Wow

The only word that can describe the finish to the 2007 NCAA Division II Basketball Championship. Take a look.

One good turn...

Some people seem to enjoy using Bushisms, that is, some of the less than proper English that our president has been caught using. However, a lot of people seem to be unaware of what could've been. Al Gore did not lose the 2000 election by much, and if things had gone the other way, we might've had Goreisms instead. Here are a select few.

"I was recently on a tour of Latin America, and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people."

*Slaps forehead*

"What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is."

I'm sure no one knows that better than you Mr. Gore.

"The future will be better tomorrow."

What about today?

"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."

Again, something Mr. Gore must be familiar with.

"[It's] time for the human race to enter the solar system."

I think Xenu must've gotten Al Gore too.

These are just a few examples. Check out more Goreisms and remember them the next time you are thinking through your "stategery".

Maybe he won't be president...

Supreme Court?



(h/t to Carl Kilo)

Matt Schaub finally traded

My first memories of Virginia football are of Matt Schaub leading UVa to many victories (I did not watch college football before 2002), and then seeing him get drafted by Atlanta, who already had Virginia Tech alumnus Michael Vick leading them. It was obvious early on he would not be starting there, and he has sat on the bench for three seasons.

That is finally changing, as Matt Schaub has been traded to the Houston Texans. He will likely get a real shot at starting there as David Carr, Houston's chosen starting QB since its first game in 2002, has not been able to get the team any success (Houston was an expansion team, but Carolina and Jacksonville both made the playoffs in their second seasons as franchises). Here's hoping that Schaub will finally find the NFL success he has long deserved.

UPDATE 6:05 PM: I just remembered that fellow Hoo alum Wali Lundy is also in Houston, allowing for a reunion of sorts.

And what is up with teams in the southwest? They recognize young UVa stars more readily than others it appears. That makes five Wahoos on teams in Texas and Arizona.

Congress: Still not popular

Despite the change in control, Congress has returned to its abysmally terrible approval ratings, levels below President Bush's even. It is clear that while people were not happy with the previous congressional leadership, they only voted on the current one because of the frustration they felt before. What does this mean for 2008?

A lot could change. If the war in Iraq worsens, it will likely hurt Republicans, but it might not help Democrats; third party candidates at the House and Senate levels will likely gain from it. I do not foresee any third party candidates doing well fighting for the White House, despite the weak field of candidates on both sides. However, a this upcoming election does become harder to predict. Currently, the situation in Iraq has been improving, but the situation in Washington is getting worse. The partisanship on both sides has made for a battle, as Democrats have been at odds with the Republican president since day one. But do not be fooled, the real enemy is not inside the beltway, but rather within the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where terrorists do not even care about the children they endanger. Many Americans recognize why we must win this war; to preserve life. Though the war is unpopular for a considerably sized group, leaving will isolate many more still.

So where will Washington be heading in January of 2009?

Fly Like an Eagle

A Gathering of Eagles is mostly ignored by mainstream media.

They may have prevented a number of monuments and memorials from being defaced.

They believe in their cause, and in America.

For so long, those who believed in the cause have remained silent, not wanting to look like war mongerers or like the extreme protesters. Clearly, tolerating them only went so far for some. With Democrats in power in Congress, the Gathering of Eagles has shown that many Americans are not ready to pull out of Iraq, that we still want to win and to bring democracy to the Middle East. Along with the strength of the troop surge, I am more encouraged with the direction things are now going, and clearly, others are as well.

I won't be voting for Obama...

but whoever made this parody ad did a fantastic job with it. Still, this could be a terribly dirty campaign season if this is any indication.

A movie I've been waiting on for a while

No, not Spider-Man 3 (though I cannot wait for that one either; Sam Raimi has done fantastic job on the first two). Indoctrinate U is finally coming out, and Evan Coyne Maloney is going to expose "the Great American University" in a way we have never seen before (unless you have been priveleged to see Brainwashing 101, a short film they produced that basically serves as a long preview of the film they intended for theaters). Take a look at the trailer in the link above; is it just me, or do I see an image of the University of Virginia being used? (Thankfully, not a negative one, and thus, hopefully the only one).

What is going on in our Senate?

Chris notes Democrats going back and forth on an Iraq timetable.

Jerry notes the Senate's decision to unionize baggage screeners.

So when does the Congress start to actually deal with our national defense again?

The Next Big Thing in Blogging?

Charlie Fugate is "Archvice blogging", as Carl Kilo is calling it. Charlie has taken a look over some of the blogs of the ODBA, and seems to be interested in starting a series of posts covering what he feels are the best posts of the ODBA's past. He covers Carl's analysis of the Sago mining tragedy to start. This could become the next step in blogging, much like the aggregator, carnival, and caption contest.

Some Christians today have it wrong

These days, a lot of people love to use the phrase "let he who is without sin cast the first stone". Unfortunately, too many people leave off the rest of this, choosing to only take what they want from it rather than understanding the context. Here is the rest of it, John Chapter 8.

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

11 "No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Jesus acknowledged that those around him could not claim to be perfect, and questioned their choice of punishment. But there is no doubt that Jesus also judged this woman. He spoke of her adultery as what it was; a sin. In "casting a stone", he is questioning their execution of punishment, not their judgment.

Today, there is a large contingent of Christ followers who miss this, and want to condone sinful choices, not least of which homosexuality. One thing to remember is that God's word cannot conflict with itself. The Bible may be confusing sometimes, but it is consistent. The Old Testament is mostly filled with laws and the prophecy of the coming Messiah. The New Testament shows how to follow in Christ's footsteps and the coming return of the Messiah. Two parts, but one Word.

There is nothing wrong with wishing not to judge others; however, we must recognize that God despises sin, despite his love for the sinner (that is, all of us). I suspect people of other faiths (and yes, this includes atheists; they have faith that there is no God) and agnostics (they may have a case in saying they have no faith) may feel differently, but the context must still be understood. Forgive sin, but do not condone it. We are not above sin, but we ourselves must also work to avoid it.

And also, know the purpose of a Bible verse. Using one short snippet may sound good, but it may not always fully express what God intended. But, I guess in the day and age of the ever-shrinking sound byte, I guess I should not be surprised.

Why we are in Iraq

My parents sent me a great piece on what the War on Terror and the War in Iraq mean, and it is quite excellent, something I feel that should be shared. They sent me the entire text of it, but not wanting to put too much here, I managed to find a link to it. Here are a couple excerpts.

Sixty-three years ago, Nazi Germany had overrun almost all of Europe and hammered England to the verge of bankruptcy and defeat . The Nazis had sunk more than 400 British ships in their convoys between England and America taking food and war materials .

At that time the US was in an isolationist, pacifist mood, and most Americans wanted nothing to do with the European or the Asian war ..

Then along came Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 , and in outrage Congress unanimously declared war on Japan , and the following day on Germany , who had not yet attacked us .. It was a dicey thing . We had few allies .


Together, Japan and Germany had long-range plans of invading Canada and Mexico , as launching pads to get into the United States over our northern and southern borders, after they finished gaining control of Asia and Europe .


Ironically, Russia saved America 's butt by putting up a desperate fight for two years, until the US got geared up to begin hammering way at Germany .

Russia lost something like 24,000,000 people in the sieges of Stalingrad and Moscow alone . . . 90% of them from cold and starvation, mostly civilians, but also more than a 1,000,000 soldiers

Had Russia surrendered, Hitler would have been able to focus his entire war effort against the Brits, then America. If that had happened, the Nazis could possibly have won the war .

All of this has been brought out to illustrate that turning points in history are often dicey things . Now, we find ourselves at another one of those key moments in history .


The Jihadis, the militant Muslims, are basically Nazis in Kaffiyahs -- they believe that Islam, a radically conservative form of Wahhabi Islam, should own and control the Middle East first, then Europe, then the world. To them, all who do not bow to their will of thinking should be killed, enslaved, or subjugated . They want to finish the Holocaust, destroy Israel , and purge the world of Jews .. This is their mantra . (goal)


If the Reformation movement wins, that is, the moderate Muslims who believe that Islam can respect and tolerate other religions, live in peace with the rest of the world, and move out of the 10th century into the 21st, then the troubles in the Middle East will eventually fade away . A moderate and prosperous Middle East will emerge .

We have to help the Reformation win, and to do that we have to fight the Inquisition, i .. e . , the Wahhabi movement, the Jihad, Al Qaeda and the Islamic terrorist movements . We have to do it somewhere . We can't do it everywhere at once. We have created a focal point for the battle at a time and place of our choosing . . . . .. . . . in Iraq .

I've given away a bit of it already, and may need to just post the whole thing if I add any more, so go check it out now. The War in Iraq is not meaningless, but could change the course of history for the better.

I'm not alone.

John Hawkins says what I've been saying: The left needs to clean house.

Chris, The Mason Conservative, describes the raid of Sadr City, Iraq, a major Shiite stronghold that has contained some of the most resistant militants currently in Iraq. Guess that surge must be working; of course, things will look real bad if Democrats in Congress decide to reduce funding for the soldiers in Iraq.

People mad at Ann Coulter for being...

Ann Coulter.

Miss Coulter made a rather blunt, and arguably daft statement at the CPAC conference this past weekend.

I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'f****t,' so I — so kind of an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards.

Now, this was clearly inappropriate and she could have said this in a different way.

However, I find it hard to get mad at her. Is this heartless of me? Am I just helping her to sell books (I cannot believe I am hearing conservatives say this; sounds like a bunch of anti-business types to me)?

No, I have heard too many Democrats and anti-conservative pundits/activists/politicians do the same sort of thing and never apologize. Cindy Sheehan? Regularly committing treason and never having to answer for it. Michael Moore? Deliberately lies and gets an Oscar in return. Bill Maher? High viewership for low IQ. And then there are the racist habits Democrats have, like Hillary Clinton's Ghandi joke, Joe Biden's continued problems, and who can forget Robert Byrd's time in the KKK?

I am numb to it.

They want an apology for something they never apologize for.

And then one almost wonders is it really an insult? "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" became popular; wasn't queer supposed to be a similar insult? It might be if a conservative or heterosexual used it outside of naming that show. And the N-word? Why is it all right when blacks use it while considered to be a slur otherwise? And do not even get me started with the manufactured anger towards George Allen's gaffe from last year; I heard that word used at least ten times more often by those against George Allen than those for, and I am not exaggerating.

I am numb to it.

And now, Riley, Not O'Reilly figures out the main reason Democrats are making a big deal; as a hollow attempt to raise money.

A few observations. First, if Dean and Edwards were really upset about this, they wouldn’t be trying to score political points or raise funds off of this.

I am numb to it.

I can see why some conservatives are mad about this, but I wonder why they have only directed their questions to Ann Coulter. She has capitalized on something liberals have been mastering for longer than she has; and for every Ann Coulter we have, they have a dozen Ward Churchills, Rosie O'Donnells, and Julio Pinos.

Ann Coulter must be feeling numb too. Why feel a need to apologize when so many on the other side insult without remorse and often feel no need to? Particularly when they do it so often.

I'm sure I am unpopular right now, here and on other blogs; I have commented in many places in defense of Miss Coulter. But I do not care. I am simply numb.

And until I see a change on the left, that will not change.

UPDATE 3/4 9:20 PM: SWAC Girl has her thoughts on Ann Coulter.

Questions

Evan Coyne Maloney wonders why the state pays for a professor to commit treason.

And Jerry Fuhrman wonders when the use of race politics will end in America now that it has been revealed that Obama's ancestors were slave owners.

So let me get this straight...

Ann Coulter is wrong to slander John Edwards, but Cindy Sheehan (see second item) can time after time slander President Bush with no response from Howard Dean? Well, that's certainly fair. I guess I should have realized that the freedom of speech is reserved for some, not all.