Global Warming...

Well sign me up as a proponent of global warming if that phenomenon produces the weather it has here in parched and arid West Texas. The high today was 65° F. The average normal high should be at least 95° and it wouldn't be strange for it to be 105°. In July of 1994 it reached the all time record high of 119°. Though not offical, I believe that this is the coolest day I've seen in the middle of the summer since my family moved here in 1960. Sure, after a good thunderstorm we can cool down to the 60's but it quickly heats back up. This 60° weather was an all day event and we've had goodly rains this season to boot.

The day reminded me of late summer in Northern Michigan where we and other family have had lake homes. Just down right pleasant. And it's not often, that with all the windows open on a July evening, that the Bride complains of being cold! Hope she remembers that in late August.

Berger-larized

Sure Sandy, we believe you. You just happened to inadvertently stick classified documents in your pockets. On, not one, but two occasions. And not just any documents, but one's that pertained to your tenure as the head honcho of National Security. Documents that would make you and your boss, the Clinton formerly known as President, look mighty ineffective or perhaps derelict in the war on terror.

I'm sure it could happen to the best of us. We go into a building housing state secrets, with security warnings plastered all over the walls, with armed security guards reminding us of the nature of the data stored therein and the rules of admittance explained to us in detail before we enter and we stick a few documents stamped "SECRET" in our pants. I can see it. While serving on the Grand Jury I used to get home with Legal Writs and Criminal Complaints stuffed like kleenex in my trousers. I just could not remember to stop picking that stuff up and putting it in my pants. Funny thing too because most of it was transcribed on "legal" sized paper and was quite bulky. I just didn't notice it until it was reported missing by the authorities. Funny how that works.

News Flashes....
 
Gleaned from today's CNN Online news reports:
 
Bunker busters' may grow to 30,000 pounds and FDA OKs Botox to curb severe sweating.
 
Makes you you wonder if Botox sales will be increasing in the caves and holes of Afghanistan?

Dishonesty Restored......
 
I just had to comment on a little tidbit I perused over at Tim Blair's place. Seems there is a website, Restore Honesty.Com, created by just an ordinary citizen by the name of Joe Wilson who describes himself as someone who is "not a politician and not a political partisan". Joe just wants to tell you the truth about the way he feels about the upcoming elections, just the plain honest truth with no political strings attached. And by the way, this is the same ordinary citizen and part time whack-o whose CIA wife had him sent to Niger to look into uranium sales.

Problem is here is who owns and registered the website:

Registrant:
John Kerry for President, Inc.
519 C St. NE
Washington, District of Columbia 20002
United States

This sure restores my faith in honesty.

Michael Moore...a criminal mind?

While over at Slatts News perusing some comments about Michael Moore and his "style" of documentary presentation I made a connection to experiences of some years ago.

After the unfortunate drunken period in my life, I decided to use my experience, strength and hope to help others out of the life of addiction that I had been trapped in. I went back to school for 6 months taking classes that allowed me to do drug and alcohol counseling. I ended up working for a friend at a facility that contracted with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice [TDCJ] to handle convicted felons whose offenses were drug or alcohol related in a program that offered them one last chance to prove themselves capable of reform or to fail and actually serve their prison terms. A good program, by the way, for well over 50% did make a decision to change their lives. Several I have seen recently are doing well, own succesful companies and have done work on our home as I have chronicled before.

How does this relate to Michael Moore? Well, the felons who failed our program and Mr. Moore, it seems to me, have one thing in common. Namely, an almost pathological aversion to the truth especially when it comes to improving their lot in life. In a period of over 3 years, I talked in depth to hundreds of these felons with the ones who were a success in the program being able to honestly admit their mistakes, while those unsuccessful would go to any lengths to cover up the truth about their wrong doing, no matter how small the offense. And quite often I would catch them in a lie about something that didn't even matter. Pathological in the sense that I'm firmly convinced that some of these people actually believed the fantastic stories they would foist upon me.

What is also remarkably similar between the criminals and Mr. Moore is that their stories, on the surface, were wholly believable. Full of actual facts, their sagas would meander from "Fact A" to "Fact B" to "Fact C" to Fact "D" which was designed to prove "Fact A"....the more fact filled and convoluted the better. The problem was that on actually checking all the facts one could deduce that none of the facts had anything to do with each other, or might be related but occured in different times or locales other than the time and/or locale in question. I'll have to admit that these people were pretty good, and honestly I rather enjoyed listening to these wild tales. Just like Michael Moore, my friends the criminals, were offering up only the bits and pieces of the truth that they thought would support their thesis...that they were innocent.

I was being paid to be a "doubter" and having offered up a fair share of tall tales myself in order to keep out of trouble, I usually dismantled the culprits stories, the result being that many of those unable to change their lifestlyes are actually serving time in TDCJ-Huntsville as I write. Michael Moore on the other hand is enjoying life as the Far Left Media Mogul. What's wrong with this picture? And it makes me wonder...are convicted felons just latent "documentary" film producers or perhaps, does Michael Moore possess a criminal mind?

Our Leaders Speak...

A compendium of thoughts from our leadership.....Democratic Party leadership.

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."
- President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."
- President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."
- Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983."
- Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998

"We urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
- Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), Tom Daschle (D-SD), John Kerry ( D - MA), and others Oct. 9, 1998

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
- Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998

"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building! weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies."
- Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999

"There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has invigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies."
- Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, December 5, 2001

"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them."
- Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 1! 9, 2002

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."
- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002


"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."
- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."
- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."
- Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002

"I will be voting to give the President! of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years .... We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."
- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and an! y nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do."
- Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapon stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."
- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002

"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction."
- Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real."
- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003