So Goes Ohio

In 1982, Ohio elected Democrat Dick Celeste, a young, media savvy, liberal, political opportunist as governor. Celeste was not terribly competent and managed to make himself dreadfully unpopular in the polls, but the Republicans could not say no to a tired old warhorse, former governor Jim Rhodes, who went down to spectacular defeat in 1986.

Celeste tripled the size of Ohio government and raised taxes accordingly. Sadly, he did not triple the benefits to Ohio citizens. Now Ohio is a high tax, low service state. Is it any wonder that people (and businesses) are fleeing and the economy is sputtering along? What is even more frustrating is that government just can't seem to do the job right. More and more mistakes are being discovered...expensive mistakes. Corruption is everywhere...but what do you expect with so much money being spent. And government workers are never careful when they spend money...it's not like it is their own money.

But also, there is insubordination. The vast majority of the Ohio civil servants are Dems and they don't appreciate working for Republicans. After 12 years of controlling most of Ohio government, we STILL see Dems in most government jobs. Reps just don't know how to hire other Reps.

Back in 1983, I was hired as a summer intern for the Department of Liquor Control. When I went in for my interview with the Chief Legal Counsel, he asked me, "If I had someone go down to the County Recorder's office and checked your voter registration, which primary did you last vote in?" I answered truthfully, "The Republican primary." He laughed. Turns out, that was a disqualifying answer. BUT, somehow, he had received my resume from the Ohio Democrat Party. Mine was the ONLY first year law student's resume given to him by the Party. So, he was going to assume that I was OK with them and he gave me the job. But I was given strict instructions NOT to tell anyone else that I was a Republican...that would get me fired.

So how does this relate to insubordination? Back in 1990, Bob Taft was elected Secretary of State. Rather than clean house, Taft left most of the senior people from the prior Dem SOS stay in their jobs. One of the tasks performed by the SOS is the publication of a biannual political almanac of Ohio. When the 1992 almanac was published it was filled with errors. Apparently, the holdover Dems working on this project did not care enough about the job to do it well. They had little to worry about; their supervisors were Dems and did not care that much either. After the almanac was published, it became a major scandal...embarrassing Taft. The careerist Dems screw up and the Reps take the blame. Granted, the leadership should have reviewed the work more carefully (and Taft has subsequently shown that he pays almost no attention to detail), but you can't monitor EVERYTHING your subordinates are doing. If you can't trust them, then nothing will get done.

The Pope is RIGHT [link]

Pope Benedict XVI uses a quote from an ancient source while giving an address on “Faith, Reason, and the University.” The reason for the quote? To make this point (courtesy of Thomas F. Madden at NRO):

The pope’s purpose in citing this passage is made clear almost immediately. “The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature. The editor [of Manuel’s dialogue], Theodore Khoury, observes: For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality.”

A dry, philisophical point. The Pope might as well have been discussing 13th Century tax law.

Of course, Muslim activists don't care about reasoned debate. They are looking for any reason to cry for violence and jihad. So, they will distort the Pope's words and howl with outrage. Mind you, these are the same Muslims who hurl insults at everyone else on a regular basis. They can dish it out but they can't take it.

Diplomatic niceties are lost on these people. They need to be taught a lesson: if they don't act like civilized people, they will not be treated like civilized people.

They claim that love death as much as we love life. Maybe we should take them at their word.
As long as they have nothing to lose, they will act as wild as they can. The wilder they act, the more subdued we are and the more they gain. This cannot continue forever...they will believe their rhetoric and use WMD against the Western World, and then all hell will break loose.

We need to use harsh language now...or else we will use nuclear weapons later.

Apologies for light blogging

Sorry readers (or dare I say, "reader") for the lack of content this week. I am at scenic Camp Perry in northern Ohio attending my annual military reserve duty.

I can only access the internet through a dialup connection that is painfully slow. And, being cheap, I am using a free service that only gives me ten hours of use per month...unless I want to pay them. Of course, it takes an hour to download all their commercials and content. Then I waste endless amounts of time waiting for pages to load. And there is a lovely little feature: every time Internet Explorer automatically closes a window, this causes a browser failure and ALL my Internet Explorer windows close. A painful event after I have spent ten minutes uploading a graphic to the web.

Ah well, I will be back online next week. Patience dear reader, patience.

Murphy - Farewell

A wonderful canine friend has passed on.

Murphy

1992 to 2006

Rest In Peace

Pamela at Atlas Shrugs

I called in to Pamela's BlogTalkRadio show...such fun! Next time I will do my homework so I can make a more intelligent contribution to her show. But, it was great to finally talk with Pamela after two years of emailing back and forth.

Thank you for being such a good friend Pamela! And I wish you continued success with your CRUSADE to save Western Civilization.

Apology

Sorry everyone for the lack of activity. I am getting ready for military reserve duty next week. I had to run around and mail some checks last night (and take one to Federal Express...whoa was THAT expensive).

Then I learned that a person I knew in Pittsburgh died...someone who had been a bit of an institution in my circle of friends.

I need to post my opinions about Ohio senate candidate Sherrod Brown...oh my...what a hack. He is a cartoon version of a liberal Democrat. He held statewide office back in the 80s, then lost to Bob Taft (spit *** spit) in an election upset back in 1990. The Ohio Dems created a US House district for him during the 90s (up in the heart of the liberal northeast of Ohio) and he has been your classic, big city, mindless liberal. Now he is running for US Senate. The polls right now have him leading Mike DeWine.

I have a hard time believing this. I have been unhappy with Mike since he has not been a reliable conservative, but he has always struck me as a statesman. I think that Mike's difficulties have more to do with the general low feeling that America has with the President AND the low feeling that Ohio has with Republicans because of the scandals surrounding Governor Taft and his administration.

I hope that as we get closer to election day, Ohioians will take a closer look at Brown and realize that he lacks substance. Brown is a thoughtless liberal...he would be a hand puppet for the Dem leadership. He is one of the most liberal members of the Senate too. Of course, Ohio has a tradition of sending annoying liberals to the Senate...witness Howard Metzenbaum...there was a man who was so liberal (and so unprincipled about it) that he made me embarrassed to be Jewish. Metzenbaum was predecessor to Chuck Schumer as the archtype annoying liberal Jew in the Senate.

Ok, off to work.

Humans - the WORST kind of monsters [link]

People say that it is wrong to describe our opponents using term that make them seem less than human.

Well, considering the fact that humans can be the most foul kind of monsters, I don't see how that is possible. Take this monster for example...one that Hezbollah wants freed from an Israeli jail:

IN his Israeli jail cell Samir Qantar, who is serving four life sentences for murder and terrorism, dreams about an exchange of prisoners that might allow him to go home to Lebanon.

* * * *

Qantar, 44, has been in prison since 1979, when he took part in an attack whose horrifying outcome made him one of the most hated men in Israel.

* * * *

Qantar’s role in the attack on the coastal town of Nahariya 27 years ago would make this an especially bitter pill for Israelis to swallow. A policeman was killed and a family taken hostage when Qantar’s group burst into their home.

Danny Haran, 28, was shot at close range in front of his terrified four-year-old daughter Einat, whose head was then smashed with a rifle butt.

The dead man’s wife Smadar hid in a loft with their two-year-old daughter Yael, keeping a hand over her mouth to stop her crying out. But the girl suffocated, leaving Smadar Haran bereft of her husband and both daughters.

Qantar, the longest-held Lebanese prisoner in Israel, was convicted of the murders of Danny and Einat Haran but his family in Lebanon continues to claim that he could not have killed them because he had been injured in a shoot-out with police by the time they died.

The punishment should fit the crime...but there is no way to make Qantar pay for what he did. Yet now it is possible that he may be released. Hezbollah will be rewarded for its crimes in attacking Israel, killing her soldiers and taking others hostage, by allowing other killers to be released from jail.

Well, Qantar may be released, but Israel should not forget or forgive what these HUMAN monsters have done. If the Lebanonese Muslims cheer Qantar's type of violence, then they should be seen as accomplices after the fact.

Carnival on St. Thomas - 1997

This is what it was like living in the islands. The annual carnival jouvert parade. What a lot of fun it was!




Heh heh heh! Maybe I should post that STAR WARS video next. What do you think about THAT Megalon? What is it worth to you to keep the whole world from knowing just how much of a STAR WARS fanatic you are?

Lefties are unhinged [link]

Here is more proof that the leftie moonbats are unhinged. Someone named Allen R. Roland posted a column contending that there are 14 characteristics of fascism and that the US now demonstrates all of them.

I think that Mr. Roland has seen the STAR WARS saga too many times. He really wants to believe that he is part of the Rebel Alliance (TM) opposing the evil Galactic Empire (TM).

With the four horseman of hubris ( Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and Bush ) in full gallop, shouting their war cry of 'Islamic fascism' and systematically misquoting and demonizing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ~ it's time for America to review the 14 characteristics of fascism and, in the process, face our own growing neocon fascist state.

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each ~ and America has all of them.

Ok, let's take a look at these characteristics:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
4. Supremacy of the Military
5. Rampant Sexism
6. Controlled Mass Media
7. Obsession with National Security
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
9. Corporate Power is Protected
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
14. Fraudulent Elections

I don't think Mr. Roland is living in the real world. He exaggerates elements of present day American life and politics in order to push them into these fourteen characteristics.

For instance, he seems to feel that the labor movement in the US is being severely suppressed. Huh? Really? I just got forceably put into a labor union. I don't see any suppression.

Disdain for intellectuals and the arts? Well, only publicly funded art...and that issue has been in dispute for the last 20 or more years...even when the Dems controlled the White House and congress.

Cronyism and corruption? When have these factors NOT been present in the American political scene?

Controlled mass media? Controlled by whom? Not by the Bush Administration. Most of our mass media has an elitist, aristocratic, East Coast mentality that tracks very closely with modern day liberalism (and its belief that Americans are too stupid to be trusted with running their own lives). I don't think that talk radio, Fox News Channel, and the editorial pages of the Washington Times and Wall Street Journal translates into "control" of the mass media.

Rampant sexism? Really? Gays and advocates of non traditional relationships have more power and more legitimacy than ever. Is it "sexism" to oppose legalization of gay marriage through the political process?

Religion and government intertwined? Oh...yeah. Where? Tell that to the Boy Scouts! Tell that to the voters in San Diego where a display of a cross could be torn down because it offends some atheists.

Disdain for the recognition of human rights? Please. It's the liberals who have been ignoring the various genocides in Africa. The allegations of torture of the detainees in Guatanemo bay are laughable compared to the genuine torture inflicted by our enemies on our troops and on their own people.

Liberals are trying to motivate themselves by making inflated claims about non-existent outrages. Heaven help us if they manage to get control of our government.

Ubuntu - my first effort at using Linux

After much arm twisting from some friends, I decided to load a version of the Linux operating system on one of my computers. I chose my desktop computer since I had a spare hard drive that I could swap in to hold the operating system.

First impression...not favorable. I have two other hard drives mounted on this computer using an add-in IDE card. The OS acknowledges that those hard drives are there, but will not allow me to access any data on them. I don't know if it is because they are formatted as NTFS or if it is because they are mounted using the add-in card. I will eventually figure it out.

Grumble. I was thinking about loading Ubuntu on an old notebook computer of mine, but the OS needed a more up to date system. Another point against it. I am looking for a streamlined OS that will run on those old machines of mine.

Oh well, live and learn.

The Pope's HOT Wheels! [link]

I have to say that I am impressed. This is a stunning vehicle.

On January 17, 2005, Ferrari announced that it would build one additional Enzo, bringing the total to 400. It was ceremonially presented to Pope John Paul II by a large group of Ferrari's employees and partners, including F1 drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. Luca di Montezemolo, President of Ferrari, offered to donate the auction proceedings of this extraordinary vehicle for humanitarian purposes. The Pope then requested that the car be auctioned off to benefit the Caritas charity.

The car, chassis #ZFFCZ56B000141920, was auctioned by Sotheby's Maranello Auction on June 28, 2005 to benefit survivors of the 2004 Tsunami for €950,000 (US$1,274,229), almost twice its list price. This sum was presented to Pope Benedict XVI, John Paul's successor, while Formula One driver Michael Schumacher gave the pope a steering wheel to commemorate the donation. This wheel included a plaque which read, "The Formula 1 World Champion's steering wheel to His Holiness Benedict XVI, Christianity's driver."

Behold the POWER of true faith:

Thy rod and thy staff may comfort me, but an F140 15º V12 (with 4 valves per cylinder, dual overhead cams and variable valve timing, that produces 650 horsepower at 7800 rpm) will certainly thrill thee!

Intent and Murder [link]

A Cleveland detective was killed when a suspect fired a gun at the police through a closed door. The suspect was being arrested on a warrant for burglary and rape.

According to a report in the Cleveland Plain Dealer (linked to above):

Detective Schroeder had volunteered to be among the 12 law enforcement officers serving a warrant on aggravated robbery and rape charges on Wilson Santiago, 37.

The house on Cleveland's west side was surrounded by officers as Detective Schroeder and his supervisor went to the wooden, windowless front door. The door was opened from inside and quickly slammed shut before the bullet came through the door, striking Detective Schroeder, Mr. Flask said.

The police returned fire. Mr. Santiago, the suspected gunman, was not injured. He then surrendered and was arrested, Mr. Flask (Cleveland's Safety Director) said.

Ok, he was charged with Aggravated Murder....the penalty may be death. Let's assume that the news report is accurate. Let's also assume that Mr. Santiago was the only person in the house. There can be no doubt about his guilt. The defense team will focus attention on Santiago's intent to kill. They will claim that he did not mean to kill anyone; that he only intended to frighten the officers since there was no way he could aim his weapon at anyone through a closed door through which he could not see.

Too frakking bad. He intended to shoot the gun in the direction of arresting officers. Frankly, I am disappointed that the officers did not kill him on the scene. Most left-wing moon bats would have us all believe that a cop killer is almost certainly going to be given no chance of surrendering and will be murdered by the police...they are almost always wrong. I remember that case a year ago (on March 11, 2005) where a defendant in Atlanta, Georgia broke free from a Megalon sized (5'1" tall) guard and then killed a judge, court reporter, and a deputy sheriff. A co-worker of mine (a liberal attorney who had experience doing criminal defense work) kept telling me that the suspect had no chance of being taken alive. Well, WRONG! That killer (Brian Nichols) was later captured alive. Hmmm Nichols was also a rape suspect. Violent men, these rapists. Big surpise.

Well, Santiago was taken alive. So, he should be given a fair trial, convicted, and sentenced to death. If there were any justice in the world, he would be executed by year's end! The only reason to let him live a little longer would be so that he could gain some first hand experience at what it is like to be a rape victim while in prison.

Rat in the House [link]

Whenever I encounter a liberal who is willing to entertain the notion that maybe the Bush Administration is not thoroughly corrupt...and willing to listen to my rants about the Plame scandal, I tell them to look at what the Washington Post has to say about Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson.

WE'RE RELUCTANT to return to the subject of former CIA employee Valerie Plame because of our oft-stated belief that far too much attention and debate in Washington has been devoted to her story and that of her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, over the past three years. But all those who have opined on this affair ought to take note of the not-so-surprising disclosure that the primary source of the newspaper column in which Ms. Plame's cover as an agent was purportedly blown in 2003 was former deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage.

* * * *

Nevertheless, it now appears that the person most responsible for the end of Ms. Plame's CIA career is Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson chose to go public with an explosive charge, claiming -- falsely, as it turned out -- that he had debunked reports of Iraqi uranium-shopping in Niger and that his report had circulated to senior administration officials. He ought to have expected that both those officials and journalists such as Mr. Novak would ask why a retired ambassador would have been sent on such a mission and that the answer would point to his wife. He diverted responsibility from himself and his false charges by claiming that President Bush's closest aides had engaged in an illegal conspiracy. It's unfortunate that so many people took him seriously.

I would hardly call the Washington Post a cheerleader for the Bush Administration. Whenever I want to prove a point, it is always helpful to have someone on the opposite side who agrees with me.