December 31, 2003
make a prediction for '04
opine on '04! no bullshit...tell us what you really think will happen.
halliburton must be full of money
...sarcasm on...
that's right folks, so full there's no place left to stack it.
being that we went to war with iraq over oil and halliburton (back pocket of dick cheney) was just there to line his pockets; how could it be that they've lost the contract to supply fuel? article here
...sarcasm off...
i predict when the contract is re-bid, halliburton will be the winner. they were chosen in the emergency basis on a no-bid contract for the war because they were the single supplier that could be counted on by the DoD to pull it off. come on people, an m1a1 gets .5 mile per gallon; no way would the US risk not having enough JP-8 to keep all the treads rolling. i'd have rather not seen what might have happened if "joe and schecky's gas co." got the contract to keep our military machine fueled.
Lewinski gets the shaft one last time
Wanted the tax payers to foot her legal bills
click here for the article
the marketing machine rolls on
 | Saruman If I were a character in The Lord of the Rings, I would be Saruman, Wizard, the leader of the council of wizards. In the movie, I am played by Christopher Lee. Who would you be? |
December 29, 2003
attitudes need to change
i'm concerned. scratch that, i'm worried. the world over americans are known for their brash "let me tell you what i think" attitude; however, i don't think that's the problem. on a local level, i get the sense that we generally tell people what we think, but rarely do we have a solution; rather we just complain. this is precisely the behavior i see in the majority of the democrat party.
we need to have a war of ideas not a war of insults
December 24, 2003
today's christmas story
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem.
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts,
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night"
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram will always remember."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while, But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag, The red white and blue... an American flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone, Away from my family, my house and my home, I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet, I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat, I can carry the weight of killing another or lay down my life with my sister and brother who stand at the front against any and all, to ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least, "Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast? It seems all too little for all that you've done, For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, "Just tell us you love us, and never forget To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone.
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead, To know you remember we fought and we bled is payment enough, and with that we will trust.
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.
Friends, keep Our military people in your prayers. They are risking their lives to protect what we take for granted, and we are losing soldiers every day. They won't be home with their families this Christmas. I pray God will Bless Them, and keep them safe.
December 23, 2003
not only does the man make a wonderful beer
“lf ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animated contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” --Samuel Adams
December 22, 2003
dominoes want to fall
i was pretty sure that our reasons for invading iraq extended beyond just removing a despot from power, but now it's confirmed. however, i have been saying for some time that it was syria that would be next, and low and behold gadhafi's libya was the first to fall.
seems as though gadhafi got nervous just as we were gearing up for war with iraq and wanted not to be next on the list of 'axis of evil'. however, it looks like libya's moderation has been happening for some time, albiet slowly, evidenced by accepting responsibility for the lockerbie bombings (pan am). however, what caused this last minute change?
you'll not read this anywhere else, because this is my interpretation. gadhafi has been under UN and US sanctions for quite some time, with only recently having the UN sanctions lifted. with the US invading iraq it was a foregone concolusion that 2 things were going to increase in the next decade, coming from iraq. one, crude oil output, and two (and more importantly) refining output. the first is useless unless you're got the second, and the second comes from the influx of investment in iraq. seeing this, and the liklihood that oil prices will moderate and fall against world inflation rates, diminishes the value of libya's oil in that region. however, you don't ship gasoline, you ship crude because it's stable (gas goes bad in a couple months, and you don't have enough stabil in the world to put in a single tanker). lybia is looking to the US as it's next market and what better way to join that market than get on board with the war against terrorism. we've demonstrated the path to france and germany, but gadhafi was smart enought to see it.
libya's deal clears the way for us oil companies and exporters to get in the game in libya, a country with better resources and infrastructure. this means there's gonna get some money first because they'd be first to turn a profit back on the investment. gadhafi isn't an idiot, he's making an end run around the initial investment in iraq and making a pass right over the heads of opec.
as to presidential candidate, dr. dean; put that in your pipe and smoke it. capturing saddam DOES make the US a safer place in specific and general terms because it's turning a whole region into a trading partner that's begging to trade with the US and they're willing to give up and do quite a bit to make it happen.
so what's next? iran seems likely as they're a country that wants to westernize; however, it's a country run by two separate governments (the military and the religious). that's a tough nut to crack because you can't deal with just one; however, the moderation we've forced in the middle east is going to help the young population of iran push the issue with the religious side and that'll help the rest of the dominoes to fall there; but that's gonna take a while yet. i would not be surprised if it takes another 10 years of iraq getting up to speed before it has any real effect on iran. we've still got syria and n. korea to deal with, time is on our side with n. korea as we're basically laying siege to them; however, syria is that dirty little problem nobody is talking about, but they're on the squeeze play now. if turkey gets they're wish that the kurds don't get independence, we'll have a nice little squeeze going on.
finally, has anyone else noticed that since saddam dried up (end of major combat operations), that the palestinians have quieted down? they're funding for human det-cord has dried up.
today we're at terror threat level orange again; however, the world is becoming a safer place every day. thanks to our republican administration for having the big brass to take on a task that costs big political capital and won't likely be finished in our lifetimes, let alone their administration, second term or not. it's already paying big dividends; however, the big payoff is yet to come.
December 19, 2003
December 18, 2003
republican discrace
this guy really needs to be kicked in the jimmy.
click for the article
having lived in the people's republic of illinois for 25 years, this corruption doesn't surprise me, and i think that's the worst part of it. this doesn't surprise anyone in illinois and everyone knows it's endemic of the system all the way from chicago down (don't kid yourself about sprinfield being the capital), yet they still elect the same bozos year after year.
local dipstick
once again, our illustrious mayor, Bart Peterson, fails to put snowplows on the road. wasn't this his big beef that won his election the first time?
maybe he's waiting for our combined overflow sewer system to overflow the manhole covers and flood the streets with warm sewage. that, or maybe he's expecting all the extra police officers he's put on the street (and failed to fund) are gonna drive around an melt it for us.
December 17, 2003
McDermott the moron
Baghdad Jim probably has thoughts on UFOs too
10 questions for dennis miller
used to be way "left"; now getting the picture.
click for the article
from now on...
pretty much all i write here is going to have some sort of political bent to it; most likely a "right" leaning bent. i've got an axe to grind against those touting themselves as democrats who are, in actuality, pinko commies.
so, grab a glass and pour yourself one, and be prepared to contribute your thoughts. you don't have to agree with me or what i write or link to; however, you're not going to be able to get away with not backing up your assertions.
repetition does not equal truth.