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.....