More Bumper Stickers

I love bumper stickers, though there seems to be a raging debate that they are useless since you can not fit your entire world view on them. Franky, I'd be more concerned if you could. All that follow were stolen from the comments section at Villainous Company:

Running from conflict has never worked before. Why would it now?

Afraid of having to fight for your freedom? Do NOT volunteer.

United States of America - Spreading freedom, One victory at a time.

Intelligent debate means never having to shout louder than your opponent

Before entering into an exchange of ideas MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AT LEAST ONE

Being a liberal means never having to say you're sorry, accountable or accurate.

Frederalism

The following is from a recent article written by Fred Thompson. Take the time to read the entire article and see if you don't agree with his position.

"The Framers believed in free markets, rights of property and the rule of law, and they set these principles firmly in the Constitution. Above all, the Framers enshrined in our founding documents, and left to our care, the principle that rights come from our Creator and not from our government.

We developed institutions that allowed these principles to take root and flourish: a government of limited powers derived from, and assigned to, first the people, then the states, and finally the national government. A government strong enough to protect us and do its job competently, but modest and humane enough to let the people govern themselves. Centralized government is not the solution to all of our problems and – with too much power – such centralization has a way of compounding our problems. This was among the great insights of 1787, and it is just as vital in 2007.

The federalist construct of strong states and limited federal government put in place by our Founders was intended to give states the freedom to experiment and innovate. It envisions states as laboratories in competition with each other to develop ideas and programs to benefit their people, to see what works and what does not.

This ingenious means of governing a large and diverse nation prevailed for more than a century. But today our Constitution and the limited, federalist government it established, are considered by many to be quaint or out of touch with the world we live in, to be swept aside by political expediency.

The Supreme Court sometimes ignores the written Constitution to reflect its view of the times. So does Congress, which routinely forgets that our checks and balances, the separation of powers and our system of federalism are designed to diffuse power and protect the liberties of our people. Before anything else, folks in Washington ought to be asking first and foremost, “Should government be doing this? And if so, then at what level of government?” But they don’t."

No - they certainly don't.

This is all about power; how we protect ourselves from too much power being concentrated in too few hands and about how we maintain our liberty from our own government. And the fact that since we don't teach American history in our schools anymore, that one in ten voters would probably not be able to define Federalism for you.

Bumper Sticker Watch

I saw a car with Ontario license plates traveling south on I-71 today. It had the best bumper sticker I have seen for quite some time:

"If you can not stand behind our troops, please feel free to stand in front of them."

I just finished reading Strictly Right - William F. Buckley Jr. and the American Conservative Movement. It provides a warm and insightful view of the godfather of the Conservative movement as well as a look at how Buckley pulled libertarians, traditional conservatives and former communists together to write for National Review. By doing so and keeping the ship afloat, Buckley more than any other conservative managed to move the country to the right.

An excellent read.

Quote Of The Day

"Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your own children."
- Anonymous

Harvest Time

It's harvest time here on the estate. The garden has already brought forth a bounty of Swiss chard, zucchini, hot peppers and promises much more as the season progresses. We just love going into the garden to see what we are going to have for dinner.


The hens are beginning to lay eggs. And our rooster has finally learned to crow. When he started to find his voice he sounded like he was using a kazoo.

And the bees brought forth their first contribution of nine quarts. Honey extraction is a lot of work, but it has it's rewards.

All of these pictures represent many, many hours of preparation and work but, boy, has it been fun!

Bryan Ferry

I love Roxy Music and it's lead singer, Bryan Ferry. I have seen Ferry perform both with Roxy Music as well as a solo act (Chris Spedding on lead guitar - positively mindbending). Anyway, Bryan Ferry has a new solo album out called Dylanesque which is comprised of cover versions of Bob Dylan songs. Give a listen to Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues to hear what I'm taking about.

Blog Anniversary

I passed my one year blog-o-versary recently with little to no fan fare. This has been a fun experience and has helped me in a number of areas. It also acts as my digital scrapbook and helps me to remember certain things - from the mundane to the semi-profound.

Thanks to all of you that stop in and read from time to time.

The Greatest Story Never Told

Larry Kudlow recently posted this article about the booming world economy and the War On Terror:

"The big theme in today’s Dow crossing the 14,000 threshold for the first time is one of unprecedented global economic growth and a worldwide stock market boom.

Simply put, this is the greatest global stock market boom in history.

What we are witnessing here, in virtually every corner of the globe, is the success and the spread of unbridled free market capitalism. It is a dynamic worldwide march toward lower tax rates, deregulation, and, as market strategist Don Luskin put it on last night’s show, the “interconnectedness” of global economies through free trade, the free flow of capital, and the robust free exchange of information.

Despite the persistent doom and gloom refrain from various sourpuss prognosticators, it remains the greatest story never told.

And it's not over yet.

This Goldilocks stock market and economy is celebrating her one-year anniversary in a remarkable bull market run that began last July. Since last summer, the Dow is up over 30 percent; Europe is up 40 percent; Japan is up 18 percent; and the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) index is up a mind blowing 64 percent.

That’s called global prosperity.

Here in the U.S., we’re getting a welcome speedup in the economy with profits and cash flow shares at record highs.

And what’s more, this global stock market boom signifies a major defeat for al Qaeda and all the terrorist jihadists who seek to destroy capitalism and our way of life. The spread of prosperity across the globe cannot tell a lie: The terrorists are on the wrong side, they are on the losing side, and their side will be defeated. Freedom and capitalism are moving full steam ahead. It will ultimately crush the evil, totalitarian jihadists.

Despite all the criticism President Bush has received over his administration’s Iraq war policies, the stock market has been booming throughout the whole period from early 2003 onward. Markets are giving Bush’s steadfastness in the battle of Iraq and the world terror war a big thumbs up vote of confidence.

Bottom line? Free market capitalism—it’s still the best path to prosperity."

A Watergate Mystery Solved, Once and for All...

This was posted by Jonah Goldberg at NRO's The Corner:

Nixon Tapes' 18 Minute Gap

From a reader:

Nixon’s tape gap: 18 mins

“In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly: 17 mins and change

Coincidence? I don’t think so!

Fred Thompson Update

"Fred Thompson has exactly the right amount of cowbell."

Sharansky on Iraq

Natan Sharansky has an article in today's Washington Post about the human rights dimension of the US intervention in Iraq. I thought this paragraph was particularly telling:

"Perhaps the greatest irony of the political debate over Iraq is that many of Bush's critics, who accused his administration of going blindly to war without considering what would happen once Hussein's regime was toppled, now blindly support a policy of withdrawing from Iraq without considering what might follow."

Quote of the Day

"And it ain't no use in callin' out my name, gal
Like you never did before
And it ain't no use in callin' out my name, gal
I can't hear you anymore
I'm a-thinkin' and a-wond'rin' all the way down the road
I once loved a woman, a child I've been told
I'd give her my heart but she wanted my soul
But don't think twice, it's all right"

Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - Bob Dylan

Happy Independence Day

If you have not read it recently, there is no time like the present.

Tony Blair - We Miss You Already

Tony Blair speaks out in an interview conducted prior to his recent departure from 10 Downing Street (emphasis added):

"'The idea that as a Muslim in this country that you don't have the freedom to express your religion or your views, I mean you've got far more freedom in this country than you do in most Muslim countries,' Blair told Observer columnist Will Hutton, who presents the documentary.

'The reason we are finding it hard to win this battle is that we're not actually fighting it properly. We're not actually standing up to these people and saying, "It's not just your methods that are wrong, your ideas are absurd. Nobody is oppressing you. Your sense of grievance isn't justified."'

Blair held out the example of the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan - criticised by Islamists as an example of the heavy-handed imperial West oppressing Muslims - to highlight unfounded claims of grievance. He asked how it is possible to claim that Afghanistan's Muslims are being oppressed when the Taliban 'used to execute teachers for teaching girls in schools'.

Blair added: 'How are [we] oppressing them? You're oppressing them when you support the people who are trying to blow them up.'"

John Edwards - where are you?

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez at Investor's Business Daily.