The New Republic 'fesses up

Honestly, the entire thing was a bit like the "Dead Parrot" sketch from Monty Python. The bloody bird is dead. You can tell he's dead. But the shopkeeper keeps insisting that the damn thing is alive. "The Norwegian Blue loves kickin' on 'is back! Beautiful plumage, eh?" Until John Cleese goes off -

Mr. Praline: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!

(pause)

Owner: Well, I'd better replace it, then. (he takes a quick peek behind the counter) Sorry squire, I've had a look 'round the back of the shop, and uh, we're right out of parrots.

Mr. Praline: I see. I see, I get the picture.

Owner: I got a slug.

Yep, The New Republic had a dead parrot, alright. And they've refused to admit it for months, even when everyone else could tell that THE DAMN PARROT WAS DEAD.

Well, time's finally caught up with them, hasn't it?

UPDATE: I've added links. Bottom line, TNR has recanted on it's Scott Thomas Beauchamp stories that it printed months ago. Those stories, nothing more than fabricated hit-pieces against the Army, were run as the gospel truth. Two blogs who busted their butts proving that Beauchamp and TNR were full of crap report on the admission from TNR: The Weekly Standard and Confederate Yankee, are reporting on TNR's half-assed admission that they fucked up. But it typical standard, the editor of TNR can't even do that right. Thirteen pages of why they didn't do anything wrong and how anyone who questioned them is a doo-doo head. The arrogance and idiocy oozing out of The New Republic are so damn thick you could cut it with a knife. TNR has proven that they're not fit to run an ice-cream stand, much less a publication. Here's what I wrote back in August.

--The New Republic published his lies without even so much as a faint background check into them. Simple questions asked by amateurs from the Right side of the blogosphere turned up answers that should have made the TNR editors at least think twice about running Beauchamp's lies, but they didn't even bother to do that. No, they ran those stories as quickly as they could. Why? The only answer I have, other than gross negligence and sheer incompetence, is that they ran the stories because the stories confirmed their view of the military. Fact-checking and doing a little background search would have poked holes in Beauchamp's lies, and their worldview along with them. So rather than do the right thing, they ran with a bunch of cooked-up bullshit that jived with the way they already think. So much for actual reporting.

The New Republic lied, plain and simple. They continue to lie to this day. They have less integrity and credibility than CNN. And they continue to deny that there's a problem, the boat's not sinking, everything is fine, pay no attention to the fact that we ran a biased hit piece because it confirmed with our world-view, it's not our fault, it's your fault, and the fault of everyone else..

Fuck 'em, and let 'em sink.

Battle Assembly

Had drill today, so sorry 'bout the lack of posting. Did anything new or interesting happen?

Being naughty

Have you ever had a night where you realize that you want to flip the health nazis the bird and eat one of the most unhealthy meals you've ever had in your life?

Yep.




Fried pickles with pan fried steak. If I don't post anything tomorrow, it's because I had a massive coronary or a stroke last night and never woke up.

Here's a question

How do you make yours truly dance around the house clapping my hands and giggling with glee?

Have the UPS man drop this at my front door.


That, my friends, is my birthday/anniversary/Christmas present combined. That is a Nikon D40x digital single lens reflex camera with an 18-55mm lens!

HEEE HEEE HEEE HEE HEEEEEEEE! *CLAP*CLAP*CLAP*

Helen Thomas is still an apologist for terrorists

When Bill bombed Serbs he was 'good'...

Q Why should we depend on him?

MS.[Dana Perino]: Because he is the commander on the ground, Helen. He's the one who is making sure that the situation is moving —

Q You mean how many more people we kill?

MS. PERINO: Helen, I find it really unfortunate that you use your front row position, bestowed upon you by your colleagues, to make such statements. This is a — it is an honor and a privilege to be in the briefing room, and to suggest that we, at the United States, are killing innocent people is just absurd and very offensive.

Q Do you know how many we have since the start of this war?

MS. PERINO: How many — we are going after the enemy, Helen. To the extent that any innocent Iraqis have been killed, we have expressed regret for it.

Q Oh, regret. It doesn't bring back a life.

MS. PERINO: Helen, we are in a war zone, and our military works extremely hard to make sure that everyone has the opportunity for liberty and freedom and democracy, and that is exactly what they are doing.

I'm going to move on.

Helen Thomas is a clown that allows the other journalists the cover to be openly partisan.

HotAir has video

Helen Thomas pwned by Dana Perino Video added

I would say that Thomas is a disgrace to her profession, but it was their choice to put her on the front row in these gaggles.

Cross Posted at DANEgerus

Yep

The Rogers Indicator of Multiple Intelligences created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Musical/Rhythmic You are sensitive to sounds in your environment, enjoy music and prefer listening to music when you study or read. You learn best through melody and music. People like you include singers, conductors, composers, and others who appreciate the various elements of music. Musical/Rhythmic 100% Verbal/Linguistic 89% Visual/Spatial 82% Intrapersonal 68% Interpersonal 57% Bodily/Kinesthetic 57% Logical/Mathematical 54%

Found at Manda's place.

Mary Mary, Quite Contrary,

How does your Garden Grow?

With lots of planted questions by Democrat American Communist Party activists.

What are we up to now? Four were found out within hours, then more.... Ace says we're up to nine with the addition of the CAIR activist. A quote I saw earlier (and I'm paraphrasing) "During the CNN Democrat debate, we had Democrat activists asking planted questions. During the CNN Republican debate, we had Democrat activists asking planted questions. So it's all fair, right?" The Clinton News Network has shown itself to be completely unfit to hold any debate what so ever. They are biased, agenda pushing propagandists for the Democrat American Communist Party, plain and simple, and nobody in their right mind should ever trust them to deliver actual news ever again.

It should now be obvious why the Democrat American Communist Party candidates refused to do a debate on Fox News. Without their planted questions, they would be lost. Doing an actual debate with actual questions on actual issues would sink them, and so they run away and hide behind the friendly, soft-ball lobbing, question planting walls of CNN.

I won't go into the other questions that CNN deemed fit to show on national TV. I couldn't have picked out worse caricatures of conservatives if I tried. I've watched a few of the videos, and you can damn near hear "Dueling Banjos" in the background. If I had any hope that CNN wanted to be objective and fair, they destroyed that hope from the opening questions. The entire debate was one huge example of why the MSM cannot be trusted, and why CNN has less credibility than the Weekly World News and their BatBoy stories. CNN has proven that they are nothing more than whores and mouthpieces for the Democrat American Communist Party.

The Republican candidates should demand another debate, this time with real questions about real issues, and on a real News channel.

Huh

7.3 Earthquake? I didn't feel a thing in Puerto Rico. Granted, we're a ways off, so not noticing would not surprise me one bit.

Bwaahaaa!

A complete list of things caused by Global Warming. With links! I love some of the more absurd claims that the eco-freaks spout, such as:

Atlantic less salty, Atlantic more salty,

Since these links are in alphabetical order, you get to see many of the contradictory claims.

avalanches reduced, avalanches increased, bananas destroyed, bananas grow,

I have several banana trees in my back yard, and I can tell you that they are growing normally. But it seems that people are willing to blame ANYTHING on Global Warming.

Holy. Crap!

Jason Whitlock just joined the ranks of Bill Cosby as black men who are hated by other black men. I'm just going to re-post his entire article. It's that necessary.

There's a reason I call them the Black KKK. The pain, the fear and the destruction are all the same.

Someone who loved Sean Taylor is crying right now. The life they knew has been destroyed, an 18-month-old baby lost her father, and, if you're a black man living in America, you've been reminded once again that your life is in constant jeopardy of violent death.

The Black KKK claimed another victim, a high-profile professional football player with a checkered past this time.

No, we don't know for certain the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death. I could very well be proven wrong for engaging in this sort of aggressive speculation. But it's no different than if you saw a fat man fall to the ground clutching his chest. You'd assume a heart attack, and you'd know, no matter the cause, the man needed to lose weight.

Well, when shots are fired and a black man hits the pavement, there's every statistical reason to believe another black man pulled the trigger. That's not some negative, unfair stereotype. It's a reality we've been living with, tolerating and rationalizing for far too long.

When the traditional, white KKK lynched, terrorized and intimidated black folks at a slower rate than its modern-day dark-skinned replacement, at least we had the good sense to be outraged and in no mood to contemplate rationalizations or be fooled by distractions.

Our new millennium strategy is to pray the Black KKK goes away or ignores us. How's that working?

About as well as the attempt to shift attention away from this uniquely African-American crisis by focusing on an "injustice" the white media allegedly perpetrated against Sean Taylor.

Within hours of his death, there was a story circulating that members of the black press were complaining that news outlets were disrespecting Taylor's victimhood by reporting on his troubled past

No disrespect to Taylor, but he controlled the way he would be remembered by the way he lived. His immature, undisciplined behavior with his employer, his run-ins with law enforcement, which included allegedly threatening a man with a loaded gun, and the fact a vehicle he owned was once sprayed with bullets are all pertinent details when you've been murdered.

Marcellus Wiley, a former NFL player, made the radio circuit Wednesday, singing the tune that athletes are targets. That was his explanation for the murders of Taylor and Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams and the armed robberies of NBA players Antoine Walker and Eddy Curry.

Really?

Let's cut through the bull(manure) and deal with reality. Black men are targets of black men. Period. Go check the coroner's office and talk with a police detective. These bullets aren't checking W-2s.

Rather than whine about white folks' insensitivity or reserve a special place of sorrow for rich athletes, we'd be better served mustering the kind of outrage and courage it took in the 1950s and 1960s to stop the white KKK from hanging black men from trees.

But we don't want to deal with ourselves. We take great joy in prescribing medicine to cure the hate in other people's hearts. Meanwhile, our self-hatred, on full display for the world to see, remains untreated, undiagnosed and unrepentant.

Our self-hatred has been set to music and reinforced by a pervasive culture that promotes a crab-in-barrel mentality.

You're damn straight I blame hip hop for playing a role in the genocide of American black men. When your leading causes of death and dysfunction are murder, ignorance and incarceration, there's no reason to give a free pass to a culture that celebrates murder, ignorance and incarceration.

Of course there are other catalysts, but until we recapture the minds of black youth, convince them that it's not OK to "super man dat ho" and end any and every dispute by "cocking on your bitch," nothing will change.

Does a Soulja Boy want an education?

HBO did a fascinating documentary on Little Rock Central High School, the Arkansas school that required the National Guard so that nine black kids could attend in the 1950s. Fifty years later, the school is one of the nation's best in terms of funding and educational opportunities. It's 60 percent black and located in a poor black community.

Watch the documentary and ask yourself why nine poor kids in the '50s risked their lives to get a good education and a thousand poor black kids today ignore the opportunity that is served to them on a platter.

Blame drugs, blame Ronald Reagan, blame George Bush, blame it on the rain or whatever. There's only one group of people who can change the rotten, anti-education, pro-violence culture our kids have adopted. We have to do it.

According to reports, Sean Taylor had difficulty breaking free from the unsavory characters he associated with during his youth.

The "keepin' it real" mantra of hip hop is in direct defiance to evolution. There's always someone ready to tell you you're selling out if you move away from the immature and dangerous activities you used to do, you're selling out if you speak proper English, embrace education, dress like a grown man, do anything mainstream.

The Black KKK is enforcing the same crippling standards as its parent organization. It wants to keep black men in their place — uneducated, outside the mainstream and six feet deep.

In all likelihood, the Black Klan and its mentality buried Sean Taylor, and any black man or boy reading this could be next.

Think about this. It's not genetic. It's not racial. It's cultural. Hatred and violence don't know a skin color.

I expect Jason Whitlock to be shunned, just like Bill Cosby was.

Another Must Read

Ladies and Gents, I have another must read for you, from someone who pens more than his fair share.

Your Curmudgeon will refrain from comment on the sexual mores. His own aren't quite as stringent as traditional Catholic teaching, which he regards as a case of ultra vires. What fascinates and appalls him is the complete abandonment of propriety and delicacy "Priscilla" narrates. Who are these creatures, that they dare to suggest in the middle of a first date that they expect to bed their companions at the end of it?

I've spoken about the horrors of modern feminism before, but I feel that I need to add my two cents in once more.

When you absolve a man from all responsibility, do not be surprised when that man dumps that responsibility at the first chance he gets. The moment that someone told modern women that they didn't need a man to raise a child, they told men to piss off. And men have been happy with that ever since. Free sex, no strings attached? Sign us up!

The problem exists when people who still believe that men and women both have integral parts to play in society try to intermingle with those who have been brainwashed into thinking that the two sexes can operate individually. I am constantly amazed at those who spread the theory of evolution constantly ignoring any lessons that evolution might provide. If one can believe that human kind evolved through selective breeding and survival of the fittest, then it stands to reason that male and female have evolved to fill separate roles in humankind's survival.

And for those who believe that God created men in his own image, then men and women both been made to fill their roles in God's world.

In either case, both male and females have their part to play. But that has been abandoned in modern times. Women aren't told that a father for their children is needed or necessary. Nope, they can have those kids all by themselves! Men have been relegated to nothing more than wallets with legs, for money to be yanked from when needed. We're sperm donors with cash, nothing more.

So why shouldn't a man expect sex on the first date? Modern Society has told him that there's no other reason for his existence. He is to provide sperm and money upon demand, and then leave. Well hell, if that's all I'm worth, then you'd better put out on the first date.

In today's modern society, I'm not surprised that "Priscilla" finds the kinds of cads she does, I'm surprised that "Priscilla" even exists any more! And to be quite honest, I wish there were more Priscilla's out there.

Hollywood idiots still don't get it.

Captain Ed has a post up about Hollywood's failure to get people to see anti-American movies. The big point? Hollywood still doesn't get it.

The virulent anti-Americanism that Hollywood seems to foster and nurture doesn't sell well in America. While movies stars jet around the world and recieve praise for denouncing the USA, the rest of America lives in the real world, where bad guys try to kill us, good and evil can be defined, and telling us that we're all evil morons makes us less likely to open our wallets. One of my early statements years ago was that Liberals are people who never have to deal with the consequences of their own actions. Nothing embodies that statement more than Hollywood, where the stars are insulated from the real world by layers of helpers, staff, gates and guards, and any measure that money can buy. They can traipse around calling American all kinds of nasty names, and all they hear is applause. Well, when access to an event is tightly controlled, the only people sure to be let in are those who will applaud such statements. It's one huge echo chamber, and the idiots in Hollywood actually believe that everyone agrees with them.

So they make their anti-America movie, where US Soldiers are dumb brutes who like to rape girls and kill people indiscriminately. And the rest of America, who still live in the real world, refuse to buy the bullshit.

There's a reason I've only gone to see one movie in the theater in the past two years. And the script for that movie (Harry Potter/Order of the Phoenix) came from a book written by someone outside of Hollywood. I refuse to be preached to by idiots who haven't dealt with real life in years. Damn near every movie coming out of Hollywood for the past decade has had some sort of anti-American or anti-conservative bent to it, and it's been getting worse and worse as of late. I refuse to pay money to watch someone else's propaganda.

As far as I care, Hollywood can sink and disappear.

Clinton News Network

I haven't trusted CNN for a good long while. And they keep proving why nobody should ever trust them at all. At least four of their "normal, undecided voters" who's questions they picked are staunch Democrats, including a gay former general who's worked for Hillary Clinton.

If CNN were up front and honest about who these people were, it would be a non-issue. "So-and-so is a registered Democrat, and this is his/her question." End of story, wouldn't have caused one single ripple. But passing partisan hacks off as "average, undecided voters" is outright lying and bullshit.

Just another reason to never watch CNN. You don't get the news, you just get their propaganda.

I don't care who ya are,

That's funny right there!

"No matter how many times you pile them in the shortbus, drive them to the mall, and herd them into the cineplex to watch a daring, groundbreaking film that fearlessly points out just what a bunch of violent, soulless retards they really are, before you can collect their ticket money they've escaped and gone wandering off to spend it all at Hot Topic and Sports Authority."

HAA!

Thanks to Kevin for the link.

What do you do when someone is shooting at you?

Well, if you're me, and you have access to a firearm, you shoot back.

Too bad much of France seems to be disarmed. Much like I am at the moment, thanks to the hellhole I like to call Puerto Rico. But still, don't the cops over there have weapons?

On Monday night, youths were seen firing buckshot at police and reporters. About 30 of 82 injured officers were hit by buckshot, Ribeiro told The Associated Press. Rioters also hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at police, authorities said.

Police made six arrests, authorities said.

Snipers. Lots of them. With orders to shoot to kill anyone seen firing at the police, burning cars, or committing assault. Sound harsh? It probably is, but maybe once the first ten or twenty rioters are gunned down people wouldn't be in such a rush to riot. Add in the fact that this is a repeat of last year, and my sympathy for the rioters drops to sub-atomic levels. Toss in the fact that this year's riot started because two brain-dead assholes (of undetermined ethnic origin, if you read the papers) ran a red light on a scooter and t-boned a police car, thus causing the death of the two idiots.....

Yeah. I really don't give two hoots about the rioters. They can live or die for all I care. Actually, I take that back. I do care if they live, because that means they'll just be causing problems in the future. I would much prefer to see them removed from the gene pool.

OK, now THAT was harsh. But true.

A good start

There's a sheet metal plant who has fired people who couldn't speak English.

After a sheet metal plant in Connecticut ordered its employees to speak only English on the job because of safety concerns, five Spanish-speaking workers decided to take the company to court.

The employees, who are legal immigrants, say the rule amounts to discrimination and actually makes the workplace more hazardous.

"I can think of no good reason for them to institute this policy," said Steven Jacobs, the lawyer for the workers who are suing GC Industries in Deep River, Conn. "It's offensive to people who speak Spanish and is potentially dangerous. It inhibits them from communicating in their native tongue in situations that could put people at risk."

I've had to take numerous safety courses over the years. I've dealt with HAZMAT courses, Commander-level safety courses, and unit level safety courses. I doing so, I've had to deal with scads of federal regulations, and have looked up more OSHA regulations and rules than I care to remember.

So anyone who thinks that not speaking English is just fine, here's what I want you to do: Go find all the HAZMAT used in making sheet metal. Then look up the Material Safety Data Sheets for them. Try to find them in Spanish. Good luck.

Now look up the OSHA regulations relating to a sheet metal factory. I hope you have a spare month or two, because that's about how long you'll need to cover everything. Now try to find them in Spanish, or attempt to translate them. Again, good luck, and I hope you don't mind losing another month or two.

Living in Puerto Rico, I think I'm well versed on the problems caused when two people cannot speak the same language. And although I know some Spanish, and most of the people I work with speak some English, there are still folks who cannot accurately communicate the hazards and dangers of working with chemicals or working around machinery. And I guarantee that my daily work area is ten times safer than any sheet metal plant.

Anyone who claims that not being able to speak English isn't a safety hazard in a major manufacturing plant is an idiot, plain and simple. If nothing else, the time and effort used to communicate safety to someone who can't speak English means that those people are taking up valuable resources and manhours that could be used on actual production. It could also put people's lives at risk. If I as the foreman want to correct something happening on the floor, I need to be able to go straight to the person and communicate with them. When lives are at stake, or when the entire plant is at stake, I cannot afford to waste time with a translator!

If these people want to come into our country and work, fine. If they want to start a new life here, fine. But they need to adjust to us, not the other way around. I would not move to Germany and demand that everyone speak English to me. I'd learn German. BECAUSE IT'S GERMANY, AND THEY SPEAK GERMAN! If I were to move to any other country that spoke a different language, I would have to learn that language. Period, end of story. Well, immigrants here had damn well better learn English.

The plant as set a policy of speaking English at work. The workers need to comply with that policy. If they don't like it, they can find another job, or go back to where they came from. Their choice.

Christmas comes early?

Trent Lott resigning. Denny Hastert doing the same. These two congresscritters did more than their fair share in the downfall and the decline of the Republican party. And they'll be leaving.

For those who need a refresher, Hastert presided over massive federal growth in spending, earmarks, and corruption. He actually defended Dollar Bill Jefferson when Jefferson was found to be accepting bribes, and didn't want his offices searched.

Trent Lott has been an embarrassment to the GOP ever since his remarks to Strom Thurmond in 2002. He recently said that he was "damn tired" of hearing about Porkbusters, a group who's sole focus is ending earmarks and corruption in Congress.

Both of them have needed to go for a good long time. I wonder, is this simply the stars aligning themselves properly, or is there finally someone in the GOP who's doing what needs to be done with regards to GOP congresscritters?

ABC has Obama in Iowa

It's starting to look like Richardson(D) will get the nod for V.P.:

"I think the fact of the matter is that Senator Clinton is claiming basically the entire eight years of the Clinton presidency as her own, except for the stuff that didn't work out, in which case she says she has nothing to do with it,"

Obama said, and added, referring to his relationship with his wife, Michelle,

"There is no doubt that Bill Clinton had faith in her and consulted with her on issues, in the same way that I would consult with Michelle, if there were issues,"

Obama told "Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran.

"On the other had, I don't think Michelle would claim that she is the best qualified person to be a United States Senator by virtue of me talking to her on occasion about the work I've done."

I do so enjoy the incompetent attempting to out-inexperience each other.

Here's a thought. The (D)efeaticrats have a majority in both Houses... why don't you two Senators break that cherry and pass a law. You know. Do what you said you would do when you ran for "Senator" in those 'safe' seats you posed for... There has to be a first time for every Presidential candidate for the (D)emocrats to actually author a piece of legislation. That's why they call Congressmen "Lawmakers". It's a slang term for what all the other Congressmen are doing. eg. Their J.O.B.

Oh... and Hillary(D) is so not a Lesbian and "is so a moderate" inspite of that summer spent as a Com-Intern.

OK, so....

That woman who got herself neutered in order to stop global warming? Yeah, that story that's been floating around the net as of late. I haven't really posted on it, mainly because all I could do was just shake my head in disbelief that anyone could be that stupid. Besides, given the way the woman and her husband think, the main thought in my head was "One less Democrat American Communist Party voter! And the problem with this is?"

But Phil has a train of thought that just has to be repeated.

On that same line of thought, while they stand by and stare blankly at this woman, I get called a fascist or a racist or a classist or a sexist or a bastard (or most likely a combination of those) when I suggest that women who cannot afford to have kids shouldn’t, either through abortion or via birth control (another topic that sets off the Lifers) or whatever.

So they are, in effect, stating that it is OK to suggest killing a child/fetus/zygote to stop Global Warming, but to do so in order to stop the birth of another state dependent welfare recipient is an abomination.

Yep. But the Left is full of contradictions.

I'll take it

Via Instapundit comes Fred Thompson's Tax Plan. I expect most of the Democrat American Communist Party to blow into a full shrieking fit when they see it.

Credo in unum Deum

The Chapel is doing the Trinitine Rite Mass today. In the original Latin. This normally wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that I don't know Latin, and the entire Mass is sung. The priest will be doing most of the singing, but I as the choir director am expected to be able to sing the parts normally sung by the congregation. Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei.

So I've found myself trying to learn Latin just so that I can perform those songs. And I can't say that I've done a very good job. It's at this point that I want to go back many years and curse whoever at my high school decided that Latin didn't need to be offered as a language course. So I took Spanish. Grrrrrrrrrr. For all that Spanish is a Latin language, I would have been better off taking Swahili instead and learning Latin from scratch.

Ah well...... the one thing a choir director needs to have is a complete and total lack of shame or pride, because you're going to mess SOMETHING up, and you can't care about it. You just need to keep on going and pick up where you left off. I don't think anyone in the congregation will notice, but I'm pretty sure the Priest is going to have some words for me after the Mass.

Off I go. Wish me luck!

UPDATE: You know what today was? Today was God telling me that I need to be more humble.

Thatisall.