January 31, 2006
In the original posting, Woody, my co-author here and a very good friend suggested that I explain the "Silver Lining" in this whole thing. Woody, Because you are so smart, I'm multiplying your salary by a factor of 30 ($0.00 x 30 = $0.00) How does that sound buddy?
At any rate, there is an entry (humorous to be sure) on a knee injury I received in Mexico in late February of last year (go, read and enjoy, then come back for the rest of the story). more...
Posted at 01:46 PM
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That is the story so far, but the blow-dried talking heads want to make this into a cause célèbre. On ABC's "Good Morning America," Diane Sawyer, Elizabeth Vargas and ABC News President David Westin talked about Woodruff's injuries:
SAWYER: "To that point, being in the Iraqi vehicle was part of the story. The story right now is the Iraqi troops traveling with the American troops."VARGAS: Are they prepared enough to take over the security of Iraq so that American forces can come home? That is the big single issue in Iraq right now, and I covered the story when I was there, Bob was out covering the story. You can't assess their readiness unless you're traveling with them and observing them do their job.
WESTIN: My initial reaction is we've all talked about this as a very real possibility, but this makes it real. I mean, we've talked about it, we knew someone was going to get hurt. We discussed what can we do to try to minimize that risk, how cautious can we be. But now it's really one of us, and two of us, actually. What choice do we have? As long as the United States is over there, and our men and women are over there and they're in harm's way, this is a story we have to...[emphasis added]
Excuse me? The wounding of an American newsman makes it real? So much for the two thousand plus American troops who have given their lives, so much for the thousands of Iraqi's murdered by Al Qaeda and their fellow travelors. That wasn't "REAL." But this is!
Idiots!
Posted at 01:35 AM
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That is the story so far, but the blow-dried talking heads want to make this into a cause célèbre. On ABC's "Good Morning America," Diane Sawyer, Elizabeth Vargas and ABC News President David Westin talked about Woodruff's injuries:
SAWYER: "To that point, being in the Iraqi vehicle was part of the story. The story right now is the Iraqi troops traveling with the American troops."VARGAS: Are they prepared enough to take over the security of Iraq so that American forces can come home? That is the big single issue in Iraq right now, and I covered the story when I was there, Bob was out covering the story. You can't assess their readiness unless you're traveling with them and observing them do their job.
WESTIN: My initial reaction is we've all talked about this as a very real possibility, but this makes it real. I mean, we've talked about it, we knew someone was going to get hurt. We discussed what can we do to try to minimize that risk, how cautious can we be. But now it's really one of us, and two of us, actually. What choice do we have? As long as the United States is over there, and our men and women are over there and they're in harm's way, this is a story we have to...[emphasis added]
Excuse me? The wounding of an American newsman makes it real? So much for the two thousand plus American troops who have given their lives, so much for the thousands of Iraqi's murdered by Al Qaeda and their fellow travelors. That wasn't "REAL." But this is!
Idiots!
Posted at 01:35 AM
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January 30, 2006
In another incredible display of psychic powers, I am predicting that the Democrats will criticize everything that President Bush says.
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Test results are encouraging. Brain Scan and Abdominal Scan were negative for metastisis. Pulmonary function test was passed with flying colors (that was rough, glad I quit smoking). Next up is a stress EKG and then a conference with a surgeon. It is looking better. Attitude is very upbeat and positive, my beloved bride and daughter are relieved with the positive news even though I'm not out of the woods yet. Only God knows what the future holds at this point. So, while optimisim is the watch phrase, I'm not out of the woods yet.
For you smokers out there that are readers, QUIT. If you don't smoke, for damn sure don't start. I'm telling you, the fear and uncertainty that goes with the dreaded C word can make a convert out of you real quick. Don't let it get to that point.
To all of my readers who have been following this, thanks for all of your prayers. As I said in my first post, I'm a child of God and He will sustain me through this crisis in my life. Regardless of what the long term holds, know that I love you all.
Fight On!
One of my readers suggested this site: Cancergiggles. Wow, talk about someone even quirkier than I am... LOL. At any rate, any place that can add humor to the mix removes some of the fear from that same mix. Fight On!
Posted at 02:11 PM
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Posted at 05:50 AM
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What a surprise - the tire slashers got away with it. Despite overwhelming evidence of their guilt, the five men accused of vandalizing vehicles to be used by Republicans on Election Day in 2004 will face no punishment at all. What was the reaction of most Democrats to the verdict? Glee. Why did they get away with it? Answer: Because everybody involved here was a Democrat. We had Democrats accusing Democrats that were prosecuted by a Democrat and a jury laden with Democrats. Justice never had a chance.
I'm not sure, but they might have applied for purple hearts from the Kerry campaign for self-inflicted razor cuts.
Found at and a thanks to Tom McMahon!
Posted at 05:20 AM
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I'm headed to the hospital for another round of tests in preparation to have this damned thing out. However, I wanted to post very briefly and tell all of you how very much I appreciate all the e-mails and comments that my last post received. All were encouraging, I even got a few from some dedicated political enemies, one of whom noted "this is not the time for partisan politics, you are in my prayers."
To each of you who sent me an e-mail or posted a comment, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I cannot tell you how uplifting this has been. More later, right now I'm out of the door with a smile on my face, cheer in my heart and the best wishes and prayers of my friends and family. FIGHT ON!
Posted at 01:29 AM
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January 29, 2006
This is not a post I ever wanted to write. In fact, I don't think it is a post that anyone, ever, anywhere, would want to write. But I have a number of faithful readers and a number of irregular, but delightful readers and I think I owe them something. Thursday, January 26th, I was diagnosed with lung cancer. Talk about a kick in the teeth.
The diagnosis is obviously freightening, but at the same time, it has given me a new resolve. And that resolve is to fight this son-of-bitch right down to the wire and I have every intention of winning.
Other than the diagnosis, some of the preliminary results are encouraging. There is no spread to the brain, and Monday I get an abdominal scan to see if there is any spread there. I have some good docs in my corner and my primary care physician used to teach Oncology at MD Anderson Hospital, one of the leading cancer hospitals in the world. I have a loving wife and a loving daughter actively supporting me as I go through this. I will continue to blog and I will keep you all updated as often and as frequently as I am able.
In the future, I will obviously post the occasional post on death and dying, on fear and on striving to live. Something I have every intention of doing.
So, my catch phrase for the future is FIGHT ON! I am a fighter, I am a child of God and I strongly believe that he will sustain me through this fight. I hope you, my faithful readers will continue to come to this blog and continue to comment on various issues. Just as I have no intention of giving in to this disease, I have no intention of closing down the blog.
I don't know what the future does hold but I know this; this thing can be licked and I intend to be one of the winners.
UPDATE: The outpouring of prayers, care and concern has been almost overwhelming. I've added a gif to the upper left entry on this post and will use that for each post about fighting this damned disease. The gif was designed by my friend Michael at Slobokan's Site O'Schtuff. Michael designed this site when I re-worked it last year and has been a friend and a great guy since. Today, he even put up a post on this post. Gadzooks I love this guy. Thanks Michael, from the bottom of my heart. And for everyone else, if you aren't reading Michael, you have no idea what you are missing.
Posted at 03:58 AM
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January 26, 2006
Kerry (and his partner in crime - T. Kennedy) have decided that they would like to filibuster the vote on the nomination of Samuel Alito to the United States Supreme Court. Senator(s) can you say STUPID? You two have got to be the dumbest of the dumb.
From the CNN folk comes this:
Sources close to Kerry, who lost to Bush in the 2004 race, told CNN that the senator was calling colleagues from Switzerland, where he was attending the World Economic Forum. He announced his decision to support a filibuster Wednesday at a meeting of his Democratic colleagues.The White House believes Alito's supporters have the 60 votes they need to block any filibuster, spokesman Steve Schmidt said, and suggested that Kerry's move was designed to buttress a possible 2008 presidential run.
The Washington Post's Charles Babington reports:
Several prominent Democratic senators called for a filibuster of Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s Supreme Court nomination yesterday, exposing a deep divide in the party even as they delighted the party's liberal base.The filibuster's supporters -- including Sens. John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts -- acknowledged that the bid is likely to fail and that Alito is virtually certain to be confirmed Tuesday. But they said extended debate may draw more Americans' attention to Alito's conservative stands on abortion, civil rights, presidential powers and other matters.
"Judge Alito will take America backward, especially when it comes to civil rights and discrimination laws," Kerry said in a statement issued by his office. He added: "It's our right and our responsibility to oppose him vigorously and to fight against this radical upending of the Supreme Court."
The Democrats are divided? News to me! On the other hand, that famous entertainer Will Rogers once noted: "I don't belong to any organized political party. I'm a Democrat."
Senator Kerry, you greatly remind me of a saying by Dietrich Bonhöffer:
Folly is a more dangerous enemy to the good than evil. One can protest against evil; it can be unmasked and, if need be, prevented by force. Evil always carries the seeds of its own destruction... Against folly we have no such defense. Neither protests nor force can touch it; reasoning is no use...So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self-satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take much to make him aggressive. A fool must therefore be treated more cautiously than a scoundrel.
H/T to Stop the ACLU
Posted at 11:59 PM
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, Prima.
, Teeth whitening at dentist.January 24, 2006
On a park bench, an old man was sittin' there.
I said, "Your old court house is kinda run down",
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town".
I said, "Your old flag pole is leaned a little bit,
And that's a ragged old flag you got hangin' on it".
He said, "Have a seat", and I sat down,
"Is this the first time you've been to our little town"
I said, "I think it is"
He said "I don't like to brag, but we're kinda proud of
That Ragged Old Flag
"You see, we got a little hole in that flag there,
When Washington took it across the Delaware.
and It got powder burned the night Francis Scott Key
sat watching it, writing "Say Can You See"
It got a rip in New Orleans,
with Packingham & Jackson tugging at its seams.
and It almost fell at the Alamo beside the Texas flag,
But she waved on though.
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville,
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee and Beauregard and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on
That Ragged Old Flag
"On Flanders Field in World War I,
She got a big hole from a Bertha Gun,
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp, and low, a time or two,
She was in Korea, Vietnam,
She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam.
She waved from our ships upon the briny foam
and now they've about quit wavin' back here at home
in her own good land here She's been abused,
She's been burned, dishonored, denied an' refused,
And the government for which she stands
Has been scandalized throughout the land.
And she's getting thread bare, and she's wearin' thin,
But she's in good shape, for the shape she's in.
Cause she's been through the fire before
and I believe she can take a whole lot more.
"So we raise her up every morning
And we bring her down slow every night,
We don't let her touch the ground,
And we fold her up right.
On second thought
I *do* like to brag
Cause I'm mighty proud of
That Ragged Old Flag"
--Johnny Cash
Posted at 03:46 PM
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The Judiciary Committee recommended Tuesday Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito’s confirmation to the full Senate on a 10-8 vote.All committee Republicans voted for the nomination, saying Alito was â€Å“one of the most qualifiedâ€ÂÂ� nominees ever. Democrats warned that he could swing the court to the right and all eight members voted against the conservative jurist’s nomination.
The Senate Democrats opposed President Bush’s pick to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor worried publicly that Alito might not be neutral if confirmed to the high court. [Source]."
That's funny, I don't remember any Democrats saying Ginsburg would "swing the court to the left." Wonder how they forgot to make that assertion? Guess they must have overlooked the concept at the time.
Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisconson):
Judge Alito's record as a professional � both as a Justice Department official and as a judge � reflects something more than a neutral judicial philosophy," said Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis.Gee Herb, did you or any of your collegues ask the same about Ginsburg or anyone else?
The Senate Democrats really don't think the public has any smarts at all.
Posted at 07:45 AM
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Tracey.
, Rosetta stone hindi.January 23, 2006
Liberals will attack these cuts and claim that they result from overpaid executives--the politics of envy. Democrats will blame the Republicans, because they seek power. Union leaders will say that they are shocked and claim that management has failed, because these leaders cared more about short-term wins than long term security for members. Leftists will say that a solution is simply to overpay labor throughout the global economy, because they never had a clue to begin with. But, the average worker is more interested in supporting his family than in looking for scapegoats and phony solutions. He's the one paying the price and wonders who is supposed to be representing him--who is supposed to help him. Well, in short, the people who are casting blame and looking in the wrong direction for answers are really the ones that are failing our workers--and, our nation.
Unions have forced wages and benefits from U.S. manufacturers that far exceed the productivity of workers, and the unions have forced the closings of major industries and companies in our country. The labor dilemma is described in this article and discusses problems such as having to pay 12,000 workers to do nothing and grass cutters getting $65 an hour--not to mention that the Democrats want to use this problem in which they are culpable to call for commissions and more government "entitlements." (I can't stand that term.) Such waste doesn't help workers...it kills companies and results in unemployment.
It's time that the American worker realized that those who claim to care about him and who claim to help him are only making matters worse. Unions, with the help of the Democratic Party, are destroying companies and are costing them jobs. Workers and families are important and deserve better.
Posted at 09:40 PM
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Of course, as a member of the press, Phelps is not happy about the possibility of two things. One, that Libby may call journalists for testamony, and two, that the press doesn't seem to have the "protections" under the first amendment that it did in the past. Phelps does acknowledge that there are indeed limits on the ability of journalists to protect sources, but decries the lessening of that.
It should be noted that much of the current brouhaha is of the making of the journalism profession. They were less concerned about the "leak" than about (in general) being able to hammer the Bush Administration for wrongs (real or perceived). In fact, two journalists, David Corn (The Nation) and Paul Krugman (The New York Times) raised a big stink about the illegality of "outing" Plame.
Even Phelps says she was in a role "undercover." However, nothing could be further from the truth. Undercover typically means assignment in the field, pretending you are something you are not in order to gather information necessary for our national security. Plame worked in a "secret" department of the Directorate of Operations, but was not "under cover" as she drove to work daily, was doublessly photographed many, many times by our adversaries (who ever they may have been) and even people in her neighborhood knew where she worked. Too, her "cover" had been blown years before and that is why she was pulled from the field.
The press demanded an investigation until finaly, someone in the CIA asked for an investigation. Usually, these requests don't go very far as Phelps acknowledges. This time, however, with the reporters and Democrats up in arms, Gutless Ashcroft recused himself and recused his deputy from looking into the matter and appointed a Special Prosecuter to look into the "outing" of Valarie Plame.
As we know, that investigation went nowhere, despite calls for Karl Rove to be frogmarched out of the White House. Libby in what must have been a non-compos-mentos moment lied about who he talked to or when or under what circumstances and as a result he is up on perjury charges. If found guilty, I hope they throw the book at him. What could he have been thinking?
But, I digress. The issue is that the press, so rabid in their attempts to nail the Bush Administration (and denying that is ludicrous on it's face) is now going to have to testify in the Libby trial. Too damn bad. The old saw that you need to be careful what you ask for, because you may not like what you get couldn't be more apt.
Libby's right to a fair trial trumps, it seems to me, any 1st amendment protection the predatory press has. Phelps may have said it best:
The prosecutor seems to have had the last word about the First Amendment, at least for now. â€Å“Journalists are not entitled to promise complete confidentiality â€â€Â� no one in America is,â€ÂÂ� he told Thomas F. Hogan, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Hogan agreed. Of course, we never did have the right to offer complete confidentiality in every circumstance. But as a result of this case and others in the pipeline, the question now is, Can we honestly promise our sources anything?"
A tip of the GM Chapeaux to James Taranto
Posted at 04:26 PM
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If you are a liberal, don't try them. It doesn't count if you call the test creators insulting names, cry that the tests are biased, say that any answer should be right in the name of diversity, and blame Bush for any question that you miss. And, oh yes, Mensa has nothing to do with a woman's cycle, so this test is probably anti-feminist.
BTW, the other Woody got 30 out of 30 on his test, and I got 29 out of 33 (so far) on my test. On the test that I took, I didn't get questions 14, 17, 30, and 31: which gripes me because I know that the answers will appear so obvious once I see them. Good luck if you attempt these quizzes. I have high expectations for our group.
While not a test but along the line of intelligence, another blogger named, yes, Woody recently exhibited his mental skills with an impressive translation of Osama Bin Laden's recent message from Arabic to English; thus, revealing much that the dominant media didn't tell us. Good job, Woody (not me...him.)
Let us know how you did on the tests or if you have any other challenges to recommend.
P.S. For extra points, has anyone heard from Cindy Sheehan lately? Is she still at her book signing?
Posted at 01:50 PM
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