Fun with Politics

Hmm, sounds like a good excuse...

Couldn't agree more.

Perspective on the War

We are NOT losing the war. The only way we will is if we decide that we are and retreat like we did in Vietnam. But in this case we'll be fighting islamofascists in our own streets after we pull out. Its naive to think that if we leave Iraq and Afghanistan that our part in the war will be over.

Price of Freedom

Not Free ©2002 Roger W Hancock (www.PoetPatriot.com)

Nothing is ever free, though to you it be. Somewhere, somehow, someone paid.

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend we celebrate the Memorial Day holiday. And while we all love a day off, I urge you to do something tangible to support our troops. Such as, send a care package. This could be someone you know or a random soldier (see the link below). I know from personal experience that care packages are real emotional booster shots while overseas.

http://www.anysoldier.com/

And regardless of what the Democrats say, they do not support the troops when the oppose their mission, don't fund them, stab them in the back by saying the war is lost, refuse to pass legislation that provides benefits for them, or even visit them overseas. Furthermore, when they say they want to bring the troops home so we don't lose anymore soldiers, what that would result in is assuring that those lives were truly wasted since their deaths didn't even lead to the freedoms for Iraqis that they were fighting for. It assures defeat by leaving now.

Spam

Must have seen my inbox...

Faces, Names, and a Video

I don't know about you, but I've often thought that there were certain facial features associated with certain names. For instance, "he looks like a Steve". I thought maybe I was just weird or whatever, but now there is a preliminary study confirming it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18805010?GT1=9951

Also, if you have the bandwidth, check out this amazing video. I won't ruin the ending, but it starts off with a pride of lions attacking a herd of water buffalo. The quality is a little grainy, but I think you can still catch what's happening.
http://emuse.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/22131/

Congratulations Seavers!

From Sam's e-mail:

"Owen Nigel Douglas Seaver was born on May 21st, at 8:40pm, weighing inat 6lbs 12oz. Both mother and baby are doing fine."

I've got gas...

So, Chicago officially has the most expensive gas in the country at an average $3.59 a gallon! Are we still happy with the Cook County gas tax AND the state gas tax? But the good news is due to those taxes we've solved our budget problems and we're not running on a budget deficit anymore (sarcasm). Wish it was true, but the only way to solve budget problems is to spend less money than you have coming in not just raise taxes to try to get more money. That only encourages the existing bad behavior of overspending.

In other news, on of the worst Presidents in the history of our nation (Jimmy Carter) has the audacity to criticize President Bush. Now don't get me wrong, I don't agree with all of President Bush's viewpoints, but Carter has no basis to "advise" anyone else.

Fairness Doctrine

So the Democrats are trying to pass a new bill which would mandate equal time in all media outlets for differing points of view. So, for instance, if you had a 3 hour conservative talk show host on the radio, that same station would have to give a liberal host 3 hours as well. Air America (the liberal talk station) failed miserably, while conservative talk radio continues to be wildly popular. All this is is an attempt by the Democrats to shut up dissenting viewpoints and limit free speech of conservatives. Liberals are all for free speech, when its their viewpoints. But as soon as its a viewpoint that doesn't agree, then they'd love to shut it down. This could really backfire on them though, if passed we could start demanding equal time on all the major networks since they all lean so far to the left, which by the way has spawned the popularity of talk radio as an outlet for conservative thought.

On another note, I just got back from Wisconsin. I spent all day Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday up there controlling aircraft for the Air National Guard. I got a good sunburn yesterday.

Gadumatation

I be all edumacated now... This last Saturday I graduated with my MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. The commencement speaker was surprisingly really good. Both my mother and Ashley's parents made into town and Ashley threw me a get together Saturday afternoon. As far as that goes, I have to brag, my wife can cook! Then, since we had both mothers here this weekend we celebrated mother's day yesterday. Oh, almost forgot, Ashley got me a really excellent set of golf clubs for graduation, which went and tried out at the driving range yesterday. Let me tell you, having a good set of clubs can really improve your game.

Touring Chicago

Ashley and I picked up my mom from the airport last night, and her folks today. We headed downtown this afternoon for an Architectural boat tour. We had a great time in spite it being a bit nippy. It was interesting to see the different buildings and styles over the years, as well as the Chicago river and how it has been transforming from a dumping ground to a scenic waterway.

In other news, Congress wants to divert funds from our intelligence services to study global warming. Hmm... and here we thought it was the lack of funding that hampered our intelligence services from knowing what was going on inside Iraq before our invasion.

Thwarted attacks on Fort Dix

In case you hadn't heard, the FBI thwarted an attack by six Muslim men. They were planning on entering Fort Dix in New Jersey with Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and automatic weapons and killing as many soldiers as they could. The FBI got a tip from a video store clerk. Here's a link to the story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,270892,00.html

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have been doing a terrific job since 9/11, we all feel safe. The truth is that terrorist attacks are thwarted on a weekly basis, but don't make the news. Also, more and more islamofascists are planning terror attacks without formal ties to Al Qaeda and other organizations. Several examples come to mind besides this one, a Bosnian man goes on a shooting rampage in a mall in Colorado a few months back, and the DC sniper. From wikipedia: "If carried out, the pair would have recruited a small army of alienated youths, used Muhammad's U.S. military training to instruct and indoctrinate them in Canada, and then mount coordinated terrorist attacks on the entire United States."

It seems that in our politically correct society its not polite to call someone a terrorist or an islamofascist. But, our enemies aren't politically correct, and we are at war, not because we chose to invade Iraq, but because they chose to attack us, and they attacked us long before 9/11. I'm not saying we should live in fear, far from it, but lets be alert to what's going on in the world and around us everyday. If it wasn't for an alert store clerk, who knows how many American Soldiers would have been killed while "safe at home".

Why liberals are so angry... the attitude of victimhood

First off, start researching the candidates now, and don't forget to vote in the primaries.

On to my main topic... So, its been often observed in conservative circles that liberals who talk about pacifism and tolerance are quick to get angry and hateful. This has puzzled me for years. But today at lunch I was reading "Happiness is a Serious Problem" by Dennis Prager, and got a new perspective on the issue.

In his 17th chapter Prager points out that seeing yourself as a victim prevents happiness. (The following is paraphrased from his book) This results because those who feel victimized do not see themselves in control of their own lives. They see the world as unfair, and unfair to them in particular. As they identify themselves as victims the are angry, which makes being happy impossible. Because they have chosen to view themselves as victims they cannot allow themselves to enjoy life because to do so would challenge their perception of themselves as victims.

How does this relate? First of all, while there are true victims in this world, that doesn't mean you can afford the attitude of victimhood. As Dennis Prager says elsewhere, it is our job to be as happy as possible not only for ourselves but for those around us. Secondly, liberals love to promote the attitude of victimhood. This happens through identification with a victimized group such as a racial minority, homosexual, etc. They blame others for their unhappiness instead of the underlying attitude. Besides, if they are victims they get sympathy from others. Finally, victimhood is essentially seeking to blame others instead of making hard choices and taking responsibility for yourself. All of us have obstacles to happiness and success. Those who are truly victorious are those who overcome these roadblocks, not those who complain about them and ask for sympathy.

Also, this attitude divides our society. When we identify ourselves with a victim group we separate ourselves. We say we are a special class of people who have special needs, we deserve some of your money since we are victims. Shouldn't we as a nation be seeking to unite instead of divide? So, reject the attitude of victimhood that poisons your happiness and divides our society.

Odds and Ends

The link below is a forum where the Conser-vative candidates can respond to voters. You can read what they write without joining, if you join (I believe its free) you can write comments or questions directly to the candidate. http://www.plnewsforum.com/index.php?/forums/

Also, I'm fairly convinced that using sunscreen is bad and may actually increase your risk of skin cancer. I'm glad for the excuse, since I hate wearing it anyway. Michelle at my office wondered about skin cancer, and since it was fairly boring day at work we looked it up and found these articles.
http://www.newstarget.com/001264.html
http://vvv.com/healthnews/dsunscre.html

Ramadi News

And they say there is no good news from Iraq... This comes from the NY Times:

"Anbar Province, long the lawless heartland of the tenacious Sunni Arab resistance, is undergoing a surprising transformation. Violence is ebbing in many areas, shops and schools are reopening, police forces are growing and the insurgency appears to be in retreat...
Many Sunni tribal leaders, once openly hostile to the American presence, have formed a united front with American and Iraqi government forces against Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. With the tribal leaders’ encouragement, thousands of local residents have joined the police force. About 10,000 police officers are now in Anbar, up from several thousand a year ago. During the same period, the police force here in Ramadi, the provincial capital, has grown from fewer than 200 to about 4,500, American military officials say."

I was stationed in Ramadi, and it has been the hottest spot after Baghdad. And, often no news is good news. You almost never hear any news from Southern, Northern, and Eastern Iraq; that's because things are much better there. The hot spots remain the Capital, the Al Anbar province, and the border with Syria. The border is so hot because of the foreign fighters trying to enter the country or ship arms and explosives in. Al Anbar is mostly Sunni, and Al Qaeda is Sunni, so they seek to use those loyalties to inflame the populace.

There is good news in Iraq, we are accomplishing our mission there. Rebuilding a nation is not a quick and easy process. Yet we are doing it faster and with greater resistance (home and abroad) then we rebuilt Germany and Japan.

Unnecessary Regulation

It seems we have a penchant in the US for trying to solve problems by passing a law. For instance, seat belt and helmet laws requiring motorists to wear seat belts and motorcyclists to wear helmets. I think we should keep our regulations to a minimum. 1: it would save us in tax dollars to enforce all these laws, 2: some laws are passed with no funding to enforce them or to aid the government in the transition (unfunded mandates), and 3: since when do we think its OK to try to force others to do what we think is right, as long as they aren't infringing on our freedoms, why limit theirs?

Check out what Michael Medved (radio talkshow host) has to say on the subject at: http://michaelmedved.townhall.com/blog/g/0ea9de04-bde2-44a9-95ae-a09e1e0339b6