I can't believe Liberal Larry is actually selling a shirt for less than his usual gazillion dollars:
I bet Larry's been getting his "Fair Trade" goods from some Honduran sweatshop all along. My sources say he's been seen doing lunch with Kathie Lee.
Here's the weekly tale of yet another dumbass here in Florida who goes into work and forgets there's a baby in the car. At least this guy had to be hospitalised when he realized what a total disgrace to mankind he is.
The forgetful dentist from last week got himself one of the biggest, most expensive lawyers this area has to offer. The mystery is why Mrs. Dentist hasn't done herself some homiciding.
I'm looking forward to hearing Zell Miller speak at the Republican Convention. As the fringe took over, he continues to represent what was once common in the Democratic Party - the conservative Democrat:
No longer the party of hope, today's Democratic Party has become Mr. Kerry's many mansions of cynicism and skepticism. As our economy continues to get better and businesses add jobs, Mr. Kerry's going around America trying to convince people that the roof is about to cave in. He talks about "the misery index" and the Depression. What does he know about either?
---------------------
See Y'All in New York
Why I skipped the Boston convention.
BY ZELL MILLER
Saturday, July 31, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT
Twelve years ago, I delivered one of the keynote addresses on the first night at the Democratic National Convention in New York. It was a stinging rebuke of the administration of George H.W. Bush and a ringing endorsement of Bill Clinton. This summer I'll again be speaking in New York, but it will be to the Republican Convention that renominates George W. Bush.
Many have asked how I could have come so far in just over a decade. Frankly, I don't think I've changed much at all. At 72, I don't feel much need to change my opinions. Instead, the reason I didn't attend the Democratic Convention in Boston is that I barely recognize my party anymore. Most of its leaders--including our nominee, John Kerry--don't hold the same beliefs that have motivated my career in public service.
In 1992, I spoke of the opportunity and hope that allowed me, the son of a single mother growing up in the North Georgia mountains, to become my state's governor. And I attributed much of my success to the great Democratic presidents of years gone by--FDR (a hallowed man in my home), Truman and JFK. The link these men shared was a commitment to helping Americans born into any condition rise to achieve whatever goal they set for themselves.
I spoke of Americans who were "tired of paying more in taxes and getting less in services." I excoriated Republicans who "dealt in cynicism and skepticism." I accused them of mastering "the art of division and diversion." And I praised Bill Clinton as a moderate Democrat "who has the courage to tell some of those liberals who think welfare should continue forever, and some of those conservatives who think there should be no welfare at all, that they're both wrong."
Bill Clinton did deliver on welfare reform, after a lot of prodding from the Republicans who took hold of Congress in 1995. But much of the rest of the promise I saw in his candidacy withered during his two terms in office.
Today, it's the Democratic Party that has mastered the art of division and diversion. To run for president as a Democrat these days you have to go from interest group to interest group, cap in hand, asking for the support of liberal kingmakers. Mr. Kerry is no different. After Hollywood elites profaned the president, he didn't have the courage to put them in their place. Instead, he validated their remarks, claiming that they represent "the heart and soul of America."
No longer the party of hope, today's Democratic Party has become Mr. Kerry's many mansions of cynicism and skepticism. As our economy continues to get better and businesses add jobs, Mr. Kerry's going around America trying to convince people that the roof is about to cave in. He talks about "the misery index" and the Depression. What does he know about either?
And when it comes to taxes and services, you'd be pressed to find anyone more opposed to the interests of middle-class Americans than John Kerry. Except maybe John Edwards. Both voted against tax relief for married couples, tax relief for families with children, and tax relief for small businesses. Now Mr. Kerry wants to raise taxes on hundreds of thousands of small-business owners and millions of individuals. He claims to be for working people, but I don't understand how small businesses can create jobs if they've got to send more money to Washington instead of keeping it to hire workers.
Worst of all, Sens. Kerry and Edwards have not kept faith with the men and women who are fighting the war on terror--most of whom come from small towns and middle-class families all over America. While Mr. Bush has stood by our troops every step of the way, Messrs. Kerry and Edwards voted to send our troops to war and then voted against the money to give them supplies and equipment--not to mention better benefits for their families. And recently Mr. Kerry even said he's proud of that vote. Proud to abandon our troops when they're out in the field? I can hear Harry Truman cussing from his grave.
I still believe in hope and opportunity and, when it comes right down to it, Mr. Bush is the man who represents hope and opportunity. Hope for a safer world. And opportunity for Americans to work hard, keep more of the money they earn, and send their kids to good schools. All the speeches we heard this week weren't able to hide the truth of what today's Democratic Party has become: an enclave of elites paying lip service to middle-class values. Americans looking for a president who understands their struggles and their dreams should tune in next month, when we celebrate the leadership of George W. Bush.
Mr. Miller is a Democratic senator from Georgia.
John Kerry picked the wrong group of guys to try to schmooze with:
Earlier, their bus convoy pulled over at a Wendy's fast food restaurant for a photo opportunity lunch that provided an awkward moment.
Spotting a group of US Marines, Kerry, who has made his Vietnam War service a cornerstone of his campaign, went over to chat. The Marines, who all turned out to be staunch Bush reporters, were not impressed.
"He imposed on us and I disagree with him coming over here shaking our hands," one of them told reporters afterwards. "I'm 100 percent against" Kerry, he said. "We support our commander-in-chief 100 percent."
UPDATE:
An additional Marine quote:
A sergeant with 10 years of service under his belt said, "I speak for all of us. We think that we are doing the right thing in Iraq," before saying he is to be deployed there in a few weeks and is "eager" to go and serve.
Semper Fi.
(Via FR.)
My exceedingly anti-Bush mother watched the Convention and came away with one overwhelming impression:
"That Teresa Heinz Kerry is a cactus! He better shut her up if he wants to win."
She then started talking about the charm and graciousness of Jackie Kennedy and...Laura Bush.
A politician's wife, like anybody's wife really, can be a help or a hindrance. Teresa's checkbook's a big help, but her personality isn't scoring him any points.
So, keep talking, Teresa.
When Son of Nixon isn't mailing me pics of alligators eating deers, he's blogging about protesters spilling balloons full of urine on themselves or Ben Affleck banging Kerry's daughters. In other words, his contributions to the conversation of politics are always worth checking out.
It's all fun and games until someone gets impaled through the neck with an arrow.
It was Mr. Cracker's birthday yesterday and he got a solid silver, pearl-inlaid cigarette case. Actually it was an Ipod.
Steve Jobs is a nutcase, but his quote above to Bill Gates does have merit.*
*Bill Gates responded, "You don't get it. It doesn't matter."
This kind of looks like John Edwards, if he were a flexing body-builder, and bronze-oiled, and nekkid.
(Via Scrawlville)
Grab the latest issue of Newsweek and open the front flap. The combination of the front page and fold-out advertising page is pretty special.
Sending in a bad cookie recipe to the bake-off, leaking goofy photos, and now this. Does the VRWC never sleep?
John Kerry's doing some more Vietnam reenacting...in Boston:
As Wagner's "Ride of the Valkries" blared over loudspeakers, the water taxi carrying the decorated John Kerry jetted across Boston Harbor in a dramatic reinactment of his .25 years as a Navy swift boat captain in Vietnam. Just like in the old days, Kerry took the wheel while his loyal boatmates, now gray and weathered by the sands of time, vigilantly manned the boat's specially rigged water cannons. The tall, chiseled Kerry barked an order and the crew opened fire toward a couple of startled winos on the shore, who angrily tossed an empty bottle of Thunderbird in retalliation, nicking Kerry's arm.
Also check out his video audition for Seaworld. I wanted to toss the boy a mackerel myself.
After Grog Blog has a delightful article that takes David Hasselhoff's complaints that he hasn't gotten the credit he deserves for ending the Cold War and examines the evidence:
Speaking to Germany's TV Spielfilm magazine, the 51-year-old carped about how his pivotal role in harmonising relations between the two sides of the divide had been overlooked.
"I find it a bit sad that there is no photo of me hanging on the walls in the Berlin Museum at Checkpoint Charlie," he told the magazine.
So what, if anything, was David Hasselhoff's influence in helping settle the Cold War?
It's exactly the kind of thing I like to ponder on a Wednesday morning.
Here's Duane working with Aretha in Muscle Shoals.
Wail on, Skydog!
Word on the street is the fix is in for the animatronic Hillary float to take top prize at the DNC Parade.
Let me send my thanks to this officer.
He went easy on them, as the regulation regarding people talking on cell phones in movie theaters is to drop them into a VAT of pepper spray. Actually, my glorious vision is for all cell phones to come with a small built-in explosive strip, and civilization monitors would carry a detonating device with which to dispense justice on miscreant cell phone users. Sound good? Of course it does.
USA Today decides to run the Ann Coulter column afterall,
after changing out the author mug.
Alternate Title: "Bums Are Batsh*t"
This sounds like one of those "ripped from the headlines" Law and Order episodes. Actually, I think it was a Law and Order episode.
Kerry shows off his famous medal-tossing motion at Fenway.
UPDATE:
Blogs of War brings it to life. I'm outsourcing all my photoshopping to him from now on.
Three simple baseball questions:
What type of cap (e.g. Red Sox, Yankees) should Roger Clemens "wear" when enshrined in the baseball Hall of Fame?
Should the Designated Hitter be removed from the game?
Should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame?
Got your answers? OK, now add nuance.
Here's video of Teresa Kerry auditioning for First Lady.
While she did tell a reporter to "Shove it", I think it only fair to add that she did not tell him to "Cram it, ram it, and rotate it."
(Via Blogs of War.)
Me and my sister were looking at this strange mural in the Mayan exhibition at the National Gallery of Art:
The high point of the exhibition is a recreation—more vivid than the eroded original found in the Mexican jungle—of a mural showing captives being paraded after a battle before the victorious king and having their fingernails ripped out.
We were chatting with each other about it, trying to figure out what was going on, when a guy who'd overheard us started explaining it to us. It was prisoners getting their fingernails pulled out, he explained, and he pointed at one figure saying "That one's got a spear through him. He's dead." We're saying "Ohhh" when he adds, "It's like that prison in Iraq."
"Oh, yeah?" I said, "Where's the Hanes for Her?"
My sister tries to head me off and says "Maybe he means a prison under Saddam."
He said, "No, the prison where we tortured Iraqis."
I pointed at the mural and said, "There's no underwear on their heads!"
My sister took my arm and led me away.
The nasty frat-boy cruelty of those dumb ass MPs has now been enthroned as the worst act of depravity in the history of mankind in the minds of some people. That someone could look at mural of bloodthirsty Mayans and think of Abu Ghraib blows my mind. Those stupid MPs disgraced us all with their antics and the Hate America crowd has taken it and ran with it.
This one's going to have a long half-life.
Yesterday's editorial in the Fort Myers News Press on alligators was pretty lame and uninspiring. One of those I-don't-know-what-we-should-do-let's-reassess kind of things.
Today's column by Sam Cook is much better:
Sanibel officials say they will reconsider policies on reptiles.
They better do more than rethink them. They better cull the large predators from Sanibel’s estimated 300 gators before it happens again.
Cut the alligator spin too.
Every time an alligator attacks, tree-huggers try to blame others for feeding them.
Their pat reply: “People were feeding them, so they lost their fear of humans.”
Sure, this happens.
Yet it’s too easy to make humans the scapegoat.
It’s also a cop-out.
Why would an alligator — a natural-born killer — nearly 12 feet long and weighing 457 pounds have anything to fear from a 5-foot-7, 145-pound woman?
Who was the defenseless animal: Janie Melsek or the gator?
--------
Alligators threaten Sanibel way of life
Janie Melsek’s death brings more than horror and sadness.
It questions a community’s way of life.
Rodney Melsek, her brother, is disbelieving.
Charlie Green, her lifelong friend, is outraged.
Joy Williams, her daughter, is motherless.
They struggle to make sense of the senseless death of a loved one — Sanibel Island landscaper Melsek, 54, who died Friday, two days after she was mauled on the job by an 11-foot-9-inch alligator.
Brother, friend and daughter react in different ways — but all have one question:
Why do leaders and environmentalists of Sanibel Island think they have to live in Jurassic Park?
“I’m absolutely horrified at the way she passed,” says Melsek, 58. “This isn’t normal. I still don’t believe it. Who gets eaten by an animal? She wasn’t in the wilds of Montana. This happened in a civilized place.”
After alligators killed two people in three years and attacked a third person, Sanibel’s serenity is in question.
“That’s what happens when you mix wildlife and human beings and no one takes responsibility,” says Green, 57, Lee County’s clerk of court. “What is a 12-foot alligator doing living on Sanibel? I’m not for slaughtering wildlife but you can’t have that many alligators running around with no food.”
The state kills nuisance gators more than 4 feet long.
Sanibel kills nuisance gators more than 8 feet.
“They’re protecting prehistoric animals over people,” says Williams, 29, between sobs. “It won’t bring back my mom, but I certainly hope a great tragedy will motivate people to make a change. Her death should not be in vain.”
Melsek wonders how to explain the unexplainable.
“It’s not just a horrific thing now,” he says. “Ten years from now, people will ask me how my sister died.
“I’ll have to tell them she was killed by a wild animal. I can’t imagine what she went through. I don’t want to imagine what she went through.”
Sanibel officials say they will reconsider policies on reptiles.
They better do more than rethink them. They better cull the large predators from Sanibel’s estimated 300 gators before it happens again.
Cut the alligator spin too.
Every time an alligator attacks, tree-huggers try to blame others for feeding them.
Their pat reply: “People were feeding them, so they lost their fear of humans.”
Sure, this happens.
Yet it’s too easy to make humans the scapegoat.
It’s also a cop-out.
Why would an alligator — a natural-born killer — nearly 12 feet long and weighing 457 pounds have anything to fear from a 5-foot-7, 145-pound woman?
Who was the defenseless animal: Janie Melsek or the gator?
The contents of the alligator’s stomach also debunks the human handout theory.
A necropsy found duck feathers and vegetation in the reptile’s stomach.
That’s all. No chicken bones or marshmallows.
Mm-mm-mm. Israel don't play. This is some top-notch work. You get up to some nastiness with Israel, they're going to take you out:
An Israeli missile killed a Gaza Strip terrorist who had jubilantly displayed the severed head of an Israeli soldier two months ago, officials said.
Hazem Rahim, dubbed "The Bodysnatcher" by Israeli media, and another militant were slain late Thursday when their white Subaru was blown up by the helicopter-launched missile as it drove through the crowded Zeitoun district of Gaza City.
Israeli officials said Rahim was targeted because he was planning new attacks.
Rahim was believed to be one of two masked Islamic Jihad killers who claimed responsibility on Arab TV as they displayed the head of an Israeli soldier on a table in front of them.
Somehow I don't think Australia is just going to roll over:
An online statement by a group representing itself as al-Qaida's European branch threatened on Saturday to turn Australia into "pools of blood" if it doesn't withdraw its troops from Iraq.
It was the second statement in a week by the Tawhid Islamic Group, a previously unknown group which on Wednesday threatened attacks in Bulgaria and Poland if their troops remained in Iraq.
"We call upon you to leave Iraq before your country turns to pools of blood," the statement warned the Australian government.
"We will shake the earth under your feet as we did in Indonesia, and lines of car bombs will not cease, God willing," the statement said, referring to the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists.
I thought they bombed the nightclub in Bali because the sweaty, drunken foreigners therein had the smoky air all "jagged with 'Strine." If it ain't one thing, it's another. These people are always going to have a reason to go bombing. Unless we convert to Islam. Then everything will be copacetic. That's why it's the Religion of Peace.
I'd like to get some of these, but Liberal Larry thinks capitalism is evil, so his items are priced at more than the market will bear. This mug would be an outstanding gift for my mama, who sat across from me at my kitchen table and said "If there was an election between George Bush and Saddam Hussein, I guess I'd just have to vote for Saddam Hussein." She later denied saying it.
Don't worry, I won't boycott you, Mom.
Stevie Nicks' Fajita Roundup in Phoenix.
Alice Cooper's Cooper'stown restaurant in Phoenix.
Linda Ronstadt's statue in Tuscon.
And what has been going on in my absence? Sandy Berger stuffing documents in his socks and a big alligator attack in Fort Myers! Can't I gaze upon the Hope Diamond in peace? Furthermore, why did the viewing of the National Jewel Collection trigger in myself and my sister the desire to roll in the gems and rub them on our faces? Is that normal?
In some very sad news, the Fort Myers News Press has updated their site to say that Janie Melsek, the lady attacked by the gator on Wednesday, has died in surgery this morning. I'm sorry it ended this way. I'm sure her daughter will sue the city of Sanibel for its lenient alligator policy. A nuisance alligator has to be eight-foot long before the city will remove it, whereas State law says move the nuisance ones at four-foot. My brother who surveys for a living, wants all gators over six foot to be shot. It's just too easy for them to devour you once they get that big.
I know the story has picked up unmerited national attention, but for the people who live in this area, alligator attacks are something you have to think about.
This alligator was spotted on a neighbor’s driveway on July 14 in the general area where Janie Melsek was attacked.
The 12-footer that killed Janie Melsek.
Did Duane tide everybody over until I could get in here for a little vacation blogging?
I'm still here in DC. My feet are worn down to nubs and family ties are getting a little frayed. This town is awesome, though and I'd love to spend a year or two here so I could see everything.
My hotel is full of Australians doing a "political exchange." I think they might be some of the advance party for an invasion. I challenged one woman, but as might be expected, she denied it. She even told me she couldn't stand vegemite. Rather than set me at ease, that little tidbit of info just made me more suspicious. Beware the 'Roo.
Duane at the dentist, flanked by chickies.
Wail on, Skydog!
I'll be away on vacation this week. Wednesday's pic is post-dated. See y'all when I return.
American Werewolf
American Werelemur
American Weredog
A classic line while we're at it.
(Many thanks to James S for taking and sending all the lovely lemur pics.)
Assaulting someone with an alligator. Now that really is odd behavior.
A doped-up topless dancer and a well-educated dentist: What do they have in common?
They both left a child in the car to die of heat.
The hoochie is facing 30 years in prison. Let's hope the dentist's future is the same.
"You would never think that something like this would happened to somebody like that," next-door neighbor John Hoover said.
But according to Kids and Cars, professionals often leave their children in unattended cars. The nonprofit group, based in Kansas City, tracks information on children killed or injured in non-traffic related incidents.
"The people this has happened to are college professors, the CEO of a hospital, a veterinarian," founder and president Janette Fennell said. "It speaks to the high-paced, stressed-out lives we live."
Oh, that's why. Sometimes you can get so darn busy you forget you have a kid.
Flying Space Monkey is taking nominations for Overblog: the most over-trafficked, over-hyped, and over here blog.
We ain't fakin'. Whole lotta flank-nippin' goin' on.
(Via INDC Journal.)
Son of Nixon links to a cool site with a photo-history of the Iowa Freedom Rock.
Our geography dooms us to boulder-deprivation, but if we had a boulder here, ours would surely rule. Or the PC crowd would paint it to be the Florida Diversity Rock.
The spirit of Unity is moving across the land. Draw nigh to Me, children.
I am the Great All Things To All Men. I am the Yes. I am the No. I am the Maybe.
Can you feel the Unity I bring? Can I get a witness?
Soldiers of the Children of Ham, Father loves you and stands with you against The Enemy.
But, lo! Who is that I see stepping out of the shadows? He bears the Mark of Cain!
There is one come among us sent from the Devil himself!
Republican!
You will not prevail, Kerry!
Bring Rove forth!
Demon GOP, I REBUKE you!
Don't press - The Kool-Aid's here and there is enough for everyone.
This is a repost reminder. Civilians can send discounted phone cards to the troops via AAFES. AAFES does the shipping then sends you a receipt. Or you can buy them to include in your care packages. Minute-wise these cards give the most bang for the buck and are very hot ticket items with the guys:
Military Phone Card Donation Program Goes Public
The Department of Defense announced today that any American can now help troops in contingency operations call home. The Defense Department has authorized the Armed Services Exchanges to sell prepaid calling cards to any individual or organization that wishes to purchase cards for troops who are deployed. The Help Our Troops Call Home program is designed to help servicemembers call home from Operations Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
For those wishing to donate a prepaid calling card to a military member may log on to any of the three Armed Services Exchange web sites: the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the Navy Exchange Service Command, and the Marine Corps Exchange. Click the Help Our Troops Call Home link. From there, a prepaid calling card may be purchased for an individual at his or her deployed address or to any service member deployed or hospitalized. The Armed Services Exchanges will distribute cards donated to any service member through the American Red Cross, Air Force Aid Society and the Fisher House Foundation.
Us kids are gearing up for our big adventure of taking Dad to see the WWII Memorial. Rooms are booked, plane tickets purchased, wheelchair rented, and new clothes are ready. My sister got him all new clothes for the trip and when she came in with the bags, he thought they were full of school clothes for my sister's grandson. "For me?" The guy hardly ever receives anything, but is always himself giving gifts: he is the endless supplier of caps, mugs, and pocket-knives. He can't pass up these bargains if he thinks somebody in the family could use them. While I used to think it odd that he could spend an hour in a grocery store, come out with a single can of Vienna sausage, and excitedly bid us all come share it, I've long since got a hold of his Depression-Era mentality that makes little things mean so much. So, thanks for all the stuff, Dad.
On another personal note, my old squad-member Mike has deployed to the 'Stan. That he'll be the soldier that gets twenty packages to the other guys' one is evidenced in the fact that he's kept in monthly contact with me for the past 11 years. He keeps all his friends.
If you want something that amuses, check out Tim Blair's Big Imperialist American Refrigerator thread. That so many witty commenters could converge in one place is really something. The best blogger, the best commenters: my all-time favorite blog.
Flaming, diarrhetic midgets give Gilly Excedrin Headache #9.
A Tampa man will not be prosecuted for beating the pedophile who raped and choked him as a child.
In a bitter coincidence, Jason Flores, 23, was mistakenly placed in a cell with Kevin Kinder, a man who had raped and strangled him 13 years ago.
Flores will serve time for other crimes, including car theft and burglary.
An expert from the University of South Florida says Flores suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and that his accidental encounter with Kinder triggered a long-stifled healing process.
Flores was 10 years old when he was brutally assaulted by Kinder.
Kinder pleaded guilty in 1992 to performing lewd acts on four boys, including Flores. He served six years of a 17-year sentence before being released, but was returned to prison when a judge ruled he had violated his probation.
Son of Nixon has the Top Ten Dog Names Rejected By Teddy Kennedy.
I don't get it: "Pantless" is a perfectly good name.
A co-worker and I were discussing Bazooka gum today. I told her how I would sit on the walkway in front of the 7-11 chewing my gum and reading the comic. She said she read them in Spanish growing up in Argentina and in Hebrew as a young woman living in Israel. Joe gets around. I had no idea.
Now it turns out there's so much more to the Bazooka Joe universe than meets the eye. The Shrine of Bazooka Joe has all the comics analyzed and divided in themes. I expect Joe to start showing up on college syllabi pretty soon.
Again we see Bazooka Joe misuse his charismatic personality to swindle the working man.
During the Depression, Liberace's family went on the dole in Wisconsin.
When he got in the money, he paid Wisconsin back every cent ever given to any member of his family.
It's a darn shame she lost the Slim-Fast gig. Now she'll never be able to pay back the State of California all the welfare money she got from it when she was Caryn Johnson:
Comedian Whoopi Goldberg will no longer appear in ads for diet aid maker Slim-Fast following her lewd riff on President Bush's name at a fund-raiser last week, the company said on Wednesday.
Florida-based Slim-Fast said it was "disappointed" in Goldberg's remarks at last Thursday's $7.5 million star-studded fund-raiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
"Ads featuring Ms. Goldberg will no longer be on the air," Slim-Fast General Manager Terry Olson said in a statement, adding that the company regrets that Goldberg's remarks offended some customers.
A Muslim pervert begot a big brawl in Bethlehem.
Due to a lack of death, however, no mangled bits of bodies got grabbed for trophies:
A "Peeping Tom" who photographed a woman in the changing room of a Bethlehem area clothes shop sparked a night of rioting between Palestinian Muslims and Christians, witnesses say.
At the height of the hours-long riot on Tuesday night, hundreds of Muslims and Christians fought each other with metal rods and stones overnight in the streets of the West Bank town of Beit Sahour, adjacent to Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus.
Palestinian police tried to quell the fighting by firing volleys in the air with automatic rifles, but the fighting only died down when the Bethlehem district governor imposed a curfew on the predominantly Christian town.
"It was like a war," said Nahle, a Beit Sahour resident.
------
It was the first time in years that tension between Muslims and Christians in the Bethlehem area had exploded into large-scale violence, residents said.
Two people were taken to hospital with moderate injuries and scores more suffered cuts and bruises, medics said.
The incident began on Tuesday evening when a Muslim man snuck a camera into a changing room in a Beit Sahour clothes shop as a woman was dressing and snapped several pictures of her, residents said.
The man, from a nearby Muslim town, raced to a taxi with the shopowner in pursuit, residents said. But he was forced to flee to a mosque when dozens of Beit Sahour residents arrived and began smashing the taxi, which they later torched.
By then, Christians and Muslims involved in the dispute had called in reinforcements, witnesses said.
The Muslims demanded police free the man, who was badly beaten during the melee, residents said. But the suspect was arrested and taken to a local jail. "Then the clashes really started," Nahle said.
"They were fighting with sticks and stones, and extra police had to come from Ramallah and Bethlehem to stop it," he said.
Beit Sahour looked like a ghost town on Wednesday after the clashes had died down. Most shops were closed and the streets were littered with stones thrown by rioters, residents said.
Inter-religious tension has been brewing for some time in the Bethlehem area, where Christians number only around 20 percent of the population despite making up a majority of the population less than a century ago.
The exodus of more affluent Christians has grown since a Palestinian uprising began in September 2000.
Among grievances cited by Christians are land seizures by Palestinian Muslims, a rise of Islamic radicalism during nearly four years of conflict with Israel, growing numbers of Muslims moving to Bethlehem from elsewhere and Israeli army operations and checkpoints in the Bethlehem area.
Here's Duane giving a lesson on what you can do with an empty bottle of cold medicine.
Wail on, Skydog!
Kofi Annan is getting on my last nerve. He wants us to go all unilateral on AIDS and turn our pockets inside-out while we're at it:
The United States must lead the fight against AIDS with the same commitment it shows in the battle against terrorism, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday.
"We hear a lot about weapons of mass destruction. We hear a lot about terrorism, and we are worried about weapons of mass destruction because of their potential to kill thousands of people," Annan said in an interview with the BBC.
"Here we have an epidemic that is killing millions. What is the response?" Annan said. "We really do need leadership. America has the natural leadership capacity because of its resources, because of its size."
Shouldn't the UN handle it, Kofi? We're giving $15 billion already. Maybe we want to spend the rest of our money on cat toys and new lawn furniture. And those dumbass activists cursing us really make us want to pony up the cash. Nobody likes an abusive beggar.
Doesn't the Philippines have its own problems with terrorism? Aren't there Muslim terrorists there kidnapping people and killing them? The Philippines have already become a major training ground for Al-Qaeda- Does this bishop want the government to tie a bow around Mindanao and hand it over while they're at it? He's so concerned about overseas workers, doesn't he want to avoid more kidnappings and killings in his own backyard? Rolling over and playing dead won't cut it.
These days the sheep are clamoring to be slaughtered:
In Manila, a Catholic bishop urged the government to reconsider its involvement in the United States’ war against terrorism in the light of the risk it creates for thousands of Filipino overseas workers in the Middle East.
Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines committee on public affairs, said the hostage-taking of De la Cruz is a sign that a policy shift on terrorism should be made.
"I think it is a very valid opportunity for us especially for the policy makers of the land to reconsider," the Caloocan City bishop said.
I love me a good hate crime hoax. This one appears to have been done for sympathy:
Doubts arose late Monday over an alleged anti-Semitic attack on a young mother and her baby on a Paris suburban train, an incident that drew fierce condemnation from politicians, civil rights groups and Jewish associations.
President Jacques Chirac added racism to a list of crimes excluded under his annual Bastille Day clemency given to prisoners after the alleged assault in which the women said a gang of six youths had cut her clothes and drawn swastikas on her body after mistaking her for a Jew.
The national newspapers gave it front-page prominence under such headlines as "The Train of Hate" and "Vile and Stupid."
But police sources told AFP that they were puzzled by "contradictions" that had emerged since the incident Friday and the lack of confirming evidence.
---------
The 23-year-old woman, identified by the press only as Marie L. said the alleged attackers had believed her to be Jewish because her old identity card gave her address in Paris' fashionable 16th district, and had tipped over her baby carriage with her 13-month-old child.
"Only Jews live in the 16th district," one of the men was quoted by the press as having said.
Investigators said closed-circuit cameras at the station where the woman said the attackers had alighted did not reveal the presence of six youths.
Police were continuing to check all video-surveillance cameras along the line, and officers rode the trains in search of witnesses.
Railway personnel at the ticket office where the woman said she reported the affair could remember nothing about it, the investigators said.
Frank Carabin, a representative of a police officer's union, said it was curious that no witnesses had come forward, and he added, "there are inconsistencies in the statement" of the woman.
Carabin urged caution. "The inquiry is continuing but with uncertainties," he said."
Another police union official, Bruno Beschizza, said, "Since yesterday (Sunday) evening, contradictions have appeared. There are not enough elements of proof."
A 28-year-old man interviewed by AFP said he had seen the woman on the platform of the station where she said she boarded the train before the attack. He said her clothes were torn and she was crying. "I asked her if she wanted help, and she said no," the man said.
The reported attack drew a sharp reaction from Chirac, who said he would deny clemency to any prisoner serving time for a racist crime, to Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who said: "Anti-Semitism is a disgrace. We want to fight this sort of intolerable racism."
The woman, identified only as Marie L. spent more than an hour with the secretary of state for victim's rights, Nicole Guedj. She left in a car with darkened windows without giving comment to the media.
Later, politicians appeared to start backing away from the story.
"I hope there's not going to be too much doubt about this affair," the president of the Ile-de-France region whispered to Guedj in an aside recorded and broadcast by France 2 television.
Guedj appealed to witnesses to come forward, including a couple she said had helped her get off the train and have not appeared since.
One shocking aspect of the story, according to newspapers, was the fact that a score of people reportedly watched the attack but did not come forward to help - itself a crime in France, where non-assistance to a person in danger is punishable by up to five years in jail.
Guedj said she understand people might be frightened, and she said witnesses could give evidence anonymously.
"She told me there were some 20 people who could have seen what happened, especially a young man sitting nearby. She's counting on him to make himself known," Guedj said.
The gang forcibly held her head down so she could not see their faces, according to a report in Le Monde newspaper. Despite this, other newspapers had no hesitation in identifying the alleged attackers as Arabs and Africans.
According to interior ministry statistics, the number of racist incidents has soared this year.
There were 135 physical acts (vandalism, arson, assault, and attacks or attempted attacks) against Jews in the first half of 2004, compared to 127 for all of 2003, according to the statistics.
For the same period, there were another 95 acts against other ethnic groups - mainly those of North African Arab background - compared to 92 for all of last year.
The country is home to Europe's biggest Jewish and Muslim communities, estimated at 600,000 and five million respectively.
Classic children's books are set to tear up the best-seller lists.
On a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 representing impossibility and 100 representing complete metaphysical certitude, is John McLaughlin the best Deputy CIA Director ever?
Not a good week for John Kerry:
Amid a series of feel-good events that would have made Cecil B. DeMille proud, Kerry said on national TV that he hadn't had time for a national security briefing on a new al-Qaeda threat. He praised celebrities who had made nasty, vulgar remarks about President Bush. His wife offered feminist musings at the North Carolina finale of the new ticket's "mainstream values" tour. And while voters wondered about John Edwards' experience and foreign policy credentials, the Kerrys talked about his good looks.
To borrow from Mr. Paul Anka, "Lots of loose sh*t going on here."
The always interesting Orson Scott Card shows us how to write a biased newspaper article for fun and profit.
In comments, Paul of Daily Diatribe expresses his feeling that Queensland, Australia has a far harsher environment than Florida:
Pah! We have sharks, crocodiles, sea and land snakes, scorpions, cone shells and blue ring octopus, tornados, cyclones, random serial killers, dengue and ross river virus, and roads that haven't been maintained since white settlement, traversed by drunks and psychotics. Queensland is the instant bloody death capital of the world!
Even our gd trees are homicidal.
I'm forced to add that in addition to alligators, sharks, and lightning, we have crocodiles, poisonous land and water snakes, poisonous spiders, swarms of cattle-killing mosquitos, man-o-wars, jelly fish, hurricanes, tornadoes, sandspurs, and Ohio drivers.
Uh-oh. Kerry's not doing so well with the ladies. It appears he's just too darn aloof:
Kerry is counting on a high-octane showing among Democratic women to fuel his trip to the White House — his campaign website sells bumper stickers and buttons that say "John Kerry: It's up to the women" — yet these numbers suggest he's spinning his wheels. It's still early in the campaign season, but so far, Democratic women are speaking a language that translates to reelecting President Bush.
This is the best parody animation that I've seen in a very long time. A job well done.
(Via Speed of Thought.)
Shiloh feels it's best not to speak of such things:
It's a bargain at only $99.
A funny story about being struck in the head by lightning? Yep. This one was a keeper:
Party on, dude!
Bolt gives man urge to party
Despite being knocked unconscious, having hair burned off, damaging his hearing and possibly his heart, lightning victim Lonnie Boyd is glad to be able to party.
----
By KELLY VIRELLA
St. Petersburg Times
published August 31, 2003
MADEIRA BEACH - Lonnie Boyd got hit by lightning Friday evening. Saturday, he was calling himself Flash Man and planning to get a lightning bolt tattoo on his right forearm.
Other reminders of the strike are a patch of fried hair, a burned face, two burst eardrums and possible heart damage.
His heart will probably be fine, said Boyd, 50. But he has permanently lost at least 40 percent of his hearing.
Still, said the Colorado Springs, Colo., resident, "If it blew my ears off my head, I'd still be happy to be alive."
Saturday afternoon, Boyd kicked back on a couch with his friend Bruce Coil, who got a mild shock from the bolt, sipped a cold Corona and talked about the tattoo.
"It'll have the date and the time on it and it'll say Flash Man," he said.
Boyd and Coil, 47, of Kenneth City got struck Friday evening when they were returning from a fishing trip in Coil's 19-foot boat. The men had left the gulf and passed under the Bayway Bridge on the Intracoastal Waterway when the lightning struck Boyd's head.
They were both holding the boat windshield and the bolt bounced from Boyd to Coil, without seriously injuring Coil.
Saturday evening they were at a party, giddy that they had survived.
"If he wasn't standing next to me, the bolt probably would have blown up my head," Boyd said.
"Well, if he tries to sue me, my attorney will be calling him," Coil said.
Fifty to 60 people were at the party at a Madeira Beach house. The event had been planned in Boyd's honor weeks ago.
One partier walked by and said "Zzzzzzz!"
"Get away from me!" Boyd said. "Get away!"
Boyd grew up in St. Petersburg but hadn't been to the Tampa Bay area in eight years, since his stepfather, Edward Frank Hockl, died. His current visit happened to coincide with his mother, Phyllis Hockl's, hospitalization.
She was bitten by a brown recluse spider. She was released on Thursday, the night Boyd arrived, he said.
If that and the lightning bolt were bad luck, Boyd says it has definitely changed.
His wife and three children will get their father back when he goes home next week. He doesn't have a firm departure date because he has to go back to the doctor Tuesday, and he may need more treatment.
"If you guys ever want to go out fishing, go fishing with us," he chuckled. "The chances of us getting struck twice are rather slim."
When I was stationed in Germany I saw two different people my age who had thalidomide deformities. I recalled how my mother had spoken with pride of a woman at the FDA who had single-handedly protected the American public from this drug by repeatedly refusing to approve its marketing. At a crucial time we had someone who took her job seriously, didn't yield to pressure, and thus prevented a public health tragedy.
She got a medal and she deserved it. That was some fine work, Dr. Kelsey.
Ahhh, I have to get my laughs where I can. There's something inherently silly about old farts tossing around the pigskin. And old farts doing it for photo-ops, well, that's just comic gold.
The Grand Poobah of Iran is all about fashion. He thinks Iran is on a slippery slope fashion-wise and a national costume would be just the thing to get everybody squared away. Ladies, he's like Ford: that big sack you wear can be any color you want, as long as it's black. Strut your stuff!
(Via F.R.)
Iranians should design a national costume of which they can be proud but should not take their lead from the pages of Western fashion magazines, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, was quoted as saying today. Conservatives have recently launched a crackdown on young women who flout Iran's strict Islamic dress codes by wearing figure-hugging coats and allowing hair to spill out from under their headscarves.
But Khamenei, who has the last word on all state matters, said there was no need for panic. "The young people in this country are pure believers and joyful and are very interested in Islam," he was quoted as telling young people in the western city of Hamadan. The Sharq daily said he returned to the idea of a national costume which he floated years ago.
-------
"Arabs, Indians, Indonesians and Africans have their own costumes and they are proud of them," Khamenei said. "I say sit down and design a national costume. But I am not saying that it should be something dating back to 500 years ago," he added. "I am saying if you want to cut your hair short, if you want to change the way you put on make-up, if you want to change the way you walk - then do it."
"If fashion designers in Europe and America design a kind of clothes for men and women in their fashion magazines, should we copy them in Tehran, Mashhad and Hamadan? That would be bad," he said. "Cultural mimicry is a big danger, but don't get me wrong, I am not opposed to fashion, variety and innovation."
Khamenei, normally attired in black turban and long clerical robes, said there was nothing wrong with coats and trousers and that from time to time he would wear a western-style raincoat. A national costume would be of particular interest to hardline cleric Ahmad Khatami, who expressed his fears on sartorial freedoms to the Hambastegi newspaper.
"Some women appear in the streets half a millimetre from breaking the Islamic dress code. It is a very dangerous trend," he said.
The sad thing about Courtney Love is that when she's rational she knows her life's a mess. She's not proud of skankiness like so many other famous skanks are. It's like the smart Charlie in "Flowers for Algernon" realizing he's becoming the retarded Charlie again.
The Devil will knock you down, then kick you for falling.
This pic is holding me in its hypnotic sway. Go have a look at the 'learn' section of Duke University's Primate Center's flash site. The pics are terrific. I'd steal them if I could figure out how.
The freed Pakistani, Amjad Hafeez, says he saw three people beheaded - two of them English-speakers. No one knows so far who these people were. I know there's a number of missing workers there.
Congrats to Pakistani President Musharraf for telling the terrorists to go piss up a rope. Would that Arroyo in the Philippines would do the same.
After his release, Hafeez got a surprise phone call:
Hafeez said after his release he received a call from President Bush, who congratulated him.
"I had not even dreamed that the American president would call," he said. "He wished me well, and I said thank you," Hafeez said.
That was a really nice thing to do.
Which state leads the nation in fatalities by both sharks AND alligators?
Florida, that's who.
Got a hankering for getting severely dead from a lightning strike?
Better talk to us.
Take that, Texas.
Having promised him JFK, spiritualist John Edwards accidentally allows channeling of wrong departed President.
The exceedingly weird tale continues:
A gunbattle erupted Thursday near the family home of a Lebanese-born U.S. Marine who had been missing in Iraq, killing at least two people and wounding several others, witnesses said.
Relatives of Wassef Ali Hassoun, who arrived at the U.S. embassy in Beirut Thursday, traded fire with another family who taunted them by referring to the Marine and his family as U.S. agents, said the witnesses.
Who will find the glorious jewel-encrusted golden falcon first?
Poor John Edwards has been dealing with this kind of thing all his life. This is what happens when a fellow's just so darn purdy. It took exactly one day for Edwards to end up looking like Kerry's butt-boy. This must be some kind of brilliant reverse-psychology Southern Strategy.
UPDATE:
ACK!
It's now being investigated as a hoax.
This story has more twists and turns than a Law and Order episode.
UPDATE:
The U.S. Embassy thinks Hassoun is hanging out in Lebanon. No confirmation yet.
UPDATE II:
Hassoun is now at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, 24, of West Jordan, Utah, was picked up with his brothers at an undisclosed location in Lebanon, sources said.
A senior U.S. State Department official confirmed Hassoun was at the embassy, where he would first be given any medical help he might need and then be debriefed.
Debrief him 'til he squeaks.
Son of Nixon has the tale of Kid Rock shining the light of reason in a dark and ignorant corner of the world.
You're welcome to come back down and sing some more with Bocephus, Kid.
Yeah, I'll have a double bread with meat and a large cesspool water of American capitalism.
--
It has recently been reported that Kim Jong Il has invented the hamburger and is sharing his culinary triumph with university students and other deserving types in his starving nation. The Dear Leader has had a 'double bread with meat' factory built, but it is unknown if there has been a sharp drop in the number of political prisoners since it ramped up production. The news report also made no mention of any "special sauce" :
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has introduced hamburgers to his reclusive, communist country in a campaign to provide "quality" food to university students, media reported Wednesday.
The hamburgers were introduced in 2000 and dubbed "gogigyeopbbang," Korean for "double bread with meat," according to the June 29 edition of the North Korean state-run newspaper Minju Joson.
...
Although reports from the isolated country have in recent years mentioned the introduction of the American fast food classic, the latest announcement seems to credit the country's leader for their advent.
The news marks a curious development for North Korea, where U.S. consumerism is routinely reviled in the official media and people refer to the soft drink Coca Cola as the "cesspool water of American capitalism."
Wednesday's report cites leader Kim Jong Il as saying at the time of the hamburger's introduction: "I've made up my mind to feed quality bread and french fries to university students, professors and researchers even if we are in (economic) hardship."
The government then built a hamburger plant and Kim Jong Il ordered officials to pay close attention to modernizing mass production, the report was quoted as saying by Yonhap.
Hamburgers from the factory were first provided only to students at the elite Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang, but were later provided to other schools, the daily said.
(Via Lucianne.)
Here's Duane tearing it up in 1969. Dickie Betts is trying to keep up.
Wail on, Skydog!
Pity the poor Norwegian soldiers coming home.
(Via Gilly's World.)
Iran is being very naughty:
American and Iraqi joint patrols, along with U.S. Special Operations teams, captured two men with explosives in Baghdad on Monday who identified themselves as Iranian intelligence officers, FOX News has confirmed.
Senior officials said it was previously believed that Iran had officers inside Iraq stirring up violence, but this is the first time that self-proclaimed Iranian intelligence agents have been captured within the country.
The Defense officials also confirmed to FOX News that in recent days there has been significant success in tracking down "known bad guys" based on information from local citizens. While those captured aren't from the list of former regime members or from terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's network, they are "active" bombers and organizers of recent violence.
The local citizens are busy little bees these days:
An armed group calling itself the "Salvation Movement" threatened in a video to kill Al-Qaeda-linked Jordanian operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi if he did not leave Iraq.
"The apostate, criminal Zarqawi and his henchmen must leave Iraq immediately," said a statement read by one of the group on the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite news channel.
The Iraqis are in charge now and they don't appear to appreciate terrorists coming onto their property.
An Ocala woman fled to a police station to get help against her homicidal husband, but there were no cops there to protect her. They were all off on other calls and nobody was left behind to guard the fort. She got killed right in front of the police station. One of her last thoughts would have been "There's no police here?!"
Time for some chief's head to roll.
The reports say that Cpl. Hassoun was out and about because of a local female and that he has pledged not to rejoin the U.S. military. That sounds like another Marine I know. Hopefully there won't be a televised equivalent of one of these.
So Kerry chose a handsome Southerner. Talk about balancing a ticket.
It's time for President Bush to accidentally-on-purpose have to choose a new VP and pull the tarp off John "Big Bertha" McCain.
By selecting Edwards, 51, Kerry went with the smooth-talking Southern populist over more seasoned politicians in hopes of injecting vigor and small-town appeal to the Democratic presidential ticket. Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, calculated that he didn't need to add foreign policy heft to the ticket.
Called aloof by his critics, reserved by his supporters, Kerry hopes Edwards adds pizazz to the Democratic team. Edwards is rich, but his up-from-the-bootstraps biography made a compelling story during his nomination fight against Kerry and several other Democrats.
Two museums are heading to court to battle for custody of the mandolin of Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass. Monroe bought the mandolin in 1943 in a barbershop in Miami and used it throughout his career. He played it at the Grand Ole Opry the day before he died of a stroke in 1996.
Bill Monroe was quite a character. My favorite story on him is the time he got arrested for smiting a woman with a Bible. The woman turned out to be nutty, but it was a great tale:
It brings to mind the deliciously risible case of Bill Monroe, arrested and charged in 1989 with smiting a lady friend across the face with a Bible. What a peculiarly Southern instrument of destruction, we all mused. And how fitting for the God-like Monroe to wield it. Painful though it may have been for the Father of Bluegrass, it produced some truly priceless headlines and jokes that impaired one’s ability to walk. As it turned out, the woman was a less than stellar witness on her own behalf, and the charges were dismissed. But to those of us who wanted the story to be true (for the very vilest of reasons), the image of Monroe advancing on the cowering maiden with the Good Book held aloft, remains as vivid as the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Now the captors of Cpl. Hassoun are saying they've released him. No official word yet.
Speed of Thought has more, as does Blogs of War.
A 34-year-old reporter got the gumption to fulfill his dream of being a Marine. His written record of the endeavor makes for fascinating reading, but it also prompted an investigation of the DIs by the Marine Corps. That's a shame. Better they should investigate my old Army DI: he was Freddy Krueger in a Smokey-the-Bear hat! At least that's how I remember him. In any case, my congratulations and thanks to this Marine for his service, and for writing such an interesting article:
Stripped naked in the office shower room, I was appalled.
I had been jogging every other day for several months. Still, when I looked in the mirror, the man I saw was fat and soft, almost unbelievably so. I wondered:
Was there a United States Marine in there somewhere?
(Via F.R.)
I've found the perfect illness for Saddam: flesh-eating bacteria compounded with genital gangrene. Sound good? A local man survived all this, but that doesn't mean Saddam has to.
Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) has a terrific editorial in the AJC today on the wild-eyed partisans who have taken over the Democratic Party. The lunatic fringe isn't so fringe anymore.
---
I love my party but hate what it has become
By ZELL MILLER
Published on: 07/05/04
I have been a proud member of the Democratic Party from the time I first breathed the Georgia mountain air. But lately I can barely recognize my once-great party. Between Al Gore's rants, Michael Moore's falsehoods, the felons-for-hire shenanigans of America Coming Together and Moveon.org's crazy conspiracy theories, the Democratic Party has become a coalition of the wild-eyed. Driven by a rabid desire to defeat President Bush, they seem eager to say and do anything to tear him apart.
All the loudmouthed liberals were recently shouting in unison. Gore accused Bush of deliberately deceiving the American people before the Iraq war. According to Gore, Bush made up connections between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein to dupe us into Iraq. But as with so much of what Gore has said recently, it's just not true.
As the Republican chairman and the Democratic co-chairman of the 9/11 commission said countless times, ties between al-Qaida and Iraq definitely existed. What we're not sure about is whether Saddam had anything to do with the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. And guess what? That's exactly what Bush said last year: "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with Sept. 11." So much for deception.
Hollywood sleazemonger Moore recently released his latest movie. It throws around rumors and innuendos, trying to blame Bush for the heinous acts of terrorists. No wonder the French gave Moore their highest honor for filmmakers. Moore operates in Hollywood cities, where reality plays second fiddle to whatever outrageous fantasy you can create. It is absurd to think that Bush is responsible for terrorism. It existed well before he came into office. He's just the first president who's going head-on after the terrorists to stop them.
Then there's the ultraliberal group America Coming Together. They don't officially work with any campaign, but the Associated Press reported that "ACT is stocked with veteran Democratic political operatives, many with past ties to [Sen. John] Kerry and his advisers."
Now these former Kerry advisers have come up with a brilliant plan to get him elected. They've actually been paying convicted felons to go door-to-door registering people to vote. Excuse me if I seem old fashioned, but I'd prefer not to have convicted felons showing up on my doorstep.
Unfortunately for people in Missouri, Florida and Ohio, that's exactly what's happening. And these aren't petty criminals. According to the Associated Press, these paid canvassers have been convicted of burglary, forgery, drug dealing, assault and sex offenses. Politics does make strange bed-felons.
And of course we've all heard the harangues from Moveon.org, the far-left political organization that tries to stir up anger about President Bush. These folks became famous when they put a couple of ads on their Web site that compared the president of the United States to Adolf Hitler. Then a few weeks ago, they hosted a big speech by George Soros, the billionaire bankroller of the Bush-bashers. Soros claimed that Bush's leadership in the war on terror has turned Americans from victims of terrorism into perpetrators.
As crazy as these charges sound, more and more they seem to represent the standard thinking among Kerry Democrats. After all, right before Soros spoke, one of my Democratic Senate colleagues introduced him by saying, "We need people like George Soros, who is fearless and willing to step up when it counts."
I'll tell you, if we need people like Soros speaking for our party, then we are in a whole heap of trouble.
It's time for responsible people to speak up and keep this election from becoming a sideshow of disgusting claims and hysterical attacks. More of my fellow Democrats — including Kerry — need to put America first and turn their backs on the wild-eyed partisans who want to tear us apart.
I still love the Democratic Party — the party of Roosevelt and Truman and Kennedy. But the more screaming and ranting I hear, the more I wonder whether those Democratic heroes of old would find much to be proud of today.
Be sure to check out Marine Corps Mom to find out what a bunch of Marines can get up to with a misdirected female care package.
Clean shirt, new shoes
and I don't know where I am goin' to.
Silk suit, black tie,
I don't need a reason why.
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
coz every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.
Gold watch, diamond ring,
I ain't missin' a single thing.
And cufflinks, stick pin,
when I step out I'm gonna do you in.
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
coz every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.
Top coat, top hat,
I don't worry coz my wallet's fat.
Black shades, white gloves,
lookin' sharp and lookin' for love.
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
coz every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.
I'd read the guys weren't going to get to have any fireworks. I'm so glad they did- and right in Tikrit too. Bearded the lion in his den. Or treated the locals to a pretty fireworks display- however you wish to see it.
Newly graduated members of the Iraqi National Guard and U.S. troops from 1st Infantry Division watch a fireworks display over the banks of the Tigris River at an American military base inside the grounds of a former Saddam Hussein Palace complex in Tikrit, Iraq, Sunday July 4, 2004. The 1st Infntry Division hosted a Fourth of July celebration to mark the traditional U.S. independence day.
There's one thing I can promise y'all: I will never plagiarize from circus newsletters like real reporters do:
Another reporter for The Macon Telegraph has left the newspaper over plagiarism accusations after editors found a story he wrote came from a weekly circus newsletter.
An investigation found that entertainment reporter Greg Fields' June 18 story about the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus coming to town was taken from the "Circus Report," a weekly newsletter for circus fans, executive editor Sherrie Marshall wrote in the newspaper Tuesday. Fields resigned Monday.
I saw Natalie Maines' ACLU ad in Rolling Stone yesterday. She's posing with a guitar again, pretending like she can play it. The two sisters are actual musicians; Natalie's just a poseur. A poseur with a career in the toilet.
Beware of hicks bearing grudges.
The always confusing tale of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun continues:
An Islamic extremist group denied in a statement posted on its Web site Sunday that it had killed a U.S. Marine taken hostage last month.
The denial by the Ansar al-Sunna Army left the fate of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun unclear. The group said it had no connection to a statement in its name put out on other Web sites claiming Hassoun's slaying — leaving open the possibility that the Marine was killed by another group or that he was still alive.
This must be complete and utter hell for his family. God be with them all.
Harry Hutton sends us his fondest good wishes on our birthday.
(That Stamp Act was the last straw, Hutton!)
Is it the Fourth?
-Last words of Thomas Jefferson, d. July 4, 1826
There's electric gee-tar pr0n over at Paulie's, and Son of Nixon is sorely upset that he's not the Google Baron of a cool Duane Allman-related phrase like I am.
Bubba, there's no shame in dreaming big. Just keep trying.
So, this is what it's like to shake hands with Mr. Clinton. I did not know:
Clinton held his hand out to me, and I shook it. He had a firm handsake, but not too firm. I would say its firmness was exactly as firm as a handshake should be: no more, no less. I remember thinking, Where has this hand been? How many lives has he changed with this hand? What smells like rotten fish and Aqua Velva? Then suddenly, he let go to sign my book, and I for an instant I felt a deep sense of lonliness overcome me. I wanted that hand back, wanted mine to be held again, wanted to feel the warm security of his comforting, fatherly handshake. But my "special time" with him was over quicker than a heartbeat, and I was already being hustled off the stage.
Be sure to check out this fellow's blog, y'all. He's really good.
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal:
"The majority of Arabs and Saudis find that America is doing too little in Palestine and is downright submissive to Israel."
Ralph Nader:
"The Israeli puppeteer travels to Washington. The Israeli puppeteer meets with the puppet in the White House, and then moves down Pennsylvania Avenue, and meets with the puppets in Congress. And then takes back billions of taxpayer dollars. It is time for the Washington puppet show to be replaced by the Washington peace show."
Ralph gets that much wierder every year. I expect him to start raising orchids any time now. Or putting on an explosive vest. Something. That guy is wrapped really tight.
Leland Pritchard of Plattsmouth, Neb., displays four different models of 'Exploding Terrorist Heads' fireworks, on sale in a roadside fireworks tent in Plattsmouth, Neb., Tuesday, June 29, 2004. The fireworks sell for $1.99 each or $7.96 for a package titled 'Exploding Terrorists Heads,' which includes the likenesses of 'Sadly Insane (Saddam) Hussein,' 'Rag Hat (Yasser) Arafat', 'Cannibal (Moammar) Kadafi', and Osama bin Laden.
Where can I buy a bushel?
UPDATE:
"Every American needs one of these!" reads the description of the firecracker in the Bob’s Fireworks catalog. "Light up ol’ BL and he will cackle not unlike a chicken, erupt in blood red flowers and scream loudly as if his cave’s roof was meeting the floor.
"The finale is complete when a dual charge blows Bin’s head far from his neck. Too much fun for only $1.95."
Googling "exploding Bin Laden noggin" will find you the firework companies that have them, such as Spirit of '76 Fireworks.
The soldiers who forced Zeyad's cousin off a bridge and into the river have been charged with manslaughter.
Off to Leavenworth with them.
One brave soul has defied Bushitler and gone to see Mike Moore's new movie:
I slowly circled the theatre three or four times, keeping an eye out for any skinheads or CIA agents who might try to prevent me from seeing the film. For weeks, I had been filled with anticipation for this day, and now it had finally come. I wasn't about to let Ashcroft or his jackboots keep me or anyone else from knowing the Truth.
When I was certain that the coast was clear, I parked my car and strutted towards the entrance.
Suddenly, a huge black shape swooped down at me out of nowhere and clawed angrily at my hair. 10,000 years of sheer primal instinct overtook me, and I threw myself to the ground and screamed like a girl.
"CAW! CAW!" the beast roared as it flew up into a nearby tree and perched on a branch, where it glared menacingly at me with one glistening, black eye.
It was a crow - a goddamn trash-eating crow!
"WHO SENT YOU?" I shouted at it. "WHAT DARK LORD DO YOU CALL MASTER?"
"CAW! CAW!" the evil bird replied with a flap of its wings. "CAAAAw!"
The theatre entrance was only a few yards away - I could see a throng of 5 or 6 people already waiting in line at the ticket window. Throwing caution to the wind, I sprung to my feet and made a run for it.
"YOU CAN'T STOP ME FROM SEEING THE FILM, BUSH!" I yelled as I sprinted across the lot, the feathery demon breathing right down my neck.
"CAW CAaaaawWW!"
Very sad but not unexpected news out of Nigeria:
A suspected large-scale polio outbreak was reported Friday among children in a heavily Muslim northern Nigeria state that had boycotted immunization campaigns, and local authorities appealed for urgent action to stop the spread.
The suspected outbreak was in Kano state, one of several in northern Nigeria that had shunned polio vaccination drives over suspicions the vaccines were part of a U.S.-led plot to render Muslims sterile.
Did our non-existent allies find some non-existent WMDs?
Oh, wait, it's got to be huge piles of brand-spanking new ones. Gotcha.
The terrorists, however, were willing to pay $5,000 per warhead, so they might not be so picky.
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Polish Troops Discover Iraq Bio-Weapons
By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA, Associated Press Writer
WARSAW, Poland - Terrorists may have been close to obtaining munitions containing the deadly nerve agent cyclosarin that Polish soldiers recovered last month in Iraq, the head of Poland's military intelligence said Friday.
Polish troops had been searching for munitions as part of their regular mission in south-central Iraq when they were told by an informant in May that terrorists had made a bid to buy the chemical weapons, which date back to Saddam Hussein's war with Iran in the 1980s, Gen. Marek Dukaczewski told reporters in Warsaw.
"We were mortified by the information that terrorists were looking for these warheads and offered $5,000 apiece," Dukaczewski said. "An attack with such weapons would be hard to imagine. All of our activity was accelerated at appropriating these warheads."
Dukaczewski refused to give any further details about the terrorists or the sellers of the munitions, saying only that his troops thwarted terrorists by purchasing the 17 rockets for a Soviet-era launcher and two mortar rounds containing the nerve agent for an undisclosed sum June 23.
In May, a booby-trapped artillery shell apparently filled with the sarin nerve agent exploded alongside a Baghdad road but caused no serious injuries to the U.S. forces who discovered it. At the time, officials stopped short of claiming the munition was definite evidence of a large weapons stockpile in prewar Iraq or evidence of recent production by Saddam's regime.
The warheads all contained cyclosarin, multinational force commander Polish Gen. Mieczyslaw Bieniek said.
"Laboratory tests showed the presence in them of cyclosarin, a very toxic gas, five times stronger than sarin and five times more durable," Bieniek told Poland's TVN24 at the force's Camp Babylon headquarters.
"If these warheads, which were still usable, were used on a military base like Camp Babylon, they would have caused unforeseeable damage."
The tests were done by U.S. experts, who were conducting more.
The munitions were found in a bunker in the Polish sector, but Polish officials refused to be more specific.
Ays of Iraq at a Glance is not looking forward to Saddam's trial:
Just finish the trial, just finish it.. I don’t want to listen to what Saddam says, execute him and that’s it.., he’s talking as an innocent! I hit the ceiling when I heard his excuses regarding the invasion of Kuwait.. The same arrogance again.. The same evil look.. UNFORTUNATELY they broadcasted the sound too.. ‘
