Month: May 2005

Firefox Browser Update Is Out

If you’re using Firefox as your web browser, an update (to 1.0.4) is available – – click the little red triangle update button at the upper right corner of the screen to download and install the update.

Just remember to unclick the “Use Firefox Home Page As Your Home Page” or whatever the heck it says. Boy, that annoys the heck out of me that they always want to redirect your home page back to Firefox’s home page. That’s user-unfriendly behavior that’s almost Microsoftian in its hostility, in my opinion.

Sioux Falls is #1

As reported in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader[*1] , Forbes Magazine has for the third straight year rated Sioux Falls, SD as the best small city (under 345,000 population) to start a business or a career. Rapid City, on the other end of South Dakota, ranked sixth.

Sioux Falls is a very, very nice town. Sadly, it’s too cold for Snookums, however.

CBS News Steps In It Again

CBS News aired part of an interview with Ken Starr[*1] (yes, Whitewater/Clintongate investigator Ken Starr) where CBS reported:

Many conservatives consider the fight over judges their political Armageddon, but conservative icon and former federal judge Ken Starr says it has gotten out of control, reports CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger.

“The confirmation process has not only become ugly and has become a shouting match,” he said. “This is a radical, radical departure from our history and our traditions and it amounts to an assault on the judicial branch of government.”

Only problem is that Starr wasn’t talking about the conservatives, as the quote implies, but about the Democrats stonewalling of judicial nominations.

Ramesh Ponnuru of the National Review[*2] e-mailed Starr, and got this response:

“In the piece that I have now seen, and which I gather is being lavishly quoted, CBS employed two snippets. The ‘radical departure’ snippet was specifically addressed — although this is not evidenced whatever from the clip — to the practice of invoking judicial philosopy as a grounds for voting against a qualified nominee of integrity and experience. I said in sharp language that that practice was wrong. I contrasted the current practice . . . with what occurred during Ruth Ginsburg’s nomination process, as numerous Republicans voted (rightly) to confirm a former ACLU staff lawyer. They disagreed with her positions as a lawyer, but they voted (again, rightly) to confirm her. Why? Because elections, like ideas, have consequences. . . . In the interview, I did indeed suggest, and have suggested elsewhere, that caution and prudence be exercised (Burkean that I am) in shifting/modifying rules (that’s the second snippet), but I likewise made clear that the ‘filibuster’ represents an entirely new use (and misuse) of a venerable tradition. . . .

Snookums wonders why I will not watch “60 Minutes.” Well, at this point, anyone who trusts anything coming out of CBS News is at best a dupe. Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” has more news credibility than CBS News.

Wisconsin Vote Fraud

Approximately 4,500 more ballots were cast than were registered voters in the Presidential election last November in Milwaukee.

The mainstream media awakens from their slumber:

Washington Post: Possible Voter Fraud Found in Milwaukee[*1]
San Francisco Chronicle: Investigators Find Evidence of Voter Fraud[*2]
Oshkosh Northwestern (editorial): Doyle losing more ground on ballot fraud problems[*3]
Indianapolis Star (editorial): Show your ID and avoid this mess[*4]

Powerline is more blunt: Was Wisconsin Stolen?[*5]

So, in the face of this as well as the ongoing Washington State gubernatorial controversy, why is the ironically named Democratic Party opposing the common-sense solution of presenting identification before being allowed to vote?

P.S. Anybody remember the incident where twenty (20!) Republican get-out-the-vote vans had their tires slashed[*6] the night before the election? “Isolated incident,” the Democratic machine leaders say, “nothing to see here, no conspiracy.”

Yeah, right.

P.P.S It will be amusing now to see the Google ads (over to the left) go nuts with bash-Bush pro-Democrat ads, now that I’ve posted an article which dares to use the D-word three times in a single article. Sheesh.

Marquette Re-Opens Nickname Search

Previously reported here, Marquette University has apparently heard the cries[*1] (and web sites[*2] ) of astonishment and outrage at their committee’s attempt to change their tepid “Golden Eagles” nickname to the even more lame (or would that be lame’?) “Gold.”

Frighteningly, Marquette president Robert Wild set the tone for a continuing debacle when he said in a written statement:[*3] “While I recognize that some people are disappointed that we are not reinstating the Warriors nickname, we cannot teach one principle about respect for human dignity in our classrooms and then fail to act by that same principle when making decisions,” President Robert Wild, S.J., said. “The Warriors nickname will always be part of our proud athletics tradition, and we will honor that tradition. But we live in a different era than when the Warriors nickname was selected in 1954. The perspective of time has shown us that our actions, intended or not, can offend others. We must not knowingly act in a way that others will believe, based on their experience, to be an attack on their dignity as fellow human beings.”

The “offend the offendable” game has always been dangerous to play. In this case, Wild simply has no idea how offensive his comment is. Several good friends of mine, my brother, my father, my father-in-law, and several other family members were all “warriors.” Their service should be honored, not mocked and distorted. The American Warrior defends human dignity, it is Wild who denies human dignity to those in the military profession. This reckless, closed-minded, disrespectful political correctness needs to be vigorously opposed wherever it occurs.

Wild and his ilk should be required to attend mandatory warrior sensitivity training.