Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Iraq War De-escalation Act

Bush failed to define the conditions under which US Troops would leave Iraq.

One of the vital preparatory steps for a war is to define "Victory" so you know when you can leave. Bush has failed to do this for "The War on Terror" and the Iraq war.

The Democrats are in favor of creating specific milestones for when troops leave Iraq, and have outlined those milestones a number of times. The claim that the Democrats "Have no plan"or "Lack Specifics" is an absurd one, based more on Pundit talking points than reality.

The specifics are spelled out in the "Iraq War De-escalation Act" which is discussed at a high level in a recent Barak Obama Podcast.

End Times Rant

I'm Christian, and I'm tired of all the lunatics who are focused on the "End Times."

Ever since Christ was Crucified, there have been splinter groups sitting around waiting for his return. It's been 2,000 years and he hasn't come back yet.

Here's a clue for ya'all. He probably won't come back within the next 2,000 years. Spending your time focused on "The Return of Christ" or "the Rapture" does nothing but distract you from doing Christ's work on Earth NOW.

Look not to the end of time, but to the end of your own life. You will die, we all will. Those who babble about "The Rapture" are living in a fantasy land. Yes, Revelations describes the faithful being taken to Heaven "In the twinkling of an eye" but if you READ the book, you see it happens AFTER the tribulation and the rise of the Anti-Christ.

Read the New Testament and take a look at how Christ told us to live, and then try to live that way. Stop the mental masturbation of focusing on the "End Times." All it does is distract you from being a Good Christian HERE and NOW.

Besides, if your soul is prepared for your own Death, you'll be ready for the End of the World anyway.

On a lighter note

Crossing Jordon fans will be amused to learn that Nigel has a Blog.

Not the actor who plays Nigel (Although he may have a blog) but NBC has a blog for the character.

To make things even more amusing, the episode premiering the first Wednesday in March will feature his Blog as a plot point, and if you check out his blog, you can see references to the "Serial killer taunting Nigel" that will be the villain of the episode.

Why are all these ducks pecking me?

The Good

So the morning started off with a Whuffle deciding I needed to have Beanbag plopped on the bed with me.

This is a very pleasant way to wake up, as I get to clear the cobwebs from my head by scritching a bunny, and Beanbag tends to be rather cuddly.

Just before I left for work, I noticed the answering machine had a message. It seems Whuffle had called me ask me to program the VCR to record Crossing Jordan tonight. I checked the NBC web site and found that the schedule change happens NEXT week. I didn't program the VCR, but I did get to see a hilarious deleted scene featuring a Wardrobe Malfunction (SFW)

Things Get Annoying

I left work in a fairly good mood, if a bit late. Then I got pulled over by a cop. It seems going with the flow of traffic had put me close to 20 miles over the speed limit. I gave the officer my license and registration and he got a very sour look on his face.

"Any relation to the Matt Miller on Sea Street?" he asked.

"Not that I know of," I honestly replied.

"How long have you lived here?"

"Since Mid December."

He then visibly relaxed and became very friendly. He asked if I'd been pulled over before, I said no, he told me a bit about the traffic enforcement in the area and let me off with a warning.

The whole stop took close to half an hour. While I only got a written warning, I did get the unpleasant information that I apparently have the same name as someone who lives nearby and is NOT a favorite with the local police.

Would you like a cup of water that once saw a single coffee bean?

I wanted some coffee when I got to work. I'll spare the details and skip to the executive summary. The coffee maker at work is leaking. I thought it was the carafe, and switched it, but it's the device itself. The actual coffee goes out onto the counter while the carafe gets lukewarm water that has a vague coffee flavor. The cup of coffee I managed to get out of the debacle is the single most tepid, watered down excuse for coffee I can remember having. It's downright Homeopathic and it took 20 minutes and half a roll of paper towels to make.

Oh, and the foam plates the company provides melt when you put a freshly toasted bagel on them.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Would John McCain work to end abortion as president?

onenewsnow.com has a Poll up asking "if you believe John McCain would sincerely work to end abortion if he is elected president". 65% of the readers voted "Absolutely."

I find their faith in him amusing, as there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of him actually trying to end Abortion. He might get a few laws passed to restrict it, but that's it.

He's a politician, and abortion is an issue that can be used to whip voters into a frenzy. What's more, it's a "Litmus test" issue for many people. As long as he's vocally against abortion, millions will vote for him regardless of any other factor.

If abortion were eliminated, many Conservative Politicians would have to earn the votes of a block that's already in their pocket.

Think about it. If The Republicans were as against abortion as they claim, why was a constitutional amendment to end it never even proposed in the six years that the Republicans controlled the White House, the Senate and the House?

A new Republican stragegy for getting out of Iraq

GOP congressman: U.S. troops should not be policing Iraqi 'civil war'

As I said on digg.com's link about this article:

This is a clever strategy to "win" in Iraq.
  1. Declare that the US should only be dealing with insurgents, not the civil war violence.


  2. Ignore all violence committed by Sunni, classifying it as part of the civil war. Since most the insurgents are Sunni, this allows the US to classify the insurgents as part of the Civil War that the US isn't supposed to be involved in.


  3. Declare the insurgents crushed, and offer lip service and condolences to the Iraq government on it's inability to deal with it's Civil War, which the US shouldn't be involved in anyway.


  4. Leave, all the while tsk tsking at the Iraq government for their failure to deal with their own Civil War, despite all the US training and weapons.


  5. When the Iraq government falls, moan about Islam being hostile to Democracy, and toppling a perfectly good government for the sake of religious hatred. remember, this is Iraq being defeated by internal strife, not the USA being defeated.

It's a brilliant strategy and downright Machiavellian in it's operation. It lets the USA declare victory without actually accomplishing anything more than toppling Saddam. As long as the subsequent government sells Oil using the US Dollar and not the Euro, the US won't invade again. (What, you thought we invaded Iraq over WMDs or a Bush family Grudge?)

A Bumper sticker for the 2008 elections

Get yours at blipbits.blogspot.com
from blipbits.blogspot.com

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Conspiring Bunnies Part II

This morning, the trio were once again nuzzled together apparently plotting some devious act. This time however, they started breaking up the meeting as soon as I walked over, so I didn't get any photos of them huddled.

I decided to break up the meeting with some greenery. In retrospect though, I'm not sure if I derailed their conspiratorial plots, or if I merely provided refreshments.