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Sarah Palin is the reason compasses point North.

calendar   Wednesday - June 28, 2006

World Cup Update

And then there were eight. Who cares?

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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/28/2006 at 08:45 PM   
Filed Under: • Sports •  
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Through The Looking Glass

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“Dragon Lady”
USAF Photo

The improved U-2S Dragon Lady, Block 20, aircraft taxis to the runway at Osan Air Base, South Korea. Osan AB was the last forward operating location to receive the new Block 20 aircraft. The U2S is the latest modification to the famous spy plane. This new version includes a larger wing and fuselage and F118-GE-101 turbofan engine. The U2 is set to be retired permanently in 2007, to be replaced finally (nudge, nudge, wink,wink) with global satellite coverage.

-- U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Andrea Knudson

Is anyone out there old enough to remember Francis Gary Powers?
Does May 1, 1960 ring a bell?
Nikita Khrushchev?


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/28/2006 at 05:57 PM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography •  
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New Freedom Tower Design

Well, they removed the first attempted cornerstone and shipped it off to parts unknown. Now they’ve gone back to the drawing board and come up with an all-new design for That Which Shall Replace The World Trade Center. It’s still called the Freedom Tower and it looks a bit better than the last crappy design they came up with. Something seems to be missing though. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Hmmmm. Finger. Now there’s a thought.

Oddly enough, the base will be protected from truck bombs by “a series of thigh-high rectangular slabs on the site’s perimeter—resembling tombstones”. That doesnt’ quite cut it either. I prefer dragon’s teeth made from pure titanium with razor sharp edges and laser guided 50mm cannons. Now you’re talking FREEDOM! So tell me ... what do you think of the new design. Good? Bad? Mundane? Garbage? Don’t hold back ...

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The redesigned Freedom Tower at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, planned to become America’s tallest building, will be a monolithic glass structure reflecting the sky and topped by a sculpted antenna, the architects said on Wednesday.

Symbolic of the Declaration of Independence, the reworked 1,776-foot centerpiece of the World Trade Center site unveiled by architect David Childs will have a base sheathed with rolled, heat-treated glass over concrete.

The new design uses a high-tech laminated safety glass, which if attacked by a truck bomb would shatter into falling pebbles, not break into flying shards. The exterior glass to be used is rolled with molten metal and the design features a vertical triangular rib motif, echoed throughout the building and on the antenna. 

The tower will be surrounded by groups of steps leading to the entrance, serving as a public plaza and security buffer zone. A series of thigh-high rectangular slabs on the site’s perimeter—resembling tombstones in an artist’s rendering—will guard against truck bombs. The antenna, to be used by radio and television broadcasters, has been given a more sculptural feel by Kenneth Snelson, a sculptor best-known for his Needle Tower, installed in New York’s Bryant Park in 1968.

The antenna raises the building from 1,338 feet—the height of the original World Trade Center’s 110-story twin towers—to the full 1,776 feet. Unlike most other glass-clad office buildings, the Freedom Tower will appear clear because they will remove the iron, which tints glass green, Kenneth Lewis of architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill told reporters at a preview.


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/28/2006 at 03:06 PM   
Filed Under: • News-Briefs •  
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SCOTUS And DeLays Texas Map

Here is your daily media bias litmus test: look around at the various media outlets and see how many emphasize the negative like the one below which leads off with “Court nixes part ...” and how many emphasize the positive like “Top court upholds most of ...”.

While you’re at it, see if you can find any media outlet anywhere which tells you how the vote went in the Supreme Court. I can’t find it anywhere. I guess I’ll have to go to the SCOTUS site to find out. Just remember ... this is our national media which feels it has a duty to keep us informed ...

imageimageCourt Nixes Part of Texas Political Map
Wednesday, June 28, 2006; 10:31 AM

(WASHINGTON POST)—The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld most of the Texas congressional map engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay but threw out part, saying some of the new boundaries failed to protect minority voting rights.

The fractured decision was a small victory for Democratic and minority groups who accused Republicans of an unconstitutional power grab in drawing boundaries that booted four Democratic incumbents out of office.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, said Hispanics do not have a chance to elect a candidate of their choosing under the plan.

Republicans picked up six Texas congressional seats two years ago, and the court’s ruling does not seriously threaten those gains. Lawmakers, however, will have to adjust boundary lines to address the court’s concerns.

At issue was the shifting of 100,000 Hispanics out of a district represented by a Republican incumbent and into a new, oddly shaped district. Foes of the plan had argued that that was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander under the Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voting rights.

On a different issue, the court ruled that state legislators may draw new maps as often as they like _ not just once a decade as Texas Democrats claimed. That means Democratic and Republican state lawmakers can push through new maps anytime there is a power shift at a state capital.

The Constitution says states must adjust their congressional district lines every 10 years to account for population shifts. In Texas the boundaries were redrawn twice after the 2000 census, first by a court, then by state lawmakers in a second round promoted by DeLay after Republicans took control. That was acceptable, justices said.


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/28/2006 at 10:46 AM   
Filed Under: • Politics •  
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Faded Glory

They say it is just a symbol and unimportant. They say burning it while protesting against our nation is “freedom of speech.” Yet thousands of good men have died in bloody encounters around the globe in order to keep this “symbol” forever waving over the United States Of America.

We pledge allegiance to it and we sing of the “Star Spangled Banner.” All 50 states have recommended this amendment be passed. The House Of Representatives passed it. The Senate failed to pass it by one vote. So feel free to burn my flag ... and I will feel free to kick the ever-loving s**t out of you when you do.

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S.J.RES.12

Title: A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States authorizing Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.

Sponsor: Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT] (introduced 4/14/2005) Cosponsors (59)

Related Bills: H.J.RES.10

Latest Major Action: 6/27/2006 Failed of passage/not agreed to in Senate. Status: Failed of passage in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 66 - 34.

YEAs ---66
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
Dayton (D-MN)
DeMint (R-SC)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Reid (D-NV)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)

NAYs ---34
Akaka (D-HI)
Bennett (R-UT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
McConnell (R-KY)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Wyden (D-OR)


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/28/2006 at 04:57 AM   
Filed Under: • Patriotism •  
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An Old Girlfriend

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Michael Ramirez—Investors Business Daily

In 2001 the NY Times recommended financial tracking of terrorist funding ...

“If America is going to wage a new kind of war against terrorism, it must act on all fronts, including the financial one. Osama bin Laden originally rose to prominence because his inherited fortune allowed him to bankroll Arab volunteers fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan. Since then, he has acquired funds from a panoply of Islamic charities and illegal and legal businesses, including export-import and commodity trading firms, and is estimated to have as much as $300 million at his disposal.”

“Some of these businesses move funds through major commercial banks that lack the procedures to monitor such transactions properly. Locally, terrorists can utilize tiny unregulated storefront financial centers, including what are known as hawala banks, which people in South Asian immigrant communities in the United States and other Western countries use to transfer money abroad. Though some smaller financial transactions are likely to slip through undetected even after new rules are in place, much of the financing needed for major attacks could dry up.”

“The cost of these plots suggests that putting Osama bin Laden and other international terrorists out of business will require more than diplomatic coalitions and military action. Washington and its allies must also disable the financial networks used by terrorists.”

-- New York Times, September 24, 2001

In 2006, the NY Times decided their original idea, which the administration implemented, was bad ...

“Under a secret Bush administration program initiated weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, counterterrorism officials have gained access to financial records from a vast international database and examined banking transactions involving thousands of Americans and others in the United States, according to government and industry officials.”

“The program, run out of the Central Intelligence Agency and overseen by the Treasury Department, “has provided us with a unique and powerful window into the operations of terrorist networks and is, without doubt, a legal and proper use of our authorities,” Stuart Levey, an under secretary at the Treasury Department, said in an interview on Thursday.”

“The program, however, is a significant departure from typical practice in how the government acquires Americans’ financial records. Treasury officials did not seek individual court-approved warrants or subpoenas to examine specific transactions, instead relying on broad administrative subpoenas for millions of records from the cooperative, known as Swift. That access to large amounts of confidential data was highly unusual, several officials said, and stirred concerns inside the administration about legal and privacy issues.”

-- New York Times, June 23, 2006

Any further questions?


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/28/2006 at 03:50 AM   
Filed Under: • Media-Bias •  
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calendar   Tuesday - June 27, 2006

Countdown To Whup-Ass



Update: 10:26PM GMT - Hmmm ... ahead of schedule, I see. Give ‘em hell, boys!

imageimageGAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli planes attacked a bridge in central Gaza late Tuesday, Israel Radio reported, and Israeli tanks were said to be on the move, possibly signaling the start of a military operation.

Palestinian security forces said Israeli tanks were moving near the Israeli village of Nahal Oz, a main Israeli staging area just outside Gaza, but that they had not yet entered Gaza.

In the Shajaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza City, not far from the border fence, armed militants took up positions across from the blaring headlights of Israeli vehicles, and Israeli attack helicopters hovered overhead. The militants told residents to leave the area.

Israeli military officials said a limited operation has been authorized for southern Gaza, aimed at “terrorist infrastructure.” The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/27/2006 at 03:55 PM   
Filed Under: • Paleswine •  
Comments (5) Trackbacks(1)  Permalink •  

Betrayal!

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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/27/2006 at 03:01 PM   
Filed Under: • Media-Bias •  
Comments (3) Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Mate

The link to this story was sent in to me by reader Phil R. who plainly stated that he was suffering from a case of insane giggles just thinking about some stoopid schmuck spending years in college earning degrees in biology and animal science only to reach the apex of his career sniffing dingo pee. I can’t believe I’m posting it here. Bear with me for a few minutes while I too try to stop giggling insanely. In the meantime, carefully read the last sentence and feel free to offer your scientific advice to our intrepid team of idiots researchers.

LOL  LOL  LOL

imageimageHow Is Dingo Urine Gathered?
Carefully, Study Says

Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:27am ET14

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian researchers say they have discovered a new repellent that can help with everything from rehabilitating old mine sites to reducing the amount of roadkill. It’s dingo urine.

Researchers at Curtin University have been startled by the effectiveness of urine from Australia’s wild dogs in scaring off kangaroos which chew through areas of new-growth vegetation.

The university’s Michael Parsons said the discovery could have important applications in helping to re-establish plant life on old mine sites by repelling kangaroos, unique Australian marsupials which number in the tens of millions.

Researchers looked at the effectiveness of chemicals found in the urine of dingoes and non-native predators like coyotes. “When we presented tame kangaroos with coyote urine, they became interested in the new smell, but when presented with the dingo urine they were startled and fled,” Parsons said.

He told Reuters Tuesday that the effect of urine on wild kangaroos was even more dramatic. Parsons’s team is looking at ways of delivering the repellent effectively at mine sites and how much would be needed, as well as whether it could be used to reduce the number of collisions between kangaroos and vehicles on outback roads.

He said the university was also trying to isolate and synthesize the active chemicals in dingo urine so that it could be made in quantities large enough to be commercially viable. For now, the university is receiving supplies of the real thing from Australia’s Dingo Conservation Society, but he said how it is gathered is a tightly held secret. “At one stage we fashioned a little urine catcher to walk dingoes and collect it from, but that tended to be risky,” Parsons said.


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/27/2006 at 01:39 PM   
Filed Under: • Odd-Strange •  
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Targeted

Angry Left to Joe Lieberman: “You vill toe der party line or ve vill destroy you, jah! Ve haf vays of making you cooperate.”

Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. Donks are being held hostage by the Looney Left and anyone who refuses to go along with the party propaganda will be shot at dawn. Not even a last cigarette. Ready, Aim, SMEAR! Joe is in the crosshairs because he won’t help spread the propaganda about the war and help commit an act of “premature redployment”.

I pity Joe. The attack machine, in the person of Barbara Streisand, George Soros, DailyKOS, Democratic Underground, MoveOn.org, et al, is in full gear and armed to the hilt with plenty of cash. I’ve always kinda liked Joe, even if he did run as second banana to Al Bore. His heart’s in the right place even if his party loyalty is to the wrong bunch.

This is what happens in the Democratic Party though. The Hildabeast herself was recently booed for not toeing the “cut-and-run” party line. Shock! Right now, the Democratic Party ressembles nothing more than a pack of raccoons and a family of skunks tied up in a gunney sack, going at it tooth and toenail, scratching and biting and making a mess. Anybody from the South knows what I’m talking about.

I think it’s past time for “Uncle Joe” to come over from the Dark Side. If he manages to fight his way back to re-election without too many knife wounds in his back, his first act should be to switch over to the Republican Party. The Donks are going down in flames and it’s past time to bail. Feel the Force, Joe. Obi-Wan Rove wants to save you.

imageimageCan Lieberman Survive Iraq?
With bloggers, consituents and many party officials still angry about his support for the war, Connecticut’s moderate Democratic senator is fighting for his political life
TIME Magazine - Sunday, Jun 25, 2006

As Joe Lieberman was criss-crossing Connecticut last Friday, picking up endorsements from labor unions and being greeted with applause at diners, it seemed like nothing had changed for a man who has long been one of the state’s most popular politicians. Then, in the small town of East Lyme, Joe Barry, a retired Vietnam veteran and local Democrat, literally got in Lieberman’s face.

“Senator, that was the plan, to get rid of Saddam,” Barry said, sitting with about 12 people in a senior center that Lieberman had stopped at. “We got rid of Saddam, now let’s get out of there. What are we looking for, Vietnam, where 50,000 people died?” Lieberman calmly responded, “We have a plan,” but Barry shot back, “Who has a plan?” “The United States Military, the United States Government,” Lieberman said, naming General George Casey, who leads American forces in Iraq.

Lieberman was standing right in front of Barry, and as the discussion continued another minute, the burly veteran stood up face-to-face with the Senator to emphasize his point. “I’m not going to let it go,” Barry said, adding, “I would love to see your plan.” Lieberman didn’t give any ground either. “I’m not for an open-ended [commitment] but I don’t want to leave like that,” he said, snapping his fingers. Barry can’t even remember the name of Lieberman’s opponent, but still he says that Lieberman’s strong support for the war has left him unsure if he can vote for him. ”I would probably vote for Donald Duck right now,” Barry said.

A lot of Lieberman’s once loyal constituents might join him. Barry is not the only frustrated Connecticut Democrat who doesn’t like what he’s hearing from Lieberman on the war. So it is that only six years after Lieberman was picked by the Democrats to be their vice-presidential nominee, he and his party could be headed for a divorce.

Lieberman is facing the toughest challenge he’s had since wining his Senate seat in 1988, a Greenwich millionaire cable company executive named Ned Lamont who is tapping into an anger from both local and national Democrats at Lieberman for taking positions at odds with the Democrat orthodoxy. The liberal blogosphere has made defeating Lieberman one of its chief causes of 2006, poring in thousands of dollars to Lamont’s campaign and constantly bashing Lieberman, especially for his fervent support of the Iraq War and standing as the strongest Democratic supporter of President Bush’s policies there. Even celebrity Democratic supporters, like George Soros and Barbra Streisand, have donated to Lamont’s campaign.

“He’s too likely to support the President, particularly on this war,” Lamont told TIME. “It takes away from the Democratic voice.” Polls show Lieberman’s lead over Lamont, once more than 40 points, has shrunk to about 15, and Lamont is gaining more and more support. If he loses the primary, Lieberman is leaving open the possibility of running as an independent, in which case he would be able to rely on the support of moderates in both parties who are still in his camp. But that might alienate Democrats, who are the biggest force in this blue state. Susan Voigt, head of the Democrat committee in Lieberman’s hometown of New Haven, said she would have to reconsider her support of Lieberman if he ran as an independent.

It’s extremely difficult to defeat any incumbent, especially an 18-year veteran like Lieberman, but many forces are in place to do just that. Some liberal Democrats in Connecticut have long been frustrated by Lieberman’s centrism. When he ran for President in 2004, Lieberman supporters at the time complained that Democrats in his home state wouldn’t make the short trip to New Hampshire to work on his behalf. And that opposition began to build early in 2005. Many local Democrats were furious about Lieberman’s support of Bush’s nominations of Condoleezza Rice and Alberto Gonzales to cabinet posts and his seemingly constant willingness to compromise with the GOP on many issues — such as helping President Bush get some of his conservative judicial nominees confirmed after they had been filibustered by Democrats.

Connecticut party officials were particularly incensed when President Bush kissed Lieberman on the cheek following his 2005 State of the Union address. In meetings with state Dems, Lieberman tried to assuage their concerns, but also kept reminding party officials he had a 70% approval rating. Even so, the attacks on the kiss became so vocal that an exasperated Lieberman told one group of Democrats “I didn’t kiss him back,” a response that didn’t exactly hearten them. (The incident has become so radioactive that Lieberman now denies Bush actually kissed him, telling TIME last week “I don’t think he kissed me, he leaned over and gave me a hug and said ‘thank you for being a patriotic American.’")

But it’s Lieberman’s statements on the war that have most infuriated both local and national Democrats. With his public backing of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his statement last December that Democrats should be careful about partisan attacks on Bush because “in matters of war, we undermine presidential credibility at our nation’s peril,” Lieberman has galvanized the left at a time when it’s eager to flex its political muscle by attacking Democrats who don’t tow the party line. A site in Connecticut called myleftnutmeg.com, run by a 61-year-old named Kelly Monaghan, who actually attended Yale with Lieberman, has become the Daily Kos of the state, providing video and links to everything the Senator does wrong.

Some Democrats who favor Lieberman even asked Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid to tell the bloggers, who love Reid, to dial down their attacks on Lieberman. Reid, realizing the blogs won’t relent on this race, declined to even try. And the influential Democratic activist group Moveon.org has started encouraging its supporters to back Lamont, ignoring pleas from Senate Democratic leaders in Washington to stay out of the race.

- More Democratic Party insanity from TIME ...


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/27/2006 at 12:37 PM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists •  
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Summer Reading

Several of you have asked me what I’m reading and occasionally I review one of the books I’ve completed here. This time I’m going to get the jump on you and give you the books that are currently in The Skipper’s lineup for summer reading. I’m already fifty pages deep in Ann Coulter’s “Godless” and the other books are on the shelf waiting their turn at bat.

I just received Coulter’s book yesterday evening, after a two week wait, and started on it this morning. You’re lucky anything at all was posted here so far today. I like this woman’s style. I’ll be catching pages of it on break and at lunch today. I’ll probably be up half the night finishing it - if I don’t die laughing at her exposure of the Looney Left first.

Through the summer months I’ll try to remember to post other book lists for your to browse through. One note: although I’ve linked the Amazon buy pages for these books you can usually save even more by joining book clubs like the History Book Club or the Conservative Book Club. Find the best deal and kick back and relax with a good book this summer. It’s brain food ...

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imageimage“Godless" by Ann Coulter (Amazon - $15.65)

Description: “If a martian landed in America and set out to determine the nation’s official state religion, he would have to conclude it is liberalism, while Christianity and Judaism are prohibited by law.

Many Americans are outraged by liberal hostility to traditional religion. But as Ann Coulter reveals in this, her most explosive book yet, to focus solely on the Left’s attacks on our Judeo-Christian tradition is to miss a larger point: liberalism is a religion—a godless one. And it is now entrenched as the state religion of this county.

Though liberalism rejects the idea of God and reviles people of faith, it bears all the attributes of a religion. In Godless, Coulter throws open the doors of the Church of Liberalism, showing us its sacraments (abortion), its holy writ (Roe v. Wade), its martyrs (from Soviet spy Alger Hiss to cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal), its clergy (public school teachers), its churches (government schools, where prayer is prohibited but condoms are free), its doctrine of infallibility (as manifest in the “absolute moral authority” of spokesmen from Cindy Sheehan to Max Cleland), and its cosmology (in which mankind is an inconsequential accident).



imageimage“Roman Britain” by Guy de la Bédoyère (Amazon - $25.17)

Description: In this lively, authoritative new account of Britain as a Roman province, Guy de la Bédoyère puts the Roman conquest and occupation of the island within the larger context of Romano-British society and how it functioned.

Following introductory chapters outlining events from the Iron Age period to the emperor Honorius’ advice to the Britons in 410 to fend for themselves, the author tackles the issues facing Britons after the absorption of their culture by an invading army, including the role of government and the military in the province, religion, commerce, technology, and day-to-day life both in towns and in the countryside.

The narrative is brought vividly to life by quotations from inscriptions found on tombstones and buildings and the writings of historians such as Tacitus and Dio. The text is supplemented throughout by box features devoted to topics ranging from the Roman city of London and the building of Hadrian’s Wall to discoveries such as the Vindolanda writing tablets and the treasure hoards found at Mildenhall and Thetford.



imageimage“Getting America Right” by Edwin J. Feulner, Doug Wilson (Amazon - $16.98)

Description: Flag, faith and family; free markets and free trade; limited government, local control and individual responsibility are the ideals championed by Heritage Foundation president Feulner and Townhall.com chairman Wilson in this conservative manifesto on what’s wrong with America and how we can fix it.

Drawing on Heritage Foundation research, according to the foreword, they prescribe a litmus test for government policies that readers can employ on their own by asking the following questions of any proposed policy: “Is federal action necessary?… Does this measure promote self-reliance?… Is it [fiscally] responsible?… Does it make us more prosperous? Does it make us safer?… Does it unify us?” Censuring both “tax and spend” Democrats and today’s “borrow and spend” Republicans, the authors are critical of the Bush administration and the mushrooming national debt—$7.7 trillion at the time of publication, they note.

But their tally of federal waste (e.g., overpayments in tax credits for “the undeserving poor") and fraud to cut—$100 billion worth—comes nowhere near closing the huge federal deficits they decry, and their solutions (e.g., flat tax and Social Security privatization) will surely provoke partisan debate. Regardless of the reader’s ideology, however, this book makes for a clear articulation of core conservative ideas.



imageimage“Mayflower" by Nathaniel Philbrick (Amazon - $17.97)

Description: In this remarkable effort, National Book Award–winner Philbrick (In the Heart of the Sea) examines the history of Plymouth Colony. In the early 17th century, a small group of devout English Christians fled their villages to escape persecution, going first to Holland, then making the now infamous 10-week voyage to the New World.

Rather than arriving in the summer months as planned, they landed in November, low on supplies. Luckily, they were met by the Wampanoag Indians and their wizened chief, Massasoit. In economical, well-paced prose, Philbrick masterfully recounts the desperate circumstances of both the settlers and their would-be hosts, and how the Wampanoags saved the colony from certain destruction. Indeed, there was a first Thanksgiving, the author notes, and for over 50 years the Wampanoags and the Pilgrims lived in peace, becoming increasingly interdependent.

But in 1675, 56 years after the colonists’ landing, Massasoit’s heir, Philip, launched a confusing war on the English that, over 14 horrifying months, claimed 5,000 lives, a huge percentage of the colonies’ population. Impeccably researched and expertly rendered, Philbrick’s account brings the Plymouth Colony and its leaders, including William Bradford, Benjamin Church and the bellicose, dwarfish Miles Standish, vividly to life. More importantly, he brings into focus a gruesome period in early American history. For Philbrick, this is yet another award-worthy story of survival.



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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/27/2006 at 11:12 AM   
Filed Under: • Personal •  
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Showdown!

Memo To Paleosimians: The Israelis aren’t kidding this time. I’m afraid you have finally crossed the line in the sand with this ridiculous tunnel and raid that killed two Israeli soldiers and kidnapped a third. If Corporal Shalit is not returned promptly, unharmed, without a scratch on him then you might be able to talk your way out of this mess. Otherwise there will be a sound like thunder as the tanks roll across the desert and all over your miserable ass. I can’t put it any clearer than that.

I truly don’t believe the Israeli government can afford to back down on this one. The Paleosimians have been ankle-biting the Israelis for too long and this latest act has enraged the Jews. What we’re about to see is going to be Old Testament “wrath of God” type stuff unless the Pallies come clean and back off. I can’t say I blame the Israelis for finally having enough of these dimwitted asshats. It is time to send a clear message to the Pallies. An eye for an eye ... and then some.

imageimageIsrael Masses Forces Near Gaza
January 27, 2006 08:20AM ET

NIZMIT HILL, Israel (Reuters) - Israeli tanks and troops massed near Gaza on Tuesday for a threatened offensive against Palestinian militants as the government said it would target Hamas leaders if an abducted soldier was not freed.

In northern Gaza, Palestinians blocked roads with dirt and barbed wire. Militants wielding automatic rifles and anti-tank rockets rigged explosive devices along a road as tensions hit their highest since Israel quit Gaza nearly a year ago.

The United States urged Israel to give diplomatic negotiations a chance to win the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was seized on Sunday by militants who also killed two soldiers in a raid on a military border post.

Israel said leaders of the ruling Hamas movement could become assassination targets, including the group’s supreme chief Khaled Meshaal who lives in exile in Damascus. Hamas’s armed wing says it carried out Sunday’s attack with other factions but has not said it was holding Shalit.

“They have to understand one thing, that nobody is immune, including Khaled Meshaal,” cabinet minister and former general Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said on Army Radio. Clutching an AK-47 assault rifle, Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, warned: “The enemy will regret the moment they raid Gaza. The price will be so heavy.”

At Nizmit Hill, just across from northern Gaza, around 100 Israeli tanks and armoured personnel carriers faced the coastal strip. Officials have not said when troops might go in. Israeli media said the government had approved a contingency plan to cut food, water and gas supplies to the
Gaza Strip if the conscript was not freed. Israel has shut Gaza’s crossings.

Hamas’s armed wing and the other factions involved in the raid, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and the Islamic Army, have said Israel would not get information about Shalit unless it freed all jailed Palestinian women and youths. Israel has rejected the demand.

- More on this story at Yahoo News ...


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/27/2006 at 09:14 AM   
Filed Under: • Paleswine •  
Comments (11) Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Disgraceful!

I have already made clear here my position on this disgraceful act of irresponsibility and arrogance by the media in this matter. The bias is becoming so evident in these particular publications that it calls for a Congressional investigation. The NY Times could possibly have a leg to stand on if there were evidence of impropriety or illegal acts. That is not the case here. Congress was kept fully informed and oversight was ongoing.

In addition, the Times tried to waffle out by claiming the administration didn’t really make a strong case for the importance of the information. Treasury Secretay Snow vehemently denied that. Somebody is lying and my money is on the company that hired Jayson Blair and published his fiction for years. Liberals are also citing the “Pentagon Papers” excuse, saying the press needs to be free to publish whatever it pleases in order to keep government honest.

All well and good ... but who keeps the press honest? Anybody know the answer to that one? It’s time for Congress to pass a comprehensive national security act that punishes these kinds of partisan violations of public trust in the media. Otherwise, we’re stuck with an out-of-control media trying to “protect” us from bad government while that government is trying to protect us from bad people who would kill us. Keeping those bad people informed is endangering all of us and may constitute treason.

image

Bob Gorrell - Creators Syndicate

- Washington Post: “Surveillance Disclosure Denounced”

‘Disgraceful,’ Says Bush of Reports
Tuesday, June 27, 2006

President Bush offered an impassioned defense of his secret international banking surveillance program yesterday, calling it a legal and effective tool for hunting down terrorists and denouncing the media’s disclosure of it as a “disgraceful” act that does “great harm” to the nation.

The president used a White House appearance with supporters of troops in Iraq to lash out at newspapers that revealed the program, which has examined hundreds of thousands of private banking records from around the world. His remarks led off a broader White House assault later amplified by Vice President Cheney and Treasury Secretary John W. Snow.

“What we did was fully authorized under the law,” Bush said in an angry tone as he leaned forward in his chair and wagged his finger. “And the disclosure of this program is disgraceful. We’re at war with a bunch of people who want to hurt the United States of America, and for people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it, does great harm to the United States of America.”

Bush denied overstepping his bounds by not seeking court or congressional approval for the program in the nearly five years since it was established following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. “What we were doing was the right thing,” he said. “Congress was aware of it, and we were within the law to do so.”

Critics said Bush was trying to divert attention from his own actions. Bush, Cheney and other Republicans “have adopted a shoot-the-messenger strategy by attacking the newspaper that revealed the existence of the secret bank surveillance program rather than answering the disturbing questions that those reports raise about possible violations of the U.S. Constitution and U.S. privacy laws,” said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.).

Under the program, U.S. officials tapped records of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, or SWIFT, an international banking cooperative owned by nearly 8,000 banks in more than 20 countries. The Treasury Department used administrative subpoenas that do not involve a judge to search for terrorist transactions and hired Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. to verify that the data were properly handled.

The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal first reported the program on their Web sites Thursday night. The Washington Post confirmed the story and reported it in its Friday editions. But the New York Times was the focus of White House ire because it led the way in investigating and because it disclosed the National Security Agency telephone surveillance program last year.

“Some of the press, in particular the New York Times, have made the job of defending against further terrorist attacks more difficult by insisting on publishing detailed information about vital national security programs,” Cheney said at a Republican fundraiser in Nebraska. Referring to the NSA program, he added: “What is doubly disturbing for me is that not only have they gone forward with these stories, but they’ve been rewarded for it, for example, in the case of the terrorist surveillance program, by being awarded the Pulitzer Prize for outstanding journalism. I think that is a disgrace.”

- More on the story at WAPO...


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/27/2006 at 08:49 AM   
Filed Under: • Media-Bias •  
Comments (3) Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

calendar   Monday - June 26, 2006

Five Books That Have Influenced Me

1. Time Enough For Love - Robert A Heinlein
2000 year old man distills life as he’s seen it.

2. The Bible
4000 years of history distills life as they see it.

3. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R.Tolkien
I know, this is actually three books, but I’ve read it over twenty times and still learn about life…

4. Meditation - Eknath Easwaran
Taught me how to slow down and concentrate on the task at hand.

5. The Canterbury Tales
Taught me that things haven’t changed that much over the last few hundred years.


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Posted by Christopher   United States  on 06/26/2006 at 07:51 PM   
Filed Under: • Personal •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
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Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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