Archive for November, 2004
Won’t be posting more today. And I’m not sure how much I’ll be posting this weekend (though I imagine something will catch my eye) so go eat some turkey and watch some football.
And, if you haven’t done so already, go check out Donald Sensing’s What I am thankful for at One Hand Clapping.
Happy Thanksgiving.
THEY CALL THEM “CHARLIE’S ANGELS”
Chuck Simmins, an EMT by trade, writes:
Here’s a great story about three young women serving as medics in Iraq, all from the Dakotas.
And a pic:
Go read.
MSNBC.com:
An audiotape purportedly made by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi lashed out Wednesday at Muslim scholars for not speaking out against U.S. actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying they have “let us down in the darkest circumstances.”
I’ve got to think that at least some of those Muslim scholars are thinking “happy to disappoint you”.
Get the spreadsheet here (If you have a version older than 1.24, download it again.)
The WA.gov site changed it’s layout, and our sheet was broken temporarily. Fortunately, my brother took time off from his vacation to modify it (that seemed easier than hacking the WA.gov site and switching it back to the way it had been, I guess) and it once again works.
I see that a other few sites are now posting “unofficial” numbers. I guess they couldn’t compete with Murdoc. Murdoc only uses real, official, certified numbers. Packed with 55 vitamins and minerals.
Take a look.
Meanwhile, Sound Politics (a hotbed of activity during this quagmire) has a couple of interesting tidbits in A Democrat’s “Tie”
According to the Seattle PI:
Both political parties were poised to request a rare hand recount if they don’t like Wednesday’s results. That count would take until nearly Christmas to complete.“It looks like that’s the only way we’ll ever break this tie,” state Democratic Party Chairman Paul Berendt said Tuesday.
I do not think that word means what he thinks it means.
And one of Sharkansky’s friends has been observing the recount and writes:
After observing many, many ballots, one conclusion I may draw is that Republicans tend to follow the instructions on the ballots, while Democrats ignore them.
Offered without comment.
UPDATE: Here’s a screenshot of the spreadsheet:
Download the full-length video here from MO (8,472KB). (You may need to download and install the XviD codecs to watch it.)
I previously mentioned a message board that brought this issue up again. See the message board for more.
He says that he normally doesn’t copy and paste without noting that it’s a quotation or providing attribution (this is “perhaps the only one” where he didn’t do so), and invites me to check out the rest of his board to verify. I haven’t done so, but I’m willing to take him at his word.
He also writes:
And thanks for using your real name. That is your real name, right, or are you a big MacGyver fan? http://members.aol.com/immurdoc/murdoc.htm Would you like to tell us your full name and who you are? I noticed no biographical information on your web page. Maybe I just missed it. Easy to do, a lot of content there.Standing up for what you believe while using your real identity adds weight to your arguments, don?t you think? You would be among the first conservatives ever to do so on this board.
If I were an Apache pilot and willing to post my name and background, perhaps it might add some weight to my arguments. But as I’ve noted before, I’ll remain “Murdoc” for the time being. My pseudonym doesn’t change what’s on the video, and I’ll let my writing on my web site speak for itself.
This may change in the near future, as this site has grown considerably since I started it as a lark using my old AOL and MSN screenname and a bastardized spelling of my junior high nickname. (However, there is a sort of “MacGuyver” connection, and those that know me probably find it funny. Those that don’t know me probably find it much less so.) As my readership continues to grow, I will give more thought to the issue of my identity, though I don’t really see what difference it will make at this point.
(Not that semi-clever people can’t find it out if they really want to, anyway.)
I always use “Murdoc” online, whether on my site or others, and I feel that I have a certain identity even without divulging the name on my birth certificate. And what if I “came out” but gave you a false name? What difference would it make?
Watch the video. Read the debates. Think about it and form your own opinions.
And tell me if you would like to know my real name.
UPDATE: If you’re going to link, please link to this page and not directly to the video. Thanks.
Chuck Simmins has the latest numbers for US oil imports. Notice where two-thirds of our oil DOESN’T come from. I’m constantly surprised at how so many people think that almost all of our oil comes from the Middle East. It just ain’t so.
However, the Middle East still does have a disproportionate effect on our economy because if the price of Middle East crude goes up, crude everywhere goes up.
And, while on the subject, the answer to the “Why haven’t we done anything about Saudi Arabia?” crowd is “See number two on this list.” Their time may be coming, but we’re going to give them every chance to come around. And even if they don’t we need time to prepare for the oil shock that will shake the world if something big happens in the Land of the Two Holy Places.
A-10C Does it All (11/23/2004 entry)
Strategy Page:
The U.S. Air Force is beginning it’s A-10 upgrade, that will convert most of the current A-10A aircraft to A-10Cs (the A-10B was a two seat version produced in small quantities). Most of the changes will not be visible, and many will be in the cockpit. The pilots will now have color LCDs, new instruments and a new joystick with enough buttons on it to allow the pilot to control just about everything without having to fiddle with any other controls. This is called HOTAS (Hands-On Throttle And Stick). The A-10C will be able to use JDAM (GPS guided) smart bombs, as well as many current, and future, missiles.
However, this field modification apparently isn’t part of the upgrade.
Dan Rather to step down as CBS News anchor
Okay. So I wasn’t a major player in the RatherGate bust. But I had the best screenshots of the “same supercript”, and although this may have been planned for a long time, have no doubt that the effects of that story and the blogopshere’s impact upon it will be what’s remembered.
History is written by the victors. And we won a biggie.
This month the Strengthen The Good Network wants to help build the C. S. Lewis Bilingual High School library.
And there’s the opportunity: to help Douglas and the CS Lewis school bring English–which the students call “the language of freedom”–and a bit of genuine America–which is still widely misunderstood in the former East Block–to the teenagers of Petrzalka. Together, with just a bit of time and energy, we can build an English-language library right in the center of a former Soviet-era apartment complex.Here’s how we can help strengthen the good: Below is a list of books the school needs for the English and American Studies programs … the items with an asterisk are those for which they need several copies (as many as twenty each to use for literature classes). Anything else they will use to build the library.
See the list in the extended entry if interested.
And
One way to think of it: send your favorite (or two, or three, or five) from the list above … if it had an impact on your life, it will certainly have an impact on the life of a student in Petrzalka.
If you’re interested, go check out the STG page and consider sending a book or two.
Read the rest of this entry »
Iran Suspends Uranium Enrichment, E.U. Suspends Disbelief
I’m all for agreements and negotitations. But the voices inside my head tell me that this isn’t the end of this. Call me a cynic, but I’m just plain skeptical.
