F*** YOU William Arkin

Today I read the most un-American illogical asswipe bile I've ever seen in a main stream publication. William Arkin posted an opinion piece on the Washington Post website and I believe it was also printed in the LA Times that has my blood boiling. I can barely contain myself.

The best response to this crap is by Uncle Jimbo at BlackFive, a great milblog you should visit frequently.

You just need to read this stuff...If I try to explain it I'll be typing expletives every other word.

I'll leave with the very first comment little-dick Arkin's post on the Wapo site:

Too much estrogen in your diet Mr. Arkin? Called a pussy too often as a little boy? Little girls tormented you and made you play house? Did you land on your head one to many times as a toddler? The only explanation for such unadulterated crap is Penis envy because he does not have one, and cranialintrarectum from falling on his head.

Proof Global Warming is a NATURAL CYCLE

It's now a daily event.....a media story on global warming being man made! But we might as well not even try as the latest yet-to-be-released study will say the effects of man's influence on warming will last 1000 years. Wow, the sky is really falling!

And even without the release of the study some findings (I love how a study like this contains findings instead of theories...as if everything in it is a certainty) are presented in a biased form. For example one "finding" is that "the last half-century was probably the hottest in at least the past 1,300 years". Of course this is to suggest man's contribution in the last 50 yrs, easily our dirtiest period on earth has caused warming. But why 1,300 years? The supposed "experts" decided to include a 1,300 year window for some reason. It's not that we have accurate temperature measurements for that period...we only have it for about 100 years, so why? Well, it's easy to guess...if you include more time the warming we see in the last 50 yrs looks like NOTHING.

We have had several ice ages on earth...most of which saw nothing you would call a "man" or man made gases or pollution of any kind. The last ice age ended about 10,000 years ago where very thick ice extended from the north pole down into the middle of our country...AND GUESS WHAT...it warmed up...what caused that? If this study looked at our minuscule rise in average global temperature over the last 50 years as compared to the last 10,000 years it wouldn't make a case for MAN's influence...so they don't!

Most all studies are like this....include and detail only those points to fulfill your original theory. But you see, we have evidence of multiple ice ages that nobody disputes and each time we warmed considerably. That's proof of multiple natural global warming cycles.....the evidence left by the ice is solid, the evidence greenhouse gases are causing warming is not..it's far more theoretical...so tell my why you know a few degrees of warming isn't just part of the continued natural cycle of the warming from the last ice age? I feel like I need to say this every time...this isn't an argument for unchecked polution...it's an argument to stop taking everything your fed at face value!

The Clay Pigeon

Glock26 pointed me to a great article published in print in GQ (very metrosexual of you Mr. Glock) about Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn.

I love this guy....a lone wolf even in his own party.....he's been unaffected by Washington and fights to change the business as usual in D.C. where Democrats and Republicans alike sneak pork into every vote the Congress makes on spending money.

The GQ article is long, but worth the read....near the end you'll learn about the strategy calls "the Clay Pigeon" where he invokes an obscure rule forcing colleagues to debate each item in an amendment. He used this when the Senate was looking at approving $92B of emergency funding for designed to provide assistance to crisis victims (9/11, Katrina, etc.)..ok that's fair enough...but the schmucks in D.C. stuck another $14B of additional projects as pork on this thing. Coburn found the 19 most offensive strips of bacon and filed a nineteen part amendment each designed to remove one earmark. Using the obscure rule to force each of his nineteen parts to be debated on the floor he hoped to expose the idiotic thievery each represented.

Interestingly, most of these earmarks where sponsored by a Republican and yet their inclusion in the emergency funding was approved (by only 1 vote so a victory of sorts) by prominent Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy.

If you think Hillary is somehow different, not part of the Washington bullshit, a beacon of hope for sanity and doing the right thing....you gotta read at least this section of this article and ask yourself why would she vote for you and your great-great-great grandchildren going into more debt for the pork attached to emergency crisis victim funding!

Obama sees in Black & White

Personally I think Barack Obama isn't qualified to be president based on his combined business and political experience. I'm not looking to compare him to any other president, but against my view that they should have substantial experience with large and complex organizations in both private business and in government. I think that's why we often see candidates emerge who have been successful in business along with having been a governor.

I'm also not so sure the majority of the country would vote for a black, or a women, for president....I would vote for either as long as I believe them to be qualified and that I like most of their positions on the issues.

With Obama the central issue will surely be his inexperience and his race...or maybe his racial attitudes. An interesting background piece on Obama came out yesterday on Examiner.com

While each of our personal experiences form our impression of others a true leader needs to rise above the bias and color awareness most of us, including me, have. Yes, I expect my president to be better than me, to be more moral, to be more wise, to be more inclusive, to not prejudge, to be confident, to be strong.

In Obama's first memoir, “Dreams from My Father,” published only a little over 10 years ago he clearly was still wrestling with his blackness and how others saw and treated him, and how he saw and thought about those not like him. I don't blame or fault him for these feelings....it's human and based on his life experiences. But, my president must be better than that. My president must truly be color blind....at least not show this limited and bias view just 10+ short years ago. One could argue this was 10-15 years ago, he has grown....sorry, I'm still judged professionally by what I did 15-20 years ago...it's absolutely relevant.

When I think of myself I don't think of myself as a white...I just think of myself as a man.....it seems to me Obama first thought of his identity is that he is a black man.....and I suspect his first thought upon seeing me is that I am a white man...until he no longer sees in black and white he isn't presidential material.

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Then there's Joe Biden who also sees things as black and white....and apparently he thinks Obama as a black man is anomalous for a black man. Joe's says “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.” Of course, it could be given Joe's lack of articulation, brightness and good looks that he's impressed with anybody that trumps him in these areas.

Why you shouldn't send your kids to Berkeley

In the SF Bay Area those on both sides of the political spectrum often refer to Berkeley, the city, as the People's Republic of Berkeley. This label is earned not just by the city's politicians but by the fine academic university that also sits within the city. While it's not hard to show the liberal bias from Kindergarten to University graduate programs all throughout this country, the greater Bay Area won the liberal academic lottery with UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz and the University of San Francisco.

Colombian artist Francisco Botero was inspired by Seymour Hersch's version of what happened at Abu Ghraib by the hands of Americans. Mind you, facts and credible witnesses to this version of the torture by Americans aren't required. It doesn't really matter what actually happened. Much of the world was happy to hold all of America, not just the soldiers involved, at fault for what was portrayed in the actual photographs. What was in those photographs amounted to grievous crimes against humanity according to many...give me a break.

UC Berkeley was happy to display Botero's Abu Ghraib series of paintings and drawings about which he told the SF Chronicle "The whole world and myself were very shocked that the Americans were torturing prisoners in the same prison as the tyrant they came to remove," he said. "The United States presents itself as a defender of human rights and of course as an artist I was very shocked with this and angry". He says it's not anti-American, I don't agree...but it's art and I'm fine with any university or museum displaying it.....AS LONG AS...they would also display artwork showing Muslim extremists and members of Al Qaeda blowing up children on a bus with a bomb belt, or beheading a journalist, or using women and children as human bombs, and so on....of course they wouldn't show this art exhibition.

Is there even an artist willing to draw such terrible images? Likely not....it's not fashionable...or maybe most famous or talented artists have more respect for their craft. I think art should inspire, it should evoke emotion, including sadness. But in my opinion that is more appropriately done not through obvious political messages. It's easy to draw the obvious...to show a man being humiliated by showing in detail the act of his humiliation. It's much harder to paint just a man....and in his face you read a humiliation that must have fallen upon him...that's true artistry.

Our schools, first and foremost, should teach young minds how to think, how to reason, to analyze and be critical of what they encounter, to come to a truth or align with a theory on their own. Sadly, they are too often given theories as fact and are told what to think.

Gelato consumption enhances suicide risk

Most of the public suffers from reading a book by its cover. If you read that a researcher, a scientist, a medical doctor or academic has done a study and made a conclusion you will assume, like most, that's it's credible and logical.

It's simply not the case...nearly all research is funded on the premise of bias. A theory is put forward in order for those who approve the research to give a nod...or in order to get a grant. Those who give the nod, or write the checks, are addicts and their drug these days is anything Global Warming.

Take for example Global warming possibly linked to an enhanced risk of suicide! While this link is only to the abstract of this study you don't need to purchase the full study to see the absence of the link it claims. The Department of Psychology, University of Cagliari, Italy and the Genneruxi Medical Center also in Cagliari, Italy "sets out to explore the impact of global warming on suicide mortality, using data from Italy." Of course that there is global warming, and not just cyclic weather patterns, is put forward as a certainty. This pseudo linkage is a silly attempt to blame anything bad and terrible to global warming.

We shouldn't question these academics, after all they looked at suicide and temperature data, for Italy, and the "relation between them was investigated using the Gaussian low-pass filter, linear correlation analysis and rank analysis." Oh, very impressive. I'm no statistician, but I was a math major and I was an electrical design engineer early in my career. Gaussian low-pass filters are common in signal processing but not in statistical analysis....I couldn't even find a reference where Gaussian filters, which smooth not so smooth data, are used for statistics.

As for the other methods...sure those are fine....but a statistical correlation of data from two systems doesn't make them linked in reality...it just says there data behaves similarly, when one goes up the other does as well. It could be that Italy sees more summertime suicides because the weather is conducive to people venturing out of doors thus leaving those who are depressed alone more than in the cold of winter. Lot's of things happen in summertime that don't happen in winter, so would you conclude that Gelato consumption also enhances the risk of suicide? You might as well say everything that increases in the summertime is caused by global warming, or by anything else on the list of increasing summertime things! What a joke!

Also interesting....that on Drudge today there's news of a coming U.N. climate report that will "shock the world"....this at the same time that weather news around the globe has winter in full swing just where it should be....with record lows, record snow fall, and so on.

Meet the new Christ

Just when you thought the PR machine around Tom Cruise had thought better of his shortness being overly exposed as part of Scientology we hear he's Scientology's Jesus!

Of course the Scientologist think Tom is the "chosen one" and will spread the word of the evil Xenu and how we all must rid ourselves of thetans. And of course in the future Cruise will be worshiped like Jesus....ya duh, that's all obvious.....I'm just wondering if he has a new movie coming out!

Cruise be with you, and also with you!

Whites not allowed

It's a bit like a boy wanting to join the Girl Scout's! I don't understand why the newly elected Representative from Tennessee, Democrat Stephen I. Cohen who is white, even considered for a moment that he might join the Congressional Black Caucus. But no matter, a white is not welcome to do so. And is there a Congressional White Caucus? Why not?

I received an email a few weeks ago from a friend that was one of those emails people are urged to pass around. This one was about the hypocrisy of many, so called, minorities who have a hypocritical view of what is appropriate for them versus, so called, whites!

I don't believe true racist attitudes are dominate in America...sure there are stereotypes that people hold, but if we call that racism then some of those who claim to be its constant victim need to rethink things.

Why is ok for there to be a United Negro College Fund and not a United Caucasian College Fund? Or how about the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, would you be ok with the National Association for the Advancement of Caucasian People? Is ok for me to call blacks "negro" and "colored"?

Why is ok for there to a Black History Month, Black Entertainment Television (BET) or Gay Pride Day? Can we have a White History Month, WET and White Pride Day?

There are all kinds of black, African-American, Hispanic, Asian and other race labeled organizations in every community. But, if there was a Caucasian or white versions of these organizations with the same goals...that is to be advocates for, to advance the standing of, those Caucasians and whites....it would be racist. Apparently only whites are racist.

Fact Nazi - The Global Warming non-debate

Instead of an honest Global Warming debate what we are seeing lately is the equivalent of the Seinfeld show soup Nazi "No Soup For You". Unfortunately most of the general public swallows whole what the media, politicians and entertainers fling at them. Well, let's qualify that....that is if they already agree with the idea being flung. After all, if for whatever reason, you want something to be true why bother considering information that contradicts your "convenient truth".

I can give you many examples of how those on the left suffer from this affliction far more than those on the right. You can find them easily enough if you're willing to be intellectually honest, but I'll stick to global warming for now. People unwilling to do any reading, any research beyond a movie or the last newspaper they read, assume those of us who challenge man's participation in warming don't care about the environment or just want to protect big oil. You know, Bush was in oil, his buddies are in oil, so we are all blindly against anything that might be bad for big oil!

It's funny, the left likes to portray the right as being intolerant...uh, HELLO, anybody paying attention here? This week we saw the unhinged attitude towards debate, and facts, displayed by an intolerant on air personality on the Weather Channel, a Dr. Heidi Cullen. You see Heidi thinks the American Meteorological Society should pull their certification from weatherman "who expresses skepticism that human activity is creating a climate catastrophe". Note that Heidi's show, The Climate Code, on the Weather Channel is all about global warming. Some good reading on Heidi's intolerant "no facts for you" story, links to official Weather Channel response, and debate are here!

Apparently Al Gore also runs from debate and from considering all the facts. Al's version of "no facts for you" is the omission of facts, as well as exaggeration bordering on fabrication, in his one sided movie. I've read many reviews of Al's movie, and also heard the "moving" reaction to its message from family and friends. Why is it they, you, anybody assumes the movies content is factual? Why is it an indisputable fact and not a theory that human, versus natures, created green house gases have caused warming in the last several decades?

Read the link above...it's not a very long piece...it's just one example of a very reasoned and tolerant skepitism in this debate. If you're not willing to research and refute credible information that conflicts with your position, well then, what kind of position do you have? So instead, those who can't deal with ALL the facts put there blinders on and compare people like me to Holocaust Deniers! Other than Bush-disdainia or big oil=Republican connection I don't see why man's role in global warming is a political issue. But it seems that those on the left are lining up with the side that doesn't want to consider all facts, or have honest debate, or embrace free speech that conflicts with their ideology.

Can Democrat women get away with murder?

Could you imagine the media firestorm if President Bush had initiated an organized work stoppage for himself and a large number of his staff in order to watch a college football game? Or how about if he somehow used the fact that a female Democrat was single and childless as part of an argument that she had less in the game in discussing military matters? Or replace Bush for any Republican in this hypothetical and how would the media react? However, if it's Nancy Pelosi or Barbara Boxer you essentially get a pass from the media.

Pelosi and her fellow "we're not business as usual" Democrats decided the business of the people was less important than a college football game and let themselves off work. I'm sure millions of fireman, policeman, postal workers, auto workers, you, me and every other American would have liked their boss to say "hey, what are you doing here? Hit the nearest bar and watch the BCS championship game on me!". Then there's Pelosi's funny new calendar math. She and her party made a big deal of what they were going to do in the first 100 hours of the new congress, but apparently she's only counting "legislative hours" whatever that means.

Worse was Boxer's pathetic exchange with Secretary of State Rice over the Iraq war during an appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Boxer indirectly, but with clear meaning, made the point to Rice that she couldn't understand the price of war being single and childless. There is a 100% certainty that the media and members of the Democratic Party would be in an uproar demanding apologies and resignation if a Republican lawmaker had done this.

And yet, the MSM is relatively silent. Google searches on both of these stories (at the time of my post) shows little coverage and no outrage...the hypocrisy of the media, and of Democrats, to not demand high standards of Democrats is laughable in the wake of the rhetoric in this last election.

Why Jefferson owned a Quran

When I heard newly elected Congressman Keith Ellison was to be sworn in while putting his hand on a Quran, and not a Bible, I wasn't too bothered.

Frankly I don't think this ceremony should involve any religious text...they should probably just raise their right hand and pledge their allegiance to our country and constitution. But today I learned, via an excellent piece by Ted Sampley, that Ellison didn't use his personal copy of the Quran, he used a copy that was owned by Thomas Jefferson which the Library of Congress loaned him for the occasion.

Obviously this was done to try and lessen the eye brow raising caused by Ellison using the book mostly frequently carried and quoted by terrorists the world over. Ellison commented saying he chose to use Jefferson's Quran because it showed that "a visionary like Jefferson" believed that wisdom could be gleaned from many sources.

But, if Sampley is correct, Ellison while factually correct that Jefferson owned this text to glean wisdom, I suspect he didn't understand Jefferson's motivation for doing so. After declaring our independence from the British we lost the protection of their navy for our trade routes in the Mediterranean. Sampley says American ships were attacked and their Christian crews enslaved by Muslim pirates operating under the control of the "Dey of Algiers"--an Islamist warlord ruling Algeria.

Others in our fledgling government wanted to pay tribute (ransom to free our people and to clear our way) but Jefferson knew there was no negotiating with those who followed the writings in the Quran. He and John Adams had previously met with an ambassador of the Dey of Algiers and asked him why Muslims held so much hostility towards America, a nation with which they had no previous contacts. Sampley then tells us that at a meeting with the American Congress the two future Presidents revealed that this Muslim leader answered this question with

Islam was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Quran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman (Muslim) who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise.

Jefferson knew that military force was required to solve the problem in the Mediterranean and did just that when he became president. Read Sampley's entire piece...it's worth it. Jefferson's Quran, and the words of the Dey of Algiers ambassador, are likely what led him to the conclusion this was an ideology rooted in hatred and barbarism. Religious devotion so misguided Jefferson knew only war would stifle it. Jefferson owned a Quran to glean wisdom on how to defeat our enemy.

Glock 26 pointed me to a WSJ's OpinionJournal post titled Why They Fight . In it, Peter Wehner, gives an excellent historical overview of Islam and in particular the Shia and Sunni factions. The extremists within these two groups are the bulk of the Islamic problem we must face. It's interesting that in the hundreds of years since Jefferson faced followers of the Quran not much has changed. Wehner reaches the same conclusion as Jefferson, as would any reasonable person in looking at the history. I believe as Wehner does that We will either defeat them, or they will come after us with the unsheathed sword.

Rewarding Law Breakers - illegal aliens

I wouldn't have believed it if someone had told me. It couldn't be true that Bush and our government would create a way (is it a law or not?) that an illegal alien who, thru some mechanism, becomes legal would be able to count their time as an illegal towards Social Security benefits. WHAT?

Wait it gets better...and we reached this so called "agreement" with Mexico. WHAT?

I can't explain this complete and total lunacy. Has everyone lost their mind. I see no logical reason, no argument even using fairness as a guide that would bring one to such an idea.

We should be eliminating, and not creating, ways by which those who break the law actually get some benefit for doing so. Sometime in 2006 I heard another lame brain idea related to converting illegals to legal status. You would pay a fine, and would have to pay back taxes....but if you were here illegally for 5 years you would only have to pay back taxes for 2 of them!

Can you imagine if a citizen was given the option of only paying taxes against 2 years out of any 5 year period? Or if you could just say I realize you weren't aware of it, but I was working for 10 years where I didn't make FICA contributions but now I want credit as if I did? This makes total sense....TO LAW BREAKERS!

Our laws are to protect those who follow them and punish those who don't. This is ass-backwards.

Starting with the Left Foot

As the Democrats step into the power position in the new Congress we are about to see what they're made of. An incoming comment from Pelosi was "Democrats are prepared to govern and ready to lead". We shall see, and hope!

I'm not suggesting that a Republican majority has previously, or would have this time, had a better set of initial priorities but terrorism, and our security, are de-emphasized with the Democrats.

As I understand it top priorities in the first 100 hours include ethics rules changes, raising the minimum wage, allowing more stem cell research and cutting interest rates on student loans.

Wow...nicely done Nancy and friends...lets take those one at a time:

Ethics: Sure, fine..but how first not allowing an ethically challenge John Conyers to assume the chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee.

Minimum Wage: Oh, great idea...the never ending attempt by liberals to redistribute wealth and encourage those who don't strive to make something better of themselves. Minimum wage jobs shouldn't support a family. These are the jobs that should be done by high school teenagers and college students.

Stem Cells: That's on the top of every concerned American's list...way to go!

Student Loans: Ya, great....heaven forbid we create an environment where Universities lower tuition and aren't lining their pockets on ever increasing endowments....let's instead have all of us in the top 3%, who pay 97% of the IRS revenues, pay for everyone to go to college. These student loan holders need a break...it's a big issue for this country! :) .I suspect this is on the list because the first wave of those with serious student loans balances are coming of age (40-ish). If you're sitting on a student loan you should pay it off and at a market interest rate...you knew what you were doing when you got that loan. You could have always looked for a school with a lower tuition. How anybody would include this in a short list of important first-do issues is beyond me!

The media and liberal talking heads in this country have done a fantastic job keeping the disaster of Iraq in the headlines. The public has become numb to the actual reality of Islamic extremists the world over. The over exposure of our efforts in Iraq have somehow erased the threat of terrorism from the consciousness of Liberals and plenty of Conservatives. God help us!

It's also interesting that the Democrats say on day two they will look at rules changes requiring that new spending or tax cuts be paid for.....so apparently they believe that every single government program is sacred, appropriate and efficiently run....the dollars spent must be the same no matter what? They apparently still don't get that the IRS gets more revenue when both personal, and corporate, tax rules and rates promote the movement (spending) of money.

The Democrats are making a priority of frivolous and bank breaking agenda items that are popular with those who are more socialist than American. Look at John Edward's statement of this week that it's more important to invest in universal health care and lifting people out of poverty than to reduce the budget deficit.

Many liberals rightfully pointed out the deficit increases under Republican leadership, but now that the elections are done with they put that leftist foot forward on a path to bankrupt this country...of course if we drop the ball on our security it won't matter.