California is a Weapon of Mass Destruction

In a state where abortion has been expressly proclaimed to be a fundamental right, it really isn't suprising that a ballot initiative which allows human beings to be created in a petrie dish and destroyed for purposes of "scientific research" passed with flying colors. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.

My Sentiments Exactly

Addressed to the incredibly deep blue MSM.

Lefty Dem Dilemmas

First, they make vacuous promises to leave the U.S. and move to Canada if George Bush wins reelection, then comes news that they'd have to wait up to a year before Canada allows them to become citizens of the Great White North.

Wonder if some of these 'Rats have ever thought of Cuba? I'm sure Fidel would fast track their citizenship applications in no time.

I am Alone in an Ocean of Loony Lefties

The final tally on the presidential race here in San Francisco is Kerry 83% and Bush 15%. A local initiative that would actually have allowed non-U.S. citizens to vote in San Francisco school board elections barely lost 51% to 49%, while an initiative condemning President Bush as a liar and demanding U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq easily passed by a 63% to 37% margin.

Should I Feel Disenfranchised?

The type of voting ballot being used in San Francisco requires a person to fill in a broken arrow to a candidate of choice. At the polling place that I was at, a felt-tip pen was provided inside each voting stall. As most people might be aware, anything that is written with a felt-tip pen can be easily smudged, which is exactly what happened to a few of the markings I made on my ballot. When I asked the kid (he looked college-aged) who was running the ballot reading machine if this was a problem, he said "no." I remain skeptical.

Also, the voting for San Francisco Supervisors employed something called "ranked choice voting," which basically asks people to selct their first, second and third choices for a particular District Supervisor seat. The claimed purpose of this crazy voting method is to avoid prolonged and costly runoffs in case there is either a tie among two candidates or no candidate is able to garner more than 50% of the vote (I can't remember which one it is). Since there was only one supervisorial candidate in my district who I could vote for in good conscience, I didn't make a second and third choice. This seems to have been the reason for why the ballot reading machine didn't initially scan my ballot. After asking me if I had failed to fill in a couple of things on the Supervisor ballot, the kid running the ballot reading machine punched in a couple of buttons, and voila, my ballot got scanned. At least I think it did. Now I'm kicking myself for not asking.

Update: I noticed this guy's name among the candidates running for San Francisco School Board, and I just thought to myself, "This city is loony bin."

No Camelot for Kerry

At least as far as getting the Catholic Vote [tm] is concerned.

Several things of note in the linked article: 1). Apparently, the Daily Herald is amazed that any Catholic will not be voting for someone who claims (repeatedly) to have once been an altar boy; 2).The liberal/heretical Pax Christi is laughingly referred to as a "social justice group"; 3). Catholic concern about abortion is described as an "ideological shift" that occurred in the last 30 years; 4). Life related issues are qualified as "so-called"; 5). "Anti-abortion rights?"; and 6). Catholic Answers is described as being partisan and of the position that Catholics are required to "vote for a candidate who supports any one of five 'non-negotiable issues'"

If it wasn't for the fact that this article is being passed off as news, all of the blatant distortions and misleading comments that are made would be hilarious.

I Kind of Like My Car

Thus, my hesitancy to slap a Bush/Cheney sticker on it out here in the Bay Area. (link via Drudge)

This Guy Needs to be Dropped Like a Bad Habit

A pro-abortion lawyer (he's given lots of money to pro-abortion candidates) retained by a Wisconsin diocese advises said diocese against distributing a Catholic pro-life voter guide.

Government May Discriminate Against Private Religious Schools

So, in effect, decrees the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. From just the article itself, it looks as though this might have been a case involving a challenge to a "Blaine Amendment", which from a historical standpoint, has its roots in anti-Catholicism.

Leftist Law School Intolerance

A Christian law student club sues UC Hastings over the school's homosexual membership policy. Hastings, a government funded law school in San Francisco, won't afford the Christian club official recognition unless it allows practicing homosexuals to become members and officers.

"UC Hastings has apparently decided to withdraw itself from the 'marketplace of ideas,'" said ADF Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull. "What’s next? Will they require a vegetarian club to admit meat-eaters or a Democratic Party student group to admit Republicans?"

"Permitting people to join HCF [Hasting Christian Fellowship -- sic]who disagree with the group’s beliefs and goals would contradict and undermine their purpose,” Bull added. "The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that student organizations have the right to determine their own membership."

Signs That the "Catholic Democrat" Will Soon Be an Endangered Species

From Colleen Carroll Campbell:

Election-year polls have shown Catholic support about evenly split between Kerry and President George W. Bush, with churchgoing Catholics favoring Bush and those who rarely attend Mass preferring Kerry.

But other polls suggest that Bush may be pulling ahead among Catholic voters as a whole. In midsummer, Zogby International pollsters began seeing a significant Catholic shift toward the president in such swing states as Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania. Zogby senior political writer Fritz Wenzel told the Catholic News Service that increased attention on Kerry's pro-abortion policies combined with strong pro-life networks in those swing states was making the difference for Bush. The numbers show "concern about the legitimacy of the war in Iraq being overridden by ongoing discomfort with Kerry's stand on abortion," Wenzel said.

By the end of September, the difference was obvious to pollsters at the Barna Research Group, who found a "seismic shift" in support for the President among Catholics. In May, Kerry had led Bush 48 percent to 43 percent among Catholic voters. Late last month, a 22-point shift had put Bush in the lead, with 53 percent of Catholic voters supporting him and just 36 percent backing Kerry. Survey director George Barna said many of Bush's Catholic supporters "have traditionally voted Democratic, but have chosen a different course this time around."

The numbers remain in flux and conclusions are premature. A new Zogby poll suggests that Kerry may be regaining a slight edge among Catholics, though white Catholics — who tend to vote in greater numbers — continue to favor Bush. The race for the Catholic vote may be too close to call, but the fact that a Catholic Democrat running for president has failed to lock in the Catholic vote at this late stage should worry Kerry's team — and buoy the Bush camp.

Not Your Mao's China Anymore

The world's best fried chicken wings hits China via Hooters.

The Off-Centered Mind of Jimmah

QandO points out this little gem from a Chris Matthews interview of ex-Presidente Jimmy Carter:

MATTHEWS: Let me ask you the question about—this is going to cause some trouble with people—but as an historian now and studying the Revolutionary War as it was fought out in the South in those last years of the War, insurgency against a powerful British force, do you see any parallels between the fighting that we did on our side and the fighting that is going on in Iraq today?

CARTER: Well, one parallel is that the Revolutionary War, more than any other war up until recently, has been the most bloody war we‘ve fought. I think another parallel is that in some ways the Revolutionary War could have been avoided. It was an unnecessary war. Had the British Parliament been a little more sensitive to the colonial‘s really legitimate complaints and requests the war could have been avoided completely, and of course now we would have been a free country now as is Canada and India and Australia, having gotten our independence in a nonviolent way.

As QandO points out, Canada, India and Australia didn't effectively become independent until the 20th century. And the claim about the Revolutionary War and War on Terror being the most bloody wars the US has ever fought is just plain wrong. Yes, I do believe Jimmah has been smoking a few too many peanut plants.

High Hopes Dashed From Lack of Cash

The unfortunate and abrupt ending of Campion College in San Francisco:

In late July Campion College, San Francisco's upstart Catholic college, announced that it was shutting its doors after two years of operations. Citing the decision of Guadalupe Associates to cease their funding of the college and an inability to raise alternative funding, the college informed the archdiocese of San Francisco that it had no choice but to cancel classes for the fall semester.

Campion College was conceived by Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio in February of 2002, following the well-publicized gutting of the University of San Francisco's Saint Ignatius Institute. The idea for an authentically Catholic, two-year liberal arts college had been discussed by Fessio and John Galten, the former director of the Ignatius Institute, a number of years ago, but it remained in the discussion stage until the Jesuits moved on the institute, leaving a void in Bay Area Catholic higher education.

Under the umbrella of the Guadalupe Associates, the parent organization to Ignatius Press, a curriculum was drafted, administration positions filled, and faculty hired, all under Father Fessio's direction.

(...)

When the Guadalupe Associates board unanimously decided to sever its funding relationship to Campion College, Galten, who is a voting member of the Guadalupe board, was on the East Coast on a combination vacation and student recruitment trip. "I knew that there was going to be a planning meeting to discuss matters for the future," said Galten. "They knew that I was going to be away. I guess that matters came up at that meeting. I was not aware that the fate of Campion College might be discussed."

While the meeting without Galten and the lack of warning to either the faculty or students takes on a darkly conspiratorial note to some involved, Brumley insists that the board did not go into that meeting with a premeditated intention to cut funding. According to Brumley, "[while] over the past year, we had concerns, it was really at the end of May that it became clear [that there was a crisis]. A couple of factors: we were unable to recruit a sufficient number of students. We only had two for the fall who were committed. We needed to see ten students for Campion to be viable. That would be one factor. We had a few students who had told us that they were not returning, and many of the students who were returning were not in a position to contribute much more financially. Third was the overall financial strain that Campion was posing to Ignatius Press."

One father of a Campion student (who asked not to be named) discounted this, noting that a responsible business should have been able to see the budget and recruitment problems no later than December of 2003, when a decision to discontinue funding would have left faculty and students adequate time to make other plans. Furthermore, he added, "I had never heard that we should be looking out for money. They asked those of us on financial aid to let the college know if our financial situation changed, but there was no importuning for us to seek outside donations to help the college financially."

Terrorist Enablers and Sympathizers

Proving once again that they are even kookier than their ideological brethren on the kooky Left, the ACLU turns down $1.15 million in funding from the abortion loving Ford and Rockefeller foundations. Why? Because both of these institutions have expressly said that their money can't be used for anything that encourages or facilitates terrorism.

UBL is Dead and Both Bush and Kerry Know It

So speculates (fairly persuasively IMO) Matthew Heidt at Froggy Ruminations. I especially like the insights on why Bush won't mention that UBL is pushing up daisies, despite the fact that doing so would easily put him over the top in the race for the presidency, and how Kerry is trying to shamelessly exploit Bush's restraint for his own political advantage. (link via Powerline)

Al Presseera Strikes Again

Despite numerous other news sources reporting that well over 60% of the military and their families have a favorable opinion of President Bush, the AP ignores this fact altogether in a "report" on a poll which finds that 62% of the military think that more troops should have been sent to Iraq. QandO provides more details and commentary.

Let It Never Be Forgotten

That a monster was removed.

A mass grave containing the bodies of children, babies and their mothers has been unearthed in Iraq.

Shocked investigators reported finding "thighbones the size of matchsticks" at what they believe is the site of one of Saddam Hussein's atrocities. Among the findings-were the skeletons of unborn babies and toddlers clutching toys.

A baby had been shot in the back of its head and was found still being clutched by its mother, who had been shot in the face. The discovery was reported as Tony Blair came under mounting pressure to apologise to Parliament for the misleading intelligence claiming Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.

Job Interview With Gigante Law Firm

I've actually always tried to avoid working for a large firm, and at the time I sent in my resume to the one I'll be interviewing with next week, I had no idea they had well over 100 attorneys and offices in San Fran, L.A., New York and Hong Kong. Yikes! Anyway, since this firm has expressed an interest in talking to me, I figure I may as well see if I can impress them enough to maybe offer me a job.

FCC Commissioner Admits MSM Has Liberal Bias

In his unwarranted criticism of the Sinclair Broadcast Group's decision to air an anti-Kerry program on 60 of its local stations, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps effectively admits that shows like Nightline have a left-wing political bias. I tried doing a Google search to see if Copps ever criticized Nightline, but wasn't able to come up with anything.

Update: Go here for the official Stolen Honor documentary website.