Say Anything Blog

202 years ago today... History Channel - On April 30, 1803, representatives of the United States and Napoleonic France conclude…...

Washington (AP) - The president planned a speech late Saturday at the 91st annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, but…...

Via Patterico's...[bold type not in original] Los Angeles Times editors have edited a Reuters story to remove critical facts supporting…...

Remember that pathetic people who "apologized" to the world for re-electing W in '04? Seems now they've gone into print…...

From Smallest Minority... ...

This is a sad story... RENTON, Wash. --� It was a slab of particleboard, about 5 feet long, 18 inches wide and 1 1/2 inches thick. No one knew how far it had traveled or how many times it had bounced off the pavement. Late on Feb. 22, 2004, it was known only that it got loose on Interstate 405, near this Seattle suburb, and for a few moments became airborne. One witness later said it was simple physics that turned the board into a missile, hurtling north. Maria Federici was driving south. Like other cars nearby, her Jeep Liberty was going about 60 miles per hour. She had just gotten off her shift. Federici, then 24, worked three bartending jobs, just as she had while studying at the University of Washington. She had recently graduated, and the road ahead was full of possibility. But on this cold and overcast Sunday night she just wanted to get home. Federici was approaching her exit when the board pierced her windshield, glanced off the steering wheel and plowed into her face. The Jeep veered onto the shoulder and struck the Jersey barrier once, twice, before stopping. ...but I find this part a little troubling: The randomness haunted Gamboa. A life was demolished before her eyes in a single moment, like a flash of lightning. State lawmakers eventually would pass a bill in Federici's name, one that broke new ground in the prosecution of accidents caused by debris. But on that night fourteen months ago, the chief concern of almost everyone at the scene was keeping Federici alive. I can just picture some poor schmuck getting jail time because a bungee cord holding down part of the load in the box of his pickup broke. Lawyers like to say that there's "no such thing as an accident," but I don't think that's a healthy way of looking at things. Why should otherwise innocent people be punished for something that could probably be written off as bad luck?...

Happy birthday, Willie. If you're not familiar with Willie's music, you should be. To get you acquainted, if you aren't…...

NEAR SAMAWA, Iraq (Reuters) - Investigators have uncovered a mass grave in southern Iraq containing as many as 1,500 bodies,…...

Sigh... The television networks -- and, by extension, the American viewing public -- got snookered last night [the night of…...

If you were listening to any national news radio yesterday, you heard constant updates on this missing woman from Georgia…...

Every time Democrats lose an election they make a lot of murky comments and borderline allegations about voter fraud. Yet…...

This is welcome news. NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) - NYMEX crude for June delivery ended below $50 a barrel…...

Sigh... WASHINGTON --� The Senate appears headed for a politically explosive confrontation over judicial nominations after a week in which Democrats and Republicans rejected each others' offers to head it off. The latest overture came Thursday from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. He proposed ending the practice of bottling up judicial nominees in committee --� something that Democrats say Republicans did to 69 of President Clinton's nominees. Frist would allow an "exhaustive" 100 hours of debate for each appointee to an appellate court, including the Supreme Court. But Democrats would lose the ability to block Bush's appeals court candidates. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., dismissed the offer as "a big wet kiss to the far right." In their support for the filibuster many Democrats have waxed poetic about the history of lengthy debate in the Senate. Frist's compromise allows for 100 hours of debate. That's a little over four twenty-four hour days. Or two and a half work weeks for the average American worker. All of that devoted to debating the merits of a single judicial candidate. Why on earth isn't that enough? Can someone please explain to me why these perfectly qualified candidates can't get an up or down vote after 100 hours of debate? Or, lacking that, can Democrats finally admit that their objective in hindering the nomination process isn't out of a concern about discourse in the Senate a desire to derail each and every Republican initiative through obstruction?...

Hmm... Here's one detail most media outlets won't report on the Social Security debate: At least one Democratic leader once…...

Hmm... Bush Social Security Plan Would Cut Future Benefits President Bush called on Congress last night to curtail future Social…...

Aftenposten - Norway's Supreme Court supported decisions refusing Conoco Phillips the right to fire two workers who surfed the Internet…...

In an article about Reid saying it would take "a miracle" to gain the Senate back for the Democrats in…...

From Fish Cakes Blog... I have just found, while perusing the iTunes UK music store, a hilarious track entitled: "The…...

As I noted in my post about the President's press conference last night, NBC (and apparently several other stations, though…...

Washington (Herald Sun) - Given the chance to talk to President Bush about any topic, Americans say their first choice…...

Italian authorities have disputed the American claim that the car transporting freed communist journalist Giuliana Sgrena was traveling at a…...

ND NEWS This out of Minot (ND) about a star high school wrestler who beat up a liquor store clerk…...

About a week ago, there was a post by Robert about Schwarzenegger saying we need to "close the borders." He…...

Gwinnett Daily Post - Mike Coan will be in mixed company today during a bill signing ceremony. The Republican from…...

An idea who's time has come... WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) --� New Zealand cinema owners said Friday they may use mobile phone jamming technology to stop mid-movie calls and text messaging in the hopes of preventing disruptions and conflicts between patrons. The national Motion Pictures Exhibitors Association said it's studying the legality of using mobile phone jammers in the group's 200 cinemas around the country. Mobile phones in cinemas were a "huge disruption" to moviegoers, said association spokesman Duncan Mackenzie. "Even texting creates so much light and it's unfair to expect that people should have to put up with it," he said. People talking on their phones in theaters often get extremely upset if asked to turn them off or leave, he said. Mackenzie said "cell phone rage" between patrons sometimes turned nasty. I think a lot of the problems are caused when people simply forget to turn their phones or ringers off, though there is that occassional jerk who insists on using his or her phone in the middle of the show. I think that as long as a) movie theaters put up signs warning people that their phones will be disabled while in the theater and b) the cell phone blocking doesn't extend to other businesses or property nearby where owners may not want cell phones blocked, there shouldn't be a problem with this at all....

Interesting... I just called Harry Reid's office. He's the Democratic leader in the Senate. I asked if there was a…...

Lufkin, Tx - [When 16-year-old Erica Basoria got pregnant with twins in January 2004] "My mom, my sister and my…...

Hmm... The Independent - Flat taxes, once a fantasy of free-market ideologues, are sweeping across the European Union and could…...

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- Saying that U.S. citizens are oppressed by their own government, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez promised Friday…...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Hours after giving a brief, barely audible apology, a soldier was sentenced to death by a military jury for attacking comrades with a rifle and grenades early in the Iraq invasion. Sgt. Hasan Akbar, 34, could have been sentenced Thursday to life in prison with or without parole for the March 2003 attack on members of the elite 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. Two officers were killed and 14 other soldiers were wounded. "I want to apologize for the attack that occurred. I felt that my life was in jeopardy, and I had no other options. I also want to ask you for forgiveness," Akbar told the jury before it began deliberating. He spoke in such a low voice that even prosecutors sitting nearby had trouble hearing, with one lawyer even cupping his ear. Jurors took about seven hours to reach their decision Thursday. Last week, the same 15-person military jury took just two and a half hours last week to convict Akbar of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder. The sentence will be reviewed by a commanding officer and automatically appealed. If Akbar is executed, it would be by lethal injection. Although the defense contends Akbar was too mentally ill to plan the attack, they have never disputed that he threw grenades into troop tents in the early morning darkness and then fired on soldiers in the ensuing chaos. Army Capt. Chris Seifert, 27, and Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, were killed. Prosecutors say Akbar launched the attack at his camp --� days before the soldiers were to move into Iraq --� because he was concerned about U.S. troops killing fellow Muslims in the Iraq war. "He is a hate-filled, ideologically driven murderer," chief prosecutor Lt. Col. Michael Mulligan said. He added that Akbar wrote in his diary in 1997, "My life will not be complete unless America is destroyed." I am, generally, against the death penalty. That being said, in this instance I can't help but feel that it is justified. This man attacked his comrades, his fellow countrymen, on the field of battle. The death penalty is his just deserts. Such is the price of treason....

Via The Washington Times: A partial list of predicted nightmares that never came true: -- In the 1960s, Paul Ehrlich and others predicted tens of millions of people around the world would soon starve to death as a result of overpopulation. It didn't happen, and global fertility rates are now so low (and still falling steadily), that some demographers forecast a decline in world population beginning as soon as 2050. -- In the 1970s, Americans were warned an "energy crisis" meant the world would soon run out of oil. Three decades later, no one predicts exhaustion of the petroleum supply --� ever. -- In the 1980s, liberals said evil warmonger Ronald Reagan was on the verge of provoking World War III, with "nuclear winter" wreaking havoc on the planet as a result of the impending thermonuclear holocaust. Didn't happen. The Soviet Union folded like a cheap suit. -- In the 1990s, liberals screamed that poor children would starve to death because of welfare reform and Republicans' "draconian" cuts in social programs. Fast forward to 2005: experts now warn of an obesity epidemic among poor children. -- After the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, experts rushed to warn Americans of the dangers of right-wing militias --� soon, hordes of gun-toting wackos would goose-step down Main Street. Never happened. The supposedly large and growing "militia movement" turned out to be a handful of kooks in camouflage. Amazing, isn't it? Liberals haven't accurately predicted anything in 40 years. Yet every time a liberal "expert" gins up a new prophecy of disaster (global warming, anyone?) his phone number is added to the speed-dial of "Nightline" producers, and the New York Times wins another Pulitzer for its five-part series examining the crisis du jour. With the failure of the predicted "border vigilante" crisis, liberals have maintained their record of being 100 percent wrong --� and now press on to new adventures in wrongness. Liberals have recently predicted proposed Social Security reforms will slash retirement benefits, Tom DeLay's "scandals" will hurt the GOP, and the Terry Schiavo case will help Democrats retake control of Congress next year. These predictions also fall in nicely with the never broken adage of, "Liberalism always produces the exact opposite of its stated intent." So take heart conservatives. The next time you hear of a prediction coming from a raving lunatic lefty, you can bet your bottom dollar that it will never come to pass. Liberals see the world upside down and consequently their lunatic ravings are to be looked upon as just that - lunatic ravings....

ND NEWS Today in Fargo there is a fund raiser over at Hornbachers on 32nd put on by the ND…...

The rumors continue. DEBKA - An announcement of Osama bin Laden's death appears Friday in one of his close aides'…...

Lets be glad that Rumsfeld couldn't find his spandex. (via INDC Journal)...

ND NEWS Call it bizarro-North Dakota. In lieu of the upcoming base closures the city of Concord, CA is working…...

Dear Technical Support, 18 months ago, I upgraded to Girlfriend 1.0 from DrinkingMates 4.2, which I had used for years…...

GAINESVILLE, Ga. - Former Sen. Zell Miller fell ill while giving a speech in Gainesville Thursday night and was taken…...

I guess the House Representatives wasn't paying attention as the President spoke tonight: Washington (AP) - The House narrowly passed…...

The President addressed the nation tonight. I watched it live but I'm sure there will be a video feed up…...

This is a shame. April 28 (Bloomberg) -- Norwegian police fear that robbers who stole Edvard Munch's masterpieces ``The Scream''…...