Grow up, would you?

It seems that being a kid just got a little more dangerous. Just ask 2 elementary school children (ages 4 and 5) who were written up for sexual harassment. The first hugged a school aid and rubbed his face in her chest. The second punched a female classmate in the buttocks in the school hallway. Needless to say, both boys' parents were aghast that their kids would now have sexual misconduct written on their school files.

Did anyone ever think that maybe they were just being kids?

Leaving for Iraq

The war feels a little different when you know someone going over to fight. I friend of mine leaves Wednesday morning for a 3 month stint as a navigator on the EC130. He is excited to do what he's been training to do and I hope he makes it back soon.

Where have I been?

It has been a long couple of weeks. Work has been busy, I had a new class start and Dana was gone for 2 weeks and I worked on the back yard a little. Hopefully I'll get some pictures soon so that you can see what I've been up to.

Pictures of the week

The Heavens

Defensively offensive

Bill Clinton's tantrum seen here is a reminder of the roots of failure in fighting terrorism. The blame game is pathetic. There is documented evidence of terrorist activity aimed at American interests every year from 1993-2000 with limited if any response. It's time to admit it...you messed up.

Justin King - Solo Guitar

Amazing acoustic guitar solo

CD Review: Continuum

Let me start by saying that I was worried about this album. John Mayer has set the bar so high for himself that I thought this, his third studio album would be a huge disappointment. Every reviewer has pegged this as his "most soulful" album yet, which I didn't understand until I listened to the whole thing straight through. He deals with the usual issues of love, past and present (I'm Gonna Find Another You, Slow Dancing In A Burning Room), growth and change (In Repair, Dreaming With A Broken Heart), and his everpresent problem of growing older (Stop This Train). He includes Gravity and Vultures off of his live Trio album and a Hendrix cover Bold As Love. I was worried I would miss the "Pop" side of Mayer's songs but I don't. The depth is just where you would expect from a guy who has played with the likes of Clapton, BB King, Scoffield and Buddy Guy. The songs are all introspective and his personal thoughts are human enough to make us remember that he's just a guy named John.

Sympathy breaking

Ever wander where those phrases come from that you mutter from time to time? Well this one came from me. You know when you're driving down the road in the middle lane and someone on either side goes to turn or break, causing others in that lane to break and for some reason the person in front of you brakes as well?...that is sympathy braking. It drives me crazy. Don't be a sympathy breaker!

1-0-0

It's not often that anyone gets excited about being undefeated after the first game of the season, but then again it's been a long time since the University of Arizona football team has been 1 and 0 with out that 1 being some cupcake team. It wasn't a show of offensive beauty but we won a close game against a quality team. Good enough for me.

Family Pictures

Alright, finally I have some pictures of the family.

Let me see yo grill

Sebastian of Alexandria, Indiana is sporting some new bling in his mouth. This wouldn't be at all unusual except that Sebastian is a 1yr old persian cat. His lower canines grew out creating an snaggly underbite. His owner says the crowns were added to strengthen the cat's teeth.

Time for change

The New York Times got taken out behind the woodshed by a federal appeals court which ruled that federal prosecutors can subpoena phone records from former reporter Judith Miller. Miller is alleged to have tipped off two Islamic charities to impending FBI raids. The Times is of course protesting that the phone records will reveal confidential sources and violate their first amendment rights. The court rightly ruled that the subpoena has to do with a tip off and is not covered under the first amendment.

Pictures of the Week

Seven Natural Wonders of the World

Kerry-Hezbollah Connection

As reported by "Bookworm" and echoed by James Taranto there is a Kerry - Hezbollah connection. Hezbollah is due to host an anti-American/Israeli meeting in Beirut called "Where Next For The Global Anti-War And Anti-Globalization Movements? An International Strategy Meeting." The meeting will be attended by a number of leftist groups who intend on attacking the US war in Iraq and the Israel "occupation" of Palestine. One of the attendees is a group called United for Peace and Justice - funded by Teresa Kerry. The money isn't given directly to United for Peace and Justice but is cleverly funneled through other organizations which then provide the funding. Would this be considered a conflict of interest if Kerry had been elected and was facing the current conflict?

Flag Burning

Flag burning is nothing new in the Palestinian streets but included in the destruction of US, Israeli, and British flags is now the Arab League flag. This appears to the the ultimate denigration of the Palestinian Arabs but perhaps they are finally turning their aggression where it belongs. After all, it was the Arab countries, namely Jordan and Syria who created the current "Palestine" by setting up refugee camps for people they refused to allow back into their countries. The situation is now such that with out Israeli based prosperity the Palestinians would slip completely into the 7th century. They have been a tool of Arabs to fuel worldwide anti-semitism. Though I doubt it is their intent, I hope this is the first step out from under the thumb of the surrounding terrorist states.

Thug Life

Wayne Rooney has vowed to "split Ronaldo in two" following his red card dismissal from the England - Portugal quarter final match. Rooney was ejected from the game after he stomped on defender Ricardo Carvalho's groin. Several players rushed to the scene and Ronaldo is accused of influencing the referee's decision to give the red card. Ronaldo and Rooney are teammates on Manchester United which apparently makes the gesture all the worse. The English press have also jumped on Ronaldo with a picture of the striker winking to his bench following the ejection surrounded by a target. What strikes me is that England lost in part because Rooney could not control in infamous temper and was shown the door for a clear red cardable offense. He had to be restrained from entering the Portuguese locker room following the game and is now promising retaliation on the field, proving that he is nothing more than a thug.

Pictures of the week

An animal we have yet to tame.

Justification

Classified documents of the Saddam regime have pinpointed the location of weapons caches that have been discovered to contain chemical weapons, ie. WMD's. About 500 degraded mustard and sarin munitions were uncovered and the current estimate is that only about 0.25% of the over 10,000 weapons caches have been evaluated thus far. Arm wrenching has thus far been required to obtain any information about the WMD situation in Iraq. Fears of being accused of politicizing intelligence data is being blamed for the slow dribble of information yet the intelligence leaks that would hurt the Bush administration tend to blow like a Louisiana levy. Hopefully the call for declassification will attract enough attention to ensure a complete release of information to the American public.

Hard Core

Though certainly not new news, I think revisiting the "Take Back America" meeting is worth while. It certainly isn't surprising to see the left back at their old standby (adolescent angry name calling) but even I am shocked when it is directed at their own. The establishment Democrats have now become equated to Republicans. The hard left has always be fawned of short simple chants with booing and noise making to overwhelm any speaker. This time the speaker was Sen. Hillary Clinton. After a statement that a set date to bring the troops home was unrealistic she was treated like the key note speaker for the Republican convention. Most of the serious Democratic candidates (save Al Gore) have realized that the angry rhetoric their party is known for has alienated the majority of voters. The Democratic party however is still controlled by the hard left making it difficult for the centrists in the party to gain a nomination and limiting the party's chances in the next election.

Pictures of the week

This week is devoted to weather.

Blabber is gone

Dan Rather may soon be out of a job. After stepping down from the CBS Evening News following the Bush service record debacle he may now be off CBS completely after 40 years of news coverage. He has not been asked to continue with "60 Minutes" where he has been working since leaving the anchor's chair on the evening news. CBS may be distancing themselves from the controversy Rather carries with him but are evidently not making any attempt to moderate their collective news coverage. Katie Couric is slated to take over the CBS Evening News and is well noted for her disdain of conservatives.

Pictures of the week

More than politics

Mexico and Iran are currently playing in their opening world cup game. Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had planned to attend the game in support of the Iranian team. The German authorities have told Ahmadinejad that he is not welcome in their country and if he enters the country he will be arrested. The world cup is said to be transcendent over all differences including religion and politics and for the players it is. It is refreshing to see the German government drawing a line in the sand. Ahmadinejad has denied the holocaust occurred in addition to his insistence on development of nuclear weapons. Had the world cup been in France, I'm sure we would be seeing images of Ahmadinejad cheering from the stands.

Don't know Jack

A ten year old orange and white tabby named Jack flexed his muscle this week as he chased off a bear. The bear was in a neighbor's yard when Jack spotted it and chased it up a tree. The bear was finally courageous enough to get down when Jack chased it through some bushes and up another tree. Jack's "owners" (I say loosely since this cat obviously owns the block) finally put a stop to the bear's misery and brought Jack inside. If you don't know Jack...maybe you should leave it that way.

Al-Qaeda dead?

The U.S. military has reported that an air-strike has killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. al-Zarqawi is the well recognized al-Qaeda leader in the Iraqi. The long-term effects of Zarqawi's death will only be known over time, but the U.S. and Iraqi officials are hoping to build on the momentum of the attack and named 3 military and security advisors to the Iraqi government.

This does beg the question, as the left is having a hard time refuting the value of today's events, what was Zarqawi's operation in Iraq if Iraq and al-Qaeda have no connection? James Taranto has a nice exposition on that very question. Much of the discussion on the validity of the U.S. led invasion of Iraq has centered on the connection of Iraq to al-Qaeda since WMD's have not been found. It is clear that the connection has existed for the last 10 years and the argument is merely rhetorical (with the exception of the hard core lefties who actually believe Saddam was an elected leader). With Zarqawi out of the picture, al-Qaeda loses one of its top lieutenants. He was clearly not an effective ground man (as demonstrated by his inability to handle his weapon) but his role in planning and financing attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces will be difficult to replace. The prime minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki said it best, "whenever there is a new al-Zarqawi, we will kill him."

14 hours

I know I'm the only one really excited about this but the World Cup starts in just over 14 hours. Coverage begins at 8:55 (PST) Friday morning on ESPN2. All the sports bars are still closed so I won't be able to go watch the first game. Fortunately my wife got CABLE!!!! That's right, not only can I watch every televised game but record them on DVR and watch them later (if I actually have to leave the house). So a big shout out to my wife who made the last 4 years of waiting for this great sporting event feel even better.

Arizona wins!

The University of Arizona women's softball team swept the Northwestern Wildcats to win their 7th national title. I have to admit I don't follow softball much but I am a HUGE fan of Arizona athletics so...go cats!

Movie Review: Duma

Last night I saw what was one of the best "non-animated" family films I've come across. It is called Duma. In short it is a story of a young boy (Xan) who finds an orphaned cheetah and raises it to nearly adulthood on his family farm in South Africa. Circumstances force the family to move into Johannesburg and after Duma is found roaming through Xan's school, Xan knows he has to return Duma to his home. The two make the journey hundreds of miles into the African wilderness and meet another traveler (Rip) along the way. The three fight to survive the elements (including lions) along with starvation and dehydration.

The film is directed by Carroll Ballard who also directed the Black Stallion and proves again that he has a great capacity for working with children and animals. I would definitely recommend Duma to anyone who enjoys a great story that promotes the importance of family and includes the beautiful African landscape.

If any of you have seen any films you'd like to encourage us to see or warn us about feel free to write a review. I'll archive them and post a link.

My diagnosis..."Psycho"

Road rage has just been qualified with a medical diagnosis, "Intermittent explosive disorder."

About 5 percent to 7 percent of the nationally representative sample had had the disorder, which would equal up to 16 million Americans. That is higher than better-known mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, {said Dr. Emil Coccaro, chairman of psychiatry at the University of Chicago’s medical school.}

The average number of lifetime attacks per person was 43, resulting in $1,359 in property damage per person. About 4 percent had suffered recent attacks.

So now uncontrolled behavior is excused as an illness and is compared to well characterized disorders such as schizophrenia. This also makes way for medicinal behavioral modification when people don't control their anger. We've already classified obesity as a medical disorder. What's next...laziness?

Bumper Stickers

This morning I was pulling into the VA (Veteran's hospital) and the car in front of me had a bumper sticker that said "U.S. out of Iraq." I followed the driver to the employee lot and it turned out to be a woman in her 30's. I do support the right of people to express their opinions but I wish they would use some discretion and hold their tongues until the time and place is appropriate. I think a veteran's hospital were vets of wars past and present go to receive medical care for war-caused and other ailments is the wrong place to speak protest against the current situation in Iraq.
This also made me think of other bumper stickers that I appreciate or hate.

"Annoy a Liberal: Work, succeed, and be happy"

- Good

"Annoy a Conservative: Defend the constitution"

- I still don't understand this one.

Anyone else have any that come to mind?

That'll teach'em

Can anyone explain the theory of the hunger strike to me? The AP is reporting that a hunger strike among Gitmo prisoners that started with 3 and climbed to 89 is now back down to 18. "It appears that right after that peak (of 89) then people started resuming eating again," Navy Cmdr. Robert Durand told The Associated Press. It seems to me that a decrease in numbers during a hunger strike is the natural progression. The suspected Al-Qaida detainees are trying to use the tactic to force the military to release them. The military has said it will not release prisoners that have vowed to harm Americans if freed. Apparently the hunger strike technique is "consistent with Al-Qaida practice." Several of the inmates have been force fed via tubes inserted through the nose. Now Physicians for Human Rights have called on the United States to halt the "brutal and inhumane force-feeding tactics." Again, the US can't win either way. Hunger strikes against most countries would likely back-fire badly and ease the burden on the prison as they would have to provide less food and have fewer inmates to control. This attempted "suicide attack" is most certainly reserved for countries more concerned with the welfare of criminals than the plight of it's innocent citizens.

Blind no more

Family pets have been targeted by illegal boarder crossers in what seems to be a cruel prank. Sandy Schlesinger of Arivaca, AZ had his dog blinded by pepper spray which he unknowingly witnessed as the illegal aliens he had once assisted with water and food doused his dog's face as it lay in a kennel outside of his house. This is not an isolated event as veterinarians in the area have seen a number of pets brought in with pepper spray burns. This seems like another argument against the "guest worker program" since animal cruelty has been linked to a number of other violent crimes and anyone willing to break a federal trespassing laws will likely venture to commit other crimes. In any case, Mr. Schlesinger has had his eyes opened and has decided not to assist his backyard criminals any longer.

Pictures of the week

In honor of the impending World Cup I thought the pictures of the week should be dedicated to USA soccer.