Fiscally Conservative

I have been listening to a book on tape, The Millionaire Next Door, which stresses being fiscally conservative in your personal life. As a result, I am a bit annoyed at an advertisement on the radio show I listen to on my way in to the office in the morning. The Sytman and Boze show on KTTH has been running an ad for Best Mortgage which basically says with a new mortgage, it can be difficult to make ends meet. So Best Mortgage has a plan where you have reduced payments for the first however many months or years.

This comes off to me as them saying let us help you get into a mortgage that you really can not afford and have no business getting into. It is these types of situations that have caused the recent mortgage lending crunch and if I hear one day that Best mortgage is going under due to bad loans, I am not going to shed a tear.

I just wish I was not hearing this ad on KTTH, it would seem more appropriate on Air America.

For the record, Dan Sytman and David Boze do ads for Catlin Capital.

Picture Day At Seattle Public Schools

Israel vs. Palestine, Exhibit A for Israel

I watched a video at this link, by way of Hot Air. Watch and be amazed.

I have no connections to Israel, Jews, Palestine, Arabs, Muslims, etc. outside of knowing a few Muslims and a few Jews. I should be neutral in the debate... but I am not and watching that video is a good example of why I am not. How do you describe some of that behavior? Bizarre and disgusting are about the only words I can come up with. Watch it yourself to see what I mean.

Side note:
I like to know the source of the information, in this case Haaretz.com, to get a feel for what kind of editorial slant I should expect.

Here is a description of Harretz from Wikipedia, so you know it must be true...

Haaretz embraces a moderate liberal stance, but the op-ed pages of the paper are open to a wide variety of political opinions. [6]
According to the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, articles from Haaretz and its staff writers are often quoted by anti-Israel commentators.[7] The left-wing magazine The Nation described Haaretz as "Israel's Liberal Beacon" due to its editorial board's opposition to the occupation of the West Bank, the security barrier around Gaza, discrimination against Israel's Arab citizenry, and the Second Lebanon War. [8]

Sounds to me like that video was suppose to give a sympathetic view of the Palestinians. Would hate to see an unsympathetic view.

Sharks In Iraq

The latest bad news from Iraq, Sharks... with lasers... ok, maybe not lasers.

How could this have happened? Global warming? No. Allah is not happy? No. Wait for it...

Iraqi fisherman nets shark 160 miles from sea
A two-meter shark has been caught in a river in southern Iraq more than 160 miles from the sea.
...
...
Locals blamed the U.S. military for the shark's presence.
Tahseen Ali, a teacher, said there was a "75 percent chance" Americans had put the shark in the water.
"This is very frightening for us. Our children always swim in the river and I believe that there are more sharks. I believe that America is behind this matter," said fisherman Hatim Karim.

H/T Bryan Suits

Is Hillary Electable?

I do not know.

Clearly the Democratic nomination is hers to lose. She appears to be playing it safe to avoid major gaffes and is dishonestly, in my opinion, trying to portray herself as more of a centrist than she really is.

On the other hand, Hillary has massive unacceptable numbers. Somewhere close to 50% of the voters claim they would never vote for her. If she is the nominee, you can be assured the vast right wing machine will create a tsunami of turnout. I often hear from conservatives that our only chance in 2008 is if Hillary is the Democratic nominee.

Her V.P. choice will be interesting. Looking strictly at the numbers, the obvious choice is Obama. Can a ticket win without a white male? I am not sure, I doubt we will find out. There has never been a ticket that has won without two white males. I think there will be great pressure on the Democratic nominee, be it Hillary or Obama to put a white male in the #2 spot. Can not wait for the outcries from the "disenfranchised" liberal female or liberal minority victim groups.

In my opinion, there will be a lot of people, especially in the South and Midwest, who traditionally vote Democrat that will look at the ticket, in the privacy of the voting booth, and have a really hard time pulling that lever.

It should be interesting.

Personal Improvement Time

I need to work on my "approachability".

I was walking from my office to the post office the other afternoon, about 5 blocks total, and I came to an intersection, waiting for the light to change when I noticed someone on the other corner with a clipboard gathering signatures and donations. From his lack of basic hygiene, he appeared to be an environmentalist. So I decide to take the scenic route to the post office and give this young man the opportunity to attempt to get my signature and maybe I can explain to him the reality that capitalistic societies are always, always better for the environment than socialist or communist countries. Think East Germany, North Korea etc.

So the light changes, I walk right past him... slowly. He is talking to nobody and he lets me go right past him. Not even an attempt to solicit me for a signature much less a donation. I was really, really disappointed. It reminded me of the time there was a Lyndon Larouche table setup outside the door of the post office and I walked right past that and there was no attempt to suck the brains out of my head.

So I walk a few blocks and what do I see... it is Christmas morning in the third week of October, the Larouchies have been given a day pass from the compound for recruiting purposes. My heart leapt with joy at the thought of the minutes worth of entertainment I was about to experience. They had the Impeach Cheney sign out just waiting to discuss all sorts of important world conspiracy issues. So I walk right past them... slowly... nothing.. not even a glance.

So I go into the post office and stand in line thinking maybe he is just not real big on the recruiting part of the job description. So I send a priority package, get a roll of stamps and walk out the door, not 5 feet from the table and there he is, in full on recruit mode talking to what would outwardly appear to be a normal adult male. Ok, normal adult male... for Seattle.

I have vowed that if this happens again, I will ask why it is I am not worthy of recruitment into the cult. To be continued.

Diversity, Seattle Style

The following is a complete list of every endorsement listed in the competitive races for Seattle City Council seats:
Position 1:

The Seattle Times
The Seattle PI
Washington Conservation Voters
King County Labor Council
King County Democrats
Allied Arts
National Women’s Political Caucus
Seattle Firefighters’ Union
Cascade Bicycle Club

The Stranger
Seattle Rainforest Action

Position 3:

Cascade Bicycle Club
Alki Foundation
King County Democrats
Seattle Police Management Association
Joint Council of Teamsters No. 28
Seattle Times and P.I.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Times
The Stranger
National Women’s Political Caucus of Washington
King County and 34th, 36th & 46th District Democrats

Position 7

Sierra Club
Washington Conservation Voters
Cascade Bicycle Club
our city’s police and firefighters.

King County Democrats
King County Labor Council
Seattle Police Management Association
The Alki Foundation
11th, 37th, 46th District Democrats

Position 9

The Seattle PI
The Seattle Times
Victory Fund
The National Women’s Political Caucus of Washington/King County Chapter
Seattle Firefighters, Local 27
Seattle Police Management Association
Washington Conservation Voters
Cascade Bicycle Club
Friends of Seattle
Allied Arts
King County Democrats
King County Young Democrats
46th District Democrats
37th District Democrats
34th District Democrats
36th District Democrats
11th District Democrats
43rd District Democrats
‘Mo Magazine
Seattle Gay News
UA Local 32 - Plumbers and Pipefitters
UFCW Local 21
IFPTE Local 17
ATU Local 587
Unite HERE Local 8
IBEW Local 46
IBEW Local 77
Teamsters Local 28
SEIU 775
SEIU 925
Laborers Local 1239 - Public Service & Industrial Employees
Seattle/King County Association of Realtors
Affordable Housing Council
Filipino Political Action Group of Washington

Citizens’Alliance for Property Rights
Citizens for an Elevated Solution

Here are the endoresments for the Seattle School District Board seats:
Poition 1

ML King County Labor Council
11th and 37th District Democrats
Green Party of Seattle
IUOE Local 609
Joint Council of Teamsters #28.

34th, 36th, and 37th District Democrats
Seattle Education Association
Alki Foundation

Poition 2

Seattle Education Association
Alki Foundation
46th District Democrats

Women’s Political Caucus
11th , 36th and 37th District Democrats
IUOE Local 609
Teamsters Local 174

Position 3

Seattle Education Association
The Alki Foundation
46th & 37th District Democrats
Joint Council of Teamsters No. 28
Women’s Political Caucus

Position 6

34th District Democrats
Alki Foundation

11th, 34th, and 37th District Democrats
Women’s Political Caucus
the Teamsters Labor Council 28
Operating Engineers Local 609.

We should probably make sure all citizens of Seattle are properly represented in the candidates endorsements. A real diversity of groups...

King County Democrats, Cascade Bicycle Club, King County Democrats, King County and 34th, 36th & 46th District Democrats, Cascade Bicycle Club, King County Democrats, King County Young Democrats, 46th District Democrats, 37th District Democrats, 34th District Democrats, 36th District Democrats, 11th District Democrats, 43rd District Democrats, 11th and 37th District Democrats, Green Party of Seattle, 34th, 36th, and 37th District Democrats, 46th District Democrats, 11th , 36th and 37th District Democrats, 46th & 37th District Democrats, 34th District Democrats, 11th, 34th, and 37th District Democrats

That should cover everyone. Who else could possibly be included in such an exhaustive list? Nobody I could think of.

SCHOOL 1967 VS 2007


This was sent to me by a public school district employee. I would be laughing more and shaking my head less if I did not have first hand experiance on so many of these.

Scenario: Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.

1967 - Vice principal comes over to look at Jack's shotgun. He goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.

2007 - School goes into lock down, and FBI is called. Jack is hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.



Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.

1967 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends. Nobody goes to jail; nobody is arrested; nobody is expelled.

2007 - Police called. SWAT team arrives. Johnny and Mark are arrested and charged with assault. Both are expelled even though Johnny started it.



Scenario: Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students.

1967 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by the principal. He returns to class, sits still, and does not disrupt class again.

2007 - Jeffrey is diagnosed with ADD and given huge doses of ritalin. Becomes a zombie. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a learning disability.



Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.

1967 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.

2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is placed in foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself, and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has affair with psychologist.



Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.

1967 - Mark shares aspirin with principal out on the smoking dock.

2007 - Police called. Mark is expelled from school for drug violations. Car is searched for drugs and weapons.



Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.

1967 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.

2007 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given a diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.



Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.

1967 - Ants die.

2007 - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Homeland Security, and FBI called. Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. The FBI investigates parents; siblings are removed from home; computers confiscated. Johnny's dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.



Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Heather. Heather hugs him to comfort him.

1967 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.

2007 - Heather is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces three years in state prison. Johnny undergoes five years of therapy.

Valerie Plame Is A Liar

Karl over @ LSU has a link that leads to a link that links to an absolutly devastating explanation about who outed Valerie Plame.

According to Richard Armitage, Bob Novak's original source that Valerie Plame was CIA, Ms. Plame was originally outed by... wait for it... Joe Wilson. A trascript of a converation between Richard Armitage and Bob Woodward:

Woodward: Well it was Joe Wilson who was sent by the agency, isn’t it?
Armitage: His wife works for the agency.
Woodward: Why doesn’t that come out? Why does that have to be a big secret?
Armitage: (over) Everybody knows it.
Woodward: Everyone knows?
Armitage: Yeah. And they know ’cause Joe Wilson’s been calling everybody. He’s pissed off ’cause he was designated as a low level guy went out to look at it. So he’s all pissed off.
Woodward: But why would they send him?
Armitage: Because his wife’s an analyst at the agency.
Woodward: It’s still weird.
Armitage: He – he’s perfect. She – she, this is what she does. She’s a WMD analyst out there.
Woodward: Oh, she is.
Armitage: (over) Yeah.
Woodward: Oh, I see. I didn’t think…
Armitage: (over) "I know who’ll look at it." Yeah, see?
Woodward: Oh. She’s the chief WMD…?
Armitage: No. She’s not the…
Woodward: But high enough up that she could say, "oh, yeah, hubby will go."
Armitage: Yeah. She knows [garbled].
Woodward: Was she out there with him, when he was…?
Armitage: (over) No, not to my knowledge. I don’t know if she was out there. But his wife’s in the agency as a WMD analyst. How about that?

There is even an .mp3 file of the converstion you can listen to.

Funny, never heard anything about this on 60 minutes last Sunday.

Education Does Not Equal Intelligence

An earlier post about what a moron Dennis Kucinich and his crowd is, over @ Ace's got me thinking about education and stupidity. You can be educated and still be a total moron.

Exhibit 1:
There is a female in the Yelm Washington area named JZ Knight. She claims to well... here is what it says on Wikipedia, so you know it must be true:

Ramtha is an entity that JZ Knight, an American self-described spiritual medium, claims to channel. According to Knight, Ramtha was a Lemurian warrior who fought the Atlantians over 35,000 years ago.[1] Ramtha is said to have led an army of over 2.5 million across the continents, conquering two thirds of the known world, which was going through cataclysmic geological changes. According to Knight, Ramtha led the army for ten years until he was betrayed and almost killed.

Knight further claims that Ramtha spent the next seven years in isolation recovering and observing nature, among other things. He later mastered many skills, including foresight and out-of-body experiences, until he led his army to the Indus River while in his late seventies. Ramtha taught them everything he knew for 120 days, until he ascended before them. He made a promise to his army that he would come back to teach them again, and so he appeared to JZ Knight in 1977 to re-educate the "forgotten gods", those who had forgotten themselves and their divinity.

JZ Knight is a total fraud, con artist and scammer. Anyone with an IQ above room temperature should know this. How do I know this? Because I have never taken LSD. Also, again from Wikipedia:

When Knight claims she is channelling Ramtha, she speaks only English, although in an accented and sometimes simplistic way and has expressed confusion about modern items ("What is a carrot?") while also professing intimate knowledge of worldly affairs and conspiracies.

So Ramtha conquered 2/3rds of the world, has intimate knowledge of worldly affairs, just is not up to date with modern items such as common vegetables.

But that is not the point of the post. The point is I remember when I first heard of Ramtha. I was in college working on the weekend sitting in an oil delivery truck waiting for an Amtrak train to arrive so I could fill it with diesel fuel. I was listening to a talk radio show and Jennifer James, Ph.D. is talking about Ramtha. I must have sat there for 20 minutes wondering what in the F' is this about? Could not figure it out. Jennifer James, the Seattle face of psychology in the 1980s was talking to someone about a 35,000 year old warrior from Atlantis. What a moron. That moment really stuck with me. From then on I looked at college professors, doctors and lawyers in a new light. They may be educated, that does not mean they are smart.

Required Reading

The book, The Millionaire Next Door, should be required reading by every high school senior, every senior in college and everyone about to get married or have a kid.

I am not going to say anything else except they do take one shot at William Jefferson Clinton. It made me chuckle.

Losing The War In Iraq But Protecting The Rights Of Iraqi Terrorists

The N.Y. Post has an article that is mind numbing.

Hyperactive Justice Department attorneys last spring got involved in a debate on the need to wiretap al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq - likely wasting critical time in the search for three kidnapped G.I.s, including Army Spec. Alex Jimenez of Queens.

Regarding Spec. Jimenez, Hurt reported that an overly legalistic interpretation of current FISA rules helped delay the tracking and possible rescue of the young soldier and his two comrades after they were kidnapped by al Qaeda in May.

The phone calls being traced originated and ended in Iraq.

However, DOJ lawyers argued that because the cellphone calls would be made through U.S. wire hubs - where the taps would be applied - special approval from the attorney general was needed.

All told, nearly 10 hours were wasted in the critical early days of a manhunt for the three Americans as lawyers argued over the legal grounds for wiretapping terrorist thugs.

WOW

H/T Sytman and Boze

Get Ready For President Clinton Ver. 2.0



H/T Hot Air

The Best Investment Idea Ever!

I have never seen a better way to make money, lots and lots of money. Send some politicians a couple of grand, get back contracts worth millions in which you will make hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is that simple.

The most amazing thing about it... how cheap it is to buy a politician. Paying a couple of grand, gets you a $4.5 million contract.

Year after year, the Washington lawmakers did favors for the tiny company, inserting four "earmarks" into different bills to force the Navy and Coast Guard to buy boats they didn't ask for — $17.65 million in all. None of the boats was used as Congress intended.

The congressional trio say they were helping Guardian Marine because it had a great product. But each has also received generous campaign donations from the company's three executives, its sole employees: $14,277 to Baird, $15,000 to Murray, and $16,750 to Dicks.

Also high on the amazing list is how brazen they are about doing what they know is not in the best interest of the taxpayers. After multiple $4.5 boats are bought and determined to be of no use, the donations come in again and another boat nobody needs is order by congress.

Less amazing is the dishonesty of it all.

Murray said she might not have pursued the earmark "if we had been able to look forward and know that Sept. 11 was going to happen."

But of course we are dealing with Patty Murray here:

But the bill actually passed three months after Sept. 11. Before the final vote, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., attacked Murray's earmark.

It is not just Patty Murray who is clueless:

Baird stands behind the earmarks. "We didn't just say, 'Oh, a company in our district wants an earmark — let's get it for them.' We looked at the mission, we looked at the history of the boat, and we looked at the alternatives out there," he said. "And I think that's pretty good work, frankly."

So explain that history of the boat to me Congressman Baird.

So is this illegality, dishonesty or stupidity? There really is no other choice.


Here is a list of the biggest offenders, lead by the most ethical of the we need to lose in Iraq right away crowd... wait for it... John "Abscam" Murtha.

The only way to stop this, send people, including sitting Senators and Congress members to jail. Since... well... and this is a minor point... it is illegal. If we are not willing to do that, do not expect this practice of illegally shifting taxpayer money to companies in exchange for campaign contributions to ever stop.

Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize

He is now considered the front runner for this years Heisman Trophy.

The Weekend

That was about as bad as it gets.

Presumption Of Innocence

I learned a huge lesson the other day about the importance of giving people the presumption of innocents, or more specifically, what can happen to you when you are not given the presumption of innocence.

I was part of a conversation that got a bit heated and things were said that two minutes later I regretted. Some of those comments were passed on to others by the other party in the conversation but paraphrased to mean something that was not intended and certainly was never said. That was then spun again and 10 days later I was accused of being "emotionally abusive" in a letter and the letter also questioned what other forms of abuse might I have committed against that same person. I was never asked my side of what happened, I was never given the opportunity to explain exactly the words that were used or the context. Just got a note from someone that had heard about the conversation the same day it happened, someone that I had seen and spoken to every single day from the day of the original conversation to when I got the note 10 days later.

The irony of this is the person who mad the emotional abuse claim is a Seattle area public school teacher, not a Seattle Public School teacher. I am going to venture a guess that if a student made an accusation against this same person and was reprimanded or disciplined in any way without the teacher having a chance to tell their side of the story, they may not see that as a fair situation.

And the issue that started the heated conversation, the one that had been dragging on for a week solid which was going to lead to serious issues for all involved. It appears to no longer be an issue. Would I resolve this the same way again, not a chance.

Presumption of innocence. Its a nice thing if you can get it.

The Goat Justice League Saves The Day

Kind of old but can not pass this up as exhibit 1 in the bizzaro world that is Seattle politics.

Thanks to the work of the Goat Justice League, ruminants now have the right to life and limited liberty in Seattle.

On Monday, the City Council acknowledged the miniature goat's attributes as human companion, weed whacker and milk maker, and unanimously voted that the goats could be kept as pets.

"One small step for man, one giant step for goatkind," said Councilmember Richard Conlin, who sponsored the legislation.

As of late, goats have gained the environmental status of hybrid cars and bovine-growth-hormone-free milk, prized for their ability to mow lawns without using fossil fuels. University of Washington and Seattle City Light recently hired herds to clear slopes of blackberry brambles.

You read that correctly, THE GOAT JUSTICE LEAGUE.

Jennie Grant, a Madrona resident and outlaw goat owner, asked Conlin's office to consider changing the old law after a neighbor alerted the city to Grant's goats and complained about potential public-health risks. Grant is president of the Goat Justice League, which she says has 100 members.

After researching the health risks and finding they were low, Conlin said, he proposed the new law because the goats can provide local milk and serve as "another link to the reality of where food comes from."

Animal lovers, advocates of urban sustainability and children testified in favor of legalizing the goats at the hearing Thursday. One person criticized the change, saying goats can escape any enclosure and they prefer to eat roses.

It is all about reducing fossil fuel use and increasing sustainability, plus the children are for it so it has to be good. Any chance we might be able to get some crime fighting after they are finished eating the blackberries?

The Cost of Government Regulations

I was in a meeting with a local government group. A very small group of a very small part of a local government body. The purpose of the meeting was to look at a way to automate a process that attempts to track and enforce federal regulations. What they are looking to do makes sense. They could do more and spend less by going ahead with the project. That being said, I walked out of the meeting shaking my head at the overall cost of of government regulations. This government body is spending many hundreds of thousands of dollars to basically spot check. You can argue if the cost is worth the benefit, I am not saying it is or is not. I am just saying the general public has no idea how much regulations cost.

Just had to finally get that off of my anti tax chest.

PepperSpray Productions Apologizes For Taking Attention Away From Calling The United States Military A Bunch Of Murderers

PepperSpray Productions, "an independent video activist collective in Seattle" that is only famous because they are America hating morons who were not capable of doing the absolute minimal fact checking to avoid being duped by Jesse Adam Macbeth, the person at the center of the "phony soldier" controversy, issued the following "retraction" on their web site. And by retraction, they do not mean apologize for the pain they caused the American soldiers, the same soldiers that put their life on the line to protect their right to be idiots, but rather to apologize to other America haters for distracting from their ability to effectively slander the soldiers.

PepperSpray Productions' Retraction Statement for our Video "Jesse Macbeth: An Iraq Veteran Speaks Out"

PepperSpray Productions recently created a video entitled "Jesse Macbeth: An Iraq Veteran Speaks Out." Jesse Macbeth misrepresented to PepperSpray Productions and others his military service and was never deployed in Iraq. When we learned that Macbeth's service records were fraudulent, we immediately pulled the video and are no longer distributing it. We remain committed to creating high quality independent media and deeply regret that the Macbeth video distracted attention from the military investigation of a Marines massacre of 24 civilians in Haditha and accounts from actual Iraq Veterans.

Side note: When I first saw the retraction, I wanted to see where they were located and literally said, "bet anything they are on Capital Hill". What are the odds?

How "blue state" is Capital Hill? Political donations in the 98102 area code go 91% to Dems. Hell, Innis Arden, who until 2006 still had "Whites Only" restrictions in its covenants, is only 81% Dem.

Kiro News Radio 710, Fighting The MSM Power

I was listening to 710 Kiro this last weekend, really late in the evening while I was in the office. Now granted it was late night weekend programming and that is probably not where the best talent is scheduled but good lord what a train wreck. A caller starts talking about how bad Tim Russert did moderating the last Democratic debate. How he would never ask such hard questions to Republicans, how he was trying to embarrass the Democrats. How this is another example of the MSM covering for the Republicans. Now I can understand how people see things from different perspectives. Sports fans from competing teams see the same play but do not agree on the same call. I can understand that. To this caller, maybe Tim Russert, who before joining NBC News, Russert served as counselor in New York Governor Mario Cuomo's office in Albany in 1983 to 1984 and was chief of staff to Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan from 1977 to 1982 did come off too hard on the candidates. I am sure I would see him as lobbing softballs all night.

But to call into Kiro, as mainstream as there is in Seattle radio and to talk with a host who uses the word "we" when talking about Democrats and "they" when talking about Republicans, and to complain that the MSM is in the pockets of the Republicans, that is just too much. I guess he missed that MSNBC article that listed 144 political contributions by members of the media where 125 went to Democrats, 87%. Maybe he missed the study of 300 journalists which showed the preferred John Kerry to George Bush in the 2004 election 2.7 to 1. Maybe they missed the report that in 1992, Washington Bureau Chiefs and Correspondents picked Bill Clinton 12-1 over George H.W. Bush.

Feel free to be partisan but to say anything other than the media is biased in favor of the Democrats is just crazy talk. And that is what you get with late night Kiro radio.

Senator Patty Murray, Liar, Hypocrite, Incompetent Or All Of The Above?

I called Senator Murray's office 2 weeks ago asking for an explanation as to why she voted against the Senate resolution supporting the troops and denouncing MoveOn.org over the General "Betray Us" ad. I was told by her Seattle office that it was a free speech issue. When I asked how that could be since nobody was telling MoveOn.org they could not say what they did, the story changed to the Seattle office did not have an official explanation but one would be posted on the Senator's web page. I expressed my doubts that anything would ever be posted on the internet. I was told I could also call the Washington D.C. office for an explanation. So I called Washington D.C. and was told that the reason for the no vote was because Senator Murray never votes for something that singles out a specific group or person for condemnation. Never? Never I was told.

So I kept looking on the internet for that explanation and two weeks later still nothing. Then I see where Senator Murray is one of the signors of a letter to Clear Channel condemning Rush Limbaugh for a comment about phony soldiers. I do not listen to Rush Limbaugh, I have no idea what the "phony soldier" kerfuffle is about.

In a letter prepared Friday by Senate leaders, Democrats continued to blast conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh’s description of antiwar troops as “phony soldiers,” setting up a parallel to Republican outrage over MoveOn.org’s recent Iraq ad.

During his Wednesday broadcast, Limbaugh responded to a caller who identified himself as an active-duty member of the Army and said troops who criticize the war are not “real soldiers.” Limbaugh responded in agreement, rousing Democrats’ ire.
The letter will be sent early next week by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Caucus Vice Chairman Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Caucus Secretary Patty Murray (D-Wash.). An accompanying statement noted that the letter would not be sent Friday so that other senators, “including those who have recently spoken up against attacks on our troops’ patriotism,” still have time to sign on.

That strategy mirrors a growing call in the liberal blogosphere to push Republicans to repudiate Limbaugh’s comments. If GOP lawmakers who excoriated MoveOn.org for its “General Betray Us” ad fail to create distance from Limbaugh, the reasoning goes, they would be exposed to charges of hypocrisy.

So I called Senator Murray's Seattle office today. First I asked about the explanation for the original vote against the troops and for MoveOn.org. I was told that was on the web. I said I had not seen it but had been told by the Washington D.C. office the reason was Senator Murray does not vote for anything that singles out a specific group or person. The office staff told me it should be on the web but what I told her was not the real reason. She then looked for it and sure enough it was not on the web. I am then told it was not a press release but an email from the Washington D.C. office. She then reads me part of the email that says the reason for the vote is because Senator Murray does not vote for things that single out specific people or groups. I told the staff member, yes I know, I just told you that. It appears Senator Murray may not be the dumbest person working in her office like I assumed.

So then I told the staff member the reason I called was because of the letter Senator Murray signed that singles out Rush Limbaugh. I asked how can the Senator reconcile signing this letter with her earlier vote. I was told she had no idea what I was talking about but would email Washington D.C. I am not going to hold my breathe waiting for that answer.

Is there some Clintonian wiggle room where Senator Murray can send a letter as part of the Democratic leadership criticizing someone and still say she will not vote for a resolution singling out a person or group? I guess, that depends on your definition of Senate. I guess it depends if your stance is criticizing a specific person is beneath the Senate but not the Democratic leadership. Is there an explanation for telling someone there will be an explanation on the web and two weeks later there still is not and then when you call asking about it you are told there is one on the web but there still is not and then when you tell them what the Washington D.C. office said and they say that is not the real explanation but then they look up the real explanation and read from it and it is exactly what you just told them. I guess that depends on your definition of incompetent.

Gifted Children Update

Lots of quality comments and an unbelievable number of emails, the depth and passion of which were truly amazing. I am planning on going through all of them and posting a recap of the ideas and experiences. Some conflicting, home school vs. do not home school, but for the most part, the advice consisted of ideas on how to best deal with the negative behaviors and channel the talents but do not expect much help from the public school system.

Thanks to everyone, good to know I am not alone.
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Easy Solution To The Problem With Iran

Send this link of the F-22's capabilities to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. That and a clean pair of underwear. He is going to need them.

Last letter from doomed Al Qaida chief: 'We are so desperate for your help

Shortly before he died, Al Tunisi wrote a letter that warned of a threat to Al Qaida operations in Karkh. The lettter, found by the U.S. military, sought guidance from Al Qaida leaders amid coalition operations that hampered Al Tunisi's network.

No word if he got a reply from John Murtha, Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi before his untimely death.