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I guess the anti-war activists who staged a protest on Tacoma’s Ruston Way waterfront didn’t check the news. There was a ceremony scheduled for today in which the U.S. military turned over control of Iraq’s Anbar province to the province’s elected leaders.

If that protest had actually been the tribute they claimed it was, maybe they could have included the fact that the American men and women who died there did not die in vain. They did their part to win that war, and the victory is almost complete.

In the ceremony Monday in the provincial capital of Ramadi, the top American commander in Anbar, Marine Maj. Gen. John Kelly, said Al Qaeda has not been entirely defeated in Anbar. But he said, “their end is near.” [Fox News]

This is a tribute to the men and women who lost their lives in Iraq. They did their part and we’re winning the war. Not only are we winning but we’re defeating both Saddam and his Baathists and as a bonus we’re defeating Al Qaeda on the battle front that they chose.
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Operation Back2School. First I’ve heard of it. Happy to hear it’s happening.

Organizers distributed more than 1,500 backpacks to children of service members from across Washington. Cool weather and the threat of rain didn’t drive people away; hundreds waited more than 90 minutes before the event began.

“They were just lining up around the building, around the corner,” said Susan Allen, the volunteer coordinator with Operation Homefront Washington. “People came from Fort Lewis, McChord (Air Force Base), Whidbey Island, Bremerton. I’m really excited about the turnout.”

Operation Homefront Washington started the backpack giveaway last year, but Saturday’s event was about three times larger, Allen said. Lakewood Ford offered use of its building on Pacific Highway SW.

We don’t pay our men and women in the military enough, especially the enlisted. Things like this can make a big difference in the lives of these families.

This one happened in Lakewood, which is no longer Tacoma. I’d like to see both residents of Tacoma as well as city government do more for the military, instead of just helping anti-war protestors.

Typical of liberals, they’re pretending to be something they’re not. Whether they’re pretending to be Republicans or claiming to support the troops, their disingenuous rhetoric knows no limits.

On the Ruston Way waterfront in Tacoma this weekend there are thousands of poster-board grave markers put up by an anti-war group called Veterans for Peace. I stopped by to speak with their representative and heard exactly what I expected. So let me address some of this and see if what they claim actually holds up.

“This isn’t an anti-war protest, it’s a tribute” - Let’s look at the definition of tribute in the American Heritage Dictionary (I’ve selected the relevant entries):

1. A gift, payment, declaration, or other acknowledgment of gratitude, respect, or admiration
2. Evidence attesting to some praiseworthy quality or characteristic

As I looked over these costume grave markers I didn’t see anything that showed any gratitude, respect or admiration. All I saw was an acknowledgment that they died in the war in Iraq. Most had name, rank, hometown, how and where they died. I saw nothing of their accomplishments although I was told that Gold Star recipients were acknowledge, though it wasn’t evident exactly how they were.
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Here’s a little insight for small businesses into the world of software applications for their business. It’s a brief overview of how small businesses meet their specialized computing needs, from off-the-shelf packages to custom development.

Many small to medium sized businesses have information processing needs that go beyond the capabilities of off-the-shelf software packages such as QuickBooks or Act!. Some augment the packaged application with small custom databases or spreadsheets in general purpose applications like Microsoft’s Access and Excel. Some find industry specific applications that meet their needs or can be modified to reach a level of adequacy. But beyond that a company enters the world of software development and suddenly it’s a whole new ball game.
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I’m continually frustrated by groups that call themselves Republicans, but really aren’t. They’re actually wolves in sheeps clothing. I had a discussion on this site a few months ago with one of them. I think they have a great idea, but they’re working in the wrong direction.

I think we need to create and support groups that infiltrate the Democrat ranks with a conservative agenda. Think of the effect we could have with groups like ‘Democrats for Lower Taxes’, ‘Mainstream Democrats’ who send out mailings in support restrained government spending on failed mass transit ideas, or ‘Family Values Democrats’.

On one hand they schmooze the Dem. elites and glad-hand all of the big Dem. donors, but on the other hand they promote conservative ideas like family values, a strong military, lower taxes and smaller government.

Hey, if liberals are going to try to infiltrate the ranks of the Republican party and bring their liberal agenda, then turnabout is fair play.
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I’m voting for Palin… I mean McCain/Palin.

I think this spells the end of Barry O’s lead in the polls. Barry O-bam-bam (a name I’ve given him for his campaign’s heavy-handed handling of bad press in the Ayers matter) can plan on a good 4-6 point spread in next weeks polls (my guess, not a prediction).

Barry, you should have picked Clinton as a running mate. Instead you picked a more liberal version of John McCain. Beltway inside. Senator since the Nixon administration. Old white guy. Doesn’t say ‘change’ to me.

For the first time I’m actually impressed with John McCain. And without this pick as VP, I would not have voted for him. Smart move, Johnny Boy.

Palin is a strong conservative. She’s a reformer and is outspoken on pro-life issues. She’s younger and better looking than Barry.

I’m feeling old. Not only is a major candidate for President a few months younger than I am, a candidate for Vice President is a few years younger than that.

I have a lot to say about this, McCain, Bush and the Republican Party. Busy day. More later.

Update:  I was off by a little.  With a 10% spread among likely voters in the latest poll and an average of about 2.5% among recent polls, I guess I wasn’t too far off.  I’m going to give it a few more days and see where the average falls.

By the way, conventional wisdom says that if a Republican is down by 3% or less in polls of likely voters he (or she) is likely to win.  The best reason to explain it is that Democrat voters are more likely to respond in a poll as being a likely voter then not show up.

The chairman of the FCC has been a proponent of the government providing wireless broadband Internet access to everyone in the U.S. I think this is a ridiculous idea. He calls it a ’social obligation’. I think that’s a ridiculous idea.

When the U.S. brought electricity to rural areas of the country there was some justification for it. Not much, but some. It raised the standard of living for everyone including people in rural areas who would likely have had to wait a few more years. But this idea doesn’t even begin to measure up to the value added to our nation when the electric grid was socialized.

People in rural areas have telephones. Telephones provide access to the Internet via dial-up providers such as AOL or any number of local or regional providers. So what is this ’social obligation’ based on? If everyone has access to the Internet if they want it (and can afford it) then how much would they be benefited if we spent billions to provide them with broadband access. It’s the same Internet. They just have to spend a couple of extra minutes waiting for what they want to download.
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This is fairly big news from the home electronics industry. A bunch of companies got together, as they often do, to come up with a new technology standard that could have a huge impact on home entertainment. Some of these standards have been attempted before, but a recent technology breakthrough might make it practical for everyday home use.

The term ‘Firewire’ is an industry buzzword for something engineers refer to as IEEE 1394. This is one of those industry standards that’s used in many computer and video devices. As is always the case with these standards there is a little bit of variation between manufacturers that comes down to a simple matter of compatibility. In other words, even though it’s a ’standard’ it doesn’t mean that it will always work correctly.

Firewire has been in use for several years. What’s new is that the industry has agreed on a way to use coaxial cable that is probably in your house already. This new and innovative approach will allow you to hook up a device known as ‘bridge’ to the same cable you connect to your TV. Installing these bridges in different rooms of the house will allow video and computer traffic to go across the existing cable.
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Once again a Tacoma merchant is burned by the pipe dreams of local liberals. Tall Ships Tacoma finished their events with a loss of half a million dollars. That’s right. The “International Financial Services District” isn’t the only pipe dream still catching the fancy of local liberal cheerleaders. Tourism is still front and center in the minds people who should know better.

AngelouEconomics, the consultants hired to evaluate downtown Tacoma’s economic development options were very clear in their presentation about tourism. It’s not a primary industry for Tacoma to focus on. Tourism is a secondary industry that will grow as the primary industries in their recommendations grow. Yet, the cart is still before the horse.

Another money losing event. Another expensive tourist attraction (museums, museums, museums). When will local leaders wake up and change course into something productive?
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I’m reading this story in a blog on the TNT site and wondering if there’s more to the story. My conclusion. Obviously there is. I just don’t know yet what the rest of the story might be. But, I decided to have some fun with some speculation. After the details are released I’ll be able to see how far off I was in my guessing.

The weirdest part is that an employee locker is usually relatively small. Making homegrown explosives with the amount of chemicals that would fit in an employee locker probably doesn’t yield enough explosives to sink anything bigger than a ski-boat. Granted I’m no expert on explosives, but simple physics would dictate that the amount of energy stored in and subsequently released from a given volume of matter would be limited, mostly, by the volume.

My first thought is that the guy is just dumb. Maybe he was thinking about making a statement or maybe he was thinking about having fun on Independence Day and forgot to take the chemicals home with him… for a month and a half. I’ll stick with dumb for now, but I think the fireworks idea is a stretch.
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