What the UN Inspectors found

So the UN Weapons Inspectors have shown that they can still do their job: they found vials of a choking gas taken from Iraq in their HEADQUARTERS.

Wait... I thought there were no WMDs in Iraq... at least they found Iraqi WMDs somewhere...

Now, in truth, these were ten years old, so they weren't recent samples, but dang if it doesn't hurt their credibility a bit to have nerve gas sitting around unnoticed for a decade...eesh.

Oh my GOSH, where to begin?

Too much stuff going on lately - I'm forming opinions on entirely new issues every 5 minutes, which is far too little focus for a really thought-out opinion on anything.

Between AG Al Gonzales retiring, Sen. Craig's embarrassing cover-up outing him as at least dishonest with his WIFE, Katrina power brokers mouthing off while rebuilding the same insufficient way as before, more intersection spy cameras, etc., I've been in Analysis Paralysis for a few days.

And then there's empathy...

Rather than dealing with every issue separately now, I'll just say, "get your long-term food & water storage set up..."

You GO, Man!

Iraq's Prime Minister Maliki pretty much told US critics where they could go today...

My hat is off to you, sir!

More "Short-Man Syndrome"

So Russia is still flexing its muscles to compensate for its dictator's president's political and physical stature... now they're threatening the Czech Republic. Not that that's a new thing, but the entire government over there would benefit from regular talks with a (very) qualified psychiatrist. Between short-man syndrome and a heavy case of denial ("Nyet! The -Stans are ours!!!"), they'd provide plenty of material for discussion.

Claiming the North Pole, *snort*...you do know that claim and the accompanying footage were totally bogus, right?

But on a more serious note, they ARE serious. Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela are only the obvious countries who want the US rolled over and playing dead. We don't need to worry directly about their muscle-flexing; we do need to worry about the underlying causes and activities!

Wouldn't it be funny...

...if the whole alarm about radon (which is actually listed on the periodic table) gas were completely manufactured? I mean, I believe what they're saying, but when you hear a funny commercial about it, your mind starts wandering to things that make life more amusing...

1. It's "the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers..." - well, something has to be, doesn't it? For both cases of lung cancer among non-smokers every year? (And yes, I'm sure there are more than two, but I couldn't find specifics dividing the two at the CDC's site...)
   
2. It's "odorless, colorless, and tasteless" - it's either Radon or iocaine powder!
   

Anyway, back to regular, serious life now...

What a tangled web we weave...

[update 20Aug2007: no idea whose side to believe in this story, so I'm dropping it - received a well-worded but unsubtantiated criticism whose author has not responded to inquiries, so I'll just leave it as is and move on...]

Like a good chunk of the country - and probably like you, too - I heard about the High Point Church cancelling a Navy veteran's funeral because he was gay and had a great bellyful of righteous indignation.

If only that were the truth!

Here's the truth.

It wasn't a church saying "oh, he's gay - in that case, we don't love him anymore..." situation; it was a "guy's family refuses church's service and insists on turning his memorial service into a gay-rights rally" situation.

Good heavens, I'm glad someone is reporting honestly!!! (I feel like I did the first time I read the truth about McCarthy in Ann Coulter's Treason...) We have GOT to fix the "MS"M!!!

Does it take a whole strike???

So Mitt Romney has become my #1 Candidate by advocating more local security - one-strike laws.

Some "mistakes" don't bear repeating, and violating a child's innocence and tarnishing an otherwise beautiful future in such a horrid manner is NUMBER ONE in my book.

Jake Goldenflame, a guy who's reformed his behavior - too late to spare his three-year-old daughter - says that current child molesters (who haven't killed their victims so far...), in considering the one-strike or auto-execution laws, say that they'd be so afraid of getting caught, they'd just kill the victim instead. Don't a good portion of them do that already? And doesn't that make it MORE critical to KEEP THEM AWAY FOREVER?!?!?!

Sheesh - what the %#$ is WRONG with us, that we have to debate this?!?!

It IS Religious Bigotry - by AFA!!!

...to say that having Hindu and Muslim contributors in Congress is un-American.

I'd be interested to know what Rep. Sali's original remarks were...this issue, incidentally, was the topic of a spirited email discussion between the American Family Association and myself lately - texts are too lengthy to be posted below - and they're a bunch of paranoid Bible-thumpers.

Now, I voted for this guy as a real conservative, (not to mention his opponent's ads were immature and completely vicious), but if what's being reported is actually the substance of what he said, Rep. Sali will be the next recipient of a reasoned rebuttal to his myopic paranoia.

Updates coming...

OK - just talked to Rep. Sali's office. They had not heard of AFA, OneNewsNow, or AFNN prior to the interview resulting in the article now posted on their paranoid site, and they have not provided a complete transcript of the interview, even when his office requested it. This leaves me to conclude that the spin on his comments was largely AFA's doing. Also, his concluding remark that, "You know, the Lord can cause the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike," indicates a more fair-minded approach: something like, 'we think they're rather incorrect, but they're free to worship.' That's the attitude I hold, and from speaking with his office, that's the attitude Rep. Sali holds, as well. Acknowledging that the country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles - and that its prosperity has sprung partly from that - does not mean that no one else is welcome to worship as they see fit. (And yes, I know that many of the founding fathers did not subscribe to a particular "Christian" denomination - nevertheless, they acknowledged the Creator and felt to worship Him instead of man's practices...)

Catching up again...

OK - so now that I've been inspired to start keeping this up again... what all's been going on?

1. Hope for the world - France has elected a leader who has an actual clue about the risk of global and local terrorism! And the troop surge in Iraq is doing great things - just wait for Gen. Petraeus's upcoming report.
   
2. Hope for the country - The Immigration Bill died in the Senate, due to citizen revolt, of which many acquaintances and I were a part - looks like the government isn't getting too far in running away from the citizens of the US! Citizens have - somewhat - been reawakened to their duty, as well as their proper role in the governing process. I sure hope it lasts! Not every attempt to destroy accountability and the rule of law in the country is so blatant...
   
3. Hope for the community - a move-in louse trying to prey on women in a local neighborhood has been apprehended and jailed!
   
4. Hope for the family - more people are starting to homeschool or make use of alternative public school systems, making a real statement about the (lack of) desirable environments in the public education system.
   

So... things are good! And GO MITT!!!