Ban In Effect

It is with great delight that I have made the decision to permanently ban Richard Ryan from contributing comments here at Tizona. There are a number of reasons for my decision, and I’ll outline them for you.

1. Richard Ryan has received more than his fair share of opportunity to air his opinion, yet repeatedly fails to provide any evidence of any of his claims when asked. The rest of us are more than capable of backing up our claims, the rules are not going to change just for one “man”.
2. Richard Ryan takes very cheap, nasty shots, mostly of a personal nature. Granted, he has not made many of his most offensive comments here, but his conduct on other blogs, such as that of Andrew Bolt and Tim Blair displays Richard Ryan’s tremendously nasty streak, and I don’t want that kind of attitude around here at Tizona. We’re a civilised bunch and always have been, and his conduct is not something we need here.
3. Richard Ryan can’t decide who he is. His constant need for attention has caused him to change his identity multiple times on other blogs, as well as assuming the identities of other bloggers with whom he has had disputes. That kind of behaviour is just ridiculous, immature, and again shows a need for attention.

My decision is completely final. If anyone wants to attempt to change my mind, you’re more than welcome to try, but I doubt you’ll be anywhere near successful.

Camera Catches Blast as Smoking Driver Causes Van to Explode

Breitbart TV

And the guy lived…This SOB had better thank whomever the hell he wants to thank, every damn day.

Surgeon who incidentally cut his patient’s penis off ordered to pay 500,000 euros

In July 2004, Dr. Naum Ciomu made a surgical error while operating on the man’s testicles, severing the penis instead of making an incision to the testicle.

The Bucharest Magistrates Court ruled Friday that Ciomu had been “superficial” in his approach to the operation, ordered the fine and handed Ciomu a one-year suspended prison sentence. The ruling can be appealed.

A piece of muscle from the man’s arm has now been attached to where his penis was, but its function is aesthetic.

“You don’t have to be an expert to realize that the 33-year-old victim does not have a good state of mind,” said Mihai Olariu, the victim’s lawyer.

No Shit! The dude doesn’t have a good state of dick, either 🙂

Pravda

Interesting…More so when you see the author. Happy Birthday America: A Bunch of Spoiled, Whiny Brats..

Bits of a two pager:

The American executive and legislative branches of government are in dire need of an aggressive purge in the form of a no-confidence referendum. Unfortunately, the American people have no such device to rid themselves of desiccated people and the interests that tell them what American national policies should be. More’s the pity, presidential candidates Barack Obama (D) and John McCain (R) have merely repackaged the status quo and are selling it as new-face-equals-new policy. None of it adds up to change and, no matter who is elected as president or which party controls congress, odds are America will be on the same course towards more war, more economic pain, more infrastructure problems, and more security intrusions into the daily routine.

Americans need to stop listening to the myths they’ve been fed. America is not the shining light on the hill but it is an equal member of the world community.

Do Americans really want to continue the war in Iraq and go to war with Iran and Syria – and destabilize Turkey and Pakistan – for natural resources and Israel? Well, then do it! Activate selective service, militarize one million Americans (women too) and invade ‘em all. If Americans were as tough as they think they are, they’d get it done and damn the suffering of the military families and the maimed in action. Onward with torture! Medals for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld!

By John Stanton

John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security and political matters. His most recent book is Talking Politics with God & the Devil in Washington, DC. Reach him at cioran123@yahoo.com

OH yeah…Credit(s)

Would WE lie to you?…Pravda

US soldiers in Iraq mark Fourth of July

BAQOUBA, Iraq (AP) – It’s Staff Sgt. Edgar Covarrubias’ second Fourth of July in Iraq. No family barbecue, no fireworks, but Covarrubias says he’ll call his mom, wife and kids to share the day anyway.

Across Iraq, America’s Independence Day was a normal work day for most U.S. troops. But the military threw in a taste of home at larger bases with ribs, corn on the cob and red, white and blue cake.

The holiday is even leaner at smaller outposts closer to the violence, where it comes with a can of meat, some cookies and a job not yet done.

“We are not going to stop our operations to celebrate the Fourth of July,” said Sgt. Mark Johnson, 26, at a small joint U.S.-Iraqi outpost in the city of Iskandariyah, some 30 miles south of Baghdad.

“Nothing special is planned for today and that’s OK because we didn’t expect anything,” added the 3rd Infantry Division soldier from Waterport, N.Y.

He heads home later this month on his mid-tour break to be with his girlfriend when she gives birth to their first child.

At least things were quiet Friday at the outpost, giving the men who weren’t on duty time to watch movies on their laptops and instant message with friends back home.

“It is the same every day since we got here in October,” said 1st Lt. William Kuebler, 24, who is nine months into his 15-month tour in Iraq.

“The holidays are not important,” added the 101st Airborne Division officer from Moville, Iowa.

Things were a bit more festive at Forward Operating Base Warhorse in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. There was a special menu in the chow hall and a three-on-three basketball tournament.

Before hitting the court, Covarrubias from the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment planned to call his wife and kids and also his mom to wish her a happy birthday.

“If I was home, I’d get together with my family and barbecue, and we’d have carne asada, a family reunion,” said Covarrubias.

But the 29-year-old from Hawthorne, Calif., said that although he misses his family, the holiday still made him feel good.

“For me, on the Fourth of July, you remember there’s people out there that think about you out here,” said Covarrubias.

For others, the day was a reminder of their duty to their country.

At Camp Victory outside Baghdad, 1,215 troops from the Army, Marines and other services re-enlisted in a mass swearing-in ceremony led by top U.S. war commander Gen. David Petraeus. At least two husband-and-wife couples were among those signing up for another military stint.

Before an immense American flag hung in the rotunda of the palace headquarters of the U.S. military in Iraq, the troops saluted Petraeus, then sang “God Bless America.”

Back at Warhorse, Sgt. Jacob Fultz, 22, of Gardner, Kan., was focused on the day’s meaning.

“It’s kind of like the fight’s never over,” said Sgt. Jacob Fultz, 22, from Gardner, Kan. “It started on July 4, 1776 and now it’s 2008.”

Breitbart

The Left regales in the death of Jesse Helms, as one can see…

here AND here

I guess this is good for the Left to be ecstatic at death, it makes them much easier to deal with when they are the ones dying, should this nation have internal strife once again, OR the forces of dark we battle, win the war.

Why Can’t They Ask This Question?

Mr Rudd, Mr Garnault, et al: “What effect will Australia’s proposed Emissions Cap and Trade (ECT) program have on Climate Change?”

This is what I don’t understand. The media and the Federal Opposition (the Government, too, but I know where it’s coming from) have a duty to point out to the Australian public that any such policy will have no effect on actual temperatures, local or global. Even if you accept the IPCC’s position, surely the only sensible option for Australia would be to prepare itself for future adverse consequences as a result of climate change. By all means agitate for global emission targets and sign on when the major emitters sign on, but to do so before America, China and India commit is utterly futile on a practical level. As a symbolic gesture it remains awfully expensive and counter-productive, serving only to decrease Australia’s ability to cope with the droughts, sea level rises and the fifty thousand other catastrophes we’re headed for. Why is it deemed too complicated for us to say: “To avert climate change, the world needs to reduce carbon emissions. Individual nations, or even larger groups of nations, will only hurt themselves unless the major players also come to the table. We need to sit down and draft these protocols together.”

Personally, of course, I see no need for that to happen, either. But at least it would be a logical counter-measure if you truly believe the IPCC. What K.Rudd plans to do to us has no logic beyond political grandstanding. This is not being made clear enough. The casual observer is being led to believe that somehow an ECT scheme in Australia will avert climate change in Australia, or perhaps contribute a little to global climate stability, when in truth that contribution would be so small you couldn’t measure it.

Anna Bligh, Premier of Queensland and not exactly a conservative role model, at least seems to know where our money comes from: she and her young Treasurer have based their latest big-borrowing budget on the predicted growth our of coal industry. Interesting how she wasn’t savaged by the media over such a policy. It’s unsettling to now know she’s put us into debt on the promise of returned dividends from an industry her Federal counterpart is doing his best to hobble; I fear Queensland will therefore be particularly vulnerable to Rudd’s ECT therapy. And whilst medical ECT treatments may be used (usually as a last resort) for alleviating depression, Rudd’s is more likely to induce it – mentally and economically.

But I could swallow it all if it had the potential to do what it’s designed to do and reduce climate change. But it won’t. And there’s no debate about that. Not one scientist, or even politician, would publicly claim it would without those big nations I’ve mentioned doing the same. I’ll leave the scenario of world-wide carbon reductions for another time. For now, I simply ask once again: “What effect will this have on climate change, Mr Rudd, Mr Garnault, et al?”

(BTW: where do they find these economists?)

UPDATE: maybe they should read this report.

July 4, 1776

 

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

TWO WAYS TO SPOT A MILLIONAIRE

ONE:

TWO:

:

Ray Charles: America the Beautiful (Celebrate Independence!)

You want a “black” national anthem?

I got your black national anthem right here.

(Sorry Ash, I couldn’t figure out your embed problem work-around).

Independence Day…The Star Spangled Banner Lyrics…Francis Scott Key 1814

American National Anthem Buckingham Palace

Full Version:

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!