Its been an odd week for me. My wife decided to run my car through the wash with the antenna up. The car was quite clean, the antenna quite broken. Also broken was my link to talk radio on my hour and a half drive to and from work. No more Spike O'Dell or Don Wade and Roma in the morning.
No more Rush fill-ins at noon,
and no more Hugh Hewitt on the drive home.

In its place, the book tape version of April 1865, the Month that Changed America. Can't think of any book more timely, as we continue this war, than to contemplate the last time this country was under attack on its own soil, that time by its own people.

I was listening to the story of the brave and honorable Robert E Lee, as the Democrats attacked their own over a flag.
I was listening to the howling voices of capitulation, as Lincoln steadfastly kept his eyes on the goal of Union, above all else. In the present, the Democrats on the Senate Intelligence were caught politicizing the war.

I was hearing the voices of the thousands dying in The Wilderness, as today's press wailed over the loss of a few soldiers cleaning up the mess that is Iraq.

I guess, in many ways, I wasn't so out of touch after all.

The Tortoise and the Hare
The United States got to the moon in less than ten years. That was over 30 years ago.
China will launch its first moon probe in three to five years.
There's an a line from the Sputnik days, attributed to Lyndon Johnson: "I don't want to be lookin' up and seein' a damned Red moon!"
He may have been looking into a Chinese future.....

So What Caused the Fires?

Here's one look at a cause, from Hugh Hewitt.
My hope is that folks currently living in the People's Republic of California will take a hard look at what their Democrat led government has given them.

By the way, funny how Sen Barbara Boxer switched her vote on the Healthy Forest initiative after opposing it for so long.
To see just how vociferously she has opposed the initiative, just run a Google search with these four words.
Barbara
Boxer
Healthy
Forest.
Get past this week's stories, and look at her obstruction for over a year.
Ya think Southern California burning down around her had anything to do with her change of heart?

The Will to Win
I don't often quote extensively from the peices I post. I want folks to read the articles for themselves.
But this article from Friday's OpinionJournal is a keeper.

Here's and extended segment:
Incredibly, every Democratic Presidential candidate save Dick Gephardt and Joe Lieberman has opposed Mr. Bush's $87 billion request to fight the war. Senators John Edwards and John Kerry voted against this money to finish the war they both voted to start. Wesley Clark not only opposes the money but this week blamed Mr. Bush for failing to stop September 11. Of all people, a decorated Vietnam veteran such as Mr. Clark must understand that his words are heard not just in Des Moines and Nashua but in the Baathist bunkers of Tikrit and Fallujah.
We are not saying that these voices want the U.S. to lose. But their criticism is so virulent and unconstructive that it is clear they won't let themselves believe that America could win. Chasing Howard Dean to the left, Mr. Kerry is all but saying that if he becomes President the U.S. will withdraw post-haste. In Sunday's Democratic debate, the Vietnam war and protest veteran also divorced what is happening in Iraq from the broader war on terror. "And this war on terror is far less of a military operation and far more of an intelligence-gathering, law enforcement operation," he said.

At least this comment gets to the heart of the matter. Mr. Kerry is endorsing the pre-9/11 consensus on how to fight terrorism. Try to disrupt the terrorists if you can, but be ready to endure their blows and send the police and prosecutors to get them after the fact. We tried that once, and the result was 3,000 dead civilians.

It's time we all recognized the stakes. And the cost of putting politics ahead of country.

The Jewish Problem
The rise of anti Semitism, and worse, its acceptance by Liberal elites is on the rise. It is confronted head on in this column by Victor Davis Hanson.

Here's the main website for PATH, Positive Alternatives to Homosexuality.
For Christians struggling with this issue, this is a worthwhile site.

Limbaughs Fans Remain Loyal
No surprise, really.
Rush has one of the largest, and most loyal fan bases in history.

A Democrat Endorsement for George W.

Okay, okay. It's Zel Miller, who is Democrat only because he's always been a Democrat. But his reasons ring very true. Good article.

It's one of those news cycles where it seems like the whole planet is in chaos.
First the fires.
KFMB 760 out of San Diego has the most up to date coverage, complete with maps

Next: the impending solar storm, supposed to hit tomorrow.
As always, Space.com is the place to go for all information astronomical

And finally Iraq.

Fox news of course. TV and Web.Fair and Balanced.
Even when the world isn't.

Terri's Fight, an update

A Dislike Unlike Any Other? (washingtonpost.com)
The Bush Haters are coming out in the open, according to Howard Kurtz.

Terri's Fight! The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation
I had not been following this tragic story until I heard some details on late night talk radio.
The more I read, the more the mystery deepens.
Sign the petition to Jeb Bush to keep this woman alive.

The Final Victory: Malaysian Prime Minister Doing His Best Impersonation of Hitler
So, here is the Prime Minister of a major Asian nation getting a standing ovation for his anti semitic speech, and what does most American Media cover?
Kobe Bryant and semen stained panties, and an attack on an Evangelical Christian General. What does this tell you about media bias?
Oh wait. I take that back.
The LA Times did mention the Malaysian Prime Minister's bigotry. By comparing him and General Boykin!
What a staggering outrage.

Having fun on a dull night in the ER.
One of the past times in Emergency Rooms and on Psych units across the country is betting on BALs, Blood Alcohol Levels.
This has to be a record, except possibly in Wisconsin.

A Great Look at The Perils Liberal Commentators Face When They Go After Rush.
Today's 'Liberals': Close-Minded, Nasty and Fringe

Despite The News Hour's report, The Rush Limbaugh show is NOT on Hiatus. Rush is, but not the show.

Ah, the Media, again.
Mark Steyn does a great job looking at the media spin of the California Recall vote.
Here's a taste:

You gotta admire the way the media stayed on the Demo-crats' sinking California ship right to the very end. On the CNN Web site, even after Gray Davis had conceded, they were sticking to the loser's talking-points:



''Schwarzenegger, who, like Hitler, is a native of Austria . . .''

CNN? Oh, that's that network with Larry King, who, like the Son of Sam, is a native of Brooklyn. Used to be owned by Ted Turner, who, like the Cincinnati Strangler, is a native of Cincinnati. Now part of Time Warner, founded by the Warner Brothers, the oldest of whom, Harry Warner, like many Auschwitz guards, was a native of Poland.

Oh, and the truth?
Here it is, same article:
Just in case any Democrats have come back down to Planet Earth, here's what happened on Tuesday: The two Republican candidates -- Schwarzenegger and Tom McClintock -- pulled 62 percent of the vote between them; the Democrat, Cruz Bustamante, got 31.7 percent. The remaining 6 percent was divided among the other 132 candidates. Just to recap: Republicans 62 percent, Democrats 31.7 percent -- in the most liberal state in the nation. As long as all those angry voters keep expressing their anger by voting for Republicans over Democrats by two to one, I think I can live with it.

Yep.

Rush and Drugs
The first major hit piece is out on Rush Limbaugh, from Newsweek.
Here's a taste:

But Limbaugh’s story owes more to the “Wizard of Oz” than “The Scarlet Letter.” The man behind the curtain is not the God of Family Values but a childless, twice-divorced, thrice-married schlub whose idea of a good time is to lie on his couch and watch football endlessly. When Rush Limbaugh declared to his radio audience that he was “your epitome of morality of virtue, a man you could totally trust with your wife, your daughter, and even your son in a Motel 6 overnight,” he was acting.

Well, here we go.
I'm a Christian.
Been one for years.
Have been proud of it.
Still am proud of it.
Despite Jimmy Swaggart.
Despite Jim Baker
Those core values haven't changed just because a media preacher falls.

I'm a conservative.
Been one for years.
Have been proud of it.
Still am.
Despite Bill Bennett
And yes, despite Rush Limbaugh.
Those core values don't change just because a media voice falls.

I'm deeply concerned about Rush and his drug problem.
If Oxycontin is what he is addicted to, he has a hard, hard road ahead of him.
It's a road he'll be on for a lot longer than thirty days.
More like thirty years.
I know.
I've been doing substance abuse counseling for a long time.
I've been hearing the stories for years.
And they are similar to what I've heard so far about Rush.
Chronic, excruciating pain from a back injury.
Flexeril (Cyclobenzeprine) doesn't cut it.
So the doctor prescribes Vicoden, or Oxycontin.
It works....for awhile.
Then the pain starts to break through, so you take more.
Then you take more, because when you quit, you go through withdrawals.
Wanna know about the withdrawal symptoms? Check Here

The addiction grows, until you are no longer in control.
It truly does control you.
Oh yeah, and the pain that started the addiction ball rolling?
Still there.
Still excruciating.
You've just added another kind of pain on top of it.
So,
Rush has asked for prayers.
He's got 'em.
From this Conservative Christian, anyway.

Spider in the Basement.
Okay, here's the thing.
Spiders freak me out.
Phobia would not be too strong a word.
We have a Wolf Spider in our basement ceiling.
I'm the ony one who's seen it, and it took awhile to figure out what kind of spider it was.
Now I'm sure.
Until I find it, the blogs will be short and to the point.
We've named the spider Herman.
I suspect Hermanitta might be more appropriate however.
Gotta go.
Hermanitta wants to use the computer, and I aint gonna try to stop her.....

China in Space
Arthur C Clarke may once again have proven prophetic.