April 2006 Archives

in that it was much more busy than most.

Protests from the left that there is too much war in Iraq, followed by protests from the left that there isn't enough in Darfur.

Colin Powell confirms that different folks have different ideas, and the left goes nuts because the President followed the Pentagon's plan instead of the State department's.

Bush gets lots of laughs from the press, and a lefty comedian's jokes are answered with the sound of chirping crickets.

Iran is starting to fear the UN Security Council, so they're now sqirming to avoid them.

And we've still got tomorrow's May Day to get through as the illegals and their supporters protest for something they had a better chance of getting if they hadn't.

And in spite of all the negativity from the press and the left, we're still winning in Iraq. The goal of having the Iraqis take over their own security isn't yet achieved, but is in sight. And Al Qaeda in Iraq is running out of nutcases willing to blow themselves up.

Next week will have to be busy indeed to top it.

Huffington Post is linking yet another song that's sure to please the "Hate America" crowd.

It's pretty complete - genocide, racism, Abe Lincoln is gay, fixed elections, church bashing, etc. It appears that in Susan Werner's view, there's nothing that America has ever done right. But in spite of it all, she won't move to France. I wish she'd reconsider.

I'll bet we start hearing her sing at the rallies sponsored by the communists and socialists.

Full lyrics below the fold... Be warned, though, it's pretty hateful.

Via AP/Reuters:

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian restaurant was fined 688 euros ($855) for displaying live lobsters on ice to attract patrons, in an innovative application of an anti-cruelty law usually affecting to household pets.

A court in the northeastern city of Vicenza ruled the display was a form of abuse dooming the crustaceans to a slow death by suffocation.

"We're appealing," said Giuseppe Scalesia, who runs La Conchiglia D'Oro, or "Golden Shell," restaurant along with his brother Camillo.

"They said that the lobsters, laying on the ice, suffer... They compared them in court to other animals, like cats and dogs."

The case was brought by Gianpaolo Cecchetto, a former environmental activist, who took his two young children to the Vicenza restaurant in May 2002.

"They were shocked by the display," Cecchetto told Reuters, adding he immediately got in touch with the ENPA national animal protection entity. "ENPA took care of the lawyers and legal proceedings."

Italy has some of the world's toughest animal rights laws. The city of Rome in October banned goldfish bowls, seen as cruel, while Turin passed a law last year that would fine dog owners 500 euros unless they walked their canine friends at least three times a day.

Has the whole world gone nuts? These lobsters are intended for food - death followed by consumption by human beings is the desired result. Who the hell cares how they got to the table?

I have a lot more to say about this, but I've gotta run - I have an irresistable urge to go melt some butter...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A three-year investigation into drug use by Rush Limbaugh ended abruptly when the conservative commentator was booked on a single charge of prescription fraud in a deal his attorney says spares him a trial.

The charge will be dropped if Limbaugh continues treatment, attorney Roy Black said Friday.

My guess is that some of the hinge-less crowd will be unhappy that his life wasn't completely destroyed...

A followup to Thursday's post. The woman who was spanked at work was awarded 1.7 million from her former employer, Alarm One.

Wow! This has certainly been a busy day for the hackers!

Sorry I was down, but this kind of thing happens to nearly everyone eventually. No word on where the attack came from this time. If I find out I'll pass it on.

I would like to say thanks to the Hosting Matters staff - two attacks in one day, I'm sure they were working their backsides off. But I should expect no less. Every time I've had a problem or a question they're been fast and courteous in addressing it.

If you're looking for a host, I recommend them strongly. They're pleasant to work with, and they understand blogs.

Again, thanks to Hosting Matters!

While I'm not a Drudge Report fan, I occasionally go to his site by following links on other blogs. Yesterday, I saw a mention of Drudge on PowerLine. The post John referred to was about low sales figures for Markos Moulitsos' book Crashing the Gate.

This must have touched a few nerves - Glenn Greenwald, who has a book coming out, stepped up to the plate to defend Markos' book. So did a lot of other leftist sites. Glenn's was titled "Anatomy of the "thought" process of Bush defenders", although he bases his rant on Drudge and two conservative bloggers. Yet he paints his assertions with an overly broad brush on all those "Bush Lovers" he dislikes:

There are so many data holes and misleading omissions in this item that it is literally and wholly useless in determining whether the book is a success. I want to emphasize that what matters here is not whether the book really is a success (I have no idea if it is or isn't), but how the baseless Drudge assertion became gospel fact among Bush followers, a distorted and corrupt process which generally governs how they come to think about the world with regard to virtually every issue.

What happened to the dislike of stereotyping he displayed last week? This theme gets repeated several times though his rant. He dismisses Drudge's source (Bookscan) as unreliable and then uses the same source to run down sales of conservative books. At least he backs off on the assertions of his encyclopedic knowledge of the liberal blogging book world - Tuesday's claim:

"There have been a few other recent blog-based books, including Markos and Jerome's highly successful Crashing the Gate..."

Is corrected yesterday to:

"I want to emphasize that what matters here is not whether the book really is a success (I have no idea if it is or isn't)..."

The interesting thing about this is how silly it is. Drudge is petty for starting it, the small number of right wing bloggers who chimed in are petty for revelling in the low numbers, and lots of folks on the left are being downright childish for taking offense at it. I point out Greenwald because it appears that this opened an especially large wound for him, apparently inspiring him to drag in every single issue he has with the right, but there are plenty of other examples. Jane Hamsher doles out the reasoned and intellectual discourse she's so well known for:

The success of both Crashing the Gate and Glenn Greenwald’s book? The right are quite literally gagging on it.

Bon a-fuckin’-petite, you warmongering, bedwetting bastards.

Classy, huh?

Atrios, in an unusually long introduction to an open thread, also ties this to generalities about the right:

"Their defective mind processes work the same way, whether it's Iraq or book sales."

Surprisingly, Crooks and Liars has it right:

"It is a stupid pissing contest."

Glenn defends his generalizations here. It seems to be situational - sweeping generalizations are repugnant when used to describe liberals but necessary when describing conservatives.

By the way, Glenn's book is still showing at #1 at Amazon, and that's just fine. I wish him success (honest, I do). I may even read it, as I am curious to see if it contains any insight into his apparent contempt for the constitution (particularly Article III). In case it's dropped from the top slot at Amazon, here's a screen shot
.

I've checked a couple of times and noticed something that the folks who focus on politics only probably didn't - the number two slot has been solidly occupied by the same book. It's a ground-breaking tome about doggy discipline entitled Cesar's Way : The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems. Considering all the squabbling over rankings, and to demonstrate that there's more than sales numbers with which to evaluate a book, it occurred to me that Cesar's Way might be a useful marketing tool for Glenn in light of the constant companionship it's provided his book on the Amazon list. Maybe some creative marketing is in order....

I think it would look stunning in those glowing ad panels at the airport, don't you?

Update: Fixed link for screen shot.

VIENNA, Austria - The International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday that Iran has defied a U.N. Security Council call for a freeze on enriching uranium and its lack of cooperation with nuclear inspectors was a "matter of concern."

Meanwhile, Mahmoud is thrilling crowds with his atomic Rhett Butler imitation:

Sorry the site's been off line - Hosting Matters had a denial of service attack today. According to Charles at LGF, it apparently originated in Saudi Arabia.

Michelle has a very short list of blogs affected - Hosting Matters has a lot of blogs. They should all be back up now.

In the same week that we had a Spanish group trying to give apes human rights, today's Wall Street Journal features none other than Pamela Anderson on a "related" subject:

"Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, with at least 95% of the same DNA. We're closer to them than they are to gorillas, so when I see chimpanzees being used as on-screen comedians, dressed up in silly costumes to sell credit cards, I think, Is this any way to treat a relative?"

There's that nasty DNA thing again. Sigh.

But Pamela, what about the mice? Those poor, mistreated, 99% similar to human mice?

I usually just delete the spam without reading it. Maybe I should pay attention - this one showed up in my inbox today:

From:Mrs hassan.

Attn:The Managing Director

Before I proceed, may I humbly introduce myself to your goodself, My Name is Mrs. Amina hassan, an Iraqi refugee ,my husband was until recently, one of the personal aid to the president of Iraq who was formerly overthrown out of power by American Government .

Prior to this last serious crisis that is still ravaging in my country,which recently led to misfortune of our government and my late husband position as the personal aid to the president, we were able to come over here in Thailand ,we inherited the sum of US$11 million.The funds were originally gotten from my late husband proceeds.

The rest is the usual plea for additional contact to further the scam.

While not universal, there are plenty on the left who feel that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was wrong. Apparently, the scammers are narrowing their demographic to increase their success.

After all, the folks who can be conned with even the most lunatic conspiracy theories regarding the Bush administration (in spite of evidence to the contrary) must be ready-made targets for this kind of scam that preys on the most gullable and emotion-driven of our society.

Note to scammers: If you can craft an email that contends that every breath Bush takes admits to breaking the law, I know where you can hit paydirt...

John at Powerline asks: "Wasn't There a Time When Republicans Knew Something About Economics?"

The post looks at the "Gas Price Relief and Rebate Act of 2006", and John opines, "it's not pretty".

I think John has overstated the quality of this bill somewhat - it's a train wreck of pandernomics.

$100 tax rebate? Check.
Endless investigations into gouging (whatever that is)? Check.
Contradictory tax incentive juggling? Check.
Tax incentives to build facilities that environmentalists will never allow? Check.

Did we really elect these numbskulls? This plan is just plain dumb on several levels. The only thing that makes sense (ANWR drilling) is also the most likely item to get left out of the final version.

Not that this is original, but here is the plan for gas price relief that I'll support:

1. Allow the oil industry to drill and build refining capacity.
2. Cut both state and federal taxes on gasoline.

It's funny that the biggest argument against replacing income tax with a national sales tax has always been that consumption taxes are regressive, hitting the poor much harder than the middle or upper classes. Yet there seems to be no such noble motive in play when it comes to energy. This isn't like tobacco or alcohol - gas is a necessity. There is gas price gouging - the shame is, the FTC won't see it because congress will tell them to look at the oil industry instead of the government. How can the oil industry's measly 9 cents per gallon profit be "price gouging" when state and federal government get a combined average of 60 cents?

I can't improve on John's closing sentiment:

Look at it this way: if the oil companies agreed among themselves not to drill for oil in new locations like ANWR, and not to build new refineries, so as to limit the supply of oil and thereby drive prices higher, it would be illegal; indeed, it would be the greatest price-fixing conspiracy in American history. But it isn't the oil companies that have conspired to limit supply and thereby drive prices higher. It is our government that has foreseeably, if not intentionally, achieved this ignoble end.

Via AP/Yahoo:

JERUSALEM - Iran has received its first batch of North Korean-made surface-to-surface missiles that put European countries within firing range, Israel's military intelligence chief said in an interview published Thursday.

The BM-25 missiles have a range of 1,550 miles and are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the Haaretz daily reported.

The report came as U.N. members consider slapping sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment. The United States, Israel and other Western countries say Iran is trying to get nuclear arms, but the Islamic regime says its atomic program is for civilian purposes only.

And I'm sure that these are peaceful civilian missiles. Right?

Hey - does this mean we get to see the Neutron Dancers again?

For those of you looking to motivate your workforce, I recommend taking them to lunch, offering bonuses, you know, the usual stuff.

Spanking your employees should be on the "avoid at all costs" list.

Hope that helps.

For seven months the Senate has been investigating FEMA and what happened before, during, and after Katrina. Next week a full report will be released, and today they've issued a teaser:

WASHINGTON - Hurricane Katrina's latest fatality should be FEMA, the nation's disaster response agency, a Senate inquiry concluded in calling for a government overhaul to avoid future failures like those the devastating storm exposed.

Why the statement was issued today - in advance of the full report - was assuredly not random:

President Bush was visiting Louisiana and Mississippi — which bore the brunt of Katrina's wrath — on Thursday.

The report apparently recommends a new name for FEMA:

The recommendations conclude that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is crippled beyond repair by years of poor leadership and inadequate funding. They call for a new agency — the National Preparedness and Response Authority — to plan and carry out relief missions for domestic disasters.

The proposed change is already drawing criticism as being skin-deep only:

But the proposal drew disdain from Homeland Security and its critics, both sides questioning the need for another bureaucratic shuffling that they said wouldn't accomplish much.

"It's time to stop playing around with the organizational charts and to start focusing on government, at all levels, that are preparing for this storm season," Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said.

Former FEMA Director Michael Brown, who resigned under fire after Katrina, said the new agency would basically have the same mission FEMA had a year ago before its disaster planning responsibilities were taken away to focus solely on responding to calls for help.

"It sounds like they're just re-creating the wheel and making it look like they're calling for change," Brown said. "If indeed that's all they're doing, they owe more than that to the American public."

Of course, the devil's in the details, which we don't yet have.

Remember Esso? For the younger folk, here's what their logo looked like:

Back in the 70's (late 60's?), when they changed their name to Exxon, the joke at the time was "New name, Same old gas". Unless something more substantial comes along with the name change, the "National Preparedness and Response Authority" should adopt it as their slogan.

Via AP/Yahoo:

WASHINGTON - The simplest grammar, long thought to be one of the skills that separate man from beast, can be taught to a common songbird, new research suggests.

Damn - next the birds will be demanding equal rights, too. At least we're still trying to kill bugs, though.

Say you're a terrorist - you've just arrived in baghdad, you don't have much money, and you're dying to go after some infidels. Where do you go to gear up? Ask Reuters!

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - It doesn't cost a lot to set up your own death squad in Iraq. Military uniforms, guns and even police vehicles are easily available to all comers in the markets of Baghdad.

In a city where gangs of men dressed as police have killed dozens of people and stolen tens of thousands of dollars, anyone with a modest amount of cash can set up their own fake squad.

At Baghdad's Bab al-Sharjee market, a haven for criminals, anyone can walk into one of about 15 shops selling police and military supplies and buy a police commando uniform for 35,000 Dinars (about $24) or an ordinary police uniform for $15.

No questions asked, no identity checks. Badges of rank from Captain to Major-General -- enough to ensure no one asks questions on the mean streets of the capital -- go for $2.

"One person came yesterday and took 12 full commando uniforms. Another took 15 army uniforms and ski masks with holes for the eyes," said Tariq, who runs one of the stores.

"I don't care who comes to buy them. As long as they give me the money, I give them the products," he said, adding the most popular items were police commando uniforms.

Although some uniforms such as a plain blue Iraqi police shirt are relatively simple for any tailor to produce, it was unclear where Tariq and others get the complicated camouflage uniforms from.

There are plenty of smaller items such as laser pointers for weapons, face-hiding ski masks, and handcuffs.

(snip)

Just a few kilometres from Bab al-Sharjee, at the Nahdha car showrooms, it is possible to buy the same vehicles the police special forces or ordinary police use for $12,000.

For an extra few hundred dollars, sirens and police markings can be added at the central Sinak market. Then it's a short trip to Mureydi market in the sprawling Sadr City Shi'ite slum for fake IDs.

Car salesman Abu Mohammed will sell a customer anything they want, including a range of bullet-proof cars costing up to $340,000.

"There is a possibility some people buy these cars with violent intent, but we can't go around checking after them," he says. "Our job is to sell cars and make money.

"I can get anything you can think of, even an American Humvee if the price is right."

And yes, I know, that probably wasn't their intent. But they really could have gotten their point across without writing the story as a how-to guide for visiting jihadists...

about Tony Snow being appointed White House Press Secretary:

Tony's certainly a class act, and I wish him well. Previously, I had said that I would be surprised if he was picked. And I am. Given the media's disdain for Fox News and conservative pundits in general, I wonder if our leftist and overtly hostile press isn't going to be even more combative than they were with his predecessor.

Time will tell, and I'm hoping for the best. I'll miss him as a commentator, though.

Barcepundit has uncovered a plan to give human rights to apes (H/T LGF)

Socialists: Give apes human rights

Spain Herald

The Spanish Socialist Party will introduce a bill in the Congress of Deputies calling for "the immediate inclusion of (simians) in the category of persons, and that they be given the moral and legal protection that currently are only enjoyed by human beings." The PSOE's justification is that humans share 98.4% of our genes with chimpanzees, 97.7% with gorillas, and 96.4% with orangutans.

The party will announce its Great Ape Project at a press conference tomorrow. An organization with the same name is seeking a UN declaration on simian rights which would defend ape interests "the same as those of minors and the mentally handicapped of our species."

According to the Project, "Today only members of the species Homo sapiens are considered part of the community of equals. The chimpanzee, the gorilla, and the orangutan are our species's closest relatives. They possess sufficient mental faculties and emotional life to justify their inclusion in the community of equals."

It always starts that way. But we know where it will lead, don't we?

Update (27APR06): Protein Wisdom points out the flawed logic in the DNA argument, John Hawkins: "...does that mean monkeys can vote in Spain?"

I guess they couldn't do any worse than the humans.

Or at least that's what this study found:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Go ahead and have that second cup of coffee -- or third, or fourth. A study published on Monday shows heavy, long-term coffee drinking does not raise the risk of heart disease for most people.

The study, which followed 128,000 men and women for as long as 20 years, showed that drinking filtered coffee -- not espresso or French-style brews -- did not raise the risk of heart disease.

That's good enough for me - I'm taking the family to Starbucks for dinner tonight.

"We believe this study clearly shows there is no association between filtered coffee consumption and coronary heart disease," said Esther Lopez-Garcia, an instructor in the School of Medicine at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain, who worked on the study.

"This lack of effect is good news, because coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world."

We're not going to tell you who commissioned the study, but you'd recognize him if you saw him...

Yesterday I reported on the possible anti-male merchandising policy at Hot Air. Today I decided to followup on this terrible injustice. There's a post by AllahPundit labeled "Site Business", but no mention of the most important issue facing the fledgling website.

And I still haven't received a reply from Hot Air staff. In hopes that this situation had been resolved (and they just neglected to notify me), I checked the Hot Air Gear portal hoping to find men's t-shirts available. Still not there. But wait - it gets worse...

They removed all the t-shirts! Even the womens' shirts!

Not only am I denied a t-shirt, but my beloved wife (TB) is as well!

I feel oppressed.

Everyone reading this should let the folks at Hot Air know that no matter how terrific the content of the actual site itself is (and it really is), if they can't get the merchandising right they're doomed. That's right - DOOMED.

In the meantime, what do you do if you want to sport the hottest new web logo? There's only one solution to this dilemma - and it's below the fold:

Via AP/Yahoo:

WASHINGTON - With gasoline hitting $3 per gallon, scientists have just found the most energy-efficient engines in the universe — black holes, those whirling super-dense centers of galaxies that suck in nearly everything.

It's nice that science makes these discoveries, but what do black holes have to do with gas prices?

Kevin Sites reports on an unusual musician:

Near the piano, on a black stand that resembles a bipod, sits a Winchester lever action rifle. On its polished barrel are four hash marks, representing, says Lopez, the four people killed by it.

But there's much more to the gun than its history: six metal guitar strings stretch from the mid-point of its wooden stock, across the loading chamber, past the fret board threaded over the weapon's barrel, ending at a guitar neck flaring past the muzzle.

It's part of project in which Lopez transforms weapons of war into instruments of killer sound, using them in a kind of political performance art.

I'm thinking this guy should make the props if they make another sequel to Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

Via AP/Yahoo:

TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hinted Monday that Iran was considering withdrawing from the worldwide Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and said he did not think the U.N. Security Council would impose sanctions on Iran.

In other words, "we're gonna do what we want, and you don't have the spine to stop us". He also mentioned Israel:

"We say that this fake regime (Israel) cannot not logically continue to live," he said.

Of note is that the press got to see the jovial side of this genocidal maniac:

Ahmadinejad often gives long, rambling speeches but Monday was one of the rare occasions when he allowed foreign journalists to question him. He seemed to enjoy the encounter, joking and bantering with reporters.

Mahmoud gave the speech in front of a poster showing a child holding up a glowing object:

Kinda sick if you think about it. Spouting hatred and genocide in front of doves and children used as props shows Mahmoud to be something else entirely:

Added: I wonder if the children Ahmadinejad uses as props really understand what they're celebrating?

Via InstaPundit, I checked out Michelle Malkin's new venture, Hot Air. What a terrific idea - looks like something I'll be visiting regularly. Looks like others think so, too.

Deciding to show my enthusiasm for the new site (with its dynamite logo), I slip over to their CafePress portal for official Hot Air gear. Summer's coming, I thought. Another t-shirt for the collection... But alas, I won't be adding to my closet today.

Why not, you ask?

Because they only sell women's t-shirts!

Oh, the humanity! All the women will soon be adorned with the hip new gear of the summer, and the men get left out in the cold. Darn it, I can't go to the park wearing a refrigerator magnet!

So c'mon, Michelle - give the guys a break, OK?

Update (1:46 PM EST 24APR06): Of course I emailed Michelle Malkin and Bryan Preston within minutes after posting this. After all, it could have been an oversight that excluded much of Hot Air's demographic from the opportunity to conduct meaningful commerce at their gear site.

After 3 hours, unfortunately no answer from either. And worse, it looks like my trackback was denied! Here
is a screenshot showing the successful trackback to one of Hot Air's posts. But go to that post, and it's not there (Here's a screenshot just in case). Note that the last three trackbacks shown were made after mine!

Lord knows I'm not one to foster conspiracy theories, but it's starting to look a little suspicious. Could it be that this is a coverup of Hot Air's anti-male merchandising policies? And what about Bryan Preston? Why would he go along with it? You'd think he would address this egregious injustice. Hmmm?

Update 2 (3:00 PM EST 24APR06): My Trackback now appears. But there's STILL NO MEN'S T-SHIRTS! C'mon, Hot Air staff, help conservative men everywhere! Think about it - lots of us are old and overweight. Do you really want to see us at the beach wearing nothing but a Hot Air Bumper Sticker (even though it is UV resistant)?

Scientists Probe the Use of the Tongue

PENSACOLA, Fla. - In their quest to create the super warrior of the future, some military researchers aren't focusing on organs like muscles or hearts. They're looking at tongues.

Ick. This makes me kinda glad I'm retired.

Ed Morrissey posts about John Kerry's morning on George Stephanopolous' show. Kerry manages to suggest the real reason for classification and declassification, and surprise, it's the same for each:

"You know, classification in Washington is a tool that is used to hide the truth from the American people. Daniel Patrick Moynihan was eloquent and forceful in always talking about how we needed to, you know, end this endless declassification that takes place in this city, and it has become a tool to hide the truth from Americans."

It frightens me how close we were to having this kind of thought process in charge of the country.

Mark Coffey and Glenn Greenwald are conducting some cross-blog chatrooming this morning. The tone is somewhat less than amiable - surprising considering their long history...

This morning's chat started when Glenn updated a post on the leak story with a shot at Mark that I'm sure he thought was clever.

Right now Mark has the upper hand by pointing out that the Dems opposed increased security at some ports in order to score a few cheap political points.

Glenn continues his tortured Democrat leaks good / Republican leaks bad meme today. In the "Dem leaks good" story, he misses the point of the CIA's objections to publishing the story. Many GWOT operations are being carried out with the cooperation of foreign governments - exposing ongoing classified operations has the natural effect of these governments cooperating less, since they can't trust that their own intelligence services won't be compromised by some partisan with an axe to grind. Political condemnation would surely be more than skin deep in this case.

While we're here, I'd still like to see if his praise of Ms. McCarthy's leaks would be in any way tempered by this, which came out Friday. Even a dismissive mention would make him appear a little less uninformed...

I promised myself I'd try to followup more - this one's a good opportunity because Maryscott O'Connor provided an update last Sunday:

"The only factually incorrect thing in the Washington Post story about me was the description of my husband Adam's job..."

Unfortunately, the piece painted her and bloggers in general in a pretty bad light, as I illustrated in my previous post:

I've also had a chance since then to read what a few others wrote - for the first time I agree with Glenn Greenwald:

There is no cheaper or emptier form of argumentation than to isolate a specific individual, describe her, and then, without any basis, ascribe those attributes generally to some larger group -- in this case, a much, much larger and more diverse group -- of which she is ostensibly a part. Anyone who has even minimal exposure to "the blogosphere" knows that it is insusceptible to the sort of sweeping generalization oozing from every misleading paragraph in this article.

Not that he agrees with it - in the same piece he also writes:

"The real difference is that, to find rank hatemongering on the Right, one need not go digging into the 300th Comment on a blog or the most extreme postings of a relatively obscure blogger, because this type of limitless rhetorical attack has been a staple of the mainstream Right for more or less two decades now."

Insusceptable indeed - but I digress.

The Post article was unquestionably a hit piece. It painted the entire blogoshere in an unwholesome light with all the class and finesse of a drive-by shooting. Mrs. O'Connor was used and she knows it - "of course they're using me", she writes. To her credit, she's refreshingly honest on the point:

"I am using them, too. And so far, the benefits have far outweighed the costs. Both personally and politically, I have been enriched by my experiences in the corporate media..."

So there we have it - a story that alludes to Maryscott's particular brand of BDS as a projection of other issues such as the death of her father. Presumably Finkel took the time to read her online bio where her father is discussed along with her disability (Fibromyalgia, a chronic pain disorder that commonly affects cognitive function). It's mentioned in other posts as well. That Finkel took advantage of anyone bearing so many crosses is repugnant.

And disconnected she truly is - in the above linked post, she makes this statement:

"Anyone who places wholesale blame on any group for a particular ill in this world is delusional."

Has anyone noticed that the left is sensitive to stereotyping? And that was just a week after she responded to the news of Brian J. Doyle's arrest with:

"Are ALL these motherfuckers sexual deviants?"

Delusional, indeed. But again I digress.

So each party involved in the Post story used each other - does that mean there's no villain here? I suggest no - Finkel is a villain, but not the primary one. The real villains here are the readers and commenters of My Left Wing - who have watched this slow-motion train wreck and knowing that it was a train wreck, encouraged, prodded, and praised Maryscott - and gave her the notoriety that made her vulnerable to media hacks like Finkel.

To DJ Drummond for the loss of his father.

The identity of the leaker was divulged after my post from last night as one Mary McCarthy. While I actually need sleep in order to function, fortunately there are bloggers who don't. A good example is Curt at Flopping Aces who has 10 updates about the different small details about Ms. McCarthy that are coming out. Much of the speculation is about connections between McCarthy and prominent administration officials during the Clinton years and campaign donations to Kerry and the Dems.

I refuse to get caught up in too much of this. Politics tends to be very tribal, and some of these connections will likely turn out to be a natural manifestation of that. Time will tell. However, the hints that there will be more leakers taken to task is heartening and an indication that this is becoming a much bigger and more interesting story. Other good reading on the CIA firing is at A.J. Strata, who also functions well without sleep. A.J. points out that the left is crying foul over the firing.

The hinge-less side of the blogosphere is being predictable in the wake of the news from yesterday. Some examples:

FireDogLake: "the campaign against whistleblowers has just begun."

The "poor, innocent whistleblower as a target" meme seem to be the predominant view on the left. Considering this somewhat distorted view of justice, it's a very good thing indeed that we don't treat terrorism as a law enforcement matter as they would wish.

Glenn Greenwald: "This has nothing to do with national security or with safeguarding classified information. It is about punishment, vengeance, and deterrence..."

It should be no surprise that Glenn has an aversion to punishment - he endorsed a guest poster on his blog who feels that the drug dealer who wants to sell crack to your children should be let out of prison because prisons are, well - bad. I still can't figure out how he reconciles that view with his support of the lunatic-fringe idea of scrapping article III of the constitution in favor of having guilt assigned by legislative decree. I guess it depends on who you like...

Nearly all on the left have tried to draw the comparison with the declassification of historical data to dispute Joe Wilson's lies. None will admit that there is a significant difference between declassifying historical background data and leaking details of ongoing operations to keep Americans safe.

The award for hinge-lessness goes to Larisa Alexandrovna, who writes:

Imagine for a moment that during WWII, a German whistleblower was privy to plans for the building of concentration camps and made those plans known to the world. Imagine if this person also provided information that the German leadership, under the sadistic madness of Adolph Hitler, was abducting countless innocents who where then transported to undisclosed locations, never to be heard from again.

If that person risked everything for neither fame nor money in order to get this information out, would you - as a German citizen of that time - have considered them a national security threat, in violation of the law, a criminal? Or would you have wanted to know what was being done in your name? What is national security in this context?

The intellectual and moral disfunction displayed here is stunning. Of course none of the bleaters of the "whitleblower" meme have any excuse for selectively ignoring another story from yesterday that exposes their hate-based fantasies as fabrication.

I expect lots more in the coming days. The talking heads shows on Sunday should be especially interesting.

Update: Tom Maguire and Ace have some good reading as well.

Update 2: It appears that Flopping Aces is down - it's not a bad link.

Don Surber has uncovered a possible plot to rid the planet of cocoa merchants.

Where's the press on this? Why isn't Greta covering this night after night after night after...

Oh, the humanity.

This time it's about gas prices (H/T Ex-Donkey Blog):

Democrats Eager to Exploit Anger Over Gas Prices

Gary makes the point that this should backfire on the Dems since their record on energy would have to be viewed through rose-colored glasses to appear merely abysmal.

It may be useful to talk about why gas prices are so high, though. I have a close relative who works with the petrochemical industry, and he passes along a nugget or two from time to time. First, here's an average breakdown of the cost of a gallon of gas from September 7, 2005 (when gas prices were much higher than they are now). Keep in mind that taxes and emissions rules vary widely from state to state, so treat this as typical:

Distribution and marketing costs: $0.07
Credit card fees: $0.09
State excise tax: $0.18
Federal excise tax: $0.18
Dealer Markup $0.20
State and local sales tax: $0.23
Refinery cost and profit: $0.89
Crude oil cost: $1.54
RETAIL PRICE $3.38

Now here's what's happened in the US market since the beginning of the year:

1. All gasolines have to meet new environmental specifications for sulfur content (30 ppm). For those regions that had reformulated gasoline (RFG)(like California), it wasn't as big a shock since most of those 'boutique' gasolines had lower sulfur content. However, 'conventional' gasoline, which comprises most of the market, averaged around 250 ppm+ of sulfur. So going to 30 ppm wasn't a no cost exercise. Refiners have had to built specialty units (one project my relative told me of cost $100 million to construct) to remove all that icky sulfur from the gasoline.

2. Many states have mandated elimination of MTBE. MTBE in gasoline helped refiners meet oxygen requirements as well as add more gallons to supply. One requirement in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) mandates ethanol in gasoline. MTBE can be blended at the refinery, then shipped as part of the gasoline via pipeline from Houston up to Virginia, for example. You can't do that with ethanol. It has to blended with the gasoline at the local terminal in your city. You can't add as much ethanol as you can MTBE due to vapor pressure limits. Ethanol is subsidized and costs more than MTBE. In effect, a multi-whammy - higher cost, less supply. And added to the pain is the spectre of shortages in some regions as terminal owners deplete their stocks since they can't mix the two blends together.

3. It is during Feb-Apr period that the refining industry has to change from 'winter' gasoline to 'summer' gasoline specifications. That is a costly change in that you can't put as much of the 'cheap' stuff into what you sell as you can in the winter (like butane) due to tighter vapor pressure, NOx, toxics limits. Summer gasoline has and will cost more. Period. Thank the Democrats and the environmentalists for the regulations that drive the prices up in the summer.

4. It's fine to talk about price hikes as gouging, but does it make logical sense that the oil industry would let the average price drop by over 80 cents/gal as it did from Sept to Nov last year? If they were really gouging as too many people claim, they could have easily done so - crude oil prices dropped to the high fifties during that period (about a 15% drop) yet gas dropped by a third. What many people also forget is that part of the cost of refining isn't just crude oil (which makes up over 50%), but also the cost of energy. With high natural gas prices, you have a higher cost to refine.

5. A lot of hay has been made about the record profits made by oil companies. The Democrats have already set out it's attack dogs like the ultra-lefty Foundation For Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) with the message of profit=gouging. Oil companies are like most businesses, their models for markup are based on a percentage of the cost. I don't know what the margins are at Exxon (I could probably find out) but lets assume that it's 10%. At $1 /gallon, they make 10 cents. At $2, its 20 cents. Gas prices are higher, so the profit will be as well due to their business model - not because of "gouging".

If you're interested, here's more on the subject:

Fortune Magazine - The Truth About Oil - Oct 2005
Energy Information Administration - A Primer on Gasoline Prices (a little dated, but mostly holds up well)

Rightwingsparkle points out the hypocrisy of Howies recent remarks.

Go read.

Via AP/Yahoo:

WASHINGTON - The CIA has fired an employee for leaking classified information to the news media, an agency official said Friday. A federal criminal investigation has also been opened.

I suppose more details will come out soon enough, but the article contained a hint:

A second law enforcement official confirmed there was a criminal investigation under way and said the CIA officer had provided information that contributed to a Washington Post story last year saying there were secret U.S. prisons in Eastern Europe.

I wonder if the investigation will net any of the fired employee's accomplices?

This story is likely to grow.

Others posting about this:

Protein Wisdom
Wizbang
A.J. Strata
Ed Morrissey
Powerline (John)
Powerline (Paul)

Related:

Little Green Footballs: EU Finds No Evidence of Illegal CIA Action

I guess someone on the left has figured out the same techniques that those who peddle cheap viagra and incest porn use. I got 2 spam comments today, each identical, with a bunch of nonsensical ranting about Tom Delay and including at least a half dozen links.

Just in case they aren't spam (they were both posted to a very old entry, which is why I suspect they are), I'll let you know that I routinely delete any non-topical comments. I have filters set up to hold any comment with more than 1 link as well.

That said, please feel free to utilize the comment area for on-topic discussion. All are welcome.

This week, the terror of Tehran raises the spectre of higher oil prices:

TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that the crude oil prices now at record levels still were below their "real value," state-run Tehran radio reported.

In his first remarks on the current price of oil, the hard-line Iranian leader also said developed countries were benefiting most from the high prices.

"The global oil price has not reached its real value yet. The products derived from crude oil are sold at prices dozens of times higher than those charged by oil-producing countries," the radio quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

He did not say what oil prices should be.

Via AP/Yahoo:

Appearing with Bush on the White House South Lawn just before the president boarded a helicopter at the start a trip to Alabama, McClellan, who has parried especially fiercely with reporters on Iraq and on intelligence issues, told Bush: "I have given it my all sir and I have given you my all sir, and I will continue to do so as we transition to a new press secretary."

Bush said McClellan had "a challenging assignment."

"I thought he handled his assignment with class, integrity," the president said. "It's going to be hard to replace Scott, but nevertheless he made the decision and I accepted it. One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking in chairs in Texas and talking about the good old days."

I'd be surprised if this were true, though.

The carnage in Nepal continues:

KATMANDU, Nepal - Security forces opened fire on thousands of pro-democracy protesters in southeastern Nepal on Wednesday, killing at least two and wounding several others, a local official said.

Aren't you glad to be living in the USA, Cindy Sheehan? Well?

A ministry official said he believed the attacks were aimed at: "intimidating pupils and disrupting learning."

What he was talking about:

Teachers beheaded in Baghdad in front of students

Update: Looks like it may have been an overstatement:

Iraq Police Deny Report of Teachers Killed

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Militants killed two people at elementary schools in a mainly Shiite district of Baghdad on Wednesday, the government said. But police in the neighborhood denied any attack occurred.

The contradictory accounts could not immediately be reconciled.

The National Security Ministry initially said in a statement that militants broke into the Amna and Shaheed Hamdi schools and "slaughtered" a teacher in each one in front of students in the Shaab neighborhood of the capital.

But the ministry later said the dead were a school guard and a teacher. It said the guard was stabbed to death by militants in front of students, while the teacher was shot outside the school as he arrived in the morning for classes.

The ministry said it was still working to establish details in the attack.

Ali al-Obeidi, the director of the police in the Shaab district, said there was no attack against any school in the area.

When they make up their minds, we'll let you know.

Today's must read is a Mark Steyn article in the WSJ online - "Facing Down Iran"

He spells out the differences between a nuclear Iran and a nuclear anywhere else:

"If, say, Norway or Ireland acquired nuclear weapons, we might regret the "proliferation," but we wouldn't have to contemplate mushroom clouds over neighboring states. In that sense, the civilized world has already lost: to enter into negotiations with a jurisdiction headed by a Holocaust-denying millenarian nut job is, in itself, an act of profound weakness--the first concession, regardless of what weaselly settlement might eventually emerge."

Mr. Steyn offers a pretty complete picture of the stakes involved - go read it all.

Todays Wall Street Journal has a good take on the small number of former generals speaking out for Rumsfeld's resignation:

"The anti-Rumsfeld generals have a right to their opinion. But there's a reason the Founders provided for civilian control of the military, and a danger in military men using their presumed authority to push elected Administrations around. As for Democrats and their media allies, we can only admire their sudden new deference to the senior U.S. officer corps, which follows their strange new respect for the "intelligence community" they also once despised. U.S. military recruiters might not be welcome on Ivy League campuses, but they're heroes when they trash the Bush Administration."

Worth a read.

Kat at News, Views, 'n Opinions posts a poem.

I'm not much into poetry, but this one I liked.

Thanks, Kat.

Does a profile on Maryscott O'Connor (pictured below) of the lefty blog My Left Wing.

It's a fascinating yet disturbing view into the rage-filled, spittle-infused, foul, and profane left side of the blogosphere. While the piece appears largely sympathetic, it is nonetheless frightening:

...she picks up the album about her father, where there's a letter from him to his wife, written three days before he died, that ends, "I love you and the baby more than I ever knew a person could love."

The baby.

He never knew her name, or that she was a girl, or that his wife weighed less on the day their daughter was born than when she was conceived. "Catatonic" is how O'Connor describes what her mother became for a while, and then the mother got better, and then the daughter got worse, and then the daughter got better by becoming angry rather than silent about a new war, so angry she began wishing her president would go to hell.

"In the angry life of Maryscott O'Connor, the rage begins as soon as she opens her eyes..."

The front door opens and in comes her 6-year-old son, Terry, home from school, who starts batting around a blue balloon at the other end of the living room, batting it closer to her, closer, closer. She searches through her iTunes library until she finds one of her favorite downloads -- not music, but a speech by a character named Howard Beale in the movie "Network." She presses "play" and turns up the volume. "I want you to get mad!" Beale shouts at one point. "I want you to get mad!" she shouts along, startling Terry. "What?" he says, backing away with his balloon.

Read the whole thing.

H/T Little Green Footballs

Update: Photo added.
Update 2: Kim Priestap at WizBang: "It's quite the irony, isn't it, how they allow the man they hate with every fiber of their bodies complete control over their lives."

Update 3: Captain Ed: "If I were a liberal blogger, I would cringe with embarrassment after reading this article."

Update 4: My friend Bob thinks the Post cherry-picked the worst of the left for the story. He's got a point that there are leftist blogs that don't spew vile. Unfortunately, the most popular ones do.

Update 5: Eventually someone else will post a "separated at birth" picture pair, so I may as well be first:

In response to a few emails on an earlier post - yes, I had a few others:

Right on the heels of the announcement that Iran had successfully enriched uranium, their leader is again yapping about the destruction of Isreal:

TEHRAN, Iran - The president of Iran again lashed out at Israel on Friday and said it was "heading toward annihilation," just days after Tehran raised fears about its nuclear activities by saying it successfully enriched uranium for the first time.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Israel a "permanent threat" to the Middle East that will "soon" be liberated. He also appeared to again question whether the Holocaust really happened.

"Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation," Ahmadinejad said at the opening of a conference in support of the Palestinians. "The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm."

Ahmadinejad provoked a world outcry in October when he said Israel should be "wiped off the map."

On Friday, he repeated his previous line on the Holocaust, saying: "If such a disaster is true, why should the people of this region pay the price? Why does the Palestinian nation have to be suppressed and have its land occupied?"

The land of Palestine, he said, referring to the British mandated territory that includes all of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, "will be freed soon."

He did not say how this would be achieved, but insisted to the audience of at least 900 people: "Believe that Palestine will be freed soon."

"The existence of this (Israeli) regime is a permanent threat" to the Middle East, he added. "Its existence has harmed the dignity of Islamic nations."

The three-day conference on Palestine is being attended by officials of Hamas, the ruling party in the Palestinian territories.

"eliminated by one storm" doesn't sound good, does it?

InstaPunk responded to my last post. Characteristic of his limp support for legitimatizing and increasing illegal immigration by inviting millions of unemployed foreign nationals to stream across our border joining the millions who plan to tell ICE "5 years, sir", regardless of how recently they came here so that they can get a fast track to citizenship ahead of those who've been waiting in line for years, he chose to forgo making a new post in favor of an update to the old one.

He does give me an idea for a new state motto, though:

Delaware - We're better educated and our family trees have branches.

To my friend from the wrong side of the river, don't go into the light - but if you do, it'll lead you to the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

Yesterday, Iran anounced the successful enrichment of uranium:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the enrichment success Tuesday in a nationally televised ceremony, saying the country's nuclear ambitions are peaceful and warning the West that trying to force Iran to abandon enrichment would "cause an everlasting hatred in the hearts of Iranians."

As if we didn't have it already, thanks to years of conditioning from the Iranian government. The ceremony featured the passing around of samples of enriched uranium:

To show how serious and responsible about nuclear power they are, some of those samples were placed in the hands of dancers - that's right, dancers:

In light of all the statements by Ahmadinejad and the rest of his government in recent months, the dancers look out of place against the doves and blue sky. Indeed, they remind one of images like these:

The symbolism is the same, except that Iran isn't using rifles...

Alexandra says we are "Out of Time" (a must read, BTW). Perhaps. I'd like to think there may yet be time - provided we don't get blinded by the doves and flowers. Otherwise, the next glitzy presentation from Tehran may show us how late it really is.

Update (3:10 PM 25APR06): Welcome American Thinker readers (and thanks to J.R. Dunn for the link)! Please feel free to look around while you're here!

A little town beat a WHOLE COUNTY!! And nothing but excuses from InstaPunk:

"I should have realized, probably, that Newark's status as a university town makes it a lot easier for them to hit the magic dozen mark when it comes to assembling protesters in a great cause like this one."

Eat yer heart out.

There were lots of immigration protest events yesterday, one was held in my hometown of Newark, Delaware. It was advertised quite heavily on local radio as a candlelight vigil to begin at 6 PM. I was there from 6:10 P.M. until 7:05 P.M., the following are pictures from the event.

Turnout was extremely light - I'm assuming that in addition to the fact that this isn't as big of an issue in northern Delaware as it is in the southwestern US, the day and time worked against the organizers as well - many of the target audience were just getting off work and more concerned with getting dinner than attending a march. And being a reasonable driving distance from DC and Philly, I suspect that many serious activists spent their day at other events.

ACORN was the organizer of the event. While their mission of registering voters dovetailed nicely with the event's theme of "today we march, tomorrow we vote", there was no active courting of voters yesterday. The folks in attendance I spoke with were entirely focused on the perception that HB4437 would turn priests and social workers into felons for assisting illegal aliens.

Noticably absent were flags of any kind except for those drawn on a couple of signs. Also, no sign of the communist/socialist element that attended other gatherings around the country, and there were no incendiary t-shirts. While I disagree wholeheartedly with their goal of amnesty, everyone I spoke with was friendly and polite, and were seemingly unconcerned about my views. Indeed, the tone and mood was less like a protest and more like a backyard BBQ.

On to the pictures - the thumbs are all heavily cropped, click on them to get the larger uncropped versions:

The vigil was held in a neighborhood park. In the popup, you'll see a cluster of people behind the sign. Yes, that's the protest. The organizers were disappointed but unsurprised at the turnout.

They certainly picked the right neighborhood - signs like this were posted in several places.

Here's the ACORN table. The fellow with the camera and microphone was from a local radio station, no other media attended.

Another angle showing the vigil.

No protest is complete without signs. All of theirs were taped to park fencing and signage, no sign waving here.

Ick.

No comment.

After I left, the crowd grew to well over a dozen, and they finally lit the candles. The reporter from WDEL filed a video report here. No, I'm not in the video.

In summary, this was a bust attendance-wise. But I'm still glad I went. This event stood out as a sharp contrast to the more spectacular protests elsewhere in the country. No yelling, chanting or megaphones, and the attendees with were all uniformly nice and well-behaved. Their message, however misguided I feel it to be, was free of the communist/socialist/Che/anarchist garbage seen at other events. Perhaps that makes this a unique and notable story.

Welcome InstaPundit Readers! Thanks for the link, Glenn. Feel free to look around while you're here!

Welcome to InstaPunk and Classical Values readers! Thanks for the links!

She appeared on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher Friday evening - Video on Expose The Left. I'll go along with Scott at Powerline - she's nuts.

She's also way out of touch - she thinks Tom Delay is still speaker of the House.

H/T Powerline.

More at WizBang.

New Red, Blue Rings Found Around Uranus

Ick.

Huh?

Specifically, all of you on the left who have been claiming for five years that the Bush administration has been taking away your rights.

Read this and tell me again why you have it so bad...

The left has been in a frenzy all week in response to the news that the White House defended itself from the dishonest attack by Joe Wilson. Here's Nancy Pelosi's bleat:

But when someone on the left exposed the Terrorist Surveilance Program, unambiguously undermining national security for cheap partisan political points, that was OK, right, Nancy?

Here's the Reiddler's take:

You gotta love their ability to twist and spin. The White House unsurprisingly and rightfully releases truth to counter a lie and Reid feigns outrage over Bush's candor?

Anyone desiring a good explanation of why Pelosi and Reid are once again being dishonest in the quest for political points should read John Podhoretz's op-ed in the New York Post (H/T Austin Bay). Excerpt:

"On Oct. 7, 2002, nine months before Bush's supposed "leak," the administration released an unclassified version of the very same NIE at the urging of Senate Democrats."

You can't leak what is already public. Period. Even if parts of what Libby passed on were still classified, the President had the right to declassify it. It's in his job description, and Nancy and Harry can't lie away that fact. And that means it couldn't be a leak. "The President released truth to fight slander" should be the headline.

BDS seems to drive people to believe things that simply aren't true. This latest repugnant slander from Reid, Pelosi, and their pals is designed to feed emotion that obscures fact.

Don't go into the light, folks.

Well, sort of - I watched it live - the AP story is here:

WASHINGTON - Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., expressed "sincere regret" Thursday for her altercation with a Capitol police officer, and offered an apology to the House.

"There should not have been any physical contact in this incident," McKinney said in brief remarks on the House floor. "I am sorry that this misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation and I apologize."

McKinney's comments came after the case had been referred to a federal grand jury for possible prosecution.

She had previously insisted she had done nothing wrong, and accused police of "racial profiling." She is African-American and the police officer is white.

Why can't politicians give a sincere apology?

Since it went to a grand jury, it looks like the seriousness of the incident has sunk in. This isn't much of an apology - there's no acknowlegement of her responsibility, and the remark about "there should not have been any physical contact" appears more directed at the CHP than at herself.

I'm afraid that this is just an attempt to get more Democrats on her side. It won't derail the grand jury, but if she gets indicted, all of her supporters will point to this "apology" and say the prosecution is politically/racially motivated.

Without all the race-baiting, this would be a pathetic excuse for an apology. With all the race-baiting, this is simply insulting.

Update (1:43 PM 06 APR 06): Video available at Expose the Left.

Update 2: "Miss McKinney" now has a bodyguard. He's a rude one, too. The CHP won't like having private thugs on their turf.... Film at Expose The Left.

To Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters for his selection as Blogger of the Year by The Week magazine.

Of course, I read his blog back when it was merely cool to do so.

The Deputy Press Secretary for Homeland Security is accused of having some creepy internet social habits:

MIAMI - The deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was charged with using a computer to seduce a child after authorities said he struck up sexual conversations with an undercover detective posing as a 14-year-old girl.

Brian J. Doyle, 55, who is the fourth-ranking official in the department's public affairs office, was expected to be placed on administrative leave Wednesday.

Authorities said they arrested Doyle on Tuesday at his Silver Spring, Md., home as he was online with the "girl." The undercover detective had called Doyle at work and said she got a Web camera, as he had asked her to do, and wanted to test it out, said Carrie Rodgers, Polk County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.

From the detail in the story, it looks like they've got him cold. If so, then he's a sicko who deserves everything the court can toss at him.

Equally sick is the way the moonbats are taking the news. Read the comments to the post here. I'm sure we'll see plenty more examples as folks wake up to this story.

Update: As predicted. Here's a few samples:

21. Freaking sick. Really. I get no pleasure out of this, but yet again we were right. All republicans are like this. Sick nut jobs. (Comment by Alex — April 4, 2006 @ 11:10 pm)

42. I am not shocked at all by this nor would I be shocked to learn that others like:Cheney,Rummy,Condi,Turd Blossom,Delay and wife have thier own personal corral of live asian boys at Shrubs ranch in Crawford. I would have included King George in this but we all know he has a withered dyke fetish(Condi,Miers,Laura and Momma barb) (Comment by Vance — April 4, 2006 @ 11:59 pm)

52. Kill All Republicans and conservatives, now! Better yet, let’s dust off and nuke this shithole from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. (Comment by Corporal Hicks — April 5, 2006 @ 12:55 am)

And at Huffington Post:

Nothing but scum, criminals, perverts and sociopaths in this administration and circle of friends.

Nice going Bush- appoint a pedophile for homeland security. What were his qualifications for the job? Kiddie porn king for the GOP?

By: realitychick on April 05, 2006 at 09:30am

What is the big deal? Whites are notorious when it comes to killing their family members and sexing kids.

By: BlackMan32 on April 05, 2006 at 09:57am

Michelle Malkin tells a story about someone who has a little bit too much interest in her schedule.

It's kinda creepy if you ask me. The fun part, though, is to read the comments from this guy's post (follow the link from Michelle's site) where he gets spanked by even his own readers.

As an aside, Michelle gives out more info on her blogging habits than I would have recommended:

"And I may even do it from a bathroom..."

Hmm... Potty-Blogging?

Not a day goes by when I don't learn something new. Today is no exception, and I've decided to share the wealth. First, a quiz:

If you introduce 400+ new jobs into an impoverished urban blight zone with high crime rates and high unemployment, what would the result be?

A. Increased poverty, increased crime, increased urban blight.
B. Decreased poverty, lower crime, and a chance for community prosperity.

Now if you answered "B", you'd be wrong. At least according to the union uber-economists at WakeUpWalMart.com (a wholly owned subsidiary of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, CLC). In response to this announcement from Wal Mart about plans to build 50 stores in "neighborhoods with high crime or unemployment rates, on sites that are environmentally contaminated, or in vacant buildings or malls in need of revitalization", this is what the famously anti-business union had to say:

"Of course, new Wal-Mart stores would violently exacerbate existing problems of crime, poverty, environmental contamination, and urban blight in these areas."

So by their reasoning, we can help these areas by closing businesses and creating even more unemployment. Then these urban blight zones would become leftist utopias, right? Isn't socialism wonderful?

BTW, the average hourly wage at Wal-Mart is $10.67. For you utopian Democrat supporters, that would mean $11481.60 a year more than minimum wage. In contrast to Teddy and Howie's plan, that adds up to not just one year of groceries, but a car to drive them home in. Not just over 9 months of rent, but enough income to qualify for a small mortgage. Not just a year and a half of heat and electricity, but new appliances to run with that electricity. Not just full tuition for a community college degree, but a couple of years at a decent land grant college.

With Teddy and Howie's plan, you get enough to put a new skirt and steps on the double-wide and maybe a new bowling ball. It's no wonder that "a voice for working America" has to brag on 7 out 300 employees at a Canadian store as a victory. Folks here in the States can't take the pay cut that UFCW supports.

It's not just backing the wrong horse. UFCW wants to be in back of the wrong horse as well.

Full disclosure: I received an email from Wal-Mart's PR firm about an hour after I had read the AP story linked above. Email or no, I still would have posted. I don't work for Wal-Mart, don't shop there, and don't have any family or friends that work there. I get paid nothing for pointing out the anti-business nature of UFCW's (and the left's) ridiculous war against Wal-Mart.

But if it is, I'll accept the risk - I won't be frightened into giving up my beloved barbecue:

Barbecue meats linked with prostate cancer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A compound formed when meat is charred at high temperatures -- as in barbecue -- encourages the growth of prostate cancer in rats, researchers reported on Sunday.

Their study, presented at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, may help explain the link between eating meat and a higher risk of prostate cancer.

It also fits in with other studies suggesting that cooking meat until it chars might cause cancer.

The compound, called PhIP, is formed when meat is cooked at very high temperatures, Dr. Angelo De Marzo and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore reported.

How fortunate we are to live in a time where science can tell us that virtually everything we eat, drink, or breath is bad for us. Not this time, pals. I'm keeping my barbecue, risks be damned!

Mmmm - that gives me ideas for tonight's dinner...

I heard about this from the radio while taking my 2nd-grader to the bus stop. Via AP/Yahoo:

DOVER, Del. - A C-5 cargo plane with 17 people aboard crashed near the Dover Air Force Base Monday morning, according to a state public safety official.

There is no word on fatalities but Department of Public Safety assistant director Allen Metheny said some injuries have been reported. Some patients are being taken to a local hospital and others were being taken to a trauma center.

It's not clear if the plane was landing or taking off when it crashed around 6:45 a.m.

The plane broke into three pieces, with the cockpit separated from the fuselage and a wing shattered. It wasn't immediately clear whether the plane was taking off or landing when it crashed.

The C-5 is one of the Air Force's largest cargo planes and is designed to carry very heavy cargo loads on transcontinental deployments.

Yet despite its size, the C-5 is desigend to be a versatile aircraft which can fly non-stop for 2,500 miles at jet speeds and is able to re-fuel in air. The plane, made by Lockheed Martin, can take off and land on relatively short, unpaved air strips, and can load cargo from both ends at once.

The C-5 also has a respectable safety record. Prior to today, only 5 had been lost since it entered service in 1970. I flew (as a passenger) on C-5s several times during my active duty career - a truly impressive aircraft.

Some of you may know that I live in Newark, Delaware. I occasionally travel to Dover AFB, and enjoy meeting and speaking with the active duty professionals there. TB and I are thankful that there were no fatalities, and our prayers are with the 17 passengers and crew for a rapid and complete recovery from their injuries.

Via Powerline, here's a story about our brave Democrats looking to pile on now that former Congressman Randy Cunningham is sufficiently helpless:

A senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee has prompted an investigation of the last three defense authorization bills, to review requests made by disgraced former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, CongressDaily reported Thursday.

It's not that I have no taste for justice - indeed, if they find evidence of more wrongdoing, Cunningham should be taken to task for it. But the Dems have a history for this kind of bloodlust, and let's face it - they're not looking for crimes, but for political ammunition. Their pursuit of Tom Delay is a terrific example of this. And who could forget this recent quote about a rare deviation from the Dem's usual tactics:

"I'm amazed at Democrats ... cowering with this president's numbers so low..."

(Of course, that was Russ Feingold, who apparently thinks it's time to scrap Article III of the constitution in favor of having guilt or innocence determined by legislative decree.)

Back in November I brought you the story of the late Jerry Garcia's household items being auctioned for charity. Included were appliances, cabinets, and bathroom fixtures. That auction never occured, as the owner was blocked from holding the auction by the folks to which he sold Garcia's house.

Last month the toilet was finally sold to a casino for $2550.00. But the story's not over - the fabled throne of the king of cult-rock has been stolen:

SONOMA, California - The long, strange trip continues for Jerry Garcia's toilet. Police say the Grateful Dead leader's commode was stolen recently from a driveway along with three other toilets and a bidet, The Press Democrat newspaper reported Saturday.

"...along with three other toilets"? Was this part of a collection? Ick.

It's unclear if the toilet was swiped by a wayward Deadhead or a thief remodeling a bathroom. Police have no suspects or leads.

Since the investigation is in the crapper, the casino has offered a $250.00 reward. The previous owner explains why the late rock star's privvy is so valuable:

Henry Koltys said Friday that the toilet once stood in the master bathroom of Garcia, who died in 1995 at age 53. "It would have been his personal head," he said.

Sometimes I see folks handling memorabilia from famous people and saying something like "if only this could talk - think of the stories it could tell". I can't think of any stories told by this toilet that I would want to hear.

By the way, the Canadian on-line casino that bought it has made a few other wierd purchases:

...it paid $25,000 for actor William Shatner's kidney stones and $28,000 for a grilled cheese sandwich that reportedly had the image of the Virgin Mary on it...

Several thoughts, in no particular order:

See Them Run, See Them Hide Dept: Turnout was light because Feingold frightens the hell out of his fellow Dems. They know the program is legal, and had no basis to suggest otherwise since the beginning. But it was a PR dream come true - since the program is classified they could attack the President repeatedly in the press knowing the administration could do little to defend itself. Feingold brought the fun to a complete stop by moving the issue from partisan hackery to action - with the exception of Pat "leaky" Leahy, they don't want to be seen in the same room with him.

A typical disconnected blog post on the hearings from Christy Hardin Smith at firedoglake:

"I’m just feeling a bit disgusted at the lack of participation by Senators on both sides of the aisle on this, who have decided to put short-term political considerations above concerns for the long-term welfare of our Constitutional Republic."

Actually, they put both their long and short-term political goals ahead of Russ Feingold's short-term political goals - it's a not a subtle difference.

What Russ taught us today dept: If your arguments are really thin, supplement them with quotes from extremist lefties like Glenn Greenwald. Glenn should sell a few more of his Bush-bashing books when they come out as a result. I suggest that it's not enough payment, though. I don't know what Greenwald's reputation as a "litigator" was before, but supporting a lunatic-fringe idea like bypassing the judicial branch in favor of having guilt assigned by legislative decree can't have helped much.

By the way, why "litigator" and not "attorney" or "lawyer"? Kinda reminds me of a Major I knew in the Air Force who responded poorly to the label "pilot" - "I'm an aviator", he would retort to those that dared to suggest he belonged to the same club as those that merely flew airplanes.

A Short Bus Full of Questions Dept: While I noticed that AJ Strata had posted a long review of the House Judicial Committee' questions from the Republicans, I noted that he didn't do one for the Dems' questions. I haven't searched, but the usual places I go didn't do one either. So I took a longer look at them myself, and figured out why. Here's a few examples - most of the questions seem fall into the same mold as the following:

Other than the President, what individuals at the White House are briefed on the program, and how often are they briefed?

Classified information is passed out on a need-to-know basis. When I worked with classified stuff in the military, the list of those people with a need-to-know was treated as sensitive as well. Why? Well, If I wanted classified info, but knew I would never get access to the storage area on my own, the next best thing would be to get a list of who can, so that I could exploit one or two of them to get it for me. And besides, the question has no bearing on whether the program is legal.

Does anyone independent of the NSA check persons in the US whose phone calls or emails are searched or seized to make sure that they are not being targeted based on their political opinions?

The way this is phrased makes it a "yes" or "no" type of question. Go ahead and try it - answer both ways to the core portion of the question and see what you could do with this in a political ad. It's a sick parody of Perry Mason - "Answer yes or no, Mr. Jones - after you murdered your wife, did you eat lunch?" Oh, and the question has nothing to do with the overall legality of the program.

When was the last time you supplied any Member of the House Judiciary Committee or any Committee of the Congress a copy of such minimization procedures?

Don't these people have google? And what does this have to do with the legality of the program?

Once the NSA decides to monitor the communications of a person in the United States, do they also target and monitor the communications of any person in the United States who communicates with the original target? If so, does someone first determine whether the second target is knowingly conspiring with a foreign terrorist?

More framing from the Perry Mason Wanna-bes.

How many hours and dollars have been spent searching or seizing the phone calls or emails of people in the US, and how much of this has been spent on people who have never been charged with any crime?

More fishing for soundbites to place in attack ads, and asking for classified material (budgets for classified programs are also classified. If you have to ask why, you most likely lack the ability to understand the answer.). A two-fer!

To be fair, there are some relevant questions in the document, but far too many are like the above.

Can't We take Them At Face Value For A Change? Dept: Lots of hay was made over the differing conclusions made in two articles about the former FISA judges who testified wednesday (here and here). Lots of blogs jumped in with their interpretations of the judges' comments to support one article or another as being right (examples here and here). Since the judges were clear that they weren't going to comment on the legality of the program, why can't we just point out that both articles were wrong, and avoid over-parsing the testimony to look for something that was clearly out of context in regard to the legality issue?

We All Have Our Reasons Dept: Although most of the left's support for the Feingold Censure Resolution is undoubtedly driven by BDS, I've discovered that some on the left may have different reasons. From Jane Hamsher:

"With with the help of the DNC field organizers and the campaign of leading Democrat Russ Feingold, 65 people to show up and pushed back against the ads that the fearful, desperate GOP has been running in Wisconsin upbraiding the handsome, manly and brave Feingold for wanting to censure the admitted criminal actions of George W. Bush."

John Dean is Irrelevant Dept: What possible contribution could John Dean make to the debate on the NSA? It appears to me that his only contribution is to bolster the left's smear tactic of comparing Bush to Nixon. But this is nothing new - after all, the comparisons of the Iraq war to Viet Nam started before the war did.