And Now For Something Completely Different.......

On this day, in 1969, the Monty Python saga began, with the taping of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Here's how it all began: (unfortunately the clip is very slow in loading...)

Keith Freakin' Olbermann?

What the hell was NBC thinking when they decided to have Keith "raving lefty madman" Olbermann be a regular feature on NFL football? Well, their half time advertisers just got screwed...Olbermann's current fans aren't exactly the football type.........Maybe they should have him do the chess championships instead........

Happy Birthday El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula

Or as we know her today, Los Angeles. On this day in 1781, forty-four Spanish (NOT Mexicans or Aztecs), founded the city. The city was part of Mexico for only 27 years, from 1821 to 1848.



LA is now the second biggest city in the country. Sometimes it hard to like her, but I still love her............

Holy Crap!

The National Weather Service has just issued a tornado warning for Los Angeles! The announcement just came over the emergency broadcast system.

I thought part of our deal was we had to put up with earthquakes and fires but were spared tornados and hurricanes!

I blame President Bush and global warming!

College Football

The 2007 college football season begins today. (Well technically it began last Thursday) USC is the overwhelming favorite. I predict undefeated and national champion. John Booty has a chance at the Heisman. But USC has a swarm at tailback and wide receiver....it'll be interesting to see who pulls out of the pack. The defense should be dominate again.

This week USC plays the Idaho Vandals. This won't even be close. USC is #1, Idaho is something like #110. The question will be how long do the starters play? Into the third?

Go Trojans! All the way to the Sugar Bowl!

Update: 11:25 AM: East Carolina University is giving Virginia Tech a tough game today. Va Tech is up only 10-7 with 1:18 to go in the third quarter. Appalachin State is up 31-20 on Michigan halfway through the third quarter. Appalachin State won what used to be the Division II (and has been renamed Division I ...the old Division I is now the BCS Division) championship last year.

Update II 1:00 PM: Appalachin State wins! 34-32 They beat #5 Michigan by kicking a 24 yard FG with 26 seconds left and then blocking a Michigan field goal from the 20 with 6 seconds left.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's birthday. She was born on September 1, 1946. She is the youngest of five children. She was Los Angeles born, but has lived all over the world. She lived in the Middle East while she was a girl, and then followed my dad around (usually to England) during his career in the military, only to settle down back in So Cal when my Dad retired.

My Mom didn't have it easy by any means. She had two babies by the time she was 21, and was living in a foriegn country, poor and married to the Air Force as well as my Dad. My life was infinitely easier than hers. I treasure the fact that both of my parents are relatively young (61 and 62 to my 42) because I consider them my friends as well as my parents. We are probably closer than most because we spent so much time as a nuclear family far away from the rst of our relatives.

She shares her exact birthday with Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. I don't how she feels about that, or even if she is aware of it. But I'll dedicate this one to her anyway.

Too Young To Fight?

O'Reilly just had a guest on who was argueing that 18 year olds are too young to make the decision to enlist in the military. She cited the facts that they cannot smoke or buy alcohol until they turned 21.

OK. That makes sense. I can go along with that.

But I never heard Bill or her bring up the right to vote. The same logic should apply, and we should repeal the 26th Amendment, and return the voting age to 21. (In fact IIRC, one of the main arguements to support the passage of the 26 th Amendment was the fact that 18 year olds were in the military....Old enough to fight..old enough to vote.)

Not mature enough to fight, not mature enough to vote.

My New hero: Sean Salisbury

Well, not exactly new, I was a fan of his when he coached my college team USC while I attended school there.

But this morning on ESPN's Mike and Mike show, he just said that AC/DC's Back in Black was one of the greatest albums ever. You've got to love that.

Now Back in Black is a great album, the second best AC/DC album ever. The best however is Highway to Hell. There is not a bad song on that album. In my opinion, they are few albums that hold up from first song to last. For instance, Appetite for Destruction is one of my favorite albums, but there are some weak songs on it.

But Highway to Hell is awesome cover to cover. Just off the top of my head, so is Boston's first album, Boston. Not a bad song on it.

What are some other perfect albums?

I Really Don't Know What To Think About This........

One of my principals asked me about this video at work today. It's been playing on BET lately.

From The "There Is No Such Thing As Good News" Dept.

The economy sucks because unemployment is too low. People in places like Montana are seriously trying to argue this. Get a grip people!

Hipster Olympics

Mildly amusing. Ispired by this sketch.

The Universe Has Never Been the Same...........

One year ago today the International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto from the status of planet to the diminutive "dwarf planet". I have felt diminished ever since........

Every One Made With Love......

I just got through slaving over the stove and the sink again...... Don't ever make the mistake of letting your friends and co-workers know you can make something reasonably well. Now I'm stuck making deviled eggs all the time. (I'm just kidding..I don't mind..I like making people happy) This was a pretty good batch tonight. Thanks Alton for teaching me how to get perfectly peeled hard boiled eggs last night.

Time to Buy a Lottery Ticket.......

The small blind has Big Slick...King of spades, Ace of clubs.

The big blind has a pair of Kings, hearts and clubs.

A third player has a Jack of diamonds and a Queen of diamonds.

The flop comes King of diamonds, Ace of diamonds and Ace of hearts.

The small blind now has a full boat, and the nuts, Aces over Kings.

The big blind now has the second best possible hand, a full house Kings over Aces.

Player 3 has a great draw, to a flush or a straight.

The turn. Ace of spades.

Small blind still has the nuts, only now it's four Aces.

Big blind still has the second best possible hand, only now his full boat is Aces over Kings.

Player 3 still has his straight draw and his flush draw, and a decent chance at a split pot at worst if he doesn't make his hand. (however I don't know how he stayed in)

The River. OMFG. A Ten of diamonds.

Player 3 hits a Royal Flush. A Freaking Royal Flush.

The small blind shows his four Aces. The big blind shows his full house Aces over Kings in disgust. He's hit a cooler...by all rights he should have won. There are only two possible hands in all of poker that could have beat him, and four Aces is one of them.

Then player 3 shows his Royal Flush, the other hand that beats the Big blind..but also beats the small blind. The ultimate cooler.

If player 3 did not rush out that night and buy a lottery ticket he was crazy!

I Knew It Was Too Good To Be True!

For months now I thought I'd found that most rarest of objects... a hot looking Liberal chick who was sane. I'm talking about Kirsten Powers. Up to now, she has seemed to be pretty level-headed. Liberal, but level-headed.

However today on the O'Reilly Factor she announced that she thinks that there is a Human Right to freedom of movement. Thus any Mexican who wants to come here should be able to. Bill was just as stunned as I am. I wish somebody would point out to people like Kirsten that not even Mexico believes this. They have some of the strictest immigration and citizenship laws in the world. Read the Mexican Constitution, you'll be stunned. There is not a single country in the world that supports open borders. Canada comes close, but not even they are completely nuts.

A Sign of the Times Pt. 2.......

So I'm cruising home from work listening to KCAL (local Rock station) and all of a sudden a commecial comes on from laser vaginal rejuvination surgery. The commercial was done by one of the DJs who had just given birth to twins and was worried she was permanently stretched out. Fracking great...just what I want to hear about in the middle of drive time traffic! What's next? Will I soon be listening to commercials for rectal rejuvination surgery for those light in the loafers?

Happy Birthdays!

Today is certainly a star crossed day for birthdays! First politically....Fred Thompson (1942). Bill Clinton (1946), Tipper Gore (1948) and Tammy Bruce (1962) were all born on this day.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the same day, (the same exact day, July 4, 1826 ironically for two of our Founding Fathers) but if Thompson is elected president I wonder if that will be the first time two presidents were born on the same day?

Few people remember Tipper's attack on music with the PMRC, but she shares her birthday with John Deacon (1951) of Queen; Ginger Baker (1939) of Cream and Blind Faith; Ian Gillan (1945) of Deep Purple and (briefly) Black Sabbath; rapper Nate Dogg (1969) of Death Row Records (who has song on 60 singles with rappers like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Warren G.); rapper Fat Joe (1970); and rapper Lil Romeo (1989).

There are also at least a half dozen other international singers born on this date, including Lee Ann Womack.

Famous tennis player and doctor Renee Richards was born on this day in 1934 as Richard Raskind before becoming a woman in 1975.

Star Trek fans will surely know that both Gene Roddenberry (1921) and Jonathan Frakes (1952) share this birthday.

Adam Arkin (1956) who had a re-occuring role (one of my favorites) as Dr. Stanley Keyworth on The West Wing was also born on August 19.

Democratic Circular Firing Squad

Well now we know that there are moonbats even more unhinged than the raving moonbats at the DailyKos. One of them has just accused Markos of being a tool of the CIA! Well this isn't completely unexpected, just another in a long line of attacks by the left on the left.

Coincidence?

Sometime film director and noted child abuser Roman Polanski was born on this date in 1933. Nabokov's Lolita (a book about an older man in a sexual relationship with a young girl) was first published in the U.S. on this date in 1958.

Elvis Has Left the Building!

Well, he left it thirty years ago today. Have a peanut butter and banana sandwich for me big guy.

Don't drive angry. Do not drive angry

I'm sitting here watching Groundhog Day, for at least the twentieth time. Man this is such a classic! Murray's had some great roles, but he's perfect for this one...I can't even imagine anyone else playing it. If you haven't seen this one, do yourself a favor and rent it tomorrow...you won't be disappointed.

You know this is an older movie. Just after he saves a man from choking in a restaurant, he walks past a woman with a cigarette at the next table, and lights it for her.......

Van Halen..Pt. IV?

Well it looks like Eddie and David have buried the hatchet (and for a wonder not in each other's back) and have actually decided to get the band back together again.

The second incarnation of the band, with Sammy Hagar as the lead singer was actually pretty good, but a much different sound than the original band. Even though we called it Van Hagar, most of us are quite comfortable with the material being counted as part of the Van Halen legacy.

The third incaranation however, with Gary Cherone as lead singer, is better off forgotten.

This fourth line up features Eddie and Alex Van Halen reunited with David Lee Roth. Bassist Michael Anthony who has been along for the ride in the three previous versions is sitting this one out however. Eddie's son Wolfgang is playing bass this time.

Here's hoping they can re-capture the magic.

It's Alive!!

Today is the 82nd anniversary of the passing of the Social Security Act, the largest ponzi scheme in the history of the world. The question now...will it live to be 100?

I'm not betting on it, and if you are younger than fifty, hopefully you aren't either.

Saving Grace Pt. 2

I've seen 2 1/2 episodes now, and I really like this show. If you haven't seen it yet, I really recommend it. Mondays at 10:00 P.M. on TNT. It's got an offbeat message about religious belief, being both critical of, and endorsing it, at the same time. As I said earlier, the casting of the angel named Earl is a work of genius. The actor's name is Leon Rippy, and he is probably best known for his role in The Patriot, even though he's been around since 1983.

The bonus is that it stars Holly Hunter. She is a voice actor in one of my favorite movies of all time, The Incredibles. I really liked her in Always also.

For the Sinister Among Us.....

Today is International Lefthanders Day. Pay a little extra consideration for those so afflicted today.

Sorry Dad, sucks to be you.

(just kidding...but it really is International Lefthanders Day...)

A Brave New World......

Today is the 26th anniversary of the IBM PC. It is four years younger than the Apple PC, but quickly came to dominate the personal computer market.

Can you imagine a world without it now?

Sistine Chapel

On August 9, 1483, the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City was dedicated and celebrated its first mass. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

One of my favorite movies from the 1960's is about the painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo at the command of Pope Julius II. It's called The Agony and the Ecstasy and it stars Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and a surprisingly good Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. The movie is beautifully made, and a fine example of when movie making was as much an art form as an industry.

Betty Boop

Sixty-seven years ago today, Betty Boop premired in her first cartoon, Dizzy Dishes. Here it is for you in all of its glory:

Jerry Garcia

This is the 12th anniversary of Jerry Garcia's death. He was the lead singer of The Grateful Dead, one of rock's most unique bands. Funnily enough, my favorite Dead songs are the ones that serious deadheads hate, "Touch of Grey" and "Hell in a Bucket" off of In The Dark (their most commercially succesful album) Here's Touch of Grey:

Cape Wind

I'm not a big fan of The Daily Show, but occasionally they get it exactly right.

A Sad Day For Baseball....

It couldn't happen to a worse fellow. He's a jerk to his teammates, a jerk to the fans, a jerk to the reporters, and juiced to his eyeballs.

Hank, you're still in first in my eyes....

Enola Gay

The Enola Gay was the B-29 piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima sixty-two years ago today. He named the plane after his mother. In 1980 British group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark released a song called Enola Gay with thinly veiled references to the attack.

Hiroshima

A B-29 called the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb called "Little Boy" on Hiroshima on this day in 1945. This is the first use of an atomic bomb in war. A second is dropped on Nagasaki three days later. These are the only two uses of an atomic weapon in war to date. They cause comparatively few casualties. (Many more peole died in the fire bombing of cities such as Dresden and Tokyo) In modern terms they are very small bombs, but they manage to convince the Japanese to surrender and end World War II.

Speedy Gonzalez

I just saw a music video on a Spanish language channel (KMEX) called Speedy Gonzalez by a group called the Kumbia All Stars. Here it is:




I mentioned earlier that I had seen a commercial on Spanish language television using him.



Does this mean we white , English speakers can resume watching the Speedy Gonzalez cartoons now? Can Lays bring back the Frito Bandito?

"Video Killed the Radio Star...."

Twenty six years ago today in 1981, MTV went on the air. The first video shown was "Video Killed the Radio Star" (Yes, believe it or not, there was a time when MTV showed music videos.) This ushered in a new age for music, where music videos became more than an after thought.

Back on the Chain Gang

Today is the first workday of the 2007-2008 school year, and the kids show up tomorrow. I'm teaching 7th and 8th grade Social Studies this year. We're also changing over to a new online attendance system and gradebook. Oh well, at least I'll get November off.

Saving Grace

Just saw the first episode. It's definitely not your typical TV show. It was good enough to draw me in for the next show. Holly Hunter is still looking good, and whoever cast the actor playing the angel is a genius.

Spark "em Up!

Haile Selassie was born 115 years ago today. He was the emperor of Ethiopia for 44 years. He died in 1975.

But what is most interesting about his life is the fact that on an island half a world away (Jamaica), he became a living god. A religion was formed in the 1930's among adherents of Marcus Garvey's back to Africa movement. It was called the Rastafari Movement, and it is primarily known by its use of reggae music, dreadlocks and marijuana.

It is one of those things that is almost too weird to be true. But true it is.

"The Eagle Has Landed..."

Thirty-eight years ago today, Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. The dreams of countless generations had finally been realized. Unfortunately we failed to properly follow up on this triumph. We haven't been back to the Moon since December 1972. In fact we haven't left low Earth orbit since then. Many people thought we would have colonized the Moon by now, many of us think we should have. It is a hopeful sign that NASA's post shuttle plans do include a return to the Moon, and an eventual manned trip to Mars. We have the technology to colonize the Moon, we lack only the will.

R.I.P. Mary Jo Kopechne

Thirty-eight years ago today, Mary Jo Kopechne was killed by Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy (Dem.-Mass.).

On July 18, 1969, Mary Jo and five other single women who had worked for Robert Kennedy's campaign attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island with six married men. (None of their wives were present) Sen. Kennedy and Mary Jo left the party together at 11:15. P.M.. According to Sen. Kennedy, he made a wrong turn, and drove off a bridge and into a small lake.

Sen. Kennedy got out of the car, and says he made several attempts to rescue Mary Jo, but she drowned. He then walked back to the party, (ignoring nearby houses) and talked to his cousin, Joe Gargan, and Paul Markham who were both lawyers. All three of them returned to the scene of the crash.

None of the three told anyone else about the crash for the next ten hours. Sen. Kennedy ended up pleading guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident after causing an injury. His sentence was a two month suspeneded sentence and a year of probation.

Despite this tragedy and the cover up, Sen. Kennedy continues to serve as a Senator and even ran for president once. Most people are convinced that the true story has never come out.

Whoopi Goldberg

I'm sitting here watching Whoopi on Bravo doing a monologue (it's actually more of a dialog with the studio audience), and I am amazed at how much of what she is saying that I agree with. Her best riff so far is when she talked about how her generation raised their kids without manners and as a result, that generation is raising their children as barbarians.

Whoopi has done this to me in the past. One time she comes out talking sense, and ther next she is a raving lunatic. And you know what, I bet she likes it that way.

The USSR Was Born in Evil.....

Eighty-nine years ago today, the Bolshevik Party ordered the murder of Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family. He had already abdicated over a year earlier. The Communists were already firmly in power, and the only question was which faction would run the country. There was no legitemate reason for these murders. The communists continued as they began.......

Disneyland

Fifty-two years ago today, Waly Disney combined two great American institutions, pop culture and capitalism; and opened up his first theme park, Disneyland, in Anaheim, California.

Walt also exploited an emerging American institution, television, by having the grand opening shown live on TV. Whatever else you think about Uncle Walt, he knew how to make a buck. He took a primitive cartoon about a mouse (originally named Mortimer) and turned it into a trillion dollar, worldwide empire. There are Disneyland parks in Paris and Tokyo, and a Disneyworld park in Orlando Florida. There are at least a half dozen companion parks. (many based on water themes)

It's the Economy, Stupid! (isn't it?) Pt. 2

This is kind of a follow up to yesterday's post about the DJIA. Twenty years ago today (July 17, 1987) the DJIA closed above 2,500 points for the first time in history. (2510) Today the DJIA closed at 13,950 points. Look at those numbers! the DJIA more than quintupled in value in twenty years! Twenty years of almost interrupted phenomenal growth!

Man I'm Getting Old........

Phoebe Cates was born on this date in 1963. That means she is 44 years old this year! What the hell? How did we get so old so fast?

It's the Economy, Stupid! (Isn't it?)

Ten years ago today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJIA) hit an all-time high, passing 8,000 points for the first time.

Friday, the DJIA closed at 13,907 points setting a new record. Look at that...in the past ten years the DJIA has nearly doubled...despite the attack on 9/11 and the Iraq war and occupation. The DJIA fell nearly 700 points or 7.1% the first trading day after the attack, (the largest one day point drop ever) and 14.3% by the end of that week. By Oct. 2002, the DJIA closed at a low of 7,286 points. That means there is a very good chance that by Oct. 2007, the DJIA could have doubled in five years.

Did you hear any stories about this on TV this weekend? Did you read any stories about this in your newspaper this weekend? No? I wonder why not?

I wonder if it has anything to do with a reluctance to credit a Republican president, or Republican tax cuts for this growth?

Computers Twenty Five Years Ago

Here is a link to an article written twenty-five years ago this month by James Fallows about personal computers and word processing. It really is an illustration of just how far we have come. He brags that his computer has 48 K of RAM.......my current (cheap) computer has 1 GB of RAM. He has an 8 bit processing chip...my processor is based on a 64 bit chip. He has a 12 inch green TV monitor. I have a 19 inch HD flatscreen. He begins with two tape machines for storage (and upgrades to floppys with 100 K of storage) I have a 320 GB internal hard drive, a 120 GB external hard drive, and my 3.5 floppys hold 1 MB. My flashdrive holds 2 GB) He has a converted IBM selectric typewriter as a printer. I have a cheap ($50) laser printer that is inconceivably better.

One of the dangers he talks about is becoming addicted to the computer. This is in the days before public access to the internet, the world wide web (WWW), ISPs and anything but the utmost basic of graphics. I wonder where he is today, and how he is coping? Well it looks like he is still writing, and still using new technology.

Do We Need Nationalized Health Care?

Robert Heinlein

Today was the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the world's greatest science fiction writers, Robert Heinlein. Talk to almost any current sci fi writer, or any of the people involved with the efforts to exploit space, and most will tell you they grew up reading his stuff. I sure did. His wrote excellent juvenile sci fi. Books like Have Space Suit, Will Travel ; Space Cadet ; Rocket Ship Galileo ; and Tunnel in the Sky will sometimes seem formulaic when read today. What you have to remember however is that Heinlein was usually the one who invented the formula. The science can seem quaint and outdated, but again when you realize these works were written in the late 1940's and the 1950's, it helps to put things in perspective. These early works did more than open up sci fi to a wide audience of young boys (and eventually girls), it helped sci fi make the transition from pulp magazine to where it is today.

Perhaps his most famous book is Starship Troopers . Ignore the movie, it is NOT a faithful rendition of the novel. The book is not about space combat. It is often called fascist, but that is a misunderstanding of the book. It is about the responsibility of being a citizen in a republic, and the dangers of mass democracy. The book doesn't glorify the military, it glorifies responsibility.

The transition from his juvenile novels to his adult novels can be quite jarring. (Especially you make that transition while still a juvenile as I did.) His adult novels deal with adult themes, including sex and drugs. (some of his sexual themes include not only incest and homosexuality, but sex with clones of one self) Many consider him one of the fathers of the sexual revolution and counterculture movement of the 1960's. Some of these books are Stranger in a Strange Land ; The Cat Who Walks Through Walls ; The Moon is a Harsh Mistress ; and Time Enough for Love. These books revolutionised science fiction. No longer was sci fi relegated to ray guns, bug-eyed monsters and spaceships. These books grapple with all of the problems of humanity in a thoughtful and logical way. Whatever else, Heinlein will leave you thinking.

These later works do something very rewarding for the Heinlein fan. By various plot devices including time travel, cloning, immortality and the creation of different dimensions, Heinlein ties almost all of his works into one coherent universe. It was a welcome surprise to be reading one of his later, adult, titles and have some of your favorite childhood characters re-emerge. The practice of creating a universe of your own to explore and write in is fairly commonplace today (Asimov's Foundation universe, Weber's Harrington universe, and Niven's universe as examples), but it wasn't when Heinlein did it. Most books were either stand alones, or parts of an explicit series. Heinlein was further challenged in that he created his universe retroactively, long after his most of his books had been written.

Lastly Heinlein has had an effect on the very vocabulary we use today. Many people use his acronym TANSTAAFL (there ain't no such thing as a free lunch) with no idea of where it comes from. It is included in numerous economics and political science textbooks. A less commonly used word, but still seem from time to time is grok. Also, like many sci fi authors he has had his work adopted by scientists and engineers, like the term waldo.

The US Supreme Court Today

I have just finished Jan Crawford Greenburg's recent book Supreme Conflict. It was a pretty interesting book, dealing mainly with the transformation from the Rhenquist Court to the Roberts Court. It talked a lot about the nomination and confirmation process post Roe V Wade.



I was struck by one passage in particular however:



"Jones's experience shows that abortion, for such a controversial and divisive issue, can produce a remarkably lopsided debate during the confirmation process. Republican nominees walk a minefield, knowing vocal opposition to Roe or even criticism of it, could doom their chances. But democratic nominees are assumed to support the abortion right and have been easily confirmed" (pg. 225)



What struck me about the quote was the matter of fact way it was presented, with no further discussion or analysis. The quote is undeniably true, but surely some discussion of why it is true was warranted?

There have been eleven rejected nominations to the Supreme Court. Three of these have been Democrats, five of them Republican.

Two of the three rejected Democratic nominees were nominated by President Cleveland in his second (non-consecutive) administration. William Hornblower was defeated 24-30, and Wheeler Hazard Peckham was defeated 32-41 in a 1894 Senate in which there were 44 Democrats, 40 Republicans, and 4 others. The opposition to these nominees was lead by Democratic Senator David Hill who had opposed Cleveland for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1892. The third was George Washington Woodward in 1845, who was rejected (20-29) by a Democratic majority Senate (34-22) after a failed Senate run in 1844.

So the last Democratic Supreme Court nominee to be rejected was in 1894, and all three were done in by fellow Democrats.

The first of the five rejected Republican nominees was Ebenezer R. Hoar by President Grant in 1870, by a vote of 24-33. The senate was dominated by the Republicans 62-12. The second was John J. Parker, nominated by President Hoover. He was rejected 39-41 (by one vote) in a Senate with 56 Republicans, 39 Democrats, and an independent. His nomination was strongly opposed by the labor unions and the NAACP. Next was Clement Haynsworth, nominated by President Nixon in 1969. He was rejected 45-55 in a Senate dominated by Democrats 64-36. He too was opposed by the NAACP, but he was also attacked by liberal Republicans. 38 Democrats and 17 Republicans voted against him. The fourth was Harold Carswell, nominated by President Nixon in 1970. He lost 45-51, in a Senate divided 57-43 in favor of the Democrats. He was attacked as a segregationist, and his competency was challenged. 38 Democrats and 13 Republicans voted against him. The last nominee rejected was Robert Bork. He was nominated by President Reagan in 1987. He lost 42-58 in a Senate divided 55-45 in favor of the Democrats. He was heavily opposed by liberal special interest groups.

So the last four rejected nominees (and all the nominees rejected in the 20th Century) were all Republicans.

The only Democratic Supreme Court nomination to fail in the 20th century was when LBJ tried to elevate Associate Justice Fortas to the Chief Justice. Fortas was accused of being too political (he was a close confidant of LBJ) and was under suspicion of financial impropriety. (In fact he was later forced to resign as an Associate Justice for financial improprieties) His nomination was withdrawn.

The last Democratic Nominees were:

Ruth Bader Ginsburg - confirmed 96-3, even though she had been a prominent lawyer for the ACLU (The ACLU has formally opposed the nominations of three justices in their 85 year career: Alito, Bork and Rehnquist. All conservative, all post Roe.)

Stephen Bryer - confirmed 87-9

The last two Republican nominees were:

John Roberts 78-22

Sam Alito 58-42

Republican senators are much more willing to vote in favor of Democratic nominees than Democratic senators are willing to vote for Republican nominees.

Special note also has to be made about the treatment Judge Robert Bork and Justice Clarence Thomas have received. Both men were savaged by liberal special interest groups and Democratic senators. No comparable actions have ever been taken against Democratic nominees. Instead, they are treated with deference and respect. Sam Alito also faced a concerted opposition from liberal special interest groups, and a hostile Democratic Senate.

There has also been a curious phenomena of Republican Justices drifting (in some cases racing) to the left and becoming liberals once on the Supreme Court. It begins with Chief Justice Burger in 1969, then Blackmun(1970), Stevens (1975 and still on the Court), O'Connor (1981), Kennedy (1988), and Souter (1990). All six of these Justices were expected to be judicial conservatives, but instead all have been instrumental in some way in preserving the liberal nature of the Court. One explanation for this effect is that Republican presidents tend to nominate candidates that are "confirm-able", meaning that they can garner some Democratic support, and thus have some liberal tendencies. Democratic presidents however feel free to nominate solidly liberal Justices, knowing that Republican senators are much more likely to defer to a Democratic president's wishes. (no Democratic nominee has had even 20 votes against him since Brandeis with 22 no votes in 1916, and then we have to go back to Cleveland's nominees for significant opposition..and it was mainly Democratic opposition) The other common explanation is that conservative justices are "corrupted" by the eastern liberal establishment, and a desire to please the liberal media.

Surely at least some of the points I have outlined above are worth at least a mention when the confirmation process is being discussed?

Failed US Supreme Court Nominations

1) Robert Harrison, nominated (and confirmed by voice vote) as an Associate Justice to the original Court by President Washington in September, 1789. He declined to serve.


2) William Paterson, nominated as an Associate Justice by President Washington in February 1793. His nomination was withdrawn one day after it was initially made. He was then re-nominated the next month and confirmed two days later by voice vote.


3) John Rutledge (formerly an Associate Justice), was nominated in a recess appointment as Chief Justice by President Washington in July 1795. His confirmation was rejected in December 1795 by a vote of 10-14 and he resigned. Opposition was centered on his denunciation of the Jay Treaty, and questions regarding his sanity. He served one term as Chief Justice.


4) William Cushing (a sitting Associate Justice), was nominated as Chief Justice by President Washington in January 1796. He was confirmed by the Senate, and sat for two days as the Chief Justice. He then resigned citing reasons of health, and returned to his seat as an Associate Justice. He is officially listed as declining the nomination.


5) John Jay (formerly Chief Justice), was nominated as Chief Justice by President John Adam in December 1800. He declined the nomination.


6) Levi Lincoln, Sr., was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Madison in January 1811. He declined.


7) Alexander Wolcott, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Madison in February 1811. He was rejected 9-24, largely due to his earlier actions as a customs inspector.


8) John Quincy Adams, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Madison in February 1811. He declined, and later went on to serve as President and a member of the House of Representatives. (nearly becoming the first person to serve in all three branches of the federal government)


9) John J. Crittenden, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President John Quincy Adams in Dec. 1828. His was the first nomination to last more than a couple of weeks before the Senate either confirmed or rejected. His nomination was postponed by a vote of 23-17 in February 1829, probably due to the fact that President Jackson (a political foe) was due to assume office the next month. It should also be noted that Crittenden served in the Senate both before and after his nomination, which might explain why his nomination was not rejected outright.


10) Roger B. Taney, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Jackson in January 1835. His nomination was postponed by a vote of 24-21 in March of 1835. He was then nominated as Chief Justice in December 1835, and confirmed 29-15 in March of 1836.


11) William Smith, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Jackson in March 1837, and confirmed 23-18. He declined the seat.


12) John Canfield Spencer, was first nominated as an Associate Justice by President Tyler in January 1844. He was rejected 21-26.


13) Reuben Walworth, was first nominated as an Associate Justice by President Tyler in March of 1844. His nomination was tabled by the Senate on a vote of 27-20 in June 1844, and then withdrawn.


14) Edward King, was first nominated as an Associate Justice by President Tyler in June of 1884. The Senate almost immediately postponed consideration on a vote of 29-18.


15) John Canfield Spencer, was again nominated as an Associate Justice by President Tyler on June 17, 1844, but the nomination was withdrawn on the same day.


16) Reuben Walworth, was nominated as an Associate Justice for the second time by President Tyler on June 17, 1844, but the Senate took no action on it.


17) Edward King, was again nominated as an Associate Justice by President Tyler in December 1844. His nomination was withdrawn in February 1845.


18) Reuben Walworth, was nominated as an Associate Justice for the third time by President Tyler in December 0f 1844. His nomination was withdrawn in February of 1845.


19) John M. Read, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Tyler in February 1845. The senate took no action it. (Probably because a new administration was due to begin the next month)


In a period lasting a little over a year from January 1844 to February 1845, President Tyler nominated five men a total of nine times, and only one, Samuel Nelson, was confirmed.


20) George Woodward, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Polk in December 1845. He was rejected by the Senate on a vote of 20-29 in January 1846.


21) Edward Bradford, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Fillmore in August of 1852. The Senate never acted on the nomination.


22) George Edmund Badger, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Fillmore in January 1853. The nomination was withdrawn in February 1853. He was serving in the Senate during the period of his nomination.


23) William Micou, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Fillmore in February 1853. The nomination was not acted on, probably because a new administration would take office a month later.


24) Jeremiah S. Black, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Buchanan in February 1861. The Senate refused to act on his nomination on a vote of 25-26. A new administration would enter office a month later.


25) Henry Stanberry, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Andrew Johnson in April 1866. The Senate never officially acted on the nomination. However they did eliminate the seat on the Supreme Court he was nominated for.


26) Ebenezer R. Hoar, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Grant in December 1869. He was rejected by the senate on a vote of 24-33 in February 1870.


27) George Henry Williams, was nominated as Chief Justice by President Grant in December 1873. The nomination was withdrawn in January of 1874.


28) Caleb Cushing, was nominated as Chief Justice by President Grant in January 1874. His nomination was withdrawn a week later.


29) Thomas Stanley Matthews, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Hayes in January 1881. The Senate took no action. He was renominated later that year by President Garfield and confirmed.


30) Roscoe Conkling, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Arthur in February 1882. He declined.


31) William Hornblower, was first nominated as an Associate Justice by President Cleveland in Sept. 1893. The Senate took no action.


32) William Hornblower was again nominated as an Associate Justice by President Cleveland in December 1893. He was rejected 24-30 in January 1894.


33) Wheeler Hazard Peckham, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Cleveland in January 1894. The Senate rejected him 32-41 in February 1894.


Hornblower and Peckham were victims of a Democratic party political rivalry between Pres. Cleveland and Sen. David Hill. Peckham's brother would be later nominated and serve.


34) Pierce Butler, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Harding in November 1922. The Senate took no action. He was renominated a month later and confirmed.


35) John J. Parker, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Hoover in March 1930. He was rejected by the Senate 39-41, in May, 1930. He was opposed by labor unions and the NAACP.


36) John Marshall Harlan II, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Eisenhower in November 1954. The Senate failed to act. He was renominated by President Eisenhower in January 1955 and confirmed.


37) Abe Fortas (a sitting Associate Justice), was nominated as Chief Justice by President Lyndon Johnson in June 1968. The nomination was withdrawn in October 1968.


38) Homer Thornberry, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Lyndon Johnson in June 1968. The senate never acted, because the seat he was nominated for was not vacated by Associate Justice Fortas.


39) Clement Haynsworth, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Nixon in August 1969. He was rejected by the Senate 45-55, in November of 1969. He was opposed by liberals and the NAACP.


40) Harold Carswell, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Nixon in January 1970. He was rejected by the Senate 45-51, in April 1970. He faced charges of promoting segregation.


41) Robert Bork, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President Ronald Reagan in July 1987. He was rejected by the Senate 42-58 in October 1987. He was opposed by the ACLU and abortion rights organizations.


42) John Roberts, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President G.W. Bush in July 2005. His nomination was withdrawn in September 2005. He was immediately renominated as Chief Justice and confirmed.


43) Harriet Miers, was nominated as an Associate Justice by President G.W. Bush in Oct. 2005. Her nomination was withdrawn later that month. She was opposed mainly by conservatives within her own party who were worried she would turn liberal as other Republican nominees have done.


So, of the 43 failed nominations:


7 nominees declined. (one of them continued to serve as an Associate Justice, one had formerly served as chief Justice) The last time a nominee declined was in 1882.


11 nominees were withdrawn. ( two were later renominated and served, one was later renominated and didn't serve, one withdrew from Chief Justice, but continued to serve as an Associate Justice)


11 nominees were rejected by the Senate. (one served a single term as a recess appointment, one was later renominated)

3 nominees were postponed. (one was later renominated and served, one was later renominated and didn't serve)


The Senate took no action on 11 nominees. (two were later renominated and didn't serve, three were later renominated and served)

Slow Songs

One of the woman I went to high school with (Hi Beth!) asked us to come up with a list of our favorite slow songs yesterday. This is what I have come up with so far:


1)Wishing on a Star - Rose Royce
2) Three Times a Lady - Commodores
3)Always and Forever - Heatwave
4)How 'Bout Us? - Champaign
5)Shining Star - Manhattans
6)True - Spandau Ballet
7)I Want To Know What Love Is - Foreigner
8)Cherish - Kool and the Gang
9)Kiss and Say Goodbye - Manhattans
10) I Want to Be Your Man - Zapp & Roger
11)Just Once - Quincy Jones
12) Baby Come to Me - Patti Austin & James Ingram
13)Nights in White Satin - Moody Blues
14)Tonight I Celebrate My Love - Peabo Bryson & Roberta Flack
15)You're the Inspiration - Chicago
16) You are My Lady - Freddie Jackson
17)I Just Wanna Stop - Gino Vannelli
18) Always - Atlantic Starr
19)Sexual Healing - Marvin Gaye
20) Shake You Down - Gregory Abbott
21)Up Where We Belong - Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes
22)Almost Paradise - Ann Wilson
23) Shower Me with Your Love - Surface
24)If You Don't Know Me By Now - Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
25)Two Occasions - The Deele
26)I'll Stand By You - Pretenders
27)Never Knew Love Like This Before - Stephanie Mills
28)Reunited - Peaches & Herbs
29)Without You - Harry Nilsson
30)Endless Love - Diana Ross & Lionel Ritchie
31)How Much I Feel - Ambrosia
32)Beth - Kiss
33)Babe (I'm leaving) - Styx
34)Still Loving You - Scorpions
35)The Flame - Cheap Trick
36)Two Out of Three Ain't Bad - Meatloaf
37)Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynrd
38)Stairway to Heaven - Led Zepplin
39)Open Arms - Journey
40)Waiting for a Girl Like You - Foreigner

Everyday American Hero - Burt Brady

Happy Birthday USA!

Happy 4th of July everyone! Remember to spare a moment from the beer and hotdogs to give a little appreciate for the magnificent country we live in!

Racism

I got called racist again today. This time it was because I think everyone should be treated equally, and I want to end race based preferences. (Yes, I know it doesn't make sense to me either.) It happened online, and I will never meet the person making the insult, so it really shouldn't bother me, but it does.

I mean how can you defend youself from such a defamation? If you deny it, it quickly turns into a childish "Am not" "Are too" argument.

If I respond with facts from my life (My best friend is a Black man married to a White woman, my three closest co-workers are two Black women and another Black man married to a White woman, in college my closest friends at USC were an Iranian-American and a Black man and at Cal State a Hispanic woman and her White eventual husband) I sound like I am making the tired old "some of my best friends are Black" argument.

It's just extremely frustrating and I wish I could come up with an effective response.

Some Religious Practices Are More Equal Than Others.......

The newest fad to hit the educational establishment is trancendental meditation. There are schools all across the country teaching our kids, and devoting class time, to transcendental medititation (TM).

Excuse me? TM is a religious practice. It is directly equivelent to the Western practice of silent prayer. Given that the Supreme Court has ruled that you cannot have a silent prayer or prayer in school, how is this kosher?

"Supporters believe the program, which requires participants to sit quietly in a deep rest for 20 minutes at the start and at the end of the school day, allows the brain to tap into a reservoir of energy and intelligence."

Has anyone done a study to see if 20 minutes of silent prayer would accomplish the same thing? I bet it would.

I tell you what, if my prinicpal ever instructs me to begin this practice, there will be a lawsuit challenging the practice.

We're #1!!!!!!!

For most traffic deaths caused by agrressive drivers that is. Hell, I could have told them that. San Bernardino-Riverside had 13.4 deaths per 100,000 people in 1996, the year studied. The next highest area was Tampa-St. Petersburg at 9.5 per 100,000. That means we were almost a third again more dangerous than the next most dangerous area. Two factors weighed into these figures. First, in 1996, the Inland Empire still had relatively low population levels. (but even in absolute numbers we beat Tampa-St. Pete. 178-177, but several areas further down were in the 200's) Our population rates were extremely low compared to the miles of freeway in the area, which leads to the second factor, the Inland Empire is basically a throughway for people going somewhere else. There is a large amount of L.A.-Las Vegas traffic (and vice-versa) and increasing amount of L.A.-Phoenix traffic and hellacious numbers of commuters going into L.A. and Orange County. Then we have the resort traffic on their way to Big Bear and out to Palm Springs.

Of Course He knows...He's a Jedi!!!

Darthmatic Chipmunk Video

Race Traitors.....

Hablas Espanol?

Jessica Alba doesn’t. Is there anything wrong with that? Apparently so.


The third-generation American and actress is under fire this week from fellow Latinos for comments she made to Para Todos magazine:

"Alba is my last name and I'm proud of that. But that's it. My grandparents were born in California, the same as my parents, and though I may be proud of my last name, I'm American. Throughout my whole life, I've never felt connected to one particular race or heritage, nor did I feel accepted by any. If you break it down, I'm less Latina than Cameron Diaz, whose father is Cuban. But people don't call her Latina because she's blonde…"

Our Long national Nightmare Is Over!

Paris Hilton has been released from jail!

He Knows What You've Been Doing!

Gerbil in a Light Socket

Greek Mythology Personality Quiz

Your Score: Daedalus

66% Extroversion, 66% Intuition, 27% Emotiveness, 57% Perceptiveness

You are most like Daedalus. You are extremely clever and inventive, but your methods can be very unorthodox. When faced with a setback, you're more likely to try to defeat it with sheer determination, rather than finesse. You're argumentative, but don't tend to take debate personally (actually, it's fun for you, and most people don't understand that). Regardless, you are a wellspring of mechanical ingenuity, and would make a fantastic engineer or inventor.

You can be extremely loyal in relationships and freindships, and you're extremely professional. You're also pretty grumpy.

Famous people like you: Thomas Edison, James A. Garfield, Walt Disney, Benjamin Franklin
Steer Clear of: Hermes, Apollo, Icarus, Aphrodite
Seek out: Atlas, The Oracle, Prometheus

Link: The Greek Mythology Personality Test written by Aleph_Nine on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Illegal Immigration

How does this make sense?

The U.S. is trying to deport the illegal immigrant wife of a soldier serving (and missing in action) in Iraq who tried to become legal. Her name is Yaderlin Jimenez.

Meanwhile we refuse to deport an illegal immigrant named Ignacio Gomez-Gutierrez who has been convicted three times of DWI, which gives him the opportunity to do it a fourth time and kill three people.


Yeah I trust the government to get it right this time......

Paris in Jail

OK..so sue me...I think this is funny.

Fox News Discussion on Immigration 6/17/07

Juan Williams: "...millions of immigrants who want to become American citizens...."

Wrong. Most of them don't want to be American citizens. Many of them just want to work here and send the money home, and then return home when they can. Another significant portion want to turn large parts of the United States into Mexico, and they are doing a damn good job of it so far. It is the very fact that most of them don't want to become American that is pissing many of us off.

Mara Liasson: ".......Many Democrats have decided that being on the right side of this issue is good for the long term prospects of the party...."

Exactly. The problem is, they are supposed to be worried about the long term prospects of the country, not their party.


Later on....

Thomas Friedman: "....Thor on Mount Olympus...throwing bolts....."

You know, if President Bush had said this, Friedman would have written a 10,000 word column about how dumb Bush is. I'll be much more charitable, and give Tommy boy the benefit of the doubt and say he misspoke. Thor is Norse, Olympus is Greek, and it was Zeus who threw lightning and thunder from Olympus.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's day to all the dads out there.

Finally....

The 2006-2007 school year comes to a close! Man this was a year from hell.

Great Moments In Television.....

I dare you to watch this clip and not react emotionally. I've been incredibly stressed out and angry at the world lately. This clip restored my faith in humanity. Hell even Simon Cowell comes off looking like a nice guy. I only wish this type of moment could happen in the U.S., but I doubt most American audiences would have reacted this way. The audience reaction is thrilling but what really puts it over the top is how the judges go from bored dismissal to stunned admiration.

If only everyone could have a moment like this in their life...........



Update 6/15/07 1:30 A.M.: here is his semi-final performance -




(H/T: The Anchoress)

A First....

Well tonight was the first time that one of my friends insisted on driving me home. Hell it only took 42 years......

Update 10:59 P.M.: It was probably the shot of barbeque sauce that actually did me in.....

Stanley Cup

Woo Hoo! Congratulations to the Anaheim Ducks!

Nigger Please!

Fred Thompson's Website

Here.

D Day Normandy

Today is the 63rd anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. (one little known fact...there were lots of d-days...the first day of any amphibious landing was called d-day.) All honor to the brave soldiers who fought there.

But a brief thought or question.

What would have been the reaction to the American public to live (or nearly live) television coverage of the landings, and the carnage that ensued?

A Sign of the Times.......

I'm driving home from work today, listening to KBIG on the radio, (contemporary pop) and all of a sudden I am "treated" to a commercial for HIV drugs. Have we truly gone that far? Are drug companies now competing for profits by selling HIV drugs? How sad is that?

I am glad that people afflicted with this disease are now able to treat themselves and extend their lives. If you were old enough, surely you remember when Magic Johnson announced he had HIV. I nearly cried. Back then HIV was a death sentence, and a quick one at that. Sixteen years later, he is still going strong. But do I have to endure commercials for HIV treatments? Is HIV nothing more than a bad case of hemorrhoids now?

A Living Hell...

God I hate this time of year. Six hours of babysitting 8th graders who gave up on school weeks ago...and still have 10 days of school left. All of the bullshit events and activities that surround the end of the year......all of the petty infighting among the staff......I am so emotionally and mentally exhausted that my body literally hurts.

Happy Memorial Day

Thank you to all of the service members and their families for all of their sacrifices they have made in serving and protecting our nation. Special thanks to all of those who have given their last full measure.

Texas Hold 'Em Tournament

I played in a Texas Hold 'Em tournament last night, with a bunch of friends of a friend. There were thirteen people in the tournament, and I came in third. I think I could have done better, but by the time we combined the survivors from the two tables, 2 guys from the other table had managed to accrue big stacks. those were the two guys that beat me.

It was a lotta fun...it's been a while since I played any poker.

"...We are the freest and most prosperous county the world..."

Fred Thompson on Memorial Day.

Thompson on Immigration Last Night

H/T: The Corner

Open Thread!

What the hell, everyone else is doing it........

Update: I have written about the season finale of Heroes in the comments....

Language

The English language is interesting in it's wide use of colloquialisms. Many of them are used as insults, and many of them eventually enter common usuage.

For instance, just now, on a network, national broadcast news show, a female anchor referred to a convicted child molestor as a scumbag.

I wonder if she knew that a scumbag is a used condom?

Immigration Deal

Well...it looks like the bastards are going to do it again. Amnesty. That means that not only the 12 to 20 million that are already here get to stay....but each one of them is going to be bringing at least 4 to 5 members of their family here to live with them. 100 million poor, uneducated, non-English speaking, largely rural peasants will be added to our tax burden.

Public education as we know it will end here in the Southwest. It simply will not be able to absorb the burden and any non-Hispanic with any sense will pull their children out. We will soon have a permanent underclass comprised of poor Hispanics with barely a middle school education. Currently less than 68% of those who enroll in Mexico's schools finish 9th grade, and less than 35% finish 12th grade. These are precisely the poor peasants who are coming here illegally. Believe me when I tell you as a middle school teacher, these results are persisting among their American-born children. It is simply a part of their culture.

Whole cities will become virtual Mexican enclaves with practically no English used. (I predict that soon some cities will conduct all of their official business primarily in Spanish, with English translation used as needed....Santa Ana will be among the first)

There will soon be demands that Spanish become an official language of this country. Mexico will treat those living here as Mexican citizens, allowing them to vote, and even representation in the Mexican government. (This has already begun)

But the worst thing? The worst thing is that this will not solve the illegal immigration problem. Twenty years from now we will have another 20 million illegal immigrants, and another push to legalize them. Only this time, the activists will have even more power, and the deal we cut will be even worse.

Update: By the way, this invasion, (because that is what it truly will be) will be meet by violence. But it's not going to be the hillbilly white good ole boys everyone thinks......it's going to be the inner city Blacks who are going to resent the usurpation of their neighborhoods, low wage jobs, and government handouts.

Update II: This says all that needs to be said.

Cash Cab

The best game show on television, without a doubt, is The Cash Cab. I love that show! Especially when they screw up, and he kicks them to the curb!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's day to all the Mom's out there.

You have a tough , and largely thankless job. But some of us still appreciate all that you do, and realize how important you are.

Update 5/19/07: For some reason I'm getting several google hits for this image. I wish to make it clear that this is not my work product, and I found it myself by searching google. My use of this image is in no way an attempt to profit from, or claim, another person's work.

Another Sign I'm Getting Old....

I was out in the yard with my yard guy talking about future projects when I tripped and fell when going down one of my slopes. Now I'm a big guy...and I have a lot of grey hair...but this guy was acting like I was a basket case. You can tell he thought I had broken something., or done myself a serious injury. I will admit the experience wasn't pleasant...but I'm not that far gone.


Am I?

Giuliani, Abortion and the Soul of the Republican Party

Rudy Giuliani made a bold statement this week. He basically said , "Yes, I am pro-choice. Deal with it...if it is a deal breaker with you, so be it.". Kudos to him for his honesty.

The question now becomes, should it be a deal breaker? First a little history.

The Republican party was formed in 1854, almost exclusively because of the issue of slavery. The Whig Party and the Democratic Party had split into northern and southern factions over the issue of slavery. The northern branches of these parties joined together and a new party was formed. Thus from the very beginning, the soul of the Republican Party has been about freedom, dignity and the value of human life.

The issue of abortion is directly comparable. Those in favor of slavery argued that Blacks were not fully human; those in favor of abortion argue that the baby (or fetus if you prefer) is not fully human. Slavery advocates argued that the Constitution protected their right to own slaves (specifically the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment...and remember at one time the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with them); abortion advocates also rely on the Constitution to protect them (though in this case it is vested in the entirely invented penumbra of privacy). The two worst decisions the Supreme Court have ever handed down (followed quickly by the recent Kelo case) were attempts to protect these two institutions: slavery and the Dred Scott decision;
abortion and Roe v Wade.

Abortion politics comes down to a very basic issue. Is the baby (fetus) human? If it isn't (and honestly I don't see how you can logically make this arguement, but millions try) then abortion is just what abortion advocates say, a simple medical procedure. If the baby (fetus) is human, then the abortion industry is a human tragedy every bit as terrible as slavery and genocide. People see Giuliani's position as the moderate one. I don't. To me, the moderate position is to return to the pre-Roe status quo and allow the States to decide. The Republican Party currently supports letting the States decide. I personally would support an amendment to the Constitution that outlawed abortion except to save the life of the mother.

So yes, Rudy, it's a deal breaker for me. I can never vote for you for president. I hope it never comes to that, because I doubt I will be able to vote for the Democrat either, so I will have to throw my vote away on a write-in vote. I'd support you for U.N. ambassador in a second though.

I don't think Giuliani should be kicked out of the party. I do believe in a big tent. However, in order to remain true to the soul of the party, to the values of human life and human dignity, the Party must reject the pro-choice position.

Newtonian Air Conditioner

My air conditioner must have been boning up on its Newtonian physics lately. When it's off, it won't turn on. When it's on, it won't turn off.

Damn universal education.

Fire

There has been a pretty large fire in my area today. It's been burning for several hours. I snapped some pictures a couple of hours ago when I was checking to see things. There are no police cars or fire engines in my neighborhood yet..so we're still safe. Everything smells like smoke though.

The first photo is closer to my house. It's about a half mile south of my house, and I am looking south. The hill this fire is on is seperated from the hill my house is on by a four lane road. The fire never jumped the road. The second photo is almost 180 degrees from the first one...and I am looking north. None of the houses here were burnt, but the brush all around them was.

I'm Baaaack!

Well...my old computer died last Friday afternoon...or at least is in a coma. So I finally got the time today to go out and buy a temporary replacement...until I either get the old one fixed or buy a new one.

Smarter Than a 5th Grader

I don't watch the show all the time...but of every show I've seen...I've gotten every answer.....

Is this show supposed to be hard?

A Just War?

I had a conversation yesterday in the staff room. It was with a woman who is about as liberal as you can get. She made the comment that "war never solves anything." I replied "yes it does..how about WWII?" She said "that was different, Pearl harbor was attacked" I had to remind her about the twin towers. She talked about howq unpopular this war was. I talked about how the media is covering this war, and said that if the media had covered WW II the same way, the American people probably wouldn't have supported it.

I have come to realize just how true this is. What if for example the media had covered WW II this way?:

The Japanese internment centers like GITMO?

It was the Japanese who attacked Pearl Harbor..so why are we fighting Germany?

Purposefully carpet bombing German and Japanese cities?

the massive casualtie rates in the average battle?

TV footage of the carnage at Normandy or Iwo Jima?

no tales of heroism like Audie Murphy?

the mistakes like the Navy's torpedos or lining up the airplanes on the runways at Pearl Harbor?

FDR's cozying up to the Soviets, or even the fact that he was crippled and in a wheelchair?

Light Blogging

The computer is on the fritz. Annoying screen artifacts, and it's not the monitor..I switched it. So it looks like the video card is dying. One of my disc drives is already dead, and the other one is beginnning to act up.

So I guess it's time to move on. I'm currently looking at Dell XPS..but the one I want is $5,000 and up...a little steep. There is one I could settle for, for a little less than $4,000...still more than I want to pay. I bought this one for $3,000 plus....I think 4 years ago. At the time, I paid more for it than I had ever paid for a car.

My Boys Are growing Up (sniff)....

One of my cats brought a half dead gopher into my house yesterday, and played with it like it was a catnip ball. I threw the gopher out the front door with both the cats rushing after it. I haven't checked my porch to see if they have eaten it, but at least one of them is a hunter.

Clash Of Civilizations

I have written before of my belief that we are in a life or death struggle with Islam. I am now firmly convinced that despite our best intentions from good hearted people, and denuded ideology from those who detest American civilization, we cannot co-exist with the Islamic civilization.

Here is a blog, Breath of the Beast, that speaks to this issue much more eloquently than I do, but shares my basic conclusion: It's either us or them. and they already realize this.


(H/T: The Corner)

Gonzales v. Carhart

I agree with the outcome of yesterday's decision. I think partial birth abortion should be outlawed. I think under current law, and current understanding of the Constitution, it was the right decision.

However, if like me, you believe that abortion is ultimately a political issue, that should be decided by the individual states, then you have to align yourself with Justice Thomas's opinion rather than Justice Kennedy's.

Justice Thomas all but said: "Come up with a case challenging this law based on the Commerce clause, and I'll vote to strike it."

As has been noted elsewhere, this particular case places the parties in an unusual position. Pro choicers are usually people who believe in an expansive understanding of the Commerce Clause, and pro lifers are usually people who support a restrictive understanding of the Commerce Clause. However an expansive understanding of the Commerce Clause supports this case, and a restrictive understanding undermines this case.

Taxes

Just got done filing my taxes this year...about an hour and a half, including 15 minutes of wait time on the phone to the IRS. I used Turbo Tax, and things would have gone even easier if my hard drive hadn't have been wiped this year, because I would have had the last couple of years worth of returns to help.

I'm getting about $750 back....That's about what I get every year.

Drive

Eh....a little uneven so far..I'll give it next week though.

As an aside the freeway scenes from the first episode were filmed out here in San Bernardino on the newly built (and not opened yet) 210 freeway.

The "Florida" orange groves are actually the Redlands orange groves.

A New Leader For Black America

The ONLY good thing to come out of this whole Imus fiasco is the emergence of Jason Whitlock into the national spotlight.

He has written two brave and insightful columns about this tempest in a teapot, here and here.

He has also appeared on Tucker Carlson's show on MSNBC, the TV network who kicked Imus off their airwaves.

Why Should We Give A Damn What Al Sharpton Thinks?

Don Imus should have told Sharpton to kiss his ass. Why everyone kneels at the feet of this race-baiter I will never know. If you don't know the true history of this jerk, this is a pretty good place to start.