Ammunition

This just gets funnier every time I see it!

[AFP Caption:] An elderly Iraqi woman shows

two bullets which she says hit her house following

an early coalition forces raidin the predominantly

Shiite Baghdad suburb of Sadr City.

This picture has shown up on every blog I read. Most of the bloggers have pointed out the obvious: the bullets have not been fired. They are still in their casings and in pristine condition.

So, we’re now throwing ammunition at old Iraqi women? For shame! *snicker*

She seems to be the same woman who was all over the ‘net a while back, shown ‘mourning’ for various houses that had been destroyed in various places.

07/26/2006:

08/05/2006:

If both her houses have been bombed into rubble, where did she get another one for ammunition to be tossed at?? This is some rich lady!!

Karl Rove

Karl Rove has resigned his position as advisor to President Bush.

*yawn*

The President’s deputy chief of staff decides not to ride out the rest of his lame-duck term and both side of the political blogosphere get their panties in a twist.

What I’ve never been able to figure out is how this guy got his reputation! He gets the “credit” for all Bush’s ideas from both the right and left. If this is true and Bush’s ideas do in fact originate with Rove, he has to be the most inept politician I have ever heard of!

Where to start?

Harriet Meyers

Medicare Drug Plan

Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

No Child Left Behind

Those are merely the highlights (lowlights?) of his 6 years of horrible proposals. One of the few good ideas was the revision of Social Security to something other than a Ponsi scheme but he left it twisting in the wind, undefined and undefended until the Left and its handmaidens in the media killed it.

And that is my biggest problem with Karl Rove and the advice he has been giving President Bush. Whoever decided that allowing your opponents and enemies to endlessly attack you without ever defending yourself or your policies is a complete and total idiot. A lie repeated often enough and loudly enough without refutation enters the general consciousness. Soon, ‘everybody knows…” and it becomes the truth.

I know that I am not alone in my frustration with Bush and his unwillingness to communicate with the American people. Who told him that his silence was a good idea? Maybe his ‘closest advisor’? The man who gets all the credit for being so wily and conniving by the Left? Talk about an undeserved reputation!!

The Bush Administration is so inept at dealing the media attacks that most of the country still thinks Algore won Florida in 2000! And every lie told since then as been allowed to stand, unchallenged, until the lies are all most people know about their president.

I hope that the right-wing in this country can get it collective head out of its collective ass long enough to find a conservative candidate to run against Hillary/Obama. Much as I like Giuliani on defense, he’s not a conservative on social issues. Romney seems to have flip-flopped around too much for my taste. I like Fred! but he’s still not in the race. What’s he waiting for?

Whoever runs, may he PLEASE be able to utilize the press in an effective way to communicate! The presidency is the ultimate bully pulpit. For gods’ sake, USE IT!!

Cissy 1989 - 2007

I miss my kitty.

One month ago today, my 18-year-old cat, Cissy, lost her battle with lymphoma.

She was diagnosed June 16th. She had been losing weight again. I had been afraid going in that it would be bad news. Weight loss in an elderly cat is never a good thing.

We went to see our vet and I got the bad news: cancer. Non-operable cancer. Well, I wouldn’t have put her through surgery in any case. Getting her teeth taken care of had been traumatic enough. Chemotherapy might help but it’s very expensive and there’s no way to explain to a cat why she feels so bad. So, I won’t torture her with that, either. I decide to simply take her home and enjoy that remaining time we have together.

I spend most of my time at my kitchen table. Cissy started out on my lap, lying across my legs while I watched TV and read blogs on my computer. I think she got tired of my leaning over her and eventually migrated to the end of the table between my elbows where I would type around her. She would purr and butt her head against my face or doze quietly.

I figured that as long as she was strong enough to jump into my lap, she was well enough to keep going. I didn’t want her to suffer unnecessarily but neither did I want to cut her life short.

Thursday morning, she wasn’t asleep in the living room. I looked around for her a bit but it wasn’t unusual for her to be elsewhere at that hour.

About 15 minutes later, she staggered into the kitchen from the dining room. She could barely walk. I picked her up. She was so little!! It really struck me just how much weight she had lost. Even her feet looked smaller. I gave her a snuggle and noticed that she had even stopped shedding.

That afternoon, I made her a vet appointment on the following Saturday. I knew this was probably it.

Normally, I put cats into a carrier for vet trips. This time, my SO drove and I carried her in my arms. She perked up a bit at the strange surroundings but didn’t meow as she normally does.

The vet confirmed my suspicions. She was down to only 4 pounds! I made the hardest decision in my life.

I’ve never seen any one die before and to watch someone I loved dearly go was very hard. She stopped purring only when she stopped breathing. She went very peacefully, giving no indication that she felt that last shot.

She had a very long, full life. Other cats, friends and men have come and gone but Cissy had been the one constant for a very long time. She was the only one who met all the players in my life. In fact, if I’d listened to my cat, my life would have been a lot happier. She was a terrific judge of character. She was terrified of almost all the men in my life except for my current SO. Him, she liked. We’ve been together over 8 years and he’s been very good both for and to me.

I have her picture in my mouse pad; paws tucked under, curled up in the SO’s rocking chair, looking at the camera. She had the prettiest cat-face and the softest fur I’d ever felt. She was the best mannered cat I’ve ever lived with. I never had to reprimand her for doing anything, even when she was young. She never climbed curtains or sank her claws into anything but her scratching post.

I miss her terribly. I have two other cats but neither of them is a ‘snuggler’. I’ve thought about getting a kitten but I don’t want another cat; I want Cissy back. Besides, my SO, who is not a ‘cat person’, is happy to finally be down to only two cats!

Cissy started life as a stray. Maybe the same fates that brought the two of us together will bring me another friend as well.

Advertising

I know every market has local businesses that do their own advertising. Quite frankly, I TIVO most of the TV I watch and thus do not watch many ads. However, I do watch Indians games live and am thus exposed to local advertising.

I know Cleveland is not unique but there are several local advertisers that simply annoy the hell out of me.

First off, we have Ron Trzcinski of the Original Mattress Factory. Ron, for Pete’s sake, hire an actor! You have a lousy voice and sound like a second-grader reading out-loud in reading group. And he’s everywhere: radio, television, cable. I can’t even get away from this guy by leaving town as he has stores all over the region.

Second up is a local car dealer. I know most cities have local car dealers who make their own commercials and Cleveland is no different. I’d lived here for over 3 years before I noticed that here we have the opportunity to buy a car from a snake (Serpentini), who is “American and Proud Of It!”

Another local car dealer whom I can’t stand and immediate mute whenever he comes on is Eric Sonnie. Sr. He doesn’t content himself with simply extolling the virtues of the cars he sells; he does so AT THE TOP OF HIS VOICE! I was in the market for a new car for about 2 weeks last year. Having some guy yelling at me on television guaranteed that I would NEVER go to his dealership to shop.

And last but not least, we have Fish Furniture. Owner Dan Geller does the voice for his animated self in their ads with two talking fish. I always thought he was putting on the odd, high-pitched, nasally voice I heard in the ads until I saw him in an ad promoting advertising on one of the local cable companies. He really talks like that! How funny!!

All of these local businesses would be better off hiring talent for their ads. Annoying potential buyers is not a great way to increase sales.

Of course, all advertisers would do well to take that advice!

Global Warming

I did the research and wrote this in 2000. It still is relevant so I post it here:

Global warming is a theory that gets a lot of attention from the national media. It is poorly reported, with theories represented as facts and facts that do not support the theories not reported at all. Thanks to the internet, much of these ignored facts are available if you care to look. The following is what I found.

The current crisis-inducing number being reported is a rise in global temperatures of less than 1 degree Fahrenheit. What you are not told is that half of this rise occurred in the first half of the century when CO2 levels were rising very slowly. Since the 1950’s there has been a rapid rise in CO2 amounts with no corresponding rapid rise in surface temperatures. These temperature readings also do not take into account the Urban Heat Island phenomenon. This is caused by many weather stations now being located at large urban airports surrounded by acres and acres of heat-retaining tarmac. Temperature readings taken from within these Islands can be 10 degrees higher that the surrounding countryside.

In addition, the earth is a big place. Using widely separated point sources of data to determine a global average is not accurate. In the 1980’s satellite data showed no net cooling or warming. The 1990’s show a similar trend. Weather data have been kept for only the past 100 years or so. Climate happens over thousands of years. We have not collected enough data to accurately predict next Wednesday’s weather much less what the weather will be like in 50 or 100 years.

Climatologists use models to predict weather. The models used are by necessity much more simple than the actual weather systems. The mathematics are not available to represent all of the many, many variables. These predictions, especially for the long term, amount to little more than guesses.

There is also no data to support the hypothesis that CO2 causes warming. Data has been obtained from Antarctic ice core samples that go back 180,000 years and suggests that temperatures cause CO2 levels to change, not the reverse. The samples show that CO2 levels 120,000 years ago were the same as they are now. We can safely assume that it was not warm enough to melt the Antarctic ice sheets since we can take samples of ice that existed that long ago. The presence and effects of water vapor and ozone on possible temperature change far outweighs that of the much-maligned CO2. Also left out of the theories are the effects of solar activity on the earth as a whole. When solar activity goes up, the temperature of the earth increases. Solar activity has been increasing for the past 300 years from a low that caused a mini ice-age in the 1700’s. Geological findings indicate that the Earth’s temperatures are finally approaching levels believed to have been the norm prior to the unusual lows of the 1700’s.

Finally, remember that it was as recently as 1974 that these same climatologists were telling us that we were headed for another ice-age and we were all going to freeze to death!!

References:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/Members/ad.johnson/text/grnhscon.htm

http://www.greeningearthsociety.org/climate/

Immigration

I know this is a divisive issue. Please remember that Americans are not against immigration. We’re all descended from immigrants. What we are against is the flouting of the rule of law.

We are a nation of laws and all persons are to be treated the same before the law. I realize this doesn’t happen 100% of the time but it is the ideal for which we should strive. Giving 12 million law-breakers a pass would set a horrible precedent.

Immigrants are welcome. Enforce our present immigration laws. Enforce our borders.

No, I am not advocating mass deportations of the illegal aliens already here, however, if you enforce the laws currently on the books and make it impossible for them to get jobs, they will self-deport. Make it unattractive to come here illegally.

Too many municipalities have declared that they will not enforce federal immigration laws. Who gave them permission to pick and chose which laws to follow and which laws to ignore? The whole premise is ridiculous! Suppose they just decided to ignore, oh, say, the first amendment. The mayor and city council doesn’t like what is being printed about them in the local paper so they shut it down. Same for the local TV stations. Think Chaves of Venezuela here. Think that would get some people excited? You bet it would! Why do these cities get a pass for ignoring immigration laws?

Congress has the authority to insist that the laws be followed. Any city that refuses loses all federal money. Simple as that. And not just disaster aide, although that is a good start. All federal money: education, Medicare, welfare, food stamps, Section 8 housing assistance, etc. You get the idea. Think they’d still ignore the laws? I’m guessing not.

Prepositions

Am I the only person in America who understands the correct usage of prepositions??

Here in Ohio, we were bombarded by a radio commercial enjoining us to contact our state legislature in support of legislation to give a choice in cable TV service. Only problem was, this commercial drove me absolutely nuts! It phrased it as a “choice to cable TV”. Arrgh!!

I was reading a financial advise website when I came upon this phrase: “Although the spouse with the bad credit may be resentful for this kind of treatment,…” No, the spouse may by resentful _of_ this kind of treatment.

One of my favorite books is “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” by Lynn Truss, a Brit, with a no-nonsense yet hysterically funny take on punctuation. I highly recommend it!

Wimpy Allah

This god, “Allah”, has to be wimpiest god ever to spring from the mind of Man.

Most gods are attributed with Omniscience, Omnipotence and Omnipresence. This guy can’t take care of himself at all, requiring gangs of murderous thugs to do his dirty work.

In addition, he’s obviously very shallow-minded and petty, spending enormous amounts of time worrying about what people are wearing, especially women. He seems particularly afraid of women. Or maybe that’s just his insecure male followers.

In any case, I prefer my gods to be secure enough in their own Omniscience, Omnipotence and Omnipresence that my manner of dress or dietary habits don’t impact upon their behavior.

Eco-Nazis

PROUD NON-RECYCLER

Fighting

ECO-NAZIS

One can at a time.

Truthers

Just spend a few minutes perusing a 911 Truther website. There’s a part my life I can never get back!!


Some questions for this guy and all the others (Rosie?):

If the clearly observed phenomena of the buildings collapsing are so wrong, how do you know so?

How many 110-story buildings have you watched collapse?

How many buildings have you watched get hit by airplanes?

How many buildings have you watched burn after getting hit by aircraft?

Just what is your basis of comparison?

“Models” made of chicken wire or rabbit cages are nowhere near comparable to the real thing. Setting such a thing on fire and having it not collapse is not proof that the real thing would react the same way.

Just because you can show a “model” of an airplane in Fight Simulator does not guarantee that the model is accurate! Flight Simulator is a GAME. Total accuracy in its airplane representations is not necessary for the enjoyment of play, which is its whole purpose for existence. Get some pictures of real airplanes for comparison! Then, if you spot anomalies, you might just have something.

The really scary part is that this guy claims to be a scientist! Hey, dude! Ever heard of the Scientific Method?? Check it out sometime!

George W and the Economy

Now that the Demos are in power, do you suppose we'll finally get to hear about the great economy we've been experiencing for the past several years???

If GWB found a cure for cancer, you know what the headlines would be??

"George W. Bush Forces Oncologists onto Welfare Rolls!"

"Staggering Unemployment for Cancer Docs: W to Blame."

Personally, I can't stand the man. I hate what he's done and allowed to be done to my country. He's on the road to giving 20 million + lawbreakers a pass! But, come on!! Can we at least have NEWS with some honestly? Does it take a Democrat in the White House before the MSM will report with honestly and integrity??

Apparently so.

Sad.

The New Vietnam

The liberals seem determined to turn the part of the War on Islamic Fascism that is in Iraq into the same failure they managed to create in Vietnam when I was a kid.

With the publication of the Iraq Commission Report, they may have finally achieved their ends. Once more, America is seen as weak, cowardly and unable to finish what we start.

Pull out of Iraq? How about we start the pull out with the oldest war first: Europe. Is there any reason important to AMERICAN security for us to continue to occupy Europe?? Same for Japan. Let these people use their own blood and treasure to defend themselves.

There's an argument to be made for staying in Korea, what with the Evil Troll playing with nuclear weapons and such but why do we still have bases in Okinawa? The Japanese people are more than willing to fight their own battles. I say we let them. I'm fairly certain Hiroshima and Nagasaki taught them lessons about Imperialism they won't soon forget. Letting them have a military once again would help the rest of the world deal with the Evil Troll, who is in their backyard.

The American military didn't lose the war in Vietnam, Walter Cronkite did. Ever heard of the Tet Offensive? Most people paying attention at that time have. You also probably think we lost that battle with the Viet Cong. Wrong. We demolished them. Killed huge numbers of their fighters. Greatly reduced their ability to wage war against us. We decidedly won. However, since ole Uncle Walter didn't like the war, it was reported in this country as a total loss and failure. Soon thereafter, we abandoned our allies in South Vietnam to the Communist thugs who moved in and killed millions of people.

Now, they want to do the same thing in Iraq: abandoning our allies to the tender ministrations of their fascist, radical neighbors. Millions will die and it will be our fault. Again.

The Da Vinci Code

So, what’s with all the fuss and bother over “The Da Vinci Code”? Why are so many people so upset over a piece of fiction?? Are the Illerati so sure of the ignorance of the common man that they think we can’t tell the difference between fact and fiction?

I’ve read the book. Twice, the second time in preparation of seeing the movie when it comes out. I’m looking forward to the movie. If they haven’t messed with the plot too much, it should be a good one. And, once again, a work of FICTION.

Of course, there are people out there who think Oliver Stone’s “JFK” was based on reality. As PT Barnum may have said, “There’s a sucker born every minute”. Fortunately, most of the people I know are informed and intelligent enough to realize that what you see in the movies and on TV is, for the most part, completely untrue. Fiction. A story. A tall tale. You get the picture.

I’ve been trying to figure out what this book reminds me of. It occurred to me last night. It reminds me of “Chariots of the Gods”. You remember, that book from the ‘70s that purported to ‘explain’ the ‘mysterious’ by suggesting that the phenomenon were caused by visitations from being from outer space. The author took familiar places, events and art works, mixed them together with a good story, and claimed to have a valid explanation.

The Da Vinci Code does the same thing. It takes familiar places, events and art works and blends them into a fiction escapade. It has just enough ‘truth’, mostly of place and art work, to seem tantalizingly real. It makes for a wonderful book but I don’t think most people have problems telling fiction from reality to the extent that they think anything suggested in the book is real. Sure, you can visit the Louve and see the pyramids and the art works mentioned in the book. You can go to the churches mentioned in Briton but no one really expects that, if they dug in the right place, they would find the body of Mary Magdalene!!

I find the hullabaloo from Christain leaders actually quite insulting. They’re assuming that I’m too stupid to tell the difference between fact and fiction. Thanks, I don’t need the obvious pointed out to me by self-appointed ‘experts’.

The other thing about this whole bru-ha-ha that bothers me is the people so upset of this book that haven’t bothered to read it. If you’re going to blather on and on about how heretical a book is, you should at least read it for yourself. Otherwise, you are basing your opinion on hearsay and possible misinterpretation by others who may be playing to their own agendas. Why take those risks when you can easily go directly to the source??

In addition, if seeing a movie can make you seriously question the religion of your fathers and lead to your abandoning it, maybe you shouldn’t have been there in the first place!

In the end, it all comes down to the ability to differentiate between fact and fiction. Think you’re up to the challenge? Read the book.

Send 'Em Home!!

Why is it a given that we cannot deport the 12 million or so illegal aliens in this country? Why can’t we? If we simply enforce laws already on the books, the illegals would have no choice but to go home!

Enforce laws against employing illegal aliens. With no jobs, most would find living here quite unpleasant. They’re here to make money to send back home. If there’s no money, there’s no reason to be here.

In addition, make citizenship a requirement for education, health care, housing, licensing of any sort, union membership, bank accounts, utility accounts, all the necessary parts of modern life. Sure, one can live ‘off the grid’ but there’s only so much room in the depths of the forest!

And when someone applies for any of the above and they’re illegal, not only are they denied what they’re applying for, they should be turned in to the police. These people are breaking the law! If the first thing they do in our country is to break several of our laws, why should we want them here in the first place???

And, of course, they do NOT vote in our elections!!

Please notice that all of the above refers to ILLEGAL aliens. Legal immigrants are wonderful. My great-grandparents were legal immigrants from Germany. I have no problem with someone who wants to come here, work hard and make a better life for themselves and their families! But do it LEGALLY!!

Don’t call me a ‘racist’. That’s a copout. If you have legitimate reasons for your differing opinions, please state them. The moment someone starts calling me names, I know I’ve won the argument. Townhall.com communist Mike Adams defines racism thusly:

Racism – is a pathological tendency to interject race into situations where it is not relevant, merely for personal gain.

Racist – one who interjects race into situations where it is not relevant, merely for personal gain.

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/mikeadams/2006/04/10/193113.html

I find it very hard to argue with that!!

The United States, as a country, has the right to decide who can and who cannot come here to live. Think of a country as a big club. There are membership requirements for any club be it the high school chess club, the PTA, the Elks, the Masons, Mensa, etc. These requirements do NOT make any of these organizations racist, elitist or evil. It means that one has to WANT to join more than one want the money required for dues or the time it takes to qualify for membership. Something you acquire easily and for free is generally worth the money and effort put into acquiring it. This is the best place to live on earth. Just ask all those Mexicans! It is only right to make entry dependent on something besides being able to sneak over the border.

As Americans, we’re very generous about letting in new members to our ‘club’. We accept huge numbers of legal immigrants every year, welcoming the peoples of the earth to come here, work hard, and make a better life.

Just don’t ask us to give away membership for free!!

We're from Microsoft and we're here to help!

I’m the lead IT professional for a small business here in the Cleveland area. It’s my job to assist users in their daily dealings with their Personal Computers, amongst other things. I also program in Access 2000, VBA, C#, SQL Server Reporting Services and do some network tweaking. Lots to handle.

I received a call from the “Helpful” people at Microsoft yesterday. She wanted to know what Microsoft could do to assist my small business with our software needs. I promptly suggested that they stop changing everything every time they released a new Operating System (OS).

“What do you mean by that?”

“Every time you release a new OS, you rearrange where everything is and how one accesses basic features. The productivity of my users decreases markedly for the next 6 months as they re-learn how to use their computers. This also applies to new versions of Office. Quit ‘rearranging the deck chairs’!!

“Your productivity goes down?”

“Yes! Most of my users are the sorts who only know ‘point here and double-click’. When you change the ‘here’, they be come very confused and it can take them months to adjust. That’s why we never upgraded to Windows XP and I am dreading the change to Vista. We will delay upgrading to Vista as long as we possibly can.”

She really didn’t seem to get my point. Microsoft’s propensity for making unnecessary changes to basic functions in their OS and Office products is the reason many small businesses and individual users have resisted upgrading to their most current products. I have a computer that runs Win XP only because that’s what my laptop came loaded with. If I’d been able to opt for Win 2000, I would have done so.

And now there’s Vista. From what little I’ve seen of it, it is once again a radical change, similar to the difference between Win 3.1 and Win 95 back in the 90s. My poor users at work will be totally lost!! Many of them are still running Win 98 on their home machines!

What really makes me mad is the arrogance exhibited by Microsoft. They just arbitrarily decided to change the way the whole world uses the Personal Computer. That’s how much respect they have for their users. Every new OS requires the relearning of where things are. They inconvenience everyone to their profit. How much money will be lost to this new OS in reduced productivity?? The small business I work for runs on a very tight margin. They cannot afford to have everyone take half again as long to do every computer task for 3 to 6 months as they relearn how to use their computers!!

I’d like to see businesses, large and small, get together and refuse to upgrade! If no one buys the product, maybe they will have to rethink their lack of respect for their customers. Of course, since new computers come with the OS pre-loaded, that will require the delaying the purchase of new computer equipment. Think the computer manufacturers will like that?? I’m betting not.

Adulthood arrives

It occurred to me last night while I wasn't sleeping that I finally feel like an Adult. I purchased my own home 3 1/2 years ago. That didn't to it. I have a great driving record and very low insurance rates as a result. Still not. But yesterday I realized that after I get all the incorrect information off my credit report, I'll have A-1 credit! After years and years of struggling to get out from under the stupidity committed in my 20s, I am finally able to buy and finance anything my income would support! I can finally buy a new car if I want. No more beaters!! Of course, that would involve $300+ a month car payments that I'm absolutely not interested in making as long as the van continues to run dependably but I could if I wanted to! What freedom!

A word of advise from someone who's 'been there': NEVER file a joint tax return with someone who owes money!! It took me 15 years to clean up someone else's tax mess off my credit. And he never did pay those back taxes. They just got too old to collect.

Seattle just won over Jacksonville. They're going to the Super Bowl. They should be playing my Colts but Peyton failed in the clutch again. This should have been our year. Damned Steelers!!

Maybe next year... (I'm a Cleveland Indians fan, too. I'm getting used to saying that every September as well!) :-)

A Beginning...

And First Lesson

Don't hit 'Enter' til you are done!! :-)

Wow! After months of reading other peoples' blogs, to have one of my own is a bit daunting!!

The title may change. It currently reflects how I feel about living in Cleveland, OH. I lived on the east side of town for 5 years where I wasn't represented in Congress by Stephanie Tubbs-Jones and now I live on the west side where I am currently not represented by Dennis Kucinich. Now, that's a choice!!!

According to the racial politics I hear about endlessly, Blacks can only be adequately represented by fellow Blacks. Well, if that's true, so is the converse!!! Ole Stephanie even campaigned on promoting "our values", meaning those of Blacks, in her last reelection bid. Her district is not composed only of Blacks but she acts as if it were.

Dennis is only male to my female. I should think that wouldn't make that much of a difference but he does seem to be several flavors of moonbat. Since he specializes in tilting at windmills, I don't have what you might call really effective representation. And he was MIA from D.C. during his entire presidential campaign. And he never gave up the ghost! He didn't quit the race until months after it was clear that he was never going to him anything. Like I said, he loves tilting at those windmills!!

Dennis is currently trying to keep Ford from closing factories and eliminating jobs here in northeastern Ohio. Exactly how he's going to affect their corporate business decisions, he doesn't say. Since he's of the "There oughta be a law!" branch of the Democratic party, I assume we'll see some sort of bill introduced attempting to prevent businesses from making staffing changes without federal approval. Now, there's a good idea! NOT!!!

But just the sort of thing you'd expect from Dennis.