SuperToad has redesigned the Pond, giving up his home-baked PHP model for a site generated by PostNuke. At least this way, his PHP knowledge doesn’t go to waste.
Now if I could just talk him in to another font for his logo…
😉
Tag: liberty
“If we do not have human-intelligence assets in the field, then it’s hard for us to get any kind of warning, unless the bad guys are really loose on how they use their cell phones. But the news media likes to tell people how we track the bad guys, and the bad guys learn from that. The White House staffers, too–they like to tell reporters how smart they are, and they leak data on signals intelligence. You sometimes wonder if they’re stringers for the terrorists, the way they give away code-word-sensitive information.” In reality, the staff pukes were just showing off to the reporters, of course, which was about the only thing they knew how to do.
“So, the rest of the day the newsies will be screaming about ‘another intelligence failure,’ right?”
“Bet on it. The same people who trash the intelligence community will now complain that it can’t do the job–but without acknowledging their own role in crippling it every chance they get. Same thing from Congress, of course…”
—The Teeth of the Tiger (emphasis added)
If you are a Texas resident seeking more information on the proposed constitutional amendments we will be voting on come 13 September, point your browser to the Free Market Foundation. They have made available a free PDF or Word document voter guide which gives a brief summary of each proposed amendment, as well as a pro and con for each.
Don’t forget to vote! Early vote if you can so you don’t miss out!
“Being a lover of freedom, when the (Nazi) revolution came, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks.
“…Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler’s campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly.” –Albert Einstein, from Kampi und Zeugnis der bekennenden Kirche
Don’t know why I didn’t come across it sooner, but the official Navy web site for the USS Ronald Reagan is online. Very thorough, full of info, including the construction process of a vessel longer than the Empire State Building is tall. The christening and commissioning ceremonies are both covered, as are the latest sea and flight deck trials. Lots of pictures abound. The Reagan will go on active duty next year, and should see its first deployment some time in 2005.
Impeachable Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg was singing the praises of doing what the rest of the world thinks, rather than abiding by our nation’s Constitution, at a liberal laywers convention on Saturday.
The Klinton appointee was quoted as saying, “Our island or lone ranger mentality is beginning to change,” and that justices “are becoming more open to comparative and international law perspectives.”
Um, how about just saying “Yes, that’s permissable under the Constitution,” or, “No, I’m afraid that’s not permissable under the Constitution.” The oath you took, Comrade Ginsburg, says nothing of “comparative and international law perspectives.” It says nothing about you interpreting the Constitution as a “living document,” or imposing your social agenda on the rest of the nation. Being a Supreme Court justice should be a fairly black and white kind of gig, since the Constitution is a fairly black and white document…
Senator Ernest “Fritz” Hollings, D-South Carolina, has announced he will not seek re-election next year. Glory, glory, hallelujah. Herr Fritz has never been a friend of the law-abiding American firearms owner, seeking on numerous occasions to restrict the free and unfettered ownership of firearms by perfectly innocent citizens. Too bad his announcement comes thirty-three years too late…
bq. “Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” –Joseph Story
Memo to President Bush: stop flattering the seasoned citizens of this country over Social Security, Medicare, prescription drug benefits, and other unconstitutional drivel. Stop trying to appease your opponents across the aisle by vetoing unconstitutional legislation, like the education funding and campaign finance reform bills you inked your signature on. Be honest, like you have in the war on terror, and those that put you in to office will continue to support you.
When I arrived at work today, the flags–American, Texas, Verizon–were all at half-staff, and I thought to myself, “What the…?” I totally missed the President’s directive to fly flags at half-staff on the day of Hope’s burial. That put my mind at ease. (For a brief moment, I thought some VZ employee had died, and this had been ordered by the corporate bigwigs; a big no-no when it comes to proper flag decorum. In an instance such as that, the only flag that should be lowered would be the Verizon flag.)
Born in 1970, I have no memories of Bob Hope’s vaudeville and radio work, though I have heard excerpts here and there. My greatest memories of him were of the television comedy specials he did, as well as the numerous USO shows he performed throughout the 1970s and ’80s. To me, the latter was the great thing about Bob Hope: not that he was a tremendous entertainer, which he was, having worked in every medium of the time–stage, radio, television, and feature film. Rather, he never forgot those who put their lives on the line to defend our nation, the nation that gave him the freedom to do what he did.
Bob Hope gave back. He gave those who needed it the thing his last name stood for. That is a legacy worth remembering, and one all in the entertainment business should recall and work toward.
(Thanks to Rick for the clarification and link.)
UPDATE, 5:15 PM: I felt the President’s words were worth sharing:
bq. “Bob Hope made us laugh. He lifted our spirits. Bob Hope served our nation. We will mourn the loss of a good man. Bob Hope served our nation when he went to battlefields to entertain thousands of troops from different generations. We extend our prayers to his family. God bless his soul.” –President George W. Bush
Amazing that our Founding Fathers had the foresight of government-funded social programs:
bq. “…[T]he government of the United States is a definite government, confined to specified objects. It is not like the state governments, whose powers are more general. Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” –James Madison
Charity begins at home, and should not be forced on any one of us by those we elect to govern.