Friday, June 30, 2006

ah, the supreme court

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

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Waste of time

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.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

new member of the household

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.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Damn You Joe

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

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

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.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Jason Meyer R.I.P.

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

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Cardinals in a nose dive.

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."

Thursday, June 08, 2006

ding dong the wicked witch is dead.

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.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

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

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.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Environmental update.

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

Thursday, June 01, 2006

great minds think alike

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.