NASA readies Shuttle for Saturday launch

If all goes according to plans, the Space Shuttle Discovery will be launched sometime Saturday morning or early afternoon. Check the NASA site for the latest updates. Follow the countdown here and see what is happening each hour from now till liftoff.

If problems develop after the shuttle is up and the crew is safely aboard the Space Station, NASA Could Land Shuttle Without Crew with its newly installed remote cable system:

And NASA would try to fly the unmanned space shuttle home, landing it with a new remote-controlled cable system.

NASA would only take such action if the Discovery were so damaged that it couldn't be repaired while docked at the space station, and if it were unsafe for the astronauts to return in it. The astronauts could stay as long as 81 days at the space station until a rescue vehicle arrived.

"If we got into that scenario, we would really have to hustle," John Shannon, deputy manager of the space shuttle program, said Thursday. "We would really have to work ... until we felt a high degree of confidence that we weren't going to cause more problems."

In that case, space shuttle Atlantis would be launched to bring back Discovery's crew members. Discovery would have to be undocked from the orbiting space lab to make room for Atlantis.

Up until recently, Discovery's fate likely would have ended with a watery crash into the Pacific Ocean. But now NASA has a new plan using a remote-controlled orbiter cable that can be attached to control systems in the shuttle by astronauts.

Quote of the Day

From David Limbaugh's most recent column:

Democrats slam Bush for years, mostly with outrageously false and venal charges, and then become hysterical when he defends himself. It would be like throwing a sucker punch at someone and being outraged when they hit back, claiming they are suppressing your right to assault them.

The Prime Minister has left the building

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's dream came true today when he and President Bush toured Graceland:

You're a pretty good Elvis singer," the president said, in an obvious prompt to his guest. Bush knew what was coming, having previously experienced Koizumi's tendency to burst into song when it comes to the late rock 'n' roll legend who is the Japanese leader's undisputed musical hero.

Koizumi quickly complied. "Love me tender," he sang. "Wise men say, `Only fools rush in.' "

Enter the special tour guides for the two leaders' private tour of Graceland: Presley's only child and heir, Lisa Marie, and her mother, Priscilla. "I want you, I love you," remarked Koizumi, spouting more Elvis tunes. Draping his arm around Lisa Marie, he went on. "Hold me close, hold me tight," the prime minister crooned.

The above photo shows the Prime Minister playing air guitar in the Jungle Room while everyone gazes at him incredulously.

After the tour, he was overheard saying, "Thank you...thank you very much."

Why we need a Superman

We went to see Superman Returns this afternoon and I liked it. I'll give it 4 out of 5 stars.

It wasn't exactly C.S. Lewis, but there were obvious allegorical comparisons to the "Savior" aka Jesus Christ, without saying His name in the movie.

Early on in the movie, Clark Kent happens upon a Pulitzer award which has been given to Lois Lane about an article she wrote titled, "Why the world doesn't need a Superman," (paraphrased). The movie unfolds and at the end of the movie, a conflicted Lois Lane finds herself fumbling at her laptop in an attempt to write a piece titled, "Why the world needs a Superman."

It was a good movie with state of the art technographics. Where can we go from here, technologically speaking? I can't imagine better effects.

Regarding the overriding theme of the movie, whether secularists want to face it or not, the world does, in fact, need a Superman. But this particular Superman happened to be gone for 5 years and much transpired in his absence. For instance, Lois Lane had a kid and moved in with her fiance, much to this Superman's chagrin. This scenario might be loosely in line with the the Da Vinci Code if one likens a physical relationship with Mary Magdalene, but Superman isn't strictly a type of Christ, only a type of savior and not necessarily a Christ figure.

Still, open minded evangelicals will see a "savior" image in Superman in that good triumphs over evil and that he is able to stop bad things from happening if it is his will and it is possible.

Even more believers in God and Jesus Christ, after seeing this movie, will see the need for a real savior, not just a Superman from another planet, who may or may not be there when you really need him.

Go see the movie; it wasn't a religious experience for me, just an observation and it was a good flick.

The U.N. Small Arms Conference

The National Rifle Association Executive Vice President, Wayne LaPierre is making the rounds on various talk shows alerting complacent Americans that the U.N. is making a concerted effort to make "small" arms illegal. In the opinion of the U.N., only governments, regardless of how ruthless, should have the right to posess any and all weaponry.

Makes sense to me! If you're a third or fourth world communist dictator, like Castro or Mugabe, for instance, you sure as hell don't want your "constituents" to have guns. The U.N. is always on the side of the dictator thugs. Curious, isn't it?

The NRA site, linked above, will keep you updated.

Supreme Court Rules 5-3: No Military Tribunals

The Stop The ACLU blog is covering today's Supreme Court vote on the so-called "detainees" at Club Gitmo. This ruling gives the terrorists rights under the Geneva Conventions.

The sinister Amish "raw milk" cartel

Here's a good example of Big Gov't doing what they do worst...going after some poor innocuous individual while the real criminal element gets a pass and even flourish. Check out the story at the Danny Carlton -- alias "Jack Lewis" blog. It's about a small Amish dairyman who sells or gives away his raw milk to friends and folks in the community who enjoy raw milk.

If you've never had the pleasure of drinking raw milk, you've never had a real glass of milk. Years ago, we were able to buy it from friends in East Texas who ran a herd of Jersey cows. Jersey cows produce the richest, most delicious milk you've ever tasted. For every gallon of milk you could skim off almost a quart of rich whipping cream and still have wondrously rich healthy milk. That was 30 years ago and I'm not sure if raw milk is even available in Texas anymore.

The "know-better-than-you-do" health Nazi's have done their best to remove it from the market because of it's so-called "dangers."

Maybe some of the movers and shakers in the "organic" movement can muster some strength to bring this God-given product back in vogue. In the meantime, please read the above linked post and maybe even contact the Big Regulators who perpetrate these atrocities on "the little guy."

It's not just the NYTimes

Human Events Online has a good story by Booker T. Stallworth, about the crisis in the MSM. The NYTimes isn't the only one abusing their 1st Amendment rights. Others have aired and posted egregious, if not malicious stories as well:

While the leader of the pack, the Times is not alone in this disgraceful behavior:

In November, the Washington Post released allegedly classified information that the “CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe.”

For months, the Democratic leadership, CNN and members of the liberal elite press treated the photos of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison like a 13-year old boy would treat his first copy of Playboy.

A Newsweek article reported, as gospel, a terrorist detainee’s accusation that U.S. personnel at Guantanamo had flushed a Koran down a toilet. The story led to protests, riots and deaths throughout the Muslim world. After a lengthy investigation, a detailed inquiry found the charges had no basis in fact.

And earlier this month, while two brave American soldiers were being "barbarically" tortured and killed, the mainstream press was convicting American servicemen of heinous crimes without the benefit of a trial and referring to the “massacre” in Haditha with out the benefit of all of the facts.

Just because they have the right to print whatever they wish, doesn't mean they should. It seems their hatred for the Bush administration overides whatever good judgement they may have had. The net result doesn't effect the administration as much as it does the rest of the country.

It appears to "fly-over" country that the MSM actually hates America and wants to do her harm.

The Duplicitous NYTimes

They squeal with shock and scorn at inconsequential purported Whitehouse leaks and then publish national security secrets which compromise the way we reconnoiter terrorists. Whose side are they on?

Cox & Forkum aptly illustrate the horrendous double standard of the Old Gray Lady. Or is it dementia.

Boutros Boutros Ghali named in Oil-for-Food scandal

More crud oozing out of the Oil-for-Food brouhaha; this time, former Sec-Gen Boutros Boutros Ghali has been implicated in the corruption:

Saddam Hussein’s regime paid millions of dollars to a South Korean businessman to create a “secret backchannel” to top UN officials, including Boutros Boutros Ghali, then the UN Secretary-General, US prosecutors alleged today.

The claim, formally naming Dr Boutros Ghali for the first time, was made at the start of the first US trial over the UN’s Oil-for-Food scandal.

Prosecutors said that Tongsun Park received $2.5 million (£1.4 million) in cash plus promises of lucrative business deals in return for providing access to Dr Boutros Ghali and at least one other top UN official.

This will be fun to watch. Unfortunately we continue to throw good money after bad at these third world thugs.

Flag amendment fails by one vote

The Flag amendment fails by one vote:

WASHINGTON - A constitutional amendment to ban flag desecration died in a Senate cliffhanger Tuesday, a single vote short of the support needed to send it to the states for ratification a week before Independence Day.

The 66-34 tally in favor of the amendment was one less than the two-thirds required. The House surpassed that threshold last year, 286-130.

The proposed amendment, sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, read: "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."

Don't worry though! It'll come up again right before an election when the politicians need you to know they are on the patriotic bandwagon.

Illegal immigration and border negligence are wreaking havoc on this country but how urgent are these issues with the concerned Congressmen who insist that you are aware of their abiding patriotism?

Israeli Incursion into Gaza begins

My Way News:

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli troops entered southern Gaza and planes attacked three bridges and a power station, knocking out electricity in most of the coastal strip early Wednesday and stepping up the pressure on Palestinian militants holding captive a 19-year-old Israeli soldier.

Israeli troops began taking up positions in two locations east of the Gaza town of Rafah under the cover of tank shells, according to witnesses and Palestinian security officials. Palestinians dug in behind walls and sand embankments, bracing for a major Israeli offensive.

The Israeli strikes came amid intensive diplomatic efforts in the Arab world and by the United Nations. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Israel to "give diplomacy a chance."

More links at memeorandum.

Michael Medved, broadcasting live from Israel, is reporting that the incursion into Gaza has begun. It's after midnight there at this writing.

The Jerusalem Post has reported that the IAF blew up a bridge in Gaza City.

Hamas leadership needs to be afraid right now. Very afraid.

Quote of the Day

From Rush's opening comments:

"I'm still trying to figure out how Bob Dole's luggage got on my airplane. I told my doctor I was interested in the next election!"

Great to hear El Rushbo coming out in top form and unphased by the nattering media.

Limbaugh detained at Palm Beach Airport

I hate it when crap like this comes over the wires.

This would never have even made it on the wires if Rush weren't on the "get" list of everyone on the other side. But he is and he's out there taking the arrows.

Sooner or later, when you stand up for whatever is right, you're going to get in the way of those who hate you...viscerally hate you, and you too will take some arrows.

Rush has been out there for 18 years and he's successfully faced and deflected virtually every arrow that's come across his bow. He'll face this one and deflect it as well and more importantly, he'll come out of this ever more potent (pun intended) against those who wish to do him the most damage. They've always lost ground whenever they've attacked him. They'll lose ground on this one as well.

The double standard never ceases to amaze those on the right. We are always held by our higher standards and because the left has none, they are held to nothing. It's a perfect situation for those on the left. Those of us on the right have to continually be above reproach because our accusers are always right there to point the finger. Always!

Welcome readers of the Guardian Unlimited

Thanks and welcome to the readers of the News blog of the Guardian Unlimited who linked to this piece which I posted Tuesday, June 20th.

Y'all come back now, y' hear?

Michael Barone: Why do "they" hate us?

In Michael Barone's most recent column, he asks the question, "why do they hate us?"

No, he's not talking about the Islamo-fascists. He's talking about the editorial staff at the NYTimes:

No, the "they" I'm referring to are the editors of The New York Times. And do they hate us? Well, that may be stretching it. But at the least they have gotten into the habit of acting in reckless disregard of our safety.

Last December, the Times ran a story revealing that the National Security Agency was conducting electronic surveillance of calls from suspected al-Qaida terrorists overseas to persons in the United States. This was allegedly a violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. But in fact the president has, under his war powers, the right to order surveillance of our enemies abroad. And it makes no sense to hang up when those enemies call someone in the United States -- rather the contrary. If the government is going to protect us from those who wish to do us grievous harm -- and after Sept. 11 no one can doubt there are many such persons -- then it should try to track them down as thoroughly as possible.

Little wonder that President Bush called in Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. and top editor Bill Keller, and asked them not to run the story. But the Times went ahead and published it anyway. Now, thanks to The New York Times, al-Qaida terrorists are aware that their phone calls can be monitored, and presumably have taken precautions.

Last Friday, the Times did it again, printing a story revealing the existence of U.S. government monitoring of financial transactions routed through the Brussels-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, which routes about $6 trillion a day in electronic money transfers around the world. The monitoring is conducted by the CIA and supervised by the Treasury Department. An independent auditing firm has been hired to make sure only terrorist-related transactions are targeted.

Don't miss this piece in its entirety. Maybe the NYTimes is rapidly approaching critical mass in it's obvious hate for this country and maybe their circulation will take a dive.

Certainly their influence and credibility has.

David Limbaugh wonders if the NYTimes would publish our nuclear launch codes if they had access to them. My guess is they'ld have to do it online. Printing them would take too long.

NYTimes outdoes Al Jazeera

Thanks to the folks at The People's Cube.

I want this guy in my foxhole

I'm not a big sports guy, but I heard the Mavs lost last week (just teasing!). They gave it their best shot and the guy who pays the bills over there, Mark Cuban, gave it his best shot too. In fact he's been stirring things up throughout the NBA ever since he bought the Mavericks seven years ago. Without Cuban, the Mavs would probably be another "also-ran" NBA team like they were so many years under the previous ownership.

Cuban has always put his team first. From what I understand, when he first took control of the team he started treating the players like real winners by providing first class training facilities, the finest equipment, extra large towels, the finest food and all the big and little things that gave them total respect for their new boss. He made sure they had everything at their disposal to ensure success. He even bought them their own Boeing 757 with a custom interior and decked out in the team's colors .

His love of the game and his people transcend all the "stuff" he provides for them. He's hands on. Mark Cuban isn't the typical owner who watches the games from a luxury box. He's always down there on the floor with his team giving them unbridled support and when necessary taking the attention off the team and putting himself squarely in the line of fire if it's in the team's best interest.

Some people resent Cuban because of his unconventional way of doing business and playing games, but then it's his unconventionality that has made him an unprecedented success.

So what does Cuban have to say about the finals?

"And for the record, I have nothing to say about the finals. That was last season."

What else would you expect a winner to say?

Today's Dallas Morning News has a good article about Mark Cuban. He's one of the good guys.

The "Soldier's Burden"

The brilliantly creative Cox & Forkum hit another nail right on the head with their latest 'toon.

If you go to their site you'll see excerpts from the Investor's Business Daily piece titled Friend or Foe. You don't have to be a genius to figure out who the article is referring to. It's a good accompany piece to this sad reminder that there are people on all sides of our brave fighting men who are out to destroy them, and possibly us.

Another NY Times "Leak"

With friends in the media like The New York Times, who needs enemies. Why do they continually side with the enemy in the war on terror? This time they've exposed a very powerful tool whereby counterterrorism officials have been able to access the financial records of those who would like to destroy us. Sometimes it makes you wonder who's trying to destroy whom!

The Stop The ACLU blog has heaps of info on this story. Go there!

Joel Rosenberg to be on Rush, Friday

JOEL C. ROSENBERG, author of The Ezekiel Option is going to be on Rush's show tomorrow, undoubtedly, talking about his new book, The Copper Scroll. Having read all three of his previous novels, I'm looking forward to the interview and his new book.

Seven (Islamo-fascists?) arrested in Miami

The headline in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reads: Miami terror raid connected to plot against Sears Tower:

MIAMI -- Seven people were arrested Thursday in connection with the early stages of a plot to attack Chicago's Sears Tower and other buildings in the United States, a federal law enforcement official said.

The official told The Associated Press the alleged plotters were mainly Americans with no apparent ties to al-Qaida or other foreign terrorist organizations.(emphasis added) He spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt news conferences planned for Friday in Washington and Miami.

Hat's off to the investigation that lead to these arrests, but how can they say for a surety they have no ties to international terrorist organizations?

I wonder if they had ties to the Sons of Norway or maybe they were Shriners. Yeah, that's right, those Shriners always have Arabic nomenclature attached to their local organizations and they're always flashing those odd shaped swords.

Hmmm...Shriners...

More at CNN, ABC News and My Way News. Way more at memeorandum.

WMD's Alive and Well in Iraq

I like the way the Squiggler covered the breaking news of the newly released intelligence about the WMD found in Iraq:

Listen up! It doesn't matter one whit whether the 500 chemical weapons found were pre-1991 weapons, it doesn't matter one whit if they are, in 2006, still viable. You idiots, Saddam Hussein swore he had NO weapons of mass destruction, chemical, biological or nuclear. We went to war for several reasons, not the least was the violation by Saddam of over a dozen UN resolutions. We gave him a final chance before the first bombs dropped to come clean and fess up. What? You think he just forgot that he had 500 shells filled with deadly chemicals. Fifteen of those shells is what it took to kill how many Kurds? Estmates are in the thousands. And before you go off, as Alan Combes did tonight on Hannity & Combes (FOX), and start spouting off about some unamed Defense Dept. source who says this is no big deal, I would remind you that what we are seeing in the short declassified .pdf says: "chemical munitions are assessed to still exist," this is in addition to the 500. And, this information comes directly from the National Director of Intelligence and is only a declassified summary. From the Santorum interview after the press conference, both Sen. Santorum and Rep. Hoekstra made it clear that there was more that they could NOT talk about that they learned as part of their classified intelligence briefings. So before you all start pounding your keyboards and running to the microphones and making even bigger fools of yourselves than you already have ... well never mind, you've already started.

She's got other links on the WMD's too, so give her a visit.

Be sure to check out Hugh Hewitt and Michelle Malkin for more info as well. Memeorandum has beaucoup info.

FOXNews is covering the story, but curiously CNN is not.

Surely this is great news for the Bush administration, but according to some reports, this is old information that the administration just didn't feel like quibbling about. Huh?

The Elephant in the State of Texas

Not many people are talking about this or this yet, although Mike Gallagher has expressed surprise that it can be happening right under our noses with nary an outrage.

It's all related to this, and it's beginning to creep into conversations and at least one or two mainstream conservative talk shows, but it may take a little time because items such as these are speedily marginalized, demonized and categorized as whacked out conspiratorial unmentionables. Mention them and you're an instant whacko. Brilliant strategy isn't it?

Time will tell who's right about what's going on; those who willingly refuse to see what's going on or those who recognize the possible unconstitutionality of the entire program.

More about the Trans-Texas Corridor.

Good Dog!

Belle, a 17 pound Beagle is the kind of dog you want in your foxhole:

"ORLANDO, Fla. - A 17-pound beagle named Belle is more than man's best friend. She's a lifesaver. Belle was in Washington, D.C., on Monday to receive an award for biting onto owner Kevin Weaver's cell phone to call 911 after the diabetic Ocoee man had a seizure and collapsed.

"There is no doubt in my mind that I'd be dead if I didn't have Belle," said Weaver, 34, whose blood sugar had dropped dangerously low. Belle had been trained to summon help in just those circumstances.

She was the first canine recipient to win the VITA Wireless Samaritan Award, given to someone who used a cell phone to save a life, prevent a crime or help in an emergency, the Orlando Sentinel reported Monday.

Weaver first heard about service dogs while he was working as a flight attendant after befriending a frequent passenger who taught dogs to help diabetic patients. Using their keen sense of smell, the animals can detect abnormalities in a person's blood-sugar levels.

The dog periodically licks Weaver's nose to take her own reading of his blood-sugar level. If something seems off to her, she will paw and whine at him.

"Every time she paws at me like that I grab my meter and test myself," Weaver said. "She's never been wrong."

UN Pushes for Global Gun Control

Get this logic from the left wing Amnesty International:

Those three groups -- which have formed a coalition called the Control Arms Campaign -- say their goal is to reduce arms proliferation and misuse -- "and to convince governments to introduce global principles to regulate the transfers of weapons." They are urging the United Nations to impose a "binding arms trade treaty."

According to Amnesty International, nearly 2 billion people live in deep poverty, a problem made worse by the "uncontrolled proliferation of guns and other weapons that also fuels human rights abuses and escalates conflicts" (emphasis added). Amnesty International claims that weapons kill more 1,000 men, women, and children every day.

Note to Amnesty International: Guns don't cause poverty; Communist dictators and tyrannical thugs cause poverty. Confiscatory taxation and unreasonable gov't regulations cause poverty. If guns caused poverty, the United States of America would be the poorest country in the world.

These socialists will never tire in their effort to take your freedoms away. Better read this piece on Global Gun Control to further arm yourself. Oh sure, it seems laughably implausible now, but a little socialism here and a little more over there and pretty soon you've got more socialists around you than you could ever imagine.

Just look at the raging left-wing democrats and then consider the RINO's who more often than not side with them. It's more than just a little unsettling!

Prager: Why the left fears global warming more than the right

Ever wonder why the left fears global warming more than conservatives do? After all, if global warming is a threat to mankind, won't it hurt conservatives equally as hard?

Dennis Prager came up with 6 thoughtful reasons in his most recent column, Why the left fears global warming more than the right.

Be sure to give it a read!
___________

Here's a relevant and interesting little addendum.

GI's found...Brutalized, tortured and booby trapped

The booby-trapped bodies of 2 GIs were recovered Tuesday. It has been determined that they were tortured "barbarously" before being killed.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family members of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca (left), 23, of Houston, and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker (right), 25, of Madras, Ore. God bless and comfort them as only He can.

As of this writing there has yet to be any comments or criticism of the terrorist brutality from any human rights organizations or any of the pathetic politicians who droned on for weeks about the "horrors" of Abu Graibe.

Where are the critics of Club Gitmo and why aren't they as appalled by the savagery of cowardly terrorists who mutilate our young men when all we do is bend over backwards to treat our prisoners as "detainees" with the right to a trial? Why do the terrorists get a pass while our Military is under a constant barrage of accusations for supposed misconduct and cruelty to the murdering terrorists with whom we are engaged in war?

Shame on the miserable Congressmen who aid and abet our very enemies by trashing our troops and our President in a time of war and compare our conduct to that of the Islamo-fascist murderers!

Doug Giles on Manly Men, Manly Fun and Games and humility (among other virtues)

Doug Giles column, this week, takes a look at one of Jesus Christ's most famous sermons and what it has to do with being a real man (as opposed to metro-sexual, girly men). Read him! He's Ann Coulter's alter ego and always a good read.

Soldiers Nabbed by Islamo-fascists

By now everyone knows that two U.S. soldiers have been taken captive by terrorists in Iraq. The prayers of Americans around the country go up for these men that they'll be found soon and very much alive and well.

We can only hope that our men won't be subjected to the horrific "panty torture" treatment now known around the world as one of the most cruel torture tactics ever devised wherein panties are forcefully placed on the captives' heads.

We can only hope that they aren't stripped naked and forced to participate in nude human pyramids. How despotic that would be.

We can only hope that the they aren't forced to wear dog collars and put on a leash like common dogs. The thought of that is nearly unbearable.

We can only hope that they won't be terrified by barking dogs or deprived of sleep or subjected to the horrors of loud music.

If they are imprisoned, let's hope they will have access to the Holy Bible and allowed prayer time like they are at Club Gitmo. Hopefully they won't be deprived of whatever prescription medication they require, and surely they'll be able to eat a diet of American food with which they are accustomed.

The captors could face real trouble if they don't treat our GI's according to the Geneva Convention rules and regulations. Surely they'll comply to the international standards.

Did I call them captors? I meant to call them murdering Islamo-fascist dogs who need to be smeared with lard before being mercilessly taken out.

In the meantime our missing soldiers really do need our prayers.

Fu Yang's New Life in America

The Father's Day edition of the Dallas Morning News ran a great, great story on Fu Yang, a Chinese born orphan with some special needs, and his new parents, Louis and Dinah DeLuca, who live here in Dallas.

Fatherhood is a leap of faith. Every child starts out as a stranger; every father, no matter how many times he has been through it, starts out as a beginner.

Dallas Morning News photographer Louis DeLuca was expecting a routine shoot three years ago when a friend asked him to take some pictures of a Chinese orphan flown in by Grace Children's Foundation for surgery to correct a congenital facial deformity.

"It was October, the middle of the football season and I was busy," Mr. DeLuca recalls. He complained to his wife, Dinah.

"He's an orphan," she said. "You can take the time."

These photographs tell the rest of the story. From almost his first look at Fu Yang through the viewfinder of his camera, something happened, Mr. DeLuca says. "I looked at him, he looked at me, and we instantly bonded."

Be sure to read the rest of the piece and see the photos taken by proud dad, Louis DeLuca. What a heart warming Father's Day story!

Repent therefore, and recycle!

Be sure to go to the Cox & Forkum website for a good round-up of links regarding Algore's environmental "belief system."

Kind of goes hand in hand with Coulter's new book, Godless.

Best Ever Political Ad

Rush played a political ad today for Vernon Robinson, from Winston-Salem, NC., who is running for Congress. If you didn't hear it, you can see it here. It's awesome!

Politicians from every district in every state should watch this and see what conservatives want in a politician. This man is going to win if he continues on this no-nonsense politically incorrect course.

He's a monumental threat to the left and they will do whatever they have to do to marginalize, demonize and utterly destroy him. He could use our prayers!

Hu's the guy in China

Found this at Observations of Mark. Couldn't resist not posting it!

George: Condi! Nice to see you. What's happening?
Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China.
George: Great. Lay it on me.
Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.
George: That's what I want to know.
Condi: That's what I'm telling you.
George: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes.
George: I mean the fellow's name.
Condi: Hu.
George: The guy in China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The new leader of China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The Chinaman!
Condi: Hu is leading China.
George: Now whaddya' asking me for?
Condi: I'm telling you Hu is leading China.
George: Well, I'm asking you. Who is leading China?
Condi: That's the man's name.
George: That's who's name?
Condi: Yes.
George: Will you or will you not tell me the name of the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir? Yassir Arafat is in China? I thought he was in the Middle East.
Condi: That's correct.
George: Then who is in China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir is in China?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Then who is?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Look, Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader of China. Get me the Secretary General of the U.N. on the phone.
Condi: Kofi?
George: No, thanks.
Condi: You want Kofi?
George: No.
Condi: You don't want Kofi.
George: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass of milk. And then get me the U.N.
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Not Yassir! The guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi?
George: Milk! Will you please make the call?
Condi: And call who?
George: Who is the guy at the U.N?
Condi: Hu is the guy in China.
George: Will you stay out of China?!
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi.
George: All right! With cream and two sugars. Now get on the phone.

Scientific response to Gore's alarmist theories

Al Gore isn't getting a free pass from the scientific community.

The Canadian Free Press ran a piece today that challenges his reckless predilection that global warming is caused by modern man (ie white heterosexual, conservative Christian, capitalistic males living in the United States).

Here's the data I prefer to believe because I have never thought Gore was the least bit believable:

Scientists have an independent obligation to respect and present the truth as they see it," Al Gore sensibly asserts in his film "An Inconvenient Truth", showing at Cumberland 4 Cinemas in Toronto since Jun 2. With that outlook in mind, what do world climate experts actually think about the science of his movie?

Professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, in Australia gives what, for many Canadians, is a surprising assessment: "Gore's circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention."

But surely Carter is merely part of what most people regard as a tiny cadre of "climate change skeptics" who disagree with the "vast majority of scientists" Gore cites?

No; Carter is one of hundreds of highly qualified non-governmental, non-industry, non-lobby group climate experts who contest the hypothesis that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are causing significant global climate change. "Climate experts" is the operative term here. Why? Because what Gore's "majority of scientists" think is immaterial when only a very small fraction of them actually work in the climate field.

It's a good piece. Read it, digest it and file it for future reference. We're going to be inundated by the Algore minions professing the gospel of global warming and how we must share our wealth with the rest of the world to atone for our capitalist sins of consumption.

Now is the time to arm yourself.

Don't miss Ann Coulter's column today

How they must abhor her! How she must love their utter loathing!

Coulter's latest column may be an attempt to rustle the bushes a little more to see what she can scare up. Just the title, Party of Rapist Proud to Be Godless is sure to cause apoplexy in the leftist camps. Here's a morsel:

Take note, conservatives: No American need ever fear the liberal establishment again. It's all over but the sobbing.

Back when there were only three TV stations and no Internet, talk radio or Fox News, it used to be so easy for the MSM to destroy reputations -- Joe McCarthy, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, Robert Bork, Dan Quayle, Oliver North, Clarence Thomas, Pat Buchanan, Newt Gingrich, Paula Jones and Linda Tripp, to name a few of the MSM's prey.

Liberals aren't having so much fun now that the rabbit has the gun.

Last Wednesday, Brian Williams began the "NBC Nightly News" -- currently watched exclusively by old ladies in nursing homes -- with a report on "civility" in America, which has apparently been horribly despoiled by my book. Williams complained that the "explosion in our media, our deafening national noise level and our changing mores have made this a much different era in America than the one our parents grew up in."

Oh, the civility of having only three TV stations back in our parents' day! It was even more civil in the Soviet Union where there was only one TV station.

She goes on to list a few of the incivilities perpetrated by the left back when they had a monopoly. Those were the days!

Read the rest of it and get her touted book here!

Bad week for the Dems

Karl Rove got the word today that he was off the hook in the CIA leak case and the dems are in a world of hurt.

This was not a good week for the left.

Zarqawi was taken out; Rove was cleared; the President surprised everyone by showing up in Iraq to meet the new Prime Minister to affirm our support and bolster the troops; the President's numbers are up and Ann Coulter exposed their heretical religion.

It must suck to be a leftist.

Flag amendment closer to passage

Seems like whenever politicians are under fire and doing poorly in the polls (and they are), or there is an election looming, they retrieve the flag amendment out of the storage bin.

Pardon my cynicism, but it seems more than a bit contrived to me.

Don't get me wrong....I've been a zealous flag waver all my life and Old Glory has flown daily on my front porch for the last 5 years. I can't make it through the Star Spangled Banner without choking up and flag desecration disgusts me. It's equally disgusting when leftists spew vitriol at the troops who willingly die to protect the right to protest, the right to speak freely and the right to burn our flag.

I don't want America to join the ranks of China and Russia who have made it a crime to desecrate their flags.

We don't need an amendment to protect the flag. When exactly was the last flag burning?

This is a non-issue to distract the voters from the really important matters the politicians are unwilling to deal with...like illegal immigration, for instance.

How 'bout we pass an amendment to make illegal immigration against the law?

"But, Rich, it's already against the law to illegally immigrate." Yes, I know, but politicians like to pass new laws when the old laws aren't being enforced.

A new amendment would be perfect. It would take years to pass and it would give the politicians a good excuse to continue to do absolutely nothing.

Mr. Prime Minister, President Bush will be here to see you in 5 minutes

President Bush made a top secret trip to Iraq today. So secret that Iraq Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki had only 5 minutes to prepare for the President's visit. See the story at Operation Iraqi Freedom.

John Wayne: An American Original

On this day, June 11th, 27 years ago (how is that possible?), John Wayne died. He was the quintessential American cowboy, soldier and patriot. In everything he did, he extolled the virtues of the greatness of America and he wasn't shy or apologetic to let people know about it. Some might consider that to be "in your face," but the Duke would probably say, "what about it, pilgrim?" He didn't care what his adversaries said or thought about him, in his movies or in life. He was John Wayne, afterall, an American and one of the good guys. Damn good! Deal with it!

I hope you visit the following websites, but one of my favorites is the last one listing the lyrics to "Why I Love Her." I get choked up just thinking about his rendition of those verses. You've gotta go there!

If you're a fan or admirer of this American Legend, you'll enjoy these links:

The American Thinker pays excellent tribute to the man many of us boomers idolized and wished to emmulate.

More biographic info on The Duke is available at The History Channel.

John Wayne - actor, patriot, man of honor is a comprehensive site you'll want to visit.

John Wayne: From a Superstar to a Legend...good stuff on the True Grit years.

If you ever heard his dissertation, America, Why I Love Her, you'll never forget it and you'll want to hear it again. Here are the lyrics.

Leftist Book Burning

This is rich and oh so typical. The Left can't deal with criticism. They can't argue the facts, so what do they do? They attempt to silence their accusers:

Two New Jersey Democrats are pushing to have Ann Coulter's new book "Godless: The Church of Liberalism," banned from all bookstores in their state because she criticized four 9/11 widows known as "the Jersey Girls."

In a joint press release issued Friday, New Jersey Assemblywomen Joan Quigley and Linda Stender say they want New Jersey retailers to "ban the sale of [Coulter's] book throughout the state."

They are so predictable and, apparently dimwitted. Do they actually believe this would suppress her book sales. What do people do when someone tells them they can't do it?

Not only will this leftist tact result in more book sales, it could result in making the book more expensive which would produce more profit for Coulter and the publisher. So, go ahead with your failing policies, libs. We're laughing at you. Surely Ann Coulter is uproarious on her way to the bank because of you.

Good, no, Great Sunday Reading

To begin with, read Kevin McCullough's Townhall piece which defends Ann Coulter's stand on "Liberal infallibility." Coulter has taken a lot of heat this week, even from some republicans, for her courage to take on the Jersey Girls, and other sacred cows (no pun intended). Libs can't handle such hard hitting scrutiny and keeping with their narrow method of operation, they have to resort to repudiating the messenger.

Here's an outstanding 3-parter by Doug Giles. This guy's good! He's not your ordinary church-goer. In fact, he eschews ordinary church goers. I dare you to read all three and remain complacent. A Profane Faith Pt.I, Pt II and Pt. III. You can't afford to miss these. If you do, you'll risk becoming "religious road kill!" Now, get to reading!

The American Spectator ran a piece on Friday titled, Withdrawn Democrats. What does it say about the dems who can't rejoice when one of the premier terrorists is finally killed? Are these the people we ever want in charge of America's defense?

David Limbaugh has more to say about the less than festive mood of the dems.

Fearless!

You gotta love Jack the cat, a fifteen pound bad-ass tabby who wasn't about to let some black bear invade his territory!

"WEST MILFORD, N.J. - A black bear picked the wrong yard for a jaunt, running into a territorial tabby who ran the furry beast up a tree — twice.

Jack, a 15-pound orange and white cat, keeps a close vigil on his property, often chasing small animals, but his owners and neighbors say his latest escapade was surprising.

"We used to joke, 'Jack's on duty,' never knowing he'd go after a bear," owner Donna Dickey told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Friday's editions.

Neighbor Suzanne Giovanetti first spotted Jack's accomplishment after her husband saw a bear climb a tree on the edge of their northern New Jersey property on Sunday. Giovanetti thought Jack was simply looking up at the bear, but soon realized the much larger animal was afraid of the hissing cat.

After about 15 minutes, the bear descended and tried to run away, but Jack chased it up another tree.

Dickey, who feared for her cat, then called Jack home and the bear scurried back to the woods.

"He doesn't want anybody in his yard," Dickey said.

Bear sightings are not unusual in West Milford, which experts consider one of the state's most bear-populated areas."

He's not Jack the Cat, he's Little Joe!

After reading the above article I couldn't help but compare Jack the Cat to the protector of our back yard. Little Joe is our bad-ass tabby and that's why bears come nowhere near our house here in Dallas. In fact, you may have to go out of state to find the nearest black bear! How bad is that?

"...a moral trichinosis "

In a piece he did for WorldNetDaily, titled, Please, leave marriage alone, Pat Boone
applied some oft' missing common sense to the issue of "gay marriage" and our apparent willingness to allow leftist groups like the ACLU to boldly remove any reminders that America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles.

Boone likens our problem to a moral form of trichinosis:

Have we arrived at some stage in our "evolution" that empowers us to change the very DNA of society, of culture, the structural makeup of the human race?

Or are we just too numb--or dumb-- to protest the incessant, dogged determination of some lobbying groups to corrupt and change, perhaps until we collapse and disintegrate, the very fabric of humankind? I feel I'm watching a "reality" version of "Gulliver's Travels," in which a sleeping giant is gradually staked to the ground by little people and rendered helpless while he slumbers.

Or worse, I do feel we're suffering, as a nation, a moral trichinosis -- that little talked-about malady that occurs when worms, gaining entry through poorly cooked pork, infiltrate a person's muscles, gradually sapping strength and weakening the body beyond recovery. The victim doesn't realize it's happening until it's too late; all he knows is that he's losing energy and muscle tone, and he's becoming strangely and completely weak, and finally helpless.

There are many evidences and symptoms: Some similar affliction seems to be steadily and relentlessly draining us of resolve. Most adults are aware that our Founding Fathers were devout believers in God; aware that the Bible, itself, was a standard textbook in our early colleges; aware that Thomas Jefferson in his Declaration of Independence averred our national conviction that our very liberties are conferred by our Creator; aware that even as recently as the 1950s our Supreme Court acknowledged that America is a Christian nation, founded on biblical principles. Still, we have watched, apparently dumbstruck and powerless, as our kids were denied the right to pray, voluntarily, in school; and now the Ninth Circuit Court has declared the phrase "under God" in our Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional!

To even the most casual of observers, it's really a bit surrealistic to see all this happening to America. Maybe everyone is just so busy with their own little life, working, making ends meet, and reveling in whatever free time they have that they just bury their heads in the sand out of the feeling of abject helplessness. Maybe Joe Sixpack has come to believe that there's nothing he can do about the moral malaise by which we're surrounded.

Our national problems are pretty overwhelming. Still, we can't just not do anything on a personal level to exact change.

As never before, it's encumbant on everyone who believes in God, America and apple pie to do whatever we can to oppose whatever and whomever is trying to foist unAmerican and unGodly ideology and legislation down our throats. It's not a time to go passive and get rolled over. We've got to be pro-active and go on the offensive for a change.

Say what you will about Ann Coulter. Whether or not you think she goes over the top at times, she's constantly on the offensive and never gives her opponents a pass. She effectively fights for what she believes in and reduces her enemies to mere name callers. It's a pity there aren't more like her on the right side of the isle (or pew, if you will).

I think far too many Christians have become dangerously pusilanimous and tend to lay down down too quickly when it comes to politics and policy. Some don't think it's their fight. It is their fight. The fight belongs to all of us. Our country depends on "right thinkers" to stand up for what we believe. It's a battle between right and wrong, good and evil.

As Edmund Burke so aptly said,

Nothing is so fatal to religion as indifference.

He's also attributed as saying (paraphrased):

Evil can only triumph when good men do nothing.

Vengeance is the Lord's...

Vengeance IS the Lord's, but He sometimes turns to sub-contractors. Cox & Forkum
illustrate my point!

One less Islamo-fascist, murdering thug

That pesky day job gets in the way of blogging on days like today. It would have been a great day to emerse oneself in the Internet and Talk Radio and maybe even a little TV for some video images of the attack on Zarqawi and his buddies.

It's already 10pm and I'm finally logged on. By now, everything that needed to be said about Zarqawi has been said. Still, I was compelled to post his post-mortem pic.

He really died well. Maybe too well. He looks a little too peaceful for me.

This was a good day for freedom loving people around the world, for America and for our Armed Forces. We all needed an encouraging shot in the arm. It's good to see the dead carcass of an overt perpetrator of evil. More of his ilk need to meet the same fate. The sooner, the better.

Many on the left are lamenting that Zarqawi will only be replaced by many more just like him, to which I would answer, we need to kill them as soon as we know who and where they are. They are evil and it is good when evil is utterly destroyed.

Congratulations to our dedicated troops, intelligence agencies and covert operatives who succeeded in taking this bastard out. Freedom loving, patriotic Americans salute you all.

Thank you for your incredible service to this country.

We hate the UN because of Limbaugh and Fox News?

In a fit of frustration, Mark Malloch Brown, deputy to Secretary General Kofi Annan, showed just how effete, ineffectual and inept the U.N. really is by spouting, "Americans Don't Like U.N., and its All Limbaugh's and Fox News Channel's Fault!" .

What a class act!

I guess you could infer by his statement that were it not for the New Media, we would be in the dark about what really goes on over at the U.N.

Without the New Media, we may have been totally unaware of the The UN Oil-for-Food fiasco, or the U.N. Sexual Abuse in Africa or the numerous other bouts of corruption going on over there.

Yes, we owe Rush, FoxNews and the New Media in general, a huge debt of gratitude for exposing the U.N.'s unacceptable behavior.

The Old Media would have been very, very slow to expose the corruption of one of their most trusted and loved institutions.

UPDATE: Eye on the UN is an excellent link with which to keep up with these characters. They're on top of whatever goes on there.

A Peek at Coulter's New Tome

Ann Coulter takes the opportunity to show off an exclusive bit of her new book at Townhall where she's posted the first chapter. Check out her witty prose. Here's a little tease that should warm the cockles of every leftist heart:

GODLESS: The Church of Liberalism, Chapter One
On the Seventh Day, God Rested and Liberal Schemed


'They exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator. . . . Therefore, God gave them up to passions of dishonor; for their females exchanged the natural use for that which is contrary to nature.—Romans 1:25–26'

Liberals love to boast that they are not “religious,” which is what one would expect to hear from the state-sanctioned religion. Of course liberalism is a religion. It has its own cosmology, its own miracles, its own beliefs in the supernatural, its own churches, its own high priests, its own saints, its own total worldview, and its own explanation of the existence of the universe. In other words, liberalism contains all the attributes of what is generally known as “religion.”

Under the guise of not favoring religion, liberals favor one cosmology over another and demand total indoctrination into theirs. The state religion of liberalism demands obeisance (to the National Organization for Women), tithing (to teachers’ unions), reverence (for abortion), and formulaic imprecations (“Bush lied, kids died!” “Keep your laws off my body!” “Arms for hostages!”). Everyone is taxed to support indoctrination into the state religion through the public schools, where innocent children are taught a specific belief system, rather than, say, math.

Liberal doctrines are less scientifically provable than the story of Noah’s ark, but their belief system is taught as fact in government schools, while the Biblical belief system is banned from government schools by law. As a matter of faith, liberals believe: Darwinism is a fact, people are born gay, child-molesters can be rehabilitated, recycling is a virtue, and chastity is not. If people are born gay, why hasn’t Darwinism weeded out people who don’t reproduce? (For that, we need a theory of survival of the most fabulous.) And if gays can’t change, why do liberals think child-molesters can? Pedophilia is a sexual preference. If they’re born that way, instead of rehabilitation, how about keeping them locked up? Why must children be taught that recycling is the only answer? Why aren’t we teaching children “safe littering”?

Go read the rest of her musings and then go buy the book!

Americans are turning against abortion

Here's a great piece by Robert Rinearson that I found over at Lucianne.com.

It's bad news for the pro-aborts and the libs in general:

... it was science and technology that helped me find my voice. First came ultrasound. To see the movement of a grey mass in the womb and to hear the unmistakable rhythm of a heartbeat testified that life existed. As the technology has progressed, we can now see the movement of limbs as early as eight weeks. We can witness a child develop almost from conception.

I have also viewed snapshots of fetuses that have been aborted. They are not so different from some of the more horrendous crime-scene photos I have seen. The pro-choice crowd would say I’m being sensationalist, or they might say nothing at all. They will argue that life only begins at birth.

But as the Rev. Clenard Howard Childress, director of Life Education and Resource Network, or LEARN, puts it, “If you haven’t seen what abortion does, then you will never understand what abortion actually is.” This is not an easy statement for those who turn away from the reality of abortion to spare their consciences.

Even the co-founder of the National Association for the Repeal of the Abortion Laws (NARAL), Dr. Bernard Nathanson, changed his views after coming to believe that fetology, the study of the fetus within the uterus, removed any doubt that life began at conception.

After performing 75,000 abortions, Nathanson renounced his pro-abortion beliefs and turned his back on NARAL.

But here’s the hard part for the “pro-choice” crowd: Public opinion, for decades cowed to their side, has suddenly turned against them. In a Zogby Poll, 56 percent of the 30,117 respondents agreed with one of three pro-life views: abortion should never be legal, legal only when the life of the mother is in danger, or legal in cases of rape or incest. Plus, 61 percent said no abortions should be performed after brainwaves were detected.

Despite how difficult it might be for senators such as Charles Schumer, Ted Kennedy and Patrick Leahy to accept, 71 percent of Americans disagreed with the statement that “the Senate should confirm only pro-abortion justices.”

Perhaps America is awakening to the idea that life is something to be cherished, even at the very beginning.

The left knows that abortion is no longer a winning issue on which to run. If abortion is mentioned at all in campaigns, it's couched in twisted terms like "women's health issues," which is characteristic of leftist orthodoxy in general.

They can't overtly run on higher taxes, bigger government, more socialism, weaker military and so on. They can only run on how horrible Bush is.

People may be catching on. The constant harangue against Bush has been off putting to even the most casual observer.

Unfortunately, as more people turn away from the liberal orthodoxy, the republicans are turning away from the conservative orthodoxy and are becoming more like democrats. This may be a net win for republicans, but this trend is leaving conservatives out in the cold and very frustrated.

If conservatives had some decent leadership, they would capitalize on the the weaknesses of the left, romance the Reagan democrats, marginalize the liberal republicans (McClain, Specter, Lindsey et al) and rebuild the left-leaning republican party into an unapologetic conservative powerhouse.

This Day in History: D-Day

From the History Channel:

1944 D-Day

On this day in 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the go-ahead for largest amphibious military operation in history: Operation Overlord, code-named D-Day, the Allied invasion of northern France.

By daybreak, 18,000 British and American parachutists were already on the ground. At 6:30 a.m., American troops came ashore at Utah and Omaha beaches. At Omaha, the U.S. First Division battled high seas, mist, mines, burning vehicles-and German coastal batteries, including an elite infantry division, which spewed heavy fire. Many wounded Americans ultimately drowned in the high tide. British divisions, which landed at Gold, and Sword beaches, and Canadian troops, landing at Juno beach, also met with heavy German fire, but by the end of the day they were able to push inland.

Despite the German resistance, Allied casualties overall were relatively light. The United States and Britain each lost about 1,000 men, and Canada 355. Before the day was over, 155,000 Allied troops would be in Normandy. However, the United States managed to get only half of the 14,000 vehicles and a quarter of the 14,500 tons of supplies they intended on shore.

Three factors were decisive in the success of the Allied invasion. First, German counterattacks were firm but sparse, enabling the Allies to create a broad bridgehead, or advanced position, from which they were able to build up enormous troop strength. Second, Allied air cover, which destroyed bridges over the Seine, forced the Germans to suffer long detours, and naval gunfire proved decisive in protecting the invasion troops. And third, division and confusion within the German ranks as to where the invasion would start and how best to defend their position helped the Allies. (Hitler, convinced another invasion was coming the next day east of the Seine River, refused to allow reserves to be pulled from that area.)

Some other good links to find out more about this day:

Encyclopedia Britannica's Guide to Normandy 1944

Wikipedia D-Day

Untold Stories of D-Day - National Geographic Magazine

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library

BBC - The Untold Story of D-Day

Ronald Reagan at Pointe Du Hoc -- 40th Anniversary of D-Day Address

The Exxon Valdez: the cleanup was harder on the environment than the oil

The American Thinker has an excellent piece which will discombobulate the environmentalists. In fact, they won't pay any attention to it.

You need to read it for yourself, but here's the kicker. The folks doing the clean up at the Exxon Valdez site actually did more damage to the environment than the oil spill itself.

Several areas on the Alaskan coastline were left alone so as to monitor the damage. Those areas actually fared better than the areas which were scoured by the environmental do-gooders.

This is one of those articles you'll never see in the MSM. Check it out!

I sure miss Ronald Reagan

Two years ago today Ronald Wilson Reagan died.

Here's one of many great quotes from Ronaldus Magnus:

“Whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears; to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way.”

They're just not making 'em like the 'Gipper' anymore.

God help us!


Family Observes Reagan Death Anniversary

Anxious about 6-6-06?

Don't be! Just count your blessings that Ann Coulter's new book, Godless is going to be released on this day of days.

Make a leftist crazy...buy several copies and make Ann Numero Uno on the NYTimes best seller list for weeks on end.

Today's Darwin Award Winner

An unidentified man, who really didn't know his Bible very well, crept in to a lion's den and announced to anyone who would listen that God would protect him if He exists.

Looks like God chose to protect the gene pool instead.

Today in History

Today, Sunday, June 4th is the Day of Pentecost, also known as the Feast of Weeks. For Jews, the observance is known as Shavuot. Here's an excellent link which compares the first Pentecost in the Old Testament with the first Pentecost after the death and resurrection of Christ. The parallels and contrasts are pretty interesting:

FIRST PENTECOST
The Commandments were given at Mt. Sinai
It was fifty days from the crossing of the Red Sea
Laws of God written in Stone (10 Commandments)
Three thousand slain for rebelling against God
Involved a physical covenant...the letter of the law

PENTECOST AFTER CHRIST
The Holy Spirit was given
It was fifty days from the resurrection of Christ
Laws of God written in our Hearts and Minds
Three thousand receive the Holy Spirit
Involved a spiritual covenant...the spirit of the law

"An Inconvenient Truth"

I missed this New York Post revue when it was first printed on May 24th. It's a good revue of a bad movie which very few will ever see voluntarily. Unfortunately, when it goes to video in a couple of weeks, the left will probably assign teachers to show it as a factual documentary in our schools. Get ready for that.

In the meantime, the above linked revue is all you need to know.

Web Cams to "patrol" Texas border?

DRUDGE talked about this Sunday night. Web cams could be used in Texas to monitor illegal border crossings. This could be an effective tool if everything is on the up and up. If the cams transmitted live streams 24/7, for all to see and report to the authorities, traffic could be curbed. If the cams are delayed or are few and far between, they might only give a false sense of security.

But any and all tools are welcomed to stem the flow of illegals. It's certainly worth a try!

Scientist says Global Warming is a hoax

Gotta hand it to the Dallas Morning News for featuring this piece. It's not everyday the MSM will give much space to the other side, so you have to pat them on the back when they do.
According to William Gray this warming trend, miniscule as it is, is just part of the earth's natural cycle:

I am of the opinion that this is one of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated on the American people," he said.

He has testified about this to the U.S. Senate. He has written magazine articles, given speeches, done everything he could to get the message out.

"I've been in meteorology over 50 years. I've worked damn hard, and I've been around," he said. "My feeling is some of us older guys who've been around have not been asked about this. It's sort of a baby boomer, yuppie thing."

Dr. Gray believes in observations and direct measurements. Numerical models can't be trusted. Equation pushers with fancy computers aren't the equals of scientists who fly into hurricanes.

"Few people know what I know. I've been in the tropics, I've flown in airplanes into storms. I've done studies of convection, cloud clusters and how the moist process works," he said. "I don't think anybody in the world understands how the atmosphere functions better than me."

In just three, five, maybe eight years, he said, the world will begin to cool again.

He is almost desperate to be heard. His time is short. He is 76 years old. He is howling in a maelstrom.

Since the dawn of the industrial era, atmospheric carbon dioxide has risen from about 280 to about 380 parts per million. In the past century, the average surface temperature of Earth has warmed about 1 degree Fahrenheit. Much of that warming has been in the last three decades. Regional effects can be more dramatic: The Arctic is melting at an alarming rate. Arctic sea ice is 40 percent thinner than it was in the 1970s. Glaciers in Greenland are speeding up as they slide toward the sea. A recent report shows Antarctica losing as much as 36 cubic miles of ice a year.

The 1990s were the warmest decade on record. The year 1998 set the all-time mark. This decade is on its way to setting a new standard.

All of this is part of the emerging, solidifying scientific consensus on global warming – a consensus that raises the urgent political and economic issue of climate change.

But when you step into the realm of the skeptics, you find yourself on a parallel Earth.

There is no consensus on global warming, they say. There is only abundant uncertainty.

Since the late 1980s, when oil, gas, coal, auto and chemical companies formed the Global Climate Coalition, industries have poured millions of dollars into a campaign to discredit the emerging global warming consensus. The coalition disbanded a few years ago, but the skeptic community remains.

Many skeptics work in think tanks, such as the George C. Marshall Institute or the National Center for Policy Analysis. They have the ear of leaders in the White House and on Capitol Hill.

The skeptics helped scuttle any possibility that the United States would ratify the Kyoto treaty that would have committed the nation to cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. (Conservatives object to the treaty for, among other things, not requiring reductions by developing nations such as China and India.)

Dr. Gray said the recent rash of strong hurricanes is just part of a cycle. This is part of the broader skeptical message: Climate change is normal and natural. The divisive nature of global warming isn't helped by the fact that the most powerful global-warming skeptic is President Bush, and the loudest warnings come from Al Gore.

Dr. Gray, for one, has no governor on his rhetoric. At one point during our meeting in Colorado he blurts out, "Gore believed in global warming almost as much as Hitler believed there was something wrong with the Jews."

When I opine that he is incendiary, he answers: "Yes, I am incendiary. But the other side is just as incendiary. The etiquette of science has long ago been thrown out the window."

Dr. Gray has the honor of delivering the closing remarks at the National Hurricane Conference in Orlando, Fla. "I think there's a lot of foolishness going on," Dr. Gray said as he stood before a bank of 10 TV cameras and a couple of dozen journalists.

Hurricanes aren't getting worse – we're just in an uptick of a regular cycle, he said. But the alarmists won't let anyone believe that.

"The world is boiling! It's getting worse and worse!" Dr. Gray shouts. "Hell is approaching."

The core of Dr. Gray's argument is that the warming of the past decades is a natural cycle, driven by a global ocean circulation that manifests itself in the North Atlantic as the Gulf Stream. Warm water and cool water essentially rise and fall in a rhythm lasting decades.

'I don't think this warming period of the last 30 years can keep on going," he said. "It may warm another three, five, eight years, and then it will start to cool.'

From time immemorial, as common sense dictates, we've had ice ages and warm trends...all before the presence of the evil SUV's. Go figure.

You don't have to be a scientist to know that mankind isn't the cause of whatever warming trends we are experiencing, all you need to do is look at those who are irrationally espousing such beliefs and ask yourself about their credibility.

Is Algore credible? No. Is Bill Clinton credible? Well, that all depends on what you mean by the word credible. Is the U.N. credible? What leftist organization IS credible when they tell us Global Warming is the sole fault of Western Civilization?

Get real!

Too little, too late for Conservatives?

In what appears to be an appeal to Conservatives, President Bush is talking tough on issues sensitive to those on the Right, according to a piece in USA TODAY:

Another White House event will occur next week when Bush will talk about the importance of a constitutional amendment that would bar gay marriage by defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, a major issue for social and religious conservatives.

The president is scheduled to renew his call for a line-item veto, arguing it will help him rein in the runaway federal spending that has been another nagging source of conservative discontent. Bush has also challenged the GOP-controlled Senate over extra money in a special spending bill for the costs of wars and hurricanes. The House passed a $92.2 billion measure, but the Senate added about $14 billion. 'If they bust the $92.2 billion, I'm going to veto it,' Bush said Thursday.

Bush's backing for a 'comprehensive' overhaul of immigration laws infuriates some conservatives because it includes proposals to allow illegal immigrants to work here temporarily and would permit some to seek citizenship. Recently, though, Bush has emphasized tougher border enforcement and a crackdown on companies that hire illegal immigrants, both strongly supported by conservatives. In a speech Thursday to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce here, Bush said, 'We don't have full control of this border. And I'm determined to change that.'

Conservatives may not buy the delayed rhetoric; after all, we're six years into the Bush Presidency and anything he will say next week could have been said all along.

One thing is very clear to Conservatives...Bush is not one of them.

The border problem is the most urgent problem we face. The free flow of illegals over the border each day has gone on uncontrolled for years. In fact, more illegals were interdicted and returned to Mexico during the Clinton administration than have been during the Bush administration.

Conservatives will not go along with any amnesty program in the existing Senate Bill.

It's good to see the President is finally trying to appeal to those who elected him, but Conservatives may see the effort as ineffectual lip service...too little, too late.

Couric to "humanize" the news

Katie Couric spelled out the formula of why her news show will fail. In her own words, she

"...hopes to bring a "humanistic, more accessible" approach to her job when she takes over as anchor and managing editor at "CBS Evening News" in September, she said Thursday.

Addressing the annual convention of CBS affiliates, Couric predicted that the "pretentious era" of the evening-news anchor is going to be a thing of the past.

"The audience is more sophisticated than we give them credit for -- they don't want a mechanical Ted Baxter," said Couric, whose last day as co-anchor of NBC's "Today" was Wednesday. "I'm a serious, caring, compassionate person. I hope that comes out. ... People want a multidimensional (news anchor) and not someone they can put in a box."

Those are the exact reasons I won't be watching. I want the news, just the news. Then I can apply my own whacked out commentary to whatever is going on. Just give me the facts, Katie! I'll take it from there!

Implant Tracking Chips in "Immigrants?" A slippery slope

The technology has been around for several years now and has been utilized primarily in pets. Now, LiveScience.com is reporting that Big Gov't may be looking to implant "immigrants and guest workers."

"Silverman was being interviewed on "Fox & Friends." Responding to the Bush administration's call to know "who is in our country and why they are here," he proposed using VeriChip RFID implants to register workers at the border, and then verify their identities in the workplace. He added, "We have talked to many people in Washington about using it...."

The VeriChip is a very small Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag about the size of a large grain of rice. It can be injected directly into the body; a special coating on the casing helps the VeriChip bond with living tissue and stay in place. A special RFID reader broadcasts a signal, and the antenna in the VeriChip draws power from the signal and sends its data. The VeriChip is a passive RFID tag; since it does not require a battery, it has a virtually unlimited life span."

(Question: if government operatives have the opportunity to implant illegals, wouldn't that be the time to deport them? But that's not the gist of this post.)

At the risk of sounding paranoid, this is a very slippery slope, which could lead to a national mandate in lieu of a national ID Card. This concept isn't popular right now, but far too many sheeple could easily be convinced that their safety depends on it.

I have a question totally unrelated to the innate privacy factor of this product. I'm wondering if and when products get the go ahead by Congress and other agencies, do Congressmen have an unfair advantage by being able to invest in these corporations before the rest of us? Don't they have access to invaluable insider information, or am I coming to this realization a couple of centuries too late. Surely there are rules discouraging or preventing such cronyism. Isn't there?

If government insiders know what contracts are going to be signed in advance, are they able to invest in these companies before their stock goes off the charts? Could this be one reason there is so much money in politics when it fact it pays so little?

Big Gov't suggests serving sizes for restaurants!

Because we allow them to get away with this nonsense, a report requested by the FDA and paid for by taxpayers will make suggestions to restaurants on what to include on menus and what portion sizes should be.

WASHINGTON - In the fight against obesity, restaurants should shrink portions, provide more nutritional information and bundle such calorie-laden food as burgers and pizza with healthier side dishes, according to a federally commissioned report to be made public Friday.

The report, requested and funded by the Food and Drug Administration, lays out ways to help consumers manage their intake of calories from restaurants, cafeterias and ready-to-eat meals bought at grocery stores. It does not address school meals.

'As of this decade, Americans are eating away-from-home foods more frequently and consuming more calories from away-from-home establishments than ever before,' the report says in making the case for increasing the availability of foods and drinks packed with fewer calories but more nutrients.

It's none of Big Government's damn business!

McCain-Feingold blocks Free Speech

Former Speaker of the House, and probable presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is speaking out on the unconstitutionality of the McCain-Feingold Bill, which limits political speech:

In the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson became president and swept his party into power due, in part, to the country’s overwhelming opposition to the Sedition Act of 1798. This act was a deliberate attempt by the Federalists in power to silence their political opponents.

The McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law enacted in 2002 is an equally dangerous modern-day assault on the First Amendment. It could more accurately be called the McCain-Feingold censorship law because it stifles political speech, protects incumbent politicians and consolidates power in Washington. This law is of the Congress, by the Congress, and for the Congress, because it protects members of Congress by silencing opposing points of view.

McCain-Feingold explicitly rejects James Madison’s warning in Federalist 10 that the destruction of liberty in pursuit of “curing the mischief of factions” is worse than the disease itself.

Madison and Thomas Jefferson were very sensitive to limitations on free speech because they lived through the Federalist efforts to criminalize political speech that was critical of the government. In response to the Sedition Act, Madison helped author the Virginia legislature’s resolution that declared the act unconstitutional and stated that the law 'ought to produce universal alarm, because it is leveled against that right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed, the only effectual guardian of every other right.'

How did we get to the point when bills such as this are able to get passed? Aren't people paying attention? Don't the politicians have a grasp on the constitution?

Not enough of the right people are paying attention and politicians DO have a firm grasp on the Constitution and they are steadily tossing it out the window a little at a time when we're not looking.

Then there's that pesky feeling that we're not "as safe as we could be" if Big Brother would only step in with some restrictions on the behavior of others, especially when we're not that fond of the restricted behavior; smoking, for example.

A little restriction here, a new requirement there and before you know it Big Brother is sticking his obtrusive nose into every aspect of our life whether we want him to or not.

We're there right now!

The last thing we need is encumbant politicians making laws encroaching on our beloved Constitution (which, by the way, they swore to protect and uphold) prohibiting criticism of them 60 days before election day to ensure their pitiful re-election. Shame on them!

Be sure you read all of Gingrich's piece. McCain-Feingold needs to be overturned.