Would you trust this man with your kids?

Ok, I wouldn't either, except its me were talking about!
Since we are now in the heat of the summer, let me take you back just four short months ago, what it was like in my front yard. And feel the cool breeze.

Never more disgusted with GOP

Despite all the time, treasure, and work to get GOP politicians in the White House and Congress, for six years they did nothing except what the Democrat minority would allow. Now that the Congress is lost, our fearless leader comes up with an immigration "plan" that Ted Kennedy is willing to sign on to. It sure is a great deal for illegal immigrants, and a good way to make regular taxpaying Americans pay for more goodies like subsidized college educations and free health care for people not even willing to follow the laws to come here legally. I didn't give them any money last year, I won't this year, and I don't foresee giving any more in the future. There are no candidates out there who are remotely interested in the things that are important to me.

Mentally still on vacation

Been back for awhile, but I'm still in vacation mode.

Vacation soon, need it!

Next Saturday, we'll be in Orlando for six days. Can't wait for some fun in the sun.
Too bad I wasn't able to make it to the "gathering of eagles" in DC on Saturday. As usual the mainstream news said nothing about the proud vets who showed to stand up against the idiocy of the Cindy Sheehan brigade. If you heard anything at all, it was that there was a "large antiwar protest" this weekend.
'

Shame

You profess to "support" the troops, then you pull out the rug from under them. Your "support" only means bringing them home, so we can be attacked by terrorists here instead of there. Like Obama said, the lives already lost were "wasted", as if there were no point to any of our actions there. You may think of think of it as "support", but I'd prefer to call it by its real name: SEDITION.

Super Bowl Sunday

I think 7 points is too many, but I do think the Colts will win.
As for President in '08, if we must have a woman leader, why can it not be someone like Lady Thatcher? The Republicans are in such bad shape I'm not sure anyone can run and win right now.

Happy New Year and congrats Colts

The Super Bowl is now set, with the two best teams eleven weeks into the season coming out on top. Peyton Manning finally got the monkey off his back and won a "big one" against Tom Brady and the Pats, who put up their usual good showing. The Bears, after sleepwalking in December look to be for real again. This could really be a great Super Bowl and I'm looking forward to it.
As for politics, they all stink. No one looks to be deserving of a vote.

Bengals - Colts MONDAY Night Football!

Tonight's the big night, the Bengals trying to avenge last year's costly defeat and fighting for the wild-card playoff spot. The Colts have wrapped up their division but want a first-round bye. So it's gonna be big. Can't wait.

Been neglecting

Been neglecting the old blog. There will be lots to write about now that the GOP blew its chance to get things done. The best thing about the election is that gridlock is virtually assured, at least for two years, so things shouldn't totally collapse. Look for the Dems to find ways to tax the rich (i.e. anybody making above minimum wage), to cut and run in Iraq, and to investigate and prosecute as many conservatives as possible. Of course, any party with Alcee Hastings and William Jefferson shouldn't be slinging mud about ethics, but they will anyway. Why not, look at the free passes Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton (still) get!

I Love This One Too - and Vote Tuesday!

I like these pictures, too. I wonder if I can get Cheney to autograph my copy?
Hey, be sure to vote Nov. 7th. I am like many who have been very disappointed at the Republican Congress seemingly unable to pass any of the things we elected them to do in the first place. It does seem like its been downhill ever since the "Contract with America." But as badly as they have performed, a Democratic takeover would be far worse. Better to have a do-nothing Congress than one led by the likes of Pelosi, Conyers, or the ancient one Ted Kennedy (burp) I mean Robert KKK Byrd.

Egg on Kerry's face -- Priceless!

This says it better than anyone else I've heard on the subject of John Kerry and his idiotic remarks about the education of our military.

Bengals Lay an Egg

After weeks of hype the Bengals were humbled in a big way Sunday, getting smashed by New England. I should have known it was coming just from the Sports Illustrated cover jinx, but the fact is the Bengals injuries and suspensions have caught up with them, and the holes they created have now been exploited. Maybe the bye week will help with the healing.
By the way, congrats to the Reds. Even though they finished 80-82 which is the sixth straight losing season, they were in it all the way until Friday. And they did way better than the aforementioned SI said they would.

RCI Award Nominee - Jacques Chirac

So Chirac isn't worried about Iran's nuclear program, at least not enough to support international sanctions. And why would he, since his buddies in France are making lots of money supplying the Iranians with nuclear technology. So what if they want to wipe Israel off the map.
For Rectal Cranial Inversion above and beyond the call of duty, Chirac receives a nomination for the RCI award.

Thoughts on 9-11

Now that the fifth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks has come and gone, it brings about an opportunity to reflect where we were, where we are now, and where we are going. Firstly, I think Americans cannot bear the thought of a prolonged fight. That was true before 9-11-01 and I think it's still true. We want it all wrapped up nice and clean by the end of the hour show, so that we don't have to dwell on the details or stew too much on hard choices. This is a weakness the terrorists know about and have tried to exploit. Politicians are aware of it too, and unfortunately for us, try to use it for political advantage. We have to rely on our leadership to be adult, and it has been, many times, lacking.
So a short attention span and a lack of politicians with spine is a real handicap. Fortunately, we have tremendous resources and smarts to combat the bad guys and drive them into hiding. Since 9-11, we have gotten much better at "connecting the dots" and thus have prevented many attempts at terrorist acts. I think it's realistic to expect, however, that it's only a matter of time before someone else succeeds in attacking us. After all, when you are willing to die you become a much tougher opponent. The sooner we can get out of Iraq, or at least reduce our large numbers there, the sooner we can get more assets back into Afghanistan, where the fight never really stopped. Time is working against us because the Iraq situation has dragged on for so long, and the remnants of the Taliban continue to reorganize and get stronger.
But if we relent on that front then the terrorists will come here again.
Perhaps it will take another and yet another major attack on us, maybe a dirty bomb or anthrax attack, to get us to focus hard on this problem. We talk a lot about 9-11, but then elect people with weak records on defense and security. I don't want to hear any more about how America is at fault; evil ideology is at fault and evil people. And when it comes to standing up to those who would kill us, we must be just as ferocious. Our military is up to the task; the real question remains, are the rest of us?

Not much blogging lately, football's almost here!

This week was busy, jammed-packed with fantasy football drafts, and Carson Palmer back in the fold on Monday.
Thank God for football because the other news is too bad to even contemplate. The saddest is Marcus Fiesel and the demons who were put in charge of his care.

Still missing

We got to hear all about Jill Carroll, her book is coming out soon. So what about Steve Centanni? And what is reason to hold him? He's probably being ransomed, but to whom? If Fox News paid, wouldn't just be asking for more of the same? Maybe the family is wealthy enough to warrant interest from the kidnappers, but I'm sure he isn't making Katic Couric-type money.
As for the Bush Derangement Syndrome people who hate Bush above else, and by extension, anyone or any organization not from the left, and who therefore glad that something bad happened to Fox News, well, you deserve a thorough butt-kicking. Report to Big Daddy to receive your just due.

JonBenet's killer found?

Lets hope so. Anybody who does this should fry. And I am against the death penalty. Even so, anyone that would dare do this kind of thing to a kid of mine better never hope I find out who he/she is, because I'd be all about an eye for an eye.

Wild Card Lead Keeps Baseball Exciting

The Reds unexpected strong showing this year have got Cincinnati fans, normally used to gearing up for football by this time in the summer, glued to the TV to see if they can actually pull off an improbable playoff run. Once again, last night Ross provided a bottom of the ninth, come-from-behind win with a walk-off two-run homer against the division-leading Cardinals.

Not that we are not gearing up for football, go Bengals!

Don't forget our troops in harm's way and kudos to the law-enforcement types that foiled the terrorist airplane plot in London. Take that, Ned Lamont.

We are in trouble

Why say this? Why be such a pessimist? History.
We live in a country where we can forget we are at war. We watch baseball instead. And basketball. And football. And American Idol.

Whole segments of the population totally avoid military service. Because its dangerous. This is nothing new, by the way -- just ask all the politicians that received deferments back in the days of Vietnam.

We choose not to face these things in the face of day-to-day living. Because reality can be brutal. And we don't like brutal. Abortion is brutal reality; let's not deal with it and instead hide behind words like "choice."

But eventually events catch up with us that shatter our perfect little world. Just ask those metro New Yorkers that worked in the World Trade Center. Evil is a part of man; it is a part of our world. We can deal with it or we can ignore it until it is too late. And we really like to ignore it.

Israel wakes up and smells the coffee; what about us?

Israel is finally figuring out that there can be no peace with people who are committed to seeing the end of the Jewish nation. All the hand-ringing and kumbaya-singing of those in the West who just want to get along just emboldens Hamas, Hezbollah, and the various other would-be Zaqarwis out there. These people have to be dealt with, because they won't just go away. Meanwhile, a very dangerous situation is unfolding before our eyes, and its easy to see how we could get drawn in to the conflict. Morally, we should but its questionable if there is sufficient political will to do so in an election year. And we haven't even talked about North Korea or Iran yet.

New blog!

I have a new blog at townhall.com, called Pocket Rockets Cracked Again. I'll keep more personal stuff here and do more standing on a soapbox there. I'll put a link to it so you can see what I have got there.

It's July, the Reds are in first!

Here's something that we haven't seen in many years in these parts. The Reds are in first in July! Last night I saw something I've never seen with my own eyes -- bottom of the ninth, two outs, down three runs -- walk-off grand slam game winner! If you can't get excited about that you're probably already dead. They may not be baseball's best team, but they have done far better than anyone expected (Sports Illustrated picked 'em dead last.) Two good teams in Cincinnati in the same year? Say it is so, Joe.

Zarqawi Dead; A Great Day for Humanity

Great news today as Zarqawi is dead. Burn, baby burn.

Now this is the way to work the immigration problem

One at a time, methodically. You don't have to get them all, just enough to get the word out that we are serious about our laws. Come here and work, rebuild your life. Just be legal. When a city councilman is a neighbor and he doesn't know about all the illegals in his own backyard, it shows just how much work there is to do. See this story in today's Cincinnati Enquirer.

In case you weren't paying attention

In case you haven't been watching what's going on in the middle east, perhaps you should. Iran is proposing a new law to force Christians and Jews to dress conspicuously in public, so they could be identified on sight. One official in Isreal has already said that those who would make Jews wear the star would find themselves in a coffin.

Who's running the CIA anyway?

From the looks of things, it wasn't the Director, Porter Goss. One analyst fired for leaking to the press, and suddenly he's gone. I guess the bureaucrats are still running things at CIA, bureaucrats that don't like Bush. Let's hope Hayden will clean house, but getting rid of entrenched bureaucracy is the hardest thing in government to do.

One of the best American sports stories ever

It happened thirty years ago this week.
It wasn't about who won the game.
It was about respect.
See the details here.

Is Cincinnati going to blow up again?

Five years after the riots from the Timothy thomas shooting, now another shooting. This one right outside city council, of a well known local black activist calling himself Kabaka. Thank God it wasn't the police who shot him, or the hell would have broken loose already. Look for the same people who did the boycott of Cincinnati to find some reason to blame the police. Downtown Cincinnati is becoming nearly as dangerous as Bagdhad.

Nuke Iran?

We might have to. I have been saying for months that we will be shooting in Iran soon, because Isreal won't allow Iran to go forward and we will be stuck in the middle. If we tactically nuke weapons facilities, we may set them back and minimize civilian deaths. But it's going to get ugly, and gas is going to be a whole lot more expensive. If you don't yet own some gold, now is a good time to get some.

Check this out

Check out this gem, it's a beaut.
Too bad DeLay threw in the towel, that will only embolden the Ronnie Earles of the world, who is the one who really should be indicted for prosecutorial misconduct.

Cha-ching

Way to go Bruins!
By the way, if you get an invitationto a zombie party, I would respectfully decline.

Today's the day

Back from Florida, tanned and rested, today will be the day I find out if I money in the basketball pool. Go Bruins!
Say, how about the protests right here in America, by illegals demanding their "rights" and waving flags from other countries? I say go back from whenceforth ye came and protest there. If you are here you should be here legally. Of course, we will always have illegals as long as we have people willing to pay them under the table.

Florida - virtual post card

Here on my laptop in Destin, Florida. Catching some rays at the pool and the beach, ev en though it's not really hot enough yet to do a lot of swimming. The kids insure that every day I spend more than I planned on, but what else did I expect?

bracket crap

As usual, my brackets are crap. At least UCLA is still in it, I've got them in the pool. Spring Break is a couple of days away, and I'm looking forward to some sun. So I hope the weather cooperates.

March madness

Can't go without mentioning the NCAA tourney, the annual reason to take vacation days in the middle of March. I'm rooting for all underdogs, and also UCLA, my team in the pool. Just watched the Pacific - Boston College game, a great game that went to double-overime. It's no wonder this tournament is so popular.

Lack of blogging

My blogs have dropped off the radar recently, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I have been pretty busy with my tax "consulting". Secondly, football season is over, and the mid-term elections are still far-off. Plus, my traffic is so slow, I really only need to update once in a while anyway.
It looks like the port deal is dead, which to me was a lot of blather about nothing. If we were really worried about port security we would be checking more than 4-6% of the incoming containers, and wouldn't have let the Chinese run the port at Long Beach. At least the sudden interest in the security of our ports may help to focus our efforts on better protecting our ports from attack. The real problem is the economic vulnerability, and the terrorists are smart enough to figure that out.
I will soon take my first-ever actual spring break trip, taking the kids to Destin, Florida the last week of this month. Even though its only going to be a four day stay, the hope is to recharge the batteries and get out in the sun a little bit after the long winter, which sounds really good after three days of rain.

Winter Olympics

Am I the only one who doesn't get particularly excited over the winter olympics? Hours of figure skating, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, and curling just doesn't do it for me. I kind of like the speed skating and hockey, but I'd just as soon watch 24 and catch the highlights on sportscenter. Ok, I know they have more athleticism in their pinky fingers than I have in my entire body, but when it comes to watching sports on TV, give me football or March madness.

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl has arrived, an unofficial national holiday. Think about it, its easier to publically celebrate the playing of a game than it is to publically celebrate Christmas or Easter.
I can't bring myself to root for either team, so I'm going to bet the under and root for that.

Tax Time

Busy with taxes. Mine, yours, whomever.

The new season of "24"

I've been hearing a lot of buzz about the Fox show "24" at work and flipping through the blogs. This show is great entertainment, just like an old western, where all the bad guys ultimately get what they got coming to them. Last season was the first I watched, since I don't make it a habit to watch a lot of new TV. For the most part, I find new shows lame and not fit for family viewing, especially the so-called comedies. And while this show also has stuff I wouldn't recommend to kids, there's something deliciously politically incorrect about skirting all the rules to get the terrorists. Anyone who has ever worked for the government knows about all the rules and restraints placed on you from all the layers or bureauacracy.

Man, Do I Stink

I am the worst in terms of picking playoff winners. I was sure Indy would win easily, but I guess I should've known better by how well the Steelers handled my Bengals last week. Its a really good thing I don't actually bet the games, because I woulda went broke. Maybe the Bears will do something and kick a lot of field goals. Fantasy football players have a sickness, I'm convinced.

Alito through the worst of it

Supreme Court Justice nominee Samuel Alito has finished his interrogation by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and will be confirmed soon. The Senate Democrats did not disappoint, with yet another disgusting display of partisanship. The thought of the idiot Durbin and the drunken Kennedy sitting in judgment of someone like Alito is frankly nauseating. It's no matter, because of the fact that the Dems keep sending guys like this to Congress, which is the reason they've become and will continue to be the minority party.

Bengals Fans Hopes Sink With the Loss of Palmer

After many years of waiting for a playoff game, Cincinnati fans hopes of a post-season run were cut short when Carson Palmer was injured on his first throw of the game. Both the receiver and thrower were hurt on the play, and though the Bengals held a lead through halftime, they could not overcome the loss of their franchise player and eventually fell to the hated Steelers.
Well, as they say, there's always next year.

Playoff Week; Excitement Building

It's finally here, my Bengals are in a playoff game, against the hated division rival Steelers. Pep rallies and smack talk. All the things that make football a party.
By the way, congrats to the Longhorns, what a great victory over USC!

Romance on TV

I've been watching Ohio State and Notre Dame play today, and I've seen ABC run a bunch of ads for new "romantic" comedies like "Emilys Reasons Why Not", "Crumbs", and "Jake in Progress". These shows purportedly "put the fun" back in romance, but, from what I can tell from the promos, all they really do is trivialize real romance and reduce it to the glorification of casual sex. I mean, what is so funny about "I nailed a chick in the freezer, I win" which was in one of the promos for "Crumbs"? Is it really smart to offend that portion of America with any remaining morals by producing such shows? Whats worse, they are aggressively promoting them with the sleazy inuendo during "family" programming (if your family likes to watch football games.)
I submit that the real romance was shown during halftime, when Faith Jarvis, in a fund-raising promotion from Tostitos for the USO, was surprised by the appearance of her boyfriend, 1LT Ray Vera, who had just got off a plane from Iraq, and proposed to her on the spot. All this, of course, on national television. And lets not forget the girlfriend of Ohio State's AJ Hawk is the sister of Notre Dame's Brady Quinn, a story which got a lot of play during the game itself. Should the executives suffering from rectal cranial inversion at ABC recover long enough to see that the real romance was at the Fiesta Bowl and not from imaginary characters that think "monagamy is overrated".

Happy New Year!

It's a new year, and hopefully we'll make it better than the last. I will make the blog better, get my health better, get in better shape, and get my mind ready for new challenges.
I'm going to start a new award for this blog only, the RCI award (short for rectal cranial inversion.) It will be given for substantial rectal cranial invertedness during 2005, and ordinary inversion just isn't enough. If you have some nominations, leave a comment.

Big Daddy's Top Ten List for 2005

This is the time of the year when everybody does a top ten list, so I will do one too. Remember, this is the world according to Big Daddy.

10. Aftermath of the tsunami. Yeah, I know it actually occured 12/26/04, but the aftermath lasted well into 2005. When mother nature kills more people than atomic bombs, it brings man's arrogance into focus, because the power of the natural world is beyond our imagination.

9. Saddam on trial. He gassed his own people. He started wars. He thumbed his nose at the world. He hid in the spider hole. Now, he will get his, and from the Iraqi people.

8. Bengals make the playoffs. For the first time in 15 years, Bengals fans can cheer their team in the playoffs. At home, even!

7. 25th High School Reunion. Because I made it. And I don't get out much!

6. My oldest daughter learns to drive. Most tangible evidence yet that I'm getting old.

5. Elections in Afghanistan and Iraq. Despite the naysayers, the military was able to help these countries pull it off. If we are going to stop terrorists, one of the things we'll need to do is make their homelands better places, so maybe they won't want to die so badly.

4. Earthquake in Pakistan. Fifty thousand dead? Think of it, thats an entire small city, just gone. Never mind a million left homeless.

3. Hurricanes. Wilma, Rita, and the big monster Katrina. Biloxi devasted. Gulfport devasted. New Orleans, spared the worst, only to flood when the levee broke.

2. The passing of Pope John Paul. Arguably the most beloved and important figure of the last half of the twentieth century, and the only pope many people ever knew. His leadership and influence will be felt for many many years.

1. Renal cell carcinoma. When you get something like this, other things don't seem quite so important. So far, God has blessed me with a complete recovery. Being faced with your own mortality makes one feel an extra sense of gratitude for every day God gives us.

He's Got Big Shoes to Fill

It's easy to spend a lot of time complaining about whats bad in the world, but hard to do something about it. As we enjoy this Christmas, remember this man in our prayers to help him be a spiritual leader in the world.

Been so busy

Been so busy this week, haven't had a lot of time to post. Check out Powerline's posting on the NSA spying non-controversy. A sad day for Tony Dungy with his son's death. Say a prayer.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!

And last night, he was visiting Cincinnati! It been such a long wait, it's time to celebrate!

Will today be the day?

Is today finally, after 15 years, going to be the day the Bengals clinch a berth in the playoffs? A win at struggling Detroit will do it. Many other important things are going on, I'm travelling to my sisters for a big family Christmas get-together, I've lost 32 pounds on the diet in the last month, but Bengals fanatics, long suffering as we are, can't wait for the playoff reward for the new-found success in Cincinnati. So the so-called important stuff will have to wait one more day. Who Dey!

Patriot Act Almost Done; NSA spying

Today comes the defeat in the Senate of the Patriot Act, attacked by some as giving the government too much power (as if it didn't have enough already.) I think making use of the same tools we've used against the mafia for years makes sense to use against terror cells already in the US, but oversight is a real problem. My friend Matt has expressed his concern about the government abusing its power against the citizenry, and I think he probably would not be in favor of the Patriot Act. My libertarian leanings make me lukewarm at best towards this, but I do believe the government has an obligation to try and find these guys using the smartest means we can muster. Also today, word of NSA spying on domestic terror suspects without warrants was leaked (by the CIA, who else) to the NY Times. I think they will run with this like the Abu Ghraib thing, until we are sick of hearing about it. I'd like to know how a leak of this sort is not worse than the Valerie Plame so-called covert agent outing.

You go girl!

This 77 year old lady speaks with more common sense than a whole bucketful of ACLU lawyers and so-called mainsteam media types. Follow this link and download the file to see her, in her own words. Anyone who really supports our troops overseas will get this.

Bye Bye Tookie

So Arnold has denied clemency for Tookie Williams. It's real hard to bring myself to feel sorry for this cold-blooded killer, even though I'm opposed to the death penalty. Don't take that to mean I'm somehow soft on criminals; I all for putting guys like this on a chain gang in a Northern Alaska gulag. I just don't think we accomplish much by bringing ourselves down to the level of the killer. Instead, I will try to do the Christian thing and pray for his soul and the souls of the people he slaughtered. If I can bring myself to do it.

Jeckyl & Hyde Brownies Show Up and Play Tough

Cleveland and Charlie Frye showed up today and gave the Bengals all they wanted. If this was any year from 1991-2004, Cincy would've figured a way to bungle the game. Even though Carson and Chad didn't play their best, the team managed to hold it together and eek out a win. I think Cleveland is going in the right direction, as they have shown flashes of brilliance occasionally this year. The problem has been that they will come back and lay an egg the next week.

How about "Lost" -- anybody like that show? I like the character development.

Welcome! Open Comments

Thanks for visiting. Feel free to comment or let me in on some juicy secrets.

Did you hear?

Say, did you hear about this? Wouldn't be suprised if you didn't. How about this? All I hear everyday is the never-ending complaining about the evil bushies, the "illegal" war and the "mounting" casualties. For some good perspective, consider this.
Evil is real.
It must be opposed.
Go see the movie, its so superior to anything else out right now it makes you wonder why some of the moviemakers even try. They cannot hope to compete with the intellectual firepower of C. S. Lewis.

Update: A great review of the movie here.

Looks like good news on the SCOTUS case on the Solomon Amendment

Still recovering from possibly the most boring game ever on Monday Night Football, but today comes some good news from the Supreme Court, as the justices appeared to back up Congress, who tried to prevent federally-funded universities (practically all of them) from banning military recruiters. More proof that the elitists running these schools don't know anything about the military and don't care. Frankly, most of them hate all things military and look down their noses at those dumb red-staters that make up the greatest fighting force the world has ever known.

Bengals, Steelers Part Duex

Big Big game for Bengals faithful. Win today an its up two games with four remaining. Playoff anticipation is growing, I needn't remind you how long its been since that happened!