Jeff Freeman, RIP

Oh God even typing this up just breaks my heart. First, the statement from his brother posted on the SWGEMU.com site:

Some of you know who Jeff Freeman was; he was the lead designer at Sony when the major changes were made to SWG that left so many upset. Although it was not his fault he took the brunt of the criticisms, attacks, and even death threats.

Some of you may have even known him back in the UO days as Dundee, Guild Master of the Nameless Ones on Lake Superior and later the administrator of the private UO server World of Dreams.

I am not sure why I have chosen this forum to share this news; it may be that I would have loved to see Jeff build the game that he really wanted to, if he was running a private server. You see I am his brother. On September 24th Jeff took his own life. I am not angry at him or anyone else, sad yes, like so many others I feel a bit of guilt but I love my brother and I am thankful that he is no longer suffering.

Below is part of the obituary that will run in the Longview News Journal on Wednesday, October 1, 2008.

LONGVIEW - Memorial services for Jeff Freeman, 39, of Austin, will be at 4 p.m. Thursday, October 2, 2008 at Triumphant Christian Center, 1308 Reel Road, 903-xxx-xxxx.

Born October 8, 1968, he was a computer programmer who worked on many popular programs including Star Wars Galaxies and had served this country as a member of the U.S. Army Reserves.

"Because Christ suffered so much for us, we can receive so much comfort from Him." 2 Cor 1:5

I hope all of you will join me and our family as we celebrate his life.

later his brother posted a follow up:

Yes, I do plan on posting on his blog but I do not have any of his login information. That is something I am working on today. When I do get access to his blog I will post some pics etc... to show what a great person he was.

I am sure it seemed strange that I posted here, but this is the only contact I have the SWG community. I was a fan of pre-cu and have played on the test server. I have even considered running a server when SWGemu is released. I am not the programmer my brother was but I am excited about the project.

Also, I want everyone to know that it was not SWG that lead him to take his life. He has been troubled for sometime. There were alot of personal issues that tore at him. I did not post here because this is a community of pre-cu fans. As I stated before this is just the SWG community I have a connection to.

Regardless of how SWG turned out we must admit that many of the great things we enjoyed about pre-cu was because of his work.

Kylrathin I to wish it was a joke. I miss him so much.... I need him back...

He and I began our correspondence back when the whole NGE thing happened. We started out as semi-adversaries, but I'd like to think he and I became actual internet buddies over the years, and not only did I grow to respect him, but like him as well. He was a good man and a good game designer; and I am going to miss him greatly. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Here's the link to his blog: http://mythicalblog.com/

""Birth Of Freedom Shorts Series #5: Is Secularism Neutral?

Another cool little short from the folks at the Acton Institute:

L'Shana Tova!

Happy New Year! Welcome to 5769

The Bill Fails DOW Down 777

777 -- that's the number of God in the Kabbalah; Crowley's "Flaming Sword." Pretty weird.

I must say, I am glad the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 went down and failed, even if it leads to a serious market downturn. I feel that it was the wrong approach to a serious problem, and in the wrong run, not only would not fix the problem, but would have made matters worse.

I am proud of those Republicans and Democrats who, in a new kind of bipartisan effort, actually listened to the people and allowed the bill to go down.

Now it is time for them to take a step back, hold hearings, and ignore the idjits on the right and left who CAUSED the crisis. They need to ask, no BEG, Ron Paul to get some sound money economists up there are ask them how the heck did we get here and what must we do to get out?

Why do I feel they will not do this?

Democrat Cover-up?

Sounds like "Insider Trading"

Is this Democracy?

Revelation 5:13

And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, [be] unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.(KJV)

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, everything in the universe, cry out: "To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever." (NAB)

And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They also sang: "Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever."(NLT)

In the past few weeks we looked through some of the lines in the letters of Paul that point to an eventual reconciliation of all men to God, seeing that how one man's sin damned us all, and one man's righteousness redeems all (Rom. 5:18), and assuming one means one and all means all, that implies all sinners, even the sinners who do not know Christ and have not accepted him.

We have looked at how in his First Letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:22-26), he states that, building on the all dying in Adam idea, and all rising in Christ fulfillment, he begins to spell out how this works, that Christ is the "firstfruits" then us, His believers and followers, but THEN He defeats death itself -- the final enemy.

We have looked at 2 Corinthians 5:16-19, where Paul writes about how we are to put off our worldly view because God has reconciled the whole world to Himself in Christ. he didn't say just the part of the world of believers, but the whole thing.

Then we looked at 1 Timothy 4: 9-10; possibly one of the most famous lines proclaiming the salvation of all where he references yet again the special slavation for those who believe but that Christ is the "savior of all men."

Once again, does ALL mean ALL? People who like to take the Bible literally seem incapable to take these words literally. They look at other parts of the Bible which seem to speak of people burning in hell forever, decide that it is THOSE words they need to take literally, and then choose to NOT take these words literally.

Thus, through a selective choice if literal interpretation, they CHOOSE to damn their fellow human beings to Hell. Over time, I'll try and go into these Hell discussions in the scripture; after all, Jesus does talk about a place called Hell and honesty requires that any developed theology deal with this.

Okay now to the verse of the Day. We have here a sign of the culmination of God's Glory; where EVERY creature in heaven, every creature on the earth, every creature under the earth, every creature in the sea -- literally ALL LIFE itself sing unto the Lamb forever and ever. So, not only are YOU going to be saved, but so is your cat, your dog, that goldfish you flushed, that squirrel you ran over with the car, and the cow that provided me with that juicy hamburger I had for lunch today -- ALL of them are reconciled in Him.

ALL means ALL, at least to me. EVERY means EVERY, at least to me. If I'm gonna be a Biblical literalist, and I am forced into finding contradictory literalisms, I'm gonna CHOOSE the one that makes God something better than me. I'm gonna choose the one whose mercy and love is infinite, who is a true Father to all.

I hope after some pondering and study you come to feel the same way. Remember this is only the beginning of this discussion. First, we spend some time putting our best foot forward. Then, I'll try and deal with the best arguments against my theology, then try and reconcile the irreconcilable, knowing all things were reconciled in Christ -- so by following Him, we should be able to deal.

In God we'll Trust.

Global Economic Meltdown -- the Music Video

You knew it would eventually had to happen, here it is:

Go Jet-Man Go!

This was a really cool Dave Stevens comic and a fun little movie -- it captured one of my oldest dreams -- to have my own jetpack.
Say hello to the real Rocketeer:

It's a beautiful thing. Where can I get mine?

Paul Newman 1925 - 2008

Thank you Paul for how you have blessed the lives of so many people. So many have been helped by your actions and your seemingly infinite capacity to love others creatively that they are far too many to name.

It has been said what we do in this life will echo in eternity. Well then, the heavens will ring for a very long time the actions of Paul Newman.

Thank you, and may God welcome you to all His Glory. Be seeing you.



This is one of my favorite moments from one of my favorite movies:


I can eat 50 egg...

A Cute One From the McCain Campaign

They sure are fast over there...

What Caused Our Economic Crisis?

You MUST watch this video.

The First Debate

First off, I must say that I LOVE this format of debate. The moderator asks a question, they each have two minutes to answer it; then they get five minutes for freeform exchange. Excellent format.

The best moment was when McCain said, "so let me get this straight -- we sit down with ahmadinejad and he says, let's wipe Israel off the map, and we say, no you won't." that was pretty funny.

Or words to that effect. That as the "moment" of the debate. Otherwise, it was a pretty even debate. I must say it again: I LOVE this format.

I would say McCain won marginally on both points and style. Obama said, "me too" way too much, and he made too many faces.

That being said, Obama got through it fine, without any damage from McCain. In that he is ahead in the polls, that's bad for McCain.

What Obama failed to do was he did not come off as self assured as he ordinarily does, and I don't think he did anything that will sway the swing voter his way. McCain may have done marginally better with that, by showing his understanding and experience with foreign policy, and calling for a spending freeze on all government other than defense, entitlements, and veterans.

Also McCain ended better. Bottom line, no clear winner, which is good for Obama.

A Nerd's take on the Bailout Debate

Jim PInkerton is a dude I have always enjoyed. He's a smart, nerdy wordsmith who can always be counted on to bring us a cool take on things. His take on the bailout debate is no different:

In Washington, it’s a showdown between the representatives of Wall Street and the representatives of Main Street. But have you noticed that the old partisan alliances are reversed? It’s the Democrats who are now the Wall Street Party. And Republicans—with the conspicuous exception of President Bush—are now the Main Street Party.

Consider: President Bush proposed the $700 billion plan; after days of hiding behind the Secretary of Goldman Sachs, Henry Paulson, Bush finally emerged from the sidelines Wednesday night to tout the plan in prime time. Just this morning, he spoke again in favor of his plan, while again taking no questions from pesky reporters.

But the Congressional Democrats, who mostly despise Bush, are also mostly for the Bush plan. Sure, they made some cosmetic changes in the bailout proposal, but they have never wavered in their basic endorsement.

So who’s against the plan? It’s Congressional Republicans who are getting in the way. They are the heroes of the hour. Although outnumbered, these brave Capitol Hill GOPers have stopped official Washington in its tracks.

He goes on to show the irony:

For their part, the Democrats are emerging as the new party of the rich, the party of Wall Street, the party that champions financiers at the expense of producers. For years now, the most affluent precincts in the country—mostly on the two coasts—have been solidly Democratic. And in 2008, the polls show that upper-income voters mostly support Barack Obama. And Obama, of course, guided by the likes of Robert Rubin, has been quietly supportive of the deal. Indeed, Obama personally epitomizes the Democrats’ new political arrangement: He was raised mostly poor, then worked mostly with the poor, but now he is rich and works mostly with the rich—his campaign is a well-financed corporation. Yet he has maintained his popularity with the poor. For their part, the Republicans now represent the majority of middle-income voters—Main Street. But the Democrats, with their political pincer movement, from the rich above and the poor below, have the clear electoral advantage in 2008.

Seems the whole world is turning upside down, he wraps it up in truly epic nerd style:

So only Congressional Republicans—the single most implacable figure being Sen. Richard Shelby, the Rock of Alabama—are taking a firm stance against this monstrosity. They even seem to have brought along John McCain, who has taken various positions on the bailout over the last few weeks. But bravo for the Congressional Republicans. After years of embarrassments and scandals, the Capitol Hill GOP has rediscovered principle and honor. And so rediscovered the glory of genuinely representing the people, against the powerful.

I am reminded of Aragorn’s Battle Speech at the Black Gate in the third of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The King tells his outnumbered troops:

I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day.

An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day!

This day we fight!!

By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!!!

And so, in the Tolkien story, the Men of the West are triumphant. But today, in the real world, could the Republican Men and Women of Capitol Hill yet prevail? The Washington, D.C. conventional wisdom, as of Friday, is that the Bush Administration/Democratic/Wall Street juggernaut will eventually bring the Congressional GOP to heel. If so, that would be the final victory of Wall Street over Main Street.

But maybe not. Maybe the people will win this epic struggle.

Too funny. I wonder...perhaps this, that is, Democrats being the new party of corporate welfare, and Republicans the new defenders of the little guy, is what Obama means when he speaks of "change."

Ding Dong, the D*ck is D...Disbarred

This should show people that no matter how bad the news gets, there's always a sign that there is a God in this wide wonderful world. Self-proclaimed protector of children and enemy of gamers everywhere, Jack Thompson, has been disbarred for life. Now, normally I would not celebrate from anyone's misfortune, but this was one nasty man, and a threat to all our liberty -- especially the freedom of gamers exercising their first amendment right to kill, maim and slaughter whatever they feel like in a virtual setting.

This monster of a human being, who tried to make links between video games and murder, in his dark side attempt to destroy the good times of others, claiming to be a Christian, he forgot about Jesus' message of love and reconciliation, and sought out to destroy those who did not fit into his tiny little mind.

He went after Howard Stern, he went after other radio humorists. He went after rap music, but mostly, he went after violent video games -- and for that, to use his own style of reasoning, the Lord saw fit to bring him low.

Atheists around the word take note -- if you didn't believe before, this is evidence that demands a verdict.

It's detailed here, at destructoid.com:

It's been a long time coming, but silver-haired game hater Jack Thompson has been permanently disbarred. That's right folks, in thirty days time, the man who once so proudly flaunted his lawyer credentials in peoples' faces will soon have to go from being "Jack Thompson, Attorney" to just plain ol' John Bruce Thompson, Nobody.

The Court approves the corrected referee's report and John Bruce Thompson is permanently disbarred, effective thirty days from the date of this order so that respondent can close out his practice and protect the interests of existing clients. If respondent notifies the Court in writing that he is no longer practicing and does not need the thirty days to protect existing clients, this Court will enter an order making the permanent disbarment effective immediately. Respondent shall accept no new business from the date this order is filed.

Judgment is entered for The Florida Bar, 651 East Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2300, for recovery of costs from John Bruce Thompson in the amount of $43,675.35, for which sum let execution issue.

Not final until time expires to file motion for rehearing, and if filed, determined. The filing of a motion for rehearing shall not alter the effective date of this permanent disbarment. Consistent with this Court's sanction order, no motion for rehearing will be considered unless signed by a member in good standing of The Florida Bar other than respondent.

Jack Thompson will no longer be able to practice law thanks to a string of misconduct allegations that included lying, making a nuisance of himself to professionals, and generally being both ignorant and disrespectful of his peers. Jack Thompson behaved with nothing but contempt and immaturity in his own disbarment trial, so it's hardly surprising that this has happened. He had only himself to blame.

I doubt Thompson's crusade against videogames ends here. But until FOX hands him another paycheck to pretend to be an expert, hit the jump for an exclusive official response to the disbarment from Jack himself.

[Thanks, Radio Guy]

We contacted Jack Thompson asking if we might have an official statement on his disbarment. He answered our request swiftly, but concisely. His statement simply reads:

"Sure. Go to Hell."

I really can't understand why he's not still a lawyer.

Let this be a lesson to those fellow believers in the Almighty -- he wants us to be proclaiming liberty, not destroying it; spreading His Good News, not bad news; He wants us slaying real dragons, not virtual ones; and he wants us to sow the good sweet fruits of love and reconciliation, not the bitter ones of hatred and division.

Mr. Thompson, I hope and pray you repent, face the Lord in all His glory, and realize you have done his Word wrong when you set out to tyrannize the mind of man. Turn and repent, so that you may live a long and happy life on a new, better, more free path.

For it is written: It is for freedom that Christ set us free! Stand fast, and let not yourself be strangled again under a yoke of bondage!

And don't screw with others either, dude. Rly.

Ditching Letterman for Couric?

I mean she's cute and all that, but really. I'd hang with Letterman any day. Either way it was a dumb move on McCain's part to cancel Letterman because you had to go down to Washington to help get the bill passed -- but then decide you have time enough to do an interview with Katie.

Major dumb move, Senator.

Just like FDR...

and when the stock market crashed. The President got on TV and reassured the people. At some point I'll find the video and post it here. Just had to make the wisecrack.

The Debate is Shifting...MY Way

day after day, more and more people are realizing, or coming out and saying, that it was NOT deregulation and lack of oversight that led to our current financial crisis, but rather the usual liberal social engineering.

Stan Liebowitz chimes in:

HOW did America wind up in its worst financial crisis in decades? Sen. Barack Obama explained it this way last week: "When sub-prime-mortgage lending took a reckless and unsustainable turn, a patchwork of regulators systematically and deliberately eliminated the regulations protecting the American people."

That's exactly backward. Mortgage lending took that "reckless and unsustainable turn" because of regulation - regulation driven by liberals and progressives, not free-market "deregulators."

Pushed hard by politicians and community activists, the regulators systematically and deliberately altered financially sound lending practices.

Someone else gets it. It's big government once again; it's allowing government to pick and choose the way the economy should go, based upon some program of the way things ought to be. Once again, instead of leaving people free to make choices, the control freaks need to take control. This leads to a worse situation than the one they try to correct.

It wasn't GREED, it was POWER. McCain and Obama have both been wrong on this -- both are busy attacking Wall Street for something Washington promoted and made happen. Will they learn? Only time will tell. At least we can see more and more economists out there are explaining what really happened, and why.

hat tip to Rachel Lucas for finding this :)

Wow, You Mean They Might Do the RIGHT Thing?

At least that's what Breitbart.com is saying:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., told reporters Tuesday that a provision continuing the moratorium will be dropped this year from a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running after Congress recesses for the election.

Republicans have made lifting the ban a key campaign issue after gasoline prices spiked this summer and public opinion turned in favor of more drilling. President Bush lifted an executive ban on offshore drilling in July.

Republicans showing some stones? Democrats capitulating on their desire to wreck the economy, blame it on Bush, connect Bush to McCain, and elect Obama? Hallelujah!

Well, not exactly. The fact is, this is the least popular congress in its history, and they know how the people feel. They knew that by going against the will of the people here, it is THEY who would lose out. Polls are already showing that Obama might not be the Messiah they were hoping for -- he'll still probably win, but may not have the coat-tails that a realignment often has with it.

Regardless, this is some good news, finally in a news cycle that has been nothing but bad news. Oil Companies: let's get this party started!

The perfect storm: factors leading to the downfall of an MMO

Another fine thread about the sinking of the ship that was Star Wars Galaxies:
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/203234

Diddy Blog #21: Sh*t Happens!

aka the poo Diddy edition. As always the usual language warning applies...

Biden, the Gift that Keeps On Giving.

Joe. Hoover was president. TV wasn't even invented yet. Love you, man!

Bloodsucking Fiends

No, this isn't another post about government, although you might think so by the title, this is actually about the book, Bloodsucking fiends: A Love Story, by Christopher Moore. For years, people have told me, dude, you'll really love this guy, he has your kinda sense of humor, and he loves the same sh*t we do.

I have read dozens of snippets from Lamb and while I had never sat down and actually read the whole book (I do plan to now), I loved the goofy religious satire, and in world with far too little religious humor, that book seems to be one of the best -- charmingly blasphemous, well written, and just plain cute.

Anyway, Bloodsucking Fiends. Loved it! Funny, a cool little story, believable characters, nice use of fan service to the vampire genre, and did I mention it was funny?

Without really going into too much detail, the story of Jody the vampire is my kinda vamp tale: she becomes a vampire and just deals with it. No big oh my God I can't believe it; much more like wow, vampires ARE real now how do I deal with it?

Just like a real person who has seen a few movies and experienced popular culture would be. I always hate it when in contemporary urban fantasy we have to suffer through pages and paragraphs of the characters NOT BELIEVING in what has happened and acting like they've never heard of a vampire before. Refreshing.

Add to that a collection of highly memorable characters, retail humor reminiscent of Kevin Smith, and you have a highly enjoyable, low maintenance novel. If you have some time, give this one a read. You'll be glad you did.

More Evidence That It's the Democrats, Stupid

The evidence is mounting that while both parties had a hand in it, the current money meltdown has far more Democratic fingerprints on it, as we told by Kevin Hassett of the American Enterpise Institute at Bloomberg.com:

Enough cards on this table have been turned over that the story is now clear. The economic history books will describe this episode in simple and understandable terms: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exploded, and many bystanders were injured in the blast, some fatally.

Hassett goes on to explain how this happened, and then goes on to discuss how some people tried to stop it, or at least head it off:

The clear gravity of the situation pushed the legislation forward. Some might say the current mess couldn't be foreseen, yet in 2005 Alan Greenspan told Congress how urgent it was for it to act in the clearest possible terms: If Fannie and Freddie ``continue to grow, continue to have the low capital that they have, continue to engage in the dynamic hedging of their portfolios, which they need to do for interest rate risk aversion, they potentially create ever-growing potential systemic risk down the road,'' he said. ``We are placing the total financial system of the future at a substantial risk.''

What happened next was extraordinary. For the first time in history, a serious Fannie and Freddie reform bill was passed by the Senate Banking Committee. The bill gave a regulator power to crack down, and would have required the companies to eliminate their investments in risky assets.

If that bill had become law, then the world today would be different. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, a blizzard of terrible mortgage paper fluttered out of the Fannie and Freddie clouds, burying many of our oldest and most venerable institutions. Without their checkbooks keeping the market liquid and buying up excess supply, the market would likely have not existed.

But the bill didn't become law, for a simple reason: Democrats opposed it on a party-line vote in the committee, signaling that this would be a partisan issue. Republicans, tied in knots by the tight Democratic opposition, couldn't even get the Senate to vote on the matter.

Again, BOTH sides are to blame for this, but each day, more and more evidence shows the Democrats deserve the lion's share of it. Will the mainstream media allow this story to get out? Not if it might hurt their Messiah, Barack Obama.

Funny Biden Video

One of the things I LIKE about Joe Biden is he is just a regular guy. I don't like his politics, but I do like him:

Now, people are saying he is drunk here; but so what if he is? he's not driving, he's hanging out.

Either way, I love seeing politicians when they get caught as human beings :)

...and if this turns out to be a fake, it's still a funny video.

Update: From what I understand, Biden doesn't drink. Nothing wrong with a sober man making himself look silly either :)

1 Timothy 4: 9-10

Here is a saying you can trust. You can accept it completely. 10 We work hard for it. Here is the saying. We have put our hope in the living God. He is the Savior of all people. Most of all he is the Savior of those who believe. (NIV)

This [is] a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. (KJV)

9The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. (ESV)

Okay, we have three translations, even the one the hellraisers are so fond of: the King James Version. I don't think the Apostle can be any more clear here: "The saying is true and deserving of full acceptance." In other words: listen the heck up, dudes, this is VERY IMPORTANT I am about to tell you something that is certified.

He then says "for to this end we toil and strive" -- in other words -- THIS is what it's all about.

Now he doesn't say, watch out, yer hellbound unless you get yourself born again, pray the sinners prayer, and let Jesus into your soul. Nope. Not at all. The Apostle then goes on to say that "we have our hope in the living God, who is Savior of ALL people, especially those who believe.

There we see it AGAIN, a "special" salvation for believers, but make no mistake, ALL seems to once again mean ALL, and here we see God is the savior of ALL.

Once again, either Paul is a liar, or all are saved.

Clinton Praises Palin

America's greatest living politician more or less agrees with my assessment of Palin, as reported by ABC News Jennifer Parker:

September 18, 2008 6:33 PM
Asked if he was surprised by the bounce McCain received in the polls after choosing Palin as his vice presidential candidate, Clinton said he wasn't, and lavished praise on the Alaska governor.

"No, she's a-- she's an instinctively effective candidate," he said, "And with a compelling story. I think it was exciting to some, that, that she was a woman. It was exciting that she was from Alaska. It was exciting that she's sort of like the person she is. And she grew up in a, came up in a political culture and a religious culture that is probably well to the right of the American center. But, she didn't basically define herself in those terms," Clinton said.

"She handled herself very well," he said, "I get why she's done so well. She, she's, it's a mistake to underestimate her. She's got good intuitive skills. They're significant."

Love him or hate him, Bill Clinton knows his stuff. Democrats would do well to pay heed to the opinions of a master. It is interesting that Clinton's opposition hated him beyond reason and tried to dig up as much personal garbage on him as possible, attacked his daughter, and otherwise resorted to extremely low tactics to hurt him politically.

Huhuhuh...he said "Persecuted"

It's worth listening to the whole thing, but shoot up to about 4:50 for the funny part:

Gotta love a good Bush gaffe. Nothing better to instill (or should I say install) confidence in our financial system...

Another Good Attack Ad

Seems the McCain campaign has gotten better with their attack ads:

This is the kinda thing I enjoy seeing in a bloody campaign. I hope to see Obama following suit with some better ads.

Sandra on Sarah

The hatred on the left is almost unbearable sometimes; so is their theology. I wince as I hear this venom. Explicit language ahead.

Is this what the left has turned into?

The Right Attitude

Wall Street's old hands not rattled by financial crisis
By David Caruso, The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Images of Wall Street's stunning stumble were everywhere this week, from photographs of weary traders to video of Lehman Brothers employees carrying boxes to the curb.

But if fear was in the air, you couldn't quite see it on the sidewalks of the financial district, or even the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Even before the market began a two-day rally Thursday, the atmosphere seemed to be one of uncertainty, not despair.

"I don't feel terrified. I don't feel panicked," said Doreen Mogavero, a floor trader for nearly three decades.

Without a doubt, she said, New York's investment community was experiencing "a rather difficult crisis of confidence," but one where people haven't given up hope that opportunities to make money are still out there, somewhere.

"You don't have quite the craziness that we used to have, say in the crash of '29 or the crash of '87, where there was frantic running around, screaming and yelling," she said Thursday on the exchange floor, surrounded by fellow traders who looked intent but calm.

Wall Street, after all, has seen bad times before.

Just seven Septembers ago, New York's financial center lay in literal ruins, with thousands dead from a terrorist attack, thousands more thrown out of work, and many hundreds of small Manhattan businesses destroyed.

How does this crisis compare? It doesn't, said Liz Berger, director of the Alliance for Downtown New York.

"We've been on the brink of catastrophe before, and not just financial market catastrophe," she said from her office, just a few blocks from new skyscrapers rising at ground zero. "Of course we're anxious. How can we not be? I think people are just shocked by the swiftness of the paradigm change. But if you look at the reality of the situation, this community has gone through so much, and it has always survived."

Every day is the end of the world as we know it; it always has been since the dawn of time. The trick to success is dealing with it, changing when you have to, moving on, and not to panic. We'll get through this one too.

Good Ole Ron

Right on target once again. Thanks to the Libertarian Think Tank for this one.

The Good News and the Bad News

AP
Stocks soar as officials confirm gov't rescue plan
Friday September 19, 11:47 am ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Wall Street extends big rally on bank rescue hopes, temporary ban on short sales of financials

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street extended a huge rally Friday as investors stormed back into the market, relieved that the government plans to rescue banks from billions of dollars in bad debt. The Dow Jones industrials rose more than 375 points, giving them a massive gain of more than 785 points over two days, and Treasurys fell as money flowed into equities.

The good news is, for now, I'm making some money back I lost in the recent past. The bad news is, it's just kicking the can down the road and will lead to bigger, more intrusive government, larger national debt, and the piper will STILL need to be paid down the road.

Next time it'll be even MORE expensive. Will the economy grow enough in the interim so we can afford it? No one knows. It's still being financed on the backs of the working people of America, all to bail out investors like me.

The Illuminatrix's Piece in the WSJ

Here's the piece that appeared in the WSJ on September 11th:

Democrats Need to Shake
The 'Elitist' Tag
By LYNN FORESTER DE ROTHSCHILD
If Barack Obama loses the presidential election, it may well be the result of a public perception that he is detached and elitist -- a politician whose expressions of empathy for hard-working Americans stem more from abstract solidarity than a real connection to the lives of millions of citizens.

Suggestions that Sen. Obama has failed to relate to working- and middle-class voters in swing states have dogged his campaign for months. His choice of Sen. Joseph Biden as his running mate only marginally corrects the problem.

While Obama supporters attempt to dismiss the charges about their candidate's perceived hauteur, they confuse privilege and elitism. Elitism is a state of mind, a view of the world that cannot be measured simply by one's net worth, position or number of houses. Throughout American history, there have been extremely wealthy figures who have devoted themselves to genuinely nonelitist principles. (Franklin Delano Roosevelt is probably the best-known example.) At the same time, many from modest backgrounds, like Harry Truman's foil, Thomas Dewey, personified elitism.

I'm a longtime Democrat. I worked for Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and supported Sen. Hillary Clinton in her presidential campaign. But I must face the uncomfortable truth that liberal elitism has been a weakness of the Democratic Party for more than half a century. In 1952 and 1956, for example, Adlai Stevenson emerged as the presidential candidate of the party's "new politics" wing. But while Stevenson's stylish, articulate, high-brow manner thrilled the nation's intellectuals, he could never connect with large numbers of working-class Democrats who found him aloof and aristocratic.

The "new politics" Democrats have found their new, improved Stevenson in Mr. Obama. In spite of his lofty liberal rhetoric, Mr. Obama is not connecting to millions of middle- and working-class voters, as well as women voters of all classes. Not only is his legislative record scant on issues that make a difference in their lives, but his current campaign is based mainly on an assumption of his transcendence.

Despite Mr. Obama's assertions that his campaign is about "you," much of his campaign is, in fact, all about him. In the months since the primaries ended, his creation and display of a mock presidential seal with his name on it, his speech at a mass rally at the Prussian Victory Column in Berlin, and his insistence on delivering his acceptance speech in front of fabricated Greek columns in a stadium holding 80,000 chanting supporters have crossed the thin line that separates galvanizing voters and plain old demagoguery.

In this context, it should come as no surprise that Sarah Palin, mother of five, hockey mom turned governor and maverick reformer, would instantly zero in on the inherent weakness in Mr. Obama's candidacy, and contrast it with her own compelling life story.

It is ironic that the candidate who comes from a more privileged background -- John McCain -- can genuinely point to at least one crucial moment in his life when elitism went by the boards. Because John McCain's father was a high-ranking Navy Admiral, he was offered freedom from a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp. He refused, saying that he would leave only when every prisoner who had been captured before him was also released.

Mr. McCain can truthfully tell the story of when he refused to be treated as special, and stood unflinchingly beside less-privileged Americans. It is a story that suggests the way he would govern as president of the United States.

Mr. Obama cannot point to any analogue to Mr. McCain's service. As he talks of himself, and his supporters talk about the amazing Obamaness of Obama, it is no wonder that millions of Americans, including loyal Democrats, still question whether his presidency would reinforce the splendor of Barack Obama rather than protect them and enhance their lives.

My New Favorite Illuminatrix

Now of course, she married into it, but her last name certainly qualifies her as a card-carrying member :)

Watching her kick Brown's tush is a beautiful thing:




Once again we can see another weak-minded member of the media playing with the politics of identity. The Illuminatess MUST be an ELITIST because she is a member of the ELITE, Barack Obama can't be an ELITIST why? I guess because he is black. What a disgusting way to think. The naked prejudice and racism in the media once again reveals itself. Black people lack the qualities to be elitists because they are...?

Hat-tip to Yid with a Lid for finding this one.

Get Hell Out of My Way!

This as recorded by Bloomberg.com in this article:

Democratic Congress May Adjourn, Leave Crisis to Fed, Treasury

By Kristin Jensen

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The Democratic-controlled Congress, acknowledging that it isn't equipped to lead the way to a solution for the financial crisis and can't agree on a path to follow, is likely to just get out of the way.

Lawmakers say they are unlikely to take action before, or to delay, their planned adjournments -- Sept. 26 for the House of Representatives, a week later for the Senate. While they haven't ruled out returning after the Nov. 4 elections, they would rather wait until next year unless Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who are leading efforts to contain the crisis, call for help.

One reason, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday, is that ``no one knows what to do'' at the moment.

Sweet. Cry, run home to momma, afraid of the mess YOU and your cohorts caused. What a total wuss that man is. Now, if only they would resign.

An Attack Ad We Can Believe In

Finally, an on-target attack ad from the McCain Camp. Personally, I think this mortgage crisis is the BEST weapon McCain has (even though the situation sucks bigtime); this is a situation primarily caused by Clinton and big government; a crisis that McCain is on record for warning against, a crisis that HIS ideas to make the situation better was blocked by Democrats.

Anyway, without further ado, a wonderful attack ad; wonderful because it is as harsh as it is true:

I.O.U.S.A.

Not a lot of time today. Found this on the Libertarian Think Tank site, and I think it looks interesting:

What REALLY Matters...

...is that "The Force Unleashed" kicks ass -- at least the opening sequence and the beginning storyline. Without going into any spoilers, all I can say is; if you like cool games with fun combat and a neat story behind them, GET IT.

Ruining My Fun

Here I am trying to enjoy the best game I've played in a good long while, and those damned communist Republicans have nationalized ANOTHER firm. This does not bode well. Once again, who is John Galt?


U.S. to Take Over AIG in $85 Billion Bailout;
Central Banks Inject Cash as Credit Dries Up

First Thoughts on The Force Unleashed

The tutorial is a lot of fun. I could toss that droid around forever :)

Obama Camp "Denies" Tahiri's Accusations

Well, sorta.

Obama camp hits back at Iraq double-talk claim

But Obama's national security spokeswoman Wendy Morigi said Taheri's article bore "as much resemblance to the truth as a McCain campaign commercial."

In fact, Obama had told the Iraqis that they should not rush through a "Strategic Framework Agreement" governing the future of US forces until after President George W. Bush leaves office, she said.

In the face of resistance from Bush, the Democrat has long said that any such agreement must be reviewed by the US Congress as it would tie a future administration's hands on Iraq.

"Barack Obama has never urged a delay in negotiations, nor has he urged a delay in immediately beginning a responsible drawdown of our combat brigades," Morigi said.

"These outright distortions will not changes the facts -- Senator Obama is the only candidate who will safely and responsibly end the war in Iraq and refocus our attention on the real threat: a resurgent Al-Qaeda and Taliban along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border."

In other words, that's no duck!

Tomorrow, Dudes!

If I'm not here, you know where I'll be.

IBD Confirms -- Blame Clinton

Here is a bit more evidence that the sub-prime mess, and the current meltdown of the financials, started with the Clinton administration's policies. Don't be fooled by Obama's lies.

The Real Culprits In This Meltdown

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, September 15, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Big Government: Barack Obama and Democrats blame the historic financial turmoil on the market. But if it's dysfunctional, Democrats during the Clinton years are a prime reason for it.

Obama in a statement yesterday blamed the shocking new round of subprime-related bankruptcies on the free-market system, and specifically the "trickle-down" economics of the Bush administration, which he tried to gig opponent John McCain for wanting to extend.

But it was the Clinton administration, obsessed with multiculturalism, that dictated where mortgage lenders could lend, and originally helped create the market for the high-risk subprime loans now infecting like a retrovirus the balance sheets of many of Wall Street's most revered institutions.

Tough new regulations forced lenders into high-risk areas where they had no choice but to lower lending standards to make the loans that sound business practices had previously guarded against making. It was either that or face stiff government penalties.

The untold story in this whole national crisis is that President Clinton put on steroids the Community Redevelopment Act, a well-intended Carter-era law designed to encourage minority homeownership. And in so doing, he helped create the market for the risky subprime loans that he and Democrats now decry as not only greedy but "predatory."

Yes, the market was fueled by greed and overleveraging in the secondary market for subprimes, vis-a-vis mortgaged-backed securities traded on Wall Street. But the seed was planted in the '90s by Clinton and his social engineers. They were the political catalyst behind this slow-motion financial train wreck.

Additionally,

There's a political root cause to this mess that we ignore at our peril. If we blame the wrong culprits, we'll learn the wrong lessons. And taxpayers will be on the hook for even larger bailouts down the road.

But the government-can-do-no-wrong crowd just doesn't get it. They won't acknowledge the law of unintended consequences from well-meaning, if misguided, acts.

Obama and Democrats on the Hill think even more regulation and more interference in the market will solve the problem their policies helped cause. For now, unarmed by the historic record, conventional wisdom is buying into their blame-business-first rhetoric and bigger-government solutions.

While government arguably has a role in helping low-income folks buy a home, Clinton went overboard by strong-arming lenders with tougher and tougher regulations, which only led to lenders taking on hundreds of billions in subprime bilge.

Market failure? Hardly. Once again, this crisis has government's fingerprints all over it.

Once more, Obama's ignorance of economics shows that he is a threat to our nation's future. McCain may not consider economics his strong area, and truth be told he TOO is calling for greater regulation, but Obama is utterly clueless in this area. Worse, he is on the wrong side of history.

Hopefully, Sarah Palin can teach McCain a few Econ courses. She seems to have more understanding and experience in this area than any of the four.

"Fundamentals Of the Economy"

McCain has been saying that the fundamentals of the economy are strong, and they are, depending on what you mean when you say "fundamentals."

Unemployment is historically low, as is inflation. The GDP is growing, albeit more slowly than in recent quarters.

Even if we were in a recession, and all those numbers where lower or negative, our fundamentals (capitalism) are the strongest fundamentals on earth.

But Obama-Biden are attacking John McCain for saying that the "fundamentals are strong." One can only assume that they mean, since the numbers are pretty good, that capitalism is fundamentally flawed, and we need a new system, socialism.

One more reason to hold your nose and vote McCain, even if he is wrong on so many things -- he doesn't want to destroy this country and change it into something it was never meant to be.

Dow Down 504.48

Yuck.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Obama

While he claimed he wanted an end to the Iraq war and to bring the troops home, he quietly worked to keep them there just long enough for him to take credit for it, as detailed in this piece by Amir Tehiri (not the best source in the universe, but it sounds legit):

OBAMA TRIED TO STALL GIS' IRAQ WITHDRAWAL

WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.

According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July.

"He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington," Zebari said in an interview.

The more one learns about this man, the worse it gets. I used to think he was just not very bright, but I am beginning to think he is a truly bad man.

A Decent Analysis

A decent, if incomplete, Analysis can be found here in the NY Times:

FAIR GAME; Home Loans: A Nightmare Grows Darker

By GRETCHEN MORGENSON
Published: April 8, 2007

SNAZZY and newfangled mortgage loans, like those with low initial rates of interest or extended terms of 40 or 50 years, helped to drive homeownership rates in the United States from around 64 percent two decades ago to a peak of almost 70 percent in recent years. Called ''affordability loans,'' these new kinds of mortgages have gone mostly to first-time home buyers and borrowers with tarnished credit or spotty employment histories.

Now, however, with home foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies soaring, it is becoming clear that the innovative loans that lenders championed -- in what the industry called the ''democratization of credit'' -- are turning the American dream of homeownership into a nightmare for many borrowers.

For those who wish to blame the "failed policies of the Bush administration," then make some weird leap to "tax cuts for the rich," there is some sobering history here:

For years, the homeownership rate in the United States ranged from 60 to 65 percent of the total population. But in 1995, President Bill Clinton directed Henry G. Cisneros, then the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to work with the housing industry, nonprofit groups and other government officials to develop the National Homeownership Strategy, ''an unprecedented public-private partnership to increase homeownership to a record-high level over the next six years,'' as described in an Urban Policy Brief in August of that year.

This did have some "positive effects" for some folks:

Lenders were off to the races. They created slick new mortgage products with low ''teaser'' interest rates that ratcheted up significantly after two years or so. They devised loans that required only the payment of interest, not principal as well. They extended mortgages to 50-year terms to reduce monthly payments.

The partnership succeeded. In 2004, the homeownership rate reached 69.2 percent, a record.

But, it had a dark downside:

But according to experts on lending practices, the products devised to propel homeownership did so only as long as housing prices kept rising. Now that prices have started to fall, these products look instead like a transfer of wealth to mortgage lenders from those who can least afford it: subprime borrowers.

''It's not good to put somebody into a home if they can only afford it when home prices go up,'' said Thomas A. Lawler, founder of Lawler Economic and Housing Consulting Daily, a newsletter. ''Now that prices are falling, the folks who made enormous amounts of money lending in 2003, 2004 and 2005 are giving some of it back. But they aren't giving it back to the poor borrowers.'

'

This whole system, created by government, has backfired. Once again, government, with good intentions in mind, has made matters worse.

This whole thing has nothing to do with "tax cuts for the rich," or the failed policies of George Bush (although he is rightly blamed for not stopping it, big government Republican that he is); but with bad risks brought about by the failed policies of Bill Clinton.

The Ickiest Thing About The Economic Situation

Without a doubt the most disgusting factor in all this economic woe, all the doom being preached from the mainstream media, is that it is quite obvious that they and the Democrats WANT people to do badly, just so they can use it as a political talking point and get elected. Just as they wanted us to lose in Iraq, which just might lead to us losing the world to the Jihad; they don't care as long as it gets them elected.

How can people live their lives like this? To want people to lose their homes, to want American soldiers to die, to want the body count to rise, just so your guys MIGHT gain power. Ewwwww.

Good Seeing They Won't Bail Everyone Out

Crisis on Wall Street as Lehman Totters,
Merrill Is Sold, AIG Seeks to Raise Cash

Fed Will Expand Its Lending Arsenal in a Bid to Calm Markets;
Moves Cap a Momentous Weekend for American Finance
By CARRICK MOLLENKAMP, SUSANNE CRAIG, SERENA NG and AARON LUCCHETTI
September 15, 2008; Page A1
[graphic]

The American financial system was shaken to its core on Sunday. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. faced the prospect of liquidation, and Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to be sold to Bank of America Corp.

The U.S. government, which bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a week ago and orchestrated the sale of Bear Stearns Cos. to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in March, played much tougher with Lehman. It refused to provide a financial backstop to potential buyers.

people must understand this "crisis" was not brought on by free markets this "crisis" was brought on by big government. There are no free markets or real capitalism in these or really any markets any longer.

These failed policies are the failed policies of over twenty years, NOT Bush's measly eight. This whole philosophy must be changed, and sadly, from Obama and McCain, we'll probably just get more of the same.

The Obama campaign continues to blame the "failed policies of the Bush Administration" for this (partially true), but no one in the press is asking them HOW those "failed policies" did this. They usually follow with the usual class envy crap and leave it at that.

Government must be drastically reduced; they must get out of the way of that which must come to pass and stop being an indulgent mommy and daddy. Thankfully, they are going to let this one fail, as they SHOULD have done with the failed government programs known as Fannie and Freddie.

Markets are above all, communications systems. Too much government muddies those communications systems, and leads to what we are dealing with now. It also creates false "bubbles" which eventually burst, and cause more damage than if the natural business cycle were allowed to run its course. Both big government Democrats and big government Republicans are out of touch with this.

Only Ron Paul on the Republican side, and Bob Barr from the Libertarian Party, seem to understand this (See America Needs “Surge” in Fiscal Responsibility, Says Bob Barr)

1 Corinthians 15: 22 - 26

Once again, it's time for Sunday Bible Study! All please turn to 1 Corinthians 15: 22 - 26:

22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

This passage dovetails nicely with Romans 5:18, which we discussed on Sunday, August 31st.

Here we see Paul laying out for us essentially a staged salvation plan. First, Christ Himself is raised, then, comes we who believe. Then on the Last Day, Death is the last enemy defeated.

I take this to clearly mean that Christ is the first sign of God's plan; then comes the Christians, his foot soldiers carrying the gospel, then, in the end, EVERYONE. Note 1 Corinithians 15: 22: he says in Christ ALL will be made alive; as in Adam all die. Once again we see the legal proof, almost mathematical. The total of mankind is doomed through Adam; the totality of mankind is saved through Christ.

Once again we see the divine mathematics of God's way. In man, we can really only have FINITE Sin. There are only so many people, so many years, so many sins. Even the effect of sin is some finite (although VERY LARGE) number. Christ, however, being 100% God and 100% man, is infinite crossing finite. Therefore, his atonement is infinite. Infinite atonement trumps finite sin, and even has extra for a song and dance number.

Now, take this joy with you and go love your neighbor!

They NGE'ed Sitemeter!

Rollback please!

For fans of SWG, it's deja vu all over again.

*Update: Sitemeter has been rolled back to its earlier incarnation. Oh, if only SOE had done this with the NGE.

RIP David Foster Wallace

Ugh. Another smart person has killed himself. My prayers go out to his family, friends, students, and fans.

Writer David Foster Wallace found dead

Please, if you are a smart person, a talented writer, or anyone else who contributes to this world, please, Heaven already HAS plenty of talent. They don't need you. WE do. LIVE.

These Crappy Ads Should Stop

Now, I LOVE a good negative ad. I still remember Reagan's "Bear in the Woods" ad, that's how effective it was. It was not only well, done but most importantly, it made a reasonable point.


This one starts out very well, but that crack about sex education is ridiculous:


Fail.



And this one is just garbage. Granted, Obama was an idiot to use the "lipstick" metaphor in context of Sarah Palin's ad-lib joke at the convention, but it is unfair and inaccurate to say he INTENTIONALLY meant HER. No, he was, all by himself, showing he is too dumb to lead this nation. McCain should have let the victory go at that but no, sensing the blood in the water, went too far:


Fail.


Now, Obama is not innocent in this either, in fact, one can say he has done one even more despicable than the other two.


Epic Fail.

Not only does John McCain know how to use a computer and send out an e-mail; he has a difficult time because his war injuries make using a keyboard tough.

Instead of THIS, far more effective ad that plays on the same theme:

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Dudes, to quote the great political pundit whose "government name" is Sean Combs, you are buggin' the f**k out. A rich bimbo is making better attack ads than you. Cut the crap and let's see some quality attack ads, like this one:



Or this gem:

Smart attack ads FTW.

So Far, So Good...

http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/

Gnarliest kills in The Force: Unleashed

Can't wait for the 16th....

A Prayer for Texas

Just taking a moment for thoughts and prayers for the people of southeast Texas who are now coping with Ike.

A Perfect Example

This is exactly what I was talking about in part of my earlier post, Interesting Press Release from Bob Barr, here we have a clear example of the misunderstanding from the left side of the spectrum.

First, note carefully, in his hatred of Republicans, how he fails to make the connection between the faction within the Jihad that took over Iran and declared war against us in 1979, and the faction of that same Jihad known as Al Qaeda that declared war on us and then attacked us on 9/11.

Also note how he blames REPUBLICANS for taking over 9/11 and using it for their own political ends, when he forgets HOW that happened. That happened primarily due to Democrat hatred of George Bush outweighing their love of freedom.

George Bush didn't do anything against Democrats after 9/11; Democrats, instead of helping to unite the country against the Jihad, immediately began to undermine our war against it.

Note the hatred in his missive, note the venom. THIS is what has divided this country, NOT George Bush. To be fair, George Bush has been weak on this as well; he has failed to truly educate the American people and has failed to effectively communicate what and why we fight.

That's HIS fault. The Democrats, however, have continued to obfuscate the situation in a clear attempt to hurt him. As we saw in 2006, they clearly chose that winning elections was more important than winning the war against the Jihad. In Olbermann's screed, we can see just how much hating his political enemies among his fellow Americans is more important to him than actually understanding the issues at hand and what we are up against.

It is time for everyone to stop this crap and recognize that our enemy, the Jihad, sees this and is emboldened by it.

Special thanks to Yid With a Lid for finding this dirty little gem.

With Friends Like These...

AP
Saudi: OK to kill owners of 'immoral' TV networks
Friday September 12, 10:38 am ET

Top cleric in Saudi judiciary: it's OK to kill owners of TV networks airing 'immoral content'

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi Arabia's top judiciary official has issued a religious decree saying it is permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV networks that broadcast immoral content.

The 79-year-old Sheik Saleh al-Lihedan said Thursday that satellite channels cause the "deviance of thousands of people."

We have to watch all this very closely, learn from it, understand what we are up against. THIS is the mentality that is at war with everything we hold dear, whether in Saudi Arabia or in our own neighborhoods. This is an endless war for freedom and civilization that there are no easy victories, no simple strategies -- what we can do however is note it, share it, and discuss it without fear of offending or insulting those who would kill over words and ideas.

This, cloaked in the guise of a friend, is the enemy, naked and unashamed of such horrific views. Now, I know Saudi Arabia is not one big monolith, but repressive regimes without a true separation of Church (or Mosque) and State ENCOURAGE this path of darkness within their borders.

Interesting Press Release from Bob Barr

For the first time in my recollection, the Libertarian candidate has actually praised a sitting president:

Mark 9/11 Anniversary by Targeting Terrorists Overseas While Respecting Liberties at Home, Says Bob Barr

“Seven years have passed since the horrid terrorist attacks of 9/11," says Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party nominee for President. "The U.S. government can best mark the anniversary by continuing to target groups which threaten Americans, but also by respecting the liberties upon which our nation is based."

“The Bush administration deserves credit for having done much to disable al Qaeda as an effective terrorist organization,” Barr says.

Wow. To think, Bob Barr actually has some nice things to say about what Bush has been doing.

Says some things I couldn't agree with more, and then shows the tragic misunderstanding of what is going on in WWIII, common to my brothers and sisters in the Libertarian Party and most Democrats and Republicans as well:

“However, early on, the administration took its eye off of the ball when it shifted troops from searching for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan to use in the unnecessary war in Iraq. Now, the situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating badly,” adds Barr.

“Moreover, the Bush administration engaged in a sustained attack on the liberty and privacy of Americans in the name of combating terrorism. It drafted the Patriot Act, which provided the federal government with powers well beyond those necessary to confront potential terrorists, and it initiated an illegal surveillance program of telephone calls and emails, ignoring both the Constitution and the law,” Barr explains.

His first mistake is that Iraq is not a war, it is a theater. Afghanistan is not a war, it is a theater. The Phillipines is not a war, it is a theater.

In WWII we did not call it the German War and the Japanese War, except to describe them as theaters in a global conflict against fascist/Imperial allies and powers. Germany never attacked us, yet we attacked them because they were allied with Japan.

That world war involved real nations that had a formal alliance. It was different from this world war of unofficial alliances, with rivalries within those alliances. What 9/11 signified was one attack, out of many attacks previously made, of the Global Jihad, a loose alliance of an ideology of Islamic theocracy.

Terrorism is one of many tactics this alliance is willing to use; and some of the groups and countries involved include but are and were not limited to Al-Qaeda, Iran, Iraq, The Wahhabi regime in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Abu Sayyaf, in the far east, Hammas, Hezbollah, and others. Some pretend to be our friends yet work against us, some our outright against us, and some have shifted along the way (Libya).

This is an extremely complicated war, but it is most definitely a world war. Make no mistake -- the enemy we have here is just as dedicated and far more dangerous than the Nazi regime of Germany or the Imperial regime of Japan -- they feel they have God behind them, have been at this far longer, and have much more money behind them.

9/11 was nothing more than a wake-up call to a war that Iran declared against us in 1979. That Bin Laden's faction declared some time later; that Saddam declared allegiance to many times, as has Hammas Hezbollah and the rest mentioned. the plan: destroy us or make us submit to Sharia, make their own "Muslim Lands" do the same until the world is ruled by competing muslim regimes, until which time they will fight among themselves until the caliphate is established.

This is what they have stated time and again. I would suggest my fellow lovers of liberty to study this. I'd suggest starting with their own words, which can be found in a nice, simple primer like the Al Qaeda Reader by Raymond Ibrahim

Now, was Iraq the best place to move against this elusive enemy? Perhaps not, but viewing it as a separate war gets the whole shebang bloody wrong. Perhaps we should have moved against Iran first; but in some ways, creating a free fly zone over Iraq for Israel, and a free fly zone over Afghanistan for us, Pakistan and India might just be the ticket, given the situation in Iran.

Barr was however right on target with our own rights at home. We ARE in a World War, but we MUST not forget what we are fighting for, and extreme care must be given NOT to give into either an Imperial presidency OR a loss of liberty for our citizens.

The Patriot Act is NOT what has "kept us safe" (we may never be safe), but attacking the enemy has kept them off balance, and THAT has been the main factor preventing any attacks at home. The fact that we retaliated so boldly caused them to reassess their strategy, which is what they have been doing these last seven years.

We ought to repeal or revisit the Patriot Act, but at the same time, get on with and continue the defeat of the Global Jihad. The idea is to defeat the enemy, NOT ourselves. But the enemy is REAL and we must see that.

This is why I have a hard time supporting ANY of the political parties this year. The Democrats want to take away our freedom, and lose the war. The Republicans want to win the war, but seem all too willing to take away our freedom. The Libertarians are in denial.

What would Cap do? Damned if I know.

What Would Cap Do?

Remember

Never Forget

Much Has Been Lost

Interlude

Anyone Remember that "Friends" Episode?

The one where Ross admits to having that Princess Leia fantasy? Well, as any true 46-year-old geek, gotta admit I know what he meant.

For all those who feel the same way, here ya go I give you Amira Sa'id:



And here is something for those of you might have a mother/daughter thing:




And, if you prefer some free Enterprise...how about an Orion Slave Girl instead?