Winning streak

What a great streak I'm on!
First place in 'College Pick'em',
watched the neighborhood High School
thump their crosstown rivals 17-7 tonight,
now This!

It's good to be da king,
even if only for a day.

Not Really.

I heard a pompous rant by MSNBC's sportscaster turned political pontificater
Keith Olbermann, on Hugh Hewett's show yesterday,
apparently Chris Muir did also,
and as usual,
Damon hits the nail squarely on the head.

I'd sure rather read this than Doonesbury "
in the local Daily FishWrap-BirdCageLiner.



Posted by Picasa

KING, Cong.

If you are a plain spoken midwesterner (D) then you're
"Good 'ol Give-'em-hell-Harry Truman."
If you are a plain spoken midwesterner (R) then you're
"Brash, 'some say-' Offensive, Controversial."

He wasn't my first choice in the primary 4 years ago, but I sure like him now
and have voted for him ever since.

He is strong on borders and immigration, a straight shooter.

Iowa lawmaker's brashness earns notice
By HENRY C. JACKSON, Associated Press WriterTue Sep 26, 10:30 AM ET
He's described torture at Abu Ghraib as "hazing," argued that living in Iraq is safer than in Washington and dismissed President Bush's guest worker immigration program as amnesty.
Two-term Republican Rep. Steve King (news, bio, voting record) doesn't shy from controversy, and his perspective has earned him praise from conservatives — and disdain from those who consider him outlandish.
"He says so many idiotic things. I just see him as a wacko," says Suzanne Ryan, one of King's constituents in his rural, western Iowa congressional district.
Still, King remains popular, and his penchant for brash, and some say offensive, sound bites has helped the 57-year-old construction company owner become something of a national spokesman for his party's far-right wing.
"At the FRC (Family Research Council), he's a good friend to the family," says Tom McCluskey, the vice president for government affairs of the conservative group. "Steve King is right out front. He's one of the most articulate and one of the most willing to speak up."

Among King's notable comments:
_He argued that the media exaggerated the story of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.
_After compiling what he called an accurate civilian violent death rate for Iraq, he said living there was safer than in some U.S. cities, including New Orleans and Detroit.
"I have a feel for the rhythm of this place called Washington, D.C., and my wife lives here with me," he said on the floor of the House. "I can tell you, she is in far greater risk being a civilian in Washington, D.C., than an average civilian in Iraq."
_He called Bush and Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., an amnesty coalition and said "amnesty mercenaries of the Senate" should have a "big, bright, scarlet letter 'A' branded on their robes."

King also led a rebellion of 80 House Republicans who opposed renewal of the Voting Rights Act because of a provision that required state and local governments to print ballots in foreign languages or provide interpreters.

Some see King's rhetoric and hardline views as bombast, but his methods have opened new avenues for his political ambitions, which may include a run against four-term Sen. Tom Harkin (news, bio, voting record) in 2008. King also has raised the profile of his district, a sprawling farming region with only two sizable cities — Council Bluffs and Sioux City.
"He is a showman," says Teresa Wolf, a Democrat from Sioux City who doesn't plan to vote for King this fall. "He wants attention and he delivers messages in such outlandish terms that it gets him a lot of publicity. Which is apparently what the man wants."
In an interview, King owns up to wanting attention.

"I sometimes use flowery language to make a point," he says. "It's usually a way to start debate."
But he quarrels with the notion that he is flippant, that he doesn't think before he speaks.
"That wasn't an off-the-cuff remark," he says of his comments on Abu Ghraib, the Baghdad prison where abuse of prisoners by U.S. soldiers led to an international scandal. "I looked up the word 'hazing' before I spoke."

In his district there are many, like Madeline Meyer, who think King is just what the country needs.

"He's got a true feel for issues that don't work well in the national media," says Meyer, a self-described 60-something from Odebolt, a sleepy town just a few miles from King's home in Kiron.
She supports King's efforts on immigration and establishing English as a national language, calling him an adept politician with a particular feel for voter concerns. "He gets along with everybody," she says. "He listens."
Others don't share this sanguine view.

On the Internet, at least one Web site — http://www.kingwatch.org — is dedicated to bashing King. The site is run by an anonymous group that claims to comprise residents in Iowa's 5th Congressional District.

King's opponent in November's election, Democrat Joyce Schulte, likewise has a hard time being diplomatic when she talks about him.
"I don't know if I have enough words in the English dictionary for this," she says. "It's unbelievable how he wastes the job."

King tends to ignore the critics and stands by what he says, even the crisp one-liners that make liberal groups howl.

A notable exception came earlier this year when King apologized to 86-year-old White House correspondent Helen Thomas. King had told a group of Republican Party activists days after the death of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, "There probably are not 72 virgins in the hell he's at. And if there are, they probably all look like Helen Thomas."

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Prepare

The president prayed fervently at the conclusion of his U.N. speech.
He prayed,

"Oh, almighty God, all men and women are your creatures and you have
ordained their guidance and salvation. Bestow upon humanity that thirst for
justice, the
perfect human being promised to all by you, and makers among
his followers and
among those who strive for his return and his cause."

Does the ACLU come unhinged ?
Do the Dems protest on behalf of the irreligious ??
Do the media cluck cluck about the overtly religious tone of the President???

Of course not, as it was President Ahmadinejad of Iran who prayed this.
But what is the striving? For whose return?

Blogger Bob Owens reports that President Ahmadinejad and the ruling Mullahs are part of a sect of Islam, the Hojjatieh, that is so radical that it was banned by the Ayatollah Khomeni in1983. They believe it is their responsibility to force God's hand- through chaos and bloodshed- to bring the return of 12th Shiite Imam, who they believe will reign in peace.

Mr Owens writes: "Because of the belief of the Hojjatieh that they can,
with human hands,
bring about Apocalypse, the significance of tomorrow's
date sets up in their eyes a divine opportunity that the rest of the world would
be wise to treat with all due seriousness. Considering the magnitude of the
threat, I would be quite unamazed if the long-range F-15I
"Ra'am" and F-16I
"Soufa" and other aircraft of the Israeli Air Force were not now sitting in
their hangers fully-fueled under heavy guard, wings heavy with the weight of the
most terrible weapons known to man, as Dolphin-class submarines and their
American counterparts patrol the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean
with their own cataclysmic payloads."

I heard a report of such readiness today, that the United States Navy is to
deploy submarines and minesweepers to the Persian Gulf by 1 October. The proper
response to this madman is to prepare to defeat him. The press has been largly silent about the motivations of the Mullocracy of Iran, preferring to blame President Bush or Israel for terrorism, as Mr Owens reports here:

"To admit the dangers of the intertwining of Iranian nuclear weapons
development with a radical and apocalyptic eschatology is to admit that
President George W. Bush is correct in his determination to prevent Iran from
developing the ability to effect a religious nuclear war. It is to admit that
there are far greater dangers to our freedoms than terrorist surveillance
programs and chilled members of al Qaeda.

To admit that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad means precisely what he says, and has said time and again, is to admit to larger dangers that neither the press nor the Democratic party they overwhelming support can admit.

To admit to the truth—to show what Iran and
its leader represent as a threat to the world—is to shatter a carefully crafted
illusion they have formulated that most of the problems of the world originate
at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
When faced with revealing a truth that would
create cognitive dissonance, the media has made the subconscious decision to
simply excise, and then ignore, the facts that undercut their "larger truth."
They’d rather risk lives than admit the possibility that President Bush's
concerns about a nuclear-armed Iran are precisely on target.
They aren't scared about the possibility of millions of people dying.

They are far more fearful that the President is right, and that the world they've created for themselves is all too wrong."

What are we heading toward?

Time to get out the vote, and time for some fervent prayer of our own...

Friday Night Lights

Went to my Freshman son's High School football game with him tonight.
Well, not HIS game but the Varsity game.
Well, not WITH him, as he was running around socializing with his buddies, though he did deign to sit with his old Dad for a while in the third quarter, and even went on a coffee run for me .

Still fun, the teams fought a 30 - 40 mile an hour wind that brought rolling dust clouds off the South parking lot that even overcame the greasy smoke from the concession stand grill ( doesn't any body ever clean that thing?)
It's neat to watch the kids being kids, lots of them there from elementary aged on up.
The PeeWee league in the neighbor hood has two teams that wear the High Schools colors, and the boys get in free when they wear their jerseys.
The Junoir High boys 8th Grade team was honored at halftime by lining up on the track, and waving to the crowd as their names were read.

The band played on through the wind and dust,
and only one flag was dropped by the flag corps-
No one injured, thankfully.
But, who let that guy in the flag corps?
Strange world.

The fourth quarter was either delayed or cancelled due to nearby lightning, though nothing severe reached the stadium . Steve and I bailed out of there to beat the crowd.

Neat slice of America.
The Home Team lost, but played hard.
Lots of proud parents were there , watching and videotaping their kids
in the band, or the game, or cheerleading, or dancing.

The 'Nobel' solution to melancholy

Kary Mullis quote From today's MondayMorningMemo©of Roy H. Williams, the Wizard of Ads®:

Kary Mullis said to a tuxedoed auditorium
full of dignitaries when he accepted his Nobel Prize:

"There is a general place in your brain,

I think,reserved for

'melancholy of relationships past.'
It grows and prospers as life progresses,
forcing you finally,
against your grain,

to listen to country music."

After 9/11 I found myself listening to a lot of CMT , there were lots of music videos full of faith, family , and patriotism. In a few months , that emphasis faded, as the war in Afghanistan shifted from a quick victory to slow skirmishes and the long task of rebuilding .

Darryl Worley traveled with the USO to Afghanistan in December of 2002 and wrote this call to remember 9/11.

Remember the pain,

remember the sorrow,

but above all,

remember the resolve of those first troubling days

-to fight this war until we win.

.

.

"Have You Forgotten" by Darryl Worley Hear it here.

I hear people sayin'. We Don't need this war

But I say there's some things worth fightin' for.

What about our freedom and this piece of ground?

We didn't get to keep em' by backing down.

They say we don't realize the mess we're gettin in

Before you start your preachin' let me ask you this my friend.

.

Chorus Have you forgotten

how it felt that day,

To see your homeland under fire

And her people blown away

Have you forgotten when those towers fell

We had neighbors still inside goin through a livin hell

And you say we shouldn't worry about Bin Laden

Have you forgotten?

.

They took all the footage off my TV

Said it's too disturbin for you and me

It'll just breed anger is what the experts say

If it was up to me I'd show it every day

Some say this country's just out lookin' for a fight

Well after 9-11 man I'd have to say that's right.

.

Chorus Have you forgotten how it felt that day

To see your homeland under fire

And her people blown away

Have you forgotten when those towers fell

We had neighbors still inside goin through a livin hell

And we vowed to get the ones behind Bin Laden

Have you forgotten?

.

I've been there with the soldiers

Who've gone away to war

And you can bet that they remember

just what they're fighting for

.

Have you forgotten

All the people killed

Yes some went down like heroes

In that Pennsylvania field

Have you forgotten

About our Pentagon

All the loved ones that we lost

And those left to carry on.

Don't you tell me not to worry 'bout Bin Laden

.

Have you forgotten?

.

Have you forgotten?

.

Have you forgotten?!

9/11

We will remember.
The fallen, the heroes, the killers.
We will remember.
By blog, ballot, border, and bullet,
we will do our all, that
September 11th may be the last
great attack on our shores.
-TJH

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We will not tire,
We will not falter, and
We will not fail.
-President George W. Bush

Crikey, we don't want any "bright sparks" or sappy singing

I was saddened at news Steve Irwin's death.
I enjoyed his boundless enthusiasm, and his show was like an ADD version of
"Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" -- None of that Marlin Perkins' "While I stand safely downstream, ..." business.
Steve had a daring attitude and a passion for learning and teaching.
I'll miss him. The cheap humor is easy to come by and I can think of a few jokes,
but they would come at the expense of his parents and wife and young kids... I don't have the heart for it.

The outpouring of grief has been likened by the British press to the display that followed Princess Diana's untimely death. There have been detractors, including one actress dingbat who snarled, "The animal world has finally taken its revenge on Irwin".
Ed. Note - Germaine Greer , I found, is more of a withered flower child and
shock authoress than an actress
I loved the last line of this opinion piece.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cultural studies lecturer Dr Karen Brooks said even though there was nothing in common between Irwin and Princess Diana, the reaction to their deaths had strong parallels.

"In Britain, they're calling Steve's death our Diana," the University of the Sunshine Coast academic and media commentator said.

"There's a sense in which the outpouring of grief and the shock has been very similar."

The Irwin family seem nonplussed at all the fuss over Steve, a man described by his grieving father Bob as just an ordinary bloke.

The Irwins have already turned down an offer of a state funeral.

Diana, killed in a Paris road crash in 1997, was farewelled at a Westminster Abbey service which featured Elton John performing a Diana-ised version of Candle In The Wind.

There's been talk of a memorial service at
Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium for Steve Irwin,
but hopefully no bright spark
will suggest enlisting Sir Elton
to sing "Crocodile Rock" if that event goes ahead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amen.