Silver Lining

Amid all this doom and gloom there is some good news regarding the social ills of our society. The crime rate has fallen significantly since the 1990's. Abortion and divorce rates are at their lowest points in 30 years.

These are not small things. Have we begun to understand the sanctity of human life and what abortion has done to women? Have we seen the toll of divorce on our lives and our children and decided to stay married?

This could be the kind hope and change that all of us can agree is a very good thing.

via Reason.com

via GOC

via GOC

Deflecting Criticism

I posted before and many people have written about Obama's seemingly hard turn to the right. From not raising taxes to keeping Robert Gates as Defense Secretary, Obama seems to have forsaken the hard left. As Victor Davis Hanson points out:

Obama himself on matters as diverse as the Patriot Act, FISA, NAFTA, Iran, Iraq, missile defense, and the surge seems to have gravitated away from his early Moveon.org/ANSWR campaign rhetoric to positions almost indistinguishable from those of the present Bush administration — as the appointments of centrists like Bush veteran Robert Gates at Defense and Gen. Jones as National Security Advisor attest.

It's a curious thing. I had a good friend (conservative) over Christmas tell me that if he had known Obama would seem to govern in such a centrist fashion he would have voted for him.

Those of us on the right are grateful for the things that Obama seems to be promising to do that pleases us. The left is not so pleased. But what will they do? Nothing. This is their guy. Their historical beloved savior. The media and the left have dropped all their whining rhetoric about wire tapping, shredding of the constitution, torture, ect... You probably won't hear these criticisms except from a few hard left bloggers.

If Obama does send in more troops to Afghanistan and continues to support Israel in the Gaza conflict, how exactly will he be different from Pres. Bush? Not very.

But, as I told my friend, Obama isn't President yet. We actually don't know how he will govern. But the interesting thing about Obama's more conservative ways is that he is deflecting so much criticism. I mean, we on the right can't exactly complain about things like tax cuts and continuing the policies that have kept us safe here in the war on terror, can we? And the left can't complain because Obama is their love muffin. They have put so much energy into electing "The One", they will stay quiet. Of that, I have no doubt. So Obama is sitting in the catbird seat, isn't he?

Men will always be boys

Remember when your little brother would trick you into sitting on a whoopee cushion? Nothing has changed but the technology. Men all become 12 yr olds when it comes to farting.

Blagojevich's Press Confrence

What is there to say that I didn't say here? Oh, except this...

Blagojevich is a loon. An egocentric narcissistic loon, but a loon nonetheless.

But he is acting just as Clinton did after being impeached. Just pretend you did nothing wrong and talk about just about anything else.

Oh, The Irony

There was a famous anti gun activist in Britain named Pat Regan. She was killed by her grandson in May.......in a knife attack. It's news now because he just admitted it.



Which brings to mind the old saying, guns don't kill people, people kill people.

It never ends......

Spiderman goes to the inauguration. They have a fist bump.

How can I take four years of this?

*Update: And it gets worse.....

Justice delayed is still justice

Remember the U.S. embassy bombings in 1998 by al Qaeda? If you recall, hundreds of people were killed in simultaneous car bomb explosions at our embassies in the East African capital cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya.

10 years later Fahid Mohammed Ali Msalam and Sheikh Ahmed Salem Swedan, the al-Qaeda leaders indicted for the two 1998 embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, received justice on New Year's Day. They were killed in an air strike by the CIA in northern Pakistan. Officials also believe these monsters were behind the assassination attempt on Benazir Bhutto before she was ultimately killed.

One by one, al Qaeda leaves this earth, never to terrorize again. Out of the 21 on the most wanted list for this crime, only eight remain at large.

Remember my Muslim friend on facebook that I talked about here. Remember what he said about death?

If i am killed I am given freedom...we don't cry our deaths we celebrate them...

Let's find the last eight of the killers and let them celebrate.

via HotAir

Why doesn't Obama like Howard Dean?

Where has Howard Dean been anyway? Tim Kaine was announced as the new DNC chair Thursday and Dean was no where in sight. His brother says he would have been there if asked.

According to Politico, "Dean was 7,023 miles and seven time zones away, closer to French Polynesia than Washington, doing party grunt work in American Samoa."

When I first read that I thought it said "partying drunk at work in American Samoa." Which does sound more plausible, but I digress.

Politico goes on:

Dean’s reward for the party recapturing the White House, House, Senate, and taking control of seven governor’s mansions and eight state legislatures on his watch? So far, nothing. A physician by training who devoted much of his time as Vermont governor to health care, Dean had his eye on becoming Secretary of Health and Human Services. But the post went to Obama ally and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. The fact that Dean wasn’t even included in Thursday’s ceremonial — and very public — transfer of power from him to Kaine only underscored his isolation. "The snub today was no accident," said one Dean ally. “I guarantee you he would have rescheduled his trip if asked to attend. It’s easy to [screw] over people when you are riding high in the polls, let's see how many people are singing his praises in six months."

Some say Rahm Emanuel doesn't like Dean and that is why the snub. I have to think that it's the extreme quiet about Obama during the election from the usual outspoken Dean. I don't even remember seeing Dean much after the primaries.

"There is "something new and interesting going on in the universe"

Umm.....Yikes?

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Space is typically thought of as a very quiet place. But one team of astronomers has found a strange cosmic noise that booms six times louder than expected.

The roar is from the distant cosmos. Nobody knows what causes it.
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ARCADE's mission was to search the sky for faint signs of heat from the first generation of stars, but instead they heard a roar from the distant reaches of the universe.

"The universe really threw us a curve," Kogut said. "Instead of the faint signal we hoped to find, here was this booming noise six times louder than anyone had predicted."

A roar. Really?

Doublplusundead seems to go with the theory "a titanic being of unimaginable horror."

You know, sometimes when the kids were little and they were driving me insane, I would go to into my room and scream.

I figure it's what God is doing basically with us. The Scientists are just hearing the roar behind the door.

Terrorist/Socialist

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, polled as the most popular leader in the Arab world (isn't that special?) is lovin him some Hugo Chavez today:

"Yesterday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that he would expel the Israeli ambassador in Venezuela. He, of course, did this in order to show his support for the Palestinians. Venezuela is very close to America, it is a neighbor of America. This is Chavez. He did this because of his humanity, his sense of revolution and, in this way, he dealt a severe blow to those who are now hosting the ambassadors of Israel in their capitals and do not have enough courage to even think about telling them to leave. Today, Arab leaders need to take lessons from this Latin American leader. They have to learn how to show support for the people of Palestine."

Read the rest of his rant here.

You think there can be some sort of peace agreement? Think again:

"Israel is our enemy and the enemy of the Ummah and will always be its enemy even if some reconcile with Israel. America created Israel and protects Israel and is therefore the enemy of the Ummah and will always be the enemy even if some reconcile with America."

RIP Father John Neuhaus

A beautiful tribute to a wonderful and holy man.

h/t Cormac

Now, that's just funny right there.....

This is making the e-mail rounds. It seems the Chicago Police Dept never arrest anyone with a McCain or Bush t-shirt. Check out these mugshots.

Sorry. This just made me laugh. Maybe the "change" they want is a change in their sentence?

h/t Mike

First Round Goes To Blagojevich

This Blagojevich debacle is just fascinating. The Governor's impeachment hearing resumes in Chicago today, but Blago pretty much won his first battle by appointing Mr. Roland Burris as Senator.

Mr. Burris is no novice either. He played this thing like violin. He got on TV making his case and making Reid and the rest of the Democrats look like fools.

The wuss, otherwise known as majority leader Harry Reid, had insisted that they will not seat anyone Blago appoints. Not now. Not ever. He even sent a letter to Gov Blagojevich signed by everyone in the Democratic caucus asking him to step down.

I'm thinking Blagojevich didn't even open the letter.

Blago appoints Burris in a a bizarre news conference, joking and laughing as if he hadn't a care in the world. Then things get worse for Reid. The Black Caucus demands Burris be seated at the same time it is leaked to the press that Reid had spoken to Blago before all this and only supported the white candidates for the position. Then Burris gets turned away at the Senate.

Reid, who at this point looks like a complete idiot, says there is "room to negotiate" on Burris after all.

As Jim Antle at The American Spectator pit put it:

"...it looks like Blago won this round. He didn't get any obvious financial reward, but he proved that he still held the powers of the governor's office and forced the ball in his detractors' court. In other words, he didn't just f--king give the Senate seat away for nothing. It's a very valuable thing." (via Wizbang)

Now, if this were a Republican soap opera, this would be on the 24/7 news cycle and you would know the name of Burris's dog and cat. But as it is a Democrat one, we get bits and pieces with the word "Democrat" hardly mentioned.

Still, it's fun to watch.

Some Palin Love

Because we haven't had any for awhile here.




John Ziegler writes about his experiences meeting with Sarah Palin:

One of the things you quickly learn when you visit the Palins is that the legend that has been created around who they are and how they live is no myth. It appears to be absolutely real and everything about them seems 100% sincere. From the stuffed hunting trophies on the wall, to the Track’s military photo by the TV set, to Piper’s crayon school projects on the kitchen cabinets, everything is exactly as you imagine it might be.
What was particularly valuable about the perspective I had was that, I am not Charlie Gibson, Matt Lauer or Greta Van Susteren (who I understand now gets her mail delivered to the Palin home); the conductors of the three most prominent interviews done in the Wasilla house on the frozen lake at the end of the drive that has the sign “Palins” posted on a tree at the entrance. Unlike them, I am virtually unknown nationally and there was absolutely no reason for anything to be done differently as a “show” for us. We saw the genuine Sarah Palin and it is patently obvious that this is the only one that exists. She is the real deal.

As a former TV sportscaster and radio talk show host, I have interviewed a lot big-time “celebrities,” and I can honestly say that, even though you could argue that Sarah Palin was the most prominent I have ever spoken to one-on-one, she was also by far the nicest, most sincere and, seemingly, honest subject that I have ever questioned.

All this via HotAir.

Palin brought in the crowds because of her honesty and sincerity. She is everything the media and the left hate. She is faith filled, smart, sincere, conservative, and charismatic. Oh, and we can't forget beautiful.

I think I will always remember the election of 2008 as the year the media finally completely gave up the ghost. There was no objectivity, no fairness, and no integrity. The media painted a shining picture of Obama, fawning over him like a lovestruck teenager. With Palin they lied, smeared, mis-reported, and did everything possible to discredit her. But she stood strong.

I truly haven't admired a politician like this since Ronald Reagan.

Just to make sure......

....history isn't re-written or forgotten, Iraq is building a new Museum that chronicles the brutality and horrors of the reign of Saddam Hussein:

Torture chambers. Rape rooms. Chemical and biological warfare conducted by a government against its own people. Limbs cut off. Political opponents slaughtered. Wetlands converted to uninhabitable desert to punish inhabitants for their sectarian affiliation. International-level athletes burned and scarred for underperformance in competition. Villagers and tribesmen indiscriminately murdered or mutilated simply so their dictator could demonstrate the awful extent of his power.
This, along with the successful international bribery scheme known as Oil-for-Food, is the true legacy of Saddam Hussein, the late tyrant of the newly democratic Republic of Iraq – not that he deserves to be remembered at all.
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The museum will exhibit the evidence of Saddam’s atrocities, both physical and documentary. Hanging apparati – hooks and bloody nooses – used to asphyxiate countless Iraqi men, women, and children will be displayed, as well as torture devices like “a man-shaped metal cage where,” according to reports, “Saddam’s son Uday used to lock underperforming athletes for weeks at a time – and set them naked under the burning sun, the metal searing their flesh.”

Also on display will pictures of hangings and of victims’ bodies, as well as the personal effects of some of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis murdered and dumped in one of dozens of mass graves by Saddam’s regime. These artifacts, according to a report, “include combs, identity cards, a rosary…and bloodstained clothes.”

Saddam doesn't deserve to be remembered. But liberals have a way of re-writing history, and this is one important reminder of the Iraq war that will remain, so we can never forget what we rid the world of and how we should be grateful to the men and women of our military (not to mention George W. Bush) for making it happen.

CNN sends private apology to Palin

Private?

Greta Van Sustern:

I just talked to a source who told me that CNN, from its Political Director, through a Wolf Blitzer producer Jill Chappell emailed a PRIVATE apology to the Governor of Alaska for putting her (unfairly trashing her) on the list with Senator John (”my wife is in cancer remission so I figured it was ok to cheat on her”), Governor Elliott (” has anyone seen my other black sock? the dryer again?”) and others….and then blasting the unfair trashing around the world ! The producer emailed that she did not know about the trashing and neither did Wolf nor the Political Director.
so now two questions:

1/ why didn’t CNN PUBLICLY apologize for this one? they sure unfairly trashed her publicly on that list….should not exposure of the apology equal the round the world exposure of the unfair trashing? That is what is done in court - you do what is necessary to make the person whole in the damage done to the person…and then it is over.

2/ a producer? why did she get stuck doing the dirty work on this one? why didn’t someone higher up the corporate food chain send the message of apology if CNN really means it? the job stature of the person making the apology can mean much. This IS the Governor of the largest state…a former candidate for VP….and the trashing went world wide and was really lousy….

(and yes, mistakes can be made….but how you respond to your mistakes says much about the person or the news organization.)

Religion? Really?

More than 2 million Shiite Muslims from across the Middle East have swarmed the shrine city of Karbala in central Iraq for the climax of the annual Ashura ceremonies amid tight security.

Weeping men and even young boys in flowing white robes marched with blood streaming down their faces after slashing their scalps open with knifes in a ritual that commemorates an imam slain 13 centuries ago.
Accompanied by drummers and horn players, other pilgrims pounded on their chests and whipped their backs with metal chains as part of the devotional self-flagellation that characterises the dramatic annual rite.

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Tradition holds that Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed and the third of 12 imams in Shiite Islam, was decapitated and his body mutilated by Yazid's armies in Karbala, revenge for refusing to pay homage to the caliph.

To show remorse for not saving Hussein, Shiite volunteers whip themselves with metals chains while some cut their scalps with knives as they chant his name on the way to the two shrines.

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In reading and studying different faiths I find much beauty. In the Jewish faith they celebrate a miracle that occured over 2000 years ago, after the Syrian-Greek leader, Antiochus IV, attempted to force the Jews in Israel to assimilate completely and to renounce their religion and culture. The miracle was a vial of oil burned for eight days until pure oil could be obtained for the holy Temple. In gratitude, the Jews began lighting small menorahs in their homes to commemorate this miracle.

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In the life of Buddha, the three most significant events in the life of Gautama Buddha occurred on the same day. His birth, enlightenment and death (nirvana), all happened on a full moon night in April/May. Buddhist celebrate this on the day that falls in the Vaishaka month of the Indian calendar. For the Tibetans, it is the full moon day in the fourth month of the Tibetan calendar. On Buddha Jayanti, the buddhist monastries all over the world echo with prayers, sermons and recitations of Buddhist scriptures. In monasteries, religious halls and homes, Buddhist monks and followers do readings of the holy scriptures through out the day before the Buddha's statue. Some of the people just listen to these holy prayers and sermons and give alms to the monks. On the next day, it is a Buddha Jayanti custom to display a gigantic figure of Lord Buddha to all the followers. Hundreds of small shrines are visited and worshipped. People form large groups and parade through the streets, chanting prayers in the praise of the Lord for that He has given us. The buddhist households put red, white, yellow and blue flags flyings on their roof tops.

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There is no single text which can sum up Hinduism. The Vedas are hymns praising different Gods. While the Upanishads are discourses between a guru (spiritual guide) and a shishya (disciple), stressing upon the unity of the God, the concept of atma (soul), life after death and karma, emphasises on the fact that happiness in this life has been achieved due to good deeds performed in the previous one. The ultimate goal of every Hindu is to attain moksha which is deliverance from the cycle of birth & rebirth. One can believe in either Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu or the Planets or the Rain God, or heroes based on the epics, all of them or none of them. Thus Hinduism is more of a way of life, rather than a religion. Its tolerance and flexibility has helped to preserve its sanctity under successive invasions and to embrace alien beliefs. The main divine principle of Hinduism is that God is one, but his avatars or incarnations are many.

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I don't think I have to describe Christian faith and tradition here. Prayer, fasting, worship, and miracles are something we are all familar with.

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What's my point? The beauty I see in other faiths that relates to God are uplifting and poignant. What is it with Islam? Slashing one's scalp? Letting blood run down your face and clothes? And for what? Not for God. For Mohammed and Hussein. Excuse me while I say, I see no beauty whatsoever in that.