The interactive portion of the show...

Anyone who has read this page more than once knows that Saturday is "Diane Lane Photo of the Week" day. I'm going to let readers decide. Should tomorrow's photo be a) sexy, b) cute or 3) classic beauty.

You can vote either by posting a comment on this thread or send me an email. Majority rules. Voting closes at 7:00am tomorrow morning.

Posted by: Gary at 09:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Quote of the WEEK...

From Neil Boortz, syndicated Conservative Radio Personality, rabid libertarian and funny S.O.B.:

"OK, so Tom Cruise has a new girlfriend. BFD. The very fact that this is such a huge news item is a symbol of the pathetic celebrity culture that infects our nation. By the end of the weekend more people will be able to tell you the name of Cruise's new girlfriend (Katie something-or-other) than the name of both of their U.S. Senators."

Posted by: Gary at 09:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Darth Side Blog...

Oh, this is just too good not to share: Darth Vader's blog. Thanks to Viking Pundit for the link.

Posted by: Gary at 08:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Australian farmers create human land-fill...

A group of Australian farmers are opening a "feet-first" graveyard as a no-fuss alternative to traditional burials.

The eco-friendly cemetery will bury the deceased vertically to save space and in bio degradable bags in a field to be used later as pasture.

I don't know about you but I think there's something particularly creepy about this idea. Seems too much like a "mass grave". And then, over time, they just kind of forget about you. No thanks.

Bodies will be stored in a morgue in Melbourne and buried in batches of 12 to 15 in three-metre pre-drilled holes.

Posted by: Gary at 04:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Democrats Scorn Frist Offer on Filibusters...

Just as expected, Harry Reid and the gang have turned down Bill Frist's compromise deal on judicial nominations, exposing their strategy - which is simply to prevent certain nominees from ever receiving a floor vote. The deal, which allowed for a maximum of 100 hours of debate for each nominee (about three weeks of actual Senate floor time - 50 hours of which would belong to Democrats to "make their case" against that nominee). But the truth is Democrats really have nothing to say that would convince anyone that these men and women are not well-qualified or don't deserve confirmation.

So the Democrats pathetically try once again to dig in and hunker down.

Democrats have threatened to shut down the Senate for all nonessential business if Republicans employ the option, which is likely to come sometime next month if a deal is not struck before then.

So, now there are no excuses. The Senate is in recess next week - again. It returns May 9th where the first order of business will be the highway bill. At any point between now and Memorial Day, Frist could initiate the filibuster rule change. We're waiting Senator....

Posted by: Gary at 02:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Perfect Birthday Present For Saddam...

Iraq formally established its new democratically-elected government on April 28, which also happens to be Saddam Hussein's 68th birthday. Is that sweet or what? Congratulations to the Iraqi people!

Oh, and happy birthday, scumbag!! Bwaaahaaaahaaaahaaaaa!!!!!!!!

Thanks to Arthur Chrenkoff for the tip.

Posted by: Gary at 12:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Iraqi President sends letter of thanks to Tony Blair, British people...

In a heartfelt letter published in The Sun, newly elected Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, expresses his gratitude to PM Blair and the citizens of Great Britain for their help in ridding his nation of Saddam, allowing the nation to renew its freedom after forty years of war. President Talabani called the Baghdad butcher "in the view of those who opposed him, Iraq's most dangerous WMD".

The letter should be read in full, but here is an excerpt:

"Instead of continually focusing on the negative, the British, who will soon commemorate the 60th anniversary of VE day, should know that in the eyes of the
majority of Iraqis, it was you who brought us our own victory day.

Britain should be proud that the liberation of Iraq has in our eyes been one of your finest hours.

History will judge Prime Minister Blair as a champion against tyranny. Of that I have no doubt.

We are not reticent about expressing our great thanks to the British people and paying homage to tragic British losses."

I sincerely hope that voters in the UK strongly consider these words when they go to the polls next Thursday.

Hat Tip: Winds of Change

Posted by: Gary at 09:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Harry Reid bombshell: Would take a "miracle" to win back the Senate...

I know he's merely stating the obvious, but for Sen. Harry Reid to admit that publicly is telling. The Washington Times reports that on the Senate floor, Reid said "I would think a miracle would have to happen and we would pick up five seats this time." These are the words of a beaten man. Both Democrats and Republicans privately acknowledged that his remark was a stunner.

"After listening to Senator Reid's political spin about judicial nominees for the last several weeks, it is good to hear him come back to reality -- if even for a brief moment," said Brian Nick, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "Senator Reid can do the math: A Democratic Party, plus no ideas, plus obstruction, plus over-the-top partisan rhetoric equals continued minority."

Don't expect the MSM to report this remark at all. Actually the real miracle will be if the Dems don't lose more seats in 2006.

Posted by: Gary at 06:56 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Glenn Reynolds on Andrew Sullivan's "hand-wringing"...

Instapundit takes Sullivan to task on his "theocracy obsession".

I do think, though, that Andrew's constant complaints about theocracy aren't helping and indeed make even his valid points less persuasive. Andrew did a wonderful job of convincing undecideds -- and even some decided-againsts -- to think positively of gay rights and gay marriage, but lately his tone has been such that I doubt it's winning many converts. I support gay marriage, though no doubt with less intensity than Andrew, but it's clearly a minority position in the country, and last year's courtroom "victories" seem to have done more harm than good. You go from being a minority position, to a majority position, by convincing people that you're right. It's not clear to me that playing the theocracy card will do that. Because either the American people agree with the "theocrats'" program, in which case there's not much difference between theocracy and democracy, and you'd really better start changing some minds, or they don't agree with it, in which case they'll discipline the Republicans at the next election -- assuming that the opposition doesn't discredit itself to an even greater degree first.

Posted by: Gary at 11:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The American Flag League...

Pirate's Cove has a great blog alliance for all blogs that feature some form of American flag. I've been added to the blogroll!

If you want to join, go here.

Side note: In addition to an original photo of Old Glory by yours truly and the South Park photo, I've also added a quote to the right sidebar from Zell Miller which sums up my personal feelings quite nicely.

Oh, and I've also added the scurvy sumbitch to the blogroll.

Posted by: Gary at 10:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Bush "Presser"...

I tried "semi-live" blogging the press conference. Watched the tape. Hey, I have three young kids ya know!

But after making the rounds it's clear that TigerHawk has the best all around thread. Hell, it's practically a transcript...with good analysis stuck in for good measure. Go read it here.

Posted by: Gary at 10:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Bush Press Conference Moved Up to 8:00pm...

per CNSNews. Guess too many people called in bitching that "Will & Grace" would've been bumped had it stayed at 8:30.

Bush to give 10-12 minute statement preceeding questions.

Posted by: Gary at 05:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One last try...

Sen. Bill Frist is publicly putting forth a compromise on judicial nominations. Personally, I'm tired hearing about compromises but this one is at least reasonable and with it, the GOP stands to lose nothing. Byron York at The Corner gives the details (all emphasis mine):

a) Guaranteed up-or-down votes on nominations for Circuit Courts of Appeals and Supreme Court nominees.

b) Guaranteed debate time of up to 100 hours for those nominees.

c) Guaranteed reporting of nominees from the Senate Judiciary committee to the Senate floor.

d) Guaranteed protection of the legislative filibuster.

Republicans say the deal would address the grievances of both parties in the last decade, that is, that nominees of both parties were not allowed up-or-down votes on the Senate floor. But Democrats are sure to reject the offer unless it were accompanied by a GOP offer to withdraw some or all of the president's currently filibustered nominees, and Republican sources tell National Review that Frist will not give any ground on any of those current nominees.

If the Democrats happen to accept, the Republican majority in the Senate will have the opportunity it wants - a straight up or down vote on nominees. If they refuse - which I'm sure they will - then they have nakedly revealed their true intention which is not the ability to debate but merely the power to obstruct and shoot down any nominees that the Liberal special interest groups find objectionable.

This seems coordinated to segue into Bush's press conference tonight. It'll give the President the opportunity to reiterate the offer, spell out how reasonable it is to the American people and make the Democrats look petty. Also, it seems pretty Rove-like to tee this one up heading into the weekend news cycle as the dominant story. Excellent. I think we could probably expect a move on the filibuster rule on Monday or Tuesday.

Posted by: Gary at 03:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Ann Coulter: Drag Liberals Into The Light...

In her column at WorldNetDaily:

"Republicans have got to learn to stop getting into technicalities with the Democrats. They win in the dark; we win in the light. And it doesn't get much darker than a discussion of the Senate filibuster."

Democrats use generalities and ad hominem attacks to generate sound bites and deflect attention away from the details of a debate. If you explain something to the American people in common sense terms and focus on the heart of the matter, it's not all that hard for Republicans to make their case. They just always seem to have such a hard time doing it. Can we get Ann to head the RNC?

"If the details helped liberals, I promise you we'd be hearing the details. Most important, if liberals could win in the court of public opinion, they wouldn't need the federal courts to hand them their victories in the first place. The reason liberals refuse to elaborate on "extremist right-wing ideologue" is that they need liberal courts to give them gay marriage, a godless Pledge of Allegiance, abortion on demand, nude dancing, rights for pederasts, and everything else they could never win in America if it were put to a vote.

Republicans are letting them get away with it by allowing the debate on judges to consist of mind-numbing arguments about the history of the filibuster. Note to Republicans: Of your six minutes on television, use 30 seconds to point out the Democrats are abusing the filibuster and the other 5 1/2 minutes to ask liberals to explain why they think Bush's judicial nominees are 'extreme.'"

Posted by: Gary at 11:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Time to vote, eh?

Reuters reports that Canadian Conservatives led by Stephen Harper are "moving in for the kill" to wrest control of Parliament from the Liberals. Mired in scandal, PM Paul Martin's party may have to face the music at the polls as early as June 27.

Despite the fact that the New Democrat Party (NPD) ultimately whored its 19-seat support to the Liberals in exchange for a budget compromise, the parties' combined votes only add up to 151, with 155 needed to stave off a "no-confidence" vote that would trigger new elections. The deal in question would delay tax cuts for businesses and boost government spending by C$4.6 billion (or US$3.7 billion) over the next two years. The tax cuts in question had the potential to boost economic growth by C$5 billion a year and help create 340,000 jobs. So now Canadians are facing the prospect of spending even more to keep a corrupt government in place. Nice.

The Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois have 153 votes between them. The wildcards here are three independent legislators, one of which has publicly expressed an unwillingness to vote against a new election. Per Reuters:

Three non-confidence motions are winding their way through the machinery of Parliament and the earliest they are likely to be voted on by the House of Commons is May 18 or 19, paving the way for a late June election.

Support for Conservatives is in the lead in recent polling.

Posted by: Gary at 08:45 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Prime Time Bush Press Conference Set...

President Bush schedule an 8:30pm press conference for tonight, his first in over a year.

The thrust of of questions will no doubt focus on Social Security reform but this will be a perfect opportunity to go to straight to the voters and chastise the obstructionist Democrats.

Posted by: Gary at 07:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Peggy Noonan on the Bolton fight...

In today's OpinionJournal.com:

"Bad temper is a bad thing in a public servant, but it is not the worst thing. Worse is the person who judges all questions as either career-enhancing or career-retarding, who lets the right but tough choice slide if standing for it will make him controversial and therefore a target. Mr. Bolton apparently never does that. Worse is the person who doesn't really care that the right thing be done, as long he gets his paycheck. That's not Mr. Bolton either. Worse still is the cynic who is above caring about anything beyond his own concerns. And that isn't Mr. Bolton either."

Posted by: Gary at 07:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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How Does This Hag Make People Magazine's "Most Beautiful"?!?

Yeah, that's more like it. Mmmmm. She gets my vote!

Posted by: Gary at 08:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Katie Dearest...

You know I remember when Ann Coulter called Katie Couric the "Eva Braun of the main stream media" in her one of her books. At the time, that was considered a little "offsides".

Now that the New York Times has taken to revealing the Katie that all her co-workers have come to know and dread, her image has looking a little worse for wear lately. Myrna Bluth takes a look at the real Katie Couric in NRO and has some thoughts as to why the "Today" show's ratings are in the toilet.

But what I think has contributed to Katie's major loss of appeal is that millions of women have finally caught onto the liberal bias in much of her reporting. Katie, like many women in media, just assumed that all women — just because they were women — agreed with them about issues such as gun control and abortion. She has always been at her sharpest, interviewing those with conservative points of view while throwing softballs at her political favorites. And Katie's attitudes and opinions did have considerable influence with women. That's because for years she has come into millions of women's homes on a daily basis, seemingly so concerned about their needs, able to both dish diets and criticize the government's policy in Iraq, swoon over celebrities and swoon over Hillary.

Katie marketed herself like a friend — a sophisticated girlfriend — and women want to agree with their friends — up to a point. In the last election the majority of married women with children, exactly the Today Show's typical viewers, voted for President Bush. Many participants in AOL's chat room yesterday complained about Katie's obvious bias and said they had departed to Fox and Friends, Fox News's morning show, or Good Morning America, where Diane Sawyer shrewdly seems to hide her own opinions behind, in Stanley's words, her "poised, creamy insincerity."

And of course, that ever-present perkiness doesn't hold a candle to E.D. Hill's genuine warmth and likability. Or Juliet Huddy for that matter.

Posted by: Gary at 04:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Andrew Sullivan Freak-Out Advisory Alert...

We are at RED. Kevin at Wizbang updates!

Posted by: Gary at 04:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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