DJ's Year in Review

DJ Drummond over at Polipundit has come up with an excellent Year in Review Post.

US aid $350 million and counting - Updated

Direct Link to the Captain's Campaign. As of 7:30 am CST on 1/13/05 it's at $34,223.16! Update: Captain's Quarters has set January 12th as World Relief Day:

At Captain's Quarters, we're declaring January 12th World Relief Day. I ask that CQ readers donate their take-home pay for January 12th to the tsunami relief effort at World Vision. Obviously, we cannot hope to match the funds raised by governments -- but we can show what a handful of determined private individuals can do to help. If you can't afford to donate all of your take-home pay for that day, please donate what you can.

Spread the word. CBS Marketwatch: U.S. boosts aid to tsunami victims President Bush commits $350 million, with more to come "Our contributions will continue to be revised as the full effects of this terrible tragedy become clearer," the president said in a statement issued Friday as Americans celebrated the New Year's Holiday. "Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this epic disaster." I guess France isn't leading anymore...

France Leads Tsunami Aid Says Self

France is claiming to lead in tsunami aid. Link. I am reproducing the story in its entirety here.

PARIS France says it's the top donor for the tsunami disaster relief effort in Asia. The prime minister's boast that France is vaulting to "the head of all the contributors" follows barbs from the U-S about the extent of French generosity. In an interview this week on Fox News, the chief of the agency that distributes American aid said France tends not to be a world leader in foreign aid -- and often packages its help as loans. France's Foreign Ministry has rejected those allegations. Since Sunday's earthquake that triggered the tsunamis, the U-S has announced an initial aid package of 35 (m) million dollars, while also facing accusations from some that it had been stingy. France has pledged to provide 57 (m) million dollars.

Search strings

I've had a few hits from search results lately: On Google someone searched for: baen free library instapundit My post mentioning the Baen Free Library is here. On Yahoo someone searched for: jerry orbach religion I posted on Jerry Orbach's death yesterday and I have mentioned religion in a few posts. Google Ads points to religious ads a lot. I've also had several searches for assam american video because I posted that Fox News had the video.

Wish List for 2005

Here, in no particular order, are my wishes for 2005 including, but are not limited to (as I shall surely think of more), the following:

• The Iraqi election on January 30th goes off, if not without a hitch, at least with minimal problems.
• The Palestinian election is free, fair and valid.
• Annan and the rest of upper management at the U.N. realize that they have no credibility and resign.
• The clean up from the Tsunami is completed as quickly as possible to reduce the inevitable further losses due to disease.
• After the successful Iraqi election, Osama turns himself in.
• I find a job (preferably one I can do from home), or get myself some clients.
• Get a nice, new, highly powered laptop with lots of RAM, a big hard drive, a DVD/CD burner and loaded with software.
• Moonbats from both sides wake up and move a little more to center.

Add your own to the comments.

Iowahawk Exclusive

Iowahawk has found the first draft of Nick Coleman's diatribe against Powerline in a dumpster at the Mall of America. It begins:

NICK COLEMAN: THE FIRST DRAFT [ed. note: found in a dumpster outside the Mall of America -- the first draft of Nick Coleman's latest cry for help in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune] OOOH, TIME MAGAZINE BLOG OF THE YEAR! I AM SO FREAKING IMPRESSED... NOT By Nick Coleman Star-Tribune The end of the year is a time to bury the hatchet, so congratulations to Powerline, the Twin Cities blog that last week was named Time magazine's "Blog of the Year!" Now let me get a new hatchet. That's a veiled warning, readers, because Sensei Nick is about to unleash a flurry of professional journalism hatchet-fu on the so-called "Blog of the Year," which will soon be begging for mercy from my metaphors of fury. Trust me. It won't be pretty.

Read the rest.

Blogs, Bloggers and the Blogosphere

Wretchard has a well written essay that you should go read in its entirety: "Fortress Unvanquishable Save for Sacnoth"

Jerry Orbach Dead

Jerry Orbach is dead (last night) of prostate cancer at 69. He will be greatly missed. Lumiere the candelabra from Beauty and the Beast Lenny Briscoe of all the Law and Orders. And much, much more. IMDb Jerry Orbach page. God Bless Jerry and his family.

Blogosphere Wish List for 2005

La Shawn Barber has a Wish List for 2005.

Tsunami

Our thoughts and prayers are with all those lost in the tsunami and those who will be lost due to the aftermath. Command Post has a long list of charities that are helping.

Osama-Sunni Boycott

I was reading Captain Ed's post Osama Demands Boycott, Sunnis Respond. Coincidence? The Captain has a quote from the Washington Post stating (emphasis mine):

The largest political party representing Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority announced Monday that it would drop out of the Jan. 30 election, dealing a fresh blow to the vote's credibility on the same day the top Shiite Muslim candidate survived a car bombing.

If the Sunnis actually do boycott the elections and pull any of their candidates, they only disenfranchise themselves and can blame no one but themselves when they don't have a voice in the new government. They are not dealing a blow to the vote's credibility, they are dealing a blow to their own credibility. The MSM is at it again. Instead of criticizing the Sunnis (and Osama) for calling for a delay and/or boycott of the election, they are criticizing the Iraqis for wanting the election to go on as planned and calling those results into question a month before the election even happens. They seem to think that turnout will determine the credibility of the election. It won't. If only 20 percent of the people come out to vote, those 20 percent will determine the winners for the whole country. I am under the impression that if the Sunnis refuse to participate, after the election is over, they will insist on the new government giving them a voice, the voice that they deliberately gave up by not participating. The Captain ends his post with this graf, and I agree:

To get there, we have to have elections, and we have to make Iraqis confident in their existence. Delaying elections only feeds the conspiracy theorists and fatalists who refuse to believe in democracy and the rule of law. Regardless of Sunni participation, the elections must proceed.

Allah's Moving Back to Blogspot

Link to blogspot site where there is a new post waiting. The Allahpundit.com site is going dark January 1.

Christmas Morning

Well it's Christmas Morning. The few presents under the tree this year were opened. Children's faces were lit with Joy. "It's just what I always wanted", said the four year old of his Buzz Lightyear spaceship, Buzz, Woody, Alien and Zorg. "My very own Chess set, I really wanted one!", said the ten year old. The fourteen year old with a developmental delay was very happy that her new dolly had a bottle, so she could feed her. The snow is gently falling, large, dry flakes, to finally cover the grass. Today is the birthday of the Christ Child. First and foremost this is what we celebrate this day. Merry Christmas one and all!

Merry Christmas

For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord - Luke 2:11

Update on Uncle David

Uncle David's surgery has been rescheduled to January 4th. He will be coming home today to spend Christmas and New Year's with the family.

Prayers for my Uncle David

Prayers would be appreciated for my Uncle David. He's been at Mayo for the past two weeks and they have found some cancer on his pancreas. He has been previously diagnosed with pancreatitis, which was why he is there. They plan to do surgery on Thursday. Thank you.

Faith in Faith - Updated

I wonder if the people that have such a problem with religion in the public square just don't have enough faith in their own faith or non-faith. Are they afraid that a creche will suddenly convert them? That a wish of "Merry Christmas" will turn them into a Christian against their will? That a wish of "Happy Channukah" will convert them to Judaism? I have enough faith in my faith that I am not offended by any other expression of any other faith. As a child, we all sang Christmas songs and Channukah songs in the weeks before Christmas Break. Update: It seems Charles Krauthammer feels the same way.

Some Americans get angry at parents who want to ban carols because they tremble that their kids might feel "different" and "uncomfortable" should they, God forbid, hear Christian music sung at their school. I feel pity. What kind of fragile religious identity have they bequeathed their children that it should be threatened by exposure to carols? I'm struck by the fact that you almost never find Orthodox Jews complaining about a Christmas creche in the public square. That is because their children, steeped in the richness of their own religious tradition, know who they are and are not threatened by Christians celebrating their religion in public. They are enlarged by it. It is the more deracinated members of religious minorities, brought up largely ignorant of their own traditions, whose religious identity is so tenuous that they feel the need to be constantly on guard against displays of other religions -- and who think the solution to their predicament is to prevent the other guy from displaying his religion, rather than learning a bit about their own.

4-year-olds

My four year old noticed the Nativity set tonight. He went over to it and said, "Mommy, who are these people?" Right at that point he had his finger on the Baby Jesus figure. I said, "That's the Baby Jesus." He said, very seriously, "He's the Son of God." He is learning.

This is this year's gift - a pin. 

Favorite Hymn - O Holy Night

This is my absolute favorite Christmas Hymn O Holy Night O holy night, the stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth! Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born! O night, O holy night, O night divine! Led by the light of faith serenely beaming, With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand. So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming, Here came the wise men from Orient land. The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger, In all our trials born to be our Friend! He knows our need—to our weakness is no stranger. Behold your King; before Him lowly bend! Behold your King; before Him lowly bend! Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His Gospel is peace. Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother And in His Name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, Let all within us praise His holy Name! Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever! His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim! His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

I try to make a ornament or pin every year as a gift for my children's teachers and for relatives. This is last year's ornament.  

Rathergate Report delayed until January

Just heard on Fox News - The Ra^thergate report will now be issued sometime in January. USA Today story here. Media Research Center has a prediction about the bias at CBS

Kerik's pseudo-nannygate

LaShawn Barber is guestblogging over at Blogs for Bush. In her post Leftist Media (And Bloggers) Still Campaigning for Kerry she notes that the liberal media are trying to make a scandal out of this. My own thoughts mirror LaShawn's.

Kerik Withdraws

Bernard Kerik has withdrawn his name from consideration for the post of Secretary of Homeland Security. Reuters story has the following:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush's pick to become homeland security secretary, former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik, abruptly withdrew his nomination for the job on Friday night. The move came after news organizations raised some potential problems about Kerik, including his profitable membership on the board of Taser International, the stun-gun maker.

Read the rest.

Geneaology Blog

Joe Edmon at Geneaology Blog has linked to my photo below. He's called it Winter Wonderland. Snow's all gone now, it's been in the 40's here for a week. We had a beautifully white Thanksgiving, then it melted, then it snowed again and melted again. I hope we can have a white Christmas. Go check out their site, it looks as though they have a lot of news, information and resources available for investigating your own family tree.

The Anti-Immigration Wing of the Republican Party - updated

Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) said on O'Reilly tonight (I had to watch the repeat to make sure I had heard correctly the first time) that the people having trouble with drivers licenses are the "Anti-Immigration Wing of the Republican Party." Did you get the memo? I sure didn't. I am not against immigration - I have friends who are immigrants. People who followed the rules, learned the language, took the test and took the oath. Illegal Aliens don't belong here. Period. Go back to your home country and if you want to come back here, do it right. Any amnesty would be allowing them to "cut in line". If you want to become an American - you are quite welcome here. Just do it legally. Terrorists come here illegally to use our own system against us. When 19 terrorists can have 63 drivers licenses between them, there is a problem. When I moved from Vermont to back to Illinois and got my Illinois drivers license I had to surrender my Vermont drivers license. Of course, the terrorists didn't tell the DMV that they had valid licenses from other states and/or lied and said they physically lost it or something. If there were a national database of drivers licenses, DMV's would be able to check for unexpired licenses from other states, and, if they issue a new one, have the previous unexpired license(s) declared void. Update: Prestopundit has more on the Driver's License issue from an article in the LA Times.

Reciprocating

Drew at Darn Floor linked to my Reformation post below and put me on his blogroll. I have reciprocated.

Daou Report

Via Prestopundit:

A NEW BLOG AGGREGATOR -- left, right and center-- THE DAOU REPORT.

Cool site.

Protestant Reformation = Bloggers vs MSM??

I saw Luther when it came out on DVD last week and when I read Bill Bennett's commentary at RCP I was struck by the similarities between the two. In Bill Bennett's commentary there is the following quote:

Empowered, the people are changing talk radio. Speaking as a host of a three-hour talk show, it is evident that the public, which is checking assertions of fact as they are being made, is not sitting back and merely absorbing pontification. On talk radio, the lecture is fading, and it is being replaced by the interactive national seminar, where callers inform the host and audience as much as the host is informing listeners.

This is the paragraph that brought to mind the story of Martin Luther. He felt that the Church was interpreting the Word of God for the masses, not as written, but how they felt it should be. The Church was getting rich selling indulgences, time off from Purgatory and Martin couldn't find anyplace in Scripture that said there even was such a thing. He translated the Bible from Latin to German so the masses could read the Word of God for themselves, making their decisions from that Word, and not just the Church's interpretation of it. It seems to me that there is a parallel between Luther and the Church and the MSM and bloggers. The MSM tries to sell us their interpretation, expecting us to sit back and absorb their pontification. The bloggers and talk radio are providing the translation so we can make up our own minds. Update: Welcome Polipundit readers! Thanks Lorie. Update 2: Some commenters over at the Polipundit post that directs visitors here are positing that bloggers are equivalent to the printing press, rather than Luther. I still think that the bloggers are equivalent to Luther and the internet itself is equivalent to Gutenberg's printing press. Luther did the translation and the printing press was what allowed the translation to be widely disseminated. Think back to Ra^thergate - The attitude was "This is the truth because I/we say it's so." The bloggers took that "truth", dissected it, translated it and using their printing press (the internet) broadcast their translation to everyone.

Never Forget

Today is the 63rd anniversary of Pearl Harbor. 2,388 Americans lost their lives that day. Michelle Malkin has a great post with links.

The tree in my front yard the other night. The moon is just peeking over the top. Now it's 45 and there's no more snow. 

Allah's back ...

... and trolling for votes for Michele. Nice to see you back.

Becker-Posner Blog up and running

Gary Becker and Richard Posner have started their blog Becker-Posner Blog. They should provide some very interesting reading.

We have decided to start a blog that will explore current issues of economics, law, and policy in a dialogic format. Initially we will be posting just once a week, on Mondays. In time we may post more frequently. The first postings will be tomorrow, December 6. Becker is a Nobel-prize-winning economist who in addition to scholarly publications on a wide range of economic issues including education, discrimination, labor, the family, crime, addiction, and immigration, for many years wrote a monthly column for Business Week. Posner is a federal circuit judge and also a writer of books and articles in a variety of fields, including antitrust, intellectual property, and other fields in which economics is applied to law, but also topical fields such as impeachment, contested elections, and national-security issues. (The rules of judicial ethics preclude Posner from commenting publicly on pending or impending litigation or participating in politics, as by endorsing candidates.)

The Groningen Protocol

Hugh has several posts (here, here, here and Hugh's Weekly Standard column) on the Groningen Protocol linking to several other posts on the subject. He was looking for more MSM and blogger coverage of the story. I sent a copy of the Washington Times AP story to Fox to see if they were aware of it. Currently they have one story dated Tuesday, November 30 with two different links and headlines: Dutch Hospital Euthanizing Gravely Ill Babies and Netherlands Hospital Permits Euthanasia for Terminal Newborns. Hugh's Weekly Standard column contains the following:

This is either a low point, or a point of no return. The establishment of "independent committees" to dispatch non-consenting humans is nothing but a death penalty committee for innocents. Once begun, it is impossible--simply impossible--to limit the concept with any bright line. Abortion, of course, has always been limited by the physical act of birth, and once out of the womb, only the most extreme "reproductive rights" advocates have argued that the baby's natural right to live can be compromised by the mother. But now the Netherlands has gone farther--much, much farther. If the "severely retarded" may be killed upon appropriate motion, second, debate, and majority vote, why not the moderately retarded? Why not the mildly retarded? Why not, in fact, anyone the "independent committee" deems as usefully dispatched.

This is what really concerns me. My daughter has a developmental delay, epilepsy and moderate hearing and vision impairments. She weighed 4 pounds 10 ounces at birth, which is small, but her APGAR scores were 9 and 10. She has two genetic anomalies: She has an "extra" gene on one of her 10th chromosome pair and her 19th chromosome has a "ring" in a mosaic pattern. The chromosomes usually look like an eleven (11) two straight lines. On Katie's 19th chromosome, every other pair looks like a ten (10) instead. One of the pair is a circle instead of a straight line. She is 14 years old now. She doesn't speak well and uses some sign language to help her "get her message across.” Her 4-year-old brother is leaps and bounds ahead of her in speaking and development. Her 10-year-old brother also passed her up a long, long time ago. She may have Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. It is a severe form of epilepsy that usually develops in children between 1 and 8 years old (I took her to a neurologist at 18 months old). Most children with Lennox-Gastaut experience some degree of impaired intellectual functioning or information processing. It may be caused by brain injury, severe brain infections, genetic brain diseases, or developmental malformations of the brain. In some cases, no cause has been found. Prognosis varies, there is no cure. Complete recovery including freedom from seizures and normal development is very unusual. She can dress herself, feed herself, use the bathroom herself, and watch Barney and Shrek all day long. She likes to color and can copy some letters down. She can sight read some words. When her littlest brother was five weeks old and she was 10 years and 5 weeks old (her littlest brother was born the day before her 10th birthday) she had surgery for a vagus nerve implant. We were hoping that it could help "reprogram" her brain not to seize so often. She's been on many different medications over the last twelve years. Currently we have her on only one that seems to be working better. Her seizures are not as frequent, or as long. We are lucky that she doesn't have grand mal seizures. She'll just suddenly stop and jerk a few times. She can do this while walking and not fall down (atypical absence and myoclonic seizures). She needs to have weekly occupational, physical and speech therapy. Insurance companies don't want to cover this though, because the therapies will need to long term. The insurance companies seem to only want to cover, say, physical therapy after a broken bone. Something that won't take too long to show progress and finally be done. I've seen some that limit all three therapies to 30-60 visits total. This would allow her 10-20 weeks of all three therapies. I was first worried that Hugh was sliding down a slippery slope, but I don't think he is. Eventually they could do this to children and people older than 12. Katie is a beautiful, loving child and she will be a beautiful, loving adult. However, she probably won't be a "productive" adult. She probably won't be a "normal" woman who has a job, or gets married and has children. She won't go to college. She will need care for the rest of her life, either with me or with a group home of some kind. I also have to think about her care after I am gone. Death by committee could decide that she's "useless" and terminate her. That's what's really scary.

Kerik tapped to head Homeland Security - Updated

A senior administration official said that Bernie Kerik will be tapped to fill the Homeland Security Secretary position left open after Tom Ridge's resignation. Forbes story. I personally think that Bernie Kerik was a very good choice. Update: 12/10/04: Kerik withdraws name from consideration.

Tom Ridge Resigns - Press Conference @ 2:45 EST

Fox News has just reported that Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has announced his resignation. There will be a press conference at 2:45 EST. Update: He's said his resignation is effective February 1, 2005 - sooner if a replacement is chosen and confirmed prior to that. Link.

More books to re-read

In reading through other bloggers' lists, it seems that quite a few bloggers are C.S. Lewis fans. I have a few more too, some from other's lists (*) that I didn't think about and a few others. *Walter Miller's A Canticle for Liebowitz Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy, Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars *Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (New movie out May 6, 2005), The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life the Universe and Everything, and the fourth book in the trilogy So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish. Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn *Terry Pratchett's Discworld books (love The Luggage) Michael Ende's The Neverending Story (My copy [Doubleday, 1983] is printed in red and green ink. Red for Bastian's part of the story and Green for The Neverending Story itself.) More specific from my list of authors in the post below: Katherine Kurtz's The Deryni Chronicles Mercedes Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar, Vows and Honor, Halfblood Chronicles, The Mage Winds, and Bardic Voices Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern, The Rowan, Freedom, Crystal, Acorna, The Ship who Sang Robert Heinlein's Time Enough for Love (Future History with Lazarus Long), The Number of the Beast, Starship Troopers, A Stranger in a Strange Land, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, etc. Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series and Xanth trilogy of 27 books (it's 3³ / three cubed) (He's started the second trilogy with book # 28 - Currant Events) Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld, Dayworld, Venus on the Half-Shell (as Kilgore Trout), A Barnstormer in Oz (Dorothy's son goes to Oz), Tarzan Alive (what Edgar Rice Burroughs got wrong) Father Andrew Greeley's Blackie Ryan novels, Nuala Anne McGrail novels, the Angel series Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series Baen Books has a free library :

Introducing the Baen Free Library by Eric Flint Baen Books is now making available — for free — a number of its titles in electronic format. We're calling it the Baen Free Library. Anyone who wishes can read these titles online — no conditions, no strings attached. (Later we may ask for an extremely simple, name & email only, registration. ) Or, if you prefer, you can download the books in one of several formats. Again, with no conditions or strings attached. (URLs to sites which offer the readers for these format are also listed. ) Why are we doing this? Well, for two reasons. The first is what you might call a "matter of principle." This all started as a byproduct of an online "virtual brawl" I got into with a number of people, some of them professional SF authors, over the issue of online piracy of copyrighted works and what to do about it. There was a school of thought, which seemed to be picking up steam, that the way to handle the problem was with handcuffs and brass knucks. Enforcement! Regulation! New regulations! Tighter regulations! All out for the campaign against piracy! No quarter! Build more prisons! Harsher sentences! Alles in ordnung!

Birthdays and Books to read again and again - Updated

Michelle Malkin notes that today is C.S. Lewis' birthday. He was born November 29th, 1898. Hugh Hewitt is asking for novels that have been read at least twice. Topping my list are those by C.S. Lewis. The Space Trilogy - Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength (I just took these three out of the library on Thursday Wednesday to re-read for the umpteenth time). We also can't omit The Chronicles of Narnia (I own the seven book series). Hugh mentions The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and I would add The Hobbit and The Father Christmas Letters (letters that Tolkien wrote from Santa to his son Christopher). In a previous posting here I highly recommend the series of historical novels by Edward Rutherfurd; Sarum, London, Russka, The Forest and Dublin. Other authors whose books I've re-read: Robert Heinlein, Phillip Jose Farmer, Father Andrew Greeley, Robert Jordan, Katherine Kurtz, Mercedes Lackey, Anne McCaffrey, and Piers Anthony. Of course there are also the children's books that I've read over and over to my children (the ones that you can know by heart)... The Velveteen Rabbit, The Polar Express, Green Eggs and Ham, Mouse, Look Out!, but they aren't novels... Update: Welcome visitors from Hugh Hewitt. Please feel free to list your re-reads in the comments. Thanks Hugh! Update: I have added another post with more books to re-read.

Newsweek's Periscope on Unfit for Command

In Newsweek's Persicope section, page 9 there is a short article by Susannah Meadows about the all the political books that used to be on the front tables at the bookstores. In this article she says: "Even the conservative imprint Regenery isn't giving up yet on O'Neill's book [Unfit for Command], the now largely discredited attack on Kerry's military service. The publisher is planning to market its remaining copies as the book that brought the candidate down." (emphasis mine). Is it largely discredited because the liberals say it is? I still haven't seen any proof of its being discredited. Haven't seen Kerry's records (still hasn't signed the Form 180) proving that what John O'Neill says isn't true.

Birthdays

Today my youngest son turned Four, tomorrow my daughter turns Fourteen. They were both due somewhere between December 5th and 12th. Katie was tiny, tiny 4 pounds 10 ounces. She has a developmental delay, epilepsy, and moderate hearing and vision impairments. Just before Christmas, just after her little brother was born she had surgery for a vagus nerve implant. She's just had a change in her medication for the epilepsy too. We are hoping her epilepsy will be more controlled and that her cognition will improve with the new meds. Nicky was 6 pounds even. He was so good this morning. His present was waiting on the table and he had to wait until Mommy woke up to open it. He was thrilled to receive a Batman Monster Truck. Happy birthdays to my oldest and youngest babies.

Veteran's Day

Chris at A Large Regular has something you should read. Go do it. Now. To all who have served and are serving now in America's Armed Forces: Thank you for your service. Happy Veteran's Day.

ok now he's really dead

He's really dead this time, Yasser Arafat. The Palestinians are opting to follow the law in appointing the president for the next 60 days, at which time they will hold elections. Nice that they are opting to follow the law. May God bless his soul. He certainly needs it.

Elizabeth Edwards, our prayers are with you

Elizabeth Edwards had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Get well soon.

Yasser Arafat has died - UPDATED

George Bush was just informed by a reporter (Bill Sammon from the Washington Times) at his press conference that Yasser Arafat has died. He was asked what his reaction is. George Bush said, "God bless his soul." Right answer Mr. Bush. Update: I tried to update this at 11 cst, but then the power went out. Bill Sammon was informed by the AP that Yasser Arafat had died and asked his question of the President. Further reports have it that Yasser Arafat is in very grave condition. President Bush still had the right answer. 12:21 cst. Finally Dead at approx 3:30 am Paris Time - November 11, 2004

Change the Primary System

We need to change the primary election system. I would suggest regionalizing the primaries, set up four distinct regions in the US. Hold the primaries over four consecutive weeks in March or April. Rotate the regions on a two- year basis so that each region has a chance to be first in the Presidential election years and the off-year elections. John Kerry had the nomination before Illinois held its primary. Illinois only cemented it in.

Election Day - Final

The American people have spoken. A 3.5 million popular vote mandate. W won with over 50% of the popular vote.

Election Day (IV) - Updated

Polls close at 7:00 p.m. CST. The County says it will start uploading results at 7:30. I'll try to keep up. Update: Our precinct had 829 registered voters and 451 votes cast for a turnout of 54.4%! In our precinct: Bush/Cheney 227 50.33% Kerry/Edwards 216 47.89% 11 votes! Update (County Wide):72.2% Turnout. Bush/Cheney: 139,006 50.45% Kerry/Edwards: 134,231 48.71%

Election Day (III) - updated

At 10:30 a.m. I was the 171th precinct voter and the 255th from both precincts. There were 12 voting booths and 10 were occupied. That is the most people I have ever seen in my polling place at one time. The election judge said it was pretty slow right then, they have seen many more at one time already today. There were two men at the door to direct you to the proper precinct table. If you didn't know what precinct, they directed you to a third table to be "looked up". Since my last name can be difficult, I just showed my registration card. The two people behind me did as well. It seemed as though everyone leaving was happy to get their "Proud to Vote" sticker, in fact, as I was coming in a woman was insisting on getting her sticker. I'm in Illinois, so we know how the state (Chicago) is going to vote, but I did my part for W. Update: At the Primary there were 743 registered voters in my precinct. 134 votes were cast for a turnout of 18.03%. The other precinct had 709 registered voters at the Primary, 145 votes were cast for a turnout of 20.45%. Already at 10:30 at voter number 171 from my precinct, we were already 27% higher than the primary. As voter 255 from both precincts, we were at 91% of the Primary's total votes.

Election Day (II)

Air Raid Sirens (Tornado Sirens) just went off. First Tuesday of the month at 10 a.m. Is this going to end up scaring anybody?

Election Day (I)

My husband went and voted this morning. He was number 77 out of 2 precincts in the polling place at 6:40 am. In the Primary, we went together and were numbers 100 and 101, but I can't remember what time we went. I am going to go a little later to get a better sense of turnout in our little precinct. I think that there were about 364 registered voters in the precinct at Primary time. Update: At the Primary there were 743 registered voters in the precinct.

If you can read this

then you are much too close. You cheated to find out who Madeline Albright was...

Happy Halloween

Our village holds trick or treating from 1 pm until 5 pm on the Sunday before Halloween, or on Halloween if it falls on Sunday, like today. Our little Mickey Mouse went the rounds for an hour with his father, had a piece of candy when he got home, watched a little TV and was out like a light. He's almost four and really needed a nap. Not too many visitors today. Lots of ghouls, a tiny giraffe (15 months old), several Spidermen, various Disney Princesses and a Care Bear. I was glad to see that most the trick or treaters had at least one adult with them. Leftover candy, but all in all a nice Halloween.

Schratwieser Consulting

Office and Administrative Services on an as-needed basis. 100% Woman Owned Business Service Connected Disabled Veteran Owned Business Contact us: info *at* schratwieserconsulting *dot* com Experience Data Entry Data entry services, into a database, spreadsheet, etc. Mailing list generation. Word Processing Correspondence, reports, memos. Editing and Proofreading A "fresh set of eyes" to avoid potentially embarrassing errors in spelling and grammar. Desktop Publishing Menus, flyers, postcards, direct mail pieces, etc. Custom Spreadsheets Custom Excel spreadsheets with "built-in" formulas and automation. Custom Templates and Automation Word forms and templates (contacts, dunning letters, etc.) Database Design Access database and report design. Crystal Reports Design Using Crystal Reports with various databases to show the data you want in the format of your choice. Transcription Both standard and medical transcriptions services are available. Medical transcription in the SOAP format.

Experience

Schratwieser Consulting Accounts Receivable/Cash Applications Allocating payments to invoices Transferring payments between client accounts Running Accounts Receivable Aging Reports Accounts Payable Vouchering vendor invoices Running Accounts Payable aging reports Selecting, printing and mailing checks to vendors. Commissions Analyst Create, maintain and administer several Access databases Prepare weekly commission reports for Channel Sales Partners Prepare weekly accounts receivable aging reports for Channel Sales Partners Calculate and prepare monthly statements for Branch Sales Reps and Regional Managers for both Branch and Channel Sales Publish reports using Crystal Reports, Access and Excel spreadsheets Prepare ad hoc reports Reduced "advanced" commissions account by $250,000 (85%) after identifying the problem and working with the JD Edwards IS team on a solution Reduced man hours needed to process commissions by automating several processes Create and modify JDE WorldWriters for use in ad hoc and standard reporting. Sales Coordinator Created, maintained and administered Access database of customer information Administer and process Annual Product Return Program Assist with administration of Sales Incentive Program Prepare confidential Sales Reports and Analyses Create and administer Crystal Reports Administer Customer Purchase Objective Program Administer GoldMine Contact Manager Created Access database and accompanying Crystal Report for company phone directory Customer Support Customer service representative for medical products company and children's products company Solving problems customers had with their orders Preparing Excel spreadsheets on an as needed basis for the Customer Service Manager Evening customer service for medical company for field sales representatives Changing orders per sales rep instructions Entering faxed orders Wrote SAP r/3 training manual for evening customer service representatives Medical Transcription Medical Transcription in SOAP format for large University Medical Group Office Office Manager Managing all office functions for clock sales and repair shop Executive Secretary Providing secretarial services to President and Vice President of import/export company Working with Traffic Manager to ensure that invoices matched letter of credit requirements Operating Telex machine and fulfilling reception duties

"Jumping to Conclusions" On Beltway Boys

I was watching Beltway Boys earlier and Mort and Fred were discussing Kerry and Bush's accusing each other of "jumping to conclusions". The comment made in answer to this was (paraphrased): Bush may have "jumped to conclusions" regarding WMD's, but it was based on CIA and other intelligence reports and was conventional wisdom. Kerry jumped to conclusions based on a front page story in the NY Times.

Bush at 50% in New Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll

Just heard on Fox News: Newest Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll shows Bush 50% Kerry 45% Nader negligible +/-3% margin of error. Link.

Fox has the Assam The American Video - Updated

Just now on Special Report with Brit Hume, they showed part of the Assam the American Video that ABC is holding on to. Steve Centanni said that Fox News had obtained it independently. There is no link to the story yet, just this link to Special Report (scroll down). Update: Link to Fox News. Link to video from there.(hat tip Polipundit)

Good Reading

Anything by Edward Rutherfurd. Sarum, London, Russka, The Forest, The Princes of Ireland - The Dublin Saga. All these books take you on a grand journey through the history of a specific area. You see the area through the eyes of several families through the centuries. Sorry, that's a lot of "through"s. Edward Rutherfurd is an excellent writer who helps you "live the history".

Iraq equals Bay of Pigs?

The Captain's got the story. Deeper, deeper.

World Series or White House

When John Kerry was asked whether he'd choose a World Series win for the Boston Red Sox or a move to the White House, he chose the White House. Now that the Boston Red Sox have won the World Series, does that mean he won't get the White House?

We need a clear victory

The one thing we need on November 2nd is a clear victory. We need a victory that is more than the polls' margin of error. A victory that is clearly more than the Dem's "spoiler" vote. You do notice don't you that according to the Dem's a vote for Nader is a vote lost for them, not for the Republicans.

I should believe him?

Why does John Kerry think that I should believe him? I can list the reasons I shouldn't: The "magic hat", Christmas in Cambodia, the signing of the 1st Gulf War agreement, meeting with the UN Security committee, the 16 point buck, the Boston Marathon, I could go on and on.... So why should I believe that he has a better plan? That he could do a better job in the White House? Update: Forgot that Red Sox game.

I've Been Offline for a bit

Friday I went to the dentist for some major dental work, and there was pain. Didn't feel up to writing. Saturday was my cousin's wedding. He was the groom and his bride looked like a princess. Sunday and yesterday was writing the two essays that were due for class. Yesterday I cleaned the front of the fridge too. Threw away about 60% of what was on there, mostly expired coupons that I never used. I you haven't used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, go buy one. They are the only product I've found that DOES work as advertised. Also they have absolutely no cleaning product in them and are safe for children to use.

Public Editor at Chicago Tribune says Readers are intelligent!

In today's Chicago Tribune, Don Wycliffe, the Public Editor writes an essay regretting the lack of unexpurgated news printed in today's papers. He says that papers used to print entire speeches and reports and let the reader decide what was going on. He says papers print too many analyses and interpretations instead of verbatim transcripts and he feels that the papers ought to do more. Quote: "It's ironic isn't it? As our readers have become better educated, more literate, more able to to think for themselves and more insistent on doing so, we in the industry have given them less of what they need to do so. Instead, we give them more analyses and interpretation, which they distrust because analyses and interpretation, by definition, depart from the objective ideal of the newspaper, which we have taught them to expect."

Kerry Speaks

I'm watching Kerry speak on FOX right now and he is just reiterating the No WMD line - completely avoiding the fact that Saddam was ready to restart his program the moment that the sanctions were lifted and that Saddam was bribing French and Russian officials to end the sanctions as soon as possible.

This is Attempted Terrorism - updated

I say attempted because I don’t think it’ll work. Terrorism: Use of terror especially as a means of coercion Terror: 1. state of intense fear; 2c. a cause of anxiety; worry. Synonym see Fear Terror: 4. violence (as bombing) committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands definitions from M-W.com Sure, this isn’t killing kids, or beheading hostages, but it is still attempted terrorism. These people are attempting to scare people as a means of coercion. Protestors Ransack Bush/Cheney Headquarters in Orlando (via ByrdDroppings) New Photos: Shots Fired Into Knox Bush/Cheney Headquarters Republican Campaign Signs Vandalized Swastika Burned Into Grass On Bush/Cheney Supporter’s Lawn Wanted: Attackers of Campaign Signs Laptops Stolen from Bush Campaign Office Here We Go Again – Political Sign Theft, Vandalism on Rise Vandals Target GOP Campaign Signs Vandals Hit GOP Office in North Central Wisconsin Update: The Kerry Spot has more... The Duluth, Minn story in the Kerry Spot post has this (emphasis mine):

"It was not an act of hate," said Dustin "Dusty" Dzuck, 17, a senior at Denfeld High School. "My mom called me a terrorist. It wasn't terrorism; it was activism. It was for a cause.... The whole thing is, basically, I just wanted to get the word out there that in my opinion Bush isn't doing this country any good."

His mom was right. Dusty - Over three thousand people died on September 11th for a cause. People are being taken hostage and beheaded for a cause. And the MSM just doesn't help by labeling these terrorists as anything but.

Kerry Campaign Timeline

Chris over at A Large Regular has expanded his most excellent No Way to Run a Campaign Timeline into October. See also August and September.

Re the NYT story on "what did they know..."

Prestopundit has post regarding this: Two mindsets, crystallized. The money quote, for me is: RICE: George, the fact is that what you know today can affect what you do tomorrow, but not what you did yesterday. John Kerry needs to get this thought "seared, seared" into his brain.

Letters to the editor

In reading the Chicago Tribune’s letters to the editor this weekend, one really stood out:

Shane Willmon Published October 3, 2004 Gurnee -- Before the debate, one candidate talked to hurricane victims and one candidate got a manicure. For me, the debate is over.

I agree.

Kerry in Hampton, NH UPDATED

John Kerry said Monday that President Bush has sacrificed hopes for disease cures offered by stem cell research to "extreme right-wing ideology."

This is from an ABC report.

Does John Kerry realize that George Bush is the first president to publically fund stem cell research? Sure, it's limited to those lines created before Aug 9, 2001, but only public funding. There are no limits to privately funded research on any lines (even those created after Aug 9, 2001).

Once again, he's using fear tactics.

Captain Ed has more.

Global Test

From Rand Simberg, via Instapundit, (via ByrdDroppings) here is the Global Test. See how you score on it. Via ByrdDroppings: UPDATE: See the new "global test" ad here.

Give Iran Nuclear Fuel

John Kerry wants to give Iran nuclear material. From the debate: "I think the United States should have offered the opportunity to provide the nuclear fuel, test them, see whether or not they were actually looking for it for peaceful purposes. If they weren't willing to work a deal, then we could have put sanctions together. The president did nothing." This is like leaving a four year old in the kitchen with a full cookie jar in reach. "Don't eat any of the cookies, little one." Come back in a hour and see the evidence of oreos all over his face and then impose "sanctions". Most parents will make sure the cookie jar is out of reach so there will be no need to "test" to see if he will eat or not eat the cookies.

X-Prize has been Won!

SpaceShipOne has won the Ansari X-Prize, setting a new record of 360,000 feet. See story in the San Jose Mercury News (free sub).

Debate - first thought

I was trying to get my reading in for my first class and then I had a dental appointment so I haven't had a lot of time to think about the debate yet. My first thought about the debate: Kerry held off in entering the stage just enough that he made Bush walk further to meet him. He also tried to keep Bush next to him longer than Bush wanted to be there. I'll have further thoughts after I re-read the transcript and look around a little to see what others are saying. Hugh Hewitt is going to have a symposium on the debate.

support

Kerry Kamp Tries to Cheat

Jim Geraghty over at the Kerry Spot has the story from AP. If they can't cheat, they can't win.

FOX News Fisks the CBS/Draft Story

I've been watching FOX News today (sorry - can't find a link) and every hour they've been running a thorough fisking of the draft story. They even got Charlie Rangel to admit that the legislation was intended to stir things up.

First Day of Class

Today is my first day of class at the University of Phoenix - Online. I have a lot of reading to do. I'm excited and slightly anxious. This isn't my first online class, I took some at the College of Lake County, so I'm not too worried about the online part of it. I just hope that I can do a good job and feel totally inadequate.

Words

They say a picture can paint a thousand words. Sometimes, though, it only takes a few words to paint a picture. Pumpkin Face Kerry. There. I'm sure every one of you saw a picture in your mind. Many of you chose one of the numerous still images of Presidential Candidate Kerry with his orange face. Maybe some of you saw John Kerry with a large, round, Jack-o-Lantern on his shoulders. Some maybe saw a jack-o-lantern with a shape more in keeping with the shape of John Kerry's actual face. As we go into the debate tonight, let's remember that just a few words can paint a picture.

Please Speak English

Warning: Possibly Controversial Assimilate: 2a: to make similar Abrogate: 1 : to abolish by authoritative action : ANNUL 2 : to treat as nonexistent synonym see NULLIFY First, I am not a xenophobe. If you are going to choose to live in the United States, please learn to speak English. I have a problem with people coming to live in this country and not bothering to learn the language. I have a problem with people expecting me to learn their language in my country. As you can see from the above referenced links, assimilate doesn’t mean abrogate. Learning my language in my country doesn’t mean that you can’t speak your language anymore. If I were to choose to live in your home country, I would be expected to learn the language. A friend of mine, who just took his citizenship oath in August (Congrats!) is from Germany. He once said to me, “I call the 800 number and they say ‘Press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish’, where is the ‘Press 3 for German?’” I lived in Germany for a year and a half. I learned enough German to get along, to be able to ask what something was; how much did it cost; where was the bathroom, etc. I heard some Americans ask if the shopkeeper spoke English and some would say no even if they did because of the “arrogant Americans who think everyone, everywhere should speak English.” Mostly, I found that if I tried to speak German, they would reply in English, because I tried. I took French in high school, and still remember enough to get along there too. I can puzzle out some Spanish and Italian because of their relationship to French. I can also sing the “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes” song in Japanese courtesy of Shari Lewis and Lambchop. I was in Montreal once and a Scottish couple stopped a girl on the street to ask where the shopping district was. I don’t know if she was a francophone or just didn’t understand their accent, but she looked confused and couldn’t answer. I told the couple to go down three blocks and turn left, they would be in the shopping district. The Scottish woman said to me, “Thank you dear. You speak English very well.” I said, “Thanks. But I’m American”.

A Small Kerry Anecdote

Last January, my husband, 4 year old son and I traveled to Davenport, Iowa to attend my husband's graduation from college. We were walking down a street near the Radisson on a Sunday morning, and saw a Kerry campaign office. We stopped in front of the office and I remarked. "Hey, look - it's a Kerry office". Just at that time a Kerry campaign worker came up and went into the office. We then continued walking. I said to my husband, "He didn't know if we were Republicans or Democrats or that we weren't from Iowa and he didn't say anything to us, standing in front of the Kerry office. I would have thought he would have said something. I guess Kerry doesn't need votes."

The Draft Scare - updated

Boy, was I glad that I had already read Betsy's post on the draft scare when my step-daughter IM'd me on Tuesday night.

Mom - there's gonna be a draft and I know you and Dad are vets, but I will refuse!

She just turned 17 on September 11th. We've spoken to her about joining the service as a way to pay for college, to see the world. She's said she's a conscientious objector and won't ever fight. Ok, that's her choice. We won't make her join the service. I told her that there will be no draft. I told her that the legislation was introduced by Democrats just so they could use this as a scare tactic. I told her that they introduced the legislation knowing that there was no possible way it would pass either house.

Mom - I won't go! I'll move out of the country! I won't fight! They can't make me!

I told her to go to snopes.com to look it up. I told her again and again, in all caps, that there is no draft. I used the excuse of getting my four year old son to bed to sign off Messenger. She just wouldn't listen. Now I hear that MTV is promulgating this rumor. Just One Minute has the story there. UPDATE: Jim Geraghty at National Review Online's Kerry Spot has more. UPDATE 2: Betsy has another update here.

John Walker Lindh

John Walker Lindh has asked President Bush for a commutation of his 20 year sentence for "helping the Taliban". Bloomberg has the story. He's asking because Hamdi was let go after being held without charges. Mr. Lindh seems to forget that he's being held because he pled guilty in a court of law and was duly sentenced.

Blogging

I started reading blogs just before Rathergate hit the fan. I've been a big fan ever since. Since I am starting school again, hopefully I will end up with a degree this time, I have decided to try blogging myself. If nobody reads this, well then it's just an online journal. If someone does read it, hopefully I'll have something that interests you or gives you something to think about. I can also hone my writing skills while I'm at it. To the left is the list of blogs that I check at least daily. Some I check more than once during the day. If you haven't already, please check them out. Kim

Autobiography

I had to write a half page autobiography for my first online class. Here it is: I have lived in Lake County, Illinois most of my life. The two exceptions are when I lived in Germany as part of the United States Army and five years in Vermont after leaving the Army. I grew up in the sixties and seventies, graduating from high school in 1980. I worked for minimum wage ($3.25/hr) at various retail and food service establishments. I went away to college for a year, but couldn’t afford it after that. I worked at more retail and food service establishments, as an assistant manager at a pizza place and a manager of a mall food court “restaurant”. I finally got a “real” job as a receptionist/telex operator at an import/export company in downtown Chicago. After a year, I was promoted to executive secretary. One more year and I decided to join to Army. I was able to go to Germany for my permanent posting with the Army. It was wonderful. I got to go to Oktoberfest in Munich, see the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, see the Illumination of Heidelberg Castle, Le Mannequin Pis in Brussels and many, many trips to nearby Rothenberg, a medieval walled city. On one trip I took, I was in five countries in one day. Started in the Netherlands, went through Belgium, Luxembourg, France and back into Germany. I was in Germany when the Berlin Wall fell. After Germany, I went with my first husband to Vermont, where he is from. My daughter and my oldest son were born there. We moved back to Illinois to be near my family and try for a better job. Then I got divorced. I remarried in 1988 to a man I had met in Germany at the same time as I met my husband. We have a son together and he has a daughter from his previous marriage. He has completed his Bachelor’s and is currently working on his Masters. I had been taking courses at the local community college, but decided that I need to get a Bachelor’s degree in order to get a job that pays what I’m worth. I feel as if I am not even considered because of the lack of the degree.

Zachriel the Angel of Memory from Jupiter

Angel Zachriel