Update on That Wretched Memorial to the Heroes of Flight 93 During the 9-11 Attacks
The memorial being shaped like that symbol representation of the Arab sons of camels.
Refresh your memory HERE:
Seems they’re backtracking on this crescent thing.
We shall see.
From Phillyburbs.com:
WASHINGTON - The architect of the memorial to a plane downed in western Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, said Wednesday he would work to satisfy critics who complained that it honors terrorists with its crescent-shaped design.
Designer Paul Murdoch said he is “somewhat optimistic” that the spirit of the design could be maintained.
“It’s a disappointment there is a misinterpretation and a simplistic distortion of this, but if that is a public concern, then that is something we will look to resolve in a way that keeps the essential qualities,” Murdoch, 48, of Los Angeles, said in a telephone interview.
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A Dust Devil in Delaware?
Dust devils, it turns out, are little tornados, sprung from hot, dusty conditions and generally along a changing terrain, such as dirt to asphalt to concrete.
At least that’s my layman’s summary. More info at the link below.
Death-Valley.com:
But yes I saw one! In Delaware! With my own lying eyeballs.
There I was driving along 404 East upon return home after dropping mother-in-law off at the BWI airport.
Suddenly alongside the road I see this little tornado thing.
As I’m trying to digest in my mind the vision entering my eyeballs, I also note out of the side of my head that other vehicles going both east bound and west bound also saw something odd as everyone on the road slowed down.
The other weird fact was that the highway was sided by trees on both sides until where this little tornado showed up. Right after the dust devil there was an open field on both sides of the road.
All vehicles, including mine own Jeep, moved forward past the tree line cautiously. I surmise that all of us were thinking the same thing:
Could that funny little twisting dervish be a child of an even bigger tornado about to attack unsuspecting vehicles as they inched past the tree line past that open field?
Further research and I discover there is such a thing as a dust devil and I’m convinced that’s what I saw.
And here I thought Dust Devils were little vacuum cleaners.
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My Solution That Will Reduce Welfare Rolls by 80%
The geniusness came to me as I watched so many New Orleans teenaged mothers with at least one, often multiple children hanging on them.
Many of them, heck most of them, had no fathers.
Here’s my solution.
Given that we all accept the notion of people actually supporting their own children and not be allowed to filch off of hard working taxpayers all of their lives, all we have to do is find the kids’ fathers.
When a welfare mother is about to have a baby, thus increasing her welfare payments monthly perhaps double, in order to receive those benefits she MUST name the child’s father.
Right now there is a rather murky system in which this is SUPPOSED to be the case. But often the child’s mother demurs, alleging not to know the child’s father. Or he can’t be found.
Everyone can be found given enough time and patience.
I hear commercials for paternity tests all the time. Takes seven days and boom, paternity is established via a swab of mucous from alleged father and baby’s mouth.
No additional welfare payments should be made until a paternity test is administered and paternity established.
Period.
Then have the government go after these sperm donors.
Once these guys have to pay up via payroll deduction their entire lives, condom use will suddenly escalate.
Of course it won’t work.
Such common sense things never do.
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When Politicians Wrote REAL Speeches
Just for the hell of it. For Kaitlyn in case some one erases it from her history books.
The Wise I presents:
The Gettysburg Address Gettysburg, Pennsylvania November 19, 1863
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
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More Miscellany posts HERE
From the Second Week of 2005
Remember the tsunami?
Here’s a post from early this year. Then we worried about bogus missing Americans from the far east tsunami.
Oh, and John Conyers was worrying about vote fraud in Ohio.
A snapshot and a Blog post in its entirety from early this year:
Oh, and Gitmo. Remember the “torture” at Girmo?
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The Week Just Passed: Notes of important events from the week prior as Grandmother has determined, not the Old Media. With, as expected, Grandmother’s input
Tsunami Update
In an interesting move, last week George Bush appointed his father, former President George H. Bush, and former President Bill Clinton to spearhead American efforts to raise private money for tsunami disaster relief.
I call it interesting in that it’s well known that Clinton wants to be head of the U.N. Which vaunted institution, more on this later, is noticeably missing from the tsunami relief effort. At any rate, as a public service, click here For more information on donating visit the USA Freedom Corps Web site at this link.
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Now about the U.N. That world-wide institution that we would expect to be major organizers of the tsunami disaster relief. They certainly don’t wage war against despots very well so shouldn’t we at least expect this?
Below is a direct quote from the UN’s official website.
Under SecGen Egeland “Our main problems now are in northern Sumatra and Aceh.
<...> In Aceh, today 50 trucks of relief supplies are arriving. <...> Tomorrow, we will have eight full airplanes arriving. I discussed today with Washington whether we can draw on some assets on their side, after consultations with the Indonesian Government, to set up what we call an “air-freight handling centre” in Aceh.
Tomorrow, we will have to set up a camp for relief workers – 90 of them – which is fully self-contained, with kitchen, food, lodging, everything, because they have nowhere to stay and we don't want them to be an additional burden on the people there.
Two things here. First, those 50 relief trucks did NOT come from the UN. All supplies, planes, etc, so far, have come from America, Australia and other nations. Second, notice this man’s priorities! They have to set up a camp for relief workers. Fully self-contained with kitchens, food lodging…well, damn, can’t have the UN relief workers inconvenienced!
It gets better.
A new Blog, run by "career US Foreign Service officers", many serving in the tsunami disaster region, is up and exposing the UN “efforts”. Below is a quote from that wonderful Blog, also sponsored by mine own Blogspot experts. Below this is a link to this great new web spot.
Aussies and Yanks continue to carry the overwhelming bulk of the burden, but some other fine folks also have jumped in: e.g., the New Zealanders have provided C-130 lift and an excellent and much-needed potable water distribution system; the Singaporeans have provided great helo support; the Indians have a hospital ship taking position off Sumatra. Spain and Netherlands have sent aircraft with supplies. But, they say, the UN has shone only in its willingness to send bureaucrats…
The Diplomad
Finally, below an interesting picture of one of the people who we are helping. Notice the Osama picture on his T-shirt. Just wanted to point that out.
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Look at the Tshirt of one of the people America's over there helping.
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Just Because It’s Delaware
And it’s a little state. And our Governor and Lt. Governor gave themselves a nice raise, 44% for the Governor and 56% for her Loot. Giving Delaware’s Lt. Governor more salary than the Governors 20 other states. As for our Governor, only the Governor's of California, New York, and Michigan would be paid more than Delaware’s Governor with her salary.
From the Delavoice web site
Copeland has called on Lt. Governor Carney to release his 2004 official calendar to justify the need to be paid over $100,000 per year, and make more than the full-time Governors of 20 other states. The odds are pretty slim that Carney’s office will release that schedule, which is sure to include such nice things as reading to children and visiting old folks homes.
Recent updates on this shameless scam are that the Loot is prohibited from such raises and Minner’s backing down. The Wise I is not fooled. They both wanted to get away with it. They are both Democrats by the way.
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Protesting the Election
This week just passed, John Conyers, Michigan congressional representative, and Barbara Boxer, California senator, joined forces to protest the acceptance of Ohio’s electoral votes by the United States congress.
This shameless display of idiocy required both chambers to separate and allowed the Democratic crazies to go on and on about Ohio voting irregularities. Bush won by over 118,000 votes in Ohio. Also, the congress did NOT protest 2000’s close election, won by only 500 plus votes.
The Wise I thinks this was all a show to create a smoke screen of questionable Republican voting behavior because soon the flood gates are going to open over that Governor’s race in Washington.
I’m doing some investigation into the Washington state Governor’s race debacle, first won by a Republican and again on a recount. Lo and behold more ballots were discovered, some in Alaska! The Dems got it right on the third try and the Governorship was given to a Dem.
Also found were over 300 ballots with the SAME signatures, felons and dead people who voted illegally, and counties who reported MORE votes than registered voters. It’s never legal for a dead person to vote anywhere in the US.
Popular thought is that Conyers and the Dems filed their protest to appease their base. The Wise I says the Dems fear revelation of their voting deceit about to hit the radar in Washington state. That whole silly exercise last week was an on-the-record attempt to allow Dems to point the finger to Repub voting shenanigans as well.
Besides, the affected candidate himself wrote in a Jan. 5 email message to supporters about the Ohio concerns:
"Despite widespread reports of irregularities, questionable practices by some election officials and instances of lawful voters being denied the right to vote, our legal teams on the ground have found no evidence that would change the outcome of the election,"
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Torturing Gonzales
President Bush wants to appoint his current White House Counsel, Alberto Gonzales, to the position of United States Attorney General, now held by John Ashcroft.
The Dems manufactured a “scandal” in that Gonzales, in his position as White House counsel, was asked to review a memorandum issued by the Department of Justice on how to treat terrorist prisoners. The Department of Justice asked if the detainees are subject to the terms of the Geneva Convention, which they are not for a gazillion reasons. So Gonzales responds verifying the Justice Dept.’s assertion that they are not and also asks for guidance on how the detainees should be treated from the President.
Gonzales passed the memo on to the President who issued guidelines that even though the detainees are not subject to the Geneva Convention, that they should be treated humanely.
However the passing back and forth of the most reasonable memorandums, it seems the Dems have managed to create some smoke screen that this poor guy Gonzales was somehow a promoter of torture.
It’s twisted logic and pundits assert that it is a Dem plan to cast aspersions on Gonzales, a Conservative they fear will be appointed to the federal judiciary by Bush at some later point.
The Wise I supposes it could be. If that is the reason for wasting taxpayer dimes on partisan witch hunts it is certainly pathetic. And a bit mean to this man who is Hispanic and a fine example of much of the Democratic party’s demographic.
The wicked rhetoric got so bad that we could count on the NY Times to jump in.
Times columnist Bob Herbert, called Gonzales "the enabler in chief of the pro-torture lobby" and claimed the administration has "thumbed its nose at the Geneva convention."
But yon readers, this was not, not by a long shot, the greatest hoot of this Democratic witch hunt. For doesn’t my favorite, ole Ted Kennedy himself, take the solemn senate floor and lambaste the treatment of “waterboarding” on those dear terrorist detainees. Waterboarding is some sort of treatment where detainees have their heads wrapped in a towel and water is dripped into their nose. It can’t hurt them but it gives them a sensation of drowning.
TED KENNEDY COMPLAINING ABOUT HURTING SOMEBODY WITH WATER!!! BE STILL MY SORE HEART. TED KENNEDY KILLS PEOPLE IN WATER BY LEAVING THEM TO DROWN!
Two things. First, I recently posted a short fiction piece, my contribution to the Chaucer book referred to in the sidebar. I challenged readers to figure out what politician was the model for the tale. For those who didn’t get it, well posting a link in this particular section of my weekly diatribe is a BIG hint.
”Fiction” piece here.
Second, a picture below that says it all about that hypocrite Ted Kennedy.
Ted Kennedy worries about American "water torture".
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Some Smiles From Some Friends
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