propping up dictators

and no, believe it or not, it wasn't us right-wingers. it was actually our (by "our", i mean communists and french people) good friend john kerry. read this article. realize what kerry really is. vote for bush.

more power to you

wow. this photo-essay over at american digest is incredibly powerful. i would recommend all of my readers (all 5 or 6 of you that i know of, and however many that i don't) go check it out. also, i would like to once again recommend powerline to everybody. like myself, they are a conservative-leaning blog; unlike me, they put a lot more time and research into their posts, and are able to cover more topics more accurately than i can. with election day looming large, its important to know not just who you're voting for, but why. and if you don't have a better reason than "george bush sucks" or "john kerry sucks", you should just stay home.

winter is on the way

cool. we definitely had a nice little hail storm earlier today, and a bit of it is still sticking on the grass. i'm sure it will be gone by tomorrow, but it's still kinda cool. forecast says it's gonna be down in the mid-20s tonight, with a slight chance of actual snow.

and now, a totally random thought:

"It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise revenues in the long run is to cut rates now. The experience of a number of European countries has borne this out. This country's own experience with tax reduction has borne this out. The reason is that only full employment can balance the budget and tax reduction can pave the way to full employment. The purpose of cutting taxes is not to incur a budget deficit, but to achieve the more prosperous, expanding economy which will bring a budget surplus." --John F. Kennedy, December 1962

sounds like my kind of guy

in a totally heterosexual sense, of course. martin drabek is my new hero. the son of polish immigrants who learned english when they moved to america (what a crazy idea...), drabek believes that voting ballots shouldn't be in any language other than english.

unfortunately, he was fired for this statement. for whatever it's worth, martin, i support you and your pro-english-language beliefs.

wow. just... wow.

this is hilarious.

i'm sure they're very scared, john

the following is a completely ridiculous statement by presidential wannabe john kerry: "With the same energy...I put into going after the Viet Cong and trying to win for our country, I pledge to you I will hunt down and capture or kill the terrorists before they harm us."

does that mean you're gonna quit the war on terror after 4 months, john? get a few scratches and decide it's time to come home again? and then maybe protest against the whole thing, throw your medals (or the presidential seal, or whatever) away, and yammer on about how horrible our troops are? the same troops, by the way, that helped establish a democratic republic (or something along those lines... i'm not sure what the official name for it is) in afghanistan, and are working to do the same in iraq. the same ones that you voted against funding for, and then had the gall to say to them that "help is on the way." if you were a real man, mr. kerry, you would realize that you are bad for the country, and drop out of politics altogether.

"John Kerry in New York Monday accused President Bush of creating a crisis of historic proportion in Iraq. He called for a national debate on Iraq and the war on terrorism. Then he voted to cut funding for podiums, moderators and water glasses." --Argus Hamilton

the glare on my glasses is unfortunate, but here i am with my new friend, george nethercutt.

george nethercutt

is a pretty cool guy. i had the opportunity to meet him this morning at a pancake breakfast. it was pretty low key... he gave a short speech, and spent the rest of the time talking with the people there, many of whom he already knew. yay for people who really care about their constituents. i was able to get his autograph in my "american political parties" textbook, as well as a picture with him (see above). the only downside was that the breakfast started at 7, which means i had to be up at 6 to get ready and get downtown. christine, i realize you'll probably never read this, but thanks again for the ride. it was a great experience.

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." --Sir Winston Churchill

gwot

here's a good write-up of where we stand in the global war on terror.

apparently kerry-itis is contagious

when it comes to flip-floppery, at least. in reference to the missing explosives in iraq, which may or may not actually have been there in the first place, kerry's running mate had this to say: "These are exactly the kind of explosives terrorists want. They're the dangerous weapons we wanted to keep from falling in the hands of terrorists. And now these explosives are out there, and we have no idea who's got them." thanks to powerline for the heads up, and the following quote: "So Edwards is now acknowledging that when we invaded Iraq Saddam Hussein possessed 'exactly' the kind of 'dangerous weapons' that 'terrorists want.' Does Edwards still believe that this was 'the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time?'"

on another note, lets assume that the ordnance in question was actually there at one point. at captain's quarters there is a writeup by a retired army logistics officer, on just what it would take to steal 380 tons of explosives. i recommend reading the whole thing, but here is his conclusion: "Bottom line this operation would take the resources of AN ENTIRE COMPANY (approx. 100 men) OVER TWO WEEKS, good Intel to know exactly where the 'right' explosives were hidden and a means of breaching huge steel doors and concrete of an ASP." all this while avoiding coalition surveillance... sound impossible to anyone else?

and now, a great quote from yesterday's federalist, on a slightly different topic: "History shows the grotesqueries that can happen when medicine becomes unhinged from ethics. This is why the Hippocratic Oath admonishes doctors, 'First do no harm.' We may never harm others for our own benefit. Embryonic-destructive research must be resisted." --George J. Marlin

and here is a totally random hyperlink.

not looking good for the wanna-be's

remember that group of people across the atlantic that think they're better than we are? remember when they got their countries together and called it the "european union"? apparently, they thought they could be an economic rival to the US. they had planned to "[overtake] the US economy by 2010," according to this article by the bbc. unfortunately for them, they failed miserably... according to a report they commissioned, they are now farther behind the US than they were 4 years ago when they set their goal. which, to me, seems to indicate one of three things: a) bush is doing really good with our economy; b) liberal/socialist economies don't actually work; or c) some combination thereof.

on a totally different note, here is a really funny john kerry parody ad. somebody actually took the trouble to record his flip-flopping, and turn it into a radio commercial... i was impressed. and entertained. you should check it out.

and since i'm not on my computer (in the lab, which is way too hot), i'm just going to have to make up a quote again.

this one isn't actually made up... it happened on friday.
--Crissy: "Dr. Yoder, do you want our papers on Monday or Wednesday?"
--Dr. Yoder: "I really don't care."

the full body shot. had i been really brave, i would have found some way to do my lips white too. oh well.

Chilling w/ some salsa, watching some Stargate: SG-1. Good show, by the way.

shakespeare performance

yes, believe it or not, i'm taking a shakespeare class this semester. and even though it's an english class--as opposed to theater--we "got" to act for our midterm. i'm going to be asking around to see if anybody got some pics during the performance, but for now, here's a few of me (as "moonshine" from a midsummer night's dream) from afterwards. during the performance, i was also wearing a black tie and black gloves. it was an interesting experience.

i lied, they're too big for the program i use to host pictures. so they'll either be above or below this post, depending on how "hello" is feeling today.


"Diplomacy without arms is like music without instruments." --Frederick the Great

bush's tax cuts are unfair... to the rich

such is the title of a very interesting article over at slate. thanks to wizbang for the heads up.

"We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in." --Thomas Paine

disclaimer

with the election looming ever closer, and with my readership slowly but surely increasing, i think it's time for me to give fair warning to all my readers. this is an OPINION blog. this is me trying to have fun. while it will OCCASIONALLY CONTAIN real NEWS, it is not an objective site. to get some good, balanced news, i would recommend watching a comination of fox news and nbc/abc/pbs news, and reading things like the new york times (on the liberal side) and some conservative blogs, like powerline, wizbang, and michelle malkin.

on that note, i had a performance for my shakespeare class this afternoon. in my opinion, it went really well. i'll have some pictures up as soon as i get them. have a good night all.

excommunication is bad, right?

jonh kerry should be wondering that right about now. according to this article from catholic world news, "If a Catholic publicly and obstinately supports the civil right to abortion, knowing that the Church teaches officially against that legislation, he or she commits that heresy envisioned by Can. 751 of the Code [of Canon Law]. Provided that the presumptions of knowledge of the law and penalty and imputability are not rebutted in the external forum, one is automatically excommunicated ...." hmm... sound vaguely like kerry to anyone but me? apparently some people at the vatican think so.

and yet another possible problem for mr. kerry. the BBC reports: "The Brazilian UN general, Augusto Heleno, said Mr Kerry's comments had offered "hope" to Aristide supporters. Much of the recent unrest has centred on areas loyal to Mr Aristide." when the bbc, a fairly liberal organization, and the un, a very liberal attempt at organization, both have bad things to say about kerry, you know he's in for some bad times.

in other news, kerry has lost the support of one of those foreign leaders he so dearly loves, as president vladimir putin of russia endorsed bush.

it can't be a good day if you're a kerry supporter. which, by default, makes it a great day for me.

a quick reminder

while out campaigning--well, really just doing lit-drops--for republican candidate john serben, i have encountered a surprising number (5 or 6 now) of "veterans for kerry" posters. i really didn't think that was possible. i respect their service to our country... i just wonder why they now seem willing to throw in the towel, as it were, and support kerry? you served our country honorably in the past, why give up now?

but there is still hope. it's nice to know that some people can still look at the bigger picture. i have several friends currently in the military--3 in the army, 1 marine, 1 navy--who are all voting for bush. my father, a veteran himself, is voting for bush. the father of a good friend of mine, who's heading over to iraq in december, is also voting for bush. could it be that they're all crazy, that they've been brainwashed? or could it be that they realize that conservative republicans, like president bush, care more about our men and women in uniform than leftist "democrats" like senator kerry could ever even pretend to?

two quotes tonight... one from the quote board, and one i recently discovered.

from the board: "[O]ne of the problems with our Party is people will say anything to get to be president of the United States...." --Howard Dean (a liberal democrat, by the way)

and my new favorite: "If you don't leave liberals in a sputtering impotent rage, you're not doing it right." --Ann Coulter

any of you liberals out there reading this... please let me know if i'm doing it right.

more cool points for bush... i think

turns out "trans-shipment" (also spelled "transshipment"), a word bush used in the first debate, is a real word. i actually made fun of him for using it... i thought it was the next "strategery". turns out i was wrong. however, it might have been cooler if he actually had made it up on the spot, which is why i'm not sure if he should actually get more cool points. i'll let you guys, whomever you may be, decide this one.

just who is this john kerry?

i'm not entirely sure, but apparently he and edwards are close relatives of jesus. i quote: "We will stop juvenile diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases." either that, or they've got some connections to the antichrist... i hear he'll be able to do some pretty cool stuff too. on that note, according to several catholic bishops, voting for john kerry is a sin. i was going to just go with "stupid," but after looking at their reasoning, i can see the whole "sinful" thing working too.

and a quote, since i haven't put one up for awhile. it's a long one, but a good one:
"A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. She considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, but her father was a staunch Republican. One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs and his opposition to high taxes and welfare programs. He stopped her and asked how she was doing in school. She answered that she had a 4.0 GPA, but it was really tough. She had to study all the time and never had time to go out and party. She didn't have time for a boyfriend and didn't really have many college friends because of spending all her time studying. On top of that, the part-time job her father insisted she keep left absolutely no time for anything else. He asked, 'How is your friend Mary?' She replied that Mary was barely getting by. She had a 2.0 GPA, never studied, but was very popular on campus, didn't have a job, and went to all the parties. She was always complaining about not having any money, but didn't want to work. Why, she often didn't show up for classes because she was hung over. Dad then asked his daughter why she didn't go to the Dean's office and request that 1.0 be taken off her 4.0 and given it to her friend who only had a 2.0. That way they would both have a respectable 3.0 GPA. Then, she could also give her friend half the money she'd earned from her job so that her friend would no longer be broke. The daughter angrily fired back, 'That wouldn't be fair. I worked really hard for my grades and money, and Mary just loafs. Why should her laziness and irresponsibility be rewarded with half of what I've worked for?' The father slowly smiled and said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party'." --Unattributed

terrorism: just a nuisance?

that's what john kerry wants it to be. he wants to get back to the good old days of terrorism, before 9/11, before the US and other nations of the world effectively stood up to terrorism. once again though, i'm just going to link over to powerline's write up, because: a) i'm too lazy and don't have the time to do my own; and b) they're much better and more professional writers than i am. check it out, and see one more reason that john kerry is unfit for command.

quotes of the week

both of them happened yesterday, actually. and i found both of them incredibly hilarious. so here they are. on our way to dinner last night, we saw some girls attempting to skip a frisbee off the cement, and not having much luck. nate's response? "that's like petting a kitten with a 2x4."
the other one actually happened while watching the presidential debate. when asked a question about the environment, bush responded fairly well. except for the part where he said he was going to increase wetlands by 3,000,000; 3 million what george? anyways, kerry failed miserably, barely mentioning the environment at all. and instead of saying what he would do, he attacked bush and made some obscure reference to the red sox. it got so bad that alison, a kerry supporter, yelled at the tv (we all do it at times) "talk about the environment, you bastard!" looks like she's starting to get a few more clues. now if only kerry would figure it out.

but the best quote of the night came from bush himself. kerry, for some reason, is under the impression that president bush recieved $84--that's right ladies and gentlemen, a whopping $84--from a timber company that he owns. bush, the only candidate with an actual sense of humor, was quick to respond: "i own a timber company? that's news to me. need some wood?" kerry needs a lot more than wood, mr. president.

my new favorite band

is definitely lacuna coil. i would describe the way they sound as similar to evanescence, but still unique. i would recommend checking them out. on top of sounding really good, the lead singer looks really good, which is always a plus.

and now a reader quote; i think i've linked to him a few times, if not, check him out here.

"Señor Danner, tu tiene huevos grandes." -Red/Brian

--note--
if you don't understand the quote, don't try a literal translation... it won't make any sense. look for the closest spanish speaking person, and ask them what it means.

so yeah, i've been talking with aliens. and they think we're wrong.

this is very interesting. very interesting indeed. either mr. kerry knows something about the universe that the rest of us don't, or he's not nearly as intelligent as people give him credit for. or maybe some combination thereof. in a recent interview with CNN, kerry said the following: "I can do a better job of protecting America's security because the test that I was talking about was a test of legitimacy, not just in the globe, but elsewhere" (emphasis added). i always knew there was something strange about kerry, but alien? who knew? thanks to powerline for the heads up.

eat it forrest

though for now, i would recommend doing so with a grain of salt. but the hits just keep coming, and it doesn't look good for kerry-edwards or the UN. anyways, if the documents mentioned here turn out to be real, then bush is vindicated, and the rest of the world is wrong. how cool would that be?

"We are in Iraq to: A. Find and destroy weapons of mass destruction; B. Combat terrorism; C. Force regime change; D. Protect the free world's oil supply; E. Annoy the French; F. All of the above." --Cartoonist Bob Gorrell

more problems in the UN

here's an interesting piece i found today. more evidence that the UN needs to just give up and go away. i'll leave it at that... sounds more mysterious, or something.

sucks to be them

most of you, hopefully, have heard of the oil-for-food program/scandal. a recent report drawn up by the iraqi government was leaked, and the london times has the story. if these implications turn out to be true, then france and especially russia are screwed, as is the UN, who was supposed to be running the program. i've even heard rumors floating around that kofi anan's son is being implicated in the scandal, but until i get some more info on that, it will have to stay classified as a rumor.

i'm really excited to see where this is going. i really hope it ends in a major revamp of the UN, or possibly even the end of it, though that is unlikely.

the other complaint

i remembered it right after i clicked publish, of course. since my complaint was "my internet connection is hella slow right now, so it takes forever to publish", i was going to let it wait till morning. but then i decided i'd probably forget, and couldn't resist the opportunity to complain again. i should probably get out of that habit, though... i'm starting to sound like a democrat, or, heaven forbid, a frog.

jimmy carter officially loses

now i see why the federalist refers to him as our best ex-president. in a recent interview (if the link doesn't show it, go to msn video, and do a search for "carter") with nbc's katie couric, carter said that bush misled the american people, and that iraq was a "quagmire, very similar to what we experienced in vietnam." newsflash jimmy... iraq is nothing like vietnam--a war which we were winning, by the way, until pinko leftists (it would be an insult to communists everywhere to group you along with them) like yourself started whining about how horrible america was. Also, apparently a large part of the violence in iraq is due to the fact that american troops are there. ya think, jimmy? true, our soldiers over there provide a pretty convenient target; but unlike our citizens who died on september 11, our troops can shoot back. and personally, i'd rather have trained professionals being shot at and blown up over in iraq (though it would be nice if we could avoid that too) than civilians facing the same threat here in america. on kerry's flip-flopping, he said that "circumstances change", and when "you learn more information" (pretty hard for kerry to do, since he never shows up for his job), it's natural to change your mind.

i really wish that i could blame these views on senility--he did just turn 80--but he's had problems for awhile now. maybe kerry can be the next jimmy carter for us... a democrat president who basically sucks, and leads the country to elect the next reagan to fix things. as much as i'd like to see bush get re-elected, if kerry winning gives us a shot at another reagan, i'm willing to suffer through the next 4 years.

i was going to complain about something else, but it's late (or early, depending on how you look at it) and i'm tired. time for bed.