Apparently, when it's time to rid an area of jihadists, Ethiopia gets the job done. No hand-wringing, just action. Like we did in Afghanistan shortly after 9/11, except the Ethiopians will probably not spend time "rebuilding" the things they've destroyed...
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy... Kill hundreds of people, get killed yourself. Justice, old school.
Have you seen this joke making the email rounds?
For My Democrat Friends:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . And without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishes. By accepting these greetings you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself or himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
For My Republican Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Kinda funny. People need to get over it and grow a thicker skin- I personally like "Happy Holidays," but then the sensitive types believe even that is an attack on Christmas!
and their decision to kick the imams off the flight... I'm thinking this whole thing was staged by the Muslims to prove a point, but still the right decision by the airline.
We had a little family road trip last week that took us through Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky. Below is a typical view in Western Virginia and West Virginia- probably a great drive when the leaves are changing- not so much now!
More importantly, we got to see friends and family on the trip and the kids had a great time, so all the driving was worth it.
OK, it's not much different than the borrow and spend Republicans. Of course, now I get to hear about how I need to pay "my fair share" of taxes. Uh-huh...
Some photos from the Barber Vintage Motorcycle Museum:
Being a BMW fan, I couldn't help but include the pic of one of the bikes that Rommel & crew used in North Africa in WWII. What a great gun on the side-car. Forget rush hour, the intimidation factor for other motorists would be huge...
Barber Vintage Motorcycle Museum: (Leeds, AL) Coolness factor was off the charts. Motorcycles from every manufacturer, and many you never knew existed... You could easily blow the better part of a day there.
Those are some of the highlights of the trip. I couldn't ask for a more fun "guys weekend."
for all the people in the Business and Finance section at Yahoo Answers who seem to continually ask, "What is the best way to save money?" They go on to explain the debt piling up, etc. Here's the answer:
ALWAYS SPEND LESS THAN YOU MAKE.
There we go. I've done my part today. Now you go to Yahoo Answers, and prepare to read questions that will have you laughing out loud... Enjoy!
I see that 7-Eleven has joined my boycott of Citgo... Glad you're on board, boys.
Had a great time at a meeting with a supplier. Took in a Sox game from a suite, a boat ride downtown, etc. It's not NYC, but an awesome city nonetheless.
Perhaps Pope Benedict is as well: "He said, I quote, 'Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.'"
(story link: CNN.com - Pope's Islam comments condemned - Sep 15, 2006)
I wish the Pope wouldn't be so apologetic- the truth is the truth...
September 11 reminds us of the capabilities and intent of our radical Islamic enemies. They are not interested in getting along, sharing the planet with non-Muslims, land for peace, or any other negotiation. They want us to convert to Islam, or die. It's that simple to them. So we know our enemy.
How well do we know ourselves? It's gut-check time. It seems that many people (USA, UK, and other Europeans included) want to keep their heads in the sand as to the nature of the threat we face. Claiming that those of us who clearly see this threat are "fear-mongering" or are "blood thirsty" doesn't make the threat go away. Do we have what it takes to eliminate these people who wish us harm?
If you haven't yet made it down to Ground Zero in NYC, I strongly recommend you go. It's hard not to get angry when you see it.
I have no moral problems with the vice stocks- in fact, I am the proud owner of Altria stock (cigarette manufacturer). My morality makes me believe that you have the right to pollute your body with anything you wish, just don't let your habit infringe on my rights. Some choose nicotine to pollute themselves, I choose chocolate. Nevertheless, I am a good death merchant, and always smile when I see someone buying Marlboros at the gas station...
Vice stocks always seem to do well when the economy slows- so if you believe we're in a slow-down, go get some vice stocks!
He was clearly passionate about his work, and he died doing what he loved. Not a bad way to go.
People are still moaning and pissing about the Federal Government's response to Katrina- why aren't there more blank checks from Congress?
Several newspeople today still spoke of Katrina's "wrath," as if the storm had the capacity to think! Don't forget the global warming, etc, etc, ad nauseum.
The bottom line- New Orleans is no better prepared for a category 3+ storm than it was a year ago. The only difference is that there are now fewer residents to get caught up in the floods if it happens again. As I said in previous posts, no one took the time to consider any bold new ideas for New Orleans. So New Orleans remains a very susceptible town to hurricanes, not to mention any terrorists who have designs on the levees. I hope that the people who have the desire to recover and relocate can get it done before this tragedy inevitably repeats itself.
Recently, custom sport bikes are all the rage. 'Adventure' riding is also becoming popular, and should be so for the next several years. The next trend will be the restoration of old classic motorcycles... Mark my words. Competition on ebay is already starting to heat up for old bikes and parts. Better scoop up that great fixer-upper while you can!
That Bill O'Reilly is on a Big Oil Jihad, the likes of which haven't been seen since Lou Dobbs and globalization... He thinks that BP is shutting down their Alaskan operation to shock the markets and line their pockets even further with higher oil prices. He spoke on the Radio Factor today about how preventative maintenance could have prevented this shut-down. Bill- this shut-down IS the preventative maintenance! Would you have BP keep pumping oil through that system without shutting it down to replace the pipelines? Come on! There is no sense in rolling the dice on what could potentially be a big oil spill.
I've said it before- the government makes more than double what the average oil company makes on a gallon of gasoline. Until it's the other way around, I don't care to hear about your Big Oil conspiracy, Bill.
my statcounter to see who has been poking around the blog. It's kind of fun to see where all the readers are coming from. I noticed yesterday that someone from the Bill Richardson campaign was reading several posts here at D.R.
Welcome, lefties! We mean you no harm. At least not physically!
I just bought, for a very reasonable price, a 1982 Honda CB 650 Four... An excellent winter fix-up project. It will never see the same road time that my BMW R1150R gets, but it will be fun to get it running again and ride it in the summers.
To the NOW gals, that is... with his usual biting truth. Check out his thoughts on the NOW gang and the topic of female genital mutilation (a legitimate feminist issue).
My Ken Lay prediction (see previous post) was spot-on... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/07/06/ny-post-wants-lay_n_24479.html
Indeed.
The old stock market adage was certainly holding true, until today... I hope you made some $
was worthwhile, but very challenging. With strong winds and rain all the way from Little Rock to Southeast Missouri, needless to say it was a little unnerving at times. Still had a great time, though. Assuming you and your bike remain in one piece, even a 'bad' motorcycle ride is better than none at all.
My friends and I went to the open house at BMW Motorcycles of Little Rock. The weather was bad, but they still had a crowd. Little Rock BMW has added Triumph motorcycles to their mix as well- they were certainly interesting to check out, especially the Triumph 'America' cruiser.
This Quad was also there on display. Wild stuff. I'm just not sure that folks here in the U.S. will pay nearly 50 K for a four-wheeler!
I will say this- after a ride like that one, my Cabela's Ultra-Dry Plus rainsuit was SO worth what I paid for it...
Damn! I forgot- I can't say the word refugee- what a Hurricane Katrina-related racist term! I meant that I'm no longer a temporarily displaced citizen. No internet yet, but I'll settle for power and water... Good to be back home.
An online acquaintance of mine, Sean Rife, has started what may become a nice little antidote to all the statist crap that seems to be popular with the kids these days (most of them have no clue that Che was a murderous thug) : the I-store. An example of one of his products:
Go check him out. I have one of his "i" logos affixed to my scuba tank.
It seems my daily visits have fallen off a bit lately, but I do have a handful of semi-regular readers. Hmmm. Maybe it's the plain-jane blog design. Maybe people are getting bored with blogs in general. It could be the crappy writing! What to do to get the hits back up? Perhaps I should mention Anna Benson Nude like the New American Revolutionist- he gets lots of traffic from that one! Nah- I'll just keep it boring for now, ranting whenever the mood hits me.
About this weekend, we did make it up to St. Louis for the party. It was really good to see some of the old crew there. It's kinda strange, but most of the people (with few exceptions) that I would consider to be trustworthy friends are scattered all over the country and unavailable for frequent in-person visits. I don't get to talk to all of them as regularly as in the past, but it seems like we pick up wherever we left off without missing a beat.
I became an E*Trade customer when they bought Harris Direct Brokerage... E*trade seems to work fine, but it's been almost a month and they haven't resolved a fairly serious customer service issue for me. E*Trade is too big to miss my account if I move it, so maybe arbitration is in the future... I may end up being a happy customer, but they have a really big mountain to climb. I can't recommend them to any family or friends at the moment.
It looks like the conservatives are in power now in Canada... I hear they may try to eliminate the capital gains tax there. Before you lefties start trotting out the old- 'another tax break for the rich,' try to realize that you've never been hired by a poor man... Elimination of the capital gains tax will do nothing but strengthen an already strong economy.
I've been investing in Canada for about a year now, and things are looking even better. Go Canucks!
Wait a minute! This post isn't supposed to be about racists Nagin and Clinton! (see previous post) This is an update on a particular societal leech: Jackington Viego points out the update on the woman who attempted to extort Wendy's about the finger in her chili... She got 9 years! Excellent... that may just restore enough faith in my fellow man to get me out of my funk... Yes, indeed.
and I'm not sure why. Maybe I am disappointed that the Maryland state legislature would actually have the audacity to dictate to Wal-Mart what its costs will be. If Wal-Mart's health-care benefits are too low for you, then don't work there. Folks, we've seen the results of the old command-and-control economies; they don't work, and nothing has changed in that department. I know that Wal-Mart would never do it, but it would make my year if Wal-Mart responded to the law by unceremoniously pulling out of Maryland, dumping all those horrible, low-paying jobs. There are apparently plenty of people in this country willing to work for them, and plenty of states out there glad to have the local jobs and tax dollars they provide.
Perhaps that's not the cause of my funk. It is sad, however. While I'm ranting about employment, I continue with this: All those industrial union types who demanded lavish pensions and artificially high pay in the past are now realizing that the birds come home to roost (Think General Motors (I say GM goes bankrupt by the end of 2007) , Delphi, Ford, etc). Pretty soon, no employer to pay them anything. Damn. Take that, Local ### worker- you may not have a job, but by golly you fought for your 'fair share.' You showed them.
Nah, it can't be that stuff. It's not enough to put me in a prolonged bad mood. Things are only temporarily out of phase, however. I know this because I rarely experience the funk, but when I do, it seems to resolve itself. Back to the grind. I have work to do.
on the coal mine disaster mentioned in my last post, and why it's Bush's fault (in the minds of the lefties): lax regulation and enforcement. From the Seattle Times article: Large fines are rare, and the most serious sanctions — such as closing mines — are almost never used, documents show.
This pattern has been even more pronounced under the Bush administration, which came into office with a promise to forge cooperative ties between regulators and the mining industry. During the past five years, the number of mines referred to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution has dropped steadily, from 38 in 2000 to 12 last year.
Meanwhile, inspectors who sought to impose large fines on coal companies have seen those penalties whittled down by agency negotiators and administrative-law judges.
The miners have hardly been buried, and the lefties are trying to make political hay of the situation. Not surprising, but sad. Of course, Congressional investigations/hearings have been called for. I will give them this: at least it's more important than steroids in Major League Baseball...
The new year is off to a great start, at least personally. Hopefully it has for you as well. Some observations for the past week:
Predictions for 2006? Here's one that doesn't go out on a limb very far at all: Energy prices in the USA remain extremely volatile, due to a lack of refining capacity (we've really done nothing so far to solve the problem- maybe India and China will stop growing and demand will wane? Wrong!) and more Gulf of Mexico hurricanes... The highs for the price of crude oil get tested once again. Another: The continuing anti-capitalist/anti-USA sentiment in South America ratchets up a few notches, probably due to some insane policy decisions by Venezuela and/or Bolivia.
You heard it here fir-- well, you heard it here.
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