Watch Out For That Motel

Car Crashes Into Motel In Osceola County

Again. Just a couple of weeks ago or so a car demolished a brick wall in front of the same motel. I've posted at least twice before about cars hitting that motel.

The last accident at the intersection of SR-535 and US-192 was just two weeks ago. It took out part of a decorative wall.

And in January of this year, three people were killed when a driver lost control at the same intersection slamming right into the Golden Link Motel. Troopers said speed was a factor in that crash.

The wreck also prompted DOT to conduct a study of the intersection and already the department had some thoughts on how to make the end of SR-535 more obvious to drivers.

DOT believes more pavement markings and a sign in front of the motel pointing drivers left off of SR-535 may help responsible drivers. As for impaired or reckless drivers DOT is less confident.

More pavement markings and a bigger sign ain't gonna cut it. I don't know what they are called but I've been on some roads that have little slots cut into the road that make a loud noise when you go over them to warn you to slow down or stay on the road. When you come to the end of a road they have 3 or 4 sections of this, closer together as you come nearer to the end and it seems to me this would help a lot at that intersection.

Why it takes the DOT so long come up with their thoughts, I don't know. Since January they "already" had some thoughts. It's their job, they should already know what works and what doesn't. Maybe they should assign a committee to research the idea, spread a little more of that taxpayer money around.

Gitmo Suicides

Rusty Humphries has some things to say about what happened down there and why. I've listened to his radio show when he's been to Gitmo and reported from there. He has had almost free rein on his visits, they let him go where ever he wanted with very few restrictions - for his safety. Some facts about Gitmo suicides

Let me clear some things up.

I have been to Guantanamo Bay on numerous occasions. According to press and attorney reports, the three men who committed suicide had been cut off from their families and "driven to despair." What a load of garbage! These men were not "driven by despair." These were crazies who believed a dream by a Muslim leader living at Gitmo. He claimed that in his dream, three "brothers" (Muslims) would have to die before the U.S. would shut the camp down. Since then, the "brothers" have been lining up to martyr themselves. I have reported on this "dream" for over two years. The media has known this as well and have chosen not to report it, even now after the prisoners have achieved the first part of their goal.

This was an act of an al-Qaida operative, a terrorist recruiter and a front-line Taliban fighter - in other word... terrorists. They are seeking to manipulate the weak-minded.

And the weak-minded are eating it up.

People Are Funny

Woman Cited For Exposing Herself In Store

The woman was riding a motorized cart inside Lin's Market Place on Thursday with her pants around her ankles and not wearing underwear.

Customers didn't notice the woman until she would stand up from the cart and bend over to look at items on the shelf, exposing her buttocks.

The woman told police she arrived in Cedar City with a circus but was left behind.

Falling Star

Record meteorite hit Norway

"This is simply exceptional. I cannot imagine that we have had such a powerful meteorite impact in Norway in modern times. If the meteorite was as large as it seems to have been, we can compare it to the Hiroshima bomb. Of course the meteorite is not radioactive, but in explosive force we may be able to compare it to the (atomic) bomb,"

This is not the first time this has happened. Besides the huge impact in Tunguska, Russia in 1908, there were at least two large impacts (smaller than Tunguska) said to have happened. I posted about them here but I can't find them now.

The odd thing though is that these events don't make it into any major news source. You would think this would be big news. You would think scientists would make a beeline for the area and pictures would be taken, studies done. Let's see what happens with this one.

"Little pig, little pig, let me come in,"

Guess who's coming to dinner?

A 6-foot-long alligator pounded on the front door of their Penny Creek Drive home at around 7:45 p.m. and started scaling the wall at the entryway -- its front left claw inches from the doorbell.

It's cool that they got a picture of it.

Like Keeping Tigers?

Keeping palm trees is like keeping tigers? Have they gone completely mad?

Palm tree ahead danger

The headline doesn't even make sense.

"What if one of those leaves caught a child in the eye, for example? It is a little bit like keeping tigers: they are beautiful to look at but you wouldn't want them wandering the streets.

Yes, I suppose palm trees wandering the streets would be a bit much. Are they sure this wasn't just a Monty Python skit?

"Tiger brand coffee
It's a real treat
Even tigers prefer coffee
to real meat."
-- M. Python

"... the nanny state has gone absolutely mad."

Defending Ann

Why Ann Coulter is right

Matt Lauer, Hillary Clinton and Alan Colmes have been laughable in the trumped-up outrage that they share for the statements Coulter makes in "Godless" in reference to the "Jersey Girls." The Jersey Girls are four wives who lost their husbands on 9-11. They jumped into the 2004 election debate early on, cutting commercials for John Kerry, and they are on record for saying some rather hideous remarks about Condoleezza Rice and Karl Rove, not to mention President Bush.

She wasn't talking about 911 widows in general, which you would never know by listening to or reading most news reports. She was talking about four widows specifically, the Jersey Girls, who have been very outspoken in criticism towards George Bush and his administration.

But what if they're wrong? What if, even in as much pain as they have endured at the hands of terrorists, the substance of what they argue for is as loony as the day is long? Even if Cindy Sheehan lost her heroic son in the War on Terror, does that now mean that everything Cindy Sheehan says is correct?

Which is Ann's point.

Ann's criticism is legitimate. If liberals in America wish truly to have a debate on the issues that we all have strong emotions about, then stand and make the point, but don't hide behind those who are ineffective, unskilled and often wrong in their views, simply because they're victims.

Precisely.

Another Alligator Attack

Man Bitten On Head By Alligator At Rock Springs In Apopka

Rock Springs is very popular for swimming and snorkling. I almost went there once, it was so busy we couldn't get in.

Zarqawi Dead

Zarqawi killed in Iraq air raid

They got Zarqawi finally, with an airstrike in Iraq. Identified and confirmed.

Godless

You can read the first chapter of Ann Coulter's new book, Godless, here.

She's not pulling any punches, does she ever?

Prager On Marriage Amendment

Good stuff here: Liberal reactions to the marriage amendment are not deep

That most liberals cannot understand conservatives' views about marriage as anything but bigotry and/or pandering is part of a narcissism that characterizes much of the Left. The very definition of narcissism is an inability to see the world through the eyes of another. Whatever conservatives' flaws, far more conservatives understand liberals' views on same-sex marriage. Most opponents of same-sex marriage appreciate that liberals feel bad about gays' inability to marry a person of the same sex. In fact, as a proponent of a marriage amendment, I not only understand the liberal desire to enable people to marry someone of the same sex, I feel genuine compassion for gays on this matter.

But such empathy for ideological foes is all but absent from the narcissistic world of the Left. To virtually every liberal writer and spokesman, only liberals mean well, only they are sincere, only they are compassionate, and only they are intellectual, rational and tolerant.

Psycho-Economics

Another thing about liberals I can't begin to figure out is their abiding devotion to failed economic theories. The fact that communism hasn't worked anywhere in the world doesn't cool their ardor in the slightest. The fact that Marx's brainstorm invariably metastasizes into a despotic tyranny-be it in the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, Cambodia or Venezuela-doesn't make the slightest impression on them. Neither does the fact that socialism has brought much of Europe to the brink of moral and financial bankruptcy faze them in the least.

In our own country, the most obvious failure of socialism is social security, the single largest pyramid scheme ever conceived by the mind of man. When Ponzi did it he went to jail for fraud; when Roosevelt pulled it off he was hailed as a savior. As someone or other once observed, if you're going to steal, steal big.

From Psychoanalyzing the loony left -- Burt Prelutsky

Twenty-Six and Counting

Orlando police are a step closer to finding the teenager who committed the city's 26th murder this year.

It's insane how often I have been hearing of murders, carjackings, robberies, beatings and every other form of violence in the Orlando area lately. It seems like every day there is something major.

apparently, there are a record number of people in Orlando right now willing to use a gun over just a few bucks.

Smokin'

The '94 Cadillac Seville smokes badly when it sits idling for a few minutes or starting while hot. The problem is fuel leaking into the intake manifold from the fuel pressure regulator or a leaking injector. In this case there is gas sitting on the bottom of the manifold. It gets sucked up through those black intake pipes - of which most have been removed for the picture. The square holes are the air intake and the small round holes above them are where the fuel injectors go. The fuel pressure regulator is at the top of the picture.

FairTax Please

GE's 24,000 page tax return

But he says G-E will save "many (m) millions" by shifting from paper.

Imagine how much they will save if we abolish the IRS for the FairTax. Corporations pass every penny they pay on to the consumer - we pay for it.

I Wonder Who The Baby Will Look Like?

Charmed woman marries cobra in India

Earlier this year, a tribal girl was married off to a dog on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

You have to be careful getting kissed by a cobra, you never know when it will be your last.

Gators Bite

A friend of James from school lost his dog to an alligator the other day. He lives on a lake, Aligator Lake. It was a ten footer and it took of one of his legs. They got the dog back and took it to the vet but were unable to save it.

Huh?

Saudi Men Who Rode School Bus Arrested

Why did the bus driver even let them on?

Students on the bus became alarmed, as did the bus driver, who called ahead.

You stop the men as they are trying to board the bus, you ask them what they are doing, and you politely explain that the bus is for school children only. If they made an innocent mistake they will realize it and leave, if they are uncooperative, you call the police. You don't just drive on as if nothing happened and worry all the way to school what they are doing, possibly putting the kids in harms way. If you can't do that you shouldn't be driving a school bus.

Liberal Nirvana

Castro's True Wealth

A Cuban resident is most valuable to Castro when he wants to escape Cuba. This writer's family paid $15,000 to get a cousin out of Cuba in the early '60s. This was not an easy amount for destitute refugees to round up at the time, but the firing squads were working triple shifts and Cuba's prisons were filled to suffocation. You weren't paying only for a loved one's freedom, you might also be paying for his (or her) life.

Armando Valladares, who somehow escaped the firing squad but spent 22 torture-filled years in Cuba's gulag, described his trial very succinctly: "Not one witness to accuse me, not one to identify me, not one single piece of evidence against me." Valladares had been arrested in his office for the crime of refusing to display a pro-Castro sign on his desk.

One day in early 1959 one of Che's Revolutionary Courts actually found a Cuban army captain named Pedro Morejon innocent of the charge of "war criminal". This brought Che's fellow comandante, Camilo Cienfuegos, to his feet. "If Morejon is not executed," He yelled. "I'll put a bullet through his head myself!" The court reassembled frantically and quickly arrived at a new verdict. Morejon crumpled in front of of a firing squad the following day. As Castro's chief executioner, Che Guevara, explained it: "Judicial evidence is an archaic bourgeois detail."

So you can see the sense of urgency of getting a relative out, especially if the authorities had set their sights on him as a counter-revolutionary. Elsewhere they call such a judiciary process at the hands of dictators "death squads."

Most Cuban-exile families can relate similar cases of ransoming relatives. Elsewhere they call this "kidnapping and extortion."

Save The Gators

A woman was issued a citation for hunting without a permit for shooting an alligator that came through the dog door on her patio and was attacking her dog. What is that all about. It was only a warning citation but still. That's crazy.

It's not hunting to shoot a gator attacking your dog. The first story in the article is about a dog that was eaten by a gator. It happens, but if a gator comes on my property and attacks my dog - it's a dead gator. You know where to put the citation.

Don't Go In The Water

Alligator attacks are in the news lately, 3 people dead this month. You can get away with it but it's not a good idea to swim in the lakes and rivers in Florida. If you can't see bottom, forget it.

There are some springs and beach areas where it is OK. St. Cloud has a nice little beach on East Lake Toho. It's a large, shallow area. Blue Springs State Park has a nice, clear swimming area that's very popular.

You have to be very aware of your surroundings. If in doubt, stay out. Be careful at the edge as well, especially children and pets. More than a few dogs have been taken at parks, much to the horror of the owner.

Here are some tips for avoiding alligator attacks. You can have fun on Florida waterways, you just have to follow the rules.

Fatal Flaw

I listen to Rusty Humphries most nights on my way to work. He wrote his first column recently and I just wanted to point out something he said in it.

We, as a country, have a fatal flaw: We are no longer comfortable with the word, "no." We are afraid to hurt feelings, we are afraid of discipline and we are afraid of merely being (falsely) accused of being intolerant.

He points out that this country has lost it's resolve. Resolve is elusive because we've thrown truth out the window with God. We don't know what is true anymore. Just when we think we've found it, it slips through our fingers like sand.

Often, truth hurts. People don't like truth, not real truth. They only like their version of it.

The love of the truth means you love being hurt, you love being let down. You love being disappointed, because the truth will hurt you, it will let you down, it will disappoint you. Especially the truth about other human beings, the truth about human action, human activity, human deeds. It will hurt, it will cut, and the truth about yourself will hurt and cut more deeply even than the truth about other human beings. Most of us have difficulty facing the truth about others, especially others we love or others we respect, but most of find it utterly impossible to face the truth about ourselves. - Garner Ted Armstrong 1930-2003

How true.

Giant Shark - No Fry

Shark caught off Boca Grande may set world record

They buried the carcass in an Orange Grove in LaBelle.

Giant Fish Fry

Check out this giant catfish they caught in Thailand. The 4th photo shows them cutting the steaks. None for me thanks, I don't eat catfish.

They Call Light, Darkness & Darkness, They Call Light

Please, America, Hide Your Flag!

I'm talking about the upcoming World Cup in Berlin ... German security has asked the American team to use unmarked buses for fear of violence against any vehicle displaying the American flag.

Just America was asked to slink around Germany anonymously. Not Iran. Not North Korea. Not Libya. Not Communist China. Not Syria. Not even countries that have almost as many torture chambers as we have voting booths were asked to strike their colors and go bland.

The rest of this commentary by Barry Farber is well worth reading. He describes a trek across Europe he took shortly after WWII.

Just because someone hates you doesn't mean what you are doing is wrong - it very well could mean what you are doing is right. Doing the right thing is often a swim upstream.

No Playing Allowed

Just another symptom of the sickness gripping this country: Is litigation taking the 'play' out of kids' playgrounds?

In Broward County, Florida, there's a new rule on the playground: no running.

Some Things Never Change

This is very interesting and eye-opening: America's First War on Terror

... that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman who should be slain in Battle was sure to go to Paradise. - Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, 1786

... they live by the bow, the sword and debauchery, finding pleasure in taking slaves, devoting themselves to murder, pillage, spoil...and not only do they commit these crimes, but even-what an aberration-they believe that God approves of them.

Guess who?

Creative Marketing

Godzilla Eggs

Overkill

To Kill a Snake

Oops, she missed.

Some People ...

... have a lot of time on their hands. Looks cool though.

Here's more in video format.

Self-Destruction

America is collapsing because, as a people, we have chosen to embrace lies over the truth. We have cursed that which is good and applauded that which is patently false.

Says Mychal Massie. He's not far off the mark. It's not just an American problem though, it seems the whole world is deluding itself.

We are in a state of decline because the threats and peril our Founding Fathers faced ... are now embraced by those we elect and those who instruct our children.

That's true. See How to identify America's totalitarians by Dennis Prager and think about who is rewriting history - in America and worldwide.

Judges and the courts have forgotten their role. They routinely undermine the work of law enforcement. They aide and abet pedophiles and serial rapists by giving them less severe sentences than can be expected for mistreating animals. Instead of enforcing our laws and the Constitution, those we elect find ways to circumvent and subvert same for their personal gain. They support anarchy by assisting those sworn to destroy our way of life. Laws that have been established to protect society as a whole are disregarded so as to aid criminals. Witness the protests of illegal aliens and the support they enjoy from the White House down.

Not only is that sickenly true in America but take a good, hard look at the United Nations - a bastion of corruption.

We have a duty to the present and whatever future remains. And that duty will not be accomplished by what amounts to a pagan worship of the Earth. It will be accomplished by reminding people of that which our forefathers held dear - the "Truth" that this great nation was founded upon.

This cannot be done by changing parties nor as it stands at present, by simply replacing one elected person with another. We must first reclaim our historical traditions, i.e., "Godly" worship, Godly families, and Godly educational institutions - many of which, lest we forget, were founded as church schools.

Amen.

Internet Explorer 7

Although I use Firefox for everyday web surfing, there are a few sites I visit which require Internet Explorer. The newest version (Beta) of IE is available for download here and it's seems to be quite nice. It takes a little getting used to, very little really, and I like it much better than the old one.

I will still use Firefox for everyday surfing, though. I like the bookmarks toolbar feature of Firefox and I don't see this available in IE, although I really haven't investigated very much yet. Give it a try.

Gas Prices

A Primer on Gas Prices

In 2004, the price of crude oil averaged $36.97 per barrel, and crude oil accounted for about 47% of the cost of a gallon of regular grade gasoline (Figure 1). In comparison, the average price for crude oil in 2003 was $28.50 per barrel, and it composed 44% of the cost of a gallon of regular gasoline. The share of the retail price of regular grade gasoline that crude oil costs represent varies somewhat over time and among regions.

The cost to produce and deliver gasoline to consumers includes the cost of crude oil to refiners, refinery processing costs, marketing and distribution costs, and finally the retail station costs and taxes. The prices paid by consumers at the pump reflect these costs, as well as the profits (and sometimes losses) of refiners, marketers, distributors, and retail station owners.

Federal, State, and local taxes are a large component of the retail price of gasoline. Taxes (not including county and local taxes) account for approximately 23 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline.

Refining costs and profits comprise about 18% of the retail price of gasoline.

Distribution, marketing and retail dealer costs and profits combined make up 12% of the cost of a gallon of gasoline.

Instead of joining the lynch mob we need to educate ourselves and look for the real reasons the price of gas is so high. Some of those things we can't do anything about and some we can. More refineries, less taxes and opening up drilling in the U.S. are things we can control, one or a combination of which will help.

"Big Oil" is not the problem. Our biggest problem is the lynch mob mentality and the people inciting it. More taxes will not help. More taxes are not the answer. More taxes will hurt. More taxes for oil companies means higher prices for you. It all gets passed on to you. Just say no to more taxes.

Here's a great page about oil: Some interesting oil industry statistics

The Mushroom Cloud is on its Way!

Islamist protest in N.Y.

Yes, New York. Another peaceful message brought to you by peaceful Muslims. Neal Boortz has more.

The mushroom cloud is on its way! The real Holocaust is on its way!"

"Israel won't last long ... Indeed, Allah will repeat the Holocaust right on the soil of Israel"

Maneater?

We went to a reptile show and James got his picture taken with a tiger! Go figure. But it was cool! Baby tigers are so cute, I would love to take one home. They are adorable! Too bad they grow big enough to eat you. I wanted to get a picture of him holding a snake but my batteries (and backup batteries) went dead. Damn rechargable batteries.

New Addition To The Family

This is my new Viper Boa (Candoia Aspera). We had a good time at the Florida International Reptile Show.

Puppy

I saw the cutest puppy today at the petshop. Someone threw it out of a car and they are trying to find a home for it. She said it was a Shepherd/Rhodesian Ridgeback mix. I don't know but it does have German Shepherd in it. It was just laying on the floor sleeping. Kids were gathered around petting it but it was just so calm. I thought a little too calm. The owner said he was playing around with her earlier and he was just hot now. Still, puppies aren't usually that calm.

I know they will find it a good home, I don't want a large dog and Irma doesn't want a dog right now at all. James sure loved it though. I wish James was that calm sometimes.

Capitan Insano

Wave of Violent Crime Sweeps Venezuela

"The rich are condemned to hell. Christ himself condemned them," Chavez said in a speech Tuesday. "I say it from the heart: to be rich is evil."

To be rich is evil, unless you happen to be one of the "political elite."

Ann Coulter

You may not like her style but ... I like her latest column.

Lie down with strippers, wake up with pleas

The liberal charge of "hypocrisy" has so permeated the public consciousness that no one is willing to condemn any behavior anymore, no matter how seedy. The unstated rule is: If you've done it, you can't ever criticize it -- a standard that would seem to repudiate the good works of the Rev. Franklin Graham, Malcolm X, Whittaker Chambers and St. Paul, among others.

Every woman who has had an abortion feels compelled to defend abortion for all women; every man who's ever been at a party with strippers thinks he has to defend all men who watch strippers; and every Democrat who voted for Bill Clinton feels the need to defend duplicity, adultery, lying about adultery, sexual harassment, rape, perjury, obstruction of justice, kicking the can of global Islamo-fascism down the road for eight years and so on.

This is crazy. (I can say that because I've never been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. Although I did test positive for "Olympic fever" once.)

In no area except morality would a sane person believe he can't criticize something stupid because he's done it. How about: If you've ever forgotten to fill up your car and run out of gas, you must forevermore defend a person's right to ignore the gas gauge. Or if you've ever forgotten to wear a coat in cold weather and caught a cold, henceforth you are obliged to encourage others not to dress appropriately in the winter.

This deep-seated societal fear of being accused of "hypocrisy" applies only to behavior touching on morals.

Intermission

Blue Ball Machine

I have no clue as to the usefullness of that page.

Brainiac

'Watch This!" Man Injured In Waterfall Jump

A Georgia man was hospitalized after jumping from the side of Alabama's DeSoto Falls and plunging 150 feet before hitting the water.

Something Fishy

Another fishy missing link

The Tiktaalik is no more a missing link between sea life and land life than a Tic Tac is a missing link between a Lifesaver and an Altoid.

Mob Rule

Amnesty for U.S. citizens!

Mark my words: If you don't stand up to be counted today, your birthright as a U.S. citizen will be rendered meaningless. The rule of law will be a thing of the past. The will of the people will mean only mob rule.

Pigs In Space

A C-5 cargo plane crashed near Dover AFB today but it's hard to find information. I just saw something on Fox News about it, everyone survived. That's good news.

I used to work on those planes while in the Air Force and they are huge. It's quite a climb to get to the cockpit. There is also a passenger section above the cargo hold but you have to climb down from the cockpit, make your way around the cargo and climb up again to get to it. When taking off and landing they look like they are just hanging there, hardly moving.

At Least He Wasn't On A Cell Phone

Traffic tip of the week: Don't drive with a pet snake around your neck

I sense a new law in the works.

China Driving Test

Take test here

I like #11.

Man's Best Friend

Joseph Farah writes about his dog, Bosco, who died this week.

That About Covers Everything

Mr. Moussaoui said there were times when a Muslim can lie without being immoral: to reconcile Muslims, to answer "yes" when a wife asks, "Am I beautiful?" and to carry out jihad.

So ... always assume a lie.

Charges Dismissed

It looks like Abdul Rahman has had the charges dismissed against him and is seeking asylum. I hope he gets it soon:

Earlier Monday, hundreds of clerics, students and others chanting "Death to Christian!" marched through the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif to protest the court's decision to toss out the case.

Several Muslim clerics have threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if he is freed, saying that he is clearly guilty of apostasy and deserves to die.

Meanwhile, 2 more Afghan Christians reportedly thrown into jail

Religion of Peace Death Strikes Again

Michelle Malkin (and not a few others) want to know Who Will Save Abdul Rahman?

Abdul Rahman is a man of faith. "I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in Christ. And I am a Christian," he declared this week.

Unfortunately for Rahman, he was originally born a Muslim in Afghanistan -- and he has been forced to defend his religious conversion in his home country's court, where he now faces the death penalty for turning to Jesus.

Rahman's family has denounced him as mentally ill. Afghan officials are thirsting for his blood. "We will cut him into little pieces," jail employee Hosnia Wafayosofi told the Chicago Tribune, as she "made a cutting motion with her hands."

This is beyond outrageous. What will it take for the world to see Islam for what it is?

It's funny, they claim the God of the Bible (God is love; vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Eternal, etc.) is Allah and Jesus was a prophet, yet they hate with vitriolic hatred Jews and Christians. They take vengeance into their own hands for Allah as a often as thay can. They believe almost the exact opposite of what is said about God in the Bible. It's as if they believe the God that "so loved the world" decided one day, "screw it, you know what, I really hate these people, I take back everything I said, I scrapping the whole plan I've had from the beginning. From now on I'm going to raise up a new prophet (and disown my own Son) and wipe out anyone who believed what I said before.

Sorry, no.

Puppykat?

A new breed of cat has been developed - "the puppykat craves the attention of humans and is much more playful."

But will it fetch a stick?

A Breath Away?

Speaking of the Middle East: Peace just a breath away, says Sharon Stone

Peace often seems just a breath away, that's one of our eternal problems. We just don't know how to bridge the gap.

"It feels to me that we have an opportunity ... to choose understanding in a new way," she told a press conference in Paris when asked about her trip.

"And it really is just a breath. It's just an agreement that's just a breath. We are not far apart. We can choose to have this alternative kind of growth that is a collective nuance of understanding.

"We are just that breath away from a peaceful co-existence,"

Sounds nice, but really it's B.S. We want peace, Israel wants peace, but the other side wants death and destruction. They live for it and it's taught to them from birth. How do you reverse that? They refuse to look inside themselves and see any fault. They cannot see any problem within their little sphere of understanding. The answer is, it's beyond the ability of mankind. All the good intentions in the world cannot change that. Only God can do that and you can't even bring that up without eyes rolling.

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To preach the acceptable year of the LORD." Luke 4:18,19

What difference can God make?

In fact, everyone in the world is affected by the resurrection of Jesus. Nobody can live unchanged by that great fact. If it didn't happen, your life is going to be changed tremendously. And if it did happen, your life is going to be changed tremendously. It is, as the Bible makes clear, the central fact of history. Nothing is more important. And everything is different, depending upon whether this did or didn't happen. I'd like to think with you a little bit about this great fact, and consider with you what life would be like if Jesus did not rise, and what would life be like if he did, and what effect it would have upon you.

I Wish I Had Seen This

Flying Cow Leaves Two Police Cars in Flames

Watson told News 4 WOAI, "We believe the gate of the cattle trailer came open, and the cow, for lack of a better phrase spilled out onto the Interstate. It was pretty chaotic for a while."

Several cars hit some of the cows. One cow died. DPS troopers called for backup.

That's when one officer was nearly run down by a speeding truck, carrying two illegal immigrants inside.

Seguin Police were out looking for those illegal immigrants. They parked their cars in the hot grass, burning two of them including that brand new 2006 Crown Victoria. Watson said, "Well, all of a sudden, another officer who'd arrived on the scene, alerted the sergeant that there was a fire."

Everything inside was destroyed, including tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment designed for the patrol cars.

"You start off with kind of a bizarre accident with these cows spilling onto the interstate. That leads to other accidents, that leads to a car chase, that leads to a foot chase," Watson recalls.

Catchin' Some Rays

A lizard catching some rays in the Florida sun.

I took James to the lake today. They recently renovated the lakefront and added a nice playground and water play area for the kids. Here's James getting splashed.

Sidewalk Artist

Believe it or not, that is a drawing done in chalk on the sidewalk. Check out more of his work here.

Ray C. Stedman

Although he died in 1992, I just recently discovered Ray C. Stedman and an online library in his honor from which you can download or print out many excellent sermons.

This web site gathers together in one place the entire Ray C. Stedman Library originated in 1995 at Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California where Ray Stedman was pastor for 40 years. We offer fast download of printed and audio files, free of charge for educational purposes-- according to the copyright notice at the end of each message. We have added Ray's in-print and out-of-print books to this web site.

I highly recommend this site - A pearl of great price.

They are not intended merely to entertain us, or even to instruct us, but to change us, to set us free, to make us live, to turn us from weakness and emptiness and barrenness and fruitlessness, unto truth and life and joy and warmth and power. -- Ray C. Stedman

Little Slum Inn

How's this for creative marketing.

Rio's slums, or favelas, are infamous for drug and gang violence. But a new hostel called "The Little Slum Inn" is attracting adventurous tourists, mainly from Germany, France and the United States, who dare to live amid the grit and poverty.

Incredible. Bring the kids. Anyway, good luck to them, it seems to be helping the neigborhood get along. Can't fault that. They're using their heads.

Europe Endless?

Islamists are stifling debate in what was Europe's freest country, says Douglas Murray in We should fear Holland's silence

Holland - with its disproportionately high Muslim population - is the canary in the mine. Its once open society is closing, and Europe is closing slowly behind it. It looks, from Holland, like the twilight of liberalism - not the "liberalism" that is actually libertarianism, but the liberalism that is freedom. Not least freedom of expression.

All across Europe, debate on Islam is being stopped. Italy’s greatest living writer, Oriana Fallaci, soon comes up for trial in her home country, and in Britain the government seems intent on pushing through laws that would make truths about Islam and the conduct of its followers impossible to voice.

I can't help wondering how long this can go on. How long can Europeans take this?

Europe is shuffling into darkness. It is proving incapable of standing up to its enemies, and in an effort to accommodate the peripheral rights of a minority is failing to protect the most basic rights of its own people.

The governments of Europe have been tricked into believing that criticism of a belief is the same thing as criticism of a race. And so it is becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous to criticise a growing and powerful ideology within our midst. It may soon, in addition, be made illegal.

Europe shuffling into darkness, allowing it's culture to be eclipsed? I think there is a backlash coming. It may take a bit more bending but Europe will push back.

Michael Burghardt

Leading the fight is Gunnery Sgt Michael Burghardt, known as "Iron Mike" or just "Gunny". He is on his third tour in Iraq. He had become a legend in the bomb disposal world after winning the Bronze Star for disabling 64 IEDs and destroying 1,548 pieces of ordnance during his second tour. Then, on September 19, he got blown up.

Read about this amazing story here. Verified by Snopes.

Dead Drunk

When I got to work last night security had just noticed a guy bending over the second floor railing, almost going over. He was so drunk he didn't know where he was or where he belonged. I walked back to see if I recognized him. I didn't. They had him sitting in a chair and he was passed out. Just around the corner was a 12 pack of Corona and we were standing right there talking. We had called the police and when they arrived they ran his I.D. and somehow found out he was staying at a different hotel, he was lost. They ran him off and left. Security went around the corner to get the beer and it was gone. Someone stole it while the police were there.

Happy Birthday!

James is six today. Don't mess with him.

I remember when he was born so clearly. It's hard to believe it's been six years. Six wonderful years.

I'm In The Money!

James had his birthday party Sunday and one of his aunts gave him $30 in ones. Does he look happy?

Incredible!

This is some pretty incredible juggling by Chris Bliss, click on "Watch" to see it.

He Dropped The Knife, Didn't He?

Man set on fire as Taser hits lighter

"Taser! Taser!" Cassidy shouted as she sent a two-pronged wire, packing 50,000 volts, at Crouch's chest. What happened next stunned everyone.

A Taser probe pierced the pocket of his khaki shirt -- and ignited the butane lighter inside. Crouch's pocket exploded in flames.

"The subject," recounted Sgt. Al Tolley in a subsequent report, "immediately dropped the knife."

Apparently, he was unharmed.

Crouch didn't seem too concerned about his run-in with police and clearly had other priorities Tuesday night.

"You're burning my minutes," he said about his cell phone. "It's not 9 o'clock yet."

It's funny how selective memory can be sometimes.

"Why did they get into my house?" he asked of police. "I didn't invite them into my house. They came into my bedroom and shot me with the Taser, and it [the lighter] exploded."

Because we all know this nation has a real problem with police officers randomly entering homes and tasering people for fun.

The Blob

Mystery blob eating downtown

Downtown Los Angeles that is.

"We were called back because there was a gooey substance, a tarry-type substance, coming out the underground electrical vaults, out of manhole covers in the street, through the sidewalks and possibly in one older apartment building," Myers said.

A 120-foot stretch of Olive buckled 1 1/2 feet, he said. The pre-1933 unreinforced masonry apartment building shifted one foot from its foundation. Sidewalks were as hot as Jacuzzis.

And a pressurized liquid shot from every street orifice located above what used to be a historic oil field downtown.

That's got to be one of the coolest stories I've heard in a while. No one has been hurt except for some property damage. Where are the TV news cameras when you need them? I want to see it.

Surrendered?

From the desk of Ed Koch: The Free Press Has Surrendered to Islamic Fanatics

Bennett's most important comment was, "I promise you, they have won. They have silenced -- these -- these mobs have silenced the mainstream media, who are afraid of the mob." Later on in the discussion, Bennett stated, "One of the difficulties with the cartoons is, they hit pretty close to the bone...Is there no suggestion that, in the name of Islam, in the name of the Koran, in the name of Allah, people are having their heads cut off? These things hit their target."

To me, that is the crux of the matter. There is a war of civilizations being waged in the world with the Islamic fanatics subliminally seeking to storm once again the gates of Vienna, where, in 1683, they were defeated. If by threats of terror against them, the great media institutions can be brought to their knees, we are in big trouble. Before this occurred, I had no doubt that, no matter how difficult, no matter how long the war we are now engaged in continues, the democracies of the world would win, as they did when first facing Hitler and later Stalin. Today, I am no longer so certain.

I think the bottom line is this; too many of us just don't believe Islamists will/can carry out what they so clearly want. Ignoring the problem won't make it go away. We must deal with this head on - no quarter given. Every time we retreat (even when we think we're just being gracious or sensitive), they advance. It strengthens them, it emboldens them. They view it as weakness, and like a predator they attack the weak.

They need us to defeat them, it is in their best interest. It is in the best interest of the world. During WWII the Germans and the Japanese were of the same spirit. They needed that strong hand to put them down, too, and knock that spirit out of them. It took a while, but we finally recognized that and did what it took. Yeah, it hurt, but you do what you have to do, and the world was better place because of it. It doesn't last forever though and that spirit has raised up another problem to deal with. Now is the time to put it down. The stakes are too high now to wait.

Today there are new ostriches in our land. They refuse to take terrorists at their word. The Times reported on February 4th the comments of a cleric at the Al-Omari mosque in Gaza, "We will not accept less than severing the heads of those responsible." Regrettably, many Westerners don't take Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Osama bin Laden's principal deputy, at his word when he said, "Killing the infidels is our religion, slaughtering them is our religion, until they convert to Islam or pay us tribute."

Resistance is Futile

The Borg are still at it and Michael Burkert has a commentary that sheds some light on it: Cartoon Wars

So, a big storm is in progress over Europe. It's all about cartoons. Or is it? What we are seeing more and more on a daily basis is the rise of Islam, not only in Europe, but also in our country and Canada as well. I've written time and again about unlimited immigration from the Middle East, swarming into an unsuspecting Europe, but this tragically is happening in North America as well. The results of this ill-advised process is a soon to arrive clash of cultures on a catastrophic scale.

Apologizing for "offending Islam" is not enough for the Muslim masses of Europe. They want blood! They literally want the heads of the cartoonists and the laws of Europe changed to meet their demands. The masses of Muslim immigrants living in Europe today did not come here to assimilate. They have no intention of becoming Germans, Frenchmen, Dutchmen or Danes. They come not to assimilate, they come to DOMINATE.

But, that's not all.

The Islamics are fanatical about Jerusalem. They are dedicated to the destruction of every Jewish man, woman and child. A united Muslim world, under the command of a Caliph could facilitate such a military and political reality in the never-ending lust to destroy the tiny nation of Israel. Everything else is a sideshow.

DingBat

Gore Laments U.S. 'Abuses' Against Arabs

The American people should get down on their knees and thank God Al Gore did not become President of the United States. He goes to an enemy country (I know Saudi Arabia is technically our ally but there is a huge enemy element within that country) and badmouths America and the President. Abuses against Arabs? Al Gore is insane with envy for President Bush.

Gore told the largely Saudi audience, many of them educated at U.S. universities, that Arabs in the United States had been "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable."

He and his ilk need to be hung for treason. They don't get their way so they try to burn down the house. Yes, hung. We are in a war and this behavior cannot be tolerated, too much is at stake. They are not just stepping across the line at this point, they have trampled it so much they have no idea where it is anymore.

Maddening

A company from the United Arab Emirates may be taking over operations at six American ports - New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.

Are we insane? Why you would want a company from any other country to be in such a position is beyond me, but the United Arab Emirates? Why not Saudi Arabia? They're our "allies" too.

Why not put China in charge of the Panama Canal. Oops, it already is.

Ford Mega-Pickup

The past week I noticed two of these Ford F-650's driving around, a red one and a yellow one. They are huge and very sharp. I'd never seen them before and they didn't seem to be work trucks at all - just "I'm badder than you" trucks. I found them on the web here. They even have an X-treme Utility Vehicle down near the bottom of the first page and a six-door pickup around the middle. Truly incredible. They claim better gas mileage than I thought - 13 mpg. I wonder what they'll come up with next?

Red Light Cameras

Camera At Orlando Intersection Catches 2,700 Red Light Runners

Since mid-November, a camera at the corner of Hiawassee Road and Raleigh Street in Orlando has caught 2,700 people running the red light.

My question is: When exactly does it count as running a red light? What if it turns red as you exit the intersection? Or are halfway through it? What if you're in the intersection waiting to make a left (not for New Jersey drivers, where 3 rights = 1 left) and you can't get through until it turns red for oncoming traffic?

Human beings where not meant to be monitored and controlled by computers. It just doesn't work. There are too many variables in real human life that a computer just can't factor in. Just knowing you're being watched so closely causes too much stress for people. I'm not saying running red lights is OK but I think the authorities see dollar signs and can't see around them to reality.

I live in a town that is very heavy on police speeding enforcement. Very heavy. I can't tell you how many times I almost panic at the sight of a police car, immediately checking my speed (9 times out of 10 I'm not speeding anyway, the other time it's less than 5 over) and I end up driving down the main road constantly checking the speed. When I get out of town driving is so much more relaxing, I don't really worry about it that much. And I don't drive any faster out of town. The only difference is worrying about getting a ticket. And a side effect of this is that you never want to see a cop. They become "the enemy," even though you're not doing anything wrong.

Previously Unknown "Lost World" Found

The scientists are the first outsiders to see it. They could only reach the remote mountainous area by helicopter, which they described it as akin to finding a "Garden of Eden".

Scientists hail discovery of hundreds of new species in remote New Guinea

They believe no man has ever set foot in this remote area and they aim to change that.

There were so many new things it was almost overwhelming. And we have only scratched the surface of what is there." The scientists hope to return this year.

Keep scratching. No doubt scientists will soon lay claim to being the only protecters of the area as well. Can't have global warming killing off all the new species before they've catalogued them.

Grandpa Munster

Al Lewis dies at 95. I always liked "The Munsters." I loved Fred Gwynn as Herman and Al Lewis was great in that show. How long before a Hollywood remake of that show? I have a hard time believing they could pull it off. How do you replace Fred Gwynn and Al Lewis?

Despicable

NAACP Chairman Julian Bond - you're despicable! How dare you say these things. You're not doing anything to advance the lives of anyone, let alone those who your organization claims to advance. In fact, by saying these things you are hurting all Americans. You're shameful.

Civil rights activist and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond delivered a blistering partisan speech at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina last night, equating the Republican Party with the Nazi Party and characterizing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her predecessor, Colin Powell, as "tokens."

"The Republican Party would have the American flag and the swastika flying side by side," he charged.

Bizzaro World

What has education come to? I think they just want to see how far they can go and get away with it. British school bans raising hands

To spare embarrassment of the students who do not know the answer, the school has incorporated a "phone a friend" system, allowing one child to nominate another to take the question instead.

You can't raise you hand if you know the answer and if you don't know you can have someone else answer for you. I guess they got that idea from "Who Wants to be a Millonaire?" Can they nominate someone to take a test for them too?

This Surprises You?

Google Holds Copies of All Emails and All Websites Visited

Some commentators are describing Google, the world's most used internet search engine, as "scary," after learning that the internet giant stores web search history and e-mails.

When you surf the web you have to be aware that every site you visit and every search you make is logged somewhere. Your ISP keeps records, the search engines keep records, individual sites keep records of who's coming from where, what they are looking at and for how long, and where they are going. You can be sure I missed something, too. Nothing is secret on the internet. For most people, most of the time, nobody cares what you are doing and they are not really keeping track of you personally, but you can be sure that if they need to know - they can.

Welcome to Florida

With all the dangerous animals there are in Florida, not to mention hurricanes, lightning and pedophiles, you have to wonder why so many people move here. Well, now we can add another one to the list - Killer Bees. Great, just great.

Tap This

I don't think I ever linked to Pat Boone before but I like his commentary on wire tapping.

The liberal media and all the usual sympathizers like the ACLU and a number of legal and pseudo-legal organizations are howling about our government - and our president - utilizing perfectly legal and imminently advisable efforts to apprehend and defuse ongoing efforts to wreak ever more ghastly havoc on this country. They are exactly the very ones who, in the likely event of another 9-11, no matter what we do to prevent it, will be screaming at the government: "How could you let this happen? Why didn't you do something to stop these devils?"

Well, thank God, our government is doing something, a lot of right somethings.

Cutest Site On The Internet?

You decide. Cute Overload!

Nightmare Neighbor

No, not mine, but this guy has got to be one of the worst.

One interesting point.

Lily Luk, another neighbor, said she sometimes calls police four times a night but that Bertone simply refuses to answer the door when officers come knocking.

Apparently, in San Fransisco, if your neighbors call the police because you're playing loud music outside in the middle of the night, all you have to do is not answer the door and they will go away. Really?

Al-Qaeda - Democrats

Same message. Neal Boortz compares.

So does Kevin McCullough.

Can we all at least agree that on the very surface it appears that the left in this nation have once and for all been exposed for being the terrorist cheerleaders that they have always been?

Negotiations

Neal Boortz has a slideshow depicting the Taiwanese negotiation process.

This is the process the world should use with Iran. Unfortunately, it seems as though it will go the other way. They will talk and complain and protest and threaten and talk some more - all the while Iran will work toward their goal - until they get their nukes, then we'll blame President Bush for not doing enough.

Accident Update

I was wrong about where the car hit. It hit on the left side of the canopy but somehow got turned around facing the right side. The soda machine you see in the picture was standing behind the wall where the hole is and was thrown down and landed in front of the paper box. There are 12 pictures here, including pictures of the car. Click on the picture at that website to see more. Police estimated the car was traveling around 120 mph. That's an insane speed on SR535.

It happened again, another car raced through the light on 192 and slammed into this motel. It hit the column to the right and twisted sideways under the canopy. Not much left, he must have been flying.

I actually heard it happen. I was watching TV and heard the brakes screeching and a low thud, almost too low to hear. I ran out but didn't see anything and there were cars driving by as if nothing happened. I thought maybe it was just a close call. A little while later I heard the sirens and knew exactly what happened. I think this is 3 times since I've been here, maybe 4. I'm surprised the canopy is still there after all these accidents. The cars are always destoyed and I've never seen anyone walk away - not tonight either. Here comes the helicopter again.

This hawk was sitting on our back fence this morning. I've seen him hanging around lately but this is one of the few times he has been out in the open.

It's Hard Not To Believe This Anymore

In the history of the nation, there has never been a political party so ridiculous as today's Democrats. It's as if all the brain-damaged people in America got together and formed a voting bloc.

They have no clue where the line is and have been crossing it liberally. And now after watching what's been going on in the Alito confirmation hearings, you couldn't get me to vote Democratic for anything - no way, no how. Don't get me wrong, I don't much like the way Republicans have been handling some things either, but at least there is a slight glimmer of hope. The Democrats are in the heart of darkness.

Some don't like the way Ann Coulter speaks her mind but she's got it right in this commentary.

I'm Surprised ...

I'm surprised we don't have more hostage standoffs around here. Now we've had two standoffs in two days. Mostly the criminals get away without being caught. I don't even see yesterday's standoff on the website. Can't let the tourists think there's crime around here, I guess.

I Don't Know But ...

I think Chevrolet would be better off if they had the new Camaro ready to roll for consumers instead of showing it off as a concept car.

Rodent Revenge

Mouse takes down house

"I had some leaves burning outside, so I threw it in the fire, and the mouse was on fire and ran back at the house," he said.

Don't do that.

Troubles Me Deeply

In the first day of weeklong confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., told Judge Samuel Alito to expect tough questioning, saying the record of the U.S. Supreme Court nominee "troubles me deeply."

What troubles me deeply is how the people of Massachusetts keep electing a drunk to represent them in the Senate.

Otis for President!

Get Ready

The most dysfunctional group of people outside of a mental institution are ready to rule the world.

Ahmadinejad, who has drawn global attention recently for his contention the Holocaust was a "myth," said: "We don't shy away from declaring that Islam is ready to rule the world."

"They're ready, they're ready, they're ready, edy, edy!" ... Spongebob.

"Anything you want, just don't hurt us." ... a liberal.

"One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half." ... Sir Winston Churchill

Opportunity For Change

Michael Ledeen says his sources in Iran tell him Osama Bin Laden died mid-December of kidney failure. I haven't heard that anywhere else and who knows if it's true, but his commentary - One Moment in Time is worth reading.

In short, both demography and geopolitics make this an age of revolution, as President Bush seems to have understood. Rarely have there been so many opportunities for the advance of freedom, and rarely have the hard facts of life and death been so favorable to the spread of democratic revolution.

Unity

Tony Blankley makes the case for American unity in this comentary: Let's organize to end war disunity

There may be no more agonizing weakness for a nation than major internal division during a time of war, because, unlike the conduct of foreign nations or forces, a lack of internal unity is exclusively our own collective fault.

Particularly for a country as powerful and robustly provisioned as America, it is also the weakness that leads to all other weaknesses. If we had national unity, we could quickly make up for any current military manpower shortages (after Pearl Harbor, young American men rushed to sign up, and the draft was overwhelmingly seen as a needed part of our national defense). If we had national unity, we would not have a prominent national leader and Marine veteran such as Rep. John Murtha advising our young men and women not to join the military.

I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham

This is a fascinating site: A Catalog of Political Cartoons by Dr. Suess

I had no clue he was a political cartoonist. Change the names on some of them and they are just as meaningful today. Some samples below.

Still plenty of morale killers today.

Nothing changes

The religion of peace.

This one is my favorite. Plenty more where they came from.

2006 Already?

I really can't believe it's a new year already. 2005 flew by. It hasn't started very well though - Fires in Oklahoma/Texas, floods in California, 12 miners dead, scandal in Washington, Ariel Sharon suffers a stroke and is basically out of commission leaving Israel in turmoil, bird flu on the move. I'm not going to dwell on all the bad news. There is good news beyond the bad.

The kids are back in school, the weather has been beautiful, it's nice to just sit on the porch and watch the kids play and the turkeys wander about. And we've been cleaning out the garage and that feels good.

So let's see what happens this year and don't forget to stop and smell the roses once in a while.