EckerNet.Com

This proves once again that America is the best country in the world. Americans don’t riot over soccer, joblessness, cartoons, or even economic lies. We are chill. If the world were a high school, America would have Sweden for a girlfriend and would be voted ‘Most likely to put Sweden’s panties on the heads of terrorists.’ All the other kids would hate us because we drive a Porsche and get straight A’s and we’re sooooo damn hot.

- Right Thinking Girl

A contract called the Secure Border Initiative (SBInet) has reprtedly been won by a team of contractors lead by Boeing. Basically the entire defense industry had joined one of the five teams competing for the contract with companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrup Grummand and Ericsson leading each team.

Ultimately, the Boeing team won by keeping to the K.I.S.S. rule. Which probably isn’t a bad thing as the Homeland Security Department has already wasted over $429 million on two other cancelled programs which aimed to try to secure our borders. Here, it is hoped that the private industry will succeed where the government has failed….as they usually do.

Boeing has been given wide latitude on how to secure our borders and basically has authority to tell the Homeland Security Department how to do their job. Anyone that has paid any attention to anything that Homeland Security Department has done since it’s creation shouldn’t be real surprised by that.

Basically, the plan is to secure the 6000 miles of border with Canada and Mexico by erecting 1800 towers, which would be equipped with a wide range of sensors including camera, motion/heat detectors. These sensors would be integrated together with a security system, which should minimize the number of agents required to monitor the border. This would free up others to actually go out in the field and apprehend illegal crossers.

Boeing’s plan won out by putting less emphasis on unmanned aerial drones that some of the other team. As a result, it was considered less risky and less costly. Plus Boeing proposal includes having the system deployed within 3 years, which satisfies the Homeland Security Departments requirement to have operational control of the borders in 5 years.

So far the Homeland Security Department hasn’t done much but spend valuable tax money, however, here’s to hoping that something productive actually gets done now that they’ve turned to the private industry.

Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.

Karl Rove

Actually if it weren’t so serious, it would be funny how true this is. No matter how many times extremists tell us they want to kill us all, liberals just want to sit down and talk it over with them over a cup of coffee.

Although not Starbucks coffee….that’s an evil corporation and they make money. So they are bad.

This evening I was shown a copy of Election News 06. When is a faux “newspaper” supposedly about Election News in 06. Really it’s a propaganda rag written by the folks over at Shelley Madore’s (DFL candidate for State Representative of SD37A) campaign. At the top of the “paper” was an “interview” with Shelley regarding our transportation gridlock problems and how light rail and other mass transit options are going to solve all our problems.

And there at the top of the article prominently displayed is picture of cars in some pretty ugly gridlock. Sure, makes sense. I haven’t seen gridlock like that in Minnesota, even when there is a car accident ahead. But it does inspire the worst fears as a driver.

Only there is one problem. If you take a very good luck at the photo you’ll notice a few problems. First of all it’s all cars. When is the last time you haven’t seen a truck/SUV/van on the highway in Minnesota?? And not only are they all cars, they are all European cars. And the cars are merging in from the left. And the windshield wipers are swiping from the wrong side (for a driver seated on the right side of the car).

She’s using pictures of gridlock in Europe to complain about gridlock in Minnesota. And since Europe has LOTS more mass transit options than Minnesota what does that tell you?? That mass transit isn’t going to magically solve traffic problems maybe? Actually apparently gridlock gets worse if you spend all your money on mass transit and none on roads.

But it makes one wonder. Is Shelley Madore running for office in Minnesota’s SD37A or in Paris? Certainly it appears as if she’s trying to solve their problems rather than ours.

Shelley, if I may offer some advice. Take a tour of Europe and keep the legislating to someone who actually cares about our problems here in Minnesota.

Yeah, it’s been a bit crazy lately and I’m occupied with a multitude of other tasks at the moment. Deal with it. Go play on the photo contest and just pretend something more intelligent is here.

The Rankings Are As Follows:
Triple “I Whine Like A Child” A : 4
Dan S : 3
NightWriter : 3
Aelfheld : 2
Sola-Man : 2
Mall Diva : 2
Bobby_B : 2
Harvey : 1
Bogus Doug : 1
tommy g : 1
spurringirl : 1
Drunkguy : 1

For this contest you get to make up your own answers!! That’s right…just pretend you’re a real life journalist and just make shit up. Post answers in the comments. They will be judged on creativity, plausibility and humor.

Question : Name the dance step

Previous contests:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20

Was invited to, and attended, a small (50 people) casual gathering with special guests US Representatives John Kline and Mark Kennedy. Also in attendance were State Rep Lloyd Cybart and State Senator Chris Gerlach. An fantastic chance to have a chat with some of my local politicians and discuss the status of many of the local campaigns, as well as just catch up with people that you meet at such events.

In there speeches to the group as a whole, both Kline and Kennedy highlight how, while a lot of bills get passed in the House, very little of it becomes law. Mostly due to the fact that the Senate doesn’t do a damn thing. So very few of the bills make it through the Senate and become law. In other words, the Senate needs help, and Kennedy is definitely a step in the right direction. As an added plus, there would be a Senator Kennedy whose passengers wouldn’t have to worry about drowning in a river.

Also got to meet a couple new people, including one Lance Huston who is running for Mayor of Apple Valley. I had not previously been aware of his campaign so it was nice to get a chance to meet with him and from chatting with him on the issues, I wholeheartedly endorse him.

Also it appears as if I’ve been nominated to develop a website for Minnesota CD37 Republican Party. I’m more than willing to accept suggestions and advice from anyone that’s had to do this.

Well this last Saturday was the official Blog Wars, and we had 11 people show up, including Bell, Mall Diva, Learned Foot, Noodles, Uncle Ben and a number of various friends/readers/comment trolls/etc also showed up. Thanks to all for attening and make the events a success. We manage to have alot of fun and raised $130 for Soldiers Angels. Links to other roundups and photos are down at the bottom of this post.

The whole event was alot of fun and despite the punishing hits some people took I saw nothing but smiles all day long. Although time needed to get ready for the next round got longer as the day went on. But I had alot of good feedback and several people indicated this should become an annual event so it will. Maybe the left will even grow a backbone and join us eventually. Now I just need a really good name for the event. The name Blog Wars is nice….but it doesn’t compare to Foots MILF golfing event. Ideas anyone??

It was nice that we had a wide mix of skill levels. Some had played alot, although I was the only one with my own gear. Others had never played before. The differences between those two categories diminished greatly over the course of the day. The ultimate example of that was that in the final round of “President” when the two most seasoned vets had already been eliminated and had to watch as former Paintball virgin Learned Foot snuck up on, ambushed and killed the opposing teams President.

Definitely the most interesting rounds were the “President” rounds. I had played a variation of it at other fields in the past, but this field put a new spin on it we tried. Basically you have two teams, the smaller team designates a “President”. The President is unarmed, and if he dies, that team loses. The rest of the team is the Secret Service and they cannot be killed regardless of how many times they got hit and they have to stay within 15 feet of the President. The other team is the “Terrorists” and they can die. Goal is to get the President from one side of the field to the other alive. It’s surprisingly difficult.

It’s a good thing none of us are real Secret Service agents because the President died both times. The first time the Secret Service started running out of ammo and had to make a suicide run, during which the President got shot in the back twice. The second time, while the Secret Service fought and killed the main delaying force, an elite (aka rookie) terrorist, Learned Foot, snuck around behind them and painfully waited for his oppurtunity to shoot the President in the back.

It was rather interesting because it really revealed some of the true limitations of both sides. When I played the Secret Service I initially used bunkers and trees to shield myself until it sunk that I couldn’t die. So I stood up the whole time and was able to better see what was going on and direct the other “agents” who weren’t so willing to take the alarming number of hits I had to endure. But the point was I had a good understanding of the field of battle and where the lines of fire were.

However, when I played terrorist, myself and a friend were the first line of defense in what was ultimately a delaying tactic until our other teammates could sneak around behind them. It became very clear how much that visibility on the battle field helped. Often times I was pinned down by Secret Service fire without knowing exactly where they were. Both me and my teammate in the first line, were relatively marginalized. Our best hope was to delay them long enough before dying to give Learned Foot the chance to get behind them.

Lesson learned….even in paintball, intelligence and communication is key.

Other round ups include
Uncle Ben (he has photos and even gives me the MVP award)
Noodles
Bell
Mall Diva

You know one of the big complaints I hear about liberals is that they don’t give any answers, they just talk about how much they hate conservatives. Well as it turns out you can’t even count on them to do anything about hating conservatives since it appears the liberals of Minnesota have backed out of Blog Wars. Or at least I haven’t heard from a single one.

Jeesh, I provide them a forum to shoot at conservatives and they pass it up. Not that I should be surprised. After all their hero France was afraid to send their military to Lebanon if there might be shooting going on. Apparently their military just does bake sales or something. So why should I be surprised when liberals here have the same attitude. Although I’m sure they are probably too busy hugging a tree or something I’m sure.

Either way us conservatives are going to get together and have a good time. Still room for more people if you are interested. Don’t even have to be a blogger if you want. If you’ve heard the word “blog” before, you qualify. And since I just used it….well you qualify.

Today the House passed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (HR 6061) by a vote of 283-138-1-10 (Ayes, Noes, Present, Not Voting). Both Kline, Kennedy, Ramstad Gutknecht, and Peterson voted yes for the idea of keeping our country safe from invasions. Voting for wanting to allow anyone to walk across the border were most Democrats including McCollum, Oberstar and Sabo.

Now while the bill provides for more surveillance on the border and 700 miles of wall, in addition to a study on the need for more security on our northern border (yes!), there is one vital thing this bill is missing. Funding.

Without money nothing happens. So while some my jump up and down and declare victory, it all means nothing. And let it not be forgotten, that we’re already voted for fencing on the southern border and eventually provided funding for it (although only 370 miles of it). Granted it would be nice to get this 330 miles more of fencing but until there is money there is nothing.

You may as well call this bill the Feel Good Act of 2006, because while Republicans may feel good about it, it doesn’t accomplish shit. Essentially it’s just a ploy by House Republicans to prove that something is being done on Immigration without actually doing anything. And since Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution specifically grants the House the power to originate appropriations this is certainly within their grasp.

And heh, guess what, when you make it that blatantly obvious that even I’m going to yell at you for it, guess what?? Your political opponents sure as hell aren’t going to have an qualms about it.

“This is nothing more than political gamesmanship in the run-up to the midterm elections. Sounds good. Does nothing,” said Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla.

Democrats accused Republicans of playing upon voters’ fears to score political points. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, said Republicans were trying to confuse Americans into thinking “Osama Bin Laden is heading north in a sombrero.”

And guess what…they are right.

Get your act together guys. You want to convince me you are serious on immigration? Then actually do something rather than pat each other on the back and talk about how nice it is to be elite and not have to worry about what everyone else thinks.