Month: September 2005

Posted on Hurricane Katrina

words that mean things

“I do not intend to tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death.”
–anonymous

out of a great tragedy like hurricane katrina can come an incredible expression of the human spirit. we have seen such displays in the past. we are seeing them right now with the amazing generosity and extreme altruism of our fellow citizens. it’s impressive. i am truly humbled to share a country with these great americans. finally the MSM has been given some positive news to report and they have done a decent job with that report. people being saved, animals being saved, federal aid being approved to the affected areas…these are positive steps toward a recovery.

now is the time for a critical evaluation to take place, not only of our government, but of ourselves. this tragedy is producing heroes who have stepped out of their comfort zones and taken risks. these risks have rewards you can’t buy. some of us will never relate to that deep understanding of what their life could mean, and we are all the poorer for it. don’t ever settle for an ordinary existence. believe that you have a reason why you’re here on this planet and chase that dream as hard as you can.

the following quotes are for TC in case he ever reads this blog.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress, can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” –M. Gandhi

“First they ignore you…then they laugh at you…then they fight you…then YOU WIN.” –M.K. Gandhi

coming up in organized chaos — a serious discussion of the prospects of kerry and hillary in ’08.

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Posted on Random Musings

ANDRE!

i would like to congratulate one of my favorite tennis players ever, andre agassi, on making the US Open semifinals. he and james blake played an outstanding match, and i still can’t figure out how andre keeps winning these matches. no matter how it turns out from here, this has been a great run for agassi. should he choose to retire after this tournament, it would be a great way to leave the game. i love his game. always have. here’s hoping that he has two more successful games.

read all about the great match here .

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Posted on Iraq

further evidence the UN is incompetent

further proof john kerry was wrong to suggest putting increased trust in the UN is contained in the following links. some are rather lengthy articles, but i think they are important to understand why the UN needs to be reformed.

Annan ready for oil-for-food flak — i’m sure he is.
The Oil-for-Food Scam: What Did Kofi Annan Know, and When Did He Know It? –his hands are far from clean. very long. very damning stuff in this report.
Exposé, At Last?— article from the author of the previous report, claudia rosett, posted at NRO. a condensed review of the important stuff.
UN veteran fired over oil scandal — kofi next?
A Miasma of Corruption:The United Nations at 50 — a very comprehensive analysis of needed reform from the cato institute
Russian UN diplomat charged with money laundering — nothing surprising here. eventually all of the UN will have their hands in a few cookie jars. as the second article shows, russia and france were enablers in oil-for-food…so they have a few other skeletons in the closet too.
UN asks Ukraine to leave Lebanon –financial misconduct by some of their peacekeepers

that should be enough support for my argument.

let’s keep our eyes on the ball here. we, as america, a powerful and influential voice at the UN, should push the UN for needed reforms. what i would like to see is more consistency in the application of standards for members of the human rights committee (i.e. no leaders that brutalize their people should be eligible for it), emphasis on common-sense alternatives to kyoto, a more defined role for peacekeepers and a harder line taken on rogue dictators.

i would also like kofi annan to spare us his pithy lectures about how america should run itself. tell ya what, kofi. once the UN can handle its own business and effectively threaten rogue elements in its membership, then maybe you will gain a shred of credibility with us. the failures of the UN have forced this unilateral response by the US to threats. why? because sanctions don’t work and neither do toothless resolutions.

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Posted on Baseball

ramblings about sports part II

the pro baseball season is winding down and itÂ’s going to be crazy down the stretch. I would like to see the Yankees miss the playoffs. I have a few other thoughts here.

  • now would be a good time for the mets to act like they are making a serious attempt to make the playoffs.
  • question for red sox fans: which would you rather have, a healthy schilling or last yearÂ’s world series championship? apparently you canÂ’t have both. I would also worry about that bullpen.
  • root against the Yankees. itÂ’s always the right thing to do –forcing their fans to endure suffering and embrace humility. losing games could work to achieve this. itÂ’s more difficult to hate steinbrenner when he donates a million bucks to Katrina relief.
  • more proof that great defense is superior to great offense in baseball – baseball tonight on espn and web gems. home runs weÂ’ve seen before. yawn. diving catches and sweet double plays never get old or boring.

by the way, if you donÂ’t follow baseball, football, or college basketball, you should be kicked out of the jingo-istic American cabal. loving sports is just as much a part of the American fabric as capitalism and should be respected in the same way. women are of course excluded from this requirement.

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Posted on College Football, Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes

ramblings about sports part I

it is time now to discuss the wonderful world of sports, starting with college football.

  • usc –they will beat everybody else. to the otherwise perfect matt leinart: the facial hair has got to go.
  • the university of michigan – humiliate and destroy them. may their opponents have great success.

during the football season, my allegiance belongs to the ohio state buckeyes. one can only marvel at the success of jim tressel in only a few years. we should have dumped john cooper and his apologist e. gordon gee a long time ago.

IÂ’m unsure about the QB situation there. I think Zwick looked good in the opener and deserves another start. itÂ’s going to be a tough game against texas on saturday, but a good chance to see how good ohio state could be this year. a win would move them past texas, but I am not comfortable predicting a victory in this game.

I would like to take this opportunity to rant against the geniuses at the networks keeping us from seeing interesting games without having to pay extra for the privilege. not all pure capitalists are good people.

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Posted on Hurricane Katrina, Random Musings

just a little comic relief courtesy of IMAO

How to identify a terrorist — very politically incorrect.
A Frank Guide to Homeland Security Alert Levels –same as above. disclaimer note: i do not nor will i ever advocate shooting communists or hippies, in case this link confuses anybody. i’ve never actually seen a hippie, although i find their philosophy amusing. all socialist/communist sympathizer arguments should be shot down though.

also going on in the universe:

World leaders offer sympathy, aid –among them the great British PM and U.S. best friend Tony Blair
Qatar offers $100m to relief fund — more updates on foreign offers of aid
Kuwait donates $500 million in oil products for Katrina — apparently not all of their leadership feels the same way as the guy quoted in a previous post.

america has come together in an awesome display of compassion and an incredible level of support for katrina victims and families. we are a country worth fighting for. what we have here is a society worthy of salvation and renewal. even in the midst of all this goodwill and offers of support for the U.S. there is still this belief by some that we deserve bad things happening to our country.

on their best day, the trendy european socialist sympathizers still struggle with healthcare, double digit unemployment rates, and “anti-social” behavior (crime, in other words). when they have figured all that out…then bring out the heavy stones for america’s leadership.

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Posted on George W. Bush, Hurricane Katrina, Iraq

i’ve had just about enough of cindy sheehan.

latest news: other things happened not related to katrina. chief justice william rehnquist died saturday, losing a tough battle with thyroid cancer. read about it here .

like everyone else, i was willing to give cindy sheehan a pass on almost all the crazy, messed up things she has said. she lost a son in iraq who’s not coming back. it must be absolutely devastating to lose a loved one. i can’t relate to that. i really don’t know the way the grieving process works in cases like this. i sympathize with her loss and wish only the best for the remaining family members.

that said, the fact that cindy sheehan is using hurricane katrina to get herself and her personal vendetta against the president more airtime is beyond inexcusable. it’s just wrong. like i’ve said and fellow conservatives have mentioned in their blogs, mistakes were probably made here. cindy sheehan hates president bush. we get it. for heaven’s sake, let’s hear all the information and get all of the facts before we put any heads on a pike!

read what she said on huffington post and marvel at the insanity of it. i applaud the fact that sheehan has been involved in the recovery efforts in new orleans. good for her. however, i cannot excuse her blatant attempt to politicize this tragedy for her own benefit. i disagree with those who say cindy sheehan has been swayed in her beliefs by moveon, michael moore, air america, et al. she believes everything she says without any external persuasion from any group out there.

Here’s a few choice comments.

“950 people in Iraq and how many thousands in the Gulf States died while the emperor strummed a guitar and knocked a golf ball around? ”

“…I really believe that George and his band of incompetent and dangerous thugs need to resign. It would be the only honorable and competent thing to do.”

cindy, please stop this nonsense. you’re hurting your cause and ticking off a lot of people who would normally support you. your efforts to help the good people of new orleans suggest that you are capable of looking at the big picture involved here. keep going in that direction, and don’t let your personal feelings about the president interfere with that process.

some may slam me for piling on cindy sheehan. i’m comfortable with that. i absolutely disagree with the venom in her comments and refuse to make any more excuses for her.

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Posted on George W. Bush, Hurricane Katrina, Moonbats

kanye west said WHAT?

will somebody please buy kanye west a clue? i really don’t know what all these bush haters will do when they don’t have our current president to kick around anymore. rev. al sharpton defended west’s remarks on msnbc to tucker carlson. tucker went somewhat ballistic on the reverend, and good for him. what did west say during the concert/telethon for katrina relief?

kanye west said that george bush doesn’t care about black people. he went into this rant about iraq and that our lack of a quick response to katrina was the result of our iraq policy. wow. of course, this is not a new allegation. it’s been all over the press. there will be plenty of time to pass out blame for the aftermath of katrina. but to say that bush doesn’t care about black people? there is no proof of this, and he makes a fool of himself by that allegation.

nbc and the red cross have both distanced themselves from this statement, as they should. read their statements on michelle malkin’s blog. in the re-broadcast on msnbc, it also appears that west’s remarks were edited.

it’s a good thing for celebrities, athletes, and musicians to use their considerable influence to assist in the katrina fundraising effort. however, we need to stop taking them seriously when they start ranting about politics. i’m not talking about shutting them up, although it might be tempting. i’m talking about tuning them out. listen to their music and watch their movies if you can’t help yourself. just don’t ever allow the vapid, self-absorbed, know-nothing airheads to influence how YOU think. from this vicious critique i exempt everyone at the concert except kanye west…

i just can’t bring myself to condemn the remarks made by new orleans mayor ray nagin. (warning — rough language) they are absolutely inflammatory, but they are produced as a result of frustration with the process. this is totally understandable. his whole city was destroyed. what the heck do you expect him to say? even the media is getting frustrated with the whole situation there. shep smith and geraldo rivera of fox news lost control on air with the ineffectiveness of the system. give them all a pass. they have a closer look at the suffering than we do.

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Posted on Hurricane Katrina

deplorable. evil. somewhat expected.

this is too evil for words, but not surprising considering the level of venom directed at the U.S. by the muslim-friendly communities in the mideast. this is surprising — it comes from a high-ranking kuwaiti official. i seem to remember some U.S. assistance to kuwait in the past. some thanks we get. sometimes i think this country would be better off leaving all these countries in the blundering hands of the UN and see how that works.

katrina–instrument of allah? (referenced by k-lo at NRO)

it would be just as deplorable if Christian religious leaders said similar things. the obvious point is the insensitivity of these remarks no matter who the source is. now we need to focus on recovery and rescue of those still in the middle of a very bad situation. throwing blame around doesn’t accelerate the process at all. shooting at rescue helicopters or police doesn’t either. i’m one of the lucky ones to never have any experience similar to the one faced by the victims of katrina’s wrath. so, no, i can’t relate to a crisis this massive.

what i do think is that taking food/water/medicine for necessary use is different from taking tv sets or stereos. if the looters can provide some necessities that are not available to people from the feds or local government, i guess i can make an excuse for it. it’s not the same thing as people stealing food from a store under normal circumstances, simply because there are legal channels to get that food and it’s not usually a medical emergency. looters who take stuff like electronics are criminals and opportunists and they should be harshly dealt with. i’m not quite sure if shooting them is a good idea though.

interesting debate going on at The Corner . check it out.

just wondering– are the talking heads at the tv networks, cable and otherwise, providing any assistance to the subjects of their compelling video footage? it’s worth finding out.

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