Right As Usual

I FEEL GOOD! I had the best sleep I've had in a month. I woke up really, really refreshed. Ate a healthy breakfast. Stretched. It's a miracle - I can move! OK, not like James Brown, but still...

Time Goes By came out with a worthwhile post, giving gift suggestions for those who have an Elder on their list. It's filled with ideas that are useful, for all price ranges, and most of which, I would enjoy having myself (expecially that Netflixz subscription).

I finished America Alone late last night. This morning, I made the mistake of starting another: The Rage and the Pride Why was that a mistake? Is it a bad book? No. It's just that I have to create 2 mid-term tests and 2 study guides this week, and I really don't have the time. But, I just can't put it down.

I came home after the Thanksgiving holiday to find my books had arrived. I immediately started with the Mark Steyn book, America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It If you don't own this book, buy it. I'm not kidding - right now. If you DO own it, why are you reading this when you could be reading this? America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It

From Hot Air site, via of Spades comes a link to a student who gives some background information on UCLA policies. As a current UCLA student and one who has been involved with this university for over 8 years now, I can tell you the late-night ID checks in Powell are neither random nor unprecedented. I’ve had this happen many times through the years. The CSOs come by (CSO = enrolled student, not cop, who has a radio and pepper spray and the authority to do not a lot more than ask you to comply with university regulations or state, local, and federal laws, then use aforementioned radio to call in someone to enforce your compliance if/when you refuse) and announce in a loud voice that they’ll be checking IDs and that anyone not possessing a Bruin Card will be asked to leave. This is a well-known policy. It is a posted policy. It is also a policy that I have observed being enforced every night I’ve been in the library after hours on every student present without regard to sex, color, m...

...why didn't you write this about a month before the election? But, even late, Villainous Company is a marvel. She reaches back to 2003, and lays out, AGAIN, the plan for Iraq, which the Democrats agreed to, as did the majority of the country. The Web is an amazing thing. 10 years ago, this wouldn't have happened. The opposing parties would have been free to re-construct history, without interference. The major papers and TV stations would have been free to spin their stories without fear of contradiction. Today, we, the people, can go into the Wayback Machine, and check out history's trail for ourselves. Just the other day, I found a link to the Pentagon Papers - remember them? They were the smoking gun that PROVED that the president LIED, LIED, LIED. Or did they? The following is from the Wall Street Journal Journalist Edward Jay Epstein has shown that in crucial respects, the Times coverage was at odds with what the documents actually said. The lead of the Tim...

By Heidi at Euphoric Reality Last week, two Muslim leaders in Boston were arrested for immigration fraud - illegally filing fraudulent visa documents and obtaining religious workers' visas. The arrests were the culmination of a multi-year investigation in Boston and New York: The ICE agents arrested Hannan Wednesday along with 32 other people in eight states and the District of Columbia in connection with an alleged nationwide scheme to help many foreigners, mostly from Pakistan, immigrate and remain in the U.S. by filing false applications for religious workers' visas. Most of those taken into custody did not have religious training or experience to qualify for the visas, and held secular jobs here in the U.S., such as working at gas stations and factories or driving trucks, according to the ICE. Others were religious workers but had used fraudulent identity documents to get their visas, the agency said. The agency claims the petitioners of the visas took substantial cash f...

At SFGate.com">, a CA newspaper online , the taser incident is explored. Tabatabainejad, 23, was shocked Tuesday night after arguing with a campus police officer who was conducting a routine check of student IDs at the University of California, Los Angeles, Powell Library computer lab. Campus police say he refused to show his student ID and refused to leave the building when asked. Several things occur to me: First, other reports have said that this was technically NOT a tasing, which is a pretty potent weapon, that would likely make speech more difficult than the recording (on YouTube). That doesn't totally excuse the apparent overkill on force, it just puts it into perspective. There is absolutely no evidence that the student was targeted because of ethnicity. In fact, since the student refused to show ID, it would be difficult to prove that the campus cops even knew his ethnicity. These were campus cops, NOT LAPD. They were students with low-level orders, training, an...

Hugh Hewitt has an outstanding idea! He was a part of the bloggers who interviewed leadership candidates for the Republican House Conference. He asked 4 of them the same question: I had asked three other congress-people the following: What books have you read about Islamic terrorism against America and the West? None of the three were able to name a single book. Boehner followed suit, saying that he had read books on the subject but that he couldn’t give me any names. Assume they're not blowing smoke - i.e., just SAYING that they had, of course, read several books on the subject (and how likely is that - when you read something on a subject, you generally remember the author's name, or part of the title, or the book cover picture), what does that say for their retention of information? Hugh has asked for input on the 3 books YOU would recommend. Go there, and give your input . I will - right after I order the new Mark Steyn book, America Alone .

Boy, my roomie really sounds like Rosie O'Donnell sometimes. We were talking about philosophy (don't ask how we got on that subject), and I happened to mention the skewed mentality of some Muslims, who threaten violence whenever something threatens their view of reality. He said, "But what about all that Christian violence?" I told him, "There has to be a statute of limitations - after, oh, about 1000 years or so, you really can't bring that one up." I told him of the ongoing martyrdom of Christians in many parts of the world. He asked where I was getting that from. Is it any surprise that he gets his news from NPR, the BBC, and the New York Times? powered by performancing firefox

On Something...and Half of Something , Linda asks "What if? So. Let's say the democrats manage to age to impeach Bush, and Cheney. Nancy Pelosi becomes the next President." Not to worry, as the Brits used to say. Hillary won't let that happen. Nothing - and I do mean NOTHING - is going to stand between HRC and the acclaim of being the First Woman President. Even if she has to keep Bush and Cheney from being impeached. Or have Nancy taken out. Whatever it takes. powered by performancing firefox

In the wake of this week's Blogburst, I started thinking about the future of Hispanics in America. It's not pretty. For Hispanics. Mind, I'm not saying that the backlash of Americans fed up with the influx of undereducated and unassimilated illegals will lead to actions against them. I doubt that will happen - we've been pushed hard already, and still haven't triggered armed response against the tide. On the contrary, we have watched as the illegals gathered in large numbers, taunting us, arrogantly insisting that this is THEIR land, and daring us to do anything about it. No, I'm thinking about what the future in America will hold for them, EVEN if they achieve the liberal goal of amnesty. Will they suddenly become bi-lingual? Unlikely. And without mastery of the English language, they will be unable to take advantage of the educational opportunities we have. The economy won't continue to allow them to take advantage of it for long. Once their status i...

By Heidi at Euphoric Reality Last Tuesday, the Democrats won the majority in both the House and the Senate. Within a day, President Bush was gloating on national TV about how he could now finally pass his Amnesty bill with a Democrat-controlled Congress. This galling statement by the President was reinforced by the White House spokesman: White House spokesman Tony Snow reacted to the change in House control by allowing they’re disappointed, but that it presents some intriguing opportunities, such as passing comprehensive immigration reform which failed in the previous Republican House. Meanwhile, conservatives are shocked - SHOCKED! - by this open defiance of the vast majority of Americans’ wishes. “What on earth is Bush thinking?!,” they wonder. Howard Sutherland says there’s no need for such surprise, and here’s why: If George W. Bush has been consistent about anything it is his determination to keep the United States open to the mass migration of Mexicans and other Latin Americans. ...

From New York Daily News, courtesy of Mudville Gazette the news - former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski is out to get even with the big, bad men who didn't buy her lame excuses for letting Abu Ghraib prison get so off track. She's testifying in a law suit in Germany, accusing Rumsfield of being the EVIL genius behind the disgraceful tormenting of the prisoners. That would be because, as a woman, you know, she just couldn't have been incompetent. Which, at best, she was. At the worst, she knew what was going on, and didn't stop it because she agreed with it. She was slapped on the wrist for her inaction, as a result of the investigation. The investigators went on record: Karpinski was extremely emotional during much of her testimony. What I found particularly disturbing in her testimony was her complete unwillingness to either understand or accept that many of the problems inherent in the 800th MP Brigade were caused or exacerbated by poor leadership and the refusal of...

I was reading of the awarding of a medal to a Marine - unfortunately, as often happens, posthumously: Bush announced on Friday that the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration, will be awarded posthumously to Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham. In April 2004, Dunham was leading a patrol in an Iraqi town near the Syrian border when the patrol stopped a convoy of cars leaving the scene of an attack on a Marine convoy, according to military and media accounts of the action. An occupant of one of the cars attacked Dunham and the two fought hand to hand. As they fought, Dunham yelled to fellow Marines, "No, no watch his hand." The attacker then dropped a grenade and Dunham hurled himself on top of it, using his helmet to try to blunt the force of the blast. Still, Dunham was critically wounded in the explosion and died eight days later at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. would go so far to protect people who are not biologically related to themselves. It's a ...

I just tested out the Performancing add-on, which has a new build that lets me use the new Beta.Blogger. Not only was it fast, but it also allowed me to do something that I've long wanted to do - post from right in the page I'm browsing. No more tabbing back and forth to see the page that triggered the post, then writing the post. This is a truly awesome piece of programming! I definitely recommend it. powered by performancing firefox

I'm testing out Performancing for Firefox , an extension for Firefox that lets you blog right from within the browser window. If you see this, it works. It wasn't totally intuitive to set up, but, once I checked out the Getting Started section of the Performancing webpage, it really wasn't difficult. /> powered by performancing firefox

At the direction of Michael Kinsley, I downloaded A New Direction , the Democratic plan to bring the sunshine into Washington and the rest of America. I'm sitting here at 2am, wishing I hadn't started. I could use the sleep. It's grandiose and sweeping. And, probably, expensive - IF it works. Which I doubt it will. Let's just take one section: COLLEGE ACCESS FOR ALL Make college tuition deductible from taxes, permanently. Cut student loan interest rates. Expand Pell Grants. Who could be against that? Disclaimer: I was a beneficiary of student loans, scholarships, and grants, including Pell. Without them, I doubt I could have finished college. The trouble is, not everyone belongs in college. If college access means that everybody should get an initial chance, well, OK. That chance might be the opportunity to go to a community college at first (as I did), and shore up skills. It's a relatively low-cost option that many use. For too many people, however, it m...

From Michael Barone, at USNews.com : The late Warren Mitofsky, who created the first exit poll for CBS News in 1968, went back and examined the 2004 results and found that the biggest discrepancies between actual precinct votes and the exit pollsters' results occurred in precincts where the exit poll personnel were female graduate students. All those discrepancies overstated the Democratic vote. Joe Lenski, the current EMR boss, tried to hire fewer young women as exit poll interviewers. OK, the problem may not exactly be math, but rather that young women may be approaching more friendly-looking people for their input. These women were grad students, who PRESUMABLY understand stats well enough to know the term "valid sample". They should have had the smarts to get their feedback from the requested sample - how hard is that? I don't buy the idea that, somehow, the more conservative guys are less approachable. If anything, that should have made it easier - guys of ju...

The computer is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would have bet 1/2 the month's salary that it was gone forever. I am, in some ways, the ultimate pessimist. I try not to hope, lest I be disappointed. Wow! I really needed this to happen. Mind you, it was terribly inconvenient. I had to spend countless hours re-entering grades (which were due today). Still, it really made my day. And to top it off, I had a doctor's appointment, and I'm basically healthy again. With some new meds, to ensure that I stay that way.

I was just watching the election coverage, and I was suddenly struck by a thought - where's Clinton? Bill, I mean, not Hillary. If there's any man living who knows how to count the votes, it's him. so, why are the networks not using him to discuss the outcomes?

In response to Outside the Beltway's Open LinkFest offer , I'm linking to the blog. Outside the Beltway is one of the featured bloggers on the CNN Blogparty - it sounds as though it's a lot of fun - wish we all could be there. Maybe in 2 years. Does South Carolina take its voter ID rules seriously? Just ask the Governor, Mark Sanford. He was turned away at the polls, because he didn't have his voter ID, and the ID he had didn't match the registration information (his ID was issued to his office). So the Poll Worker Nazi said, "No vote for YOU!" PS - that's a parody on the Soup Nazi - the worker was absolutely right to turn him away. Folks like JFKerry and I have to explain our jokes - we're sort of humor-impaired.

I got this reference from Euphoric Reality - you DO have that one Blogrolled, don't you? It's just in time for Election Day - a guide to what the candidates think about immigration. Yes, it's one-issue - that's the point. It's an issue not covered enough in MSM.

This Blogburst is also available as a Podcast . Why the United States Has Lost So Much in Latin America By LomaAlta at Linknzona The facts are not in dispute. During this Administration’s “watch”, the geopolitical situation in Latin America has deteriorated well beyond the tragic losses of any previous Administration. Communist tyrants rise in Venezuela, Bolivia, and now Nicaragua and socialism is on the march in other countries. President Reagan’s successes in spreading democracy and freedom in Latin America appear to have been stopped. Let’s examine some of the possible reasons. Negligence. This Administration appears to be focused on the war on terrorism, particularly the Middle East and has neglected the problems arising in the countries of our neighbors to the south. Indisputable evidence of Middle Eastern terrorists increasing their presence in Latin America and illegally crossing our southern border with help of Latin American gangs is readily available [1]. These fact...

Positive: I'm feeling a great deal better. My breathing has returned to virtually normal. Negative: My voice is, sadly, lagging - I need to baby it for a week or so, or I may lose it entirely. Positive: Classes went smoothly today. I finished 4 labs today on electric circuits with no problem. Negative: My new (to me) laptop was stolen. Positive: My husband took the loss well - no yelling. Negative: I'm using that crappy "ghetto" laptop - which needs an external keyboard to function. (BTW, "ghetto" was the term of my students). Positive: I HAVE a laptop, however shoddy. On balance, not too bad. I may yet get the laptop back - however unlikely it seems. Still, if I'm out some money, at least it's not a total financial disaster - it could be worse. I do have some spare cash (frugality has it's rewards). How can I possibly complain? I have been so blessed in life. No matter what - I have a husband of more than 30 years who still loves and desi...

Every time Kerry hits the headlines, I try - I really do - to think of the most innocuous possible interpretation of his words. But, alas, I am finally led to the only conclusion possible No Huevos!

I just love to read Winston Churchill's speeches and writings. When I return to Cleveland for the Thanksgiving holidays, two things will I take back with me - the 6 volume set of WWII histories, and my Shakespeare collected works. I grew up with the sound of those words in my head - they still bring a thrill to my heart. And now it has come to us to stand alone in the breach, and face the worst that the tyrant's might and enmity can do. Bearing ourselves humbly before God, but conscious that we serve an unfolding purpose, we are ready to defend our native land against the invasion by which it is threatened. We are fighting by ourselves alone; but we are not fighting for ourselves alone. Here in this strong City of Refuge which enshrines the title-deeds of human progress and is of deep consequence to Christian civilization; here, girt about by the seas and oceans where the Navy reigns; shielded from above by the prowess and devotion of our airmen-we await undismayed the impend...

It seems as though procrastination is catching - we got the blogburst later than usual. Hey, it happens - few bloggers are professionals, we have lives, and sometimes they take precedence. I've also had personal issues. This week, my asthma sent me to the hospital for a few days of observation. Hope the eventual charges don't break the bank - I've been insulated from medical costs for some time - my former HMO had very low co-pays, and none for hospital admits. I'm in Myrtle Beach, at a Science conference. I'm not doing as much running around this time - I'm still convalescing. Still, I've been able to learn more about the evolution vs. ID debate (yes, the issue still comes up, like those old-time movie monsters you just can't kill), network with other teachers, check out the latest technology and curriculums - the usual. No time to get to the beach - boo-hoo. I'm going to walk along the beach before I head back to the convention center. Yeah, ...