I'm BAAAACK! (Again)

Hatteras Island, NC 

Hello, all! It is good to be back home and able to do some writing. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to the NC coast and was able to thoroughly get the fishing bug out of my system for a little while. It is always interesting to see what happens while you are gone on such a trip.

While I was gone, Fall has hit here full force. It reminded me of why I could never live on Hatteras Island. Don't get me wrong. There is a rugged, unspoiled beauty to it that is intriguing. However, for me, it is a nice place to visit, but give me colors in the Fall. I guess this opinion was reinforced more and more as we returned home. While we were still in the Coastal Plain there wasn't too much of an impression, but as we neared my beloved Piedmont the color of the trees was so awesome. I only wish that I'd been able to visit the mountains this year. Perhaps I'll got there and visit my Grandmother this weekend. Unfortunately, I expect that the leaves will be largely gone up there, but I do draw strength from the mountains.

A good friend of mine, EH, commented on her blog how she loves the water and draws strength from it. I get alot of strength from the water too. (Just ask my mom how hard it was to keep my cousins and me out of the river when we were up visiting my Grandmother!) But I'd have to say that the mountains of North Carolina are my "special place."

Another change that I noticed was that they have cleared the lot across from my office since we left. I always hate to see trees come down - even in a city. Oh well, I guess it is "progress."

Anyway, that is about all that I'm going to write for tonight. I am ready to go home and get some supper. Don't worry, though. I'll be back tomorrow and will tell you more about the trip and start sharing some photos!

Have a great evening!

An Amusing Article Brought to Me By A Friend

One of my co-workers brought me an article from a paper in Limerick, Ireland regarding some of the differences between Vice President Dick Cheney and wannabe Senator John Edwards. It was written by Gwen Halley. I will attempt to cite full information about the paper's name and issue, etc, after I get back. So without further ado, here is Gwen's article in its entirety (I have inserted a couple editorial comments.):

Admit it girls: sexy Dick puts the vice in spice president. (I'm not making this up. So help me!)

Despite thousands of feminist tomes, a surfeit of girl power glossies and Sex and the City, women still refuse to come clean about what they find sexually attractive.

Last week's Cheney/Edwards American vice-presidential braw demands that we revisit Freud's perennial question, "What do women really want?" Feminists have been debating it for over 50 years and they're still tampering with the result.

And most women are complicit in the deception. If given a choice between an "Edwards type" and a "Cheney type", publicly women would emphatically choose the "Edwards type". But privately, she wants the "Cheney type". Admitting that she fancies Mr. Ugly over Mr. Pretty is not only an assault on social etiquette but is potentially indecent. The ugly truth of women's carnal desires subverts all of what it means to be a "woman" in society.

Society dictates that women should seek some sort of physically perfect male ideal. However, what women find sexually attractive is usually the antithesis. (There is hope for me!) Women enjoy looking at pictures of daylight boys like Jude Law and David Beckham - but it doesn't mean they want to take them home into the darkness.

And publicly admitting that she prefers the "Cheney type" is to commit a grave social faux pas, and she will forever be remembered as the weird, kinky pervert locked in a PVC cat suit of low self-esteem.

So for those of you with sensitive stomachs: stop reading now.

Dick Cheney is sexy. Still with me? See how women's sexual attraction to ugly men is the taboo of sexual taboos? The shame is simply too much to bear. This is why women are happy to go along with the "Edwards is sexy" conceit.

In female reality, Edwards is the nice, smiley platonic friend-next-door and Cheney is the absolute b*****d. (Sorry ‘bout that!)

Hawks like Cheney violate politically-correct American campus "Permission to Kiss" codes, while doves like Edwards memorise (this is the British spelling) them. Cheney understands power and knows how to deploy it. You don't have to be a Texas 'Security Mom' to understand why women see power as sex. Women are biologically programmed to see the sexuality of power.

If confronted with a nocturnal intruder, Cheney is the man (even with the dodgy heart) every woman wants by her side devising a plan of attack. Thumbelina Edwards would be too busy drawing up terms for negotiating a treaty with the psychopath. (Wow! This is evident even in Ireland! Why doesn't everyone here get it?) Give women a snarling Rottweiler on the porch any day over a preening Pomeranian in the window. (BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Preening Pomeranian... too much! HOHO. Stop it! You're hurting me!)

Women's secret attention to the rotund and follicly-challenged has much to do with their fundamentally insecure masochistic-narcissistic personalities. Women want to feel feminine and fragile (Once again, HOPE!) and they're not going to get this from a paperweight metrosexual poser who smells better than they do. (Snicker!)

But women remain dishonest about what really turns them on. It hasn't been helped by the fashion/entertainment industry's relentless propaganda which has given birth to "cosmetic couples" - all outward show without any real desire beneath the socially-impressive facade. We have become enslaved to society-conscious "relationship correctness".

But I'm talking to myself, aren't I? Well, the link between Dick Cheney's mouth and raw sex was always going to be a hard sell.

Gone Fishin'

Hey folks,

Sorry to leave you stranded, but I'll be spending the next week far far away from my office fishing with my family. I know the posts haven't been too regular here lately, and I apologize for that. There's been a lot going on. However, I hope to be able to get caught back up when I get back!

Until then!

I Think I'm In Love...

If you want to see a really good rebuttal of John Edwards' insistence that there was no Al Qaeda connection in Iraq, check out Ann Coulter's article on the subject by clicking HERE.

Ann Coulter. Beautiful and smart too!

Here was my favorite part:

After Dick Cheney had beaten Edwards about the head for a while during the debate, Edwards waved his girlish hands and said: "There are 60 countries who have members of al-Qaida in them. How many of those countries are we going to invade?"

The Democrats' silver-tongued boy thought he had made a very clever point. In fact, I believe this is the first time we've gotten any Democrat to admit that the entire al-Qaida terrorist network is not living in a narrow mountainous path between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Democrats are now on the record: 60 countries harbor al-Qaida. But apparently the one nation that had managed to entirely purge itself of all al-Qaida members was Iraq – under the great statesman Saddam Hussein! Iraq is the only country in the world liberals believe was hermetically sealed from al-Qaida.

Not only would the Democrats not have attacked Iraq, they would have given Saddam Hussein an award for having so thoroughly rid his nation of al-Qaida members. (And I know these Democrats are very proud of their superior manicures, but someone should tell Edwards to keep those girlish hands down.)

Hoo Hoo! That's good stuff! Keep it coming, Ann!

And with that, I'm signing off to watch debate #2! Have a great evening!

Weekend Cubanism

You've got to go and check out the post that Val made today over at Babalu Blog called Weekend Cubanism. This guy is hilarious! I have always been a big fan of double entendre. This one is funny on so many different levels. (If four-letter words offend you, you may want to pass on this one...!)

An Ode To John Edwards... Who Bears a Striking Resemblance to the Grinch in this Picture

He's a dead ringer - except for the hair! 

This dedication goes out to John Edwards, our absent Senator.... I would have thought that you would have been too young when this song was written for it to have been biographical, but he's got you nailed pretty good!

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
Author: Dr. Seuss

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
You really are a heel.
You're as cuddly as a cactus,
You're as charming as an eel.
Mr. Grinch.


You're a bad banana
With a greasy black peel.


You're a monster, Mr. Grinch.
Your heart's an empty hole.
Your brain is full of spiders,
You've got garlic in your soul.
Mr. Grinch.


I wouldn't touch you, with a
thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole.


You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch.
You have termites in your smile.
You have all the tender sweetness
Of a seasick crocodile.
Mr. Grinch.


Given the choice between the two of you
I'd take the seasick crockodile.


You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch.
You're a nasty, wasty skunk.
Your heart is full of unwashed socks
Your soul is full of gunk.
Mr. Grinch.


The three words that best describe you,
are, and I quote: "Stink. Stank. Stunk."


You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch.
You're the king of sinful sots.
Your heart's a dead tomato splot
With moldy purple spots,
Mr. Grinch.


Your soul is an apalling dump heap overflowing
with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable
rubbish imaginable,
Mangled up in tangled up knots.


You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch.
With a nauseaus super-naus.
You're a crooked jerky jockey
And you drive a crooked horse.
Mr. Grinch.


You're a three decker saurkraut and toadstool
sandwich
With arsenic sauce.


Copyright © 1957, Dr. Seuss.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Today's Topic is Strategy.

Hello neighbor. I'm so glad that you could join me today. Today we are going to talk about strategy. Can you say "strategy?" Nice try.

Let's go over to Picture Picture and look at a picture of the Middle East. (Piano music plays...)

RATS, kids! Picture Picture is broken. We were going to look at a really neat picture of the Middle East for me to help us talk about strategy. That makes me sad. Do you feel sad sometimes? Too bad! Well, since Picture Picture is broke, go find your home globe or world atlas. Can you say atlas? Didn't think so.

Now that you have found a map, turn to the part that shows the landmass between Israel and India. You may want to get a couple of sticky notes or some gold stars to mark the areas that I am about to point out.

Have you got all of that together? Good. Now that we have all of our supplies, lets see if we can have a little fun!

After the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC President Bush committed troops to Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime. Find Afghanistan on your map and put a star there. Good!

(OK. I'm tired of the Mr. Rogers thing. Switching to normal writing.)

Once we had stabilized Afghanistan, we turned our attention to Iraq. We ended up attacking Iraq for a number of reasons: 1) Saddam had been violating numerous UN resolutions for 12 years. 2) Saddam would not let the UN weapons inspectors do their jobs. 3) Iraq was a state sponsor of terrorism, paying the families of suicide bombers in "palestine" $25,000 when their loved ones blew themselves (and usually a busload of children) to meet their Maker. 4) Iraq was a sanctuary for terrorists. (Abu Nidal and Zarkawi.) 5) Corruption was rife in Iraq and it is almost certain that money laundered through the Oil for Food program was given to terrorists and 6) all of the world's intelligence community indicated that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. Put a gold star on Iraq.

Israel is one of our greatest (and before the two aforementioned wars, our only) ally in the Middle East. They have consistently been able to whip the tails of every country that ever was stupid enough to attack them. Put a gold star on Israel.

The United States Navy can go anywhere in the world where there is sufficient water. Please place stars on the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf.

In the Middle East, which countries are the greatest sponsors of terror? The two that come immediately to mind are Syria and Iran. Of course there are hotbeds of terrorists in Egypt, "palestine" and Saudi Arabia too. Please note where the gold stars are. Because of the military action that we have taken, the United States is in an excellent position to project its power throughout the Middle East. Any uprising of the anti-Islamic movement in Iran will be easily supported from our bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. With US Naval control of these areas it will not be necessary to secure air space permission from other countries in order to project our forces or support Iranian insurgent forces.

Now turn to the West. Look at the positioning of American troops and allies. Syria lies between Israel and Iraq. Once again, projection of force is a moot point.

You can rest assured that this fact hasn't slipped by even our other Arab, er, allies. It is interesting how interested the Saudis have become in the war on terror since the invasion of Iraq was completed. It is also interesting how cooperative they have been supplying oil since then.

What I believe we see developing is a very real strategy in the War on Terror. We are actually seeing a deployment of our forces to facilitate the enforcement of this war. No one has been talking about it. Why on earth would they? You certainly don't want to tell the enemy what you are doing. I just find our placement striking.

It is interesting that John Kerry and Wonderboy Edwards don't seem to grasp the strategic significance of our placement... interesting, but not surprising, since their grand strategy in the war on terror is to do what the President is doing - but do it better! They want to give the Iranians nuclear material so that they can prove that they aren't trying to make a bomb with it, and they want to pass a global test before they wage war against threats to American security.

As I said earlier, Mr. Cheney disclosed alot about the mindset of the Bush Administration when he defended the war in Iraq as a war that is not against Al Qaeda, but a war against terrorists and state sponsors of terror. Look at the stars! They tell the story!

She Said WHAT?

The ketchup lady is at it again. As if the recent photo of John Kerry wasn't embarassing enough, the aspiring First Lady revealed a bit of the Democrat's strategy to win in November, saying, "Vote often and vote well." Yes, you read that right. She said, "vote often." Uh, Ms. Kerry, that ain't the way we do thangs around here. Perhaps this is why we have a provision in the Constitution that doesn't allow non-native Americans to be President. Click HERE for the full story.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

Well, with the rest of the blogsphere weighing in on last night's debate, I decided that I'd throw my two cents' worth in there too. I thought that Vice President Cheney ruled the night for a couple of reasons. First of all, there are no points given out for "the best" hair. This was a debate between the two men that may be called to lead the free world one day. Thus, all of the fluff that gave Kerry the "victory" in last Thursday night's debate is totally negated. The analysis of this debate (and the one before it) should be based on how each candidate responded to the issues. However, since we are on the subject of style I would have to give a slight favor to VP Cheney. I didn't see him rattled like I did Juan Edwards.

Secondly, the Vice President did a far better job of handling the prevarications and puffery that have been the hallmark of the Democrats' campaign. I thought that Mr. Cheney gave the best explanation that I have heard so far on why attacking Iraq was the right and moral thing to do regardless of whether WMDs were found or whether there was a 9/11 link or not. Basically, Mr. Cheney explained that the invasion of Iraq was an important objective in the overall plan to win the war on terror. He clearly showed that Saddam was a threat, that he was harboring terrorists, and that he was funding "palestinian" terrorism in Israel. These justifications make the war in Iraq valid.

I was also impressed by the way that Mr. Cheney dismissed Johnny the Kid when he would revisit arguments that Mr. Cheney had already debunked. You don't need to answer the question again once you have already answered it. In this point, Edwards erred similarly to the way the President erred in his debate. He didn't know when to get off an attack that wasn't working.

I think that the debate, followed by the President's speech this morning should go a long way to repairing any damage done by the first Presidential debate.

The President, by the way, was outstanding this morning, and did a great job of focusing his attack on Kerry's and Edwards' records. When their records are scrutinized, there is very little there to commend. If you would like to read the President's speech, you can click HERE. Here is one of my favorite excerpts:

PRESIDENT BUSH: The Senator and I have different views on government spending. Over the years, he's voted 274 times to break the federal budget limits. And in this campaign, Senator Kerry has announced more than $2 trillion in new spending. And that's a lot of money even for a senator from Massachusetts! (Laughter and applause.) During his 20 years as a senator, my opponent hasn't had many accomplishments. Of the hundreds of bills he submitted, only five became law. One of them was ceremonial. But to be fair, he's earned a special distinction in Congress. The nonpartisan National Journal analyzed his record and named John Kerry the most liberal member of the United States Senate.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: And when the competition includes Ted Kennedy, that's really saying something! (Laughter and applause.) I'm telling you, I know that bunch. (Laughter.) It wasn't easy for my opponent to become the single most liberal member of the Senate. You might even say, it was HARD work. (Laughter and applause.) But he earned that title -- by voting for higher taxes, more regulation, more junk lawsuits, and more government control over your life.

You've gotta love the President. He is able to make fun of himself while totally taking down his opponent. What a great guy! Anyway, make sure to read this speech. It is a good one. If you could have heard it delivered, it was even better!

I have to congratulate Ms. Ifill from PBS. She did an excellent job moderating last night's debate - much better than her colleague did in the first Presidential debate. Both candidates received questions that they would have preferred to not be asked. I did think that the question about Mr. Cheney's daughter was a bit low, but considering how she laced Edwards on a couple of occasions I guess it balanced out in the end. Regardless, I thought Mr. Cheney handled the question superbly, knowing that he must be divided on the issue himself.

Now on to my favorite two moments from last night's debate... In both instances, Mr. Cheney scored a touché on the outgoing Senator from North Carolina. Here's the first one:

SENATOR EDWARDS: Thank you. The Vice President suggests that we have the same number of countries involved now that we had in the first Gulf War. The first Gulf War cost the American people $5 billion. And regardless of what the Vice President says, we're at $200 billion and counting. Not only that, 90 percent of the coalition casualties, Mr. Vice President -- the COALITION casualties -- are American casualties. Ninety percent of the cost of this effort are being borne by American taxpayers. It is the direct result of the failures of this administration.

MODERATOR: Mr. Vice President.

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: Classic example, he won't count the sacrifice and the contribution of our Iraqi allies. It's their country, they're in the fight, they're increasingly the ones out there putting their necks on the line to take back their country from the terrorists and the old regime elements that are still left. They're doing a superb job, and for you to demean their sacrifice, that strikes me as --

SENATOR EDWARDS: Oh, I'm not --

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: ... as beyond...

SENATOR EDWARDS: I'm not demeaning...

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: -- beyond the pale. It is, indeed. You suggested that somehow --

SENATOR EDWARDS: No, sir, I did not...

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: -- they shouldn't count, because you want to be able to say that the Americans are taking 90 percent of the sacrifice. You cannot succeed in this effort if you're not willing to recognize the enormous contribution the Iraqis are increasingly making to their own future. We'll win when they take on responsibility for governance, which they're doing; and when they take on responsibility for their own security, which they increasingly are doing.

BRILLIANT!!! That one left John-John slack jawed.

In the second, Mr. Cheney hammers the man-who-would-be-President on his attendance record since being elected to the Senate only six years ago:

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: I want to go back to the last comment, and then I'll come back to Israel-Palestine. The reason they keep trying to attack Halliburton is because they want to obscure their own record. And Senator, frankly, you have a record in the Senate that's not very distinguished. You've missed 33 out of 36 meetings of the Judiciary Committee, almost 70 percent of the meetings of the Intelligence Committee. You've missed a lot of key votes on tax policy, on energy, on Medicare reform. You're hometown newspaper has taken to calling you "Senator Gone." You've got one of the worst attendance records in the United States Senate.

Now, in my capacity as Vice President, I am the President of the Senate, the presiding officer. I'm up in the Senate most Tuesdays when they're in session. The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight.

MODERATOR: Senator Edwards, it's your turn to use 30 seconds for a complicated response.

SENATOR EDWARDS: That was a complete distortion of my record; I know that will come as a shock.

The Vice President, I'm surprised to hear him talk about records, when he was one of 435 members of the United States House, he was one of 10 to vote against Head Start, one of four to vote against banning plastic weapons that can pass through metal detectors. He voted against the Department of Education. He voted against funding for Meals on Wheels for seniors. He voted against a holiday for Martin Luther King. He voted against a resolution calling for the release of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. It's amazing to hear him criticize either my record or John Kerry's.

MODERATOR: Thirty seconds.

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: Oh, I think his record speaks for itself, and frankly, it's not very distinguished.

Edwards' attack on Cheney's record bounced like cannonballs off of the sides of the USS Constitution. Meanwhile, Cheney's attack shattered timbers and splintered planks like the projectiles that sent the USS Bonhomme Richard to the bottom of the ocean. It was a beautiful thing to behold. Edwards never recovered.

The lamest move of all came in the closing arguments, when Johnboy tried to give his Two Americas speech. It fell flat. (By the way, is anyone out there wondering what TV show the Sr. Mr. Edwards would have been watching at 6 AM to learn math? Me too.) In comparison, Mr. Cheney's concise summary was, well, Presidential. In the end, there was no comparison. VP Cheney blew him away. I definitely know who I would rather have running the country if something happened to the President. But then you already knew that, didn't you?

Click here for the text of the debate between John Edwards and Vice President Cheney

I'll Try to Make This Quick

Well, tonight's the big debate between Vice President Cheney and the man who would be king. I hope that Mr. Cheney purees him. John Edwards has been the biggest joke of a senator that the state of NC has had in a long time. Even Terry Sanford at least did something for the state, but Edwards has been campaigning for the Presidency ever since the good people of NC were duped into voting for the boy wonder.

In those rare instances where the "honorable" Senator Edwards has bothered to show up to vote, he has consistently voted straight along the guidelines of the left-wing playbook. (You don't become the 4th most liberal Senator in 6 years without trying REALLY hard. It is even harder when you are one of the most truant Senators on the Hill!) He hasn't seen a tax that he doesn't like - except the ones that he is supposed to pay. (It is notable that he has been delinquent in paying the taxes on his property, and that he has played some dodgy angles on the tax code to his benefit - even Kerry condemned him during the primaries. So, it is OK for all of the rest of us to pay taxes, but HE doesn't personally want to pay any.) The government is too small for him. What galls me most of all is that this jerk is going to get a Senate pension for the rest of his sorry life even though he hasn't done even a fraction of what Senator Elizabeth Dole has accomplished in 1/3 of the time. If he wanted to impress me, he could give that pension to 2 or 3 mill workers that were put out of work when Fieldcrest Cannon tanked last year. Which reminds me... Edwards didn't even show up down here for weeks after the plant closing was announced. Liddy Dole was here the next day at the latest - she may have even been here the same day. Senator of the people - RIGHT.

Edwards loves the hate crimes bill too. He has been pushing for that for years. He has yet to even try to explain why a "hate crime" differs from any other crime. In my opinion every crime is a hate crime. You don't kill someone, steal from them, assault them, or vandalize their property because of an overwhelming urge of love!

One of my favorites is the Edwards/Kerry plan for dealing with Iran's nuclear development. They actually want to GIVE them nuclear material and let them prove to the world that they are going to use it only for power plants. Yeah, right. GREAT idea. They must have hit their heads on the pavement when they fell off the turnip truck. People who think this way don't need to be in charge of government. They need to be stashed away on a finger lake somewhere far far away from people so that they can live in their little fantasy worlds.

Look, when Edwards starts spouting all of his kinder, gentler, people-centered government stuff tonight, remember that it is all a load of hogwash. He suckered NC with that before, and we learned all too quickly that it was a mistake. The only person Edwards is interested in is himself.

Anyway, it seems like there was alot of other stuff for me to write about tonight, so I'll have to think about it for a little bit and see what I can come up with. It was so clear on the drive back to the office!... More later!

Too Easy...

He Just Makes It Too Easy... 

John Kerry has to be the candidate with the most blackmail pictures out there that I have ever seen. You don't even want to see what is being done with this picture out in cyber world....

Sorry I've Been AWOL...

Gee, maybe I'd better change that title. If I ever run for President, some pinhead newsman may bring it out as a smoking gun. I guess I'll leave it there. As we have seen, the news folks don't necessarily need any real proof for what they report, and if you are running for President, you just have to expect them to play dirty.

So, where have I been? Swamped. I have been trying to help out over on the Operation Enduring Service blog and I have also been trying to help WB with some details for Beauchamp Tower Corporation. In addition to that, I'm trying to actually do sell some houses and earn my keep. Beyond that, I'm trying to maintain some correspondence that has been keeping me busy, and, of all things, trying to prepare my house for a party this weekend. I hate to admit it, but my blog has just been pretty low on the totem pole. I do hope that I'll have time to do some more thoughtful writing soon, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Two weeks from now I'll be out of pocket on the annual fishing trip that I take with my Dad and Grandfather. I'm hoping that the fish will be biting for a change!

Well, I need to get out of here for the time being. I've been reading a really good book called Desiring God that I'd like to comment on here. It is unlike most books that I have read lately. It actually takes some thought to read it. Most Christian books are alot of fluff with a little substance, whereas this one is alot of substance with very little fluff. As I said earlier, I look forward to discussing some of the insights that I am gaining from the book in the near future.

I also want to send out my condolences to Chris Muir, the creator of the Day by Day comic strip, on the loss of his mother. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

OK. I'm really leaving now. It has been an incredibly long day, and I'm going back to my cave. Grrrr.