Go read the comment left for this post.

Better yet, let me reproduce it here in its entirety:

Okay, I'd just like to add a little something, from an international perspective, so to speak.

To put it short, Lila... shut up, you whiny Brazilian bitch.

Thanks, Sam. That sums it up perfectly, and comes from someone who knows what they are talking about.

Speaking of which, I wonder what starving Ethiopians would say about GM foods, if they had a way to communicate their needs to the outside world?

Head over to Indymedia to read the confession of a guy who claims that he killed a police officer in Red Bluff, California as an act of protest against the murder committed daily by corporations. This numbnut decided that, since corporations commit murder daily and get away with it, all he had to do to be immune to prosection was incorporate himself. I hope he fries in hell. He apparently walked up behind a policeman who was filling up his car, and shot him point blank in the head. A police officer who was not bothering him, who he didn't even know, and who was probably distracted by thinking about the things he needed to buy for his wife and kids for Christmas.

If that isn't bad enough, read the comments after the confession - and see that some people are applauding his actions.

Michele has a few thoughts concerning Indymedia, the cop killer, and a few other issues over at A Small Victory.

UPDATE

Sondra, a reader from self-described "Leftyville" WA sends us this link from her local paper. It contains a bit more information about how Officer Mobilio died, and the young family he left behind.

Petards.

hehehe. Nuff said.

OK, now I'm really leaving.

Here's an op-ed over on MSNBC that addresses the Nigeria riots. It seems about right to me. From the article:

Whether the newspaper comments were irresponsible or not, we should not accept the notion that anything said in a newspaper is sufficient to spark uncontrolled killing or that the writer should be threatened with death. If no one dares assert the right of a free press in Muslim countries, then that is a sad and worrisome indictment of Islam as a repressive and undemocratic belief system.

Even those in Nigeria who deal with issues of sectarian violence seem oblivious to democratic principles of free speech and a free press. The Imam Nurayn Mohammed Ashafa, who is co-chair of the Interfaith Mediation Committee in Nigeria told Reuters that he supported the attack on the offices of the newspaper.

Most of the world�s major religions have a bloody past. Thankfully, they have for the most part stopped acting as if they were still in the Middle Ages. Islam, unfortunately, has not.

We are constantly being asked to accept Islam as a "Religion of Peace". It might be easier if there weren't so many very visible and bloody events suggesting just the opposite. Here's a follow-up article on the Fatwa issued against Isioma Daniel. This article says that Daniel's religion is not known, and those issuing the Fatwa against her are not certain, either:

Dangaladima told The Associated Press. �If she (Daniel) is Muslim, she has no option except to die. But if she is a non-Muslim, the only way out for her is to convert to Islam.�

And that pretty much sums things up, doesn't it?

So, A couple of comments worth mentioning. The first is from Mike, who takes issue with this post, dealing with comments attributed to the communications director for Canadian PM Chretien:

Ducros and Cretien have it dead right. The truth hurts sometimes.

Be that as it may, Mike, you don't have civilized governments running around calling other heads of state "morons". And the fact that you personally don't like Bush adds nothing to the actual case under discussion, it just proves that there is nothing the Bush Government will do that will ever meet with your approval. Do you have anything substantive to say about Bush being a moron, or do you just want to leave a flippant little remark as an insult? Either, of course, is fine. It's just that stupid insults don't do much to make me want to take you very seriously. Mike does, at least, leave an apparently valid e-mail address that traces back to a Canadian domain. And just for the record, Mike, I don't think a country that has Chretien as its leader has ANY room to be calling Bush (or any other head of state, for that matter) a moron.

Our other commentor, also with an international flavor, is Lila from Brasil. Like Mike, she also leaves a valid e-mail that traces to a legitimate domain. Lila doesn't like this post, dealing with Jessica Lange's anti-American statements. Lila's comment has a little bit more angst in it:

If you knew the US international policy you would also hate USA. If you don't agree what people all around the world are saying about US is because you are very stupid and have no idea what it's all about So before saying something go study the US international policy and you will find out the United States is not that great country and you'll be ashemed of yourself, unless you're unsensible, heartless, soulles and give's a shit to humanity.

I really don't know how to respond to something like this. I do know a fair bit about US foreign policy, but I don't know exactly which part of it Lila finds so "unsensible". Is it because we act in our own best interests? Is it because we try and deal with regimes we like? Is it because we aren't willing to stand idly by and let our citizens be massacred? Is it because we believe in capitalism? Is it because we continue to support the only democratic government in the middle east? Lila never says, so I guess we'll never know. She does call me very stupid, unsensible, heartless, and soulless, so I'm guessing that she doesn't agree with most of my commentary here on RNS. Ah, well, somehow I'll just have to learn to get over the disappointment and carry on with my life.

BTW, Mike and Lila, if you would ever like to have an actual debate about something posted here, next time try and leave something a little more intelligent and concrete in the comments section. But thanks for caring. Really.

Heading to Houston to see the parental units. Posting will be light to none-existant, although I may post a copy of the holiday feast, just to screw with PeTA.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

And the Ville want you to fight back.

UPDATE

Brent of the ville wants you to call. NOW. Press option #1, and tell PeTA how out of touch with reality you think they are. Then start cooking your Thanksgiving vittles. I should be over about 12-12:30 tomorrow.

Please post this number on your site and urge all turkey eaters to flood PETA's toll free line. 1-888-VEG-FOOD (888-834-3663) press option #1.

And boy, is it good.

Go read John Howard's open letter to a father who, after losing a son in the Bali attack, was critical of Australia's "closeness" to the US.

Chretien's communications director resigns over Bush "moron" remark.

But then we get a memo from the media advisor to the Alberta Government containing the phrase "that idiot, George Bush".

The memo, sent by e-mail to the Klein government's communications staff, referred -- in capital letters -- to "that idiot George Bush" in its assessment of last week's controversy.

Actually, read the entire thing. Once again you have someone saying hateful things, and then claiming that it was "completely unintentional", merely an "editing error". Hey, Canada, still want us to watch your back while you piss all of your money away on social programs and Kyoto accords? Why don't you insult us a little more, and see how that goes.

In a followup memo, company vice-president Jodine Chase apologized for what she called an "editing error" in the previous e-mail.

Ms. Chase would not comment on the exchange.

Guess not. Too bad she didn't stop and think for just a second before sending out a memo to Government employees insulting the President of the US. Certainly is good to know that our allies are there for us.

I have a reader take umbrage with my assertation that Isioma Daniel is Muslim. I did mistakenly refer to Isioma as "he", which is definitely incorrect. My assertation that she is Muslim appears to be similarly in error, for which I apologize, although I haven't been able to prove that she is Christian, either. My notes on the original post say "the author, Isioma Daniel, is Muslim", but I have been unable to find where I got that from, and see no mention of Isioma's religious beliefs on any of the stories I checked today. So, if you go read the post in its entirety, you need to realise that the statement "Incidentally, the author of the offending editorial is not Christian, he is Muslim." is in error. Not that that really has anything to do with the timbre of the post, but Rocky is correct in that an error (2, actually) was made.

Rocky's comment:

Your comments about the journalist are wrong. Where do you get your information?

I suggest you check your facts before creating your own from assumptions, just to support your views.

Great thing about blogs - there are multiple levels of fact checking that can occur, and anyone can take you to task for an intemperate or inaccurate statement. And perhaps Rocky is correct in that I made an assumption from something I read that supported my view of the situation. But in the end it really doesn't matter that much - the end result is that somewhere around 200 people are now dead because of a fairly innocuous comment.

UPDATE

Found this story, which confirms that Isioma Daniel is, in fact, a Christian. She has also had to flee the country, as there is now a fatwa issued, calling for her death.

So, a fashion reporter writes a stupid article (and maybe something she should have been fired for if Muslims really found it that insensitive). Now she has to flee her homeland, and 220 people are dead.

Merde in France blogs from deep behind enemy lines. Taking more risks than even Mean Mr. Mustard!

If you have read Osama's letter, then you know it basically touches on every Lefty mantra, and tries to make it an issue in the current "War on Terrorism". Obviously, the hope is that the far left will continue to favor appeasement, especially once they believe that Osama really cares about the Kyoto accords. Sure is an awfully green letter to be written by a fearless Mujahadeen. In fact, one commenter over at Samizdata asks the question:

Have you ever seen this guy:

and this guy:

in the same room? Hmmmmmm, makes you think, doesn't it?

Naaaaaaah. Couldn't be. Could it?

_______________________________________

Note: Above is intended as satire only. Please do not send me hate mail about how dare I actually compare Osama bin Laden to Ralph Nader. On second thought, please do send me such hate mail, as I need something to make fun of. I mean, c'mon. Don't you think it is pretty effing funny that Osama starts preaching about the Kyoto accords and the Palestinians? Especially since he never offered any kind of opinion on these issues before he decided to blow up several thousand innocent people, and got his ass kicked for his trouble?

Samizdata has an alternate translation to Osama's "Letter to the American People".

Reading them side by side, it's hard to tell which is genuine and which is the spoof.

Could you, Emporer Misha, or you, Rachel, please kick Mark Lowry in the butt? Mark is a reporter for the Star-Telegram who was offended when he went to a Christmas show, and had to be exposed to references dealing with Christ.

Now, as a "non-believer", I was able to go to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas show and enjoy it tremendously, never once being offended that "Christ" had the audacity to show up. Mark seems to feel that Radio City should only present a "Christmas Show" full of "holiday fluff" that is non-denominational. Maybe they should rename it the "Radio City Music Hall Nondenominational winter festival and holiday fluff show".

I'm sorry, but I like Christmas. I'm tired of our traditions getting squashed because they may make some people "feel excluded". Don't believe in Christ? Then don't go to the Christmas Spectacular. Or, here's an idea, go and be entertained and tolerant enough to realize that there are a LOT of people who do believe in Christ, and who are genuinely in awe of the production. And no, Mark, people who don't celebrate Christmas don't get to have the same amount of "holiday fluff" as those who do celebrate Christmas. I don't go to a Passover seder and get offended at all of the "Jewish Traditions" going on. If I really was offended, then I wouldn't go to an event that is central to the Jewish faith. See how that works? Now, a Radio City Christmas Spectacular and a seder are 2 very different things, but the principle is the same. Christmas is a special time for CHRISTIANS, and the holiday celebrates the birth of CHRIST, so who would be surprised that a nativity scene would be included in a Christmas spectacular? Only a clueless numbnut, in my opinion.

Gee, Mark. Who never thought that a show named "Radio City CHRISTMAS Spectacular would actually mention Christ. Apparently Mark has tolerance for all religions except Christianity, whose holiday it is in the first place. Moron.

By the way, the Nativity scene that Mark so condescendingly disparages is actually quite amazing. To see all of those animals on-stage is really quite enthralling. Even to a non-believer like me.

My wife and I went to see "Cabaret" last night. She had never seen the play, and was a wee bit disturbed by the ending. It is pretty amazing to think that an entire country stood by an let itself be hijacked by a fanatical faction. And the Jews, who must have thought "I am German AND a Jew, so everything will be all right".

Appeasement = Surrender. Surrender to fanatics = death of who you are, or just death. Not much of a choice, either way you look at it.

If so, then go read the full text of Osama's "Letter to the American People". Then get back to me.

GO read The Dissident Frogman. Don't blow his cover, he's working deep cover in France.

So, I was over at Samizdata to read a thread dealing with the arrest of a columnist in the UK for using "hate speech". The horrible speech Robin Page is accused of using?

Mr Page said yesterday: "I urged people to go on the march and I urged that the rural minority be given the same legal protection as other minorities. All I said was that the rural minority should have the same rights as blacks, Muslims and gays.

The horrible monster! Suggesting that people who support the "rural rights" movement have the same protection as blacks, Muslims, and gays.

Well, as frequently happens with a thread dealing with a controversial topic, there were many good comments generated by this post. I am scrolling along, getting a feel for the general attitude of the commentors with regards to the arrest, when I come upon a post by someone we shall call Michael (because, er, that's his name). Michael's contribution to the debate? A nice little anti-gun upchuck where he manages to call all of us gun owners paranoid and unstable. Now it may in fact be true that I am paranoid and unstable, but my owning a gun (or several) has nothing to do with it. Michael's Missive:

While I'm sure we agree on the probable absurdity of the arrest, the vast majority of folk on this side of the Atlantic see the US gun laws as the nonsensical ones.

Michael.

So, Michael feels that it is only "probably absurd" that the Telegraph reporter was arrested, but he is sure all of us on this side of the Atlantic are paranoid and unstable. Now, the "rural rights" guys want to be able to keep sporting guns and hunt on their land, something that there is an appreciable movement afoot to stop. I would guess that Michael belongs to the group that wants to quash these so-called "rural rights".

Well, I decided to take a look at actual UK and US crime statistics, and do a population based comparison. I found out 2 important things.

1) Violent crimes in all categories (Murder, rape, aggravated assault) have decreased in the US every year since 1992 (ok, there are a couple of blips in the data. But this is generally a true statement)

2) It is difficult to find an on-line database reporting violent crime statistics in the UK. It is easy to find lots of articles that mention the skyrocketing violent crime rate, but hard to find actual numbers. I was not able to find actual reports of murders, rapes, etc in the one database giving crime statistics. What I was able to find was a database of offenses in which a firearm was reported to be used, a database that showed a 35% INCREASE in crimes committed with a firearm between 1997 and 2001. But wait, you might say. Didn't the UK enact tough new anti-gun laws in 1996 (following the Dunblane Massacre) to prevent such things from happening? How could the number of offenses go UP if anti-gun laws are now in effect? Could it possibly be that criminals don't care about guns laws anyway, and now they know they have nothing to fear from an unarmed populace? Naaahhhhhh. There I go being all paranoid and shit again.

The state of affairs in the UK should serve as a cautionary tale for those of us interested in the second amendment here in the United States. Once you start down that road, where does the erosion of your personal freedoms end? Perhaps you should ask the Telegraph reporter that question.

_____________________________________________________
OK, OK. I know this is not exactly new stuff. But it was interesting to me that I started to respond to a post over on Samizdata, decided to do a little research to back up my position, and found a ton of evidence to support the fallacy of the statement "gun control decreases crime". Why, then, is it still a mantra for the left? If I can find this shit out using a home computer and about 20 minutes of my time, why haven't places like the Brady Center and other gun control advocates reached the same conclusion? Is it possible that they really don't care about the truth revealed by the data, and are only interested in what they believe is best for us all, regardless of what the numbers show? Naaaaahhhh. That can't be it. Everything will be fine. Go away. Now.

And go sign this petition.

So Chretien seems to feel, like Gerhard Schroeder, that it is OK for people in his government to use derogatory language when talking about Bush. Sure, Schroeder sacked the offending cabinet member AFTER he won the election, but Chretien seems content to just laugh it off. And his defense that the aid sometimes "calls me a moron" is pretty pathetic. Think this aid would still have a job if she called Chretien a moron for public consumption in the media?

Chr�tien said Ducros had apologized to him for the furor sparked by a conversation she had with a journalist at the NATO summit in Prague.

"I know her very well," the prime minister told reporters. "She may have used that word against me a few times and I am sure she used it against you many times. It's a word she uses regularly."

Ahhhhh, so she was "graceful enough" to apologize to Chretien, but only after being unable to recall if she made the remark, and apparently not feeling the need to apologize to Bush. And it doesn't appear as if Chretien was "graceful enough" to apologize to Bush on behalf of his communications director, either.

Apparently, lots of Canadians feel that Chretien did the wrong thing in refusing to accept the resignation.

"He should have accepted her resignation, perhaps with regret, perhaps understanding that people make mistakes," Canadian Alliance MP Jason Kenney said. "Senior officials should be held accountable for those mistakes."

"Government is not about rewarding or protecting your friends," Clark added. "Keeping Francie Ducros, the person who calls the president of the United States a moron, keeping her in place, refusing her resignation, puts personal interests above Canada's interests."

Actually, government is exactly about rewarding and protecting your friends. That is why everything sucks so much. And Mr. Chretien is very, very good at rewarding and protecting his friends.

My favorite quote from the article, though, comes from the embattled Communications Director herself:

"The comments attributed to me in no way reflect my personal view of the president of the United States," Ducros said.

So, the fact that she called him a moron in no way reflects her personal view of Bush. This was intended to be a completely objective, non-personal evaluation of the POTUS. So I guess Ms. Ducros will accept my equally objective, non-personal evaluation that she and Chretien are both stuttering idiots who are rapidly propelling Canada to the poorhouse. Canada better watch out. I hear that Iceland is going to buy a new rifle for some guy in Reykjavik, which means that Canada will only have a defense budget greater than NATO member Luxembourg.

Reading about the violence associated with the Miss World Pageant is sickening. More accurately, the violence is due to an editorial that went so far as to suggest that the Prophet Mohammed might actually enjoy such a pageant. "True believers" took umbrage at this, and took the opportunity to murder a few innocent bystanders who they thought were Christians, burn a few chrurches, and yell and scream about blasphemy. Now the Christians, upset at the bloodshed, have retaliated.

And what were the horrible words written by Isioma Daniel, the author of the blasphemous article?

"What would Muhammad think? In all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from among them."

Strong stuff, there. One can certainly understand why these young Muslim men would be upset enough to start torching Christians. Incidentally, the author of the offending editorial is not Christian, he is Muslim. Once again we see the Religion of Peace on display for what it actually is - a religion of intolerance and hatred for anyone who has different beliefs than they do.

I have tried to stay away from the whole "Religion of Peace" debate. But how many atrocities in the name of Islam have to be committed before the truth sinks in? For me, this is it. The fact that Muslims are using a freaking beauty pageant to justify killing innocent bystanders is the absolute end. Yeah, there are extremists in other religions as well. But we don't read about militant Christians or Buddhists or Hindus running around blowing up innocent civilians on an almost daily basis. The question isn't "why do they hate us", but "why do they hate everybody".

BTW, the answer to "why do they hate us" is easy. They hate us because we are not them. Want the war of terrorism to be over tomorrow? That's easy, just get everyone in the world to convert to Islam. Otherwise, get used to the fact that crazy assholes are going to be blowing up nightclubs and schoolbuses and churches.

UPDATE

Eric Olsen does a much better job with this topic than I. Link via A Small Victory, which has a bitchin' new template.

Well of COURSE Canada is unable to spend more money on defense. They have all kinds of expensive social programs to fund, after all. I suppose they just hope that the US will bail them out militarily in the event it ever becomes necessary. There are lots of golden quotes from this article:

Mr. Bush said NATO needs to develop new capabilities, including a 21,000-member rapid reaction force, more special forces, better precision weapons and more modern command structures if it is to win the war against global terrorism and rogue states, like Iraq.

The president did not directly name Canada, but it has the third-lowest military budget in the NATO alliance, spending more than only Luxembourg and Iceland, which does not have a military.

So, Canada is only able to outspend a country the size of Rhode Island and one without a military? This is typical - they want to spend all of their money on "internal matters" and hope that everyone else will do the heavy lifting. Hey Canada, you would be able to spend more than friggin' Iceland on your military if you didn't swallow the Kyoto accords lock, stock, and barrel. Have you guys figured out that the envirowackos took you to the cleaners on that one, yet?

At a later news conference, Prime Minister Jean Chr�tien would not comment on Mr. Bush's appeal, other than to say he would like to pump more money into the military, but the government has many other priorities.

"Me too, I would like to spend more money on defence. I'd like to spend more money on everything, but we have to make these decisions when come the budget," he said.

Well, it all boils down to priorities, Jean old boy. If you would quit trying to make Canada the multi-cultural, socialist heaven of the West and use a little reason in your decision making process, everything would turn out a whole bunch better "when come the budget". Have I mentioned that your knee-jerk acceptance of the Kyoto accords is going to kill your small business and industrial economies?

Earlier in the day, a senior Canadian official, who asked not to be identified, called Mr. Bush "a moron" because of his efforts to push the war against Iraq to the top of NATO's agenda. The summit was to focus on expansion and moderation of the alliance, but Mr. Bush has used his clout to make Iraq the dominant issue at the meeting.

This is pure garbage. If you are going to call our Commander in Chief a moron, then at least have the balls to say it in the open. To use this kind of language because you disagree with the direction Bush is taking the agenda, and then "asking" not to be named, just adds you to the puling cowards list. And guess what, ass-wipe - I think using the summit to focus on the expansion and moderation of the alliance is moronic. How about we re-focus the alliance on what it was intended to do - provide protection to the participating countries. And rather than unregulated expansion, how about we add new members that want to pull their weight, and lose a few that appear to be freeloaders. In other words, Mr. Senior Canadian Official, as soon as Canada starts making a meaningful contribution to the alliance, and quits letting everyone else foot the bill for military defence, you get to have an opinion on what the focus of a NATO meeting should be. Until then, keep your opinions to yourself. I feel the need to use a word I have seen over at Misha's and Michele's blogs, a word used to describe a particularlyl odious and foolish individual. The word I wish to apply to the "anonymous" senior Canadian Official is - FUCKNOZZLE.

But officials close to Mr. Chr�tien say he's reluctant to approve a substantial boost in spending for Canada's Armed Forces, preferring to pump money from the federal surplus into social programs and infrastructure improvements for cities.

And there you have it, boys and girls. I have a lot of respect for the people of Canada. My wife is Canadian and all of her family live in Saskatchewan and Alberta. And there can be no doubt that Canadian soldiers are well trained, brave, and have been a significant part of NATO actions in the past. But they are being let down by their government, and Canadian military analysts acknowledge the degradation in their abilities.

Too much to do, and not enough time. BUt, a project that I've devoted the last 4 years to is very, very, very near completion. Now I just hope I get tenure, so I get to stick around and enjoy what I have built!

A Pointless Waste of Time

But we definitely should get the owner of this blog one of these hats.

Hehehe you gotta read the whole thing through to get the full flavor. I think it is a pretty funny joke, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out that there are people nodding their head in agreement. Especially with the bits concerning Bruce Springsteen.

Link via Instapundit

I thought the Bush administration was comprised of the "Party that Stifles Dissent".

Juan Gato is none to pleased with the excuses James Kopp, who has admitted killing Dr. Bernard Slepian, has offered for his actions.

Guys like Kopp are every bit as evil as guys like Aimal Kasi, fanatics who believe they have to power to do whatever they want in the name of "god"..

OK, my attempt to see the Leonids was thwarted by nice, dense, Louisiana clouds.

But this is kind of cool - if you're in to balck holes, that is.

Just go read Something Awful.

Found via the other Neal

Michele, over at A Small Victory, has a Christmas wish for this guy:

Although this may be more in line with the ASV wishings.

I have a Christmas wish for #88 as well. Please start scoring some goals for the New York Rangers. If scoring with Michele will help you score in other ways, please expedite this liason as soon as is possible. Just be sure that you don't end up with another concussion - the tits of war might be loaded.

Thank you.

And it ain't pretty. At least not if you worked hard to get an education or develop a skill, applied yourself to be successful, and actually make a decent salary for what you do. Otherwise, the progrssive income tax is just right for you.

We need to send a bunch of these over to the folks at the Democratic Underground.

So, the Pakistani man convicted of murdering 2 CIA agents in 1993 had a huge "meet the virgins" party back in Pakistan. Lots of people yelling and screaming about the US carrying out an execution after pursuing this murderer through the courts, and giving him the full benefits of due process. Since the guy wanted to be a martyr, and is now in the land of the dancing seedless raisens, it seems like everyone should be happy with the outcome. But noooooooo, it's all about the Great Satan America. How dare we kill a convicted mass murderer who just happens to be a Muslim? What a crock. Islamic fanatics want to be able to kill Americans anywhere, any time, for any reason. But if America kills a Muslim, no matter what the reason or the legal remedies pursued, it is a crime against Islam and an issue to "unite the Muslims against America". Now I realize that the fanatics in Islam are the ones making these asinine statements. But the fanatics are who we have to deal with. Not convinced? Then how about this quote from an ELECTED official:

"May his soul be blessed and his family have patience," said Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a lawmaker from a hardline Islamic bloc that came in third in Oct. 10 elections. "May those who handed him over (to the Americans) be destroyed."

Notice you just need to add an "n" to Aimal to get aNimal? Seems appropriate.

Yet another example of a left leaning "celebrity" losing it and being really, really nasty. I sort of left this story alone, but thought that this article out of St. Paul was interesting because public radio found itself having to go on the defensive because of Keillor's comments.

And notice how nasty and personal Keillor's remarks are - and then notice how, rather than provide any substance for his eviscerating attack on Coleman, he chooses to simply reply "no comment". Keillor appears to be just as big a coward as the anonymous trolls who crop up in message boards, spew vile filth, and then run away.

Well, that may be a bit of a stretch. But there is at least another Blogging Neal out there, in the wilds of Northwest Canada.

I love the title quote.

If you have kids, or just an interest in astronomy, wake up early to see what may be a fine show. Slated to reach the peak after midnight tonight (Monday), with the major peak occurring around 5:30am EST. You don't need to do anything special - just go out and look up. The moon is going to be a little bothersome and bright, but it still should be a spectacular show. Don't forget to wake the kids - it could be a once in a lifetime experience.

Looks like the latest Osama tape is original. How does that make you feel.

Word is that the Marin County Women are planning a new naked sign saying

"Please Don't Hurt Us"

So, a group of 50 anti-war ladies decide to strip and spell the word "PEACE" to show their solidarity with Iraq. One wonders if they even thought about the horrible oppression that women under this regime are exposed to daily. Or the fact that they would be killed for such a display under Sharia law. But no, somehow they feel that getting naked, lying in a field, and spelling a word is a powerful satement to make to the world. SHow your tits in Kabul, end up dead. But we're right there with ya, Saddam. We gotta make the evil Bush administration understand what a horrible choice war is. Just read the "statement" that accompanies the photo:

MAKING THEIR BODIES FIGURES OF SPEECH � West Marin women are serious enough about PEACE to spell it out. Wearing nothing but afternoon rain, 50 determined women lay down on Love Field near the Green Bridge Tuesday afternoon to literally embody PEACE and "show solidarity with the people of Iraq," said the organizers. "Women from all ages and walks of life took off their clothes, not because they are exhibitionists but because they felt it was imperative to do so," the organizers added. "They wanted to unveil the truth about the horrors of war, to commune in their nudity with the vulnerability of Iraqi innocents, and to shock a seemingly indifferent Bush Administration into paying attention." The coordinators, who came up with the idea only a day earlier, said that the coming together of this group on short notice was a testament to the seriousness with which the women view the threat of war with Iraq. "Remembering that tens of thousands of civilians have already died in Iraq as a result of US bombing and sanctions, these women are not convinced by Bush Administration fear mongering that one more person should die," organizers said. They hope the president and news media take notice.

I like the bit about stripping not because they are exhibitionists, but because they felt it was "imperative" to do so. What pure, unadulterated garbage. I do see their point about it demonstrating the horrors of war, however. Seeing all of those anti-war ladies strewn about naked in the field was pretty horrible, no doubt. And while they aren't convinced by "Bush fear mongering" that one more person should die, they have no problems if Saddam continues to kill them off by the thousands. Notice how Saddam is NEVER blamed for any of the sanctions imposed on Iraq? But I digress.

Fortunately, A Small Victory has an answer to the madness. Go see the proof.

Ok, we "warbloggers" have all had a ton of fun finding out that our sites are inaccessible in China. But apparently the Chinese can't hold a candle to this regime, which feels the need to strictly censor what information is vailable.

C'mon, tell me you didn't see this coming.

Then it can happen on any airline. My wife and I have flown on El Al once. The security measures were extraordinary, but you certainly felt safe. This just goes to show you that it is impossible to make people 100% safe - no matter how hard you try.

Will whoever visited RNS using the search string "Brazill Porn" explain why you would even WANT to see such a thing. Or then again, don't. I'm not sure I could stomach the answer. But this is a fine example that my "reverse porn hijacking idea" is working out just fine. I guess. If you don't mind creepy people coming in and looking at your stuff.

If you meant "Brazil Porn", then I have no problems with someone looking for a little hot South American lust. But if you meant Brazill Porn, why do you want to see a murderer in such a situation?

Been working on a present for the patriarchal unit. That, and a few hours in the lab. Surely there's something else out there for you to read, right?

And my post on the cunnilingus fairy continues to bring more visits to the site than anything else ever posted to this site. Stupid pornography.

From the Real Time Testing of Accessibility in China:

Testing complete for https://www.nukevet.com/mt/blog. Result:
Reported as inaccessible in China

Anyone got the GPS coordinates for Beijing? I think I need a couple of more warheads pointed in that direction.

Stolen from Rachel:

Peter Kirstein, the professor at St. Xavier University who was rather nasty to an Air Force Academy Cadet, has been censured by the University. The punishment seems very steep, considering that Kirstein's only sin was to be an asshole. However, he did it using a university e-mail address, and has certainly brought a lot of unwanted attention to St. Xavier University.

Kirstein's apology is also available. I still fail to see any real contrition, and it seems to be primarily about him "proving" himself to the reader. The part that really caught my eye was:

My revisionist approach to historiography and the teaching of history is intended to foster reassessment of historical events in the light of new scholarship and evolving societal standards of justice and ethics.

Hmmmm. I can't even BEGIN to fathom what that really means. But judging from the timbre of Kirstein's e-mail to the cadet, I can only assume that his "revisionist approach to historiography" paints the US in an unflattering light, more often than not.

And I certainly respect the St. Xavier response to Kirstein more than the Emory response to Bellesiles.

So this portrait of a "Martyr" is art, open to individual interpretation, and not to be censored at any cost. Even though it glorifies the homicide bombings of innocent people. OK, fine, I can deal with that, although I think it is a crock of shit.

But please explain to me, then, why the statue titled "Tumbling Woman", commemorating the the decision some inhabitants of the World Trade Center made on September 11th - that of leaping to their deaths rather than perish in the horrible inferno - was so quickly censored. Because some people were "disturbed" by the image of a helpless, naked woman falling to her death? Well good, they should be disturbed, dammit.

Are you telling me that it is OK to glorify the murderers of the Tumbling woman, but not the Tumbling woman herself? That really is a sad statement.

As noted below, a Florida jury has assessed damages against a firearms distributor in a murder case, while completely absolving the actual murderer (presumably because there was no money to be squeezed from that particular turnip).

Dave Kopel gives this topic a much more thorough treatment than yours truly. Note, however, the involvement of the Brady Center.

It's amazing how people yell and scream about our loss of civil liberties, and then turn around and support institutions like the Brady Center.

Add your order to the list. Just be sure you leave room for my Scotch.

{where else on the internet you gonna see so many doohickies?}

The lawsuit filed by Front Sight, a firearms training institute, against a member who dared ask if they were affiliated with Scientology, has been a huge topic of discussion among bloggers and Second Amendment advocates.

I really don't understand the lawsuit. If Front Sight is affiliated with Scientology, then what forms the basis of their lawsuit? If they're not affiliated with Scientilogy, then why not just answer Diane's polite request for information with an equally polite denial? This heavy handedness certainly smacks of an all out "scare tactic" assault, and only serves to make uninvolved bystanders believe that Diane's question hit a bit too close to home for Front Sight's comfort. Emporer Misha has the latest scoop on the story.

Interesting to read the comments of Pelosi and her party following her election as Democratic Minority Leader. It seems to me that once again, rather than facing the issues that Americans care about, the Democrats are trying to "gimmick" their way into legitimacy while pushing the same left towards socialism agenda. Note some of the comments:

�And by being the first woman (to lead a party on Capitol Hill), she immediately convinces half the voters that Democrats are in the 21st century, which is a good start.�

Er, so everyone is supposed to overlook the fact that you have no cohesive message, no coherent plan for the US, and be so dazzled that you picked a woman that all else is forgiven? Didn't you try the same tactic with Lieberman - that didn't work out so well, eh? I just think it is incredible that the Democrats still believe that they can dazzle the people with this kind of slight of hand without ever actually addressing the issues of why they lost the mid-term elections.

And how about this:

When a reporter tried to ask Pelosi a question on Thursday, she quickly said with a smile that she had not yet finished her victory speech.
�I�ve been waiting over 200 years,� Pelosi said to laughter. �I didn�t run as a woman. I ran, again, as a seasoned politician and experienced legislator. It just so happens that I am a woman, and we have been waiting a long time.�

So, when a reporter tries to ask a question, her response is to evade it, run around with her arms raised, singing "look at me, look at me, I'm a woman"? Now, I realize this is ridiculous hyperbole. But this is just NOT going to work out for the democrats. The country clearly signalled that they did not want to be that far to the left. So the Democrats, in response, pick a leader who represents a "strongly liberal district in San Francisco", a leader who opposed Bush on just about everything that won the Republicans their current majorities in House and Senate, and all they can point to is "but she's a woman"? Now please don't misunderstand me - I have no problems with Pelosi being a woman, and feel that women, in general, are underrepresented and appreciated in government. But this just seems crazy to me. In essence, the message is "America resoundingly rejected our ideology in this last election. Let's move even further away from center, but hope they'll accept it because we are progressive enough to elect a woman to a position of power". This seems shallow, hypocritical, and stupid to me.

UPDATE

Lynn Sislo, over at Poet and Peasant, seems to agree with my assessment. My favorite line from Lynn:

"...it will take a whole lot more than picking a woman to head the party to convince me that Democrats are in the 21st century."

Are amused (in a contemptuous sort of way) by the "intelligent" left. It's interesting to see how the American left, which is rapidly migrating toward the "Utopia" of socialism, is viewed by people who actually lived through this (and other) utopian forms of government. Go see some example at Sofia Sideshow, a Bulgarian based blog.

Link via Instapundit

OK, more PeTA nonsense. Can't we please include them in the war on terrorism. They have certainly supported domestic terrorism in the past (but only, of course, for a self-defined "good cause").

Here's the MSNBC story

Here's the Blogs of War redux. I especially like the "I'm a jealous cow" protestor

Or, At least these Jurors aren't morons

Unlike the jury who decided that the gun company was liable for the tragic death of a teacher while absolving the actual shooter, the jury in the Carr brother capitol murder case seems to have gotten it right. They recommend the death penalty, let's hope the Judge grants them their wish.

What sentiment did Jonathan Carr's attorney want the jury to consider?

"They convicted him of doing a bad thing, a horrible thing -- but I like him," Evans said. "That is what I told the jury. It is the truth."

This kind of thing makes me nauseous. Grandstanding like this trying to save scum like Jonathan Carr. This attorney would never even LOOK at Carr if he wasn't his client. Wouldn't ask him over for dinner, or go to a sporting event with him, or let him date his teenage daughter. So to stand in front of a courtroom that contains the families of 4 brutally murdered people (only murdered, however, after being sexually humiliated and repeatedly raped by these "nice" guys) and talk about how he did a "bad" thing, but heck he's really a likeable guy is just sick. Oh, and doing something "bad" is like when the puppy pees on the carpet, and you have to scold and say "bad dog". "Bad" is not murdering 4 people in such a depraved and cruel way. And your choice of words"a bad thing, a horrible thing..but" were carefully chosen to try and minimize what your client did, and to solicit a little sympathy for him.

Reginald Carr's attorney also wanted a little sympathy and understanding for his client:

Jay Greeno, the attorney for Reginald Carr, said his client was the product of an abusive household, and he urged jurors to think about the effect an execution would have on Carr's three young children.

Too bad, so sad. But I am sick and tired of this mentality of victimizing the perpetrators of horrible crimes. Guess what, jerk. Those 4 people will never get to even HAVE kids, thanks to your client. And their last hours were filled with terror, hopelessness, and brutality that should not be visited on any individual. Then they were lined up, kneeling in the snow, naked and bleeding and raped, and executed. Should we feel sorry for the kids? I suppose we should. But maybe now they will have a chance to grow up as something other than the image of their father. And feeling sorry for the kids is NOT reason enough to spare the life of such a monster.

Have I missed the mark here? Is there some redeeming quality in these guys (either the Carr borthers or their attorneys) that I am missing? And don't give me that "the attorneys are just doing their job" bullshit. Their "job" is to represent their clients in the face of the evidence, not use cheap tricks to try and get a sucker juror to deadlock the jury. And attorneys wonder why their profession is held in such disdain by the American public.

*Sigh* And so it begins.

OK, I know I discounted "Content Bunnyhole" as a new name for RNS, complaining that the name was just too cutesy for me to handle. But Anna proves that Bunnies can be Bellicose, too (I mean beside the ill-tempered Bunny of Caerbannog in Search for the Holy Grail)

Plus, Anna mentioned a tip jar in relation to RNS, which gives me a tingly, feel good feeling that I just can't describe. And that's even without the cunnilingus fairy.

UPDATE:

Hey! There are more bellicose bunnies out there than I thought! (Thanks, Dave)

Then you must be at a Democratic Strategic Planning Session!

American RealPolitik has some great cartoons up, as well. And More.

UPDATE

Bwaaaaahaaaahaaaahaaaaa!

You need to aim down HERE.

{the Tits of War, paradoxically, are down there, too}

Would have an internet site like THIS? I would guess yes, if things like unlimited internet access and free speech were freedoms they enjoyed.

The people aren't complaining, so they must not have any problems with Saddam. Next time I hear this, I am going to scream. And then shoot whoever said it to me.

I'm sure you don't need any proof of this basic fact. But if you do, head over to Samizdata to see some pretty convincing evidence.

Note - No WMD's were available, but we think this is a pretty good fit:

Which Firearm are you? brought to you byStan Ryker

Kathy Kinsley is none to impressed, even if the latest Osama tape is the real deal.

And Emporer Misha sort of hopes it IS Osama. Gives us the chance to give him the going away party he deserves......

'nuff said.

I wonder how the UN feels right about now? Bush's sabre rattling may have produced, in a little over a year, a result that the UN couldn't deliver in 10 years (and 17 resolutions later). But no, no irrelevancy here.

It's not often that we get mail here at RNS (Unless you consider spam for natural penis enlargement mail, that is). We also don't really get any hate mail, unless you count the lady who called RNS a "hateful little site" because I said I was pro-choice in this post. So any activity in the RNS inbox is generally welcome, if for no other reason than to prove that my POP3 account is still working properly. Last night I got an e-mail from someone who is definitely not a fan of RNS, a guy named Leland Dulac (sent via an anonymous hotmail account, of course). Now, I can't do a Rachel. Style. Fisking. of this e-mail, since it is very short and contains nothing of substance. So instead, I will just supply you with the nasty little missive in its entirety:

What a shitty blog. The name sucks, you suck, your ideas are stupid, and your posts are stupid. You've only had 3,000 hits to this little shithole since you started it, and you think you have something important to say?

Leland Dulac

My first response was one of shock and denial. My blog's name SUCKS? I mean, say what you want about me, but my blog has a stupid name? I couldn't believe that any human being would be so mean-spirited and depraved to make fun of the name Random Nuclear Strikes.

But, after thinking about it, I wondered if Leland might have a point. I mean, could my shortcomings in the stats department (and we will have our 3,500th unique visitor today, thank you very much) really be due to the name of my blog? Perhaps people are mistaking it for an official military site, and don't want to come here for fear that they will be exposed to top secret government stuff, possibly leading to a late night visit by one of the Liberal Assassination Squads running rampant across America since the regime change coup failed. Perhaps people are afraid that the site actually IS nuclear, leading to high dose radiation exposure through their monitors if they visit. Or, most likely in my opinion, perhaps people are afraid that they can actually LAUNCH nuclear strikes from this website, and don't want to be responsible for starting WWIII. So, perhaps the name is to blame, after all. And, it certainly would be nice to have Glenn Harlan Reynolds type stats once the stigma of the old name was removed, right? Right.

So with some fear and trepidation, I started on a search for a new "stat-busting" name. At first I thought a friendly, inviting name would be best. Unfortunately, Happy Fun Pundit was already taken, so I had to look harder. Other "happy fun" names just didn't do it for me. Consideration of names like

the Content Bunnyhole
Chickenhawk Group Hug
Happy Wholesome Joyfulness Blog

almost made me puke on my keyboard (been there, done that - it smells bad for weeks, and the keys get all sticky). So, due to my sensitive constitution and inability to stomach syrupy names, this naming strategy was abandoned.

Then I thought I should just go for a purely factual descriptive title. One look at

Academic Veterinarian's Worldview

cured me of that nonsense. More likely to cost me readers than bring in droves of new ones.

My next strategy was to use a little deviousness and subterfuge. Perhaps I could lure a non-target audience here to bolster my seemingly inadequate visit numbers. Sort of the old "bait and switch" tactic used by porno sites. You know, where a seemingly innocuous URL is hijacked and re-directed to a porn site. Since porn is the most lucrative business on the net, surely I could lure lots of people here if I picked a pornographic sounding name for my blog. Sure, they would all leave once they found out that there was no actual porn on my site. But not before I recorded them as a unique visitor. This idea really seemed to have a lot of promise, and I came up with several possibilities:

Poontang Blog
Lesbian Sex Blog
Big Dildo Blog
Vibrator Fun Blog
Latex Sex Blog
Whips n Chains Blog

However, none of these really hinted at my "pro-war" stance, so I figured I needed to be a bit more clever in my naming. That lead to:

Poontang WarBlog
Lesbian Sex WarBlog
Big Dildo WarBlog
Vibrator Fun WarBlog
Latex Sex WarBlog
Whips n Chains WarBlog

Eh, maybe not as clever as I thought. My final ploy was to try and create a blog name that used my extensive expertise of medical vocabulary AND a war alliteration to try and draw in the masses. Not quite ready to give up on the porn idea, I decided that the medical vocabulary used should be associated with sex in some way. My first effort

The Clitoris of War

seemed promising, but not just quite right. Would everyone know what a clitoris was? Did RNS want to use the slang of clitoris, which is seen as a fairly vulgar word? In the end, we decided that this just wasn't the right anatomical reference to describe our efforts at RNS. Our next 2 attempts at naming

Scrotum of War
Mars' Prostate

were similarly flawed, and vaguely disturbing. Then it hit me, the perfect combination of sex, easy to understand anatomical reference, and allusion to my pro-war stance:

Tits of War

Yep, that was it. the perfect new name for RNS. Everyone loves tits, so who knows how many extra hits I would get just from that? And Tits of War sounds a little bit scary but tantalizes none the less. Imagine, then, my dismay to learn that someone else in the Blogosphere has laid claim to the title Tits of War in a way that I could never hope to compete with. And more than once, too. With a sense of hopelessness and despair, I continued to randomly scroll through the posts on Michele's blog. She owed me, dammit. She took my blog title, evil, bloodthirsty, breast having, warblogging trollop that she is, and she was damn sure going to offer up an alternative. And then I found it. Nestled away in an inconspicuous little post, almost a throwaway post dealing with the routine humdrum activities associated with working for a living. I just have 1 question. Do you think my new blog title of

The Cunnilingus Fairy

will be too high brow for most of my readership?

Oh, and I almost forgot. Leland, you can kiss my butt, you puling coward. Grow a pair and leave your comments where they can be evaluated by all, or shut the fuck up.

At least according to some whiney little ranter who is either more intolerant than most, or figures that pissing off some of our ranters will direct a lot of traffic to their site, primarily consistinig of those of us who want to see violence. Anyway, I was over at a Small Victory when I stumbled upon this thread. Now, I love Michele's work, but the comments section really had the quote of the day for me.

My new words to live by, courtesy of Pearl, are:

There are two kinds of people--those who help you live and those who help you die. For the most part, the best way to live well and stay sane is to ignore the negative energy brainsuckers. The ones you can't ignore, you grind into the ground like the greasy little roaches they are...

Daniel Pipes is calling for some adult supervision on American Campuses. But not for who you might expect.

While well-fed "activists" proclaim victory in their battle to block genetically modified foods from entering these countries. What an absolute crock.

Seems like this report about how Ethiopia was going to feed herself while spurning US offers of GM grain was just a wee bit optimistic, eh?

To find out what Iraqi exiles think about the US plans to topple Saddam. Or, more accurately, to hear Iraqi exiles wonder about the support other Arabs are voicing for Saddam to stay in power.

While reading the Air Force reply to Professor Kirstein, I came across this quote, suggested by the Cadets as an appropriate response to the entire episode. It certainly strikes me as a fitting tribute to the men and women who have given us the freedoms we now enjoy. I certainly hope some of the dissenters who feel stifled will stop and reflect on the part about flag burning. But I know they won't.

"It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag." ~Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, Sergeant, USMC

Thank you for keeping us safe.

Go over to Blogs of War (previously Mostly Wasted) and read an exchange between an Air Force Cadet asking for assistance and a very far left Professor at St. Xavier University. Somehow the left has convinced itself that theirs is the path of reason and tolerance, and doesn't mind attacking anyone who disagrees. And this right around Veteran's day. Just to give you a bit of a taste of the professor's rabid rantings:

You are a disgrace to this country and I am furious you would even think I would support you and your aggressive baby killing tactics of collateral damage. Help you recruit. Who, top guns to reign death and destruction upon nonwhite peoples throughout the world? Are you serious sir? Resign your commission and serve your country with honour.

Someone in this exchange is certainly a disgrace to this country, but somehow I don't think it is the Air Force Cadet.

You can visit Professor Kirstein here. Or drop him an e-mail here.

Note the apology he was forced to write by the President of St. Xavier University. It is appended to a response by the head of the Air Force Academy Assembly. It is notable primarily for its lack of the words "I'm sorry", and I think the Air Force response was much more mature, circumspect, and honourable than anything offered forth by Kirstein. Who knew that baby killers could resolve issues any way other than by force?

Well, maybe a little bit like this parody of the New York Times. Certainly most liberals feel like they live in this kind of police state already, judging from their whining. I thought this was hilarious. I especially like the "DOJ silent on detention of Streisand" comment.

Via Nikita Demosthenes

Go read Bill Moyer's latest. It is amazing to me that everyone on the left believes they are living is some kind of Fascist governemnt, where dissenters disappear overnight, and people are routinely killed for their beliefs. Hey left, apparently most Americans don't agree with you. Why don't you work on changing that, rather than talk about how "evil" anyone who doesn't share your ideology is?

Get punched in the nose. I have no idea if "Ken Park" is a good movie or not. But you should go see it, just because of this.

Time to get a few more of those Predator drones in the air, if you ask me. I want al Qaeda nutjobs to be blown to Allah without warning just like those 6 guys in Yemen. I don't know if Bin Laden is still alive or not, but I do know there are still people out there that mean to finish what he started, regardless. Anyone still think appeasement sounds like a good idea?

Not content with Belafonte's assault on Colin Powell, a White Florida DJ is now making similar comments about Condoleezza Rice. Wonder what would happen if a white conservative radio talk show host said similarly racist things about, say, Jesse Jackson. Would it get swept under the rug, or would the be a huge outcry (and yes, it's a rhetorical question). Apparently unable to respond to their resounding defeat in the mid-term elections with anything meaningful, the left has now decided to just call everyone names. It seems that only white conservatives can actually say anything racist: everything else is just political commentary.

From the "liberal" DJ's talk show:

Is you their black-haired answer-mammy who be smart?" a song parody broadcast on Rogers' show says. "Does they like how you shine their shoes, Condoleezza? Or the way you wash and park the whitey's cars?"

Niger Innis, spokesperson the Congress on Racial Equality:

"Guys like Rogers and Belafonte are intellectually bankrupt," he said. "They have no ideas, or their ideas are outdated, they're archaic. And on the battlefield of ideas, they will lose. So the only thing they can do is throw stones and rhetorical, racist rhetoric."

You know, the term used to describe a rebuttal to a particularly idiotic and odious stance and position? Well, go read the latest by Fiskings namesake, and wonder no more.

WhooooHaaaaaa. Head over to the Democratic Underground (don't touch anything while you're there) and read their "Important Message".

Due to the unexpectedly high traffic to our website since election day, we are going to limit access to our message board. Only individuals who have donated to Democratic Underground during the last year will be given access. This is a temporary change which will only be in effect until our traffic returns to its pre-election levels, hopefully very soon.

This, of course, from the group that banned any "dissenting" posts to its message board prior to the mid-term elections. I guess they've limited message board access to "paying members" in order to keep from facing up to the reality of how untenable their position really is. That, and I'm sure they got tired of being made fun of.

Remember MoveOn, the Democratic PAC whose slogan was "Regime Change Begins at Home"? Well, they are a bit disappointed at the reults of the mid-term elections, and think the Dems need a change in leadership. Well, Duh. But I really, really, really hope that the Democrats listen to MoveOn PAC's advice on who that new leader should be. This from their latest e-mail alert (emphasis added):

Dear MoveOn member,

________________
This is a message from MoveOn.org PAC.
To unsubscribe from this list, visit our subscription management page
and uncheck the "MoveOn PAC List" or "MoveOn PAC for Peace" list. Go to:
https://www.moveon.org/subscrip/i.html?id=905-1465166-ANYANXHN70zZuAKpPHbJ7g

Yeah, that'll really help. Pick an ultra-liberal California Democrat who opposed the Iraq resolution as your new leader. Right after you got handed your asses in an election that proved that Americans were more worried about threats to the US than any other topic.

Morons.

Remember when kids played games for fun? Now we have this, where a hockey dad is suing his provincial hockey association for $300,000 (even in CDN$ that's a lot of money) because his son didn't win the league MVP award. Apparently the aspiring young Gretzky was so disappointed when he didn't win that he has decided not to play hockey again. The dad is not asking for anything UNREASONABLE -

Michael Croteau is seeking $300,000 in psychological and punitive damages from the association. He is also demanding that the MVP trophy be taken from the boy who won it and given to his son, Steven, as well as the league's playmaker award, which was awarded to a different boy. Croteau also wants Steven to be guaranteed a spot on the New Brunswick Canada Winter Games roster

All I can say is: what a spoiled little brat. Hey kid - guess what? Life is full of disappointments, best get used to it. You are a crybaby and your dad is an overcompensating loser (see Gerhard Schroeder post, below). Whaaaa whaaa whaaaaa. I didn't win the award, so I'm just gonna quit. And my dad, great role model that he is, is teaching me that if life doesn't give you what you want, it must be SOMEONE'S fault, so start suing. I would not have been surprised if this story came out of the good old USA, where the concept of "sometimes, bad shit happens" has been replaced by "when bad shit happens, someone ELSE must be to blame". I was really surprised to see this story coming out of Canada, but I guess lawyers need business no matter where they practice.

Prime whiney quotes from the dad:

Croteau said his son was "so hurt and damaged" after losing the awards in front of 250 people that night he came home and shoved his hockey equipment into a corner, saying he had no interest in playing again.

"He was so sure of himself he took $50 of his own money to buy a nice shirt and tie to look good that night," he said. "And he was just humiliated."

Humiliated in his own mind? Did everyone stand up and jeer at him and call him names? Or was he just so sure that he was the winner that he just couldn't fathom that a jury of his peers thought someone else deserved the award more than he? Guess you never shared that old "don't count your chickens before they're hatched" adage with your son eh, hockey dad. Or how about "it's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game"? Guess junior never heard that growing up in the Croteau household. And you think he was humiliated during the awards ceremony, how about after every stand-up comic, blogger, and newspaper across North America carries your pathetic story as a fucking joke?

"He just had to breathe. It's not the trophy, it's that he should have been honoured. I taught him since he learned to skate at three years old that hard work brings rewards. But that didn't happen.

"I'm doing this because all the years I played and coached hockey I saw what good it could bring to your life. I'm doing this for my son. He feels very bad. He did his best. . . . I didn't want to go this far but hopefully it will be an example to others."

Gee, what about all of those other players that didn't win MVP? Do you suppose they are also out planning lawsuits? I'm sure they all did their best as well. And as far as "setting an example to others", you certainly are doing that. An example of how to be a whiney, self-righteous, poor loser who thinks his son is entitled to something merely because you're his dad and he "tried his best". And won't that trophy mean a lot if you sue the hockey association into giving it to your son - and taking it away from the player that legitimately won it. What about him? Does he get to feel humiliated and sue as well? What, you saw it work for the Canadian Ice Dancing duo in the Olympics, and figured that it must be a god-given Canadian right to sue if you don't win the gold?

How does the saying go? The best way to judge a man's character is by how he deals with failure? I think we have a pretty good read on the character of this father/son combo. The son's a quitter, probably because of his father's influence. The father's just a loser.

Have you wondered where Gerhard Schroeder's animus towards the US comes from? Perhaps it is just him overcompenstating for a perceived deficiency. You know, the old "short dick, fast car syndrome". That may seem a bit far fetched. At least until you see a photo like this:

{pssssssst. Schroeder's the guy on the box}

I really wish this dillweed would stop by the Baton Rouge Olive Garden.

This time, on the charge of speeding his powerboat through a "wake-free" Manatee zone.

In a statement read by an OJ spokesperson, OJ vowed "not to rest until the real disturber of those peaceful Manetees is found and punished". (ok, I made that last bit up)

This is pretty funny. In a sad sort of way.

Found this while I was over taking belts and shoelaces away from the guys at Bartcop (wait, I was supposed to be HANDING OUT belts and shoelaces? dammit!)

The 'demands":

I Demand that your company and your PACs stop giving money to the Republican Party.

Help me out here. Doesn't this sort of do away with the old 2 party system the NJ Supreme court was so interested in preserving for Lautenberg?

I Demand Universal Healthcare as a minimum for every US Citizen.

I don't know who is going to pay for it. I don't even really have any concept of what universal health care means, or how crippling it would be to the US economy to institute it. But I heard Hillary speak on it once, so I demand it, dammit.

I Demand a higher minimum wage of 10 dollars an hour.

I mean, why should people who finished high school, developed a skill or trade, or went to college be the only ones who can afford luxury items. Flipping burgers at Mickey-D's should still get you 20K a year.

I Demand a drug prescription benefit at no extra cost in Medicare.

And while you're at it, I demand that you force those mean old drug companies to do billions of dollars of research to find a cure for Everything Bad, but be sure they don't pass any of that cost on to me. Part of a Universal Health System should be free drugs for all.

I Demand that congress increase medical reimbursements to Doctors and HMOs to reverse backdoor Social Security and Medicare benefit cuts of increased HMO premiums and Doctor refusal of patients having Medicare.

I don't even know what this tortured sentence really means. Based on the general health care theme, it seems to be more of the "insure that those who put the least into our health care system get the highest standard of health care available, the same as those who put the most into our health care system".

I demand that congress tax a persons full income and remove the so called FICA limit on taxable income so that more money will go to the Social Security System and make the tax truly progressive.

In other words, rather than have the top 10% of the taxpaying citizens pay 46% of the taxes, I would like the top 10% pay 85-90% of the taxes. And then we could take it all away and spend it on really cool social programs.

I Demand a patients bill of rights including the right to sue an HMO.

But just be sure that those added legal fees don't do anything to affect the quality or quantity of patient care, and be damn sure that all that litigation doesn't increase the cost of health care by one thin dime. If there's not enough money to provide a universal health care system AND cover the legal fees and settlements, I further demand that you just print more money.

I Demand a universal voting system providing equal protection under the law for the United States.

Under this system, anything and everything would be allowed, as long as a Democrat wins whatever race is in question.

I Demand Federal legislation prohibiting states from using private companies processing voter rolls tied to a political party and police roadblocks from getting used as a voter suppression tool on election day.

Another tortured sentence, leading nowhere. However, if both Democrats and Republicans are prohibited from "processing voter rolls", that sounds cool. But I'm thinking the author of these demands means "Republicans" every time he/she types "a political party".

I Demand that the illegitimate pResident George W Bush and his vice pResident Dick Cheney resign from office for the fraudulent actions taken by them and their campaign in order to win the 2000 presidential election.

Hahhhahhhahaaaaahhaaaaaa. Whooo, boy. I guess, judging from the results of last night's elections, that most voters DON'T view GWB as an illegitimate president. Of course, that could be a mis-interpretation of the data. I suppose it's possible the GOP made such huge strides because voters were voicing their displeasure with the policies of the current administration.

I Demand a strong Federal Hate Crimes Law.

Realizing, of course, that only white people are capable of being racist or committing said "hate crimes".

I Demand the repeal of the 1996 Welfare Law and to pass a Federal Welfare Law without time limits that treats those indigent with dignity and respect.

What? There's still money in the US coffers? Well, let's see if a repeal of the 1996 Welfare Reform act, along with our universal health care and $10/hour minimum wage, and see if we can bring the Government and big business to its knees.

I have other demands that I will communicate to you in the future.

These demands will be made public once I receive them from the mother ship.

I will no longer do business with you until these demands get met by the US Congress and signed by the President.

Fine by me. In fact, why don't you hold your breath until the legitimate (and recently validated, I might add) President of the United States signs these "demands". Would having my 3 year old nephew sign them do as well? Perhaps I could interest you in a belt or some shoelaces while you are waiting.

Is there any DOUBT about why the elections last night turned out the way they did?

This is just VILE. If these people are found guilty of this crime, they should be executed.

How on Earth could a mother drug her OWN 9 year old daughter, and then sit back and watch as her 52 year old boyfriend raped the child? Sometimes you have to think that the human race really doesn't have a single redeeming quality.

I thought the Carr brothers were the most dispicable criminal "duo" I had encountered in the recent past, and their acts are certainly more final in that they murdered their victims after sexually humiliating and assaulting them. But this mother-boyfriend duo needs to burn in hell, and I don't even believe in such a place. I would, however, be in favor of creating Hell if it was reserved for people like this.

MSNBC has an article on-line that discusses Yemeni cooperation in the US strike against al-Qaeda "Lieutenant" Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi. The point of the article is to discuss whether this was a legitimate military action. You will read a few different quotes, including:

Former senator Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.), who chaired the President�s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board during the Clinton administration and co-chaired a recent presidential commission that examined homeland security, said the Yemen attack illustrated the administration�s new policy. �I think in the war on terrorism there are no rules. They [the terrorists] have none and we have to take whatever risks you have to take to make them fear us.�

Then you will read a bit of waffling from an "un-named" Clinton administration official:

A senior foreign policy adviser in the Clinton administration said that fighting a war against a �stateless terrorist enemy� requires working with friends and allies, but added: �We have to make sure that the U.S. government does not become � in fact or perception � judge, jury and executioner around the world. If the technique is used indiscriminately, there will be a backlash.�

And then Sweden's foreign minister, Anna Lindh enters the fray with:

�If the U.S.A. is behind this with Yemen�s consent, it is nevertheless a summary execution that violates human rights,� she said. �Even terrorists must be treated according to international law. Otherwise, any country can start executing those whom they consider terrorists.�

Hey Anna, as soon as you convince these guys to stop killing innocent civilians of many nations and surrender and subject themselves to the "international law" you are so enamored of, we will stop the the sytematic elimination of their leadership. In fact, the ideal thing for them to do would be to follow the advice of Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Salih:

In the wake of the attack, however, a statement by Salih was read over Yemen national television, asking those who had joined bin Laden�s network to come forward in order to avoid what happened to al-Harithi. �We call on everyone from among our countrymen who have been entangled in membership of the al Qaeda organization to repent ... and renounce all means of violence,� Salih�s statement said.

Caption at "Memorial Service"

We Will Win! We Will Win! We Will Win!

Caption after Democrats lose Senate in historic midterm vote (historical as in - not since Teddy Roosevelt):

We Fucked Up! We Fucked Up! We Fucked Up!

What a way to absolutely destroy Wellstone's "legacy". And talk about snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory.

I really believe that the nation as a whole reacted negatively to the Democrats actions in Minnesota and New Jersey. Not surprising that a Democrat won in Jersey, but it seems like the rest of the country was pretty disgusted with the old "bait and switch".

Already it begins, the whining from Europe about how much "bolder" Cowboy Bush will be now that the GOP controls both houses of Congress.

How about this quote:

"The likelihood that the American president will feel even more self-confident about his own views than prior to the election is great," Karsten Voigt, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's U.S. affairs coordinator, told Reuters.

"But on the other side, I think that he needs to convince Europeans. And so far as military action (in Iraq) is concerned, he has not convinced the Germans -- yet."

Tell me again why we need to convince Europeans of anything? Why do we need the approval of the Germans or the French when we have already forged a multinational coalition willing to dethrone Saddam? The GOP made such significant gains in mid-term elections despite a bad economy because the Average American agrees with Bush on these issues.

Wonder if Schroeder is a bit worried about his anti-Bush campaign?

Recently, I applied for the position of imperial fermentor of grains and tastetester for Emporer Misha I. As proof of my readiness to take on such a "heady" responsibility, I offer the following into evidence.

Nukevet Cream Stout. Dark, heavy, but not bitter. Even "American Beer" drinkers come back for seconds on this baby.

As further evidence of our longstanding tradition of excellence deserving Imperial attention and reward, have a look at this authentic photograph of the Emporer Augustus:

Convincing evidence indeed.

Don't you wish you had some right now, to celebrate the gains the VRWC made last night?

Found via a Link from Rachel Lucas:

This site has lots of interesting tidbits dealing with child fatalities. Remember: Pools don't kill children, it's the water in them that does the damage. Oh, yeah - watch out for buckets, too.

A little taste of the facts:

Nearly 300 children, mostly between the ages of 7 and 15 months and from 24 to 31 inches tall, have drowned in buckets containing water or other liquids used for mopping floors and other household chores in 1984.

The risk of a child drowning in a swimming pool is 100 times greater than the risk of dying from a firearm-related accident.

If this news didn't cause you a little concern, then what about this?

I know, I know. The report will be discredited by the left as a Bush ploy to validate his war against "little brown people".

As your official Nuclear Strikes headquarters, I offer these:

This report from the Washington Times should make you feel really uncomfortable.

Yes, it's a commentary piece. But a commentary written by the former deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, Per Ahlmark. Ahlmark has known the Chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, for forty years.

From the article:

Personally, Mr. Blix is amiable and has a sense of humor; politically he is weak and easily fooled. I can think of few European officials less suitable for a showdown with Saddam.

and:

The world has been amply warned about Mr. Blix's weaknesses because he has a track record of compounded failure. When Mr. Blix headed the IAEA before the Persian Gulf war of 1991, he blithely assured the world, after several inspections, that nothing alarming was happening in Iraq. He delivered the clean bill of health that Saddam had hoped for when he began hiding his atomic factories and nuclear ambitions.
Since then, we have learnt all too unambiguously that Saddam is obsessed with procuring weapons of mass destruction � chemical and biological warheads as well as atomic bombs and the missiles to deliver them.

And finally:

Mr. Blix, naive and relatively ignorant about technical details � his field is international law � is easily mislead. Even after the Gulf war, he failed to realize that the Iraqi officials, who were again assuring the U.N. that they were hiding nothing, were but consummate liars. Indeed, Mr. Blix believed that Iraq had no program at all for nuclear arms. David Kay, perhaps the most effective arms inspector, insisted that he did not trust them. But Mr. Blix reproached Mr. Kay for his attitude. You must believe in official information, Mr. Blix implied.

Yep, this is the man the French and the left insist that we trust to guard against Saddam atrocities. Go read the entire article - any more "quoting" of the good bits and I would have had to cut and paste the entire article.

Via LGF

Looks like a few other people want to know why John Allen Mohammed (aka John Allen Williams) gets a pass on being a member of a culture of violence.

Link via Instapundit

The obligatory hook:

No, the liberal media has suddenly become silent about the culture of violence. It seems that their sociological theory is all fine and well when it serves to cast aspersions and blame on right wing baddies, but it gets thrown out the window when its application might lead to difficult questions about black Muslims and/or left wing pontificators.

By reading the Norwegian Blogger. He performs one of his signature "mistings", this time targeting the Guardian's coverage of the Norwegian Progress Party. So the blogosphere has "Fiskings" and "Mistings". Is a response that fits midway between the 2 to be known as a "Fisting"? I'm not sure that's a blogosphere convention I would want to see take off.

Just go read Scrappleface.

Meaning, of course, that Cato the Youngest has moved to new digs. Just the latest moveable type powered blog in the warblogger universe. Adjust your links accordingly.

You know, the guys who screamed bloody murder about American Troops being exempt from the "war crimes" clause for UN peacekeepers while secretly working out a 7 year exemption for themselves? Well, it looks like they have other secrets they don't want the world to know about. Like arms for oil deals, perhaps?

From the article:

The first day was interrupted by legal wrangling after the lawyer for one of the defendants served notice his arguments would cover territory declared a "defence secret" by the French government.

Hmmmmm. I wonder what it could be that the French Government doesn't want us to know about in this tawdry little coruption scandal?

How can there even be any doubt that they deserve the death penalty. Notice how the felon is one of the guys with a gun?
From the FoxNews story:

The most notorious of the crimes was on Dec. 14-15, when the two men entered a Wichita home. The two women and three men inside were forced to engage in sexual acts with each other and to withdraw money from ATMs. The women were repeatedly raped before the five friends were taken to the soccer field, forced to kneel in the snow and were shot in the back of the head.

As long as the profile is of a white male, that is........

Went over to WBW, just to see what was up with the "anything but WAR" groupies. As expected, there was a lot of gnashing of teeth concerning the "most evil and bloodthirsty Warblogger Poll" currently being contested over at Bill Quick's.

While reading the comments generated by this post, I came across an entry by "Eric A. Blair" talking about how one of us "Pro-gun nuts was going to go around shooting little brown Muslims with a bushmaster" (a comment that has now disappeared. No doubt due to the insidious workings of Haloscan). The question I asked regarding this post was fairly simple: Why didn't the WBW crowd get as upset when a Muslim (John Allen Mohammed) went around killing Americans as they do at the simple thought of an American killing a "little brown" Muslim. What followed in that comments section seems to be a textbook version of what passes for reasoned debate on the left: call the other side names, and if that doesn't work, run away. You should go and read all of the comments, to be sure I am not leaving anything out or skewing the comments by selective quoting or taking things out of context.

The "annotated comments" follow:

Eric A Blair - the now missing "gun nuts killing little brown people with Bushmasters" comment.

--------------------------------------------------------
Neal:

So you comment about one of us nuts going postal and picking off brown people with a bushmaster. Were you just as upset when a black Muslim went around picking off non-Muslims (although he didn't discriminate racially) with a bushmaster?
Neal | Email | Homepage | 10.31.02 - 6:41 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From a WBW poster who doesn't leave an e-mail or website with comments section:

Hey Neal,
How in the fuck do you suppose the sniper knew what religion his victims were?
Here's an idea: he didn't! Dumbass.
wbwfan | 11.01.02 - 2:46 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My response to above:

Hey, WBWFan,

What a brave little fucker you are, no e-mail, no website with comments, no nothing. Pretty typical behavior for you little numbnuts, though, so I'm not too surprised.
Neal | Email | Homepage | 11.01.02 - 5:55 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Then Buck weighs in with more reasoned debate (although he never clarifies whether or not I am the actual fuckhead in question)

What about Clayton Lee Wagner, fuckhead? Should we wage war on Christianity too?

And Williams was Nation of Islam, a group that traditional Islam tries to distance itself from.

Buck | Email | Homepage | 11.01.02 - 6:26 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My response to Buck (who does at least seem to have a valid e-mail, and a blog that is a wee bit lacking in the content department)

Who you calling fuckhead? I realize that this is what passes for informed and reasoned discourse here at WBW, but a little more specificity in your random spewing would be helpful.

There was only 1 relevant point I was trying to make - that posters to this site whip themselves into a frenzy at the thought of innocent Muslims possibly being killed by Americans. But no such outrage is expressed when innocent Americans are killed by Muslims. I don't care if they are "traditional" or Nation of Islam - a murdering fanatic is still just a murdering fanatic.

Neal | Email | Homepage | 11.01.02 - 7:43 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Buck manages an e-mail with no "fuckhead" use

Do some research, kid. Nation of Islam isn't Islamic. I might shake your faith in the vast Muslum conspiracy theory, but it's the truth. Not too many real Muslum�s believe Allah appeared in the form of Wallace D. Fard.

Buck | Email | Homepage | 11.01.02 - 9:10 pm

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are several posts dealing with whether or not members of the Nation of Islam are really Muslim. These weren't directed formally at me, so you can read them at WBW if you want to. I certainly accept that Nation of Islam is a radical faction, but still question whether or not they consider themselves to be "Muslim". The basic premise of the arguments seems to be that even though John Allen Mohammed "converted" to Islam, he is not a "traditional" Muslim so his beliefs should have no bearing on the current question (which hasn't, you will notice, still not been directly addressed or answered). For the record, I don't think Mohammed's conversion to Islam has anything to do with his acts. I used him as the foil for this discussion purely because Blaire chose to have his mythical American kill the "poor brown people" with a bushmaster, the rifle used by Mohammed in his sniper attacks.

Back to the comments:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My response to the old "but he's not a REAL Muslim" ploy:

So you're saying that a guy who believes himself to be a Muslim, even of the Nation if Islam variety, isn't a Muslim because the "traditional" Muslims don't think he is Muslim enough?

And again I ask the only question I really raised: why do you guys get so upset at the thought of Americans killing "little brown" Muslims, but not when the converse happens? All that really matters here is that JA Mohammed believes himself to be a Muslim, not really much else. I mean, if someone thinks they are a Muslim, and kills in the name of Islam, isn't that all that really matters?
Neal | Email | Homepage | 11.03.02 - 12:22 am

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric A Blair reappears. Notice how he uses The pre-conversion Williams rather than the post conversion to ISLAM Mohammed. Even though I basically say in a previous post that JA Mohammed is a murdering psychopath rather than al-Qaeda, this is where Blair chooses to make his stand. His comment about this being "warblogger watch" rather than "serial killer watch" is particularly funny, since he is the one who broached the subject to begin with. But now that namecalling hasn't worked, we get the racism card. I do have 1 question: who is Hal Turner? Is that the Turner Diaries guy?

Let's get a few facts straight: Nation of Islam is not a "variety" of Islam. It has nothing to do with Islam. As Buck said, they don't even follow the five pillars and have about as much to do with Islam as British Israelites have to do with Judaism.

And for your "kills in the name of Islam" quip when there is zero proof that he was "killing for Islam" makes me wonder about you Neal. I think your racial "preferences" are beginning to show. Been tuning into the Hal Turner show too much lately?

Eric Blair | Email | Homepage | 11.03.02 - 12:56 am

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a bit of WBW baiting which has nothing to do with the current theme, but was kind of funny. Primarily because of the response that follows:

Jim is right.

So please, continue sneer at your betters, unaware of what a revolting spectacle you are. They'll continue to serve and risk themselves so that you can sneer in safety, after all, they are, and always will be, better than you.

Amos | Email | Homepage | 11.03.02 - 12:28 pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Response to above. Interestingly, accusing the opposition of catfucking seems to be a fairly common occurrence over at Warblogger Watch. Slobodan didn't need to correct Buck's misspelling of "Muslim" as "Muslum". I wonder if this makes him an illiterate, bile-gargling piece of shit as well?

So, what precisely have you done to build democracy and freedom recently, Amos? Oh, I forgot: you were busy fucking your cat.

And it's 'immeasurably', you illiterate, bile-gargling piece of shit.

slobodan cakemix | 11.03.02 - 9:15 am

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My response to Blair's "I was upset that Americans were killed, but let's be sure we don't say it was by a Muslim" post above:

EAB

Speaking of Nazis, has Mark Konrad shown up to offer his support to WBW lately?

Neal | Email | Homepage | 11.05.02 - 12:01 am

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And Eric's final salvo:

I give up. You can't argue with a fanatic.

Eric Blair | Email | Homepage | 11.05.02 - 12:11 am

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There you have it. I've always found it easier to actually engage in debate when both sides present actual arguments. Buck at least has something to say, it just has nothing to do with the question I asked. Rather than answer why they aren't upset that a self proclaimed Muslim killed Americans with a Bushmaster, a question asked in direct response to some inflammatory rhetoric posted by Blair, the WBW crowd instead puts all of their energy into proving that John Allen Mohammed isn't a "real" Muslim.

Ahhh, the humor of the Democrats. This arrived in the Nukevet inbox this morning.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

From: The Executive Committee Against Uppity Citizens
Sent: Monday November 03 7:37 AM
To: MoveOn.org
Subject: Please don't vote.

Dear friend,

On behalf of Shell, Mobil, and Exxon; Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, and GE; all the Enrons, Halliburtons, and Harkens; President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and the other CEOs of the Cabinet; and thousands of us who are working for a better life for the wealthiest Americans, we have one simple request: Could you please just stay home tomorrow?

See, we have things to do. Nations to invade. Wetlands to destroy. Oil to drill. Courts to pack. Corporate taxes to cut.

What's frustrating for us is that we're coming up against some pretty stiff resistance. We've spent hundreds of millions of dollars to secure the Senate, but it looks like we just may lose it. Heck, we may even lose the House. We don't quite get what it is about our agenda that you people don't like, but it's clear that this time, you may be upset enough to actually do something about it.

That's why we're writing this message to you today. Please don't vote. Ask your friends not to vote. What could the harm be in sitting this round out? If you could just stay home on Election Day, we can get back to the important business of running the nation for you, and we won't have to bother you again.

Thank you,
The Executive Committee Against Uppity Citizens

With, er, titillating campaign promises like this, Emporer Misha might be in trouble.

Mondale doesn't even bother to show up for a debate with the other contenders for the Minnesota Senate seat.

Is this because he feels he has things in the bag? Or is it because he has been out of politics for so long, there is no way he could be brought up to speed in time to look like he had a clue?

I'm guessing it is a bit of both.

Just got an "emergency" e-mail from the US Regime Change folks over at MoveOnPAC. Seems Mondale needs lots of moola to protect himself from the relentless Republican attack. Give whatever you can. Or not.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

EMERGENCY: Please help Mondale preserve Wellstone's legacy.
___________________________________________

Dear MoveOn members,

After Paul Wellstone's tragic death in a plane crash, his remaining family turned to Walter Mondale. Paul's sons asked Mondale to continue Paul's tradition in the Senate by running in his place. Wednesday night, Mondale was officially named the Democratic candidate in the Minnesota race.

Yesterday, the GOP went into full attack mode. The White House announced that Vice President Dick Cheney, First Lady Laura Bush and President Bush would make successive appearances in Minnesota, beginning today, for Wellstone's opponent Norm Coleman.

We've been talking with the Mondale campaign, and they're emotionally exhausted and besieged. Mondale has no staff, no media dollars, and no web site. GOP attacks keep coming, and the money keeps rolling in for Coleman -- the Republicans now see this as a winnable race.

Mondale and his volunteer staff are good people running under the most difficult of personal and political conditions. We've just got to help.

We've set up a way to give to the Mondale campaign through our web site. They need to raise at least one million dollars TODAY to counter the GOP onslaught. We're working to raise $100,000 of that by 8pm Eastern Time, so we can get a check to the campaign overnight. We'll deliver another check at 8 pm EST on Saturday.

Please give whatever you can to help at:

https://www.moveonpac.org/moveonpac/viewcandidates.phtml

We're including three other candidates on this donation page who are
in races that are rapidly tightening. Chellie Pingree and Bill
Bradbury have been outspoken opponents of the Iraq war resolution and
all three would make excellent U.S. Senators. We talk to the
campaigns each and every day and every dollar counts. Please help
us win this one for Paul.

Thank you,

--Wes, Joan, Peter, Carrie, Eli, and Doug
MoveOn.org PAC
November 1st, 2002

P.S. If you wish to send a check directly to the campaign,
make out a check payable to Mondale for Senate and send
by overnight mail to:

2341 University Avenue West
St. Paul, MN 55114-1626
Phone: 651-310-9831

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG PAC
Contributions are not tax deductible
________________
This is a message from MoveOn.org PAC.
To unsubscribe from our election countdown, please visit
our subscription management page and uncheck the
"MoveOn PAC List" or "MoveOn PAC for Peace" list. Go to: https://www.moveon.org/subscrip/i.html?id=880-1465166-O1NPwnPCAgh%2BeSCXVTSkpg

When Israel wounds or kills innocent civilians while attacking militant targets, they are decried as evil war criminals.

When Hamas members blow themselves up, and injure their own children and elders in the procees, are they evil war criminals - or just stupid?

I can use a few more of these true suicide bombings (as opposed to the homicide bombings that kill innocent Israelis and whomever else is on the school bus). If Hamas now intends to martyr themselves by just blowing each other up, I feel I can drop my opposition to this form of "dissent" and give it my wholehearted endorsement.

Lileks is not too impressed with Walter "Fritz" Mondale's speech. It's too good to paraphrase, just go read it.

This election cycle just gets stranger every day.

I had a post dealing with an advertisement for a PAC advocating "regime change" in the US. This was followed by a post discussing an op-ed on the same internet news site using the existence of the aforementioned PAC as proof that there is no pro-Bush, pro-War presence on the internet.

So, the add is being run on MSNBC. And the op-ed piece is also on MSNBC, touting the site sponsoring the add as an example of the wonderful "anti-war, anti-Bush" organization on the internet.

So, does MSNBC need to reveal that the PAC, named MoveOnPAC, is a paid advertiser on their site? Isn't this a bit of a conflict of interest? They spend money advertising here, so we're giving them good press.

Just seems sort of cheesey and underhanded to me.

UPDATE

American Realpolitik has a few more Political Cartoons

Capitalist Lion is also less that impressed with the Democratic add featuring John Allen Mohammed.

Head over to Right Thinking if you doubt the veracity of this statement.

UPDATE

Rachel Lucas further confirms Moore's turdinosity. I love her assertion that Moore is a Stupidity Supremacist.