Great to see he's landed at a good home.

Posted by John Climacus at 06:12 | Permalink

Holy cow, I just noticed MoneyWatch has the mega-round up on the Sierra Leone chimpanzee rampage! We're talking news, views, blogs and all you could ever want to know.

Git over there now! There may be no more compelling story on Earth at this moment...and I say that without the slightest fear of exaggeration.

If it's after May 1, 2006 just click here and scroll Aprl 23-30, 2006. You won't be disappointed.

Posted by John Climacus at 03:02 | Permalink | Comments (2)

My Sitemeter is just friggin' hysterical right now.

This post may make absolutely no sense if you happen to read it much after about 6:00 pm on April 24, 2006, but it's worth clicking that link to my Referrers for a live shot just in case.

I tell ya, I crack myself up sometimes.

Posted by John Climacus at 05:43 | Permalink

Michelle Malkin's new Web venture is up and running. If you want to be registered as a commenter, you apparently need to act fast because the number of registrants will be limited.

Here is the concept:

A Note from the Founder

Welcome to the world’s first full-service conservative Internet broadcast network!

Internet video is booming. Apple’s iTunes store has sold a gazillion videos since its debut. YouTube gets more traffic than the New York Times web site. And politically-oriented video is on the rise:

• Google teamed up with Al Gore’s Current TV network to provide Google Current.
  
• Amazon.com broadcasts Fishbowl featuring left-wing comedian Bill Maher.
  
• iTunes offers a discount price for Comedy Central’s liberal Daily Show.
  
• AOL joined with the Huffington Post to provide Contagious Festival, a collection of conservative-bashing short movies.
  

These efforts have one thing in common: they are all produced by liberals for liberals.

I formed Hot Air Network, LLC, to bring ideological diversity—because we all love diversity–to the videoblogging world. And because it looked like a lot of fun. Two of the most cutting-edge bloggers on the Right have joined me in my cyberquest: video editing whiz Bryan Preston and the almighty Allah Pundit. Allah likes to think of us as a little Internet garage band. Only we’re playing in three separate home offices and a basement. But you get the idea.

Our mission at Hot Air is to:

• Expose new viewers to the revolutionary world of videoblogging, animation, and Internet broadcasting;
  
• Recruit dynamic, enterprising people with creative skills from across the country to help us challenge (and CONQUER!) the dinosaur broadcast media outlets;
  
• Laugh. Report. Laugh. Entertain. Laugh. Inform. Laugh. Make money. Did we say laugh?
  So, tune in. Turn on. And drop us a tip or two or three. We’re here to fight hot air with Hot Air. Fill ‘er up.

  Michelle Malkin
  Founder, Hot Air
  

Posted by John Climacus at 05:54 | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

I don't have the time to write about every stinkin' thing that happens, but of course I don't have to: For the full story on McCarthy-gate, visit Ace.

(Scroll down his main site for more coverage).

Also, Powerline, here and here.

The big question: How long before the mainstream media is forced to report the full story? If Rather-gate is any guide, my money says two more weeks.

CNN: Not just yet.

WAPO: Not quite yet. Understandably.

NY Times: Not quite yet. Indeed.

Andrew McCarthy has a good summation of the questions that should be getting asked:

The so-called "black site" prisons were later publicized by Dana Priest of the Washington Post, jeopardizing not only the detainee intelligence stream but, just as importantly, America's relationship with the cooperating governments — on whom we rely because of our global dearth of intelligence assets, and who are now incentivized to cut-off information exchanges because they believe (with some obvious justification) that our intelligence community is not trustworthy.

As a result of all this, McCarthy was fired, stripped of her security clearance, and escorted from the CIA's premises last Thursday. Yet, she has not been arrested.

Posted by John Climacus at 03:44 | Permalink | Comments (2)

No wonder he's updating his resume:

“Sorry, Zarkman, can’t help you with the wiring diagrams, my Ph.D. is in deconstructivist semiotics,” whatever the fuck that means. I mean, holy dung, how do these motards chew gum and protest march at the same time? And the ones that actually do get over here never want to volunteer for anything other than being a stupid hostage, and then they start whining for vegan meals and high-speed internet, and then they get all pissy and crying when you actually cut off one of the other’s heads. Helloooooo, Moby McMoonbeam: that’s what you fucking hostages are for. Shit, I swear the only victory we’ve had lately is when Team Satan came and took those Unitarian peace creeps off our hands. Your problem now, dawg.

Posted by John Climacus at 02:09 | Permalink

Cripes!

Posted by John Climacus at 01:59 | Permalink | Comments (4)

Continuing the debate from yesterday's post, Hub of the Universe once again brings an astute progressive response. I have found, over the past couple years, that Hub has a talent for keying in on the areas where one's argument has not been fully stated.

I think Hub is still off base with the following, but nevertheless reveals points that need to be made more clearly by us "wingers":

Paul J's latest simply re-affirms my point -- his real concern is that the GodHatesAmerica freaks will generate sympathy for the ho-mo-sex-uals and that he'll be tarred by the brush of their freakishness.

Indeed, perhaps I'm misreading, but his original comment (as well as the blogger's post and follow-up) seem to suggest that these displays of freakishness may have been staged by ... the ho-mo-sex-uals themselves! Now, if that is in fact what's being argued, I must say -- that's truly inspired nuttiness! Love it! (The smart money says that the Communists are responsible ...)

His latest, in particular his laundry list of incidents, savors of the absurd argument that right-wing Christians (or even Christians in general) are an aggrieved or persecuted minority in America. That's just cry-baby nonsense.

"We are not allowed to disagree, or else." Or else what? People will object and say mean things? Grow up.

I really wonder -- Are Paul J's children actually being force-fed ho-mo-sex-ual-ity in school? It would be interesting to hear about specific examples involving HIS children (assuming that he, in fact, has school-age children). NB: That the school library has a copy on its shelves of Heather Has Two Mommies will not strike reasonable minds as proof of Mao-style indoctrination.

Though you have to wonder what the cretins are up to, you really do. There is supposed to be an upcoming "event" in these parts and I may try and attend and ask the question directly. But in the meantime, I speculate. I assume Paul J. does also.

The crux of the disagreement I see is pretty well encapsulated in the statement about the "absurd argument that right-wing Christians (or even Christians in general) are an aggrieved or persecuted minority in America."

We're not on the same frequency, Hub. We're talking past each other. If you don't think there is a problem with the same-sex rights agenda, then Paul J. and I have not done an adequate job explaining our case.

The problem with the "gay rights" agenda is it undermines the concept of the traditional family. I don't see how anyone with a brain can miss this point. Because the traditional family has so much to do with social stability - if for no other reason than economic - it should be obvious the gay agenda is problematic. Kids do better growing up with a mother and a father. Defining marriage down results in more single parent households: This has been established in Scandinavia and Holland.

Homosexual activism is not a problem because it turns traditional-minded people into "victims." It is a problem because it screws up society.

If you disagree, I'd like to hear your manifesto about how mainstreaming same-sex relationships bodes well for the future.

Hub of the Universe replies:

No, we're not on the same frequency -- that's not news.

For me, gay rights is a marginal issue; for you, it seems fundamental. I just can't get lathered up by the homos (perhaps another verb is in order ...)

I'm a liberal with certain libertarian bents. I believe in freedom -- that people should be free to self-actualize -- egads, even enjoy -- themselves -- free of the control of others, unless there's a good reason not to let them. You haven't provided one.

I come from a very "traditional family" and have one myself. Based on my experience in the real world, the notion that the social order or the institution of marriage is threatened by same sex unions is -- sorry to say it -- comical and pathetic.

I mean, what with the fags buggering each other up there on the slippery slope, the next thing you know we'll have federally-mandated polygomy and man-on-dog sex ...

Just to address one of them: Same sex 'marriage' is not a "fundamental" issue for me, but I wouldn't call it marginal either. Up until not very long ago I probably agreed with you on this one. I have always had a big problem with any special "victim" status for gays and with gay men wanting to hang out with Boy Scouts, and have had sort of an "ewww!" feeling about same-sex couples raising kids, but the 'marriage' issue never really had a lot of salience.

After all, the problems with hospital visits and power of attorney, and to a lesser extent shared employment benefits, seemed to require some type of legal status be created.

But since last year I've been doing a bunch of reading because it is a HOT issue this year in Virginia - the Virginia Marriage Amendment is on the ballot in November and the groups on either side are starting to bring out their big guns already. I don't have the links handy at the moment but will be writing more about later:

The upshot is it seems wherever the definition of 'marriage' has been broadened there has been an increase in single-parent households - a bigger increase than would have been likely otherwise. I think Netherlands and some other Scandinavian country were the sources for statistics in one article (this was not a right wing publication either, if I recall correctly). I forget why but it was a direct relationship.

So, no, opposition is not "comical and pathetic." It's pretty rational just from a public policy standpoint. There are other aspects to the debate, obviously, and I expect to be writing much more in the coming months.

Posted by John Climacus at 12:43 | Permalink | Comments (1)

One of the neighborhood progressives, periodic visitor Hub of the Universe, stopped by to offer this comment on Paul J.'s post from yesterday:

As you know, Pogo said: We have seen the enemy and he is us.

You'll forgive me -- actually, you won't -- if I can't help but take some glee from the reaction of wingers like Paul J to the utter, full-flavored nuttiness of the GodHatesAmerica people.

The proper response to the GodHatesAmerica people is:

1. Ignore these freaks.

2. Don't advocate murdering them (a la Mr. Climacus), but feel no pity if the friends and families of the fallen soldiers kick their miserable asses.

The real concern of Paul J -- bold, crusading defender of his children against the ho-mo-sex-ual lifestyle -- is not for the fallen soldiers. It's that he'll be tarred with the same brush as the utter nutters.

Face it, Paul J -- these are your brethren, albeit hopped up on religious metamphetamines.

UPDATE: Paul J. just responded with a far better reply than mine below, so I'm going to insert Paul's post right here:

I take great umbrage that my concern for what my children are taught at school somehow makes me a "winger" and somehow unconcerned with the plight of our fallen troops!

The poster spells out the word "ho-mo-sex-ual" so as to mock me for having the audacity to voice my unease. The sacred word "homosexual" may not be used in anything but the most affirmative and glowing terms. The fact that the majority population tolerates gays and is willing to defend gay rights and liberties is not enough. We must accept all aspects of the gay lifestyle – or else!

Or else we will be labeled as haters, homophobes, far right wing extremists, Christian theocrats and so on. Or else, as in Sweden, if we are a pastor, we will be put in jail for preaching that homosexuality may be contrary to Biblical teachings. Or else, at the University of Michigan, we might be threatened with expulsion for offering the opinion in a classroom discussion that homosexuality "could" be an illness. Or else, if we are an employer in California we will be charged with gender discrimination by the EOC for firing a male worker who one day decides to express his new found sexual identity by showing up for work in a dress. Or else, we will have to disband The Boy Scouts of America because we object to having a male homosexual troop leader spend the night in a tent with a group of young boys up on Brokeback Mountain.

Not only is tolerance not enough, the 97 percent mainstream population must willingly agree to completely restructure all of its established cultural beliefs and standards so as to accommodate the very small homosexual population (2-3% of the U.S. population is believed to be homosexual).

We must go along with all of this. We are not allowed to disagree, or else.

This is my original reponse to Hub's comment:

Of course, any reasonable person has to agree with the first portion of Hub's argument: Especially in light of Eric's observation on my original post, ignoring the idiots is the only sensible thing to do apart from joining the bikers who help keep them at a distance from the funerals.

But Hub's last comment is way off base. Paul's point that the "religious" crazies engender sympathy for the same-sex relationship people among people who might not otherwise be sympathetic is a valid one.

No one with any decency identifies with the crazies. It's not a matter of degrees of difference between the Westboro morons and "wingers" like myself. And who would NOT have genuine concern for the soldiers and their families?

What Paul said IS interesting, and I think Hub would admit this if he or she thought it through. The Westboro protesters are so far out of the realm of rationality you have to wonder what they could possibly hope to accomplish.

The original battle cry against homosexuals was questionable enough for a group pretending to represent a "religious" viewpoint, but granted, you could lump that with a caricature of "fundamentalists" if you don't happen to know much about modern Protestantism.

But it makes no sense at all to transpose the "God hates fags" message to "God hates soldiers" and then go about insulting all the people who show up for a funeral. If the protesters actually have a goal in mind, they'd be absolutely nuts to think this type of activity would help achieve it. By its very nature the act of protesting is about seeking publicity for one's views. Tossing in the nasty, totally gratuitous insults against fallen soldiers is completely counterproductive to attaining that goal. They're not going to convince anyone of anything, except that they are frauds.

One thing they are definitely accomplishing, however, is to place those who have sex with people of the same gender in a favorable light. In terms of results, the Westboro Baptist Church is definitely pro-homosexuality.

Posted by John Climacus at 10:46 | Permalink | Comments (2)

We just received a WAY interesting comment to one of the original Andy Willoughby posts. Below is a portion of it on the general topic of scams, but I strongly encourage you to click that link and scroll down through the entire thread. Tommy Mac has some things to say.

I've come to the conclusion that there are THREE basic elements in order for you to be conned.

1. You have to be controllable. Type B personalities are the easiest to control, yet Type A's who always feel they have to be in control, can easily be controlled if they are given even the slightest hint that someday they will be in control or the boss. They will fall in line with that pitch.

2. You have to be gullible. You must have a need to believe that this scam or whatever it is that you are entering into is going to take you to the promise land. Fact is, the gullible rarely do their homework, and are easily persuaded to do or sell just about anything if they think it will meet their needs for something greater..Or "their dream"

Why? Cause there is conn in people who are gullible too. They always think they are smarter than everyone else, but they always end up at the end of the day with the reality they are not. Yet they keep doing the same things, with they idea they will end up with a different result. That is the very definition of insanity.

And "the dream" pitch is always the strongest. Do this or sell that, and you will be able to have your dream(s) come true!!

Question? Is it YOUR dream or is this part of G-d's plan for your life. ONLY his plan can ever give you true fulfillment and contentment. I didn't say you can't have joy and experience highs from reaching YOUR dream(s), but you will never come to know true peace and contentment being out of G-d's plan for your life. There is a huge difference.

3. You have to have GREED! There it is. Plain and simple. You can't possibly conn someone that doesn't have greed.

I can't remember the last time I took this much time to make a post, but obviously there is allot built up in me right now on a lot of different levels and subjects, but primarily to the body of Christ. I hope for some of you who are already in the Lord it will encourage you to realize just how valuable and precious you are to the Lord, and to start using the many gifts that G-d has given you.

Posted by John Climacus at 02:47 | Permalink

Over at Donkey Cons: You can't make this stuff up, indeed.

Posted by John Climacus at 03:59 | Permalink

Thank God for Paul J - I am tied up at the moment and he keeps coming through with excellent comments. Heck, pretty soon I may have to cut him in on the Alpaca Burger revenue stream.

Here is his second take on my 'kill the idiots' post from the other day:

The GodhatesAmerica people, who seem to be primarily motivated by their hatred of gays - are actually the best friend gays could ever have!

What better example for gays to use in garnering support for "hate crimes" and other "tolerance" based legislation, while at the same time discrediting Christians, who are one of the few groups still refusing to accept the gay offensive on traditional American norms and values - and also perpetuating the much-loved media image of mainstream Christians as crazed, homophobic, bigots!

So the question arises, do the people in this group "really believe" what they are saying, or could they have ulterior motives and be manipulating the media with very clever disinformation tactics?

So you see ... if I dare to voice my objections about the homosexual lifestyle being taught to my children at school, I am immediately put in the same camp at the GodhatesAmerica crowd who protest at the funerals of our soldiers. Isn't it brilliant?

Posted by John Climacus at 03:25 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Criminy, just when I'm about to get a shootin' party together Paul J. has to throw a wet blanket over everything:

There have always been nuts and extremists in U.S. society, but the difference is that in American society we tolerate them. Under the American form of government, every citizen is allowed to express their views, no matter how radical, objectionable, or upsetting, as long as they stay within the bounds of the law. In a truly free society, there is no other alternative.

As James Madison said in Federalist 10:

"There are again two methods of removing the causes of faction: the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests. It could never be more truly said than of the first remedy, that is was worse than the disease. Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires."

Our soldiers are the defenders of our liberty and there can be no liberty without free speech. Therefore, in order to remain free, we must suffer the words and actions of the few in order to safeguard the rights and freedoms of the many. This is the best way to honor our soldiers and their families who have given their all to keep America free.

Anyway, thanks Paul - well-stated as usual.

Posted by John Climacus at 03:10 | Permalink

The great thing about blogging is you join this informal community of opinionated people who express themselves, often with great zeal, in the spirit of civilized discourse. Viewpoints are all over the place, disagreements are real, tempers frequently flare, yet the vast majority of bloggers honestly try to make sense of things and relate their own thoughtful conclusions on the global digital tablet. We agree, we disagree, and oftimes we agree to disagree.

The world can be a pretty horrible place and, yes, we sometimes attribute the source of the horror to our ideological opponents' misguided views, but darn it all we remain civilized men and women throughout the debate.

All that being said, I think the Westboro Baptist Church protesters should be shot.

Shoot'em dead, then holster all firearms, then proceed with the service in an appropriately solemn fashion.

Soldiers have died to protect a bunch of freedoms, but not the freedom to desecrate the lives and memorialization of good people. We don't need that particular freedom.

So who are these losers? Before getting into the historical background, let's drop in on the present day. Tonight, to be exact, on Hannity and Colmes.

This is Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church:

There are no innocent people. Thank God for 9-11. Thank God for dead soldiers.

Why won't you just obey?

Phelps-Roper:

How dare you fail to obey the commandments of the Lord Your God...

How dare you invoke the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Phelps-Roper:

We are hated by this nation and that is what the Scripture says will happen.

Phelps-Roper:

You have the bully pulpit. Knowing the terror of the Lord you should persuade men to obey.

Now here is the background.

Rev. Fred Phelps founded the 'church':

He and much of his family live in a one-block compound that includes the church building. Phelps has 54 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, according to Steve Drain, a church member who made a documentary film about Phelps, titled Hatemongers, in the late 1990s.

Four of Phelps's children have left the church and criticized their father, accusing him of severe beatings and a fanatical need for control, according to numerous published reports.

Phelps-Roper, who often speaks for her father, said the church has 75 members, about 10 of whom are not related by blood or marriage.

Phelps, who was disbarred as a lawyer, began picketing against homosexuals in the early 1990s. Westboro members claim to have staged more than 22,000 protests and made 21 trips to Colorado. They do not take donations and pay for their activities through the money they make as lawyers - 16 family members are attorneys - and in other professions, said Phelps-Roper.

The majority of the members of the Westboro Baptist Church can be traced back to five units originating in the 1950s: the Phelps family, the Hockenbarger family, Chris Davis, Theresa Davis and George Stutzman. Chris Davis later married one of Phelps' daughters, Stutzman has allegedly never been married, and no information is known regarding Theresa Davis.

In 2000, another major "unit" joined the church, the Drain family: Steve Drain, his wife Luci, and their two daughters (Laura, the oldest, and Taylor, the youngest).

Anti-gay crusader Pastor Fred Phelps and his group of gay-hating crusaders are hiding behind aliases after a local hotel cancelled their reservation.

The group is expected to descend on the Supreme Court this morning to protest the recent decision granting equal rights to gay and lesbian couples.

The hotel cancellation has irked Shirley Phelps-Roper, a lawyer who works alongside her father at the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. "Canadians are hypocrites -- saying that you won't discriminate against gays and then discriminating against us because of our religion."

SAND SPRINGS, Okla. -- The fliers arrived three weeks ago. Some came over the fax machines of local churches, and others appeared mysteriously around town. Printed in bold was the heading "Westboro Baptist Church." No seeming cause for alarm. Sand Springs, population 18,500, is a Christian stronghold in the gently rolling hills of eastern Oklahoma.

But the message that followed was a rant against a 17-year-old Sand Springs resident named Michael Shackelford and his mother, Janice, the subjects of a recent Washington Post series examining Michael's struggles as a young gay man in the Bible Belt. The fliers posted a photo of Michael, called him a "doomed teenage fag" and announced that followers of Westboro Baptist in Topeka were on their way from Kansas to stage antigay protests in Sand Springs.

Across Main Street, scores of locals, a mix of friends, acquaintances, strangers and news people stood in quiet astonishment as the sons and daughters and grandchildren of Pastor Fred Phelps sang their songs of hate and spoke their words of apocalyptic prophecy.

The stunned silence from that side of the street didn't last long. As Shirley Phelps-Roper began singing "God Hates America," the crowd picked up the tune and the cue, returning lyric fire by singing the original lyrics of "God Bless America." It was a pattern that held throughout the morninglong protests.

The battle had been joined. The Internet war of words that had begun in the wake of Mayor Jason West's solemnizing 25 gay marriages in February had come to a place the protesters called Sodom and the counterprotesters called home. The protesters' numbers never changed; the counterprotesters' ranks surged into the hundreds as they followed the protesters throughout the morning.

Do you think my call to arms is a little extreme? Maybe so. Some good guys have taken a more lenient approach, opting simply to defend decent behavior:

They call themselves the Patriot Guard Riders, and they are more than 5,000 strong, forming to counter anti-gay protests held by the Rev. Fred Phelps at military funerals.

Phelps believes American deaths in Iraq are divine punishment for a country that he says harbors homosexuals. His protesters carry signs thanking God for so-called IEDs — explosives that are a major killer of soldiers in Iraq.

Our society is not just a bunch of folks thrown together who happen to interact fortuitously and conveniently get along. Our shared culture works because the majority of people hold to certain basic standards of decency despite all the other differences.

The Phelps-Roper clan, with their bizarre, surreal, other-worldly activism, extrapolating from anti-gay to anti-soldier, is only a hair's distance away from eating the poison and going to bed in matching t-shirts and tennis shoes.

This is Jim Jones, Hale-Bopp, 'religious' insanity in its highest form, friends. These 'churchgoers' are not frothing at the mouth, and in fact they are prosperous, functioning, totally literate people. That's dangerous.

And we're letting them roam free to infiltrate the holiest public ceremonies for our greatest citizens. That ain't right.

Not a shooting offense? Maybe not. But what do you make of this typical flyer from last week?

Thank God for
3 more dead troops.
We wish it were 3,000.

They all died April 12 by IEDs. WBC will picket their funerals in their home towns - and memorials elsewhere - when their bodies and/or body parts are returned from Iraq..

Here is the
Roster of the Damned:

...
...
...

They turned America
Over to fags;
They're coming home
In body bags

UPDATE: Just to hammer again on the point that the Alpaca Burger Forum audience is all about quality rather than quantity, two great observations just came in the comments:

Straight White Guy points out their modus operandi is "get some guy to lay a beatdown on one of their 'flock' and then they sue.... thus getting money to visit another funeral."

Since every other one of them is a lawyer, they're well-positioned for this, and obviously they've got a good angle because if a bunch of people sat around trying to think of "how can we get our asses kicked anywhere in the U.S," there's probably no better formula. So everything needs to be aboveboard, which explains the flurry of legislation. But really, legislation simply to "restrict"? To paraphrase Roy Scheider, we're gonna need a bigger law.

Ed of MonkeyWatch notes that with the rising cost of ammo it might be advisable to get this mess cleaned up the old-fashioned way, which I think can serve as a starting point for the aforementioned legislation.

UPDATE II: Lest we become dejected over the asininity, we need to bear in mind the many good guys who are fighting back effectively.

If you are not already supporting Free Republic, well, I think you know what to do next.

Posted by John Climacus at 05:12 | Permalink | Comments (10)

Cool! We here at Alpaca Burger Towers are all huge fans of Donkey Cons co-author Robert Stacy McCain, so it was a treat indeed to learn he was on CSPAN'S Book TV last night.

GREAT ADDRESS! The first 5 minutes or so are just him reading the first chapter, which will be sort of redundant for the Alpaca Burger Forum's loyal readers BECAUSE ALL OF YOU ALREADY OWN TWO COPIES OF DONKEY CONS, RIGHT?

The rest is really good stuff. He's an interesting guy: a former Democrat, like most of us. Very lucid, very humorous, also very personal:

"I may never love any party like I used to love the Democrats, but I'm never going back either..."

"Last week I came up with the solution to America's immigration problems: Deport Senate Republicans...it's clear to me that Senate Republicans have refused to assimilate to American culture."

There's a lot to enjoy in the speech but the day job has got me way busy, so I don't have time for even the barest summation.

BUT...I encourage all to listen to the speech for yourselves. In a rare display of generosity, and at risk of blowing up my bandwidth, I have an .mp3 of McCain's speech last night here:

Robert Stacy McCain Book TV audio.

Caution: If the above link gets too many hits I think you'll want to right-click that 10 mb puppy and save it on your local computer BEFORE attempting to play it, or it may be a mite rough. We ain't the friggin' King Kong of the blogosphere here exactly, y'know.

I missed about the first 45 seconds and the last 10, but it's basically intact and the full effect.

Also, in case any of you are behind in your daily ablutions, here are a few slaps with Donkey Cons' astringent, refreshing Washcloth of Truth (sorry, too busy to validate metaphors, we'll have to leave that one hanging out there for good or evil):

MOONBAT UPDATE.

MOONBATS V. HARDHATS ON ILLEGAL ALIENS.

GREETINGS C-SPAN2 VIEWERS.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: Visit Backcountry Conservative for a detailed report on the speech, with generous text excerpts plus photos of the entire McCain clan. For a self-acknowledged candidate for worst person in the world, ol' R.S. sure has a beautiful family. Chalk it up to clean livin' I guess.

Posted by John Climacus at 02:20 | Permalink

My reading of the facts is: Go get those MMR boosters now, folks. It's cheap, easy and painless.

On top of at least 515 mumps cases in Iowa, this report details cases in surrounding states as well as a swath of air routes which were not the healthiest places to be earlier this month:

This outbreak has spread across Iowa, and mumps activity, possibly linked to the Iowa outbreak, is under investigation in six neighboring states, including Illinois (n = four), Kansas (n = 33), Minnesota (n = one), Missouri (n = four), Nebraska (n = 43), and Wisconsin (n = four) (CDC, unpublished data, April 10, 2006)...

DPH has identified two persons who had mumps diagnosed and were potentially infectious during travel on nine different commercial flights involving two airlines during March 26--April 2, 2006. The commercial airline flights identified with a potentially infectious traveler are listed below by date, carrier, and flight number:

Northwest Airline (NWA) flights:

March 26 NWA (Mesaba) #3025 from Waterloo, Iowa to Minneapolis, Minnesota
March 26 NWA #760 from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Detroit, Michigan
March 27 NWA #0260 from Detroit, Michigan, to Washington, DC--Reagan National
March 29 NWA #1705 from Washington, DC--Reagan National to Minneapolis, Minnesota
March 29 NWA (Mesaba) #3026 from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Waterloo, Iowa

American Airline (AA) flights:

April 2 AA #1216 from Tucson, Arizona, to Dallas, Texas (DFW)
April 2 AA #3617 from DFW to Lafayette, Arkansas (Northwest Arkansas Regional [NAR])
April 2 AA #5399 from NAR to St. Louis, Missouri
April 2 AA #5498 from St. Louis, Missouri, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa

With mumps having a 14-day incubation period - you don't know you have it until 14 days after being exposed - there are bound to be more of these travel cases.

I have a bit of a unique perspective on this. I was re-vaccinated with MMR (Measles-Mumps-Rubella) in 2000 at the age of 39 because I needed to re-enroll in college to complete my degree. I was not going to be on campus, in fact I was 1000 miles away writing the thesis paper to complete the requirements for bachelor of arts.

But as part of the enrollment process I needed to provide my vaccination record, and unfortunately that particular document was nowhere to be found in my wallet. Nor in my house. Nor could my Mom put her hands on it being as how it had likely never seen the light of day since about 1972.

The family doctor, it turns out, often cannot provide this vaccination at a moment's notice - and I was on the verge of having my enrollment canceled for lack of proper paperwork. So I went down to the Fairfax County Health Department and sat in the waiting room with all the other kids, and the nurse on duty told me that some studies suggested childhood vaccinations might lose their effectiveness over time.

"Over time, like since 1966?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"Good," I said, "Then this might put me a little ahead of the pack."

And so it has.

I don't think I even got a sniffle of a side effect, so my advice would be to get the vaccination.

Posted by John Climacus at 03:05 | Permalink

My traveling and general business agenda has made blogging difficult the past two weeks, but thank goodness for our outstanding, erudite, intelligent readers keeping the Alpaca waves a-bristling.

Paul J. here responds to Andy and Mike, re: the 3-Step Plan:

I have nothing against advertising that focuses on any particular group, Christian or otherwise - providing the product and/or service being promoted is legal and has value. If Xango is such a great item why must it be sold through MLM and not by conventional means like every other product? Also, why does Xango hide the true nature of its product in its commercials? The answer to these questions can be found here.

Also, I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that "Distributor Mike" just happened to “stumble” in on the heels of Mr. Willoughby's most recent remarks, with his glowing testimonial.

“Ideal Xango prototype” Distributor Mike tells us that he’s getting rich on Xango and he only works part time. Question: If Mike's business is doing so well why doesn't he go into it full time? Mike says that in less than a year he’s already put his Xango business on “autopilot”. According to Mike, he hardly does anything and the money just rolls in. In just nine months or so, Mike has already built an armada of “50 distributors and/or customers” to do all the heavy lifting for him - I wonder does this mean Mike has 49 distributors and one customer, or 49 customers and one distributor (?) - could be a Freudian slip there Mike. I suspect the former is the case. This is because in MLM the product is merely the “means” used to sell distributorships. Selling distributorships is the real hidden business.

Mike also fails to mention if his armada of helpers is making any money. This must be where they keep the work at home moms, down at the bottom of the big juice pyramid. But I digress. What’s important is that Mike's business is booming. In fact Mike is doing so well he doesn’t even have to buy his juice anymore! They just send him cases of “free” juice “each and every" month”! There you have it. What could be wrong with such an amazing system?

The best source on multi level marketing I have found to date is “Tony the Wonder Llama” . Listen to what Tony has to say on the subject here.

Best wishes,
Paul J.

Posted by John Climacus at 10:45 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Andy Willoughby just stopped by again to join our recent discussion of the 3-Step Plan.

As I promised earlier, Andy will have the opportunity to respond and comment here at the Alpaca Burger Forum, when he is so inclined, because of the amount of critical research and posting we have printed on the topic of his business.

(You can catch up on our 3-Step Plan commentary via the links in this post.)

His recent comment responds to Paul J.'s post from the other day:

Hi, how in the world are you anyway? Just checked in and see I have some new fans.

I appreciate Paul J. pointing out that even though I do not mention that I am a Christian on my ads, I do clearly promote Christian Ideals. I hope that I will spend the rest of my life promoting those Ideals. There are not many that do that in the media today. I guess I am a maverick.

We will also continue to help moms stay at home. My children had a stay-at-home mom and now my grandchildren have stay-at-home moms. I want Paul J. to know that I will keep working to help more moms’ to be in a position to stay at home. It is just one of the ways I like to spend my time.

By the way, today not all of our advertising money is spent on Christian radio. We are growing and looking for more avenues to reach people who share our values and would like to work from home. But I hope we will always advertise on Christian radio. It is a great service and I cannot foresee a time when we would not want to support it with our advertising dollar. Besides it is a great advertising source. If you have a business Paul J. I would recommend you consider advertising on Christian Radio. It is a very good value. The listeners are the best people in the world to do business with. As a whole the people who own and operate Christian radio stations are very sincere about what they do. So, Paul J. if you have a business, take a chance, I think you will be pleasantly surprised in the good investment you will make.

Sincerely

Andy Willoughby

Also recently, visitor Mike shared his positive experiences with Andy Willoughby's 3-Step Plan:

I just stumbled upon your website in a keyword search for the 3-Step Plan and read a bit of what you had to say about Andy W. I then read Andy's response to your comments.

I just wanted to chime in as someone who has previously been a participant in Andy's 3-Step-Plan Radio Co-op Advertising System. I used it for somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-9 months(approximate). I was doing this on a VERY part-time basis. A couple hours here and there. I think Andy is a good guy and have had very positive interactions with his staff. They were helpful and supportive and he is a very nice guy who comes off as upright and caring in his dealings with others.

I have used his radio co-op system to build my Xango(mangosteen juice company) distributorship. I am no superstar and I know others have done much better than I with his 3 Step Plan system, but I will say this: Because of using his advertising, I brought a person into my Xango business that has subsequently brought in somewhere around 50 distributors and or customers. And he is still building HIS business under me, and I am benefitting financially from it--not in huge amounts, mind you, but I AM in profit EVERY month and receive a PAID FOR box of Xango juice each and every month, thanks to following Andy's advertising plan. What's more--I haven't been working on my Xango business or advertising with Andy's system for well over A YEAR. I've just been attending to other things in my life, such as work and some church activities. So, my business has been on auto-pilot for about 1 year and 3 months...and I'm sent a check every month.

Not bad for a guy who thought he could do ZIP in MLM.

Just my two cents.

Best wishes,

Mike

Paul, can you feel the love?

Posted by John Climacus at 11:28 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Reader Paul J. sends this incisive post:

Let us not forget it was unregulated illegal immigration that led to the fall of the mighty Roman Empire - eventually undermining traditional Roman culture, sovereignty and rule of law.

First the Goths began to sneak across the border to work as low wage farm hands. Nothing much was done about it, so the Goths brought in their friends and extended family. Hearing of the “open Roman borders”, the Huns came all the way from Mongolia. Then the Visigoths moved in. All of these groups remained separate from Roman society. Most did not speak Latin. They remained as outsiders living within Roman society. Multiculturalism became the norm. Roman identity and culture was gradually eroded. The significance of being a Roman citizen was devalued. After all, anyone could become a Roman, even a Hun.

Finally Emperor Valens in an attempt to restore order, tried to expel the Visigoths in the Battle of Adrianople in 378 CE. Unfortunately Valens was killed and the Roman Army butchered. Rome had lost control over its empire.

Rather than continue to fight the Visigoths, Valens's successor Theodosius tried to appease them. This only worked for a short while. Eventually the Visigoths sacked the eternal city and the mighty Roman Empire of a thousand years began to fall apart.

And it all began with illegal immigration.

Posted by John Climacus at 06:39 | Permalink

Today's marches supporting rights for illegal immigrants are predicted to be just about everywhere:

Organizers of the National Day of Action for Immigrant Justice -- or La Marcha , as some volunteers are calling it -- said it could draw as many as 180,000 people to the Mall and hundreds of thousands more in nearly 100 cities nationwide.

The persistence of the concept of 'America' is not guaranteed.

Reacting to one vector of assault, many already intone Never Forget.

Another threat is coming into view.

I suggest an appropriate response:

Posted by John Climacus at 02:12 | Permalink

I don't agree with Georgie Anne Geyer too often, but when she treats me to a 'Holy Toledo!' experience, I must give props where props are due:

This is the untold story. Congress debates (and decries, and derides and debates some more) how to assimilate illegals, most of them Mexican. But the vast majority of Mexican immigrants won't ever become Americans in their hearts because their government goes with them wherever they go. There are now upward of 45 Mexican consulates in the U.S. that keep immigrants demanding ever more welfare and privileges of "El Norte." Immigrants are used as a political wedge to demand more guest worker programs of Washington and to fight border control in the name of some utopian (but unworkable and dangerous) open-borders plan for all of North America.

The Mexican illegals in America are calling it a "new civil rights movement." But whereas America's civil rights movement was fought for freedom for unjustly treated Americans, this movement is one of more dependency on El Norte and of a refusal to develop Mexican society economically so it can be independent and self-actualizing...

When in Mexico again last November, I saw the next steps. I dropped in at the Foreign Ministry to see Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, head of the Institute of Mexicans Abroad. He told me: "The basic concept is that the Mexican nation goes beyond the borders that contain Mexico. You can feel part of our nation without being on our territory.

"For the first time, we are exporting our politics. Many Mexicans now live 'transnational' lives, with one foot in our country and one foot in the other. This contributes to everyone's well-being."

Their homeland is often only an hour or two hours' flight away, and of course they can simply walk across the border. Their homeland hangs onto them. Still another dramatic example: Mexican President
Vicente Fox recently put ads in American papers asserting Mexico should "participate in the design, management, supervision and evaluation" of any American guest worker program...

What will be the results of this unprecedented Mexican program of brazenly reaching into another country and telling it what to do? Will Mexicans simply retake the southern U.S.? Or will we perhaps come too late to the realization that in our foolishness, we have helped start the breakup of America?

"We're all very aware that this is history in the making, and the country will be transformed by it."

But assuming it stays safe, it will be quite the spectacle, possibly the beginning of the end of the Bush II presidency.

UPDATE: Whoa! Maybe the correct expression is 'Holy crap!'

UPDATE II: Well maybe it is time to piss on the dogs and call in the fire, boys. I'm going to offer up another in a long line of thus far mostly bad predictions: The Senate compromise legislation just adopted will certainly go nowhere before the weekend. Then the events of Monday take place. Then, as a result of the latter, by the time this legislation goes back into committee the House side hardens its stance and no bill whatsoever gets sent to the president's desk.

Dandy Don, take it away: "Turn out the lights, the party's over..."

Posted by John Climacus at 01:25 | Permalink | Comments (2)

I can't comment in depth on the story of the Time Traveler by Dan Simmons right now - it deserves more than I have time to say - except to instruct: Go and read it.

It is not science fiction or fantasy. It is an exercise in logic.

"Let’s imagine," said the Time Traveler, "that on December eighth, Nineteen forty-one, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke before a joint session of Congress and asked them to declare war on aviation..."

I recently read The Force of Reason, While Europe Slept and The Life and Religion of Mohammed, all in the space of about a month. I highly recommend all of them. Thinking about what these three books reveal is like standing outside of time looking down at human civilization in 1935.

People can fail to see what is happening as it unfolds right before their eyes.

Dan Simmons pulls away the veil.

Posted by John Climacus at 03:16 | Permalink

Despite the fact I've heard the Google guys are a bunch of stinkin' liberals, I do so love the way their software functions.

"Cynthia McKinney is an idiot."

It just makes me feel warm and fuzzy to be so tied into that great big interconnected glob of energy we call 'mankind.'

UPDATE: Oh my gosh! Oh - wow, this is good. I was just doing a Technorati search and stumbled upon a REALLY amusing side to this story, more amusing than it already was. I mean, damn. You want to talk about "Dirty Jobs?" Defender of Cynthia McKinney is right there with the best of them. I'd shovel a ton of pigeon shit before I took THAT position.

Posted by John Climacus at 04:20 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Reader Paul J. takes me to task for my spectacular capitulation to Andy Willoughby's charm offensive, which Paul implies has overwhelmed my critical thinking, caused me to shed all principles of decency and left me a veritable pawn in a malignant scheme to defraud good people everywhere.

But he prefaced it with a nice compliment about my Web site, so I'm giving him the floor:

Thanks for your reply to my post on Andy Willoughby and Xango. You have a great site, very innovative and interesting! I wish you the best of luck with it.

I must differ with you that Andy Willoughby is not "a bad guy" and that he is not trying to rip people off. I don't believe this for a minute. The problem may be that "you" are a nice guy and therefore assume that most everyone is nice just like you. This is how guys like Andy get their foot in the door and hand into your wallet. You just might be "naïve" as to the real nature of "master grifters" like good ole Andy boy. Make no mistake Andy is a real pro. His ads are carefully crafted works of art. He tells people exactly what they want to hear. He pushes all the right buttons. Why, he even monitors internet sites like "Alpaca Burger", looking to switch opponents into subscribers, and to nip criticism in the bud! He's even conned you into promoting his business for him! Talk about slick!

The facts are:

1. $37 dollar mango juice is a huge rip off. Anyone who would pay this much for a bottle of juice is an idiot.

2. MLM stands for "Make Little Money". Read the stats on MLM's - rank and file MLM'ers never make any money - it’s a big Ponzi scheme.

3. MLM is particularly sinister in that it asks its participants to exploit their closest personal relationships with family and friends for a buck. The MLM'er enters into a "deal with the devil" - the conned soon become little mini conn-ers themselves.

4. There is no scientific evidence that Xango will provide any greater health benefit than any other juice such as blueberry juice - also very high in antioxidants, at pennies per ounce.

5. Willoughby is specifically targeting the largely trusting Christian community of stay-at-home-moms; a highly vulnerable group who in most cases lacks a solid business background and is easily manipulated and bamboozled. If this is not the case, why hasn't Willoughby run any ads for his Xango business in the "Wall Street Journal" or in "Forbes Magazine"? Answer: because "real" business people would laugh at him.

Prediction: within the next year or so, the "Three Step Plan" will begin to tumble down the steps. These are the reverse steps of the Three Step Plan:

Step 1: Suddenly the radio blitz of ads will stop. Step 2: Andy will head for the Cayman Islands with his stash of loot. Step 3: Xango Distributors will wonder what to do with their cupboards full of worthless mango juice.

BTW, have you heard about Tahitian Noni juice at $50 per bottle? This could be the next big thing!

Harsh words, here at the Andy Willoughby Forum, where you can rest assured the truth is as evanescent as a stream of soap bubbles sailing by on a bright spring afternoon.

UPDATE: After having a few hours to reflect on this matter, fully analyze my data catalogue, allow the passions to cool and weigh the vicissitudes, I have absolutely no idea what I think about it.

Paul is making the same point I started out with last year, albeit with nary a qualification. I'm still stuck in the "nice guy" logjam, as a result of Andy's letters. Maybe I'M the 'useful idiot'?

Paul's point about the actual Xango product is a very important one: Mangosteen juice may not deserve the exemption I carved out for Mary Kay, Pampered Chef and Tupperware (and which could be extended to Amway - I bet there are plenty of people who still gladly use those cleaning products). The stuff Andy's advocating is a little...iffy. I'm not a health-science guy so I can't say for sure.

Call me soft-headed, but I still think even if Andy Willoughby is misguided about the product he is not heading for the Caymans. If he was a snake, I think he would have snapped at me because of the pretty rough treatment I gave him.

At least, now the legions of future google-referrals will have a full circle of opinion to evaluate. Thanks, Paul, for the well-stated case.

America: We report, you decide.

UPDATE II: Paul adds:

John, I am delighted that you are beginning to regain your critical thinking capacities! I suspect your high protein diet may be robbing your body of its critical “xanthones”!

Speaking of xanthones, consider the health claims that Xango attributes to their juice in their U.S. Patent Application - which was rejected April 21, 2005:

“Chronic back pain, nausea and chronic vertigo, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, muscle aches, fatigue and dysthemia, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic neck pain, familial hyperlipidemia, fatigue and insomnia, hypokelemia, fatigue and weight gain, degenerative arthritis, C-difficile colitis, fatigue, decreased appetite, hypokelemia, and numbness of the fingers and toes, malaise, muscle aches, hepatitis, glomerionephritis, diabetes and hyperlipidemia, and most importantly, chronic dermal rash.”

Of course Xango’s attorneys are appealing.

Since Xango’s patent application has been (so far) rejected, this leaves Xango distributors more or less in the lurch. For example, anyone wishing to add xanthones to their diet can purchase “80 proof” mangosteen juice at Costco for $.56 per ounce vs. Xango’s $1.54 per ounce. You don’t even need to show your driver’s license!

Once again, free market capitalism seems to be balancing the scales of in-juice-tice.

Posted by John Climacus at 05:08 | Permalink | Comments (3)

This is an attempt to bring the Andy Willloughby project up to date; the following is from my responses to commenters on the various Three-Step Plan posts:

Post number one.

Post number two.

I hope you have taken the opportunity to read what the real-life Andy wrote (see "What Andy Willoughby Wrote..." in the right sidebar at the top). It adds another dimension to my understanding of this, which I hinted at in the other Andy Willoughby post when I referred to Mary Kay and others.

There are some big problems with the entire Xango enterprise and its pedigree, as I think the links in this and the other post illustrate well. MLM is not for me. Tying ANY business into the 'Christian' community also has "icky" written all over it.

That being said, I don't think Andy Willoughby is a bad guy or trying to rip people off. I've made a bunch of jokes at his expense here and Andy's response was, well, pretty darn Christian. As was his explanation of his business.

Here.

also

Here.

After reading these, I honestly believe Andy is simply trying to make an honest buck, and saw a logical opening with the Christian radio advertising angle. His is certainly not the first ad campaign on Christian radio to use that 'one Christian to another' message.

I also think he would have been WAY better off if he did not thoroughly mask the nature of the business which is at the root of the 'Three Step Plan.' The further I dug into it, the more curious I got, just because I hate multi-level marketing and could not believe there was another Amway at the bottom of all this. It sure looked like he was trying to hide something.

But it also makes business sense to take the 'secretive' approach he took. I would not have done it, but I can understand why others would.

If I was counseling Andy, one thing I would recommend is to get out in front with what he is asking people to get into. At least say "You'll be selling a great product most people don't know about, and you'll have the added benefits of earning commission from the sales of people you get involved with the business, and a unique program for sharing leads that come in response to our radio ads."

Such a statement would eliminate the notion of deceptiveness.

If he had said that, I can tell you right now I would not have delved into this research assignment with so much gusto. I've known people who did multi-level marketing who were decent people, who did not badger me to get involved. Heck, I buy some of that kitchen stuff once in a while when one of the neighbors hosts a 'party' and usually appreciate it. Of course, I always say to myself, "I'm sure glad I don't do that for a living."

The presenters usually seem to like it though, which I simply attribute to different personality types.

Of course, the reason I would counsel a more transparent approach in Andy's marketing is because it's what I would like to see - and no matter what, I still could never ever do MLM. Andy will never make a penny off someone like me. Thus, maybe Andy does not want my advice on how his promotions would best appeal to me, if the way he is doing it now happens to be working.

I'll also note: From a purely selfish perspective it helped me out to bash the 3-Step Plan and those annoying radio commercials. It brought me a lot of Web traffic, which as a Web site owner I like to see (though purely for entertainment purposes: I do not make any money from this site whatsoever - it costs me a few hundred dollars a year. Fun money.) I'm posting this more 'positive' take on Andy Willoughby, and placing his personal message on the sidebar, in the hope it will cause visitors to give him a look-see.

I'm not repenting exactly, because I stand by the research on MLM in the earlier posts. Andy's 'folksy' commercials are fair game for snarky comments because I have to listen to them all the time and though I now understand why he uses them, I can't deny they evoke sarcastic thoughts from the evil side of my nature. And I think Andy deserves a slap on the wrist for a promotional campaign which has caused some of us to hear our BS detectors going "whoop whoop whoop."

But I do not think Andy Willoughby's Three Step Plan is a scam. Multi-level marketing can be a legitimate business. So to anyone who has read the earlier posts and enjoyed any sense of triumph over a 'scam' revealed, I must say I was wrong to give that impression. If you have a personality amenable to the Mary Kay or Pampered Chef concepts, you might be able to make money with the Three Step Plan.

That's my current take on this topic.

Posted by John Climacus at 01:53 | Permalink | Comments (1)

So even though I'm still not feeling up to "writing" per se, I really can't let this insinuation stand unchallenged, and therefore I submit the following for your careful consideration. I'll go slowly so I don't leave anyone behind.

There is a certain little corner of heaven-on-earth called Georgia's 4th Congressional District...

So let's all cut the woman some slack.

UPDATE: Whoops, my bad. I completely forgot about Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte.

UPDATE II: And let's not forget the real victims in this terrible saga.

Posted by John Climacus at 06:20 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

Since I've still got nothing better than a pile of rotting wood to share with you, it is my pleasure to recommend you visit American Daughter media center for an interesting and valuable article on the Danish cartoons which have caused such as fuss.

This is also the first opportunity many people will have had to actually see all of them in one place.

Posted by John Climacus at 04:53 | Permalink

An acquaintance who has worked at a somewhat high rank for the State Department for over 15 years told me that the culture and effectiveness of the Department changed massively with the transition from Colin Powell to Condi Rice at the head. My acquaintance said everything has gotten much worse....

But because I am simply too busy right now, that is not the focus of this post. I am doing a little serious Web writing in other places under other names, but for now, for the Alpaca Burger Forum, I'm now only talking about yard work.

What I need to tell you is, blogging may continue to be light here for the next few days because it is Spring mulching season, and instead of buying bags of mulch I elected to have a dumptruck load of it dumped in my driveway, which may have been my single stupidest decision of the year so far.

Saves a bunch of money, though, and I did not need to make an interminable number of trips from the garden supply store. So there's that.

The bigger problem is I also decided to reconceptualize the mulching process