30
Jun
That’s the way to do it! That’s taking the "war on terror" to a personal level, which is how the terrorists try to do it. They are mercenaries. They thrive in the mercenary community. Hiring mercenaries to go after mercenaries seems a lot more logical to me than the trying to fight a conventional war with them.
I hope Ulf gets his revenge.
( Heads up to Little Green Footballs. )
29
Jun
H. R. 6 just passed the Senate. That’s the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This IMO could possibly be the legislation that actually most defines the Bush legacy. If it is signed and put into law, over a short period it will have a large impact on our society. Over the longer period, it could totally change our society as federal policy finally starts pushing away from oil dependence.
In an ironic twist, I find myself saying "Thank you" to Diane Feinstein, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton, while booing John McCain.
Some of my other posts on Energy Policy Act of 2005.
29
Jun
I have decided to create a whole new category for this blog. It’s for people who are otherwise intelligent, but say something stupid just for effect. I’m calling it "Shock and Awe". Today’s first induction to "Shock and Awe" is Paul Krassner. Here is the evidence for his induction:
BTK is a serial killer who’s intentions were not for the benefit of anyone other than himself. Bush’s intentions are to protect the country that Krassner lives in, ergo, to protect Krassner whether he likes it or not. For Krassner to compare Bush to BTK is pathetic. There is no logic to it. He said this only to capitolize on the current headlines of BTK. I am giving Krassner the benefit of the doubt of knowing the real difference between the two, so, he gets my "Shock and Awe" award for today.
I would have linked this to his post, but he apparently doesn’t allow trackbacks. Smart move.
Tigerhawk blog makes this obvservation of Bush’s speech last night.
"The speech did, however, contain at least one critical line that caused me to bounce in my seat and point at the radio:
And to those watching tonight who are considering a military career, there is no higher calling than service in our armed forces."
He then goes on to list the merits of President Bush taking the lead in military recruitment. I think Tigerhawk is dead on in his opinion. Bush needs to follow Tigerhawk’s suggestion to the T.
Thanks to Instapundit for the lead.
Recognize this face? If you don’t, don’t feel too bad. It’s from 1979. The guy blindfolded is one of the US citizens taken hostage by the Iranian extremists.
The guy with the big red circle is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the newly elected president of Iran.
Now, how quickly do you think the Ted Kennedy’s and Diane Feinstein’s will start complaining about Bush’s inability to deal with this guy?
28
Jun
This is precious. I hope he does it. And, I think it would fly. For a couple of years anyway. However, I think this is more a political statement than a rational business decision. It was too easy to find this:
The Supreme Court ruling is only clear cut in states that have no standards for "public use". New Hampshire does. It’s been tested in court and held up.
The rush to panic that any local government can take your home is rather premature IMO.
The unanimous decision sends the case back to lower court, which had ruled in favor of file-sharing services Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc. on the grounds that the companies couldn’t be sued. The justices said there was enough evidence of unlawful intent for the case to go to trial.
File-sharing services shouldn’t get a free pass on bad behavior, justices said.
I’m with the Supreme Court on this one. There are legitimate uses for file sharing. And, of course, there are illegitimate uses. The Groksters, Napsters, and Kazaas want a free rein to profit off the illegal file sharing by justifying it with being ignorant of pirating. They can still sell the legitimate uses, as Napster is. But, they have to be a lot more careful. That’s not a bad thing. Besides, anyone knows you can get the same thing accomplished using anonymous newsgroups. These companies, if all they are doing is profiting from the most basic function of the internet, have a bad business model. That’s not the fault of the Supreme Court. You can still to this day get pirated songs from Kazaa. For them to claim ignorance at this point is just unethical.
Just got word that the Supreme Court upheld the ban on The Ten Commandments.
The court ruled that in McCreary County v. ACLU that the displays violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits government from endorsing or supporting one religion above others.
The vote was split 5-4 down the usual liberal-conservative lines. There were no surprises to me. However, I’ve had a gripe about this debate for a long time.
Namely, this is what the Constitution actually says:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
It addresses the federal government. It says nothing about local governments. There was a reason for this. The original thirteen states had very diverse ethnic backgrounds with their respective religions preferences. One "official" religion would have alienated several of the original states. It was not addressing local governments or government entities. For that reason, and that reason alone, I think The Supreme Court blew it. This is not a question of religion, it’s a question of states’ rights. The Supreme Court has ignored the obvious and allowed the federal government to over-rule the states on this issue when The Constitution did not give them the right to do so. This is not a new translation of The Constitution by The Supremes. It is however, still wrong.
24
Jun
Instapundit.com comes to this conclusion: KELO AFTERMATH: They’ll sell a lot of these.
I don’t doubt that Instapundit’s right. What I find most interesting is this book was written in 1989.
23
Jun
I get bugged by some people. I really do. I saw a perfect example of what bugs me most today. Follow this for me, will ya?
On Jackson’s Junction, "Pamela" makes this observation:
But But But But……..there are no WMDs! So where did these come from?
And then goes into some detail of continuuing references to WMD’s that "the other side" has always argued never existed.
Now, some people tried to argue the merits of her statement. The ones that bug me were actually the first to respond. Check this out for logic:
You look like Katherine Harris, and looking at her latest poll numbers, and her face, that’s not a good thing.
Maybe you don’t need Maybelline?
You know where you won’t have to worry about drawing on your eyebrows and putting pancake batter all over your face, the MILITARY. You might want to join since they do face a recruitment problem.
I understand though, ranting/lying/blogging is much safer than enlisting.
OK, what that commentator did was:
- Insult
- Insult
- Insult
- Insult
The one thing they didn’t do, was make an argument for their case. So, the sum effect of their post was nothing but ill will. That’s it. Nothing was gained. Nada. Zero. Zilch.
This is an open invitation to Liz Blair to explain what the point of her post was. What was she hoping to gain? When she read that post and came to conclusion she didn’t agree with it, what was the line of thought that led "her" to believe attacking Pamela’s appearance had anything to do with WMD’s in Iraq? What made her think that if Pamela were to volunteer in Iraq that it would change the history of the Iraqi WMD issue? And finally, who taught you ( Liz ), manners? I’d like to query them as well on the expectations they had for their daughter and whether or not those expectations were realized in that post. I know it may seem I’m picking on Liz, but she’s only the poster child of a LOT of people out there. People are complaining of "Polarization in the US". It’s not a Bush thing. It’s not even a Clinton thing. It’s an individual thing and Liz is the perfect example of it.
Heads up to Instapundit.
