How to survive the 'cool' handshake...

You become bewildered when faced with an "ethnic" handshake.

It is the fear of all suburbanites: when presented with a fist, an open palm, or any other nonstandard handshake, we freeze up, unable to react. We know that we must act quickly to avoid looking hopelessly square, or worse yet, racist. What do we do?

The most important factor when faced with an "academic" handshake is reaction time. No matter what your response is, slapping a fist or tickling a palm is infinitely better than just tentatively extending your trembling hand and hoping the other party takes the initiative to guide you through the process.

All handshakes are, at their core, tests to measure the machismo and charisma of an opponent; a nonstandard handshake goes above all that, and becomes a test of confidence and will. The slightest hesitation values your opponent's hand above your own. When faced with an unfamiliar handshake, take action, any action, as quickly as possible. Don't think, just shoot out your hand and slap whatever's in front of you.

....thanks to somethingawful.com

Moon Eclipse

A few week ago, we had a full eclipse of the moon on a clear night which made the viewing very enjoyable. It was an awesome site. Got this picture from Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive which has lots of astronomical photos.

Sunday's lesson in esoterics...

Vernon Howard's SECRETS OF LIFE (R)

**********************************************************************
"This world that you live in is not governed by human beings at all.
This globe is not run by human personalities, it is not run by events at all. Already this may be something of a surprise to you because our minds are slanted so much toward believing that people, men, women, great men, ungreat men, that they control the events of the world.
Nothing could be more distant from the truth. This world that you live in, that you existed in today is controlled by attitudes. It is run by unconscious attitudes."

The New World Above Your Mind DVD # 23, Talk 1

Saturday with the terrorists and Rosie O'Donnell

POOR, POOR KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMED

"The media is now downplaying the claims of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed...saying he may be exaggerating his testimony. Of course, this is being done to try and minimize the threat of Islamic terrorism. As if being responsible for 9/11 weren't enough. Democrats, who are in denial about the terrorist threat, are seeking to minimize any success the Bush Administration may be having with fighting the war on terror. And naturally the media is along for the ride.

You know what the implication is here. We obviously tortured him, right? He's just telling us what we want to hear....lying about his conquests. One man couldn't possibly be responsible for all of that. Funny how every time we capture or kill an Al-Qaeda bigwig, Democrats downplay it as just one person. But in the same breath, they turn around and mock the Bush Administration for not capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden yet. Wait a minute...I thought he was just one man?

So now we get to watch the media and liberals stir up sympathy for an Islamic terrorist. Rosie O'Donnell defended poor Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on 'The View.' That's not far off the mark when it comes to the latest Democratic response." (thanks to Neal Boortz)

Donald Trump has funny hair, but I have to agree with his comments about Ms. O'Donnell.

The Flying Imams
The six imams who were kicked off a flight in Minneapolis are now not only suing the airline, but are also targeting passengers that reported them to airport security. If this goes through, people are going to be afraid to report Islamic terrorism in progress. This is just the kind of political correctness the 9/11 hijackers relied on.

Bring Him On...

Come on down Fred.

Economy Model Cat Carrier...

This one is few bucks cheaper than the last carrier I advertised and offers the added value of thirty free beers!

Real Intelligence...

'I am now aware that intelligence does not consist of a mere
collection of facts, but exactly what is real intelligence?'

'It is a freely flowing whole mind. Our task is to remove the need-
less barriers to this natural flow. Any negative thought is a barrier,
including antagonism, jealousy, self-glorification. An intelligent
mind flows freely and quietly, like a mountain brook.'"

There is a Way Out, p. 113....Vernon Howard

Chik-a-filet trained cows.....

KOLKATA, India (Reuters) -- When dozens of chickens went missing from a remote West Bengal village, everyone blamed the neighborhood dogs.

But Ajit Ghosh, the owner of the missing chickens, eventually solved the puzzle when he caught his cow -- a sacred animal for the Hindu family -- gobbling up several of them at night.

"We were shocked to see our calf eating chickens alive," Ghosh told Reuters by phone from Chandpur village, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of Kolkata.

.

New Thinking

An individual does not have dozens of problems. He has only one fundamental problem. Realizing this is like leaping over a high fence that blocked our path.
What is it?
It is the illusion that ordinary thinking can solve problems. Ordinary thought, conditioned thought, cannot solve problems because it is the very cause of problems. Habitual thinking, frozen thinking, cannot teach us anything new, any more than a polar bear can teach anything about tropical bananas. It is strange how we fail to see this. Furiously and frantically, we battle for years in an attempt to think our way out, but new walls appear at every turn.

A totally new way of thinking is required. This thinking does not look to conditioned memory for an answer. Instead, the mind waits quietly for something higher than memory to speak. The resulting answer solves all problems."


Esoteric Encyclopedia of Eternal Knowledge, p. 144....Vernon Howard

A Democrat with sense.....

Ed Knoch is the only Democrat since JFK that I would support and give him a vote.
Yeah, I was a flaming liberal once.
Go here and read any of his essays. I recommend this one first. Its one of my favorite grinds. Rich, privileged, ungrateful celebrities bashing the USA.

Sam and Max are back....

Our favorite goofy detectives are back at work.
I played a game many years ago called "Sam and Max Hit the Road". I still laugh at how foolish that was or maybe it was me?
Anyway, guaranteed laughs here and don't we all need that?

Yestereday was the first aniverasary of the death of my cat Lucy-Susy. That baby had been with me for fourteen years and had transformed from being a cat into a blessing. I'm not over her yet. She slept with me from day 1 and even when I was working odd hours for the Tennessean and sleeping like from 9am to 2 or 3 she would climb up there and snuggle in my armpit. She liked the outside in good weather and she could hear my vehicle coming up the street and would meet me at the end of the drive. It was a special relationship and I'll always remember it.

POLITICS: Friday Afternoon Poll: Electric Al Gore Edition!

Went here looking for Hot Stove League Baseball news and, of all things ,found a Goreland poll.
Go on over and vote.

Quote of the Day Department:

“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.”— Marcus Tullius Cicero

Burka Band -Burka Blue

"So many people, so little purpose."....Sherlock Holmes

On Geroge Clooney and Hollyweird actors in general...

"days of salt and vinegar
by J.C. Phillips

A French philosopher once remarked that a civilization that feels guilty for everything it is and does will not have the will or energy to defend itself. I thought of these words when I read the recent Newsweek interview with actor George Clooney. When asked about the failure of the international community to act to end the genocide in Darfur, Clooney blamed it on the United States’ lack of moral authority since our invasion of Iraq.

Curiously, Clooney did not blame the lethargic international response on the inertia of the European Union, the duplicity of Arab states that funded the conflict while Muslims were slaughtering Christians and now seem content to sit by as Muslims slaughter Muslims. Neither did he ascribe any blame to the Chinese and Russians that have routinely blocked U.N. action. For Clooney, the fault lies solely with the United States because we are currently in Iraq, oddly enough doing exactly what Clooney wants the U.S. to do in Sudan.

Of course, to hear Clooney tell it, his perspective on U.S. foreign relations is due to his being raised to look at this country from the outside in as opposed to the inside out. Why is that Hollywood celebrities hide their hubris behind claims that they are simply more sophisticated than the rest of us? No doubt, it is this same sophistication that leads them to embrace totalitarian dictators and become enamoured of all things European. The same Europe, by the way, that is so morally superior that they were paralyzed during the Bosnian crisis, sat on their hands during the genocide in Rwanda and now sits impotent in the face of a soon to be nuclear armed Iran; The same Europe that witnesses suffering in Sudan and fails to act because they disagree with our Iraq policy. That can’t even sound right to Clooney.

There is a steady stream of anti-Americanism that runs through Hollywood and is infecting the rest of the country. From Hollywood actors that wear their contempt for America like a badge of honor to former presidential candidates that bad mouth America in the ears of despots and beyond, the ranks of the guilt-ridden and self loathing are growing. The irony is that the ambitions of so many of these Hollywood types – treatment for AIDS, ending starvation, preventing genocide etc. – hinge not on the soft socialism of Europe, but on the very American values they disdain. It is those same values of self reliance, decentralization, capitalism, freedom of speech and religion and rights to private property -- and not European secularist socialism -- that is the blueprint for world peace and prosperity.

Perhaps in another era I could listen to actors like Clooney hold forth on their designer soapboxes and just ascribe it to Hollywood arrogance and eccentricity. But these are times of salt and vinegar. We are at war and I am not talking about Iraq. This nation is engaged in a life and death struggle with Islamic fascists, Jihadist -- or whatever the term du jour is -- for our very existence. If we are going to be victorious, we had better reject Hollywood anti-Americanism (no matter how pretty the face) and begin to feel good about ourselves. If our culture and our ideals are going to survive, we had better start feeling good about America. We had better begin to feel good about our values. We had better begin facing the world with confidence in who we are and with clarity about what we stand for. Or we could follow sophisticates like Clooney down the garden path and begin work carving “Rest In Peace” on America’s headstone."

Well said and I would like to add the names Jane Fonda, Susan Saradon, Sean Penn and their ilk to this letter. People of privledge, wealth and power who are ungrateful and even hate the country that has allowed them this success.

...thanks to The Cook Shack from whence I borrowed this letter

Al in Teslaland....

Psycho Psong Psegment:

Sooo has anyone every woke up in the morning and had the lyrics/pieces of lyrics and melody of some long forgotten song running through their head? Yes, I thought so. Todays song is :

"We're So Sorry Uncle Albert
But We Haven't Done A Bloody Thing All Day
We're So Sorry Uncle Albert
But The Kettle's On The Boil And We're So Easily Called Away"

……UNCLE ALBERT/ADMIRAL HALSEY
Paul McCartney

Not even a Beatles song, its McCartney's and on McCartney's album 'Ram.' Never owned the album 'cause I always though Paul was a whusss. John was my boy. So I probably only heard this on the radio and I'm sure I've not heard it in years. I think the reason it stuck in my brain are the lines "Haven't Done A Bloody Thing All Day "and "We're So Easily Called Away". Kinda matches my disposition and much of my life. Don't know why this song surfaced in the black pool of my brain and why I've been humming and singing this one verse now for a week. Ack.

Algorebot does not walk his talk:

Algorebot winning an oscar in Hollywierd for his documentary = bogus
Worry about man made global heating = bogus
Dixie Chicks winning three grammys = bogus

But I digress. Algorebot is today subject. He has a twenty room mansion in BelleMeade in Nashville with eight bathrooms. The driveway is lined with gas lights. Only he and Tipper live there along with how ever many illegal hispanics he employs.

Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”

Gore’s home uses more than 20 times the national average

Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.

Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).

In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.

Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.

“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.

In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.

…thanks to Nicole Williams Tenn Center for Policy Research

Transhumanism

A friend sent this to me:Best of Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_ articles

You can get lost in Wikipedia entries, even if they're about the most mundane topics. If you're looking for a little lunchtime reading or before-bed enlightenment, check out the Featured Articles on the site, which serve as a "best-of" of the unique, user-driven service.

So I follow the link and at random click on a term that was unfamiliar to me. Transhumanism.
You can also google the term and get a gazillion hits.
I used to think I was a pretty educated fellow but every day now I learn something new from travels in the cyberspace. I've been reading about Transhumanism for the past two hours and just scratched the surface. Looks like 'Blade Runner' was not that far in the future. And that link introduces us to 'Second Life'. A story for another day.

'What is a human being, then?'
'A seed.'
'A... seed?'
'An acorn that is unafraid to destroy itself in growing into a tree'
David Zindell, The Broken God

Is Nothing Sacred Department?

Wendy's to close original restaurant.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Wendy's International Inc. said Friday that sagging sales will force it to close the restaurant where the nation's third-largest hamburger chain began in 1969. The iconic restaurant, filled with memorabilia and photographs of the late Wendy's founder, Dave Thomas, will close March 2.

Looks just like you......

'Looks just like you, pass on."

The Season of Lent

Lent is a forty-day period before Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday. We skip Sundays when we count the forty days, because Sundays commemorate the Resurrection. Lent begins on 21 February 2007 and ends on 7 April 2007, which is the day before Easter.

In the Roman Catholic Church, Lent officially ends at sundown on 5 April (Holy Thursday), with the beginning of the mass of the Lord’s Supper.

Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. All churches that have a continuous history extending before AD 1500 observe Lent. The ancient church that wrote, collected, canonized, and propagated the New Testament also observed Lent, believing it to be a commandment from the apostles. (See The Apostolic Constitutions, Book V, Section III.)

Does Hillary know?

Obama attracts celebrities and cash.

Nashville's irate cab driver.....

The following was clipped from this morning's Tennessean story on the Somali cab driver running over two passengers after a 'heated argument' about religion. No mention was made of the cab driver's religion. Read the entire story here.

Taxi driver had earlier Metro traffic charges

He's charged with trying to run over two passengers

By COLBY SLEDGE
Staff Writer
A Nashville taxi driver accused of trying to run over two students after a heated discussion over religion Sunday had at least two other run-ins with police during the past year, including a high-speed chase through downtown Nashville.
Ibrahim Ahmed, 37, is charged with attempted criminal homicide after police said he hit Ohio student Jeremie Invus with his United Cab Co. van about 2:45 a.m. Sunday. Another student, Andrew Nelson of Dayton, Ohio, dodged the van as it sped toward them. Both students had been passengers in the cab.
Ahmed was accused in November 2006 of leading police on a chase down Broadway in downtown Nashville while in his taxi. During the chase, which ended on Interstate 65 north over the Cumberland River, Ahmed hit speeds of 100 mph before striking another vehicle, according to an affidavit.
He also was charged in June 2006 with driving on a suspended license and failing to stop his taxi for police, after officers said they saw Ahmed run a flashing red light on Demonbreun Street.
According to an affidavit, Ahmed had to be pulled out of the taxi after he refused to get out of the vehicle.
Talk 'became heated'
According to Metro officer John Pepper's report of Sunday's incident, the three men had a conversation about religion while in the taxi that "became heated." Shortly after the men paid Ahmed, he chased them in his van across the parking lot and over a curb, striking Invus.
Although Ahmed's religion was not known, Metro police spokeswoman Kris Mumford said one of the students is Catholic and the other is Lutheran (emphasis mine). She said she did not know which was which.

The House of Murtha

...thanks to Something ...and Half of Something

Bill Evans - My Foolish Heart

Bill Evans was just too cool. Used to listen to him in the sixties before the Beatles carried me away.
Good article here about Evans by his then bass player Chuck Israels. There are lots of vids of Evans at different stages of his career on YouTube if you care to see more. Plus a bunch of web sites.

The Candiru or Don't Pee in the Amazon...

I was reading this article about a older guy going to attempt swimming the entire length of the Amazon River when this part of the story really got my attention:
"But Strel, 52, remains philosophical: "I'm concerned, of course, but if I think of that stuff I would never jump into the water," he told reporters. He even had a ready reply when asked about every man's greatest fear in the equatorial waters - the toothpick fish that can enter the body by swimming up the penis, and can only be removed by surgery. "I never urinate straight into the water, I always urinate straight into my wetsuit," he said."
So I immediately crossed my legs and did a little research on this as I had never heard about this fish. The name of this fish is Candiru (with a ' on top of the u). Otherwise known as "The Terrifying Toothpick Fish". Wikipedia has extensive infomation here if you want to persue this arcane venture into fishery.

Seinfeld

Jesus, this clip is funny as hell!

Air Force 3

thanks to Michael Ramirez - Investors Business Daily

N.M. orders 500 Talking Urinal Cakes

Yahoo News ^ | February 14, 2007 | Staff
New Mexico is taking its fight against drunken driving to men's restrooms around the state. The state has ordered 500 talking urinal cakes that will deliver a recorded anti-DWI message to bar and restaurant patrons who make one last pit stop before getting behind the wheel. "Hey there, big guy. Having a few drinks?" a female voice says a few seconds after an approaching male sets off a motion sensor in the device. "It's time to call a cab or ask a sober friend for a ride home."

The Police - Roxanne, Live @ 07 Grammys

Who has never sung along with this song?

Fossil of First Politician Found!

...thanks to cheatseekingmissles

More on global warming...

Laps in Seven...Sam Bush

Sam's latest album. He has a MySpace account where you can go and listen to four of the songs. He did White Bird, an old sixties (?) song by Its a Beautiful Day. Really nice.
On Sam's website are fan submitted pics, like the one at top right from years ago with New Grass Revival.

Cats Painting or Painting Cats.....

I am amazed at what people do. Guess some folks have a lot of spare time.
A whole book on painting cats.....errr... I mean cat painting.

Heres the forbidden 'Snickers' commercials:

I made a reference in a comment about the Superbowl Snickers commercial of two guys accidently kissing while they were trying to eat the same bar. A gay group got all excited and forced the Snickers folk to pull this commercial. However I discovered it today right here and you get to see some other takes plus comments of some of the football players. Go take a look , its entertaining.
....thanks to 'Hot Air'

Love is in the air tonight......

"Something and half of something" has a very humorous blog there on some arab love.
I encourage you to view the entire site as its entertaining and instructive.

Global Warming or The Sky is Falling

Looks like the latest greatest disaster to hit the planet is Global Warming. At least it seems that I'm reading and hearing about GW on tv more than ever. Don't know about ya'll , but in my science classes I was taught that the earth goes through periods of warming and periods of cooling. A natural progression.
Heres a calm essay on the 'problem' by David Warren.

Tell ya the truth, I'm more concerned about Iran getting nukes.

Pop culture Monday...

Lightening up today with a few pop culture notes.

Enjoyed His Purpleness last night doing the half time show for the Super Bowl. You can catch Prince's act now in Las Vegas.

Glad to see Peyton Manning erase his 'choker' image the bad media hung on him. Tennessee football hasn't been the same since he graduated.

David Lee Roth is rejoining VanHalen for a forty city tour of USA this summer. Eddie's son, fifteen year old Wolfgang has replaced Michael Anthony on bass. And yes, that pic of Eddie has him looking pretty rough, but he's fifty-one, been through alcoholism and fought off cancer. Cut him a bunch of slack.

David Byrne (Talking Heads) now has a musical to his credit. Musical is based on Imelda Marcos. Sounds strange no? Heres a review from Time magazine.

fyi Blogger sure isn't wysiwyg. This post did not come out like I see in 'compose'.

Dream Theater - Time [ Pink Floyd Cover ]

Some perspective:

So you think the KKK and Catholic Inquisition were bad?

Well yes they were, but…..

Put the Numbers in Perspective:

More people are killed by Islamists each year than in all 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition combined. (source)

Islamic terrorists murder more people every day than the Ku Klux Klan has in the last 50 years. (source)

More civilians were killed by Muslim extremists in two hours on September 11th than in the 36 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland. (source)

19 Muslim hijackers killed more innocents in two hours on September 11th than the number of American criminals executed in the last 65 years. (source)

Enforce Sharia or we won’t leave library: girl students

Moonbat Miranda

The next time you encounter an individual bent upon believing the unbelievable, recite the following Miranda rights for Moonbats:

* You have the right to remain stupid.
* Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion.
* You have the right to become informed rather than believing false conclusions.
* If you cannot or will not become informed, nothing can be done for you.
* Do you understand these rights?
* Do you wish to become informed?

If, at the conclusion of the Moonbat Miranda, they do not wish to become informed, there is no need to cuff and transport them — they will usually remain arrested by their own stupidity.

...thanks to Cap'n Bob

First snow in years.....

Our first snowfall in a very long time. Not much but we are enjoying the beauty.

Islamic holy day of Ashura

Celebrating Islamic Style

Its that time of year, again, for the peaceful followers of peaceful Islam to take some time off from peaceful rioting, burning, pillaging, beheading infidels, killing Jews and killing each other in the name of their peaceful g0d to peacefully celebrate the peaceful holy islamic holiday of Ashura.

In order to participate, you will need a sharp sword and metal chains to flagellate yourself in this unique Religion of Peace ceremony. You will also need white robes to show off the blood and gore to your fellow celebrants. Children, horses and yes, even sheep are expected to participate.

Some of you may be horrified to see these pictures but you are urged to remember that this is but one more way to worship the Prophet of Doom a/k/a Allah, and despite appearances to the contrary, this is a religion and not a cult. In fact, it is "The Religion of Peace."

...thanks to Something and Half of Something

Talk To The Hand...

Hillary sang the National Anthem at recent rally....go here for video and for comparsion to Lt. Trevan's version from The Naked Gun.

For those problematic kittys...

YouTube Now Has “Undercover Mosque”

".... chilling sermons in which Saudi-trained preachers proclaim the supremacy of Islam, preach hatred for non-Muslims and for Muslims who do not follow their extreme beliefs - and predict a coming jihad. "An army of Muslims will arise," announces one preacher. Another preacher said British Muslims must "dismantle" British democracy - they must "live like a state within a state" until they are "strong enough to take over."
Six parts. I urge you to watch them all for increased knowledge of what these people believe.
Thanks to Sweetness and Light.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

...and Obama's response:

Clinton Launches 2008 White House Bid

“I’m in. And I’m in to win. Today I am announcing that I will form an exploratory committee to run for president.

And I want you to join me not just for the campaign but for a conversation about the future of our country — about the bold but practical changes we need to overcome six years of Bush administration failures.

I am going to take this conversation directly to the people of America, and I’m starting by inviting all of you to join me in a series of web chats over the next few days. The stakes will be high when America chooses a new president in 2008.

As a senator, I will spend two years doing everything in my power to limit the damage George W. Bush can do. But only a new president will be able to undo Bush’s mistakes and restore our hope and optimism.

Only a new president can renew the promise of America — the idea that if you work hard you can count on the health care, education, and retirement security that you need to raise your family. These are the basic values of America that are under attack from this administration every day.

And only a new president can regain America’s position as a respected leader in the world.

I believe that change is coming November 4, 2008. And I am forming my exploratory committee because I believe that together we can bring the leadership that this country needs. I’m going to start this campaign with a national conversation about how we can work to get our country back on track.”

-- Hillary Clinton, January 20, 2007

Perpetual Motion Machines

Cat Head Theatre

John Hiatt - Slow Turning

Long time favorite. His lyrics paint pictures in my mind.

Our Stubborn, Defiant Media on Iraq

For three years, President Bush has been portrayed as stubborn on Iraq, so defiant that it’s disturbing, perhaps even a sign of delusional certitude. There’s a mirror image at play: those doing the portraying, i.e., the media have been every bit as stubborn when it comes to their defiant insistence that everything that happens in Iraq, no matter how positive, is another peg for bad news coverage.

When Spiders Do Drugs...

Another video of Saddam surfaces...

Every sandpounder in Iraq must have taken pics of Saddam. This one just surfaced.

..a bit o' irish humor....

Into a Belfast pub comes Paddy Murphy, looking like he'd just been run over by a train. His arm is in a sling, his nose is broken, his face is cut and bruised and he's walking with a limp.

"What happened to you?" asks Sean, the bartender.

"Jamie O'Connor an' me had a fight," says Paddy.

"That little runt, O'Connor?" says Sean. "He couldn't do all that to you, man, he must have had something in his hand."

"That he did," says Paddy, "A shovel is what he had, and a terrible lickin' he gave me with it."

"Well, now," says Sean. "You should have defended yourself. Didn't you have something in your hand?"

"That I did," says Paddy. "Mrs. O'Connor's breast, and a thing of beauty it was, but useless in a fight."

UK Mosques. Part 1 Of 3.

Boston's Great Molasses Flood of 1/15/1919

Today is the 88th. anniversary of the Great Molasses Flood of Boston.
21 people killed, 150 injured. The dead were suffocated or cooked in the tidal wave of hot molasses. Think about that for minute.

13 Names of Things You Never Knew Had Names

So, on Fridays, Spike Driver Blues usually has a informative, unique page albeit completely useless. I love it. Not sure if _a_ will be posting today so I will give the gentle reader this list to further clutter your mind with mostly Useless Information. Thanks Trish.

Invitation to play.....and response

“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play. Bring a friend… if you have one.”
-- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

“Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second… if there is one.”
-- Winston Churchill, in response

Saddam's cat...

Since I am a cat fancier, I just had to check out this rare photo of Saddam's cat.

Anti-mosque pigs race

Minneapolistan

You’ve got to kinda wonder what the hell is it lately with Minneapolis-St. Paul and all the Islamist related stuff coming out of there.


Officials at the Minneapolis-St Paul airport are having increasing problems with their cab drivers, most of who are Muslims. Many of the cab drivers are refusing to carry fares who have alcohol in their possession or who have dogs; even service dogs. Inch by inch these Muslims will try to enforce their backwater religious dogma on the rest of us. Hopefully the Minneapolis airport officials will tell them to either do their job or find another one.

The Flying Inmans. No ,not a circus act but a bunch of clowns anyway. We’ve covered this farce before but it still deserves watching as the curtain has not rung down on their act.

Last, but not least, is the election of Keith Ellison, a Muslim, to our USA Congress. No, I’m not a bigot, but any Muslim, anymore, anywhere deserves a second and maybe a third glance. Sorry ‘bout that but Muslims you’ve made your own bed etc.

Unreal

I cut this article from Sunday's Jan 7 The Tennessean (the Nashville newspaper) and print it here in its entirety.

Police arrest 3 men in Mapco robbery
Metro police arrested three Nashville men in the Friday morning robbery of a Mapco Express on Tusculum Road.
One of the suspects, Miles Jordan Armstrong, 19, of
Harding Place, was out on $200,000 bond for two counts of criminal homicide and
two counts of attempted criminal homicide. He also has an arrest history that includes felony drug and weapons charges.
Alex Sparrow, 20, of Brentwood, was arrested in May of last year for theft. Both men, along with Brian Alan Martin, 17, of Crest Drive, are being charged with aggravated robbery.
Two men thought to be Sparrow and Martin entered the Mapco at 7:15 a.m. Friday, and Sparrow pointed a gun at the cashier and took money from the register, police said. The men left the store and got into a 1980s Oldsmobile Cutlass driven by Armstrong.
Police responded to the scene in minutes. After the getaway car was spotted traveling north on Una-Antioch Pike, police gave chase. The car hit a tree at the Nashboro Village Apartments off Murfreesboro Pike.
Martin stayed near the car and was arrested. Armstrong fled but was quickly caught. The other man ran toward the nearby Hampton Chase Apartments through a drainage ditch.
Police checked every apartment; Sparrow emerged from the drainage ditch at
11:05 a.m. and was arrested.
The store cashier identified Sparrow and Martin, and Sparrow and Martin identified Armstrong.
— MICHAELA JACKSON

Am I naive or that much out of touch with the world today, but what the hell is that Armstrong guy doing out of jail on bond of any amount? He has killed twice and attempted to kill two others and apparently has a long, violent criminal background.

Another oddity from The 'Boro:

Cats In The Belfry

Man sues cops over seizure of 114 frozen felines, dog named Snowy

JANUARY 5--A Tennessee man who kept 114 dead cats and a dead German Shepherd named Snowy in three freezers is suing police for seizing and destroying the frosty animal carcasses, which, he claims, had "emotional value" to him and were destined for a pet cemetery he was building. William Davis wants $1.5 million from the Murfreesboro Police Department and other defendants, according to a complaint filed last week in Rutherford County Chancery Court. A copy of the lawsuit can be found below. According to the 75-year-old Davis, police and animal control officers raided his home twice in December 2003 and took the frozen animals, along with 46 cats, one dog, and assorted "wild game meat." Included among the cats removed from his home and later euthanized, Davis charges, were Pixie Bob, Miss Patchwork, and Big Duke. The searches resulted in animal cruelty charges being leveled against Davis since conditions in his two residences were deplorable. A veterinarian estimated that carpeting had a half-inch layer of animal feces ground into it and that the stench was so overwhelming it was hard to breathe through your nose without gagging (Davis pleaded guilty to a single animal cruelty count and was placed on a year's probation). The Davis lawsuit, which was, amazingly, not filed pro se, notes that he was keeping one of the frozen cats so that he could submit the animal to the Guinness Book of World Records. The lawsuit reveals that the cat was exceedingly large at birth. Davis, who's pictured above in a 2006 Rutherford County Sheriff's Office booking photo, contends that he has suffered "emotional pain and suffering" as a result of the government seizures.
...thanks to "The Smoking Gun"

At the end of the rainbow:

Thanks to Natalie Dee...

Dad at Comedy Barn

This will get you laughing!

Red Pradas but German cojones; Benedict XVI

This is a somewhat back page story but it could be a harbinger of Christian resistance to all the unending, unreasonable demands of Islam. This Pope apparently has some guts and is ready to stand up against the increasing whine of Islam. The continued oppression of Christians in Islamic countries is well documented and the flight of Christians from this oppression is increasing. Christians are not even allowed to have Bibles in their possession in Saudia Arabia, supposedly our closest "friendly" Islamist state.

The following article was lifted in entirety from Daniel Pipe’s blog.

“Spain's Islamic Board wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI to be allowed to pray in Cordoba Cathedral, on the grounds that the building was originally a mosque before being transformed into a church in the thirteenth century. "What we wanted was not to take over that holy place," reads the Islamic Board's letter, "but to create in it, together with you and other faiths, an ecumenical space unique in the world which would have been of great significance in bringing peace to humanity."

The Islamic Board took this initiative after senior Catholic clergy announced they "did not recommend" this step and indeed declared themselves unprepared to permit the cathedral's shared use with any other faith. On an operational level, security guards in the cathedral are said often to prevent Muslims from praying inside the medieval mosque that surrounds its church structure.

The Islamic Board's general secretary, Mansur Escudero, complained that some in the Church feel threatened by Spain's growing Muslim population. "There are reactionary elements within the Catholic Church, and when they hear about the construction of a mosque, or Muslim teachings in state schools, or about veils, they see it as a sign we are growing and they oppose it."

Comment: The Muslim demand is all very reasonable – but only if Muslims permit reciprocal rights to Christians. For example, the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus is built over a Byzantine church and to this day contains a shrine said to contain the head of John the Baptist; Christians should be granted leave to pray there. Or the grandest church of Byzantium, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, for centuries a mosque and now a museum – it too should be made available for Christian services. The Vatican has made reciprocity the cornerstone of its relations with Muslims, and this looks like a simple place to start implementing that policy.”