The Oil for Food scandal was all the United States fault.

Annan needs therapy.

"NBC News has learned that a preliminary report from a joint U.S.-Italian investigation has cleared the American soldiers of any wrongdoing and provides new details into the shooting.
Intelligence agent Calipari had just negotiated Sgrena’s release from Iraqi kidnappers on March 4 when the two and a driver headed for the Baghdad airport in a compact rental car.
It was dark when the Italians turned onto a ramp leading to the airport road where the U.S. military had set up a temporary checkpoint.
The investigation found the car was about 130 yards from the checkpoint when the soldiers flashed their lights as a warning to stop. But the car kept coming and, at 90 yards, warning shots were fired. At 65 yards, when the car failed to stop, the soldiers used lethal force — a machine gun burst that killed Calipari and wounded Sgrena and the driver.
Senior U.S. military officials say it took only about four seconds from the first warning to the fatal shots, but insist the soldiers acted properly under the current rules of engagement.
The investigation failed, however, to resolve one critical dispute: The Americans claim the car was racing toward the checkpoint at about 50 miles per hour, the Italians say it was traveling at a much slower speed."
via LGF

Gee, I don't care if it's going 50 miles per hour or 20 miles per hour, in a country where car bombings are daily occurances, the soldiers had every right.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Democrats accusing Delay of paying family members and using taxpayer money to wine and dine themselves.  

If Your Gay and Republican, you must hate yourself, right?

Did you hear about this one? Arthur J. Finkelstein, a Republican strategist is in the midst of setting up a political action committee to defeat Mrs. Clinton in 2006. But it seems Mr. Finkelstein has committed the grave mortal sin of the democratic party--being gay AND Republican.

Former President Clinton had this to say about Mr. Finkelstein:

"Either this guy believes his party is not serious and he's totally Machiavellian," Mr. Clinton said, or "he may be blinded by self-loathing." Mr. Finkelstein, a reclusive former adviser to Gov. George E. Pataki, did not respond to a message left at his office seeking a comment on Mr. Clinton's remarks. But his allies quickly did.

"It's really beneath a former president to comment on someone's personal life like that," said Michael McKeon, a Republican strategist, former Pataki aide and friend of Mr. Finkelstein's. "After everything he has been through in his own life, you'd think he'd know better." via the NYT

The article refers to the fact that Mr. Finkelstein has a committed partner in which he "married" in a civil ceremony.

Did I miss something during the Presidential campaign? Because I could have sworn that BOTH President Bush and John Kerry were against "gay marriage." It seems the democrats wanted to make it clear that they too did not want to "redefine marriage." So, given that and the fact that both parties see any sort of discrimination or violence against gays, (or anyone else for that matter) as wrong, just what is the difference here?

The only thing I can come up with is that since evangelical Christians vote Republican for the most part and they see the homosexual lifestyle as a sin, then no gay should vote Republican. But since the democrats see being gay and Republican a "sin" of a different sort, then what really is the difference? Aren't both "judging" here?

Does it really matter who you sleep with if you want smaller government or lower taxes or less bureaucracy? Does it really matter who you love if you want judges who actually respect our constitution instead of making law or interpreting the constitution to fit their political agenda? Does it matter who you are attracted to if you want a strong military defense?

It seems to matter to the Democrats. First Jeff Gannon and now this? Could there be a finer bunch of hypocrites?

"...and tell Kennedy if he ever calls me Osama again, I'll bust his fat ass." via Caption This!

I have never been a big fan of Tom Delay. He has been around Texas for a long time and I could never put my finger on why I just didn't like him much. I have been trying to catch up on his offenses for which he is being raked over the coals for now.

I found this article at MSNBC. Reading through it I can't really find the truly awful things I keep hearing about. It doesn't seem that anything illegal happened, but I may be missing something. It is never a good idea to pay your family when politics is involved. It's never a good idea to wine and dine yourself when you are a public servant, although God knows it happens all the time. what bothers me more than anything Delay seems to have done is what his friend and superlobbyist Jack Abramoff did.

According to this article Abramoff "is now the target of a Justice Department criminal probe of allegations that he defrauded American Indian tribes of tens of millions of dollars in fees. As stories of his alleged excess dribble out—including the emergence of e-mails showing he derisively referred to his Native American clients as "monkeys" and "idiots"—some of Abramoff's old friends have abandoned him and treated him like a pariah. They claim they knew nothing of his questionable lobbying tactics."

Calling Native Americans clients "monkeys" is unacceptable, crude, unprofessional, and downright wrong. People who see themselves as better than others just make me sick.

According to Newsweek, www.sploid.com is Gawker Media's attempt to compete with Drudge. You decide.

Newsweek has the most awesome picture of the Pope's funeral taken from the sky, but there was also a touching picture of some of the world's leaders, among them President Bush and his wife. In this particular picture they are leaning over to one another for a quick kiss. The camera caught the moment perfectly. So loving. You can disagree with Bush about policy or issues, but there is no doubt that he is a man in love with his wife.

Lucky woman.


I don't read Newsweek that often. One of the reasons is Anna Quindlen, who has never written anything that didn't make me want to throw it against the wall. I don't think there is another writer out there that I disagree with more or disrespect more. I just wish she would go away.

Will Al Gore TV work? I don't think so. Even the article was boring.


Where have I been?

I have been busy getting my oldest son properly attired for interviews for engineering scholarships. He is the only person I know that dislikes shopping more than I do, so you can only imagine the fun we had.

My daughter had cheerleading tryouts to get ready for which requires more than you would think. (She made it.) Every year she has to decide between cheer and basketball because they don't let the girls do both. And my youngest not only had 2 baseball games a week, but 2 baseball tournments on the weekends. It's like baseball 24/7!!!! Hubby had some sort of shooting tournment and was out for the count. I am still not over my sickness completely which is driving me insane!

Sandy Berger, Clinton's top security advisor, has now "pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in connection with the theft (removing classified material from a government archive) and has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine and give up his security clearance for three years. The charge also carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail, but Berger will be spared the jail time if the court approves his plea bargain." Human Events reports.

Human Events goes on:

"At his own office later that day, Berger cut three of the copies into small pieces. Two days later Archives staffers took the matter up with him. He said the removals were inadvertent, and returned the two remaining copies of the report, but said nothing about the three he had destroyed."

I have wondered why the incredible act of a former secutiry advisor stuffing documents in his socks/pants out of a government archive did not cause more concern for the media. Berger was protecting someone from something. That is without a doubt imo.

This is what Human Events thinks that it was:

"Surely, that the notes on those three copies made it all too clear that somebody high up in the Clinton Administration had perceived a threat very much like what happened on September 11, but then failed to do anything about it."

Imagine if this had been the act of a Republican administration. We would never have heard the end of it. As it is, it is barely a blip on the MSM's screen of important events.

I guess we will never really know.

Jane Fonda is on a book tour for her autobiography, "My Life So Far." I caught her on Larry King the other day. She just seemed silly to me. Human Events doesn't seem to want to forgive her for her youthful stupidity, saying things like:

"I would think that if you understood what communism was, you would hope, you would pray on your knees that we would someday become Communist."

And it is true that her betrayal of this country knew no bounds back then, but....WHO CARES????? I know that Vietnam Vets still feel the sting of her words and actions. And I understand that. But I look at it differently. She isn't running for anything. She has no say in policy. Let her ask forgiveness or not. It just doesn't matter to me. I never watched her movies, I never had any respect for any of her political beliefs. I always felt they were self serving. She is/was a typical movie star. Her world revolves around herself. Even her activism was all about her. If the cameras weren't rolling or the writers weren't writing about her, I doubt she would have done any of it.

She admitted on Larry King that she had been a terrible mom, never there for her kids. It's so easy to forget what is the most important thing when we feel that the one in the mirror is so fascinating.

She says she is a Christian now, but she seemed to back down from a lot of the questions about Christianity that Larry asked her. So who knows? I hope she is. I hope she has finally found something real.

I didn't see any evidence of it in her interview, but you just never know.

Princess Diana'a boys certainly got her looks, didn't they? I wasn't sure about Harry growing up, but he turned into quite the nice looking fellow. It's too bad that they will probably follow along their parents path and be fodder for the tabloids. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they could actually find purpose and peace? Love and happiness? You know, soon, very soon, I may get back to writing about politics. I think I was a bit burned out.  

Not having the interest in the wedding of Charles and Camilla that the British do, all I can say is 2 things. He should have married her to begin with. This was the woman he obviously loved from the start.

And 2nd, it seems the popular headwear for women in England these days has to do with large bits of twig, ribbon, and wheat stalks.

Very strange.

Anyway, may Charles finally find his wedded bliss and God bless them both.

"HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong hiker washed her face in a freshwater stream, not noticing that leech had wormed its way into one of her nostrils, according to the Hong Kong Medical Journal.

Unaware she was playing host to the creature, the 55-year-old woman only consulted a doctor when her nose started bleeding intermittently about two weeks later.

The unusual case occurred in 2003 but doctors highlighted it in this month's edition of the journal, where they discussed how to remove live leeches from human nasal passages using anesthesia.

The first doctor the woman saw could not find anything wrong and it was only when she visited a second doctor that he saw the five-centimeter (two-inch) leech peeking out of her left nostril."


What can I say but EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?

I thought I might share my own personal picture of the Pope taken a 2 years ago at the Vatican in Rome. I know it sounds crazy when people say it was so exciting to just see this man, but it really was. It is hard to explain. At this particular time he was speaking well and making everyone laugh, although we couldn't understand a word since it was in Italian! I feel blessed to have gotten to see him before he died. I have no doubt that he now rests in the arms of our Savior.  

"Tenn. considers punishing cheating spouses"


NASHVILLE, TN, Apr. 7 (UPI) -- A bill before the Tennessee state legislature would punish cheating or violent spouses in divorce.
Under the measure, spouses who can prove abandonment, adultery or abuse can collect damages, the Nashville Tennessean reports.
''If you want to cheat on your wife -- fine, divorce her first,'' said Rep. Chris Clem, a Republican lawyer and sponsor of the bill. ''But if you do it while you're still married to her, you're going to have to pay."

I really really like this idea. via Washingtimes.com

The only thing funnier than this democrat satire on becoming a Republican is that they honestly believe this stuff. *shakes head*
via Biomes Blog

UPDATE: I have to say that the comments left here saying that that bit of satire is basically true make me sick and shows why we will never be able to bridge the divide between the liberals and the conservatives. As long as liberals believe this crap that is totally untrue, then nothing will change.

Ummm...guess the $200 fine isn't much to worry about, now is it? via The Biomes Blog 

The best article on Pope John Paul II I have read so far and it was written, not by a Catholic, but a Jew. Read it.

Here is a idea I would never have thought of. Live-action hunting - done over the Internet. Not a video game, but actual hunting. Under the system, a person can control a camera and a firearm, shooting at real targets in real time, from a computer anywhere. For an additional fee, the meat or head can be shipped to the hunter.

The first paid hunt is scheduled to occur on April 9 on a ranch outside San Antonio.

The developer John Lockwood says "the idea evolved out of knowing and working with disabled hunters as a young man. The first person to sign up to hunt through his website is Dale Hagberg, a paraplegic from Ligonier, Ind. Mr. Hagberg says he broke his neck in an accident almost 18 years ago and has only been able to watch hunting on TV."

Naturally, many are against this. You may even be surprised to learn the NRA isn't too hot on the idea either.

Read the rest.

I have an awful cold. I never get sick so this is killing me. Sorry guys!

I'm finally back home. I don't know if you have heard or not, but the Pope passed away.....;-)

I don't mean to make light of it, but I can't get over the 24/7 coverage of this. There is no doubt that Pope John Paul changed the world and brought the gospel to many. He was a holy and charismatic man and he lead this Church with deep conviction and morality. I was amazed to listen to so many media personalities gush over him, saying that when they met him they felt they were in the presence of holiness. You would think that if one felt they were in the presence of holiness they might listen to him a bit more.

I understand it is a big story, but showing graphics of where the smoke stack is that shows the white smoke when they have selected a Pope was amusing to me.

I will miss this wonderful Pope, but I am glad that he is no longer suffering.


My new little niece is a doll. It is much less stressful to take care of a newborn than a teenage girl, I can tell you that.

My brother is a lawyer and loves to play devil's advocate with me. Don't ever argue with a lawyer. We tried discussing the Schiavo case and I ended up having to find and print Judge Greer's first decision and then the 11th circuit court of appeals last decision. My brother didn't believe that Congress had issued a subpoena that Judge Greer ignored, so I had to find that too. We did find some interesting things but I think everyone is worn out on that case.

When my mom and I were walking into the airport I saw some soldiers who had just returned. The first one walked by and I said, "Sir, thank you for your service to our country." He smiled and said, "Thank you." I heard my mom, who is tad more reserved than I am, say under her breath, "oh my gosh." There were 3 or 4 more soldiers coming toward us and my my mom hung back. I guess I was embarrassing her...lol. But I just feel that we need to show our appreciation for all the soldiers do for us.

I told you something awful had happened while I was there with my SIL. A distant relative that I had not seen in years, killed herself Tuesday. She was 44 years old with a husband and two sons, 18 and 12 yrs old.

About a year ago, she disappeared for a week. They found her at mental facility she had checked herself into on the coast. Mental illness is such a difficult thing. I'm not sure if she was dealing with just depression or a more severe illness, but she just walked out in her back yard and shot herself in the head. She had left a note that her organs be donated.

There is a country music song titled, "How Do You Get That Lonely?" The chorus goes like this:

"How do you get that lonely?
How do you hurt so bad?
To make the call
that having no life at all
is better than one that you have."

When we were 17, her and I spent a weekend on the coast just having fun. I remember what a vibrant happy person she was then. What happens to cause this? Where does it all go wrong? I just can't imagine the pain. A pain so great that we forget those we leave behind and all that they will have to deal with.

So if you have time today say a prayer for her family. And take a moment to think about all the wonderful things in your own life. Nothing will ever be perfect, that is for sure. But still, life has so much to give us. And we have so much to give.