Monday, August 30, 2004

Best Of Homespun Bloggers August 30th, 2004

Keystone Military News

The Fallen

Pennsylvania’s Fallen Soldiers, Portraits by Mary Vollero exhibited at Soldiers & Sailors Museum

August 29, 2004 – January 8, 2005

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- Soldiers & Sailors National Military Museum & Memorial is proud to present, The Fallen, from August 29, 2004 through January 8, 2005. This Art Exhibit will feature Mary Vollero’s portraits of every Fallen Soldier from the state of Pennsylvania during Operation Iraqi Freedom. There will be over 50 portraits on view at Soldiers & Sailors Museum along with artifacts and images from Iraq. Each portrait is individually framed, and made from charcoal drawings on digital prints. On Sunday, August 29, 2004, there will be a private viewing of the exhibit for the families of the Fallen from 10am – 11am; then the Museum will be open to the public from 11am until 2pm.


Josh Harvey's Middle East

The Case for Israeli Sports

I had a conversation last night with a good friend at the Foreign
Ministry ... He said that Israel is so unsuccessful at the olympics
because we have better things to worry about, and that it’s the
dictatorships and third world countries that excel at the games.

The question my friend asked was should we bother? Damn right we
should, and here’s why:

* Our Foreign Ministry sucks. Success at the olympics would give us a
better foreign ministry at a fraction of the price. People are always
complaining that people only see the bad side of Israel. Well, there’s
only one way to look at a gold-medal swimmer —- with respect and
admiration...

Musing

Who votes for this … well, idiot

It seems that Carolyn Parrish is too stupid to learn from her mistakes.
She can't seem to get her emotions under control and, as a result, is
always running at the mouth. So, which one of you idiots out there
keeps
voting for her?

For those who are not familiar with Ms. Parrish, she is the Canadian
Member of Parliament who, last year, publicly stated that she hated
those "damned Americans". Well Carolyn reintroduced her foot and mouth
again this year by referring to Americans as "idiots" because of her
political concerns with the missile defense proposal. She doesn't like
an American policy, so all Americans are idiots. It's really quite
simple actually; if all Americans would just agree with her, they would
be so much more intelligent. I mean really folks, these are Americans
we're talking about here. It's not like they're the French or anything.

Discerning Texan

Winning the War at home: Our fork in the road

The election cycle has clearly exposed the national news media for the partisan creature that it is. In observing the information revolution that has come with the Internet, blogging, etc., and in watching the national illusion of an "unbiased" press come apart at the seams, Frederick Turner, a professor at UT-Dallas has weighed in on the high cost of this election to the mainstream media:

Remembering their professors' nostalgic stories of Vietnam protest, and indulgently encouraged by their Boomer editors, they took the war in Iraq as the ideal occasion for a counter-attack. They had a villain from Texas with an accent and an apparent ignorance of university manners, the smoldering resentments of the Florida recount, a wealth of horrific footage supplied by al Jazeera, and an expertise in spin provided both by their rhetoric professors and by the advertising profession (laundered through political campaign strategizing). How could they fail?
Daniel W. Casey's blog

The Republican Convention

According to New York Newsday, the polls in the key battleground states are beginning to turn red. The voters have had their fling with John Kerry, and are now beginning to return home. The myth of John Kerry the war hero has been permanently damaged by the stories of John Kerry, the mortal, thanks to the Swift Boat vets. Kerry the idol has been found out, his feet are made of clay. And as much as the Democrats want to blame it all on a dark conspiracy, the primary weapon against John Kerry has not been some Illuminati plot hatched by Dick Cheney and Karl Rove from their bunker under Raven Rock mountain, but rather the most devastating weapon of all -- John Kerry's own words and deeds.

It's A Matter Of Opinion

Peter Costello

Regular readers will know I am not a fan of Peter Costello. It’s nothing to do with his smirk, nor his ability as a treasurer. I believe he can quite rightly lay claim to the accolade that Bob Hawke once delivered to Paul Keating, that of "the worlds greatest treasurer".

However as for his leadership aspirations, I say bah humbug. He likes to try and distance himself from what could arguably be called the "ultra conservative" policies of Prime Minister Howard. I feel in doing so he swings to far the other way. For example, his opposition to introducing laws against burning our nations flag, and his staunch republicanism may appeal to some of the younger voters but lets face it, at this stage elections are won and lost on the votes of middle aged/elderly Australians.

Redhunter

History Backwards

One of the charges that the left often makes when
arguing against the Iraq war is that we "supported"
Iraq in the early '80s. I saw this charge again last
week while debating with liberals on a website last
week. ...If you want to understand why something
happened, don't study just that time period, but
examine what happened before the period in question.

...I've decided to discuss three periods of history
and common problems in understanding them;

1. Our support of Iraq in the early '80s
2. Restrictions on our military in general, and on

pilots in particular, during the Vietnam war.
3. Appeasement of Hitler in the 1930's

Bunker Mulligan

Hate

Hate is a powerful emotion. The word itself is used off-handedly so
often that it sometimes loses its essence. "Intense dislike" is how the
dictionary defines it, but it is really much more. Its power has
subverted the political process in the Democratic Party, and that is a
loss we all need to review with some clarity. I would not like to see
it happen again.

The Southern Conservative

Playing the Pity Card

What would Franklin Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson think
of their party now? Speaking for myself (and I'm no
Democrat), the disgust I feel is the kind that lingers
with me for days. I’m disgusted that the Kerry
campaign would result to this kind of desperate,
transparent, ugly gimmick. I am disgusted that Kerry
either dreamt this up himself or, at the very least,
signed off on it. Unfortunately, this type of empty
soap-opera display is exactly and only what we should
expect from today’s Democratic party. Obviously, the
Democratic party is still capable of turning out fine,
honorable men who want the best for their country. Zel
Miller, Joe Lieberman, and Evan Bayh come to mind. Why
in the name of God are those men held in relative
obscurity while their party offers us mandarin,
hollow, artificial people like Bill Clinton, Al Gore,
and John Kerry as their presidential candidates?

Josh Harvey's Middle East

Fridman Takes Gold for Israel

Gal Fridman came from behind to finish the eleventh and final Olympic
windsurfing race in second place, thereby earning him the gold medal
for this event. This is the first Olympic gold medal ever for Israel.

Chris Berg

Scholars: you should blog

...Nothing is quicker than blogging - it speeds up conversation. Ideas
get disseminated and shared faster. If you are interested in a
specific topic, it takes next to no time to simply link to an article
of interest. No compulsion to comment on it (but if you are
interested, you may not be able to help yourself...) I'm interested in
VoIP, and if you have followed my blog, you should have seen links to
the most recent articles I have found - some with, some without
commentary. Linking takes no time, increases the readership of the
original articles, and helps organise your own thoughts, in a fully
transparent arena. IF you are a expert, and you disagree with an
article, link to it online. Or if you agree with it, link to it and
fit it into your own arguments. Your readership will appreciate it.

Tim's Webpage

527s and CFR

So if these two people, the best our country has to offer, don't
actually believe in campaign finance reform, and there is no public
outcry to reform 'shadowy' groups of law-abiding Americans who want
their political voice heard, then why is it an issue?

The Terriorists

Kerry Panders for Canine Vote

Well, this is just sick--a Demo-cat tryin' to bark with the big dogs. Bad cat, Kerry! Bad, bad cat. This is a mess of unclumping kerry--er--kitty litter if I ever heard it.

Weapon of Mass Distraction

John Kerry is Toast

There are more cracks in the facade. John Kerry's former C.O., Retired Rear Adm. William L. Schachte Jr., debunks the story of Kerry's first Purple Heart. (Ironically, he says he might not have gotten involved if the Democratic attack dogs hadn't started questioning his integrity).

The Village Voice reports that a special Senate committee chaired by John Kerry in 1991 and '92 was a coverup to hide the evidence of possibly hundreds of American POWs and MIAs still held by the Hanoi regime.

Now, some enterprising soul has posted Kerry's now out of print book The New Soldier to the web. I haven't read it yet, but I suspect it won't help his standing with vets.

Who's the genius in Kerry's campaign who thought that running on his military record would get him elected?

Chrenkoff:

Why we fight

As I follow the international news nowadays, I'm often reminded of an episode [of "Yes Prime Minister"] "A Victory for Democracy", where the arch-bureaucrat Sir Humphrey explains the classic four point strategy that the British Foreign Office uses in response to any crisis:

Stage One: We say that nothing is going to happen.

Stage Two: We say that something may be going to happen, but we should do nothing.

Stage Three: We say that maybe we should do something about it, but there's nothing we can do.

Stage Four: We say that maybe there was something we could have done but it's too late now.

Speaking My Mind

In Other News the Sky is Blue

Ninety three "prominent" Muslim figures have called for Muslims
worldwide to "purify the land of Islam from the filth of occupation".

The Commons at Paulie World

Terri Schiavo Update

Folks, I find the Terri Schiavo situation in Florida extremely disheartening. Terri Schiavo, you may recall, is the poor woman who is cognitively disabled, while her parents and husband fight over her very life. Her parents want her alive, her husband asks, "When is that bitch going to die?"

I guess he and his girlfriend (and mother of his two children) have plans for the remains of Terri's malpractice settlement.

This case demonstrates, in spades, one of the worst things about modern society. I used to think the doctors were the good guys, now they all seem to be Prideful Eugenists.

marcland

Political Theatrics

Buddy, let me tell you something - you aren't going through Vietnam
again because of Bush, that's for sure. Take a look at what your guy is
running on, think about it for a few minutes, and get back to me.
Remember all that bluster about "if you want to have a debate about my
service in Vietnam - Bring. It. On!"? I sure do, and it
appears that the Swift Boat VETERANS for
truth do as well. I realize that Ol' John is now begging to make it
stop
, but unfortunately for him it appears that he's going to get
what he asked for - no matter how many crippled vets Kerry convinces to
play the pathetic victim.

The Doggy Diaries

Thousands Registered to Vote in Two States

Now if this isn't a huge problem for the upcoming election, I don't know what is. Reuters reports that approximately 46,000 people are registered to vote in BOTH New York and Florida. Of those who are doubly-registered, a whopping 68% of them are Democrats (it figures), with 12% being Republican and another 16% not aligned with either party. The article does not indicate how authorities and election officials plan to handle this problem.

Yelling At The Windshield

Why It's Happening

Every day the mainstream media falls further and further, loses more
and more
relevance. Rush, Hugh, and a lot of others are asking why...why are
they
doing this to themselves? Is one election REALLY worth sacrificing all
the
credibility they taken decades to earn?
Well, the easy answer is that they simply want Bush to lose. But
there's more
to it than that...

American Warmonger

Is Ed Koch really a Democrat? I was watching The O'reilly Factor last night and managed to catch his two minute interview with Ed Koch, the former mayor of New York. Lets just say he really didn't sound like a Democrat. As I was not really paying attention I only caught three statements but the were pretty damning. Now I'm wondering if he's just our mole into the DNC. Here's what I heard:
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2 New Bloggers

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Sunday, August 22, 2004

The Best of Homespun Bloggers 22 August 2004

Welcome to another week's worth of the best work by our army of talented but underpaid members. With Tom happily away on holidays, relaxing and having a good time (we'll get you, you bastard), it's my great pleasure to present to you today's run-down. So, in a totally random order:

marcland: John Kerry - COLD BLOODED DOVE KILLER!

I noticed this passage in a Washington Post article skillfully dissected by Ace. This is interesting to me primarily because, having worked in the Michigan Legislature for the last year and a half, I happen to know of few issues that get people's panties in a bunch here in Michigan more than the dove hunting issue. People here looove the dove, and any attempt to create a hunting season (such as they have in 38 other states) has been met with outrage. "How can you allow those awful hunters to kill doves?!? Don't they have enough to kill already?" seems to be the common response among many of my tender-hearted fellow citizens.

MuD&PHuD: What Media Bias?

How far into this article do you have to read before you see evidence that does not support Kerry's position? There are 22 paragraphs, take a guess. Here's the article title and subtitle:

Military records counter a Kerry critic. Fellow skipper's citation refers to enemy fire
Here's how the story opens:

The Doggy Diaries: Cows and Illegal Aliens

... Is it just me, or does anyone else find it absolutely amazing that once mad-cow disease threatened us, our government could track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she currently sleeps in the state of Washington, and then determine exactly what the cow ate/eats? They can also track her calves right to their stalls and tell you what kind of feed they ate/eat.

But yet, with all of this technology at their disposal, they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around in our country, including people that are trying to blow up important structures in the U.S.!

My solution is to give every illegal alien a cow as soon as they enter the country.

Musing: Boycotting artists

Consumer boycotts are a simple statement by consumers that they will not support the artists views with their hard earned money. It is after all their status as an artist that is giving them an expanded platform, from which they can publish their views. When you buy their work, you help reinforce the foundations of that platform.

I personally will not allow the work of artists like Jane Fonda, Alex Baldwin, Richard Gere, the Dixie Chicks and several others anywhere near my home, as spending my money on their work gives a tacit consent to the message that they are giving out. If my choice to eschew their work necessitates that my life is somehow less fulfilled, less entertained, or suffering from a lack of emotional drainage, then so be it. I'll go out and listen to a Wagner requiem to make up the difference. ... Simply put, the world is not that artistically imperiled that I need to send money to Sean Penn or his pal Susan Sarandon to ensure my minimum quota of "art" is met.

Considerettes: MoveOn good, Swifties evil

Kerry wants the Swiftie book banned, but MoveOn.org's Hitler ads are fair game? For the love of all that is political, how can you possibly defend this position? Double standards, anyone?

pacetown:

I will admit that the SBVFT are not looking for the truth as an end in itself. Their end is to hurt a man's chances at being elected. So is MoveOn.org, so is Rock against Bush, that's just the way it goes in political campaigns and I would happier if the Swifties called themselves "Swiftboat Veterans who, after having served with and near John Kerry in Vietnam, believe the war service on which he so leans to be grossly exaggerated, highly adulterated and in some cases blatantly false, and therefore believe that he lacks the necessary character required to lead the United States of America". That would be closer to the truth, but it wouldn't be easy to remember.

Tim's Webpage: Ban on Free Speech

Voicing your opinion by spending your own money to buy a domain-name and website hosting is A-OK...but voicing the same opinion with the same money on television or in the newspaper is a felony.

Bunker Mulligan: Which Warrior?

What you are about to read is opinion. I won't even attempt to back it up with quotes or links. Some will believe it, some won't. Some of you may actually look at the past with a different perspective. That's my intent. Whether that means anything to you or not is up to you.

Weapon of Mass Distraction

Oh, Barf

Wonkette makes me lose my lunch:

Excuse the expression, but screw Obama. This was the speech of the year. The most high-profile outing, well, ever, and [New Jersey Governor James] McGreevey handled it with grace and dignity. He sort of makes me want to go gay, too.
Clueless postmodern thinking like this is why I don't read too many self-professed pundits, even the ones who are a bit clever, like Wonkette. Excuse me while I rinse and spit.

The Southern Conservative: Wind Power Isn't For The Birds

Opposing the development of a windmill farm in her area of Virginia, local business owner, naturalist and bird watcher Patti Reum says "We're just not industrial out here." My question is, at what point do the concerns of environmentalists cross the line from legitimate to...well, kooky? I'd suggest that making the argument that "We're just not industrial out here" is a bit kooky. If you have electricity, running water, and a computer, you're industrial. Patty Reum and her husband Tom Brody have all these things. I know because I found some of their activity on the internet...

Daniel W. Casey's Blog: Shooting the Messenger

The Kerry campaign has reached a new low, filing a complaint with the SEC about the Swift Boats veterans' ads. The substance of the Kerry complaint, to the extent it has substance, is that the Swift boat vets have been funded by a donor in Texas who is known to be a Republican. Therefore, the reasoning goes, the Swift Boat Vets, like the goddess Athena, must have sprung, fully armed, from the head of Karl Rove.

Speaking My Mind: Strengthen the Good

Alan from The Command Post, has started a new network of blogs called Strengthen The Good.

It's aim? "Using the power of weblogs for open-source charity. Don't just fight evil: Strengthen the good."

Red Hunter: And the Winner of the "We told you So" Category is

The federal assault-weapons ban, scheduled to expire in September, is not responsible for the nation's steady decline in gun-related violence and its renewal likely will achieve little, according to an independent study commissioned by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ).
Told you so. Or rather, gun owners like me have been saying this for years. We know perfectly well that "assault weapons" are hardly the weapons of choice for criminals.

The Washington Times has obtained a copy of the yet to be officially released report. The National Institute of Justice is part of the federal Department of Justice. They are to the DOJ what the Bureau of Labor Statistics is to the Department of Labor; a non-partisan bureau tasked with data collection.

It's a Matter of Opinion:

And how come fat turds like Michael Moore can rail about their countries and denigrate its leaders with complete impunity, when what he seems to be advocating by virtue of association is regimes such as Castro's Cuba, where he would be shot and probably ripped into a thousand overweight chunks of cellulite quicker than you can say George Bush is Satan for making similar disparaging remarks about Cubas leadership?

Revenge Of the Hamster:

John Kerry is still happy dancing. I bet those North-Vietnamese Americans are happy to hear that.

In response to those pesky Swift Boat Veterans, Kerry has released his own video. It includes some of his war records, but not all (until he is truthful about his war record, his service will always be under scrutiny), and positive testimonials from a handful of Swift Boat Veterans (who he is, coincidentally, shipping around the country on his election campaign).

Unfortunately, there is no Wu Tang Clan to gravel pit the proceedings, so the advertisement is not very interesting...

Chris Berg:

And then I thought...

So here is an example, shamelessly ripped out of my thesis, about AT&T in the 1960s, a monopoly under government protection. In front of the Select Committee on Small Business, Russell B. Long, a Democrat from Louisiana first points out that a short extension cord costs 39 cents to purchase.

"An extension cord of similar quality for a telephone appliance must be leased from AT&T for $4.20 per year, plus 42 cents tax. Over a 10 year period, the consumer would be paying $42 for the use of this extension cord. This is over 100 times what the consumer would have had to pay if he were permitted to buy rather than lease." (No link - its microfiche only.)

Long doesn't point out that even once he has paid that $42 he still doesn't own the bloody cord. If he loses it, then he pays for it. Up until Telstra was partly privatised, we used to be in the same situation for the phones themselves. And until really recently, we were in the same situation with cable modems.

Wandering Mind:

"Societies, cultures and religions are all measured by what they contribute. No society is recognized for what it destroys. It is with that in mind, we need to deal with and answer our adversaries and their apologists.

If we don't deal with that reality, the Terror Tax will only grow."

We now find ourselves paying the Terror Tax in no small measure because of how we reacted-- or didn't react-- to terror in the past. We allowed the Olympics to be fertile ground for 'political' arm of terror because we didn't react to terror in the past. We allowed the 'political' arm of terror to justify the terror. We didn't say 'No' to terror and 'No' to the apologists for terror. We accepted them as equals at the table, and with true Euro/American sensibilities, we tried to 'talk' it through. With a less than full effort on the War on Terror, we're making headway, slowly. While our military is restrained from doing what needs to be done, many in our government are still trying to talk it through-- with the same players we've been talking to for years and with the same results.

The Terriorists: Herdin' The Bull

This John Kerry quagmire 'bout his Vietnam memories versus the Swift Vets' evidence (something Beldar calls the Tar Baby strategy and fisks the new LA Times piece) is remindin' me more 'n more of how you herd a bull. A lot of bull in this case. And believe me, I know a thing or three about herdin' bulls.

Yeah, yeah, I know--I look like I'm just a little guy and I'm supposed to herd sheep (who can be real pissants when they wanna' be) not bulls. But what are ya' gonna' do when you're a half-grown pup on a CA ranch and the next-door-ranch bull gets loose to wander all over the landscape?

There he was--lost and horny in the middle of our yard, lasciviously eyeing the cows in the next rancher's field. AHM could have tried calling the owner (which you should know from previous readin' she wasn't likely to do) but the bull would be in the field (and the cows) by the time he arrived. What to do, what to do...

Send in the cavalry.

The Unmentionables: The Difference Between Them and Us

I've often written about the fact Islam was/is a cult spread across the Middle Eastern map through conquest and coercion. Attaining religious legitimacy through force of arms is an acceptable alternative and stories of brokering a truce until one is strong enough to destroy one's "peace partner" are a part of the Qu'ran.

This is a concept largely unthinkable to those with roots in the Judeo-Christian tradition whose leaders (for the most part) will still accept a peace plan with the sincere belief in its veracity. That misguided notion has been at the bottom of all the conflict between the so-called Palestinians and Israel, and I still labor under the misapprehension our leaders will eventually figure out the scam.

chiasm: DEATH TO THE SCENE

Jihadis are often described as the rock stars of the young Islamic world ( Osama = Beatles, Zarqawi = Stones... ), which is of course deeply worrying when you consider how many young men (and women, sometimes) in the US have been drawn towards wasting their lives and talent in shitty pointless rock bands over the past forty years or so. Square old Sistani supporters may be more concerned with the well-being of their families/community/country, but that's hardly the kind of galvanizing, anti-establishment rhetoric (like boring, borrowed classic rock riffs) that is gonna play with the kinds of young men with nothing to lose that are Sadr's notional 'base' amongst Iraqis as well as foreign jihadis...

Patterico

takes apart the New York Times hit piece on the Swift Boat Vets, complete with a description of his own "web of connections" to Democrats.

New England Republican: "Chill Wind Blowing" - Part 3

...Tim Robbins liked to say there was a "chill wind blowing", implying that celebrities like himself were not being allowed to speak out against the war. Of course that was complete crap as we have heard celebrity after celebrity attack the president. They are now even organizing a Bush-bashing concert tour. I think we now see where that chill wind is actually blowing in from. Straight in from Kerry's campaign headquarters.

Chrenkoff: Good News from Iraq, Part 8

As "Boston Globe" columnist Jeff Jacoby writes, "The press tends to emphasize what's going wrong in Iraq because of an inbuilt bias for the negative - only the plane that crashes, not the 999 that land safely, make news. The result is that while the bad news in Iraq gets reported everywhere, the reports of good news you have to look for." For the sake of fairness, one might add that in Iraq it's perhaps 10 or 20 planes that crash, yet even with that caveat the mainstream media coverage often gives ones the impression that the whole Iraqi air fleet has gone down in flames.

That's all folks. Until next week!
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Sunday, August 15, 2004

2 3 4 5 6 New Blogs

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Best Of Homespun Bloggers August 15st, 2004

The Doggy Diaries

Al-Qaeda Plans Assassination

This story has made the rounds on many blogs I read, so more than likely, you have heard of it by now. However, in the event that you don't follow political or news-related blogs, I would like to post this story by the Washington Times for your review. This is an important story; it indicates that the next transmission we hear/receive from Osama Bin Ladin will actually be a signal to terrorist cells to carry out the next major Al Qaeda attack -- an assassination of a high-profile leader (whether this will be a U.S. or foreign leader is unknown) and multiple
attacks against America immediately following the assassination.

Musing

Jewish students accosted at Auschwitz

If one were an anti-Semite and felt an irrational need to attack Jews, you would think that the last place they would choose to do so would be Auschwitz. One would have thought that the gravity of what had been done in that death camp (and numerous others) would silence their hatred even for a few moments. Unfortunately that does not seem to be the case as a group of Jewish students who were touring the death camps recently were verbally attacked by three French tourists... Chilling.

Redhunter

Pictures from Afghanistan

The following pictures were sent to me by Maj. Juan
Jose Soto Perez, U.S. Army, who is fighting on the
front lines there in the War on World Terrorism.
Readers will recall that he sent a letter last week
which I posted on the site.

The memorials remind me that wel need to set them up
here too. I'm not aware of any in my area, but this is
something I'll have to look into. We need to remind
ourselves periodically of the sacrifices our troops
are making.

Bunker Mulligan

Pond Scum

As I listen to politicians talk about how they are going to help
Americans, I see a very distinct difference between philosophies. One
group wants to help by providing services through the Federal
Government, the other wants to help by keeping the Federal Government
out of our business as much as possible. The latter understand the
Constitution, the former either don't, or choose to ignore it.

Josh Harvey's Middle East

I’ve said before that the Leftists were right about ending the
occupation, so let’s face up to the prescience of the Right-wingers.
They’ve been saying a few things since the Oslo negotiations:

1. Don’t give the Palestinians guns. They’ll use them against us,
not against their terrorists.
2. Let the IDF win the war against the terrorists.
3. Don’t believe Arafat.

MuD&PHuD

National Sales Tax

On Wednesday I posted about a news story reporting that President Bush thought a National Sales Tax might be a good idea. The post generated a few comments that have given me pause and caused me to reconsider my stance somewhat.

Liberal Utopia

Qerryism

No experience. No message. No record showing any real achievement.
Nothing but a bunch of words and promises.

The Southern Conservative

Michael Moore is a Fat Liar

Michael Moore says: "I wasn't an overweight kid,
but in the mid to late 1980s I was collecting
unemployment...you end up eating foods that are cheap,
fast and starchy because they fill you up. I put on
the bulk of my weight during that time, and it didn't
come off."
Moore blames his weight problem on
having been unemployed, not on his own actions. He
readily absolves himself of accountability and shifts
blame to that Regan era phantom villain, unemployment.
It was supply-side economics that made Mike fat, not
the Doritos he was shoveling into his gorge with both
fists. And even if it was the Doritos, it damn sure
wasn’t a result of Mike’s personal decision to buy
them and eat them! He was poor, after all! He couldn’t
afford luxuries like lettuce and canned tuna!

Daniel W. Casey's Blog

The Olympics Are Here . . . Where’s the Clicker?

Wow, Opening Day, and I'm already creeped out by the whole Olympics thing . . .

Is there any other spectacle in sport that makes the Super Bowl Halftime Show seem tolerable by comparison than the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics?

Chrenkoff

Monza in Italy has banned people from keeping goldfish in bowls.
Giampietro
Mosca, one of the council officials, said: 'A fish kept in a bowl has a
distorted view of reality and suffers because of this... Also, this
type of
receptacle generally doesn't have a filter and doesn't allow for good
oxygenation of the water, unlike in rectangular aquariums.'

Please, can anyone let Europe out of its bowl?

This, and tons more of crazy news from Europe in our latest regular
"All in the same EU-Boat" update.

Chris Berg

Republican Nomination

Of course, Noah's speech is not the ultimate nomination speech. I have
confidence that the administration could come up with memorable
moments (Bush seems to have a fondness for Reaganite turns of phrase,)
but what the Bush speechwriting team is not strong at is the
construction of an argument. Bush has never fully articulated the
justification for the Iraq war in the manner that Noah does here. It
is my belief that the major cause of public ambivalence towards the
war is because it has never been properly sold to them in a long-term
framework, only in short-term (WMD). Bush needs to talk about grand
strategy. This is a political failure on his administration's behalf,
but one which can be fixed if he looks at the nomination - his final
chance to fully articulate his platform on a vast scale - as important
as a State of the Union.

Revenge of the Hamster

Saturday comes and I can’t eat before the test. Goddamn. So I figure, I’ll go to the Pathology Unit early and ‘beat the rush’.

No such luck. I underestimate old people. There were at least five pensioners before me, three of whom were carrying suspicious looking buckets of yellow liquid.

Nurse: Is that your urine sample, Mr Pee-A-Lot

Mr Pee-A-Lot: Yes

Nurse: Great *takes bucket away from Mr Pee-A-Lot*

Mr Pee-A-Lot: When can I get it back?

Nurse: You’ll have to see your GP for the test results. Give it about a week and…

Mr Pee-A-Lot: No, when do I get my bucket back? I keep my cereal in that.

Someone get that man a new bucket STAT.

The Terriorists

A (Turning) Tail of Two Demo-cats

AHM has never liked Demo-cats. Maybe she got bitten by one when she was little, I don't know. Or maybe she startin' learnin' about Demo-cats from the oldsters in her life--the same way I teach my pups the way to behave in the world. Whatever. All I know is, as long as I've been around, she's done everythin' but lift her leg on 'em--which she can't do anyway, so I guess that doesn't count.

Weapon of Mass Distraction

Myths of Stem Cell Research

Proponents of embryonic stem cell research are spreading a lot of false information, not least of which is that they'll only use spare embryos that would be destroyed anyway. What they really want, as Ron Reagan made clear at the Democratic convention, is human cloning on a massive scale.

pacetown

In summary, according to the studies above, Kerry, if he doesn't extend the baseline of tax cuts, will only generate 600 billion dollars less revenue than current law predicts, and will spend an additional 1.8 trillion dollars on new programs. The net result is that Kerry's proposals will cost around $2,400,000,000.00 (2.4 Trillion dollars) over 10 years.

If you don't believe me, read the studies. If you don't believe them, do a study yourself. I can't get the numbers to add up, but John Kerry is probably better at math than I am.

New England Republican

Media Hypocrisy - How the Media Handled the Bush AWOL Controversy

After reading Neil Boortz's column, I remembered one of the White House Press Briefings from February where the reporters sounded like a bunch of hyenas demanding the President prove he wasn't AWOL even after the White House had released his pay records. So I did a Google search and found the transcript from the press briefing. Here are the questions that were asked about the AWOL controversy (it is quite long but worth reading), I'll add more comments below...


The Commons at Paulie World

Folks, this week we are featuring another of our contributors, the
Swamp Fox.
This is an excellent article, well-researched and documented, and
something you all should keep in your 2nd Amendment arsenal (pun intended.)

Concealed Weapons and the Right to Self Defense, by Francis
Marion, The Swamp Fox (Paulie World pseudonym)

Wandering Mind

Anti Americanism, Part One of Three

I then asked him why Europeans were so anti American. He gave me an answer that to this day, defines a good part of my view of European anti Americanism.
He went on to explain. Europeans, he said, dislike Americans because, in a short period of human history, went on to surpass Europe in being the center of global influence. What was even worse, was that America was built by European 'garbage' as he put it. I started to object, but he immediately interrupted
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Friday, August 13, 2004

2 New Bloggers

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Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Instalaunch By Proxy

We at Homespun Bloggers would like to welcome all of you who have followed Doug's link from Consideretts by way of Instapundit.

Please feel free to take a look around. New members are always welcome and we hope you enjoy your stay =).
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Monday, August 09, 2004

2 3 4 6 New Blogs

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Best of Homespun Bloggers August 8, 2004

In Search of Utopia

More Thoughts on Black Conservatives

I don’t even pretend to understand how a person can be black and identify with the conservative movement. I dont understand how someone who has shared even a small part of my journey, can identify with the Rush Limbaugs and Ann Coulters of this world. I have people who I like who are conservatives... The Commissar, Kevin, Paul and Jay from Wizbang, I have also come to respect many others, even while fiercely disagreeing with them.

Speaking My Mind

These Aren't Right Wing Bloggers...

But Arab newspapers. Via the BBC's media monitors comes near-universal
condemnation of last Sunday's bombing of five churches in Iraq.

A few samples...

Daniel W. Casey's Blog

The Fascinating World of Massachusetts Gun Laws

I have been researching Massachusetts gun laws and the procedure by which one might go about buying a pistol in Massachusetts. I have discovered that this subject is a bottomless pit for time and effort -- as productive as deciding what really happened to Atlantis, trying to figure out who really killed John Kennedy, or doing a detailed audit of the Big Dig. There is a vast amount of conjecture on the subject, but only the lawyers know for sure.

Bunker Mulligan

Celebrity Challenge

I love stuff like this. Celebrities of all stripe feel they have something important to say, and have a venue for doing so. Of course, they consider themselves to be just plain ol' workin' folk, so their opinion should resonate. They are so accustomed to having people hang on their every word, they sincerely believe they have the answers.

The Doggy Diaries

MovaLog :: A Blog About Movable Type

I just wanted to share with you all a new blog I was referred to
today. It's called MovaLog, and it pertains to all things concerning
Movable Type. ...

If you currently use MT or are considering using it in the future,

I would highly recommend you head on over to MovaLog and get educated!
Arvind (the blog's owner) is a great blogger and an incredibly
knowledgable individual when it comes to MT. He even got me started on
BlogShares!



Musing

Just having some fun

It seems a special investigator testifying in the Pvte. Lynndie
Englandÿs / Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal hearings has testified
that Lynndie and her brutish pals originally told officials that they
abused prisoners ´just for fun¡ - (ergo no senior officers involved)
...Will the talking heads in the media spend every waking second for
the next several weeks investigating every detail of this revelation? Will
they be even half as dogmatic in pursuing this lead, which could
vindicate Bush and his administration, as they were covering every
detail of Goreÿs screaming ranting diatribe?

Considerettes

Acid Rain prevents Global Warming (Audioblog)

You read that right!

Acid rain, the pollutant blamed for killing fish and
damaging forests, has a beneficial effect of reducing emissions of methane,
thought to be responsible for about a fifth of today's enhanced global
warming effect, researchers say.

Do we really want to set public policy based on science that we can't
properly predict? (Hint: No.)

The Commons

The Success of Feminism, by John Adams (Paulie World pseudonym)

"Since women have acheived such equality in society
today, whether or not a woman takes or does not take her husband's name
has become a non-issue. Indeed, I submit that "feminism" or "the
women's movement" or whatever you want to call it has been so
successful, there really no longer is any need for groups like NOW (or
people like Patricia Ireland and Gloria Steinhem for that
matter)."

Presidents and Military Experience

In case you didn't know, John Kerry served in
Vietnam. In combat, no less.

According to the Democrats this makes him uniquely
qualified to be president. .

Their argument is that there is a positive correlation
between combat experience and performance as president
in foreign policy/military affairs. The opposite of
which is that if you don't have combat experience you
will be a poor president.

Chrenkoff

I opened the print edition of "The Australian" this morning, and turned
to the opinion page to find Robert Dallek's piece "What JFK can learn from JFK." The blurb, unfortunately only available in print, stated that "To beat George W Bush, John F Kerry should recall how John F Kennedy won his presidential election in 1960."

MuD&PHuD

The Real Story

MY WAR - Fear And Loathing In Iraq has an amazing, 1st hand, account of what it's like to be up to your eyeballs in bad guys (via Wizbang). This post is wide open, unabridged and uncensored. Read it and gain some pitifully inadequate understanding of what it is to be in combat*. Here is a bit...but seriously, read the whole thing.

Then we were told to load up and go back to where we got ambushed. I'm not going to lie, I didn't want to go back. Fu[%$] that sh[*%], I don't want to get killed. That was the last place on earth I wanted to be. I was scared to death. But we had to go back, and we did.

Weapon of Mass Distraction

More OTMs on the Loose

A procedural question for those directing the War on Terror: Why should the FBI have the power to check our library or financial records, without warrants, mind you, when we're letting thousands of OTMs--illegal immigrants from countries Other Than Mexico--cross our southern border and setting them free on their own recognizance?

Revenge of the Hamster.

Eurovision. United Nations. Separated at birth? I provide the facts. You decide.

Point 1: Both have a corrupt voting system

You will note that, in Eurovision, competency, ability and/or musical talent has little to nothing to do with voting. This is because there are three main voting blocks: a Western Bloc (England, Ireland, France, Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg), a Northern Bloc (the Scandinavian countries plus Germany) and a Mediterranean Bloc (Turkey, Italy, Spain, Yugoslavia, Greece and Cyprus.) Countries will, for the most part, vote for other countries within their bloc.

The Unmentionables

The Real Oil War

This item at "Slate" (found via Instapundit)reminded me of the dangerous silliness spread by extreme greens and their endless campaign to demonize SUVs in the name of conserving oil.


"Well, here's a surprising piece of news. It may not be. Cities throughout California—the nation's largest car market—prohibit the heaviest SUVs on many of their residential roads. The problem is, they don't seem to know they've done it."

The Southern Conservative

Still Running On Empty

Who’s handling the Kerry campaign now, Michael Moore?
From what I’ve heard, the seven minutes Bush spent
reading to those children on the morning of 9/11 was
a major point of Moore’s movie. I think that’s why
Kerry fielded a question about it this week. And, I
think that if Kerry had anything real to offer the
voters, he’d have responded differently. He’d have
said something like ”Look, quibbling about how the
President spent seven minutes of the worst day in
national history is splitting hairs. I’m not going to
dignify that kind of partisan distraction. I’m
campaigning on real issues and I have real ideas.”

Of course, Kerry doesn’t have real ideas. That’s why
the elites handling his campaign are ready to split
hairs.

The Terriorists

Garden Day

Well, we had more company last weekend and of course AHM had to do yard work. Maury is a Jack Russell who visits off and on. At least he says he's a Jack Russell, but I think his dog mom messed around with a not-so-handsome stranger when no one was lookin'. Ya' gotta' feel sorry for Maury--he's got a new (human) little brother and both his parents work, so he doesn't get too much attention at home. It shows. (For all of you thinkin' about adopting a Russell, you better be home a lot. They are major high maintenance in the "I-need-attention" department.)

Bob Brown, Moron Extraordinaire

I know this is old news, but some old news much like old gold or old diamonds, is always worth re discovering, or in the case of yours truly just discovering.
That Bob Brown is a hypocrite, liar, cheat, deceiver and general all round moron is of no surprise to anyone with an IQ over 6. However sometimes one may feel oneself slipping into doubt, and begin to question ones own sanity. I mean after all, the ABC treats Brown as some kind of messiah. The stinking dread locked hippy set think he is no mere messiah he is in fact God.
There is a line in an old Styx song that may be of some relevance here. The song is called Cold War, and it concerns itself with politicians and God lovers making no sense, yet strangely making sense. The line goes,

"You talk talk and you get so intense
that you almost make sense
and that’s what scares me the most."
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Monday, August 02, 2004

3 4 New Blogs

I am pleased to announce the addition of three four newly-minted Homespun Bloggers. In no particular order...

Bittersweet
Like Mussolini From The Balcony
ivanyi-consultants.com
Mamamontezze's Mental Rompun Room
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Sunday, August 01, 2004

Best Of Homespun Bloggers August 1st, 2004

The Southern Conservative

The Cinema Politik

I’ve decided to re-examine some of the movies we saw
this summer, and as it turns out, most of them were
deeply political and profoundly meaningful. I’ve
followed the lead of journalists and film critics
everywhere and adopted the liberal agenda while
analyzing these films… you might be surprised at what
I now realize was there...


HipperCritical

Médecins sans Politics

The French international aid organization Médecins
sans Frontières (MSF) has decided to removeall of its
employees and operations from Afghanistan, warning
that 'independent humanitarian work could no longer be
carried out safely'. Five members of the group had
fallen victim to terrorist attack back in June, and
Arash provided coverage at Afghan Voice. The pull-out
is a shocking decision, especially with the first-ever
presidential election just two months away. But what
was much more mind-blowing was the direction in which
MSF chose to cast the blame:

MSF claimed the American military had
endangered the lives of humanitarian volunteers by
blurring the distinction between soldiers and aid
workers.


Daniel W. Casey's Blog

John Edwards and the Content-Free Speech

I only caught the tail end of the speech given tonight by the resume-challenged John Edwards. I was watching the movie The Italian Job on cable, which is an entertaining caper about safe-cracking thieves. I decided, in other words, to watch a story about people who make their living more honestly than John Edwards.

MuD&PHuD

Dean's Question And My Pledge

Dean's World has posed a question to Conservatives. He basically wants to know, if Kerry gets (barf) elected, will we do what we have been telling the Left to do for the past 4 years. Specifically, will we refrain from calling (barf) President Kerry a "traitor, loser, liar, incompetent" etc.?

pacetown

What a Wonderful World...at Least in Speeches it is...

As a result of the million refugees, there is, of course, a health
crisis.
The UN has also attempted to raise up to $350 million to provide relief
to
the suffering Sudanese. The big, bad, warmongering United States has
pledged
$62 million. The equally nefarious Britain $11 million. The
conscientious,
humanitarian states of Germany and France? Less than $4 million each.

Musing

It has been a busy week, what with trying to blog around finishing my
thesis. However, I persevered and for diversion, posted a note about
John Kerry's latest gig with the Teletubbies. On a more serious note,
we
were treated to Antonia Zerbisias's Toronto Star column, which
belittled
one of the soldiers in Iraq for his concerns about Fahrenheit 9/11's
impact on morale. None of those concerns appeared to pierce the steely
hide of Zerbisiasÿs ideology, however. Instead of recognizing that
Mooreÿs factually deficient ´screed¡ (as Zerbisias admits) is helping
to
deflate morale for the troops, Zerb takes up waving the Michael Moore
banner, and hopefully opines that Mooreÿs dissembling will see American
voters ´inspired to turn out on Nov. 2 and turf out Bush.¡

Considerettes

In his speech to the Democratic National Convention last night, John Edwards told the hypothetical story of a woman, sitting at her kitchen table, unable to make ends meet while her husband was away in Iraq.
She thinks she's alone. But tonight in this hall and in your homes -- you know what? She's got a lot of friends. We want her to know that we hear her. And it's time to bring opportunity and an equal chance to her door.

The typical Democrat translation of that is, we need bigger government to help her. But is that the best way to do it? What about private charities; don't they do a better job? And if all those folks in the hall are her friends, what have they done for her lately? Are they more likely to help out than, say, Republicans?

The answers to these questions can be found in this installment of "Considerettes Radio". Bill Bennett and I discuss the difference between the Democrats' and the Republicans' definition of "compassion".

Mr Minority

Freedom of the Press - When Does it Cross the Line?

We in America have a problem with the Press/Media and how it reports the news and when it's reporting is Treasonous or Anti-American. Iraq has decided to shut down Al Jazeera and other Arab News Stations.

DUBAI, July 25 (Reuters) - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari accused regional satellite channels of inciting violence and hinted Iraq might stop Al Jazeera operating in the country.

"Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, al-Manar and al-Alam have all become channels of incitement and opposed to the interests, security and stability of the Iraqi people," Zebari told Al Jazeera television.

"There is strong talk from some Iraqi government officials about closing Al Jazeera. Unfortunately it is being manipulated by terrorist groups and we will not tolerate this biased coverage," he said.

Is this limiting the Freedom of the Press or is it closing a Terrorist sympathizing News Organization? Where is the line that seperates the two? Let's look at the facts.

Bunker Mulligan

Monarchy

If you only listen to Democrats and don't pay attention to
what
they do, you would believe they despise the wealthy. The rich
got what they have by "winning life's lottery." The rich do nothing
unless it is driven by the goal of accumulating more wealth. The rich
are evil, and got their money through the hard work of the poor. We
hate
the rich.


It's A Matter Of Opinion

""She seems to have been a girl . . . with very highly charged emotional feelings and emotional feelings that are of a highly charged sexual nature."

She was 14 years old! I can understand that maybe a 14 year old girl may develop a crush on a teacher. However this is something a male teacher might pre-empt and at no time allow himself to be lured by the promise of sexual escapades with a minor. Further I can see a 14 year old girl displaying a certain curiosity about things of a sexual nature, but to have, "highly charged emotional feelings and emotional feelings that are of a highly charged sexual nature" is really stretching it."

Bill's Big Bloviating Blog

I Agree With the ACLU???

Say it ain’t so! Sadly, however, it is. The topic is Florida’s moronic law that forbids recounts in counties where electronic voting machines are used. What ignorant buffoon came up with that idea?

Revenge of the Hamster

Jacques Chirac has ordered the mobilisation of French troops stationed in Chad to be made ready for entry into Sudan,
'without waiting for the response of the international community.'

Noble sentiment one would think. Racing in to help the Sudanese who are so desperately in need of saving.

However, where the Frenchies are concerned (and I say this being one quarter French - the sexy, buxom wench quarter that is), there is always an ulterior motive.

Josh
Harvey's Middle East


A lot of people have been making a terrible mistake. The EU Foreign
Minister Javier Solana said
yesterday
, "I know that the fence has saved many lives but it would
have saved as many lives if it would have been constructed inside
Israel." The International Court of Justice referred to the entire West
Bank as the "Occupied Palestinian Territories."

Chrenkoff

Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors Without Frontiers), the well known international humanitarian organisation, is pulling out of Afghanistan and - you guessed it - blaming the Americans. The lead paragraph in the London "Independent" will give you some idea of the left's glee:

"It survived Soviet occupation, civil war, the Taliban and US-led invasion. But after 24 years of aid work, Médecins sans Frontières has been forced by the American military to flee Afghanistan."
Forget for the moment the not-so-subliminal message that the American military is worse than the Red Army and the Taliban; simply ask yourself how did they Yanks manage to chase MSF out of the country?

The Redhunter

Letter from Afghanistan

I am privileged to have received a letter from one of
our soldiers in Afghanistan. Major Juan Perez is truly
on the front lines fighting in the War on Terrorism.
He has graciously given me permission to print his
message. It is a message that all Americans should
hear.

The Unmentionables

The Medium is the Massage

Massaging the clueless into compliance, that is.

When was the last time you watched a movie or a TV show that did not have obvious left-leaning message tucked somewhere within? Even sitcoms can't resist the regular dig. Comedians and late night show hosts have always found politicians fair game--the original Saturday Night Live raised President-bashing to an art form--and soon thinly-veiled sneers at primarily conservative and/or Republican leaders/policies were appearing with nauseating regularity. I had forgotten about the pervasiveness of these "messages" until I happened to be wander over to TVLand the other night--trying to find a respite from the Democrat Convention--and heard any number of snide references to Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" drug message--usually delivered by a child.

The Terriorists

Rat Terrorism

You've probably read that quote under our picture at the top. Jonah Goldberg at NRO understands the way of the world when it comes to who's really pullin' their weight in the War on Terror.

But just in case you fe-lying lovers out there think Jonah (and me) are being unduly harsh in our judgment, here's proof cats don't give a hairball about the terrorist threats we face.

"Portland resident Jason Reinhardt watches them on late-night walks around the waterfront. "I can see tons of them climbing up from the roped tires hanging over the river. They’re huge, and they’re not afraid of much," he said."


Weapon Of Mass Distraction

Canada Gets Tough!

It's nice to see our northern neighbors are finally getting
tough with their immigration policy
:
FOREIGN
STRIPPERS
MUST SUPPLY NUDE STAGE PHOTOS TO OFFICIALS

By TOM GODFREY, TORONTO SUN

New England Republican

Missing from Kerry's Speech


The Hollywood produced show last night (both the video and the speech) leaned
heavily on Kerry's four months in Vietnam. A casual observer couldn't be blamed
for walking away from the speech thinking that was his whole resume. So to help
inform swing voters, I have decided to fill in the blanks on John "Flipper"
Kerry's resume that he left out last night...

The Commons

I'm An Optimist

Do you folks get sick out there listening to some rich trial lawyer tell us how America is no longer the land of opportunity? Do you folks get sick out there listening to some billionaire's consort tell us that America is divided by those who work and those who don't? That the people who in fact pay almost all taxes - the top 50% of wage earners pay over 90% of taxes - are really getting undeserved tax breaks while being supported by the taxation of the poor, who in fact pay nothing?

The
Doggy Diaries


Beware the New Brand of Illegal Alien

We've been warned for quite some time now that if our government does nothing to seal our borders, especially our border with Mexico, we will soon see Middle Easterners, perhaps with the intention of causing harm to Americans and the United States, sneaking into the U.S. through our Southern border so as to avoid those pesky immigration officials who might well find some reason to keep them out of our country. Well, my friends, the chickens have come home to roost. The cow has jumped over the moon. Hell has frozen over. Whatever “it-will-never-happen” phrase you prefer, you need to wake up and smell the coffee because the “it-will-never-happen” scenario has become an “it-has-happened” reality.

The Discerning Texan

How to Completely Mislead the Gullible

I had thought I was finished posting for the day, but then I came across this outstanding post on on the Everything I Know is Wrong blog.  While it was gratifying to see that I am not the only one who has noticed the utter hyprocrisy of the Democratic platform, it is also unbelievable to me that this once proud and great party is now so out of touch with the average American that it feels it must attempt to conceal its true intentions from the electorate, and to fraudulently portray a false ideology instead.  From a pragmatic perspective, I guess can understand why they do it (because they would get slaughtered if America had an understanding of their real intentions, particularly when it comes to the defense of the nation...); but to have a theoretical understanding of why they might do it, and to actually witness what lengths this party will go to to deceive the public are two different things entirely. 

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