Once again, a gracious blogger has put up this week's Carnival of the Recipes. As always, update your shopping list.
You should read the Mountaineer Musings too. Very good stuff. Way better than the crap I post.
posted by Chris Farley @ 3:27 PM
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I've decided to explain myself...even though I'm still pretty certain no one reads my crap. What do I know anyway.
Iraq
John Kerry has no big ideas on Iraq. His general theme is, I'll do it better than Bush and I'll "involve" the international community. I think this involvement means forcing Israel back to the bargaining table with Arafat. Bad idea in my opinion. Arafat is a terrorist and will always be one. Sharon has a plan, is implementing it and it will probably succeed. Remember, the "wall" that he's building isn't really a wall, it is mostly a fence.
While Bush screwed up royally so far in Iraq, he continues to move the process forward and some of the moves that appear stupid might actually be shrewd and caculated. The general population initially viewed Al Zarqawi as a hero. Now, they are sick of him. Afghanistan looked pretty bad too, but they just had elections. It isn't perfect, but it is moving in the right direction. The only danger is getting the international community to start doing business in Iraq and viewing them as legitimate. Though I think money will solve that in the long run. The French, Germans and Russians want a piece of the oil pie too.
Economy
Kerry wants to raise the minimum wage. I think that is a bad idea. Minimum wage is why many manufacturing companies move overseas. Let the market decide what the appropriate labor rate is. Our economy did just fine for almost 150 years without a minimum wage. I don't see any of his plans being able to increase the number of jobs by anything significant.
Bush inherited a crashing economy that lost .5 million jobs from the burst of the internet bubble. Then, 9/11 lost about another million. But, over the past year, we've added about 1.9 million. Bush's policies had little to do with this other than the tax cuts softened and shortened the downturn. You can argue about the appropriateness of the cuts, how they were implemented, etc, but the fact is, they helped a little. Bush's idea of re-educating workers is on point. Give the people the tools to decide what they want to do and let them have at it. It worked for me.
Taxes
Kerry is going to raise my taxes.
Bush isn't going to raise my taxes.
Social Security
Kerry wants to "find a way to fix it." He has a plan, but it is mostly more of the same.
Bush at least wants to try something. Agree with it or not, he's at least going to try, which will push congress to do something.
There are other issues in this election, but these are the ones that are important to me. Anyone can argue the merits of the various proposals, but in the end, it all boils down to which set of ideas you think will work. I think Bush's will.
posted by Chris Farley @ 3:21 PM
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I'm not a very religious man myself, but this is a good point.
However, the Bible is a bloody book. Cities are smote, people are stoned and Christianity itself is based upon the death of a man...the violent, horrific death. What if the president simply thought God wanted him to start another crusade?
The morals and humanism taugth by religion are good, but religious extremists come in all shapes and sizes.
"Isn't it better, I asked, to have a leader who believes that in the next life, he will have to answer for the decisions he makes in the here and now?"
Remember, terrorists that die, die as martyrs. They expect to be judged as well.
posted by Chris Farley @ 7:48 PM
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Jared, at A Western Heart is plain pissed off. Read the link, then go back to the main for a few shorter rants. He is absolutely on fire...and totally correct.
posted by Chris Farley @ 8:26 PM
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Radley finds a rather embarassing picture of Tommy Lee. Words fail me.
posted by Chris Farley @ 8:03 PM
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This is the best Bush ad I've seen yet. I'm a cold hearted bastard and even I got a little choked up.
posted by Chris Farley @ 8:00 PM
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HA. He's a sissy. I little, wimpy, metrosexual sissy.
Just the man I want a heart beat away from the presidency.
posted by Chris Farley @ 7:58 PM
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She almost has a book, she has a publisher. Can't wait to read it.
posted by Chris Farley @ 7:44 PM
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A Western Heart has a sort of "leftist" round-up from Australia. Oddly enough, the conservative party in power are referred to as liberals, so be careful while you are reading.
I love the new masthead picture. Someone down there is an awesome photographer.
I still wonder who that woman from the previous masthead really is and what the Aussies think of Steve Irwin.
At my next dinner party, I'm going to match my wife's incredible Italian feast with Australian wines. The best way to show appreciation or disdain is with your wallet. The Aussies get my small token of appreciation via a few bottles of wine.
posted by Chris Farley @ 9:52 PM
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For those of you interested.
The Republican blogger's count.
The Democratic blogger's count.
Both have Bush ahead by a small margin. I like the Democrat better. He seems to know more about polling, makes a concerted effort to just count the polls without interpretation and keeps his up to date daily.
posted by Chris Farley @ 8:13 PM
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Backing up my stem cell post, Charles lays into Kerry-Edwards. He should know what he's talking about. He's trained as a physician and is a quadraplegic.
posted by Chris Farley @ 5:52 PM
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Carnival of the Recipes is up. Time to go shopping!
posted by Chris Farley @ 3:26 PM
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Power Line thinks the debate was a tie and that no one committed major gaffes.
Bush took this debate on many levels. He seemed more human than Kerry. He did much better on "social" issues than Kerry and he pretty much tied him on the other issues. Bush hit this out of the park and Kerry only hit a double. But, the major gaffe was Kerry's injection of Mary Cheney into the debate. Edwards blew it when he did it and Kerry made it worse. Now they look desperate.
How did Deacon miss that?
posted by Chris Farley @ 10:46 PM
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Mary Cheney won the debate tonight. John Kerry did one of the lowest, basest, ignorant, rude and abusive things I've ever seen in the political realm. There was absolutely no reason to bring up Ms. Cheney and her homosexuality. It was plain wrong. Based on this incident alone, Bush wins, Kerry loses.
I urge all gays to vote for anyone but John Kerry. He took a member of the community and targeted her, embarrassed her and singled her out for no other reason than she is gay and he could score points. That's just low down dirty pool.
Shame on John Kerry.
posted by Chris Farley @ 10:25 PM
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Bill O'Reilly is being sued for sexual harassment. HA! I believe it. When he gets "frisky" on the radio show, I shudder. It's really creepy.
Read The Agitator's entry and link over to TSG.
posted by Chris Farley @ 6:24 PM
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The embryonic stem cell plank is totally bogus. John Edwards is a twit. Drudge Report has this quote from an Edwards campaign stop:
'We will stop juvenile diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases... When John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going get up out of that wheelchair and walk again.'
What an incredibly assinine statement. He thinks that embryonic stem cell research will cure people. The fact is, there has been absolutely no drug or treatment created using embryonic stem cells. There are several types of stem cells, the embryonic ones are all the rage in the campaign.
Bush decided to give federal research funds to existing embryonic stem cell lines, but not pay for any more - if he did give funds, it would be federal funding of what can reasonably be called abortion by the pro-life group. This isn't unreasonable, given that there is a relatively small chance that embryonic stem cells will lead to any sort of cure.
The other stem cells are already curing things. Bone marrow trasplants are a direct result of adult stem cell research.
Don't be fooled. This is a bogus issue.
And, so I can claim full disclosure, I'm pro-choice to the point that abortions should be legal any time through the first tri-mester or if the mother's life is in grave danger. But, after your second procedure, you need to be implanted with birth-control or an IUD. After a fifth, you should just be sterilized.
posted by Chris Farley @ 5:28 PM
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This hurts. It is dirty and wrong on so many levels. But, totally hilarious.
posted by Chris Farley @ 5:25 PM
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I've always had a jaded view of the MSM, but Chrenkoff really made it hit home. His Iraq posts are incredible. I had no idea that was that much positive information out there.
You should read it.
posted by Chris Farley @ 10:47 AM
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They voted, and for Australia, it was a trouncing of the leftists. Good for them. I'm not a die hard conservative, but I can't stand hyper-liberals.
Go to A Western Heart and see what they had to say. Chrenkoff is the premiere Australian blogger, but I have an absolute fascination with the woman on the masthead at "Heart." I may have to fly to Australian and track her down. Plus, I like the gang at "Heart" better.
posted by Chris Farley @ 9:15 PM
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Bush, I think. Neither is a very good public speaker. Kerry rambles incessantly and Bush ends abruptly and awkwardly. But, Bush was again on message and did a much better job this time - though anything would have been better than last time. Kerry rambled...a lot.
The very end of the debate was telling. Kerry sort of hung out on stage with his wife and the moderator, while Bush plunged into the audience to shake hands and take pictures with people.
I'd say Bush stemmed the tide.
posted by Chris Farley @ 10:37 PM
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Well, I guess a few people read my ramblings, so, I'll explain why I think it was the right thing to do to get rid of Saddam.
Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction, but, he wanted them badly. He was telling everyone, even his own generals that were the guys that should be using them, that he had WMD. Every major intelligence agency on the planet thought he had stockpiles. These are facts, not my opinion. As Mickey Kauss pointed out, if a guy says he has a gun, says he's going to shoot it, then points it at someone, the cops have every right to shoot him dead...even if the "gun" turned out to be a bar of soap. So, prewar, that is my opinion of the situation. He said he had WMD, indicated he would use them, actually had used them in the past and was too dangerous to not believe.
But, let's say we took the diplomatic route instead. Through some miracle, France and Germany put more pressure on Saddam to cooperate with the inspectors and he capitulates and gives little Hans Blix free run of the country. Blix would have reported back to the US and UN that there were no weapons, no factories to produce them, no evidence of plans to produce them. Then, the only logical thing for the UN to do would have been to praise Saddam for coming back into the fold and lift the sanctions.
After that, I see three divering paths.
1. Saddam gets to refill his banks with lots of new investments and oil money. He has free reign to brutalize the country and he immediately begins creating new weapons...without anyone bothering him. Because the US had troops in Saudi Arabia, Saddam would "Islamicize" his government to consolidate power. He would then continue to support Palestinian terrorists and probably welcome Osama with open arms, giving him the weapons he wants to attack the US again. I'd say that would have been a three to five year plan.
2. Iran, seeing that Saddam is weak and needing a diversion from the internal strife it has, seeks a nationalistic diversion by rekindling the war with Iraq. Iran is much stronger than Iraq and defeats Saddam, thus becoming a veritable middle east super-power. Other Arab countries fear this and request US help. The US then becomes engaged with "containing" a much stronger military foe with vast oil wealth that the French, Germans and Russians can't ignore, since they fear US hegemony. We have another new world order, with European nuclear powers siding with Iran - another version of the cold war begins. While this may not take place completely in the open - ie, France and Germany working behind closed doors - it could have easily played out this way.
3. Saddam miraculously comes to his senses and realizes that it is fun to be a rich dictator and that there is no reason to continue pissing off the US, other than continued support for the Palestinians. The world is a peaceful place, except for Israel - which eventually gets tired of all that crap and drops a few nukes around the middle east to make a point.
No matter what, it is hard to see Iraq pulling a Libya and trying to become a legitimate state.
Many people argue that we didn't take into account the Iraqi people. I disagree. A quick war with a weak country cost far less lives in the long run than any of the above scenarios. I also feel that the Iraqi people themselves are partly responsible for the situation. Regardless of how brutal the regime, revolution is always an option. The Iraqi people had neither the will nor desire to overthrow Saddam. We had to do it for them. While I feel badly for the innocents that died, that is simply the cost of thier inaction.
Another thing I'm tired of hearing is how President Bush squandered the worlds good will after 9/11. BULLSHIT. The main French newspaper, Le Monde, is credited with the 9/12 headline "We Are All Americans." But, even in that article, there were the inklings of the "it's America's own fault" line of thinking. Check out this great post for a complete explanation.
There, I've done it. Now those few of you who actually read this crap have the explanation. I'm still shocked that anyone even found this blog, let alone read it. Thanks.
posted by Chris Farley @ 6:26 PM
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Carnival of the Recipes is up. Time to go shopping and make something good.
I wonder if they'd let me host it. Does it require bribes? Do I have to wear an apron? Do I have to have really small hands?
posted by Chris Farley @ 1:24 PM
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Great article from our friends "down under" about Australian politics. Granted, these guys are coming from a conservative viewpoint, but I can't and won't disagree with anything said. I'm adding them to the blogroll...and thanking the Austrailian people for standing by America for the last 100 years.
Another, Aussie related item that should be in the news.
Jacques Chirac says American culture is taking over the world. It seems odd that no one ever mentions that we steal other cultures we like. Like Australia. Can anyone say Outback Steakhouse, or shrimp on the bar-b, or Elle McPherson, or Crocodile Dundee, or Steve Irwin?
I wonder what the Aussies think of Steve Irwin. And, I wonder who the picture is on A Western Heart's masthead?
posted by Chris Farley @ 12:19 PM
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So, Saddam didn't really have any WMD, but he told everyone he did. There was so much confusion that even his generals, that were, presumably, the ones who would actually use those weapons, thought he had them.
I like Mickey Kauss's analogy, found via Instapundit. Although, I never cared about the weapons as much as the Democrats wished I had.
Basically, after reading all the junk from the right and left, my conclusion is that we did the right thing getting rid of Saddam. I'd go on to explain, but nobody reads my crap...yet. Maybe one day I'll have a few readers and can go into my explanation.
posted by Chris Farley @ 8:12 AM
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I'm only listening to the debates tonight...via the Internet. Dick Cheney is mopping the floor with Edwards. It is much more exciting and nasty than the presidential debate. Edwards sounds flustered and is rambling a bit while Cheney seems on message and very matter of fact. Dick is being pretty mean - the "senator gone" comment is spot on.
Basically, Dick seems like the nice guy and Edwards seems like a little whiney kid.
posted by Chris Farley @ 8:59 PM
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Instapundit is tearing up the French today. They really are bastaards. This will hurt Kerry if it gets around the MSM.
The poles are out and it seems that Kerry didn't gain much from his debate win. I'm thinking that most people agree that while Bush might be or probably is wrong on a lot of issues, Kerry is just way to much of a waffler. No one can figure out what he will or won't do, will or won't support. At this point, a vote for Kerry is truly a leap of faith.
posted by Chris Farley @ 5:09 PM
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No one has anything new or original to say. Most independent blogs have a similar take as me, most Bush blogs are disappointed with Bush, but still bash Kerry and most Kerry blogs are all happy that Kerry did well.
All I can say is that Kerry needed a home run and didn't quite get it. Maybe a double with an extra base on errors.
posted by Chris Farley @ 5:50 PM
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I had a birthday party for my son today. He's nine. There were twenty screaming little kids...and it rained. That didn't disrupt the party too much, as the rain moved away quickly. My advice for anyone else considering such madness:
1. Don't even mention the word "snowcone."
2. Don't buy the biggest cake ever. It looks cool, but it draws flies and bees.
3. Don't allow a sleepover. It prolongs the nightmares.
4. Definitely set up an age/sex appropriate activity. Two TVs with video games are a lifesaver.
5. Baloons are worth the effort.
I would also have to say to take this guys advice.
posted by Chris Farley @ 5:43 PM
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Hurray! I found this a few weeks ago. The dishes all sound great. Of course, I had to contribute and plan to continue doing so.
Everyone send in something tasty!
posted by Chris Farley @ 2:55 PM
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This is absolutely brilliant. I nominate it as the best debate post...ever!
posted by Chris Farley @ 2:47 PM
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Jane Galt has a great narrative. Hugh Hewitt has a grade sheet and a transcript.
I watched the whole, dull, boring thing. My impression:
Bush is not a very good public speaker. He sputtered, stammered, lost his place and ramble incoherently. BUT, he did manage to stay on message, get a few good podium poundings and finger jabs and thwart most of Kerry's attacks.
Kerry is not a very good public speaker either. He rambled incessantly and on the few occasions where I thought he had Bush, he'd say something stupid like "global test." BUT, he also stayed on message pretty well and managed to appear more composed than Bush and definitely had a broader understanding of the issues.
In short, they both sucked, but Kerry sucked less by a very, very small margin. However, I think the "global test" and "simultaneous bilateral and multilateral" crap is going to kill him in the court of public opinion.
As the proverbial swing voter, I'm starting to lean towards Bush for four reasons:
1. Kerry is going to raise my taxes because he has a ton of new programs.
2. I like Kerry's Iraq goals better, but his plan is pretty much - I'm going to do what Bush is doing, only I'll do it better because I'm John Kerry/anybody but Bush.
3. Bush made a much better point on how to deal with N. Korea and I believe it.
4. The overall messages I got from the two candidates were:
Kerry - I have a deep suspicion of America with its nukes, its weapons, its preemption and its resolve to go it alone if necessary. Unless the world loves us, we're on the wrong track.
Bush - America is good, and while it would be nice for the world to like us, I'd rather be feared yet safe than loved and vulnerable. We are the greatest and strongest country in the world. I'll bring along what allies I can get for each situation, but I'll never let them tell me what to do or how to do it.
I like Bush's message much better.
I'll reserve final judgement until after the next debate.
posted by Chris Farley @ 9:46 AM
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Rants, musings, deliberations and a healthy dose of BS from a real, live, dead guy!
