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September 30, 2003
Wake Up To Reality
Even the Left Angeles Times has been forced to wake up to reality with its newest poll on the recall:
Well, we now see why Arianna dropped out. If McClintock grows a pair and becomes a man, his dropping out would give Schwarzenegger more htan just a plurality, but a majority with a clear mandate from the voters -- but don't count on it.
there is a 14 point spread between voting yes and no on the recall. With less than a week left to the October 7th election, 56% of likely voters would vote yes on recalling Gov. Davis, while 42% would vote no, not to recall the governor. [...] Schwarzenegger receives the support of 40% of likely voters, followed by Bustamante at 32% and McClintock at 15%. Three percent of voters would support Green Party candidate Peter Miguel Camejo. Arianna Huffington, an independent candidate receives less than 0.5% of the vote.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:04 PM | Comments (0) |
Yep, She's Out
Arianna dropped out on Larry King this evening as expected. Increasingly it is clear that the most important thing about the recall is to prevent a Republican -- any Republican -- from obtaining a statewide office in California. Her character shone true in this statement:
"I was against the recall in principle. I've always believed this is not the way to run a democracy. But I also saw the opportunity provided to elect with a simple plurality an independent progressive governor."
In other words, in principle the recall was wrong, but it is o.k. to ignore principle if you can take advantage of a situation.
Does Davis really want her on his side?
Update: Owen at Boots and Sabers noticed the same thing.Posted by bubba138 at 09:44 PM | Comments (0) |
The Choice for the Jewish Vote
If you are Jewish, what choice are you going to make, Bush or Dean?
By the way, welcome to the Republican party -- you'll find we have a big tent, too.Posted by bubba138 at 01:47 PM | Comments (0) |
We're not Gunna Take It!
PrestoPundit reports that Dee Snider is slated to perform the Twisted Sister magnum opus at Scharzenegger's final bus-tour stop.
Here's some additional background:
And that's because the 1984 hit, and every other song on Twisted Sister's breakthrough third album, Stay Hungry, was inspired by Schwarzenegger. [...] The album's title song, dedicated to Schwarzenegger, borrowed its very name from the 1976 comedy Stay Hungry, in which the former Mr. Universe makes an early acting effort.
Snider, who has never met Schwarzenegger and only briefly spoke with him for the purposes of his radio show a few years ago, said he bought into the muscle man's "stay hungry" philosophy while reading one of his books in the early 1980s. ("You need to stay in that place when you had nothing," Snider said, by way of summing up the Schwarzenegger school of thought.)
Dee has also said he's willing to play at the inaugural ball -- with or without makeup.
<satire>On a similar note, a Bustamante aide has announced that Barbara Streisand will be performing her rendition of the Beatle's "Taxman" at an upcoming campaign appearance. </satire>Posted by bubba138 at 01:27 PM | Comments (0) |
Arianna II
Arianna's going on Larry King tonight. She'll probably announce that she's dropping out.
Posted by bubba138 at 12:49 PM | Comments (0) |
Get In On It
I have been a very happy NetFlix customer for several months now. I love the service, the convenience, and most of all the complete absence of late fees. But more than that, I love the ingenuity and creativity of the business model itself. NetFlix is a prime example of the fact that even today there are countless untapped opportunities waiting to be pursued.
This idea is so good, WalMart is jumping on the band-wagon.
And in June Netflix, whose share price has more than doubled since it went public in 2002, won a patent covering much of its business model. It could use the patent at some point to stifle competitors or, more likely, to demand licensing fees. Netflix's stock closed Friday at $34.81 a share.
I hope that NetFlix is protected by this patent. I admire the business and they deserve to reap the rewards of their innovation. All things being the same, though, WalMart cannot currently hold a candle to NetFlix:
Wal-Mart is still working out the kinks. Of the five movies it chose to promote on its online DVD rental home page recently, for example, three required a wait of more than two weeks and one required a wait of more than a month. All of those films were immediately available at Netflix.
I sent three movies back (via normal U.S. mail) to NetFlix on Saturday. Early Monday morning NetFlix sent me an email telling me they had received my the DVDs and had already sent my next three out. I expect they'll be in my mail box when I get home this afternoon. That's just the way these guys work.
Oh, and did I mention no late fees?
Hat Tip: Howling PointPosted by bubba138 at 10:43 AM | Comments (0) |
Image Isn't Everything...
...but it does count for a lot. Richard Cohen doesn't like the image he's been seeing from Schwarzenegger:
The issue is not -- or not only -- whether he has any respect for women but whether he has any respect for himself. His changing line on what happened in Gold's Gym -- whether it was true, an exaggeration or a complete concoction -- leaves him with little wiggle room. Either he did what he said, which is disgusting and unmanly, or he made it up, which is disgusting and unmanly. [...] Schwarzenegger and celebrities like him make me yearn for Cary Grant. Whatever he was in private, he conducted himself in public with dignity. There was nothing trashy about him, not in the way he dressed nor in the way he behaved. He set an example for boys and men younger than him: This is the way a man appears. Learn from me. [...]
...I myself have at times behaved badly. It is all part of growing up, or growing older -- I know not. I do know, though, that real men do not either boast of or participate in the sort of sex Schwarzenegger once mentioned, nor do they gloat over putting a woman's head into a toilet bowl. Whether truth or fiction, whether an actual event or a tasteless pander, it suggests a man who may or may not respect women but certainly has little respect for his audience -- and...not much for himself.
While I do not place the same weight upon these items as Cohen does, I think he is making a valid point. At uncomfortably inopportune times during this campaign, Arnold has behaved more like a Hollywood celebrity than a disciplined politician. He should have been marshaling his verbal output the very moment he began considering public service -- which was obviously several years ago.
Now that he's the front-runner (and most probably the next governor), it is imperative that he immediately insert his brain between his impulses and his tongue. Otherwise, what we'll see is a replay of what Minnesota experienced with that other guy.Posted by bubba138 at 09:03 AM | Comments (0) |
Racism Justified
Davis noted that Schwarzenegger opposes the bill the governor just signed giving undocumented immigrants the right to earn drivers' licenses. "I think those positions fundamentally misunderstand the role of immigrants in our economy. We need immigrants," Davis said.
This meme came out during the last debate and there was something tickling in the back of my head saying, "there's something not right with that thinking."
To start with, Davis and those who think like him are playing word games again. You'll notice they do not refer to the people that this new law targets as "illegal" immigrants. In the above quote, Davis strips the term down to simply "immigrants." But that's not what's making me uncomfortable. It's something much deeper, much more insidious.
In the early 1800's, the great debate over slavery was getting revved up. Those in the North saw it as a simple issue of morality. To them, it was obviously wrong, regardless of the economic benefits. To the South, it was an entirely different issue. Their economy, they argued, depended entirely upon the labor of the slaves. The South's primary industry, farming, would be economically unfeasible if they were forced to pay for labor to plant and pick their crops. In other words, economic concerns outweighed moral concerns.
What's more, the Southrens argued, these people need us. If not for us, who would take care of them?
Today, we are seeing the same thought pattern come from a new set of plantation owners. And not unlike the old plantation owners, they purport themselves to have their servant's own best interests at heart. Their premise is that our state's economy depends upon the labor of these people that have entered our country illegally. Without them, and their labor, our economy would collapse. Since we need this class of people to drive our economy, we should give them additional incentives to come and work our plantations.
"We need immigrants", Davis said. "We need immigrants", Bustamante agrees. We need them to work our fields. We need them to sew our clothes. We need them to clean our homes and wash our cars and do all the things we do not want to do. And as long as they are here illegally, we can pay them less than minimum wage. Far less. Almost nothing, even. Let's encourage that.
That's what the "progressive party" is all about, isn't it?
In the 1800's it took boldness from a fledgling party to show the ruling Democrats that that racism and slavery were immoral. It is time for the Republicans to look back at their beginnings and once again show the ruling party the difference between right and wrong.Posted by bubba138 at 08:05 AM | Comments (0) |
Arianna Out?
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Meanwhile, independent candidate Arianna Huffington met with supporters to discuss whether she should drop out and throw her support to Davis, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Posted by bubba138 at 07:59 AM | Comments (0) |
September 29, 2003
Sibling Stars
We haven't seen anything this good since Billy Carter (scroll down):
SISTER ACT: Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante isn't the only rising star in his family -- his 39-year-old sister, Nao Bustamante, is making news for herself as well, as an avant-garde performance artist. Her more notable performances include:
-- Wrapping herself in clear packing tape and emptying an entire can of hair spray into her hair while perched atop a 15-foot ladder.
-- Exploring the pop cultural relations between Mexico and the United States by traveling to fast-food restaurants dressed up as Ronaldo McDonald.
-- Strapping on burrito-dildos, upon which white males feast in an absolution ceremony for 500 years of colonial guilt.
Vegan burritos only -- no meat.
Isn't that sweet? Cruz must be so proud.
Hat Tip: PrestoPundit who was especially productive yesterday.Posted by bubba138 at 04:15 PM | Comments (0) |
Who's Friend Are You?
The Fredericksburg Free Lance Star asks an appropriate question:
Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor and an early front-runner, urged participants in Thursday's debate to remember that their "enemy" is President Bush and not one another. Poor word choice. If it's true that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," does this mean that Saddam Hussein is their friend?
Was this merely a "poor word choice", or does it accurately reflect Howard Dean's, and by extension his fellow Democrat's, mindset?
This is a prime example of why Democrats are losing traction nationwide. The common voter out there is not concerned with our American in-fighting. They care not who is leading this nation as long as they are people who:
Democrats in the last four years have shown they are opposed to all four of the above points. Instead, they love America as much as the French -- which is to say not at all. They look upon Americans with disdain. Case in point: the liberal belief that a single cable news channel (Fox News) can overwhelm the all the major network news, the new York Times, and the Los Angeles Times to brainwash an unsuspecting public into a sudden lurch to the right.
For them, political correctness is more important than national security. And finally, their idea of increasing prosperity for Americans is to forcibly take cash from one person's pocket and put it into another's -- regardless of the effort or legal status of the recipient.
This, and nothing but this, is why Democrats are in trouble. When the center looks horribly right-wing to you, guess who's moved.Posted by bubba138 at 03:25 PM | Comments (0) |
Illegal Immigration
Giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants may be politically expedient but it won't be very popular:
Craig Nelson, director of Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement, cited a 2001 Zogby poll showing that 76 percent of likely voters felt the government was not doing enough to control the borders. He also mentioned a 2002 poll for the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations showing that 70 percent of voters believed controlling and reducing illegal immigration should be a "very important" policy goal. The second poll, Nelson said, showed the disparity between the public and political support for immigration reform.
"Seventy percent, as opposed to only 22 percent of our nation's elites, elites being defined as leaders from Congress, business, labor, religious and academic groups," Nelson explained.
Posted by bubba138 at 12:49 PM | Comments (0) |
In Case You Hadn't Heard
The sky is falling.
Update: John Little is seeing some hypocrisy in Ted's rant:
Ummm, yes.
Ted Turner is a hypocritical moron. Global warming is scaring the living daylights out of him yet he still shuttles around in a private jet? Isn't there just a slight disconnect here? How typical
Posted by bubba138 at 12:22 PM | Comments (0) |
More Good News For Arnold
Full story.
In a development that would signal a huge blow for contender Tom McClintock's quixotic bid to replace the increasingly vulnerable Democratic Gov. Gray Davis as the state's chief executive, the state GOP committee today is considering endorsing fellow Republican actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Spokesman Mike Wintemute said the committee was meeting today at 1 p.m. in Burbank, and that an announcement would be made at 2 p.m.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:31 AM | Comments (0) |
Out On a Limb
Bill Whalen is going out on a limb and saying that Davis might be finished.
My tongue-in-cheek comment aside, Mr. Whalen's analysis of the past week's events is spot-on:
I don't think anyone but the die-hard Davis supporters bought for a second that the anti-recall effort was gaining any true support. However, Gray's debate challenge was a blunder, and contrary to Hugh Hewitt's position, Arnold totally ignoring that call has paid off. Any positive response on a Davis-Schwarzenegger debate from the Arnold camp would have legitimized this as an Arnold vs. Davis race, when it is nothing of the sort. Arnold isn't campaigning against Davis, he's campaigning against BustaMEChA...and McClintock. Davis is already dead. There is no gain in having a debate with a dead man.
Unfortunately for Davis, he chose that moment to have his own hormonal surge, daring Arnold Schwarzenegger to go one-on-one. "I'm not going to take it anymore," Davis said, alleging the Arnold is distorting his record. "Right here, right now, I challenge him to a debate." [...] Remember, this is the same governor who's ridiculed Ah-nold's accent and has suggested that Republicans would sooner shoot their mothers than pass a tax hike. Alone, in a debate forum with Schwarzenegger, Davis is bound to have at least one political Tourette's moment.
But what distinguishes last Friday's event is how quickly it changed media perception--to the governor's detriment. Before challenging Arnold to a debate, Davis had spun most beat reporters into believing that he was closing the gap on recall's first question, and that Republicans were too badly divided to win the second half of the ballot. But once he called out Arnold, conventional wisdom was tossed out the window. In the closing days of a campaign, issuing a debate challenge is an act of weakness--a very public sign that a candidate doesn't have momentum.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:00 AM | Comments (0) |
Bustamante
The bloom is coming off Bustamante's rose. First the CNN/Gallop poll shows Arnold pulling ahead. Now Bustamante is afraid of the press:
Apparently, anyone not willing to pay to speak with Bustamante was out of luck. The politician arrived in a private jet at Salinas Municipal Airport at 4 p.m., and within minutes of landing was whisked into a black sedan. [...] Despite assurances that he would address the public and talk to the press, Bustamante was swiftly escorted to rear entrances. Not once did he greet onlookers to answer their questions.
Couple this with his quick exit from the debates last week and you have to wonder if a man who cannot stand up to the press has enough backbone to be the governor of the state.
Update: Details of the poll are found here. Interesting notables:
Posted by bubba138 at 09:39 AM | Comments (0) |
Darrell Issa
More from the Rick Roberts show this morning:
Exactly.
Rick Roberts: What would you say to the Tom McClintock supports that now say Arnold can win even if they do vote for McClintock? Darrell Issa: Arnold has to have more than a 35 to 33% win. Arnold needs to have a mandate -- something like 45-50% win. Suddenly we're back in Ronald Reagan country. We need the kind of mandate not only to push back, but to begin changing California into the great state it could be.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:28 AM | Comments (0) |
Interesting Quotable
My intention is to support whatever candidate I believe has both the best chance of winning and the best chance of turning this state around.
Who said it? None other than Tom McClintock on June 20th on San Diego's Rick Roberts show 760 KFMB.
Yet he has also told legions of supporters that he's in until the end.
It begs the question, is Tom talking out of both sides of his mouth? I report, you decide.Posted by bubba138 at 08:01 AM | Comments (0) |
September 27, 2003
Merely Useful
Weintraub reports that Tom McClintock is nothing more than a tool of the Democrats:
Democrats also have given McClintock a completely free pass on policy positions he has taken that are opposed to everything Democrats believe in.
When it was disclosed that Schwarzenegger voted for Proposition 187 in 1994, Democrats labeled the immigrant actor anti-immigrant. But McClintock not only voted for that measure, he wants to revive it today by re-opening a federal court case that Davis settled in 1999. Yet I haven’t heard Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres blasting McClintock lately.
He cites several other examples of the Dems giving McClintock a pass on critical Dem issues. They know that the more strength Tom McClintock gains the less Arnold has. The Dems don't see Tom McClintock as a threat -- and they shouldn't.
All the Democrats and most of the Republicans know Tom has absolutely no chance of winning this election. The only one who is clueless about McClintock's position in this race is Tom McClintock.Posted by bubba138 at 11:34 AM | Comments (0) |
Maloof Malfeasance
Miller's Time has more information on the Sacramento Kings ownership bribe anti-recall contribution:
The Maloofs ask, "What's need got to do with it?"
Please keep in mind that Arco Arena (where the Kings play now) is only 15 years old, has more than adequate roads leading to it and is ONLY 9 MINUTES from Downtown Sacramento. That $100,000 will end up costing the people of Sacramento more for goods and services for an arena we didn’t ask for and don’t need.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:09 AM | Comments (0) |
September 26, 2003
A Change In the Democratic Party
If you can't change the message, change the label:
Every now and then, America's political Left tinkers with language in an effort to re-invent itself or its opposition, or to otherwise overcome the connotations associated with certain words and phrases. 2003 has seen a number of efforts along these lines. People who think abortion is wrong are increasingly referred to as "anti-choice" rather than "pro-life." Radical environmentalists are beginning to lean more prominently to the term "conservationist." Liberals are more broadly embracing the term "progressive" as a political label.
I've wondered about this myself. The political ideologues do have a fascination with labels and language and they seem to think that by changing a label they can make abhorrent ideas more palatable -- and to some extent they're right.
In the 70s, I recall the debate between the anti-abortion and pro-abortion camps. Before long, the pro-abortion camp changed its label to pro-choice. Not wanting to be left behind, the other side converted to pro-life. Now, as the article states, that the pro-choicers are referring to their opposition as anti-choice does that make them anti-life?
But Scott Hogenson thinks there is more to it than just a name change:
These are just a few recent examples of how the word 'progressive' is coming to replace liberal in political discourse. The problem is, there's nothing progressive about progressive politics. It's a new use for an old phrase that constitutes the soul of socialism and communism.
This makes a ton of sense when viewed alongside the Democrats vitriolic hate for Bush and company.
The Democratic party is working its hardest to become something it has never before been: undemocratic. There are forces, getting stronger every day, pulling the party more and more toward a communist-socialist doctrine. We saw this in the "anti-war" protests that had less to do with anti-war positions than it did with anti-capitalism and anti-Bush sentiments. We continue to see it today with candidates calling for socialized medicine and state controlled gasoline.
A famous communist once quipped that we would be conquered by communism, not from the outside but from within. Unless we are careful, he'll be proved correct.
The movement away from the use of 'liberal' and toward 'progressive' in American politics is one rooted in the hope of duping uninformed voters into supporting candidates and parties bent on advancing a socialist agenda. It is synonymous with socialism and is a moniker that preys on suckers.
Posted by bubba138 at 06:40 PM | Comments (0) |
Die Hardest?
Bruce Willis is no fan of Saddam Hussein:
Not all the Hollywood set is loopy.
Actor Bruce Willis has performed before US soldiers in Telafar, northern Iraq, and offered $1m (£603,000) to the man who captures Saddam Hussein. "If you catch him, just give me four seconds with Saddam Hussein," he said.
Posted by bubba138 at 06:26 PM | Comments (0) |
Another Reason For Me to Hate Basketball Another Reason to Hate Basketball
Gray Davis' anti-recall team just benefited from a nice chunk of cash. Of course, this has nothing to do with legislation that just might help out the donors:
To be fair, the ownership did contribute to Davis' 2002 campaign.
The owners of the Sacramento Kings donated $100,000 to Gov. Gray Davis' anti-recall committee this week, campaign finance records show.
The donation on Tuesday was made as a bill that could provide a way to fund a downtown arena for the basketball team landed on Davis' desk.
Posted by bubba138 at 02:13 PM | Comments (0) |
Posted by bubba138 at 12:40 PM | Comments (0) |
A Day Late
...but Frank J. has the best reaction to the California Governor's debate I have read thus far.
Hat Tip: Tim BerglundPosted by bubba138 at 12:29 PM | Comments (0) |
Charles Krauthammer says that Teddy
Charles Krauthammer says that Teddy Kennedy's hyperbolic statements about Bush and the war in Iraq represent a shift in the Democratic party:
The Democrats have long been unhinged by this president. They could bear his (Florida-induced) illegitimacy as long as he was weak and seemingly transitional. But when post-9/11 he became a consequential president -- reinventing American foreign policy and dominating the political scene -- they lost it. Kennedy's statement marks a new stage in losing it: transition to derangement.
To accuse Bush of perpetrating a ``fraud'' to go to war for political advantage is not just disgraceful. It so flies in the face of the facts that it can only be said to be unhinged from reality. Kennedy's rant reflects the Democrats' blinding Bush-hatred, and marks its passage from partisanship to pathology.
Posted by bubba138 at 12:15 PM | Comments (0) |
Poverty In America
Since I'm banging the class warfare drum today (on the decidedly "bad" side, no less), allow me to direct you to this Jonathan Rauch article in the National Journal that insightfully demolishes the liberal argument that we can spend the poor out of poverty:
The new consensus is a good thing, because it matches a new reality. No feasible amount of cash assistance could solve America's poverty problem, even in principle. The problem has changed. It has become more behavioral than economic. From 1965 to 1995, notes Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution, the federal and state governments increased their means-tested spending, adjusted for inflation, by a multiple of seven. Yet child poverty increased. After the mid-1990s, when state and federal programs switched their emphasis from writing checks to encouraging work, welfare caseloads fell by a stunning 60 percent, an unprecedented number of single mothers found and kept jobs (even through the recent recession), and child poverty dropped -- for black children, Haskins says, to its lowest level ever. [...]
In their new paper, she and Haskins use detailed census data and statistical modeling to simulate what would happen if the poor worked as many hours as the nonpoor, at jobs matching the workers' actual qualifications. The result: Full-time work would reduce the poverty rate from today's 13 percent to 7.5 percent -- almost half. [...]
Increased marriage alone, by combining two adults' incomes, reduced poverty to 9.5 percent. [...]
The bigger surprise, however, was yet to come. Sawhill and Haskins then simulated a doubling of all welfare benefits, much more than anyone seriously contemplates. The result? Poverty dropped from 13 percent to 12 percent. The meter barely jiggled. Even a massive welfare increase would have less effect than any one of four kinds of behavioral change.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:24 AM | Comments (0) |
German Health Care System Moves Away from Socialized Medicine
The German parliament has passed sweeping health care reforms:
Cutting benefits. Requiring the people to pay for the services they receive. I thought only businesses like insurance companies did such things. Perhaps socialized medicine has holes in it as well?
The bill calls for public health spending to be reduced by about €20 billion within the next four years, largely by chopping down special benefits like sick pay and coverage for expensive dental work. But a handful of members of parliament in Schröder's coalition of Social Democrats and Greens objected to the bill, saying it would be socially harmful because the cuts will hit low and medium wage earners especially hard. [...] SPD and Green critics of the bill said it would place an unfair burden on patients – with the majority of the cuts, €17 billion, to be shouldered by individual, and only €3 billion to be picked up by the health industry.
Posted by bubba138 at 06:34 AM | Comments (0) |
A Hummerdinger of a Tax Loophole, or Another Helping of the Same Old Stuff
Al Kamen reports on how an Anchorage Hummer dealer and the "rich" are abusing the system:
"Imagine being able to purchase the #1 large luxury SUV in America today . . . and receive a deduction for the entire purchase amount from your taxes this year!" "How is this possible?" Thorpe asks. "Thanks to the Bush administration's recent economic stimulus package, small businesses and the self-employed are eligible to deduct the entire purchase cost of new equipment up to $100,000 the year of the purchase."
The intent of the tax deduction is to help farms and small businesses in acquiring new equipment so their businesses would prosper, but these guys are mis-using it. But this isn't the real news.
The real news is that this is not news. A quick Google reveals that this story has been out since December of last year and is pulled out and rehashed on a regular basis.
The question here is why? Is this an issue that has real traction, or is it something that is replayed when the media has run out of things with which to bash Bush?
Admittedly, this is a thorny issue. But what is the solution? None of Bush's detractors have come up with a solution that both limits the abuse and accomplishes the purpose of helping small businesses and farmers. For them, sacrificing the struggling business owner is merely an acceptable cost when it comes to the larger issue of preventing the evils of wealth.
Yet, the same group that complains about this tax loophole, also blames Bush for the weak economy. Since this tax decuction is designed to stimulate the economy, is it working?
I think that would be a big "Yes."
Since the letter went out in August, Thorpe estimated his Anchorage dealership, the only one in the state, has sold an additional 35 Hummers at $62,000 each. That's pumping serious money into the local economy, a most substantial stimulus indeed.
Posted by bubba138 at 05:55 AM | Comments (0) |
September 25, 2003
Who Said It?
"And I'm very glad we've got the great team in office, men like Colin Powell, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice... people I know very well - our president George W. Bush. We need them there."
Who said it? None other than General Wesley Clark, two years ago at the Pulaski County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner in Little Rock, Arkansas.
I guess this is just another thing he's flip-flopped on.
Hat Tip: Ken WheatonPosted by bubba138 at 10:34 PM | Comments (0) |
Here Is Another
And yet another new university campus that hasn't been built in the last thirty-five years:
Expected to open in 2004 as the tenth campus in the renowned University of California system, UC Merced will be the first American research university built in the 21st century.
And Bustamante can't say he didn't know about this one, since he's been active in getting funding for it:
Bustamante used more of his power as speaker to fight a tough insider's game to get funding for the new University of California at Merced campus.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:24 AM | Comments (0) |
Who Won?
The question remains, who won the debate? LAObserved points out that everyone has his or her own winner, and the choice of winner is no where near overwhelming.
My conclusion? Other than an hour and a half of lively entertainment, the debate changed no one's mind. If your man was Arnie, then Arnie won. McClintock took the house by storm -- if you were a Tom supporter. The dyed-in-the-wool Democrats claim a Cruz victory. No one learned anything new from this debate.
"We see what we want to see, and we hear what we want to hear. "
-- Harry Nilson : The Point
Update: At least the Aussies were impressed with Arnold:
ANY doubts over Arnold Schwarzenegger's acting abilities may have finally been put to rest after he delivered an Academy Award winning performance as a politician. [...]But the star of the Terminator movies, who has so far avoided close scrutiny ahead of the October 7 recall election, returned fire with the ease of a veteran political combatant.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:15 AM | Comments (0) |
Recall Blog
The San Diego Union Tribune started a recall blog about two weeks ago. It's amazing what one finds in one's own backyard!
It is run by SDSU Poli-Sci professor Carl Luna. At least one blogger gives him high praise. Carl introduces his blog with this:
yes, I am familiar with the old adage “Those that can do and those that can’t teach.” I can at least take comfort in the fact that, as of late, many of those who do politics aren’t doing it all that well – like Gray Davis, who’s really been in deep do-do.
Today's entry delivers the best line of all the debate punditry I've seen thus far:
Actually, Mister Hollywood might have been on to something more than a cheap put down when he offered Arianna Huffington a role in Terminator 4. If Davis survives the recall or Cruz Bustamante pulls a rabbit out of the hat and wins the replacement ballot, maybe we can look forward to seeing more of the very lively dueling duo, Arnold and Arianna in their own sitcom next year. Hmmm --- a dizzy Redhead and a slightly confused, accented husband…has that ever been done before?
I can just see it now.
"Arianna, you've got some 'splainin to do!"
Update: Dale Franks has the second best line:
Arianna Huffington: Now I know why Michael Huffington turned gay.Peter Camejo: When the saucers land, he'll be the the first to volunteer as ambassador.
Posted by bubba138 at 07:48 AM | Comments (0) |
More Debate Reaction
The Daily Standard's Bill Whalen makes good observations about the debate. Here are some snippets:
Cruz Bustamante. It was not a good night for the Democratic lieutenant governor...cleverly confusing legal and illegal immigration and making the plight of Hispanic farm workers sound like a 21st Century version of the Joads. [I noticed that as well. I was pleased when McClintock called him on it.] Peter Camejo. Camejo spent too much time obsessing over national politics. In his closing statement, he ranted and raved about civil liberties. If he wants to be a serious gubernatorial candidate, Camejo should talk about the excesses of John Burton, the ultra-liberal leader of the state senate, not John Ashcroft.
Arianna Huffington. Where to start, except to say that Arianna was invited to a debate and did her best to turn it into vaudeville...She wore a shirt whose neckline had a deeper plunge than Gray Davis's favorable numbers; her behavior went even lower. Frat boys who chugged every time she mentioned the evil "Boooosh Admeeneestration" passed out around the 30-minute mark.
Tom McClintock. If debates are about clear and concise answers, then the conservative state senator was the night's winner...Unfortunately for McClintock, he saved his best moment for last. In his closing statement he neatly outlined how he differs from other recall candidates (he's the only one to take the tax pledge, oppose abortion, and support the Second Amendment). "I steer a straight course and I stay that course," he said.
Arnold Schwarzenegger. The problem was, Arnold couldn't resist taking Huffington's bait--she'd jab, he'd slug right back. "If you want to campaign against Bush, go to New Hampshire," he told her. And, after her misogyny crack: "I just realized that I have a perfect part for you in Terminator 4." Good for laughs? Yes. Good for his image? Debatable.
Posted by bubba138 at 07:37 AM | Comments (0) |
September 24, 2003
No New Universities
Matthew Hoy noticed the same thing I did during the debate: Cruz's claim that no new universities have been built in the last thirty five years is erroneous.
Here's another example:
1995 - California State University, Monterey Bay, a redevelopment of former military base Ft. Ord, admits first students.
Posted by bubba138 at 11:35 PM | Comments (0) |
California Debate: First Impressions
Note: Real time blogging on the debate begins here and the San Francisco Chronicle has posted a transcript of the debate.
Well, at the worst, that was entertaining. Here are my impressions:
Bustamante: Was he there? His performance almost put me to sleep. His most memorable point was that the state government had spent more than its income -- only to follow it up with suggesting the solution is to give the government more money.
Camejo: Get this guy a tinfoil hat -- quick! He consistently stated that our problems are the fault of nothing but the rich not paying their fair share. How does he figure the top 1% pay a lower tax rate than the average Californian?
Huffington: Other than snippy quips aimed at Arnold, she had absolutely nothing to add to the exchange. She couldn't stay on point throughout the entire proceeding.
McClintock: Undoubtably this is the only candidate at the table who has a realistic, well reasoned, detail oriented grasp of the this state's circumstances. Further, he's the only one who is taking this election entirely seriously. By far, McClintock is the best man for the job, and he showed it here. Tom's closing comments were at the same time very strong and risky (mentioning his pro-life stance). He and Arnold had the best of the closing comments.
Schwarzenegger: Decent, but not excellent performance. He spent much too much time bantering with Arianna. His comment about her having a part in Terminator IV was knumb-headed at best, very damaging at worst. He had a couple of bright spots, namely the "three strikes" comment and accusing the politicians of having a "tax and spend addiction". He stayed on point for most of the debate. He was weak on the "color-blind" question, but very strong on making "Kolie-vornia" a business friendly state.
Update: Greg Ransom's impressions of the debate are completely on target, while Kevin Murphy has decided to help Cruz get elected.
Here's Roger Simon's take. The best part:
Classic.
Camejo: An earnest socialist in an era when everyone knows socialism has been tried and failed hundreds of times. Touching, really. Arianna: one of the most bizarre human beings ever in American politics, the witch from the Wizard of Oz (and I don't mean Glenda!). Possibly a sociopath.
Update: John Hinderaker makes some apt observations:
Bustamante: Pretty much a cipher. He came across like an accountant; his technique of inserting sotto voce responses to Arnold's answers was annoying. His effort to defend the status quo and suggest that little is wrong in California was a non-starter. He didn't help himself, but may not have lost much ground either.Camejo: A typically earnest, incoherent Green. Full of bogus "statistics." All I can say is, if what he said made sense to you, vote for him. Please.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:08 PM | Comments (0) |
Closing Statements
Schwarzenegger: He recognizes this state is what has given him the opportunities to succeed. The greatest state in the greatest country in the world. The politicians are punishing the people for their own mistakes.
McClintock: We need a Governor that knows every inch of this government. He is the only candidate to do several things: Prop 54, pro-life, signed a no new tax pledge. He keeps the promises he makes.
Camejo: Fiscal crisis in California. Wealthy pay 30% lower tax rate than the normal person. Where is he getting his numbers?Civil liberties in California. He's talking Foreign policy, Kyoto and Iraq.
Huffington: This election has shown us the fund raising machines. Bring to Sacramento the priorities of a mother. Governor Mum!
Bustamante: He grew up in government housing. Dad opened a barber shop. He still needed three jobs to buy school clothes Doesn't that argue for a more business friendly state? Defend a women's right to choose.Posted by bubba138 at 07:17 PM | Comments (0) |
What to Do about Infrastructure
McClintock: Infrastructue has been ignored since 1974. Prop 53 is only a start--we need to go further.
Bustamante: Let's not romanticize: We need to build universities. Back to education again We haven't built a new university in California in the last 35 years. LIAR, LIAR Update: Liar is harsh, perhaps he's just mis-informed.
Huffington: She opposes prop 53: The money has to be taken out of somewhere. We need to do more than fix what we have.
Camejo: Opposed to prop 53: It's micro-managing. It should be able to self-finance. How? Pay fees to use infrastructure
Schwarzenegger: Agree with prop 53. Model ourselves after Texas He just lost what ever anti-Bush voters he may have had
Posted by bubba138 at 07:12 PM | Comments (0) |
State Money For Local Governments
Schwarzenegger: Important to have a good relationship with local governments. It is wrong for state to get property tax and then dole it back out to the local level. Continue with current services.
Camejo: Pete Wilson is your campaign manager -- he took these taxes from the local governments
Schwarzenegger: It's not going to be Pete in office it's going to be Arnold
Huffington: Off topic again -- Moderator has to reel her in. She wants to mess with Prop. 13 -- Get the rich people. --
Camejo: This is a mystery in California. Counties are starving for money. Pension funds are at risk.
McClintock: "I was one of the few who tried to stop Wilson from raiding the local governments" -- need to restore the independence of local governments. Mandated state costs on local government. State's can pay for mandates.
Bustamante: We agree on this issue. It's more than that--create better partnerships. Swap sales tax with property tax -- I'm not sure where he's going with this. We have a housing shortage -- I'm sure this has nothing to do with the eco-nazis discouraging developmentPosted by bubba138 at 07:04 PM | Comments (0) |
Business Friendly State
Bustamante: Need to invest in higher education. Investing in education is going to make this state more business friendly how?
Huffington: Prisons and education -- what does this have to do with business friendly state? Now she's promo-ing her website. Cruz is distancing himself from Davis again.
Bustamante: Fully funding education -- enough already.
McClintock: Four horsemen of this state's problem. Worker's comp, Taxation, regulation -- bureaucracy, reform tort system.
Camejo: Business unfriendly state is a myth. Actually the businesses are at fault. 67% of businesses have violated the law that wouldn't have anything to do over-regulation that is impossible to comply with, would it?
Schwarzenegger: We have the worst business climate in the nation. The only way to revive the economy and the state budget is to bring businesses back.Posted by bubba138 at 06:57 PM | Comments (0) |
How Do We Know When We Have a Color-Blind Society
Huffington: Prop 54 will prevent us from ever knowing we have a color-blind society.
Schwarzenegger: It is important to preach and practice tolerance. Governor cut textbook money for innner-city schools. (Cruz doesn't like being associated with Davis here) 6.6 unemployment rate in California -- breaks it down by demographic.
Bustamante: "I am the author of the textbook bill" -- As I recall the CTA wanted control over which textbooks the schools could use or they would not sign collective bargaining agreements.
back on pointProp 54 is bad. Equal opportunity doesn't come from tolerance it comes from acceptance.
McClintock: Disadvantaged children come in all colors. We need to serve people according to disadvantage, not race.
Camejo: Prop 54 is about promoting ignorance. Latinos pay a higher tax rate than European Americans. How did he come up with that?Posted by bubba138 at 06:47 PM | Comments (0) |
Health Care For Children of Illegals
Bustamante: Don't take it out on the children. Illegals are why our economy works.
Camejo: They pay taxes and receive almost no benefits? Euorpean descendants are the real immigrants who usurped the land from the original occupiers. Puh-leaze. It looks like Camejo is applying for membership in MEChA. How are they contributing to our tax base? Camejo objects to the term "illegal alien." What shall we call them, legally challenged immigrants?
Schwarzenegger: Important to take care of our children. Healthy family program in California. The problem is that 2/3rds of eligible people aren't using it. Arnold will promote it.
Bustamante: We do agree
Huffington: She's proud of Arnold! Driving is a basic right now. And again, she's off topic.
Schwarzenegger: No background check -- it is dangerous.
McClintock: These people are in violation of the nation's immigration laws! It is costing this state $4 billion a year. It undermines enforcement of our immigration laws Interesting observation. Amazing it took so long for something so patently obvious to be mentioned.Posted by bubba138 at 06:40 PM | Comments (0) |
Socialized Medicine
Camejo: Single payor system everybody covered--learn from Canada. Great. Who's to come up with new research when there is no profit motive?
Bustamante: Agree in principle but we cannot fund it.
Huffington: No cost controls. No implementing a bill without cost control. It's business's fault again. Now she's talking about publicly funded campaigns. Great we're off topic again.
Schwarzenegger: Cruz wants businesses to pay for it. Another reason for businesses to leave.
Bustamante: Walmart underpays people -- what does that have to do with California?
McClintock: The first impact of the bill will be to get people laid off. Give people a tax credit so they can choose their own health plan. He's done research and sounds like he knows what he's talking about.Posted by bubba138 at 06:34 PM | Comments (0) |
Car Tax
McClintock: I will reduce it by fiat
Camejo: Schwarzenegger: Agree with McClintock
Huffington: It is still Bush's fault that California is in the state it is in --- slams Arnold about womanizing. She doesn't belong in a serious debate. Again, off-topic.Posted by bubba138 at 06:31 PM | Comments (0) |
How Would You Propose Enhancing Revenue and / or What Would You Cut
McClintock: Three strikes law missed it. Its the lemon law that applies in this case. 38% Increase in State spending is the problem. Reorganize. Be more efficient, eliminate waste.
Camejo: Spend more and make the rich pay for it.
Huffington Close corporate tax loopholes. Another good reason for businesses to leave the state. She's going after Arnold now. Huge loopholes -- it's all Bush's fault.
Moderator: Stay on topic
Bustamante: Simply we spent more than was coming in. Face it "realistically." Time to do the tough things -- the hardest thing to do for a politician is raise taxes? What world is he from?
Huffington: Slams Cruz on Indian gaming tribes. OUCH.
McClintock: What makes you think your new taxes will be any better than Pete Wilson's tax increase
Bustamante: We believe that education is the most important thing in California. Our future really is our education.
Schwarzenegger: Politicians make a mistake...spending and spending and spending and the solution is to raise taxes? The politicians have a spending addiction, giving them more money won't fix the problem.
Huffington: Brings Bush back in Again off-topic.
Schwarzenegger: If you want to campaign against Bush campaign in New Hampshire.Posted by bubba138 at 06:19 PM | Comments (0) |
What is the top priority for the state?
Schwarzenegger: Make California a business friendly state
Huffington Everything Arnold said is completely untrue.
McClintock: Keeping Huffington accountable -- calling her on her socialist propaganda.
Camejo: Tom and Arnold are wrong. California is a business friendly state. This guy is really in la-la land People want to come here -- now he talks about the people who are coming have no jobs -- DUH! That's because the jobs leave with the businesses!
Bustamante: We have to fix workers comp. Create discounts for safe work sites.
McClintock: Let's replace our worker's comp with Arizona's -- provides the same services
Arianna and Cruz don't know how to allow people to have the floor
Huffington Deregulation is the problem. Is she saying that the reason the state is business unfriendly because we deregulated?
Schwarzenegger: Cruz & Arianna are spouting "pre-election bogus" statementsGet 'em terminator!
McClintock: People are leaving California
Schwarzenegger: Cruz and Arianna's statements are ridiculous -- three strikes law, you've had your two swings, now you're out!Posted by bubba138 at 06:10 PM | Comments (0) |
First Question
What do you think of this recall?
Schwarzenegger: This recall is because of special interest -- voters are Mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore
McClintock: Recall is so the voters can correct their mistake that was made at the ballot box
Camejo: What is he doing in this thing. Is Sharpton here as well?
Huffington: Ditto. Again.
Bustamante: "I think the recall is a bad idea" -- of course he thinks socializing petrol is a good ideaPosted by bubba138 at 06:05 PM | Comments (0) |
Gubernatorial Debate
6:00 The debate is beginning. Candidates and moderator are being introduced.
Debate's purpose is to see the candidates in verbal combat.Posted by bubba138 at 06:00 PM | Comments (0) |
Honesty in the Debates
The Bee's editorial staff is looking for honesty in tonight's debates:
And one sign of that will be their willingness and ability to meet the "No Free Lunch Test." Will they be honest and specific with voters in telling them that Californians can't have something for nothing? That means Schwarzenegger and state Sen. Tom McClintock must be candid about cutting the vehicle license fee. If they again say they want to eliminate it, voters should listen to hear if they also tell us that California must do without the local police, fire and library services now supported by that tax.
It means that Lt. Gov Cruz Bustamante, Schwarzenegger and McClintock must go beyond bromides in talking about cutting the state budget. What should be cut? Prisons? Health care for children? Nursing homes for seniors? Access to community colleges?
Posted by bubba138 at 08:24 AM | Comments (0) |
Day By Day
Posted by bubba138 at 07:43 AM | Comments (0) |
September 23, 2003
Axis of Weasels Alert
It is amazing where the "weasels" meme turns up:
If not rapidly reversed, the World Trade Organisation talks' collapse at Cancun last Sunday has long term effects far more significant than the short term ones. It could cause immense difficulties for the open, fast growing economies of Asia ("tigers") while greatly alleviating the pressure for reform in the sluggish polities of continental Europe ("weasels.") [...] With the exception of a possible Japan/India deal, therefore, it's all pretty gloomy -- except in one area, the protectionist countries of continental Europe, exemplified by the "weasels" France and Germany, but also including the non-weasel but demographically very challenged Italy. [...]
Hence a rise in protectionism, raising tariff walls around Europe, reduces the competition for "weasel" industries only to Britain (which they do not fear, particularly under a high-tax Labor government) and Eastern Europe, where they (maybe wrongly) feel they can exert political muscle to prevent serious encroachment.
Scott Ott ought to be proud.
Here's the best line of this article:
Miracles never cease.
Raise a glass in congratulation to Jacques Chirac. At Cancun, his objectives were achieved -- and almost nobody is blaming France, for once.
Posted by bubba138 at 04:19 PM | Comments (0) |
Well...
Posted by bubba138 at 04:14 PM | Comments (0) |
What Arafat Deserves
"I want to be honest and I don't care what they say, I believe ... it was right to give him [Arafat] the Nobel Prize."
Who said this? Howard Dean? A left-wing Berkeley professor? Bill Clinton?
Nope. Shimon Peres, leader of Israel's Labor Party.
Go figure.Posted by bubba138 at 02:09 PM | Comments (0) |
No, Really?
This CBS headline goes beyond overstating the obvious:
Posted by bubba138 at 11:52 AM | Comments (0) |
Très Frais?
If I ever become a cheese-eating surrender monkey, Slings and Arrows will look like this.
Posted by bubba138 at 11:24 AM | Comments (0) |
We're Having an Election
Did you notice that it was a unanimous decision?
A federal appeals court Tuesday unanimously reinstated California's Oct. 7 gubernatorial recall election, less than a day after hearing arguments to postpone the historic showdown. [...]
The appeals court reinstated a ruling by a district court judge who had refused to postpone the election. The judges based their decision on the state's constitution, not any precedent set by Bush v. Gore."The district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that plaintiffs will suffer no hardship that outweighs the stake of the state of California and its citizens in having this election go forward as planned and as required by the California constitution," the ruling said.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:19 AM | Comments (0) |
Added Apprehension
This doesn't help alleviate my unsettled feelings:
Calling [Pete Wilson] the former Republican governor "one of the worst ... in our state's history," McClintock criticized Schwarzenegger for retaining Wilson as one of his chief campaign advisers and said the Republican front-runner in the Oct. 7 recall election has not unequivocally agreed not to raise taxes to repair the state's fiscal crisis. Schwarzenegger has "surrounded himself with the team that produced the biggest tax increase in the state's history, back in 1991, a tax increase that broke the back of our economy and turned a recession into a near-depression," McClintock, a Republican, said in an interview with The Bee Capitol Bureau.
Tom McClintock has chosen his primary target -- and it is not Bustamante. He has proven himself willing to sacrifice the entire state on the Republican altar.
You may recall the 1995 movie Apollo 13 staring Tom Hanks. There's a scene in the movie when the entire crew knows they only have the slimmest of chances to get home. Yet, as they near the moon -- so close they can almost touch it -- Tom Hank's crew mates eye the surface with visible desire. You know, at that moment, the only thing they can think of is landing on Luna and exploring her mysteries. Gone is the reality that deviating -- only slightly -- from their improvised plans to get home would spell out sure doom. It is in that very moment that Tom Hanks' character asks the bracing question:
"Gentlemen, what are your intentions?"
The question is cold water in his crew mate's faces. They realize they have to make a choice -- and choose life over ambition. Survival over glory.
The very same question faces Californian Republicans today. McClintock is bent on ambition. Is that wrong? Not at all, but the timing is. Is McClintock the right man for the highest seat in the state? Undoubtably, but not now. We -- and I refer to the entire state, not just Republicans -- face financial destruction. If Bustamante is elected California is certain to get worse than we can imagine. So the question must be asked, and loudly,
"McClintock supporters, what are your intentions?"Posted by bubba138 at 08:19 AM | Comments (0) |
Recall Apprehension
I have been growing more and more apprehensive over the recall in recent days. With McClintock joining forces with BustaMEChA against Schwarzenegger over the debate format, and the mere fact that we still have two Republican candidates in the race, I am becoming more concerned that the recall is going to leave us in a worse state than the one in which we currently find ourselves.
The bottom line here is that if the Republican vote is divided, BustaMEChA will be our next governor. Bank on it. Tom McClintock does not have the numbers to get elected, but he does have enough support to kill Arnold Schwarzenegger.
What's worse, the state has already received tens of thousands of absentee ballots -- many of which one can expect have McClintock checked as the voter's choice. So, like it or not, the vote is already split to some extent. Darrell Issa agrees:
Congressman Darrell Issa (EYE'-suh) is afraid that Republican state senator Tom McClintock and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger will split conservative support -- and guarantee a victory for Democratic Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante (boost-ah-MAHN'-tay) if California's governor is recalled. So now Issa says one of the two Republicans must drop out -- or he'll dramatically reverse his stance and start calling for the recall to be defeated.
I heard the audio clip on the radio this morning. Rep. Issa stated adamantly that if there are two Republicans on the ballot on October 7th then the wise choice would be to vote against the recall. Think about that for a second. Darrell Issa is the man who almost single-handedly funded the effort to get the recall onto the ballot. Now he's encouraging people to vote against the very thing for which he fought so hard and paid so dearly.
There are only fourteen days left before the election (assuming the 9th circuit court allows it). Unless Tom McClintock drops out -- and I mean now -- we're doomed.Posted by bubba138 at 07:18 AM | Comments (0) |
September 22, 2003
More On Clark
Baldilocks has dug up a bunch on General Clark and doesn't like what he sees. (Not to mention the fact that having ten Democrats in the race spoils the use of the term Nazgûl -- that hasn't stopped me though!)
Posted by bubba138 at 04:36 PM | Comments (0) |
Wesley Clark: Core Beliefs
It is of great import to know what the chore beliefs of our Presidential Candidates are. Because they've been campaigning since February 2001, we know what the beliefs of the nazgul (the original nine) are, but what about new-comer Clark?
Lucky for us, Mr. Clark's positions on the touchiest issues have been summed up here.
Hat Tip: M. Costello at Bare Knuckled Truth.Posted by bubba138 at 04:07 PM | Comments (0) |
Slanted Coverage
Yet another account refutes -- and even goes further, blames combat deaths upon -- the slanted media coverage coming from Iraq:
Most assuredly this was written by one of Bush's lackeys. There is no way it could have been written by Democratic Congressman Jim Marshall, is there?
Our currently stated objectives are to establish reasonable security and foster the creation of a secular, representative government with a stable market economy that provides broad opportunity throughout Iraqi society. Attaining these objectives in Iraq would inevitably transform the Arab world and immeasurably increase our future national security. These are goals worthy of a fight, of sacrifice, of more lives lost now to save thousands, perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands in the future. In Mosul last Monday, a colonel in the 101st Airborne put it to me quite simply: "Sir, this is worth doing." No one I spoke with said anything different. And I spoke with all ranks.
But there will be more Blumbergs killed in action, many more. So it is worth doing only if we have a reasonable chance of success. And we do, but I'm afraid the news media are hurting our chances. They are dwelling upon the mistakes, the ambushes, the soldiers killed, the wounded, the Blumbergs. Fair enough. But it is not balancing this bad news with "the rest of the story," the progress made daily, the good news. The falsely bleak picture weakens our national resolve, discourages Iraqi cooperation and emboldens our enemy.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:57 PM | Comments (0) |
Busted!
He wants more of our money even though he cannot handle his own legally:
It's rare; but from time to time the good guys win one.
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante had used his old campaign account for the 2002 election to raise money above the limits set by Proposition 34. But a Sacramento County judge said Bustamante's acceptance of more than $4 million from Indian tribes and labor unions into that account violated the constitutional amendment voters approved in 2000.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:49 PM | Comments (0) |
Honeymoon for Clark
A Newsweek poll shows that Clark is enjoying a honeymoon with the voters:
CLARK WON SUPPORT from 14 percent registered Democrats and democratic leaners, outpacing former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (12 percent), Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman (12 percent), Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (10 percent) and Missouri Congressman Dick Gephardt (8 percent).
American like new things, and it looks like being the new kid on the block isn't hurting Clark. However, as the newness wears off, I expect Dean will be back on top after this week. Further, it looks as if the furor over Clark is limited to the Democratic core:
When registered voters were asked who they would vote for if a general election if President George W. Bush was pitted against Clark, Kerry or Dean, none of the candidates were able to beat the incumbent, although Clark fared better than the others, polling at 43 percent to Bush’s 47 percent. Kerry was next, polling at 43 percent to Bush’s 48 percent. Dean fared worst, with Bush beating him by a full 14 points (52 percent to 38 percent).
Posted by bubba138 at 11:50 AM | Comments (0) |
Recall Back In Court
The session is scheduled to begin right about now. Here's an interesting tidbit:
If history is any indication, a federal judicial panel is likely to reinstate the Oct. 7 date for the recall election. The same federal appeals court that ordered the election postponed last week will re-hear the matter Monday in San Francisco. This time, though, an 11-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court will get the case. The earlier ruling was by a three-judge panel.
Only rarely does the circuit agree to rehear its smaller panel's decisions, and the 11 judges seem to be more conservative thinkers than the original three.
That's why observers predict the postponement will be lifted.
A study by a University of Pittsburgh law professor found that, during a five-year period, 11-judge panels of the 9th Circuit voted to overturn earlier three-judge decisions in 49 out of 65 cases.
Wow -- that's means only 24.6% of the three member panel judgments actually stick. I know if I got less than a fourth of my decisions wrong I'd soon be looking for work. I guess government works differently.
-- "They gave us money and facilities, we didn't have to produce anything. You've never been in the private sector. They expect results. " -- Dr. Raymond StanzPosted by bubba138 at 11:13 AM | Comments (0) |
We're Out
And none too soon:
The last few American combat troops pulled out of the Prince Sultan Air Base here earlier this month, officially closing the Persian Gulf headquarters used by the Air Force during both Iraq wars and concluding a nearly 13-year run of extensive United States military operations in Saudi Arabia.
This should dampen the rhetoric of those who condemn the war in Iraq by saying we should not be allies with the Saudis. I say "should dampen" knowing that the shrill whines will continue.
However, clear thinking can only see this as another move in the restructuring of the Middle East. We are distancing ourselves from those that support terrorism, and the House of Saud is one of those places.Posted by bubba138 at 08:43 AM | Comments (0) |
The Caucasian Club - Reprise
Here's more on the Caucasian club I mentioned last week:
Lisa is pushing for a Caucasian Club in an effort, she says, to break down racial barriers while embracing European American heritage. Lisa said she hopes her club, like the Black Student Union and Latinos Unidos on campus, is seen as a haven for those who don't fit into such categories even though all clubs at Freedom are open to everyone. [...] ``The issue was settled when the Power of Unity was formed. That was the club for all people,'' Byers said. ``In my mind a lot of thought and a lot of discussion and concern was placed in the decision to form this Power of Unity club.''
Power of Unity is an umbrella organization for the cultural clubs at Freedom.
Byers added that should the matter go before trustees, she would consider it like any other item.
``If it's brought to the board we'll give it fair consideration,'' she said
First Byers says the issue has been settled in the formation of the "Power of Unity" club, then she says the board will give Lisa McClelland's proposal "fair consideration." Is it just me or are those two statements mutually exclusive?
The most honest person opposed to the new club is a student:
Now where do you suppose she got a divisive idea like that? Perhaps from...her club?
Junior Charnae Mosley, peace keeper of Freedom's Black Student Union, said the idea of a Caucasian Club seemed unfocused. "Caucasian is broad, it's not one specific thing,'' the 16-year-old said. "There's no need for a Caucasian Club because they're not a minority.''
It is also impossible to discriminate against Caucasians, because they're not a minority.
Posted by bubba138 at 07:44 AM | Comments (0) |
Did You Hear?
If you haven't read about the SacBee forcing a dog collar onto their star blogger and opinion columnist Daniel Weintraub, where have you been? This round up should catch you up:
1: L.A. Observed points out that Wientraub has no editor filtering his output when he goes on TV or radio.
2: Priorities & Frivolities is comparing the SacBee to our governor -- a schill for speacial interests.
3: Sean at Gibberish in Neutral says we should expect more of this from the print media types.
4: fresh potatoes equates the SacBee with Iraq's "minders" -- OUCH -- and urges blogdom to boycott SacBee's Fly On the Wall blog.
5: Xrlq at damnum absque injuria has gone on the offensive and written SacBee's ombudsman, Tony Marcano.
6: Chuck Kane says it's just plain scary.
7: The man who wouldn't be King at SCSUScholars says the SacBee has the right to do what it has done -- but it was a poor decision anyway.
Finally, Hugh Hewitt wieghs in implying [no implication here, he's strongly stating -- Ed.] that this is a message to all reporters:
He also provides links to several other blog posts on the subject.
We will never see what gets left on the Bee floor, but we know what got Weintraub assigned minders. It is a great bet that Weintraub won't be slamming Bustamante and the Caucus with the same fervor any time soon. Weintraub will still write what he believes, I am sure, but the editors know what displeases Rodrigues. And surely the message has gone out to the Bee's reporters: Lay off Cruz.
Posted by bubba138 at 06:20 AM | Comments (0) |
September 21, 2003
Huh? and HUH?
Does anyone have any idea what this means?
I ran it through this but it did not help much.
Had interesting things to write today, but when I logged on about half past lunchtime the DW was DoWn. Bailz was on the case and it turned out there was a glomp in the colonel and the kiloborks got re-ringted through the UK and lost somewhere under the Canary Islands. Meanwhile. Peter stared at naked women. Adam thumped a fare-evader. Gareth paid a shocker in the goalsquare. Sam slept.
Posted by bubba138 at 04:14 PM | Comments (0) |
What Was I Thinking?
I've been found! Jim is kind of subtle with his viewpoints, but if you look hard you'll see what he really means.
Then again, he's recommending a classic from rock's greatest ever progressive band -- that rates a permalink in my book.Posted by bubba138 at 02:59 PM | Comments (0) |
September 20, 2003
Back in August I wrote
Back in August I wrote twice about Christianity's place in the civil political arena. Yesterday, David Roach of BP News weighed in with his take:
Referencing the writings of Carl Henry, Moore said that in order for Christians to engage effectively in political activity, they must think through three foundational areas of theology. First, Christians must think through their beliefs about the end times and Christ's second coming.
"In order for evangelicals to engage politically, we have got to come to some common understanding of eschatology," Moore said. [...]
"There are going to be successes. There are going to be failures, but ultimately we do not bring in the Kingdom. Christ brings in the Kingdom."
This is one thing that has always left me perplexed. If you were to ask, you would find the majority of those who are protesting outside abortion clinics and gay rights marches hold a pre-millennial (meaning Christ's thousand year reign has yet to come), pre-tribulation (meaning Christians will be taken to heaven before judgment comes) viewpoint. In other words, their own eschatology says the world is destined to go to hell in a hand basket before the return of Christ. Yet they act as if the church itself can prevent the world's deterioration.
I've just given you the skeleton of his article, go read the whole thing. Although I don't agree with everything his says, Mr. Roach makes some good points -- and dialogue on this issue is never a waste of time.
Second, Christians must think through their beliefs about the doctrine of salvation. [...] In reality, however, salvation should include both personal regeneration and social transformation, Moore said. [...]
Third, Christians must think through their beliefs about the church.
The church is simultaneously a colony of heaven awaiting future salvation and a people of God modeling His standards to the world, Moore said. And as the people of God, the church must speak to political issues.
Posted by bubba138 at 06:43 AM | Comments (0) |
September 19, 2003
The Other Republican
Bob Chandra isn't too happy with Tom McClintock. I can't say I blame him:
In recent days, Tom McClintock, the "other Republican" in California's recall race, has accepted a million dollars spent on his behalf by a left-wing special interest group. He has claimed that a Democrat victory in the recall election would be desirable, as it would better his chances in 2006. And he has joined with Democrat Cruz Bustamante in a boycott against fellow Republican, Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is the man we're supposed to believe represents the conscience of conservatism? At the end of the day, Tom McClintock's Faustian Pact with the Left has made one thing clear - it's all about Tom McClintock.
Posted by bubba138 at 04:38 PM | Comments (0) |
Lunch With Arafat
Here is an insightful interview with Yasser Arafat:
Woodruff: Are you able to control the street? Arafat: I am doing my best.
Woodruff: Does Hamas have more control that you?
Arafat: You have to know we are the authority of the Palestinians — that has been recognized by all the Palestinians.
Woodruff: If you want to control suicide bombers, can you stop them?
Arafat: We have stopped them and we've succeeded.
Woodruff: Can you stop them again?
Arafat: Yes, and yesterday they had called, they are ready to return back to truce.
Woodruff: Do you want to stop them now?
Arafat: What?
Woodruff: Do you want to stop the suicide bombers now?
Arafat: Ask them and ask your American representatives how many times we have succeeded to stop the suicide bombers and arrest them.
Woodruff: But do you have the power now to stop them?
Arafat: You are not fair and thank you.
Boom. Interview done. Plainly speaking, Arafat believes he has the power to stop organizations like Hamas and Islamic Jihad from their acts but refuses to do so. Once again he proves what he really is: a bloodthirsty, murderous terrorist.
Oh, by the way, Yasser Arafat is a Nobel Peace prize winner.Posted by bubba138 at 04:25 PM | Comments (0) |
Lunch With the General
Prof. Yin had lunch with General Wesley Clark today.
Check in with him later today to get more details of the event.Posted by bubba138 at 03:37 PM | Comments (0) |
The En Banc is On
Here's the AP report.
An 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is set to reconsider on Monday a decision postponing the October 7 California gubernatorial recall, the court decided Friday.
Posted by bubba138 at 12:13 PM | Comments (0) |
Best Line of the Day
Jay Leno
Al Gore is coming to California to help Gray Davis campaign. And they’re a good team. You put those two together, they’re almost a personality. That’s kind of like Yanni going on tour with John Tesh.
Posted by bubba138 at 11:30 AM | Comments (0) |
Racism In the Texas Senate?
That's what the Democrats are charging:
However, Democrats accused their Anglo colleagues of trying to create "second-class" citizens of minority senators and their minority constituents. "I haven't been treated this way since I was a little Mexican kid in elementary school. It's kind of nauseating," said Sen. Frank Madla, D-San Antonio, a conservative Democrat who represents part of El Paso.
Madla said he got his "first taste of what white supremacy was like" as a young first-grade student. "I think what you saw on the Senate floor today was just that."
The racial or ethnic part of the debate can't be ignored because "the reality speaks for itself," Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, said. "If you look at us and you look at them, the differences are clear. They have created a group of second-class senators, and every member of that second class is either African-American or Mexican-American or represents minorities."
Well, I guess one could argue that all the Senators represent minorities, but let's go ahead and take up Ms. Zaffirini's challenge. Here are some of those Texas State Senators. Can you pick out the Democrats?
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Posted by bubba138 at 09:00 AM | Comments (0) |
9th Circuit Short Circuit
Prestopundit has several spot-on posts about the ninth circuit court.
And do as Greg Ransom suggests: read Jill Stewart's Turkey Watch. It'll be good for your blood pressure -- NOT!Posted by bubba138 at 08:40 AM | Comments (0) |
Send Out the Clones
Bad news for PPL Therapeutics:
PPL Therapeutics, the company behind Dolly the Sheep, yesterday put itself up for sale. Chief executive Geoff Cook immediately stood down along with four other directors.
You may or may not know (I didn't) that Dolly the cloned sheep had to be put down last February:
A decision was taken to "euthanase" six-year-old Dolly after a veterinary examination showed that she had a progressive lung disease, the institute said in a statement.
Couple that with the pig clones that never made it past the six month mark and (correct me if I'm wrong) we have a perfect track record: there have been absolutely no instances of successful cloning so far.
Yet, that hasn't stopped researcher's drive to clone humans. The next step, cloning primates, is in process as we speak.Posted by bubba138 at 08:17 AM | Comments (0) |
A Warning We Should Heed
Yuval Levin at Tech Central Station warns us about dreams of Utopia:
They just might be right.
But the story of the murderous utopianisms of the 20th century should nonetheless teach us a lesson about the danger of allowing the promise of science to blind us to the necessity of politics. Essentially all of the most destructive utopian fantasies of that dark age -- from the eugenics of early 20th century American progressives, to the historical science of the communists, to the genetic theories of the Nazis and beyond -- advanced themselves under the banner of what they called science, and succeeded as they did because too many people were open to the proposition that science held all the answers, and could provide relief from the pain and the trouble of politics. Ironically, that very belief, and that very utopian zeal, led to the birth of the most oppressive and intrusive governments in human history, culminating in the Soviet state. [...]
Today, in some limited but prominent libertarian circles, utopianism is back. The focus of its hopes and energies is not government, of course, but rather, once more, modern science -- in this case particularly biomedical science and biotechnology. [...]
Like most utopians, this newest lot believes that their ideal will be realized without coercion or force, without discord and malevolence, because what it offers is what everyone wants, or should want.
Perhaps they're right.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:00 AM | Comments (0) |
ELF Attack
The Earth Liberation Front is at it again:
SAN DIEGO -- A fire that destroyed three homes under construction was the work of the eco-terrorist group Earth Liberation Front, officials said. [...] The California Highway Patrol on its Web site reported the blaze as an "Earth Liberation Front fire." The group is a loose association of militant environmentalists and previously has claimed responsibility for acts of arson and vandalism.
A banner was hung on a building near the fire, but no information was being immediately released on its content, said Officer Rich Vergara of the San Diego Police Department.
The Earth Liberation Front took responsibility for a $50 million arson blaze in August that destroyed a five-story apartment building in the University City areao of San Diego that was under construction. The group also said it started a $1 million fire that destroyed about a dozen vehicles at a Hummer dealership near Los Angeles last month.
Posted by bubba138 at 07:53 AM | Comments (0) |
We'll Handle It, Thank You
Since our state politicians can't get the job done, the morning DJ's at San Diego's country station KSON have decided to do what they can to help the state's budget problem:
They're already off to a great start. About 15 minutes ago they announced they had raised almost $150. Our problems are almost over!
Tony & Kris Bake Sale to pay off California's Debt!
Tony and Kris are inviting everyone to come out to their bake sale that will hopefully pay off the $38 billion deficit the state of California is facing. They've asked their friends in the country music industry to help, and several artists are preparing items that will be available at the bake sale. Local celebrities are also taking part.
Jo Dee Messina and her
Magic Bars
Steve Wariner and his
wife's chocolate chip cookies.
Reba McEntire is sharing her chocolate fudge brownies with us -- she’s a California resident Clint Black is sending us some oatmeal cookies with California raisins Jo Dee Messina is making some delicious Magic Bars Tracy Byrd and his children will be making M&M cookies Steve Wariner will be sending some of his wife’s famous chocolate chip cookies.
Posted by bubba138 at 07:33 AM | Comments (0) |
September 18, 2003
California Fundamentalism
Thomas Sewel is identifying the strong fundamentalist presence in our fins state. No, not the Jerry Falwell brand, Tom's speaking of liberal fundamentalism. And Cruz BustaMEChA is one of the chiefs:
Brutal? Yep, but it does accurately describe the situation in California.
Meanwhile, Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante, running for governor in the recall election, has denounced businesses for not paying "their share" of taxes and for violating an "unwritten social contract" by not providing enough benefits to their employees. Just what is the right share of California's high taxes for business to pay? In one word: More. And just what is in this unwritten social contract? Whatever Bustamante says is in it. [...]
To liberal fundamentalists, the answer to all problems is higher taxes. The very thought of cutting spending is taboo to them.
In other parts of the country, liberals have to dilute their liberalism with a certain amount of concessions to reality. But no such galling compromises are necessary in order to get elected in California.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:53 PM | Comments (0) |
What Makes Ours Different Better?
Do you know what makes United States of America's constitution better than other countries?
John Ray knows.Posted by bubba138 at 03:42 PM | Comments (0) |
What's the Point?
The Department of the Treasury will spend $53 million over the next five years on a public relations campaign to market new money... "The goal is public education, to build awareness and trust," said Dawn Haley, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP).
How stupid is this? The press has done its job in building awareness. As far as trust is concerned, the first time I use one of these new bills and the zit-faced pre-adult hands me my greasy Big Mac trust will have been established.
No wonder we have a budget deficit.Posted by bubba138 at 02:42 PM | Comments (0) |
More Abortion Views
How's this for inserting editorial opinion into a "hard" news story:
The so-called partial birth abortion ban -- the first federal law that would restrict a woman's right to abortion -- moved one step closer to President Bush's signature Wednesday when the Senate, which had refused to send the bill to a conference with the House, agreed unanimously to do so.
Just what does the author mean when she says its the "so called" partial birth abortion ban? What else would it be called? Anyone who knows anything about this gruesome "procedure" understands why it is called partial birth abortion. The child is all but born -- head crowning, but not yet all the way out -- when the "doctor" stabs the infant in the back of the skull with a sharp instrument, piercing the baby's brain and killing him or her. It is only "so-called" to callous anti-lifers.
Ms. Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the (surprise!) New York Times continues by quoting anti-lifer Kate Michelman, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America:
Who does she quote from the other side about this? No one, of course. No one in the article asks the question exactly how the infants feel about these "safe medical procedures."
We're one step closer to President Bush putting the government in between women and their doctors and becoming the first president ever to criminalize safe medical procedures.
Posted by bubba138 at 01:49 PM | Comments (0) |
Abortion Views And Laws
Dean Esmay is noticing a shift in American (especially female) views on abortion:
A sea change is coming on this. Like it or not, it's coming, and I see absolutely no reason to think it can be turned around. Nor do I see any justification whatsoever for blaming "religious fundamentalism" for it. In fact, I think anyone who tries to blame "religious fervor" is, at best, an intellectually lazy thumbsucker. Or just a witless, kneejerk bigot. Just try asking female physicians about it. Especially female physicians like these.
Couple that with the coming legislation on partial-birth abortion that should be reaching the President's desk soon:
The Senate voted unanimously Sept. 17 to send its version of a partial-birth abortion ban to conference, and along the way watched two senators revive a longstanding debate about the merits of Roe v. Wade. By a vote of 93-0 the Senate sent its version of a partial-birth abortion ban to a conference with the House of Representatives, which had already passed its version and sent it to conference. When the House and Senate pass bills with different language, a conference is called to work out the differences.
The Senate version has an amendment that pro-lifers want to see stripped -- an affirmation of support for the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. Although it is nonbonding, it is nevertheless offensive to many senators and representatives who oppose abortion.
Take one guess as to who put that amendment into the bill's language: yep, our own Barbara Boxer:
But some Democrats saw danger in Mrs. Boxer's strategy. "I personally think it's a little risky," a Senate aide said. "What if you don't get the votes? Why put senators in a box twice?" As it turned out, Mrs. Boxer did get the votes — all of them, even that of Mr. Santorum, who argued vigorously on the Senate floor that "millions of children have died as a result of Roe v. Wade." [...]
"We think we snookered her," [a senior Senate Republican aide] said. "By having everybody support it, it's kind of hard for her to spin it as a unanimous vote for Roe v. Wade." [...]
"Senator Boxer really made herself look silly," Mr. Johnson said. "Everybody knows that the conference committee will convene for the sole purpose of dropping" the Roe language. "She knows it, we know it, everybody in the press gallery knows it. She's suffering a big defeat."
Posted by bubba138 at 01:25 PM | Comments (0) |
The Ultimate Thrill
Andres Gentry comments on one young lady's attitude toward her naturalization:
Ethnicity only seems to be a factor for those in the second and third generations. The immigrants themselves understand what we don't -- the taste of freedom newly experienced.
This sort of expansive view of what it means to be an American is exactly what I'm talking about. There is no mention of her religion: that is her private affair. As for her ethnicity, it self-evidently hasn't held her back from becoming an American or being accepted as an American. And as regards history and blood, Ms Mujkanovic seems as happily American (probably more because she appreciates what it means) as any Daughter of the American Revolution. Religion, ethnicity, history: one or a combination of two or three of these things rendered asunder Bosnia. Ms Mujkanovic's 11 years in the States have proven more compelling than the 100s of years necessary to develop the hatreds that tore apart her home country. It is just another example of the shocking power of the ideals enshrined in the Constitution.
Posted by bubba138 at 12:25 PM | Comments (0) |
A Day In Baghdad
From Steve Mumford's Baghdad Journal:
There's a bunch more. Go. Now. Read.
"A couple of years ago I made a painting with a shepherd playing a flute, leading some sheep. Zahra [Kadhimi, the Canadian journalist killed by police recently in Iran] was visiting, and you know what she did? She asked me right at the opening what the painting meant!" He and Naseer Hassan, a poet, shake their heads in wonder. Naseer explains: "Look, in Saddam's time you would never ask such a question; there is no possible answer. You must say it means nothing and sound like an idiot. If you even hesitate it will be noted. Ears are everywhere." [...]
The talk turns to western activist groups in Baghdad, and then to two young women from the activist group Voices in the Wilderness, who we met yesterday at the Shebander Teahouse downtown. They attracted a lot of attention in the smoky, densely packed cafe, which otherwise was occupied only by men.
Naseer, who was particularly interested in the redheaded woman, says sadly, "We disagreed about everything. She wants to have solidarity with the Iraqis against the American occupation. I said to her, 'Do you realize that if we were talking this way last year about Saddam we could be executed for it?'"
"Then she tells me something that is really kind of ignorant and offensive. She says that the Iraqis on the governing council are traitors. I tell her, no, I think they are some kind of heroes. I did not get really angry at her; she had been shot in the leg by soldiers in Israel, where she was protesting -- for some reason I felt I had to be gentle with her. But you know, at least Israel is a democracy. We could learn some things from it."
Posted by bubba138 at 12:16 PM | Comments (0) |
Boortz and Democratic Polling
More from Neal:
Leftists are proudly celebrating polls showing that an "unnamed Democrat" would beat George Bush in 2004. Well, guess what? There will be no "unnamed Democrat" on the ballot in 2004. The Democratic candidate will be named, and as soon as the name is known to the voters things don't look quite so good. Examples: In the latest polls where Democratic candidates are actually named Bush beats Kerry and Dean by 15%, Gephardt and Gore by 12%, Lieberman by 11%, and Hitlary by 10%. The others, Brown, Sharpton and Kucinich aren't named because their candidacies are regarded as jokes and they don't have a chance in hell, as they say.
Didn't I say that already? Here's something I didn't say:
Joy.
Here's one thing you won't learn reading the New York Times or The Washington Post, or listening to CNN. It's a historical look at presidential polling. First, every single incumbent president (Bush is the incumbent, for those of you who graduated from government schools) has been behind in the polling moving to reelection. This goes for Reagan, Clinton and for George Bush (41) when he was Reagan's vice president.
You are hearing much made of Bush's declining approval numbers. At the same point in his first term Ronald Reagan's approval ratings were lower than Bush's are now .. at 47%. Clinton's approval ratings were even lower, at 44%.
So ... while the joyous leftists in the media are trumpeting Bush's low poll numbers, it might give you some comfort to know that they're higher than either Reagan's or Clinton's at the same time in their presidency.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:50 AM | Comments (0) |
Boortz And the Recall
Neal Boortz has something to say about the accuracy of the punch card machines:
Yep, we sure could.
Two respected institutions, The California Institute of Technology and MIT, conducted a study of error rates with various voting machines. Would any of you care to guess the results? Well, you don't have to ... because I have them right here. Here are the error rates .. the percentages of votes cast with errors, using different types of machines: Optical scanners have an error rate of 3.3%
Touch screen systems have an error rate of 3.0%
Data Vote systems have an error rate of 3.2%
Punch Cards? They have an error rate of 2.5% ... the best of the bunch.Isn't that just typical of the way things go today? Those evil punch card voting machines turned out to be the most error free of the machines in use today. The full 9th Circuit Court will have this information when considering the earlier decision of its three judge panel. We could see a reversal here.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:45 AM | Comments (0) |
The Bible Is Illegal
Canada has just criminalized parts of the Bible and the Qu'ran:
MPs have approved extending legislation to protect gays and lesbians from hate speech. Bill C-250, sponsored by New Democrat MP Svend Robinson, urged including sexual orientation into the country's hate propaganda law in the Criminal Code.
Both free speech and free exercise of religion are threatened by this bill. I know its not the U.S., but I never thought I'd live to see the day when a civilized Western society. The bill's sponsor says there is no threat to these rights:
In an effort to appease their concerns, Robinson added an amendment Wednesday afternoon which made it clear opinions expressed on religious beliefs would be exempt from the legislation.
Yet Robinson's actions show what he really has in mind:
"Mr. Robinson objected to a sign held by a peaceful protestor on Parliament Hill: "Homosexuality - objective disorder tending to deviant acts." When Mr. Robinson threatened to have the Sergeant-at-Arms remove it, the protestor did so himself. The sign was later replaced with one that read, "Sexual orientation. Defeat of reason. Protecting disorder." Mr. Robinson seized that sign and threw it over a wall when the protestor declined to remove it. It was later reported that the RCMP were investigating the legality of the signs."
So it isn't a matter of making "hate-speech" illegal, but defining what is and is not "hate-speech." To Robinson and his cohorts, "hate-speech" is any language that condemns his gay lifestyle.
Hat tip: Relapsed Catholic
Afterthought: Andrew Sullivan is so far silent about this. As a confessing Catholic steeped in the gay lifestyle it will be interesting to see his take.Posted by bubba138 at 08:08 AM | Comments (0) |
Who Killed Jesus
The tone of the discussion around the upcoming release of Mel Gibson's film "The Passion" has nothing to do with the central figure of the movie, but instead people are talking about whether or not the movie is anti-Semitic because it blames Jesus death on the Jews. Steven Waldman tackles the question over at Slate:
The problem with the tone of his statement is that, as best we can tell, Jews did kill Jesus. Or, more precisely, according to the four Gospels of the New Testament, Jews prodded the Romans into doing it.
True. BUT:
Case closed.
Christians who remain bitter about the Jewish role in Jesus' death are being transparently un-Christian. And I don't mean merely in the sense that Jesus taught forgiveness, or that it's not nice to promote genocide, no matter how angry you might be. Rather, my evangelical friends are always reminding me that non-believers (and liberal Protestants) miss the point of Christianity by focusing on only Jesus' moral teachings, as if he were just a really dynamic ethics professor. The point, or at least one of the main points, of the religion is that Jesus died for humanity's sins. The symbol of the religion is the cross, not a Good Samaritan icon, because the Crucifixion and subsequent resurrection were what proved his divinity and redeemed humankind. Most Christians believe that many of Christianity's blessings flow from the fact that he was crucified. [...] For a lot of Christians, the answer to the question "Who killed Jesus?" is "God did"—or "we all did," the abundance of sinful human behavior having made his sacrifice necessary".
Posted by bubba138 at 07:31 AM | Comments (0) |
September 17, 2003
It Was Bound To Happen Sometime
This ought to cause an uproar:
A California high school freshman has run up against opposition in her quest to start a Caucasian Club for white students. An Oakley, Calif., NAACP leader says Lisa McClelland's proposed club smacks of racial division, a charge the 15-year-old denies. McClelland says she and some of her friends simply feel a bit slighted since other Freedom High School clubs cater to specific cultures and races, such as the Black Student Union and the Asian Club.
They're both right. Such a club does smack of racial division. Non-minority students do feel slighted. So lets do something about it. Prevent McClelland from starting her club, but at the same time shut down the Black Student Union and the Asian Club, because they promote racial division too.
That's probably not what the unnamed Oakley, Calif. NAACP leader has in mind, however. Racial division on the part of minorities is called multi-culturalism. But when non-minorities participate in racial division, it is racism. The distinction is obvious, isn't it?Posted by bubba138 at 03:51 PM | Comments (0) |
Wesley Clark For Anonymity
(ScrappleFace Link)
Gen. Clark Enters 'Witness Protection Program'
(2003-09-16) -- Retired Four-Star General Wesley Clark, who served as NATO commander during the 1999 Kosovo campaign, said today that he's tired of being so well known. To lower his public profile he will likely declare his candidacy for the Democrat presidential nomination tomorrow."It's just like the Federal witness protection program," said Gen. Clark. "A recent poll showed that most people couldn't name a single Democrat candidate. That's the kind of anonymity I'm looking for."
Posted by bubba138 at 12:48 PM | Comments (0) |
Desparately Seeking Instalanche
Kevin at Wizbang has advice:
Many have pondered how one receives the blogging equivalent of "manna from heaven"; the Instalanche. For the most part the answers are available to you just need to know where to look and the right questions to ask. I've attempted to gather the collective wisdom of those who track the mystical inner workings of InstaPundit. Use this knowledge wisely and for the good of humanity and may you one day know the glory of the Instalanche.
The conventional wisdom looks good, but does it work? We'll see. So far, Glenn hasn't linked to the post.
The Instalanche is the supreme goal of those who have not yet had one. But unfortunately, like cheap illicit sex the thrill is quickly gone -- the site vistis drop quickly back to normal levels -- and you find yourself feeling kind of empty. Go for it anyway, it must be experienced before one can move on to blog-transcendence (not that that has happened here).
Perhaps the best part of Kevin's advice was this:
Consider the possibility that you will be "found" - If you participate in well read link listings or get mentions occasionally on sites that get linked fairly regularly at InstaPundit consider using the "minor league" approach. The idea is that you concentrate on getting linked on sites that are regular stops for the Glenn and get noticed by him in his blog surfing. This strategy works very well as many surprised recipients of Instalanches can attest.
Spread your work around to lower beings as much as possible. They don't get anywhere near the e-mail as Glenn does, but the blog-god does cruise their sites. My most read piece was linked to by several other bloggers before Glenn picked it up.
By the way: Here is a list of Instalinked posts:
Posted by bubba138 at 11:29 AM | Comments (0) |
The Bully Pulpit
Just when I was beginning to think I was the only one who noticed a problem with Clinton last Sunday, somebody finally speaks up:
A conservative African-American pastor is questioning why Bill Clinton was invited to deliver a pro-Democrat message from the pulpit of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles last Sunday morning. "Liberals are big on separation of church and state, so where's the outcry from the ACLU, the Rev. Barry Lynn, and others about this obvious violation?" asked the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson. "It appears the same rules don't apply to liberal black churches and Democratic Party officials."
That's exactly how it appears.
Update: Here's some of Peterson's work: Jesus or Barabbas, and the link to his organization's website.
Update: O'Reilly is on it now:
Plus, what are former President Clinton and Rev. Jesse Jackson doing in churches as the California recall race heats up? Hint: It's very political and not very religious. What do people who advocate keeping church and state apart have to say about that?!And where's the ACLU on this one? We'll talk with Rev. Barry Lynn from Americans United for Separation of Church and State (search).
Posted by bubba138 at 09:47 AM | Comments (0) |
Speaking of Polls
Sometimes the universe works just as it should. On the same day the DNC sends out an e-mail touting Bush's weakness against an "unnamed democrat" the AP reports a poll that shows his strength against the nazgul and others:
Bush was favored 52-41 percent over Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, 51-39 percent over Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri and 53-38 percent over former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. The president also easily bested two Democrats not in the race -- former Vice President Al Gore, Bush's opponent in 2000, and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Bush was favored 53-41 percent over Gore, and 52-42 percent over the former first lady.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:51 AM | Comments (0) |
Speaking of Fuzzy Numbers
From the DNC's new, rudely named blog comes this tripe:
And according to ABC News coverage of the same poll, women oppose Bush's reelection as well: Six in 10 of those who oppose Bush's plan to spend an additional $87 billion on Iraq would vote against him if the election were today, as would about eight in 10 of those who say the war in Iraq wasn't worth fighting.This poll shows a gender gap ... as well. Men divide 53-40 percent in Bush's favor, but it's 44-48 percent among women.
Let me get this straight. Six out of ten of the people who are against one aspect of Bush's policy are against his re-election. This is news? That's like saying six out of ten who oppose socialized medicine would vote against Hillary Clinton. The surprising thing here is that the ratio isn't higher.
Duh.Posted by bubba138 at 08:36 AM | Comments (0) |
Why Oh Why?
NOPE...NOPE! NOT Gonna Do it...
...must....not....whine!!!But....but....!!! I've been doing THIS for quite some time! And she has an audience of thousands, I have...five? (Hi there, y'all! I love you guys!)
What does a blogger like me have to do to get hits/posts/linkage??!!??
I'm hearing you, sister. As a matter of fact, that same phenomenon is part of what contributed to my recent break from the 'sphere. Even after getting a couple of Insta-lanches my average visitor per day count was pathetic. Quite disheartening.
But, in my time off I realized something. This blog isn't about the readers -- its about me. Selfish? Yep. But that's the way of it.
This blog exists because as I see things I am compelled to express my opinions about them. Some agree with my opinions, some do not -- it doesn't matter.
Do I want to be read, linked to, propped up? You bet. Validation is always a good thing. But even if these things didn't happen, I'd go right on blogging because I believe my opinions matter -- and writing them down helps me develop, clarify, and refine them.
So Rothy, you keep going, girl -- and keep doing it without salty language, that's who you are, and it requires more skill anyway.Posted by bubba138 at 08:10 AM | Comments (0) |
Fisking the DNC
Here's the latest e-mailing from the DNC:
Dear Bryon Scott, In 1992, we were part of an historic Democratic victory, taking down a president named George Bush. A year before the election, everyone thought he was unbeatable, and it took an unprecedented outpouring of hard work and dedication to win.
Perhaps it was hard work. Then again, perhaps it was more Bush's own fault because of 1) the economy and 2) he lost his base when he raised taxes after promising not to do so. The biggest difference between that Bush and your slate of candidates is that he said he would raise taxes and did, your guys have pretty much guaranteed they'll raise taxes and they will.
But we're going to be honest with you: it also took money -- and lots of it.
Ummm, you mean my money, right?
Now, we're confident we can beat President Bush in November 2004. The Democratic National Committee is fighting this battle every day to ensure that Bush's failed policies are quickly assigned to the dustbin of history. But the hard work and resources we needed to win in 1992 pale in comparison to what we'll need to win in 2004.
That's because no matter haw much you wish it to be true, this Bush is not the previous Bush.
In the next 15 days, the DNC is facing a crucial September 30 deadline. So we're asking you to join the DNC in an unprecedented effort to raise $500,000 online in the next 15 days. This would break their fundraising records. You can be a part of history. Why is this deadline so urgent? On Tuesday, September 30, the fundraising quarter ends and the DNC will release its fundraising numbers to the press, who will compare them to the Republican special interest fundraising machine.
We know the Republicans will raise twice as much as the Democrats -- the special interests are all too happy to repay Bush for his favors.
Huh? Twice as much? When have the Republicans ever raised twice as much as the Democrats? As a matter of fact, the Democrats consistently receive the largest campaign contributions (Excel spreadsheet). Of the top 11 contributors in 2002 10 of them were heavily Democratic. Democrats received $176 million from the top 100, compared to the Republicans $106 million. Check the math. These aren't fuzzy numbers.
As far as special interests are concerned, how are you any different from the Republicans? How are you any less in the back pockets of lawyers, unions, Hollywood and the like? The data is clear, Democrats are more beholden to big-money donors than are Republicans.
But Bush is now more vulnerable than ever, and your donation will help us highlight his failed record. Here's why he can be beaten. He's wrecked the economy. Faster than you can say "tax breaks for the wealthy," Bush turned huge budget surpluses into historic budget deficits. We've lost 3.3 million jobs in this country, including 93,000 last month alone! He's wrecked the environment. Bush has kicked back hundreds of millions of dollars to his corporate donors through dangerous environmental policies. We've got to start calling it what it is, and it's a kickback, plain and simple. He's wrecked our foreign policy. Bush lied to the American people and the world, and now we're all paying the price.
Let's take these one at a time shall we?
Perhaps. But match Bush one-on-one against any of the nazgul you have running and he still wins. Bummer for you.
As Bush's lies continue to unravel, his poll numbers have been plummeting. One recent poll shows that if the election were held today, an unnamed Democrat could beat George W. Bush. America has finally had enough.
Posted by bubba138 at 06:02 AM | Comments (0) |
September 16, 2003
Eugenics Reprised
Nestled inconspicuously between boutiques and snackbars in downtown Bremen is a new store called "chromosoma." The shop with its ultra-cool interior opened just recently and promises to offer its customers something they won't get at a run-of-the-mill department store, namely, the possibility for a complete genetic make-over. Curious passers-by who venture inside the shop can explore a range of six products and services such as "book-a-baby," which allows women to choose precisely when they wish to start a pregnancy, as well as selecting their baby's genetic traits, and "re-set," which offers customers the opportunity to store their genetic information with a view to human cloning. [..]
Chromosoma is in fact not a shop at all, but rather a "field-study" project organized by the Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, or Federal Center for Political Education, in the run-up to its congress on genetic research from 15 – 17 September in Bremen.
Well, they couldn't do it by killing off the un-wanted elements of their society, so those perfectionist Germans are now well on their way to marketing designer genetics -- and the people are eating it up:
Wow.
Visitors took a keen interest in the services outlined and expressed immediate willingness to try out the "starter packs" handed out by friendly assistants along with complimentary glasses of sparkling wine. Florian Feigl said the team observed that describing the products in aspirational, lifestyle terms meant that customers were quick to accept their often controversial premises.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:59 PM | Comments (0) |
Evolution in the Ecosystem
Jeff Quinton is tired of being a plain ol' Adorable Rodent in the Truth Laid Bear's Ecosystem. He's fishing for links to bump him into the Marauding Marsupials category. Far be it for me, a lowly Flappy Bird, to help him out.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:28 PM | Comments (0) |
A Voice Of Reason
Peggy Noonan is a voice of reason in a deaf church. For the sake of Catholic Christians the world 'round, I hope the church will hear what she's saying:
He does make all things new -- but only when we surrender to His will. Peggy has, and she's calling her church to nothing less.
Then I said my piece. I told them the scandal was in my view "the worst thing ever to happen in the history of the American church"; I told them they had to stop it now, deal with it fully; that if reports of abusive priests "continue to dribble out over the next two and four and six years, it will be terrible; it could kill the church." I spoke of how terrible it is that just the other day a priest in Maine was finally removed from his parish two years--two years!--after it was revealed that he was one of the priests who had set up the pornographic Web site "St. Sebastian's Angels." I said, "Two years after he was found to be doing what he was doing--and he's still in business!" [...] And so, I said, we must move. "We use buzzy phrases from the drug wars like zero tolerance" for sexual predators, but maybe we should use words that reflect who we are and where we stand--"defrocking," and "excommunication" being good words that speak of who we are as a church. [AMEN Sister -- Bry] [...]
So, we are demoralized. But there is help. I spoke of the scene in Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion,"... The broken and brutalized Christ falls under the weight of the cross. He is on his way to Golgotha. He's half dead. When he falls, his mother runs to help him, and he looks up at her, blood coming down his face, and he says, "See, mother, I make all things new again."
I quoted this dialogue to the bishops and the cardinal. And when I said the words Christ spoke in the film my voice broke, and I couldn't continue speaking. I was embarrassed by this, but at the same time I thought, Well, OK.
What choked me was thinking of Jesus. And thinking of how we all want to be new again, and can be if we rely on him; but it's so hard, and deep in our hearts while we believe we do not believe, could not believe, or else we'd all be new again.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:04 PM | Comments (0) |
WANTED
A couple -a- dozen short stories. That's what M. Williams is hoping for. I just might participate, how about you?
Posted by bubba138 at 02:15 PM | Comments (0) |
Salam Pax Is Going Has Gone Commercial
The Baghdad Blog -- a new book being published by the folks at the Guardian. You've got to check out the promo (warning: it comes with sound).
The Guardian has also given him his own page. Salam may just be the first profitable blogger in cyber-history.
Not that I'm jealous, or anything.Posted by bubba138 at 01:59 PM | Comments (0) |
The Case Reheard?
The ninth circuit court is considering re-hearing the recall case en banc. Professor Yin brings us up to speed on what that means:
With all but one of the other appeals courts, an en banc hearing means literally all of the active judges. While the Ninth Circuit has procedures in place for all 28 actives judges to hear a case, in practice it uses a limited subset of the active judges. That subset is the Chief Judge (in this case, Judge Mary Schroeder, a President Carter appointee) plus 10 randomly selected active judges. (If a senior judge were on the panel, that judge would be eligible to be in the draw as well.)
Here's a question. Does the en banc process re-hear the case and make a judgement or are they hearing new arguments to decide upon a reversal? In other words, where does the burden lay, on the plaintiffs or the defendants?
In this case, Davis' goons are appealing an earlier judgment against their suit. The three judge panel reversed the lower court's decision. Is the en banc hearing focusing on the lower court decision or on the three judge appellate decision?
Update: Speaking of Professor Yin, Hugh Hewitt gave him the nod today. Tre cool.Posted by bubba138 at 01:40 PM | Comments (0) |
Boys Will Be Boys
Glenn is upset at the ABA:
So Glenn, a law professor, is disappointed because lawyers are acting like lawyers. Am I missing something?
WHY THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION IS INCREASINGLY A DISAPPOINTMENT: Remarkably, the international section of the ABA didn't see any reason to rush to condemn the idea of European courts trying American servicemen and women based on legal theories that would make every errant tank round a war crime. They asked that the resolution be delayed for more consideration....I'm deeply disappointed with the ABA, which more and more seems to be doing its best to live up to the worst caricatures offered by its critics.
Posted by bubba138 at 07:28 AM | Comments (0) |
The Future of Afghanistan
I pray Nabiyar has thousands of brothers and sisters that help to make their country a free and educated society.
These young students are, in part, Afghanistan’s future, but behind the story of the young women who will return to help their country are their mothers, like immovable anchors. Nabiyar’s mother advised her not to think too much of her family while she was away—they are fine—and to study hard. “You are not just studying for your family,” Nabiyar remembers her mother saying. “You are studying for your Afghanistan.” She also recalls a gentle disowning: “You are not my daughter…Your country needs you more than my family.”
Posted by bubba138 at 06:26 AM | Comments (0) |
September 15, 2003
Time For A Reality Break
Perhaps Rory Blyth should consider taking a little vacation time:
Another funny thing that happens to me is when my brain thinks that it's connected to the internet. Just last night, I was thinking about something while falling asleep. I don't remember what exactly, but I remember that I had a question about it that I wanted answered. So, my brain quite naturally "typed" in "www.google.com" - I kid you not. It's very difficult to describe what it was that my brain was doing, but saying that it was trying to connect to Google on its own is really the best I can do.
Even better is that I didn't realize what was so wrong with this while it was happening - It wasn't until I was unable to get to Google via my brain that it occurred to me that something was a little weird.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:31 PM | Comments (0) |
When the Government Becomes the Candyman
Here's what happens when government gets their hands into something:
Some of the first patients to smoke Health Canada's government-approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their money back. "It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford, 58, an AIDS patient in Gibsons, B.C. "It gave me a slight buzziness for about three to five minutes, and that was it. I got no other effect from it."
Barrie Dalley, a 52-year-old Toronto man who uses marijuana to combat the nausea associated with AIDS, said the Health Canada dope actually made him sick to his stomach.
"I threw up," Dalley said Monday. "It made me nauseous because I had to use so much of it. It was so weak in potency that I really threw up."
Don't get me wrong -- I am totally against drug use, especially government sanctioned drug use. But isn't it so illustrative that socialized medicine can't even supply the government supported pot-heads with decent stash?
Nice.
Laboratory tests indicate the Health Canada product has only about three per cent THC - not the 10.2 per cent advertised - and contains contaminants such as lead and arsenic, said spokesman Philippe Lucas of Victoria.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:20 PM | Comments (0) |
Clark is Looking Hard
The running for the Democratic Presidential ballot is going to look very similar to the California recall ballot. I wonder if Larry flint will run?
On the verge of running, retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark on Monday summoned his fledgling political team to Arkansas to discuss strategy for mounting a Democratic presidential campaign. [...] Clark, 58, has aggressively recruited staff in the last week. His earliest allies would be from former President Clinton's Arkansas-based political network, including former White House aide Bruce Lindsey, though it was unclear whether any would have formal campaign roles.
Clark has met with several presidential contenders who covet his endorsement and might consider him for a vice presidential slot. He also has been in touch with top lawmakers and union chiefs, urging them to hold off supporting any candidate until he decides whether to run.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:29 PM | Comments (0) |
The Attacks Continue
When Satan tempted Jesus he didn't get very far, but the Gospel of Luke tells us he may have been rebuffed but he wasn't yet giving up:
When the Devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.
To be sure, he's still looking for -- and seizing -- that opportune time. Even today we see his work among us.
Gnostic Heresy Alive and Well
Andrew Sullivan leads off today by pumping up Elaine Pagels' new book on the Gospel of Thomas:
I recommend it - at least as much for the questions it helps sharpen as much as any answers it might provide. Because the quality of the teaching priesthood is now, by and large, so execrably low, Catholics have long tried to understand their faith on their own. And it's encouraging to see some of the frustrations many of us now have going back to the earliest days of the Church.
His assessment of the clergy's teaching is certainly on target -- although not for the reasons he cites. Instead, their teaching (or lack of it) is evidenced by that fact that Andrew and others like him are searching for truth in texts that have been refuted for thousands of years. Eusebius, the father of Church history, long ago had this to say about the gospel of Thomas:
we have felt compelled to give this catalogue in order that we might be able to know both these works and those that are cited by the heretics under the name of the apostles, including, for instance, such books as the Gospels of Peter, of Thomas, of Matthias, or of any others besides them, and the Acts of Andrew and John and the other apostles, which no one belonging to the succession of ecclesiastical writers has deemed worthy of mention in his writings. And further, the character of the style is at variance with apostolic usage, and both the thoughts and the purpose of the things that are related in them are so completely out of accord with true orthodoxy that they clearly show themselves to be the fictions of heretics. Wherefore they are not to be placed even among the rejected writings, but are all of them to be cast aside as absurd and impious. Let us now proceed with our history.
Eusebius catalogues texts into several categories: those that have always been universally accepted as scripture, those that are mostly accepted, those that may have been acceptable but were rejected, and finally, those that never have been, and should never be even considered. It is in this last category that Eusebius placed the "Gospel of Thomas."
Yet, here we are eighteen hundred years later, fighting the same heresies against which Eusebius and his contemporaries fought. Truly nothing is new under the sun.
The Immoral Teach Morality
Next is the inaptly named Madonna who -- fresh off her cradle-robbing lesbian lip lock with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera -- is releasing a new children's book. What qualifies Madonna as a children's author? Here's her answer:
"I've learned to be unselfish and have a greater understanding of the power of words -- for children and for grown-ups," the 45-year-old mother of two says in the new People magazine. "I want to do good things for the world."
Isn't that sweet? But there's really more to it than that:
It's the first in a planned five-book series by Madonna, with proceeds going to the Spirituality for Kids Foundation, a branch of the Los Angeles Kabbalah Centre. (Kabbalah is an ancient form of Jewish mystical study that some critics say has been turned into a watered-down New Age spirituality for celebrities; at any rate, there's no kabbalah in "The English Roses.")
As the article states, the Spirituality for Kids Foundation is run by the new-age Kabbalah Centre where they claim that "Kabbalah predates any religion or theology." What is the basis for their belief? An "ancient" text called the Zohar:
the Zohar compares itself to the ark that gave shelter to all living things during Noah's flood
Interesting, that this teaching that "predates religion or theology" makes references to Biblical events that occurred before the Zohar was written. There is an explanation:
Jewish tradition taught that the Zohar was written in Israel by the Tanna Rabbi Simon Bar Yohai in the second century. "Thirteen years in a cave . . . a father and a son alone . . . and the Zohar took form," goes the traditional tale (Luzzatto xxix). It was believed that Yohai was hiding from the Roman armies in a cave in the mountains, alone with his son, for thirteen years. The lore associated with the Zohar stated that the book remained hidden for a thousand years when, at the end of the 13th century, Rabbi Moses Ben Shem Tov de Leon (of Spain) discovered the manuscript and made it known (Gutwirth 22). It has since become accepted knowledge that this legend was merely legend. Says Encyclopaedia Judaica: "The Zohar with its various strata was without doubt composed in the years that immediately preceded its publication, since it is impossible to uncover any section that was written before 1270" (1209). The actual author of this work was the Spanish kabbalist Moses b. Shem Tov de Leon, and it is believed that Simon Bar Yohai was simply a pen name taken by Leon in order to make a pretention of antiquity.
Regardless of its antiquity -- or lack thereof -- the Zohar became the central work in the literature of the Kabbalah and is considered the holiest book of this body of texts. The term "Kabbalah" is used to designate Jewish mystical teachings and derives from a three- letter Hebrew root -- kbl -- meaning "to receive" (Gutwirth 17). This refers to the fact that Cabalistic teachings were considered secret and were communicated only by word of mouth, a practice initiated to ensure that each generation of the chosen would receive the teachings from the foregoing generation.
So at best the source document for Kabbalah is nine hundred years old. Hardly before any religion or theology.
One of the central tenets of Kabbalah is that it contains a "secret knowledge" (a highly Gnostic idea) which has only been recently deemed safe to share with humanity.
The scary thing here is that parents are going to buy this set of books in droves because of Madonna's popularity. Little will they know that they are feeding their kids spiritual poison.Posted by bubba138 at 02:01 PM | Comments (0) |
Will the Recall Happen
The question is not whether the decision by the Ninth circuit will go to the Supreme court but rather whether they'll see the case and if they do, how they'll decide. The Washington Post's legal expert Cliff Sloan offers some hope of a fair judgment:
"The Supreme court may find it very hard to stay out of this in light of the importance of the issue, in light of the importance of the election, and in light of the fact that the entire decision rests on interpreting what the Supreme court said in Bush vs. Gore.The ninth circuit has by far the worst batting average in the Supreme Court...it does get reversed frequently by the Supreme court"
Posted by bubba138 at 01:29 PM | Comments (0) |
Welcome Aboard
Shark Blog has been added to the Bear Flag League. Go see what he has to say about the lack of downside to offing Arafat.
Posted by bubba138 at 11:33 AM | Comments (0) |
Speaking of Clinton
It looks as if one of Slick Willy's career options has recently been pruned:
Females in tribes in Kenya and other African nations are finally rebelling at the ancient custom of requiring a newly widowed woman to pay to have sex with the village's "cleanser" to purify her soul sufficiently to be allowed to attend her husband's funeral, according to an August Washington Post dispatch. Said one particularly vulgar, besotted cleanser in Gangre, "It's not bad for me since I get to be with the beautiful ladies. The women like it because who else would be with them. They can't stay alone with the spirits. They need me." Cleansers are believed to be major HIV conveyers since a condom would not allow the spirits to pass. [Washington Post, 8-18-03]
Posted by bubba138 at 11:25 AM | Comments (0) |
Recall Delayed
In an entirely expected move, the 9th Circuit appeals court has delayed the recall. (background) More news to come...
Update: Washington Post.
Update: CNN: The ruling blocks the October 7th date, but it has been stayed for 7 days pending an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Question: This suit is being brought on the grounds that not all counties are using the same counting system -- more specifically some counties are using punch-card machines while others are not. This sets up an inequity between counties and therefore some voters may be disenfranchised. There has been a mandate that all counties switch over to non-punch card systems by the 2004 primary -- but what if that is not achieved? What happens if there are still some precincts with punch card machines in March of 2004? Do we postpone the primary? Can that be done?
What happens if the Republicans sue for postponement of the primary on the same grounds that the Democrats sued for postponement of the October 7th recall? How will the Democrats fight it and maintain integrity? (I know. Maintaining integrity isn't a major concern for Democrats, but still, I at least wanted to float the thought)
Update: Fox News:
Asked what the chances the Supreme Court will take the case, election law expert Ken Gross told Fox News: "That's going to be a tough call … they take a very low percentage of cases but then again, many didn't think the Supreme Court would take the Florida case."
Update: Sacremento Bee:
All three judges on the 9th Circuit panel that ruled Monday were appointed by Democrats.
Duh. These are the same guys who declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional.
Update: Washington Times:
Political analysts expect the ruling to benefit Gov. Gray Davis. They assume voter anger at the governor will cool in the coming months and carefully timed campaigns by his challengers will run out of money and momentum.
Actually, the conventional wisdom is that the March primary will bring out a larger Democratic vote, since they'll be voting for their Presidential candidate.
Update: Dr. Yin corrects me:
Well, to be fair, the Ninth Circuit pledge of alliegance decision, Newdow v. U.S. Congress, was written by Judge Alfred Goodwin, appointed by President Nixon. He was joined by Judge Stephen Reinhardt, appointed by President Carter, and who is generally acknowledged to be one of the most liberal federal judges. Judge Ferdinand Fernandez, appointed by President Bush (Sr.), dissented. So the Newdow decision was reached by a "conservative" judge joined by a "liberal" judge, and opposed by a "conservative" judge.
Fair enough -- but the rules state if you're going to correct me you have to spell my name right. (Tim does.)
Posted by bubba138 at 10:29 AM | Comments (0) |
There Is a Wall...Or Is There?
In 1999 the Christian Coalition lost its tax-exempt status due to its consistent partisan political stances.
This last weekend, the African Methodist Episcopal church invited slick Willy to "preach" a partisan political sermon and its tax-exempt status hasn't even been questioned:
Clinton mixed Scripture with politics in his 40-minute address during a midmorning service with Davis at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, the city's oldest black congregation.
Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this picture?
Here's the best reason Billy has for not recalling Davis:
"Gray Davis and I have been friends for a long time, and I don't want this happening to him," Clinton said.
Well. That clinches it. Any friend of Clinton's is definitely not deserving of scrutiny.
Update: Hugh Hewitt sees what's wrong:
Yep.
Of course when other churches presumed to be center-right hint at politics, the Rev. Barry Lynn sends letters to their pastors reminding them of their IRS status and hinting that status is in peril. Media often has picked up Rev. Lynn's intimidation tactics in the past, but fails to note his absence in situations like this one. The IRS would do everyone a favor by publishing guidance underscoring how appropriate the FAME gathering and those like it are.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:09 AM | Comments (0) |
Its a Quagmire
Who knows how much this is costing. I guess Russia better pull out.
Russia has been wracked in recent months by bombings, most of which the government has blamed on Chechens. A series of suicide bombings and other attacks in and around Chechnya and in Moscow has killed more than 150 people in the past five months. On an Aug. 1, a truck packed with explosives rammed through the gates of a military hospital in North Ossetia, which borders Chechnya and Ingushetia, blowing up and killing 50 people.
Posted by bubba138 at 07:10 AM | Comments (0) |
September 14, 2003
Sunday Laughs
Begging to Differ now has its own Sunday comics page.
Check it out.Posted by bubba138 at 08:55 PM | Comments (0) |
September 12, 2003
Jill Stewart
Jill Stewart tells us what we should have been watching instead of the worthless gubernatorial debates:
The questions we wanted to hear weren't asked. The debate merely distracted journalists while some of the worst legislation in years hurtled toward Davis' desk. Let's review some of the worst stinker bills in Sacramento, shall we?
Go read what the legislature has been doing while we haven't been looking. Fresh Potatoes is right:
Frightening times indeed.
These are frightening times, people. I've never seen anything like this before -- this kind of absolute power wielded by hard Left is without precedent.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:07 PM | Comments (0) |
Fix the Budget
You have often read me saying that there should be no problem reducing our tax burden and reducing the budget at the same time. Here is one example of why I believe this is possible:
Cut the budget and this kind of stuff will stop. Not because people are altruistic, but because the money won't be available for illegal practices.
A December investigation by the Orange County Register revealed that some high school athletes were enrolled in college credit physical education courses that were regular high school sports practices. Some community colleges would then boost their enrollment figures and wrongly receive funding. The state community college chancellor's office reviewed the issue and found that 5 percent of the total enrollment was made up of high school students, costing taxpayers up to $36 million in illegal enrollment.
More than half of California's community college districts admitted they offered courses that broke the law, according to the chancellor's review.
Posted by bubba138 at 04:38 PM | Comments (0) |
A Winning Tradition?
The most evil team in all of football is experiencing some woes:
Funny, they seem to sell out the stadium in San Diego every year.
A timely Raiders riddle:
What is silver and black and wrapped with dark green plastic?The defending AFC champions' home opener.
The Raiders will play Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals while surrounded by more empty Coliseum seats than the team has had lawsuits.
Posted by bubba138 at 04:11 PM | Comments (0) |
Quote of the Day
Republican consultant Ken Khachigian:
In short, Arnold needs to demonstrate what a great Republican he is, and Tom McClintock needs to show that he is a greater Republican
Unfortunately, yep.
Ueberroth's departure didn't boost Schwarzenegger's poll standings much because Ueberroth's following was nebulous at best. After all, there are liberal and conservative football fans all over this great state. (This is provable by observing the number of Raider's fans all over California -- you know they're liberals. That many jobless Californians couldn't afford their Colt 45 if they weren't on government assistance). But McClintock's following is almost exclusively conservative Republican. If he drops out, Schwarzenegger should gain at least ten percentage points, boosting him over the top.
The issue for this election is not conservative vs. liberal. It is spenders vs. non-spenders. We Republicans would do well to keep that in mind.
Update: Looks lie Arnold and Tom squared off on the radio today.Posted by bubba138 at 09:13 AM | Comments (0) |
Punch Cards
The punch card disenfranchisement meme is gaining ground in the courts:
A federal appeals panel cast doubts Thursday on California's plan to hold next month's recall election because almost half the voters would be using error-prone punch-card ballots.
The three judges voiced even deeper reservations about allowing an Oct. 7 vote on another ballot question -- the racially charged Proposition 54 -- while the odds of casting an invalid ballot are almost tripled in Sacramento, Los Angeles and four other counties that still use punch-card voting machines.
Well, that explains the mess in California! The current panel of legislators and executives were all elected using the punch card machines. That must be why such a group of miscreants attained office!
Nothing, said Thomas, can ensure that voters won't destroy their ballots by picking more than one candidate for governor or that chads won't hang or become pressed back into a ballot card -- all problems that were experienced in Florida three years ago. The lawsuit contends that 40,000 Californians, many of them minorities, will be disenfranchised because of such ballot defects.
Puh-leaze. First, nothing in the Constitution says the state has any responsibility to prevent chronic stupidity in voting. The state of California has one and only one governor. If a person is so inept as to vote for more than one person for governor, so be it. The system hasn't disenfranchised said voter, he or she has disenfranchised him or herself. Second, I hate the use of the word "many", as in "many of them minorities." One can just as easily say many of them not minorities. At risk of sounding like Bill Clinton, what in heaven's name does "many" mean? Ten? Twenty? Is it a specific percentage? Is "many" statistically significant?
No.
Once again what we have is the Democrats not playing by the rules on which they themselves had agreed. It happened in Missouri where they elected a dead man to the senate. It happened in New Jersey where they ignored established election law and replaced a candidate in the waning hours of the campaign for no other reason than that he was failing in the polls. It happened in Florida where Gore wanted to cherry pick the counties in which the ballots would be "re-counted". Now they want to do it again in California, and since the case is being heard in the classically out-of-step liberal 9th circuit court, they may well have their way.
Woods argued that civil rights groups signed off in 2002 on an agreement to decertify California's punch-card machines as of the March 2004 primary election. By doing so, he said, they relinquished the right to challenge elections that might arise before the deadline.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:51 AM | Comments (0) |
Day By Day
Posted by bubba138 at 08:48 AM | Comments (0) |
More Dean
Howard Kurtz points out that Dean's campaign is beginning to show cracks:
The specific misstatements that Howard III has made aren't, by themselves, that big a deal -- not much different than the usual fudges and hyperbole of political life. But there are two dangers here for Dean.
One is that his straight-talking persona -- his self-definition as the man who tells it like it is without trimming his sails -- gets shredded.
The other is that the media give Dean an image as an exaggerator, much as they did with Al Gore in 2000, so that a misstatement about the cost of his dog's medicine became a major flap.
Here's the problem for Dean. His campaign began by appealing to the 'anti-war' fringe left that have little regard for unfiltered truth. They revel in anti-Bush rhetoric and rejoice in "Bush is Hitler" thought patterns. Such thinking thrives not on well reasoned arguments, but upon emotional hyperbole. It has been on this that Dean's campaign has been based and, up until now, no one has called on Dean to actually do fact checking or to curb his exaggeration.
Let's face it, Dean is the only candidate thus far that has shown the chutzpah required to make a credible challenge for the highest office in the land. That's why Dean is now the front-runner, and also why there there are intelligent, reasoning, realistic people who are interested in some of the things he has to say. That makes this the time when Dean must shift from campaigning for the primary, in which mostly partisan Democrats are his target, into campaigning for the President in which the un-partisan middle voter is the key to winning. Such voters are bound to be turned off by the "Bush is evil" mantra that turns on Dean's core.
Can he do it? I think he can. But, it won't be easy, and if he doesn't polish up his words -- and quick -- it won't be pretty.Posted by bubba138 at 08:23 AM | Comments (0) |
The Economy
The economy continues to show positive signs, as August marked the fourth month in a row that retail sales have increased. Contrary to the belief of the Democrat contenders, it looks like Bush's tax cut really is helping the economy:
At nearly every campaign stop, Howard Dean says most Americans would happily pay as much taxes as they paid under Bill Clinton if they could have the same economy they had in the Clinton years.
Never does it cross Dean's mind (at least publicly -- I'm sure he's considered it privately) that we can have lower taxes and a good economy. And never does he explain how keeping more of yours and my money is going to help the economy. Here in California, those who make a mere $38k a year are at the top of the income tax bracket, with the state stealing 9% of their income. Almost half of what we pay for a gallon of gas goes to some government program. Depending on which county in which you live, almost 8% of everything we spend goes to the government. Yet none of this has helped boost the Golden State's economy.
Dean also doesn't share the reality that the economy was already faltering under Clinton's watch. All the indicators showed it was weakening and the first stock market slide had already occurred in early 2000. Further, it's amazing that all the corporate excess (WorldCom, Enron, etc) that happened under Clinton's tenor and was exposed under Bush's gets blamed on Bush. These had more to do with the bad economy than anything the Bush administration has done.Posted by bubba138 at 07:56 AM | Comments (0) |
September 11, 2003
Remembering 9/11
I was going to write something poignant about remembering 9/11 -- but Matthew Hoy already has, and he's captured exactly what I wanted to express:
America seeks to build functioning democracy in cultures that have never known the concept because democracy and terrorism cannot coexist. We must be willing to spend the capital, in both money and lives, to succeed at this endeavor. The alternative is thousands more dead. Civilians. Here in America.
The alternative is not acceptable.
Posted by bubba138 at 08:23 AM | Comments (0) |
September 10, 2003
Drezner On Potter and Islam
Daniel postulates:
Bad example -- have you watched a Woody Allen movie lately? I'm still paying off my therapist after watching that last one.
Saying that Harry Potter influences religious preferences would be like saying Frasier -- or Woody Allen, for that matter -- encourages people to enter psychoanalysis.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:09 AM | Comments (0) |
September 05, 2003
Bustamante: Practicing MEChista
Howard Owens correctly points out.
Yep.
Cruz Bustamante is on the record as favoring tax increases on the rich and on businesses...Some might call this redistribution of wealth -- take from the rich and give to the state. A rather socialist, if not Marxist ideology...he wants to nationalize the oil industry. He can claim he's not a MEChAist because he doesn't believe in racial separation, but read "El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan" again...It seems Bustamante has learned his Marxism well, though I suppose he could have learned it from other sources besides MEChA.
Just an additional note: Everybody has been concentrating on the nationalist/racist aspect of MEChA. Very few people are paying much attention to the implicit Marxism of MEChA. That should be a concern, too. I think.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:32 PM | Comments (0) |
September 04, 2003
I'm Back
The break was good but obviously, I'm back in action. I do not plan to blog daily as I once did, and the number of posts per day won't be as they once were, but I am back and I feel good about it.
Posted by bubba138 at 10:54 AM | Comments (0) |
Steeply Dense
The New Republic complains:
The paper's lead editorial contains the following mystifying passage condemning California's state tax: Start with the individual income tax, which has six brackets and is steeply progressive. Its top marginal rate of 9.3% is among the nation's highest but, worse, it kicks in at just $38,000 of income. This means that the likes of nurses and janitors already pay to the state a dime of every $1 in higher salary they receive.
Question: If the top rate starts at $38,000, forcing janitors to pay the same rate as millionaires, then how can the tax system be considered "steeply progressive"?
One would think that an organization whose very existence is based upon the use of words would know the definition of a simple word such as steep:
1. Having a sharp inclination; precipitous.
2. At a rapid or precipitous rate: a steep rise in salaries.
First, the 9.3% is one of the highest in the nation. Second, at $38k a year, one achieves that high rate of taxation rather quickly. By any measure, that is steep.
At the heart of the New Republic's snideness isn't that the nurses and janitors are paying too much, but that the millionaires aren't paying enough. To them, that would be truly progressive.Posted by bubba138 at 10:47 AM | Comments (0) |
Historical Truth
The Bible, or more specifically the Torah, is now accepted as legally binding historical truth by Egyptians. Why? Because Nabil Hilmi, dean of the law school at Egypt's University of Al-Zaqaziq wants to be compensated for all the loot the Hebrews took from Pharaoh in the Exodus:
Christianity Today Weblog has a great post on this and corresponding response.
Since the Jews make various demands of the Arabs and the world, and claim rights that they base on historical and religious sources, a group of Egyptians in Switzerland has opened the case of the so-called 'great exodus of the Jews from Pharaonic Egypt.' At that time, they stole from the Pharaonic Egyptians gold, jewelry, cooking utensils, silver ornaments, clothing, and more, leaving Egypt in the middle of the night with all this wealth, which today is priceless.
Posted by bubba138 at 09:12 AM | Comments (0) |
What Has Gray Done For Me Lately
Have you ever wondered how much your quality of life has suffered under Gray Davis and Cruz Bustamante? Here's one possible example:
6:00 AM Wake up (non-taxable)
6:05 AM Flip on television. Pay higher electric rates because of Gray Davis' long term power contracts.
6:30 AM. Step into the shower. Pay higher water rates because water pumping charges increased by 20% to pay Davis' higher electricity rates. Wonder how much longer water will keep flowing because Davis shows no leadership in reaching a water deal between San Diego, Imperial and Arizona.
7:00 AM. Breakfast. Pay more for food because grocers' costs have risen due to skyrocketing workers comp costs and electricity rates.
7:30 AM. Get into car. Pay triple car tax due to Davis' illegal car tax increase. Pay $2.35 per gallon of gas on the way to work because California hasn't built a new refinery since Richard Nixon was President.
7:33 AM. Sit in traffic because Gray Davis says we don't need any more freeways, and San Diego transportation projects are routinely neglected while money is shifted to San Francisco and Los Angeles.
8:00 AM. Arrive at work. Pay top income tax rate of over 9% on earnings, among the highest in America. Pay new tax to support new, Swedish-style paid family leave.
10:10 AM. Place order for office supplies. Pay higher sales tax due to Davis' increase in 2002.
12 Noon. Meet friends for lunch. Pay higher sales tax. Listen to friend explain why he's moving the family to Las Vegas, selling his $400,000 starter home, buying a $400,000 mansion in Clark County, and will pay no state income tax.
1:10 PM. Take cell phone call. Pay 3% federal excise tax first imposed in 1898 to fund the Spanish American war. (This isn't a California tax, but it's a ridiculous one. Plus, California has plenty of utility taxes.)
6:10 PM. Drive home from work. Listen to Lt. Gov Cruz Bustamante on radio talking about how "big business" needs to do more (read: pay more taxes) to help the state. Wonder if perhaps "big business" should figure out why 94% of Business Roundtable companies gave money to Gray Davis in 2002, and only 6% supported Bill Simon.
6:20 PM. Stop off at AM PM. Buy six pack of beer.[Well, I'm not going to do this, but someone will] Pay higher alcohol taxes (Bustamante wants to raise that tax too. Big surprise there.)
6:40 PM. Arrive home. Mow lawn. Pay gas tax again for gas-powered mower. Reminded of how Davis-supporting environmentalists want to ban gas lawn mowers. Wonder how much a 100 ft long extension cord costs at Home Depot if forced to buy flimsy electric mower.
10:00 PM. Watch evening news, and Davis talking about how he's doing a good job. Tell that to the tens of thousands of Californians who lost their jobs last month because of businesses moving to Arizona.
11:20 PM. Turn out lights, go to bed, remember to vote to recall Gray Davis on October 7th and replace him with a Republican.
Posted by bubba138 at 07:41 AM | Comments (0) |
September 03, 2003
Reason Enough
This here is reason enough to not vote for Huffington:
Huffington has received more donations from the Tinseltown tribe than any of the other gubernatorial candidates so far... For now, Ms. Huffington has the early lead in the 'Who Do the Movie Stars Like?' contest.
Posted by bubba138 at 03:43 PM | Comments (0) |
By Your Fruits Shall You Be Known
A Muslim terrorist? Nope. One very misguided, evil man who claims to be a Christian.
"The sooner I am executed ... the sooner I am going to heaven. I expect a great reward in heaven. I am looking forward to glory. I don't feel remorse." "More people should act as I have acted,"
Posted by bubba138 at 07:59 AM | Comments (0) |
Turning a New Page
Just a quick FYI: Megan at Page Three has moved off Blogspot and changed the name of her blog. Check out Quiet Here.
Congrats on your emancipation, Megan!Posted by bubba138 at 07:34 AM | Comments (0) |