News from The Onion

I received a link to this hilarious video from a good friend. Enjoy.


Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Seeing the glass half full

Don't insult my intelligence and give me any of this "but the election is over - now is the time for us to all just get along" crap.

Two things 1) Letting down our guard is exactly what the Democrats would like for us to do and

2) Yes, let's follow the Democrats example and all join hands and sing kumbayah - just like they did (both times) when Bush was elected, right?

Yes, it's a great day for the country when we can mobilize a record number of uninformed voters and elect a president on the vagueries of "Hope" and "Change". And I honestly am glad that we've reached a point where a (half) black man can be President of the USA. But you don't see BO wasting any time basking in all the warm fuzzies so there is no reason that we should waste time, either.

I don't want you to misunderstand me. This is not sour grapes because my candidate lost - I am a conservative. For those that don't realize it, conservatism didn't lose this election. There was not a conservative candidate on the ballot.

Which is why I see the glass half full. Yes, I did vote for McCain but that's only because he was the lesser of two (major party) evils - NOT because he's a conservative - he isn't.

Immediately after the election, McCain aides started to smear Sarah Palin. Who benefits from this? Moderate or "centrist" RINOs (Republican In Name Only) because they are scared. (And, as Rush Limbaugh pointed out, incompetent campaign aides that want to work for these RINOs in future campaigns and they're trying desperately to hide the fact that they are the architects of defeat.) The RINOs are scared of an honest to goodness conservative (Sarah Palin) that electrifies the conservative base (Sarah Palin), has a record of fighting corruption (Sarah Palin) even against her own party (Sarah Palin) and [when she's not boxed into a corner by RINO handlers but is actually allowed to be herself] is very competent on the national stage (Sarah Palin) and they know it.

Now the glass is half full because now is the time to revitalize the conservative base of the Republican party. More on this later.

We don't have to spend the next four years apologizing for RINO McCain. I told a co-worker that we can look forward to the shocked looks on the faces of the Obama voters as they slowly come to realize just exactly what they have voted for.

We're gonna come out of this thing alright. At least that's my opinion. btw, gun sales nationwide are at record highs - if you don't already have your gun, you probably shouldn't wait any longer to get it.

The Polls - It Ain't Over Yet

I sort of follow the webcomic xkcd. I follow it in a completely non-linear way because it's a very non-linear webcomic. I like to look at whatever comic is current and then hit the "Random" button. No, i didn't know what the letters stand for but now I (wiki) do.

They just recently hit comic #500 . Since this one is a political cartoon (most of them aren't) I googled the punch line of this particular comic.

I got 254,oo results for 2012 and over 65,ooo results for 2016. But even funnier is this article about the results of Election 2024.

Promises, promises, promises.

BO has promised:
He’ll fix immigration.
Offshore drilling will be okay.
Healthcare for all.
Abortion will not be federally funded or mandated.
Lower taxes for 95% of Americans.
Iraq war will be over soon.
He will negotiate with Iran with no preconditions.
A $3000 tax credit to employers for each new employee.
We’ll be able to keep all our guns.

BO is already being tested:
Russians have stated that they will place missiles on Poland’s border (1st time since Cold War).
Hamas has fired into Israel.

And the man hasn’t even had his first security briefing yet.

Will the Networks Keep Their Promises?

The three major TV networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) have agreed to not "call" the election until after all the polls have closed.

According to a spokesman for ABC, the network will only give it's "projections" but it will be careful not to "call" the race.

I just hope that nobody is surprised by this little bit of semantic "business as usual" from the networks.

The ACORN doesn't fall far from the tree.

"a sad example of a pattern of systemic voter fraud"
"why is Barack Obama so closely linked to a group undermining the most important right we have - the right to vote"
"ACORN is under investigation in over a dozen states"
"registering dead voters"
"duplicating voter registrations"
"exchanging voter signatures for money, cigarettes and crack cocaine" (let's add to the list for the investigations distribution of illegal substances)
"Obama has trained ACORN workers"
"this year alone Obama's campaign donated $800,000 to ACORN"



Does Barack think that registering dead voters is some form of being "culturally sensitive" to the Hispanic community on Dia de Los Muertos? (Day of the Dead for you Gringos)

And a bonus video - Joe Biden says...
"I think I probably have a much higher IQ than you and I'd be delighted to sit down and compare my IQ to yours"
(in Delaware) "you cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent"
"you don't know my state - my state is a border state" (is he talking about Delaware or Pennsylvania?)
"there's obvious differences [between me and Sarah Palin] she's good lookin'!"
(asked if Sarah Palin won) "that's obviously a backwards step for women"

A Black Man Speaks

Okay, I'm gonna warn you - I don't have a *clue* what the LAST 45 seconds of this video has to do with the Barack Obama and it's gross so you might want to stop the video at about the 6:13 mark.

Even with that caveat, the first 6 minutes is really worth watching. This is a man who can speak for himself.




See what I mean? Between this guy, a friend of mine and a preacher I saw on the internet I know of three black men that WON'T be voting for Barack Obama. (we'll see how the rest of the country shakes out on Tuesday)

An Historic Election

Yesterday (the last day of early voting here in Texas) my wife and cast her ballot. She researched the candidates ahead of time and when she got to the voting booth she was able to vote "Straight Party".

Wow. Her first election and she does something that I've never done in all the elections I've voted in. I'm telling you, I married a smart lady!

More fun bumper stickers!

I Voted Today!

Really, the title says it all - I took advantage of the awesome early voting setup here in our county and I voted today. Fast and easy and, as an added and unexpected bonus, I even got to have a short conversation with a veteran of the United States Navy. As I walked outside, I was feeling quite proud of fulfilling my civic duty; I took a deep breath and filled my lungs with the clean, fresh air of liberty.

(Then, after all the poetry subsided and the music died down, I realized that my keys were securely locked inside my car - no good deed goes unpunished...)

I don't know how crowded the average voter's ballot will be this election season but here in my precinct we have a whole slew of candidates running. We get to vote on the

three Federal races: US President/Vice-President, US Senator and US Representative;
nineteen State races: Railroad Commissioner, 3 state Supreme Court Justices, 4 Court of Criminal Appeals Judges, State Board of Education Member, State Senator, State Representative and 8 District Judges;
four County races: Sheriff, Tax Assesor, J.P., Constable (all running unopposed) and
two School District Places. I'm not familiar enough with law enforcement to know why one county needs a Sheriff and a Justice of the Peace and a Constable. Does that seem redundant to anybody else? (but I digress...)

All together that's 28 decisions I had to make. Of course the 4 running unopposed only made me decide "Do I vote in this race or not?" - the short answer "No". They didn't answer questionnaires from either non-partisan group whose voting guides I was using, so I didn't vote in their silly little sham "election". Seriously, how do you lose when you run unopposed? All it takes is one person hitting the button to vote "Straight Ticket" for your party and you're in. Those races were decided in the primaries back in March.

You might think the whole point of this post is "Go Vote!". If that's what you think, you're wrong. The whole point of this post is "Educate yourself about the candidates and then go vote your conscience!"

And by the way, if you don't bother to vote then for crying out loud Don't Bother to Complain!

Elect the HERO not the ZERO

HERO: Sacrificed more than most of us can imagine.

ZERO: Smoked crack and ripped off low income people as a rabble rouser.

HERO: Kept his promise to the American people and abided by the limits of public campaign finance.

ZERO: Broke his promise to the American people to abide by the limits of public campaign finance.

HERO: Refused to give a propaganda victory to America's enemies in North Vietnam.

ZERO: Associated with marxists and started his politial career in the living room of known (unrepentant) domestic terrorists.

HERO: Served his nation honorably for many years.

ZERO: Served his racist church honorably for many years.

HERO: Has worked both sides of the aisle and authored major legislation over and over again.

ZERO: Voted present 130 times and has only been in the Senate for 143 days before thinking he was the next sultan.

(is it just me or does BO's seal look suspiciously like the communist sickle over a wheat field?)

Born Alive Truth

From bornalivetruth.org (and YouTube)

Ad featuring abortion survivor Gianna Jessen. This ad tells Obama's record of voting against protecting survivors of failed abortions.


Anuncio con Gianna Jessen. Ella sobrevivo un aborto no logrado. El anuncio dice la historia de Obama que voto' encontra de una le para protejer bebes abandonados despues de un aborto no logrado.


After the ads showing Obama's voting record, the Obama camp then released an ad attacking McCain and the abortion survivor Gianna Jessen. Here is the ad countering Obama's attack.



Here is the text of the bill that Obama voted against.

In the News

1) Sheriff's Department confused
2) The Democrats Want Your 401(k)

1) (From the LA Times) "A West Hollywood Halloween display showing a likeness of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin hanging by a noose has caused a furor among some residents who reported it as a hate crime, authorities said Monday.
Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said the mannequin sporting a beehive hairdo, glasses and a red coat does not rise to the level of a hate crime because it was part of a Halloween display."
Then we get a very telling comment from the sheriff's department's mouthpiece: Whitmore (spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department) said that potential hate crimes are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. If the same display had been made of a Barack Obama-like doll, for example, authorities would have to evaluate it independently, Whitmore said.
Translation: While the sheriff's department would be really uncomfortable with anybody around here hanging a black man in effigy for any reason, we're perfectly fine if you want to string up a white lady in effigy - as long as you call it a "Halloween decoration".
Someone needs to inform the West Hollywood sheriff's department that civil rights are for everyone. Murder in effigy is either a hate crime against anyone or it is never a hate crime.

2) (heard at lunchtime on Rush) "RUSH: George Miller, who runs a congressional committee, Democrat in California, came out with the first notion of just getting rid of your being able to deduct for your income your contribution to your 401(k), that the government is "losing" $80 billion and we can't afford lose that so they want to take that away.Then they had a hearing last week ... Teresa Ghilarducci, who is a professor of economics at the New School for Social Research, and she testified before a House committee, Democrat committee last week on how she thinks the government should basically take your 401(k) and administer it, take it away from you."
"Yesterday [Monday Oct 27] in Seattle, Kirby Wilbur had this exchange with her.
She said, "Your plan, as I understand it, would end the tax deferral status of 401(k)s. I have one, and I put in a certain amount every month and that deducted from my growth so I don't pay taxes on it 'til I pull it out when I retire. So it would end that and it would bring about a new government retirement plan. Is that correct?"
GHILARDUCCI: Not quite.
WILBUR: Okay.
GHILARDUCCI: You know, Rush Limbaugh said that's what it was.
WILBUR: Okay.
GHILARDUCCI: Whatever you have in your 401(k) now will keep its tax break. So everybody who has their 401(k) plan will be grandfathered in. But what I proposed, instead of getting a tax deduction -- like a decrease in your taxes by whatever your tax rate is, so if you're at the very high income, your tax rate is 39%, and if you're at the very low, you're at 15%, and 40 million people make so little they don't pay any taxes at all. Instead of the deduction coming from your tax rate, so if you're high, whatever you put in your 401(k), like a dollar, let's say, or a hundred dollars, you get back 39 cents, or $39, if you're the high rate; 15 dollars, or 15 cents if you're at the low rate, or nothing if you're at the low rate. I proposed that we just transfer the deduction to a credit so that everybody gets $600. So I'm not taking away the tax break. I'm actually, um, giving everybody a flat amount so that it's more equal.
RUSH: (laughing) Where am I wrong about this? Everybody is going to get...? Socialism. Everybody is equal now, whether you've got a 39% tax rate and you can deduct that amount, you get that equivalent deduction. This is all gobbledygook. Basically I'm just going to give everybody 600 bucks and you give me your IRA, and I'm going to buy government bonds with it at 3% a year. I'll just give you 600 bucks and that's how we'll take care of this. So Kirby says, "Now, wait, there will be a new plan. All of us who bring in a paycheck will put 5% of our income into a retirement plan administered by Social Security -- guided by the pension folks who do Congress and the Federal Reserve and then you're gonna guarantee at least a 3% return. The government would supplement that with $600 annual payment to the plan?"
GHILARDUCCI: The government would guarantee 3% plus inflation.
WILBUR: Okay, 3%, okay, plus inflation.
GHILARDUCCI: Yes.
WILBUR: So the bonds would be adjusted. As I understand the $600 would be adjusted as well, right?
GHILARDUCCI: It would. It would.
WILBUR: Okay.
GHILARDUCCI: And what's amazing about this is that it's actually, um, doesn't cost the government anybody. (sic) I'm just rearranging the tax breaks that are available now for 401(k)s and spreading -- spreading the wealth.

I don't know about you but the reason I contribute to my company's 401(k) plan has nothing to do with "spreading the wealth".

My Wife Wins The Election!

Just kidding - my wife didn't actually "win" an election but I just got done watching Jay Leno doing his bit on "funny headlines" so I couldn't resist.

The truth is this - my wife has been going through the long process of becoming a naturalized citizen. She was sworn in as an American citizen earlier this month and just recently received her voter registration card in the mail. We have both been poring over election information to make sure that we are well informed about all the candidates on our local ballot. Due to the mass of people that I encountered during the Texas primary in March, we will both be taking advantage of early voting. Our county has many locations for early voting and they are open seven days a week!

Inform yourself! Know where ALL the candidates stand on issues that are important to you! Don't waste your vote - every current Supreme Court Justice has served as a lower court judge and many people with high political aspirations start out in small local elections.

Who will be the next President of the USA?

You can see that I didn't post anything here in August or September - I wanted my memories of Matt to stay at the top of the page for a while.

Now, with early voting already started and November 4th only days away, I'm going to be hitting this blog with a vengeance. I know that some of you will be glad to hear that it will ALL be political.

I don't support B Hussein Nobama and I'm not a huge fan of J Sydney McCain, either. But a choice has been put before us and a choice has to be made. First the issue of eligibility.



The funny thing is that Senator Obama could stop all this just by being honest and opening up his records. Some friends of mine don't trust the Bush administration because they say that "Bush lied" - remarkably these same people think that Indonesian citizen Barry Soetoro (Barack Obama) is being honest with them. Amazing.

Matt McCully

This morning I got word from my mom that a friend of mine, Matthew McCully, was walking home from work Tuesday night and was hit and killed by a drunk driver.

Matt was an aspiring writer and artist with a lot of talent. He was a smart man, creative, inventive and I consider it a privilege to have known Matt for several years.

He was a great guy and his passing is our great loss.

This is Friendship???

Anytime somebody tells you "I want to apologize for what you are about to hear" you can bet that you're not going to like what you hear next. This just makes common sense. And if you've read much of this blog, you can easily tell that I'm (sorta) paying attention to this year's politics.

Now (in the way of context), I have been very blessed to have a lot of people that I consider friends in my life. Some of these friends are very close to me. And I have had more than one disagreement with a close friend and we have remained friends. Being able to "agree to disagree" with someone is an important part of any relationship that is more than superficial.

With that in mind you can see why I was so surprised to hear on the radio Wednesday afternoon that Rev. Jesse Jackson was apologizing for "crude and hurtful remarks" that he made "in a private conversation" in front of a "hot mic". You know how radio commentators will say "Today [politician] said '' blah blah blah" and then the politician will say "No, that's not what I meant - you misquoted me", etc, etc? As I was driving down the road I kept waiting for the quote - nobody ever said what *exactly* his remarks were.

Then it hit me. Are we talking "FCC violation" crude? Holy cow, Jesse, what did you say this time?! After some searching, a video snip from "The O'Reilly Factor" turned up. You can see the video for yourself here. This is not the full clip and it is not an "FCC violation". Apparently Jesse also made some racist remarks against white people. But this is just the part that would offend B. Hussein Obama.

NOT my idea of friendship.

Fun Yard Signs

Do your neighbors "lean to the left"?

Do you want a more "distinctive" yard?

Does your lawn need a slightly more "patriotic" look?

Well, friend, I can solve your problems! For a mere $15.95 (less than the cost of a large pizza) you too can proudly display one of these yard signs and help spread the word about our Second Amendment rights as American citizens!

There is the ever popular "I'm the NRA and I vote" (commonly seen as a window sticker on pickup trucks and automobiles throughout the nation)


Or, if your neighbors have trouble understanding what is at stake...

Or you can tell it like it is in vibrant blue and orange...

And lastly, a lovely new addition inspired by a gaffe of presidential candidate B. Hussein Obama...

One question, will they really make my shrubbery look this good?

The American Flag - Section 8

The other day while talking with a friend I stated "I know that should not be done because it violates 'Rule 8'." I was wrong - the law I was thinking of is Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8.

As penance for my misquotation, here, in its entirety, is Section 8 of Chapter 1 of Title 4 of the United States Code. And one question - does letter "f" apply to a header in a pickup truck?

TITLE 4--FLAG AND SEAL, SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE STATES

CHAPTER 1--THE FLAG

Sec. 8. Respect for flag

No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.

(a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

(b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.

(c) The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.

(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker's desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.

(e) The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.

(f) The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.

(g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.

(h) The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.

(i) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.

(j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.

(k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.

(Added Pub. L. 105-225, Sec. 2(a), Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1497.)

Lunchtime with Cormac McCarthy

It used to be that a dear friend of mine (previously a literature professor at a local university) and I would get together on the pretense of drinking over-priced coffee and talk about life. I have no lack of friends but lately I have found myself more and more pressed for time. My friend tells me that our coffees together were good for him but I'm sure that I got the better end of the bargain. Because of one of our conversations, my friend gave me a copy of "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy.

Seriously, if you haven't read this yet and you need a good read go get this book.

Also, if a book that I might enjoy is being made into a movie, I try to read the book first. So I had no trouble when my wife called me up (both of us acting like I didn't know that she was shopping for my birthday) and she asked me to "tell her a book title". No Country For Old Men (also by Cormac McCarthy). This book now goes with me to work and I leisurely read a few pages on my lunch hour. I learned my lesson with The Road - I couldn't put it down and I was done *too* soon. I'm gonna take my time and savor this one.

"Work really cuts into your free time." - I honestly don't remember if I heard that somewhere or if I made it up myself but its very true.

"What does not kill me makes me stronger." - This one keeps getting attributed to Nietzsche but it was originally said by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. I know that "Johnny" beat "Freddy" on this one because Goethe died twelve years before Friedrich Nietzsche was born.

I guess Nietzsche had a better agent.

Cognitive Dissonance

I'm not sure where I first heard that phrase but Randy Pausch gives a humorous example of it in his Last Lecture speech - I blogged about him earlier this month. (He continues to fight his disease)

Psychology is not my strong suit (not by a long shot) so it is very possible that I am misusing this phrase but I have noticed something lately and this is the phrase that keeps popping in to my head. I have noticed that I (and quite a few other people) are greatly effected by the death of one individual.

The "wheels of justice" will turn and try to make some human solution to the horror that happened Thursday morning. While I strongly support the "rule of law", many of us know that no man or woman can find their purpose until they look beyond themselves to the Almighty.

And there are some who show us The Purpose every day of their lives.

Weekend Review

Okay I've had a couple tough weeks at work and today was no better. (btw Boss, if you're reading this, then that comment about work was just "dramatic license")

Also profound loss has recently been a significant part of the lives of those closest to me. It's not easy to watch those that you love the most suffering. Unfortunately this is part of our lot in life. But I won't get too morose. Between all the intense emotions (not just the suffering) that I've been close to during this month, I have found myself unable to muster a good political rant.

On more than one occasion this month I have started a blog entry and found myself so distracted by life that I couldn't even put a paragraph together.

I'm sure I've got something in the email box that is sufficiently "rant-worthy". More later.

Cheri Sarver

Our beloved school principal passed away from injuries received in automobile accident that happened at 8:45am this morning.

IRON MAN

Back on Thursday, May 1 at 10:56pm I received a text message from a buddy of mine:

So I just iron man. B jealous. B very jealous.

I was a bit jealous (and a bit confused - the movie wasn't supposed to open until May 2nd but...) Everything was so frantic for me right then that I thought maybe I would have a chance to rent it when it hit the video stores as a New Release. Well it turned out that the Fates smiled on me and tonight my wife and I got and unexpected opportunity to go see a (non-kiddie) movie. When I checked the listings for our local Cinemark theater, I was quite pleased to see that (5 weeks and 5 days after my buddy's "B jealous" message) Iron Man was still on the big screen. It was also nice that Tony Stark's alter ego was playing in the theater that my wife likes best.

Those of you that know me know that I am kind of a cheapskate. I prefer the theater that charges $1.50 a seat to the theater that charges $8 a seat (the one my wife likes). And when I go see a movie I want to get my monies worth. So my wife has learned to patiently sit next to me as (all) the credits roll. Hey sometimes (like in Finding Nemo) the credits are funny. And you get little pieces of trivia - like exactly where the movie was filmed, minutia like that.

But with Iron Man it was really worth sitting through all the (non-descript) credits.

There are no spoilers here but let me put it to you this way: if you saw Iron Man and you're one of the (majority of) people that walked out during the credits; then you

DID

NOT

SEE

the whole movie.

So, since I feel sorry for you (I mean you paid full price to see the movie but you didn't see the whole movie - nyah, nyah, nyah) here is a nice trailer. This trailer includes scenes of the Mark 1 and the Mark 3 in action (and a few seconds of a little tune that should be familiar to anyone in the continental United States. Seriously, if you've never heard this song then you're just not paying attention).

Living Green (Environmental Honesty)

(Links to verify this information through both Snopes and TruthOrFiction.com are at the end of the post)

House #1

A 20-room mansion ( not including 8 bathrooms ) heated bynatural gas. Add on a pool ( and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400. per month. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern "snow belt" area. It's in the South.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

House #2

Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university This house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet ( 4 bedrooms ) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground.

The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000-gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville , Tennessee ; it is the abode of the "environmentalist" Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford , Texas; is the residence of the President of the United States ,George W. Bush.

An "inconvenient truth."I sure hope this gets passed to everyone! And, yes ... I DID check Snopes AND TruthOrFiction.com prior to posting it.

You can verify it at: http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp and http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/g/gore-bush-houses.htm

McCain vs McCain

Gas is hovering around 4 bucks a gallon here so we are looking for ways to "economize" - but I'll post more on that subject later. For now, more PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN FUN-NESS!! (not to be confused with "finesse")

Speaking on June 3 in Kennar, LA, John McCain said
"We can say with confidence that the primary season is over and that the general election campaign has begun.".
He then went on to heap great praise on both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. Given McCain's record, it honestly wouldn't have surprised me if he had asked Hillary to be his Vice Presidental candidate.

Here, courtesy of YouTube, are two videos of John McCain. The first is a pro-McCain spot and the second uses sound bites of McCain to hoist him by his own petard.

I was listening to Glenn Beck today and he said
"I have never voted 'against' anyone. I always vote 'for' someone. I am going to have a very hard time voting 'for' John McCain and right now I am looking at a third party."
He didn't mention any specific third party (there are quite a few) and a 2006 survey revealed that 73% of Americans want more than two choices in the Presidential election.

Enjoy the videos. For that matter, enjoy life while you can because no matter who gets elected we are *so* screwed.

John McCain for President (music video)



John McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became A Nightmare

Last Lecture - Randy Pausch

In September 2006 (shortly before his forty-sixth birthday), Professor Randy Pausch was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer. In August 2007 he was told that it had metastized to his liver and spleen and he was terminal with only a few months to live. He has acheived worldwide fame for his "Last Lecture" entitled "Really Acheiving Your Childhood Dreams" which was delivered September 18, 2007 at Carnegie-Mellon University.

The original speech (linked above on Google Video and here on YouTube) runs a little over an 1 hr. October 22, 2007 Professor Pausch was invited onto the Oprah Winphrey show and delivered an inspiring but abbreviated (10 minute) speech. At that time, despite his advanced cancer, he appears to be in better physical shape than most of the United States population. (Most of us cannot do the hand-clap push ups)

A PET scan taken May 2, 2008 showed that the cancer had spread to his lungs, some lymph nodes in his chest and that he had some metastases in his peritoneum and retroperitoneum, evidence that the disease has begun to take over.

On May 19, 2008 he appeared on Good Morning America still looking better than most and looking forward to Father's Day this year.

Bo Diddley - dead at 79

If by chance you grew up in:
1) a cave
2) a strict religious commune
3) a foreign country
and you somehow never heard of Bo Diddley then you owe it to yourself to watch these videos. (My wife is #3)


Bo Diddley - in his prime



Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley



(and from 1960)
Bo Diddley - Road Runner



(April 1999 Tom Petty has a wish come true - playing with Bo Diddley)
Tom Petty, Bo Diddley - Mona

Pardon my hiatus...

The funniest thing I've heard lately was from Rush Limbaugh. The other day he said that, even when/if Barack Obama secures the Democratic nomination, Operation Chaos will not be over. He said that he is moving Operation Chaos into the next phase and now he will try to convince Republicans to cross over and vote for McCain.

Okay, you're right - that's not funny - it's sad. Sad but true.

On a lighter note, check this out. It's Glenn Beck's "History of the Democratic SuperDelegates" (and you thought the Republicans were stealing elections!)



And, (let's get a little bit serious here) from Barack Obama's own mouth, in 52 seconds, why Barack Obama is the WORST POSSIBLE CHOICE for President of the United States.



And here, just in case you didn't understand exactly why Barack Obama is the WORST POSSIBLE CHOICE, (and to simplify Barack's "politico-speak"), is the translation of what Barack said, by an ordinary citizen.




Have a nice day.

How duct tape saved a moon mission

This is a short video (with sound) of Astronaut Gene Cernan executing a makeshift repair of a moon buggy with good old American duct tape.

I am of the opinion that *anytime* you find an article from NASA with "Duct Tape" in the title, it will definitely be worth the time to read. Check it out.

Virginia Tech Students Lobby to Carry Guns

According to this piece at ABC News, a student group at Virginia Tech is making the point that concealed carry permits could have prevented the tragedy last year at their school.

Commenting on the tragedy, one engineering grad student is quoted as saying "The reality is that it was probably the one thing that could have turned the tables. Many people tried to attack Cho while during this, and stop him. People closed doors, threw things at him ... so realistically speaking, there needed to be a stronger weapon of some kind for someone to have been able to stop him in the situation."

This is not some isolated "nutjob" or some singular "clingy" hayseed. No, these are the sentiments of the many members of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. Less than a year old, SCCC already boasts over 25,000 members (approximately 90% college students and 10% faculty, parents, and concerned citizens) and they state that today 1 out of every 755 college students in the USA is now a member. The wikipedia info differs slightly but the info I'm citing is from the 4/7/08 post on the SCCC website.

I love their t-shirts.

And these are not a bunch of punks trying to see how crass they can be either. This announcement is posted on the SCCC website :

Announcement to SCCC Members and the Press
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus we will neither host nor endorse any protests during the week of April 13-19. April 16 is to be a day of remembrance for the students, faculty, and families affected by the Virginia Tech shooting. SCCC wishes to avoid any action that might distract or detract from the memory of the individuals lost on April 16, 2007.

Two dollars and 97 cents !!!

Right now I'm sitting on a big fat full tank of gas because the Aziz Quick Stop on Jackson & Nolana is selling gasoline for $2.97 !!!

I CANNOT believe that I am happy to be paying $2.97 for a gallon of gas. Of course, I was listening to Lars Larson this afternoon (he's broadcasting from Israel this week) and he said that in Israel gasoline is over EIGHT dollars a gallon right now. Their per capita income is less than the per capita income of the U.S. and they still have traffic jams.

Additional FITNA link

You can also see the movie FITNA over at google video. It seems that the nature of "viral video" is working in the favor of truth. The movie has been downloaded and posted by enough people that it will be on the internet, somewhere, for a long time.

The Fury over "FITNA"

Some days I surf the net and find some harmless fluff to post for a laugh. Today was not one of those days. This is a serious post about the war. No, not the war in Iraq or Afghanistan - I'm talking about the larger War Of Terror that is being waged world wide by Muslim extremists.

A Dutch politician, Geert Wilders, released the film Fitna on the internet just two days ago. So far the reaction has been de facto censorship by intimidation.

As of right now, the film is available in English at the official website http://www.themoviefitna.com/ It is posted there as a March 28th entry. This is despite the fact that Network Solutions suspended the original domain. The reason given:
This site has been suspended while Network Solutions is investigating whether the site's content is in violation of the Network Solutions Acceptable Use Policy. Network Solutions has received a number of complaints regarding this site that are under investigation.

See the movie here.

The movie is graphic.

Truth is like that.

It was available on LiveLeak.com for a very short time, however they felt forced to remove the film. In a recent statement (posted in red at the top of the LiveLeak web site)
“Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature, and some ill-informed reports from certain corners of the British media that could directly lead to the harm of some of our staff, Liveleak.com has been left with no other choice but to remove Fitna from our servers.”
"This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our staff above all else."

See the movie here.

The movie is graphic.

Truth is like that.

The video can be found on YouTube but it is behind the warning
This video or group may contain content that is inappropriate for some users, as flagged by YouTube's user community.
To view this video or group, please verify you are 18 or older by logging in or signing up.

Interestingly enough there are literally hundreds of videos on YouTube and LiveLeak of IED's being detonated against coalition forces. Most of these have NOT been flagged by either site or place behind any type of "age shield".

See the movie here.

The movie is graphic.

Truth is like that.

Don't misunderstand me - I have no objection to graphic material being behind a shield of some kind but I think it is completely rational to ask Network Solutions, LiveLeak and YouTube to be consistent. A quick "whois" search reveals that YouTube is registered through Network Solutions (LiveLeak is registered with godaddy.com)
Registrant:
YouTube, Inc.
ATTN: YOUTUBE.COM
c/o Network Solutions
P.O. Box 447
Herndon, VA 20172-0447

Since YouTube is registered with Network Solutions and Network Solutions has not suspended youtube.com for being "in violation of the Network Solutions Acceptable Use Policy.", their suspension of fitnathemovie.com is disingenuous, insincere and dishonest.

Since Google now owns YouTube, this means that Google, YouTube, LiveLeak and Network Solutions have, by their selective enforcements of usage policies, communicated that they would rather spend their resources giving "aid and comfort" to Iraqi insurgents rather than to those who would expose the truth about radical Muslims extremists.

See the movie here.

The movie is graphic.

Truth is like that.

Sir Arthur C Clarke, dead at 90

Here is a link to the March 19th entry of TimesOnline blog. It has a YouTube video of Sir Arthur C Clarke on the occassion of his 90th birthday (December 2007) and a lot of good links to stories about his death.

Here's a good article about his life. By the way, if you've never read his 1953 book Childhood's End, you should.

I Lost My PG Rating !

Just for giggles I checked my "rating". After the post "Supreme Court Majority Appears To Back Gun Rights" now the widget gives me a rating of R !

Before (with the PG rating) the warning was "Some Material May Not Be Suitable For Children". I can live with that. Now the R rating warns "Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian" and the "What's My Blog Rated?" widget tells me:

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:
gun (8x)
murder (5x)
dead (3x)
shoot (1x)

This makes me wonder. If talking about the murder rate in the nation's capitol gets me an "R" rating then what should we rate Washington D. C. itself? That's a scary thought.

Toward A Simpler EULA

So I'm dragging my heels again (technology wise) and just finally getting around to installing a webcam on my wife's computer. I have ZERO excuse here because the webcam was a Christmas gift (sorry Moose).

It occurs to me that we could really simplify the "End User License Agreement" (EULA). I am apparently among the 2% of computer users that actually read the EULA (have you ever read one) and they all seem to be very similiar to me in essense. So why not save some words, simplify things for the consumer and raise the percentage of people that actually read these things all in one fell swoop?

It would be a short, simple four point document.

1. This software can only be used on this one machine. If you want to install the software on other machines, buy more software.

2. This software can only be used for the purpose stated on the package. You're forbidden from using it to write you own code, you're forbidden from taking the software apart or anything of the like.

3. If you should choose to install this software, you can't blame us for any run of bad luck. If your machine bursts into flame, if your significant other leaves you, if you get fired or if you run your car into the ditch, you can't blame us. Sucks to be you.

4. Any dispute over this EULA will taken care of in a jurisdiction that is most favorable to us and least favorable to you. (Just like your credit card)

I'm just saying...

Supreme Court Majority Appears To Back Gun Rights

According to this Washington Post article, the United States Supreme Court is currently reviewing a case that tests the constitutionality of a Washington D. C. gun ban passed in 1976. This law's requirements essentially amounted to "a prohibition on the use of firearms for self-defense in the home" according to Senior Circuit Judge Silberman (reference #3). While private legal ownership of handguns in the nation's capitol wasn't technically banned, it was banned for all practical purposes.

During the 1990's Washington D. C. had the dubious honor of being known as "the murder capitol of the United States" with a murder rate of 81 per 100,000.

It has been postulated that Baghdad is statistically safer than Washington D. C. when you take into account :
1) The number of American casaulties in Baghdad since the invasion
2) The amount of time that we have been in Baghdad and compare it to
3) Washington D. C.'s record murder rate of 81 per 100,000 in one year.

This particular statistic was not my idea and math is not my strong suit so I won't make that claim. (Also I am good friends with two philosophy professors would might just cry "Foul" at the logic of such an analogy.) I'm just saying...

Either way, they've been going at this lawsuit for a while now and I'm just hoping that the citizens of our capitol are finally afforded the same right to defend themselves, their property and their loved ones that most of the citizens of the US enjoy.

Oy Vey!!!

Is anybody else SICK of this election already? I know I am.

Resolved - Words Matter.

This first video (made by an Obama supporter) uses the words of FDR, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, JFK and Ronald Reagan to take digs at Hillary and make the point that "Words Matter".

Okay. Point taken. Words Matter.

And words are powerful. On the subject of "The Power of Words", let's consider this next video.

The second video (added to YouTube today) shows excerpts from a sermon by Rev Jeremiah Wright cut together with excerpts from a speech by Barack Hussein Obama. In this sermon Rev Wright says (among other things) "...Jesus was a poor black man..." and "...I am so glad that I have a God that knows what it is to be a poor black man in a country run by rich white people!".

I won't post the really offensive videos here but you can search YouTube for Jeremiah Wright and easily find plenty of hate speech and Mr Wright (literally) cursing America.

You may or may not know that Jesse Jackson Jr (son of the Rev Jesse Jackson) is the Co-Chairman of Barack Hussein Obama's campaign. The third video helps to publicize comments by Barack's campaign Co-Chairman. These comments were plainly racist and BHO has done nothing to distance himself from them.

The fourth video gives a little on the Obama-Wright-Farrakhan connection. In a nutshell Barack (and family) has been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ since 1988. They donated (according to one source) over $20,000 to TUCC in 2006. Rev Jeremiah Wright gave a "Lifetime Achievement Award" to Louis Farrakhan. Louis Farrakhan is a piece of work.

The last video is a U.S. Senator (and Barack Hussein Obama supporter) unable to name ONE of Obama's accomplishments when asked by Chris Matthews. Priceless.

The Middle name is NOT the issue

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.

Its the name of one of the Democrat presidential hopefuls (in case you've been in a cave the last few months) but the question has become - Is his middle name "too hot"? Slate has an interesting article about the whole ordeal and mentions a possible midlash against the Republicans. The title of this article asks if his middle name is "taboo".

Taboo. Now there is an interesting idea. Lets run with that. Barack himself started all this. It was his choice to drop the "H" before he ran for the Senate. This effectively changed his initials from BHO to just BO. (I don't think I would have gone that route)

See if you recognize any of these famous middle names.

Quincy
Henry
Fitzgerald
Milhous
Baines
Delano
S (just S)
Jefferson
Woodrow
Rodham

And names like F Murray Abraham, G Gordon Liddy, Booker T Washington, Francis Scott Key (not to mention F Scott Fitzgerald), W Somerset Maugham, J R R Tolkien, C S Lewis and George Washington Carver just wouldn't have the same "ring" if the middle name was "off limits".

And infamous characters such as serial killers John Wayne Gacy, H H Holmes and John Allen Muhammed wouldn't be nearly so memorable without middle names or initials. We call memorable people by their full names now. (Personally, I will probably never forget Gene Leroy Hart - but I digress...)

I was going to include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in that list of "names that need the middle one to have punch" but upon reflection, I have to admit that just plain Wolfgang Mozart is not too shabby. And he was baptized with five names. Plus any given name that easily allows your lover to come up with a racy pet name is kinda cool (in the movie she calls him "Wolfie" but might be just Hollywood exercising artistic license).

Despite RNC (Republican National Committee) memorandums to the contrary, Obama's middle name is an issue. He (and the RNC) make it an issue by pretending that it doesn't exist. Here is the analogy - you go to Egypt and, like a lot of tourists, you decide to ride a camel. You are on the camel and, as the camel stands, you ask the tour guide "Is there anything else that I should know?" and the tour guide says "Don't think about the camel's left knee!". Now honestly, what is the one thing that you will surely be thinking about during that entire camel ride? The camel's left knee.

I DON'T want to see a Democrat in the White House but honestly, it is going to be interesting to see how this whole "don't mention my middle name" deal pans out. Honestly I think Obama is using the old "any publicity is good publicity" rule and milking this for all that its worth.

Why can't Florida get their ducks in a row??

So I was surfing around YouTube, looking at videos about presidential candidates and I ran across this one "Hillary Supporter Bill Nelson: Time for Florida Revote" (below).

Suddenly something occured to me (I should have thought of this a long time ago). Florida had quite a bit of trouble with their presidential elections in 2000 ("irregularities") and again in 2004 ("controversies"). So then Why In The World did Senator Jeremy Ring think that moving the primary date to earlier in the year was a good idea?

I'm guessing the conversation went something along the lines of "Well all our past elections have gone off without a hitch and nobody ever pays any attention to Florida so, this year, let's shake things up a bit."

In defense of the Florida politicians, their claim is that the DNC broke it's own rules. No matter how this shakes down, it will continue to be interesting.

Is this the best the GOP can do? (Part 1)

John Sidney McCain III.

Today the average price for gasoline is $3.18 a gallon. And for all the talk of "Global Warming" and "green technologies", the truth is that America's consumption is increasing. So if demand is increasing (and it is) then the only way to lower prices is to increase supply.

How do we do increase supply without increasing our dependence on foreign oil? Well, according to a 1998 United States Geological Service (USGS) survey, there is anywhere from 4.3 to 11.8 BILLION (with a "b") recoverable barrels of oil and gas in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). [First paragraph at the top of page 4] And according to this source: 2005 USGS update states modern technology will increase 1998 figures and lessen any impact on environment.

Consider this: During the 1973 oil crisis, the U.S. imported only 35% of its oil. The crisis was caused by a decline of only 3%. Currently we import over 60% of our oil.

(Take your time, read that last paragraph again and then you do the math.)

We went from importing an average of 5,861 barrels a month in 1990 to importing approximately 10,158.5 barrels of oil a month in 2007. You can crunch the numbers yourself from the charts here.

Years ago, the Bush Administration proposed (then pushed again in 2004 and again in 2005)that we make the investment to retrieve this (domestic) oil. In 2002 the McDowell Group of Anchorage Alaska conducted an Economic Impact Assessment and they concluded that ANWR development would create 11,000 new jobs for Alaska (just during the construction phase) and that retreival, etc. of the oil "would create between 17,000 – 38,000 jobs depending on the price per barrel at that time." And that it was possible that "peak performance" could show close to $800 million dollars a year for the state of Alaska.

Jobs, man. John Sidney McCain III has to be for creating jobs and decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, right? Wrong.

John Sidney McCain III (JSM3) has said As far as ANWR is concerned, I don’t want to drill in the Grand Canyon, and I don’t want to drill in the Everglades. This is one of the most pristine and beautiful parts of the world.

No. No. NO.

The Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is NOT the Grand Canyon, ANWR is NOT the Everglades and ANWR is NOT "pristine". But you know what? That's not important. Because even if ANWR *was* "pristine" it just - doesn't - matter.

Look at this picture.

You get it?

Not yet?

Okay. Go here and look at slides 3, 4 & 5. If that link doesn't work copy and paste this http://www.anwr.org/features/pdfs/ANWR_Powerpoint_8-11-06.pdf into your "Address" bar and seriously, look at slides 3, 4 & 5. If you have time, check out all 27 slides.

If you still don't understand why we really should drill in ANWR then congratulations - you're as smart as a Senator!

Rush Limbaugh says Vote Hillary

From NewsMax

The influential conservative Rush Limbaugh has urged Republicans in Texas and Ohio to "pimp themselves" for just one day vote by voting for Hillary to keep the Democratic Party "at war with itself."

On Friday night he told Laura Ingraham, who was filling in for Bill O'Reilly, "I want Hillary to stay in this, Laura. This is too good a soap opera. We need Barack Obama bloodied up politically, and it's obvious that the Republicans are not going to do it and don't have the stomach for it.
"As you probably know, we're getting all kinds of memos from the [Republican National Committee], saying not to be critical there. Mark MacKinnon of McCain's campaign says he'll quit if they get critical over Obama.

"This is the presidency of the United States you're talking about. I want our party to win. I want the Democrats to lose. They're in the midst of tearing themselves apart right now. It is fascinating to watch. And it's all going to stop if Hillary loses. So yes, I'm asking to cross over, if they can stomach it. I know it's a difficult thing to do to vote for a Clinton, but it will sustain this soap opera, and it's something I think we need. It would be fun, too."

No thanks, Rush. As I see it, today is probably the last chance that I'm going to have to vote for a conservative Republican presidential candidate in 2008.

I have a Dream

I have a Dream and in this dream John McCain actually left the GOP in 2001. Rudy Guiliani's 2008 campaign was sidetracked by his odd behaviours and the GOP actually had two or three solid conservative candidates to choose from.


Then I wake up.


I know who I will be voting for on March 4th in the Texas primary and I'm leaning towards voting Constitution party in November. It would be interesting to see what would happen if everybody completely disregarded party affiliations and just voted their conscience.

I am not comfortable with just "sitting out" the presidential election - I have always felt that if you don't vote, you forfeit your right to complain. "Third party" candidates have made a difference in elections and have even won elecotoral college votes fairly recently.

I don't agree that it's a good idea for us to just take the next four years and "throw it under the bus" in the hopes that it will shock conservatives in action. I believe that we deserve whatever government we elect.

America Has Lost A Giant

William F. Buckley Jr., founder of National Review, Emmy winning host of "Firing Line" and one time candidate for mayor of New York City is dead at 82.

CNN obit

Boston Globe article

International Herald Tribune article

I Like a Guy Who Can Laugh at Himself

SNL and Mike Huckabee prove that Huckabee can laugh at himself. (and this *might* fall into the category of "there is no such thing as bad publicity" :-)

2nd Amendment - YouTube Style

Michael Savage - Orthodox Jews & Guns





Trailer for "The Gang" - from JFPO
if you are pregnant (or squeamish) may want to hit the "mute" on this video at the 1:55 mark.





Trailer for "Innocents Betrayed"

(BTW, this is what I'm talking about when I say "The title of this blog is an argument that an armed citizenry will keep any governing body in check better than an unarmed citizenry." in the blog header. You could even amend that to read add to that "An armed man is a citizen, an unarmed man is a subject.")

Texas Primary March 4th

As it stands [right now] I know who I will be voting for in the presidential primary.

As it stands [right now] I have no idea who I will be voting for in the general election in November.

Al Gore's movie "Inconvenient Truth" is Full of Crap

In case you haven't been able to catch the news lately, let me give you the connection that this has to real time politics. As I'm writing this 3 of the 4 "major party" contenders for presidential nomination are ready to SPEND YOUR MONEY to "fight global warming". In this particular argument, sanity only has one Hope (hint, hint).

Not trying to offend anybody, but the title of the post comes from the title of the YouTube video.

There is plenty of evidence on the net (via YouTube, Google, etc) regarding what is actually happening to the climate. By the way, as late as 1976 the main stream media were telling us that we were headed for another "ice age". Whatever sells newspapers.



You also might enjoy this one. The transcript of the video is available on the video's YouTube page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrGnZpZs9rg&feature=related

Why is Ron Paul still running?

Throughout this campaign the MSM (main stream media) have paid much attention to the Democratic primaries but have only paid lip service to the GOP primaries (and then only when they had to).

I could not have predicted the way this thing was going to go. And the only thing about this whole mess that I would have felt comfortable predicting a year ago has not happened. I agree with a lot that Ron Paul says but I have never felt that the Republican party would get behind a candidate that was so openly advocating a "cut and run" approach to Iraq. Honestly, I was surprised that Fred Thompson dropped out before Ron Paul. I have continued to be surprised that "major" candidates have dropped out (Guiliani and the suspension of Romney's campaign, etc.) while Ron Paul has stuck it out.

More than once I have thought "what is this guy doing?". Well, it turns out that Senator Paul issued a statement that answered my question. I found the statement today (Feb 9) on a site listing candidate contribution information. From thegreenpapers.com : (emphasis mine)

[Senator Paul] Announced he was scaling down campaign on 8 February 2008. "With Romney gone, the chances of a brokered convention are nearly zero. But that does not affect my determination to fight on, in every caucus and primary remaining, and at the convention for our ideas, with just as many delegates as I can get. But with so many primaries and caucuses now over, we do not now need so big a national campaign staff, and so I am making it leaner and tighter. Of course, I am committed to fighting for our ideas within the Republican party, so there will be no 3rd party run. I do not denigrate third parties—just the opposite, and I have long worked to remove the ballot-access restrictions on them. But I am a Republican, and I will remain a Republican. I also have another priority. I have constituents in my home district that I must serve. I cannot and will not let them down. And I have another battle I must face here as well. If I were to lose the primary for my congressional seat, all our opponents would react with glee, and pretend it was a rejection of our ideas. I cannot and will not let that happen."

As of today (February 9) Senator Paul has 14 delegates. I don't know what (if any) pull that will give him at the convention but I respect that he is standing by his ideology. I wish Senator Paul continued success in his political career.