Son was ready to topple Saddam

March 4th, 2005, Los Angeles: "The eldest son of the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was plotting to overthrow his father as US troops advanced on Baghdad in March 2003, the journalist Peter Arnett says.

Uday Hussein, known for his ruthlessness and flashy lifestyle, had the support of the leadership of his father's Fedayeen militia to overthrow the dictator, an article in the April issue of Playboy magazine says."

I remember reading in Vanity Fair about Saddam's sons a few months before we killed them. The stories about these two were chilling. It was they that mainly used the rape rooms where witnesses said women emerged battered and bruised. One woman who complained was covered with honey and killed by 3 starving dobermans as reported by the Middle East Quarterly. The brothers used hard drugs regularly (which probably explains where some of the food for oil money went) and especially enjoyed watching the torture of the men under Saddam who had somehow broken the rules.

"Uday ran Iraq's Olympic committee in much the same style that he applies to his personal affairs. According to several Iraqi Olympic athletes who defected between the mid-1990s and the present, athletes were "beaten and humiliated" when they lost games. Some reported being flogged, beaten and imprisoned.

According to ESPN, Uday has athletes "beaten with iron bars. Caned on the soles of their feet. Chained to walls and left to stay in contorted positions for days. Dragged on pavement until their backs are bloody, then dunked in sewage to ensure the wounds become infected. If Uday stops by a player's jail cell, he might urinate on his bowed, shaven head. Just to humiliate him." via rotten.com

Later, after our invasion, our soldiers found drugs and pornographic material in their rooms and perhaps the most bizarre and chilling items were pictures of President Bush's daughters pinned to the walls.

The VF article described Uday as sadistic, mysogynistic, violent and totally deranged. I shudder to imagine the Iraq we would have under Uday Hussein. It seems every day we are discovering things that the invasion of Iraq saved us and the region from. Evil like this is almost too hard for us to wrap our minds around it.

The article goes on to say:

"Uday had planned to announce his seizure of power the same day, but was thwarted when US jets bombed his Youth TV studios in Baghdad, Arnett says."

One less monster with power in this world. Score a big one for our boys.

BUSH SAVES THE GARDEN OF EDEN!!

Calling all eco-lovers! Finally a reason for the left to love Bush.
According to U.S. News and World Report:

"The vast Mesopotamian marshes of southern Iraq supported a lush ecosystem and unique culture for over 5,000 years. Then came Saddam Hussein; he drained 90 percent of the wetlands to punish the local Marsh Arabs. But there's still hope for the reputed site of the Garden of Eden, says an international team of scientists. They ntoed serious dips in native fish and bird species, but thanks to wet weather and unofficial dambusting brigades, water levels have begun to rise.
*With some near-pristine areas remaining and water quality higher than expected, says study leader Curtis Richardson of Duke University, "the potential for the marshes to be restored is much higher" than previously thought."

By getting rid of Saddam, Bush not only ends tyranny, torture and oppression for Saddam's people, uncovers a UN billion dollar food for oil scandal, and spreads democracy in the middle east, BUT ALSO ends up saving the garden of eden, or at the very least a beautiful 5000 year old ecosystem.

Kos and the democrats will give him some credit for that one, right?

A U.S. soldier from the 1st Battalion, 24th infantry Regiment helps read to an Iraqi schoolboy during a patrol looking for insurgency. Our soldiers just rock, don't they? via Getty Images.  

A US soldier from the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment gives a toy throught the window to an Iraqi girl during a patrol looking for insurgency. via Getty Images.
Pretty cool, huh?
 

THE SIMPLE LIFE: FALLUJAH

Hillarious. Go. Read.

There is torture, and then there is TORTURE.

John Hillen at NRO went to a presentation by a young Marine infantry lieutenant last week about the platoon he led in the assault on the insurgents in Fallujah a few months ago. Here is an excerpt:

".....some sophisticate tried to prompt the young officer into musings on how he and his Marines felt about the mission in Iraq and our purpose there. The lieutenant gave a gold-plated answer, noting that his focus was on his Marines and his Marines' focus was on each other, which provided the platform for any purpose. As in all wars, ultimately the men fight for each other — perhaps one could even say firstly they fight for each other. He also noted, though, that among the things they stumbled on in Fallujah was a torture house (he showed pictures) with hooks hanging from the ceiling, black masks, knives, al Qaeda-like jihadist literature, and other more gruesome evidence of what went on there. "Nobody had a problem focusing on why we were there," he said, with Gary Cooper-like understatement." via Mudville

I wonder why it is that the anti war people never seem to focus on the things such as that torture house? Surely they, who went ballistic over a group of rogue American soldiers putting panties over the face of prisoners, cannot be comfortable with the thought of men (monsters) hanging their prisoners by hooks. Where is the outrage over that?

Read the exclusive interview with Jeff Gannon over at Lifelike Pundits.

Not alot of information and the usual invasive questions, but this was an important point he made:

"Do Democrats really want the White House to investigate reporters?"

This and That.

Test your Gaydar. Many people say they can tell when someone is gay by looking at them. Take this gaydar test of John Stossel's. Northwestern University psychology professor Michael has a book, "The Man Who Would Be Queen," and gives reasons why. (I could tell 100%)

Don't even try to speak the word "pro-life" and "democrat" together ANYWHERE!!!! Or Hollywood will swoop in.

The Middle East. These times, they seem to be a....changing.

This is radio hypocrisy. But who listens to them anyway?

Maybe this explains the difference between men and women bloggers.

HATE

Now THIS is a hate crime. It seems Islamic terrorists aren't the only ones with insane gods.

Speaking of hate and Islam terrorists, the latest car bomb that killed 115 Iraqis, aimed at men waiting in line for a physical exam to become Police and National Guards got a slightly different reaction than the terrorists might have been expecting. (emphasis mine)

"Angry crowds gathered outside the main hospital, chanting "Allah Akbar," Arabic for "God is great," demanding to know their relatives' fate. People at the site of the attack reportedly chanted slogans against the "Wahhabis," referring to adherents of the strict form of Islam preached by Osama bin Laden." via The Chicago Tribune

There may be Americans who are insisting that it is our military "recruiting" terrorists, but the Iraqi people there, who are experiencing the horror seem to pin it on the real criminal...Osama Bin Laden.

The article goes on to say:

"Alliance leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim recently hinted that the Shiites were waiting to take power before dealing with the insurgency. He indicated that a first step would be to identify and purge the security services of any insurgency sympathizers. "We must depend on the sons of the Iraqi people who believe in the new Iraq, and not on those bad elements that infiltrated the security circles and turned into a problem," al-Hakim told The Associated Press on Sunday. "We can't solve the security issue unless we reconsider the internal structure, to spot those bad elements."

I am so glad that the elections took place on time and we can move quickly ahead to an Iraqi government that can deal with these insane monsters and our boys can come home.

But that might not be for awhile since another article in the Tribune tells us more of al-Zarqawi's plans:

"WASHINGTON -- New intelligence indicates that Osama bin Laden is enlisting Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, his top operative in Iraq, to plan potential attacks on the United States, federal officials said Monday. Al-Zarqawi has been involved in attacks in the Middle East. He has not been known to have set his sights on America.

It goes on:

"At a Senate hearing this month, CIA Director Porter Goss warned that al-Zarqawi has "sought to bring about the final victory of Islam over the West." Goss said al-Zarqawi hopes to establish a safe haven in Iraq from which his group could operate against "'infidel' Western nations and 'apostate' Muslim governments."

For those who don't speak monster, that means al-Zarqawi wishes Iraq to be his home base to kill us and spread his ugly perverted version of Islam to our government. 'apostate' meaning "convert or we saw off your head."

I hope my left leaning friends are understanding this. I really do.

I'm thinking treason here.

Citizen Smash has a must read post. He had decided not to be involved in demonstrations until he wandered down to an anti war protest near his home:

"I want to talk today about how we’re actually going to stop the occupation. I don’t have a plan, but I think there’s some key strategies that we need to adopt, that are gonna make this more successful.
And the first thing is that we need to support the resistance of Iraqis in Iraq. These are people who are risking their lives to get the United States out of their country. And we have to see them as our allies. We have to see them as our main allies.
Similarly, we have to support resistance in the US military. Soldiers, and you know, anyone – families who are actually opposing the war, we need to be on their side.
If you recall, there’s one time in the last 30 years when the US military machine was brought down, during Vietnam, and it was brought down because there was a fierce resistance in Vietnam, and because the soldiers were refusing to fight..."

Citizen Smash goes to say this:

"The “Iraqi Resistance” had assassinated my college roommate just a few months earlier. He was shot in the back of the head, in broad daylight, when the civilian SUV he was riding in stopped at an intersection in Baghdad (his assassin was later apprehended by Iraqi police, and eventually was convicted of his murder). My brother also lost one of his best friends in the war."

This is what makes me so sick about the anti war people. What is it about this they don't understand? What is it about them that I don't understand? Because I think the guy above is guilty of treason. Pure and simple.

CS asks:

WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?
First of all, we encourage you to join us in our ongoing Operation THANK YOU. This is a wonderful, positive, non-confrontational event, where we stand outside the gates of various military bases holding signs that simply read "THANK YOU."

Read the rest. Do what you can.

Update: Last night I went to sleep thinking about what Citizen Smash has written. I am amazed at the restraint he used as he describes his college roomate's death. I don't know how he stood there and listened to that at the rally without going after the guy, I really don't.

But as I was thinking about it last night a picture popped in my head. It was the picture I am sure you saw of the mother leaning over her dead child laying on the ground in Beslan Russia in early September after that horrific school massacre.

It came to me that this is what the anti war people do not understand. The Islamic terrorists who shot children in the back as they were running away are sewn from the same cloth as the "Iraqi resistance." What part of ISLAMIC TERRORIST do they not understand? It doesn't matter if they are in Russia or in Iraq or Syria or in America, that is what they are. Let me make this as clear as I can. They kill anyone who doesn't believe in their insane god.

The twin towers was but a taste of what they wish for us. Maybe the anti war protestors don't believe in the God that Bush does, maybe they see his faith as ridiculous as the terrorist's. But the difference is that we don't kill those who don't believe as we do. We do the opposite, we support their right not to believe.

Iraqi children have died in this war. Suicide bombers continue to carry out their insane missions. But if the greatest fighting force on earth does not try and stop them, who will? If we allow terror to win, who loses? Everyone.

So you anti war guys, have your rallies, hang your effigies, and spout your anti American rants. It's your right to be an idiot.

But we will continue this fight. We will win. And because of that, because of OUR SOLDIERS, your children and grandchildren will not live in fear of passenger planes that fly into buildings and masked monsters who shoot children in the back.

Yeah, but they really went nuts a few minutes later when Rumsfeld came out in a kicky strapless cocktail dress and buttless leather chaps. via Caption this!

"Yo baby! Yo baby! Mm, dat's right! Shake it, don't break it! ... Sh*t, playground monitor's coming. Gun it!" via Caption This! He is on a roll.

Moronic Moonbat Alert.

This may win the looney leftie award for the year. It may beat the ridiculous 'die in's.' It even makes Howard Dean seem normal.
Read, shake your head, and thank God you don't live near this house. via Diggers Realm via Beautiful Atrocities

Boys to Men.

Tonight I watched the football movie "Friday Night Lights." If you're not familiar with it, it is a true story about an Odessa high school football team who, against all odds, made it to the State Championship played at the Astrodome in 1988. Yeah, I know it is an old movie, but I always get around to watching these things a couple of years later. I don't have the time or the desire to go to the movies. I like the comfort of my big couch, my big screen, and that pause button. Anyway, this isn't a review of the movie. (which is pretty good, and very accurate about the football madness of Texas) It really made me think about how completely different men are to women (I know, duh) and made me realize a bit how so many men turn out the way they do.

Now this isn't guy bashing, just stick with me here. My brothers were pretty good athletes as was I. Baseball was their game and basketball was mine. I also cheered and played softball and track, but I loved basketball most of all. My husband's high school football team won their state championship in Mississippi back in 1978, I believe. My daughter is an unbelievable basketball player. But being the popular cheerleader was more important, so she chose that instead in high school since they don't let the girls do both. (completely unfair, but that is another post) My other two boys played, but just for the fun of it. Didn't really get into into it or have the passion for it. But still I think they were affected by the coaches and their love of the game. It seems all guys have a deep affection or hatred for their high school coaches. After watching this movie I can see why.

In all the years I played sports I never remember a coach yelling in my face. I never remember a parent going ballistic over a call. But my brothers and my sons? Well, that is a whole different ballgame (excuse the pun) Yelling and parental stupidity is out of control. The part in the movie that really got to me was when the character played by Tim McGraw (an abusive father who had won his high school championship and whose son was playing in this one) told his son that he was not getting it. He didn't understand that this was the best life was ever going to be. After that it's nothing. One of the local ummm...rednecks told one of the football players, "after this there aint nothing but babies and memories."

Well how sad and pathetic is that? Life holds so many wonderful things for you. You're washed up at 17? No. No. No. First of all, I see a competitiveness in men that I do not see in women. Not even close. The article that got around a few days ago about there not being as many women bloggers because we don't like to argue or something like that. It is true that in general, women do not like conflict. Men, sometimes thrive on it.

This testorone filled movie got me to thinking how hard it is for men and women to understand each other. Even for men who never played sports have that same competitive spirit. And to be honest, in my opinion, sports brings out the worst in guys. I know , I know, it is all about team playing, about winning, about trying your hardest....blah, blah, blah. But I see egos the same size as their trucks and guys who think so much of themselves they don't seem to have much left over to think much of women. Jose Conseco's latest book is being blasted by players over his allegations of steroid use, not much is being said about his allegations of the cheating and whoring the players did. Boys will be boys. Right?

Right.

I blogged once on my experience with dating athletes, but I can't find it. Suffice it to say I knew from the start that I was never going to be first in their lives. The sport would always be, so those relationships didn't last long, believe me. So when 2 of my sons didn't show much interest in it, that was fine with me. There doesn't seem to be the same problem in girl's sports so my daughter being a great athlete has been fine also. But now I have my youngest son, who at 8 yrs old has already won 2 MVP awards for his teams on baseball and basketball and he didn't start playing until he was 6. (it is a shame that in Texas they start the teams at 3, yes I said 3.) Anyway, he is playing on a select baseball team now that he was asked to be on. Another one asked him, but it was a traveling team and we said no. I can hardly believe I have to make these decisions at eight! He is playing football now and is the quarterback even though he has never played before. He is a natural athlete, no doubt. I don't mean to sound like I am bragging. I know who has talent and who doesn't. I have two that do and two that don't. Not only does my son have talent, but he has passion for it. Since he was 6 he watched ESPN like most kids watch cartoons. He never plays video games, he is too busy playing football or basketball outside with his friends. My oldest son built his own computer from scratch, my youngest has never even looked at the computer. But now I worry. Is this what I want for the sweetest of my children? He was born with a generous soul and a golden heart. A sweeter kid you will not find anywhere. Do I want him going into a sport where a coach yells in your face all day? Where your told that winning is everything and this is the best time of your life? What if he show true promise? I don't even like the idea of him playing high school football, much less college.

It is like being a movie star. It looks glamorous and wonderful until you realize they can't stay married, they hardly know their children, and they cheat and do drugs and the Hollywood culture is horrible. I know there are exceptions, but you KNOW that is the rule. Same with athletes.

If you played high school or college sports or beyond and you think that that was the best thing that ever happened to you, then you are missing out on what it is really important and best in life.

Like the guy in the movie said about his HS state championship, "there aint nothing but babies and memories after that." Like it was a bad thing. If the miracle of your child is not enough to make you realize that THAT overshadows any stupid touchdown or winning championship, then I feel sorry for you.

A guy said to me one time after he had had a wild young life and married and settled down, "Remember the line in the John Mellencamp song that said 'life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone.'? That is how I feel."

I just felt so sorry for him. I felt like shaking him and telling to wake up and look around. Life is wonderful. Every single day is a gift. A child's good morning kiss, a lazy summer day, a baby's 1st step, and swimming in the salty ocean. These are the things of life that can bring us the joy of living, the joy that feeds our souls.

There may not be crowds cheering us. There may not be trophies or spotlights, but there is a whole world out there waiting for us every day. Perhaps some men see themselves as just going through the motions, thankful to have had a little fun. Maybe that explains a lot about them.

Most women I know, even if they don't truly appreciate this miracle of life we are given, they at least understand the fulfillment of giving of themselves. A natural instinct of nurturing that we have, I believe.

So what is my point? I use to say that I would never understand men. Even after a dad and two brothers, a husband and 3 boys. But now I may have an inkling. Funny how some stupid movie can open a bit of a window on something you never understood before. I think men look beyond themselves to feel success and women look at the here and now. (A little profound thought from the mind of Righwingsparkle) And my 2nd point is I am not sure I want my youngest to go this route. And I'm not sure there is much I can do about it. I guess I will wait and see what the years bring.

Update: One of my sweet commenters found my other post on Athletes that I couldn't find. It was written in Nov. after the Pistons/Pacers big fight. If you want to read it. Go here.

Jackson is white and California could be Red. Heh.

The Therapist is on a roll. Hilarious. Start with this one and keep reading:

"Cartilaginous, Marbly-Skinned Hermaphrodites Underrepresented On Jackson Jury"

"No Need For Blacks On Jury: Jackson, when he was still African-American. Now, as an anorexic caucasian spook-house side show Jackson attributes his whiteness, straight hair and supple lip lines to a rare skin disorder--and a steady diet of toddler."

And he also has this:

"Report: Landslides Could Turn California Into Red State"

"Los Angeles--Experts from NOAA, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are claiming that nearly unprecedented rainfall in southern California could tip the balance in the favor of the Republican party in 2008."

"A sudden, cataclysmic break off of all the real estate below Santa Barbara county will knock out the only three counties in southern California carried by John Kerry in the 2004 elections," said a senior NOAA official. "The Democrats don't have a prayer until Monterey County, on up into San Francisco. Hopefully the erosive nature of this disaster has latent, electoral sympathies."

"Others have intimated that Republican strategist, Karl Rove, could have tapped into the previously-occultic weather control techniques--the stuff of legend."

I find it amusing that the UK is having the same debate as we are on immigration but with a slightly different twist.

"Most immigrants fill posts that keep the economy going. It is funny how peoples' attitudes to immigration change when they suddenly find a Polish or Lithuanian plumber to do a job they cannot find a British tradesman to do at a reasonable price."

Just exchange "Polish or Lithuanian" to "Mexican" and you could be talking about the U.S.

I am not like most conservatives that are against the guest worker program or other immigration reforms. I know there are problems with free healthcare and employers paying low wages, but living so close to the Mexican border, I have seen too many hard working Hispanics taking long hours and low pay for difficult backbreaking work.

People say they need to come in LEGALLY. Well I am guessing that getting into the U.S. legally from Mexico is a lot harder than getting your learners permit to drive when you are 16, which I had to do today with my daughter and it was RIDICULOUS what we had to go through. The paperwork, the confusing directions on what to bring. My paperwork from Austin said if you had a passport then no secondary identification is required. On the secondary identification listed was a Social Security card. I didn't bring that since it was made clear it wasn't needed since she had a passport. But when we got there they show me a paper that says they now require the Social Security card. The problem was it was on their paperwork that you filled out when you got there, not on my paperwork sent ahead. That is just one example of how completely complicated and confusing the process was.

If this is how hard it is to get a freaking learners permit to drive when you have been a citizen your whole life, speak English, and have a passport, I can only imagine the hell the Mexicans go through to get their citizenship here. So maybe the answer to illegal immigration is to make becoming a citizen less complicated and more about TEACHING them to love America instead of filling out tons of paperwork that no one ever looks at or probably understands.


I wonder if we had Polish people taking these jobs if there would be the same complaints?

Well, this is one way to keep the little rugrats from running around...;-) 

The Washington Post describes Sec. Rice's attire as she landed at Wiesbaden Army Airfield to greet the troops like this: "Rice's coat and boots speak of sex and power -- such a volatile combination, and one that in political circles rarely leads to anything but scandal."

She indeed looks good, although the bleached blonde Billy Idol wannabe behind her might want to rethink his hairdresser. Seriously though. Come on! The post even went so far to say that her outfit brought the mind "To shadowy daydreams. Dominatrix!"

She looks great. Must everything be sexual? I really don't think we are going to see "scandal" from Rice since she is just sooo well known for her wild partying and drinking. I heard that one time at the Crawford ranch she had two beers and starting yelling, "I'm hitting the hay!" as she ran towards one of those haybales in the backyard. Let's hope she doesn't do any table dancing while overseas. That wildcat!!!

Calling on all single girl bloggers.

Mudville has some new blogger soldiers from Iraqi. One is Assumption of Command. He gives some insight on a soldier coming home to no family. He talks about coming home to an empty apartment from Bosnia in the late 90's. (that just breaks my heart) He goes on to explain:

"But not all soldiers have the "wife and kids" waiting for their return. Some soldiers nearest family maybe one or two thousand miles away from their home station. It the cases of soldiers stationed in Germany their nearest family could be an ocean away. These same soldiers have been incredibly close to their teams, crew members, and battle buddies in all facets of their lives. Now all of a sudden all of that closeness is gone and the single soldier is possibly alone without the people he until recently relied on. This can be just as difficult as trying to get used to the spouse that now runs the household without the soldier. The Army tries to prepare us for re-entry into our families. Granted this is very important, but they don't seem to have anything for reuniting with yourself. Just do me a favor don't forget about the single guys and gals just because they are back. Home can be a very lonely place too."

Awww... so go visit his place and see what we can do to help. Some single girl ought to get an organization going to greet the single soldiers when they get home. If you know of a blogger who might be interested in this. Let me know.

Paranoia news....

This from MSNBC:

"A new type of organism discovered in an Arctic tunnel came to life in the lab after being frozen for 32,000 years."

It goes on to say:

"NASA described the newfound critter as "the first fully described, validated species ever found alive in ancient ice."
"They immediately started swimming when the ice melted," Hoover told LiveScience, adding that the cryopreserved bacteria were instantly ready to eat and multiply."

Is this really a good idea?? I mean I don't want some 32, 000 year old happy but deadly "critter" being BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE!
I am no scientist (as I am sure you have noticed) but since it is 32, 000 years old and never seen before, is it really a good idea to wake this bacteria up ready to "eat and multiply??" How could they know anything about it? I keep thinking about that movie with Dustin Hoffman and Cuba Gooding Jr. Where that weird strain of bacteria gets out from a monkey, becomes airborne when they didn't think it could and people start bleeding from their eyes and dying a horrible death. What was the name of that movie?
Anyway, I just hope THEY ARE BEING CAREFUL...;-)

PunditGuy has the The 127th Carnival of the Vanities and I am in it. If you didn't read my post in November about a man I knew. Then go there to read it. It's my favorite post. There are lots of really good ones from other sites there as well.

Beautiful Atrocities has this regarding what I think will be the talking point of the left on the Jeff Gannon thing. But he just blows it away like a rifle shot on a beer can sitting on a fence.

Vanity Fair's James Wolcott on Gannon: "He did provide some genuine insight into the journalistic standards of the far-right fake-news prosties & their blog enablers" [I think that's us, guys!].

"To Gannon, & presumably to other fine fax-gathering organizations being fronted by Republican shills, objective journalism consists of running White House press releases verbatim--to him, that's providing vital information without a 'liberal filter.' Gannon really does embody the Bush-Rove ideal of the journalist as empty vessel."

So true, James! What we need is more fine, upstanding journalists like Dan Rather, Mary Mapes, Eason Jordan, "Reuters", & ABC News Director Mark Halperin, who famously directed his troops NOT to hold Kerry equally accountable as Bush. Alas.

Imagine This.

A discussion with a commenter got me to thinking the other day what the world would be like if we were all like Christ. If we lived by what he taught. I had said there would be no war or poverty, but I realized that there would be so much more that would be different.

Think about it. There would be no prisons, no policemen, no prison guards, no jails, and no bail bondsman. But think about this. NO lawyers! Except maybe for corporate and estate logistics. IMAGINE! A Christian world with no lawyers! It is enough to make you want to convert, isn't it??..;-)

I can say all that coming from a family of lawyers. Also, there would be no judges, except for the few for the stated above problems. There would be no government social programs because we would all take care of each other. There would be no private schools, unless we just do away with the government involved in education and fund them ourselves. Taxes would still be needed to fund highways and roads and such, but the government would be practically tiny.

We could leave our doors unlocked. There would be no rape or murder, no crime of any kind! No one would cheat on their spouse. There would be no pornography, no pedophiles, no divorce, no domestic or child abuse, no babies born out of wedlock, and no abortion clinics.

We would have so much more money to pour into medical research, and no one would price gouge. We could discover more cures for disease.

There would be no homeless, no drug abuse and no suicide. We would admire our teachers, nurses, and doctors not movie stars or sports celebrities. Actors would do movies that inspired and moved us. Sports would be about the sport, and not the money.

We would truly love each other.

Imagine a world like that.

Now , this is not saying that other religions wouldn't bring as much, I am just speculating on it. And it sounds good to me.

I love the way Bush answers questions. When asked about Iran yesterday he said, "The notion that we are about to go attack Iran is ridiculous. That being said, all options are on the table."

You gotta love that. He is saying to Iran,"We aren't going to bother you at all as long as you behave, so watch your backs and keep your nose clean."

This is what was so great about Reagan. He made it clear that he was reasonable, but tough. "Don't mess with us" was his whole attitude. And he ended the cold war, and was one of the main reasons for the collapse of the USSR and who could forget his demanding that the Berlin wall be brought down, and it was.

Bush has the opportunity to here to change things in this world as much if not more than Reagan did. Let us pray he succeeds. I would think everyone would want that.

If you want a good summary of Bush's trip to Europe, suprisingly you can find it here.

Refreshing news in the Israeli and Palestinian conflict:

Feb. 21, 2005 JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel freed 500 Palestinian prisoners in a goodwill gesture Monday and President Bush pledged to support efforts to resolve the conflict, saying peace based on a two-state solution was within reach.
"Our greatest opportunity, and our immediate goal, is peace in the Middle East," Bush said in Brussels, Belgium, on the first day of a fence-mending trip to Europe.
"Bush also promised to back Palestinian reform, which he said would give momentum to changes throughout the Middle East."

The article goes on to say:

"In a historic Cabinet vote Sunday, Israel voted leave Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank and approved a revised West Bank separation barrier closer to Israel's pre-1967 frontier.
With the vote, an Israeli government agreed for the first time since capturing the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war to dismantle some of the dozens of Jewish settlements it has built there. "

Will Bush be able to form the alliances we should have, although many would argue we don't need?

Are we finally seeing the beginning of some sort of peace between the Israeli and Palestinian blood bath?

What I see is EFFORT. What I see is action and not just talk. Will all of it work? God knows. But it is nice to see the action. It is nice to see some work being put into these issues.

I think the alliances are important and I hope Bush succeeds.

We need to focus on the big picture. These are the important things. Not the gossipy stuff that bloggers have been ranting about.

There may not be alot we can do from here about the big things above, so maybe it would be a good time to bring a little civility to the blogpsphere. Let's try to be a bit nicer. How about that? Try a little alliance building of our own.

The Blog Herald has this:

"U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation on Wednesday to achieve meaningful reforms to federal government information laws, most notably the Freedom of Information Act of 1966 (FOIA). The Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2005 (OPEN Government Act) is aimed at substantially enhancing and expanding the accessibility, accountability, and openness of the federal government.
U.S. Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), the committee’s senior Democrat, is the bill’s co-sponsor.
Importantly for bloggers, the Cornyn-Leahy legislation grants privileged FOIA fees for bloggers and writers for Internet outlets, providing the same status as old media and will protect access to FOIA fee waivers for legitimate journalists, regardless of institutional association - including bloggers and other Internet-based journalists." via William Teach at Little Miss Attila

Very interesting.

As a side note. Mark my words on John Cornyn. He has been well known here in Texas for a long time. He is smart, handsome, conservative, and charismatic. He has been through enough dirty campaigns for us to know that there are no "skeletons' in his closet. A perfect combination for a great political future. Keep your eye on him. We will be hearing from him.

What is more important here? Naked pics or mail fraud? You decide.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A former staffer for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee admitted Tuesday to stealing about $360,000 in donor checks while he was employed there.
Roger Chiang pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of mail fraud. Sentencing is scheduled for June.
Chiang, a staffer in charge of ethnic outreach and fund raising, was fired from the DSCC after about $360,000 in missing committee donor checks were traced to a bank account he had opened. The DSCC is the main fund-raising arm for Senate Democrats.


Anyone miss this story? Hmmm.... maybe because it was WAY more important to find naked pictures of some no name reporter (now known as the infamous Jeff Gannon) I mean, come on, the guy in the story above was just using hard earned donor's money for Senate Democrats to ...I don't know.. maybe catch some bling bling, dress for success, or get a pimpin ride. That is nothing to compared to Gannon's gayness. Am I right?

Where is that moonbat outrage when it counts? Huh?

I am just going to throw in this eating out etiquette that you probably didn't know, but should know. Very detailed for the etiquette impaired too...;-)

Wonderduck, don't get the big head with all this attention. but this is for you. They even have a Confessional! This is the place to confess your sins, your transgressions, and your Duckiest thoughts to the Popes, the Duck, and the entire world!

If you need one of these , it is time to throw out your computer ,because you have a SERIOUS problem.

all links via The Biomes Blog

"Kennedy wants you to ask Alberto Gonzales if Senators are exempted from drunk driving laws, Hillary wants you to ask him if he'll be investigating any shady cattle futures deals, and Robert Byrd wants to know if he'll put on a sombrero and run around really fast like his cousin 'Speedy.'"
via Caption This!

Now we know.

"NEW YORK Feb 20, 2005 — Private conversations with George Bush secretly taped by an old friend before he was elected president foreshadow some of his political strategies and appear to reveal that he acknowledged using marijuana, The New York Times reported."

Well we FINALLY know the reason behind the whole Jeff Gannon gay hooker/white house reporter story. Karl Rove is a freakin GENIUS. You know he put that naked bald gay escort thing out there so when this story broke, it would look like Bush had practically a pollyanna past.

Seriously, the conversations reveal what we already know about Bush. He is the same in private as he is in public. Honest and forthcoming. In fact I was a bit surprised at how nice he was. I mean I know he is a nice guy, but I also know politics. And when you're talking strategy and such sometimes you can get truly mean no matter who you are.

Love Bush or hate him, what you see is what you get.

Reposted in honor of Wonderduck, in what possibly may be duck heaven. 

Mudville has a great post about a soldier waiting 40 yrs of get a care package. He also gave some links where you can get involved. Last year my daughter's cheerleading squad sent care packages to a division where the cheer coach's brother was stationed in Iraq. I put all the things together, goodies and snacks, books, and baby wipes, and all kinds of things. The girls all wrote letters to the boys with a picture of themselves attached. (Nice wholesome pictures, so stop thinking the "internet cheerleader thing.") I received a wonderful thank you note back via e-mail with pictures of the guys. He said the guys appreciated so much all the goodies, but really all the kind words of appreciation from some high school girls who were growing up in a world that will be safer because of the work of these brave men.

Let's not forget our warriors. Send something if you can. Soldiers' Angels and Any Soldier tells you how.

We have a new kid in town and he is pretty funny. His blog is called The Nose On Your Face. Since I have a thousand things to do today I stole this from him.

Bush To Spotted Owls: "Bring It On!"

In what many are calling the first substantial environmental policy of his administration, President Bush has called for a comprehensive, preemptive strike against all endangered species of animals.
The mission entitled, "Operation Drop Dumbo" , is being carried out, ironically enough, by teams of Navy SEAL's.

"The spotted owl, the fur seal... the whole shebang. The kid gloves are finally off," stated one visibly giddy SEAL commander.

Calls to several top environmental activists were not returned as of noon, but their parents did all promise to give them the messages when they woke up.

When asked about the reasons for this new initiative President Bush replied, "As you all know Republicans hate animals and the environment. I thought it was high time that our policies reflected these hatreds. I have the political capital to push this forward and I intend to use it."

President Bush was evasive when asked about other major policy initiatives for his second term but did state that "if I was gay or a Frenchman I wouldn't be sleeping too soundly just now."


The part about the parents waking the envoronmental activists up is too funny.


This "interview" with Ted Kennedy on Valentines day is pretty hilarious. Check it out.

Can you stand one more post regarding Jeff Gannon? Here is what Ari Fleischer had to say about his dealings with the "reporter." He wasn't comfortable with him, but did say that Gannon was.... "just as legitimate as some of the fringe organizations in the room."via Salon.com

UPDATE: Paul at Wizbang has some more and we finally hear from Gannon himself.


This can't be good news for Hillary.......

According to Salon.com "David Geffen said during a question-and-answer session in New York that Hillary "can't win, and she's an incredibly polarizing figure." Although Geffen has poured buckets full of money into Democratic campaigns over the years, it sounds like he's unenthusiastic about dropping cash on a second Clinton's run for the White House. "Ambition," he said, "is just not a good enough reason."
-- Tim Grieve

Ouch.

What should we do about this ? It seems the public schools in Lincoln Nebraska allow kids to go to any public school in the area, not just in their own district.

"Like many of Nebraska's school systems, the Lexington district where Dick Eisenhauer is superintendent has seen an influx of Hispanics, largely because of jobs at the meatpacking plants, and an accompanying exodus of white students to public elementary schools just outside town."

"As a result, in Lexington, the in-town schools, with an enrollment of 2,500, have 804 students learning English as a second language, and 1,172 who are getting a free or reduced-price lunch. The six outlying elementary schools have about 130 students - none of them English learners, none of them living in poverty, according to the state Education Department."

Cecilia Huerta, director of the state's Mexican-American Commission says "People in Lexington and Schuyler do not want their kids being polluted by Latin Americans and Hispanics," Huerta said. "They think they're not going to get the quality of education if they have a diverse classroom."

Not so says..." Chris Dvorak, a white parent who has two children who attend a school outside Schuyler, said she sent her children there to avoid overcrowding in town, not to get away from Hispanics. "I would have done the same thing if they were all white kids," Dvorak said.
There are 45 students enrolled at Dvorak's children's school, compared with more than 850 at Schuyler Grade School.

State Sen. Chris Langemeier of Schuyler pointed out that anyone can attend the outlying schools. "It's not an elite group that gets to option," he said."

"But Aguilar said Hispanic students do not go to the schools outside of town because in many Hispanic households, both parents work and do not have cars to take their children to class."

Now the state Legislature is considering a bill to thwart what some say amounts to legal segregation in the schools. Thereby closing the small outlying schools.

So say your a parent and you have an option of sending your kid to an overcrowded school of 2,500 students or a school with 130 students. Of course any parent with the ability to drive their kids to the outlying smaller schools is going to do it. I really don't think the "polluted" statement by Heurta is fair at all. And like one parent pointed out, Mexicans are welcomed there as well. It isn't diversity the white parents are afraid of, it is too many freaking students of any color. Overcrowding is without a doubt, a major cause of poor education in any school. But now the legislature is considering a bill to close down the outlying smaller schools and force the kids into the crowded public schools near their homes.

What do you think will happen? Private schools will flourish and you will have the exact same situation. Government trying to force parent's hands is just not going to work.

What would you do if you were the Superintendent?

Just something to think about on a Saturday night.

Due to increasing product liability litigation, it has been suggested that American liquor manufacturers place these warning labels on all varieties of alcohol:

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell your friends over and over that you love them.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to think you can sing.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to believe that ex-lovers are really dying for you to telephone them at four in the morning.

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing with you.

I just watched the Conservative Political Action committee conference on C-Span. You know, I love my party, but a more geeky looking bunch cannot be found. Maybe there is a link between geeky looks and intelligence, I don't know. But smart wins out over looks to me any day anyway.

The one thing Dick Cheney said that brought groans was that there are more people working on filing and working on tax returns than there is in the American military. (At least I think that is what he said) And it is no wonder that brought groans. Good God, that is mind boggling.

The speeches were good and spelled out what the future of our party faces and how much we have won and how far we have to go.

On a side note, I noticed that all the black people in the room were either at the table to speak or in the audience. The serving staff was made up of what seemed to be Hispanics and some of Indian origin. I didn't see one black waiter.

Guess that blows Dean's theory, huh?

Since I spent most of this week defending gays, I thought I might spend some time defending someone who was unfairly targeted for the dreaded "homophobia!" You probably heard all the hoopla over Dr. James Dobson, director of the Christian organization Focus on The Family out of Colorado Springs, Co. Supposedly saying that SpongeBob was gay. The media got it wrong on all accounts. This organization has been around for along time and like a lot of Christian organizations didn't really get involved in the political process until abortion became legal, and since that is a grave moral issue, felt they needed to get involved. Now with gay marriage being on the forefront, they are involved in that as well.

I first became aware of Dr. James Dobson from his secular child rearing books. I swear I would not have made it through parenting without reading his The Strong Willed Child. I recommend it to anyone with a stubborn difficult young child. He has written several more.

Dr. Dobson holds a Ph.D. in Child Development from the University of Southern California. He served for fourteen years as the Associate Clinical Professor of pediatrics at the USC School of Medicine, and for seventeen years on the attending staff of Children's Hospital of Los Angeles in the division of child development and medical genetics.

He is not a preacher. And what has always impressed me is that he does not take one dime from his non-profit organization Focus on The Family that he runs. He lives off the profits from his child rearing books. Although I am Catholic, I have always had a deep respect for him. He has never sounded 'wacky' or like some kind of TV evangelist. He and his wife and 2 kids always lived modestly and he has always practiced his faith in a kind and humble way.

The whole thing began when Dr. Dobson spoke during the inaugural week at a banquet hosted by the Family Research Council. He shared his concern over a video that was about to be distributed to 61,000 public elementary schools across the nation for use on the proposed "We are Family Day." March 11th.

The video featured nearly 100 favorite cartoon characters for kids. Not only SpongeBob, but Barney, the Muppets, Winnie the Pooh, and many others. Dr. Dobson said that nothing in the video was overtly sexual. What concerned Dr. Dobson was the organization sponsoring the video making a variety of explicitly pro-homosexual materials on it's Web site. One of the resources accompanying the video was a booklet which list it's allies as five of the largest pro-homosexual organizations in the nation including GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign. The Web site made available school lesson plans that suggested these questions of elementary age students:

*How are you affected by homophobia?
*How would you be affected by your sexual orientation were it different than it is now?
*How will understanding these definitions change your thinking about compulsory heterosexuality and homophobia?

And then a hand out entitled, "Talking About being Out" there was this:

*Do you know of any people in your school whose sexual orientation differs from yours?
*What are some factors that might encourage or discourage a person about being 'out' as homosexual or bisexual in this class or school?"

This is just a sampling. And remember. These are elementary school kids we are talking about, K-5th grade.

A few days after the controversy erupted We Are Family Foundation's web site deleted the majority of overtly pro-homosexual content. Then the founder of the organization, Nile Rodgers went on the "Today Show" and said that Dr. Dobson had the wrong site and that they had nothing to do with homosexuality. Dr. Dobson claims he has clear documentation of the materials before they were removed. But the media isn't interested in that part of the story, of course. Making Dobson out to look like a fool was their intent.

Dr. Dobson has made it clear by saying "...to teach children to respect each other and to accept those who are different. We are entirely supportive of that message. I have been teaching it for years." But he sees clearly here an agenda operating here to teach young children about sexual behavior in a certain way which may contradict what their parents are teaching them, or exposing them to sexuality before their parents feel they are ready to learn about it.

Dr. Dobson emphasized in his letter to supporters that "Every individual is entitled to respect and human dignity, including those with whom we disagree strongly. The problem is not with acceptance or kindness, certainly. But kids should not be taught that homosexuality is just another lifestyle or morally equivalent to heterosexuality." And I will add, unless the parents wish to teach that to their children. It is the parent's responsibility to know when and what to teach their children about sexuality, not the teachers. Certainly not in elementary school.

It is truly unfair for Dr. Dobson, a highly respected man, being targeted for being conservative and Christian and speaking his mind. The media tried to paint him as a religious wacko, when it was the "We are a Family Foundation" that was being dishonest by removing material from it's website in order to make Dr. Dobson seem confused on the matter.

I don't think we will be seeing the media correct it's protrayal of Dr. Dobson any time soon. I think they feel their mission was accomplished.

Quote of the day.

"You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color in a single room? Only if they had the hotel staff in here."

Howard Dean during a meeting with the Democratic Black Caucus Feb.11th, 2005. Reported by the AP. via Kevin at Wizbang

Because we all know that only BLACK PEOPLE work low level jobs as hotel staff.....My God! How insulting is that?

Well, here's a newsflash for Dean, the RNC could probably get that many black people in a room by HAVING A BUSH ADMINISTRATION CABINET MEETING.

I think it is time to form a new committee. The GABWAGTBUBDAC. That is the "Gay and Black We Aren't Going To Be Used By Democrats Anymore" committee.

Reporter's questions causing problems everywhere!

Mayor of London Ken Livingston sparked a "controversy when an Evening Standard reporter asked him for a comment at the end of a party celebrating the 20th anniversary of Chris Smith's decision to come out as the first openly gay British MP. The mayor asked the journalist: "Were you a German war criminal?"
The reporter, Oliver Finegold, revealed he was Jewish, and Mr Livingstone replied: "Ah, well you might be, but actually you are just like a concentration camp guard. You are just doing it because you are paid to, aren't you?"via The Guardian

PM Tony Blair is asking Livingston to apologize and it seems Livingston is saying "your not the boss of me."

Imagine one of our politicians saying that? I guess Livingston should have just said "You are just doing it because you are a paid gay hooker, aren't you?"

And then it would have been fine. At least here it would be. Right?

It's disquieting at first, but eventually new senators get used to Senator Mikulski snapping flies out of the air with her tongue.
via Caption This!

ABC News business headline:

Stocks Down Ahead of Greenspan Speech
Dow, Nasdaq Trade Down After Posting Gains; Investors Prepare for Alan Greenspan Speech.

I am always amazed at the power this man has. It has to cross his mind sometimes that he could just go make some stuff up and just totally mess with the entire economy. What would happen if he gave his semi-annual report to the Senate banking committee completely drunk? Or starting quoting from Atlas Shrugged. what would the Dow do?

I'm in a wierd mood today, can you tell?

Have you seen this man? If so, call your local police. Heh.

Kid Rock of "don't let that hedonistic man ho play at the Bush inaugural" fame, has a warrant out for his arrest for assaulting a DJ at a Nashville Nightclub early this morning.

Those Southpark Republicans.....what are we gonna do with them?

The New York Times has this interesting article:

" The Pentagon predicts that robots will be a major fighting force in the American military in less than a decade, hunting and killing enemies in combat. Robots are a crucial part of the Army's effort to rebuild itself as a 21st-century fighting force, and a $127 billion project called Future Combat Systems is the biggest military contract in American history."

The article goes on to say:

"Robots in battle, as envisioned by their builders, may look and move like humans or hummingbirds, tractors or tanks, cockroaches or crickets. With the development of nanotechnology - the science of very small structures - they may become swarms of "smart dust." The Pentagon intends for robots to haul munitions, gather intelligence, search buildings or blow them up.
All these are in the works, but not yet in battle. Already, however, several hundred robots are digging up roadside bombs in Iraq, scouring caves in Afghanistan and serving as armed sentries at weapons depots.
By April, an armed version of the bomb-disposal robot will be in Baghdad, capable of firing 1,000 rounds a minute. Though controlled by a soldier with a laptop, the robot will be the first thinking machine of its kind to take up a front-line infantry position, ready to kill enemies."

Pretty cool, huh?

Beth My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and Hyscience are trying to draw attention to Terri Shiavo, the woman whose husband has been fighting to have her feeding tube removed. Her parents have been fighting him. Both sites have the videos of Terri responding to her parents, clearly not in a vegetative state. Hyscience has this:

"The husband, who is engaged to another woman by whom he has two children, has sought and obtained a court order from Sixth Court Court Judge George W. Greer to withhold the feeding tube from Terri which will cause her death by starvation and dehydration."

If you can, pass this on in your own blog or e-mail. Go to Terrislife.org
and see what you can do to help.

Warrior Update

Enough of being a part of the vast rightwing conspiracy to defend gays!

It is past time for a Warrior update:

Blackfive has some AWESOME pics from Afghanistan and Iraq including one as our Warrior "covers a door with his 9 mm pistol as the interpreter calls for the owner to come out at the home of a known criminal located in a village located on the outskirts of Bayji, Iraq, on Jan. 24, 2005."

Michelle Malkin follows the story of a "Marine who may face the death penalty for killing two Iraqi insurgents in the heat of battle in a terrorist-infested town near Baghdad." More here and here.

Trying to Grok puts it briefly and well:

"If the story actually happened the way LT Pantano says it did, then I'm about sick and tired of our soldiers and marines getting charged with murder in Iraq. If I may quote State of Fear...
If someone tried to kill you, you did not have the option of averting your eyes or changing the subject. You were forced to deal with that person's behavior. The experience was, in the end, a loss of certain illusions.
The world was not how you wanted it to be.
The world was how it was.
There were bad people in the world. They had to be stopped."via Mudville
who has it put together well with even more links.

MOSUL, IRAQ (February 15, 2005) – In yet another instance of disregard for the sanctity of Islamic holy places insurgents launched an attack on Multi-National Force Soldiers from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) in northern Iraq today.
Read the Entire Entry...» via Stryker Brigade News


With the elections behind us we need not become complacent about the dangers our soldiers still face every day. Keep your prayers coming. This aint over yet.

The Jeff Gannon story that won't go away.....

This Jeff Gannon thing sure has the leftwing blogger's panties in a wad. Jeff over at PW has his funny but naughty (be warned!) take on it. Poor Jawa Report is being swarmed by moonbats! Wizbang discusses how the dems are so wrong on this. Just One Minute asks why the NY Times is listening to Kos on this.via BA. Ace has his take on it as well. Here is what I had to say about it Thursday.

It seems that what is driving the leftwing bloggers crazy is that we are sticking up for this guy. They have accused him of being a "gay hooker" and having something to do with the Plame/CIA affair. I haven't seen any evidence of either. Even if true, it doesn't mean he can't get a press pass. Ameriblog seems to have some racy pics of Jeff Gannon but I didn't bother clicking on them. The lefties seem to think that it is hypocritical for us to defend someone who doesn't espouse "family values."

When did we ever claim to be perfect? I don't like what this guy seems to be doing, but it is his life. I don't think a wild sex life posed a danger to the President at the press conference Gannon attended. Contrary to what lefties may think, we don't make sure a person is sinless before they enter the press room. If that were true, no one would be there.

Let's just get to the truth of the matter. What the leftwing bloggers are really mad about is the question Gannon asked. Saying that the democrats were "divorced from reality" was just too much for them. How dare he??? Only rude leftwing spun questions are allowed in there!!!!!

I know I am just adding to this. But we seriously need to let this one go. I am just wondering if Gannon is somewhere curled in a fetal position at his mom's house or racking up some serious $$$$ for dates. I am also wondering if he has any idea how much we are sticking up for his sinful ass...;-)

Love means loving you anyway.

I found this article in the Washington Post sad. Maya Keyes, daughter of outspoken, conservative, and former candidate against Barack Obama (D) for the Illinois Senate seat Allan Keyes, has openly admitted to being gay and is now estranged from her family. During the Presidential campaign I admired how Dick Cheney handled the questions about one of his daughter's sexuality. He made it clear that he loved her dearly, but still held to his own values. Not that the left or the media ever gave him any credit for it.

How difficult it must be to have this situation in your family. I guess I am lucky that I don't even have to deal with political differences in my family. They are all Republicans (although it took a few years for some to get there). At least we don't have heated fights over the holidays. I don't have any family members who are gay, but I have had friends, of course. But that is different. Especially when it is your child and you have raised them in such a way and you feel they are living differently from that which you have taught them. My kids are not on their own yet, but I know there is nothing they can do that would keep me from loving them.

When it comes to Christian faith, sexuality is a difficult subject. It is, of course, just as sinful to have pre-marital sex or to commit adultery as it is to have homosexual sex. So it would be as upsetting to me for my kids to live with someone of the opposite sex as it would for them to live with someone of the same sex. I would love them all the same. I would never disown them or not speak to them as it seems Alan Keyes has done with his daughter. (as a side note, I met Alan Keyes and his family a few years ago at a pro-life march. They were very gracious and nice.) His daughter, even though she has proclaimed to be a liberal, remains pro-life.

But what is worse than having to deal with different values in a family, especially religious values, is having to deal them as a public figure. It just must be AWFUL. Just like this Jeff Gannon thing, some people just feel that everything is open game.

In the end, we are all responsible for our own actions, sexual or otherwise. I can only teach my children what I feel is best for a happy life. They will make their own decisions. Loving them does not mean accepting everything they do or believe. If Alan Keyes and his wife have disowned their daughter then that is wrong. Christ had dinner with tax collectors and what could be WORSE than that????? Evil personified!!! My point being is that Christ knew that you can't love someone if you don't spend time with them. You can't get through things without showing them that you care. Oh, how the pharisees ranted about it! They just couldn't believe he would have dinner with sinners. Even the disciples questioned Christ speaking to the woman at the well, the woman who had had many men. He stopped the stoning of a prostitute. We all know what he said next. "Let those without sin throw the first stone." But hardly anyone speaks of what he said next to the prostitute. "Your sins are forgiven, go and sin no more." Now that is a tough one. As Christians we are called to go and sin no more. But we do. And Christ just keeps forgiving us, when we asked for it. When we mean it. When we love Him.

Perhaps Alan Keyes and his family will always have to accept their daughter's lifestyle. Maybe they will have to learn to live with her decisions. I know that will be hard. But it isn't easy for her either. She loves her family. Being rejected must be horrible. I can't even imagine it in my own family. I don't know all the answers, but one thing I do know. Love always wins. It does. Loving someone, despite your disagreements. Showing them that love, not just saying it, always wins. Always.

Saint Valentine

"The first of the Saints considered to be St. Valentine was a Roman Priest or Bishop of the Christian faith, who was also a physician and practised his trade from his house. He was said to cure the sick of ailments, giving them special medicines or ointments. He was said to have done this out of the goodness of his heart sometimes refusing any payment whatsoever or accepting a loaf of bread or whatever could be spared by the sick.

One Day the jailer bought his daughter to see Valentine, so as to see if she could have her sight gained and Valentine was said to have rubbed an ointment on her eyes and told the jailer to bring her back once a week to have the ointment rubbed on her eyes. Every night he would pray under the dark of night for the sick to be cured. As a result of his beliefs he was arrested and thrown in jail. The jailer who could not do a thing went to see Valentine moments before he was to be executed at which point Valentine asked for a piece of paper and pen on the piece of paper it is said he was suppose to have written 'from your Valentine' and inside the paper also was a blossom of which it is said gave the girl her sight.

Today we celebrate St Valentine's day by exchanging gifts such as cards, candy, flowers, etc. The reason why we celebrate it on February 14 is this was the day on which it is said that St Valentine was executed". via womensforum.com

I will be receiving a new front loader washer and dryer for Valentines. No flowers or candy for me. Give me a new appliance any day. It isn't that I don't appreciate romance, but a practical much needed gift is more my style. Besides, I am even getting it in a champagne color.

A Valentine to Michael Moore.

I had a busy busy weekend. I have some sports overlapping and a Valentine dance for the whole family. You haven't lived until you have taught your 8 yr old to swing dance.

Anyway, Happy Valentines Day to everyone! I always have gotten my kids valentines with some sort of chocolate candy, but I waited until the last minute and ran to Walgreens last night. I feel so sorry for these young guys. They wander around the Valentine section looking like lost puppies. But they have such great things now. Like the chocolate roses on a stem wrapped in red foil. Sweet. And one of my favorites is the chocolate keys, that say "you have the key to my heart."

Well, do you think you can stand another look at Vanity Fair magazine? They did a piece on Michael Moore and it wasn't a valentine, I can tell you that. I think they sort of blame him for pushing the envelope in trying to bring Bush down and it backfiring on him. Just so you know, Michael's next hit piece is on the health care industry called Sicko. No, I am not kidding. Moore says, " It'll never be the same for the H.M.O's again." Although Moore won't be getting his must desired Oscar for Fahrenheit 9/11, he did receive the award for Best nonfiction film for the New York Film Critics Circle and a People's Choice award for favorite film. (although, I think that had to be rigged somehow. I mean really. Do you think regular people voted for this film as their favorite???) During the interviews the author of this piece (Judy Bachrach) has with Moore, it seems every time she mentions anyone in the industry critical of him, he goe off on a rant. Even Steve Grossman, a former Democratic National committee chairman, who also chaired Dean's failed campaign for President says while the film did help "create unprecedented unity and energy," he says, " it was in a deceptively small segment of the Democratic Party and base and then there is the law of unintended consequences." Meaning that it energized our base as well and people not involved in politics really don't like to see their President trashed, no matter who he is. Moore's reaction to this statement of Grossman? He said, "What I did, what MoveOn did, what Bruce Springsteen did--we prevented a Bush landslide." An interesting admission on Moore's part. Moore was so determined for a Kerry win that he flew to 63 cities in a little more than a month, encouraging young listeners on college campuses to register to vote. He also offered boxes of clean underwear and ramen noodles to students who promised to vote. An uninspired sort of bribery, don't you think? Perhaps he should have gone with thongs and popcorn. At least it would have been more interesting and tasty.

When Moore is confronted with how Bin Laden sneered in his last tape before the election saying Bush was "listening to a child discussing her goat." while thousands of Americans in the Twin Towers were incinerated, a scene highlighted in Moore's film and obviously what Laden was referring to, Moore doesn't find this credible. Moore asked, "Where did Bin Laden get the DVD player? How did he plug it into a cave?" Hmm... Dude, he was being filmed. By a camera. I think he had access to some electricity.

Moore loves to describe himself as a working class kind of guy. He reminds people he was born in the blue collar town of Flint Michigan. When asked about all the money he has made he says, "A guy like me, with a high school education, who is suppose to be working in a factory," he muses, "that chance to reach as many people as I have, that's something I do not take for granted." Sounds good, but the truth is that although he was born in Flint, he grew up in nearby Davison, a mostly white, middle-class community. And although Moore's father did work on the assembly line of a G.M. plant, he managed to send his three kids to college. Moore dropped out of college at the University of Michigan after one year. So it was Moore's choice to only have a "high school education," not because he couldn't have a college education. But it sounds better that way, doesn't it?

Moore worked for Mother Jones for five months in 1986, but was fired for "being ornery," said the boss. Moore sued for $2 million and got $58,000 in a settlement. He also worked for Ralph Nader for a short time before his film idea about G.M was inspired, Roger and Me. A New York film maker named Kevin Rafferty gave Moore considerable help with the film. Ironically Rafferty is George W. Bush's first cousin!

Moore seems especially mean in his humor to destroy those he disagrees with. After an intern died in the office of conservative Joe Scarborough (now a pundit on MSNBC), Moore registered the domain name JoeScarboroughKilledHisIntern.com.

You remember Lucianne Goldberg, friend of Linda Tripp during the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal? She is a neighbor of Moore's and he set a what he called a "lucycam" trained on her apartment and put it up on a website called seelucianne.com, she says. The idea being that Moore wanted Goldberg to see how it was to have her privacy invaded. Lucy turned around and asked the National Inquirer if it wanted to paste an ad in her window, and made $1000 a week on the deal.

You have got to love that.

Remember Moore's awful portrayal of Charlton Heston in Bowling For Columbine? Heston was charmed by Moore, who, if you can believe this, is a member of the NRA. Heston felt he was being interviewed by someone on his side. Another interesting tidbit in that film is the part where Moore opens an account for a certificate of deposit at The North Country Bank and Trust in Michigan and was given a rifle within 15 minutes for doing so. The bank has insisted that that part of the film was staged and that there was no way for someone to get a gun in that time. One must fill out a ton of paperwork and wouldn't get the gun for 6 weeks. Moore says he has talked to the woman from the bank and threatened to sue. When the author of this article calles the woman she seems nervous and says she has been told not to talk, but the author asks, "Do you stand by your story?"
" Yes," she says.
"That the gun event was staged?"
"Correct."
"That it took something like 6 weeks to get a gun?"
"Correct."
The author then asks if Moore has threatened to sue her. The author seems to think it "seems peculiar for a man of the people to lob a bomb at one of his own."
"He did, yes." the woman from the bank says.

This Moore sounds like a hell of a guy, doesn't he? Keep in mind, this isn't The Weekly Standard here, this is Vanity Fair, a leftwing magazine if there ever was one.

Douglas Urbanski managed Moore's career for about 10 months in the late 90's. He says Moore was the only client he ever fired. He remembers asking Moore to describe himself. Moore said, "I think I should be the biggest star of a sitcom in America. I can write it, I can create it, I can act in it. I can be bigger than Jackie Gleason and I don't know why it's not happening... I am a movie star! I can write and direct movies!" The rest of the article (yes, it was a very long article) goes on to describe some of Moore's conspiracy theories, how his film and Mel Gibson's film The Passion of Christ, are a lot alike in many ways. This article paints a bizarre picture of a man deeply committed to being rich and famous while fooling himself into believing that he is doing it for a better cause. It is the mean things he resorts to that bothers me the most. He seems vindictive and bitter. I am wondering if his next film, Sicko, about the health industry is paving the way for Hillary and her presidential ambitions. It couldn't hurt for her biggest defeat, the federalization of health care, to be proven right. (At least by Moore's standards) Moore has tasted the sweet wine of fame and I can guarantee you we haven't seen the last of him. It says in the article that he wanted to change politics, and he isn't the kind to stop until he has done it.