Imaginary Conversations and Random Thoughts

Did I mention that I recently wrote to my local congressman, Richard Pombo? I almost dropped it, but I just got motivated a little bit. I wrote him once before, some months ago. I got some sort of form response which I promptly deleted. I also got a form response to my recent email. I'm pretty sure I saved it:

Thank you for contacting me. This is an auto response confirming that I
have received your e-mail. I appreciate the time you have taken to contact me.

Please be advised if you sent an e-mail with an attachment or forward from another source, due to security reasons, I am unable to open them. Please cut and paste and re-send the e-mail. If you would like to receive a reply to your letter via U.S. postal mail, please make sure you have included your CA 11th District address. Letters received by e-mail will be responded to the same way. You will receive a response pertaining to your comments and concerns shortly.

If you reside outside of California's 11th District, I urge you to contact your Representative. You can find contact information for your Representative at www.house.gov.

For more information on legislation and links to other government information, please visit www.thomas.loc.gov.

This response came on the same day I wrote to Pombo, July 15th. To date, I have not received a response pertaining to my comments and concerns. But why should I expect a response? I may have come off kind of snotty in the email I sent him (I had just read some article about border kidnappings, and was curious about what Pombo was doing on immigration):

I was glad to see you have an "On the Issues" section on your re-election website. Unfortunately, when I went to it, the information there was pretty generic.

I'm no politician, but even I can say "clean energy is good" or "borders are important." Can't you give some specifics? I'm sure your Democratic opponent in the fall will say "clean energy is good" too.

I'm specifically writing today about border control. Even though we aren't in Texas, I read with some alarm about sheriffs there who won't patrol border areas because they are outgunned and come under automatic weapons fire when they respond to increasingly frequent calls about cross border kidnappings. Kidnapping for ransom is apparently a growth industry along the border. So aside from "borders are good," what exactly do you propose or support? A border wall? National Guard troops? How many troops? Where will you put them? Is there a bill you are supporting right now? What is its number so that we can look it up. If there is no such bill, when do you plan on introducing one? When are votes scheduled?

My ideal would be for you to have information like this (specific details, plus information on a bill you are supporting and/or introducing) for each of the top issues you've identified.

I've contacted you by email, I would appreciate any response be directed to me by email as well. I have enough phone calls during the day. I must say I was hesitant to contact you at all, knowing I run the risk of being subjected to endless junk mail and phone calls because you require all of my information just to send this to you. This is a simple email that only requires a simple response. Please be respectful and realize that this is not a request for an endless bombardment. If, based on your reply, I feel the need for more information, I will contact you again. Thank you for your time.

Is that too harsh? Is it a bad idea for a politician to identify the top ten issues for his district or state (or maybe the top five each of local and national issues?), specifically identify his positions on those issues, and identify by title or number the specific bills he is supporting or introducing that address those top issues, and make all of that information clearly and easily available on his website? Is that too much to ask? Is that unreasonable? Is there something wrong with knowing where a politician stands? Am I stupid for even asking these questions?

What got me motivated today was a Porkbusters update over at Big G's place. I'm an optimistic sort. I think that I'll try to write him again, more simply this time, and keep it to one issue at a time. Congressman Jeff Flake recently put in 19 amendments that required an up or down vote on specific pork projects. "A 'YES' vote on any of the Flake amendments is a good, anti-pork vote." Pombo voted "NO" on all 19 amendments. The lamest thing is that most of the projects were not even in his district, or even in his state! I'll try and run through all 19, so look forward to reports on 19 separate emails to Pombo. Maybe by email 17 or so, I'll actually get an actual response.

I'll be off on vacation for a week now, so you can hear about that, and whether or not my hand needs to be chopped off, sometime next weekend.

PS- Don't forget to check in with Philip in Memphis for RockStar recaps!

This week Wictory Wednesday presents Doug Lamborn for Congress for the 5th District of Colorado.

Doug Lamborn is a solid conservative with a history of fiscal restraint. He supports reforming education to give more choices to parents instead of dumping more money into a bloated bureaucracy. He believes there should be little to no federal role in education as those decision should be best left up to local areas to determine their own needs. Education is the absolute key to continued economic development and sustainability and it is clear that school choice will once again produce schools and students who are representative of the greatness of this nation.

Senator Lamborn understands that the problem with health care in the United States is not because the government isn't in charge, but because the government has skewed the incentive system away from consumers. The solution isn't to remove the consumer even farther from the equation, but to put the consumer square in the middle and allow them to make flexible choices for their own health care.

The use of eminent domain to take property from the disenfranchised and give it to the enfranchised has left those on all parts of the political spectrum a sense of fear. It was only a matter of time when the Court gave local governments the right to kick people out of their homes that those governments would stop paying fair market value for the properties they seized. Senator Lamborn understands private property rights as a foundational aspect of our society, government, and nation. Our freedoms are not something granted by the government out if its magnimity, but these are rights inherent in our society that the government is not free to intrude upon.

Senator Lamborn has won endorsements from the NRA, the National Pro-Life Alliance, and the Club for Growth as well as many other conservative endorsements. Please consider helping Doug Lamborn win in November by contributing or volunteering for his campaign.

This has been a production of the Wictory Wednesday blogburst. If you would like to join Wictory Wednesday, please see this post or contact John Bambenek at jcb (dot) blog [at] gmail {dot} com. The following sites are members of the Wictory Wednesday team:

Did I tell you? Patience is a virtue, my little angels. Go find Philip's RockStar Recap right here. Rock on!

Miss Tori says I should tell you guys what a sexy beast I am. Which is super nice of her, cause I really don't see it. I mean, I've said it before, "If I had a choice, even I wouldn't sleep with me." Thank goodness she will.

Philip's Rock Star recap isn't up yet, but he has taken pity on your poor souls and gone out of his way to give you college advice. Any of you young, up and coming, potential college students go here and pay attention to what your Uncle Philip has to say.

There might be more on the trip later, but for right now, get an idea of what you can see at the Monterey Bay Aquarium from any of these fine webcams:

Kelp Cam

Otter Cam

Shark Cam

Aviary Cam

Penguin Cam

Outer Bay Cam

Monterey Bay Cam

I assure you they all function at least some of the time.

Mary Madigan has a post over at Dean's World about some new car company that has a new car called the Tesla Roadster. Mary's point about the car is that bloggers need to be flown in and given a chance to test drive the car so we can write about it and get the word out through the alternative media. I am so in favor of that. However, I'm not so confident about the car.

Read the article about it here. Back again? Ok, great! On to the problems.

You'll note that the car has a range of 250 miles. Range is a funny thing. Maybe I'm different from most people, but for me, range is how far I can go before I have to refuel (charge the batteries). Oh, but that might be the same for you guys. Let me further state that for me, a range of 250 mile means I can drive 250 miles away from my house before I have to refuel/recharge. In other words, for me, a 250 mile range means I can reach any point on the circumference of a 250 mile radius circle that centers on my house.

That's not what this car does. By the time this car reaches 250 miles, that 250th mile better include making it back into your own garage. As you read in the article, recharging this car requires "a special 220-volt, 70-amp outlet." Let's put it another way. You can't use a regular outlet to recharge it. At the very least, the article doesn't mention that you can use a standard outlet to recharge it.

Recharging time? With the special outlet, it takes 3.5 hours. Maybe you can recharge it on a regular outlet, but who knows how long that would take.

What about the electricity itself? how much electricity is there in 3.5 hours of charging on a 220 volt, 70 amp outlet? We've had a bit of a heat wave here in northern California (112 degrees anyone?), with record electricity usage. Did you know that here in California, utilities establish a baseline usage. That's where they decide how much a house with your square footage should be using. As long as you use up to that amount, you pay one rate. Up to 130% of baseline, you pay a higher rate. About an extra penny and a half per kwh. If you live in a place around 1000 square feet, and you have an electric bill that closes in on $200 in the summer, are you really going to be looking for more ways to use electricity?

Of course, who am I kidding? Only richie types are out there buying an $80,000 car that isn't 100% reliable and requires a backup car to be owned as well. When I say 100% reliable, what I mean is this: the car is fine for just short trips around town, just like any other electric vehicle. Long range, the thing is useless. Traveling no more than 125 miles from my home is worthless.

This is America. Not only that, this is California. Sure, maybe back east I could cross six states in 125 miles, but in California, that's nothing. This car in my life would be handy for in town driving, back and forth to work, and running errands. I suppose I could plug it in every night and it would be ready in the morning. For tomorrow's day trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium? Sorry, too far. Good thing I have a gas car available. Can you see my point? If I owned this car, I'd still need another one for a trip of any length or duration. Forget seeing the USA in my Chevrolet. All I can see in this thing is a little less than two hours worth of highway.

The only good thing this car has going for it is the singularity. Look up Ray Kurzweil if you need to. I will try not to butcher the idea. A technology starts out ridiculously expensive, and doesn't work very well. Sort of like the Tesla Roadster in its current form. Time passes and tech improves. Then the tech becomes rather expensive, and works fairly better. Time passes and tech improves. Then the tech is ubiquitous, cheap, and virtually 100% reliable. Picture the evolution of the household telephone and you'll get the idea. Unlike the 120 years or so that the telephone has been around, however, Kurzweil believes these changes are happening faster and faster as improvements build on improvements that build on improvements.

I wouldn't buy a Tesla Roadster today. In ten years, maybe everyone will have one in his garage. Including me.

Well, even if the whole Glenn Greenwald sock puppet incident comes to nothing, I can still feel comfortable that I'm on the right side of things. Who would ever want to be associated with the Left when the Left produces people like this, commenting about a soldier in Iraq whose wife, children, and sister-in-law were stabbed to death, and then their house set afire:

Maybe he signed up for the wrong profession because who in their right mind would want to be a army man? He should have studied harder in school and found a real job instead of joining the army. Lmao , be all u can be? Don't patronize me ! People who join the army either have no education or come from small towns.. He should blame himself for his family dying due to his lack of education.

I'm utterly speechless.

Thanks to Lisa at The Right Angle, via Michelle, via Wizbang.

So there's this guy Glenn Greenwald. He's a lefty. Has a popular blog. Annoys conservatives. Paul at Wizbang, a guy I respect, says he's "a lying, hypocritical piece of dung." That's good enough for me. And believe me, I know the temptation to smite mine enemies. Ohhhhh, how I know that temptation. Did I mention he has a knack for really, really, annoying conservatives?

In the last day or two, the possibility of catching Glenn in the act of sock puppetry emerged. Sock puppetry is the act of arguing, defending, or promoting yourself or your blog under all sorts of different names, creating the false appearance that there are any number of people who agree with you. If done in a substantive way on substantial issues or points, sock puppetry is very taboo, underhanded, and intellectually dishonest. Catching your enemy doing it is the sweet, sweet heroin of justice. You catch the sock puppeteer by discovering that several comments of this sort are left by different people, who all conveniently have the same IP address. Several sock puppets were found to be posting from Glenn's known IP address in Brazil. He has another address when in New York.

Our guys pounced on this blood in the internets like Jaws' bigger, meaner brother. Glenn's denial:

A new accusation is that I've been engaging in so-called "sock puppetry" by leaving comments in response to posts that attack me under other names., i.e., that I use multiple names to comment and the same comment was left at several blogs by the same IP address under different names.
Not frequently, I leave comments at blogs which criticize or respond to something I have written. I always, in every single instance, use my own name when doing so. I have never left a single comment at any other blog using any name other than my own, at least not since I began blogging. IP addresses signify the Internet account one uses, not any one individual. Those in the same household have the same IP address. In response to the personal attacks that have been oozing forth these last couple of weeks, others have left comments responding to them and correcting the factual inaccuracies, as have I. In each case when I did, I have used my own name.

The new direction of the investigation is the timeline scenario at Ace of Spades:

I will put you on notice that every posting by "Ellison," "Thomas Ellers," "Ryan," and "Wilson" [all sock puppets- LF]is as we speak being time-checked.

When it turns out, as I suspect it will, that a "Glenn Greenwald" comment is made at one time and a "Ryan" comment is made within three minutes of the Glenn Greenwald post, followed quickly by another "Glenn Greenwald" post, it's going to be more difficult to maintain that your boyfriend just scooted on to the computer for those three minutes to make a quick post in your defense before relinquishing it back to you... won't it?

Now I see this post from Kevin at Wizbang, someone else I respect. Kevin received an email that may prove that Glenn sent an email from his American IP address, at or around the same time that some potential sock puppetry from the Brazilian IP address was going on:

If it turns out (as appears likely) that he was not in Brazil when every single "sock puppet" comments were made then the increasingly convoluted theories being advanced to explain the story fall apart, because (at this point) the claims still seem to be that ALL the comments were made by Glenn.

Think back to the Rathergate story. Remember the straining on the left to prove that there was some device from the 1970's that could have produced those memos? Machine by machine each new theory was shown to be improbably then impossible. In the end the simplest solution - that the documents were created in Microsoft Word - was shown to be not only the simplest explanation, but also the only possible explanation.

That's where this is headed...

That's not something I wanted to hear, because quite frankly, I have a little bit of a hetero man-crush on Ace. It's my favorite blog, I post more crappy comments there than anywhere else, and he's even linked me three times, which is pretty sweet for this crappy blog.

". . . the claims still seem to be that ALL the comments were made by Glenn."

Is that the claim? Is it the claim that some of them were by Glenn, but not all were? If all of the sock puppets were written by Glenn's housemate, has Glenn done anything wrong? Can it ever be proved that Glenn knew what his housemate was doing, and allowed/endorsed/at the very least never attempted to stop it?

What if, after two or three days of frothing and gloating, the housemate comes out and says "Hey. You know what? I blew it. It hurt me to see people attacking Glenn, and I wanted to defend him. I didn't choose the best way, and for that, I'm sorry. However, he didn't know what I was doing, and I hope he will forgive me for actions of mine that ended up dragging his name through the mud. I've learned from this experience, and won't do it again."

As much as I might hope, pray, and dream that a guy who antagonizes my side would get some hardcore internet justice, if the housemate does indeed come out and say something like that, I have to accept the apology, don't I? And if the housemate falls on the sword, don't I have to set aside the accusations against Glenn?

Sort of reminds me of the stories of Rove keeping mum, letting the Dems get all wild and crazy with their speculation on some issue or other, and then deflating it all with the perfectly innocent explanation. Glenn is suddenly innocent, and guys on our side end up looking like loons for a change. And the longer we work that bone, the more and more it ends up looking like we're the ones who can't admit when we're wrong. And that particular dish of crow will not taste sweet.

Has someone on the left secretly studied Rove's techniques? Is Greenwald Anakin?

Each year, my immediate boss submits teaching assignments based on preferences of the teachers and the needs of the department, with an eye to giving as many teachers as possible sections of the courses they like, and as few sections (and usually no sections) of the courses they hate, as possible. On June 2nd, before we left for the summer, we picked up our schedules. We pretty much had schedules we like, for the most part. The Assistant Principal in charge of creating the master schedule of the school decided to ignore all that. The end result was a new schedule that might just as well have been completely random. It was also not the same as we had before we left.

My immediate boss told me about how my schedule of classes for this fall will not be the same as it was when I checked out on June 2nd. That was last Wednesday. It is the obligation of either the Principal, or the Assistant Principal in charge of setting the master schedule, to inform teachers if their schedules change. If you spend the summer preparing a year's worth of Biology, then come in on the first day of school to find you're teaching Physics, for which you haven't prepared this year, you might reasonably be a little perturbed, to put it mildly.

Now imagine if, due to previous schedules, you have never taught Physics. I'm not even talking about being able to, in the sense of knowing physics. You can know all the physics in the world. That has nothing to do with writing lesson plans, designing experiments, and creating assignments and tests. All of these things take time, especially if you happen to be teaching a class for the first time.

Now imagine that all of your Biology classes were given to the Physics guy whose classes you just got, and who hates Biology just as intently as you hate Physics. Can the administrators not see what a problem that is for the morale and attitude of the staff? Are they really that clueless? Granted, it is the obligation of the teacher to suck it up and exhibit some professionalism, but to give two people schedules they hate, simply because you can, and for no other reason than because you can? What kind of management is that? Is that the kind of management that leads to improved school performance?

It's been seven days. Have I gotten a call? No. When does school start? August 21st. Do you see what I mean when I say that administrators are clueless? They aren't always malicious, but they are almost always clueless. How can they not see that delaying notification about schedule changes and new classes does nothing but hurt the school?

Back to the title of this post. At least I'm not as bad off as the imaginary Physics teacher. I've got a whole month and two days to read the following: 125 pages of Gilgamesh, 271 pages of The Odyssey, 108 pages of Oedipus the King, 196 pages of Cyrano de Bergerac, 203 pages of Ivan Denisovich, and some little wisp of a world lit anthology coming in at a mere 1500+ pages.

Normally John would have had a post ready for Wictory Wednesday, but some family and medical issues have kept him sidelined this week. Oh wait, that was last week. No word from John today, so just keep hoping for the best for him as we move on to this week's featured campaign.

Last week was the House, so this week, we're going with a Senate race. Looking at campaigns around the country, this week I've chosen Mike DeWine of Ohio. You may recall RFK Jr's Ohio stolen votes story from Rolling Stone, which was debunked as bogus. Well you know what they say, "Repeat a big lie enough times and it becomes accepted as true." A story like Kennedy's does nothing but antagonize and energize Democratic voters, and Mike DeWine is a convenient focus for that anger, right there in Ohio. Let's give him some help.

You can visit Mike DeWine's campaign site right here.

For most of us, the easiest way to help is through a donation to his campaign (online or by check through snail mail), which you can do right here.

If you actually live in Ohio, there are many ways you can get involved in person. You can find out about those options here.

If you would like to join Wictory Wednesday, please see this post or contact John Bambenek at jcb (dot) blog [at] gmail {dot} com.

The following sites are members of the Wictory Wednesday team:

Philip (not Phillip, sorry about that), over at Life In and Around Memphis is like me, and lots of other people, who did a little Googling for our gal Stormy, but he puts his pic links in an actual quality post about Rockstar: Supernova. His pics are so much nicer in so many ways: larger, in color, more of them. They are NSFW, but mainly because of the poses, rather than the exposure. The entire set has one bosom, from an angle.

Go here for the post with the smaller, mostly black and white, but full on frontal bosomy action.

I swear, men are so immature. Why haven't you women taken over the world yet?

Seriously.

What's the deal?

She wasn't kidding. Here's a selection of tasteful nudes at Flickr. God bless technology. And the good folks at KG Photography.

Actual Update: A pretty good show. I don't get the judges in some cases. They'll say things like they're "looking for Ozzfest, not Lilith Fair" to condemn people with slower or more mellow songs, and then they go hog wild for that ballad-y version of "Everybody Hurts." So do they want it hard, or soft? I guess you really do need to fight for your song, because if you get a sucky song from the list, you could be pretty much screwed. Plus, some of those songs seem like the third or ninth or fifteenth best song by a given band. You can't find a better Beatles song than "Helter Skelter?" Come on.

Having said all that, on a show like this, it is the obligation of the singers to sell the songs, no matter what songs they get. As Gunny Highway might say, you've got to adapt, and overcome.

The real sick part of all this? If I'm going to keep writing about this, I'm actually going to have to start paying attention to their names. I can't just talk about how much I love the Bride of Satan get-up the girl who sang "Zombie" was wearing.

Actual Update: Thanks Ace for the link, and all you AoS Lifestylers for stopping by. More pics, marginally more tasteful, here.

So as an update to the break-in of my unit at Public Storage, I suppose I can say it's no biggie. A few things were taken, likely not more than $400 worth of stuff. However.

They didn't come through the keypad gate, or go over the fence. They came through another gate. Another driveway. This gate has a chain and padlock holding it shut, and they cut through that. Then they came in the nearest door to that gate. Then they passed approximately 18 storage units before getting to mine. I should say now that Public Storage allows you to buy one of three locks; let's call them weak, medium, and strong. I picked a medium, which was about seven dollars cheaper than the strong lock. I mean the place has a big fence with the gates and you have to punch the code and all that. I honestly didn't think it was possible for anyone to break in. Silly me. But back to the story:

The first two units inside the door? Weak locks. The next 16 units? The strong locks. Then my medium lock. I may have mentioned that my unit is just about in the middle of the hall from the exit doors at either end. From the far door? They'd have to pass five weak locks out of twelve units before getting to my unit. Now you may be asking how many other units were hit in this crime spree. Answer: zero. What, do I have a stalker or something?

The one thing that mitigates against being deliberately singled out is that I don't think there was ever a time while we were loading stuff into the unit when anyone else was there to see what we were putting in. In other words, no one knew what was in there. For all they knew, I could have cleaned the place out the week before and it was empty.

Lucky for me, the police are on the case. Well, no. I got a form to list everything that was stolen. I have to mail it to them later. And I got a case number that I can give to the insurance guy. And that's pretty much it. I'd be more than willing to settle for that if they were too busy pursuing a shoot-to-kill policy on all taggers.

Savages.

Her pic is finally up at the end of this post here.

One of the great things about Miss Tori is that she sets me straight when I'm being a turd. Here's the scenario:

Once upon a time, I did some sort of online banking transfer, one of those things where it goes between savings and checking, or something similar. Then I go to the ATM to get the money out. The ATM says the funds are not available. I go inside the branch, and the Nice Lady Teller confirms that the funds are not available. They won't be posted to my checking account until midnight. So I go to plan B.

Me: That's fine. Just cancel that transfer then, and I'll pull the money out of savings.

Nice Lady Teller: Well we can't do that because the money has been transferred out of savings.

Me: Right, but since the money hasn't been put into checking, just cancel the transfer order and we'll just take it out of savings.

NLT: Well we can't do that because we have to wait for the transfer to go through.

Me: So we can't take it out of savings because it's gone from there, while at the same time, it's not in checking either? So you don't know where my money is?

NLT: It's in transfer between accounts right now. It can't be accessed until it gets to your checking account.

Me: But the money has never left your hands. You hold my savings. Your hand goes in there and pulls the money out and carries it over here, to my checking, and you put it in my checking, and in all of that process, the money never leaves your hands. I think we can certainly tell it's not getting anywhere near my hands.

NLT: It's just the way things are set up; it's not possible to just cancel the transfer.

Me: You're saying that if I said I want to cancel my account, stop doing business with you and take my money elsewhere, you can just say "No, we aren't going to let you do that?"

Me: So what you're saying is that my money is yours, and you decide when and if you'll let me have it?

Me: You're basically saying that any time I go to an ATM, I have to throw up a little prayer to Mammon in hopes that you'll be in the mood to let me have my money that day, and that there's nothing I can do about it?

Me: You're telling me that I was wrong all these years, and that the saying doesn't really go "The customer's always right," but rather, "The company's always right?" Cause that seems to be what you're saying.

Can you see where this is going? Can you feel the turdliness seeping into the situation on my part? Of course, you are all stunned that your pal Mr. Charm would do something like this. To tell you the truth, even now I feel embarrassed by this story. I hate jerky customers. I hate that in this case, I was one. Miss Tori was kind enough to remind me that Nice Lady Teller is simply a cog in the MegaBankCorp machine, and she has no power to make or break the sorts of policies that were screwing me over. Nice Lady Teller is merely doing her job in a professional manner. At least no lives were at stake . . .

. . . unlike Varifrank's story about an airline delay, here. In the future, I shall endeavor to comport myself according to his example, rather than allow myself to sink to the human-sludgelike behavior of the degenerates in this stinkhole.

Thanks to Pajamas Media for the tip.

There was a message on the machine last night from Public Storage. It is urgent that I call. This morning when I call, the person who called me left a note in my file. Something about a fence being cut through, and my unit broken into. My unit is an interior unit. You have to go inside the building to get to the door for it. My unit is also in the middle of a long hallway. Wouldn't you think if some random crook was going to hit a unit, he'd either hit an outside unit, not an interior one, or, if he does hit an interior unit, hit one of the ones closest to the exterior door he just came into? More later. I swear, this town is so ghetto.

So we were having a little discussion the other day, and noted that we are so perfect for each other the we are probably the most perfect, best matched couple in history. Subsequently, we noted that many, if not most couples, have the same feelings about their own relationships. Which doesn't change the fact that, in our case, it's actually true. So even if you don't need your dreams interpreted, I'll still give you relationship advice. Heck, maybe Miss Tori will even share her wisdom. Just remember, even if you're only half as happy as we are, it will still be the happiest you've ever been!

I suggested writing to them in this post here, and I did. They were kind enough to write back today:
Thank you for taking the time to share your support for Israel during this difficult time. Your kind words and continued support are greatly valued by the State of Israel.

The safety of Israel's citizens is our priority. Our main goal is to rescue the kidnapped IDF soldiers and to cease the constant barrage of katyusha missiles into Israel.

To stay informed about all of the latest developments on this situation, please visit our Ministry of Foreign Affairs website at www.mfa.gov.il.

These are not easy times for Israel and your support is much appreciated.

Very Sincerely,

Danielle Singer

Office of Public Affairs


Embassy of Israel

3514 International Drive, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008

Tel: 202-364-554811// Fax: 202-364-5423

http://www.embassyofisrael.org/

Normally John would have had a post ready for Wictory Wednesday, but some family and medical issues have kept him sidelined this week. His email address is below if you'd care to send him some kind words. I don't really know if everyone else at WW did a post or not, but I thought I might as well. The only person I could think of is my own local guy, Richard Pombo.

He faced a union-backed primary challenge that was rather insulting in its transparency:

Honestly? There's no way I would ever vote for McCloskey once I learned that the unions were supporting him. That immediately says to me "We're the unions, and we want to get rid of the incumbent so we can tear McCloskey down as an anti-semite during the general election and get a Democrat into this traditionally Republican seat." I hope this wasn't one of the seats they were counting on changing hands. Sorry Dems, better luck next time, haw haw haw!

I really enjoyed that crude, braying laugh at the end there. There's too much ha-ha and not enough haw-haw in the world. Maybe Pombo can change that. If you'd like to volunteer for Richard Pombo, check here. If you'd prefer the donation route, you can go here. If you've got a Republican local to you to support, for the Senate or House, help that person out. Whatever you do, make sure you fulfill your civic duty and vote in November. Your rights are there to be exercised, not taken for granted.

Once again, best wishes to John and his family.

This rather pathetic post has been a pale imitation of the Wictory Wednesday blogburst. If you would like to join Wictory Wednesday, please see this post or contact John Bambenek at jcb (dot) blog [at] gmail {dot} com. The following sites are members of the Wictory Wednesday team:

Thanks to Kim Priestap posting over at Wizbang, we find Carl In Jerusalem. He's got front row seats on what's going on over there, better and faster than we get it over here, most likely. Check it out, and just keep scrolling. Thanks Carl, and stay safe over there.

Kim Priestap has been a contributor at Wizbang since late February, and I just realized I don't know if Kim is a man or a woman. It only matters to my choice of pronoun. Whatever the sex, Kim provides some great posting. I've been a fan of Wizbang for quite a while, and I'm not saying Kim is better than Kevin or Jay Tea or Paul or any of the other contributors. What I am saying is that Kim brings to Wizbang something that was missing, that I didn't even know was missing, and I really appreciate it. Here's a link to Kim's extensive, wildfire-like posting archive. Multiple daily posts, it's a reader's delight. Thanks Kim!

After the bombings in India, and the continuing string of attacks against Israel that could shortly culminate in a declaration of war and fully justified retaliation, both countries could use some moral support. Powerline points to a reader from NYC who sent this email:

I am trying to organize an online campaign to let the Israeli government and people know that Americans support them in their long struggle against Islamic terrorism and the aggression launched from Lebanese soil by groups controlled by Iran and Syria. Their fight is also our fight. Because the Israelis get so much negative feedback from the MSM, EU and UN, now would be a good time to remind them that they still have loyal friends. To that end, I would appreciate it if bloggers could spread the word that, besides speaking out on the blogs (which is great), that readers should call or write the Israeli embassy as a show of support. To those who prefer to help in other ways, the contact information for the Jewish Agency for Israel, along with that for the embassy, is also below.

Thanks,

Shivan Mahendrarajah
NYC, NY

If you'd like to send some kind words to the Indian Embassy, go here.

Support for Israel can be directed to the Israeli Embassy here, or to the Jewish Agency for Israel here.

Israel is I guess the only country that faces a greater danger of annihilation from the terrorists than we do. If you aren't pulling for them, you might as well be putting a loaded gun to your head.

Twice. In the same month.

U-Webtemplate and KCSofTLLC.com are scumbags. What Deb Frisch wished on Goldstein (07/06 "More from the Tolerant Left"), that's, well no. While the people behind these charges are subhuman to me, and I pray for their lingering deaths, I guess I really wouldn't want their children molested and killed like Deb wanted to happen to Goldstein's kid.

Both charges were for $9.95, an innocent sounding amount. It's not something like a $4,000 charge that would immediately jump out at me. In short, it's just the sort of charge that would be easily overlooked or dismissed. Well, maybe. Two things tipped me.

First, my other charges on this card were for $26.62 and $41.79. Yeah, I know. Whoop-de-doo, big spender. But come on. Does anything ever come out to an even $9.95? I'm sure some things do, but compared to the other charges, they stand out. If one was for $9.53 and the other was for $10.37, they'd get the same amount of money, with less suspicious-looking charges. So on the money side, they have the small amount going for them, and that's about it.

Second, I didn't recognize the name of the two companies. If I see Macy's, I'm likely to recall if I did or didn't go to Macy's that month. What I'm not likely to remember is something like getting gas. Everyone gets gas. If the bill said "GasMart #817" I might wonder which gas station that is, and then shrug my shoulders and go on with life.

When I combine an unlikely amount, with an unfamiliar company, especially apparently two internet companies, flags go off. Where would I begin? I decided to take the same advice I took with the Enhanced Services Billing Inc (ESBI) scam on my phone bill: Google is my friend.

Searching U-Webtemplate gets me two hits for Robert K. Brown. The first link goes to a specific post on U-Webtemplates. The second goes to a Digital Age fraud post that went up last October, and had it's most recent comment, well, today. It isn't going away folks. People are still getting hit by the scam, and many thanks to Robert for putting this out there. I recommend this post because they have a number of comments naming all sorts of scam charges you might find on your credit card. This is a nice example:

Stop Digital Age:
The scam starts with:

DIGITAL AGE 888-529-98 CYPRUS SWE - on your credit card.

It is then followed with these charges (in any sequence):

AZ Business Products
KC SOFTWARECOM LLC
GENEREX TECHNOLOGY LLC
HOSTITNOW,INC. STATEN ISLAND NY
WP-NEDBUL WESTERBROEK
KEYSTONE 4 WEALTH WESTERVILLE OH
SPRINT SPECTRUM
Softprojects LLC
BURDETTINC.COM
TROUBLE BUBBLE LLC
SUN SOFTWARE SYSTEMS
JM BUSINESS PRODUCTS
ART MAGIC INC.COM
INNOVATIVE SOFTWARE-Computer Maint & Repair
SOFTPROJECTS LLC COLUMBIA

What to do: Call your Bank or Credit Card Company, indicate that this is not your charge, and you DID NOT initiate it. Dispute the charge, start FRAUD ALERT on your Card, AND CANCEL YOUR CARD AND HAVE IT REISSUED.

How to complain: Federal Complaint Site - http://www.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp

Local Complaitn Site - http://www.bbb.org/

How to follow up your credit:
http://www.equifax.com/ (request credit report)

Other agencies also provide reports be careful who you use.

How to follow up on line (Info etc):
TRUTH
http://www.robertkbrown.com/
http://www.snopes.com/

How this happened:
1. Stored CC numbers
2. The CC numbers that were stolen in May and Sept
3. Cards info stolen from merchants

Probably what did NOT HAPPEN:
1. Infected Computer
2. Internet Worm
3. Stolen Cards

If this happens to you, you're not alone. Does that bolded company on the list seem familiar? It's too close to the "KCSofTLLC.com" I see on my other scam charge to be a coincidence.

Google is my friend there too. "kcsoftllc" brings up eleven pages of results, all about this company's scam charges. Start with my ESBI research buddies Ripoff Report. And here's a Better Business Bureau report from the Pacific Northwest. Even Middle Earth isn't safe! Here's a report from Joe's Journal at blog.thebalrogslair.com.

I know what you're thinking. "I don't even have a cool staff like Gandalf, so how can I stop this?" Follow the advice of commenter "Stop Digital Age" above: Call your Bank or Credit Card Company, indicate that this is not your charge, and you DID NOT initiate it. Dispute the charge, start FRAUD ALERT on your Card, AND CANCEL YOUR CARD AND HAVE IT REISSUED.

I made this call, and the credit card company was more than happy to do just that. They cancelled the old card and I got a new one in about a week. One thing to note: if you have any regular monthly charges, like a book of the month club or something, make sure you contact them and update them with your new card number. The biggest tragedy in all of this is that my Girls Gone Wild subscription almost lapsed!

Go to this post, read it, then scroll down to 9:20pm in the comments to see my dream analysis in action. That's what I was so busy typing.

Send me your dreams, and I'll tell you what they mean. That's just the kind of swell guy I am.

The Duchess still isn't cooperating, but we did manage some pics, as promised, of Lord Floppington, Princess Candy, and Queenie, doing their best evil impressions. Or mutant, laser-eyed, cat impressions. Whichever. Cameras are funny.


Don't make me angry. (Or: Fascinating, Captain.)




You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. (Can you get a feel for how big he is? And not that he's fat. Plenty of cats are fat. His overall frame is just large. He's like the clydesdale of cats.)




And if you even think about messing with my catnip mouse, I'll blast you into unholy oblivion.




Here's Queenie, former top cat here at Miss Tori's, now relegated to second fiddle, thanks to LF. Obviously, she prefers James Bond movies.




Last, but certainly not least, the elusive Princess Candy. She might have been jealous. She's also quite the little beggar for table scraps, and she's not that interested in waiting til we're done, either.

Actual update: Well the Duchess doesn't like being left out after all, but now that she's cooperating, Blogger isn't. Don't worry, the pic's in the can. It'll be here soon. I know you kitty fans out there are waiting. Just a little longer.

Thanks to Herr Professor, this might, actually, finally, work.


Look at me! Except for black cats, cats like me are the second most evil cats in movies. We're the evil cats they use when they don't want to do the obvious evil cat cliche of using a black cat. Our evil lurks in the background, in the shadows, unseen. Mwuh ha ha haaaaa!!!!!

Well, it's sort of a beef, but a new one. One of the boggest complaints I've felt brewing inside me about our school is the infantilization of the staff. We're often treated as stupid, untrustworthy, ignorant, idiotic children.

Let me refer you now to a South Park episode. Kenny gets chicken pox. Stan, Kyle, and Cartman's parents send them over to spend the night so that they'll all get it. This way, they can all get it over with at once. They do not tell this to the children. Stan and Cartman do get sick, while Kyle doesn't, so Kyle is sent back to Kenny's again, where he overhears the parental conspiracy. All he gets is that the parents want them to get sick, but he doesn't hear why. All he knows is that the parents lied to them. To get revenge, the boys hire a hooker to use all the parents' toothbrushes, giving them herpes. I'm not quite at the give the administrators herpes stage just yet. Now back to our story.

Summer school is much shorter than regular school. Therefore, each day is even more crucial. How crucial is it? Well, you're not allowed to even apply to teach summer school if you have any summer conference scheduled that might conflict with summer school hours. So let it be written, so let it be done, according to all the higher ups. At least, that's what they always told me. Then I got the phone call. Miss X and Miss Y, who are both teaching summer school, will be gone next Thursday and Friday. You guessed it! They're going to a conference. Turns out that hard and fast rule about conferences isn't so hard and fast if some administrator feels like fudging things a little. Just like South Park, the teachers are the ones being lied to, "for our own good," and the district/administrators are the ones doing the lying. This just happens to be one example of a pattern of behavior.

Of course, Miss X and Miss Y are not going to give up sick leave for a conference. That means they'll still be getting paid as if they were there, but since they aren't using sick leave to cover the cost of subs, that money has to come from somewhere else. Unfortunately, since there are no conferences allowed during summer school, there is also no budget available to pay for whoever comes in to cover those two classes. You heard me. The subs will be "volunteering" to do it.

You've heard of people who, let's say, they're so valuable in their position, the company can't afford to promote them? Perhaps another way to put it would be people who have some sense of honor and ethics, such that when the chips are down, the company knows you're one of the ones who can be relied upon to help put things right? Perhaps even another way to put it would be: suckers. Who knew that I was one of these people? Turns out, I am.

I swore I would never submit to these requests. For example, at least two or three times a week, the call will go out for any teacher who is willing to sub during their prep period, because, on a regular basis, we can't get enough subs to cover however many teachers might be absent on a given day. I never do it, for a couple of reasons. First, I just don't like running all over campus and giving up my prep. Second, if I fill in for a missing sub, I'm essentially telling the school and the district that they don't have to be responsible for getting enough subs into the sub pool in the first place. You know, the old "failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part." Every time I filled in for a missing sub, I would be approving their lack of planning, and asking for it to continue. As noted above in option three, I'm trying to stop being a sucker.

However. Our Department Chair called. She, and Miss Z, who has a strong interest in the subject of the conference, had agreed to cover Miss X and Miss Y. Now Miss Z suddenly can't make it, and I'm the chips are down guy. If it was anyone but her, anyone above her in the heirarchy, I would say no, with maybe a "screw you" thrown in for good measure after I had hung up. You know where the rest of this is going. Thursday and Friday I'll be back at school. At least I can drop by the office and check how many times my schedule for the fall has been changed without notice.

Which is another stunt they pull: let you plan all summer, then on the first day of school, tell you you've got different classes. Thing is, they don't let you check out on the last day of school until you've given them your summertime contact info. Why don't they let you know about changes? Your guess is as good as mine, and you don't even work here. However, I can tell you that while your guesses might begin from the "innocent mistake" side of things, after all these years, mine begin from the "malicious intent" end of the spectrum.

I wonder if this year they'll actually hire as many teachers as they have positions.

John is a bit busy this week, so he was unable to highlight a candidate for us. I'm a lazy bum, so I'm similarly unable. However, here's the rest of the info. Some of these other participants might have something up for today, so go ahead and check them out.

This has been a production of the Wictory Wednesday blogburst. If you would like to join Wictory Wednesday, please see this post or contact John Bambenek at jcb (dot) blog [at] gmail {dot} com. The following sites are members of the Wictory Wednesday team:

So did I mention that Miss Tori and I finally got hitched? Well, maybe finally isn't the right word, since the official proposal type thing happened just a couple of months ago at the beginning of April. I'm sure some of you are asking how we could arrange a June wedding in only two months. The answer is two words: Re-no. I will grant you that there was a little guilt on my part, and for Miss Tori as well, about doing things this way. We happen to have some Martha Stewart type mother figures involved, coworkers who are frequently mother-henny, and the two of us, who seem to be the only people who don't want to be in the spotlight that everyone else wants to shine on us as the cute lovebirds. So while there was some guilt, practically the only thing we could talk about on the way to and from the chapel was how much work and what a pain a traditional church wedding with 25 (or 50, or 100?) people would have been. We do not regret running away to Reno to have a nice quiet wedding by ourselves.

We stayed at the Silver Legacy, which had one of the two problems I seem to find at every hotel. That problem is the non-fitted sheet. But I couldn't care less about that, since they solved the other problem, the munchkin level shower head. Yes, my little angels, if you want a shower head that is more then four feet above the floor of the shower, stay at the Silver legacy. I'm not saying it was all the way over my head, that sort of Shagri-La probably doesn't exist on this planet, but the top of the nozzle was at about the level of my eyebrows, which is higher than any shower head I've had, hotel or not, since I was about 12 or so. It was so nice, I might just start calling it the Shower Legacy.

We mostly ate at buffets, but we had a hard time eating at the Shower legacy's Victorian Buffet. You see, lunch goes from 11:30AM to close. Which basically means whenever they feel like not doing lunch anymore. So when we got there at about 1:15PM, it was already closed. I think we ate at the Circus Circus buffet that time. It was so-so. Then we were late for dinner. Well, if you consider 9:15 to be late for dinner in a casino. I sure didn't, but sure enough, they were closed, again. We ended up eating at some place called I think Tivoli something, I think on the other side over in the Eldorado. It was pretty good. That was just the first day, and the next couple of days we made it to the Victorian Buffet just fine. It was all right, but after a breakfast, a lunch, and a dinner there, I didn't really feel the need to repeat any of those meals. Of course, we weren't there for one of the special seafood nights.

We aren't so much into the gambling, so we didn't do that much, but we did drive around the city and saw a comedy show Wednesday night at the Shower Legacy. A cute young thing named Kristi McHugh opened for about twenty-five minutes or so, with Tom McGillen's headlining show lasting close to 45 minutes. It was clear why one was opening and the other was headlining. Kristi had an ok set. She was like Ellen, in that she wasn't all about the woman's issues sub-genre of comedy. She did have some of that, I'm just saying she wasn't some one trick pony. She missed a chance at one point, but that was all that stood out, with most of her stuff being fairly well-developed. Watching Tom perform, it was obvious that he is a professional comic.

You say you've never heard of Tom McGillen? You know what? You haven't heard of most good comics. Look at it this way. Is there any comic you can name, who hasn't had a TV show or cable special? Maybe you can if you're a regular Letterman or Leno viewer, and you catch a comic who has been on several times. Most likely, you can't. Does that mean Seinfeld, Ellen, Roseanne, George Lopez, Tim Allen, Dave Chappelle, and Carlos Mencia are the only good comics this country has ever produced? No. Comedy is a craft, and the difference between a master craftsman comic and a star comedian is more likely to be due to other things besides the quality of the material. There are plenty of comics making a very nice living who are not famous and who you've never heard of.

Tom McGillen is a master craftsman type comic. His routine is very well-developed, and very funny. He works an audience well, and the show ended with a standing ovation and high fives to the front row as he made his way off the stage. Plus, he totally ripped on this dingbat girl who didn't know what D-Day was. Hella sweet. You've probably never heard of Tom because he's busy doing corporate gigs; before last week, his last show before a public audience was April 22. But you can buy his DVD here. Whoops! I guess you can't buy it there after all. Maybe he'll get it on the website soon. Until then, you'll just have to catch him at a show, where he sells and signs DVD's after each performance.

What the hell, while I'm at it, take a look a Kristi's Myspace here, where you can see what a hottie she is, and unless she's messing with you, that she makes over $250,000 a year.

Where to begin? Ok. Miss Tori has informed me from time to time that I misinterpret, or get the wrong message, from things. Other people apparently get the right message, but I do not. Case in point:

One Indian casino sort of in this area is is Jackson Rancheria. Like many casinos, and other places with frequent regular customers, Jackson Rancheria has what we might call a frequent buyer club. Or, in this case, a frequent gambler club. They don't call it that, of course. In the spirit of the noble Native American, Jackson Rancheria's frequent gamblers are in the Dreamcatcher club. That alone tells me two things.

First, they know gambling can be a bad thing, and they don't quite want to use that word in association with their customers, especially since there's a need for a group called Gamblers Anonymous. Second, that some Native Americans, like some Black Americans with the word "nigger", think that some words are ok for some people to say, but off limits for other people to say, this distinction based solely on race, which seems to me like a form of racism. I'm referring here to protests against some sports treams and mascots named after assorted Native American tribes. I've never understood that complaint. You don't name your team, the group you're going to root for, the group you want to win and be champions, the group you think is the best, after some sort of loser image. You pick an image of strength and power and pride. That's why you pick names like the Chiefs or the Braves rather than names like the Retards or the Slap-Fighting Wussies. Apparently that's not good enough for the agitating Native Americans. Thus when it's ok for Jackson Rancheria to use a Native American term like Dreamcatchers, the message I get is that they're racist. I guess that would be the first wrong message I get.

They also run commercials on TV, one of which I just saw recently. Hubby is asleep in the recliner in front of the TV. Wifey finishes the dishes, checks to make sure he's still asleep, and tiptoes over to her purse. Hubby drops the remote, which clatters to the floor. Wifey freezes! What if he wakes up? Fortunately, he only snorts and settles deeper into the chair. Wifey tiptoes over to the door, and puts on her heels on her way to the waiting car, filled with other wives who perhaps have sneaked out as well. They all cackle with glee as the car drives off and the Dreamcatcher logo comes up on the screen.

Now for more wrong messages I get. If I sneak food, that's bad. If I sneak alcohol, that's bad. If I sneak drugs, that's bad. These sneaking behaviors are supposed to be signs of not good stuff, like uncontrollable behavior or addiction or overindulgence. So sneak gambling tells me she has a problem. She can't control it, and she has to sneak out of the house to do it. I suppose this must be one message I get wrong. Then the fact that Jackson Rancheria glorifies this behavior in their commercial sends me the message that Jackson Rancheria thinks that uncontrolled sneak gambling is the sort of behavior they seek in their best customers. After all, they have their own club devoted to the sneak gamblers. Another wrong message on my part, I'm sure. Then there's the message that the woman is clever and smart, and the man is, in the words of Bill Maher, "a dumb fuck lucky to have found her." He's obviously too stupid to figure out what his wife is doing. He gets home from a hard day of work, falls asleep, and his wife runs off to spend the paycheck. What a lovely family. Poor bastard.

That's what I get out of the commercial. But as Miss Tori says, I seem to have a habit of getting wrong messages. After all, I'm the one who noted that Dr. Seuss has at least one book that attempts to convert beginning readers to Satanism

Normally, I'd feel guilty about this, but that's just how I am. However, in this case, I think I'm just carrying on the intent of the Founders. The argument can be made that they represented the greatest collection of minds gathered at the same time and place in the history of the world, and if you've got another group in mind, I'd love to hear about it. Back to the point, I'm copying this post from Dean. And if you aren't going there regularly, your missing out on a great collection of minds right here on the internet. And so:

THE UNANIMOUS
DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

WHEN, in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's GOD entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the Causes which impel them to the Separation.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their CREATOR, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that Governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

HE has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyranny only.

HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.

HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.

HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining, in the mean Time, exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.

HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.

HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.

HE has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the Consent of our Legislatures.

HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:

FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:

FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:

FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.

HE has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection, and waging War against us.

HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.

HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with Circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

HE has constrained our Fellow-Citizens, taken Captive on the high Seas, to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes, and Conditions.

IN every Stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every Act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

NOR have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them, from Time to Time, of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our Connexions and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the Rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connexion between them and the State of Great-Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of Right do. And for the Support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of DIVINE PROVIDENCE, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honour.

John Hancock.
GEORGIA, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, Geo. Walton.
NORTH-CAROLINA, Wm. Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn.
SOUTH-CAROLINA, Edward Rutledge, Thos Heyward, junr.
Thomas Lynch, junr. Arthur Middleton.
MARYLAND, Samuel Chase, Wm. Paca, Thos. Stone, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton.
VIRGINIA, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Ths. Jefferson, Benja. Harrison, Thos. Nelson, jr. Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton.
PENNSYLVANIA, Robt. Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benja. Franklin, John Morton, Geo. Clymer, Jas. Smith, Geo. Taylor, James Wilson, Geo. Ross.
DELAWARE, Caesar Rodney, Geo. Read.
NEW-YORK, Wm. Floyd, Phil. Livingston, Frank Lewis, Lewis Morris.
NEW-JERSEY, Richd. Stockton, Jno. Witherspoon, Fras. Hopkinson, John Hart, Abra. Clark.
NEW-HAMPSHIRE, Josiah Bartlett, Wm. Whipple, Matthew Thornton.
MASSACHUSETTS-BAY, Saml. Adams, John Adams, Robt. Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry.
RHODE-ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE, &c. Step. Hopkins, William Ellery.
CONNECTICUT, Roger Sherman, Saml. Huntington, Wm. Williams, Oliver Wolcott.


IN CONGRESS, JANUARY 18, 1777.
ORDERED,
THAT an authenticated Copy of the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCY, with the Names of the MEMBERS of CONGRESS, subscribing the same, be sent to each of the UNITED STATES, and that they be desired to have the same put on RECORD.
By Order of CONGRESS,

JOHN HANCOCK, President.

BALTIMORE, in MARYLAND: Printed by MARY KATHARINE GODDARD.

"Our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honour." How can you beat that? If they ever drop the Declaration from American Lit, I guess the Left will really have won. It's almost enough to make you sick when you think that for most people today, those words seem silly and antiquated. Who would talk like that? We've achieved a lot, progressed a lot, in 230 years, but if those words, those thoughts, those attitudes, are ever lost completely, everything else is meaningless.

Caught your show last Wednesday, June 28. There are a couple of suggestions I have, and since I can't figure out how to email you, you're going to have to email me. It was a good show, especially you Tom, but everyone can improve.

Now how's that for ego?

Thanks to Treacher posting over at Blowing Smoke, I learned that while I was away, Rob Schneider collapsed on the set because of food poisoning combined with temperatures in the low 100's. Or whatever. I wasn't there. Thing is, they took him to San Joaquin General Hospital. Yeah, they left out the word county. It's the county hospital. The county hospital that serves Stockton. Stockton, you may or may not know, is in a constant battle with Fresno for the title of most ghetto city in California's central valley. Which makes San Joaquin General (which is the hospital of choice for every uninsured malingerer who wants to loaf on the government's dime, not to mention all the illegal immigrants) a top contender for the most ghetto hospital in California's central valley. And they took a movie star there, rather than either of the two private hospitals in Stockton? Granted, it's Rob Schneider, but still.

(Apologies for the tardiness, but I was off getting hitched. Thanks as always to John for putting this together.)

This week Wictory Wednesday is supporting the reelection of Senator George Allen of Virginia. Sen. Allen has been a consistent supporter of conservative values in the Senate, earning a place in the ranks of the American Conservative Union's Best and Brightest.

Sen. Allen is a supporter of fiscal conservativism and introduced legislations to require a balanced budget. He also supported a law that would dock congressmen's paychecks if they failed to produce a budget by October 1st. The idea that legislators should be penalized for failure to do the few things they must do is one that should be whole-heartedly supported.

While Senator Allen does support accountability for school systems and supporting programs that succeed, support for school choice is notably lacking. There is no better accountability than allowing people to leave failing schools, taking tax dollars with them.

Illegal immigration is an issue many legislators are running away from while Senator Allen has the courage to take a stand. He understands what should be common-sense, immigrating legally is a good thing, immigrating illegally is a bad thing. It is obvious that decades of not enforcing immigration law hasn't worked and perhaps it's time we give law and order a chance. We don't need to demean the people who came here while the government basically said it wouldn't enforce the law, but that doesn't mean blanket amnesty… or for that matter, lavishing rewards on illegal immigrants.

Lastly, while it has become chic for members of Congress to suggest it's time to surrender to America's enemies and to proclaim that America is the cause of every world problem, Senator Allen understands that no victory came through surrender. The war on terror and Iraq are difficult problems that lesser men run away from by planting their heads in the sand. Winning the War in Iraq takes time and with plans for troop reductions under way, it's clear that "stay the course" is not only a strategy, but a strategy that's working.

Please considering donating to Sen. Allen's reelection campaign or volunteering your time.

This has been a production of the Wictory Wednesday blogburst. If you would like to join Wictory Wednesday, please see this post or contact John Bambenek at jcb (dot) blog [at] gmail {dot} com. The following sites are members of the Wictory Wednesday team: