Some Thoughts for the Jackasses at MoveOn.org

The President picks his guy for the Supreme Court,

True conservatives and constitutionalists cheer,

The jackasses at MoveOn.org cry and jeer,

But he's not our guy they cry,

Damn it he's not even a gal,

Just another Bush pal.

Some words of advice for the intellectually challenged over at Hate Bush.org,

Cry and weep for you and yours are at the bottom of the heap,

On that November day, the America you hate spoke loudly and strongly,

And told you to F*ck Off!!!

I know it does rhyme or have meter but it gets the job done.

Today's Words of Wisdom

Not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslim.

Beware of CAIR and the catering to the American Muslim.

Stop The ACLU Interviews Alan Sears

Crossposted from Stop The ACLU

Crossposted from Stop The ACLU

First of all, I want to thank you on behalf of Stop The ACLU, all of our contributors, and supporters. It is an honor to have this interview with you. We appreciate the Alliance Defense Fund does for America by fighting the ACLU, and protecting life, and liberty.

1 Could you tell us a brief summary of how ADF came about?

Enough was enough. Dismayed by years of the erosion of liberty through activist courts in1993, thirty-five leaders of various Christian ministries came together to discuss the growing legal threats to religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family and the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) was born. ADF’s purpose was to develop sufficient means to win - through training, strategy, coordination, and funding to support litigation. In just eleven short years, ADF has trained over 850 allied attorneys, 405 law students, and provided funding for over 1,500 cases, including twenty-six victories at the Unites States Supreme Court.

2. What inspired you to write your new book, The ACLU vs. America?

In December 2003, I appeared on the O’Reilly Factor to discuss the ACLU’s legal attacks on the public celebration of Christmas. During that interview, Bill O’Reilly asked, tongue in cheek: “Isn’t the ACLU an organization that started out with good beginnings, but has just gotten off track over the past decade?” There was no way to answer it in a 25-30 second sound bite. Craig Osten (my-co-author) and I pondered O’Reilly’s question and realized that most Americans believe this myth that the ACLU had good roots. We knew that the truth had to be told: that the ACLU had a completely different agenda for America right from the start, an agenda that sought to legally undermine every American institution in order to reshape our nation as the ACLU and its founders saw fit.

3. What would you say to those people who say that just because the ACLU was founded on Communism does not mean that they still have communist goals?

Baldwin fastidiously claimed he was not a communist, and in fact, purged the ACLU board members who actually belonged to the party when Stalin and Hitler linked arms in 1939. Despite this, Baldwin had repeatedly expressed admiration for the Soviets and had many communist and socialist allies. In an interview a few years before his death, ACLU Founder Roger Baldwin said to Peggy Lamson (a former ACLU board member): “The Communists say, we don’t care what the majority says, this minority is right, and if we can impose our will on the majority, we will do so.” This type of self-image sums up the modern-day ACLU, which has demonstrated, time and time again, blatant disregard for the will of the people and the democratic process. For example, the ACLU has filed or supported lawsuit after lawsuit to either block public votes on constitutional amendments affirming traditional marriage, or to overturn the results (which have yet to be in the ACLU’s favor). When Alaskan voters passed a constitutional amendment in 1998 affirming marriage as between one man and one woman, the ACLU’s former executive director said: “Today’s results prove that certain fundamental issues should not be left up to a majority vote.”

4. I have read in your book that the ACLU filed a brief in favor of legalizing child pornography. When I wrote about this, many people wanted solid proof. Where can one see in the record how the ACLU defended this?

There are several examples. The files at the U.S. Supreme Court are a good starting point. In 1983, the ACLU submitted a friend of the court brief in the case of New York v. Ferber, arguing that the distribution of child pornography is protected by the First Amendment. The ACLU Policy Guide states: “The ACLU believes that the First Amendment protects the dissemination of all forms of communication. The ACLU opposes on First Amendment grounds, laws that restrict the production and distribution of any printed and visual materials even when some of the producers of those materials are punishable under criminal law.” (i.e. child pornography).

In the mid-1980s, when I serving as the Director of the Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography, the then-legislative counsel of the ACLU testified that it was the ACLU’s position that once child pornography was produced, there should be no government restriction on its sale and distribution.

5. Recently a judge in California ruled that the Mt. Soledad cross was unconstitutional despite the majority of San Diego voters supported keeping the cross. What are your thoughts on judicial activism in America today? Should judges be using international law in interpreting the Constitution?

In his biography by Peggy Lamson, Roger Baldwin said: “I placed my faith in the courts…” What he meant by that was that he knew the ACLU could not achieve its aims through state and federal legislatures or by taking their case to the people. He knew that the courts would be the most useful method of imposing the ACLU’s agenda on the people. The outgrowth of that strategy is the judicial activism we see today, where the ACLU and its allies are using the courts to deny the expressed will of the people and to impose new laws via judicial fiat. In the Mt. Soledad case, the ACLU attorney James McElroy expressed his disdain for the majority when he said after the vote: "It still doesn't mean a damn thing. Voters should have never voted on it."

ADF believes that judges should interpret the Constitution as written and consistent with its original meaning. It is not an “evolving document” with emanations from penumbras as judicial activists’ state.

As far as international law, this is just another example of how the ACLU has tried to change the rules to get their way. They came to the realization that the Constitution can only be stretched in so many ways, that they are eventually going to reach a limit with how far they can advance their agenda with domestic laws and courts alone!

I think Chief Justice John Roberts said it quite eloquently during his confirmation hearing when asked about international law. He said: “Looking at foreign law for support is like looking out over a crowd and picking out your friends. Foreign law, you can find anything you want. If you don't find it in the decisions of France or Italy, it's in the decisions of Somalia or Japan or Indonesia or wherever." He went on to state that international law was a misuse of legal precedent and we would wholeheartedly agree.

Nevertheless, the ACLU, along with its former counsel Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, have been the biggest proponents of using international law as precedent to undermine our national sovereignty, which millions have sacrificed and died to defend and preserve.

6. What do you find is the biggest threat to liberty in our society today? How can we counter this?

The biggest threat to liberty today is the agenda of advocates of homosexual behavior, which Craig Osten and I detail in our previous book, The Homosexual Agenda: The Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today. The ACLU has helped develop much of this agenda and has worked very closely with these advocates. The ultimate goal of many homosexual activists is to progressively silence and punish any dissenting viewpoints when it comes to homosexual behavior. In places such as Sweden and Canada, people with sincere religious objections to homosexual behavior are facing fines, loss of employment, and even imprisonment for expressing their views.

How can we counter this? First of all, we can show up. When ADF and its allies have shown up against legal advocates of homosexual behavior in the courtroom, with the training, strategy, and coordination to win, we’ve been successful in defeating the agenda of homosexual advocates, including same-sex “marriage.”

Secondly, it will take resources. The ACLU and its allies, including radical advocates of homosexual behavior, have tremendous financial resources at their disposal. The ACLU Foundation has $175 million in assets. The Gill Foundation, whose mission is to push the homosexual agenda, has spent millions of dollars to achieve its aims. The Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal and Defense and Education Fund, and Planned Parenthood, all have massive amounts of funds, including millions from corporate America, to spend.

Thirdly, Americans need to become educated on the threats to liberty, and that is why we wrote the ACLU book, as well as our previous book on the homosexual agenda, to awaken the majority of Americans who still respect the values of life, liberty, and family that made our nation great.

7. Is it possible to reform the ACLU? Can they be changed, or is countering them the only option?

It’s not a public company and is controlled by a private board. It’s tough to “reform” an organization that had a very different agenda for America right from the beginning. In addition, they have had eighty years to build the legal precedents that they have used to advance their agenda, and even if the ACLU went out of existence today, those precedents would still be in place. Therefore, it is going to take a long-term, strategic effort to reverse those legal precedents, and put new ones in place that affirm religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage and the family.

8. What is your strategy in fighting the ACLU? Are there other ways people can get involved?

ADF has a four-fold plan to fight and eventually defeat the ACLU. That plan is training, coordination, funding, and direct litigation. Our goals include training at least 5,000 allied attorneys over the next ten years to take on the ACLU and its allies and building an in-house attorney mentoring program - to train and equip the next generation of attorneys. But you train all the attorneys you want, and if they do not have a coordinated plan of action, it is not going to make much of a difference. That is why ADF focuses on strategic coordination to make sure that we are working in unity towards a common goal of reversing the legal damage inflicted by the ACLU and its allies on our nation, rather than working against each other. Thirdly, we make sure that when our allied attorneys show up in court to take on the ACLU, that they have the necessary financial resources to win. ADF has funded over 1,500 grants for legal cases and projects in just eleven years. Finally, ADF wants to grow litigators, lawyers on our staff who are actively involved in defending religious freedom, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.

9. Currently there is legislation in the House by Congressman Hostetler that is asking to reform the attorney’s fees act in the Civil Rights Act to not apply in Establishment Clause cases. Does ADF support this?

We talk about the need to reform this in our book, as it has become a financial cash cow for the ACLU and one of their weapons in their campaign of fear, intimidation, and disinformation to force public officials to bow to their agenda. While ADF does not delve into legislative issues, we hope this effort by the congressman passes to fix this loophole which the ACLU has exploited for years to bully towns and municipalities into compliance.

10. Do you support grassroots efforts like Stop The ACLU.Com and Stop The ACLU.Org in informing the people of the ACLU’s actions and other civil liberties groups? How can we motivate others to get involved? What would your advice be in helping our organization’s success?

ADF is thankful for any efforts that raise awareness of the ACLU’s dangerous agenda for America and encourages citizens to get involved in combating it. I believe that the American people are increasingly rejecting the ACLU’s agenda as more and more of it is brought into the light. Keep on doing what you are doing, highlighting the ACLU’s most recent outrageous statements and positions, and I am sure your efforts will be successful.

This was a production of Stop The ACLU Blogburst. If you would like to join us, please register at Our Portal, or email Jay at Jay@stoptheaclu.com. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll. Over 115 blogs already onboard.

A Thought to Ponder

Question: How do you tell the difference between Democrats, Republicans and Southern Republicans?

The answer can be found by posing the following question:

You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children.

Suddenly, an Islamic Terrorist with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, praises Allah, raises the knife, and charges at you.

You are carrying a Glock cal .40, and you are an expert shot.

You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family.

What do you do?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Democrat's Answer:

Well, that's not enough information to answer the question!

Does the man look poor! Or oppressed?

Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?

Could we run away?

What does my wife think?

What about the kids?

Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand?

What does the law say about this situation?

Does the Glock have appropriate safety built into it?

Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society and to my children?

Is it possible he'd be happy with just killing me?

Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me?

If I were to grab his knees and hold on, could my family get away while he was stabbing me?

Should I call 9-1-1?

Why is this street so deserted?

Why isn't he happy playing nighttime basketball?

We need to raise taxes, have a paint and weed day and make this happier, healthier street that would discourage such behavior.

This is all so confusing! I need to debate this with some friends for few days and try to come to a consensus.

Can I call Howard Dean or John Kerry and see what they think I should do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Republican's Answer:

BANG!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Southern Republican's Answer:

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
BANG! click.....(sounds of reloading).

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
BANG! click

Daughter: "Nice grouping, Daddy! Were those the Winchester Silver Tips or Hollow Points?"


Big Hat tip to Raven over at And Rightly So.

My Heroes Have Always Been Camelboys (with apologies to Willy)

My friend Seth inspired me to this, so blame him.

The only music I could find for you to listen to while reading this, (if you so wish to do that) was here and it is a bit faster than the normal version. Open the link in a new window and sing along.

And please feel free to offer up better lyrics than I pumped out in the last ten minutes. I changed a few words to go better with the faster version. And the end of the tune is cut off at the end.


Ladies and Gents, lads and lassies, I give you;



My Heroes Have Always Been Camelboys

I grew up a dreamin' o' bein' a camelboy
And lovin' the goatfu**in ways
Pursuin' the life o' my implodin' heroes
I burned up my childhood days
I learned all the rules of a suicide bomber
Don't ya press down the button too soon
Just take a short bus ride, or go to a disco
Go out with a scream and a boom


My heroes have always been camelboys
And they will be till I die
Sadly adhering to eighth century ideals
And a bunch of ragged old lies


Camelboys are spreadin their own brand of misery
By wiping their ass with their hands
Some will die from a bomb in a safe house in Baghdad
To be dropped in a hole in the sand
Pickin at sand fleas while down on their damned knees
And cryin to Allah each day
Dirty pajamas an' diapers on their heads
With their leaders a-hidin' in caves


My heroes have always been camelboys
And they will be till I die
Sadly adhering to eighth century ideals
And a bunch of ragged old lies

Sadly adhering to eighth century ideals
And a bunch of ragged old lies

XPOSTED@Kender's, Cao's and The Wide Awakes

Well no wonder the Muslims think they are the only ones that are in with Go...I mean Allah

From a report of a speech given in a synagogue by the director of a branch of CAIR in Florida comes this snippet;

"He told a story about how the prophet Mohammed was told by God to pray
50 times a day. Then Mohammed met Moses, who pointed out that Jews pray
only three times a day. After some negotiating, God agreed to let
Muslims pray just five times a day."

Mo was kickin with the big boys and NEGOTIATED with God.

No other religion, as far as I have found out, has a prophet that NEGOTIATED with God.

I can just see that now;
(wavy flashback lines)

Mo: Fifty times a day God? But I will live on my knees and have no time for conquering the infidels who should be on their knees to make beheading them easier.

GOD: I am sorry Mo, but I feel that the Jews aren't pious enough, and that whole "chosen people" thing that they have claimed is going to make your run at a worldwide caliphate much harder. You simply MUST be much more pious than them.

Mo; I understand your wish for a more pious group of believers, but we have very little. We are poor tribesmen that wander the desert, and without a lifelong campaign of conquest and subjugation we will never rise to power in your name.

GOD: Well, Mo, actually everyone can come to me if they simply believe in their hearts. I have to tell you that you really don't have a lock on this whole heaven thing.

(Moses whispers in God's ear)

GOD: Mo, how about this, since the Jews are praying three times a day, why don't you guys pray five times a day? That would make you 66% more pious than a Jew.

Mo thinks it over, and discusses it with his closest advisor, Aii'l Su' Ya' Quik'li, (who happened to be the first ever islamic lawyer), and looks up with that famous glint of negotiation in his eyes.

Mo;, Can we still pervert your words and lie about our goals to convert or kill those that won't follow our ways?

GOD: I would prefer you didn't. You know, if you get too radical, Lucifer may invoke certain rights under the Good Vs. Evil clause and it would be out of my hands.

Mo; I can take that chance, what is the word of Lucifer against my thousands of Warriors dedicated to Jihad?

GOD: Mo, I don't believe you are completely understanding the whole concept of these visions, I really...

Mo; Yeah yeah, contracts and obscure Holy Laws....I get it. Let me ask you, if I kill ten thousand Jews and send them your way do i get a commission?

GOD: A commission? What would make you think that I would condone killing ten thousand people of any tribe? I want you to make people get along with each other and help create peace on earth. What is with all of this killing nonsense?

Mo; Well, if people don't not believe that I have spoken to you then they will not adhere to the Holy Ways you have revealed to me. I am going to need proof.

GOD: Mo, did you ever stop to think that the near starvation you are experiencing, coupled with those mushrooms you found, may be causing hallucinations or that I could be Lucifer in disguise trying to capture gullible human souls for the final battle?

Moses hits "God" in the arm and whispers harshly "Shut up!!!! The mushrooms are becoming less intense, get this over with before he sobers up"

"GOD": I'll tell you what, along with the praying only five times a day, anyone that dies in Holy service to me by killing infidels will get 70 virgins in paradise. Deal?

Mo;, OK deal, but I may wish to renegotiate once I am able to stand up....why do you suddenly look like my camel?

(wavy flashback lines)

And there ya have it folks, the "truth" about Mo's "talk" with Moses and God.....hey, it's about as true as that book Mo had a hand in creating.

XPOSTED@Kender's and Cao's

Stop The ACLU Radio

We've got a double treat for you today folks! Nedd Kareiva, founder of our parent site Stoptheaclu.org will be on the radio! But first we'll be having a live stream of Alan Sears, the president of the Alliance Defense Fund debating Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Seperation of Church and State.

Alan Sears will be on Barry Lynn's radio show Culture Shocks from 5 to 6pm Eastern Time, 2 to 3pm Pacific time. He will be discussing issues such as the the ACLU's policy to legalize child porn, their defense of sexual predators, and their positions on sick organizations like NAMBLA. If you haven't heard of Alan Sears take a look at The Alliance Defense Fund's website. They are one of the biggest forces out there fighting the evils of the ACLU. You can also check out his interview with Bill O'Reilly, or his interview with Frontpage magazine.

If you want to listen, tune in from 5 to 6pm Eastern Time, 2 to 3pm Pacific using KCAA's live MP3 feed. Choose between the free iTunes or Winamp players to listen.

If you want to talk to call in live on Culture Shocks, call them at 1-800-259-9231. Don't forget to mention Stop The ACLU.COM!

You can also hear Culture Shocks weekdays on your radio station, including KCAA 1050AM in the Los Angeles area, WCBR in Tennessee, KGGM in Louisiana, WASN in Youngstown Ohio and Newcastle, PA, and WARL in Providence RI. I wouldn't encourage listening to this guy's station everyday, but definitley tune in today. I'm thinking Alan will rip him apart.

And now, for the good news about our movement!!! I put this last because it will be later in the night, but our own Nedd Kareiva of Stop The ACLU.Org will be on WRWL Radio with Pastor Ernie Sanders to discuss the ACLU and our plans to cripple them. Pastor Sanders has the longest running radio show in Ohio (28 years per his site), has been in court with the ACLU over 20 times and not paid one dime to them. He fiercely opposes the ACLU's agenda and he is looking forward to speaking with him. He will be taking your calls so let's show Ohio and America we mean business against the ACLU. He will be on as long as they wish. He will be discussing similar issues on the ACLU's support for child sexplotation, and also focus on its war against Christianity. He will mention the blog, so everyone try to call in and talk to Nedd.

TIME: 9:30 PM EST, 8:30 CST, 7:30 MST, 6:30 PST

TOLL FREE ACROSS AMERICA: (888) 677-9673, LOCAL: (216) 901-0933
LISTEN: Via Crusader Radio live Internet feed or WRWL stations at its home page.

SIGN THE PETITION TO STOP TAXPAYER'S FUNDING OF THE ACLU

We are trying to raise money for an ad in the Washington Times. We need to raise $2500.00! We're half way there with a little over $1,300.00!

Please consider a donation

Or Buy a bumper sticker from our store!

This was a production of Stop The ACLU Blogburst. If you would like to join us, please register at Our Portal, or email Jay at Jay@stoptheaclu.com. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll. Over 115 blogs already onboard.

Crossposted from Stop The ACLU

"No good, I've known too many Spaniards"

A big tip o' me tam to jcrue for this one.

Back in August I pointed out that Italy was supporting terrorism. They proved then they are not a true ally of the U.S., joining such other faux allies as france and germany.

It should come as no surprise then that Spain has decided to join the club.

It seems that a Spanish judge has decided to issue arrest warrants for three American soldiers in regards to the death of a Spanish journalist and his Ukrainian cameraman during the Iraq war.

The U.S. military has investigated the incident, and have stated that the soldiers believed they were under attack when they fired a round from their tank into The Palestine Hotel where several reporters were staying to cover the war.

First off, let me say that a war zone is inherently dangerous. If you wander into a war zone you take your life into your hands, and really shouldn't be surprised if you end up dead.

Secondly, what kind of moron would sit on a balcony of a hotel in the middle of a raging battle surrounded by people shooting at each other from all sides and have the stupidity to lift a camera onto their shoulder and point it at a tank? Especially an American tank? The Abrams tank is one of the deadliest fighting machines ever unleashed on the world, and the crews that man them are highly trained soldiers. One of my best friends happens to be a tank driver, and his descriptions of the capabilities of that vehicle are awe inspiring.

Let's forget for a moment about the Fog of War, and focus instead on the Spanish law that says "a crime committed against a Spaniard abroad can be prosecuted here (in Spain) if it is not investigated in the country where it is committed."

The Spaniards have requested interviews with the soldiers and have been turned down, as well they should have been. It is not the place of the Spanish government to interrogate American soldiers that were engaged in battle, protecting themselves and their fellow soldiers and doing what they were trained to do.

It was the responsibility of the journalist and his cameraman to report the war and stay alive. Pointing things at American tanks tend to make that last job a bit hard, even when it is just a camera.

It boils down to this; In the middle of a heated battle a cameraman pointed his camera at a tank that had been taking fire from buildings, unfortunately for him, and his reporter, he was spotted by a tank crew and that crew, believing they were about to be fired on yet again, took defensive action.

If another tank crew goes through this, and sits wondering if what is being pointed at them is a camera or a weapon and their hesitation causes them to die, can we sue the Spanish government for causing our soldiers to die because they were worried about being arrested for doing their jobs?

So now we must add the Spaniards to the growing list of "allies" that are actually unfriendly to us. That's ok though. I haven't trusted the french for years, I certainly don't trust the germans, the russians or italy anymore.

Remember, it was these cowards that buckled to terrorists when their subway was bombed right before an election and voted in a bunch of appeasing weaklings. So should we continue to trust the spanish?

I believe the Dread Pirate Roberts said it best when he said "No good, I've known too many Spaniards".

XPOSTED@Kender's and Cao's

Talk about working in theory.

Go here to read about a school where the final exam, if they can find someone to perform a final exam on, must be strictly pass/fail.

I wonder if one would get extra credit for taking projectile vomit to the head?

XPOSTED@Cao's and Kender's

Windows Vista Build 5231 Reviewed

Well, I have been running Windows Vista Build 5231 since last Monday and I have a few observations. I will basically tie my comments to the screenshots. One thing I will mention is that the dream of a 15-20 minute install is a joke. It took about 65 minutes to install Vista on a box running a P4 2.6Ghz, 1Gb of Ram, with a ATI 9600XT. I think that the install time will come down as we approach the actual release of the software. My hunch is that quite a bit of the install is the hard drive being indexed after the OS is installed. How else could the search function work so quickly right out of the box? Just my 2 cents anyway. If you click on the title link you will be taken to the torrent for downloading this build of Vista. Enjoy everyone! For those from Digg.com, thanks for coming by.

Vista Version

The version information for people who care about this sort of stuff.

New and Improved Start Menu

I don't know how new and improved this is in reality. The structure is almost exactly the same as Windows XP but instead of popping open a list of programs that could take up your entire screen if your still runnning at less then 1024x768 but rather an extended grouping of programs within the structure of the Start Menu. Notice the text box directly above the Start button? It is a search box for just the Start Menu. Start typing and it will guess what your looking for.

Some Interesting Processes in Task Manager

There are quite a few new processes running in the background on Vista. I believe most are related to the new intergrated search feature that is now available from each and every window in Vista.

Vista does P2P

Windows P2P goes by the name of Windows Collaberation in Vista. I could not get this feature to work so I guess they turned it off after talking flak for having it enabled by default in Beta 1.

Windows Calender

Microsoft has now seen fit to include a calender client in Vista which one can share, like Hotmail's calender, or publish, like an Outlook calender, or just use on the computer like Outlook Express. Actually anyone using Outlook Express for email should be forcefully removed from their keyboard and beaten about the head with it.

Windows Digital Gallery

Vista now sports a "Digital Gallery" feature which in my humble opinion is a direct rip-off of Picasa.

The Windows Explorer

Notice the ever-present search box in the upper right corner? Search is everywhere in Vista including the Start Menu as I mentioned above. The sort options have been expanded and the metadata pane has been moved from the lower left side of a typical window in XP to the bottom band of the window in Vista. The new Windows Explorer was fairly intuitive but I can see new users stuggling to adjust, especially if they come to Vista from Windows 2000 or earlier.

TMI: Windows Style

Microsoft has seen fit to include and display metadata everywhere in Vista including the status dialogue when moving an item.

The New My Network Connections

My Network Places has been replaced by the Network Center which includes some diagnostic tools to troubleshoot a network connection and addtional information about your broadband connection.

Some New Games eh?

Finally some new games for network admins to lock down from bored users. The new games are Chess, Shanghai Solitare (a version of Mahjong), and a kids games called Purbie Place. Screenshots below...

Shanghai Solitare

Microsoft's version of Mahjong

Purbie Place

My son, age 4 1/2, liked this game and found it pretty easy to learn, enough said I guess.

A Kinder, Gentler Control Panel

For those who know where to find things, the classic view is still available.

A little something new in User rights.

I don't know if the Authenication Manager will be included in any release of Vista but the Enterprise and Ultimate editions but the idea is kinda neat. AM will allow the system admin to mark a user with standard admin rights or with super-admin rights which are designed to be used by developers.

Tablet Programs

Since the Ultra Edition is a superset of all future Vista versions there are both Tablet PC programs included as well as Media Center.

Media Center

I don't know what if anything has changed in Media Center since the test computer I installed Vista on is not a Media Center machine. Somebody let me know what has changed if you don't mind.

Windows Media Player

This new interface is nice and they have changed some of the terms used by WMP but at this stage it looks like a very early version of WMP11

Media Library Sharing in WMP11

The Basic Library Sharing options are just that basic but....

Advanced Library Sharing in WMP11

One has to wonder what the RIAA might think about WMP11 encouraging users to share their media. It appears that the options will only let you share across a home network but I am sure someone will figure out a way for this to use the Vista P2P and I predict that Microsoft will be sued by the RIAA and removed this feature before Vista is released.

IE7

First looks is misleading, but it does look very slick.

Default IE7

As it appears when first launched, the only change I had made at this point was to change the homepage.

IE7 with Favorites Sidebar open

The Favorites Sidebar now contains your subscribed feeds and history as well. The normal menu toolbar is hidden by default.

IE7 with an active RSS feed plus new right-click option

IE7 handled the flash of ESPN right out of the box(as it should) and lights up and beeps when a valid RSS feed is detected on a webpage. As expected the right-click menu now includes the open in a new tab option but if your trying to open a favorite from the sidebar, forget it. You can not open a favorite from the sidebar in a new tab unless the tab is already open and selected.

Adding a new RSS feed

To add a feed, you have to click on the orange RSS button which opens the feed as an xml document in IE7. You then have the option to subscribe by clikcing on the yellow plus sign on the right side of the toolbar above the document.

IE7 Anti-Phishing Filter

IE7 not has a phishing filter that checks whether the website your visiting is the real website or one doctored up to fool people into giving up personal information. In my screenshot that is the real CNN.com, I assure you or IE7 does.

IE7 Quick Tabs

IE7 does have a neat feature called Quick Tabs. The feature can be accessed either through Ctrl+Q or the little four square icon in the upper left corner of the "tab"bar next to the favorites star icon. Of course the more tabs you have open the smaller the previews in the quick tabs screen.

Overall Vista is rather polished for a pre Beta 2 release. I like that Microsoft is going to release an updated build every month for the forseeable future. The drivers for many devices are not available but that should change pretty quickly. The only programs I could not run and that crashed the shell were Google Earth, and Activesync 3.8. I did try to manually update the drivers for my video (ATI 9600XT), my sound (Audigy 2) and my Canon i860 usb printer. I was able to install without problem, Office 2003, Skype (latest version), iTunes 6.0 with QuickTime 7.0 Pro, MSN Messenger 7.5, and Microsoft Anti-spyware beta. I could not find a anti-virus program that would install and run even after AVG ran perfectly in Beta 1. I could not even get Windows OneCare Beta to install, go figure. Well that is the review of Vista for this month, look for a review of next month's build as soon as it becomes available. Remember, the title link goes to a torrent so you can download Vista and enjoy all of it's fun.