Sneakeasy's Joint

As he writes:

Every Republican politician or pundit should proudly and vociferously advocate for fellow Republicans and conservatism in general. Is Ann Coulter the only one who understands this? Where Democrats come at us like snakes, we must be mongooses. Wake up Republicans, and have some courage for a change! You won’t melt. Cheney had it right when he finally told that flimflam artist Patrick Leahy, “Go f--- yourself.”

He's Right you know ( pun intended ). :-)

Last year I wrote a long series on Illegal Immigration here, but it was 1 satirical poem attached to a humorous picture that got 1 Liberal ( actually a Socialist ) acquaintance so angry he brutally attacked me in an e-mail AND publically on his blog, denounced our friendship ( he was responsible for my re-birth as a creative writer and growth into a poet ), made it clear he wanted nothing more to do with me, and demanded I apologize on my blog ( if I did so then we could maybe be friends again ).

It was the only piece he read, and I put him in his place with polite, but strong, private e-mail responses, and a couple of polite, but strong, posts on his blog, and then showed up several times at the weekly Poetry readings ( and workshops), at which I read several poems to the assembled audience that made a subtle political statement to this bully.

I kept quiet, watched, and waited.

Each time I showed up at the workshops, and readings, he didn't open his mouth about our disagreement.

Not once did he demand I leave.

And not once did HE get up and walk out when I walked in ( doing so would have neccesitated an explanation, thus risking his losing favor among a regular cadre of attendees who admired his writing talents and advice ( both worthy reasons to attend these sessions ).

In maybe 30 hours of acquaintanceship over several months, and despite rarely reading my blog, he thought he knew me, and knew my politics, and considered me a traitor and a racist for becoming a Republican, and by exploring my beliefs and moving myself away from his beloved Democratic Party, and Liberalism.

I didn't shrivel up and die by confronting him, and I have no regrets about not attending anymore of those workshops, and readings, either.

I have since begun a couple of series of Creative Writing exercises on my own that can be read in my Creative Writing Category, and have several books to use to help me on this creative journey ( to which I will be returning ).

I AM moving to the Right, I am a Rush Limbaugh fan since 1990, I believe in fighting the War against Terror, and in what we are doing in Iraq.

I believe that the 2 Democratic Johns, if elected in November, will prostitute our Country out to the whims of the UN, and the European Union, and the America we know and love will be the lesser for it until Conservatives regain the Presidency and put us back on track.

The Far Left needs to be refuted. Loudly.

If Moderate Liberals won't argue with their fellows over what Liberalism is, and should be, then all bets are off, in the continuing Political, and cultural, battle for what America stands for in the world, and has stood for through out its glorious history.

We need to circle the wagons, and aggressively promote, and defend our views and policies, as the Dems try to agressively tear them down and discredit them.

From Center Right to those further Right we are all under attack, and so in defense of our beliefs we are all in this together.

Many bloggers, Conservative columnists, and websites do a fine job of fighting back already, and they need to keep it up if Bush is to win in November.

As my part in promoting these fine folks you can take a good long look through my collection of links.

There is a lot of debate among Conservatives about how to fight back.

Fine. At least there is a recognition of the need to do so.

The important thing is that we all find our own ways to do so and actually DO fight back.

I am coming out of a 2 month period where blogging was scarce around here, and at my other blog, at least the type of blogging regulars are used to seeing has been scarce, as I was learning a new job and working plenty of overtime.

But I'm FINALLY coming back.

The Gloves are coming off.

Care to join me? :-)

The carnival is HERE.

From THE KEY MONK comes a piece called "Lies and half-truths about Reagan" that explains its purpose as follows:

The anti-Reagan spin has begun. Here are the most notable half-truths and misleading statements about Reagan: (1) he abandoned his principles, became "pragmatic" about what could be done, then tried to achieve his goals; (2) he did nothing viz. AIDS; (3) he trebled the national debt; (4) Iran-Contra is a stain on his legacy; (5) he was a racist.

Here are some facts and rejoinders.

The Answerman, of the blog INCITE, was born 4 years before Reagan became President, and grew up to become a self proclaimed "Doom & Gloom Conservative". :-)

His moving tribute includes the following:

He combined a philosophical vision with political pragmatism in a way that seemed neither utopian nor unprincipled. He embodied not only the image of a strong yet benevolent leader, but of the quintessential American man. He was a conservative without being a scolding ideologue. He believed in the power of American political ideals without succumbing to the temptation to spread them by force without reference to historical context. He contributed to the longest period of sustained economic growth this country has ever known. He won the Cold War. Trite as it may be to say so, he made America feel like America again.

That last one is the most interesting aspect of his many accomplishments to me, for the simple reason that President Reagan's vision of an older, prouder, self-confident America always believing in tomorrow was all I knew as a child.

The full essay is called Reagan Remembrance.

...That's All, Pilgrim!

The author introduces his piece by explaining himself:

This past spring, when it seemed that everything that could go wrong in Iraq was going wrong, a plague of amnesia began sweeping through the country. Caught up in the particulars with which we were being assaulted 24 hours a day, we seemed to have lost sight of the context in which such details could be measured and understood and related to one another. Small things became large, large things became invisible, and hysteria filled the air....

I have tried to step back from the daily barrage and to piece together the story of what this nation has been fighting to accomplish since September 11, 2001....

I have had to broaden the perspective so as to make it possible to see why the great struggle into which the United States was plunged by 9/11 can only be understood if we think of it as World War IV.

My hope is that telling the story from this perspective and in these ways will demonstrate that the road we have taken since 9/11 is the only safe course for us to follow....

As I will attempt to show, we are only in the very early stages of what promises to be a very long war, and Iraq is only the second front to have been opened in that war: the second scene, so to speak, of the first act of a five-act play. In World War II and then in World War III, we persisted in spite of impatience, discouragement, and opposition for as long as it took to win, and this is exactly what we have been called upon to do today in World War IV.

For today, no less than in those titanic conflicts, we are up against a truly malignant force in radical Islamism and in the states breeding, sheltering, or financing its terrorist armory. This new enemy has already attacked us on our own soil—a feat neither Nazi Germany nor Soviet Russia ever managed to pull off—and openly announces his intention to hit us again, only this time with weapons of infinitely greater and deadlier power than those used on 9/11. His objective is not merely to murder as many of us as possible and to conquer our land. Like the Nazis and Communists before him, he is dedicated to the destruction of everything good for which America stands. It is this, then, that (to paraphrase George W. Bush and a long string of his predecessors, Republican and Democratic alike) we in our turn, no less than the "greatest generation" of the 1940’s and its spiritual progeny of the 1950’s and after, have a responsibility to uphold and are privileged to defend.

This is just an excerpt of his introduction.

To say more, here, would detract from the power of his arguement that will become clear to you by reading the piece in its entirety.

The piece is long, the link is to a printable version of the piece, there is also a PDF Version, and the Sept. Issue will hit stores soon.

How ever you do so please, just....

Go, read, and think.

Spread the story around so more will be aware of it.

Then vote in November.

World War IV: How It Started, What It Means, and Why We Have to Win

I like "Buffets", and my different Categories, and the variety found within, lend themselves to this designation.

My Official Blogroll is a scrumptious collection of "Delightful Appetizers" fit for folks like me, on a journey into the Conservative side of the Political Spectrum, and just as tasty for those already on the diet. :-)

Which leads into the "Main Menu".

It is an Epicurean Cornucopea of nourishment for the Health Conscious person concerned with getting, or staying, Mentally Fit in a news and information environment filled with ideas they may disagree with, and unsure that there were many establisments around selling what they wanted. :-)

After a filling meal I always like to dig into a "Dessert".

The Joint offers plenty to tempt you, including some more "Sinful" ( Liberal ) dishes guaranteed to play havok with your Cholesterol, and Blood Pressure, levels. :-)

In addition to the Main Menu we offer a fine sellection of Local ( California ), and International Cuisine, to delight the adventurous pallet. :-)

There is also a "Fruit Basket" full of delectable nourishment for those disinclined to partake, too much ( or at all ), from our other fine offerings. :-)

Like all Great Dining Establishments Sneakeasy's Joint also has a 1st Class "Wine Cellar", with some stellar offerings aged as old as 228 years, or more.

The Ambrosia, Nectar, & life blood of our Great Nation's story ( and even that country from which we gained our Independence ), and what has made it what it is today, can be sampled, and learned about, by opening one of these bottles. :-)

And the prices, you ask?

Why FREE, of course, so sit right down, order from the menu, and dig right in!

And don't forget to tip the Bouncer on the way out....... :-)

The author did a Google Search on a story, and found that not only didn't the Gray Lady show up until #295, but even Bloggers showed up ahead of her.

He got similar results on the AltaVista, Lycos, Yahoo Search Engines. :-)

As the author writes there are many reasons for this, and 1 of the most important is the following:

The New York Times requires that its users register, which makes it difficult for search engines to spider its content. Perhaps an even more impenetrable barrier is the Times' paid archive. Because it stows material more than a week old behind an archive wall, you have to cough up $3 per article. Since few are willing to pay for content they can get free elsewhere, search engines, which often base results on relevancy (read: popularity), will continue to dis the Times -- as well as other media sites that make you register or pay for old news (The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal).

It seems that the Times is so concerned with not giving free access to its vast archive that it's missing the much bigger picture.

"The Web isn't just a sales outlet, it's much more akin to a vast public library," said Aaron Swartz, who coded the Times' link generator, which enables bloggers to get around the Times' paid archive by transforming temporary article links into permanent ones, so that its articles don't expire in a week. "A far more sensible position for the Times would be to charge for new news, not old news. Can you imagine the possibilities if it opened up its archive?"

The author ends with a comment related to the observation from a person interviewed for this piece:

"fewer and fewer people read print publications and (more) make the switch to online, the Times" -- and its competitors -- are "going to have to figure out a way to make more money on the Web."

Haven't people been saying that since the boom and bust days of the Internet?

I consulted Google for some answers, but when I plugged in "future viability Internet news," no New York Times article was anywhere to be found.

The full, fascinating, piece is here:

Searching for The New York Times

Thanks to fellow Bear flagger Justene, of Calblog for the heads up about this interesting story. :-)

Oh, and I've added a link to that NY Times Link Genereator over in DESSERTS. :-)

Jeff Quinton, the Back Country Conservative, has a guest post, from reporter/novelist Phillip Caston, who reports for the Charleston Post-Courier, and tells of his experiece hanging out with a hurricane in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

He begins this way:

I woke up at 5 a.m. at the Comfort Inn on Business Highway 17 in Surfside Beach. I had driven down Friday night on a short-minute's notice with Post and Courier photographer Yolanda James. It was first-time hurricane coverage for both of us, and our inexperience as well as our youth probably prepared us to get a little crazy.

and ends this way:

Would I do it all over again? You better believe it.

It is what is in between that makes this piece well worth reading.

Backcountry Conservative: Weathering Charley on Ocean Boulevard

10. Listening to the radio while Jogging ( I was so caught up in the news I didn't see the Bicyclist until he ran right over me ).

9. Listening to my radio at Starbucks ( I was so startled that I spilled my ( VERY ) Hot Chocolate in my lap ).

8. Listening to the radio while working out at the Gym ( I was so caught up in the news that I dropped the 20 lb. weight on my left foot ).

7. Listening to the radio while cooking dinner ( I was so caught up in the news that I let a perfectly good roast burn in the oven ).

6. Listening to the radio while watching John Kerry's acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention ( The commercial was far more interesting & inspiring ).

5. Listening to the radio while changing the babys diaper, after feeding ( I was so startled that I put the baby in the diaper hamper ( briefly ) & tried to burp the dirty diaper ).

4. Listening to the radio while riding the bus ( I was so caught up in the news that I missed my stop by 10 blocks, on the last run of the night, & had to walk home thru the worst neighborhood in town ).

3. Listening to the radio on the way to school ( I was so caught up in the news that I was late to class... by 2 hours. ( My teacher didn't buy it either ).

2. I was listening to the radio while sitting on the can in a public restroom, at McDonalds, during the mid-day rush ( I was so excited by the news that I dashed out of the bathroom, forgetting to pull up my shorts & pants ( talk about embarrassing! ) ).

AND THE #1 PLACE?

I was listening to the radio while having wild, crazy, & passionate, SEX with my girlfriend in my apartment ( I had never heard her be so vocal during an orgasm and proudly asked her "Was it THAT good for you, too?" Startled, she looked at me, and replied, "Oh, honey, I'm sorry, what did you say? I was so caught up in the exciting news about FedEx/Kinko's that I didn't hear you?" )

Wouldn't you just hate it if THAT happened? :-)

Seriously,

Just like all Muslims ain't Terrorists, all Democrats ain't Socialist Looney Tunes, and all Republicans ain't Christian Evangelicals, or filthy rich, there is no truth to the rumor that All Gods Creatures, Great & Small, in the Animal & Insect World, are secretly out to get us. :-)

All the stories we hear, and read, only deal with a small number of critters who are obvious malcontents with agendas, or problems, of their own that do not represent the attitudes, and practices, of the overwhelmingly vast majority of their fellow creatures.

That's not to say that we shouldn't stay alert to any signs within the community of fellow travellers, & sympathizers.

Terrorists of all types need to be defeated, where ever they are encountered in the world, and America is right to lead in this endeavor.

Just a thought.

Then again, these last 3 posts may just be proof that, after going 12 days with no day off, and heading into a few weeks where I only get 1 day off a week ( all in the heat of a California Summer ), yours truly is finally going Nucking Futs in the head. :-)

Saturday it was a Chicken Posse, scoping things out in Washington.

Yesterday it was yet another member of the Animal Kingdom actually committing a Terrorist Act.

A Dasterdly Deer!

Who next?

I mean this activity IS making its way south, ya know, and I'm beginning to wonder what's going on here, and why the brain trust in DC ain't come forward with the story.

IF they even are aware of what's afoot, that is.

Come to think of it, the Cells may have already made it into California a year ago, and I just happened to stumble upon the aftermath of an early "trial run" attack, and didn't realize it.

It has been a year, and 5 days, since I filed THIS story:

MURDER MOST FOWL!

Something to think about. :-)

***URGENT UPDATE 2***

8/3/04

Even Bees Do It

ME ( Suddenly alive to the possibility of a good laugh ): Are they trying to cross the road?

LESS FRANTIC, JUST BEMUSED: No they are just standing there.

ME: So you want to report some chickens waiting to cross the road?

BEMUSED: I guess so.

ME: Okay, here's the number so that YOU can try to make the Cops believe that you want to report an army of chickens trying to cross the road. :-)

By this time we are BOTH laughing at the absurdity of the situation, and I wished her luck in her mission, and made the connection. :-)

Ever since the call I've been doing some thinking.

I have a lot of questions about this posse of fine feathered fowl as you can well imagine. :-)

From where did they escape?

To where are they headed? [ I mean, it's a little late to be heading off to Boston, afterall. Then again maybe they are taking a month long journey to New York. :-) ]

Maybe they were not trying to cross the Highway, but were looking to hitch a ride, instead?

Were they American Citizens, or really just a pack of Illegals, from across the Canadian Border, heading for the good life in the States?

They couldn't have been Illegals, though, because they would have needed to pay a Coyote to guide them across, right? [ and we all know how well Chickens get along with Coyotes :-) ]

There being safety in numbers maybe they did away with the Coyote once they made it a safe distance from the border? [ Unless of course there were twice the number of birds when the journey began, and the survivors were making a run for it, in as inconspicious a manner as they could manage. ]

OR.....

Maybe they are members of a Terrorist Cell, canvasing the neighborhood in preperation for some nefarious deed?

I mean who's to say that all these alerts the Government's been telling us about meant they were concerned about Osama's bunch?

It seems obvious to me that a squad of suicidal Chickens trying to cross a major freeway during morning, or evening, rush hour could cause an awful lot of mayhem, death, and destruction.

I'm just sayin' we need to be thinking about all the posibilites in fighting The War Against Terror ( TWAT, for y'all in Rio Linda ), is all. :-)

Carry on!

***URGENT UPDATE***

8/1/04: Oh Deer, This is Getting Serious

She begins her thoughts this way:

I believe that if liberals examined the moral issues involved in fighting the war and directed their discontent with Bush to the scourge of terrorism and bloodthirty Islamofacism, their anger would be better served. Bush is but one man albeit a man with a lot of power. But leftist hatred for the man is unlike anything I’ve seen. Republicans didn’t hate Clinton, a master manipulator, with this viciousness and contempt.

Focusing on the morality of war may be difficult for most liberals to do. One has to believe in Truth, that there are moral absolutes in this world in order to judge one thing as “bad” and the other as “good.” Without this ability to discern, one can make a case that we had no right to unseat and capture Saddam Hussein. While he’s writing poetry in prison, his victims are in their graves or walking around with missing limbs and are otherwise traumatized by his evil machinations. Junod has a grasp of this liberal mentality.

She also includes commentary on articles by Dean Esmay & Virginia Postrel about why many on the Left hate Bush & Consrvatives so passionatly.

She writes:

I don’t think liberals hate Bush because of fear of another attack. They hate Bush because he’s a Christian.....

I am convinced that Bush’s faith in Christ scares the daylights out of the unbelieving, whether they admit it or not. Let’s assume there is no God and all Christians are deluding themselves. After we die, that’s it. No resurrection, no eternal life. But what if Christians are right? What if Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, returns to judge the world, just as He said He would?

Wouldn’t you rather err on the side of believing and struggling with your faith than living as if there were no consequences to the innumerable evil acts you commit in a lifetime? What if this God is gracious and merciful to forgive every single one of your sins? I know where I stand.

3 very long articles are linked to, and provide considerable food for thought.

LaShawns piece is here:

The Case For George Bush

I walked away from going to Church 20 years ago, and having been raised around folks of numerous branches of Christianity feel I'm a moral, and right living, person without Organized Religion being a daily, weekly, or monthly part of my life.

I think many Liberals fears of the Christian Right are unfounded, and the real enemy to fear, religionwise, is the Islamic Extremist.

Even Mainstream Muslims believe so.

The mainstream of all of the worlds religions have much to offer us in thought, and culture, as we all strive to lead upstanding, and moral lives, but being fearful of those few, other than the Muslim Extremists, in those religions, who try to Prosletize is to take ones eyes off the real problem.

Besides, none of us will know for sure, until we kick the bucket, whose religion is right, or if its ALL Mythology, so we all continue with our own personal journeys as we see fit. :-)

For my part, I find frequently reading, and thinking about, those beliefs of the Christian Faith that form my basic thought system is never a tiring thing to do ( l enjoy good blogs, articles, books, and movies that make me think ), and though I lean toward the "Mythology" camp ( read the outstanding book THE FAITH: A HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY By Brian Moynahan for 700 pages of history to chew on, and think about ) I do not dismiss the sincerity, and basic goodness, of those who practice various faiths.

It's been 20 years since I picked up the King James ( That stilted English was a distraction ), but I hear there are easier to read versions out there now, and may pick one out simply because the lessons taught about living ones life are always worth the read.

The company hired to build the second phase of the city's youth sports complex is not registered as a nonprofit agency, according to IRS records, as required by law.

In June 2003, the city paid an attorney from Salem, Ore., Joe O'Connor, and his company Community Parks Foundation nearly $1 million to build and operate batting cages, roller skating rinks and an indoor soccer arena as part of Phase II of the construction of the Sports Complex.

It's been more than three months since the facilities were scheduled to be ready for use.

Instead, the project sits half-built and abandoned with the city locked in a lawsuit with a Salem, Ore. contractor that has little prior experience. The contractor is claiming a nonprofit status that doesn't exist for companies that are defunct......

National Community Sports Foundation was dissolved two-and-a-half years ago by the state of Oregon for failing to renew its articles of incorporation. Community Parks Foundation, the company hired by the city, was dissolved in February. Documents from the Oregon Business Registry show that Intersport had its licensed revoked on Friday.

A lot of people in city offices didn't do their homework and, because of this, a facility that was supposed to be entirely completed more than 3 months ago, sits and waits for its finishing touches.

A lawsuit has ensued, and the contractor claims it could have finished the job, but I look at it this way:

Just because an organization "seems" to fit the bill, doesn't automatically make it so, and the City should have been ABSOLUTELY SURE of the Non-Profit Status BEFORE hiring.

The full story can be read here:

Contractor not a nonprofit (Free registration req'rd