Blame Bush

Because there are

NO ATOMIC Fireballs*

in Iraq.

BUMP

Read more »

Le Filibuster d’Alito avec Don John Kerryote

Tilting at windmills, or just tilted?

AND Happy Birthday

…Amadeus!

He sure was a cute little guy.

This Headline Begs the Question…

Woman Accused of Driving Bloodmobile Drunk

…“on what?”

A little slice of the macabre for your Friday afternoon.

Nothing Like Hitting the New Ground

…running.

Eight New Orleans gang members who came to Houston after Hurricane Katrina were arrested in connection with 11 recent killings and other violent crimes, police said Friday.
Crime in the Houston area spiked in the last few months of 2005, and police have attributed some of that to Katrina refugees.

No, They Can’t

“They can’t tell you how to spend your money,” said the man, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals. “It’s still a free country.”

But they can tell you where to park it.

Sounding a Cautionary Note

Hitler won a free election – and went on to build the world’s most formidable war machine in history’s blink of an eye.

ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE
I really have been bemused by the references to Hamas’ ‘shocking‘ victory. As if the Palestinians had choices a plenty. They didn’t. (Of course, they’ve never been a people of informed and wise choices in any aspect of their quest toward nationhood.) And they seem particularly drawn toward the dark side, especially just as it seems they might crawl out of the muck. In all their struggles, where is the elder statesman they can look up to. A Hamid Karzai, for instance? All they have to show for all these years of violence and death is Fatah and Hamas. How pitiful is that? And why is that? But Hamas winning is no surprise.

Why, Zank You Doktor!

Tampa sets a reasonable police intervention standard for a festive occasion.

Interesting legal fact: To make an arrest for baring breasts for beads, police must have a complaint from someone who is offended.
Related fact: Almost no one ever complains.

I’m more interested in the Guiness sales stats. Now that’s impressive.

Why Does It Seem So Completely in Character

…that Sen. Christmas N. Cambodia is doing all this…

Sen. Kerry calls for filibuster of Alito
Unclear if Massachusetts Democrat has votes needed to block nominee

…by phone from SWITZERLAND? While, no doubt, wearing his toasty magic ski thinking cap. Farfegnugen!*
*commonly used when someone says something really fast or in a language that you do not understand
Person one: Du bist ein scrotochupar!
Person two: Fleuven Hueven Fargegnugen
UPDATE: It’s come to my attention that CNN has completely revamped the story I first linked to as it broke, 5 hours ago. Here is the original report I was using:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. John Kerry has decided to support a filibuster to block the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, CNN’s Congressional Correspondent Ed Henry reported Thursday.
Kerry, in Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum, was marshaling support in phone calls during the day, Henry said.
He announced his decision Wednesday to a group of Democratic senators, urging they join him, Henry said. Kerry also has the support of his fellow Massachusetts senator, Democrat Edward Kennedy.
Some senior Democrats said they are worried that the move could backfire.
Republicans need 60 votes to overturn a filibuster.

Thanks to Pardon My English for the screen grab I wish I’d thought of. The fact that the Sen. is in Switzerland has now been relegated to the middle of the article, with “marshaling the phones” nowhere to be found. I guess someone else found it less amusing/ironic/typically dense than I and did some reconstructive surgery.
Oooh, now I understand why. I wasn’t the only one to notice. Drudge is particularly snarky with his headline. (My dorky Kerry picture is much better though.)

Whoever Made These Maps

Can kiss my gringo ass en la ventana de Macys, mkay?

Upset the Apple Cart

…and you don’t get a ride.

Further humiliations lay ahead, like the time Mullane tried on a NASA-issued condom — used for urine collection in weightlessness — and watched the too-large sheath drop off and fall to the floor.
“I’ll have you know I’ve fathered three children with this!” is what Mullane wanted to shout to the condom-fitting technician but didn’t. A complaint might have derailed his selection as an astronaut.

Mike Mullane kept quiet and got the ride of his life three times. He’s retired now……and talking.

Quote of the Day

Hugh Hewitt to John Podhoretz, via Radio Blogger, concerning the interview noted by Tim.

You’re referring to Joel Stein. You were very kind over at the Corner last night. Frankly, I didn’t think it was all that difficult. But if he wanted to bleed out on my show, I was happy to let him.

A CNN/SI Headline I Can Agree With

Gay, No. 1 UConn too much for St. John’s
Heheheh. I can’t stand UConn.

WANTED: World Renowned VooDoo Queen ~ Deceased a Plus

…to guard the gate at St. Michael’s downtown. To make sure THIS doesn’t happen ever again.

Archaeologists and crime scene analysts scoured the grounds of historic St. Michael’s Cemetery on Wednesday trying to determine the extent of damage to at least 27 grave sites that are the final resting place for 45 bodies.
Assistant Pensacola Police Chief Chip Simmons said the investigation is ongoing, and fingerprints were taken from various damaged sites.
“It appears they made a genuine attempt to enter caskets or tombs for whatever reason,” he said.

It’s not for nothin’ that Marie Laveau is buried in St. Louis No. 1. We need someone to keep watch at night here, to lay a hoodoo voodoo good juju triple witchin’ whammy on these midnight marauders.

Oh Ick

Registered sex offender Joseph Edward Duncan III is apparently blogging again, this time from a jail cell
…The messages are mostly religious in nature, and do not address the charges that Duncan killed three people outside Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, last year so he could kidnap two small children for sex.

The FBI wants him to keep talking.

“Contradictions Within the People”

There seems to be some amplification of the views noted in my post last week.

China is preparing to “strike hard” against rising public unrest, a senior police official said according to state media on Thursday, highlighting the government’s fears for stability even as the economy booms.
An unnamed top official of China’s Ministry of Public Security told a Wednesday meeting that China faced a long period of dangerous social discontent, Xinhua news agency said.

I could say “Go, Google, GO! Feed that fire, baby!”, but won’t. It’s one thing when something the size of Poland or Ukraine implodes and a democracy emerges. Quite a different plate of Mu Shu when it’s BILLIONS of unhappy campers. It also seems as if they’re ‘setting the stage/laying the groundwork’ for another repressive round of democracy dream squashing, by lining up a familiar bad-guy in advance.

He also said that “terrorism is a real threat against our country” and urged officers to guard against attacks.
China says that its biggest terrorist threat comes from Xinjiang, the far western region dominated by the largely Muslim Uighur people who share a language and culture similar to Central Asian countries.

So I’m betting that, if there’s another (Or TEN THOUSAND more) Tiananmen(s), the government line ~ as they mercilessly crush all dissension ~ will be that it’s all Islamofascists at work. Muslim terrorists vice average Chinese citizens throwing off the yoke of tyranny.
But they’ll sure all look like Chinese college students, factory workers and peasants if we get to see any footage. IF.
But time’s a’ wastin’, boys. How long ’til the Olympics in Beijing?

A Worthy Corporate Stance

Doesn’t cost them a whole bunch, but it’s the thought that counts.

Regional bank to refuse loans in eminent domain projects
Regional bank BB&T Corp., one of the nation’s largest financial institutions, will make no loans to developers who plan to build commercial projects on land taken from private citizens by the government through the power of eminent domain, the company said Wednesday.
In an interview, BB&T chief credit officer Ken Chalk said the bank expects to lose only a tiny amount of business but believes it was obligated to take a stance on the issue.
BB&T, which is headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., ranks among the nation’s top 10 banks by assets.

On the Economic Front

The latest weekly jobless numbers also painted a picture of a healthy SPUTTERING underlying economy.
The Labor Department said initial claims for state jobless aid rose 11,000 in the week ended January 21 to 283,000 from an upwardly revised 272,000 the prior week.
Wall Street economists had forecast initial claims would rise to 305,000 from the initially reported 271,000 the previous week.
The four-week moving average of initial claims, which smoothes weekly volatility for a more reliable indication of underlying employment trends, fell by 10,750 to 288,750, the lowest level since July 2000.

Damndamndamndamndamn! Durable goods orders were up, too.
Dead puppies everywhere.

Exit Polls Will Bite You in the Last Thing

…to exit the polls every time. ABCNews called it for Fatah last night, based on “the exit polls just in.”.

Hamas’ top official told Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday the Islamic militant group is ready for a partnership after defeating the ruling Fatah Party in parliamentary elections – a shocking upset sure to throw Mideast peacemaking into turmoil.
Officials in both parties said Hamas appeared to have captured a large majority of seats in Wednesday’s elections. The Central Election Commission said the vote count had not been completed and that it would make an official announcement Thursday evening.

Was surfing the Net for pictures of my namesake….

and came accross this bit of trivia.
It is down the page a bit in the 5th comment.

Our OIC was LCDR Beam and we had four RF-8G aircraft. I recall one of our pilots was a Lt. Tom Scott and upon returning from a mission, he hit the “round down” while attempting to catch a wire on the flight deck. It severed the landing gear and the plane slid across the angle deck and over the side into the ocean. Lt. Scott ejected safely and was picked up by helicopter. This particular RF-8G had a small gold plaque near the canopy that stated “This is the F-8 that John Glenn (astronaut)set the transcontinental speed record in.” I recall guys saying that this plane was supposed to go to the Smithsonian after our cruise, but now it lies at the bottom of the Tonkin Gulf.

Shame they didn’t preserve the plane a bit earlier, as God knows they were not short of F-8s to convert to Photo-Saders. But hind-sight and all that. A neat story, if it is true, which I have not done the legwork to verify.

Read more »

Here’s A Nice Family

I don’t know about this:

Deputies say a 16-year-old has been arrested for beating his grandmother with a two-by-four for refusing to give him $100 for beer.
…Authorities tell us today that Cass came from a troubled family. His mother is in prison on cocaine possession and sale charges, and his father is serving a 15-year prison sentence for manslaughter after choking a prostitute to death in 2002.

What kid needs $100 for beer?

The True Agents Of The Zionist Conspiracy

Have been found by Tim:

UPDATE III. A helpful guide to Hamas, from Al Jazeera:
The Hamas Covenant cites the long-discredited anti-Semitic fraud, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, describing it as “the embodiment of the Zionist plan to usurp Palestine”. Hamas dismisses the Freemasons, Lions Club, and the Rotarians as organizations promoting “the interest of Zionism.” It accuses those organizations, and the “Zionist invasion” in general, of being “behind the drug trade and alcoholism in all its kinds.”

Behold the mark of Zion! Spreaders of booze!

How do I join?

My Take on Google vs.Great Wall

I’m going to use comments I left on a Vodka Pundit post by Will Collier.

In a perverse way, I think this might be very enlightening for the average Chinese citizen and a very good thing. If ~ as they have stated they intend to ~ Google notes what searches have been censored when the results appear, that’s a confirmation of the regime’s repressiveness that one reading a newspaper or watching state TV might have long suspected, but had no way to prove. “Results Censored” in their faces how many times a day may well be a big straw for the camel’s back.

As for comparing Google’s stiff-arming a crawl-up-your-butt justice department with kow-towing to the Chinese? That’s flamingos and pelicans in my book. We have a hard-fought freedom here that needs to be jealously safe-guarded against intrusions of the federal kind, and rightly so. Every attempt to errode that, no matter how well meaning, needs to be examined under a microscope ~ fought tooth and nail to be proven necessary ~ vice blindly acquiesced to. The Chinese have no such tradition, no such rights worth bloody brawls. But a little freedom light will shine from every computer screen when “Search/Results Censored” notifications tell the searcher that there was something out there for them to find, but they weren’t allowed to see it. Not allowed to read it and decide for themselves. The resentment will fester and grow and that’s a good thing. An in-your-face-every-day good thing. It reminds me of something I heard Lieutenant Viktor Belenko (who defected with a MIG-25 in 1976) say. Asked what had caused him to even consider taking the plane to the Americans, he replied it was watching outraged news reports about the persecution of Communist Party members in the U.S. . One day it dawned on him that the Americans had a Communist Party, persecuted or not. The reverse certainly couldn’t be said for the Soviets. How could a country that allowed an ‘enemy’ party to be part of the political process be as evil as they said it was?
And it’s a much smaller world now. Let a little light shine.

Does Science Finally Have an Explanation

…for Teddy Kennedy’s outrageous public comments?

Sex helps calm nerves before public speaking
Full sexual intercourse offers the best results, psychologist says

For obvious reasons, I choose not to dwell on the matter.

Wait a Minute Big Guy! We Can’t Deduct Our SWILL!!

So how do you get off by being a big loser?

Gambling losses: If you won big in Las Vegas, you have to pay taxes on your winnings, but you can offset some of your gains with gambling losses. “People don’t realize that their gambling losses are deductible,” said Hockenberry.

I wonder how much that little loophole has cost us.