Blue Crab Boulevard

The Journal of Geoclimatic Studies is a FRAUD

2007-11-09T06:48:00.000-06:00

The site Journal of Geoclimatic Studies is a FRAUD.

Dr Hiroko Takebe of the Journal of Geoclimatic Studies is a FRAUD.

The study on the effect of benthic bacteria on global warming detailed in the "Journal of Geoclimatic Studies" is a FRAUD. Journal of Geoclimatic Studies is a FRAUD.

geoclimaticstudies.info is a FRAUD.

http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2007/11/08/frustrating/

Wrong link

2007-10-17T15:57:00.000-05:00

Ok, let's try that again.

New Theme

2007-10-17T15:55:00.000-05:00

Just upgraded to a new theme at Blue Crab Boulevard.

Argh

2007-10-15T23:03:00.000-05:00

Techs are trying to recover the main site right now. Frustration is high.

test links

2006-12-29T08:41:00.000-06:00

Testing link

Activating the backup site

2006-12-09T21:47:00.000-06:00

Since the Crabitat is under a pretty ugly attack right now, I am activating this site again. I'll try and stay on line here if Blue Crab Boulevard gets killed.

Still Operational

2006-12-02T22:19:00.000-06:00

This blog, even though it hasn't been updated in forever, is still being kept alive. All new posts are over at Blue Crab Boulevard (dot) com.

Keeping this blog operational

2006-04-11T16:33:00.000-05:00

In case I ever need a backup spot.

Link to the new site.

Last post

2006-03-27T16:59:00.000-06:00

I will likely drop back by here now and again to make sure things haven't been fooled around with, but essentially this blog is closed. Now open for business at:

http://bluecrabboulevard.com/

Comments are closed down so the spambots don't fill the place up.

Bugs are worked out

2006-03-21T22:52:00.000-06:00

Well, mostly the bugs are worked out at the new site.

Take a look.

New site working

2006-03-18T14:31:00.001-06:00

The new site appears to be working properly. Comments are also working (and are moderated, whoohoo!)

Posting here on Blogger will be light to nonexistant, but I have new posts going up over at:

http://bluecrabboulevard.com/

Update: The double post shows one of the reasons I am bailing from Blogger. Too many little annoying problems. Google is really having some issues, they need to work these things out or they will begin to lose more and more customers.....

New site working

2006-03-18T14:31:00.000-06:00

Link test to the new site

2006-03-17T22:21:00.000-06:00

just testing the linking

A new home

2006-03-17T15:31:00.000-06:00

Update 2

The new URL appears to be working now. (Cross fingers). Leave a comment if it isn't working for you. That way, I can scream at the appropriate people!

Updated

There is a problem with the DNS propagation for the new site, Blue Host is trying to get it fixed - for now, I will continue working on this site until the new domain propagates properly.

Well, having had quite a bit of fun with Blogger losing posts and having watched the trainwreck that is happening to Betsy Newmark, I bit the bullet today.

I have a brand new site of my very own with it's own URL. I'll keep this blog live for a little while while I get settled in the new place. Please update any links:

http://bluecrabboulevard.com/

You know

2006-03-17T12:43:00.000-06:00

I take a lot of potshots at the MSM these days for their obviously slanted stories. This, however is crossing a line. National media is completely ignoring a bomb threat that forced the evacuation of the New Mexico State University campus at Las Cruces. The threat was phoned in by a middle aged man with an Arab accent.....

I guess they don't want to admit there is a war on and terror threats are real.

By the way, I have been unable to find ANY other reference to this event other than the local news outlet linked above. That includes in any newspapers or television stations in New Mexico itself.

Update: I have found exactly one other local station that has this item now.

H/T LGF for the heads up on this.

Must have had a hot date

2006-03-17T12:25:00.000-06:00

A Florida man was apprehended while trying to buy condoms and cologne with a phony $100 bill. We presume he missed his date since he has yet to make bail......

Blogger is again eating posts

2006-03-17T10:00:00.000-06:00

I just had a post eaten by Blogger. I am kind of tired of this. One of the blogs I read regularly, Betsy's Page, has been completely erased by Blogger.

Today's theme

2006-03-17T09:49:00.000-06:00

Appears to be seniority. I've noted before how odd news items seem to come in groups (see Blue Crab Boulevard: And this is even worse">).

It seems that aging Canadian baby-boomers surveyed recently are much more likely to spend their time watching television or surfing the web than in engaging in sex and romance. The study was sponsored by the company that makes Viagra.

Here at Blue Crab Boulevard, we see a solution. Send deprived Canadians for a vacation in Italy!

Don't drink and drive

2006-03-17T09:31:00.000-06:00

Police in Italy stopped a car when they observed it zig-zagging in an erratic fashion.

They were somewhat surprised to find the car's passenger was a completely nude 70-year old woman who had been trying to have sex with the car's 59-year old driver.

The driver tested at three times over the legal limit for blood alcohol.

So, for all you adventurers out there, remember, if you're going to have sex while driving, don't drink!

There is no word whether the woman in the car is a member of a strippers union with seniority.

[I don't think the drano was strong enough.]

A great victory for workers everywhere

2006-03-17T09:09:00.000-06:00

The union that represents strippers in Australia, Striptease Artists Australia, has won the right for the performers to have a meal break and to get overtime pay.

Well, I guess it's some kind of progress for the strippers. But a couple of questions come to mind:

A strippers union?

Is there going to be [shudder] seniority?

Somehow, the thought of a little old grey-haired granny dancing about with her walker comes to mind here.......

Excuse me, I have to go wash my minds eye out with Drano.....

Wow

2006-03-16T13:37:00.000-06:00

I was planning to post this as soon as I read the headline:

"Spanish doctors cut 60-kilo tumor from woman"

I mean, a 132 pound tumor is, well, large. Heck, my wife weighs about that (or possibly less. Make that probably less - in fact, definitely less. I hope she doesn't read this). But when I read the whole thing, it mentions the world record tumor.

The record tumor weighed 302 pounds. That is larger than most little league teams....... They removed the tumor from the operating room on a separate stretcher!

I really hope the dog was just hungry

2006-03-16T13:21:00.000-06:00

The San Diego NCAA Tournament Arena was evacuated when a bomb sniffing dog indicated a hit on a hot dog cart. A suspicious package was being examined by a robot.

This comes on the heels of several warnings about terrorist chatter reaching pre 9/11 levels.

"In a directive issued today (Friday), obtained by ABC News, the FBI says a posting on an extremist message board "advocated suicide attacks against sporting events as a cost-effective means of killing thousands of Americans."

Update: The suspicious package was determined to be harmless, so I guess the bomb-sniffing dog WAS just hungry this time, thankfully.

Thanks to Gateway Pundit for the reciprocal link. Welcome to Blue Crab Boulevard. Feel free to look around.

I'm not sure this is a good thing

2006-03-16T10:48:00.000-06:00

Although I'm sure Glenn Reynolds will be all for it!

A scientist has developed a new technique for nano-assembly that essentially folds DNA strands like origami. This is a big step forward in nanotechnology, which should greatly reduce the cost of assembling many things.

So what's the first thing he assembled?

Billions of smiley faces. Yes, those hideous little grinning yellow dots. Fifty BILLION of them at once.......

The article does not disclose whether WalMart financed the research........

Spyware, trojans and now.....

2006-03-16T10:41:00.000-06:00

Ransomware. A new trojan program can infect your computer and encrypt your files. It will then demand you pay a $300 "ransom" to get the password to decrypt the files. There is good news, however. A security firm has discovered the password. It masquerades as a file on your hard drive.

The password is: C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/VC98

If this information has been useful to you, feel free to send $300 to me! Small bills, no consecutive serial numbers, please.........

Pi in the sky

2006-03-16T10:29:00.000-06:00

I really don't think I would ever want an Xbox 360 at that price. A high school junior just missed getting one of the game systems. His parents made him a deal that they would buy him one if he recited 10,790 digits of pi to set a new record. He only made it to 8,784.

Only?

I have trouble with my own phone number! And I have a degree in math!

We have a definite sign

2006-03-16T06:45:00.000-06:00

Of the impending collapse of civilization.

A man in Lodi, California is suing himself after causing damage to his personal vehicle while driving a city dump truck. Yes, he drove a city dump truck into his own car, then filed a claim with the city. When that was denied, his wife filed another claim.

I weep for us all......

I, Robot redux

2006-03-16T06:31:00.000-06:00

Ok, those Japanese are just getting out of hand now. First it was the robot health care aide, now it's a robot carp. Yes, a CARP. You know - a giant goldfish! It is patterned after a koi, the highly prized decorative fish that so many Japanese (and Americans, too) keep as pets. The goal is to use it to monitor fisheries and possibly oil platforms.

Word is they actually taste better than real carp.

A word of advice

2006-03-16T06:24:00.000-06:00

In case someone asks you for change: The is no such thing as a $1 Billion bill! A man was recently arrested with at least 250 phony $1,000,000,000 bills. A portrait of Grover Cleveland was on the bills.

The US has never issued a bill of that denomination. But the bills were apparently of very good quality.....

The mask slips

2006-03-15T07:40:00.000-06:00

Russ Feingold spoke yesterday about his censure resolution, as quoted in the Washington Post:

Feingold, seeking liberals' support for the 2008 presidential nomination,
said he wasn't motivated by politics. But then he slipped. "If there's any
Democrat out there who can't say . . . the president has no right to make up his
own laws, I don't know if that Democrat really is the right candidate," he said
of his likely primary opponents.

So, as I have already said, this was all a ploy to endear himself to the far left.

Twenty bucks, same as downtown

2006-03-14T17:53:00.000-06:00

Well, that was the punchline of an old joke. But this isn't: prostitutes in Daytona Beach, Florida have begun arming themselves to hunt for a reported serial killer. Reading the article, it appears many are carrying switchblades and teaming up.

Well, I can't fault them for wanting to defend themselves. But it kind of says a lot about the state of policing, doesn't it? Not that there is an easy answer, those who prey on streetwalkers have always been very difficult to capture. Nor is it a modern thing. Remember Jack the Ripper?

H/T Instapundit for the link

I, Robot

2006-03-14T17:25:00.000-06:00

The Japanese have invented a robot to help care for the elderly. It can only lift about 26 pounds right now, but should be able to lift more than 150 pounds in five years. It can smell, hear and detect people's faces. They are working to make it able to determine people's health condition.

Wow, this is simply amazing. Why isn't something like this being invented in the United States?

Well, it's different

2006-03-14T17:13:00.000-06:00

A small town in Germany has raised money for children's cancer charities by auctioning off a van load of snow.

Yep, they sold snow. I predict a great future on Wall Street.

Ahem

2006-03-14T15:27:00.000-06:00

Well, it's always welcome news when a headline announces that a woman is proudly showing her giant mangoes off. For those of you with filthy minds, she really is showing off a 5 pound mango. Click the link - yes it is work safe!

Dumb, dumb, dumb

2006-03-13T17:25:00.000-06:00

A 3-year old finds a loaded 9mm handgun under a couch cushion. Mom takes it away, removes the magazine and puts it back on the couch. 3-year old finds it again and shoots mom in the knee. She forgot to unload the round in the chamber.

Dumb as can be. First NO handgun should ever be where a child can reach it, loaded or otherwise. Second, if you don't know how to properly unload a pistol, you should not have a handgun. Period.

The first rule my kids learned was that every gun is ALWAYS loaded. No exceptions. Even if you personally cleared the chamber - it is still loaded. I think that is an important concept. You don't "treat it" like it is loaded - it IS loaded.

They also do not have the combination to the safe where all the guns (except one) are kept. My carry gun is always either on my person or locked in another safe.

Of course, this type of story will get the anti-gun folks in a lather. But there are already enough laws on the books - use them. This woman should not be allowed to own guns. She's also guilty of a Federal charge of allowing a child under 14 to have access to the gun. Charge and convict her of a felony and she can't own guns anymore. Problem solved.

Yellow snow

2006-03-13T16:59:00.000-06:00

Well, if you ever really needed an excuse not to move to South Korea, here's a good one.

They just experienced a rather odd snowfall. It snowed yellow snow. Yes, really, yellow snow.

In the immortal words of Frank Zappa:

"And she said, with a tear in her eye
Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow
Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow" *

(Actually, the yellow snow falls occasionally when yellow dust is picked up by the wind from desert regions in Northern China. It is apparently toxic, too. So Frank's guidance still applies!)

*From Apostrophe ('), 1974

Criminal Mastermind of the day

2006-03-13T16:17:00.000-06:00

So, this guy's brother dies and he decides to impersonate the brother to collect his pension. He goes merrily along this way for 26 years.

But then he repeatedly fails to pay a minor debt. The police catch him.

The say he collected at least $119,400 over the entire period. That works out to about $4,600 per year. Wow. Was it worth it?

Wow - I bet she gets LOTS of dates

2006-03-13T16:07:00.000-06:00

A woman in Norway turned on her kitchen faucet and miracle of miracles, BEER poured forth!

Since the cost of beer in Norway is appallingly high, this must make her extremely popular!

(Actually, the bar downstairs somehow cross connected the pipes. They got water from their beer tap!)

Pointless grandstanding

2006-03-13T15:51:00.000-06:00

Demonstrating the fundamental unseriousness of his politics yet again, Russ Feingold called for the censure of the President.

Oops. Seems nobody else among the Democrats wants to support him.

This is so obviously a ploy to endear himself to the far left that it calls into question his judgment.

Item: Congressional leaders (the gang of eight) were briefed on the NSA program. None raised objections. None have gone on record against the program since the NYT started blathering about it.

Item: What little case law there is on programs such as these seems to support the legality of the program.

Item: The "investigation" by Congress is not even remotely close to being complete.

Item: Several parties have brought legal action claiming they were targets but none have gone to trial yet.

Item: Not one single person has proven that any American was targeted or damaged by the program (perhaps the courts cited above MAY find something, but that has yet to be proven).

Russ Feingold wants to be President. By attempting to protect the rights of terrorists, I think he just shot himself in the foot. One can but hope.

The Martians are getting rusty

2006-03-13T05:48:00.000-06:00

They failed to shoot down the latest orbiter that NASA sent to visit....

The Reconnaissance Orbiter safely entered orbit around Mars after a 310 million mile journey. Controllers applauded when the orbiter emerged from behind the planet and reported a safe insertion.

All these robot probes are nice, but I for one would love to see a manned mission as soon as possible. We have been neglectful of our space program for too many years now.

Good Riddance

2006-03-12T16:35:00.000-06:00

Slobodan Milosevic apparently died of a heart attack while I was on vacation. Gee, what a loss....

Here's the kicker, though. His "trial", which will now be forever unfinished, cost $200 MILLION and took 4 YEARS (and wasn't even close to being finished when nature intervened).

Pathetic. Some people think there is such a thing as "International Law" - is this what they believe in? This farce of a trial costing enormous amounts of money and time? In the end, either God, nature or just plain luck was needed to end it (depending on what you believe in).

Spring Sky

2006-03-12T09:35:00.000-06:00

Gee, it's great to be back from sunny Florida. Today we had a thunderstorm go over. This is the sky right after it passed over heading North. So it is cold and rainy here. Quite a change from sunny and warm!

Digital cameras are really handy, but they still are not up to the quality of my old Nikon 35mm cameras. Although the Pentax S40 I used for this picture (and all the ones I took in Florida) is a 4.0 Megapixel camera and is pretty decent. Of course, this is a tiny little snapshot camera and the lens is not even close to my old Nikkors. I used to use an 85mm f 2.0 most of the time - wonderful piece of glass that is.

My youngest daughter really wants to get her hands on my old cameras, but I think I will wait until she is a bit older before I let her play with them......

To Bond or not to Bond

2006-03-12T08:23:00.000-06:00

Well, there's a brewing controversy about the "new" James Bond. Or to be more accurate, the newest actor to play the part of James Bond. The new actor is Daniel Craig, an Englishman. Critics have established a new web site to attack him, among other things, as too blonde.

Ok, I have enjoyed many of the Bond movies, but really only the ones starring Sean Connery (who will forever be James Bond to me).

But can we get at least some perspective here? This is a MOVIE and Craig is an ACTOR. If the movie is good, fine. Go see it. If it is bad, fine. Don't go see it. If you like Craig's performance, fine. If not, fine.

It seems some folks take their Bond addiction very seriously....

But it's just a movie, folks.

When the media repeats partisan talking points

2006-03-12T07:58:00.000-06:00

Here's a headline:

"Polls: Public Worried About Gov't Secrecy"

The article reports on two recent polls. If you actually bother to read more than just the headline, it strongly contradicts the headline. A solid majority favors some secrecy. And a stunning 73% believe the President should keep some information secret if it will help with the war on terror.

Where's the worry? In the minds of the media that mindlessly repeat the Democratic Party meme about the "secretive" administration. Jerks.

If the reporter was honest, the headline would read "Majority favors some Gov't secrecy". But that would be honest. Can't have that, can we?

Rocket Garden

2006-03-12T07:49:00.000-06:00

Every home should have one!

This photo is from the "Rocket Garden" at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Center. If you have never visited the KSC, you really should try to go there. It is a really great experience.

Project Mercury

2006-03-12T06:56:00.000-06:00

The previous post covered the tragedy of Apollo 1, where Gus Grissom died. The above photo is from launch pad 5/6 where Grissom made his first suborbital flight. The Redstone rocket is real, but the capsule on top is a mock-up. Two manned Mercury missions were launched from here, Alan Shepard's and Gus Grissom's (Mercury-Redstone 3 and 4, respectively). John Glenn's later orbital flight, as well as the rest of the manned Mercury flights, took off from pad 14. Pad 5/6 and pad 14 are both historical sites now.

Grissom's capsule, Liberty Bell 7 sank when the explosive hatch triggered prematurely. It was recovered in 1999. My family and I went to see the restored Liberty Bell 7 earlier this year.

Wikipedia has a very thorough article on the Mercury program here.

Incidentally, Grissom did have a successful flight in Gemini 3 (he named the capsule "The Unsinkable Molly Brown). But even that flight was marred when the two Astronauts were reprimanded for having smuggled a corned beef sandwich on board the craft. The crumbs released could have wreaked havoc in the capsule.

I think Gus Grissom was probably the most unlucky of the original 7 Astronauts. Regardless, he was still a hero. Who else would willingly strap a rocket onto their back?

In memoriam

2006-03-12T06:29:00.000-06:00

On January 27th, 1967 at 6:31 PM, EST at pad 34 at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, an Apollo spacecraft with Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee aboard caught fire. All three Astronauts died. It is believed that all three succumbed to the poisonous fumes generated by the fire long before the fire could actually claim them.

Although two unmanned Apollo tests had occurred previously, the craft that claimed the lives of the three Astronauts will forever be remembered as Apollo 1.

I still remember the special reports as the media announced the tragedy. My best friend and I were both space nuts at that time and we followed the space program closely.

While in Florida, I visited Pad 34, now a historical site. The pad will never be reused for launches. The photo above shows the concrete launch pad for the Saturn 1B rocket. The metal gantry has long since been removed.

To three of my childhood heroes - Rest in Peace.

This is an interesting poll

2006-03-12T05:49:00.000-06:00

The Harris Poll examined what institutions Americans have confidence in.

47% have a great deal of confidence in the American military.

25% have a great deal of confidence in the White House.

10% have a great deal of confidence in Congress.

This is an interesting result, no? The poll was unsponsored, by the way. Unlike Zogby's hit polling.

I notice the media loves to trumpet how badly the President is doing in polls, but they seldom mention how badly the Congress is doing and never, ever mention how little confidence Americans have in the media. They only got about 14% in this poll.

Here's the actual Harris Poll report.

H/T Instapundit for the link

I'm baaack!

2006-03-12T05:46:00.000-06:00

Back from vacation, tanned, ready and rested. Ok, make that burned, frazzled and exhausted. But happy, nonetheless.

I have some new material I'll be working on soon, too. Sometimes a little time off can give you some new ideas....

Vacation

2006-03-04T10:42:00.000-06:00

I will be busy trudging through Universal Studios in Orlando for a week. I have no idea if I can even get to the internet from where we are staying. If I can, I will try to post a little, but it will be very light. Back next Saturday.

Just in time for my son's weekend pass before he ships out.

How to read a newspaper article

2006-03-03T10:40:00.000-06:00

Rule number one: Assume the author has sensationalized something in the article to generate interest.

Rule number two: Check any sources the author cites.

Case in point: Headline reads "Whirlpool baths: Enter at your own risk"

Key sentence: "Better think twice before soothing those aching muscles in a whirlpool bath or hot tub." (Emphasis added)

Actual article on study as published: "A Risky Soaking: Study Shows Whirlpool Water Can Be Dangerous (2/14)"

The study pertains to whirlpool bathtubs, not hot tubs that are normally chemically maintained. Reading the study it is obvious that they are talking about bathtubs that are drained regularly - and warning that the untreated water trapped in the pipes can become a breeding ground for bacteria. The only mention of hot tubs is a quote from the researcher giving some context:

"Moyes says that as long ago as 1972, studies were done to test the bacteria
levels in Whirlpool baths and hot tubs, but evidence collected has often not
shown sufficient reasons for concern. ÂThatÂs probably because a hot tub or
Whirlpool as a source of infection canÂt be clearly distinguished from other
sources,Â she said. ÂAn example might be when you develop a respiratory
infection. The doctor can tell you that you do have a respiratory infection, but
he or she canÂt tell you how you got it."

By adding "hot tub" to the lead sentence, the author sensationalized the story. (Incidently, the author also misidentified the online magazine the original article appeared in. That may or may not be her fault). Also, in fairness, I cannot state that the offending words were not added by an editor.

However, if this means the hot tub at the resort will be less crowded, I'm ok with that.

Wow - They actually topped themselves

2006-03-02T16:55:00.000-06:00

Earlier, I linked to a story about the little hypocrisy issue the Clintons are having over the Dubai port deal. Husband giving advice to the Dubai folks on how to get the deal while wife works to legislate against the deal.

Glenn Reynolds points to a story in the WaPo about a Democratic call for Elizabeth Dole to remove herself from oversight of any port dealings since her husband, former Senator Bob Dole, is lobbying for the deal.

Exactly how is this different from what Billy-boy is doing?

Frankly, I agree with Glenn on this one, both are iffy ethically.

Barnstorming makes a comeback

2006-03-02T14:24:00.000-06:00

During the 1920's the phenomenon of barnstorming occurred. Pilots returned from the first World War and wanted to make a living flying. Using surplus Curtiss JN-4 ("Jenny") airplanes purchased from the US government for as little as $200, barnstormers toured all over the US. They put on shows, did stunt flying (including flying THROUGH barns) and took people for rides. By 1927, however, federal regulations began to be enforced and the traveling barnstormers heyday was over.

Now the Chinese are bringing barnstorming back. A team of Russian pilots will fly jet fighters through Tianmen Cave in central Hunan province. Promoters are selling 20,000 tickets for around $840 each. The cave is 280 meters long and about 130 meters high. It gets as narrow as 28 meters.....

I don't think I'd personally want to be inside the cave, thanks anyway.

Just when you thought it was safe to get into the water

2006-03-02T14:19:00.000-06:00

Along comes a Borg shark!

Scientists working at DARPA have implanted electrodes into sharks to use them as stealth spies. The work is still very preliminary at this stage, but a test in the open ocean off Florida is planned using blue sharks.

(Waiting now for the screams from the PETA folks, should start any second....)

This is what hypocrisy looks like

2006-03-02T10:18:00.000-06:00

This is the most blatant case of hypocritical triangulation I have ever seen. While Senator Hillary Clinton is loudly condemning the Dubai port deal (using outright lies to do so), former President Bill Clinton is advising Dubai on how to quell protests over the deal.

He's also taken more than $300,000 from Dubai for addressing a summit there.

The dishonesty is totally breathtaking. Lefties accuse the Bush administration of being dishonest?

A manifesto

2006-03-01T15:37:00.000-06:00

Some people who have experienced Islamic extremism first hand have published a manifesto in the same newspaper that originally published the cartoons that have been used to cause so much death and destruction.

MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism

After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.

We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.

The recent events, which occurred after the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the ideological field. It is not a clash of civilisations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats.

Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man's domination of woman, the Islamists' domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.

We reject « cultural relativism », which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of "Islamophobia", an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.

We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.

We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.

12 signatures

Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Chahla Chafiq
Caroline Fourest
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Irshad Manji
Mehdi Mozaffari
Maryam Namazie
Taslima Nasreen
Salman Rushdie
Antoine Sfeir
Philippe Val
Ibn Warraq

Presentations:

Ayaan Hirsi AliAyaan Hirsi Ali, from somilian origin, is member of Dutch parliement, member of the liberal party VVD. Writter of the film Submission which caused the assasination of Theo Van Gogh by an islamist in november 2004, she lives under police protection.

Chahla Chafiq Chahla Chafiq, writer from iranian origin, exiled in France is a novelist and an essayist. She's the author of "Le nouvel homme islamiste , la prison politique en Iran " (2002). She also wrote novels such as "Chemins et brouillard" (2005).

Caroline Fourest, Essayist, editor in chief of Prochoix (a review who defend liberties against dogmatic and integrist ideologies), author of several reference books on « laicité » and fanatism : Tirs Croisés : la laïcité à l'épreuve des intégrismes juif, chrétien et musulman (with Fiammetta Venner), Frère Tariq : discours, stratégie et méthode de Tariq Ramadan, et la Tentation obscurantiste (Grasset, 2005). She receieved the National prize of laicité in 2005.

Bernard-Henri Lévy,French philosopher, born in Algeria, engaged against all the XXth century « ism » (Fascism, antisemitism, totalitarism, terrorism), he is the author of La Barbarie à visage humain, L'Idéologie française, La Pureté dangereuse, and more recently American Vertigo.

Irshad ManjiIrshad Manji is a Fellow at Yale University and the internationally best-selling author of "The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith" (en francais: "Musulmane Mais Libre"). She speaks out for free expression based on the Koran itself. Née en Ouganda, elle a fui ce pays avec sa famille musulmane d'origine indienne à l'âge de quatre ans et vit maintenant au Canada, où ses émissions et ses livres connaissent un énorme succès.

Mehdi MozaffariMehdi Mozaffari, professor from iranian origin and exiled in Denmark, is the author of several articles and books on islam and islamism such as : Authority in Islam: From Muhammad to Khomeini, Fatwa: Violence and Discourtesy and Glaobalization and Civilizations.

Maryam Namazie, Writer, TV International English producer; Director of the Worker-communist Party of Iran's International Relations; and 2005 winner of the National Secular Society's Secularist of the Year award.

Taslima NasreenTaslima Nasreen is born in Bangladesh. Doctor, her positions defending women and minorities brought her in trouble with a comittee of integrist called « Destroy Taslima » and to be persecuted as « apostate »

Salman RushdieSalman Rushdie is the author of nine novels, including Midnight's Children, The Satanic Verses and, most recently, Shalimar the Clown. He has received many literary awards, including the Booker Prize, the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel, Germany's Author of the Year Award, the European Union's Aristeion Prize, the Budapest Grand Prize for Literature, the Premio Mantova, and the Austrian State Prize for European Literature. He is a Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et Lettres, an Honorary Professor in the Humanities at M.I.T., and the president of PEN American Center. His books have been translated into over 40 languages.

Philippe ValDirector of publication of Charlie Hebdo (Leftwing french newspaper who have republished the cartoons on the prophet Muhammad by solidarity with the danish citizens targeted by islamists).

Ibn WarraqIbn Warraq , author notably of Why I am Not a Muslim ; Leaving Islam : Apostates Speak Out ; and The Origins of the Koran , is at present Research Fellow at a New York Institute conducting philological and historical research into the Origins of Islam and its Holy Book.

Antoine Sfeir : Born in Lebanon, christian, Antoine Sfeir choosed french nationality to live in an universalist and « laïc » (real secular) country. He is the director of Les cahiers de l'Orient and has published several reference books on islamism such as Les réseaux d'Allah (2001) et Liberté, égalité, Islam : la République face au communautarisme (2005).

These are truely brave people given the climate of appeasement running rampant.

(Any formatting errors are from me. this posting software is not exactly perfect....)

H/T to LGF for the link.

Are we witnessing the death throes?

2006-03-01T14:54:00.000-06:00

Of the Main Stream Media?

They have gone from bad to worse in a very short time indeed. As Gateway Pundit observes, they are fabricating stories outright now.

I was on another blog's comments yesterday, and the resident lefty troll was trumpeting these "stories" all day long.

The agenda-driven poll showing a huge majority of troops want a withdrawal from Iraq simply does not gibe with my personal knowledge of the feelings that many troops actually express.

The wildly inflated reported death toll in the surge of violence in Iraq calls the accuracy of a once-great newspaper into question.

The CBS poll of the President's approval rating is so badly skewed toward Democratic responders that it is transparent to even an amateur that this is a badly skewed poll.

But they keep trying to whip up a frenzy. Even if they have to make it up.

This is simply disgraceful.

This has got to be a top ten contender

2006-03-01T09:54:00.000-06:00

In the Criminal Mastermind department.

An 18 year old woman in Tennessee pleaded guilty to attempted murder. She tried to hire a hit man to kill four men. The men were to be killed, along with any possible witnesses so the young woman could steal what she thought was cocaine from the men. She told the hit man she needed the money from the robbery to attend modeling school.

The "hit man" turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Even worse than that is the fact that the white, powdery substance she thought was cocaine was actually queso fresco, a Mexican cheese.....

She was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Saddam on trial

2006-02-28T14:03:00.000-06:00

Omar over at Iraq the Model gives a uniquely Iraqi view on Saddam's trail today.

If anyone still doubts this monster needed to be removed, read Omar's words.

Another Voice on the port deal

2006-02-28T13:33:00.000-06:00

Odysseus is the nom de blog of someone I first met over on Cathy Seipp's blog. He's got a pretty darn sharp entry on the port deal that's generating so much smoke in the blogosphere right now.

I enjoy Odysseus' milblog and am blogrolling him over on the sidebar.

We have a trifecta

2006-02-27T15:31:00.000-06:00

First there was the story about stolen beer, then the truck full of whiskey that burned.

Finally, here's a story about a small distillery that is planning to produce 184 proof whiskey. That's 92% pure alcohol. The whiskey will be distilled four times, and they plan on producing about 5,000 bottles of the stuff.

If all 5,000 bottles of that stuff caught fire, the small distillery will beat the NASA probe to Pluto......

Why is it these weird stories tend to run in groups of three?

The world of Art

2006-02-27T08:22:00.000-06:00

Is rather completely divorced from the world of sanity these days....

A Dutch "artist" has put hairstyles on cars. That's right, he put hairdos on cars and is displaying them as art. One of the cars sports a mullet. A bright orange mullet.

Now, I can't under any circumstances think of the words mullet and art coexisting in the same context. But maybe that's just me.

And this is even worse

2006-02-27T08:14:00.000-06:00

It must be booze related news day today.

A shipment of Scotch whiskey burned up, causing a loss of $240,000. That's a lot of whiskey....

Apparently, a tire on the truck burst, causing the resulting damage.

Having been behind 18-wheelers when one of the tires caught fire and burst, it's a wonder there aren't more stories like this.

Now THIS is serious

2006-02-27T07:51:00.000-06:00

Someone made off with $26,000 worth of beer. A semi-trailer load of the stuff was stolen from a trucking company. This could be a crisis! Prices could skyrocket as the shortage is felt!

Be on the lookout for the thieves, who will likely be making frequent stops to use the rest room.....

Those who forget history

2006-02-27T07:33:00.000-06:00

I read an article like this and I frankly wonder what in heck they are teaching in schools these days. It certainly isn't history.

The article implies that it is some kind of revelation that gladiators had a strict code of conduct. Although the forensic proof is interesting, it only confirms what was already well known and documented. But one would have to have actually read and understood some history to be aware of facts, I guess.

The real tour-de-force of ignorance in this article is the caption of the picture. It describes the individuals shown as being dressed as gladiators.

They are dressed as Roman Legionaries.

When Political Correctness takes over...

2006-02-27T07:14:00.000-06:00

Newspapers call a terrorist a "radical environmental activist".

A man who bills himself as a member of the Earth Liberation Front has been indicted for demonstrating how to build a firebomb. The speech he was giving occurred only a short time after an apartment complex under construction was firebombed. This guy is also an ex-con who spent four years in prison for firebombing an animal testing facility.

It is only a matter of time until the Earth Liberation Front kills people. Terrorists always escalate things.

The media has got to start calling people like this for what they really are and stop legitimizing them as "activists".

Voodoo

2006-02-24T13:55:00.000-06:00

This is a perfect example with what's wrong with academia today.

A college president in Canada has banned WiFi from the campus because he's afraid of the effects of electromagnetic radiation.

"Some studies have indicated that there are links to carcinogenetic
occurrences in animals, including humans, that are related to energy fields
associated with wireless hotspots, whether those hotspots are transmissions
lines, whether they're outlets, plasma screens, or microwave ovens that
leak."

Those "studies" were widely discredited. They were exceptionally badly done epidemiological studies and results could not be replicated. Doesn't matter to this guy though. Because it's all voodoo science, all the time. (One wonders from this guy's resume if he was involved in the discredited research).

For those who bother to remember such things, the electromagnetic radiation hype was the big scare tactic before the recent global warming meme. But it was too easily debunked.

I spent my entire career around extremely high EMF and suffered no ill effects. Other than the need to blog.

Oh, and I don't need a nightlight anymore......

Update: Well, it seems that some people are still actively flogging this horse (or were a few years ago), which I didn't realize. I found this link on the EPA website. If you can wade through it, you have a very strong case of masochism. The highlight, a slight majority of the participants voted that there was some very limited support for the idea that EMF might, possibly, maybe could cause a slight increase in cancers in children. All of the other findings were rejected.

Dubai port deal

2006-02-23T15:21:00.000-06:00

I try not to jump right away on a lot of stories. Partially, this is mistrust of a lot of the sources these days, partly it's some kind of sixth sense that something is wrong with the story I'm hearing. I can't really explain what triggers this, but it does happen.

So, that's the long version on why I haven't posted on the takeover of the P&O company by a company based in Dubai.

Rather than rehash what a lot of other people have started to realize - that this may very well be a political spin meme - I send anyone interested over to Mike's America for his take on it.

I'm not really happy with the way the Administration handled this one, they could have really stuffed Schumer and company if they had done this right.

Nigeria update

2006-02-23T14:57:00.000-06:00

Well, this is not a good sign of things to come. The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria has issued a pretty strongly worded warning to the Muslim extremists that violence is not the exclusively reserved for their use alone.

There may be a full blown religious war brewing. The West must start paying attention to this situation.

Meanwhile, our MSM boldly hides.

Batcave discovered!!

2006-02-22T17:16:00.000-06:00

Batman's secret lair, the Batcave has been discovered!

Ok, not really, but they have found a cavern large enough for two helicopters to fly into. They can land next to the massive waterfall.

Be careful though. They also discovered poison frogs there.

Today's Criminal Mastermind

2006-02-22T15:12:00.000-06:00

A guy gets himself pulled over by the police for driving erratically. He identifies himself as Robert Carmer.

The police were somewhat suspicious, though, It seems he had the name "Cecil" tattooed on the back of his neck.

Cecil was booked on several charges including having a methamphetamine lab in his car.....

Note to would be criminals. Police pay attention to identifying marks like tattoos. It is particularly dumb to tattoo your name on the back of your neck. Besides, it looks like your Mom put a label on you like she did on your underwear before you went to camp.

And on a related note

2006-02-22T15:03:00.000-06:00

Somehow, this sort of thing keeps happening. Weird stories seem to come in groups.

Close on the heels of the previous post about San Francisco experimenting with turning dog feces into electricity comes this item:

A 7-year old girl in India has ritually married a stray dog in a ceremony designed to ward off the evil eye. They say she will be able to marry a man in the normal fashion later on.

Frankly, I don't believe the "evil eye" story. I think they heard about the San Francisco program and decided to begin cornering the Indian Market in dog feces futures. There will likely be a brisk trade in those in coming years as the program takes off. They are positioning the family to be the Standard Oil of dog poo.

Go ahead, poo-poo my theory.

Novel recycling program

2006-02-22T14:53:00.000-06:00

San Francisco is planning to begin testing a program to turn animal waste into electricity. Apparently, they determined that 4% of all waste going to landfills were animal feces. (Did someone count? Man, who drew that short straw?) So they will be collecting the waste and diverting it to a methane digester. The methane will be used to generate electricity.

Personally, I want full credit for coming up with the perfect name for this program:

Crap for Kilowatts!

Saudi Arabia, eat your heart out!

Talk about having a bad day

2006-02-22T14:47:00.000-06:00

Guy plays air guitar. Guy falls out window to his death.

A man in Singapore got a bit overexuberant while imitating a rock star. He was bouncing on a bed and bounced the wrong way. He went out the window and fell three stories.

The incident has been classified as death by misadventure.

Who says rock and roll will never die?

A word of advice

2006-02-21T16:02:00.000-06:00

The Netherlands have seen an increase in dart-related accidents since a Dutchman won the World Darts Tournament.

Blue Crab Boulevard is here to help with Gaius' handy dart tips (pun intended).

1. Sharp end goes AWAY from the player. Those little thingies on the back of the darts, called flights, should help you locate the correct end.

2. If you cannot locate the sharp end, you should consider taking up another sport. At once.

3. Allow other players to retrieve their darts and return to a safe location before you throw your darts. Unless the other player was a jerk and didn't buy a round of drinks.

4. There are NO goalies in darts. Don't fall for that one, newbies.

5. Darts are quite light. One does not need a major league baseball wind-up to throw. If the dart rebounds and the sharp end gets you, you threw too hard.

6. If the sharp end is coming towards you, duck.

7. It is considered bad manners to stick other players with the sharp ends. See exception in number 3 (above).

8. Remember to buy the requisite number of drinks. Or expect the exception noted in number 3 (above) will likely happen to you.

9. If a player has an entourage, a huge dart case and a world dart championship jacket, do not play for money.

10. If another player hits you with the sharp end, consider the appropriate response. About .45 caliber is right.

Everyone be safe out there!

Events in Nigeria

2006-02-21T13:45:00.000-06:00

Judith Apter Klinghoffer has a post up on HNN about Nigeria. It is not very encouraging. Appeasement of Muslim extremists has been interpreted as weakness on the Christian's part. This has, in turn, escalated violence and murder.

Appeasement has never worked against violent extremists. Our media should be aware of this by now. But they are either blind or outright deluding themselves. Or both.

H/T LGF for the link

She's HOW old?

2006-02-21T10:15:00.000-06:00

A 62 year old great-grandmother has just given birth to her 12th child.

She's three years away from retirement age and just gave birth? Good Lord. She's a glutton for punishment.

This is creative

2006-02-21T10:06:00.000-06:00

The little town of Marne, Iowa has come up with a novel plan to increase it's population from 149 to 200.

Give away free land.

It appears that they have been swamped with applications since the program was announced. They will allow modular homes, but no trailers.

Here's the application.

This is interesting

2006-02-21T09:55:00.000-06:00

A former stripper turned evangelical Christian reaches out to sex industry workers. She goes into strip clubs and pays for lap dances so she can talk to the dancers about her faith. She and her fellows are attending adult industry events to hand out bibles wrapped in T-Shirts that say "Holy Hottie" on them. She's running a website to reach out as well. These are three very attractive young women, incidentally. (I don't recall ever seeing church ladies that looked like this in any congregation I attended!)

Here's the JC's Girls website.

I used to work with a guy who's wife went bananas if he went into a strip club. He should read this article, it will help him out.

"That wasn't a lap dance, dear. It was a theological discussion!"

Anger management

2006-02-21T09:40:00.000-06:00

Is not this guy's strong suit. A Florida man has been charged with killing his roommate. Well, more than just killing him actually. He beat the other man to death using a sledgehammer and a claw hammer. The victim had to be identified by his fingerprints.

The two men were arguing over toilet paper. I'd call this a bit of an over-reaction.....

This sounds fun

2006-02-20T14:51:00.000-06:00

You're out for a nice cruise on the lake. You motor along enjoying the fine weather. Suddenly you are struck in the head by 100 pounds of frightened carp.

Kind of spoils the day, doesn't it? Well, it may happen to the Great Lakes. Non-native carp species are moving up the Mississippi River toward the Great Lakes.

Apparently, the fish were being farmed in Arkansas and escaped when flooding occurred. What in the world would anybody farm carp for?

Those wacky Brits

2006-02-20T14:19:00.000-06:00

I've heard of turning the other cheek before, but this is a new twist.

"A man attempting to walk the length of Britain wearing nothing but a hat,
boots and a rucksack completed his marathon trek and celebrated by putting his
clothes back."

"Gough and his partner, 34-year-old hairdresser Melanie Roberts, completed the
last 20 miles of their 874-mile (1,363-kilometre) walk from Land's End,
southwest England in temperatures of about five degrees celsius (41 degrees
Fahrenheit)."

That's kind of chilly to be walking around in your birthday suit. This is his second naked ramble, by the way. He's been arrested several times.

The Stones play Rio

2006-02-19T22:16:00.000-06:00

Something about this is just wrong.

Forget the fact that Mick Jagger is 62.

Forget the fact that the police had to occupy several poor areas near the concert to prevent violence.

Forget the fact that the band was separated from fans by a VIP area.

Let's focus on the city of Rio paying $750,000 to host the concert. Which is about 16% of the cost of putting the show on. $750,00 is to 16% as X is to 100%.

It cost around $4.7 MILLION to have the Stones play?

What is wrong with this picture?

Exporting Criminal Masterminds...

2006-02-19T19:35:00.000-06:00

Actually, we don't have to export them. They turn up all over.

Like the German man who didn't like the quality of the pot he had bought. After trying to get a refund fro the dealer, he turned to the police for satisfaction.

No word on when he will be released.....

A million a day

2006-02-19T19:20:00.000-06:00

For a whole year!

Someone (sadly, not me) won a record 365 million dollars in the latest Powerball drawing.

Wow - I literally have no idea what I could possibly do with that much money.....

Not that I wouldn't like to try, mind you......

Open house

2006-02-19T09:07:00.000-06:00

The famous (Infamous?) red light district in Amsterdam has been beset recently by some image problems. Some officials have been moving to shut down or increase regulation of the area. To help persuade the public of their good intentions, the district had an open house, inviting people to come see what the district was like. They offered reduced or even free admissions to the - er - establishments, tours and some bars offered a free drink.

Below is a picture of some of the festivities. This just goes to show the sheer depravity of the area in general. This blight upon western civilization should be removed immediately. I mean, really, this is obscene.

That man is playing an ACCORDION for heaven's sake. Have you no shame?

Some interesting Statistics

2006-02-17T16:53:00.000-06:00

A pretty thorough round-up of gun statistics can be found here. There is a lot of detail.

H/T Tom's Common Sense for the link

Yet another controversy

2006-02-17T16:04:00.000-06:00

It appears that the design of the 2006 Olympic medals are generating some jeers, with some athletes likening them to CD's. According to the designer, the hole in the middle "reveals the area of the chest under which the heart and life beat". The Olympic organizers are denying the medals look like CD's. Now this is an absurd comparison to make, as the medals obviously do not look like CD's, as you can readily see below:

They look like 45's. No word on whether they will actually play on your old turntable, though.

Criminal Mastermind Department

2006-02-17T15:43:00.000-06:00

This is unusual. A guy tries to hold up a drugstore and a gas station using an odd choice for a weapon. The criminal was wielding a blowtorch. (He tried to rob a GAS STATION with a blowtorch? ) He failed in both attempts.

The man escaped after a fight with the gas station attendant. He was described as 5' - 2" in height, weighing 220 pounds and wearing a tan fishing hat. Hmmm.

Too short to be this guy:

(Besides, Earl Hindman is, sadly, dead. I think I miss Wilson the most from that show)

But she knew how the trial would turn out

2006-02-17T10:41:00.000-06:00

A self-proclaimed psychic and fortune teller pleaded guilty to taking more than two million dollars from elderly clients over an eight year period. The cop who was supposed to be investigating her also pleaded guilty to taking money from her to block the investigation.

Two million dollars over 8 years. That's a quarter of a million dollars a year.

And I'm BLOGGING?

Wait, I see a great future..........

This is bizarre

2006-02-17T10:30:00.000-06:00

A young woman has had her prosthetic leg(s) stolen.

Again.

This is the second time in just three months. The second time. The mind boggles. Actually, I suspect someone has been watch A Christmas Story too much. They just wanted one of these:

I'm guessing here

2006-02-17T10:14:00.000-06:00

Ok, if this guy is a heterosexual, my guess is he will never get another date in his home country of Russia. He announced that Russian women are too big to figure skate and were better suited to working on railroads in Siberia.

For his sake, I kind of hope he's gay. Otherwise, he's going to be very lonely.

Give me a "J"

2006-02-17T10:06:00.000-06:00

Give me an "A", give me an "I", give me an "L". What's that spell? JAIL.

The North Korean Government has apparently sent 21 cheerleaders to prison. Their crime? Telling others what they saw on a trip to South Korea. In other words, telling the truth go them jailed. Lovely country.

Anyone care to guess why? Maybe because it's much nicer in South Korea than in the North. And Kim doesn't want that known.

The REAL story

2006-02-16T17:45:00.000-06:00

Well, the newest completely fact-free meme running around on the left is that Cheney was drinking before his hunting accident. I really can't state it better than Cathy Seipp did, so I won't try.

But we now know where the real cover-up is! At Stanford University on the Left Coast, that's where. Drunken trees, not drunken veeps!

Winter weather

2006-02-16T13:38:00.000-06:00

It started this morning with freezing rain. A hard, almost metallic sounding tick, tick, ticking as the drops hit. Part of it was wet and froze on contact with the ground and covered the cars in ice; part of it was hard little pellets that stung when it hit exposed skin. The kids listened hopefully to the television, watching the scrolling list of delays and cancellations. Schools all around us were starting two hours late. The next district over from us closed completely. Their hopes diminished as it came closer and closer to time for the bus to arrive. But they held on until it was time to go out. Hope dies slowly when praying for a snow day.

Snow day, that magical phrase from childhood. A day to sit around, watch television, read, goof off or just pick on your siblings until you drive your parents out of their minds. Snow days were different when I was a kid. There weren’t as many as there are today. Of course, we also didn’t have busing in the city I grew up in. Television during the day was just a few network affiliates showing daytime soap operas, so that wasn’t much fun. But there was always the get on your siblings’ last nerve to fall back on. We did that a lot in our house anyway, didn’t really need a snow day.

Today we have busing, with long rural routes out where we live. The roads are often unpaved and can be treacherous when the ice forms. So they cancel school pretty regularly. The kids have satellite television now, so there’s usually something they can watch. And there are always video games to play; sometimes board games come out of the closets, too. Yet they still excel at picking on each other. They find a chink in one another’s armor and dig mercilessly at it until everyone is unhappy. By the next day, everyone is ready to go back to school.

Well, we finally got a bit of snow. It’s really been a mild winter here so far.

Cartoon Jihad

2006-02-15T09:39:00.000-06:00

Our lovely Mainstream Media and their fellow travelers on the hard left have more in common with the Islamofascists every day.

The Islamofascists whip up a frenzy by getting Mullahs and Imams to scream about the offense against Islam given by a few relatively mild cartoons published in a small Danish newspaper. They provide rent-a-mobs to riot and burn embassies and KFC restaurants.

The American media attempts to whip up a frenzy over the Vice President's shooting accident over the weekend. They are screaming and carrying on because the "White House waited almost 24 hours" before telling them about the incident. They continue to flog this, feigning outrage that the White House press secretary attempted to make a small joke about the incident while gleefully publishing every joke they could find made by late night talk show hosts.

The American media, with only a few exceptions, have refused to print the Muslim-offending cartoons "out of respect" for Islam. No such respect is shown to fellow Americans. The ghouls in the press corps surround the hospital the shooting victim is in. You can tell from the commentary that they really don't want the man to recover. The Koz Kidz are openly speculating on what to do when the man dies, making unfounded accusations that alcohol was involved and in general acting like the Jihadi rent-a-mobs. Without the rioting. But I'm sure someone over there will be calling for that soon, too.

All this serves to take the media focus off real problems that should be getting coverage. There were riots in Pakistan that reportedly had 70,000 people involved. The Iranians have restarted uranium enrichment. Ah well, much easier to whip up a frothing rage over an accident.

Couple to wed

2006-02-15T09:22:00.000-06:00

At the funeral home where they met.......

Well, it's not the strangest place ever picked for a wedding. This guy once performed a marriage ceremony for a couple. They were in a whirlpool tub filled with orange Jello.......He's got some other ones that are funny, too.

What concerns me about this story is that the bride and groom, Daisy Judy and John Franko, have FOUR first names between them. That's the real problem here!

Michigan - where men are men

2006-02-15T09:13:00.000-06:00

And sheep are nervous!

A Michigan man who pleaded no contest to charges of sodomizing a sheep will have to register as a sex offender. He was apparently caught red - er - handed by the sheep's owner, but they still matched "genetic material" found in the sheep to the offender.

They ran a rape kit on a sheep? Even though he was caught in the act?

Things must be pretty slow for the sheriff's office in Calhoun County.....

But registering as a sheep molester serves no good purpose. Sheep can't read.......

It's funny how it all works

2006-02-14T16:02:00.000-06:00

I give the tagline I used below, then I find this on FARK.

Democratic Party Strategy

2006-02-14T15:45:00.000-06:00

The Democrats have a huge image problem. Many people have noticed they are simply not credible on National Defense. There are many, many people out there who have made comments like "I voted for Bush only because he was strong on defense".

So, the Democrats need to get credible. One way to do that is to run candidates who happen to be veterans of the Iraq war and dislike the administration's policies. The Senate race in Ohio was a case in point. The Democrats recruited Paul Hackett, a war veteran, to run there.

Then they decided to go with a different candidate who happens to already be in Congress. They went so far as to call Mr. Hackett's contributors and ask them not to give any more money to him.

Mr. Hackett dropped out of the race today. He's also likely dropping out of politics altogether.

Who the hell is doing their strategy? Alfred E. Newman?

Valentine’s Day

2006-02-14T14:43:00.000-06:00

My wife is my best friend. She is the mother of my children, even to the older two who are not really hers. She is the best fan I have ever had. She encourages me, stands by me and loves me, even though I am far from perfect. She puts up with my moods and my hobbies.

On this Valentine’s Day, I bought her flowers and a card. That’s all she will want and she’ll likely be somewhat miffed that I even bought those for her. She’s funny like that. But still, I had to do something to show her I love her.

I am also in charge of getting flowers to my son’s fiancé today. He’s at Fort Riley preparing to deploy to Iraq and asked me to help him out. So I had the florist deliver two bouquets today. I think he feels the same way about his intended as I feel about my wife.

I hope he does. There is no better feeling than being loved.