AWWWWWWW YEAHHHHHHH

Now those were my Red Wings we saw last night! What a game! All tied up with the momentum coming back to Detroit --let's hope we can keep it up!

Immigration Update

This is ridiculous. A Spanish version of our national anthem? With whiny complaints about how they can't help where they were born? Well, no one can. Does that mean we should open our borders and allow everyone in the world to come and live here? Do they really think singing our anthem --a song very moving and meaningful to most Americans-- in a different language will endear us to their cause? If anything, this will only serve to increase hostility among opponents of illegal immigration.

We've always embraced immigrants in America --we are a nation of immigrants. But most of those immigrants came here legally and embraced American culture. In the first place, they learned to speak ENGLISH. They did not decide that they'd rather sing the national anthem in their native tongue.

And apparently there is another pro-amnesty for illegals march scheduled for May 1.

They vow that America's major cities will grind to a halt and its economy will stagger as Latinos walk off their jobs and skip school.

Yes, making our economy stagger will really endear the rest of us legal citizens to your cause...

At the end of the day, we obviously aren't going to deport millions of illegal immigrants. There will have to be some sort of amnesty. But if our Congress doesn't tighten border security, make stricter laws that can be enforced about deportation (try at least deporting the ones we already arrest on unrelated charges --that would be a start, eh?), and make alterations so that more people can come to this country legally to meet the demand for workers, we're all going to be singing the Star Spangled Banner in Spanish before long. A blanket amnesty bill just sends the message for the illegals to keep on comin' --this massive influx is a threat, not only to our security and public services, but to our national identity.

Let's Get Out the Brooms for Dallas and Barry Melrose

Barry Melrose has to be the most annoying hockey commentator in existance. He's obviously let his fame go to his very hideously styled head. (the hair! It's not 1988 anymore!) And though he hails from Canada, clearly the years out in L.A. have had an adverse reaction upon him.

On last night's Sports Center, he's still trying to stick by his ridiculous prediction that the Dallas Stars will win the Cup this year (despite their being down 3-0 to Colorado in the series). He was lamenting how the Stars haven't been looking that great lately (really?). And he actually said (repeatedly) that they weren't playing like the Stars played when they were "winning the Stanley Cup." He kept alluding to their Cup years. Cup years? They won a measely ONE Stanely Cup. and I think Buffalo fans would have something to say about whether or not the win was even legitimate. (And for all you impartial fans out there, Hull's foot was CLEARLY in the crease; the goal never should have counted. The reffs should have been fired for not reviewing this one.) So here's a team that's been in Dallas for a whopping 9 years, and Barry's acting like they're some great hockey team with a dynasty of Cups behind them. When they were winning Cups. Sheesh.

For those of you who are a little rusty, here are some interesting facts about the most famous trophy in sports and a list of Cup winners. You'll note that Detroit is second only to Montreal, with 10 Cup victories. You'll find Dallas there once if you look really hard.

Awww... look at TayTay, Lil' Rip and Big Ben just havin fun out there. The Pistons whooped the Bucks last night. This series is boring... is it almost over yet?

Not panicing...

...yet. So I'm a little tired and brain-fried today after staying up until 2:00 last night to watch the Wings lose game 3 in double OT.

But I'm not panicing. In the first place, these are the Red Wings. In the second place, I saw sparks of greatness in their play last night. They gave great energy, were flying until the penalties started, and effectively obliterated Edmonton's trap. That was without doubt one of the worst officiated playoff games I've ever seen, but it's bad form to blame the reffs, so I won't go there. (first 2 periods - 6 Ed. penalties v. 12 Wings penalties??? WTF?) I'm sorry, I said I wouldn't go there. You have to wonder about how much these reffs are instructed to consider the "entertainment" aspect of the sport. Wouldn't be very exciting if the Wings just plowed through and blew their competitors away... besides, everyone hates Detroit, that ugly rust-belt city... It was like the second we'd get that spark and start to skate --uh, oh! Must call a penalty! And another. And another. I'm sorry! I said I wouldn't go there! Sorry.

Just hope Yzerman isn't hurt too badly and can return to the lineup tomorrow night; we need him.

On another random note -what a great town Edmonton is. You couldn't help routing for them a little with such great fans. They were so loud and into the game; never missed a chance to boo when Chelios touched the puck. The most endearing was during the national anthems. Unlike Vancouver (Left Coast) and Montreal (crazy quebecois) where the U.S. national anthem is booed before hockey games, the fans in Edmonton actually cheered --they gave a standing ovation at the end of the song! Awww. For someone who's spent a lot of time in Canada and really likes most Canadians (outside of Quebec), that was great to see. And of course they went absolutely CRAZY for Oh, Canada. Love patriots.

Regardless of what happens with the Red Wings, which I still think will be many good things, we still have our Pistons, who, unlike the Wings, don't have a hang up getting past the first round of the playoffs. They take on Milwaukee in game 2 tonight. Oh, and the Bucks
are total babies.

Dow closes at 6-year high

Here's just another example of how evil, stupid Bush is hurting our country...

(Have I mentioned lately that the economy's good??)

Remember This?

I'm glad to see that they're actually facing consequences for this dispicable act. We didn't hear much from the media about this incident (naturally) at the time; listening to them you'd think it was only Democratic voters who were "disenfranchised" by all of those Rovian plots...

Gas Prices: The Democrats Latest Socialist Tool

Don't get me wrong, I'm as upset as anyone about the rising gas prices. But let's put some things in perspective here. O'Reilly pointed out last week the correlation between the price of a barrel v. the price of a gallon. I might be off a bit on my cents, but basically, when oil was about $30 a barrel, a gallon of gas averaged about $1.73. No one complained about anything back then. Now, a barrel of gas is about $70. If you do the math, we should be averaging $4 a gallon. I don't see how $3 a gallon when it should be $4 based on the gallon-to-barrel historic ratio and current HUGE demand for oil throughout the world, anyone can be complaining that the oil companies are guaging. They are making a profit. That's what companies are supposed to do in a capitalist economy. No one was offering to help the oil companies when oil was $10 a barrel, yet now they're successful, we have people like Chucky Schumer (as quoted on Drudge) saying 'whether or not we should break up the big oil companies. Enough is enough'...

This is dangerous ground we're treading when we start talking about penalizing companies for profiting. If, heaven forbid, GM turns things around and starts killing Toyota in market share and selling SUVs at $50K and up, will the government start talking about "breaking them up?" How about the farmer who is showing greater profits because demand for his produce has risen? Where was anyone helping him the three years prior when the bad storms wiped out his crop? It's capitalism --you take the risk. You take the risk and you either suffer from your failure or reap the rewards of your success. Capitalism. It's a beautiful thing. And we can't let socialist wannabes like Schumer take that a way from us. Give them an inch... we'll have a national health care plan, government controlled transportation, and the unemployment of France.

I'm sure none of what I've said makes you feel any better about how much you're paying for gas. Me, either. But it's about time we channel this outrage to make some real changes. We should be drilling in Anwar, exploring how best to harvest the shoal oil or whatever it's called in our western states, we should be giving tax breaks for oil companies to build refineries here. And, most importantly, we need to kick the research and development of alternative fuel sources into higher gear. Every gas station and car should be E85 equipped, etc. This is not just a financial problem; our dependence on unstable countries for this black gold that enables our country to function has national security implications. So it took $3 a gallon to motivate us. Let's get on this before we're up to $4.

Yawn. The economy's good.

I feel the need to keep posting on this, since watching the news you'd never know we were in the midst of one of the best economies ever. Consumer confidence continues to be up, despite the pain of those higher gas prices. Even in this article about confidence being up, the author has to couch it with all of his doom and gloom predictions of experts saying, despite these results, that we're "trending down," etc. (Pssst --we can't talk about the economy being good while Bush is still in office!) Believe me, a fabulous economy like this will not last forever. And when it starts to slow down, that's when the media will tell you the real numbers that we've been experiencing since Bush brought us out of his inherited recession. They'll want something to compare the newest numbers to while gleefully gushing about a slowdown.

As I've mentioned, oh, about 529 times on this blog, consumer spending makes up 2/3 of the U.S. economy. More money in the hands of the consumer = a stronger economy. That's why Bush's tax cuts need to be made permanent. In the light of higher gas prices, if the tax cuts expire and consumers have that much less to spend, look forward to another recession.

Idiot of the Day

It's actually a "republican" this time. He may not be a girly-man, but he is apparently an idiot, falling into the global warming conspiracy... Aaaaaanold says:

"The science is in," the actor-turned-politician claimed. "The facts are there that we have created, man has, a self-inflicted wound that man has created through global warming."

Yes, yes --man's actions of the last 100 years are far more powerful than the sun when it comes to affecting earth's climate change. And in recent breaking news, it has been learned that full-size SUVs driven in the United States are also responsible for the global warming that Mars is simultaneously experiencing.

I have an idea --how 'bout if no more actors run for any public office? Reagan was the great exception; he can't be equaled and we wish people would stop trying.

Once a flip flopper...

John Kerry apparently now thinks leaking is OK. In his words:

"But if you're leaking to tell the truth, Americans are going to look at that, at least mitigate or think about what are the consequences that you, you know, put on that person."

Yes, he's defending the CIA official who was recently fired for leaking classified information. Well, of course it's OK in Kerry's opinion, if it hurts the Bush administration...

Now someone should have him talk to Vanity Fair and the rest of the media who are still in the process of smearing Libby, Cheney, et all for "leaking" information about Valarie Plame and the TRUTH about her husband's reports on uranium.. I'll hold my breath waiting for the big apology...

Scarier than the Taliban and open borders...

..under President Hillary Clinton. That's how I feel about the Red Wings' first two playoff games. They were lucky to even eke out a win on Friday.

The one bright spot of yesterday's loss was the effort shown by our 40+ players... Yzerman and Chelios appeared to be the only two players out there who truly wanted to win that game. If the younger folks on the team could play with the kind of effort those two showed, we wouldn't be losing to Edmonton.

(And I'd like to clarify one thing: Yes, it was a trap. That's the only way teams can beat the Wings and seeing as the Wings have faced it in, say, the last TEN YEARS of playoffs, they should have figured out a way to beat it.)

Yet again the Wings look absolutely nothing in the first round of the playoffs like the butt-kicking team of the regular season that could skate circles around the best of them. Doesn't mean it's over yet; after all, I believe we lost our first two games to Vancouver in the first round the last time we won a Cup. And the wings do rock on the road. But they need to pull it together, starting tomorrow night.

On a brigher note, the Tigers have won five straight and the Pistons, as usual, kicked some major toosh at the Palace last night.

Save The Big House

For all you college football fans out there, I'm sure you are familiar with the "Big House" in Ann Arbor. Please take a minute to sign this petition to preserve the integrity of the stadium by not building a ring of luxury boxes around the top.

Thanks!

Friday Roudup

Culture of Corruption update: Top Dem on the House Ethics committee steps down (seeing as he's currently being investigated for ethics violations...)

Cheney apparently fell asleep during the ChiCom president's visit... Ha!

Speaking of Hu, Rush had a great segment today about the "Drive By Media" and their reaction to the heckler. Everyone is so upset that this happened b/c the Chinese don't like to "lose face." I thought the libs cared about torture? I mean, how many stories have they done on Abu Grave and Gitmo? And isn't Cindy Sheehan their biggest hero? Yet there's not been one story or feature about the heckler and what she's protesting -namely her claims of oppression, torture and murder by the Chinese government against her people. So much for those big-hearted liberals. Apparently they only care about "torture" when they can try to pin something on a Republican. Yep, Bush is the real terrorist. UmmKay, moving on...

We have a great economy that no one wants to recognize... or at least give Republicans any credit for.

The Natalee Halloway case is going nowhere and it's looking more and more like the alleged Duke rape victim is lying, but they do have something in common in that they enabled Ann Coulter to inspire further ire with this post...

Speaking of ire- As a Republican, I've always had more faith in the American people and their intelligence than most liberal elites and Democrats. However, I've recently been questioning whether or not I'm wrong and most Americans really are just a bunch of idiots. Bush's poll numbers are at all time lows and there is a direct correlation between the president's poll numbers and gas prices, which are at record highs. The difference with me and the majority of Americans I suppose it that my anger at high gas prices is directed more at the Democrats in congress and their environmentalist whacko supporters who have not allowed us to drill for more oil in our own country, have not made it economically feasible for new refineries to be built, and have bascially made it easier and more cost effective to import so much foreign oil that we're completely beholden to these unstable freaks around the world like Chavez and the Saudi Royals. We should have been dealing with this oil issue 10 or 20 years ago; there's little Bush can do now or could have done (that would have passed Congress) in his short term to effect oil prices.

In other news, it appears that New Fallujah and Old Fallujah have even more in common than we initially thought...

Oh, and did I mention that the hockey playoffs start this weekend? (And basketball, too)

Have a good weekend, ya'all.
Go Wings!

The Legend of the Octopus

Years ago, before Texans stole teams from Minnesota and Californians thought they deserved three teams, even before the Red Wings played in the Norris Division of the Campbell Conference, there were the original six: Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, New York, Toronto. Back then only four of the six teams made it to the playoffs. A team had to win two best-of-seven series to claim Lord Stanley's Cup.

I must admit the exact year escapes me, but it was in the late '50s or mid '60s, when teams still needed 8 wins for the cup, that a Wings fan first threw an octopus on the ice. The 8 legs of the octopus symbolized the 8 victories needed to win the Cup.

Only in recent years has the legend morphed into a giant purple octopus ("Stanley") that descends from the rafters in playoff pre-game shows. The flying octopi were so disruptive in the early '90s that the Joe had to crack down on letting them in. (Imagine where those true-blooded fans have to hide their smuggled octopi to make it through the Joe's security now... And no, we're not talkin calamari, these are raw octopi) Just one of the many traditions you could only find in Hockeytown...

The Wings face Edmonton in their first playoff match tonight. Don't think they don't remember previous years going into the playoffs as the #1 team... but as Scotty says, they're on a mission this year. It also gave me great comfort to hear people like Barry Melrose on ESPN picking Dallas to win the Cup this year. Bring it on! This is the Captain's year.

Picture of the day.

(h/t Atlas)
The soldier in the photo is making the POW sign for "coercion".

heh.

The party of peace and tolerance.

Yeah, RIGHT.

This makes me so unbelieveably angry. These hypocritical, deranged hippies have posted the name, address, phone numbers, photos, and aerial photos of Michelle Malkin's house all over the the internet. Why? Because she's an outspoken Republican woman.

Party of tolerance and peace, my butt.

This is the same party of tolerance and political correctness that illegally obtained a Republican politician's credit report, only support black and other minority politicians if they're Democrat, threaten bodily harm on peacefully demonstrating pro-life demonstrators...and the list goes on.

But this? How can they do something like this to Michelle Malkin? What the hell has she done besides speak her mind and be successful at it? Don't they know the kind of danger they've put her in?

You would never. I repeat, NEVER hear of a Republican doing something like this to a hippie. Ever. As a matter of fact, I challenge anyone of the moonbat persuasion to show me any trend toward us persecuting, threatening or in any way behaving in an illegal manner towards Democrats even anywhere NEAR as close as they to us. Show me. I'll wait here.

More: I hesitated to post this because of the virulent foul language directed at Ms. Malkin in quoted e-mails, but it serves to illustrate more clearly the kind of unhinged hatred being shoveled in her direction. It's sick.

Democrats? Remember this when you can't figure out why Republicans make "ew, something stinks" faces when they see you coming. You are the lowest form of scum. And you wonder why we don't take you seriously...

I thought I was imagining things.

Guess not.

Lately I've been wondering if there's something in the air that caused the recent uptick in moronic drivers. I don't know what it is, exactly, but apparently other people have been noticing more idiots on the road, too.

Yesterday when I was driving around running various errands, I:

1. Experienced three individuals who apparently thought I'd go faster if they planted their front two tires in my liftgate. They were so far up my tailpipe I couldn't see their headlights. (this is my biggest pet peeve. I will NOT go faster, as a matter of fact, being a somewhat passive-agressive driver, will continue to slow down until you leave me alone)
2. Was cut off no fewer than three times
3. Almost rear-ended someone who didn't think anything of slamming on their brakes to make a non-signaled left-hand turn
4. Frantically had to swerve out of the way of some old lady weaving in and out of traffic.

And that was just in a few hours. I was SO glad to get home in one piece.

Be careful out there, ya'll!

See, it's not just Detroit...

Apparently the trend across our country is for people moving out of major urban areas to suburbs or "exurbs" --suburbs on the fringes of the metro area. Now, in the New Fallujah area, we've been doing this for years! Clearly, Detroit has always been a very trend-setting region...

In all seriousness, this population migration makes perfect sense to me. Aside from the economic reasons of seeking more affordable housing in the 'burbs, I see it as just getting back to our roots. We were an agricultural society, we moved into the cities over 100 years ago because that's where the jobs were. City living was never very glamorous or comfortable for the majority of people living there. Now that we have transportation that allows us to commute to those jobs in the city, it's not necessary to actually live there.

I lived in a city during my college years, and I can definitely tell you that I'd rather deal with birds and squirrels than rats and roaches any day. It's nice to hear the birds singing, smell the fresh cut grass, plant some flowers, run through a sprinkler, or drive up to the gas station or ATM at midnight and not worry about getting shot.

The other population shift, namely from the midwest and northeast to the south and southwest is a little more disturbing to me, for the mere reason that I hate to see Michigan's economy flailing and it's population diminishing. But it's natural for different areas of the country to experience booms and busts; there's not much we can do about that (except kick Granholm out this November and hope for more friendly tax laws to attract more business here). From a national standpoint, though, I do love seeing the population of the red states grow. Believe me, Georgia having more electoral college delegates than NY or Mass. would be great for the Republican party. Which is of course, why Bush and Rove masterminded this population shift...

Get Ready...

The Wings wrapped up their regular season last night (regrettably with a loss, but that's what happens when you don't play Nick Lidstrom); the Pistons will wrap theirs up tonight. And Detroit is ready for the Playoffs.

Some excerpts from the Detroit Free Press article to help those not lucky enough to live in or around New Fallujah:

Never before has a city had its NHL and NBA teams enter the playoffs with the best records in their respective leagues.
(Wings: 58-16-8; Pistons: 64-17 with one more to go)

And never has a city won the Stanley Cup and NBA Finals in the same season.
(knocking on wood vehemently in anti-jinx precaution...)

On the Wings--

Said Kathie Jones, a Sterling Heights resident who works for a contracting company whose sole account is with General Motors: "Even if I lose my job tomorrow, I still have the Red Wings."

On the Pistons--

It's a symbiotic relationship: The region supports the team because it plays with relentlessness and gravitas, the team shows the rest of the country the characteristics the region wants to be identified with most.


Yeeeeeeeaaaaaah! Bring it on! Get your octopi ready! Can't wait!!!!

Where's the Outrage?

There was a good article on Drudge today about China and how its economy is set to overtake the U.S. by 2045. Whilst members of the American left are protesting our involvement in Iraq (shame on us for helping liberate an oppressed people from a ruthless dictator! Bad America! Bad!), crying that Bush is the "worst" president in history and calling for his impeachment, and ranting about how OUR pollution and evil capitalist ways are supposedly more powerful than the sun to change the earth's climate, they completely ignore China. In fact, these people are so ignorant, they would probably speak in support of China. (See! They're communist and look how good their economy is! See! It CAN work!!! Can't we just give socialism a chance???) But let's take a look at a few other facts about China:

-By manipulating and undervaluing their currency, they've managed to attract so much business that now "more than half of all industrial goods are made in its factories." (Yes, this does cost American jobs and hurts our economy thanks to the unlevel playing field they've created)

-Worker earns 5-10% of an American worker's wage

-17% of people live on less than a $1 a day

-One-third of the world's cigarettes are smoked in China (this should REALLY anger those Libs, b/c as we all know, the government should tell us what we should eat, drink, and smoke)

-Has 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities
(What??? I thought it was the evil capitalists polluting the world! Say it ain't so!)

-Half of the population has polluted water supply

-World's largest consumer of coal; second only to US for oil
(Oh, no! They must be in bed with Halliburton, too! Oh, wait, they just deal with Iran and other terrorist-loving countries; nevermind)

And whether or not this is true bears further investigation, but Falun Gong practitioners are protesting the Chinese president's American visit this week on the grounds that members of their group are rounded up in concentration camps by the Chinese government and murdered for their organs. (We've seen worse things in history before, so we shouldn't just dismiss this outright without learning a bit more).

Oh, and for all you tree-hugging, Commi-loving libs out there --people in China DO NOT HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH. So if they thought, for example, that President Hu was "the worst" in Chinese history, they wouldn't exactly be allowed to say it or make misleading movies about him. They wouldn't be able to camp out in front of his ranch or publically call him a liar and worse.

So the next time you hear someone touting the great Chinese economy, please remember the rest of the story over there. And I'd also beg you to remember that we do live in one of the best countries in the world. If you really want to put that much energy into protesting things, I think there are a few worldwide causes that better deserve your attention.

Spring Cleaning

Bush is making a few more adjustments to his cabinet. Press secretary Scott McClellan has resigned. I say good riddance to him --he was so boring! Not at all the type of dynamic, strong speaker the president should have. (I wish they'd bring back Ari!)

And in other news, Rove "is giving up oversight of policy development to focus more on politics with the approach of the fall midterm elections." Yea! In my opinion, this is where his strengths lie. Democrats beware --the evil mastermind of the universe, Karl Rove, is right now plotting and strategerizing for the upcoming election. Be nice, or he might use his weather making machine to send a hurricane or other natural disaster your way! Muahaha muahaha muahahahahahahaha!

Darn those baby shows.

So I'm on maternity leave...and I'm SUPPOSED to be working around the house and packing and doing loads of baby laundry and getting ready and whatnot...but what am I doing? Watching those dang baby shows on Discovery Health. And crying. *sigh*

You know, when they finally deliver the squirmy, slimy, blue-ish little bundle and the mom starts bawling? Gets me every time. I've got two weeks left before *I* get a squirmy, slimy, blue-ish little bundle and I can't WAIT!! Well, I'm not too keen on the whole "delivery" process, but I figure with an epidural and people standing by with something blunt and heavy to hit me with if (God forbid) the epidural doesn't work? I'll be fine.

(here's where the moms and dads out there shake their heads ruefully at my naivete)

Anyhoo. This is why yours truly here hasn't been ranting much about the goings-on in politics lately. I'm not watching Fox News as much...instead I'm watching Discovery Health and crying a lot. (I know the Sage LOVES it when I carry on about baby stuff)

It's also been unseasonably gorgeous here in New Fallujah! My dad says that here in Michigan we get about 6 perfect days this time of year...and I think we're on day 4 already. You know the days - no clouds, bright sunshine, and a cool-ish breeze blowing JUST when the sun gets a bit too warm. It even SMELLS pretty out there.

I wonder if my cable will reach outside so I can watch Discovery Health on the porch...

Everybody Look What's Goin' Down...

Apparently Neil Young has joined the list of celebrities attacking the president. He has an album coming out dedicated to bashing Bush and critiquing the Iraq war, going so far as to advocate impeaching W.

(Of course, all of the deaths across the Middle East can naturally be attributed to Bush, who, for the past decade preceding his presidency, had secretly been working with Halliburton officials to fund terrorist training camps and courses in how to be a more effective suicide bomber.)

Before we waste five seconds complementing if we care, let's remember Young's early career with Buffalo Springfield... In his defense, maybe Neil is just confused. He might have recently been hit on the head or could be having an acid flashback, thus believing this to be 1969, rather than 2006.

Either way, someone should remind him of the last time a "country" music singer decided to bash the president/Iraq war in their songs. Oh, I know some rappers like to slide in a few lines here and there, but on the whole, I can't think of another singer or celebrity who has actually benefitted from this type of brainless criticism. Quite the opposite, actually. Meanwhile, patriotic, pro-America songs have been quite successful. Someone should spread the word in the music industry --Americans generally like to hear GOOD things about their country, especially in a time of war when we have soldiers' lives at risk.

Moving on... The REAL question is how this unpopular war will effect political campaigns in years to come. In, say 2036, will we have a presidential candidate claiming he served admirably in Iraq when really he injured himself just barely enough to qualify for that purple heart and came back to hug a tree and Cindy Sheehan? Oh, and throw other peoples' medals over walls. Well, time will tell, I guess. And if so, I'm sure they'll invite Neil Young to sing at their convention.

Apple doesn't want your feedback. (and a rudeness rant)

Keep this in mind. Apple doesn't want - nor need - your suggestions.

Apparently a young woman decided she had some ideas to improve her Nano, and wrote Apple to make some suggestions. Apple responded "nastily" from their legal department - causing the poor girl to run and hide in her room. (the actual response letter isn't published - but if you click the links there is a video...)

Nice, eh?
(via Blogging Baby)



Speaking of rudeness...

I've often thought about this, and have actually come across situations involving this very phenomenon. And it's true. You can tell a LOT about people by the way they treat wait staff at restaurants, counter clerks at coffee shops, cleaning people in buildings, etc. Watch people sometime and make notes about how they treat people. It's very interesting. (haven't you been embarassed and suprised by a friend's behavior at a restaurant before? I know I have...)

One of my favorite NON-political blogs, WaiterRant.net, links to a USA Today article dealing with this very thing. He goes a bit farther, however, and warns us that such behavior could cost you a job.

I was a waitress for many years, so I know not to be rude to wait staff. I know what they go through - and I know that if you get the wrong waiter having a bad day and you're mean to him or her you might find something in your food you didn't ask for. (I've only seen this happen once and believe me, it's not a common occurence. But it happens.)

It shouldn't be an "act", though. These people are...people. Just because they're serving you your food, or polishing and buffing your toes, or cleaning your office? It doesn't mean that you are somehow superior to them. You should always treat them with respect and appreciate them for what they do.

I'm not claiming some kind of moral high ground here. I've just seen, first-hand, the results of a well-placed compliment (like the poor, over-worked pick-up window guy at Wendy's and his grin when I complimented him on how FAST they were that day), or a "Hi! How are you?" to the late-night cleaning staff at my building. There's an older gentleman (I just found out he's EIGHTY!!) at my building who works as a security guard that just brightens up whenever people take the time to say "hi" or engage him in a brief conversation.

It's not brain surgery...it's a matter of treating people like...people.

And what about those rude waiters? Those "I'm too busy to help you customers suck I hate my job" people? There's such a woman at Target. She works the dressing rooms. (I'm very familiar with the Target dressing rooms...) And she's mean. My mom and I decided that she wasn't a mean person, just probably used to the mean treatment by customers. So. We hung up our clothes after trying them on and handed them back to her with a smile and a "Thank you!". No response. Next time? Same thing. This time we tried to chat with her for a minute, unfazed by her grunts and unresponsiveness. By the third time we went there (okay, yeah, we have a Target Shopping Problem...) she actually remembered us and almost...ALMOST...smiled at us.

So. It works. And doesn't it make you feel good to make someone else smile?

Okay. Off my soapbox. *smile*

Happy Easter

Blogging will probably be light this weekend --everyone enjoy the holidays!


And, let's not forget what this holiday is about. Just like our battle with Christmas, it is NOT about chocolate bunnies and egg hunts - any more than Christmas is all about lights and trees and presents.

Let's try to remember that on Good Friday, Jesus died on a cross for us - the ultimate sacrifice to save us from eternal death. He didn't have to do that. But he did. Because he loves us THAT much.

Then he was buried. He was dead for three days. On the third day, he rose from the dead. The third day is what we call "Easter". It's about new life, regeneration, clean slates (forgiveness!), and new beginnings.

Oh, and it's only the singular reason why we call ourselves "Christians". Because we believe in a LIVING God who cares deeply about us, has our best interests at heart, and wants us to have a relationship with Him. If there was no "Easter", we have no reason to be Christians and celebrate our salvation.

So. Let's remember what we have been saved FROM. Let's express our love and gratitude that we weren't left to die - but instead were saved and are eternally loved.

Mmmm-kay? Celebrate, ya'll! It's a happy day!
DP

p.s. Please go see ExPreacherMan (natch) for more. He actually quotes the *gasp* Bible!!

Deeeeeeeeetroit Baaaaasketballll

The Pistons are one step closer to guaranteeing home court advantage for their playoff run this year, tying a franchise record with their 63rd win of the season last night against LeBron James and the Cavaliers. Perhaps the most amazing part of the game to me was Sheed's handling of a flagrant foul inflicted upon him...

Wallace kept his cool and his mouth shut....

...At the end of the time-out, Wallace was still chuckling and grinning. And no, that didn't earn him a technical foul this time.

I feel so guilty!

Well, I'm back from my long weekend. The Sage has been holding forth in amazing style, hasn't she! *round of applause*

And here I've been at my computer ALL DAY and have NOTHING about which to blog. Bad me. Bad. I was going to blog about CSI:Miami's latest episode being all about the citrus colors - did anyone notice how everyone except Horatio was wearing either orange and white or yellow and white? It was distracting. Or...the latest episode of 24. It was a big, fat yawner. Guess they can't all be winners.

But then I had to stop myself when I remembered this is a POLITICAL blog. Not a TIVO blog. Anyhoodle. I think Sage has the political stuff handled, don't you think? Maybe tomorrow something fun will happen to bite into and blog about. Who knows.

In the meantime, though, mad props to Sage. Yay, Sage.

Immigration Update

A Detroit company recently fired workers who skipped work to attend the pro-illegal immigrant rally in Detroit last Monday. To read this article, you can't help but feel sympathy for these poor, fired workers who were just "standing up for their rights." Yes, we all know reporters have their opinions and unfortunately let them reflect upon their journalism. But let's take a step back here.

The fired women were "undocumented" immigrants (that's the liberal Detroit News' way of saying illegal immigrants). So these illegal immigrants come here and get jobs, which they value so much that they're willing to disobey their supervisors and skip out on their jobs to attend a rally supporting their illegal status.

What the paper should be doing is praising this company for firing people here illegally. It is fair, Mercedes, because you never should have been hired in the first place. Go back and get in line behind the other 500,000 people around the world who are waiting to legally immigrate to our country.

In other news, more postering by wimpy Republican senators... I don't think any of the bills proposed have included making illegal immigrants felons; they have proposed making it a felony for a business to hire illegal immigrants. That makes perfect sense and is a sure fire way to stop the problem --you aren't felonizing the poor people who just want to come here to find work, but you make the employers stop hiring them by making it a crime; you take away the demand and the supply will soon dry up. Current postering about this by Frist et all is almost as bad as Hillary and The Swimmer claiming the proposal to penalize businesses hiring illegals was really going to hurt poor priests and charity givers...

And for Pedro's sake, will someone tell me where the ACLU is on this?? They'll fight all day to perserve peoples' right to burn the American flag, but apparently burning the Mexican flag is now a criminal offense. Mind, I'm not defending what this man did --I don't like to see a flag burned from any country; it shows complete disrespect and ignorance. But something tells me this won't get quite as much attention from the angry left as if someone was simply exercising their free speech rights by burning the stars and stripes.

Oprah and Ayn Rand??

Oprah, perhaps unknowingly, reveals that she's not a liberal. Like a good capitalist, she has no guilty feelings about the money she has earned. (Also like a good Republican, she's giving back much of her money on her own terms, to causes like the girls school in Africa mentioned in this article). Now I'm not saying she's completely gone over to the GOP, but this lack of guilt is very telling... Wonder if Atlas Shrugged has been added to her booklist in recent months???

Presidential

The Wings clinched the President's Trophy with a win over the Oilers last night. (For you liberals out there, that's a team from Edmonton, not evil Halliburton employees, so don't get too excited) This team has truly been a joy to watch this season. But, as the players and owner's wife attest in this article, it's not regular season victories we care about it Hockeytown. We won't be happy until the team is back at the White House greeting President Bush this summer to celebrate another Cup win.

(On a side note, Manny's shutout last night was his 7th of the season, tying a Wings record set by Roger Crozier in the 65-66 season)

Hey, hey Hockeytown...

Culture of Hypocrisy Update

I love hearing Democrats wail about Tom DeLay's redistricting as though he were some type of criminal. Gerrymandering has been part of House politics for years, but it was only OK when it benefited Democrats. Then the Abramhoff scandal breaks and Democrat politicians are out there squawking to their buddies in the MSM about the "culture of corruption," completely ignoring Abramhoff's dealings with people in their own party.

And now we have this. U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV). An excerpt:

Ken Boehm, chairman of the NLPC, said every report Mollohan filed from 1996 to 2004 had "major errors."

"The real issue here is not whether Mollohan systematically was hiding financial and real estate assets, and grossly misrepresenting their value. He was. The real issue is why he was hiding those assets," Boehm said, also pointing out that Mollohan is the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct -- popularly known as the ethics committee.

"No one in the House has more familiarity with the disclosure laws than he does. Any kind of excuse that he did not know how to fill out his financial disclosure reports -- for a nine-year period -- does not pass the straight face test," Boehm added.

But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday defended Mollohan and argued that Democrats have a history of ethics reform....

"The Speaker (Illinois Republican Dennis Hastert) should join me in directing the Ethics Committee to get to work, and not cast aspersions on the independent and distinguished Ranking Member," said Pelosi.

Are you kidding me, Pelosi? "Not cast aspersions" on someone? How about you and yours and your "aspersions" for our commander in chief for the last six years? How about your aspersions on Tom DeLay's character? I could go on. The hypocrisy would be hilarious if they didn't continually get away with it.

I'm not saying all Republicans are holier than thou. The Cunningham incident she referenced was an embarrassment. What an idiot! But do you see Republicans rushing to his defense and beseeching Democrats not to cast aspersions on his character? No, we acknowledge that he's a crook and deserves the jail time. But I suppose asking members of a party who can't even admit their true ideology or political goals (namely to turn us into the next France) to be intellectually honest about anything else.

Go Back to Work

Is anyone else seriously annoyed with these pro-illegal immigrant protests? First off, I'm thinking --there are thousands of illegals demonstrating who are (a.) breaking the CURRENT law by being in this country illegally, (b.) benefitting from social services here paid for by my taxes, and (c.) flaunting it in my face. This problem of illegal immigration is troubling enough when they're just going quietly about their business; now they're actually out in the streets demanding things? They aren't even citizens yet and they already have demands? (Hmmm, what party do you think they'll vote for???)

Two questions come to mind:

1. If these people are the so-called backbone of our economy, how can so many of them not go to work today with absolutely no disruption to our economy?

2. Why aren't there immigration officers surrounding these crowds, hoarding them into transport vehicles, and shipping them back to Mexico? People keep complaining about the cost of finding and then deporting them; seems they're making the whole finding them thing easy


To give you an idea of the type of people supporting these illegals... At a rally in Portland, Maine a counter-protester got beat in the head by an illegal immigrant supporter. And what is the reaction from this tolerant protest organizer?

"When you promote violence, you get violence," said the Rev. Virginia Maria Rincon, one of the organizers. "Our rally is about promoting a peaceful dialogue."

Oh, so it's OK to beat up people who don't agree with you because you just came there to peacefully protest. Yeah, I get it. Though somehow I don't think her reaction would be so benign if it had been an illegal immigrant who was assaulted. No, she'd probably be calling in the ACLU to make sure that the offending Americans' house was confiscated and given to the illegals who felt "threatened" by the American citizen's actions. (I'm not pulling that out of thin air; that actually happened, only it was someone's family ranch given to an illegal he threatened for tresspassing on his property...)

In other news, I don't know why it's surprising to anyone that the entire Hispanic community does not support these illegal immigrant protesters. (Maybe it's mostly members of the Hispanic community who are here LEGALLY that have isssues with those breaking the law...)

Sheesh. Let's see what those geniuses in Congress can come up with to solve our little 11 million person (and growing) problem.

News Flash! Sacre Bleu!

Ohmigod! I can't believe it!!!! The French surrender the new youth job law (that probably would have led to higher employment numbers among their idiot young people). But they apparently don't want a better economy or lower unemployment; they just want their job guaranteed if and when they happen to get one. (do you see what socialism does to people???) So here it is --proof positive that even though the French government knows something is right or good, they will not hesitate to surrender if faced with a little pressure. Tres bon!

(Liberals, please remember this next time you want us to seek France's approval on our next foreign policy decision, ummmkay? Thanks)

A Great Time to Live in the D

Had you told me a year ago that we'd be lamenting the Tigers first loss of the year after winning 5 straight (their best start since 1985), I'd never have believed you. I just can't remember the Tigers being any good in a long, long time... just a few years ago, we were contending for the most losses in a single season of any team in baseball's history. Sadly, we fell just a few games short of the mark. But the Tigers are looking good so far this year; let's hope they keep it up! And congrats to all the lucky fans who took the day off work to be with the Tigers for opening day... which, I'll add, will not be held in the snow this year. It's supposed to be 63 and sunny. Wish I was there.

And of course, there are the Red Wings. This is Hockeytown and we're looking forward to the playoffs. Jason Williams is the 8th Wing this year with 20 goals, Stevie Y. is on an 11 game point streat, and we've pretty much got home ice wrapped up for the duration of the post-season.

And how bout that Deeeeeetroit Basketball?? Also looking for home court advantage throughout the playoffs; we aren't going for another 7th game heartache this year. This year's Pistons are arguably one of the best teams EVER to exist in any sport.

Now if only we could get those Lions to break the curse...

GM Update

Building better quality vehicles than Toyota and Honda... just don't buy one of their mini-vans.

(Why do people still buy minivans anyway? To identify themselves as someone with lots of time on their hands and no inclination to go more than 4 under the speed limit? So we know who to pass? I'm very anti-minivan. I think we should start a PR campaign against them --say they cause global warming or something...)

Global Warming Reminder

Thanks to Drudge for this reminder about how sane scientists were explaining global warming in the 90s...

Some highlights:

Careful studies over the last 20 years show that its overall brightness and energy output increases slightly as sunspot activity rises to the peak of its 11-year cycle.

The sun is currently at its most active for 300 years.

Using ancient tree rings, they show that 17 out of 19 warm spells in the last 10,000 years coincided with peaks in solar activity. <> They have also studied other sun-like stars and found that they spend significant periods without sunspots at all, so perhaps cool spells should be feared more than global warming.

I don't know about you, but explaining climate change by the activities of the star that makes it possible for us to sustain life, that is thousands of times larger than our own planet, seems a lot more plausible than man's pollution over the last 100 years. Especially when you look at the history of the earth and know that our climate has changed drastically over the years, well before man was even around.

The most interesting statement in this article that blows these environmentalist whackos out of the water:

The researchers point out that much of the half-a-degree rise in global temperature over the last 120 years occurred before 1940 - earlier than the biggest rise in greenhouse gas emissions.


Oh, really? So most of the temperature increase happened before 1940? I believe that was about 40 years BEFORE the SUV. The worst gas emissions/pollution ever in this country was in the late 60s/70s... yet the most significant increase in global temperature came well before that.

You mean it's not man's fault? Evil man? You mean the sun is more powerful than greedy capitalists? You mean if we all rode our bikes to our government guaranteed jobs and used solar panels to heat our buildings and blew up all the SUV dealerships that the sun might STILL cause the earth's temperature to change?

Well, the sensible people will understand this, but try explaining it to an American/capitalist-hating whacko like this guy...

OK, it's Friday. Everyone, screw up your faces into a distorted, crazed, maniacle expression... let those eyes bug out... ruffle your hair a bit... (it helps if you've recently grown a beard). Now that you're ready, take a deep breath and yell "We've been BETRAAAAAAAAAAAYED!" Feel better? Have a great weekend!

UPDATE: Another article calling out Global Warming for what it is --a policitcal fiasco. A scare tactic by rabid, environmentalist whackos bent on destroying capitalism and evil man's "exploiting" of the earth. It also points out some of the same stats as the previously cited article from 1998 --that most of the warming over the last 100 years happened prior to 1940; that there was actually a cooling period b/t 1940- 1965, when auto emissions were most rapidly increasing. But it also points out that between 1998 and 2005, the earth's temperature has actually slightly decreased. Yes, this with the evolution of the SUV.

Breaking News: The economy is GOOD

President Bush gave a brief press conference this morning to remind us all that the economy, which Democrats like to lament tragically over, is still going strong.

-Unemployment at 4.7%

-211,00 jobs added this spring "in a hiring burst that benefited almost ALL sectors of the economy"

-Average income after taxes went up for Americans approx. $2,000 since Bush took office

-Consumer confidence is up

Yes, folks, despite the doom and gloom you hear from the media, who would have you believe that you're the only one out there not suffering from unemployment or job fear woes...

Overall, consumers are in a generally good frame of mind, economists said.

"I think we can take heart in the fact that even with all the worries _ about energy prices, higher interest rates and a slowing housing market _ confidence moved higher," said economist Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics.

Analysts track consumer confidence for clues about consumers' willingness to spend, an important force shaping the country's economic health.

The confidence index is benchmarked to a reading of 100 on January when Ipsos started the gauge.

One of the things consumers feel really good about is the jobs climate, the Ipsos results suggested.

A measure tracking consumers' sentiments on this front jumped in early April to 124.5, the highest on record. In March consumers' feelings about jobs came in at 118.5, a buoyant reading. A year ago, this gauge stood at 116.2.

Got that? HIGHEST ON RECORD. I guess that would be higher than during the Clinton years.

President Bush is calling for Congress to get it together and make his tax cuts permanent, citing that they were wrong before and he was right, as the current economic climate clearly shows, and reminding us that 2/3 of the U.S. economy depends on CONSUMER SPENDING...

From Bush's speech earlier today:

"Some are now proposing that we raise taxes either by repealing the tax cuts or letting them expire," he said. "These are the same politicians who told us that letting the American people keep more of their own money would be reckless and irresponsible. They were wrong then and they are wrong now."

And in other news, Bush has finally said he's going to do something about the out-of-control spending Congress has been reveling in at our expense. He threatened to veto spending bills if Congress doesn't trim their latest federal budget.

So to recap for all of you misguided liberals out there:

Tax cuts work.

Capitalism works.

If you don't believe me, just ask the French.

Drive by

You think rappers are bad? You think basketball players are hard? Well, don't discount golfers, darn it!

(Gee, do you think this was a case of mistaken identity? I'm thinking next time those curtesy cars should be a Suburban or nice, safe sedan...)

Patriotette has left the building.

Well, I'm not leaving for long. I just have a very exciting and very eventful weekend coming up and I most likely won't be touching a computer until Wednesday. Actually...honestly? It might be longer than that. When life takes off, it takes. OFF. Doesn't it.

This means I'm leaving the Sage by herself, unsupervised, with that evil twin of hers lurking around. Ya'll keep an eye on her, will you? (the twin, I mean. Sage doesn't need supervision...)

Take care!
DP

Who makes the villans?

GREAT article by our girl, Ann Coulter, seemingly one of the only Republicans left who will stand up for Tom DeLay.

She makes some very true insights on how liberals criminalize any Republican with any kind of power and effectiveness out there. They demonize them, investigate them for ridiculous charges, and call them enough bad names long enough until people start to believe their assertions, which as usual are not based on much factual evidence. It's the Democratic strategy; has been for a long time. They tried to do it to Bush, but it backfired in the '04 election because the GOP base finally got sick and tired of the relentless, rabid attacks and rose to Bush's defense. (They're still trying to do it to Bush, perhaps forgetting that he's not the one running in '08.) Meanwhile, they ignore things like their former KKK member and drunken killer in the Senate, a Clinton official literally caught stuffing classified documents down his pants, etc. When will the rest of America wake up and smell the hypocrisy???

That's what happens when you elect a Canadian...

...to govern your state. I hope all of the Democrats are happy. They like bemoaning the overall "bad" national economy, when unemployment is at record low rates, yet where is the outrage from state Democrats that Michigan's unemployment is at 6.6%?

According to this article:

Small businesses are a vibrant force in Michigan's state economy. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, half of all private employment comes from small businesses with fewer than 500 employees. In Michigan, small businesses employ over half of the state's non-farm private sector.

Why, we have to wonder, did Granholm then recently veto a small business tax cut to the state? With the economy moving away from manufacturing, something Michigan has heavily relied on, our small businesses are going to be more important than ever. We need to make the business environment more attractive for both small businesses and larger corporations if we want to turn our state economy around.

Unfortunately, our Democratic governer who hails form our socialist-esque neighbor to the north would rather do anything than relinquish short term tax revenues. Sad.

DeVos '06!!!!!

What's Going On?

Does the first line of this article confuse anyone else?

Senate Republicans will filibuster their own immigration bill today in the face of steadfast refusal by Democrats to allow amendments to the bill that many conservatives view as granting amnesty to illegal aliens.

If someone could explain that to me, I'd appreciate it. From what I can see, no one in our Congress has a clue. They're like hampsters in the wheel --they just keep spinning and spinning with no inclination to get anywhere. (Just so long as they avoid submerging their heads in the water bowl, or John Kerry might be compelled to administer CPR)

First they're reluctant to even be dealing with this sensitive issue; most are certainly more worried about a voting block than fixing the problem. I haven't seen any proposal spring from these chumps that doesn't include blatant amnesty, but none of them can agree on the definition of amnesty, so it doesn't look like we'll be able to get around that. Pretty soon we'll start debating the meaning of the word "is" or something. This is ridiculous.

My, my --more liberal hyposcrisy:

Mr. Reid's tactical maneuvers came as news spread around Capitol Hill of a bill the Nevada Democrat sponsored in 1993 that was aimed at severely curtailing legal immigration and cracked down on illegal immigration.
"Our borders have overflowed with illegal immigrants placing tremendous burdens on our criminal justice system, schools and social programs," Mr. Reid said in a 1993 statement first reported on yesterday on the Drudge Report. "The Immigration and Naturalization Service needs the ability to step up enforcement. Our federal wallet is stretched to the limit by illegal aliens getting welfare, food stamps, medical care and other benefits often without paying any taxes."
Since the time of his proposed legislation, the estimated number of illegal aliens has gone from 3.3 million to more than 11 million.
"Safeguards like welfare and free medical care are in place to boost Americans in need of short-term assistance. These programs were not meant to entice freeloaders and scam artists from around the world," Mr. Reid said at the time. "Even worse, Americans have seen heinous crimes committed by individuals who are here illegally."
Mr. Reid yesterday disavowed that bill and his statements in support of it. And in an unusual, rambling confession on the floor of the Senate yesterday, he said it was the "low point" of his career.

Reid lamented this decision and apologized profusely. And then...

But seven months later, Mr. Reid introduced his bill again, according to Senate records.

One has to conclude Mr. Reid's sudden change of opinion has more to do with politics and elections then working to solve a problem he so strongly acknowledged in 1993, but is no longer very concerned with. Unfortunately for us, many Republicans are also espousing Reid-esque opinions.

Democrats and their hate/hate relationship with reality

From Atlas Shrugs.

Quite a post, and very much worth reading. She (like us) is sick and tired of the bloviating and posturing regarding the war, the intelligence leading up to it, and the revisionist historians hell-bent on making you believe that black is white, Saddam's just "misunderstood" (and NEVER had WMDs...ever...) and 9/11 was all Bush's fault.

The whole intel argument is just plain dumb. The world is a better place without that fcuking killer running Iraq with crackpot dreams of Middle East domination. And so what if there are problems in Iraq? They are trying to get the damn thing right. War is messy. Life under despots, dictators and oppressors are tortured and deadly. Get off their backs and get on the peace through strength train, dammit.

Her post also contains my new favorite quote:
"We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality" - Ayn Rand

(my old favorite is from Eleanor Roosevelt. "You must do the thing you think you cannot do")

Enjoy!

Listen up, ladies.

How familiar is this scenario:

You marry a guy, then divorce him. (after he shoots someone in a parking lot for allegedly kissing you or something like that) After the divorce he runs around getting into trouble and writes a song about killing you which becomes a big hit.

(and somewhere along the way you discover black lip liner and beige lipstick - and don't let it GO no matter what everyone tells you)

After a while, you realize you need a thuggish mental midget in your life - nevermind that because of his fame and fortune (and by his own bragging) he's slept with every stripper, hooker, and groupie from Rhode Island to Seattle - you decide to marry him again.

Now, three months later, you're divorced again.

Sound familiar? No? Me neither.
Such is the really insipid story of Marshall and Kim Mathers.

(post inspired by my best friend. Who has the good taste to be a fan of Kid Rock the good Republican bad boy instead of Eminem, the bleached wannabe poseur and rabid Bush hater...)

At least I got to watch the Weather Channel.

UPDATE: Bill Cosby is a man who knows about "personal responsibility". (and he wouldn't smack an officer if said officer asked for credentials) He speaks to a rally in New Orleans. Now THIS is a man who doesn't play the "race game". Go, Coz, Go! (via Pajamas Media)



Ms. Cynthia "Black and therefore above the law" McKinney and her lawyer (via phone) was on Fox News this morning being interviewed by Brian Kilmeade. I happened to be walking by the TV this morning to refill the coffee (half-caf, thank you) cup and saw her scary, whites-of-the-eyes, manic expression and thought "hm. wonder what the Weather Channel has to say".

I'm a wimp. I couldn't watch the interview. I knew EXACTLY how it would go, because I've had run-ins with people just like this sad excuse for a human before. The oh-so-superior attitude, the confidence in the delusion that they're so far above mere mortals that we should be honored they would deign to grace us with their wisdom, well...and not to mention that wild-eyed stare and condescending attitude? I had to change the channel.

E.D. Hill was laughing her butt off when I felt it was safe to change the channel back to Fox. Apparently Ms. McKinney didn't answer ONE question. Not one. On my way out the door, they played the highlights of the interview, and Brian kept saying "did you hit the officer? Did you...did you...excuse me, did you hit the officer?" And McKinney just kept talking over him like her mike was off. Then her lawyer chimed in with some cockameemee lawyerbabble about how the incident is being "investigated" and she can't talk about it.

Ah. So witnesses don't count as a "yes, she hit the guy" type of thing, eh? No. They're going to come up with some excuse for why she hit the guy. Because, she's black, did you hear? So that means she can get away with whatever because...she's black. And we all know that that means she's above the law. If I were a black woman - which I'm not, but still - I would be embarassed by her behavior.

To wit:

Police also have said that McKinney was failing to wear a pin that lawmakers are asked to display when entering Capitol facilities.

But she said Wednesday: "Face recognition is the issue .... The pin doesn't have my name on it and it doesn't have my picture on it, and so security should not be based on a pin ... People are focused on my hairdo."

The Georgia Democrat, appearing on CBS's "The Early Show" Wednesday, recently dropped her trademark cornrows in favor of a curly brown afro.

"Something that perhaps the average American just doesn't understand is that there is a heightened sense of a lack of appropriateness being there for members who are elected who happen to be of color," McKinney said, "and until this issue is addressed by the American public in a very substantive way, it won't be the last time."

Uh...okay. Wonder if Condi would ever hit a security guard if he asked her to show her credentials. Did Colin Powell ever deck someone for detaining him at a checkpoint? Nope. Seems the only black person in politics that likes to hit people and then feel superior about it is this nutjob.

Previously: Smack that cop for me...

Immigrants v. Illegals

A GREAT take on what Americans feel about the current "immigration" debates in Congress now. This article by Herbert E. Meyer, excerpts of which Rush read earlier today, defines the difference between immigrants, whom all of us come from and who we we are perfectly welcoming and supportive of, and the illegals we now take issue with. Definitely worth the read.

Smack that cop for me, smack that cop for me...

Hey--I just thought of new lyrics for an Eminem song!

It's official; the police have submitted their case against the slap-happy congresswoman. We can now all wait with baited breath to see if charges against McKinney will be filed. Last night she made a spectacle of herself on cable news shows throwing race cards like a drunken gambler down to his last chip.

Congress will likely issue a statement condeming McKinney's actions and supporting the Capitol Hill police. Not even her fellow Democrats are standing by her on this one... Seems they see this entire incident as a "distraction."

Personally, I don't know what could be more important in U.S. politics and world events. It's almost as crucial to the survival of our democracy as Dick Cheney's shooting incident. At the very least, it should dominate headlines for another few weeks.

(More on this culture of violence and corruption: McKinney violates Congressional rules...)

DeLay Still Fighting

As I'm sure you've all heard, Tom DeLay has announced his resignation from the House this morning. I must say, I'm a bit disappointed, especially after he soundly won the recent primary in his district and, though as he says, the campaign would have been nasty, he likely could have still won the seat in November.

I've admired Tom DeLay for his strength and ability to get the job done all these years. As a Republican, I've always felt that the House did a great job acting like Republicans. We had elected Republicans for a reason, right? (Unlike the Senate, where most Republicans are wimps who would rather get along with Ted Kennedy than pass bills that their constituents elected them to support...) DeLay, as Senate leader, deserves a lot of credit.

But I can't help wondering now if there is some credibility to some of the charges against him. He's always been a fighter, after all. If innocent, why wouldn't he fight for the seat he could still probably win? It's not like we don't need him back in the House! His surrendering like this leads me to believe there is some truth to the charges against him. Either that, or he's more noble than we thought, giving up a seat he feels may be at risk because of the corruption charges for the greater good of the party... We'll see.

Update: I have to amend what I've said above. After further reflection, a smackdown from Rush about this on the radio today, and seeing some of his interview with Brit Hume, I no longer think DeLay gave up; he's still fighting. DeLay was definitely concerned about reelection and how the Democrats would have a field day with his "culture of corruption" story, whether or not he's proved to be guilty. (Proof, as you know, is often irrelevant to Democrats and the media.) He only won his primary by 60% (in a heavily Republican district) and knew the charges against him would be the main campaign issue. He also knew that it would indirectly hurt Republicans all over the country because he would be an easy "culture of corruption," well-recognized name for the Democrats to squawk about.

I'm not saying DeLay did this from truly altruistic intentions. He did it because, strategically, it's the only way he feels he can win and he's not giving up the fight. During the interview with Hume, he pointed out the old mug shot story --how the Democrats had t-shirts and posters all ready to print with his mug shot on them and what did he do? Gave them a great big smile. He mentioned someone having made a film all about the charges against him (I imagine the film is as fair as Farenheit 9/11), ready to bust it out during campaign season to smear him and further publicize the so-called "culture of corruption." Now the movie's no good; money wasted, etc. because he's not running. DeLay was almost laughing when he said this to Hume; I thought he was going to turn back to the camera and shout "in your face!" I definitely did not see a defeated DeLay during this interview. I saw someone still confident, seemingly sure of his own innocence, and still ready to rumble. We'll see how it all shakes out.

Monday musings about movies.

Once again, the movies that America wants to see amount to movies we can take our children to without squirming.

Should it speak to Hollywood that Ice Age: The Meltdown is #1 at the box office while Sharon Stone's desperate attempt at a comeback...I mean Basic Instinct 2 is #9?

It should...but it won't. The Passion was the highest-grossing movie ever, and was ignored by the Hollywood "elites". Narnia? Ignored again. If the movie execs weren't so coked out and oblivious, maybe they'd notice that it's the wholesome, fun, feel-good movies that people want to see. From the article:

Ice Age: The Meltdown stands as the second-heftiest start on record for a non-summer, non-holiday release, behind The Passion of the Christ, and it was on par with the openings of The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, nearly doubling Blue Sky's last effort, Robots. The first Ice Age gathered $46.3 million in its debut weekend at 3,316 theaters on course to a $176.4 million final tally.

Dang it, I want to see Ice Age 2, too! I've seen the first one a hundred times. I'm like a twelve-year old with that movie. Same with Shrek, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles.

Yes, I'm a 30someodd woman, but I could watch those movies over and over and over. I have yet to see Robots, and I WILL drag my dad to see that new one...Cars? It's the one with the truck that has the super obvious redneck accent? The only movie in this genre that I haven't been too thrilled about recently is "Madagascar". But I've only seen it once, so maybe I haven't fully appreciated it yet.

UPDATE: It's all Bush's fault that Basic Instinct flopped. Of course it is.

I can make the voices stop.

One of life's little annoyances. That irritating lady that intones "at the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording..." blah blah BLAH! Don't you think that by now we've all become accustomed to leaving voice mail messages? Why do cellphone voice mail systems insist on telling us that we can speak at the tone, then hang up when we're done recording? Have you ever pressed "1" for "more options"? I know I haven't. Just let me leave a goshdang message already!

Well. Detroit Patriotette is here to make the voice stop. Yes, I have figured out how to bypass the superfluous instruction lady. Mind you, I think it only works on Verizon-type phones. It has to be the prompt that says "at the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording you may hang up...". Doesn't work with all voice mails.

All you gotta do? When the person's personal outgoing voice mail announcement is done and the annoying voice starts giving you directions on how to leave a voice mail, press 9. It'll beep, then leave your message. Isn't that better?

That's it! *whew* Next, I will tackle the meaning of life, the secrets of the universe, and find where Saddam hid his WMDs. Stay tuned!