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October 31, 2006
MSM Moralizing Alert!
CBS is trolling on Craigslist for "families who have traditional family values" to portray (leap of faith) as bigots:
Do you get nervous when you see a Muslim on an airplane? Have your opinions about Muslims changed since September 11? Do you have family or friends that get nervous around Muslims?
A NEW CBS SHOW SEEKS New York families who have traditional family values but are uneasy around Muslims.
The show will profile families in different communities across the country. This one hour documentary-style series from the producers of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Deal or No Deal" will take a look at the people and cultures that make up America.
Wonder if the Extreme Makeover folks will actually slap these people in the face, or just do it figuratively.
Via American Thinker, where Thomas Lifson pitches a few other show ideas.
UPDATE: Gadsden Flag adds:
No surprise that Hollywood will try to portray Americans with traditional values as bigots and portray all Muslims as oppressed and misunderstood. Here are some ideas for reality shows that we'll never see:
1) Queer Eye for the Muslim Guy: The fun loving cast of Queer Eye is parachuted into downtown Tehran on a mission to do something about all those tacky sandals, bland turbans, and unflattering flowing robes. No network camera crews are necessary. Within hours, videos start appearing on al Jazeera showing the fashion consultants being forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint, and then stoned to death in the public square for being homosexual. Pilot only.
2) Islam's Hottest Mom: A behind the burqa look at the goings on at an ankles-only beauty contest.
3) Extremist Makeover: Each week a young martyr is selected for a makeover. Watch what a 10 pound high explosive belt can do to human flesh.
4) Survivor-Fallujah: A team of Sunnis and a team of Shias compete for oil rights to the Triangle of Death. In a twist on the popular American version of the show, each team votes on the removal of members of the other team. Contestants are voted off the face of the earth, tortured with power drills, shot in the back of the head, and dumped in a river.
5) Dhimmi or No Dhimmi: Each week a new Christian church in a country ruled by Sharia is burned to the ground and the congregation gunned down. Next season the title changes to "No Dhimmi."
Posted by bill at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)
October 30, 2006
Et tu, Rupert?
Via GadsdenFlag: The once-conservative NY Post endorses not only Hillary Clinton but Elliot Spitzer, too.
Hmm. Double hmm.
Posted by bill at 07:33 PM | Comments (0)
What's happening in Mexico?
Mark in Mexico emails with a follow-up on the death of journalist Brad Will, who died in Oaxaca, Mexico after being hit with para-military bullets aimed at unarmed demonstrators. He writes:
It does not cease to amaze me how many people, mostly Americans, are not taking the violence and danger here seriously. I still receive emails saying, "Everyone is so friendly," and, "We didn't have any trouble at all." They then go on to castigate me for blowing the situation out of proportion. Well, maybe so. If they consider the 7 Mexicans who have been murdered and the one who was decapitated by the steel cable stretched across a street as, in some manner, proportional, then maybe they're right. My view on it is that a murder is a murder. Furthermore, as far as the "We haven't had any trouble at all,", neither had the now dead American, at least not up until today. It only takes one time, as he discovered, much too late.
Posted by bill at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2006
Your Friday Noonan
As much as I enjoy Ann Coulter's talent for humorous hyperbole, I appreciate Noonan's finesse and subtlety even more. Check out this column. I don't agree with her conclusions about how sophisticated the bulk of the electorate is, but I can't dismiss her view. Most people are at best underinformed, and often totally uninformed, about issues of substance. But her comments on Bush and the need for the GOP to lose echo lots of ofther things we've heard lately.
Posted by GadsdenFlag at 03:49 PM | Comments (1)
October 26, 2006
Exposed cheekbones as raw meat left outdoors, and other analogies
An Islamic cleric who recently told his flock that a woman's place is in the home has now apologized.
Uncovered meat attracts cats, Sheik Taj Aldin al Hilali had reminded his flock, and obviously one cannot blame cats for attacking uncovered meat. Women who leave their homes, etc., are the meat, see, so rape, when you think about it, isn't really the perp's fault. Blame the meat.
Anyway, like I said the Sheik has apologized, saying something had been "lost in translation"; he'd "only intended to protect women's honour."
Dirka, dirka.
Posted by bill at 12:59 PM | Comments (0)
The significance of two men kissing
Last night the extremists at the Federalist Society in NYC hosted a debate of sorts about the elections, and the potential policy ramifications if Dems take over the House and/or the Senate. Because I am a dork and an extremist, I attended with a few friends, and had the chance to meet John Fund and Jim Taranto of the Wall Street Journal, the surprisingly tall Jim Pinkerton, and Stormy Waters Ellis Henican (Sealab info here) who served (and well) as the token liberal/whipping boy.
Ordinarily Fed Soc debates are a better balanced; this was moreso a "discussion," with the exception of Henican, reminiscent of this "debate". Kudos to Henican for being what my father would call a "thinking liberal."
Despite the gay marriage decision in NJ yesterday, Henican predicted that gay marriage won't be the base-rallying issue it was for Republicans in 2004. Pinkerton had pointed to the decision as new evidence Democrats face what's essentially a systemic backlash: as novelty issues come to the dais, and as social "progress" introduces (and circulates) issues like stem cell research, gay marriage, etc., Dems are finding themselves at odds with a fundamentally center-right country.
It's hard to dismiss what will be a two-week long, viral response to the image of two men french kissing, as was featured yesterday on AP reports. It might not mean a vote for the serpentine Republican Tom Kean NJ, or one against Kean's equally serpentine opponent, but elections are fundamentally a marketing exercise, and this imagery cannot have been greeted as good news over at the DNC.
Posted by bill at 08:47 AM | Comments (1)
October 25, 2006
DIY Video
Setting free the truth. Or is it, setting us free from Democrats. Whatever. Watch the video.
H/T: NY State Senate candidate and CJ Alum Suitably Flip.
Posted by bill at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2006
Nature. Awesome.
And you think you're having a bad day?
"The pigeon was still alive when it reached the pelican's stomach," says the photographer. Story here.
Posted by bill at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2006
"Seems that no one takes me serious-ree..."
Blame Bush: Kim Jong Il "expressed regret about his country's nuclear test to a Chinese delegation and said Pyongyang would return to international nuclear talks if Washington backs off a campaign to financially isolate the country," according to an South Korean paper.
Kind of sirry. But not rearry. But...so...ronery.
The DUmbassess are formulating conspiracy theories.
Yes, my fixation on Team America is a fixation. And infantile. Or should I say "infantire"?)
Posted by bill at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)
Relax, it's good for society
Halloween's getting "more strip club than storybook," and the NY Times says we're all better for it. "Many women think that showing off their bodies 'is a mark of independence and security and confidence,' quoting some Womyn's Studies professor. Or something. Sorry, I'm losing my concentration here admiring the, err, progress in the women's movement.
For the betterment of society? Who am I to interfere?
(H/T: Lucianne).
Posted by bill at 03:12 PM | Comments (0)
October 18, 2006
Ooh, they're so cute! How much for the dozen?
Madonna's life continues to offer fodder for future South Park episodes. Now she's eyeing another trinket child from Malawi, Africa, the NY Post reports.
Posted by bill at 07:29 PM | Comments (0)
Sitting out this election? Your Wednesday barf-o-roma
This article previews what's in store, if Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Ways & Means Chairman Rangell, and Energy & Commerce Chair John Dingell. Foremost are cross-the-board tax increases; as Mallory Factor points out, prior to the Bush tax cuts, "the 36% income tax rate kicked in at $166,500 for married couples filing jointly...if the Democrats win, you will have no idea what your taxes will be next year."
Oh, and in the first 100 days of the new Congress the House will consider (in rapid-fire fashion) and likely pass legislation on "lobbying reform, homeland security, the minimum wage, the student loan program, and changing Medicare drug pricing rules."
Bear in mind, this isn't speculation. This is the Dems' promise to you.
Posted by bill at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)
File under: "Lawyers suck"
An elementary school in Massachusetts has banned "playground tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chasing games" during recess. "It's a time when accidents can happen," explains the school principal.
And to think that when I was in elementary school, one of the favorite recess activities was called, "Kill the Guy with the Ball." It resembled rugby, in that it involved a ball. Some distinctions, though: no sidelines, scoring, rules, teams, etc. You just ran around and tackled the kid with the ball. It was barbaric, just like dodgeball.
Pansy nation.
Posted by bill at 02:49 PM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2006
"Kabuki Theater"
Condi Rice has the familiar but unenviable task of putting some "resolve" in the sanctions resolution approved last week by the UN Security Council. For now, things don't look good. Though Japan appears steadfast, China and South Korea have economic and other rationales for appeasing Kim, and even cooperation now doesn't mean it'll last. Of course, helping enforce the sanctions seems the least Seoul could do, given that the US is treaty-bound to defend SK from aggression (someday I'd like someone to educate me as to why the South Koreans have the chutzpah to interfere with US defense prerogatives, given that the US is itself South Korea's only hope in defending itself against aggression by Kim).
Posted by bill at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)
NYT: Blame Chimpy McBushhitler
Reader Tom L. alerts us to this bucket of monkey spunk from the NYT:
As president, Mr. Clinton negotiated a deal that froze the production and weaponization of North Korea's plutonium, but intelligence agencies later determined that North Korea began its secret uranium program under his watch. The plutonium that North Korea exploded was produced, according to intelligence estimates, either during the administration of the first President Bush or after 2003, when the North Koreans threw out international inspectors and began reprocessing spent nuclear fuel the inspectors had kept under seal.
As Tom points out, "almost nothing about this bomb cannot be pinpointed, but the folks at the Times are metaphysically certain that the plutonium that used to make it wasn't produced under Bubba's watch. Sure is funny what "intelligence estimates" the Times considers gospel, and what estimates it considers the deceiving evil spawn of the Chimpy McBushitler war machine."
Posted by bill at 09:19 AM | Comments (1)
October 16, 2006
Lynne Stewart
Lynne Stewart will be sentenced today and, facing 30 years in the slammer is, of course, asking for leniency. Here's a recap of why Stewart belongs in prison -- in short, aiding a jailed terrorist in carrying out My personal favorite, though, is her quote to the NY Times in 1995: "I don't believe in anarchistic violence, but in directed violence. That would be violence directed at the institutions which perpetuate capitalism, racism, and sexism, and at the people who are the appointed guardians of those institutions, and accompanied by popular support."
Yup, lock her up.
Posted by bill at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)
October 13, 2006
Are you now, or have you ever been...gay? (No, the Dems have no sense of decency)
Dems are ready to "out" gay Republican, and conservative group staffers. Why staffers? For one thing, the information is available. But as David Reinhard asks, "Are today's sexual McCarthyites suggesting traditional-values Republican lawmakers take steps to make sure they have no gay staffers?"
Let's not forget the Mark Foley affair was prematurely hatched, by October Surprise standards. Having had a chance to digest the Foley mess (Pew said last week the story "has not significantly affected the midterm races", after a week of the most intense coverage the scandal will see), voters seem likely to perceive the Dems' McCarthyism as a dirty, dirty election year trick. In any case, Reinhard explains why the tactic will probably fail.
"Have they no sense of decency?" No, they don't.
Posted by bill at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)
October 12, 2006
Nailing Jello to a Tree
Hillary Clinton on where she stands on Iraq. And the answer is, of course, and subject to this and that and without waiving this or that, that Ms. Clinton is here, there, everywhere, and nowhere, depending on this and/or that.
In other words, she's a model Democrat, and she'll win the Democratic nomination.
Posted by bill at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)
CJ Lurkers' coming out party
If you read this site even semi-regularly, now's your chance to cash in. The first five commenters on the Alec Baldwin post will receive their choice of (1) free adverts for your website (rated G only) for one month, along the vertical bar ad strip just to the right of the blog entries; or (2) a set of sexy and sleek (yet functional) Citizen Journal coasters with which to impress your friends, colleagues, and antique furniture.
The only stipulation is that you must type at least ten words. And a bookmark would be nice.
Posted by bill at 12:34 PM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2006
Not since Hillary Clinton's cattle futures bonanza...
In what the AP calls "complex dealings" (centering around a Las Vegas land deal) Senator Harry Reid was reportedly able to "transfer ownership, legal liability and some tax consequences...but still collect a seven-figure payoff..." all without making required disclosures to the American people.
Besides the complexity, lots of informality. Shades of Enron, too, aye?
Posted by bill at 07:40 PM | Comments (0)
Alec Baldwin is an insufferable prick, even when a plane's crashed
Photo below is here. Reuters: "Actor Alec Baldwin tries to pass a police cordon near the site where a small aircraft crashed into a high-rise building in New York."
Whadda pantload! Any better suggestions for the caption?
Posted by bill at 05:40 PM | Comments (3)
A few things on the NYC plane crash
Hot Airis pretty much live-blogging the news that a small aircraft has crashed into a residential hi-rise on the east side of Manhattan. A few commenters at HA are on top the kooks at Democraticunderground, where commenters are questioning the timing. Some low-lights from DU:
- guess screaming "REMEMBER 9/11" stopped working, so now we get a demo (greeneyedboy)
- the building on fire, over and over and over and... Getting the maximum propaganda catipultation [NOTE: "catipultation" isn't a word].
- Psyops for sure.
9/11/01 is the same as 10/11/6 if you turn it upside down
...Bingo. Has the controlled demolition happened yet?
Hope everyone got out of that building first!
...MIHOP October surprise? just to remind the sheeple of 9/11
Check out the threads for yourself here.
A few things:
-- The building is on the Upper East Side, along the East River and across the river from Queens (Long Island, sorta).
-- It was (and still is) foggy, cloudy in the city.
-- NYFD reports the plane crased into the 20th floor, or thereabouts.
-- NORAD immediately scrambled fighter jets, as a precaution.
-- Even if this wasn't a terrorist attack, it's a reminder of 9/11, and of our vulnerability.
Posted by bill at 04:18 PM | Comments (0)
October 10, 2006
Wingnut alert: Ted Turner on flags, taking sides in the war
Ted Turner, unplugged:
- "There are a lot of things about this war that disturb me, one of them is...the attitude...that was well expressed by our president [when he said] "you're either with us or you're against us." And I had a problem with that because I really hadn't made my mind up yet. You know, what if you hadn't made your mind up yet? You know, what if you're thinking about it, doing some studying, doing some reading?"
- "I just really wonder, during the last war, what business did...the news desks [have] to have the American flag flying in the background? I mean, it was like the news media covered the Iraq war, at least at the beginning of it, like it was a football game - us vs. them...Certainly it was inappropriate for CNN to do it that way."
Here's the video:
Posted by bill at 10:11 AM | Comments (1)
October 09, 2006
Blame Bush update: "So rong, Earthrings...the changing of the worrd is inevitabre"
Now that North Korea has taken a giant leap forward with its nuclear program, it's apparent this situation is all President Bush's fault. Stephen Fidler of the Financial Times predicts it "will be widely interpreted as a sign of the failure of the tougher approach favoured by the Bush team." Reuters is already doing its part to drive the point home, describing the test as a "a fresh foreign policy blow to President Bush". In this story Reuters found UN weapons-inspector David Albright to condemn Bush's approach and for backing Kim "Into a Corner": "I don't think North Korea is trying (for) an escalation that could lead to a military confrontation," Albright said. "I think they're trying to respond from a corner." Poor little crazy man.
Not so fast. Before you read anything else, read Josh Manchester's piece last week for Tech Central Station, which says that Bush's policy -- tightening the screws on North Korea's economy -- is working well. War, as advocated by two former Clinton adminstration officials just a few months ago, is being averted and North Korea is suffocating. Back to "pranet Xiron," Kim.
Posted by bill at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)
October 06, 2006
Ridicule is patriotic
Via Free Republic, take a look at Chevy's new commercial for the 2007 Silverado ("This is our country" -- hippies, Nixon and Hurricane Katrina -- you'll have to ignore the messages to Stephen Colbert):
So much for apple pie.
Posted by bill at 09:36 AM | Comments (0)
October 04, 2006
"Large and unavoidable"
Fed Chair Ben Bernanke did his best to sound the alarm today over the looming fiscal calamity that awaits us, that is, of course, without alarming anyone. But his message was clear: as Baby Boomers reach retirement age, the rest of us will bear a pretty hefty burden in supporting them in their dotage.
This is not a drill. The fate of President Bush's plans for Social Security reform does not bode well for the entitlement-slashing suggestion. Which leaves...what...exactly...oh, right: tax increases!
Posted by bill at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)
RINO on parade
Lincoln Chafing is holding up John Bolton's chance to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, reportedly because he "dislikes the administration's -- and Bolton's -- pro-Israel policy."
Which means, of course, the Senator doesn't like Bolton's vintage 1970's porn star moustache.
Posted by bill at 03:40 PM | Comments (0)
Shoud Dems address the red states' "unteachable ignorance"?
America is where the subways don't go. Just ask author Tom Wolfe, who reportedly "watched in amazement at a NASCAR race last month as a National Rifle Association honcho got a rousing standing ovation, and was followed by a minister who "asked the Lord to look out for these brave drivers and these loyal fans . . . in the name of Thy Only Son, Christ Jesus," has seen the light. "New York writers really must cross the Hudson River, and writers in Los Angeles really must go as far as the San Joaquin Valley. Most of the meaning of America lies in between the coasts...."
It's hard to imagine Tom Wolfe at a NASCAR event, but then I once heard he frequented the Bronx County Courthouse as he was researching Bonfire of the Vanities. In any case, if it takes Tom Wolfe to alert Democrats to a world beyond the coasts, they're in a pile of trouble.
The question is whether the red states matter. Any national candidate can win, or come close to winning, by securing isolated victories of (1) cities; (2) college towns; (3) union workers; and (4) the elderly. (This is why I propose for electoral reform that would put more emphasis on square mileage.) Pennsylvania is a good example - full of fundamentally conservative, "values" voters who see national security as a priority. But it's gone blue, and could stay there, thanks to 90%+ pro-Democrat minority voting in Philadelphia, union votes in Scranton, Johnstown, Pittsburgh, etc., and a smattering of college towns.
2004 annoyed liberals because Karl Rove managed to "get out the vote" for values voters, swinging Ohio and perhaps a few other states. This was a wrench in the Democrats' campaign. Countering it, though, doesn't mean appealing to NASCAR voters, because in large part that's a pure folly. Instead, Dems will counter turnout with turnout -- stay tuned for more "Vote or Die"/Vote for a Cigarette campaigns. And Democrats will continue to ignore the existence of the vast Americana that was so "jarring" to Tom Wolfe.
Posted by bill at 09:13 AM | Comments (0)
October 03, 2006
Catching up
Apologies for the absence of activity here. As a friend of mine said today, "Let's go - get me some content on that site of yours. We got a maniac testing a nuclear missile today, fondling of pages in Congress -- plenty to pick from." So, some meandering thoughts on Mark Foley:
Nice of the NYT to be honest about the Mark Foley affair: "If it reminds elected officials that there’s a punishment waiting for those who fall in love with their own sense of entitlement," the NYT writes, "it will have done its job." Revealing way of putting it, no?
I don't have all that much to add about Foley. The whole thing is gross, and an obvious pre-election hatchet job that's being pulled off with the enthusiastic assistance of the Bush-hating media. I'm not an especially old person but I've long since given up on putting my faith in politicians. I vote for ideas, not people, and so Foley's perversions don't mean I'll pull the lever for a Democrat come November.
Besides, this is October - the other Most Wonderful Time of the Year. The Yankees look good, Penn State football is a must-watch as usual, and the Jets are competive. That, in addition to my near-daily training in the suburban decathalon (the rock toss, the fencepost pull events are my best) are the reasons why this blog isn't just about politics. Because really, gay predator instant messaging just isn't my bag.
I'll be back in earnest tomorrow.
Posted by bill at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)
