Top Ten Most Hated End of the Year LIsts (tm)

I had those lists that are compiled at the end of every year. 1999 was a special kind of hell for me, when the lists went on to cover not just the previous 12 months, but the last 100 years. I had to avoid newspapers, magazine, and tv news shows for about two months.

Anyway, here are my ten MOST hated categories:

10. Top ten movies of they year.

9. Top ten albums of the year.

8. Top ten novels of the year.

7. Top ten food trends of the years.

6, Top ten HOTTEST actresses of the year.

5. Top ten Hottest Actors of the year.

4. Top ten most annoying people of the year.

3. Top ten rising "stars".

2. Top ten new fashions.

1. Top ten new TRENDS.


You know, if I cared about any of the above mentioned lists, I would subscribe to People magazine. But, I think the end-of-the-year ritual I loath the most are the What's Hot/What's Not lists.

So, if you have a list, or a hot/not trend- do me a favor and just shove it up your arse.

Amazing story

I missed the story of ex-Cuban, American War Hero, Pedro Martin when it was originally posted on on Babalu Blog, but saw it here.

If you haven't read it, you definitely need to rectify that situation.

Let's not forget, moral relativism

As we know, there is no thing as a superior religion, culture, or society. Remind yourself over and over as you read this:

In Sweden, according to translator for Jihad Watch, Ali Dashti, “Gang rapes, usually involving Muslim immigrant males and native Swedish girls, have become commonplace.” A few weeks ago she said, “Five Kurds brutally raped a 13-year-old Swedish girl.”

In France, Samira Bellil broke her silence – after enduring years of repeated gang rapes in one of the Muslim populated public housing projects – and wrote a book, In the hell of the tournantes, that shocked France. Describing how gang rape is rampant in the banlieues, she explained to Time that, “any neighborhood girl who smokes, uses makeup or wears attractive clothes is a whore.”

Unfortunately, Western women are not the only victims in this epidemic. In Indonesia, in 1998, human rights groups documented the testimony of over 100 Chinese women who were gang raped during the riots that preceded the fall of President Suharto. Many of them were told: “You must be raped, because you are Chinese and non-Muslim.”

According to a Copehnagen, Islamic mufti and scholar, Shahid Mehdi, women who do not wear a headscarf are asking to be raped. I wonder how the gals at Feministe would view that?

In Australia's New South Wales Supreme Court in December 2005, a visiting Pakistani rapist testified that his victims had no right to say no, because they were not wearing a headscarf.

And earlier this year Australians were outraged when Lebanese Sheik Faiz Mohammed gave a lecture in Sydney where he informed his audience that rape victims had no one to blame but themselves. Women, he said, who wore skimpy clothing, invited men to rape them.

A few months earlier, in Copenhagen, Islamic mufti and scholar, Shahid Mehdi created uproar when – like his peer in Australia – he stated that women who did not wear a headscarf were asking to be raped

But, I suppose I'm a racist for bringing this up. We are supposed to ignore an elevated statistics in crime among certain populations. It means nothing. Or it is because of oppression. Or some such nonsense.

WOT

After 9/11, I was one scared little puppy. Terrorists could be everywhere, and one would never know where the next attack could occur. I feel relatively confident writing that I wasn't the only one feeling this way. In fact, I would place money on it that pretty much 99% of the US population felt exactly as I did. I fantasized that we had the technology found in the film Enemies of the State, where the government could listen-in on every telephone call on the planet, and find the bad guys.

Of course, though, that was not reality. What chance did we have against such a tenacious enemy? But, I hoped that the government had a few tricks up it's sleeve. I didn't need to hear about them, but I slept at night convincing myself that they had technologies that would aid in finding those who dream of mushroom clouds over Manhattan. Certainly everyone, my fellow citizens would be similarly pleased that we had abilities to detect these monsters? Of course, in this belief - I was wrong.

Patriot Act- BAD.
Wiretaps on those in contact with areas known to be affiliated with terrorist activity- illegal.
Radiation Monitoring- a racist plot.

Writes CAIR :

We are concerned that, under this secretive program, our government has overstepped constitutional bounds by intruding on private property without any probable cause or valid court orders, said CAIR National Legal Director Arsalan Iftikhar. The targeting of so many Islamic homes, businesses and mosques will inevitably create the impression that American Muslims are considered suspect solely because of their faith.

The IMPRESSION? Because, you know, we have no reason -at all- to fear Muslims in America, right? Would CAIR be happy if we also monitored a few Mormon churches? Heck, we could even throw a Jewish temple into the mix. Because, it's all about appearances, isn't it? Tell me, Joe Public out there - where would YOU like them to monitor? While I'm sure it would please both the ACLU and CAIR if we completely stopped all monitoring, would you sleep better knowing that we'd dodged another bullet aimed at our civil liberties. I mean, cripes, we might turn a city into glass, but we'll be free from government interference up until the moment we get hit by the shock wave.

Fact is, anything Bush, or our current government does, is suspect automatically due to BDS -Bush Derangement Syndrome. And, between the ACLU and CAIR, just about every low enorcement technique aimed at finding bad guys is illegal or a racist plot. Even techniques that used behavior-based profiling is illegal. From Malkin:

As I've noted before, the ACLU has filed suit against Boston Logan Airport officials to prevent them from using behaviorial profiling to detect security threats. The suit stems from a snit fit one ACLU official had when he was asked to produce ID by Boston Logan officials.

If the ACLU has its way, the interrogation methods used by Diana Dean--the Customs Agent whose questioning of a nervous and sweating young, brown-skinned male trying to cross the Washington state-Canada border unraveled al Qaeda's LAX Millenium plot and saved untold innocent lives--would be banned nationwide.

If the ACLU has its way, we'd have no profiling of any kind.

Yep.

Books I got for Christmas

Well, it's just River Rat and me here, but I've got the time, so here goes:

Unhinged:Exposing LLiberals Gone Wild by Michelle Malkin. A surprisingly entertaining book. I've always enjoyed her writing, but for some reason this book had never jumped out at me. I started reading it this morning, and found myself unable to put it down.

Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy by Peter Schweizer. It's as good as I expected. Most of the factoids have appeared elsewhere, but if I come across anything explosive ...

The Complete Amber Chronicles by Roger Zelazny. Science fiction, and not really a gift since I bought it for myself. Someone on the internets recommended it. I'll let you know.

I got one more book, but I'm gonna have to fill you in on that one later.

Local politics

Most of you will have no clue what I'm talking about, but I think it's time for me to turn into a major advocate for Detroit. My line?

PRIVATIZE, don't POLITICALIZE! Receivership NOW.

Monsters in our streets

My BIL brought this story to my attention. I'll give you a minute to go read.

Done?

WTF is wrong with society? Everyone of those kids deserves to be taken out back and shot. YES SHOT. What good can become of a teenager who behaves like this? We would save society a lot of grief, and future criminal behavior, if we just eliminate them now. Additionally, their PARENTS should be held up to ridicule. I want explanations as to why and how they allowed their children to become such monsters. They should be forced to wear t-shirts that say "I suck at being a parent." Or, perhaps, "I raised a morally bankrupt child."

And, yes, I know I am being hyperbolic.

This is the post ...

... where you list what you got for Christmas. Once everyone gets back from where ever the heck they are?!?

I'll go first:

DVD set of Romantic Movies
Two more Waterford flutes

Holiday

The Holiday was here. Wish you were merry.

Or something like that.

Personally, I can only handle so much merry making. The house gets messy, and I can't checked my email.

And, in a cryptic shout-out to no one who reads this, but it must be said; women are bitches.

Link

Dang but this is funny.

A question for Leo

What is Figgie pudding, and is it good? I mean, is it actually a Christmas tradition, or is it just some holiday-song sham perpetrated upon us Americans?

Personally, I'm kinda sick of ham and turkey and all those traditional CHRISTmas meals. Since I couldn't find a roast beast, we're going to have Prime Rib. YUM. And, for dessert I am going to attempt some French concoction called "Il Flotante." The French are, after all, good for something; food and wine. They can keep their politics, their feminists, and pretty much everything else.

Lileks

It is for lines like this that I love Lileks:

It’s like that old saying, first they came for the library records under the Patriot Act and I said nothing, because I didn’t use the library, and so on. You know?

Perhaps you must read it in context. Screedblog rocks.

Christmas with Code Pink

Code Pink has a wonderful Holiday planned for us. Let us begin with a Holiday Carol

War to the World (To the tune "Joy to the World")
War to the world! Don Rumsfeld
declares;Let's go to war for oil!
Arms dealers and oil companies
Will make our foreign policies
And we'll be safe and free!
And we'll be safe and free!
And women and children will all be safe
and free!
We rule the world! With bombs and
tanks;
So let the war hawks sing!
We'll target all the hospitals
And mosques and pesky journalists
And lie on CNN
And lie on CNN
And NBC and ABC and C-N-N!
War to the world! The empire reigns;
You're with us or against!!
We're good and you are ee-vil
We're good and you are ee-vil
So we'll blow you away
So we'll blow you away
So Merry Christmas, and have a nice
day!

Visit the Code Pink site for many more Holiday Hits, like "We Three Thugs A Tribunal Are", and "The First Bombs Fell." I can feel the spirit spreading.

But, the joy doesn't end there! If you've already finished your shopping, and have a little time for protest, give this a try:

Get a bunch of friends to go with you to each buy a war toy, and then go back to the store later to return them. Create long complaint lines, showing other customers (and hopefully you’ve called the media) why war toys are bad. Talk directly to store owners and managers and ask them to stop selling war toys. Tell them you and your friends are considering no longer shopping at the store if war toys continue to be sold. Make buttons that say, “Say No to War Toys” or “War is Not a Game” and offer them to the employees.

Doesn't that sound like FUN! You can download and make stickers to deface the offensive merchandise; "WARNING: War Toys are not healthy for children", "Surgeon General's Warning: Violent Toys=Violent Boys." Humn, well, I hope they have a lot of those stickers, because my boys have made guns out of leggos, brooms, and wooden blocks.

I thought this suggestions was especially inspired:

Ask your child’s teachers to talk about the negative impact of war toys and start a campaign to ban war toys on the school playground. Suggest a toy exchange for the school, where children turn in their war toys and get some cool, peaceful toy like a hot pink Frisbee. Make it a class project and involve the children in setting it up.

What kid doesn't want a hot pink Frisbee? Yea, that's definitely a winner.

Christmas at Code Pink; yet another opportunity for misguided social activism. Don't they have enough to do with their weekly Walter Reed vigils? And, I'm searching the "Holiday" songs list, and I don't see ONE based on a Kwanza tune. SHAME ON YOU, Code Pink! I'm gonna sick the ACLU on them.

Any opinions?

On the Barrett Report?

Word on the street is that it's release will ruin Hillary's career, so I'm all for it seeing the light of day. Personally, I find it frightening that some "powers that be" (the Clinton Legal team) have been able to totally suppress this thing. Some of my favorite names have been active in making sure this doesn't see the light of day (John Kerry and Carl Levin.) And, if there is nothing to it - liberals should be happy to demonstrate how much money Republicans ($20 million!) have wasted in a "witch hunt."

Echelon/Bush/Terrorism

I've been working up a good rant on the kerfuffle regarding Bush supposedly infringing on our civil rights by listening to the phone calls of bad guys. Thankfully, a much better writer than I did one:

In order for me to enjoy the not-getting-my-ass-blown-up lifestyle to which I’ve become accustomed, people who love sending care packages of cash and semtex to post-office boxes in Central Asia have to give up the privilege of making private phone calls to their relatives in Whocaresistan. Is it fair? Of course not. Nothing in life is. But we make the best we can with what we’ve got, and right now that means telling the Islamist sympathizers to sit down and shut up while we go poking through their mail.

*******

So if you want to sit there and tell me, all earnest and shit, that it’s not about politics, that you’re just concerned about the law, that’s fine. You go right ahead. I’ll occupy the time while you’re speaking by sitting here and not believing a word that you say. Because we both know the truth, even though only one of us is willing to speak it aloud. You don’t give two shits about the law. All you care about is the fact that you hate George Bush. You’ve hated him so long, and so fervently, that you’ve totally forgotten why. But that hate remains even though the cause for it is gone, and it colors everything you say and do. So just keep talking, asshole. Keep telling me that you want to see the sitting President of the United States “frog-marched to the hoosegow” for enacting entirely legal measures to defend this country during a time of war, but that the Republicans in Congress were jerks for tainting Saint Clinton’s second term over “just a blow job.” Keep right on, man. Because I know where you’re coming from, and I know what you’re really thinking.

Meanwhile, I’m gonna continue to enjoy those freedoms that the President is acting to defend. You know. Like his oath said he would.

And- if you think Bush has turned all fascist on us, I think you need to research Echelon which was utilized by Bill Clinton for reasons other than crazy-assed-Islamofascists (the actual fascists in this scenario) trying to kill us all.

Really, some days I just sit and wonder what is going through the heads of Democrats. In the effort to convince that Bush is the spawn of Satan, no sacrifice is too great. Even the destruction of our country.

In addendum - so, I was just wondering how Hillary stands on all this? Humn, haven't heard much from her, have you? I wonder why?

For my Socialist friends

NRO has an article on Canadian health (cough cough) care:

Canada’s universal-health-care system has long been a darling of the nanny-state Left. Its stated purpose, jealously touted by swooning cohorts of compassion from coast to coast, is to provide free and equal health care for all, regardless of ability to pay.

In practice, sadly, this high-minded endeavor has hit a few snags. The pesky fetters of reality have imposed stingy budget constraints on the enterprise, while the promise of free service for all has increased the demand for treatment. The Canadian government has thus struggled to treat more patients while spending as sparingly as possible on each of them, causing waiting lists to swell and the quality of care to sag.

Ahhh -I remember fondly the battles with Canadian friends on the superiority of their system. FREE CARE FOR EVERYONE, they'd tell me. Good times.

What media bias? II

Despite claims that there is no media bias, out comes this study from UCLA. Apparently, the media leans left! I know, I was shocked too! But catch this :

Of the 20 major media outlets studied, 18 scored left of center, with CBS' "Evening News," The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times ranking second, third and fourth most liberal behind the news pages of The Wall Street Journal.

Only Fox News' "Special Report With Brit Hume" and The Washington Times scored right of the average U.S. voter.

Note that the above didn't say ALL of Fox News, only Brit Hume's hour. ONE hour, out of 24, for those keeping count. Granted, O'Riley and Hannity are conservative, but those are not NEWS programs (and, even if you want to throw those into the mix, that only adds another 2 hour of conservative news to what is so loudly accused of being a shrill from Conservatives.)

Although Hume's show is right of Center, it is no further "off" the center than the other major medias:

The fourth most centrist outlet was "Special Report With Brit Hume" on Fox News, which often is cited by liberals as an egregious example of a right-wing outlet. While this news program proved to be right of center, the study found ABC's "World News Tonight" and NBC's "Nightly News" to be left of center. All three outlets were approximately equidistant from the center, the report found.

"If viewers spent an equal amount of time watching Fox's 'Special Report' as ABC's 'World News' and NBC's 'Nightly News,' then they would receive a nearly perfectly balanced version of the news," said Milyo, an associate professor of economics and public affairs at the University of Missouri at Columbia.

Also surprising was the finding that the Wall Street Journal leans left as well. Except for the editorial pages, the reporting in the WSJ was found to be left of the average voter.

H/t: InDC

A poll

Cool or scary?

H/t : Memento Moron aka/ Brian

Root causes of "race riots"

Leo has been taking me to task in comments regarding the "race riots" in Australia. So, I pose this question; what are the causes of the race riots in Australia. Or, race riots elsewhere? On the surface, the Australian riots began (so it says) in retaliation for the brutal beating of two white lifeguards on Cronulla Beach. The newspapers state that "white supremacists" retaliated in a mob of 5,000, attacking any youth with a middle eastern appearance. This lead to counter-attacks by Lebanese in several Sydney suburbs.

On the surface, it appears that Aussie's are a racist lot. And, then I come across this and wonder:

I read your garbled and fraudulent accounts of the race riots in Australia.  The riots were not unprovoked "drunk... White... neo-Nazis" riots against innocent Muslims as you claim.

After years of escalating racial violence by Lebanese gangs, including rapes gangs, Australians are finally standing up to Muslim racial supremacists. Lebanese and other Muslims use rape gangs and gang sieges/home invasions of Australian families in order to ethnically cleanse neighborhoods. In a country where all Australians have been disarmed and are not allowed to have guns or large knives, Muslim gangs openly parade arsenals of weapons as the police, afraid of losing their jobs if they show "racism", refuse to protect defenseless Australians.

In a country that has been completely disarmed by gun control, Muslims are heavily armed and many Muslims (including Muslim profesors at the best Australian universities) openly call for the extermination of the Australian "Whites".

The letter does have a hints that perhaps this guy is some sort of white supremacist. I found similar words on a white supremist site, but when I googled the author's name I didn't find a connection. But, there might be one. That doesn't mean there is no truth to what he says.

Now, I don't much about the actual situation in Australia, other than what I've read, but I do know a bit about race riots a bit closer to me; the recent riots in Toledo, Ohio.

The headline read "White Supremacists Riot in Toledo, Ohio", here on ACB News. But that is not what happened; the violence and mayhem was perpetrated by BLACKS protesting the Supremacist's presence. Totally forgotten and never discussed was the reason that the Aryans were there in the first place. They didn't just show up at random. The area of Toledo has been plagued with (black) gang violence and home invasions. Misguided residents were responsible for inviting the protesters (pretty dumb move, which was my opinion at the time.) But totally forgotten was the root cause of the whole kerfuffle. Gang violence (in this case black), and those fed up with it.

Is this what lead to the riots in Australia? Not sure. But, like in the Toledo case, I'm sure we'll never hear about this from the media. "White Supremacists Riot in X" makes a much more PC headline than "Locals Fed Up with race-based gang Violence."

Religion of Peace Update 2

Four churches in Sydney have been attacked in the last 24 hours by gangs of Lebanese Muslims. A community hall of one of the churches was burned to the ground.

Feel the peace BURN, baby.

Ding ding ding

I think Jeff is right on in this:

But the official party line of the United Nations is — must be — that the right to vote is circumstantial at best. Because the United Nations welcomes member states that recognize no such right. The official position of the government of Syria, just to name one example, is that the people have the right to vote only for candidates that have been approved by the sitting government. The people of Syria, according to their government, have no right to remove the Baath Party from power and replace it with another group of leaders. The Syrian government denies that that right — which we as Americans believe is unalienable — exists.

And yet Syria is a full member of the United Nations and enjoys all the privileges thereof.

It is for reasons such as this that many give the UN no authority, moral or other. If you really want to be frightened, pick up this book: The UN Gang: A memoir of Inccompetence, Corruption, Espionage, Anti-Semitism and Islamic Extremism at the UN Secretariat.

Memo to Kayne West

Whites disproportionately represented among Katrina fatalities. Whites made up 46% of the deaths, while they only compromise 28% of the population. WHY DOES BUSH HATE WHITE PEOPLE?

H/t: File it Under and, WILLisms for the story itself.

Those silly Europeans

Apparently, our friends across the pond are upset that we executed the murderer of four people, Tokkie Williams.

Leaders of Austria's opposition Green Party even called for Mr. Schwarzenegger to be stripped of his Austrian citizenship -- a demand rejected by Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel as "absurd" despite his government's opposition to the death penalty.
    In Graz, Mr. Schwarzenegger's hometown, local Greens said they would file a petition to remove the California governor's name from the city's Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium. A Christian political group suggested it be renamed for Williams.

EXCELLENT IDEA. And they could decorate the inside walls with images of Tokkie's work.

Steal this story

Well, what I really mean is that I totally stole this story from Gail, who borrowed it from No Pasaran:

For anybody genuinely worried about climate change, Montreal is bleak. First, many countries which take the 'moral high ground' in public are quietly the very worst offenders. Hypocritical Canada (Paul Martin was unbelievable in his attack on the US) has seen its emissions rise by 24% (on the Kyoto-base 1990-levels); Japan, which gave the name to the original Kyoto Protocol, by 18%; and the statistics for some of the ever-pious European countries take the breath away - Spain up by 42%, Portugal up by 37%, and merry Ireland and Greece up by 26%. In contrast, the US - the non-ratifier of Kyoto, note - has seen its emissions rise by only 13% (and they have fallen 2% under Bush!). So who is the bad boy?

Wait a MINUTE. How much has George Bush (and the US) been beaten up the last few years over the crappy Kyoto agreement that he refused to sign (although, really - Clinton was the one who originally refused to sign, because even he knew it was a bad deal - but he made last minute overtures on his way out of office just to make him look good, knowing that Bush would refuse it.) How much traction have liberals and moonbats (and Europeans) gotten in their Bush Bash party because the big meanies in America wouldn't play with their enviro-fantasy? PLENTY.

And, lookie lookie at the REAL WORLD. Hey CANADA - clean up your act. Emissions in the Great White North upby 24%? What the hell are you doing up there? It's bad enough that Toronto sends it's garbage (and toxic waste) to Michigan, but now I'm gonna have to start watching what floats across the air over Lake St. Claire.

The best part, of course, is that emissions have fallen by 2% under Bush. ENVIRO PRESIDENT BUSH!!

In summation

While not a die-hard supporter of the death penalty, the crowd surrounding Tokkie this last few months is morally confused:

On Sunday, November 13, one week before the “Save Tookie” rally at San Quentin, 14-year old William Cox and a friend were attending a neighborhood carnival when they were gunned down by a man who mistook them for rival gang members. Cox, who was not in a gang, was struck in the chest and died at the scene. That is the evil wrought by Stanley Williams!

Of course Snoop and Danny Glover did not hold a rally for William Cox. His death went unnoticed by the Hollywood commissars of compassion. They were too busy trying to save the life of a cold-blooded killer to notice one more young life snuffed out by gang violence.

That tells you all you need to know about the corrupt vision the Hollywood left has for America.

My sympathy lies with William Cox - who will write no books, nor have movies made of his life.

Explanation

Sorry for no blogging yesterday, but I spent the entire day in prayer for Tokkie.

Terrorist: exhibit 1

Here is an example that nicely illustrates my definition of a terrorist:

A banned Islamist militant group blamed for a series of bombings in Bangladesh has threatened to kill women, including non-Muslims, if they do not wear the veil, a statement said.

The statement by the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen came hours after Thursday's suicide bomb attack in a northern town that killed at least eight people, the latest of a series of blasts blamed on militant groups in their campaign for an Islamic state.

"Women will be killed if they are found to move around without wearing burqa (veil) from the first day of Jilhaj," the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen said in the statement sent to a Dhaka newspaper office.

Jilhaj refers to the Arabic month beginning early January.

Any questions?

Out ... of coffee ...

... can't ... blog ....

Back to that ...

I'm back to that idea that not all muslims are terrorists, but almost all terrorists are muslims. So, without further ado, I give you this:

. Over 100 Koranic verses exhort believers to wage jihad against unbelievers. “When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield, strike off their heads and, when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly” (Koran 47:4). This is emphasized repeatedly. Jews and Christians are among those to be fought: “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued” (Koran 9:29).

There is no doubt that Muhammad meant such verses literally. Nonetheless, the fact that warfare against unbelievers is not a twisting of Islam, but the Islamic mainstream, and is repeatedly affirmed in the Koran, Hadith, example of Muhammad, and rulings of every school of Islamic jurisprudence, still does not make every Muslim a terrorist.

Why? Because the Koran is in difficult, classical Arabic, and must be read and recited during Muslim prayers in that language only. A surprisingly large number of Muslims have scant acquaintance with what it actually says. This is common to a degree that may surprise non-Muslims.

So is the Koran the Mein Kampf of the totalitarian, supremacist movement of Islamic jihad? If we take seriously the words of the book itself and how they are used by jihadists, then it clearly is their inspiration. Are we to ignore the jihadists' many clear statements on this because they offend contemporary sensibilities? The challenge for peaceful Muslims today is to confront, not to deny, this obvious fact, and to formulate strategies for a large-scale rejection of literalism in the Islamic community in America and worldwide, so that Muslims can coexist peacefully as equals with non-Muslims without the continuing recrudescence of this supremacist impulse.

Can it be done? The odds against it are prohibitive. But we do not do genuine Muslim reformers any favor whatsoever by denying that there is any work they need do with the Koran and Islamic tradition, or by pretending that the source of the problem is other than what it is.

What are we to make of this? While there are many moderate muslims who wish to live peaceful lives, to argue that they are not living the life of a true/pure muslim can be made.

H/t: SondraK

A poem for Tokkie

Why you gotta hate?
Why why why
Why you want to gas him?
Why why why
He used to have a fro',
The baddest ass I know,
But now he says he's sorry,
So how 'bout we just let a brother go?*

In the immortal words of Tokkie Williams:

I'll get every one of you Mother fuckers.

*Graphic warning on link

The World according to Dean

News from Howard Dean:

Saying the "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong," Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean predicted today that the Democratic Party will come together on a proposal to withdraw National Guard and Reserve troops immediately, and all US forces within two years.

So, there you have it. Deans says we are going to lose this war. Which means, among other things, that Iraq falls into terrorist's hands. But, hey, failure in Iraq will look good for the Democrats, so full STEAM AHEAD with the DEFEATIST TALK. Elections in Iraq are this month, yet this is the garbage coming out of this man's mouth?

More from Dean:

Bring the 80,000 National Guard and Reserve troops home immediately. They don't belong in a conflict like this anyway. We ought to have a redeployment to Afghanistan of 20,000 troops, we don't have enough troops to do the job there and its a place where we are welcome

Now, this is where I always have a problem. I understand that the Reserves and Guard troops have been stretched thin since 9/11 (due, of course, to Clinton's policies of reducing the military- but THAT rarely gets discussed in this context.) BUT, the "job" of reserve and guard units is to be a fighting force. This is why they train, and why they are PAID. Before anyone signs up for the pay and benifits of a reserve force, they need to think long and hard as to whether or not it actually fits into their life. But, yes they do "belong" in this conflict.

Anyway, to sum up for Howard Dean:

Black=white
love=hate
withdrawal=strategic redeployment

Comments, anyone?

From Unbearable Bobness:

It must end one day and know that a U.S.  Army infantryman is not one molecule more a righteous soldier of God than a suicide bomber blowing himself up in a bus full of innocents, sorry, but such religious arrogance is nothing more than a geopolitical folie a deux.

Got that? Suicide bomber. US infantryman. Same.

PSA

First, I want you all to share my outrage that my friend Matt's blog (Lone Tree On the Prairie) has disappeared. Matt was on blogger, but if he can't get this fixed (and it's been broken since friday) he'll be leaving. I'm one step closer to taking that step myself. This isn't poetry I write, but it's kinda fun and it really really would crap my day if one day it went poof.

Second - You should all go and vote for File It Under in the Web Blog Awards. Why? Because he has that really funny news banner, that's why. And SECOND, because he is running against Dave from Garfield Ridge, and while he's funny, he has refused to link me, the bastard. It's as simple as that, my friends.

LINK ME, AND GET MY VOTE. This isn't rocket science.

Daily reading

James Robbins in NRO concerning those four kidnapped pacifists in Iraq:

A sensible terrorist political warfare strategy tries to drive wedges into the enemy society by isolating the groups you will never be able to win over and appealing to as wide a base as possible. The Swords of Truth Brigades should not be threatening the CPT team; they should be holding a joint press conference to denounce the Coalition. The way they are behaving is comparable to the North Vietnamese shooting Jane Fonda with a firing squad instead of a camera in 1972. The terrorists really do not know who their friends are. They kidnap humanitarian workers. They target journalists. They bomb the U.N. Lenin must be spinning in his tomb.

Stupid Minute Men.

Day after

I've got the day-after-birthday blas, and don't feel much like blogging. So, don't expect much.

Purple

This HAS to be a joke.

Digging past the headlines

The headline (on the Yahoo homepage) I dug past was this :

US Bases Attacked in Iraq

And what I found was this :

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told reporters that suicide bombings fell to 23 in November, which he attributed to successful U.S.-Iraqi military operations against insurgent strongholds in the Euphrates River valley west of the capital.

"His weapon of choice is suicide bombers," Lynch said of the insurgents. "In the month of November: only 23 suicide attacks; the lowest we've seen in the last seven months, the direct result of the effectiveness of our operations.

In full disclosure, the AP headline is "Bombings in Iraq Fall to Seven-Month Low", which makes the Yahoo headline even more out-of-place. What they found worthy of a front-page splash was really was nothing of the sort. But, don't say the media is biased!

Police Lt. Mohammed al-Obaidi said at least four mortar rounds fell near the U.S. base on the eastern edge of the city, but that there were no reports of casualties. U.S. officials disputed the report and said only one grenade was fired.

It's OUTRAGEOUS!

You might have heard of attorney
Geoffrey Fieger, or seen him on Foxnews doing legal analysis. But, I'm sure you don't feel the same amusement that I do with this story:

Federal agents raided the law office of Geoffrey Fieger late Wednesday looking for evidence that he laundered $35,000 in campaign contributions to the John Edwards 2004 presidential campaign through his employees.

Fieger is one of those lawyers that sues the big guy, to the extreme financial advantage of the little guy (and his own practice of course - Fieger has SEVERAL very large homes in the bestest communities.) He is a bloodsucker of the worst kind; one who wraps himself in the cloak of Robin Hood. He files 100 million dollar lawsuits against police stations in which a man fleeing was ... shot. 100 Million. Perhaps the family (who filed the suit) should have taught their son not to flee the police, especially after being pulled over, and trying to run OVER a policeman.) 100 Million.


But, my disdain goes further, since in addition to being the type of lawyer that he is, he is also a democrat. So, what excuse does Fieger give for this raid?

“Yeah, right, I want to hear it from them.” Fieger said this morning, charging he’s the victim of Republican conspiracy. “I’m tired of all of this McCarthyism – period.”

Snicker. "Republican conspiracy." I wonder if he said that with a straight face.

Little known fact - Geoffrey is the brother to Doug Fieger lead singer of The Knack.

Woo hoo

I'm a "lowly insect." Can someone please explain how this is better than one of those "crusty crustacean" things? Because it certainly doesn't sound any better.

On fire

Ace is on fire. I hate to quote him, since many read him anyway, but he really puts in words the way I feel on this issue, and have wanted to address.

The Democratic Party and the New York Times (and the whole of the MSM) have a vested political interest in American defeat. They want America to lose. If America loses, Bush loses. If America loses, the Republicans lose. If America loses, the media and the Democratic Party wins. The Democrats take Congress and perhaps the Presidency, the media regains (it thinks) its supposed old reputation as an objective truth teller and National Repository of Wisdom In All Matters.

It's quite true that Bush and the Republicans have a vested political interest in the outcome of this war, too. As has been said too many times to easily count, Bush's Presidency depends on victory. If he wins in Iraq, he will be a successful president; if he is defeated, he will be a debacle.

While there's a selfish interest there, it can't help be noticed that Bush's selfish interest happens to coincide with the national interest. Whereas the Democrats' selfish interest is directly contrary to it.

This ties into the poll numbers, since you and I both know the majority of the population doesn't read beyond the headlines and the sports page. The MSM hates Bush, and thus every day drones on and on about how miserable the entire situation is. Your average person has no idea that there are actually positive things occurring in Iraq (stories that never occur in the headlines, if they can be found in the paper at all.)

I get it that there is a blinding (and irrational) hatred of Bush out there. What I don't get, is that people can't see beyond that hatred to see that what Bush wants SHOULD be wanted be everyone. A stable, democratic Iraq. The end of tyrannies. And vanquishing of terrorists.

Because - does anyone honestly believe that this is about oil? And war profiting? Bill Clinton said this a few years ago and isn't he considered the greatest president ever?:

"The best way to end that threat once and for all is with a new Iraqi government -- a government ready to live in peace with its neighbors, a government that respects the rights of its people," Clinton said.

Such a change in Baghdad would take time and effort, Clinton said, adding that his administration would work with Iraqi opposition forces.

The difference was, Clinton didn't have the balls. Or, they were busy (at the time) doing something else.

Just a thought

If, when you discuss politics, you find yourself unable to proceed without using the words "dipshit" and "fuckwit", perhaps you should refrain. *.

Another Bushitler "tool"

Can you believe this BS?:

It is a war between 27 million and 10,000; 27 million Iraqis who want to live lives of freedom, opportunity and prosperity and roughly 10,000 terrorists who are either Saddam revanchists, Iraqi Islamic extremists or al Qaeda foreign fighters who know their wretched causes will be set back if Iraq becomes free and modern. The terrorists are intent on stopping this by instigating a civil war to produce the chaos that will allow Iraq to replace Afghanistan as the base for their fanatical war-making. We are fighting on the side of the 27 million because the outcome of this war is critically important to the security and freedom of America. If the terrorists win, they will be emboldened to strike us directly again and to further undermine the growing stability and progress in the Middle East, which has long been a major American national and economic security priority.

*******************
I am disappointed by Democrats who are more focused on how President Bush took America into the war in Iraq almost three years ago, and by Republicans who are more worried about whether the war will bring them down in next November's elections, than they are concerned about how we continue the progress in Iraq in the months and years ahead.

Here is an ironic finding I brought back from Iraq. While U.S. public opinion polls show serious declines in support for the war and increasing pessimism about how it will end, polls conducted by Iraqis for Iraqi universities show increasing optimism. Two-thirds say they are better off than they were under Saddam, and a resounding 82% are confident their lives in Iraq will be better a year from now than they are today. What a colossal mistake it would be for America's bipartisan political leadership to choose this moment in history to lose its will and, in the famous phrase, to seize defeat from the jaws of the coming victory.

Don't believe the LIES. Obviously, Bushchenyhalliburton have managed to do a "Manchurian candidate" trick on Lieberman. And, imagine - he should have been vice-president in '00!

Derbyshire has gone too far

John Derbyshire isn't one of the most beloved conservatives, but he goes to far when he writes this in NRO :

t is, in fact, a sad truth about human life that beyond our salad days, very few of us are interesting to look at in the buff. Added to that sadness is the very unfair truth that a woman's salad days are shorter than a man's — really, in this precise context, only from about 15 to 20. The Nautilus and the treadmill can add a half decade or so, but by 36 the bloom is definitely off the rose. Very few of us, however, can face up to this fact honestly, and I am sure this diary item will generate more angry e-mails of protest than everything else I have written this month.

It is not merely due to the fact that I am beyond the 36th year of my life that I disagree with him. A woman's "salad days" are from 15 to 20?? WTF is he talking about? Many women in those "salad days" - especially in the 15 year-old range are definitely not in full womanly plumage. I was barely half-a-head of lettuce back then.

When I was in my teens, I longed for a woman's body; in my mind, that was someone in their twenties.

Now, I'm not speaking for myself, but to say that no woman past the age of 36 is worth looking at is just blaspheme. It shows an immaturity of the mind. I hope his wife doesn't put out for a month.

Books that I can't get through, but should

Gravity's Rainbow
Altas Shrugged
Portrait of a Lady
The Foundation Series
The Great Gastby well I think I have read this one, but it left very little impression on me.


More to come. Why don't you play along?

PSA

From Rasmussen :

Tuesday November 29, 2005--Forty-five percent (45%) of American adults approve of the way George W. Bush is performing his role as President.

Fifty-four percent (54%) of Americans Disapprove of the President's performance.

Seventy-six percent (76%) of Republicans give the President's performance their Approval. That view is shared by 21% of Democrats and 36% of those not affiliated with either major political party.

To break down that 45%, 24% STRONGLY approve and 21% somewhat approve. See, aren't statistics a funny thing? Quoted in comments is a 29% approval number, giving the impression that the rest of the nation is against Bush.

To look at the "disapproval" number - 35% strongly disapprove, and the remaining 15% only somewhat disapprove.

But, honestly, I don't really care that much about poll numbers - since I think most people are idiots and thus how they "feel" about a president is irrelevant. *



*oops, did I say that out loud?

December 20

That is the day Serenity comes out on DVD. You can buy it combined with the complete series for $43! I REALLY wish my husband read my blog.

Yet another reason I home school

Since I home school, I can be sure that my children will never see questions such as the following on a vocabulary quiz:

I wish Bush would be (coherent, eschewed) for once during a speech, but there are theories that his everyday diction charms the below-average mind, hence insuring him Republican votes."

H/t: Jeff

Weekend Report

Calories consumed: Not too bad, and I managed to exercise everyday 'cept Turkey day itself (although I did go for a short walk.) Sorry, Leo. I know how disappointed you must be to find that I don't really fit into the stereotype you've fallen so in love with of Americans. Head-to-neck ratio is just as it should be, and my Cholesterol, blood pressure, etc, are all just perfection.

TV watched: avoided all football games. Ditto any and all parades, although I DID see the Detroit Santa Float on the 94/Woodward overpass on my way South to see the inlaws. "LOOK KIDS, THERE'S SANTA!" All the fun, none of the zero degree cold.

And, I finally watched the first DVD of Firefly and I have to say it rocked! Anyone know how many episodes in total there are? I want to prepare myself ... pace myself, if you will. I'm Netflixing them, but I really really like what I've seen so far. I might have to ask for them from Santa.

What are you Thankful for?

I, for one, am Thankful my forefathers had the good sense to get out of Europe.

Minutia

I know you all could care less about this - but I can now "see"The Shape of Days. Yea me.

I'm crafting

Too busy crafting today to blog. Of course, I'm sure Leo is imaging that I'm knitting toaster cozies or painting rocks.

A funny

While visiting his niece, an elderly man had what was apparently a stroke. The woman drove wildly to get him to the emergency room. After what seemed  like a very long wait, the E.R. doctor appeared, wearing his scrubs and a  long face. Sadly, he said, "I'm afraid that your uncle's brain is dead, but his heart is still beating."
"Oh, dear," cried the woman, her hands clasped against her cheeks with shock.
"We've never had a Democrat in the family before!"

Is it just me?

It might just be me, but right now, I can't get enough of System of a Down. Don't care for their politics, but I can ignore that.

A Weekend game

No, not football. But, I'm reading Ray Bradbury's S is for Space and I was thinking if I could "be" any author I wanted to, it would be him. I'd have a house that looked like the Jetson's and I might even start smoking a pipe. I would be so cool.

it's not my fault

That on fridays I'm in a bloggy mood, but no one is around.

Well, that totally sucks

My oven isn't working. The stove top is fine, and the broiler goes on, but the oven just sits there. Good thing I don't have anything going on this weekend. OH YEA, I do. It's Ian and Erin's birthday. Guess I won't be baking a cake.

And, it's not as if the entire stove wasn't working, and I'm relieved of cooking.

3281 and counting

A bit down in comments, Leo mentions two incidents of Christian terror in recent history (one is 20 years old). I couldn't find it at the time, but here is the running total of Deadly terror attacks carried out by Islamic crazies since 9/11. That was, in case you forgot, only 4 years ago.

If numbers and charts aren't your thing,here (graphic warning) is an illustrative picture of what Islamic terrorists do to innocent Christians.

Campus life

The following is an email reply from Warren Community College English professor John Daly, to student Rebecca Beach who had asked the faculty to announce the appearance of a decorated Iraqi War Hero (Lt. Col. Scott Rutter.)

Remember, as you read the following, that those opposed to the war are supportive of the military.

November 13, 2005

Dear Rebecca:

I am asking my students to boycott your event. I am also going to ask others to boycott it. Your literature and signs in the entrance lobby look like fascist propaganda and is extremely offensive. Your main poster "Communism killed 100,000,000" is not only untrue, but ignores the fact that CAPITALISM has killed many more and the evidence for that can be seen in the daily news papers. The U.S. government can fly to dominate the people of Iraq in 12 hours, yet it took them five days to assist the people devastated by huricane Katrina. Racism and profits were key to their priorities. Exxon, by the way, made $9 Billion in profits this last quarter--their highest proft margin ever. Thanks to the students of WCCC and other poor and working class people who are recruited to fight and die for EXXON and other corporations who earning megaprofits from their imperialist plunders. If you want to count the number of deaths based on political systems, you can begin with the more than a million children who have died in Iraq from U.S.-imposed sanctions and war. Or the million African American people who died from lack of access to healthcare in the US over the last 10 years.

I will continue to expose your right-wing, anti-people politics until groups like your won't dare show their face on a college campus. Real freedom will come when soldiers in Iraq turn their guns on their superiors and fight for just causes and for people's needs--such freedom fighters can be counted throughout American history and they certainly will be counted again.


Prof. John Daly

Ah, the mind-expanding experience of college.

Another vicotry

For Michael Moore's minutemen:

Two suicide bombers strapped with explosives killed at least 74 people and reduced two crowded Shi'ite mosques to rubble during Friday prayers in the northeast Iraqi town of Khanaqin.

More bodies were trapped, said Ibrahim Ahmed Bajalan, a member of the Diyala provincial council. "I think there are more than 100 people dead," he said. Another lesser blast was reported near a bank in the town, police said.

Kamaran Ahmed, the director of Khanaqin hospital, said 74 people had been confirmed killed and 150 wounded. He said many bodies were too badly mutilated to identify.

So, lemme get this straight. Last week, muslims burned down two Christian churches over a rumor that a Koran was defaced, yet here in Iraq you have Arabs blowing up Mosques filled with other Arabs? It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world. Religion of beauty, guys, remember that.

100 pages

I'm giving this Book one hundred pages.

And then, I might torch it.

Oye, not again

Apparently, the relative obscurity to which Cindy! has been regulated to in the last few months doesn't sit well. In an attempt to relive her glory days, Cindy! is returning to Crawford:

The fallen soldier’s mother who drew thousands to her 26-day war protest near President Bush’s ranch this summer plans to return for Thanksgiving next week, despite new county ordinances banning roadside camping.

Cindy Sheehan and at least a dozen supporters are prepared to be arrested as they return to the makeshift campsite along the road leading to Bush’s ranch, where he is expected to spend the holiday.

“It is critical for our democracy that we continue to ask the same questions that Cindy Sheehan asked this summer: What is the noble cause for the war with Iraq, and at what point do we say enough bloodshed has happened?” said Hadi Jawad, co-founder of the Crawford Peace House.

This is like Groundhog Day isn't it? It doesn't matter how many times the question gets asked, and answered - the next day it gets asked all over again.

But, you know, my kids do this. They ask me if they can buy candy when we are at the grocery store. I never say yes. The answer is always the same. Yet, every time we go shopping, they ask again, as if THIS time they are going to get the answer they want. The answer Cindy! wants, of course, is that it was a folly to go to war, and that all our men should return home immediately. Consequences be damned.

Well, drat

I guess I can't read Shape of Days for a while. The problem must lie in my older version of Safari -which just refuses to reveal his posts. I looked into updating it, but the only new version I could find was one that goes with the brand-spanking new OS X 10.4 (actually, I found one that goes with 10.3, but am using a 10.2 version.) So, until I feel like plunking down another $130 bucks for a new OS, guess I'll have to content myself with other bloggers.

I sure hope none of my other links decide to go all high-tech on me. I might have to return to reading books.

I WIN!

I win I win! I won Rob's Rob goes to Court contest by correctly answering a bunch of unknowable questions. So, I get TWO tins of Scott's Survival Spice. I am so excited.

New link

Right there on the top of my link list-------> see it? I got an email from my bil in Baghdad, and he informed me it was his commander's blog. So, up it goes. Last word I heard was that he would be leaving Iraq right around New Year's day.

I deleted a couple- ASV is gone, as are a few more that looked like they had been abandoned by their Author (so sad, poor abandoned blogs.) I would like to know what's the deal with Shape of Days which doesn't appear to have an actual POST, just a new appearance.

Yes, indeed

Jawa Report highlights this:

The LA Times’ Dennis Prager asks five simple questions of law abiding Muslims.
(1) Why are you so quiet?
(2) Why are none of the Palestinian terrorists Christian?
(3) Why is only one of the 47 Muslim-majority countries a free country?
(4) Why are so many atrocities committed and threatened by Muslims in the name of Islam?
(5) Why do countries governed by religious Muslims persecute other religions?

The Dennis Prager article can be found here.

Usually, when these types of questions are asked, the peanut gallery points out that Christians have a spotty history themselves. Granted. But that is HISTORY. Let's try to live in the present.

Detroit

From Jayne, in comments:

Little late to comment on this, but, I heard on 3 local radio shows that Kwame is being seriously looked at as a future big contender for the Democrats nationally. Bad for the country and the democrats, but good for Detroit as they could get rid of him. Also, has anyone mentioned the fact that Kwame, Jesse, and Farrakan used the Rosa Parks ceremony for a campaign event for Kwame? And how Detroit chuches seem immune to losing their tax exempt status in spite of holding campaign speeches regularly? Detroit is corrupt, and everyone has heard about it with the exception of the two Levins, Conyers, and Granholm.
One more thing. Pictures of Detroit would be great. You should do that. Have you ever been to the site Detroit Funk? He has pictures of Detroit decay at his site.

Kwame would be a horrible choice. All image, absolutely NO substance. He went to a nothing college, and never existed outside of politics (someone PLEASE tell me, but I think he got his first political job by taking his mother's place.) Really, I'm a Republican to the bone, but I wouldn't wish Kwame on them.

I was ON the Rosa Parks bus yesterday (it is housed at a wonderful museum called "The Henry Ford" - a local treasure, and national gem.) As I mentioned before, I question the timing of Parks death - it certainly provided a wonderful platform for Kwame to politic and pander. I get pretty sick of hearing out awful and racist all whites are, as I sat on that bus, filled with white people listening to the details of Rosa's bus ride. It was a Sunday afternoon, and there wasn't a black person in the entire museum. WHY is that? In a city that is 85% black, why wasn't there any black people there at all?

I think I will do the Detroit pictures, but I will have to figure out a better method than using Flickr. Once I tackle that ...

Go see

This

The latest from France

No-Parasan passes along all the lastest information from France.

(snicker)

Today's parenting strategy

La la la, I don't hear you...

Sigh

Detroit reelected it's corrupt, hip-hop mayor. You can always count on those dem voters to give a guy another chance. Especially one who uses race politics to convince the people that he is blacker than his challenger.

Coleman Young served for five consecutive terms in Detroit; driving the city into the cesspool it became, while enriching his friends. This is the tradition young Kwame hopes to follow.

Kwame Kilpatrick! Not good news for the city, but a good time to be one of his friends!

(how's that for a slogan?)

Mauvais Chien!

DSC00484
Originally uploaded by Carinroz.

Paris riots don't exist on HuffPo Blog

At least I couldn't find a single reference to them. Not ONE of the HuffPo blow-hards could squeeze out a few lines regarding the riots in France? I mean, there are acceptable angles to the story from a liberal standpoint (poverty, racism), but that would mean the French would be the perpetrators- not Bushitler, Rove, and right-wing Republicans. Upon making this discovery, evidently Huffpo bloggers get a bad case of writers block.

Predictions

I'm hoping NRO's John J Miller is right- this from The Corner:

And in a city close to my own heart, I'm anticipating a small piece of good news: In the mayoral race, Freman Hendrix (D) will oust incumbent Kwame Kilpatrick (D), a man with a wonderfully alliterative melting-pot name but also a fellow who has cared more about taxpayer-funded private parties than improving a city that still needs a lot of help.

The Riots, day 12

I find this curious:

The nightly protests against racism and unemployment dropped markedly in the greater Paris region, where violence had increased to the point of shooting at police, but continued unabated in other cities

What better means to eliminate people's racist opinions of you than to burn, loot, and create violent mayhem? "You know, I used to have ill-thoughts about Mohammad, but ever since he burned down my store, and torched my car I've seen the light. I think I'll hire him!"

Also, what does it mean that the protests are down, but violence has increased? I think I'd prefer the protests to violence, but that's just me.

The renewed violence followed a warning by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin that he would take a firm line against lawbreakers.

I hear Villepin is considering making it illegal to burn and loot. I don't know if he's considering the ultimate sentence - actual JAILING- but I'm hoping it's being considered. Nice to hear they are getting serious about this.

In the early days of the riots, I saw a report (most likely on Foxnews) that the French were proud that no one had been hurt, because the French police have non-lethal methods of dealing with the rioters. And - I'm thinking- perhaps if they had a FEW semi-lethal methods, the riots wouldn't be spreading across Europe like wildfire.

Amazing disappearing post pt 3

And the dumbest EVER use of the race card ...

Goes to "Steve Reifman", lawyer to Detroit City Clerk Jackie Currie :

"We feel all this is a violation of civil rights and the ability of black people to vote," Steve Reifman told The Detroit News.

What is the violation? Well, since a ruling has been made that Currie has been breaking state law in her handling (stress on the word handling) of absentee ballots, and supervision of "ambassadors" who aid the elder and disabled while voting, the State Bureau of Elections wants to "oversee" the absentee voting practices in tomorrow's election.

Can someone explain to me exactly WHERE the violation of civil rights of blacks is occurring. Black people can't vote because ....?? The funniest thing, is that the city of Detroit is 80% black. They have been in power in Detroit for as longs as I can remember. Besides, absentee ballots are not a "black thing" (as far as I know)- so by "disenfranchising" them would be equalized across race lines. Overseeing the handling of absentee ballots sure is a far cry from disenfranchisement anyhoo. This woman is just beyond corrupt, and willing to do just about anything to retain her position (and salary.)

I Report, You Decide

Poster-boy for Michael Moore or lying sack of excrement?

Same-sex marriage won't affect heteros

That is the claim made by advocates for same-sex marriage; that concerns that it will degrade traditional marriage are unsubstantiated, ridiculous, and (of course) homophobic. But then there is thisgoing on in the Great White North, where same-sex marriage was legalized in June:

When male-female marriage and same-sex marriage become equal in the eyes of the law, treating them differently becomes discrimination. In Canada, "privileging" male-female marriage in any way is now a violation of human rights. According to Henry, "Canadians who believe in the historic definition of marriage, who believe that children need a mother and father, are now the legal equivalent of racists."

Today, Canada is combing through its laws and institutions to remove evidence of heterosexist discrimination. Terms such as husband and wife are now forbidden across the spectrum of Canadian law and government programs. The legal meaning of parenthood is being transformed, with consequences no one can predict.

Henry says Canadian schools are becoming battlegrounds. "Children will have to be taught about homosexual acts in health class, as they now are about heterosexual acts. Books that promote same-sex marriage are being introduced in some elementary schools. In one action, complainants have demanded 'positive queer role models' across the whole curriculum. If parents complain, they'll be branded as homophobes." Sound farfetched? People who disagree with same-sex marriage risk charges of hate speech. In British Columbia, teacher Chris Kempling has been found guilty -- and disciplined -- for defending male-female marriage in newspaper opinion pieces. Henry himself has been hauled before the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal for promoting traditional marriage in his pastoral letters. "The human rights tribunals have become like thought police," he says. "In Canada, you can now use the coercive powers of the state to silence opposition."

What begins as an argument for "equal rights for all", opens the door for an entire cultural revolution. The merits of gay marriage aside, this issue isn't just about equal rights. There should be a bit more honesty in the debate.

Amazing disappearing post pt 1

Amazing disappearing post pt 2

Harsh words for the president

From Mister Snitch

Accused of changing the rationale for 'his' war, and hounded for mismanaging it. Derided as an uninspiring public speaker. Belittled as an idiot. Blamed for dividing the nation. Charged with incompetence in his administration. Accused of trampling on the Constitution. Engaged in censorship and manipulation of the press. Mockingly compared with lower primates. Pressured for a key Cabinet Advisor's resignation. Of course, we're referring to Lincoln.

I guess with his low approval numbers, old Abe really sucked as a president too?

Offered without comment

From The New York Sun via Instapundit

Back in the 1990s, the French sneered at America for the Los Angeles riots. As the Chicago Sun-Times reported in 1992: "the consensus of French pundits is that something on the scale of the Los Angeles riots could not happen here, mainly because France is a more humane, less racist place with a much stronger commitment to social welfare programs." President Mitterrand, the Washington Post reported in 1992, blamed the riots on the "conservative society" that Presidents Reagan and Bush had created and said France is different because it "is the country where the level of social protection is the highest in the world."

Don't cry for me ...

According to the AP thousands are protesting Bush's visit to Latin America:

The protesters' voice inside the summit meeting room will be Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the leftist leader who opposes Bush's economic model. He arrived early Friday vowing to stop the stalled Free Trade Area of the Americas or FTAA.

"I think we came here to bury FTAA. I brought my shovel," Chavez told reporters.

Chavez is due to speak at an alternative Peoples' Summit at midday before the two-day meeting of leaders begins in the afternoon.

Yea - Good luck with that. Chavez is a fan of "Bolivarianism":

Thus Chávez proclaimed that "a new type of socialism, a humanist one, which puts humans and not machines or the state ahead of everything."[ He later reiterated this in a February 26 speech at the 4th Summit on the Social Debt held in Caracas. To charges from business leaders that Chávez is eroding private property rights, and from the Roman Catholic cardinal that he was becoming a dictator, he said that Venezuelans must choose between "capitalism, which is the road to hell, or socialism, for those who want to build the kingdom of God here on earth."

Yes, all those socialist paradises I read so often about. Give me Hell.

Friday

DSC00462
Originally uploaded by Carinroz.

LOOK, A cute CAT! (This is how blogging should be done on Friday, since the internets are dead dead dead.)

Word of the day

There are Oreos and then there are Oreos!

And what's the deal with the Heil Hitler picture they used of Steele?

One more time-

Miniter on the Civilian Iraqi body count:

When I investigated the 100,000 dead-civilians claim, I was surprised at how quickly it fell apart. The 100,000 figure is based on a single study in a British medical journal published just days before the 2004 elections. The authors were open about their anti-Bush bias. They got the 100,000 by knocking on doors in 33 neighborhoods across Iraq. They simply asked Iraqis how many civilian deaths they knew about. They did not take any steps to avoid double counting. They didn't demand any proof, such as a funeral notice or a newspaper clipping. Instead they decided to just trust Iraqis to give them straight dope. So if you interview Baghdad Bob you know what kind of answers you're going to get. In that chapter, I also uncovered four other major technical flaws with that study. The 100,000 dead civilians claim is provably false.

Even Iraq Body Count puts the number between 26,797 and (max) 30,163. To end-run the objections to that number, have a look at the profiles of the "Contacts and Team Members" who run the site: it is filled with self-proclaimed Peace Activists and the like.

One lie at a time.

A puzzle

Jeff is fucking with us. Anyone know what it means?

Buy me this book

There are actually two books on my "must have" list. The first is one by Peter Schweizer called Do As I Say (Not as I do). It profiles 11 prominent liberals and exposes them as hypocrites (not living they life they so strongly advocate for us "little people".) I found the Publisher's Weekly review rather humorous:

many of his charges are egregiously hyperbolic, as when he suggests that Cornel West is a "segregationist" because he bought a home in a largely Caucasian suburb. Schweizer clearly knows the limitations of his argument, since he backpedals from many of his most damning statements in his closing remarks. For all its revelations, in the end, this volume reads less like a critique of liberal philosophy than a catalogue of ammunition for ad hominem bloggers.

I think I know the way THAT reviewer voted in '04. Anyway, onto the fun stuff! Here is some of the funny revealed in the book:

Michael Moore owns 2000 shares of Halliburton stock! SAY IT ISN'T SO, oh champion of the little people, and slayer of Halliburton

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who proclaims her support for unions, yet the luxury resort, the vineyard and the restaurants she partly owns are strictly non-union. While she advocates tough new laws enforcing environmental regulations on the private sector, the exclusive country club she partly owns failed to comply with existing environmental regulations for the past eight years – including a failure to protect endangered species.

Noam Chomsky has made a reputation for calling America a police state and branding the Pentagon "the most hideous institution on earth," yet his entire academic career, writes Schweizer, has been subsidized by the U.S. military.

Barbra Streisand is another proponent of environmentalism, yet she drives an SUV, lives in a mansion and has a $22,000 annual water bill. In the past, she has driven to appointments in Beverly Hills in a motor home because of her aversion to using public bathrooms.

Ralph Nader plays the role of the citizen avenger – the populist uninterested in wealth and materialism, pretending to live in a modest apartment. In fact, he lives in fancy homes registered in the names of his siblings.

Thanks to the Mayor, who directed me to this article which had highlights from the book.

The other book I really really really want (and will probably get first) is Richard Miniter's Disinformation: 22 Media Myths that Undermine the War on Terror. He's been interviewed just about everywhere in the last week or so, so I've been totally pumped and primed to get my hands on the book. Maybe I need to take a little trip out today?

Goodbye

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Originally uploaded by Carinroz.

Puce, Ontario. Family cottage for over 50 years.

Obviously...

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Originally uploaded by Carinroz.

Greta and Iggie hate each other.

Fall in Michigan

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Originally uploaded by Carinroz.

I'll be posting just a few pictures I took the last few days. The color on this tree (although I have a hard time calling these Japanese miniatures "trees") is just amazing. It only partly comes out in this picture.

I can't keep up

Life is interfering with my hobby - so until I can digest all that's occurred in the last two days, don't expect much more than cat pictures. Tomorrow looks good. I have to figure out what the deal is with this Rule 21 maneuver.

Religion of Peace Update

It appears that conversion at the sword continues:

Men in black clothes and masks beheaded three teenage Christian girls on Saturday in eastern Indonesia as they walked to school near the Muslim town of Poso, officials said. 

For those unsure - Christians were the victims and Mulsims were the murderers.

Must read

By the always interesting, always informative Amir Taheri:

This fake Islamic hijab is nothing but a political prop, a weapon of visual terrorism. It is the symbol of a totalitarian ideology inspired more by Nazism and Communism than by Islam. It is as symbolic of Islam as the Mao uniform was of Chinese civilization. It is used as a means of exerting pressure on Muslim women who do not wear it because they do not share the sick ideology behind it. It is a sign of support for extremists who wish to impose their creed, first on Muslims, and then on the entire world through psychological pressure, violence, terror, and, ultimately, war. The tragedy is that many of those who wear it are not aware of its implications. They do so because they have been brainwashed into believing that a woman cannot be a ''good Muslim'' without covering her head with the Sadr-designed hijab.

Here in Detroit, the sight of the Hijab on Arab and African American women isn't that rare . And I detest it. It's nice to know that I'm not being intolerant of religion. Especially interesting to discover was that this symbol (in the West) of Islam is an invention that dates back to (only) 1977.

H/t: Protein Wisdom- which had a kind of interesting discussion on this before it got ... sidetracked.

What media bias?

What the New York Times printed:

Another member of the 1/5, Cpl. Jeffrey B. Starr, rejected a $24,000 bonus to re-enlist. Corporal Starr believed strongly in the war, his father said, but was tired of the harsh life and nearness of death in Iraq. So he enrolled at Everett Community College near his parents' home in Snohomish, Wash., planning to study psychology after his enlistment ended in August.

But he died in a firefight in Ramadi on April 30 during his third tour in Iraq. He was 22.

Sifting through Corporal Starr's laptop computer after his death, his father found a letter to be delivered to the marine's girlfriend. ''I kind of predicted this,'' Corporal Starr wrote of his own death. ''A third time just seemed like I'm pushing my chances.''

The complete thought:

"Obviously if you are reading this then I have died in Iraq. I kind of predicted this, that is why I'm writing this in November. A third time just seemed like I'm pushing my chances. I don't regret going, everybody dies but few get to do it for something as important as freedom. It may seem confusing why we are in Iraq, it's not to me. I'm here helping these people, so that they can live the way we live. Not have to worry about tyrants or vicious dictators. To do what they want with their lives. To me that is why I died. Others have died for my freedom, now this is my mark."

It appears that this would be the response to Saint Cindy who keeps saying she just wants George Bush to tell her what is the "Noble Cause" her son fought for. Apparently Cpl. Starr knew why he was fighting. Nothing makes me madder than the accusations (by Cindy and company) that these MEN are naive simpletons blindly following orders for a cause they do not understand. They, better than any, understand what this is about.

h/t: Michelle Malkin

All together now ...

"All we are saying, is give peace a chance ..."

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed international condemnation of his call for Israel to be "wiped off the map", saying his controversial remarks were "right and just."

The official IRNA news agency quoted Mr. Ahmadinejad Friday as saying international scorn had no validity. He said his words express the views of the Iranian people.

Tens of thousands of Iranians staged anti-Israel protests across the country today, trampling on Israeli and American flags and chanting "death to Israel."

The latest events came amid Israeli calls for Iran's expulsion from the United Nations. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday the rights of all states in the Middle East to live in peace will top the agenda of his upcoming visit to Iran.

We need to understand the Iranians and how our imperialism has led them to have these feelings. It is, after all, our fault. They are obviously our moral superior and deserving of a seat on the UN. Yes, the US and Israel could learn a lot from Iran. We should be ashamed of ourselves.

Cat Funny

By that cat blogging fellow over at This blog is full of crap. The first one is my favorite.

New book

NRO's Kathryn Lopez interviews the author of Do As I Say (Not As I Do), and comes up with this nugget:

One overarching kinda question: We all have our moments of hypocrisy. That we don't practice what we preach doesn't make what we preach any less valid. People are human, etc. Is there something about your book that is somewhat fundamentally unfair?


Schweizer: Yes, we are all hypocrites and I talk about that in the book. But liberal hypocrisy and conservative hypocrisy are quite different on two accounts. First, you hear about conservative hypocrisy all the time. A pro-family congressman caught in an extramarital affair, a minister caught in the same. This stuff is exposed by the media all the time. The leaders of the liberal-Left get a complete pass on their hypocrisy. Second, and this is even more important, the consequences of liberal hypocrisy are different than for the conservative variety. When conservatives abandon their principles and become hypocrites, they end up hurting themselves and their families. Conservative principles are like guard rails on a winding road. They are irritating but fundamentally good for you. Liberal hypocrisy is the opposite. When the liberal-left abandon their principles and become hypocrites, they actually improve their lives. Their kids end up in better schools, they have more money, and their families are more content. Their ideas are truly that bad.

You have to read the entire interview, which highlights the hypocricy of the paragons of liberal virture such as Michael Moore, Al Franken, and Noam Chomsky.

snort

WHEN will it end??? Arianna leads with "Plamegate: Worse than Watergate." Someone has sunk so deep into partisan politics, I doubt she could tell her head from her ass.

Useful Idiots

Some tool over on HuffPo wrote a long piece about why he's going to get himself arrested, with Saint Cindy today, in commemoration of the 2000th death. He gives his reasons for protest, and I found this one interesting:

* Anger -- I'm extremely angry. A gang of criminals blatantly lied to the world about the reasons for the slaughter. There could be no acceptable reasons for such a thing, but I would be less angry -- I think -- or it would be a very different anger if they had given honest reasons and my compatriots had accepted them. Instead they told lies. They concocted stories. They forged documents! And many of us knew they were lying. They weren't even so much lying as going through the motions of lying -- this was the level of their arrogance. This sort of arrogance may never before have seen its match outside of the profession of journalism -- a profession about which I am too angry to speak.

It is sentence number three that I find so interesting. There could be no acceptable reasons for such a thing. All the screaming and accusations "Bush lied, people died" are just a cover for the fact that many of these people are against war for any purposes. They truly believe that peaceful solutions can be found for any and all situations. That, perhaps, OBL can be sat down and talked to. Besides, isn't is our OWN fault that he did what he did? Didn't we cause 9/11 indirectly? Well, that's what I learned from Chomsky.

You know, I would really REALLY like to see some peacenik sitting down with an Islamic fascist, and the two having a go at the peace process.

292,131

That was the US cost of life fighting against Fascism and Japanese Imperialism in WWII.

Tomorrow, there will be gatherings across the US to commemorate passing the 2000th American military death in Iraq. One such gathering will be just a mile or so from my house. Will I be there? I just might be.

You're all imbeciles

I USED to be an imbecile, but then I read the wise, wise words of Cenk Uygur, and now I'm a new person! Who would have thought the Huffington Post could have such a sage of wisdom?

George W. Bush is the most powerful man alive. He is a class A imbecile. He is far less intelligent than the average Christian. But like most of the others, he believes Jesus died for his sins. That idea is so perverse and devoid of logic it should shock the conscience. Instead, it gets him elected, and earns him the reverence of a great percentage of America. America! The most advanced country in the world -- run by a bunch of villagers who still believe Santa Claus is going to save them.

There is no damn Easter Bunny. There is no Jesus waiting to return. Moses never even existed. These were all convenient lies from the men of those times to gain power. Their actions were rational -- they wanted to deceive their brethren so that they could amass power. I get their motivations. But I cannot, for the life of me, understand our motivations, thousands of years later, still following the conmen of yesteryear into our gory, bloody, violent end.

Jesus is said to have said on the cross, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Because Jesus was insane and the God he thought would rescue him did not exist. And he died on that cross like a fool. He fancied himself the son of God and he could barely convince twelve men to follow him at a time when the world was full of superstition.

Of course, you must read it all (link in title of post.) Or not. What an arrogant asshole.

What is happening to me?

Nielsen's top 20 shows for last week :

1 CSI (never watched this show ever.)

2 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (watched for half of last year, then got kinda bored)

3 WITHOUT A TRACE (I have seen one or two episodes of this show.)

4 LOST (In my" top 3"- 24, Battlestar Galactica, Lost.)

5 GREY'S ANATOMY (Never watched.)

6 CSI: MIAMI (never watched.)

7 NCIS (I've never even heard of this show)

8 COMMANDER IN CHIEF (refuse to watch)

9 SURVIVOR: GUATEMALA (Never ever watched.)

10 60 MINUTES (You're joking, right? I think the last time I watched of of these, I was still in high school, which - trust me on this - was a long time ago.)

11 NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (Well, this is often ON in my house, but I don't watch it personally.)

12 LAW AND ORDER:SVU (If I'm awake, and it's on, I will watch.)

13 CSI: NY (Never watched.)

14 TWO AND A HALF MEN (Never watched.)

15 EXTREME MAKEOVER:HOME ED. (I've seen this once or twice.)

16 E.R. (occasionally watch.)

17 COLD CASE (Don't watch.)

18 FOX MLB LCS: GMS 1&2(S) (You don't need me to respond to this one, do you?)

19 CRIMINAL MINDS (Never watched, never heard of it.)

20 MLB DIV : AL (see #18.)

Anyway - I'm going to be one of those Nielsen's households in a few weeks. I'm gonna try to shake things up. Just wait, Battlestar will be #1!

Teaching our kids to be good little Muslims

File this under "YGTBFKM"*:

For three weeks, impressionable twelve-year-old students were, among other things, placed into Islamic city groups, took Islamic names, wore identification tags that displayed their new Islamic name and the Star and Crescent Moon, which is the symbol of Muslims, were handed materials that instructed them to “Remember Allah always so that you may prosper,” completed the Islamic Five Pillars of Faith, including fasting, and memorized and recited the “Bismillah” or “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,” which students also wrote on banners that were hung on the classroom walls.

Of course, there is a court case, and it started yesterday. What were they thinking? A kid can't even sing "Silent Night" in a school's "Holiday Concert" now-a-days, yet they were spending three weeks indoctrinating them on Islam.

*You got to be f-ing kidding me.

Huh?

This from Black Panther leader Malik Zulu Shabazz:

We are here to say clearly, and we got proof, that black people are the original people of the planet Earth.
That you are, black man and black woman, the original man and the original woman on the face of the planet Earth — there is no question about it. Huh? We were just watchin’ TV tonight and they went back and said they made a mistake. That they had the first Homo sapiens, was from Ethiopia, come from the word ethiops, meaning from the land of the black and the burnt-skinned people. That they found the oldest human Homo sapien, and Ethiopia, they thought he was a hundred and sixty thousand years old, but they say they made a 35,000-year-old mistake. Two hundred thousand years old! The Homo sapien, the progenitor of the modern human. Then they went back in Africa — I said Africa — Don’t care what they say about Africa, let me tell you about Africa — that they came and they said that they found the oldest fossils of the human ancestors and years ago, uh, L.S.B. Leakey and others gave her a date, they called her “Lucy”, the skeletal remains, and gave her a birthdate of two million years old. Then they went back and found another ancestor, uh, of THAT, uh, progenitor, and found an ancestor THREE million years old! FOUR million years old! They cannot find the origin of the black man and the black woman. (“That’s right!”) You know why? It’s because we are without origin. And we are without father and without mother. We are the original people on the planet — we are the responsible for the existence of the white race! (Applause.)

Iraqi Flashback

Went reading and found these "pre-election" thoughts over at Iraq the Model, written by Mohammed:

I am so excited but a flashback from Saddam’s referendum three years ago still hurts; he wanted a 100% as the 99.96% of the previous one shocked the dictator. I was depressed that way and I decided not to go to the voting office and so did the rest of the family but my father was afraid that not going could be dangerous.
He said that maybe one member of the family could go alone and cast votes for the rest of us. We looked at each other thinking who’s going to volunteer to do this ugly job to protect the family. At that moment my father said “it was my generation that caused the misery we’re living in so I’m the one who should do this”.
I couldn’t stop him and I couldn’t utter a word but I felt sad for him; his sacrifice was big and I had teary eyes when I watched him taking our papers and heading out.

It is different this time father, no more 100% and a ‘no’ would make me happy just like a ’yes’ would do and no one ever will force us to do something against our will anymore.
Tomorrow will be another day for Iraqi bravery. May God protect you my people…you have suffered so much and you will still be suffering for some time but I am sure the future will be bright.
God bless you my people and all the freedom lovers who keep sacrificing to make this world a better place.

Mohammed also wrote about finding a leaflet on his door the morning of the vote - that urged him to vote "no" because the constitution was a "Zionist plot." Heh, I never tire of that joke.