Ambush

Iraq will never be secure as long as ambushes like this continue to happen on a daily basis (1.5 Mb .wmv)

Protecting Liberty

Thank God for men like this.

A US Army sniping team from the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment scans the area during a joint traffic checkpoint with US Marines and Iraqi soldiers on the road linking Syrian border with the Muslim Sunni northern city of Mosul.(AFP/Mauricio Lima)

Taking Women Seriously

The MSM is just pathetic in its obsession over Condi’s clothes.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived at the Wiesbaden Army Airfield on Wednesday dressed all in black. She was wearing a black skirt that hit just above the knee, and it was topped with a black coat that fell to mid-calf. The coat, with its seven gold buttons running down the front and its band collar, called to mind a Marine’s dress uniform or the “save humanity” ensemble worn by Keanu Reeves in “The Matrix.”

As Rice walked out to greet the troops, the coat blew open in a rather swashbuckling way to reveal the top of a pair of knee-high boots. The boots had a high, slender heel that is not particularly practical. But it is a popular silhouette because it tends to elongate and flatter the leg. In short, the boots are sexy.

In the few short weeks since Rice became Secretary of State, she went to the Mideast, where the Palestinians and the Israelis quickly announced a cease fire and are working together better than they have in years, and she is going through Europe with Bush, where country after country is acquiescing to the US’ wishes.  Despite these outstanding achievements, the MSM insists on obsessing over her boots. 

Pathetic.

So tell me again, which side of the aisle takes women seriously?

Menards vs. Wisconsin DNR

Drew has taken me to task in his post about the Menard’s vs. DNR confrontation, and has altered my opinion on the matter. 

I agree with Drew that the DNR doesn’t have a good reason to trust Menard’s regarding the environment.  But if that is the reason that the DNR denied the permit, they should have said so.  I think that, more than likely, they rejected the permit as a reflex than with any actual critical thought on the matter. 

$1 billion in borrowing sought

The MJS is so lazy that it had to wait for the Legislative Fiscal Bureau to tell them this rather than just reading Doyle’s budget like the rest of us. 

Jensen requested the report on Doyle’s proposed long-term borrowing from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. It said the governor’s budget would issue $1.06 billion in new debt - half the $2.09 billion that the Democratic governor requested two years ago to help fix the budget deficit.

Doyle’s top deputy, state Administration Secretary Marc Marotta, defended the plan to borrow $1 billion more over the next two years.

“Relative to what has been borrowed in the past, it’s pretty good,” Marotta said Thursday. “The (borrowing) trend line is going in the right direction.”

Keep in mind that Doyle’s budget also includes $850 million in new spending on K-12 education and a slew of other new spending items.  What this tells us is that the State could have a balanced budget this year - without borrowing - if they would just hold the line on spending.  So despite Marotta’s non-excuse that “hey, it’s not as bad as last time,” we must remember that it’s not necessary to borrow at all. 

The MJS story relates that the Legislative Fiscal Bureau’s report says that $883 million of the borrowing is for transportation spending.  Keep in mind, however, that Doyle’s budget also raids the transportation fund to pay for some of his new spending.  It matters little whether the money is being borrowed for transportation or other spending when the funds just slush back and forth.

Oh Canada

Good

Prime Minister Paul Martin said Thursday that Canada would not join the contentious U.S. missile defense program, a decision that will further strain brittle relations between the neighbors but please Canadians who fear it could lead to an international arms race.

More missiles for us.

Plinking

Not bad.

An experimental naval interceptor shot down a short-range ballistic missile target during a test over the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, missile defense officials said.

It is the fifth kill in six tries for the interceptor, called a Standard Missile-3, said Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency.

Green Gaffe

I hate to point this out, but I must be objective about these things…

Congressman Green released a statement ripping Governor Doyle for vetoing the property tax freeze.  The only problem is that the bill hasn’t been sent to Doyle yet.

Oops.

Obviously they had the release already prepared and someone let it slip out a bit early.  Still… that’s gotta be making someone’s face red. 

Political Calculation

Despite earlier reports that they may fast track the bill to the governor’s desk, the Republican leaders of the Wisconsin legislature have decided to hold on to the Property Tax Freeze for a while before passing it to the governor.

If the GOP sends the bill to Doyle right away and he vetoes it, then the rhetoric returns to “Doyle and the GOP each have a property tax freeze, but they do it differently.”  Given that the MSM insists on parroting Doyle’s false claim to have a plan for a freeze, the debate becomes very muddled in the public arena.  It’s hard for people to differentiate between the two versions.  This opaqueness is exactly what Doyle is counting on.

By holding on to the freeze for a while, it paints Doyle as what he is - a roadblock to a property tax freeze.  As long as the GOP property tax freeze bill is still alive, there’s only one property tax freeze on the table.  As time goes on and people learn more about the provisions in this bill, they will wonder more and more why Doyle won’t sign it.  Doyle can talk about his “freeze” all her wants.  There’s only one bill passed by the legislature about which to debate.

Apparently, the tactic is already working.  Doyle has signaled a softening in his position on signing the GOP bill.  Originally, he said that he would veto it immediately.  Now he is saying that he may sign it if the legislature returns to 2/3rds funding of K-12.  In reality, Doyle is not actually softening his position.  But he is trying to make himself appear less obstructionist because he knows that being labeled the “only guy between Wisconsinites and a property tax freeze” is massively politically damaging.

Petty Little Tyrants

Stories like this infuriate me. 

The Holy Rosary Catholic Church on the lower east side of Milwaukee has a beautiful old building.  So beautiful, if fact, that it has been declared a historic landmark. 

Last week, after finding that eight of the twelve beams that support the church’s historic steeple were severely rotted, they took the steeple down to repair it.  They plan to put it back up in a few months. 

The problem is that the Historic Preservation Commission is planning on fining the church for removing the steeple because the church failed to obtain the proper permit from the Commission. 

This is ridiculous. 

The church removed the steeple so that it wouldn’t fall off and kill someone.  They didn’t take it off as a lark.  Furthermore, they intend to put it back once they repair it.  No one is harmed by this action.  Once the steeple is put back up, the building will look exactly like it used to, except with a new coat of paint. 

Given that this is a necessary repair and no one has been harmed, why would the Historic Preservation Commission feel it necessary to fine the church? 

This is just another case of a petty little busybody commission with its nose bent out of shape because someone dared do something without kissing their rings first.

Congresswoman Moore Associated With A Hate Group?

This will take a few minutes to put all of the pieces together, but bear with me. 

You may remember that several Democratic operatives were caught slashing the tires of some GOP vans in an effort to suppress the vote in Milwaukee.  One of those operatives was Congresswoman Moore’s son, Supreme Solar Allah. 

So, I see from this article that Supreme Solar Allah is, or was, the community coordinator for the The Street Academy of Cream City Mentors Incorporated, located at 2438 N. Bremen Street, in Milwaukee.  The Street Academy is billed as a place to teach black kids how to become empowered citizens.  Sounds OK, so far.

According to this site, The Street Academy of Cream City is a branch of the Nations of Gods and Earths, also known as Five Percent Nation or simply the Five Percenters (Click on “Allah’s Atlas” on the right and scroll down to Wisconsin). 

The Five Percenters, according to the Anti-Defamation League, is a certified hate group.  Some of their basic teachings include:

a scientist created the white man from the black man, who in turn tricked the black man into slavery.

and

While only black men are gods, others who accept the knowledge of the Five Percent can become “civilized people.”

Basically, the Five Percenters are saying that “We only teach that the Original man is God and that the White man is not God but he is Devil” (from here).

Neat, eh?  So the son of Congresswoman Moore, who is up on charges for trying to violently suppress the vote in Milwaukee, is a member of a Black Supremacist hate group.

Whodathunk?

(Many thanks to a reader for pointing this linkage out.)

UPDATE: My ever sensible wife reminds me that the sins of the son are not always a reflection on the parent.  This is very true.  But given the fact that Moore’s son actively campaigned for the Dems in Milwaukee when Gwen Moore was actually running for election - and that she has never condemned her son’s actions or affiliations - I suspect that their world views are very similar.

Free At Last!!!

The Bar Exam is now history.  ...and there was much rejoicing.  

Time to get the hell out o’ Waco!

Noticeable Absence

Perhaps we bloggers are just getting a bit too big for our britches, but I think that Sean has a point:

Charlie Sykes has a great line up for his “Insight 2005” show this morning. I do see something missing: where are the webloggers?

Charlie has been very active in the blogosphere, so I don’t think that the lack of bloggers at his event is any kind of snub.  It may just be that “Insight 2005” is just more of a traditional affair.  Maybe next year.

(*note* although I am flattered by Sean’s comment regarding me, that’s not why I linked to his post.  But it didn’t hurt )

Mail

For some reason, my email has been really flaky sending anything lately.  I receive email just fine, but I can’t send anything.

So… if you’ve emailed me recently and I haven’t responded, I’m sorry.  I have a slew of messages sitting in my outbox.

Ballot Counting

John has this bit of news in the comments of an earlier post:

I just got the 4 tally sheets from the village of Germantown.  The form name is form WI-19, the Inspectors’ Report.  The numbers tied out exactly.  The one district where the machine count was 11 less than the 2 poll lists, the inspectors had to count the ballots in the machine’s lock by hand.  It turned out the lock box contained 3426 ballots not the 3415 ballots the software reported.

It turned out the machine software subtracted 1 from the Ballots-cast register when the machine rejected a ballot as damaged or spoiled.  This was exactly the number of damaged ballots for that district.  You should have seen the report attached to the inspctors’ report to explain this discrepancy.

Yeah, Lisa, these discrepancies happen all the time. (tongue firmly in cheek)

According to the MJS in Milwaukee city alone, there are 7,000 “Ghost Ballots”; Ballots with no corresponding elector (as noted by a check mark on both poll lists).  These 7,000 are concentrated in 9 wards. Seven thousand is a significant portion Mr. kerry’s 11,384 ballot (I can’t say vote anymore) victory margin.

It seems to me 7.51(2)(e) requires these “Ghost Ballots” be removed from the official canvass.

Yup.  Keep up the great wrok, John.