Another hilarious quote from Ann Coulter

(from the full column here - emphasis is mine)

Another funny excerpt from Ann Coulter (I just love her dry sense of humor!)

"We've been through this before: Should the military run the war or should the courts run the war?

"I think the evidence is in.

"The patriotic party says we are at war, and the Guantanamo detainees are enemy combatants. Approximately 10,000 prisoners were taken on the battlefield in Afghanistan. Of those, only about 800 ended up in Guantanamo, where their cases have been reviewed by military tribunals and hundreds have been released.

"The detainees are not held because they are guilty; they're held to prevent them from returning to the battlefield against the US. Since being released, at least 30 Guantanamo detainees have returned to the battlefield, despite their promise to try not to kill any more Americans. I guess you can't trust anybody these days."

I guess you can't trust anybody these days! LMAO!

Evan Sayet on Democrat Motivation & the Effects of an Obama Presidency

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This short (3:19) audio clip brings an interesting insight into Democrat motivation and decision-making as offered by guest Evan Sayet on a recent Shire Network News podcast.

Sayet also speculates on what the world would be like four years afterward if Obama were elected.

The latter subject is somewhat inspired by Michael Novak's National Review article "Barack Obama's America".

Very interesting, and hard (for me) to argue with!

Where is the World is Jalil Azad?

Where is the World is Jalil Azad? A recent article* in the Telegraph caught my interest. John Bolton, our former Ambassador to the United Nations, said that we should bomb Quds Force and Hezbollah terrorist training camps located inside Iran.

"Colonel Donald Bacon, a spokesman for the coalition in Baghdad, said captured fighters had told interrogators that thousands of Iraqi fighters were undergoing training in the Islamic Republic."

"The main camp is located near the town of Jalil Azad, near Tehran, according to coalition officials."

I thought it might be interesting to look at Jalil Azad on Google Earth, so I first set about to find it on a map. Google searches only turned up references to the Telegraph article, other reports citing it, and others commenting on it.

The one thing I didn't find was Jalil Azad! I dug deeper, but still came up dry.

I've written to several well-known commentators, bloggers, radio talk show hosts, the coalition in Iraq, and to the Telegraph.

Most did not reply, but those who did either just speculated or apparently sought to assure me or blow me off without informing me:

"(It's) possible this is the name of a base and not a town... let me ask around. My understanding is the bigger camps are closer to the border."

"Intelligence sources from Iranian Opposition forces have validated this training center outside of Tehran."

I've seriously considered writing snail mail to the Iranian interests section and to the People's Mujahedin of Iran (aka MEK, PMOI, and MKO) but I'm sure you can understand I'd worry about coming under unwanted scrutiny for my letters!

I would think there would be a lot of interest in this town, and even bigger news if no one else could find it!

Am I the only person asking this question?!

If anybody out there knows anything, please let me know!

* The Telegraph article may be found at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1931520/John-Bolton-US-should-bomb-Iranian-camps.html

UPDATE

Thanks to some help via Google Groups, I found out there are two of them. One is close to Tehran and one 400 miles away, but closer to Iraq. The one outside Tehran is here:

Jalilabad, Iran
35°20'36.21"N
51°47'9.84"E

A Little About Me

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I've been interested in politics, current events and world affairs for over 30 years (since my Freshman year of high school) thanks to my Civics teacher Mr. Tony Lawrence.

Quite often I would hang around after school to talk about current events and history with Mr. Lawrence, and we even went together to see a young Rep. Dan Quayle give a speech against the Panama Canal Treaty. Afterwards, I shook Quayle's hand and complimented him on his talk.

My interest in politics and especially world affairs led me to discover short-wave radio (SWL, as opposed to ham radio) which enabled me to listen to the official radio broadcast propaganda from countries all around the world. For a Cold War kid like me, it was a blast!

My parents had two old antique radios. There were upright models about four feet high, with nice wooden cabinets. One had pushbutton presets, and the other had a round dial with a handle that moved in a semi-circle to tune it. They received AM and short-wave bands. One night while messing around with them, I heard other countries... I was spellbound!

Then one day in the grocery store, I spotted a magazine called Radio-Electronics, which sported a cover story about improving your short-wave reception. I bought that issue and still have it. I bought the parts I needed from Radio Shack, and my first project flopped, but it led to an interest in electronics, which lasts to this day.

Needless to say, my project building skills got better!

For several years, I wrote a pro-gun newsletter turned newspaper column called "GunFax". That was very enjoyable, but the payoff never justified the time, so I recently put it on the shelf.

I've been an electronics technician for over 25 years, with diverse experience in industrial engineering, fabrication, prototype construction, circuit design and repair.

I am an independent electronics repair technician engaged in the repair of microwave oven and other control panels (circuit boards) for commercial customers and consumers nationwide. I specialize in microwave control panels with failed displays, dead units, and units whose cooktop / stovetop lights are not dead or stuck on. (See links below).

My other interests include fishing, the outdoors, small engine repair, and repairing and tinkering in my garage. As our kids stretch their wings, my wife and I are beginning to get out and enjoy ourselves a little. That's really nice.

microwave display & controller repair $39.95 nationwide

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Getting Back to Morel Mushroom Hunting in Indiana

After many years off following the death of my mushroom hunting partner (my father) I've begun hunting morel mushrooms again. This time, it's with my better half. She and I have both decided that as our kids are finishing high school, we're going to start living again. Just a little, even.

My wife and I went out on April 26th here in southern Madison County, Indiana but we found only one morel. I'll have you know it was a nice one and yes, it was delicious!

We also stumbled onto a nesting smallmouth bass that looked to be a couple pounds or so. We couldn't get a good photo of it, but trust me - the overhanging tree nearby is permanently burned into my memory as a landmark in case I get to wade that section of the water with my trusty Shimano ultralight spinning rod in the coming days...

We saw a few deer and a coyote, and it's always a nice outing when you can see a critter or two. Even seeing fresh deer and coon tracks reminds us of how we're just visiting in their habitat, and it's interesting to imagine how they use the area and what role it plays in their lives.

On that trip I picked a tender, nice-looking "Pheasant's back", also known as "Dryad's saddle" or polyporus squamosus. They smell like cucumbers or watermelons. Opinions vary.

I rinsed it, peeled it with a paring knife and sliced the innards into small short slices, then fried them slowly in Promise margarine with a dash of garlic salt.

Sadly, I didn't really care for it since it had a fruity flavor, but some folks really like them. I may try them again sometime with a different recipe, but I imagine I'll still prefer morels by a mile!

We went out again on April 30th for a couple hours and came up dry in the morel department, but it was still a wonderful day for us. She bought me a new digital camera for our anniversary, and we really enjoyed seeing various critters and wildflowers. She took some shots of Virginia bluebells and phlox, Canada Geese, and some mallards.

We've found what looks to me to be a much better location in the area, and we plan to hunt it Saturday or Sunday. I think it has been too cool and too dry here so far, but maybe our next trip out will be more fruitful. I'll post back after this weekend if we have any luck or come across anything remarkable.

UPDATE: May 17, 2007

Jackie got a pretty bad upper respiratory infection around the first of May, so that pretty much knocked the last part our morel season in the head.

But I did do a little enhancement of the photo we took of the smallmouth bass I mentioned earlier, and I found the fish in it. May not be too impressive, but we were tickled to find it!

June 1, 2008: Still can't find it?! Look below!

Obama finds his testes (not really, Michelle still has them)

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So now (finally) Barack Obama is (hold the presses…) angry and upset by his former pastor’s comments!

Sorry, but it’s too little too late…

If Obama can’t “read” his own pastor of twenty years, whom he sat and listened to (almost) every Sunday, how can we expect he’d do in a face-to-face with America’s enemies and adversaries?

He’s already said he would gladly have a sit-down with such despicable characters as Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Hassan Nasrallah, Khaled Mashaal, Ismail Haniya, Kim Jong Il, Vladimir Putin, and Hu Jintao.

Maybe he already has enough personal experience with such radical anti-American types that he could actually get along very well with them, too.

Obama talks about how Bill Ayers (whom anyone could blithely call an unrepentant and murderous domestic terrorist) committed his heinous acts when he (Barry O.) was only 8 years old.

Well, I’m the about the same age as Barack, and I can tell you that I remember these reprehensible acts of the Weather Underground, and they were (and still are) well enough documented and verified that Obama could (and should) have taken a stance on them long before now.

Yet all he seems to be able to say is that they occurred when he was only 8 years old. Does that even matter?! People died from their acts!

Bill Ayers is on record (right after the 9/11 attacks, as a matter of fact) as saying, “I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough."

It’s pretty clear to me that any lack of a stance by Obama is still a stance for anyone who’s running for high office.

So millions of Americans will have to thoughtfully (hopefully) decide if his off-handed dismissal of Ayers’ infamous misdeeds is okay or not.

They’ll have to decide whether they can excuse someone who excuses and scoffs at domestic terrorism as the former Weatherman Bill Ayers has become a pet appointee of Mayor Daley, the current boss of Chicago’s political machine, to which Obama owes his political ascendancy.

Gosh, that was such a long time ago, yet there remains no statute of limitations on murder…

My Democrat Pick for 2008

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I am painfully torn as I try to decide whom I want to see as the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee.

Before I continue though, let me make it clear that I am not and never have been a Democrat.

While throughout my political life I've been infinitely more comfortable with Republicans than Democrats, I'd have to classify myself as a conservative, a Constitutionalist, and a Libertarian. If it weren't for my differences with them on a few social issues - not to mention their lack of electability - I'd vote consistently Libertarian.

In 1980, I was proud to cast my first presidential ballot for Ronald Reagan. In 1984, I was happy to do so again.

In 1988, I voted for the elder George Bush, but without much enthusiasm. Keeping Michael "Do-cock-us" Dukakis out of the White House was my primary motivation, even though I knew the outcome in my Hoosier State of Indiana was assured even without my vote.

In 1992, I was not in the best of health, and I didn't vote. Laziness was my only excuse for failing to cast a ballot in 1996. But Dole carried Indiana anyway. (I would have been much happier with Jack Kemp!)

In 2000, I was reenergized, and I voted for George W. Bush with much hope. Despite my continuing differences with him, I was so happy to have him after we were hit by terrorists (yet again) on September 11th.

In 2004, I was happy enough with "W" to reelect him. And of course, one should be loathe to change horses midstream or while at war.

But really, who in their right mind could have welcomed John Kerry as the leader of the Free World? Unless of course we could have amended our Constitution to allow for the office of Dork in Chief... *shudder*

Whenever I go to the polls, I always wear a black NRA cap adorned with a 1980 Reagan campaign button featuring him in the famous cowboy hat pose. Thusly dressed, I briskly stride into my local polling place, and the various competing campaign volunteers surrounding the entrance to my town’s civic center rarely accost me. Coincidence? I think not...

But I digress...

As much as I would love to see Hillary's political future crash and burn ala McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore and Kerry, I truly do fear an Obama candidacy. At least Jimmy Carter was old enough to have a few wrinkles... Get my drift??

But Obama has become a phenomenon. While I don't think for a minute he could fully withstand the heat of a general election campaign and debates against an old warrior like McCain, that actually may not matter.

Casting ballots is still what wins elections, and facts, history, experience or principle will not sway many of Obama’s followers. They will respond only to emotion.

So as distasteful as it is to say, and as anxious as I am to rest assured that Hillary will never again occupy the White House, I think it may be better for us if she wins the Democrat nomination.

Not only will her party have been battered and bruised, but also much of its enthusiasm will have faded. And many if not most of Obama's new registrees will become disillusioned and will sit out this election, and maybe even all subsequent elections. This can only be good for the country.

So maybe I'm ready to reluctantly endorse Hillary Clinton as the Democrat Party’s nominee.

Now the most exciting decision might be who McCain will pick as his Vice Presidential nominee.