New Blog to Me

A Fearful Symmetry is chock full of conservative goodness.

Tips from Cavuto

Neil Cavuto, host of Fox News fiancial program Your World, gives Pres. Bush some tips on how to deal with Chirac at an upcoming meeting in Europe:

Tip 5: Read a newspaper. While Chirac's speaking, read a newspaper or set your cell phone to ring constantly.
Tip 8: Spit out their champagne. When they make a toast, spit out the champagne and shout, "This stuff tastes like ----". (You get the picture.)

Mount Reagan?

New Hampshire looks like it is about to name a mountain after the 40th President.

A Piece of Trivia

Speaking of black Senators, there have been only 4 in the whole of US history with 3 of them being Republicans:

1. Hiram Revels (R-MS) - first black Senator (1870-1871).
2. Blanche Kelso Bruce (R-MS) - first black Senator to served a complete term (1875-1881).
3. Edward Brooke (R-MA) - first popularly elected black Senator (1967-1979).
4. Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) - first black woman elected Senator and current US Presidential candidate (1993-1999).

Georiga 2004

Zell Miller, Georiga Senator and every Republican's favorite Democrat, is not running for re-election in 2004, so who will replace him? NRO contributor Deroy Murdock advocates Herman Cain, a staunch free-market social conservative Republican. And here's another thing about Cain: he's also black. Mr. Murdock gives this quote from Club for Growth President Steve Moore, "The Democrats don't have any blacks in the Senate. We, as Republicans, could. A black, free-market senator from the South would be rich with irony." Indeed it would.

Now There's a Shocker

The director general of Al-Jazeera has been dismissed from his job because of claims that he worked with Hussein's intelligence services goons. Well, at least he was fired.

via the Instaman

I have sneaking suspicion that Jonah isn't too fond of Rock the Vote. Neither am I for the reasons Goldbergs lists.

Muslim "Hate Crimes"

Michelle Malkin, beautiful yet deadly (to liberal idiocy, at least), pens a great article on the myth that Muslim "hate crimes" are on the upsurge. She blasts the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee's (ADC) recent report for being fairly shoddy in the least. Apparently, the ADC counts hoaxes, incidents that have nothing to do with the "victim's" religion, and times when somebody just looked at a Muslim wrong.

VDH

Rush's interview with Victor Davis Hanson for the Limbaugh Letter is available on-line, definitely worth a look-see.

Musician Praised the Prez

Bob Geldof, of Live Aid fame, states in a Guardian (UK) article:

"You'll think I'm off my trolley when I say this, but the Bush administration is the most radical - in a positive sense - in its approach to Africa since Kennedy," Geldof told the Guardian."

And he criticizes the EU for its lackluster performance in food aid to Africa. Very interesting...

Hilarious

Joe Lee III absolutely nails the buffoonery concerning a proposed change to the Ole Miss mascot.

Congressman Wuvs UN

Sam Farr (D-CA) has the UN flag flying outside his office.

"If the U.N. didn't exist, we'd be inventing it right now," Farr told the San Francisco Chronicle, calling the U.N. "the only way to build up the infrastructure around the globe for the human rights, labor, environmental conditions that are fair and equitable."

Yes, we all can sleep better at night knowing that Libya is heading the UN Human Rights Committee.

Belated Memorial Day

I wish to say "thank you" to all the service men and women who have defended this country to keep it free.

Ex-President Clinton too become a blogger? (scroll down to the last item). I guess he got jealous of Gart Hart. But a question: isn't Der Schlickmeister supposed to be working on his book?

If you are looking for something fisk-worthy material, read The Nation's "The Daily Outrage" Of course, anything in that Commie-loving publication is fisk-worthy.

The new Nissan plant in Canton, MS is set to open this Tuesday. The Clarion Ledger has a huge special section devoted to the new car factory.

Thomas

Here's an interesting profile of Bill Thomas, chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee.

Strauss

Peter Berkowitz has a good piece on the recent obsession of certain media outlets with the supposedly omnipotent influence of the philosopher Leo Strauss on Bush Administration officials:

Through the force of his ideas, we are told, this scholar and teacher is able, a generation and a half after his death, to command the respect and loyalty--and indeed, to compel the actions--of highly successful and well-placed individuals not only in politics but in the media and the academy.

Sorry for the multipost fisking, but as I have stated before the DSL I have isn't very generous in upload bandwidth.

Leach, Part VI

There are in the bill certain attractive features.  But on balance and on the whole, the case for it is thoroughly uncompelling.  It may be good politics, but it is dubious economics.

It's dubious economics to those that believe that the federal government knows how to better spend the money of the taxpayers than the taxpayers themselves.

Leach, Part V

This is not fair.  Indeed, it is unconscionable.  Wealth divisions in America will be accentuated by this tax approach and the burden of supporting government will be so shifted that, according to Warren Buffet, it will amount to class welfare for high income Americans. 

Class warfare rheotoric worthy of a Democrat. Look, Leach, with the extra money in the pockets of all income tax payers, those taxpayers can now invest and/or spend that money in the private sector, where jobs are created.

Leach, Part IV

For the past century the American consensus has been that our tax system should have graduation.  The well-to-do should pay a somewhat higher rate than the less well-to-do.  This tax cut reverses this consensus.  The middle class will pay more than the poor, but the rich will pay at a lower rate than the middle class and in some cases the working poor.

Oh no, we have violated the sacred consenus! Why should the higher earners (you know, the ones who create jobs in this country) be forced to pay more to Uncle Sam than other earners? How about all taxpayers pay the same percentage of their income or perhap we should have a national sales tax? That way, all earners contribute equally on a percentage basis. And again, I refer you to Rush Limbaugh who has the IRS numbers on what the higher earner current pay in comparison to the benighted poor.

Leach, Part III

On fairness grounds, the question is whether the $93,000 which will be saved by an individual with a million dollars of income is credible when the savings for a middle income carpenter is likely to be substantially less than 1 percent of this amount. While all tax cuts benefit those who pay taxes and it is generally appropriate that higher income individuals share in this circumstance, the approach the House is advancing today may be most regressive in American history.

.
Let's assume the reps numbers are correct and do a little math with them. One precent of $93,000 is $930; if the savings for that carpenter is "substantially less" that 1%, say $465, that's still a good chunk of change.

Leach, Part II

On appropriateness grounds, the question is whether the country can afford the $400 billion a year deficits over the next decade, $600 billion a year if Social Security is removed from the equation.

Gee, you might have to (gasp) cut spending! Besides, if y'all in Congress could have just maintained 2000 spending levels, there would be a surplus right now.

A Leach on Your Tax Dollars

As I noted below, Iowa 2nd District Representative Jim Leach was the only Republican to vote against the tax cut. On his website he was a brief explanation to why he was a problem with this bill:

Mr. Speaker, tax cut initiatives must meet two tests ? appropriateness and fairness.

I agree: this bill is appropriate in that it will help jump start a lack-a-daisal economy and fair in that it lets taxpayers to keep more of their money.
[continued above]

Here's the link for the text of the tax cut bill (called the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003).

Tax Cut

Today both house of Congress passed President Bush's tax cut. In the House of Representatives, the bill passed with a comfortable 231-200 margin. The vote there was fairly party line, but 7 Democrats (6 from the south and 1 from Utah thrown in for good favor) voted for it and a lone Republican, Iowa's Jim Leach cast his ballot against it (more on him later). The Senate was a lot closer passing 51-50 with VP Cheney's tie breaking vote. You can thank 2 members of the Quivering Chihuahua Republican Caucus, Olympia Snowe and Lincoln Chafee, and Mr. Maverick and conductor of the Straight Talk Express, John McCain for opposing the bill. You can genuinely thank Democrats Zell Miller of Georgia and Ben Nelson of Nebraska for voting in favor of you keeping more of your hard earned money.

The first picture of Earth and the Moon from Mars, taken by the Mars Global Surveyor probe.

via Drudge

In Lieu of Actual Content


You will be smothered under a rug. You're a little
anti-social, and may want to start gaining new
social skills by making prank phone calls.


What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
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A Few Things

Introducing the Politically Correct Periodic Table mousepad, brought to you by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Steve "Air" McNair, QB for the Tennessee Titans, was arrested for DUI early this morning.

President Bush has nominated Josh Bolten to replace outgoing Office of Management and Budget director Mitch Daniels.

Radio Free Vermont

The US House of Represenatives only socialist, Vermont independent Bernie Sanders, now has his own talk radio program. Oops! Did I say the only socialist? Let me correction myself: he's the US House of Representatives only admitted socialist.

Can we say "gerrymandering" boys and girls?

Barbour Brou-ha-ha, Part II

And of course Democrat Governor Ronnie Musgrove, running for re-election, issued a written statement:

"Haley's spent too much time in Washington. Folks here in Mississippi don't appreciate talk like that."

Well, actually according to the article, a good many people aren't all that upset. Could have Barbour used a better metaphor, yes. But, goodness gracious alive people, it's hardly something to get all riled about.

Barbour Brou-ha-ha

Republican candidate for Mississppi, Haley Barbour, sparked a small brushfire with a comment made a few days ago.

"Head Start is a godsend for Mississippi," Barbour told Sacred Heart Principal Laura Clark during a stop at the school Monday. "Some of those kids in it would be better off sitting up on a piano bench at a whorehouse than where they are now."

This Colonel Reb makeover reminds me of something Steven Godfrey wrote in the Daily Mississippian several months concerning rumors of certain members' of the administration push for dropping the "Rebels" name and going with a more PC name, (I'm paraphrasing here) "How about we just call ourselves the 'Rainbows'? After all, they are multicolor and are completely spineless."

Colonel Reb

There's some talk of making over the Ole Miss mascot, Colonel Reb. And from the following quote, it seems some school officials want to be rid of the colonel all together:

"It doesn't fit anything we do," Ole Miss athletics director Pete Boone said Monday. Colonel Reb is "an 18th-century person," and it's not logical to keep that mascot around representing Ole Miss sports teams, he said.

Revamping the look of Colonel Reb is one thing, but scraping him completely is uncalled for.

I agree with Chris, this is lame.

Speaking of Commencement Addresses...

...the one we had at OIe Miss last week was fairly decent. Former Mississippi Governor William Winter, whom Magnolia State liberals swoon over and declare a saint, orated a pretty much non-political speech. Though, he did make an unnecessary jab at talk radio saying that we shouldn't listen to the "irrational voices" that make up the medium and instead listen to rational voices in the community. Whatever. To be honest, I can't remember much else of the speech since I was focused on a.) how blasted humid it was there in the Grove and how the giant flowing black robe acted as a oven along with my dress clothes. b.) how to balance my ill-fitting cap to keep it from falling off my head.

Willie Speaks

Former President Bill Clinton gave the commencement address for historically black Tougaloo College, located in Mississippi. Appropriate, I guess, since he is the nation's first black President, at least according to author Toni Morrison.

Der Schlickmeister prattled on about he supports President Bush's job in fighting terror (a job that wouldn't have been needed to be done if only Bill had done his), but that we shouldn't ignore domestic issues like after school programs, and blah blah blah...

Things May Get Lively Soon

According to Newsday, Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor could be retiring next month. This would leave three positions to fill: a new Chief Justice selected among the remaining 7 and two new Associate ones. If you though the battle over circuit court nominees is rough in the Senate, expect full scale Armageddon if new Supreme Court justices are needed.

I warn you...

...not for the faint of heart.

Fleischer's Leaving

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer is resigning his post effective this July. How he has made it this far without inflicting severe bodily harm to Helen Thomas (or certain other press corps members, for that matter), I'll never know.

"Put the world on notice."

UPDATE: Plus, they have caffieinated soap (no you don't eat it).

Torture Music

The US military uses heavy metal and children's songs in interogations with captured Saddam latcheys. And guess who sings a few of those children's songs? He's purple; he's a dinosaur; His name ends in "arney"...

In my Web travels, I ran into this site that lists all sorts of web browsers that are out there. A fun site, but I have to point out this rather Yogi Berra-esque line:

"Alis Tango was especially designed for users who need to use non-English languages."

"The only hope they [the Democrats] have is to lower the voting age to six and nominate Spongebob Square Pants."--Dan Aykroyd as Andy Card on SNL.

via The Corner

Celebrity Sound-a-likes

Susan Estrich, former Dukakis campaign manager and Democratic talking head, pens a column that basically tells the Clintons to shut their traps and disappear, for the good of the Democratic Party.

I've seen Estrich on the cable news shows discussing her article, and, I declare, she sounds more and more like Carol Channing as the days go on.

Another Reason Not to Vote for Musgrove (cont.)

Now here's the part that interests me: Jean-Francois Boitton of the French embassy wrote a snippy letter to Owens a couple of weeks later. In it the surrender monkey wrote that he would "strongly discourage French firms from considering investing in a state where they are not welcome." He continued by saying that the governors of Maryland and Mississippi had recently given a warm welcome to French investors.

So, MS Gov. Ronnie Musgrove is cozy with the French, hmmm?

Anyway, read the rest of the article.

Another Reason Not to Vote for Musgrove

John J. Miller writes of a scuffle between Colorado governor Bill Owens and French diplomats and how it relates to the XYZ Affair. French consul general Jean-Luc Picard Subidue wrote a letter in March to Owens asking for a meeting. Owens not only said "no", but also stated that a meeting would be inappropriate due to France's recent opposition to the US's Iraq efforts.

[continued above]

@#$@ DSL

Due to the nature of DSL, which we have here at the house, uploading data is very slow compared to receiving data. And because of this, Blogger times out when I try to send a post of a healthy size. I'm going to have to break up my posts like I did for the last two ones.

Friday Five Continued

4. How do you have your eggs?
I don't eat eggs; can't stand 'em. This may have something to do with the fact that I partially grew up on an egg farm.

5. Who was the last person who cooked you a meal? How did it turn out?
My Dad cooked a roast last night, along with sliced potatoes and carrots. All of it was pretty good, especially the taters.

The Friday Five

1. What drinking water do you prefer -- tap, bottle, purifier, etc.?
I generally drink good ol' tap water. I can understand buying bottled water if you are going on a camping/hunting trip, or if you are going to be on the road all day; but I can't fathom any other reason to shell out money for bottled water.

2. What are your favorite flavor of chips?
Generally Doritos of any flavor. Regular ol' tater chips just don't did it for me any more for some reason. The lone exception is those salt and vinegar ones. Mmm Mmm good!

3. Of all the things you can cook, what dish do you like the most?
Sandwiches with cheddar cheese and ham, lots and lots of ham. Yes, my cooking skills are limited.
.

Possible SARS Cases in Memphis and North Mississippi

The Commerical Appeal reports that an Memphis man and a DeSoto County, MS (directly south of Memphis) man are currently quarantined to their homes on the suspicion that they have SARS. The two men had recently returned from trips to SARS hotspots Toronto and Hong Kong, respectively.

New Blog Alert

Check out Dustin Frelich's DUSTINet. It's pretty dang spiffy.

Quizzorama


Well, u-- um, can we come up and have a look?


What Monty Python Character are you?
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via Lee Ann

Snow in the Hot Delta Sun

U.S. Treasury Jack Snow visited Cleveland, MS to talk about President Bush's tax cut plan to the Delta Council, a business group.

There's no real point to this post; I just wanted to use the punny title.

Mississippi State Joke

There was a Mississippi State Bulldog who got tired of everyone making fun of him because he was so dumb, so one night he decided to memorize every capitol of every state. The next day when he was at work, some co-workers were making fun of him. He marched right up to them and said, "I resent being made fun of so I did something that no one would do. I memorized every capitol of every state." A co-worker did not believe him so the Bulldog said, "Try me." "OK," said the co-worker, "what is the capitol of Wyoming?" The Bulldog smiled and replied, "W!"

New Blog Name

Perhaps a new name for the blog is in order, considering that I'd be graduating Saturday. I'm open to any suggestions.

A Change of Heart

The head of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, state Representative Phillip West (D-Natchez), no longer opposes the appointment of Charles Pickering to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Pickering and his son, U.S. Representative Chip Pickering had met with the group in February. Most of the members had signed a petition opposing his nomination. What convinced West? Well, according to the article:

He veered from his group's position after that meeting, when the judge explained how he took heat for testifying against Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers in 1968.

"That struck home with me because I know that feeling," said West, a former county commissioner who has also been active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "I have been ostracized and shunned by both blacks and whites and characterized as a racist myself."

"Because I was always addressing the black and white issue, there was a perception of me that, evidently, I was doing it because I was anti-white," he said. "That's the basis for me being able to connect with him in that light, especially knowing the feeling of being shunned in his own community."

"Madonna thanks France for opposition to Iraq war"

The Material Girl gave a private performance for 200 people in Paris that was broadcast live over the Internet. During the performance, she thanked the Surrender Monkeys for their opposition to the liberation of Iraq and averred, "Here in France I feel at home." I'm sure she does, since France lacks an abundance of those pesty evangelical Christians, flinging their morality around and whatnot.

Free!

I finished my last exam this afternoon; last for this semester and last for my academic career. Graduation is Saturday morning after which I shall be a free man. Now, I'll have to deal with the real world which includes getting a job. Ugh. But, I'm praying and I know that God has a place where He wants me to be.

An Invitation

I've noticed on by referral logs that there is someone who visits on a regular basis using a house.gov (as in the U.S. House of Representatives) IP address. I think I have a good idea who this is, but can this person please e-mail me (or even post a comment) so I can confirm my suspicions?

Whew!

One exam down and two more to go on Thursday. Super Happy Bonus: I've finished my part of the documenation for a senior MIS project that my team mate (and good friend) and I have been working on for the last few weeks. I just hope our professor likes it enough to give it an "A."

Sorry for the lack of posting, but exams are about to start and I have been working on a major project for my MIS 419 class.

But in the mean time...

Staring contest! Go!

Ya know...

...there's not a whole lot on TV at 3:27 AM.

New York Fleecing

The New York state legislature is proposing a 7.5% surcharge on single residents earning more that $100,000 and one of 7.7% on incomes $500,000 and up. The legislature avers that the tax increases are absolutely necessary to restore money cut by the Evil Pataki from education and healthcare. Um, guys, did it ever occur to y'all that those people you plan to tax can simply move to where the state government is a little less tax hungry (can we say New Hampshire?)? And as a result y'all get zero taxes from 'em. Nil, zilch, nada.

Thankfully for Empire State taxpayers, Governor George Pataki though says he'll veto it.

The Prez



President Bush after landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln.