Monkey Business As Usual At MSNBC

"'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt." ~ Abraham Lincoln (attributed)

If anyone has any doubt that MSNBC is Liberally biased, this video should erase any such doubts:



Someone should be fired, but I'm not saying who.

The End Is Not So Near

"If you're not Liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not Conservative when you're 35, you have no brain." ~ Winston Churchill (attributed)

Yesterday's local newspaper featured a front page story entitled, "12 year old plans to be President".

According to the article:

"When Bobby Washington was 10, his mother found him asleep in his room with a 1,008-page autobiography of former President Bill Clinton on his chest.

Bobby, now 12, has policy positions on the environment and the war. He's pushing for battery-operated cars, and he wants the war in Iraq to end."

This story should send a signal to Conservatives that the hoped for end to liberalism by selective breeding, is not so near. By selective breeding, I mean abortion. See, most Liberals are pro-abortion, and most Conservatives are pro-life, so it stands to reason that eventually, Liberals will more or less breed themselves into a minority.


Or, more accurately, UN-breed.

Obviously, even if Liberals stopped procreating, there are still negative Liberal influences out there that will turn our children into mind numbed robots of Liberalism.

We still, unfortunately, have public schools.

And now, we see why Liberals hate the idea of school choice so much, don't we?

A Fortuitous Turn Of Events

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." ~ William Shakespeare

Black Friday. Oh yes. Let me tell you of my "Black Friday" adventure:

Best Buy's circular advertised an E-machine desktop computer for the unbelievable price of $199.97. Regular price was $619.97. It comes complete with a printer!

There were only 15 of them in stock in each Best Buy store, and no rain checks would be issued. The circular informed readers the way to procure this computer was to arrive at the store by 3:00 AM (that's AM!) and wait in line, (assuming there would be a line, of course) and the first 15 people who were there for the computer would be issued a ticket for the particular item they came to purchase.

First come, first served.

When the store opened at 5:00 customers would then be allowed to enter and purchase their item of interest.

My own desktop computer recently broke, and I have been wanting a replacement for quite some time, so I conceived a plan whereby I could procure this computer. There wasn't a lot of information on the specifications, but I reasoned beggars can't be choosers.

My last computer was an e-machines, too, and it was, at the time, the absolute cheapest I could find. Ideally, the next desktop would include the new Windows Vista, a CD/DVD player writer, more memory and power.

This is the Desktop advertised, below:

I figured even if the new one didn't meet my qualifications, I could always sell it on E-Bay and make enough profit (remember: regular price is $619.97) to get one more to my liking.

I considered arriving at the store around midnight, to insure a good place in line, but the night was the coldest of the year so far, and I had no one to go with me in case I needed someone to stand in my place if I needed to answer natures relentless call. So, instead, I drove to the store, timing my arrival for about 10 minutes before 3:00.

When I drove into the parking lot, I realized I made the wrong plans. There was a line beginning at the store entrance and snaking around the corner all the way to the back of the store, and more were arriving. Many people were in tents and sleeping bags. And I only had on a leather jacket and gloves. Even if only a small percentage of the 100+ people already there were planning on purchasing the computer, there were still many more computer buyers than 15 in line.

So, I continued through the parking lot and drove off to Walmart, to buy some Diet Mountain Dew. Then I went home and went to bed.

But the adventure doesn't stop here.

Later in the day, my fiancee informed me that she desperately needed $150.00 immediately, so I deposited that into her bank account.

Now, it was clear that if I had purchased that computer, and then deposited the money in her account, it would have put a serious strain on my already meager bank account.

And I have a habit of making bad economical decisions.

I considered that Someone was looking out for me.

But that still isn't the end of the story.

Later that afternoon, I received a call from my boss, who offered to give me a desktop. He had recently sold a successful business and had a couple of office computers left over, which he was going to donate, but then he had remembered I had mentioned a while back that my computer broke.

He will bring the computer to the office on Monday.

I haven't seen the computer, and I don't yet know if it has Vista, or a CD/DVD writer, etc, and I didn't ask. What kind of person would I be if I looked the proverbial gift horse in the mouth?

Thanksgiving Madness

"What hath God wrought?" ~ Samuel F. B. Morse

Well, Thanksgiving is over and today I am reminded why I'm thankful Thanksgiving comes only once a year. I never work so hard in one day (excepting maybe Christmas) as I do on Thanksgiving day. Between cooking and cleaning, eating, then cleaning up afterwards, I wonder why we continually put up with the headaches year after year.

All for one, albeit, sumptuous meal.

Why was yesterday a frenzy of activity, punctuated with arguments over who was doing the most work and whether whatever each of us did was helping the others?

Why do we put ourselves through so much suffering only to enjoy a 30 minute dinner, during which we stuff ourselves so full of a variety of foods that we feel bloated and uncomfortable for the rest of the day?

And why must we have two meat courses, four or five vegetable courses, and several choices for dessert? And why do we feel we must sample every one of those choices, especially since I am not supposed to be eating anything with sugar?

Why, on this one day, do we feel the necessity to try to commit suicide by gluttony?

Considering the work and frustration we put into it, I wonder why we bother.



Because it gives us a fleeting opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends, and reminds us that we have much to be thankful for, regardless of the tribulations of everyday existence.

Taking all these things under consideration, one realizes that the prize is worth the pain.

And now, we have--Black Friday.

Voices Of The Angels

"When griping grief the heart doth wound,
and doleful dumps the mind opresses,
then music, with her silver sound,
with speedy help doth lend redress."
William Shakespeare

When I was searching Youtube for examples of Scottish folk music for my last post, I stumbled across this video, and I was literally amazed. The group is called "Celtic Woman".

These women sing with the voices of angels.

It is a song often heard around Christmas time, but I just couldn't wait until Christmas to share this beautiful music:



Incidentally, when I was sharing this with a friend, I pronounced the name of the group, "Seltic woman", and was immediately corrected. The correct pronunciation, I was told, is "Keltic woman"

I said, "Not in Boston".

We'll Fight For What Is Right...

"It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom -- for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself." ~ From the Scottish Declaration of Independence, signed at Arbroath Abbey, April 6, 1320

I've mentioned before I once traced my family tree to 17th century North Carolina. I know my early ancestor immigrated to America from Scotland, but that is where my search ended, not because there are no more records of my family history, but because being of Scottish ancestry, I have retained the traits of a true Scotsman--I am thrifty.(translation: Cheap)Any further research requires a fee, so I couldn't (or wouldn't) dig any more.

But what I discovered furnished me with enough information that I was able to ascertain my family origin. I am likely descended from a sept of the Clan Gunn, one of the Highland Clans of Northern Scotland. Specifically the Clan Gunn's roots spread out from the town of Caithness, in the Scottish Highlands, to SW Sutherland. The word, "sept" basically means "extended family". Hence, my surname is one of many cousins to the Gunn's.

Here is the Gunn Clan tartan plaid:


And here is the Gunn Crest:

The Latin phrase translates to "Either Peace or War".

I've mentioned all this and more before, but since I learned how to post videos on here, I can now share a couple of my favorite Scottish folk songs. Here is one that makes mention of the history, customs, industry, and even common plants (thistle)and animals (Badger and Fox), of Scotland, and also promotes the Scots stubborn independence.

It's called "Dawning of the Day", by the famous Scottish folk duo, The Corries:


This one is a song penned by the famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns,(known as "Rabbie" to Scots) and sung by Eddie Reader. The name is "Charlie is my Darling":


Most of Scotlands folk songs tell of a long history of fighting fierce battles for independence. Scots are a proud and stubborn people. They simply will not allow themselves to be enslaved, and will fight against overwhelming odds to that end. Their history is a beacon for freedom loving people everywhere.

I am proud to be a Scotsman.

Possible Hypocrisy--Maybe?

"Hypocrisy: Prejudice with a halo" ~ Ambrose Bierce

Yesterday, when I posted my blog entry, I got a little carried away and strayed from my original subject, and ended up making two posts in one. If you didn't see it, I am not going to explain.

Anyway, I am rectifying that today, by separating the two subjects into two separate posts, to wit:

I realize it may appear I am picking on ER specifically, but it just happened that I visited his blog shortly after he posted a humour piece, that could nevertheless be construed as unflattering about our Vice President, Dick Cheney.

Other than how he mispronounces his own last name, I know of nothing Cheney has done that warrants such denigration.

Be that as it may, ER posted two pictures, one of actor Lionel Barrymore (now deceased) in his famous role of the curmudgeonly wicked old man Potter, from the movie "What a Wonderful Life". The other picture was of Vice President Dick Cheney (he pronounces it Chaney). Then ER pointed out a physical similarity between the two, and implied the two shared a similar personality.

(Incidentally, my favorite Barrymore film is an obscure little picture in which Barrymore, who plays a curmudgeonly old man confined to a wheelchair, magically traps Death, played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke, in an apple tree. Oh! The name of the movie is "On Borrowed Time")

I have no doubt that ER intended the piece to be humorous, and indeed it is.

But it reminded me of a post I created back in April, 2006 in which I posted pictures of Democratic representative Cynthia McKinney and Rocket J. Squirrel in order to point out the similarities in their physical appearance.












I made no implications that the two are similar in any other way. In fact, The gist of that particular post was a defense of Ms. McKinney, a fact that was apparently lost on ER, as his first comment on the post was:

"You're just being mean. Who wants to comment on that? Quit being a jerk."

I'm still trying to figure out how I am a jerk when I post pictures that suggest a physical comparison between a fictional character and a real human being and ER is just being funny.

Once again, as I pointed out in yesterday's post:

It does make one wonder if Libs are somewhat hypocritical, does it not?

How The Left Honors Our Veterans

“Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo” ~ Ambrose Bierce

We are forever hearing our Liberal and Democrat and Liberal Democrat friends sanctimoniously insist that they support the troops. We are told we are being unpatriotic if we suggest that Libs are treasonous when they use language that undermines the United State's military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Liberals get offended when we Conservatives suggest they are not themselves patriotic because they constantly denigrate our troops and George W. Bush, the current Commander-in-Chief of those same armed forces they claim to support.

With the preceding statements in mind, I decided, on a whim, to visit a few Liberal blog sites just to see how they honor the veterans of our armed forces this past Veteran's Day, both the traditional holiday on November 11th, and the "official" day, this year celebrated on November 12th.

Since I have only one Liberal blog on my blogroll, ER's blog was the first I visited. And, because I don't have the url's of any other Liberal blogs, I clicked the links to other blogs on ER's blogroll to access a variety of Liberal blogs.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered, much to my chagrin, that none of the Liberal blogs I visited had any mention at all of any veterans. So, it goes without saying there were no tributes to our veterans nor even any acknowledgement that a Veterans day even exists in the Liberal world.

None.

As in zero, zilch, nada, diddley squat.

This is not to say they don't honor veterans, but it does tend to make one suspect a little bit of hypocrisy on the Libs part.

A lack of acknowledgement of Veterans Day nor even a cursory nod to veterans in general is not necessarily indicative of any disrespect to our veterans and members of our current armed forces. Some Conservative blogs made no mention of Veterans day, either. Does that mean they aren't supportive of our troops?

I think the general overall attitude of the whole of the various blogs, rather than one or two days posts is the litmus test of whether they truly support our troops or not. Of course, I see no indication of support from reading the rest of their posts, either.

But it does make one wonder, does it not?

Veterans Day 2007

"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid." – Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower




To all Veterans, who were prepared to face death for our freedom, Thank you for your service, and God bless you.

A Reduction Of Civility

"For every action there is an equal and opposite government program." ~ Bob Wells

I am going to need Tug's help on this one. Perhaps Tug will correct me if I'm wrong.

As someone who has to drive to make a living, I have become increasingly aware of a shift in the attitudes of professional truck drivers. They used to be courteous and polite. They were the drivers one could depend upon to help out in emergency situations on the highways. They were quick to back off and let aggressive drivers bully their way between vehicles in search of that added two or three car lengths for the sake of every other driver's safety.

Not anymore. Today, they are the aggressive drivers. They are the bullies. What has happened?

I am not a truck driver so I am unfamiliar with the ICC regulations, but I am fairly sure the growing problem of aggressive truck driving is directly linked to over regulation of the trucking industry.

In this morning's Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, a report of a singular aggressive driving incident has illuminated this problem.

Here is a snippet:

"Sgt. F.L. Tyler of the state police said the driver, Van Kimball Lewis, 35, was charged with driving under the influence of drugs, namely PCP, after he fought rescue workers and police officers who tried to get him out of the cab, where he was pinned in the overturned truck.

He was also charged with possession of a controlled substance, three counts of assault on a police officer and one count of aggressive driving."

I have been offered some encapsulated insights from some drivers as to what is causing this phenomena in America. I was told this trend is a direct result of the regulation of the truck driving industry. Truck drivers are now required to rest after a set period of time driving, whether they are tired or not. At the same time, trucking companies are becoming more and more insistent that drivers reach their destinations in time.

This forces truck drivers to exceed the speed limits in order to drop their loads on time. Trucking companies are having to impose strict time frames on their drivers in order to stay competitive in the marketplace. The aggressive driving is a direct consequence of the drivers doing whatever they have to do to complete their runs to the satisfaction of their bosses.

Just last night, I was driving interstate 95 myself. I was driving 5 miles per hour over the speed limit, which is as fast as I dare to drive. After over 35 years driving, one thing I have realized. If I ever even unknowingly accidentally creep more than 5 miles per hour over the limit, I will be caught. Every time.

But I digress. As I was speeding along the interstate, a semi-trailer truck rolled up behind me probably going at least 15 miles an hour more than I was, and proceeded to almost park his cab on top of my back bumper. This was, of course, because other traffic prevented him from passing me at that time. Maybe I am just a scaredy-cat, but this kind of driving frightens me. What happens if my car suddenly blows a tire or drops it's drive shaft, or a deer darts out in front of me at this speed? Will the aggressive truck driver who is tailgating me be able to stop before he creams me?

Of course not. He knows that but yet, his fear of losing his job outweighs his fear of killing another motorist. And I fear my self preservation instincts will not help me one bit in that sort of situation.

This is yet another example of how Government over regulation and meddling into the rights of businesses for the sake of traffic safety has had the opposite effect. It hasn't created less traffic fatalities and less accidents. It has created more.

Maybe I'm all wrong about this, but I remember when truck drivers were the courteous and polite drivers.

All three entities are culpable for the reduction of civility on our nations highways. The Government, the Trucking companies, and the individual drivers.

Government regulations notwithstanding, I think it goes without saying that truck drivers are directly responsible for any actions that cause injury and death on our nations highways. I am not saying truck drivers are justified in abdicating their own culpability and responsibility in causing these accidents.

Whatever the law requires, they are nevertheless responsible for their own actions, but I believe there should be some sort of investigation into the responsibility of the trucking companies and the government.

Back To Outrage

"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." ~ Ronald Reagan

OK. I am outraged again, but not about anything the Libs are doing or saying, although they continually do and say outrageous things. The fact is, Libs are so outrageous so often that they have ceased to outrage me--at least for the time being. Usually they are just comical. Actually, I think they do us all a service by keeping us laughing about the stupid things they say and do continually.

No, this time I am outraged (actually not really outraged so much as mildly chagrined) over "Reverend" Pat Robertson endorsing Rudolph Guiliani for President. I put "Reverend" in quotes because, frankly, I believe he is a phony.

This guy represents himself as a Conservative Christian leader and yet he endorses a man who openly supports gay marriages and abortion? Not only is that not Conservative it's not even representative of most Christian's viewpoints.

Actually, I'm OK with gay marriage. It's not gay marriage that concerns me as much as the acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle that bugs me. And if you allow gays to marry you are basically saying the lifestyle is a legitimate, normal, and acceptable way to live.

It isn't.

But if gays want to marry each other they do the rest of us normal people a favor by keeping perversion within their own community. As long as they aren't allowed to adopt and raise children I am OK with gay marriage.

Allowing gay people to raise children is child abuse.

And then there's abortion.

What kind of Conservative Christian would ever, ever endorse a pro-abortion candidate for dog catcher, let alone President? What is Robertson thinking?

I'll tell you what I believe he is thinking. There is money in this for him somewhere. Pat Robertson is all about money. Watch his broadcast sometime, if you can get through it without gagging. 90% of what he talks about is money. He is obsessed with money.

I suspect Rudy bribed him to obtain his endorsement. And that is giving Robertson the benefit of the doubt. He may really be in favor of gay marriage and abortion himself but won't admit it, as it would most certainly destroy any credibility that remains after his money obsession becomes publicly known.

Oh yes, I am aware many Conservative leaders are throwing their support behind Rudy. Sean Hannity claims he likes all the Republican candidates for President, but if you spend any time listening to his radio broadcast, it is as clear as an azure sky of deepest summer that he is a "Rudy man".

So what about Sean's argument that Rudy has promised that if elected he will appoint strict constructionist Justices in the model of Scalia, Alito, and Roberts?

If you believe that, I know a fellow in Florida with some prime real estate to sell you cheap.

Why would a pro abortion President appoint pro-life Justices? That just doesn't make sense. If he appointed any pro-life Justices it would be because they agreed with him about other issues, and abortion would be simply a fortunate coincidence. In other words, just because he says he will appoint strict constructionist judges, it doesn't mean he will appoint pro-life justices.

Obviously, if a Justice is a true constructionist, he would not be able to find a right to abortion in the Constitution, but as we have seen, that doesn't necessarily mean he would judge accordingly. As Laura Ingraham points out in her book, "Power to the People", sometimes Justices change their judicial philosophy once they occupy the bench. They stop being constructionist Justices and become activist Justices.

Think Souter and Kennedy.

No, I don't trust Guiliani, and I certainly don't trust Robertson. And if Robertson endorses him, he might as well tell me personally, "Don't vote for Guiliani".


But let me be clear. If Guiliani is chosen by the Republican party to be our Presidential candidate in '08, I will vote for him. Why? Because even the very worst Republican is better than the very best Democrat.

And Sam Brownback endorses John McCain? Sheeeeeeeeesh! Say it aint so, Sam!

It's no wonder many Conservatives say the Republican Party has lost it's way.

May God and Duncan Hunter save us.

Tired Of Being Outraged

"I'm sick and tired of waking up sick and tired" ~ Waylon Jennings

As I expressed previously in comments, I am tired of being outraged, and yet, there is little to be positive about lately.

Yesterday, here in Virginia, local and state elections were held. I voted Republican for the most part. I had some information on a couple of independents that are actually more Conservative than the Republicans they ran against, so I voted for them. I believe most of the candidates won, although the one I was most hoping to win didn't. Chris Yakabouski, Republican, ran for State Senate on a platform that promised to prevent special benefits for illegal aliens. The number of illegal aliens in Virginia is a serious problem, costing us taxpayers millions of dollars that could be better spent protecting, rather than endangering America's security.

But "Yak" lost. Illegal immigration has won. For the time being. The only solace I have is the knowledge that fortunately, Democrats usually do little of significance that they promise. I believe we are still safe. I hope.

That is just part of the reason I am feeling so anxious today. Another part of the equation has to do with the fact that I haven't posted any meaningful posts as of late. The fact is, I am simply tired of being outraged.

I am losing my mental faculties. This morning alone, I misplaced my car keys and had difficulty locating my shoes. And there have been many other similar episodes in the last few weeks. It worries me because this is totally unlike me. I don't lose things. I am not absent minded. At least I didn't used to be.

I am also starting to make mistakes. Not mistakes that are particularly dangerous, just silly little mistakes in my concentration. For instance, this morning I went to the grocery store and attempted to write a check for my purchase. The purchase was a mere $2.82, but I began to write my check for the amount of "two hundred...".

Next, although this isn't really anything I mistakenly did, but the check printer approval machine/computer wouldn't work and I stood for at least 15 minutes waiting for the cash register computer to unfreeze so they could process my check.

My right knee and ankle are mysteriously and suddenly causing me no small amount of pain. I don't know or understand why, because I haven't twisted, bumped or otherwise done anything that would create the pain. So, standing at the check out counter waiting for approval of a two dollar eighty-two cent check didn't help. I may soon have to acquiesce to the possibility that I'm getting old.

Maybe all this is a kind of Karmic ying/yang response to the things I do. Just before I wrote my check I helped an elderly woman unload some heavy items out of her cart onto the conveyor belt at the checkstand.

I drove into the 7-11 to get gas right behind a middle aged black woman who was limping into the parking lot on a flat tire. I offered to change her tire for her but she refused.

But I need to write. Something. Anything. Writing on this blog is a catharsis for me. I was in the throes of a full blown anxiety attack when I began this post, but already I feel much better. Just from writing.

I knew it would help.

I think my next post will be something expressing my outrage about something outrageous the Democrats or Libs (is that redundant?) are doing or saying or have done or said.

Hello, I Must be Going

"Did Someone call me Snorer?" ~ Groucho Marx