Showing mi suegra about blogs

Today I am showing my mother-in-law about blogs. She may possibly use this to publish her newspaper, Navarretadas.

What do you think, Antipentheus??

Nuke the Moon

Nuke the Moon

Submitted for your perusal without comment.

Rock, Paper, Saddam!

How we play in the neighborhood

Ok, this was just funny to me.

Betsy Devine: Funny Ha-Ha or Funny Peculiar?

Syrian Bandwagon

I stumbled across this blog, and after wading through the "I blog for Kerry" button and the democrat symbol button, I read the above linked post.

I find myself agreeing with pretty much the whole article. A very refreshing and lucid post. I had emailed her (being new to this blogging thing) and asked her OK to link to this article. Here is her response:

Hi Mark--thanks, feel free to link. I agree we need more humane communication between people whose viewpoints
differ. Have fun blogging! I have some libertarian/conservative friends on my blogroll: Gary Farber, Chris Markum,
and Jay McCarthy. Me, I'm a build-up-the-social-safety-net kinda Democrat.

Betsy

http://BetsyDevine.weblogger.com
"Making trouble today for a better tomorrow."

So, I was inspired to create a list: Blogs I Have Known, and she's the first entry!

Madame Boverie goes 7 days without smoke

RJ Reynolds in a Panic

Mark Connolly
Editor, Dallas Bureau

Dateline: RJ Reynolds Situation Room

The announcement caused the same type of panic reaction that "Core Meltdown" would cause in a nuclear power plant. "Madame Boverie has succeeded in avoiding cigarettes for one full week!" Klaxons sounding, rotating beacons rotating, the executives were briefed.

"The first sign was a precipitous drop in sales for the week" stated the Chief Investigator. "Investigators were mobilized to the local 7-Elevens to ascertain the cause. It became immediately evident. Cigarette stock was literally flowing out the front doors. The managers were at a loss. They had simply ordered the usual amount, but they were not purchased."

He went on to say, "This precipitated a search of credit card activity in the three affected stores for the past month. The reports, 10 pages long per day for the first three weeks, dropped off to a page and a half a week. From there it was easy to determine what had happened."

Agents were mobilized for a quick visit to Madame Boverie's place of Business, Rosie Palm Reading and Tarock Tournament Townhouse. They confirmed what was becoming dreadfully obvious.

She had quit smoking.

"Oh, the humanity. The large numbers of humanity we have to get hooked on smoking to make up for this loss" one executive was quoted as saying. A lucky strike team was sent to India the next day to get the hitherto untapped 6 and 7 year old prospects introduced to the coolness of smoking. Ψ

my secret

I have a theory is based on the assertion that “the stock market/economy does better under democratic presidents”. Now I don’t know if this is true, but it seems to be widely believed and reported (I’m struck by what I see as an apparent inconsistency in this belief!). None-the-less, for my purposes if it’s believed to be true, it’s the same effect as being true.

Take this to a logical conclusion…Republicans are about foreign policy and defending the nation and such. Worthy goals to be sure, but what about MY JOB? What about MY 401K? What about MY MUTUAL FUNDS? Do intangibles like national security mean anything if my standard of living has to suffer? With all the pretense and rhetoric stripped away these ideals sound greedier than republican ones (this is all weird backwards-land stuff).

Practical working folk can sign up for this. Forget about all the rest: Republican morality or Democratic social reform…who cares? All I care about is MY STUFF…which will fare better with a democratic prez in charge than the other. It is a solution unto itself, no plan or justification is needed beyond this simple cause-and-effect.

Keep in mind I’m not talking about what’s best, or the value of right-and-wrong. I’m just talking about ME. I think this shameful little secret is how the “left wing whackos” have taken over the voice of the Democratic party. In their own self-importance they don’t realize they don’t matter. What matters is that on Election Day millions of individuals quietly vote for themselves, and they don’t have to admit it. They can keep their mouths shut, or hide behind some smokescreen issue.

What stronger motivation to vote is there than a vote for yourself?

Michael Moore Hates America

The Truth Hurts!

Hah!!

I find the last part of this little trailer pretty interesting. Ψ

What the hell is going on?

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Death threat just free expression

Read that little article real quick, if'n you don't mind.

Ok, I'm not really wanting to get into a discussion of free speech. What I'm extremely confused about is this line of the poem contrasted with this quote from Justice Carlos Moreno:

Poem extract: "...For I can be the next kid to bring guns to kill students at school..."

Judge quote: "Of course, exactly what the poem means is open to varying interpretations because a poem may mean different things to different readers. As a medium of expression, a poem is inherently ambiguous."

Huh? Ψ

Former Communist Dig at "Fahrenheit 9/11"

Click on that title to read the article on Reuters.

Very interesting. This guy probably recognizes propaganda when he sees it. Ψ

Daver Speaks About Carlos Delgado!

A brief thought about Carlos Delgado of the Toronto Blue Jays.  He has publicly stated that he is against our on-going war with Iraq and, as a result, he refuses to stand and be present when “God Bless America” is played during the seventh-inning stretch.  Many people are up-in-arms over his blatant anti-American attitude.
 
Big Freaking Deal!!
 
This is America and you have the right to protest if you wish.  Good for him!  He has an opinion, has made a public protest, and has not changed his mind because of some bad press.  How refreshing!  Maybe the Dems could learn from him.
 
Mainly, however, it is ridiculous that we care what Carlos Delgado does or thinks.  He’s a damn overpaid, overgrown kid playing a game for a living!  Maybe we should concentrate on keeping terrorists from attacking us again or maybe focus our attention on the upcoming election.  Hmmm…
 
That’s it for now – Daver out!

Non-issue Takes Center Field

Well, OK, First Base

The following link will take you to some hot news about a sports figure and his protest against the USA in Iraq. If you haven't read this, then good. Don't bother. It's a non-issue. But, if you feel you must, I'll wait a bit.
Taking a stand: Delgado does not stand for `God Bless America'

God Bless America is not the National Anthem. As far as I have experienced in my life, no one is expected to leap erect when it plays.

The seventh inning stretch traditionally was a time when everyone stood up and stretched while singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." In New York, after 9/11 they swapped songs, understandable and patriotic in my mind. But people were already standing to stretch anyway.

Delgado plays for the Toronto Blue Jays. They're from Canada. Although, that is also America. Hmmm. Well, anyway...

I haven't checked this assumption, but I don't believe Delgado is a citizen or even a resident of the USA (not that it matters regardless.)

He simply chooses not to stand, a very understated form of protest, well considered and even respectful. He didn't go and advertise this. Someone seeking a story in NY sought him out. Otherwise, we wouldn't know. But he is abiding by something that means something to him, while acknowledging that others disagree with him. Very mature.

By the way, he stands during the National Anthem. Not that that matters, as many ball players I see are groping their crotches and spitting during the National Anthem.

I sincerely hope he doesn't get a bunch of flack over this, and if he does, I hope he continues his protest. It is important that he is doing this, and that it be tolerated. That is a sign of health for our country.

This mostly caught my mind's eye because of some of the silliness being said about free speech. Whoopi Goldberg is ranting about her right to free speech being abrogated by the Bush Administration. It astonishes me what people will say, and feel they can say, without feeling any need to support it.

First of all, the thing called freedom of speech is specifically referring to the right of people to speak out without the Government taking hostile action against them. It does not mean that you are protected against employers deciding they want another spokesperson. To those of you that may want to salivate over some conspiracy theory where SlimFast is owned by Halliburton, I can only say, if Whoopi's rights are being violated, she has legal recourse. So, sue or shut up.

She won't do either of course, but she will be tuned out quickly. It's like that catchy tune that you really wanted to hear all the time that makes you jab frantically at the tuner button every time you hear it now. It gets old fast.

That makes me think, for the first time in months, about The Dixie Chicks. Haven't heard from them lately. You'd think if that girl had any conviction in what she was saying, she'd still be saying it. But, no, as soon as it interfered with the very capitalistic endeavor of making scads of money, she shut up.

Oddly, I want Whoopi to shut up, I'm glad the Dixie Chick shut up, but I don't want Delgado to stand up.

Go figure. Ψ

Spiritual Advocate Gets Own Page

In an attempt to give this something more of a newspaper feel, I have created a separate blog for one of the posts that will have regular follow up, The Spiritual Advocate. If I ever learn some HTML I'll make it pretty. But for now, the link is up there at the top. The plan is to update that blog weekly.

I copied the previous post from down yonder to its new home. I left the one down yonder 'cause it had some comments, and I can't figure out how to get the comments directly over there. But future SA posts will all go to the link above.

It's supposed to be like its own column. Let me know what you think, please.

Stepford Politicians

Mind Control

By Mark Connolly
Editor, Dallas Bureau

A plan has been in the works for years. Spawned in the creative minds of a desperate Democratic Party during the Reagan/Bush years, and appealing to unholy powers while tinkering with knowledge beyond our ken, It now comes to fruition.

This is mind control; control of the minds of the populace, and control of the minds of the politicians. This is not the Manchurian Candidate, though that could be the inspiration. No, it is Stepford Politician. To what end is not clear yet. Perhaps, just THE end.

The first signs were evident during Bill Clinton's initial campaign for president. When he was giving speeches and really trying to seem earnest, he would punctuate his speeches with a kind of affected "thumbs up" gesture. I know you've seen it. Fist extended with the thumb kind of poking up, almost like you might have a piece of paper pinched between your thumb and the side of the first phalange of your forefinger. Somewhere it was presented that he was doing this in imitation of General Eisenhower, from a famous photo taken during World War II. This picture was taken just prior to D-Day, and reportedly was captioned to the effect that Eisenhower was giving the troops a 'thumbs up'.

There is something comforting about the picture, and inspiring, especially taking into account how horrific D-Day turned out to be while still signaling the beginning of the end of German aggression.


The beginning of the thumb

Clinton deliberately used a gesture that psychologically instilled in the populace a feeling of trust and a belief in his competence. It was a calculated gesture, and it worked. What is funny/sad about this is something I saw on the History channel the other day. It was one of many specials marking the anniversary of D-Day, and it was from one of the survivors. He's apparently in that picture. Dwight, he says, was talking with the men about fly-fishing, and showing how you hold the rod.

The question in my mind is, how smart is Clinton anyway? Is he really that calculating, or does he take direction from some other source? No one knows for sure, though the rumors fly about Hillary's control. But I think it may be even more sinister, if not provable. I simply present the following photo taken by Russian Parapsychologist Investigators using special purpose built cameras.


The author of this diabolical plan

This is concerning because his calculated earnestness managed to land him the Presidency, not once, but twice. And that is appalling when you realize his real attitude towards the American People.

"Yeah, I got your American People right here..."

Clinton's alarming success could not be repeated by Gore, the first prototype Stepford politician. He simply had no emotion, and could not form a bond with the voters.

Vice President Al Gore

So, the next step was to simply build a viable Presidential candidate from scratch.

How it works

Take a politician, and strip him down to his constituent parts. Remove all sense of self respect and replace with unbridled ego. Excise any actual sense of compassion and fill the void with naked ambition. D&C the conscience and replace with a waffle iron. Perform a continuityectomy, and replace with expediency. This procedure also requires that a Jarvik 7 Memory Loss module be implanted to deal with any inconvenient recollection that might lead to a sense of shame. The result is a Whatever it Takes approach to getting elected, without the annoyance of scruples.


How it works

It is perhaps not surprising that the party of abortion and stem cell research is leading the way in the creation of "life" that will simply follow orders and appeal to the lowest common denominator without having any pesky traits like individual thought or a sense of right and wrong.

If you watch the physical behavior of any Democratic speaker, you will see this fly-fishing thumbs up gesture used during any speech where they begin to make up something that they want the populace to accept uncritically. It is a visible clue intended to set your mind at ease (or turn it off) while they spout something preposterous.

All kidding aside, if you do watch for this, you will see it over and over. Evidently they all have the same handler/speech coach. Or, it must be perceived as a gesture that works, and it has crept into their mannerisms in the same way that teen age kids imitate the words and actions of the current hot rap star. They don't know why they are doing it, they just do it because it is the thing to do. I've seen Kerry do it, and I've seen Edwards do it. It is used while stating things like "I will be a president that seeks to unite, rather than divide" or some other substanceless cotton candy of a sound bite.

I would really like to know what Kerry stands for. I've talked to some Kerry supporters. I've asked them what his plans are for dealing with terrorism. Not one of them has an articulable understanding of Kerry's plans. All I get is "Whatever it is, it will be better than Bush." These are reasonably intelligent people! I don't understand.

It must be the thumb. Ψ