Chicago Police Officers To Be Fired For Cowardice

Three Chicago Police officers ran away when a fellow officer was struggling for his life with an armed man. Now two of the three have been fired, and the third faces termination.

Hundreds of WMDs Found In Iraq

Funny, I keep hearing about how Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction. But here are two congressmen quoting declassified reports that we've found hundreds of weapons munitions containing mustard and sarin nerve gas. While this isn't the product of an ongoing weapons program from the 90's, it does show that Saddam lied about disposing of WMDs and it shows that UN weapons inspectors were not capable of finding the weapons Saddam was hiding.

From The Web...

Here are a couple of interesting pages I've stumbled across recently.

Nuclear Explosion Database - with the location, time and size of explosions around the world since 1945.

Disney Lies - Your source for lies, distortions, untruths, half truths, urban legends, rumors, and just plain made-up stuff about Walt Disney, Disneyland Resort, and Disney films

Big Oil Profits

My wife and I recovered our dining room chairs recently. I bought the foam padding from a fabric store near the house. The price for the foam had risen in the week since I called and was given a price quote. I asked the saleswoman about the price increase. Apparently, the foam is made from some petroleum-based product, and petroleum prices affect foam prices. She then went on a two-minute rant about the "obscene profits" the oil companies are making. I smiled the entire time, and even nodded a bit. When she was done (or out of breath), I asked her a question.

"Do you have a retirement plan, like a 401-K or IRA?"

"401-K," she replied.

"Remember," I told her, still smiling, "that millions of people with retirement plans are invested in index funds, like the S&P 500. These funds invest in companies like Shell and Exxon, and high profits for those companies mean a better return for the investors. That's a good thing for people like you and me. Also, those profits fund the research and development of new, more cost-efficient ways to produce energy. And they allow for pay raises for middle and low-level employees of the companies. Those profits don't just go into the pockets of the CEO."

This woman looked at me like I had two heads. I don't know if she'd never thought about things that way, or if she couldn't believe I defended them. I thought she might begin to scream if I said anything else. I just smiled, took the foam, and told her to have a great day.

There's such a lack of knowledge among Americans about how the free market works. So many people see the word "profit" as something evil.

I saw part of NBC's Meet The Press yesterday, with the CEO's from three of the largest oil companies (ConocoPhillips, Chevron and Shell) explaining the reasons for current fuel prices and defending their apparently enormous profits. They explained that prices have risen (as any student of economics should know) because of increased demand and decreased supply. Refining capacity dropped because of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. There are tremendous amounts of oil waiting to be claimed in ANWAR and off-shore along the Pacific and Gulf coasts, but environmentalists and politicians are keeping that oil off limits.

So many Americans don't understand or appreciate how much better we have things than people in other parts of the world. Gas prices in Europe are more than double what we're paying here.

Extremely high profits have made the oil companies targets. How dare these companies rack up huge profits while charging such high prices at the pumps? Well, better they make profits than flirt with bankruptcy.

Hey There... Remember Me?

Yeah, I know it's been two months. What can I say? Things have been busy. In the last two months we've had two funerals, a party for a friend's son's first birthday, busy times at work, a health scare in my wife's family (which turned out okay), a trip out of town, tons of yard work and house work, an out of town work weekend, remodeled our guest bathroom, and two family get-togethers at the house. It's been hectic.

Oh, and to squelch any rumors or misunderstandings, there are no little rugrats in our immediate future. None. As my lovely wife would say, "We haven't even been married a year yet." That's next Sunday.

College Campus Idoicy

This bit out lunacy brought to us by Ohio State University...

Scott Savage, a reference librarian for the university, suggested four best-selling conservative books for freshman reading in his role as a member of OSU Mansfield's First Year Reading Experience Committee. The four books he suggested were:

The Marketing of Evil by David Kupelian,
The Professors by David Horowitz,
Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis by Bat Ye'or,
and It Takes a Family by U.S. Senator Rick Santorum.

Savage made the recommendations after other committee members had suggested a series of books with a left-wing perspective, by authors such as Jimmy Carter and Maria Shriver.

The school's response for his suggestion: Savage was put under "investigation" by OSU's Office of Human Resources after three professors filed a complaint of discrimination and sexual harassment against him, saying that the book suggestions made them feel "unsafe." Absolutely unbelievable.

Must Of Us Can Relate

Here's a place for folks to vent about their work environment.

What Was Superman's Religion?

Proving that there's a web site for everything and everyone... According to this web site, Clark Kent was a Methodist.

Milblog Wire

What's REALLY going on in Iraq? Here's a fantastic new site featuring stories of what's actually happening, stories straight from these folks who have boots on the ground, and who the public has a large degree of trust in. They are military members serving in Iraq, their former comrades in arms, and their friends and families. Get the truth straight from the people who actually know.

Going Home... Sort Of

Shannon and I were out of town for a few days recently, visiting one of my two home towns. Most of my childhood was spent in LaGrange, but during the early formitive years my family lived outside Greenville, South Carolina in the town of Mauldin. It's been nearly 30 years since we moved, and while I've passed through several times, this was my first time going back and searching out all the things I had memories of. It was a fantastic trip, and my lovely wife made a wonderful sidekick.

But I learned something interesting on this trip, and I suppose it applies to all of us. Over the years following the move back to Georgia, my memories of South Carolina grew into something almost mythical. Everything seemed big and special, whether it was my childhood home or elementary school playground or just the road into town. I was amazed seeing all that had changed. Greenville is a beautiful, vibrant city, and the downtown area is bustling with people. It even seemed to make a very good impression on Shannon, who sees everything in comparison to the other love in her life - Atlanta.

But a lot of the places and things I remember were still around. Obviously they were older (we moved in 1978). The interesting thing to me, though, was how much smaller everything seemed. When we're children, everything seems larger. We are always looking up, at people or counters or doorknobs. I never understood, until this trip, that all my memories are from the perspective of a young child looking up at the world. All that I remember of Greenville and Mauldin, I remember from about three feet tall. I'd never thought about how that perspective affects our view on things.

Our old house looks great, but it's much smaller than I recalled. I always thought our street was longer, and I remembered living further from my school. So much that I remembered seemed larger in my mind than it did sitting before me.

I could have easily been disappointed that what we were seeing didn't match up to my recollections, but something very different happened. Instead of tarnishing my memories, it actually added another layer of reality to them. They were placed in a new, more accurate context. The pictures in my mind had been broad, sweeping, meaningful images. But they were black and white, soft. The trip back gave them color and contrast, sharpness, relevance. Now they have life.

If anything, my memories are now more meaningful.

Jazz Up Your Robot

You've probably seen the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner. Now you can buy designer skins for your Roomba, even featuring your favorite college teams.

A Few Links For You

Apple posts what must be a couple of hundred movie trailers as part of their Quicktime page. Pretty much everything that's showing now or that's coming up in the next few months can be previewed here.

Clay Jackson is chief photographer for the Danville, Kentucky's Advocate-Messenger, and this is his photo blog. Really great photojournalism.

Live streaming camera views of Canada's Confederation Bridge, which (at 8 miles in length) is the longest bridge over waters that freeze in the world. When there's ice beneath the bridge, the video is exceptional.

News Of The Weird - Proof that true stories are weirder than made-up stories.

The Official Rules for Calling Shotgun in a vehicle.

Ben Stein Nails It

Former presidential advisor and actor Ben Stein noticed that during the recent Academy Awards there wasn't a single word of support for our troops serving in harm's way. There was also no remembrance of those who have been killed fighting for freedom around the world. Seems pretty typical of the elite, smarter-than-everyone-else Hollywood celebs.

Stein also noted howe so many in Hollywood seem concerned about falling box-office revenue. "Stop spitting in the face of Americans and maybe we will go to the movies," he said. Fantastic!

Reality Of Iraq Not What's Reported In News

Here's a fantastic report on how the media's reports on Iraq bear no resemblance to the reality of those there. One great quote from a soldier stationed in Baghdad...

"The only people who seem to have lost both their grip on reality and their nerve are the western media".

Thank heaven for other sources of news and information in this world besides the mainstream media.

Kia To Build Auto Plant Near LaGrange

A 2,000+ acre tract of land between LaGrange and West Point will be home to Kia Motors' first U.S. production plant. It will also be the first foreign auto company to choose Georgia for a manufacturing facility. According to my parents, people in my hometown are ecstatic. This will be an economic boon to the city and the region.

More Public School Idiocy

Chicago Public Schools require blind students to pass the drivers' education written exam in order to graduate. To quote one blind student, having to take the course "brought me down, because it reminds me of something I can't do." Common sense should lead to an appropriate alternative for disabled students who will never be able to operate a motor vehicle. Or just make the drivers ed course an elective.

Tooth Bling?

One of the hot new fads among middle and high school kids now is called "grillz" - gold, platinum or silver tooth coverings that are custom-made to slip over the teeth. As one teenager puts it, "The rappers, when they started wearing them, we started wearing them. And the first thing girls look at is your mouth." Modeling your life based on rappers. Great. What wonderful role models



I guess Richard Kiel from the James Bond movies would be a hit today with his Grillz!

Homeland Security Alerted When Retired Couple Pays Credit Card Bill

A retired schoolteacher and his wife in Rhode Island decided to pay off their MasterCard, which had a balance over $6,000. The credit card company alerted Homeland Security, because... paying off your full balance apparently is seen as a threat?!?

Adam Sandler Movie Cited In Federal Court Order

A Texas bankruptcy judge has cited the Adam Sandler movie "Billy Madison" in a court order dismissing a request from a defendant.

25 Worst Moments In American History

John Hawkins at Right Wing News has posted this list, compiled from reader suggestions. What do you all think?

The 25 Worst Moments In American History

1804: Aaron Burr kills one of the greatest figures in American history, Alexander Hamilton, in a duel.

1814: British forces burn down the White House during the War of 1812.

1838: The Trail of Tears. 4000 Cherokees die during a forced relocation to the West.

1857: The Dred Scott Decision. The Supreme Court essentially rules that black people are nothing more than property like a chair or couch.

1861: The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the beginning engagement of the Civil War.

1862: The battle of Antietam was the single bloodiest day in American history with 25,000 soldiers killed, wounded, or missing.

1865: Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. One of our greatest Presidents, if not our greatest President, was murdered soon after the beginning of his second term.

1900: A hurricane strikes Galveston, Texas killing 6000 in the worst disaster in American history.

1917: The Zimmerman Telegraph. Germany's Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann sends a telegram to Mexico encouraging them to attack the United States. The British intercepted the telegram and sent it to the United States where it led to America's entry into WW1.

1918: The influenza pandemic begins at Fort Riley, Kansas. By the time it was over, 25% of the US population would become sick and by some estimates, well over half a million Americans died as result.

1929: A massive drop in value of the stock market helped trigger the Great Depression which lasted until the increased economic activity spurred by WW2 got us going back in the right direction.

1941: Pearl Harbor. "A date which will live in infamy" indeed.

1942: The US government came to the conclusion that interning Japanese-American citizens was the best of a number of bad options. Roughly a hundred thousand Japanese-Americans ended up in camps.

1949: The Soviet Union tests an atomic bomb. For the next 50 years, Americans fear the Cold War will end in a nuclear holocaust.

1950: As American and Rok forces appear poised to finish off the Norks and reunite Korea, a Chinese offensive caught them completely by surprise and drove them back, nearly into the sea before they regrouped, pushed back, and managed to fight them to a stalemate.

1961: The Bay of Pigs invasion. Kennedy's decision to go forward with the invasion and then deny them air support doomed the entire enterprise to failure. Today, 44 years later, Fidel Castro, a diehard enemy of the United States, is still in power.

1963: In an event that scarred the American psyche and produced countless conspiracy theories, John F. Kennedy is assassinated.

1968: The Tet Offensive was a crushing defeat for North Vietnamese forces but was incorrectly portrayed as a huge victory for them by the American media. This was a key event in destroying the American public's support for the war.

1968: America's greatest civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, is assassinated.

1973: The Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision leads to the legalization of abortion nation wide and the deaths of countless millions of innocent children.

1974: Richard Nixon resigns after being disgraced by Watergate, a scandal which shook American faith in the government.

1975: After the Democrats in Congress cut off aid and promised air support, South Vietnam was doomed. When Saigon actually fell, that symbolized what a disaster the Vietnam War turned out to be.

1977: Jimmy Carter hands over control of the Panama Canal to Panama mainly because they asked for it.

1995: Oklahoma City Bombing. 168 people die as the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building is destroyed by domestic terrorists.

2001: 9/11. Terrorist madmen attack the Twin Towers and Pentagon, kill nearly 3000 Americans, and set off a war on terrorism.