Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter Eight is posted.

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U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton has ruled the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools to be unconstitutional. Of course, here we go again back up the 9th "Circus" Court where that decision will no doubt be affirmed and it will head to the Supreme Court.

I am so sick and tired of these "secularist" groups going on and on about their little feelings being hurt because the have to endure being a tiny minority who is actually bothered by something like this. What bullshit. Here's a reality check, guys: You are not guaranteed the right to "not be offended" or "not be made to feel uncomfortable" by the U.S. Constitution.

They just don't get it. Even if they "technically" win on this issue, they're not going to get the majority of the population of this country to stop saying "under God" when they say the Pledge. Hell, most people will say those two words hoping that they're pissing off some atheists in the room.

You may succeed in changing the law, guys. But you'll never change the culture. You're swimming upstream on this one.

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She has a good column in the NY Post today.

Let's set aside the utter boneheaded-ness of using a symbol that, inadvertently or not, commemorates the killers' faith instead of the victims' revolt. The soft-and-fuzzy memorial design of "Crescent of Embrace" still does injustice to the steely courage of Flight 93's passengers and crew. It evokes the defeatism embodied by those behind a similar move to turn the 9/11 memorial in New York City into a pacifist guilt complex.

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1 I wonder if "Flaming Sword of Just Vindication' would be a better name.

Posted by: mdmhvonpa at September 14, 2005 01:16 PM (6x1mQ)

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They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!

Damn, that's a catchy tune.

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California radio station KOMY began broadcasting Air America back in July and the station owner, Michael Zwerling, has been begging and pleading local advertisers to by ad time on the station. That's right, since the station began airing the Liberal programming not a SINGLE BUSINESS has purchased advertising time!

However it's sister station, KSCO, which broadcasts Rush Limbaugh's show, is virtually SOLD OUT of its available ad time.

Boo-freaking-Hoo!

Limbaugh suggested Zwerling change his strategy towards looking for donors rather than sponsors:

"I think this is the lesson for all of you who wish to show some sort of financial revenue income by carrying liberal radio. You have to orient yourself to fund-raising, not commerce. Commerce has never been part of the recipe here. ... This guy has made a terrible blunder. He thought liberal radio was about commerce and dollars and business and selling advertising, and that's not what it's about. ... You are doing something good for the cause."

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What follows is a transcript of a scene that didn't make it into the Extended Edition of Peter Jackson's "The Two Towers", reproduced in full.

Sam?

Yes Mr. Frodo?

Why do you keep looking at me like that?

Like what, Mr. Frodo?

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1 Wonder why this didn't make it into the extended edition? Damn conservatives! :wink:

Posted by: Wordsmith from Nantucket at September 13, 2005 01:31 PM (nrGCx)

2 LOL.

Posted by: NYgirl at September 13, 2005 07:57 PM (JEAUq)

3 I'm not a "Tolkien Geek" by any stretch, but I think those guys were hot for Gandalf. Didya see the way they were all jumping on the bed at the end, all grinning like fools, saying "GANDALF" all dopey. No, no, no...I'll take Star Wars any day!

Posted by: GroovyVic at September 14, 2005 06:20 AM (DVnJg)

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Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter Seven is posted.

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1 Since this is a geek-oriented post, methinks it's the perfect forum to test the smilies. :wink:

Posted by: sadie at September 13, 2005 05:36 AM (7SNDe)

2 I do believe they've inhabited your comments...and they'll work inside entries too. See recent football-geekery posting of yours. Heh.

Posted by: sadie at September 13, 2005 05:38 AM (7SNDe)

3 Just one more for now, I do promise. Can't help myself.

Posted by: sadie at September 13, 2005 05:39 AM (7SNDe)

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Can be found here, courtesy of NRO's Bench Memos.

Two notable quotes:

"Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ball game to see the umpire."

"If I am confirmed, I will confront every case with an open mind. I will fully and fairly analyze the legal arguments that are presented. I will be open to the considered views of my colleagues on the bench. And I will decide every case based on the record, according to the rule of law, without fear or favor, to the best of my ability. And I will remember that it's my job to call balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat." [emphasis mine]

Roberts gets it. He'll make a fine Chief Justice.

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1 Keep your fingers crossed

Posted by: NYgirl at September 12, 2005 08:29 PM (JEAUq)

2 I think at this point, Roberts is completely "un-Borkable". I predict he will be in the robe on October 3.

Posted by: Gary at September 12, 2005 10:39 PM (QXrIa)

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Crazy old Uncle Al is at it again. In a speech to the Sierra Club in San Fran, he not only blames Bush for the aftermath of Katrina but implies that, because of Global Warming, the President knew just how bad it would be:

Bush administration officials have said Katrina's damage could not have been anticipated, but Gore rejected that.

"What happened was not only knowable, it was known in advance, in great and painstaking detail. They did tabletop planning exercises. They identified exactly what the scientific evidence showed would take place," Gore said.

Clearly the former Vice-President is off his meds again. So Al, how's your multi-million dollar public access channel doing these days?

UPDATE: 4:55pm
On a related note, Mac Johnson of Human Events lays out five proposals that would make future efforts more successful.

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Princess Buttercup recently unleashed some gratuitous F-bombs for the benefit of the press. Angered by recent critics of her husband Sean Penn's recent jaunt to New Orleans, she let 'er rip:

"To them, I say 'F--k you!'" Robin Wright Penn told me yesterday at the Toronto International Film Festival, where she was hawking a very peculiar indie movie, "Sorry, Haters," in which she stars as a deranged but beautiful rap video channel employee who's seeking post-9/11 vengeance against a Syrian taxi driver.

"I think it's f-----g pathetic to be belittling him," Wright Penn raged - a blond, blue-eyed lioness protecting her mate.

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BullDogPundit did a check of the Lefty Blogosphere to see how the kind of folks that reflexively bitch about having their patriotism questioned honored the fallen.

The result was not pretty, when it was there at all.

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Giants - 42
Cards - 19

Off to a good start. The offense proves that if they give Manning enough weapons in his arsenal, good things will happen. Defense dominates. Special Teams not only didn't suck, they scored twice!

Ex-Donkey happy. :-)

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It hardly seems possible that four years has gone by. And yet the memory of that day is starting to fade. It'll never completely go away, nor should it.

September 11th has additional significance for me personally. On this day in 1993, my wife and I said "I Do" in front of a church full of friends and family. It was as beautiful a late summer day then as it was that morning four years ago. It's pretty hard to forget your wedding anniversary when it coincides with such an significant event in American history.

My wife and I were unsure what to do late that evening. We had already arranged for babysitting and we had planned to go out somewhere to celebrate. We didn't feel much like celebrating but being as it was such a long and emotionally draining day, we felt like we needed to get out of the house. We decided to get a bite to eat and go see a movie.

The restaurant was fairly empty, although being a Tuesday night this was not out of the ordinary. I had heard that President Bush was to make a statement at 8:30 and I wanted to watch it, but there were no TVs available so we headed on to the theater. It was one of those smaller venues with two or three screens that usually showed movies only after they had been out for a while. As we sat in our seats, we noticed that we were the only ones there. Some theaters had actually closed that evening and we were surprised that this particular one was open. We saw "The Others" and if it wasn't scary enough to begin with, try watching it all alone in a dark theater.

It takes place during World War II, on an island off the coast of England. There is one scene where the mother, played by Nicole Kidman, is reading to her children. One of the kids asks mummy, "Why are we at war with the Germans?" Without missing a beat, Kidman's character says (quite matter-of-factly) "Because we're the Goodies and they're the Baddies". For a split second, this answer seemed to me to be too simplistic and black-and-white - which is certainly the same point of view most of the Left still have today. But it wasn't long before it clicked that this was as apt a description of what we faced that day as any I would ever hear.

It WAS that simple. The United States and her allies, though far from perfect themselves, represented the Good that is the love of freedom and liberty. And the Islamofascists who would target innocent men, women and children and wantonly murder them represented the Bad - as Bad as you can imagine. There really is no middle ground. Either you support the cause of Hope or you tolerate the force of fear.

God help America if most of its citizens one day decide that the principles and ideals we hold dear are - in Cindy Sheehan's words - no longer "worth fighting for". However, I believe that will not happen. I remember clearly the words of President Bush when he addressed the Congress and the nation nine days after the attacks: "We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail".

We must always remember what is at stake. And we must always hold the families of those we lost in our prayers.

Posted by: Gary at 07:26 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 Excellent post. I agree with you that the distinction really is that simple. The mentality of the Left is the same one that will have you equate dictatorships and corrupt regimes as having the same moral equivalence and voice in the UN as we have. It's the view that we have no right to call it like we see it; that we should always look to see things from their point of view and what we need is sensitivity and more understanding. "F" that. I blogged about my own experiences. Didn't talk about the day of, but how I was affected personally with knowledge of the death of Ron Gamboa, who I knew, and who was a passenger on the 2nd plane to hit the South Tower. My favorite tribute is Remember the Blood of Heroes.

Posted by: Wordsmith from Nantucket at September 11, 2005 10:57 AM (nrGCx)

2 Happy Anniversary to you and your wife... Excellent post!

Posted by: GroovyVic at September 11, 2005 05:36 PM (/8Xom)

3 Congrats on your anniversary Wonderful post. It is sad how the left sees the death of a terrorist as being equal to the death of an innocent. They have lost all sence of perspective.

Posted by: NYgirl at September 11, 2005 07:16 PM (JEAUq)

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Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter Six is posted.

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Captain's Quarters

Have you seen the design for the new memorial for the victims of the ill-fated flight 93, which crash landed into an open field in Shanksville, PA - after the passengers and crew fought back against their Islamofascist killers? The so-called "Crescent of Embrace" is so obviously symbolic of the Islamic Crescent - as recognizable a symbol as the Christian Cross - but the architects thought people would be too stupid to notice.

How offensive is this? Captain Ed puts it into perspective by describing a known memorial as it could have been had these guys gotten a crack at building it.

Update: 11:20pm - Michelle Malkin links the graphic that reveals all...

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Ace has outdone himself on this one. He channels the events on Capitol Hill next week during the Roberts hearings and reveals all. This already made my weekend.

Warning: Not exactly "familty friendly" material.

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Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter Five is posted.

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Appeals Court overturns ruling by a Federal Judge on the status of the "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla as an "enemy combatant"

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the president has the authority to detain a U.S. citizen closely associated with al Qaida.

A federal judge in South Carolina had ruled in March that the government cannot hold Padilla indefinitely as an "enemy combatant," a designation President Bush gave him in 2002.

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Something's going kaflooey with Site Meter this morning. Thought is was just me at first, but I checked around on some other sites and they've all had their hit counts cut off at some point in the morning. Hey, can't really complain as this is the first time I remember this happening in over seven months.

Anybody know what the scoop is?

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