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2 years and two days ago, I had never shot a gun. I didn't want to touch a gun. I didn't want guns in the house, didn't want guns in my life. No, no, no. No guns. No. I didn't like guns. A textbook case of hoplophobia, that was me. Mike spent a long time talking me into going to the range. I almost chickened out. I remember sitting on the couch, so afraid that I was near tears, saying, "No. I can't. I just can't, I don't want to..." "Just try it once. It'll be okay, nothing bad will...

Monday, Oct 22, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Romney Press Shop (857) 288-6390 Washington Post's Chris Cillizza: "WINNERS: Mitt Romney: ... as the debate wore on, Romney scored points with his passionate defense of his record as governor -- most notably on health care. Romney is most natural when speaking about his record of accomplishments; from Bain Capital to the Olympics to Massachusetts, he has put together an impressive resume of results. Romney spent much of the latter half of the debate reminding viewers of that." (Chris Cillizza, "McCain Shines At Latest GOP Debate," The Washington Post's "The Fix" Blog, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/,...

Left to right, Chief Warrant Officer Terry Eldridge, Capt. Thomas Loux, Chief Warrant Officer Cole Moughon and Chief Warrant Officer Kyle Kittleson pose in front of an AH-64D Apache. The four pilots from 1st “Attack” Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, reacted quickly when they came upon four anti-aircraft gun trucks and 20 heavily armed insurgents, Sept. 29. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Rick Emert, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. CAMP TAJI — For the past year, Apache pilots from the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade have conducted countless reconnaissance missions in...

BOMBINGS OF U.S. EMBASSIES IN AFRICA: 'SUPERPOWER IN THE CROSS HAIRS' Media in Kenya, Europe, the Middle East and Asia devoted front-page and editorial coverage to the two terrorist attacks against the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania last Friday. A majority of analysts--including many in the Middle East--fingered "radical Islamic organizations" as the perpetrators of the bombing attacks. Pundits across the board were quick to condemn the killing of innocent civilians. But opinion was mixed as to why this attack against the U.S. has taken place, and what the superpower should do about it. A few commentators expressed concern...

24 July 2007 I’m seeing a trend CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 12:08 am I will ask for confirmation from you readers, but I am seeing a trend. The Motu Proprio is out, and we are feeling the calming of the adrenline.  Official statements of dioceses have been passed, and posted and parsed.  After posting lots of them, and reading even more, I see a pattern. Many bishops were warm in an unreserved way about Summorum Pontificum.  I must say many more were very guarded.  Over the last couple weeks the wagons have circled around a campfire...

More Magister on Liturgy posted by Shawn Tribe Sandro Magister has a piece up today, Liturgy and Ecumenism: How to Apply Vatican Council II. Here it is: For Benedict XVI, there must not be rupture between the Church’s past and present, but rather continuity. He has given proof of this with his latest decisions – receiving less criticism than foreseen, and much more agreement. The comments of Ruini, Amato, De Marco by Sandro Magister ROMA, July 16, 2007 – Just a few months ago, the French bishops were extremely concerned about the news that Benedict XVI was preparing to...

WASHINGTON - The news that Mexican trucks will be allowed to haul freight deeper into the United States drew an angry reaction Friday from labor leaders, safety advocates and members of Congress. They said Mexico has substandard trucks and low-paid drivers that will threaten national security, cost thousands of jobs and endanger motorists on the northern side of the border. The Bush administration's plan to let 100 Mexican trucking companies carry cargo beyond the immediate border area was announced Thursday in Mexico. "This program will make trade with Mexico easier and keep our roads safe at the same time," Transportation...

BAGHDAD — The Airport Road here was once one of the most violent and dangerous roads in the country. Roadside bombs, small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade attacks were an everyday occurrence. Visiting dignitaries, news reporters and the soldiers tasked with providing security were well aware of these dangers along this five-mile stretch, known to the coalition forces as Route Irish. Things began to change in late 2004 and early 2005. The coalition recognized the critical importance of this main artery between Baghdad International Airport and the International Zone, located in the heart of Baghdad. A new focus was given to clear...

Within a day of North Korea's underground nuclear test,a "string" of earthquakes began: Japan,Hawaii,New Guinea/New Zealand,Kuril Islands. Is this mere coincidence, or did the test "trigger" an unexpected tectonic reaction ?

Schematic diagram of the test site The upper half of the following image shows where the test was conducted on Oct. 9(on the lower left corner of the map marked with orange flash symbol), and another new site for additional test(on the upper left corner, marked with a small yellow dot) The lower half of the image show the schematic diagram of the test site, with horizontal tunnels looping downward at the end to reach the test chamber. The illustration says that the tunnel is suspected to be from several hundreds meter to one kilometer long.

Why would it be so difficult to find clarity on the absurd Islamic reaction to the Pope's recent speech? Muslims have proven the Pope's point. Many have become angry and violent precisely because of being accused of being violent. And their violence is slowly but surely convincing more and more people in the West that Islam has a serious problem (my empirical analysis of Midwesterners). I have been almost amazed at the clarity of reporting on this subject, even from the Associated Press. Today, the Washington Post was willing to publish an ostensibly decent editorial on the Pope controversy, written...

A Cure Worse than the DiseaseBy Ted Galen Carpenter July 11th, 2006Reaction Essay Reuel Marc Gerecht provides a provocative analysis of the Iran problem that continues to bedevil U.S. foreign policy. Iran would be at or near the top of a list of countries Americans would least like to see have nuclear weapons, and the reason for apprehension has deepened dramatically in the past year with the emergence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ultimately, though, Gerecht's policy prescription--preventive military action to eliminate (or more accurately, to delay) Tehran's nuclear program is a classic case of a cure that is worse...

U.S. soldiers assigned to the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division's 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Quick Reaction Force provide security during a visit by U.S. Army Gen. George Casey, Multinational Forces-Iraq commanding general, to the government center in downtown Balad Ruz, Iraq, April 29, 2006. U.S. Army photo by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Mark Wojciechowsk Quick Reaction Force Secures Operations Areas Quick Reaction Force soldiers' security duties range from clearing the way for a visiting VIP to assisting with security during the recovery of an unexploded roadside bomb. By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Mark Wojciechowski 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment...

Online Democracy : Surprise ! It Works !! Last week, recently elected NJ Governor Jon Corzine decided he had to DO something about gasoline prices ; so he consulted with his advisors – good Democrats all – then announced he was planning to lower the state speed limit to 55 , and permit “self-service” gasoline sales. I’m sure the environmentalists were pleased with the idea of lowering the speed limit – but the People were not ! For one thing , New Jersey roads are easily the most heavily traveled in the nation – which means residents spend 75 to...

Waving a Palestinian flag, a group of Muslims and Arab-Americans on Monday joined thousands of demonstrators in the state capital participating in the national boycott to support immigrant rights. While their presence was welcomed by the predominantly Hispanic crowd, their message received a mixed reaction. During speeches at a downtown park and on the steps of the Capitol, 25-year-old Lara Kiswani spoke about amnesty, the rights of workers and other issues important to immigration advocates. But she also used her speeches to criticize the war in Iraq, denounce the U.S.A. Patriot Act and rail against Israel's policies in the Middle...

9:14 pm x43 9 injured by SUV at UNC-Chapel Hill Updated: 3/3/2006 7:32 PM By: Associated Press WATCH THE VIDEO More Information UNC Hit-and-Run The driver of an SUV that sped through the UNC-CH campus, hitting several people, allegedly planned the attack as retribution for the treatment of Muslims around the world. CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- A recent University of North Carolina graduate faces attempted murder charges after a sport utility vehicle raced through a popular campus gathering spot Friday, hurting nine people and scattering startled bystanders. Six people -- five students and a visiting scholar -- were treated at...

Reaction to President Bush's State of the Union address Tuesday: ___ "Tonight, the president told the American people that when America leads, America wins. Unfortunately, when President Bush and the Republican Congress have led, the special interests have won and the American people have lost. That is the cost of the Republican culture of corruption." - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. ___ "President Bush has succeeded and continues to succeed in offering once-in-a-generation levels of tax relief and trade agreements that produce opportunity for American workers. Those policies are a pretty easy sell in Congress for those who of...

The University of California Board of Regents and senior UC executives will gather at UCSD today for three days of meetings. We'd like to use this opportunity to urge them in the bluntest fashion possible to get their act together. The combination of blitheness, arrogance and denial seen in UC leaders' reaction to several recent scandals must be replaced by candor and reform. The latest scandal was the slap on the wrist given to Winston C. Doby, UC vice president for student affairs, after an internal investigation showed he had acted improperly in pushing UC Merced officials to create a...

New York Times Accused of Toying with Treason By Jim Kouri, CPP www.MichNews.com Dec 28, 2005 From our chutzpah file comes this story: today's New York Times reports that defense lawyers in some of the country's biggest terrorism cases say they plan to bring legal challenges to determine whether the National Security Agency used illegal wiretaps against several dozen Muslim men tied to Al Qaeda. In an article written by James Risen, who wrote the original NSA spy article, the lawyers said in interviews that they wanted to learn whether the men were monitored by the agency and, if so,...

Real Angry Over Real Estate Why a recent Supreme Court ruling has lots of homeowners hot under the collar By Silla Brush 10/10/05 Stan Dunn and his wife, Barbara, had just sold their home in California and were about to retire to the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga this spring when they heard the rumblings: A developer might tear down their new home--and more than 300 other nearby houses--in order to build a new complex of apartments, townhouses, and businesses to eliminate blight and boost the economy. And while town officials are excited at the prospect, the Dunns say they have...

Once upon a time, a Republican president distrustful of big government and enthralled with markets nominated a seemingly conservative man named Roberts to the Supreme Court. The president hoped and expected that long after he left the Oval Office, Justice Roberts would continue to do the work of his conservative movement. But Justice Roberts bitterly disappointed his erstwhile supporters, rejecting claims of states’ rights against the national government and defending the rights of minorities against the assertions of the national security state. A liberal fantasy? Hardly. The president was Herbert Hoover and the justice was Owen Roberts, who, in the...

Reactions to the Supreme Court Nomination of John G. Roberts The Associated Press Published: Jul 19, 2005 Reactions to President Bush's nomination of John G. Roberts to the Supreme Court: "The president has chosen someone with suitable legal credentials, but that is not the end of our inquiry. The Senate must review Judge Roberts' record to determine if he has a demonstrated commitment to the core American values of freedom, equality and fairness." - Senate minority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "Judge Roberts is the kind of outstanding nominee that will make America proud. He embodies the qualities America expects in...

When our British counterparts did broach the subject in private conversations, you'd hear things such as "Well, that's your problem" or — with the memories of terrorist attacks by the Irish Republican Army in the 1970s and '80s still fresh in their minds — "Well, now you understand." You could even get into an argument over whether Tony Blair and the British government had been right to send British troops to fight in the U.S.-led war to root out terrorists in Afghanistan. The message was clear — that the Americans had somehow brought the Sept. 11 attacks upon themselves by...

Several years ago I asked Dennis Miller if 9/11 had been an epiphany for him. He said, "Sure! I'm just amazed it wasn't an epiphany for EVERYone…" In the wake of the recent London bombings I asked ABC's Aaron Ketersky if it had been an epiphany for Brits. I was shocked to hear, "Not necessarily." According to Ketersky, the folks he talked to in London felt it was "their turn…it was something inevitable…in fact they were preparing for it." How appallingly 'civilized'. Historically, England has treated Ireland and Scotland worse than they have their growing Muslim immigrants population and allies....

ALBANY, N.Y. – Republicans took aim at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday for comparing President Bush to Mad magazine's freckle-faced "What, me worry?" kid, Alfred E. Neuman. A Republican National Committee official said the former first lady was "part of today's angry and adrift Democrat Party," while a spokesman for one of her potential 2006 Senate rivals said she was guilty of "insulting the president." "At a time when President Bush and most elected officials are focused on the security of our nation, Mrs. Clinton seems focused on taking partisan jabs and promoting her presidential campaign," added New York's...

As I predicted yesterday, a number of commentators have rushed to blame Tony Blair and President Bush for causing yesterday’s carnage in London by having the effrontery to defend their countries against the war declared upon the west. Not that they see it that way, of course — the west’s defence is deemed to be aggression and the Islamist jihad merely an act of self-defence. Thus the ageing revolutionary Tariq Ali writes in the Guardian: ‘The real solution lies in immediately ending the occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. Just because these three wars are reported sporadically and mean little...

BEIJING, July 6 -- The chairman of CNOOC Ltd., the Chinese energy firm embroiled in a thorny campaign to purchase the U.S. oil company Unocal Corp., voiced dismay on Wednesday over what he called "overreaction" from Washington by those portraying the deal as a threat to fair trade and U.S. national security.In an interview with The Washington Post at CNOOC's headquarters in Beijing, Chairman Fu Chengyu said critics of his company's bid for Unocal were guilty of viewing China through an outdated lens by failing to appreciate how economic reforms have forced Chinese companies to adopt market principles and focus...

Success has many parents; failure is an orphan. That's the kind of fickle armchair opinions offered by some public figures and media commentators who are waffling supporters or critics of our mission in Iraq. Without embarrassment, their speeches and writings bounce around with the day's headlines. Who cares? They're just a bunch of talking heads anyway. And, with the expansion of choices in media, people are able to choose which ones reinforce their own dispositions. Surveys show that supporters tend to watch Fox, and opponents tend to watch CNN. The importance is two-fold. First, the larger middle is affected and...

Over the weekend, a good friend of mine left a message on my answering machine, which at first I didn’t recognize, because his voice was so shaken with rage and desperation. But after a brief moment, I realized that it was my buddy, Danny, from the firehouse. At first I didn’t recognize him because Danny is as calm and collected a man as I have had the privilege of knowing. To hear the agitation in his voice was something that I could not associate with him. Living on the south shore of New York’s Long Island, Danny was naturally drawn...

After years of attacks from the Left on the War on Terror, Karl Rove has finally said it like it is. America's Liberals have never approached the War on Terror with the seriousness it deserves. Oblivious to the obvious irony of Illinois Senator Dick Durbin's coerced and disingenuous apology for comparing the actions of American troops at Guantanamo Bay to those of the Nazis coming within the same week as Rove's comments, Democrats in Congress rushed to the aid of their ideological brethren attacking Rove and demanding either his resignation or a similarly disingenuous apology to that of Durbin. This...

Oh boy, did Karl Rove put bees in a few bonnets last week. Rove, speaking at a meeting of the New York Conservative Party, said, “liberals … wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers” while describing the differences between conservative and liberal philosophies to the attacks of 9/11. Without naming names, Rove set off the usual firestorm of condemnation among Washington Democrats, some of whom called for him to “take it back” while others went so far as to call for his resignation as a presidential advisor. Boo hoo hoo! You would have thought that...

Just one day after its official release, Edward Klein's new book about Hillary Clinton has reached the No. 2 spot on Amazon.com's list of best sellers. "The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President" shot past David McCullough's blockbuster work "1776" to take the list's second spot and was only surpassed by the latest Harry Potter book. The news of Klein's success is bad news for Hillary, whose top aides have been working overdrive to close down the author's public appearances. Klein has been locked out of traditional venues...

One of the two Newsweek journalists behind the retracted article alleging that interrogators at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Quran said he had underestimated the impact of the report and dropped the ball by not properly corroborating his anonymous source. Michael Isikoff, addressing the furor in an interview broadcast Monday night on "The Charlie Rose Show," said that he regretted the possibility that his article, which has been blamed for violent protests in Muslim countries, may have enflamed rioters. "It was terrible what happened," he told Rose. He said that the reporters had provided the article...

Since my piece on Newsweek’s Quran desecration story, some have suggested that perhaps Newsweek isn’t totally to blame for the violent response in the Middle East. For the record, the opinion I expressed in The Toilets in Cuba Aren’t Better Than Ours was written to address Newsweek’s actions. The fact is I agree that there were other causes of the uprisings in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the land of over-the-top reactions. Those who are trying to piggy-back the blame for the murderous and reactionary protests sparked by the Newsweek story onto the minor abuses at Abu Ghraib are guilty of...

The Liberals howled at "Justice Sunday." Way too 'uppity' of Senator Frist to speak about a political issue, a majority rules vote on judges, from a Baptist church in Kentucky and simulcast to over 1,000 other churches — when the church isn't predominately Black! Conservatives condemned Democrat hostility to 'people of faith' and not one of their church leaders was a practicing homosexual. That Religious Right is not supposed to speak out in public. Or serve as judges. Or get elected. Or even vote. But millions did in '04. Liberals hate that and covet the votes. Liberals just don't understand...

During the worst of the Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis, I visited Israel and made a documentary ("Israel in a Time of Terror") about how Israelis regarded and lived with the murdering of their fellow men, women and children. I will forever regard the Israelis of that period as achieving a rare level of national greatness: They were able to go on living normal lives, returning the next day to the same cafes bombed the day before, riding on the same bus line that the day before had its passengers blown up, blinded, maimed and brain damaged. While making the...

If someone hung a picture of your mother amid images of prostitutes and pornography, would you be upset? Would you protest? I’m sure you would. In fact, the Blessed Mother is being insulted in this fashion at the Catholic University of Dayton, where an “art” exhibit in the Rike Center Gallery depicts “Mary amid images of prostitutes, pornography and firearms that has shocked some students and professors…” (Dayton Daily News, 03-07-05) Even worse – the University of Dayton is one of the nation's ten largest Catholic universities, founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, whose particular mission is to...

According to Brian Yates of the Louisville Patriot, one of the many marxist professors at the University of Louisville, in Kentucky, is suffering from the newly discovered affliction called "post election selection syndrome". On the Thursday following the presidential election of 2004, he told his class, "It was the religious zealots who say they are voting on morals. I think we should all buy AK47’s and shoot them all! That’s what I would suggest, if it were allowed." He has to go buy a gun? That's a shame. I guess, as long as the coming Revolution waits a few days...

Just caught President Bush's reaction to reports of Arafat's death. "God bless his soul" That was the response of a true statesman.

Sorry for the vanity. I was looking for any reactions to Stolen Honor.

So who has a capture of Teresa H(ic)K after the Poodle's comment about Marrying up? I missed the debate and wish I could've seen that one!

Few people are approaching Kerry and everyone is crowding around Bush. Looks like a political statement to me!

The translation of this e-mail advertising for el Pais (a main left-leaning newspaper in Spain) reads: you can do much in a day, think what you could do in 3 months, under a before and after September 11th picture of the New York skyline. This is how Spaniards look at September 11 and the murder of close to 3000 civilians? Outrageous!

I have been back East, near D.C., for a few days on a business assignment. I have decided (as per my FR activist thread yesterday) to engage in a little "grassroots" visibility strategy to promote the O'Neill/Corsi book on Flipper (Unfit for Command). This is where the rubber really meets the road, so to speak, in trying to reach the vast middle ground of America and not just preach to the choir, ourselves....Using this: I then high-quality color copied and expanded it 200%; I placed it in the rear window of my auto, inside facing outward (taped). The rear window...

Long lines crowded the lobby and entryway of Showplace East 11 cinema Friday where Michael Moore's controversial new movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" opened in Bloomington to sold out crowds. The film, an attack on President Bush and the war in Iraq, was No. 1 at the box office this weekend, grossing close to $8.4 million its first day. "This is what democracy should look like -- having a big argument." Amongst a crowd composed largely of IU students for the 9:40 p.m. showing Friday night, former IU-Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm stood waiting for the film to start. "I have never...

"Lets Roll"!

“In 1990 they found that the Earth goes through abrupt temperature changes from deep ice samples in Greenland of about 10,000 years ago the Earth’s temperature dropped 19 degrees” (research found by weather channel) taking 5-10 years (weather channel) but from analytical data, I intend to show this could take for the most part one year (Robert T Bailey) and more shocking a large part of the temperature change will happen this year! The End of the World as we known it is coming; an ice Age will change the face of the Earth. We have a crisis here. In...

CANADIAN ANGLICANS PREPARE FOR WATERSHED DECISION ON SAME-SEX BLESSINGS News Analysis By David W. Virtue ST. CATHARINES, ONT---As Canadian Anglicans debate the blessings of same sex unions, liberals fear it will be a watershed synod while conservatives hope it will be. For liberals it is a desperate attempt to keep up with the culture - a culture that now recognizes same sex marriages. The 5-part resolution wants to affirm the jurisdiction and authority for diocesan synods with the consent of their bishops to bless committed same sex unions, but not marriage rites. That presumably would come later. The general predictions...

Calling the approval of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts "the straw that broke the camel's back," a group of Christian activists is in the beginning stages of an effort to have one state secede from the United States to become its own sovereign nation. "Our Christian republic has declined into a pagan democracy," says Cory Burnell, president of ChristianExodus.org, a non-profit corporation based in Tyler, Texas. "There are some issues people just can't take anymore, and [same-sex marriage] might finally wake up the complacent Christians." Burnell is leading the charge for a peaceful secession of one state from the union, and...

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Arab media have reacted cautiously to the beheading of an American civilian on a video issued by an associate of Usama bin Laden, with some newspapers conspicuously playing it down or even ignoring it. Opinion-makers condemned the execution of Nick Berg (search), an American businessman who had been kidnapped in Iraq in April. The biggest pan-Arab satellite television channels broadcast an edited version of the video, cutting out the severing of the head as indecent. "This shows how base and vile those who wear the robe of Islam have become," said Abdullah Sahar, a Kuwait University political scientist. SNIP In...