08.31.06
Posted in Politics at 8:19 pm by JEG
This is pretty sad.
Please, folks. If you call yourself a Christian, be careful of those who claim special “revelation.” In this case, the “prophet” was the only apparent victim, but there are too many Christians out there that play fast and loose with biblical interpretation and lead others to ruin. If someone tells you he/she can walk on water, that’s a red flag. Don’t believe it. The same goes for the televangelists that smack people on the head and “heal” them.
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Posted in Politics, Media Morons at 3:29 pm by JB
Let’s count up all the hysteria that have died….
The hurricane that popped up quickly died out, so it served two purposes- drowned out (poor choice of words) the ramp up to the Katrina coverage, and also hasn’t done much damage. The real key is it didn’t hit New Orleans, which is what news execs and reporters were salivating over.
This Karr dude with the Ramsey case turned out to be a joke- how could you not see that coming- but still got his 15+ hrs of fame.
Richard Armitage turns out to be the initial “leak” with Valerie Plame, but since he’s been against the war in Iraq, nobody cares.
Talk about a total hysteria flame-out. All the stories the media has been going nuts over turn out to be worthless.
Here’s my question… is there a way to get the media to concentrate, do a little journalism, and concentrate on something that might actually matter ? Give us car-chases and REAL stories. Not constant concentration on garbage.
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Posted in Politics, Unhinged, Terrorists, War on Terrorism at 2:27 pm by JB
is all over this sort of idiocy.
When, exactly, did it become alright to advocate the assasination of a leader of a nation ?
I’m not even sure if there is a word to describe how repugnant this is. But I bet there is…. only it’s a language spoken only in the regions that practice the “religion of peace”.
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Posted in Politics, Terrorists, War on Terrorism, National Security at 2:17 pm by JB
Mr. Gingrich voices what most of us feel (or should).
Ex-U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that the thought of California Rep. Nancy Pelosi becoming the next leader of the House and being third in line to the presidency is frightening.
“The prospect of her bringing San Francisco values and a whole attitude on foreign policy that is, I think, an attitude of weakness and appeasement and surrender, I think, would be a disaster for the country,” the outspoken Republican said.
We all know that. This is the kind of ridiculous tripe I am really getting tired of.
To suggest that “any Democrat is for appeasement is ridiculous” and “shows how desperate the Republicans are,” Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said. “We know we have a dangerous world out there,” he said, but “fear-mongering is not helpful to the situation.”
Fear-mongering….. is there not a legitimate threat ? Democrats ARE for appeasement. Negotiate, ameliorate, abdicate… (Most) Democrats don’t care about security. They care about regaining power. Fear-mongering isn’t happening, unless you are talking about the nut-cases who are terrified the country is gonna fall to pieces if the NSA listens to 10 seconds of your phone call to Pakistan.
There is a real threat, and the Democrats don’t take it seriously. There are millions of people determined to kill me and other Americans. THAT IS REAL.
And we’re gonna hear hours and hours of Democratic blather about “politicizing the war : politicizing security”. Is there another issue more important ? Of course it’s politics.
All your WalMart unions and universal health care don’t mean dick if some nut from Saudi Arabia kills you and everyone around you.
Ockam’s Razor (many other spellings)- the simple answer is usually the best answer. They want to kill us. We don’t want to die. Rather that dance around for decades like we have been, how about we protect ourselves, and kill them first.
UPDATE: Just another note on this… I’m getting tired of hearing “our soldiers are getting killed”. Every loss of life is a tragedy, but this is a damn war, and these men and women didn’t sign up to sell cars, for the love of God. The military isn’t a college scholarship program. When men and women sign up for the military they realize (or should) that they are putting their lives on the line for their country. That is their entire purpose. I wish we never lost any in combat, but we do, and that is their job. If you want to go to college, vote Republican so we can fix the schools and you can get an academic scholarship. If you join the military thinking it’s a college scholarship program, you should go smack your teachers. That’s not how military service works.
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Posted in Politics at 1:35 pm by JB
But this disappoints me every time I hear it…. I am a huge Bush supporter. I think he is a great president who has done great things…
But with an almost 3 trillion dollar federal budget, can we not find some aide somewhere to teach him how to pronounce NOO-CLEE-URR.
NUKE-U-LER makes him sound like an idiot, and he’s not an idiot. Why play into the stereotype ?
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Posted in Politics, Unhinged, War on Terrorism, National Security at 7:10 am by JB
Richardson R. Lynn. What can you say about someone who is so completely clueless. Have a few tastes from this juicy op-ed.
If I knew a terrorist, I would ask how much Osama bin Laden Inc. counts on the massive, unnecessary expense and damage America inflicts on itself by overreacting to the threat of terror.
The foolishness of color-coded alerts and X-raying the shoes of all airplane passengers is well-known. The huge expense and bureaucracy of the Transportation Security Administration is a monument to our miscalculation of risk. And so on. But, as a lawyer, I’m more interested in the thinking of government officials who should know better.
If I knew a terrorist I would…. ummm…. report them to the authorities, or kill them myself if I knew they were going to do grave harm. But I know, he’s leading with a little hyper-bowl. (and yes, I know it’s actually hyperbole, but hyper-bowl is funnier… it also brings to mind a Saturday afternoon in a place in Iowa or someplace that has a lot of nylon shirts with names on them, rolling balls and falling pins, and an all-you-can-consume crystal meth bar…. hyper-bowl)
The only kind of legal system that could “prevent things from happening” requires a highly intrusive program of government surveillance of all communications (e-mail, letters and phone calls) and financial transactions of private citizens, incentives for people to spy on neighbors or family members, and lifting all restraints on interrogation and investigation of suspects.
I’ve said before, and I’ll say again- I don’t give a rat’s ass if the government checks my library records, or listens to my international calls. I AIN’T GONNA KILL ANYONE. This is, at most, a trivial intrusion into my civil liberties that don’t effect me in the least. I like my privacy, but my privacy is worth bupkus if in over-protecting it someone has the opportunity to kill me.
Terrorists will exploit whatever vestiges of a free society remain to plot and implement violence.
Wow, that actually makes sense, but- as is always the case with these nuts- there is a caveat.
Like almost all crimes, the plot to suicide-bomb planes between London and the United States was discovered through a combination of a tip, randomness and routine police work. The overseas reach of the Homeland Security-approved legal system would be limited, unless every nation joins us in those preventive measures and executes them as aggressively as we wish.
I find it quite bothersome that such a major threat that was diverted in a very stealth-like way can be waved off with such nonchelance. “It was just a tip and random, no big deal.” I seriously doubt the MI-5 and the good people at CIA and NSA would take it as just another day at the desk.
This is the best line….
It is entirely rational to accept some level of terrorism, crime or disorder rather than live in a police state that claims to guarantee perfect safety.
What friggin police state ? There is no such thing as perfect safety, you nimrod, but there is such a thing as reasonable safety. And the government checking my library records if they think I am a terrorist is not a damn police state.
And this clown is dean of a law school. Doesn’t surprise me. At some point we’re gonna get hit again, and these moral-relativists are gonna have to face some music…. I’d be happier if Dean R. R. Lynn was in Ames, IA, cranked up on meth, participating in a hyper-bowl.
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Posted in Politics, Unhinged, 2006 Races, Democrats at 6:35 am by JB
Run for the hills, kids, if the Dems take the House (which won’t happen, as I have said SO many times). The WSJ has a brief synopsis of what we are in store for should such a catastrophe occur.
Consider the man likely to run the Judiciary Committee, Michigan’s John Conyers, from the Congressional class of 1964. He recently made his plans clear in a 370-page report, “The Constitution in Crisis: The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution and Coverup in the Iraq War, and Illegal Domestic Surveillance.” The report accuses the Administration of violating no fewer than 26 laws and regulations, and is a road map of Mr. Conyers’s explicit intention to investigate grounds for impeaching President Bush.
If you think Republicans have been spendthrift, don’t expect much change from Wisconsin’s David Obey (class of 1969) at Appropriations. Mr. Obey was one of those Democrats who ripped Mr. Clinton for endorsing a balanced budget in 1995. Rather than cut spending, his goal would be to spend less on defense and more on domestic programs and entitlements.
…
We also can’t forget California’s Henry Waxman (1974), among the most partisan liberals and who at Government Reform would compete with Mr. Conyers to see who could issue the most subpoenas to the Bush Administration. And then there’s Alcee Hastings, who, should Ms. Pelosi succeed in pushing aside current ranking Member Jane Harman, would take over the House Intelligence Committee. Before he won his Florida seat in 1992, Mr. Hastings had been a federal judge who was impeached and convicted by a Democratic Congress for lying to beat a bribery rap. He would handle America’s most vital national secrets.
There’s more, so read the whole thing….. but…. isn’t it just a little interesting that all of the people who would take over these committees have no particular legislative agenda ? They want to have the power, they want to beat up on the GWB administration…. but they have no real plan to do anything of any value.
It’s a good thing they won’t take the House.
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Posted in Politics at 6:12 am by JB
in this.
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Posted in General, Pop Culture at 6:04 am by JB
Ahhhh…. those wacky Brits.
Schoolgirl ’stabbed for love of AC/DC
A teenager who was stabbed in the eye during her school lunch break said a “gang mentality” singled out pupils for their music and fashion tastes.
The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, narrowly escaped losing her sight in the attack last November.
She had been the victim of a string of attacks, threats and had even received prank calls at home because she is what is known as “a metaler”, Guildford Crown Court heard today.
…
“Somebody asked me on the first day what kind of music I listened to, so I said AC/DC.”
She said that, as a result of this, she was told she was a “metaler” and found herself being shunned by other classmates.
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Posted in Economics at 5:55 am by JB
And you probably won’t like it:
RadioShack Corp. notified about 400 workers by e-mail that they were being dismissed immediately as part of planned job cuts.
This does seem like a particularly crass way of delivering such news. Some mid-level manager too busy to spend a few minutes with these people beforehand ?
UPDATE: This is funny… when FoxNews was talking about it, their ‘graph was “U R Fired 
” Hehehe.
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Posted in General at 5:53 am by JB
Why you beating up on Mexico ?
Hurricane John lashed tourist resorts with heavy winds and rain Wednesday as the dangerous storm marched up Mexico’s Pacific coast, and forecasters predicted its center would brush close to land before nicking the tip of Baja California and heading out to sea.
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08.30.06
Posted in General at 4:37 pm by JB
Will someone please, for the love of God, give Tucker Carlson a friggin haircut ? The WASP-y, Ole Miss frat-boy look is annoying. It is absolute proof to me that he isn’t someone to be taken seriously.
Real men cut their hair. When you start getting curls in straight hair, it’s time to go see a barber.
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Posted in General, Media Morons at 12:27 pm by JB
And this is the best video I could find…. but why does she always sound like she’s out of breath ? Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is always the same way. I can’t listen to them because I’m always afraid they are about to pass out.
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Posted in General, Unhinged at 12:02 pm by JB
Plan a long trip in some exotic place, somewhere you’ve always wanted to go, where the women are sexy and the food is wonderful. But only buy a one-way ticket.
Then, when you are ready to come home wander into the local police department and confess to killing JonBenet Ramsey.
The Boulder DA’s office will fly you back to America in style- free drinks, free food, etc. Then, when they can’t make a case against you (which seems to be the only thing the Boulder law enforcement establishment is good at) you are free to return to your home.
The only bad side is that you have to spend a few days in Boulder.
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Posted in General, Terrorists at 11:29 am by JB
All my long-held suspicions confirmed. Cats are coming after us humans now.
With his vicious fangs on display and weight firmly on his back legs, this tabby looks set to pounce on its unsuspecting prey.
But it is not mice, birds or any other small animals he is after. It is not even the other pet cats he has already savaged in his neighbourhood.
They were deemed too ’small’ a target to terrify, so he decided to turn his attention to a much larger prey - humans.
The pet cat, who has been named Grumpy because of his exploits, started entering all the cat flaps on one street in the search for food. 
And yes, I included this under “Terrorists”. Friggin felines.
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Posted in General, Humor at 9:05 am by JB
From Jay Nordlinger’s Impromptus: (ALWAYS worth reading) (last item… scroll down) (no more parentheses)
Friend of mine, who knows a good lead when she sees one, sent me this, from the New York Daily News:
- “A gang of petite but ornery lesbians pummeled and stabbed a DVD bootlegger in the West Village early yesterday after he tried to pick up one of the women — and then spat on her when she rebuffed his advances, police and witnesses said.”
“Gang of petite but ornery lesbians”. I LOVE that.
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Posted in Pop Culture, Music at 8:10 am by JB
if only it were true in all ways….
Jessica Simpson Keeps Quiet
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Posted in Humor, Media Morons at 7:39 am by JB
This was funny when Leslie Neilsen did it in Naked Gun:
Today, CNN’s Kyra Phillips got caught, well, with her skirt down. Someone in CNN left her mic open and on the air as she went to the loo in the middle of President Bush’s speech commemorating the Katrina anniversary. So instead of getting the president’s remarks, CNN’s audience got that and Phillips in some girl-chat.
Oooooops. 
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08.29.06
Posted in Pop Culture, Television at 3:25 am by JB
All this hand-wringing about the opening film at the Emmy’s:
NBC expressed regret Monday for an Emmy Awards comedy skit that included a mock plane crash and aired on the network the evening of a fatal Kentucky jetliner accident.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to the many families who lost loved ones in the plane crash in Kentucky on Sunday, and to the entire community that has suffered this terrible loss,” NBC said in a statement the day after the ceremony.
“In no way would we ever want to make light of this terrible tragedy,” NBC said. “The filmed opening during the Emmy telecast was meant to spoof some of television’s most well-known scenes. The timing was unfortunate, and we regret any unintentional pain it may have caused.”
The prerecorded skit was broadcast as part of the live Emmy ceremony just hours after a commuter jet taking off in Lexington, Ky., crashed into a field and burst into flames, killing 49 people. Only a co-pilot survived.
Yes, it was in bad taste, considering the circumstances. But it was really just an unfortunate coincidence. Besides, I doubt if anyone who would truly be offended was watching a stupid award show that night.
Besides…. the little film was DAMN funny. (can’t find video, but it’ll be around soon)
O’Brien, back as host for the first time since 2002 (the last time NBC, which airs Late Night with Conan O’Brien, broadcast the ceremony), made his entrance in a pre-taped sequence that began with a plane crash that stranded him on the island from the ABC hit Lost, took the show’s mysterious hatch to The Office, wandered into a tense 24 situation, underwent a quick medical evaluation by Hugh Laurie of the Fox hospital drama House, found himself animated on the Comedy Central show South Park, and then endured an awkward confrontation by Dateline NBC correspondent Chris Hansen. [who did all the child predator stories]
And, even though this is liberal pablum from Jon “Dem Shill” Stewart and his evil spawn Stephen Colbert, this is friggin funny too.
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Posted in Humor at 2:53 am by JB
when I said “I bet the dog can drive better than you !”
Woman Crashes When Teaching Dog to Drive
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Posted in Politics, Unhinged, 2006 Races, Democrats at 2:49 am by JB
This clown just will NOT get over it…. ever:
Sen. John Kerry didn’t contest the results at the time, but now that he’s considering another run for the White House, he’s alleging election improprieties by the Ohio Republican who oversaw the deciding vote in 2004.
An e-mail will be sent to 100,000 Democratic donors Tuesday asking them to support U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland for governor of Ohio. The bulk of the e-mail criticizes Strickland’s opponent, GOP Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, for his dual role in 2004 as President Bush’s honorary Ohio campaign co-chairman and the state’s top election official.
“He used the power of his state office to try to intimidate Ohioans and suppress the Democratic vote,” said Kerry’s e-mail.
And just what the hell does this mean ?
Multiple lawsuits by outside groups were unsuccessful in challenging Ohio’s 2004 election. One case filed by the League of Women Voters is still in U.S. District Court in Toledo. It claims Ohio’s election system discriminates against minority voters.
You show up, prove you are who you say you are, and vote. Your vote counts in Ohio just as much as mine does in VA. Damn, people get over yourselves.
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Posted in Politics, 2006 Races at 2:38 am by JB
He is just a little glum on the Nov. outlook for the GOP:
Barring an unexpected and big event, Democrats will win control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November and conceivably the Senate, too. Whether it’s a tsunami or just a powerful wave, the political dynamics are moving in that direction, or more accurately, against the Republicans and President George W. Bush.
To reiterate my prognostication:
The GOP will pick up seats in both the House and the Senate, or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will be happy.
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08.28.06
Posted in Politics, Prez '08 at 4:29 pm by JB
I’ll do these one by one. Keep in mind we are still…. (damn) 18 months before the prez campaigns really get ramped up…. but this is my initial impression.
Sen. George Allen (R-VA)
Smart guy, mostly conservative, decent fella, but he has a bit of a temper. His whole “macaca” fiasco shows me that he just isn’t ready for prime time.
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Another smart guy, and dedicated to his causes. Very conservative, but untested. He has yet to make his name known outside of conservative circles, Kansas, and us C-SPAN junkies.
Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN)
I am a Frist fan. I really am. But I can’t get my head around the fact that he is Majority Leader, isn’t running for re-election, and can’t show some balls to get some things done. He is the most ineffective leader I’ve seen that I can remember (I know, Reid is partially responsible) and that doesn’t show me much for a potential president. “The Senate is a collegial body.” My ASS. Anyone remember LBJ ? Frist would be better at HHS or something.
Newt Gingrich (Former Speaker of the House, R-GA)
Newt is an idea guy with a ton of baggage. I think he would be a great prez, but his odds are next to nil. But he will help keep the other candidates honest, and that means something. He engineered the ‘94 wins, and has a lot of use, even if his chances are slim.
Rudy Guliani (Former mayor of New York city)
Rudy has NYC crime correction, bureacracy beating, and strong leadership all over him. And 9/11. And he shoots straight. He does have baggage, but his credentials on security and leadership overtake those problems. He is a national figure with few nationally-known negatives…. people in Nebraska don’t follow his marital problems. He does have some social-conservative views that don’t exactly jive with a lot of Republicans, but I’m not sure that matters. GWB ran against McCain-Feingold, and then signed it. Presidents must make decisions and prioritize. Guliani won’t be perfect, but he takes care of the important stuff.
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
Chuck wants to be president too bad. He wants to please everyone all the time, and so pleases nobody overall. His positions are all over the place, there are no principles that I can see. He drifts with the wind, has no national presence, and isn’t articulate enough to even fake one.
Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR)
Again, maybe an HHS Secretary-ship. He’s a nice fella (I’ve met him a time or two) and he has decent ideas. But he’s not ready for prime time. Plus, he passed a smoking ban in restaurants in my beloved state of Arkansas, and the citizens aren’t all that happy. Nor am I. If I can’t smoke at Pancho’s, what’s the point of going ?
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
(sigh) Do I have to ? I think McCain is a decent bet. He’s smart and mostly principled. He does some things that make me crazy. McCain-Feingold violates the Constitution in SO many ways. Some of his activities on the Commerce Committee are just wrong. But he cares about security, and that’s the most important thing. The rest- hopefully his advisors will steer him straight.
Gov. George Pataki (R(ino)-NY)
Should he actually choose to run, he will be the GOP version of Dennis Kucinich. Not a prayer. Raises taxes constantly, doesn’t agree with the social values of the GOP. He’s a non-starter. And every word he says, every even he holds, there will be the spectre of Rudy standing over him.
Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA)
Another possibility. Not a lot to know about him at this point, but he polls decently for this stage, and any Mormon Republican who can get elected in the Peoples Republic of Mass is worth watching. He’s trying to raise his profile, isn’t running for reelection, so he’ll have two years to work on it.
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO)
Again, a good guy, but a single issue candidate. Immigration is a tremendously important issue, but not important enough to get you the big leather chair in the Oval. I just don’t see him having the punch needed to cover all the others.
Plus- hate to say it- but the current president got elected in ‘00 largely on charm and Cheney and advisors. It was widely known that Powell would take over State, Rice would be there, Rumsfeld was a stroke of genius… but the confidence in GWB was…. well. I can’t see the country electing another guy who will pick good people. The next guy has to be THE GUY. Bush became THE GUY, but when I closed that curtain in ‘00 the only thing I was sure of was he’d be better than Gore
There are others I’d add to the list, but that requires more thought than I want to give it at the moment.
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Posted in Politics, Prez '08 at 3:16 pm by JB
That poll that I posted earlier, remember this ? (participate if you can)
Just filled it out myself, from this site, and found an interesting result. I was one of two, so far, and… Someone out there has some interesting views.
Someone out there likes Frist, Hagel, Huckabee, and Pataki. That same person doesn’t agree with me on Romney and Tancredo. And that’s cool. No denigration intended. I just find it interesting.
This person likes Pataki AND Brownback. Talk about oil and water. We won’t get into the “first choice” picks. I can take either one. (my vote was Newt, in full disclosure, but there’s a reason…. I tried to take the poll the day I posted it, and got errors. Thought I’d try my tie-for-first pick this time)
I will post later my run-down on all these guys, and then we can talk about it more.
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Posted in Politics at 2:35 pm by JB
How else can you explain the two photos below ?! Mother Nature is certainly out to inflict maximum harm on the poor detainees down at Gitmo. Or maybe Allah saw them tossing nasty stuff at their protectors and decided they needed a good cleansing.
Matched with….
Some folks are about to get wet. Good thing they have towels. Sorry, was that racial profiling ? Oh well, tough shit.
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Posted in Politics, Economics, Katrina at 12:39 pm by JB
While the federal government is promising billions of dollars to rebuild homes below sea-level in New Orleans, can we get some extra cash to build some stone masonry high-rises in San Francisco, straw huts in Key West, and maybe a few trailer-parks in the Tornado Alley strip of the mid-west ?
As long as we’re gonna waste money…. It’s like these people have never heard of this story.
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Posted in Unhinged, Alex Jones at 12:32 pm by JB
I just love posting about some of the insane comments we get. Here’s one posted yesterday by (I’m sure) loyal reader ‘trip’:
erm, something almost none of you alex jones slammers havent taken into account is that most of his work is evidently documented! do you understand that concept, EVIDENTLY DOCUMENTED!
“erm”, no, I don’t understand that concept, because “evidently documented” doesn’t mean anything. I assume you mean he has evidenCE, but let me restate the truth about this old yarn….. if your evidence and sources and contacts are other nutjobs, that doesn’t exactly bolster your arguement.
It’s similar to the columnist Pauline Kael after the ‘72 presidential election. Oh, and by the way, this is how you actually gather evidence- not by listening to everyone who agrees with you…. She has been widely reported to say “how did Nixon win, I don’t know anyone who voted for him”. (Nixon won that in a landslide) What she actually said was “”I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don’t know. They’re outside my ken. But sometimes when I’m in a theater I can feel them.” At least she could admit, however blindly, how absolutely insulated her and her worldview was. (that’s a quote from the NYT, by the way, not exactly my “bible”)
this basicaly means that its not up for debate whether or not he is right or wrong. he is a research journalist you morons, you know, someone who gathers ‘information’ and ‘factual evidence’.
Au contraire, mon frere. That basically means I can absolutly debate it. If you and Mr. Jones don’t have the ’stones’ to put up with criticism, then you need to find a shed in the mountains and stay there. For every ‘fact’ he has to establish his ‘evidence’ I can provide 10x the counter-evidence in the form of witness testimony, participant testimony, government testimony, reports, news accounts, etc… and not from the cranks that Jones hangs his hat on, but from notoriously convervative sources as the New York Times, CNN, the DNC, Clinton admin press releases.
And to call Alex Jones a “journalist” is a severe insult to actual journalists. He’s more of an Art Bell wannabe.
try waking up and smelling the coffee. expand your fucking minds for christ sakes!
oh yeah, and anyone that has absolutly any admiration for george bush is clearly a complete knumskull, you are the reason children are getting bombed everyday, you make me sick.
“knumskull” ?! Nahhh… too easy. But I’m sorry you are sick, ‘trip’. Maybe you should see a doctor. Actually, I think you need a few doctors. Go here and I’m sure they can help you out.
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Posted in Pop Culture, War on Terrorism at 11:54 am by JB
Saddam is getting a (forced) taste of the best parts of American culture. (h/t GOPVixen)
“Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is being made to watch his appearance in cult cartoon South Park while he is behind bars.
The deposed leader on trial in Iraq was featured in the movie spin-off as the lover of the devil. ‘South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut’ featured Hussein and Satan attempting to take over the world together.
That’s just about the coolest thing I’ve heard today.
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Posted in Politics, The UN-able at 11:37 am by JB
Chuckie says the UN building is not safe. His solution ? What else, spend a ridiculous amount of money.
The United Nations is a disaster waiting to happen [ed. Some of us would argue that the disaster that is the UN has been happening for years] _ a potential towering inferno that could be as devastating for workers, staff and visitors as the terror attacks on the World Trade Center’s twin towers, a U.S. senator said Sunday.
Calling the 39-story, glass-walled Secretariat building on the East River a “firetrap” that violates many sections of New York City’s building code, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and U.S. Ambassador John Bolton should “make it a priority” to force through a $1.6 billion renovation program.
“The United Nations’ grave state of disrepair may be hidden, but it is putting the health and safety of thousands who work within the building and in the area in a real degree of danger,” Schumer told a news conference on the street in front of the landmark complex.
…
The plan to renovate the complex and bring it up to code has been in talking stages since 2000 but has been bogged down in political and bureaucratic delays, Schumer said, adding that “every day it is not done adds another $225,000 to the cost.”
…
Under the U.N.’s existing assessment formula, the United States would pay 22 percent of the cost of renovation. But the plan has stalled in part over the refusal of Congress to approve expenditures that are not “transparent,” and by the New York state legislature’s rejection of plans for alternative space to house the world body’s operations for three to four years.
So we pay 22% of $ 1.6 bil…. that’s $352 million. The Pentagon, widely known as the largest office building in the world, is 6.5 million square feet (SF). For $1.6 bil you could build a new Pentagon-sized building for just under $250/sf. That’s a ridiculously high $/sf. The UN building, however, is much smaller, so the $/sf higher still.
I was in NYC recently. There are millions of empty sf in buildings that are just sitting there unused. Why can’t the UN renovate some of those buildings and rent Madison Square Garden when they need to get together and pass useless resolutions that they don’t backup ?
I like this idea. (massive understatement alert)
Developer Donald Trump later offered to do the job for $600 million to $700 million _ half the U.N.’s cost estimate _ manage the project and waive his own fees.
“They don’t know what they want, they don’t know what they have, they don’t know what they’re doing,” Trump told a Senate hearing.
“Don’t know what they’re doing”…. no kidding, Don.
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08.27.06
Posted in Politics, Unhinged, Media Morons at 1:52 am by JB
Ernesto Aims at Jamaica, May Hit Gulf
So a hurricane is MAYBE gonna hit the Gulf just as the moaning and groaning about the 1-yr Katrina hit starts…. So we’re gonna start getting 24/7 Ernesto coverage along with 24/7 Katrina remembrance, followed quickly by something of some actual importance…. the 5th anniversary of 9/11.
Anyone want to wager that 9/11 will get buried as much as possible by the media to concentrate on false tales of DHS/FEMA-Katrina incompetence ?
Oh well…. anything to get that JonBenet Ramsey story off the news all the damn time.
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08.25.06
Posted in Politics, Terrorists, War on Terrorism, Faux-tography, Media Morons at 10:35 pm by JB
What exactly is the purpose of placing a young child next to an unexploded bomb in southern Lebanon, except to have a sort of scale comparison ? Couldn’t be for propaganda purposes, because we know that doesn’t happen from Hezbollah. Right ?!
When Um Ali Mihdi returned to her home in the southern Lebanese city of Bint Jbeil two days ago, she found a 1,000lb (450kg) Israeli bomb lying unexploded in her living room.
The shell is huge, bigger than the young boy pushed forward to stand reluctantly next to it while we get our cameras out and record the scene for posterity.
WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT…. we have unexploded munitions, and someone PUSHED this poor kid to and made him stand next to this thing ?
Was it the mother, someone unmentioned ? Please tell me it wasn’t someone from the BBC who just wanted a better shot.
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Posted in Politics, War on Terrorism, National Security at 3:25 pm by JB
I’ll give you the pieces and let you solve the puzzle.
From The Guardian:
A Romanian oil rig off the coast of Iran came under fire from an Iranian military warship and was later occupied by Iranian troops, a company spokesman said.
NATO Member Countries:
Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Rep, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States
The purpose of NATO:
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe committed to fulfilling the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty signed on 4 April 1949. In accordance with the Treaty, the fundamental role of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries by political and military means. NATO is playing an increasingly important role in crisis management and peacekeeping.
(emphasis mine)
Now…. complete the puzzle.
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Posted in Politics, Prez '08 at 11:42 am by JB
GOPBloggers has put together an interesting little deal here. The results are quite interesting as well. (h/t MY Right Wing Conspiracy)
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Posted in Politics, 2006 Races, Democrats at 11:27 am by JB
(Little Frenchie-appeasement language to flavor what’s below)
Crazy Howard has seen the writing on the wall, and has decided “OF COURSE !!!! We’d LOVE to have Joe back when he spanks the little cry-baby Ned Lamont.” Anything to give us one more member to vote for Harry Reid as Majority Leader.
I hope Joe wins, and after the millions that the DNC and related PACs pours in to defeat him, tells them to kiss his ENTIRE ass.
Democratic chief Howard Dean was asked whether he would welcome Sen. Joe Lieberman back to the party if he wins the election: “… If he were to win, we would welcome him back in the Democratic Caucus. We’re a big tent party, and we accept all kinds of folks, and we’re happy to have them.”
They welcome “all kinds of folks”. Except pro-life, pro-gun, pro-defense, pro-intelligence, pro-voucher, pro-business, pro-…..
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Posted in General, Politics at 11:15 am by JB
This term has probably been floating around for years, but this is the first time I recall seeing it….
RE: some of the pictures that come out of the middle east these days, Rubin refers to some of them as “fauxtography“. 
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Posted in Politics, Unhinged, 2006 Races, Democrats at 11:11 am by JB
Doesn’t matter that you’ve known someone for decades, what’s important is that they have that D next to their name.
These people are beyond the pale sometimes.
New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton says she’s meeting Friday with Connecticut Democratic Senate candidate Ned Lamont.
They plan to discuss how Clinton can help Lamont’s campaign against Senator Joe Lieberman, who’s now an independent candidate, and Republican Alan Schlesinger.
…
Clinton, who’s considered a likely 2008 Democratic candidate for president, has called Lieberman a friend for years, but also pledged to support whoever won this month’s primary.
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Posted in Politics, Democrats at 10:28 am by JB
I’ve thought about commenting on this little kerfuffel:
Confronted by accusations that he’s taking too long to clean up his city after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin defended himself by remarking on New York City’s failure to rebuild Ground Zero.
…
On a tour of the decimated Ninth Ward, Nagin tells Pitts the city has removed most of the debris from public property and it’s mainly private land that’s still affected – areas that can’t be cleaned without the owners’ permission. But when Pitts points to flood-damaged cars in the street and a house washed partially into the street, the mayor shoots back. “That’s alright. You guys in New York can’t get a hole in the ground fixed and it’s five years later. So let’s be fair.”
I tend to, however, agree with Ace over at his joint….
I just file this in the you-know-what-he-meant folder. But others seem to think it’s evidence that Nagin is an idiot.
As if that case still needed to be proven.
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Posted in General at 9:48 am by JB
The next time this happens in the theater, in a church, in…. any number of places where it’s wholly inappropriate, I’d love to be able to slap some cuffs on the idiot(ess).
A judge detained and questioned a row of spectators when a cell phone rang for a third time in her courtroom, later ordering two people to serve community service for contempt of court.
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Posted in Politics, Unhinged at 9:38 am by JB
I bet every time she reads something like this it just gets her knickers all in a twist.
President Bush held private and at times emotional meetings Thursday with the families of five Maine soldiers who died in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon.
…
“To meet with the president, it’s something I never thought would happen,” said Nancy Kelley, whose son, Army Capt. Christopher Cash, was killed in Iraq in 2004. “We were honored — just to share our thoughts about Chris and how he felt about his service to our country.”
During a half-hour audience with the president, Kelley said they spoke “on a number of subjects, but Christopher was first and foremost.”
“I had brought him a framed picture of Chris in Iraq with Iraqi children,” said Nancy Kelley, who has dedicated a Web site, a scholarship, and a 5K race to Cash’s memory. She said she was impressed by the president’s interest in her son.
“He cares about every single family, and he has been doing this all around the whole country.”
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08.23.06
Posted in Politics, Judiciary at 12:21 pm by JB
From the WaPo: (all emphasis mine)
A conservative watchdog group says the judge who declared President Bush’s warrantless surveillance program unconstitutional may have a conflict of interest because she sits on the board of a foundation that has given money to the chief plaintiff in the case.
Judicial Watch, which advocates judicial accountability, said it discovered U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor’s monetary tie after reviewing her financial disclosure statements.
The judge is the secretary and a trustee for the nonprofit Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan. The foundation’s Web site shows it gave $45,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union to back a gay rights project. The ACLU has challenged the warrantless surveillance program.
“There has to be an appearance that justice is being fairly administered,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said Tuesday. “The court’s role in awarding a grant to the ACLU and whether or not that is an issue is something that needs to be fully examined.”
Taylor declined to comment, as did the Justice Department, which is asking the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to overturn Taylor’s ruling issued Thursday.
ACLU of Michigan Executive Director Kary Moss said the group did not know about the judge’s affiliation with the nonprofit but added she did not think it is a “big story.”
“We don’t think recusal would have been necessary,” Moss said.
The foundation released a statement Tuesday saying Taylor is one of 50 volunteer members of its board of trustees, which oversees grant-making decisions.
Rules are rules for some people, laws are the laws…. but if you agree with the ACLU, it’s not a “big story”. It does, however, violate judicial ethics in about 10 different ways.
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Posted in Politics, Judiciary at 12:05 pm by JB
This judge is just off-the-charts liberal…. I’ll have more later, but Jonah Goldberg has a good take on it. As usual, read it all, but here’s a snippet:
Long before the concept of a living Constitution was hatched, the authors of the original version — as well as the courts interpreting it — understood that the executive branch has the authority and flexibility to conduct foreign policy and wage war. Terrorists may be criminals, but they aren’t merely criminals. They’re waging war against us and doing so in ways never imagined by the founders. They don’t want territory or treaties, and they don’t use armies and cannons. They want to make our own technology and freedoms into weapons they can use against us.
And so here is the real absurdity of the “living Constitution” school. Where the Constitution is supposed to be inert, they want it alive and mutating. But where the Constitution was intended to be flexible, complete intellectual rigor mortis has set in.
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Posted in Politics, 2006 Races at 10:50 am by JB
The rules of the Senate have officially become stupid. Anonymous holds on bills, the ridiculous “blue card” on nominations… what is this, soccer ?
Queen Hil has decided that because NY doesn’t get as much moolah as it used to, she can hold up anyone getting anything….
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is holding up renewal of the primary federal law that battles HIV/AIDS, the 1990 Ryan White Act, causing a rift among activists on the subject and threatening approval of the legislation this year.
Clinton (D-N.Y.) said she opposes the measure because it would lower funding for her home state.
More money is spent on AIDS research and care than cancer, heart disease, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s…. But because NYC gets a marginal cut (probably not even a cut, just a decrease in the increase) Hil holds it up for the rest of the country.
Probably not great politics for your ‘08 run, lady.
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Posted in General, Humor at 9:57 am by JB
I just love these morons:
A Nesquehoning man who came drunk to Carbon County Court on Monday to be sentenced in a drunken driving case will likely spend more time in jail.
Joshua J. Beury, 25, of 342 W. Railroad St., on Tuesday got the same sentence from county President Judge Roger N. Nanovic that he got Monday before court officials determined he was inebriated: 30 days to six months in county prison.
You have to wonder sometimes if this guy’s six or seven brain cells ever get lonely.
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Posted in Pop Culture, Television at 9:28 am by JB
And boy, is it about time.
Four cast members are about to be fired - they know who they are, but the public doesn’t.
As a card-carrying member of the public, allow me to make a few suggestions….. first, keep Amy Pohler. She’s gonna struggle a little without Tina Fey, but she’ll find her feet soon enough. And don’t do this “rotating host” idiocy.
Second, stop trying to be so political all the time. I know, I know, it’s part of the history of the show, and it’s usually funny, but in the last few years it’s been too much. Go back to making fun of the culture, or just being funny. I find Rachel Dratch about as funny as watching paint dry most of the time, but there are a few characters she did that were really funny. (I think mostly of the “Debbie Downer” ice-cream skit when Lindsey Lohan was host…. hilarious) Go back to funny characters. Leave bad political humor to Keith Olberman.
Third, enough with the grunge/punk/metal musical guests. Get some people with some musical talent. The only good part about the musical guests lately is I know I have 2 extended bathroom/beverage breaks at about 40 and 75 minutes into the show. And no more Ashley Simpson-like talentless wastes of time.
Fourth, if you let Horatio Sanz go, you are nuts. Here’s who needs to go bye-bye… and I’m not sure if some of these are “cast” or “feature players”….
- Bill Hader (who ?)
- Finesse Mitchell (never was funny)
- Rob Riggle (who again ?)
- Jason Sudeikis (not funny)
And fifth (and finally) bring Will Ferrell back every month to host.
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