Some Little Known Facts About Abraham Lincoln

Today is Abraham Lincoln's 199th birthday. Here are some interesting, to me anyway, facts about Lincoln from the Constitution Center:

At 6 foot, 4 inches, Abraham Lincoln was the tallest president.
Lincoln was the first president to be born outside of the original thirteen colonies.
Lincoln was the first president to be photographed at his inauguration. John Wilkes Booth (his assassin) can be seen standing close to Lincoln in the picture.
There are no direct descendants of Abraham Lincoln even though he had 4 sons.
During the Civil War, telegraph wires were strung to follow the action on the battlefield. But there was no telegraph office in the White House, so Lincoln went across the street to the War Department to get the news.
The contents of Lincoln’s pockets on the night of the assassination weren’t revealed until February 12, 1976. They contained two pairs of spectacles, a chamois lens cleaner, an ivory and silver pocketknife, a large white Irish linen handkerchief, slightly used, with “A. Lincoln” embroidered in red, a gold quartz watch fob without a watch, a new silk-lined, leather wallet containing a pencil, a Confederate five-dollar bill, and news clippings of unrest in the Confederate Army, emancipation in Missouri, the Union party platform of 1864, and an article on the presidency by John Bright.
Lincoln was the only president to receive a patent, for a device for lifting boats over shoals.
Lincoln’s son, Robert, who was in Washington when his father was killed, was also on the scene when President Garfield was shot in 1881, and when President McKinley was assassinated in 1901.
Lincoln and his wife held séances in the White House. They had a great interest in psychic phenomena.
Lincoln was the first president to wear a beard.
Lincoln had the largest shoe-size documented. He wore a size 14!

No Shit Neil

Music can't change the world. Well Neil, if you hadn't been smoking the chronic for the last 40 years you may have realized this a little sooner.

Bizarre Dreams

A 2005 study carried out by the British Cheese Board discovered that when it came to dream types, Stilton cheese seemed to cause odd dreams, with 75% of men and 85% of women experiencing bizarre and vivid dreams after eating a 20g piece of the cheese 30 minutes before going to sleep.

Since this was in Britain I don't imagine these people brushed their teeth prior to going to bed. Perhaps the bizarre dreams were caused by moldy cheese breath.

dada's Dim Live in 2003

Off of their excellent 1992 album Puzzle, one of the very few pop albums that will sound decent on a good audio system.

The Declining Terrorist Threat July 10, 2001

A New York Times nitwit and erstwhile prognosticator screws the pooch. Read the whole thing and wonder how someone could have so many reasons to be so wrong, then wonder no more as you read the author's byline: Larry C. Johnson is a former State Department counterterrorism specialist. Sleep tight.
Hat Tip Insty

Tornadoes

Tornadoes scare the hell out of me. I'd have a phobia for them except there's no such thing as an unreasonable fear of something that is so destructive. Oddly enough I find them beautiful as well, not so beautiful that I'd chase them around Oklahoma and Kansas though.

We had one killer tornado here in Connecticut when I was a kid. We lived high in the hills of Glastonbury and you could see the storm that spawned the tornado half way across the state in Windsor Locks on the Massachusetts border. I knew something was unusual that day because the sky was green, pistachio ice cream green. It was eerie. I haven't seen anything like that before or since. With our undulating topography in the North East it's rare to see storms from very far off. Not so in the plains, where you can see the tops of storms hundreds of miles away.

I Voted Today

All the GOP candidates where on the ballot, even those who have withdrawn already. The pleasant octogenarian who was wo-manning the GOP side of the polls said that voter turnout in West Hartford had been light, but of course the poll worker on the GOP side in West Hartford would say that wouldn't she?

For the record I voted for non-committed because I don't particularly like any of the GOP candidates still running. This November the GOP candidate, whoever that is, will have to have been caught sacrificing Chocolate Labrador puppies to Baal to prevent me from voting for them. I hope whoever gets the GOP nod can unite the party and present a coherent and powerful campaign against what seems to be two potential Democratic lightweights.

Super Tuesday

A lachrymose Hillary Clinton was in town today for a timely weeping before super Tuesday. Let's see, wasn't it just 28 days ago that the normally austere wife of a former president last wept on cue?
Whom do I vote for tomorrow, as if it matters? I can't vote for McCain and think Romney is a bit of a pussy. I'd sooner become a Baptist myself before voting for Huckabee and Ron Paul is a GOP version of Dennis Kucinich. Does Connecticut allow write ins? Is it crazy to throw a vote away for Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan or Tom Regan for that matter?
I hope something changes between now and November to change the candidates, their positions and/or how I feel about them. Maybe a triumphant HRC moderating leftward will enrage the GOP base and energize the moderates to oppose her. Maybe John McCain will get knocked of his horse on the road to Damascus and after a period of blindness, become born again hard. Maybe the monkeys flying out my butt will bring me back a pizza.
Since I live in Connecticut, it probably won't matter who I vote for in November, if I vote at all, because Connecticut's 7 electoral votes are all going to go the Democratic candidate anyway.

Berkeley Waffles

A week after blasting the Marines as "unwelcome intruders" in Berkeley, two city council members want the city to back off the declaration that ignited the wrath of the nation's right wing and inspired a Republican senator to try to sever Berkeley's federal funding.

Cowards.

Separated at Birth: Audrey Hepburn, Keira Knightly and Natalie Portman

Sox Sign Sean Casey

This seems like a no brainer, an A1 guy and decent player who still has some baseball left in him on the cheap, relatively speaking. If half of what I read about the guy is true, it's a good thing the Sox signed him before his canonization. He'll do fine in Boston both on the field and off. The suits in the Red Sox organization seem to have figured out something the Yankees haven't, namely that character and team chemistry matter. Almost all the Yankee players are outstanding, many are arguably the best at what they do. As a team they seem to be somewhat less than the sum of their parts.

MIT Morosoph Brings Fake Bomb To Logan Airport

Is this what passes for clever at MIT?

Berkeley Town Council Hates Marines

The Berkeley town council told the USMC they are not welcome in Berkeley. How far removed from reality do you have to be to treat the military this way? I am sure this is nothing that fending for yourself for a year or so in Liberia wouldn't cure. If only there were a way to make this happen.

How To Seem Like A Drunkard

From Modern Drunkard Magazine:

6. Have blackouts. A well-placed phone call works wonders. Ring up your drinking buddy the next day (early afternoon is best) and ask him how you got home last night and if he knows where your other shoe is. When you show up for the next big night and he remarks on how you seem to have found your other shoe, immediately get a new drinking buddy, as this one, judging by how much attention he pays to shoes, is obviously gay. If you already knew he was gay, tell him you just loved them so much you had to run out and buy a replacement pair. He will respect this.

I'll share with you my new favorite beverage for those times that don't rise to the demands of a fine single malt: Campari and soda. Campari is one of those things that's like nothing else. It's bitterer than Al Gore yet much, much more interesting.

a single sheet of paper

I received an email yesterday about a show that was supposed to be at the Hirshhorn Museum of Art in Washington DC. (It's part of the Smithsonian.) According to the email, it was a contest and all the entries were to be made from a single sheet of paper.


I couldn't find anything about the show at the Hishhorn's site. Apparently, there wasn't any contest.

All the works were done by a single artist - Peter Callesen. To my mind, that's even more amazing. The above piece is called Distant Wish.

Go here. Check out the rest of his stuff. Seriously cool.

Movie Review: Michael Clayton

My brief review: An excellent movie, go see it.
For an actual review, read Pulitzer Prize recipient Rodger Ebert, I pretty much agree with his take and would only offer the following.
First, a brief synopsis from Yahoo Movies:

Michael Clayton is an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. A former criminal prosecutor, Clayton takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder Marty Bach.
Though burned out and hardly content with his job as a fixer, his divorce, a failed business venture and mounting debt have left Clayton inextricably tied to the firm. At U/North, meanwhile, the career of litigator Karen Crowder rests on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit that Clayton's firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. But when Kenner Bach's brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens sabotages the U/North case, Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and his life.

Great cast, great story, great script and deft film making combine to make an engaging film that never preaches and still manages to surprise. I love the themes running through the film, the foreshadowing of things great and small, the choices people make and the recriminations they have to live with. All things considered, one of the better movies of 2007, right up there with No Country For Old Men.

Johan Santana Going to The Mets

Perfect. Johan Santana is probably going to the hapless New York Mets where he will bother us no more. We didn't give up three or four solid prospects for an admittedly great but waaaay over priced left handed pitcher. Neither did the Yankees. Good luck in the Big Apple Johan, you'll find it's a tad different than the Twin Cities.

Gigantic Fly Fishing

Wouldn't be a blast to tie a huge fly that looked like a seal and tie it on a titanium tippet and go out for some really big fish? Of course you would need a non-existent 23 weight rod and arms the size of Paul Bunyan's to cast it, retrieve it and reel the fish in, but the idea is still sound.

More shark pictures here.

Bill Clinton a Horse's Ass?

I always thought so.

Questionable Advice in Esquire Magazine

Four women deign to tell clueless men when we may help them:

A woman is lugging a large suitcase through the airport. Do we offer to help?
Katherine: I think a good rule of thumb is, if it looks like we're struggling, offer to help -- we'll really appreciate it.
Alyssa: As much as I want to be pro-feminist and able-bodied, if I'm carrying something heavy, help a girl out.

Translation, as much as I squawk about principles, I'll abandon them when inconvenient. Shouldn't common courtesy be common sense?

"George W. Bush destroyed the Republican Party"

Peggy Noonan excoriates President Bush in the Wall Street Journal.

... George W. Bush destroyed the Republican Party, by which I mean he sundered it, broke its constituent pieces apart and set them against each other. He did this on spending, the size of government, war, the ability to prosecute war, immigration and other issues...

Riiiight. He "broke its constituent pieces apart and set then against each other"? What does that even mean? Can she give an example?

I agree President Bush didn't do enough to control spending but the single biggest program leading to the increase in spending is the prescription drug benefit. During the 2000 campaign, then candidate Bush promised to push that legislation through. I seem to recall Ms. Noonan was very much a Bush supporter back then. Didn't she know what would happen if he kept his promise?

As far as the immigration issue is concerned, Ms. Noonan's employer was on the president's side of that battle. So, if that's part of what has destroyed the GOP, maybe Ms. Noonan should start redirecting her fire. The Wall Street Journal is going to be around for a lot longer than President Bush.

Or maybe instead we need a party that's strong enough to withstand disagreement and stop looking for scapegoats. I thought we were supposed to be a "big tent". Ms. Noonan is basically doing the same thing Brooks, Limbaugh and the rest are doing. She just has a different target.

Somebody Needs To Be Fired

LUTHER, Okla. A local father has expressed concern over allegations that classes at his son's school have turned into Movie Appreciation 101. When Justin -- who asked not to be identified -- started asking his son for a list of lessons learned at Luther High School, his ninth-grader rattled off a list of new releases. "'The Simpsons Movie' was on there, which I whole-heartedly disapprove of," Justin said.
Justin's son told him he had watched about 46 hours of movies in various classes since October. Several of the movies were rated R, he said.

Maybe this is why Johnny can't read, lazy teachers. If this were to happen here in West Hartford, heads would roll in gutters red with blood and rightfully so. A movie, now and then, especially if it's a great movie, can be a good thing. Saving Private Ryan while a great film and teachable may be a poor choice for freshmen in this day of sissified parents and children. As much as I love the Simpsons, I see no reason to show that film in an educational environment. What do you think of these films being shown in your kids school?

• Saving Private Ryan - great flick probably too intense though.
• Spider Man 3 - remember when comic books in school were confiscated and tossed out?
• The Mummy - not bad, hardly educational.
• The Simpsons Movie - Spider Pig?
• Dodgeball - they must be kidding.
• Home Alone 3 - they must be kidding still.
• Robin Hood, Men In Tights - alright, that's enough kidding.
• The Sandlot - the kids would be better off playing in one, instead of watching it.
• Men In Black - I like this movie, but it has no place in school.
• Seabiscuit - very good movie, perhaps teachable.
• The Tuxedo - cruel and unusually bad punishment.
• Cinderella Man - very good movie, perhaps teachable, maybe they did a unit on the Great Depression.
• Rocky - good film, kids were probably jabbing each other and trying to break ribs.
• Air Force One - why?
• Napoleon Dynamite - again why?
• Gridiron Gang - again the kids would be better off playing the sport when not studying.
• Dr. Doolittle - I doubt Rex Harrison was in this one, the new one sucked.
• Remember The Titans - yet again the kids would be better off being active.
• Radio - watch and learn kiddos, at this rate this is your future.
• Beowulf - one of my favorite books, which takes about as long to read as seeing a movie.

Dana Jacobson Drunken Rant

Dana Jacobson co-host of the "ESPN First Take" morning show, stepped in it with both feet recently at a roast for ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike on January 11 by allegedly saying,

"“f**k Notre dame”

“f**k touchdown Jesus”

" step-aside-because-lightning-is-about-to-strike… “f**k Jesus".

That's some funny, funny stuff. Now the Christian Defense Coalition is calling for her ouster in front of ESPN's Bristol headquarters. As much as I disagree with Jacobson's sentiments, I think this may be a bit drastic. Granted, if she had said, f--- the Jews or f--- the n-word or f--- any other religious or ethnic group the reaction would have been the same, only the faces in the angry mob would be different.

Two things make me want to let her off the hook. First, it's not like she said this on the air. What people say or do at their place of work or their personal lives has a much lower standard than what we allow them to broadcast into our homes. Secondly, she's a relatively attractive woman in her late thirties who was out at a party swilling Belvedere Vodka, barely in control of herself. I have always enjoyed such people. I think a weeks suspension, a ton of grief, several tearful pleas for forgiveness, five Hail Marys and ten Our Fathers ought to do the trick.

Kucinich Quits

Democrat Dennis Kucinich is abandoning his second, long-shot bid for the White House as he faces a tough fight to hold onto his other job — U.S. congressman....

At a debate last October, Kucinich delivered one of the night's lighter moments when he confirmed seeing an unidentified flying object at the Washington state home of actress Shirley MacLaine. With a smile, he said he would open a campaign office in Roswell, N.M., home to many alleged UFO sightings. Yahoo News

Thank God. The fact that anyone could imagine this creature for any level of government scares the hell out of me.

Martin Gilbert's Winston Churchill

If it wasn't for Booknotes on CSPAN 3 I wouldn't know what to read, fortunately on the 178,385,346,756,526,324 day God created Brian Lamb and subsequently gave me a predilection for caffeinated beverages. I love the format of Booknotes, it's just Brian Lamb, an author on a nondescript set, talking about a book. Lamb is the most self effacing, almost laconic interviewer you're ever likely to see on TV. It's never about him, it's always about the book, the subject, the author on how the author chose the subject of the book. For lazy bastards like me it's often a suitable substitute for actual reading.

The other night they aired the interview with Martin Gilbert on his one volume biography of Winston Churchill. So far it's a great read, but of course it's easy to be interesting when writing about the greatest man in the 20th century. When reading about Churchill you almost get the feeling that everything in his long, interesting life was designed to prepare him to rally the forces of Democracy to oppose Nazi Germany.

Winston Churchill died this day in 1965. When I was in England in 1992, I visited Churchill's grave at St. Martins Church Bladon, Oxfordshire - not far from Churchills ancestral home at Blenheim Palace. It's a little Cotswold stone church with a humble little grave devoid of pretense, pomp or security with a smattering of ash trees about.

Joe For Oil, Food Shortages In Venezuela

There are rampant food shortages in Venezuela for staples like meat, milk, eggs and sugar yet somehow the poor people of this unfortunate nation can still subsidize Joseph Kennedy's Joe-For-Oil program for comparatively wealthier people in the USA.
Oddly enough the price controls imposed by Kennedy chum Hugo Chavez have not solved the shortages.

Fred Thompson Is Out

I am disgusted with Fred Thompson for not running a better campaign. He should have taken a hard look at the RINOS and the likely Democratic nominees and fought tooth and nail as if this election matters, because it damn sure does. Do you want three or four supreme court justices appointed by Hillary Clinton? Do you want her to fix health care, the economy, or the sub prime mortgage mess by invalidating tens of thousands of legally binding contracts? I don't even want to think about how she or Obama would handle the war against Islamic extremism. I weep for the future.

Bill Clinton Has A Dream

Hardly original I know, but funny nonetheless. I wonder if we will see this in the filthy liberal MSM?

Cabelas Disappoints

I've been to the new Cabelas giant retail store in East Hartford several times now and I have to admit I am disappointed. It's a beautiful store with a veritable zoo of stuffed animals some in their own ecosystems and aquariums full of trout. The problem lies in the little things, details in some cases, poor customer service and their pricing.
Cabelas seems a little pricey to me and it's hard to buy clothing there that isn't emblazoned with the Cabelas logo. For example, the "Bargain Cave" at Cabelas is anything but. There they sell returned, repaired or damaged $670 fly rods for $630, some bargain. What's worse is there is no return on these items. Why would I buy a $670 fly rod that normally comes with a lifetime guarantee for $630 if that means it's used or maybe damaged and is sold "as is" without warranty? The cranky old bastard behind the counter in the "Bargain Cave" couldn't be bothered to explain.
Then there are the little things:

• The last two times I went, the kids shooting gallery was completely out of order greatly dissapointing los ninos.
• We ate buffalo burgers at the cafe which were pricey, lousy, cold and over cooked. never again.
• I went to return a defective safe and not once, but twice the head cashier, Roseanne Barr's less attractive and more clamorous sister, interrupted the cashier handling my return to complain about how busy it was and when he should take his break.

Perhaps I'm spoiled by the excellence of LL Bean, but it seems to me that Cabelas had better fine tune their game or go back to Hooterville.

New York Vs. New England

The New York Giants will play the New England Patriots in Superbowl XLII, not that I care that much about football one way or the other. But since most Giants Fans are probably Yankees fans, I will enjoy the piquancy of their winter agony as much as their October agony. A 19-0 season will be pretty impressive as well. That is all.

"Bylines of Brutality"

Iowahawk, perhaps inspired by a recent NY Times series about vets returning from Iraq, examines another troubling trend.

He's followed up his investigative piece with a public service project:

A Man Can Dream Can't He?

It's 17 degrees Fahrenheit, -3 with the windchill. I haven't seen trout in more than two months that wasn't looking up at me from a plate, pitchers and catchers don't report for another 26 days. I need a break.

Hat Tip The J-Walk Blog.

Moral Bankruptcy Posing as Art: Roman Polanski

Marina Zenovich has made a film about Roman Polanski's sexual abuse of a 13 year old girl in 1977.

Zenovich told Reuters her documentary does not apologize for the French-Polish director, but her take on the murky justice and media hype around the Polanski case might make Americans see him in a different light after he was vilified in the 1970s for having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

No apologies required, but do we really need a sympathetic film about a man who drugged, raped and sodomized a 13 year old girl? For those of you who unclear on exactly what happened can find out here. My two cents, he belongs in France.

I'm a Fredhead

Today's do or die for Fred. If he doesn't get a win in South Carolina, it's over. A lot of people have been second guessing the way he's run his candidacy. Much of the criticism is justified. Even so, it's more than a little depressing how much traction a guy like Huckabee has gotten while Fred continues to languish in the polls.

In the American Spectator  Quin Hillyer makes good argument for why he's with Fred. He starts with a purely parochial consideration:

Think of it this way: In every Republican presidential contest beginning in 1980, South Carolina has chosen the winner... but, and this is a very big "but"... it always has been forced to choose from a field already narrowed by the two smaller, front-running states. In effect, South Carolina was told it could take the Iowa winner or the New Hampshire winner, but nobody else.

But this time could be different. This time South Carolina could drive a stake through the two-headed Dracula once and for all by choosing its own candidate to push to the fore. When New Hampshire saved George H.W. Bush's candidacy in 1988, he publicly thanked the state a full nine months later when he won the general election, and New Hampshire enjoyed disproportionate influence during his presidency. If South Carolina chooses its own candidate this time, and he goes on to win, November's final election night could hear that candidate say "Thank you, South Carolina" in front of all the world...

Check it out. It's well worth your time.

Dexter Was Right

What do you know, a HRC bumper sticker I might actually apply.

Kids Hate Clowns

No kidding. I hated clowns as a kid and don't like them too much as an adult either. Anyone who dresses up like a clown is not to be trusted with children or small animals.

Morgellon's Disease is Back in The News

The CDC is paying Kaiser Permanente $338,000 to study the curious phenomenon know as Morgellon's Disease. I wonder what percentage of Morgellon Disease sufferers have used used crystal methamphetamine?

I Dig The Wig

Ralph Wiggum would still be a better president than any of the real Democrats.

Hat Tip: Scooter

Choices 2008 Election

The more I look at choices for POTUS in 2008 the less I can imagine any of the Democratic candidates as president.

• Hillary Clinton, I despise her, but admire her discipline and ruthlessness. I could go on and on why she is the worst thing since paper cuts and dead childhood pets but Christopher Hitchens is much better at this sort of thing, so go read his take on her here.


• Barack Obama, I'll give him credit for the way he's running as a man of achievement, not a black man of achievement. The absence of race issues, so far, in his candidacy augers well for our Republic. Never let anyone tell you we are an intolerant nation when seven years after 9/11 a man named Barack Hussein Obama, educated, in part, in an Indonesian Madras is in the running for POTUS. As to whether or not his achievements qualify him for president is questionable. I know his stated policies are about as fresh as a Foghat concert or Roy Munson antics. His dearth of Washington experience is either his best attribute or his worst. He's a likable guy, I just wish he wasn't a Jimmy Carter redux.


• John Edwards, Roy Munson will be President before this haircut. The problem with many of these Democratic candidates is that policy wise they are all the same. They only differ to the extent that they are willing to pander to the extremes of the anti war crowd.


• Mike Gravel, he's a pure socialist in socialist's clothing best known for his opposition to the War in Vietnam. We needn't worry about him getting the nomination, thank God.


• Dennis Kucinich, he's my favorite Democratic candidate. Say what you want about his nebbish appearance, bizarre policies and whackadoo supporters, at least Kucinich believes all the bullshit he espouses. Which is exactly why he's unsuitable for office. That, and he was the Mayor of Cleveland where he dammed near ran that infelicitous polis to new subterranean depths not seen since Dante's unpublished sequel to the Inferno..

On the Republican side you have a much broader divergence of policy and opinions.

• Mike Huckabee is like a Democrat who found religion and could no longer truck with the party that has enshrined abortion as a central tenant of their faith. He's soft on crime as evidenced by his plethora of pardons and is a dreaded tax and spend dweeb like Jimmy Carter. He plays the class card with all the shame of an ambulance chasing Democrat. Huckabee is very personable, perhaps too much so. He looks like someone you might like and trust and probably is both likable and trustworthy, it's just that his politics are all wrong. He really ought to be running as a Democrat.


• Rudy Giuliani in a way is the anti Mike Huckabee. Where Huckabee is soft on crime, Rudy is tough. Where Huckabee is religious with all that comes with that, Giuliani is decidedly not. Rudy is likeable to the extant that you'd rather have him on the inside pissing out than on the outside pissing in. I could live with Rudy as President because I know he'll kick the tarter sauce out of anyone that screws with us. His shady 2nd Amendment record an pro abortion stances are anathema to me though.


• Mitt Romney is an able executive and likely nominee. He is also about as genuine as a Bill Clinton apology. Like another tall haircut from the Peoples Republic, his flipped and the flopped on some pretty big issues, gun control, abortion, gay marriage, etc. I'll vote for this yahoo if it comes to it, but I'd rather not.


• John McCain, as a patriot I admire John McCain's service to America and the faith he kept while a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He has earned the right to be taken seriously, then he squandered it with the abomination known as McCain Feingold Law. Not to seem vindictive, but I will not empower those who seek to dis-empower me by preventing me from criticizing them. This is a bad, anti democratic law and McCain should know better. Some tire of McCain's maverick routine. I can live with that, especially since I believe him to be serious on the war agianst Islamic extremism.


• Ron Paul, right message, wrong messenger. I am very keen to listen to what Libertarians have to say, unfortunately Ron Paul is unelectable, a tad bat shit and his supporters tend to be the sort of people who believe in their libertarian ideals but not your liberty to disagree with them.
• Fred Thompson, is my man. I only wish he had been better funded and more energetic from jump. I'll vote for him and fund his candidacy, but I will be greatly surprised and delighted if he ends up as the GOP nominee.

Human Events Endorses Fred Thompson

You can read the whole thing here, in short they analyzed all the candidates and Fred Thompson is the most genuinely conservative. Big shock that.

Fred Thompson Knocks One Out Of The Park

More of this please.

Bill Richardson Drops Out

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson fresh from inspiring several dozen people across America to vote for him has dropped out of the race for President of the United States.
Richardson is a decent guy, but he was way out of his league, even in this field of lightweights.

"I Found My Own Voice"

Geez, could you keep looking and find another that doesn't sound like nails on a blackboard?

Hillary Clinton Meets Ed Muskie

The first time we see genuine emotion from Hillary Clinton, other than rage or hatred, and it's tears over how tough the campaign trail is and how she passionately believes in what shes doing, not very presidential.

My first reaction is that it's kind of refreshing, and dare I say endearing, to see her acting in an uncalculated way, my immediate second reaction is that she just punctured the myth of HRC invincibility for good. Fork in the butt time, she's done.

Separated at Birth?

Mike Huckabee and Gomer Pyle

Why Huckabee Must Lose

Perhaps more importantly than any doctrinal issues that I have with Huckabee, and there are many, I feel he needs to crash and burn because he is the only top four Iowa finisher that can be easily beaten by Obama, Edwards or HRC. Come November, if Obama faces off against Huckabee in the general election, Obama will enjoy MSM press coverage that make him seem like the second comming of warm, sliced bread. Huckabee will be shocked to learn that all his "friends" in the media despise everything he stands for and only went easy on him because they knew he'd lose in the general election.
I don't like Mitt Romney because I don't find him genuine, but he and every other major GOP candidate would make a better president than Barack Obama. The challenge the GOP faces is to ensure that we don't field a weaker candidate than the Dems do. This shouldn't be hard, but I fear it will be.

Biden Bites The Dust

The preferred and apparently permanent home to numerous unsightly hair plugs, Joe Biden, has ended his gambit for the Democratic presidential nomination after getting fewer votes in the Democratic Caucuses than Pat Buchanan.
I joke of course, Biden enjoyed 23 votes, 22 more than Chris Dodd who only got 1. Uncommitted received 3. As far as I know Pat Buchanan received no votes in Iowa, he'll probably do better in Florida.

Miss Inevitability No More

Obama wins in Iowa 37.53, Hillary comes in third 29.41. Does this mean her candidacy is not inevitable? I know it's early but that's gotta hurt.

I Injected, I Plunged, But It Wasn't Steroids

Roger Clemens says that he did take injections from Brian McNamee but they weren't steroids only lidocaine and the vitamin B-12. McNamee they guy injecting him says Clemens used steroids. Who do you believe? BTW, when Clemens left the Red Sox in a huff in 1996 his ERA was 3.63 and he was 34 years old. In 1997 a trim 35 year old Clemens pitching for Toronto lowered his ERA to 2.05. Did he discover a new pitch or develop a work ethic? I'd be interested to know exactly when McNamee was injecting Clemens.

Dodd Drops Out

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Ipsa Qvidem Pretivm Virtvs Sibi

American Armed Forces do well by doing right in Iraq.
Hat Tip: Insty

Joe Torre: Profile in Courage

Former Yankee skipper and stand up guy Joe Torre won't pick sides or comment on the whole Roger Clemens steroid debacle. I understand that when one friend tosses pointy objects at another friend's coconut, one can't really win by taking sides. On the other hand, steroids are the worst kept secret in sports and it beggars belief to think that Torre had no knowledge or suspicions until the Mitchell Report.

Fred Thompson: You Had Me At Hello

I said it before, I'll say it again; I'll vote for any of the Republican candidates over any of the Democrats. Of the Republicans, Fred Thompson is the closest thing to a true Reagan conservative.
What are the important issues facing our Republic? The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Immigration, Social Security Reform, Tax Reform, Gun Control, Abortion and Health Care Reform. Fred Thompson positions on all these issues are, in my estimation, correct. Accordingly, WMTN endorses the candidacy of Fred Thompson for President of The United States.
The strongest candidate the Democrats have is Hillary Clinton. Even if I agreed with her on all the issues, which I don't, I couldn't vote for her because I think her personality is far too polarizing.
Barrack Obama seems like a genial chap, but this is no time for on the job training. The rest of the Dems pack is pretty lame, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Bill Richardson whose stupid comments on Pakistan after the Bhutto assassination are a national embarrassment. Can you really imagine a world where any of these people would be your first choice for POTUS?
Mike Huckabee is getting a soft ride right now because the MSM would love to see him be the GOP's choice in November when his manifold weaknesses will be rediscovered with a vengeance. He seems like a nice enough guy, but he is no conservative.
Rudy Giuliani would be a tough, no nonsense chief executive, but his positions on abortion and gun control just don't fly for this Republican. And like HRC he has the tendency to be needlessly polarizing.
Mitt Romney just doesn't strike me as genuine and his positions on the 2nd amendment have recently been discovered. It seems the air in Boston causes flips and subsequent flops.

Hannah Montana Dead Dad Scam

I think this woman and her unlucky child should be sentenced to clean bed pans at a VA hospital for 40 hours. For starters.

I Blame George Bush: Murder Rate Soars in New Orleans

The bloodiest city in the country in 2006, reeling from crime in its struggle to recover from Hurricane Katrina, got even worse in 2007.
New Orleans registered 209 homicides last year, a nearly 30 percent increase from the 161 recorded in 2006.
The FBI's rankings for 2007 will not be out until much later in the year, but New Orleans' population is thought to be 295,450, which would mean a rate of about 71 homicides per 100,000 people.
Even the most generous population estimate in 2006 put the number of people in the city that year at 255,000. That meant a real homicide rate of 63.5 per 100,000 residents.
To compare that number with some other notoriously bloody cities, the rate for
Gary, Ind., was 48.3 and Detroit's was 47.1.

You see! If evil GWB hadn't allowed the hurricane to destroy New Orleans and personally chased most of the population away, New Orleans wouldn't have such astronomical murder statistics.

Why Lie: The Assassination of Benazir Bhutto

Other than a futile attempt to avoid embarrassment, what benefit does the Pakistani government derive from lying to the world about the assassination Benazir Bhutto? Not that this one video is definitive, but it seems pretty likely that she was shot, all things considered.

Three Great Films: The Cooler, Vor, The Wind That Shakes The Barely

In the doldrums between Christmas and New Years amid the new noisy toys, I have discovered three films that are defiantly worth watching.

The Cooler with William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin and Maria Bello 2003. William H. Macy plays a man, a cooler, so unlucky that his very presence will “cool” a hot streak. Alec Baldwin, a hard case casino owner, employs him to make sure no one leaves the casino a winner. Macy’s character, Bernie meets and falls in love with Maria Bello’s character Natalie, and everything changes.
Performance wise, it’s a pleasure to watch good actors work their chops on a good script and a compelling story. William H. Macy is always awesome, in this role I don’t think anyone could have played it better. With all the nonsense that surrounds Alec Baldwin at times, it’s easy to forget that he too is capable of excellent performances when given a good script, i.e. this movie, The Departed, Glengarry Glen Ross, and Thick as Thieves. The beautiful and believable Maria Bello brings a mix of vulnerability and strength that allow us to believe she can change things for the uber loser Bernie.
Some weird belief systems are at play in this film, none more important than luck, both good and bad. In The Cooler, luck isn’t some notion to be wished for, it’s the elephant dominating the room that most people don’t seem to notice.

Vor or The Thief 1997, with a bunch of fine Russian actors you probably don’t know. In Russian, with subtitles, Vor is about a beautiful young woman with a young son who meets a charming rogue on a train and how they begin their life together. Set in the former Soviet Union just after the Great Patriotic War, this is one of those transporting films that takes you, convincingly, to a different time and place. Sadly the people in this time and place are still all too human, and like a work of great Russian fiction, we see how this unhappy family is unhappy in its own unique way. Sad, somewhat bleak but oddly not depressing, a film that you will remember.

The Wind That Shakes The Barely 2006. Starring Cillian Murphy as a young doctor who becomes an Irish Republican Army soldier in 1920 Ireland. Although this film is very sympathetic to the cause of Irish nationalism, it is by no means simple in it’s depiction of the choices these people had to make, that in a nutshell is what makes me love this film.
There is a scene where the Irish Republicans debate what is to be done in their New Republic. Each has suffered greatly and lost much, each has his or her own hard earned point of view but some are diametrically opposed to their former brothers in arms. The dialogue sounds as if the actors were allowed to argue their character’s position in their own words, while at times the brogues can be hard to understand with my American ears, some of the dialogue in this film is as good as any ever made.

Weird Disease of the Month: Metalosis Maligna

Hat tip The J-Walk Blog

Pork Chops, Rare Please!

What's eating you?

Raging Rudolph

The Pogues: Fairytale of New York

Merry Christmas!

Sometimes Appearances Aren't Deceiving

A lot has been made recently over the physical appearance of candidates and how our nation's obsession with youth is particularly hard on woman candidates such as Hillary Clinton. I don't doubt that women are held to a higher standard, but most of that nonsense is their own doing. Last I checked, most men couldn't care less about fashion, makeup or sadly in some cases even basic hygiene. I don't think too many men found Ella Grasso, Golda Meir or Margaret Thatcher all that sexually alluring, but it was never about that with these women. It was about their policies, brilliance and excellence.

Hillary Clinton is politically and aurally abhorrent to me but there's nothing wrong with how she dresses or looks. If anything, she's much better looking now, than she used to be. Not that that matters in the least. If she looked liked Bella Abzug and thought like Ronald Reagan I'd vote for her. If she looked like Audrey Hepburn and thought like Hillary Clinton, I'd vote for who ever runs against her.

One look at Dennis Kucinich and it's plainly clear that the hamster's off his wheel. What you see is what you get with John Edwards, a primped and blow dried lightweight. That's a bit of a double standard, men are expected to be tall, blue suited, well groomed and preferably handsome, but not look as if they try to be. In my opinion, any man or woman who uses botox or has hair plugs is far too vain to be trusted with national office.

As a man, it's not hard to groom. You shave, shower, deodorize, clip, swab, comb and dress. What are you going to wear? A blue suit, a white shirt and a reddish tie. Black tie for formal events, white tie for very formal events. Jeans or khakis and a chambray shirt when casual. Never, ever be caught dead windsurfing in a little spandex outfit, that's just gay. Gay in the bad sense, not in the proud and perfectly OK sense of our robust homosexual community. Never, ever wear a sweater vest or cardigan sweater or a multicolored Cosby sweater, you're not running for president of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Mike Huckabee's Loathsome Christmas Ad

I don't like Mike Huckabee, it's nothing personal, I just prefer someone more adroit on policy, less lenient on crime, less socially conservative and more fiscally responsible and now a tad less bible thumpy. Don't get me wrong, I'll still vote for him or any other Republican over any other Democrat, but he is not my type of guy.

Then there's this Christmas ad, which I find very disturbing. It's not the sentiment, I'm fine with that, it's the intent and the context. Huckabee isn't just wishing you, me and everybody else a merry Christmas, he's reminding you, me and everybody else that he's the real Christian running for president. Enough already. Religion has it's place in our broad Republic, but it should never be the central issue for a presidential candidate. If this is who Huckabee is, God bless and keep him, he should stay in Arkansas get himself a church and preach away.

People complain that Huckabee's religiosity has gotten more attention than Barack Obama's. While true, I think that's because people pay Huckabee the respect of taking him seriously.

Dumbass

If there's anything worse than a dumbass, it's a cheap dumbass:

BERLIN - A man nearly died from alcohol poisoning after quaffing two pints of vodka at an airport security check instead of handing it over to comply with new rules about carrying liquids aboard a plane, police said Wednesday.

Indiana Jones and The Plastic Hip Replacement

There's going to be a fourth Indiana Jones movie, yippee! The first was 9.5, the second was 4.3 and the third was a solid 8, on a scale of 1 to 10. I hope the fourth will be worth the wait.

The cast is outstanding, Ray Winstone, Jim Broadbent, John Hurt, Karen Allen, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf and a spry 65 year old Harrison Ford. The screen writer David Koepp has written some pretty clever movies, The Paper, Zathura, Panic Room, Stir of Echoes among many others so the screen play has got to better than Temple of Doom. As I remember the screenplay wasn't all that bad, it was Kate Capshaw that was annoying. She and the twerpy little Vietnamese kid, Short Round. The Temple of Doom would have been a much better movie if they were devoured by fire ants.

Nerf Long Shot

I bought the boys Nerf Long Shots for Christmas, much to the dismay of La Duderina. They're pretty awesome. They come with a scope, integral bi-pod, two magazines and a second gun that attaches and fires co-axially, kinda like an M-203. The loading and firing procedure is eerily similar to most modern assault rifles except you have to work the bolt manually. The day they make a gas operated Long Shot, I'll buy three of them.

They work pretty well once you, I mean the kids, get the hang of it. The quality and design is impressive. They can shoot pretty far too. Some overgrown kids have posted modifications that will increase the range even further. Since I prefer my children with two working eyes, each, I'll pass on the mods for the nonce.

Sub Prime Mortgages

For many, many years people with poor credit, non-traditional income or both could not get a mortgage. The market responded about 10 or 12 years ago with sub prime and Alt-A mortgages, which to one degree or another addressed the needs of these borrwers.
In the last three years not only were these mortgages very lax in their underwriting standards they were also relatively inexpensive, which was seen at the time as very beneficial for consumers. While great for the borrowers, many sub prime lenders who could not sell the mortgage backed securities because of their low rate of return went out of business, sending waves of panic across the financial markets. Here in Connecticut the most notable victim of this was Mortgage Lenders Network who by most accounts went broke giving sub prime and Alt-A loans at better than A loan prices.
The problem with sub prime and Alt-A loans is that just because you can get one of these mortgages doesn’t necessarily mean you can pay it. Agency mortgages, i.e. Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or government mortgages FHA or VA, require that you have decent credit and that prove your income, then they use mathematical formulae to determine what you can afford. Many of these sub prime or Alt-A mortgages did not require proof of income and lent money to people with marginal credit histories.
For the past ten years or so housing has seen steady if not rapid appreciation. Lenders counted on this appreciation when setting their underwriting guidelines. They calculated that if they lent you $300,000 on $300,000 house and you paid them like a champ for two years or three years before you ran into trouble, they would have recouped their origination costs, and then some, and the house would have developed its own equity in the rising market. Enough equity that you would either sell it yourself to protect your equity or they would foreclose and be made whole in the liquidation of their collateral.
These three factors unsound underwriting guidelines, low rates and a softening housing market have conspired to create the problems that face us today.
A perfect example of these factors is a loan I did three years ago for this young couple who were buying their first home. It wasn’t a starter home by any standard, it was a 3800 square foot newly constructed home with a marble kitchen and 3.5 bathrooms, central air and vacuum, 11 foot ceilings on all three floors including an additional 1900 square feet in the finished walkout basement. The couple worked at one of the major insurers in the area and made about $100,000 a year combined. Why were they looking at houses close to $500,000? Because with their credit they could, on paper any way, afford it with an Alt-A, stated 5/1 interest only adjustable rate mortgage. The borrowed the full amount, $478,000 and had a housing payment slightly more than half of their combined, gross monthly income.
Were these people stupid? Yes and no. I wouldn’t have done it, but they figured that they would buy as much house as they could possibly afford and as that house increased in value they would reap the benefit of that appreciation of the larger asset. The problem is that there has been no appreciation. This couple is about two years from their first adjustment on their mortgage when their rate will go up 2% and they haven’t paid a dime against their principle yet. Both of these borrowers were pretty sharp, college educated and financially astute. In two years they will probably own an asset that while appealing, desirable and functional will not be worth what they paid for it. Unless they have received substantial raises they will not be able to afford the house when their rate adjusts. What do you think they will do?
Now, do you believe these people are in need of some government intervention on their behalf? They are both adults, they knew the risks but felt the rewards and the added benefit of living in a grand home outweighed them. The lender knew the risks too. When two 25 year old borrowers with two years on the job at an insurance company states his or her income high enough to buy a $478,000 home and more importantly pays a higher rate so that they can state and not prove their income, you don’t need to be Warren Buffett to see there is some risk there. Apparently the lender felt the risk was outweighed by the rewards.

The Knicks and Why They Suck

I don't know too much about basketball but this can't be good.

Gun Control: Colorado Springs Shooting

So it turns out that the yahoo who shot up the missionaries in Colorado Springs was shot, but not necessarily killed, by an armed volunteer security guard. It makes you wonder how many people he would have killed if he had been met with only harsh language and a pissy demeanor.

There is a tendency in out society to look upon armed citizens as odd or bellicose. I'm probably a little bit of both, but even so I am very unlikely to shoot anybody who doesn't have it comming to them. So the question becomes are you safer in a crowd of people where every single decent, law abiding person is unarmed and only the crazies have guns or are you safer in crowd where 1 in 5 of your friends and neighbors are well armed? How you answer that question depends to a large degree on how realistic you are. The Liberal Utopian will say the scenario with no guns is preferable, even though that scenario does not exist. The realist will grit his or her teeth, curse the fact that there are insane and/or evil assholes in the world and strap up. It's the responsible thing to do.

Brandi Carlile

What a voice! Apparently everyone in the world has been onto this woman for months but me. I like this song for two reasons, the chord progression is so basic and familiar it's like you knew it even before you heard it while where she goes with her voice is pleasantly surprising. I'm a bit surprised sombody like this was given a shot in todays McMusic world.

Seasons Greetings From The Tree Brain

Visit The Sneeze.

Michael Vick

It's fascinating that Michael Vick's supporters are predominantly black and his detractors predominantly white. Do his supporters think that Vick is the victim of over zealous prosecution for a "sport" that is misunderstood? What, exactly, is the acceptance level of dog fighting in Black America? It seems, I'm speculating here, that Blacks are a little more tolerant of dog fighting than the rest of America. Or it could be that they value the freedom and wealth of a successful Black athlete more than the lives of a given number of dogs. Or it may be that dog fighting, per se, has nothing to do with their support, it may be entirely racial. If Vick were white I doubt he'd be enjoying the support of anybody.
Then there's the animal rights protesters who do their cause and race relations little favor by calling for Vick's death and or neutering. Neutering, where the hell did that come from? You don't have to be a Vick supporter to realize these people have their values misplaced.
Vick may get at little as time served today or he may be sentenced to as much as five years. I'd wager that he'll get something in the middle, two or two and half years and that will be closer to justice than either extreme could hope to find.

Andrew Young Opines on Obama and Bubba

ATLANTA (AP) - Civil rights icon Andrew Young says Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is too young and lacks the support network to ascend to the White House.
In a media interview posted online, Young also quipped that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton has her husband behind her, and that "Bill is every bit as black as Barack."
"He's probably gone with more black women than Barack," Young said of former President Clinton, drawing laughter from a live television audience. Young, 75, was quick to follow his comment on Bill Clinton with the disclaimer, "I'm clowning."

Hysterical. No wonder why Oprah is supporting Obama.

Common Thrill: Like It Is

It's funny to see the video, I was there in Brooklyn for the filming and it's funny to see how everyone comes across in the video.

The stripper is actually a very, very sweet young French model named Isabella and she's close to six feet tall.

The old bald perv in the peep show is a the only professional actor in the video, I can't recall his name for the life of me, but he's been in dozens of films and TV shows, like Rescue Me. We would bowl on Nintendo Wii while he was waiting around the shoot. He's about as far from a peep show perv in real life as a man can get, still he looks pretty convincing here.

Mark the bassist for Common Thrill looks and act pretty much as he does in real life as he drags John from the booth. I get the feeling he may have had to do this before.

Fight Club the Movie

Even though Fight Club has the Pixies' Where is My Mind in the soundtrack and a trampy looking Helena Bonham Carter, it is about as stupid a movie as you are likely to see that doesn't include a dog named Scooby Doo. I challenge anyone to defend the inane, nihilistic bullshit philosophy of the film. Anyone?

Are We To Believe The NIE On Iran's Nuclear Intentions?

I read the declassified summery of the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities. I don't buy it.
The 2005 NIE said that Iran was intent on manufacturing an atomic bomb, the 2007 NIE says they "halted its nuclear weapons program" in 2003, ostensibly due to our military invasion of Iraq and subsequent deposition of Saddam Husein. Did our armies convince Iran to be good citizens or are they just hiding their activities better?
Much of this NIE reads like wishful thinking, as if those in the intelligence community would rather be writing policy than intelligence estimates. When I was a weather guy, a tool in forecasting was that you would predict persistence, i.e. that things will stay the same, unless you have twice the amount of reliable data to predict otherwise. This NIE is so drastically different in it's policy implications from the 2005 NIE, that I wonder what made them change their mind so abruptly.
Former ambassador John Bolton is not convinced either:

The real differences between the NIEs are not in the hard data but in the psychological assessment of the mullahs' motives and objectives. The current NIE freely admits to having only moderate confidence that the suspension continues and says that there are significant gaps in our intelligence and that our analysts dissent from their initial judgment on suspension. This alone should give us considerable pause.

"How Ought We Order Our Life Together"

Over at First Things the always brilliant Father Richard John Neuhaus shares his thoughts on the separation of church and state, give it a read.

Selective Outrage

NOW is outraged that Don Imus is back on the air, but is "not putting out a statement or taking a position", or saying a damn thing about Gillian Gibbons the British woman imprisoned in Sudan for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Mohammad - who has been released btw, no thanks to NOW.
Is it too much to expect NOW to vigorously oppose Islamic extremism instead of a tired, old, radio hack? Some old fart calls a group of of woman, any one of which could beat his ass, "nappy headed hos" and it's gigantic panties in a knot time at NOW headquarters. Throw a woman in jail on absurd charges and NOW is mute. Search their website for "Ayaan Hirsi Ali" and they are mute. A woman is raped and then sentenced to 200 lashes, her rapists get a few years in prison and NOW is mute yet again. How can one take NOW seriously?

Hillary Gets The Vapors

This inspires confidence:

Clinton calls hostage crisis traumatic
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday that calling the families of the campaign staffers taken hostage at her Rochester, N.H., office last week was the most difficult part of the ordeal.
"Those were the most emotional moments, I have to tell you, calling them in the first instants to tell them what had happened," she told reporters after a campaign stop in eastern Iowa.

I don't believe Hillary Clinton was traumatised one bit by this inconvenience, she's merely trying to soften her shrill, flinty image. In a way it's not fair. If a male candidate is seen as insensitive in this sort of situation, he could claim that as president he needs to get things done despite his personal feelings. When Hillary does it, she's seen as an uncaring bitch.

Jesse Jackson Solves Our Subprime Mortgage Woes

Jessie Jackson will accomplish nothing other than line his own pockets with filthy shake down lucre.

Whoopi Goldberg: Dhimmi of The Month

You would think that Gillian Gibbons the 54 year British school teacher imprisoned in Khartoum Sudan for the egregious crime of allowing school children to name a teddy bear Muhammad would enjoy the support of feminists and liberals. Wrong. As threats of beheading swarm about her, the National Organization for Woman are "not putting out a statement or taking a position." Brave that. If only the outraged Islamic zealots had patted her butt with their collective hand, boy then they would face the full fury of a feminist hissy fit.
The there's Whoopi Goldberg who, like the clueless gomeril she is, blames the victim:

"You’d think if you’re going overseas, I mean, we had this discussion yesterday
about people coming to America and learning the customs and knowing what is
cool, and what isn’t cool. But I find that maybe we are not- and I say we just
as European and American, we’re not as anxious to learn the customs before we go
places. It’s just one of the reasons we’re called the ugly Americans."

I don't expect much from Whoopi Goldberg, but this isn't a tough one. What should be considered, at worst, an insensitive cultural gaff has an innocent 54 year old woman school teacher in prison with angry mobs literally calling for her head. Goldberg's typical liberal reaction only emboldens such behavior by validating it. Somehow I think if Gillian Gibbons was being held in an American prison for advocating the assassination of the president or any other seditious activity liberals are so fond of lately, Goldberg would be outraged.

Winning the War

Rep. John Murtha, Surrender Party, Pennsylvania now admits the surge is working. I give him credit for recognizing the ineluctable modality of the evident, no matter how completely, utterly and seditiously wrong he had been heretofore. But that brings up a big question. Who, other than our Islamicist enemies, pray for America's defeat? Who benefits from American servicemen getting maimed and killed? And since we all know the answer to my silly rhetorical questions, why would anyone vote for the democratic party who failed at their one tenet, their one goal: to end the war in Iraq and bring our armies home in defeat?

Boston Corbett

Boston Corbett was a trooper of the 16th New York Calvary who shot and killed John Wilkes Booth on April 26, 1865, he was also a nuttier than a pecan pie with almonds on it.

Born Thomas P. Corbett in London England in 1832 he emigrated as a child with his family to New York city in 1839, later becoming a hatter in Troy New York. It is suspected that the mercury used in the felting process made him mad. How mad you ask? In 1858 he used a pair of scissors to open his scrotum and clip off his testicles. Corbett did this to avoid the temptation of prostitutes. The historical record is silent as to whether or not this technique worked, but you have to admire his commitment.

Exactly why Corbett shot Booth is not exactly clear. Contrary to popular belief, there were no orders not to shoot and as a NCO Corbett could reasonably be expected to act on his own initiative if threatened. At one point Corbett said he thought Booth was about to fire on another trooper and he also said that God told him to do it. In addition to being crazy Corbett was also extremely religious. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton had hoped to bring in Booth alive to ferret out any broader conspiracy, but it was Stanton who let Corbett off the hook for shooting Booth.

In one of the ironies that make the facts surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln so much stranger than fiction, Corbett shot Booth in the neck just behind his left ear - a wound eerily similar to the grievous wound Booth inflicted upon poor honest Abe. And like Lincoln, Booth was not killed instantly but survived the night to die just as the sun rose in Virginia. Unlike Lincoln, Booths was sentient as he lay dying, though paralyzed from the neck down. Allegedly, Booth's last words were "useless, useless", perhaps in reference to his hands that he had asked those attending to him to lift up for him to see.

2008 Election

Sorry for the light blogging, but nothing in the current news cycle has perked my blogsickle. Most of the news lately concerns the 2008 elections, which I could not care less about at this point. Hillary Clinton has no serious opposition on the Democrat side which barring a full blown dead man or a live girl scenario pretty much hands her the nomination. With that understood, I don’t care who the Republicans nominate because I have already decided to vote for him, her or it. Democratic grandees would do well to ponder how many Americans have conducted this simple calculus, not that the Dems have many other viable options.

Great Quote

"We do not err because truth is difficult to see. It is visible at a glance. We err because this is more comfortable." — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Lifted shamelessly from Futility Closet.

6000 Sunnis Join Lost Cause

HAWIJA, Iraq - Nearly 6,000 Sunni Arab residents joined a security pact with American forces Wednesday in what U.S. officers described as a critical step in plugging the remaining escape routes for extremists flushed from former strongholds.

The new alliance — called the single largest volunteer mobilization since the war began — covers the "last gateway" for groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq seeking new havens in northern Iraq, U.S. military officials said.

U.S. commanders have tried to build a ring around insurgents who fled military offensives launched earlier this year in the western Anbar province and later into Baghdad and surrounding areas. In many places, the U.S.-led battles were given key help from tribal militias — mainly Sunnis — that had turned against al-Qaida and other groups.

Movie Review: No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men is perhaps the best film of Joel and Ethan Coen, it's certainly the most accomplished. From the terse but brilliant dialogue to the sparse and beautiful landscapes of West Texas, they captured Cormac McCarthy's blood soaked cat and mouse story as perfectly as humanly possible. Faint praise I know.

All the actors are brilliant, none more so than Tommy Lee Jones in a role he was born, then aged to perfection, to play. While the story may be deemed an action/crime drama, it is in the silence of Jones' world weary eyes that we see what the author, and the film makers want us to see. A world unfit for men of a certain age and ethos. A world of murder, drugs and money, bereft of honor and decency. A world where a nearly unstoppable sociopath uses a pneumatic hammer to slaughter his victims.

I must admit, I'm not real familiar with Javier Bardem. In No Country For Old Men he plays a villain no one is likely to ever forget in a riveting performance as he becomes death personified. One might criticize this character for lack of a back story, but that's kind of the point. You could wright a back story the length of Remembrance of Things Past about this guy and never get one bit closer to understanding why he does the things he does.

Bottom line, don't miss it.

Achieving Energy Victory

Robert Zubrin maps out the way for us to get off the "petroleum standard". The essay is adapted from his new book, Energy Victory: Winning the War on Terror by Breaking Free of Oil.

...U.S. energy policy for the last three decades has been a scandal. The time has come for change. To liberate ourselves from the threat of foreign economic domination, to destroy the economic power of the terrorists’ financiers, and to give ourselves the free hand necessary to deal forcefully with them, we must devalue their resources and increase the value of our own. We can do this by taking the world off the petroleum standard and putting it on an alcohol standard...

It's a fairly long article but well worth your time.

Gettysburg November 19, 1863

I knew I had Lincoln on the brain for a reason, today is the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address.

What "With malice toward none; with charity for all" Means

Many visitors come to this blog trying to find out what Lincoln meant by "with malice toward none; with charity for all", probably for a school assignment. Instead they find filthy duck jokes, pedestrian baseball observations and lame reviews. So in an attempt to do one decent thing, here are my thoughts on what Lincoln meant by "with malice toward none; with charity for all".

"With malice toward none; with charity for all" comes near the end of Lincoln's second inaugural address where he was preparing the nation for peace and reconstruction of the war ravaged Confederate states. The country had just endured four years of war where over 600,000 Americans had been killed and countless others crippled for life. The phrase "with malice toward none" reminds people that the war will soon be over and to look upon their fellow man with forgiveness and love, not malice or hate. The phrase "with charity for all" means that we are to love our fellow man so "that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away." Lincoln agonized over the nation's injuries as well as profound personal loss during the previous four years and thought that the war was God's judgement for the evils of slavery:

Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-men’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.”

To Lincoln the antidote to slavery is emancipation, the antidote to war is peace and the antidote to malice is charity for all.

Britain Seeks New Motto

Apparently tradition rich Britain has no motto. Who knew? Now the sort of people who dabble in screwing up perfectly good things are hard at work trying to noodle up one. Here are some suggestions for my British cousins:

• We're Polite So You Don't Have to Be
• Hope and Gloria and Non-Stop Paparazzi Royal Coverage
• We Put The Nanny in The Nanny State
• Screw With Us and We'll Call America On You
• We'll Defend All Faiths But Our Own
• Paddy Go Home!
• Dieu et mon douleur dans la famille d'âne
• For what's His name and what's left
• Dentist Please Apply Within
• Arthur, William, Richard, Charles and Winston Spin in Their Graves
• Margaret Thatcher Last PM With The Yarbles to Govern
• We Civilized the World, Now Look at Us
• Home of Hogwarts

Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson

As the more clever among you may have noticed, I have a great fondness for Abraham Lincoln. My wife being the dear heart that she is, bought me Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson for Christmas or my birthday last December, and wham - bam, just like that, I picked it up and read it 11 months later. What a great read, particularly for you non-history types. Swanson writes with a light, very readable style that brings immediacy and familiarity to a time and place most of us can only imagine. He incorporates many primary sources in the form of actual quotes from the various parties involved and meticulously documents a tumultuous period in our Republic's history.

Since high school I have maintained a Jeopardy! contestant's knowledge of the Civil War and Lincoln's assassination. What I didn't realize and what this book brings out so well is how immediate everything was. Basically poor Honest Abe was finally able see a day when the war could reasonably be expected to end. Abraham and Mary Todd were just beginning to come out of the depression from losing their beloved boy Willie who died at age ten three years before. They go for a carriage ride and a play as couple and some hate filled bastard shoots him in the head from behind.

Swanson brings up an interesting "what if ?". Lincoln was six foot four and probably the toughest man to ever be president. Booth was five foot seven or eight and soft as the proverbial shite. Had Boothe's one shot muzzle loading derringer failed, even though Booth still had a Bowie knife back up, Lincoln would have wrung his scrawny rebel neck. If only.

Songs I'm Kinda Ashamed Of, But Still Like

I hate to admit it, but I have some very questionable music on my computer. By questionable, I mean that if you were playing it your car and car load of your peers pulled up next to you, you would turn it down out of shame. A linktastic list is called for:

1. Korgis - Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime.
2. Sarah Brightman - Captain Nemo
3. Nick Gilder - Hot Child in The City
4. The Bangles - A Hazy Shade of Winter
5. Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now
6. Sheena Easton - You Could Have Been With Me
7. Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch - Good Vibrations Dexter had a Marky Mark tape at the UConn Veteran Center back in 91 or 92, we defaced it by superimposing Dexter's school ID card over Marky Mark. Good times. Good times.
8. New York Groove-Ace Frehley
9. Bad English - When I See You Smile
10. Olivia Newton-John - A Little More Love

EXTRA CREDIT The Smiths - Girlfriend in a Coma and/or Reel Around the Fountain

Of course there are many, many more. I think this list gives you, my gentle reader, a good idea of the aural depravities I sometimes indulge in.

Barry Bonds Indicted for Perjury

HA HA! It couldn't happen to a nicer jerk. I'd love to see the prosecutor offer him a deal: come clean and admit everything you did and no prison time. You will be banned for life from baseball and any records you have will be expunged. Do you think he would take it? I bet he wouldn't, but he might as well because win or lose in court his baseball pooch is screwed.

Santas warned 'ho ho ho' offensive to women

Truth is always stranger and funnier than fiction:

SYDNEY (AFP) - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.

Read the whole insipid thing.

A-Fraud Going Back To The Yankees?

A-Rod and The Evil Empire Empire may ink a ten year $275 million deal. Excellent! The Bombers have the money to sign Mr. June, let them have him. No one is worth that sort of money, except poor Lou Gehrig and he's dead.

Happy Holidays!

Seasons Greetings! It's that time of year again where we bend over backwards to avoid oppressing the frail peoples of the earth with our series of all powerful , (and culture destroying) holiday celebrations. Our nation's retailers sensitive to the plight of the culturally challenged have taken positive, yea affirmative, action. Lowes now calls the horridly oppressive tree a "family tree".

To whit and in an effort to further make bland our world, I have taken it upon myself to re-identify some culturally insensitive icons:

This is not a Kwanzaa tableau. Note the corn, the menorah and the harvest motif. Corn is indigenous to America, the menorah is a Hebrew thing and Kwanzaa is celebrated in late December through early January, so it'd be plain ridiculous to have a harvest motif so late in the year. No, this is merely a students exercise in still life photography. I could be wrong though.

Here it is the burning cross, if you will, of the holiday season, the dreaded Christmas tree. Lowes' idea to call it a "family tree" is plainly discriminatory to those without, you know, a family. So I propose we call it "Winter Time Illuminated Fir Decoration". It's no worse than many other political correct euphemisms I can think of.

Despite the banner proclaiming "Happy Thanksgiving" I'd suggest that this is nothing more than some beloved childhood icons indulging in some plain old fashioned cannibalism. Don't knock it, their culture is every bit as valid as yours, probably much more so. Cannibalism is open to everyone, Deist, atheist, agnostic what have you. The only thing you need is a body, some fava beans and nice chiaaaanti.

Some might think this is a menorah used to celebrate an ancient Maccabean victory over the Seleucids. With all that's still going on in that region, do we still need to remember every single year who our friends and enemies are and were? No. This is the 21st century and we all need to reduce, recycle and reuse. This is nothing more than a seven holder candelabra to keep away the darkness during the bleak winter months.