Happy New Year to all. 2007 looks to be a great year, we're off to a great start (see below). Will be celebrating New Years Eve with the best friends of the Mrs., their Méxican as well, we'll be breaking out the guitars (maybe my new banjo) singing mariachi tunes, sipping tequila and watch the kids play 'til about 3am.....do this every year, it's a blast. Happy New Year.

UPDATE: Nothing is ever easy...just......get the rope.

The Good and the Bad About Hanging Saddam

First off, it looks like the MSM has finally caught up with the "morons" in the blogosphere with regards to Sad-dam meeting his maker........ Allan Akbar, Allan Akbar, Allan Akbar.

;-)

Colleague Steve sent this to me. The good? The rat dies, hopefully slowly and that he is totally frightened. Think about the innocent people you sent to "the chipper".

The bad? Not waterboarding the S.O.B. to find out the following:

1. Were there or were there not WMD? If so, where did they go?
2. Buried treasures?
3. Reason for Kuwait invasion?
4. Complicity in assasination attempt on George H.W. Bush.
5. Oil for food money?
6. Swiss/Cayman bank accounts?
7. Osama connections, direct or indirect, before AND after 9-11?

If the U.S. does not waterboard him to confess to many of these questions, the world will forever lose the truth. Make him confess and then tape it or write it FOR HISTORY'S SAKE!!! His last Will and Testament/Confession will save the world from all the conspiracy theories that the wacko left/blame & hate America will seek to make him into the MARTYR they are already portraying him as. To them, Saddam did no wrong. His ongoing trial will now be left without justice for the victims so they need his confession too. What injustices by Saddam will go unanswered? He must be forced to confess before his death!

Uday, Qusay and Finally...........Pops

Looks like it could be hours, or a few days, either way we end the year 2006 with a "hang", or we ring in the New Year with a "hang".

Saddam dead by Sunday?

I wonder who the lucky guy is who gets to tie this baby up????

UPDATE #2: Jules Crittenden says it may have already happened.

UPDATE: Saddam's lawyers have been told to pick up his personal belongings the BBC reports:

Lawyers for former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein have confirmed to the BBC that they have been asked to pick up his personal effects.

But an Iraqi official denied that he has been handed from US military to Iraqi custody, following earlier reports this had already happened.

Saddam Hussein could be hanged at any time over the next four weeks, after an appeal against his execution failed.

The sentence is for the killings of 148 Shias in Dujail in the 1980s. A trial for a second case, genocide against the Kurds, continues.

heh, heh...goodbye a$$bag.

Today in History....December 29

On this day in …

1845, six months after the congress of the Republic of Texas accepts U.S. annexation of the territory, Texas is admitted into the United States as the 28th state

1908, Otto Zachow and William Besserdich of Clintonville, Wisconsin, received a patent for their four-wheel braking system, the prototype of all modern braking systems

1930, Japan renounced the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930

1940, London suffers its most devastating air raid when Germans firebomb the city. Hundreds of fires caused by the exploding bombs engulfed areas of London, but firefighters showed a valiant indifference to the bombs falling around them and saved much of the city from destruction. The next day, a newspaper photo of St. Paul's Cathedral standing undamaged amid the smoke and flames seemed to symbolize the capital's unconquerable spirit during the Battle of Britain

1975,

Trusts and would-be monopolies were put on notice, as the Celler-Kefauver Anti-merger Act, a potent piece of anti-trust legislation, made its way into the law books

A bomb exploded in the main terminal of New York's LaGuardia Airport, killing 11 people. The perps were never caught
1989, playwright Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia by the country's Federal Assembly, becoming the first noncommunist to attain the post in more than four decades

1996, war-weary guerrilla and government leaders in Guatemala signed an accord ending 36 years of civil conflict

2001, a fire sparked by a fireworks explosion in downtown Lima, Peru, killed 274 people

2005, international monitors said they would review Iraq's parliamentary elections in response to fraud complaints by Sunni Arab and secular Shiite groups

Make Sure You Vote For.........

....for the Idiotarian of the Year Award here, the usual suspects nominated are (except Jimmi the Dhimmi):

Kofi Annan
Hugo Chavez
John F. Kerry
Mainstream Media
John Murtha
Keith Olbermann
9/11 Conspiracy Theorists

......and the good guys, Anti-Idiotarian of the Year Award here, nominated are:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali
John Bolton
Canadian PM Stephen Harper
Australian PM John Howard
Melanie Phillips
Pope Benedict XVI
Robert Spencer
Mark Steyn
Stuck Mojo
Wafa Sultan

The Media Whore Is At It Again

.....or The Professional Griever, or quite frankly, the biggest moron/fool in human form.

Can Cindy Sheehan get anymore nuttier?

Gerald Ford, our 38th and first ever un-elected President is dead.
[...]Usually, burying a 93 year old loved one is sorrowful but, I believe his pardon of Richard Nixon is one of the factors that have led to the untimely deaths of over 3000 American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in the Middle East.

What's her insane reasoning for this?

but since Nixon got away with his blatant crimes and every President since Nixon has skated away from office after having committed overt and covert crimes, we have on our hands, here, a situation that I am forced now to call: "Bloody George."

Because Nixon was pardoned this caused a chain effect of lawless Presidents that ultimately led to George Bush taking the war to the terrorists and taking down a tyrant who should of been taken down long before.

That's it in a nutshell.

Blame Bush! Blame Ford! They secretly sat around the fireplace smoking pipes as they hatched a plan that 30 years later would ensure the victory of someone who would invade Iraq.

h/t Flopping Aces

Today in History.....December 28

On this day in …

1832, John C. Calhoun became the first vice president of the United States to resign, stepping down over differences with President Jackson

1895, the world's first commercial movie screening takes place at the Grand Cafe in Paris. The film was made by Louis and Auguste Lumiere, two French brothers who developed a camera-projector called the Cinematographe. The Lumiere brothers unveiled their invention to the public in March 1895 with a brief film showing workers leaving the Lumiere factory. On December 28, the entrepreneurial siblings screened a series of short scenes from everyday French life and charged admission for the first time

1917, the New York Evening Mail published a facetious essay by H.L. Mencken on the history of bathtubs in America
1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance

1973, Alexander Solzhenitsyn published "Gulag Archipelago," an expose of the Soviet prison system

1981, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first American "test-tube" baby, was born in Norfolk, Va.

1996, Leftist rebels in Peru released 20 more hostages, including two ambassadors, from Japan's embassy residence, following the first face-to-face talks between guerrillas and the government's negotiator

2001, the National Guard was called out to help Buffalo, New York, dig out from a paralyzing, five-day storm that had unloaded nearly seven feet of snow

2005,

A U.S. immigration judge ordered retired auto worker John Demjanjuk, accused of being a Nazi concentration camp guard, deported to his native Ukraine. (Demjanjuk is appealing the deportation order.)

Former top Enron Corp. accountant Richard Causey pleaded guilty to securities fraud and agreed to help pursue convictions against Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling

Milestone: It's My 1,000th Post

Couldn't ask for better timing, and with that........ Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah everyone! Have a great Holiday. Thank you for stopping by, see you in days to come!

Christmas in Iraq

David Ignatius writes about the soldiers who are spending Christmas in Iraq.

As we all prepare to enjoy our Christmas festivities (and blogging gets lighter!), take a moment to say a prayer for all the soldiers who are defending our freedom and trying to secure a foothold for democracy in the Middle East.God bless them every one.

Enough Said

Dr. Joe, In The House

18 tricks to teach your body.

Check this out,

The Most Dangerous Roads in the World

h/t Ace

Today in History....December 22

On this day in …

1807, Congress passed the Embargo Act, barring all U.S. trade with foreign countries

1808, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C Minor and Symphony No. 6 in F Major had their world premieres in Vienna, Austria
1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman sent a message to President Lincoln: "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah."

1894, French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was eventually vindicated

1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived in Washington for a wartime conference with President Franklin Roosevelt

1974, Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States

1984, New York City resident Bernhard Goetz shot and wounded four youths on a Manhattan subway, claiming they were about to rob him

1989, Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, the last of Eastern Europe's hard-line Communist rulers, was toppled from power in a popular uprising

1991, the body of Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, an American hostage murdered by his captors, practitioners of that "religion of peace", was found dumped along a highway in Lebanon

2001, Richard C. Reid, a passenger on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami and convert to that "religion of peace", tried to ignite explosives in his shoes, but was subdued by flight attendants and fellow passengers. (Reid, who later pleaded guilty, is serving a life sentence in federal prison.)

2005,


Congress completed work on a one-month extension of the Patriot Act and sent it to President Bush

Astronomers announced the discovery of two more rings encircling the planet Uranus, the first additions to the planet's ring system in nearly two decades

Grab A Bottle of Tequila, Your Banjo.......

and 'skinner down!

This ought to put a smile on your face! Go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vz1LMylZSY

See if you can name the boys in the jam session, the answer is in the comment section.

Time is tight, gotta go!

Today in History....December 21

On this day in …

1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Mass.

1913, the first crossword puzzle was published, in the New York World
1945, Gen. George S. Patton died in Heidelberg, Germany, of injuries from a car accident

1948, the state of Eire, or Ireland (formerly the Irish Free State), declared its independence

1968, Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon

1975, in Vienna, Austria, Carlos the Jackal leads a raid on a meeting of oil ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). German and Arab terrorists stormed in with machine guns, killed three people, and took 63 people hostage, including 11 OPEC ministers. Calling his group the "Arm of the Arab Revolution," Carlos demanded that an anti-Israeli political statement be broadcast over radio, and that a bus and jet be provided for the terrorists and their hostages. Austrian authorities complied, and all the hostages were released in Algeria unharmed. OPEC did not hold another summit for 25 years

1976, the Liberian-registered tanker Argo Merchant broke apart near Nantucket Island almost a week after running aground, spilling 7.5 million gallons of oil into the North Atlantic

1988, 270 people were killed by practitioners of that "religion of peace" when a terrorist bomb exploded aboard a Pan Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, sending wreckage crashing to the ground

1991, in a final step signifying the dismemberment of the Soviet Union, 11 of the 12 Soviet republics declare that they are forming the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Just a few days later, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev announced he was stepping down from his position. The Soviet Union ceased to exist

1995, the city of Bethlehem passed from Israeli to "Palestinian" control. Christians living there immediately had their lives made miserable by the new Authority

2001, Hamas announced it was suspending suicide bombings and mortar attacks in Israel. It didn't last long

2005, the Senate approved a six-month extension of the USA Patriot Act to keep the anti-terror law from expiring on Dec. 31, 2005

Who Is The Real Barack Hussein Obama?

I don't know about you, but I've had about an a$$-full of the media attention that Barack Hussein Obama has been receiving lately. He is a great speaker, possesses the all important charisma, not to mention his whopping 2 years as a US Senator, but while the Oprah crowd goes nuts over the chain smoking (wonder how that will go over), sensitive (please don't talk about my ears, I was teased as a child and I am sensitive), let's take a look at what he stands for....

Obama voted against the Bush tax cuts on capital gains and dividends, justifying his anti-growth stance with the old class-warfare saw about tax cuts for the rich. Of course, these are the very same tax cuts that spurred economic expansion, created record job growth and reduced the deficit, as revenues flooded the Treasury.

The young senator also voted against repealing the death tax. He dismissed it as a “Paris Hilton tax break” that would give “billions of dollars to billionaire heirs and heiresses.” Try telling that to the owners of farms, ranches and small businesses who are forced to sell their legacies because of this tax.

He swings a nice protectionist bat, too. He has voted against free trade (CAFTA) and U.S. energy independence (drilling in ANWR), and has opposed lifting a $0.54 per gallon tariff on Brazilian ethanol. “Ethanol imports are neither necessary nor a practical response to current gasoline prices,” he claimed. Nonsense.

He’s also strongly opposed to personal retirement accounts for Social Security reform and prefers instead that the government steward your money. As Amanda Carpenter wrote in Human Events, “When speaking out against various tax cuts, Obama has likened the ‘Ownership Society’ — which entails such things as personalized Social Security accounts, health savings accounts and school choice — to ’social Darwinism.’”…

The senator is liberal to the core. He voted against Supreme Court Justices Sam Alito and John Roberts. (Even liberal Sens. Russ Feingold and Pat Leahy voted for Roberts.) He said no to Patriot Act wiretap extensions, despite their proven effectiveness in halting terrorist attacks over the past five years. He collaborated in blocking John Bolton’s appointment to the United Nations. He earned a perfect 100 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America. He voted against a ban on partial-birth abortions twice as a state senator. He opposed the Defense of Marriage Act and stood against the Federal Marriage Amendment, despite acknowledging his belief that marriage is between a man and a woman.

Don’t let the charm or the nice smile fool you, when you look straight at the voting record this guy is worse than Hillary Clinton - and few senators can claim that title.

h/t Hispanic Pundit

Today in History....December 19

On this day in …

1777, Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter

1813, British forces captured Fort Niagara during the War of 1812
1907, 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pa

1946, war broke out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French

1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, winding up the Apollo program of manned lunar landings

1974, Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States

1986,


Lawrence E. Walsh was appointed independent counsel to investigate the Iran-Contra affair

The Soviet Union announced it had freed dissident Andrei Sakharov from internal exile, and pardoned his wife, Yelena Bonner
1998, President Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice (he was later acquitted by the Senate)

1996,


The television industry unveiled a plan to rate programs using tags such as "TV-G," "TV-Y" and "TV-M"

The school board of Oakland, Calif., voted to recognize Black English, also known as "Ebonics," in a decision that set off a firestorm of controversy (the board later modified its stance)
2001,


Argentina's president, Fernando de la Rua, decreed a state of siege as his country's economic crisis triggered violence

The fires that had burned beneath the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York City for the previous three months were declared extinguished except for a few scattered hot spots

Senators For Terror

Senators Bill Nelson of Florida and Barbara Boxer of Califonia should be ashamed. The former flew to Syria to conduct his own pitiful attempts at foreign policy with Syria's leader, the thug Assad, while the latter gave an "Outstanding Service" award to the head of CAIR-Sacramento.

Things Are Coming To A Head

VDH's excellent blog here.

Excerpt follows:

The World’s Wars

These last few weeks Somalis were killing Ethiopians. Iraqi Shiites and Sunnis were killing each other. Pakistani and Afghan fundamentalists were killing Afghan reformers. Hamas is killing Fatah and vice versa. Syrians are killing Sunnis and Christians in Lebanon, as is Hezbollah that also attacked Israel.



Off the battlefield this past year Muslims were threatening Danish cartoonists, the Pope, Salman Rushdie again, German opera producers, French high-school teachers, and Dutch filmmakers. The common denominator in all this is not, pace the Western Left, the nefarious United States, its Patriot Act or wiretaps, but rather Islamic extremists—mad that the modern world both excites them, and ignores and passes them by. And of course they play to the millions of their brethren appeasers who don’t really want these radicals to bring them a Taliban Dark Ages, but sorta, kinda, like the idea that they kill a few of those arrogant infidel Westerners as blood sport.

Like Watching the Oedipus or Ajax?

The war since 9/11 is sort of like a Greek tragedy whose end we all anticipate, but apparently have no means to avoid. We tried to remove the worst of the Middle East’s murdering regimes, and to offer in their places consensual governments that might serve as models how Muslims need not kill each other, and need not ruin their economies and oppress the innocent. But all the while Islamic jihadism keeps trying to repeat September 11, with the clandestine aid—whether sanctuary, cash, or arms—from Iran, Pakistan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.

Read it all here.

Hey Flying Imams.....Bite Me

(click to enlarge)

Today in History....December 18

On this day in …

1620, passengers on the British ship Mayflower come ashore at modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, to begin their new settlement, Plymouth Colony
1777, the new United States celebrates its first national day of thanksgiving, commemorating the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga after the surrender of General John Burgoyne and 5,000 British troops in October 1777

1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, was declared in effect

1892, Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker" publicly premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia

1940, Adolf Hitler, ym"sh, signed a secret directive ordering preparations for a Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. (Operation Barbarossa was launched in June 1941.)

1941, Japanese troops land in Hong Kong and a slaughter ensues

1956, Japan was admitted to the United Nations

1972, the United States began heavy bombing of North Vietnamese targets during the Vietnam War. (The bombardment ended 12 days later.)

1996, FBI agent Earl Edwin Pitts was arrested, accused of selling secrets to the Russians. (Pitts was sentenced in June 1997 to 27 years in prison.)

2001, federal judge in Philadelphia threw out vicious cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal's death sentence and ordered a new sentencing hearing for the former Black Panther (Both sides appealed that ruling, and Abu-Jamal remains on death row.)

2005,


In a televised speech, President Bush declared that Iraq's parliamentary elections signaled the birth of democracy in the Middle East

Susanne Osthoff, a German aid worker kidnapped in Iraq by practitioners of that "religion of peace", was freed after three weeks in captivity

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a mild stroke

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock...It's Just A Matter Of Time

Fidel Castro won't be missed:

"Everything we see indicates it will not be much longer . . . months, not years," Negroponte told a meeting of Washington Post editors and reporters.

I bet it's weeks.

Look out Cox & Forkum....'cause it's "Barbee Time!"

Notorious D-A-D

This is f-u-n-n-y.

Not a real fan of rap, but I can take this one......if it ain't got guitars, it ain't worth listneing to in my book, but this is funny........over 35 year old white boys rappin' about.......well..... being white, married with kids and living in the 'burbs.

h/t Bobby Bag of Donuts

Today in History....December 15

On this day in …

1791, following ratification by the state of Virginia, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, became the law of the land
1890, Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull and 11 other tribe members were killed in Grand River, S.D., during a fracas with Indian police

1938, groundbreaking ceremonies for the Jefferson Memorial took place in Washington

1939, the motion picture "Gone With the Wind" had its world premiere in Atlanta

1944, a single-engine plane carrying bandleader Glenn Miller, who was a major in the U.S. Army Air Forces, disappeared over the English Channel while en route to Paris

1961, Adolf Eichmann, ym"sh, the architect of the Holocaust, was condemned to death by an Israeli war crimes tribunal

1965, two U.S. manned spacecraft, Gemini 6-A and Gemini 7, maneuvered to within 10 feet of each other while in orbit

1973, Jean Paul Getty III, the grandson of American billionaire J. Paul Getty, is found alive near Naples, five months after his kidnapping by an Italian gang. J. Paul Getty, had initially refused to pay his 16-year-old grandson's $17 million ransom but finally agreed to cooperate after the boy's severed right ear was sent to a newspaper in Rome. He eventually secured his grandson's release by paying just $2.7 million, the maximum amount that he claimed he was able to raise

1979, the deposed Shah of Iran left the United States for Panama, the same day the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that Iran should release all its American hostages

1996, Boeing Co. announced plans to pay $13.3 billion to acquire rival aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas Corp.

2001,


A 50-foot tall section of steel --- the last standing piece of the World Trade Center's facade --- was brought down in New York

Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy, was reopened to the public after a $27 million realignment that had dragged on for over a decade
2005, millions of Iraqis turned out to choose a parliament in a mostly peaceful election

Dennis Miller on Iraq And The War On Terror

Trust me, you'll like this, well most will, a few cuss words.......pretty funny:

Click here.

"What If He Dies, Then What?"

Unfortunately, politics is above life and death for some. Driving back from Palm Springs last night and listening to the radio, the main talking point from a certain party on the hospitalization of Democrat Senator Tim Johnson was "what will happen to us now?"

What about Tim Johnson?

Remember US Senator Paul Wellstone? Rrrrrreeal nice funeral, that was absolutely disgusting. I have friends that are Democrats and they are great guys, too bad some their leaders are pathetic, narcissistic dolts.

Here's a scene from one those chicks at "A View"...You've got to see it to believe it.

excerpt:

Joy Behar - "Is there such a thing as a man-made stroke? In other words, did someone do this to him?"

Then.....audience laughter..........laughter??

Today in History....December 14

On this day in …

1927 - My Mom was born! Born and raised in Minnesota, she had the wonderful experience of having 4 boys averaging 6'4" and uh uh, uhm 235 lbs, and 2 daughters, the oldest being a little thing of 5'2" and 100 lbs. The oldest son was your typical do nothing wrong, good son, not really sure if he's ever got on the wrong side of her, or anybody, but the remaining 3 boys took care of the grief that mothers usually go through. I, of course, was the nicest. ;-) Happy Birthday Mom, we love you!

1918 President Wilson arrived in France, becoming the first chief executive to visit Europe while in office
1921, United States, Britain, France and Japan sign Washington Treaty to respect each others' rights over insular possessions in Pacific

1937, Japanese troops take Nanking in China and proceed to massacre an estimated 300,000 Chinese civilians

1944, during World War II, the U.S. cruiser Nashville was badly damaged in a Japanese kamikaze attack that claimed more than 130 lives

1978, the Philadelphia Mint began stamping the Susan B. Anthony dollar, which went into circulation in July 1979

1981, authorities in Poland imposed martial law in a crackdown on the Solidarity labor movement. (Martial law formally ended in 1983.)

2001,


The Pentagon publicly released a captured videotape of Osama bin Laden in which the al-Qaida leader said the deaths and destruction achieved by the Sept. 11 attacks exceeded his "most optimistic" expectations

Five suspected terrorists, practitioners of that "religion of peace", killed nine people in an attack on India's parliament before being killed themselves

President Bush served formal notice that the United States was pulling out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia
2003, Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces while hiding in a hole under a farmhouse in Adwar, Iraq, near his hometown of Tikrit

2005,


Crips gang co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams was executed in California for killing four people in robberies

Iraqis living abroad began voting in the country's parliamentary elections

Going to Palm Springs in a bit for a little over a day. Top secret meeting at La Quinta Resort.

The Shiites, The Sunnis, and US Rep. Silvestre Reyes

As a member of the US Intelligence Committee, he is paid $162,000 to know more than basic facts about our foes in the Middle East.

On the Shiites and the Sunnis, Reyes responds....."it’s not like the Hatfields and the McCoys. It’s a heck of a lot more complex."

No shiite.

Here's a crash course from Dean Barrett at Hugh Hewitt

1) Who are the Sunnis and the Shiites?

They are the two main sects of Islam. And generally speaking, they’re not crazy about each other.

2) What are the differences between them?

Historically, they suffered their fissure 13 centuries ago when they differed over who the rightful heir to Muhammad was. Beyond that little nugget, the typical congressman shouldn’t have to worry his pretty little blow-dried head about the origins of the two sects.

The Sunnis historically were much more political than the Shiites. Devout and fundamentalist Sunnis felt (and feel) that there can be no law above the Koran. That means they feel that government by necessity must be a theocracy. Also, fundamentalist Sunnis consider Shiites to be apostates. An apostate is an even worse thing to be than an infidel.

Shiites traditionally were relatively non-political. You’ve seen this kind of Shiite philosophy in action in Iraq where Ayatollah Sistani supported the formation of a secular government and declined to claim the reins of leadership himself.

3) So who’s Sunnis and who’s Shiite?

The Shiite majority countries are Iran and Iraq . The Sunni majority countries are everyone else.

Here's the rest, it goes to 15.

Just Make The Portions Smaller

Today in History....December 12

On this day in …

1901, Italian physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi succeeds in sending the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean, disproving detractors who told him that the curvature of the earth would limit transmission to 200 miles or less. The message--simply the Morse-code signal for the letter "s"--traveled more than 2,000 miles from Poldhu in Cornwall, England, to Newfoundland, Canada
1906, the Senate confirmed Oscar Straus to be President Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of Commerce and Labor; Straus became the first Jewish member of a presidential cabinet

1925, the first motel -- the Motel Inn -- opened in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

1937, Japanese aircraft sank the U.S. gunboat Panay on China's Yangtze River. (Japan apologized, and paid $2.2 million in reparations.)

1941, the U.S. Navy takes control of the largest and most luxurious ocean liner on the seas at that time, France's Normandie, while it is docked at New York City. Shortly thereafter, the conversion for U.S. wartime use began

1963, a vinyl long-playing record ("LP") called John Fitzgerald Kennedy: A Memorial Album sets a record for album sales. A total of 4 million copies sold in the first six days of its release

1980, American oil tycoon Armand Hammer pays $5,126,000 at auction for a notebook containing writings by the legendary artist Leonardo da Vinci. The manuscript, written around 1508, was one of some 30 similar books da Vinci produced during his lifetime on a variety of subjects

1987, during an official visit to Denmark, U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz issues a statement calling on America's NATO allies in western Europe to sharply increase their defense spending. Shultz bluntly informed his Danish hosts that it was "important for all of us to increase our contributions to NATO?to insure that we do everything we can to preserve our values." The call for funds was in direct response to the INF Treaty that had recently been signed by the U.S. and the Soviet Union

2000, a divided U.S. Supreme Court reversed a state court decision for recounts in Florida's contested election. George W. Bush became president-elect

"Hey Joe, I'm Stumped, My (choose) Wife/Husband/Friend Has Everything, What Could I Possibly Get Him/Her For Christmas?

THIS.

Especially if they're a lefty. Wear it to your company Christmas party and you'll get a raise.

And this/these. Pimping for a friend......tell 'em I sent you, I swear to you these are the best products in its class you will ever find. Made right here in Arizona, with help from New Mexico.

Aahh, something to do with html in the URL, try this:

http://www.azgunslinger.com/page3.html

Apocalypto - Not Sure If This Made The Final Cut

I'm really looking forward to seeing this film, this slice is only 1 minute in length.

I just received this screening of the movie, even if you saw it this weekend, please let me know if this scene was not cut. That 'ol Mel Gibson is something else....... heh heh.

Hamas Confirms Meeting with American Democrats

Time to get some recent travel records........

Hamas Confirms Meeting with American Democrats
16:16 Dec 11, '06 / 20 Kislev 5767

(IsraelNN.com) Hamas officials have confirmed a WorldNetDaily report that terrorist organization leaders recently met with senior Democratic party members after the recent sweep of both houses of Congress in last month's American elections. The independent Arab news agency Ma'an quoted Ahmed Yousef, an aide to prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Ismail Haniyeh as saying the meeting was held. However, a Democratic National Committee spokeswoman said she has no knowledge that the meeting took place.

Details were withheld in order not to damage the image of the Democratic party, he added. Yousef said that Hamas leaders also spoke to leaders of key European countries, including British Members of Parliament.

"Hey Man.....You're Going to China"

When your CEO pops in and drops this line on you........things are good!

Mid April I'm going to Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou and Guangzhou to hang with my Chinese friends, bond in the mountains of China and be a Chinese dude for a week.

Been Out of Commission / New Blogger Notice

Meetings, Meetings, and I'm spent... but the good part?............I've got a new computer.

This baby smokes.

Gone for the weekend starting now, back on Monday, maybe sunday night......meanwhile welcome new blogger Serendip, check it out. Here's a taste, Twenty-six years ago, a picture of an execution in Iran won the Pulitzer Prize. But the man who took it remained anonymous. Until now.
Here's his post -
http://fleetingperusal.blogspot.com/2006/12/photos-made-public-for-first-time.html

Make it a great weekend!!!

-Uprising in Iran?

-Pearl Harbor / The Iraq War, Then and Now

2 quick posts today and then it's off to meeeeeeeeeettings.

I did a post last August 25 about what would it take for an overthrow of Iran President Mahmoud Ackmadinutcase, I wrote here http://joegringo.blogspot.com/2006/08/redneck-and-gringo-chewin-cud.html ............"On my recent golf trip with the boys, including Vinstein, he and I were talking about how the both us were going to team up and kick the crap out of the Muzzies and get the ball rolling for their downfall. The Vinstein came up with a beauty, he brought up the idea that the uprising of women would start the downfall.

Then I added my 2 cents worth.....

Iran President Ahmadinejad knows that a massive student uprising could derail his leadership as well as the mullahs, and according to many Iranians living in the U.S they believe that to be true.

They need a martyr.

A popular student needs to arise so the mullahs kill him. Now think if the martyr was a woman! Women are oppressed there and could rise up, it is said that many muslim women are westernized inside the home and complain about the conditions outside the home. So, how about the martyr(s) be a Female Student(s)?

Maybe the ball is rolling that way?? Check this out: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,235062,00.html

VDH has a great piece on Pearl Harbor and our current situation in Iraq and The M.E. :

[I]n those days, peace and reconstruction followed rather than preceded victory. In tough-minded fashion, we offered ample aid to, and imposed democracy on, war-torn nations only after the enemy was utterly defeated and humiliated. Today, to avoid such carnage, we try to help and reform countries before our enemies have been vanquished —putting the cart of aid before the horse of victory.
Our efforts today are further complicated by conflicting Internet fatwas, terrorist militias and shifting tribal alliances; in short, we are not always sure who the enemy cadre really is — or will be.

So paradoxes follow:

A stronger, far more affluent United States believes it can use less of its power against the terrorists than a much poorer America did against the formidable Japanese and Germans.

World War II, which saw more than 400,000 Americans killed, was not nearly as controversial or frustrating as one that has so far taken less than one-hundredth of that terrible toll.

And after Pearl Harbor, Americans believed they had no margin of error in an elemental war for survival. Today, we are apparently convinced that we can lose ground, whether in Afghanistan or Iraq, and still not lose either the war or our civilization.

Of course, by 1945, Americans no longer feared another Pearl Harbor. Yet, we, in a far stronger and larger United States, are still not sure we won’t see another Sept. 11.


Today in History....December 7

On this day in …

1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution

1796, electors chose John Adams to be the second president of the United States

1941, Japanese forces attacked American and British territories and possessions in the Pacific, including the home base of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii

1963, during the Army-Navy game, videotaped instant replay was used for the first time in a live sports telecast as CBS re-showed a one-yard touchdown run by Army quarterback Rollie Stichweh. (Navy beat Army, 21-15.)

1972,

America's last moon mission to date was launched as Apollo 17 blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Imelda Marcos, wife of Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos, was stabbed and seriously wounded by an assailant who was then shot dead by her bodyguards


1988, a major earthquake in the Soviet Union devastated northern Armenia; official estimates put the death toll at 25,000

1996, the space shuttle Columbia landed at the Kennedy Space Center, ending a nearly 18-day mission marred by a jammed hatch that prevented two planned spacewalks
2001,


Taliban forces abandoned their last bastion in Afghanistan, fleeing the southern city of Kandahar

The space shuttle Endeavor docked with the international space station, delivering a new three-member crew to relieve a crew in place since August


2005, federal air marshals shot and killed an airline passenger at Miami International Airport after he falsely claimed to have a bomb

The Best Analysis of the Iraq/Iran Conflict To Date

This suggests that Iran welcomed our takeout of Saddam Hussein and knew that a civil war would take place after that, leading to a potential collapse of the US military presence, Iran's proxy armies (Hezbollah, terrorist/insurgents) would re-inforce their presence.

Tigerhawk has it here.
ahh..... try this:
http://tigerhawk.blogspot.com/2006/12/what-to-do-about-regional-war.html

It's a bit lengthy and it's only an intro, here's an excerpt:

"Had the Shia maintained what appeared to be their course politically when al-Zarqawi was killed, accommodation would seem to have been possible. But, under Iranian influence, the Shia drew back from the political process in Iraq and increased their attacks against the Sunnis. Along with this shift, Tehran encouraged its ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, to become more aggressive toward Israel, and provided military equipment and training for this effort. The conflict in July-August 2006 was the outcome, and it stunned both Israel and the world. For whatever reason, Israel was unable, for the first time since the founding of the modern state, to crush an enemy in war. This increased the confidence of Syria, another Iranian ally dominated by an Alawite government, to raise its pressure on Lebanon.

In short, Iran had three goals. First, it wanted to be the dominant power in Iraq. Second, it wanted to be the dominant power in the Persian Gulf. Finally, it wanted to reclaim for the Shia the distinction of leading the Islamist renaissance — a position that had been assumed by Sunni al Qaeda. By the fall, it was on the verge of achieving this. The key was Iraq: Iran either had to create a situation that would force the Americans’ withdrawal, thus leaving Iraq to the Iranians, or failing that, a civil war that would divide the nation, allowing Iran to dominate the new, southern Shiite entity. That would give Iran the ability to begin to dominate the Persian Gulf, and would give it revolutionary primacy in the Islamic world."

Today in History....December 6

On this day in …

1790, Congress moved from New York to Philadelphia

1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, officially ending the institution of slavery, is ratified. "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." With these words, the single greatest change wrought by the Civil War was officially noted in the U.S. Constitution

1884, Army engineers completed construction of the Washington Monument

1921, British and Irish representatives signed a treaty in London providing for creation of an Irish Free State a year later on the same date

1923, a presidential address was broadcast on radio for the first time as President Coolidge spoke to a joint session of Congress

1947, Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by President Truman

1955, the Federal government standardized the size of license plates throughout the U.S. Previously, individual states had designed their own license plates, resulting in wide variations

1957, America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit failed as Vanguard TV-3 blew up on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Fla.
1973, House minority leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew

1996, stock markets around the world plunged after comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan were taken to mean that U.S. stock prices were too high

2001,


The U.S. House of Representatives, by a one-vote margin, gave President Bush more power to negotiate global trade deals

Yasser Arafat, ym"sh, intensified his crackdown on Islamic terrorists. The stunt was nonetheless met with angry resistance as 1,500 Hamas supporters battled Palestinian riot police outside the home of the group's leader

Beyond Cool

FLAT

OUT

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This just replaced golf as the funnest sport.

Today in History..... December 5

On this day in …

1776, the first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

1831, former President John Quincy Adams took his seat as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives

1848, President Polk triggered the Gold Rush of '49 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California

1917, German and Russian delegates sign an armistice at Brest-Litovsk ("Brisk"); peace negotiations begin there on December 21

1932, German physicist Albert Einstein was granted a visa, making it possible for him to travel to the United States

1933, the 21st amendment of the U.S. constitution is ratified, ending the "noble experiment" of prohibition
1945, the so-called "Lost Squadron", five U.S. Navy Avenger bombers carrying 14 Navy flyers, take off on a training mission from a Florida air base, and are never seen again. They are popularly believed to have vanished in the "Bermuda Triangle"

1957, the Indonesian government orders the expulsion of all Dutch nationals

1977, Egypt breaks ties with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen after they all opposed its peace moves with Israel

1985, Britain announces it was withdrawing from UNESCO on December 31, claiming the agency had an anti-Western bias and accusing it of financial extravagance

1990, British author Salman Rushdie, who had been in hiding since Iran ordered his death for blasphemy, appears in public for the first time in nearly two years

1994, Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be the first GOP speaker of the House in four decades

2001, Afghan factions sign an accord to set up a post-Taliban government headed by Pashtun chief Hamid Karzai. The deal created a government of 30 members

2003, an explosion rips through a morning commuter train just outside Yessentuki station in Russia's southern fringe. Forty-six people are killed and more than 160 injured by practitioners of that "religion of peace"

An Appeal to Supporters of Venezuela's Democracy

Caracas 01.12.06 "There's going to be a coup... Chavez won't accept defeat... Chavez's militias will attack us if we try to defend the vote... You better get food stocks for there's going to be a bloodshed... The fix is in..." These are some of the rumours I have heard in the last few days.

Says Venezuelan blogger extraordinaire Aleksander Boyd he continues....."Of the many scenarios the one I consider the most likely is: Rosales wins, Chavez refuses to accept defeat, orders his militias to attack, the military react -as they did on 11 April 2002-, force Chavez to accept results and after much tension and perhaps some deaths Rosales is proclaimed Venezuela's president. However there's a crucial aspect about this view, which is people power or the involvement of the millions of Venezuelans that have been marching alongside Rosales for the last three months.

....and......

Hence dear freedom fighters, be on your guard, give democracy a chance for we all stand to benefit from it.

Here's the entire article>>>

It's Official

Just an hour ago, México now has their new Presidente, Felipe Calderón. AMLO and the PRD's foolish attempt at blocking Calderón's inauguration failed.

FYI.....he's one of the good guys.

¡Bienvenidos!

BrokeBack? Hell,The Guy Got A Lot More Than That From This Mountin'

Another reason why I despise much of Hollywood. Documentary on man-horse sex picked for Sundance... and then the freak dies from internal injuries. Uh, no shiite. Now, does it really get any more twisted than that? What possible artistic, or even possible entertainment can their be with a guy having gay sex with a.........frickin' horse? Does this even qualify as gay?

This just takes sexual perversion to a whole new level. I wonder if he thought the horse was "hot". Do you think the horse was sad that the guy died. Does anyone even care? If you're that f'd up, then I guess the dude derserved it.

Wow.

Did You Happen To Miss the Lost Seinfeld Episode?

Pretty damn close to brilliant.

Today in History....December 1

On this day in …

1824, the presidential election was turned over to the U.S. House of Representatives when a deadlock developed between John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford and Henry Clay. (Adams ended up the winner.)

1904, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis closed after seven months and some 20 million visitors
1913, the first drive-in automobile service station, built by Gulf Refining Co., opened in Pittsburgh

1921, the Navy flew the first nonrigid dirigible to use helium; the C-7 traveled from Hampton Roads, Va., to Washington

1934, Soviet communist official Sergei M. Kirov, an associate of Josef Stalin, was assassinated in Leningrad, resulting in a massive purge

1943, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin concluded their Tehran conference

1955, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., city bus. Mrs. Parks was arrested, sparking a yearlong boycott of the buses by blacks

1964, in two crucial meetings (on this day and two days later) at the White House, President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top-ranking advisers agree, after some debate, to a two-phase bombing plan for North Vietnam

1969, the U.S. government held its first draft lottery since World War II

1990, shortly after 11 a.m. on December 1, 1990, 132 feet below the English Channel, workers drill an opening the size of a car through a wall of rock. This was no ordinary hole --- it connected the two ends of an underwater tunnel linking Great Britain with the European mainland for the first time in more than 8,000 years

2000, Vicente Fox was sworn in as president of Mexico, ending 71 years of ruling-party domination

2001, two suicide bombers, practitioners of that "religion of peace", blew themselves up in back-to-back explosions at a downtown Jerusalem pedestrian mall, killing 11 innocent bystanders

A Very Interesting Weekend South of the Border...

.....in México and Venezuela.

Let's start with México. Tomorrow is the official swear in day for México's new President Felipe Calderón, the loser and Al Gore wanna-be Andrés Manuel López Obrador is getting the PRD (his party) ready take over the dais in the Mexican House of Deputies where Calderón is to be sworn in tomorrow Dec. 1st. Calederón's party, the PAN, caught wind of this, they got there early (today) to prevent them from taking over and little tussle ensued, here's a video, and Mark in México has nice post on the happenings. Tomorrow should be interesting!



For Venezuela, Sunday's election looks to be a barn burner, Thugo Chavez' opponent Manuel Rosales is totally bringing it on, finishing his campaign with an incredible turnout........(click to enlarge)


Make no mistake about it, this will be close and it will be very interesting to see how Chavez reacts should he lose.....I'm sure we'll see the lamest of all Presidents, Jimmuh Carter running to Chavez' rescue should that occur.

I've been trying to keep close tabs on this election because I think this is a very important election, I'm thinking Chavez will fix it one way or another and remain, but there's been such an upsurge for Rosales that this is hard to predict. As I have said earlier, an assassination attempt or success on either candidate is not out of the question, it's pretty heated down there. Chávez promised to purge corruption, but it has dominated his government more than any other in Venezuela's history. If the votes don't add up in his favor on Sunday, odds are he'll keep adding them until they do.

Some items that are in Chavez' favor:

• Voting machines are controlled by a company, Smartmatic, with a murky history.

• The Board of Directors of the Electoral Council is made up of Chávez's followers.

• The electoral registry is highly unreliable; 39,000 voters are more than 100 years old -- one woman appears to be 175 -- and 62 persons share the same name and birth date: José Gregorio Rodríguez González, born April 8, 1962.

Thanks to a combination of record oil income and minimal government transparency, Venezuelan corruption is at an all-time high. By incurring significant new national debt, Chávez obtained some $25 billion in fresh money to spend at his whim. That and oil sales have put more than $200 billion into government coffers, but there is very little to show for it in the way of public works or effective social programs. The bulk of the money remains unaccounted for, largely wasted or pocketed by bureaucrats and "private buccaneers".

Should Chavez remain in power, will "his" Venezuela continue its downhill spiral? Venezuela stands today at the bottom of the development ladder in Latin America. Rankings of international organizations such as Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World report, the U.N. Human Development Index and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization show the country in a declining trend.

Check this out......

Transparency International, a well-known NGO. They have rankings on transparency, which rate “more than 150 countries in terms of perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys” (TI’s words). Venezuela’s rankings (which show Venezuela’s position out of the total number of countries) and scores (high scores are good):

2006, tied for 138 of 163 (2.3)
2005, tied for 130 of 159 (2.3)
2004, tied for 114 of 145 (2.3)
2003, tied for 100 of 133 (2.4)
2002, tied for 81 of 102 (2.5)
2001, tied for 69 of 91 (2.8)
2000, tied for 71 of 90 (2.7)
1999, tied for 75 of 99 (2.6)
1998, tied for 77 of 85 (2.3)
1997, 44 of 52 (2.77)
1996, 48 of 54 (2.50)
1995, 38 of 41, (2.66)

Note that scores improved under Chavez for a few years, before turning around after 2001.

Daniel Duquenal has a very impressive list of rankings (I can't get the link to work) showing Venezuela's steady decline each year in the areas of:

Freedom of the Press, Political Rights and Civil Liberties, World Economic Growth Competitiveness, Index of Economic Freedom, Business and Investment Risk, Total Competitiveness Rankings (ranked last in 2004, 2005 and 2006), Loss of Economic Freedom...here ranked only ahead of those powerhouse countries of Zimbabwe, Myanmar and the Republic of Congo.

You can see here, Hugo Chavez is very bad for Venezuela and very bad for the rest of the world. The only thing Hugo Chavez is good for........is Hugo Chavez.

See you Monday with some sort of results!

Today in History....November 30

On this day in …

1782, the United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War

1803, Spain completed the process of ceding Louisiana to France, which had sold it to the United States
1866, work on the first underwater highway tunnel in the United States began in Chicago

1954, the first modern instance of a meteorite striking a human being occurs at Sylacauga, Alabama, when a meteorite crashes through the roof of a house and into a living room, bounces off a radio, and strikes Elizabeth Hodges on the hip

1972, Defense Department sources said that there would not be a full withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam until a final truce agreement was signed, and that such an agreement would not affect the 54,000 U.S. servicemen in Thailand or the 60,000 aboard 7th Fleet ships off the Vietnamese coast

1981, the United States and the Soviet Union opened negotiations in Geneva aimed at reducing nuclear weapons in Europe

1993, President Clinton signed the Brady bill, which requires a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers

1994, the Achille Lauro cruise ship catches fire and sinks to the bottom of the sea near Somalia. The large luxury liner had a checkered history that included deaths and, in 1985, terrorism, when it was hijacked by practitioners of that "religion of peace" who shot and murdered a wheelchair-bound American passenger, Leon Klinghoffer

1996, some 150,000 people filled the streets of Belgrade to protest Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic

2001, Robert Tools, the first person in the world to receive a fully self-contained artificial heart, died in Louisville, Ky., of complications after severe abdominal bleeding; he had lived with the device for 151 days

2005, Shimon Peres quit Israel's Labor Party, his political home of six decades, to campaign for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new organization, Kadima

AN INCONVENIENT BRRR

Global coldening continues. Its real name is global warmening.

We are all doomed. Well, most of us.

h/t Tim Blair

If Tiger Woods Were a Classicist, Author, Professor and Syndicated Columnist..

... he'd be Victor Davis Hanson. VDH is the man, in my opinion, he has just penned his best article.

Mr. Hanson writes about the rise and fall of western civilation, one with lost confidence and the inablitiy to confront Islam and terrorists. He paints a dark picture of our current time in history, a once great and mighty civilation now living in the most properous of times, never more powerful militaristically, yet we are being done in by no one other than ourselves...... and secular liberalism.

The elites "great" Europe, that thinkers paradise of artistic and intellectual expression have succumbed to the grips of Islam, where European movie makers (Van Gogh) are brutally murdered for expressing their artistic ideas, or sketch some cartoons and have to go into hiding fearing for their life, yah, there's real artistic and intellectual freedom. It's sad that the very ones who spout the hate and vitriole at GW Bush, Oriana Fallaci, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay can't seem to muster up the same hate for Zawahri, radical mullahs and terrorists.

But all is not so dark and dreary, VDH believes that it's time to strap on the boots and adds a great touch with a quote from Winston Churchill........

"These are not dark days: these are great days--the greatest days our country has ever lived."

Never more true than today.

Here's his excellent article.......

Russian Tequila?

Actually it's tequila in Russia. Looks like Patrón Tequila is making the move into Russia. The Patrón Spirits Company, best known for its namesake premium Tequila, looks set to move into the wider white spirits category with the acquisition of a vodka and a gin brand.

Patron Spirits believes Russia is set to become a key export market for Tequila producers, according to the company leading the booming super-premium Tequila segment in the US. These stories are developing. .

Wow, you know them Russkies and their white (clear) liquor, time to get a line of tequila!

The Pot Calling The Kettle "the N Wo--"....Err Black

Jesse Jacka$$ Jackson is at it again. While he does make a good point... "We want to give our ancestors a present," Jackson said at a news conference. "Dignity over degradation.", however this is one guy that just needs to go away.

The self proclaimed “Reverend” who can say “Hymietown” with impunity, because heck, that only offends Jews. And you know Jews, they never car swarm or riot now do they?

See a great rant on this subject here!

H/T NeoCon Command Center

Today in History....November 29

On this day in …

1775, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, establishes a Committee of Secret Correspondence. The committee’s goal was to provide European nations with a Patriot interpretation of events in Britain’s North American colonies, in the hope of soliciting aid for the American war effort

1929, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd radioed that he and co-pilot Bernt Balchen had made the first airplane flight over the South Pole
1947, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the partitioning of Palestine between Arabs and Jews. The Jews agreed, the Arabs -- there was no such thing then as a "Palestinian" -- adamantly refused, saying "everything or nothing". Instead, the Arabs would go on to wage war against the eventual Jewish state and fail miserably

1948, children's show Kukla, Fran and Ollie premieres on prime time network TV. The show featured beloved puppets Kukla, Ollie (a dragon), and others, with live actress Fran Allison as host. The show began as a local Chicago program before debuting on NBC

1952, making good on his most dramatic presidential campaign promise, newly elected Dwight D. Eisenhower goes to Korea to see whether he can find the key to ending the bitter and frustrating Korean War

1961, Enos the chimp was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard the Mercury-Atlas 5 spacecraft, which orbited earth twice before returning

1963, one week after President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, President Lyndon Johnson establishes a special commission, headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, to investigate the assassination

1967, Robert S. McNamara announces that he will resign as Secretary of Defense and will become president of the World Bank

1991, a dust storm causes massive car and truck collision in Coalinga, California, kills 17 people. More than 100 vehicles were involved in the accident on Interstate 5

If You Or Anyone You Know Has A Metal Implant...

You need to watch this, I guarantee it will freak you out! There's a condition that is increasing in regularity, it is called Metallosis Maligna. Watch the first minute and then move the dial to about the 2:55 mark if you want.

In The Words of Hugo Chavez Hero Joseph Stalin........

"It's not who votes that matters but who it is that counts the votes".

The fix is already in, count on it.

Caracas, Venezuela is a city of close to 6 million people, yet Thugo Chavez thought that blocking access to the city was going to affect Manuel Rosales' event. It was estimated that nearly 1 Million Venezuelans turned out to support Rosales (photo below), yet the day before Chavez' rally tallied around 250,000.......which included his administration using 2500 buses to bus in people for his rally.

(click photo to enlarge)

Two things.... first, the Chavez propaganda wheels are running at full steam.....

CNN's Spanish network channel reported the Rosales rally with impressive television shots showing the huge mass of people, spoke of hundreds of thousands of people, only to finish ascertaining that Chavez was ahead by thirty points in the surveys.

The foreign press has practically declared Chavez a victor, citing the AP-Ipsos poll as definite proof. In a questionable paragraph, Brian Ellsworth writes for Reuters:

"But most polls still give Chavez a wide lead, with one AP-Ipsos poll showing Chavez sweeping 59 percent of likely voters compared to only 27 for Rosales, who points to opposition linked polls that show the race much tighter." Is Ellsworth aware that several polls are government linked through PDVSA financing, and that all polls in which respondents were openly questioned gave Chavez a thirty point lead, whereas all polls which guaranteed secrecy resulted in a technical tie between the candidates?

Secondly.....probably the best blogger around covering the events in Venezuela, Aleksander Boyd (this guy is nails), has a warning and posts an open letter to foreign letter journalists covering Venezuela.

John Salas and Thor Halverssen write what's really going on and have polls showing the fast fading Chavez and fast rising Manuel Rosales here.

Excerpt:

And, CE.CA., another respected Venezuelan pollster, reported last week that their polls show Rosales ahead for the first time, at 45.8%, with Chavez trailing at 35.3%. Once again, as in all of the previous polls, fear has been found to be a major factor hindering the freedom of expression by Venezuelans.

And the article ends up with this:

Along with Fidel Castro's undying friendship and strategic might, Hugo Chavez inherited a potent and well-greased Cuban PR and lobbying apparatus well experienced in denying the undeniable and defending the indefensible. This apparatus is now working at full steam, because Hugo Chavez has come to realize that eight years of government with few results at great cost not only have wasted away the passion the poor had for him for so long, but have turned a majority of them adamantly against him.

He's scared. He controls the electoral council. What does he do? For now, he's pouring the coal onto the international PR machine, trying to convince the world that he can't lose.

Today in History....November 28

On this day in …

1520, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the South American strait that now bears his name
1895, America's first race featuring gasoline-powered automobiles was held in Chicago, Illinois, with six vehicles competing: two electric cars, three German Benz automobiles, and one American-made Duryea automobile, the USA's first working gasoline-powered car. After 10 1/2 hours, despite an accidental two-mile detour, the Duryea crossed the finish line with no other car in sight, having achieved an average speed of 7.5mph during the race

1943, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin began conferring in Tehran, Iran, during World War II

1964, the United States launched the space probe Mariner 4 on a course to Mars

1987, Tawana Brawley is found covered with feces and wrapped in garbage bags outside the Pavilion Condominiums in Wappingers Falls, New York. Brawley appeared to have undergone an extremely traumatic experience: parts of her hair were cut off, her pants were slightly burned, and there was a racial slur scrawled on her body. Brawley told authorities that for four days she had been held against her will and repeatedly r ap ed by a gang of white men, one of whom she claimed had a police badge. Despite being proved a hoax, one of the key race hustlers in the case, Rev. Al Sharpton, is now a cable TV darling

1990, Margaret Thatcher resigned as prime minister of Britain during an audience with Queen Elizabeth II, who conferred the premiership on John Major

1994, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, serving 15 consecutive life sentences for the brutal murders of 15 men, is beaten to death by a fellow inmate while performing cleaning duty in a bathroom at the Columbia Correctional Institute gymnasium in Portage, Wisconsin

2001, Enron Corp., once the world's largest energy trader, collapsed after would-be rescuer Dynegy Inc. backed out of an $8.4 billion deal to take it over

Rosie O'DunceA$$ Quotes

.....just a few quickies today, the 'ol bod got hit by Joe Jr.'s stomach flu yesterday, recovery time is slow.

Man I can't stand this bag....

"A View's" (not "The View" in my book) queen of dumb from SoCal Pundit:

"Rosie O: Don’t fear terrorists, they’re just moms and dads

"TV host Rosie O’Donnell says there’s no reason for Americans to fear terrorists because they are just moms and dads like us.

"On her ABC show “The View” last Thursday, the shoot-from-the-lip actress-comedienne explained in less-than Rooseveltian fashion that Americans have nothing to fear but fear itself.

“Faith or fear, that’s your choice,” she told co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck and panelists including Barbara Walters and Beverly Sills.

“You can walk through life believing in the goodness of the world, or walk through life afraid of anyone who thinks different than you and trying to convert them to your way of thinking. And I think that this country … .”

To which Hasselbeck interjected: “Well, I’m a person of faith, so I, but I also believe … .”

“Well then, get away from the fear,” interrupted O’Donnell. “Don’t fear the terrorists. They’re mothers and fathers.”

-------------
Maybe Rosie should meet An-Najar, the 64 year old grandmother (with 41 grandkids) who just had a "livelier Thanksgiving" despite Rosie's view. Of course the whole family is so proud of her sucide effort which failed to achieve even one dead Israeli soldier.

This About Sums It Up!

Today in History....November 27

On this day in …

1901, the U.S. Army War College was established in Washington
1910, the Pennsylvania Railroad began service at New York's Pennsylvania Station

1911, Elizabeth Jaffray, a White House housekeeper, writes in her diary about a conversation she’d had with President William Howard Taft and his wife about the commander in chief’s ever-expanding waistline. According to the White House Historical Association, Jaffray was also quoted regarding Taft’s growing girth in a 1926 book called Secrets of the White House. In it, she detailed a typical breakfast consumed by the 332-pound president: "two oranges, a twelve-ounce beefsteak, several pieces of toast and butter and a vast quantity of coffee with cream and sugar."

1924, New York City's Macy's department store held its first Thanksgiving Day parade down a two-mile stretch of Broadway from Central Park West to Herald Square. The parade featured large performing platforms that, because they were attached to specially outfitted automobiles concealed beneath them, seemed to float down Broadway. Felix the Cat was Macy's first parade balloon

1942, during World War II, the French navy at Toulon scuttled its ships and submarines to keep them out of the hands of the Nazis, ym"sh

1945, Gen. George C. Marshall was named special U.S. envoy to China to try to end hostilities between the Nationalists and the Communists

1965, in Washington, nearly 35,000 war protesters circle the White House for two hours before moving on to the Washington Monument. Dr. Benjamin Spock, Coretta Scott King, and activist Norman Thomas were among those who gave speeches

1973, the Senate voted 92-3 to confirm Gerald R. Ford as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew, who'd resigned

2005, doctors in France performed the world's first partial face transplant on a woman disfigured by a dog bite; Isabelle Dinoire received the lips, nose and chin of a brain-dead woman in a 15-hour operation

Before I leave for the weekend, here's a very nice timeline on Islamic Imperialism from Democracy Frontline titled History Lesson on Islamic Imperialism.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, my bro's spicy sausage stuffing, rutabaga, cream corn, olives & onions, cranberries, pumpkin pie, fresh rolls and everything else I missed........you have no idea how much I love food, can't wait!

Here's the family pulling up to my crib for the Big Day:












The guest of honor:


















A very important part of the day:












Another important part of the day:

















......and then off to Las Sendas to play with the boys on friday:

Time.com Links Joe Gringo Post!

Not a big deal, but I bet my mom thinks so....Pretty cool accidental find! Of course there were about 500 other ones linked as well, but......who cares. It was my post from last friday where I continue to bash Hugo Chavez:

http://joegringo.blogspot.com/2006/11/economics-of-hugo-chavez-and-ficha.html

I found it here

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1562009,00.html

and then went to this:

Related Blogs: Click here for blog postings from around the web that are related to the topic of this article.

Shades of Al Gore

Two days ago, failed Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador inaugurated himself “president” in a bid to be seen as Mexico’s legitimate elected president. He lost, of course, and this grandiose gesture is nothing more than his own personal fantasy.

Check out Mark in México's photo gallery of this ridiculous little self-coronation up close here!

Should Thuggo Chavez win the Presidential election in Venezuela this December 3rd, wanna bet he recognizes AMLO as the legitimate President?

Today in History....November 22

On this day in …

1718, English pirate Edward Teach — better known as Blackbeard — was killed during a battle off the Virginia coast

1935, a flying boat, the China Clipper, took off from Alameda, Calif., carrying more than 100,000 pieces of mail on the first trans-Pacific airmail flight

1942, a Soviet counteroffensive against the German armies pays off as the Red Army traps about a quarter-million German soldiers south of Kalach, on the Don River, within Stalingrad. As the Soviets' circle tightened, German General Friedrich Paulus requested permission from Berlin to withdraw

1943, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss measures for defeating Japan

1963, President Kennedy was shot to death while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. Texas Gov. John B. Connally, in the same limousine as Kennedy, was seriously wounded. Suspect Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested

1988, in the presence of members of Congress and the media, the Northrop B-2 "stealth" bomber is shown publicly for the first time at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. The aircraft, which was developed in great secrecy for nearly a decade, was designed with stealth characteristics that would allow it to penetrate an enemy's most sophisticated defenses unnoticed

1990, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, having failed to win re-election of the Conservative Party leadership on the first ballot, announced her resignation

1996, O.J. Simpson took the stand as a hostile witness in the wrongful death lawsuit filed against him, saying it was "absolutely not true" that he'd killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman

2005,


An Arab-American college student, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a practitioner of that "religion of peace", was convicted of joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush

Angela Merkel took power as Germany's first female chancellor

Ted Koppel hosted his final edition of ABC News' "Nightline"

Inspirational People

You never know where they're going to come from. I happen to work with one.

Last March 26, co-worker and friend Abby Simpkins and husband Bill lost their 6 year old daughter Emma in a tragic accident at their home, a truly tragic accident. In situations such as these, you never know how the family life is going to turn out.....

Now Abby is a mother of 4 kids, a totally devoted family mom, working about 30 hours a week in our international finance sector, drives a Ford Excursion with "DL Jr 8" on her license plate...yep she's a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan and a NASCAR fan. Since that time, Abby has gotten herself involved in daily Boot Camp classes that commence at the break of dawn everyday, this involves running, physical exercises, the whole she-bang. She progressed from running 1-2 miles every couple of days, then everyday, that turned into 5 miles, then 8 miles, up to 12, then 15, now it's 18and 20 miles at a time about once a week. Throw in a few 5-8 miles a day in between ......"I really don't bother with anything under 5 miles......unless I'm being timed", she says.

Wow. Pretty dang good I have to say in just a couple of months. She is going to run in P.F. Chang's Rock ' n Roll Marathon in Phoenix this January.

Some people would crumble under situations such as these, but not Abby. She's taking life by the horns, kicking ass and taking names.

This coming March 31, 2007, Abby and Bill will be holding a 5K Run in Anthem, AZ, this will co-incide with the community's "Anthem Days". This run will be called "Emma's Run", in memory of their daughter Emma. I will have details in the coming weeks. Basically it will be something around $18 for entry fee that will benefit the "We Care" foundation that was set up in Anthem to assist with grieving families in need and one that came to the Simpkins family. This is a phenomenal organization.

Abby is a real inspiration, whenever you think you have it hard or life isn't treating you fair, think of her, Bill and their 3 boys.

PS- Not that she needs it, but she's even got the Mrs. rising at 4:50am 4 times a week to hit the gym.

KKKramer........

I know, that's a little bold. IMO, this guy got crucified for trying a shock act that spun out of control. This whole PC bullsh*t is so out of control, someone wake me up and let me know when it is NOT okay for black people to call each other the ........"N" word.

Never knew there were rules for racial slurs.

Antone from Seattle is a frequent reader/poster here, he's black, his wife even calls him the "Black Gringo"......what 's your take Antone?

For the record, an adult should have the class and smarts to not shout out racial slurs, Kramer did wrong, he apologized, let him go, time to move on.

Today in History....November 21

On this day in …

1861, Confederate President Jefferson Davis names Judah Benjamin the secretary of war. A Sephardic Jew from South Carolina, Judah Benjamin was an exception to the rule in the Protestant South
1877, Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph. Edison set aside this invention in 1878 to work on the incandescent light bulb, and other inventors moved forward to improve on the phonograph. In 1887, Edison resumed work on the device, using the wax-cylinder technique developed by Charles Tainter. Although initially used as a dictating machine, the phonograph proved to be a popular tool for entertainment, and in 1906 Edison unveiled a series of musical and theatrical selections to the public through his National Phonograph Company. Continuing to improve on models and cylinders over the years, the Edison Disc Phonograph debuted in 1912 with the aim of competing in the popular record market. Edison's discs offered superior sound quality but were not compatible with other popular disc players.

1942, the Alaska highway across Canada was formally opened

1964, the upper level of New York's Verrazano Narrows Bridge, which connected Brooklyn and Staten Island, was opened

1973, President Nixon's attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18 1/2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate

1980, 350 million people around the world tune in to television's popular primetime drama "Dallas" to find out who shot J.R. Ewing, the character fans loved to hate. J.R. had been shot on the season-ending episode the previous March 21, which now stands as one of television's most famous cliffhangers

1995, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 5,000 mark for the first time

2005, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon broke away from the more conservative Likud with the intention of forming a new party

The Position Finding The Man, Or The Man Finding The Position

"Nice people," Newt Gingrich says of his GOP competitors John McCain and Rudy Guliani. "But we're not in the same business. They're running for president. I'm running to change the country."

That's the stuff you like to hear.

"I'm going to tell you something, and whether or not it's plausible given the world you come out of is your problem," he tells Fortune. "I am not 'running' for president. I am seeking to create a movement to win the future by offering a series of solutions so compelling that if the American people say I have to be president, it will happen." So he's running, only without yet formally saying so.

Fortune magazine looks at Newt Gingrich's strategy to win in 2008:

Chalk Another One Up For The U.N. And That Freedom Loving Iran

"We drink and bathe from the toilets" - Iranian Dissident Trapped 73 Days in Moscow Airport

Ms Kamalfar is guilty of being an Iranian who wants to live in a free country. That is a felony in Ali Khamenei’s Iran, and a matter of considerable indifference to the “international community,” which neither helps people like her once they escape, nor the tens of millions of Iranians inside the country, even though their demands for freedom should be embraced and supported by all civilized countries and their peoples.

Sources close to Iranian dissident Zahra Kamalfar state she has been living with her children under unspeakable conditions in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport for 73 days (now more). A one-time demonstrator against the extremist theocracy, she escaped from an Iranian prison when on a two-day furlough to visit her children. She ended up being buffeted from country to country, then spent months in a Moscow deportation motel before being ejected and left to float in the transit area of the airport. Now in imminent danger (possibly Monday, if the Russians cooperate) of being taken back to the Islamic Republic for the Mullahs’ version of justice, Ms. Kamalfar speaks out in this dramatic video smuggled out of the airport to Pajamas Media.

Read Iran expert Michael Ledeen’s account of Kamalfar’s background here. More on Kamalfar and her children at the blog of Iranian human rights activist Ardeshir Dolat. Sign a petition for Kamalfar’s freedom with the UNHCR (United Nations Refugee Agency) and Russian immigration authorities here.

UPDATE AND SOME CLARIFICATION: Pajamas Media has been told that Kamalfar will not be returned to Iran until at least Tuesday. She has a brother in Canada, where she is seeking asylum. Her husband is either in an Iranian prison or dead. No one seems to know. We have also been told that Islamic regime intelligence has been actively spreading rumors about her in order to discredit her with the press. This is unconfirmed at this point.

FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS: Pajamas Media has been informed that two US attorneys (one Iranian- American) are now en route to Moscow to meet with US Embassy officials. They are attempting to obtain asylum for Kamalfar and her children in the US before she is returned to Iran. The same sources tell us the UNHCR has been obstructing these attempts by delaying in turning over necessary documents. The sources speculate that the UN Agency is embarrassed by its previous treatment of Kamalfar who could have left Russia months ago with their help.

ANOTHER UPDATE: The following news appeared Monday morning on the Hambastegi International Federation of Iranian Refugees website. The reports have not yet been confirmed. The latest news is at the top.

UPDATE ON THIS NEWS (15.30-20-11-2006): IFIR has been informed by Ms. Kamalfar from Airport that she may be departure from Moscow to capital of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan by Aeroflot at 23.10 tonight. If this happened to her, Ms. Kamalfar will apply asylum in Kyrgyzstan.
UPDATE ON THIS NEWS (14.50-20-11-2006): IFIR has been informed by Ms. Kamalfar from Airport that she has received a message (SMS) and told her she would be deported tonight at 10 pm in Russian times.

UPDATE ON THIS NEWS (14.50- 20-11-2006): IFIR has been informed that possibility of forcible return of Ms.Kamalfar now is in higher risk. Some thing unusual is happened to her. She has been forbidden to have any visit in airport hall. The danger of capture her and her two children would be happened in every minute. This is unconfirmed at this point.