Growing up, finding a moving company wasn't difficult. My uncle worked as a driver for the top Moving Company on the West Coast, and so we always knew that our furniture and possessions would get the best of care.

But if you don't have a relative in the business, you would do well to check out HomeBulletin.net to help you find reputable, reliable Moving Services to get your stuff from point A to point B in good condition.

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For all the Democrat talk about "disenfranchisement" when it comes to if a state attempts to impose a photo ID requirement for voting, I'm curious why none of them have taken on this manifestly unjust and disenfranchising voting system.

Because the caucuses, held in the early evening, do not allow absentee voting, they tend to leave out nearly entire categories of voters: the infirm, soldiers on active duty, medical personnel who cannot leave their patients, parents who do not have baby sitters, restaurant employees on the dinner shift, and many others who work in retail, at gas stations and in other jobs that require evening duty.

As in years past, voters must present themselves in person, at a specified hour, and stay for as long as two. And if these caucuses are anything like prior ones, only a tiny percentage of Iowans will participate. In 2000, the last year in which both parties held caucuses, 59,000 Democrats and 87,000 Republicans voted, in a state with 2.9 million people. In 2004, when the Republicans did not caucus, 124,000 people turned out for the Democratic caucuses.

And the Democrat caucus rules make dismiss such trivial concepts as "one person, one vote" in favor of a weighted voting system that allows some caucus-goers much more influence on the process than others.

While the Republican caucuses are fairly simple — voters can leave shortly after they declare their preferences — Democratic caucuses can require more time and multiple candidate preferences from participants. They do not conform to the one-person, one-vote rule, because votes are weighted according to a precinct’s past level of participation. Ties can be settled by coin toss or picking names out of a hat.

And the concerns of voters who are excluded from the process are blithely dismissed by the head of the Democrats in the state.

Scott Brennan, chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, said the party had no responsibility to ensure that voters can caucus. “The campaigns are in charge of generating the turnout,” Mr. Brennan said, and the voters who truly care will find their way to their local caucuses.

As for Ms. Tope, the emergency room worker, “there’s always the next cycle,” Mr. Brennan said.

In other words, the Democrats will be using a system that disenfranchises the working-class, minorities, and active duty military personnel to determine the winner of their delegates -- and they just don't care. One really has to wonder how such a system survives scrutiny under the Voting Rights Act and other laws designed to protect the voting rights of all Americans.

And as for my own Republican Party (even though it has procedures and rules in place that are less burdensome and undemocratic) I urge it to explicitly reject the caucus system in future years and move to a primary election system for the selection of delegates in Iowa.

Posted by: Greg at 02:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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That's right -- 125 years ago today the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation became effective.

On New Year's Day in 1863, the Republican Party's Emancipation Proclamation came into effect. While Republicans rejoiced, Democrat politicians and newspapers denounced President Abraham Lincoln (R-IL) for freeing slaves. Demonstrating their depravity, New York's Gov. Horatio Seymour, who would be the 1868 Democrat presidential nominee, denounced the Emancipation Proclamation as "a proposal for the butchery of women and children." The Louisville Daily Democrat called it "an outrage of all constitutional law, all human justice, all Christian feeling."

Republicans celebrated. Democrats vocally objected. And to this day, the GOP remains the party of freedom and equal rights for all Americans.

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I'll answer that one for you.

NO!

Only two leading Republicans have spent any time campaigning in Iowa, and the Democrats are likely to have a statistical tie between Edwards, Obama, and Clinton.

But for the leading Democrats, an inconclusive ending here would be a much more complicated result.

Because none of them would be judged a decisive loser, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Edwards and Mr. Obama would all be able to go on to the New Hampshire primary next week, no questions asked. And you can bet on this: the other Democrats in the race — Senators Christopher J. Dodd and Joseph R. Biden Jr., Representative Dennis J. Kucinich and Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico — would feel less of the morning-after-Iowa pressure to pull out.

It would be hard for any candidate to play the “I beat expectations” game and claim some sort of chimerical victory, much the way Bill Clinton proclaimed himself the winner after coming in second in New Hampshire in 1992 — although Mr. Edwards, who for much of the year campaigned in the shadow of his two rivals, would no doubt try.

“Frankly, if there’s a three-way tie, that changes the dynamics of what has been reported the entire year: that it’s a two-person race,” said Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, the Iowa campaign director for Mr. Edwards, who has put in more than a year preparing for this week. “It changes the way people look at the race, and they’ll see it as a three-way race.”

It is a good bet, in fact, that one candidate would try to claim a victory, even if it was by a single percentage point or less. Still, that is not likely to get him or her on the cover of Time or Newsweek (that would be the old-school way of measuring the political impact of winning in Iowa). The other two would be left fighting for the right of second place. And politics being politics, it is likely there would be a campaign trying to present a three-way tie as a victory.

Anything but a runaway victory for Hillary in Iowa is a loss. After all, she is the putative front runner in the race, with all the advantages that being married to the former Philanderer in Chief brings to her campaign. And if John Edwards keeps close, even running third, he can claim a victory of sorts given his relative lack of money. And for Obama, the failure to get a boost going into New Hampshire and the other early states will harm his campaign. We could see a real train wreck on the Democrat side.

On the other hand, the GOP race could be settled by February 5 -- and almost certainly following that date. But if it isn't, look for the possibility of a brokered convention in Minnesota this summer.

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Treat every gun like it is loaded.

These guys didn't -- and should consider themselves to be very lucky.

Two southern New Mexico men are recovering after accidentally shooting themselves while trying to trace a loaded .357-caliber Magnum as a pattern for a tattoo.

The Otero County Sheriff's Department identified the men as Robert Glasser and Joey Acosta. Both are 22.

The sheriff's department says deputies responded to the shooting in Chaparral on Thursday evening, but Glasser and Acosta were already on their way to a hospital in nearby El Paso, Texas.

Authorities say Glasser was struck in the hand when the gun accidentally went off. Acosta was hit in the left arm.

The injuries were non-life threatening.

And these idiots were lucky.

My guess -- a couple of gang bangers wanting to look tough with their own home-made tattoos. Well, now they'll have "street cred" with their bullet wounds -- as long as they leave town and head to a place where nobody knows the story of how they got shot.

Posted by: Greg at 04:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Withdraw.

Withdraw now.

You are not wanted on the GOP ballot.

And not just because of your tawdry affair and your continued inappropriate conduct with a staff member. After all, Bill Clinton established that it is perfectly acceptable for elected officials to use their staff to satisfy their own personal lusts. There would be no legitimate way for the Democrats to use it as an issue, especially if Hillary tops their national ticket. And while your conduct had already led me to decide that I would neither endorse you nor vote for you, I was open to your remaining on the primary ballot so that the Republican voters of Harris County could pass judgment upon your continued fitness (or unfitness) for office.

However, your comments in today's Houston Chronicle make it clear that you don't belong on the GOP primary ballot, nor on the general election ballot as the Republican nominee.

In a brief telephone interview Monday, Rosenthal acknowledged he told local TV news programs earlier in the day that the local Republican Party had never done much for him in his 2000 and 2004 election campaigns and that party leaders have become "Chicken Littles," unjustifiably fearful the scandal will damage the entire Republican roster of candidates in the county.

So your argument is that we didn't do much for you in 2000 or 2004. That's funny, I did literature drops for you. I put up signs. I called voters on your behalf. Glad to know that you don't consider that to be significant, s I won't make the mistake of doing it again.

But this also clarifies something quite important. You don't belong don't he GOP primary ballot, and you don't merit the GOP nomination. After all, the leadership of the Harris County GOP has made it clear that the Party does not want you. You have made it clear that you don't need us. That sounds like the grounds for an amicable divorce, which would take the form of you withdrawing from the primary and running as an independent.

After all, it isn't like you will be giving up anything that you consider to be a significant asset.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Stop the ACLU, Outside the Beltway, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, 123beta, Right Truth, Adam's Blog, Leaning Straight Up, Big Dog's Weblog, Nuke's, third world county, DragonLady's World, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, Stageleft, Right Voices, and Church and State, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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Is there a real difference between web conferencing, video conferencing and a regular old conference call? Not really, if your a customer of http://www.accuconference.com. They provide, all of those features, allowing users to get in and work on several files and folders on the same system, and providing users with an interactive web page displaying the content currently in use! Accuconference allows users to have face-to-face video/audio chat, too.

Video Conferencing becomes incredibly easy because of the website they provide for user tutorials about how to make the most out of their Accuconference subscription to make the best use of their time in the most cost effective manner possible! But to be honest, the service is so easy to use that many subscribers will find its functions to be almost intuitive in nature. And just as important, the amount of data that can be transmitted using Accuconference is really impressive compared with many other services that have lower limits on the speed at which data is sent.

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The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Judeo-Christian Doctrine and Moral Freedom by Bookworm Room, and Fear by Silver Bullets.  Here are the full results of the vote:

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The Orange County and Orlando, Florida area is a very popular tourist destination for both American and international travelers. After all, Walt Disney World is there, along with the companion theme parks owned by Disney or other major entertainment interests. However, before Walt Disney World opened in 1971, Orlando and Orange County were a very different place.

Orange County itself was named after vast citrus groves that were central to the area economy. Sadly, these have all been destroyed due to commercial and residential development. Cattle ranching was also popular in the county. The city of Orlando itself dates back to 1875.

However, that world is long gone. Today Orlando is the second most popular tourist city in America. No one can dispute why it has become so popular, given that it is the home of “The Happiest Place on Earth”, which brings in about 50 million tourists each year. The only question you really need to as is which Orlando hotel you should stay in once you get there. There are, of course, more than a few good choices in every price range that you can imagine.

In the Orlando/Orange County area, hotels can be found at decent prices that wonÂ’t break your budget, and Orlando vacations can be an excellent choice for almost any individual or any family. You too can have fun in Orlando, staying at one of the great Orlando Hotels. And you can find great values at http://orlandoescape.com/ !

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Let's get that Crystal Ball out.

Well, maybe not that Crystal Ball, even though it is a classic tune.

How about these predictions, though -- after a year where I went (really generously speaking) 5 out of 10.

1. Castro is reelected in Cuba -- and still clings to both power and life at the end of 2008.

2. A drawdown of US troops continues in Iraq, with stability increasing even as Democrats like Reid and Pelosi continue to claim that we have lost the war.

3. Democrat ticket in 2008 -- Hillary-Obama

4. GOP ticket in 2008 -- Romney-Thompson (following a brokered convention that sees Rudy promised the position of AG and McCain the position of Secretary of Defense).

5. November 2008 -- Romney Wins! Cornyn beats Noriega in Texas Senate race -- and Shelley Sekula Gibbs returns to Congress after defeating Nick Lampson following a hard fought primary runoff against Dean Hrbacek. Ron Paul loses in his bid to be reelected to Congress as well as his quest for the White House.

6. Pakistani elections will be delayed until the end of February, and will make Pervez Musharraf a mere figurehead as the parties of the late Benazir Bhutto and former Nawaz Sharif win a majority of seats in Parliament, allowing them to ignore the former general.

7. No successful terrorist attacks in the US in 2008 -- but an airplane bombing abroad will make airport security a renewed priority.

8. Conservatives will be happy as the Roberts Court continues to hand down strict-constructionist decisions. Gun rights, voter ID, and capital punishment decisions will delight most Americans while sending the ACLU into a fit of apoplexy.

9. England is overjoyed with the announcement of the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton -- and shocked by a sudden, unexpected royal death.

10. And going out on a limb again this year -- Muslims riot yet again over a perceived slight to Muhammad.

BONUS PREDICTION: The Houston Texans end the 2008 season at 10-6, making the playoffs for the first time in team history.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Stop the ACLU, Outside the Beltway, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, 123beta, Right Truth, Adam's Blog, Leaning Straight Up, Big Dog's Weblog, Nuke's, third world county, DragonLady's World, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, Stageleft, Right Voices, and Church and State, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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I wasn't upset last week when Time Magazine named Vladimir Putin as it's Man of the Year. After all, as it often reminds readers, the choice is the person who most impacted the world for good or evil.

Thus 1938 saw the award go to Hitler, followed by Stalin in 1939 and again in 1942. Another Soviet dictator, Nikita Krushchev, got the nod in 1957, while China's Chairman Den Xiaoping won in 1978 (and again in 1985) and Ayatollah Khomeni in 1979.

I'd have to argue that a similar argument can therefore be made about the selection made by the Dallas Morning News as Texan of the Year -- the law-breaking, border-jumping immigration criminal (although they called him "The Illegal Immigrant").

He breaks the law by his very presence. He hustles to do hard work many Americans won't, at least not at the low wages he accepts. The American consumer economy depends on him. America as we have known it for generations may not survive him.

We can't seem to live with him and his family, and if we can live without him, nobody's figured out how.

He's the Illegal Immigrant, and he's the 2007 Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year – for better or for worse. Given the public mood, there seems to be little middle ground in debate over illegal immigrants. Spectacular fights over their presence broke out across Texas this year, adding to the national pressure cooker as only Texas can.

And as with any such criminal, he is clearly detrimental to those of us who he victimizes by his presence.

Nationally, a Congressional Budget Office report released this month said illegal immigrants cost more in tax dollars than they provide, especially in the areas of education, law enforcement and health. Indeed, 70 percent of babies born in Dallas' Parkland Hospital in the first three months of 2006 were to illegal immigrant mothers. Taxpayers spend tens of millions of dollars annually subsidizing births in that one hospital.

Yes, boys and girls, that's right -- you and I are the victims of these folks, as they reach their hands right into our wallets to take from us money to provide them with benefits to which they have no legal or moral entitlement. The notion of some soft-heated, soft-minded judges that these folks are entitled to anything other than a bus ticket home and a computer entry denying them the privilege of ever crossing the border into the US again is the main thing preventing crackdowns on such benefits and the presence of such folks in our communities. Well that and the desire of Democrat politicians to get these folks legalized and voting Democrat, and businessmen who would rather hire cheap illegal worker than American citizens at American wages (and yes, that does include you, Bob Perry).

I don't care about most of the cultural issues -- I have no problem with new pieces added to the mosaic of American life. I speak Spanish (with a serious gringo accent, according to some of my students), like Mexican food, and love certain of the customs that these people bring with them. But I do believe that a measure of assimilation is a necessity, and to that end believe that learning English is a necessity rather than setting up the parallel cultural institutions we have seen develop.

Do I believe that we need to fight illegal immigration? You bet I do -- every bit as much as we needed to fight the twin menaces of Nazism and Communism, and as we need to fight Islamism today. Yet at the same time, I welcome legally immigrating foreigners from every country, provided they are willing to embrace America's history and values even as they share elements of their own with us. The choice is not between having immigration and having none. Rather, it is between having an orderly system with enforced immigration control, or the pell-mell invasion of our country by those who take more than they give.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Stop the ACLU, Outside the Beltway, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, 123beta, Right Truth, Adam's Blog, Leaning Straight Up, Big Dog's Weblog, Nuke's, third world county, DragonLady's World, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, Stageleft, Right Voices, and Church and State, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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Yeah, heaven forbid (oops -- is that too "fundamentalist" for these MPs?) that Catholic bishops insist that Catholic institutions operate in a Catholic manner.

Roman Catholic bishops are to appear in front of a powerful committee of MPs amid fears that they are pushing a fundamentalist brand of their religion in schools. Bishops have called on parents, teachers and priests to strengthen the role of religion in education. In one case the Bishop of Lancaster, Patrick O'Donoghue, instructed Catholic schools across much of north-west England to stop 'safe-sex' education and place crucifixes in all classrooms.

Crucifixes in the classrooms! Quick -- pass the smelling salts! And the teaching of traditional Catholic sexual morality -- the horror of it all!

Perhaps this comment from one of the MPs is the most telling.

'It seems to me that faith education works all right as long as people are not that serious about their faith.

Yes, we can't have folks who are serious about a religious faith teaching the doctrines of that faith and controlling that faith's institutions. That won't work at all. It might cause people to believe that religious faith -- or at least CHRISTIAN religious faith -- matters.

And yet, oddly enough, militant Islamist organizations are allowed to freely operate in the UK without much restriction at all. I guess that the reason is that the MPs know that neither the "doctrinaire" and "fundamentalist" bishops won't detonate themselves in the face of criticism.

Posted by: Greg at 12:46 PM | Comments (174) | Add Comment
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There is simply no other way to define what they are asking for here.

Lawmakers from the Algerian Islamic political party of al-Nahda have asked the government to intervene to slow down "the activities of Christian missionaries in the country".

Algerian MP Muhammad Hudeibi was quoted as saying this in the local el-Khabar newspaper.

"We want the government to cut down this type of activity because the expansion of evangelisation in Algeria has become an important problem and is not marginal as some think it is," said Hudeibi.

For some years, the local media in Algeria have reported on the activities of a number of missionaries, particularly those from evangelical and Protestant churches, who have succeeded in converting entire Algerian families to Christianity, particularly those who come from the eastern area of Kabilia.

"We condemn the government's silence with regard to this phenomenon," said the Algerian MP.

"We are collecting the signatures of other lawmakers in order to begin a discussion in parliament on this problem," he said.

"All 11 parliamentarians of al-Nahda have been mobilised, but we are convinced that others will also help us."

The Islamic party also asked the Algerian ulema or Islamic scholars and imams to give their opinion on the issue of Christian evangelism.

Actually, the opinion of Muslim scholars or religious leaders on this matter should be irrelevant.

After all, the right to change one's religion is an internationally recognized human right, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As such, banning proselytism or conversion would fundamentally be a violation of the human rights of every individual living in or visiting Algeria. That such human rights violations are daily committed in other Muslim countries is irrelevant -- and if it is argued that Islam forbids such activities, then it must be conceded by those making such a claim that Islam itself is the enemy of human rights.

H/T Gates of Vienna

Posted by: Greg at 12:00 PM | Comments (72) | Add Comment
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After six years as a Houston Texans season ticket holder, this one was sweet.

The guys beat Jacksonville 42-28, and finally had a non-losing season. Not bad for the team with the most guys on injured reserve, and bitten by the injury bug the way they were all season.

But the highlight has to be this pair of kickoff returns by Andre Davis -- which came on top of a clutch fumble recovery he made on a Texans punt..

Receiver André Davis became the seventh player in NFL history to return kickoffs for touchdowns in the same game, and his extraordinary performance ignited the Texans to a 42-28 victory over Jacksonville.

The victory, accomplished over a Jacksonville team that rested seven starters, allowed the Texans to finish with a franchise-best 8-8 record – a six-game improvement from the franchise-worst 2-14 record of 2005.

Davis, who recovered a muffed punt that set up the TexansÂ’ first touchdown, returned the last kickoff of the first half 97 yards for a touchdown that gave them a 21-14 lead they never surrendered.

Then, Davis returned the second-half kickoff 104 yards for a touchdown that boosted the lead to 28-14.

WOW!

I feel great about next year -- and we are all thinking playoff here in Houston.

And to the Texans, may I just say THANK YOU FOR A MEMORABLE SEASON.

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Andrew Sullivan links to this piece from a Pakistani blogger on the death of Benazir Bhutto. It reminds us all that, for all the international importance of this event, there is an aspect to such events that is frequently overlooked and yet more tragic still.

At a human level this is a tragedy like no other. Only a few days ago I was mentioning to someone that the single most tragic person in all of Pakistan - maybe all the world - is Nusrat Bhutto. BenazirÂ’s mother. Think about it. Her husband, killed. One son poisoned. Another son assasinated. One daughter dead possibly of drug overdose. Another daughter rises to be Prime Minister twice, but jailed, exiled, and finally gunned down.

Today, in shock, I can think only of Benazir Bhutto the human being. Tomorrow, maybe, I will think of politics.

All too often, we forget that political leaders are human beings first -- mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters and a host of other relationships -- and politicians second. And so while our hearts ache and minds whirl this day as Pakistan continues in its orgy of violent despair following the terrorist murder of its favorite daughter, let us not forget that the Bhutto family has suffered a grievous loss that is more than equal to the loss suffered by the nation of Pakistan itself.

After all, Bhutto, who marked her 20th wedding anniversary only nine days before her murder, leaves behind not only her mother, but also an ill husband and three children. May we each take a moment to spare them a bit of the concern that we have spent on the political and security ramifications of this very human tragedy.

UPDATE: I've never quoted FireDogLake approvingly in the past -- but I'll make an exception for this personal remembrance of a very different Benazir Bhutto.

One of my sisters attended Harvard University as an undergraduate. I helped her move into her freshman dorm in Wigglesworth Hall on Harvard Yard. Wigglesworth was divided into suites with bedrooms and bathrooms off a sitting room with a fireplace. It was an old building and the suites looked like Sherlock Holmes' apartment.

* * *

In the stairwell that first day, the very first new friend my sister made was a cute little freshman in tan corduroy jeans with her dark hair pulled into two pigtails. She looked more like a high school freshman than a college student. She was tacking up fliers for some kind of cause (might have been related to world hunger) on the bulletin boards in the stairwell.

She was pretty and outgoing and introduced herself to us at once, "Hi, I'm Bennie, Bennie Bhutto." She offered to help move the bedding in, and may have carried up the pillows. She had arrived a couple days before my sister and filled us in on the lay of the land: Where the Baskin Robbins was; how to find the bookstore; you name it, she was willing to tour guide.

Over the course of my sister's freshman year, I often drove up to Boston to visit. From Bennie and from stories my sister told me, I learned that Bennie's real name was Benazir, but she had decided to use her nickname in order to fit in better in America.

There is more, much more, about the girl (age 16) who would become the woman. It explains a lot about the family dynamics that resulted in her rise to power, and the problems between her and her brothers. And I'm particularly struck by the closing paragraph.

Other people can analyze what her death means in political terms, in human terms. An intelligent, thoughtful woman is gone from this world, and I am saddened to learn that.

Indeed.

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Is this Osama's New Year's greeting to the world?

Terror leader Osama bin Laden will release a new Internet message that focuses on Iraq and an al-Qaida linked insurgent group, a terrorism monitoring group said Thursday.

The SITE intelligence group said the al-Qaida leader will discuss Iraq and the group the Islamic State of Iraq, a longtime foe of the Iraqi government and U.S. forces.

SITE, which provides counter-terrorism information to government and private groups, said the announcement of the impending message was posted to Islamic militant Web sites earlier in the day.

The posting said the message — titled `The way to contain conspiracies" — would last 56 minutes. It did not say when it would be released, but such ads usually precede the actual message by one to three days.

An interesting length, that 56 minutes -- perhaps to allow for commercial breaks on network television, given the ongoing strike by the Writer's Guild of America?

But more seriously, the fact that Osama is releasing a new video in time for the new year, and in the wake of the Bhutto assassination, leaves me wondering if this is not the signal of more terrorist action to come. And coming on the even of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, I wonder what bombshells it will have intended to influence the US electoral process.

Posted by: Greg at 11:19 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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As has been known for months, Ron Paul is facing a primary challenger in CD14.

He is Chris Peden, a city councilman and mayor pro-tem in Friendswood, Texas. he officially filed as a candidate today.

I've met Chris. He's a good guy with great conservative values.

I encourage you to check out his website.

Posted by: Greg at 04:28 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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I wouldn't be surprised if this act of arson was precisely that. After all, why else hit this tiny museum exhibit?

A home where President George W. Bush lived as a young boy with his parents in Odessa, Texas, and that is now part of a presidential museum there was damaged on Thursday by a fire that investigators blamed on arson.

"I can tell you it has been determined that it was intentionally set, but I cannot discuss anything about evidence or possible suspects because this is an ongoing criminal investigation," said city of Odessa spokeswoman Andrea Goodson.

Museum administrator Lettie England said no motive for the blaze had been determined and there was no reason at this point to believe it was a political act. She said there were no notes or messages left at the scene.

England said in a telephone interview from the west Texas city that the arsonist spread some kind of flammable liquid on the door and front windows and set the fire.

Now I'll be honest -- I don't necessarily see this old house as particularly significant in any historical sense. Indeed, I'm at a loss as to why anyone would find this to be a building worth preserving, given that the seven months of the toddlerhood of the current President is probably not particularly significant, nor is that particular time frame really important to the lives of his parents. But regardless, torching the place cannot be defended.

Now the police have not assigned a motive for the blaze, which is classified as arson. But I really can't think of a more likely reason for the attack, because there would surely be easier targets for someone to hit.

Posted by: Greg at 02:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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When I was 14 or 15, I had the opportunity to see the King Tut exhibit at the Field Museum in Chicago. I remember standing about three feet from the case, just staring, with a sense of awe and wonder as I gazed at an artifact that was more than 200 time my age. To this day, I shudder as I think back upon that experience and my nearness to such a significant piece of human history.

And tonight, I find myself reveling in a similar experience -- yet one that is in some ways even more profound. You see, only a sheet of polycarbonate glass stood between my hand and this wonder today.

Yes, that is one of the most significant fossil finds in human history Lucy (known also as Dinkenesh in Ethiopia). She is currently on exhibit here in Houston until late April. I remember reading about the discovery of this fossil in the newspaper back when I was in sixth grade or so, and being amazed by the discover. I could not have imagined the opportunity to actually see this early hominid fossil up close. Call me a history geek if you want, but I found myself near to tears as I gazed down on this collection of fossilized bones and considered their significance.

Let me offer two videos of note related to this topic.

The first is about the exhibit here in Houston.

The second is about the discovery of Lucy and her significance to the stucddy of human evolution.

I encourage you to see this exhibit if you are near to Houston in the next few months -- and if it comes to a city near you while it is in this country, make a point of seeing it. It also is quite informative about the history of Ethiopia up to the modern day, and has many interesting cultural artifacts.

Posted by: Greg at 02:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I was about to start typing about the attempted assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto when my wife shouted to me that the attack had been successful, and that the near-certain head of the next Pakistani government was dead.

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday, shot in the neck and chest before a homicide bomber blew himself up at a campaign rally. Twenty others also died.

The assassin struck just minutes after Bhutto addressed a rally of thousands of supporters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. She was shot as she was entering her car. Her attacker then set off his bomb.

Bhutto was rushed to the hospital and taken into emergency surgery.

Outraged supporters of the martyred politician have placed the blame upon President Pervez Musharraf, though there is currently no evidence to support that presumption.

Her main ally, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has been banned from the upcoming election by the Musharraf government, was reportedly at the hospital.

Nawaz Sharif, another former premier and opposition leader, arrived at the hospital and sat silently next to Bhutto's body.

"Certainly, we condemn the attack on this rally. It demonstrates that there are still those in Pakistan who want to subvert reconciliation and efforts to advance democracy," said deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey.

Pakistan's elections are scheduled for January 8. This event obviously raises the issue of whether the election can proceed on schedule, and of the legitimacy of the results if they do. Developments in the next several hours, and the next few days, will be critical to determining whether or not Pakistan emerges from its era of dictatorship, and whether it slides into political chaos.

Posted by: Greg at 02:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If a prominent right-wing blogger allowed one of his/her co-bloggers to post a piece like this on a blog and left it there. And this anti-Semitic piece of crap, worthy of those other socialists who ran Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, has been there since Christmas Eve.

Several months ago, at the suggestion of MSOC, I returned to this site, resolved that I would never again descend to the moral cesspit occupied by the haters. I would willingly engage in civil and rational discourse with anyone of good will, but if they refused, I would ignore them.

Unfortunately, the same persons whose emnity and hostility were so pervasive before immediately resumed their campaign to discredit me, not only rejecting my overtures of peace, but mocking them.

These hateful persons are Jews. At one point, I would have disregarded this fact, but I no longer can. This site has been nothing but the battleground of the Jew Wars, and it is not possible to escape the toxic fallout.

Some persons here have posted remarks offensive to Jews, remarks that no one would have regarded seriously if not for the Jews, as they stridently identify themselves, calling for banning and lynch mobs and denunciation of the posters whose words have offended them. They have made it very clear that they are willing to destroy this site, to make it a barren no-man's-land where no civil discourse can survive, unless the persons they charge with antisemitism are silenced and driven out.

I know that these Jews will continue to conduct their hate campaigns with impunity as well as self-righteousness, because the people in charge of this site regard them as friends, but they are false, treacherous friends, willing to destroy the site that has befriended them.

And these same persons, these Jews, have not only continued their malicious attacks on me, but others, also Jews, have joined their Hate Squad, solely on the grounds that they are Jews and have been offended by someone, and thus arrogate to themselves the right to hate and insult a person who has done them no harm and no offense.

And the consequence is this: I now find myself, for the first time in my life, hating Jews. I find myself hating the Jews on this site, both the Jews who have conducted their malicious campaign against me for so long and the Jews who have stood by in silent solidarity with them, never saying a word against their vile attacks, their cruelty and ugliness.

I find myself thinking that Proximity perhaps has the right idea, that Jews regard other human beings as objects, to be sacrificed to the interests of Jews. That Jews will always stand with other Jews no matter their guilt, and against non-Jews, no matter their innocence. The face of Jews has become unspeakably ugly in my sight, because of the ugliness of the Jewish haters here.

There you have it -- Jew-hatred is a rational response to Jewish condemnation of Jew-hatred. Courtesy of the Left-wing. And remaining un-deleted from that Left-Wing blog, and uncondemned by its owner.

But then again, what do you expect -- the owner proudly proclaimed how she revels in hatred in a WaPo profile last year.

And to think that a local lefty condemned my piece on the absurdity of taking Christ out of Christmas as an example of "hate that doesn't take a break".

H/T Captain's Quarters, Jawa Report, Moderate Voice, Gina Cobb, Neptunus Lex

Posted by: Greg at 02:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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John R. Keeney of Taylor Lake Village has filed to challenge John Davis for Representative in the 129th District.

As I've indicated elsewhere, I believe that we can do significantly better than the ethically troubled Davis, and Keeney seems to be just the man.

For more details, you can check out his website.

Posted by: Greg at 01:04 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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If ever there has been a case of reaching a conclusion first and then searching for evidence and a theory to back that conclusion, this is it.

A research paper that won a Hebrew University teachers' committee prize finds that the lack of IDF rapes of Palestinian women is designed to serve a political purpose.

The abstract of the paper, authored by doctoral candidate Tal Nitzan, notes that the paper shows that "the lack of organized military rape is an alternate way of realizing [particular] political goals."

The next sentence delineates the particular goals that are realized in this manner: "In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it can be seen that the lack of military rape merely strengthens the ethnic boundaries and clarifies the inter-ethnic differences - just as organized military rape would have done."

The paper further theorizes that Arab women in Judea and Samaria are not raped by IDF soldiers because the women are de-humanized in the soldiers' eyes.

So let's make this clear -- the act of rape occurs in time of war because the enemy has been "de-humanized" and the sexual assault of their women is therefore not seen as morally culpable. On the other hand, the failure to rape the women of the enemy is a sign that the enemy has been "de-humanized" and that sexual assault of their women does not happen as a result. In other words, every course of action that might be taken is a sign of the enemy having been "de-humanized", and a presumed racist attitude towards the enemy.

Am I the only one who sees the fundamentally absurd nature of this academic paper?

Posted by: Greg at 11:39 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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H/T LGF

Lone Star Times has an enhanced photo here.

Many of you will recognize Ron Paul.

You may not recognize his two friends -- Stormfront's Don Black and his son Derek. You know, big-time white supremacists and neo-Nazis. And, of course, Ron Paul campaign donors -- whose money Ron Paul insists upon keeping rather than doing the honorable thing like divesting himself of it by giving it to a charity that promotes racial tolerance or combats the putrid ideology of Don Black.

So let's see here. Ron Paul hangs out with racists. He takes their money. He and his supporters claim that the Constitution requires him to do so, because to do otherwise would be to violate the First Amendment -- despite the fact that Ron Paul has a First Amendment right not to associate with scum like the Black family and their followers.

On the other hand, Ron Paul claims that much of federal spending is unconstitutional -- yet he freely admits that he sponsors gobs of pork for his district. Of course, in doing so he actively sponsors what he believes to be unconstitutional spending -- you know, because his supporters and constituents demand it, of course. He claims that he is virtuous and pure because he votes against the bill that contains the spending, even though he knows that the spending line items he supports will be enacted anyway. So much for his principles and claims to be a strict constitutionalist -- if he were, he would refuse to put the spending into the bill in the first place on the grounds that it is unconstitutional.

I'm curious -- since Ron Paul by his own admission is willing to lay aside his principles and alleged devotion to the Constitution for his supporters and constituents, why should we believe that he will not do the same for these hate-mongering campaign contributors?

Posted by: Greg at 07:56 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Not long ago, I was expressing hopes that Fidel Castro would fade from the world scene. It appears that the Cuban dictator will not go gently into that good night (or, more likely, the gaping maw of Hell which awaits him).

Fidel Castro remains on the mend, gaining weight, exercising twice a day and continuing to help make the Cuban government's top decisions, his brother Raul Castro says.

The island's acting president gave the first clues about his brother's health in weeks, saying during a Monday speech that he has a "healthier mentality, full use of his mental faculties with some small physical limitations."

At 76, Raul is five years younger than his ailing brother, who has not been seen in public since announcing he had undergone emergency intestinal surgery and was stepping down in favor of a provisional government in July 2006.

But the younger Castro said his brother remains a key voice in government and that Communist Party leaders support his re-election to Cuba's parliament, the National Assembly — a move that could allow Fidel Castro to keep his post as president of the Council of State.

"We consult him on principal matters, that is why we the leaders of the party defend his right to run again as deputy of the National Assembly as a first step," Raul Castro said.

And so the dictatorship will continue. It is a pity, for the Cuban people deserve better than the decades of oppression they have suffered -- oppression which has caused their best and brightest to flee. And yet we can still hope for a brighter day for Cuba, one in which his corpse is treated with the abuse and contempt received by the body of the dictator Mussolini.

Posted by: Greg at 03:52 AM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
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California has a very odd view of property rights -- it seems that if you operate a business open to the public, you are subject to all the impediments placed upon government by the First Amendment. This means, of course, that if there are any "public areas" to the establishment, the public can come in and engage in speech that is detrimental to one's business or that or one's clients.

That leads to decisions like this one.

The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that privately owned shopping malls cannot stop protesters from demonstrating there to urge a boycott of one of the tenants.

In a 4-to-3 decision, the court said a San Diego mall violated California law protecting free speech when its owners barred protesters from distributing leaflets in front of one of the mallÂ’s stores, asking shoppers not to give the store their business.

“A shopping mall is a public forum in which persons may reasonably exercise their right to free speech,” Justice Carlos R. Moreno wrote in the majority opinion.

Justice Moreno said shopping malls were entitled to enact and enforce “reasonable regulations of the time, place and manner of such free expression,” to avoid a disruption of business.

“But they may not prohibit certain types of speech based upon its content,” he wrote, like speech urging a boycott of stores.

Thre are, of course, two points in this article that leap rapidly to mind.

1) Why the heck can't private property owners prohibit any or all speech -- including based upon content -- as a proper and legitimate exercise of their property rights?

2) Why has this case taken nearly a decade to percolate through the courts? After all, this is based upon a protest that took place in 1998!

But the bigger issue in my book is that a shopping mall is not a public forum -- it is a place of business to which the public is invited for the limited purpose of shopping. To the degree that groups are invited in for other purposes -- such as carolers in the central plaza or antique car shows or other such events -- that is done to facilitate the primary purpose of the shopping mall, which is the sale of tenant merchandise. And to require that the mall permit speech explicitly intended to disrupt that the primary purpose of the mall seems to be an outrageous infringement upon the property rights of the owners and the rights of their tenants.

Posted by: Greg at 03:37 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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I don't know about you, but I enjoy good jokes every now and then. And certainly there are lots of places to find jokes on the internet. You can find lots of funny jokes at LotsOfJokes.com, categorized by type. Some are funny, some are groaners, and some are a bit on the dicey side -- but hey, a good joke is always worth it.

I especially enjoyed this one, which contains more than a grain of truth about my profession.

As a new school principal, Mr. Mitchell was checking over his school on the first day. Passing the stockroom, he was startled to see the door wide open and teachers bustling in and out, carrying off books and supplies in preparation for the arrival of students the next day. The school where he had been a Principal the previous year had used a check-out system only slightly less elaborate than that at Fort Knox. Cautiously, he asked the school's long time Custodian, "Do you think it's wise to keep the stock room unlocked and to let the teachers take things without requisitions?" The Custodian looked at him gravely... "We trust them with the children, don't we?"

Posted by: Greg at 06:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Christmas is a time of hope, of expectation. We mark the birth of a child whose tragic fate we know, and yet we exult because of the glorious triumph that grows out of that seeming ignominious death and the possibility that opens for each of us.

And yet, some years it seems that there is much in this world to despair over.

And so I offer you one of my favorite Christmas songs, which reminds us that the victory has already been won for us by our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

And in this day when the prophets of faithlessness seek to disparage and deny the truth of the Gospel, I repeat with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow the most stirring words of this composition -- God is not dead, nor doth He sleep!

May each of you find your hearts filled with joy this Christmas, and may you find your spirit renewed with the Easter Promise contained within the Christmas Miracle.

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Outside the Beltway, Stop the ACLU, Is It Just Me?, The Midnight Sun, Rosemary's Thoughts, Stix Blog, Right Truth, Shadowscope, DragonLady's World, Stuck On Stupid, Leaning Straight Up, The Amboy Times, Chuck Adkins, Pursuing Holiness, Adeline and Hazel, third world county, DragonLady's World, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Stageleft, Right Voices, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, 123beta, guerrilla radio, Adam's Blog, Cao's Blog, Big Dog's Weblog, Conservative Cat, Nuke's, Faultline USA, Allie is Wired, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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A Republic not a Monarchy.

There is a Christmas story at the birth of this country that very few Americans know. It involves a single act by George Washington -- his refusal to take absolute power -- that affirms our own deepest beliefs about self-government, and still has profound meaning in today's world. To appreciate its significance, however, we must revisit a dark period at the end of America's eight-year struggle for independence.

The story begins with Gen. Washington's arrival in Annapolis, Md., on Dec. 19, 1783. The country was finally at peace -- just a few weeks earlier the last British army on American soil had sailed out of New York harbor. But the previous eight months had been a time of terrible turmoil and anguish for Gen. Washington, outwardly always so composed. His army had been discharged and sent home, unpaid, by a bankrupt Congress -- without a victory parade or even a statement of thanks for their years of sacrifices and sufferings.

George Washington could have seized power.

His officers and men would have supported him.

The powers of Europe would have certainly reacted favorably.

And we might well live today with some royal family or other ruling over us, with not the notion of "a republican form of government" nothing but a pipe=dream of a few political scientists and philosophers.

Instead, Washington committed an act of moral and political heroism that ultimately lead to the creation of the nation we know today. Read about it here.

Posted by: Greg at 04:36 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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So I'm hoping the New England Patriots lose this weekend, and end the season 15-1.

With the New England Patriots now one win away from finishing the regular season undefeated, Sen. John Kerry is stepping up his campaign to get the final game broadcast on national television.

The contest Saturday with the New York Giants is to air locally in Boston and New York. But outside those markets it is scheduled to appear only on the NFL Network, a cable channel that reaches just 35 million households nationwide while the league and cable operators dicker over pricing and distribution.

Kerry asked football Commissioner Roger Goodell today to move the game to NBC – and threatened Senate hearings if he does not.

“Under the unfortunate circumstance that this matter remains unresolved, leaving 60 percent of households across the country – including thousands in Massachusetts – without access to Saturday’s game, I will ask the Senate Commerce Committee to hold hearings on how the emergence of premium sports channels are impacting the consumer,” he wrote to Goodell today in a letter released by his office.

The Massachusetts Democrat added that he would “consider what legislative measures may be necessary to ensure that consumers are more than bystanders in this process.”

Actually, the appropriateremedy is for the cable companies to be required to follow the terms of their agreement with the NFL and make the NFL Network a part of their basic cable package. Unfortunately, a single state court set a nation-wide precedent on the matter some months back, allowing the cable companies to violate their agreement.

And if we can't make the cable companies abide by the agreement, maybe the time has come for Congress to mandate an end to monopolistic cable franchises -- so that consumers can have a choice in cable providers, just as they do with their long distance service..

Posted by: Greg at 04:11 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Bravo to Dinesh D'Souza for making clear the absurdity of those who would expunge Christ from the public square and American culture.

But apply this logic to another holiday and its absurdity becomes manifest. Imagine if the ACLU filed lawsuits nationwide to remove all references to Martin Luther King on Martin Luther King day. The reason is that not everyone agrees that King's legacy was a positive one, and that the main beneficiaries of King's activism have been African Americans and other minorities. Southern segregationists, in particular, feel excluded from King's "beloved community." So in the name of diversity and tolerance all monuments and symbols and references to King should be erased. Instead Martin Luther King day becomes another "happy holiday."

This would be crazy. The answer to the ACLU would go something like this: "We are honoring King because we believe he has changed our civilization and our world vastly for the better. If you don't agree, by all means write a letter to the editor. But it is intolerance bordering on bigotry for institutions to get rid of all references to King simply because some people don't like him or feel excluded by his vision."

Like it or not, the Western Culture of which our nation is a part is in large part rooted in Christianity. Many of our cultural celebrations and practices are influenced by and connected to the Christian faith. Those who seek to wipe them out are not just attacking the faith of the overwhelming majority of Americans, but also the bedrock upon which our society rests.

Such individuals are welcome here. Our nation, our society, are built upon toleration of differing beliefs, even those which are so wrong-headed and intolerant as those of the Christ-erasers. But as in the hypothetical above, their sense of exclusion is not a legitimate basis for the suppression of the heart-felt beliefs of the majority.

Posted by: Greg at 02:03 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Yesterday evening, I sent the following letter to Rep. John Davis of House District 129, in my official capacity as GOP Precinct Chair for Harris County Precinct 333. After much consideration, I have decided to post the letter here, in the hope of encouraging other Republicans to contact Davis and encourage him to withdraw from the race. It is my belief that the people of District 129 and the State of Texas deserve better in the Texas Legislature.

Dear Rep. Davis:

This is a hard email to write, especially at this time of the year. Unfortunately, the filing deadline make this the appropriate time for me to say these things to you, despite the proximity to the holidays.

I have talked with a number of my fellow Republicans, both in my precinct and outside of it. Some are grassroots leaders, some are long-time activists, and others are simply voters with no other involvement in the political process. As I have spoken with them, I have heard several common themes run through their comments on your candidacy for reelection. These can be summarized as follows:

1. "I like John, but I'm not impressed with how he represents the district."

2. "John really doesn't present himself well in public settings -- I'm worried that will hurt him this year."

3. "I can't think of a significant accomplishment of his that has benefited our area."

4. "Constituent services are really slow."

As you can see, the image problem is big. Still, I think you could overcome these problems were it not for the point that was touched upon by every single person with whom I spoke.

"John has shown some really poor judgment in how he handles his campaign money and by casting votes for other legislators. He appears corrupt and sleazy, even if there is a reasonable explanation for everything."

Frankly, I do not believe you can overcome that perception among our own primary voters. Furthermore, I believe that this is a problem that will be exploited by the Democrats in the fall if you do survive the primary, and that you are likely to be defeated in November as a result. As such, I find myself unable to support or endorse your candidacy for reelection.

This morning I had a long talk with one my fellow worshipers following the service. This wonderful lady, a long-time Republican who has served as a precinct chair, RWC officer, and campaign volunteer for your campaign, looked me in the eye and said something that touched my heart quite deeply.

"I've known John and his wife for years, and am very fond of them both. As things stand, I just can't support him this time around. Unfortunately, this is going to be a very ugly campaign, and I would hate to see him put Jayne and the boys through it. Please tell him that he needs to drop out of this race for their sake, and for the sake of the people of the district. We just don't need things to be like this."

I have to say that she is right. I believe the best course of action for you, your family, and your constituents is for you to step aside and allow a someone else to be the GOP standard-bearer this November. I urge you to immediately withdraw as a candidate for reelection in House District 129.

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Posted by: Greg at 05:59 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I've commented on the long legacy of hatred and bigotry spewed by the Democrats since their foundation.

Columnist Bruce Bartlett has been kind enough to share some of that legacy with us -- from the founders of the Democrat Party to the present day.

We know what they were.

We know what they are.

We know what they always will be.

To cast a vote for a Democrat is to cast a vote against equality, liberty, and human dignity.

Here are the quotes assembled by Mr. Bartlett for your consideration. more...

Posted by: Greg at 10:24 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And someone in the Clear Lake area is getting one.

My wife and I were driving home from lunch and trivia at BW3 in Webster when we saw one of these in the bed of a pickup truck.

I would never have believed such a thing -- a recliner done in a Mossy Oak Camouflage! And what's more, I just discovered that you can even get a matching sofa and love seat.

You've gotta love any wife who would let that thing through the front door, that's for sure!

OPEN TRACKBACKING AT Outside the Beltway, Stop the ACLU, Is It Just Me?, The Midnight Sun, Rosemary's Thoughts, Stix Blog, Right Truth, Shadowscope, Stuck On Stupid, Leaning Straight Up, The Amboy Times, Chuck Adkins, Pursuing Holiness, Adeline and Hazel, third world county, DragonLady's World, Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Stageleft, Right Voices, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, 123beta, guerrilla radio, Adam's Blog, Cao's Blog, Big Dog's Weblog, Conservative Cat, Nuke's, Faultline USA, Allie is Wired, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Posted by: Greg at 09:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In light of this editorial in the New York Times, I feel a need to repost what I wrote a couple of weeks ago on the topic.

Let's begin with this caveat: No system for casting and counting votes is fool-proof or fraud-proof. For that reason, I take the comments by Ohio's secretary of state with a grain of salt. That said, she raises an important point.

All five voting systems used in Ohio, a state whose electoral votes narrowly swung two elections toward President Bush, have critical flaws that could undermine the integrity of the 2008 general election, a report commissioned by the stateÂ’s top elections official has found.

“It was worse than I anticipated,” the official, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, said of the report. “I had hoped that perhaps one system would test superior to the others.”

At polling stations, teams working on the study were able to pick locks to access memory cards and use hand-held devices to plug false vote counts into machines. At boards of election, they were able to introduce malignant software into servers.

Ms. Brunner proposed replacing all of the stateÂ’s voting machines, including the touch-screen ones used in more than 50 of OhioÂ’s 88 counties. She wants all counties to use optical scan machines that read and electronically record paper ballots that are filled in manually by voters.

When the eSlate system was adopted here in Harris County, I strongly urged against it. I wanted to see an optical scanner system adopted because of the paper trail it would provide. That said, I figure that if I can trust an ATM with my money, I can also trust a system like the one we have and like those they have in Ohio.

"But," some will object, "doesn't this show that the machines can be tampered with?"

Yeah, it does.

But if the conditions are what I suspect they were, the test itself was essentially meaningless. The testers would have been given unlimited access to and time with the equipment, access to schematics and source code, and would not have faced any of the other security methods imposed by elections officials. These are not conditions that anyone tampering with election results is likely to face.

And let's not forget that there are ways to game an optical scanner system. You can still program the software to miscount votes. You can still add fake voters to the rolls or vote folks who were not at the polls. Ballots can still be tampered with after they are cast. In other words, optical scanners have many of the same flaws as both the paperless systems and the punch card system used in much of the country prior to the 2000 fiasco in Florida. No system is perfect.

Indeed, the only real safeguard of an election is the integrity of those who are involved in the process of running the election, from state officials to county and city elections officials to those of us who actually operate the polling places on Election Day. And so while I explicitly endorse a change to optical scanners, I am under no illusion that erroneous vote counts or outright election fraud can ever be completely eliminated until we can figure out a way to eliminate human fallibility and mankind's sinful nature from the equation.

Oh, and let me correct a point from the NY Times editorial -- the 2000 presidential election was not "irreparably harmed" -- every subsequent study of the 2000 vote has shown that the winner in Florida was George W. Bush. And if there was irreparable harm done, it was by Al Gore and his minions in their attempt to overturn the results of the election so as to award Florida's electoral votes to the candidate who lost the state. Fortunately, the repeated erroneous rulings by SCOFLA (Supreme Court of Florida) were overturned by the United States Supreme Court, which saved the nation from the irreparable harm of an election stolen through partisan chicanery and judicial malfeasance.

Posted by: Greg at 03:31 AM | Comments (262) | Add Comment
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How can folks help their local schools and student organizations raise money? By participating in easy school fundraisers -- including those where all school fundraising supporters do is purchase things — whether online or otherwise — using their credit card. You can also dedicate a portion of it for your church or an organization of your choosing.

So far, folks participating in the program offered by SchoolPop.com have contributed over $200 million to such organization. You can even contribute by just paying your student loans through them!

Sounds like a great way to raise money for worthy causes, doing things you would do anyway.

Posted by: Greg at 03:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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But then again, what else is new? They really don't seem to understand the dynamics at work in CD22.

People from across the globe live in the growing Houston suburbs that make up the 22nd Congressional District, which has been represented most recently by politicians born elsewhere in Texas: Tom DeLay, Shelley Sekula Gibbs, briefly, and now Nick Lampson.

But in the congested race for the Republican nomination to face Democrat Lampson in the November 2008 election, the candidates' roots, in and out of the district, have become an issue in the campaign.

* * *

The term "carpetbagger" was created for Northerners who moved to the South seeking riches after the Civil War. Republican contenders in the local race apply it to Lampson because he once represented a nearby congressional district that included his birthplace of Beaumont — although Lampson is quick to point out his family has deep roots in Fort Bend County.

Without naming names, some of the eight Republican candidates also use the term to favorably compare their home-turf credentials to those of their opponents in the March GOP primary — especially since at first glance there appears to be little room for the contenders to one-up each other on being conservative.

Speaking as a GOP precinct chair here in CD22, I don't care where someone was born -- but then again, I say that as a man who was born in an Army hospital in San Francisco and who moved into CD22 only 10 1/2 years ago. However, I think most of my friends and neighbors share that perspective.

The problem, of course, is not who was born where. The issue is really one of who knows the district and has roots here to represent it well.

If you look at the overwhelming majority of the GOP candidates, they are rooted in the communities of the district. That is true of Shelley Sekula Gibbs, Talton, Hrbacek, Manlove, and even Rowley. Squier cannot say that. And Pete Olsen, a good man beyond all doubt, hasn't lived here in 15-20 years, and I understand that he didn't even have a Texas DL or voter registration until a few months ago.

More to the point, there is the question of where the money is coming from to finance candidates. Most of these folks are getting the bulk of their cash from within the district (or at least the Houston area), while one is getting most of his cash from DC lobbyists and other Beltway insiders.

Too bad that they Chronicle missed what the real point of the discussion is all about. But then again, why am I surprised at the shamefully poor level of political reporting from what is supposed to be a major metropolitan daily? They've done a lousy job of it for years.

Posted by: Greg at 03:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Posted by: Greg at 01:50 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are "The Courage to Do Nothing" by Big Lizards, and A Stand-up President by The Ornery American.  Here is a link to the full results of the vote:

Congratulations to all. Interestingly enough, both my nominees came in #4 in the vote. Well, maybe we will do better next time.

Posted by: Greg at 12:40 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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