Very close to the last darn soccer post... Sorry. We just got in.
Just to bring everyone (who cares) up to date since I've been neglecting my soccer updates, the lovely and talented Casey and her team moved on to the county finals to be played this coming Saturday night. After receiving a bye in the first round, they won the quarterfinal game last Saturday 2-1, and won again tonight 5-0. Very nicely played; four goals coming off headers in the box. They have now gone 16 games in a row without a loss having outscored their opponents 51-11 during the streak.
Saturday nights game will be the schools 18th consecutive appearance in the finals, having won it thirteen times.
As for the L&T one, this will be her final high school game, then she's slated for a college showcase tournament in late March, and after that she still may go and play in Amsterdam and London in July. Then it's off to college (although she has yet to make her final college commitment...that is a whole other story that I have no interest in getting into at this time).
Speaking of internet comments (see below) they really do bring out the best in people, particulalrly when given the opportunity to address the story of poor black child who died because of an untreated tooth:
This article starts off with the premise that a lack of insurance prevented his monther from taking him to a dentist. That is an absolutely false premise. Dentists dont require patients to have insurance they simply require them to pay for the services that are rendered. Where is the childs father? Why doesnt the mother have any income? Why does the mother even have children that she cant afford to take care of? As usual, the Washington Post tells only part of the story. Yes, this is a sad story, but dont blame the government.
[...]
Come on, $80?? Dont pay the cable for a month or two. Sell some bling. Get a job.
[...]
If the mother was that concerned, im sure she could have put her hands on $80.00, or she could have gone to 1 of many dental schools, they would hav ebeen glad to pull the boys tooth, or teeth, just a lack of education,parenting,and really caring is the reason here. i see she got him into a hospital for over $250,000.00 dollars in medical bills, and she couldnt get him to a dentist for a toot extraction??? come on, i do blame the mother here. If she would have taken him to PG hospital with the tooth ache they would have done something for the boy, so i still have to blame the mother, and father if he could be found, hes probably in pg county jail, or jessup, or maybe even in dc jail, but one of them, im sure.
[...]
GRAP, if she put forth the effort for one son, why didnt she do the same for the one that died???? if she got help for one, then she could have got help for the other. she did get him into childrens hospital, well if she could get him in there, she should have been able to get hime to a dentist, you have two dental schools that i know of, one in DC and one in Baltimore, and im sure there are more, of just a visit to the PG hospital with the boy in that much pain, h would have been taken care of, and or sent to a dentist in the area, so i still blame the usless mother, and father, but who know where he is, more than likey in jail. and for that, she now ows over $250,000.00 dollars which she will never pay, it will just come out of our tax dollars or off from the insurance payments of people that have insurance, did you know that 37 percent of the Hospital bill paid by my insurance for my claims, goes toward the mounting bills of people that are taken care of in hospitals that dont have insurance, so i think it time to get rid of the illegals, because they are taking benefits away from the blacks, not a sermon, just a thought
No, that last one wasn't Michelle Malkin. It just sounded like it.
You can't spell 'civility' without levity. Well, actually you can... Over at Soiled My Footies Media, PJM in Seattle is shocked to see that some reputable sites actually delete some comments.
Over the last few hours, the more than 400 comments appended to the Huffington Post’s news item on the attack in Afghanistan on a base being visited by Vice-President Dick Cheney have been expunged from the site. At first the comments were closed, then gradually shrunken and for a short time completely expunged from The Huffington Post as the heat on the Cheney hate fest built up over the day.
For earlier reports on this go HERE. And for the PDF of the original file of the now erased Huffington comments, courtesy of Michelle Malkin, go HERE.
From around 2:50 PM, all the comments to the original thread were missing, but of late some have turned up at the new item that occupies the same address, “Over 20 Die in Attack Aimed at Cheney.” The current page shows a marked difference from the original page. Where the original headline read, “Cheney ‘Targeted’ Deadly Afghan Blast,” the current head now reads, “Over 20 Die in Attack Aimed at Cheney.” This may well be a headline that is better informed as the reporting of the incident evolved over the day.
What is truly bizarre and unprecedented, however, is the manner in which the current comment thread unfolds before it too is closed:
[...]
The comments now visible are evidently cherry-picked out of the original thread to give some sort of “tone” to the thread that it did not originally possess. It is really amazing what you can do to history with just a few strokes of the keyboard.
If you're not sure who PJM in Seattle is (the word "strokes" should have been a tipoff) it is none other than Gerard Van der Leun the man who once wrote:
Jane Hamster @Firedoglake is peeved she's taken seconds when put in a line with Kos of Kos Daily. That's par for the course since Jane's been in a perpetual state of peeve since she caught a dose of BDS and it metastasized into the implants. **
[...]
No woman in love with an impossible goddess could have done more to mock her love object than you have done, Jane. Just lay back, select a cucumber, and think of England.
[...]
That depends on what the meaning of megaphone is. Should you be thinking of an actual megaphone -- that device that would amplify your shrill and caustic tones to a level that would cause dogs to implode -- nobody's had one of those since the days of Rootie Kazootie. If you are talking about a metaphoric megaphone in which "megaphone" stands for the male organ of generation, be of good cheer. Having one bigger than Markos's is like bragging about a three-inch penis. He's not exactly the Ron Jeremy of the Blogosphere you know. Then again, if by megaphone you are thinking of the buttocks, remain confident that you are bigger than Markos.
I'll leave it to you to scroll down and see the comments he edited on that particular post. (Gasp! Shudder! Snicker!)
Needless to say, Gerard has himself a bad case of unrequited faux outrage directed at The Huffington Post which has become what Roger L. Simon (themanwhocreatedmoseswine) dreamed of when he bullshitted investors created the new paradigm that we call PJM. (On the other hand, Charles Johnson dreamed of this), As for Gerard his case is possibly complicated by his ongoing battle with Hamsher Derangement Syndrome or, as it is more commonly known: erectile dysfunction.
A suicide bomber attacked the entrance to the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan Tuesday during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, killing up to 23 people and wounding 20. The Taliban claimed responsibility and said Cheney was the target.
Cheney’s spokeswoman said he was fine...
More on Dick Cheney's Excellent Adventure With the Common Riff-Raff here.
With Jason Apuzzo* missing in action, "Dirty Harry" has been called upon for multiple tours of duty over at Libertas ("We don't know what's good...but we know what we like!"). And, as you know, culture war can be hell:
Thanks to all who hung in there for the live-blogging and those those who linked: Instapundit, The Corner, Ed Driscoll, GOP Vixen (who did her own lively live-blogging), WizBang, and Pajamas Media. Sorry, I couldn’t return the link right away last night. It was the heat of battle and I was taking hits.
5:36 - Do you think Ellen’s gay? I’m just thinking out loud. I know what a private person she is.
5:37 - No, she can’t be gay. Look at how she’s dressed. No style at all.
[...]
5:40 - Look how cute little Abigail Breslin is. Think Dakota Fanning’s thinking: Maybe getting raped wasn’t such a good idea?
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5:48 - Maggie Gyllenhaal looks like Jake after a beating around the head and neck.
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5:56 - I know I promised to live-blog but I did not sign up for this. Taking the hit’s one thing. This is Abu-Ghraib without the cute little chick pointing at my privates.
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6:10 - What say we all go rent True Grit, put that on, and I live blog that? Huh? What do you say?
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6:12 - Ooh, sound effect. Or, as I call it: And now for the Helen Keller portion of the show. PLEASE, TRUE GRIT???
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7:05 - Tom Cruise. Insert joke here, but remember he owns a studio. Why do you think everyone applauded? Now why would any of us care about Sherry Lansing? Luckily she’s hot, or it’d be back to True Grit. But when her clips show her over age forty — it’s back to Rooster.
[...]
7:29 - More foreign clips? Well, what was that last thing about? They’re showing more foreign clips? Just give some border-jumper an Oscar already! I’m dying over here…
7:31 - I haven’t heard this many accents since I went to the post office.
[...]
...and so on. I bet you didn't know until now that pixels can smell like flop-sweat.
Anyway I just posted these in case you wondered what the Perfesser, The Corner, and Pajamas Media thought would be entertaining or enlightening. No. I'm not surprised either.
*Apuzzo was at the Oscars. Sure, as a seat filler, but it still counts later that night when they're debating the auteur theory over Zimas and a fight breaks out between the Scorseseites and the Hal Needham cultists.
Wants a Nobel Prize for helping to control overpopulation.
James Joyner can't stand the Altruisticfacists who bogart all the good awards:
Al Gore won the Best Documentary Oscar last night for his global warming polemic “An Inconvenient Truth.” Crooks and Liars has the video of Gore’s acceptance speech.
Gore joins a growing line of liberal political activists to win major awards in recent years: The Dixie Chicks, Michael Moore, and Hillary Clinton come readily to mind in the “arts.” Then there’s Jimmy Carter and virtually every other recent winner of the Nobel Peace prize.
One wonders how long these awards will retain their credibility? It’s bad enough that actors and directors often win awards for mediocre late-career performances as a make-up for being snubbed for more deserving work over the years. But to so overtly use these awards to send a political message can’t sit that well with the majority of the country to whom that message is being sent.
Oy.
2006 Nobel Peace Prize - The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006, divided into two equal parts, to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank for their efforts to create economic and social development from below. Lasting peace can not be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty. Micro-credit is one such means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human rights.
2005 Nobel Peace Prize - The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2005 is to be shared, in two equal parts, between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei, for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way. 2004 Nobel Peace Prize - The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2004 to Wangari Maathai for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
Peace on earth depends on our ability to secure our living environment. Maathai stands at the front of the fight to promote ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development in Kenya and in Africa. She has taken a holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights and women's rights in particular. She thinks globally and acts locally.
Maathai stood up courageously against the former oppressive regime in Kenya. Her unique forms of action have contributed to drawing attention to political oppression - nationally and internationally. She has served as inspiration for many in the fight for democratic rights and has especially encouraged women to better their situation.
2003 Nobel Peace Prize - The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2003 to Shirin Ebadi for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children.
As a lawyer, judge, lecturer, writer and activist, she has spoken out clearly and strongly in her country, Iran, and far beyond its borders. She has stood up as a sound professional, a courageous person, and has never heeded the threats to her own safety.
Her principal arena is the struggle for basic human rights, and no society deserves to be labelled civilized unless the rights of women and children are respected. In an era of violence, she has consistently supported non-violence. It is fundamental to her view that the supreme political power in a community must be built on democratic elections. She favours enlightenment and dialogue as the best path to changing attitudes and resolving conflict.
2002 Nobel Peace Prize - The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2002 to Jimmy Carter, for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.
During his presidency (1977-1981), Carter's mediation was a vital contribution to the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, in itself a great enough achievement to qualify for the Nobel Peace Prize. At a time when the cold war between East and West was still predominant, he placed renewed emphasis on the place of human rights in international politics.
Through his Carter Center, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2002, Carter has since his presidency undertaken very extensive and persevering conflict resolution on several continents. He has shown outstanding commitment to human rights, and has served as an observer at countless elections all over the world. He has worked hard on many fronts to fight tropical diseases and to bring about growth and progress in developing countries. Carter has thus been active in several of the problem areas that have figured prominently in the over one hundred years of Peace Prize history.
2001 Nobel Peace Prize - The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2001, in two equal portions, to the United Nations (U.N.) and to its Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world.
For one hundred years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to strengthen organized cooperation between states. The end of the cold war has at last made it possible for the U.N. to perform more fully the part it was originally intended to play. Today the organization is at the forefront of efforts to achieve peace and security in the world, and of the international mobilization aimed at meeting the world's economic, social and environmental challenges.
2000 Nobel Peace Prize - The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2000 to Kim Dae-jung for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular.
In the course of South Korea's decades of authoritarian rule, despite repeated threats on his life and long periods in exile, Kim Dae-jung gradually emerged as his country's leading spokesman for democracy. His election in 1997 as the republic's president marked South Korea's definitive entry among the world's democracies. As president, Kim Dae-jung has sought to consolidate democratic government and to promote internal reconciliation within South Korea. 1999 Nobel Peace Prize - The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 1999 to Médecins Sans Frontières in recognition of the organization's pioneering humanitarian work on several continents.
Since its foundation in the early 1970s, Médecins Sans Frontières has adhered to the fundamental principle that all disaster victims, whether the disaster is natural or human in origin, have a right to professional assistance, given as quickly and efficiently as possible. National boundaries and political circumstances or sympathies must have no influence on who is to receive humanitarian help. By maintaining a high degree of independence, the organization has succeeded in living up to these ideals.
I could go on, but only a deeply unserious person would fail to realize that they are all dirty fucking hippies...
"And today I have a WEAL surpwise for you: I will demonstwate the pwoper pwocedure for hunting, twacking down & bwasting to smitheweens a weal, wive wabbit!.........Now, be vewy, vewy quiet........"
The AR-15 "Equalizer" for particularly dangerous prairie dogs.
Modern hunters rarely become more famous than Jim Zumbo. A mustachioed, barrel-chested outdoors entrepreneur who lives in a log cabin near Yellowstone National Park, he has spent much of his life writing for prominent outdoors magazines, delivering lectures across the country and starring in cable TV shows about big-game hunting in the West.
Zumbo's fame, however, has turned to black-bordered infamy within America's gun culture -- and his multimedia success has come undone. It all happened in the past week, after he publicly criticized the use of military-style assault rifles by hunters, especially those gunning for prairie dogs.
"Excuse me, maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I see no place for these weapons among our hunting fraternity," Zumbo wrote in his blog on the Outdoor Life Web site. The Feb. 16 posting has since been taken down. "As hunters, we don't need to be lumped into the group of people who terrorize the world with them. . . . I'll go so far as to call them 'terrorist' rifles."
The reaction -- from tens of thousands of owners of assault rifles across the country, from media and manufacturers rooted in the gun business, and from the National Rifle Association -- has been swift, severe and unforgiving. Despite a profuse public apology and a vow to go hunting soon with an assault weapon, Zumbo's career appears to be over.
His top-rated weekly TV program on the Outdoor Channel, his longtime career with Outdoor Life magazine and his corporate ties to the biggest names in gunmaking, including Remington Arms Co., have been terminated or are on the ropes.
Two things:
1. Without the support of the gun manufacturers, the NRA and magazines like Outdoor Life would cease to exist. Years ago the NRA quit representing hunters and their interests and became the de facto lobbying arm of the gun industry. This is the reason why so many hunters walked away from the NRA. I walked away from the NRA and hunting years ago when a new breed of hunters hit the ground with no concept of the rules of the field. After almost having two dogs shot by anxious idiots trying to shoot a pheasant that the dogs were trying to chase into flight, my dad and I called it quits.
2. Anyone who feels the need for something like an AR-15 to plink prairie dogs is not a hunter. They're an idiot. Like this "sportswoman" addressing Zumbo:
Ah, here we reach the rub. Listen, you gun-banning cretin: An argument could be made (and has been, by the Supreme Court in the Miller decision) that your hunting guns are not Constitutionally protected at all, except those that meet the requirements for militia service. In other words, if you have any scoped bolt guns in a service caliber, such as 5.56mm or 7.62 NATO, those are golden, but the .17 Remington 'chuck-popper you were fawning over in your name-dropping opening paragraph is a toy that is completely irrelevent to the spirit and intent of the Second Amendment.
Your attempt to throw me out of the sleigh, hoping that the wolves would be satisfied with my AR and would leave your precious bambi-zapper alone, is the most craven act of contemptible cowardice I've seen in a while. Now that I'm aware of your anti-gun nature, I'll be sure to cancel the one subscription to Outdoor Life that I have control over, and urge everyone else I know who subscribes to cancel theirs as well. Maybe after they ash-can you, you can go write policy columns for the Brady Center or the VPC.
I'm sure they'd love your little camouflage outfit and folksy wit. They'd find a place for you; after all, you're an "Authentic Gun Guy". *spit*
Checking around the blogs I was reading the various "I'm liveblogging the Oscars" posts most of which were variations of the "I'm way too jaded and cool for this but (sigh) I'll do it for you the reader" self-martyrdom.
I enjoy the Oscars because there are those moments when they show a clip from an old film (and there were lots of those tonight), or one from a new nominated film, and it reminds me of how powerful film can be when a fifteen second clip can open up the floodgates of memory of the scene, how we got there, and where we are heading.
I also enjoy witnessing the honest passion that some people express in their speeches; a good example of being Forest Whitaker's acceptance speech tonight (I couldn't tell you much about The Color of Money but I remember Forest Whitaker's brief three minutes spent slyly hustling Paul Newman's Fast Eddie Felson).
Anyway. of the live-blogging posts my favorite was Ann Althouse written with all of her trademark, yet charming, lack of self-awareness. Quote of the night?
Now, we see Jodie Foster, dragging excess yards of slate-blue fabric along with her. But she's introducing my favorite segment, In Memoriam. I'll impolitely name the ones that had the most effect on me: Don Knotts, Sven Nykvist, Robert Altman.
I think I speak for most heterosexual males when I say I’m not homophobic but chick-o-centric. Let’s keep it positive, okay? It’s not that we dislike you, the gay guy; it’s just that we really like girls. It seems no matter how long we compliantly spend in rehab undergoing the most stringent psychotherapy to rid ourselves of our knee-jerk to your mate choice, the simple fact is . . . heterosexual guys don’t “get” gays. Period.
Heck, we don’t understand women. What makes you think we’ll ever understand a man who doesn’t like women yet wants to be a woman? You just rifled right over our heads. In addition, not only are most men incapable of comprehending what a man sees in another man, we also don’t care to try to because football is on—so can we all just shut the hell up with the gay stuff and watch the game?!?
[...]
Now, this doesn’t mean that heterosexuals hate you, the homosexual. It simply means we’re focused on women; which, by command, causes our paths of camaraderie to part. No, this is not a phobia and it doesn’t mean we loathe you. It’s simply the funk of nature. As a matter of fact, I have several friends that are gay. I kind of view them like dolphins; they’re fun, entertaining and creative. I truly enjoy their presence. I just don’t know what they get out of eating mullet. My homosexual acquaintances view me in a similar light.
In all fairness to Doug, the column actually gets worse.
It was announced today that The New Republic, the magazine that has lost the will to live, was sold:
The Canadian media giant CanWest has taken a majority stake in the 92-year-old New Republic, and plans to relaunch the weekly as a thicker, glossier – and half as frequent – magazine with a more robust Web site.
The new ownership and redesign completes a period of change at the magazine, which shifted markedly to the political left under its new editor, Franklin Foer, and has sought to shake off its association with the Bush administration’s pursuit of the Iraq war. CanWest, which publishes a dozen Canadian daily newspapers and owns other media properties around the world, is controlled by the family of CEO Leonard Asper.
"I'm hoping the new magazine will look and feel a lot more like a magazine," Foer said, adding that its goal is "to be the New Yorker of politics and to exude that sense of quality in literary terms, and also in reported terms.'
Sounds good. A little paint, fix that saggy front porch.... oh-oh. Buyers remorse time:
New York money managers Roger Hertog and Michael Steinhardt bought their stake in the New Republic from Martin Peretz, who remains editor-in-chief. (Peretz referred a call on the latest ownership change to Foer.) CanWest bought a minority stake in the company in 2006.
I can't quite understand why Peretz didn't leave and just go over to The National Review where he would fit in seamlessly. Hell, he wouldn't even have to change the embroidered initials on his Bush bib.
Having said that, I think something that happened today is instructive as to why the New Republic needs restructuring. This afternoon I finally broke down and bought a membership to Salon Premium because they now have Glenn Greenwald who I consider must reading, and I was tired of sitting through those tedious ads to get to read something for free. As some of you may know, Salon is my ancestral internets home having started my snark career there in TableTalk (along with a few other bloggers still on the scene). Anyway, I was looking for something in Salon today and decided to just buy the membership and just get on with it. As part of the premium package they offer free subscriptions to various magazine (I believe there were six). I elected to take The New York Review of Books, Reason, and Wired. The other two didn't interest me, and the third made me laugh: The New Republic.
Barack Obama is a lightweight who is only in the Senate because the Republican opponent who would have crushed him, Jack Ryan, imploded after a sex scandal and Barack only had to beat Alan Keyes to get elected.
Buffeted by allegations of sex club forays, Republican candidate Jack Ryan on Friday dropped out of the U.S. Senate race in Illinois.
In a written statement, Ryan blamed the news media for the controversy, saying its interest in his personal life had gotten "out of control."
"It's clear to me that a vigorous debate on the issues most likely could not take place if I remain in the race," Ryan said. "What would take place, rather, is a brutal, scorched-earth campaign -- the kind of campaign that has turned off so many voters, the kind of politics I refuse to play.
"Accordingly, I am today withdrawing from the race. "
Ryan, 44, a wealthy former investment banker, had been running against Democrat Barack Obama for the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Peter Fitzgerald -- a potentially key contest in the battle for control of the evenly divided Senate.
Even before the lurid allegations, Obama held a lead over Ryan in various polls.
Aides to the candidate had concluded that he could not have succeeded in his contest against Democratic state Sen. Barack Obama (search) unless he redoubled his campaign efforts with a massive infusion of cash from his personal fortune and a negative turn. That decision followed overnight polling to gauge his support in the wake of the allegations.
Ryan was said to have refused to take that route.
Republicans are now at a definite disadvantage as they try to come up with an alternative to take on Obama. Illinois Republican Party leaders were planning to meet Friday afternoon to discuss the next step.
Obama, who had been leading polls since the March primary, avoided getting in the way of Ryan's fall, and said Friday he didn't care to talk about the allegations.
Ryan conducted an overnight poll to gauge his support in the wake of the allegations made by his ex-wife in divorce records unsealed earlier this week.
The internal polling had Ryan trailing his Democratic opponent by 20 percent to 25 percent, the official said. That figure didn't worry aides as much as results showing that conservatives were peeling away from Ryan. They concluded that the only way to get Ryan's base back would be to immediately go negative on his opponent and not let up.
[...]
Illinois GOP leaders will select another candidate. Ryan's replacement would become an instant underdog in a race in which Ryan was already training Democratic State Sen. Barack Obama.
[...]
Ryan was seen by many as the party's best hope of revitalization after a devastating 2002 election, in which Illinois Republicans lost control of the governor's office and nearly every statewide office, and an ongoing corruption scandal involving former Gov. George Ryan, who has since been indicted.
These guys have no concept of the difference between "winning" and "losing". I think that explains a lot.
The fact that Hawkins signed on with Hunter says even more...
A man says he broke into an apartment with a cavalry sword because he thought he heard a woman being raped, but the sound actually was from a pornographic movie his upstairs neighbor was watching.
"Now I feel stupid," said James Van Iveren, who has been charged in the case. "This really is nothing, nothing but a mistake."
According to a criminal complaint, the neighbor told police that Van Iveren pounded on the door and kicked it open without warning Feb. 12, damaging the frame and lock.
"Where is she?" Van Iveren demanded, thrusting the sword at the neighbor, the complaint said. "Where is she?"
The neighbor told police Van Iveren became increasingly aggressive as he repeated the question, insisting that he had heard a woman being raped. The complaint said that, with the sword pointed at him, the neighbor led Van Iveren throughout the apartment, opening closet doors to prove he was alone.
...and then delivering the punchline:
Contesting his neighbor's account, Van Iveren said he didn't look anywhere in the apartment except the front room, and that he never threatened the neighbor with the sword.
"I had the sword extended. But that was all," he said.
It's not, "I didn't know the gun was loaded" but it will do.
Every day when I sail the tubes of the internets I promise I won't go near the Island of Riehl, but his siren call always draws me in causing me to once again crash upon the rocks of stupid. Here is Dan talking about the Senate Democrats who are drafting legislation to limit the mission of U.S. troops in Iraq:
This is a lot of fluff and bluster but I wouldn't look for it to ultimately have any real impact. Between the Republican delay tactics, a potential veto, a potential override and then a suit before the Supreme Court, all these idiots are really doing is distracting everyone from the work at hand to appease their cowardly, anti-war base.
While this silliness all plays out, things will go forward in Iraq. What matters is results, or a lack of them over time. If we can't turn it around, we'll be out no matter what. If we do, the Democrats will be left holding a losers hand come 2008.
Sad that a political party is willing to gamble its future on a loss by the US military, but not really surprising, given said party has been more interested in treason than national defense for almost two years.
I want to re-post my favorite part because it is a wonder to behold:
While this silliness all plays out, things will go forward in Iraq. What matters is results, or a lack of them over time. If we can't turn it around, we'll be out no matter what. If we do, the Democrats will be left holding a losers hand come 2008.
Honest to goodness the bars weren't open this morning. They must have been voting for a new president of something. Do you have a quarter? I said yes because I did. Honest to goodness the tears have been falling all over the country's face. It was better before before they voted for what's his name. This is supposed to be the new world
Break out the iPods! Hit shuffle! Run away!
You Can't Hold Us Back (Instrumental 97) - Atari Teenage Riot Pretend We're Dead - L7 Ivory Coast - Rancid The New World - X Here Comes A Regular - The Replacements Go - Apples In Stereo Sasa - Medeski, Martin, and Wood Dramamine - Modest Mouse Five Man Army - Massive Attack Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire- Joni Mitchell
Tammy Bruce: "liberal" and apparently a psychologist in much the same way that Dr. Laura is:
At about 45 minutes past the hour I'll be a guest on FNC's "The O'Reilly Factor." We'll be talking about the Bill Maher meltdown on Leno last night, and specifically why certain people in Hollywood hate the president so much. From the beginning of his presidency, the Left has never rooted their arguments against the president in fact or logic. Instead, it has been an orgy of personal attacks, name-calling and vitriol. The Maher diatribe last night encompassed all of that. And it's not just "liberal politics." This is a reflection of what drives those who in the world-- envy, jealousy, self-loathing, and paranoia, all reflective of Malignant Narcissism.
Many of us disagree passionately with many of the president's positions, but I do so with respect for the man. When the argument devolves into literal personal hatred for a person you do not even know personally, you have to ask yourself, What is really behind my attitude? People like Maher inevitably find that it has nothing to do with a stranger (the president) but everyone else in their life (like their father) whom they still resent, even hate, and are simply projecting those feelings onto someone else.
For Maher and Hollywood and Leftist elites like him, President Bush represents a father figure who they resent and feel unable to please. They project their own hatred for their father or parents on who the Left traditionally sees as parents--the government. And unless they see themselves in the president (as they did Bill Clinton), their malevolence overwhelms any shred of decency or reason in the process. They resent him because he represents values they cannot match, and they're jealous of him because the American people embrace him and have given him power.
Frankly, people like that, whether it be a disturbed Bill Maher or a drunk Danny DeVito (remember "The View" debacle?), shouldn't be on television; they should be in a psychiatrists office dealing with their personal rage issues.
Thomas, who had masqueraded as a 'serious' journalist for far too long, managed to hold onto a prized front-row seat at White House briefings despite the fact that she had not been a working reporter for seven years since leaving UPI. Her years as a columnist have exposed her deep-seated bias, leftist ideology, and absolute malevolence for conservatives and President Bush's administration in particular.
Finally, the absurdity of this faux-reporter having a prime seat for WH briefings has come to an end. With that position, she has been an embarrassment to the WH news corp, and to America in general. It's been obvious for quite some time that the Establishment Media is anything but objective, or even fair to the United States, but Thomas' rantings for the past seven years have been beyond the pale. I'm not saying the president shouldn't be taken to task (I do so regularly) but her lack of decorum and respect for the president (regardless of policy disagreements) had gotten old, nauseating and insulting to all of us. She'll still be in the press room, but at least moved to the second row. Please, to the back of the room, or even the hallway would be preferable.
When the argument devolves into literal personal hatred for a person you do not even know personally, you have to ask yourself, What is really behind my attitude? People like Maher Bruce inevitably find that it has nothing to do with a stranger (the president Helen Thomas) but everyone else in their life (like their father mother) whom they still resent, even hate, and are simply projecting those feelings onto someone else.
Why does Tammy Bruce hate her mother? She should be in a psychiatrists office dealing with their personal rage issues.
You’d think that after embarrassing himself and his newspaper by basing a column on a fabricated quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln -- then hearing it cited in a key congressional debate on the Iraq war -- Frank J. Gaffney Jr. would just apologize and turn the page. Instead, in his new column today for The Washington Times, he draws on Lincoln again with the same goal: to lock up or otherwise punish critics of the Bush “surge” in Iraq, with Gaffney again charging them with “unacceptable treachery, if not actual treason” and giving “aid and comfort to the enemy.”
Last week, E&P and others quickly pointed out the fake Lincoln quote following Gaffney’s gaffe in his previous column. Yet it took the author and/or the newspaper more than two days to delete or correct the column, finally wiping it from the site on Friday and later carrying a correction. That quote, long hailed by conservatives in cyberspace, had Lincoln saying (at the very top of Gaffney’s column), “Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged.” It had been debunked last summer by FactCheck.org.
Now Gaffney is back, claiming that while the quote was not real, it was a “paraphrase” of Lincoln’s actual views on dissent in wartime. Then he offers a new, and this time accurate, Lincoln quote, this one from a letter he wrote in June 1863 “as Robert E. Lee's army was on the march north to the fateful battle of Gettysburg.”
Where Greg Mitchell is wrong - particularly considering what Glenn Greenwald did to Gaffney on the air last week - is attributing anthropomorphic concepts like 'embarrassment' to people like Gaffney. They can't be embarrassed any more than they can conceive of ever being wrong.
The wingnuts have a new expression: beclowned. See here and here.
Watch them work this to death over the next few days like a child who realizes he can get a reaction by repeating "poopy" over and over again. I guess this is the new "stuck on stupid" or "Democracy, Whiskey, Sexy!", which didn't quite pan out the way they thought it would.
Let's start with VBen as an appetizer over at the children's table where Ben has just learned via Boys Life that a killer comet is headed our way.
Scientists reported this week that on April 13, 2036, an asteroid has a 1 in 45,000 chance of hitting Earth. The good news: No Tax Day, 2036. The bad news: An entire city or region could bite the dust.
"We need a set of general principles to deal with this issue," explains former astronaut Rusty Schweickart. To that end, scientists are calling on the United Nations to take action. The Association of Space Engineers will present a plan to the UN in 2009 involving the construction of a "Gravity Tractor," which would alter the course of potentially threatening asteroids.
Now the young callow Virgin Ben would have dazzled us with his profound knowledge of which superhero would be up to the task of averting a worldwide cataclysm delivered on a half-page, in glorious four color, accompanied by a KA-POW! or possibly a KA-BLAMMO! But that was before he went to that lawyer school at Harvard, which is within throwing distance of those Lampoon guys, so VBen taps teh keg o'funny:
You can just imagine what the UN member states will have to say about this idea.
IRAN: "Space is a decadent Western lie. It does not exist. Asteroids are no more real than the Zionist Entity. It is possible, however, that the 12th imam is riding this so-called space rock. In that case, we can only hope that he steers it into a large building in a major American city."
CHINA: "Such use of space simply escalates the global arms race. Who is to say that America will not construct such a 'Gravity Tractor' in an attempt to nullify our missile capabilities? Of course, we were never thinking of using such missiles anyway, but it's the principle of the thing!"
VENEZUELA: "This is a plot by the Bush administration to escape culpability for America's part in the global warming crisis. Satan W. Bush is deflecting attention from the fact that America is heating Earth up like a giant microwave. Bush is hoping that the asteroid hits Venezuela, ending the global warming crisis by blotting out the sun."
You get the idea. But then VBen moves on with an implied, "But seriously folks...":
On September 21, 1987, President Ronald Reagan spoke before the United Nations. "Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognize this common bond," he said. "I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet, I ask you, is not an alien force already among us? What could be more alien to the universal aspirations of our peoples than war and the threat of war?"
It was a nice sentiment, but Reagan was mistaken. The UN would not be able to get together over something as simple and universal as the threat of an asteroid striking our planet. They would quarrel and babble; they might send a slightly perturbed radio message to the asteroid. And, in the end, the asteroid would nail us.
Yes, if only the members of the United Nations had listened to Ronald Reagan when he warned of the impending invasion of giant alien mutant seamonkeys instead of snickering and passing each other notes written in the crazy moonman languages that they speak in their filthy countries that try to be all older than ours. Ha! They dawdled and now we're all gonna get nailed.
Except for poor never-been-nailed VBen. He is abstinence².
Unless it's that very special star-crossed asteroid he's been looking for; the one with the demure downcast eyes...the musical laugh...the really big tits.
But getting back to getting nailed - also known as "hitting it", "doing it", "hooking up" or "riding the walrus" (Pam Atlas only)...
Michael Medved spends an entire column attempting to avoid saying the word "boner".
Is it a reasonable for an NBA basketball player (or a soldier in basic training, for that matter) to feel uncomfortable sharing intimate quarters with a homosexual, or does this represent an outrageous, irrational fear? In response to the Hardaway controversy, several sports columnists compared his resistance to the idea of playing alongside gay teammates to the racism of previous years when white players tried to avoid competing with (or against) blacks.
The analogy is ridiculous, of course. There is no rational basis for discomfort at playing with athletes of another race since science and experience show that human racial differences remain insignificant. The much better analogy for discomfort at gay teammates involves the widespread (and generally accepted) idea that women and men shouldn’t share locker rooms. Making gay males unwelcome in the intimate circumstances of an NBA team makes just as much sense as making straight males unwelcome in the showers for a women’s team at the WNBA. Most female athletes would prefer not to shower together with men not because they hate males (though some of them no doubt do), but because they hope to avoid the tension, distraction and complication that prove inevitable when issues of sexual attraction (and even arousal) intrude into the arena of competitive sports.
Warmer...he getting warmer. Loved the gratuitous lesbian dig in there.
Tim Hardaway (and most of his former NBA teammates) wouldn’t welcome openly gay players into the locker room any more than they’d welcome profoundly unattractive, morbidly obese women. I specify unattractive females because if a young lady is attractive (or, even better, downright “hot”) most guys, very much including the notorious love machines of the National Basketball Association, would probably welcome her joining their showers. The ill-favored, grossly overweight female is the right counterpart to a gay male because, like the homosexual, she causes discomfort due to the fact that attraction can only operate in one direction. She might well feel drawn to the straight guys with whom she’s grouped, while they feel downright repulsed at the very idea of sex with her.
Oh! Cold. Very cold. So dry-ice cold that Debbie Schlussel's ears must be burning...from the cold.
Many gay activists suggest that this near-universal straight male repulsion at the idea of sex with another man is merely the product of cultural conditioning: a learned prejudice that ought to be unlearned. This represents the core message of gay pride parades and even the drive for same-sex marriage: an effort to persuade all of society that gay sex is as beautiful as straight sex, and to “cure” men of their visceral disgust at the very thought of what two (or more) male homosexuals do with one another.
Using their....c'mon...you can say it. Saaaaay it.
Another nice dig in there at those promiscuous homos for whom it's not a real date unless the whole rugby team shows up.
According to the “enlightened” advocates of gay liberation, this disgust gets to the very essence of “homophobia” – an altogether unjustified fear and distaste for male-on-male physical intimacy. When Hardaway says “I hate gay people” what he suggests at the deepest level is that he feels revolted by the very notion of same-sex eroticism and that he’d prefer not to face the distraction of such thoughts in the locker room or on the court.
He doesn't want to see boners. Big basketball player-sized boners. Baby's arm holding an apple kinda boners. Wipe that image from your mind. Do it. Do it , I say!
Those who suggest that a guy could shower with young female athletes without risk of arousal, or that a gay guy could shower with young male athletes with problems or discomfort, don’t merely defy common sense. They ignore human nature.
And that tingly feeling that you have down there. No. A little further. Keep going. Okay, now to the left....
A suicide bomber struck a funeral in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least seven people as militants show increasing defiance to a major security operation in the capital.
The attacker, wearing a belt packed with explosives, followed a funeral procession into a tent before detonating the blast in a mostly Shiite district of eastern Baghdad, police said. At least 15 people were injured.
n other bloodshed across Baghdad, a car bomb and a suicide attacker killed at least 11 people. About 12 miles outside the capital, a truck carrying chlorine gas ran over a roadside bomb. Two people died in the explosion and nearly 150 exposed to the fumes were treated for injuries, said Brig. Gen. Qassim Moussawi, a military spokesman.
[...]
The first attacks came during the busy morning rush for goods and fuel. A car rigged with explosives tore through a line of cars at a gas station in the Sadiyah district in southwestern Baghdad. Police said at least six people were killed and 14 injured in the neighborhood, which is mixed between the majority Shiites and Sunnis whose militant factions are blamed for many of the recent bombings and attacks.
Later, a suicide attacker drove a bomb-laden car into a vegetable market near a Shiite enclave in southern Baghdad. At least five people were killed and seven injured, police said. The same market in the mostly Sunni Dora district was targeted last month by three car bombs that killed 10 people.
On Monday, insurgents staged a bold daylight assault against a U.S. combat post north of Baghdad, killing two soldiers and injuring 17. The U.S. military called it a “coordinated attack” — which began with a suicide car bombing and then gunfire on soldiers pinned down in a former Iraqi police station, where fuel storage tanks were set ablaze by the blast.
is handed a piece of cake. Roth moves over to a folder of documents.
ROTH (continuing) Here are applications from Friends all over the States. I understand Santo Virgilio in Tampa is trying to make his own deal. Well, the Cuban Government will brush him off. The Lakeville Road Boys are going to take over the Nacionale here. I'm planning a new hotel casino to be known as Riviera. The new Capri will go to the Corleone Family.
MED. VIEW
The cake is sliced and carried to each of the men.
ROTH Then there's the Sevilla Biltmore; the Havana Hilton, which is going to cost twenty-four million -- Cuban banks will put up half, the Teamsters will bankroll the rest. Generally, there will be friends for all our friends including the Lieutenant Governor of Nevada; Eddie Levine of Newport will bring in the Pennino Brothers, Dino and Eddie; they'll handle actual casino operations.
And seeing that all of his friends have been served, Roth raises his fork.
ROTH Enjoy.
MICHAEL I saw a strange thing today. Some rebels were being arrested. One of them pulled the pin on a grenade. He took himself and the captain of the command with him. Now, soldiers are paid to fight; the rebels aren't.
The various men look up as Michael eats his cake, wondering what the point of it is.
ROTH What does that tell you?
MICHAEL It means they could win.*
VIEW ON ROTH
He understands Michael's point, if the others do not.
ROTH This country has had rebels for the last fifty years; it's part of their blood. Believe me, I know... I've been coming here since the twenties; we were running molasses out of Havana when you were a baby. To trucks owned by your father. (he chuckles warmly over the memory) We'll talk when we're alone.
And he returns his attention to the men who are gathered with him on his birthday.
EXT. ROTH'S PRIVATE TERRACE - DAY
Michael sits alone with the old man, on a terrace that overlooks the city.
ROTH You have to be careful what you say in front of the others... they frighten easy. It's always been that way, most men frighten easy.
MICHAEL We're making a big investment in Cuba. That's my only concern.
ROTH My concern is that the three million never arrived at Batista's numbered account in Switzerland. He thinks it's because you have second thoughts about his ability to stop the rebels.
MICHAEL The money was sent.
ROTH Then you have to trace it. Michael, people here look at me as a reliable man. I can't afford not to be looked on as a reliable man. But you know all that; there's nothing you can learn from me. You shouldn't have to put up with a sick old man as a partner.
MICHAEL I wouldn't consider anyone else.
ROTH Except the President of the United States.
He laughs slyly, as though this is some private joke between them. Then his laughter becomes a cough, which he painfully stifles with a handkerchief.
Cover coffins with American flags. Roll credits. Fade to black...
Smash cobbles together a collection of symbolic gestures and supposed slights into the USS Momentum Shift.
Fearing a repeat of the lawlessness and vandalism which occured in January, several groups are banding together to stand in opposition to this group of radicals. A group of Vietnam veterans calling themselves "A Gathering of Eagles" will stand vigil over the Vietnam Wall. Another group, "Move America Forward," will caravan from San Francisco to Washington DC, where they will set up a patriotic counter-rally on the National Mall.
[...]
At the same time, blogger NZ Bear established a new advocacy group, "The Victory Caucus." By week's end, his new website had recieved over 100,000 visits, and 3,400 had registered to join the group. If you think this is small potatoes, consider that this is exactly how the left-wing advocacy group MoveOn.org got started in 1998, at the height of President Clinton's impeachment crisis.
[...]
Moqtada al-Sadr is in hiding, and al Qaeda in Iraq is dying.
'AL QAEDA," President Bush declared confidently in October, "is on the run." The extremists, he said, had "played their hand." The masterminds of the organization had been "brought to justice."
But just as we underestimated Al Qaeda before 9/11, we risk making the same mistake now. Although Al Qaeda is often spoken of as if it is in retreat — a broken and beaten organization incapable of mounting attacks, its leadership cut off, living in caves somewhere in remotest Waziristan — the truth is that the organization is not on the run but on the march. It has regrouped and reorganized from the setbacks it suffered during the initial phases of the global war on terrorism and is marshaling its forces to continue the epic struggle begun more than 10 years ago.
Rather than being degraded to the point that it can threaten only softer, more accessible targets like hotels and mass transit, Al Qaeda is very much sticking with its classic playbook of simultaneous, spectacular strikes against even hardened objectives. In other words, we have more to fear from this resilient organization, not less.
[...]
Al Qaeda's stunning resurrection, before the very eyes of American military forces stationed across the border in southern Afghanistan, begs the question of how the most powerful country in the world can launch a six-year, no-holds-barred, global war on terrorism — at great cost to its pocketbook and international standing — only to find the main target of these Herculean efforts still alive and kicking.
In retrospect, it appears that Iraq blinded us to the possibility of an Al Qaeda renaissance. The United States' entanglement there has consumed the attention and resources of our country's military and intelligence communities — at precisely the time that Osama bin Laden and other senior Al Qaeda commanders were in their most desperate straits and stood to benefit most from this distraction. What's more, even as we took solace in the president's argument that we were "fighting terrorists over there, so that we don't have to fight them here," Al Qaeda was regrouping.
About two dozen men from Tetouan and nearby towns in the Rif Mountains have traveled to Iraq in the past 18 months to volunteer as fighters or suicide bombers, according to local residents and officials. Moroccan authorities said the men were recruited by international terrorist networks affiliated with al-Qaeda that have deepened their roots in North Africa since the invasion of Iraq four years ago.
[...]
Foreign fighters in Iraq account for only a small percentage of the combatants attacking U.S. troops and their Iraqi allies. U.S. military officials and independent analysts peg the number at no more than a few thousand. But as the war drags on, it continues to serve as a powerful rallying tool for radical Islamic networks around the world that have developed recruiting pipelines as far afield as Europe and Southeast Asia.
In a rare coordinated assault on an American combat outpost north of Baghdad, suicide bombers drove one or more cars laden with explosives into the compound on Monday, while other insurgents opened fire in the ensuing chaos, according to witnesses and the American military. Two American soldiers were killed and at least 17 were wounded.
The brazen attack, which was followed by gun battles and an evacuation of the wounded by American helicopters, was almost surely the work of Sunni militants, most likely Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, according to American and Iraqi officials.
It appeared to be part of a renewed drive by insurgents in recent weeks as more American and Iraqi troops flood the streets of Baghdad and thousands of marines head to western Anbar Province to try to stem the violence. Hundreds of Iraqis have died in a recent wave of car bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere.
Violence continued in Baghdad today, as a bomb in a truck carrying chlorine gas killed at least five people and injured many more, including many women and children poisoned by the gas, police said.
A car bomb near a food market in southeast Baghdad killed 5 and wounded 20. And another car bomb in southeast Baghdad killed 3 and wounded 14, near a gas station hit by a car bomb two weeks ago.
Insurgents have been able to shoot down more helicopters through coordinated assaults, captured documents suggest, and American and Iraqi military officials say they are concerned that militants are moving to areas where the American troop presence remains thin.
Where Smash sees the light at the end of the tunnel, I see an oncoming train. Better stock up on Victory Caucus beer steins, I smell collectors items.
It is a sad state of affairs when one of our finest writers, a man who for years created so many of our favorite epistles from the sexual revolution, each one beginning with the immortal salutation*:
I am a student at a small college in the mid-west and I never thought this would happen to me...
All through the critical years many left-wingers were chipping away at American morale, trying to spread an outlook that was sometimes squashily pacifist, sometimes violently pro-Muslim, but always anti-Bush.
It is questionable how much effect this had, but it certainly had some.
If the American people suffered for several years a real weakening of morale, so that the Fascist nations judged that they were 'decadent' and that it was safe to plunge into war, the intellectual sabotage from the Left was partly responsible. Both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times cried out against the Iraq War, but even they had done something to make it possible. Five years of systematic Bush-baiting affected even the Bushs themselves and made it harder than it had been before to get intelligent young men to enter the armed forces. Given the spiritual stagnation of the country, the military middle class must have decayed in any case, but the spread of a shallow Leftism hastened the process.
I suppose a man who provided a generation of men with high quality masturbatory fodder should be entitled to at least one public jerk-off before he closes his robe and stumbles off into the Viagra sunset.
*You can find an appreciation of the Penthouse art form here especially tailored for our shortened attention span age.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain (news, bio, voting record), looking to improve his standing with the party's conservative voters, said Sunday the court decision that legalized abortion should be overturned.
"I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned," the Arizona senator told about 800 people in South Carolina, one of the early voting states.
I have a hard time believing that anyone can be elected President by coming straight out and saying that Roe should be overturned. They couldn't even restrict abortion in South Dakota, so what makes anyone think that this is a winning strategy in more liberal states (meaning just about all of them) is beyond me. And I don't think the "states rights" argument is going to fly because the only people who invoke states rights are those who are against abortion and, generally, against civil rights for that matter. The average person doesn't consult the Federalist Papers when make a life decision. And people don't think of choice as something that might be available here but not there. You're either for it or against it.
John McCain has decided that he is for forced pregnancy.
Bob Marley poet and a prophet Bob Marley taught how to off it Bob Marley walkin like he talk it
Every Presidents day in San Diego they have Bob Marley Day at the Sports Arena, an all-day reggae affair that sells out and envelopes the area in a cloud of hempy goodness. For some reason (I'm guessing a dispute over the right to use Marley's name) this year it's called Tribute to the Reggae Legends featuring Bunny Wailer, Eek-a-Mouse, JR. Reid, and Morgan Heritage. Here's a little Bob since he can't make it
Most people think, Great God will come from the skies, Take away everything And make everybody feel high. But if you know what life is worth, You will look for yours on earth: And now you see the light, You stand up for your rights. jah!
Hope used to spring eternal but now it just kind of shambles along afraid of falling and breaking a hip
Investors Business Daily, which is kind of like the Wall Street Journal for tweakers, is in high dudgeon, nay they are apoplectic with the righteous fury of one who chose to invest in mood rings instead of with those two hippies, Wozniak and Jobs, over the "Unparalleled Perfidy" of the Democrats who seek to "snatch defeat from the jaws of victory" in Iraq, because we all know that we are this close to Mission Accomplished. Again.
And to prove their point, and they do have one, they have a poll and they're not afraid to use it.
Now you'll notice the questions:
1. How important is a U.S. Victory in Iraq?
As a general rule, I prefer victory to defeat so I'm going to say "important". So what do I win? Oh, crap. I thought it was only going to be a pop quiz.
2. How hopeful are you that we will succeed?
Well, it doesn't look that good since you're dealing with sectarian violence, age old animosities, and because four years after you liberated the Iraqis they still don't want you to marry their sister. So I'm going to go with "Not Very Hopeful".
Wait. Wait. Where is the last question?
Let's try it again, but slightly different. Let's say that you're Brent H. Baker of the Media Research Center
Since the lovely and talented Casey is up spending the holiday weekend with the recherché and asstastic mrs tbogg in Santa Barbara this weekend, I was left to my own devices for the past few days. Knowing this, a friend invited me to go the Amp'd Mobile AMA Supercross at the stadium last night, and then the gun show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds today. It was then that I realized that he knew nothing about me.
I'm worried that, at this very moment, Mitch Albom is writing another book; this one called 10 Plays Bo Schembechler Will Diagram For You In Heaven.
We're thinking of getting a third basset when I move up to Santa Barbara later this year. My advice to you is to invest in Proctor & Gamble.
I really enjoy The L Word... but probably for all the wrong reasons.
Last weekend the aforementioned mrs tbogg and I made our ritual exchange of books that we each had finished and believed that the other would like. In my case I gave her Warlock, and she gave me Water for Elephants. Both are entertaining good old fashioned reads.
I've been reading Atrios' posts about religion these past few days particularly the emphasis on people feeling compelled to advertise their one true faith. When I was growing up (this is my Granpa Simpson moment) we really didn't talk about our faith, we just did it. The first time I remember someone coming up to me to give me their testimony about Jesus was when I was in high school (and we could still call them Jesus-freaks without being accused of Christo-bigotry). A very cute girl with a Jane Fonda Klute-era shag hairstyle walked up to me during lunchtime and asked me I had accepted Jesus into my heart. I hadn't, but I was very polite about the whole matter, probably because I thought that if I played my cards right there might be sex involved later. So I guess you could say that I heard her testimony... for all the wrong reasons.
I was invited to sail in Transpac '07 this summer but had to say no because it takes place during the last few weeks that I'll have with the L&T Casey before she heads off to college (I'll be going with her to get her set up in late July). It also occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to blog for weeks which is the first indication that I have a bloggy on my back.
Finally, if Al Franken is serious about running against Norm Coleman in 2008 he needs to use this picture. A lot.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell, And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well, And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then; One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally, And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
Dan Riehl, who has a USA Today mind in a New York Review of Books world, seems to have a problem with finishing what he started. Today he gives Salt Lake Muslims some advice on how to be more likable through the power of honesty:
I don't think it reflects well on a religious group when it tries to disseminate false information on a folllower. See this via the Salt Lake Tribune.
Although he quit school at 16, Sulejman Talovic often attended Friday prayers at the Al-Noor mosque on 700 East in Salt Lake City, said Salih Omerovic, Ajka's cousin.
Salih Omerovic said the young man stopped coming to the prayers in December, when he landed a full-time job at Aramark Uniform Services in South Salt Lake. He said Sulejman Talovic's father had pressured his son to get a job to help out with the family's living expenses.
Now contrast that with what the Muslim Forum of Utah would have you believe. It isn't exactly going to build trust between Muslim and non-Muslim if they attempt to hide ties to individuals involved in crimes or controversy.
PRESS RELEASE: Trolley Square Shooting Not Related to Islam & Muslims 2/14/07 The tragic Trolley Square Shooting that happened recently was not related to Islam and Muslims. Our hearts go out to the families that were hurt in this event. The people hurt and killed could have been our own families and friends that attend the nearby Mosque, so we are happy that the perpetrator was killed before he could hurt anybody else in the community. Our Bosnian contacts in the community say that Sulejman Talovic, an 18 year old high school drop out and Bosnian immigrant, was a young man who lived a hermit type of lifestyle. Political terrorism is not a factor, given his lifestyle and lack of adherence to Islam. He was not known to have been religious, but infact secular in nature and never attended any of the local Mosques and did not associate with the community.
[Dan's emphasis above] Now if Dan had any kind of endurance at all, he might have read one sentence farther in the Salt Lake Trib article and seen this:
Imam Ali Mohamed, the spiritual leader at Al-Noor, said he does not know Talovic.
"I know some Bosnians, but specifically this person, I don't know him," said Mohamed, a Somali who has been in Utah since 2000.
Up to 200 people turn out for Friday prayers and there is not much socializing, said Maung Maung, who attends the mosque.
Hell, he might have even noticed this from the beginning of the article:
Although he was a loner and withdrawn, Sulejman Talovic seemed normal and "nice" to the few people who knew him.
But everyone knows that all Muslims know each other. I bet Talovic even knew Joel Hinrichs
