And your opinion matters..... why?

2003 was not a great year for Ben Affleck. Gigli was generally regarded as the worst films of all time (obviously by critics who never saw such cinematic gems as Supernova). Daredevil was a moderately entertaining take on Marvel Comic's attempt to clone Batman, but did not come close to living up to expectations. And Paycheck was one of the first movies based on a Philip K. Dick book to truly bomb. Not to mention the "Bennifer" debacle.



Now, it appears the star of Pearl Harbor is trying to redefine himself by throwing his hat into the political ring. According to Yahoo News, he is joining Senator Ted Kennedy's drive to raise the minimum wage.



This is hardly the first time a Hollywood actor has felt his or her political opinion deserved to be shouted from the rooftops. And at least this time it is not the hystrionics calling for the murder of a president or the overthrow of our government. But it raises again the question of why exactly Hollywood actos feel that their skill at portraying fictional (or occasional historical) characters equates to any credibility in the political arena. Just because Ben Affleck played a part in Armageddon does not mean he would have any luck in preventing it. On the contrary, as with many Hollywood celebrities, Mr. Affleck does not appear to be a man with effective decision-making abilities. Speaking of Overseers (like Elders in a protestant church structure) Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:4-5, "He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5(If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)" While we certainly do not apply specific religious tests to our elected officials, this seems like a logical and sensible test for any leader. How well does Mr. Affleck - or most other Hollywood actors - hold up when viewed this way?

Far-Left Garbage

American Free Press put this speculation up on their site recently. I must have missed something really major since OBL has gladly taken responsibility for 9/11 on Multiple occasions. The fact that these men might have used fake names or any other false information doesn't change the fact they plotted this. The writer at American Free Press claims that because the FBI didn't find a nice, neat, and tidy paper trail...it must not have really been a terrorist plot! Of course! 19 men just happened to all pick the same day and same 4 flights to hijack and fly into American buildings in an amazingly coordinated but apparently random manner!



Thank you to the far-left for figuring this out for us. I know I will sleep more soundly tonight knowing that OBL probably isn't planning anything after all. 9/11 Really didn't mean anything. It was just a bad day for aviation, apparently. And shame on us evil Americans for having gone half way around the world to oppress these innocent men who think it's a great idea to stone and mutilate women and kill infidels.

Kerry's Not Ready

Bush is hardly the best president of all time. I don't need to say more about that. But Kerry continues to show that he is simply not ready for the honor of being our nation's next president. This op-ed piece gives a balanced perspective on Kerry and why he isn't the man for the job. For all the complaining that the Democrats do about Bush lacking focus or subtlety, they are amazingly willing to overlook Kerry's similar flaws. I suppose that is what happens when you are convinced that you are fighting evil incarnate instead of a human being.

Thank God for Heatlh Care...and Canada!

This article from Canada says it all. Yea for socialized medicine! Are we sure we want to do health care the way they do?

Paranoia Alert

Here's a link from a self-proclaimed progressive news source who claims to have found considerable evidence pointing to a massive cover-up by America to plant WMDs in Iraq. Of course, look at where they get their news from...Iran. Gee, there's a real source of non-biased news. Also take note that the article claims only vague "sources from inside Iraq." No details, no way to trace the story. This is the absolute worst kind of trash reporting.



If there turns out to be no WMDs in Iraq, then heads should roll, especially in the intelligence community. But let's not forget that the ENTIRE WORLD knew and acknowledged that Saddam had the weapons up to just a couple of years ago. Clinton bombed Iraq in '98 with general, if grudging, support from world leaders by making the case that Iraq had failed to disarm. Everyone knew that they had the weapons. The fact that they're gone only means that they've been moved to some other country, maybe Iran or Syria.



Here's a humorus take on the story from Right Thinking:

At the last meeting of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy™ we went over this plan, and there is so much that this source is unaware of. See, as you may or may not know the world is actually ruled by the New World Order, and as with all secret conspiracies it is controlled by Jews. Therefore, Ariel Sharon is the ruler of the world, and Bush is nothing but his ignorant lapdog, happily barking out whatever his Zionist overlords order him to. So the Jews, in conjunction with the Bavarian Illuminati, the Freemasons, the Olsen Twins, the second gunman on the grassy knoll, the anti-Castro Cubans, the mafia, and Halliburton, have all joined forces to ensure that George W. Bush remains in power at all costs. Why? Because Halliburton's top secret mind control weapons division has developed a new mind control ray that can actually operate through tinfoil! Yes, my friends, it will soon be possible for the US government to control the minds of left-wingers the world over, and no amount of Reynold's Wrap will be able to stop them. You know Bush's recent initiative to go back to the moon and eventually to Mars? It's all a cover-up to fund NASA's launch of a whole network of Halliburton's mind control weapons, which is scheduled to go into operation in 2007, right before the 2008 election. So, Bush must be kept in power so that the Jews can continue to slaughter the Palestinians with their apartheid nazi techniques, and in return Halliburton is granted permission to rape the entire planet of all its natural resources. Halliburton gets rich, the Jews continue to control the world, and the left-wingers will be controlled from space by Halliburton's vast mind-control network. So the CIA's planting of WMD in Iraq is an absolute necessity for Bush to be reelected. Ariel Sharon said so.

Nicely put.

The Importance of Medals

If you've missed the news, John Kerry is in yet another controversy. The gist of the issue is that he threw medals he earned away as a form of protest against the Vietnam War. We all know that Kerry is a Vietnam vet and that he fought bravely. Most of us also know that he was a war protester. The problem is that while he was so disgusted by his service the vietnam war in the 70s he's now pleased about it. Let me expand a little on what I'm thinking.



Medals are given to soldiers for things that they have done in service. In Kerry's case he was awarded medals for bravery and for being injured in the line of duty. Those medals were a way of the U.S. Navy along with the greater U.S. saying that they were proud of Kerry for what he had done and sacrificed in Vietnam. By throwing away his medals (or was it his ribbons or was it somebody else's medals etc...) he was saying that he was not proud of what he had done and that his sacrifice was in some way bad. In essence he was spitting in the face of the U.S. Navy, along with the greater U.S..



Now we come to the presidential election of 2004 where J.F. Kerry is almost everyday mentioning his service in Vietnam. Today he is so proud of his service and his sacrifices in Vietnam. How can it be both ways? Perhaps throwing out the medals was the actions of an impulsive young man. But those medals seem to indicate that he wasn't impulsive and that he was a stable, thoughtful person. I think the answer lies not in his temperament, but in his need to be recognized. I think he is the nations most boring exhibitionist. He does what ever it takes to get the attention of a crowd. In 1971 it was throwing away his medals, in 2004 it's boasting about his Vietnam record. I personally don't want an exhibitionist as a president, but then again maybe that's just me.

Cannes Is So Predictable

Never mind that far-left idiot Michael Moore's new concoction of lies isn't even finished yet. The Cannes nomination board, headed by such intellectuals as Quintin Terrantino and Jeaneen Garafolo, has nominated Moore's new film, Farenheit 911, to appear for competition. Now how is it that a film not yet finished can be said to be good enough to enter compition? Well, it's obvious isn't it? The far-left's copitulation to craven stupidity contiunes unabated by common sense or thought. There is such a fervor from Hollywood to latch onto anything that Michael Moore does that they will hail his work no matter what he says. The Cannes just reflects this.



Early reports indicate that Moore's newest film will contain footage of "the real truth" from American troops in Iraq. Several stories have already been published across the web pointing out that these so called troops are largely deserters who have fled to Canada. Moore also sent a crew over to Iraq, pretending to be another news organization. Michael was apparently too comfortable in his penthouse to go for himself to interview the men and women brave enough to put their lives on the line for our country and the future of Iraq.



Moore is an arrogant, shril, coward and Hollywood loves him. Can there be any doubt left about how far the entertainment industry has fallen?

Media Mishaps

The news organizations tend to look down their noses at us "commoners" as if we are the dumbest people on earth, in desperate need of their knowledge to help lift us above our poor, wretched state of ignorance. But thankfully, we now have several other medial outlets who can actually hold these people accountable. It's easy to see who the ignorant ones are these days. The Drudge Report was one of the first to break this article about the caskets supposedly of soldiers from Iraq...only to find that they were actually the remains of the crew of last year's shuttle explosion. Way to check your facts, CNN! Drudge has a list of other news sites who apparently bought the story without even a moment of thought.



And let's not overlook this brilliant reporting from the NY Post. Republicans are KKK members after all! And while we're talking about politicans, let's give a big hand to the media for their continued failure to get John Kerry's military record right. Interesting note, one of the posters on this site claims to have served with Kerry, scroll down just a little on the page to find his thoughts.



For all the junk that the internet has brought with it, it has also brought true power to us. We no longer need to be dependent on the major news outlets for all of our facts. I watch CNN and MSNBC and sometimes FOX and I get information from them. But don't let the large corporations be the only source of news, they're biased just like everyone else. And you need to at least see the other side's biases before you can make an intelligent decision about anything. Don't take what the news, or myself or any other blogger, tells you at face value. Look into it and decide for yourself. The facts are out there, you just have to look.

Columbine: Whys, Wherefores, and Whatcha-talkin'-'bouts

April 20, 1999 is a scar on the American psyche almost as horrible as 9-11 itself. On that day, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold enterred the suburban Columbine High School of Littleton, Colorado and killed students and teachers. From the first moments to this very day people have been struggling to explain the tragedy/massacre. At the time, the prominent geek newsite Slashdot ran a series of articles called "Voices from the Hellmouth" (1, 2, 3) blaming the massacre on the unrelenting bullying that freaks, geeks, and the unpopular suffer in the culture of the modern high school. Others blamed Columbine on the ease with which guns can be obtained in the USA, but Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine made the point that it was just as easy to link bowling - the activity the pair did the morning before the massacre - to the tragedy as it was guns themselves. Others saw it as a spiritual issue, especially the parents of Cassie Bernall who wrote a book portraying her daughter as a martyr for dying a the hands of the killers after professing faith in God. Columbine - despite relentless analysis and second-guessing - has persistently defied explanation.



Now, the FBI has released their analysis of the two killers which brings perhaps the most dispassionate and measured look at the incident to date. The report begins by noting that despite the fact that the tragedy involved guns and occurred on school property, Columbine does not fit the normal profile for a "school shooting." Since Columbine, we have seen many other school shooters who do fit the profile: they are impulsive loners, who tend to go on a brief spree (sometimes shooting only one person), and then surrender when their conscience catches up with them. Compare this to Columbine where the shooters meticulously planned the attack for a year in advance, set up bombs, purchased large numbers of weapons and ammunition, and only gave up in the end when all other options had been closed off. And even then committed suicide in a dispassionate way. The report indicates that Klebold and Harris were very different boys. Klebold was a depressive kid - hotheaded, despairing, and suicidal. Harris on the other hand was a psychopath with a Nietzsche-like hatred of anyone he considered to be "inferior." Klebold, they conclude, might have been saved, but Harris was a ticking time bomb. Likewise, it appears that these two provided the ideal conditions for the development of a Columbine-type incident: Klebold's hot-head and unrelenting depression kept Harris focussed and motivated while Harris's cool head kept Klebold from acting prematurely. Klebold and Harris saw themselves as the logical successors to Timothy McVeigh - they even originally planned the massacre for the anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. They wanted to go down in history as terrorists of the highest caliber.



The report is a reminder that 9-11 was not the first major terrorist incident of this generation. It is unimagineable that two boys with no ideological impetus, and no real revenge to take would plan and carry out this kind of terror attack. Yet it happened. It is yet another reminder to us that evil is real and that not every criminal action can be explained by self-interest or mental disturbance. It is both simple and mind-bogglingly complex at the same time: Klebold and Harris glorified in the evil of their souls. There were two possible salvations for these two: (1) a strong physical force in the form of police or parents willing to restain them until a treatment could be found, or (2) a spiritual renewal in the form of Jesus Christ. It is to our shame that neither the forces of order, nor the forces of salvation managed to reach these two before they chose the path to Hell.

The Mystery of the North Korean Train Explosion

North Korea continues to claim that the train explosion is a minor incident caused by some understandable bit of incompetence between some train operators. Some reports claim that two trains collided where one was carrying a load of dynamite. Another report claims that fertilizer was in one train and fuel oil in another and when an electrical charge ran thru the train the components exploded. Either way, we have to be skeptical in light of the latest reports of hundreds of deaths and thousands of homes obliterated in the blink of an eye. This kind of damage seems a lot bigger than any of the scenarios being floated by the North Korean government, which leads to all kind of speculation. Perhaps this is inevitable in a closed society which is forced - the first time - to beg for outside help. But these have led me to wonder about several possible scenarios.

• Is this a sign of North Korea's first homegrown terrorist? I can't imagine the kind of Fuel Oil and Fertilizer bomb that Timothy McVeigh used would be impossible to build even in a society like North Korea - they need to keep the farms moving, especially in the current drought/famine.



• Are we looking at the remains of some portion of the North Korean nuclear program? It need not be radioactive material to be part of the program. Even the most sophisticated nuclear device needs a trigger made of conventional explosives to get the chain reaction working. High-powered plastic explosives could certainly have caused this kind of damage.



• Is this a new kind of punishment campaign for North Korea? Is this their way of punishing a wayward province in a way that the USA can not condemn? "Why, no Mr. Bush, we did not murder thousands of our own people - it was a simple train accident!"



• Is this the first sign of the cracks in the Kim Jung Il government? An authoritarian communist country like North Korea requires complete control 100% of the time. If this kind of issue can get past them, it may be a sign that control is breaking down and the government is losing its grip on the country.



• Is this the result of North Korea's crushing poverty as its citizens begin raiding public works to get tradeable supplies for the black market? In the USSR, this was occasionally a problem as citizens would raid the materials in buildings, railroad lines, etc. to get real material that could be used to trade for the real stuff they needed to live.

Or maybe the North Korean government is telling the truth, and this is a tragic accident. Either way, the closed nature of their society leaves the world wondering what is real, what is true, and what is simply a bureaucratic attempt to cover someone's butt. This leads to suspicion on our side of the world, and leads the people to wonder for how long we should be bailing out a dictator who only shows the slightest glimmer of concern for his own people in disasters like this. How long until this man is overthrown or tamed enough to reenter the international community?



Or one day will the world community have to ask the Red Cross not to help until Kim Jong Il steps down and releases his death grip on his suffering people?

2004 is 1984 in China

I remember reading the book 1984 for the first time in high school. It was a book about a communist-type society which had taken state control to their logical extremes, to the point where The Party was everything. The Ministry of Peace existed to wage war. The Ministry of Truth existed to revise records with lies so that The Party was always right. The Ministry of Plenty existed to cause shortages, so that the people were always dependent on the Party for their bare survival. One of the most haunting scenes in the book is when a member of the Inner Party is speaking to the protagonist and declares that The Party requires absolute victory. Even one person with disloyal thoughts is unacceptable, he declares. Everyone must be purified and everyone must be perfectly loyal. But surely this is only fiction, taken to the extreme to make its point, right? Right?



Nope. In this morning's edition of MSNBC's website, there is an article about a student group in China who has been cracked down upon for disloyalty and sedition. How large was this monstrous threat to the party? 8 people. And of course these must have been violent anarchists willing to do anything to overthrow the government, right? Nope. Most were Communist Party members who wanted to work within the system. Those who were not did not even consider their cause to be significant enough to meet regularly. But it was enough to send most away to prison for 20 years, and to send the informer himself to Taiwan to claim political assylum.



America has ignored the political horrors of Communist China for too long. While we offer them Most Favored Trading Status (or whatever Congress renamed it to, in order to slip it under the press radar), the Communist Government continues to imprison, torture, and murder their own people for the slightest thought of political disloyalty or suggestion of reform. We need not call upon China to completely change their government - they have adopted some reforms already to encourage freedom in the business realm and many Chinese truly like and respect aspects of Communism - but the complete opposition to freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion must be changed.



If China can not count on the superiority of their own ideas, how long can they hope that an iron boot can win the argument for them? Answer: Only as long as we let them do it.

Gorelick and the 9/11 Commission

It's ironic what happens when the 9/11 commission actually starts to make progress. As long as it was a Bush bashing contest, the far-left was having a ball, but that changed as soon as Ashcroft dropped his bombshell that it was none other than Jamie Gorelick who was largely responsible for the so-called "wall" between the CIA and FBI. Gorelick is, of course, on the commission. Ann Coulter (who must be read with a grain of salt, but her facts on this one are soild) details Ashcroft's disclosure here. In the meantime, some Republicans have come forward to say that Gorelick should testify before the commission. The Demoratic response? "The Republicans are playing politics." It's amazing how we can watch person after person testify and be put through the ringer for reasons that are obviously political but then when we come to one of the women who could be a real source of information, it's "political" to request her presence.



Gorelick practically spat venom when Rice refused to testify. After the agreement, Gorelick said that it was in the interest of fairness and truth that the National Security Advisor should testify. We've had other members of the CIA and FBI from the Clinton years testify, why should Gorelick be exempted, especially if she has inside knowledge? She was clearly in more of a position to know what was happening than many that we have heard from. If the commission is truly going to be fair, then I think we need to badger Gorelick into testifying the same way that she and others badgered Rice into it.

Hybrid Cars Making Progress

An article on hybrid cars and the significant progress that they have been making. Sales are soaring for these new cars. I'm really glad to see these vehicles catching on. It means more money will be spent to make them better and even more efficient. We can finally stop being so dependent on the money obsessed OPEC barons and we can save the environment. The US is full of people who love to drive, I'm one of them. But we have to start taking responsibility for the fact that all of our cars are polluting the environment and the the oil companies are more interested in money than they are in the air. Are the big businesses trying to kill us? No, they have to breathe the same air after all. But their interests do not line up with a conservationist ethic and that has to change or we have to stop supporting them.

Fear Mongering

For the last couple of years, we've been hearing about how this politician or that politician wants to re-instate the draft. The group Veterans For Peace claims that Republicans are going to force us all to join the military. Really people, it's such a shame to see the men and women who have served our country let themselves be used for such absurd political ploys. This "legislation" never even made it to the floor. Here's the most thoughtless quote of the entire piece:

"Republicans want to draft young men to fight and die in foreign lands for dubious reasons. We can easily understand what those reasons are. Republicans know they cannot support all the wars they want to fight with an all-volunteer military.



Democrats have a better idea. Rather than have the FBI busy rounding up young women for selling sex and passing laws for rounding up young men to fight in far off wars, the Republicans should work at keeping us safe here at home. They should do that by passing a "Homeland Security Act" which respects public servants, rather than playing partisan games and union busting."

What's really interesting is how the writer failed to be appaled at all by this. If Rangel is a Republican then, I'm Marth Stewart...



Seriously, how are we supposed to be able to have an informed conversation when either side is so busy spewing garbage that it just becomes a big parody? Let's not forget that of the millions of soldiers that we have in the US Armed Forces, approximately 120,000 are in Iraq and around another 80,000 are stationed around the world. We might need more troops in Iraq but our military has plenty of troops to send. To say otherwise is to play stupid political games and in this case, to prey on irrational fears. Anyone who goes for this kind of tactic should be ashamed of themselves.

EU Watch

Tony Blair might be rethinking his place in the EU. Apparently some British citizens aren't thrilled either. We need Britian to play a strong role in whatever future Europe is entering as a united force. If the same far-left nuts that have destoryed France and Germany's economies have control, the entire world will have to pay for it. Even the French are getting a little jittery. Of course, Chirac faces massive popularity problems at home which adds to his concern. The far left in our country loves him enough, but his own countrymen seem less thrilled.



There is an article here about the EU and the official EU site has enough information to keep you reading for days. Also, you can check out a downloadable Word document here to get a better understanding.



As Americans, we hear very little about this rising European government even though it is going to have a major impact on the world scene. We have to stop taking this new bloc for granted and realize the power that they will soon have. For example, the EU has a representative body already with more than 650 members who vote on virtually every issue facing mainland Europe right now. When this Parliment body votes, their decision is final and any countries affected must act immediately based on the will of the EU.



Do I think the EU is bad? I don't know yet. Either way, it's a reality and we must learn to stop seeing Europe as a group of seperated nations and realize that if the architects of the EU have their way, within ten more years at best they will be a united bloc just as strongly as our states are here in the USA.

John Kerry Met the Press... and Lost

Normally, I am in church during MEET THE PRESS's presentation each Sunday, but a extruded herniated disk has made me somewhat of a shut-in, so I was able to catch John Kerry's interview with Tim Russert this weekend. Mr. Kerry was calm, composed, and articulate.



Unfortunely, he continues to drive home an impression that in my opinion threatens his candidacy. Mr. Kerry is an entirely negative candidate. His position on the War? "George W Bush is wrong." His position on Cuba? "George W. Bush is wrong." His position on North Korea? "George W. Bush is wrong." His position on campaign finance reform? "George W. Bush is wrong." His entire platform, as presented to most of American can be summed up in that single sentence: "George W. Bush is wrong."



Now, whenever you have someone challenging an incumbent, it is normal for the challenger to be largely negative toward the past administration. After the powerful personality of President Clinton, it was expected that George W. Bush could win by simply reminding people that he was not Mr. Clinton, and promising no infidelity in the White House. But instead, he came out with many positive plans as well: faith-based initiatives being the most memorable. Voters were not simply voting against Clinton/Gore, but also for Bush/Cheney.



Can Mr. Kerry change his image and bring a positive spin to his campaign? Yes. All he needs is one big idea. But will he do so? I tend to doubt it. Mr. Kerry has seized upon Howard Dean's anger and recognized the vast pool of anti-Bush sentiment in the Democratic party. This is what has catapulted him from obscurity to victory, and he will count on it to carry him to victory.



The problem is, Americans do not tend to vote for the negative. They look for hope, opportunity, and daring. And Mr. Kerry so far has shown none of these.

The Problem with Kerry

Here's an Austrailian op-ed. It's an interesting perspective on how much worse things could get if the far left takes over. I really believe that Kerry has good intentions, that has never been in doubt in my mind. But his answers are still not satisfactory and they often seem naive and uniformed. Bush might come across as being out of touch, but Kerry just seems to think that there are magical answers that will become evident after his election. He says that we need to internationalize the Iraq occupation. Great...except Bush worked for almost a year and a half to do that and the French stabbed us in the back. The same countries who knew that Saddam had weapons before the war are so obsessed with how *bad* we are now that they haven't even considered what might have actually happened to the weapons. Can anyone say "Syria"...?

Rantissi's Death

There's an excellent op-ed here about the death of another monster. We need to be fair to the Palestinians but we cannot tolerate these kinds of people being allowed to work their plainly evil will against the world and against peace. It is a sad day whenver someone is murdered, but this man was a horrible person and to say that he represented anything other than pure hatred is a lie. The fact that some are honoring him just proves how far we still need to come in winning over the non-western Muslim world if we actually want peace to be anything more than a pipedream as it has been for over fifty years now.

Iraq

Here is a great piece from a Brit johannhari.com about the war. I found the thoughts to be really helpful. We can't just cut and run, no matter what anyone thinks of the war. We would leave Iraq and the Middle East in total turmoil if we did, plus the country really would become a haven for terrorists. At least now, we can fight them on an open battlefield. That's much better than trying to hunt them down after they blow up more Americans.

Laden Tape

So why is it that no one is focusing on the postive aspect of this newest Bin Laden tape? Sure, it means he's alive and he's still active and sure he's trying to seperate us from our "allies." But the fact that he is asking Europeans to form a truce also seems to me to be the tactic of someone who knows they're in trouble. If OBL thought that he had things under control and that he was winning, he would never offer a truce like this. He would threaten more attacks instead. I think he's offering this to the Europeans because he sees how much damage we've done to his organization and several others. Sure, there are still terrorists and sure we are likely to be attacked again but we have done a lot of damage to him and his friends and he is feeling it. OBL needs to stop the pressure that he feels crushing him and his plans, that is why he has made this offer. I find it encouraging and a sign that he is starting to feel the strain of having the civilized world breathing down his neck. Now if we could just get our allies to work a little harder...

Middle East

Here's an article on the situation in the Middle East: MSNBC.COM



It seems that we need a coherent approach to the problems in this region. Bush has done a horrible job with this. Clinton didn't really achive any great progress, dispite what the left would have us believe. The fact that all of his *accomplishments* were lost in less than a year proves that there was little or no progress made in the Mid-East peace process in the 90's.

I really thought that Bush was going to make progress here but this has been one of his biggest failures. I know that some will argue that Afganistan and Iraq are important to building peace in the Middle East and I agree. But there is still need for a more active hand in the situation between Israel and Palestine. We have to stop allowing Israel to do whatever it chooses to do without consequences, but we must also continue to work against the terrorists on the Palestinian side who continue to fight becuase of hatred. Even though i'm loath to consider it, maybe a U.N. peacekeeping force really wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Microsoft Woes

What can I say? Thank God I'm a Mac user =)



Microsoft Glitches

Weird Al's Sad News

Weird Al's parents died this past week, apparently due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Here's the link to the article on: CNN



I'm a big Al fan and have been since the early 80's. If you are, visit his site at this link:

WeirdAl.com



There is no reference to it yet on his site and the CNN article says that his tour is still going on. There is a contact link on the official site if you want to send him condolences.

The President's Speech

So I found the speech last night to be lacking. This was his first prime-time speech in who-knows how long and I just feel that he didn't say anything new. Sure, he reassured us that he is committed to Iraq but we already knew that. We know that Bush is going to stay with his convictions no matter what happens. I thought there should have been more emphasis on what we don't know yet. That is, what is the plan. I'm glad to see that our military has the authority to crack down on those who would kill Americans and other nationals who are in their country to try and help them. But this should have been the policy since last April. It looks more and more like we've just been trying to be too soft on enemies for fear of alienating supporters. We've already ticked off half the world though, so we should at least take steps to protect our military over there. The President needs to understand that we don't need more resolve, we need more information.

In the Beginning

Well, I'm not exactly sure where to start. Today is my first day as a blogger and it's not like I feel I have anything of particular importance to say. But I wanted a place to put up my views on certain things, share information on things I like, etc. Sometimes I just find myself tired of hearing the same things over and I wish that someone would just speak their minds in public. So, instead of doing nothing, I've decided to put my thoughts out there. I consider myself a moderate in most aspects of life and I rarely hear anyone represent my views well. So I hope I do a better job at it. I don't know if anyone will ever read this and it's okay if they don't. It's as much for me as it is for anyone else anyway. So, if you're reading this, I hope you will come back to visit and find something of interest for however long this lasts.