Sunday, July 31, 2005
I know it’s late
But some things just catch my ear.
I’m sitting here listening to the nightly news talking about the North Korea situation with half an ear, and I keep hearing something that actually nags for my full attention.
The talking head keeps saying “Nucular weapons” and “nucular enrichment” and “nucular missiles”. Look, folks, just because Bush says it that way doesn’t mean that the correct pronunciation has actually changed. But it is apparently some accepted form of Bush-onics making its occasional forays into so-called “serious” (i.e., Alphabet channels) media, with editors and news directors either deliberately ignorant of such a simple fact as the accepted pronunciation of a word, or so obtuse that they are incapable of grasping that a difference exists.
Hint: It’s pronounced NOO-KLEE-URR
And they keep wondering why they are losing viewers…
Saturday, July 30, 2005
If you only read one article today
You should really read this one.
That’s right, America has the wrong Army. I don’t know how it happened, but it did. We have the wrong Army. It’s too small; it’s not deployed properly; it’s inadequately trained, and it doesn’t have the right sort of logistical support. It’s a shambles. I have no idea how those guys even manage to fight.
Seriously. Read it, and you’ll understand.
I can’t hold it in any more
YES, I read Harry Potter, and YES I’ve read the latest book. I managed to do it in less than ten hours, and that was with a shitload else going on that day.
I don’t know how many other sites have been talking about this, but I’ve checked on several Harry Potter fansites, and so far, no one seems to have mentioned this possibility.
Book Six spoilers - MAJOR spoilers - below the fold…
death, so thoroughly that no one - meaning any of those on the Dark Side - would ever suspect otherwise… And with such certainty, he sounded as though he KNEW it would work. Maybe because he had already used it?
Is it weird to wanna know this?
| You Are 30% Weird |
 Not enough to scare other people… But sometimes you scare yourself. |
Like I needed a quiz to tell me that…
 | You scored as Loner.
What's Your High School Stereotype? created with QuizFarm.com |
Oh, well, that’s okay, then…
Apparently we’ve all been mistaken all this time, since a “moderate” Muslim has explained that there is no such thing as Al Qaeda.
Well, shit, I’m glad to know that, because here I was thinking that the World Trade Center towers had been knocked down. Guess we can all pack up and go home now…
Or NOT.
I think we should just ignore this jackass and point out that “moderate” is not a self-given description.
Look, when you have world-respected religious leaders of the Islamic faith preaching that Jews are descended from pigs and dogs, the Qu’ran itself saying that the faith should be spread by the sword, and madrassas all over the region preaching hatred of any infidel, that’s not something that is going to go away overnight, or even in less than a few decades. It will take at least two generations, folks. This is a long hard slog, not something that can be handled in the space of a thirty minute sitcom or a fifteen minute press conference.
It is a war that they started. It is a war that we will finish.
Friday, July 29, 2005
How many planets orbit the Sun?
If you answered “nine”, you would have been right, up until earlier today.
Scientists have found a tenth, orbiting at an average distance of 51 AU (Astronomical Units - equal to the average distance from the Earth to the Sun), and at an orbital inclination of 28 degrees. It even has its own moon.
I ownder what they will end up naming it…
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Breaking news!
DNA tests run on some hair have concluded that the sample does not belong to Natalee Holloway. Oh yeah, it doesn’t belong to Bigfoot either. Therefore, FOX News has absolutely nothing to report.
4r3 U A g33k?
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Egypt Might Just Be Getting It
And by it I mean a government that fosters hatred and hostility should not be suprised when hatred and hostility are directed towards it:
Stunned by terror attacks in a Red Sea resort, Egyptians are in a remarkably frank debate about whether mosques and schools — and the government itself — should be blamed for promoting Islamic extremism.
Even pro-government media say authorities have created a climate where young people are turning into radicals and suicide bombers.
In a country more used to hearing general condemnations of terrorism, critics on Wednesday were angry — and specific — hammering at instances where they say the government allowed mosque preachers or state media to promote intolerance. ...
“There is no use denying. ... We incited the crime of Sharm el-Sheik,” ran a bold red headline of a lead editorial Wednesday by Al-Musawwar’s editor in chief, Abdel-Qader Shohaib.
The bombers “didn’t just conjure up in our midst suddenly, they are a product of a society that produces extremist fossilized minds that are easy to be controlled,” Shohaib wrote.
In Al-Ahram, columnist Ahmed Abdel Moeti Hegazi wrote: “This is not just deviation, it is a culture[.]”
Someone give Mr. Hegazi a prize for his insight.
One of two things are going to happen here; either a) People start to realize that this is a war between two cultures, or b) Ignore the obvious and continue to deny it. If more people choose the first option then the culture of modern society will win, if more people choose the second option (the cultural relativism option) then modern society will lose. It’s nice to see that Egypt might be just be ready to embrace option a.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Enemy of the state
Hypothetical:
An enemy launches an attack against one of your cities, ending the lives of tens of thousands of innocent civilians. Do you:
1) Shake your finger at them and say, “That’s not very nice! You better stop that!”
2) Bomb the daylights out of one of their most cherished locations that you’ve had a nuke aimed at since the day they started the war.
If you chose option 2, then you’re on-par with most people who want to win a war, and understand that defeating your enemy requires the ability to make decisions that might not be politically correct. That also means you agree with the new enemy of the state, Tom Tancredo.
From Drum’s Internet Quiz Archive
You can blame both Drumwaster and Helo for this one.
Damn you both!
| You Are 83% American |
 Tough and independent, you think big. You love everything about the US, wrong or right. And anyone who criticizes your home better not do it in front of you! |
Terror Plot Foiled?
Five Egyptian men with maps of the New York City subway system and video of New York landmarks have been arrested by the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Newark, N.J., ABC News has learned.
FBI and law enforcement officials told ABC News the five men — four illegal immigrants and one law enforcement fugitive — were arrested Sunday night following a tip to the Newark Police Department. In addition to the subway maps and video, the men had train schedules and $8,000 in $20 and $50 bills.
Details remain somewhat sketchy, however, immigration is planning on deporting the five men.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Broomstick One banking to starboard
Senator Hillary “Look at me” Clinton, whose raw political ambition pushed her husband into the White House, is now altering her own steps towards a more moderate and more centrist tone.
Let’s face it, folks, she’s going to abandon the folks of her constituency just a few months after she runs for re-election, in order to open up her ‘08 POTUS run. Look at the timeline: She would be re-elected (and I’m willing to admit that running Nixon’s son-in-law might not be the best choice) in November ‘06, sworn in for her second term in January ‘07, and within just a few months, she would already be forming an exploratory committee. She needs to announce as early as possible, not to mention making all of the pancake breakfasts in Iowa and New Hampshire, so that she can start raising money to overcome Howard Dean’s failures as a Democratic fundraiser.
But because her voting record has been one of the most liberal in the Senate for the past four years, she really needs to make herself appear more moderate and centrist, like her husband did in ‘91 and ‘92.
Two things will prevent her from doing so:
1. the Internet will make it easy for people like this guy to point out the difference between her sweet words on the campaign trail and the bitter reality of the voting record on a national level.
2. Her husband had very little national exposure before her ran, and that little was mostly positive. Hillary has been on the national stage for more than a decade, and many people remember her disastrous attempts at domestic policy before this.
One other thing, if I may. One of the most lucrative Senate Committees is on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which allows the Member to travel to any US military base on the planet, all on the taxpayer dime. It is a muchly cherished seat, which can really only be earned through seniority, and it is almost unheard of for a Freshman Senator to be given such a lucrative seat over the heads of all who had been there for several years. One wonders if it might have been given to her because her husband was still President at the time she was given the seat. (Along those lines, one also wonders if that big glowing light that rises in the East is a daily occurrence.)
Folks, I’m going to be repeating this phrase repeatedly when referring to ANYTHING said by Hillary for public distribution, because it will bear repeating: Words are cheap.
If something Hillary says contradicts a vote she made, you can count on the vote being her true feelings. For example, her recent “conversion” to wanting abortions to be “safe, legal and rare” directly contradicts the fact that she has voted in favor of NARAL’s position 100 PERCENT OF THE TIME. Guess which side she really believes in? Repeat as needed.
(Curious about the title of this post? Look here.)
Sunday, July 24, 2005
What He Said
I was going to post something about the poor Brazillian kid who was killed by the London Metropolitian Police in what appears to be a tragic misunderstanding, but after reading this post by Misha I just decided to link it, since the Emperor says pretty much the same things I would have said.
A clear cut case of being right and wrong at the same time.