THE REALLY GOOD NEWS ABOUT BUSH'S REELECTION...
...is that Bush is in an excellent position to appoint some excellent Supreme Court justices. With an even stronger Republican majority in the Senate and with obstructionist Minority Leader Tom Daschle out of the picture, we actually have a chance to put some balance back into the courts.

Liberal justices have held off on retirement, hoping to get a Democratic president to choose their replacement. But that strategy has probably backfired, since if they had retired this term Bush would have likely had to find justices with more moderate views to placate the backbiting minority.

NO GLOATING HERE....
It really could have turned out the other way. I'm in South Florida this week, and didn't get a chance to vote before I left, much to the griping and complaining of certain stalwart Republicans ("It's okay," I kept repeating, "the Republicans will carry Georgia!"). I would have been in for a lynching if Bush had lost by one vote. Fortunately I called Georgia correctly.

Here in Florida it clearly looked like Kerry Country. A toll booth operator, sporting a Kerry button, shouted, "VOTE FOR KERRY!" as I handed her my dollar. But most of the 'international' people I know here (Cubans, South Americans, Asians, etc) were leaning for Bush. One told me that 'they' were offering $50 to vote for Kerry. When I kept asking "who are 'they'?" I just got a shrug. I did my best to talk up Bush for the undecideds, and maybe got a few to go to the polls.

Not that *I* would take credit for Bush carrying Florida, of course....

MORE ON THE DRAFT…
It’s the non-issue that refuses to go away, thanks now to CBS. They spotlight a “Republican Mother” who will vote for Kerry if Bush plans to bring back the draft. The Media Research Center is all over the case.

But there’s more that MRC didn’t catch. Apparently the mother in question, Beverly Cocco is a chapter president for People Against the Draft. This group isn’t just anti-draft, it’s anti-war – and there’s clearly a hidden agenda that CBS either overlooked or chose to ignore.

Let’s say it right now: The draft isn’t going to happen. The Selective Service is in place in the event of a national defense emergency. It’s a prudent precaution in the event a major power, say, China, decides to attack the U.S. Using the draft to put boots on the ground in Iran, North Korea, etc. simply doesn’t make sense. The best article to date is here.

In any event, if I were in charge of CBS News, thanks to Rather's ridiculous 'fake but accurate' expose that aired two weeks ago, I would want to personally vet every program that went on the air until election day. But that organization is so ideologically driven that producers there aren't just wearing blinders, they're wearing toilet-paper-tube goggles. How much worse can they get?

FROM ONE .ORG TO ANOTHER - MOVEON!
The folks at moveon.org are upset because their beloved presidential candidate isn't looking good in the polls. Their solution? Shoot the messenger:

If John Kerry believed in the Gallup poll, he might as well give up. A couple of weeks ago, a highly publicized Gallup poll of “likely voters” showed President Bush with a staggering 14-point lead.

But wait a minute. Seven other polls of likely voters were released that same week. On average, they showed Bush with just a three-point lead. No one else came close to Gallup’s figures. And this isn’t the first time the prestigious Gallup survey has been out on a limb with pro-Bush findings.

Let's cut to the chase. Their concern is that disillusioned Democrats, seeing their champion on the ropes, will decide to skip out on election day and not bother to cast their vote on a losing candidate.

Hey, guys, it works both ways. I might decide to skip out on election day because if my guy is winning, I don't need to waste my time voting.

Gallup's numbers may be more accurate than those other polls. But moveon.org thinks it has a fair gripe about how those numbers are generated. Why? Because the owner (who isn't even involved in the polling operation of the company) is a Christian:

Gallup, who is a devout evangelical Christian, has been quoted as calling his polling “a kind of ministry....”

Oh, what a Neanderthal. They probably resort to tea leaves and animal sacrifices to pick the latest numbers, too.

Seriously, if there's an issue with the numbers, it will be apparent soon enough. From my own 'pollng', Kerry is going to get a harsh wakeup call on Election Day.

PS - IMAO calls the moveon.org folks 'zombies' - as in Night of the Living Dead - heh. And check out this article by liberal pundit Mystery Pollster.

SUDDENLY I DON'T FEEL SO HEALTHY
Living in the suburbs is hazardous to your health?

People who live in sprawling communities tend to suffer more health problems, according to the first study to document a link between the world of strip malls, cul-de-sacs and subdivisions and a broad array of ailments.

It's better to live in Manhattan than Atlanta, apparently. The evidence cited is pretty thin, though. Color me skeptical.

FINALLY - A REASON TO VOTE FOR KERRY!
Oh my.

Update: Link fixed.

REUTERS - BLECH...
I can't say I'm a big fan of international news agency Reuters. Their articles are slanted with a left-wing bias, and there's an anti-American taint to many of their stories (they're British). Of course, they think they're fair and balanced.

My biggest complaint by far, however, is that they don't know what a terrorist is. Because of an apparent unfamility with the English language, they don't seem to realize that a terrorist is one who deliberately targets to kill or injure innocents for a political cause. So, when a group of armed gunmen invade a school in Russia, hold children hostage, and shoot them in the back when they try to run, don't dare call them terrorists. Oh, no, they're militants. Ah. How nuanced.

But now the truth has been laid bare. I had thought that the reason they didn't use the terrorist label was because they're biased. Nope. It's because they're cowards. Apparently Reuters got upset when a subscribing paper added the banned word to an article:

"Our editorial policy is that we don't use emotive words when labeling someone," David A. Schlesinger, Reuters' global managing editor told the New York Times. "Any paper can change copy and do whatever they want. But if a paper wants to change our copy that way, we would be more comfortable if they remove the byline."

Schlesinger indicated changes like those made at CanWest could lead to "confusion" about what Reuters is reporting and possibly endanger its reporters in volatile areas or situations.

"My goal is to protect our reporters and protect our editorial integrity," he said.

How noble. Reuters, trying to make its mark in the Middle East, is concerned about intimidation from Muslim thugs.

I guess you wouldn't want to lose your press pass at PLO headquarters, would you, Reuters?

UPDATE: Just to underscore my point, Reuters publishes kooky news like this. Millions of felons unable to vote because of laws "that have roots in the post-Civil War 19th century"? Shocking! Where's the ACLU?

I LOVE THIS STORY....
Larry Elder's column has a great story about someone who was tired of having his Bush/Cheney yard signs stolen...check it out (skim past the Rathergate section).

I have an interesting yard sign story too - someday I'll post it....

WHOO-HOO! I NAILED ONE!
Four days ago I suggested that Democrats were hinting that the draft might be restored just to scare up votes. Turns out I was prescient....

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Sept. 22, 2004 — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, citing the war in Iraq and other trouble spots in the world, raised the possibility Wednesday that a military draft could be reinstated if voters re-elect President Bush.

(And he made his statement here in WPB? Ironic....)

Actually, talk about bad strategy. Why didn't he make that point on a college campus or something? In senior citizen laden Florida, he should have spent more time on the "Bush wants to trash Medicare" meme.

Heh. He should hire me to run his campaign. He still wouldn't win, but at least I'd keep it from looking like a McGovern/Dukakis upset.

UPDATE: Snopes has more on the drafting issue - looking more and more like a myth.

And here's what our military has to say about it.

And finally here's the word from Congress - the one pending bill - stuck in committee....

RESTARTING KERRY'S CAMPAIGN
Left-wing blogger Josh Marshall thinks that Kerry's campaign needs a new slogan. Well, Iowahawk comes to the rescue - NEW SLOGANS! My favorites:

I Will Keep Our Enemies Guessing, Too
Projecting American Strength Through Intricately Complex Nuance
The Thinking Man's Self-Confessed War Criminal
Vote For Me or My Running Mate Will Sue
I Will Do For You the Many Wonderous Things I Have Done For Massachusetts
Fear Not, America, I Have Deigned to Lead You
The Next Time America is Attacked, I Promise To Open Up a Carafe of Whupass
I Have Three Words For George Bush -- Bring It On
I Have Five More Words For George Bush -- Call Off Your On-Bringers
Some Look at Things As They Are And Say, 'Why?' Others Look at Things As They Are Not And Say, 'Why Not?', And I Suppose A Few Might Look at Things As They Are Not, And Say 'Why?', and Vice-Versa, and So Forth, And One Might Be Tempted To Look at These People Looking at Things And Ask 'Who?' But This Would Not Be Constructive, Because The Important Thing To Realize Is That Some People Like To Look At Things, And This Is Precisely My Point

WHITHER KERRY?
I’ve wanted to write about John Kerry for a long time, but haven’t had the time to (and don’t now). But let’s recap the current campaign, shall we?

John Kerry beats out a number of other candidates with questionable qualifications for office to get the Democratic nomination for President.
He spent some 4 months there, as a commander of a swiftboat patrolling the rivers of Vietnam. He was ‘wounded’ 3 times, two of those under highly questionable circumstances, and was able to return stateside before his tour of duty was up. Other questionable aspects of his war experiences have been raised.
The moment Kerry returns to the U.S., he joins the anti-war movement and testifies in Congress about atrocities that presumably happened in Vietnam. For some reason he doesn’t seem to understand why Vietnam veterans aren’t supporting him.
He has yet to make a speech without invoking some aspect of the time he spent in Vietnam. In his own mind he’s apparently a military hero. That he drops the fact that he was in Vietnam into EVERY conversation is almost laughable.
Why isn’t this multiple-term senator running on his record? Apparently it’s a pretty pathetic record. Ted Kennedy would be proud, but that’s about it. It’s been a fat target – even Zell Miller called Kerry out on it during the Republican Convention.
What's more, Kerry has been AWOL (to pick a military phrase) from numerious committee meetings, and refuses to have attendance information released that could exonerate (or elaborate) his absenses.
I suppose I could criticize Kerry’s political positions – if he had one. The caricatures keep coming because they’re easy. There isn’t ONE position you can tie him down on, unless it’s a solid social liberal issue.

All I can say is that this is the worst campaign I have seen from a Democratic candidate. Even worse than Dukakis. Can you look worse than running around driving a tank? Yep.

It's just astonishing how the best candidate the Democrats can field is this one. More on that later.

The Mainstream Media – not a Bush fan among them – has given up trying to find nice things to say about Kerry. Now they’re scrambling trying to find nasty things to say about Bush. Halliburton is making profits from the war! Oh, no! Documents say he skipped medicals, had improper influences getting him into the National Guard! Oh, my! Well, no.

He’s in the news today: “I have one position on Iraq.” Yeah, only it just keeps changing.

BUSH TRYING TO RESTORE THE DRAFT???
I get word that one of my daughter's friends is worried about the draft if Bush wins in November. The proof? This article, from the prestigious "Earth Crash Earth Spirit" website.

It's an article written by a discredited senator (anyone remember George McGovern?) who didn't come close to getting elected president. It was published 18 months ago in an obscure, leftist website which hasn't even published anything new since February 2004. This article posits the shocking possibility that Bush plans to invade North Korea and Iran "after finishing with Iraq." I've seen better foreign policy analysis from high schoolers. Why not add China to the list? Anybody remember China taking down one of our planes, back in 2001? I'll bet old G.W.'s got an axe to grind there, too!

So, we can dispense with anything particularly thoughtful and relevant coming out of this article.

NOW, let's move on. Why would we invade Iran and North Korea? It is still part of the "Axis of Evil" so proclaimed by GW Bush 3 years ago. They both are developing nuclear weapons, and sources there have made no secret of using them when they fully acquire them. So okay, the possibility of an invasion - by Bush *OR* by Kerry - does exist. (Kerry will likely wait until Philadelphia and Atlanta are hidden under mushroom clouds first, though.) I guess this whole episode just gets a big "so what?" from me.

Iran has no real military - what little one they have has been devastated through multiple wars with Saddam. Any military conflict will be resolved in weeks (especially if Iraq can be used as a staging area). North Korea is a little more problematic, if for no other reason than nuclear weapons could be involved. They must import 100% of their oil, which means they can literally have their fuel cut off, their reserves bombed, and their refineries gutted. In order to have a war, you MUST have fuel.

[Ed. Note: I'm not a military analyst, so don't quote me!]

The original concern, though, is that the draft will be reinstituted. I think this is a sad tactic to scare up Democratic votes. The only serious proposal to restart the draft has been by Democratic (!) Congressman Charles Rangel (information links here and here). Apparently he's upset that too many minority and lower-class youth are volunteering, and a draft might even up demographics of our military.

From what I hear from my military sources, recruitment is stable, and our military numbers are adequate for now. Everyone in Washington pretty much agrees that a draft would be a bad idea.

The world will be a far more dangerous place with Kerry in the White House. What's worse than getting drafted? Getting drafted with this grasping, spineless twit as president.

I HATE my cell phone
So I reach for my phone to call Delta Airlines, because my SECOND flight to Atlanta (which I had JUST rescheduled) has been cancelled. The "helpful" screen saver on my phone is displayed, so I press the "No" button to clear it. RIGHT AFTER I press the "No" button, a call immediately comes in. Well, I had just pressed the "No" button. If you press that button while the phone is ringing, it rejects the call. Do I know who it is? Nope. I suspect it's Delta Airlines, calling me to tell me my flight is cancelled. But I'll never know, because they didn't leave a message.

Grrrrr.

CHENEY UNLEASHED:
On the campaign trail in Dayton, OH, VP Cheney sticks it to Kerry regarding the war on terror (kudos NRO):

Senator Kerry has also said that if he were in charge he would fight a "more sensitive" war on terror. (Laughter.) America has been in too many wars for any of our wishes, but not a one of them was won by being sensitive. President Lincoln and General Grant did not wage sensitive warfare -- nor did President Roosevelt, nor Generals Eisenhower and MacArthur. A "sensitive war" will not destroy the evil men who killed 3,000 Americans and who seek the chemical, nuclear and biological weapons to kill hundreds of thousands more. The men who beheaded Daniel Pearl and Paul Johnson will not be impressed by our sensitivity. As our opponents see it, the problem isn’t the thugs and murderers that we face, but our attitude. Well, the American people know better. They know that we are in a fight to preserve our freedom and our way of life, and that we are on the side of rights and justice in this battle. Those who threaten us and kill innocents around the world do not need to be treated more sensitively. They need to be destroyed. (Applause.)

I listened to what Senator Kerry had to say in Boston, and, with all due respect to the Senator, he views the world as if we had never been attacked on September 11th. The job of the Commander-in-Chief, as he sees it, is to use America’s military strength to respond to attacks. But September 11th showed us, as surely as anything can, that we must act against gathering dangers - not wait for to be attacked. That awful day left some 3,000 of our fellow citizens dead, and everything we have learned since tells us the terrorists would do worse if they could, and that they will even use chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons against us if they can. In the world we live in now, responding to attacks is not enough. We must do everything in our power to prevent attacks -- and that includes using military force….

Here's the full text.

ABU GHRAIB
I was going to talk about the prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Enough indignant condemnation – the world knows we’re upset about it. But let’s keep things in perspective:

These guys were prisoners. That place was never Club Med. Bad things, justified or not, happen in prisons. The best way to stay out of them is to just do the right thing.

The ‘torture’ that was going on is bad, shameful, and repugnant, but is nothing compared to what used to happen in those prisons under Saddam. At least those prisoners will eventually be able to walk out of those prisons, with all pieces intact.

Many of these prisoners had valuable information about al-Qaida, and were understandably reluctant to talk. Making these people a little uncomfortable without permanent physical harm, in order to save American lives, is not a vice. (Of course, that’s not meant to imply that putting them on leashes and parading them around nude is an appropriate interrogation technique.)

Liberals are calling for Rumsfeld’s head. What a stupid, preposterous idea. What political prattling. I recall a certain Attorney General who authorized the attack and burning of a ‘compound.’ Innocent people – including children - died. If somebody should have resigned from that episode, it was Janet Reno, who directed that operation. Don’t lecture to me about how Rumsfeld has to go. He’s doing a great job, and the ‘torture’ that occurred had nothing to do with him, but a few military idiots who thought they were above the rules of war. The bottom line is that Democrats are trying to score a few political points. How sad that the important objective – eliminating terrorism and establishing a democratic beachhead in the Middle East, is being disregarded.

Having said ALL of that – the beheading of the American pretty much silenced the debate. This is what we’re fighting – people who have no conscience other than a blind allegiance to the mullahs who preach Wahabbi violence and others who would twist the words of the Koran into its most perverse and violent.

Cinco de Mayo! Yea!
Well, I've spent the entire day working...and I'm gonna spend the entire night...working...but I do like Mexico. Nice memories down there, and I've been there twice.

(cue strains of James Taylor's 'Mexico.....)

(I said, CUE JAMES TAYLOR'S MEXICO!!!)

Ummm....we don't have that version....

Oh.

(cue strains of Jimmy Buffett's version of 'Mexico')

There. That's better.

As I was saying, I wasn't sure what May 5 meant to Mexicans other than drinking a lot of tequila. But being curious, I happened upon this link. Wow, this guy is really excited about Cinco de Mayo. Hey, Mexico liberated itself from the French! What kind of challenge was that?

I'm not sure I agree with the author's analysis, and he throws in a lot of jingoism and excited adjectives ("Diaz' superb horsemen", the French had "the finest modern equipment", etc.). But it's still a fun read.

"Hamas Vows to Avenge Israel's Killing of Rantissi"
Okay, I'm curious - what is Hamas going to do that it hasn't already sworn to do since it's inception? Kill every Jew? Oops. That's already part of the platform. From Article Seven:

"The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him...."

I mean, when you draw a line in the sand that consists of murder, mayhem and destruction, well, you set the terms. Don't get upset if a missile comes calling.

BUSH'S PRESS CONFERENCE
He's not The Great Communicator, but he was earnest and plain-spoken. The idiotic question of the night (which was presented in many different forms) was, should he apologize for 9/11?

What a stupid question. If your house is broken into, do you expect the chief of police to come over and apologize that a burglar robbed your house? Are the police really to blame when crime happens? Maybe if the police knew a crime was about to be committed you could park a cruiser in front of the house, but even that's no guarantee that your home won't be robbed. When would a apology be appropriate?

A good police department doesn't mean there is no crime; but it should act as a deterrent to dissuade criminals from committing crimes in the first place. Likewise, extending the analogy to our government, a strong defense with appropriate intelligence-gathering assets and a quick, measured response to terrorist acts should make such animals think twice about attacking us.

Apologizing for events beyond your control is a foolish liberal invention, and contributes nothing to a real solution. Yet the press continues to act like something's wrong when administration officials don't feel the need to apologize.

MISERABLE WEATHER:

It almost exactly like Miami, except that it's always raining, it's cold, it's windy, it's....

Well, never mind. It's nothing like Miami.

AS AN APRIL FOOL'S JOKE, THIS IS SO NOT FUNNY:
Those fun-loving folks at Planned Parenthood have a new site up:

http://www.saveroe.com/whitehouse/

These are the same people who pilloried Bush for doing this.

UPDATE: Surprise! Planned Parenthood took the original, tacky website down. Guess they didn't think it was that funny. That's okay, thanks to the miracle of the web, you can find the page here.

WHY DO THEY HATE US?
An absolutely awesome Lilek's bleat today:

We stopped pretending we would ratify Kyoto. We only spent $15 billion on AIDS in Africa. We did not take dictation from Paris. If we had done these things, it would minimize the world’s anger.

Is the world angry at Russia, which spends nothing on AIDS and rebuffed Kyoto? Is the world angry at China, which got a pass on Kyoto and spends nothing on AIDS for other countries?

Is the world angry at North Korea for killings its people? Angry at Iran for smothering that vibrant nation with corrupt and thuggish mullocracy? Angry at Syria for occupying Lebanon? Angry at Saudi Arabia for its denial of women’s rights? Angry at Russia for corrupt elections? Is the world angry at China for threatening Taiwan, or angry at France for joining the Chinese in joint military exercises that threatened the island on the eve of an election? Is the world angry at Zimbabwe for stealing land and starving people? Is the world angry at Pakistan for selling nuclear secrets? Is the world angry at Libya for having an NBC program?

Is the world angry at the thugs of Fallujah?

Is the world angry at anyone besides America and Israel?

And that just happens to be easiest part to quote. Read the rest.

POP-POP POP POP POP...
This happened to be a day when I needed this:

HOW NOT TO IMPRESS YOUR GIRLFRIEND
This potty-mouthed moron's attorney claims he's an honors student?

I find that hard to believe.

AIR AMERICA DOESN'T SOUND VERY IMPRESSIVE...
Initial reviews are flat.

It's obvious Franken doesn't like Ann Coulter. I don't blame him; she's a lot funner than he is.

WILL KERRY SURVIVE UNTIL NOVEMBER?
The Democratic challenger's poll numbers are dropping fast. Still, it's way too early in the race to tell what will happen, but Bush is in a lot better position than his father was this time umpteen years ago.

I really like Tony Blankley's take on Kerry, published in a column in the Washington Post:

What may become the enduring exemplar of the Kerry style was his spontaneous expletive on the ski slopes when his Secret Service guard bumped into him by accident (while guarding him): "I don't fall down. The S.O.B. knocked me over." To instinctively say that about the man who is sworn to put himself between Mr. Kerry and a bullet, paints a lasting and contemptible character portrait. Contrast that with what Ronald Reagan said shortly after he was shot: "Honey, I forgot to duck." It was at that moment that 60 percent of the American public fell permanently in love with the Gipper. As Ernest Hemmingway put it in another time, that is grace under pressure — and Mr. Kerry doesn't have it.

Read the whole thing here.

SOME GOOD NEWS! YEA!!!
The Statue of Liberty is reopening.

IRAQ IRAQ IRAQ....
There are a lot of people who are down on Bush regarding Iraq ("Bush Lied, People Died," etc etc). The lame, predictable bleating from the left all but ignores every other reason we had to go in. Invading Iraq was an inevitable aspect of the War On Terrorism. Saddam Hussein was a destabilizing influence in the entire Middle East. He paid Palestineans to become suicide bombers. He likely funded other terrorists as well. He harbored them and had training camps established for them. He was an obvious player in promoting terrorism. Never mind what he did to his own people. And has anyone noticed that Saddam ignored virtually every demand made of it by the UN? I mean, is the United Nations an impotent organization, or what?

There have been OBVIOUS peace dividends. Khadafi is becoming pacified. North Korea and Syria is pushing for stronger diplomatic ties. The terrorist network has lost a major source of funding.

And of course, now we're discovering that the "Oil for Food" program (that the UN organization put together, see above) has been a scandal. That deserves a lot more than I have time to write, but here's a good link for now:

And Kerry plans to apologize to the world for invading Iraq if he's elected. Spare me.

RICHARD CLARKE IMPLODES, NO FILM AT 11 (DUE TO MEDIA BIAS)
Another disgruntled Bush Administration employee writes a book and gets tons of media attention. Funny how ex-Clinton Admin folks didn't get such red carpet treatment. The best article I've read so far is from Ann Coulter.

GOING TO BE HARD TO BUY XMAS LIGHTS WITHOUT GUILT:
http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-3-24/20545.html

China is apparently using slave labor in many of its factories. Despicable.

IS IT NOW SAFE FOR LEFT-WINGERS TO TURN THE RADIO ON?
The new liberal radio network Air America launches next week. Color me skeptical, but there already have been countless attempts of liberal talk-show hosts trying to make it big to a national audience. For the most part, none have approached the audience or impact of Rush Limbaugh. Not that the usual media suspects haven't tried to give this fledging network a boost. There's even an article in USA Today. Compare that with Rush Limbaugh, who was largely ignored until he had hundreds of radio markets. Even then, you could picture the sneers on the faces of everyone who thought that Limbaugh would be a "here today, gone tomorrow" phenomenom.

Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo are top-billed as hosts on the new network. Franken, in fact, plans on going head-to-head against Limbaugh in his time spot (weekdays, noon to 3). But as of yet things aren't going so well for Air America. In spite of months of planning and promotion, they're only in three markets. Two of them are small-market, Spanish-language stations. The apologists are out in force:

“This is a consequence of the company coming to the table late,” says Tom Taylor, editor of Inside Radio. “All of the big signals have already been taken by conservatives like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. If liberals had been buying stations a dozen years ago, they would have been in a much better position now to start this network.”

Phui. Liberals have to buy stations to be heard? I don't think so. There are plenty of timeslots out there, with stations continually jocking programs around to boost their ratings. Bottom line: Radio stations carry network programming because they want to attract listeners. Listeners mean advertising dollars. Air America has to prove it's worth listening to before stations are going to commit valuable timeslots to it.

When Rush Limbaugh began broadcasting there weren't any national broadcasts catering to the right. Broadcast news, and CNN were dedicated to presenting liberal views with only a rare nod to anyone with a Republican perspective. Limbaugh clearly filled a niche. What's going to be draw for Air America? Al Franken can be a funny guy, but I find his political humor a bit grating. Time will tell.

Other comments here.

UPDATE: The network has gone live today, now with five stations. Stand back.

CAN YOU SPOT THE ERROR?
Someone wants to blow up a drive-thru McDonald's restaurant in Northern Italy. He wasn't successful.

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=506489

There's a 'bad science' error in the article - can you find it?

For my answer and to read other dark-humored comments, click here.

OH, THIS MAKES ME MAD....(or does it?)

A man living quietly in his home somewhere in Scotland gets a knock on the door. He opens it to find four armed men. This gang attempts to rob him. He grabs a sword from his wall, and stabs one of the men, killing him.

Guess who's going to jail? For EIGHT YEARS?

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2687311

UPDATE:
Strangely enough, there is more to the story - sometimes I have to be careful what I read:

http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/lancashire/archive/2004/03/09/NEWS7ZM.html

WEIRD SITE OF THE DAY....
http://www.jda.go.jp/JMSDF/event/cm_p/index.html

JAMES LILEKS IS COOL....
I especially like his writings when he's angry - the wit just shines through. But he and I have both noticed that Home Depot no longer sells GE light bulbs. Apparently he likes Reveal light bulbs. I like the Miser bulbs, myself. Anyway, he thinks Home Depot pulled GE products because GE wouldn't pay for the shelf space (as some retailers sometimes charge to get manufacturers to pony up for the best product placement).

Home Depot has always been an 800 pound gorilla with manufacturers. At first it was a great thing for consumers; you knew that you would always get a decent price for a hammer to replace the one that just vanished (but will reappear 2 hours after you get home). However, HD's buyers didn't know when to quit. The ubiquitous glass scraper is a prime example. How hard is it to find a decent scraper? All it has to do is hold a razor blade in a steel frame, with a slide switch to move the blade in and out for safety. Well, Home Depot no longer sells the reputable Stanley tool - now it sells something from China that barely survives pulling it out of the blister package. Sure, you pay half the price of the USA-made product, but it doesn't last the weekend!

Not that I'm always a "Buy America" kind of guy but I think this is a cheap ploy to get people to buy a LOT more paint scrapers.

Why not sell the cheap China knockoff along with the more expensive USA-brand? Well, Lileks hit it on the head - can we say it together? Not enough shelf space. It's hard to find two different brands of anything at Home Depot. And since the cheapest price is king, we all suffer.

At least Ace Hardware is still around.

Speaking of Lileks, he loves to do retro. And he has a great section on his website about how New York City's Times Square has changed through the years. Check it out.

...AND HE'S ALSO CONTROLLED BY THE JOOOOOOOS!

Like conspiracy theories? Can't figure out how Bush is so stupid that he can't tie his shoelaces, yet manages to outsmart the Democratic caucus - over and over again? Check out this article that wraps up every nasty thing Bush has done into one tidy article....

UPDATE: The link was retired - but I found someone who has it here.

THE IDES OF MARCH...

They haven't been pleasant. Bombings in Spain. Kerry's being a jerk. The weather in DC is cold and miserable. Jonah Goldberg ignores my email (more later...maybe). Frank J. of IMAO has a last name after all (but he's ignoring me, too). And I'm waaaay too busy to elaborate. How do people find time to do this stuff?

Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti...

http://wcco.com/water/watercooler_story_064123405.html

Update: Link broken - try the Google Cache Here.

OKAY, WHAT HAPPENED?

Where to start?

First of all, blogger.com started having problems. I couldn't get in to add posts, and frankly, I was too busy to track down the problem. THEN I was very hot and heavy in a consulting project, which made me even busier. THEN I started a new job, even though I still had to wrap up my consulting project, and THAT job consumed an immense number of hours. I then tried to get blogger to work, but it wouldn't behave - it had lost my template (the 'look-and-feel' part of the website) and I had to recreate it - which I didn't have time to do.

Anyway - fast forward to now - and I went ahead, blew away the fragments of the old template, and recreated my blog. Since Blogger had (finally) fixed the problems it wasn't so hard. So here I am again.

Now, the template I'm using now - well, it's okay. I don't like the color (orange???), but I did spend a few minutes getting the font size down to something useful. Plus I'm out of town today, and don't have access to Dreamweaver (which I like to use for web work). So I'm editing the HTML code directly. That's not so hard, but it's a little tedious.

But anyway, I'm here. Things have changed a bit since I started blogging - it's a bit easier for me to get on the web now, so maybe I'll be able to post a little more often. I don't have a lot of time these days either, but with the access I should be able to keep this site fresh. We'll see.

Wish me luck.

HELLO?

Anybody miss me?

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