"I was hotter than a pistol"

What an amazing story. Saw this on TV the other night.

Jason McElwain was the team manager for Greece Athena High School basketball team. He kept the stats, ran the clock, handed out water bottles, etc. He was always one of the most enthusiastic teammates on the sidelines.

"The 17-year-old senior, who is autistic and usually sits on the bench in a white shirt and black tie." He put on a uniform in the teams first playoff game. When he was put in with four minutes left, the crowd went crazy. He hit 6, yes SIX, three point shots and ended the game with 20 points. His teammates carried him off the court on their shoulders. You should have seen the crowd. With every three they went crazy, even though a win was already guaranteed.

“I ended my career on the right note,” he told The Associated Press by phone Thursday. “I was really hotter than a pistol!” One section of students held up signs bearing his nickname “J-MAC” and cutouts of his face placed on Popsicle sticks.

Wow, what a touching story.

I found the video for the story. Click here and then scroll down the box on the right to view the video. It gives me chills everytime I watch it.

The other side of the argument

Well, I'm still not quite sure where I stand on the Arab port issue. On one hand, a couple of the hijackers came from the UAE. But on the other hand, you have the Bush administration saying that they have been valuable allies in the war on terror, helping us catch many members of al quada. I just think we don't have enough information to make a sound decision yet.

Congressional Republicans are scared. They're afraid they're going to lose ground on the national security issue, which has been their stronghold for four years. I think that's why you see such a divide between the republicans and bush over this issue. In fact, a recent poll shows that the american public believes congressional democrats are stronger on national security than President Bush (43% to 41%). Wow, what a surprising finding. I think that's somewhat temporary though, the democrats being pushed up by the port deal controversy.

Do you realize how few US ports are controlled by American companies? I'll give you a hint, not many (the number I've heard is around is 8 out of 100). Why should we punish a country just because they happen to be Arab? Does that mean we're just going to issolate ourselves from the Arab world? We certainly have spent a lot of time and money trying to befriend the Arab world.

I don't know what to think about all this. Many republicans are saying that Bush should back down, but deep down I think he's probably doing the right thing. We can not alienate our allies. I say this with caution though, as I believe we need to be given more information before we can make a decision.

Tags: Bush, UAE, Port, terrorism

US and Mexican telescope to offer glimpse at Big Bang

In the biggest joint Mexico-U.S. scientific venture ever, builders are finishing a monster telescope on top of a volcano that will let astronomers look back 13 billion years and uncover secrets about the creation of the universe.

This telescope will be the largest of its kind in the world. It has a 165-foot antenna and a total cost of nearly $120 million.

The telescope will pick up millimeter-long radio waves that have been traveling through space for nearly 13 billion years.

"We will get incredible new insight into how galaxies were first formed," said project scientist David Hughes of Mexico's National Astrophysics Optics and Electronics Institute. "Once we start operating, we should be making breakthrough discoveries on an almost daily basis."

Could this be the next "Hubble telescope" in scientific adventure? It should be ready by the end of the year, I guess we will find out soon. It does have some very exciting possibilities in studying something that we really don't know all that much about. I'll keep you updated

Arab owned firm to take over port operations

Dubai Ports World recently purchased London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. They will now control shipping operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.

Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff is defending the Bush administration's review of the international shipping deal.

"We make sure there are assurances in place, in general, sufficient to satisfy us that the deal is appropriate from a national security standpoint," Chertoff told ABC's "This Week."

Miami firm Continental Stevedoring & Terminals Inc. asked a judge to block the takeover of P&O, saying that U.S. agencies can not guarantee DP World will comply with U.S. security rules.

The deal "may endanger the national security of the United States," reads the suit filed late Friday.

So, what's the big deal you ask? Well, the United Arab Emirates, while being labeled as an ally in the war on terror, just may not be. Let's not forget that Pakistan is also an "ally" in the war on terror. One terrorist, Marwan al-Shehhi, one of the 9/11 terrorists was born in that country.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., said "It's unbelievably tone deaf politically at this point in our history."

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, are sponsoring legislation that would prohibit companies owned or controlled by foreign governments from running port operation in the United States.

My question is, is this really in our best interests in the War on Terror?

Great bumper sticker

To buy, click here.

Hilarious bumper sticker. Perhaps the liberals have forgotten this story:

On July 19, 1969, Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. At about 11:00 PM, he borrowed his chauffeur's keys to his Oldsmobile limousine, and offered to give a ride home to Mary Jo Kopechne , a campaign worker. Leaving the island via an unlit, narrow, rickety wooden bridge, Kennedy steered the car off the bridge and into Poucha Pond.
He swam to shore and walked back to the party -- passing several houses and a fire station -- and two friends returned with him to the scene of the accident. According to their later testimony, they told him what he already knew, that he was required by law to immediately report the accident to the authorities. Instead Kennedy made his way to his hotel, frantically called his lawyer, and went to sleep.
Kennedy called the police the next morning. By then the wreck had already been discovered. Before dying, Kopechne had scratched at the upholstered floor above her head in the upside-down car. The Kennedy family began pulling strings, ensuring that any inquiry would be contained. Her corpse was whisked out-of-state to her family, before an autopsy could be conducted. Ted Kennedy tried to get his cousin, Joe Garghan, to say he was behind the wheel. Ted Kennedy was only charged with failure to report a motor vehicle accident!
Further details are uncertain, but after the accident Kennedy says he repeatedly dove under the water trying to rescue Kopechne, and he didn't call police because he was in a state of shock. In versions not so kind, it is widely assumed Kennedy was drunk, that he was having an affair with Kopechne, and/or that he held off calling police in hopes that his family could fix the problem overnight.

At least Cheney didn't kill anyone. At least Cheney wasn't drunk, besides the best efforts of some to assume so. At least Cheney wasn't having an affair. At least Cheney didn't try to cover anything up. Or was Kennedy really just in a "state of shock?"

Airlines lost 10,000 bags a day last year

On average, U.S. airlines lost 10,000 bags per DAY in 2005. Yes, that's right, per day! Is it just me or is that an enormously large number? 10,000? Geez.

This was a 23% increase from the year before. The reasons for the increase include a surge in the number of passengers, airline budget cuts, backed-up flights and tighter inspections of luggage.

US Airways had the highest rate of lost bags at one in every 100.

Specter admits inserting 13 provisions into spending bills

"Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) acknowledges inserting 13 provisions into spending bills that directed $48.7 million to clients of lobbyist Michael Herson of American Defense International. Herson is the husband of Specter aide Vicki Siegel Herson. A list of those clients, their lobbyists and the funds, known as "earmarks:"

•Drexel University got $20.9 million in the 2005 and 2006 budgets. Drexel paid ADI $200,000 a year since 2002. The university also paid another lobbying firm, American Continental Group, $120,000 a year during the same time. A third company, the lobbying and law firm Hogan & Hartson, was paid $40,000 in 2004 and another $40,000 in the first half of 2005.

•Gentex Corp. got $11.2 million in the past four years. Gentex paid ADI $80,000 a year from 2002 through 2004 and $20,000 during the first six months of 2005. Gentex also paid the lobbying firm PMA $400,000 between 2002 and July 2005.

•Gestalt LLC got $10.6 million in 2005 and in this year's budget. Gestalt paid ADI $360,000 from 2002 through the first half of 2005. No other lobbyists registered to represent Gestalt.

•Power+Energy Corp. got $2.5 million in the 2006 budget. Power+Energy hired ADI in March and paid the firm $40,000 through the end of June. No other lobbyists registered to represent the company.

•Universal Space Network got $2.5 million in 2005. USN paid ADI $40,000 a year in 2002 and '03.

•3e Technologies International Inc. got $1 million in the 2006 budget. 3e hired ADI in March and paid $40,000 through July. 3e also hired Edington, Peel & Associates last year and paid that lobbying firm $20,000 through July."

Not good. Not good at all. How are these things allowed to happen? And what's with all the Republican scandals lately. I have a feeling this sort of thing goes on on both sides of the aisle, yet you recently only hear about the republicans. Could it be that the Republicans really are the only corrupt party? My instinct tells me no, but what do I know. Let's hear it liberals, let the republican bashing begin!

Driving down the road

So I was driving home from school the other day, and on the car in front of me I saw a magnet that said "Question war" in the shape of a question mark. Now, I would have no problem with this except that it was yellow and clearly designed to look like the yellow ribbon magnets that say "Support our troops."



It led me to think, can't they find other ways of questioning the war? If you want to make a magnet, or bumper sticker, or whatever, that's fine. But these were clearly supposed to mock and directly contradict the Support our Troops magnets. Thus, the designers and buyers of these in my view do not respect those who support our troops. Why is that?

Now some of you might say this is a stretch, and I'm just complaining because this person obviously doesn't agree with the war. This is not true. I absolutely respect their right to an opinion, and if it was just a bumper sticker or other magnet, I would have no problem. But when it is designed to contradict supporting our troops, I do have a problem.

Whether or not you agree with the war, you should support our troops. We have brave men and women over there. Much more brave than I am and ever will be. Magnets such as this do nothing but mock our troops and those who support them. My question is, what do others think of this?

Cheney shoots hunting partner

Dick Cheney accidentally shot a hunting partner, Harry Whittington. They were hunting with a small group on the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas. Cheney hit his friend in the face with birdshot from about 30 yards away.

Whittington shot a bird and went to look for it in the tall grass. Cheney and another hunter found a group of quail. Whittington "came up from behind the vice president and the other hunter and didn't signal them or indicate to them or announce himself,"

"The vice president didn't see him," Amstrong told The AP. "The covey flushed and the vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by God, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good.

The Vice President's medical team was there to help and an ambulance arrived in minutes. The shots didn't cause too much damage, and luckily missed his eyes.

Geez, is this how the Vice President is going to handle politics from now on? If he doesn't like you, he'll just shoot you. Just kidding of course because these two are both Republicans and good friends. But still, you better not make Cheney mad!

Sheehan Scraps Campaign Plans

Well crazy liberals are going to be upset, but Sheehan has decided not to run for Congress.

Cindy threatened a Senate run against Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California's most popular Democrat, whom Sheehan has accused of not doing enough to stop the war in Iraq. Yeah, I'm pretty sure sheehan wouldn't win. I'm guessing she'd get around 1% of the vote from the crazies in california.

Sheehan said her decision to run would be based on whether she believed more lives would be saved in Iraq with her in office or out of office. She said she also will weigh the decision with her family.

In other sheehan news, she does plan to file suit next week against the federal government for what she said was a false arrest at the Jan. 31 presidential address to Congress.

I think overall the moderate and reasonable left is embarrased by Sheehan. I'm guessing they're happy she's not running for office, knowing the embarrasment she would get.

This is also interesting to note:
Bruce Cain, who is director of the University of California-Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies, said Sheehan and other vocal activists can do a lot to shape lawmakers' agendas.

For instance, Sheehan told the Associated Press that if Feinstein voted to end debate over Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, thereby helping prevent a filibuster, she would definitely run against Feinstein. Feinstein, who just a week earlier said she didn't think a filibuster was the best option, promptly turned around and supported the failed filibuster attempt.

Clearly an example of liberal congress(wo)men listening to the far left.

Bush reveals foiled attack

Back in October of 2001 an attack was scheduled to blast open the doors of an airliner with shoe bombs and crash the plane into Los Angeles' tallest building, President Bush said yesterday.

Bush presumably gave this information to gain support for his terrorist surveillance program. However, there is no indication that the plot was foiled with the use of wiretaps. White House spokesman Scott McLellan would not reveal whether any wiretaps helped uncover the LA plot. I think it's pretty unlikely that this was the case. I say this because he probably would have revealed that information yesterday.

The target was the Library Tower -- a 310m office building in the Los Angeles central business district. In fact this building was the first destroyed by the aliens in the movie Independence Day.

Can you believe this?

Did anyone else catch a bit of the coverage of Coretta Scott King's funeral? I did. Unfortunately I did not get to see any of the four Presidents in attendance. But I did read up on some of what Carter said.

Jimmy Carter decided to use his speech at the funeral (yes a funeral of a wonderful patriotic woman and true American) to bash President Bush....all while the President was sitting right behind him.

First he says: "We only have to recall the color of the faces of those in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi who are most devastated by Katrina to know that there are not yet equal opportunities for all Americans." Not too bad yet, but keep reading.

Then he went on to talk about the apparently illegal wiretapping program. In what could only be taken as a direct attack on Bush's electronic surveillance of suspected terrorists, a program Carter has repeatedly denounced as "illegal." Carter said of Mrs. King and her slain husband, Martin Luther King, "they became the targets of secret government wiretapping and other surveillance" to which he got a great applause from the mostly African American crowd. Although talking about wiretapping on King, he was clearly alluding to the current terrorist surveillance program. Don't get me wrong, he has every right to say this, but at a funeral? Come on...ridiculous.

Perhaps Carter didn't remember that the wire-tapping was conducted under Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, and was originally ordered by Attorney General Robert Kennedy, all Democrats. Interesting.

Even worse than Carter's comments were Rev. Joseph Lowery's, who once was a figure of some note among Dr. King's colleagues. "We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there," he said. "But Coretta knew and we knew that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without health insurance. Poverty abounds. For war, billions more, but no more for the poor." He got a humongous ovation for his weapons of mass distruction statement. He said this all while the President sat just feet behind.

This was a civil rights event celebrating a civil rights hero. Coretta was responsible for getting Martin Luther King Jr. Day passed as a national holiday (one of only three Americans to have a national holiday named for them).

President Bush sat there with grace, dignity, and class when the democrats had none. He took the criticism when there was no place for it. Just put yourself in Bush's shoes. You're going into an environment that's at least 95% democrat, if not higher. You're being criticized without being given a chance to respond. You just sit there and bite your tongue. That's a true leader ladies and gentlemen.

Democrats and democratic blogs were up in arms crying foul when Bush gave a speech on veteran's day defending the war. Yet the liberals use a funeral, yes A FUNERAL, to push their agenda....once again, ridiculous. Don't look for the liberal blogs to be covering this one.

Newsbusters has a good post about coverage of this on Hardball.

By the way, this is my 100th post!

Funny pictures

Saw this picture of Hillary on Yahoo News' most emailed photos:


That reminded me of a photo which I believe was taken of Kerry just last week on his trip overseas:


Then that reminded me of Kerry's football skills, so I did a google search for that, heres just a couple of them:




I searched for pics of this sort for Bush, but there really weren't any that both had weird expressions and are postable on my blog (i.e. him photoshopped in front of a Nazi flag). Have a look for yourself. Liberal photoshoppers are a bit more cruel than conservatives I guess.

Documents show that Louisiana turned down help from FEMA

"A ranking Louisiana health official turned down federal offers to help move or evacuate patients as Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, a newly released document shows."

"Two days before the Aug. 29 storm, HHS was told by the state‘s health emergency preparedness director that the help was not needed, according to an e-mail released Monday by a Senate panel investigating the government‘s response to Katrina."

Yes, just TWO days before the storm, Louisiana denied federal help. Just think of all the people who could have been taken to safety before the storm even hit. We'll never know how many lives could have been saved.

"At least 40 bodies, many of them elderly patients, were found inside a flooded New Orleans hospital after Katrina hit. Thirty-four patients at a nursing home near New Orleans died Aug. 29 in the wake of massive flooding brought by the storm‘s surge."

Interesting.

WMD's moved to Syria?

It seems like lately more and more evidence has been emerging that says the WMD's were transported to Syria before the beginning of the war.

Georges Sada, the former # 2 official in Saddam Hussein's air force, claims in a new book, "Saddam's Secrets," that shortly before the start of the war, Saddam had the weapons moved to Syria.

"There are weapons of mass destruction gone out from Iraq to Syria, and they must be found and returned to safe hands," Mr. Sada said. "I am confident they were taken over."

In June of '02, a dam collapsed causing a severe flood in Syria. It is believed the weapons were transferred during this time and attracted no attention because it was viewed as humanitarian aid.

Apparently two Boeing passenger jets were converted to cargo planes. These planes flew 56 flights to Syria (along with a ground convoy of trucks) transporting what Sada describes as "yellow barrels with skull and crossbones on each barrel."

Hmmmm, I don't think medicine and food are transported in barrels with crossbones.

So, we have this information. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not guaranteeing it is true, but consider this: Millions of documents found by the US in Iraq and Afghanistan are showing that Saddam did in fact train up to 8,000 terrorists (as I wrote about here and here). In addition, we now have information that Saddam actually did have the WMD's. Saddam was a brutal dictator who murdered countless numbers of his own people. There is now a great democracy and friend in the Middle East. The Iraqis are voting in numbers we could never have imagined (obviously they want a democracy).

What more proof and reason do the liberals need to convince them that this was a justified war?