If you thought the only thing that comes out of Nebraska these days is ethanol, let me introduce you to Brigitte Dale, my all time favorite Vlogger — supplanting even my long time crush Mary Kathrine Ham.
It’s not because she’s hot — OK, it is partly because she’s hot — but because she is, just…well…just watch the video.
Brigitte first came to my attention about a year ago through her TV Squad Daily clips. Apparently she has now left TV Squad and set up her own Vlog. It’s still worth watching some of the old TVSD clips, so don’t pass them by.
When you stop by her website, be sure to tell her Without Feathers sent you.
Sigh…If only I wasn’t married…and old…and fat…and bald…and short — no, I mean moderately heighted, not short the other way…
Much more than I expected from yesterday’s Florida primary. The nominations are still far from settled, but I wasn’t expecting this kind of clarity before Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Tuesday next week.
(Photos shamelessly lifted from the Drudge Report)
Apparently, the Dems have lost John “Silky Pony” Edwards (again) and the Reps will have to carry on without America’s Mayor (did you know he was the Mayor of NYC on September 11, 2001?) Rudy “9/11″ Giuliani.
Two estimable lawyers (one for the defense and the other for the prosecution) who probably served their most useful national roles in personifying everything that is wrong with their respective parties.
On the one hand, John Edwards holds a virtual patent on the self-made millionaire who wants to prove that he is really all about the little guy and shouldn’t be lumped in with all those other evil money-grubbing ambulance chasers who made money just so they could afford palatial mansions and $400 haircuts…er…
On the other hand, we have Rudy “9/11″ Giuliani, a self-made millionaire who wants to prove that he is really all about the little guy and shouldn’t be lumped in with all those self-interested I’ve got mine screw you conservatives who made money just so the could afford three wives and project an aura of national security prowess…um…9/11!
I’m sure that both of them are decent honorable men, but can anybody tell me what the real, core beliefs of either of them is? I know that each wing of the political spectrum can tell me what the platform and platitudes of each one is, but can you explain to me their actual vision of America (besides “fairness” and “security”) and, perhaps more importantly, why it took so long for each to get to their current (emphasize current) political creed?
Well, I think I am sufficiently through the grieving process…
Denial — B-b-but he was coming in third and fourth everywhere
Anger — Screw that evan-phoney-lib-Arkansan and the bass guitar he rode in on
Bargaining — Just one more primary…please…just Florida
Depression — Ehhh…what’s the use…Ronald Reagan is still dead Acceptance — It’s not like we were going to win this year anyway!
…to finally come to terms with the fact that Fred Thompson is no longer in the race — and probably not going to be the next President of the United States…unless, of course, the primaries prove undecisive and the convention, split among four phoney lib candidates turns to the one man who can save the republic and… Who am I kidding? The nominee is going to be Romney or McCain, and the only way either one of them will ever see the Oval Office will be on a guided tour.
So what’s a poor, conservative boy like myself to do? I’m not creating any more candidate websites (at least not this year). I’m not going third party again. And I’m not voting for Hillary no matter what. I voted for a Clinton once and haven’t been able to enjoy a cigar since. Actually I haven’t smoked in almost 40 years, but that’s not the point.
For the moment, I hate Hillary more than I like any candidate, so I’m going to take a look at Obama. Who knows? Maybe an Obama candidacy will so piss-off the Clinton wing of the Billocrats that they will deliberately throw the election to the Republicans in hopes that the peasants will pick up their pitchforks in 2012. They almost pulled it off in 2000.
An outstanding little animation. Amazing what a fiasco that war was (for the North) until, well, until it wasn’t anymore.
For me, this sort of graphic representation illuminates an event the magnitude of the Civil war more than a thousand pages of text. I’m not knocking the many superb written works on the war, just saying that this really puts the ebb and flow of the conflict in perspective.
Did you realize how successful the Confederacy was right up until Gettysburg (July 1863) or how crucial Grant’s ascension to commander of all union armies was in 1864?
So, how much longer am I going to carry the torch for Fred Thompson?
Until he says he’s out — or starts polling below Duncan Hunter. What’s the rush? I’m in no hurry to embrace anyone else in the race, so let’s just wait and see how this all plays out.
I think the song isn’t that bad, and Renaldo’s got some voice on him that just isn’t apparent because of the circumstances.Anyway, the next time you hear this song sing along:
I am your brother
Your best friend forever
Singing the songs, the music that you li-i-i-i-ke
We’re brothers to the end of time
Together forever till the end of the time
I am your brother
Your best friend forever
Singing the songs, the music that you li-i-i-i-ke
We’re brothers till the end of time
Together or not you’re always in my heart
Your hurt, your feelings in you will worry no more
I love you brother
And I defy you to get this tune out of your head anytime soon.
Seriously, Renaldo: If Nigel Lithgow doesn’t take care of you, drop me a line. I think you’ve got a future and I’ll do what I can to help you get there.
This Sunday the New York Times cautioned us that there are: Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles. With meticulously researched charts and graphs the Times documented “121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing in this country, or were charged with one, after their return from war. It is important to know that the crimes occurred “after their return from war” so the reader will understand that it was the war that caused them to occur. The only problem is that in the 75 months since the first us soldier set foot in Afghanistan, there were over 90,000 other murders committed with no apparent connection to the conflict.
Given the meticulous detail with which the times researched this issue, it’s a bit surprising that they missed the fact that this means that the 1.7 million veterans of the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan commit murder at a much lower rate than the general population. Even using rough numbers it is easy enough to calculate that the rate for Iraq/Afghanistan vets is about 0.071/1000 while the rate for the general population (ages 15 through 64) is about 0.45/1000.
As noted, this is a very rough calculation that would probably not stand muster with professional statisticians, but it does give a good idea of how slanted this article actually is. Based on the real statistics — so carefully avoided in the Times article — it would appear that service in a combat zone makes people significantly less prone to criminal violence then staying home complaining about the war.
Somehow, I’m not really surprised by this.
Update: Ralph Peters in the New York Post also picked up on this story and called it what it is: SMEARING SOLDIERS. Peters also takes a closer look at the numbers than I did and calculates that the returning vets would have needed to commit “a total of 700 to 750 murders between 2003 and the end of 2007″ to match the homicide rate of their peers at home.
There’s no denying the earnestness of this guy’s argument (at least to other Ron Paul supporters), but I’m going to stick with Fred Thompson for the time being.
Putting aside, for the moment, Paul’s connections to white supremacist group Stormfront and David Duke: The thing that has turned me off the most about the Ron Paul candidacy has been his zombie cult supporters. They actually scare me. Well, maybe they don’t scare me so much anymore, but they are still a major reason I would never even consider supporting them.
On the other hand, perhaps if Ron Paul were to show his softer side by tearing up a little about how tough this struggle has been for him…No, probably not.
