Lileks sez: "You don’t see this in cartoons anymore."





He's right, isn't he?

The Messopotamian gives his opinion of Bush's Thanksgiving visit.

Yes GWB, though the visit was brief, it was very meaningful. We know that you have come, not as the President of an invading nation, but as the friend who wishes to renew commitment to our people, and as long as your intentions are what you have repeatedly said (and we don't doubt your sincerity), the land and the hearts welcome you.

It gives us pain that the visit is so short and that the masses cannot in the present circumstances come out to give you the welcome that you deserve, but the day will come, the day will come (God's Willing). Yes the day will come when the millions will come out to welcome the best friend that the Mesopotamian people have ever had, and he will be amongst the most devoted and allied people that America will ever have.

The bones in the mass graves salute you, Avenger of the Bones.

Tim, I'm thinking we gotta blogroll this guy.

Finally, black folk are figuring it out.

This is just cool!

A map of the blogosphere! Clickity click! Sadly, the Right Wing Wackos are excluded. Time to go kill someone.

Because some things you just have to share.

Some men have the ability to think great things. Some men have the ability to orate to a crowd and keep the on the edge of their seats for hours.

Some men can do both. Like Bill Whittle.

During the 30-odd years he was in power, Saddam Hussein murdered at least 300,000 of his own people. These are the ones we are finding in mass graves in Iraq. Another 300,000 – at least – were killed in his war with Iran and his two conflicts with the US. Those are bare-bones, undeniable, non-speculative, minimums.

That darling arithmetic works out to no less than 20,000 people a year killed by that lunatic, or about 1,700 people a month.

So how many innocent people have not died as a result of the Iraq war?

I get about 13,000 so far.

Thirteen thousand is about the size of a good basketball game. Perhaps we can convince the Lakers to play a charity game against the Spurs, say. Then we can put 13,000 Iraqi men, women and children into the Staples Center, and make Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, George Clooney, The Dixie Chicks, Janeane Garofalo, end every single person who signed the Not in Our Name petition kill those people in cold blood – electrodes, acid baths or shredders, to get the full effect, although the weak-stomached should be allowed to merely shoot them in the back of the head.

Because that is exactly what would have happened if these people had gotten their way.

Something to think about.

Mark Styne also has another article out.

As a side note to our Canadian friends: You're more than welcome to come to America, before the various stonings, beheadings, and "honor" killings begin.

Canadian judges soon will be enforcing Islamic law, or Sharia, in disputes between Muslims, possibly paving the way to one day administering criminal sentences, such as stoning women caught in adultery.

Just what the fuck is going on up there? I cannot believe that this in endorsed by the majority of Canadians. Anyone want to fill me in up there?

Canada, however, is preparing for its 1 million-strong Muslim minority to be under the authority of a Sharia system enforced by the Canadian court system, according to the Canadian Law Times.

Muslim delegates at a conference in Etobicoke, Ont., in October elected a 30-member council to establish the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice.

The institute is classified in Islamic law as a Darul-Qada, or judicial tribunal. Its bylaws are scheduled to be drafted and approved by Dec. 31.

Cases will be decided by a Muslim arbitrator, but the local secular Canadian court will be the enforcer.

Seriously guys, become a US citizen and you can even own all the guns you want to! Well, not in California or Massachusetts, but even Washington state allows you to have your own arsenal, so long as you aren't a criminal! Come on down!

Why don't we just declare Canada a Muslim state right now and forgo the formalities and death throes? That's the direction Ottowa seems to be heading, in my view. Or maybe BC and Alberta can form their own country.

Hat tips to Drumwaster and DANEgerous.

Time for some more Linky Love, courtesy of the local rag. Not because I'm completely pissed, but because I actually found some articles that I agreed with! I wonder if the editor was asleep last night.....

Oh, wait, it's the Times, not the Commie Apologiser Post Intelligencer.

First up is a letter written by a parent in Seattle. While I have no hope that this letter will be thought upon by the majority of Seattleites, it's still good to see that someone feels the same way I do. If you can get through much of the feel-good psyco-babble that the woman writes with, she makes some very good points.

I would like a system which encourages kids to discover and develop their individual interests and gifts, rather than be forced to suffer through boring, lifeless standardized textbooks and exams, forced to memorize things which they will forget two weeks later.

I would like each person in the community to take time and discover with their own visions what an ideal educational system might look like, and then begin to take steps to demolish the present system.

But of course, this IS Seattle, and what would Seattle be without the latest cause de jour of the Left?

Towns large and small, from Sacramento, Calif., to Avon, Mass., had a financial stake in ensuring that the mammoth and complex $31 billion bill never made it out of the Senate.

Oh really? And why is that?

Their concern was a provision that would prevent communities from collecting damages from the makers of MTBE, a gasoline additive designed to reduce air pollution. More than 1,500 cities and towns claim that it has contaminated their drinking water.

That would be the additive pushed on the gas companies by the very same eco-freaks who are now screaming about it! Too bad they didn't listen when people who were in the know told them it was a bad idea! But NOOOOOOOOOOO, the eco-freaks had to PUSH THIS JUNK onto the fuel companies!

John Kneiss, vice president for regulatory and technical affairs for the Oxygenated Fuels Association, said that the Clean Air Act of 1990 required oil companies to develop cleaner gasoline. If Congress now "changes the rules" and bans MTBE, he said, the transition to an alternative product could cost from $30 million to $100 million per plant.

Just to be clear: Legislation forced the gas companies to put this crap into their fuel. Now it's been found to be really bad shit, and people want to sue. Who do they want to sue? The very same companies who the eco-freaks forced into adding this crap. Dear God, will people ever learn?

Probably not.

Does anyone else have a problem with this?

Federal marshals have arrested several fugitives under a new partnership with area law-enforcement agencies that will put the marshals in charge of tracking fugitives throughout most of the metropolitan area.

"All violent-crimes warrants will now go through the [U.S.] Marshals Service," said Tom O'Brien, senior deputy U.S. marshal and lead investigator on three recent captures of murder suspects.

"Instead of these different organizations having a backlog of warrants and just sitting on them, [the warrants] will all go to the same place, and we're going to do something about them. We're all on board and on the same page, and that's the bottom line," Mr. O'Brien said.

OK, yeah, yeah, the bad guys get caught. Which is a good thing, right? But why, oh why, are the STATES putting their workload onto the FEDERAL law enforcement agencies? My own opinion is that unless the criminals commit a Federal offense, the Feds should stay the hell out of State business. Any comments on this?

Found over at Kim du Toit.

Shredding the Tactics Donks Use

"Mission Accomplished"

What were these words on a banner behind the President meant to convey during his speech aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003? If you listen to donks like John Kerry, you might get the impression that G.W. climbed up and hung the banner himself. John and his frantic friends would like us to believe that the President believed there was nothing left to do in Iraq, and to forget what had been accomplished and why G.W. was where he was and what was said in his speech. He'd like you to think that President Bush mistakenly hung the banner in order to inform all who would watch, that there was nothing left to do in Iraq (but if John felt like it, I'm sure he'd accuse G.W. of declaring "all done" in Afghanistan as well....or even the War on Terror....as retarded as it all sounds). Did President Bush mention anything along those lines during his carrier speech? Yep!

"We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We are bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We are pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime, who will be held to account for their crimes. We have begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons, and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. We are helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools for the people. And we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by, and for the Iraqi people.

The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. Then we will leave, and we will leave behind a free Iraq.

And now that we've established that President Bush did not intend to convey that we were all done with Iraq, and that John Kerry and his ilk are nothing more than idiots and or liars, let's address why that banner was hung on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln as it headed home from Iraq (after one of the most amazing military victories in history resulting...after a few short weeks....... in the unseating of a brutal dictator from his place of power in a mid-east nation). Did Bush put it up there? Was it in reference to the battle to free Iraq or the larger war on terror? Nope!

""The 'Mission Accomplished' sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished."

"I know it was attributed somehow to some ingenious advance man from my staff -- they weren't that ingenious, by the way."

The carrier and her crew had just finished their part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.......there Mission WAS Accomplished. John Kerry (D) IS an asshole.

I hope the GOP plans on using clips from his landing on the carrier in ads for his re-election campaign next year! Between that and his visit with the troops in Iraq this Thanksgiving, G.W. has the donks in a constant shift between apoplexy and denial.

The AFL-CIO is enduring a budget shortfall so severe that its own workers are taking two days of unpaid leave to avoid layoffs, even as the labor federation attempts to mobilize its largest-ever political campaign.

Dubbed 'solidarity days,' the days off were agreed to this past summer in contract negotiations between managers and the union representing about 200 workers at the AFL-CIO, an umbrella organization of 64 international unions. Managers also have agreed to take the unpaid time.

So the union workers, the people who work for the union, are unionized, and they and union management agreed to two solidarity days to help defray the costs of unionized union workers.

Yikes!

Yahoo! News - AFL-CIO Facing Major Financial Woes

Some a'dem dopey Dems say the war in Iraq isn't related to the war against terrorism. There's things happening in Europe that indicate otherwise.

For instance, "police in Italy and Germany have arrested three North Africans suspected of recruiting suicide bombers for attacks linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq".

And "explosives were found last night at the Gloucester home of a suspected al-Qa'eda terrorist held earlier in the day."

Lastly, Britain is in full pursuit of a number of sleeper cells.

It's impossible for Democrats to even believe for an instant that a Republican President can do something well-intentioned.

Was it a photo op? With one pool reporter on the trip? I doubt it.

Funny people, dem dopey Dems. Bush doesn't attend funerals so he is callous and uncaring. Bush thanks troops for their work, shameless political ploy.

Predictable.

In fairness, Republicans may have done the same to Clinton if the poor dumb bastard had ever gotten the stones to step out of his Oval Budoir and visit troops. "Eight years of peace and prosperity" and the man's legacy is a punchline.

Ouch.

Balloon Juice has a fisking for Matt Yglesias.

Kevin tears up Democratic Underground.

Curmudgeon Emeritus Francis W. Porretto takes a swipe at the politics uber alles Left.

UPDATE: AlphaPatriot has a fine post on the issue.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING


Yahoo! News - Bush Surprises U.S. Troops With Iraq Trip: "In turn, soldiers spoke enthusiastically about the president. 'He's got to win in '04. No one else can prosecute this war like he can,' said Capt. John Morrison of Butler County, Pa. "

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I'm going to spend the day eating, drinking, and spending time with friends. I hope you all have a wonderful day. Since I'm trying to have an enjoyable day, I think I'll just give a few links to things that I enjoy.

Blackfive has a great post about Scotch (one of my favorite spirits). Mmmmmm, single malt....

In case you're curious, my other favorite spirit is Gin. Bombay Sapphire, to be exact. Gin and tonics in the summer, and scotch, neat, in the winter. This particular scotch, in fact. Goes great with a good cigar.

I also enjoy my friends and family, so I'm going to stop spending time online and go spend time with them. I hope you all have as good a day as I do.

And if you're a religious person, I have a favor to ask.

Say a prayer for this man.



That's my friend Hodge, who's currently serving in Baghdad right now, and unable to be with us for Thanksgiving. Hodge and I served together at Ft. Riley, 300th MP Co. I miss him, and I'm praying for his safety.

Send out some good thoughts for all of our men and women in uniform, will ya? They're probably missing their families even worse than ever right now. And make sure to thank them, when you see them. Because they're the ones who ensure that we have everything to be thankful for.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Despicable. And vastly instructive.

The retired American general who headed the occupation "government" in Iraq was interviewed by the BBC and has some truly interesting things to say. It's something everyone who is interested in Iraq should read.

Yahoo! News - Garner Says U.S. Made Mistakes in Iraq

Of most interest to me was this part at the end:

Garner rejected a suggestion that the poor communications helped strengthen opposition to the coalition presence in Iraq. Instead, he blamed hardcore supporters of Saddam's Baath party and international terrorists.

"The international war on terrorism began to be fought in Iraq," he said, with anti-American fighters coming in from other countries.

"That's not all bad," Garner said. "Bring 'em all in there, we'll kill 'em there."

I would like to hear more about that. From the outset of this whole Iraq matter I took the President at his word that this would be a small battle in the war against Radical Islam. Given that, it always made sense to me that the United States was not only anticipating but downright hoping that Iraq would be a sort of "honey pot", attracting Radical Islamic savages from across the world to one place where our guys could shoot them. This idea is in keeping with President Bush's "Bring 'Em On" statement, which has been widely ridiculed in Leftist circles as cowboy bravado. Maybe it was a challenge.

The honey pot strategy might also might explain why the White House has been so quiet in not countering Democrat and other Leftist statements that Iraq is a quagmiric mess. Personally, I think the White House is simply keeping its return fire in check until about next August when it can "see the whites of their eyes", but is it also possible that our Armed Forces consider a worldwide perception that we are losing in Iraq to be a good thing, as it might attract more Islamic devils into range of our weaponry.

Farfetched, to be sure. But maybe.

From our NO GOOD DEEDS... department.

The anti-Bush Left say the media ain't showing enough American coffins because if they did the American people would reject the war. Maybe so, but the media sure haven't shown us much of this either.

Makes one thankful for being an American, far far away from this kind of barbaric shit, doesn't it?

More bad news for Dem Dopey Dems. I almost feel sorry for them.

A U.S. economic revival gained strength in October and early November with "broadly based" improvements, the Federal Reserve said in its most optimistic assessment of business conditions in some time.

The central bank said Wednesday that in most parts of the country, sales were up and retailers were optimistic about the upcoming holidays. Not only that, residential housing continued to boom, it said, and even the nation's beleaguered factories were seeing promising signs of a rebound at long last.

More:

Yahoo! News - Fed Reports Improvements in U.S. Economy

It is, how you say... a bitchslap?

The Grouchy Old Cripple is especially grouchy today, as he lets his feelings be known. This time, he takes a guy to task for saying.... well, here, I'll just copy and paste it so you can feel the true idiocy of it all.

"In fact, in South America the government that seems to work in the best interests of its people is Cuba!"

GOC's response? Heh....

If Cuba cares so much for its citizens why are they forbidden to leave? Why do they brave shark infested waters in flimsy water craft trying to leave the country? If Cuba is so great, the gummint should be trying to keep people out rather than trying to keep people in. Someone who cannot see this has to be so stupid that they have problems getting dressed in the mornings. Or maybe they are on some fantastic drugs. Noah, if you have some good drugs, let me know.

And it gets better.

Free medical care. I have just one question for the person who wrote that letter. You need heart surgery. Do you want to have it in Havana or Boston? I could do an entire rant on gummint provided health care. Just think with Hillary Care we could have had the efficiency of the Department of Motor Vehicles, the customer service of the Post Office, and the compassion of the IRS all rolled up into one. As P. J. O'Rourke once said, "If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see how much it costs when it's free".

I like this guy. He's like me, except older and uses cleaner language most of the time.

More bad news for Democrats.

Funny, isn't it? What's good for America is bad for Democrats.

VodkaPundit has a concise and well-written post up about the Israel-Palestine "peace process".

Modern wars don't seem to end until one side is well and truly beaten. The exception to the rule is "wars of national liberation" (as the Soviets liked to call the actions of their little terrorist buddies), which end when the evil occupying nation gets sick of the whole mess and leaves. And even then the war doesn't really end, because the victors then turn against each other, like in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Anyway.

VodkaPundit - Chill Before Serving

Spam has come to blogging.

Letter to American soldiers in Iraq

American RealPolitik lands a savage hammer blow square on the puss of the self-proclaimed "anti-war" mob.

I can't remember where I found this, so if anyone deserves the hat tip, let me know.

Because it's damn good. As usual, all emphasis is mine.

As an émigré from the Soviet Union, whose parents were dissidents and were persecuted by the KGB, I grew up in this society completely bewildered and baffled by the Left. From a very young age, I was shocked to observe leftists minimizing the evils of communism and painting their own society as not only just as evil, but even more evil than the Cold War enemy.

Yep, you read that right. That ties in with the Eastern Europe countries coming out and saying that the EU government is "Something they've already seen, and do not want".

Throughout my life, I argued with myriad leftists about communism, trying to convince them of its perniciousness. During my doctoral years in the field of Cold War History, I spent an inordinate amount of time debating with my colleagues about who was responsible for the Cold War.

My colleagues, of course, always howled with one another about my views.

I remember how they reserved special mockery for Reagan’s reference to the Soviet system as an “Evil Empire.” As I continue to reflect on what happened to my own family under communism (i.e. both of my grandfathers were murdered by the Soviet secret police), and what it means that communism extinguished 100 million lives in the 20th century, I remain befuddled by what exactly was so laughable about Reagan’s reference.

At this point I'm convinced that if people can't figure out that Communism is bad, it's because they want to ignore it. Perhaps they lust to be on the top of that power, running a country and watching the plebes move to their commands. Perhaps it's because they refuse to acknowledge right and wrong. Whatever the reason, those people cannot be allowed to hold the reins of government, else they turn our successful country into a Communist, totalitarian hell hole.

When I approached my colleagues with this new evidence, ranging from everything from the issues of the Korean war, Berlin, Soviet espionage, American communists’ links with the Soviet regime, etc., I showed how I had been correct on every issue that we had argued about for years.

And yet, instead of hearing a mea culpa, a stated regret or admission of some kind of lesson learned, all that I witnessed, in a manner that remains extremely eerie for me to remember, was a callous indifference and smug contempt for the issues at hand. Some of my colleagues articulated a few incomprehensible justifications of their positions; others just switched topics with remarkable speed and ominous neglect. All of them condescended to me for being interested in something so “old” and “ancient.” They patiently counselled me, with a disdain and arrogance that I will never forget, to stop chasing “old ghosts” and “engaging in necrophilia.”

And these were historians.

I can't get over my nausea today. First the story from New Jersey, and now this.

Any wonder why I'm called "Raging" Dave?

I'm definitely torn, because I obviously don't want any more of our soldiers getting killed, but I also wouldn't mind the quagmire going on just long enough to ruin Bush's re-election chances.

Is it wrong to root for the Iraqis?

At least the guy has the stones to admit it.

I like that title too: "Is it wrong to root for the Iraqis?" as if "Iraqis" are the ones killing Americans.

Blackfive has comments.

Seen on Instapundit

Darwin at work

From CNN

Gregory Allen Freeman, 45, was charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in the Saturday night incident that wounded Jeffery S. Murr, 24.

About 10 people, including two children, had gathered for the ceremony. The man who was being initiated was blindfolded, tied with a noose to a tree and shot with paintball guns as Freeman fired a pistol in the air to provide the sound of real gunfire, Sheriff Fred Phillips said.

A bullet struck Murr on the top of the head and exited at the bottom of his skull, authorities said.

Freeman fled the ceremony but was arrested near his home, authorities said. He was released on $7,500 bail.

Pointed directly at the idiotic pieces of excretement who came up with the Assualt Weapon Ban. You need proof that the Donks want your guns? You want proof that they won't be satisfied until every gun is gone and you're under their heel? You want proof that the gun grabbing Nazis want you disarmed?

Go. Read. This.

I'm sickened. Physically sick after reading that. The Assault Weapons Ban is a SHAM, meant to do nothing but give the government permission to remove the 2nd Amendment. The first step in a long line of steps.

THAT'S why I fight it.

UPDATE (Tim): The Cleveland Plain Dealer says: "More legal gun owners does not automatically lead to more crime."

From across the ocean

Czech President on Europe: They are "living in a 'dream world' of welfare and long vacations"

This is definitely worth a read, folks.

"The enemies of free societies today are those who want to burden us down again with layer upon layer of regulations," Mr. Klaus said.

"We had that in communist times. But now if you look at all the new rules and regulations of EU membership, layered bureaucracy is staging a comeback."

Does this or does this not speak to Dave's rant about "society's" need for women to be stick thin and obsess about same? I mean, correct me if I am wrong, but there's nothing wrong with this caboose, is there? If you (fellas) rolled over in the morning and saw that standing next to the bed, would you: a) tell her she needs to diet, b) think that she needs to diet but not say anything, or c) marvel at the wonders and marvels of life on Planet Earth? Editor's Note: There is a fourth choice of course but decorum prohibits mentioning it here.

Good news for Americans, bad news for Democrats:

The economy roared ahead at an astounding 8.2 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the fastest pace in nearly two decades and a much stronger performance than previously thought. It raises hope that a long spell of lackluster business activity is finally over.

Read more here.

I don't know how I missed this story. A memo to Senator Dick Durbin (D - Illinois) indicates that one reason the Dems sought to block Miguel Estrada was "because he is Latino".

I can scarcely believe it.

Political Correctness Continues to Spiral out of Control

As reported by snopes.com, the County of Los Angeles has requested that equipment vendors avoid using the industry term "Master/Slave" in product descriptions and labelling.

The County of Los Angeles actively promotes and is committed to ensure a work environment that is free from any discriminatory influence be it actual or perceived. As such, it is the County's expectation that our manufacturers, suppliers and contractors make a concentrated effort to ensure that any equipment, supplies or services that are provided to County departments do not possess or portray an image that may be construed as offensive or defamatory in nature.

One such recent example included the manufacturer's labeling of equipment where the words "Master/Slave" appeared to identify the primary and secondary sources. Based on the cultural diversity and sensitivity of Los Angeles County, this is not an acceptable identification label.

We would request that each manufacturer, supplier and contractor review, identify and remove/change any identification or labeling of equipment or components thereof that could be interpreted as discriminatory or offensive in nature before such equipment is sold or otherwise provided to any County department.

No surprise that this story comes out of the loony Left Coast. This is what happns when you vote for Democrats.

I was surfing around and found something quite sobering. It's a list of American soldiers whose names begin with the letter M who were killed in Vietnam. As I was peering around, I counted the dead whose surname was Moore.

Two hundred and two.

Twelve of them were named David. TWELVE.

If you add the Murphys, the Murrays, and the Myers to the Moores, you get a number higher than the total number lost in Iraq thus far.

Crazy fucked up world.

Our Fallen Heroes - M

I know someone with the CJTF-HOA. Go get 'em, boys.

Damn good!

A little essay that I found while surfing the blogosphere. You want a taste? OK.

"That's a funny thing to resent, considering how freely you call George W. Bush a liar. But no, I'm not saying you're a liar. I'm saying you don't actually care about the difference between truth and lies. All you care about is usefulness. All you care about is whether the public might believe your slanderous slogans and send Bush's popularity ratings down. I think that's worse than lying. At least a liar has to keep track of the truth in order to adjust his lies to fit the facts. You simply don't care."

Found over at Dean's World

The range trip went well, and my co-worker (who never fired a gun before in her life) was able to learn enough to pepper the bullseye by the end of the day. Pretty damn good. Her son took to my rifle like a fish to water and burned through about 300 rounds on his own. All in all, it was a damn good day.

While at the range, I met Molbot for the first time, and Analog Kid, Molbot and myself were able to test one of the largest handguns in production.

The Smith and Wesson 500 Magnum.
.

It fires a 350 grain bullet at 1900 feet per second. To give you an idea of what that's like, my 38 Special fires a 150 grain bullet at around 950 feet per second. This is a revolver that you hunt bear with, my friends. Anything you hit not only goes down for the count, but if it's human sized or smaller, most likely flies apart in many small pieces. Let see if I can give you another example. Here are all the types of rounds we fired on Saturday.


Uf da! That's a round half an inch in diameter! Needless to say, I was drooling at the chance to fire it. Everybody took turns. We all agreed that it was a blast to shoot (no pun intended). If I had a spare $900 I would SERIOUSLY consider picking one of these bad boys up. But alas, my budget laughs at me. Still, I have my memories.


Yes, that's really me. Unf! While I doubt that I'm going to pick one of these beasts up any time soon, I do hope to get a .22 pistol. Anyone from the Seattle area who wants to learn how to shoot, let me know. Both Analog Kid and I are more than willing to teach new people.

I'll see you all tomorrow.

By now you've probably heard about the outcry over MTBE contaminated drinking water. I can guarantee you a few things.

1) Democrats will demand action "for the Children".
2) Democrats and eco-freaks will blame evil Republicans.

Those things are certain. I'll even give 10-1 odds. But what most people will forget about is a very important fact.

MTBE was forced on the oil companies by The Donks, Eco-Freaks, and other groups on the Left.

Once viewed as key to reducing air pollution from cars, MTBE became an object of scorn when it was realized it was difficult to contain and clean up once it gets into drinking water.

The reason this crap is everywhere is because the government FORCED it to be everywhere! You couldn't sell gasoline without MTBE! Hell, you still can't buy gas without ethenol in Washington State, because it's been legislated in!

So this whole MTBE fracas is a direct result of Liberal meddling. Mark my words, you will NEVER see this in the NY Times.

Oh, THAT liberal media......

At least, it is for the families that this sick bastard destroyed.

My only question is, can I be on the firing squad? Or is that an honor reserved for the husbands and wives of his murder victims?

It is easy to say from far, far behind the front lines, but I think it best if our Forces in Iraq stay on the attack.

The Prime Minister of Turkey seems to believe that an international coalition is needed to fight terrorism.

Turkey's prime minister has pleaded for international help in tracking down the suspected foreign masterminds of Istanbul's suicide bombings and says the attacks must not derail Turkish hopes of joining the EU.

With domestic investigations into the attacks zeroing in on the remote town of Bingol where Turkish media says the four bombers came from, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said only an international effort could bring the plot leaders to justice.

Expressing shame that the four suicide truck bombers in the attacks on two Istanbul synagogues as well as the British Consulate and a branch of London-based banking giant HSBC were Turkish, Erdogan said the attackers had global connections.

"All of our security forces at this point are looking into this international connection," he told BBC Television on Sunday. "Terrorism is a phenomenon which has international aspects and we must establish a joint platform to fight against it."

He called for international cooperation among intelligence organisations in the manhunt.

No word yet on whether France and Germany will help out.

Reuters | Turkey hunts for foreign links to bombings

There's a town in Kansas where ya gotta own a gun or you get fined.

More about Paris...

I think we need to make sure we understand one thing "straight away", as they say in London, and that is that NONE of us would have EVER heard of Paris Hilton if her last name was "Tucker" or "Barnes". She's neither glamorous nor sexy nor charismatic.

She's a rich girl whose publicist (and maybe she has a whole team of them) has managed to get her name plastered in magazines and on MTV and on blogs like this one just by doing what publicists do.

Did I say she's "rich"? I guess I understate.

I personally like her sister better but while Paris is not beautiful in a classic or contemporary sense, she's not really ugly either. I can see how some fellas like to peer at her. I saw a Behind the Music show about Britney Spears once and one person interviewed said that Britney is just the latest blonde pop product in a society that demands there be a hot blonde product on the market at any given time. Galdernit we need a blonde to fawn over and Madison Avenue is gonna give us one, "even if it short dicks every cannibal in the Congo".

Or compels a top notch plastic man to sign an ironclad Non Disclosure.

Whatever - we need our blonde. Pining for a light-eyed Aryan with flaxen hair is as American as yearning to play the drum solo from Led Zeppelin's Moby Dick on James Carville's toes with a rock hammer like that one Andy Dufresne had in The Shawshank Redemption.

And yeah - the live version.

At any rate I know that honest men can disagree on the attractiveness of thin women but I guess just feel the need to strenuously object to you thin-a-phobes stomping the delightful memory of my one time Sheena Easton obsession.

Bastards!

A Photo Lesson

I saw the pics over at Random Nuclear Strikes, and just had to swipe them. (Sorry, AK!)

But I think they're a perfect example of the dichotomy between the two prominent ideologies in this country.

First picture! What do we have here? Why, it's a picture of the police at the "peacefull" protests in Miami!


Next picture! Why, it's a picture of the police at the Pro-Troop rally near Fort Lewis!


Notice the difference? I sure as hell do. So does Analog Kid.

Nuff said, I think.

A follow up to the post below

Since this seems to be my day for expressing myself, I just thought I'd share this little quiz. I'm not showing all my scores, but my end result was 47.83% pure.

Yep, I'm on the bottom half of the purity scale. But my girlfriend already knows this. That's why she's dating me.

OK, I've had this rant brewing for a while, so bear with me. One of the most disgusting things that I've found in what is described as "culture" today is the women. The "famous" women.

Before the flame posts start, please read on!

I'd been avoiding the TV, because of the Paris Hilton tape/Michael Jackson case/scandal du jour, and everything else I really don't give a damn about. But the more I saw Paris Hilton, I started thinking to myself, "Just what the hell to people see in her, anyways?" The only answer I could find is that she's A) skinny, B) rich, and C) likes to show her thong to anyone with a camera. And that got me thinking on the women put forward today as "beautiful". And quite honestly, I don't like what I see.

Let's take Miss Hilton as our example, shall we? Her now infamous sex tape has been seen by millions. (although I can honestly say that I haven't seen it. Lack of interest and a dial-up modem combined, I guess) Her picture is on every tabloid, but she was in the Inquirer's pages long before the video came out. You see her at every celebrity award show, modeling the latest thong fashion, or showing some leg. Yay. But why? Do people really think she's cute? Because let me tell you what I see. Let's use this picture.

I see the tendons in her neck sticking out. Even though she's wearing a jacket, you can still see her collarbones jutting out. There are no curves to her body, it's all straight lines, and you can tell that her legs are damn near pipestems. No meat on her bones whatsoever. Even her face is composed of angular, jutting, fleshless lines. IT'S NOT PRETTY, PEOPLE! IN FACT, IT'S DAMN DISGUSTING! Want more proof? Check out some of these pics. Look at the pic in the top left, if you will. No calf muscles, barely any curves, (and the ones she has are from her clothing, not her body), and she's so damn thin that you can clearly see the delineation of her KNEECAP, pushing through the skin on her knee! Dear god in heaven, that's not a girl, that's a cadaver! That's a medical school study guide in anorexia! And this is the person we're supposed to find ATTRACTIVE? No thank you, I'm not into necrophelia. Top it off with the fact that you can SEE the lack of any kind of thought on her face, and that's just one girl I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

And look around at the celebrities today. Damn near all of them stick thin, bones poking out, every last muscle strained and exposed by this supposedly fashionable desire to be thin, thinner, THINNEST! Look at me, I'm 98 pounds! I'm anemic, ill, and about to collapse, but I'm THIN! I eat toilet paper for dinner, but I'm THIN! I gorge myself and then puke it out five minutes later, but I'm THIN! Demi Moore spent thousands of dollars on plastic surgery for the latest "Charlies' Angels" movie. She had to be THIN, donchaknow! I can see the veins on Cameron Diaz's face, but hey, she's THIN! Hell, it's gotten to the point that once these women have starved themselves damn near to death, they have to get breast implants because they don't have enough body fat to have actual breasts! WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THAT????

NO. THANK. YOU. VERY. MUCH!

Now go take a look at this picture. Anybody wanna guess what size that woman is? Size 5? Size 8? C'mon, take a guess.

Try a size 14.

That's right, folks. Marilyn Monroe, the woman who defined sexuality and beauty for decades, was anywhere from a size 12 to a size 16, depending on when you asked. Marilyn was everything that Paris Hilton is not. Curvy, voluptuous, feminine, and so damn hot that even her footprints smoked. People today STILL aspire to be half as sexy as Marilyn Monroe was. And many of them fail, because they try to fit Marilyn into their 2003 stick-thin idea of what beauty is. Modern day fashion models can't wear Marilyn's clothing. I've seen them try, and it's laughable. And as Kim says about that photograph:

This is one of the most erotic pictures ever taken, and there's not a nipple or pubic hair in sight.

Call me old fashioned if you want. Call me whatever you like. But Marilyn Monroe had more heat and sensuality in a wink and a smile than Paris Hilton has in her whole body. There's no comparison. It's the beauty queen versus the stick girl. If Marilyn Monroe winked at you, you were on fire. Paris Hilton takes off her shirt and all I can say is "Where's the beef?"

And that's what pisses me off about today's "cultured" women, the ones stepping out on the red carpet. They're just not appealing. The people who push these walking skeletons as examples of what's beautiful are nothing more than simpering twits, as far as I'm concerned. I want more Catherine Zeta Jones and less Paris Hilton. Mrs. Zeta Jones has curves. She has a real body, not some eat-and-purge parody of a human figure. The same could be said for Renee Zellweger. She has hips, a butt, real boobs, a real body. I want to see a feminine form, not some androgynous stick figure with bones sticking out of skin. I've often told my friends that modern fasion designers make their clothes look good on a clothes rack, therefore they want their models to look like clothesracks. You might laugh, but it's true. Just look at the majority of fashion models. Why do we allow the standard of beauty in America to be set by a bunch of out-of-touch men from Europe?

Remember Kate Winslet? She of Titanic fame? I can remember all the fashion snobs blathering on the airwaves "I don't know what people see in her. She's fat!" Fat? Kate Winslet? No, she was REAL. Something these modern day glitterati are unfamiliar with. Hell, the chattering classes wouldn't know a real women if one came up and slapped them in the face. I myself thought that Kate Winslet was one of the hottest women on the silver screen. I still do. She had the curves, the sensuality, the heat that a real woman has.

So I'm starting my own personal crusade. Down with Paris Hilton, and other twittering skeletons like her! Up with real women! Here's to curves, hips, and everything that a real woman has! Let's get anorexic socialite queens out of the camera! DEMAND REAL WOMEN!

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

MY EYES! DEAR GOD, MY EEEEEYS!

Thanks for nuthin' Spoons, ya bastard!

The Council has Spoken!

This weeks winning entries are:

For the Council: Where Are All The Factory Jobs Going, by AlphaPatriot,
and for the non-council link, Iraq Is Better Off, by Patriot Paradox.

You can find all the entries here.