Please, I don't want to deal with this!

Many things about the war in Iraq could have been handled better. I have a source close to the Pentagon who summed the situation nicely. "Right now, they are trying solve a political situation with a military solution."

Anyone can bitch and take shots at the way things are going. What no one seems to be doing is offering any new stratagems. The most honest critic so far is Hillary...imagine my shock. Senator Clinton is such a visionary leader, that her master plan for Iraq seems to consist of desperately hoping that Bush wraps things up by election day.

Gutless. Senseless, Nutless (yes, that is fair, we all know she has 'em).

What the hell are we going to do when Iran has to be dealt with?

Pro choice?

No, not that choice, that will be a topic for another day. The rapid fire removal of small choices is pissing me off. For example, I do not smoke, but I am a hard core supporter of smoker's rights. I don't mind if someone smokes in a bar because, hey, let's be honest. I'm drinking alcohol, eating red meat and deep fried cheese, rendering any "second hand smoke is bad for me" arguments hypocritical at best.

Beyond the hypocrisy is the individual liberty issue. If I wanted to run a smoker friendly establishment in Philly, I couldn't. Even if everyone there signed a waiver, and the place was run for smokers by smokers, with no chance of a non-smoker entering due to heavy security, the law forbids it. Smoking is bad for me. It's legal, of course...mostly due to the obscene profits made by governments at every level by taxing it.

Sigh. I started that rant because of this one. Philadlphia's illustrious City Council is now pondering a ban on trans fats in local eateries. I already have parents I don't listen to about what's right and wrong for me. It's darkly amusing how good liberal democrats are so damn intrusive in private life and label the other side as fascists.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascist

"Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victim-hood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion."[4]
Paxton further defines fascism's essence as:

"1. a sense of overwhelming crisis beyond reach of traditional solutions; 2. belief one’s group is the victim, justifying any action without legal or moral limits; 3. need for authority by a natural leader above the law, relying on the superiority of his instincts; 4. right of the chosen people to dominate others without legal or moral restraint; 5. fear of foreign `contamination."[5]

Anyway...back on point...I don't need, want, or trust a corrupt band of local pols to decide what I should and should not eat. Give me at least that little freedom.
After all, trans fats also occur naturally in ruminants. You know, cattle, sheep, etc. In the home of the cheesesteak? I grudgingly tolerate these tools in my pocket, but I really need them to stay off my plate.

WoW Related Blog Outage

To the small handful of readers here, you have my apologies for the light blogging of late. As you have probably surmised, the expansion pack for World of Warcraft has taken up most of my personal computing time.

I'm a geek. You already know that. So, in short order, I will be going to jiu-jitsu class and getting choked out. I will then take out my frustrations by pwning noobs with my Warlock. I don't suffer from insanity or geekdom, I revel in them.

Eminent Domain Gone Wild!

Jesus, this is the kind of stuff that scares me. Elected representation and property rights be damned, those with the most gold win. Omaha is going to annex Elkton, despite the protests of citizens in each town.

Omaha had argued that its westward expansion would be blocked if Elkhorn were not annexed.
Elkhorn said that its quality of life, services and small-town character would be lost if it were to become part of Omaha.

In the July 2005 census, Omaha's population was estimated at 414,521, while fast-growing Elkhorn's was 8,192.

The fight began in early 2005, when Elkhorn said it planned to annex 21 subdivisions to give it a population of more than 10,000. Under state law, that would block Omaha from annexing the town.
But the next day, Omaha announced that it intended to annex Elkhorn and adjoining subdivisions. Omaha's plan was approved March 8 -- just a week before Elkhorn completed its annexation plan.

A Douglas County judge later ruled in favor of Omaha and said Elkhorn's attempt to annex the surrounding subdivisions was illegal and improperly motivated.

Elkhorn leaders also said Omaha was not adjacent to Elkhorn, so could not annex the town.
The state Supreme Court agreed with Omaha, too, saying Elkhorn's claims would "lead to the absurd conclusion that the Legislature intended to give Omaha power to annex large tracts of land in any direction, but not the cities eligible for annexation within that land unless they shared a common border."

A town of over 8,000 people can just be folded into a larger entity with, apparently, no say in the matter. I am not familiar with the political landscape there, but if that were to happen in my town, I would be rabid.

I could imagine Norristown being annexed by Philly, and suddenly having John Street as my mayor, and having a local representative given to me, not elected by me. Local income tax, property tax, sales tax, business tax, L&I changes, all with no representation.

After the Kelo Supreme Court decision, I'm not surprised, just angry and more than a little disappointed. It's bad enough when WalMart drives out or swallows up a small business. When local govenments follow that model, we can only pray for a backlash.

More Kyoto Caca

This little bit is from www.instapundit.com. The gentleman there, Glenn Reynolds, is a libertarian leaning law prof who I find myself agreeing with more often than not. Now, with proper attribution, here's the story that caught my eye tonight.

BLAME AMERICA FIRST: Check out this bogus Associated Press story.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070115/ap_on_sc/emirates_ecological_nightmare_1

Key bit:
The United States is no longer bound by Kyoto, which the Bush administration rejected after taking office in 2001.


Er, no. The truth is as close as this entry from the not especially Bush-friendly Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_accord#Position_of_the_United_States


On July 25, 1997, before the Kyoto Protocol was finalized (although it had been fully negotiated, and a penultimate draft was finished), the U.S. Senate unanimously passed by a 95–0 vote the Byrd-Hagel Resolution (S. Res. 98),[40] which stated the sense of the Senate was that the United States should not be a signatory to any protocol that did not include binding targets and timetables for developing as well as industrialized nations or "would result in serious harm to the economy of the United States". On November 12, 1998, Vice President Al Gore symbolically signed the protocol. Both Gore and Senator Joseph Lieberman indicated that the protocol would not be acted upon in the Senate until there was participation by the developing nations.[41] The Clinton Administration never submitted the protocol to the Senate for ratification.


Hmm. No Bush Administration rejection there. There is this bit, later on:


The current President, George W. Bush, has indicated that he does not intend to submit the treaty for ratification, not because he does not support the Kyoto principles, but because of the exemption granted to China (the world's second largest emitter of carbon dioxide[42]). . . . Despite its refusal to submit the protocol to Congress for ratification, the Bush Administration has taken some actions towards mitigation of climate change.


Read the whole thing, and note: The United States was never bound by Kyoto, and it was not "rejected" by the Bush Administration. Once again, a webpage by unpaid amateurs is more accurate and nuanced than an effort by the Associated Press. Anyone can make a mistake, but the AP's seem to lean heavily in an anti-Bush direction.

Worth pointing out, and well spotted, Glenn. Now, with my civic outrage taken care of, my geeky self is going out to pick up the expansion for World of Warcraft. I'll get all the sleep I need when I am dead.

Interesting challenge for China

Well, this was bound to happen. As other countries develop, virgin territories will be available for business, many of which will be cheaper, less repressive, and more accomodating than China. China will be in the interesting position of trying to figure out what they want to be in the near future. Recently, they've been the kings of manufacturing because they could do it at a lower cost than the rest of the world.

With developing nations nipping at their heels, what do they do? Go higher tech? Go less repressive to attract more capital and talent, or more correctly, to retain it?

Sigh.

Well, the season is done. If the birds were doomed to lose, I'm glad it was to a deserving team like Nawlins. Saying that doesn't really do much to take the sting out, but there it is. Hopefully, the second half of the season and its conclusion will have two effects.

Big Red should now see what a massive, dominating offensive line he has, and how well Westbrook can move, yes, even between the tackles. Secondly, the season end should put an end to the mouthbreathers clamoring for Garcia to start next year over McNabb.

The net result of this, I hope, is a perfect storm. A healthy McNabb with something he has never had...a balanced offense. Westbrook getting 20 carries or more a game, a healthy DMac, 5-7 people getting receptions a game. This could be beautiful. The offense, which has always been good, could be even better.

The defense does worry me a bit. The line is good and deep. Dhani is a fraud at LB, though, and Trotter has two bad knees. I hate to say it, but it's time to groom someone to take care of the middle. And Dawk....I love Dawkins, but he is not immortal. i guess we'll see what happens in free agency and the draft.

Until then, Saints-good luck, you deserve it...now go get it all. I'll mix some hurricanes and cheer you on, bittersweet as it may be.

Sigh.

NFC East Props

I'm an unapologetic, passionate Eagles fan, but I have to give credit where it is due. It is worth noting that 3 of the 4 NFC East teams were representing in the playoffs. Coughlin, Gibbs, Parcells, and Reid, take a bow. Each team has its own issues, but almost every division game was a war. Kudos to each team in what may have been the most competitive divison in the NFL.

Now, with that out of my system, I will dedicate myself to not saying anything positive about the Cowboys for the rest of my days.

Best and brightest leaving Iran

Well, we had to see this coming. If people are presented with a painful situation and given better options, the smart ones will excercise the better options. On the down side, over the long haul, this will leave us with a nuclear powered terrorist sponsor populated by the not so bright...

Yeah, this could be bad.

New Stem Cell Source

Call it the libertarian in me, or maybe the cynic, or the realist, but politicians have a gift for irritating me. I've spent more Sunday mornings glaring at someone on one of the talking head roundtables, and more State of the Union addresses with an angry crinkle furrowing my brow than I care to remember. Much of the garbage I can take, but the willful propagation of easily disprovable myth really gets my Irish up.

There is a laundry list of things that this administration does and has done that irks me. There are also many things W gets misplaced crap for. Like what? Like the stem cell debate. If one were to listen to the pundits, one would conclude that embryonic stem cell research was legal, encouraged, and the beneficiary of generous federal monies before the evil Bush/Cheney regime.

Well, the research was legal, and still is. The funding was modest, and still is. The best thing the government can do with scientific research is stay the hell out of the way. Bush decided, essentially, to continue Clinton's policy. There have not been any restrictions on stem cell research, embryonic or otherwise. There was a stipulation on what could be done with federal money.

Now we have a payoff. After seven years of research (wow, things happen absent Washington's influence?!) there is another plentiful, promising supply of stem cells. Yeah, that is in addition to the amazing work that has been done with stem cells in cord blood.

Washington will be Washington. I will continue to be irritated by those who are elected to go there. I can live with that. I can live with that because this country is still capable of, and does amazing things not because of the actions of our representatives, but despite them.

Jujutsu, Night One

Ow. This is bad, and tomorrow will be worse. I did my first Brazilian Jujutsu class tonight, and I am hurt and spent. We warmed up, and did some basic drills. Simple, practical things like trapping someone in your guard when you are on your back. Good stuff. Then came the pain.

Chokes. Rear naked chokes, gi chokes, from different angles. Some people might remember plucking dandelions and popping the tops off in summers past. Now that I know what it is like to be said dandelion, I might never do that again. The simple rear naked choke, a staple of grappling, is....disconcerting when applied correctly. First, there is a squeeze, leading to an uncomfortable pressue. Then, if you are not smart enough to tap quickly, that pressure is accompanied by rapidly fading consciousness.

Sick freak that I am, I had a ball. I almost puked, and my neck is sore as hell. But it was fun. And, when one has freakishly oversized, Baby Huey looking, college offensive line playing kid brothers. Well. One never knows what might come in handy one day.

NFC East Title Comes Home

The title says it all. The Eagles have now won their 5th NFC East title in the last six years. Never would I have guessed that the Dallas Cowboys would be integral to making two holidays for me in the span of one week.

First, the Cowboys self destruct on Christmas, and all the cockroach Cowboy fans and Romosexuals went back into the darkness. Then, America's Team (heh) loses at home to the Detroit Lions. This loss gave the Eagles the division, and they still went out and beat the Falcons with their backups. Not bad.

The downside there is that a decent coach was fired, and a fraud of epic proportions still has a job. Vick might be a good quarterback one day. He has freakish athletic ability, and a cannon for an arm. If he ever learns how to read a defense instead of relying on his legs, Atlanta could rule the NFC with an iron fist for a few years. Until then, Vick will cost that franchise more big games than he wins.

Enough on the adversaries. I cannot believe the fundamental shift that has taken place on this Eagle team. The pass/run ratio is more balanced than it has been since the heyday of Duce Staley. On the other side of the field, the defense has stepped up. Coach Reid brought one of our former D-line coaches to break down tape, and get the troops back into form. These two simple changes happening at the same time have made all the difference. Defensively, they are stopping the run, and getting off the field. Offensively, they are running well, grinding clock, and leaving the other team on the field. If only McNabb was healthy when they figured all this out..oh well.

The Eagles are 10-6, and are hosting a playoff game. In New York, the coach is done, Tiki is retiring, and there is discontent. Washington still has Snyder for an owner...nuff said. And Dallas? That cancer known as 81 will have to be dealt with before he destroys another quarterback. Another year with T.O. and Romo might go from Jessica Simpson to O.J. Simpson.

One can hope.