I Need to Tell You Something....

I don't got a belly button...

This is the song the Feared Redhead used to get "Infatuation" out of my head last night. Just as catchy, not as crappy. In fact, darned clever. It's one of the "Silly Songs" from Veggie Tales, and in the video the vegetables perform as a spoof boy band called "Boyz in the Sink". That still cracks me up.

This particular song is on the video The Ballad of Little Joe.

I Have the Best Wife in the Whole World!

As soon as she heard that I got the job, the Feared Redhead decided that a congratulatory gift was in order.

She just called me to find out what kind of Single Malt Scotch I'd like.

Eat your hearts out, lads!

Deterrance

Thanks for the Memory to TacJammer:

When I read this essay at Eject! Eject! Eject! I was immediately reminded of the quote attributed to George Orwell:

"We sleep peacefully in our beds simply because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence upon those who would do us harm."

Read it. It really should be required reading before entering the voting booth on November 2nd. It actually choked me up. An excellent essay.

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!

I start the job Monday, at almost $1/hour more than I make now, with benefits!

Thanks to everyone for their prayers.

Wrong War, Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Thanks for the Memory to Davids Medienkritik via Ace of spades HQ:

Another US General is criticizing the President's handling of the war.

My Take on the VP Debate

Yeah, Cheney won. That's nothing new. Everyone's been blogging on that for over 12 hours now. And except for the most partisan liberal viewpoints, that's the consensus.

So I'll stick to the things that, well, stuck with me.

First, as well as the Vice President did, he had help, from an unexpected source -- Edwards, and the camera. That split screen format, and the way Edwards maintained a smug, smarmy smirk (consider the alliteration) throughout the debate, did nothing to endear John Boy to the common man.

Second, as luck would have it, when I turned on the TV last night, it was on ABC NBC (oops, thanks for pointing out my error, Scott), so I got to hear Tom Brokaw's post-debate analysis. His description of Cheney's delivery was surprisingly clever and positive -- he compared him to George Foreman, slow and deliberate with a devastating right.

And finally, on the topic of ABC NBC, they ended the segment with interviews of bloggers. I was expecting Glen Reynolds or one of the Margolis brothers for the conservative view, and probably Kos for the liberal. I was embarassed not to have thought of Hinderaker and the Powerline crew. But Wonkette? Please. She was shallow, nervous, and tittery, and contributed nothing of substance to the conversation. I'm no liberal, but even I could have picked a better representative of the left side of the net than Madame Sodomy.

The Natives are Restless

Thanks for the Memory to Blogs for Bush.

I'm still steamed about the news articles I read yesterday about people opposing the Democrats engaging in activity of the kind for which I've been criticizing our opponents all along. But just when I thought, "Damn! Must we sink to their level?" They lower the bar:

Protestors Ransack Bush/Cheney Headquarters In Orlando

My fears and the fears of others about the level of violence we may see in the days after the election have not been allayed at all.

UPDATE:
Thanks for the Memory to reader Leslie Bates at Blogs for Bush:

It happened in my wife's home state of Minnesota too:

Angry Kerry Activists Lay Siege to Bush Office in St. Paul, Intimidate Voters


ST. PAUL -- On the same day that someone fired shots into the windows at the Bush/Cheney campaign headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee, angry Kerry supporters laid siege to the Bush headquarters in St. Paul Minnesota today.
"Today's siege on the Bush/Cheney headquarters in St. Paul was an attempt by Democrats and the Kerry campaign to intimidate voters who were picking up tickets to see the President," said Republican Party of Minnesota State Chair Ron Eibensteiner. "The Minnesota Kerry Campaign and DFL are ruled by an angry mob mentality that has nothing positive to offer Minnesota voters." Today Kerry supporters blocked the entrance to the Bush campaign's Minnesota headquarters with buses and proceeded to rush into the headquarters in a clear attempt to intimidate voters who were picking up tickets to see the President this Saturday.


Eibensteiner called on DFL Chair Mike Erlandson and Kerry's Minnesota campaign to immediately cease these kinds of intimidation tactics.

"Lately, the DFL Party and Kerry Campaign can be best described as Anger Incorporated," said Eibensteiner. "They need to stop their escalation of these intimidation tactics before someone gets hurt."

Eibensteiner pointed out other instances where out-of-control Kerry supporters have intimidated voters. For example, at the Gophers football game last weekend, a Kerry supporter physically assaulted a female College Republican who was handing out flyers supporting the President. In a similar incident, Kerry supporters assaulted College Republicans at the Minnesota State Fair. During the incident, the union members elbowed two College Republicans in the head and threw them to the ground. Also, DFL Party officials have yet to repudiate a bumper sticker, which was handed out from their party headquarters comparing President Bush to Adolf Hitler.
"Anger is no substitute for optimistic leadership," said Eibensteiner. "Through their actions, Democrats have shown themselves incapable of governing themselves, much less our nation, during these challenging times."

(Bold Emphasis added by me)

I couldn't agree more, Mr. Eibensteiner.

UPDATE 3:
Thanks for the Memory to Instapundit via Leslie (again):

It happened in Wisconsin too.

UPDATE 4:

Thanks for the Memory to Ace of spades HQ:

Michelle Malkin is covering this too, and may have more info.

UPDATE 5:
Thanks for the Memory to Russell Wardlow at Mean Mr. Mustard:

Apparently not all Leftists online are as upset by their side's shennanigans as I am by my side's.

Not In MY Name!!!!!

Thanks for the Memory to Reader msn at Blogs for Bush.

By now it's pretty apparent I believe that there is rampant misconduct going on among liberals in order to stifle conservative voices. Well, apparently, in a couple of places, liberals and conservatives are playing tit-for-tat:

Pennsylvania:

- Montgomery County Democratic HQ was broken into.

- Bush Signs stolen in Centre County

- Dem HQ shot with a pellet gun in Centre County

Oxford Mississippi:

- Republican HQ Broken into

- Kerry Bumper Stickers defaced

Grrrrrr.....

no, No, NO, NO, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!

Do NOT stoop to this level!!!!!! ANY of you!!!!!!! But ESPECIALLY not conservatives!!!!!!!!! Liberals are dead freaking wrong, I am firmly convinced, but they have a RIGHT to be wrong and a RIGHT to express those wrong opinions without fear of reprisal or harrassment!!!!!!

People, THIS IS AMERICA!!!!!!!!! DON'T FREAKING FORGET THAT!!!!!!! EVER!!!!!!!

Look at the symbol at the top of my blog. That's what it's about. If you just apply the constitution AND THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH IT IS BASED to yourself, then you invalidate it!!!!! If you are a conservative and value our republic and our constitution as much as I, then THIS IS NOT HOW WE ARE TO DO THINGS!!!!!!! We outreason them, we outvote them, we outcampaign them. But we do NOT outcheat them!!!!

/Rant

Sorry if this was disjointed, but I'm steamed.

God Speed Gordon Cooper

Thanks for the Memory to Whole Wheat Blogger via Triticale.

Gordon Cooper, NASA Mercury Pioneer, Dies

LOS ANGELES - Gordon Cooper, the last astronaut to take flight during NASA's pioneering Mercury program, has died. He was 77.

...

LOS ANGELES - Gordon Cooper, the last astronaut to take flight during NASA (news - web sites)'s pioneering Mercury program, has died. He was 77.

...

As one of the nation's first astronauts, Cooper became a hero to a generation of Americans in the early 1960s as the country tried to catch the Soviet Union in the space race.


"He truly portrayed the right stuff, and he helped gain the backing and enthusiasm of the American public, so critical for the spirit of exploration," NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said.

I can't say the world is emptier because of his passing, because he left behind such a record of achievement, but I can say that he will be missed. Astronauts have always been my heroes.

I Think I Know...

But I'm not saying. Triticale over at Wheat/Rye asks a good question. Can any of the liberals out there answer?

GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD!

No, I'm not talking to any voices, don't panic. Yet.

Did you ever get a crappy but catchy song stuck in your head? Well, this is the one currently holding my synapses hostage:

"Infatuation" -- Rod Stewart

If anyone has a moment to come make it stop, I'll be over in the corner, curled up in a ball.

Thanks for listening. We now return you to your regularly scheduled sanity.

Round 2

Call from the Feared Redhead. She's been feeling the effects of her hyperemesis again (no vomiting, but lingering nausea), so she called her OB/Gyn. Apparently I'll be heading to urgent care after work to meet her, she's been told to report in for another rehydrating IV.

No panic this time, but I really hate seeing her suffer like this. Makes me feel like developing P.I.T.S..

She asked me to request all your prayers.

Update:
The folks at U.C. wouldn't give her an IV, despite what she'd been told by her OB/Gyn's office, because her urine sample was mostly water (don't ask). So now she has to wait until tomorrow, talk to her OB/Gyn again, subject herself (and me by default, but I'd rather not go into details) to some embarassing testing procedures, then go back.

In the meantime, she's feeling much... well, the same. PITS.

Just Waiting for the spin Cycle to Begin

Breaking News:

Israel Kills Islamic Jihad Leader in Gaza Strike

Read the Reuters article. Make note specifically of this quote:

Bashir ad-Dabbash, 38, was the most senior leader within Palestinian territories of the group that is sworn to destroying the Jewish state and at the forefront of a suicide bombing campaign during a 4-year-old Palestinian uprising.

And start counting the seconds until the left starts excoriating Israel for this attack. Against a man who lead a group, and I quote, "sworn to destroying the Jewish state".

If there's a more clear-cut case of exercizing a nation's right to preserve her sovereignty, I'd be hard pressed to think of it. Yet this will be portrayed as more violent oppression by the Zionists.

If that outcry comes, and I am certain it will, I defy anyone to offer a rational explanation for that outcry aside from ignorance or antisemitism.

Kerry: Building Consensus By Alienating ALL of Our Friends (Revisited)

Original Post Here.

Thanks for the Memory to Drudge via The Jawa Report.

A while back I blogged on how Kerry's attitude towards and comments about our allies on Iraq was in sharp contrast to his claims of being more capable of diplomacey -- that while he claims that he will build consensus, what he's really doing is alienating the countries that are already in our side, in order to gamble that he'll be able to placate those who oppose us.

President Bush brought the same point up during the debate last week -- pointing out all of the countries that are in the coalition, and telling Kerry that he was insulting their leaders. Kerry blew it off, paying lip service to them, but claiming that only US and British contributions were significant.

And how easy was it to predict the result? That's an even bigger slap in the face to our allies. The first one of them has called him on it -- and this is an ally who has been candid about their misgivings regarding Iraq. From Drudge:

Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski has slammed Dem president hopeful John Kerry for not recognizing Poland's contributions and sacrifice to the war in Iraq.

"It is sad that a senator with 20 years of experience does not recognize Polish contribution. This is immoral," Kwasniewski told FACTS in an interview commenting on the US Presidential Debate.

"It is sad that a senator with 20 years of experience underestimates Polish sacrifice, this is sad."

I agree, Mr. President.

The Polish President added however that one should consider this was a part of the ongoing electoral campaign.

That doesn't really mitigate the insult, and I, as an American, am sorry you had to hear it.

People criticize Bush for alienating the world. But let's be honest -- a majority of the countries who oppose us now already opposed us before. And most of them will still oppose the US, regardless of who wins the election and what action that president takes. But Bush has showed loyalty to the countries that have stood beside us through it all -- Kerry, on the other hand, manages to alienate them, without any real evidence that he'll endear us to our foes.

So Much for Giving Peace a Chance

Thanks for the Memory to reader Deviant Logic at Blogs for Bush.

BREAKING NEWS: Shots fired into Knox Bush/Cheney headquarters

An unknown suspect fired several shots into the Bearden office of the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign Tuesday morning.

The headquarters are located at 4618 Kingston Pike, next to Noveau Classics and in the same shopping plaza as Long's Drugstore.

According to Knoxville Police Department officers on the scene Tuesday, it is believed that the two separate shots were fired from a car sometime between 6:30 am and 7:15 am. One shot shattered the glass in the front door and the other cracked the glass in another of the front doors.

There were no witnesses to the shooting. A customer at a nearby dry cleaning store noticed that shattered glass on the sidewalk in front of the headquarters and called police.

Volunteers and staffers at the campaign office say they have no clues as to who might have committed the crime. However, they add that the shooting makes them even more enthusiastic and energized about working for their candidates.

"If I have to sleep here (at the campaign office) now, that's what I'll do," says volunteer Suzanne Dewar.

In an unexpected twist, a bank directly across the street from the headquarters was robbed just as KPD officers were busy investigating at the scene of the shooting.

- WBIR-TV Knoxville, TN

How much uglier does the left plan to get? I'm actually starting to get worried about the levels of violence we may see if President Bush is re-elected.

UPDATE:

Thanks for the Memory to Texas Rainmaker at Generation Why.

This isn't the first attack on a Republican office this year, nor will it be the last. I already blogged on the attack in Washington. Apparently, the HQ for the West Virginia GOP was egged AND shot.

How many "Isolated Incidents" in how many different places have to add up before people see the left for what it is?

Texas Rainmaker has another good post on the same issue.

Specks and Beams

Thanks for the Memory to Drudge via Blogs for Bush.

One of the responses you'll get when you take the time, like I have, to point out the kind of oppressive behavior exhibited by leftists to stifle conservative voices, is that these are isolated incidents, by extremist elements who do not reflect the majority of liberals, and that not all Democrats think that way.

Oh, really? Let's put aside for a moment the fact that the leadership of the Democratic party is increasingly inclined to embrace those elements and even use them for their ends. Let's set aside the fact that the Democratic party recognizes that without the support of that extreme but growing element, they cannot compete politically. Let's even set aside the fact that the rhetoric of some of those extreme elements is not only not decried by Democratic leadership, but actually affords those who utter that rhetoric celebrity status in liberal circles.

Let's for the moment and for the sake of argument take only the words of a mainstream, and quite influential member of that Democratic leadership. Like, oh, say, their Vice Presidential cadidate:

Dem vp hopeful John Edwards cut to the chase last night on ABCNEWS NIGHTLINE:

ABC'S BOB WOODRUFF: "He has avoided the kind of negative attacks that can make national news, although recently, he has stepped up his rhetoric."

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC) (clip of a speech): "I'd say if you live in the United States of America and you vote for George Bush, you've lost your mind."

WOODRUFF: "There's been criticism that you have been too soft."

EDWARDS: "Do I seem soft to you?"

So apparently that's the kind of tolerant rhetoric the left is about, huh? And yet we're told that Republicans are the ones stifling dissent. In fact, in a comment on the blogs for Bush Blog post about this, one liberal said, This is a thoroughly ridiculous article considering the way the Republicans and the Bush Administration has demonized dissent.

My response then, and now, was to point that person to the articles I've documented regarding this issue (Here, Here, and Here for starters), and suggest that perhaps the liberals need to do a little beam removal from their own eyes.

In Case You Were Wondering

(This is for those readers with whom I've developed a friendship. If you hate me or are just visiting, go ahead and ignore)

Job Interview Update -- Timeline:
3:30 PM PDT -- nerves begin to set in, constriction in throat.
4:00 -- Left work early to prepare for interview.
4:10 -- Arrived home, began began cleaning & changing for interview.
4:30 -- Combination of nerves and gag reflex conspire against me while brushing teeth -- toss cookies.
4:45 Manage to finish readying myself and head out for interview.
4:59 -- Arrive at interview location.
5:03 -- Begin pre-interview test.
5:15 -- Complete interview test. All the answers but one were easy, it I did not know.
5:16 -- Sit in waiting room, surrounded by people I recognize from work as better techs than I.
5:20 -- begin series of 3 short interviews with 2 supervisors each interview.
6:00 -- last interview ends. Am finall able to stop "holding it." Noone points to a door and says, "Go now and never darken our doors again!" This is on the surface a good sign, but I'm still not very confident in my odds. We'll see.

Because, Y'Know, We're Nazis....

Thanks for the Memory to Blogs For Bush.

Yup, more of the same. Right after I blog about intolerance in New Jersey, and then point out that it's at least not institutionalized, I am alerted to more evidence that it's increasingly rampant. In Madison, Wisconsin, a Bush supporter had his lawn vandalized -- and not just by having a sign stolen. This time, they used grass killer to burn a swastika into the yard.

But we're the Brownshirts. Riiiiiight....

Something Rotten In...

Well, in Sweden, actually, not in Denmark. but the Scandinavian connection still exists.

Thanks for the Memory to Beautiful Atrocities via Mean Mr. Mustard 2.0.

You all know how fond I am of documenting leftists oppressing conservatives in the name of Free Speech. Well, at least it's not as legislatively institutionalized here as it is in Sweden.

Yet.

Thar She Blows II

Thanks for the Memory to Rusty at MyPetJawa.

This is an update to my previous Mt. St. Helens post.

She blew again today, but so far it looks like just another steam & gas venting -- not the big one they're expecting. Rusty is covering this well, and has the live video feed on his blog.

Cascade Range volcanoes vary in type. St. Helens is a stratovolcano, and has a tendency towards pyroclastic events.

Rusty and his Washingtonian blogger pal Duane the Forester have better ongoing coverage of this, but if she really goes on us, I'll post the local reaction as best I can. I'm about 150 miles south of St. Helens, so unless there's a lot of ash, I probably won't be affected.