The Doggy Diaries... gone to the dogs!

Those “Peaceful” Democrats

Just a few links that demonstrate the true tolerance and love of peace embodied by Liberals and today's Democratic party.

From The Daily Recycler, we have footage clearly showing the incredible amount of restraint, tolerance and desire for peace that is so pervasive among Kerry supporters.

Similarly, from The Seattle Times, it appears that the fuzzy, cuddly Liberal protesters couldn't express their love for a plain-clothes detective enough, so they decided it best to knock him unconscious.

... A march against the Bush administration turned ugly yesterday when a protester repeatedly stomped and punched a plainclothes detective, and hundreds of officers in riot gear pushed demonstrators away from the site of the Republican convention, witnesses and police said.

And finally, the RNC delegates are being treated so cordially and with such respect during their stay in New York that I can't help but throw in this little article by the New York Times.

A Cool Helicopter

This very special Mi-24 helicopter is presently flying in Afghanistan where it is no doubt causing quite a stir.

God bless America!

Cows and Illegal Aliens

Here is another good email I received this morning. It is also quite apropos to my feelings about the invasion of this country by illegal aliens.

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it absolutely amazing that once mad-cow disease threatened us, our government could track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she currently sleeps in the state of Washington, and then determine exactly what the cow ate/eats? They can also track her calves right to their stalls and tell you what kind of feed they ate/eat.

But yet, with all of this technology at their disposal, they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around in our country, including people that are trying to blow up important structures in the U.S.!

My solution is to give every illegal alien a cow as soon as they enter the country.

Al-Qaeda Plans Assassination

This story has made the rounds on many blogs I read, so more than likely, you have heard of it by now. However, in the event that you don't follow political or news-related blogs, I would like to post this story by the Washington Times for your review. This is an important story; it indicates that the next transmission we hear/receive from Osama Bin Ladin will actually be a signal to terrorist cells to carry out the next major Al Qaeda attack -- an assassination of a high-profile leader (whether this will be a U.S. or foreign leader is unknown) and multiple attacks against America immediately following the assassination.

As we would expect, this is all a plot on the part of Al Qaeda to upset our elections in November. They want Bush out of office at all costs. In the incredibly unfortunate event that our side is unable to locate and apprehend these Al Qaeda terrorists before the threatened assassination and attacks occur, I hope to G*d that the American people are intelligent enough to re-elect Bush to the Presidency. We need to prove to these terrorist *#@$%~!@#%! that we won't take their crap, and that the harder they push us, the harder we will push back.

We have the military might and strength to take down these Islamofacist terrorists if we wanted to. What we lack is resolve - probably because our nation has been turned into a pansy-arsed country at the hands of oh-so-touchy-feely and politically correct Liberals. I really hope it does not come down to an assassination and multiple attacks against the U.S. yet again to remind people of September 11, 2001 and the enemy we face WHO WANTS TO WIPE US OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH.

U.S. Border Patrol Allowed Increased Deportation Power

Can it be?!? Is it possible that some sanity has ecked its way into our nation's executive branch? If so, then this is just the type of story that will make my week. I absolutely love good news like this!

An article by Rachel L. Swarns in the New York Times (dated 10-August-2004) describes a recent announcement by the Department of Homeland Security today that border patrol agents will have “sweeping new powers to deport illegal aliens from the frontiers abutting Mexico and Canada without providing the aliens an opportunity to make their case before an immigration judge.” As with any good, logical, sane thing that happens in our country, I am left speechless and thinking, “it's about time!”

The article is posted on the New York Times website, but you must be a registered NYTimes.com reader in order to view the article. Rather than force you to register just to read the article, I will posted it in the extended entry section of this blog post. Simply click on the “more” link immediately following this sentence.

U.S. to Give Border Patrol New Powers to Deport Illegal Aliens
By Rachel L. Swarns
Published: August 10, 2004

Washington, Aug. 10 -- Citing concerns about terrorists crossing the nation's land borders, the Department of Homeland Security announced today that it planned to give border patrol agents sweeping new powers to deport illegal aliens from the frontiers abutting Mexico and Canada without providing the aliens the opportunity to make their case before an immigration judge.

The move, which will take effect this month, represents a broad expansion of the authority of the thousands of law enforcement agents who currently patrol the nation's borders. Until now, border patrol agents typically delivered undocumented immigrants to the custody of the immigration courts, where judges determined whether they should be deported or remain in the United States.

Homeland Security officials described the immigration courts — which hear pleas for asylum and other appeals to remain in the country — as sluggish and cumbersome, saying illegal immigrants often wait more than a year before being deported, straining the capacity of detention centers and draining critical resources. Under the new system, immigrants will typically be deported within eight days of their apprehension, officials said.

Immigration legislation passed in 1996 allows the immigration service to deport certain groups of illegal aliens without judicial oversight, but until now the agency only permitted officials at the nation's airports and seaports to do so. The new rule will apply to illegal aliens caught within 100 miles of the Mexican and Canadian borders who have spent 14 days or less within the United States. The border agents will focus on deporting third-country nationals, rather than Mexicans or Canadians, and they are expected to begin exercising their new powers on Aug. 24 in Tucson and Laredo, Tex.

“There is a concern that as we tighten the security of our ports of entry through our biometric checks that there will be more opportunity or more effort made by terrorists to enter our country through our vast land borders,” Asa Hutchinson, the undersecretary for border security at the Department of Homeland Security, said at a news conference.

“We recognize that we have to secure those and that's the president's first principle of immigration reform,” Mr. Hutchinson said. “America must secure its borders and this is a part of that effort.”

The decision was hailed by officials who have long complained that the nation's porous borders represent a serious threat to national security. But it prompted a flurry of criticism from advocates for immigrants who warned that the new system lacked adequate safeguards to ensure that people fleeing persecution, American citizens lacking paperwork or other travelers with legitimate grounds would not be improperly deported.

Mr. Hutchinson said that border agents would be trained on asylum law and that immigrants who demonstrated a credible fear of persecution would be sent to see immigrant judges, not returned to hostile governments. “That right,” he said of the right to apply for asylum, “is very important.”

But Homeland Security officials provided little details about the training, and advocates said that they feared that mistakes would be made when border agents decide who will be deported and who will not, often in the vast, inhospitable plains of the southern deserts.

Harry and Sally are Free!

Although our front yard is far from being complete, I just didn't feel good about keeping our salamanders, Harry, Sally, and Tiny in captivity. So today, with a bit of a heavy heart, Travis and I set them free in a large bed of ivy in our back yard.

In an attempt to encourage them to hang out in our yard, Travis dug a little hole for them in the middle of the ivy bed and covered it with a brick like we used in their terrarium. We are hoping they will like their new environment and will feel familiar enough with it to stick around and make our backyard their home.

Tiny was a California Slender Salamander and was active during the day. Within a few hours of placing him in the ivy bed, we discovered he had taken off for parts unknown. Harry and Sally are nocturnal salamanders, so we will be checking tomorrow morning to see if they return to the little brick-covered cave we made for them.

How silly of me to feel sad over this event. It was never our intention to keep them forever. We just wanted to save them from being eaten by the rototiller in the front yard and from being smashed while living under a pot planter (which we accidentally did to one salamander earlier this year). However, over the past couple of months, I had become quite fond of our little gaggle of salamanders. I know we did the right thing, but I feel a tinge of sadness inside. The only pet we still have now is good ol' Ted the Fish.

To Harry, Sally and Tiny, I wish them a fond farewell. They will be welcome here in our home any time.

Liberal Bias in the Mainstream Media

While I may not have much time to write nice, full blog posts these days, I do have a few spare moments to post this essay by Tom Groseclose (UCLA and Stanford Universities) and Jeff Milyo (University of Chicago) documenting their findings that ...

You'll need to sit down for this, so please be prepared. ...

Seniors, if you need your heart medication, you should get it now. ...

There is liberal bias in our nation's mainstream media! *expressions of shock fall across the faces of our readers*

The essay is titled “A Measure of Media Bias” and was released in September 2003. It is quite lengthy, a full 29 pages to be exact, so I wouldn't recommend it as a light read. Read it when you have the time and brainpower to devote to an academic treatment of the phenomenon of liberal bias in today's mainstream media outlets.