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Sarah Palin is the only woman who can make Tony Romo WIN a playoff.

calendar   Monday - January 22, 2007

Motivational Poster Of The Day

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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/22/2007 at 10:50 AM   
Filed Under: • Motorvators •  
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Say Goodbye To Clark Kent

imageimageFace it. In today’s world Superman and Batman wouldn’t stand a chance. In fact the entire Justice League would have to give up and move to another planet - one less “advanced”. No longer could Clark Kent dash into a phone booth, change clothes and fly off in support of Truth, Justice and The American Way. No, there would be twenty hidden cameras watching and Lois Lane would be viewing the whole costume-change thing on YouTube within twenty minutes.

As for Batman, heck even the kid at Pizza Hut would know about the Bat Cave and all of Bruce Wayne’s millions couldn’t buy him a minute of privacy to tune up the Batmobile. Joker and Riddler would be all over Stately Wayne Manor mere seconds after doing a Google search on “bat”, “crime”, “identity”.

And don’t even get me started on Dr. Robert Bruce Banner. There’s no way anyone could hide something as big and angry as The Incredible Hulk from today’s security cameras and internet databases. Dr. Banner’s e-mail Inbox would be stuffed with solicitations from every anger management course available (and tons of Viagra sales pitches). That much spam would definitely trigger a major angry transformation of the mild-mannered doc and then we’d all be toast.

No, I’m afraid all we’d have left to fight crime is ... Aquaman - and if satellite technology keeps advancing even he will one day be easily spotted with Google Earth Desktop by any fisherman needing a hot tip.

Privacy? What Privacy?
-- By Tom Purcell

imageimageRing. Ring.

“Hello, this is Tom.”

“Happy birthday to you, Tom!”

“Who is this? How did you know it was my birthday?”

“Your birth date is public information—it’s listed on your voter registration card. But that’s not important. What is important is that I’m here to help you.”

“Help me?”

“We feel it’s time for you to upgrade your computer, Tom. It’s taking you forever to surf through the Web sites you visit.”

“You know which Web sites I visit?”

“Of course. Not long ago, America Online got into trouble for releasing such information. We had a good laugh when we learned your favorite search terms are: “Madonna, bikini, before she turned 40.”

“This, sir, is an outrage.”

“We’re just trying to help. Incidentally, that 27-year-old flight attendant you met in the online chat room?”

“What of her?”

“She’s 64 and married.”

“You have no right to --”

“Don’t get excited, Tom. According to the free blood pressure clinic you visited—you remember filling out that card, don’t you?—your blood pressure is awfully high.”

“You know my blood pressure?”

“Of course. There are lots of ways to get that information now. Didn’t you know that security cameras and other devices mounted in public places are now able to check vital signs?”

“My vital signs!”

“Absolutely. Some surveillance systems can identify you by how you walk. And special programs can track your eye movements. Retailers use them to get a better idea of what shoppers are looking for.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“As serious as a heart attack, Tom. Which is why you ought to cut back on the corn chips. Do you really need to eat three bags a week?”

“You track my corn chip purchases?”

“That discount card the grocery store gave you is quite revealing. Incidentally, you forgot to redeem your coupon on the free devil’s food cake. I’ll send another if you’d like.”

“What you’re doing is surely against the law!”

“Law? There are no laws to prevent us from knowing about you. Everything you buy with your credit or debit card is incredibly easy for us to track – and most of the things we do to track you are legal.”


“They are?”

“Yes, and every time you fill out any form, your personal information is stored in computers and shared with goodness only knows who.”


“Without my permission?”

“Of course. And did you know that your Social Security number has more than 40 congressionally approved uses? You can’t drive, vote, apply for a job or open a bank account without revealing that number. That’s a godsend to people like us.”

“But this is immoral!”

“A typical statement from a 44-year-old, single, middle-class Catholic conservative who voted for Reagan, Bush, Dole and Bush.”

“Have you no shame, sir?”

“I’m not the one who is 12 months overdue at the library on ‘How to Win Over Women and Influence Courtship.’”

“I’ll report you to the press.”

“That’s a good one, Tom. The press is eager to criticize the Bush administration for monitoring phone calls and wire transfers, when there are hundreds of other threats to privacy that the press hardly ever talks about.”

“Then Congress must write new laws to protect us.”

“That’s an even better one, Tom. In the electronic global village in which we all now exist, technology is moving so rapidly that no law can keep up with it. The only way you can protect your privacy is to stop giving out ID numbers, stop using computers and stop using your credit cards.”


“I can’t afford that kind of inconvenience.”

“Neither can I, Tom. Which brings us back to the reason I called. I have some products to help you upgrade your computer.”

“There are only two things I want from you: your name and phone number.”

“Sorry, but I can’t give you that information. That information is private.”


Tom Purcell is a humor columnist nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons. For comments to Tom, please email him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/22/2007 at 09:33 AM   
Filed Under: • EditorialsHumor •  
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On This Day In History

Roe v. Wade: High Court Rules Abortions Legal the First 3 Months
(NEW YORK TIMES) - January 22, 1973

imageimageThe Supreme Court overruled today all state laws that prohibit or restrict a woman’s right to obtain an abortion during her first three months of pregnancy. The vote was 7 to 2.

In a historic resolution of a fiercely controversial issue, the Court drafted a new set of national guidelines that will result in broadly liberalized anti-abortion laws in 46 states but will not abolish restrictions altogether.

Establishing an unusually detailed timetable for the relative legal rights of pregnant women and the states that would control their acts, the majority specified the following:

For the first three months of pregnancy the decision to have an abortion lies with the woman and her doctor; and the state’s interest in her welfare is not “compelling” enough to warrant any interference.

For the next six months of pregnancy a state may “regulate the abortion procedure in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health,” such as licensing and regulating the persons and facilities involved.

For the last 10 weeks of pregnancy, the period during which the fetus is judged to be capable of surviving if born, any state may prohibit abortions if it wishes, except where they may be necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.

Today’s action will not affect existing laws in New York, Alaska, Hawaii and Washington, where abortions are now legally available in the early months of pregnancy. But it will require rewriting of statutes in every other state.

The basic Texas case decided by the Court today will invalidate strict anti-abortion laws in 31 states; a second decision involving Georgia will require considerable rewriting of more liberal statutes in 15 others.

Justice Harry A. Blackmun wrote the majority opinion in which Chief Justice Warren E. Burger and Justices William O. Douglas, William J. Brennan Jr., Potter Stewart, Thurgood Marshall and Lewis F. Powell Jr. joined. Dissenting were Justices Byron R. White and William H. Rehnquist.

Justice White, calling the decision “an exercise of raw judicial power,” wrote that “the court apparently values the convenience of the pregnant mother more than the continued existence and development of the life or potential life which she carries.”

The Court’s decision was at odds with the expressed views of President Nixon. Last May, in a letter to Cardinal Cooke, he opposed “liberalized abortion policies” and spoke out for “the right to life of literally hundreds of thousands of unborn children.”

But three of the four Justices Mr. Nixon has appointed to the Supreme Court voted with the majority, with only Mr. Rehnquist dissenting. The majority rejected the idea that a fetus becomes a “person” upon conception and is thus entitled to the due process and equal protection guarantees of the Constitution. This view was pressed by opponents of liberalized abortion, including the Roman Catholic Church.

Justice Blackmun concluded that “the word ‘person,’ as used in the 14th Amendment, does not include the unborn,” although states may acquire, “at some point in time” of pregnancy, an interest in the “potential human life” that the fetus represents, to permit regulation.

It is that interest, the Court said, that permits states to prohibit abortion during the last 10 weeks of pregnancy, after the fetus has developed the capacity to survive.

In both cases decided today, the plaintiffs had based their protest on an assertion that state laws limiting the availability of abortion had circumscribed rights and freedoms guaranteed them by the Constitution: due process of law, equal protection of the laws, freedom of action and a particular privacy involving a personal and family matter.

In its decision on the challenge to the Georgia abortion law, the high court majority struck down several requirements that a woman seeking to terminate her pregnancy in that state would have to meet.

Both of today’s cases wound up with anonymous parties wining victories over state officials. In the Texas case, “Jane Roe,” an unmarried pregnant woman who was allowed to bring the case without further identity, was the only plaintiff after the Supreme Court disqualified a doctor and a childless couple who said that the wife’s health would be endangered by pregnancy.

In the Georgia case, the surviving plaintiff was “Mary Doe,” who, when she brought the action, was a 22-year-old married woman 11 weeks pregnant with her fourth child.

Today: The following graph is from: “Roe v. Wade: The divided states of America” (USA TODAY) - April 17, 2006

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It should be noted that pro-abortion activists (who call themselves “Pro-Choice") have continued to push the limits of the original court ruling again and again to the point where a procedure known as “Intact dilation and extraction” (also known as “Partial Birth Abortion") was developed in 1983 and came into use during the 1990’s in several states. Here is the medical description of the procedure (from Wikipedia):

Preliminary procedures are performed over a period of 2–3 days, to gradually dilate the cervix using laminaria tents (sticks of seaweed which absorb fluid and swell). Sometimes drugs such as synthetic pitocin are used to induce labor. Once the cervix is sufficiently dilated, the doctor uses an ultrasound and forceps to grasp the fetus’ leg. The fetus is turned to a breech position, if necessary, and the doctor pulls one or both legs out of the birth canal, causing what is referred to by some people as the ‘partial birth’ of the fetus. The doctor subsequently extracts the rest of the fetus, usually without the aid of forceps, leaving only the head still inside the birth canal. An incision is made at the base of the skull and a suction catheter is inserted into the cut. The brain tissue is removed, which causes the skull to collapse and allows the fetus to pass more easily through the birth canal. The placenta is removed and the uterine wall is vacuum aspirated using a suction curette.

The procedure was recently banned in 2003 when the House and Senate passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (Public Law 108-105, HR 760, S 3) and was signed into law by President Bush.

In 2005, Norma McCorvey, who was the “Jane Roe” who challenged the Texas anti-abortion law in the famous case, appeared on “Hannity & Colmes” and described how she had become a born-again Christian and was working to pressure the Supreme Court to reverse its 1973 decision. In recent years, she has become a outspoken opponent of abortion, arguing that the procedure may harm women and goes against Christian teachings.


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/22/2007 at 08:11 AM   
Filed Under: • AbortionHistory •  
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Super!

The last time the Bears were in the Super Bowl was 21 years ago in 1986. Ronald Reagan was President of the US, the Chernobyl nuclear plant was about to melt down and the space shuttle Challenger was about to blow up. “Iron Mike” Ditka was coaching the Bears and they won Super Bowl XX by a score of 46-10 over the New England Patriots. The Patriots would later come back to play in four Super Bowls, winning three of them. The Bears haven’t been back to the big dance since.

The last time the Colts were in the Super Bowl was in 1969. They were the Baltimore Colts, Lyndon Johnson was about to be replaced by Richard Nixon as President of the US, Neil Armstrong was about to walk on the moon and the hippies were heading to Woodstock. Johnny Unitas was quarterback and the Colts got whupped 16-7 in Super Bowl III by the New York Jets and a rookie QB from the University Of Alabama named Joe Namath. In later years, Namath went on to make panty hose commercials and the Colts had to sneak out of town in the dead of night and run off to Indianapolis to hide their shame.

Now you know ...

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SUPER BOWL XLI - February 4, 2007 (CBS)

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BOOKIES ODDS
(TIME/CNN) January 22, 2007

Chuck Esposito, assistant vice president of Harrah’s Entertainment Inc.’s Caesars Palace sports book, made the Colts 6.5-point favorites, giving a nod to the Bears’ defense, which had four takeaways from the Saints.

The over/under line for the Super Bowl, in Miami on Feb. 4, was set at 49 or 49.5 points, meaning book makers expect a high-scoring game and the public to root for lots of points.

“I see it as a wide open game,” said John Avello, director of race and sports operations at Wynn Las Vegas. “This is one of those games where you’ve got to score, you’ve got to put points up to win the big one.”

Las Vegas book makers were preparing literally hundreds of proposition bets, on everything from interceptions by the quarterbacks to how many tackles Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher will make in the biggest sports betting event of the year.

P.S. This will be the first time in history that the Super Bowl will be coached by two black coaches ... as if anyone cares about that sort of thing nowadays. When I look at Tony Dungee of the Colts, all I see are freckles and a chance to finally win the Big One after coming so close so many times. When I look at Lovie Smith of the Bears, I see one of the finest coaches in the league who is paid less than every other coach in the NFL.


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/22/2007 at 06:06 AM   
Filed Under: • Sports •  
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calendar   Sunday - January 21, 2007

Ol’ Man Winter

This is just great. Yesterday temps here in St. Louis climbed up into the low 70’s and I was puttering around outside in a polo shirt and shorts. I go to bed last night thinking all is right with the world and guess what happened? You got it. Al Gore strikes again. I’m starting to get a little ticked at his Glowball Warming Machine™.

As I sit here right now looking out my window, I see nothing but white as far as the eye can see - SNOW, that is. Three inches deep, to be exact. Temps are currently in the upper 20’s and slowly attempting to creep up - which means this nice white stuff is going to turn into a miserable slushy mess by midday.

If it’s any consolation, the entire Midwest just got hit overnight with our third miserable winter storm this year. Kansas and Nebraska really got hammered. Eight winter-related deaths so far today. Why don’t we all go find Al Gore and beat the living snot out of him. Maybe he’ll turn off his blasted machine.

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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/21/2007 at 09:32 AM   
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather •  
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Days Of Our (Cyber) Lives

imageimageBefore I begin talking about this grotesque love triangle described below I want you to take a look at the picture at the right here. What you see there is a 58-year-old technology professional with too much free time on his hands. Yes, that is the author of this blog. C’est moi!

There are a lot of rough miles carved into the wrinkles on that face and every one of those wrinkles was honestly earned and paid for dearly. Look closely and examine the steely gaze of those piercing blue-green eyes behind the spectacles that keep him from being legally blind.

The hair is turning gray at the sideburns and creeping up over the ears. In another year or two he will probably look like Paulie Walnuts on The Sopranos. Let’s hope that’s where the comparison ends.

The mustache turned gray (actually white) years ago. He still has all his teeth and cleans up nicely when forced. The mind behind those eyes is always on but never seems to be able to take itself completely serious in spite of three college degrees and enough life experience to fill three novels ... and a couple of R-rated movies. He believes in America and that all people have something good about them - albeit hard to find in some.

He has been married and divorced four times and has two grown sons. He currently is single, unattached, overworked and underfed. He has very few vices and has never been arrested or in jail - although not for lack of trying in his wilder, younger years.

That is the man you are listening to here. Why am I telling you this, you ask? Because every once in a while I need to come out from behind the curtain and remind all of you that the internet is a strange place and you never know who you are talking to. You can get into a lot of trouble in no time flat by simply trusting someone you met in a chat room - kinda like the young man in the story below.

You just never know, so act accordingly and teach your children to do the same - except with even more caution by them. Some of the faceless people in cyberspace are not the kind of people you want your kids talking to. “Mostly harmless” does not describe the internet.

With that said, I have to confess that all of the above is a complete fabrication. I am actually a 16-year-old hottie in high school and I’m sitting here in a see-through nightgown rubbing myself and feeling oh so horny. Wanna play?

22-Year-Old New York Man Murdered
After Being Drawn Into Internet Love Triangle

BUFFALO, N.Y. (FOX NEWS) - Sunday, January 21, 2007

imageimageHe was an 18-year-old Marine headed to war. She was an attractive young woman sending him off from afar with pictures and lingerie.

Or so each one thought.

In reality, they were two middle-aged people carrying on an Internet fantasy based on seemingly harmless lies. When a truthful 22-year-old was drawn in, their cyber escape turned deadly.

“When you’re on the Internet talking, you haven’t got a clue who that is on the other end,” Erie County Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Kenyon said. “You don’t have a clue.” When Brian Barrett was shot to death Sept. 15 outside the factory where he worked to help pay for college, investigators and his family were stumped.

Barrett, 22, was an aspiring industrial arts teacher, an accomplished high school athlete who’d coached Little League all summer and helped his father coach soccer. Quiet and unassuming is how those who knew him described the Buffalo State College student.

But he had clearly been targeted. Barrett was shot three times at close range, in the neck and left arm, after climbing into his truck about 10 p.m. at the end of a shift at Dynabrade Corp. in suburban Clarence. His body was found two days later when a co-worker spotted his pickup in a company parking lot.

“He was just a nice kid, a gentleman,” said Starpoint High School Athletic Director Tom Sarkovics, who coached Barrett for two years. “I don’t think anybody could say a bad thing about him.”

On Nov. 27, Barrett’s 47-year-old co-worker and friend, Thomas Montgomery, was charged with Barrett’s murder. The motive, said investigators, was jealousy over Barrett’s budding Internet relationship with the same 18-year-old woman Montgomery had been wooing since the previous year.

What neither man knew was that the woman was really a 40-something West Virginia mother who was using her daughter’s identity to attract Internet suitors. Cyberspace, it appears, was enough for her and it was a near certainty she would never have met either man. “The game would have been over at that point and time for sure,” Kenyon said.

When Montgomery began chatting with the woman in 2005, the former Marine portrayed himself as perhaps a previous version of himself — a young Marine preparing for deployment to Iraq, Assistant District Attorney Ken Case said. For a time, they communicated strictly through chat rooms and e-mail.

Then the woman began sending gifts to Montgomery’s home, Case said. Pictures of the woman’s daughter, lingerie and a set of custom-made dog tags arrived at the pale yellow house in the suburbs that Montgomery shared with his wife and two teenage children.

Montgomery’s wife intercepted one of the packages, Case said. She wrote back to the woman at the return address, and included a family portrait to make her point.

“As you can see, Tom’s not 18,” Case said she wrote. “He’s married and he’s a father of two. He’s 47 and I’m his wife.” And, believing she was writing to an 18-year-old: “You’ve obviously been fooled.”

The West Virginia woman — whom authorities will not publicly identify — remembered a friend named Brian that Montgomery had mentioned. She recalled enough of his computer screen name to contact Barrett to ask him about what Montgomery’s wife had told her.

Soon Barrett was in regular contact with the woman — the only one in the triangle to portray himself honestly. Despite knowing the truth about Montgomery, the woman remained in contact with him as well, Case said.

The woman made no secret of the fact she was chatting with Barrett, Case said, and Barrett talked about the relationship at work. Montgomery, authorities say, became jealous. Sheriff’s investigators believe Barrett’s killer wore camouflage and a ski mask when he approached with a .30-caliber rifle and fired at close range.

Montgomery, who has not confessed, is being held without bail after pleading not guilty to second-degree murder. At a recent court appearance, he wore glasses and handcuffs and walked with a limp. He stood silently as a judge set a preliminary trial date for June.

His wife has begun divorce proceedings, Case said. Mrs. Montgomery did not respond to a telephone message or answer a reporter’s knock at her home in suburban Cheektowaga, where a minivan sat parked in the driveway.

Montgomery’s alleged actions “have impacted everyone else’s lives around him for the rest of their lives,” observed Internet crime expert J.A. Hitchcock, author of Net Crimes & Misdemeanors."I’m hoping that this case will make people think twice about what they do online and what their actions can cause in the long run,” she said.

The high school Barrett attended recently had a seminar to teach parents how to avoid Internet predators, Sarkovics said. “When you think about it, you almost have to do it for adults as well,” he said. “It could be anybody.”


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/21/2007 at 05:55 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime •  
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Hall Of Fame - 2006

For meritorious service in providing unending hours of entertainment in the service of society by her unabashed acts of media whoring, sucking up to commie dictator Hugo Chavez, lovingly hugging Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton amid the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina while shamelessly pissing on the grave of a dead son who died serving a country he loved much more than his mother loves herself and for willingly sacrificing the last vestiges of any dignity she ever had to be a tool for every Leftist Liberal hate group with enough money to buy her mindless services ... we, the governing body of the Barking Moonbat Hall Of Fame are indeed proud to induct into our shameful shrine this year’s proud winner ...

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This year’s voting results

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** The Barking Moonbat Hall Of Fame is located in beautiful downtown Kookamonga, California across the street from the Kookamonga KFC at Eighth and Main. Visiting hours are Monday-Friday 9-5, Saturday 10-4. Admission: Adults - $8, Children Under 12 - Free. Souvenir shop and restroom facilities available for your convenience.


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/21/2007 at 03:41 AM   
Filed Under: • Awards •  
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Sunday Funnies

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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/21/2007 at 03:02 AM   
Filed Under: • Humor •  
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calendar   Saturday - January 20, 2007

GAME ON!

I have been anxiously awaiting this moment since November. I knew it was coming and so did you. The only question was when. Now the beast has finally crawled forth from its cave and it is hungry. It wants to eat your country. It wants to force you to accept socialism in all of its deranged forms: medical care, welfare, gun control, taxation, big government. It wants to control your lives. Its thirst for power is limitless.

There are 654 days until November 4, 2008. Time is of the essence if the beast is to be stopped. Gird your loins and cinch up your jock straps, people. It’s going to be a rough ride from here on in. Years of devious preparation and scheming are about to come to a head in the “Election To End All Elections.” The Hildabeast is slithering toward the White House, leaving a trail of slimy politics and dead bodies in its wake.

Like Napolean returning from Elba, Shrillary Clinton is already calling in all political debts, gathering strength and preparing to plunge the nation into another round of lies, deceit and Liberal madness.

We are headed for Waterloo. Which Republican will step forth to be our Wellington ... ?

imageimageClinton Launches 2008 White House Bid

“I’m in. And I’m in to win. Today I am announcing that I will form an exploratory committee to run for president.

And I want you to join me not just for the campaign but for a conversation about the future of our country — about the bold but practical changes we need to overcome six years of Bush administration failures.

I am going to take this conversation directly to the people of America, and I’m starting by inviting all of you to join me in a series of web chats over the next few days. The stakes will be high when America chooses a new president in 2008.

As a senator, I will spend two years doing everything in my power to limit the damage George W. Bush can do. But only a new president will be able to undo Bush’s mistakes and restore our hope and optimism.

Only a new president can renew the promise of America — the idea that if you work hard you can count on the health care, education, and retirement security that you need to raise your family. These are the basic values of America that are under attack from this administration every day.

And only a new president can regain America’s position as a respected leader in the world.

I believe that change is coming November 4, 2008. And I am forming my exploratory committee because I believe that together we can bring the leadership that this country needs. I’m going to start this campaign with a national conversation about how we can work to get our country back on track.”


-- Hillary Clinton, January 20, 2007


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/20/2007 at 02:36 PM   
Filed Under: • Hildabeast •  
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On This Day In History

January 20, 1981
Ronald Reagan Sworn In As President
Iran Hostage Crisis Ends

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The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis lasting from November 4, 1979 until January 20, 1981. The situation involved members of the “Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line,” student proxies of the new Iranian regime, holding 63 diplomats and 3 additional US citizens hostage inside the American Diplomatic mission in Tehran, Iran.

The captors released several captives, leaving 52 hostages at the conclusion of the crisis. During the crisis the United States attempted a rescue operation, Operation Eagle Claw. The operation failed and resulted in the deaths of eight US soldiers. Some historians argue that the crisis was one of the primary reasons for U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s loss in the US Presidential Election of 1980.

The crisis reached its conclusion with the signing of the Algiers Accords, and on January 20, 1981, twenty minutes after the newly elected President Reagan’s inaugural address, the hostages were formally released into U.S. custody after having spent 444 days in captivity.

The death of the Shah on July 27, 1980 and the invasion of Iran by Iraq in September 1980 made Iran more receptive to the idea of resolving the hostage crisis. In the U.S., Carter lost the November 1980 presidential election in a landslide to Ronald Reagan. Shortly after the election, but before the inauguration of President Reagan, the Carter administration, with the assistance of intermediaries such as Algerian diplomat Abdulkarim Ghuraib, opened fruitful, but demeaning, negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. This resulted in the “Algiers Accords” of January 19, 1981, which entailed Iran’s commitment to free the hostages immediately.

Point I of the accord: Non-Intervention in Iranian Affairs was essential to the Algiers Accords, and was reportedly considered a non-negotiable requirement by Iran. The Carter Administration reluctantly conceded Point I, which read, “The United States pledges that it is and from now on will be the policy of the United States not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran’s internal affairs.”

Other provisions of the Algiers Accords were the unfreezing of $8 billion of Iranian assets and immunity from lawsuits Iran might have faced. On January 20, 1981, twenty minutes after President Reagan’s inaugural address, the hostages were formally released into U.S. custody, having spent 444 days in captivity. The hostages were flown to Algeria as a symbolic gesture for the help of that government in resolving the crisis, where former President Carter, acting as an emissary for the Reagan administration, received them. The flight continued to Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany. After medical check-ups and debriefings, they took a second flight to Stewart Air Force Base in Newburgh, N.Y. and a bus ride to the United States Military Academy, receiving a hero’s welcome all along the route. Ten days after their release, the former hostages were given a ticker tape parade through the Canyon of Heroes in New York City.

The Washington Post reported that many Europeans and leaders around the world thought that Reagan was “a cowboy” and “scary.” Carter’s campaign implied that Reagan was “a trigger happy cowboy.” The Iranian hostage-takers in particular reported being unsure of what Reagan would do. Iranian uncertainty about Reagan’s plans may have been the main motivation behind the timing of the release of the hostages. Iranian anger at Carter’s support of the Shah likely also played a part. Such complex events usually have multiple causes and multiple players, so history may find any single motivation alone insufficient to explain the timing of the end of the crisis.

-- Wikipedia, “Iran Hostage Crisis”


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/20/2007 at 01:49 PM   
Filed Under: • History •  
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Motivational Poster of The Day

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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/20/2007 at 01:37 PM   
Filed Under: • Motorvators •  
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Week In Review

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Cam Cardow


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Gary Markstein


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Monte Wolverton


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Steve Kelley


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Tab


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Wayne Stayskal


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/20/2007 at 03:25 AM   
Filed Under: • Humor •  
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Saturday Silliness

Believe it or not, there are 20 tools in this picture.
How many can you find?

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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/20/2007 at 02:51 AM   
Filed Under: • Fun-Stuff •  
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Weekend Eye Candy

Saturday - my favorite day of the week. Especially around here. My poor tired, bloodshot eyes need a rest from staring at computer screens all week. This week’s Eye Candy is special.

In previous weeks, we’ve rounded up the gals from the Southwest and the Midwest. Now it’s time to look South to the land of magnolias, NASCAR, country music and ... beautiful womenfolk - and none are more beautiful than the Southern Belles at the twelve schools of the Southeastern Conference.

It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “The South’s gonna rise again.” ROLL TIDE! (Auburn sucks!)

Warning: NSFW (click thumbnails below to enter the gallery)

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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 01/20/2007 at 02:23 AM   
Filed Under: • Eye-Candy •  
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Once Again, The One And Only Post
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Tracked at iHaan.org
The advantage to having a guide with you is thɑt an expert will haѵe very first hand experience dealing and navigating the river with гegional wildlife. Tһomas, there are great…
On: 07/28/23 10:37

The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We've Been Waiting For
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Tracked at head to the Momarms site
The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We’ve Been Waiting For
On: 03/14/23 11:20

Vietnam Homecoming
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Tracked at 广告专题配音 专业从事中文配音跟外文配音制造,北京名传天下配音公司
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On: 03/20/21 07:00

meaningless marching orders for a thousand travellers ... strife ahead ..
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Tracked at Casual Blog
[...] RTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPL [...]
On: 07/17/17 04:28

a small explanation
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Tracked at yerba mate gourd
Find here top quality how to prepare yerba mate without a gourd that's available in addition at the best price. Get it now!
On: 07/09/17 03:07



DISCLAIMER
Allanspacer

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

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:
  1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
  2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
  3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
  4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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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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