Whew!

The evil paper (9 1/2 pages %$#@! ) and test (easier than I thought) are now vanquished. Let the blogging parade begin!

Light or No Posting...

...until Wednesday after I finish my Poli-Sci essay and sales force management test. Sigh.

Happy Easter

Well, y'all, after my 1:00 class today I will boogie out of Oxford and head to my grandparents for Easter. Sadly for all 5 of my readers (Thanks Josh, Aakash, Tony, Lee Ann, and Kyle!*), this means no posting until Sunday evening at the earliest.

And I know that my posting has dropped off in recent days. This can be attributed to the collective effort of my professors to kill me with papers, tests, homeworks, etc. etc. But after next Wednesday, when I turn my Poli-Sci paper and take a major sales force management test, things will quiet down on the academic front for a little bit until (insert dramatic drum roll) Final Exams.

*I'm probably forgetting a few others. If I left you out, please holler in the comments.

Say It Ain't So.

Why, Viggo, why?

Another good 'un from Marshall Ramsey

Sounds Good To Me

U.S. Representative from Maryland, Republican Roscoe Bartlett is introducing a bill to move the last day to file for income taxes right before election day.

Tax Day

In honor of this glorious day, here's a few quotes to help soothe the soul.

"The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take a civil service exam." --Ronald Reagan

"Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but Democrats believe every day is April 15." --Ronald Reagan

"The less government we have the better." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The Lord's Prayer is 66 words, the Gettysburg Address is 286 words, and there are 1,322 words in the Declaration of Independence. Yet, government regulations on the sale of cabbage total 26,911 words." --David McIntosh

"Somehow liberals have been unable to acquire from birth what conservatives seem to be endowed with at birth: namely, a healthy skepticism of the powers of government to do good." --Daniel Patrick Moynihan

"Most Dangerous President Ever"

That's the title of the current issue of the lefty rag The American Prospect. The title article, written by Harold Meyerson, starts with this sentence that nobody thought they would read in a liberal publication:

"I miss Ronald Reagan"

He qualifies it with the typical left-wing complains about Reagan's policies, i.e. " Reagan was our first president to proclaim government the problem, to cut taxes massively on the rich...", however, Mr. Meyerson proclaims that in comparison to Reagan, Bush is the Truly Evil One®. Meyerson then goes on and on about how divisive Bush is and how he is making America less safe and how blah, blah, blah, etc.

If you what a pure distillation on the absolute loathing the Left has a Bush, read the whole thing.

If you are so inclined, check out my Guest Map at the bottom of the right links bar.

Scalia Coverage

The Daily Mississippian: "Scalia Defends His Legal Views"
Ole Miss Newsdesk: "Scalia Attacks 'Living Document' Interpretations of Constitution"
Clarion-Ledger: "Scalia: 'Living Constitution' could mean less freedom"

By the way, here's some information about Gregory Heyworth, the English professor that challenged Scalia's originalist view of the Constitution.

Kudos...

...to Howard Bashman at How Appealing for linking to my account of Scalia's speech (which now seems likes the political equivalent of a teenie bopper's account of a Justin Timberlake concert). A reader of How Appealing has his own take of the lecture.

UPDATE: Chris Lawrence is kind in providing a link too. Unfortunately he wan't able to attend since he has been rather sick for the last few days. So head on over to his site and wish him a speedy recovery.

How Sweet It Is



US Marines and local Iraqs tore down statue of the Fearless Leader in central Baghdad.

via San Diego Union-Tribune

"Kurds Capture Kirkuk"

Say that five times fast.

Wasn't "Kirkuk" what Captain Kirk called himself after he lost his memory on the planet inhabited by a tribe of Indians?

Ooops, it's "Kirok"

Excuse Me?

From News.co.au

Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia - three of Washington's closet Arab allies - today called for Iraq's future government to be chosen by the Iraqis as US forces captured Baghdad.

In almost identical words, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Jordan's Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said they wanted to deal with a leadership chosen by the Iraqi people alone.

"The Iraqi people must decide the future of Iraq and choose their own leadership at this time. No one else can do that. This is Jordan's firm position," Moasher said

Two monarchies and an autocracy are saying that the people of Iraq should choose their own leader. Right.....

via WorldNetDaily

Indescribable Glee

Guess who has Antonin Scalia's autograph? Guess who got to shake Antonin Scalia's hand? ME! ME! ME! Excuse me while I do the Dance of Joy!

Okay, finished dancing (for now). I arrived at Fulton Chapel around thirty minutes before the speech and the seats were already filling up fast. By 4:00 the chapel was absolutely packed with many college students, faculty, and others who wished to see the Supreme Court Justice. After an brief introduction by a law school professor, Mr. Scalia orated on constitutional interpretation, advocating an originalist position. Justice Scalia more than lived up to his reputation of sardonic wit which was specially on display during the Q & A. The first questioner asked something about the constitutionality of faith-based intitiatives (I couldn't really hear him) to which Scalia responded, "Considering that that issue may come before the Court, it's probably best I don't answer that." Waits a beat and smiles..."I said I would take questions; I didn't say I would answer them." Another was posed by none other that Mississippi's own anti-Zionist "White Country Rebel," Jim Giles. At least I'm pretty sure that was him; he didn't applaud or stand at all. He shouted a rant for a minute about how the University ban Confederate flags on sticks in the football stadium is a violation of the freedom of speech. The justice simply responded that he had other issues to deal with and wasn't all that familiar with the flag ban. Mr. Giles subsequently stormed out.

Then there was the English teacher up on the balcony. He assailed Scalia's view of originial intent in deciding the constitutionality of a manner by saying that the English language has changed since the Bill of Rights were created. And due to that change, one could use a more "living document" approach to the Constitution, he argued. After all, he has to explain the language of Shakespeare and of Chaucer to his students, according to the professor, by using modern day equivilants that aren't exactly accruate. "So, words have no meaning?" quipped Scalia and then pummelled the professor on the absolute nonsense of that view. There were a few more questions, but they were fairly tame and I can't rightly remember them fully.

The crowd was very respectful for the most part; a stark contrast to the treatment many conservative speakers receive on other college campuses. Justice Scalia could actually speak without Leftists shouting over him.

A little over a half of a dozen of NOW protestors, including Ole Miss's resident Leftist homosexual, Chris Kelly, stood in front of the chapel with the standard issue "Keep Abortion Legal" signs. I don't think that any of them bothered to actually listen to the speech of the man they were protesting. But they pretty much behaved themselves.

I ran back to my dorm room after the Q & A to get a pen and immediately I ran back to the Croft Institute building where a reception was held. There was literally a throng of people orbiting around Justice Scalia. Many shook hands, chatted briefly, and/or had their pictures taken with "Nino." And there I was, face to face with one of America's leading legal minds. I shook his hand and managed to stutter out a request for him to autograph my program for the lecture which he graciously did. And I have been on Cloud Nine ever since. I mean I shook the hand of Antonin Scalia! Antonin FREAKING Scalia!

Anyway, back to the Dance of Joy.

Here Comes Da Judge

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will give a lecture here at Ole Miss tomorrow about constitutional interpretation. Guess who's going. (Pointing my thumb to myself) This guy!

I've read a few of the comments posted at the bottom of the article and there seems like a few pro-abortion people are going to protest in front of Fulton Chapel, the locale of the speech. That should be interesting if it happens...

Kudos

Many thanks to Buck Hicks for syndicating this site over at his place, Liberty First.

RSS Feed

FYI: Yesterday, I signed up to make my blog provide a RSS Feed. So, if you are so inclined, scroll down the link bar on the right and click on the "XML" button to get the URL to add to your RSS reader or just simply copy and paste this URL:

http://www.voidstar.com/rssify.php?url=http://www.patrickcarver.blogspot.com

If you have no clue as to what I am talking about, click here.

Sorry for the lack of posting, I went home this week-end which is a 4.5 - 5 hour drive away and I was up late last night finishing a take-home test for politicial science. As you can tell, I'm still recuperating.

Priorities

The ACLU is urging the Florida Department of Health to stop publishing pamplets about AIDS containing Bible verses.

The pamphlets, with "Florida Department of Health" printed on the cover along with the agency's logo, are titled "A Christian Response to AIDS" and use Biblical passages to urge compassion toward people with AIDS and the HIV virus.

The brochure asks: "How would Jesus respond to a person with HIV or AIDS?" and promises that "Jesus is our Hope." It quotes several Bible passages throughout

It seems that the ACLU has some time off from defending pedophiles

Homegrown Idiotarians

I mentioned a few days ago this announcment opposing the war made by the Green Party of Mississippi which I will know fisk with no mercy.

The Green Party of Mississippi reaffirms its opposition to war on Iraq, first presented in a statement issued in September 2002. This war is immoral because Iraq did not attack the U.S.; nor did it pose a credible threat to do so. This negates any justification for a preemptive war. The Green Party, in keeping with international law and the U.N. charter, condemns the very notion of preemptive war as a crime against peace.

So basically, we should just wait until Saddam develops weapons of mass destructive, finds effective ways to transport them, and finally unleashes them on innocent civilians to act.
"No credible threat"? I guess he's invested millions of dollars into chemical/biological/nuclear weapons research for nothing.

We oppose the war because it is a criminal offense for the U.S. to attack Iraq, kill Iraqis, and destroy their country.

That's right, the evil US Government is just out to quench the bloodlust of the evil neoconservatives cabal who really run things. Don't y'all think that Saddam has destroyed Iraq with his years of misrule?

We condemn the Bush administration because it is forcing our military personnel to follow orders that require them to commit crimes against peace.

Now that's rich, "crimes against peace"! If the members of our military are against fighting, then they can resign.

War begets animosity and engenders hatred that lasts for generations. It is a sad day for America when our president makes war against all the better advice of world leaders, people around the globe, and millions of Americans.

Ahh, the good ol' "the rest of the world hates us and it's all President Bush's fault because the rest of the world can't be wrong" line.
Actually over forty world leaders support our war in Iraq, but I guess they don't count, right? As for the "millions of Americans" opposed to the war, there are many millions more that are for it (around 70% of all Americans).

We condemn the hypocrisy and lies of the Bush administration. The U.S. forbids Turkey to move troops into Kurdish northern Iraq on a small scale, while the U.S. invades on a massive scale.

Now that's pure 180-proof idiotarian "thinking" staring back at 'cha. Let me try to explain the situation: The Turks and the Kurds are not particularly fond of each other to say the least. If the Turkish Army goes into Northern Iraq (under the pretext of protecting Turkey's borders from Kurdish terrorists, most likely), there's a strong chance that the Kurds are going to defend themselves through force. And the US doesn't really want to have to deal with that problem once it starts. So, the best solution is to keep the Turks out.
The US isn't invading Iraq, they are there to remove the government of Hussein. There aren't any plans to make Iraq a US territory.

No weapons of mass destruction are in evidence except those used by the U.S. We condemn the bombing of cities and the killing of civilians in the name of democracy.

Coalition forces have been gone out of their way to avoid civilian casualties; they have been targeting military structures.

We condemn the foreclosing of dissent by a propaganda machine that tries to convince Americans that the only permissible reaction, now that the U.S. has started a war, is to support it.

"A propaganda machine"? And what composes this evil machine oppressing such noble dissenters such as y'all?

We declare that all Americans of conscience have the right to oppose their government's actions, and we intend to continue that opposition until war ends. In the best traditions of democracy, anti-war protesters are willing to stand in the public eye, defend their views, and engage in debate.

If you want to be fools, go for it. As long has y'all keep it peaceful and the like, there shouldn't be a problem. But, ya know, y'all might be better served by putting the "Bush=Hitler" sign away. They don't exactly persuade anyone, now do they?

The Green Party declares its support for the men and women who wear the uniform of the USA. We proclaim that the best way to support them is to bring them home. We do not want them to be killed or wounded or traumatized by war. We do not want them to suffer horrors or inflict them on others. We support the troops when we call for the ending of this unjustifiable, illegal war now.

Nobody wants our troops to be hurt or killed (except for the wackos on the far Left). I support our troops in the job they are doing so ably and bravely.
From the sound of this paragraph, you would think that the US government is shoving guns into the hands of kindergarteners and shipping them to Iraq without their blankies. The armed forces are composed of men and women who have volunteered to serve their country in times of war. Many of them are going to see things that they will soon not forget. Some are going to have a hard time adjusting to life after they get back home. Yet, when their job is done, the people of Iraq will be free and will no longer have to fear the brutality of the Butcher of Baghdad. The Iraqis will no longer be under an autocrat that believes that they and their country exists for his amusement.
I wish that Saddam Hussein and his goons would just evaporate into the ether. But you know what? They aren't just going to just disappear; force needs to be used to lance the boil on humanity that is the Hussein regime. And I proudly salute the troops who are getting that job done now.

We condemn the war because it will divert vital tax revenues from domestic needs.

Socialist Reason to Oppose Any War #7: The precious taxpayer funds are being used to carry out an actual Constitutional function of the federal government (national defense) and not to the bloated programs (that have dubious constitutional authorization) near and dear to socialist heart.

The yearly budget for the State of Mississippi, which supports public schools and universities, health services and road building, the legislature, judiciary, and governor's office, amounts to 3.5 billion dollars per year. This amount is being wasted in a few days of war in Iraq. Americans gain nothing from this, while our government earns fear and hatred from most of the world's people. The taxpayers of Mississippi should not be asked to bear this war's burden. Nor should any American taxpayer.

We rid ourselves and the world of a maniac dictator who was developing weapons of mass destruction; we ensure that a vital piece of the world's oil reserves aren't under the control of a despot; we are helping to put a more democratic government in a region severely lacking any. Discounting those three things, then yeah, we gain nothing from this.
And since when is the Green Party worried about wasting government money?

The Green Party of Mississippi, following its key value of non-violence, holds that every attempt should be made to resolve conflicts without violence.

Every attempt was made, but Saddam and his goons weren't in any rush to disarm themselves of their weapons of mass destruction, so force has been applied to remove them and the regime responsible for producing them.

The Bush administration failed to accommodate dissent and was deaf to every proposed compromise, so there is no reason to support and every reason to oppose this violent act of war

.
Umm, didn't President Bush try to work with the UN for around a @#$@ YEAR on dealing with Iraq's chemical/biological/nuclear weapons programs?

We condemn it and call for the US to return to respect for the rule of law in international affairs, rather than becoming a tyrant in the cause of ending tyranny.

Did the Green Party of Mississippi issue a statement within the last year calling for Hussein's regime to respect "the rule of law in international affairs" or even to respect the basic human rights of the Iraqi people? I think we all know the answer to that?

The Green Party of Mississippi dedicates itself to the cause of peace with justice, for the people of Mississippi, the USA, and the world.

Well, isn't that nice? I'm sure that's of comfort to the average Iraqi leaving under Saddam's iron fist.

Sweetness

US military forces have captured Saddam Hussein International Airport and have renamed it Baghdad International.

Fisking, Brandeis-style

Joshua over at Jawsblog fisks the livin' tarnation out of a letter to the editor in his "An April-Madness Fisking." I would just directing link to the post, but Blogger is screwy with his archives right now. Bad, Blogger, bad!

Lefties on Parade

The ever indispensable FrontPage Magazine has a small but revealing gallery of pictures of various anti-war anti-American Leftist in action.

"Which One is the Rhodes Scholar?"

Another funny picture via WorldNetDaily.

If you haven't read Jay Nordlinger's Impromptus column at NRO, then you are really missing out.

Surprise, Surprise

The Green Party of Mississippi, all five members of it, is opposed to the war in Iraq

UPDATE: Be prepared for a fisking of this by moi.

Disgusting

French vandals have sprayed vile grafitti onto a British war cemetery in northern France. Among the erudite slogans on the monument were "Rosbeefs (British) go home," "Saddam Hussein will win and spill your blood," and "Death to Yankees." That last one irritates me the most since I hate it when foreigners refer to all Americans as Yankees.

The French Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, has rightly denounced this deplorable act of disrespect. After all, this is a cemetery filled with around 11,000 British troops who died to help keep France free. Because of those soldiers' sacrifice, the punks that defiled their grave are speaking French today. Have a beef (or a rosbeef) with the USA and the UK? Fine, protest, write letters, post flyers, do whatever. But, don't dare desecrate the graves of men who were more courageous that you'll ever be.

"Victory is at Hand"

With coalition troops now 19 miles or so from Baghdad, I think that's a pretty true statement.

But wait! Saddam or who ever is running the thuggish regime right now issued that statement declaring impending victory.

From the Pulpit

Bennie Thompson, Democrat representing the 2nd Congressional District of Mississippi, aimed a few jabs at President Bush while speaking to church congregation in Clarksdale, MS, last Sunday.

I can't really second-guess Bush, but in all honesty, I'm not sure he is making the right decision. We have a president who really only goes to church when he's in trouble. Otherwise, he goes to Camp David. And I wonder if we are negotiating our grandchildren's futures for more oil.

From what I have read about President Bush, he is quite a frequent church attender and even holds daily voluntary Bible studies at the White House. If Mr. Thompson had made this same remark about 5 years ago about having a president going to church only during times of trouble, it would have been pretty accurate. After all, didn't we see a great deal of Clinton going to church and holding a Bible during impeachment?

As for the "grandchildren's futures for more oil" comment, well, it's the typical Leftist numbskullery. The Evil Oil Companies would have commanded the Bush Administration to lobby to end UN sanctions on Iraq so that they could easily buy all the Iraqi oil their cold, black hearts desired if the oil was all that we were interested in. No need for a war.

via Magnolia Report

Pardonnez moi, Monsieur...

But would you, like to buy a used French clock?

via WorldNetDaily

Some Friend

According to a poll featured in the French newspaperLe Monde, only a third of the French people think of themselves as on our side, with another third wishing for the Butcher of Baghdad to prevail, with a final third too busy chomping down on escargot and watching Jerry Lewis movies.

April Fools, Mississippi Style

The Magnolia Report has some good fake headlines, especially this one:

Iraqi Republican Guard force discovered in Kemper County, surrenders to local turkey hunters

Beware of the squirrels...

via The Corner

"Aust will win post-war contracts: Downer"

That's the headline of an article on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's web site. I would think that Australia winning post-war contracts in Iraq would be an "upper" not a downer.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says Australian companies will get a share of the contracts to help rebuild Iraq after the war.

Oh. Never mind.

Enter the Derb

How many pundits can say they were in a Bruce Lee movie? John Derbyshire of National Review fame can. And he has the clips to prove it.

In Lieu of Actual Commentary


Republican - You believe that the free market will
take care of most things, but that the
government should be there with moderate
taxation to provide for national defense and
enforcing morality. Your historical role model
is Ronald Reagan.


Which political sterotype are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Hotty Toddy!



This is from SuperTalk Mississippi's webpage, but they don't know who the fella is in the picture.

For those uncultured Philistines out there, that's the Ole Miss mascot, Colonel Reb.

Yet Another Quiz


Happy-Go-Lucky. You are a happy person and you
don't let your emotions get to you. You see
everything that's not in a positive light as
not worth messing with and deal with emotions
as they come. You are usually very happy and
probably experience many emotional highs. Enjoy
life.


How Emotional Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

R.I.P.

Former Senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, has passed away today at age 76 due to a ruptured appendix. Though I disagreed with many of his policy stances, he was one of the few decent Democrats around on the national stage.

Tony at "I Am Always Right" posts this hilarious picture.

An Exile Iraqi Speaks

Here's an interesting story of an Iraqi who was involved with Saddam's nuke program:

Gazi George is certain that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction, because he used to be one of the people hiding them.
Two decades ago, while he was employed by the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission, George says he hid 39 rods of enriched uranium -- enough to build two nuclear bombs -- in a hastily converted swimming pool near the grounds of the Osirak nuclear power plants at Tuweitha.

The article details how Hussein fooled international inspectators who surveyed the destroyed Osirak nuclear reactor and the horrific uses of radiation against prisoners. Kind of puts a dent into the whole "Bush = Hitler" chant of the leftist antiwar crowd, doesn't it?

No

No, no, no, no, no, NO. Whoever thought up of this idea should be ashamed of himself.

Tin-foil Hat Alert

Richard Cummings of the paleolibertarian LewRockwell.com starts his column with a joke about Saddam finding a genie in a lamp, after which he says:

If I could get my hands on one of those lamps, my first wish to the genie would be for the guys at The National Review to come clean about their motives for denouncing Lew Rockwell and those whose writing appear on LRC as un-American. If they did, everything would come crashing down around them and the hoax would be over. Because The National Review, like Saddam Hussein, is not what it appears to be.

NR's motives? Maybe principled disargeement with the paleoconservatives/paleolibertarians? Naw...according to Mr. Cummings it's obvious that they are CIA stooges.

Moore Drivel

Michael Moore while accepting his Oscar for Best Documentary (cringe) went off into an anti-Bush screed:

"We live in a time in which we have fictitious election results that elect fictitious presidents. We live in a time when we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. ... We are against this war Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush! Any time you got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, your time is up." [I'm using Rod Dreher's "transcript"]

One thing that did surprise me is that while there was plenty applause for the remark (Martin Scorsese got up and clapped rather quickly, I noticed), there was a great deal of rather loud boos. Also, Steve Martin did crack a good joke afterwards about how the Teamsters are helping Moore in the trunk of his limo.

And, oh yeah, Bowling for Columbine isn't a documentary.

US Troops Capture Chemical Plant
From the Jerusalem Post:

About 30 Iraqi troops, including a general, surrendered today to US forces of the 3rd Infantry Division as they overtook huge installation apparently used to produce chemical weapons in An Najaf, some 250 kilometers south of Baghdad.

It wasn't immediately clear exactly which chemicals were being produced here, but clearly the Iraqis tried to camouflage the facility so it could not be photographed aerially, by swathing it in sand-cast walls to make it look like the surrounding desert.

<sarcasm>I'm sure that UN inspectators would have found this facility if they just had more time.</sarcasm>

A Great Song

Clint Black's "I Raq and Roll"

The Tyranny of Saddam

Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO's The Corner points out this passage from a story from UPI:

A group of American anti-war demonstrators who came to Iraq with Japanese human shield volunteers made it across the [Jordan] border today with 14 hours of uncensored video, all shot without Iraqi government minders present. Kenneth Joseph, a young American pastor with the Assyrian Church of the East, told UPI the trip "had shocked me back to reality." Some of the Iraqis he interviewed on camera "told me they would commit suicide if American bombing didn't start. They were willing to see their homes demolished to gain their freedom from Saddam's bloody tyranny. They convinced me that Saddam was a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler. He and his sons are sick sadists. Their tales of slow torture and killing made me ill, such as people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so they could hear their screams as bodies got chewed up from foot to head."

Hopefully, he'll now be able to talk some sense (if that's possible) in his friends in the anti-war movement.

Mississippi Report has some pictures from a rally supporting US troops. Incidentally, I'm related, albeit somewhat distantly, to Democratic state Senator Gloria Williamson showed helping hold up a "We [Heart] Our U.S. Troops" sign.

Click here for a current list of nations backing the US operations in Iraq. Current count is 46 nations

Free of Speech

Jason Steffens over at Antioch Road highlights this point made by Eugene Volokh about the whole "Scalia Banning Media From Speech" scuffle.

Mississippi More Than Pulls Its Weight

Mississippi has sent a disproportionate number of national guardsmen to serve in Iraq.

Right now, the state's Guard and reserve troops are being called up at more than double the national rate. More than 4,000 have been called so far.

About 3 percent of the guardsmen mobilized for war with Iraq are Mississippians, though the state has 1 percent of the U.S. population.

However, there is one misled pastor:

Other areas, including North and South Dakota, Delaware and Washington, D.C., also have given more than their share to the mobilization. Hawaii, New York and Michigan are among those bearing proportionately far less of the burden.
"I think it's unfair Mississippi has to contribute more than other states," said the Rev. James Cameron, pastor of Greater Mount Calvary Baptist Church.
Over the past year, Cameron has watched empty spots appear in his Jackson congregation as choir members and youth group leaders became soldiers.
"What really bothers me is to know that this is just one church, and there are more churches all over facing the same thing," he said. "Have they got a personal grudge against Mississippi?"

No, there isn't a grudge, pastor. It's just that Mississippians have volunteered more in relation to it's population. This is a good thing.

And New York and Michigan, pick up the slack, you bunch of Yankees. As for the Hawaiians, I can't say I blame them for wanting to stay there.

Sheesh

There's a female reporter at the White House press briefing that is just obsessing on whether the President has watched the bombing footage of Baghdad. "How will he know of the impact of the bombs?" she asked press secretary Ari Fleischer. To which he quipped, "The President doesn't need to watch to know of the impact of war."

Uh-oh

Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough relay information from US intelligence officials that Iraqi artillery probably have shells capable of carrying chemical and biological agents.

via Drudge

I Hope This Is True

According to the Drudge Report, there are eyewitness reports claiming that Saddam Hussein was injured during the initial bombing of Baghdad and that he had to be removed on a gurney with an oxygen mask.

B-52's Taking Off From UK

I guess they are going to Iraq to sing "Love Shack" repeatedly to drive the Iraqi military to surrender.

Canadian Provinces

To take a break from the war for a moment, here's some Canadian provincial and territorial slogans:

Prince Edward Island: Where potatoes can vote.

Newfoundland: Nothing but thousands of drunk unemployed cod fishermen

Nova Scotia: Too pretentious to be called "New Scotland"

New Brunswick: Where at the extra Newfoundland drunk unemployed cod fishermen go.

Quebec: Like France, but with more lumberjacks and maple syrup.

Ontario: Other provinces? You mean there are other provinces?

Manitoba: Right smack in the middle of the nuthouse that IS Canada.

Saskatchewan: Yeah, we can't spell our name either.

Alberta: Oil: tastes great, less filling.

British Columbia: Home of the finest weed in Canada.

Yukon Territory: Where gold digging is a proud profession.

Northwest Territories: Unimaginative name, unimaginative land

Nunavut: No, we don't all live in igloos.

Look, Mama, I'm in the Paper!

Yours truly is in today's Daily Mississippian, quoted in an article on student reaction to the war in Iraq. Notice that I am a master of brevity.

The Coalition of the Willing

For thoses of you keeping score at home, the list of countries supporting us in our "unilateral" action consists of:

Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.

Yet Another Test

I taste like Bread. I am a staple in almost everyone's diet. Friends like me are a complement to any other friends I get on with almost everyone, remaining mostly in the background, but providing substance when it would otherwise be lacking. What Flavour Are You?

via Lee Ann

On A Completely Non-War Related Note

If you are looking for a new web browser, try out Opera.

From the Jackson, MS Clarion-Ledger

We Can Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Time

1000 troops in Afghanistan have launched a raid in search of al-Qaeda bad guys. So Iraq is a distraction from the pursuit against the al-Qaeda terror network, eh?

Fisking Time!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Fisking (meaning an item by item take down of an opinion column or other pieces of writing.) But John Waterman, writing in Tuesday’s Daily Mississippian, has provoked me into correcting some of his ideas. [His words in italics]

This is not the way the world should be.

In any sane world, 18-year-old kids would not be yanked out of college to go take part in a war started by a president they weren't old enough to elect.
In a sane world, they would be enjoying their first real taste of independence, struggling through early classes, and drinking loads of cheap beer.

Instead, many of them are being forced to pack two pairs of civilian clothes and ship off to the Persian Gulf.
Sound melodramatic? It happened to my cousin last week. I was at her going away party. She smiled, and she was brave; and when my grandmother insisted on taking endless family pictures, she started to cry.

Well, I’m glad that some members of his family have at least some sense about them. I proudly salute his cousin’s service to our country. But I do think it is unfair that she was drafted. Oh, hold on a second…that’s right! There is no draft anymore; therefore, I can safely deduce that she volunteered for duty.

That's what CNN's "Showdown: Iraq" has come to.

There’s your problem! A little dose of Fox News Channel will help immensely.

Saddam Hussein is a terrible man who does terrible things. But he is not a threat to America. Nearly every aspect of his power is dedicated to keeping his people oppressed. Linking him to Al-Quaeda is tantamount to accusing North Korea of starting the Vietnam War.

Check your facts, Mr. Waterman. I suggest that you check out Rush Limbaugh’s Essential Stack of Saddam Stuff which provides a wealth of information including a link to this article from the UK Guardian, hardly a hawkish conservative publication:

His friends call him Abu Amin, 'the father of honesty'. At 43, he is one of Iraq's most highly decorated intelligence officers: a special forces veteran who organised killings behind Iranian lines during the first Gulf war, who then went on to a senior post in the unit known as 'M8' - the department for 'special operations', such as sabotage, terrorism and murder. This is the man, Colonel Muhammed Khalil Ibrahim al-Ani, whom Mohamed Atta flew halfway across the world to meet in Prague last April, five months before piloting his hijacked aircraft into the World Trade Centre.

Evidence is mounting that this meeting was not an isolated event. The Observer has learnt that Atta's talks with al-Ani were only one of several apparent links between Iraq, the 11 September hijackers and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Senior US intelligence sources say the CIA has 'credible information' that in the spring of this year, at least two other members of the hijacking team also met known Iraqi intelligence agents outside the United States. They are believed to be Atta's closest associates and co-leaders, Marwan al-Shehri and Ziad Jarrah, the other two members of the 'German cell ' who lived with Atta in Hamburg in the late 1990s.

And the politicians who advocate military action for the sake of the Iraqi people are the same ones who levied sanctions that kill thousands of Iraqis every year, most of them being children.

Again, this is a false argument. Robert Stewart, a former Army intelligence officer, wrote in December 2001 at NRO about myths of the effects of sanctions. He states that the numbers of those who died because the sanctions are based on numbers provided by Iraq.

The Food and Agricultural Organization study, for example, contains an estimate by the Iraqi Ministry of Health that 109,000 people died annually due to sanctions, though the ministry admitted it had no objective method to confirm this figure.

In 1995, the UN proposed to Iraq a plan that will allow it to sell $2 billion in oil to be used only for food and medicine for the Iraqi population.

Saddam Hussein rejected the (rather generous) proposal as an imposition on Iraqi sovereignty, preferring instead to press for a complete removal of sanctions — despite his failure to comply with the U.N. plan he had agreed to follow.

A master of propaganda, Hussein has many convinced that were it not for the sanctions, his people would be living in health and prosperity. He has given a perverse twist to Potemkin Village tours, showing journalists and sympathizers the "effects" of sanctions. But even while his people starve, Hussein and his inner circle are getting the best food, housing, and medical care available. Make no mistake: Resources are available in Iraq.

In fact, Kurds protected by the no-fly zone have contravened Hussein's public-relations efforts by actually using the oil money for food and medicine, rather than new altars to the Iraqi leader.

So the only one to blame for the misery of the Iraqi people is Saddam Hussien.

The diplomatic minefield that has brought us to this point has been largely navigated by people like Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, aging relics from the cold war who wish to compensate for the fact that they never got to nuke Moscow.

Forget preventing Saddam from obtaining a method to deploy his weapons of mass destruction. Forget destroying the chemical, biological, and possibly nuclear weapons under the Butcher of Baghdad’s Forget desiring to free the Iraqis from the boot heel of Hussein’s tyranny. Rumsfeld and Cheney just yearn to compensate for the missed chance to blow the Russkies to kingdom come; it’s just that simple.

What is amazing to me is Mr. Waterman’s ability to attribute the actions of this administration to the absolute worst motives he can imagine.

The show is being run by George W. Bush, whose third-rate Gary Cooper act has put our country in a very dangerous place.

At least he didn’t say “acting like a cowboy.” Anyway, perhaps it was Iraq developing weapons for mass murder that he could use to blackmail the Civilized World that has put us in a hard place. Should we instead just pat Saddam on the head and say “nice doggie”?

We have a gung-ho President who is threatening to rip apart the United Nations by his actions.

The United Nations has contributed quite nicely to its own demise by its own inaction and unwillingness to curb the threat of Hussein over the last dozen years. And remember this is the same organization that allows Libya to sit as the head of the UN’s human right’s commission.

He is backed by a cabinet that includes people neck-deep in the most shameful aspects of American foreign policy since Vietnam.

Shameful? Please re-read my “Forget…” passage above.

American pride is not worth the lives of American children.

Pride has nothing to do with this. The goal is to ensure that Saddam Hussein will cease to be a threat to the US (and the rest of the world for that matter) and the citizens of Iraq.
Those who are serving in the armed forces aren’t children; young, yes; but not children. They are brave men and women protecting our freedom and security.

I know few people who support this war. The ones that do speak in favor of it do so with the grim determination of those who will never set foot on a battlefield.

Sorta reminds me of the line in Bernard Goldberg’s book Bias on how a New York columnist was baffled that Richard Nixon won the 1972 election in a landslide because she didn’t know of anyone who voted for him. As for the other remark about those who support that speak "with the grim determination of those who will never set foot on a battlefield", i.e. chicken hawks, I'll let Jonah Goldberg make my argument:

The "chicken hawk" argument is a fine debating point as far as it goes, but as a matter of substance it's pretty dumb. If taken literally, only those who've served in uniform can ever speak authoritatively about foreign policy, which is not exactly what the founders had in mind when they devised civilian control of the armed forces. Just as advocating tough anti-crime policies puts more policemen in harm's way, I see no reason why I should be soft on crime because I've never been a cop
.
Nevertheless, not a day goes by where I don't receive an e-mail saying something to the effect of "What do you have to say to the brave men and women risking their lives for a war you wanted? This is the easiest answer of them all. To the brave men and women who've voluntarily decided to defend the United States of America and risk their lives in the process, I say in all sincerity: Thank you, you make me proud and I am grateful. Thank you, a thousand times, thank you.

The politicians who start this war will be able to sit back and watch people like my cousin put in harm's way on CNN every night.

First of all, I don’t think Bush and company watch CNN, I think they like their news fair and balanced if you catch my drift. Secondly and more importantly, the President and the cabinet have spent months agonizing over the decision to put our troops in harm’s way. Do you think Bush woke up one morning with a hankering to attack Iraq? But that’s right, Bush and his band of war-hungry advisers who wish bathe in the blood of Iraqi children want to invade a country for their entertainment.

This war does not have to happen. Even though bills like the Patriot Act have started a downward spiral, this is still a democracy. It is not, as George W. Bush called it in a recent speech, "his government."

Well, as I write this, this war is a-happenin'

You are still Americans.

Thanks to the sacrifice of thousands in the military over the years.

You have a say in what this country does.

Start acting like it.

Put your politics aside and think of what this war could mean for the people who will have to fight it. Our military does not decide when it gets to go to war.

Isn’t that the way it should be, with the military under civilian control?

Our soldiers deserve better than to be at the whim of a reckless and mean-spirited government.

Ah, Republicans are running the executive branch and they are nothing but reckless and mean-spirited. This build up for the war has been going on for several months now, despite the Left’s rhetoric that we are “rushing to war.” If any serviceman wished to not to fight he could have resigned.

I don't like it.

Apparently.

And neither should you.

Well, the problem is that they aren’t at the whim of the malevolent leader. There are under the command of a man who is willing to defend this country from the very real threats from nations and organizations that seek our down fall.

To end on a positive note, I sincerely pray that his cousin returns home safe and sound. And ask for everyone to pray for the well-being of all our troops in the area, their families, and for the Iraqi people.

The Text of the President's Address

The text of the president's speech:
My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition
forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free
its people and to defend the world from grave danger.

On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of
military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war. These
are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign. More than 35
countries are giving crucial support -- from the use of naval and air bases,
to help with intelligence and logistics, to the deployment of combat units.
Every nation in this coalition has chosen to bear the duty and share the honor
of serving in our common defense.

To all the men and women of the United States Armed Forces now in the
Middle East, the peace of a troubled world and the hopes of an oppressed people
now depend on you. That trust is well placed.

The enemies you confront will come to know your skill and bravery. The
people you liberate will witness the honorable and decent spirit of the American
military. In this conflict, America faces an enemy who has no regard for
conventions of war or rules of morality. Saddam Hussein has placed Iraqi troops
and equipment in civilian areas, attempting to use innocent men, women and
children as shields for his own military -- a final atrocity against his
people.

I want Americans and all the world to know that coalition forces will make
every effort to spare innocent civilians from harm. A campaign on the harsh
terrain of a nation as large as California could be longer and more difficult
than some predict. And helping Iraqis achieve a united, stable and free country
will require our sustained commitment.

We come to Iraq with respect for its citizens, for their great civilization
and for the religious faiths they practice. We have no ambition in Iraq, except
to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people.

I know that the families of our military are praying that all those who
serve will return safely and soon. Millions of Americans are praying with you
for the safety of your loved ones and for the protection of the innocent. For
your sacrifice, you have the gratitude and respect of the American people. And
you can know that our forces will be coming home as soon as their work is done.

Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly -- yet, our purpose is sure.
The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the
mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder.

We will meet that threat now, with our Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and
Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later with armies of fire fighters
and police and doctors on the streets of our cities.

Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply
decisive force. And I assure you, this will not be a campaign of half measures,
and we will accept no outcome but victory.

My fellow citizens, the dangers to our country and the world will be
overcome. We will pass through this time of peril and carry on the work of
peace. We will defend our freedom. We will bring freedom to others and we will
prevail.

May God bless our country and all who defend her.

AIR RAID SIRENS ARE GOING OFF IN IRAQ

The President is to speak at 9:15 PM.

Quick Links

Here's a good idea

Ya know, since when do liberals complain about how tradition isn't respected?

Campus Nonsense has a new slick design, but the substance is as potent as ever.

The Senate rejected oil-drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve 52-48.

Five Democrats voting in favor of drill: The two Daniels of Hawaii: Inouye and Akaka, Louisiana's duo of John Breaux and Mary Landrieu, and DINO Zell Miller of Georgia

The eight spineless wonders Republicans voting against helping the US obtain energy independence: The Weak Sisters of Maine: Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, RINO Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Gordon Smith of Oregon, Mike DeWine of Ohio, ingrate Norm Coleman of Minnesota, "maverick" John McCain of Arizona, Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois.

And remember there's a guest map at the the bottom sidebar.

TIME'S UP, SADDAM

Keeping an Eye on Howard Raines

The Media Research Center has setup a brand new site, called TimesWatch.org monitor the liberal bias of the Gray Lady. The bonus is that former blogger and Mississippi boy Clay Waters is its director.

Was Susan Dropped As A Child?

Lloyd Grove (sounds like a quaint little town, doesn't it?) of the Washington Post reveals that Susan "Not In Our Name" Sarandon's mother, Lenora Tomalin, is a staunch supporter of President Bush and the war against Saddam.

Of Sarandon's anti-Bush activism, Tomalin said: "That's a given. That's the way she thinks. That's what Hollywood thinks. We don't agree, but I respect her -- more than she does me." But surely, we suggested, Tomalin's 56-year-old eldest child respects her mother's opinions. "Wanna bet?" Tomalin scoffed. Sarandon's office didn't respond yesterday to our detailed message and fax.

"When I visit Susan, I tread on eggs," Tomalin said. "The most difficult time was during the election of 2000. I live in Florida, and I was a Republican poll-watcher in Polk County. Afterward, I was sitting at the breakfast table with Jack Henry, my then-13-year-old grandson, and he looked over at me, with the sweetest little smile on his face, and said, 'I hear you voted for Bush.' I looked up at Susan, who's standing at the sink, and she says, 'All he wants to know is: How could you have voted for Bush?' And I thought, 'I'm not going to discuss my politics with a 13-year-old who has been brainwashed!' But I just let it go -- even though I have never been as rabid as I have been during the past few years."

Last Nerve

I've decided to switch to Enetation for my commenting needs. Haloscan was down way too much to be of any use.

News Alert

President Bush will address the nation tonight at 7:00 PM Central Time.

I imagine it will go something like this: "My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Sadddam Hussein forever. The bombing begins in 5 minutes."

Yet Another Test



Which OS are You?

Or you could check out all the possible responses. The ones for Windows 1.0 and Windows ME are priceless.

via Ben Domenech

For Conservative Sweet Tooths

Finally, there's a right-wing ice cream alternative to the two hippies from Vermont: The Star Stangled Ice Cream Company. Their flavors include "Smaller Governmint", "Nutty Environmentalist", and my personal favorite, "I Hate the French Vanilla." And instead of giving money to various Kumbayah outfits, it donates 10% of it's profits to charities that support our armed forces personnel.

Happy St. Patrick's Day



This holiday is near and dear to my heart for some reason or another. True story: when I was a little 'un I actually thought that St. Patrick's Day was named after me.

#11. You think that the ensemble of FOX and Friends should have their sitcom.

The ever clever and lovely Miss Lee Ann, who's blog is sporting a new design, gives us a top ten list of how to tell when you've watched too much Fox News.

Be Forewarned

You might not want to see this picture of former Clinton Secretary of Labor.

Tyner's True Colors

Sid Salter sheds some light on last-minute GOP Mississippi gubernatorial candiate Mitch Tyner:

Let's recap here, boys and girls. Tyner was fond enough of Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove to give him $1,000 in campaign funds in 1999, but he's running against Barbour for the chance to unseat Musgrove in 2003.

Wonder what's different today — other than Musgrove's 2002 decision to back tort reforms opposed by trial lawyers like Tyner who in 1999 were his largest block of campaign contributors?

Senor Holtsberry provides an excellent fisking of a LewRockwell.com article.

Election 2003

Haley Barbour, former RNC chairman, has launched his campaign site for the 2003 Mississippi gubernatorial race.

New on the Menu

Cafeterias for the US House of Representatives will now be serving freedom fries instead of french fries, and freedom toast in place of french toast.

North Korea Test Fires Missle into the Sea of Japan

A Random Thought

If Charley Reese were a political cartoonist...

The Maltese Vote.

Malta, a small island nation in the Mediterranen, held a referedum Sunday on whether to join the EU. The came out to be around 54% in favor of joining with 46% opposing. Whether it will miss opportunities to keep quiet about global affairs when French President Jacques Chirac wants it to, is a different matter entirely.

Let's Talk Turkey

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the de facto leader of Turkey, has won a by-election for a Parliament seat. Erdogan has until now been barred to take office because he was convicted of "inciting religious hatred." But since his Justice and Development Party took power last November, it has changed the constitution to allow him to run for office. Once he's sworn in as Prime Minister, he plans to shake up the Cabinet and take another vote on whether to allow US troops to deploy from Turkey.

Let's hope that the vote will be held speedily; the attack on Hussein's regime is going to start in the next few weeks, I believe.

Surrendering Fast Enough to Make a Frenchman Jealous

A group of rather confused Iraqi troops tried to surrender British paratroopers last Monday. The Iraqis mistakenly believed that the war had started when they heard the practice artillery and mortar rounds being shot off by the Brits during training in Kuwait. The Brits told 'em that they weren't firing at them and; therefore, it was too early for them to surrender.

The Amazing Technicolor Twenty Dollar Bill

The Treasury Dept. will unveil a new $20 bill on 27th March that will be released this fall. The new bills "will introduce a predominant but subtle color into the background" in an effort to thwart counterfeiters. I hope that we're not on the road to make our money look like the neon toliet paper that Europe dares call money.

via Kyle Still

On the Road Again

I'm heading home for Spring Break in the next few hours, so blogging probably won't resume until tomorrow at the earliest. I just know you're waiting in suspense.

A piece of good news for me is that Dad had DSL installed at the house a few weeks ago, so no more sorry 26kps dial-up connection from Compu-net. Which means I'll be able to blog more during the week. Hooray!

A Simple Economics Lesson

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is calling for an investigation to see if the Evil Gas Stations are responsible for her state's recent gas price spikes. The fact that we are about to go to war in an oil-rich region, the fact that Venezuela, one of the world's leading oil-producers is having severe civil unrest, the fact that there is a phasing out of one gasoline additive in favor of another, and the fact that there is an annual switch between winter and summer formulas of gasoline...are meaningless since the greedy oil barons are just out to screw over the poor little consumer, right?

Sheesh, if there is less supply of a product and demand remains the same or increases, then prices increase. It's not hard to figure out.

Top 10 List

But this one isn't from Letterman, instead The Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes lists top anti-war objections and answers them soundly.

I especially like #10:

(10) Bush is seeking a new American empire. This is a favorite accusation of Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, the man who once recited the Gettysburg Address in Donald Duck's voice. I'll let Secretary of State Colin Powell answer this one. When hectored by a former archbishop of Canterbury on this subject recently, he said: "We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last 100 years . . . and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in." Well said.

New to Me Blogs

The Rattler and Dave's Supergalatic Megafantastic Blog-o-rama are both good blogs worth checking out, especially because they have the good taste to have linked to me.

The Continuing Saga of the Computer Wars

Microsoft is releasing a budget-sized version of their Windows Server 2003 called Server 2003 Web Editon priced at $399, as opposed to the $999 of the standard version. The Gates Empire may rule the world of personal computer operating systems (for the time being, anyway), but it has had a devil of a time establishing itself in the web server OS market. That area is the domain of the Unix/Linux Confederation because of its inexpensiveness, reliability, and flexibility. Mircosoft is aiming for smaller businesses with small server needs that it hopes will stick with the Big M as their requirements increase.

Big Speech

Bush will have a news conference at 7 PM (Central) tonight where he will discuss "the successes in the war against terror as well as the importance of disarming Saddam Hussien."

Also, Secretary of State Powell is scheduled to make another and probably final trip to the UN on Friday to advocate the adoption of "use of force" resolution backed by the US, UK, and Spain. Mr. Powell's warm-up act will by everybody's favorite Swede since the members of ABBA, Hans Blix who will call for more inspectations over next several months.

Bad for Bid'ness

Mark Byron highlights this story of Canadian corporations being none to pleased with the anti-American insults hurled by a couple of Liberal MPs. I'm sure some Lefties are squealing that those MPs right to dissent is being squashed.

Has It Been That Long Already?

One year ago today, I started this little blog. What has been the biggest surprise I that some people have actually read it. I would personally like to thank all those who have stopped by during the year, and especially those who have linked from their own blogs to this page. Perhaps the best thing about this blog is all the wonderful people that it has allowed me to meet (electronically, at least).

Ugh. Another Murderous Suicide Bomber

15 people in Haifa, Israel were killed when a Palestinian blew himself up on a crowded bus.

Yee-ha!

Charlie Daniels, yes that Charlie Daniels, reads the Hollywood anti-war crowd, especially Sean Penn, the riot act.

The people of Iraq will only get the things they need when Saddam is six
feet under the sand. He is the problem, he is the cause of the misery
the Iraqi people are going through.

I did not even hear the words Saddam Hussein come out of your mouth, how
can you be so blind? The Iraqi people’s problems didn’t start with the
American embargo or even the first Gulf War. They started when Saddam
came to power.

Election 2003

Mitch Tyner, a Madison County lawyer, will challenge ex-RNC Chairman Haley Barbour for the Republican nomination in the Mississippi governor race. In his statement, Tyner jabs at Barbour's Washington connections by saying that, "I didn't come home to run for the office of Governor of Mississippi, I am at home." Since leaving the RNC gig, Barbour has been a pretty successful lobbyist in DC, but has returned to his home in Yazoo County most every weekend.

Tyner could appeal those who aren't exactly thrilled with the "Washington Insider" vibe of Barbour. However, considering the greater name recognition and the fundraising ability of Barbour, it's hard to see Tyner reaching above 20% in the August primary.

It Probably Was Running Windows ME

A man fustrated with his laptop locking up, blasted a few shots into it while he was at a local restaurant. I can say that I had similar urges to inflict harm on my previous computer running Windows 95. But fortunately, I have had a Dell laptop for over a year and a half that has Windows 2000, which is pretty stable... as far as a Microsoft OS can be.

Coolness

El Rushbo has an amazing photograph of Earth from the Space Shuttle Columbia's last misson. While your there, you might want to check out his Stack of Saddam Stuff.