Muller Brothers

Slow News Time

2007-10-15T22:10:00.000-05:00

Right now there isn't a whole lot going on in the world. Iraq isn't in the news, which means things are going well. If you listened to the news you'd think the Iraq war is only transpiring when US soldiers and Iraqi civilians get killed.

The only other thing I know about is Rush Limbaugh is auctioning off Harry Reid's letter that was written to Clear Channels CEO. I'm not sure why Reid is concerned about Limbaugh. He should be more concerned about his own approval rating.

Yes, I am getting much of my information from Limbaugh at the moment. I am currently engaged in other things and haven't really been a political junkie lately. Most of my news is coming from my short stints in the car. I haven't been aggressively looking for news cause frankly, it's not a priority.

Let's see if we can get Joe involved. We've essentially abandoned this site but it's time for us to put on the ole thinking caps again.

Hi World

2007-08-06T21:59:00.001-05:00

Wow, 6 months since any postings. Full time school and work took me away from here. This site was officially abandoned until this writing.

I don't have anything to comment on right now. I'm in a good mood since I just returned from Madison -- visiting a relative. Beautiful, beautiful city.

When I feel compelled I'll write. Hopefully that's soon.

BBC bias

2007-03-10T06:46:00.000-06:00

The BBC is now a anti-American, well anti-red-state, den of thieves. This is one small example. How the British have allowed this once proud institution to become so patently anti-western, in the classical sense, is beyond me. I suppose it mirrors the general decline of Britain itself. I still have hope for the English, but it grows dimmer every day. I fear the US will be left in a world where only Australia (and, lately Canada, but I'm not very secure in that) can be trusted.

Symphony

2007-02-25T07:30:00.000-06:00

My girlfriend and I went to the symphony last night, and I forgot how much I love it. However, the music performed provoked in me tangibly aural (think about that one for awhile) proof of the inferiority of modern artistic movements compared to their classical predecessors. The first piece was by J.C. Bach (not his more illustrious father), the second by the 20th century "neo-classical" composer Martin and, after the intermission, the third was by Mozart.

The first piece was beautiful, heart-rending and stirred profound emotions within my soul. The second was disjointed, atonal and ultimately provoking nothing and the third was simply Mozart, virtuosic and with beautiful pleasing musical passages that stay within the mind long after the performance is finished. I think what turns me off about so much 20th century art is the abdication of any sort of relationship between the art and the experience of the listener. 20th century art is to be studied, not experienced, thereby rendering it nearly mute. Martin would start to develop a nice melody, but then complete destroy it in pointless dissonance and never even hint at returning to the movement. I know dissonance has its place, but as a tension-building counterpoint that must eventually be answered by the piece. This piece resolved itself into dissonance and so instead of tension, one doesn't understand what the composer was actually trying to say. In the end, the whole piece felt like a series of non-connected musical episodes, so good, some not which ultimately added up to nothing.

Art should touch the soul in order to provoke the mind. Modern music and modern art forgot that. They decided it was enough to simply provide something that resembles art in its loosest form, and explain to the viewer/listener why the mind should be provoked. Often, without anything meaningful to say, modern art simply became about illustrating some facet of art or about the tools at their disposal (is nothing more non-thought provoking than the modern painters who delved into the idea that painting is 2-dimensional? The purpose of painting is to move beyond that limitation, not explore it. It's a rather lame starting point for an artistic movement). It ceased to care if the viewer were provoked into thinking and feeling and experiencing some insight into the human condition. Into this meaningless void stepped those artists whose only attempt at meaning is poorly thought out, puerile 1930's soviet influence agit-prop whose wisdom about mankind is as thin as the canvas they used.

The art world would be better served if the rhetoric (most notably Walter Benjamin, Le Corbusier and Antonio Gramsci) of the 20th century were lost forever to the attic of history and simply some of the art works remain as items of beauty (Rothko and Pollack spring to mind. Their stuff is wondrous to behold, but provoke very little besides an appreciation of aesthetic experience. Theirs is not the foundation of an art which inspires). Much made in the 20th century was beautiful in spite of the rhetoric and Martin should have followed his instincts instead of producing something that followed the proscriptions laid out in that dreadful century. My symphony going experience would have been that much more enjoyable.

The surge

2007-01-28T08:35:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking a lot about the surge, as everybody has been calling it. I don't think the extra troops are what can make the difference, but rather the manner in which we use them. I'll be quite frank. I've been mightily disappointed in the way Bush has fought this war because he has allowed political concerns to blunt the military's means of fighting. If the new protocol allow us to seriously take the fight to the terrorists, then I'm all for it. If it's just putting a dress on a pig, then I don't see the need to waste the men and the money.
What do I mean by taking the fight to the terrorists? It means this: killing al-Sadr, disbanding his militia (by force if necessary) and killing anybody who tries to take his place. Disrupt and destroy the channels from Iran funding the insurgency i.e. start killing ALL Iranian agents working in Iraq. No trials, no catch and release, kill on capture. Shut down the embassies and all roads leading into Iran if you have to. IED's don't manufacture themselves. They come from Iran. Foment an insurgency in Iran. We've played defense too long against Iran. It's time for them to realize that screwing with the US comes with a price. Finally, kill ALL al-Qaeda we can find in Iraq. Very few of them are Iraqis, most of them are from Saudi Arabia and Egypt and the natives are only supportive because they fear them. It's time to make the insurgency fear the US again. Extra troops help, but a new focus is more important. Respect is earned in the Middle East not through being nice, but through intimidation. This isn't the Netherlands and the sooner we appreciate this fact, the better off we'll be. I truly believe the majority of Iraqis want to simply live in peace without fear of their government or from foreign fighters. We need to give them that chance, but only through destroying those factions that create this fear do we stand a chance.

Peggy Noonan

2007-01-07T09:00:00.000-06:00

If one ever wants to feel good about this world, well, at least slightly hopeful about the world, read Peggy Noonan. This is a great example. She touches upon something which I have long pondered, namely the value of traditions and ceremonies. This of course prompted my thinking. Can we survive as a society when we intentionally denigrate and destroy the very foundations of our society? Evelyn Waugh, a much more brilliant and talented man than I, laid the crimes of the 20th century in the lap Europe's intentional shunning of it's legacy of Christianity and Democracy. It's hard to argue when one understands the true beliefs of the Nazis and the Communists.
Now, however, the intelligensia's perpetual assault of our legacy (and if you don't think they are, you are a fool. Attend a college history, English or sociology course and report back to me), has resulted in a sort of cringing cultural apathy which has left us blase about our existence and certainly unwilling to defend it. The USA is still very strong about its own worth, but Europe has seemed to commit cultural suicide. The only strength they seem to have left is to attack the US, and my personal belief is because we are still strong about our Western heritage and we epitomize capitalism and run amok Democracy which the elites cannot stomach. The fact that we are slowly strangling our economy with socialistic nonsense and our Democracy is being subverted by crass politicians at the malarial city on the Potomac, means nothing for it is what we symbolize that Europe despises.
A nation without a past is not a nation, it is a collection of people who suffer the other citizens to live, but will do nothing to help them or sustain the system by which we all can prosper. I remember a phrase from my graduate school spoken by some arrogant, Post-modern French idiot: "a nation sure of its culture has no need of clinging to relics of its past." The writer meant both buildings and philosophy. My own pietas forces me to state "a nation which does not respect the relics of its past, has no culture, only styles."

I hate blogger.com

2006-12-26T09:58:00.000-06:00

I just had a huge post about internal frictions is the USA. It took me a goddamned hour to write, and when I went to spell-check, it just disappeared. Blogger.com SUCKS. Thanks guys for your slow service, constantly crashing site and general crappiness. I guess you get what you pay for. In this case, blogger is worth the zero dollars I spent on it.

Is there anything happening right now?

2006-12-17T01:44:00.000-06:00

It's the holiday season. For some reason I haven't gotten into the spirit of the season -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Getting into the season for many people means stressing out over parties, gifts, and well, life in general. But I am looking forward to the annual Muller Christmas Eve party. It's been an upstanding tradition since 1972. Maybe my parents started the party to celebrate the defeat of George McGovern (probably not).

Once there's something exciting I'll write. The cultural wars are the same and I've just started yet another book about Soviet spies. Truly a topic that few people understand (including myself). I've read plenty on the subject and feel I have much to learn.

happy belated thanksgiving.

2006-11-29T21:02:00.000-06:00

I know what I am thankful for:

First and foremost family. They made me who I am and guide me to what I will become,

My girlfriend. She puts up with my crap daily and looks beautiful doing so.

My country. It's easy to lose sight of the fact that we are collectively the luckiest human beings to ever trod upon this earth. We owe everything to those that have fought and struggled to make this the freest, most prosperous nation on the planet. We delude ourselves if we think that it isn't a special nation and that we will always have it.

Beer. Pretty self-explanatory, I believe.

Mark Steyn. It burns me that the best, funniest and most insightful writer in the English language these days is a Canadian by birth. "America Alone" is pure gold.

Sam Jackson Jr. He'll do schlock or serious and is always awesome at both.

Mango milkshakes. Go to a Vietnamese restaurant and have one. Trust me on this.

Guns.

Sports (especially rugby)

The air I breathe, the food I eat and the freedom I cherish.

The end of the world as we know it

2006-11-09T13:45:00.000-06:00

The Democrats won. Good for them. They ran a principled campaign of decidedly avoiding any issues and speaking in vague terms about corruption and a new direction. Luckily for them, the Republicans readily supplied them with enough of the former for people to desire the latter. Will there really be a new direction? It'll be new if 1968 is new for you. My opinion is that the country voted out of disgust for the system and a disgust for our present politicians. And, in that case, I'm always happy to see. Washington is sick, and, unfortunately, it will always be sick. No changing of the guard will render that any differently. Too much money flows into D.C., and an excess of unearned money (as in D.C.) and power inherently are corrupting. This sad dance will continue unless we elects saints to serve in the US government. I don't see that happening any time soon.
That was the genius of the framers in wanting a small, limited government. It keeps people from corrupting themselves with money and power (the two are often interchangeable). As long as we look to D.C. to solve our problems and elect people to do so, we will have corruption and incompetence.
I am not absolving the Republican congress. They were a dismal set of leaders and so full of pork they practically farted bacon. Jim Talent ran a positively horrible campaign and on that basis alone, he deserved to win (McCaskill's was even worse and will be a marginally bad senator, if she is lucky). They made the choices to put the symbolic over the substantive and to line their own pockets. This election was a pox upon both your parties and the one in power will always bear the brunt. So, I'm not happy about the outcome, but it's what happens when the GOP act the way they did. The Dems have two years to show us that we were right to pick them over the GOP, but I very much doubt it.

Can't believe I agree with Chris Matthews

2006-11-08T02:11:00.000-06:00

As I watched Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman salivate over the GOP's defeat, Matthews made one good point. Claire McCaskill claimed victory before her opponent conceded defeat. As a former Carter man, Matthews was obviously rooting for McCaskill. But pointing out her mistake brought up a good point. In the past, a candidate would never call themselves victorious until the other side said "you win, I lose." It was once a more standard practice. Plus, it prevented you from looking foolish (does the name Thomas Dewey come to mind?). Must be a practice of the political past.

As of this writing Michael Steele hasn't conceded defeat. If he wants a political future he should admit defeat. The absentee ballots have no chance of putting him over the top. You don't want to give up -- but you should know when to say when.

One other observation...

It's a lot easier being a pundit than running as a candidate. We can criticize corrupt Republicans all we want. But as a critic it's easy to point out shortcomings than to go out and correct them. It takes a special breed of person to run for political office, whether they are a Democrat or Republican. It's easier for us to criticize when we're typing on a keyboard or behind a microphone.

The Republicans Must Do Some Soul Searching

2006-11-08T02:00:00.000-06:00

I will concede this...

The Democrats did a good job this election cycle. They took out powerful members of the House. They took our the #3 senator in Rick Santorum. They took out Missouri's own Jim Talent (does he have any future in politics)?

This election came down to a few things.

1) Public unrest on Iraq. I don't know if Americans feel we're LOSING the war. But they don't see much progress. I agree... we could be doing a better job over there. But more importantly, with all the progress we've made over there, we are losing the PR battle. Talk radio and the blog world hasn't been enough.

2) Corruption in their own party. This may prove to be the biggest issue. Between Tom Delay, Bill Frist, Mark Foley (and too many too mention) the Republicans infuriated their base this time around. I don't think it's a winning solution to "teach them a lesson." I agree, the GOP needs to get it together. But in the process they lost great senators like Santorum and Talent (probably Allen) who are solid conservatives. Losing guys like Lincoln Chafee is no big deal. But in showing the Republicans are unrest, the conservates chased out a few followers of Ronald Reagan.

Where do they go from here?

Who knows. I'm not political strategist. But the Republicans need to stand tall on principles they make them great (when they aren't corrupt). They are right on taxes and right on the economy. I believe they're right on Iraq but they have lost the PR battle.

The Republicans cannot blame smear campaigns (though it's tempting) and act like Democrats cheated. True, it's normal for an incumbent president's party to lose elections in his second mid-term. But in the last few years the GOP had a glorious opportunity to show off true conservativism. Instead, too many House members got tied up in corrupt politics. They could have put the Democrats out of power for a decade. Instead they imploded. Now they have to pick up the pieces and focus on 2008.

I'll say it again...

The Democrats did a great job this election season. The right needs to stop carping about smear ads. They need to show America they care about limited govt and the American people. Yes, they had their butts kicked. But they can rebound.

Tuesdays Election

2006-11-05T17:08:00.000-06:00

The mid-term election will be running in 48 hours. The Republicans are expected to lose every seat they have -- even the ones that aren't up for re-election. By Wednesday morning we will see a Democrat House majority of 415-0 and a Senate majority of 100-0. George Bush will be forced to undo his tax cuts (aka a tax increase), bring the troops home from Iraq, appoint nothing but San Francisco judges and have the name God systematically removed from the Constitution. It'll be a harrowing day.

I'll be honest...

I expect the Republicans to lose some seats. Dewine is probably gone. Lynne Swann doesn't stand a chance in Pennsylvania. Santorum is probably finished. I'm predicting Jim Talent and George Allen keep their seats. I don't understand why the races of Talent and Allen are close. Claire McCaskill is a lightweight against Talent and Allen's opponent has an infatuation with perverted ideas. He should have been run off long ago.

I heard John O'Neill on the radio a few nights back. He mentioned a new tactic of the Democrats. They are propping up guys like Jim Webb that have a military past, then they're running them in red states. They hope voters get the impression that they support the military.

Very transparent strategy but it makes sense. Guys like Webb are on the fringe because in the last election military members voted 80% in favor of Dubya. There's a reason the men and women of uniform lean to the right -- Republicans actually respect them. There are a couple other states trying the same tactic -- can't think of them as of this writing. It'll be interesting to see if this strategy pays off.

This is the a tough election. The polls (which, of course, never lie) have the Dems taking control of both houses, which isn't uncommon in a two term presidents second midterm election. But I'm hoping things don't unfold this way. It would show that 1) The Democrats really can't win anything 2) it allows us to keep fighting in Iraq 3) it gives us hope for another Roberts or Alito in the Supreme Court.

I argue against those claiming there's no difference between the two parties. Senators like Allen,Talent and Santorum are true conservatives. The House contains countless Reagan conservatives (Dana Rorhabacher, Duncan Hunter). The true conservatives stand for 1) lower taxes 2) strong immigration policies 3) victory in the Middle East 4) privitized Social Security 4) constitution abiding judges... just to name a few.

There is a difference between the two parties. There will always be moderate Republicans like Olympia Snowe that make cynics believe conservatism is dead. Don't buy into this rhetoric. Conservativism will always be worth fighting for as long as liberty is worth fighting for. Many on the right are appalled at some of Bush's liberal policies on Medicare and his overall spending. Yes, he's not Barry Goldwater but his policies are much closer to Reagan than any Democrat.

Don't buy the negative rhetoric -- we can prevail this election season. Get out and vote on Tuesday.

I'm back.

2006-10-28T18:08:00.000-05:00

I've been a bum. Busy with work, playing too many video games, working on a book, coaching a high school team, watching my beloved Cardinals take the World Series and leading an active social life have left little time for blogging. Plus, the fire to write just hasn't been there for awhile. It comes and goes. I've got little to say right now. This election cycle has been thoroughly depressing for its ugliness and it's relative dearth of meaningful discussion. For the record, I think Ford will lose, Allen will lose and Jim Talent will hold onto his seat. I have no reason to think that beyond my instincts. I live in a very liberal part of town and the Talent/McCaskill ratio of yard signs is about 3/5, which isn't good for the challenger. Agreed, that observation is totally unscientific, but I also know that the out-staters hate St. Louisans (which both of them are) and so will default with the conservative. Just my thoughts. Take a look at the best writer in English language, Mark Steyn (www.steynonline is his website) in an interview with Michelle Malkin. Every time the guy writes or speaks, he really makes one think. It's pretty long, but well worth the ten minutes

Mark Foley

2006-10-05T07:42:00.000-05:00

Let me go on the record as saying Mark Foley is a freaking creep and deserves whatever punishment comes his way.
I'll admit, I'm pretty burned out of politics. November can't come too soon. I'm not blaming the victim, but who in the heck lets their kids become pages in D.C.? Is there a more vile, corrupt, venal den of vipers outside of Washington D.C.? The problem is that D.C. has too much power and that brings out the worst in people. The more power that accumulates at the Chesapeake swamp, the more it shall attract snakes and cockroaches. (note: not all of them are horrible, but the overall culture is corrupting enough to stereotype). Sorry, I needed to get that off my chest.

Bulls Eye on France

2006-09-16T19:47:00.000-05:00

So France is a target of Al-Qaida? Weren't they supposed to be exonerated by speaking out against the Iraq War? Sounds like Islam wants everyone to conform to their ways or else...

9/11

2006-09-11T07:37:00.000-05:00

I will write more about this later, but I don't know how to memorialize 9/11 adequately. Certainly the travesty at ground zero doesn't do it. Go see "United 93," probably the best tribute that will ever be made.

sigh

2006-09-11T07:32:00.000-05:00

I haven't been posting lately because, quite frankly, the state of the world has me pretty bummed out and I don't wish to revel in doom and gloom. However, I had to show this. This is why I can't vote for Democrats despite the Republicans inability to stand on their small government principles, display any fiscal sense or intenstinal fortitude when it comes to fighting a war. The party of '68 has taken over the Democrats and wreaking havoc upon our country. The sooner those who matured in the crucible of the delusional 60's pass from their ruling years, the better this country shall be. Baby boomers delenda est.

Izzy Finished?

2006-09-06T23:50:00.000-05:00

Cardinals are appalled at Jason Isringhausen's 10th blown save of the year. Yes, the Cards haven't been good in any aspect this year. But 10 extra wins could have made them somewhat respectable.

Cardinals fans have seen their nightmare come true. Even since Izzy joined the Cards in 2001 he has been a liability. He has saved games in Dennis Eckersley fashion -- load the bases with nobody out, then worry about registering O's.

For years, he couldn't get a 1-2-3 save. It was always a nail bitter when he'd come in. He'd get the job -- but he'd make it interesting as hell.

This year Izzy hasn't struggled -- he's been exposed. Namely his curve ball. When that bad boy isn't on it's hanging right over the plate. Batters have been feasting on it all season.

You can say "throw him out to the sharks." But it's too late in the season. The Cards must use him in the playoffs. The truth is there are just a handful of dependable closers in baseball. It's not because baseball is in bad shape. The true reason -- being a closer is a tough job.

Isringhausen hasn't been good this year -- yet he remains one of the top closers in baseball. It's simply cause there aren't many to go around.

it's been awhile

2006-09-01T07:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't been posting lately. I've been extremely busy with coaching and work and personal life and my new puppy. Spewing out half-baked rants just went to the bottom of the list. Here's what interests me at the moment.

Katrina

Yes, that veritable morass of a incompetent governance, pathetic citizens, vampiric media and altruistic outsiders. As we come upon the one year anniversary the whole thing makes me sick. To start with it has become the passion play of sorts for those who wish to bash the Bush administration. Spike Lee has directed a film in which (from all reviews I read, for I haven't seen it) the poor victimized people of New Orleans suffered and died for the sins of white American and W. No mention, of course, that more white people died or that the claims of thousands dying were figment of a collective imagination spurned on by an increasingly sensationalistic and gullible press. The press behaved so shamefully, both nationally and internationally, that their credibility lies just above pimps and just below used car salesmen.

And about New Orleans. I'm sorry, but all the paeans written to it were simply to put a dress on a slaughtered pig. People went to Crescent City to treat it like a sewer. Sure, it had a unique culture (one that I thoroughly enjoyed many times), but outside of the tourist areas, it was probably the worst city in the westernized world and the shame of our country. Drugs, murder, gangs, rampant lawlessness and swathes of burned out buildings defined the non-tourist, non-university areas. The legacy of French law, slavery and dependence upon welfare destroyed the city. When the waters came, the people were too dull-eyed and dependent to take matters into their own hands.

The true lesson of New Orleans is don't look to somebody above to save you if you can save yourself. That thousands of able bodied people would willfully remain in the city despite the fact that they had been warned about the danger either shows a blatant disregard for their own safety or a rank dependence that one expects of toddlers. The people of Mississippi and Alabama got hit just as hard and with just as diverse a population, but ended up maintaining public order and, more importantly, their dignity and will to move on.

In the end the city will rebuild. It's too important to not do so. I fear, however, with the largesse shown by the fed that we will just have been feeding the same dangerous and pathetic monster that reared its head one year ago.

Aug 22 come and gone

2006-08-23T07:27:00.000-05:00

It looks as though the much anticipated Aug. 22 came and went without much sturm und drang and a little more "let's negotiate some more" (by which Iran means, we have no intention of negotiating and are simply buying time). My guess is that they believed they could have their nuclear dreams fulfilled by the 22nd and that their scientists fell short somehow. Israel, rightly so, remains on high alert and will be for quite awhile. I still believe that Iran is a huge threat to world stability and will remain so as long as the mullahs are in place.
I know many Persians (I've always found they refer to themselves as Persians, not Iranians) and one couldn't find a more Westernized people. They deserve better than what they have right now, but they need to find a way out from under the mullah's steel toed boot. Iran could be such an amazing place and such a force for good in the world and, I believe, their people know it. They simply don't know how to make it happen. Why we aren't dumping hundreds of millions of dollars into the opposition groups and doing so openly and unapologetically, I don't know. Seems a lot less bloody and costly than a war.
On one other note, the UN truce between Hezballah and Israel is a joke. Without an enforcement and eradication mandate, the peacekeeping force will simply while away it's time, enjoy the beaches of Lebanon, rape a few underage girls (see the Congo) and make everybody feel good about how unilateral and peaceloving they are. All the while Hezballah will rearm, slaughter more Jews and, eventually, engulf the entire region in another war.

Fear the Ides of August (OK, so it's not quite the Ides)

2006-08-21T16:55:00.000-05:00

Something is going to happen tomorrow. What's his name from Iran made this the date when he would answer the West's demands to stop producing nukes. It also, coincidentally, happens to be the time when Shi'ite Muslims claim that their messiah of sorts is going to come back to Earth for a final show down. I hope he is wrong, but we'll see.

as soon as I leave

2006-08-21T16:53:00.000-05:00

Canada grows some cajones and decides to act like a grown up country, not a preening, holy-than-thou pansy. Good for them.

The True Interview With Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

2006-08-15T23:35:00.000-05:00

The Mike Wallace interview brought a few things to mind...

Wallace is a clueless liberal -- a useful idiot
his fawning is laughable and scary all at once
his opinion isn't unique in left-wing circles

It also brought up some observations about Ahmadinejad...

he can play the PR game
he is a master manipulator
he knows how to hide his true motives

Not only was this interview a cringeworthy kiss fest -- it didn't tell us much about Ahmadinejad. He was able to disguise his hate of Israel by referring to it as the "Zionist state." Yet we didn't really see the man that wants to wipe Israel off the map.

To see what he really thinks, check out this interview.

did WW III just fizzle out

2006-08-13T00:21:00.000-05:00

I would like to believe that it's true. I would like to think that somehow Hezballah and Israel can become good friends. I would love to believe that this peace isn't just a hudna, the Islamic practice of calling a cease-fire in order to re-arm and reorganize, and instead is a genuine cessation of all hostilities, and, more importantly, future plans of hostility. Perhaps I'm cynical, but I remain unconvinced.
My truest hope is that Lebanon can assert its rightful authority in the Southern, Hezballah controlled region. I don't believe Lebanon wanted this war, even if the current Prime-Minister is as slippery as fish dipped in Vaseline. I believe that Lebanon can become the upstanding, prosperous country that it was before the death cults moved in and made this once beautiful country their training ground and homebase. Hezballah must be destroyed and Lebanon must be the one to make the coup de gras. Then, and only then, can peace exist between the two countries. Otherwise, all we have is a temporary suspension of engagement and nothing more.

what is happening to the news.

2006-08-09T12:27:00.000-05:00

First Reuters gets busted for running doctored photos and now the NYT is suckered into doing the same thing. Pallywood is alive and well and producing better actors than tinsletown.

nothing much to report

2006-08-07T20:49:00.000-05:00

After seven and a half days without power followed by a week in Florida, I really haven't been given a chance to write anything. So, I'll summarize what I know:

Mel Gibson got drunk and acted like the ADL knew he could act if he really tried hard.

The Israeli's and Hezbollah are still fighting. Hezbollah fakes news reports, and the media buys it like Charlie Brown kicking a Lucy Van Pelt football. Fighting will continue until Mel Gibson gets drunk again and the media loses interest.

Iraq is still a mess, albeit a noble mess. Get back to me in ten years on that one.

No hurricanes. Wait, I thought they would be multiplying by the thousands due to Al Gore, er, global warming.

Joe Lieberman is in deep trouble in Connecticut. Pundits can't agree whether this bodes ill for Republicans or Democrats, but, darn it, it's gotta bode ill for somebody.

The Cardinals continue to stink worse than a frat house toilet and yet somehow remain in first place. In a related story, Tony La Russa is accused of making a deal with the devil.

My puppy grew by roughly 800%.

I realized that, yes, laying on a beach is preferable to going to work.

You Can't Be A Moderate In Today's Democratic Party

2006-07-31T16:12:00.000-05:00

Joe Lieberman, the last Truman Democrat, is going to be bounced in Connecticut's primary. The warning signs have been out for weeks. Unless there's a drastic change, Lieberman's political career is done.

He is officially the last old time Democrat left in the party. They have officially been hijacked by Moveon.org, special interests, and the anti-war crowd. Once they would have been considered fringe. John F. Kennedy, Scoop Jackson and Adlai Stephenson couldn't relate to these crowds. These groups are now the face of the party.

All Democrat hopefuls must heed this warning -- you must conform to what Move.org wants. If you don't, find another career. Let Mr Lieberman serve as the example. He doesn't support their ideas. Soon, he'll be an ex-senator.

I applaud the man for sticking by his beliefs. He believed in school vouchers and limited government. His undoing will be his support for the Iraq war. Through these last three years, he has remained consistent in his position. Aside from political posturing during his presidential run of '04, the man has consisently sided with the troops.

That's not what the modern day Democrats want.

The modern day Democrat has to...

be rabidly opposed to all war
want universal health care immediately (without worrying about the long-term effects)
support tax increases for everyone
stand behind all minimum wage hikes
believe the United States produces more pollution than Hamas produces terrorism
find more inspiration from despotic UN diplomats than any US leader
believe Cindy Sheehan really has all her marbles

... just to name a few.

It's truly amazing this party guided us through World War 2. It's not a shock that this party was our second enemy in the Cold War -- placing just behind the Soviet Union.

It'll be curious to say what Lieberman does with his life -- who he consults with. He's not welcome in Democrat circles anymore. Maybe he'll become a foreign policy consultant to right-wing administrations.

I wish the man well. He has served admirably in his time. His defeat officially mark the end of the old Democratic party.

Israel and Lebanon

2006-07-14T20:25:00.000-05:00

I must admit that it is with a deep sense of foreboding which I watch the events unfold between Israel and Lebanon. I, along with many other democracy loving people around the world, cheered the Cedar Revolution and the potential liberalizing of this down-trodden, yet once vibrant country. I hope that the Lebanese understand that the crushing of Hezballah is in the best interest of their country as well as Israel's. It seems that almost the entire Middle East, san Syria and Iran, understand this. I hope that this does not descend into a conflagration that consumes the region and its unfortunate inhabitants. I pray for peace, but understand that killing is sometimes necessary to bring this about.
Lebanon needs to assert control over its own country and kick out Hezballah which is destabalizing it to further Syria and Iran's objectives. I wish them luck.
Israel needs to rid themselves of this menace once and for all. Whether this means destroying them or finding a diplomatic way to cripple them, I don't know. Israel cannot live with a dagger at its throat forever. I pray that one day this beleaguered country will find the peace and security which is the right of every country, and for the entire region which has known pain, bloodshed and hate with no alternative for far too long.

HILARIOUS

2006-07-11T09:51:00.000-05:00

Some crackpot conspiracy monger gets his just ripping in this funny post. Read the comments for some amazing snark. I think the guy is simply pathetic. I think it's a psychological tool for helping him cope with an indescribable and infinite evil. If everything is Bush's fault, then this poor deluded soul can feel in control of his life because Bush will be gone in a few years, or could have been voted out in 2004 (a much more satisfying reassertion of power, alas, not to be). It's a way of dealing with the world that doesn't fall into our neat little categories and Hollywood endings.

funny

2006-07-10T13:20:00.000-05:00

not exactly a convincing argument, but still funny.

Must read article

2006-07-10T10:08:00.000-05:00

Sad but true article. The Palestinians are history's basket case. A completely new weltenschaunng is needed for those people. I truly feel sorry for the average person there, for their rulers deal them nothing but death and misery and make them feel lucky they can even have that.

conspiracy theory alert

2006-07-06T08:19:00.000-05:00

I'll be the first in the blogosphere to say it, some wacked-out, living in their parent's basement, pot-smoking hard core lefty will claim that Bush and Co. killed Kenneth Lay to keep him silent about something like their nefarious plans to club baby seals and melt them down to make a magical potion to increase Halliburton's stock by 1% (translation 400 million, trillion dollars). Something along those lines. That was one sentence!!! Beat that James Joyce.

a little late

2006-07-06T07:03:00.000-05:00

This is a great article about the nature of the US and our unique place in the world. Written by a first generation immigrant. Happy 4th.

ah, the supreme court

2006-06-30T07:29:00.000-05:00

They've done it again. The Hamden Case essentially proffers Geneva rights to an organization that is not a signer of the convention and which is fighting a style of war unimagined in the wording of the treaty. This ruling was invented out of whole clothe and bears no semblance to the reality of the multi-national, non-state entity we are fighting. As 100,000 ants can take down a deer, so is our government's ability to fight the Jihadi's being slowly stripped away. For the record, I'm not saying that these guys do not have any intrinsic rights as humans, but rather that the Geneva convention does not apply to non-signers, which they are. Big, big difference. A good analysis here. The break down of international and national law is accelerating when we extend infinite rights to everybody no matter if they apply or not. Laws do matter. Sorry about the ranting style of this post. For a good roundup of reaction, go to www.instapundit.com

Waste of time

2006-06-27T20:45:00.000-05:00

I really don't get what Congress is doing. This, to me, is a kind of non-issue. Although it angers me beyond comprehension when people burn the flag, I must admit that I don't believe that it warrants an Amendment. There are so many other places where Congress should be directing their attentions, such as the near-treasonous exposing of a covert and entirely legal operation tracking the financial backing of Jihadis by the New York Times, amongst other damaging exposes. I think that Congress should make a law that one can use any sort of means, up to lethal to stop people from burning a flag, but that will never happen. They could call it the Rick Monday law. In reality, it's one of those idiot litmus tests that humans seem to constantly apply to themselves. If you want to burn the flag, fine, but don't act as though you are making any brave statements or taking a stand of sort. Really, you're just a Noam Chomsky wanna-be hippy who feels badly that mommy and daddy gave you too many things and not enough love as a child and now just want some attention.

new member of the household

2006-06-18T10:11:00.000-05:00

We recently purchased a small puppy, so my blogging will be more sporadic than usual. Hopefully, the person who got me into this will stop playing snuggle-bunnies with his girlfriend long enough to write a post or two. It will just be a day or two while the little one settles down. She only woke me up once last night. I'm thrilled about that.

Just so you know, however, this is why I grit my teeth, hold my nose and pull the lever for Republicans over Democrats most of the time.

Damn You Joe

2006-06-14T23:18:00.000-05:00

Wow, looks like I linked the exact same article as Joe. Guess I have to read the blog before posting.

Bottom Line: Al Gore is a loon. And he can't pull off the full beard like Roger Whitaker.

Al Gore is a Neanderthal

2006-06-14T23:06:00.000-05:00

Al Gore is craving attention. He certainly didn't let facts interfere with his movie. Just ask a couple hundred scientists what they think. Error plagued throughout, this movie is a must miss.

I can only surmise that he's gearing up for an 2008 run. I hope he does. All the GOP needs to do is run clips of him doning that sickly beard. His campaign would die faster than Gary Coleman's political future.

hooray for Canada

2006-06-14T14:56:00.000-05:00

Seems that the election of Stephen Harper has injected some much needed common sense, or at least allowed it to show its face, into Canada. Great article about Al Gore and his overly trumped "An Inconvenient Truth." We don't know what is going on with the environment and for people to claim with absolute certainty that global warming could be the end of civilization as we know it is sophistry and political grandstanding. We need to find out what is the truth about the climate and today's debate offers no clarification and certainly no concrete answers. Science needs to be less political and our politicians need to stop acting as though they actually know better than our scientists.

Jason Meyer R.I.P.

2006-06-13T07:11:00.000-05:00

A good friend of mine and my family passed away yesterday. Jason was married to Liz, who has been my sister's best friend since the 8th grade. Jason had a congenitally bad heart and had a surgery five months ago to try and repair it at least temporarily. He suffered many complications along the way and yesterday his exhausted body expired. He fought to the end, but was simply too weakened to carry on. His death is a true loss.
Jason was one of the few genuinely good people in the world. Jason never met a person he didn't like and I don't believe anybody didn't like him. He loved to smoke and drink, loved music and movies and sports, his one time sky-diving and all the silly little things that add spice to one's life. He loved the Rams, psychotically so, and I still believe his favorite picture in the world was one with him and Marshall Faulk, not any of his wedding pictures. My sister was incredibly close to him and she is taking it pretty hard. Anybody who knew the guy, loved him for he had more personality, more verve than any human I had ever met. We'll all miss him, but none more than Liz who stayed with him these last five months and who provided him strength and determination in nearly superhuman doses. She no longer needs to be so strong, but we know she will be anyway. Now Jason is in a better place, his fight is over and he can rest in peace

Cardinals in a nose dive.

2006-06-11T08:18:00.000-05:00

On a slightly less dour topic, the Cardinals are reeling and appear headed for a painful knockdown. I haven't had a good feeling about this team from the start. The bullpen is weak, our closer is more of a glorified walk machine and our outfield is anemic, even with Edomonds in the lineup. Unless something major happens, we have no chance of winning the world series and I'll say a 50/50 chance of even making the playoffs.

Oh, and I have to get two things off my chest.
First, stop with the stupid curtain calls. When a juiced up behemoth hits 70 home runs, that deserves a curtain call. When Yadier Molina hits his 3rd home run of the year to give us two run cushion in a game that we eventually lose, that does not deserve a curtain call. A curtain call is for a spectacular achievement when the pressure is at its greatest, not to encourage a guy who is struggling. We have cheapened it, and, frankly, it's embarrassing. Soon we'll be demanding curtain calls when Jason Marquis doesn't walk six people in a game.
Second, we have to get rid of the kids singing every single song at the ball game. It was cute for awhile, now it just looks like we are pining away for some faux 1950's wholesomeness. And by the time that we get to the 7th inning and they sing "take me out to the ballgame" and "God bless America", I'm ready to kill myself. The national anthem is a powerful, nearly bombastic song which should be sung by an adult not by a bunch of kids because it's cute. The song deserves our respect, and having some caterwaulling brats who sound vaguely like two cats having sex is not a way to respect it. Have we run out of singers in St. Louis who can do a proper job with it? It can be a moving experience to hear the song before the game and quite frankly, the kids ruin it. The other songs sound cheapened as well by hearing it from the their nasally, whining, pre-pubescent voices, and if you can ruin such a trite (but fun) song as "TMOTTB" then you have really accomplished something. It's not their fault, they are just not up to the job, much like they are not up to fighting our wars. Please, remove the kids and have some Harry Carey impersonator sing "TMOTTB."

ding dong the wicked witch is dead.

2006-06-08T21:35:00.000-05:00

In case you have been living under a rock, al-Zarqawi is dead. Although this is undoubtedly good news, I would like to add that it is by no means time for rejoicing. We got a very bad guy, a guy who had no problems slitting innocent throats (the discussion about what the Jihadis consider an innocent is the topic for another post. I'll give you a hint, you're not it, no matter who you are), indiscriminately bombing people with no other intention but to terrorize and who wished to foment a civil war in an already traumatized country. The world is better with his death.

All that being said, I think that we shouldn't expect things to suddenly turn rosy there. Cutting off a head of the hydra is important, but it's just one head. The oft-espoused thought that this will just create more people willing to martyr themselves doesn't grasp the military nature of the enemy. One general (provided he is competent) is worth 500 privates because his decisions determine how the 500 are being used. Furthermore, the death of a charismatic leader is worth much, much more. Zarqawi certainly was that, and it may be awhile before al-Qaeda finds a new poster-boy. Probably the best effect it will create is the impression that we can get the Jihadis no matter where they lie, an impression, I must note, that W. allowed to turn to fiction by letting Bin Laden still drawn breath all these years. I don't know if this is a turning point or just a piece of trivia in the long run, but it certainly can't hurt.

If They Won't Listen, Give Them What They Want

2006-06-06T17:11:00.000-05:00

I wonder how Ann Coulter will react to this development. We're trying to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. In return, Iran can't enrich uranium anymore. I'm sure it'll have the same effect as it had on North Korea. Not sure how empowering Iran and making concessions will help us. Sounds like a Jimmy Carter type plan. Guess we'll never learn out lesson.

Environmental update.

2006-06-02T20:30:00.000-05:00

What you can do to help the environment. Al Gore, are you taking notes.

great minds think alike

2006-06-01T12:38:00.000-05:00

Peggy Noonan writes that the Washington elites are out of touch with America, and that the time is ripe for a revolution of sorts (she defines it as a third or fourth party candidate). Hmmm, did anybody write something eerily similar to this about a week ago? (hint: see May 25th). Washington is becoming its own insular, elitist institution with very little in common with the average American except a mutual contempt. They need to realize this before this country disintegrates into various, reciprocally loathing (and loathsome) factions.

Blunt kicks butt

2006-05-30T08:07:00.000-05:00

Great article about the governor. The vitriol and aspersions cast his way have melted away in the face of budget surpluses, principled stands and good economic news.

United 93

2006-05-30T01:03:00.000-05:00

Joe and I finally saw United 93 last night. Where do I begin?

As a movie, it's a little slow. Showing the people getting onto flights, the air traffic controllers, the military, everyone. Starts off as if it's just another day in the aviation world.

But tension slowly unfolds. You know what lies ahead but you're still waiting for things to happen. All the sudden the first plane hits the WTC. Then the second. Then the Pentagon gets hit. It's only a matter of time till the hijackers finally take over. They murder the innocent pilots of Flight 93 and a few other passengers are killed. They threaten passengers with a bomb. And the whole time, they're praying to God. Somehow they feel He wants this.

To think these passengers were able to fend off the hijackers and divert the plane is astonishing. The plane was twisting all over the place but they somehow managed to get through. It's hard enough walking down an airplane aisle when it's on the ground. Just going having it rapidly turn. But as quickly as the commotion started, it ends. You don't need to told what happened. You just know.

It also shows the pandamonium taking place in the country. The FAA didn't know what was going on, the air traffic controllers didn't know, the military didn't know. The people on the doomed flights didn't know what was happened, everything just happened too fast.

One thing I liked about this film is the portrayal of the terrorists. These guys were smart young men. They weren't wearing turbins or another, they looked like everyone else. Yet their moves were cold and calculated and you saw they were nervous. After all, they thought they were doing what God wanted. Fortunately, this film doesn't show sympathy for them. They were accurately shown as cold hearted savages. They had a plan, were focused and had the skills to carry out their mission.

Luckily, on Flight 93, the terrorists ran into some fearless people. These people acted quickly and decisively, even while facing death. We'll never know how many other lives they saved. But this movie was a great memorial to the thousands that perished that day.

The part that got me was when the passengers talked about getting the former pilot up front. If the plane hadn't been so low and they could have gotten the hijacker out quicker, the passengers could have been saved. You keep hoping it will happen. But in the end, you know their fate.

See this movie. Not so much for the movie itself. Rather, it's a wakeup call for what happened that day. I know many people thought this movie came out "too soon." Others thought it was Hollywood cashing in on tragedy. But we should be reminded of what happened on September 11, 2001 and pray such an attack never happens again.

smack down.

2006-05-28T21:31:00.000-05:00

Dean Esmay (http://www.deanesmay.com/), who usually is pretty reasoned and respectful, absolutely craps himself in an argument with Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch. Spencer makes Esmay look like a complete idiot. One can almost see the people who respect him dwindling to single digits. I wish Spencer's argument were wrong and Esmay's correct, but it's hard to reasonably say that is the case. Esmay should pick his fights more carefully and lay off the vituperation and ad hominem attacks.

VDH rules

2006-05-26T15:32:00.000-05:00

Damn, I wish I could write like this. Read this and remember the real reason we have off monday.

one guy I can support

2006-05-26T08:14:00.000-05:00

Jim Talent is a good man and deserves to be re-elected. Not that my puny voice really carries any weight. He actually has the guts to make a meaningful immigration package. He may look like a complete nerd, but he's a mensch in my book. Perhaps because he is from the Mid-west where the Latino pressure groups aren't as strong and where people still tend to favor actions over rhetoric, he can act for the good of the country as a whole.
He also voted against the McCain guest worker provision. For me, this provision is a bad deal for the States (millions of unskilled workers) and even more so for the workers themselves. It seems to me that the creation of a permanent unskilled class which only does our menial labor and never gets to become of member of the country is somewhat akin to the helots in ancient Sparta who labored to provide the citizens with the idle time to train for war. These helots had very few rights, could not become citizens and never grew rich. We were not based upon the ideal of Sparta, but on Athens where all citizens participated in the governance of the state (true, they had some slaves, but it is the ideal we hoped to emulate, not the total society). This provision would create a class of powerless, resentful and downtrodden people with no vested interest in our society besides that of a paycheck. It is not immigration, which I support, but the creation of something closely akin to slavery, which cost us 450K men to extinguish. We can do better and people wishing to come to this country deserve better.

Censure Carter

2006-05-26T02:05:00.000-05:00

Go to the site advocating the censure of Jimmy Carter. If you ever read this blog you know how I feel about the man. His own words speak for themselves.

Also check out this article. True, it's a few months old talk of censuring Bush is old news. So maybe I'm a little behind on world events. But hey, anything to put Jimmy Carter in his place is okay with me. Of course with Castro speaking in one ear and Chavez speaking in the other, Jimmy probably wouldn't hear you.

It's time for a revolution

2006-05-25T13:40:00.000-05:00

That's it. I can't stand it anymore. The crassness and cravenness of our elected officials is staggering. The Republican's defense of William Jefferson is appalling. The basis of this country is that every man is equal before the law, not some more equal (to steal from Orwell). This bloated, entitlement ridden, fat-cat, free-loading, holy-than-thou, opportunistic, fraudulent, thieving, cynical, complacent, privilege seeking, law shirking, lying class of politicos that have infested Washington DC need to all go (with the exception of very few). How dare they claim that they cannot be investigated by the FBI. Apparently, one could rape a nun while smoking a blunt and shooting a baby if one were a member of the government. It's sickening and it has to end.
I know about the separation of powers, but that does not imply diplomatic immunity or that the branches of government have no oversite over the other. The clause was put in there to avoid the capricious arrest of a rival governmental body, not to provide our representatives with privileges that no citizen can claim. We are on the steps to an oligarchy, and, if ancient Rome is to prove an example, tyranny or revolt are the only consequences.
I am not advocating violence, but rather a revolution of the mind and of our system. That is, that we go back to limited government so that capricious, grasping moral midgets such as those on the capital cannot wield power enough to enrich themselves and burden the average man. We need ethical people in power and checks upon the power of the government. Without those, the Visigoths will surely be at the gates soon enough.

dixie chicks

2006-05-25T12:10:00.000-05:00

I'm a fan of country music (thought not more than rock), but I have always thought that the Dixie Chicks sucked and were musical posers. It's only in the context of Nashville that they looked authentically country. However, all that being said, they have been given a course in marketing, i.e. don't piss off your fanbase, and I find it hilarious.

I hate to say it, but this is a classic case of life imitating art. In "This is Spinal Tap" when David St. Hubbins is asked to comment upon the smaller venues and dwindling fan base that great his band, he responds: (not verbatim)

"I wouldn't say we have less fans but that our fans are getting more selective."

As always, it's not that the artist is an idiot or has lost their mojo, but that only a select, initiated few can understand their genius.

ok, so it might be true.

2006-05-23T15:24:00.000-05:00

I don't know. I wouldn't put the color-coding by religion past the mullahs of Iran. It happened in the past, it could happen again. The man who originally reported this is sticking by it. We'll see.

The Most Irritating Songs Ever

2006-05-23T12:08:00.000-05:00

I can't say I agree with my brothers worst song assessment. For me it's a tie between "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys and "We Built This City" by Starship.

But then I can't decide. Are these songs really bad or just annoying? A question for the ages.

some interesting thoughts about Castro

2006-05-22T12:03:00.000-05:00

Why won't he just die so Hollywood types don't have to make the obligatory pilgrimage. Seriously, this is a good, albeit too brief, analysis concerning Cuba, Venzuela and the US.

Good on ya, Europe

2006-05-19T22:45:00.000-05:00

Hirsi Ali will not be deported from the Netherlands. Thank God. She needs to stay there to keep fighting, though a woman of her stature will always be welcomed in the USA.

Worst song EVER

2006-05-19T22:24:00.000-05:00

I must say that it is a rare treat when one can find the absolute, no questions asked, will find none to surpass, worst of anything. Well, after years of searching, I've managed to find the worst song ever put to tape. This song combines a horrible, Spinal Tap-esque topic, absolutely unlistenable screeching guitars, gonads crushed in vise singing, make me want to give up on music phrasing and grotesquely unmeshable song parts with embarrassingly incoherent lyrics. And, to make everything better, it goes on for the better part of 13 minutes. Many times one thinks that it must be over, that God would not allow such ordure to pollute the air for that long and then, bam, they go into another laughable refrain or 1st year of lessons, guitar solo.
The song: "Loch Ness" by Judas Priest. I'm pretty sure that if Nessy weren't dead in the bottom of the Loch, this would have killed her, or at least driven her into the WPP. One wishes that Judas Priest would not sully their rock-reputation by producing such drivel. I can't believe the listener can't hear the engineers and producers laughing in the background. The lyrics are so bad it makes one wish that Shakespeare could rise from the dead and rip out their tongues for their assault upon the English language.
I whole-heartedly recommend everybody find this song and listen to it. If you can disagree with my assessment then, well, something is wrong with you. It's so laughable it's kind of sad. Don't worry, they're rich, they don't care.

or maybe not(?)

2006-05-19T16:07:00.000-05:00

Seems there are some doubting the story of Iran making non-Muslims wear identifying clothing (see previous post). Wish we had people checking facts like this with the Qur'an in the toilet story. We'll see if it's true or not. I hope not.

this positively sickens me.

2006-05-19T15:30:00.000-05:00

The trains and ovens are only a short step away. Where are all the "peace loving" people of the world? Where is Europe? Where is our own government? Where are all the people who care about human rights? Oh, yeah, they are too busy seeing if we accidently dropped a pork chop in a prisoner's meal in Guantanamo. "Never again" has been replaced by a shrug and a Che t-shirt.

Immigration

2006-05-17T21:14:00.000-05:00

Although I was a bit underwhelmed by Bush's speech, I do think it is a step in the right direction that we are even debating it in Congress. It appears we are having a wall built after all, which is a good thing. I'm very leery of the amnesty by another name and the guest worker program. The heritage foundation study (sorry, no link) that says that the immigration proposal proffered by Hegel and Martinez would allow over 200 million (yeah, you read right) immigrants into the country the next 20 years seems like cultural and political suicide. I think the house is headed in a better direction for they are stressing enforcement first. We'll see where this all leads. I pray that it isn't just political window dressing and posturing (which, btw, the 6,000 troops is-Dick Durbin's comment that we would need 150,000 is equally stupid and patently impossible). I hope that real solutions are being debated. We have no alternative. American culture isn't indestructible, even if it sometimes feel that way. I welcome immigrants, but not at such great numbers that we become overwhelmed and, having authored our own destruction, we, as a people, cease to exist.

Guantanamo

2006-05-17T15:02:00.000-05:00

Would the wailing and gnashing of teeth and flagellation please stop about Guantanamo Bay. These guys are getting better treatment than our prisoners being held for shoplifting. Now, we need to ascertain whether or not those held should be there, but that is a totally different matter.

my g/f agrees

2006-05-17T08:57:00.000-05:00

She agrees with my analysis of military vs. hospital dramas. Never thought she would. She also added that hospital shows have gossip and relationships, something one doesn't really find in war movies.

What is the Spanish word for "chutzpah"

2006-05-17T08:52:00.000-05:00

Mexico is a joke and the only bigger joke is that fact that we allow them to dictate our border policy. Now Mexico is considering legal action if we send troops to the borders to stop their citizens from illegally entering. Excuse me, doesn't Mexico do the same with their Southern border? Why do we listen to this banana republic? No wonder people are fleeing there by the millions. I have a hard time blaming them in that regard.

Europe's loss/ our gain

2006-05-15T20:28:00.000-05:00

Never again will I tolerate any snooty European trying to lecture me about the superiority of Europe and the evils of our political system. A real political refugee, a women who is marked for death by Islamicists everywhere, a women whose friend and collaborator, Theo Van Gogh, was ritually slaughtered in the streets of Amsterdam, is now being deported out of the Netherlands because of irregularities in her initial immigration application.
It pains me to say so, but Europe is sick and craven and has destroyed whatever honor she once had. Western civilization is being burnt to the ground and Europe is having an orgy on the ashes. Oriana Fallaci cannot enter it any more, the proprietor of websites in Norway showing the Muhammad cartoons of dread is threatened with criminal action along with the founder of the Brussels Journal and Ali is being deported all for the sin of deviating from the socialist thought of the ruling classes of Europe.
I have been to Europe several times and have many friends there. It's people are too great and it's legacy to glorious to give it up for some free health care. Please, Europe, at least allow people free expression and the ability to dissent from the party line. Samizdat is needed once again for Europe is no longer free.

tv shows

2006-05-15T20:16:00.000-05:00

I'm presently taping "Gray's (sp?) Anatomy" (aka 'sex with interns') for my girlfriend (yeah, I'm that great of a boyfriend), and it made me think of different entertainment choices of men and women. I can't get my girlfriend to watch more than five minutes of a war movie and she can get me to devote even less time to a hospital show. They are both drama shows, but I don't know many women who like war movies and absolutely no men who like hospital shows (besides Scrubs, which is a spoof). True the sample is limited, but I think it's pretty sound.
I think the reason is that women, on a whole, appreciate heroism, but get a little more squimish when the heroism might entail aggression or personal danger. True, this is pure sterotyping, but I prefer to think of it as acknowledging a trend. Men like to watch a war movie and hope that we would be brave and steadfast like the hero. Women watch a hospital drama and appreciate the ultimate act of selfless nurturing. The fact that man are inerently more prone to take risks (stupid and otherwise), makes war a more attractive possibility. Many people have said that one can only test their true mettle under fire, and for men, a hospital drama lacks the sense of personal danger that we find so appealing and enticing.
This could be pure drivel, driven by purely anecdotal observations, but it does make sense in many regards.

jumping ship

2006-05-13T10:26:00.000-05:00

Seems conservatives are jumping ship on Bush (although I don't buy the 29% approval rating. The methodology is severly flawed. Rasmussen, a traditionally more accurate poll, puts him at 41%. Still lousy, but very different). Congress if faring even worse. Whearas I only see the Democrats taking one house of Congress or the other, I do think that the right wing is sending a message to our elected officials. Spendhogs like Lott need to go and they need to embrace the fiscally responsible platform upon which they first seized power. Coburn needs to be the face of the Republican party if they wish to lure back libertarian/conservative voters.
As well, they need to pay attention to our concerns about immigration, taxes and energy policy. It appears a shot is being fired across their bow. We'll see if they are smart enough to change course. My money is on no. I cannot vote for the Democrats as they are presently constituted, but I don't see how I can vote Republican either. What is a principled man to do?

Jean Francois Revel

2006-05-13T10:10:00.000-05:00

In honor of the man's passing, I order several of his books and am presently reading Without Marx or Jesus. Good book, although I think his premise has turned out differently than he first thought. Yes, there was a revolution, but it was in the direction of Reagan, not McGovern. However, he acurately conveys the inherent restlessness and vitality of the States. We are nothing if not an unctious lot.
I remember reading an article in Macleans (a Canadian publication) which profiled him (sorry, can't find it. Twas four years ago). It always blew me away because the article talked about how the French value and honor their philosophers in a way that the USA doesn't. I found the article tedious for two reasons. First, why was a Canadian publication comparing France to the US, not Canada. It's typical of the magazine I found. Anything positive in the world needs to be contrasted with the USA, for balance I suppose. The second salient fact that escaped the author was that JFR was a very pro-American author (at least philosophically, not always politically) and that his work appeared to have very little influence on French society as a whole. If he were so revered, why did he not make more converts?
This is not to mock JFR, for I find him to be a brilliant, insightful man who is not leaden with Foucoult or Satre's intentional opaqueness and obfiscution. It's a comment that societies easily make rock stars out of people and still can readily disregard what they think. All that being said, he will be sorely missed, a man unafraid of the truth, a man unafraid to speak his mind with the mental incisiveness to say it well. The only question remains, can France produce a successor?

let kids be kids

2006-05-11T22:33:00.000-05:00

Speaking of John Stossel, I saw one of his articles about kids and designer clothes. Parents are paying hundreds of dollars so their children can have Versace and other top line clothing. People are even paying $400 for their childrens raincoats. Children are also becoming runway models, wearing mini skirts, etc. No surprise here: a lot of these runway kids (or soon to be runaway) are sporting clothing developed by none other than Madonna.

I'm not gonna go into a rant about what has happened to our world, we have no morals, the apocolypse is coming because of this. No doomsday scenarios are coming from me. It's too easy to say everything is going to hell when you read a story like this.

My main problem is that it reflects on how pathetic these parents are. If they need their children to be wearing expensive so THEY get noticed, frankly, it sounds downright bipolar to me. The parents must not feel good about their children if they "value" them spending $400 for a raincoat. The only reason why a child would even be concerned about his clothing would be 1) if his or her parents told them to be 2) if other children ridiculed them for their clothing.

This article doesn't really concern me because it isn't normal behavior. Take any decent group of people and they'll find this absolutely preposterous. Well, at least in the circles I hang around.

This story doesnt make me want to talk about a world gone mad cause frankly, it's always been mad (sorry Greatest Generation, but it's true). Though I'll concede, this craziness probably didn't happen during the days of Ike.

But if parents believe the secret to having happy kids that "fit in" is buying them expensive clothing, well, they must be raising children that don't like themselves. It's a dangerous proposition because kids need to learn how to value themselves and who they are as a person, not what they wear around their peers.

Something to say, but not much

2006-05-11T17:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry folks, my mind has been elsewhere and I haven't had anything to write about. Working, schooling, doing a ton of freelance copywriting work, plus I'm composing a newsletter for my old scout troop.

Main thing I've paid attention to is the NHL playoffs. At this I'm thinking the finals will be Anaheim vs Buffalo. Hoping that a team that has never won will raise Lord Stanley this year. Either of those teams or Carolina would be fine. I hope Ottawas playoff misery continues and Colorado, Edmonton and New Jersey have won enough, I'm hoping for someone else.

Seriously, I don't have anything to say right now. I'm sort of paying attention to politics but I really don't care that much. Although I did catch John Stossel on the O'Reilly Factor, sounds like the man can't have too many friends at ABC. Kudos to him for not toeing the liberal line.

thinking more.

2006-05-10T12:33:00.000-05:00

Been thinking a bit more about Dean Esmay's article yesterday (see post below). How is it that the same people who think that the people of the Middle East can embrace democracy and join the civilized world (read: neocons) are somehow islamophobic, while those who think that Middle Easterners will never be able to behave responsibly and, therefore, we should just let them live the way they feel, no matter the consequences here and abroad, are somehow enlightened and progressive? Explain to me how understanding a culture entails accepting it, no matter how deep and severe the faults. We have a responsibility to understand Islam, but not to accept the political thuggery and despotic ordering of their societies which plagues them.

I love it

2006-05-09T12:45:00.000-05:00

Total takedown of the Loose Change documentary (I use that in almost the same sense that Al Jezzeera is a news source). Shame on the people who think that our government did this. Go join the Unabomber, the Birchers, the Tri-lateral Commision people, Mike Meyer's father in "So I Married an Axe Murderer" and the Timothy McVeigh out in the woods of Montana and leave the rational people alone. Colonel Sanders didn't destroy the towers.

Great contrarian post

2006-05-09T12:24:00.000-05:00

Good post by Dean Esmay about Islamaphobia (a term which I categorically reject as intellectually lazy, politically correct and smacking of group-think). I disagree with many of Dean's points, especially with what appears to be only a superficial knowledge of the Qur'an, ahadith and sura and the history of Islam. However, that doesn't make his fisking unneeded or spot on. The comments are also contain a reasonable discussion, not vitriolic spittle spattering contests. The post, however, never answers two salient question: 1) is the fact that there are moderate Muslims an aberration or result of Islam and 2) is not the fact that the Qur'an is believed to be the literal word of God (down to the fact that God spoke arabic) and Muhammad the perfect example of piety a signifcant, maybe fatal stumbling block towards modernization.
The lucky thing about Christianity is that it is awfully vague. It created guidelines for ethics and morality, but often left out the many specifics. True, many people stepped into the void, for right or wrong, but, ultimately, the individual is left with the decision concerning morality. Perhaps the most crucial aspect of this line of thought is that the individual is paramount and equal because God has created us all. If nothing else politically is distilled from Christianity, this still remains, undiminished.This is not to say that Christianity is superior as a religion (we'll only find that out when we are dead), but whether it has provided a more sound foundation for our modern way of thinking. This vagueness allowed us to create the American Constitution (and the 17th British Bill of Rights), which, whilst acknowledging Christianity as the foundation of the line of thinking, did not proscribe it as the law of the land. This latitude allowed human reason and logic to step into the breach.
Does Islam contain this flexibility or will it develop it? (two very different questions) That is the question. Judaism certainly did. I have moments when I believe it can, and many when I think we are doomed. Time will tell.

my town

2006-05-06T10:49:00.000-05:00

I would like to talk a bit about my hometown and current choice of residence, St. Louis. For a long time (since about '45), St. Louis has been in a perpetual decline, hemorrhaging occupants, and, more importantly, young occupants. During the 60's, 70's and 80's it was jockeying with Detroit for greatest symbol of urban decay and incompetent governance in the USA. Growing up, my friends could not wait to get out for as everybody lamented "nothing happens here." In a sense it was true. St. Louis had become a hollowed out core with a ring of nice, but unexciting suburbs. (note of disclosure: I came from Kirkwood, a suburb of St. Louis and truly love the place. Best city in the world to raise kids and one with a true sense of community. I am not an inherent suburb hater like so many urbanites like myself. It has it's place, but it is not a general source of dynamism for a city). Young people left in droves for Chicago, NY, LA and Denver. Most of my friends left to find cities more accommodating having a good time and finding cool jobs.

However, something has happened. In the mid 90's people began rehabbing the old beautiful buildings in such places as Soulard and Lafayette Sq (the process actually began in the 70's but gained true momentum in the mid 90's) and soon spread all over the south side. Soon the CWE replaced Clayton as the hip and chic place to live and it's beauty now rivals anywhere in the US. Even the downtown, once a ghost town after 5 PM started showing signs of shaking off it's 100 year old doldrums. But, more importantly, around the turn of the millennium, St. Louis experienced an attitude shift. This was subtle and imperceptible, but no longer would people say that "St. Louis sucks" and yearn for greener pastures. People, especially young people, starting taking pride in the city, boasting of its many charms, instead of denigrating its equally numerous faults. It still loses young people, but now it is a net importer of young people instead of exporter. We who left (I did for graduate school, but returned) no longer looked at those who remained as poor souls trapped in purgatory. I found myself longing for the city and its unique weirdness. My girlfriend decided to stay for the same reason that I returned, because we were interested in living in a place that was becoming rather than was already established.

There is still a long way to go, but there are more developments happening now than what happened in the 60's, 70's or 80's. The streets are filling up again (slowly, of course, construction takes time), but, more importantly, the sense of pride is returning. Buildings no longer lie vacant and infill buildings are arising for the first time. The first skyscraper in the city since the 60's is being built, and that is being joined by up to ten others. For us, that's quite a bit. The south side is filling up and soon, the north side, much more rough and decrepit, beckons. St. Louis will again be the great, dynamic city it once was and not the backdrop for "Escape from New York" anymore.

um, three years late.

2006-05-01T20:55:00.000-05:00

Glad Clooney is finally on board for something we evil Neo-cons have been clamoring about the last decade or so. Of course, we can't use military force to stop the genocide, so what should we do. Their principles are finally right on this one (that is, on the side of freedom), but once again, I doubt that any real solutions will actually ever be proferred. It's sad that pacifism has become such a tenent of faith amongst the hard core left that the West is paralyzed in the face of true genocide.

immigration rally

2006-05-01T20:31:00.000-05:00

In case you have been living under a rock (like my brother Mike, but that's a totally different issue), you would know that various groups have organized a protest today to try and shut down America. I can say that it didn't work. Well, St. Louis didn't shut down, at least. In fact, pretty much only portions of LA were shut down. I think that the majority of Latino immigrants are starting to realize that they are not helping their case very much by protesting in the streets demanding rights for doing something illegal, no matter the situation that propelled them to do so. It must also really chap those Latinos who legally immigrated here to see people defining their ethnicity purely in terms of being here illegally to do work picking lettuce.
I sympathize with those that are here, that are stuck in a legal limbo simply for wanting a better life for themselves. We need to deal with that problem. We, however, need to stop the flow of illegals or the situation could very well spiral out of control. Securing the borders is the first priority and we can debate after that.
I also must chastise those that employ illegals for rates well below what the market is offering. Those people are taking advantage of illegals situation and should be punished.
At the risk of sounding cliche'd, I think the illegal marches have jumped the shark. We'll see. That's purely an instinctive guess (or perhaps wishful thinking), but the massive shut downs have not occurred throughout the country. There is indeed a symbiotic relationship between immigrants and the US, but we are certainly not dependent.
One final note, the "la raza"/mecha people can kiss my butt. Racism sucks no matter the color and just being an oppressed "brown" person doesn't give one a license to act like a clown in a white hood.

bloody good stuff.

2006-04-26T14:20:00.000-05:00

The prince is a real man. Gotta say this kid makes me like some royalty (some). Better than our Hollywood types, no doubt.

Osama bin Laden and the Democrats

2006-04-25T13:07:00.000-05:00

This article does a great job of showing how the Democrats sound so much like our enemies. It used to strike me as ominous but now it doesn't surprise me.

I still remember a few months back when Saddam claimed he was tortured. The Democratic Party continues to show their disregard, and outright contempt, for the well-being of our country.

Eurabia

2006-04-19T13:18:00.000-05:00

Very long, but very good article.

I'm not surprised by Neil Young

2006-04-18T14:29:00.000-05:00

My brother recently posted the article about Neil Young. Apparently, through his intricate gift of lyricism (is that a word?), he's on the same page as Howard Dean in calling for the president to be impeached. This doesnt shock me cause Young has a history of being, well, all over the place. He co-wrote the hippie anthem "Ohio" in the 70s, then in the 80s was a supporter of Ronald Reagan before becoming a supporter of Jesse Jackson. We all know he supported the Patriot Act but now he has changed his tune (no pun intended). Can't say I'm surprised and in all honesty, can't say I really care what Neil thinks.

In calling for Dubyas impeachment, I guess the left wants Dick Cheney as our president. Or we can look at reality and know they hate him and they'd have him impeached, and keep going down the line until 2008 rolls around. I know the likes of Rush Limbaugh say the left is just trying to gain back power by implementing such tactics. I personally don't believe they've thought their gameplan through. They spew out hatred towards Bush but I don't think it's necessarily with the mindset "if we keep trashing Bush, we can discredit and take power back."

I think they're simply spouting off their heartfelt opinions. They are overcome with their hatred of Bush, so I don't think they have the foresight to consider whether doing this helps their cause. It's a gut reaction on their part, not a well developed plan.

So once again, while the right is trying to defeat an enemy that wants the left and the right gone, the left has decided that GW and company are a far greater threat than the likes of Al Quaeda and the extremist (to borrow from Jack Wheeler) "Moslems." I consider Iraq to be a success so far but I wonder how much smoother it would go if the left would stop calling for a coup d'etat of our commander in chief and support a worthy cause. I'm not gonna call the left of this country "unpatriotic," it could offend George Clooney, but I will call them useful idiots. More on that topic later.

Mike is lame

2006-04-18T12:23:00.000-05:00

Apparently, we should rename this blog "mullerbrother.blogspot.com" for my sibling has apparently forsaken me.

cold blooded analysis

2006-04-18T12:21:00.000-05:00

It's apparent to anybody paying attention that the situation in Europe concerning Muslim immigrants is untenable in the near future. What will happen is laid out in this article by Fjordman is terrifyingly rational and all too real. Don't say you haven't been warned. It's still not too late for Europe to rally to its own cause, but I lose more faith every day.

Duke rape case

2006-04-18T07:24:00.000-05:00

In case you have been living under a rock, the Duke Lacrosse rape case is all the rage right now. I really have no opinion of the matter. I don't know the facts and nobody else seems to either. Jesse Jackson is a sleazeball and would be the first defending the players if the races were switched because, to him, it's not about justice it's about color. They have enough to indict as two arrests have been made, but it seems, from my scant readings on the case, that they have a very weak case and will never be able to prosecute. All they can hope for is a plea and that will never happen. Seems like a publicity stunt by the DA. People should stop slinging insults at this women, even if she works in a profession that demeans women and victimizes lonely men. It's a hairy situation and we should let justice work. We have a terrible tendency to politicize justice and that's a shame.

whatever shall we do?!

2006-04-17T07:21:00.001-05:00

Oh, no. We've lost Neil Young. All is lost. Whatever. Keep on writing barely intelligible, semi-literate songs while singing them in your tortured cat voice, Neil. Why do musicians think we care what they think? Hmmm, don't see any special provisions for the authority of musicians in the Constitution. They overblown idiots need some humility.

whatever shall we do?!

2006-04-17T07:21:00.000-05:00

some graphic images

2006-04-14T16:25:00.000-05:00

Never forget. Ever.

sickening

2006-04-14T12:56:00.001-05:00

This is what we are coming to? What hath multiculturalism wrought? This is the same logic used by Jim Crow types to justify segregation, that is, protecting minorities. This should be struck down an the proponents impeached.

get a life.

2006-04-14T12:56:00.000-05:00

wanna bet he's a democrat?

good luck

2006-04-13T10:57:00.000-05:00

trying to change the direction of the progressive movement. Good luck kicking the Michael Moore's and Noam Chomsky's out of your ranks (actually all the 68 hang ons). I sincerely mean that. The US needs an alternative, and the present one is so nihilistic and destructive, one shudders to think of them running the country. (via instapundit, duh)

another idea

2006-04-12T12:43:00.000-05:00

This is coupled with a previous post
(With all the hubbub about the large marches that happened this weekend and the stupid marches by high school students still going on, I felt I had to opine. Mainly, since everybody is stating that Latinos (ie Mexicans) are "taking jobs that Americans don't want" can we now safely do away with the welfare system? Since Americans now have the option of eschewing work because they feel it is beneath them, do we really need to subsidize them and their life-style decisions? It only makes sense to me that if we actually have 12 million illegals doing these menial jobs, then there are jobs to be found. Think about it and try and tell me that this question doesn't really reveal a lack of candor about the whole debate (and the welfare system).)
in which I argued that we can get rid of the welfare state because apparently there are millions of jobs that we Americans feel we are too good to do and need to bring in illegal aliens to do so.
I think there is something else we can do for the debate. I'm in favor or creating a system for channelling the non-felon illegals into the proper circuits for becoming citizens. However, there should be a nice stiff price that should be used for paying the fees of those who have waited in line and immigrated legally. If one has been a legal immigrant in the last 15 years, you should be compensated the full price for your time and fees and use the fees garnered from the newly documented immigrants to pay for it. Seems fair to me. There are many other stipulations, of course, but I think it's only fair for the people who came here illegally to pay the people who went through all the right channels and did all the right things to become part of the country.

sorry been gone.

2006-04-12T12:35:00.000-05:00

With the new house and all, my time has been taken totally by that.

However, I'm back, kind of.

Here is a good article about the perils of collective thought from an excellent website http://www.eriksvane.com

It made me think of a strange phenomenon of modern man: we have substituted virtue with victimhood. Those that are victims are instantly granted benighted status and absolved of all responsibility of their actions. The problem with this inversion is that being a victim is a morally neutral position outside of the realm of which you were victimized. Holocaust victims are victims in their specific circumstance, but that doesn't mean that they are any more moral or immoral than the average person who has lived a prosaic life. It means that they deserve our sympathy and regard for enduring such a thing, but it doesn't mean that their values are any better or worse than anybody else's. Something to think about.

dogs

2006-04-11T07:27:00.001-05:00

why is it that people living in the city (I live in the city, so don't even start that), have dogs that are either muscled, muzzled attack beasts or tiny little teacup semi-cats? Who would want a dog that could either shred your children like a raw steak or get crushed when you sit down to watch reruns of "Will and Grace?" My guess is people who (for attack dogs) want to project a certain animal toughness or (for little dogs) couldn't give a rats ass about looking tough and probably finds it rather gauche (the owners of Jack Russels are the exception-those dogs are great, when they are not psycho). It just cracks me up how much one can tell about a person by the hound they keep.

dogs

2006-04-11T07:27:00.000-05:00

2006-04-07T07:57:00.000-05:00

I've felt this, but looking for a way to express it for so long. Christopher Hitchens says it best.

CH: I don't think so, no. I mean, I have lots of disagreements with the Republican Party, and lots of dislikes of it, but I really have contempt for the Democratic Party. That's quite a different thing. And I think it has, on this crucial question, completely sold itself and the country out. But remember, I mean in the year 2000, Governor Bush and Mr. Cheney were running against Gore and Lieberman on the basis of isolationism. They said we're against nation building. We don't want the U.S. Armed Forces used for humanitarian or politicized purposes. We want to lift the sanctions on Iraq and Libya, all of that. They were the stay at home and let's try and dodge it party at that point, and Gore had voted for the Iran liberation act.

read the whole thing

Clarification

2006-04-05T08:57:00.000-05:00

For the record, I don't know if Tom Delay was corrupt or not, and I certainly don't think the incompetent Ronnie Earle will prove so, but Delay did lay down with snakes and I don't feel that bad that he is retiring. Even if he were completely innocent, his complete lack of financial discipline and Washington coziness is enough to get him ousted just for hypocrisy. He became a symbol of the corruption and graft permeating Washington, and by associating with that element, he signed his own warrant. America can do better.
For the record, we will have a "Groundhog Day" of Delays using a corrupt system to enrich themselves until we remove the ceaseless flow of unaccounted money flowing through that rotting, fetid swamp they call Washington DC.

2006-04-05T08:47:00.000-05:00

Beer, is there anything it can't do?

great article

2006-04-04T12:12:00.000-05:00

I had never heard of this guy before, but a very clear, concise article about the imperial ambitions ingrained within Islamic societies. Keep a look out for his upcoming book about the same subject.

My new favorite website

2006-04-04T08:01:00.000-05:00

Just because of the title. (Content is actually pretty good too) One of my favorite movies of all time.

good

2006-04-04T07:19:00.000-05:00

Well, they won't have Richard Nix, err, Tom Delay to kick around anymore. Good riddance to another corrupt politician. The Republicans don't do much right, but at least they find a way of nudging out the door those who are corrupt and devoid of class, unlike the Democrats and, say, Cynthia McKinney.