Archive Listing
October 20, 2005 - October 13, 2005

Monday, November 22, 2004

Democracy -- Meaning Rule by Apes
We thought we'd take a little time to do some of that -- what they call -- post-election analysis. On the big networks, this has typically taken the form of a group of down-cast analysts wagging their heads slowly as the question -- "What can Democrats do to win?" -- is batted around between commercial breaks.

Well, none of that here. Just a little information and a few observations, and you can be on your way. First off -- 1980. For our 20 to 30 year old readers, you were a babe in arms back in these days . . . but, here's what it looked like when the red-states were red and the blue-states were blue -- no editor in his right-mind would have associated RED with Ronald Reagan in 1980. That is because RED has always meant the REDS or the Communists. You can remember this because Communists called for -- and got -- a bloody revolution. And, blood is RED. Also, they had symbols, like their flag for instance, which had a subtle allusion to the color RED and blood, like this:

There were also little sayings and bumper stickers like, "Better Dead than RED," which meant that people with these stickers or T-Shirts wanted the REDS to know that they, themselves, would rather be DEAD than RED. Meaning, DEAD instead of Communists. And, since the Communists preached the bloody revolution, these Dead than RED guys wanted to be sure the REDS knew that they had to kill them because they weren't going to be RED. The fact that Dead and RED rhyme is just a bonus.

Anyway these "Better Dead than RED" folks voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980. This is what they got for their trouble:

See? All BLUE. Why? Because no one would have associated RED with President Ronald Reagan. "How could this happen?," you might ask. Well, he ran against this guy:

And, this guy:

And, as it turned out, it was "Just Peanuts."

Then, in 1984, the Democrats fielded this:

And, this is what they got for their trouble:

President Reagan remarked to friends, "I think they stole Minnesota."

If you'd like to see more, just leave a comment. For now, you can digest this and we'll work on the rest.

Friday, November 19, 2004

What is Everyone Talking About?
This is our third weekend since the election -- 11/02/2004. What is everyone talking about?

A brief survey . . .

Lot's of stuff at InstaPundit, including a space tourism discussion; Karl Rove; the cost of mega-trials; his brother's blog; and, he gave some blood.

Hugh Hewitt discusses the exile of the Salvation Army from Target department stores. Evidently, he's been on this for a couple of days now.

Michelle Malkin is commenting upon LIBERAL RACISM AND CONDI RICE (we really don't like calling the good doctor, "Condi." It just seems overly-familiar. We're probably just being a bunch of asses.); the appeal of Sheryl Hardy in THE DEATH OF BRADLEY MCGEE; and, from last Saturday, the kid smuggled into the U.S. in a piñata. Maybe that should be as a piñata.

Kos hasn't posted anything for the past couple of days, but DemFromCT seems to be keeping the blog a-goin'. DemFromCT seems to be happy about problems in Fallujah. And, LondonYank seems happy to see the weakening of the U.S. dollar.

The Afro-Netizen is talking about the racist language used at Ebay. And, how much money it takes to run a blog. Speaking of money, you can always support the on-going operations of InstaPunk via the Amazon Cup in the top left panel. Thanks to everyone who has been so kind these many years.

American Digest is taking a break, traveling to Chico, California

Andrew Sullivan is talking about the murder of a young Jewish man shot in the head on the streets of Antwerp and provides a link to a San Francisco regarding the murder of THEO VAN GOGH.

Little Green Footballs has a post regarding Sears/KMart's acquisition of France. They are also posting about Professor Shearer’s class entitled "Topics in Foreign Policy — The Bush Administration,” a lecture that uses the Professor's intimate knowledge of President Bush gained by living across the hall from him during their Freshman years at Yale.

And, finally, Sweet Jesus, I Hate Bill O'Reilly hasn't posted anything since October 24th.

So, there you have it. A bunch of -- what? Not much. Which is kind of interesting in it's own way.

And, what are they writing about that Senator dude that ran for President? CNN/SI has him as Sportsman of the Year (Source Archive). We can't add anything to all this. Have a great weekend.

Thursday, November 18, 2004

FOLLOW-UP: Nothing Worth Dying For?
MP sent in an interesting follow-up piece to our little commentary on the murder of Theo Van Gogh. It seems that there are other people that think it is important to look at the current war against Islamo-Facism as a -- don't say it -- religious war. Don't say it! It is a war on T E R R O R. Not R E L I G I O N.

It is a war on T E R R O R. Not R E L I G I O N.

Sorry, a little mind-control exercise. Back on topic. MP passed along an article entitled, The assassin's master sermon by Spencer (Source Archive). The subject of the article, as the title betrays, is the letter that the assassin stuck to Van Gogh's chest with a knife. It was an open letter to Ayaan Hirshi Ali, a secular Muslim, a member of the Netherlands' parliament, and the late Theo van Gogh's collaborator in a film attacking Islam's treatment of women. Quite a resumé.

It actually gives Ali the chance to put her life on the line for her beliefs. Exactly the chance Wayne is given in our headline link -- Beliefs, chapter 10ff.

Now, the question that everyone needs to ask is, "How can a book, written in 1991, have foretold just such an encounter?" And, I hope everyone has taken the trouble to find out how Wayne faired. But, to find that out, you'll have to read the book. Which is something that may be difficult for some of you, but, if you really, really try, you can do it. If you don't want an autographed copy of The Boomer Bible you can get the regular version at Amazon.com.

It should also be noted that there seems to be a bit of controversy over who, exactly, this Spengler guy is . . . check it out. Maybe he'll contact us and clear it all up. Until then, we'll just have to interact with the writing . . .

UPDATE: Ayaan Hirshi Ali is a woman -- good call OldThumbs

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Microsoft Competition?
We remember when Microsoft went after IBM. We all cheered. Now that Microsoft has become IBM we're always happy to note when an underdog rises up to accept the challenge. How are they doing? A lot better as told by Cynthia L. Webb in a piece in the Washington Post -- Firefox Flames Internet Explorer (Source Archive). And, it's FREE, which has to count for something.

We've used Mozilla here for years and encourage everyone we meet to use it. We don't experience the little problems that IE users tell us about and we don't see all the pop-up ads people seem to enjoy so much these days. But, we're contrarians.

It would also be a good time to point out other FREE products that can make your life easier. Even if you don't do the programming yourself, you should make sure that your developers do -- especially if you're paying the bills. Don't use Active Server Pages (ASP -- Microsoft) and Access (Microsoft); DO USE PHP and MySQL. They're both FREE and fully documented -- see PHP Manual and MySQL Manual.

That feels better. Glad we brought it up.

NEW FEATURE
We've noticed that folks that come here from a Google or other search engine link are often just dumped onto our main page -- they don't seem to track the permanent links that would bring you directly to what you searched. So, we've put up a search feature here at InstaPunk. The search box in the left panel should help you in your search for knowledge. Good luck.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Nothing Worth Dying For? -- you just might get your chance
It has been awhile since we last discussed how InstaPunk.com works (See Here). Today is a very good day to call this to your attention again. As regular readers know, most of our headline links lead to a particular section of The Boomer Bible by R. F. Laird (New York, NY: Workman Publishing, 1991).

Now, when you click on the 'Nothing Worth Dying For?' link above you will be taken to chapter ten of the Book of Beliefs from the Punk Testament of The Boomer Bible. There is a 'Next' link that will take you to chapter eleven of the same book. The entire two chapters are excellent primers for today's news item.

Our fraternal site, BoomerBible.com explains many aspects of The Boomer Bible, but the hard copy of the book is the best way to understand all that is going on. You can get yourself an autographed copy of the book from The Boomer Bible's on-line store or you can get a regular, unsigned copy at Amazon.com.

The Washington Times has an editorial (Source Archive) that highlights some of the problems created by a culture that believes nothing is worth dying for. The editorial was prompted by the murder of a Dutch filmmaker and columnist, Theo Van Gogh (a grandnephew of the painter). The prime suspect, a Muhammad Bouyeri, a 26-year-old Dutch Moroccan has been taken into custody after a very war-like action including hand grenades and closed down air space over the Dutch capital.

The editorial gives a brief background of the struggle between the country's carefree atmosphere and its growing Muslim population. It is worthy of reading and considering the larger dilemma in which we find ourselves. President Bush's victory not withstanding.

It seems to us that we are being called upon by this war on Islamo-Fascism to consider what it is -- EXACTLY -- that we believe? What, exactly, do we stand-for? Or, as it was once put to us, "What is in? And, how far is out?" We suspect that there is a very wobbly answer to this question among most Americans. And this editorial is as good a reason as any to begin to think about the topic.

It is fine to say nothing matters and there are no standards for individual behavior until you come across a group of people that will shoot you, cut your throat, and attach a five-page indictment to your chest with a knife because of what they believe. Then, it just might be time to state your position clearly. Put in its starkest terms, "What is worth dying for?"

Monday, November 15, 2004

Hockey -- which is an excellent way . . .
Sorry, I haven't written for awhiles. I've been very busy. Well, I actually have been doing a little more drinking than usual. My mother and father came in from Europe and they -- my father for sure -- weren't too happy. My father screamed at me when he saw all the empty Vodka bottles around. I told him I lost track and was sorry. He didn't talk much after the shouting.

I guess what pushed me over the edges was the anyfell TV contract. What gives? The anyshell has meesed 520 Games and those guys with the footballs are getting another $17.6 billions US. Us hockey guys only have Barry Melrose and the chance to sell ads for the games -- sometimes. Nobody seems to mees the hockey as much a me. Alot of my friends are playing the hockey in Europe, but I want to play in America -- I love America. I did find one guy (Source Archive) who meeses the hockey, but he doesn't want anybody to know his name.

I have watched much more of the footballs. The Monday Footballs has a big song with a fat guy in a beard screaming, kids banging on drums with the cameras inside, girls jumping up and down, and Air Force jets screaming over the stadium. Then, the game starts and I don't get what happens. Ten seconds of rumble and the guys walk back and talk about it. Then, you see a commercial. Back to the rumble, the talking, the commercial. The 10-second rumble, the talking, the commercial. How do people do this?

Don't people know they can watch stretches and stretches of the hockey with no commercials at all. Sometimes the commercial but not after every shift. Sometimes the buy three tickets get another one for free with a free T-shirts for everybody, the free hotdogs for everybody, the free Cokes for everybody, and the free parking announcement read by the guy calling the game. And still the people stay home and don't watch the hockey. I don't understand it.

Then this guy told me the anyfell plays sixteen games a season. 16! That's the number of wins the team in the hockey has to win to get the Stanley Cup -- in the playoffs. The hockey has 80 regular season games for the team to play and then they have to get the 16 wins in the playoffs which could take almost 30 games to get! We could give the TV guys lots more games for their $17.6 billions US. Lots more. And we don't need no jets flying over the stadiums.

Anywat, my parents left. I got some food from my mother that I love. I've been sober now for about 48 hours. But, I just finished reading this Dilbeck guy (Source Archive) . . . Talk to you later . . .

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