Thanks to all who commented and took part in the poll. I took the poll down due to the fact I only signed up for the free trial and they limit you to 100 page views of the poll. I did manage to get 12 votes and several comments and I think I am going to switch to Haloscan.
I am not sure when I will make the switch-over but it will not be until I figure out a way to save all existing comments. Any suggestions would be welcome. I am stuck with the thought that since I have all comments in my email, I may enter them manually after the Haloscan installation. Guess I will save that for a slow work day.
Well, I am off to our neighborhood X-mas season kick-off festival. Take the kids to see Santa and let them ride the ponies and kiddie rides, while Mrs. Mad Tech and I stuff our faces with chow. Gotta love the holiday season. I was reading over at FFS that Kelly and her family volunteer at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving. That is one of the greatest ideas I have ever heard, kudos you and your family for really helping out the less fortunate.
Later.................
You know most of the time I would take the day off rather then the money. But the company I work for is paying me double time and a half, so I will gladly sit here and surf through BE. Hell, I would sit here for 12 hours if they wanted, but they won't pay that much OT to one person.
Besides, I figure that by not joining the masses by shopping today, I come out even farther ahead.
Later...............
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
The things I am thankful for are:
1) My Faith
2) My Wife and Children
3) My Family
4) My Country
5) The Men and Women of our Military
6) That Seinfeld is finally on
I will be enjoying the holiday like everyone else and watching the "greatest sitcom of all time" so my postings may be lite. I will still have to feed my BE addiction. Have a great holiday everyone.
Later...........
Found this over at MaxedOutMomma. As she so eloquently put it, the story speaks for itself.
My personal thanks and condolences go out to this Marine's family and his fellow Marines, for they have truly lost a Hero. Later..............
I am quite frankly so filled with anger I can barely see the keyboard to type. I know this issue has been in the news for a few days but I wanted to take some time and read up on the topic before I sounded off on the insanity of the ACLU. I and my 3 younger brothers were proud members of the Boy Scouts and my son will participate as well so this topic hits close to home.
Let's start with the First Amendment since it seems to be the weapon of choice for the ACLU.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Ok, now obviously this is the first Amendment of the United States Constitution and not whatever copy the ACLU uses in its legal battles to destroy facets of American Life. Granted, I am not a Constitutional law expert but the founding fathers wrote the Bill of Rights so that common men could understand the rights afforded to them. I don't see anywhere in the amendment where it states the government of these United States shall be prohibited from providing assistance or funding to any groups that have a religious charter. As most people know, there are references to God all over the federal government. Our motto, our currency, the Congress prays before starting a session, the fact is that this country was founded on Christian principals and no amount of revisionist history will change that. Now I am sure that folks will correct me with the argument that the Founding Fathers could not have foreseen this issue and we must try to find their intent. One word for that, BULLSHIT.
We have only have to realize that in the 228 year history of this country we have only amended the Constitution 17 times including such winners as the 16th, income tax, the 18th, ban on alcohol, and the 27th which says Congress gets no raise until after a full election of it's members. The important ones in my humble opinion have been amendments such as the 13th, abolishment of slavery, 14th, due process, 15th, right to vote of every citizen, 19th, Women's right to vote, and the 24th, which again grants the right to vote for every American. The last important amendment was passing over 40 years ago. I would think that if the 1st amendment was such an issue, we may have found the time to correct it.
While you thinking upon that chew on this, the ACLU prides itself on the fact that it is a champion for all Americans rights. Boy that is a bold statement; let’s look at their mission statement below. You can find it here.
The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty. We work daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the
The American system of government is founded on two counterbalancing principles: that the majority of the people governs, through democratically elected representatives; and that the power even of a democratic majority must be limited, to ensure individual rights.
You know what, that sounds great, I mean who could be opposed to an organization with such a lofty goal. Damn, I will send them some of my hard-earned money right now. Honey, where's the checkbook? Loud slap from my better half. Ok, I am fine now. See how they suck you in with there words, because after all words mean things.
According to them,
I can personally testify to the fact that the Boy Scouts, at least every troop I have ever been in contact with, is not the religious cult that the ACLU makes them out to be. Let’s take a closer look at the Boy Scout Oath.
Scout Oath
On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.
You know, thinking back to my scout days, I really never thought about the mention of God. We never discussed it in troop meetings; it was never discussed among the scouts that I led or their parents. Perhaps it’s because it’s not a big deal to those who are raised in God-fearing Christian homes. Is the root of this issue really about the fact that the government funds some scout troops and provides a place to meet or is it really about the ACLU showing it’s true colors as a God-Hating, Christian demonizing group with little or no real regard for the concerns of Americans?
Can it really be that simple? Could the ACLU just have gone too far? I polled some folks I know that support the ACLU and even they are ready to walk away from this group because of this latest campaign of hate. Some will suggest that when the Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts were a private organization and could deny gays membership the die was cast and this is really just the ACLU’s form of revenge. Could be, I mean after all the Boy Scouts have been around since 1910 and were in fact chartered by Congress in 1916 with the following mission, “to provide an educational program for boys and young adults to build character, to train in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and to develop personal fitness.” The ACLU has been around since 1920 and to this day claims to be a non-partisan group. So in the past 80 plus years, the ACLU had no problems with the Boy Scouts until the case of the NJ scoutmaster who was gay.
I tend to give the benefit of doubt to groups like the ACLU, because after all, they do some good here and there. But their constant attack on mine and others religious freedom simply must stop. The Boy Scouts do enormous good for this country and millions of young people and should be protected against the hate mongering of groups such as the ACLU. I would encourage everyone to read some of this links below and speak up one way or another. This is just another battle in the culture war that we face. This agreement between the ACLU and the Department of Defense will not stand. Sorry for going long but this is an issue that is close to my heart. Hunting season is open for all of the leftists that will flame me for this, don’t really care, cause when your right, your right.
Enjoy the links and keep the faith, later………..
For Scouts
http://www.news-journalonline.com/
The Players
I just finished reading American Soldier by General Tommy Franks this afternoon. Here's my review of the book.
Let me just say before I get too far into it, General Franks is a military genius. The man took lessons from every point in his life and helped shape our military doctrine for years to come. At the start of the Second Iraq War, General Franks wisely sent a memo to the Department of Defense that could have cost him his command and his career but he felt so strongly that his first responsibility lay to the men and women under his command. The point of this memo was to put the new generation of "whiz kids" on notice not to mess with the war plan and try to micro-manage the war like
Here's a quote from the book that gives us some insight to the character of General Franks. "In the closing of my memo, I had reminded Wolfowitz of the moral compass that would guide me in the days ahead: I carry an American Flag and a Bible in my pocket, and I wear a wedding band on my left hand. I understand the mission and the strategic context within which it will be accomplished. I will become tentative only when directed to do so."
This is remarkably frank (no pun) in it's telling of the events leading up to the wars in
So according to Peta now, I should not eat meat, chicken, or fish. Well, all the tree huggers from Peta can feast on dirt and twigs till the end of time. In honor of their new plan to save us from ourselves, I am going down to Outback and have my own feast.
Here's what I am ordering: Shrimp to start with, and for the main course, Surf and Turf. And as I sit there in my carnivore grandeur, I won't give a thought to the fruit and nuts crowd over at Peta.
For the record, I actually admire vegans for their discipline and health, but it isn’t for me. I am a meat-eater through and through so don't try to shove your nutritional beliefs down my throat, no pun intended. Enjoy the links below in all of their Peta glory, later..................
http://www.fishinghurts.com/feat/fishlives/
http://www.peta.org/
Well, I guess the thieves over at the corrupt UN finally had enough and are preparing to discipline one of their own. Kofi Annan is about to face the first no-confidence vote in the history of the UN. All I can say is it's about time and I hope we were involved in getting this vote scheduled.
The problem with Annan's removal is that we are likely to face an increasing anti-American and hostile UN after he is thrown out on his ass. The UN's future as an effective organization for peace is in serious doubt and will need a strong Secretary-General above reproach to restore the trust and respect that Annan has pissed away in pursuit of his own greed.
The UN has done much good in Africa, Asia, and
Later..............
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041119/
