April 30, 2004
If we're to renew our country, we must stop trying to homogenize America
Wisdom of the past...
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/resource/speeches/1982/71382a.htm
McCain...Just sit down and shut up.
Ted Koppel of ABC Nightline is set to read the names of all the service persons killed in Iraq tonight. Sinclair Broadcasting has indicated that they have instructed their stations to pre-empt that programming. McCain jumps into the fray and crams his foot in his mouth at the same time his head is in his ass...quite a feat. Below are their statements, and mine:
Nightline/Koppel:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/nightline/ClosingThoughts/nightlineclosingthoughts_sub.html
Senator McCain (R-AZ):
...from Drudge...
Fri Apr 30 2004 11:29:49 ET
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) issued the following letter today to Mr. David Smith, President and CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group, in response to the preemption of this evening's Nightline program:
I write to strongly protest your decision to instruct Sinclair's ABC affiliates to preempt this evening's Nightline program. I find deeply offensive Sinclair's objection to Nightline's intention to broadcast the names and photographs of Americans who gave their lives in service to our country in Iraq.
I supported the President's decision to go to war in Iraq, and remain a strong supporter of that decision. But every American has a responsibility to understand fully the terrible costs of war and the extraordinary sacrifices it requires of those brave men and women who volunteer to defend the rest of us; lest we ever forget or grow insensitive to how grave a decision it is for our government to order Americans into combat. It is a solemn responsibility of elected officials to accept responsibility for our decision and its consequences, and, with those who disseminate the news, to ensure that Americans are fully informed of those consequences.
There is no valid reason for Sinclair to shirk its responsibility in what I assume is a very misguided attempt to prevent your viewers from completely appreciating the extraordinary sacrifices made on their behalf by Americans serving in Iraq. War is an awful, but sometimes necessary business. Your decision to deny your viewers an opportunity to be reminded of war's terrible costs, in all their heartbreaking detail, is a gross disservice to the public, and to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. It is, in short, sir, unpatriotic. I hope it meets with the public opprobrium it most certainly deserves.
Sinclair Broadcast Group:
ABC Nightline Pre-emption
The ABC Television Network announced on Tuesday that the Friday, April 30 edition of "Nightline" will consist entirely of Ted Koppel reading aloud the names of U.S. servicemen and women killed in action in Iraq. Despite the denials by a spokeswoman for the show, the action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq.
There is no organization that holds the members of our military and those soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in service of our country in higher regard than Sinclair Broadcast Group. While Sinclair would support an honest effort to honor the memory of these brave soldiers, we do not believe that is what "Nightline" is doing. Rather, Mr. Koppel and "Nightline" are hiding behind this so-called tribute in an effort to highlight only one aspect of the war effort and in doing so to influence public opinion against the military action in Iraq. Based on published reports, we are aware of the spouse of one soldier who died in Iraq who opposes the reading of her husband's name to oppose our military action. We suspect she is not alone in this viewpoint. As a result, we have decided to preempt the broadcast of "Nightline' this Friday on each of our stations which air ABC programming.
We understand that our decision in this matter may be questioned by some. Before you judge our decision, however, we would ask that you first question Mr. Koppel as to why he chose to read the names of 523 troops killed in combat in Iraq, rather than the names of the thousands of private citizens killed in terrorist attacks since and including the events of September 11, 2001. In his answer, we believe you will find the real motivation behind his action scheduled for this Friday. Unfortunately, we may never know for sure because Mr. Koppel has refused repeated requests from Sinclair's News Central news organization to comment on this Friday's program.
Me, in an email to Senator McCain:
Senator McCain,
Respectfully, please stay out of Sinclair's decision to NOT air ABC programming.
I find it very disturbing that you'd have the audactity to attempt to dictate what it is Sinclair will or will not show on the stations they own. Government has no right to meddle in the affairs of private businesses regardless of whether that business is a bakery or a news station.
I respect your right to criticize their decision; however, insinuating that this action is unpatriotic disgusts me.
April 26, 2004
Imperialistic aims
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/books/23097.htm
72 virgins...oh wait, hey, this isn't what i signed up for!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,631357,00.html
Man, that's gotta suck when you show up and they hand you a box of Sunmaid.
April 25, 2004
April 24, 2004
Pictures of the anti-CAT protest
Looks like nobody showed up.
http://quranblog.tripod.com/
April 23, 2004
Blocking photos of war dead
I'm starting this thread for the express purpose of hashing out this subject.
Last night, I was dead set against this, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder if we ought not show these pictures. I'm completely in agreement that the contractor that took the photos should be fired (and has been), because it was against the policy she was employed under.
Here's my thoughts this morning...
Show 'em, if it's OK with the families; as they were the ones that helped craft this policy after 91. Let the people know what it is to lead a good life and die with honor. A generation or two has forgotten that. The last time we saw pictures like this was Vietnam...well, the pictures weren't like this; they were body bags. The current pictures are nothing but respect and honor.
master of nuance
My family owns the SUV, not me.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4009850,00.html
This coming from the guy that voted for the $87B before he voted against it.
April 22, 2004
Kerry, you fucktard
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=3994&R=9DE619472
Courtesy of the Weekly Standard.
Muslim media war
Why the Muslims will lose the media war.
It's a shame really, whatever it good about that religion (if there is anything), is going to be drawn down by the extremists. Seems as though the extremists/terrorists/etc know that the media exists and it can be used to their advantage; however, their sheer misunderstanding of how they're playing in prime-time will be their downfall.
Thank god.
Mideast Instability...a good thing
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull%26cid=1082518211238
use the username/password of: yeahright1/yeahright2 so you don't have to register.
April 21, 2004
no energy policy, eh?
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=568&u=/nm/20040421/bs_nm/markets_oil_dc_2&printer=1
...and Kerry wanted to immediately halt filling the SoR and open the taps to lower the price of oil. This, amid OPEC cutting output by 1m bpd as of April 1, and as the summer driving season starts.
Just shows who understands the interlink of foreign, domestic, economic, and energy polcies and who doesn't.
OPEC President Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Monday the group was allowing production leakage to cool blistering oil prices. OPEC blames high prices on a lack of U.S. refinery capacity and on new environmental fuel regulations.
Production leakage? You mean cheating out output.
As well, your government is doing something right for a change. There's a bill up right now that would change the emissions requirements allowing fewer blends of gasoline to be produced and sold more widely. That'll save another 5 cents a gallon.
Looks like second quarter 87 octane may be hovering around $1.50.
April 19, 2004
UCAVs getting ready for prime time
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4779727/
They don't mention this in the article, but this is a low-observable and stealth UCAV. Point out a couple things that you also see on many stealth aircraft...
1. exhaust vents inboard of the tail (no heat signature from below)
2. lack of vertical stabilizer (easier to control reflections)
3. enclosed bomb rack
4. angular ends of bomb door (helps to control scatter of radar)
Doesn't look like the 4-channel fly-by-wire system up front is too stealthy yet, but that should be pretty easy.
really just ought to use a pig-cannon
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&e=1&u=/ap/iraq_front_line
4/18 Ride Report
Rode 300 miles, should have been over 400; and basically the day sucked. The ride to Rising Sun, Indiana is full of crappy roads and most of them in some state of construction. Where it was good, we ended up helping a rider that had an "off" and I ended up breaking a clutch lever 3 hours from home. Oh, and then there was the wind...my god the wind!
keep your eyes open
Small town doesn't necessarily mean small threat anymore...stay vigilant.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/World/terror_threat_040418-1.html
April 13, 2004
April 12, 2004
April 07, 2004
Don't rob a bank in Spain
The backstory is this guy robs a bank in Spain, holds a hostage, and negotiates for a sport-bike to make his getaway.
Watch the video here for the rest of the story.
Protest because you can
Parents of woman killed by Israeli bulldozer join anti-Caterpillar rally
Caution, this is going to be very balanced, so hang on...
Rachel Corrie was killed, some say murdered, when an Israeli bulldozer (made by Caterpiller) crushed her as she attempted to stop it from demolishing a palestinian home. It is the Israeli policy that they will demolish the homes of palestinians involved in bombings. Now, I'm not going to comment on either the Israeli policy or Rachel's method of protest. However, protesting Caterpiller is about as mis-directed as I've ever seen. Caterpillar is a Peoria instituion that has benefitted the community, and the world, greatly even though it's ups and downs financially. I can think of few companies that have contributed more to what's good about the world we live in today.
I hear there's going to be a counter-protest. Anyone game? I'll drive.
Dockers, wrinkle-resistant pants
For the Shiite Militia on-the-go...
April 05, 2004
Iran declares war on the US
This begs the question, if Iran is starting a regional war with the US; one, do they think they can win, two, if one is no, then can they stalemate? Three, they're risking more than a regional conflict here and what do they think they can do to counter US military might and create a victory...or is that the plan at all?
With Iraq recent insistence that it's nuclear ambitions are peaceful and Brazil's all but admitted nuclear program, it's a wonder we haven't done something about North Korea, the known source of all this.
So, what are we on the cusp of? If Iran goes into a serious war with the US, then Syria will join in on Iran's side, and that's gonna put us in a pinch. That'll draw North Korea in since they'll know we'll be too spread to really punish them. Then, what about China? We'll be too busy to honor our pledge to protect Taiwan. Looking on our side, we've got a big problem with Isreal in this situation because they're gonna get pretty nervous. If anyone lights off a nuke first, it'll be these folks. The palestinians are smoked here but what does Isreal really have in the way of a defensive posture against nukes or chemical?
Folks, this could get real interesting...
UPDATE: A little backhistory here from about a year ago.
April 04, 2004
Ride report - 4/3/04
...or in other words, "that's gonna hurt in the morning".
I rode with 3 other riders who knew this area well, very well. One of my clients, Don has a BMW KT1200LT, one of his guys, Dwight on a new Suzuki Bandit 1200 600, and Russ on a Harley Electra Glide. I figure with two touring bikes in the mix, one pretty large; how much trouble can we get in? Keep in mind these guys were bitching that it might be too cold on Saturday to ride.
Dwight took the lead out of Brownsburg, south on some back road...I haven't a clue what number it was, and I can't find it on my map, but we ended up somewhere near Morgan Monroe SF where I rode last week. However, I took all super slab there then, and I'm not sure what we rode on could even be considered slab. Note to self, don't let Dwight lead again...he's fast; either his brake light is out or he rides like Dana. But the Harley was keeping up so I figured I just hadn't gotten my bike legs yet this year.
From Morgan Martin, it was back roads down to Bloomington, which was a good place to get gas and take a quick break. Traffic in that college town sucks or there was something going on, either way we got the hell out of there. It was at this point I should have taken a couple aspirin.
Out of Bloomington, it was on to SR45, which in my estimation qualifies as Indiana's version of the Deal's Gap. Here's the map:
Through this section, Don was leading and once again, I figured it a big K1200LT can do it, so can I. His bike probably has over 100 pounds on me without the rider and Don is a bigger guy than I am, so I figured I had him bested here by a long shot, especially since I probably have 50 horses on him. Well, that power was useless because I wasn't going to pass him outside the double yellow if i couldn't see ahead, and I couldn't because it was nothing but blind, tight corners with just enough straight to get the engine spooled up enough to be really hard on your brakes for the next corner. Throwing the FJ around on this road was a handfull and I knew half way through it, things were gonna start hurting. This road is better suited, if you're attacking it, to the CB-1.
At Bean Blossom, we turned south to Nashville, which is a nice little Brown County tourist trap. All sorts of shops and people milling about on a warm day. Heading toward Columbus we turned North on some back road they obviously knew about and it was more of the same, but this time hardly any oncoming traffic. Still, I wasn't going to pull a pass. I figured if I did, I'd either smack my helmet on the pavement or I'd smack it on a tree as all of them seemed to be right on the road edge. After we got North of Camp Atterberry, we got to SR252.
Don pulled onto the highway in the lead and I was next. Looking at him, his front suspension was going up and down pretty hard and I'm trying to figure out what's going on as I'm just holding station behind him. I thought, "he's trying to drag race me"...naw, no way, well, I checked my mirrors and we were way ahead of the Bandit and the Harley so I figured I got suckered into it and I didn't even know it. Well, I was only in 3rd, so I just rolled on the gas and left him in short order...ah the power of the FJ! Sometimes I forget I have almost as much as a Hyabusa in total and probably more torque in usable ranges.
We stopped at a small town church for a stretch before the last leg of the ride. Don decided he wants to trade rides next time. Russ on the Harley kept up all day, but you could see the scars on his floorboards. Must be a hell of a rider to muscle that big tank through all of that.
The sun was going down and it was getting windy and cold so the rest of the ride from East of Indy back to home, I decided was going to occur on city streets. Don and Russ took off toward Geist where they live and Dwight followed me to the speedway where he kept going toward's home.
Dinner and two beers later and I was asleep and this morning my shoulders are feeling the effects of the day. Sorry, only one pic at one stop before we met up with Dwight, but I had my hands pretty full after that point. I'll definitely be doing that ride again.
Update: Here's my front tire...a bit more scuffed that it was when I left.
April 02, 2004
What have I been saying about jobs?
Server is a little slow at the moment since everyone is trying to get the raw data; but suffice to say...
759,000 jobs created in the past 7 months!
Jobs are always a lagging indicator, going into a recession, AND coming out.
Also, manufacturing output highest in 16 years.
Buh bye Kerry, buh bye.
April 01, 2004
No more
No more will I con myself into believing this isn't a war on islam. Yet again, this time in Fallujah, they dance over our dead chanting "long live islam, god is great".
They've declared war on us, let's stop hiding our heads in the sand. No more will I buy into the PC bullshit equalizing the hatred of 1400 years of islam with the crusades. An instance in christianity isn't equivalent to the endemic hatred spewed forth by this "religion".
Religion of peace, my ass.