(Very) Quick Notes
It's a Quick Notes Wednesday! Let the short, topically-unconnected paragraphs commence!
-- One of the most frustrating thing about being a Republican is watching our leaders walk into no-win situations, smile about it and then graciously not complain. Good form, but utterly maddening to the rank and file. Mrs. King's funeral was only the latest such event; they have a long, shameful history.
You know the drill. Something happens that compels Republicans to attend an Democratic-dominated event in an official capacity. Never missing an opportunity to "speak truth to power" (unless, of course, the "power" in question are fanatical Muslims-wouldn't want to stretch it too far!) in an utterly graceless and rude manner, the liberals then use their opponent's presence as an opportunity to call them evil, wicked murderers of the poor and the weak.
Don't they know how these tactics make them look? Does the term "Wellstone Funeral" have any political meaning?
-- Supporters of the U.S. Government's shameful statement that the Mohammed Cartoons are "unacceptable" like to point out how making nicey-nice with the Islamists protects America's current national interests. From today's AP wire:
Can someone please get Mr. Mohammed a copy of the State Department press release? I'm sure as soon as he understands that we share his outrage he'll stop being mad at America.
Please.
-- Something big went unnoticed in the aftermath of a presentation at the National Press Club by NSA chief General Michael V. Hayden, USAF, on January 23. Gen. Hayden was giving the press an overview of the NSA surveillance program targeted at communications directed by suspected Al Qaeda associates into the United States. In the course of his remarks, Gen. Hayden made a comment in passing that immediately caught my full attention:
Why is this significant? Because the general in charge of the NSA singled out for comment three communities in the United States-Dearborn, Lackawanna and Fremont (it's not "Freemont" you East Coast transcriber!)- that just happen to have active radical Islamic immigrant communities. It struck me as highly instructive that, as a side comment, the man in charge of the NSA could rattle off those communities as examples of where one would expect an over-reaching government to put a "driftnet" over without exciting any reaction. One gets the feeling that these three communities are known to the national security apparatus for a reason. One would be right.
-- Speaking of which, why, exactly, are we still issuing "R" Visas to workers from Islamic countries?
-- Our local sports columnist, John Canzano, wrote an angry column on Feb 2 denouncing Coach Bowher of the Steelers for running his pre-game preparations like a dictator while the ever-so-smart Coach Holmgren was praised for running his in a very friendly, laid-back fashion. Holmgren even let his players go on talk shows, party, have a good time. Bowher, on the other hand, was mean-tempered, a bully, a Very Bad Guy. Said Canzano: the Steelers will win, but only if "Cowher stops making the biggest mistake of this Super Bowl week by taking this game preparation too seriously."
Which just goes to show you that it's not just the political columnists at the Oregonian who have their heads up their asses.
-- Speaking of Portland, the Tribune reported this week that almost no one on the Portland Streetcar pays a fare.
Really? On the Streetcar? Gosh, what a surprise.
Also a surprise: the Streetcar's executive director admitting that the Streetcar doesn't receive any federal funding because "[w]e don't come close to meeting the federal cost-effective criteria."
Really? You mean it's just a multi-million dollar boondoggle designed to cart around too-old, no-job-having, permanent-student slackers from the Pearl to their "classes" as Portland State University?
-- In other shocking Portland news, this week's issue of Willamette Week features sexually explicit stories about Portland's sex industry, cynical reports of City Hall shenanigans, lots of nasty words about conservatives and suburbanites (suckers, they pay for their transport!), ads for tattoo parlors and club listings for punk bands that don't seem to realize that the punk movement was, charitably, 25 years ago.
In other words, you've already read it, so don't bother. But, hey, it's avant-garde!
-- I hope I never have to face hand to hand combat. If, however, I do, I know in my heart that, as I charge the enemy, I will find the courage to shout my battle-cry:
"LEEROY JENKINS!!!"
-- Yes, I've been playing WoW again. Why do you ask?
-- One of the most frustrating thing about being a Republican is watching our leaders walk into no-win situations, smile about it and then graciously not complain. Good form, but utterly maddening to the rank and file. Mrs. King's funeral was only the latest such event; they have a long, shameful history.
You know the drill. Something happens that compels Republicans to attend an Democratic-dominated event in an official capacity. Never missing an opportunity to "speak truth to power" (unless, of course, the "power" in question are fanatical Muslims-wouldn't want to stretch it too far!) in an utterly graceless and rude manner, the liberals then use their opponent's presence as an opportunity to call them evil, wicked murderers of the poor and the weak.
Don't they know how these tactics make them look? Does the term "Wellstone Funeral" have any political meaning?
-- Supporters of the U.S. Government's shameful statement that the Mohammed Cartoons are "unacceptable" like to point out how making nicey-nice with the Islamists protects America's current national interests. From today's AP wire:
Police killed four people Wednesday as Afghans enraged over drawings of the Prophet Muhammad marched on a U.S. military base in a volatile southern province, directing their anger not against Europe but America.
The U.S. base was targeted because the United States "is the leader of Europe and the leading infidel in the world," said Sher Mohammed, a 40-year-old farmer who suffered a gunshot wound while taking part in the demonstration in the city of Qalat.
Can someone please get Mr. Mohammed a copy of the State Department press release? I'm sure as soon as he understands that we share his outrage he'll stop being mad at America.
Please.
-- Something big went unnoticed in the aftermath of a presentation at the National Press Club by NSA chief General Michael V. Hayden, USAF, on January 23. Gen. Hayden was giving the press an overview of the NSA surveillance program targeted at communications directed by suspected Al Qaeda associates into the United States. In the course of his remarks, Gen. Hayden made a comment in passing that immediately caught my full attention:
Let me talk for a few minutes also about what this program is not. It is not a driftnet over Dearborn or Lackawanna or Freemont grabbing conversations that we then sort out by these alleged keyword searches or data-mining tools or other devices that so-called experts keep talking about.
Why is this significant? Because the general in charge of the NSA singled out for comment three communities in the United States-Dearborn, Lackawanna and Fremont (it's not "Freemont" you East Coast transcriber!)- that just happen to have active radical Islamic immigrant communities. It struck me as highly instructive that, as a side comment, the man in charge of the NSA could rattle off those communities as examples of where one would expect an over-reaching government to put a "driftnet" over without exciting any reaction. One gets the feeling that these three communities are known to the national security apparatus for a reason. One would be right.
-- Speaking of which, why, exactly, are we still issuing "R" Visas to workers from Islamic countries?
-- Our local sports columnist, John Canzano, wrote an angry column on Feb 2 denouncing Coach Bowher of the Steelers for running his pre-game preparations like a dictator while the ever-so-smart Coach Holmgren was praised for running his in a very friendly, laid-back fashion. Holmgren even let his players go on talk shows, party, have a good time. Bowher, on the other hand, was mean-tempered, a bully, a Very Bad Guy. Said Canzano: the Steelers will win, but only if "Cowher stops making the biggest mistake of this Super Bowl week by taking this game preparation too seriously."
Which just goes to show you that it's not just the political columnists at the Oregonian who have their heads up their asses.
-- Speaking of Portland, the Tribune reported this week that almost no one on the Portland Streetcar pays a fare.
Really? On the Streetcar? Gosh, what a surprise.
Also a surprise: the Streetcar's executive director admitting that the Streetcar doesn't receive any federal funding because "[w]e don't come close to meeting the federal cost-effective criteria."
Really? You mean it's just a multi-million dollar boondoggle designed to cart around too-old, no-job-having, permanent-student slackers from the Pearl to their "classes" as Portland State University?
-- In other shocking Portland news, this week's issue of Willamette Week features sexually explicit stories about Portland's sex industry, cynical reports of City Hall shenanigans, lots of nasty words about conservatives and suburbanites (suckers, they pay for their transport!), ads for tattoo parlors and club listings for punk bands that don't seem to realize that the punk movement was, charitably, 25 years ago.
In other words, you've already read it, so don't bother. But, hey, it's avant-garde!
-- I hope I never have to face hand to hand combat. If, however, I do, I know in my heart that, as I charge the enemy, I will find the courage to shout my battle-cry:
"LEEROY JENKINS!!!"
-- Yes, I've been playing WoW again. Why do you ask?
