The Five Flaws of the Reid Health Bill

Great synopsis from The Heritage Foundation: The Five Flaws of the Reid Health Bill

ZoNation: What Conservatives Are For

This is great!!!!

ZoNation: What Conservatives Are For

Policy Fashioned to Fit Rhetoric

The newest member in the on-going debate on the Obama administration's decision to bring Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (along with three other terrorists) to New York to stand trial in a civilian court is former Attorney General Michael Mukasey. Muskasey who served as the judge in the trial stemming from the first attack on the World Trade Center, spoke out against the current Administration's decision while speaking at the Federalist Society's National Lawyers Convention on Friday.

He described the move, as “a decision I consider not only unwise, but based on a refusal to face the fact that what we are involved with here is a war with people who follow a religiously-based ideology that calls on them to kill us, and to return instead to the mindset that prevailed before Sept. 11 that acts like the first World Trade Center bombing, the attacks on our embassies in Africa and other such acts can and should be treated as conventional crimes and tried in conventional courts.”

He went on to tactfully and factually decry many of the Obama Administration's decisions which have "seemed in many instances to be a system in which policy is fashioned to fit and proceed rhetoric rather than being thought out in advance with arguments then formulated in support of it.”

Bam Pow.....that would hurt, however I'm not sure the Obama Administration is able to understand the meaning of that statement, after all, Muskasey has this pesky habit of speaking in complete sentences vs. easily quotable sound bites.

The American Spectator gives a complete, must read over-view of Muskasey's complete speech HERE

It really is amazing comparing Muskasey to current Attorney General Eric Holder, not only in rhetoric, but in foresight, depth of understanding and overall breadth of knowledge and consequences of actions. Amazing and frightening.

Sarah Palin and the Blame Game

Sarah Palin’s new book, "Going Rogue", is the former vice-presidential candidate’s latest, and probably most disgusting, publicity stunt to date. Perhaps Palin believes that by playing the ‘junior high cattiness’ card the American voter will manage to completely overlook her lack of substantial policy knowledge, or for that matter, lack of lucent understanding of current events.

The “Sarah Palin” idolism, that took hold in the Republican party upon her selection for Vice-Presidential candidate, still ceases to make logical sense to me. Even more, it makes me fear for the future of the Republican party. Continued adoration (and...gulp..possible election) of candidates like Palin, would be a shameful move for a party that is already struggling with trying to find a solid identity.

This latest Palin media blitz has proved her to be even more ignorant, immature and unprofessional than, even I, previously thought. Now, of course, I have not read the book, but read enough experts to be sufficiently nauseated. This book could have been an opportunity for Palin to prove the supposed media slander wrong. A book allows a candidate to detail their insights, motivations and policy ideas in an uninterrupted forum.

Instead, Palin used her book to prove her doubters and enemies correct. “Going Rough” has no great insights, no commentaries on important national dilemmas or moral imperatives. No, it is full of accusations and blame for pretty much everyone but herself.

Much of her ire is directed at McCain campaign aids, such as Nicolle Wallace and Steve Schmidt. Wallace is at fault for the ill fated Katie Couric interview and the decision to purchase expensive clothing. Schmidt is blamed for pretty much everything else. She goes as far as attacking Schmidt’s ‘rotund physique’, in light of him giving her nutrition advice.

.....um....what? This is what you include in a book? I feel like this type of information is better suited to be written in a note, that you scrawl on notebook paper, fold up in some unique way and pass to your BFF during study hall.

I won’t detail the many, many, many accusations slung at the McCain campaign, since a simple google search will play them out if the reader is interested.

Palin is a sad representation of a female policy maker, she is a sad representation of a conservative leader, and overall a sad representation of the image she tries to portray. If Palin wants to be a leader, she needs to stop blaming others, own up to her own faults and maybe spend less time gossiping and more time trying to improve her knowledge base and grasp on national and international affairs.

Can you tell me how to get........

Argghh...well I wrote a nice long blog update post last night and submitted it just around the time my internet went out due to little Miss Hurricane Ida....so here we go again. I'm back from officer training, but unfortunately not under the best circumstance. Ends up the medical problems which prevented the Air Force from putting me on active duty for many months, did prove to be a problem and I was released after two weeks and am in the process of receiving an honorable discharge. Needless to say, I'm disappointed, but I'm a true believer that everything happens for a reason, and I'm sure this has as well.

So, time to dust this thing off...I must apologize for being so completely absent for the past few weeks, and promise to not let it happen again. There are so many things happening in the world right now, my mind is just spinning with rants and raves to entertain and inform with, however...this first blog post will be focused on one of the most significant events of the week....the 40th Birthday of Sesame Street, which was yesterday, Nov. 10th.

I'm sure many of us have found memories of good times up with our friends Kermit, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie and even Cookie Monster. These characters taught me many things that have shaped my life into what it is today. Through Sesame Street I learned my first Spanish (now fluent), gained a fine appreciation for the color green (green's the color of spring, and green can be cool and friendly-like, and green can be big like a mountain, or important like a river, or tall like a tree), and memorized many, many catchy lyrics that I undoubtedly tortured my poor parents with by singing constantly around the house.

Here are a few fun facts about Sesame Street (courtesy Jane Boursaw of AOL Television Online)

The Show:

When creator Jim Henson died in 1990, the show stopped producing new sketches featuring Kermit the Frog. He only appeared in reruns of old sketches until 1998, when he popped up to do a Sesame Street News Flash when Oscar the Grouch's pet worm Slimy went into space. He appeared again in 2001, reporting on a hurricane with Al Roker.

'Sesame Street' has won more than 100 Emmy Awards, more than any other television show in the United States.

Some Muppets were canned over the years for interesting reasons: Don Music, the pianist who banged his head against the piano in frustration, was dropped after kids at home started doing the same thing. Harvey Kneeslapper was cut loose because his signature laugh was too much of a strain on Frank Oz's vocal chords. Roosevelt Franklin was considered to be a negative cultural stereotype (he was the only African American Muppet at the time and was seen mostly in detention after school). Professor Hastings, a teacher whose lectures were so dull that even he fell asleep, was discontinued because ... he was too dull.

'Sesame Street' was originally designed for inner-city kids to help them learn English.

Big Bird:

Big Bird is 8'2" tall.

He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994.

Big Bird's teddy bear is named "Radar" after the character from 'MASH' who always slept with a teddy bear.

He's generally referred to as a canary, but reports as to his lineage vary. While visiting 'Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood,' he told King Friday XIII, "Actually, I'm a golden condor." During an appearance on 'Hollywood Squares,' he told Peter Marshall that he was a lark, and he's also been referred to as part homing pigeon.

Big Bird almost never got Mr. Hooper's last name right, often calling him Mr. Looper or other rhyming words like "scooper" and "pooper" (thus endearing himself to four-year-olds everywhere).

According to the book 'Sesame Street Unpaved,' Big Bird's nest contains a bubble gum dispenser, a clock with no hands, a feather duster, a football helmet, a golf bag with one club, a hurricane lamp, a megaphone, a picture of Mr. Hooper, a Roman bust, a tricycle wheel, a watering can, an old record player, an umbrella, a mailbox, and a pair of snowshoes. Other objects not listed in the book include a small wooden alphabet sign, a jack-and-balls game, a picture of his cousin Abelardo, and a pull-string lamp.

Big Bird's bookshelf contains 'March of Democracy,' 'Preface to Philosophy,' 'Principles of Chemistry,' and 'Shattered Lamp.'

Other Characters:

In 2004, Cookie Monster revealed that before trying cookies for the first time, his name was Sid.

The shoe size of Snuffy Snuffleupagus is 65 GGG.

Some old Bert and Ernie skits showed Ernie having his own bedroom instead of sharing a bedroom with Bert. (Yes, there was that whole "are they gay?" movement there for a while.)

Ernie wears horizontal stripes on his sweater to make him appear more relaxed; Bert wears vertical stripes on his sweater to make him appear more uptight.

The Neighborhood:

The left-side door in the front of 123 Sesame Street has never been opened. Big Bird once tried to get Snuffy into the building; when it turned out that Snuffy couldn't fit through just one door, Big Bird explained that the other door was "locked."

To answer that immortal question, here's how to get to Sesame Street: Take the "R" or "V" train to Steinway Street. Stay on back of train. Walk west on 34th Avenue, three blocks to 36th Street. Turn left on 36th Street. The entrance to Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens is mid-block (between 34th & 35th Avenues).

With or Without You

One last post as I head to the airport....interesting commentary by U2 lead singer, Bono, in today's NY Times...

I don't have time to comment, but would be very interested in readers impressions and thoughts about it.

I will say, I do in particular like the last paragraph...perhaps not in the same way Bono said it, but salient all the same

Read it HERE

Off I go....into the Wild, Blue Yonder......

Well...lots of updates on my side of the fence. Tomorrow I will be leaving for Air Force Officer Training at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. I will be there for five weeks and then be attending Intelligence School at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, TX.

It has been a bit of a long road between me and the AF, those close to me know the gory and frustrating details, however, I am excited about this new adventure and the experiences it will bring. It should also allow me to bring an interesting new perspective to this blog, especially in the areas of national defense, security and intelligence.

Any updates in the next month will most likely be on a more personal level about my experiences at officer training. I can pretty much guarantee these will be humorous! So stay tuned!

Before I wander off, I wanted to include a few commentary pieces which I particularly liked this week:

This piece from Charles Krauthammer (who is consistently one of my favorite columnists) is excellent and a must read!

I also very much appreciated this column from Ann Coulter (who you probably won't see me linking to much since I often find her extremism tactics off-putting and more in the 'rant' category, than the 'informative' category)

I am avoiding discussing the Rush Limbaugh/NFL issue too much, since frankly, when I start to think about the whole ordeal I find myself slipping into fits of convulsions due to the complete hypocrisy, reverse discrimination and absolute....ok, I have to stop....all I will say is if you really want to become furious about the issue google 'Juan Williams supports Rush Limbaugh' (Mr. Williams is one of my favorite liberals!). Also, this piece, from Sister Toldjah, gives a good recap of everything.

And finally, the girl (and romantic) in me, had to include this piece about love on Capital Hill

:o)

2nd Lt. Petrolino....signing off! Stand by for updates!