Flipping and Flopping

Remember when bashing the Bush Administration for their secrecy was all the rage? I recall Katie Couric mentioning something about it, too. The left was in an uproar!

BuzzFlash
Committee on Government Reform - Minority Office
Public Citizen
Bush Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
Two books were even written: Secrecy and Privelege and The Secrecy of George W. Bush

Now, the big talk is leaking. And, once again, Dems are foaming at the mouth.

People's Weekly
Radical Left
The Nation
BushWatch
Common Ground Common Sense
The Carpetbagger Report

I'm just curious, which is it?

Friday Quick Hits

I won 6th place in a Texas Hold'em tournament the other night. Not bad for a first-timer.

I've read a bunch of good columns lately on both sides. Here's the Roundup: Mike Adams has a great one about intolerance, David Model puts forth a decent argument about Bush being responsible for genocide, TIME takes a look at the new Chief of Staff's plan to dig Bush out of a ratings hole, and John Stossel explains why greed is good.

There's great news for Kenton County. Governor Fletcher is giving a fat check to the N. Kentucky County. $100,000 is going to Covington for renovating seven buildings downtown, $39,500 will go towards recreational trails for the Behringer Crawford Museum, and $6,332 will be received by Tailor mill with the purpose of cleaning up their cemeteries.

The greatest video game ever has a movie coming out about what happened after it ended: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. See the trailers here. Yes, I'm drooling.

Gen. Rick Lynch "see[s] us moving away from civil war [in Iraq]." The Baghdad violence, he said, was "on the downside." A 2.7% pay increase is also being urged by a House subcommittee beginning the 2007 fiscal year. No complaints here.

1,102 sex offenders were nabbed in a week-long raid with a cool name - Operation Falcon II. A total of 9,037 fugitives were arrested for crimes from kidnapping to homicide. Sweet pictures here. On second thought, how about we treat these 9,000 like we treat other lawbreakers - give them amnesty.

The ho's a liar! The Duke accuser blamed others for raping her ten years ago. That turned out to be a tall tale. Damn DNA always gets in the way of a quick profit.

The White House Mouthpiece

It appears Tony Snow of the Fox News Channel has been chosen to succeed Scott McClellan as President Bush's newest Press Secretary. This is a nominal change for a two-term president, but here are some interesting facts relating to the position and some of those who have served.

-The position of Press Secretary was established in 1937 by F.D.R. The first to hold the slot was Stephen Early. He was the only Press Secretary to serve two non-consecutive terms.

-The only female to serve the position was Dee Dee Myers, appointed by Bill Clinton in 1993. She recieved a D.U.I. in 1995 and now lives in L.A.

-The youngest Press Secretary was Ron Ziegler. At the age of 29, he was appointed by Tricky Dick. Ziegler was born in Covington, Kentucky and attended college in Cincinnati.

-The longest serving spoke under Eisenhower. James Hagerty's tenure lasted from 1953 to 1961.

-Our newest Press Secretary, Tony Snow, was born in Borea, Kentucky and has lived in Cincinnati and Sharonville, Ohio. He also plays many instruments and plays in a cover band named, "Beats Workin'".

-James Brady, serving under Ronald Reagan, was the only one to be shot. He was an Eagle Scout and now lobbies for gun control.

I hope you enjoyed the nuggets of useless information.

I Miss Beer

Right now, I could really go for a thick-headed Guinness. Or maybe a Goose Island Nut Brown Ale. If I dream about drinking (and even liking) Budweiser, does that mean I have a problem? The spin starts here.

Run for the hills! Gas prices are skyrocketting! (Of course, minorities and women are hit hardest.) Will people pay $3.00 a gallon? What about $4.00? Of course they will. Tia Nelson is absolutely right: "[I]f we paid what Europeans paid, we wouldn't be driving vehicles that got 12 miles to a gallon." Now, I'm no environmentalist wacko, but a dependence on a single source for fuel is not healthy - not only for our environment, but for foreign policy and the economy. Watch out for kneejerk legislation and congressional hearings founded on pure emotion and grab for political gain.

I finished reading Fast Food Nation. It really was a decent read. My interest was kept and I learned a lot. You really wouldn't believe what's in your food. The gore and details still won't keep me from eating fast food. Although, at one point when reading and eating lunch, I had to take a second to disassociate myself with the book. The author even had solutions for the problem with globalization and low wages for teens. They all included a bigger government, which was good for a laugh. I'm actually looking forward to Schlosser's upcoming movie of the same title and other book about the drug world, Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market. 3.5/5 stars.

My new read is On Combat by LTC Dave Grossman. It's a follow-up to On Killing and is already and enthralling trip.

Rick Santorum is the least-liked member in the Senate, as rated by his own constituents. Funny enough, he's still beating out Bush with a 39% approval rating (over Bush's 33%) and 53% disapproval (under Bush's 57%). I'm a fan of Santorum, but if you speak your mind and never waiver, you're doomed when it comes to a second term in a swing state. (Though, in Bush's case, the low ratings are not due to holding steady on all policy positions.) Pandering is key.

Ben & Jerry's decided to apologize for a new ice cream flavor that has offended people in Great Britain. The name - "Black & Tan". Yeah, like the beer. (But I'm sure it doesn't taste as good.) The ice cream made available only in the U.S. has a few people whining because "Black and Tan" is a nickname of old violent militia known for it's anti-British sentiments. Truly, I hope no one would be offended if I drank a "lobster-back" smoothie.

I'm drooling over the new 17" MacBook Pro. 5x faster. 36% brighter.

I was with W. Thomas Smith in his new piece about the difference between sedition and dissent until he proclaimed that he couldn't "say for sure if such rhetoric [against the war and president]is spewed to deliberately encourage terrorists...". What a loon. Nearly all "rhetoric [that] is spewed" is not intended to rally the enemy in the War on Terrorism, it is merely a horrible secondary effect. However, these guys are quite blatant about it and provide an exception to the rule.

Prince Harry is a true patriot.

Victory Post

This one comes to you from Camp Victory, Baghdad. There's a lot of good stuff, today.

Well, it's been 100 years since the big earthquake that ravaged SanFran. MSNBC says there's a 62% chance of another quake of similar size striking in the next thirty years. To them, "it's not if, but when." Hmm... if my high school math serves me right, there's still a 38% chance it won't happen. I guess it is "if." Any bets on how long it takes before somebody blames the next quake or the 1906 quake on global warming ... or Bush?

Speaking of skies falling, Al Gore's new movie "An Inconvenient Truth" is coming out soon. The end-times are near. Party at my house.

The race for the New Orleans mayoral seat is on! I'm throwing my support behind Ray Nagin. I remember when he promised N.O. would be a "chocolate city." I like chocolate, but hopefully he makes it dark chocolate. I hear it's better for your heart. However, if another candidate would make promises of caramel cabs, marshmellow streets, and Jelly Belly pennies, my support may change.

Tom Cruise said, "I'm going to eat the placenta. I thought that would be good. Very nutritious. I'm going to eat the cord and the placenta right there." PugBus offers some advice that goes a long way - Placenta Helper.

I've noticed the media is using the words "dancer" or "exotic dancer" in regard to the woman allegedly raped by Duke students. Why not call her what she is - a stripper? Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition also plans to pay for the girl's tuition at her public college. His previous record at helping women isn't helping him, though. ...Anita Hill, anyone?

Rallying The Hawks

My new column, Rallying the Hawks, is up. It's rather lengthy, but well worth the read. Enjoy!

Jack Bauer For President

The title has nothing to do with the post, but it sounds snappy. I like snappy.

My new column is up. Hats off to New York and California for providing me with such great material.

Jill Abramson coulnd't be more right. Katie Couric is heading to CBS to be the first woman to anchor the CBS Evening News. Jill asks, "when will we stop saying 'first woman to ___?'" If equality is what we all strive for, why keep placing a label on people? And it's a TV show, for christ's sake! I wonder who will be the first woman to win the gold in men's diving? Labels will continue to be used as a crutch for those who desire special rights for their race/religion/gender. What ever happened to judging someone on their character, record, and talent?

A long list of Couric's bias can be found here with a bunch of video clips. Remembering Rather and Mapes, I'm sure she'll fit in nicely over at CBS.

Pretend you're the VP and take shots at the administration here.

I think the Bush-haters are substituting this for pornography. Definitely, check it out. A school teacher showed it to her middle-school class. Classy.

I became violently ill the other day when I read of Apple's move to allow users to boot up Windows on its Intel machines. This may be a good business move, but I'm still feeling a bit queasy. But, I guess I can finally play that Microsoft solitaire game on my mac...

Could we please stop with the immigration debate? The idealist inside me takes Frist's proposal, but the realist sides with McCain and George Will. I bashfully wave my white flag of amnesty. Perhaps this is a good time to repeal the minimum wage too. Once again, I'm probably expecting too much.

Oh, and have a great Iraqi Liberation Day.

Monday Quick Hits

Today really couldn't go any better. It's days like these I'm thankful I didn't bite down on that cyanide capsul when undercover with Valerie Plame.

I shook hands with this woman today. I told her to keep up the good work.

Mike Adams has risen near the top of my "must-read columnists" list. This week's piece is another not worth missing.

Somebody has a new book being released on my fifth anniversary of Army service. I hope it comes with a centerfold.

Homer and the family are set to hit the big screen in 2007. TV-to-theater movies are always a huge gamble. If it's not done just right, it will most likely flop. Possibly a bad move on Groening's part.

A new study is claiming that more than half of all teens have had oral sex. A few months ago, "kari," on my blog, speculated as to why oral sex was so popular among the youth. The real cause?

"Maybe teenagers are going crazy with oral sex because they're increasingly
frustrated with the way our society is going: war, poverty, lack of
education/opportunity, racial division."

Looks like Scott McClellan (Press Secretary) and John Snow (Treasury Secretary) are next in the shakeup at the White House. I am a huge fan of McClellan and know nothing of Snow. If these speculations are true, Bill Maher may not be far off in his "scapegoat" theory. My move? Replace Rummy with Lieberman. Fire Cheney, Promote Rice. Make this guy Secretary of State.

If you're feeling down, check out this video of Rep. McKinney excusing her actions of resisting DC police questioning. If the evidence fails to get you out of trouble, blame racism.