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Wednesday, June 30, 2004These 3 Sins I'm really enjoying the new Gomez CD. One of the tracks is a song entitled "These 3 Sins." Not bad: These 3 sins have finally found me: Lust, Ambition and Greed Creepin' in the back door, they came without warning, they burned whatever they could steal they burned whatever they could steal So please could you go back where you came from again? We don't want to harm ya, We don't want to harm ya, We are not your armor, We're your friends. Da Comrades! Is All Part of Five Year Plan! 
I have no problem calling many Democrats socialists, because philosophically that is what they are. Of course, there is a political aversion to identifying Democrats as socialists, because it implies they are communists and inspires visions of red-baiting. Then again, why do all the work myself when I have Hillary Clinton to help me: "Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you," Sen. Clinton said. "We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."Now here's my problem. It's not that Hillary was so brazen as to suggest that the government had the right to pry from our wallets the taxdollars we worked so hard for our families to keep. It's that she accpets the idea as fiat; as her responsibility to inflict on working families. Let's make no mistake that individualism must triumph over socialism. We are a nation that is overtaxed to the extreme, and there is zero justification for the government to demand more of working families. Zero. How Many Do We Have To Find?! The Free Lance-Star had this interesting article this morning entitled Briefcase baffles authorities. It's not just baffling authorities. . . A man who lives in the 9800 block of Leavells Road in Spotsylvania found the briefcase in the woods behind his house Saturday evening.So what does the FBI claim it is? When an agent from the FBI's Domestic Terrorism Group arrived, he immediately recognized the briefcase as a training aid. He told authorities he thought it probably belonged to the CIA.Let's add to the stack this snip from the tail end of the article: A similar incident in February 2003 shut down Spotsylvania's Southpoint Plaza off U.S. 1 after a McDonald's employee found a pipe bomb in a trash bin.If the Fredericksburg area is being used as a training ground for terrorism, then certainly law enforcement should be informed and press like this (and the unnecessary alarm that follows) avoided. That's what would seem rational, but for whatever reason it has not occured. Which leads one to question why so much focus is on this area and whether or not we should be better prepared as citizens? Tuesday, June 29, 2004Are You a Neoconservative? I'll be honest. I don't understand the whole neocon debate. There really doesn't seem to be a pat definition of a neocon other than something that old school conservatives such as Pat Buchanan and even older classical liberals such as Murray Rothbard detest. But now there's a quiz to help us all. And how did I fare? Between Isolationist, Liberal, Realist, and Neocon, I was a Realist. Realists…Of course, this quiz puts Ronald Reagan down as a neoconservative. Methodology aside, it's interesting to see the slant. Sunday, June 27, 2004More Kerry Supporters Exhibiting "Decency" Seems as if the MoveOn.org supporters that you'll find distributing propoganda at the "Fahrenheit 911" flick don't appreciate it too much if you disagree with them: Streeter voiced his view on the movie, "I made the comment, apples and oranges -- Kerry, Bush -- one's no better than the other. You really ain't got much of a choice. This guy comes up to me and says, 'Oh yeah?' " Streeter was then spat on by the same man.The party of tolerance strikes again! Thursday, June 24, 2004Boxers or Briefs Courtesy of the editorial page of the Free Lance-Star:
Wednesday, June 23, 2004The Political Intimidation of Mike Rothfeld Few things have made me more disillusioned and angry about the political process as the policial intimidation being forced upon Mike Rothfeld: "'This is political persecution designed to intimidate people from running for office,' said Russ Moulton of Spotsylvania, the 1st District Republican committee chairman, who supported Chichester's opponent last year. 'Anyone else, there would be a simple civil penalty assessed. [It's] designed to stamp out the democratic process.'"Let's make things very clear. In June 2003, it was Rothfeld who was villified as the negative, nasty, no-holds barred campaigner and Chichester as the grandfatherly and benevolent senator. In June 2004, we have seen the largest tax hike in Virginia history, political intimidation, harassment in the form of lawsuits, challenges to Mike's supporters both locally and within the 1st District GOP Committee, and an expansion of these things to those who challenged Senators Norment and Potts. The question has to be raised: Who here is displaying the vindictiveness that was charged in 2003? Who is using the tactics of political intimidation? Perhaps the better question to ask is when will those who exercise these tactics be held accountable? The End of the Beck Era Outgoing Mayor Bill Beck presided over his last City Council session yesterday along with Councilmen Scott Howson and Joe Wilson. Beck was given a hand-sewn Fredericksburg flag. Howson, an avid outdoorsman, got a new fishing vest. And for one of Wilson's favorite hobbies, he received a bottle of Glenfiddich single malt whiskey.The end of an era so to speak. While the "good government" crowd certainly has not gone by the wayside, Fredericksburg is certainly gifted with one of the more talented and relatively conservative group of elected officials it has seen in decades. Time will tell whether or not the Tomzak era will prove the past four years to be mere happenstance or the beginning of a new renaissance of citizen involvement in city affairs. I suspect the latter. Monday, June 21, 2004Hitchens on Moore's "Fahrenheit 911" Christopher Hitchens is no friend of the right. So when I read this, the audible "damn" that was heard in the house had to frighten small children. . . because his critique of Michael Moore is the very definition of excoriation: To describe this film as dishonest and demagogic would almost be to promote those terms to the level of respectability. To describe this film as a piece of crap would be to run the risk of a discourse that would never again rise above the excremental. To describe it as an exercise in facile crowd-pleasing would be too obvious. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a sinister exercise in moral frivolity, crudely disguised as an exercise in seriousness. It is also a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of "dissenting" bravery.DAMN. UPDATE (again) Yes, I know that I have long promised an update to the various papers and such that need to be placed up top. Fear not, I will be working on it this evening and a new series of white papers will be featured. Enjoy! Gomez - Split the Difference  Want to listen to a good CD? My brother Jason tuned me into these guys with thier last CD, and I'm hooked on their new one entitled Split the Difference:On the other hand, the strummy '60s pop of These 3 Sins, the fuzz-busting electro-blues swagger of Where Ya Going? and the chunky Nirvana grunge of Chicken -- not to mention their freewheeling, eclectic arrangements and production -- make it clear these lads aren't playing by anyone's rules but their own.Me too. 9/11 panel: New evidence on Iraq-Al-Qaida Thanks to the recent row stemming from the definition of the word "contacts," it seems as if the administration is now being forced to show it's cards, proving once again that yes, there is an Iraq-Al-Qaida connection: The Fedayeen were a special unit of volunteers given basic training in irregular warfare. The lieutenant colonel, Ahmed Hikmat Shakir, has the same name as an Iraqi thought to have attended a planning meeting for the Sept. 11 attacks in January 2000, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The meeting was also attended by two of the hijackers, Khalid al Midhar and Nawaf al Hamzi and senior al-Qaida leaders.Now of course this gets into a whole other debate. Was it the Saddam Fedayeen that were compromised, or was there an open invitation to al-Qaeda to join? What went to al-Qaeda through the Fedayeen? Was al-Qaeda welcome? Did the senior level Ba'athists know of it, and if so precisely what did they do about it? We may be right back into the whole debate about the definition of the word "contact" again. But at least now we can clearly say there was indeed a connection. What remains to be seen is what degree of collaboration existed. Saturday, June 19, 2004NYTimes Slams Clinton Memoirs The New York Times (more specifically, Michiko Kakutani) gave a scathing critique of President Clinton's "My Life": s his celebrated 1993 speech in Memphis to the Church of God in Christ demonstrated, former President Bill Clinton is capable of soaring eloquence and visionary thinking. But as those who heard his deadening speech nominating Michael Dukakis at the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta well know, he is also capable of numbing, self-conscious garrulity.A highly critical assessment. Truth be told, it only piques my curiousity. . . but I'll wait until it goes on the clearance racks at Borders to be safe. Life As A Gift For Eternity Upon the death of my grandfather, there has been a general excavation of old papers, notes, pictures, and such at the house. One of the gems that have been uncovered (in my opinion anyhow) is this article written by my grandfather in 1967. Written at the request of the Fredericksburg Kiwanis Club and published in the Free Lance-Star, it's an excellent glimpse at the character and faith of my grandfather. I am. I am as the result of an act of love. I am because my parents performed the highest and most noble act performed by two individuals - an act of love. I am therefore, not by my own choice. I did not have the chance to say "no" to life. Life was then a gift to me. Now that I am; I am for eternity. I am as a man, homo sapiens, made up of body and soul, responsible for my own actions.What a great thing to find. For those of you who don't know me well, my reverence for my grandfather is fairly high. He was an extraordinary man, with extraordinary talent, wisdom, patience, and intelligence. The argument he made in 1967 reverberates in 2004, especially in a culture today that prizes convenience over life. EU Constitution Compromise Gained - Without Christianity Reference One more reason why I am glad to be an American. European Union leaders agreed Friday on the first constitution for the reunited continent, spelling out the voting system and nations' rights for the bloc's 25 members but keeping out any reference to God, officials said.I highlight the last part because this is something that belies a secularization of lawmaking that to the American mindset is incomprehensible. Our entire foundation for Independence is based off of ideas of rights that are intransgressible, guarenteed by God. What bothers me more about this is the fact that the Supreme Court has made the unprecedented move to in Lawrence v. Texas to look towards European jurisprudence in an effort to alter American jurisprudence. If this is a trend that the majority bench seems to want to continue rather than reverse, I have deep reservations that the differences that made the American revolution so uniquely different than the French one will be all fearfully distorted. Some Lessons From Nations That Won the War On Terror America isn't the first, nor will it be the last nation to fight a war against terrorists. Amir Taheri argues not only that over the last 20 years, not a single terrorist organization has succeeded in overthrowing a regime and replacing it with a sympathetic government. Moreover, in Algeria and Peru, those nations won their respective wars against terrorists. How'd they do it? While Algerian, Peruvian and other experiences in fighting terrorism show important differences, they all have several key features in common.Brilliant. Kerry and the Mark of McCain Colbert King of the Washington Post wrote a rather scathing critique of Democratic nominee John Kerry's courting of Republican Senator John McCain: A McCain on the Democratic ticket would have put Kerry in a similar strained position with his Democratic base. A Kerry-McCain pairing might have been a dream team for pundits, editorial writers and the political elites. But John McCain would have been as hard a sell in urban America as Charles Larson was in Baltimore and the Washington suburbs. McCain did Kerry a favor by saying no.This is one more tip of the hat towards running on principle vs. selling out to the middle. The bad news is that the Dems are getting wise to this principle, and if local and state poltiics in Virginia are any sort of bellweather (and I believe we are), then the bemoaning of the polarization of American politics will only intensify. But when you think about it, during the 19th century the rivalry between political parties was so intense that in 1876 when the Hayes presidency was hanging in the balance by less than a chad, the political parties started mustering. Now I don't see things getting to that point, but it shows not only how serious Americans used to take their politics, but how divisive and bitter they have been in our past. CHANGES Trying to change some things in order to do a quick fix for my IE crisis. I can't figure out what is wrong with my code, which only points a finger towards Blogger. More later. . . UPDATE: Well I figured out the problem. . . there is a small section of code that seemed to be giving me problems. It was a link that was closed, but didn't have anything in it. So Netscape accepted the HTML, but Internet Explorer for whatever reason didn't accept that solution, so it wanted to find other text to include until it came to a more closed link tag. Frustrating. . . and the worst part is that the code was right, so I can't blame myself, so it's either Blogger or Microsoft. I prefer blaming Microsoft. But that's just me. Friday, June 18, 2004U.S. hostage Johnson beheaded If you are sqeamish, then don't click here. Otherwise, CNN is reporting that the terrorists have indeed beheaded Paul Johnson: Abdel Aziz Al-Muqrin, the self-proclaimed military leader of al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, had threatened Tuesday to kill Johnson in 72 hours unless the Saudi government released al Qaeda prisoners and Westerners left the Arabian Peninsula. Netscape vs. MS Internet Explorer I use Netscape most of the time because of the neat tab feature, but also because it seems to load the pages in a certain order with text first, images second, all that fun stuff. It seems as if my website in IE posts text in the pale blue I use for links. Which is frustrating, because no one can read it. That is, at least that's the way it looks in my webbrowser. Anyone else having problems looking at the website? If so, e-mail me and I'll work it out. Thursday, June 17, 2004The Call To Arms Every once in awhile, Rick Womble sends a gem across my desk. Here's one of them inspired by Michael Moore's propogandic "Fahrenheit 9-11": It's time to take the gloves off and stop just talking about what this country was founded upon and stands for. It is time for conservatives and people with values to mobilize, contribute and work for those that best represent the original intent of this nation. If we set idly by and let the liberals take over this country with the likes of John Kerry, Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy, we have no to blame but ourselves.That's a speech that should be delivered from the convention floor in September! Primacy of Truth vs. Primacy of Conscience For many years, Archbishop George Pell has expressed reservations about the appeal many Catholics make to the primacy of conscience. In a recent speech, he has said forthrightly that, while individual conscience is important, the ‘misleading doctrine of the primacy of conscience should be publicly rejected’. He argues that ‘conscience has no primacy; truth has primacy’.Outstanding article. Read it here. Ratzinger: Catholics Who Dissent Should Refrain from the Eucharist Cardinal Ratzinger of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has weighed in on the US Eucharist controversy regarding public officials who openly dissent from Catholic teaching: In an official letter to the US bishops, which has not been made public, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith writes that Catholics who are "living in grave sin" or who "reject the doctrine of the Church," should abstain from the Eucharist.As one commentator so eloquently put it, "If you are a Catholic and choose a career as a politician then you must be true to your beliefs and let the voters vote on the real you. If you can't get elected that way then better to find a new career than to put your soul in mortal danger. It would be better to have no Catholic politicians at all than to have politicians who are Catholic in name only." Well said. Tuesday, June 15, 2004No Christianity in new E.U. Constitution Despite the protests of the Vatican and several Catholic nations, it seems as if the secularists are sticking to the exclusion of Christianity in the new EU Constitution: The European Union has rejected the requests of some member nations to recognize Christianity in its new constitution.The new European Constitution is expected to be unveiled later this week. U.S. hiring plans near boom levels Heh heh heh. . . U.S. companies are gearing up to create jobs at rates not seen since the height of the 1990s boom, a survey released Tuesday showed, adding to evidence that job growth will keep the U.S. economic recovery rolling.So much for the jobless recovery charge. Seems as if Bush has put us on course for another economic boom. Zafi.B worm threat upgraded A new variant of the Zafi e-mail worm, first found in the wild last Friday, has been upgraded to radar level two alert.Not isn't this wonderful! Just what we need to get the week off on the right note. Myroff explains that Zafi.B is being sent along with a political message, much like its predecessor, Zafi.A. “It's basically a political message against the Hungarian government, calling for the legalising of the death penalty.”That's comforting, but the difference here is that it replicates as .exe files. Can you imagine a virus that replaces the .exe file to MS Word or MS Excel? Nasty stuff. Long Bets Now here is something interesting. People come and make predictions for about $50 on social or scientific issues. Then others come along and place bets on whether or not the prediction comes true or not. Depending on how the prediction falls, the loser gives a specific amount to charity, while those on the winning side claim credit for defending the proposition and the individual making the prediction gets the prestige of making the right call. Interesting concept. Not that I would participate right off the bat, but if it ever took off I might. Monday, June 14, 2004Back from Corolla Beach Well rested and ready to return to bashing the left with two fists. For those of you who have the inclination to head to the Outer Banks this year, consider making the trip to Corolla. About ten miles north of Duck, and well worth the trip. Few people, nice beaches, nearby shops and supermarkets, and many things to do. Of course, I came back a bit more sunburned than usual, but the weather was spectacular! Had a great time. Sunday, June 06, 2004On Vacation! 
I will be on vacation in the Outer Banks this week from 06 June to 13 June. In the meantime, long live the Reagan Revolution! We shall reflect the compassion that is so much a part of your makeup. How can we love our country and not love our countrymen, and loving them, reach out a hand when they fall, heal them when they are sick, and provide opportunities to make them self-sufficient so they will be equal in fact and not just in theory?Fine words indeed. In the days ahead, let us remember the conviction of President Reagan, his victory over Soviet Communism, and his enduring optimism and leadership. Saturday, June 05, 2004Spotsylvania utility rates may go up Yes yes, I know that any kind of fees or rates going up in the back of the ol' Republican anti-tax crusading mind smells like a tax hike. This however is not a matter of raising or lowering "fees", but rather a situation where the taxpayers have been getting a break that must unfortunately end: Supervisor Gary Jackson said the previous board wanted to balance the sharp rate hikes of the early '90s.Now that Spotsylvania is holding growth to 2% a year, Spotsy taxpayers are going to have to start footing the bill. Supervisor Chris Yakabouski agreed, saying the supervisors shouldn't put off tough decisions.Good call. Unfortunate, but a good call. . . and given this BOS's leadership and courage this budget cycle, a "user fee" increase we can forgive. Reagan on the Ropes? Matt Drudge is reporting that former President Ronald Reagan's health has taken a turn for the worse, with family coming to Bel Air on Friday. Hollywood sources tell LA Weekly columnist Nikki Finke that former President Ronald Reagan's medical condition has suddenly worsened. "He really took a downslide today," the insider told Finke Friday evening. "Doctors are at the house. Things aren't good." At the start of the day, several news organizations chased down a rumor that the ex-president had died, but it wasn't true... Family members gathered at the Reagan's Bel Air home late Friday... Developing...God be with you, Mr. President. Thursday, June 03, 2004Bush to Give Pope Presidential Medal of Freedom I suppose it's harder to tell someone to go to hell when they are presenting you with their country's most prestigious award for service, eh? President Bush will award Pope John Paul the Presidential Medal of Freedom Friday, the highest U.S. civilian award, a U.S. official said Thursday.Should be interesting to see what Pope John Paul II has to say, especially in the light of the ad limina visits to Rome by the American bishops. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia Scared? You should be. Dems Win in SD, Kentucky, But To What Ends? A lot of hand-wringing and analysis is being bantered about concerning the Democratic pickup of two formerly Republican seats in the House. Peter Roff gives one of the best commentaries on the losses - and what they mean - for GOPUSA (and considering where it is being published, a very evenly balanced look): In Kentucky, former state Attorney General Ben Chandler won the special election called to fill Fletcher's seat just weeks after he had lost the gubernatorial race to Fletcher, the first Democrat in two generations to fail to win the governor's mansion in a general election. The Republican state legislator who lost the race, in spite of strong backing from Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell's political machine, was not nearly as well known throughout the district as Chandler, whose grandfather, A.B. "Happy" Chandler, had been governor, a U.S. senator and Major League Baseball commissioner.Roff might be oversimplifying it a bit, but by and large in special elections this is the case. The alarm bells aren't going off quite yet, but Republicans should take notice nonetheless, especially in South Dakota where Democrat Tom Daschle is receiving his challenge for the U.S. Senate. If anything has me concerned, it is that while Republicans marshalled 49% of the vote, there was considerable bloodletting as a result. Lessons abound. Reminiscing About the Commodore 64 It seems as if I have Jason on a roll here. . . thinking of the Commodore 64!
Only we didn't have chicks in a pool. Or a pool for that matter. Or such a manly chest. And I've almost got that "Hey, guy," power finger pointing technique down. One step at a time, baby.All hail the ironclad logic of the Kenney bros. Although I do have the power finger technique down. Tuesday, June 01, 2004Searching for God Now here is an excellent prayer I stumbled upon this evening: O Lord, my God, teach my heart this day where and how to see you, where and how to find you. You have made me and remade me, and you have bestowed on my all the good things I possess, and still I do not know you. I have not yet done that for which I was made. Teach me to seek you, for I cannot seek you unless you teach me, or find you unless you show yourself to me. Let me seek you in my desire; let me desire you in my seeking. Let me find you by loving you; let me love you when I find you. -- St. Anselm of Canterbury, 11th century Updating Website Soon! Yes, I now realize that it has been a good seven months since I have posted new articles and such. Therefore, for my spare time this weekend, I will give you a much promised update. Some things to look forward to: * Thomistic Libertarianism * The Influence of Jean Jacques Rousseau on Mark Twain's Huck Finn * Caitin and the Noble Savage * Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drugs (Powerpoint) * Against the 2004 Spotsylvania Tax Hikes (FLS) I am also still working on two major projects over the summer. One on the American Social Contract for which I am doing a considerable amount of reading, and the other being the always lengthy treatment entitled "Americanismus Redivivus: The Phantom Heresy and the 21st Century Catholic Church in America." We'll see which one comes to fruition first. Iraqi Council Vote Postponed It seems as if the Coalition Provisional Authority and the UN are interfering with the Iraqi Governing Council's choice for president of Iraq: Most members want Ghazi Yawar, a U.S.-educated tribal sheik who holds the council's rotating presidency, to assume the largely symbolic presidency of the interim government that will take limited power on June 30. But the members said the U.S. administrator of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, favors another candidate, Adnan Pachachi, an 81-year-old former exile who served as foreign minister in the 1960s, before Saddam Hussein's Baath Party took power. (snip)Of course, because it is the United Nations that is doing most of the legwork in providing a poltically neutral government, the criticism from the liberal press has been muted somewhat. What I don't understand is why you would want a politically disinterested IGC in charge? Maybe the UN doesn't want to repeat what happened to the Russian Federation in the 1990s (technocrats, billionaires and all) in Iraq. But frankly, that may be what the country needs - politically motivated technocrats and billionaires too interested in letting the good times roll rather than allowing the country to devolve according to the interests of radical clerics like al-Sadr. Not necessarily a defense of the current Russian economic situation, but again I think planners in Washington may be miscalculating and/or misunderstanding the Arab mind. They are businessmen first - let them be businessmen. Political motivation is going to help, political weakness or disinterest only serves the more violent opportunists in the long run. Pain at the pumps provides boost for refineries And the boost for refineries is a pain in my. . . wallet. Jay Saunders, an energy analyst at Deutsche Bank, said that US refineries were unlikely to spend more capital because they had earmarked $20bn (£10.9bn) to upgrade plants for stricter emissions laws, leaving them with little money to expand capacity.Good news on a Tuesday morning, yes? Note the emphasis on the impact environmental controls are having on new refinery construction. Not a good sign. . . and given the profit margins for oil companies, not something anyone will feel the need to correct anytime soon.
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JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General?1) John Brownlee2) Ken Cuccinelli AboutShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia.ContactThe Jeffersoniad
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