ELECTION DAY IN IRAQ!

It is upon us. A few predictions:

- The Shia turn out in massive numbers, over 80%

- The Kurds also turn out in similar numbers, and they elect a regional parliament with a large percentage of representatives who favor complete autonomy

- The Sunnis vote in relatively low numbers, like 40% or so

- A few suicide bombers explode themselves (along with innocent would-be voters) in front of polling stations

- The attacks and deaths will be what the media focus on

- Shia candidates will win the majority of the seats

- The UN, Jimmy Carter, France, Russia, Iran, the American Left, and the terrorists will all claim the election lacked credibility

Heavy Drinking Saves Man's Life

Story here.

Bad Day In Iraq

A helicopter goes down, killing dozens of Marines.

A moment of silence is in order...

Rice Confirmed

She was confirmed by the US Senate today by a vote of 85-13. Two Senators did not vote. The following is a list of the 15 who did not vote in support of her nomination:

Akaka (D-HI), Nay
Bayh (D-IN), Nay (just positioning himself for 2008...)
Boxer (D-CA), Nay (hardly a surprise...)
Byrd (D-WV), Nay (well, Klansmen rarely support blacks for positions of power...)
Dayton (D-MN), Nay (this liberal flake is toast in 2006...)
Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Harkin (D-IA), Nay
Jeffords (I-VT), Nay (shouldn't you change that "I" to a "D" by now?)
Kennedy (D-MA), Nay (this guy's a real lady-killer...)
Kerry (D-MA), Nay (sour grapes...)
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay
Levin (D-MI), Nay
Reed (D-RI), Nay
Burns (R-MT), Not Voting (pussy)
Gregg (R-NH), Not Voting (pussy)

Matt Drudge's Dad...

...Has a popular (and useful) Website of his own. Check it out here.

MY SUPER BOWL PICK

New England 23, Philly 21.

Fall Semester Grades Are In...

Four classes, four A's. Sometimes, I'm just so good that I amaze even myself...

VOTE BLOGCRITICS!

I have a simple request. Go here, and vote for BlogCritics. That is all...

VICTORY!

Bush wins re-election, and the GOP gains seats in both the House and the Senate. What a glorious day!

The Election Is Getting Closer...

Check out BlogCritics.org for last-minute commentary.

Lions Win!

They are now 4-2 after beating the NY Giants for their third consecutive road victory. Next up: another road game against slumping Dallas...

NFL

The Lions are 3-1 (and 2-0 on the road) after beating the previously undefeated Falcons in Atlanta. Next week: Detroit at home vs. slumping Green Bay...

Novelists For Kerry!

24 of 31 novelists are voting for Kerry, according to this survey. Only 4 are supporting Bush.

Yet another example of media bias. (Remember, when conservatives talk about bias in the media, they aren't just referring to the news media, but to all media...)

Ann Coulter's latest...

Here's a taste:

"CBS' sole source authenticating the forged National Guard documents is Bill Burkett, who's about as sane as Margot Kidder was when they dragged her filthy, toothless butt out of somebody's shrubs a few years back. Burkett has compared Bush to Hitler and Napoleon, and rambles on about Bush's "demonic personality shortcomings." (This would put Burkett on roughly the same page as Al Gore.)

"According to USA Today, an interview with Burkett ended when he "suffered a violent seizure and collapsed in his chair" – an exit strategy Dan Rather has been eyeing hungrily all week, I'm sure. Burkett admits to having nervous breakdowns and having been hospitalized for depression.

"At a minimum, the viewing public should have been informed that CBS' sole "unimpeachable" source of the forged anti-Bush records was textbook crank Bill Burkett in order to evaluate the information. ("Oh no, not that guy again!") The public would know to use the same skeptical eye it uses to watch the "CBS Evening News With Dan Rather" itself."

But she saves the best for last. Read the whole thing.

Dan Rather

"Queen of the Space Unicorns"

A Superb Collection Of Articles About The 2004 Presidential Election

Can be found on Blogcritics.org. Where else?

Zinger Zell

Here's an excerpt of a National Review Online interview with Zell Miller:

NRO: Cynthia McKinney, the former congresswoman, has reemerged in Georgia as the Democratic nominee in Georgia' 4th congressional district.

MILLER: Yes, she has.

NRO: Any thoughts on that?

MILLER: They're not printable.

I love this guy...

Interview

My interview with Dan Oliver, the CEO of W Ketchup™, can be found here.

Bob Dole Attacks Kerry!

From here:

Former Republican Sen. Bob Dole suggested Sunday that John Kerry apologize for past testimony before Congress about alleged atrocities during the Vietnam War and joined critics of the Democratic presidential candidate who say he received an early exit from combat for "superficial wounds."

Dole also called on Kerry to release all the records of his service in Vietnam.

[...]

Dole told CNN's "Late Edition" that he warned Kerry months ago about going "too far" and that the Democrat may have himself to blame for the current situation, in which polls show him losing support among veterans.

"One day he's saying that we were shooting civilians, cutting off their ears, cutting off their heads, throwing away his medals or his ribbons," Dole said. "The next day he's standing there, 'I want to be president because I'm a Vietnam veteran.' Maybe he should apologize to all the other 2.5 million veterans who served. He wasn't the only one in Vietnam," said Dole, whose World War II wounds left him without the use of his right arm.

Dole added: "And here's, you know, a good guy, a good friend. I respect his record. But three Purple Hearts and never bled that I know of. I mean, they're all superficial wounds. Three Purple Hearts and you're out."

It's good to hear Robert Dole, a real American hero, speak out about John Kerry's shameful record in Vietnam.

Kerry Loses His Cool

From here:

FORT MYERS, Fla./CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - Democrat John Kerry asked the Federal Election Commission on Friday to force Republican critics to withdraw ads challenging his military service and accused the Bush campaign of illegally helping coordinate the attacks as the presidential race took a decidedly bitter turn.

Bush's campaign advisers denied any involvement in advertisements by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and the White House, in a new line of attack, criticized Kerry for "losing his cool" over the accusations.

Apparently it's okay for a foreign billionaire to give millions of dollars to a shrill anti-Bush group that runs ads accusing the President of cowardice and comparing him to Hitler. But if over 250 Vietnam veterans, many of them highly-decorated, dare to criticize Kerry and offer a differing point-of-view regarding events that occurred in Vietnam, they are to be muzzled.

I always knew Democrats despised the Second Amendment. But I didn't know they hated the First Amendment as well.

From here:

The unusual late-August maneuvering highlighted the closeness of the race for the White House and came as polls offered the first hint that the questioning of Kerry's medal-winning service in the Vietnam War - allegations that he strongly condemned this week as lies - were taking a political toll.

One poll found that more than half the voters questioned had seen or heard of an ad by Swift Boat Veterans For Truth that accuses Kerry of lying about events that earned him five medals in Vietnam a generation ago. The University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey also found that 44 percent of self-described independent voters found the ad very or somewhat believable.

Separately, a CBS poll found a sharp drop in Kerry's support among both veterans since the end of the Democratic Convention.

Good. The mainstream media had been derelict in their duty to look into Kerry's claims to be a "war hero." It took the Swift Boat Vets to finally get the media off their collective asses and bring this to the attention of the voting public.

These veterans have already proven Kerry to be a liar regarding his "Christmas in Cambodia" claim, which he said was "seared - SEARED - into [his] memory." How many more distortions, exaggerations, and outright lies will now come to light?

More from here:

Cutter sought to turn the argument over presidential readiness back on the White House. "Mr. McClellan needs to understand that John Kerry is not the type of leader who will sit and read 'My Pet Goat' to a group of second graders while America is under attack," she said.

That was a reference to Sept. 11, 2001, when Bush remained in an elementary school classroom for several minutes after being informed by an aide that the World Trade Center had been hit.

Well, it's good to see that the Kerry camp is taking the high-road here...

(This post can also be found at BlogCritics.org)

Social Security

All you need to know about the federal government's own Ponzi scheme can be found here.

RIP, Dan

My cousin passed away last night, from cancer. He was a good man, and a devoted Christian.

If there is a God, he is surely with Him now.

Rest In Peace, Daniel.

SWIFTVETS.COM

Check out what these Vietnam veterans have to say about John Kerry here.

Funny Website

Here.

Kerry On The Issues

Kerry on abortion:

I oppose it on moral grounds (it's a human life), but still support it (it's NOT a human life)

Kerry on taxes:

I'll cut taxes on "working families" and RAISE taxes on the "rich" (high-income earners who apparently don't work in my world, because after all I'm a billionaire and I don't even bother to show up for work at the Senate, I just married some crazy old broad who was previously married to a Republican Senator who died horribly)

Kerry on the war in Iraq:

I supported the war, no, wait, I supported threatening to go to war, but I opposed funding it, but I voted to support funding it before I voted to oppose funding it, and I think it was all a mistake, but I'm glad Saddam is no longer in power, and I will stay the course there, except I'll bring our troops home. Oh, and Bush misled everyone with the same information that I had that led me to vote for the war. Except I didn't vote for the actual war, I voted for a different war, in which people are not killed and it doesn't cost any money that could be better spent on more firemen and Heinz ketchup

Kerry on the Death Penalty:

I oppose it, because I feel life in prison is worse than a quick and painless death, except I support it in the case of terrorists, which means that in my world, where a full life lived at taxpayers expense watching cable, lifting weights, and having gay sex is worse than the gas chamber or electric chair, I actually am coddling terrorists, because I don't wish that awful fate on them

Kerry on Vietnam:

I served in Vietnam, with a band of brothers, who I later told the Senate were really a bunch of monsters, and I called myself a war criminal, but I still deserve to be Commander-In-Chief, because I won three purple hearts, though two were for self-inflicted wounds, and none required surgery, and I won more decorations for dispatching with the enemy, who happened to be a wounded Viet Cong teenager running away who I shot in the back, but I won those medals fair and square, and then pretended to throw them away at an anti-war rally supported by Jane Fonda, who once manned anti-aircraft guns aimed at my "band of brothers" but that's okay because they really weren't MY medals, they were some other guys' medals, and you shouldn't even be asking me about anything that I did after I left a boarding school in Switzerland because BUSH LIED

Kerry Lies

As I type this, there is a Google ad at the top of this page for the official John Kerry Website. The title of the ad: "Help Re-defeat Bush"...

Excuse me? "Re-defeat"?

It's more than a little pathetic that the myth of the 2000 election being "stolen" now apparently has the official blessing of the Democratic Party's nominee in 2004. Let's hope the dishonest bastards lose another close one this time around too...

The Final Moments Aboard Flight 93 
 
Here.

Why Bush Could Win Relatively Easily

Read this.

John F-ing Kerry

He doesn't need Botox. He needs this.

Sam Donaldson

Is he a deranged murderer? Possibly...

Another Reason To Hate Canada

They are brainwashing their kids to hate us!

Moore's Lies

Itemized here.

A Two-Front War

The US military vs. terrorists - and the media.

The Washington Post

Don't trust their anti-American spin on Iraq.

Media Spin

From here:

The former head of a Republican consulting group has pleaded guilty to jamming Democratic telephone lines in several New Hampshire cities on Election Day two years ago.

The jamming involved more than 800 computer-generated calls and lasted for about 1 1/2 hours on Nov. 5, 2002, the day voters decided several races, including a close Senate contest between outgoing Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and GOP Rep. John E. Sununu, who won by fewer than 20,000 votes.

This leaves the impression that the Republicans "stole" this election with "dirty tricks."

However, let's dig a little deeper in order to search for the truth here.

New Hampshire had, in November 2002, 690,159 registered voters. Only a little more than a quarter of NH voters are registered Democrats. The rest are either Republicans, Independents, or registered with some third-party.

In order to believe that this little "dirty trick" cost the Democrat Jeanne Shaheen the election, you must also believe that 90 minutes without access to telephones cost Democrats roughly 20,000 votes. 20,000 votes is roughly 3% of registered voters in the state.

Now let's figure in the turnout factor. 50% turnout is probably being charitable in an off-year election (I don't have the exact figures). That would mean roughly 350,000 people voted in 2002. 20,000 is roughly 6% of that figure.

We must dig still deeper in order to get a clearer picture. One assumes that the Democrat Party in New Hampshire was calling only registered Democrats on Election Day. So, 25% of 350,000 is roughly 90,000 voters. And 20,000 is over 22% of 90,000.

In other words, if one assumes that the GOP "stole" the NH Senate election in 2002, they must also assume that a mere hour and a half outage of the phones at the Democrat Party's HQ on Election Day cost them nearly a quarter of their base's vote! (And I'm sure the campaign workers ended up just using their cell phones to overcome the problem anyway, pretty much mooting the intended effect of this attack.)

The media will not dig this deep, however. They will just imply that Republicans use illegal methods to steal elections. (And remember, this guy wasn't even a part of the official campaign!)

This is why people hate and distrust the media. Sometimes, they almost make Michael Moore look credible by contrast.

Saddam

A wild-eyed Saddam Hussein appeared in court today. Take a close look at this kook. He looks a little like Manson, no?

Bill Cosby

Quotes from here

"You've got to stop beating up your women because you can't find a job, because you didn't want to get an education and now you're (earning) minimum wage," Cosby said. "You should have thought more of yourself when you were in high school, when you had an opportunity."

Wow! "The Coz" once again upsets the black victimhood apple cart. And this time even Jesse Jackson agrees:

"Bill is saying let's fight the right fight, let's level the playing field," Jackson said. "Drunk people can't do that. Illiterate people can't do that."

If this had been the message for the last 40 years, instead of well-meaning but ineffective "Great Society" welfare programs, there might have been some improvement in the situation of the black community. Let's hope this is not the last we hear of such harshly-worded but motivational rhetoric.

CD REVIEW

Artist - Katie Melua

Album - Call Off The Search

Tracks:

1. Call Off the Search
2. Crawling Up a Hill
3. Closest Thing to Crazy
4. My Aphrodisiac Is You
5. Learnin' the Blues
6. Blame It On the Moon
7. Belfast
8. I Think It's Going to Rain Today
9. Mockingbird Song
10. Tiger in the Night
11. Faraway Voice
12. Lilac Wine

Track number one (the title track): A soulful love song with a slow, memorable beat. Ms. Melua's voice shows great range here. 4/5.

Track number two: A funky, bluesy tune with class-warfare undertones. 3/5.

Track number three: Lovely melody, with a tone that gradually builds and falls in repetition (except in the chorus). 4/5.

Track number four: Funky. Sounds like something they'd play in a strip club. Can't wait to see the music video! (Ms. Melua is quite attractive...) 4/5.

Track number five: Too slo-o-o-ow. Music for insomniacs. 2/5.

Track number six: Nice tune, until you realize it's basically a song about a chick trying to justify having had sexual intercourse with someone she barely knows the night before. 3/5.

Track number seven: Amateurish song about the religiously-divided city of Belfast. If you can get past the inane lyrics, the tune is decent. 3/5.

Track number eight: Best song on the album. Will almost certainly be a part of a future Disney animated movie's soundtrack. Hauntingly-beautiful, bitter-sweet song. 5/5.

Track number nine: Attempts to be sensual by using erotic double-entendre. Succeeds only in being corny. 3/5.

Track number ten: Decent for filler. But it's still filler. 2/5.

Track number eleven: It's a "dedication" song. Be afraid. Be very afraid. 1/5.

Track number twelve: Odd song. More filler. And pretty much crap. 2/5.

Overall: 3/5. Worth buying, but not for every song. They could have cut off the last three tracks and this CD would be missing nothing. Shades of both Norah Jones and a young Jewel.

PISTONS WIN!!!

They destroy LA in Game Five, despite Kobe's "guarantee." Detroit wins its 3rd NBA Championship ever. And the pundits have a lot of crow to eat...

Albom

On Game Four.

Albom

Defends Detroit from LA's attacks.

Drew Sharp

On Game Four.

Pistons Win Game Four!

Final score: 88-80. Detroit is now just a single victory away from becoming NBA Champs.

Rasheed exploded for 26, as Kobe and Phil Jackson both imploded, garnering technical fouls.

Game Five is Tuesday night, in Detroit.

Drew Sharp

On Game Three.

Mitch Albom

On Game Three.

Pistons Dismantle Lakers 88-68

They won a must-win game, and now lead the series 2-1. If they win Game Four, they will likely be the champs. But if they let the Lakers tie this series back up, the series will be destined to head back to LA. And that isn't so good...

Possible Error

I most recently posted that Rasheed Wallace fouled Shaq on a lay-up, giving the Lakers a three point play with under a minute left. I may have been wrong. It may in fact have been Ben Wallace who committed that foul.

I am receiving conflicting reports. If you have a definitive cite on this matter, please E-mail me. Rob32909 at MSN dot com.

Anyway, Game Three nears. The Pistons MUST win this one if they want to win this series. I'll be watching, and posting...

Sigh...

Detroit was just a few seconds away from going up 2-0. Then Kobe tied it up with a three point shot. Then the Pistons collapsed in overtime. And lost 99-91.

I blame Rasheed for this loss. With less than a minute remaining, he fouled Shaq on an easy lay-up, giving the Lakers a three point play. This allowed LA to cut Detroit's lead from 6 to 3. If Rasheed doesn't foul in this situation, Detroit is still up by four. And the Lakers can't tie it with one shot. And the Pistons likely win this game.

Then, after Kobe nailed his game-tying three pointer, Rasheed bobbled the ball and turned it over with 2 seconds left, blowing Detoit's chance to win it in regulation.

And then, just for good measure, he put up a horrid looking three point shot early in the overtime period, helping the Lakers maintain their momentum and extend their lead.

If Detroit had gone up 2-0, with the next three games to be played at The Palace, this series would have pretty much been in the books. But now it's all tied up, and Los Angeles has the momentum. Detroit needs to win Game Three, or else they're in real trouble...

The Lakers

Talk about being hated.

Tampa Bay Wins The Stanley Cup!

In a wild finish, Tampa Bay hangs on 2-1 in Game Seven.

Let's see...Tampa Bay this year in hockey and a couple years ago in football...and the Marlins last year in baseball...now a Florida team needs to win it all in basketball. Maybe the Heat next season?

David Leon Moore On Game One

This typo-riddled column is barely worth reading. The major contention is that the Lakers didn't really play that hard, and that's why they lost.

Whatever. Let's not give the winning team any credit here, or anything...

Mike Lopresti

On Game One in the USA Today.

Pretty weak column, but he displays the arrogance of Los Angeles with this quote:

O'Neal's analysis of how the Lakers had approached Game 1? "Too cool," he said.

"I just think it's more us. ... We beat ourselves."

This is why I hate the Lakers so much. They don't give their opponent any credit. They assume that they lost the game, not that the other team won it. Unmatched arrogance...

Drew Sharp

On the Game One victory.

I don't really like Sharp. He's too much of a pessimist. He didn't even pick the Pistons to get to the Eastern Conference Finals, and gave them almost no chance against the Lakers. But still, he writes a pretty good column.

Mitch Albom

On Detroit's Game One win.

Best quote:

"Nervous?" Ben Wallace said, after the Pistons' first game in the NBA Finals since 1990. "Well, I think my first jump shot was a 15-footer that went 13 feet. But we relaxed faster than they did. And after a while it became a regular game."

An Open Letter To All Those Lakers Fans Who Thought This Series Would Be A Four Game Sweep For LA

Dear Lakers Fans Who Thought This Series Would Be A Four Game Sweep For LA,

Go fuck yourselves.

Sincerely,

Robert J. Elliott

(Oh yeah, the Pistons won Game One by 12 points, in Los Angeles.)

Ronald Reagan

The world mourns.

GREAT POST ON BLOGCRITICS

Titled The Liberals' Creed

PISTONS WIN!!!

A great come-from-behind victory at home. Now, on to Los Angeles!!!

GREAT SITE

HERE.

Corliss Williamson

Memo to Joe Dumars: GET RID OF THIS GUY IN THE OFF-SEASON!

He's awful. He's been horrible this entire playoff season. Kick him to the curb, ASAP.

Doc Rivers

Will be coaching the Boston Celtics next season.

Good for Doc. I always felt he got a raw deal in Orlando.

PISTONS WIN GAME FIVE IN INDY!

Take a 3-2 series lead. Rip Hamilton scored a career playoof best 33 points on 12-22 shooting from the field. Detroit can finish the Pacers off Tuesday night at home.

PISTONS LOSE GAME, HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE

Critical Game Five is on Sunday.

Pistons Win Game Three

Another nail-biter. Lead series 2-1.

PISTONS WIN!

What a game! Detroit had a total of 19 blocked shots, including one of the greatest blocks I've ever seen. Reggie Miller was about to tie the game with under 30 seconds left when Tayshaun Price came outta nowhere and blocked his shot.

Rasheed Wallace guaranteed victory, and the Pistons delivered. Series tied 1-1, heading back to Detroit.

Tampa Bay Wins

Will face Calgary in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Pistons Lose Game One

A close one from start to finish. Reggie Miller killed them with a late three-pointer.

Flyers Beat Tampa Bay In OT!

Force a decisive Game Seven.

PISTONS CRUSH NETS IN GAME SEVEN!

Will now face Indiana in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Terrorists Kill the President of the Iraqi Governing Council

Story here.

Pistons Win!

Series tied 3-3, heading back to Detroit.

I HATE THE PISTONS

They lose game five in triple overtime. Now down 3-2 in the series. Pathetic.

Pistons Spanked

Series tied 2-2. Game 5 is pretty much must-win for Detroit...

Pistons Get Crushed

Still lead the Nets 2-1 in the series.

Pistons Come Back, Beat Nets

Up 2-0. Next game in NJ.

Summer Semester

Begins Monday. I'm taking two classes: Biomedical Ethics and Physiological Psychology.

It's gonna be a long, hot summer...

RED WINGS FINISHED

Lose 1-0 in overtime. It's all over.

Pistons Crush Nets

Win Game One of this Second Round Series.

RED WINGS LOSE

Shutout by Calgary 1-0. Down 3-2 in the series. Yzerman nailed in the face with a puck. Not good...

Red Wings

Win 4-2. Even up their series 2-2. Regain home-ice advantage.

PISTONS WIN!

Advance to the second round against the hated Nets.

Red Wings

Lose another close one. Now down 2-1 to Calgary. Fuckin' Canadians...

GRADES

Four classes, and four A's. It was so refreshing not having a communist professor this semester...

The Pistons

Won both road games. Up 3-1, they look to close out the Bucks back at home Thursday night.

COPS

In Portland.

A Great American Hero

Pat Tillman: The Ted Williams of our era.

Not Good...

Wings lose 2-1 in OT.

So It Won't Be A Sweep...

Pistons lose Game Two. Series tied 1-1.

Red Wings To Play Calgary

I was incorrect a few days ago when I said they would be playing Colorado. My bad! It's the Flames instead.

Pistons Win Game One

The Bucks looked like high school kids in comparison. This series could be a sweep.

The Press Is Funny...

"NRA leaning toward supporting Bush"

You think?

Who in their right mind would suggest that the NRA was even considering supporting Kerry?

You gotta love these guys. They find a headline in everything...

RED WINGS WIN!

2-0 over Nashville. Will advance to the second round against arch-rival Colorado.

Red Wings

Take a 3-2 series lead after beating Nashville 4-1 tonight.

Outstanding Site

Viking Pundit.

OUCH

Red Wings shutout 3-0.

PISTONS WIN

That's 7 in a row.

Red Wings Win!

Up 2-0 in the series.

Another Great Blog

Here.

Good Blog

By a fella named Al Barger. This guy's so conservative, he makes me look like a Fabian Socialist.

MORE SHOCK POLLS!

Here.

Bush now leads in Arizona and has a huge lead in Nevada!

Also, one poll has him ahead in Michigan.

This is big news. The paid-media attacks on Kerry should continue for the rest of March, at least. Then, after having defined the man for the public, Bush should let up until the summer. He should save the majority of his cash for the post-Labor Day election-year frenzy.

But Kerry is looking weaker and weaker. It seems only a downturn in the economy (unlikely) would kill a Bush re-election now.