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December 29, 2006
Where the goblins go (below, below)
There's something that makes me pause before rejoicing at the death of another human being but for some reason I found myself whistling this happy little diddy when I learned that, despite the NY Times' silly protestations, Saddam Hussein was hanged today, just before dawn in Iraq.
Just a hunch - since a video exists, it'll be on You Tube by Sunday. And you'll probably find it here first.
Anyway, life imitates South Park, again:
Michelle Malkin has a round-up. Ding, dong.
Posted by bill at 11:21 PM | Comments (0)
Your New Year's Resolutions
Last year, my New Year's Resolution was not to break any New Year's Resolutions. I succeeded. If you don't like that suggestion, Dave Barry offers his thoughts on that pesky "make yourself better" jib-jab. Among other things, he says, "be realistic." Examples:
- Unrealistic Goal: "In the next month, I will lose 25 pounds."
- Realistic Goal: "Over the next year, taking it an ounce or two at a time, I will gain 25 pounds, and my face will bloat like a military life raft."
- Unrealistic Goal: "I will learn to speak Chinese."
- Realistic Goal: "I will order some Chinese food."
- Unrealistic Goal: "I will read a good book."
- Realistic Goal: "I will examine the outsides of some good books, then waddle over to the part of the bookstore where they sell pastries."
- Unrealistic Goal: "I will do volunteer work for a worthy cause."
- Realistic Goal: "I will give myself a hearty scratching."
Posted by bill at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)
Friday fodder
Gadsden Flag emails this piece by Brent Bozell on Hollywood's open hostility toward religion, and a "tiny atheist minority [that] controls the creative cards." Happy Holidays.
Posted by bill at 09:24 AM | Comments (0)
December 27, 2006
Gerald R. Ford
Former President Gerald R. Ford has died at the age of 93. The Financial Times offers an obit here.
My own (admittedly not all that informed) perception of Ford's administration was defined by how it came to be, and the challenge of restoring the integrity of the office of the Presidency. Especially of late, the conduct of Ford's successor, Jimmy Carter, offers us some perspective on what Ford was and wasn't, as a human being and as a former President. Like his Republican successors he was branded as a dullard (and a clutz), but as the FT notes he somehow "walked the fine line of the presidency well enough at the most difficult of times and still toasted his own breakfast muffins." May he rest in peace.
UPDATE:
It's almost too easy, but here are some comments from the DUmmies:
- "To find a Republican president who was a decent man you'd have to go back a lot further"
- "The guy was an EVIL MOTHERFUCKER who sent many innocent Americans to death for war profits. Fuck him and the bunch who rode in with him. 'm glad he is dead! I only wish he suffered more!"
- "...Wonder what it costs we, the people, to bury one of these men?"
- "There is not one thing sad about this guy passing on."
Posted by bill at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2006
Hey Buddy, Go elf yourself
I elfed the Prophet Mohammad. To quote George Costanza: "Was that wrong? I have to tell you I need to plead ignorance here. Because if anybody had told me that kind of thing was frowned upon..."
If that doesn't amuse you (my photo editing could be better, for one thing), try this Chevy Chase Christmas vintage:
Posted by bill at 09:17 AM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2006
Hey, Mr. President!
This is almost a week old, but IMO still worth noting. It comes by way of Gadsden Flag, who forwards an email with the subject line, "Jobs Americans won't do." Remember all those illegals who were busted at Swift & Co. meat processing plants a few weeks back? Well, it seems that once they were sent away, "the line of applicants hoping to fill jobs vacated was out the door". So much for the Bush administration's convenient lie.
Alas, President Bush doesn't seem likely to care. And need I even discuss the Mex-o-crats?
Posted by bill at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
"The war on Christmas"
I've never liked the phrase, "War on Christmas." It's catchy and provocative, and maybe it's a rallying cry to some. I also don't disagree Christmas is being "attacked," so to speak, but for one thing with Americans dying in actual war, it seems idiotic for Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly to talk about a rhetorical, fake one. The problem isn't just Christmas, anyway. We don't need nativity scenes to be banned or desecrated to see that Christianity is being extricated from public life. So the "War on Christmas" also distracts from a bigger issue, a bigger problem for American culture.
Beyond this, I've never been quite sure whether Coulter-style flamethrowing, even if it does rally our side, doesn't result in a net loss. It associates good causes with lunatics. It's repulsive to many, many fair-minded people.
I was thinking about all of this today when I saw this, a story about a party on Long Island, after which someone drove drunk and wound up in a wreck that killed her passenger. The headline is the first reference I've seen all year to a "Christmas" anything. ("Christmas parties" is of course, what people call these things we've been attending all December.)
This seems like a smear by Newsday: Merriment and joy, etc. are "holiday" sentiments; drunk driving is a Christmas pasttime. And I think reasonable people could agree - or at least anyone who reads Newsday. But suppose I email this story to a friend and tell them Newsday is waging a "War on Christmas." (Red font, 18 point, extra exclamation points.) I cannot imagine this would convince the convinceable.
But I recognize it takes all types. We need Ann Coulter. And Bill O'Reilly. Later today we'll post an update, of sorts, on last year's article lamenting this "War" on Christmas, one not ambivalent about doing so in those terms. I agree with all of it, and offer it because we need people who, I suppose, have a better spine than I do. I hope we'll get some comments.
Posted by bill at 09:13 AM | Comments (3)
December 20, 2006
House o' tack
It's back, baby.
Posted by bill at 06:21 PM | Comments (0)
In case you haven't seen it
I'll be damned if this is going to be the only blog that doesn't post this David Zucker video slamming James Baker:
(Via Mike F., the legacy from Harrisburg).
Posted by bill at 09:28 AM | Comments (1)
December 19, 2006
The Brothers Annan
Reporting for the NY Sun, Claudia Rosett is asking questions about Kofi Annan's corrupt misappropriation of taxpayer-subsidized housing, to his brother, Kobina.
Flashback: Kobina robbed Iraqis, too, and in the process tried to save Saddam Hussein's regime. I guess this means he's a multiculturalist.
Posted by bill at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)
December 18, 2006
Was it the testicles that gave it away?
That's a man, man. The AP reports that a 25 year-old Indian ahtlete, Santhi Soudarajan, has failed a "gender test". She "does not possess the sexual characteristics of a woman," the results say.
Results are not yet in for the New York Giants and their quarterback, Eli Manning.
Posted by bill at 01:18 PM | Comments (0)
December 15, 2006
Oink, Oink
New Jersey goes Lavender:
On Thursday the state legislature voted to allow same-sex unions but not full-on marriage, following a state supreme court ruling two months ago that preventing same-sex unions was unconstitutional.
Gay activists gave a qualified welcome Friday to the decision.
David Buckel from gay marriage law firm Lambda Legal said that although it marked a step in the right direction, stopping short of allowing marriage still deprived gay couples of full equality.
"Although same-sex couples in New Jersey are better off today than yesterday, they are still not equal to other couples," he said in a statement.
"By passing a law that marks same-sex couples as inferior, the government has paved the way for others to discriminate against them.... Their relationships will likely continue to be disrespected," he said.
For many years the Lavender Lobby has been saying that all they want is "equal rights." So the NJ legislature gives them exactly that, and yet they still squeal like Ned Beatty in Deliverance. This shows that what the homosexual agenda demands is not equal rights, but that society be forced to accept them in their hearts as equals. Buckel is right in saying, "Their relationships will likely continue to be disrespected." But not because of the label put on their unions. That's just nature's and God's way. You can put lipstick and a dress on a pig and call it Mary, but it is still a pig. And it will still squeal.
Posted by GadsdenFlag at 03:02 PM | Comments (0)
Two things about crazy
First, you don't argue with it.
Second, ...
Posted by bill at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2006
Osamabinladenosamaobamauhhobama
A LA Times poll says Obama has some name recognition hurdles. Teddy (burp) Kennedy isn't helping things, either:
(Via Hot Air)
Posted by bill at 01:51 PM | Comments (0)
Tim Johnson
We all hope Senator Tim Johnson makes a full recovery. We're all Americans, and we're all human beings.
Politics being what it is, though, Johnson's health is already being considered -- by both sides -- in terms of its huge ramifications in the Senate balance. And already, liberals are of the opinion that in the event the South Dakota's must name a replacement, he should "do the right thing" -- Brian Lehrer's radio show in NYC asked callers (mostly liberal) what they'd do in this situation, if they were the governor. Most said they'd name a Democrat to replace Johnson because (a) Johnson is a Democrat; and (b) the country obviously (see November elections) doesn't want Republicans in office. It's the "spirit of the law," see?
All of this reminds me of efforts by Massachusetts Democrats in 2004 (they were anticipating a John Kerry win over President Bush), to amend the Massachusetts constitution so that Gov. Mitt Romney wouldn't be permitted to name his replacement. Was this "the spirit of the law," too?
Posted by bill at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOObama or old age & treachery?
A couple of good pieces today over the developing intrigue between the upstart Barack Obama and the craggly Hillary Clinton.
On the media's crush on Obama, Libby Copeland writes: "Crushes are dangerous. By their very nature, they're intense and fleeting. Sometimes, you find out something disappointing about the object -- the dealbreaker, say he picks his nose -- and the whole house of cards collapses. In the political landscape, crushes can't last long under the scrutiny of the national stage."
But Copeland adds this conclusion: "Of course, a crush can also turn into love of the long-term, stable sort. Sober. Honest. Not the kind they write about in romance novels, but the sort that causes people to mate for life. And vote." And this is the kind of sentiment, says the NY Post, that has Hillary Clinton skampering to convene a meeting with Bill's old friends James Carville, Paul Begala, Joel Johnson and Joe Lockhart.
Meantime, George Will gives Obama four reasons to run.
Posted by bill at 08:54 AM | Comments (0)
December 13, 2006
Cinnamon and Spice...
Not so nice, at least to Jimmy Carter.
Cinnamon Stillwell rips the former Prez for his various calamitous screw ups as a President, and as a former President who seems intent on confirming America's suspicions that he's a num-nut.
She concludes: "Woe unto America if Jimmy Carter is our guiding light." Indeed.
Posted by bill at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)
December 12, 2006
I spy a few little lies
More than a few conservatives have enjoyed a few yucks over the notion that Bill Clinton's federal government may have been spying on Princess Diana. Byron York isn't one of them:
If the Clinton administration did engage in surveillance of Princess Diana and Theodore Forstmann, without a warrant, it would appear to run contrary to statements made by former administration officials during the Bush warrantless-wiretap controversy. After the existence of the Bush program was made public last December, some high-ranking veterans of the Clinton administration said they had not engaged in similar efforts to by-pass FISA....
Posted by bill at 05:29 PM | Comments (0)
Craigslist
Forbes takes note of Craigslist's genius, and the apparent insanity of its founder, Jim Buckmaster, who says he's not in it for the money. Rejecting the idea of selling ads, etc., he's leaving large what amounts to large suitcases of cash on the proverbial table.
Forbes doesn't seem to understand, and neither do I.
Posted by bill at 04:05 PM | Comments (0)
December 11, 2006
Bye bye Kofi
What happens when an unaccountable, unelected and corrupt organization of nations is permitted to act as a "world government"? What happens when its apparatchik and third world loyalist wields unconsented to power over richer, less diseased, better fed, developed nations? Or, worse yet, when one of them dares dissent from his world order?
This.
Posted by bill at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)
December 08, 2006
From suck to blow: 2006 yellow shirts in the media's tour de crapola
Marvin Olasky hand 'em out.
Posted by bill at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)
Letter: NYT vendetta?
Yes, we get letters every now and then. Here's a good one:
As a native New Yorker whose first job was in 6th grade as a school newspaper monitor delivering copies of the New York Times back in 1968, I have grown to despise the paper which only gets more biased as its political agenda is repudiated.
Today's Times had what I consider a gratuitous shot at a 9/11 activist Debra Burlingame, whose brother was a pilot of one of the airliners hijacked on 9/11. Ms. Burlingame has written extensively on the War on Terrorism from a conservative viewpoint (her most recent piece was published Wednesday).
In its article on B2, the Times reports that Ms. Burlingame's niece was the victim of a fire in Guttenberg, NJ. While the neice's death was arguably newsworthy since the fire was suspicious and possibly arson, the Times article relates that Debra Burlingame was contacted, had not been informed of her niece's death, that she "burst into tears on the phone and would not comment further."
Of what journalistic import was the fact that the Times reached Ms. Burlingame before the authorities? Given she had no comment, what did that paragraph add to the story except to compound Ms. Burlingame's grief at the loss of her neice? Would the Times give the same treatment for a liberal activist? I think not.
This is probably too insignificant for the busy Mr. Calame to get involved in -- he's probably still reviewing issues of the paper from earlier in the year and deciding whether the clean bill of health he gave prior stories was proper or motivated by his animus against the Bush Adminstration.
But this is typical of the Times' snarky and smarmy reportage.
I usually only scan the Times on line. The only reason I am reading the hard copy now is that the school across the street from where I live is giving them away, no doubt to boost the Times sagging circulation.
- Dean V., New York City
Posted by bill at 09:01 AM | Comments (0)
December 07, 2006
December 7, 1941
Some great posts today remembering December 7, 1941. Hot Air has video footage and some great links; the Naval Historical Center has a remarkable photo collection.
Did you fly a flag today?
Posted by bill at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)
You mean we're not just killing women and children over there?
Wonder why we don't see stories like this in the US MSM:
The Iraqi sergeant has dodged bullets from the al-Mahdi Army and traded fire with Sunni insurgents. Yet in his years with the Iraqi Army he has learnt one simple lesson: once the US military pulls back in Iraq, he should leave the country if he wants to survive. "As soon as it happens, I will quit my job and live outside Iraq."
Posted by GadsdenFlag at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)
Think of the children: UK "Big Knife" lobby thwarts anti-crime efforts
Via Tom L. comes shocking word that the UK's knife amnesty programs "don't work." Reuters reports: "Scotland Yard said a national amnesty which began in May after a series of high-profile stabbings had had little effect in the capital. Knife crime in London dipped briefly during the two-month amnesty, only to return to normal levels within weeks. About 100,000 knives were handed in across the country...A charity reported in August that amnesties have a "negligible impact" on crime because knives can be bought anywhere."
Tom emails: "This article's tone of disappointed shock makes me giggle a little. You see, the "knife amnesty" wasn't a failure, the failure came about because knives can be "bought anywhere," no doubt as a result of the "Big Knife" lobby in the UK. Sound familiar?"
Posted by bill at 09:26 AM | Comments (0)
December 06, 2006
Joyful, all ye nations rise / Join the triumph of the [MTA]!
The New York Times actually reports a story worth reading today, one that may be of real interest to suburban commuters -- detailing a crisis that dwarfs the vast (18 Taco Bells!) E. Coli outbreak on Long Island and, to date, has only existed in whispers of the seedy underworld rumormill of the suburban commute: the one involving those ill-conceived, idiotic arm rests on some commuter trains that have ruined many a suburban commute (and workday).
Turns out, the MTA actually does reimburse victims of the worst mass transit arm rest ever invented. Sure, the process can be "exasperating" but the fact that the MTA actually entertains complaints -- and simple reimbursement requests -- brings tidings of comfort and joy this snowflake season. Having been victimized myself, just weeks into my grown-up suburban life, it warms my heart.
Posted by bill at 09:14 PM | Comments (1)
The least of your concerns if you're eating at Taco Bell
Raise your hand if, when you heard "E. coli" and "Taco Bell" in the same news story, you thought it was the green onions.
Posted by bill at 08:40 PM | Comments (0)
No Soup for You (Tube)
The AP reports Iran has blocked access to You Tube. "Internet users who tried to call up the YouTube site on Tuesday were met with the message, 'On the basis of the Islamic Republic of Iran laws, access to this website is not authorized' -- which appears on the numerous opposition and pornographic Web sites that the government blocks.'
Ah, tyranny. Lest we forget the kind of looney tunes are running things over there. Amongst the left, jihad isn't as chique as communism, but still I wonder what the Kos Kids would say. They tend to get excited by tyrants.
UPDATE: A few (short) steps down the spectrum is Sheik Hussein Barre Rage, head of the "Islamic court" of the Bulo Burto, in Somalia. The Sheik's announced (via loudspeakers) "Those who do not follow the prayer edict after three days have elapsed, 'will definitely be beheaded according to Islamic law.'"
What's next? Regulating citizens' diets?
Posted by bill at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)
Dems smitten with defeat
With the Iraq Study Group issuing its report today -- and with press reports already focusing (like sharks with laser beams on their heads) on some of the more alarming language, Gene Lalor suggests some perspective on what Iraq is and what it isn't.
Democrats, aided as always by MSM, are sure to seize upon the most incriminating aspects of the Report in order to smear President Bush. Consider yesterday: the most widely circulated, headlined quote from the Senate Armed Service Committee hearings on Robert Gates was Gates' comment that we're not winning in Iraq. Now, Gates said many, many other things, and it's damn near impossible to find an ellipsis-free account. The Committee was also supposed to have spent the day deciding whether Gates is qualified enough for consideration by the full Senate, rather than attempting to extract politically useful soundbytes.
Alas, the President's enemies can hardly contain their glee now that they believe "defeat" can't be far off!
Posted by bill at 09:23 AM | Comments (1)
December 04, 2006
HuffPo leftists embrace their inner dictator
Here's what readers at the Huffington Post think of Hugo Chavez's big win in Venezuela. Some winners:
-- "The conservatives are at best the hypocrites, the fake Christians, the dumb wild beasts, and the human trashes....Congratulations President Chavez. Please liberate the American people from the force of evil" (tihssihsub);
-- "If we ever corral the dragon of capitalist greed, if we could just get Americans to stop bowing down to the owners of the economy as God Almighty and cease listening to the propaganda put out by the Chamber of Commerce as the only book in the Bible, we'd be on our way. I despair..." (WoodyCPM).
In fairness, there is plenty of dissent amongst the HuffPo commenters. But the overall sentiment, and the extremes, are breathtakingly lame.
(Via Rich A.)
Posted by bill at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)
John Bolton resigns
Score one for the French. John Bolton's tenure as US Ambassador to the United Nations appears to be nearing an end.
The news comes as something of a surprise, if the White House's (post-election) own behavior is any guide. IIRC, it was soon after the November elections that President Bush reiterated his steadfast support for Bolton.
Hard to say why these winds shifted. Maybe Bolton has had enough with the villification. Or may there was some political recalculating by the White House (who must've realized, at some point, Bolton would be d.o.a.).
Given the stakes, Bolton would've been worth the fight and the expenditure of political capital. Most Americans agree with what he was doing (although the 1970's porn moustache wasn't helping). He was also among a (shrinking) handful of successes conservatives could claim to have won in the Bush White House.
It's a damn, dirty shame that meaningful UN reform is regarded as a Republican wedge issue and that the criminals at Turtle Bay will have effectively been vindicated by Congressional Democrats.
Posted by bill at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)
A tree grows in Brooklyn and the natives are wigging out
A Brooklyn criminal court judge is in the cross-hairs of civil libertarians who say his children's book, which dares take on patriotic, (gasp!) Christian, and (double gasp!) anti-illegal immigration overtones, is "offensive." And by "offensive", of course, the civil libertarians mean the book should not be part of the public discourse.
The judge is no naif. He knew there'd be outrage. "This is an era when the desire to instill patriotism in children is frowned on by some quarters of our society," he said in an interview.
It remains to be seen whether the Legal Aid Society et al. will be able to destroy the judge's career, as they seem intent on doing. It seems like a stretch to believe he's violated ethical rules, particularly since he appears to have done his due diligence. For now, file this one under "Free speech for me, but not for thee" (or: free speech, provided we agree with you).
A footnote -- as the article notes, some of the proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit a scholarship fund that was recently established in the memory of Lnc Cpl. Michael Glover, who was killed by a sniper in Iraq this summer. Glover was a good friend of my cousin, an a member of the same USMC unit. They both served in Iraq. The book is available here.
Posted by bill at 09:26 AM | Comments (0)
December 01, 2006
The Semper Fi Fund
Want some good news? Hugh Hewitt talks about the Semper Fi Fund in his Townhall column today, and the organization's work with the Wounded Warrior Center. The Semper Fi Fund's site is here.
H/T: Gadsden Flag.
Posted by bill at 09:19 AM | Comments (0)
