Traffic in Northern Virginia could be getting better.

This is an interesting piece by Evan Coyne Maloney at Brain-Terminal. Anyone who has ever been to northern Virginia knows that the traffic in that area, as well as the rest of the D.C. Metropolitan area, can be terrible. Worse yet, the traffic problems continue to degenerate. The Washington Post reports that the Beltway (I-95 and I-495 around Washington D.C.) will be expanding to add two lanes. What's interesting is that these lanes will be something of a mix of toll roads and HOV lanes; commuters with three or more drivers can use these lanes for free, and anyone else will be able to get on it by paying a toll. This toll will go up as traffic on these lanes increases. While not perfect, this sort of improvement will alleviate traffic from the main lanes, and will allow a number of people to have a faster trip on the other two.

Only unfortunate part, these new lanes may not be open until 2010, but you know what they say; better late than never.

More New Links

After adding Delegate Gilbert's 15th District blog to the links, I realized that I also needed to add a link for the website of the candidate in the 32nd District, Delegate Dick Black. Delegate Black is the most pro-family delegate in the Virginia House. He also spearheaded the effort to keep George Mason University from wasting $50,000 on a speech from Michael Moore. Delegate Black certainly needs to be reelected this upcoming election cycle.

I also have just found that another of my friends is involved in a web log (funny how starting one reveals a number of others). Over at Sic Semper Tyrannis, Lighthorse Harry is a regular poster, and a very laudable person. SST is also kept updated by Old Zach and Addison. They keep up with a lot of what is going on around the commonwealth of Virginia. They are the second member of the Old Dominion Blog Alliance (shown on the sidebar of each of these two blogs) now added to my link list, which includes a number of excellent Virginian blogs. Sic Semper Tyrannis, along with Commonwealth Conservative, certainly are top blogs on this list (not to take anything away from the others), and I would suggest both to any new blog leaders.

One more thing: I doubt it is immediately obvious, but the picture on the sidebar is of Jerry Kilgore and the University of Virginia College Republicans. It can be found at the Jerry Kilgore website, which is linked to by the picture. Of course, another important site to visit in my opinion.

New link

I need to check more of these Virginia blogs. I just found that the Valley Republican (sadly, on hiatus for the time being) is a friend of mine. So, even though the Valley Republican probably won't receieve too many updates in the near future, I figure it is worth keeping an eye on. Craig is a really smart guy, who seems to have a good hold on local politics, like John Behan over at Commonwealth Conservative. You can now read his posts over at the Todd Gilbert web log, which shall also be linked on the sidebar, at least through the upcoming election.

Laura Ingraham receieves warm wishes from Elizabeth Edwards?

Michelle Malkin reports on a thread at the DU where a number of moonbats (a term referring to the most extreme leftwingers) are kicking Laura Ingraham while she is down; she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and underwent successful surgery yesterday. As was usual, Nazi was one of the nicer words thrown around on the DU board. There are a few generous members wishing her well, but that is a rarity on the board. Among those posting was a member with the name given as Elizabeth Edwards, wife of 2004 Democratic Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards.

I have been a Democrat for a long time, and part of the Democratic principles that attracted me as a young person and kept me a Democrat all these years is our compassion. Democrats are simply good and decent people. And good and decent people want everyone to do well -- those who agree with them and those who do not. We fight for the right of voices with which we disagree to speak out, for the right of people to say things we don't believe to be true, even for the right to be malicious and mean-spirited. If we fight for the right for LI to say what she says, how in the world can we use our disagreement with those words as an excuse not to be compassionate in her fight with cancer. Being willing to have her voice muted by illness is the same thing as not wanting her voice to be heard. It is not Democratic or democratic.

I hope others will join me in wishing her Godspeed in this fight, for the easiest road that she can have, and even for the development of compassion about others who have faced hardship and disease without the support network she -- and I -- have. As I go through treatment for this same disease, I think often about the women who fight breast cancer without health insurance, without a supportive husband, with a physically demanding job that doesn't know or doesn't care that she is exhausted and weak and aching, with children but no child care. I find it absolutely impossible that LI won't also have those thoughts run through her head or that she won't rethink her position on health care or the social safety net. Pray for her health AND her enlightenment, if you must. But pray, with me, for her good health.

A nice thought, though it seems to lose some credibility when she discusses how she feels Miss Ingraham is going through.

My first thought when reading this was that this was just someone else posting under the name Elizabeth Edwards (anyone familiar with thefacebook.com or most message boards knows this to be a pretty common practice), but a recent update at Right Wing News by John Hawkins confirms that it is indeed Miss Edwards. While there are some DUers who are not extremely hostile, the vast majority are. This is a bit disconcerting. I have said before that the Democratic party is doing itself and our country damage by straying further to the left, but having such a public figure associating with them does not seem to suggest that they intend to move back to the middle. I would hope that this is an isolated event, but my guess is that this is more common than even most other conservatives may realize.

White House security seems to check out

Interesting short piece commenting on a small radar scare near the White House. It was a false alarm, but sounds like good news that the Secret Service was trained well in getting President Bush and Vice President Cheney out of the White House rapidly. Hat tip to Matt Drudge of Drudge Report.

Senate Republicans are just trying to take away the Senate Democrats' rights

At least, that is what the Washington Post would have you think. Old Zach over at Sic Semper Tyrannis reviews a poll taken by the Washington Post concerning the move of Senate Republicans to establish the nuclear option, keeping the Democrats from filibustering the judicial nominees. I particularly enjoyed this post, as I hate how polls can be distorted to affect the results. In particular, Old Zach notes how the wording of the questions can affect a poll.

As most people know, the art of polling is based in large part on how the questions are framed. Lots of other factors can also affect poll results, such as the time of day the polls are conducted.

Old Zach does encourage his readers to come to their own conclusions, though I would also add that the Washington Post has a notorious history of liberal bias, so take what the WaPo says with a grain of salt.

New Ally Blog

A very loyal TRS reader and commenter finally left a post that allowed me to find his blog. Looks pretty good. Written by someone I only know as Lou, a student at JMU (you know UVa is the superior school ;)), The Fighting Side has also been kind enough to add The Red Stater to his blog roll. As we are both relatively new bloggers, it is good to know that we both have support. So go take a look at The Fighting Side, Lou's got some good stuff to say.

Hypocrisy #2

As hypocrisy seems to be a big problem for liberals, I will likely point out these faults when I see them. Note, I will also acknowledge when conservatives act hypocritically, because there is no excuse for them either.

John Behan over at Commonwealth Conservative analyzes a trend by Tim Kaine and his followers, namely that of thinking low of Jerry Kilgore for his southern accent. I know a number of people with southern accents, and though I usually have a bit of difficulty understanding them (more for their usual soft-spoken nature and my slight hearing impairment than their accent), I find it atrocious that others would deride Kilgore for his accent. The same people who constantly speak of their love for diversity and different backgrounds just as soon will turn against someone who is different.

John Behan writes:

...[T]here was an unstated, but obvious, undertone to those comments about my accent that made me realize that people really do think someone with a southern accent isn’t as intelligent as those sophisticates from the urban areas. Frankly, it smacked of elitism, and so I bristled each time I heard such a comment.

Tim Kaine has been trying hard to portray himself as a moderate. However, a large portion of the population of the commonwealth have or know people with similar accents, and will likely not receive Kaine's comments too well.

"The Wimpiest Generation"

Tongue Tied has a weekly column on FoxNews.com, where they publish most of their posts from their blog over the last week. At the end, a number of letters are featured. One in particular this week stood out.

Amaury C. in San Antonio writes:

I am an avid reader of your column, but I cannot believe what this country is becoming. I moved from Europe 15 years ago, and I am appalled by how soft and selfish people have become. No wonder the Chinese and Indians are going to be the next global leaders. We are doing a complete disservice to our children by raising them completely unprepared for the challenges of the next century. They should be called the "Wimpiest Generation".

Amen Amaury. Sadly, most of my generation will not be ready for the next few years.

Apple's Tiger released this week

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a big fan of Apple computers. Though they are fairly expensive, the software is very easy to use, Apple's protection plan is second to none, and even troubleshooting is fairly easy. So I'm all the more excited about the new operating system release, Mac OS X 10.4, also known as Tiger, being released this week. Newsweek also notices this release, and compares it with Microsoft's Longhorn, scheduled for release late next year.

One item of particular interest in the upgrade is a new version of the internet browser Safari, which allows an RSS feed and will make it far easier for me to read my favorite blogs. With any luck, that might make my posting easier as well.

Good news for bloggers

Michelle Malkin gives me and many others a lot of comfort in sharing news of bipartisan support to maintain the freedom of speech online. Still, I wonder, why do we need a law made to protect a right we already have? Why is this an issue?

Big Mistake

While I will be quick to point out hypocrisy on the left, I certainly can't shy away from those who may be portrayed as such on the right either. That being said, I have to agree with Michelle Malkin that spitting on Jane Fonda is foolish. There is nothing wrong with wanting to do it; I'm sure many of us have. But acting on your desires may not always be a bright idea. After the actions taken against Ann Coulter and David Horowitz, one would hope that conservatives could restrain themselves, so that the generalizations would only hamper those on the left. With any luck, this act will be met with disapproval from many conservative bloggers; there is no excuse for such childish behavior.

Is being overweight really as big a concern as it has been made out to be?

While being excessively overweight is obviously of real concern, it appears that those only a little overweight may actually have a higher survival weight than those who are of "normal" weight (Hat tip to Matt Drudge of Drudge Report). Maybe this will help put an end to that senseless Atkins diet.

Good news for Jerry Kilgore

Commonwealth Conservative notes how Tim Kaine is having a very difficult time getting grassroots support. Makes me wonder more and more why people figured this obviously red state could have gone for Kerry last year.

The Kyoto Protocol - The biggest waste of money in human history, by far

JunkScience.com has a Kyoto calculator, which shows how much money has been spent on Kyoto and how much it is estimated that it will lower the Earth's average temperature. In just a little over two months, Kyoto has already cost more than $25 billion, but will drop the Earth's temperature by less than one thousandth of Kelvin.

It is bad enough that environmentalists believe faulty studies suggesting a warming of the Earth (rather than considering other possibilities like a cyclical change in temperature), but to also take the risk of damaging many of the world's economies as well is irresponsible.

This calculator will not change anything, as the Kyoto protocol has been in effect in many countries for a few months now, but hopefully it will be a reminder in the future to not be so fiscally irresponible.

Where have all the cowboys gone?

And I'm not speaking of those in Dallas (as a Washington Redskins fan, I would be betraying my team). But these days, cowboy has become a dirty word, particularly when referring to President Bush. Evan Coyne Maloney at Brain-Terminal expounds on this.

One thing to note in particular about his post and the article he cites; more than 300,000 have been found dead in mass grave sites so far. People have complained about the death toll, but finally going to Iraq has put an end to this, and in the long run will save more lives than have been lost.

Plagiarism

Michelle Malkin relays a story of a poetry scholar who has been accused of plagarism. Obviously, plagarism is a problem that most people can agree on. It is not a protected form of speech, as it takes away from the work of the person who originally had the idea. Plagarism is dishonest and dishonorable, as forty-eight former University of Virginia students could discuss. These sort of things should not need to be pointed out.

Unfortunately, it extends further than many people know. Osama bin Laden is a known terrorist, so it comes as no surprise that he would consider plagiarism. But plenty of respected journalists and authors have been exposed as plagiarists as well. Nina Totenberg, Joe Biden Jr., and even Alex Haley of Roots fame are among those Miss Malkin points out. Sadly, it gets worse. Even Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was guilty of this, many times. While there is not a single person out there who can take away anything from what Dr. King acheived, this should be news that brings him back to seeming human; unfortunately, it was never made an issue and has been as quickly forgotten by many.

There is nothing wrong with expressing the opinion of someone else, so long as it is explicitly cited. Unfortunately, there may always be people protected from justice because double standards exist for those who seem to be "above" everyone else.

As a side note, know that I will always cite my resources in my posts. There may be some common knowledge which will go uncited for simplicity sake, but a link will always be posted to my sources (which will happen often as I usually get inspired by something I have read or heard recently). If I ever fail to do so, please comment and I will be more than happy to remedy the situation.

Bobby Fischer

I originally planned on writing about plagiarism problems, but I feel the need to push that back at least a post after seeing a relatively long piece on Sportscenter tonight. The report was by none other than Jeremy Schaap, son of the late Dick Schaap, who had a long relationship with the chess master Bobby Fischer.

Bobby Fischer, born in 1943, was a talented young man, having become a grand chessmaster at the age of 15; at the time, the youngest person to ever acheive the highest status. Jeremy Schaap reported that he had an IQ of 180, the same as Albert Einstein. This might seem questionable; at the age of 12, Fischer had to be guided home by Dick Schaap because he did not know how to get there on his own. As early as 1962, he was known to make sexist and anti-Semitic remarks, and his personal problems led him to the Worldwide Church of God. Don't be misguided, this was hardly a mainstream church. This cult believed the US would fall in World War III, starting in 1972, to the United States of Europe, which would be dominated by Germany and inspired by the Antichrist himself, the Pope of Rome. Needless to say, these events did not happen and Fischer became further disillusioned.

Though anti-semitic, Fischer had many Jewish ties. The Worldwide Church had celebrated many of the Jewish holy days. Dick Schaap was Jewish, and for a long time, very close to Fischer; this changed as Fischer grew more extreme, to the point where Dick Schaap said that Fischer did not have "a sane bone in his body." Even Fischer's own mother was a Jew. Yet, with the deception by the Worldwide Church, Fischer's distrust in Jews grew to the point where he denied the occurence of the Holocaust and denied his mother's Jewish roots (though he had admitted them in an earlier interview). This was very difficult for Jeremy Schaap, who went to Iceland a few weeks ago to find an answer; Fischer continued his anti-semitic ways, calling Jeremy's father "a typical Jewish snake." Jeremy Schaap left, dismayed, after telling Fischer that he found little reason to argue with the comment his father had made so many years before.

Fischer's criticisms went beyond the state of Israel. He was very anti-American after he went to Yugoslavia to play chess against Anatoly Karpov in the "world championship". At the time, this trip was illegal due to UN sanctions, and Fischer has remained a fugitive from US law, after he failed to return. He has popped up in many nations, usually making appearances on radio shows to speak out against America. Shortly after the events of 9/11, he took pride in one of these shows of the attacks, not hesitating to use the word f*** multiple times.

A few months ago, he was jailed in Japan, but rather than being extradited to the US, he was given a free pass to Iceland, who offered him full citizenship. This citizenship exempts him from extradition, even given the treaty that the United States has with Iceland in extraditing criminals. After his exchange with Jeremy Schaap, Fischer now has to deal with hate crime charges.

Fischer is a tragic case, having much wasted potential. Sadly, he was lacking in social abilities and seemed open to some odd ideas, which almost always turned against him. Still, Fischer made these decisions on his own; he is responsible for his actions. Iceland should revoke his citizenship and honor their extradition agreement. Fischer has made a lot of mistakes in his lifetime, and it is time he owned up to them.

Sources: Jeremy Schaap, Sportscenter, ESPN, 4/18/05
Wikipedia
(Excuse the non-MLA format used here, you can safely assume that all the information used here, excepting in my opinion in the final paragraph, was was found in one of these two sources).

Hollywood and First Amendment Rights

As citizens of the United States, we have the right to express ourselves however we wish, and these rights are available no matter what social status we have. But is there such a thing as abuse of speech? We all know you can't say bomb on an airplane (as Ben Stiller showed in Meet the Parents), you cannot threaten someone (as that would constitute assault), and you can't lie under oath (another crime, perjury). Plagarism is also not protected by First Amendment rights (I'll cover this one further in my next post). However, there is one way which celebrities have an advantage on the rest of America, and that is access to the mainstream media.

Hollywood elites need to do little more than say something controversial to get the attention of the media, and can take full advantage of that attention. The Dixie Chicks made an anti-Bush statement at a concert (probably feeling further shielded being outside of the US). Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins have constantly been critical of conservative values. And Michael Moore is able to demand money for his viewpoint.

Unfortunately, they have every right to say what they want. The media goes wherever it feels there is news, using it's freedom of press rights. So no matter how many $100 million documentaries Michael Moore comes out with, he will still have the right to decieve people through his lies.

Does this mean we have to listen to what they say? This is where the good news comes in. We don't have to pay them any attention. This may seem obvious, but it can put a lot of pressure on Hollywood to shut up. Unlike most forms of entertainment, country music has a far more conservative demographic. After the Dixie Chicks complained about President Bush at the aforementioned concert, there was a huge response. Country radio stations sponsered events where country music fans came and had their Dixie Chicks CDs destroyed. There were boycotts of their music. While the Dixie Chicks expressed their right to free speech, people expressed their right NOT to buy Dixie Chick merchandise.

There are some who have argued that that is not a reason to not buy their CDs. There is one major problem with that argument. Who is going to force those people to? A negative opinion is a negative opinion, and it will influence how a consumer spends his money.

The Hollywood elites can continue to whine as much as they want about what they don't like, but if we tell them that we don't care what their opinions are and we don't want to hear them, sooner or later, their smaller paychecks will convince them to rethink how they use their freedom of speech.

Hypocrisy

Amazing. When the GOP in the Federal Government acted to try to save Terri Schiavo, the Democrats got in a hissy fit, saying that the Republicans were "politicizing" her death. Now, the man who has proclaimed that he would unite the two parties, Howard Dean, has stated that the Democrats will politicize the Terri Schiavo case.

The Democrats are constantly accusing the Republicans of doing things wrong, but it usually isn't long before they show their true colors and do the exact same thing. Hopefully, the GOP will call the Democrats out on this total lack of character.

Update 4/18 9:40 AM - John Hawkins over at Right Wing News covers the hypocrisy of the MSM in covering this information.

Clarification

After a recent comment to one of my posts, I wanted to clarify a little where I stand. I stand very strongly for a smaller government, but I am a conservative, not a libertarian. Some social issues, particularly those that affect other people, may require a little regulation. The rights of one person do not outweigh the rights and needs of others. For example, in this specific case, perhaps an individual should not be allowed to drink as much beer as they want, as they can become a legitimate hazard to others around them. If you want to drink 8 beers in your own home, no one can stop you; but when you are a guest, you should resepect the wishes of the host and the security of those around you.

This is why I hate both the Yankees and the Red Sox

But I wish this was the worst of it.

Recently, fans have been getting rowdier and rowdier. I used to be one of the biggest fans of charging the court (or the field, where appropriate) at college games, but it is getting dangerous just to be at some of these games. I'm not saying the athletes are blameless; in many cases, they are just as bad. But, outside of the ocassional fight between players, these events likely could be prevented by a few things.

1) Fans who initiate such issues should be banned. Permanantly. If they can't behave at a ball game, they sacrifice the right to be there. And make this effective for the entire league; start a problem at a Cardinals game, and that person is banned from ALL Major League Baseball games.
2) When beer is sold, limit how much someone there can buy. This could be done simply by marking the ticket stub each fan comes in with.
3) Put a buffer zone around the field/court. I know this reduces room in many already overcrowded stadiums, but perhaps five feet of seperation might make it a little more difficult for confrontations (this is more aimed towards the Sheffield incident, it might not have helped in the other two situations unfortunately).

Unfortunately, this issue is impossible to completely control, but new stadium rules may be able to deter such atrocious behavior.

Sigh, I miss being able to rush the field. Thank you, rowdy fans, for taking that away from me.

The UN once again proves its worthlessness

Evan Coyne Maloney over at Brain-Terminal parodies a new treaty passed by the United Nations. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The United Nations is nothing more than another League of Nations. Bigger, but far less effecient.

Jerry Kilgore at Professor Sabato's class

I'm back again. Amazing how the work load keeps me from putting even five minutes up to post a link, but it should not be getting in the way for a while. Among the things I've been busy with was attending my normal American politics course taught by Larry Sabato, which yesterday featured gubenatiorial candidate Jerry Kilgore.

Again, I felt he gave a great speech. He specifically focused on public education, with his plan for Better Pay for Better Teachers. I specifically asked him about this subject (much as I had asked Tim Kaine about his position on abortion, which he, of course, dodged), and he stated the importance of a good education for all the students of Virginia. Kilgore believes that better teachers can be more easily attracted and maintained if they have some incentive to teach well. An excellent idea, one that will most certainly pay off in the future.

Mr. Kilgore also spoke briefly of taxes (only increased under vote by Virginia citizens) and domestic abuse (stronger penalties are needed), as well as the recent improvements in fighting crime in the Commonwealth of Virginia. With many Wahoos only a few years away from working and the current concerns of crime and the serial rapist in Charlottesville, he was able to communicate very well about issues that greatly concern many in my age group, specifically young adults. Of course, I thanked Mr. Kilgore for speaking to us and told him how much I had enjoyed this speech (and the last one I heard during his campaign announcement tour).

While he didn't speak of it, Commonwealth Conservative reports Jerry Kilgore is doing very well right now in terms getting his name out. Tim Kaine pledged to get 30,000 signatures to get on the ballot; he will be on it, but far short of his goal (by more than 11,000 signatures to be exact). Meanwhile, Jerry Kilgore got more than 34,000 signatures. The Democrats may have to work harder to push Tim Kaine as a moderate Democrat if they want him to win come November.

Howard Dean: The Left's Paradox

Howard Dean earlier this year was elected to lead the DNC, pledging to bridge the gap between the Republicans and Democrats. Democrats were esctatic, hopeful that this new leader could bring them back into power. Ironically, many Republicans were just as happy, believing that Dean would only be a detriment to the party. Who is correct?

Certainly everyone remembers Dean's famous yell. This was one of the signs that Dean's presidential run was coming to an end, making him a laughing stock.

Still, this somehow was not enough to keep him from becoming the Chair of the DNC. He wasted little time in being a "uniter" with his now infamous line "Republicans are Evil". He quickly pulled back, instead opting to downgrade Republicans to "mean". Still, the damage was done.

Recently, Dean has tried to repair his image, speaking of the Bible and gun rights. It is nice to know that he reads the Bible, and I was quite glad to learn that Job was in the New Testament, because it has only been in the Old Testament since before the Bible was first published. It was also good to know that Dean is now in favor of guns, as he favored the useless ban on assault rifles. Yet, at the same time, he claims to be a member of the "Democrat wing of the Democratic party."

So, which is it? Some might try to argue that Dean is giving it an honest shot, but I find it very unlikely that someone who calls Republicans "evil" can eliminate the partisan gap. I understand that people can make mistakes or have a slip of the tongue, but it has happened far too often for Mr. Dean. It is my opinion that he is not as sincere as he would suggest, and he is a liability for the Democrats. Keep up the good work Howard; we'll be sure to fix the mistakes that you and the left make in the coming years.

Trackback and Counter added

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog. Also, Sitemeter has been added as well. I don't expect a huge spike or anything for a while, but should it happen, I will be ready for additional viewers (or, at this point, any viewers for that matter). So please, enjoy this site.

And, to further emphasize on the last post, I would like to thank John Behan over at Commonwealth Conservative for linking to me. It is a great honor, and so early in my blogging "career" as well. I have enjoyed the experience so far, and I look forward to working with many others in the blogging community.

Freedom of press concerns

Welcome to everyone who has found this blog via Commonwealth Conservative. This is my first big link from another website, and I hope I can prove the worth of that mention. With that (and my workload finally getting back to normal), I move into something that is quite disconcerting.

About a week ago, Michelle Malkin covered the recent corruption scandal in Canada. If you haven't heard about it, then don't feel bad. Few people have. Canada has placed a publication ban on this scandal, making it illegal to print anything about it in Canada. Fortunately, Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters has been covering it recently, and as he is not living in Canada, is not under the jurisdiction of this ban. While I still can't say I know many details about it, what is really problematic is this assault on free press and free speech.

I also can't say I know much about these freedoms in Canada, but knowing that Canada can ban coverage on any topic they feel should be a concern to everyone. I'm not always a fan of media feeding frenzies, but there appears to be a real concern here. Just imagine if Whitewater, Monica Lewinsky, or Kerry's questionable service in Vietnam had publication bans placed on them. Right now, most of the coverage is in blogs, though those written in Canada are at risk of facing legal action.

Now, how does this apply to the rest of us? Simple, blog regulation. Already, Canada has shown that they will not hesitate to restrict blogs, and recently, San Fransisco threatened the same.

Simply put, those of us who have found a way to express our opinions online could soon face taxes on our blogs, rules on what we could talk about, and nothing less than a pure infringement on our First Amendment rights. For these reason, I would encourage any of you with blogs to go to the Online Coalition. The blogs on this list are greatly varied, including anyone from Michelle Malkin to Markos Moulitsas (leftist blogger famous for The Daily Kos), so I believe there is little doubt that this is valid concern.

I would also encourage you all to keep up with the scandal in Canada. We need to show them that their infringement on a basic right will not go unchallenged.

Update 11:30 PM: After finally going through and looking over some of the Adscam scandal, I have found that the ban has been lifted. This does not excuse the government for covering it up, or getting into this problem in the first place (including possibly the former Prime Minster as well).

A few links that speak for themselves.

This has been (and will be for the next few days) a very busy week, so rather than full posts to make up for the last few days, I'm just going to post a few links to some interesting events recently.

- Very long post at Right Wing News speaking against gay marriage. In a world where most arguments used against gay marriage are religious, it can be hard to argue some of the points with those who are pro-gay marriage. This post gives some rational arguments to supplement the religious ones, which will make it incredibly difficult for someone to argue against them.

- While little kids need positive reinforcement to grow up properly, some people have forgotten that they need to learn from their mistakes as well. While it might seem cruel to point out the mistakes a child makes, the only way they can learn is from seeing where they made them. Whether in red ink or some other color (which itself will probably be seen as hostile after enough bad grades in it also), children cannot be expected to grow as people if we ONLY pay attention to the good.

- This is why I don't like PETA. They neglect common sense and presume that an animal will not be hostile towards them if they are just trying to help. While I admire the compassion these people have shown, they would have been better off calling animal control. They could have safely removed the bat (without harming it I might add) so that no one would've been hurt. Though I wonder, could this be a case of the treatment being more painful than the symptoms?

- I've said this, Larry Sabato has said this, and now, centrist Democrats are speaking up as well about this rather obvious fact. The only way the Democrats can hope to get back into the White House and many congressional seats is to go back to moderation. I wonder why I keep pushing this though. I want Republicans in those positions.

- Apple continues to grow, but these days, one wonders does it matter anymore? PCs may continue to reign as the leader in computers, but Macs are not going away quietly.

Okay, that covers the content of interest tonight (though I can also take pride right now that the Orioles are 1-0 and that the Nationals are 0-1). Hopefully, I will find some time in the next few days to cover a bad situation in Canada. What is it about? There may be some freedom of press issues which directly affect blogging. More on this in the next post.

Am I obsessed with polls, or just how inaccurate they can be?

The Left continues to deny this trend, even as obvious as it is. What's worse, why won't the MSM cover this?

Disrespect in a rough time, but it is a time to move on.

It never ceases to amaze me how petty some people can be. Michelle Malkin reports on many different putdowns against the Pope. I wasn't going to dwell on the subject of the Pope, but she points out a number of classless acts. The New York Times, as usual, made strong anti-religion statements. The New York Press a few weeks back printed a disgusting piece about the funniest things that would come of the Pope's death (here at The Red Stater, I don't think that the death of anyone is humorous, but a tragedy. I understand the need for war in extreme situations, and the necessity of self defense, but those lives lost of criminal offenders are still lives lost). And, never to be outdone, Chris Matthews of course had to share his own viewpoint.

I do think Miss Malkin is overreacting in one place though. CBS "only" gave the news a little more than half an hour of coverage. While this death was a tragedy, I believe that the Pope might've thought it appropriate. As an avid athlete, he no doubt appreciates the love of sports that others had, but more importantly, I believe the Pope would not wish for everyone to dwell over his death. As I mentioned in my prior post, he was a humble man, and I think he would've preferred that we looked foward, rather than back.

On a more personal note, I am glad that at least one outlet is not going crazy over this news. The media overhypes so many things, and then all other outlets follows suit. The world can go without one of its media outlets duplicating the efforts of all the others. Unfortunately, this story dominates so much of the news that other important events have gone practically unnoticed: In the Red Lakes shooting, it has been found that other students were involved, a 15-year old girl refused to kiss her 21-year old boyfriend (Isn't 6 years at that age a bit too much?) and got shot for it, and Terri Schiavo, who has dominated (but not absolutely) the news the last couple weeks was cremated without her parents getting an autopsy performed by a doctor of their choice.

Again, none of these things make the death of the Pope any less distressing to so many people, but other important events are just being ignored. The basketball game may not be important in the long run, but life must go on. It is fine for the media to cover this, but it should not be so much as to overwhelm our lives and make the little things seem inconsequential.

Pope John Paul II

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a Protestant, and that I disagree with many of the traditional beliefs of the Catholic faith.

That being said, I have nothing but respect for the very recently deceased Pope John Paul II. Just simply comparing him to many former popes, he rises above the rest simply for some of the things he did not do, but he was able to accomplish much in his life. The pope had an unshakeable faith, and a strong sense of humanitarianism. Along with the late President Ronald Reagan, he battled the growing tyranny of Communism in Eastern Europe. He fought through adversity, including surviving a gunshot wound in 1981. He would ask and pray for peace, but never demand it. And every story I ever heard of Pope John Paul II portrayed him as humble, but strong.

His fate now can only be determined by God, but his impact on the world was rarely matched. With any luck, the Catolic Church can select a new pope that has half the faith, leadership abilities, and compassion that Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II's birth name) had.

New Intelligence Report on Iraq

It would sure be nice if the liberals would stop calling President Bush a liar and finally recognize the obvious truth (though knowing them, they will continue to blame President Bush for something he could not control).