PRAYER ALERT:  A very dear friend named Penny is in the final stages of breast cancer.  Please, pray for her and for her husband Rodney and their large extended family.  They are such wonderful people.

 

The cats are crazy today.  Bat (make that Brat) Masterson has been bird watching.  He’s also been hanging out in what is left of my huge asparagus fern.  Fortunately I think it will survive another month or so, then I’ll put it outside on a high shelf.  I’ve had that blasted plant for 17 years.  I bought it for Siegfried and Brunhilda when they were babies, so they could have something to nibble on.  Both wonderful cats are now gone, but the fern remains.  I spent much of the day salvaging photos off an old computer, so now I have pictures of everyone.  I don’t mind admitting I shed a few tears today looking at my beautiful babies who are now in kitty heaven.   And the pet food recall continues.  I don’t know about you, but every little cough, sneeze, furball and I am concerned. 

 

Somehow I have a feeling a million dollar laptop will crash just as quickly as a $2500 one. http://www.gizmag.com/go/7030/   All I know is I’ve put more on this little Vaio VTN-TX than I had on my big HP and still have 65% of my hard drive left – but in the  HP there was only 15% remaining.  Also there is a huge difference in the way the web pages are loading.  Granted I am a little under-powered and would love to have another 1G of RAM, but evidently the HP I bought last summer, throwing away $2500 is a total and complete lemon.  And – I have no recourse with it, other than sending it back to be repaired.  I WANT MY MONEY BACK!     So, I guess you can tell I’ve spent the past two days loading the little Viao.  My old workhorse HP just isn’t up to the races any more – unless I completely re-format the hard drive.  I’ll probably end up doing that and then donating it somewhere, probably the new woman’s shelter here in the Downs.

 

Just who wrote Frankenstein Mary Shelly or Percy?

 

HOW THE WEST WAS WON

We all have movies we can’t resist and will sit up to all hours of the morning watching.  One of those for me, as far as I am concerned is How the West Was Won.  I will confess I saw it first run in Minneapolis, in Cinerama.  I was at a very impressionable age.  From what I’ve read, so was Costner and Spielberg.  Evidently it was one of those rare films that possessed the capacity to cause a child to chart out a path in life.  From the moment I saw it, I dreamed of going ‘west’.  That’s all I could think of for many, many years – going west.  It took many years, but I finally made it.  Every time I am forced to go back across the Mississippi I fear something will happen and I will be forced to spend the rest of my life in the East. 

 

They say people who want to know the heart and soul of America need to know baseball. I agree, but to truly understand what America is about, one must understand the taming of the West – How the West Was Won – or how America became America.

 

We are a land and a people who are not afraid to take chances and think boldly – to boldly go where no one has gone before – it’s in our blood.  It is who we are.  I think the thing I pity most about extreme liberals and extreme conservatives is I fear they have completely forgotten who and what we are and how we became who we are. 

 

2:30PM October 26, 1881 – OK Corral – Tombstone, Arizona Territory – That’s who we are.  That’s how we became a nation of determination – a people who knew how to stand up for what was right and what was wrong.  Watching this magnificent movie I realized the story of the Earps – James, Virgil, Wyatt, and Morgan is the story of how the west was won.  Their lives spanned the movement of history from a time when this nation was young, through the winning of the wild west, to World War I and beyond. 

 

I have this bad habit of waxing poetic when it comes to HTWWW.  The end of the film has this absolutely wonderful narrative by Spencer Tracy about the winning of the west, and the constant striving for freedom.  That is why the west was won – for freedom!

 

ANTI-IMMIGRATION CRACK-UP

Have you noticed there has been no news about the Minuteman, et. al battle?  Want to know why?  Well, it seems the good judge ruled against Jim Gilchrist!  You gotta love it.    The best part is the judge did not believe ANYONE!  What fun.  So, where’s the money?  Oh, Barbara Coe is back on Gilchrist’s side.  Wonder why?   Gilchrist’s press release.   

Give Peace a chance?  

The judge basically told them to grow up and act like adults.   

The take over trio can’t spend any money, use the letter-head or the name until the judge figures out who is telling the truth.

 

 

MY RANT FOR THE DAY

Conservatives Against Bush

They call themselves the Arlington Group.  They are the worst possible thing that could  happen to the GOP.  Don’t let the names confuse you.  They are all part of the Richard Viguerie, Bob Barr, Gary Bauer coalition.  Let our celeb-conservatives gush about them – all the way to defeat.  Don’t let their lofty title fool you.  They are part of the Liberty Coalition. The primary goal of the Liberty Coalition is to be the conservative version of the Dem culture of surrender.  They intend to dismantle the entire Patriot Act, Gitmo, etc.  Evidently they are more afraid of George W. Bush than Al Qaeda.  With friends like these, who needs Dems?

 

I’ve been telling you many conservatives have nothing to do with the GOP.  I received this in my in-box last night.  It comes from the Liberty Coalition, which consists of such conservative luminaries as Bob Barr, Ron Paul, and Richard Viguerie.  They seek to roll back abuse of Presidential authority.  I. E.  there are conservatives who hate GWB as much as do liberals.  The worst part of this is it is obvious these staunch conservatives are as clueless as to the fact that we are fighting a global war on terror as are far left liberals.

 

These people truly do not even comprehend that we are fighting a global war on terror. 

 

“WASHINGTON – An alliance of prominent national conservatives will hold a news conference on Tuesday, March 20, to announce the formation of the American Freedom Agenda (AFA), a coalition established to restore checks and balances and civil liberties protections under assault by the Executive Branch. The restoration would bind the current and all future occupants of the White House, irrespective of party affiliation. The group will present a legislative package to restore congressional oversight and habeas corpus, end torture and extraordinary rendition, narrow the President's authority to designate "enemy combatants," prevent unconstitutional wiretaps and mail openings, protect journalists from prosecution under the Espionage Act, and more. They will present a "Freedom Pledge" to all Presidential candidates of both parties to sign, and call for a bipartisan grassroots campaign to protect the vision of the Founding Fathers -- that no single branch of government should have excessive power.


“…End the use of military commissions to prosecute crimes.
-- Prohibit the use of secret evidence or evidence obtained by torture.
-- Prohibit the detention of American citizens as enemy combatants without
proof.
-- Restore habeas corpus for alleged alien combatants.
-- End National Security Agency warrentless wiretapping.
-- Empower Congress to challenge presidential signing statements.
-- Bar executive use of the state secret privilege to deny justice.
-- Prohibit the President from collaborating with foreign governments to
kidnap, detain of torture persons abroad.
-- Amend the Espionage Act to permit journalists to report on classified
national security matters without threat of persecution.
-- Prohibit of the labeling of groups or individuals in the U.S. as global
terrorists based on secret evidence….”


Participants at Tuesday’s news conference will include:        
•    Bruce Fein, a constitutional scholar, conservative writer and columnist, and former Associate Deputy Attorney General under President Reagan;
•    David Keene, Chairman of the American Conservative Union, the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots conservative lobbying organization;
•    Richard Viguerie, a conservative writer who is considered one of the main architects of the conservative grassroots movement over the past quarter century;
•    Bob Barr, a former Member of Congress who served as an impeachment manager of

 

President Clinton and holds the 21st Century Liberties Chair for Freedom and Privacy at the American Conservative Union.”

 

I just love this one.  This bunch, the ones who are at the forefront in prevent illegal immigration and demanding just about anyone connected with Mexico be ‘rounded-up’ and shipped back over the border are decrying the fact that the Bush administrations “war on terror” is making it difficult to help refugees.

 

“…Conservatives who supported President Bush's reelection have joined liberal groups in expressing outrage over his administration's broad use of anti-terrorism laws to reject asylum for thousands of people seeking refuge from religious, ethnic and political persecution.

The critics say the administration's interpretation of provisions mandating denial of asylum to individuals who give "material support" to terrorist groups is so broad that foreigners who fought alongside U.S. forces in wars such as Vietnam can be denied asylum on the grounds that they provided aid to terrorists….”

 

 

Viguerie, who is decrying the way the Administration is treating refugees, is dead set against offering any sort of aid to anyone who might be here illegally, as long as they are Mexican and speak Spanish.  

 “…We've been rewarded with an amnesty plan for illegal immigrants. We've been rewarded with a war in Iraq that drags on because of the failure to provide adequate resources at the beginning, and with exactly the sort of "nation-building" that Candidate Bush said he opposed…”

 

I think I can now prove my case that conservatives have nothing to do with the GOP and are actually out to destroy not only it, but GWB if they cannot have their own way.

 

“…In addition to his Washington Monthly essay, Viguerie, the Chairman of American Target Advertising, Inc., and the president of ConservativeHQ.com: The Conservative Headquarters, Viguerie, who has obviously been chewing on these ideas for at least two years, has written a new book on the same subject, transparently titled "Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause" (Bonus Books, 2006). It's not that Viguerie has joined the renegade evangelical Christians pastors in signing on to the Evangelical Climate Initiative; nor is he advocating new and more comprehensive programs for the poor. In fact, Viguerie basically believes he hasn't left the GOP, it is the GOP that has abandoned its ideals and left him. According to the book's promotional materials, "Can the marriage between conservatives and the Republican Party be saved?..."

Conservatives are in a snarky mood.  Guess they aren’t getting their nasty way all the time.

 

ISLAM, IRAQ, TERROR

Lindsey on Gitmo and KSM.  “Chilling”

Now do they want shariah in Minneapolis?

Malkin on the flying imans

Counter-terror Blog has an entire section on Iran today.

 

LYING DEMS & FOOLISH LIBERALS

Malkin on those idiot enviromental idiots who are living a no impact lifestyle including giving up toilet paper!  I have a Blog Critic commentary about their life style choice coming out sometime tomorrow.

 

REPUBLICANS GONE WILD

Hagel is now threatening impeachment. 

 

PRIMARIES 2008

Liz Mair over at GOP Progress has a great snark about Romney’s temper.

Accoding to the Hedgehog, Fred Thompson isn't "pure" as he is Howard Baker's protege.

McCain is having problems raising money.

Giuliani wins Ohio straw poll. 

Hillary does Hollywood.

Giuliani now the frontrunner!

Thompson hurts Giuliani but creams Romney.

 

FROM MY FRIEND TONY:

 Matter of Interpretation

 

A young boy went up to his father and asked him, "Dad, what is the difference between 'potentially' and 'realistically'?"

The father thought for a moment, then answered, "Go ask your mother if she would sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars Then ask your sister if she would sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars, and then, ask your brother if he'd sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars.

 

Come back and tell me what you learn from that."

So the boy went to his mother and asked, "Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?"

The mother replied, "Of course, I would! We could really use that money to fix up the house and send you kids to a great university!"

 

The boy then went to his sister and asked, "Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?" The girl replied, "Oh good heavens! I LOVE Brad Pitt and I would sleep with him in a heartbeat. Are you nuts?"



The boy then went to his brother and asked, "Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?" Of course," the brother replied. "Do you know how much a million bucks would buy?"

The boy pondered the answers for a few days and then went back to his dad. His father asked him, "Did you find out the difference between 'potentially' and 'realistically'?"

The boy replied: "Yes 'Potentially,' you and I are sitting on three million dollars, but 'realistically,' we're living with two hookers and a future congressman."