that bullpen we wanted/needed to save games and this happens.
Hope better things happen as the year progresses.

Last week President Bush nominated General Michael hayden to be the next Director of the CIA. now, many people including both Republicans and Democrats are weary of the nomination simply because of his ties to the pentagon and Defense Sec. Rumsfeld. Now, aside from being in the miltary, people had said that the nomination wouldn't be bad if he simply resigned as General. Should he be confirmed, then he might still be under the control of Rumsfeld and the Pentagon. Not so. Once a person is confirmed as a nominee of the president and that person runs an agency that reports DIRECTLY to the President, then that person does not report to anyone else. Here are some of the credentials that Gen. Hayden possesses:

---After More Than 20 Years Of Experience In The Intelligence Business, General Hayden Has Extensive Experience As Both A Provider And Customer Of Intelligence.

---General Hayden Has Broad And Deep Experience In Human And Technical Intelligence. He has served as Director of the National Security Agency, Commander of the Air Force Intelligence Agency, and Director of the Joint Command and Control Warfare Center these positions required a comprehensive understanding of intelligence collection and analysis. He also served in the U.S. Embassy in the former People's Republic of Bulgaria during the Cold War, where he trained with the CIA and collected human intelligence.

---General Hayden Is A Reformer Who Can Fulfill The President's And Congress' Mandate To Reform The Intelligence Community And The CIA.
---As The Principal Deputy Director Of National Intelligence, General Hayden Has Worked Closely With The Director Of National Intelligence To Reform America's Intelligence Capabilities To Confront The Threats Of A New Century.
---After September 11, General Hayden Quickly Understood The National Security Agency Needed To Reform To Meet The New Threats Of The 21st Century. He launched a series of reforms to get more analysts trained in languages used by the enemy and overhauled our capabilities to help prevent future attacks.
---General Hayden's Broad Experience And Leadership Qualities Make Him The Right Man To Lead The CIA At This Critical Moment In Our Nation's History.
---As Principal Deputy Director Of National Intelligence, General Hayden Is Responsible For Overseeing The Day-To-Day Activities Of The National Intelligence Program. In this role, he has a clear understanding of the entire intelligence community and how best to integrate its distinct capabilities.
General Hayden Is Described As An Independent Thinker And A Nonconformist. General Hayden thrived as a manager leading a large and complex organization in the NSA, which is larger than the CIA, as he set out to prepare the NSA for the 21st Century.

As many can see both in Washington and across the country, this nominee is probably one of the best that could do the job. Given his experience in National Security issues and other Intelligence matters, I beleive that Gen. Hayden brings to the table a resume that would only be described as "more than qualified." The confirmation process will be a roler coaster unlike anyother for General Hayden.

in other news from the country....

A Little Rambling

2006-05-04T23:25:00.000-07:00

Well, that piece of crap Moussaui (sp) whatever go EXACTLY what he deserved. If you don't hink so, think about this:
The Supermax prison he will go to will kep him locked up for 23 hours a day. 1 hour to exercise. 40-45 years spent inside a 7' x 12' cell. no tv to watch other than certain videos that are piped through on the screen. You watch that or not. Pretty much the only person he will interact with will be a guard or two. Now, as a person whose life resembles that of the smallest parasite, he didn't life in prison. He took on the chore of trying to fly planes into buildings. He's prepared to die. He wanted to die. He wanted to meet the mythological 72 virgins. Pay back is a bitch and he found out the hard way how America won this battle. I guarantee you, should he have received the death penalty, he would have been happier than ever. More than likely, al-Qaida would have come on tv and congratulated him. but we saw this person for what he was and his plan completely backfired. Understand this about a Supermax prison: He will slowly die a long, painful, and real slow death inside a cell with which a stool is made out of concrete. Believe me, i would have wanted death as well.

In other news, the Cubs haven't been doing what I thought was possible from this team. I just hope that they can get back on track.

In other political news, the fake Governor is running ad campaigns targeting Judy Baar Topinka's past career in the Treasurer's office. The ad describes her as either authorizing former Governor Ryan's failed budget plan or asleep at the wheel during his term in office. Now, the bottom line is, is that the Treasurer cannot just come to the Governor and tell him/her what they can and can't do with the budget. It's the Governor's job to understand how much money the state has and then go from there in terms of formulating the fiscal budget. Once the budget is balanced through the Governor's actions, then the Treasurer can alocate the money to be soent. THEN, the Comptroller writes the check. It wasn't until the fake Governor Blagoyuhvitch took office that we started to see numbers in the red. He will soon find out that when the real numbers come forth about his first two years in office, his ads will be nothing short of lies. Remember, Topinka was still Treasurer while Blagoyuhvitch was raiding state pensions. Don't believe me, talk to AFSCME members. Ask them why they're not reindorsing him again.

Since it's late at night, I can't think of anything else to talk about. Just wanted to make light of the scumbag Moussaui and how he will stare at a brick wall for the rest of his natural life. After that, rotting in hell won't seem half bad.

Oh no!!! Another post

2006-04-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I've taken a bit of a break from posting some ramblings on here. So, I decided to come back and talk a little bit about some things.

Recently all across America, protests were taking place to challenge certain immigration reform tactics. It seems that some don't like the idea of the United States doing what it needs to secruing our own borders. People automatically think that this country just has a "welcome mat" to the outside world. When the border is as porous as it is, problems arise that present a clear and present danger to the National Security. Say another 9/11 style attack occurs and the terrorists came through the border down south. How many people would then hate President Bush? People would say that he didn't do enough to tighten security down there when he's trying to do that now. I think I heard some crappy statistics the other day.
1) There's about 1 in 7 living in poverty Mexico. That number may be low from my side.
and
2) There are more billionaires in Mexico then there are in Sweden. Since Mexico City is the largest city in the world, you do the math for the outside cities.

People in Canada want no part of America because they know how to run their country. Free health care, jobs are good, and their economy is good also.

NEXT
Oil prices are rising and there isn't much we can do about that right. Since America exudes very little influence over OPEC, they just raise the costs as they see fit. There is no rhyme or reason as to why a $74 barrell of oil can't be $50. The only reason is more money to benefit the oil producers. Officials say that the prices fluctuate due to demand on the product. But, if you really think about it, higher prices ain't going to magically produce more oil. I have always said we need to drill for oil in Anwar up in Alaska. When we produce our own oil, then we will be dependent only on us. We need to produce more natural gas. Refineries need to produce more oil. BUT, what happens should we get another hurricane season this year that happened last year?
If we left Iran alone, the price for gas won't drop. If we left Venezuala alone, gas wouldn't drop either. One thing that people always complained about was that we went into Iraq based on oil reasons. If we go anywhere based on Oil, it's going to be Iran and Venezuala. Why? Because these countries hold the leverage in that matter. They have the ability to destablaize our economy at a moments notice. When you start to starve and get hungry, what are you willing to do in order to get food? How far will you be willing to go? That is the key.
Exxon's CEo for the past 15 years is set to retire with a pension....PENSION of $400 million dollars. After a yearly salary of $48.5 million/year, stock options in the $120 million range, and other earnings, he still will receive SOCIAL SECURITY!!!! He has enough money to give $1 million to every single American this year. Well, so does Bill Gates...twice.

SPORTS
I know it's late but I went to Opening Day at Wrigley Field, seen by many in the chicago area as a holiday, and saw a great game. Chicago beat St. Louis 5-1.
The Bulls play the Heat in the playoffs. Anybody care?

So, after a few weeks off, I seemed to jump right in and got to work. I try not to leave any stones untouched. But, until next time.

Not the normal blog

2006-03-16T11:15:00.000-08:00

Aside from speaking mostly about politics and the usual sports score, I thought I'd share some thoughts about the recent storm. With this now being the end of the first week following the devastating storm here in Springfield, I would say that Springfield is on it's way to a recovery. The recovery itself may last for months, but I am sure the Springfield will do it's best to be once again the Land of Lincoln that everyone knew and called home. My first comment would be about the comparison the mayor said about the intial pictures resembling that of post-Hurricane Katrina sights. Well, at first I thought he was a bit off on that because after seeing the damage on the west side and seeing the pictures on the Internet involving the east, one could help but think back to Katrina. I couldn't believe the pictures I had seen, some of which came from Danny, a friend of mine who happened to get caught almost in the direct path of the twister itself. It was most unblievebale at best to see what certain parts of Springfield had been reduced to. Not since about 50 years ago had Springfield seen a twister actually come through the city itself enroute to destinations unknown. The path I had seen in the SJ-R a mere 4 days later described to me what could only be thought of as a dream. I labeled certain parts here and there on that map so that my girlfriend could get a better understand of the path since she is not originally from around here and the map would do do better explaining than I could. I showed her where the Barrel Head used to be. I pointed out Penny Lane, Wal-Mart, and Buffet City, all of which had the twister at their front door. Since the twister broke up, it regrouped again only to form another lop-sided angle towards the far east end. So, yes, pictures I had seen in the paper only for a mere moment made me think of my time in southern Mississippi. Though I wasn't in New Orleans itself, the pitcures spoke a thousand words.
I make it a habit to check news websites on a daily basis and in turn found that Springfield had indeed made the national spotlight. Not for it's elegant Presidential Museum, but because Springfield was the hardest hit city in Illinois after the storm that had swept across the Midwest made it's way more eastward. It is a bit strange to see a city of approx. 115,000 residents sit in utter darkness for most of the night. Another strange sidenote to this: My girlfriend was supervising this lady at a liquor promotion tasting in Cub Foods and the lady turned around to see her sister and brother-in-law standing there. She asked them what they were doing in town, She replied by saying that they drove up from St. Charles, Missouri to see for themselves how bad the damage was because they couldn't belive it from where they were.
Many people called into the radio station to thank a Dj who was there in the station from about 7:30p Sunday to about 6:30 Monday morning. He kept most of Springfield updated about what was happening in the city around them. He stayed with the lonely until the power was restored. I have to say thank you to the men and women of law enforcement who had an equally challenging time that night as well. While I listened to the scanner, I heard patience and professionalism displayed by both dispatchers and police alike. It takes a strong person to direct people where to go without actually seeing for yourself what is going on. The local poice department's shifts were working around the clock to secure parts of the city most affected by the storm. And for that, I say thank you. I would also like to thank the countless electricity personnel who have come far out of town to help restore power to Springfield. Driving by some local hotels and seeing nothing but power trucks occupy their's and other business parking lots gives hope to people still without power. Have faith, help is on the way.
One lady wrote a letter to the editor saying: "How does a storm with 125-mph winds move a garage 2" off it's foundation? How does a tornado with 125-mph winds uproot the biggest of trees? how does a tornado with 125-mph tear shingles off roofs everywhere? How does a tornado with 125-mph winds not move ONE OF THOSE DARN GUM-BALLS from my hard of about 3,000?" The city will regroup. But how does one regroup when word of a late winter snow storm, 24 hours away from this typing, is about to hit with estimations of 4-7" of snow accumulation? Well, that is Illinois for yah. 70 degrees one day, 30 degrees and snow the next. Gotta love it here. Go Cubs!!!!

A New, Eventful Week

2006-02-15T21:37:00.000-08:00

Well, as most of you know by now, the Vice President is being raked across the press for his direct involvement in a hunting mistake. Now, most of you know by now that the press wasn't immediately notified. Well, I say "tough luck." It would seem as though the individual that was shot should take a back to the press. Well, I'm sorry to say that the medical needs of Mr. Wittington to presidence over that situation and certain bits of info wasn't immediately addressed. So it goes to show where the medias agenda lies when the VP doesn't directly come forth on a topic that is most cetertainly about something that can happen to virtually anyone in this country. Now, I ask this question: Does anyone know about the speech given by former VP Al Gore last week? Okay, I will enhance that question. Does anyone know about the speech he gave last week while in a foreign country, *cough* Saudi Arabia, undermining the efforts of the troops and this country's active fight against terrorsim? If you answered no but know everything about the Cheney hunting trip even which room the victim was in while in the hospital, you gotta ask, where does the agenda lie?
Now, I don't support anything Al Gore says or does. I won't come on here and say he's trash. I will, however, say that he is one knife short of a set. I guess it's okay for would-be Presidents to go over to foreign soil, give speeches that undermine the efforts by US service members and to also down play the current adminstrations attempts at keepuing this country safe in the future. I may be just some ordinary blogger / ordinary citizen, but damn people, you want to elect these people?
Speaking of bloggers, Alec Baldwin...you rememebr that washed up actor? Well, he sees fit now to get on his blog and call the VP a terrorist. I don't know about you, but those are some serious alegations to toss at a SITTING Vice President. So, take the 9/11 hijackers and bin Laden-type terrorist and compare that to Cheney or Bush. No real comparison is there? Just some lunatic who never made good on a promise that if Gore won he was going to move his idiot ass to Canada.

I remember talking earlier about coming on here and discussing the FISA act. Well, here goes. In a nut shell, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was created back in about 1979 or so and basicalyl gave the president the power to appoint about 11 federal judges from across the country to sit on a special court convened only to discuss whether or not a warrant shall be issued to authorize any sort of domestic spying.
This is under the United States Code, Title 50, Chapter 36, Subchapter 1, § 1802

1))))Notwithstanding any other law, the President, through the Attorney General, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order under this subchapter to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year if the Attorney General certifies in writing under oath that—
(A) the electronic surveillance is solely directed at—
(i) the acquisition of the contents of communications transmitted by means of communications used exclusively between or among foreign powers, as defined in section 1801 (a)(1), (2), or (3) of this title; or
(ii) the acquisition of technical intelligence, other than the spoken communications of individuals, from property or premises under the open and exclusive control of a foreign power, as defined in section 1801 (a)(1), (2), or (3) of this title;
(B) there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party; and
(C) the proposed minimization procedures with respect to such surveillance meet the definition of minimization procedures under section 1801 (h) of this title; and.....

Alot of the main statement is made within the very first paragraph when it says "the President, through the Attorney General, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order under this subchapter to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year." But it also says that such order needs to get approval from the Court should the electronic surveillance contain transmissions from a US citizen. More about this later.

Also in the news, the US is about to make a deal with the United Arab Emerates on turing over port operations. The problem is that the 6 ports lie within 6 major US cities that can be targets of terrorism and the fact that that that the UAE has had terror-related problems in the past, Congress fines fault with this. The deal would turn over pretty much financial operations, i.e. paychecks, etc, to the Dubai Ports World from the current broker from Great Britian. Now, it technically isn't what people might think and that is that Dubai will begin placing their own security personnel within the ports and that terrorism would be greater. Its more along the lines that Dubai has a business opportunity to make even more money by buying these ports and as such is acting on that opportunity.

In sporting news, Spring Training started last week and I for one am so looking forward to what the Cubbies have to offer this year. They have3 added bullpen help, greater base speed with Juan Pierre at ther top, and the the line-up should be a greater improvement than last year. Derek lee should have another great year. Hopefully he can continue what he did last year and should that happen, he will be MVP. The only thing lacked for him were the RBIs. No one got on base and as such, his RBIs suffered. So, as he says behind the plate.....PLAY BALL!!!!

A Bigger Than Normal Blog

2006-02-07T22:48:00.000-08:00

Stay tuned for a bigger than normal entry that i will make within the next few days. In it I will discuss the FISA Court and the conspiracy it seems to draw only from the Democrats, the upcoming election in November that has the Dems pondering their next move, and some other items that will be of great importance.

Beginning another new(?) week

2006-01-29T14:02:00.000-08:00

Well, it's about that time. Time for another State of the Union address given by the President. I, for one, am anxiously awaiting some of the topics that will be discussed. Topics I see being talked about are, not in this order: the job market, the Iraq War, maybe Social Security, Iran's continuing nuisance, a proposal for the Bird Flu pandemic, Homeland Security. I dropped Iran in the mix because I am starting to see a trend with Iran that isn't very sunny. Iran right now is in the process of accomplishing two things: 1) pissing off countries such as the U.S., UK, Israel, etc. They continue to defy anyone who may pose a threat to them and they continue to search for that holy grail...the nuclear technology. Now 2) they gather support from the other countries that hate the aforementioned group. Should Iran not back away from it's hard-line stance on nuclear activity, they will prompt WWIII.

Two things are wrong with Iran. 1) they hold a solemn dislike for Israel. Having that hatred for them is exactly the reason we, nor anyone else, want Iran having nukes. A country that has the dislike, discomfort, distrust, etc they have towards Israel completely negates any such reason of having nuclear technology. They say it's for energy. Why would a country so rich in oil, need to have any such nuclear interests? Why not build reactors that run off oil? It doesn't make sense and neither does their ill-attempt at listening to us or the UN. 2) They hold with them a Trump card in the form of oil. Cutting off the supplies to the rest of the world will have a grave affect on EVERYONE"S market. Not just our own. Quoted from the Drudgereport:
"The resumption of nuclear research by Iran is currently the market's largest preoccupation,' said BNP Paribas oil analyst Eoin O'Callaghan. He has pushed up his forecast for average oil prices this year to $65 a barrel because of geopolitical risk. He points out that the oil price rose more than 60 per cent in the run-up to the Iraq war; a similar increase now would take prices to $94." Another line in the already gloomy outlook is the every increasing threats out of Nigeria. Nigeria's gov't is having problems with rebel forces targeting oil companies.
"...He said the Nigerian situation could potentially be worse for oil prices than fears about a supply squeeze from Iran. Production levels in Nigeria have already been lowered by 200,000 barrels a day in an effort to protect facilities from the rebels, who have deliberately targeted foreign oil companies. 'Nigeria is probably as big a problem as Iran for us.'"
Bottom line: If Iran makes a bold enough threat as to target Israel or any other ally of the US, the President will have no choice to but attack that country something fierce. I fear Israel. Israel is a kick ass nation. If Israel were half as big as we are, I'd still be worried. As it stands, they are small. But, for example, the Israeli airline El Al(sic), is the leader in combating terrorist hi-jackers. No one messes with Israel in that aspect. They have and elite military but that are a small country. Anyway. Iran has the missile to target either American forces or Israel themselves. Should provocation be made, something really bad will happen that really bad thing will be somewhere close to nuclear war.
Sure, we have nukes. We have ALOT of nukes. But, our leaders don't fly off the handle and start aggrevating people. We don't make threatening comments about other nations. Just doesn't happen.

Back to the SotU speech. Tuesday will mark the first day in several months that all 9 Supreme Court justices will be in attendance. It would seem as though the lack-luster Democrats are trying to pull together a last ditch effort to fillibuster Judge Alito. Since I have read a little bit of the man's history, not all-but some of it, I can't see any reason that Alito would more different for the conservative side than say....of yeah, Ginsburg. Please, the Dems are so hypocritical as to think that having Alito is such a wrong idea. we said that the whole time Ginsburg was being nominated but she still passed. Now, they gave us Judge Roberts without much of a fight. But that is the thing, there was no fight. Too many smaller Dems said there wasn't anything Robert's possessed that would make them think he couldn't be a justice. He won. Same thing with Alito. He came out to the Judiciary Committee and answered 94% of the questions THE FIRST 3 DAYS. Ginsburg only answered about 82% of all the questions asked to her.
Now, some people on the conservative side of the media have said that abortion should not be the litmus test used to confirm judges. It would seem as though the Democrats are primarily concerned about abortion in roder to confirm or deny a nominee. A nominee should never, EVER be questioned about which way they will vote on a case. The Constitution set forth those principles in Article 3. It was not set forth in the Constitution, however, that abortion is a Constitutional right. It should be left up to the states as such. Now, should the conservative side of the Supreme Court decide to overturn Roe, that is in their Constitutionally given job description. It is up to Congress to set out a Constitutional Amendment, agreed upon by minimum 35 states, to change that and make Roe 'legal'.

Another small topic I hope the President hits is the economy. How are jobs doing. Things like that. To outline what it takes to prepare for a State of the Union speech, the President meets with the Senior Staff around the first of November and outlines some things he wants to discuss. There are the usual topics that are almost always mentioned but some things may be brought up for the first time. Now, the S.S. makes notes and the Director of Communication gathers the SpeechWriters and they start to formulate the speech into what it might look like. It is up to the Prez. to make the final call on what goes where. Over the course of the next two months, the SW write what the Prez wants to say. Many hours and many drafts are gone through in order to get it down. About the first of the year, barring any major incidents, the Prez starts to read what he thinks will be the SotU speech. After some corrections are made throughout the week or two before the speech itself, the Prez will have the Final Copy. Now, after the copy is given, the Prez will go through it about 15-19 times in order to get the timing down and the fluidness of the speech in order. Then, it's showtime.

In sporting news, last week Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Raptors no doubt solidifying his name as one of the greatest in the game today.

Have a nice day.

Just a few words

2006-01-14T10:26:00.000-08:00

As I watched the Alito Confirmation hearings, I found it rather disgusting to see people like Senators Kennedy and Durbin throwing out questions about morals and ethics.

1) Back in about 1976 or so, it was a drunk Kennedy who drove his car into a lake thus killing a passenger. He walks home, sobers up and gows back out the next day to report the mishap.
RESULT: No charges filed and if there was....no jail time served.

2) Senator Durbin has the audacity to call servicemen and women overseas in Iraq, a job that Durbin has neither done nor will ever do but just sit in D.C. and say things like this, comparing troops to the Soviet Gulags, Nazis, and others like Pol Pot. Now, this Senator lives in Springfield and represents the 6 or 7th most populous state. This man needs to be retired in his next election.

Both of these individuals sit there and ask him questions about his "association" with the Citizens Alumni Group from Princeton (or Harvard, can't remember which one right now). Questions him about his association. Now, I say association lightly because he turns out that he was never really a full-fledged member of the group. Just kinda knew some people and he understood their position on things.
So, Senators, do you still question this man still knowing that one of your colleagues, Sen Robert Byrd of Virgina (?) was a leader in the Ku Klux Klan? Still accept that? Thought you would.

One last topic: Countdown to the invasion of Iran::::::T minus 371 days ans counting. It might be inevedible. But the world can't have someone saying what he is saying and having a nuke. Touch that technology and you'll be a sand box. Again.

The New Year

2006-01-10T02:01:00.000-08:00

As promised...or not promised, I planned in delivering a new message. Well, it's a few days into the new year and I haven't done that yet. UNTIL now.

Anywho, I celebrated my 27th birthday last wednesday and did so with a Texas win over USC in the BCS National Championship. I will go on record and say that that game was by far one of the best of all time and am proud to have watched it.

Now, onto bigger and more annoying things....

I just got done watching something on like, HBO called "American Candidate." This show has got to be the lamest show, I believe reality or otherwise, to be aired on tv. It's one thing to advertise and get people to audition for a reality show, it's quite another for a show to tell these people that they are going to "run" for President of the United States. First of all, at least 3 of the people on the show aren't 35. Thats is one of the primary qualifications to be President. But anywho, who am I to say that this show is stupid? I could spend hours talking about how ignorant this overall. Last night an episode had the candidates in New Hampshire giving speeches on one topic: The War on Terror. These people had basically 2 hours to make a speech and then give it. Following everyone's speech, an exit poll was taken on who the audience thought won that day. The person that one would get the services of Joe Tripi, former campaign manager to Howard Dean. Yeah Joe, how'd that one turn out for yah? On top of that, Montel Williams signed on to host the show. Way to go Montel, downplay your legacy and reputation for this lowsey show.

Now I move onto the Alito hearings. Here is a guy that has worked his whole life to be where he is now. Now I know no one really knows exactly what they will doing later in life so it would be hard to monitor your steps enroute to that job. So, here is Alito who has worked his career in the life of justice. But I would advise the Judiciary Committee one thing: The 3rd Amendment in the Constitution states within the realm of Supreme Court nominee, no nominee shall be given a "religious test" to determine their qualifications.
Now I must say i can support Alito. I don't believe, however, he is as good a nominee as Chief Justice John Roberts. But, Bush did handpick an outstanding person with good enough qualifications to be on the Supreme Court. So, if the lib-left wants to bash Alito and compare him to Judge Scalia, the nall I got to say is "Ginsburg." We gave them that one. One of the most liberal justices this side of Souter, Ginsburg wasn't as criticized as Alito has been.

Onto some sports.
Last week was my birthday and on that day the Longhorns of Texas did exactly what I said they would do and that was beat USC in one of the greatest games in College Football history. Sure some people may say that the lateral Vince Young had that gave them the touchdown should have been reviewed, I say sure it should have. But it wasn't so you gotta live with that mistake. But, there was also a play in which USC had a reviewable play so it was pretty much even after that. Texas made the last drive the most importat one and got it right. I was also hoping that Young would remain at Texasfor his Senior year and perhaps run away with the Heisman Trophy next season, but has decided to go pro. Can't blame him necessarily.

During the off-season, that Chicago Cubs made some real transactions that will hopefully give them more wins this year. Juan Pierre was signed to fill in the outfield and replace Corey Patterson. Jacque Jones will play right field and rookie Matt Murton will round out left. The attempt to acquire Rafael Furcal went down the tube. That would have been a great addition. ESPN and others were reporting that Cubs may have attempted to trade Mark Prior to Baltimore for Miguel Tejada. That would have a been a good trade maybe for Baltimore, but not for Chicago. Don't give up one of your aces for yet another shortstop. So our guys may not have the numbers at SS Tejada had, but still. So, it hasn't happened and yet I don't think it will.
With these additions, I can't imagine how many RBIs Derek Lee will have now. I mean, Pierre had 57 stolen bases. Opening day is Chicago ande St. Louis. That will be AWESOME!!!!!

A Few New Thoughts

2005-12-18T13:08:00.000-08:00

Well as the title suggests, I have some thoughts that have been coming to mind recently. Lately, it seems that Christmas is still alive and well somewhat to my surprise since a fraction of the country...that's right, a FRACTION....a VERY small percentage, wants Christmas to be done away with while we still tolerate Hannakah and Kwanzaa. Now, this by far is not an attack on what others believe and still to this day, I accept others views. BUT, the media wants to amp this up so much that they will stop at nothing to keep stories of anti-Christmas sentiments going. Apparently the majority no longer have a voice in this country. Apparently, people who don't believe in Christmas are offended if someone says Merry Christmas to them. If they don't believe in Christmas, or Chris for that matter, what do they have a right to moan about? Its just such a non issue with them. So, what do we do now? The ACLU tells you what to beleive in, thats what.
Never before has a devil-loving group such as the ACLU been so anti-civil liberties, they try to tell you what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Never mind the fact that they lobby tirelessly on behalf of those .25% of the Americans to get Christmas done with while allowing the other two to be spotlighted. Whatever happened to 5 years ago when people just said Merry Christmas to people becuase it was the holiday that almost everyone celebrated and the people saying the phrase just wanted to spread the happiness that they felt towards the other person. When I say Merry Christmas to someone, I am saying everything happy that this holiday gives me. The family time, the gifts, the peace, the togetherness, etc. What it boils down to me is this:
Jews everywhere celebrate Hannakah and so as such they say Happy Hannakah. Now, what if i don't celebrate it the way they do? Does that justify me filing law suits against them or say that they should just say Happy Holidays? No!!! let them say Happy Hannakah when they greet one another. I, obviously to a Jewish person, do not look Jewish. So, they would probably say Happy Hannakah to me and not be offended if I said Merry Christmas back to them because that is the custom I have grown to know and what they have grown to know in their culture.

King Kong stays atop the box office this weekend. Who cares. I haven't seen it yet and probably won't until it's on HBO.

In sadder news, "The West Wing's" Johns Spencer passed away Thursday after suffereing a heart Attack in the Los Angeles. Sopencer played Leo McGarry as the President's Chief of Staff on the hit television show and was poised to perhaps be the new Vice President of the united States. So, as the season comes back in January, how does a show decide to cover that up? I mean, it's not as if the staff flunkie who writes speeches too another job so they try to fill in someone else. This was the VP nominee and the story line was getting real good. I have loved watching that show merely for the insight the show brings about the White House. I can't imagine, aside from working there for real, what other show could mere that House. I haven't seen Commander in Chief yet and don't want to. It's like ER and that other hospital show. Spencer will be missed by all fans of that show because of the character he played and the talent he brought to the cast.

In other news on Capitol Hill, 2 things: 1) the torture issue was resolved when the President backed off and accepted Sen. John McCain's proposal of terminating torture of enemy combantants, and 2) Sen. Dumocrats rejected the USA Patriot Act. First off, the "Torture Reform Bill." Personally, I think the pansies on Capitol Hill don't know the first think about torture accept for someone such as McCain or any other Congressmen who have been in that position. Now, they will be the first ones to say behind closed doors that what we did to the prisoners in Abu Grahaib were nothing compared to what "real" torture was in Vietnam. Carlos Mencia siad it best about torture. i can't specifically recall word for word what he said and to try and do so would be an insult to Mencia's take on torture. What we did was humiliation. But, do you know who it was that we humiliated? I sure don't. If you can put a name to the face being walked by Lyndie England, then we'd have a story. If that is torture, what would you call what Saddam did to his own civilians? At least that individual on the leash didn't have to watch as his wife was being raped by one of Saddam's sons. What happened in Abu Grahaib served as a wakeup call that we Americans must win a Public Relations war. We need to come across as people who don't do what we do. BUT, we still need acts of aggression towards enemy combantants. We still need to sleep deprive them. We still need to put crazy thoughts into their heads. Hell, you'd call making them listen to Sinead O'Connor's Greatest hits torture. I'd talk after that.
These people don't care about or laws. They know that when they are captured, they'll be taken to a little island off the coast of Florida, given three meals aday, their chances to pray to Allah, and...AND....AND given the opportunity to speak with a lawyer. How great is that. We can't even keep them up past bedtime to force them to answer questions.

Now, onto the Patriot Act.
Most people after 9/11 supported the Patriot Act because of what it allowed the law enforcement community to do. The Patriot Act is not what the ACLU is defining it as being. the Act says that it allows the police to investigate library and medical records pursuant to an investigation into alleged terrorism activity. Plenty of other sections allow police to conduct roving wiretaps on people they suspect as being involved in terrorism. Now, at issue is the words "they suspect" and what exactly it means. Police must first obtain a warrant before they start the wiretaps. They must swear before a Federal judge that some illegal terrorist activity is taking place. So, the Justice Department will not be randomly checking into your library records anytime in the near future. That is unless you are conspiring to commit some high profile acts of terrorism.
So, the Dems, still distraught after losing the 2000 and 2004 decided to filibuster the hell out of the bill until the Republicans took it off the table. The GOP Senators failed to reach the 60 votes needed to end the filibuster and maintain the current form of the bill. As Rush Limbaugh said afterwards, "We saw what happened today and names will be taken after the next attack."

Thats does it for me for right now, what say you?

Knowledge Even I don't Understand

2005-11-29T16:13:00.000-08:00

Well, not mush is happening in the world today. Correction, there is a WHOLE LOT of stuff happeneing in the world today.

Locally, State Treasurer Judy Barr Topinka will announce her candidacy for the Gubernatorial nomination for the GOP party effective tomorrow, Wed, in Springfield. Topinka's stint as Treasurer has been nothing short of marvelous. Her terms in the Treasurer's office, the first female to hold that post I might add, has seen tremendous numbers not only fiscally but managerially as well. The local GOP County officers are set to formally endorse her as their choice for Governor to face Incumbant Rod Blagojevich next November.
Since the GOP has about 6 candidates all vying for the top office in the state, local officials feel that their time would be wisely spent endorsing the one they strongly feel has the best chance of reclaiming the office. Several of the other candidates running have been challengers to past Senatorial runs, most notably Jim Oberweiss, an Aurora dairy farmer who lost to then nominee Jack Ryan. Topinka's run for Governor should not be taken lightly as she has strong support from constituents throughout that state who backed her run for Treasurer. More on this later.

Tonight, the University of Illinois will travel to the University of norht Carolina in Chapel Hill to start the ACC tournament. Illinois lost to UNC last year in the Final Four Championship in what I thought was a helluva game by both teams. U of I comes into the season ranked 15 but has since moved to the 12th spot. UNC, who lost most of their starters to the NBA, return almost no one from that team and comes into the season unranked. They are 1 of a few teams to ever win a title and then be unranked at the start of the year.

The U of I football team practiced last week after an unknown substance was found on the field. Unsure of what it was exactly, the head coach, Ron Zook stopped practice to notify the authorities. They inturn notified the local FBI office to analyze the white powdery residue on the field. The coach resumed practice after the FBI discovered that the powder was in fact chalk and knowing that the team wouldn't reach the inzone anytime soon, they continued.

Small pieces of marble fell of the top portion of the overhead roof of the Supreme Court building. Maybe that was God's way of telling the Court not to interfere with the lives of everyday Americans . Tell me this: If the Constitution supposedly says that there should be a separation of church and state, then why is most of that building covered in biblical sayings? Why does the Court conduct a prayer as well as the US Congress before the start of their session? Doesn't make sense.

Tis the season to be jolly. Thats right, it's Christmas time and as much as people out there don't want to admit it, you may say merry Christmas while NOT offending anyone. It's also a Christmas tree. Not a "decorated free standing tree with occassional lighting." Why does the 3% of Americans who don't believe in Christ just shut up and and allow the other 97% who do just celebrate it? I don't see "Holiday Menorah" or "Holiday Fast" coming out of their mouths. Its always Hannukah Manorah and Rammadan Fast but we must say "Happy Holidays. Those kind of people, not referring to Jews, make me sick. They, mainly the people that work for the ACLU, are worthless people who claim to fight for all our civil liberties. But they don't. They have a radical leftist agenda of advancing their personal views towards everyone else. If you don't believe me, just read their mission statement and ask yourself if you want them representing your views.

Thats about it for now....the fingers are about to fall off due to Carpal Tunnel.

I had to update this from the last post. It would seem as though the far left of some tribes want to terminate the words "Merry Christmas" from the lexicon of 97% of the country who support this holiday. But it dawned on me that if i were to "be offended" at Ramadan or Hannukah and I don't want those terms used because I don't believe in those religions, then it is somewhat related to religious persecution. That is one of the reasons why this country was founded more than 200 years ago. The colony wanted to escape the religious intolerance they faced in England. Well, I was thinking, if those of the population that want to rewrite history by redefining our holidays, isn't that in and of itself persecuting our religion? No one body of Government of oversight committee can say "You cannot say Merry Christmas, but feel free to have a Happy Hannukah." Are they therefore accepting one religion over the religion more widely celebrated in this conuntry? We cannot allow leftist leaning hacks ruin this country by claiming they know what best for all of us. If we allow them to do so, we will be left will nothing more than robots speaking only what others want us to speak. That my friends is not Separation of Church and State...it is Free Speech, regulated only by Amendment 1 of the Constitution.

Peace, oh and uh.....MERRY CHRISTMAS.

More Games

2005-11-23T20:30:00.000-08:00

Well, thats right. Mosre games are going to be played this weekend. Namely college football games. This week's highlighted games, to name a few come down to the top 6 teams in the BCS. With the season wrapping up, USC, Texas, LSU, and Notre Dame, to name a few will have to prove themselves with some crucial games. USC should have no problem. Texas will have a game on their hands in College Station, TX against the Aggies. Having been to a game this year in Texas against Kansas, I say that right now, Texas will win the BCS title game against USC. Thats right. USC will lose their first game of the year and that game will be against Texas. Notre Dame is having a helluva year right now under first year coach Charlie Weiss. Gotta be proud of ND. I am beginning to think that once Weiss gets the recruits he wants, everything will be great for Notre Dame.

In celebrity news, it has been announced that Nick and Jessica are no longer going to be married. I think that celebrity weddings in the first place are mere publicity stunts. The national average for wedding years is almost 6 years right now. I think that most of that has to do with the real short outings that celeberities have with one another. It is merely a matter of convenience for celebrities since most of the publicists are arrangeing everything. They should have "agreements" between eachother that if each celebrity stay together for 5 years as probation, then they can get "married." Other than that, it's damn near pointless for them to get married. Brad and Jen...what, 3 years or 4 years or so. Back in the day, 1914 or so, marriages were built to last then. That is the time when the term "Till death do you part" actually meant something. Now, its "Till another celebrity or script do you part."

As I write this, it is Thanksgiving. So, I say Happy Thanksgiving to whomever reads this. Later, itsw going to be Christmas and I will say Merry Christmas to everyone. I find it difficult to stomach that the very people who fight for civil liberties, the ACLU, fighting for things such as tolerance towards gays, are actively fighting to keep Christmas out of schools and out of our annual lexicons.
The ACLU and the idiot left m,ake me sick to even think that they fight for the right to tolerate other religions but refuse to accept the Christmas celebration. Christmas has been around alot longer than those crappy liberal lawyers and it will be around for a long time to come. Please people, don't give in to the demand to take out Christmas from our lives. Merry Christmas was meant to have some meaning to it and should remain. If they decide to take out Christmas and the people who celebrate as such, they should take Yom Kipur, Hannukah, and all the other religious holidays. To the other 96% of the people who celebrate Christmas throughout the country, here's to yah...MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! It's our Constitutional right to celebrate it as such and that, that is what the ACLU cannot take way. They cannot, constitutionally speaking, force people to not celebrate the certain holidays. Just as they fight to allow the acceptance of gays, biblically speaking is wrong by the way, they fight to take away Christmas...which was celebrated in the Bible.

Now, I am off the soap box and ready to end this episode of the Mind Games. Tomorrow is Friday and hopefully Teaxs beats A&M. Then on to Saturday and the Irish winning again against Stanford. Later that Saturday, Oklahoma State takes on Oklahoma in Norman. That should be a good game as both teams fight to maintain a football reputation.

That does it for now, stay tuned for more Games this weekend.

Some stuff in the news

2005-11-20T13:17:00.000-08:00

Well, starting off, I gonna cover the fireworks on the Hill. Namely in the form of the vote taken by the house of Representatives to withdraw troops from Iraq immediately. It started out when veteran House Democrat John Mertha, D-Pa, stepped up and voiced a proposition to bring the troops home at the most practicable time. The Republicans, sensing a "put up or shut up" play on the floor, decided that the House will have a vote on that very issue. But, what I find to be a very clever move, the Republicans reworded the vote saying "A vote to bring the troops home immediately." This, as far as i can see is what the democrats didn't want to happen and was basically a move that, if situations were different, the Democrats would have done the same thing to the GOP.
So, you have the vote taking place on the evening of November 17. With all members nearly present to take part in such and event, the House overwhelmingly voted the resolution down 403-3. Many of the Democrats that sided with Mertha knew that it was a LOSE-LOSE situation. From Drudgereport.com:
"Republicans hoped to place Democrats in an unappealing position - either supporting a withdrawal that critics said would be precipitous or opposing it and angering voters who want an end to the conflict. They also hoped the vote could restore GOP momentum on an issue - the war - that has seen plummeting public support in recent weeks."
Democrats decided to vote against the resolution hoping that the flare up that insued because of it would quickly die away.
Now, in my opinion, the Democrats are without any future hope of making legitimate statements about this war. I belive that they belive that are doing what's best for the country in their minds. But, to call for a troop pullout now or at anytime other than the completion of the desired outcome would be devastating to the people of Iraq.
With the Republicans, they put forth the legislation hoping that the Democrats would catch themselves in a possible question for the future. "Do I vote for this and risk some political fallout later, or do I oppose it and risk the same thing?" What I find amazing is that the Democrats can't find a way to compromise with the Republicans to come to an understanding on this topic.
It would seem to me that the entire Democratic Party is redefining the term "aid and comfort to the enemy." My other question is this: What would the terrorists gain if all of a sudden the GOP and the Democrats came together on this issue? What fuel would the terrorists have to keep this going. They must be happy to see the United States can't even come to an agreement on this problem they present to us. I know the Dems belive they are right and the GOP believe they are right. But, what if they were both right together?
So, now you still have the issue about the intelligence that was presented about the lead up to the war. Now, are we or aren't we better off without Saddam in power? What would happen should Saddam have gotten together with Al-Qeada sometime in the future with those weapons that nearly every major Intelligence agency within the world declared they had? Now, the ignorant Germans said that the intel we had was faulty. They gave us some of the same intell that confirmed the reason in the first place.
Altogether, the troop pull-out will take place in the near future, but it can't happen now and it won't happen next week. Once Iraq is more stable, then the possibility will exist in withdrawing personnel.
My last thought about this is this:
At no time did anyone hold a gun to the individual Democrats' head when the voting took place on invading Iraq. Senator Clinton stated that invading Iraq is the best way to go. Don't you think that Senators voting for something like this would have the knowledge over what they are voting for? Don't you think that Senators would hold highest the possibility of the negative effects of their vote? So why come out and in a different way and change your mind? I know the defense that when you see something once, you decide one way and once you see something else you may change your mind. i understand that aspect of the thought process. But, everyone one of those Senators, GOP and Democrat alike, are accountable to the votes they make and it's way to easy to just "change your mind when you don't like the outcome." Kerry said i voted for it before I voted against it. That will forever more remind people that once you make a decision, stick with it and hold to your convictions and just because you can, don't go back and change your mind hoping that it will rewrite history as well.

In other happenings inside Washington, lawmakers voted again to give themselves a payraise. Must be nice to vote yourself a higher salary when others around the country still work for $6.15 an hour.

Also, I mentioned a few weeks ago that I believe Scooter Libby was practically innocent in the CIA leak case. After two years of investigations conducted by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, Libby was indicted NOT for his role in leaking the name but rather being unable to accurately recall conversations 2 years ago. Personally, I can't remember a conversation I had with Joe Bagadonuts last week. I'm sure that perhaps I did, but I don't remember the words. So, someone is Libby's situation is supposed to remember what he talked about 2 years ago. Reminding you as I will, that this man is a National Security advisor to the President and V.P. Cheney's Chief of Staff in charge of that office. With all that on your resume, try to remember what shirt you wore last Monday.

In book news, Cindy Sheehan is releasing a book sometime in the future. The title of the book, "Why I Upset People Smarter Than Me: A Hippie's Story." is sure to make people naucious.

In celebrity news, Jessica Simpson recently rejected my 5th offer of marriage. I can't understand why. It's not like she's still married.

Other than that, have a safe holiday this week. And because I serve in the military and hold an oath to uphold the Constitution of this great land, later this month, I will begin to say Merry Christmas to people and I'd like to see one uppity ACLU creep try and stop me. Not to say that ONLY people in the military are allowed to say, but hey, I defend the Constitution first and foremost and saying Merry Christmas is not Unconstitutional. Free Speech people. You have the right to say Merry Christmas and so does the other 96% of the American people that celebrate this holiday!!!!

A Few Days Later

2005-10-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

Now that I had time ponder the last few days, I am left with these reactions.

A World Series trophy was brought back to the city of Chicago and it wasn't by the Cubs. Sorry to say but the Southsiders out did the curse of the Chicago teams and came out ahead of the Cubs in bringing the title back to Chi-town. I do have to say that it was probably the greatest series ending game in recent years. To have a 1-0 lead into the ninth and then have the defense come up in such a big way, it will be on highlight films for years. I would have to commend the team from Houston. They fought back from a 15-30 record at the end of May and won the National League pennant over the Cardinals. I did predict that one by the way. But, for Houston, it was not to be. BUT again, I will say that Houston will for now on be a contender when you don't really think they will be. The Red Sox broke the curse last year, the White Sox broke the curse this year and I dare say NOW that the Cubs break the curse next year. And, they will do it against the White Sox.

Harriet Miers read my post the other day and did the right thing by stepping down from the nomination spotlight. What the Bush administration needs to do now is go about the "advise-consent" route and find someone that few Senators on both sides can sort of agree on and then go from there. I believe that the next nomination should be an Alberto Gonzalez-type or a Janice Rogers Brown. I believe that she just passed the confirmation portion of the DC Court of Appeals.

And, the final thought. Karl Rove was not indicted but VP Cheney's Chief of Staff has. Now, I have read most of the indictment through pdf format and read various parts of what Libby did and did not do. I do beleive that he didn't necessarily commit the crime of outing a CIW agent. It would seem as though a CIA briefer that Libby had contact with did in fact out the agent by saying that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA. Now, what isn't said aloud necessarily involving Wilson is that more often than not, Wilson has publicly introduced his wife as a CIA operative or one that works for the CIA. So, having already outed your own wife in the city of politics and press, one would assume that somebody caught wind of it and through gossip, expressed their opinions about Wilson. So, around 2003, Wilson took the trip to Niger to disspute different charges about the yellowcake and came back with other intel. Once he went public, the V.P.'s office that originally made the statements about the intelligence started their own "I want to understand" style of press. So, Libby had several different round-about phone conversations and meetings all within the span of about 5 months or so. Within that time, the idea that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was the one that proposed him to be sent to Niger. Of all the converstions he had, many [media] already gave hints or questions about Plame being in the CIA. His reactions were that of, paraphrasing here, "I have heard that and don't know if all the talk is true." But, through the Grand Jury investigation, he may have recalled different conversations. So, what is there to beleive as being true and not true. Onto the criminal trial, the government has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. I will venture a guess and say that he may be found guilty on 1 charge of perjury at least. BUT, the real identification of the trial will be the lack of the covertness that was exhibited by Plame and more important, the words of the conversations themselves will be enough to say that Libby had no intention to out the agent. That the indictment alone allowed wiggle room for proof that something illegal had be done, it will be proven that the intention was not there and that Libby was not sure through various other conversations he had those few months that she was in fact an undercover agent.

-The fact that Plame was not "officially undercover" at the time of the outting did not play into the indictment process. So, the defense will have to prove that the other charges unrelated to Plame herself, are false. For more information, google the Intelligence Identification Protection Act and see that the Plame was not undercover,
-Libby will have a chance to question any and all people he had contact with about the story and therfore show what he did and did not know.
and
-The government has to show that Libby INTENTIONALLY meant to deceive the govt by outing Plame and that he knew ahead of time about her status.

A Few more thoughts

2005-10-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

Since I like to type and by many ways express my views in a very short way, tonight will be no exception to the rule. Next week I leave to go down to San Antonio for a two week military school in what I hope to be nothing less than fun in the "warm" sun of Texas. At least when I get back, I should have plenty of stories as I hope to basically have fun for two weeks. One part of the trip is to meet with fellow fraternity brothers from San Antonio and get to know some of them from the Alumni Association down there. I hope to talk a few of them into roadtrippin to the University of Texas-Austin on November 12 to catch the Texas-Kansas football game to see exactly why it is that Texas should be the National Champs. More on that trip to come as I would rather tell stories than predict them for now.

Onto the CIA leak investigation. No matter what your political views are, you almost have to admit that Rove and Libby and for that matter Cheney did nothing extremely wrong. I researched the Intelligence Identity Protection Act earlier as a by-product of the Espionage Acvt of 1917. What I found amazed me as that specifically no one mentioned above commited any crime. For what its worth, one may search that tmeselves and see exactly what it is they DIDN'T do. So, the story goes that Valerie Plame is a NOC for the CIA. Her husband gets an assignment to uncover the truth about the Yellow-cake Uranium thought to be in Niger. So, PLame's husband Jow Wilson is sent to Niger. The story was about to be reported by Matthew Cooper and others about the trip and what he uncovered there and what he didn't find. In an attempt to dissuade Cooper from writing a somewhat untrue story or to also prevent him writing false claims, he [Rove] said that he wasn't sure about Wilson's story and that he went because his wife worked for the CIA. So, in that last statement that Rove made, where does it say that Rove came to Cooper and identified Plame by name? In order to 'out' the agent, one must possess the desire to ILLEGALLY do that. One must have the intention to specifically name that person and blow their cover. BUT, the plot thickens. Plame's NOC cover was dropped the moment the 5 year mar expired for her to be overseas. Simply put, you can ONLY have NOC status should you be assigned overseas for a period of 5 years. BUT, she moved back to Washington, married Wilson, gave birth to twin NOCs, and began working out of Langley. Having said all that, the claim that Rove, Cheney, or Libby "outed" an agent cannot be found. That is why Fitzgerald has not handed out indictments yet because the Grand Jury haven't found cause that suggests that one or more of them conspired to commit any illegal acts. Besides, Rule 6e of the Federal Rules of Prosecution states that all acts done within the Grand Jury shall remain secret. Why are "lawyers close to the case" coming out to the media and giving annonymous statements about what's happening and what's not?

Onto the Supreme Court nomination pick. Should Harriet Miers get past the Senate confirmation and onto the full Senates vote, she would become of not 10, not 20, but one of about 48 other Justices to have made the Supreme Court without so much as a second inside the Court room. Now, someone within the State Journal Register stated that Bush was committing a tragedy by selecting Miers and that she has no experience whatsoever with the law. Far be it for her to actually know her trade , she should have done it within the confines of the court room. So, that guy, having taken the time to write that failed to mention that even the voters of Illinois turned down an experienced lawyer and State's Attorney in Jim Burkett, a Republican, for the inexperience of Lisa Madigan for Attorney General. Why write all that when you surely knew the hypocracy from which you write these ramblings? BUT, I must digress. I do sort of disagree with the pick made by Bush. I would rather have had Alberto Gonzalez nominated instead. As the President, you have the sole responsibility to nominate someone to fill vacancies. But, why not do it with someone who had the strongest chance of winning the battle? I mean, not one Senator on the Democratic side could mount an offense at John Roberts. No one. They knew that one more confirmation lurked and they instead waited it out, gave a little challenge, but nothing to raise an eyebrow about. So, playing the role of Senior advisor to Bush, I would convince Miers to go ahead and step down for now. Maybe another Federal bench will open up later, but not the S.C. bench. Then, I would convince Bush to nominate someone who is by-far a better candidate than Robert's was.

Now, onto the World Series. I sit here and stare at the tv wishing that the Chicago team was not the Sox but rather the Cubs. But, since that didn't happen I could only cheer in excitement as the Chicago White Sox attempt to bring the first championship back to Chicago since the 1998 Bulls did it in glorious fashion. I recently read today in the USA Today that the White Sox don't deserve the title and won't until at least another 20 years pass so that the scandalous Black Sox fame is forever forgotten. I thought that that write should rot in hell. I mean, these guys have done this year nothing but great baseball for the city of Chicago and doing so in the shadow of perrenial celler-dweller Cubs. Don't get me wrong. The Cubs are my favorite team of all-time. BUT, the Cubs have always been the ones to get the affection and attention of the city of Chicago and rest of the state of Illinois. Go Cubs, Go Sox and all other teams from Chicago.

Well, that about wraps it up for now as I have to get going here from work. Hopefully, I can get to the bar and catch the last part of the game. Maybe, they won't last until 1am like they did last night.

What Lies Ahead

2005-10-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

Well, for them ost part, this last weekend was exciting. Was able to go up to Western and see some old friends and meet some new ones. Got my first chance to go clubbing at WIU's newest bar, The Forum. I must say, the attention it's getting about being the Midwest's biggest bar is right on. Once inside, you would be led to believe that you're in a Chicago club. The owners definitely put some large bills into that place.

So, what lies ahead is today's topic. Now that I'm back home from Mississippi, what is there to look forward to. Well, I'm looking forward to seeing the White Sox get Chicago out of the World Series slump and take on the Cardinals in the now infamous "I-55" matchup. I see the White Sox winning he whole thing simply because they want it more than anyone. Lightly in second to the Cardinals wanting to say good-bye to their worthless stadium, many believe this year they will win in order to send that stadium away on a very positive note. I almost only root for them in that fashion. All teams want to say good-bye to their stadium by winning the Championship. So, heres to yah.

I am looking forward to seeing the USC-Notre Dame game next week. That should one exciting game as the undefeated Trojans come into South Bend to take on 4-1 ND. As a 12 year fan of the Irish (not as big as some I know) I see them ending the Trojans win streak. I mean, USC has a great team, BUT they have showed some weaknesses in the last 2 games and probably aren't as great as they were last year. So, ND wins 28-24 (+/- 3).

I look forward to NMW Wrestling's October show, "Brawloween." Aptly titled to describe the mystery behind the show and to present last roundup of storyline before the biggest show of the year, "November Reign." It's going to be a good show.

I look forward to spending a few days away with my girlfriend. We trying to get away and go to St. Louis for a night so she can put me through an entire day of hell at the mall. God help me now. Not because we haven't had a chance to celebrate out 3 year anniversary together, but for once she'll leave me alone about the topic. Nuff said. ;)

I look forward to the final end to the Natalie Holloway case. This has been dragging on for months now with apparently no end in sight. Whats weird is that the island is small and they haven't found this poor girl's body. Whats even more crappy is that if the guy(s) did take her off the island, someone should have seen it happen....just maybe. So, digg up the entire island so that maybe we'll get some sort of conclusion. I hope that the parents have a chance to lay to rest their daughter the right way.

I look forward to ending this topic. So, having said that, here's to the final sentence.

Have a nice day!!!!

The Return Home

2005-09-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

Well, a trip that most of thought would last until at least the end of October and send us to somewhere in Louisiana has brought us home. The Mississippi National both Army and Air began taking over their state in attempts to rebuild the problem areas and to ensure residents that the state will be better again.

We were originally sent down to Meridian, MS to work at an Air Guard station doing pretty the same thing we do here at home. The Officer in Charge decided that the trip wouldn't be worth it since we weren't going to get the same type of pay that we got back home. After the final night at home, the Colonel shows up on base indicating that we were indeed going.

So, that placed us in Meridian. no sooner had we got there did we get another mission. This time, the State wanted us to go down to Laurel to assist with security at the Red Cross shelter there. Upon arriving, we set up security at the shelter. Some of us got to ride with the Laurel PD on their midnight shift for the power hours of 8p-2a. At the end of the week, the train depot there began handing out opportunities foe the FEMA assistance funds. While there, the residents had to wait in line in order to receive a number. They were then to take that number and come back at a later date in order to fill out the paperwork necessary to receive the FEMA assistance. At the end of the week, approx Friday, we received word that our mission changed again and that this time we were to relocate our security assistance down at the Hattiesburg Red Cross shelter. There, residents had been living for the previous 3 weeks without any sort of authority.

We arrived in Hattiesburg for our 12 hour shifts. I was on midnight. The day shift had one half of our group with about 17 people armed with sidearms and at least 4 people had M-16s. We turned that place around on day one. There was a mobile home park on the other side of the road, like a fairgrounds-type of place. These loggers weren't under our direct control. But, once they came back from work, got drunk, and tried to come over, then they were ours.

Sad thing is is that before we got there, problems were everywhere. At least two women were identified as prostitutes. Once guy got jumped by a few people and had his leg broken and nose broke. And there were plenty of reports of some of the loggers coming over to score drugs. So, you can imagine what our presence had on some of these people's actions.

After a week there, we were told that the Army and some other Security Forces personnel were coming in to take over. It was a surprise to learn that the people WE replaced in Laurel came in to Hattiesburg and replaced us.

So, thursday we were off shift and getting everything packed up to go back upo to Meridian in order for us to fly out Friday at noon. It turns out that we lifted off just in time as I saw the weather after we got home and saw some of the outer edge of the hurricane coming into that part of Mississippi we were in. In the monring, I did notice some small breeze here and there but nothing bad. Mission end time, 1545 hrs local, Friday.

An update on location

2005-09-12T23:29:00.000-07:00

While I write this, I am working the midnight shift here qat the Red Cross shelter in Laurel, MS. The damage here is minimal ut not to say there wasn't any at all. Alot of the damage here is that of tornadoes that spawned from the Hurricane itself and floated around the town. Winds here were sustained at about 75-85mph for approx 4 hours at a time. Most of the damage is downed tree limbs scattered throughout the city of about 35,000 people. The shelter here houses about 95 evacuees mainly from the New Orleans area to farther south around Gulfport. The most difficult thing here to stomach is the shildren who now have nothing left in their lives but a few items of clothing and their parents. I walk wound on the patrol and see them as they lay in the beds watching cartoons. Harder than that is to look at them and say to yourself, "I understand your agony."

We have been riding patrols with the local PD for the last couple of days and probably will reach out to the county level of fun. We've dealt with a wide variety of people. Mainly those who still want to cause a little trouble. The local cops here love our presence because of the look we bring. If I didn't have Air Force patches on. you'd think I was SWAT or something of that nature. They like the extra help because it brings about extra presence on the streets. I love it too because I am bascially a cop here as well. I have thright to jack someone up and cuff them or "draw down on them" and the best thing about it, our names stay off the reports.

Last night, Sunday, was the best. Some of us went to Applebees for dinner...and beer. I haven't had a meal like that since the day before I left and I got to take the girlfriend out for the anniversary dinner she deserved at Longhorn Steakhouse.

Bottom line around here is that we don't know exactly where we stand in temrs of leaving. Everyday brings about another rumor. All of us on our team agreed that if the opportunity presented itself, we'd go farther down south to the Gulfport area. Local authorities there still haven't been able to get completely through the city. But, then again, that could change and we could be done in about 10 days and back home. Who knows. One things is for sure is that we are Federal employees now and that means we could go anywhere they want us. We have the authority, gear, and firepower if need be.

I learned the other day that my Fraternity, Sigma Chi, was holding a Halloween bash in October, at school with the proceeds to benefit Hurrican relief. They need all they can get from anyone. My dad is driving a trailor loaded with supplies down here from Springfield and should be in Vicksburg by Tuesday or so. He might be able to stop by here sometime Friday.

All the best
Brent

PS
I was not aware that all the down time we had here would be spent sleeping. I bought a book last night and now am about half way through it. Might need another one to read soon. The shortest amount of time spent sleeping here is about 12 hours or so.

Hurricane travel

2005-09-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well, as most of you know by now, I will be heading down to New Orleans or some location therein. Now, I hope to be able to use a CPU there and update this as much as I can. That is easier said than done seeing as how phone lines, power lines, clothing lines, etc. I have made contact with alot of my Fraternity brothers and y'all know who you are. keep up the good work where ever you are. I hope to make it up to school sometime soon. For all you others out there, have fun and I will try to stay in touch with people as much as i can.

I hope that the tv has blown everything way out of proportion because the reality of seeing all that devastation will be hard to swallow. Having to go down there to provide security and law enforcement to a town literally toen apart and filled with angry armed people will be a task. I hope that whoever I come in contact with I have the answers they want. it will surely be heart breaking to have to deny somebody something that they have been desparately waiting for for along time. Another sad thing is to go down there and see the devastation there and to know in the bakc of your mind that there are people in other parts of the world who saaid that we had this coming to us for along time. I can't possibly justify their existence on Earth. They take up space and oxygen. For the looters down there: Take what you NEED to survive. I see you taking a tv from somebody else's house and it's on like DONKEY KONG BEE-OOOOTCH. Order will be restored and people there will begin putting their lives back together.

If anyone out there is still in the giving mood, believe me, people still need the help. Go donate blood...give money so that other people can have a fraction of what you have.

Its one thing to see this happen half a world away...its another to have it happen in your own backyard. If you pray, don't bother praying for me. Pray for the victims that now only have nothing.

Brent

Hurricane Donations

2005-08-31T09:50:00.000-07:00

In this day and age of catastrophes, what happened last week in Louisiana and Mississippi is unbelieveable. I started this blog with the intention of starting meaningful, thought provoking conversations. What this post is about is for help. I am asking that whoever reads this, please do whatever you can to help those victims. Providing money is the best way to help because it is easier for the Red Cross to send a ton of money than a ton of food. The Red Cross coordinator here advised that they can take the money down there and buy whatever they need there. Think of these horrific conditions:
-Water so high that it comes up to the chest of most average men...in 80% of the city,
-No electricity in the area, wait, the whole southern tip of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, therefore no food is good, no water can run, and no ice can be made,
-water rising so fast that the sewers are now over flooded causing all that mess to run into the open. The liklihood of disease occurring is unimaginable.
-People sleeping at night with no air conditioning, therefore temps then can still be in the upper 90s inside a building.
-New Orleans is well below 7feet deep in some areas and other areas are 10feet deep and that folks is below sea level. How do you pump water "OUT" of a bowl when water keeps flowing in faster than your efforts?

So, like I said, this Hurricane has caused somewhat the equivalent to the tsunami. People there didn't have the ability to escape like New orleans had. If I could leave my current job and go down there, I would. I know other people would too. But, if you can't, the best way is to donate some money.

Tour De Lance

2005-08-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

With 7...count'em SEVEN Tour wins and quite possibly the best run in that sport, The head of the Tour de France now reports that a 7 year old vile of Armstrong's urine alledgedly tested positive for the performance enhancing drug EPO. Now, while I don't necessarily support the use of illegal steroids, one must question the validity of this report.

That is what I will now do. Why now, after all this is the Chairman now coming out with these reports? You have to look at the history between our country and France. Go back a few years to the lack of support France gave to the USA over the case of war. The blatant refusal to allow information to clarify our position for war. Chirac, the countries president, had his own agenda to handle. Many thought that their were connections between France and Iraq.

Now, look at the triumph Lance faced over the last 7 years. In France. Rewind to a few days earlier and you see Lance Armstrong riding along side President Bush on the ranch in Crawford. Far too often, Armstrong has faced allegations over the use of drugs to help his ride. Scientists and trainers have testified that Armstrong has no where the need for drugs. His cardiac rate is better than most and so is is ability to allow his heart rate to benefit more and more during the ride.

So, until Lance comes out and confesses that he took EPO, ASAP, or some other drug, I have to question the mere validity or even the integrity of the allegations.

The Liberal Media

2005-08-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, I said the two words together: Liberal and Media. What happened today in Iraq? Anyone injured or killed? More than likely. But, what they won't mention is the fact the President's agenda in Iraq has nearly been accomplished. What is that you ask? You want proof. That's hard because most of the media outlets won't report on that. You'll have to go Whitehouse.gov, or the Defense Departments own website, ot perhaps tune into Foxnews.

More people in Iraq are using cellphones now more than ever. Newer power towers are being into place. More schools have been built or re-built. But, like I said, it won't be reported because the the death of one military person is more news. I, like other people, feel really bad when someone over the there dies at the hands of some of those idiot insurgents. But, to report not on progress over there suggests that the progress being made is real and that they refuse to support the President's assertions that we are definitely succeeding over there. But, we can only report Cindy Sheehan's attempts at another week outside Bush's ranch in Texas. It's more of a story to show a woman disrespecting the death of her son by protesting outside the ranch.

Now, I support the Consitution. I support people who decide to hide behind it only for cowardly acts. What Cindy Sheehan shoulda done was protest her son's decision to join the Army. In the military, there are always times when we must go to war. There are also those times when troops are killed in duty. We as soldiers recognize that. It is a fact that every decade, there is a war. The 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, and 2000 have all seen some conflict of a war. It is fate that decides whether there will be another conflict after 2010. We must support the President when there is proof that at some point down the road, a problem will arrive at our front door. I refuse to get into an auto accident before I wear a seatbelt.

Maybe people would be happier if we hadn't gone into Iraq and some of those WMDs made their way here. I agree for the most part that we need to get out of Iraq sometime. But it will be dangerous to get out right now.

The Political Future

2005-08-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

Well, as most of you may or may not know, the politicians are once again starting to hit the campaign trail for yet another election season. On the forefront is the race for the Governor's office. On the Democrat side, incumbant Rod Blagoyahvitch is the candidate. Led by a campaign warchest of nearly $11 million and counting, the Republicans look to give rank-in-file members their opportunity to raise funds.

Last Thursday was Republican day out at the State Fiar. While there, I got into a somewhat heated arguement with a weiney liberal. His t-shirt read "Draft The Bush Twins" on the front and "Fire Karl Rove!" on the back. As Treasurer Judy Barr Topinka began to walk into the area, surrounded by tv cameras, this jack-ass made every effort to get into what ever tv shot he could bearing the t-shirt in the front. Well, I felt a need to not stomp on his first ammendment right but rather squash any chance he could to make that little statement. While cutting him off and blocking his shirt, he gave and then asked me, "How does it feel to inhibit his Frist Ammendment right?" I then told his that it was stupid to be there and that while he does have the right, I thought it was childish to do such behavior and that if I did the same thing on Dumbocrat Day, he'd block me too. He then asked me, of all things, if I was in the military. As if my answer wasn't enough, he asked me where my dog tags were. Frustrated, I whipped out my military i.d. and shoved it in his face reminding him of the idiocy that he now declares a freedom. 15 mintues later and that part of my life forever gone and wasted, we departed eachothers presence.

Later during the speeches, GOP-hopeful Bill Oberweiss called on the resignation of Bob Kjellander, RNC Treasurer. While it is a shame that such a man is being criticized in the papers, it's harder to understand the in-fighting that must now unsue following all this. Ray LaHood had already spoken about the decrease of such fighting and that such activities will only hurt the party in the future. It's sad to see that the candidates will resort to this. You hope that the other side would resort to such rhetoric thus causing problems in their own party. But when the GOP starts it, it is the Dems that strive to gain from this lack of political stability. When the Dems had 8-9 candidates during the 2004 election, only helped the GOP. As we sat back watching all their candidates knock eachother down, we only gained by monitoring the polls.

So, in the end, I would like to say that the GOP party may have it's hands full unles the perfect candidate comes along to not only gain the support of everyo9ne within the system, but to also put to rest the problems that only go on to plague ourselves. I personally hope that former Governor Jim Edgar rejoins the party that loves him so much to take on the budget bashing Chicago loving liberal Rod Blagoyavitch.

Rain, Rain...go way, CUZ YOU F'N SUCK

2005-08-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

Just as the title reads, today and the past few days have been utterly ridiculous. As most you out there knows, this week is the Illinois State Fair. Everyone who coimes to the fair hopes for some sunshine and some cooler than average weather. Average doesn't consist of rain every day. Heres hoping for better weather the next couple of days. Happy trails.

New Midwest Wrestling

2005-08-13T14:23:00.000-07:00

That is right folks. Tonight, August 13th, New Midwest Wrestling will host it's monthly show titled "Boiling Point." Fans of all ages are encouraged to come out and catch Sports Entertainment at the very unique local level. In the Main Event, the heavyweight champion, "The Marvel" Shane Matthews goes against one half of the tag team champs, Sage Ramsey of The Dean's List. Or is it "The Honor Roll?" Who cares because he may as well not show up. My prediction will be that the "Marvel" will take this home. So, having said all that, SEE YOU AT THE SHOW!!!!!

The Ray Lytle Farewell

2005-08-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, Ray is leaving the realm of Springfield radio to pursue avenues of a different brand of business. The radio industry has done alot for Ray and Ray has taken those gifts and distributed them amongst the loyal fans of Springfield. Tonight, however was no different. Ray gathered former and current members of the radio show he called family for 9 years and threw a party that those in attendance could say they were apart of. Ray typically shares the spotlight with everyone he comes in contact with. This evening, Ray gave the spotlight back to the fans. Myself and just about everyone who was a member of the show in more ways than one got on stage and helped Ray sing the song that perhaps everyone knows is his: Lesbian Rocker!!!! With everyone up there singing, it was as if we didn't want the night to end. But, with all good things come the bad things. Ray leaving is that bad thing. Come Monday, people of central Illinois will now have to force themsleves to listen to another morning show or not turn their radio on altogether. Maybe listening to old copies of RLMD 1-7 until the CD player can't handle it is proof enough that the mornings from here on out will not be the same. But one thing is for sure. Ray left once. Ray came back. Ray's leaving twice may prompt a comeback that is much needed 3 years down the line when all that is left is Shawn "Tu" Balint getting the highest ratings throughout Springfield. We'll see.