I Just Hope You Are Smarter Than Them

Today is the 1 year anniversary of THOUSANDS of people in Nawlins ignorin the order to evacuate !!

THEY sealed their fate, not me or my government, yet it has cost our coffers 100's of Millions of Dollars, so far !! And, the CLEAN-UP hasnt even gotten started good yet .. Seems that the politicians caint decide who is gonna get the contracts, and who is gonna get the kick-backs !!

Q: What do you do when you have a clean-up ??
A: You pick shit up and take it to a landfill..

Q: So, what do you do when the Officials shut down the landfill and you caint take shit there after you clean it up ??
A: You take it and stack it all up in a Wal-Mart Parkin lot !!

So, now that Mayor Nagin and Co. have stopped all their efforts to impede the clean-up effort, they have closed the landfill and have no place to dispose of the shit they are ready to remove from the swamped neighborhoods..

I dont guess I have to tell you that transportin that salvage material to far distant lands is now gonna cost even more MILLIONS of DOLLARS, use more of the motor fuels that this country needs to drive the price down and feed the economy too..

I guess I should just shut up and consider myself lucky that I live here in the middle of TORNADOVILLE !!

Just Good Advice

I'm havin an Andy Rooney moment here !!

Do you ever get the feelin that America is not AT WAR ?? That its just our Military thats at war ??

If you listen close, and PAY ATTAINCHEN, you can hear the Libs talk about, not AMERICA"S TROOPS, but, George Bush's Troops fightin a war somewhere.. From the start of this WAR, I have believed that this was about keepin the U.S. and its inhabitants safe and secure.. I STILL DO !!

Thank about this for minute.. If the (D)'s take control of the wheel come November, then they will still only be interested in what they have been for the last 6 years, and thats how to GET GEORGE BUSH !! Not, how to keep me and you safe ..

Now, thank about your children and grandchildren, your neighbors, your Mama and Daddy, and your way of life.. Then thank of how the (D)'s have treated this WAR so far..

YELL.. HOLLER.. SCREAM.. KICK.. BITE.. Whatever you have to do, dont let anybody VOTE (D) come elections !!

Its Now Or Never, Baby

from here: http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/gaffney/060828

Sounding retreat

Frank Gaffney
August 28, 2006


Urban legend has it that populations of wild rodents known as lemmings periodically commit mass suicide by throwing themselves off cliffs. In fact, these critters do no such thing. It remains to be seen, however, whether American voters will this Fall do the functional equivalent of the lemming leap: Electing politicians who seductively promise retreat from a strategy of forward defense, thus imperiling large numbers of our countrymen abroad and possibly at home.

No longer are such politicians found only on the far left of the Democratic Party. To be sure, MoveOn.org and its champions in Congress are still among the most vociferous in demanding precipitous withdrawal from Iraq. Now, however, Hillary Clinton — an erstwhile supporter of the liberation of the Iraqi people — has found it necessary to realign with her defeatist base. She evidently hopes to do so without explicitly recanting her vote for the war by helping Ned Lamont defeat Joe Lieberman, a fellow Democrat who remains unrepentant about seeking Saddam Hussein's overthrow.

So strong is the siren's call of defeatism at the moment that even some Republicans are succumbing to it. For example, Rep. Chris Shays has just returned from the most recent of many visits to Iraq and joined those declaring that a timetable for beginning to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq must be set, without regard for the conditions on the ground or the consequences of our doing so.

The defeatists typically offer two rationalizations for this course of action. The first contends that we need to retreat so as to compel the Iraqis to make the "tough decisions" about their own future that our presence and support allows them to postpone.

Unfortunately, the decisions that will almost certainly flow from the perception — let alone the reality — that America is once again abandoning the Iraqi people will translate into the rise of another repressive authoritarian regime there, this time probably one closely aligned with Iran. Such an outcome would not be good for freedom-loving people in Iraq and elsewhere, including here.

The defeatists' second rationale is even more disingenuous. They complain bitterly that we do not have enough troops in Iraq to win. Yet, with few exceptions, they are unwilling either to increase the deployment there or otherwise to build up our military to contend with current and future needs.

This line fails to acknowledge that war is a come-as-you-are affair. The United States faced the dangerous post-9/11 world with the armed forces and defense industrial base it had left following the 1990s, when many of today's defeatists cashed in yesterday's so-called "peace dividend." It takes a relatively short time to dismantle large parts of our military's power-projection capabilities and infrastructure, and decades to reconstitute them.

Dangerous, short-sighted and historically ignorant are all apt descriptions of a policy that fails to invest in the U.S. military in peacetime. But failing to invest sufficiently in our defense capabilities in time of war is reckless in the extreme. At some point, such behavior breeds not just defeatism. It assures defeat.

Today, the U.S. Army's soaring personnel costs leave it with insufficient resources both to support our combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and to maintain the readiness of units not presently in the fight. Even worse are shortfalls in the procurement of equipment needed to conduct tomorrow's, possibly quite different wars.

The Navy's shipbuilding program is on a trajectory that is wholly inadequate to assure freedom of the seas, on which not only our security but our economic well-being critically depends. The same is true of the modernization program for the Coast Guard, an institution whose duties vastly exceed its capabilities. If anything, this mismatch will become more grievous with the proliferation of seaborne threats to this country.

The Marine Corps is facing its own serious resource, investment and manpower challenges. One symptom of its condition was last week's announcement that the service must recall some long-serving members of its Individual Ready Reserve to active duty.

The Air Force has just seen its contractors begin shutting down the Free World's only production line for highly capable, heavy-lift transport aircraft, the C-17. This plane is an indispensable part of America's ability to project power. The planned inventory is insufficient to assure that we will be able to do so where and when we will need to in the future.

American voters are badly served by leaders who suggest that national security can be achieved on the cheap, especially in time of war. The reality is that abandoning Iraq will not save either lives or dollars in the long-run. Such a course will intensify the danger posed to our country and way of life from Islamofascists, their sponsors and friends.

The public must be told the truth. This war is not just about Iraq and will not be over if we retreat from the conflict there. It will likely get worse before it gets better. It will require greater sacrifice — indeed, a national mobilization — if we are to prevail. Those who suggest that the alternative is less painful and costly are at best disingenuous.

In fact, history tells us that confronting foes like ours later, rather than now, under circumstances of their choosing rather than ours, will entail a far higher price in lives and national treasure. Informed voters, given the choice, will reject the lemming-leap of defeatism and its inevitable high toll.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., is President of the Center for Security Policy and a columnist for the Washington Times. He is the lead author of War Footing: Ten Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World. He blogs at www.WarFooting.com

A Simpler Life

Next Friday, Texas is gonna start a new tax.. Its gonna add another $1 tax to each PACK of cigarettes sold.. I currently smoke about 2 packs a day, so thats gonna add about $60 bucks a month to my "pleasure" expenses.. I just dont happen to have an extra $60 bucks a month to spare, specially on somethin as stupid as cigarettes..

Without my smokes life would be a lot less manageable tho.. I deal with a lot of pain, and my cigs and cigars are somethin that helps me cope !! As I'm gettin older tho, its gettin harder by the day.. I seldom give in to my desire and love for Sour Mash Kentucky Whiskey anymore, and only occasionally do I escape in its tranquility.. I REALLY do love the shit tho !!

I'm preparin myself for the advent of either payin that extra tax on my smokes or findin another means of carryin on my nasty habit.. I thank I have found an alternative to feedin the State's hunger for MY MONEY !! As you have seen, I'm perfectly capable of makin my own brew, so that cuts their Beer Tax Revenue, now I'm gonna start rollin my own cigs from bulk tobacco(thats NOT gonna have added tax to it), thus shortin their tax revenue from me further !! FUGGEM !!

Earlier this year, in a COURT MANDATED session to reform our School Finances, our Elected State Officials decided to add the new cig tax, but now I have heard that less than 1 gotdam cent out of every dollar of the NEW TAX is actually gonna make it to the schools !! If the money was actually gonna go to the schools, I wouldnt have quite as much of a hard-on (scuse me ladies) for this new tax, but now I see no earthly reason for me to shrug my shoulders and say "oh well, I guess they need it" .. What they NEED to do, is park those gotdam buses sometime and stop runnin all around the damn state in em to every gotdam spellin be they can find !! Most of you know that I sit on my porch a lot, and I see those buses goin by damn near every day of the week, and most of those buses have just a very few kids on each one.. I know of one bus that drives almost 80 miles a day to pick up and return home ONE gotdam kid !! I shit-you-not !! That bus has 1 Driver and 1 Drivers-Aid AT-ALL-TIMES to handle ONE kid.. And a whole shit-load of those other 60-passenger buses I see have less that 10 kids ridin on em when they pass here..

I just caint for-the-life-of-me see why I should have to suffer the consequences of the Schools stupidity !!

So, you see, its not just that I caint afford the new tax, its also that I dont see that its MY responsibity to shoulder the burden of the Schools neglect/abuse/waste/incompetence or whatever else reason that can be found for their takin advantage of the Courts Mandate to take advantage of US!!

You really want to know what the Killer in all this is?? Even if you dont, I'm gonna tell you anyway !! Its that with the added demand on the ingredients to make my homebrew and the bulk tobbacco to roll my own, the PRICE of IT is gonna go up too !!

Somrtimes you just caint win!!

Sorry bout the homebrew comin out the way it did, Sherry.. I'm pretty sure you wont like it, but I'll let you sample it next time ya'll come up tho, and if you like it I'll damn sure fix you up with some .. Maybe the strawberry will be more to your taste tho.. I could always get you and Hubby set up to make your own !! hint hint

Coulda Been Better

This mornin I found my homebrew ready to bottle and now that task has been accomplished and another batch ready to get underway now..

It didnt turn out quite the way I wanted due to conditions beyond my control, ie, the weather.. I used too much malt and hops, and the HOT temps made it too bitter to enjoy as it is, but I can salvage it by pourin it over ice and addin a squeeze of lime.. That seems to make it more enjoyable than the regular plain anyway.. If it was regular store-bought beer, and you pour that over ice and add lime its called a "Goucho".. I guess thats close enuff to what I have, so I guess thats what I'll call my latest batch of thirst quencher too !!

I've been samplin it for the past few days and early on in the process it was more to my likin, but the longer it cooked, the stronger it got, and that wasnt the result I was after..

My new batch is gonna be an experiment in diversity.. Instead of plain sugar I'm usin corn syrup and I added some strawberry jam to the mix too, but I cut-back on the malt and hops.. An old neighbor that has since moved across town drove by and gave the Mrs. a bottle of his latest batch.. It was made with strawberry too.. He used to not put fruit in his and it came out weak and plain.. He always brought me a bottle of his latest to sample and critique for him.. I had suggested that he might add some fruit and it seems that he has taken my advice.. It was rather tasty too !! If Boone's Farm made homebrew, I would thank this is the product they would have arrived at..

I just dont like it too sweet tho, but not as bitter as mine turned out this time.. The temps are forecast to be much cooler durin the time this next batch will be cookin, so I may have screwed up by my changes, but time will tell..

Nobody Listens Anyway

from here: http://www.powerlineblog.com/

Hail to the chief, take 2

On the heels of John's eyewitness account of President Bush speaking extemporaneously before a friendly group in Minnesota yesterday afternoon comes Kathleen Parker's column with her own eyewitness account of President Bush at an off-the-record luncheon with a hundred or so supporters. Like John, Parker was impressed:

What I witnessed was revealing. Not only was the man fluent in the English language and intellectually agile, he was knowledgeable on a wide range of subjects raised during a 90-minute Q&A. Someone apparently had been slipping intellectual-curiosity tablets into Bush's cola.
Toward the end, one of the guests said, "Mr. President, I think if Americans could hear you speak the way you have today, you'd have a 95 percent approval rating."

I think that's almost true. Not 95 percent, obviously, but he'd surely have a higher than 30 percent approval rating were he better able to explain what he's thinking. Bush does know; he just can't seem to say.

Why? Parker has a theory:
My theory dovetails with something one of his most acerbic critics, columnist Molly Ivins, once wrote: "George W. Bush sounds like English is his second language.'' That's because it's true. "Washington English'' is a second language for Bush; "Texas English'' is his first.
When he tries to speak Washington English, which is the way Bush thinks presidents are supposed to speak -- over-enunciating and sprinkling his comments with awkward aphorisms -- he fumbles. He forgets what he's saying because the thoughts and words are not his own.

This is also when his annoying sibilance kicks in. The "terroristsssssss," he says when "terrorists" would do. My guess is he over-enunciates to cover his prairie accent, but the effect is, well, sssssstrange.

Tapes of Bush as governor of Texas reveal none of the malapropisms for which he is now infamous. That's because in Texas, he speaks his native tongue -- dropping syllables and esses without fear of criticism or embarrassment. That kind of freedom seems to liberate the man's mind and his mouth.

Anyone who speaks before cameras knows the taste of humility and can relate to the agony of being George Bush.

(I can relate.) During the Reagan administration, occasionally discouraged conservative supporters theorized that Reagan was the victim of misguided advisers and counselled "Let Reagan be Reagan." Taken together, John and Parker make a compelling case to explain the mystery of George Bush: "Let Bush be Bush!"

comment: Here at Redneck Central, I spoke a combination of Texan and Redneck.. I've recieved mail from people in other countries and who speak other languages.. They often want to know my definition of certain words and what my opinion is of what those words describe.. But those words usually are not Texan or Redneck in nature, but are common to their region.. Words such as "terrorist" or "jihad"..
I thank I've been in every State of the U.S., and North of our border, and South of our border, and a few places outside the U.S. Waters, but I have rarely been anywhere that I was without somebody wantin to talk to me and to hear me "tawk" ..
One time when I was younger, I was tawkin to a girl that was born and raised in Houston, and she was kinda makin fun of my "drawl" !! Imagine that !!
My point is, that you dont have to try to talk to impress somebody.. You just have to talk to "express" yourself..
Accordin to Powerline, above, G.W. might get a little more respect if he just "tawked" a little more, and tried to impress a little less !! I agree with that 1-hunert purrcent !!

He Is Right, Of Coarse

from here:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelBarone/2006/08/21/our_covert_enemies

Our covert enemies
By Michael Barone
Monday, August 21, 2006


In our war against Islamo-fascist terrorism, we face enemies both overt and covert. The overt enemies are, of course, the terrorists themselves. Their motives are clear: They hate our society because of its freedoms and liberties, and want to make us all submit to their totalitarian form of Islam. They are busy trying to wreak harm on us in any way they can. Against them we can fight back, as we did when British authorities arrested the men and women who were plotting to blow up a dozen airliners over the Atlantic.

Our covert enemies are harder to identify, for they live in large numbers within our midst. And in terms of intentions, they are not enemies in the sense that they consciously wish to destroy our society. On the contrary, they enjoy our freedoms and often call for their expansion. But they have also been working, over many years, to undermine faith in our society and confidence in its goodness. These covert enemies are those among our elites who have promoted the ideas labeled as multiculturalism, moral relativism and (the term is Professor Samuel Huntington's) transnationalism.

At the center of their thinking is a notion of moral relativism. No idea is morally superior to another. Hitler had his way, we have ours -- who's to say who is right? No ideas should be "privileged," especially those that have been the guiding forces in the development and improvement of Western civilization. Rich white men have imposed their ideas because of their wealth and through the use of force. Rich white nations imposed their rule on benighted people of color around the world. For this sin of imperialism they must forever be regarded as morally stained and presumptively wrong. Our covert enemies go quickly from the notion that all societies are morally equal to the notion that all societies are morally equal except ours, which is worse.

These are the ideas that have been transmitted over a long generation by the elites who run our universities and our schools, and who dominate our mainstream media. They teach an American history with the good parts left out and the bad parts emphasized. We are taught that some of the Founding Fathers were slaveholders -- and are left ignorant of their proclamations of universal liberties and human rights. We are taught that Japanese-Americans were interned in World War II -- and not that American military forces liberated millions from tyranny. To be sure, the great mass of Americans tend to resist these teachings. By the millions they buy and read serious biographies of the Founders and accounts of the Greatest Generation. But the teachings of our covert enemies have their effect.

Of course, this distorts history. We are taught that American slavery was the most evil institution in human history. But every society in history has had slavery. Only one society set out to and did abolish it. The movement to abolish first the slave trade and then slavery was not started by the reason-guided philosophies of 18th century France. It was started, as Adam Hochschild documents in his admirable book "Bury the Chains," by Quakers and Evangelical Christians in Britain, followed in time by similar men and women in America. The slave trade was ended not by Africans, but by the Royal Navy, with aid from the U.S. Navy even before the Civil War.

Nevertheless, the default assumption of our covert enemies is that in any conflict between the West and the Rest, the West is wrong. That assumption can be rebutted by overwhelming fact: Few argued for the Taliban after Sept. 11. But in our continuing struggles, our covert enemies portray our work in Iraq through the lens of Abu Ghraib and consider Israel's self-defense against Hezbollah as the oppression of virtuous victims by evil men. In World War II, our elites understood that we were the forces of good and that victory was essential. Today, many of our elites subject our military and intelligence actions to fine-tooth-comb analysis and find that they are morally repugnant.

We have always had our covert enemies, but their numbers were few until the 1960s. But then the elite young men who declined to serve in the military during the Vietnam War set out to write a narrative in which they, rather than those who obeyed the call to duty, were the heroes. They have propagated their ideas through the universities, the schools and mainstream media to the point that they are the default assumptions of millions. Our covert enemies don't want the Islamo-fascists to win. But in some corner of their hearts, they would like us to lose.

comment: I've talked and quoted many times about "The Enemy Within".. I've posted many times here and on other blogs about our covert enemies, and have drawn some attacks and some harsh criticism for em.. FUGGEM !! I still stand by those thoughts..
Mr. Barone points out above that this covert enemy is bein fostered and lead by people that are supposed to be educated individuals.. Prominant people in our schools and universities.. The F.A.C.T.S. are out there for anyone to witness, and if these UDUCATED people were so gotdam smart, then why caint they see that they are doin grave damage to our society ?? Or, could that really be their GOAL ??

These "smart" sunzabitches are the same ones that want to give every liberal cause what they want..
It dont matter what it does to the very fabric of this country either !! The illegals say that all we have to do is change a few LAWS, and eveythang will be just hunky-dory.. NAMBLA says that all we have to do is change a few LAWS, so they can have sexual relations with little boys, and everythang will be all right.. The polygamists say that all we have to do is change a few LAWS, and everythang will be just fine.. The Liberals say that all we have to do is change the CONSTITUTION, and take away our guns, and everythang will be just wonderful!! The list goes on forever too.. They want to change America into some EU place that I wouldnt want to live in.. I say, let the dirty bastards move to France and fuggin change it !! Hell, its already got one foot in the grave.. Just dont destroy my country !!

Are Ya Ready Ta RUMBLE ??

from here: http://inbrief.threatswatch.org/2006/08/synchronicity/


Synchronicity?
Iran Announces Major Defense Exercises Days Ahead of Expected August 22 Nuke Deal Response and Potential NoKor Nuclear Test
By Steve Schippert
Iran has announced that it is going to begin major military maneuvers on Saturday, August 19, just two days ahead of its expected response to the West’s nuclear proposal designed to entice them away from nuclear enrichment and, thus, nuclear weapons.

Iranian General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani announced that the exercise, “Blow of Zolfaghar,” will be extensive and “take place in West and East Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Baluchestan va Sistan, and Khorasan provinces.” This covers the Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey borders completely, as well as the Iraqi border from Turkey south past Kirkuk towards Baghdad.

The UK’s Times notes that border patrols throughout have been increased since last week and observes that Iran’s “bristly gestures will only add to regional tension.”

Whatever does – or does not – happen with regards to Iran on August 22nd, the following eight days after their expected response leading up to the August 30 deadline set by the United Nations Security Council will almost certainly be filled with diplomatic wrangling. Ahmadinejad will work hard to convince the world that Iran is indeed finally prepared to somehow negotiate what is repeatedly called their ‘inalienable right.’

But after August 30 passes, the United States expects UN sanctions against Iran to be put in place with little delay. This position presumes cooperation from both Russia and China, each of whom have been clear in the past that they oppose any sanctions against their valued trading partner, though they have used nuanced language of late softening this position.

How they react when push comes to shove at the Security Council will be telling. It very well may not be as hoped for by an America percieved to be weaker in the international community as the days, conflicts and events go by without pause.

The timing of what is termed ‘defensive exercises’ announcement by Iran is curious, especially in light of word that a North Korean nuclear test could be imminent. American satellite images have detected “suspicious vehicle movement” near the P’unggye-yok underground test facility in North Korea. Reportedly observed by US intelligence were long cables being run into the underground facility, a process used to connect sensors near an underground blast to monitoring equipment above ground and a safe distance away.

This activity was also observed last year, but no nuclear test was undertaken.

One speculation – taking the events and forcing them into the same context – would interpret the Iranian exercises as an actual perimeter defense deployment ahead of events known by Iran and expected to be perceived as provocative. That event could potentially be an Iranian rejection of the nuclear proposal simultaneous with a nuclear demonstration by their chief technology proliferation partner, North Korea.

While this is an example of speculation, at least considering such possibilities becomes increasingly important as Ahmadinejad’s apocalyptic fellow-believers gain more and more power within Iran. (Note the sudden absence of student protests that were so prevalent until recently.) Ahmadinejad’s faithful membership within the Hojjatieh Society guides his thinking and his choices for leadership positions within Iran, as the Hojjatieh seek to “pave the way for the return of the Mahdi.”

Westerners would find Hojjatieh beliefs and practices so disturbing as to be hardly believable. Yet these are indeed the beliefs and practices of the increasingly more powerful Iranian president and his mentor, Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, often referred to as “The Crocodile,” for his beneath-the-surface exercise of political power, and as “The Sorcerer,” for his cultic religious practices, the likes of which most Americans would dismiss as insane and, therefor, impossible to be true among a nation’s powerful elite.

Yet, through Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Yazdi, unthinkable belief structure is increasingly guiding the direction of Iranian policy, strategy and actions.

The world can scarcely afford to underestimate the mindset of the Iranian president as he accrues more and more power within Iran, including solid allegiance from the Bassij and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which in many ways should be increasingly considered in parallel to Hitler’s SS.

Bubbles In My Beer

My homebrew maker has an airlock on the top that lets the gases out as it cooks and keeps fresh air out too.. It is filled with water and as the brew cooks it makes bubbles come out of the air lock.. And that sucker is justa bubblin too !! If you hold your head over it you can smell the aroma of the hops and malt in it..

One year I brewed up about 10 gallons of the stuff and had a big party out at the farm on a 4th of July complete with fireworks and a whole slew of company.. The other folks brought 10 cases and a keg of beer, but we had most of the bought stuff left the next mornin.. Caint much blame em tho, cause is was Bud Light !! We had card games and dominos horse shoes and washers to entertain ourselves with when the fireworks were over with.. And we did the mandatory midnite skinny-dip in the pool too..
I thank that was the time I added apples to the batch and made what the old timers call Apple Jack.. Sure was a good batch too !! I often different kinds of fruit to my brew to give it a different flavor.. Just for a change.. Apples or raisins are a good switch to it and seems to mellow it when I mix it kinda dry.. If I'm gonna have a bunch of wimmen drankin it I add over-ripe bannanas to it.. I can usually go the apples, and I can sometimes appreciate the raisins, but I just caint handle them damn bannanas !! Hell, I dont much like em anyway, cept in fresh homemade icecream.. I like em pretty good then..

I thank my brew is gonna be ready to bottle a little sooner than I thought tho.. The temps here have been runnin in the 102 to 106* range this week, and it looks like the higher temps are gonna make it cook off faster.. That means it gonna have a lower alchohol content to it and I'm just gonna have to drank more of to get the buzz, but that also means I can drank more and enjoy the flavor more and be ready to make another batch that much sooner..

Each batch makes a little over 2 1/2 cases of 12 ounce size bottles for just under $10 bucks.. And considerin that its, by-the-kick, as bein twice or more powerful, it comes out a real bargain, price wise anyway.. But usually durin the summer I get tired of store bought beer and aint really wantin whiskey, and it just cures the cravin for somethin else.. If I aint got my homebrew I usually get a coupla bottles of the wine I like.. Thats when I like to do some cookin too.. Thats when I like to cook some sketti or lasagna with wine in the sauce.. Funny how mescan food just dont seem to appreciate wine in it !! Ever notice that ??

2 Weeks Notice

Well, I've got all the stuff for my next batch of homebrew, but the sugar.. I'll get it tomoro and get it to cookin.. After cookin for about 7 to 10 days, I'll bottle it and let it cure for about a week.. MAYBE !! Of course I'm gonna have to SAMPLE it when I bottle it.. Just to make sure its gonna be alright to consume..
I'll have to make another batch before long cause half of this one will go pretty quick after my buddies find out I'm makin some again.. Every so-often, one will stop to see if I've got any ready or bottled.. The natives are gettin restless so I better get my ass in gear and get it cookin !!
I mix mine with about 2 times the alchohol content as the regular store-bought swill.. Sometimes it comes out a little stronger than double.. It dont take but about 3 longnecks of it to get you a pretty good buzz from it..
I save my whiskey bottles and have my friends save theirs too, then bottle it in those instead of washin and cleanin used dirty bottles.. Soap and cleaners give it a funky taste and ruin the experience, and bottles dont seem to be clean unless I use soap.. Lots of folks use fruit jars to bottle theirs, but those dont stand up to the pressure and if it aint got pressure it turns out flat and dont have the "umph" to it that I like.. Whiskey bottles are tuff enuff to take the pressure and I dont have to wash em either..
I like to use natural spring water to make it with, but the drought the past couple of years has dried up all the springs I like to get my water from.. Guess I'll have to suffer with usin regular tap water and boil the chemicals out of it first..
If, a coupla weeks from now, I seem to be a bit tipsy on here, well, more than usual, its probably gonna be cause I've been nippin the homebrew sauce..
Gonna be real nice to sit on the porch havin a "brew" and ceegar and watchin the world pass by in the fast lane..
I wonder what the poor folks are gonna be doin ??

I Must Be ONE SMART MOFO

from here: http://www.healthday.com/view.cfm?id=534311


Older and Cranky May Mean Smarter
Study suggests that personality predictors for intelligence change as you age

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter


THURSDAY, Aug. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Next time grumpy Aunt Gertrude growls at her bridge partner or one of her well-wishing nephews, look at it from this angle: She just may be smarter than all the rest.

New research suggests just that, revealing that older people with above-average intelligence tend to be disagreeable.

The study authors noted, however, that superior intelligence does not always go hand-in-hand with surliness -- with smart young people more likely to be open to new situations, rather than being disagreeable.

"It appears that at younger ages, openness to experience is the most important personality factor correlating with the attainment of facts, vocabulary, and book learning," said study co-author Jacqueline Bichsel, an associate professor of psychology at Morgan State University, in Baltimore.

"But when we get older -- and this hasn't been found before -- it appears that openness to experience is no longer as important, and what is important is a disagreeable nature," she added.

Bichsel and her colleagues reported their findings Thursday at the American Psychological Association's 2006 Convention in New Orleans.

The authors focused on 381 healthy adults between the ages of 19 and 89, who had various degrees of education ranging from completion of high school to graduate school.

The 246 adults who were over the age of 60 were classified as "older." That group was further divided into two equally sized smaller groups -- older adults with cognitive abilities comparable to that of the younger group, and older adults with cognitive abilities superior to all the rest, both young and old.

The remaining 135 adults below the age of 60 were classified as "young."

All the participants were given the same battery of tests and questionnaires to gauge both intelligence and personality traits such as openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

None of the adults was revealed to have any demonstrable age-related declines in their cognitive abilities.

In fact, the researchers found that while the younger adults performed no better than any of the older adults on any seven different measures of intelligence, the "superior" older adults actually outperformed all the rest on every cognitive test.

The researchers concluded that among the older participants, agreeableness appears to be negatively related to intelligence. This implies, the researchers suggested, that being older and unfriendly might actually equate with being smarter.

By way of explanation, the authors pointed out that prior research has indicated that highly intelligent people tend to be more independent, and that self-reliance can perhaps render the need to be agreeable less important.

The older "superior" group was also observed to be more conscientious, which was associated with better short-term memory and auditory processing -- two skills the study authors attributed to better test-taking abilities rather than improved smarts.

For young people, it was "openness" that appeared to be the key ingredient to gaining knowledge. Openness appeared to be specifically associated with better short-term memory. The researchers also found that young people who were relatively less extroverted also scored higher on knowledge tests.

The researchers concluded that the association between intelligence and personality changes with age -- with the kind of openness younger people need to absorb new information perhaps less meaningful to older and smarter adults who have already acquired a lot of knowledge.

"So, you don't necessarily need to get on cranky grandma and grandpa," said Bichsel, who was involved with the study while at Penn State University. "It may be good for them to be a little argumentative, and it may show that they are retaining a high cognitive capacity."

But, Richard Robins, a professor in the department of psychology at the University of California, Davis, expressed some doubt about the findings.

"I haven't heard of this kind of finding before, and this is a relatively small study sample," he said. "So, I wouldn't be surprised if the findings weren't replicated in a larger sample."

By way of explaining the complexity of the subject, Robins pointed to recent work he conducted with a sample of about 10,000 college-age students that revealed a weak but consistent association between young disagreeable men and women and slightly higher SAT scores.

This, he noted, is not in line with the current study's findings.

"So, I would be skeptical," Robins said, "about making any interpretations just yet, based on this age association."

Pop's Little Nedneck

The Mrs. has the Kid sayin she's "mommies baby", and I have her sayin she's "Pop's little nedneck" !! Some of you already know that she has Tuberous Sclerosis, and autistic traits come with it.. She starts the 9th grade Monday, and the Mrs. caint wait !!
You see, me and the Kid together have fun and the Mrs. often puts us under a "NO FUN" policy.. Me and the Kid like to put on a Brooks and Dunn CD or Gretchen Wilson and crank it up and ROCK OUT !! The Mrs. wont let me hook up the 15"er's tho, so we dont get to get serious when we rock out, but its still fun watchin the Kid get animated and sing to it.. She gets the rockin recliner most of the time and after a few minutes of crankin the music I have to move the chair back up about 3 feet or more after she gets it wound up and scoots it around..
Gonna be a lot different around here after she goes back to school Monday.. We have been cramped-up in here in close quarters for the past month or so under the A/C and now its gonna be real quiet in here without her.. Maybe it'll cool off enuff soon and I can get back out in the yard and find somethin to keep myself occupied ..
She's 14 now and the hormones are really kickin in and she is real quick to get an attitude.. Imagine that.. An attitude.. After bein around me ..
There are gonna be a whole new crew of aids in her class this year too, and there may be some personality clashes, and that leaves the possibility that we dont have any option other than homeschoolin her.. They already have one BIG BOY in her class that has to have his own classroom to hisself because he is violent with the other kids.. I dont thank they could handle another with an attitude problem.. Thats the reason they have a new crew of classroom aids this year.. None of em want to gop thru another year like last year.. It wad'nt pretty !!
I tell ya'll this cause I may get kinda quiet for a while if worse comes to worse and I have to have time to try and sort out what we are gonna have to do with the kid and her school.. I'm hopin for the best, but I expect the worst..
They built the "short bus" kids a new school buildin this year too, so they are gonna have a new buildin, new aids, new time schedule, and all kinds of nice, neat new school shit that is gonna thro the kids into a whole new world come Monday.. Oh, and a new dress code too that is gonna be hard for some of those kids to deal with.. So, its not just gonna be the AKId that is gonna be havin to deal with it, but the whole group is gonna have to readjust to it, plus they are gettin 5 new kids in the class too.. I guess that now you have a little bit better grasp of why I have low expectations..
Wish us luck..

They Pushed My Button Again

from here: http://www.5newsonline.com/Global/story.asp?S=5266136

Muslims fear backlash over plot





WASHINGTON The news of an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights has American and British Muslims fearing a backlash.

Officials with the Council of American-Islamic Relations are especially worried that language used to described the suspects could spark a "religious war." They take issue with President Bush's statement that "this nation is at war with Islamic fascism."

The executive director of the group says Muslims don't associate Christianity with fascists or home-grown terrorists. And he asks top officials to extend the same courtesy to people of Islamic faith.

In London, Muslim men say they're getting nervous looks from people who pass by them on the street. A spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain says the group is asking mosques to urge worshippers to report any racial attacks.

I wondered how long it would take the gotdam dirtbags to start hollerin about bein the victim of attacks !! They havent even been more than givin dirty looks and they are URGIN em to report any racial attacks..
The sunzabitches should consider theirselves pretty gotdam lucky if all I do is give em a dirty look.. And another gotdam thang.. This comin from the people that have MASTERED the DIRTY LOOK !!
Just like the Hez's have been playin the fuggin victim game since they plastered Israel with rockets and the Jews went into Lebanon to stop em.. In spite of what you have heard about Israel goin into Lebanon just because they are EVIL ZIONISTS, they went in because the Hez kidnapped their soldiers then sent hundreds of missiles into Israel.. Thats why Israel is kickin their asses !! The bastards deserve to have their whole gotdam country leveled !!
Back to the Dirtbags gettin dirty looks.. Who do they thank should be gettin the dirty looks, anyway ?? Their fellow Mooselimbs are the reason folks are havin to stand in airport lines for hour-after-hour BEFORE the checkpoint guards maul their hands all over em and go thru every thang they have in their bags !!
I got some words for CAIR too.. They can just SUCK OL BUCK !!

Suck It Up, BIG BOY

Or maybe better to call this "its cryin time again" .. Just the other day I put the last of my can of $2.19 gas in my mower, and now I've gotta go refill it..
I havent been usin all that much gas cause its been so dry here and the grass hasnt been growin any, but now the leaves are fallin and I dont do well at rakin leaves.. I usually just run the mower over em and mulch em or blow em out in the street with all the nasty bastard's trash they throw out in the yard..
I'm gonna be lookin at payin around $3 bucks for it here and its a 7 gallon can, so its gonna cost me about $20 bucks to fill my gas can for the mower and my generator.. Good thang I aint gonna fill my 30 gallon barrel again !! Altho it might not be such a bad idea.. I got a sneeky feelin that gas is gonna get a LOT higher before long, and its a huge possibility that if ol ActMad over in Iran closes oil traffic thru the Straits it could be damn near impossible to even FIND gas around here !! No tellin what I could re-sale my 30 gallons for if that happened.. But I imagine I'd better hold on to it for my own use tho.. Never can tell when I would really need it..

Fighting For Their Lives

This link :( http://israelmilitary.net/showthread.php?t=13 ) goes to a site with pics of Israeli Soldiers that are fightin to keep their country free and to just try to stay alive..
I have usually been worried about our own Warrors, but I thank its time I send some Blog-Love to these folks too..
Most of the people alive in Israel today have been at WAR for their whole lives and have been under attack constantly.. I wish for them to have PEACE.. Not just a gotdam ceasefire, but actual, real, lasting peace..
But I dont thank its gonna happen till Iran and Syria take a long hard look at Lebanon and realize that what Lebenon looks like now, could be what their country looks like if they dont get their shit straight !! But then again, I dont know if those morons can see past their hate of the Jews to see it.. I dont thank they would care if the whole Middle East looked like Lebanon, as long as they pushed the Jews out of Israel.. And if Israel falls, then the West will be next..
My heart goes out to the folks of Israel and I wish them GOOD HUNTIN !!

Added To The Blogroll

I got a new site loaded into my blogroll on the right side.. Its called Defense Tech, and has some of the NEW stuff the military is tryin out and puttin in their inventory..
It boggles the mind what they come up with nowadays..
They also talk about stuff that is already in the inventory of OUR military, and has some stuff the OTHER GUYS are usin too..
Can you just imagine havin a sawed-off pump shotgun that shoots shells that can LEVEL A 5-STORY BUILDING ?? I thank I just heard a Redneck somewhere say "sheeeeit" !!
Maybe if we quit givin all our gotdam money to the World's Terrorists we could afford some of this shit for OUR OWN FORCES !! grumble grumble grumble
Anyway, check em out when you aint got nothin else to do and see what we got that can knock an Arhabi into the hereafter with..

Show Me The Money

from here: http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20060807s


Why didn't we think of it before
August 7, 2006


U.S. Senator Tom Coburn has an innovative idea that will cost the federal government virtually nothing and provide the public with a depth of knowledge on government operations unparalleled in American History.

The Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommmittee on Federal Financial Management has introduced a bipartisan bill to create a Google-like online searchable database of all federal spending. Currently, said Coburn, there is no way for taxpayers to find out what the federal government is paying individuals, groups, localities, and contractors. "This bill will empower citizens investigators to root out waste, fraud, and abuse," the Oklahoma Republican, a leading opponent of pork, told U.S. News.

He has earned a bipartisan group of co-sponsors including Republicans John McCain and Rick Santorum and Democrat Barack Obama. Since most of the information is already online or in digital data records that could be easily posted, the cost would be comparatively small.

Interestingly, here in Louisiana, the greatest frustration of media and good government advocates is, to coin a phrase, "following the money." Appropriations and expenditures, while required under state disclosure laws to be openly listed in the budget, are often buried in reams of paper difficult for the even the most intrepid reporter or activist citizen to find.

Almost all of the data for contractors and salaries here, as in Washington, lies in computer files that, with little effort, could be uploaded to state websites. Much of it already is on the Internet, in fact. Contracting with an existing search engine company, such as Google, or working in tandem with the computer science departments at LSU or UNO, could arrange much of the information in an easily searchable form.

Of course, that would mean that our elected officials would be subject to the oversight of the average citizen. Just a few keystrokes, and the usually overtaxed voter could discover where his representative or senator spent the money he sent to Baton Rouge. That might prove the politician's greatest fear. Still, with term limits taking affect in 2007, a new crop of legislators might be open to such a revolutionary and simple idea. Makes you wonder why no one has thought of it before.

comment:

I have a sneeky suspicion that there is gonna be a lot LESS hidin stupid-ass expenditures in serious budget proposals now..
A lot of appropriations to the military get killed because somebody stuck a bunch of junk and bullshit in the bill and the only way to get the pork money out of it is to kill the whole damn thang and that leaves the military machine high and dry and BROKE !! What a damn waste of time too..
Now we can all go on the web and search out where money is flowin to and WHO is gonna get the votes that its bein spent for..
I have a feelin I'm gonna be checkin it out pretty regular..

Dont Hurt My Feewings

Ever notice how the Mooselimbs always talk about us hurtin their pride and thats why they want to kill us all or inslave us to Islam ??

How would it be if we decided to get our pride insulted and went on a jihad to exterminate them from the planet ?? By whatever means possible ??

Does the world thank that because we are Americans, that we have no pride ?? That we aint allowed to be offended ??

I dont know bout ya'll, but I have yet to see anythang bout Islam that leads me to believe that they have a DAMN thang to be PROUD of !! Take the slums of London for example.. The place was a ghetto before they moved in and became majority, then the place turned into a complete sewer..
Anywhere they hold a majority is a place where the only shinin light is where they have a resort for foreign tourists !! The rest of their countries are a pure shithole !!
And how bout their law ?? You know.. Sharia Law.. For the life of me I sure as hell caint find anythang bout it to make me jealous, and to be envious.. Although, I do have an ex that I feel it would be nice to stone sometime !! Just kiddin..

To me, its plain to see that these assholes dont have diddly to be so damn proud of, yet the Progressives(thats the American Liberals), the EU, and the U.N. thank their pride is supreme to ours, even tho we have the grandest society on the Earth.. If somebodies PRIDE was supperior, why wouldnt it be ours ?? At least we got somethin to be proud of !! Well, except for Teddy Kennedy and Bill Clinton !!

The More I'm Around People

the more I love my dog !!

Free At Last Free At Last Free At Last

My house guest got himself an apartment and moved out late yesterday.. I sat outside at the picnic table and drank myself stupid last nite.. My body revolted against me today too !!
I dont care, cause its just so damn nice not havin him around here now.. But, while I was sittin outside last nite, Gunny decided to pay me a vist.. I wasnt really wantin company, but just havin my guest gone kinda counter-acted the effect..
The Gunny has transformed himself now too.. Before, he was wearin baggy shorts and t-shirts, and yesterday he had on boots, Wranglers, a button-down, and a gotdam Stetson !! Tell me I dont rub-off on folks !! I surprised him tho and had on my bib overalls..
But Gunny was feelin pretty good too by the time he left for home..

Now that we have our house back, the Mrs. says she and the Kid can now run around the house in their gown-tail and even get nekkid if she wants too and not have to worry bout somebody poppin in the room at any time.. And now I dont have to worry bout somebody "just waitin" for me to wake up in the mornin, to start their gotdam bitchin bout somethin.. No matter how many times I kept tellin him to shut the shit up till I at least had 1 cup of coffee, he would follow me everywhere but the bathroom yappin bout somethin he had been thankin on half the nite.. No matter how much the Mrs.' little dog loves on me and gives me "those eyes", I'm still bout ready to pull its fuggin head off !!
Its been quite a while since I had me some Sour Mash, but I thank its about time I had some.. Its too hot and we have a burn-ban so I caint go to the farm and have me a campfire and cook somethin while I have me a toast or two after doin some target practice with the "big bore", so guess I'll have to make do with the grill and picnic table and just tell everybody to leave me the hell alone !! I need me some major relaxation time..

Competition Heating Up

from here: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/02/business/parts.php


A scandal in Europe over car parts
By James Kanter and Carter Dougherty International Herald Tribune

Published: August 2, 2006




PARIS The chief executive of a leading French auto parts supplier stepped down Wednesday amid charges by prosecutors that he was aware of bribes allegedly paid to Germany's top automakers to win their business.

Directors at Faurecia, one of the biggest European makers of automotive interiors, met late Wednesday and announced the resignation of Pierre Lévi, saying that his departure was "in the best interests of the group."

Prosecutors in Frankfurt had said last week that they were investigating Lévi in connection with up to €800,000, or $1 million, worth of bribes that they suspected were paid to managers at Volkswagen, Audi and BMW. Other investigations are under way into suppliers in Germany as well as Lear, which is based in the United States.

Faurecia is majority-owned by PSA Peugeot Citroën, a leading French car manufacturer, and employs 60,000 people worldwide.

The fresh allegations come as competition is stiffening in Europe's blue- chip - but scandal-marred - automotive industry. Parts makers have consolidated and are increasingly seeking contracts with big car manufacturers outside their home markets.

"We have seen a lot more business across European borders in a business that's long been characterized by German-to-German, French-to-French and Spanish-to-Spanish relationships," said Antonio Ferreira, a London-based manager for European component forecasts at CSM Worldwide, a consultancy. "The parts industry is growing smaller and smaller with fewer players, and the pressures are immense."

But instead of increasing transparency, that progress in cracking open national markets and fostering pan- European companies may have contributed to the seeming wave of corruption, other analysts said.

Faced with the prospect of losing a bid for a large order to a competitor in an increasingly cutthroat market, paying a bribe may have seemed like the cheapest way to secure a hefty chunk of business, according to Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, the director of the Center for Automotive Studies in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

"The money one might pay to a customer is, in the end, a fraction of the cost of an overall shipment," Dudenhöffer said.

Caspar von Hauenschild, an executive board member of Transparency International Germany, a leading anti- corruption group, called the crackdown by German prosecutors overdue.

The wave of bribery investigations represents "a kind of paradigm shift," said von Hauenschild, who is also a nonexecutive director of some German companies. "Even chief executives are now worried because investors simply don't like scandals," he said, warning that disaffected shareholders could sell shares in companies that become involved in corruption investigations.

Von Hauenschild said that employees convicted of wrongdoing in Germany could face prison terms of up to five years under principles agreed to by member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Paris-based club of 30 wealthy countries. The problem in the latest cases, according to von Hauenschild, partly lay in the way car companies had drawn up codes of conduct forbidding such practices - yet failed to impress the importance of those rules upon managers.

"It was not enough," he said. "You have to let the people in the purchasing units know that there will zero tolerance for corruption and that if they don't adhere they will be fired."

Revelations that Frankfurt prosecutors were investigating several Volkswagen employees have already triggered a sharp reaction at the largest European automaker, which is still cleaning up a messy scandal from last year involving the use of company money to pay for leisure trips.

The chief executive of Volkswagen, Bernd Pischetsrieder, last week wrote Faurecia to say that the carmaker did not want to work with people involved in the scandal. A Volkswagen spokesman, Hartwig von Sass, declined to say whether the letter mentioned Lévi specifically.

Three employees of Volkswagen are allegedly involved in the Faurecia scandal. One employee, from its Audi division, is in custody while being investigated, and another is retired from Volkswagen. The third is still employed but has been suspended.

On Wednesday, prosecutors in Munich confirmed that they were also investigating possible bribery in transactions between Lear, a U.S. auto parts supplier based near Detroit, and BMW. In that case, a former BMW employee, accused of accepting payments in exchange for contracts, is in custody during the investigation.

Andrea Puchalsky, spokeswoman for Lear, said the company was cooperating in the investigation, but she said she was "not aware of any Lear employee being involved in any inappropriate conduct in connection with this matter."

In recent years other German carmakers - notably DaimlerChrysler - have tangled with prosecutors over allegations of corruption. Prosecutors in Stuttgart said last month they were examining whether improper payments were made in Poland and Ghana, a case in which Daimler's internal controls led it to suspend or dismiss several employees. Daimler has also informed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the payments may have violated German law or U.S. anti-bribery rules.

Von Hauenschild complimented the German authorities for putting pressure on companies to monitor their employees and stamp out wrongdoing.

The German prosecutors are "sending a message that there will be no escape once they open a case," he said.

Carter Dougherty reported from Frankfurt.

Different Directions

from here : http://www.defensetech.org/

by: Eric Hundman
Shift in strategy: Israel invades, War widens

Yesterday Israel sent thousands of ground troops into Lebanon, in a move widely assumed to be aimed at two goals: clearing southern Lebanon of the Hezbollah threat to prepare for the insertion of a potential international force, and destroying Hezbollah’s long-range missile capabilities. Israeli officials estimate they need ten days to two weeks to achieve these goals; they are hoping that political pressure will not force them to stop sooner. Even a week may be optimistic given how much the time scale has lengthened in the past few days. In light of the Israeli timetable, Condoleeza Rice's statement yesterday could charitably be described as unrealistic:


"I still believe that if we really put our minds to it and work that this week [a ceasefire and lasting settlement are] entirely possible. Certainly, we're talking about days, not weeks, before we are able to get a cease-fire."

Broadly, the war has two fronts: the border area below the Litani River, and the Bekaa Valley in the northeast. The Israeli navy also continues to launch artillery at Tyre, on the western coast, but no actual fighting seems to have taken place there yet. Bill Roggio over at Counterterrorismblog posted a great reference map here.

Israel’s daring raid in the city of Baalbek (in the Bekaa Valley) generated the most buzz today. The IDF claims to have captured five middling Hezbollah officials from their base inside a hospital; Hezbollah claims the building was just a hospital and the five Israel captured were civilians. All Israeli troops involved in the mission got home safely, but the reason for the raid is still unclear. Stratfor notes:


"During the night, Israeli commandos raided Baalbek, the main city in the Bekaa Valley. The purpose of the mission is obscure: Some reports claim it was to snatch someone from a hospital there, but it is hard to imagine that a raid of the reported magnitude and lasting long enough for major publicity about it to flow could have been for that purpose."

Elsewhere in the Bekaa Valley, Israeli forces have been conducting air raids where the highway from Damascus crosses the border. They aim to cut off supply shipments to Hezbollah, and one Lebanese paper reports that craters and debris have "effectively closed" the highway. Some reports claim that a few shipments are still getting through, however. U.S. media sources are strangely silent about the highway’s condition; its destruction could have been an indication that Israel has no intention to attack Syria.

Everyone seems sure of Israeli strategy in southern Lebanon. Stratfor puts it most succinctly: "[The Israelis] are clearly planning to take southern Lebanon and destroy all Hezbollah infrastructure there." Tactically, the LA Times reports that the IDF is working north from the border and south from the river simultaneously, clearing out Hezbollah forces along the way. This theory is supported in the NY Times, which reports that the entire river is controlled by Israel (one way or another) and that ground forces have penetrated a few miles north of the border. The Washington Post, citing the same source, goes further and says "Israel now controls most of the zone below the Litani River, either with ground forces or through air missions." This is probably exaggeration, since Israel only began full-scale operations yesterday.

The number of troops involved in ground operations is very unclear. Estimates range from 5,000 to 18,000 on the Israeli side, though the true number is probably closest to 10,000, spread between six brigades. The number is expected to climb; it could even triple. Hezbollah is thought to have between 2,000 and 3,000 fighters, of whom 250-300 have been killed so far.

Israel has committed to clearing Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon, but big question marks remain about Hezbollah strongholds south of Beirut and especially in the Bekaa Valley. Stratfor speculates:


"…it remains clear to us that unless the Israelis go deep on the ground into the Bekaa -- not with commando raids, but with a major force -- they will not identify and destroy the rockets that are the strategic threat to Israel. The Israelis frequently open ground operations with air mobile attacks designed to keep their opponents off-balance, knock out defensive positions and disrupt logistics. The Bekaa action may have been part of that. However, at this point, we are not seeing the armored thrust that would follow this up. Still, it must come soon or not at all. The diplomatic window for operations is closing, and the Israelis will need to be wrapping things up next week. That does not leave a great deal of time to occupy, locate, destroy and withdraw, which is the Israelis' announced strategy, and which we believe to be what they want to do. Israel is now on track with our earlier expectations, and we would therefore anticipate some commitment of forces for a ground attack soon."

Now that Israel has committed ground troops, it is much more likely to achieve its objective in southern Lebanon; Olmert claims they already have:


"If the military campaign would have ended today, today we could already say with certainty the face of the Middle East has changed."

Success elsewhere in Lebanon is more uncertain. In a few days, we'll probably know more about how the conflict will have changed Hezbollah.

-- Eric Hundman

UPDATE: Stratfor released more information on the Baalbek raid, with a heavy dose of speculation. The report is behind a subscription barrier, but for now you can access it by searching Google News for "Lebanon: Israel's Strategic Raid on Baalbek."