Another writer at Wizbang hits a topic that is dear to my heart. Originally it was Jay Tea with A tortuous use of language. Now it’s Rob with Did Kennedy Molest Alito’s Wife? I’ve writtenonce or twice, on the subject of Words have meaning, but I’ve never got the point across as these two do. It’s nice to see people standing up about speaking clearly, and the chronically offended members of the Left. Words do have meaning, and if you listen carefully, some people actually do use them correctly.

The American Thinker has a great post on the Flight 93.

Flight 93 also filled me with a sense of pride: there were Sheepdogs on that flight, the kind of Americans of whom I have written previously, who, in the face of fiery, explosive death, rose up and attacked the invading wolves with a brave ferocity that denied the predators their ultimate victim, the veritable fold of the flock, that great, symbolic White House or Capitol in Washington, DC. Yes, they were unable to save their immediate flock, but those stalwart Sheepdogs fought tooth and fang to protect the heart and soul of our national flock, icons of democracy whose destruction would have been a breathtaking victory for the terrorists and a dreadful blow to the American psyche. Our debt to those gallant Sheepdogs will be forever unending.

It’s a shame that the animal rights groups have devolved to this level of behavior. While I don’t agree with all of their ideas, they
sometimes have legitimate concerns. Animals are not always treated properly. Any hope of my being sympathetic to their cause though disappears when things like this happen.  I won’t be bullied into supporting ideas or causes.

Backstory: Eco-vigilantes: All in ‘The Family?’ | csmonitor.com

Five days later, through an anonymous communiqué, the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) took credit for the fire that destroyed the facility in July of 1997. But it would be years before the alleged plotters were apprehended. And until then, according to a 65-count indictment announced last week by the US Justice Department, the 11-member group of activists launched 17 similar attacks across Oregon, Wyoming, Washington, and California in what authorities consider one of the most extensive campaigns of “ecoterrorism” in US history.

The Virginia Blog Carnival is up at a prince william citizen!

First I need some really small lures.

Scientists Discover World’s Smallest Fish - Yahoo! News

It’s tiny, it lives in acid and it has these bizarre grasping fins.

Once Mac announced it was using Intel, I wondered if this was going to happen. Kind of sad in a way. Somehow cheapens the Mac. If I was forced to use XP, and had a choice of computers I suppose I can see the upside though. At least you get the Mac hardware.

Windows XP on Mac? at Ramblings of a Computer Guru

I love a good underdog story. Lewis Libby is the scapegoat everyone seems to want, but he just won’t stay tied to that stake. The reporters want him to be found guilty without making public statements themselves, and now they’ll have to give make their knowledge public. You have to love it.

The American Thinker

The indictment, by treating the small differences in the recollections of the reporters and Libby as evidence of criminality on Libby’s behalf, and by overstating substantially how well-kept a secret Plame’s CIA employment was, left the door wide open for the discovery requests Libby has made. The Prosecutor’s statement at the press conference that Libby was the first in the chain of gossip can only be fully refuted by granting Libby the discovery he seeks, although others like Bob Woodward have already poked holes in that charge.

From on High pulls no punches on his review of comments by Joel Stein. Great writing as usual.

From On High: Joel Stein Revealed

Then I read this interview with Hugh Hewitt and came to the realization that the LA Times columnist isn’t really a traitor either. I had given him too much credit. Joel Stein is a moron who can’t put two coherent sentences together.

If Iwo Jima Happened Today

Thanks Dean for posting this.

Wow, if this is true it will do strange things to politics around the world. It’s going to be interesting to see the fallout from this book.

The man who served as the no. 2 official in Saddam Hussein’s air force says Iraq moved weapons of mass destruction into Syria before the war by loading the weapons into civilian aircraft in which the passenger seats were removed.

The Iraqi general, Georges Sada, makes the charges in a new book, “Saddam’s Secrets,” released this week. He detailed the transfers in an interview yesterday with The New York Sun.
Iraq’s WMD Secreted in Syria, Sada Says - January 26, 2006 - The New York Sun - NY Newspaper

A tip of the hat to Cold Fury

Gun bill targets colleges

This is a touchy subject. I notice something odd in the discussion though. The “Pro-carry” people comment on the legality of the universities ban on legal carry by permit holders, while people against the new law talk about the need for the rules. The critics of the law are not addressing the issue of the legality of the current university rules. It may be important, you may see a need, but are the current rules legal? I’m not sure they are. I’m also concerned with enforcement. How would a visitor with a legal permit know these areas are off limits? I think this new law, or one like it needs to be put in place to clarify these gray areas. It’s legal, or it’s not, and it should be reflected in State Law, not just in local or university rules.

The other problem I have with this article is the use of the emotional plea to gain sympathy for the people against this bill. The writer has an opinion about this bill, and uses the comments of others to put it forth rather than stating his own opinion. In this article the plea is more subtle than most.

“But officials at colleges throughout the state argue that school isn’t just another place and guns are anathema to a learning environment that should be free of fear or intimidation.”

“We do believe this has grave implications,” he said. “Why would the General Assembly wish to legislate to make campuses unsafe?”

“Free of fear or intimidation.” “Make campuses unsafe” On their face these statements seem like common sense. They’re not. Statistics show that legal carry doesn’t make people less safe, but more. John Lott. among others has documented this extensively. Causing fear and intimidation usually falls into behavior that can be prosecuted. If someone is scaring people, or flashing a gun, call the police! Have the person arrested. Brandishing (waving, flourishing a gun menacingly) is against the law.

Don’t expect rules and laws to keep you safe. Just because there are rules against guns on campus doesn’t mean there are no guns on campus. Someone who has a carry permit isn’t immune to laws about intimidation, stalking and so forth. They have to follow the same laws as everyone else. What a carry permit does mean is that the person took the time, effort and money necessary to learn how to use a gun safely and legally. That’s a good thing.

The students carrying illegally are the ones you need to worry about. University rules won’t protect you from them, but the 35 year old mother of two sitting two rows behind you might. If you let her use her permit and carry concealed.

This is kind of funny…Which Sports Car Are You?

I’m a Lamborghini Murcielago!

You’re not subtle, but you don’t want to be. Fast, loud, and dramatic, you want people to notice you, and then get out of the way. In a world full of sheep, you’re a raging bull.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

I learned two key things growing up that I’ve decided most people have never learned. The most important is that my father instilled in me a work ethic that has served me well throughout my life. Work hard at whatever I do, and while I could do anything I want, no job is beneath me. Several times I’ve accepted jobs others thought were beneath them and ended up with the job everyone wanted. The second key I learned on my first paying job, working cattle. I grew up around cowboys, not people who wore boots to the office, but people who literally made their living working with cattle. There is a tradition among them that I have always tried to live by. Ride for the brand.

I’ve found that starting at the bottom in a profession gives you a viewpoint that few others share. In twelve years of graphic design, six years as department head I rarely met a designer who had worked with anything but computers. Young designers have no idea of the history of their art. They know the latest software, but not what was behind it. How many people adjust leading (space between lines of text), but don’t know why it’s called that. (Blocks of lead were used to space lines of type in a printing press.) This lack of history causes several problems:

• Without the history, they have nothing to fall back on when there is a problem.
• Without the history, they have trouble predicting were problems will arise.
• Without the history, they can have trouble with things like improving workflow, changing procedures, or even upgrading software or hardware. (What they do, is all they know.)

The idea of riding for the brand is something I rarely see in practice. Our society is constantly reinforcing the idea of “lookout for number one”, so the idea of loyalty to an employer is out of fashion. The “lookout for number one” concept doesn’t work for me, not so much in theory as in practice. My biggest problem with the practice is that is the identity of “number one”. I’ve always believed God was Number One. The other big problem I see is people sabotaging themselves in their efforts to put themselves above others. Despite what a lot of employees think, their bosses are often not idiots. Blatant self-promotion isn’t always the best course of action for an employee. When it is at the expense of the company, the employer often doesn’t take it well. Sure, most little things you do will slip by, but so will that next promotion you wanted. It’s often in your best interest to be a loyal employee, especially since it is so rare that it often gets noticed.

I’m tired of ordering a cheeseburger, and getting a chicken sandwich because the waiter wants to be an actor, or a plumber, or anything other than a waiter. Why can’t people do the job they have. It always amazes me how obvious some employees dislike for their jobs can be. If you dislike your job that much… Quit! Do something else, anything else. Don’t hang around just so you can screw up my order. Get a job you like, get a job you love and give it everything you have. Don’t be afraid to start at the bottom, and work your way up. (The key there is work.) Here’s what I want people to take away from this… Whatever you want to do, learn your profession from the ground up, you can build on that. You’d be amazed at what you’ll learn. You might even learn to like your job, and how to ride for the brand.

This was quite funny. It’s apparently important for these Code Pink to protest, but not so important they’ll fill out the paperwork.

Michelle Malkin: CODE PINK BEATS A HASTY RETREAT

Code Pink, the radical anti-war guerilla group that has hounded wounded troops outside Walter Reed Army Hospital, won’t be monopolizing its street corner for quite some time. Seems they forgot to renew their permit.

My youngest daughter is sick. RSV can be quite bad, but she’s going to be fine. She had to be admitted to the hospital for oxygen, but she’s responding very well to that. For several days she’s been awake most of the night. I don’t understand how my wife can keep functioning on as little sleep as she’s been getting. I’ve been getting noticeably more, and it’s killing me. I wandered around our bedroom last night for twenty minutes trying to find my pajamas in case our older daughter woke in the middle of the night. Only after I’d quit looking and decided to wear shorts did I realize that I was already wearing them, and had been for an hour.

Prepping my house for new floors this weekend. I think I’ve finally cleaned up the last of the red paint. So much paint had soaked into the carpet I had to scrape it off of the subfloor. It really didn’t show much on the surface, but then it was a scary carpet color to begin with. Whoever decorated this house for the previous owner was on serious medication… or maybe should have been.

Former Teen Idol Garrett Charged With Heroin Possession - Los Angeles Times Remember him? Wow, he hasn’t aged well.

Funniest Blonde Joke Ever

From On High has a great post about European compliance with the Kyoto Protocol. Apparently while they are whining about the US not signing the Protocol, they aren’t in compliance with it. Seems signing it is important for the planet, but actually reducing your countries emissions is too much to ask.

From On High: So Much For Saving The Planet

The Virginia Blog Carnival is up. I submitted a post for the first time. I’ve been meaning to for months, but never quite timed it right.