Prince Harry's Time in Afghanistan May Be Cut Short Thanks to Some Web Sites That Couldn't Keep Their Traps Closed

The U.K.'s Prince Harry has been deployed to Afghanistan since before Christmas. The deployment happened under a veil of secrecy that was broken by a couple of foreign magazines and then plastered all over the Drudge Report in the last couple of days.

Now the prince's time in Afghanistan may be cut short thanks to all the unwanted publicity.

Normally I support Drudge, but not in this instance.

All Harry wanted to do was serve in a combat area as a soldier of the United Kingdom. He was denied permission to deploy with his unit when it headed to Iraq last year out of fear that the prince would be kidnapped by al-Qaeda or some other group, which threatened to cut his ears off. So when the British Ministry of Defense decided it would be all right for him to deploy to Afghanistan, it was under the understanding that the media wouldn't reveal where Prince Harry was or what he was doing.

Major news outlets had agreed to the news blackout to protect the prince from al-Qaeda and the Taliban and give him a chance to prove his mettle in a combat area as he had wanted.

It's true that the Drudge Report is not a news organization and was probably unaware of the news blackout agreement, but still, this is the Prince's life that is being messed around with. Other American news organizations, such as CNN, knew it and decided to abide by it until it was splashed all over Drudge's web site.

This is very unfortunate. Hopefully the prince stays safe. But now that the cat's out of the bag, how long can it be before the inevitable question is asked by his commanding officers: can Harry stay in Afghanistan, or will he become the bullet magnet that he's joked about previously?

Who Cares What Obama's Middle Name Is??!

A radio announcer used Barack Obama's middle name as he was introducing John McCain, and everyone had a HUGE hissy fit over that and some of the things that he said about McCain's fellow liberal, Senator Obama.

Before I really go off, here are some Presidents who used their middle names:

John Quincy Adams.
William Henry Harrison.
James Knox Polk.
Ulysses Sam Grant
William Howard Taft.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
Ronald Wilson Reagan.
George Herbert Walker Bush.
William Jefferson Clinton.
George Walker Bush.

And the controversy:

Barack Hussein Obama.

It's a middle name! GET OVER IT!

In some countries, it's customary to address someone by their first and middle names. Many native-born Americans have middle names. In Bush 41's case, he's got two. And so does the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier that's been named after him.

McCain over-reacted to the use of Obama's middle name. The announcer, Cincinatti personality Bill Cunningham, reacted very badly to McCain's humiliating him and went off like a rocket on every newscast he could get airtime on.

This entire episode was very poorly handled. And now McCain and Cunningham both have egg in their faces.

If McCain was so sensitive, why did he allow a firebrand like Cunningham to introduce him in the first place?

If you put a fox into a henhouse, guess what? He's going to have chicken for dinner EVERY SINGLE time! McCain is responsible for putting this fox into that henhouse. And now he's apologizing for the fox doing what it was supposed to do. DUH!!

Neverland Gets Foreclosed: Michael Jackson Needs $24 Million to Keep the Now-Abandoned Ranch

I wonder what kind of interest rate Michael Jackson is paying on his $300 million loan. Whatever it is, it's overwhelmed his ability to pay it back. His Neverland Ranch has gone into foreclosure and is scheduled to be auctioned on the steps of the county courthouse on March 19th.

$300 million is no small amount of change. According to the International Monetary Fund via Wikipedia, it's more than the GDP of eight nations:

	Solomon Islands	286 million
	Dominica	279 million
	Tonga	244 million
	Micronesia	232 million
	Palau	145 million
	Marshall Islands	144 million
	São Tomé and Príncipe	99 million
	Kiribati	76.4 million

In any case, the title company that Jackson owes money to wants $24,525,906.61 by March 19th, or they'll auction Neverland Ranch.

How did he get himself into this mess?

Last Night's Democratic Debate: Ho-Hum

Nothing new came out of the Democratic debate last night in Cleveland.

This is what happens when they have too many debates; they've already said their piece about twenty debates ago, and they have nothing new to offer.

I fell asleep watching the replay last night. Ho-hum.

What Will Be Clinton's Tone Tonight at Ohio Debate With Obama?

This:




Or this:



This will probably be one of the last debates. Will she play nice, or will she go on the attack? It will be interesting to watch. Hopefully she keeps the shrill voice--you know, the one that sounds like fingernails being dragged across a chalkboard--down to an absolute minimum.

Academy Awards Fail to Mention Renfro or Schneider in Their Tribute to Departed Actors: What Are the Criteria for Recognition in Their Video?

During last night's Academy Awards presentation, they did a video tribute to actors, actresses, directors, screen writers, stunt men, artistic producers and producers who passed away in 2007 and early 2008. They do some kind of tribute every year to honor those members of their entertainment profession that passed away.

There were two notable names missing from their tribute. Actor Brad Renfro died a week before Heath Ledger did; Ledger's name and a videoclip from "Brokeback Mountain" were shown; Renfro was not mentioned at all.

Also missing was Roy Schneider, the lead actor in "Jaws." Schneider might be mentioned at next year's Academy Awards as his death fell outside the time frame of February 1, 2007-January 31, 2008 that the Academy uses to put their video together for this year.

They also didn't mention Jonathan Brandis in last year's Academy Awards.

I don't think that they need to be members of the Academy, or a past Oscar winner. So I'm also wondering what the criteria are for this tribute, other than the time frame.

Obama Hits a Nerve With Mailers: Clinton Goes Off Like a Rocket

Senator Clinton went ballistic on Senator Obama's latest mailers, which criticize her support of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and her health care program. She got on a mike at a campaign stop and used THE VOICE that sounds like a screeching bullfrog. Tarnation!

I think if she uses that voice during their next debate, it'll be Clinton who will be xeroxing Obama's memos during the general campaign.

Turn up the bass if you dare to watch and listen to the "Shame on YOU Barack Obama" speech below.

Global Warming Crowd Goes After GM Vice Chairman: He Was Exercising His First Amendment Rights

Some bloggers out there are under the mistaken impression that criticizing the THEORY of global warming is something that the one criticizing it should publicly apologize for.

Take the example of GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. He publicly called global warming a "crock of s---" last month in Texas. And the critics who believe in the hype of global warming immediately went after him.

He has nothing to apologize for, and shouldn't have to retract his opinion. Some of these global-warming left-wing bloggers ought to realize that criticism of global warming, and the divided science behind it, and the flawed premise that global warming is caused by man, IS protected by the First Amendment.

Global warming is a naturally occurring phenomenon that has happened before, and it will happen again, regardless of the steps that we take to stop it. Man has probably made it worse than it would have been, had it happened without our contribution to greenhouse gases, but it is NOT man-made. That is political rhetoric, not science. The true science shows extensive heating and cooling of the planet in eons past.

The "Save the Planet" crowd is too full of itself for it's own good.

When it starts to believe it's own hype, it ends up tripping on half-baked science and half-baked carbon trading markets which are controlled by companies that are the worst polluters. And it ultimately makes getting needed legislation to control and punish polluters that much more difficult.

Should we reduce greenhouse gases? Absolutely. Should we do it because we are stewards of our world, and it's our responsibility to make it cleaner than we found it? Absolutely. Should we do it to save our struggling civilization? Absolutely. Should we develop fuels that are cheaper and cleaner than fossil fuels? Absolutely.

Should we do any of this because of fear-mongering based on incomplete science? NO. People are more likely to take the steps above because it's in their best interests to do so, based on solid science and an application of reason, not fear and half-truths currently being employed by the "Save the Planet" crowd.

They'll get more support if they state the facts, separate the politics from the science, and quit fear-mongering.

$1.2 Billion B-2 Stealth Bomber Crashes: Pilots are Safe

A $1.2 billion B-2 stealth bomber crashed at Anderson Air Force Base on Guam yesterday. The crew ejected before the bomber hit the ground; that's the one positive development out of this story.

I wonder how much of the price tag goes into engines and hydraulics, to make sure that this kind of thing doesn't happen to these overpriced aircraft.

I think that the Air Force needs to re-evaluate where it spends it's money. It's crying about needing to replace all of it's F-15s and F-16s and A-10s, all of it's tankers and many of it's cargo aircraft. Do they really need to sink $1.2 billion into a single copy of this bomber? I hope they're not planning on building a replacement.

This is the first B-2 that's been lost. It probably won't be the last; they aren't getting any younger. There are still twenty B-2s left in the Air Force inventory.

I think they should take the replacement cost and build a squadron of F-22s, so that they can start replacing the aging F-15s and F-16s.

China Wants Satellite Shoot-Down Data: They Should Share Their Data on Their Shoot-Down FIRST

China's hypocrisy matches the hypocrisy coming out of Washington these days.

They started this mess last year when they blasted one of their old weather satellites with a missile test, creating a debris field that is still in orbit and still dangerous to satellites and spacecraft that need to share the same orbit.

The U.S. knocked a malfunctioning spy satellite out of orbit yesterday in a very low orbit that will be cleared of debris within a couple of weeks as most of the pieces of our satellite will re-enter the atmosphere and be destroyed by the fiery re-entry.

Yet the Chinese are demanding to see our military's data on yesterday's U.S. anti-satellite operation, while at the same time refusing to share their data on their own test from last year. I think China ought to share what it has from it's own test FIRST before asking to see ours.

I might add that the Chinese operation was ill-conceived as their satellite was further out and the debris field now threatens spacecraft that have to either share or pass through the orbit that the debris now occupies. That was not very considerate of the Chinese to pull that kind of stunt. If one of our shuttles gets hit by debris from this Chinese satellite, they'll be the ones at fault if the shuttle is damaged and subsequently lost.

The U.S. operation, while I disagreed with it, was much more carefully considered. They waited until the satellite was within days of re-entering the atmosphere and Earth's gravity had captured it. The debris will re-enter the atmosphere and will be gone before the shuttle Endeavour takes off from Cape Canaveral within three weeks.

You see the difference in the level of expertise and professionalism between China and the U.S.?

My main point is that the U.S. criticized China's shoot-down, then did the same thing less than a year later. And both sides are criticizing the other for doing the same thing. Double-standards galore! Break out the wheelbarrows; the BS is starting to overflow its banks.

So when's Russia going to shoot down a bird? From the Russian point of view, they HAVE to now. And the U.S. and China have no credibility left to protest Russia's action if it chooses to show it's stuff. And it will.

Clinton Keeps Losing: See What Happens When Candidate Makes the Campaign Nasty?

Is Senator Clinton learning anything from the way that Senator Obama is running his campaign?

Here's a hint for her: being positive and staying on topic win elections; name calling, accusations that she is also vulnerable to, and negative campaigning will lose elections left and right. And that's what happened. She lost Wisconsin and Hawaii because Obama outperformed her, and didn't take the bait that she threw at him over and over.

And get rid of that shrill voice. It's like hearing someone scrape their fingernails across a chalkboard. No one likes it.

Oops, did I say that out loud?

Castro Resigns: Too Bad Chavez Isn't Leaving Office Too

Fidel Castro resigned as President and Commander-in-Chief of Cuba overnight. This is a very unusual step for a dictator to take.

We are accustomed to seeing dictators dying while in office; either through natural causes, assassination, or their being overthrown either by their country's military or by a civilian uprising--either while they're directing their forces to fight against the uprising, or when they're out of the country on business.

For a dictator to resign because of poor health puts Castro into a different class of dictator. And no, it's not because he's steering Cuba toward democracy either. That's wishful thinking.

The only change that will happen for the time being will be the first name of the person at the top of the Cuban food chain. That's it.

This would be a bigger deal if Castro was still the region's most dangerous man. But he hasn't been since 1962, when the Cuban Missile Crisis threatened to unleash a nuclear war between the United States and Soviet Union over the placement of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Castro's Soviet handlers kept him on a tight leash and the crisis abated; in later years he sent Cuban troops to other nations around the world to support Communism overseas.

Today the Mouth of the South and the region's most dangerous man is Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who has turned Venezuela into a communist training camp and arms supply depot for insurgents looking to overthrow neighboring governments who do not hold Marxism in the same high regard as Chavez. Too bad he isn't following Castro out the door.

The real changes in Cuba will start to come after Raúl Castro leaves office as well. Not before.

Iranian F-14s Return to the Air: Adversaries Brokered Transfer of F-14 Parts to Iran

Thanks to the illegal sale of F-14 parts to nations that wheel and deal with Iran, they've managed to restore three of their F-14A Tomcat fighters to operational status.

What a darn shame.

Iran was sold 79 Tomcats during the reign of the Shah; following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, sales of the aircraft and spare parts were permanently suspended. The F-14s saw extensive action during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. Then the parts started running out and many of their F-14s were cannibalized for spare parts. Eventually most of the F-14s were grounded, and Iran began an illicit smuggling program to acquire F-14 parts.

The good news is that the avionics aboard are ancient, so they won't pose too much of a threat if they go up against the U.S. Navy or Air Force. A first-generation F-14A is no match for an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet or an F-22 Raptor.

Still, what a shame.

Clinton Accuses Obama of Stealing Ideas From Other Politicians: Accusation is Silly Coming from Her

Camp Clinton recently accused Barack Obama of "plagiarism" in his speeches and ideas. Here's a thought:

She shouldn't throw rocks in her glass house as she's guilty of it too. Look at the title of her 1996 book. It was plagiarized from an African proverb first, and then from a 1994 book by Jane Cowen-Fletcher, whose book was titled "It Takes a Village."

Clinton didn't even give decent credit to her ghostwriter, Barbara Feinman, for her hard work in actually writing the book.

So she ought to rethink this strategy, as she's just as vulnerable to it as he is.

Democratic "Superdelegate" System Seems Very Strange: Payoffs Are Legal and Superdelegates Are Not Answerable to Voters

The Democratic Party's superdelegate (aka "unpledged party leaders") system seems to be an out-of-control disaster waiting to happen.

As I understand it, payoffs in the form of campaign contributions to superdelegates, who are elected officials (ie senators, representatives, mayors, governors, etc) and others are legal. In some states, such as Texas, one campaign contributing to another is illegal, which is what got GOP Senator Tom DeLay accused of breaking campaign finance laws. Obama's spent $694,000 on superdelegates, Clinton's spent $195,000 on them.

The superdelegates are not pledged to follow the voting patterns of their home states either; they're free to vote how they want. A delegate that isn't answerable to the voters back home and isn't obligated to vote for who their people voted for is troublesome at best, and a disaster at worst.

I don't like or trust this system. It sucks.

Kosovo Declares Independence: Serbia and Russia Move to Block Recognition of Earth's Newest Nation

Kosovo has declared it's independence from Serbia and the Yugoslav Federation, and has set off a political crisis at the United Nations. Serbia and Russia are moving to block recognition of the planet's newest nation.

The European Union and the United States are set to recognize it immediately.

Hopefully a new war won't break out over this.

As much as I don't like it, I think it's better that Serbia and Kosovo go their own separate ways. Both have been the transgressors in past conflicts; the two governments don't like one another, and with the recent history, it was an uncomfortable relationship at best. And in this case, Christianity and Islam don't play well in the same sandbox. I think Russia and Serbia ought to get over it and move on.

I'm still not happy with NATO's bombing of civilian targets in Serbia the last time around. NATO admitted killing up to 1,500 non-combatant civilians during their 78-day air war against Serbia. Depleted uranium rounds were used by NATO, as were cluster bombs in close proximity to civilians in both Kosovo and in Serbia.

That made NATO a co-aggressor alongside Serbia.

And we criticized Israel for using U.S.-built cluster bombs in southern Lebanon for the same thing during their war with Hezbollah last year? Our hypocrisy knows NO bounds.

No one from NATO was made to answer for the collateral damage. And I still think members of the U.S. government who helped to make up the target lists (including bombing the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade) needed to be up on war crimes charges as well. But they got away with it.

And now Kosovo has declared independence; if Serbia decides to go in and end this independence bid by Kosovo, are NATO ground troops going to get involved? This could turn into a huge mess very quickly.

People Need to Understand Something: Weapons-Free Zones Don't Make Areas Weapons-Free--Closed Campuses and Metal Detectors Do

The recent shootings at Northern Illinois University seems to have exposed some weird thinking. People seem to be shocked that a madman would choose to carry weapons into areas that are declared as weapons-free zones.

Get real, folks.

Just because an area--such as a university campus--are declared as weapons-free zones, it definitely doesn't make those areas weapons-free. Closed campuses, metal detectors, security people and searches of bags/persons do.

And passing more laws to restrict the presence of guns in areas that they're already banned in won't help, unless those laws mandate physical steps to be taken, like the steps mentioned above--with full funding. Preventing disasters like Columbine, Virginia Tech and NIU will be complex and expensive.

As we've learned through bitter experience, the key to stopping a homicidal maniac is to stop them at the point of action...in other words, putting a stop to them at the front gate or front door before they penetrate any deeper and have access to large numbers of people.

Many colleges and universities began upgrading their warning systems after last year's slaughter at Virginia Tech; these are very good first steps. Reverse-911 systems and the like definitely save lives.

But the public shouldn't be all that surprised that the weapons-free zones that politicians push to have made into law fail in practice. People carrying weapons into these zones probably happens more than anyone realizes or would care to admit.

Border Dispute Between Two U.S. States? In Today's Day and Age?

Current border disputes:

China vs. India
India vs. Pakistan
Ethiopia vs. Eritrea
Ethiopia vs. Somalia
Israel vs. Palestine
Chile vs. Argentina
Peru vs. Chile
Bolivia vs. Chile
Canada vs. United States (click here for list)
North Korea vs. South Korea vs. Japan vs. Russia (Sea of Japan)
Greece vs. Turkey
Canada vs. Norway vs. Russia vs. United States (North Pole)
China vs. Taiwan
Tennessee vs. Georgia (WHAT!!)

It's true. Georgia and Tennessee decided on their common border in 1818; but there was apparently a mistake made in surveying the border area, and it's one mile off. Georgia wishes to expand the border one mile north to correct the mistake, which would also give it access to the waters of the Tennessee River.

State legislators in both states have engaged in saber rattling over this dispute. The matter will eventually be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction in a case like this. The last time the Court decided in a case, it was to settle the border between Maine and New Hampshire in 2002 over where the state line fell in the area of the Piscataqua River. Maine's interpretation was deemed to be correct.

In addition to Tennessee vs. Georgia, there are also border disputes between New Jersey and Delaware, Pennsylvania and Delaware (with Delaware considering a symbolic bill to call out the National Guard to safeguard their claims) and a couple of others, including an ongoing dispute between Kansas and Colorado over the Arkansas River. Most of these cases are expected to be resolved by the Supreme Court in the 2007-2008 session.

It's amazing that these disputes weren't settled decades ago. Amazing!

Russians Believe U.S. Shoot-Down of Dead Satellite is Test of Anti-Ballistic Missile System: They'll Kill a Bird Next

The Russian Federation has accused the U.S. of testing part of it's anti-ballistic missile capability with the planned shoot-down of a dead U.S. spy satellite. Since China tested an anti-satellite weapon a few months ago, and the U.S. is taking a bird down now, how long can it be before Russia decides to demonstrate the might of it's own weapons?

It's very likely that the Russians will destroy one of their own satellites to prove to the U.S. and China that it's in the ballgame too, and can destroy enemy surveillance and communications satellites at will. And this will in turn raise U.S./Russian tensions even further.

The Bush Administration may want to rethink this planned shoot-down. It's going to provoke the Russians; they're already agitated enough with the placement of U.S. anti-ballistic missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic to threaten to target Russian nuclear missiles on both nations. They've also threatened to target missiles on Ukraine if it joins NATO.

We have a space shuttle up there right now; why can't they re-task the Atlantis to retrieve the satellite and drag it to a higher orbit, or bring it back to Earth? That's what the damned thing is designed for, after all.

President Bush needs to settle down and stop pushing the Russians around. They've returned to a Cold War mentality; we need to as well, and try to avoid taking steps that will blow both countries to kingdom come.

NO New Primary Votes in Michigan or Florida: DNC Needs to Reap What It Sows

Well, well, well.

Look at who's crying about the deadlock in the Democratic Party. Waaah!!

Music to my ears. Because the Democratic National Committee screwed with Michigan and Florida, I am opposed to those two states riding in to save the day. By all means, don't seat those two delegations, Mr. Dean and Mrs. Pelosi. Stick to your guns.

They've REALLY earned this. It's poetic justice.

If they do decide to do a revote, the DNC should pay for the elections in their entirety. The disenfranchised voters in those two states should not have to pay a single penny for the DNC screwup. Maybe next time they'll be more flexible in their response to states standing up to the corrupt system currently in place.

Before that happens, they need to get rid of their top leadership. They're USELESS and CLUELESS!

Danish Newspapers React to Murder Plot by Reprinting Offensive Muhammed Cartoons: How Many Will Die This Time?

Stupid IS as stupid does.

Danish newspapers have signed the death warrants of an as-yet undetermined number of innocent people--again--by reprinting a number of offensive Muhammed cartoons.

This was in response to an extremist plot to murder the cartoonist who drew the cartoons originally. After a number of Western newspapers printed the cartoons, violent protests broke out in January and February 2006 across the Muslim world. Western embassies and Christian churches were set afire, and one hundred people were murdered during the riots.

How many people are going to die this time, once the riots are kicked into high gear again? These newspapers know full well what's going to happen, but they did it anyways, in the name of free speech. And newspapers across Europe are preparing to follow suit.

The protests have already begun; there have been protests in the Danish capitol, in the Gaza Strip, and in unstable Pakistan. Once they get printed again in more papers, the protests will spread.

STUPID!!

Final Post on Clemens Testimony Before Congress: Hearing Made No Difference in Determining Whether Security Bill Vote Was Scheduled or Not

I've been hearing rumblings in the last several days about Congress wasting time on pro baseball while the FISA bill is set to sunset tomorrow. I'm so-so on that point.

FISA is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows for electronic monitoring, physical searches, wiretapping and business record access with the permission of a special federal court. It expires at midnight.

The Senate passed a version with legal protection for phone companies that have cooperated with the U.S. government against dozens of pending lawsuits; the House went on a twelve-day vacation without bringing it up. And the blame game between the White House and the House of Representatives has been in full-swing ever since.

With regards to the baseball hearing, the truth is that the FISA bill was not going to be approved or disapproved in the five-hour span that the nation's attention was focused on Congressman Waxman's committee hearing on baseball. Nor was the presence or absence of the second stringers involved in that committee going to turn the tide of whether the House voted on FISA or not, either.

If a House leader who could schedule a vote on FISA was on that committee questioning Clemens and McNamee, then there would be some hell to pay. But there wasn't a senior member of the House leadership, such as Nancy Pelosi, present.

So the baseball hearing had no impact on the impending expiration of FISA. One had nothing to do with the other. The House leadership decided days ago that they were not going to bring up FISA until after their midwinter break. That's what really happened.

More on Clemens vs. McNamee: Justice Department Needs to Make an Example Out of One or Both of Them

In the case of Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee appearing before Congress to give testimony while under oath, one of them MUST suffer the consequences for decisions that they've made in relation to that testimony.

Because one of them lied while under oath. Either McNamee injected Clemens with illegal substances, or he didn't. There's no in-between possible. McNamee lied, or Clemens lied.

It's obvious that one of these men, by blatantly lying while under oath, has attempted to make a mockery of our legal processes. And the scales of justice need to be brought back into balance.

While it's true that this was no court of law, an oath to tell the truth before Congress carries the same weight as someone testifying in a court of law. The only difference is that a judge can find someone in contempt immediately, while Congress must file a complaint with the Justice Department, which can bring charges using their prosecutors. It's a little more complicated than that, but that's how it will play out in this case.

Justice had representatives at that hearing yesterday, so they don't need to wait for Congress to refer the matter to them.

And all of this is on top of the mistruths that both men have already been caught in. Both should face misdemeanor charges; one should face felony charges. I am sick and tired of celebrities getting off light simply because they're celebrities.

This must STOP.

No Clear Victor in Roger Clemens Testimony on Capitol Hill: Pitcher and Trainer Both Claim to Tell Truth While Under Oath

It's been a while since there's been this kind of spectacle on Capitol Hill.

All-star pitcher Roger Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, had their long-anticipated confrontation in front of the cameras, while testifying under oath. They were responding to the Mitchell Report, which outlined professional baseball's drug and steroid problems and named Clemens and others as users of human growth hormone (HGH) and anabolic steroids.

It was a very strange hearing, with both men telling vastly opposite stories and both claiming to be telling the truth while under oath, which is impossible.

A lesson needs to be taught here on what happens to those who lie under oath. Good luck to the powers that be on sorting out the honest one from the liar. But something has to happen here. Someone has lied under oath and needs to answer to that.

Unbelievable spectacle; I'm not sure this was a good use of Congress's time and efforts.

Pelosi Declares a Surge a Total Failure, Despite Major Progress

Looks like Nancy Pelosi is getting ready to own defeat in Iraq again, pronouncing the highly successful surge a "failure" on high.

The surge did what it was supposed to: give the Iraqi government some breathing room to accomplish their political objectives, which, I might add, were imposed upon them by the U.S. Imperial Congress in another flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

For Speaker Pelosi to try to take success away from our troops is, quite frankly, appalling and disingenuous.

For all this talk from the politicians that there's "no military solution in Iraq, only a political one," I haven't seen any mindboggling political solutions to getting Iraq on it's feet and our troops out of there any faster. All I've seen are political deadlines from American politicians directed at their Iraqi counterparts in Baghdad; to which the Iraqi politicians take great delight in thumbing their nose right back at the U.S. Congress.

I'm not sure what's funnier: America's politicians attempting to tell the Iraqis what to do, or the Iraqi practice of ignoring the American deadlines and doing what they want regardless of political pressure coming from Washington. It's more pathetic than funny.

Pelosi has no legs to stand on; she can't get her own party to listen to her; the Administration isn't listening, and the Iraqis sure aren't either. What's she going to do about it?

It's just more of the same coming from Washington.

Homeland Security Department Clashes with Locals Living Along U.S./Mexico Border Over Placement of Fence: Troubling

A wave of litigation seems to be in progress against landowners living along our southern border facing Mexico.

The problem stems from the fact that the federal government is moving forward with plans to build a fence to stem the tide of illegal immigration taking place along many points of the border.

Unfortunately, the government doesn't own all the land that runs along the 1,969-mile long border. It's in private hands, and the government has ordered private landowners in targeted areas of southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to allow federal surveyors onto their land to make plans for extending the fence.

Many are refusing the surveyors access as they don't want the fence running across their lands. Some are ranchers who own livestock and rely on the Rio Grande for their water; a fence would cut off their primary--and sometimes only--source of water. Others don't want a fence ruining the scenery.

In any case, many are being sued for their non-compliance with the Homeland Security order.

I support sealing the border, but I also think that the local landowners need to have some input into how to achieve this. I definitely do not support the use of eminent domain to force the issue either. Are the homeowners lords and masters of their own homes, or aren't they?

Building a piece of a fence here and then one there with no connectivity doesn't make sense either. This is very strange.

Constitution Party Launches Media Campaign to Attract Disaffected Conservatives in GOP: Before Jumping Ship, Conservatives Should Investigate Further

I was listening to the "Big Show" on WJIM-AM out of Lansing the other day and heard Michael Patrick Shields interviewing someone from the Constitution Party on the current state of affairs in the Republican Party.

The interview itself was interesting, but I think that before conservatives consider jumping ship from the Republican Party to the Constitution Party that they investigate things a little more. I looked at the Constitution Party a few months ago as I saw which direction things were going to go in the GOP. And after doing that research, I rejected supporting the Constitution Party for the following reasons:

Their national platform and web site looked great. I think that if it were the standard for the entire party that conservatives could jump ship without reservations. But sadly, that's not how the Constitution Party is organized.

I got to the Michigan part of the site and discovered that the site had been taken over by the Michigan Militia, which I don't recognize or support.

The Michigan site began by identifying it's members as Warrior Christians and that their goal was to have two million men under arms by mid-2008. What in the name of Sam Hill for? Last time I checked, Canada wasn't preparing to invade Michigan; nor is the United Nations preparing to take over. So why do we need a standing army of two million men under arms and not taking orders from either the State of Michigan, or the United States government?

So I decided to ignore this party as it was an obvious front for the Michigan Militia, which I am in agreement with on protecting the Second Amendment, but am in serious disagreement with on just about everything else. I do NOT recognize them as being the "well-regulated militia" spoken of in the U.S. Constitution. That's the National Guard, which evolved from the Revolutionary War militias and elements of the Continental Army.

The problem with the Constitution Party is that they lack national cohesion. They're called different parties in different states. Each chapter has it's own rules, with it's own focus. And that's how the Michigan Militia holds sway over the Michigan chapter.

I won't support the Constitution Party as long as the militias are in charge.

Two million men, my afterburner.

Democrats Worried That They Won't Have a Candidate Until Late August: That Possibility Sets Up a PERFECT General Campaign

Democrats are worried that the ongoing battle between Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama will drag on until it's decided by the Democratic National Convention itself in late August. The Democrats are worried that they will have only a two-month general campaign.

That's the PERFECT amount of time for a general election!

I've been railing on the current primary system for many months, saying that the current primary season ends too early and it leads to a prolonged (and overly expensive) general campaign. I ask the question again: do we want a repeat of Bush vs. Kerry, where Kerry got the required votes by March 11th, 2004, and the following 8 1/2 month nightmare of a campaign between Bush and Kerry?

No, two months is perfect for a general campaign; especially since we're going to be treated to a liberal vs. liberal show anyways. We're going to need buckets to catch all the puke that's going to be flying out of our TV sets. Two months is MORE than adequate.

Romney Withdrawal from Campaign is Disappointing: It's a 3-Way Liberal Race Now

Mitt Romney's decision to withdraw from the Presidential campaign was deeply disappointing. He was the last best hope for a conservative nominee to appear on the GOP ticket against Obama or Clinton.

Huckabee doesn't have enough momentum to catch up at this point; he's got 190 delegates vs. McCain's 703 delegates. A candidate needs 1,191 delegates to secure the GOP nomination. He'd have to win a ton of states.

Romney did, however, decide to hold onto his 293 delegates.

I wonder if he isn't trying to swing a deal with McCain--his delegates in exchange for the VP slot. But if Huckabee does pull off a miracle and gets close to McCain's tally, wouldn't it be something if Huckabee and Romney pooled their delegates to knock McCain out? That would be NUTS!

It looks like we're going to have a liberal Republican on the GOP side of the ticket; I'm going to have a lot of new source material.

The question now is...in the event of a McCain nomination, will conservatives fall in line to defeat Hillary in November, or will they stay home and focus on 2012?

Best Superbowl Ads: Terminator vs. Foxbot

The Super Bowl ads were kind of a downer this year. I got the most entertainment out of these ads:

Wasted Season: 18-0 Patriots Blow Super Bowl and Lose to Giants; Overconfidence?

I was listening to a sports commentator on the radio this morning on the undefeated New England Patriots losing to the New York Giants at the Super Bowl last night. He said the Patriots defeat was inevitable--because they were overconfident going into the game.

The commentator said that once a team starts down that road, it has a corrosive effect on their play on the field. They are more prone to making mistakes, which was what happened.

In the last 45 seconds, the Patriots did seem to shut their defense down in preparation for the celebration that was moments away. And then the Giants scored the game-winning touchdown with 35 seconds left on the clock.

It was a stunning turn of events.

Now, I don't watch a lot of NFL football, and I don't know if the commentator was right or not, but I've seen what overconfidence can do to amateur hockey teams. What should have been wins for elite travel teams turned into defeats.

Should be interesting to see what the late night shows say.

"Super-Duper Tuesday??!" Gag Me With a Spoon!

A lot of interesting nicknames have come up for Tuesday's Super Tuesday primaries, which are taking place in 22 states.

Some "genius" came up with "Super-Duper Tuesday." How teen-ish. If I hear a teenager talking about Super Tuesday as "super-duper", I'd consider that normal. But for an adult to use a term like this in serious political discourse really leads me to doubt their command of the English language.

Yes, it's a big primary day on Tuesday, but "Super-Duper Tuesday?" Ga-ga!

Snipes Catches a Lucky Break and Beats IRS Felony Charges: What Will Be the Fallout?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) lost a must-win case against actor Wesley Snipes, who was brought up on a slew of federal charges related to income tax fraud. Instead, he was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of failure to file income taxes and will be sentenced soon.

Snipes and his anti-tax compatriots had attempted to use arguments that had already been rejected by the courts in other less high-profile cases against income tax evaders. And the defense apparently worked as the jury found Snipes not guilty on the felony charges but stuck him with the misdemeanors.

The IRS decided to make an example of Snipes so that other rich income tax evaders would be discouraged from doing what Snipes did in failing to file.

What will be the fallout from the IRS failure to convict Snipes on the more serious charges? I think it's entirely possible that others will be more encouraged to go against the IRS, rather than be discouraged. His partners drew the felony convictions, but Snipes got let off. I've known two people who believe as Snipes does; the IRS caught up to both of them.

One, a college professor who I've known most of my life, had his wages garnished until he was caught up. I don't know if he still holds to these beliefs. The other is someone who I've met in the last five years. He got a warning letter from the IRS as he had not filed in several years; he decided not to go against the "revenooers" (as he calls them) and got with a specialist, who negotiated with the IRS to get him caught up. He wrote out a big check to the IRS and has filed taxes on time the last two years. Both are lucky that they weren't sent to jail.

I almost wonder if the tax code will be altered due to the potential ramifications of this loss in court. What would have happened if Snipes had gotten off completely? The fall-out from that would have been unbelievable.

Don't look for me to follow Mr. Snipes' example. I've already filed.

MoveOn.org Endorses Obama: This is No Surprise

MoveOn.org members voted to support the candidacy of Barak Obama over Hillary Clinton, by a margin of 70% to 30%.

Even their vote was a little strange as some members of MoveOn reportedly got their ballots the very day that the announcement was made. Not that I really care about that point.

But the fact that 2007's most liberal senator got the endorsement of the most rabid liberal group in the country is no surprise at all. I think Super Tuesday is going to be very interesting to watch. It'll be interesting to see if MoveOn's maneuver helps or hurts Obama.