Global warming farce: Maybe you'll believe Al Gore?

Since my own views on global warming being a crock of bull don't carry any weight, perhaps you will believe Al Gore?

Peter Schweizer has an expose on Gore over at USA Today which shows the former vice president is not as "green" as he would have you believe:

"Graciously, Gore tells consumers how to change their lives to curb their carbon-gobbling ways: Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, use a clothesline, drive a hybrid, use renewable energy, dramatically cut back on consumption. Better still, responsible global citizens can follow Gore's example, because, as he readily points out in his speeches, he lives a "carbon-neutral lifestyle."

...Public records reveal that as Gore lectures Americans on excessive consumption, he and his wife Tipper live in two properties: a 10,000-square-foot, 20-room, eight-bathroom home in Nashville, and a 4,000-square-foot home in Arlington, Va. (He also has a third home in Carthage, Tenn.) For someone rallying the planet to pursue a path of extreme personal sacrifice, Gore requires little from himself.

Then there is the troubling matter of his energy use. In the Washington, D.C., area, utility companies offer wind energy as an alternative to traditional energy. In Nashville, similar programs exist. Utility customers must simply pay a few extra pennies per kilowatt hour, and they can continue living their carbon-neutral lifestyles knowing that they are supporting wind energy. Plenty of businesses and institutions have signed up. Even the Bush administration is using green energy for some federal office buildings, as are thousands of area residents.

But according to public records, there is no evidence that Gore has signed up to use green energy in either of his large residences. When contacted Wednesday, Gore's office confirmed as much but said the Gores were looking into making the switch at both homes. Talk about inconvenient truths."

As Dana Carvey's "Church Lady" used to say, "How convenient!"

But there is more:

"Gore has held these apocalyptic views about the environment for some time. So why, then, didn't Gore dump his family's large stock holdings in Occidental (Oxy) Petroleum? As executor of his family's trust, over the years Gore has controlled hundreds of thousands of dollars in Oxy stock. Oxy has been mired in controversy over oil drilling in ecologically sensitive areas.

Living carbon-neutral apparently doesn't mean living oil-stock free. Nor does it necessarily mean giving up a mining royalty either.

Humanity might be "sitting on a ticking time bomb," but Gore's home in Carthage is sitting on a zinc mine. Gore receives $20,000 a year in royalties from Pasminco Zinc, which operates a zinc concession on his property. Tennessee has cited the company for adding large quantities of barium, iron and zinc to the nearby Caney Fork River."

In typical liberal fashion, Gore is living the "do as I say, not as I do" philosophy.

The fact is global warming is complete b.s., and Gore knows it. He is selling environmental politics. There either is no impending disaster, or Gore expects all of us to stop it while he lives the good life.

Which is it Al?

Quote of the day

"When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned." - Herbert Hoover

I never liked Bill Clinton for exactly this reason.

With all the controversies swirling around him from the beginning, from "I didn't inhale", to Whitewater, to Travelgate, etc., Clinton had too much smoke surrounding him for him to be innocent.

The Lewinsky affair proved Clinton had no honor. After swearing to uphold the laws of the U.S., Clinton lied in court about his affair. Most of us would be in jail for perjury, yet Clinton's sentence was disbarment. In other words, he lost nothing.

What does it tell us when the highest in the land is above the law?

Now we are faced with a Republican Congress which considers itself above the law. When Democratic Congressman William Jefferson is caught in a scandal red-handed by the FBI, what is the Republican leadership's response? The FBI should not be allowed to search congressional offices under the Constitution's separation of powers.

Mind you, nowhere in the Constitution does it say Congress is above the law.

What effect will this have on the American people? I don't know for sure, but it cannot be good.

Fantasy football nugget: Bell or Thomas?

I am in an IDP (Individual Defensive Players) keeper league, and I saw an interesting waiver transaction yesterday: One owner dropped LB Adalius Thomas (Ravens) and picked up RB Mike Bell (Broncos).

I discussed Bell yesterday from a general fantasy football perspective, but this was a unique fantasy football situation in my keeper league.

Bell was an undrafted rookie whom the Broncos have only named as their starter for now. Shanahan likes to do things like this to motivate his veteran players. While Bell could end up the starter at the beginning of the season, it is far from a sure thing. But you have to love the potential.

But what of Thomas? He is a solid LB who had the best season of his six year career last year, with 9 sacks, 2 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, and 84 tackles. He is no Ray Lewis, but he is certainly worth keeping, especially considering his last five games last year: 5 sacks (one every game), 1 interception (returned for a TD), 2 forced fumbles, and 31 tackles. Thomas is clearly a player on the upswing of his career.

Dropping Bell for Thomas? Bad move, unless Thomas is the worst LB you have AND you have to get rid of a LB due to roster limitations. Otherwise, find someone else to drop.

By the way, I picked up Thomas afterwards. Even though I already have a solid LB corps, with Zach Thomas, Derrick Brooks, Derrick Johnson, Bart Scott, and David Pollack. I could not resist Thomas when I saw his numbers from last year.

New Broncos starting RB named: Bell, but not THAT Bell

I see the link over at FoxSports.com which says, "Broncos give starting RB job to rookie Bell". My first thought: "rookie" Bell? This is Tatum Bell's third year. Boy, did the folks over at Fox Sports screw up.

Not so fast cowboy. I clicked on the link and was astonished to read:

"Broncos rookie running back Mike Bell was told to see Mike Shanahan in his office for a meeting."

Mike who? Or is that who Bell?

The story went on:

"[Mike] Bell was shaking with excitement after Shanahan informed him he is the team's top running back, jumping ahead of Ron Dayne and Tatum Bell - for now. On Monday, Mike Bell was running with the first-team offense. Tatum Bell is second on the depth chart and Dayne third...

..."[Mike Bell]'s been real impressive," Shanahan said. "It is very close, and it could change day by day, week by week, but we felt like Mike deserves a chance to work with the first team and take a look to see if he can keep it.""

I get it Shanahan. A motivational ploy.

Mind you, this is Mike Shanahan we are talking about. If Mike Bell impresses Shanahan in the preseason, don't be surprised if he is the starter on opening day.

FANTASY FOOTBALL PERSPECTIVE: Try to avoid the Broncos running backs for now. If your draft is this week, feel free to take any of the three of them as your 3rd or 4th RB in normal leagues (10-12 teams).

If your draft is later this month, watch this situation closely. The winner of the starting job is easily a great second round pick, potentially even late first round. UNLESS Mike Bell wins the job. He is still a rookie, which nudges his value down a full round (late second round to third round).

Some thoughts on the Hall of Fame weekend

I am back from my sabbatical at Robert George's blog. It was fun, but time to get back to work.

I watched a lot of coverage of the NFL Hall of Fame ceremonies this past weekend. Some reflections on the inductees:

REGGIE WHITE:
God rest his soul, I have never seen a better defensive lineman in my entire life. Of all those inducted this year, White was the most deserving.

When he died in 2004, White received a lot of the normal praise a great person receives when they die. This weekend proved to me how heartfelt that praise really was. Even John Madden got choked up talking about Reggie.

JOHN MADDEN:
Speaking of Madden, you could not help but love his reaction to being inducted. There is something uniquely special about watching an old man acting like the happiest little boy in the world.

If you think about it, that is really why Madden has had success as a color commentator. He has wrapped his knowledge of the game in a childlike enthusiasm for it.

I am still amazed it took this long for Madden to get into the Hall of Fame for his coaching career. How can you argue against the induction of a Super Bowl winning coach who has a 36-16-2 record against other Hall of Fame coaches?

TROY AIKMAN:
While Aikman does deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, I would not call him a "great" quarterback. He was very good, but he was also surrounded by a lot of talented players. Give me Emmitt Smith to hand off to, Michael Irvin to throw to, and put one of the best offensive lines in the history of the NFL in front of me, and I will win quite a few games as quarterback.

WARREN MOON:
Hearing the talk of Moon being the first black quarterback to be inducted got me wondering: Was there another black quarterback more worthy of that honor? I personally cannot think of one.

RAYFIELD WRIGHT:
I must confess my knowledge of Wright is limited. When I think of him, I think of an offensive lineman with an unusual name who kept getting sent to the Pro Bowl. I was a young boy when he was playing, and offensive lineman are not exciting to young boys.

HARRY CARSON:
One of the things people forget about Carson is that he was a Pro Bowl linebacker twice BEFORE Lawrence Taylor played for the Giants.

OTHER THOUGHTS:
I caught Adam Schefter's interview with Al Davis on the NFL Network. Al is looking REALLY old.

I was surprised to see Jerry Jones drop in on Al during the interview. I was even more surprised to see Jones treating Davis with great deference. I had heard they were friends, but it was still surprising to see.

During the interview, Davis was asked what Raiders deserved to be in the Hall of Fame. He mentioned Tom Flores, Jim Plunkett, and Cliff Branch. I could not agree more.

Announcement

I will be guest-blogging over at Ragged Thots this week. Come on by!

Ed vs. the possum

WARNING: The following story is extremely gory. I am NOT kidding.

I was lying in bed around 9 pm, about to fall asleep, when my wife barged into the room and exclaimed, "You have to get up! There is a possum in the laundry room!"

She informed me he was behind the dryer, with his tail sticking out of the wall, where the dryer's vent goes.

So I went downstairs and cautiously approached our laundry room, where the door was ominously closed. With my wife cowering behind me, I quietly opened the door, prepared for anything which might come out. Nothing happened.

As I slowly entered the room, I saw it: A full-sized, fat, adult possum, sitting in a hole in the wall, it's long, thick tail hanging down to the floor. It had apparently knocked the dryer vent out of the wall, as it sat comfortably in what was a good 6 inch round hole.

I did not realize it then, but the area behind the hole was hollow, and there was a lot more of the possum stuffed in there. But from what I could see, I knew this was not going to be easy.

My first thought was to call the SPCA. Unfortunately, they would not be open this time of night. Even if they were, they would probably not send someone out until the next day. This would mean leaving a rather large marsupial running free in my house with who knows what diseases.

Next, I considered throwing something like a blanket over it, picking it up, and taking it outside. Considering the possum's head was in the hole, whatever I threw over him would still leave his head exposed, able to bite at me. Again, the disease consideration entered my mind.

I realized my only alternative was to kill it. But with what? I don't own a gun. I thought about using a large knife, but then I would have to get too close to it.

Then it dawned on me: I own a sword! A decorative silver sword, which I bought at DragonCon a few years ago (yes, I am a geek).

So I got my sword and some thick gardening gloves, in case I had to grab the possum for whatever reason.

When I returned, the possum had not moved from his spot. I suspect it was trying not to be noticed, living up to its name.

I pulled the long sword from its sheath, and moved in for the kill. I stabbed the sword deep into the middle of the beast, completely missing any vital organs that might have killed it instantly.

When I felt the sword tip hit the wood underneath the possum, I stopped and watched, waiting for the possum to go into its death throes. While the possum struggled a little, clearly not pleased with its situation, nothing happened. The possum could not move much, stuck on the sword. At the same time, it was not looking to be dying any time soon either.

At this point, I realized I had missed any vital organs, so I thought I would have to stab the beast again. As I start to pull the sword from it, the possum starts wiggling like he was going to do something as soon as it was free. Since I know I cannot let it go, I sank the sword back into the possum, avoiding any vital organs once again, but holding the beast firmly in place.

Then my mind flashed to an image of hari-kari I had once seen, where once the blade was inserted, it was moved around by the person committing suicide, in order to get all the vital organs. So I tried it on the possum. Unfortunately, I learned it was not easy to move a sword once it was in a body.

Since that did not work, I tried twisting the blade within the possum's body. That worked a little better, but still no vital organs.

Of course, the possum was objecting to all the blade movements in a way one might expect from a small mammal stuck on a sword: a lot of wiggling around as it bared its teeth at me.

As my wife was watching these events unfold, she commented, "You're enjoying this."

I had to agree that it did appeal to me on an instinctive level. Man against beast.

But I had to admit, I was at a loss as to what to do at this point. The possum was not losing much blood from the sword wound. Maybe I could get it to bleed to death, or at least to go into shock from blood loss?

I got my wife to hold the sword in the possum as I went to the garage to get my long-handled branch cutter.

As I looked over the possum, I figured the best way to get it to bleed to death, from its current position, would be to cut off its thick tail.

I brought the branch cutter to the middle of the beast's tail, and snipped. The possum objected in its usual way, but also moved the remainder of his tail around, proceeding to squirt blood on the wall, the floor, and the back of the washing machine.

I could see the possum was not dying from this, so I think maybe if I cut the tail off entirely. The tail was thicker closer to the possum's body, so I assumed it would bleed more from there.

After I cut off the remainder of the tail, I realized my assumption was correct, as more blood proceeded to squirt into the aforementioned wall, floor, and washing machine. But the mighty possum was just fine, albeit more than a little upset at his predicament.

My wife made me hold the sword in the possum for a minute, being completely grossed out by the scene unfolding in front of her. It was during this time I came up with the next part of my strategy.

I figured I would not be able to kill it this way, but how about incapacitating the possum permanently?

Once I got my wife reluctantly back on the sword, I took my branch cutter and cut off the furry beast's right rear leg. I then proceeded to do the same to the possum's right front leg. It was at this point I realized my plan's failing: I could not get at the possum's left legs, which were on the other side of his body in the hole.

Watching the possum pursuing its normal wiggling and baring of teeth gave me another idea: What if I cut off its head?

Unfortunately, the placement of the possum left me unable to get a good angle on its neck. As I reached with the cutter for its neck, the vicious beast got its mouth firmly on the tip of the branch cutter. Feeling sadistically frustrated, I snipped.

With the bottom half of its jaw hanging from a piece of skin, I felt safe assuming the possum would not be biting anyone. With two legs gone, I also figured it was not going very far either.

I pulled the sword slowly from the possum, ready to plunge it back in at the first sign of movement. The beast did not move, laying there, waiting to die.

I placed a board in front of the hole, so the possum could not go anywhere.

My wife and I left it, closing the door to the laundry room, expecting to collect the possum's body the next day.

When I got up the next morning, I went downstairs to check on it. I slowly pulled the board from the hole, but I could not see it. Figuring the bloody beast had moved deeper behind the wall, I decided to wait until I got home from work to try and find it.

My wife called me at work, saying she thought the possum was dead because she could smell it, but she could not find it. She was afraid it had died somewhere behind our wall.

When I got home, I knew it was dead by the smell. I checked the hole thoroughly, even expanding it a little in order to get a better look. No possum.

As I walked from the laundry room, I noticed something on the floor of the basement: A faint blood trail.

Apparently, after we left it, the possum had climbed up behind the wall, and gone over to the other side of the wall, leaping or climbing or falling onto the basement floor, where it proceeded to run all around, leaving blood everywhere.

I followed the blood trail until I found the possum behind an old dresser on the floor. The beast was dead.

If you think that story is gross, you do not want to know about the cleanup afterwards.

Blonde of the day: Pam Anderson

In a press conference Wednesday to announce her new online poker website, Pamela Anderson, pictured above with her husband-to-be Kid Rock, was asked what she was doing to deal with pre-wedding jitters. Her response:

“I have two words for you: Champagne.”

If boobs were brains...but it would not matter, since we know her's aren't real anyway.

Announcement of the day

For the next week, I will be guest blogging over at Robert George's website, Ragged Thots. Feel free to come on by and put your two cents in the comment box!

Quote of the day

"Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity." - Carl Jung

NFL rumor of the day

According to DenverPost.com, the Denver Broncos are working on trading WR Ashley Lelie. The article quotes Lelie's agent, Peter Shaffer as saying "there are seven teams interested in Lelie", then goes on to say:

"The teams Denver has talked to are believed to include Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Philadelphia and New England."

The one team in the mix I don't understand is Philadelphia. Do they really need another Todd Pinkston? Sure Philly needs a receiver, but Lelie ain't it. Lelie is a good number 2 receiver, and Philly needs a number 1.

Monday morning quarterback of the day

You have to admire John Kerry's tenacity.

On the current situation between Israel and Lebanon, Kerry had the following to say:

"If I was president, this wouldn't have happened."

Suuuuuuuuuuure John. And you would have built the Starship Enterprise by now too. By yourself. On a weekend. With some rusty nails and a 2x4.

What Cynthia McKinney is for Georgia, John Kerry is for Massachusetts: An embarrassment.

(Hat tip to The Detroit News)

Quote of the day

"We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon - no alternative." - Golda Meir

I am not Jewish, but God bless Israel! They are the only country in the world, including my own, which seems to truly understand how to deal with terrorism.

I send my prayers out to the Israeli and American soldiers who are involved in conflicts in the Middle East. May they all come home safely. If they don't, may God bless their souls. They are all fighting the good fight.

Editorial of the day

Jay Tea over at Wizbang has some useful points for us to remember about the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah going on:

"1) There are three parties with immediate concerns towards a ceasefire: Lebanon, Israel, and Hezbollah.

2) The government and military of Lebanon are not directly involved in the current fighting. Indeed, it can be argued that their unwillingness to get involved with the affairs taking place within its borders are a direct cause of the fighting.

3) Hezbollah has expressed no interest in a ceasefire, but rather has ratcheted up both its attacks and its rhetoric.

4) Hezbollah is not a nation-state, but rather a terrorist organization with literal barrels of blood on its hands -- a significant fraction of it American.

5) Israel has clearly stated its terms for a ceasefire from the instant they started shooting back:
A) The return of its kidnapped soldiers
B) A cessation of attacks by Hezbollah from Lebanon
C) The securing of Lebanon's southern region to prevent Hezbollah's return.

6) Neither Hezbollah nor any party with influence over them has shown the slightest interest in accepting or even discussing Israel's highly irrational and unreasonable position of "stop killing us, and we'll stop killing you."

7) As Hezbollah is a terrorist organization (which, it always bears repeating, had killed more Americans than any other terrorist group before 9/11, and still holds the #2 position), and it is the official position of the United States to not have any dealings with terrorist groups.

8) Especially when it comes to saving their asses from getting blown to bits by our ally for committing terrorist acts against that ally."

If Hezbollah will just give in to Israel's demands, this could be over. But no one seems to expect that. They just want Israel to "show restraint".

My opinion? Go get 'em Israel.

Stupid headline story of the day

Over at CNN.com, their headline story is "U.S. family: Get us out of Lebanon/
Parents and children hear bomb explosions all night". By itself, it is not stupid. But when you read the first paragraph:

"The Esseily family was winding up a vacation in Lebanon when the airstrikes began. Nearly a week later, they're still looking for a way to get back to California."

Let me get this straight: You live in California. You vacation in Lebanon?

Their reason:

"Tony Esseily is Lebanese, and Monika Esseily is American. They made the trip this summer so their 9-month-old son, T.J., could be baptized in Lebanon."

So the husband/father is from Lebanon? Still he takes his family there in order to get his son baptized (which could be done anywhere in the world). Of all people, he should know the history of Lebanon.

Wait! It gets better:

"Monika Esseily first saw Lebanon in 1990, three months after the country's 15-year civil war ended, as a new bride going to meet her husband's family.

"It was devastation. I cried driving out of the airport," she remembered. "I also was scared because coming out of the airport you had all the [Iranian Ayatollah] Khomeini and all of those Hezbollah signs even then."

The family lived in Lebanon from 1993 to 2001 and watched the country recover from years of war.

"I went everywhere," Monika Esseily said. "I enjoyed it; it was a beautiful country. The people are beautiful. They were madly trying to build up Lebanon."

The scene now, she said, is a "flashback to 1990."

"I'm very saddened, and I'm very, very scared for not just the Lebanese people, [but] for the foreigners who still have not got out," she said.

When the Esseilys heard last week that Hezbollah militants had abducted two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid, they knew there might be trouble.

"Wednesday night, we went to downtown Beirut to visit a shopping mall," she recalled. "Normally in that place in downtown Beirut ... it would have been very packed. ... And we did hear that, uh-oh, probably Israel is going to retaliate.

"But we were not thinking Beirut. Maybe we were thinking, OK, they were going to retaliate in the south. ... We didn't know that this was going to be extreme like this.""

Even if you grant that these people have Lebanese connections, and Lebanon had been relatively peaceful recently, these people KNEW that Israel could start bombing anytime. Instead of trying to catch the first plane out of there, they instead took the "It can't happen to us" route.

Now for the piece de resistance:

"[Monika Esseily] said the U.S. Embassy should have been better prepared for the crisis.

"It's a very insecure country, and other countries as well around this area. The American Embassy should always have a backup evacuation plan. They knew that this was going to happen at least 12 or 24 hours before it did," she said."

Hey Monika, you KNEW it was going to happen 12 to 24 hours before it did. Why didn't YOU try to get out?

There was a line from the movie "Ruthless People" which applies here. To paraphrase: "These may be the stupidest people on the face of the planet."

Editorial of the day

Thomas Sowell's analysis of the Middle East situation is right on the money. (link here)

Here is a sample:

"Therefore, when Palestinian terrorists ("militants" in politically correct Newspeak) attack Israel and then Israel responds with military force, that is just another "cycle of violence" in the Middle East to some people.

The "cycle" notion suggests that each side is just responding to what the other side does. But just what had Israel done to set off these latest terrorist acts? It voluntarily pulled out of Gaza, after evacuating its own settlers, and left the land to the Palestinian authorities.

Terrorists then used the newly acquired land to launch rockets into Israel and then seized an Israeli soldier. Other terrorists in Lebanon followed suit. The great mantra of the past, "trading land for peace," is now thoroughly discredited, or should be."

Read the whole editorial. (Hat tip to Townhall.com)

Quote of the day

Due to the ongoing war in Israel, I have been searching everywhere for this quote. It sums up the whole Palestinian/Israeli situation perfectly:

"Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us." - Golda Meir

People should never take pride in their children's suicide, even if it is in a good cause. Yet, how often do we hear about or see Palestinian parents interviewed who do exactly this horrendous thing? There are few greater evils in the world than this.

On the opposite side of the coin, there was my grandmother, Lucy Elizabeth Bowers, but everyone called her "Mama John" (my grandfather's name was John). My grandmother had 10 children. "Stoic" is a word that comes to mind when I think of her. "Blase" is another word. 10 children will do that to you.

Mama John also had the misfortune of outliving several of her children. I can honestly say the ONLY time I ever saw her cry was at my Uncle John's funeral. And she cried like a baby.

This woman was a rock. Yet the death of just one of her 10 children, one who had lived a normal lifespan, was enough to break her.

I try to imagine under what circumstance would she ever send one of her children off to commit a suicide mission. Short of God Himself telling her to do it, there is no chance it would ever happen. She would send herself first, God bless her soul.

Person of the day: Jean Reno

For those of you not familiar with him, Jean Reno is the guy in the picture above (with Natalie Portman). The scene is from the movie "The Professional" (also called "Léon").

The reason I am naming him my "Person of the day" is because I watched the remake of "The Pink Panther" recently. It was a funny movie, but Reno was miscast horribly as Steve Martin's sidekick.

Reno is the actor Hollywood calls when they want a Frenchman. Which is ironic, since he was actually born in Morocco to Spanish parents. His real name: Don Juan Moreno y Jederique Jimenez.*

To appreciate Reno as an actor, I would recommend the following movies:

1. "The Professional" (aka "Léon"): This is a funny, sweet, and sad film of a Mafia hitman (Reno) who saves a young girl (Natalie Portman) from a crooked DEA agent (Gary Oldman). Reno really shows his acting skills in this one, playing an uneducated, yet highly skilled assassin.

2. "Ronin": So he ends up playing second fiddle to Robert De Niro. Unlike "The Pink Panther", Reno is more than up to the challenge in "Ronin". If you like action films, you will enjoy this one.

3. "Godzilla": I know a lot of people don't like this movie. Personally, I thought it was a lot of fun. In this one, Reno plays a French spy (what else?). The thing to watch for is Reno's Elvis impersonation. Priceless.


*Hat tip to IMDB.com for the biographical information.

Quote(s) of the day

I never said I would NEVER do another "Quote of the day"!

“When people lack jobs, opportunity, and ownership of property they have little or no stake in their communities.” - Jack Kemp

That leads us to the inherent flaw with socialism/liberalism.

When government coddles the poor, you allow them to NOT seek jobs or opportunities. One area which the Left fails to address is: Why work if you don't have to work? As for "workfare" programs, why work hard when there is no future in what you are doing?

Property ownership will never happen in poor communities without jobs or opportunities, thereby leaving little or no interest in the community.

When you leave people's success (or failure) to their own ingenuity, you will get more from them than if you get the government to take care of them. Individual success has a snowball effect within a community. When one person succeeds, it is a blueprint for others to succeed as well. When enough people in a community succeed, the entire community prospers.

Certainly there will be failures. But governing to the lowest common denominator sets the bar of expectations low.

"Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results." - General George S. Patton

Editorial of the day

I have decided that my "of the day" posts can be anything. In honor of this momentous decision (...there was much rejoicing), I am starting with an editorial of the day.

One of my favorite editorialists is John Stossel, who presents examples of human arrogance and stupidity in all their respective glories. Today, he takes on the government, and their kidney waiting lists, in "An illegal market that could save your life":

"More than 60,000 people whose kidneys have failed are waiting for transplants. Many survive by enduring hours hooked up to dialysis machines. The machines clean their blood, pinch-hitting for diseased kidneys. But they cannot do it as well as a kidney. Dialysis is painful, exhausting and expensive.

So 60,000 Americans pray for a new kidney. Some get them from friends and family. More get them from strangers who die in accidents.

But accidents and altruists don't provide enough kidneys, so on a typical day, 17 people die waiting for kidneys.

...I talked with Steve Rivkin, who joined a waiting list for kidneys when it was "just" 30,000 names long. "I don't think that there's anything wrong with paying money for a kidney transplant," he told me. "I just want a kidney that works!"

Dr. Brian Pereira, former president of the National Kidney Foundation, told me he empathized with Rivkin's need. "The good news," he said, "is that this person can continue on dialysis under the current system, which functions extremely well."

Seventeen deaths per day is a system functioning "extremely well"? When I challenged him about that, he said poor people would be vulnerable to "exploitation" if there were an open market for kidneys.

I found pictures of men from the Philippines who'd exchanged a kidney for just $1,000. They posed on a beach, showing their scars. Such pictures make wealthy Americans say, "These poor people were exploited! They risked their lives for just $1,000."

But what gives us the right to decide for them? No one forced them. They wanted the $1,000 more than they wanted two kidneys. To say the poor are too desperate to resist a dangerous temptation is patronizing. Poor people are entitled to run their own lives, too.

Steve posted an ad online, and soon people from all over the world were calling to sell him a kidney. Pereira says sternly, "That's where we have to step in."

No, doctor, that's where you have to step aside. Like many anointed experts, Dr. Pereira thinks he and others like him -- "the government, the professional societies who help the government make the right policies" -- have to make our decisions for us. But that conceit condemns people to suffer and die -- as Steve Rivkin did."

This is another good example of nanny government. Let us save the poor from themselves, regardless of the death sentence we impose on others. It is ironic that the Left will fight the death penalty imposed on convicted murderers, yet they WILL impose it on people who are guilty of having bad kidneys.

(Hat tip to Townhall.com)

Quote of the day

"Genius is more often found in a cracked pot than in a whole one." - E.B. White

So always try to think outside the pot.

Quote of the day

“A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.” - Robert Heinlein

To know history is to know the mistakes of those who came before us. To understand history is to know why those mistakes happened. Generally speaking, mistakes happen due to our nature.

The ignorance of history is the assumption of mankind's evolution beyond the mistakes made during the entirety of history, including events as recently as our youth. Are we vain enough to believe we can evolve that far in one generation? I would say yes.

How many people in the world deny the Holocaust took place? How many people believe in global warming, when 30 years ago it was supposed to be global cooling? How many Mexicans claim that America stole land from them, completely ignoring the fact the Spanish stole Mexico from the Aztecs?

I would not go so far as Heinlein and say we have no future. Though I will say our future is going to look a lot like our past.

Quote of the day

"When history looks back, I'd rather be judged as solving problems and being correct, rather than being popular." - George W. Bush

That is a good assessment Mr. President.

(Hat tip to CNN.com)

Quote(s) of the day

Two men were born on this day 60 years ago. Twins? Hardly.

The first one:

“I think that gravity sets into everything, including careers, but pendulums do swing and mountains do become valleys after a while... if you keep on walking.” - Sylvester Stallone

(Hat tip to thinkexist.com)

The second one:

"The wisest use of American strength is to advance freedom." - George W. Bush

These two men have as much in common as these two quotes: Nothing.

Selling your soul for global warming

I know some of you are still NOT convinced global warming is complete b.s.

Maybe John Stossel can convince you? In his editorial today, "A Convenient Lie", Stossel takes on the biggest crock of bull going around today.

Stossel begins with an outstanding point:

"When he was in college, atmospheric-science professor John Christy was told, "it was a certainty that by the year 2000, the world would be starving and out of energy."

That prediction has gone the way of so many others."

Stossel ends with an even better point:

"The fundamentalist doom-mongers ignore scientists who say the effects of global warming may be benign. Harvard astrophysicist Sallie Baliunas says added carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may actually benefit the world because more CO2 helps plants grow. Warmer winters would give farmers a longer harvest season.

Why don't we hear about this part of the global warming argument?

"It's the money!" says Dr. Baliunas. "Twenty-five billion dollars in government funding has been spent since 1990 to research global warming. If scientists and researchers were coming out releasing reports that global warming has little to do with man, and most to do with just how the planet works, there wouldn't be as much money to study it."

And the politicians would have one less excuse to take control of our lives."

Global warming is more big government tripe designed to scare you into selling your soul to the socialist Satan.

Quote of the day

“Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant.” - P.T. Barnum

Quote of the day: Yogi Berra Week

In honor of Friday:

"I want to thank you for making this day necessary." - Yogi Berra

If you still believe global warming is going to cause the end of the world...

...read these and get back to me:

The Real 'Inconvenient Truth'

If "global warming" is real, what could be causing it?

For those of you still arrogant enough to think man can ruin this planet, consider the year 1816, otherwise known as "The Year without a Summer". The 1815 volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia is generally considered the cause of this (from Wikipedia):

"The unusual climate aberrations of 1816 had the greatest effect on the American northeast, the Canadian Maritimes, Newfoundland and northern Europe. Typically, the late spring and summer of the northeastern U.S. are relatively stable: temperatures average about 68–77°F (20–25°C), and rarely fall below 41°F (5°C). Summer snow is an extreme rarity, though May flurries sometimes occur.

In May of 1816, however, frost killed off most of the crops that had been planted, and in June two large snowstorms in eastern Canada and New England resulted in many human deaths. Nearly a foot of snow was observed in Quebec City in early June. In July and August, lake and river ice were observed as far south as Pennsylvania. Rapid, dramatic temperature swings were common, with temperatures sometimes reverting from normal or above-normal summer temperatures as high as 95°F (35°C) to near-freezing within hours. Even though farmers south of New England did succeed in bringing some crops to maturity, maize (corn) and other grain prices rose dramatically. Oats, for example, rose from 12¢ a bushel the previous year to 92¢ a bushel."

Somehow, the Earth managed to return to normal. But our little CO2 emissions are ruining the planet?

My response:

"Go sell crazy somewhere else, we're all stocked up here." - Jack Nicholson, from As Good as It Gets

Quote(s) of the day: Yogi Berra Week

I have seen two variations on this quote, so here are both of them:

"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there." - Yogi Berra

"If you don't know where you're going, chances are you will end up somewhere else." - Yogi Berra

Personally, I prefer the second one.

Of course, Yogi also said:

"I didn't really say everything I said." - Yogi Berra

Quote of the day: Yogi Berra Week

“The future ain't what it used to be.” - Yogi Berra

Have you noticed how predictions for the future have changed?

Back during the Cold War, the world was going to be destroyed by nuclear bombs. While we still have nuclear bombs, no one worries about them anymore. Unless terrorists get them...

Ironically, we had terrorists back during the Cold War, but nobody worried about them then (unless you lived in the Middle East).

We can always rely on the enviro-nazis to find a way in which humanity is ruining the planet. Back during the 1970's, it was global cooling. Now, it is global warming. Is anyone taking bets on how long it will take them to go back to global cooling? Regardless, the one constant is it will be mankind's fault. You know we are gods, right?

Of course, we can always count on the Christians to predict the second coming of Christ. Unfortunately, they keep pushing back the date. Some things never change.

Something to worry about...

For you global warming fear-mongers out there, here is something to REALLY worry about: Asteroids.

What we know about the effect of greenhouse gases on the Earth is nothing compared to what we know about asteroids.

Asteroids have hit the Earth before, possibly having wiped out the dinosaurs.

Unless there is a miracle, we WILL get hit by a large asteroid again.

We are doing more to limit greenhouse gases than we are doing to prevent an asteroid from hitting the Earth.

Of course, denial is a wonderful thing. You can keep believing that humanity can control the Earth's atmosphere (which we can't), while living in denial about the possibility of the Earth being hit by an asteroid, about which we COULD actually do something.

Quote of the day: Yogi Berra Week

The perfect summertime quote:

"It ain't the heat, it's the humility." - Yogi Berra

Unfortunately, on the subject of global warming, humans have NO humility. We think we have advanced so far, yet we still think the universe revolves around humanity. We think our little greenhouse gases are going to end life on this planet.

Here is a thought for you Chicken Littles out there: If we detonated every single nuclear weapon we have, we would do more to hurt the planet than if we doubled our greenhouse gas emissions. On top of that, the planet WOULD recover from the nuclear devastation.

Arrogance, thy name is human.

Quote of the day: Yogi Berra Week

On a week that starts off with the birthdays of both Abner Doubleday and Derek Jeter, I figured it was only appropriate to dig into the archives of the most quotable baseball player of all time: Yogi Berra.

"It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future." - Yogi Berra

I have seen this quote attributed to both Berra and writer Robert Storm Petersen. Even if Berra did not say it, it has Berra written all over it.

Quote of the day

“We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” - Chuck Palahniuk

When I read this quote, I thought "How astute!". When I saw who said it, my thought was "Who the heck is Chuck Palahniuk?".

I included a link to the Wikipedia entry for him, should anyone be curious. In summation, he is a writer who is best known for the novel "Fight Club".

(Hat tip to Thinkexist.com for the quote)

The sky is falling!

The big story over at CNN.com, "Study: Earth hottest in 400 years":

"The National Academy of Sciences, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Thursday that the "recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia."

A panel of top climate scientists told lawmakers that the Earth is running a fever and that "human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming." Their 155-page report said average global surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere rose about 1 degree during the 20th century."

1 degree huh? Yawn.

The most interesting thing is that nowhere in the entire story are the words "sun" or "solar" used. Until a study is done which excludes the main source of heat on Earth as a cause of global warming, I refuse to take this any more seriously than a guy walking down the street with a sign saying "Repent! The End Is Near!".

UPDATE: You have to love CNN.com. They wear their bias on their sleeves. They have updated their headline story. Now it is "Study: Earth 'likely' hottest in 2,000 years". Mind you, the original article had the following quote:

"Climate scientists Michael Mann, Raymond Bradley and Malcolm Hughes had concluded the Northern Hemisphere was the warmest it has been in 2,000 years. Their research was known as the "hockey-stick" graphic because it compared the sharp curve of the hockey blade to the recent uptick in temperatures and the stick's long shaft to centuries of previous climate stability.

The National Academy scientists concluded that the Mann-Bradley-Hughes research from the late 1990s was "likely" to be true, said John "Mike" Wallace, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Washington and a panel member. The conclusions from the '90s research "are very close to being right" and are supported by even more recent data, Wallace said."

In other words, they are not saying anything new with the new article. Just beating the dead horse. Of course, they will blame the horse's death on global warming.

Quote of the day

"It may very well be that the price for accepting all manner of compromises is having a movement totally compromised." - Robert A. George

Robert George wrote this in a National Review editorial back in 2000, referring to how Rudy Giuliani's personal affairs go against the beliefs of the Republican Party, yet they were still going to support him in his run for the Senate against Hillary Clinton (he later backed out of the race).

It is ironic that the Republican Party, without any help from Rudy Giuliani, ended up proving Robert George prescient. How many compromises has the GOP made in order to keep power, at the sacrifice of conservatism?

Quote of the day

“I hate victims who respect their executioners.” - Jean-Paul Sartre

There shall be no respect for anyone who would kill me physically or spiritually. If I am ever a victim, it will only be because I am not strong enough to win by myself, NOT because I could not fight.

Quote of the day

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." - Elizabeth Stone

There is no truer love than that between parent and child. Because that love is contained within every fiber of your being, and every fiber of your child's being.

To My Dad

"Sherman made the terrible discovery that men make about their fathers sooner or later...that the man before him was not an aging father but a boy, a boy much like himself, a boy who grew up and had a child of his own and, as best he could, out of a sense of duty and, perhaps love, adopted a role called 'Being a Father' so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector, who would keep a lid on all the chaotic and catastrophic possibilities of life." - Tom Wolfe, from The Bonfire of the Vanities

Dear Dad,
I read the quote above and thought of you. Specifically, I thought of the dichotomy of you: what you are, and how I view you.

As I have grown older, and had a son of my own, I have seen in my own self the little boy that I was once. What a scary thing it is to see your son through the eyes of the seven year old I was at one time. Even though he is not me, there is me in him. It is there in a movement, or a phrase, or just the way he plays. I imagine there was a time when you did the same to me.

If I look at my son that way, and you looked at me that way, then am I nothing more than you, repeating an endless cycle of life? That is a thought both depressing and pleasant. All men would like to hope we are something greater than we are, that we are somehow unique. While all men are unique in many little ways, the main ways which pass from generation to generation remain unaltered within a family tree. In essence, immortality.

When we spoke the other day, you talked about how you were going through some of your old stuff and trying to imagine what I would do with it after you are gone. If I would throw it away, you decided you would go ahead and get rid of it. I would say this to you: Keep the stuff that is part of our immortal essence. Do not think of it as losing yourself. Think of it as keeping what will last forever.

If you find that you have nothing left, then you will understand that what is truly important about you has already been shared with me, as I have already shared it with my children.

But do not despair. This just means you have fulfilled your role as protector of our immortal essence. I hope that I serve in this role as well as you have, and as well as you do!

Thank you Dad! I love you!

Policeman of the Year

If anyone knows the name of this cop, or if this is a true story, please let me know.

(Special hat tip to Neal Boortz's website for this one):

If you ever testify in court, you might wish you could have been as sharp as this policeman.

He was being cross-examined by a defense attorney during a felony trial. The lawyer was trying to undermine the policeman's credibility....

Q: "Officer -- did you see my client fleeing the scene?"

A: "No sir. But I subsequently observed a person matching the description of the offender, running several blocks away."

Q: "Officer -- who provided this description?"

A: "The officer who responded to the scene."

Q: "A fellow officer provided the description of this so-called offender. Do you trust your fellow officers?"

A: "Yes, sir. With my life."

Q: "With your life? Let me ask you this then officer. Do you have a room where you change your clothes in preparation for your daily duties?"

A: "Yes sir, we do!"

Q: "And do you have a locker in the room?"

A: "Yes sir, I do."

Q: "And do you have a lock on your locker?"

A: "Yes sir."

Q: "Now why is it, officer, if you trust your fellow officers with your life, you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with these same officers?"

A: "You see, sir -- we share the building with the court complex, and sometimes lawyers have been known to walk through that room."

The courtroom erupted in laughter, and a prompt recess was called.

Quote of the day: Stating the obvious edition

"I recognize that I have a responsibility to safeguard my health in the offseason so I can continue to lead our team effectively. I never meant any harm to others nor to break any laws. I was confident in my ability to ride a motorcycle and simply believed such an accident would not happen to me. If I ever ride again, it certainly will be with a helmet." - Ben Roethlisberger

Ben, ya think?

In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny, "What a maroon!".

Quote of the day

"If you read all the fine print in all the documents you have to sign, you would have no time left to live a life." - Thomas Sowell

This is why legal disclaimers are pointless. No one reads them, so why bother having them at all?

Even worse, when there is a true warning of which we need to be made aware, it gets lost in the din of legal disclaimers which warn us of things which MIGHT happen to one person in a million people, and usually only when that one person is too stupid to live anyway.

At some point in the near future, a judge will realize that legal disclaimers are just white noise. Disclaimers are the legal version of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf".

Quote of the day

"They can change their minds, but they can't change me." - Jim Croce, from the song "I Got a Name"

If you ever want to get a feel for "Americana", listen to the music of Jim Croce. Croce had a knack for just telling a story. From his biggest hit "Bad Bad Leroy Brown", to some of his lesser known songs like "Rapid Roy" or "Roller Derby Queen", Croce told stories of people that made you feel.

Croce died at the age of 30 in a plane crash in 1973.

Quote of the day

I took another few days off, but I am back now.

"When small men attempt great enterprises, they always end by reducing them to the level of their mediocrity." - Napoleon Bonaparte

How often have we seen this? From politics to corporate management, this seems too sadly prevalent.

Quote of the day: Dennis Miller Week

“You know there is a problem with the education system when you realize that out of the 3 R's only one begins with an R.” - Dennis Miller

Quote of the day: Dennis Miller Week

“Washington, DC is to lying what Wisconsin is to cheese.” - Dennis Miller

Quote of the day: Dennis Miller Week

"I'm actually equal parts cynicism and apathy. I'm always willing to believe the worst as long as it doesn't take too much effort." - Dennis Miller

Just speaking for myself, I am a contrarian. This works out really well since most people are wrong most of the time.

(Hat tip to Quotationspage.com)

Quote of the day: Dennis Miller Week

In my opinion, Dennis Miller is a comedic/philosophical genius. His observations on our world are funny and thoughtful at the same time. I would call him a modern day George Carlin.

“It's ironic that in our culture everyone's biggest complaint is about not having enough time; yet nothing terrifies us more than the thought of eternity.” - Dennis Miller

One of the nice things about the afterlife is you don't have to worry about being on time for it.

(Hat tips to Thinkexist.com for the quote and to Dennismillerinfo.com for the photo)

The argument for third parties

Peggy Noonan nails down the real argument for third parties in her editorial today, "Third Time":

"I don't see any potential party, or potential candidate, on the scene right now who can harness the disaffection of growing portions of the electorate. But a new group or entity that could define the problem correctly--that sees the big divide not as something between the parties but between America's ruling elite and its people--would be making long strides in putting third party ideas in play in America again."

Amen Peggy.

Quote of the day

"Better to fight for something than live for nothing." - George S. Patton

Too often I hear liberals claiming we should not be in Iraq, we are causing people to die. This shows the limited vision of the modern day liberal.

If we can establish a working democracy in Iraq, and I will admit the jury is still out on that question, then the deaths are worthwhile. Even if we cannot, the deaths are still worthwhile because it is a worthy endeavor.

This is an experiment. If it works, it will lay the groundwork for future endeavors of this kind. If it fails, it means we will have to refine our methods in future endeavors. Either way, we will have accomplished something.

But the liberals don't see that. To the liberal, death is something to be avoided at all costs, regardless of the benefit to humanity. To the liberal, it is better to live in chains than to die for freedom.

To our soldiers in Iraq, I say to you: What you are doing is far greater than what our own Founding Fathers did. They risked their lives to gain their own freedom. You risk your lives to give freedom to others. God bless you and protect you, for you are truly the best mankind has to offer.

Quote of the day

"The market is not an invention of capitalism. It has existed for centuries. It is an invention of civilization." - Mikhail Gorbachev

This is why communism doesn't work. It kills the market.

This is why socialism doesn't work. It paralyzes the market.

This is why republican governments work. They feed the market.

Quote AND Editorial of the day

"If only we could get the NSA to start spying on members of Congress. Tap their phones and read their email, no warrants necessary. We could call it a "Corruption Surveillance Program," and leak the details to the New York Times to make sure everyone in Congress is made aware they're being watched." - Tom Bevan

With an opening quote like that, you can imagine how good Tom Bevan's editorial today is.

Quote of the day

Sorry I have not been posting. I took a little blogging vacation, but I am back.

What better to come back with but a quote from the greatest president?

"We are a nation that has a government--not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our Government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed." - Ronald Reagan

Americans too often forget this.

The Last Straw

From a story at CNN.com:

"House Speaker Dennis Hastert demanded Wednesday that the FBI surrender documents and other items agents seized on Capitol Hill in what lawmakers said was an unconstitutional raid.

"I think those materials ought to be returned," said Hastert, adding that the FBI agents involved "ought to be frozen out of that (case) for the sake of the Constitution."

The Saturday night search of Rep. William Jefferson's office on Capitol Hill brought Democrats and Republicans together in rare election-year accord, with both parties protesting agency conduct they said violated the Constitution's separation of powers doctrine."

So the crooks have circled the wagons?

Neal Boortz said it best:

"They claim that it's unconstitutional. Funny...nothing in the Constitution about searching a corrupt public official's office. It protects against unlawful search and seizure...but the feds had a warrant. Separation of powers? Eh..that's a stretch. A crime was committed...what were they supposed to do, look the other way? Right at the front of yesterday's whining was House Majority Leader John Boehner, who said that "the congress will clearly speak to this issue of the justice department's invasion of the legislative branch. In what form I don't know. I've got to believe at the end of the day it's going to end up across the street, at the Supreme Court. I don't see anything short of that." Aww...poor baby."

First, it was the politicians not wanting our immigration laws enforced. Now it seems they don't want ANY laws enforced on them.

Apparently, some of Mexico's corruption is coming over the border too.

It is time to vote BOTH parties out. Whether you are liberal or conservative, it makes no difference. Find ANY third party to vote for.

Villains Part II: The best movie villains of all time

The best movie villains of all time:

1. Frank, played by Henry Fonda (picture above), in "Once Upon a Time in the West":

Fonda is deliciously evil in this role. The amazing thing is that Fonda carries the part, making it believable without giving any real background to the character. His only clear motivation is self-interest.

In one scene, he kills a child just because one of his henchmen has called him by name, and Frank does not want the child to identify him. Frank just shoots the kid point blank, no remorse. In fact, Fonda gives the barest hint that Frank enjoys it.

The beauty of Fonda's performance is that it is NOT over the top. It is a subtle, snake-like evil that can sneak up on you if you are not careful. But when it bites, you know it painfully well.

Fonda's subtlety was undoubtedly influenced by Sergio Leone (the director), who liked to give his characters an aura of mystery. But none of the villains in Leone's other films epitomized villainy like Fonda, who could take an inch of rope and manage to get it around the audience's throat like a noose.

2. Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson, in "The Shining":

Nicholson took a normal man and turned him into a villain, right before the audience's eyes. I would rank it as the single best acting performance by one actor ever.

3. Col. Nathan Jessup, played by Jack Nicholson, in "A Few Good Men":

The final courtroom scene with Tom Cruise ranks as the single best movie scene ever for me. The intensity of Cruise going up against Nicholson in that scene is overwhelming.

Nicholson's Jessup has a self-righteous martyrdom, which Nicholson plays with both control (early in the film) and wild abandon (at the end).

4. Dr. Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins, in both "Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal":

Hopkins was a great actor long before this role came to him, but he showed how important the acting is to the villainy. In the film "Manhunter", Brian Cox played Hannibal. Anyone remember him? I thought not.

5. Nurse Ratched, played by Louise Fletcher, in "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest":

Fletcher is my favorite villainous actress of all time.

She has the "holier than thou" villainess down to an art form. For anyone who read the book, Fletcher IS Nurse Ratched. I don't think anyone else could have played the role. The evil Ratched thinks she knows what you need better than you do, and Fletcher plays it so convincingly.

(For a real villainous treat, check her out in the tv show "Deep Space Nine".)

6. Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, in "Wall Street":

"Greed...is good." And so was Douglas in this classic role.

7. Clubber Lang, played by Mr. T, in "Rocky III":

One of the great signs that an actor has played a villain well is that you cheer for their defeat in the end. I never enjoyed watching a villain lose more than Clubber Lang.

8. Alex Forrest, played by Glenn Close, in "Fatal Attraction":

Close gave new definition to the "femme fatale" with this role.

9 (tied). Matty Walker, played by Kathleen Turner, in "Body Heat" AND Catherine Tramell, played by Sharon Stone, in "Basic Instinct":

Even though Stone's Tramell was not THE killer, she was clearly a villainess in the mold of Turner's Walker. These are the kind of women who ooze sex from every pore in order to get what they want. Would you kill for them? Or be killed by them? Or both?

10. Count Orlok, played by Max Schrek, in "Nosferatu":

Most silent movies are horrid by today's standards, and "Nosferatu" has it's horrid moments. However, Schrek's performance as Orlok is so haunting as to make this my personal favorite of all vampire films. Considering that Orlok is only onscreen for 9 minutes, that is saying something.

Villains Part I: Quote(s) of the day

"I love playing villains." - Alfred Molina

I have always thought that, if I were an actor, I would want to play a bad guy.

When watching a movie or a tv show, we may root for the heroes, but it is the villain that gives the plot dilemna gravitas.

The more dangerous or scary the villain is, the greater the challenge for our hero, and the more satisfying the final victory truly is. In the case of tragedies, the final loss by the hero can be appreciated for the hero's effort to overcome what was a superior villain/challenge.

But there is another factor in playing a villain: It is the ultimate freedom. You get to throw off society's shackles and do whatever your little selfish heart desires.

In football terms, it is the difference between being a quarterback or a linebacker. Everyone loves the quarterback, but the linebacker has more fun. I once asked Bill Bergey (former all-pro linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles) if he thought blindsiding a quarterback was better than sex, and he said yes. (I always suspected it was)

A quarterback has to take the hits like a hero, but still manage to come back and win the game. The linebacker gets to dish out all the hits in order to keep the quarterback from winning. In football, there is the final score to determine victory. In movies and tv, the victory is only determined by the accomplishment of whatever goals the plot determines.

The heroes are stuck with all the responsibilities, while the villains get to have all the fun. To paraphrase Donald Sutherland's question in "Animal House":

"[Is] being bad was more fun than being good?"

The answer is yes.

(Hat tip to Yahoo.com for the picture)

Quote of the day

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

Nothing profound here. I just thought it was funny.

Quote of the day

“What is acting but lying and what is good lying but convincing lying?” - Sir Laurence Olivier

Screw you Mexico!

I was reading this news article over at CNN.com titled "Mexico, other nations condemn U.S. fence". My blood got to boiling.

"Mexico and four Central American nations condemned the U.S plan to build hundreds of miles of triple-layered fencing on its southern border, saying it would not stop illegal immigration.

In a joint news conference in Mexico City late Thursday, the foreign ministers of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Mexico said that building barriers was not the way to solve problems between neighboring nations.

"The position of Mexico and the other countries is that walls will not make a difference in terms of the solution to the migration problem," said Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez."

If it won't work, why say anything at all? The fact is they know it just might work, and they are scared. Scared that they may be stuck with having to perform economic reforms so their people can work AND make a living. Scared that their corrupt governments may have to clean up their acts.

""All of us are looking for a comprehensive migratory regulation so that millions of Latin Americans can continue working in and supporting the United States economy," Briz said."

...and sending billions of dollars back into their floundering economies.

""Building walls, constructing barriers on the border does not offer an efficient solution in a relationship of friends, neighbors and partners," Fox said in the border city of Tijuana."

How about invaders and criminals?

"[Fox continued], "We will go on defending the rights of our countrymen without rest or respite. With passion we will demand the full respect of their human rights.""

Who is denying their human rights? The only denial of human rights occurs WITHIN the banana republics south of the U.S. border.

How is returning illegal immigrants to their home country a denial of human rights? Unless their home country denies their human rights.

Is that an admission of Mexico's guilt, Vicente Fox?

Quote of the day

Anyone else miss "The Far Side"? I know I do. Gary Larson was the epitome of the phrase "creative genius".

"Newspapers will run a headline: 'Shark kills human.' You never see a headline from the other perspective: 'Man swims in shark-infested water, forgets he's shark food.'" - Gary Larson

(Hat tip to thinkexist.com)

Quote(s) of the day

“If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything.” - Malcolm X

"Give us clear vision, that we may know where to stand and what to stand for - because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything." - Peter Marshall (preacher, 1902-1949)

"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything." - Alexander Hamilton

It must be true then.

Seriously, this is where most politicians part ways with me. Their guiding principle seems to be whatever it takes to get themselves re-elected. They only do the right thing when the public starts clamoring for it.

How does this happen? Look towards the American voters:

"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." - H. L. Mencken

Replace "taste" with "intelligence", and there is your answer. Politicians have been underestimating the American voters for many decades, with only a few rare instances of the voters calling them on the carpet (Ross Perot comes to mind).

The time is approaching when the American voters need to call the politicians on the carpet again. Our politicians are acting with ambivalence towards us, when they are not completely corrupt. It is time for the sheep to turn on the wolves.

Quote of the day

I had Marx yesterday, so it is only appropriate:

"The more I see the less I know for sure." - John Lennon

Were you expecting Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin?

Ragged Thoughts

Robert A. George rocks!

He drops by my blog to say thank you (link here).

Now he has even given my blog a little blogger love over on his blog.

Maybe this is only interesting to me, but I still think it's cool!

Quote of the day

"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know." - Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx has always been one of my favorite comedians. His sense of silliness and comic timing are impeccable. I can still watch any of the Marx Brothers movies and laugh my butt off (although I do fast forward through the musical sequences, which were horrendous).

Quote of the day

"You can't base your life on other people's expectations." - Stevie Wonder

If you know the right thing to do, then do it. While there is nothing wrong with asking permission, or seeking a consensus, but if you don't get it, then do the right thing anyway. Even if you are judged harshly, at least you will be judged with a clear conscience.

Editorial of the day

Robert Novak's editorial, "Corporate Pork-Busting", is a must-read.

For those of you not familiar with the Northrup Grumman, here is Novak's description:

"An earmark in the bill's Senate version would give $500 million to Northrop Grumman to reimburse cost overruns on U.S. Navy shipbuilding contracts caused by Katrina damage at the Mississippi Gulf Coast shipyards in Pascagoula and Gulfport.

...The company, whose revenue last year totaled $40.7 billion, has received $500 million from its insurer and is in litigation seeking another $500 million. The Defense Contract Management Agency has declared "it would be inappropriate to allow Northrop Grumman to bill for costs potentially recoverable by insurance because payment by the government may otherwise relieve the carrier from their policy obligation." Factory Mutual Insurance Co., with 2004 revenue of $2.7 billion, then would be receiving indirect corporate welfare."

Fortunately, Senator Tom Coburn caught this piece of pork in the bill which would have provided "emergency funds for the war against terror and for Hurricane Katrina relief." Coburn added an amendment which:

"...barely lost, 51 to 48, in a rare Senate vote crossing party lines. Republicans split 28 to 27 against Mississippi's powerful senators, with John McCain and Majority Leader Bill Frist supporting Coburn. Democrats voted 24 to 20 for Northrop Grumman. North Dakota's twin deficit hawks, Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan, voted with Coburn, but Edward M. Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and Democratic Leader Harry Reid supported corporate welfare."

Amazing how the split votes looked very similar for both parties, isn't it? When it comes to pork, there is NO DIFFERENCE between the two parties. They are both slime.

It is also interesting to note how Kennedy, Clinton, and Reid all supported corporate welfare. Or is it they are in favor of ANY kind of welfare? Not that Democrats would ever worry about spending someone else's money. Or Republicans for that matter.

Another silly blog thing: Pirates edition

I found a silly thing to add to my blog: "What's My Pirate Name?". You fill out a questionaire, and it gives you a pirate name. Here's mine:

My pirate name is:

Black Tom Bonney

Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

My theory on illegal immigration

I originally posted this theory over at Townhall.com:

Contrary to what EITHER of our behemoth political parties want to do, we need to get the illegal immigrants out of here. Period.

If the politicians want to make it easier for 100 million Mexicans to come into this country legally, that's fine. But if they are here illegally, I am tired of hearing the excuse "but we can't round up 12 million of them". I don't care if you round them up, or make it impossible for them to make a living here. Do NOT give them amnesty.

In case you hadn't noticed, I have changed my views somewhat on this subject. The foot dragging of the political class in this country taught me something. They WANT this to happen. I suspect they set up the circumstances to ALLOW it to happen.

My theory is they want to bring in millions of young workers to help us get through the retirement of the Baby Boomers so the politicians won't have to do anything about the impending Social Security/Medicare collapses.

Instead of fixing the problems we have, our politicians are making different problems (such as crime). Welcome to three card monte, Washington style.

Quote of the day

"Be careful in revising those immigration laws of yours. We got careless with ours." - advice given to Hubert Humphrey by an American Indian from New Mexico

I wonder if the Mexicans will round us all up into reservations?

You may laugh now, but I'm sure the Indians didn't consider the possibility when the Pilgrims arrived either.

(Hat tip to quotationspage.com)

Quote of the day

"Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing." - Salvador Dali

The genius in this statement is that even the greatest of ideas are NOT completely original. They are merely a mental reworking of what we already know.

Editorial of the day

CNN's Lou Dobbs is not one of my favorite broadcasters. However, I share his hatred of the current illegal immigration situation. His editorial, "Do you take us for fools?", exemplifies my own anger with the current crop of failures running our government.

Dobbs states my own frustration nicely:

"Only a fool, Mr. President, Sen. Kennedy, Sen. McCain, would believe you when you speak of new legislation. You don't enforce the laws now."

As Dobbs sums up:

"...318 employers out of five and a half million in this country have been fined for hiring illegal aliens since 2001. In 2004, only three employers were fined. That is a dismal record, Mr. President, as dismal as the fact that the number of ICE agents assigned to enforce immigration laws in the workplace has declined from only 240 back in 1999 to now less than 100.

The problem in our lack of border security and illegal immigration is becoming increasingly obvious: two political parties that are beholden to corporate America, the largest employers of illegal aliens, and the leadership of both parties that are selling out American citizens in search of cheap labor and political advantage. How dumb do you all think we are? Again, that's only a rhetorical question.

Over the next few days on my broadcast, I'm going to make a suggestion that I hope may help the leadership of both the Republican and Democratic parties begin to take some notice of our laws and our expectations that those laws be enforced. And also take at least some notice of the fact that Republicans and Democrats also represent American citizens, not just corporate America and special interests."

If I had to guess, I would say Dobbs is going to recommend voting for third parties. That would be my advice. Regardless of any election outcome, if a large enough percentage of voters vote for third parties, that would get the Democrats and Republicans to sit up and take notice.

Quote of the day

"I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress." - Ronald Reagan

There would still be only ten Commandments, but there would be earmarks for funding some bridges, libraries, and museums.

Quote of the day

"Nature does nothing uselessly." - Aristotle

One of the reasons I believe in God.

Quote of the day

“Politics: “Poli” a Latin word meaning “many”; and "tics" meaning “bloodsucking creatures”.” - Robin Williams

My favorite bloggers

The following is my must-read list of bloggers:

1. Robert A. George (RAGGED THOTS): Clever and cordial, Robert pays attention to his blog, and the people who visit. I have never met him, but I suspect he would be a great guy to converse with over a beer.

2. Mary Katherine Ham (Hugh Hewitt's website): I originally became familiar with her work over at Townhall.com. When she left there to go to work at Salem Communications, she started posting on Hugh Hewitt's website. She is the epitome of "positive thinking" (or as she might say, a "glass half-full gal"). If you are looking for a blogger pick-me-up, she is recommended reading. Even when she complains about something, you can still sense a positive spin on it.

3. Jay Tea (Wizbang): While he is cynical, Jay is also clever and funny. He usually gets me thinking, whether he is discussing national politics, or roasting Massachusetts politicos.

Quote of the day

The perfect Friday quote:

"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin

Editorial of the day

I have decided to discontinue the "Editorial of the day" as a regular feature. I will bring it back when I find something worth reading, but for now I just don't see enough good editorials to have it every day.

In honor of this, I do have a good one from my favorite senator, Tom Coburn (this was delivered on the floor of the Senate yesterday):

Mr. President, in the past week, the Senate has voted to reduce the overall cost of H.R. 4939, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006, now totaling nearly $110 billion by a mere $15 million. I'm delighted that President Bush has pledged to veto this bill because Congress has, once again, been unable to resist the temptation to load up a must-pass bill with pork.

Mr. President, I offered several amendments to eliminate non-emergency items in this bill. I appreciate the patience of my colleagues. I'm very pleased and encouraged that this body is increasingly willing to depart from our business-as-usual practices.

That's good, because the American people are paying attention to this process. In a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, the American people said that ending earmarks should be the number one priority for Congress this session. Thirty-nine percent said that members should be prohibited from "directing federal funds to specific projects benefiting only certain constituents." It's interesting to note that ending earmarks was ranked ahead of immigration reform, which was cited as the number one priority by 32 percent of Americans.

I hope that these results, combined with polls showing a 22 percent approval rating for Congress, will encourage conferees to avoid a confrontation with President Bush over spending. I would hope that when conferees look for items to remove from this bill they take a close look at my amendments that lost by a narrow margin as well as those I withdrew.

Mr. President, I believe that in this time of war and disaster recovery the American people expect us to make hard choices about spending. Taxpayers want us to be serving in a spirit of service and sacrifice, not searching for new ways to raid the public treasury.

Congress is raiding the treasury in two ways with this bill. First, many of the items in this bill should be considered in the regular appropriations process and through the regular order. The War on Terror is no longer a surprise. We're entering our fifth year of this war. It shouldn't come as a surprise to Congress that we have needs related to this effort. We've also developed a good understanding about many of the priorities in the Gulf Coast that could have been addressed in the regular budget process.

Congress has also added billions of dollars for items that have no connection to the War on Terror and the Gulf Coast recovery. Again, few of these items are true emergencies. The American people deserve to understand what defines a true emergency. According to the budget resolution for fiscal year 2006 all of the following five criteria must be met to be considered an emergency:

o Necessary, essential, or vital;
o Sudden, quickly coming into being, and not building up over time;
o An urgent, pressing, and compelling need requiring immediate action;
o Unforeseen, unpredictable, and unanticipated; and
o Not permanent, temporary in nature.

Designating a project as an "emergency" excuses Congress from paying for a project. The result of abusing the "emergency" designation is an even greater emergency. Our nation's debt is nearly $8.4 trillion. Each American's share of this debt is $27,964.86. Our national debt is increasing by an average of $1.95 billion per day. Social Security, Medicare and the standard of living of future generations of Americans are in jeopardy as a result of decades of fiscal irresponsibility and rationalizations for spending more money today without considering the consequences tomorrow.

The Social Security trustees' reported this week the program will exhaust its trust fund and begin running annual cash deficits in 2040. A year ago, that prediction was 2041 effectively meaning two years have been lost by a refusal to act. The trustees reported Social Security's unfunded liability is $13.4 trillion.

Of course, the real problem with Social Security and Medicare is much worse because the federal government uses an Enron-style accounting scheme. We habitually borrow or, more accurately, steal money from these trust funds to pay for more spending today.

When the 77 million Baby Boomers begin to retire in 2011, our nation will be faced with the greatest economic challenge in our history. If we continue to indulge in earmarks, the gateway drug to spending addictions, we will never address these complex challenges, particularly if we can't resist the urge to abuse the earmark process on a bill designed to address the emergency needs of our troops and displaced people in the Gulf Coast.

Another reason we must act today to rein in wasteful spending is because our ability to influence world events is diminished by our debt to other nations. We now have the distinction of being the world's largest debtor nation, and this bill will add to that debt. Many serious economists are warning that our excessive borrowing from foreign sources could cause the value of the dollar to collapse, which would lead to a disaster for our economy. It is incredibly short-sighted for this body to sell treasury bills to countries like China so we can finance economic development programs and other pet projects while, at the same time, we hope to encourage China to be more aggressive in terms of discouraging Iran from developing nuclear weapons. This is not just a numbers game. The future vitality of our nation is at stake. We are slowly but surely whittling away our national power and ability to leverage other nations away by our refusal to make hard choices about spending.

Many of the items in this bill are obviously not emergencies, which is why this bill will be vetoed by President Bush if it is sent to him in its current form. Again, I hope conferees do not force the President to take this step. I'm confident the President will veto this bill. He understands that it is more important to secure the next generation rather than the next election.

Past presidents and Congresses have made hard choices during difficult times. Between 1939 and 1942, Congress and FDR cut spending for nondefense programs by 22 percent. In 1950, President Truman and Congress cut nonmilitary spending by 28 percent. I would suggest to my colleagues that if we want to be here past 2006 we better do the same.

Still, I agree with my colleagues who say that the President's priorities don't come down from heaven. I would suggest, however, that we are all subject to the judgment that comes down from the taxpayers. If we flippantly disregard the President's insistence that we make hard choices, the judgment of the taxpayers will not be kind to any of us.

Families across this country are faced with hard choices every day in order to live within their budget. They have elected us to make hard choices. Our refusal to do this only reinforces the perception that we are disconnected from the priority-setting reality that governs the rest of the country.

It is wrong, for example, for this body to fund pork projects like grape research in the state of California then force the taxpayers in my state and every other state to pay for a so-called 'emergency' project that has been ongoing for the last 46 years and has already received more than $130 million from the American taxpayer. Where this body sees an emergency the taxpayers often see a series of misplaced priorities.

The state of California received 549 federal earmarks this year totaling $733 million. That included $10 million in federal resources alone for museums. Is it more important to protect the residents at risk from flooding by the Sacramento River or to fund grape research? Congress is spending over $3.6 million on a grape research center in California this year. We are spending another $1 million on a pedestrian walkway project in Calimesa and a half a million on pedestrian/bike improvements on Tower Bridge in Sacramento? What is more important for Sacramento? Why can't we prioritize today so future generations are not forced to make even tougher choices between massive tax hikes, drastic cuts to Medicare and Social Security or the defense of our nation?

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Cowardice asks the question - is it safe? Expediency asks the question - is it popular? Vanity asks the question - is it popular? But conscience asks the question - is it right?"

I plead with my colleagues. Do what is right. Our nation is on an unsustainable course and that course correction must begin today, not when it is too late.

I yield the floor.

(Hat tip to Real Clear Politics)

Quote of the day

I decided to replace the quote under the title of this blog. Without further ado, welcome our new subtitle quote:

"Football combines two of the worst things in American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings." - George Will

Personally, I would like to see a little more violence in Congressional committee meetings. That would mean somebody in Washington is getting fed up with the b.s.

Quote of the day

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Winston Churchill

Sounds a lot like how Europe handles things, doesn't it?

Quote of the day

"All the time a person is a child he is both a child and learning to be a parent. After he becomes a parent he becomes predominantly a parent reliving childhood." - Dr. Benjamin Spock

In other words, we all grow up to become our parents. We may tweak here and there, but our basic parenting style was learned from our parents.

United 93: My review

I went to see "United 93" over the weekend. This is an intense, powerful film.

All of us have our memories of 9/11. "United 93" is a telescope into what happened that day.

To those who would say, "It's too soon for this movie", I say this movie needed to be made, and it needs to be watched. At what point does it become ok? 10 years from now? 20 years from now? If not now, when?

I cannot tell you why "United 93" needs to be watched, except to say that my 9/11 demons have been eased somewhat. I can look into the Devil's eyes, knowing he can be beaten. At the very least, I know I can keep him from getting what he wants.

NFL Draft predictions

I did ok. I picked 6 players with the right team in the right spot, which was better than Mel Kiper's 5.

My correct predictions:

1. Texans: DE Mario Williams.

2. Saints: RB Reggie Bush.

4. Jets: OT D'Brickashaw Ferguson.

5. Packers: LB A.J. Hawk.

6. 49ers: TE Vernon Davis.

31. Seahawks: CB Kelly Jennings.

Time to give myself an award for an astute observation, even if I got the teams all wrong (and one of the players involved was wrong too):

8. Bills: QB Jay Cutler. Marv Levy would like another Jim Kelly, but he'll settle for Jay Cutler. Bills may also trade down to let someone else draft Cutler. Don't be surprised if another team gets nervous after the Raiders take Young and offers the Bills too much for the pick.

Change the pick to #11. Make it the Rams trading down instead of the Bills. Make it the Broncos getting nervous after the Cardinals (instead of the Raiders) took Matt Leinart (instead of Vince Young).

Just call me Nostradomus. Sort of.

Quote of the day

“Riches don't make a man rich, they only make him busier.” - Christopher Columbus

No editorial of the day this week

Sorry folks, but I am spending some time this week overanalyzing the NFL draft. There is nothing happening in politics that cannot wait until next week.

I heard the illegal immigrants are taking the day off today. I figure they are overdue, since they have been here for many years now. Maybe we could offer them free vacations in Mexico?