Sunday, February 26, 2006

Never again. well, maybe just one more time..

Mark Steyn reports that as Europe grows more Muslim, not to surprisingly, anti-Semitism is on the rise.
In five years' time, how many Jews will be living in France? Two years ago, a 23-year-old Paris disc jockey called Sebastien Selam was heading off to work from his parents' apartment when he was jumped in the parking garage by his Muslim neighbor Adel. Selam's throat was slit twice, to the point of near-decapitation; his face was ripped off with a fork; and his eyes were gouged out. Adel climbed the stairs of the apartment house dripping blood and yelling, "I have killed my Jew. I will go to heaven."

Is that an gripping story? You'd think so. Particularly when, in the same city, on the same night, a Jewish woman was brutally murdered in the presence of her daughter by another Muslim. You've got the making of a mini-trend there, and the media love trends.

Yet no major French newspaper carried the story.

This month, there was another murder. Ilan Halimi, also 23, also Jewish, was found by a railway track outside Paris with burns and knife wounds all over his body. He died en route to the hospital, having been held prisoner, hooded and naked, and brutally tortured for almost three weeks by a gang that had demanded half a million dollars from his family. Can you take a wild guess at the particular identity of the gang? During the ransom phone calls, his uncle reported that they were made to listen to Ilan's screams as he was being burned while his torturers read out verses from the Quran.

This time around, the French media did carry the story, yet every public official insisted there was no anti-Jewish element. Just one of those things. Coulda happened to anyone.
I have never lived in a city with a large Jewish community. I have worked for and with a handful of Jews, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what the hostility is all about. My friend Bill was a bit strange, but then again, who am I to talk about strange.

Someone help me out. What danger do Jews represent? Why should I despise them? Why is it OK to kill them? Anyone?

Thursday, February 23, 2006

What are you doing this weekend?


This weekend is the Capay Valley Almond Blossom Festival. The almond trees are coming into bloom and the valley will be beautiful for this event. Saturday will be the best day for the scenic drive up Highway 16 from Esparto to Rumsey at the head end of the valley. Not many crowds, just the casino players on there way to loose their money and a few bikers will be getting the cobwebs cleaned out their Harleys. From Sacramento take I-5 north to Woodland and follow Highway 16 west to Esparto. It should take about almost an hour from downtown. From San Fransisco take 80 East, then 505 north to the Highway 16 turn off and head west. Again, around an hour or so. Just use mapquest if you need.

Sunday is the Almond Festival and the crowds will be here in force. Don't let that scare you off, the huge Harley run and the classic cars will be cruising the valley and on display at the car show in Esparto. The FFA Pancake breakfast starts at 7:30 at the High School, I will be there to help support the local FFA kids, and to eat a few flapjacks. About 10:00 the main street of Esparto turns into a street fair with food vendors and folks selling all kinds of arts and crafts. Take an hour to walk around and see the classic cars, meet some new friends and grab a cup of coffee.

Then its on to the next stop, the Junction. The Capay Junction to be exact. This is the local watering hole and gossip stop. Live music from noon to 5 pm, and my friend Cheryl Dutton will be having a rib BBQ to benefit Multiple Sclerosis research. I will stop off and have a rib at the Junction and to say hello. Back on the road, the next thing you will pass is the Cache Creek Casino and resort. Just drive past and wave to the suckers, I mean patrons, that are loosing their money at a rapid rate.

Just a few more beautiful miles to the town of Guinda. The local volunteer fire department is having a oyster BBQ along with other goodies. I may stop in and say hi to a few friends, but I will be stuffed, so I will pass on the oysters this year. One more stop to make at the end of the valley is Rumsey. I love Rumsey. It is a tiny little town with a great old bridge that straddles Cache Creek. Rumsey is home to the famous Rumsey Ribs. The are good and beer is cold, not that I will be having any, well maybe just one.

From there you can make a u-turn and head back to Esparto and the Freeway or just keep going up the valley into Rumsey canyon's winding roads and steep rock cliffs until you run into Highway 20. What to do then? Turn left and head for Clear Lake and Napa, or turn right and head down into Williams just in time for dinner and Luis Cairo's steakhouse. Its all up to you.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

The International Brotherhood of Terrorists -- Local 4

Great hours, good pay, death benefits for your family, what more could you ask in return for blowing yourself into a pink mist?
It could be any employment contract setting out salary, paid holidays, home leave and grievance procedures - except in this case the employer is al-Qa'eda and the recruit's job is "carrying out jihad".

By signing the contract, the recruit commits himself to al-Qa'eda's objectives: "Support God's religion, establishment of Islamic rule, and restoration of the Islamic Caliphate, God willing."

An al-Qa'eda "mujahed brother" is paid a monthly wage of 1,000 Pakistani rupees (about £10 at current rates) if a bachelor, 6,500 rupees (£65) if married, with an additional 500 rupees (£5) for every child. Air fares for home leave are paid for by the firm. Tickets cannot be cashed in but are transferable for performing the Haj pilgrimage.

I wonder if they have a dental plan, probably not, tooth decay is probably not a chief concern of a suicide bomber.

First Bin Laden uses the DNC's talking points and now Al Qaeda is using western HR tools to recruit, when will they sue us is in world court?

Sorry about the light posting

I have been sick,not to bore you with the details, it involved something like the chicken pox. It was a little preview of what having President Hillary Clinton would be like for me. I couldn't sleep for a week, broke out in hives and I had a terrible pain in my side. The horror, the horror.

So tonight I am back at the keyboard and will have a few posts up soon.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Kenya in crisis

I would like to look back in history to see if there has ever been a period in the last 100 years when at least one region of Africa was not in crisis. Civil war, brutal dictatorships and religious strife is a constant for the continent, but drought and famine have played a role in the tragedy that is modern day Africa.

Drought has once again struck in Africa, in the region where Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia meet. I don't think one tenth of the money the UN sends to these areas actually gets to the starving people, but an organization like World Vision does wonderful work. Right now the US government is matching funds for any donations given.

Please take a few minutes to learn what one person can do to effect the lives of so many.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

A song for the gay cowboy's i-pod

It must be rough, riding in those leather chaps all day, secretly longing to fondle your cowboy co-workers, at least you can quietly sing of your frustrated love with a Willie Nelson song.
"What did you think all them saddles and boots was about?" and "Inside every cowboy there's a lady who'd love to slip out".
Can we please stop the madness? What's next, a movie about heterosexual figure skaters?

Monday, February 13, 2006

The Daily Countdown Report.

HT Michelle Malkin

You know Keith Olbermann's ratings are in the tank when you have to become the Daily Show Light to keep people tuned in.

I wonder how many cosmopolitans Dana Milbank had before he summoned the courage (imbecilely) to put on that outfit.

The VP made a stupid mistake, one that happens too often especially quail hunting. While it's your responsibility to make sure of everyone's location at all time, if you leave your group and then rejoin them, you should make absolutely sure that the group knows you are back in range.

Very Tasteful Dana, the Washington Post must be proud.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

We are fed up with violence and extremism.

But if you show another cartoon of Mohammed, we will burn your house down.

As the MSM tries to find moderate voices in the Islamic world to re assure the west that Islam is a religion of peace, it clings to a soundbite here and a pull quote there, but when you dig a little deeper the house of cards collapses.

Here are two stories about the same speech given by Mohammad Khatami, the former President of Iran. The first seems to establish that 'mainstream moderate Muslims' are fed up with all this violence and terrorism, they just want live in peace. How nice, cue the music and roll the video of the pretty butterflies.
The Islamic world is fed up with violence and extremism in the name of religion and is ready for an era of progressive, democratic Muslim governments, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Friday.

Khatami said current conflicts between the West and Islam have created a situation that "can only see ever-escalating violence, whether in the form of war and occupation and repression, or in the form of terror and destruction."

"After about two centuries of dispute between tradition and modernity in the world of Islam (there is) a high level of mental preparation for the acceptance of a major transformation in the mind and lives of Muslims," Khatami said in a speech at an international conference on Islam and the West.

The second story gives the same quote from Khatami, but as Paul Harvey says, here is the rest of the story. If the west continues to insist on this free press nonsense, we will go back to burning and killing you.
"I believe if the Islamic world is given assurances that such an act will not be repeated in the future we will see greater calm," Khatami, a respected Muslim scholar who was president from 1997 until last June, told reporters.

While Muslims believe in freedom of speech, "insulting and inflaming actions are not freedom of speech," said Khatami.

"If beliefs of people and nations are insulted then the world will go toward violence. I hope this current situation will be a lesson for reforming in the future. If these policies are to continue, we will unfortunately go toward further violence, which is not desirable by anyone," Khatami said
Mr. Khatami, who are you to tell anyone what free speech is? Your idea of a free press was brutally crushed by the Mullahs under your rule. Take back your nation from the nutters running it, install a truly free press, let anyone run for office, and then you can lecture me on free speech.

Oh that's right, you are a nutter at heart, the people can't run their government, they need the Mullahs. "People are not able to comprehend God's will through the explanations contained in the Quran and Sunna. Acquiring such comprehension requires several years of studies and much effort." If you want to run for Iranian office you need to be committed to the constitutional guardianship of the clergy, maybe that is why only one in seven of the people running for office get on the ballot.

Go sell it somewhere else Mr Khatami, the United States may be a screwed up democracy, but are free to screw it, and unsrcew it as much as we want.

Friday, February 10, 2006

This reminds me of the Cripps and the Bloods in LA.

It seems that the Iraqi insurgents are fighting and killing foreign al Qaida terrorists. It seems like a Mafia war or a street gang battle.
"It is true that al-Qa'ida has become unwelcome in the city," a leading Ramadi sheik and relative of Miklif said. "But it won't be an easy task to throw them out. They are well-armed and funded. Five more of Sheik Miklif's aides have been killed since his death. Between five and 10 people from both sides die each day."

Al-Qa'ida cells loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, their Jordanian leader, once had considerable support in Ramadi. US intelligence officers say that Zarqawi even picked his bodyguards from the city.

At the start of the insurgency, when Iraqi fighters were disorganised, al-Qa'ida's help in attacking coalition forces was welcomed. Yet, as the insurgency has progressed, the aims of the sides have diverged.

Al-Qa'ida still insists that it is justifiable to kill any Iraqi linked to the Government, including local Sunni policemen, an ideology increasingly rejected by local residents who want a stronger Sunni representation in the security forces.

Well, as long as they aren't shooting at us.

George W Bush, SUVs and now bottled water.

What are, three environmental threats to the planet?

Correct.

I'll take environmental wacoism for 2000 Alex.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Take a long romantic walk with your true love,,,and a Llama.

Valentine's Day is almost here, and for those who want to make this a day to remember, nothing says I love you like walking next to a furry, split-lipped camelid.

Romantic valentine packages available, book soon.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

When do I get to riot?

Are there any rules on when or under which circumstances one can riot? Can someone send me a link to the rules? If there are no hard and fast ruled governing the criteria of an authorized riot, I have a question. Is being offended enough?

I try not to get too worked up over the daily insults to my religion by the MSM and popular culture, but the differences between the reaction of Christians and Muslims should give you a good insight into both religions.

Remember the great Christian riots over the 'piss Christ' display by Andres Serrano? That was a hoot. We burned down Washington's Corcoran Gallery and demanded that all anti-Christian images be banned from public display, I still have the t-shirt from that riot. What about last weekend when we burned down the RollingStone magazine offices in New York in retaliation for the Kanye West cover depicting the overhyped singer as Christ. I still can get the smell of smoke washed off my jeans.

I just finish watching FNS and Britt Hume had a great point about the Muslim riots. Are the Imams that stirred up the Arab street outraged by the slaughter of innocent men, women and children across the globe by other Muslims? Not at all, they choose to be outraged by these cartoons.

Ankle biting Pundits has a great post on this as well.
If you are one of those Muslims that is rioting and setting embassies ablaze because of some Danish cartoons depicting Allah is a terrorist I just want to let you know that you are all "bleeping" insane nutcases that the world would likely be better off without. Perhaps you all should use your energy to coming out of the stone age, teaching your women to read and drive, and aspiring to something other than getting 72 virgins in exchange for blowing infidels to bits.

Hey, if you're offended by the cartoons, get over it. Does it suck to be offended? Sure, the first reaction that sane people have to getting offended isn't to kill people and destroy things. And keep in mind you're getting worked up into homicidal rage - BY FRIGGIN CARTOONS!!!! For any of you who say there's no difference between their culture and our own, keep in mind this is all happening because of FRIGGIN CARTOONS!!!


I hope those from the 'all religions are the same' crowd are watching. Unless I see a huge counter protest by what I hope would be mainstream Muslims against these nutjob rioters, I can not help but conclude that this 'Religion of Peace" line is just happy talk.

Friday, February 03, 2006

The Democratic Magic Wand Act of 2006.

I listen to politicians, I know it seems to most a complete waste of time, however I enjoy the debate and exchange of ideas that is the body politic. Or at least it was before the year 2000. The Bush victory sent the left over the edge, they have never recovered. Democrats used to say who they were and what they believed in, not any longer, especially not the Democratic leadership in Washington. I remember Walter Mondale saying he wanted to raise taxes, he gave the reasons why he wanted to raise them, and asked the American people to support his ideas. The voters rejected him and elected Ronald Reagan for a second term. I believed he was wrong, but maybe Mondale was right, at least we had an open, honest debate about the issues.

Today we have the modern Democratic Party leadership. They are a far cry from Walter Mondale, and Walter was not that high of a mark to reach. Instead of telling the American people what they would do if they were in power, they attack and obstruct the vast majority of the President's policies before he announces them. When pressed for real substantive proposals, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid go into 'happy talk' mode, they speak in generalities and will not answer a single question with a straight forward answer. They have no answers, they just oppose and obstruct, that is no way to build wide support.

They have learned the Mondale lesson well, if we tell the people what we really want to do, we are screwed. The lesson they should learn is the Gingrich lesson, be for something, lay out your case with goals, measurable milestones and let the people get behind you. This approach will never work with the current leadership and Howard Dean running the Democratic Party. This group is so closely tied to the Moveon folks, George Soros and Cindy Sheehan fans that their ideas come from the fever swamp of the political left. Middle America will not vote for the fever swamp.

Here is the only hope for Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, introduce the 'Democratic Magic Wand Act of 2006'. It will fund research and development for a 'Democratic Magic Wand' that will make all the dangers and problems in the world disappear forever. Their platform in 2006 should be 'Fund the Wand Now!' Nancy can go on the Today show, look into the camera announcing that all America's problems will be over when the Democrats get the magic wand.

It makes more sense that anything I have heard from Howard Dean.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

The damage has been very severe.

Looking back at the press coverage over the Valerie Wilson Plame incident, you could have mistakenly concluded that our national intelligence capabilities had been somehow damaged by Scooter Libby telling a reporter that Plame worked for the CIA. The MSM wanted someone's head on their lodgepoles for that terrible act. They did not spend much ink telling why Scooter was talking about Plame, Libby was trying to get them to look at the bold faced lies Plame's husband was telling. They hoped the head they would get would be Rove's, but it seems the story turned out to be a one man cover up of a non-crime.

Who leaked what to whom, and when? These leaks must be investigated! The number of column inches devoted to the Plame scandal was enormous.

It seems the antique media is less worked up about the New York Times actually damaging our nation intelligence capabilities.
CIA Director Porter Goss said Thursday that the disclosure of President Bush's eavesdropping-without-warrants program and other once-secret projects had undermined U.S. intelligence-gathering abilities.

"The damage has been very severe to our capabilities to carry out our mission," Goss told the Senate Intelligence Committee. He said a federal grand jury should be empaneled to determine "who is leaking this information."

The MSM would like to look into the legality of the NSA wiretaps, not who published real intelligence secrets to sell books and get a dig in at the President. They don't seem too interested in who leaked what to whom and when.

My, my how things change.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Please send money, sincerely Hamas.

Does it strike you as odd, multiplied by a factor of ten, that the Palestinian Authority and now Hamas wants the US and Israel to keep sending them money?

After Hamas won the parliamentary election last week the United States and the EU threatened to cut off funding to the authority unless Hamas renounced violence and recognised Israel, increasing fears that the financial situation will worsen.

Israel halted a $55 million tax payment due to the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday because of the Hamas victory.

In an updated report released on Wednesday, the World Bank said the Palestinian Authority's fiscal position had become increasingly unsustainable because of "uncontained" government spending, including sharp increases in salaries and hiring staff.

I propose we stop sending money and start sending the Palestinians Etch-a-sketches and latte machines. Maybe a supply of surplus knitting needles and yarn too. The Palestinians youths can knit sweaters and draw pictures instead of learning how to kill themselves and innocent civilians. In twenty years, maybe they become France.

Sure its silly, but sending people who want to kill you the means to do so is not just silly, its dangerously stupid.