A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour.

Among them was Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83.

When he arrived in Paris by plane and took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on at French Customs, the customs officer asked sarcastically, "You have been to France before, monsieur?"

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."

The American replied, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."

"Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in
France!"

The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he
quietly explained.

"Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in '44 to help liberate
this country, I couldn't find any Frenchmen to show it to."

This is a true story, 'Nuff SAID.

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No, or light posting today, WHY? I just don't feel like it!

Update: Well, maybe just this one post, it's important. This article outlines some of the results if the GFW's Utopian Gun Ban in Britain™. Hmmmm....violent crime rate has risen 69 percent since 1996, with robbery rising 45 percent and murders rising 54 percent. I thought that if "guns were illegal it would stop violent crime"? Thats what all the GFW's trying to abrogate my 2nd Amendment rights keep telling me. Those "Unintended Consequences" of a "feel good" policy are a BITCH, aren't they? In the four years PRIOR to the ban, armed robberies had fallen by 50%. It was allowable to defend oneself at the time....could there be ANY connection? And in case you think that results of the British experiment is an anomoly, go google the crime stats in Canada and Australia, where they have tried to severely restrict or totally ban firearms in the same manner. I won't post those results here, you GFW's would just say my pick would be biased; do it for yourselves, with an open mind and no preconceptions, and I KNOW that the facts will show you that I am correct in asserting that MORE guns = LESS violent crime.

The number of privately owned guns in the United States rises by about 5 million a year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The number of guns owned by Americans is at an all-time high, fast approaching 300 million.

Meanwhile the FBI reports that in 2003 the nationÂ’s violent crime rate declined for the 12th straight year to a 27-year low.
Sure seems to be a connection there to me! Lets look into it just a little further...

As usual, most of the states with the lowest violent crime rates are those with the least gun control, including those in the Rocky Mountain region, and Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in the Northeast. The District of Columbia and Maryland, which have gun bans and other severe restrictions on gun purchase and ownership, retained their regrettable distinctions as having the highest murder and robbery rates.

Yeah, I'd say there was a connection. I'm gratified that Indiana is a "shall issue" state, but I would wish to make it an unrestricted "free/concealed carry" state, like Vermont...Licensing is contrary to the language of the 2nd. Amendment; the granters of a license can all too easily take it away, thats "abridgement" in MY dictionary

Thanks to Kim duToit for the link.

UPDATE 3/10/05: What is the British Governments reaction to the rise in violent crime? Why, to start banning REPLICAS of guns and knives for teenagers! OF COURSE! Gee what insightful policy! /sarcasm off.
Anyone want to lay odds on when the meltdown will be complete?

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Liberal Utopia has a FANTASTIC fisk of a New York Times memorandum. If you need to have a good laugh, go read it, but be warned, remove any liquids from the area of your keyboard before you do, the management™ assumes no responsiblity for drink-doused equipment!

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I am 19% Idiot.

I am not annoying at all. In fact most people come to me for advice. Of course they annoy the hell out of me. But what can I do? I am smarter than most people.

Take the
Idiot Test
@ FualiDotCom

To paraphrase what Acidman said, I already was aware of my ability, but I let that 19% have free reign frequently.

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Here's yet another warning of the higher gasoline prices yet to come.

Funny, I thought we went to war with Iraq to get cheap oil? Or are the Moonbats of the Anti-American Left wrong YET AGAIN?

The price of gasoline is a complicated issue, but I do have some ideas on the matter of how we can help ease those costs.

1. BUILD MORE REFINERIES. We have all our eggs in one very small basket. At one time we had more than 150 large scale refineries, in the last twenty years we have gone down to 20 major facilities. and there hasn't been a new one built in that time. A major terrorist attack on just a few of those facilities could paralyze this country for a far longer time than the attack on the WTC did.

2. DRILL MORE DOMESTIC WELLS We have major reserves here in the US that haven't been anywhere near completly explored. Open up Anwar; there is an estimated 30 year supply at our current levels of consumption just in that one field. It's insane that we don't utilize it.

3. STOP MULTIPLE FORMULATIONS OF GASOLINE We are currently using upwards of 15 different formulations of gasoline to comply with regulations in different parts of the country. This is costly to do, as a refinery has to be readjusted for each formulation, resulting in a week or more loss of production in switching between formulations, not to mention the costs incurred in making the physical switchover. Decide on the best compremise formulation that suits the country best as a whole and stick with it. At most, have only two or three formulations. There have been many cases where there has been a spot scarcety in one area of the country and a glut in another, and we can't equilize the needs due to differences in the formulations.

4. ENCOURAGE RESEARCH IN ALTERNATIVE FUELS President Bush has been the first one to actually earmark federal monies for this type of research, but even his additions are modest, to say the least. There is no physical reason that we couldn't switch to an almost 80% Hydrogen economy within ten years, at the state of the technology today. What we need is the political will to foster such a move. New technology will only increase the attractiveness of alternative fuels.

5. BECOME MORE POLITICALLY AWARE Many of the Moonbats laud their political representatives as the champions of the environment, but take a
closer look at the policies that those representatives have championed, and you will see that, for the most part, those policies have increased the costs of production without any significant gain in helping the environment, and as is the case with Senator "Splash" Kennedy, an alternate (wind turbine) energy production plant was blocked in the Cheasepeak Bay because it just might ruin the view from his compound. (as an aside, just HOW does a trust fund baby that has never worked a real job in his life and has a lackluster academic/legislative achievment record become a hero of "the little guy"? Try to join him in his compound and see how much he REALLY cares about you!)

6. SHOW THE TAXES PAID ON EACH GALLON OF GASOLINE Most people would be truly astounded at just how much they are paying. Those taxes may be necessary to fund roads, transportation programs, etc. etc., but it is only fair that the public KNOWS just how much they are actually paying for those goals.

Without accountability, there is no oversight, and without oversight, the possibility of fraud and graft is all too high. You can't hold someone accountable if you don't even know just how much he is taking from you.

I'm sure there are other actions to be taken as well, but thats my rant....for now.

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As always, Mark Steyn combines humor and plain common sense to bring light into the darkness of international Real-politic.

His target of opportunity this time is Bashar al-Assad, the dictator of Syria. And, as usual, the target is properly trounced.

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George Soros has come into the news again. It seems that one of his foundations donated $20,000 to Lynne Stewart's defense fund. A jury found Stewart guilty on five counts of defrauding the government, conspiracy, and providing support for terrorism. She faces sentencing on July 15, 2005; she may receive up to a 30 year prison sentence, which, at her age, may well be a life sentence.

I would defend that Mr. Soros's right to contribute to any cause he deems worthy, but I would ask you, gentle readers, to start investigating the causes that he does deem worthy, and take that into account when you learn that he is championing an issue or a political candidate. It just may be that it's not an issue or candidate that would serve your best interests as a free and independant citizen.

Update: Well it didn't take long to find another Soros story of "backing the wrong horse".
This time, he is applauding the Spaniards as having the correct approach to dealing with terrorism.

Let's see...The US gets hit and responds with tough actions, and hasn't been hit again, either here at home, or on foreign soil, and it seems at first look to be changing an entire region of the globe to a more democratic bent; Spain experiences a major terrorist attack and retreats to the homeland, and has experienced several terrorist events since....Seems to me that Mr. Soros is incorrect in his assertion that the US has just engendered more terrorists, but thats just my opinion. I prefer to deal with facts and results rather than feelings and "everyone knows memes" as Mr. soros does.

Just for curiosities sake, I wonder just how much Mr. Soros stands to lose if the countries of the ME really do go democratic? Is it monetary loss, or just the loss of his idiological compatriots?

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I've been reading in a nymber of blogs about the possibility that soon the FEC would start monitering the content of our blogs and apply the BCRA regulations to them in regards to political speech.

Some (mostly on the Left, surprise surprise) say there is nothing to worry about, unless you've set your blog up to be a campaign tool for a particular candidate or party; others seem to think that the jackbooted thugs are pounding on the door.

I am in the middle on this one. I don't think the thugs are at the door quite yet, but setting the precedent will surely lead to that coming to pass. The right of every citizen to openly speak his mind on political issues WHENEVER and WHEREVER he wishes is the most precious freedom we have. It's only equal is the right we have under the 2nd Amenment to bear arms to protect that freedom of expression. Lest we require the use of the right to bear arms, we'd damn well better prevent any limiting of our 1st Amendment rights from occurring in the first place.

The Camel's nose is in the tent, I believe that we must prevent him from entering. Consequently I have decided to join the McCain-Feingold Insurrection. It's far better to fight a tyrany as a proposal rather than once it's become entrenched.

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Slaglerock has a great post up concerning the state of Maine issuing drivers licenses to illegal aliens, accepting documentation that would be insufficiant to citizens.

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Even the Italians are questioning the views expressed by that paragon of journalistic virtue(/sarcasm 0ff),Giuliana Sgrena.

It is Ms. Sgrena's contention that the US government ordered the execution of Ms. Sgrena and her compatriots after she had taken her leave of her insurgent Islamofacist kidnappers.

There at least two major problems with Ms Sgena's contentions:
First, the Italians had kept the hostage release deal secret, not informing the Americans. Second, they had not informed the Americans that she had been released and was heading for the airport.

Given those conditions, how could it be that she was deliberately targeted? EVEN given the unlikely event that the US would be so afraid of her writing that they would wish to do away with her?

1) They would have no reason to target her, being unaware of any ransom deal.
2) They would have no way to target her, being unaware that she was where she was when she was there.

Apparently, (in her own mind) Ms Sgena is the only one who can disseminate "the truth" of what is actually occurring in Iraq, and that "fact" led to the ordering of her execution prior to her being able to disseminate that truth.

She stated that the the vehicle she and her rescuers were hit by over 400 rounds by a machine gun; that she "scooped handfulls of bullets off of the seat"... Yet only one occupant of the vehicle was killed and Ms. Sgena was only wounded in the leg. Pretty sorry excuse for an "execution"! I for one have much more faith in the capabilities of our servicemen in the execution of their duties. (pun intended)

Anyone familiar with any type of firearms would know that staement to be a bald faced lie on the face of it. bullets that fly in such a hailstorm would have turned the vehicle and ALL the occupants into Swiss cheese, and any bullets entering the car wouldn't have magically stopped and fell onto the seats. And I have another question...IF the intent was to execute Ms. Sgena, why was she treated by the US and sent out on the next availible flight? Surely it would have been simple to simply ensure that every occupant of the vehicle was dead after it had been rendered immobile?

And while the cowed inhabitants of Eunichistan may like to believe that we would target journalists to prevent embarrassing "facts" to be made public, only the most inane of our own Moonbats would suscribe to such a position.

All you have to do is read any MS publication in the US to know the idiocy of such an allegation. If such a thing could be proven beyond any reasonable doubt; it would lead to a public uprising not seen since the halycon days of the 60's, and most likely the impeachment of the administration.

I am a supporter of the administration, and I would certainly believe that impeachment would be the only proper option in such an event. My loyalties lie with the Constitution, not any particular set of Politicians.

Let's recap...Communist Journalist is held hostage by the people that she holds up as the heroes in the Iraq conflict. Her (Italian) government may or may not have paid a ransom for her release, but in any case, a deal is brokered and Ms. Sgena is released by her captors to agents of her government. (according to US soldiers) The vehicle they were going to the airport in approached a military checkpoint at a high rate of speed and in a highly erratic manner, and didn't stop when ordered to by the soldiers manning the checkpoint. The soldiers fired on the vehicle, killing the driver and wounding Ms. Sgena. Now Ms. Sgena is claiming that they were assailed in a virtual hail of bullets, and that it was an intentional attempt to execute her.

Anyone that looks at this incident objectively must conclude that either:

A. Ms Sgena was correct, the US had a Sooper Sekrit™ way of determining her status and location,and wished to execute her for her views; and was capable enough to intercept her with no prior knowledge of her release, but incapable enough to finish the job.

OR

B. Ms Sgena is a raving Moonbat of the highest order that doesn't let little things like facts and logic interfere with her political agenda/idiology.

I know which scenerio seems more likely to me, or am I blinded by my own idiological bent?

UPDATE: Courtesy of the AP, here are two pictures of the car that Ms. Sgena says was "caught in a hail of gun fire", and from which she "scooped up handfulls of bullets bullets off the seat"

Those must have been some of the new sooper sekrit magic bullets™ that the US Army has been issueing..."handfulls of bullets" on the seat, and yet NO BULLET HOLES in the body work. WHERE can I get some of this Ammo?

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If you want to reasonably have no fear of speaking your true thoughts, you must have an equalizer to ensure that you can defend your beliefs. Bravado is all well and good, indeed, a healthy ego is necessary in being competant to defending oneself, but bravado will only carry you so far. In the end you also need a means to back up the bravado.

In the United States, we do this by living under a system of law where all are judged equally, and by allowing free citizens the means to defend themselves against those that would disregard the law. In the end, true freedom is only achieved, and maintained, by those willing to fight for it, at the cost of their own life, if need be. The Rule of Law is the equalizer, and the Second Amendment is the gaurentor of the rule of law.

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1 What a great illustration for your comment! Way to go! Must pirate photo...

Posted by: ZiPpo at March 08, 2005 07:44 PM (P7XXv)

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The Dutch Report has an interesting Poll on the state of the satisfaction of the Dutch people with how the way things are going in their country. The results are, to say the least, revealing and discouraging at the same time.

It certainly puts to rest the meme from some of our homegrown Idiotarians that everyone in Europe is so much "better off than we are". The mere fact that Dutch emigrations are at the highest levels since 1954 should be the final nail in the coffin of that particular meme.

The destination country for the largest number of emigres is Australia. A yearning for wide open spaces and opportunities for personal achievment and the perception of the availibility of those two factors are the main reason for Australia and New Zealand being the most popular destinations.

The reason most cited for leaving? The feeling that the massive influx of Muslim emigres to the Netherlands has reduced the public safety, and that the government has contributed to the problem.

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I taste like Beef. I taste like beef. I'm probably made of beef. You are what you eat, they say, and if the title didn't mean something else, I would be a beefeater. I think red meat is good for you. Puts hair on your chest. What Flavour Are You?

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While making my daily excursion at Kim DuToits, I read the best explaination of what the 2nd Amendment REALLY means; and by a "baby" member of the Nation of Riflemen, no less!

It's heartening to know that the young are starting to realize just what the 2nd Amendment really means, and have not been totally corrupted by the GFW's that are attempting to convert us into a nation of subjects rather than the nation of citizens that we are.

Here is Eugene A's statement:

If youÂ’d asked me two months ago what a rifle was, I would have said it was a device that fires a bullet. ThatÂ’s it, it is nothing more than a mechanical means to load a cartridge, hit a primer, and propel a bullet in such a way that it flies straight and true.

Now, after holding and experiencing what a Rifle is, I understand that a Rifle is not a means to propel a bullet. It is a specialized tool of death. It was designed, made, and built solely for the purpose of delivering death at long range.

It has no feelings, no emotions. What it does, however, is extend the good or evil of the man wielding it. He is no longer constricted to armÂ’s reach, he can extend good or evil for hundreds if not thousands of yards. And the rifle becomes just as good or evil as the person wielding it.

And the Right to Bear Arms means not the right to defend oneself, it is not the right to hunt animals, it is not the right to target shoot, not the right to fight off oppressive governments. These are all parts of it. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is the right to express yourself in the most powerful way imaginable. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is the right to steer your own course, the right to fight off oppression, the right to be the Sovereign and Powerful individual. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is the final guarantee of Liberty.

If you die fighting for Liberty, it means you will have died in Freedom, you will have died like a Man.

Kim, now I know what a Rifleman is, and the responsibility of owning a gun just became much deeper and much more awesome than I anticipated. That rifle in my safe is my Freedom, and I am proud to live in a place where I have that Freedom.

I would join with Kim in saying: "carve those words on your soul, in great stone letters."

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I think this is a joke, but the way things are today....Thanks to Something ...and Half of Something for the link....wonder how much they would charge to....old boss...Bastard....

Needless to say, Something.....) has been added to the blogroll in her rightful place among the Loyal Citizens.

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I've talked about some of what I perceive as wrongs promulgated by Moonbats in my country, and the country of my birth, but apparently the Moonbats ARE a truly multi-national source of idiocy.

For a country that (rightly) prides itself on the high level of patriotism shown by members of it's citizenry, this must be a particulary embarrassing incident.

For a Church, ANY Church, to dishonor a long-time member and veteran by not allowing him the normal protocall of a military funeral as his last request shows the height of disrespect for that member and the service he rendered for "God and Country".

Things like this are occurring here in America too, I have no doubt, although I can't cite any specific incident.

The churches decry that they are losing members at large rates, and I believe that it is the mindset demonstrated by incidents like this that are part of the reason why. All too many churches have adopted the secularist mindset to the point where they are really no longer houses of worship, but merely social clubs for (politically) like minded idiots.

Thanks to Silent Running for the link. You ought to go read his take on this too...I KNEW there was a I reason I had him in my blogroll!

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Ever since the Great Mblog disaster of '04, I've been trying to find some of my old links. Today I found yet another one: Doc Rampage, one of the really good guys.
He had a great post up on evaluating history that shows just why I think he's one of the "good guys". Glad I found him again.

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I saw this on LC Beth's site and thought it looked like fun.

Here are the Rules:

The Book Game

1. Grab the nearest book

2. Open the book to page 123

3. Find the fifth sentence

4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.

5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it. Just grab what is closest!

"He counted to three and demanded of himself that he go down and not have to shame himself by counting again. One,two--"

"Three", he murmured." "His feet were numb from the glass."
Star Trek: The Great Starship Race

Ok, so I read trash, I like it. Give it a go and see what you come up with.

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at 9:04 this morning, I hit the 10,000 visitor to my humble abode. I know that it might not seem like much to most people, but to me it's an affirmation that I do have some loyal readers; for which I'm profoundly greatfull. To make it all the sweeter, it was a referral from the Dutch Report who put me over the mark. Can YOU say "ironic"?!?

I've often told people that I would do this if I never got a hit, and I would, but let's face it, we bloggers are an egocentric lot, for the most part, and I'm no different. It does our ego good to know that people do have some interest in what we have to say, whether they agree with us or not.

Thank you all.

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I found this test and decided to give it try and see just how bad I am.....

Advanced

You scored 86% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 93% Advanced, and 66%

Expert! (WooHoo! I was more proficiant than I had believed!)

You have an extremely good understanding of beginner, intermediate, and advanced level commonly confused English words, getting at least 75% of each of these three levels' questions correct. This is an exceptional score. Remember, these are commonly confused English words, which means most people don't use them properly. You got an extremely respectable score.
Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

If you would like to test YOUR knowledge of English, here's the link:
The Commonly Confused Words Test

Test statistics:
Compared to users who took the test and are and in your age group:
100% had lower Beginner scores.
100% had lower Intermediate scores.
100% had lower Advanced scores.
100% had lower Expert scores.

With respect to Beginner, users aged 55 to 59 scored highest.
With respect to Intermediate, users aged 55 to 59 scored highest.
With respect to Advanced, users aged 55 to 59 scored highest.
With respect to Expert, users aged 55 to 59 scored highest.

I thought it was interesting to note that the most accomplished takers of this test were ALL over the age of 55. These people were educated in the days before air conditioning in the schools, the newest educational theories by the "professional educators" of the NEA, and in many cases never attended a facility of higher education.....So tell me, don't YOU think that our educational system might just benefit from taking a giant leap back?

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