Red State Update: Lindsay Lohan's DUI

Jackie and Dunlap on Lindsay Lohan's latest car accident, how quickly Hollywood Party Whores age, and the Duncan Hunter campaign.

http://www.redstateupdate.com



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Red State Update: Rosie O'Donnell's Last Fight on The View

Jackie and Dunlap discuss Rosie O'Donnell, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and a The Other Half reunion.

shot for The Fizz, airing on The 101 on DirecTV:
http://www.youtube.com/the101ondirectv

http://www.redstateupdate.com



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We remember and honor those who have given their lives for the freedom, safety and security of the nation this weekend. As we enjoy a relaxing Memorial Day Weekend those who wear the uniform of the U.S. Armed Forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan continue their fight against the present-day evil of Islamo-fascism.

Cartoonist Chris Muir takes a well-deserved dig at the media for their lack of coverage of all the good things that are happening in Iraq in spite of the battle for control of the country. Iraq and Afghanistan are strategic battle grounds contested for by good and evil. The main fight is in Iraq due to its place on the map, its relatively well-developed infrastructure and its educated populace. Those who fight for good desire an Iraq and Afghanistan that are free and open societies that are at peace with other members of the community of nations in the 21st Century. Those on the side of evil want these nations to fulfill their dream of an Islamist caliphate that would plunge the world back into the darkness of the Sixth Century.

Michael Yon sends up a Memorial Day message from Iraq that more of us need to read.

Red State Update: McCain's Losin' It

Jackie and Dunlap on McCain's missed Senate votes, gas prices, and Don Rickles.

http://www.redstateupdate.com



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Red state Update: War Funding Bill

Jackie and Dunlap on the passing of the War Funding Bill, Obama and McCain's dust-up, and Dungeons and Dragons.

http://www.travisandjonathan.com



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2004 Viu Manent MALBEC "Reserve" (Colchagua Valley, Chile)

This was an excellent value. Worth seeking out and comparing to $50+ Bordeaux. Malbecs can frequently be a little on the rustic and earthy side for me, but this one kept those characteristics in check and was superb.



Deep ruby garnet. Enthralling nose of wood smoke, freshly roasted coffee beans, and dark current jam. Deep and flavorful in the mouth, with some noticeable but fairly soft (for Malbec, anyway) tannin. Deep, long flavors of earth, crushed rocks, coffee, and dry cassis extract. Very, very nice, and has such nice depth that a year or two of cellaring will probably soften it a bit without drying up. Was $12.99 at Whole Foods on Bellaire a couple of months ago (so I'm not sure whether it's still there). 89.

2005 Charles Koehly RIESLING "Saint Hippolyte" (Alsace, France)

This dry French Riesling was very good-to-excellent.

Darkish brassy gold color. Striking nose of bright peach/pear/apple fruit, stony minerals, with notes of flowers and sweet, milky tea. Soft, round, and very minerally in the mouth, with persistent flavors and balanced acidity. While the flavors were very good, they didn't quite live up the the amazing nose. 88. (91 for the nose by itself!). Was about $20 at Spec's on Smith.

2004 Cellier Pinol "PORTAL" (Tierra Alta, Spain)

This wine is 20% Cabernet, 20% Garnacha, 20% Merlot, 20% Tempranillo, and 20% Syrah. The Wine Advocate gave this a glowing review but I didn't like it that well: too tannic and rustic for my taste.

Saturated black ruby color. Closed nose, with scorched earth and some cassis being the primary discernible components. Rich, but coarsely tannic in the mouth. Somewhat astringent as well. To its credit, there is a lot of deep fruit underneath the tannic veil, but this style is just way too rustic for me. Also, my experience is that age doesn't help wines this grittily tannic soften up at all. 79. Was $12 at Spec's on Smith.

"Light the candle, John"


I had the enormous pleasure of attending the Loreena McKennitt concert at Ryman Auditorium a few weeks ago. The Ryman, the "Mother Church of Country Music," is an incredibly intimate and rich venue for music - especially the sublime voice and thoughtful lyrics of Ms. McKennitt. One of my favorite tunes is called "Skellig," and it tells the story of a dying monk passing on his books to a young novice. This particular monk had done his time on the Skellig Rocks, thought by many to be one of the last outposts of Western Civilization where monks copied the great works of the ages and returned to mainland Europe as teachers in the 14th Century. More recent history seems to indicate that it may have been more of a monastic retreat.

My wife and I visited Skellig Michael, the largest of the rocks some years ago. We actually climbed up those steps you see at the left after a harrowing journey on a fishing boat across the Irish Channel. High atop the peak we came upon the village of the monks where they fashioned beehive huts and lived their day to days. Skellig is a place like Delphi, Greece that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Maybe it was my ancient pagan/Druid roots stirring or my semi-modern Catholic mysticism awakening, but it is an amazing place. Sitting in the sun outside the beehive huts, I could feel the stones and grasp the greater sense of place...the incredible loneliness they must have felt looking across to the mainland in the distance.

I have been thinking a lot about Skellig lately. Skellig in the mythical sense, this place where monks copied manuscripts by candlelight and I wonder if we are not heading to the Dark Ages again and where the next Skellig will be. Until a year or so ago, I was confident it was right here. The good ol U.S. of A was the City on the Hill with the ability to preserve good against the onslaught of the horde. Europe is pretty well done (see my last post), Africa and the Middle East are in the basket; China is toxic to live in...Japan, done. Maybe Australia? Maybe. They are having a nice dust-up with their immigrant Muslim population over requiring a citizenship test.

There are two primary reasons for my depression. The first is the American treatment of the war in Iraq and the second is immigration. Note, in the first I said the "American treatment," not the war itself. How's this for a pep talk at a football game: "Boys, I know it's already late in the first quarter and we're ahead 48-0, but we've already lost...sadly, the Coach doesn't know it yet." Well, if Senator Harry Reid were the assistant coach for a footblall team, that's the kind of speech he would give. (Here's another analogy: John Paul Jones Reid approaching HMS Serapis: "We've already been sunk!") Reid's lunacy was just another brick in the wall of insanity being put up by the Fondacrats who are so intent on ruining George W. Bush, that they will sacrifice victory in a foreign engagement to do it. It makes you wonder who hates us more, the Islamo-Nazis or the Democratic Party. What's worse is that he actually gets away with it. Compound this level of Benedict Arnoldness with the military genius of insisting on alerting our enemies of our departure date and I am left standing exasperatedly screaming: "What the f--k?!, What the f--king f--k!!!" (Borrowed that from uber-comedian P.J. O'Rourke; it's what every citizen should yell when they read the actual dollar amount of the U.S. Deficit.)

Then along comes last week with the lovingly crafted "Bi-partisan" bill to "reform" U.S. immigration. (If you haven't already, please view the film I posted earlier here...'nuff said.) I have a better idea in three parts:

1. Secure the border to stop the bleeding.
2. STOP the granting of automatic citizenship if born in the US.
3. Enforce the laws on the books already.

I also addressed this issue earlier in a humble post last year.

Our all out effort to avoid offending anyone has led us to this abyss: by offending no one, we offend everyone and the very concept of what America is will be dissolved. A pox on both sides of the aisle if this travesty makes it through and a pox on this President if he signs, as he seems desperate to, this bill into law.

Folks, the tide is rising and it is not due to global warming. There is a rising tide of desperation in the voices of everyday Americans that feel helpless before an imperial government that seems intent on passing legislation that they don't want. There is a rising tide of thought among worldly elites that the United States is finished and outside of the blogosphere and talk radio, there's not much push back. This national depression can become manic and then terminal. And then we had all better be out looking for our own Skellig Rocks to live on.

Here are two simple facts that underly each of these issues and that everyone seems to ignore:

1. The Muslim world is becoming increasingly radicalized and dangerous. They represent 1.84 billion people in 2007 and it is estimated that 10% are radicalized. Let's see, I'm going to have to take my socks off to count this one...that's 184,000,000 people that want to strap on explosive vests chock full of nails and walk into the nearest Macy's and pull the rip cord. This is what we are fighting and pulling back ain't going to keep them from quenching that desire. Further, there are 6.13 million Muslims (that we know of) living inside the United States. In a recent poll, 8% said that "Suicide bombing is justified," and 9% refused to answer the question. Let's see, 8% X 6.13MM, yup that's 490,400 folks ready to strap on the vest and...

2. We cannot absorb all of the world's indigent population, nor were we founded to become a safety valve for Mexico's population explosion. Thomas Sowell has an excellent column today that debunks the immigration myth - you really need to read it. I would only be restating what he says in a far less elegant way. Mexico has a lot of internal problems and far stricter immigration laws...with uncontrolled immigration, we have become an enabler on the world stage. It needs to stop. Criminal behaviour, i.e. entering the country illegally must be punished or the very fabric of the societal contract will be shredded. Anarchy is the outcome.

These are the two central problems of our age. We can solve them and enter another period of the Pax Americana or we can ignore them, come home, open our borders and a few of us can swim to the Skelligs. For now, I'm going to put the gun back in the drawer and get back to work. I believe that this medium is a large part of our future. I urge you to check out some of Bill Whittle's recent Eject!Eject!Eject! posts. He's busy forming an internet community called "Ejectia." There are a lot of like-minded folks over there working on building a life raft for the "remnant." Of this I am certain...if we don't make our voices heard, a darkness will decend on the land for a long time. The darkness probably won't come in my lifetime, although I see the shadows; but I doubt it is more than a generation away.

Let's Roll!

Nancy Pelosi's First 100 Days

Good summation of the Democrat method of "Governance". 100 Days of wasteful spending, petty partisan politics, defense of corruption, false promises and zero accomplishments.

Red State Update: A Message From Dunlap (Jackie '08)

Dunlap saw Hillary's "A Message From President Clinton", and figured he needed to get his own message out about Jackie '08.

http://www.redstateupdate.com



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Red State Update: Jackie '08 Campaign Theme Song

Jackie and Dunlap need your advice. They're choosing the Jackie '08 Campaign Theme Song, Movie, TV Show-- the list goes on and on! Actually, they don't need your advice. They got it covered.

http://www.redstateupdate.com



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2005 "Menage a Trois" (California Red Table Wine)

This is an under $10, widely-available blend of 80% Zin, and 10% each Cabernet and Merlot. It's not bad in a pinch, and is perfectly well-made, but it's got so much fruit and so little else that its lack of any complexity is noticeable.

Deep ruby with purple highlights. Ripe grapey, blackberry, plummy aromas dominate, with a tad of gingerbready spice WAY in the background. Round, flavorful, and soft in the mouth, with lots of sweet, ripe fruit, but there is such little body/alcohol for this level of ripeness that it almost seems like a soft drink. This leads me to wonder whether the winery carted this wine off in bulk to undergo reverse osmosis or some other alcohol reduction manipulation. Some residual sugar in the finish as well. Can take a little chill for summertime quaffing. 81. Is less than $10 at Spec's and lots of supermarkets.

2005 Vincent Girardin RULLY "Vieilles Vignes" (White Burgundy)

Superb, precisely-focused Chardonnay.

Exceedingly pale gold color. Gorgeously vibrant nose of grass, sweet spices with a hint of butter, stony minerals, and appley/pear-like fruit. Soft, sensually-textured mouthfeel, with gentle but concentrated, persistent flavors of citrus oil, stones, and crisp apples. A very elegant Chardonnay done in a style that is the antithesis of its often flabby, buttery, oaky, cloying California cousins. 90. Was about $21 at Spec's on Smith.

A Cotes du Rhone at Age 6 -- 2001 Perrin RASTEAU "L'Andeol" Cotes du Rhone-Villages (Southern France)

I had this wine last 2 years ago, rating it an 89 and opining that it was at or near its peak. Found a bottle in the closet and tried it recently, and it was definitely on the decline.

Deep black ruby with a brickish tint. Spicy nose at first with scorched earth, menthol, and some plummy fruit. Peppery, scorched-earthy, winey, but surprisingly deep flavors at first, with some astringency and still some sharp tannins in the finish. As it sat, however, the fruit faded and the wine's astringency took over, as frequently happens with fairly full-bodied reds on the decline. 86 at first, and declining from there as the night went on.

Red State Update: Jail For Paris Hilton

Jackie and Dunlap discuss Paris Hilton. Will she or won't she do time? The RSU boys weigh in.

QuickTime iTunes

http://www.redstateupdate.com

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5 Minutes of Jackie and Dunlap Eating Fortune Cookies

Jackie and Dunlap eat fortune cookies for five minutes.

Filmed for the Fizz, airing on DirecTV's The 101:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXpH_2...

http://www.redstateupdate.com



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Red State Update: Toastmaster Dunlap

Jackie and Dunlap recite a few of their favorite toasts. Important material for review before any important social gathering or function!

Filmed for the Fizz, airing on DirecTV's The 101:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXpH_2...

http://www.redstateupdate.com



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Red State Update: Time's 100 Most Influential People List

Jackie and Dunlap on who they'd add to Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People List.

Filmed for the Fizz, airing on DirecTV's The 101:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXpH_2...

http://www.redstateupdate.com



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Red State Update: Impressions II

Jackie and Dunlap do more impressions-- this time of their daddies!

Filmed for the Fizz, airing on DirecTV's The 101:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXpH_2...

http://www.redstateupdate.com



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Graduation Speech Censorship Thwarted

This post is about a personal event that took place in our lives this week. I will omit names from this post to protect the innocent (and the guilty).

My wife is graduating from nursing school tomorrow at a state-funded university. She was selected by her classmates to give a motivational speech at the graduation ceremony tomorrow evening. All was well until her speech was reviewed by the faculty.

In the five minute speech there is ONE reference to a Scripture from The Bible. She does not identify it as being from The Bible. Upon hearing it, it is not instantly recognizable as being from The Bible. Here it is: "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, if it is within your power to do so."

However, the faculty member must have sensed something because the first thing she said after she heard the speech was, "Where did THAT come from?" When my wife said it was from The Bible, she was told she could not use it. She mildly protested but the instructor said it would have to be removed.

Now you have to understand my wife's personality. She is very nice, cordial, and mostly easy to get along with. However, she has very strong convictions, especially about her faith, and she is very outspoken. Put those together and she is a stick of dynamite. (I mean that in the most complimentary way.)

She informed the instructor that she was not trying to cause trouble but that she was going to stand firm on this. The instructor told her she would have to meet with the dean of the college over this.

The meeting with the dean was this morning. I attended that meeting with my wife because I wasn't going to have her sitting by herself before a panel of government employees and being grilled like at a Senate inquisition. Besides, I had done my homework. I contacted Liberty Counsel who gave me a memorandum written by their Chief Counsel, Mat Staver. They also pointed me to a decision in Adler vs Duval County School Board. Also, I took a letter written by Jay Sekulow from the American Center For Law And Justice web site regarding the issue of free speech at public school graduation events.

The faculty and administration we met with were not confrontational on this issue. They were understanding but somewhat ignorant of students' rights and the role of the school relating to the speech and its presentation.

They agreed that the speech could be delivered as written, including the Scripture. Chalk one up for free speech!

2004 Rene Mure PINOT BLANC "Tradition" (Alsace, France)

I love Alsace whites. This one's a very good value entry-level Alsace wine with lots of flavor and nice balance.

Very light gold color with a slightly greenish tint. Beautifully fruity, bright nose of peach and citrus oil, with toasty minerals. Soft, round, and relatively concentrated and persistent flavors of apples and pungent minerals. Medium-full body, with a little heat showing through at the end of a pretty long, clean finish. 87. Was a very good value at $11.99 at Richard's on Shepherd.

2004 d'Arenberg GRENACHE "The Custodian" (McLaren Vale, Australia)

This wine shows the rustic side of Grenache.

Dark black ruby. Nose very peppery and woodsy, with ripe, spicy raspberry fruit taking a secondary role instead of its usual position in the driver's seat. Full-bodied, with lots of deep-toned minerals, pepper, and ripe black raspberry fruit. Long, peppery finish. 86. I think this was around $16-$17, but I can't remember where I got it.

Steaks and wine in Chicago

Went to the annual INTA (International Trademark Association) conference earlier this week. This year was in Chicago. My buddy Frank Duffin and I, as per tradition, hit the steak houses for a couple of nice dinners. First was Gene and Georgetti's. Not the most refined setting, and the wine list wasn't so hot, but the prime, dry-aged T-bone was tremendous. Had a 2004 St. Hallet Shiraz from Australia with it. The wine was not as jammy as many Aussie Shirazes, with somewhat higher acidity and tighter than I expected. Not bad, but not great.


The next night Frank and I, along with our friend Alex from Madrid, hit the Chicago Chop House, one of my favorite steak houses in the country. Their daily "off the menu" special, which I've had several times, is the Chop House Prime Rib. It's a prime, dry-aged ribeye cooked a special way: first it's roasted on the entire rib rack until just bloody, bloody rare, then sliced into individual ribeye steaks and seared to order. Even though I usually order a Strip, T-bone, or Porterhouse everywhere else, here, this cut is amazing. The wine was a 2004 J. Rochioli Russian River Valley Estate Pinot Noir -- a perfumed, concentrated, extraordinary PN whose ethereally light mouthfeel was hard to believe given its concentration of sappy, fragrant Pinot fruit and its length.








For dessert, we walked over to oENOlogy, a nearby wine, cheese, and chocolate joint in the Intercontinental Hotel. Amazingly, they had three different half bottles of Alois Kracher Austrian dessert wines on their list. We ordered a 1999 Alois Kracher #6 - Grande Cuvee Nouvelle Vague Trockenbeerenauslese. This wine was tremendously honeyed and rich, with lots of apricot and date fruit, and high enough acidity to buoy it all up. A great way to end the evening.

Red State Update: George Tenet's Sorry-Ass Book

Jackie and Dunlap on former CIA Chief George Tenet, his new book, and chickens. Plus Dunlap has a new book of his own!

QuickTime iTunes

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The Good Side of Genocide

China wants credit for their 1 child per couple policy as a strategy to reduce greenhouse gases (story).

What's next?


Hey lets give the Sudanese government Kyoto credits. According to news reports, at least 400,000 black Africans of Darfur have died from a systematic ethnic cleansing by Arab government-backed militia known as Janjaweed.

Hey lets give Al Qaeda some Kyoto credits for killing Jews and Christians. They are so committed to the unfolding tragedy of global warming that they even kill themselves for the cause. I heard the Mohammad is now giving suicide bombers the choice of 72 virgins or 72 Kyoto credits.

It is all starting to make sense. Democrats are opposed to the war on terrorism, because it is contrary to their global warming objectives.

Lesson for Conservative Kids, you can spin a story any way you want to support wayward thinking.

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