WE ARE NOW THE MICHIGAN SILVERBACK!

As of this most auspicious day (April 1), The Infinite Monkey (At The Keyboard), a political and thinking blog publishing since February 2009, is now....

...THE MICHIGAN SILVERBACK!

You are cordially invited to check it out.

Et Lux Perpetuae: Andrew Koenig

Andrew Koenig--Mr. Chekov's son--committed suicide a few days ago, and they found his body yesterday.

Sad. Nichelle Nichol's brother Thomas did too as part of that Heaven's Gate UFO/comet cult back in '97. Nerine Kidd-Shatner, Bill Shatner's third wife, died in what may have also been suicide or may have been an accident.

Even the crew of the Enterprise get their share of horror and pain. Alas.

ADDENDUM

And Marie Osmond too. God rest her son, and grant her peace.

Rejoice, and believe the Good News....

...not only is it true....

".... it's good for ya besides helpin' ya." - MAJ William J. Kent, USAF RET (1919-1991)

Dad knew what he was talkin' about. And it was amazing how much he learned as I grew up.....

TEMPORARILY ON HIATUS - PLEASE STAND BY

We are experiencing technical difficulties. Please do not adjust your set.

I'm trying to catch up from the madness of CPAC and of missing four days at the orifice. Please stand by. We'll be back shortly.

Warning: Strong Language.

News item #1:

A man enraged at the IRS committed suicide, and possibly murder, by intentionally flying a small plane into an IRS building in Austin, TX. At least one person is missing.

News item #2:

The woman who falsely accused certain members of the Duke University lacrosse team of rape two years ago was arrested for attempted first degree murder after she allegedly tried to kill her boyfriend.

I'd spin these two into a tirade about the futility of human violent rage, but I'm just too tired at this point.

I'll just sum it up:

Whatta coupla assholes!

ADDENDUM:

NEWSBUSTERS quoted Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart connecting the above mentioned air-attacking-tax-defendant to the Tea Party movement. After all, they're both extremists, right? Right?

Hard right.

Jonathan Capehart? I now modify the statement I made above and formally include you in the following:

Whatta buncha assholes!

Senator Mellencamp?

The Hill is reporting that rocker John Cougar Mellencamp is being actively drafted in Indiana to run for U.S. Senator.

Right.

This is the same guy who said

“I don’t think people fought and gave their lives so that some guy can sit in his bedroom and be mean. I don’t think that’s what freedom of speech is,” he continued. “Freedom of speech is really about assembly — for us to collectively have an idea. We want to get our point of view out so we can assemble and I can appoint you to be the spokesman. That’s freedom of speech — to be able to collectively speak for a sector of people. But somehow it’s turned into ‘I can be an a****** whenever I feel like, say whatever I like, be disrespectful to people and not be courteous.’ It’s not good for our society. Not being courteous is not really freedom of speech. …

To which I can only reply:

Gonna let it rock
Let it roooolllll
Let the bible belt come and save my so-wo-wol
Hold on to 16 as long as you can
Changes come around real soon
Make us Republi-can!

Excuse me while I go be disrespectful to people some more now.

Q: What's a EuroColony? A: "Greece" Is The Word

Greece was conquered this week without firing a shot, by a coalition of powers led by Germany.

The last time it happened, Italians and Germans tore down the Peloponnese and took Athens in the spring of 1941.

It happened again most recently when the Germans, under the figleaf of the European Union, caused Greece to lose its vote as a sovereign member of the Union as one of its prices for bailing them out for their profligate ways of spending.

Oh, sure, it's peaceful, all right. As peaceful as you can ask, this time.

But it's still conquest, subjugation, and foreign imposed rule any way you slice it.

If European moneymen are unhappy with the way Greece handles its national and international debt over the course of the coming weeks, they can take the country over and strip its parliament of its authority over its own budget. Greece then becomes, not a 'member nation' but a subjugated peoples controlled by a foreign power.

The term for this is colonialism, ladies and germs, and the Europeans, after some sixty years, appear to be back in business.

Except this time, it's EUROPEANS who are getting colonized.

I'm not a big fan of modern Greece, but hey, this is just the first step down the road to perdition.

Get out while you can, Ellas.

IF you can.

IF.

ADDENDUM

A friend of mine comments thusly:

"Once all the Germans were warlike and mean
But that couldn't happen again
We taught them a lesson in 1918
And they've hardly bothered us since then"

-- Professor Tom Lehrer, 1962

COMING SOON: THE MICHIGAN SILVERBACK!

Heads up, dear readers!

THE INFINITE MONKEY (AT THE KEYBOARD)

is soon to become

THE MICHIGAN SILVERBACK

michigansilverback.com

(...because we're through monkeying around.)

More soon.

PS. Don't worry. We'll keep blogging at this address until the switchover is complete.

OFF TO CPAC!

I'm off to meet other mostly harmless drudges at the Conservative Political Action Conference in DC this weekend. You'll hear from me sporatically.

This is gonna be exceedingly cool.

365.25 Days

Today marks the one - year anniversary of the existence, or should I say persistence, of this Blog.

Happy Birthday, Infinite Monkey. And thank you to the readers who have sent such kind notes to me in private.

We're not going to go away. That much is certain.

More soon.

Michael Barone Reads Another Political Obit

From today's Washington Examiner: Michael Barone, the oracle of the Potomac, reads the political obituary of one Congressman William Delahunt of Taxachusetts.

Third is the case of Amy Bishop, the woman who shot and killed three colleagues at the University of Albama in Huntsville. What does this have to do with Delahunt? Well, back in 1986 Amy Bishop, then a resident of Braintree, Massachusetts, shot and killed her brother. No charges were brought against her. Bill Delahunt was the District Attorney of Norfolk County then. Boston’s Channel 5 has some of the puzzling deals. Delahunt’s apparent decision not to bring charges 24 years ago may be entirely defensible, for all I know. But it certainly looks questionable today. And it’s not something I would want to be litigating in a political campaign. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Bill Delahunt decides that this is a good year to spend more time with the family.

IOW, "He's dead, Jim."

P.S. His money graf spares me the need to write anything further about Ms. Bishop, who is hereupon best consigned to the Forgotten.

In Recognition of Julian Day 2455241.

This title refers to someone else's brilliant blog post.

...and clicking here will take you to it.

And this line hat tips the author, whose name is Chris Clarke. It's italicized, too.

Tattered Remnants #027: Oscar Biscet Gonzalez, M.D.

(Read all about the Tattered Remnants by clicking {here}.)

THE CONQUEST OF LIBERTY: OSCAR ELIAS BISCET GONZALEZ, M.D.

"Wherever there is a jackboot stomping on a human face there will be a well-heeled Western liberal to explain that the face does, after all, enjoy free health care and 100 percent literacy." John Derbyshire*

The following is taken word-for-word from The Lawton Foundation's official web site. It is my intention to rewrite this section shortly. - RLK

Oscar Elias Biscet Gonzalez was born in Havana, Cuba, on July 20th of 1961, to a family of modest means. He is the founder and president of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, an organization outlawed by Cuban authorities, which peacefully promotes the defense of all human rights through nonviolent civil disobedience. He is married to Elsa Morejón Hernández, a nurse. He has two children, daughter, Winnie, and son, Yan.

In 1985, Dr. Biscet obtained his degree as a specialist in internal medicine. A year later, he publicly opposed the long hours without pay that Cuban physicians were expected to work. As a result, he was suspended from the Hospital Nacional and the practice of medicine for a year.

In 1987, he returned to the practice and teaching of medicine at the Obstetric Pediatric Hospital, Hijas de Galicia, in Havana. By the late 1980's, Dr. Biscet began to openly coordinate activities to oppose the human rights violations of the communist Cuban regime. In 1994, he was officially charged by the Cuban authorities with "dangerousness" defined in Article 72 of the Penal Code of Cuba as the "special proclivity of a person to commit crimes demonstrated by his conduct in manifest contradiction of socialist norms."

In 1997, Dr. Biscet founded the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights in collaboration with fellow members of the peaceful opposition movement and conducted a clandestine ten month research study at the Hijas de Galicia Hospital documenting unofficial statistical data on abortion techniques. During this study, many Cuban mothers testified that their newborn babies were killed right after birth, a common practice in hospitals throughout the island. The research study "Rivanol: A Method to Destroy Life," was made public on April, 1998. It was not until June 9, 1998, that the study was officially delivered to the Cuban government along with a letter addressed to Fidel Castro accusing the Cuban National Health System of genocide. This study was translated from Spanish to English and sent to The Convention of the Rights of the Child in Geneva, Switzerland. This document was dedicated to the memory of the 23 children who drowned when the tugboat "13 de Marzo," which was full of would-be-refugees, was deliberately sunk by Cuban gunboats.

Dr. Biscet was officially expelled from the Cuban National Health System in February of 1998, and has never been allowed to practice medicine again. Elsa Morejón, Dr. Biscet’s wife, a nurse, is not allowed to practice her profession due to her husband’s human rights activities. Therefore, the family was evicted from their home in March of 1998, and have since had to depend on the charity of friends to survive.

In January of 1998, the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights publicly demanded freedom for all Cuban political prisoners by holding up banners and posters during the historic mass that Pope John Paul II celebrated in Havana. Dr. Biscet staged public demonstrations in favor of justice in front of the courthouses where arbitrary trials were scheduled to take place and demanded freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Also, the Lawton Foundation presided by Dr. Biscet, along with other human rights groups tried to establish a school to teach nonviolent civil disobedience.

The Lawton Foundation for Human Rights has also been involved in several other pro-life and human rights activities. It has requested solidarity with Cuba by addressing letters to doctors, religious leaders, government officials, health organizations, human rights groups, and dignitaries throughout the world. The Foundation has also coordinated peaceful demonstrations in parks to observe the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In addition, they have organized monthly distributions of the aforementioned document to passersby on the streets. Besides, the Foundation has held press conferences in Havana to inform the international press about human rights abuses in Cuba. A press conference was held on March 26, 1999, during which The Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, along with other pro human rights activists, established that the Cuban nation was one, comprised of individuals living on the Island and in exile, and that the following three objectives should be achieved through nonviolent means:

1. Freedom for all political prisoners.
2. The abolition of all articles that violate human rights.
3. The reestablishment of democracy in Cuba.

From June 7 to July 16, 1999, one of the most significant events carried out by the peaceful Cuban opposition movement took place under the leadership of the Lawton Foundation. A group of human rights activists in Havana began a forty day liquid fast to demand the release of all political prisoners and draw attention to the violation of Human Rights in Cuba. This activity spread throughout the island and thousands of Cubans joined in 54 fasting sites. In addition, some of their compatriots in exile around the world joined the fast to show solidarity. Members of the international press who covered the story and foreign diplomats visited the small apartment at Tamarindo 34 in Havana.

Dr. Biscet was arrested on November 3, 1999, and was held at the prison of the Technical Department of Investigation located at Cien and Aldabó streets in Havana. According to Sergio Hernández, the state appointed defense attorney, the case files disclosed that Dr. Biscet had been officially accused of such crimes as "dishonoring national symbols," "public disorder," and "inciting delinquent behavior" for which the State Prosecutor of the Republic of Cuba was asking for a ten year prison sentence.

Two incidents were connected to these accusations. The first incident occurred on February 22, 1999, when Dr. Biscet was accused of “disorderly conduct" for staging a peaceful pro-life demonstration outside the Hijas de Galicia Hospital in Havana. The hospital’s director, Dr. Laura Fernandez, and Dr. Norma Silva, the leader of the Communist Party, led a physical attack on Dr. Biscet. The second incident took place a few days prior to the Ibero-American Summit in Havana, and resulted in Dr. Biscet being accused of all three of the aforementioned crimes. The Lawton Foundation and numerous members of the opposition movement held a press conference on October 28, 1999, to announce a peaceful march through the streets of Havana to demand freedom for all political prisoners and human rights for Cuba.

At this conference, the Cuban flag was displayed in an inverted vertical position as a sign of distress and protest for the human rights violations in Cuba. The human rights activists who attempted to participate in the march were attacked by government sponsored mobs. The charges related to the above mentioned incidents resulted in Dr. Biscet serving a three year term at the Cuba Si Prison near Holguin, Oriente, 768 km. from Havana, making family visits extremely difficult during those years.

Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet González, a devout Christian, follower of the philosophies of Henry David Thoreau, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, was arbitrarily detained 26 times from June 1998 to November 1999. This Cuban physician, a prisoner of conscience, has been mistreated physically and psychologically and has suffered beatings, threats, humiliations, blackmail, intimidating interrogations, and incarcerations in underground cells which he has had to share with insane individuals and common criminals. On several occasions, State Security has tried to subject Dr. Biscet to psychiatric examinations at Mazorra, the main psychiatric hospital in Havana. State security has also pressured him into leaving Cuba, to which he responded that he would never leave his country.

After he finished serving his three year sentence on October 31, 2002, Dr. Biscet was released and allowed to return to Havana. During his 36 days of freedom from October 31 to December 6 of 2002, Dr. Biscet completed his work on the Democratic Principles for Cuba. This work has achieved worldwide acceptance. He also promoted a civic project called “Club for Friends of Human Rights” whereby Cuban people could meet in small groups and educate themselves on human rights and learn ways to defend and demand them peacefully.

On December 6, 2002, in Havana, when he was preparing to meet with human rights activists from Matanzas as part of the “Club for Friends of Human Rights,” the Cuban Secret Police detained him along with many of the activists. The group staged an act of nonviolent civil disobedience by laying down in front of the home and saying: “Long live human rights” and “freedom for political prisoners.” On this occasion, the peaceful protestors were arrested and taken to the Tenth Unit of the National Revolutionary Police (Décima Unidad de la PNR) on Acosta Avenue. During this prison period, he was placed for 19 days in a calabozo (punishment cell.)

After several months in prison and having been transferred from Villa Marista to Combinado del Este Prison, on April 2003, Dr. Biscet was charged in a summary judgment with violation of Article 91 of the Cuban Penal Code which refers to crimes against state security. This time he was sentenced to a 25 year prison term which he began to serve at the Pinar del Rio prison system in western Cuba, in Kilo 5 and Kilo 8 prisons, 162 km from his home. During his stay at these prisons, he was tortured on numerous occasions and denied communication with the outside world. Dr. Biscet was placed in a tapiada (a humid, dark cell with no sunlight) both in the main prison cells and in the underground cells. At one point he had to share a cell with a common criminal for up to 3 weeks.

He remained in these tapiadas for up to 8 months. In the year 2003, his wife was only permitted to visit him once. On November 30, 2004, he was transferred to Combinado del Este prison in Havana, Cuba. In the year 2004, he was allowed only one family visit every three months and a marital visit every 5 to 6 months. Currently, he is allowed to have one conjugal visit and one family visit every sixty days, while other prisoners are allowed visitations every 45 days. The Cuban guards tell Dr. Biscet that his case, in particular, is handled by the State Security (Seguridad del Estado.)

In spite of Dr. Biscet's difficulties in prison, he is in good spirits and remains firm on his demands for justice and freedom. On a prison visit, Dr. Biscet gave a message to his wife Elsa, asking his Cuban brothers and sisters on the island and in exile to join in prayer with the international community for freedom for all political prisoners and freedom of expression in Cuba. In that same message, he expressed his gratitude to all those concerned for his well-being, particularly his colleagues in the medical profession.

On May 1, 2004, Dr. Biscet was the recipient of a Doctoral Degree in Honoris Causa. The honor was presented by Dr. Eduardo Padron, the president of Miami Dade College in Miami, Florida. On July 3, 2004, he was named the Honorary President of the Pan American Cuban Medical Convention in Miami Florida, a distinct honor awarded by his medical colleagues in exile. Both honors were awarded in recognition for his work on human rights for promoting nonviolent civil disobedience, and for his dedication to the struggle to bring democracy, justice, and liberty to Cuba.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award, was given to Dr. Biscet, in absentia, by President George W. Bush, at a ceremony held at the White House on November 5, 2007. Dr. Biscet's children and directors of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights attended the ceremony. Dr. Biscet requested that the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights hold the presidential medal until the time that Cuba is free.

At a ceremony in Berlin, on December 12, 2007, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet was once again recognized for his struggle for human rights. He was honored with the International Award for Human Rights, the Dr. Rainier Hidelbrandt Medal. This medal is named after the man who founded and who until his death directed the Hause Aum Checkpoint Charlie, a museum that documents the attempts to escape from communism to the West. Dr. Angel E. Garrido, Vice-President of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights, accepted the award in his name.

The most recent commendation received by Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet was a human rights award, an honorary plaque from the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. On February 27, 2008, Dr. Rigoberto Rodriguez, director of the Lawton Foundation, received the award on behalf of Dr. Biscet at the Czech Embassy in Washington, DC.

Presently, this peaceful human rights activist and devout Christian, follower of the philosophies of H. D. Thoreau, Ghandi, the Dalai Lama, and Martin Luther King, Jr., remains in prison due to his struggle for justice in Cuba. We urgently ask all men and women of good will, the international press, human rights organizations, world health organizations and dignitaries of democratic nations to denounce before the Cuban government the unjust incarceration of this Cuban physician whose only crime is to honor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to desire the reestablishment of democracy of his own country, Cuba.

"The conquest of liberty for Cuba is the present priority and will require a struggle that is detailed in its organization and persevering. My steps are headed towards the conquest of that priority. Hear, oh God, my cry, listen to my prayer fulfilling my vows day by day. Free me and free the Cuban people."

*Hat Tip: The Transsylvania Phoenix (transsylvaniaphoenix.blogspot.com)

My especial thanks to my friend Jose Palacio for bringing this individual, of whom I had never heard, to my attention.

Kathleen Parker Exploits Trig Palin

The WashPost today runs an op ed article which asks if Sarah Palin is "exploiting" her child by "using" Trig as a poster child for an endangered species - the Downs' child.

Kathleen Parker, you will recall, called for Palin to step down last year.

Palin herself has hardly been discreet regarding her youngest child. She has spoken and written about her misgivings upon learning that she carried a Down syndrome baby. She told a pro-life crowd that she considered abortion and wasn't sure she could care for a child with special needs. These were surely sincere and heartfelt remarks shared by others in the crowd. ...Doubt always stalks conviction, but does it always demand expression? Might Trig someday read his mother's abortion thoughts and find them hurtful?

What vile horsehockey.

It is Kathleen Parker herself who is trying to exploit Trig Palin by using him as a tool to try to discredit Sarah. It is his disability, and his mother's courage in confronting those who would kill him, that shames Parker. If Sarah Palin had killed her child and come out with it on the stump, Kathleen Parker would have had--I'll try to put it nicely--paroxyms of joy.

In her statements Parker has shown herself as a mouthpiece for the abortion industry--an industry that would have enthusiastically butchered Trig Palin. It is she who should step down. Better yet, she should spend the rest of her life in penance, preferably at some monastic silent order.

Drive on, Sarah. Drive on.

"Camelot!..... Camelot!.... Camelot!"

"(It's only a model!)"

Hollow Men

I see that Charles Johnson is quoting T.S. Elliot:

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!

The depth of his self knowledge is astonishing, is it not?

Set Phasers to "Flambe'"

Reuters reports:

A U.S. high-powered airborne laser weapon shot down a ballistic missile in the first successful test of a futuristic directed energy weapon, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said on Friday. The agency said in a statement the test took place at 8:44 p.m. PST (11:44 p.m. EST) on Thursday /0444 GMT on Friday) at Point Mugu's Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division Sea Range off Ventura in central California. "The Missile Defense Agency demonstrated the potential use of directed energy to defend against ballistic missiles when the Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) successfully destroyed a boosting ballistic missile" the agency said.

Take THAT, Ahmonajihad!

Former President Clinton Has Heart Surgery

It's all over the news; Former President William Jefferson Clinton had heart surgery last night. We wish him well and an early recovery.

Okay, okay. I'll speak honestly. Frankly, I can't stand the man, his politics, or the way he whored his way through eight years in the White House.

But. Still. He's out of office, and he's largely harmless now. And given his successor, I'm almost nostalgic for the 'good old days' when all we had to worry about was his taking credit for GOP successes in passing laws in the House.

And more important, I remember a conversation I had with a drunken, tear filled Bosnian businessman in 2002.

"I know you hate President Clinton, but I love him. I love him. He save my daughters, he save us, he end the war. I love Bill Clinton."

I disagreed with almost everything he did, but it's clear now that for all is faults, he DID end the war in Bosnia and brought peace there. And that is good.

Tattered Remnants #026: Gao Zhisheng

THE RESULT OF OUR SILENCE: CHINESE CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY GAO ZHISHENG

(Read all about the Tattered Remnants by clicking {here}.)

Gao Zhisheng is a self-taught human rights lawyer. He resigned from the Chinese Communist Party in 2007 in protest to their treatment of the Falun Gong and of Chinese Christians, who continue to be severely persecuted under the rule of the Chinese communist party. He disappeared a little over one year ago.

He made a career, between 1989 and 2007, of first, defending individuals against incompetently run public companies, and later, defending individuals accused of participating in Falun Gong or Christian church-related activities.

Once more, Wikipedia:

Amnesty International alleged on January 17, 2006 that Gao narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, planned as a traffic accident ordered by Chinese secret police. On February 4, 2006, Gao, together with Hu Jia and other activists, launched a “Relay Hunger Strike for Human Rights,” whereby different activists and citizens fasted for 24 hours in rotation. The hunger strike was joined by people in 29 provinces, as well as overseas, though several participants were arrested for joining.

On August 15, 2006, after numerous death threats and continued harassment, while visiting his sister's family, Mr. Gao was abducted by the Chinese secret police without any legal proceedings. On September 21, 2006, he was "officially" arrested. On December 22, 2006, Mr. Gao was convicted of "subversion", and was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended, and placed on probation for five years. The sentence also deprives him of his political rights - the freedom to publish or speak out against the government - for one year. He had publicly confessed to a number of errors. On his liberation, Gao recanted his confession and described torture he experienced during his 54 days in custody. He also said captors threatened he would be killed if he spoke publicly about the matter. In chapter 6 of his memoirs written in 2006, Gao criticised the CCP for employing "the most savage, most immoral, and most illegal means to torture our mothers, torture our wives, torture our children, and torture our brothers and sisters…". He formally renounced his membership of "this inhumane, unjust, and evil Party", declaring it "the proudest day of my life."

On June 2, 2007, Gao was beaten by a national security officer after he complained about officers assaulting his wife. On June 24, 2007, Gao was kidnapped by the Chinese government in order to prevent him from attending an award ceremony in the United States. The American Board of Trial Advocates selected Gao to receive the prestigious Courageous Advocacy Award; they had invited him to receive the award personally in Santa Barbara, California on June 30, 2007.

In the fall of 2007, Gao’s memoir A China More Just was published in English in the United States.

On September 22, 2007, after writing open letters to Vice-President of the European Parliament, Edward McMillan-Scott, and then to US Congress calling for a boycott of the Olympics,[17] Gao was once again taken away from his home, where he had been under house arrest, by Chinese secret police. A letter from Gao revealed he endured ten days of torture that involved beatings, electric prods and even toothpicks to his naked body, followed by weeks of emotional torture. Gao wrote that his torturers said his case had become personal with uncles in the state security apparatus after he had repeatedly publicised previous mistreatment.

A dramatic reenactment of what he endured follows. Warning: Not for children or the meek.



He disappeared again a little over a year ago, on February 4, 2009. He has not been seen since; his detention this long without charge is illegal even under Chinese Communist law--assuming he still lives.

You can find out more about Gao Zhisheng by {{{clicking here}}}.

Let us consider his final words to us:

"I leave you with this thought: the increased level of confidence of the Chinese Communist Party in the treating of its people with cold blooded brutality and cruelty is the direct result of our silence."

Iran a "Nuclear State"

President Irnyrdinnerjacket of Iran today announced that his country is now a nuclear power.

This claim, it is reported, is highly plausible.

Okay, fine, guy. Whatever. Just remember. There's another term for "nuclear state."

"Preemptive nuclear target for bigger nuclear states."

And America has never, ever forgotten the Hostage Crisis. Nota bene.

Congressman Charlie Wilson, RIP

In marked contrast to my last post, I'm now in active mourning.

Charlie Wilson, the flamboyant playboy Congressman who played a key role in arming the Mujahedeen--the armed guerillas who broke the back of Soviet power in Afghanistan in the 1980s--has passed away.

God rest him.

Yes, he is to be respected and mourned, in spite of the possibility that the campaign cost us the Twin Towers as "blowback." In the end, freeing the world of Soviet tyranny was, and is, worth the cost we paid, before and after.

To the honored Member from Texas: we salute you.

ADDENDUM:

I really MUST share this story, from his Wiki entry:

It is speculated that Wilson first entered politics as a teenager by running a campaign against his next-door neighbor, city council incumbent Charles Hazard. When Wilson was 13, his dog entered Hazard's yard. Hazard retaliated by mixing crushed glass into the dog's food, causing fatal internal bleeding. Being a farmer's son, Wilson was able to get a driving permit at age 13, which enabled him to drive 96 voters, mainly black citizens from poor neighborhoods, to the polls. As they left the car, it is speculated that he told each of them that he didn't want to influence their vote, but that the incumbent Hazard had purposely killed his dog. After Hazard was defeated by a margin of 16 votes, Wilson went to his house to tell him he shouldn't poison any more dogs. Wilson cited this as "the day [he] fell in love with America."

A love that lasted his whole life, one should add.

God bless him.

John Murtha Dies.

It is not good to speak ill of the dead, so I'll try to bite my tongue on this one.

Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania--noted Abscam artist, "anti-Iraq activist" beloved by the HuffPost crowd, and most unforgivably, libeller of American troops who fought at Haditha,has gone the way of all flesh.

I note that his final illness was a consequence of incompetently provided government health care: he went into Bethesda for a gall bladder operation and emerged with an unrepaired slashed intestine.

It is regrettable that he has died. It is regrettable that he died the way that he did.

But with every death, as PDQ Bach once noted, there comes a vacancy: perhaps, like Ted Kennedy, that may be his greatest legacy.

ADDENDUM 2/15/2010

Michelle Malkin gives The Honorable Murtha an appropriate sendoff.

"The Internet" Nominated for Peace Prize??!?!

This is apparently not a joke.

Were "The Internet" to win, that would likely make it either the second, or the third, time that the award has gone to a soulless inanimate object (given that past prizes have gone to the President of the United States for his 98.6 degree body temperature, and to noted fantasy filmmaker Al Gore, for his winning the election in 2000).

So. What gives me the authority to say such nasty things about our President and Vice President?

Well, remember, I was named the 2006 Time Magazine Person of the Year.....

Our President On A Heroic "Corpse-man"

We Remember

We remember.

He would have been 99 today.

300 million people walk freely today, and millions more live, because he was once our President.

We remember.

"25 REASONS I OWE MY MOTHER"

GOOGLE reports that the following has appeared on the Net 67,000 times.

This makes 67,001. :0)

25 REASONS I OWE MY MOTHER


1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
'If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.'

2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
'You better pray that will come out of the carpet.'

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
'If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!'

4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
' Because I said so, that's why.'

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
'If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me..'

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
'Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident.'

7. My mother taught me IRONY
'Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about.'

8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
'Shut your mouth and eat your supper.'

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
'Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!'

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
'You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone.'

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
'This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.'

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
'If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!'

13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
'I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.'

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
'Stop acting like your father!'

15. My mother taught me about ENVY..
'There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do.'

16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
'Just wait until we get home.'

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
'You are going to get it when you get home!'

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
'If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way.'

19. My mother taught me ESP.
'Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?'

20. My mother taught me HUMOR.
'When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me.'

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
'If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up.'

22.My mother taught me GENETICS.
'You're like your father.'

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
'Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?'

24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
'When you get to be my age, you'll understand.'

25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE
'One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!'

In Living Color

The white folks at NBC are celebrating Black History Month.

This simply must be seen to be believed.

As Lucianne put it, "if Fox had done this they'd be out of business."

We have a new most-junior Senator....

.... let it not be said that I am not an equal opportunity offender.

I'm having a tough time choosing between the two for which is the most disgusting.

But you can say that Senator Brown certainly forewent the diaper.

And the bunny ears. (Physically, at least.)

"I'd have Been Better Off Broke"

Well, the search is over.

They've found Abraham Shakespeare.

The former 'trucker's assistant' (read: truck loader/laborer) who brought home a $17 million lottery win three years ago has been found... buried in the back yard of a "friend." He's been missing since last April.

He spent most of his last months alive actively giving his money away to just about anyone who asked him, including one Dorice "DeeDee" Moore, in whose back yard they found him buried in a shallow grave.

He apparently was a good man who wished none ill and did no one any harm. God rest him, and remember, God may be doing you a favor by not granting your lottery prayer.

James O'Keefe Was NOT Planting Bugs....

....in Senator Mary Landrieu's office--according to just about every reliable report that followed his arrest a few days ago.

I'm very happy to hear that. It IS possible he knows a bit of history after all.

But.

Still.

What were you THINKING, DUUUUDE??!?!!?

The Disappearing "D"

A report on NewsBusters highlights one of the more curious difficulties faced today in broadcast journalism: their inability to use certain letters of the alphabet.

In coverage of the now-utterly discredited John Edwards, both ABC and George Stephanopolos devoted more than a full hour of coverage to the Edwards scandal, which involved him askidentally fathering a child by his mistress while running for President. They manage to discuss every aspect of the case....

...without ever mentioning his party affiliation.

You see this shit all the time. Whenever a Pubbie gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar (or the cookie baker, as the case may be) they drive in the party ID with a sledgehammer. But let a _emocrat go wrong, and lo and behold, it never gets mentioned.

Suhprize, suhprize, suhprize.....

The Seven Stages of Leftist Descent

The always-insightful poster Engraved-On-His-Hands at lucianne.com just made a brilliant observation, so brilliant that I'd like to share it in full.

The post is made in reaction to an Air Force Times story detailing a recent modification at the Air Force Academy, giving a "sacred space" to so-called "pagans."

EOHH had this to say in response:

There seems to be various steps or progressions, not only in this particular subject, but in many others affecting our culture. The steps include, but are not limited to, the ones that I hastily put down below:

1. ''You are crazy for suggesting that something like that could ever happen around here.''

2. ''It's not that widespread, and it would cause more harm than good to outlaw it.''

3. ''A lot of good people, including some of my friends, participate in it.''

4. ''It's really not that bad.''

5. ''Those who oppose it are extremists who are worse than the problem itself.''

6. ''We need as a society to marginalize those who oppose it.''

7. ''We need to enact laws to prosecute and silence the bigots who oppose this.''

(Well, is your seat in the handbasket all comfy now?)

Exactly. Exactly.

"Imagine a Free Vermont"?

Time Magazine, in the first article worth reading that I've seen in a long time, covers the secessionist fantasies of a bunch of middle aged paleocons in Vermont who'd rather pull out of the Union than continue to bear the 'burdens of empire.'

These guys need to imagine, not a Free Vermont, but a Vermont after a one megaman-army marches through it.

We don't do secession in the United States of America.

We do this instead.

Obama's True Message to GOP (0:25 Sec Mark)

Nothing more need be said. Alas.

Roeder Convicted of Murdering Tiller

Scott Roeder has been convicted of killing late term abortionist George Tiller.

This is as it should be.

By this act he brought disrepute to the prolife movement.

Prolifers don't commit murder.

That's kinda the point.

However, I should comment on the following from the above-cited LA Times article:

Tiller, 67, who was beloved by his patients...

...uh, you can say that this is a half-truth.

Chemical Ali Byebye

Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as "Chemical Ali," convicted in four separate war crimes trials for various crimes against humanity and the Iraqi and Kurdish peoples, went to his eternal reward yesterday at the hands of an Iraqi court-directed hang man.

Seems to be a bad day for mass murderers all around.

The Good Die Young

The NYT reports:

Ruth Proskauer Smith, a longtime reproductive rights advocate who helped found what is now Naral Pro-Choice America, died Friday at her home in Manhattan. She was 102.

May the Risen Christ, Son of the Triune God, have mercy on her coal-black soul.

ADDENDUM

Besides her son, Anthony, of Manhattan, Mrs. Smith is survived by a daughter, Gael S. Arnold, of Washington; six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Wellllll.... ITHN'T THAT THPETHIAL!

"We Choose Not To Go To The Moon.... "

".... Not because it is hard but because it is easy." - Barack Obama

Just to Remind Us!




Note to the reader:

I ran this story in August.

I'm going to run it again until somebody appreciates it.




The great Chinese explorer Zheng He (or Cheng Ho).


They're reporting that the Moon rocket program has been axed.

Not enough money, they say.

Fine, then. They think it's better to spend our money on socialized medical insurance. Or to give to the banks. Hooo...kay. Elections have consequences.

But let me tell you a story.

When the Ming Dynasty (refounded by the Emperor Yongle) took over China after a period of chaos in the early 1400s, he discovered a source of great potential wealth: a huge swath of land that had been set aside as a hunting preserve for the old dynasty.

The Mings chose to sell the land to the peasants in small lots. This generated a huge surplus of money.

After some debate, the Mings decided to spend the cash on .... exploration ships. They chose a remarkable individual, Zheng He (also known as Cheng Ho), famously a eunuch, to command the ships.

This account (from Wikipedia, thank God for their free-use rule!) sums up his career very well.

Zheng He's first voyage consisted of a fleet of around 300 ships (other sources say 200) holding almost 28,000 crewmen. These were probably mainly large six-masted ships....Zheng He's fleets visited Arabia, East Africa, India, Indonesia and Thailand (at the time called Siam), dispensing and receiving goods along the way. Zheng He presented gifts of gold, silver, porcelain and silk; in return, China received such novelties as ostriches, zebras, camels, ivory and giraffes.

Zheng He ... ruthlessly suppressed pirates who had long plagued Chinese and southeast Asian waters. He also intervened in a civil disturbance in order to establish his authority in Ceylon, and he made displays of military force when local officials threatened his fleet in Arabia and East Africa. From his fourth voyage, he brought envoys from thirty states who traveled to China and paid their respects at the Ming court.

In 1424 [his primary sponsor] the Emperor Yongle died. His successor, Emperor Hongxi (reigned 1424–1425), decided to curb [Zheng He's] influence at court. Zheng He made one more voyage under Emperor Xuande (reigned 1426–1435), but after that Chinese treasure ship fleets ended. Zheng He died during the treasure fleet's last voyage. Although he has a tomb in China, it is empty: he was, like many great admirals, buried at sea.

Zheng He, on his seven voyages [1405-1433], successfully relocated large numbers of Chinese Muslims to the nascent Malacca, which became a large international trade center.

What is important about this story is that after Zheng He died and the fleet returned, the Chinese abandoned further naval exploration. Had they tried to travel due east, they likely would have discovered America through the back door--and America would be half Chinese today. As it was, the Ming Dynasty turned inward, abandoned naval exploration... and became a very sad second-best to the Europeans, who started to explore the seas just a few years after China abandoned them. As a result, China is still not even competitive with the European Union, much less ourselves.

We have the choice, and the chance, not to repeat their mistake.

I'm confident that Obamism and all its pomps and works will be destroyed and in four years the grown ups will be back in charge. All this decision means is that the landing has been delayed by four years.

I ask you to remember the last line from the great movie Apollo 13 (known in this household as 'Daddy's Movie'):

"When are we going back? And who will it be?"

ADDENDUM: This one's for the Tattered Remnant. A guy who volunteers for this kind of duty HAS to have been one of the club.

Charles Johnson? Is that YOU?

There's a report that a man was arrested at an airport with 44 lizards in his pants.

No further comment is necessary, methinx.

So Much for the ACORN Exposé

If reports are correct, the individual responsible for the Acorn exposé videos was arrested for a Federal felony today.

James O'Keefe, the filmmaker responsible for breaking the back of ACORN with his 'undercover' filming of ACORN decisionmakers, was arrested for -- get this -- apparently trying to break into Senator Mary Landrieu's office in the Hale Boggs Federal Building in New Orleans in order to interfere somehow with their telephone system.

Three other young men were also arrested, including Robert Flanagan, the son of William Flanagan, who is the acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana. All have been charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony.

Now, Republicans of a certain age know better than to try to plant bugs in Democrat offices. I seem to recall there was some trouble a few years back when something like that happened, and if memory serves, it didn't end well.

This young man, O'Keefe, if he really was involved in a monumentally stupid attempt to bug Democrat offices, deserves to go to jail. He should also know, however, that not only has he just won himself a prison sentence, he just discredited his own work and unleashed and reinvigorated his enemies at ACORN, who will certainly use his criminal behavior - if it is that - at the Boggs Building as an excuse to reinvigorate itself. In the end, we can watch them transfer its own well earned opporbrium onto O'Keefe's apparently hollow noggin.

Christ on a crutch and Lord above.

What were you THINKING, DUUUUDE??!?!!?

ADDENDUM

When I say "So much for the ACORN exposé" I don't mean either that the exposé itself is bogus or that Andrew Breitbart, who brought it to light, had anything to do with the above mess in New Orleans. I AM saying that Mr. O'Keefe's days as a creditable source for anything are hereby terminated, unless there is some chance (God knows what!) that the arrest is not what it appears to be.

Andrew Breitbart himself denies any connection with any of the four other than O'Keefe, and denies knowing what he was up to. Click here for more.

Fridge Pic #015: 1 PIC = 1 KWord

(Hat tip: Free Republic)

A Victory for Free Speech in America

The United States Supreme Court, last Wednesday, revolutionized and reinvigorated free speech protections in its decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (558 U.S.____, Docket No. 08-205, January 20, 2010). An excellent legal summary of the decision itself can be found here.

You can spent an hour or two reading a zillion articles to try to figure out what the hell went on.

Or you can watch THIS video, which summarizes it very well in less than five minutes.

I'm not a big fan of the CATO institute--libertarianism is NOT my cuppa tea--but I'm glad they're here to tell us these things.

And I'm glad they now can't ban stuff like this.

We have a new most-junior Senator....

.... and I just wanted to remind you who Scott Brown replaced in that role.

WashPost Journo: Racists Will Elect Palin

One Jon Jeter, a blogger at www.theroot.com, has a bad case of the vapors.

He is sensible to the degree that he sees, clearly, the utter incompetence and inability of the Obama administration to cope with our difficulties.

And he sensibly sees that Obama's inabilities are paving the way for a President Palin.

However, his analysis of how we will get from here to there is like looking in a funhouse mirror. All the attributes are present but the picture presented is highly distorted. To say the least.

For starters, he sees that

[T]he economic crisis that is most comparable to the current situation is not the Great Depression, or the 1981 slowdown, but Japan’s decade-long recession that began with the bust of its real-estate bubble in the early ‘90s.

Okay, as far as it goes.

However, he sees the response to this by conservatives in flyover country as "tribal."

Like the defiant, segregationist Alabama governor, Palin, the former Alaska governor, speaks the language of the white Southern and suburban voters who fear that the American way of life is under attack from an out-of-touch, Godless, effete and multiracial big-city crowd. With her folksy charisma and parochial values, Palin is the latest in a long line of demagogues —from post-Reconstruction governors in the Deep South to Father Coughlin in the ‘30s, from Reagan to Lou Dobbs—who’ve emerged to redeem, or reclaim, the land from Northern carpetbaggers and uppity Negroes.

Astounding.

It's all about racism. Always, always, always.

Got news for you, Mr. Jeter. It's not about your race. It's about our choices, all of us, white, black and in between.

Jeter is right that it is very likely that America will elect President Palin in 2012 whether the national Democrat socialists like it or not.

He is accurate in that our situation is like that of Japan in the 1990s. The reason the housing market collapsed in 2008 is the same as the Japanese real estate collapse 20 years ago: all that borrowing was based on a supposed inevitably increasing price for housing, arising from endless new demand for housing... but there suddenly was no burgeoning demand for new housing. Oops.

The reason why there was not burgeoning demand for new housing is that not enough young people were aching to buy houses in the market.

The reason why there are not enough young people aching to buy houses is because huge numbers of those who might be buying houses were exterminated in utero by the peculiar institution we call "legalized abortion". That's about two in seven conceived since 1973. (And about 1 in 3 African Americans!)

And this is EXACTLY why Japan is in permanent economic stagnation. They've aborted so many of their children that there is no hope for economic growth.

There are 50 million or so missing Americans--25 million of them would be between the ages of 18 and 35 right now, and of them, we can expect, oh, maybe about 10-15 million potential home buyers would have been out there had they not been aborted.

The reason the Left hates Sarah Palin has nothing to do with her "parochialism." It is due to fact that she and her daughter reminds each one of them, father or mother, who ever aborted a child of their "choice." And I fear that the Left will do anything, anything at all, to avoid having her and those who support her from controlling the national government because they do not want to be confronted with their own, personal contribution to the mass killing of our nation's children.

And for the writer, above, who fears Palin's "racism"--how can she possibly be a racist when she, unlike Obama, wants there to be many more black children born than are born now? (Leaving aside the additional inconvenient truth that her husband is, ahem, non-white.)

Yes, it's about the economy. And yes, it's about Obama's manifest, total and irredeemable inability to be an effective President. But it's ultimately about our national self-destructive behavior of insisting that we abort freely and without consequences.

But there are ALWAYS consequences to evil.

Always.

"I tremble for my nation when I reflect that God is just."

Our economic troubles are not God's punishment for abortion: it is merely that He allows us the consequences of our choices. If we jump off of a bridge, He lets us hit the bottom... although we may (may) have a few seconds to reconsider and repent before we hit the ground.

And it is truly dismaying that someone like Jeter, who one would think should know better, blames it, indeed everything, on racism. But then, if he knew better and wrote the full truth, the WashPost probably would not have hired or promoted him; they would have found some other politically correct leftist to write in his place. PC journo school grads are a dime a dozen. There are always plenty of, oh, Jayson Blairs and Stephen Glasses out there who are willing to, er, get the real story.

Tattered Remnants #025: Ray Vivier

(Read all about the Tattered Remnants by clicking {here}.)

THE MAN HE BECAME: RAY VIVIER

I have been, and remain, a staunchly anti-elitist individual. I find the idea of belonging to a special group the most dangerous philosophical ground you can stand on. But what is remarkable about this Remnant is that the people that compose it seem to be drawn completely at random. It is not a philosophy. It is a frequency. You are on it or you are not. And this is not a million-dollar lottery win, either: it is a call to face unpleasant facts and impending hardship. It is a quiet summons to duty. It often makes one uncomfortable, and, most often, this unfocused, vague desire – this need – to do something useful most often makes one feel very much alone.

What’s remarkable about the Remnant — to me, anyway – is the sheer unpredictability of its composition. Perhaps that homeless drug addict, panhandling under the overpass… perhaps he will be the one to run into a burning building while other decent and good people stand idle, waiting for something to happen.

Waiting for someone to happen.

--Bill Whittle, You Are Not Alone, Part 1, the essay that inspired the Tattered Remnants series.



His name was Ray and he was a homeless wreck.

He had been fighting alcohol for years. He had spent most of the previous months living beneath a bridge in Cleveland, Ohio. When young, he had been a United States Marine, once, but had only lasted a year. He wandered the Left Coast of our country, never quite settling down. He hadn't seen his ex-wife for decades. His children had lost touch with him; no word had been received from him for fifteen years. He was sixty-one years old and had nobody--nobody except his fellows in the boarding house. They didn't even know his right name.

And yet, when he died, unidentified, in a Cleveland boarding house blaze, he died in glory.

The fire, in November 2009, was caused by arson--two men deliberately set fire to the building for undisclosed reasons. There were nine in the home when the fire broke out.

Three within the building were trapped and burned to death. But the others were awakened and removed from the building by Ray. He repeatedly went back into the building and carried his housemates out.

He saved five.

But he was gravely injured and collapsed outside the building after his final rescue. He was taken to a hospital, suffering from severe smoke inhalation and burns from his efforts. He died in agony.

And he lay in the hospital morgue for weeks as nobody knew his true name or his next of kin; it seemed likely that this anonymous hero would be buried in a pauper's grave, unmarked and unremembered.

After some old friends heard word of the fire–-friends who went back to Cleveland from Pennsylvania to identify his body--he was given a name. He was identified as Ray Vivier.

He was inurned on January 23, 2010, in Arlington National Cemetery, his ashes placed in a columbarium overlooking the Potomac, within sight of the Mall, after a funeral attended by more than a hundred of his family, his friends–and those who admired him, his ashes in a gold urn.

When he was laid to rest, he received full military honors.

"I am proud of the man he was becoming," his daughter said. And it could be said that, no matter his struggles, in the end, he succeeded.

There can be no better epitaph for any of us.

I do not have a picture of Ray Vivier.

But God knows him well. May he sing His glory forever.

Charles Johnson: 'Weasels Ripped My Flesh'

A profile of Trelayne, the Squire of Gothos, in the New York Times no less. Money grafs:

THE QUESTIONING OF Johnson’s tactics started to come not just from without L.G.F. but also from within. ... Johnson insists that ... no one has ever been banned from L.G.F. merely for disagreeing with him — but the anecdotal evidence to the contrary is voluminous, and the fact that the offending comments were instantly and permanently deleted makes it impossible to check others’ records against his.

AND:

Comment threads all over the blogosphere were hijacked by people sharing stories of their banishment. Another stalker blog — this one assailing Johnson from the right — sprang up, administered by banned former “Lizards,” as L.G.F.’s registrants are known. Johnson responded by posting those former registrants’ real names and photographs on L.G.F. — an astounding breach of civility on the Internet, where anonymity is often prized above all else.

This sucks. Credite experto. (For the benefit of Charles, that means "Trust him who knows." Firsthand.)

Most hilariously of all, a quote from Trelayne his own self:

“I don’t know why things can’t just stay on the level of the factual,” he said. “I don’t know why everything has to have a slant. I mean, The New York Times has a slant, and in the past I’ve called them out for that.” He sighed. “I miss the days of Walter Cronkite.”

In other words, Trelayne is every bit as thin skinned a whiner as we thought.

And he views as his hero a Communist sympathizer who helped turn Southeast Asia over to the North Vietnames Army, Pol Pot, and their killer minions.

RZZZZZ!

ADDENDUM

The Squire has this to say about NYT's account:

I have a few significant disagreements with the angle taken by Jonathan Dee in his profile for the New York Times, most of all his willingness to accept unverifiable anecdotal information from people who post comments on the Internet under fake names, to claim that their LGF accounts were blocked simply for disagreeing with me — a claim which, in the vast majority of cases, is simply not true.

I am Richard L. Kent, Esq. I am attorney in Eastpointe, Michigan. I work at a law office at 22815 Kelly Road, Eastpointe, Michigan, 48021-2073. My phone number is 586 202 6170. I'm making this public because Charles and his mob of diseased flying monkey maniacs outed me when I dared to challenge his bad behavior, and when they put my personal information on his blog, he didn't bother to delete it.... thereby making him a party to their calls to get me fired. (Fortunately I'm self employed, and my boss just loves me unreservedly.)

I post my real contact information since it is a matter of public record and can be verified by anyone willing to spend five minutes on the Web trying to track me down. Besides, Charles himself allowed it to be posted to his blog.

And I'm here to say so because the fact that people's LGF accounts were blocked simply for disagreeing with him is absolutely true. I have seen it. And I say so under my own name.

It didn't quite happen to me personally because I resigned his blog first. But, after I resigned, he then outed me, revealing my personal information to the world in gross violation of the trust given him, in the same way that he outed those now running "Blogmocracy 2.0." aka LGF2. (The fact that one of those he outed, LGF2 flounder "Rodan" is a vile, genocide cheerleading hate-punk, doesn't change the fact that Charles absolutely shoudna done what he did.... i.e., using information from his donor page(!) to track down and out those who diss him.)

But I am here to tell you that Charles' whines about those he has banned are the whines of someone who is guilty as charged.

GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY!

And if he doesn't like my saying so he can go screw himself.

"Bless me, Father, .... "

"... for I have sinned."

It has been far too long since I have been to Confession....

Father, this is kind of hard to explain.... you see, about ten years ago, I was stationed in Bosnia as a peacekeeper. I lived in a US base near Tuzla and drove around the back roads of the northern part of the country helping to keep the Croats, Muslims and Serbs from restaring the war of 1995.

Well, my sin is possibly one of blasphemy. Or at the very least, idolatry.

Everywhere we went, every hour of every day, we were required to wear a little plastic bag around our necks. In the plastic bag went our SFOR ("Stabilization Force") ID cards, and our military ID's. The point was that we were supposed to be able to identify one another on sight.

Well, we were far away from home. And we were very frightened of being in a hostile country where one wrong step could set off a land mine.

So, as soldiers do in hostile territory--we called it "Indian Country", very un-PC of us--we turned to religious observation to invoke the help of God Almighty to protect us.

Many of us, being Protestants, started carrying and reading one of the many freely available Gideon Bibles. Those of Jewish background suddenly discovered the Sabbath prayers and avoiding pork. And we Catholics turned to our traditional standbys of holy objects, rosaries, and other "sacramentals." These went into our little plastic ID pouches.

Shortly after I arrived, a woman friend of mine gave me something particularly special: it was a bit of the Sacrament--the Host, "Holy Communion", the Consecrated Body of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ--which she had bought from a street seller in Croatia. It was a tiny bit of Communion host embedded in a tiny plastic case.

"I'm not Catholic, I'm Jewish," she explained. "But I understand well how sacred this is to you and I thought it was evil that some guy was selling this like it was a hot dog on the street. So I bought them all and I've been making a point of giving them to my Catholic friends."

Now, I am sure that, were this actually consecrated, it would be the grossest blasphemy to have this on (rather than within) my person. The Host is a Sacrament, not a mere sacramental, and this meant that every time I sinned, from swearing up to whatever, I was doing so in His direct Presence.

And yet... and yet... it was an enormous comfort in times of danger. And while there was nobody shooting at us, there was plenty of danger in Bosnia. (Ever walk in a minefield? Ever see an open mass grave? Ever fly a helicopter blind in fog in the mountains? No? I have. I don't recommend it.)

There were times I might well have lost my cool and cried like a child without the ability to hold that thing in my hand when I was in deepest fear.

Shortly before I left the country for good, I gave it away to another soldier, who, I trust, gave it to another, .... and so on.

My conscience is pricked because I read about an artificial kerfluffle being sounded in certain quarters concerning the fact that some sniper rifle sights have been engraved with Biblical references--and that same has been decried by the soi-disant "Military Religious Freedom Foundation".

Now, having inappropriate markings on combat rifles can be a bad thing. I remember the legend (don't know if it's true) about how the shoulder stocks of the first M-16 rifles were marked with the corporate logo of their manufacturer.... Mattel.

Plus, I seem to recall the problems arising when the Reagan administration wanted to name a nuclear wessel* after Corpus Christi, TX.

Be that as it may, I must say that in a technical sense, those objecting to Bible citations on rifle sights are right, sort of. It is not a good idea to put references to the words of Jesus Christ onto an instrument of instant death. I, for one, might worry about being on the receiving end of a lightning strike. (And I *certainly* would not want to name a Final Counterstrike mechanism after the Body of Christ.)

More importantly, I am sure that putting bible references on a sniper scope would give some Constitutional lawyers a bad case of the vapors. ("We can't do that! Cuz... cuz... cuz we can't!")

On the other hand, I recall that a few years ago, America cheered at the hard-core-fundamentalist-bible-quoting U.S. Army infantry sniper named Daniel Jackson, played by Barry Pepper, who prayed "Blessed be the Lord Our God, who teacheth my fingers to fight, and my hands to war," immediately before using his U.S. Army issued sniper sight to kill Nazis.

"We sleep safe at night because rough men stand ready at night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." And some of those men are deeply committed (if, arguably, theologically shallow) Christians, who battle in the face of an implacable enemy who would, indeed, do us, and him, immeasurable harm if they could.

And these men (and women) need all the help they can get.

Anyway, if there is any truth to the Catholic faith, I am sure that carrying the Body of My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on my person for two years in a war zone is far more blasphemous than carrying a sniper rifle with "code words."

Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee.... if indeed I have.

And I must admit that I am sorriest that I am not really very sorry at all. It was a comfort to have You with me.

-------

*That's not misspelled, that's Chekov. ("Where are the nuclear wessels?")

Sen. Franken Called For Violent Overthrow of US Gov't

A few nights ago I had the strangest dream.... Al Franken, the United States Senator (who, last time I saw him, defamed my beloved Bosnia as a "shit hole") was on a stage calling for nothing more or less than violent revolution.

Well, I googled it.

Turns out I was remembering an actual event. October 21, 1978. I must been, what, sixteen years old? Anyway, Al Franken and his buddy Tom Davis were filmed saying... THIS:

Al Franken: Thank you, thank you! Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! It's GREAT to be back!

Tom Davis: That's right. And, tonight, we'd like to stick our necks out a little bit on national television, and call for a violent overthrow of the United States government! [ he bows, as the audience applauds ]

Al Franken: Thank you! Thank you! You see, besides being a professional comedy team, Tom and I are international Communist revolutionaries... and we believe that nothing can really be changed in this country, through the Democratic process! [ brief applause ] Oh, thank you! We're glad a lot of you feel that way!

Tom Davis: Right you are, Al. You see, in a Capitalist society, anybody who's running for public office is automatically corrupted by... well, instead of telling... why don't we show you?.... (cut to pointless comedy routine)

Well, as it turned out, Al DID show us. We just had to wait thirty one years.

(The above script is from an appearance on Saturday Night Live, but is presented just to let you know that (a) Al Franken actually said this, and (b) that he was just, ahem, kidding.)

(Right?)

Guess the answer to this is 'yes'....

....in light of yesterday's election results in Massachusetts.

Teddy, We Hardly Knew Ye

In August 2009, this blog bade a fond farewell to Teh Loin of the Senate, Edward (Ted) Kennedy, the Submariner, as he drove his metaphorical car over the Bifrost Bridge, alone this time.

We made the following snide comments:

His death at this moment reduces the Democratic majority in the Senate to 59 votes, thus making it mathematically possible to stop socialized health care until his successor is elected, which should take, oh, about six months.

Thank you, Senator, for your contribution this day to the continuation of American freedom.

We never, in our fondest fantasies, ever dreamed that the door that hit him on the way out would open the way for stopping Obamacare flat.

Again, Senator, we AGAIN thank you for your lasting contribution to the continuation of American freedom.

And we rejoice in the victory with knowledge that there is much struggle yet to come.

You. Just. Gotta. See. This.

From YOUTUBE:

"A rookie secret agent is faced with a problem seldom covered in basic training: what to do when a curious pigeon gets trapped inside your multi-million dollar, government-issued nuclear briefcase."

Doncha hate it when that happens?

PS. That really is 16th Street Northwest, Washington, DC, and yes, it looks just like that.

Aside from the nuclear pigeon.

In Re: Glenn Beck

You know....? The "Idiotarian of the Year"? The guy whom Charles Johnson, the Squire of Gothos, describes as...

He spreads End Times craziness and has guests who suggest Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the Antichrist. He constantly predicts that the end of America is imminent. He asserts that President Obama is a "racist with a deep-seated hatred of white culture." He says President Obama is part of a decades long communist plot to destroy the country. He thinks the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan is a hotbed of commie propaganda. He promotes a book by W. Cleon Skousen, a crazed work of conspiracy theories that served as an inspiration for the John Birch Society.

Well, the Wall Street Journal today gives us, ahem, a *slightly* different view about him.

"Look, I know a lot of people will disagree with the way I present things. I am being myself—I am a guy who is a recovering alcoholic, who lived a pretty fast life, who works hard every day, quite honestly, not to use the F-word—it used to be an art for me. I am a work in progress. But I also am a businessman that looks to get the word out to the maximum number of people."

Imagine! Glenn Beck, actually a member of the human frakking race!

Naaaah. After all, he's the Idiotarian of the Year. Charles Johnson told us so.

Right.

Now, I have never watched Glenn Beck. I have never listened to his radio show. Or Rush's. Or anybody else's. I don't get cable TV, I don't listen to talk radio. I think for myself, frankly, and when I am interested in Glenn Beck's, Rush Limbaugh's, or Charles Johnson's opinions, I'll give it to them.

But still.

It's interesting to see that he is, indeed, not an autotheistic phlegm monster.

Unlike, oh, certain bloggers I know. Right, Trelayne? Right?

Eat Yer Heart Out, Gene Simmons

"Zoo visitors got a surprise when this small bear rolled his foot-long tongue out of his mouth when it yawned. The bear measured only four feet long. The Sun Bear may look bizarre, but it is perfectly designed for foraging for food - especially honey".

Very Useful App....

This application will very thoroughly clean the inside of your screen for you.

Give it a try.

Haiti, Before and After

WIRED Magazine brings us satellite pix of the devastation, with pics of the same areas before the quake.

Mother of God.

In Re: Dirty Laundry

In connection with the above - Don Henley playing at the 1992 Clinton Inaugural Ball - I wish to bring your attention to THIS little essay by one claiming to be a Real TV Anchor.

If it is true, no wonder the Dinosaur Media DeathWatch claims another victim every day.

Holly[Extremely]Weird

In the course of the human events I've beheld this last half century, I can say that I've seen a great deal. I've seen cities like Chicago rise to glory, and my home city die of leprosy. I've seen the glory of Europe and the lights go out on Broadway. I've met Presidents and peasants, shaken hands with amiable murderers and irascible saints, held my newborn son and ancient mother in my arms. I've been to the Embassy Ball and I've beheld mass graves and the victims of genocide.

But never, but never, have I met anybody like Tia Tequila or Katy Perry.

And for that last I must say I am eternally grateful.

Haiti: My. God.

I'm shamelessly stealing this link from LGF.

This needs to be seen.

They're talking a HALF MILLION casualties.

"Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed," Preval told the Miami Herald. "There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them."

Even the main prison in the capital fell down, "and there are reports of escaped inmates," U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said in Geneva.

The head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission was missing and the Roman Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince was dead.

Mother of God. Have mercy on these people, Lord.

Avatar: Hogwash in 3D

Hat Tip: the geniuses at failblog.org

Yesterday AM I was digging through a stack of old and much loved paperbacks and found myself rereading Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers, which celebrated human victory in interstellar war against a hive-race of space spiders -- an achievement worthy of celebration because "both races are strong and tough and want the same real estate."

Last night I went to see (front row, 3D, Imax) Avatar.... the anti-Starship Troopers. To say the least.

I emerged with a splitting headache.

Oh, sure, the visuals were awesome. But the story was nothing more than a rehash of the what-happens-when-White-Europeans-encounter-noble-savages nonsense we've all come to know and loathe.

Noble Savages my butt. Sure, 15th Century unbathed Euroes were no prize, but the peoples of the Americas weren't exactly peace-love-dove types either (EVERY human has eaten the apple!).

Just once I'd love for them to make a movie about the fall of the Aztecs that showed the monstrous bastards for what they were before Our Lady crushed them beneath her heel. Hint: they weren't exactly Christian Bernard wannabees wielding stone knives on their sacrificial altars.

Besides, the premise of the movie is absurd. With PC nazis everywhere now, the chances of our actually REACHING an alien planet are zilch (leaving aside the physical barriers); were we to find one with sentients on the surface, we CERTAINLY wouldn't be down there mining dilithium crystals from under their sacred shrines and apartment complexes. What frakking hogwash.

I want those three hours of my life back so I can spend them on something useful.

ADDENDUM

Somehow the moral superiority of spear-and-arrow-casting woad warriors over humans is not clearly established. Truly, their only claim to the forest is, "We were here first!". A claim that, alas, history shows that when confronting vastly superior alien tech will, along with a buck and a half, get you a Venti at Starbuck's. (A grande is three and a quarter.)

I DO know that the advantages of living in a forest and shooting deer with blowdarts over ambling over to a grocery store and buying fresh ground beef to make hamburgers out of escapes me; give me light beer and blue jeans any day of the week, thanks.

ADDENDUM II

THIS would have made a much more interesting movie, methinx: the story of Scientist Kenneth Good and his Yanomama mama, Yerema, nine years old when they first married, and her eventual decision to go with him to New Jersey.... and return to the rain forest after deciding that a steady diet of MTV and Mickey Dees wudn't for her.