Al Gore--Moonbat

In preface, apologies offered for the poor quality and the inclusion of commercials.

But some highlights...
"Global warming is more damaging that nuclear winter" (paraphrased)
"I think I carried Florida"
"the vitriol is coming from the right"

Part 1....


Part 2....


Even though Gore is an idiot, he can be a good sport though...


h/t allahpundit

Political Polling...

With busy months of March and April, I had gotten behind on some reading I like to keep up with and I recently caught a rather-dated item in the Washington Whispers column of June 5 issue of USNews...

GOP Fears in a Bellwether Race

Staffers from the National Republican Congressional Committee are quietly telling GOP House members to prepare for a possible loss in the June 6 special election to fill the seat of Randy "Duke" Cunningham, now in prison for taking bribes. The Southern California district is heavily Republican, but some GOP insiders believe that Democrat Francine Busby will defeat former GOP Rep. Brian Bilbray and go on to win a full term in November. More alarming some worry that a Bilbray defeat could signal the GOP's loss of control of the House. The NRCC has already pumped $3.1 million into the race. "It is becoming more and more likely," says one GOP strategist, "that Bilbray will squeak out a victory." But another longtime Republican operative isn't so sure. "This is a district we should never lose," he says. "It's the stink of Cunningham, and the Bush problem."

So, as we all now know, Bilbray defeated Busby to the tune of 49%-45%. The seat remains in the control of the Republicans and reflects the district.

A couple of questions pop to mind...
*Was the polling that the NRCC used to initially predict a loss so inaccurate that they genuinely believed they were going to lose?
*How much difference did the money differential make in keeping this seat?
*Does this USNWR article amount to political dis-information?

I take it for granted that much of the press is locked into the meme that the Repulicans are in trouble in November. The WaPo article linked to above obviously cannot divorce itself from the idea, even while having to report a Republican win. However, I am finding it increasingly difficult to take polling available to the public very seriously at all. With everyone having an agenda related to the polling, their meaning falls apart.

IDPA Range Report...

So last month's report was all about the fun of the BUG match.

This month's report will focus on dedication--as in just who will show up on a Saturday afternoon in June for the IDPA match. 108° under cloudy skies. It's beginning to get humid and I just wish it would rain already!

As you might expect, the turnout was very small--maybe 14 guys. The setup this month was, thankfully, light--four stages, one of which included two strings. I shot with two very experienced shooters and a guy new to IDPA, but experienced in shooting and he was looking for IDPA pointers.

Anyway, the highlight of the match occured before I even got out of the truck. The Rio Saldo Sportsmans Club is now in possession of their second helicopter. Yes, you've got that right folks. Not prop helicopters. Real frikkin' helicopters.

And here is the proof (apologies for the crappy cell-phone camera, but you know. Whatever)...

If the guys at Powerline used the words of the Puppy Blender...

Heh.

Which Party is Better for Labor?

Although I am a card-carrying union member, I am not much of a unionist. Unions are essentially socialist organizations, and I am too much of a believer in capitalism and the free-market to be a die-hard union guy. Unions have their purpose, yet they often abuse that purpose.

So anyway, I was watching TV the other night and happened to flip through Jim Cramer's Mad Money show, and he finally was able to recommend an airline...Continental. Cramer's schtic is a bit hard to take, and I don't know enough about the markets and investing to know whether I agree with him or not, but Cramer does put on an "energetic" show. I've been unable to find a direct video link to this episode, but below is a similar episode (date unknown) where Cramer extols Walmart.


Here is a link to an article on Cramer's MM episode on Continental. The money (no pun intended) quote is...

...In addition, airlines have cut unions. Cramer believes unions are beneficial and those who are pro-workers might not like the fact that the company doesn't have employee benefits, but he said the stock is not a long-term play. Hold it only until the Open Skies initiative goes through and then sell, he advised viewers. You'll be able to get out with big money, he said....

So Cramer recommends investment in Walmart because they're doggedly fighting off any requirement (moral or otherwise) to provide employee healthcare plans, and he also recommends Continental because, in part, they've succeeded in pounding down their unions.

Cramer is a Democrat.

On the other hand, Ben Stein observed way back in 2002 that one way to "ruin American Enterprise" would be to...

Hold the managers of corporations to extremely lax standards of conduct and allow them to get off with a slap on the wrist when they betray the trust of shareholders.

[In fairness, he added that another element of our road to ruin would be to "Hold the management of labor unions to no ethical standards."] Ben more recently castigated the ethical lapses of corporate managements here. He's also on record regarding the airline pensions which are now rapidly becoming the burden of the PBGC (itself perhaps on the road to failure).

...About three years ago, UAL was "forced" to enter bankruptcy to stay alive.

This step meant that UAL could drastically cut workers' pay — and it did. Pensions were simply jettisoned and made the burden of the federal government's Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which meant cuts of close to two-thirds in some pilots' pension payments. And, of course, the bankruptcy simply eliminated all of that equity in UAL that the employees had bought with their hard-earned savings.

Thus, in a series of evil events, management of UAL basically ruined the lives of the employee-owners, if that is not putting too fine a point on it, by taking away their savings, incomes and pensions....

Stein, of course, is a Republican.

Now I have been very much a "small 'l'" libertarian since the Libertarian Party went nuts after 9/11, and the practical part of me understands that both major parties are much more alike than their rhetoric might suggest, but I can't help but wonder: Why does the myth persist that the working man benefits by electing a Democrat and that the rich are typically Republicans?

Hey. This is sorta funny....

And because this has always been one of my favorites (I hope NBC doesn't pull it down.).....

This was a good movie...

...But I don't really know what to think of this.

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

h/t Heartless Libertarian

Young Americans....

Unless you work in a prison or a porn shop, the warning "May be NSFW" definitely applies. But hey, check out the trailer to this documentary anyway.

Hey, Democrats...

Not that it isn't obvious to everyone that you've dropped your objections to the "NSA- Domestic Wiretapping Terrorist Surveillance" policy, but does anyone still believe that these policies are not paying dividends?

In discussing the international nature of the recent arrests of an Islamist cell alleged to planning to bomb a Canadian target, John over at Powerline points out...

Hmm. Do you suppose that breaking up these terrorist gangs may have involved intercepting some international phone calls and emails?

How many bloviating (to use a favorite word of my least-favorite commentator) Democrats decried this program?

Hillary Clinton

Al Gore

John Kerry

Howard Dean

Well, you get the idea. Perhaps not in the mid-term elections this year, but certainly in the '08 Presidential race, this issue will become another albatross around the necks of Democrats.

Irony Alert...

I lost count how many ironic turns there are in this story. Try it yourself.

h/t El Capitan

For no reason at all...

I think I'd just like to say--Is this a great country or what? If these two can become the successes that they are, what is to keep any of the rest of us back?

It would have been nice to be there....

....To see this flyover.



h/t Op-For. [And yeah, the sidebar link is finally updated.]

Man....

It's hard not to like Ted.

h/t Cold Fury