Jackson Jambalaya

WARNING: ADULT CONTENT
(MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR THE BIBLE BELT)

In response to Kingfish's video clip regarding what men really think on a date, etc., I offer the following for all you guys who think you are "all that", to get the female's point of view. Hey, it's my duty to take up for the other side!



Send all rebuttals, high-fives, comments to: dwfinms@gmail.com

Read the election coverage that the media has completely censored and does NOT want you to read: http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/08/thoughts-while-watching-election.html

(NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!! ADULT HUMOR!!! You've been warned!!!)

Preparations for the October 19 blietzkrieg are underway. Website is:
http://www.jacktoberfest.com/

An Egyptian converted from Islam to Christianity. The state refused to issue him new identity cards specifying his new religion. He sued the state, seeking an order directing the government to make said changes. The court refused to do so for several reasons:

"The court explained its actions by stating that Egypt's constitution guaranteed the principle of equality of public rights and obligations and freedom of belief and worship, which are also anchored in the international conventions, without discrimination as to gender, origin, language, religion, or belief, as long as this did not harm the public order. At the same time, the court decided that shari'a law took precedence over international convention and the Egyptian constitution in establishing freedom of belief, stating that "there is no coercion in religion [Koran 2:256]." ......
Another explanation presented by the court ruling was: "The laws of Islam, to which anyone who joins it agrees, forbid someone born a Muslim, or someone who [begins] to believe in Islam [at some point in his life] of his own free will, to rebel against Islam and to move to any other religion... Anyone who leaves his Christian religion in order not to return to it and enters the religion of Islam entirely of his own free will and without coercion is committed to its laws and principles, including not harboring any intentions to deny Islam or to leave it afterwards... Islam does not permit anyone who enters it of his own free will to leave it... for the sake of a particular aim or to change his religion as the wind changes direction..."
....
Senior officials in Egypt's religious establishment stated that the issue must be examined with an eye to the extent of the damage caused to society by the transition between religions, and that such examination must be carried out by an Egyptian court. Egyptian Mufti Dr. 'Ali Gum'ah explained that shari'a forbids a Muslim to change his religion, but that the punishment for this crime cannot be meted out in this world, rather by Allah on Judgment Day - because this is a matter of conscience between the individual and his God. He said that only if the apostasy constitutes a danger to the public must the matter be brought to the court, which will determine the required punishment."
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD167507

In Islam, there is nothing worse than an apostate, for he knew Allah and rejected Allah. The apostate is worse than the infidel. This is why one sees such violent reactions towards Muslims who dare criticize other Muslims or authors such as Rushdie as they are considered to be traitors to Islam and under the commands of the prophet, are to be dealt with rather harshly. One asks why there is no major Reformation movement in Islam or an Enlightenment in the Arab world. One of the main reasons is the Koran's deadly pronouncements on those who are guilty of apostasy, as this Egyptian discovered.

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=14481_0_7_0_C

http://yallpolitics.com/index.php/yp/post/4727/#19156

The surge might be working after all. Pulitzer-prize winning journalist John Burns of The New York Times discusses his recent three-month tour in Iraq:
I think there’s no doubt that those extra 30,000 American troops are making a difference. They’re definitely making a difference in Baghdad. Some of the crucial indicators of the war, metrics as the American command calls them, have moved in a positive direction from the American, and dare I say the Iraqi point of view, fewer car bombs, fewer bombs in general, lower levels of civilian casualties, quite remarkably lower levels of civilian casualties. And add in what they call the Baghdad belts, that’s to say the approaches to Baghdad, particularly in Diyala Province to the northeast, to in the area south of Baghdad in Babil Province, and to the west of Baghdad in Anbar Province, there’s no doubt that al Qaeda has taken something of a beating.
HH: Now when General Petraeus returns in September to make his report, do you expect Petraeus to be completely candid with the American people about the good news and the bad news in Iraq?
JB: I think there’s no doubt that he’ll be candid. As a matter of fact, every time I’ve spoken to him about it, he talks about the need to be forthright, and as he puts it, he said we’re not going to be putting lipstick on a pig. I think that’s a fairly, that’s military jargon which most Americans will understand. David Petraeus is a man who’s had a remarkably distinguished military career, and he is very clear that he thinks his responsibilities lie not to the White House alone, but to the White House and the Congress conjointly, and through them to the American people. I don’t think that this is just a profession, a claim. I think he really intends that, and he’s been very careful not to make commitments at the moment as to what he’s going to say, though we may guess it. And I think he’s going to say that the surge is having its effects, it hasn’t turned the tide of the war, there’s been too little time for it, and I think he and Ambassador Crocker, who will be his partner in that September report, are going to say one thing very clearly, and that is a quick, early withdrawal of American troops of the kind that is being argued by Nancy Pelosi, for example, would very likely lead to catastrophic levels of violence here. And in that, General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will be saying something which is pretty broadly shared by people who live and work here, I have to say. The removal of American troops would very likely, we believe from all indications, lead to much higher, and indeed potentially cataclysmic levels of violence, beyond anything we’ve seen to date. ....."
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/Transcript_Page.aspx?ContentGuid=5bdb3520-d829-4fdb-a2bc-6611d80faba4

I'm not surprised by this. Petraeus is one of the few generals in the army that understands COIN and his strategy is in accordance with its principles. The U.S. Army War College in 2002 accurately predicted what would happen for the most part in a study on a post-Saddam Iraq. The surge follows the strategy pretty closely. As I've said before, I think now Bush and crew of ivory tower idiots have realized that they have been banging their heads against a wall and are letting the real military run the show, not the perfumed princes in the army bureaucracy. The problem is that Bush and Rumsfeld screwed the pooch so well on Iraq and have angered the American people so much that the military faces the increasing risk of having the plug pulled on what is becoming a successful operation. Hopefully that will not happen.

George Dale lost. Katrina not only disrupted the lives of thousands, it buried George Dale as a victim of “wind damage”. More like hot air.

Charlie Ross lost. This one was expected, but I would rather see an Air Force Academy graduate, a former fighter pilot, extremely qualified attorney and Senate member, not to mention a father of 3 great young men, in as Lt. Governor, but obviously I was in the minority. What’s the world coming to?

Good news is McMillin will remain sheriff in Hinds county. There is some “justice” in the world.

My election coverage activities consisted of sipping margaritas and finding most of the coverage quite boring, reinforcing my opinion that it’s more fun to peruse the newspaper the following morning.

Anyway, enough rambling. I’m working on hooking up with a new younger guy I recently met, and I have no PAC helping me win this one, and most definitely I do NOT have the support of the Southern Baptists. Perhaps I need to hire a campaign manager? Send all resumes (and comments) to: dwfinms@gmail.com

Other DWF Posts: http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/07/on-date-please-try-to-relate.html
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/07/if-you-want-to-join-safari-better-pack.html

10:00 PM:
Watching WAPT. Sheriff McMillin kicks Tyrone Lewis's arse with over 60% of the vote. I'm enjoying this one as some scumbags ripped a huge McMillin sign out of my yard. Ripping this sign out took some work as the 4 foot long metal stakes were hammered very deeply into the ground. Sheriff Mac looks tired. Is anyone at Lewis's party? Who did he anger in the media as they are really making him look pretty bad. As Pikersam at JFP pointed out, there was a crowd shot and only SEVEN people were at his party. How embarrassing. I understand everyone likes a winner but damn, this was one of the worst election-night parties I've ever seen. "Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came: The Tyrone Lewis Campaign for Sheriff Story". However, it was nice to see the Sheriff survive WJTV's hit job last week and slam dunk his rivals to win the election. Congrats Sheriff Mac!!! Glad to see you earned another term.

How many times is WAPT going to interview Faye Peterson? Yeesh, this is turning into the Faye Peterson election coverage channel. Robert Smith, for whom I voted, within 1500 right now. Purvis is last, thank goodness. The more I listened to her, the more I disliked her, unlike the other two candidates.

Once again we are treated to Matt Friedeman (Does anyone pay attention to what he says anymore since he is no longer a regular newspaper columnist and is no longer on WFMN or WJNT?) and Harvey Johnson. WLBT had their retreads as well: Bert Case and Former Congressman David Bowen. The only person missing was Dr. Leslie McLemore as he is usually brought into these discussions in an effort to show diversity. Some diversity. A diversity of boredom if anything. Yawn.

Surely we can get some different political analysts for our election coverage. With all of the bloggers who make it their business to stay educated on Mississippi politics such as Alan Lange, Andy Taggart, Jere Nash, Tom Head, Donna Ladd, John Leek, etc, why isn't the media showing some fresh faces and analysis instead of the same people we have been watching for the last 15-20 years? I would have liked to see three or four of the bloggers I named on a post-election panel for a half hour or so tonight. Instead, I got the late night equivalent of My Three Sons reruns. OK. Enough of my soapbox, back to the coverage.

Charlie Ross is having his party at CORKY'S??? To think I grew up with Edwin Edwards having his parties at the Hilton and other nice venues in Baton Rouge. Yeesh. I am definitely in Mississippi. Phil is at the Ag Museum. The Democrats are playing cheapskates and combining several parties at Hal and Mals. Jamie Franks is at SCROOGES??? Doesn't ANYONE in this damned town know how to throw a good election night party?

At least one good thing will come of tonight. I won't have to watch this race between Ross and Bryant any longer. Watching these guys fight reminds me of the commercials where Palmer and Nicklaus tried to act as if they didn't like each other. Yeah right. One sad thing about Ross is that it is rare that we have someone with his talent and background running for state office and I don't think he played theses strengths up enough. Look at Bobby Jindal and how he has parlayed his Ivy League background into a successful political career in Louisiana.

Over at The Jackson Free Press, Donna Ladd is giddy with glee as she finds numerous errors in The Clarion-Ledger's coverage, something that is unfortunately not hard to do (Especially as long as Eric Stringfellow writes at that paper). She experiences a literary orgasm as she writes "Pro-Choice Choice Candidate Defeats Erik Fleming". She throws a few barbs at the Republican candidates but nothing too harsh.

Damn. Kenny Stokes is ahead in the supervisor's race. I hate seeing him get a promotion BUT that does remove a reliable Melton vote on the City Council. Update: Oops, he lost. So sorry Kenny.

DA's race: Ladd is pimping her girl Faye in a serious tryout for the job of Campaign Manager for Faye Peterson. AND doing a good job of it. Maybe she is in the wrong profession after all. Robert Smith made the runoff and is only 2,000 votes behind Ms. Peterson. Purvis barely received 10,000 votes even though she raised the most money.

Advice to Frank Melton: Please stop sending your lackeys to run for office. One common trait of people you hire is that they do not tend to be that smart, show little initiative, and do little on their own to distinguish themselves as well as being poorly qualified. Elections tend to highlight these qualities as the voters judge accordingly. We prefer to elect leaders, not lapdogs.

Just went to WLBT's website. No mention of election results. There is a small link at the top of the page to click on for results, but no stories listed. strange. WJTV stuck its election results down on the lower right side of the website in a sidebar listing of stories. However, no listing of these stories in the "To the Point Headlines".

WAPT is ending its on-air coverage at 10:30? Gee thanks. Now I have to rely on the Axis of Melton for broadcast coverage.

Clarion-Ledger's website is saturated with election coverage, putting the broadcast media websites to shame. Weird. The site does not have the D.A.'s race listed in the Hinds County Elections chart. Ah. Its in the Statewide Coverage. I stand corrected. However, why is it in statewide coverage when it is a county race? The statewide coverage list of races is VERY long and the Hinds County D.A.'s race is buried in there. Move it over to the Hinds County Race coverage. It is drawing much interest and will be much easier for the readers to find. However, out of all the media outlets, so far the newspaper is ahead of the pack even if its posted times are in EST instead of CST. ;-)

One would think after reading my posts about A-1 Pallets that I voted for Carl "Monte" Reeves for Hinds County Tax Assessor. Even though I somewhat supported his case against Melton, the controversy also convinced me not to give him my vote.

I planned on voting for him until I read a story about New Orleans tax assessment problems in one of my favorite newspapers, The Times-Picayune, this morning: http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1186467010100150.xml&coll=1.

Having read this, I re-evaluated who I would vote for in what is a low-profile office. Several things about the A-1 Pallets controversy concerned me. Melton definitely crossed the line several times with his comments and actions in this matter. However, Mr. Reeves did not make the strongest case for his side either. The tax assessor's duties require meticulous attention to detail. Mr. Reeves does have a right to operate his plant as long as it is in compliance with the law. However, if you look at the pictures of the plant posted on this blog ( http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/07/1-pallets-build-it-up-or-tear-it-down.html), it is evident that the plant is an eyesore. True, it is in an industrial area and is across the street from several railroad tracks. However, Mr. Reeves could have taken some measures to make his plant more easy on the eyes and blend in with the surrounding neighborhood. He could have installed a wooden fence or covering on the wire fence similar to that used at Veterans Memorial Stadium. He was cited for several code violations although he did bring his plant into compliance.

I was also disappointed in his responses to the Melton assault. He constantly said the plant had a historic nature that should be taken into consideration yet never mentioned mill restoration projects around the country. He did not try to get a similar project going concerning his mill. It was clear he did little, if any research on something that would have helped his case immensely. Who did he expect to do this for him? Me? The City of Jackson? It made me wonder if he was going to run the tax assessor's office in the same manner.

I am sure I am being nit-picky, but this crossed my mind when driving to the voting booth today. As stated earlier, it is a low-profile office but the problems tend to be high-profile ones when they occur. I just did not think this particular candidate was the best one for the office.

Here is a list of candidates for whom I am voting.

I am voting in the Democratic Primary as there are several races I consider more important than the statewide ones.

For Sheriff I am voting for Mac. He has done a great job and I see no reason to change Sheriff's right now. In terms of experience and reputation, the other candidates are not even in his league.

For District Attorney, I am voting for Robert Smith (satisfied Steve Rankin?). I don't think Ms. Peterson has done the best job and that case involving Mack was the deciding factor. The prosecution of that case was a joke as I have stated in other posts and in good conscience, I can not vote for her. I applaud her standing up to Melton, but I still can not vote for her.

I think Mr. Smith is very intelligent, much more so than the other two. He did work as a prosecutor at one point. I think he is smart enough also to know when he does not know something and not just wing it. He wants to change the current policy of allowing criminals to bond out without going before a judge. Under his policy, a suspect that is arrested could not bond out without going before a judge, thus giving the judge a chance to review his criminal history. Under the current policy, the suspect can bond out without such a review thus allowing for repeat offenders to go back out on the street.

Michelle Purvis has done nothing to impress me and given how she is been Melton's pit bull on clamping down on the right of the public to obtain information from the Mayor's office such as crime statistics, I think she would be a disaster as D.A. Frankly, I have found her to be less than intelligent and never offers real specifics for how she would improve the D.A.'s office. She has very little trial experience. I would vote for Faye Peterson before I vote for her.

Anyway, those are the two races that have my attention.

I wrote about this case a couple of months ago:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/05/when-it-comes-to-criminal-justice.html

Faye Peterson did not charge the JSU shooter with possession of a gun on a school campus. Coincidentally, this thug who was already a felon and used a stolen sanitized gun to shoot another student by the campus bookstore, is the nephew of Credell Calhoun, husband of Hinds Country Supervisor Peggy Hobson-Calhoun. The Clarion-Ledger reported that she also did not call to testify before the grand jury the victim nor the arresting officer. Click on the above-listed link for more details.

Update:
I just listened to the interview of Ms. Peterson by The Jackson Free Press on WLEZ-FM, http://www.wlezfm.com/podcasts/jfp7_28_07.mp3. Its at the very end of the show. I must respectfully disagree with Ms. Peterson.

She said the reason why Mack was not charged with possession of a gun on a school campus was that the grand jury thought it was a case of self-defense. With all due respect Ms. Peterson, the law does not allow AT ALL for cases of self-defense. It does not say that if someone has a reasonable fear of danger, he can carry a gun on a school campus. It explicitly forbids everyone except law enforcement personnel from doing so. At a minimum, he should have been charged with possession of a gun on a school campus. One must also remember that Mack was not in danger when he walked onto school campus with a gun. As his parent is the Dean of International Studies and Mack is in his 30's, one would expect them to get assistance from campus police if they truly felt he was in danger of serious injury.

She also was not asked why the victim and arresting officer were not called before the grand jury. She said she called 21 witnesses, yet those two individuals were not called to testify. It is also my understanding that being charged with possession of a gun on a school campus does not require a grand jury indictment. If I am wrong, please inform me as I will make the necessary corrections in a separate, prominent post.

It was also troubling that Ms. Peterson did not take issue with so many prominent local politicians showing public support for giving a lenient sentence to this thug.

My quarrel with Ms. Peterson is not personal. I enjoyed listening to the interview and frankly, she sounded MUCH smarter than Michele Purvis, who after spending so much time as a lawyer in city and county government, still can not give specifics on how she would improve the D.A.'s office. I found Ms. Peterson to be articulate and made good arguments for many of her positions even if I disagreed with her. I applaud her for running a clean and positive campaign.

However, being a District Attorney is about more than sounding good on the radio and running a good campaign. It is about protecting the public and aggressively prosecuting criminals, including well-connected convicted felons who decide to take guns to school after Pearl, Columbine, and Virginia Tech. In my opinion, Ms. Peterson as District Attorney falls short on this count.

I received a very flattering comment from a British Army Infantry officer about my post earlier this week, Counter-insurgency for Beginners (http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/07/counter-insurgency-for-beginners.html):

"Anonymous said...
Hi there, just to say it is so refreshing to finally hear people talking about coin operations and having a vague understanding about what they require. If you want to read a cracking book on coin then read Thompson - lessons from Malaya and Vietnam. Something along those lines anyway. It's what us Brits did in Malaya, Borneo, Yemen, Oman... and it worked! It is working in Afgan right now and it could work in Iraq. Indeed I read recently in a paper or some random magazine, that there is a US military commander doing exactly what I would have liked to have seen done from the word go - secure towns and villages, then ship in the local troops with our own advisers, and then fight outwards. Whilst this allows for security of those fixing the local amenities, it also dissalows the insurgents back in. Very basic hearts and minds stuff.
Also it should be noted that the US military did actually want to send in a lot more troops than the administration allowed and would peobably have done it properly if the politicians hadn't been sticking their noses in. In the British Army we call it mission command, and in essence it is setting the mission, aims or goals and setting out all the parameters, then allowing junior commanders to get on with it. As long as you know what you have to achieve and what you have available to achieve it, then you should be allowed to crack on at all levels. Maybe this has always been a problem for the US military though.
Lastly I thought that was a really good point about the move towards the Kurds. People have forgotten that Iraq is really 3 separate countries, and that the Kurds are totally happy in their part. If only we could sort out the problem with the shiites and sunnis, but I guess people smarter than me will do that! Anyway, from a British Infantry Army Officer this is all very refreshing, thanks for allowing the rest of us to read your thoughts.

Ben"

It is encouraging to receive a comment like that from an experienced combat officer as Ben. It is definitely appreciated. My only hope is that our politicians and those in the media will learn about counter-insurgency instead of posturing for the cameras while spewing mindless soundbites. As only six Senators bothered to read the National Intelligence Estimate before the Iraq War, I must confess that I don't hold out much hope for them. However, thank you Ben. Your comment was definitely appreciated.

First of all, I am a male in my late 20's. After reading your recent posts, I want to get your opinion on a recent date I had with a 40-something woman. I guess you would call her a Cougar.

I asked her where she'd like to go to eat, and she said Amerigo's, which I appreciated since it is not so expensive. She arrived first, went to the bar, and ordered 2 glasses of wine, and was on the second glass when I arrived. She had already paid for the wine so we went to our table when called.

We ordered a small appetizer and split it, had our entrees, and she ordered a dessert, which I shared with her. We had a great time chatting about her children, my job and various topics.
I paid our check and we walked outside. Since we had both driven to the restaurant, I asked if I could follow her home or if she'd like to follow me? She said, "I really just want to go home if you don't mind". She gave me a hug and drove off!

What did I do wrong?

Dear 20-Something,

It is obvious you did not make a "connection" with this woman. Did you wear a pair of those hideous baggy britches (how could she check out your butt)? Did you shave or have that unkempt look (and can you pull that off or did you just look too lazy to shave)? Did you wear a t-shirt (with holes in it)? What cologne did you wear, one of those Axe sprays or something nice (ah, the smell of Polo)? Did you pick your nose or not put your napkin in your lap (or use your napkin to pick your nose)? Do you have a pet and did you have dog hair on you (which means you might smell like a dog, also)?

There are many reasons that could explain her leaving so abruptly, but the main point here is this: Just because you are young doesn't mean a Cougar will want you. I personally go for that slightly unkempt but "hot" look, but most of all, I go for that CHEMISTRY. If I look flushed, you know you've got me. WOO HOO. (Give me a 28-year old version of Brad Pitt any day).

20-Something, try asking a friend girl to help you dress for your next date, and see what happens. If you aren't mad at me by now, let me know how it goes. (Also, there are these things called "Listermint Strips" - try one after your next meal.)

Sincerely,

DWF
(Send me more - I love these!)

Latest update from Michael Yon, the top blogger from Iraq who embeds with our troops in the field on a regular basis. He is not paid by any news organization thus giving a true picture of how things are in Iraq.

"The people of Baqubah learned to hate and be terrified of al Qaeda. On the evening of the 18th, just hours before the attack scheduled for 0100 on the 19th, C-52 gathered around the back of the Strykers. Men and machines were loaded for toe-to-toe combat with al Qaeda. But they were not going in alone. Local enemies, who previously were deeply entwined with al Qaeda and had blown up and shot Americans, had turned on al Qaeda, and their help would lead to the death and capture of many of our now common enemy.
The attack was on.
Jets, gun ships, helicopters and UAVs were in the air. A helicopter air assault was preparing to launch. Cannons steadied on their targets. Large MLRS rockets dozens of miles from Baqubah were dialed in. Special Forces, spies, lies and tricks of all sorts were arrayed against those who would stand and fight. And those who would stand had prepared massive ambushes for us....

As the attack unfolded, about a thousand Iraqis fled their homes, and it was the job of C-52 to screen for al Qaeda. Some al Qaeda—who cross-dressed and tried to slip out as women—were caught when their disguises failed. Some Iraqis reported that homes in their areas had been destroyed, and I recall one saying that people were trapped in the rubble, though civilian deaths from our attacks were so low they were difficult to count. (I had free range and was specifically watching for civilian fatalities, yet did not see any civilians killed by us during the attack.)
The deliberate pace of the attack, the systematic and thorough process of clearing the city house by house, street by street, and block by block, were factors in this; but the civilian and military casualties were also kept low by the unexpected and overwhelming cooperation of ordinary Iraqi citizens, who pointed out the enemy and many of the bombs set to ambush troops.....

There were interesting dynamics unfolding. For instance, our soldiers were much more reluctant to use force when civilians were helping. I saw numerous occasions where soldiers cleared out all the civilians in areas before attacking known targets that civilians had pointed out. For instance, in the more than two dozen houses and buildings rigged as giant bombs, civilians pointed out many of those bombs. Our soldiers and Iraqi soldiers simply stopped, cleared out the people, and then destroyed the buildings, but each time they worked harder to mitigate damage to surrounding houses, and paid people for the unavoidable damages when they occurred....."http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/bread-and-a-circus-part-i-of-ii.htm

A friend of mine went to see the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert in Lafayette, Louisiana last weekend. She posted on http://www.tigerdroppings.com/ the following:
Anywho, right when Tim came on he walked to the side of the stage and did some usual handshaking with the crowd while he was singing. As he was doing this he said "HEY GIVE ME MY RING BACK!!" during the middle of the song. Some whore hussy wanch took his wedding ring right off his finger! He said it a few times and pointed at the girl. I think the security guards took care of her. Then, at the very end of the concert when Tim and Faith were doing the finale Faith walks up to the side of the stage and points to a woman on the front row and says "Girl, someone needs to teach you some class! You are so disrespectful! You don't just grab someones balls!"...Apprently this large woman grabbed Tim's ya yas pretty good when he was walking through the crowd. The woman was still like a statue for the rest of the concert. I would have been mortified if I were her! http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/MessageTopic.asp?p=5076285&Pg=1

Well, it turned out someone DID get it on video:


Well now, apparently it is starting to hit the news media. Once again Kingfish beat them to it. ;-) http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070801/NEWS01/70801019/1002

In a previous post, I related to you the details of a very boring date with a male about my age. (http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/07/this-cougar-will-never-be-found-caged.html). He spoke of his weight gain, high cholesterol, etc. I have been asked by more than one male in my general age range, to address the subject of what to talk about if you are a guy over 35 and out on your first date or two with a woman. Since I am not restricted to Cougar activity alone, I have decided to give this a shot.

If I am on a date with a guy close in age to my own, this is what is enjoyable to discuss on the first date or two:

1. Tell me about your job – not just what your job title is, tell me what it is you DO. Do not say, “I am the VP of Sales for a small technology company”. (yawn)

2. Discuss your high school and college days, your sports, your activities, some funny stories. Do not tell me, “I went to a private school in the Delta and then to Ole Miss where I was a KA”. (All that tells me is you were a preppie and probably wore pink and green madras shorts and an Izod with the collar turned up).

3. Ask me about MY job. After all, I do like to talk. Make me the focus of the conversation for a while. (You will get extra bonus points for that).

4. Bring up the subject of how great you think I look (even if I have a piece of salad between my teeth) and expound upon that thought for a moment.

5. If you run and/or exercise regularly, tell me about your schedule. Do you run or exercise early or late in the day? (This gives me a hint of whether you are a day or night person, for possible stayovers in the future).

6. Approach the subject of another date if you like me, the sooner the better. (This will cut back on the 5 date rule. If you don’t know what THAT is, take me home and go for that 3 mile run you’ve been putting off).

7. And last of all, tell me how much you love your Momma. Any man who loves his Momma will respect a woman he is with. This works much better than “You had me at hello”.

If you need further suggestions for conversation, email me at:
dwfinms@gmail.com.
I’ll even throw in some free advice if you like.

Other posts by DWF:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/07/sunday-morning-coffee.html
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/07/if-you-want-to-join-safari-better-pack.html
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/06/if-stella-can-get-her-groove-back-so.html

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8QL52780&show_article=1

Apparently the Moveon.org and DailyKos crowd is engaging in their own censorship of the media. Funny how they make friends with pornographers like Larry Flynt but want to shut down media outlets they don't like while promoting the fairness doctrine.

They are initiating a harassment campaign against businesses who advertise on Fox News. Just as a bully picks on those who cannot fight back, so are these groups. The story reports that instead of going after the major corporations first, these groups advise harassing local businesses.

"At least 5,000 people nationwide have signed up to compile logs on who is running commercials on Fox, Gilliam said. The groups want to first concentrate on businesses running local ads, as opposed to national commercials.
"It's a lot more effective for Sam's Diner to get calls from 10 people in his town than going to the consumer complaint department of some pharmaceutical company," Gilliam said. " As Mr. Gillman correctly surmised, local businesses don't have their own PR departments and legal departments staffed with lawyers and thus are easier targets.

However, the way you deal with rats is by putting the spotlight on them. If any businesses are harassed by these spoiled brats, I would like to know about it as I will put the spotlight on them in this blog. If they list the local businesses on their little websites and discuss what they are going to do, I'd like the link emailed to me as I will post it and expose them. Then, if a few people want to call or email the business to show some support, they can if they want to do so.

As my favorite writer is Voltaire, I don't think much of people on the left or right side of the spectrum who want to close down media outlets or censor news they don't like (although I am all for accountability of the media as any regular reader of this blog knows).

Email me at kingfish1935@gmail.com if there is any local news on this harassment campaign for me.

After posting Friday about Congressman Bennie Thompson, D-Bolton, opposing giving airplane passengers immunity from lawsuits if they notify the authorities about other passengers engaged in suspicious behavior, some of his other positions on national security issues came to light that reveal a disturbing side to his thinking on fighting terrorism. (Bennie Thompson, terrorist sympathizer)

Congress passed the Port Security Act last fall but in the conference committee, removed a provision that would have prevented convicted felons from working in sensitive dock security jobs through the use of background checks (There are over 400,000 dock workers in this country). Unfortunately, the unions saw background checks as a bigger threat than it did terrorists using convicted felons to compromise port security. Its no surprise that the unions would take such a stand: the Gambinos, Cosa Nostra, Al Qaida, whats the difference? Once you begin to roll around in the mud, all pigs look alike after awhile.

As John Fund of The Wall Street Journal wrote: "But the House-Senate conference drastically watered down a Senate-passed requirement that aligned the standards for hiring dock workers with those used at airports and nuclear plants. The statute still bans workers who have been convicted of treason, espionage and terror-related offenses--a mere handful at most. But a seven-year time-out period on hiring those who've committed crimes such as murder, bribery, identity fraud and the illegal use of firearms was dropped in the dead of night at the behest of unions fearful that too many of their members could lose their jobs."Column


Mr. Fund then points out Mr. Thompson's role in watering down these common sense security measures: "Mississippi's Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on Homeland Security, told colleagues that "we should not play judge and jury" and opposed even the final statutory ban on felons convicted of treason and terror-related crimes." (Note: additional sources: Investor's Business Daily,New York Post)

Given the mob's long history of ties to the dockworkers unions and their members, one should have a healthy respect for the possibility of ties developing between the mob and terrorist groups. It boggles the mind that Mr. Thompson opposes logical measures such as barring those convicted of treason or terrorism from working in our ports, where it would be easiest to smuggle in arms, explosives, or a WMD. However, after compromising our national security and helping unions with ties to the mob, one must wonder how seriously Mr. Thompson does take the issue of our security.

Two recent studies have been released by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on the use of the internet by Islamic Jihadists.

In recent testimony before Congress, representatives from MEMRI stated that:

"Extremist Islam makes extensive use of the Internet. [1] One can hardly imagine the growth of radical Islam and its jihadi organizations in recent years without the immense reach, impact and capabilities of the Internet. The threat posed by Islamist websites has recently been demonstrated by three cases: the case the New Jersey group that planned a terrorist attack on FortDix; the planned terrorist attack on JFK; and the attempted car bombings in the UK. According to media reports, the terrorists in all three cases were inspired by jihadist websites. There were also two recent court cases in Britain and Switzerland in which terrorists were convicted of using Internet sites to promote terrorist activities.
The National Intelligence Esitmate recently published by the U.S. National Intelligence Council stressed the following, "We assess that the spread of radical - especially Salafi - Internet sites, increasingly aggressive anti-US rhetoric and actions, and the growing number of radical, self-generating cells in Western countries indicate that the radical and violent segment of the West’s Muslim population is expanding, including in the United States. The arrest and prosecution by US law enforcement of a small number of violent Islamic extremists inside the United States - who are becoming more connected ideologically, virtually, and/or in a physical sense to the global extremist movement - points to the possibility that others may become sufficiently radicalized that they will view the use of violence here as legitimate..." [2] .....

The Internet serves as a tool in the military training of jihad fighters by circulating military guidebooks on weaponry, battle tactics, explosives manufacture, and other topics. An example is Al-Qaeda's online military magazine Mu'askar Al-Battar (The Al-Battar Training Camp), published by the Military Committee of the Mujahideen in the Arabian Peninsula......
Some websites also carry courses on manufacturing explosives and even guides for making homemade dirty bombs. [4] .....

In practice, the two types of online activity conducted by terrorist organizations - military activity and informational activity - are intertwined. Prominent terrorists played (and continue to play) an active role in online media activities. For example, Fares Al-Zahrani, an Al-Qaeda leader who was arrested in August 2004 by the Saudi authorities, used to write on Islamist forums and on Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi's website "Minbar Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad" under the pseudonyms Abu Jandal Al-Azadi and Al-Athari. [7] Another senior Al-Qaeda operative, Abd Al-Aziz Al-Anzi, who likewise participated in clashes with Saudi security forces, headed the Al-Qaeda Media Council, and was referred to as "the information minister of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," was also very active online. He recruited Al-Qaeda supporters on Internet forums, and was a supervisor on the Al-Salafiyoon website (www.alsalafyoon.com ), under the pseudonym Abd Al-Aziz Al-Bakri. He also wrote regularly for Al-Qaeda's online magazine Sawt Al-Jihad (The Voice of Jihad), under various pseudonyms, among them Abdallah bin Nasser Al-Rashid, Abd Al-Aziz bin Musharraf Al-Bakri, Sheikh Nasser Al-Najdi, and Nasser Al-Din Al-Najdi. [8] ............."
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=IA37407

In a separate study, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty revealed the extent of the Sunni Insurgent media network.

"Iraq's Sunni insurgency has developed a sophisticated media campaign to deliver its message over the Internet through daily press releases, weekly and monthly magazines, books, video clips, full-length films, countless websites, and even television stations. Part of the target audience for insurgent media projects are mainstream Arabic-language media, which often amplify the insurgent message to a mass audience.
The popularity of online Iraqi Sunni insurgent media, the authors contend, reflects a genuine demand for their message in the Arab world. A response, no matter how lavishly funded and cleverly produced, will not eliminate this demand. The authors argue that efforts to counter insurgent media should not focus on producing better propaganda than the insurgents, or trying to eliminate the demand for the insurgent message, but rather on exploiting the vulnerabilities of the insurgent media network....."
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/06/830debc3-e399-4fa3-981c-cc44badae1a8.html

Daniel Henninger of The Wall Street Journal writes "Iraqi Insurgent Media: The War of Images and Ideas" by Daniel Kimmage and Kathleen Ridolfo (with Radio Free Iraq correspondents, two of whom were abducted and murdered this year) is an astounding compilation of the high-tech methods being used by the insurgency in Iraq to propagate the ideology of the Islamic jihadist movement. This is the blogosphere for killers. ".....

A 28-minute film by Ansar al-Sunnah, "Just Vengeance," records the kidnapping, interrogation and execution of Shiite policemen. Another video of a suicide bomber's truck exploding reveals the centrality of distributable media: It was filmed from three different camera angles. Jihadist video comes in several file sizes: high resolution (up to 500 megabytes), medium (8 megabytes) or in highly compressed files for downloading to mobile phones, popular in PC-deficient Iraq. They enable free uploads of the videos via Windows Media Player, RealPlayer and DivX.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/dhenninger/

What is clear is that the enemy is using the internet on a large scale to achieve several goals. One is to spread its message and recruit new members. Another is to engage in spreading propaganda as well as issue orders and pass along messages to members around the world. In interested in further reading on this subject, check out the following post from June:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/06/jihadists-use-of-media-and-internet-to.html

MEMRI also has an Islamist Website Monitor Project:
http://www.memri.org/iwmp.html

OK, it’s Sunday morning. I’ve had my coffee and my wheat toast, so why am I not content? Perhaps it’s because my latest prey has escaped me.

I guess it was inevitable, but yes, my 25-year old has stopped replying to my text messages. What’s a Cougar to do? Perhaps there is a kitty cat out there without cellulite or wrinkles that has taken my place. I am not in competition with them, because body-wise I can’t beat them, but I dare them to compete with me intellectually. One of the greatest lessons of life I learned was that sex is so much more than just physical (though temporarily that is great).

If you find someone you lust after AND can talk to, you better keep them! When I’m 70 and sitting at home, I know I will remember fondly my 25-year old, but more importantly, I will remember that one person who could talk to me about politics, philosophy, books, religion AND who I could wake up with and feel content.

In the meantime, until I find my next Mr. Content, this Cougar is open to a new hunt. Have you guys seen any prime available prey? :-)

Write me: dwfinms@gmail.com

other posts by dwf:
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/07/if-you-want-to-join-safari-better-pack.html
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/07/this-cougar-will-never-be-found-caged.html
http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2007/06/if-stella-can-get-her-groove-back-so.html

This should outrage every American. Republicans in the House tried to pass legislation that would protect tipsters from nuisance lawsuits by terrorists. The Washington Times reported:
Mr. King and Rep. Steve Pearce, New Mexico Republican, sponsored the provision after a group of Muslim imams filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against US Airways and unknown "John Doe" passengers. The imams were removed from US Airways Flight 300 on Nov. 20 after fellow passengers on the Minneapolis-to-Phoenix flight complained about the imams' suspicious behavior.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070720/NATION/107200094/1001

The Washington Times also reported that Rep. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi Democrat and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, initially opposed the legislation, expressing concern that it would lead to racial profiling.

In further commentary on Congressman Thomposon's actions, Debra Burlingame of The New York Post reported that:Meanwhile, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, took the floor to oppose King's motion - and to defend the lawsuit against John Does. "We should be tolerant," he argued; people shouldn't be singled out because they "look different."

Mr. Thompson is either stupid or is being disingenious. Passengers are not being reported based upon how they look but for what they are doing. If these Imans had simply acted normally, there would have been no problem. However, they did not just go to their seats and enjoy the flight. "In fact, the flying imams triggered concerns by a variety of unusual actions, as well as words that roused the concern of another Arabic-speaking passenger. Witnesses say that House members started booing Thompson. "http://www.nypost.com/seven/04022007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/libs__lawsuits_1st__safety_2nd_opedcolumnists_debra_burlingame.htm?page=0 (Note: Debra Burlingame is sister of Charles F. "Chic" Burlingame, pilot of American Airlines flight 77, which was hijacked and crashed at the Pentagon on 9/11.)

Congressman Thompson was militant as always. "Rep. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi Democrat and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, opposed the motion over loud objections from colleagues on the House floor, forcing several calls to order from the chair.
“Absolutely they should have the ability to seek redress in a court of law,” said Mr. Thompson, who suggested that protecting passengers from a lawsuit would encourage racial profiling." http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2007/03/house_gop_seeks.php

So because Mr. Thompson has memories of the Klan from the 1960's, he opposes protecting Americans from terrorists? If an American sees suspicious activity (like terrorists practicing a "dry run" to determine what the security measures are) and reports it, he is currently at risk of being sued by the terrorists for doing his duty as a law-abiding citizen. This evil use of our laws must be stopped.

CAIR (Council of American-Islamic Relations with ties to terrorists and their supporters) has made it clear it supports such efforts to intimidate Americans from reporting suspicious activity as noted by Ms. Burlingame: "The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will certainly push for that. After all, the radical "civil rights" group - which supports the terrorists of Hamas and has received millions in funding from Saudi Arabia - is paying the lawyers in the "Flying Imams" lawsuit.
Nihad Awad, CAIR's executive director, defends the suit's targeting of ordinary citizens. The clerics, he explains, will only sue passengers who made false reports or acted in bad faith. But the suit cites an "elderly couple" who watched the imams in the gate area and then made a cellphone call. How will CAIR determine who the couple called and whether anything they did was intended to discriminate against the imams, without first finding out their names and forcing them to defend against the charge? What about their civil rights?"

In Minnesota, the Imans that were removed from an airplane in the well-publicized incident last fall after behaving very suspiciously. In true American fashion, the Imans decided to sue the airlines and would not preclude a lawsuit against the passengers who reported the activity.
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17874497/).

The Imans made the passengers nervous because: "Other passengers had gotten nervous when the men were seen praying and chanting in Arabic as they waited to board. Some passengers also said that the men spoke of Saddam Hussein and cursed the United States; that they requested seat belt extenders with heavy buckles and stowed them under their seats; that they were moving about and conferring with each other during boarding; and that they sat separately in seats scattered through the cabin.

As MSNBC reported, "Billie Vincent, a former director of security for the Federal Aviation Administration, said he is troubled by the mere attempt to identify the passengers who raised concerns.
Airline passengers “are your eyes and your ears,” said Vincent, who now owns an aviation security company. “If attorneys can get those names and sue them, you put a chilling effect on the whole system.”

Recently terrorists have plotted to attack Fort Dix, blow up the fuel lines at an airport, bomb London nightclubs, and commit other atrocities. All too often the first line of defense is citizens notifying law enforcement of suspicious activity such as the brave Circuit City employee who reported the photos he saw in the course of his job. Americans should not have to worry about spending thousands of dollars on lawsuits from terrorists who twist our laws to help them kill more Americans.

One hopes that Congressman Thompson takes the security of all Americans seriously. It is clear that when it comes to the protection of terrorists versus the protection of law-abiding American citizens who only wish to stop terrorism, Mr. Thompson is more concerned with the protection of terrorists. Bennie Thompson, who has made a career out of racial politics, is more worried about rednecks in white hoods than bomb-throwing terrorists in black masks.

Note: No mention in The Jackson Free Press or The Clarion-Ledger of Congressman Thompson's comments.