Of Course There's a God

Who doesn't know that? But checking Drudge just now I see two headlines next to each other: Nearly half of Americans are not sure God exists and Concertgoer pelts Babs with beverage. (with "Babs" being Brabra Streisand)

I'd say the second proves the first. Plus, there's John Kerry showing his real face. Now? An election coming up, and John Kerry showing his true colors? Oh yes, there certainly is a God. Maybe two.




(listen God, I was only kidding about that "maybe two" OK? I know you like a good joke now and then. No lake of fire for jokes, right?)

Kerry Responds, um, to Kerry

So John Kerry sets the record straight: "I apologize to no one"

No word yet on if he has confronted John Kerry and asked him to stop putting words in his mouth.

Kerry Belittles U.S. Troops

What gets me is that Kerry didn't share his real wisdom. He needed to go on to say, "... and if you do get stuck in Iraq, you need to fake injuries so that you can use procedures to get out early. Then, once you're home, you can defame the honorable men who are still doing their job, make up stories about your daring adventures, and use the experience to puff yourself up for an eventual career in politics."

Teach Your Children Well

Look at how swiftly the young can learn. The photographer said, "OK everyone, stare off into the distance and give me smug... more smug... more... mooore... Perfect!"







Oh man I could really learn to hate blogger. They say, "In the long term, we’re developing a new version of Blogger with some great new features...." New features? The ones you've got are broken. Posting is like playing the lottery as it is. Will it work this time? If you see this post, you'll know I got lucky.

Blogger

Family Circus got the dashing good looks part right anyway.

Endeavoring to Persevere Award

Sundance Channel honors Dean Kamen, Isabella Rossellini, and a dog. No really. It's the Well, They Were in the Lobby Anyway Award, or maybe the Haven't Gotten Tired of Robert Redford Yet Award, I don't really know. Possibly this is an answer to MTV's honoring of Monica Lewinsky, Warren Buffett, and a three-legged sheep.

Curry Good? Good

Well, I'm just tickled that there is a study showing that something is good for you. That's right, it's seems curry is good for your brain. Of course the sticks in the mud at Center for Science in the Public Interest will immediately set to work on proving that Indian food is too greasy so eat all you can before the next study comes out. From the article:

In their study, Dr. Tze-Pin Ng from National University of Singapore and colleagues compared scores on the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) for three categories of regular curry consumption in 1,010 nondemented Asians who were between 60 and 93 years old in 2003.

Most of the study subjects consumed curry at least occasionally (once every 6 months), 43 percent ate curry at least often or very often (between monthly and daily) while 16 percent said they never or rarely ate curry.

After taking into account factors that could impact test results, they found that people who consumed curry "occasionally" and "often or very often" had significantly better MMSE scores than did those who "never or rarely" consumed curry.

What could be better? Food that makes you smart - well, that makes you less dumb anyway. (and I've always aspired to be nondemented)

Want an dead easy curry dish? It's a mild enough curry to serve to kids; just skip the garam masala for the younger ones. Here's something I make often:

Chicken Curry

1 13.5 oz can unsweetened coconut milk
2.5 oz Patak’s Mild Curry Paste
1 to 1.5 lb Chicken breast
1 tbs. Cornstarch to thicken (or I’ll use roux)
Garam Masala to taste

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and brown on medium high
heat 2-3 minutes per side.

Pour in coconut milk and add about 1/4 of the 10 oz jar of curry paste.
(this is to taste, you may prefer more, or less, curry paste) Bring up
to simmer and finish cooking the chicken for 8 or so minutes.

Thicken with cornstarch (mix cornstarch with water first to form a paste) or
roux. If you use cornstarch, you have to be sure not to overheat the sauce.
With either cornstarch or roux, you have to come back up to simmer in
order for the thickening to occur.

I like roux, though it’s not the Indian way to thicken a sauce. Mix a melted stick
of butter with roughly a cup of flour. Gently simmer for 10 or 12
minutes-- it should become blond, or golden in color. Then save what
roux you don’t use in a small container in the refrigerator. It will keep for weeks
and you can use a fork to break off a piece any time it’s needed.

Sprinkle Garam Masala to taste (1-2 tsp) and serve on basmati or jasmine rice.

CNN

Hugh Hewitt has got the Lynne Cheney interview:

Lynne Cheney: Right. But what is CNN doing running terrorist tape of terrorists shooting Americans? I mean, I thought Duncan Hunter asked you a very good question, and you didn’t answer it. Do you want us to win?

Wolf Blitzer: The answer, of course, is we want the United States to win. We are Americans. There’s no doubt about that. You think we want terrorists to win?

LC: Then why are you running terrorist propaganda?

WB: With all due respect, with all due respect, this is not terrorist propaganda.

LC: Oh, Wolf…


WB: This is reporting the news, which is what we do. We’re not partisan…

LC: Where did you get the film?

WB: We got the film…look, this is an issue that has been widely discussed.....

Right, it's been discussed, so you should be able to give the honest answer, "We got the film from a terrorist website." And you need to answer if the terrorist supporters of that website could possibly be more pleased with what you've done.

Liberal Ha-Ha

James Taranto points to a (inadvertently) funny bit of liberal logic from Slate:

It's a classic trap, right out of the right-wing playbook.

Ever since the resignation of Richard Nixon, a very smart man who got caught abusing his executive power, the GOP has deliberately avoided nominating conspicuously intelligent people for president. Gerald Ford was smarter than he looked, but he was unable to dispel his buffoonish image. Ronald Reagan was famously checked out and ill-informed. George H.W. Bush, though clearly smarter than Dubya, is not exactly imposing in the brains department, and he's demonstrated almost as much difficulty as his son in formulating a coherent sentence. And George W. Bush? Let's just say the guy is either mentally lazy, not very bright, or some combination of these two. I've never felt it necessary to refine that diagnosis; the term I favor is "functionally dumb."

Two things must be said about my assertions in the previous paragraph. One is that they are all unmistakably true. The other is that whenever a liberal repeats any one of them out loud, that liberal--and contemporary liberalism generally--come under attack.......

A classic trap? Don't fall for it, or for the second, only slightly less well known, which is this: never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha

But there are three things that must be said about the previous, previous, previous paragraph, 1.) they're all unmistakably true, must be, really, no, they are! I'm seriously, 2.) liberals will come under attack if they repeat them out loud, and it's just not fair, because they're the smart ones, just ask them, they called it, and c.) these facts can all be proved using the same logic they used to prove that the guys in the Chess Club were smarter than the guys in Band.

Oh, and 4.) if you disagree, you probably also think Scotty could take Spock in unarmed combat. I'm seriously.

Testosterone

A Health Day News story:

FRIDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- The testosterone-fueled American male may be losing his punch.

Over the past two decades, levels of the sex hormone in U.S. men have been falling steadily, a new study finds.

OK, I said I wasn't going to read fiction - I just glanced at this one by accident. Maybe the study over-sampled democrats, or under-sampled lumberjacks. Heck, testosterone is in the ground-water in and around the lumbercamp. We've been blaming the frog mutations on it.

Shots Not Worth It?

I'm reading nothing but nonfiction today. (it's ok, I'll catch up on the HuffiePost on the weekend maybe) Anyway, here's bad news:

FLU vaccines may be far less effective at combating seasonal outbreaks than previously thought, researchers say, adding that they may not be worth the cost and effort required to produce them.

According to a review published today, there is little clinical evidence that the vaccines reduce deaths significantly, hospital stays and time off work among those most at risk from seasonal flu, including the over-65s and those with chronic heart and lung conditions.

What? I thought testing the effectiveness of the vaccine would have been an ongoing thing. I've been getting these things every year, sometimes having to elbow my way through the elderly to get to the head of the line. Now they say the shots may not work?

What the Webb?

Oh man, I think I've got to call an ishta! on Jim Webb.... and Drudge..... and whoever it was responsible for font that went into the ishta, ishta, ewww, disturbing quotes from Webb's writings that are available on Drudge right now.

I can't quote any of it because I've got to race over to Sears. I understand they might have a shop-vac capable of sucking the eyes out of your head. Yick, ewww, and ishta.

Auto frites

I'm waiting to hear if any religious leaders have claimed that sexy looking European sports cars are "just asking for it".

Dogs and Meat

SYDNEY, Australia - A senior Muslim cleric compared women who go without a head scarf to "uncovered meat" left out for scavengers, drawing widespread condemnation and calls Thursday for his resignation.

Sheik Taj Aldin al Hilali denied he was condoning rape when he made the comments in a sermon last month, and apologized to any women he had offended, saying they were free to dress as they wished.

So he apologized to women? Why? All he said about women was that they were desirable. What he said about Muslim men was that they couldn't control themselves. Or maybe that they couldn't be held responsible for how they treat women that they find desirable. Is that the message? Are Muslim men like children who can't control themselves? Regardless of what fairy tales they tell themselves, our culture does hold men responsible for their actions.

Google Bombing

Why does this not look like a party poised to take control of congress:

If things go as planned for liberal bloggers in the next few weeks, searching Google for “Jon Kyl,” the Republican senator from Arizona now running for re-election, will produce high among the returns a link to an April 13 article from The Phoenix New Times, an alternative weekly....

....Fifty or so other Republican candidates have also been made targets in a sophisticated “Google bombing” campaign intended to game the search engine’s ranking algorithms. By flooding the Web with references to the candidates and repeatedly cross-linking to specific articles and sites on the Web, it is possible to take advantage of Google’s formula and force those articles to the top of the list of search results.

Is the democratic message "let's try something else now"? I mean, where is their substance? All they have to do is finish the sentence, "The democrat plan is....."

"The democrat plan is, some republicans are gay."
"The democrat plan is, Bush planned the 9-11 attacks."
"The democrat plan is, there were no WMDs."
"The democrat plan is, the republicans don't really like Christians."

Not what I'd call a vision for the future.

Should Have Been Longer

Say hello to your sinkmode Mr. Briggs

Almost killing Billy Leeson should have brought Christiaan Briggs much more time in jail. Claiming to be a peace activist shouldn't be a mitigating factor if you've shown yourself to be an entirely unpeaceful person. Only hitting the people who anger you is not peaceful.

also see:
Blue Crab Boulevard
Moonbattery
Tim Blair
Brainster
Freedom Folks
Dread Pundit Bluto
Michelle Malkin
My Pet Jawa
Gateway Pundit

George Clooney, Saving the Planet

Clooney's rep, publicist Stan Rosenfield, tells TMZ, "You clearly have no understanding of certain people's need for private transport,"

It's not really news that celebrity ecofools burn much more carbon than the hoy polloi. But there was genuine news contained in the article linked from Drudge:

That's right, news is: It would appear that George Clooney is gay.

Antijacks

I ran across this image while looking for something else and my first thought was, "my God, someone has developed a camera lens that can see all the way to heaven."

Imagine my surprise then, when I found out that this was an ad for a wacko anti-tree cutting group. Oh why do they tease?

Anyway, they are apparently upset with Victoria's Secret catalogs. Remember those catalogs? I do. In fact, I think the Victoria's Secret catalog is still the official textbook for the state mandated sex-ed program in Texas. I grew up with that catalog. And these people want to see it done away with? Insanity.

I looked over their site. And there was lots of information on how to organize your own protest. Many of the gallery photos showed young committed crazy folks passing out flyers, printed I'm sure on exempted paper. Exempted, as in Al Gore Exempted Jet Fuel. See, it's for us, and we're nobler than you, so our paper/gas doesn't count. And how dare you notice anyway!

Ah well, let them fuss. One thing I know won't happen. They won't stop those catalogs. It's the one bit of junk mail that people don't, well guys don't, mind getting.

The Enemy

Jules Crittenden looks at Byron Calame's mea culpa regarding the NYT's exposure of the Swift program to monitor the overseas banking transactions of terror networks. But he goes further:

I’d encourage a look at the decision to report on the National Security Agency’s warrantless electronic monitoring of emails and phone calls between the United States and suspect individual overseas.The outrage your paper and others stirred up over a program that falls well within the law and harms no law-abiding American citizen, and the notice you served to terrorists and their supporters of its existence, constitute aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war.

Exactly. It's giving aid and comfort to the enemy. And it's time we quit catering to liberal sensibilities and called a spade a spade. When CNN broadcasts jihadist war porn propaganda, they are doing the will of the jihadists. Never mind the tabloid aspects of showing snuff films, they are doing the bidding of this nation's enemies. read the whole article

Dean Dodges Debate

I'm glada-glada-glad Dean has made himself clear on why he's a sissyboy and won't appear with Mehlman. (me, I'm happy to hear that we've gone to the gladius swords, tridents, and shields. Bout time.)

Pretty as Pie

Has politics gotten this ugly?

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton accused her Republican challenger of getting into "swampy territory" after he was quoted Monday as saying that Clinton was unattractive when she was younger and that she had a lot of work done on herself. John Spencer denied discussing the senator's looks during a conversation with a New York Daily News reporter.

The tabloid quoted Spencer as saying: "You ever see a picture of her back then? Whew. I don't know why Bill married her."

Spencer, former mayor of the New York City suburb of Yonkers, was also quoted as saying that Clinton underwent millions of dollars of "work" and "looks good now."

I'll take his word for it. But if I had to spend the evening discussing politics....

***Update: another tough choice...

Smirk Gone Missing

From the prosecutor:
"Mr Briggs got off following them. William Leeson was walking away when, without warning, the defendant punched him on his left cheek. He walked off and was described by two witnesses as smirking as he walked awzy."

smirk gone now

Briggs to Spread the Message in Prison

Well, eight months is a lot less punishment than his victim received, but at least Christiaan Briggs will get some time in jail. Why not five years? Maybe the court took into account the fact that the defense was able to tell a good joke in the face of adversity:

In mitigation Bartholomew Casella said Briggs was a "committed pacifist" and was "absolutely horrified by his behaviour".

He told the packed courtroom that Briggs was a man of "far beyond good character, quite an exceptional young human being who has devoted a lot of time to helping others, who has rather selflessly gone about in his own way trying to make the world a better place."

News?

T.R. Knight, as Dr. George O'Malley in an episode of the network's hit medical series 'Grey's Anatomy.' The 'Grey's Anatomy' star says he's gay, but hopes people don't consider that 'the most interesting part of me.'

Not me. In fact, I had no interest in it at all. Only thing I can figure is that someone has evidence that he's a republican and he was going to be outed anyway. Best to get out there ahead of the news.

Field Hockey

Lumberkid in white... and no, it's not an optical illusion, she actually knocked the opposing player into another dimension.

If you're not familiar with the sport, field hockey has some pretty hard to understand rules. For one thing, parents are not allowed to run out onto the field during play. And they even discourage the throwing of lawn chairs. I'm getting the hang of it though.

Kim Jong Il'in

So now he's "sorry"? Guess that makes it all right then.
If it was a nuclear test. What has me befuddled is why China let it get this far. Il isn't classical run through the streets in your underwear crazy, but neither is he the most stable kid on the block. I can't imagine China wanting him to have sharp sticks to play with, um, in their back yard. OK analogies end.

Did you see the SK anti-US protests though? Not that there were many people at them, maybe a hundred or so. But still. There were many more pro-US anti-NK protesters. Like these guys:



Who were big time Il-haters and seem to have had some kind of grievance against Big Bird as well.

CNN

You've probably seen links to the CNN snuff films already so I won't bother linking it here. If you want to let CNN know how you feel about this sort of thing though, you can do so here.
Me, I used profanity.

Know how the news organizations put an "(R)" or a "(D)" after lawmakers names? Well I've only been to the CNN site lately because I wanted to be first with the news when they started changing it to "(RG)" or "(RH)" republican-gay, or republican-homo. I don't think I care anymore. You're dead to me CNN. I rend my flannel shirt.

***Update: James Taranto nails it:

By airing this video, CNN is participating in what it acknowledges is "a P.R. campaign aimed at influencing the American public" in ways favorable to America's enemies. And the network does not even seem to realize what a shocking admission this is.

Is CNN aware just how damaging this video is to the country? I think so. Also from Taranto:

Tet, that is, was a military victory for the U.S. that turned into a propaganda victory for the communists because American journalists presented a false picture of what had happened.

The media today are eager to repeat their "success" in Vietnam--and it was a success inasmuch as the media were hugely influential over the course of events. But from a journalistic standpoint it was a gross failure. The real lesson of Vietnam is that journalists got the story wrong. We are not at all convinced that the American people are about to get fooled again.

The Satisfactory Beverage

"The satisfactory beverage," that was the Coca-Cola slogan in 1908. Now 98 years later, they're frying it at state fairs. I wonder if they fry diet Coke, as well?

Course I can't think how you would go about frying a liquid - and the article doesn't explain it. The only thing I can imagine working would be dipping the entire can in tempura batter. And that would leave you drinking a warm soda from a greasy can; something you can already get, at our state fair anyway.

Anyway, while searching for the recipe I found a list of Coke slogans over the years. My favorites:

1942 The only thing like Coca-Cola is Coca-Cola itself

1905 The favorite drink for ladies when thirsty, weary, and despondent

1914 Nicknames encourage substitutions

1933 Don't wear a tired, thirsty face

1926 Thirst and taste for Coca-Cola are the same thing

Kind of refreshing just reading some of the older ones..

Hollywood Gone Wild

I suppose there will be a book as well.

Me too, too

I hate to always "me too-ing" Michelle, the Firecracker, Malkin, but here I go again. Regarding the longstanding fib that Hillary Clinton was named after Sir Edmund Hilary:

But yesterday, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign said she was not named for Sir Edmund after all.

“It was a sweet family story her mother shared to inspire greatness in her daughter, to great results I might add,” said Jennifer Hanley, a spokeswoman for the campaign.

Leave it to a Clinton to blame her dear departed mother. Anyway Michelle came clean too:

I was not named after 26-year-old figure skating Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan. 'Cuz see, she was born ten years after me.

So let me chime in. I too, wasn't named after Michelle Kwan. There. Now it's out there I feel so much better.

Only Two Years?

OK, a little more than two years. And I suppose getting time off for good behavior is something of a fantasy. Given her past behavior, I doubt she's going to be on the warden's good-girl list. Also a pipe dream: any thoughts of her jumping the wall.

Should she have gotten more time for helping terrorists? I didn't follow the case closely but I imagine her health concerns were taken into account. Thing is, when you aid terrorists, you pretty much discount the health concerns of your fellow citizens.

Ah well, it's something for the Chomsky family (is there a Chomsky family?) to burn candles about for the next 28 months. One thing is pretty certain; there won't be a babes-behind-bars movie made about her experience.

In Iraq

Mohammed notes: raw body counts in Iraq don't tell the whole story. Some of those killed are no loss at all; and some of those killed are a terrible loss. From Iraq the Model:

As the vehicle passes through the gate and past the last barricade all of the officers run away seeking shelter…except for one extraordinary man.
One police officer held his position and was still standing in the way of the terrorist and kept on firing his rifle at the windshield....

Odd Phenomenon

Odd, odd, odd. The quake shook the "D" right off the sign,
but left the punctuation untouched.

Dirty Harry

"I directed my staff to file amended financial disclosure forms noting that in 2001, I transferred title to the land to a Limited Liability Corporation," Reid said in a statement issued by his office.

He said he believed the 2001 sale did not alter his ownership of the land but that he agreed to file the amended reports because "I believe in ensuring all facts come to light."

Especially after they've appeared in print, yeah, after they're common knowledge, let's make sure they come to light.

Anarchist Follow Through

(some graffiti added)

Important People

"Obviously the little girl doesn't have important meetings to get to so why don't you just get me my Spider Man Crunch so I can be on my way."

New Army Ad

via Sgt. Lori:

Army Strong

CAIR in a Nutshell

From Powerline:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations or CAIR was founded by three leaders of a front for the terrorist organization Hamas, in June of 1994. Since its creation:

*Four of CAIR’s officials have been charged with terrorist activities, in relation to Hamas and Al-Qaeda. Two of those officials are behind bars in the United States; the other two have been deported. One of them, Ghassan Elashi, was just sentenced, this past Thursday, to seven years in prison. Another CAIR official was listed by the U.S. Attorney’s office as a potential co-conspirator to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

*CAIR has solicited money for two terrorist “charities” which were shut down shortly after the attacks on 9/11 for raising millions of dollars for Hamas and Al-Qaeda. Leaders of both these organizations were representatives of CAIR.

*CAIR has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit put forward by the family of the former Chief of the FBI’s Counter-Terrorism Section, John P. O’Neill, for his murder during the 9/11 attacks.

*CAIR’s parent organization, the Islamic Association for Palestine, in 2005, was shut down after it was found liable for the murder of an American boy, David Boim, during a Hamas terror operation in Israel.

After hearing all of this, one could easily ask the question, “Why would this organization still exist?” It’s a good question – one that I have no real answer for.

Even more to the point, why would anybody listen to CAIR when they come out with press releases on the issues of the day? I used to think, well, maybe there are sincere people in the organization, maybe their beginnings were suspect but there are some real "moderate" Muslims in the group now. I wanted to believe. Forget that. If you're looking for more information on CAIR check out CAIR Watch. Any thoughts that CAIR represents the voices of reasonable people will go right out the window.

Nobel Peace Prize - Honorable Mention

Another year goes by without a single lumberjack being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Never mind, it's good to know that there were some amazing contenders. For example, Lida Yusupova:

Nobel candidacy spurred threat
Lida Yusupova, the Chechen lawyer who's been working for years to document human rights abuses, has received death threats over the telephone that were clearly linked to her candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Lida Yusupova keeps working on behalf of victims of the war in Chechnya from her cramped apartment on the outskirts of Russia.

"So you're a candidate for the Peace Prize?" asked a male voice on the phone to Yusupova recently. "But in order to receive it, you also have to survive.

"It will be best for you if you halt your work, and that you don't win the prize. If you even live that long."

The thinly veiled death threat came after a Russian newspaper published an article that the Chechen lawyer was one of the leading candidates to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

It's comical to think that one of the other contenders for the Peace Prize said, "the United States needed to take Afghanistan first to provide access to land to build a pipeline for Iraq’s oil." Takes all kinds I suppose.

New DOI Seal

In case you haven't been following it, it seems that the Department of Interior (source for all your buffalo needs) has been filtering conservative websites. Baron Bodissey has the info over at Gates of Vienna. The filtered-out sites include this one, but not because the government considers AWL a danger; no, just because it's a blogger.com site. Sure, one day I might blow the lid off the Great Buffalo Conspiracy, but for now they're safe.

Also, Sean Gleason has a dandy logo to put on your sidebar, should your site be one of the few, the proud, the banned. It will be interesting to see what happens with this. In the meantime I'll toil in the dark. And if there's a dark (how can there not be?) underbelly to the Department of the Interior, you can rest assured I'll find it.


***Update:Stop writing, I was kidding with that "dark underbelly" thing. Gates of Vienna has a new post on how this has been picked up by the Federal Times. And I think when we dig to the bottom of the buffalo flops, we'll find that any bias in the DOI filters originated with a nerd in the basement of the science building. Just a guess, but my guesses are more accurate than Al Gore's facts, so there you are.

Q: What did the mother buffalo say to her son on his way to school?

A: Bi-son!

Clean Air Act Kicks In

Here's how I knew that Air America was going under: they denied it. Now it seems last month's reports were true, Air America is going to take that long commercial break after all:

Air America Radio, a liberal talk and news radio network, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a network official told the AP.

The network had denied rumors just a month ago that it would file for bankruptcy, but....

They weren't lying. The denial was just an alternate truth.

Battle of the Covers

Awhile back someone noticed how many Time covers Hillary was getting. I didn't much care. I figured, sure, they loves their Hillary, they probably don't even know they're doing it. Besides, now that it's been mentioned, they might give us a Republican cover or two. Well they did.












Thanks Time.

Important Person Inconvienienced

No, you listen to me. I pay your salary, and I'm telling you this situation is unacceptable. Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am?

Are Attitudes Changing?

From the IHT, an article, Moderate Europeans losing faith in Islam:

........The subsequent Madrid and London transit bombings and the murder of the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Dutch-born Muslim stand as examples of the extreme. But many Europeans - even those who generally support immigration - have begun talking more bluntly about cultural differences, specifically about Muslims' deep religious beliefs and social values, which are far more conservative than those of most Europeans on issues like women's rights and homosexuality.

But this is what jumped out at me:

Many Muslims say this new mood is suddenly imposing expectations that Muslims be exactly like their European hosts.

And that's where they've got it wrong. The Muslim community would be doing fine if it could keep it's "youths" from rioting, and it's kooks from blowing things up.

Historic Meeting

Pootie's on the Case

Have you seen this story? It's good to know this situation is getting attention from the highest levels:

DRESDEN, Germany (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin vowed on Tuesday to hunt down the killers of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, saying he had information they wanted to whip up anti-Russian feelings across the world.

And that remindeds me -- It's been a very long time since we've heard how OJ's hunt for Nicole's killer is going. Anyone know? Has OJ caught the SOB yet?

Battlestar Stuff

Has anyone else noticed that season three of Battlestar Galactica has subtle parallels to the US-Iraq situation? It's very subtle but if you were sharp enough to notice the biblical parallels in Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ, well, you probably picked up on this as well.

At Cylon Kwan Do, we use the buddy system. No more flying solo. You think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys?

The New BSG

I dunno, I suppose the New Caprica kerfuffle could be modeled on the French resistance. Not sure though... seems like they might be hinting at something else..

Mmmmm

I discovered these only recently and I'm having serious trouble convincing myself that I should ever eat anything else.

The David Zucker Albright Ad

The David Zucker Albright Ad

via Drudge We'll see how long this lasts

Bozo Talk

It's nice when they forget to blame Halliburton:

MSNBC's Matthews: "Why do you think we went to Iraq? The real reason, not the sales pitch. Why do you think we went there?"

[Bill] Richardson: "I believe the president wanted to avenge his father, who I think conducted a very sound foreign policy in Iraq, and the fact that it wasn't terminated, the war, that we didn't finish the job."

Matthews: "Well, do you think the impulse was Oedipal or filial?"

Richardson: "Those are words that I don't understand."

Matthews is so smart. He finds subtle reasons for ousting the dictator who had used chemical weapons on civilians and refused to follow the agreed upon protocols for ensuring that he would never do it again. No simple answers for Chris. No, he is master of the 'how can I trivialize the president's efforts and make myself look smart at the same time' question. He didn't care what the answer was. And to his credit, Bill Richardson didn't answer:

Richardson: Oh it was definitely filial. I think we can all agree that it had something to do with cats.

No Nukes?

Stickynotes says that it's been suggested that the NK test wasn't really nuclear. Exactly what I've been thinking. Could they have just packed a tunnel with ANFO and struck a match?

Thing is, the yield was extremely low, and no radiation has been detected. And lots of reports are still calling it an alleged nuclear test. The only question is, why would anyone want to take the heat for developing a weapon that they never really developed? (a question I'd like to hear Saddam answer as well) The only thing I can think of is that NK expects that the world will be afraid, and unwilling to confront an "nuclear" North Korea.

Which is getting it exactly backwards. Witness Saddam again. The only reason for Saddam to posture and lead the world to think he had WMDs was because he thought it would make him safer. (and he did actively nurture the notion that any US invasion would be met with WMD - not for nothing did we outfit an army with mylar long-johns) Still, can these guys be that stupid? If you want trouble from the US, and most everyone else, just trumpet yourself as being a dangerous player. You'll get attention, but it might not be what you expect.


***Update: Michael Yon at the corner:

A very well-placed government source told me Tuesday afternoon that the North Korean explosion was non-nuclear. The explosion may have been an actual nuclear test — this is unknown — but the source reports the outcome was non-nuclear. The source stressed the importance of bearing in mind that though the explosion occured in North Korea — if it was actually a test and not merely a dictator clamoring for attention and influence — the test may have been by or for the Iranians. The source reported that American physicists with access to the information see no sign of nuclear activity, however. My source also mentioned that Japanese sensors picked up no radiation signatures.

Appeasers

From the AP:

NEW YORK - Keith Olbermann's tipping point came on a tarmac in Los Angeles six weeks ago. While waiting for his plane to take off he read an account of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's speech before the American Legion equating Iraq War opponents to pre-World War II appeasers.

The next night, on Aug. 30, Olbermann ended his MSNBC "Countdown" show with a blistering retort, questioning both the interpretation of history and Rumsfeld's very understanding of what it means to be an American.

It was the first of now five extraordinarily harsh anti-Bush commentaries that have made Olbermann the latest media point-person in the nation's political divide.

"As a critic of the administration, I will be damned if you can get away with calling me the equivalent of a Nazi appeaser," Olbermann told The Associated Press. "No one has the right to say that about any free-speaking American in this country."

"No one has the right to say that about any free-speaking American in this country." Well, close. It's: "Everyone has the right to say that about any free-speaking American in this country." Odd that Olberman tries to limit the speech of some Americans in the very same sentence in which he's asserting his right to free speech.

Weren't the WWII appeasers using their right to free speech? Sure they were, as was anyone who said, "Tone it down. You're helping our enemies."

Extremes

I have to wonder how many of the newsies who descended on Pennsylvania know that the Amish don't like to have their pictures taken. At least not pictures in which you could recognize the faces.

So I wouldn't put up a picture of Anna Mae Stoltzfus, even if one was available. No need to anyway; her eight words were worth a thousand pictures: "Shoot me and leave the other ones loose." Dear God, how could a twelve-year-old have such holiness in her? I was struck dumb to learn such people could exist in our flawed world.

I was not as surprised to learn that dozens of Amish families had gone to the gunman's funeral. I had heard of their ability to forgive before this. I don't know that I could have done it, but there it is, they could forgive and they did.

And I was going to contrast the Amish with that other religion, but you know what? Let's not. They don't deserve mention. Let's just reflect on the goodness of this little girl that was taken from us. That's a full plate right there.

Castro

I imagine the delay may be caused by the enormity of the task of greasing a chute that extends all the way to hell.

Proof Positive

This AP story pretty much proves that we've been beating prisoners senseless at Gitmo:

.....The lawyer sent the statement on behalf of a paralegal who said men she met on Sept. 23 at a bar on the base identified themselves to her as guards. The woman, whose name was blacked out, said she spent about an hour talking with them. No one was in uniform, she said.

A 19-year-old sailor referred to only as Bo "told the other guards and me about him beating different detainees being held in the prison," the statement said.

Yikes. Evidence just doesn't get more damaging than that. I mean, men have been known to lie in court, under oath; they've lied to their employers; they've lied to their wives... but they never lie to women in bars. That just doesn't happen. In fact, having been a man who has, on occasion, met women in bars, it's hard for me to remember a time when I may have even stretched the truth. No, you meet a woman in a bar, your mind goes directly into honesty mode. "Let me impress this woman with my honesty and integrity," your brain says to itself.

I saw this account and immediately knew that this guy, "Bo" , was indeed a brutal guard who just wanted to be straight with the young woman in question. There isn't a chance in hell that he was just a supply clerk, sitting there, in that bar, next to all the astronauts, race-car drivers, architects, and brain surgeons.

Never Again

Lucky for us we have this reminder of what
slavery was like. We can look at this poor
young man and vow: Never Again!

Moonbats

From El Marco's photostream:

Ever wonder whatever happened to the members
of the Woodstock Nation who didn't hear the
announcement to beware of the Brown Acid?

Liberal logic

Taking a page from the Democrat (Foley's Gay!) Book of Logic, Ramsey Clark explains why Saddam must go free:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Ramsey Clark, a former US attorney general who is one of Saddam Hussein's lawyers, said that any death sentence against the former Iraqi president would increase violence in the strife-torn country.

"It seems clear that a guilty verdict will set off catastrophic violence" and that a death sentence would be even worse, Clark told a Washington press conference.

See, if you punish evil, evil may strike back - so don't punish evil. Same with fighting terrorists, Democrats (Foley's Gay!) are saying that fighting terrorists creates terrorists - so we must not fight terrorists. Almost makes sense if you squint your eyes and look at it with your head tilted. In fact, I'm a little surprised that the Democrats (FG!) haven't figured it out: if you just let the terrorists bomb all the markets and playgrounds, after awhile, all the children will be gone - then we'll no longer have children getting blown up by terrorists!

Foley, the List, and the Left

The Gay Patriot asks:

But my question is…. why have our national gay organizations (HRC, Log Cabin, NGLTF) not stepped in to stop this witchhunt which originated on the Gay Left in the first place? I think we know the answer. Tolerance and diversity of opinion is a one-way street for the Gay Liberals and their masters in the Democrat Party.

By the way, the only people that are advancing or talking “The List” that I’ve seen are Liberals! And that List was begun by Gay Leftists years ago.

And I have to wonder why anyone thinks that attacking gay republicans will help their cause. Only a very small (kook) minority actually would change their vote because a congressman or his staffer is gay. Can the people behind this think that all conservatives are homophobes? And I can answer that, sure they do - because they picture their opposition as two dimensional characters, homophobic, bigoted, religious fanatics. Good, liberals not knowing who we are gives us a huge advantage.

Fly Me

Via Instapundit, more greenies burning fuel like there's no day after tomorrow:

They are the Green Bigots, leading environmentalists, those at the vanguard of the fight to change our lifestyles, restrict our foreign flights, who insist we do our 'bit' to cut greenhouse gas emissions while they rack up thousands of airmiles on business and pleasure trips."

As the UK's The Sunday Times has recently revealed, "In the past year the directors and chief executives of groups such as WWF, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the Soil Association have crisscrossed the globe, visiting the Falklands, Japan, Africa and Brazil." The ST's environment editor points out, "All are running high-profile campaigns to persuade people to change their lifestyles and cut emissions of carbon dioxide."

Well, do as I say, not as I do again. Same old thing. Hey, but it gives me a chance to report: I'm still under the Branson Line of carbon consumption. Course, so are you - and probably 99% of North America.

Democrats Find Their Voice

Up until now, the only concrete Democrat Party plan boiled down to: "Our plan isn't to cut and run." Well, that's what they say anyway. But now it seems they're getting their act together. Their new message, possibly still being fine-tuned, is: "Foley is a homo." Great vision for America, maybe not as ambitious as it could be, but it's a start.

***Update:Passionate America claims to have found out who the page from the ABC IM's is. And he seems to have been an adult at the time of the yucky conversations. No, it's still not right to take sexual advantage of the naive.

Anyway, the democrat's platform wobbles. Perhaps if they can find a some Republican with an undocumented housekeeper they can get right again.

Just One More - My Eyes Were Closed

Click to enbigginate - have your mouth ready to go, "Awww....."

Also, link from comments, information changes things.

More Foley

Well I wasn't going to say anything else but I just read that Foley is now claiming that in his youth he was molested by a clergyman. No, it's no excuse, but trying to use it as an excuse means one important thing: Foley is a Democrat. Obviously Nancy Pelosi should now resign.

Foley Mess

Well, it's way more than that. As the dad of a teenager, my mind automatically went to the bull whip option as punishment for this kind of disgusting behavior. Inexcusable.

But speaking of inexcusable.... I haven't read the IM's that have been published, but from what I hear, they're pretty explicit. And if they're explicit, wouldn't they be titillating to a pederast? And if so, how are they different from any other child p*rn?

And how is it OK to publish that kind of trash?

Course, I don't plan on reading them, so I won't know how bad the IM's are. Enough people have reported on them... I figure I'll take their word on it. (don't slow down to stare at car wrecks either and that works out pretty good for me)

Peaceful Hijackers

See? We don't always fly them into buildings.

It's early and reports are sketchy, but regarding that hijacked Turkish airliner:

Salvatore Sciacchitano, deputy director of the Italian civil aviation authority, also said the hijackers appeared to be "not aggressive" and ready to free the passengers, AFP reports.

What a concept, "non aggressive" hijackers.

***Update: Well, turns out he was Christian, so it's not such a big deal that he didn't wreck the plane. Still, the "non aggressive" label still doesn't apply. In this day and age? I'll bet his fellow flyers thought it was just a tad aggressive.

Avoid Information

Sometimes, when you want to do something that you suspect may be wrong, you'll put on mental blinders. If I was a lumberjill looking for an abortion I'd really avoid reading this article. (also has link to amazing video) From the article, also, the pro-death side is quick to chant the it's-just-tissue mantra:

Dr Huseyin Mehmet, a reader in developmental neurobiology at Imperial College London, said that a foetal brain at 23 and 24 weeks was "extremely immature" and described it as being like an orange that has been sliced in half.

You've got eyes. Is it just tissue?

via the Corner

***Update:
From the people who brought you: "By the year 2000 we will, I hope, raise our children to believe in human potential, not God." there's this:

At a pivotal time in the abortion debate, Ms. magazine is releasing its fall issue next week with a cover story titled "We Had Abortions," accompanied by the names of thousands of women nationwide who signed a petition making that declaration.

How proud they must be.

Quiz

I like James Taranto's quizzes. I usually don't do well enough to even mail in my guesses, but I keep trying. Here's one where I expected an "all of the above" option:

Addressing President Bush: "Can't you be honest at least once in your life, and admit that you are a deceitful liar who intentionally deceived your nation when you drove them to war in Iraq?"

1. Helen Thomas
2. Howard Dean
3. Harry Pelosi and Nancy Reid
4. John Kerry

And of course the correct answer is none of the above! The actual source of this quote is Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's No. 2.

Not So Stormy Weather

Reuters reports the sad news for Democrats:

MIAMI (Reuters) - A noted hurricane forecaster on Tuesday predicted the Atlantic hurricane season will see just two more tropical storms and no more "major" hurricanes.

So, does a disappointing (for Democrats) hurricane season mean that global warming is not bringing us larger and more frequent storms? You know that if this had been an above average hurricane season, it would be touted now as proof of and punishment for global warming. So, sad news.

Either that, or, this could just be another Republican plot. It could be that George Bush stopped the hurricanes because of the upcoming elections. So it's true; he controls the very wind. Either way, not good news for democrats.

Bonus - Note to savy Democrats: Bush has also been manipulating continental drift. "How?" you ask, "Why?" It's too late to do you any good but I'll give you a hint: Follow the magma.

Moderates

From Denmark, possibly a step in the right direction:

Syrian-born psychologist Wafa Sultan said moderate Muslims have always struggled to make their voice heard even within their own religion, but that the cartoon uproar gave them a platform to present their ideas to the whole world.

"The cartoon crisis was the first step to break out of the box in which we have been sitting since the 7th century," Sultan said, referring to the time of Islam's founding. "We as Muslims must learn to listen to others' opinion."

I say 'possibly' because who knows who is sincere these days. CAIR seems like a good idea until you find out that they've got ties to terrorists - then their efforts seem to be aimed towards keeping the giant sleeping while the threat grows. Real moderate Muslims could help reduce the threat while safeguarding their religion from those who would hijack it.

My internet connection is sketchy, btw, so posting may seldom be.