Kowabunga

John Kerry, Moonbat Extraordinaire, again shows his utter contempt for those who have chosen to serve in the Armed Forces of our country. This is off of KFI AM radio:

"You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq."

Why am I not surprised by such an idiotic statement coming from John "Flipper" Kerry. I have to thank KLI for providing the sound clip. It's on their website.

What Kerry is saying is that only losers end up in the military. Only losers too lazy to do well in school serve their country and go to war. Is this also true of those of us who served during peace time? (My service was during the Reagan years.) Or just those who serve in Iraq, like one of my cousins who just returned from there recently?

It's truly incredible to hear a former presidential candidate make such disparaging remarks about military service. Instead of saying only lazy whelps who fail in school end up in the armed forces, he should be promoting the possiblity of serving and the leadership skills that military service develops.

Such is not the way of the hard-left.

Over on youtube.com, there is a video clip of the comment:

Kerry, like Howard Dean, is one of the Left's greatest heroes, and is most dmaging to the Democratic Party. Gotta wonder what kind of damage control they use after Kerry's latest blunder.

Senator Kerry gets the latest Moonbat Award. Congratualtions Flipper! You've earned it.

Tags:

John Kerry
Iraq
Politics
Moonbat

Posted by Sqotty at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I've joined Soldier's Angels Project ValourIT. Being a former Air Force guy, I figured that would be the suitable one for me to join.

Soldier's Angels is a non-profit raising money to aid our troops and thier families. Project Valou-ITr has a specific goal in mind: supplying voice-activated laptops to our injured troops.

It's a comendable effort, and well worth supporting. I have donated $50 to the cause.

Posted by Sqotty at 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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If you are a Christian running for office in Minnesota as a Republican, watch out! The religious bigots in the DFL and their lap-dog supporters in the media, are out to roast you.

Religious persecution against Christians is nothing new. This country was founded by Christians who fled persecution in Europe, coming to the New World where they could practice their beliefs unmolested.

Lutherans were especially persecuted during the Reformation, including priests and other Reformers who burned alive during the early part of the 16th Century.

I thought it was pretty bad in California, where I lived most of my life, where there were people who would look down at you if you professed any inclination to practicing Christianity.

Here in Minnesota, I expected better. Unfortunately, this is in the Red Star Tribune:

Kessler asked: "The Minneapolis-based Star Tribune reports ... that the church you belong to is affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod which, it says, regards the Roman Catholic pope as the antichrist. Is this true? Do you share the views of your church? And, why should any Catholic in the Sixth District vote for you if it is true?"

Bachmann replied, "That's a false statement. ... It's abhorrent, religious bigotry. I love Catholics, I'm a Christian, and my church does not believe that the pope is the antichrist. That's absolutely false. ... I welcome and have as part of our family many Catholic members as well."

Here we have a Republican candidate for Congress being questioned about her religious views, and the views of the church she belongs to. Yet the only outrage being expressed is by people on the political right.

Over the campaign season, Keith Ellison, a Muslim and former member of the racist Nation of Islam and close associate of Louis Farrakhan, a known racist, has come under fire for those associations. Yet, the "defenders of truth" known as the main stream media and the DFL, decried challenges to Ellison's affiliations, as being religious bigotry. Never mined the fact that Ellison's religious beliefs NEVER came under fire. Only his affiliations with the KKK-like organization, Nation of Islam, and its leaders.

From Wikipedia:

The Nation of Islam teaches that Black people were the original humans. Louis Farrakhan has stated that "White people are potential humans…they haven't evolved yet."

Unlike challenges to Ellison and his affiliation with known racists, this is pure religious bigotry of the worst sort. Where is the Wetterling Campaign on this gross assault on someone's religious beliefs? Aside from denying involvement, she is nowhere to be seen.

Lesson to be learned: if you are a Democrat, you can be as racist as you want, freely affiliate with racist organizations like Ellison with the Nation of Islam and Robert Byrd and the KKK; but if you are a practicing Christian and a Republican, watch out! They'll persecute you for your beliefs, or for the doctrine of your church puts out.

Tags:

Michele Bachmann
Patty Wetterling
Keith Ellison
Nation of Islam

Posted by Sqotty at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I received a good laugh from the DFL in the mail this weekend. It starts out, “Dear Fellow Township Officers,” and goes on to explain how Pawlenty has gut LGA to the townships, yet doesn’t show supporting evidence. What it does state is that state aid to the COUNTIES has been reduced by the Pawlenty administration. Townships and counties are not the same type of government entities.

I have been involved in my township since moving to Minnesota in 2001, and on the board of supervisors since 2004. I am not aware of my township ever receiving LGA funds from the state. Doesn’t mean it hadn’t prior to my arrival, but I think I would have hear talk about it at either the board meetings or the annual meetings.

It claims that Mike Hatch worked with farm and rural groups who opposed Pawlenty’s plan to weaken local control. What plan is that? Details of these plans are distinctly absent from the letter.

It claims that Pawlenty raised our property taxes by fiat when he reduced LGA to the COUNTIES. Yes, property taxes levied by the counties has increased, however, it is because of their steadfast refusal to cut spending, and the continued increase in property valuations. Remember, it is a COUNTY tax assessor who determines what HE thinks our properties are worth, and then taxes accordingly.

Township tax levies are set by the people that make up the community, based on community needs. Perhaps it is time that tax levies be determined at the county level as well.

It also claims that Hatch “came out” to rural Minnesota, specifically Smartville and Willmar, and spoke of how to improve local control. Neither of these places is even remotely close to the township in which I live and have the privilege and honor of serving. And, what were the specifics of Hatch’s plan to improve local control? Again, specific details are conspicuously absent.

This letter is just a bunch of propaganda, spouting rhetoric that isn’t backed up by hard facts.

TAGS:

DFL
mike hatch

Posted by Sqotty at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Jim Webb on the attack against the Bush Administration on the War Against Terror being waged in Iraq. From FoxNews:

"It pains me as an American that our casualties are again escalating while this president and his followers are still incapable of bringing forward an intelligent, commonsense approach to ending our involvement there."

The first step would be for this Administration to say unequivocally that our country has no desire to occupy Iraq in the long term.

…begin immediate discussions with those countries that are culturally and historically invested in Iraq, and arguably aligned with us, to become overtly involved in a diplomatic solution, taking responsibility at some level for future stability among Iraq's competing factions.

Basically, what Webb is pushing as a path to resolving the War in Iraq is the same plan that the Bush Administration is already pursuing and that Webb and other Democrats have poo-pooed as failed policy.

What really gets me is this bit:

The war in Lebanon today is a direct result of the Bush Administration's complete failure of policy in the Middle East.

If Lebanon had disarmed Hezbollah, instead of letting that pack of terrorist thugs run their country, Israel would not have had to re-enter Lebanon. Israel has every right to defend itself from its enemies, and with Hezbollah operating with near impunity, much like the North Vietnamese did, operating from Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

Hezbollah has operated out of Lebanon for decades, raining rockets down on Israel daily for years now, and frequently crossing the border to kidnap and hold hostage Israeli soldiers.

Let's face it. According to the hard-left, anything bad going on in the world is Bush's fault, and they have no plan of their own to solve the problem's we're now facing.

Tags:

James Webb
Virginia politics
Iraq
War on Terror

Posted by Sqotty at 7:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Every now and again I run across one of those blog survey's worth doing. Here's my results on the "What Kind of Beer am I" survey.

You Are Guinness

You know beer well, and you'll only drink the best beers in the world. Watered down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them. When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know it all - especially about subjects you don't know well. But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.

No, I did not take the quiz more than once to get that result!

Posted by Sqotty at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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This goes in the category of “why am I not surprised?”

Last night I took my lovely wife and darling daughter to dinner at a favorite place in Eagan. On the drive up along Cedar Avenue, sue noticed a vehicle sporting a green “What Would Wellstone Do?” sticker, as well as the usual “Wellstone!” sticker. After she pointed it out, I noticed two things about the vehicle sporting said stickers. 1- it was a huge, gas-guzzling, SUV. 2 – it was sporting what we affectionately refer to here in Minnesota as “whiskey plates,” meaning the driver/owner (or someone in their family) has multiple DWIs. Whiskey plates allow law enforcement officers to stop the vehicle at any time, any reason (or no reason at all), and administer drunk driving tests to the driver.

So, here we have a vehicle marked as a drunk driver at the wheel, proclaiming to all the world, or at least to Minnesota, that they are a drunk liberal that doesn’t care about the environment, just like Ted Kennedy.

Tags:

Wellstone

Posted by Sqotty at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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James Webb is on the Foley hotseat over passages in a number of his books. From cnsnews.com:

"I am outraged and sickened by what I have read in the book written by a U.S. Senate candidate," Andrea Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition, said during a press conference outside Webb's campaign headquarters.

Lafferty was referring to Webb's 2001 novel, "Lost Soldiers," which includes a reference to a sexual act involving a father and son.

The passage is referenced here is pretty disgusting. If you are interested in reading it and others, here's a link to them over at the anti-strib.

The interesting point is that the left-wing nuts controlling the Democratic party are blowing this off as a "much ado about nothing." If Webb were a Republican, their outrage would be heard around the world.

More from cnsnews.com:

"We've got a hunt going on on the Hill. It started with Foley [and the congressional page scandal]. He's gone - we're glad. But now, we're going to send someone to the United States Senate who's the author of this kind of trash?" she said.

Yep, people who write trash like that do not belong in the Senate. If some of the passages described were made into film, they would correctly be labeled as child pornography, and the makers sent to a prison for a nice long stay.

Webb has claimed he witnessed some of these acts when he was a journalist, and justifies it as a writer illuminating the background. Guess what, dude! You don't need to write cr@p like that to tell a good story.

Congress does not want perverts like Foley. Why should it tolerate one like Webb.

Anybody interested in a slightly used copy of Born Fighting?
Tags:

James Webb
Virginia Politics
Lost Soldiers

Posted by Sqotty at 8:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Silicon is over, back from vacation, on normal work hours. No more excuses. Time to get the Silicon 2006 photos posted.

As noted in my earlier post during the run of the con, Silicon 2006 was a well attended mid-sized con, with somewhere around 700 fans in attendance.

161k JPEG Dan Lopez with the various Guests of Honor.	75k JPEG Anna Marie, now one year old, in Original Klingon outfit. Would you believe this is her FIFTH convention?
149k JPEG a local furry. He kept insisting it was "duck season."	172k JPEG Masquarade entries.
252k JPEG Dragon	229k JPEG Dragon menacing my wife and daughter.
137k JPEG Sara, of "Renegade Chickens" fame.	170k JPEG Sue and Cassandra.
139k JPEG Anna Marie.	140k JPEG Kate and Mary.
156k JPEG Johanna MacDude.	134k JPEG Lady Di and Klingon Pete.
148k JPEG Mike, Captain of the Bloodlust.	135k JPEG Klingon Warrior.
193k JPEG Party scene.	161k JPEG Party scene.

That's it for this mission report.

Tags:

Silicon
Science Fiction Conventions
Science Fiction Fandom

Posted by Sqotty at 6:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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This in on the BBC News:

Iran has reportedly taken another step in its uranium enrichment programme, in defiance of international pressure.

The dictator running Iran has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel, and has previously expressed a desire to use nuclear weapons to achieve that goal. Anybody out there believe that their enrichment program is strictly for peaceful purposes, to generate electricity?

It wasn’t that long ago that the Clinton Administration fell for the same type of rhetoric coming out of North Korea. Now that the North Koreans have tested a nuclear bomb, albeit a small one, how long will it before Iran does the same?

Or will Iran become a broker of nuclear terrorism, supplying weapons grade material to al-Qaeda?

Sanctions, or the threat of sanctions, will not stop Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, nor should we be placated by their claims of their “peaceful” desires for enriching uranium. We should consider it to be nothing more than the ruse that it is. Deceptions in order for the Iranians to buy sufficient time to achieve their nuclear ambitions.

Tags:

Iran
Nuclear Weapons
Foreign Policy
Terrorism
Nuclear Terrorism

Posted by Sqotty at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I admit it. I have been remiss in my writing duties again. I have not posted two words in nearly two weeks. Things have been, as usual, hectic, what with a nearly two week vacation in California, visiting family, and returning to a week long dapartment meeting followed by a rough on-call cycle at work.

Things are stabilizing.

On the home front, my daughter, Anna Marie, now 13 months old, is walking quite well. She still hasn't quite got the word thing down yet, however, she is getting close. She also has her first molar coming in. This is in addition to the eight front teeth she has. and she wants to explore everything.

Also, on the home front, although seeing deer at dusk, and deer track all over my property (not just in the garden bed), they seem to have "gone to ground" during the daytime. Must be hunting season.

And Klingons are planning a dinner night out at the "Cruise," a local restaurant that features Middle Eastern food and belly dancing.

Posted by Sqotty at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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The totalitarian dictatorship of North Korea has declared that any sanctions set against its country for having conducted a successful nuclear bomb test, is equivalent to a "declaration of war."

From FoxNews

"The resolution cannot be construed otherwise than a declaration of a war" against the North, also known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the statement said.

The North warned it "wants peace but is not afraid of war" and that it would "deal merciless blows" against anyone who violated its sovereignty.

Once again, it is time to give thanks to Jimmy Carter and the Clintons for setting this situation up. Let's face it, with frineds like Carterand the clintons, who need enemies?

Tags:

North Korea
Nuclear Bomb
Clinton Administration
Jimmy Carter

Posted by Sqotty at 7:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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The problem with traveling sans computer, it makes it difficult to report on the fun stuff going on.

I am at the Silicon 2006 Internet Cafe.

Silicon is beginning to wind down, this being the third and final day of the con. It's been a real experience coming back to the Bay Area for a mid-sized science fiction convention.

The Artist Guest of Honor is Mark Bode, son of Vaughn Bode. I'll be honest, the Bode clan of artists are not my cup of tea. But that's my problem. I did have a chance to chat with Mark, and he seems like a okay guy to know. And the art is fine, just not my cup of tea.

Media Guest of Honor is Bob Burnett, who directed Free Enterprise, and presented a showing of the film with live commentary. Unfortunately, we missed it (it was at 10:30 in the morning...and with baby in tow, it's tough getting moving in the morning).

An old friend of mine from my southern Califonia days, Craige Howlett, was the Fan Guest of Honor. It was good running into him and chatting, and showing off Anna to him.

The Masquarade Competition was nearly a full house with a fine array of contestants, with a lot of young folks participating. I don't have a list of winners here. One of the really funny outfits was a gal dressed like a D20, and entered as Lady Di.

Although the number of parties was small (only four or five), all of the parties were excellent and well attneded, with the famous Mara's Bar, run by the local area Klingons, being a main focal point.

Chocolate and alcohol were plentiful thoughout both evenings, as well as mucho conversation and a charity "slave" auction.

I have to comment on something truly wierd that happened during the party cruise through. I was walking around with my (now one year old) daughter in my arms when I was asked by a couple of women if I plan to raise her to be a Democrat. Obviously, these two denizons of California, had no idea who I am. After I stopped laughing, and told them that she has already had her picture taken with the Governor of Minnesota, and about the plans to attend RepubliCon in '08 (the Republican National convention), they then went off about Bush destroying th Constitution, or some such Monnbattiness. It is sad that Republicans and conservatives are forced to be underground in this state that claims to be open-minded. And yes, there were other weird encounters of a similar nature. However, I won't go into those.

A couple of old frineds of mine, Tracy and Johanna, along with some of their friends, put on a panel on military costuming, with a power point slide show and some good examples. Probably the best of the several panels I attneded.

There was also a Fan Film Festival, with some excellent short films, such as The Bat Man a spoof of the original Batman, only this time, the Dark Knight uses a baseball bat. also shown over the weekned was a cool production from a Star Wars group called IMPS

Overall, it's been a fun con. Ran into several people I haven't seen in years, which was cool, and got to jerk some left-wing nuts chains! Who could ask for more?

I'll have pictures up sometime after I return from California.

Tags:

Silicon
Science Fiction Conventions
Science Fiction Fandom

Posted by Sqotty at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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I'm in California right now, and the big issue of the day, and the current election cycle, is Proposition 87, which would levy a tax on oil producers in the state, varying from 1.5% to 6% of revenues and prohibit the oil companines from passing this tax onto the consumers. the drive for this is a desire to reduce oil consumption in the state by 25% over the next some-odd years. In the most populous state in the Union, with its level of population growth, reducing oil consumption by 25% of current levels is a pipe dream.

Worse yet, by prohibiting oil companies from passing this proposed tax onto consumers will mean a reduction of oil production in-state as those wells that are determined to be marginally profitable will be shut down, resulting in an increased dependnce on foreign oil.

The goal is also to develop alternative fuels, notably wind and solar power (but NOT nuclear energy...we are talking California here). Although increasing electrical production through these technologies is admirable, it will do nothing to impact oil consumption.

There may also be a provision to stimulate purchasing hybrid and flex fuel vehicles, however, in a state that has some 35-40 million people (and growing), this will do nothing more than stabilize oil consumption in this state.

As I am no longer a California resident, I have no say in the outcome. However, it would be a serious mistake for Californians to pass this proposition. It is bad policy and lousy economics.

Tags:

Prop. 87
California Oil Tax

Posted by Sqotty at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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It is pretty easy to show the differences between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party when it comes to ethics. Republicans, as now former Rep. Foley can attest, PROSECUTE and PURGE people from office when it comes to gross failures in ethics, regardless of party affiliation. Democrats only do so when it is a Republican who has committed such ethics violations, and support and congratulate unethical congressmen, whether it is for bribery (Rep. William Jefferson, LA), assault and battery (Rep. Cynthia McKinney, GA), or perjury and interfering with justice (former President Bill Clinton).

Foley is out, and based on reports, good riddance to bad rubbish. Unfortunately Jefferson and McKinney are still in office, despite criminal allegations.

Posted by Sqotty at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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The nation was stunned and shocked this week by the brutal slaying of a group of young girls in a small Amish community in Pennsylvania. There is no doubt in my mind that their murderer was a nutcase, and the news reports back this up with revelations from the notes that Charles Carl Roberts IV left behind.

Now, from a FoxNews article, a sickening twist:

The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., planned to boycott funerals for the victims Thursday and Friday. The church claims on its Web site that the shooting spree was carried out by a "mad man" in retribution for Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's "blasphemous sins against WBC." The site says Rendell "slandered and mocked and ridiculed and condemned Westboro Baptist Church on national Fox TV" and that he "revealed a conspiracy to employ the State's police powers to destroy WBC in order to silence WBC's Gospel message."

Fortunately, the local community has stated that they will take a stand to block any protests at the funerals of these young Amish girls.

It is regrettable that we live in an age where zealots such as the members of the Westboro Baptist Church will use any tragedy that receives national attention as a forum for spreading their poisonous message and promote their agenda of hate and intolerance.

Fortunately, in a follow-up piece, the WBC nut jobs have announced a decision NOT to carry out the planned protests. Regardless of their motivations, they are still a bunch of nuts:

"Those Amish people, everyone is sitting around talking about those poor little girls - blah, blah, blah - they brought the wrath upon themselves," Phelps-Roper said, adding that the Amish "don't serve God, they serve themselves."

As you can see, these people are real Nutcases!

Posted by Sqotty at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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