Stupid hurricane

Hurricane Katrina has killed at least 68 people and is still moving.
CNN, Fox, MSNBC

Insurance is going to be costly.

This insurance bill is going to be huge after Katrina
MSNBC,FOX

Gas was up... then it went down

Its a good thing gas didn't remain at those prices.
FOX, CNN, MSNBC

Things to make you laugh

The onion has fake, stupid stories.
Shampoo=God? Union
All Hail The Mighty Cow Union

The Hurricanes and other storms.

The only storm out there is tropical depression Katrina in indiana.

And the Cummins Family gets power back just in time to watch helplessly as a now Category 5 Katrina prepares to batter and drown the city of New Orleans.

Yesterday there were no less than 9 large pole-digger trucks in my neighborhood alone. They all had South Carolina license plates. The actual crew that was working on the power lines draped gracelessly across my neighbors swale was from New York, New Jersey, and One fellow was from Texas.

My neighbors across the street still do not have power. (or most of their solar power panels either, for that matter; just one left.)

I'm not looking forward to going up on the roof today (after just getting back my a/c) and breaking out the sawzall to rid my home of the new leafy crown it now wears because a 25 foot oak branch fell on it from one of my trees.

And yet, the people of New Orleans? Category 5?

The stubborn had better flee.

There won't be trees on houses after that storm, there'll be trees "in" houses, or worse: empty, flooded plots.

Don't think you can ride this one out! Get out of there!

Steve H over at Hog On Ice points out that the nation will feel the effects of this storm as well, from sea to shining sea.

Most people have never heard of Port Fourchon, but it is the nation's premiere oil and gas support services facility--and right now it lies within 12 miles of Hurricane Katrina's CAT-3 or CAT-4 bullseye. Over 600 platforms and 75% of the Gulf’s deepwater projects lie within a 40-mile radius of Port Fourchon. Unfortunately, Port Fourchon is a Louisiana island. An island that is connected to the mainland by a single two lane bridge...an old, single two lane bridge. This bridge is the only means of getting cargo and supplies to the Port. More than 1,000 cargo trucks go across this bridge each day, delivering materials to the Port for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) drilling rigs. If there’s no bridge, there’re no drilling parts and supplies.

Do you see where this is going? When people say our infrastructure is vulnerable, they are not kidding—and not all of it is about terrorism.

The Port is crucial to our national security—for a number of other reasons. While the Persian Gulf provides around 23% of the U.S. oil supply, Port Fourchon supports the offloading of over 18% of all domestic oil and gas and 13% of all oil imports. Port Fourchon is the site of the enormous booster pumps that carry crude oil from the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) to underground salt dome storage areas in Galliano. The LOOP is the first and only offshore oil terminal operating in the United States. It's located less than 20 miles south of Port Fourchon in the Gulf of Mexico and allows the off-loading of oil from supertankers into special pipelines that connect directly to more than 30% of the nation’s refining capacity. The LOOP takes in about one million barrels of foreign oil and 300,000 barrels of domestic crude from Gulf of Mexico OCS each day. Loose that capacity and you've got big trouble.

Put another way, there is no other dot on the map that is more important to the nation’s energy supply, yet it’s connected to the mainland by an obsolete bridge and highway and it has a possible CAT-4 hurricane bearing down on it. It’s not a good situation and Port Fourchon authorities have been warning government officials about it for years.

The transportation bill they just approved had so much pork in it that it should have had a heart attack before the president signed it. If I remember correctly, there were funds for a multi-million dollar bridge in Alaska that connected an island of 50 people to the mainland.

Why wasn't a better bridge built here?

I am feeling like I want some heads on a platter, and if I have to vote democrat to get them then that's just what I will do.

I will be soooooo suprised if our power stays on. The nearby transformers are making a LOT of noise, and the power goes off every 30 seconds or so. Almost a waste of time blogging, but I suppose it's interesting history for the family blog. :)

Whoops. There it goes.

We're hard aground on the UPS.

Looks like we might see the eye of this thing!

Click on the photo for a larger pic:

Well, I stopped programming. It's the end of the day and there is this lovely storm to blog about. My kid Dan is going to be Storm Blogging as well, so you'll be sure to get the 13 year old perspective.

Mom and Dad are weathering the storm on the boat. I'm talking to dad on the IM; he says that they are already listing 30 degrees against the storm lines, and that someone has already lost a roof over on Isle of Venice. Since the storm is not so bad as far as these things go, it must not have been secured very well.

Dad's friends are down on the beach at the Elbow Room enjoying the Hurricane Party.

Our home is in downtown Fort Lauderdale, and the streets here are littered with the typical flotsam and jetsam of tree parts that typically fall in beginning of any good storm. It's not too bad other than that.

If you stand out side you can hear the popping of the electrical transformers. I hope the power doesn't go out. You'll know if it has or not, of course; the website will be down.

If my camcorder charges up I'll venture out and take some video for you.

Hi I'm Dan, I normally write Dan's Daily News Report. Today I will be describing and tracking hurricane KATRINA. As of right now the rain is not very heavy and the wind is coming in short, strong bursts. The storm isn't so bad right now, but I will be blogging regularly to tell you how the storm is affecting us in Ft. Lauderdale.
To research the storm click here

It's not just the rain we hear right now, it's the ocassional thunk of tree parts as Katrina helpfully rids the neighborhood of loose branches and bird nests.

For friends and relatives who are interested, this is the only link you really need to follow the storm's progress.

We'll keep the TrenchCam running for anyone who wants to see our front yard being blown about.

This website is being hosted here at the house; we have a T1 line out of Boca Raton. Since the storm looks like it will make landfall between Boca Raton and here in Fort Lauderdale, it is an irony that every packet you are viewing traveled through the worst part of the storm to get to you. :)

Linda is right. This is a great line.

The Movie is "The Ghost Breakers", a Bob Hope film made in 1940. The readers over at Amazon give it good ratings.

Here's the line, See it for yourself.
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Five Dead
I wonder who killed them, and also why the police didn't investigate the house if they didn't see any movement inside.
CNN, MSNBC

New child wellfare law
I support this law although I don't agree with the actions of the parents.
MSNBC,CNN, FOX

Plane crashes in Greece
This is weird, isn't it coincidental that the plane ran out of gas and lost cabin pressure.
FOX, MSNBC

Nice Plane
This plane is awsome... if it works
CNN

Yet another stem cell breakthrough
Now they have a way to create stem cells that is "morally safe" but of course they need another couple of years. I say, "WORK FASTER"
CNN

There are no large storms near the U.S.A at this, but if you want to learn about other storms you can go to NOAA

This is a great article about Major General Jim Molan, an Austrailian officer who eventually served in Iraq, eventually second in command to US General George Casey.

How many Americans know that it was an Austrailian Coalition General who planned and directed last November's offensive by coalition forces in Fallujah? Who led coalition forces to secure Bagdhad for January's elections?

In April and May last year the battle to protect Iraq's already degraded power grid hung in the balance. On three occasions the power in Baghdad was virtually cut off and sewage and water were not being pumped. At one stage the coalition was running about 800 fuel trucks per day into Iraq to cope after attacks on refinery capacity squeezed petrol supplies.

"We were being extraordinarily defeated on the infrastructure side when I first arrived," Molan says. "When I took over we were down to three or four hours a day of power in Baghdad [it's now about 12] and the bad guys were going out and blowing any pipes they wanted."

At one stage Molan employed giant C17 aircraft direct from California to fly in repair towers for the electricity network. Special dedicated repair teams, protected by security forces, worked around the clock.

You should read the whole article, it's a good read, and you won't hear about it on the MSM.

Despite the sea of pessimism in the media about developments in Iraq, Molan stresses where the insurgents have failed. They have failed to stop the transition to an Iraqi transitional government and failed to stop the January elections. In April last year there was only one usable Iraqi army battalion. There are now more than 100 battalions, many of which have had combat experience.

The key question is whether the US-led coalition can successfully transfer the core counterinsurgency fight to the new Iraqi Government and its security forces. How long will it take? Molan expects coalition military forces to phase down from 2006-07. But he echoes the words of caution of Casey, his former commander: Do not rush the Iraqi Government or security force to failure.

"We will [make the] transition based on the conditions," he says. "The south is pretty healthy. The Kurdish lands are secure. Two of the worst areas of Baghdad are being secured by the Iraqi security forces.

"The Government is just standing on its feet. You have to create capacity in the ministries. There's great relief that Saddam has gone. Extraordinary relief. What concerned all of us was the spirit of Iraq. Had Saddam deprived Iraqis of their spirit? Every so often we saw that no one would step up to the crease and no one would take responsibility. But once they trusted you there was incredible bravery."

Gaza is empty
Palestinians have kicked all of the Gaza settlers in a takeover.
FOX, CNN, MSNBC

Man! these Belgian soccer guys are horrible
The Belgian soccer team is so bad that when their goalie left to go to a concert they lost a game 50 points to one.;
MSNBC

What is wrong with this picture?
I can't believe that these Italian guys would actually allow this war criminal to have a fourteen day vacation from house arrest.
MSNBC

IPod gone? good
I never liked apple and if their IPod goes out of style all I can say is "HAA HAA"
CNN

This article is so messed up, but its from the union so don't believe a word of it
Good Cop... Bad terrorist
union.com

I have some information about storms that are threatening florida so if you want to learn about those click here.
Hurricane Hilary is at 18.6N by 112.1W
Tropical storm eleven is at 19.5N by 195.0W

Pope Benedict XVI speaking to representatives of the Islamic community while visiting Germany:

Past experience teaches us that relations between Christians and Muslims have not always been marked by mutual respect and understanding. How many pages of history record battles and even wars that have been waged, with both sides invoking the name of God, as if fighting and killing the enemy could be pleasing to him. The recollection of these sad events should fill us with shame, for we know only too well what atrocities have been committed in the name of religion. The lessons of the past must help us to avoid repeating the same mistakes. We must seek paths of reconciliation and learn to live with respect for each other’s identity.

I liked that particular quote. One of the things I liked best about Pope John Paul II was his persistant efforts to reach across the intangible borders to people of other cultures, faiths and those whom the church had wronged. Though I am not a Roman Catholic (my Grandmother is) I hope to see that example continued by Pope Benedict XVI.

Don't get me wrong: I am not a fan of wishy-washy "let's sacrifice all of what we stand for in the name of inoffensive harmony".

Not at all.

People who disagree with each other can still offer each other civility and respect, let alone the right to exist. It does not have to degrade into base hatred and nihilism.

Pope Benedict XVI seems to agree.

I am profoundly convinced that we must not yield to the negative pressures in our midst, but must affirm the values of mutual respect, solidarity and peace. The life of every human being is sacred, both for Christians and for Muslims. There is plenty of scope for us to act together in the service of fundamental moral values.

From an article over at World Net Daily:

A federal court of appeals ruled yesterday Wisconsin prison officials violated an inmate's rights because they did not treat atheism as a religion.

"Atheism is [the inmate's] religion, and the group that he wanted to start was religious in nature even though it expressly rejects a belief in a supreme being," the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals said.

The court decided the inmate's First Amendment rights were violated because the prison refused to allow him to create a study group for atheists.

I can sympathize with the decision on a microscopic trees-for-the-forest level. Atheism is certainly a belief. I think it is as unfair to discriminate against atheistic study groups as it is to deny "fresh air breaks" to non smokers. (funny, that)

But a religion?

Perhaps I need to look the word up. Maybe I don't understand myself. I cannot be accused of being the most scrupulous practitioner of organized religion.

DICTIONARY.COM defines it thusly:

Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.

A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.

The life or condition of a person in a religious order.

A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.

A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.

MERRIAM-WEBSTER offers this:

Etymology: Middle English religioun, from Latin religion-, religio supernatural constraint, sanction, religious practice, perhaps from religare to restrain, tie back -- more at RELY

1 a : the state of a religious (a nun in her 20th year of religion) b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance

2 : a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices

3 archaic : scrupulous conformity : CONSCIENTIOUSNESS

4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

Is it just me, or is it ironic that an institution that we demand to be so secular... finds itself passing judgement on secular terms, using the most non-secular interpretation of the word?

My father says that this story is too absurd to even discuss, but it has an odor about it that just seems to Orwellian for me to not take notice.

This is simply one of those times where thought I agree with the logic of the argument, nevertheless something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Al Quaeda launches missiles at a warehouse.
Al Quaeda launched three missiles at U.S ships and missed one of them killed a man in Iran
CNN, FOX,
MSNBC

Teen Killed by tiger
A teen was killed by tiger while attending a photo shoot
MSNBC, CNN, FOX

Tornado blows through wisconsin city
1 person was killed and 8 were injured.
FOX, CNN, MSNBC

High school throws out textbooks
This high school favors laptops over books.
MSNBC

Fake Story "Nukehavistan may have nuclear weapons
This is incredibly dumb and funny.
THE UNION

I read this great piece over at Little Green Footballs today, I couldn't resist sharing the quote from Scott Randolph with you in its entirety:

I actually felt myself become a republican today. It was around 10am, when I read the latest update of the Cindy Sheehan saga in CNN.com. I then shot over to read some blogs about it, and perused the comments in some of them, which was nothing but a long series of petty (albeit entertaining) partisan bickering.

Then it happened. The good little democrat in me tied the little noose around his neck and jumped off the stool. He just couldn’t take it anymore.

Take what? The whining. The constant whining by the extreme left about the reasons for war, the incompetence of this administration, and how we’ve all been lied to, and how we should pull out of Iraq immediately, because, *gulp* our soldiers were in danger.

Guess what folks….they signed up to join the Army, not the boy scouts. Anytime your orientation to a new job involves an automatic weapon, you should be smart enough to figure out there’s danger involved. I actually read some people’s comments about many of the soldiers over there being naive….they weren’t expecting to go to war, so, they should be allowed to go home. Wow.

I don't know if Scott actually will switch parties now, but I can share his frustration at the very least.

To be honest, I suppose it doesn't really matter what party you are in as long as you have your thinking cap on and are willing to re-examine your positions from time to time.

It's not like the Republican party has pleased me with every choice they have made recently. That highway bill was bursting with Pork. I'm glad that we are starting to turn the deficit around, but we need to reduce the national debt - not just slow down the rate that we are piling it up.

Regardless. Scott, you aren't alone, no matter where you caucus.

Looks like our new ambassador has already started calling it like he sees it:

America's newly installed ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, labeled "inappropriate and unacceptable" the United Nations Development Program financing of materials bearing the slogan "Today Gaza, Tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem."

Read the whole story here.

Tip of the hat to Dr Sanity.

Settlers thrown out of Gaza
People living in the Gaza strip were ordered to leave their settlements in the gaza strip by midnight yesterday, now they have been forced out. To read more you can go to Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC

Soda banned in schools
The ABA is banning sodas in middle school and limiting soda sales in high school, in my opinion this stupid. If the American beverage association decided to only sell soda during lunch I would agree with them. Everyone is making a big deal about the public schools not having enough money, and this would cut the budget further.You can find the artical at MSNBC and at CNN

Nasty Killer
You just have to read this for yourself.
Resources: CNN, FOX, MSNBC

Nintendo is getting desperate
MSNBC

DQ is Evil!
This an article from the people's cube, a website that makes up fake news stories. The Peoples Cube

Looks like another great South Florida blog to watch. Thanks to Babalu Blog for introducing it to us.

I think I'll make a new South Florida section on the Feed Reader. For feed junkies like me, remember that you can download my own OPML list at any time.

From SPACE.COM today:

A go-ahead was given last week by the U.S. Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) that clears the way for exchanges of technical information between Scaled Composites of Mojave, California and Virgin Galactic of the United Kingdom to build passenger-carrying suborbital spaceliners.

The “going rate” for seats onboard Virgin Galactic suborbital spaceships are price tagged at $200,000 each.

“We have a significant level of deposits now…nearly $10 million worth,” Whitehorn said. Some people are paying the full price to be founders and some are putting down deposits to fly in the future, he said.

“We’ll be in the position by the time we actually launch this business…I’m sure we would have sold out at least the first couple of years by the time we start flying,” Whitehorn speculated.

A full-scale mock-up of SpaceShipTwo is to be unveiled in the near future, but not this year, Whitehorn said: “We’ll be keeping our light under a bushel [basket] for competitive reasons for some time.”

Dad came back from the Abacos the other day with a few treats for the family. MmmmMMmmmMmmm. Split the tails, marianade in Cuban Mojo sauce with some key lime juice added and toss 'em on the grill.

Life doesn't get much better.

A lot of Robotics news lately: from Repilee Q1, the female android developed by Hiroshi Ishiguru to the more recently discussed robotic skin, capable of sensing both pressure and temperature.

Of course, one of the more stunning recent achievements involves the worlds first bionic arm. Jesse Sullivan can move his robotic arm -- with his own thoughts!

Pretty amazing, isn't it? I wish I read more about things like this in the news and didn't have to go digging for them.

Researchers have made some progress towards diminishing the latent HIV virus. It seems that a certain medicine used to treat epilepsy is useful in routing out the last of the latent HIV cells, one of the last pieces of the deadly puzzle. Researchers, though offering only cautious optimism, believe that if they are successful in routing the last of the latent HIV - that they will be able to cure an infected person completely.

Read this article over on MSNBC for more. Good Job, people!

I couldn't resist sharing this one from Robert Ariail

We are the sum of our experiences.

Like each and every one of us, my own experiences have left me with my own predispositions to the first impressions of truth. Because of this we need to break out the charts fairly often and take our bearings, examine our positions, make sure that we have not strayed off course.

Unlike some, I do not believe in moral relativism as the Ultimate Truth. There *is* Good and Evil out there, and I do not excuse Evil or Injustice simply because a group of people or a culture has known only this for many years.

I suppose that's one of the several reasons I feel comfortable around Neo-Conservatives.

...on the other hand, there are many things that I believe to be "just so" for no other reason than it was simply the first way I came to know it or perhaps even the only thing I have ever known. Traveling the world in the belly of a great grey Minotaur (Go Navy) has taught me at least that much. There are a lot of ways to be human, a lot of different ways to be happy and to live harmoniously with one another.

Moral Relativism isn't useless. Like any ideology, it leads us astray when we substitute it completely for our own judgment.

Realizing that there is Good, Evil and Just Plain Different is one of the many reasons why I also feel comfortable with people who call themselves RINOs, DINOs, Classical Liberals, Libertarians or Conservative Democrats.

I am primarily uncomfortable with the closeminded people who may be found across the entire political spectrum but seem to be concentrated most heavily on the far left and the far right. Their exploits are the meat and potatoes of the Media Buffet that serves up dinner every night to the masses who are begging for distraction.

The MSM well knows that it is the disturbing, the controversial and the offensive that most easily distracts. They especially love the fallen. Don't we all? The longer the fall, the better the story; the higher the target, the stronger the yearning. Remember the ravenous, almost rabid hunger to take down President Clinton? I do. I felt it myself. To cheapen the White House in such a manner; I still don't believe that the missile strikes against targets in the Sudan were anything but a smokescreen for the Lewisnky coverage.

I try to remember that when I am shocked by this or that story in the news today. The desperate hunger to "take down" the Bush administration is almost farcical.

Look at the Code Pink sponsored Cindy Sheehan, the mother of fallen Army Specialist Casey Sheehan. At a glance, she makes for an excellent spokesperson. Who would assail the integrity of a mother who has sacrificed her son? Surely only the most heartless of bigots. This is what makes her such a valuable tool to groups like Code Pink, an organization that derides our fallen sons and daughters as contemptuous murderers while delivering aid and comfort (medicine, blankets, money) to the insurgents in Iraq.

Reading the transcripts of some of Mrs. Sheehan's public appearances is almost surreal. The transparancy of her scripted comments is appalling. Nuclear War? Palestine?

It's not the first time that this is happened.

It won't be the last.

That's a crying shame.

FURTHER READING:

If you are interested in reading more about Mrs. Sheehan, Michelle Malkin has a good roundup of articles here, here, here, here, and here,.

Greyhawk, a MilBlogger notes that Specilist Sheehan is not able to speak for himself, and offers prayers for the Sheehan family.

Mohammed in Iraq asks Mrs. Sheehen not to waste her son's blood.

More tips of the hat to:

The Free Republic
NPR
New York Sun
Discover the Networks
Front Page Magazine

You can smell it as soon as you open that virtual door.

You can't quite put your finger on it, but there's something heavy and sickly-sweet in the air tonight; it clings closely to the ground, as if desperately trying to escape attention.

Too late.

Someone didn't hide the bodies too well, and the blogbarians are out in force.

Rumors of a program that was shut down just as Dubya was taking office; a data mining program that had already identified one or more of the 9/11 bombers. Rumors of extensive Iraqi terror activities in Germany, where the 9/11 bombers were based out of. ...rumors that, if true, make Sandy Berger's sock stuffing expedition a lot more sane and sensible.

If you're going venture out into the blogosphere to do a little blog-hopping tonight, you might want to wear your side arm.

It's going to get messy real soon.

Some Required Reading:
Booker Rising
Protein Wisdom
GOP Bloggers
Instapundit
GOP Bloggers (again)
Ranting Profs
Villainous Company
Dr Sanity

RINO
RINO stands for Republican In Name Only, a disparaging term for a member of the United States Republican Party whose words and actions are thought to be too fiscally or socially moderate or liberal.

The term RINO came into widespread usage around 2000 (but has been cited in newspaper stories as far back as 1992) and is used by conservative members of the Republican Party who oppose other members of their party who they deem to be too liberal. Those Republicans who are labeled RINOs counter that the conservatives who call them RINOs are extremists and politically naive to believe that conservative Republicans can be elected in moderate and liberal areas of the United States (i.e., Blue States).

Some famous RINOs:

• Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City, a former Democrat
• California politician and former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan
• Gov. Arnold A. Schwarzenegger of California, who is pro-choice
• Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who has in the past voiced pro-choice beliefs
• Former New Jersey governor and EPA head Christine Todd Whitman, a moderate
• Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is pro-choice
• Former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani, who, though very critical of John Kerry at the 2004 Republican National Convention, is pro-choice and has voiced support for gay rights

NEO-CONSERVATIVE
As compared with traditional conservatism and libertarianism, which sometimes exhibites an isolationist strain, neoconservatism is characterized by an increased emphasis on defense capability, a willingness to challenge regimes deemed hostile to the values and interests of the United States, pressing for free-market policies abroad, and promoting democracy and freedom. Critics have charged that, while paying lip service to such American values, neoconservatives have supported undemocratic regimes for realpolitik reasons.

But the newly aggressive support for democracies is founded on a new recognition that, over the long term, it will reduce the extremism that is a breeding ground for islamic terrorism. Neoconservatives have often postulated that democratic regimes are, on aggregate, less likely to instigate a war than a country with an authoritarian form of government. In support, they argue that there has been no war between democracies anywhere in the world since the War of 1812. Further, they argue that the lack of freedoms, lack of economic opportunities, and the lack of secular general education in authoritarian regimes promotes radicalism and extremism. Consequently, the Administration has advocated spreading democracy to regions of the world where it currently does not prevail, most notably the Arab nations of the Middle East.

According to Irving Kristol, former managing editor of Commentary and now a Senior Fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington and the Publisher of the hawkish magazine The National Interest, a neoconservative is a "liberal mugged by reality." Broadly sympathetic to Woodrow Wilson's idealistic goals to spread American ideals of government, economics, and culture abroad, they grew to reject his reliance on international organizations and treaties to accomplish these objectives.

Some famous NEO-CONS:

• George W Bush
• Jeb Bush
• Dick Cheney
• Donald Rumsfeld
• Paul Wolfowitz
• Jeane Kirkpatrick
• Ann Coulter
• Rush Limbaugh

PALEO-CONSERVATIVE
Many paleoconservatives identify themselves as "classical conservatives," and trace their philosophy to the Old Right Republicans of the interwar period who successfully kept America out of the League of Nations, cut down non-European immigration in 1924, and stood opposed to Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal proposals.

Some historians, such as Paul V. Murphy and Isaiah Berlin, see the paleoconservatives' intellectual ancestors as those anti-modern writers who defended hierarchy, localism, ultramontanism, monarchy, and aristocracy.

Paleoconservatives esteem the principles of subsidiarity and localism in recognizing that one must surely be an Ohioan, Texan or Virginian as they are an American. They embrace federalism within a framework of nationalism and are typically staunch supporters of states' rights. They are also more critical of the welfare state than the neoconservatives tend to be. They tend to be more critical of overreaching national power usurping state and local authority. They are more willing to question free trade, harshly critical of further immigration and tend to embrace an isolationist foreign policy, although few call themselves isolationist, and during the Cold War many supported overseas committments as necessary to the defense of the United States.

The paleoconservatives view neoconservatives — or those whom they identify as such — as interlopers. This tends to be a one direction political fight as most neoconservatives do not identify themselves as such and focus their energy on opposing the liberal left, not the extreme right. The paleoconservatives' view of the mainstream conservative movement is that of a self interested movement lacking the self confidence to defend its old ideas.

The best known contemporary paleoconservative is probably the commentator Patrick Buchanan, whose culture war speech is probably the most widely known paleoconservative critique.

Some famous PALEO-CONS:

• Lou Dobbs
• Pat Buchanan
• Paul Gottfried
• Robert Novak

Every day I will be posting 5 recent articles, These will come from CNN, Drudge report, FOX news, NPR, MSNBC, and World Net Daily (WND).

Britain Bars Radical Muslim: MSNBC, FOX, CNN

NASA puts off rocket launch: FOX, CNN, Drudge Report

Fires rage through the western United States: CNN, FOX

Video games and Composers? CNN

The sun could've been a creator: MSNBC

Wendy, Danny and I just watched the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter take off over a live web cast. That was pretty cool; what a way to start your day!

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will study the history of water on Mars

After a seven-month cruise to Mars and six months of aerobraking to reach its science orbit, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will seek to find out about the history of water on Mars with its science instruments. They will zoom in for extreme close-up photography of the martian surface, analyze minerals, look for subsurface water, trace how much dust and water are distributed in the atmosphere, and monitor daily global weather.

These studies will help determine if there are deposits of minerals that form in water over long periods of time, detect any shorelines of ancient seas and lakes, and analyze deposits placed in layers over time by flowing water. It will also be able to tell if the underground martian ice discovered by the Mars Odyssey orbiter is the top layer of a deep ice deposit or whether it is a shallow layer in equilibrium with the current atmosphere and its seasonal cycle of water vapor.

Raging RINOs: A blogging community that loosely orbits the center. It looks like there are a number of colorful members, including The Politburo Diktat, the hosting blog for the group. I think I'll keep an eye on the headlines over at the TTLB community page, which tracks the latest articles posted by the member blogs. The tent looks big enough, I think we'll toss our own hat into the ring there.

Following a link today on the Drudge Report, I learned that Detroit was the most liberal city in the nation - according to research compiled by the Bay Area Center for Voting Research in California.

Well, that made me curious. I know that my home county, Broward, is a fairly deep blue county but when I read that Hialeah, Florida was the 4th most conservative town in the nation... I wanted to know more. I found the full list of the 239 cities that they surveyed over at their home page. Below, for your convenience, is a list of the top 50 most conservative valued cities of those 239.

THE 50 MOST CONSERVATIVE CITIES IN THE U.S.

1	Provo, Utah
2	Lubbock, Texas
3	Abilene, Texas
4	Hialeah, Florida
5	Plano, Texas
6	Colorado Springs, Colorado
7	Gilbert, Arizona
8	Bakersfield, California
9	Lafayette, Louisiana
10	Orange, California
11	Escondido, California
12	Allentown, Pennsylvania
13	Mesa, Arizona
14	Arlington, Texas
15	Peoria, Arizona

16	Cape Coral, Florida
17	Garden Grove, California
18	Simi Valley, California
19	Corona, California
20	Clearwater, Florida
21	West Valley City, Utah
22	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
23	Overland Park, Kansas
24	Anchorage, Alaska
25	Huntington Beach, California
26	Lancaster, California
27	Tulsa, Oklahoma
28	Rancho Cucamonga, California
29	Garland, Texas
30	Wichita, Kansas
31	Santa Clarita, California
32	Fullerton, California
33	Corpus Christi, Texas
34	Carrollton, Texas
35	Anaheim, California
36	Clarksville, Tennessee
37	Jacksonville, Florida
38	Glendale, Arizona
39	Waco, Texas
40	Pasadena, Texas
41	Chesapeake, Virginia
42	Scottsdale, Arizona
43	Springfield, Missouri
44	Fort Wayne, Indiana
45	Naperville, Illinois
46	Oceanside, California
47	Chandler, Arizona
48	Costa Mesa, California
49	Modesto, California
50	Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Fort Lauderdale, my home, wasn't even close.

But hey. I already knew that. :)

From the Dow Jones Market Watch:

U.S. July federal deficit falls to $53 billion By Rex Nutting

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. federal budget deficit shrank to $52.8 billion in July from $69 billion a year ago, the Treasury Department said Wednesday. The deficit was about $5 billion less than the $58 billion estimated by the Congressional Budget Office a week ago. Receipts came in $1 billion more than expected, while outlays were $4 billion less than CBO projected. Through the first 10 months of the fiscal year, the federal deficit has totaled $302.6 billion, $110.2 billion less than at this time in 2004. Receipts are up 13.7% year-to-date at $1.75 trillion. Outlays are up about 6.1% year-to-date at $2.05 trillion.

The current administration proposes that if you reduce income taxes then you put more money into the pockets of consumers, who turn around and spend that money in the free market. Tax the free market and the government gets more money than they would if they tagged the consumers directly. In the end, it really isn't reducing the amount of taxes that are collected, is it?

It sounds as if the plan is working, yes?

I don't consider myself to be an economic guru, but when President Bush talked about doing away with the complicated Income Tax laws and going to a pay-as-you-go sytem it sounded like a great idea. If you're interested in reading up about it, there are plenty of websites out there to wade through. Start with FairTax.Org.

Being pleased about the dwindling deficit and looking forward to eliminating troublesome tax code aside - the Federal Deficit is not the National Debt and that needs to be addressed as well.

Our National Debt is almost 8 trillion dollars. This animal needs to be tamed, and forcing the deficit to submit to our will is only the beginning. Forcing congress to adopt wiser spending policies is imperitive. Just take a look at how we have conducted ourselves the last 30 years, and you'll see that getting deeper into debt is one of the only remaining bi-partisan efforts.

If you look at our Federal Budget, you will see that the third largest expenditure is comprised primarly of paying down the interest on our loans. That's what our National Debt is you know, loans. It's kind of like a family paying out a quarter of it's income to pay off minimum payments on credit card bills. *cough* *cough*, not that I would know anything about *that*.

It's still just as scary when it has been adjusted for inflation (thanks to brillig.com for the graphs)

As you can see, except for a rise at the end of World War II, the Debt remained remarkably constant for nearly forty years when inflationary forces are taken into account. After 1983 however, with the notable exception of the Fiscal Years ending in September of 2000 and 2001, the trend has been upward even when inflation is taken into account.

Tip of the hat to GOPBloggers.org

I found this website via another great blog that I keep in my feed reader, Atlas Shrugged. It's called The People's Cube and looks to be cut from a cloth similar to the Onion. Where the Onion succeeds in purce farce, however, the People's Cube seems to strive for the sardonic.

Here's the first article that caught my attention:

Jihadists Against Bag Searches

A new civil rights group is fighting a shameful practice: bag searches in the New York City subways that are infringing on the rights of suicide bombers to kill and maim hundreds of New Yorkers. The group that calls itself Jihadists Against Bag Searches distributed flyers today to straphangers (image, left), warning them of the erosion of civil liberties in America.

"They're right," a concerned young lawyer told our correspondent." With so many people entering the subway, how can we be sure that the searches are absolutely random? There's a big chance it's all a cover-up for profiling minorities. If the police succeeds in preventing them from blowing me up on the train, it will be the end of my civil liberties. I better send another big check to ACLU - that is, if I don't wind up with both of my arms torn off in a blast."

Read More

Today is the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki.

The scholars and pundits of today still argue over the necessity of it all, whether or not we could have wrested surrender from the hands of the Japanese without the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Having been there, seen the coastlines, met the people - I can't imagine anything other than the costliest of victories. I was but a simple sailor at the time though, certainly no real student of the politics or history of the era. Who will ever know?

The fact that it was a sad day for humanity is not a matter for debate.

Here are some pictures/postcards that I took/bought while I visited ground zero as a sailor in December of 1994, as well as an excerpt from a letter I had written to my girlfriend at the time.

20 DEC '94 - NAGASAKI WAS VERY EMOTIONALLY IMPACTING, FOR ME. I WAS ABLE TO STAND AT GROUND-ZERO RIGHT WHERE THE BOMB WENT OFF. THE A-BOMB MUSEUM HAD MANY GRAPHIC PICTURES, VIDEOS, AND PERSONAL INTERVIEW-ACCOUNTS FROM THE VICTIMS. I THINK I WAS MOST TAKEN WITH A PILE OF CANVAS. IT LOOKED LIKE A PILE OF FOLDED CANVAS ANYWAY, BUY IT WAS REALLY HALF INCH THICK IRON PLATE THAT WAS WITHIN THE HYPO-CENTER OF THE BLAST! IN A HALF SECOND THE BOMB BLAST HAD CRUSHED THE-IRON ROOFING OF THE PRISON AS IF IT WERE SUPPLE CLOTH. MORE SO THAN ALL OF THE PICTURES AND MELTED GLASS THAT I HAD VIEWED, THAT IRON PLATE WILL FOREVER BE IN MY MIND. IT LOOKED LIKE MY BLANKET DOES WHEN I PUSH IT TO THE END OF MY RACK. I KNOW OF NOTHING THAT CAN DO THAT SO CASUALLY AS THAT BLAST DID. 75,000 PEOPLE WERE KILLED INSTANTLY, WITH 75,000 MORE TO FOLLOW IN THE WEEKS AFTER. A TRUE TRAGEDY. BUT... HOW ELSE WERE WE TO END THE WAR? MY SYMPATHIES ARE CERTAINLY WITH THE MEN WHO MADE THAT DECISION, AS WELL AS THE VICTIMS OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI. NAGASAKI IS DEDICATED TO NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT AND WORLD PEACE. CAN YOU BLAME THEM? PART OF ME WAS SURPRISED TO SEE ALMOST NO PHYSICAL EVIDENCE OF THE BLAST REMAINING TODAY. EVEN AT GROUND ZERO, WHERE A PARK TO WORLD PEACE STANDS TODAY, TREES GROW IN THE GROUND AND FLOWERS LOOK TO THE SUN. I WAS EXPECTING TO SEE A LITTLE MORE BARREN-NESS FOR SOME REASON. IT CONFIRMED THE RESOLUTION OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT, I THINK. I FEEL BETTER FOR HAVING ACTUALLY BEEN THERE, AND THROWN A PENNY IN THE WATERS OF THE PEACE FOUNTAIN IN APOLOGY - I THREW ONE IN THERE FOR YOU, TOO.

See if you can read this one without shaking your head:

Sis, boom, busted Cheerleaders help police catch driver who left accident scene

ANN ARBOR, Michigan (AP) -- A man who left an accident scene was tracked down with the help of some cheerleaders who witnessed the crash and turned his license plate number into a cheer, police said.

read the whole story

The young ladies deserve credit, surely. It's just hard not to chuckle.

From the Wall Street Journal:

First, more Americans have jobs today than at any other time in history. Second, over the past two decades or so, the U.S. has created more than 40 million jobs -- twice as many as Europe and Japan combined. And third, the U.S. has one of the lowest jobless rates of all developed nations.
[...]
Part of the explanation for this success is that, especially compared to Europe, the U.S. has imposed fewer taxes and regulations (even though we have plenty) that make it onerous for employers to hire and fire workers. A unique feature of the U.S. economy is that Americans move in and out of jobs -- usually to rise up the income elevator -- at a rapid and persistent pace. This is the key to the Great American Jobs Machine, and it explains why Europe and Japan should be more like us, and not the other way around.

Tip of the hat to ThreeSources.com