Sunday - May 01, 2005

Canadian Meltdown, Eh?

Whatever will we do when our neighbot to the North falls apart and crumbles into splintered pieces? Notice I said “when” not “if”. Here is an interesting article from the Houston Chronicle that speculates what the fallout might look like ....

A political specter haunts North America—the specter of the world’s next failed state.

We can still call it Canada, at least for a couple years. And who knows, like news of Mark Twain’s demise, my pessimism may be greatly exaggerated.

Our northern neighbor’s polyglot populace of beer drinkers, peaceniks, Mounties and socialists may yet dump their crooked politicians and craft a new, more robust deal with Quebecois separatists.

If you don’t know about Canada’s crooked politicians, you’re not alone. Democracy and free speech are breaking out in Beirut, but they’re both taking a beating in Ontario. The Canadian government has a press clamp on an investigation into the ruling Liberal Party’s “Adscam” kickback scheme. A “judicial publication ban” is the term. It may soon rank with Watergate rhetoric like “modified limited hang-out.” Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Paul Martin is implicated in the Adscam fiasco, and he’s starting to look like the northland’s Richard Nixon.

What might a grand Canadian breakup look like? Jim Dunnigan and I, in the 1991 edition of A Quick and Dirty Guide to War, played speculative cartographer and redrew Canada’s political map.

Here’s a thumbnail sketch of that analysis: Say Quebec does become a separate European-style nation-state—a “people” with cultural, linguistic, religious and historical identity (never mind the objections of Mohawk and Cree Indians living in Quebec). Quebec has the people and resources to make a go of it, though the economic price for its egotism will be stiff. British Columbia also has “nation-state” assets: Access to the sea, strong industrial base, raw materials and an educated population.

Oil-producing Alberta might join the United States and instantly find common political ground with Alaska, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma. Canada’s struggling Atlantic provinces might find statehood economically attractive and extend the New England coastline. A rump Canada consisting of “Greater Ontario”—with remaining provinces as appendages—might keep the maple-leaf flag aloft. As for poor, isolated Newfoundland: Would Great Britain like to reacquire a North American colony?

Posted by Z Woof     on 05/01/2005 at 04:48 PM   
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   Sunday - April 17, 2005

The Chicago Tribune Gets One Right

The Chicago area has two BIG papers-the Chicago Sun-Times(lefty) and the Chicago Tribune(supposedly right).

Lately the editorial pages of the Libune Tribune have been filled with screeds against Tom DeLay, gun rights(almost daily) ,and for almost any big govt proposal.

Today I turned to the Sunday “Perspective” section with a sense of dread-on the front page was an attack on DeLay-but was amazed to find an editorial giving kudos to Condi.

I think they were right on-for once.

What do YOU think?

Update: The Trib also endorsed Bush over Kerry-so they got that right too.

Posted by Annoying Little Twerp     on 04/17/2005 at 04:46 PM   
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   Thursday - April 14, 2005

Paris Is Burning

o imagine this. In the capital city of an industrialized nation - a member of the G8, there occurs a peaceful protest by high school students, almost all of them blacks and Arabs. There are tens of thousands of them upset with government cuts and education reforms. Suddenly, bands of white youths in the hundreds move in and attack the protesting students.

The black and Arab victims offer little resistance. And the less resistance they offer, the more the white kids attack, beating and kicking them while they lay defenseless on the ground. The white kids yell at the protestors calling them ‘little blackies.’ The attackers say that they are ‘taking revenge on the blackies’ and beat up other white students who try to protect the defenseless victims. These are called sellouts.

There is no doubt about it. This attack is racially motivated. To make matters worse, the news media in this G8 nation glosses over the story. They do nothing to raise the awareness of this race riot and senseless attack. The overseas media - including the US news organizations, turn a blind eye to the suffering of the protesting students and their inability to speak freely without fear of retribution.

Sounds horrible, huh? Doesn’t quite seem like “the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society,” right? Apparently it DID happen, in of all places, that bastion of “progressive thought” (can you say L’Oxymoron?), France.

Oh, there is one thing I forgot to mention.

The white students? They were the ones peacefully protesting, and the black and Arab kids? They were the thugs on the attack - several hundred of them:

“On March 8, tens of thousands of high school students marched through central Paris to protest education reforms announced by the government. Repeatedly, peaceful demonstrators were attacked by bands of black and Arab youths--about 1,000 in all, according to police estimates.”

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/446loxwa.asp
http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/005655.php

But wait, just like the TV ads for Ginsu Steak Knives, there is more:

“Some of the attackers openly expressed their hatred of ‘little French people.’ One 18-year-old named Heikel, a dual citizen of France and Tunisia, was proud of his actions. He explained that he had joined in just to ‘beat people up,’ especially ‘little Frenchmen who look like victims.’ He added with a satisfied smile that he had ‘a pleasant memory’ of repeatedly kicking a student, already defenseless on the ground.”

Nice, huh?

“Rachid, an Arab attacker, added that even an Arab can be considered a ‘little white’ if he ‘has a French mindset.’ The general sentiment was a desire to ‘take revenge on whites.’”

..and, if you call before midnight tonight:

“One black student he saw come to the defense of a fellow student under attack by three blacks was called ‘a white sellout’ by the assailants.”

In case you want to see pictures of ebony and ivory…
living together in perfect harmony:

http://no-pasaran.blogspot.com/2005/04/just-waiting-for-white-riot-ils-ne.html

http://www.racismeantiblanc.bizland.com/silenceselectif/bid68.htm

Now, like any red-blooded American male, I enjoy watching the arrogant French being jostled from their cheese party and 35-hour work week by a bloody nose. However, beyond this sugary taste of instant gratification, there are other things that thinking people might consider.

First, the MSM has ignored this story. A search at cbsnews.com on the string: “France riot March student race” came up empty. Same for abcnews.com and msnbc.com. Even Fox did not appear to have reported this story. It seems the MSM won’t consider it a race riot when blacks and Arabs are doing the thumpin’. And what the hell? It was only several hundred of them that actually beat anyone up. And it was only in Paris. It’s not like that’s a population center or anything. Clearly this was just a simple misunderstanding - now let’s get back to the marathon coverage of Terri Schiavo, Pope John Paul II, Charles and Camilla.

Second, why would the MSM ignore a major race riot in central Paris? Simple. The attackers, blacks and Arabs (hint: code word for Muslims) are part of the “protected minority.” A bomb went off in Bagdad? Must have been “insurgents.” Only imperialists from America kill Muslims. Someone overpowered the grandma-guard in an Atlanta courthouse and is on a shooting spree with her Glock? Be on the lookout for a man with a “dark complexion.” Think I’m being paranoid? When was the last time you saw a commercial for a domestic violence organization that depicted a black or hispanic man as “the bad guy?” This ad from endabuse.org would have you think that only overweight, middle-aged white men are capable of mental and physical abuse.

http://endabuse.org/programs/display.php3?DocID=9916

And third, what do you get when you combine a country ripe with examples of historical cowardice, a politically correct news media and a wave of immigration that preaches hate and intolerance? You get the nation of France descending on its final lap around the toilet bowl. Hang on to the turd, Jacques!

Watch this one closely folks, and remember this when the French call us barbarians for sentencing serial pedophile murderers to death by lethal injection. Two world wars began in the continent SCOTUS considers its moral lighthouse. The US had to save the whining, pathetic French each time. Bad things happen “en trois.”

Read more of Phil’s excellent editorials at TuffBeingRight blog.

Posted by tuffbeingright     on 04/14/2005 at 05:11 AM   
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   Monday - March 28, 2005

Once More Into The Breach

All right, I’m going to stick my neck out again and try to warn everyone about the problems with the Terri Schiavo situation. First, let me state point-blank that I do not support the idea of letting her die. Several of you have misinterpreted my thoughts on this matter and your unkind words have deeply disturbed me. Second, the comments on this matter at this blog illustrate my point that Christians and Conservatives are doing more harm than good with the emotional outbursts and calls for government interference over Terri. Third, I am a Christian, having accepted Christ many decades ago after hearing the call from Rev. Billy Graham.

Neal Boortz has an excellent editorial this morning that echoes my thoughts perfectly and may help explain better the problem here. All along, I have urged everyone to think of Terri and use common sense in this matter but the Far Right Christian activists have turned the entire mess into a three-ring circus that the Left is thoroughly enjoying and Conservatives will pay a price for in the next elections. Do any of you remember the 1992 Republican Convention? It was almost completely hijacked by Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and the Christian Far Right. That, combined with Pat Buchannon’s insane rants, George H.W. Bush’s indifference and Ross Perot’s temper tantrum put Bill Clinton in office. Let’s not make that same mistake again. I’ll let Neal put it into words ....

I can’t tell you how much I wish this story would just go away ... and that it had never come along in the first place.  Believe me, this is territory I would just as soon leave alone on my talk show.  Why?  Because it involves religion, that’s why.

Many people who profess strong Christian beliefs seem to feel that any negative statement about any action undertaken by anyone in the name of Christianity constitutes “Christian bashing.” It doesn’t matter what the Christian activist does or what they say, you simply are not permitted to criticize their actions in any way.  To do so is to provide conclusive proof that you are anti-Christian at best, and a Godless atheist at worse.

Let’s just take a look at the actions of some of the people protesting outside of Terri Schiavo’s hospice.

At the end of the street is Triple O Auto.  It’s an auto repair shop operated by a single father trying to raise two sons.  The triple O stands for “On Our Own.” Protestors have been parking in the Triple O driveway.  When Scotty Jackson, the owner, asked one of the protestors to move his car the man waved his Bible at Scotty, shouted some obscenities and walked off.  Criticize this protestor and you’re Christian bashing.

Protestors have been demanding that Florida Governor Jeb Bush ignore the rulings of the various courts in this matter and seize Terri Schiavo from the hospice.  If you point out that we are a government of law and that it is wrong for someone to ask a government official to ignore the law, you’re Christian bashing.

Over the weekend Governor Bush did dispatch a team of State agents in vans to travel to Pinellas Park and take Terri Schiavo into custody.  The Pinellas Park police told them that they had better bring a Judge with them or they were going to go away empty handed.  If you criticize Governor Bush for his actions, you’re Christian Bashing.

If you question the wisdom of a father sending his 10-year-old son to be arrested trying to take water into Terri, you’re Christian bashing and you hate God.

There are 70 other patients in that hospice.  They’re all dying.  Because of the protestors they can’t come outside the hospice to sit in their gardens and enjoy their last Spring.  If you say that the protestors are hurting the other dying patients at the hospice, you’re Christian bashing.

If you mention that Randall Terry, the Schindler’s chief spokesman, has repeatedly called for Christians to conquer America for God and to turn it into a Christian theocracy, you’re Christian bashing.

If you tell a woman standing outside of the hospice with a sign that says “rehabilitate Terri,” that Terri can’t be rehabilitated, you’re Christian bashing. 

If you suggest that the Republican Party is being held hostage by religious extremists ... you guessed it.  You’re Christian bashing.

This story will not die after Terri Schiavo passes away.  Republicans will be feeling the repercussions for some time to come.  Randall Terry will be sad to discover that the majority of Americans don’t want a Christian Theocracy.  They want to live in a society where people are free to practice their religion as they see fit, but where they are not free to use the police power of government to impose their religious beliefs on other people. Most Americans now realize that Terri Schiavo has already been kidnapped.  Jeb Bush would have been too late.  She’s been kidnapped by religious extremists and the anti-abortion movement.  To point this out is, of course, to engage in Christian bashing.  Most Americans don’t want complete strangers to be able to use the police power of government to interfere with their wishes as to how their final days should play out.  They are overwhelmingly disgusted with the eagerness of the Republican Party to pass one specific law relating to one specific issue with one specific individual ... all to pander to the anti-abortion movement.  This is not something they will soon forget.

Have you stopped for a moment to consider the long-term consequences of the Republican Party’s fawning over these religious extremists?  Watch President Bush’s judicial nominees.  Watch the Democrats use the Schiavo matter to illustrate what might happen to other Americans if Bush’s nominees are confirmed.  And watch the congressional elections next year.  If it’s close, and if the Republicans lose their majority, look back to the crowd gathered since last week in Pinellas Park for an explanation.  That, too, is Christian bashing.

While you’re at it, go read this diagnosis of Terri from Dr. Steve Collins, a noted oncologist.

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/28/2005 at 09:12 AM   
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   Tuesday - March 22, 2005

On A Pale Horse

And behold, a pale horse, and he who sat on it, his name was Death. Hades followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth was given to him. -- Revelations 6:8

■ In Florida, Terry Schiavo cannot decide whether to live or die. Literally. No one else can decide either. Her parents say let her live. Her husband says let her die. The governor says let the courts decide. Congress says let her live until the courts decide. Now, the courts have decided to let her die. Her parents have appealed. Terry’s husband is blasting Congress for interfering in a private matter. In the meantime, Terri is slowly starving to death. Death shakes his head and waits ....

■ In Minnesota, a seventeen-year-old goes on a rampage at school and kills nine of his fellow students in cold blood before killing himself. If he hadn’t killed himself, the state could not have ordered the death penalty for him thanks to a ruling from the Supreme Court last week. The ruling was based on the “fact” that other countries don’t believe in executing minors for crimes committed. Death, however, does believe in all countries. In fact, he is a regular visitor all over. Very cosmopolitan fellow, Death.

■ Meanwhile, in several of those “other countries” cited in the Supreme Court ruling, children as young as 10 and 12 years old were being trained to deliver suicide bombs and lure peacekeepers and police into terrorist attacks. Their trainers had obviously never heard of the US Supreme Court and its wisdom. They have heard of Death, though, and they worship him.

■ On the streets of Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Miami, New York, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and dozens of other cities around the country, at hundreds of locations, several thousand young teenage girls will slip silently into an abortion clinic and without their parent’s knowledge or permission, each will murder an unborn child. Tomorrow, they will all be as good as new. The girls, that is. Death will reap the sad harvest and continue on his way.

■ In an Atlanta prison, a man sits awaiting trial. Two weeks ago, he was in the same position, except he was on trial for rape and probably would have served no more then 5-10 years. Now he will most likely die because no one thought he was very dangerous. After killing a judge, a court reporter, a deputy sheriff and a customs officer during a deadly 26-hour escape and rampage, people have decided he is indeed, dangerous. He is over 18 so the state will quietly put him to sleep with no pain and no sorrow. Death will be easy on him.

■ In Central Florida, Death has already made a visit to pickup a sweet little 9-year-old girl a few weeks ago. Death was saddened but it is his job. Death made note of the ugly man who was burying this little girl’s body in his back yard. Death and Jessica watched him fill in the shallow grave. Now, weeks later, Death is back . This time for the ugly man. Death already has instructions from On High regarding this man’s disposition. Death is pleased.

■ Finally, out on the West Coast, one of the most hideous madmen & murderers of our time, Charles Manson, sits in prison serving a life sentence. He comes up for parole every few years. So far, the state has seen fit to keep him behind bars. In another mental facility, the man who shot President Reagan in 1981 has successfully argued and been granted privileges to visit his parents outside of this “prison”. Neither Hinkley nor Manson will face Death any time soon. What a pity.

Yes, Death rides a pale horse and he comes at his own good time. For some, like Judge Rowland Barnes or the nine students at the Minnesota school, he comes way too early and quite unexpected. For others, like Hinkley and Manson, Death is cheated by liberal laws. For some, like the thousands of aborted children killed each year, Death is called to perform his services way before the scheduled time. And for some, like Terry Schaivo, all Death can do is wait patiently outside in the hospital hall drumming his skeletal fingers on his scythe, waiting for the bureaucratic wheels to grind to a halt and a certain tired heart to stop beating. Death is used to this though. It is not the first time he has seen puny man and his “free will” try to deflect the “will of God”. Death has learned patience over the millennia. After all, everyone gets to meet him sooner or later ....

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/22/2005 at 03:42 PM   
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   Friday - March 18, 2005

Terri Schiavo: My Opinion

Well, they have removed her intravenous feeding tube. This is not the first time they have done it. On two previous occasions, they removed the tube and re-connected them within days. Starvation will occur slowly over weeks. That is not humane or intelligent .... at all.

In my opinion, too many people are agonizing over this woman and her condition. It is not a matter of right-to-life or right-to-die. It is a personal matter that the immediate family must decide. By immediate family, I mean Michael Schiavo, her husband. Terri’s mother and father have no business getting involved. They gave up control of Terri when Michael Schiavo agreed to “love, honor and obey” Terri “until death do them part”. Whatever he decides, God will issue the final judgement on his actions at a later date.

There is a tremendous amount of mud-slinging and name-calling going on between Terri’s parents and her husband. Now, Congress and the Senate are getting involved and Terry Schiavo has become a political plaything. That to me is the final straw in this heart-wrenching and disgusting saga.

I have only one question for everyone involved, “what would Terri want if she could become lucid for just a few minutes, long enough to tell everyone what she wants?”

I can’t speak for Terri (and I’m not going to try) but if it were me and I woke up for a brief time and could give instructions, I would ask the doctors to pull the feeding tube and inject just a small overdose of morphine so that I could die in peace. I would ask Michael to get on with his life as best he could. I would ask the parents to pray for me and learn to forgive whatever is causing them so much anger at Michael. I would ask the media to leave my family in peace and just go away. I could then slip back into that dark night and await the presence of God with a clear heart.

That’s my personal opinion on all this and I offer it with a clear conscience and a kind, but sad heart to all involved in this woman’s suffering. After all, it’s really about her, and no one else. She has suffered enough at the hands of man, his medicine and his political games. I pray God will have mercy on her soul and forgive all who have made such a mess out of this whole tragedy.

P.S. For those who are wondering, I have a living will that I had drawn up several years ago that specifies exactly the actions I described above be taken if I become similarly disabled. I have endured long illnesses with family members who suffered long, slow deaths while doctors tried to force them to hang on. I don’t believe our medical system should be used for those purposes. I believe there comes a time when man and his medicine need to step back and let God handle it .... for better or worse.

Update: BMEWS member Steel Turman has a beautiful ”Letter To God” up on his blog site. Go read it! Now!

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/18/2005 at 04:34 PM   
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   Monday - March 07, 2005

Label Confusion, Part I

o you have as much trouble as I seem to be having with keeping all the labels straight? Leftists, Right-wingers, Neocons, Liberals, Conservatives, Radicals, Moderates, Progressives, Independents, Morons? Oops, scratch that last one as people in that category are pretty easy to identify. What’s the difference between an “insurgent” and a “terrorist”? When does a suicide bomber become a revolutionary? How the hell am I supposed to keep all this straight when labels change meaning almost overnight? Why can’t we all be happy and gay .... oops, there I go again, more label confusion. I have been labelled conservative, neocon, moderate, progressive, independent and even occasionally a moron. I manage to take it all in stride because I know what I am and am perfectly happy with myself .... and if I wake up in a good mood and decide to be gay, then I will be gay .... but I will not be a homosexual, thank you very much. For this essay, I am going to try to straighten out the concept of “Liberal”.

This is all Hillary Clinton’s fault, you know. Trust me. Way back in the 1990’s when the Clinton Administration came under attack for being libidinous and untruthful, the Hildabeast blamed her and her husband’s woes on a “Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy”. At the time, I felt that Billy Bob Clinton was a big mistake and a joke (I never voted for him - or for her). I also didn’t consider myself part of any “conspiracy”, either right-wing or left-wing. In fact, the only wings I trafficked in were hot wings from KFC. All of a sudden though, I found my oddly shaped peg pounded into a square hole. It seemed to fit better than the round hole (make your own analogies here) that the Left-wingers were stored in so I stuck with it.

By definition, when Shrillary pounded me and my friends into that square NeoCon hole, she and her friends in Hollywood and in the Democratic Party, whom I disagreed with fervently, became the polar opposite, i.e. Leftists or Liberals. In the intervening years, her coterie of sycophants and Clinton apologists have gladly adopted the label assigned to them by the Queen Bee. John Kerry and Howard Dean are the most recent examples of drone bees buzzing around the hive with their so-called “Liberal Agenda”. Buzz, buzz ....

Unfortunately, it’s all a smoke screen and the Hildabeast has put one over on the citizens of America again. She and her fan club are no more “liberal” than I am King Tut. The definitions of liberal and conservative have somehow shifted in the political landscape to the point where nowadays that landscape includes a green sky and blue ground. Let’s examine this closely in order to determine where the confusion started ....

Webster defines “Liberal” thusly ....

1. [n] a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties
2. [n] a person who favors an economic theory of laissez-faire and self-regulating markets
3. [adj] tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition

Let’s take the first definition and see if it applies to today’s modern “Liberals”. Hmmmmmmm .... “favors a political philosophy of progress and reform”. It doesn’t seem to fit too well, does it? Remember when President Bush started to send troops into Afghanistan to remove the authoritarian Taliban regime and later into Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein and introduce (horrors!) democratic reform into the Middle East? Where were the “liberals”? They were rushing in droves to Iraq to serve as human shields to protect the corrupt, dictatorial regime of Hussein. They were poo-pooing the efforts of the US to establish a democratic government in Afghanistan, where democracy had never existed before. In short, they were fighting reform and progress every step of the way, not to mention showing a complete disregard for any “civil rights” that the populations of Afghanistan and Iraq might aspire to. No, the “liberals” showed they were firmly entrenched against any action to reform the countries where hideous slaughtering of whole populations, enslavement of women and autocratic rule was the order of the day. I’m sorry but, according to the first definition in the dictionary, Liberals just aren’t .... liberal, that is. In fact, they are acting like downright ultra-right-wing nut cases. Strike one.

OK, let’s try the second definition on for size. “Economic theory of laissez-faire and self-regulating markets”. Dang! There you go again, if you’ll pardon my quoting President Reagan, who practically invented supply-side economics and the trickle-down theory that brought about the boom of the 1980’s. George W. Bush, with his first-term tax cuts and the economic stimulous package has brought the economy rebounding back from the miserable recession of 2000-2001. Once again, supply-side economics at work .... and it works quite well. And once again, liberals are fighting the tax cuts and insisting on more government regulation of corporations by raising corporate taxes and punishing business who move off-shore or outsource jobs overseas. Who is it that is trying to micromanage the markets and businesses? Liberals, as they call themselves and that just doesn’t qualify as “favoring self-regulating markets”. Strike two.

Finally, let’s see if the third shoe fits the liberal foot. “Tolerant of change, not bound by authoritarianism”. Change in Iraq? Sorry, liberals would have none of it. Change in welfare and racial preferences? Again, they like things just the way they are. Change in social security or medicare for the aged? Again, they are fighting tooth and toenail against any change even though the handwriting is on the wall for both of these programs. As for “not bound by authoritarianism”, that’s a foul ball. Liberals seem to love dictators like Saddam Hussein, Mullah Omar, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, etc. Everywhere you turn there is a liberal protesting something being changed or a new program being tried. It seems the only “change” the so-called liberals really want is to change their current position of complete political impotence into a position of power in government by kicking out the “evil conservative right-wingers” who are currently very busy implementing reform, progress, democracy, economic stimulous and what would, in any other context, be called “liberal” concepts. Strike three.

Casey, the mighty Liberal has struck out, gang. There is no joy in Mudville. All that is left for the left is to continue slinging mud at the real liberals. That would be us “neocons” .... I think.

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/07/2005 at 02:15 PM   
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   Sunday - February 27, 2005

Thinking Out Loud

ome days it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed. It’s rainy, drizzling and just crappy outside, there’s nothing worth watching on TV, I’ve become bored with the Benjamin Franklin biography I’m currently reading .... but the blog awaits. Like a hungry beast, sitting there in my study, waiting for its daily feeding. It is a voracious beast and there is always plenty of food for it with the world seemingly headed off a cliff in a broken down buggy with the wheels falling off. Hmmm, now that was an ugly metaphor. Let’s try this again. Why blog? Because it’s there? Not good enough. There must be a good reason or all this silliness is pointless. In the last year of blogging, I’ve seen visitors and readers come and go. I’ve seen blog sites startup and disappear. Is there a method to this madness? Who knows?

■ Every dog must have a bone and every blog must have a theme. Ours is simple and we chew on it regularly. As most of you know this blog mainly attracts conservative readers but there are exceptions (OldCatMan, you may stand up and take a bow). I like to think this blog’s main theme is plain old common sense and the ability to know when someone’s pissing on our leg and trying to tell us it’s raining. That dog won’t hunt.

■ You may have noticed that Vilmar and I have quite different styles (gee, ya think?). Vilmar wakes up in a rage every morning after listening to NPR and vents steam at the idiotarians in full invective. It’s your early morning wake-up call and usually generates hours of discussion every morning. It’s timely and right on target. Vilmar puts a lot of thought into his rants and shows no mercy when his bullshit detector is triggered. I usually wait until the early afternoon or lunch hour to give me time to absorb all the late-breaking news and put it all together into a composite picture of what’s going on with my fellow prisoners on Planet Earth. Either way, we provide links to our sources and give you the benefit of our opinion. Then we leave it up to you to chew on it among yourselves, occasionally stirring the pot to spice things up. We feel that in doing things this way we perform a service that is more than just reporting news or throwing baseless opinions out there in order to stroke our egos. We’re both too old and too cranky to have egos anymore. By creating interest in the day’s events and initiating dialogue among a variety of people and viewpoints we have done our self-assigned task to promote healthy ideas and meaningful communication.

■ Of course, there are occasional readers and visitors who can best be classified as “snarky pissants”. These people find fault and make accusations purely for the sake of proving they have the ability to communicate without ever using their brain. These people annoy me and Vilmar but they are tolerated until they start making personal attacks. Then their presence is no longer tolerated. One such “snarkly pissant” is probably out there now, reading this. You know who you are. Get with the program or get thee hence.

■ Then there are the pure asshats who come here just to stir up trouble, like the Euro-Peons who decided to give us a hard time last spring. A couple of shitheads from the UK and Ireland who just couldn’t take a hint and harassed us for months before I finally had enough. These shit-fer-brains usually start out stabbing and poking and we tolerate them and sometimes play their little game for a while. The trouble usually starts when they realize we’re not an easy target and then they get nasty. That’s where IP banning comes in. You can’t harass us if you can’t get to the blog. End of story.

■ The content of this blog is purely mine and Vilmar’s responsibility. We accept images, stories, editorials, links, etc. from all of our members and occasionally, if the submission meets our otherwise high standards of journalism (?), we post it under the name of the person who submitted it. We welcome all kinds of stuff from our readers and members. If we don’t post it right away or never post it, it’s because we are already full of content .. nothing personal. If we do post it under your name, be prepared to discuss it. Our membership is a pretty tough lot and won’t tolerate bullshit.

■ When the weekend comes, we all like to kick back and relax around the old blog. There is very little news going on and most people have better things to do, including Vilmar and myself. That is why we post fun stuff on the weekends like the “Weekend Skin” feature for the guys and weird cartoons and just whatever strikes Vilmar or myself at the moment. Most of the weekend stuff is not meant to be taken seriously. It is meant to be offered as a break and a chance to laugh and indulge ourselves for a few days. What the hell else are weekends for?

■ I hate begging for money to support this site. More than you can ever know. Our readers have all been wonderful in helping us to keep going. I can not put into words the gratitude I feel toward all of you. If I could I would personally thank everyone who donated recently individually. Unfortunately, only PayPal gives me the identity of donors. Amazon just gives me a transaction number. Which sucks. Anyway, I want to personally thank all of you again. You know who you are. Hopefully, with the new advertising packages we’ve setup, we won’t have to bother you ever again. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t throw a few million our way if you happen to win the lottery. Anyway, thanks again!

■ Finally, I want to thank Vilmar for coming up with the idea to start a blog (even though he didn’t have a clue what a blog was - hah!). He has been a blogging machine for over a year now and I have a hard time keeping up with him at times. Of course, that’s probably because I have to work for a living and he works as a “retired”. Vilmar, did I pronounce that last word correctly? Hehehe ..

“And that’s all I got to say about that.”
-- Forrest Gump

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/27/2005 at 04:16 PM   
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Keep An Eye On This One!

The WSJ writes a great editorial on the efforts by the State Department to allow international law to trump US Constitutional law.

Posted by Ranting Right Wing Howler     on 02/27/2005 at 07:30 AM   
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   Saturday - February 26, 2005

Viewpoint

Vladimir Putin: Leave Him Alone utin is doing the best he can to straighten out a complete mess, one he inherited from Boris Yeltsin. Make no mistake about it. Yeltsin was a drunk and he has almost killed himself with his drinking. On his watch, the former Soviet Empire got its first taste of democracy and the old Soviet party leaders simply moved from running the country to running their own version of the Mafia. Crime was rampant and corruption the order of the day. Governors of provinces were bribed to ignore the Russian Mafia’s activities and money flowed out of the country in a steady stream as these criminal warlords invested overseas.

While Yeltsin wandered about in an alcoholic haze, the Russian country was gradually deteriorating into almost total chaos. All during the 1990’s, America turned a blind eye to Russia and simply laughed at the destruction of the old Soviet Empire. President Clinton rode the wave of the internet economy and fought to keep his pants zipped while renting out the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House. Enron and several other American companies were practicing corrupt business activities on a grand scale that would not end until the goofball Clinton administration was replaced. The same thing was happening in Russia, except on a much larger and much more dangerous scale.

This is the mess Vladimir Putin inherited: a country whose infrastructure was quickly rotting, a currency that was headed straight down, political corruption throughout government, rampant crime and terrorist attacks from Chechnya. The mainstream media in America simply poo-poo’ed it and wrote it all off as “bumps in the road on the way to democracy”. This was utter bullshit and also patronizing, to say the least, on the part of the media elite in the US .. who, by the way, were sucking up to Clinton and ignoring his transgressions while fawning over his “leadership”. Complete crap! Clinton and Yeltsin were simply two sides of the same coin - two inept populists who coasted on the newly found peace created by Reagan and Gorbachev.

With the 21st century arriving, both America and Russia had to make some hard choices. In America, the economy was going into the tank with the collapse of the internet bubble and in Russia, the criminal elements had taken over the country. America needed George W. Bush and Russia needed Vladimir Putin. Unfortunately, America found itself embroiled in a foreign war after the attacks of 9/11. President Bush had to revive the economy while fighting an unwanted war at the same time. Because of this, the deficits have ballooned and security has had to be tightened. The liberal left in the US has been screaming its collective head off about “infringement of civil rights” ever since 9/11 without pausing to consider that the US is under attack. That same liberal left in the US is also now accusing Putin of “backsliding on democracy” and “creating a new police state” in Russia.

Utter rubbish! Putin is simply doing what needed to be done after the train wreck of the 1990’s. He has gone after the Russian criminal element, shut down their operations, regained control of the corrupt regional governors and gone after the Muslim terrorists in Chechnya. He has gathered more power at the federal level in order to clean out the mess. Bush has had a tougher road of it because the US is more of an established democracy with a vocal, angry press watching his every step - not to mention the leftist opposition elements.

Putin has quietly gone about the business of rebuilding Russia into the great country that it once was. The real test of his administration will come in a few years when he gets it all sorted out and starts to surrender the power he has recently acquired - if he chooses to. Russia is not America, not by a long shot. Our Russian friends still have a long way to go on their road to freedom and democracy. For the time being though, Putin is the man for troubled times and the US should back him in his struggle.

As the leftist media in this country attacks Putin and accuses him of everything from “returning to Stalinism” to being “the anti-Christ”, we all need to remember the early years of our country. George Washington had to put down a rebellion or two and America had its share of bumps in the road in the early years. The key test came after Washington served two terms and a lot of people thought he should accept permanent leadership, sort of a king. Washington gracefully stepped down and power passed to others who carried the torch of freedom along. Putin will face that decision in a few years. That will be the time when we get the measure of the man. Now .... it is just too early to tell. Why don’t we just give him the benefit of the doubt for the time being? Russia could be a very valuable friend and ally in the near future. Let’s let Putin (and the Russians) sort their problems out on their own and help them regain their place in world affairs. As one great country to another ....

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/26/2005 at 10:30 AM   
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   Thursday - February 10, 2005

Viewpoint

The Sixth Sense: Moonbat Barometer The years from 1900 to 1910 were a frantic period for mankind. Allegiances were shifting all over Europe, countries were signing common defense agreements and everyone was starting to choose sides. War clouds were gathering over Europe and soon would envelop the European colonies in Africa and Asia. Britain and Germany became involved in a naval arms race when Britain built the HMS Dreadnought. Britain, France and Russia formed their own little club. Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire formed their club. Japan and Russia fought it out in the Tsushima Straits and the Russian navy was destroyed.

In technology, Wilbur and Orville Wright proved that manned flight was possible and France, Italy and Britain immediately jumped on the new technology to see how it could be used in warfare - while America slept. Albert Einstein started formulating his ideas for quantum mechanics and physics that would turn the scientific world on its head and lead to the atomic bomb. Automobiles were starting to be mass produced and the internal combustion engine quickly found its way into the armies of the world in the form of tanks and mobile artillery. The telephone and telegraph were making instant communication possible over long distances.

From a societal standpoint, the world was slowly going mad. Serbian nationalists were bombing and shooting their Austro-Hungarian masters. The Irish were bombing and shooting their British occupiers. Socialist parties were forming all over the world (even in the United States), women were starting to demand the right to vote, the ACLU was created in the US, the Boxer Rebellion in China was the first attempt to run Europeans (and the US) out of China, the Boer War was out of control in South Africa, Carrie Nation was destroying saloons in the name of prohibition of alcohol, President McKinley was assassinated, Kaiser Wilhelm II was almost assassinated, typhoid outbreaks in the US killed thousands, a tsunami in Hong Kong killed 10,000, Mount Vesuvius erupted and destroyed Naples, explorers finally reached the North and South Pole, a revolution in Persia forced the Shah to flee to Russia, the Prime Minister of Egypt was assassinated, Portugal became a republic and King Manuel fled to England, and a revolution in Mexico and a terrorist bomb at the Los Angeles Times building round out the societal picture. Oh, and let’s don’t forget all the strikes, murders, killings and terror associated with the birth of the modern labor movement and unions.

In other words, things were going to hell in a handbasket at breakneck speed.

America had coasted through the preceding decade ( the “Gay 90’s") on the backs of two presidents whose names would quickly be forgotten, Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland. Who, you ask? Never mind. In the 1900’s, America found Teddy Roosevelt and started waking up to prepare for a long century in which we would assume hegemony over the world.

Now, let’s review: (1) Europe was polarizing, (2) new technology was about to make warfare extremely deadly, (3) unrest and revolt in the Balkans, (4) turmoil in the Middle East, (5) global terrorism with bombings and leaders being assassinated, (6) America was beginning to wake up only to find itself attacked from within by socialists, morality reformers and labor unions.

Fast forward one hundred years. Things sure haven’t changed, have they?

The recent tsunami demonstrated that animals have a Sixth Sense about impending disasters. The animals exhibited strange behavior such as abandoning their feeding grounds and disappearing. Consider this .... human beings are animals also. Might we not also have this Sixth Sense? Is it not possible that humans can sense impending doom, not just from nature but from societal shifts and political changes? I think it is very much possible.

Now, how would humans react if their Sixth Sense told them the proverbial feces was about to hit the ventilator? Run for the hills? Maybe—We already have extremists hiding out in camps in Montana and Wyoming, not to mention hidden bunkers all over the world. Would humans divide themselves into “us” and “them” and start circling the wagons? Maybe— You’re either for us or you’re against us. Would humans strike out in frustration and anger at the futility of a changing world threatening to engulf them in bloody warfare by indulging in terrorism, mindless protests and all manner of ungodly acts of outrage on their fellow humans? Maybe—Remember 9-11, “human shields”, Darfur? And speaking of God, might it not be possible that these humans would look around, sense the impending danger and decide God was dead and attempt to wipe Him from the collective consciousness for not doing something about it? Maybe—What else is “complete separation of church and state” but a denial that God has a hand in the affairs of nations?

I don’t intend this to be an apologist statement for the bad behavior of humans in bad times but what we’re seeing today with people like Ward Churchill, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Howard Dean, Al Gore, John Kerry, Jacques Chirac, Yassir Arafat, and other assorted (and seemingly insane) members of the Hollywood establishment and the news media is just a manifestation of the same warped behavior that has plagued mankind since time immemorial. [Note: I’m sure you can all think of several more names to add to this list of people who are behaving strangely lately.] Bad times and impending doom make people say and do strange things. Things that defy logic and greatly offend everyone’s sense of human decency, responsibility and above all respect for their fellow man.

Maybe these people are just the equivalent of the canaries that miners used to take into coal mines to alert them to any rising levels of dangerous gases. The canaries fell over and died long before the gases reached levels high enough to kill the human miners. If these people have a better developed Sixth Sense than the rest of us, maybe we need to keep a better eye on them.

The crazier they act, the closer we probably are to the storm cloud that is developing over the horizon. I have no idea what this storm is going to do or when it will hit but I intend to keep a wary eye on these people. Right now, the Moonbat Barometer is dropping fast. I need to go stock up on plywood and duct tape .... oh, almost forgot, plenty of ammo too.

The cycle of history has come full circle since the 1900’s. I hope to see you all on the other side of this upcoming storm. Take care.

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/10/2005 at 04:53 PM   
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   Tuesday - January 18, 2005

What Needs To Happen To Social Security

This is a very complex issue but one the overhaul of which every American needs to consider.  It just can not continue to operate the way it does.

For the purists who will not tolerate talk of privatization, you have to think about this:  there are fewer and fewer people working for every one retiring.  These workers can not support paying buttloads of money to support retirees at the current rate.  Estimates are that in a few years we will only have two workers contributing for every retiree.  Back in the 40’s this number was 42!  FORTY FUCKING TWO!!! 

Alternatives are few:  do nothing and run the program into bankruptcy by 2042 (hey, I don’t give a shit, I’ll be dead)—or—reduce benefits --or—increase the age of retirement to 72, then 73, then 74, then 75—or—pay higher social security payroll taxes.

There are those who say we need to raise the payroll ceiling currently set at about $90,000.  What these people seem NOT to understand is that if I make a lot more money but pay more into social security, then my social security check DAMN WELL better be higher than everyone else’s because I paid more.  These moonbats who are proposing raising the ceiling do so under the assumption that payouts still stay at today’s levels.  Typical socialist bastards.

THE MATH

So......what other alternatives are out there?

Privatization.

I did a quick bit of math via Excel and plotted out the life of a 20 year old earning $20,000 a year to start, averaging a 3.5% raise over his lifetime, and taking out 13% of salary for “social security.” (Note: fully privatization means that the employer who currently pays approximately 6.5% with the individual the other 6.5% to total 13%, would give that to the individual as it is his anyways!)

I factored in a “modest” growth through investments of 4% per year of these deducted monies (a 5 year CD now earns 4.5% so I am being reasonable) and at the age of 65 this person had about $650,000 in his account!!!!!  Of course, by then people will be living longer, working longer, and their nest eggs will be considerably larger. 

Do you realize this person could then withdraw $2700 per month and NEVER touch the principle?  (of course, that assumes a 5% growth of portfolio at retirement and does not factor in inflation but STILL!!!!) All that money is HIS!!!!  Or goes to HIS heirs when he dies.  Our current Social Security system does not do that.

I then raised the rate of return on the “social security” withdrawal for those same 45 years to 5% and the nest egg shot up to $830,000 or almost $3500 per month!!!!

In order to simulate a “real life” scenario of individuals actually taking ownership of their lives and retirements, I assumed this fictional individual was prudent in his investment style with periodic adjustments to the portfolio based on risk analysis (basically this means that the younger you are the more risk you can subject your money to and as you grow older you remove some risk by diversifying your portfolio to bonds, CDs, cash, money market instruments incrementally.)

So I raised the growth rate to the stock market average of 9% for the first 20 years; then a 7.5% average to reflect a blend of stocks and bonds for the next 20 and a 6.5% rate to reflect more risk aversion for the last 5 years.  The nest egg ballooned to almost $1.73 million dollars!!!!

Just 5% of that per year is $86,000 in retirement FOREVER!!! (over $7000 per month) The principle remains UNTOUCHED!!!

I also ran those numbers assuming someone staying in college, getting out and getting a $30,000 a year job.  The only variables I changed were that starting at 24 they’d be fully invest for 20 years and then stay with a mix for 15 more years yielding 7.5% and the last 5 years at 6.5%

At only 4% for the full 40+ years they’d have $980,000 (yielding over $4000 per month)

In the variable scenario they’d end up with almost $3 million ($12,345 per month)

Go ahead, do it yourself and see.  And since we almost always end up with increases in salary outstripping the nominal 3.5% I factored in, you can JUST IMAGINE what the numbers would be.  As an example, I started out in 1971 earning $200 per month (yes, $200 a month!) and when I retired it was close to $4500. There is no way that $2400 per year compounded at 3.5% would ever get close to $50000+ in 26 years.  So therefore I feel I am being very modest in my models.  For those with drive and ambition, the amount of money they’d have to partially fund their “retirement” would balloon exponentially.  Of course, this also assumes that anything they put away in this system is NOT their sole retirement.  Businesses can not all of a sudden change THEIR systems just because the person privatized.

One other note, I’ve yet to be able to somewhat accurately be able to project what social security would need to pay to future retirees to resemble what they get paid now.  But if my initial projections are correct, there is no doubt in my rabid mind that the system is doomed to failure---QUICK!!!

Witness how I admitted my difficulty in determining what social security would be paying workers in future dollars. But the leftist morons in this country who insist there is no crisis keep falling back on the argument that social security would stay solvent until 2042 and then would pay out 75% of what they pay now.

Did you catch that?  “WHAT THEY PAY NOW?”

Have any of you readers any clue how little $16700 would be worth 40 years from today?  These fucktards do not even admit that they’ve considered the fallacy of an argument that does not take into account inflation and the decrease in the dollar’s worth for the future.  If you do the math based on low inflation of 2.5% and using the rule of 72, that $16700 would be the equivalent of having your check sliced to less than $700.  Is that what you want?

MAKING THE CHANGE

Of course, all this change does not happen overnight.  Our congress-critters need to stop abusing the social security trust fund to start with.  We then need to understand that not everyone will be able to participate at these levels so some sort of “phase in” process needs to start.  I look at it this way:  if you are under 25 you go immediately to the private plan.  Any monies contributed by you in previous years get refunded to you plus whatever amounts your employer contributed (plus interest.) Between 25 and 45 you should have the option to stay in the current system or opt out fully or partially. After 45 you stay in the system as it is today.  This way no old people or those closer to retirement need to fear being left out in the cold.

Furthermore, those who opt out totally are just that---OUT!!  The government will take NO RESPONSIBILTY for their retirement benefits.  If they are stupid and stay fully vested in the market until 70 and then the market goes in the shitter and they get wiped out---so sorry, time to die!

Also, the government will have to assume a several trillion dollar obligation (much of it unfunded) in order to continue to pay off those still either totally in the system or partially in the system until they all die off.  But that debt, like all others, will continue to decrease in value with time.  After everyone in the old system is dead the debt can either be paid off slowly or just left alone because inflation makes it worth less and less every year.  A similar example is taking out a mortgage for 30 years.  Today the payment is high but as you get better and better paying jobs and raises, that mortgage amount stays the same yet the value of the dollar has gone down.  So your $900 note is chickenfeed 29 years from now.

For those who partially opt out then you will be guaranteed a social security check commensurate with a pro-rata percentage of what you contributed and the Social Security administration would be tasked with maintaining a second set of tables simulating today’s system in order to keep percentages and payouts similar.

So there you have it.  We all know social security is going to go down the tubes.  The moron democrats and their stooges, the AARP, are out there beating their drums scaring everyone into thinking if we change the system they will be eating cat food and going without medication while living in refrigerator cartons.

But if you look at this realistically, can there be any way for you to STILL think we need social security in today’s form?

MORE DISCUSSION

Let’s keep going.  Who said this about social security recently? 

“(programs) are threatened by the looming fiscal crisis in Social Security.” There should be no new spending — or, more importantly, no tax cuts — “before we take care of the crisis in Social Security that is looming when the baby boomers retire.”

Most of you already guessed:  Bill Clinton.

So why is it that asshole Harry Reid, the new minority leader of the senate, says we don’t have a social security crisis? And why is it the democrats are now piling on yapping the same thing? Where the fuck were they in 1998?  What has so fundamentally changed in 6 years? 

The Cato Institute back in 1998 wrote that shitbird, Clinton, agreeing with him and asking him to consider personal accounts.

Hell, Clinton even proposed some privatization himself.

But I will go out on a limb and state the only reason Clinton said what he said was to start of shitstorm of discussion amongst the partisan hacks and media to take attention off his troubles.  That’s just the kind of guy he was. 

The price of doing nothing is discussed here.

For more info and a lousy alternative not privatizing click here.

Here is what the President plans to do.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?

It appears the bureaucrats at the Social Security administration have been told to start an education campaign about the mess Social Security is in.  They are none too happy!  I immediately discredited their complaints when I read this:

“Trust fund dollars should not be used to promote a political agenda,” said Dana C. Duggins, a vice president of the Social Security Council of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 50,000 of the agency’s 64,000 workers and has opposed private accounts.”

Can you believe it?  The SSA has 64,000 employees!

Again, I ask the question: where were these useless fucks when Clinton was saying the system was in bad shape?  Like many civil servants, these people have been feeding at the trough too long in jobs too easy collecting too much money as salary.  Take away their trough!! FIRE THEM ALL!!

And don’t forget to go here to get lots more info.

Posted by Ranting Right Wing Howler     on 01/18/2005 at 09:25 AM   
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   Thursday - December 30, 2004

A Final Farewell To Those We Will Miss

It’s that time of year to bid a final farewell to several people who shuffled off this mortal coil during the last year. The departure of these people brought a tear of sadness to our eyes. There were others we were glad to see go but that’s another story for another day. Here is our gallery of famous faces who left us in 2004 and who we will miss dearly ....

Farewell, Gentlemen! We will miss all of you. Each and every one of you contributed in some way to making this a better world with the talents God gave you.

Posted by The Skipper     on 12/30/2004 at 11:16 AM   
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Vioxx (AGAIN!)

I’ve posted a couple of things about the Vioxx scare and how we need to take responsibility for our decisions.  You can read the first one here and the second one here.

As I implied before and make very clear now, since Vioxx and Aleve and all those other names in the news have a greater risk, I say they should stay on the market, companies should change the label to reflect the newer findings and let people decide.  A small minority (in this case) should not have power over a vast majority that might be helped by carte blanche demanding these medications be removed from the shelves.

But, as luck would have it, a couple of good writers have come to my aid.

Once more, I bring you the lucid arguments of Thomas Sowell who starts with is:

The government will allow you to risk your life for the sake of recreation by sky-diving, mountain climbing or any number of other dangerous activities. But it will not allow you to risk your life for the sake of avoiding arthritis pain by taking Vioxx.

More:

Businesses that conduct dangerous recreational activities are not being denounced for “corporate greed” by making money at the risk of other people’s lives. But such charges are flung around regularly about pharmaceutical companies

He then goes on to excoriate the media for the hype they attach to assholes like Rachel Carson and her DDT scare which is now responsible for millions of death of humans due to mosquito bites because there is no other effective way to eradicate them.

Or the fact that if one boxer dies from taking a whack to the head, the whole world is up in arms yet no one really cares much when hundreds die in boating accidents..  What makes one death in boxing so much more precious?

And he hits the nail on the head with these:

Facts don’t matter to those for whom principles don’t matter, however loudly those principles may be proclaimed. Many so-called “thinking people” do remarkably little thinking.

This is heady stuff and they are not going to give it up for anything so mundane as facts or logic or principles. The best that the rest of us can do is to stop calling their ego trips idealism.

Another great piece was written by Emmitt Tyrrell.

He also puts most of the fault over this hysteria on the backs of the media (and lawyers hoping to grab a cash cow.) He explains:

“(W)e now have journalistic hysteria over the Giant Pharmaceuticals and their alleged reckless pursuit of profit. The trial lawyers’ pursuit of profit will get little attention. Witnesses will turn up who will insist that they recognized the painkiller’s dangers all along. They will claim Vioxx’s producer did, too.”

The operant phrase there is the fact that the lawyers’ pursuit of millions will get little attention.

There’s much more written here that you should see for yourself.  Go ahead.  Get smart.  Take the blinders off.

Posted by Ranting Right Wing Howler     on 12/30/2004 at 07:48 AM   
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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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