doctorzhibloggo

Where the Hell's the Doctor?...

I've been super busy setting up our new tire store and SBC hasn't hooked up DSL yet and after a year off from work; I've been too tired and cranky to blog. Throw in a little blogger burn-out and you have no postings from me. I should be back to blogging by the first week of May.

In the meantime, you can be sure of this: The Republicans are cowards and have hung us conservatives out to dry, the Democrats are evil assholes, Michael Jackson likes young boys, we're not killing enough terrorists, we pay too much in taxes, and our border with Mexico is the next front on the war on terror.

See you soon...

Ted Nugent, the Next President...

of the NRA, that is -

With an assault weapon in each hand, rocker and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent urged National Rifle Association members to be "hardcore, radical extremists demanding the right to self defense.
"Speaking at the NRA's annual convention Saturday, Nugent said each NRA member should try to enroll 10 new members over the next year and associate only with other members.

With patriots like Nugent, all assholes better watch out.

Bust 'em All...

According to Rick Sutcliffe -

... who knows just about everyone in baseball, says he’s heard that a couple of “very big names’’ are going to be nailed for steroids in the next few weeks.“I’m all for it,’’ Sutcliffe said. “If somebody did it, I hope they get every one of them.’

Me too, the cheating bastards.

Immigration Reform, Virginia Style...

Even over the spineless maneuverings of their governor, Virginia is leading the way in stemming the illegal immigration tide -

In January, The Washington Post reported, "The General Assembly passed the (driver's license) bill last year after reports surfaced that several of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists illegally obtained Virginia licenses and then used them as proof of identification at airports and flight schools."

In the first three business days after the new law, Virginia's Department of Motor Vehicles turned more than 3,000 people away - and those driver's license denials have been steadily growing since the inception of the law.

It's a start; and bills have been passed to deny illegals same-state tuition to state colleges and unis, to limit Medicaid for 'em, and other measures. But then again you've got the pussy-footing Gov. Warner and his multi-culti BS -

In the fall of 2003, I was pleased to establish through executive order a Latino Advisory Board to promote the development of economic, professional, cultural, educational and government links between the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Latino community in Virginia and Latin America. This legislation creates a permanent Latino Advisory Commission, appointed by the governor, to be composed of 21 citizen members, of whom at least 15 must be of Latino descent. "In addition, secretaries of the Commonwealth, Commerce and Trade, Education, Health and Human Resources, Public Safety and Transportation, or their designees, also will serve on the panel. This bill takes effect Oct. 15, 2005, when the executive order creating the current Latino Advisory Board expires. I am pleased to sign this measure into law."

You know, I'd like to have California do something similar, like a Lesbian Advisory Board in Abstentia (LABIA) (I, of course, would be the only male "member"). 

Round 'em Up...

I've been sick as a dog the last few days and haven't done !@#$. So here's a few goodies -

Amnesty for illegals? Nope.

Is our universe falling apart? If this pans out, physicists have some 'splaining to do.

Who's the bigger asshole? Vijay or Phil?

Good News on the Mars Front...

NASA's gonna extend the Mars rovers for another 18 months, but then they're gonna do something stupid  like this -

In a cost-cutting move prompted by President Bush's moon-Mars initiative, NASA could summarily put an end to Voyager, the legendary 28-year mission that has sent a spacecraft farther from Earth than any object ever made by humans.

The probable October shutdown of a program that currently costs $4.2 million a year has caused consternation among scientists who have shepherded the twin Voyager probes on flybys of four planets and an epic journey to the frontier of interstellar space.    

C'mon guys, I piss away 4 million bucks on hookers a year and I don't get as much satisfaction as defining the heliopause, Well, maybe I do, but her ass is not as big.

Bleating Dodger Schmoos...

Ah, baseball's here again and I can't wait for my Angels to go all the way this year. And there's nothing more fun than to make fun of the Dodgers -

They not only had no names on the back of their uniforms, but in the clubhouse they had no names above each locker, which presented a problem when one of the Dodgers screamed at me to leave before the first game.

"Who are you?" I asked.

Right away I could tell the no-name player wasn't accustomed to fielding tough questions, because it seemed as if it was too much for him, and so I waited while he gave it some thought.

"Scott," he finally blurted out, and he looked pretty pleased with himself, so I assumed he got the question right.

If so, there's only one Scott on the team, making it a good guess that it was Scott Erickson, a certified stiff by baseball standards, and better known these days as Mr. Lisa Guerrero.

 Mr. Lisa is the Dodgers' fifth starter this season because they don't have five good pitchers with Brad Penny on the disabled list, but everyone knows the Dodgers' fifth starter is also supposed to pull double duty as the team's cheerleader. In fact, Mr. Lisa should be pretty good given Guerrero's expertise.

High-larious! Read the whole column by Pravda West's TJ Simers. While the Angels will attempt to win a 100 games, I can see the Dodgers lose 100.

If I Had a Hundred Bucks...

for every time Michael Jackson stuck his hand down my pants, I'd be a very rich man.

Who Do You Believe?...

The illegal alien apologists of the NY Times? -

As the debate over Social Security heats up, the estimated seven million or so illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year. While it has been evident for years that illegal immigrants pay a variety of taxes, the extent of their contributions to Social Security is striking: the money added up to about 10 percent of last year's surplus - the difference between what the system currently receives in payroll taxes and what it doles out in pension benefits. Moreover, the money paid by illegal workers and their employers is factored into all the Social Security Administration's projections.

First off, according to new research from the Pew Hispanic Center there are now 10.3 million illegals here (and I find even that number low), not the 7 million the Times states. Why would the Times use a low figure if the higher figure would generate even more money into the SS trust fund? Maybe, clues can be found in this paragraph? -

Most immigration helps Social Security's finances, because new immigrants tend to be of working age and contribute more than they take from the system. A simulation by Social Security's actuaries found that if net immigration ran at 1.3 million a year instead of the 900,000 in their central assumption, the system's 75-year funding gap would narrow to 1.67 percent of total payroll, from 1.92 percent - savings that come out to half a trillion dollars, valued in today's money.

See? The Times states that if we increase immigration (which is happening) then we can shore up Social Security even more. If only us damn racist conservatives would just quit making it difficult for the compesinos to be left alone. But the Times is way off in its assumptions. A new study by Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) states that in Texas alone the cost of illegal immigration costs $4.65 billion -

Mass illegal immigration is costing Texas more than $4.65 billion a year finds a new report released today by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).  The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Texans, examines the fiscal costs being borne by the state to provide education, health care and incarceration for an illegal alien population now estimated to exceed 1.5 million.

Using a 1994 study published by the Urban Institute as a baseline, The Cost of Illegal Immigration to Texans looks at Census Bureau and other data to estimate the explosive growth in the size and cost of illegal immigration in the nation's second most populous state.  In 2004, the annual fiscal burden of illegal immigration amounted to about $725 per Texas household headed by a native-born resident.

Let's extrapolate further and see how much it costs the US taxpayer for rampant illegal immigration versus the NY Times rosy assumptions. Let's use a FAIR study published in 2004 to get some nation-wide numbers-

1996 Costs Table from the Huddle Study 1   

Programs (billions)   
   
Public Education K-12    $5.85

Public Higher Education    $0.71

ESL and Bilingual Education    $1.22

Food Stamps    $0.85

AFDC    $0.50
   
Housing    $0.61
   
Social Security    $3.61
   
Earned Income Tax Credit    $0.68
   
Medicaid    $3.12

Medicare A and B    $0.58

Criminal Justice and Corrections    $0.76

Local Government    $5.00
   
Other Programs    $9.25

   
Total Costs    $32.74

Less Taxes Paid    $12.59

Net Costs of Direct Services    $20.16
   
Displacement Costs    $4.28
   
All Net Costs    $24.44

So, $24 billion in costs minus $7 billion in increased Social Security taxes leaves us with a net cost of $17 billion to the US taxpayer. Hey, that's a pretty good investment and I don't have to pay my gardener and house-cleaner squat. Boy, I sure feel better and why should I care what these poor slobs pay to the federal government; I'm getting my money's worth. And the Times gets two shills in for the price of one: illegal immigration is a net benefit and we really don't need to reform SSI.

 

Remember the Titans...

Thinking about the death of the Pope, I realized that my generation has been blessed by the toils of great men (and one woman). Reagan, Thatcher, John Paul II, Walesa, Havel; these people understood the evils of Communism and the need for the unwavering commitment to its destruction.

Today, I don't see the same men and women dedicated to the fight for freedom as I saw as a young adult. As I get older, Is my cynicism for pusillanimous politicians clouding my judgment? Spending 13 years in the employ of the government and seeing federal judges more concerned for their comfort than the Constitution may have something to do with it, but I just don't see them. Maybe, George Bush will be such a man, but any transformation of the Middle East is in its infancy (and his embrace of big-government Conservatism has me on edge). Maybe, some figure from the Middle East will rise up and demand liberty and modernism from its leaders. Maybe, pigs will fly.

I just despair a bit, that my son's generation will not be able to have men on the world stage to look up to and realize that there are things in life bigger than they are and that the sacrifices of men do not go in vain. And, I do despair, that the history books will not do justice to the men that strode the Earth like Titans and that I was blessed to witness history as it was made.

Celebrate a Life...

At mass yesterday, Monsignor's Homily, who had the joy of knowing Pope John Paul for 31 years,  said that he was an inspiration in his suffering. That no doctor or judge or politician  should decide when it is time for some one to die.  He teared up as he spoke and said that , like Christ,  suffering  is our lot, but that at the end  there will be eternal life.  As a  re-lapsed Catholic, I find some comfort in these words and knowledge that the Pope's message of love did not fall deaf on my ears.

Operation Predator...

It seems that the Feds efforts to round-up and deport illegal alien sex-offenders is paying off -

Federal agents and Nassau police fanned out across the county Tuesday starting at 5 a.m., rousting the sex offenders out of their sleep, apprehending others on the streets and arresting some as they showed up for appointments with probation officers.
 
Officials said 25 were rounded up in Tuesday's sweep and taken to a federal detention facility. They also disclosed that agents had earlier arrested 16 immigrants in Nassau over the past few months.
 
About 85 percent of the convicted sex offenders victimized children, some as young as 9, said Salvatore Dalessandro, deputy special agent in charge of the New York office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"We are putting every alien criminal sex offender on notice," Dalessandro said. "We will find you, arrest you and deport you from the United States."

Good job. The feds have arrested 5,300 assholes since Operation Predator started in July 2003. Of course, the offenders are the victims -

The deportations are unfair, some relatives said.

Wilfredo Torres' family said the 23-year-old Freeport resident arrested Tuesday was not a sexual predator. Instead, he had a consensual relationship with a girl they believed was 16 but turned out to be younger, they said. Torres, from El Salvador, served a year in jail and has since worked long hours at a beverage store.

"He made a mistake," said his brother, Jose Torres. "He was with a minor, but he's never been a bad person."

Sure, he's not a bad person Mr. Torres. Your brother was arrested for statutory rape and in the country illegally, but he's not a bad guy and you're not an effing menso.

You can read all about Operation Predator here. 

The Mexican Government has Big Cojones...

I can't believe the balls of the Mexican government -

Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said Tuesday that Mexican consulates in Arizona will file criminal complaints against any illegal detentions of its citizens by volunteers of the so-called Minuteman Project. In a press statement, the department said it would also weigh further steps – apparently civil lawsuits – against people involved in what it described as "vigilanteism" against undocumented Mexican migrants.

Maybe the Minutemen should file criminal trespass charges against the illegals. Let's see what the courts would do. Probably nothing, unless they're on life support.

Quote of the Day...

From the Washington Times, James Gilchrist, leader of the Minuteman Project on the word that the MS-13 gang will be out to get 'em -

"We're not worried because half of our recruits are retired trained combat soldiers," Mr. Gilchrist said. "And those guys are just a bunch of punks."

I'd like to see the Minutemen take out a few.

Remove the Feeding Tube Nine...

There's been alotta so-called analysis from commentators regarding Terri Schiavo's fate; most of it has been nonsense, but Michael Barone puts the case in the context of American morality that no longer exists in the rest of the world -

I think that the response of elected officials reflects one of the great           strengths in our country: a confident belief in moral principles that stands in vivid contrast with what we see in much of Europe and in the supposedly sophisticated  precincts of this country.

I agree, but I still think that, after this is over, there will be winners and losers -
The Democratic Party - The left's vampiric cravings for innocent human life and disdain for anything remotely religious will just alienate more voters.
The Republican Party - I don't think they have much to worry about. A religious libertarian like myself can't be too upset over trying to save Terri's life, even if I have reservations about Congress overstepping the bounds of Federalism.
The judiciary is the biggest loser in this; to not even re-insert her feeding tube while the case was being reviewed pissed off a lot of people. Like many who don't have a law degree and can't comment on the law, this seemed cruel-and-unusual punishment for an innocent woman. The fallout from this decision will be heard in the 2006 elections and many Democratic senators in blue states will feel the heat on this. I've a feeling that President Bush's next Supreme Court nominee will be getting an easier hearing after this.
 

A Great New Blog...

Michelle Malkin and friends have a new blog on immigration. Check it out, her tenacity on the issues of national sovereignty and security are greatly appreciated.

"Target Practice"...

From Drudge a link to teenage killer Jeff Weise's little ode to nihilism. I'm usually OK with a kid's artistic endeavors, but if my kid was doing shit like this, we'd have a little sitdown.

Dive!Dive!Dive!...

On January 8th, the USS San Francisco crashed into an undersea mountain. The Navy dinged six sailors for dereliction of duty. However, it looks like the Navy may be covering their ass -

Assigning the blame for the collision is becoming an interesting exercise in how bureaucracies operate. Apparently a satellite ocean mapping project had spotted the sea mount, which the San Francisco hit, several years ago. But the navy never updated its charts. Whoever failed to get the charts updated would appear to be at fault. It’s long been known that nuclear subs, operating at their normal depths, were in danger because so much of the open oceans had not been properly mapped. This was an accepted risk. But it appears the navy may hang the blame on the San Francisco’s officers. They would be blamed for not taking more frequent depth soundings, and not proceeding more slowly, in an area that had not been definitively mapped. It’s easier to pin it on the ships officers, as they are of much lower rank than the navy official with responsibility to get the maps updated.

Check out these amazing pics of the damage to the sub. I'm surprised that only one sailor was killed in the collision. We make stuff that lasts.

A Mother's Love...

An Indian mother committed sicide so she could give her corneas to her blind sons, but it may have been in vain -

An Indian woman committed suicide so her two blind sons could receive her eyes and see, a newspaper reported on Monday.

But doctors say the chances of success are bleak, The Indian Express reported.

Thirty-seven-year-old Tamizhselvi's sons, Kumaran, 17, and Kumar, 15, have been blind since birth.

Doctors in the southern city of Chennai say Kumar's condition cannot be helped with a cornea transplant and also suspect his elder brother does not have a cornea defect.

Even if successful, the kids would be still short an eye, but as they say in India, "In the land of the blind, even the one-eyed man can run a call-center".

I Wonder if this Post Will Get me Busted?...

I was ready to open my new business when I read this - 

Pasadena police and planners want to prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries, or "cannabis clubs,' from locating within the city, saying such establishments breed crime and degrade neighborhoods.

I guess my Brownie Hut concept is out of the question? Bastards.

My Two Cents...

I'm somewhat ambivalent on the Terri Schiavo case. The two conservative pillars of the right to life and  federalism seem to be at cross purposes here and may be irreconcilable in this instance. My heart goes out to her parents, but her sack of shit husband needs a smack down. Now, if we can just get a court to remove Michael Jackson's feeding tube, of course, that would take only an act of sexual Congress...

The New McCarthyites, A Quinn Martin Production...

The Drudgster reports on the sacking of Playgirl editor Michele Zipp for voting for the Prez Dog - 

"After your coverage of my article about coming out and voting Republican, I did receive many letters of support from fellow Republican voters, but it was not without repercussions. Criticism from the liberal left ensued. A few days after the onslaught of liberal backlash, I was released from my duties at Playgirl magazine. "After underlings expressed their disinterest of working for an outed Republican editor, I have a strong suspicion that my position was no longer valued by Playgirl executives. I also received a phone call from a leading official from Playgirl magazine, in which he stated with a laugh, "I wouldn't have hired you if I knew you were a Republican.

"I just wanted to let you know of the fear the liberal left has about a woman with power possessing Republican views."

Great, I wish we could go back to the good old days when it was only lefties who took it in the rear, but if you like dicks, just visit these guys.

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors...

Nothing burns my ass more (except maybe jalapenos) then having the President of a corrupt third-world country lecture a free society on how to run its affairs. -

President Vicente Fox said Wednesday that walls along the U.S.-Mexico border, such as one approved last month by the U.S. House of Representatives, "must be demolished" because they are "discriminatory" and "against freedom."

"No country that is proud of itself should build walls . . . it doesn't make any sense," Fox said at a news conference ahead of next week's meeting in Crawford, Tex., with President Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. Border security and immigration will be main topics of the leaders' discussion, along with trade and commerce.

Well, Presidente Zorro, we are proud of ourselves. We're so proud that we don't want our country to be run over by peoples, regardless of origin, that will not comply with the laws and culture of America. And don't lecture us on freedom; this coming from the president of a country that is an oligarchy run for the benefits of a white European upper-class at the expenese of the poor, brown Mestizos.

Fox did not specifically mention last month's House vote to waive environmental regulations and allow completion of a fence, known in Mexico as the "Tortilla Wall," along the border south of San Diego. But asked about the fence, Fox said, "We are convinced that walls don't work."

Walls do work, just ask the Israelis or my neighbors.

Coup in Syria?...

The Jawa Report links to a post from the The Lebanese Foundation for Peace -

A Coup d' Etat took place in Damascus late last night. Intelligence reports coming from within the Syrian Military Command indicate the following:

A rebellion split The Syrian Army in two factions .

Since yesterday , Damascus is under the de facto control of the Syrian Army, under the command of Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan, and supported by Syrian Intelligence General Rustom Ghazaleh, Syrian military General Ali Safi, and Firas Tlass son of former Minister of Defence, Mustafa Tlass. The group rebelled against the decision of President Bashar el Assad to withdraw from Lebanon and seized the Damascus military yesterday.

Around 3 am, Damascus time, the Syrian Air Force bombarded two military airfields around Damascus, the Air force base of Dumair, and the Air force base of Katana. Also, late night around 3 am, the Syrian Air force bombarded military positions of the Syrian Army west of the city of Homs.

President Bachar el Assad retreated secretly to the city of Aleppo where he is temporarily holding ground. He is massing special forces troops loyal to him and preparing himself to take back Damascus by force .

If this pans out, ol' Basher is in a world of hurt and the hardliners in Syria will be even more ostracized by the world community. And if the generals think they can attempt to re-assert control in Lebanon, then I'm sure President Bush will have something to say about it. I just hope that the situation doesn't deteriorate to the extent that all those WMD's that Saddam was so nice to hide in the Bekaa Valley don't get their chance on the world stage.

UPDATE - It looks like the report was bogus. I'm sorta glad it is, because the hard-line bastards would have killed alotta people. If/when it does happen, I hope the reformers take power.

Beware the Kim-Chi Bird...

It's only a matter of time before this takes off and becomes a pandemic that will make the 1918 outbreak look like the common cold. Via Hugh Hewitt, an article in The West Coast Pravda -

In the last few months, scientists have begun to believe that the inaccuracy of laboratory tests, the wide variation of symptoms and the inability of public health agencies to combat the disease may have created the erroneous perception that bird flu is still rare among humans.

The number of infections is key. The more there are, the greater the chance the virus will mutate into a form that can easily be passed between people, who would have little immunity to the new disease. Scientists believe that nearly all infections so far have been caused by contact with sick or dead poultry.

There may be a cure on the way, though -

Researchers at Seoul National University said chickens infected with the deadly bird flu virus began recovering a week after they were fed with fermented bacilli extracted from kimchi.

The experiment has yet to be scientifically proven but professor Kang Sa-Ouk said kimchi did appear to have a curative effect.

Kimchi, made by fermenting cabbage with radishes, red peppers, garlic and ginger, is a symbol of national cuisine.

"Our research showed the chickens fed with a cultured fluid of fermented bacilli extracted from kimchi were recovering rapidly from bird flu and other diseases," Kang said.

The ISS to Be Abandoned?...

The Economist magazine reports that the US may be forced to abandon the International Space Station in 2006 unless Congress acts to repeal portions of the Iran Nonproliferation Act -

The legislation in question is the Iran Nonproliferation Act (INA), which came into force in 2000. The orbiting tin can is the International Space Station (ISS), an American-led (and largely American financed) project which also involves Japan, Canada, Brazil, the EU and, most notably, Russia. To keep people on it requires regular servicing trips. In practice, that means visits from America's space shuttles (grounded at the moment) and Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. But after April next year, an agreement that committed Russia to supply the space-station programme with flights on Soyuz will expire. From then on, America's space agency, NASA, will not be able to pay for any more Soyuz flights because of the INA.

The act prevents NASA from buying such flights until the president certifies that the Russian government is demonstrating a “sustained commitment” to prevent the transfer of weapons of mass destruction and missile-delivery systems, and also that neither the Russian Space Agency nor any entity reporting to it has made any such transfers in the previous year. So even if the space agency were as clean as a whistle, Russia's government has to be behaving itself. And it isn't, so there is something of an impasse.

The stick to was punish Russia for technology transfers to Iran by withholding the hard cash Russia so desperately needs. Of course, that was before the Columbia crash and the realization that NASA's a sclerotic agency and the shuttle has been obsolete for many years. But this may be a blessing in disguise-

Given poor access to the station, it is also hard to see how NASA could justify spending another $30 billion on completing it by 2010. And if the station were not completed, then the shuttle would not be needed either. Together, they represent about $50 billion of planned expenditure over the next decade.

Allowing the station to die an early death and to mothball the shuttle would free up the cash to fund the next-generation reusable vehicle and get us to the Moon and Mars faster. I wonder if the Bush administration thinks this is the way to go. Maybe we can have Russia and Europe be caretakers of the station until this guy is ready to get his company off the ground -

Even skeptical locals, who've become wary over the years of city slickers with big ideas for their town, perked up when Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos made his pitch - a spaceport for commercial travel into the beyond. Bezos flew into this West Texas town a few weeks ago to tell key leaders how he planned to use his newly acquired 165,000 acres of desolate ranch land.

The future is no longer in NASA's hands anymore.

16 Down, Thousands to Go...

This is a good way to get rid of terrorist $#@!-heads -

Police launched a major assault Tuesday on a maximum-security jail taken over by al-Qaida linked suspects, killing at least 16 inmates in a raid that began with a barrage of tear-gas canisters and bullets.

Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes said the dead included four leaders of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group, including the two men who headed a botched escape attempt Monday that left another five people dead.

Sign the Petition...

Captain's Quarters links to a petition from the Online Coalition on the efforts by the FEC to regulate political speech on blogs. This is a transparent effort by the government to shut down the information revolution that is now happening in the US. The petition is well reasoned, but long; I woulda just said, "Knock it off, you assholes."

You don't have to be a blogger to sign it.

It's About Time...

A small step in the right direction -

...the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department are attempting to aid federal agents in identifying illegal immigrants. The department, which is in charge of the country's largest jail system, will soon begin questioning inmates about their immigration status. (You can listen to the NPR story on their page.) 

And LA County Sheriff Lee Baca has gone up in my book, "... my job is to protect LA County citizens, not to coddle illegal immigrants who are committing crimes"

Teresa Wright, 1918-2005

One of my favorite actresses, Teresa Wright, died of a heart attack on Sunday. She starred in many wonderful films of the '40s -

Samuel Goldwyn, the legendary producer, asked her to play the role of Bette Davis's daughter in "The Little Foxes" in 1941. Her performance in the film moved its director, William Wyler, to tell The New York Times that she was the most promising young actress he had ever directed.

She proved his point by being nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress for the picture. The next year, she was nominated for best actress for her next role, opposite Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig's wife in "The Pride of the Yankees," and won the Oscar for best supporting actress as the love interest of Greer Garson's war-bound son in "Mrs. Miniver."

Her work included a starring role in Wyler's "Best Years of Our Lives," winner of the best-picture Oscar in 1946; playing opposite Marlon Brando in his first movie, "The Men," in 1950; and creating the character of Charlie, the innocent but suspicious niece of a serial killer, in Alfred Hitchcock's harrowing "Shadow of a Doubt" in 1943. (His best film)

Conspicuous By his Absence...

The US House issues subpoenas to 11 current and former baseball people, but look at which asshole is missing. Where's Mr. Steroid himself, Barry Bonds? It's bad enough that the media's afraid of the guy, but the Congress?; they really are pansies. Bonds is so full of chemicals that even his penis looks like a white guy's. The sad part is; he's gonna break Hank Aaron's record and it pisses me off that a raging egomaniac and cheater is the one to do it.

Civil War in Lebanon?...

Underneath the euphoria of the Lebanese people protesting the removal of Syria from the country, Hezbollah is staging their own pro-Syrian rallies -

Hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Lebanese flooded central Beirut on Tuesday for a pro-Syrian rally called by Hizbollah that dwarfed previous protests demanding that Syrian troops quit Lebanon.

Hizbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah urged the Lebanese opposition to join a national unity government and reject a U.N. demand for the Syrians to leave and his own militia to disarm.

"We call ... for the formation of a government of national  unity and we ask the opposition to join it," he told the rally.

Nasrallah said no one in Lebanon feared the United States, whose troops left Beirut in 1984, a few months after a suicide bomber killed 241 Marines at their headquarters in the capital.

"We have defeated them in the past and if they come again we will defeat them again," he said, drawing chants of "Death to America" from the sea of demonstrators.

This could spell trouble for those Lebanese that want self-determination. When Syria withdraws will Hezbollah step in to fill the vacuum? If they come to power in Lebanon, will Israel and the US step in? This could get very messy.

Student Arrested for Writing...

A Lexington, Kentucky high school student was arrested for "terroristic threats". His crime, writing a short story about zombies -

A George Rogers Clark High School junior arrested Tuesday for making terrorist threats told LEX 18 News Thursday that the "writings" that got him arrested are being taken out of context.

Winchester police say William Poole, 18, was taken into custody Tuesday morning. Investigators say they discovered materials at Poole's home that outline possible acts of violence aimed at students, teachers, and police.

Poole told LEX 18 that the whole incident is a big misunderstanding. He claims that what his grandparents found in his journal and turned into police was a short story he wrote for English class.

"My story is based on fiction," said Poole, who faces a second-degree felony terrorist threatening charge. "It's a fake story. I made it up. I've been working on one of my short stories, (and) the short story they found was about zombies. Yes, it did say a high school. It was about a high school over ran by zombies."

Give me a break, it's unsettling that a student's creative outlet is being construed as somehow threatening. There may be more to the story, but at this point it's asanine for the authorities to charge this kid. However, they can charge him for speaking terrible English -

"It didn't mention nobody who lives in Clark County, didn't mention (George Rogers Clark High School), didn't mention no principal or cops, nothing,"

More reaction here.

Bill Clinton's Getting Ready to be UN Secretary General...

I had heard about this, but I thought it couldn't be true, but it is and it just reafirms my analysis that Clinton is a dangerous scumbag. From Little Green Footballs -

But Iran is the most perplexing problem ... we face, for the following reasons: It is the only country in the world with two governments, and the only country in the world that has now had six elections since the first election of President Khatami. [It is] the only one with elections, including the United States, including Israel, including you name it, where the liberals, or the progressives, have won two-thirds to 70 percent of the vote in six elections: two for President; two for the parliament, the Majlis; two for the mayoralities.

In every single election, the guys I identify with got two-thirds to 70% of the vote. There is no other country in the world I can say that about, certainly not my own.

He's (not so) tan, ready, and rested to make us look foolish on the international stage.

I Hate Mannequins...

And this proves my point -

The mannequin moving in the store window is no longer a fantasy. A Japanese firm has developed a mannequin robot that can strike a pose for customers - and spy on who they are and what they're buying.                                          
But Palette will double up as an industrial spy, with the maker planning to program it to judge the age and sex of shoppers and even identify the bags they are carrying and pass along the information to stores for marketing purposes.                                   

It'll be really scary when your wife can progam 'em to tell you what they want for birthdays. Get ready to empty your wallets.

AP- US Death Toll in Iraq Tops 1,500...

From the ASS-ociated Press -

The number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq has topped 1,500, an Associated Press count showed Thursday after the military announced the deaths of three Americans, while car bombs targeting Iraqi security forces killed at least four people in separate attacks.

And just so you know that the AP considers President Bush disengenuous in the least; they throw in this bit -

Since May 1, 2003, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 1,364 U.S. military members have died, according to the AP count. That includes at least 1,030 deaths resulting from hostile action, the military said.The AP fails to include the good news regarding combat deaths.

From the lead opening of USA Today's  story on the same numbers -

Fifty-eight American troops died in Iraq in February, the fewest fatalities since 54 died in July, preliminary Pentagon statistics show.

Translating the death count into a daily rate, February's losses were down sharply from January and less than half those in November, the war's bloodiest month for U.S. forces.

Now, of course, even one casuality is too much, but, Don't you think that the AP should put their story in context? I guess it's too much to ask.

"Complacency Kills"...

Comicbook writer/artist Joe Sacco has a pretty even-handed strip in the Guardian UK about US Marines in Iraq. These comicbook heroes don't wear tights.

Click here to download PDF file.

How Stupid is This?...

Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) wants the FCC to regulate pay TV -

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens said on Tuesday he would push for applying broadcast decency standards to cable television and subscription satellite TV and radio.

"Cable is a much greater violator in the indecency area," the Alaska Republican told the National Association of Broadcasters, which represents most local television and radio affiliates. "I think we have the same power to deal with cable as over-the-air" broadcasters.

"There has to be some standard of decency," he said. But he also cautioned that "No one wants censorship."

Stevens told reporters afterward that he would push legislation to apply the standards to cable TV and satellite radio and television. It could become part of a pending bill to boost fines on broadcasters who violate indecency restrictions or of an effort to overhaul U.S. communications laws.

Excuse me Senator, I pay for the service and I can watch whatever I damn well please. If there's anything I find objectionable on TV, I change the channel. If there is something inappropriate on and I don't want my son to watch, I change the channel or turn it off. Pretty darn simple. And then there is this great quote on the duties of a legislator -

Stevens said he disagreed "violently" with assertions by the cable industry that Congress does not have the authority to impose limits on its content.

"If that's the issue they want to take on, we'll take it on and let the Supreme Court decide," he said.

Great. Instead of being beholden to the Constitution and fulfilling the duty the people of Alaska elected him to do, he'll just propose the legislation and then let the court worry about it's legality. But, boy, will he feel good about himself and he can go back to his constituents and say he did his best. I get really tired of the Republican Party sometimes.

The Pistacio Revolution...

Recently, we've seen the Rose Revolution in Georgia, the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine and now Michael Ledeen writes about the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon.

I want to be the first to name, the soon to be (I hope!), revolution in Iran as the "Pistacio Revolution". I can see it now, the red-stained fingers of pistacio eating students in Tehran's Mohseni Square shouting for the removal of the mullahs and their corrupt government. Handing out bushels of the nut to the Revolutionary Guards standing watch while not lifting a finger to quell the protesters. Soon the entire world will be tasting the fruit of Iran's most fertile tree.

Round 'em Up...

A toothpaste that fixes cavities.

More evidence of water on Mars, with cool pictures.

John Leo and the future of Liberalism in the US.

Endangered Species?...

The English speaking politician -

That makes the improbable candidacy of Herminia Ortiz, who is seeking to unseat Pasadena Councilman Victor Gordo in the March 8 election, all the more intriguing.

Admittedly, hers is a long-shot campaign. But if she wins, she may just become the first elected municipal official in modern American history, outside of Puerto Rico, who speaks only Spanish.

I wrote about Ortiz's candicacy here and I know she doesn't have a snowball's chance, but the consequences of her win would be devastating to the concept of a person's duty to become American before joining the political process. Not to mention the costs involved -

If Ortiz wins, will the city provide her with a translator? For what events and at what cost Will the translator be allowed in closed sessions, where duly authorized participants are sworn to secrecy? Would the city pay for translation at political functions?

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it,' said Jane Rodriguez, the Pasadena city clerk, who is responsible for setting up translation at public hearings. "We haven't come across that before ... It would be expensive.'

The exclusionary tactics of the immigrant rights crowd and their apologists is phenomenal. To automatically write off the majority of people in the district who speak English, and pay taxes in order to keep the services flowing to the illegals, is morally wrong. Yet, this crowd would deny constituents the ability to redress grievances in the native American language. Will we stand for it? We'll see on March 8th.

On a related note - The drive for illegals to vote is gaining steam.

Is this the Dems Plan?

My congressman Democrat Adam Schiff lets the cat out of the bag -

Rep. Adam Schiff told a mostly friendly crowd Friday that the president's Social Security reform plan is destined to fail. And when it does, he said, Democrats must be ready to seize the victory if they are to regain control of Congress and the White House.

Great way to represent us Congressman. Don't debate the fiscal and moral value of having people invest in their own future, but try to stifle the debate before it ever happens. I worked for the Feds and the retirement system I had is similar to the one the President wants to implement. We had five funds and you could invest (from high to low risk) in foreign stocks, small-cap stocks, an indexed stock fund, bonds, or a money-market type account. No one forced you into high-risk stocks and you could mix-and-match your contributions. I had a great return on my account (and I still do). Those who are younger will, naturally, gravitate towards higher risk funds with the greatest returns and older investors (if they're smart) will go for the bonds or money-market type accounts, becuse they are low-risk and you don't want to incur risk when retirement looms.

Just because some people aren't financially savvy, doesn't mean you can deny the majority of Americans a better living in retirement. But then we've alotta noodleheads in my district who don't get it -

Few attending the forum were very sympathetic to Bush's proposals, and many took issue with his assertion that Social Security is facing a financial meltdown by 2042.

"I think this whole issue was raised by Republicans to make Bush and Cheney's friends on Wall St. richer,' said Shelley Stephens, 54, of South Pasadena.

After seeing her parents lose "hundreds of thousands of dollars' when the stock market crashed in 2000, Stephens said she is wary about diverting payroll taxes into private accounts.

"They are taking a stable program and turning it into a less stable program,' she said.

"This is a social program that works,' added 42-year-old Melanie Cicconi, also of South Pasadena. Though she agreed some adjustments must be made, she said the president's plan is too extreme.

"This is not an immediate crisis and there are so many different ways to solve this problem,' Cicconi said.

Several speakers took a more conspiratorial tone, asserting the entire debate is a red herring cooked up by Republicans to draw attention away from their controversial judicial appointments and the Halliburton scandal.

It's pretty simple for you financial Luddites, don't invest in the new program. Take the 1.3% return on your Social Security account, shut up, and let those who are smarter enjoy themselves in retirement.

Hunter S. Thompson, Asshole...

How can you admire a man that does this? -

The widow of US writer Hunter S Thompson has said her husband killed himself while they were speaking to one another on the telephone.

Thompson - best-known for his 1972 account of a drug-addled Nevada trip, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - shot himself on Sunday at his Colorado home.

His widow, Anita Thompson, 32, told the Aspen Daily News she heard the "clicking of the gun".

She said: "I was on the phone with him, he set the receiver down and did it."

What utter selfishness and disregard for his family. The admiration I had for the writer cannot be said for his lack of humanity. I have no problem if some old fart wants to blow his brains out, but to make your loved ones complicit in the act is despicable. And now his wife feels guilty -

"He wanted to leave on top of his game. I wish I could have been more supportive of his decision," she added.

"Fear and Loathing"? No, just the latter.

You Go Girl...

Never thought I'd write that about the Secretary of State.

My Favorite Republican...

Tom McClintock writes about the runaway government spending in California -

To provide that high level of public services 40 years ago, California state government spent $200 for every man, woman and child in the state -- or $1,240 in today's inflation-adjusted terms. Today, California government consumes $3,200 for every       person in the state -- 2 times more in population-adjusted, inflation-adjusted terms.

Put another way, this year state government will spend $9.38 out of every $100 that you earn. That's the biggest chunk out of your earnings in California's history.

Californians pay the fourth-heaviest taxes per gallon of gasoline in the country -- and yet California ranks dead last in per-capita spending on its roads. Californians back every classroom with nearly $300,000, and yet only a fraction of the money reaches       the actual classroom. Californians pay among the highest sales and income-tax rates in the country, and yet California's credit rating is the lowest in the nation.

He goes on in the article to state solutions to the budget problem -

To do so, we must decentralize our service delivery systems -- starting by restoring control of our schools to parents and school boards and restoring their management to principals and teachers. Highway taxes must again be earmarked exclusively for our highways. We must roll back the excessive regulations that obstruct our commerce, our housing, our energy and our water supplies. We must dramatically downsize the state's bureaucracies by eliminating overlapping jurisdictions and by abolishing agencies that duplicate local or federal functions.

There's only one thing missing; the rampant illegal immigration that is driving this mess. Why are we spending so much money on schools? To educate the children of 3-5 million illegal aliens. Why are the freeways crowded? Housing prices through the roof? 3-5 million illegal aliens. Why are the county hospitals closing? You got it. We will not be able to call California the Golden State again until the politicians come to grips with the elephant in the tent. And if a good man like Tom McClintock won't talk about it, who will?

 

Round 'em Up...

Barry Bonds blames the media. Oh yeah, and he doesn't use steroids.

Tom Wolfe on the death of Hunter S. Thompson.

No evidence of life on Mars yet, but water ice has been found. It's only a matter of time.

Typing with One Hand...

Drudge links to a talk by NY Times editor, Bill Keller -

Keller’s speech focused on the struggle of print journalism to maintain its relevance in the face of constant cable news updates, increased blogging, and failures in credibility.

He noted that, according to a recent opinion poll, the public’s trust in journalists is at its lowest point in decades. He attributed this in part to the increasingly polarized nature of the American public, who look to the press for support of their viewpoints.

“At the moment,” he said, “the major press is under attack from ideologues on the right and left.”

Keller also sees “blogging,” or online writing that blurs news and commentary, as a mixed blessing. While he celebrated the blogger’s ability to uncover breaking news, he noted that a blog’s inherent bias might be detrimental to the reader. “A blog is still a view of the world through a pinhole,” he said, noting that it can sometimes fall as low as being a “one man circle jerk.”

If I had some one else blogging with me, I guess I could then do it with two hands. What an elitist jerk. He then goes on -

“There is a pressure to feel well informed without ever confronting an opinion that confronts your prejudices,” he said of blog readers.

I get constant pressure when I post something that a reader may think I've either gone overboard or am completely off the map in my opinion. Keller fails to realize that our experiences and knowledge  color all our opinions, be it bloggers or so-called "objective journalists". It would be a great thing for the MSM to start declaring their bias and write their stories from that basis. We can then decide for ourselves if the stories warrant their place in the collective consciousness of their readers.

Hunter S. Thompson Commits Suicide...

From the AP -

Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer who popularized a new form of journalism in books like "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," fatally shot himself Sunday night at his Aspen-area home, his son said. He was 67.

"Hunter prized his privacy and we ask that his friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family," Juan Thompson said in a statement released to the Aspen Daily News.

Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis, a personal friend of Thompson, confirmed the death to the News. Sheriff's officials did not return calls to The Associated Press late Sunday.

I guess his demons finally got to him. But, boy, what a great writer! "Fear-and-Loathing in Las Vegas" had me laughing my ass off at the escapades of Thompson and his "lawyer" on their drug addled trip to Vegas. I've read the book many times and I can still cite passages wholesale. "Fear-and-Loathing on the Campaign Trail" documents the sordidness of the Nixon campaign in 1972. No one captured Nixon's paranoia and vileness like Thompson did.

Like many men who give a $#@!, Thompson allowed his passions, along with too much booze and drugs, to overwhelm his talent and he spent the last few years a raving lunatic seeing conspiracies everywhere.

An aside, get ready for the media to dredge up all the '60's counter-culture BS in the next few days; you'll be seeing alotta idiots that you hoped never to see again.

My Local City Council Race...

The Pasadena Star News has a recap of a debate on the upcoming elections for city council -

Councilman Victor Gordo and challenger Herminia Ortiz squared off Saturday in a debate focusing on immigrant concerns such as affordable housing, protections for day laborers, and rumors of federal immigration raids.

I'm not a fan of current councilman, Victor Gordo, but Ortiz doesn't even speak English! -

The Institute of Popular Education of Southern California hosted the forum at Villa Parke Community Center. It was conducted primarily in Spanish, with English translation.

Ortiz, who does not speak English, is running for Gordo's Fifth District council seat in the March 8 election. It is the only contested City Council race, and Gordo is heavily favored to win re- election.

How can she represent the entire district, when she obviously would only do so for half the residents; that should be troubling to many. She wants to portray the many immigrants as victims of city officials and law enforcement -

She criticized an affordable housing project funded in part by the City Council and being built by Heritage Housing Partners at Fair Oaks Avenue and Peoria Street. She said the project had forced out Latino families, and others are either too poor to be considered for low-income housing or undocumented and therefore unqualified.

Ortiz also complained of police patrols of sites where day laborers congregate, earning loud applause from the Spanish-speaking crowd when she suggested that money for those officers could be better spent on health care for the community.

Ortiz needs to realize that if immigrants want to be a part of the community, then they need to become citizens, vote, and learn to speak English. It's pretty darn simple. If they can't, or won't, do so, then it's time to leave the country. You can read more about Ortiz and the election here and here.

Evidence of Life on Mars?...

Via Instapundit, an article in Space.com suggests NASA scientists may have found evidence of life on Mars -

A pair of NASA scientists told a group of space officials at a private meeting here Sunday that they have found strong evidence that life may exist today on Mars, hidden away in caves and sustained by pockets of water.

The scientists, Carol Stoker and Larry Lemke of NASA’s Ames Research Center in     Silicon Valley, told the group that they have submitted their findings to the journal Nature for publication in May, and their paper currently is being peer reviewed.

Unfortunately, it ain't so, the story is based on hearsay. From Carol Stoker -

1. On Sunday night we were attending a private partyof space exploration enthusiasts in which there was a discussion about the possible meaning of the resultsfrom recent Mars missions.  We engaged in the discussion and expressed thoughts and opinions as individual scientists  on our own time and did not represent ourselves as speaking for NASA.

2. No one at the party identified themselves as a reporter, and in fact no reporters were present.  This article is based on hearsay about what somebody at the
party thought they heard us say. We think this represents extremely poor journalistic standards.

Also, NASA's issued a press release -

News reports on February 16, 2005, that NASA scientists from Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., have found strong evidence that life may exist on Mars are incorrect.

NASA does not have any observational data from any current Mars missions that supports this claim. The work by the scientists mentioned in the reports cannot be used to directly infer anything about life on Mars, but may help formulate the strategy for how to search for martian life. Their research concerns extreme environments on Earth as analogs of possible environments on Mars. No research paper has been submitted by them to any scientific journal asserting martian life.

That's too bad, I was hoping it to be true. It's only a matter of time before we do find life on Mars; as soon as we get our ass off this planet.