I'm Voting Democrat....

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Norm Coleman, Al Franken and CREW...oh my...

Al Frankens newest ad has really gotten the dander up of the Coleman campaign and from what I have read they have good reason to be upset. Here is why:

The ad says that a bi-partisan watchdog group has named Coleman the 4th most corrupt politician in Washington. The "bi-partisan" group is C.R.E.W. or Citizens for Responsibilty and Ethics in Washington. The term "bi-partisan" is used rather loosely.

The board members at CREW are as follows:

• Daniel Berger - Senior Partner, Berger and Montague - Donated $44,500 to Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee since July 3rd, 2007
• John Luongo - Lightspeed Venture Partners - Donated $2000 in May of 2007
• Melanie Sloan - Current Executive Director of CREW - Sloan has served under Charles Schumer and Joe Biden in the past.
• Louis M. Mayberg - President and Co-Founder of ProFund Advisors LLC. Has not done any recent contributing lately but check out his past contributions. Almost (D) including Biden for President in 1987: http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=DC&last=Mayberg&first=Louis. He is a big supporter of Joe Lieberman and even contributed $2000 on November 21, 2003 to George Bush: http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=MD&last=Mayberg&first=Louis. Also in this link is a contribution to the RNC for $2000 in 2006. He goes both ways...I wonder what he is after?
• Craig Kaplan - Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard Krinsky and Lieberman. This one speaks for itself. Check out the link for all the contributions to (D)'s including more than $30,000 in July of 2008 to Obama: http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=NY&last=kaplan&first=craig
• Erwin Chermerinsky - Professor of Constitutional Law. More of the same. Contributes to (D)'s: http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=CA&last=chemerinsky&first=erwin

All six board members at CREW contribute regularly to the (D)'s. This is not bi-partisan in any way, shape or form.

Melanie Sloan (in an interview on the CREW website) states: "We have no ties to the Franken campaign," she said. "When Franken was on Air America, I did appear on his program as did other people." This is true. Many people did go on Frankens program. She was on there more than 50 times (Minnesota Democrats Exposed website).

Now, yes, MDE obviously has their own agenda and it is not pro Democrat. Why I mentioned this is because on MDE's site, they list out all 50 links to the radio shows Sloan and Frankin had together. When you click on them...the CREW website locks you out. Someone trying to hide something?

Check out the site listing all the radio appearances: http://www.minnesotademocratsexposed.com/2008/07/01/mn-gop-press-release-crew-a-partner-in-the-franken-campaign-front-group-board-member-contributes-to-franken-as-organization-attacks-senator-coleman/. These appearances are from October 2005 through February 2007. Almost once a week. The "I did appear on his program" statment seems a bit understated.

Read this blog that focuses on Sloan's response to Norm Colemans lawsuit: http://citizensforethics.org/node/35239

So...if "fourth most corrupt" is, as Sloan puts it, "isn't exactly accurate", then who here is lying?

Norm Coleman has filed a defamation suit at this time. I should say so. I just hope he sticks with the suit whether he wins or loses on Tuesday.

I Demand You Tell The Foo Fighters...

The next time I purchase a song from iTunes. I am purchasing the license in order to play this song aren't I? Does this sound ridiculous? Of course it is, but The Foo Fighters, Jackson Browne and Heart are all demanding that the McCain campaign stop playing their music. On the other side, Sam Moore is also asking the same from the Obama campaign. Ummmm....they legally paid for licensing for any number of songs to play. Shut...Up...

The Foo Fighters actually put out a statement that said "...To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song." Are you kidding me?

So The FF wants to know every time a song is "appropriated"? Ok...I better see an article tomorrow morning with a similar statement mentioning my name. I am heading out to iTunes to buy "My Hero" today. I cannot wait to see my name on all the major news organizations! How exciting!

Look, it's ok to be anti-McCain but don't put out really stupid statements such as this. It just makes you look...well...like a rock band.

Link to the the news story is here.

Lawrence Welk Disturbed

Thanks to MVO for this one. It is as disturbing as she says...but dang funny. Enjoy:

Saturday Night Live Got Something Right For Once...

Stories of the week...

I could fill pages and pages of this blog with stories that are already out there about people and human interest. I am not going to do that. What am I going to do is show you a few things I have found today and maybe comment on them...here we go.

The Spanish Basketball Team.

This is a "what were they thinking" scenario. I am sure they meant no harm but because they did it, I think it's kind of funny. Here is the picture that they ran in a full page advertisment for the Beijing Olympics. Notice they are making slanty eyes?









Link to full story here.

The USA 4x100 Freestyle Relay Team. Can you say "French Toast"?

Because of copyright issues I cannot post the actual video. You can read the article and watch the relay (which if you have not seen it by now you must live in a cave with Osama. Oh...and Osama called and he just watched it recorded on betamax so he has seen it too).

Jump to the video here.

Yawn...

Does anyone care any longer about a presidents race (if you do care, you probably go noodlin' for a past time and whistle Dixie while brushing your tooth)? Does anyone really care if it is a man or a woman? Does anyone care how tall a presidential candidate might be...whoa...this guy does. He wrote an entire article on it. He gets paid for this? I have the imprint of a qwerty keyboard on my face because I read more than three lines of this blather. Click here to fall asleep immediately.

Bombing stopped in Georgia...except over there...and maybe over there...oh, hey...bomb that house over there too...

Russia ordered a cease fire but no one is listening. Was it a real order or just more of a guideline? It must be official because it was a televised order...right? Click here for the story.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Though not my favorite of the, now, four Indiana Jones movies, I cannot say this one was a dud. I rather enjoyed the subtle humor, the action was good (I do think there could have been more) and the characters were good.

Overall I enjoyed Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I know a few people who have not seen it yet so I won't spoil. I will say that this movie is in true Indiana form. Chase scenes, nasty bad guys/girls, humor, light romance, lots of bugs and Indiana Jones being himself.

Personally I watch movies from a purely "I want to be entertained" side of things. You could probably critique this movie to death (two well groomed parallel roads in the virgin Amazon rain forest for the main chase scene) but why? Why not sit back, get the chill up your spine when you hear the IJ theme music for the first time in 20 years, enjoy your popcorn and let the action unfold.

Harrison Ford shows his age a bit at the beginning but it does not take away from the movie. He actually starts to look younger as the movie goes on. Karen Allen is back and she also looks older but since we have not seen her since Raiders, well, she is older. I really liked John Hurt in this movie. He plays 'Ox' (Professor John Oxley) who basically goes crazy after discovering the first Crystal Skull. He brings some good humor into the film.

Shia LaBeouf is pretty good in this film. Not to give to much away but I wouldn't doubt that he is being groomed to be the next Indiana. I will let you all decide.

In a nutshell, I thought the movie was fun. If you break it apart and look for things to pick at, you will most likely not like the movie. I suggest you not do that. It is fantasy, why would anyone expect that the movie should fall into real world scenarios? None of the IJ movies do, none of the Star Wars or Mummy movies do. Why should the Crystal Skull be any different?

Dead Heat - Joel Rosenberg

I just finished reading Dead Heat and the book is really well done. It finishes the series and is action packed all the way through. You do need to read the other four in the series (The Last Jihad) and they are just as good.

America is attacked and we don't know who to blame. Countries around the world go on alert, armies start moving into place and political jockeying is happening everywhere.

What will the President of the United States do? Who will pay for the attacks on US soil?

You will not be able to put this book down. I think I read it in 8 hours. This is a real life scenario that could be played out at anytime and I think that is what makes this book so frightening.

Go get it. You will be glad you did.

Space Interactive Map - Popular Mechanics

Ok, if you are complete nerd like I am...you should like this. It is an interactive map of space flight from 1957 to present. Click here to see it!

Global Warming ruined my haircut!

Al Gore will have you believe this is an SUV spewing global warming gases. I am thinking its a volcano. Either way I am sure Americans will be blamed for it: Chile Volcano

Does global warming cause earthquakes too? Japan Quakes

Oh...no, the Myanmar Cyclone. That is global warming: Myanmar

The Obama/Clinton race is over? That must be global warming!

Global warming causes incest. It made this guy a monster (he denies it): Monster I dunno...like he says, he could have killed all the children he had with his daughter but since he didn't...he is not a monster. I am going to send him a Hallmark fathers day card.

Global warming changes Microsoft business direction! Go!

Dang global warming...it ruins everything.

National Anthem Like You Have Never Heard

If you enjoyed Roseanne Bahr's version of the National Anthem, then don't listen to this. Thanks to my Dad for sending this on. These five little girls (look to be 10 and under) sing like angels.

Boycott Time Magazine

Time Magazine should be ashamed of themselves. Using the bloodiest battle in WWII at Iwo Jimo against a true threat (the Japanese, not Global Warming) to promote their "green" views.

I hope there are surving vets that find the editor of this magazine (Richard Stengel) on the street and pummel him. From my favorite quote in the article, I believe they will:

Donald Mates, an Iwo Jima veteran, told the Business & Media Institute on April 17 that using that photograph for that cause was a “disgrace.” “It’s an absolute disgrace,” Mates said. “Whoever did it is going to hell. That’s a mortal sin. God forbid he runs into a Marine that was an Iwo Jima survivor.”

You can read the entire article here.

Hillary...You have to be kidding me...

I watched a live CNN broadcast today of Hillary stumping to a women’s group in Pennsylvania. I only caught bits and pieces of her royal thighness but one item was very interesting.

Hillary was talking about college debt and what she would do to eradicate it. We don't want our college graduates to come out of school with debt. No, that would be...well...what nearly every college graduate has ever done.

So, Hillary's solution. Ready for this? Community Service. You gather up huge amounts of loans, hopefully graduate with a decent GPA and then to pay it off you can clean up garbage from interstate ditches for 2 years. Insanity has completely set in.

I don't know about you, but I do know there are a lot of medical students that rack up $40k, $50 up to $100k in school loans. It takes them quite a while to pay them off but they eventually do it. I imagine that our more talented doctors would quite enjoy scraping deer carcassas and raccoons off our rural side roads. Maybe to keep in practice they can perform an autopsy or two.

Look, Hillary, I know you are reading this. Stop drinking the Kool-Aid and come up with a real plan. In fact, you don't need a plan. For many years these kids have racked up these school loans. The honest ones pay them back and the less than virtuous do not. Let the banks take care of it and let their credit rating suffer. I am not sure why I and every other Joe taxpayer should have to bail their lazy butts out. The smart kids defer the payments until they die and then leave the burden to their kids anyway. I wish I could do that with my mortgage.

Oh, and one more thing. You spouting off about pulling the troops within 60 days of you being in office. Dumb. That Iranian bastard leader is sitting over there maniacally laughing and building up his troops on the border of Iraq. He adds a few more thousand every time you and Obama Bin Laden talk about withdrawing the troops from Iraq. When we get out, he goes in. You want complete instability in the Middle East and gas prices that equal one arm and one leg per gallon? Then pull the troops.

Presidential Candidates

Although I do enjoy the Dems beating each other up left and right, I cannot stomach the ick that oozes from the wounds. The filth, the lies and the elitism that runs rampant through this campaign is of heroic proportions.

Hillary has put out her "First 100 Days in Office" plan. Tighten your safety belt because here we go (I have her plan and then following is my version of the result):

1. Immediate troop withdrawls from Iraq - Iraq implodes, USA gets attacked by extremists fresh from the strip clubs
2. Roll back the Bush tax cuts - You think gas costs are bad? Wait until the tax cuts go away.
3. Un-veto bills for stem cell research - More government spending is needed. We should make nothing private or "for profit". That would be...capitalistic of us.
4. Government funded health care for citizens - Citizens of the US. Open your wallets and say "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". I am not sure I want to be a "citizen". In this connotation is sounds like I would be part of a master race. Oh wait, I think that is what she is after.
5. Close Gitmo - Perfect. Now we can treat our captured enemy combantants to a scone and Starbucks at the Waldorf.

All this in the first 100 days. Wow...dare to dream.

Obama bin Laden - Michael Gerson, Op-Ed Columnist from the Washington Post wrote exactly how I feel on March 5th of this year. You can read it here. Please read it...

Basically if either of these two makes it into the White House we are doomed. Hillary and Bill will once again rule the land under sex, lies and videotape (and no, the sex would not be between Hillary and Bill).

I am not sure we would ever see Obama as when he is not sipping Champaign with the upper echelon, he will be jet setting in Iran having milk and cookies with Ahmadinejad.

Good luck America...we are going to need it.

Goodbye to Florida

We leave tonight for home. I understand there is rain and snow to welcome us back. My parents left for Adel this morning and are coming back sometime next week (to MN). We had a fun week. The kids lived in the pool and loved the beach. We buried Evan in the sand and Claire and I collected shells. We did a lot of work on the house too. Swept the garage, painted the fans, fixed the power, cleaned the pool, had a new pool cover cut and installed, killed some ants, trimmed some trees, did some homework, watched some movies, and with all that we still found time to go to Captain Curts for crab legs.

It will be nice to come home. Nothing is better than home even if it means normal routine and work. We need that (although the kids have slept like logs down here).

See you all on Monday!

The Eagles Are Back in Florida

The eagles are back and they have had a chick. This is one of his/her initial flights. The next picture is of him/her roosting.

Upcoming Movies

Thought you might find this interesting…

2008

May 16 – Narnia Price Caspian

May 22 – Indiana Jones

August 1 – The Mummy-Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

August 15- Star Wars-The Clone Wars (animated)

November 21 – Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (and such a good day for it to come out). See below for sneek peek.

2009

May 15 – Angels and Demons

May 22 – Night at the Museum 2 – Escape from the Smithsonian

June 26 – Transformers 2

July 1 – Ice Age 3

October 3 – Toy Story 3

2010

May 7 – Narnia – Voyage of the Dawn Treader

May 21 – Shrek Goes Fourth

2010 TBA

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The Hobbit

2011 – TBA

The Hobbit - Sequel

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

On November 21, 2008 the sixth installment of the Harry Potter seriers will be out. I am excited and depressed at the same time. Just as I did not want the books to end, I won't want to see the movies end. Enjoy the sneek peek below.

Lunar Eclipse 2/20/2008

This was the full lunar eclipse taken from my bedroom window.

Lunar Eclipse 2/20/2008

What Shenanigans Is This?

Now, I realize I might be thinking a bit on the naughty side here but a picture says a thousand words. In this case though...it takes way less words to wonder where Obama's right hand might be. By the look on Hillary's face I would say its in the "O"zone Layer. Global Warming be damned...









Picture courtesy Chris Carlson/AP

Need I Say More

Copper Scroll - Joel Rosenberg

The Copper Scroll is the fourth book in the series of The Last Jihad by Joel Rosenberg. This is a good read and a fast one. Jon and Erin are now married and think they are giving up politics and adventure forever in exchange for a new quiet married life.

That is until a near and dear friend is assassinated. His final words are pleading ones that ask Jon and Erin to find his killer. This plea leads Jon and Erin on a new adventure for the copper scroll and to unlock its secrets. Its secrets lead to an eventful ending where you will not (and neither do they) believe what they find.

Microsoft Offers Free Game for Xbox Live Holiday Problems

Microsoft was disappointed with how Xbox Live performed over the holiday so it is offering a free game from the Xbox Live Arcade. See story here.

Basically, MS said sales were so good and demand so high, Live could not offer the bandwidth MS felt should be deserved from Live subscribers. More details on the free game are on their way in the coming weeks.


In kind of a weird turn of events I came across this on the Xbox website. This advertises Family Game Night with some additional fine print: Play with the kids in an Underpants Slam. Now, I personally think that sounds...well...weird.

Iowa Caucuses-Obama and Huckabee

The Iowa caucuses are finally behind us. It seems like the poor people of Iowa had to put up with this for four years. I think in some cases they did. Obama was not really a surprise and I love the fact that Hillary is in third behind Edwards.

I really believe that people are not going to have another Clinton in the White House. Not because of Hillary directly, but because the WH has been soured by families that have taken over. George H Bush (4 years), William Jefferson Clinton (8 years), George W Bush (8 years) and then another Clinton? I don't think the American people can stomach another of the same family in the WH.

I don't like the fact that Huckabee won the Republican caucus though. I think he is a left of center conservative that is pulling the religion card to get the Evangelical vote.

I do like the fact that Fred Thompson was third. The fact that he spent months in Iowa, did a 50 city bus tour and put out this video to the Iowa voters, and I never heard a word about him because the media focused on Huckabee and Ron Paul (more towards the Democrat than Republican). The fact that we heard so little about Thompson and he still received 14% of the vote and is in front of McCain and Ron Paul is enlightening. Where was Gulliani in all this?

I am leaning toward Thompson myself. I think he is the quiet outside chance to win the republican vote and I really believe he is the most no nonsense Reaganized Republican out there. He is the only candidate who has shown us plans for fixing the IRS (flat tax), how to fix immigration and he will be tough on the war on terror. I also think he can bring conservatism back to its roots. For to long, conservatives in Washington have been beaten back by the left and we have no one that will stand up to it. I believe Fred Thompson will not be beaten back and I think he just might be the one person who can bring conservatism back to where it belongs.