Death To Spammers

That is all.

It Would Be Best If Someone Got a Handle

…on the situation. Sooner than later.

Turkish troops cross into Iraq
Hundreds of Turkish troops crossed into Kurdish territory in northern Iraq overnight, Iraqi officials said on Tuesday. A senior Iraqi military source said 300 lightly-armed Turkish troops had crossed the border and moved 1-2 miles deeper into Iraq on Tuesday morning in the Gali Rash area, a mountainous district near the border.

PKK needs to stand for Pac Kup and Kwit.

On This Day 63 Years Ago

The Battle of the Bulge began.
God bless those men.

“Every Thing Is Fair And Just”

As King Abudullah pardons the poor girl who got raped

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has pardoned a female rape victim who had been sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes for being alone with a man who was not related to her, a Saudi newspaper reported Monday.
Saudi Justice Minister Abdullah bin Muhammed al-Sheik told al-Jazirah newspaper that the pardon does not mean the king doubted the country’s judges, but instead acted in the “interests of the people.”
“The king always looks into alleviating the suffering of the citizens when he becomes sure that these verdicts will leave psychological effects on the convicted people, though he is convinced and sure that the verdicts were fair,” al-Jazirah quoted al-Sheik as saying.

What a guy he is. Really, a prince among men.
Well, a king, actually.

She was initially sentenced in November 2006 to several months in prison and 90 lashes for being alone in a car with a man with whom she was neither related nor married, a violation of the kingdom’s strict segregation of the sexes.
Al-Sheik told al-Jazirah newspaper Monday that the king was the only official who could issue a pardon, and he did so despite the government’s view that the Saudi legal system was “honest” and “fair.”
“The king’s order consolidates and confirms what is known about the Islamic courts,” said al-Sheik. “Efficient judges look into different cases and issue their just verdicts and those convicted have the right to appeal.”

Truer words were never written, al-Sheik old buddy.

A Good Cause

Our Good Friend Wunderkraut needs your help to complete the adoption process of a lovely girl from China.
Please do what you can.
Thanks.

The Mitchell Report

So we finally got to see this long-awaited report on drugs in Baseball, and shockingly it seems that players are using them. Gasp. I’m not sure I like that this Report with a capital “R” from some puffed up ex-Senator is basically 400 pages of hearsay and therefore every player ‘named’ now has his ‘name’ tarred and forever associated with cheating; while I love to jump to conclusions as much as anyone I do like there to be evidence and trial and conviction before I damn someone for eternity. Well, most times, anyway.
I fully agree with the commentator at Volokh who said

I don’t think anybody seriously thinks the report favors any particular team because, in all honesty, nobody cares enough to do anything. If you want to ban steroid use, the solution is very simple. Players caught are barred for life and that player’s team forfeits all games in whcih that player appeared. If that means forfeiting (and refunding) World Series games, too bad.
Once such a draconian rule is instituted, players, agents and owners will be alligned in ensuring frequent and accurate tests.
Is such a rule fair? Ask Jearl-Miles Clark, Monique Hennagan, LaTasha Colander-Richardson and Andrea Anderson how they will feel if they lose their relay Olympic gold medals because team member Marion Jones cheated.
But baseball will never invoke a team forfeit rule. Until it does, it’s really not interested in treating the problem seriously.

I think every single player who uses these things should be booted and banned. Cheating bastards.
But what really underwhelmed me about the report was the large number of forgettable players who are named. I mean, this has got to be the most effective anti-drug aspect of the report: Maybe there are some guys who would risk shrinking their weenie if they knew they’d hit the ball like Bonds…but to end up throwing the ball 10 rows up behind 1st base like Knoblauch?
No thanks.

Lex Is Going Home

Some bonds can’t be broken

After more than six months of effort, the family of a fallen Marine dog handler got permission Wednesday to adopt the bomb-sniffing German shepherd who was at their son’s side when he died in Fallujah, Iraq, last March.
The family of Cpl. Dustin Jerome Lee is planning to pick up the 7-year-old dog named “Lex” on Dec. 21 at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga., where Lee was stationed.
“Lex will always be a special part of our family,” Lee’s father, Jerome Lee, said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “Lex was Dusty’s best friend and partner.”
The Lee family has been battling bureaucracy for months after the Corps initially refused to release the dog for adoption. Well-trained working dogs are in short supply, and Lex was healthy and able to continue working, Marine officials said.
Lee, 20, spent the final months of his life with Lex at his side. He was killed March 21 on a daily mission when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded nearby. The dog was also wounded but crawled over to his handler, nudged his face, then lay at his side as a corpsman treated his wounds, Marines in Lee’s unit told his family.

Hurrah for the Corps for allowing this.

Dear Al,

Blow me

BALI, Indonesia (AP) — Former Vice President Al Gore said Thursday the United States is “principally responsible” for blocking progress at U.N. climate conference.
Gore urged delegates at the conference to take urgent action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
“My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali,” he said. The United States has opposed including in a final conference document a suggestion that industrialized countries reduce emissions by between 25 percent and 40 percent by 2020.

Thank God yet again this pompous ass is not in the White House.

European nations will boycott U.S.-led climate talks next month unless Washington accepts a range of numbers for negotiating deep reductions of global-warming emissions, Germany’s environment minister said Thursday.
“No result in Bali means no Major Economies Meeting,” said Sigmar Gabriel, a top EU environment official, referring to a series of separate climate talks initiated by President Bush in September.

Good. Stay home.

Tall Tales A Smidge Before Scott Beauchamp

…that were treated as gospel.

It is one of the most remarkable—and enduring—statistics about the way men fight war: in combat no more than a quarter of fighting men, even disciplined and well-trained soldiers, will fire their weapons. The claim, first made by military historian S.L.A. Marshall in his 1947 book, “Men Against Fire,” has become accepted wisdom.

The questions (and artistic license excuse) sound familiar…

…Why would Marshall make up such a thing? Marshall was “by professional upbringing and temperament a journalist above all,” wrote Spiller.

…as does the action-hero resume.

…Marshall claimed to have led men in combat in World War I. Apparently, that too was fiction. Marshall’s regiment in World War I was behind the lines, involved in road work and building delousing stations. Leinbaugh discovered records of Marshall’s unit, which include such stirring reports as

“1 mule killed by kick from mule. Drop from rolls.“

He has finally been exposed, appropriately enough, as a louse toiling in the company of asses. I guess no one ever listens to the guys who were actually doing the fighting…

…The only real skeptics at the time were a few of the soldiers whom Marshall profiled in his histories, like “The Men of Company K.” Asked one old Company K sergeant, “Did the SOB think we clubbed the Germans to death?”

We Need 49 More Senators…

Like Tom Coburn

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) — It’s the legislative equivalent of rush hour on Capitol Hill and Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, is threatening to throw himself into traffic.
The freshman lawmaker has waged a war on spending by blocking more than 90 bills this year. Now, as his colleagues rush to finish the congressional session before Christmas, Coburn is threatening to use his power to say “no” to try to slow a frenzy of lawmaking, including such items as a measure to ease the subprime lending crisis.
…“The last thing we ought to be doing at the end of the session is passing a bill without vetting it, without debating it, without talking about the problems,” Coburn said. “I am happy to be here for Christmas.”

Damn straight, Senator.
(H/T to the Blogfaddah)

“He was a man in black, but he sure wasn’t Johnny Cash.”

You know, I really hate how the word “hero” has become frankly debased in our society. Damn near everyone who does anything is called one now. Well, here’s more on two folks who’ve earned that title in my book

Larry Bourbannais had decided after the Columbine massacre what he would do if he were ever in a similar situation, so when shots rang out in the church he attended, the heroic Vietnam veteran acted decisively.
“I promised myself after Columbine, and I told my four daughters, that if something like that every happened and I was there, I would go after the shooter, because you want to protect people,” the 59-year-old Bourbannais told TODAY co-host Meredith Vieira on Tuesday.
Bourbannais had been in a cafeteria in the sprawling church grounds eating a hamburger on Sunday when he heard gunshots. As others fled the church in terror, Bourbannais hurried toward the shooting scene, constantly asking, “Where’s the shooter? Where’s the shooter?”
…At that point, another security guard, 42-year-old Jeanne Assam, arrived with her gun drawn. Unlike the male guard, she was using hers.
“They were engaged in a firefight. He was firing. She was firing,” Bourbannais said. “And she was completely exposed. I was in Vietnam for 14 months in combat, and it’s the bravest thing I’ve ever witnessed. She kept yelling, ‘Surrender,’ and returned fire the complete time.”

Read the whole amazing story.
Real heroes, folks.
God bless them, as he blessed the folks at that church by putting them there.
(Thanks to Lawhawk for the pointer)

I Don’t Doubt

…that he’s going to catch himself some flack for this.

… Now, I don’t know what it means not to have a father in your life. I’m not familiar with a mom being strung out on a crack binge. And when my parents were called to the school when there was a discipline problem, Mom and Dad didn’t go off on the teacher or principal. In fact, I can still feel the pain of my elementary school principal’s paddle being applied to my butt when I acted a fool. The principal could only pop me three times. Dad? He had no limit.
Bottom line: I can sit here today and celebrate them and enjoy a wonderful life because my parents were hell-bent on raising their children to do right by them, especially my dad.
We can spend all day talking about the ills afflicting urban America — and there are plenty that are institutional — but the decaying value of life in inner cities clearly can be traced to the exodus of fathers from the lives of so many young men. Excuses often are tossed about as to why black men leave their children (and their children’s moms) to fend for themselves. But a lot of them are just sorry and refuse to accept the responsibility that comes with raising a child.

But God bless him for speaking out. The black ‘leadership’ waving flags during marches and protests in the news has abandoned addressing real needs in favor of corporate coercion and personal pocket lining.
If the community can learn to stand on its own again, it doesn’t need them.

Have Any Of These Candidates Said

“As President my first duty and Priority is to secure our nation’s borders?

The latest New York Times/CBS News poll found that 8 percent of Republican primary voters named immigration or illegal immigrants as the most important problem facing the country — just behind the war, and tied with the economy.

I’m so disgusted by all these candidates. Give the troops whatever they need to get the job done. And defend our country. Now.

Shattered (Sha-Dooby): The Story Of A Mortgage Victim

A heartless tale of woe.

For All Of Us Who Have Wished To Do This

We can thank Michael Schumacher for living out our dream

A taxi driver in Germany was left shaken and stirred after handing his keys over to seven-times Formula One champion Michael Schumacher.
Schumacher, 38, asked to take the wheel as he was running late for a flight.
“I found myself a passenger, which was strange enough, but having ‘Schumi’ behind the wheel was incredible,” said taxi driver Tuncer Yilmaz.
“He drove at full throttle around the corners and overtook in some unbelievable places.”

He was accompanied by his wife and children to pick up the puppy and the family were late getting back to the local aerodrome for their return flight.
After giving the cabbie an unforgettable experience, Schumacher also gave him a 100 Euro tip.

Oh I’m sure the Nancies will say “oh he could have hurt someone; how dangerous.” Yeah, I suppose.
But what a hoot.
You know Tim or Iowahawk would kill to do this…or even to have been the cabbie.

Wrong

…on so many levels, I know.

I Wasn’t Even Aware

…we were having a contest.

3 finalists named for state song, Floridians now will vote
…- “Florida My Home,” music by Carl Ashley, of Boynton Beach, and lyrics by Betsy Dixon, Lantana, including “Moonlight on the Suwanee River, Turns the waters silv’ry bright. … Fair wins blowing, Flowers glowing, This is Florida, my home!”
– “My Florida Home,” music and lyrics by Christopher Marshall, Orlando. The lyrics include “So many travelers arriving before me, Left behind tyranny, poverty, pain …, Land of the sunshine, by flowers defined.”
– “Florida (Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky),” music and lyrics by Jan Hinton, of Pompano Beach. The lyrics include “Mocking birds cry and ‘gators lie out in the sun. Bridges span southward to the Keys and rockets skyward run.”

Oy. Nothin’ grabbin’ me so far.

Ho Boy!

…”Most of the people here have jobs that are very well paid and they depend on the idea that carbon emissions cause global warming. They are not going to be very receptive to the idea that well actually the science has gone off in a different direction,” Evans explained.

That’s enough of that kind of talk!

The Truth Comes Out

Mr. Big Tough On Religion Media Stud is, in fact, a coward

HH: Would you say the same things about Mohammed as you just said about Joseph Smith?
LO’D: Oh, well, I’m afraid of what the…that’s where I’m really afraid. I would like to criticize Islam much more than I do publicly, but I’m afraid for my life if I do.
HH: Well, that’s candid.
LO’D: Mormons are the nicest people in the world. They’re not going to ever…
HH: So you can be bigoted towards Mormons, because they’ll just send you a strudel.
LO’D: They’ll never take a shot at me. Those other people, I’m not going to say a word about them.
HH: They’ll send you a strudel. The Mormons will bake you a cake and be nice to you.
LO’D: I agree.
HH: Lawrence O’Donnell, I appreciate your candor.

And thanks, Hugh, for getting him to fess up.

Who Dropped It?

It seems the solar system is bent

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) — New observations from NASA’s long-running Voyager 2 spacecraft show the solar system is asymmetrical, likely from disturbances in the interstellar magnetic field, scientists reported Monday.
Voyager 2 sailed near the edge of the solar system this past summer following its twin, Voyager 1, in 2004.
The discovery came after the 30-year-old unmanned probe sailed near the edge of the solar system this past summer following its twin, Voyager 1, which reached that part of space in 2004.
Researchers have long suspected the solar system was bent, but never had direct evidence until now, said Voyager mission scientist Edward Stone of the California Institute of Technology.
Voyager 2 crossed a barrier in the solar system known as the termination shock in August, some 10 billion miles from where Voyager 1 passed through. The termination shock is the region where charged particles from the sun abruptly slow down as they collide with other particles and a magnetic field in interstellar gas.

The Voyagers are over 30 years old and still sending back useful data. Best investments evah.

Hello Kitty!

Kind of a crappy situation to find yourself in

A man spent four days trapped in a toilet after the door handle broke.
David Leggat, 55, was unable to raise the alarm after becoming stuck in the toilets at Kittybrewster and Woodside Bowling Club in Aberdeen.
Mr Leggat had no mobile phone or food, and used tap water for refreshment and for heat.

Now, far be it from me to cast aspersions on the character and general up-standing moral nature of my Scottish kin…
But I feel that it is my duty to point out to the readership that Mr. Leggat is the Club’s Wine Steward.

I Am Deathhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Gawd, what a horrible image to wake up to.

Excuse Me As I Sputter

…in disbelief…

…They’re likely to find opposition from New Jersey wholesalers. Lobbyist Jeffrey Warsh said wholesalers’ concerns are public safety and taxation, and not losing their cut of profits.
“I’m surprised that the public safety concerns are so minimized in favor of commercial interests,” he said.

…and stop just short of calling him a lying sack of “Almighty Cleanse”.

Nancy Pelosi KNEW About WATERBOARDING

…in 2002??!? In this cruel world of lying, hypocrat Democrats, I have that beat for strangeness. So there Kcruella and I were, in New Orleans for a chi-chi cocktail party, where we met (!) and hobnobbed with book writing Brennans, members of the local ‘spirit’ clubs and gregarious others. A hard night of schmoozling and networking (even afterward at a late working dinner) led to a leisurely hike for breakfast, Royal Street gallery stroll on the return, capped by a scenic ferry ride…

…to Old Algiers Point. (No expense spared for my best friend (in the whole world) when it’s MY turn to arrange transport, I tell you!)

Read more »

‘Tis The Season

Just a reminder before you leave out the usual plate of cookies and milk: Santa would much prefer a nice mug of ale this year…