Tkachuk signs with Blues

Keith Tkachuk is back in St. Louis.

Terror attack in Glasgow

Looks like the bad guys screwed up another attack. Apparently they tried to blow up the airport in Glasgow, but the Jeep caught on fire before they could do substantial damage. One of the guys in the car was rushed to the hospital because he got burned really bad (heh).

One of the men in the car was in critical condition at a hospital with severe burns, while the other was in police custody, said Scottish Police Chief Constable Willie Rae. He said a "suspect device" was found on the man at the hospital and it was taken to a safe location where it was being investigated.

Sounds like 5 people were wounded, but thank God, none seriously. I hope they all feel better soon. I also hope we find the guys who planned this, the guys who gave the order, the guys who offered spiritual leadership... and no, I frankly couldn't care less how they're treated. As far as I'm concerned, as long as we don't drive a flaming Jeep through a plate glass window in a blatant attempt to slaughter their innocent countrymen, they're getting off easy. Is that nuanced enough for ya?

Car bombs in London

A couple of things strike me about the failed car bombings outside of a nightclub in London.

The first is that the cop who noticed the car was wired to go off, jumped in, and disconnected the trigger device (a cell phone) should be given a medal, heaps of cash, and all the publicity he wants. This is a true hero, and we need more warriors like him fighting this war on our side.

The second is that another attempt to strike fear into the west has failed in a fit of gross incompetence by Al Qaeda. These guys are pathetic. So, for all you on-the-fence militant Islamists, let me break it down for you...

You're no good at killing us because Allah isn't helping you. This is because Allah doesn't want you to kill us.

Allah wants you to quit complaining about how oppressed you are, earn a living, educate your kids, stop beating up your women, and grow your economies.

Allah wants you to create products and services, sell them to the west, earn vast riches, feed your poor, and live in peace with Christians, Jews, and atheists. This is because Allah loves you, and is tired of seeing you blow yourselves up.

Your leaders are the ones who want you to hate us, and want you to try to kill us. This is because if you're focused on killing us, you won't pay attention to the fact that they are living fat, happy, and with no risk, and you are living in squalor for the chance to blow yourselves up. If you think about that long enough, it kinda makes you really angry, doesn't it?

If any moderate Islamic scholars would like to echo my comments, by all means, get on with it! It's LOOONG overdue.

Fuel rationing in Iran

Lines at the pump... enraged citizens burning down gas stations... in Iran.

Kinda makes 4 bucks a gallon seem like not-quite-that-big-a-deal, huh?

No amnesty for you

The Senate has basically killed the immigration bill. Too hot for an election year. And, you know, every year's pretty much an election year.

I see a lot of sides to this issue. We need to secure our borders... but a wall? Communist Germany had a wall. But how do we keep the bad guys out (or control which bad guys we let in and watch) without a wall? Not sure.

Illegal immigrants broke the law coming here... but we can't practically round all of them up and deport them, and even if we did, what would be the effect on the economy? But just "making them legal" doesn't seem right either.

Now THIS is pork

Apparently our taxes will soon be used to reduce the effects of farm animal odors on global warming.

Spending federal tax dollars to reduce the climate impact of the aroma of a pig. Wow.

If this is not quintessential pork, what in the world possibly could be?

So, what exactly are we doing here?

I wanted to get some content up here before I tried to explain why I'm here, and why I hope you're here.

Simply put, I'm here because I can be. Literally ANYONE with a computer and an Internet connection can be an opinion journalist today. I participated in a blog owned by my best friend for about a year, but I just didn't fit in there, so I left. However, I always enjoyed adding my sarcastic snark to the news of the day.

I'll comment on current events, politics, and the totally outrageous. I'll talk about cars, hockey, the economy, personal finance, and family. My opinions are my own, and my political leanings will be abundantly clear.

Also, I will never allow comments on my blog. There are several reasons for this. When you have a blog, and you discuss politics, very quickly a debate begins. That's great. But equally quickly the conversation degrades into personal attacks, threats of violence, and the like. Pretty soon, the owner of the blog starts banning people, tracking IPs, writing posts explaining why people are being banned, being accused of hating the 1st amendment, etc. And none of this is what I want to cover.

So, if one day you read something here that really ticks you off, and you feel compelled to comment on it and put me in my place...

Go get your own blog, reference my post, link back here, and tell the whole world how annoying I am. It's easy, it's free, and so far it's been a lot of fun for me. You might agree.

On the immigration debate

Instapundit agrees with Brendan Nyhan that Bush's advocacy of the immigration bill is pushing a bill into open debate that is divisive for us Republicans, and may just relegate us to the minority party.

I think he's right, and it's true that it's driving the hardcore partisans nuts. But this is one of the things I have always respected about President Bush... I believe he really tries to do what he believes is right, and he really couldn't care less which side of the aisle the idea is associated with.

At least he's not just sticking his head in the sand and pretending we don't have a problem.

Young Americans

Another h/t to NewsBusters, where they've found some interesting poll results from the New York Times. Apparently 62% of the younger voting generation support a universal, government-sponsored health care plan.

Now, that's not surprising. When I was in college in the early 90's, one of the main reasons that I continued to press forward and get my degree was that I knew that I would need health care, and a "real job" with benefits would provide me that. However, I wasn't really that political at the time, and I never gave "universal" health care a second's thought. However, I wasn't getting the idea of just how deliciously GOOD "universal" health care was rammed down my throat by the totality of the press, either. In the environment that these kids are in, they are constantly told that it's unfair that they have to work hard and play their cards right to be covered.

Here's another reason that young voters are more supportive of "universal" health care than the general taxpaying population... remember when you breathlessly awaited your first real paycheck from your first REAL job? All the plans that you had for that astronomical amount of money? And you opened the envelope, and you said...

"Hey! Where the #*$& did all my money go?"

And you adjusted your hopes and dreams to more accurately take into account the amount of money that the government was taking from your paycheck, for the work that you did, before it was even in your hands.

Trust me... "universal" health care won't be as popular with the younger generation once they start paying their "fair" share of the taxes in this country.

Fantasy Land

In my little Fantasy Land, you already heard that one of the charges against Tom Delay, the former house majority leader, has been dropped. (h/t NewsBusters)

However, you're probably reading it here first, because the major news outlets didn't tell you about it. Or maybe you caught it on another blog.

The mainstream press announced the charges during a midterm election cycle with great fanfare. They judged Delay corrupt, and applied it across the entire Republican landscape.

Now, the elections are over, and this little factoid just doesn't have the legs of the original attack material. So you can read it here, or over at NewsBusters, a gang who's even more incensed than I am at the media's efforts to indoctrinate liberalism and install Democrats. But ABC, CNN, NBC, and CBS have better things to do than admit they falsely convicted a guy right before your eyes, and that it directly affected an election.

In my little Fantasy Land, there are a multitude of ways that someone who seeks the truth can get all of the facts about anything they're interested in and make their own decision. More and more journalists avoid hiding behind their "professional objectivity", and you can see and hear where they are coming from.

...and my Fantasy Land is becoming a reality. The only question is whether the mainstream media will become an influential part of the New Media.

So far, they're not really even trying.

Well Put, part II

Newt says we're losing WW IV (h/t InstaPundit)...

These defeats are not a function of the courage and will of the American people. In a June poll sponsored by American Solutions, 85 percent of the American people said it was important to defend America and its allies. Only 10 percent were opposed. On an even stronger question, 75 percent said it was important to defeat America's enemies. Only 16 percent disagreed.

So the hard left in America is only 16 percent. It is outnumbered almost 5-1 by those who would defeat our enemies.

The source of failure is not to be found in the American people but in the inarticulate and unimaginative leaders all across government who now preside instead of lead.

The idea that most of America still wants to crush those who would kill us... that's gonna help me sleep at night.

Well Put

DJ Drummond at Wizbang is not going wobbly on the war.

The Truth about Global Warming

It's time for a simple Reality Check on global warming, climate change and the environment in general. It works like this...

Fact: We have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA whether the Earth is getting warmer or cooler long-term. NONE. It's simple if you think about it. Ever been to an intersection with several banks? I've always wondered why we, as a society, decided that it was the bank's job to tell us the temperature on their sign outside, but for some reason, there it is. Have you EVER seen all three banks showing the same temperature?

Me either.

Now, what are the chances that in a given place, under the exact same circumstances, the thermometer that was used 300 years ago will EXACTLY MATCH the reading given by a scientific thermometer of today if the temperature was exactly the same? How can we credibly say it was half-a-degree cooler 500 years ago?

We can't.

I'm not saying that global warming, on a large scale, isn't happening. I'm saying we HAVE NO IDEA if it's happening.

FACT: We have NO IDEA what the global climate will be like in the future. How do I know this? Well, it's because we have NO IDEA what the REGIONAL weather will be like in two weeks! If you take a model that doesn't work on a small scale, and try to use it on an enormous scale, IT WILL BE WRONG, and every scientist knows it.


FACT: The heat here, on planet Earth, is caused by... wait for it... brace yourself...

THE SUN. Trust me, we can buy all the carbon credits we want, but if the Sun gets substantially warmer or cooler, WE. ARE. GONE.

Supreme Court rolls back part of Campaign Finance Reform

I haven't been following this closely enough, but it seems that the Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 to allow more advertising as we approach elections. Now, I'm as annoyed by campaign ads as the next guy, and I hate it when a politician I don't like has more money to spend than the guy I'm rooting for... but ya know what? If we're not going to protect our right to POLITICAL speech under the 1st Amendment, what speech WERE we planning to protect exactly?

Tuesday Morning in Paradise

Laupahoehoe Point, the Big Island, Hawaii. From our honeymoon in August of 2005.

We're fair, we're balanced, we're donating to the Dems by a 9-1 margin

"You can trust our reporting because we are true professionals who, if we had biases, which we don't, would certainly keep them in check."

Riiiiight...

Fearing Fred

Looks like the Democrats are starting to attack Fred Thompson. Before he's announced his candidacy formally. Star appeal is huge and immeasurable.

Chris Benoit has died

Multiple news outlets are reporting that Chris Benoit, his wife, and his 7-year old son have been found dead in their home. Apparently Benoit missed an event on Sunday due to family issues. I'll report more as the story progresses.

Update - report here is that he canceled an appearance tonight because his family was "coughing up blood".

Update - report here says that the police are investigating the deaths as a homicide.

Another update here - saying that the police believe that this was a murder-suicide. How awful if true.

Another update. OH. MY. GOD. (Reg req'd, highlights below)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. -- WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife, and son were found dead Monday and police said they were investigating the deaths as a murder-suicide.

Detective Bo Turner told television station WAGA that the case was being treated as a murder-suicide, but said that couldn't be confirmed until evidence was examined by a crime lab.
The station said that investigators believe the 40-year-old Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, and 7-year-old son, Daniel, over the weekend, then himself on Monday. A neighbor called police, and the bodies were found in three rooms.

Lead investigator Lt. Tommy Pope, of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department, told The Associated Press the deaths were being investigated as homicide, and that the causes of death awaited autopsy results on Tuesday. Pope said the bodies were discovered about 2:30 p.m., but refused to release details.

Another update: Apparently the AP is reporting that Chris may have strangled his wife on Saturday, and then smothered his son in his bed on Sunday, and then hanged himself. How awful.

On the Race

This is a historic Presidential election that we are approaching. Acoording to Wiki, the last time we had an election with no incumbent President or Vice President in the race was in 1928. This rare wide-open field has implications for the race. For example, simply running against the incumbent may not be enough for the Democrats, because the Republicans have the opportunity to run as 'not Bush' as well.

On The War

It's time for a Reality Check on the War in Iraq, and on the broader War on Terror in general.

For starters, you can count me among those who are disappointed that things aren't going better in Iraq. However, you may NOT count me among those who thought we'd be all done by now, and Baghdad would be like Palm Springs! Disappointment is, in my opinion, reasonable... but those of you who are trying to declare the whole thing a failure need a Reality Check...

It takes a lot of time, money, and effort to rebuild a country. If you think that President Bush didn't prepare us for this, you weren't listening. He made it very clear time and time again that this was going to take time. Even when he was standing underneath the 'Mission Accomplished' banner on the aircraft carrier, he made it clear to whoever was listening that we were moving into another phase of the conflict that was every bit as dangerous and risky, and would take a long time... but you only got that if you were listening.

And if you're used to our fast-food society, a war that 'drags on' for five years or so is simply unbearable.

We can, and we will, win this.

And now, it's time for a little Reality Check!