An article in The Economist implies that the Republicans have engineered a Catholic takeover of the Supreme Court, as part of its long range plan to capture the catholic vote. Conservative Catholics have allied with Protestant Evangelicals over things like Abortion and Family Values.
Thus, men like Alito are nominated.
There is an old saying - when the gods really hate you, they grant your wishes.
What happens, I wonder, when the laws are changed?
A not-insignificant number of evangelicals consider the Catholic church to be the tool of the anti-Christ. A lot of Catholics don't consider Protestants to be "saved".
When the rulings they are both after become fact - something that could come about before the end of Bush's term of office - will the two allies part company?
If so, the Republicans will have loaded the court and gained nothing.
The Pope has already come out against Bush policies once. I wonder whether the Catholics on the Supreme Court are willing to support Bush over the Pope.
I wonder what Bush's reaction will be if he finds out he has turned the Third Arm of the Government over to the Pope?
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Friday, January 27, 2006
Syria has the WMD.
From Blogs for Bush:
The man who served as the no. 2 official in Saddam Hussein's air force says Iraq moved weapons of mass destruction into Syria before the war by loading the weapons into civilian aircraft in which the passenger seats were removed.
He says this in his new book, Saddam's Secrets, which is now likely to enjoy a GOP surge in sales comparable to that book Osama boosted a few days ago.
I suspect that if Syria really did have WMD, the Bush government would have done something by now - if it were really serious about such things.
Anyway, now I guess we've got something on everybody over there. Iran has nukes, Syria has WMD, Palestine is ruled by Hamas, . . . we've got justification to do anything anywhere in the Middle East.
The man who served as the no. 2 official in Saddam Hussein's air force says Iraq moved weapons of mass destruction into Syria before the war by loading the weapons into civilian aircraft in which the passenger seats were removed.
He says this in his new book, Saddam's Secrets, which is now likely to enjoy a GOP surge in sales comparable to that book Osama boosted a few days ago.
I suspect that if Syria really did have WMD, the Bush government would have done something by now - if it were really serious about such things.
Anyway, now I guess we've got something on everybody over there. Iran has nukes, Syria has WMD, Palestine is ruled by Hamas, . . . we've got justification to do anything anywhere in the Middle East.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Elections in Palestine
The Palistinian elections are drawing to a close, with Hamas a close second to Arafat's ruling Fatah party. Voters stated that they wanted to punish Fatah for it's 12 year history of corruption.
Sounds like the Canadian election. I wonder if this is the start of a trend?
Sounds like the Canadian election. I wonder if this is the start of a trend?
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Rebuilding Canada's Military
Canada's new Prime Minister, Steven Harper, has several big jobs ahead of him. One of the hardest and most expensive will also be one of the easiest and most rewarding.
Rebuilding the Canadian military.
Canada has a superb body of troops; well disciplined, well trained, well motivated - and saddled with equipment no self-respecting Third World nation would keep around. The latest acquisition was a set of leaky second hand submarines, one of which nearly went down for the final time during delivery.
The Liberals never really believed in the military. They were content in the fact that the US would never allow an invasion by a foreign power, since it would endanger the US as well. Therefore, the ruling party felt it could safely earmark military funding for more appropriate uses - like patronage.
As a result, the Canadian Armed Forces are equipped with leaking subs, ships with metal fatigue, 20 year old tanks, unarmored patrol vehicles, and obsolete everything.
Fortunately - perversely - this helps.
The Harper government now has reason to scrap everything - start from the ground up. New planes. New guns.
After 20 years of Liberal multi-million dollar make-work programs in the Maritime provinces, that lasted a year each, the Conservatives can set up a military shipyard and build state of the art patrol ships. They could retire the current (hah!) fleet, and re-equip the navy with vessels that can do the job.
Unlike the NATO powers, who must rework their anti-Russian forces into anti-terrorist forces somehow, the Canadian army can just rebuild straight into a 21st century military.
Let's see if Harper and his people are smart enough to see the possibilities.
The Small Town Hick also blogs on The Blogger News Network.
Rebuilding the Canadian military.
Canada has a superb body of troops; well disciplined, well trained, well motivated - and saddled with equipment no self-respecting Third World nation would keep around. The latest acquisition was a set of leaky second hand submarines, one of which nearly went down for the final time during delivery.
The Liberals never really believed in the military. They were content in the fact that the US would never allow an invasion by a foreign power, since it would endanger the US as well. Therefore, the ruling party felt it could safely earmark military funding for more appropriate uses - like patronage.
As a result, the Canadian Armed Forces are equipped with leaking subs, ships with metal fatigue, 20 year old tanks, unarmored patrol vehicles, and obsolete everything.
Fortunately - perversely - this helps.
The Harper government now has reason to scrap everything - start from the ground up. New planes. New guns.
After 20 years of Liberal multi-million dollar make-work programs in the Maritime provinces, that lasted a year each, the Conservatives can set up a military shipyard and build state of the art patrol ships. They could retire the current (hah!) fleet, and re-equip the navy with vessels that can do the job.
Unlike the NATO powers, who must rework their anti-Russian forces into anti-terrorist forces somehow, the Canadian army can just rebuild straight into a 21st century military.
Let's see if Harper and his people are smart enough to see the possibilities.
The Small Town Hick also blogs on The Blogger News Network.
Monday, January 23, 2006
The Canadian Election
The Conservative Party of Canada has won, with a total of 124 seats. The Loyal Opposition will be the Liberals, with 103 seats. Bloc 51, NDP 29.
For the sake of all those readers out there in the heartland of America who don't keep up with Canadian politics, a short explanation.
The two main parties are the Liberals and the Conservatives - the equivalent of the Democrats and the Republicans.
Here's what you need to know about the Liberals. They have been in power, barring a few politically humorous interludes, since Nixon. They have become arrogant and corrupt. They considered control of Canada to be somewhere between a birthright and a sure thing. The last Prime Minister, Paul Martin, executed a political coup to gain control of the party. They have just been implicated in one of the biggest patronage scandals in the nation's history - just the latest in a string of scandals lasting over a decade.
Here's what you need to know about the Conservatives. They couldn't win a majority while running against the Ottawa Thieves' Guild.
The party, as it is today, is a fusion between the moribund Progressive Conservatives, a backbiting group that hasn't had a strategy since the early 60s, and the Reform Party, an American style right wing fundamentalist party started in Alberta, aka Texas North. The oil-rich cowboys of the Canadian West were tired of being controlled by the white collar East, and created their own party to take control.
Now, they've got it. Sort of.
There are two other parties. The Bloc Quebecois is the latest version of the Quebec seperatist movement. Imagine if America's southern states created a Confederacy Party, running on a platform of secession from the Union. That's the Bloc in a nutshell. It makes Canada unique among all Western Powers in that its government has its own self-destruct mechanism.
The other party, the NDP, consists of everyone who wouldn't join the Liberals because they weren't far enough to the left. They are probably the main reason for the Liberal success over the last few decades - all the tree huggers and fuzzy thinkers that have plagued other left wing parties like the Democrats, driving away the moderates, all left and created their own party.
Now look at the vote figures again.
In Canadian politics, the magic number is 155. That is the number for a majority vote.
Notice that of the four parties in power, only two can control a majority between them, other than that of the two main parties. That is the Conservatives and the Bloc.
This probably means that, to stay in power, the Conservatives are going to have to appease the Quebec seperatists.
But note, also, that to defeat the Conservatives, the Liberals must have the support of both the Bloc and the NDP - both of whom are going to be acting as power brokers for the next few years. The Far Left and the Self-Destruct Mechanism - the DealMakers and DealBreakers.
Just remember that, next time you hear "interesting" news out of Canada.
For the sake of all those readers out there in the heartland of America who don't keep up with Canadian politics, a short explanation.
The two main parties are the Liberals and the Conservatives - the equivalent of the Democrats and the Republicans.
Here's what you need to know about the Liberals. They have been in power, barring a few politically humorous interludes, since Nixon. They have become arrogant and corrupt. They considered control of Canada to be somewhere between a birthright and a sure thing. The last Prime Minister, Paul Martin, executed a political coup to gain control of the party. They have just been implicated in one of the biggest patronage scandals in the nation's history - just the latest in a string of scandals lasting over a decade.
Here's what you need to know about the Conservatives. They couldn't win a majority while running against the Ottawa Thieves' Guild.
The party, as it is today, is a fusion between the moribund Progressive Conservatives, a backbiting group that hasn't had a strategy since the early 60s, and the Reform Party, an American style right wing fundamentalist party started in Alberta, aka Texas North. The oil-rich cowboys of the Canadian West were tired of being controlled by the white collar East, and created their own party to take control.
Now, they've got it. Sort of.
There are two other parties. The Bloc Quebecois is the latest version of the Quebec seperatist movement. Imagine if America's southern states created a Confederacy Party, running on a platform of secession from the Union. That's the Bloc in a nutshell. It makes Canada unique among all Western Powers in that its government has its own self-destruct mechanism.
The other party, the NDP, consists of everyone who wouldn't join the Liberals because they weren't far enough to the left. They are probably the main reason for the Liberal success over the last few decades - all the tree huggers and fuzzy thinkers that have plagued other left wing parties like the Democrats, driving away the moderates, all left and created their own party.
Now look at the vote figures again.
In Canadian politics, the magic number is 155. That is the number for a majority vote.
Notice that of the four parties in power, only two can control a majority between them, other than that of the two main parties. That is the Conservatives and the Bloc.
This probably means that, to stay in power, the Conservatives are going to have to appease the Quebec seperatists.
But note, also, that to defeat the Conservatives, the Liberals must have the support of both the Bloc and the NDP - both of whom are going to be acting as power brokers for the next few years. The Far Left and the Self-Destruct Mechanism - the DealMakers and DealBreakers.
Just remember that, next time you hear "interesting" news out of Canada.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
A Post 9/11 View of the World
"Republicans have a post-9/11 view of the world. And Democrats have a pre-9/11 view of the world. That doesn't make them unpatriotic, not at all. But it does make them wrong -- deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong." Karl Rove said today.
What is a post 9/11 view of the world, Mr. Rove?
It isn't the idea that someone out there hates America, Mr Rove. Even the Small Town Hick read Lederer's The Ugly American when his was young - and the book's been around since the 50s.
Is it the idea that somebody out there can actually hurt SuperCountry? Has the World's Only Superpower discovered that most of the world's nations has a stock of kryptonite?
I think that everybody, from the farthest left appeaser to the farthest right apocalyptic, knows that now. So, no, I don't think that this is what Mr. Rove was thinking of.
No, I suspect that Mr. Rove's view of the world, post 9/11, is that only strength counts. You can't talk with these people, you can only shoot them. Might is Right.
Wrong.
Civilization depends on talking with people. Even Ghengis Khan didn't kill everybody, even Hitler negotiated.
The Rove post-9/11 view of the world is a cowboy sitting at the door of his house, rifle in hand, peering out into the darkness. He's told the womenfolk and hands that this is Injun Territory, and that the woods are probably full of savages, waiting to charge in and kill them all. He hasn't done much of a job of barring the doors and windows, everything he does do, whether the hands like it or not, is always excused with the comment "You want the injuns to get you?" Inside, he is hoping that the cavalry has done its job of keeping the injuns busy; he may even believe it. Thing is, he won't know until the first face peers in through the window, whether he is safe or not. And of course, by that time it's too late.
However, the Rove view doesn't allow any other course. No peace pipe, no bars on the window, no detatchment of cavalry kept nearby, no asking the neighbors for help. Stubborn old coot.
And while he's in control, that's how it's going to stay.
Let's hope he's right. If he's not, . . .
What is a post 9/11 view of the world, Mr. Rove?
It isn't the idea that someone out there hates America, Mr Rove. Even the Small Town Hick read Lederer's The Ugly American when his was young - and the book's been around since the 50s.
Is it the idea that somebody out there can actually hurt SuperCountry? Has the World's Only Superpower discovered that most of the world's nations has a stock of kryptonite?
I think that everybody, from the farthest left appeaser to the farthest right apocalyptic, knows that now. So, no, I don't think that this is what Mr. Rove was thinking of.
No, I suspect that Mr. Rove's view of the world, post 9/11, is that only strength counts. You can't talk with these people, you can only shoot them. Might is Right.
Wrong.
Civilization depends on talking with people. Even Ghengis Khan didn't kill everybody, even Hitler negotiated.
The Rove post-9/11 view of the world is a cowboy sitting at the door of his house, rifle in hand, peering out into the darkness. He's told the womenfolk and hands that this is Injun Territory, and that the woods are probably full of savages, waiting to charge in and kill them all. He hasn't done much of a job of barring the doors and windows, everything he does do, whether the hands like it or not, is always excused with the comment "You want the injuns to get you?" Inside, he is hoping that the cavalry has done its job of keeping the injuns busy; he may even believe it. Thing is, he won't know until the first face peers in through the window, whether he is safe or not. And of course, by that time it's too late.
However, the Rove view doesn't allow any other course. No peace pipe, no bars on the window, no detatchment of cavalry kept nearby, no asking the neighbors for help. Stubborn old coot.
And while he's in control, that's how it's going to stay.
Let's hope he's right. If he's not, . . .
Thursday, January 19, 2006
The Osama tape
By now, you've all heard that Osama bin Ladin has released another tape to the media.
In this one, he offers a truce, stating that Americans don't really want a war, and threatens another terrorist act within America itself.
Let's look at these two statements.
1) The offer of a truce has been touted on the right wing blogs as Osama giving up. Yeah, right. He's running out of suicide bombers and Number 2 men. Much more likely he wants to regain control there in Iraq. If you haven't noticed, the bombs haven't been aimed at Americans much anymore - they've been aimed at civilians. That's the trouble with living in a cave, incommunicado - your people start taking the initiative.
2) The right has also been laughing off the threat, when they've paid any attention at all to it. The futile posturing of a defeated man, they say. Perhaps. But if he DOES have something set up, this is the time to use it. Bush has labeled himself as the war president. Whenever anyone has asked him about the scandals that have risen up around him and his government, he brings up 9/11, the war on terrorism, and his devotion to winning it.
It was his image as warrior that won his re-election; people saw him as a better protector than Kerry.
A successful terrorist attack, right now, on US soil, could very well ruin him. It would crush his last talking points, and those of his party.
Which is what makes the timing so interesting. The NSA scandal is in full swing, and the Congressional elections are at hand. Proving that the NSA wiretaps were useless - didn't stop bin Laden! - and that the Republicans had frittered away the last 4 years doing nothing for security, would probably mean a Democrat majority in the House.
Which could mean a hostile government that would hound Bush and his people right out of office.
I don't know about you, but I'm staying away from monuments until after the next election.
In this one, he offers a truce, stating that Americans don't really want a war, and threatens another terrorist act within America itself.
Let's look at these two statements.
1) The offer of a truce has been touted on the right wing blogs as Osama giving up. Yeah, right. He's running out of suicide bombers and Number 2 men. Much more likely he wants to regain control there in Iraq. If you haven't noticed, the bombs haven't been aimed at Americans much anymore - they've been aimed at civilians. That's the trouble with living in a cave, incommunicado - your people start taking the initiative.
2) The right has also been laughing off the threat, when they've paid any attention at all to it. The futile posturing of a defeated man, they say. Perhaps. But if he DOES have something set up, this is the time to use it. Bush has labeled himself as the war president. Whenever anyone has asked him about the scandals that have risen up around him and his government, he brings up 9/11, the war on terrorism, and his devotion to winning it.
It was his image as warrior that won his re-election; people saw him as a better protector than Kerry.
A successful terrorist attack, right now, on US soil, could very well ruin him. It would crush his last talking points, and those of his party.
Which is what makes the timing so interesting. The NSA scandal is in full swing, and the Congressional elections are at hand. Proving that the NSA wiretaps were useless - didn't stop bin Laden! - and that the Republicans had frittered away the last 4 years doing nothing for security, would probably mean a Democrat majority in the House.
Which could mean a hostile government that would hound Bush and his people right out of office.
I don't know about you, but I'm staying away from monuments until after the next election.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Martin Luther King - the legacy. Maybe.
January 20 is the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. I have been reading many blogs that have "celebrated" this holiday.
April 4th might be a more appropriate day to remember Dr. King. It was the day of his death. And for years now they have been trying to kill off his legacy.
In the last week I have read about how MLK would have hated affirmative action, fought against quotas in universities, and supported the war in Iraq. Nice that he's not around to dispute these opinions, isn't it.
Martin Luther King wanted people - all people - to be treated like people. He would have hated affirmative action but he would have supported it as well, until its job was done. He would have fought against private schools and breaks for the rich while the poor couldn't get medical treatment.
But the vast majority of pundits don't care anymore what HE wanted. They use his reputation, his arguments, to promote their own positions.
Yes, I think most of those in power right now would like to celebrate his death, rather than his birth - because April 4th was the day his name and reputation became theirs, to do with as they wished.
April 4th might be a more appropriate day to remember Dr. King. It was the day of his death. And for years now they have been trying to kill off his legacy.
In the last week I have read about how MLK would have hated affirmative action, fought against quotas in universities, and supported the war in Iraq. Nice that he's not around to dispute these opinions, isn't it.
Martin Luther King wanted people - all people - to be treated like people. He would have hated affirmative action but he would have supported it as well, until its job was done. He would have fought against private schools and breaks for the rich while the poor couldn't get medical treatment.
But the vast majority of pundits don't care anymore what HE wanted. They use his reputation, his arguments, to promote their own positions.
Yes, I think most of those in power right now would like to celebrate his death, rather than his birth - because April 4th was the day his name and reputation became theirs, to do with as they wished.
Monday, January 16, 2006
The Nature of Conservative thought
I just read an interesting post on the conservative way of thought here.
I decided to test it by checking out the local conservative blogs.
Blogs:
Blogs For Bush: latest topics
A Tale of Two Cities (Alito post)
Blogger Conference Call with Reps. Chocola & Barrett
B4B Podcast: Episode 1
Hitting Below The Beltway Blogroll
Party Likes It's 2006
Alito Heads Towards Easy Confirmation
Iranian Bluster
Liberal Delusions On Alito
On Pundit Review Radio Tonight
Little Green Footballs: Latest topics
Egypt Denounces Iran's Manhattan Project
The Hebron Riots
Markos vs. Sullivan
Democracy Palestinian Style
"May Allah Destroy Her"
The Right Wing News: Latest topics
The Democratic Underground Post Of The Day: The Dems Are America's Sunnis?
The Gang-Of-14 Deal Was Good For The GOP? Get Serious...
Harry Reid's Abramoff Problem
GPS Devices For Guns?
Animal Loving Freaks By Alan Caruba
Ogre's Politics and News: Latest topics
Eating Cake (humor)
Martin Luther King Day
Guard Our Borders!
How Bad Do You Want Freedom?
Charlotte Observer Hates Free Speech
NC Lawmakers Want Cash (anti-lobbyst)
USS Clinton (funny picture)
Just Wondering (Pat Robertson post)
Kyoto Treaty is Dead
Right On!: Latest topics
Can We Quote you On That? (Iran)
WalMart
Wow (Islam)
A Middle American View on Politics
A Soldier's Point of View
Conservative Trail Head: Latest topics
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Nuclear Iran
Abortion Transition
When is Abortion OK?
Dems Win - DeLay Out!
Look for yourselves.
What do you think?
I decided to test it by checking out the local conservative blogs.
Blogs:
Blogs For Bush: latest topics
A Tale of Two Cities (Alito post)
Blogger Conference Call with Reps. Chocola & Barrett
B4B Podcast: Episode 1
Hitting Below The Beltway Blogroll
Party Likes It's 2006
Alito Heads Towards Easy Confirmation
Iranian Bluster
Liberal Delusions On Alito
On Pundit Review Radio Tonight
Little Green Footballs: Latest topics
Egypt Denounces Iran's Manhattan Project
The Hebron Riots
Markos vs. Sullivan
Democracy Palestinian Style
"May Allah Destroy Her"
The Right Wing News: Latest topics
The Democratic Underground Post Of The Day: The Dems Are America's Sunnis?
The Gang-Of-14 Deal Was Good For The GOP? Get Serious...
Harry Reid's Abramoff Problem
GPS Devices For Guns?
Animal Loving Freaks By Alan Caruba
Ogre's Politics and News: Latest topics
Eating Cake (humor)
Martin Luther King Day
Guard Our Borders!
How Bad Do You Want Freedom?
Charlotte Observer Hates Free Speech
NC Lawmakers Want Cash (anti-lobbyst)
USS Clinton (funny picture)
Just Wondering (Pat Robertson post)
Kyoto Treaty is Dead
Right On!: Latest topics
Can We Quote you On That? (Iran)
WalMart
Wow (Islam)
A Middle American View on Politics
A Soldier's Point of View
Conservative Trail Head: Latest topics
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Nuclear Iran
Abortion Transition
When is Abortion OK?
Dems Win - DeLay Out!
Look for yourselves.
What do you think?
Sunday, January 15, 2006
The spies who couldn't shoot straight.
In the middle of a firestorm about NSA spying, comes a failed attack in Pakistan.
Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was supposedly in the village of Damadola.
Unfortunately, the intelligence was wrong. He was not in the village when the CIA-ordered airstrike killed 18 people - none of them terrorists.
Senator Evan Bayh told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" that the problem was that the Pakistani government was unable to control that part of the country. Wrong. The problem is that America is firing blind - it cannot find its enemy, so it shoots anything that rustles in the grass.
The apologists who have been touting the Iraq war as being about fighting the enemy over there so that we don't have to fight them over here, have been silent on the correlation between the NSA story and the Pakistani tragedy.
One says that they may be here anyway - why else spy on US phone calls? The other says we don't know where they are, and can't keep them under observation for very long.
That doesn't sound reassuring. The news that the terrorists are switching to disposable cell phones is even more depressing. How do we fight an enemy we can't find?
Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was supposedly in the village of Damadola.
Unfortunately, the intelligence was wrong. He was not in the village when the CIA-ordered airstrike killed 18 people - none of them terrorists.
Senator Evan Bayh told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" that the problem was that the Pakistani government was unable to control that part of the country. Wrong. The problem is that America is firing blind - it cannot find its enemy, so it shoots anything that rustles in the grass.
The apologists who have been touting the Iraq war as being about fighting the enemy over there so that we don't have to fight them over here, have been silent on the correlation between the NSA story and the Pakistani tragedy.
One says that they may be here anyway - why else spy on US phone calls? The other says we don't know where they are, and can't keep them under observation for very long.
That doesn't sound reassuring. The news that the terrorists are switching to disposable cell phones is even more depressing. How do we fight an enemy we can't find?
King George
President George W. Bush has in his possession executive orders giving him absolute dictatorial power over the government. These “national security initiatives” were put into place by Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. President Reagan signed off on the initiatives and they have remained in place, dormant, until now. They would allow Bush to impose martial law, institute mass arrests of "subversive" individuals, and send troops into the streets.
Afraid yet?
Afraid yet?
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Gun Safes not safe
There's a new sport in Canada, and it doesn't involve ice.
Organized groups are breaking into the homes of known gun collectors and robbing their gun safes.
If this were a matter of them getting away with some museum quality muskets and WWII Lugers, it would be bad enough. but these gangs are getting ahold of some serious modern weaponry.
Just as an example, two of the weapons netted in a recent robbery were Steyr AUG assault rifles - modern military weapons.
These guns are turning up in the hands of Toronto gangs, and have been pushing the Toronto homicide levels up.
These were not easy targets. The rifles mentioned above were taken from a 770 lb safe. These people are capable of breaking into any storage facility.
Is this a problem for the States? Depends. Smuggling goes both ways, and the price of a Steyr might be beyond that of a local gang.
More importantly, it goes to show how far the modern criminal element is willing to go to get their hands on some firepower. Remember we are talking about Canadians here - even their hoods still say please and thank you.
It is time to rethink the gun issue. It does no good to have a gun in the house if somebody just steals it. If you're going to keep a gun, you need to have a gun attitude.
As in keeping it with you, and knowing - really knowing - how to use it. If you're not willing to make the 24/7 committment, you need a new hobby.
Organized groups are breaking into the homes of known gun collectors and robbing their gun safes.
If this were a matter of them getting away with some museum quality muskets and WWII Lugers, it would be bad enough. but these gangs are getting ahold of some serious modern weaponry.
Just as an example, two of the weapons netted in a recent robbery were Steyr AUG assault rifles - modern military weapons.
These guns are turning up in the hands of Toronto gangs, and have been pushing the Toronto homicide levels up.
These were not easy targets. The rifles mentioned above were taken from a 770 lb safe. These people are capable of breaking into any storage facility.
Is this a problem for the States? Depends. Smuggling goes both ways, and the price of a Steyr might be beyond that of a local gang.
More importantly, it goes to show how far the modern criminal element is willing to go to get their hands on some firepower. Remember we are talking about Canadians here - even their hoods still say please and thank you.
It is time to rethink the gun issue. It does no good to have a gun in the house if somebody just steals it. If you're going to keep a gun, you need to have a gun attitude.
As in keeping it with you, and knowing - really knowing - how to use it. If you're not willing to make the 24/7 committment, you need a new hobby.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Pat gets another 15 minutes of fame
Pat Robertson has apologized.
Duh.
Has anyone else come to the conclusion that these "off the cuff" remarks are not mistakes? That Pat - and his 700 Club - are not sorry at all about remarks Pat now refers to as "inappropriate and insensitive in light of a national grief"?
After all, this is his third major gaff in the last few months. You'd think that somebody in the organization would be putting him on a 7 second delay, and telling him to stick to the script.
Instead, he continues to make outrageous statements, which get him a lot of press, and for which he later apologizes, getting more press. He has become an advertisement for the 700 Club, attracting the attention of reactionary zealots, and no doubt filling his coffers with their money.
As a Christian, I am shocked and appalled by this man, by this organization, by its crusade to ruin all that is good and right about my faith in order to maintain their political and financial position of power. Pat Robertson's appeal to the flagellants of the country denigrates the values he pretends to uphold.
It is time to remove this hypocrite from the airwaves, and shut down his network of hate, whose sole purpose in existing is to continue to raise money for unChristian political purposes. His messages of intolerance and fake piety, played out before the national media so that he can expand his power ever wider, is no longer acceptable.
Even his allies are deserting him. He was leading a group of evangelicals planning a $50 million evangelical Christian heritage center along the Sea of Galilee. They have kicked him off the board, so to speak. The Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said that evangelical leaders "must exercise sensitivity and grace towards the people and leadership of the nation of Israel."
Duh.
Duh.
Has anyone else come to the conclusion that these "off the cuff" remarks are not mistakes? That Pat - and his 700 Club - are not sorry at all about remarks Pat now refers to as "inappropriate and insensitive in light of a national grief"?
After all, this is his third major gaff in the last few months. You'd think that somebody in the organization would be putting him on a 7 second delay, and telling him to stick to the script.
Instead, he continues to make outrageous statements, which get him a lot of press, and for which he later apologizes, getting more press. He has become an advertisement for the 700 Club, attracting the attention of reactionary zealots, and no doubt filling his coffers with their money.
As a Christian, I am shocked and appalled by this man, by this organization, by its crusade to ruin all that is good and right about my faith in order to maintain their political and financial position of power. Pat Robertson's appeal to the flagellants of the country denigrates the values he pretends to uphold.
It is time to remove this hypocrite from the airwaves, and shut down his network of hate, whose sole purpose in existing is to continue to raise money for unChristian political purposes. His messages of intolerance and fake piety, played out before the national media so that he can expand his power ever wider, is no longer acceptable.
Even his allies are deserting him. He was leading a group of evangelicals planning a $50 million evangelical Christian heritage center along the Sea of Galilee. They have kicked him off the board, so to speak. The Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said that evangelical leaders "must exercise sensitivity and grace towards the people and leadership of the nation of Israel."
Duh.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Elections of the North
For those of you who don't watch what's happening in Canada, there's an election going on.
The Dominion of Canada has been governed by the Liberal party, barring a few blips, since Nixon was in power. That's a long time, especially when you take into account the No-Confidence motion. Any member of Parliament can dissolve the government and cause an election just by calling for this vote, and having a majority of members vote yes. Beats impeachment all to heck - if the US had this system, both Clinton and Dubya would have been removed from office within their first terms.
Anyway, the Liberals were just caught in a multi-million dollar pork scam. A huge scandal. The Conservative party had no problem winning a vote of non-confidence.
At the moment, it looks like a probable win for the Conservative party, led by Stephen Harper, who may be the closest thing to a Bush-style neo-con in the North. Much of the opposition to the Conservatives, such as it is, has been caused by the fear that he will do for Canada what Bush has done for the US.
So, if Harper does get in, expect a big change in how Canada and the US does business.
The Dominion of Canada has been governed by the Liberal party, barring a few blips, since Nixon was in power. That's a long time, especially when you take into account the No-Confidence motion. Any member of Parliament can dissolve the government and cause an election just by calling for this vote, and having a majority of members vote yes. Beats impeachment all to heck - if the US had this system, both Clinton and Dubya would have been removed from office within their first terms.
Anyway, the Liberals were just caught in a multi-million dollar pork scam. A huge scandal. The Conservative party had no problem winning a vote of non-confidence.
At the moment, it looks like a probable win for the Conservative party, led by Stephen Harper, who may be the closest thing to a Bush-style neo-con in the North. Much of the opposition to the Conservatives, such as it is, has been caused by the fear that he will do for Canada what Bush has done for the US.
So, if Harper does get in, expect a big change in how Canada and the US does business.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
1984, 22 years late.
Has Orwell's world come at last to the United States of America?
The war on Terror is a remarkably easy one. No victory is needed - just vigilance. No evidence is needed - just whisper "national security". Meet every question with the accusation of "fellow traveler". Seize absolute power - and claim it's the only way to keep everyone safe.
How quickly we forget.
This generation's islamofascist is last generation's commie, with the black cloak and homberg replaced by a turban and robe. Again he waits under the bed, waiting for you to grow complacent so he can sneak out and enslave you.
The march of time has changed him a little - he now wants to blow you up instead of fluoridate your water, but he's the same guy. The same imaginary bogeyman used by demagogues all over the world to keep the masses quiet and obedient.
The McCarthy tapdance is back.
"What are you doing?"
Can't tell you. Top Secret."
"Is it working?"
"Can't tell you. Top Secret."
"You're breaking the law."
"Traitor! Only a commie or fellow traveler would say that. I want a list of anyone you know who thinks like you do."
"You can't do that!"
"If I don't, communists will pollute our precious bodily fluids. You don't want that, do you?"
And on and on.
And when it was all over, the commies turned out to be a bunch of geezers on the other side of the world, and McCarthy turned out to be a panic-monger.
Only a nation can defeat a nation. Only if we are all looking, all peering into the alleys and listening at the next table, can we beat terrorism. Together, we can find and defeat the terrorists. A secret organization listening to taped conversations cannot do that. Nor can a government that won't tell us what's really going on, that won't trust us.
We have to have a government that trusts us, our judgment, and our loyalty. A government that restricts our freedoms and lies to us will collapse to outside attack.
If you don't believe me, just look at Russia.
The war on Terror is a remarkably easy one. No victory is needed - just vigilance. No evidence is needed - just whisper "national security". Meet every question with the accusation of "fellow traveler". Seize absolute power - and claim it's the only way to keep everyone safe.
How quickly we forget.
This generation's islamofascist is last generation's commie, with the black cloak and homberg replaced by a turban and robe. Again he waits under the bed, waiting for you to grow complacent so he can sneak out and enslave you.
The march of time has changed him a little - he now wants to blow you up instead of fluoridate your water, but he's the same guy. The same imaginary bogeyman used by demagogues all over the world to keep the masses quiet and obedient.
The McCarthy tapdance is back.
"What are you doing?"
Can't tell you. Top Secret."
"Is it working?"
"Can't tell you. Top Secret."
"You're breaking the law."
"Traitor! Only a commie or fellow traveler would say that. I want a list of anyone you know who thinks like you do."
"You can't do that!"
"If I don't, communists will pollute our precious bodily fluids. You don't want that, do you?"
And on and on.
And when it was all over, the commies turned out to be a bunch of geezers on the other side of the world, and McCarthy turned out to be a panic-monger.
Only a nation can defeat a nation. Only if we are all looking, all peering into the alleys and listening at the next table, can we beat terrorism. Together, we can find and defeat the terrorists. A secret organization listening to taped conversations cannot do that. Nor can a government that won't tell us what's really going on, that won't trust us.
We have to have a government that trusts us, our judgment, and our loyalty. A government that restricts our freedoms and lies to us will collapse to outside attack.
If you don't believe me, just look at Russia.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Smarter - but for how long?
"We both have meritocracies. Yours (America) is a talent meritocracy. Ours (Singapore) is an exam meritocracy. There are some parts of the intellect that we are not able to test well - like creativity, curiosity, a sense of adventure, ambition. Most of all, America has a culture of learning that challenges conventional wisdom, even if it means challenging authority. These are the areas where Singapore must learn from America."
So spoke Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister of Education of Singapore, in this week's issue of Newsweek. He was pointing out why Singapore's children test better than Americans in math and science, but do worse in the real world, producing fewer inventors, entrepreneurs, and executives. Here, Americans have the edge.
Will this last?
Already we are teaching ourselves not to be curious, not to make waves, not to question. Church and government both expect their subjects to accept their word as fact, and to support their positions without question. Whether it is Intelligent Design or Intelligence without Oversite, we are told to forget what facts and reason tell us, and to rely on faith. Or else.
We have seen this before. Russia crippled itself with Lysenkoism and Five Year Plans; it now struggles to reclaim world power status.
The days of American manual labor are numbered. Foreign workers make things cheaper. Foreign programmers type cheaper.
What keeps Americans - what will keep Americans in the lead - are the qualities Tharman mentioned. Curiosity, creativity, and a willingness to challenge authority.
Lose that, and the U.S. becomes another Russia - a third rate nation with nukes, crooks, and thugs, lusting after lost glories, and endangering the world with schemes for power.
So spoke Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister of Education of Singapore, in this week's issue of Newsweek. He was pointing out why Singapore's children test better than Americans in math and science, but do worse in the real world, producing fewer inventors, entrepreneurs, and executives. Here, Americans have the edge.
Will this last?
Already we are teaching ourselves not to be curious, not to make waves, not to question. Church and government both expect their subjects to accept their word as fact, and to support their positions without question. Whether it is Intelligent Design or Intelligence without Oversite, we are told to forget what facts and reason tell us, and to rely on faith. Or else.
We have seen this before. Russia crippled itself with Lysenkoism and Five Year Plans; it now struggles to reclaim world power status.
The days of American manual labor are numbered. Foreign workers make things cheaper. Foreign programmers type cheaper.
What keeps Americans - what will keep Americans in the lead - are the qualities Tharman mentioned. Curiosity, creativity, and a willingness to challenge authority.
Lose that, and the U.S. becomes another Russia - a third rate nation with nukes, crooks, and thugs, lusting after lost glories, and endangering the world with schemes for power.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Bowl Games
I've spent the last few days watching football. So sue me.
I have learned two things from watching these games.
1) They're better than the NFL. The college players really TRY. And the crowds are more into it, too.
2) The networks have categorized the fans - and it's not a nice category.
Look at the commercials - beer and trucks. Look at the game - they now mark where the line of scrimmage is. Like you couldn't figure it out for yourself. The commentators all speak in catch phrases.
In short, if you watch football, you're a redneck.
I'm a hick, but I'm not a redneck. I have a job, I have an IQ, and I bathe.
I don't like the creeping implications the media is painting
I have learned two things from watching these games.
1) They're better than the NFL. The college players really TRY. And the crowds are more into it, too.
2) The networks have categorized the fans - and it's not a nice category.
Look at the commercials - beer and trucks. Look at the game - they now mark where the line of scrimmage is. Like you couldn't figure it out for yourself. The commentators all speak in catch phrases.
In short, if you watch football, you're a redneck.
I'm a hick, but I'm not a redneck. I have a job, I have an IQ, and I bathe.
I don't like the creeping implications the media is painting
Saturday, December 31, 2005
We Remember
At the end of the year, I like to look back and remember some of the people we lost, and to celebrate their lives - especially the ones you may not have heard of.
It was a bad year for cartoons. Tigger, Piglet, Fred Flintstone, Tony the Tiger and the Jolly Green Giant all lost their voices.
Bad year for Star Trek, too. The franchise died, along with the Chief Engineer. So Long, Mr. Doohan.
Bad year for Our Gang. Butch and Porky both bought it.
Bad year for Music. Shirley Horn died. Go find one of her records. Now. Lalo Guerrero, father of Chicano music, died. George Scott, of the Blind Boys of Alabama. Robert Moog, the synthesizer man, who thereby invented 70s music. Skitch Henderson, Tonight Show bandleader. Link Wray, guitarist who inspired many of today's artists. R.L. Burnside, the bluesman. Long John Baldry. Go buy his record, too.
Other notables you may not have heard of:
Will Eisner, the comic book creator of the Spirit, and the graphic novel. The man who pretty much changed comics from Cape-Man Saves the Day to serious stuff.
Peter Foy, the theatrical effects creator. Before they said "You will believe a man can fly", he made two women fly - Mary Martin in Peter Pan, and Sally Field in The Flying Nun. An artist from the days before computer imaging.
Philip Johnson, the architect who popularized the "glass box" skyscraper, thus making sure that every city in the world looked like New York, and vice versa. He redeemed himself in later years.
Dale Messick, comic strip artist, inventer of the first female investigative reporter, Brenda Starr.
Evan Hunter, creator of Ed McBain, the police procedural, and as a result, inspiration of just about everything on TV right now.
Frank Gorshin. 10,000 voices, one of them the one and only Riddler. Sorry, Carrey.
Stan Berenstein. If you have kids, you know about the Berenstein Bears.
Dennis Flanagan, who revitalized Scientific American.
Samuel W. Alderson, inventor of the crash test dummy.
George Atkinson, inventor of the video rental business.
"Hack" Hackworth, America's most decorated veteran at the time of his death.
Gerry Thomas, inventor of the TV dinner.
John Van Hengel, creator of the food bank.
Alexander Yakovlev, key framer of the policies of Glasnost and Peristroika.
Peter F. Drucker, writer of the first "management" book.
Jay Hammond, the former governor R-Alaska, best Republican ever.
Joe Grant, one of the last of Disney's team.
They will be remembered.
It was a bad year for cartoons. Tigger, Piglet, Fred Flintstone, Tony the Tiger and the Jolly Green Giant all lost their voices.
Bad year for Star Trek, too. The franchise died, along with the Chief Engineer. So Long, Mr. Doohan.
Bad year for Our Gang. Butch and Porky both bought it.
Bad year for Music. Shirley Horn died. Go find one of her records. Now. Lalo Guerrero, father of Chicano music, died. George Scott, of the Blind Boys of Alabama. Robert Moog, the synthesizer man, who thereby invented 70s music. Skitch Henderson, Tonight Show bandleader. Link Wray, guitarist who inspired many of today's artists. R.L. Burnside, the bluesman. Long John Baldry. Go buy his record, too.
Other notables you may not have heard of:
Will Eisner, the comic book creator of the Spirit, and the graphic novel. The man who pretty much changed comics from Cape-Man Saves the Day to serious stuff.
Peter Foy, the theatrical effects creator. Before they said "You will believe a man can fly", he made two women fly - Mary Martin in Peter Pan, and Sally Field in The Flying Nun. An artist from the days before computer imaging.
Philip Johnson, the architect who popularized the "glass box" skyscraper, thus making sure that every city in the world looked like New York, and vice versa. He redeemed himself in later years.
Dale Messick, comic strip artist, inventer of the first female investigative reporter, Brenda Starr.
Evan Hunter, creator of Ed McBain, the police procedural, and as a result, inspiration of just about everything on TV right now.
Frank Gorshin. 10,000 voices, one of them the one and only Riddler. Sorry, Carrey.
Stan Berenstein. If you have kids, you know about the Berenstein Bears.
Dennis Flanagan, who revitalized Scientific American.
Samuel W. Alderson, inventor of the crash test dummy.
George Atkinson, inventor of the video rental business.
"Hack" Hackworth, America's most decorated veteran at the time of his death.
Gerry Thomas, inventor of the TV dinner.
John Van Hengel, creator of the food bank.
Alexander Yakovlev, key framer of the policies of Glasnost and Peristroika.
Peter F. Drucker, writer of the first "management" book.
Jay Hammond, the former governor R-Alaska, best Republican ever.
Joe Grant, one of the last of Disney's team.
They will be remembered.
Saturday, December 24, 2005
The National Loss of Faith
And no, I'm not talking about the secular Christmas nonsense.
I'm talking about the loss of faith in our institutions.
We have become a nation of conspiracy theorists. We have convinced ourselves that every organization around us is secretly trying to screw us around.
Whether you are left or right wing, we have one thing in common - we both think that half of our elected politicians are traitors, to America and to American ideals.
The number one book on the market alleges that the Catholic Church has been running a cover-up since St. Peter was in charge - a cover up that has included over the years everything from Opus Dei to Freemasonry, in a plot that wouldn't have made the cut for an X-Files episode.
Don't get started on JFK. I understand the newest theory implicates everyone except L. Ron Hubbard and E.T. So many groups have been named over the years that the Presidential limo should have looked like Bonnie and Clyde's flivver.
It's no wonder that people are embracing everything from Intelligent Design to UFOlogy. When you believe that your whole life is a fraud, facts become suspect.
Well, folks, here is some old Hick advice.
Secrets are things held by two people, not twenty. The Catholic Church did not keep a secret for 2,000 years. Somebody would have lost their faith and spilled the beans before now. JFK might have been killed by the mafia, but not by the Illuminati, the Cubans, or the Secret Cabal That Has Run The Country Since 1963.
The Democrats are not traitors, they are just idiots trying to get re-elected. The Republicans, ditto. The ACLU is clumsily trying to help, not revive communism.
The world is in the state it's in because of plain old fashioned incompetence, greed, apathy, and ignorance. No secret plan exists to keep us down.
So have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas, and do what you can to make people's lives a little better this season. Don't preach, don't picket. Don't assume that PETA is full of terrorists, conservatives want a dictatorship, or that the guy at the end of the road works for Al-Qaida.
Be safe. Be happy. For one day, anyway.
I'm talking about the loss of faith in our institutions.
We have become a nation of conspiracy theorists. We have convinced ourselves that every organization around us is secretly trying to screw us around.
Whether you are left or right wing, we have one thing in common - we both think that half of our elected politicians are traitors, to America and to American ideals.
The number one book on the market alleges that the Catholic Church has been running a cover-up since St. Peter was in charge - a cover up that has included over the years everything from Opus Dei to Freemasonry, in a plot that wouldn't have made the cut for an X-Files episode.
Don't get started on JFK. I understand the newest theory implicates everyone except L. Ron Hubbard and E.T. So many groups have been named over the years that the Presidential limo should have looked like Bonnie and Clyde's flivver.
It's no wonder that people are embracing everything from Intelligent Design to UFOlogy. When you believe that your whole life is a fraud, facts become suspect.
Well, folks, here is some old Hick advice.
Secrets are things held by two people, not twenty. The Catholic Church did not keep a secret for 2,000 years. Somebody would have lost their faith and spilled the beans before now. JFK might have been killed by the mafia, but not by the Illuminati, the Cubans, or the Secret Cabal That Has Run The Country Since 1963.
The Democrats are not traitors, they are just idiots trying to get re-elected. The Republicans, ditto. The ACLU is clumsily trying to help, not revive communism.
The world is in the state it's in because of plain old fashioned incompetence, greed, apathy, and ignorance. No secret plan exists to keep us down.
So have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas, and do what you can to make people's lives a little better this season. Don't preach, don't picket. Don't assume that PETA is full of terrorists, conservatives want a dictatorship, or that the guy at the end of the road works for Al-Qaida.
Be safe. Be happy. For one day, anyway.
Friday, December 23, 2005
When is enough enough?
So, what action by the current administration IS too much for the Right?
Is there anything, other than sex with an intern, that the right wing blogs will not explain away, deny, or refuse to talk about?
So far, they have not balked at:
- Bush acknowledging that the reasons he gave for invading Iraq were false,
- Media manipulation galore, from Gannongate, to pay-for-play in this country (remember Armstrong Williams?), to pay-for-play in Iraq.
- Scandals involving DeLay, Abramoff, Plame, Brown, Libby, bridges to nowhere, wiretaps, . . .
- flip-flops on Social Security, troop withdrawls, Supreme Court nominees, . . .
- Bush's inability to move quickly, seen on 9/11 (storybook time), and Katrina (guitar time).
- endless statements on how Iraq is going well - after 4 years, we now have an election most of the participants are calling corrupted . . .
- the abandonment of the chase for Bin Laden; in 2006, the only troops who will be working in force in Afghanistan will be the CANADIANS!
- FEMA
- the Budget
- torture
Meanwhile, most of the accomplishments of the Bush administration have been negative accomplishments.
Terrorists have NOT struck.
. . . at least, Al-Qaida has not struck in this country. Several eco-terrorist groups have successfully eluded the Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security. Al-Qaida seems to have spent its time attacking other countries - and have managed to do so despite America's wiretaps, interrogations, and surveillance. Either that, or America just didn't bother warning anyone.
Plus, this also excludes all the attacks made in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe Al-Qaida is lazy, finding it too easy to attack Americans abroad to bother attacking the mainland. So, hats off to America's brave fighting men and women, staked out like Fay before King Kong, with the government hoping that Al-Kong will take the sacrifice and leave them alone.
The country has NOT entered a depression.
. . . although this could be more due to the actions of American businesses rather than the administration. There is no sign that oil companies are hiring, despite the windfalls they got from the government this year.
Merry Christmas.
Is there anything, other than sex with an intern, that the right wing blogs will not explain away, deny, or refuse to talk about?
So far, they have not balked at:
- Bush acknowledging that the reasons he gave for invading Iraq were false,
- Media manipulation galore, from Gannongate, to pay-for-play in this country (remember Armstrong Williams?), to pay-for-play in Iraq.
- Scandals involving DeLay, Abramoff, Plame, Brown, Libby, bridges to nowhere, wiretaps, . . .
- flip-flops on Social Security, troop withdrawls, Supreme Court nominees, . . .
- Bush's inability to move quickly, seen on 9/11 (storybook time), and Katrina (guitar time).
- endless statements on how Iraq is going well - after 4 years, we now have an election most of the participants are calling corrupted . . .
- the abandonment of the chase for Bin Laden; in 2006, the only troops who will be working in force in Afghanistan will be the CANADIANS!
- FEMA
- the Budget
- torture
Meanwhile, most of the accomplishments of the Bush administration have been negative accomplishments.
Terrorists have NOT struck.
. . . at least, Al-Qaida has not struck in this country. Several eco-terrorist groups have successfully eluded the Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security. Al-Qaida seems to have spent its time attacking other countries - and have managed to do so despite America's wiretaps, interrogations, and surveillance. Either that, or America just didn't bother warning anyone.
Plus, this also excludes all the attacks made in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe Al-Qaida is lazy, finding it too easy to attack Americans abroad to bother attacking the mainland. So, hats off to America's brave fighting men and women, staked out like Fay before King Kong, with the government hoping that Al-Kong will take the sacrifice and leave them alone.
The country has NOT entered a depression.
. . . although this could be more due to the actions of American businesses rather than the administration. There is no sign that oil companies are hiring, despite the windfalls they got from the government this year.
Merry Christmas.
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