While I'm not sorry to see the hind end of the "peace mom," there are a few lessons to be learned from Cindy. I write about them over at FamilySecurityMatters.org today.
When in Minneapolis, come try the Caucasian Express Taxi Cab Company
The Twin Cities area is home to a large number of Somalian immigrants, many of whom find their way into the taxi business. Because they are new to the area, because English is not their first language, and because of cultural differences and contemporary politics between Muslim immigrants and non-Muslim Americans, my cab company gets a lot of requests for "white only", "American only", and "no Somali" drivers. (For the record, such requests are -- without exception -- politely refused. As a result, we often lose the booking.)
Of course, the stereotype against immigrant drivers isn't fair, as there's plenty of bad native born American taxi drivers out there, and some very professional immigrant drivers (my mother, for instance, drove taxi for a number of years in a different city).
Nevertheless, it has occurred to me, from time to time, that I could make a great deal of money starting up a taxi company called "Caucasian Taxi Cab" or "English Speaking Taxi Cab" or "American Born Taxi Cab" company. But that would be tasteless and besides, the city of Minneapolis certainly wouldn't license such a name, would they?
Guess what.
As part of the City Council's harebrained scheme to remove the cap on the number of taxis licensed in the city of Minneapolis, 45 new licenses were issued this year (I blogged about some of the problems I have with that decision here), five of which were issued to ....
... wait for it ....
Latino Express Taxi.
Now, normally here is where one of the other pundits would give you a link to protest this travesty. But not me. I'm not mad. In fact, I'm celebrating.
What, you ask? Why not make a spectacle out of the idiots on Minneapolis City Council, who allowed this occur?
Because, dear reader, I'll tell you why. I'm fishing for investors. 45 more licenses go up for grabs next year, and the minimum buy-in is 5, plus vehicles, meters, top lights, etc. I can't afford the start up costs myself, but I've got the experience in the industry so ...
Who's backing "American Owned and Operated Taxi Cab Service of Minneapolis"?
One More Time For Stupid People Who Bite On The Hooks That The Media Throws At Them
I've said it before and I'll say it again. If you rely on the mainstream media to get all your facts then you are constantly going to hear half of a story. This is true regardless of partisan bias, much of the media exists only to shock, scare, or titillate.
That simple fact, that the legal meaning of 'covert' under the IIPA and the dictionary meaning of 'covert' are two different things is something that too many people shut their ears and eyes to, because it simply cannot be that there is no grand evil Watergate-type conspiracy in a Republican administration.
I'm used to seeing moonbats plug their ears to basic facts that upset their worldview and make their hideous slanders and allegations blow away like smoke, but to watch the national media - educated people who ought to know better - do the same thing is simply beyond sad.
Say you want to write a book which sells well. Not that you have dreams of Harry Potter-type success, but you hope your book will at least sell to people who aren't just friends and family. Then you want to write more books which also sell well. Why you want to become a bankable writer is irrelevant, for this discussion at least. Your genre is fiction, "comical mysteries" to be precise. You understand that the writing/publishing business is difficult and few ever succeed. So why would you handicap your success by posting your personal opinions online which may piss off potential readers?
I like to write, so I surf writing/publishing-type blogs. Agents' blogs, as well as editors' blogs, are fabulous resource sites spelling out the how-to's of the business. I love to read how other writers weather problems with writing, querying agents, re-writes, publishing, and even the inevitable rejections. What I don't care about are their personal views on politics and religion and abortion. I don't read their blogs to read their personal rants. Rightwing, leftwing, I don't care. I don't want to read about it.
Writers aren't the only ones who read these blogs, either. Readers -- potential customers -- read them as well. And readers come in all political stripes, so why would you, as a writer, piss off potential readers by posting your bilious views? As the now-retired Miss Snark wrote:The advent of the "egogoogle" means I see a lot of what you write about me that you perhaps wish I hadn't.
Case in point... This is a blog, and it was designed to showcase some people in the publishing industry. I'm one of them. It is also meant to inform those who have an interest in publishing, especially publishing crime fiction. But one of the first rules we agreed upon was that no topic is taboo, and no opinion would be censored.
...
So if I were to note that this is Memorial Day, and that doesn't just mean the beginning of the summer season, but a day we set aside to remember those who fought and died for this country, and if I were to suggest that the best way to honor those who put themselves in harm's way for the rest of us would be to get them the hell out of harm's way in a stupid, unwarranted and pointless war, would I be out of line?
What's incredible is that later he makes MY point! I have occasionally noted that some public figures (actors, mostly) have political views far away from my own. And I admit, sometimes (depending on the severity of the comments made by the public figure) that has altered my opinion of the person involved.
Interesting post. I don't think he expected some of the responses.
How utterly shameful. Their front page should be filled with stories of heroism of men lost in the Iraqi theater.
I guess re-using pictures of Abu Ghraib would have just been TOO obvious. Speaking of horrible memorial day dedications, I really took issue with a column in the WaPo Outlook this Sunday (insert of nothing but columns and commentary). The man lost his son (who is a hero and is the reason we observe Memorial Day) who chose instead to USE Memorial Day for...MORE BUSH BASHING! Yea!
What exactly is a father's duty when his son is sent into harm's way?
Among the many ways to answer that question, mine was this one: As my son was doing his utmost to be a good soldier, I strove to be a good citizen.
As a citizen, I have tried since Sept. 11, 2001, to promote a critical understanding of U.S. foreign policy. I know that even now, people of good will find much to admire in Bush's response to that awful day. They applaud his doctrine of preventive war. They endorse his crusade to spread democracy across the Muslim world and to eliminate tyranny from the face of the Earth. They insist not only that his decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was correct but that the war there can still be won. Some -- the members of the "the-surge-is-already-working" school of thought -- even profess to see victory just over the horizon.
I believe that such notions are dead wrong and doomed to fail. In books, articles and op-ed pieces, in talks to audiences large and small, I have said as much. "The long war is an unwinnable one," I wrote in this section of The Washington Post in August 2005. "The United States needs to liquidate its presence in Iraq, placing the onus on Iraqis to decide their fate and creating the space for other regional powers to assist in brokering a political settlement. We've done all that we can do."
He then goes on about himself and what he's done. Me me me...I I I. It's disgusting. So I left him a little note in the comments section:
God bless your son. He died a hero for a cause greater than himself - to give his father the right to use his pen to smear his own dead son.
Funny, this article is all about YOU. What YOU did and how YOU are making a difference.
Sir, your son made a difference and became an inspiration for many in Iraq and here at home.
When Memorial Day is a day when Americans should come together in Thanksgiving for the brilliant young men and women in this country who, like all soldiers before them, fight for our freedoms and those of total strangers.
I am sorry that you lost your son. But the glory is in HIS sacrifice - NOT YOURS.
This entire article is all about you, and what you want.
What about your son? For heaven's sake, what about your son???
Today is ONLY about our fallen soldiers. I recommend everyone write a thank you note and drop it off at those thousands of boxes at GMC and Buick dealerships for our soldiers overseas. Then think about everything you love about American and write it in a letter and leave it at a grave of a fallen soldier of any war.
Last week, Brian Ross of ABC News treasonously reported on our governments clandestine activities to agitate for the overthrow of the Islamo-fascist mullah regimes.
It's probably propaganda from Iran's Ministry of Disinformation, but it simply illustrates what the consequences could be when ABC News and Brian Ross expose highly classified covert operations.
Lifelike Pundits Radio! POSTPONED UNTIL NEXT WEEK!!!
I will be hosting the first Lifelike Pundits radio broadcast today at 5pm EST this coming Sunday, June 3, 2007, at 12pm EST on BlogTalkRadio. Please go to the site and get details.
It should be GREAT fun. I will post a link to when the program is recorded for you to podcast the show.
The show will include Lifelike Pundits Charles, to discuss some USSC cases that eat at his brain; Lifelike Pundit Kitty, to wish me a happy 30th (yes, today is my birthday); and Lifelike Pundit Pam to shoot the breeze about her writings at American Thinker and Security Matters.
So JOIN ME5pm EST! this coming Sunday, June 3, 2007, at 12pm EST Please, NO MOONBATTERY!
The Bush administration is facing the prospect of a sharp cut by the Democratic-contolled Congress in its request for $310 million to begin development of a missile defense program designed to defend against potential "rogue state" attacks on Europe and the United States.
The latest sign of discontent was a Senate Armed Service Committee decision on Thursday to cut $85 million from the administration request. This followed efforts by the House of Representatives last week to trim the request.
The U.S. proposal has raised tensions with Russia, which sees the initiative as a security threat. But other issues seem to be behind the congressional doubts about it.
Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), a Democrat who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, has a number of concerns about the proposal. He pointed out last week that the administration is asking for a large sum of money for the initiative even though it is just beginning negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic, the designated hosts for the facilities.
What great friends we are! Now, how does this help our "reputation" around the world (I don't think it matters that much; though it does matter)? Why leave our allies helpless to Russia and Iran or NoKo?
Democrats have no vision and they are total hypocrites. They ran around telling us that we were under imminent threat of nuclear attack (that would be initiated by the cowboy, Ronald Reagan). We now have a working (though rudimentary) missile defense program.
But the Democrats now want nuclear winters to counter global warming.
Do you feel safe with Democrat policies? Watch what they system they want to cut first, then answer that question.
The core of this presidency has been a political doctrine that George Bush calls the "Global War on Terror." He has used this doctrine like a sledgehammer to justify the worst abuses and biggest mistakes of his administration, from Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, to the war in Iraq. The worst thing about the Global War on Terror approach is that it has backfired--our military has been strained to the breaking point and the threat from terrorism has grown.
We need a post-Bush, post-9/11, post-Iraq American military that is mission-focused on protecting Americans from 21st century threats, not misused for discredited ideological pursuits. We need to recognize that we have far more powerful weapons available to us than just bombs, and we need to bring them to bear. We need to reengage the world with the full weight of our moral leadership.
What we need is not more slogans but a comprehensive strategy to deal with the complex challenge of both delivering justice and being just. Not hard power. Not soft power. Smart power.
Smart power? Translation: a smart person knows that our military should never be used. Now, watch Edward preen in front of the camera in 2001 after the attacks...
Sunday is my 30th birthday. Events like this make people reflect on how they got precisely where they are at 30. Did I think at 18 or even 25 that I would be working in Washington, DC, for the feds? No.
Something struck me this morning about how dramatic life is; how we never can predict our future; and our plans for life are so far different from where we end up.
If you have young children or simply know some, I want you to consider what comes to your mind when you look at them and think of their future.
Imagine a child born in the early or mid-eighties, who probably skateboarded, played Nintendo and Playstation, worked summers mowing lawns, played sports in HS. He really loved the Smashing Pumpkins and Tori Amos, played (poorly) the bass guitar and was coasting into a job working in the family business. And a few year down the road, you read that his body was pulled from the Euphrates river in Iraq.
Where will we die? Will our grandchildren be pulled from the Yellow River, the countryside in Belarus, from the jungles of Venezuela, or from a hut in Somalia?
So when you look back at how you've come to this particular point in time, remember that you could have ended up in a thousand different places, but nothing is more familiar to you than where you are now.
Say you want to write a book which sells well. Not that you have dreams of Harry Potter-type success, but you hope your book will at least sell to people who aren't just friends and family. Then you want to write more books which also sell well. Why you want to become a bankable writer is irrelevant, for this discussion at least. Your genre is fiction, "comical mysteries" to be precise. You understand that the writing/publishing business is difficult and few ever succeed. So why would you handicap your success by posting your personal opinions online which may piss off potential readers? 
