|
Website of the Week
Another great movie from the BBC.
Local Pump Price of Unleaded Gasoline:
$3.89/gallon
Price Per Barrel of Oil:
$136.04 (previously $125.96)
last modified Jul 8, 2008 at 22:33
You probably won't hear this on CBSNews, ABCNews, CNN, MSNBC (at least, not before Election Day), but apparently there was a major mistranslation of Osama bin Ladin's videotaped speech against the United States. According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), bin Ladin makes a direct threat against individual states who cast electoral votes for Bush.
The tape of Osama bin Laden that was aired on Al-Jazeera(1) on Friday, October 29th included a specific threat to "each U.S. state," designed to influence the outcome of the upcoming election against George W. Bush. The U.S. media in general mistranslated the words "ay wilaya" (which means "each U.S. state")(2) to mean a "country" or "nation" other than the U.S., while in fact the threat was directed specifically at each individual U.S. state. This suggests some knowledge by bin Laden of the U.S. electoral college system. In a section of his speech in which he harshly criticized George W. Bush, bin Laden stated: "Any U.S. state that does not toy with our security automatically guarantees its own security."
The Islamist website Al-Qal'a explained what this sentence meant: "This message was a warning to every U.S. state separately. When he [Osama Bin Laden] said, 'Every state will be determining its own security, and will be responsible for its choice,' it means that any U.S. state that will choose to vote for the white thug Bush as president has chosen to fight us, and we will consider it our enemy, and any state that will vote against Bush has chosen to make peace with us, and we will not characterize it as an enemy. By this characterization, Sheikh Osama wants to drive a wedge in the American body, to weaken it, and he wants to divide the American people itself between enemies of Islam and the Muslims, and those who fight for us, so that he doesn't treat all American people as if they're the same. This letter will have great implications inside the American society, part of which are connected to the American elections, and part of which are connected to what will come after the elections."(3)
The Daily Recycler has a great video up contrasting GW "John Wayne" Bush with John "Breck Girl" Edwards. Check it out here.
Well, what's really breaking right now is that Bill Gertz of the Washington Times is revealing that Russian special ops moved many weapons out of Iraq in the days and months before the US invasion. This probably explains a lot or at least some of the following: the 360 tons of RDX and HX from Al QaQaa; the convoy to Syria; our inability to find chemical and biological WMD.
By going full blast into President Bush about the weapons disappearance from Al QaQaa, Kerry has painted himself into a very dangerous corner. Let's see Joe Lockhart, Jimmie Carville, Kerry, Edwards, et al, spin their way out of this one!
Hat tip to 'W' from Mississippi for these election links:
Electoral Vote Predictor
Polling Report
Rasmussen's Presidential Tracking, Electoral College Tracker, and News Releases
My wife is blogging again.
This one is for Scott Cunningham. The Libertarian Party's presidential candidate John Hospers has endorsed President Bush for re-election.
George Bush has been criticized for many things -- and in many cases with justification: on campaign finance reform (a suppression of the First Amendment), on vast new domestic spending, on education, and on failing to protect the borders. No self-respecting libertarian or conservative would fail to be deeply appalled by these. His great virtue, however, is that he has stood up -- knowingly at grave risk to his political viability -- to terrorism when his predecessors, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Clinton did not. On many occasions during their administrations terrorists attacked American lives and property. Clinton did nothing, or engaged in a feckless retaliation such as bombing an aspirin factory in the Sudan (based on faulty intelligence, to boot). Then shortly after Bush became president he was hit with "the big one": 9/11. It was clear to him that terrorism was more than a series of criminal acts: it was a war declared upon U. S. and indeed to the entire civilized world long before his administration. He decided that action had to be taken to protect us against future 9/11s involving weapons of mass destruction, including "suitcase" nuclear devices.
...
We stand today at an important electoral crossroads for the future of liberty, and as libertarians our first priority is to promote liberty and free markets, which is not necessarily the same as to promote the Libertarian Party. This time, if we vote Libertarian, we may win a tiny rhetorical battle, but lose the larger war.
One of the fun parts about youth group trips that I remember most succinctly is talking on the CB radio. On these trips, we usually traveled in a caravan and to communicate when we needed to make a pit stop, we would use the CB. The best part was talking to the truckers and making up a handle for our vehicle. One van would be Big Bad Wolf and the other would be Little Red Riding Hood.
"Come in, Little Red Riding Hood."
"Read you loud and clear, Big Bad Wolf."
"The Wolf's ready for a bite to eat."
I found this website that is a real find in regard to this. It's called Trucker Talk and has a glossary of Trucking terminology. Everything you need to know to be a little dangerous with your CB. Here are a few samples:
Bear - generic term for a law enforcement officer.
- full grown bear: state trooper.
- county Mounties: sheriff's deputy.
- city kitty: city police, or, as many truckers often say: "POLEESE." Also local yokel.
- Evel Knievel: motorcycle cop.
- diesel cop/DOT/The MAN: State or Federal Department of Transportation enforcement officer.
- mama bear: female law enforcement officer.
Cottonpicker - sometimes used as a male-bonding term, but more often as a mild insult. The equivalent of jerk. "That cottonpicker turned right in front of me!"
You have to admire Laura Bush's class when questioned about what she thought of TeRaysa Kerry's remarks in response to a question about Laura Bush's qualifications for being a First Lady, in which she said that "Well, you know, I don't know Laura Bush. But she seems to be calm, and she has a sparkle in her eye, which is good. But I don't know that she's ever had a real job -- I mean, since she's been grown up."
She played down a controversy that blew up over the remark and expressed sympathy for Teresa Heinz Kerry for having to handle the pressures of being on the campaign trail and answer reporters' questions.
"It doesn't matter to me," Mrs. Bush told reporters as she campaigned in the swing state of New Hampshire. "It was perfectly alright. She apologized and she didn't even really need to apologize," Mrs. Bush said.
"I know how tough it is. Actually, I know those trick questions, too," she said.
(Hat tip to LGF)
In an ad that has appeared in student newspapers from Princeton to MIT, college students are taking a stand and are contributing their intellectual talents on behalf of the unborn.
From the ad:
Some people say that we don’t know—even can’t know—when the life of a new human being begins. They depict it as a mystery—a “metaphysical” or even “theological” question. But this is nonsense. Human embryogenesis and intrauterine development are, in their essentials, well understood. As to “when life begins,” every textbook of embryology and developmental biology currently in use in American medical schools gives the same testimony.
The Guardian has launched a letter-writing campaign to voters in Clark County, Ohio. Brits are encouraged to sign up and they will receive the name and address of a voter within that county to whom they can mail a letter suggesting who to vote for in the coming Presidential election.
By the looks of things, Americans are not too pleased. Here's a sample of a letter to the Guardian in response to this effort:
My dear, beloved Brits,
I understand The Guardian is sponsoring a service where British citizens write to Americans to advise them on how to vote. Thank heavens! I was adrift in a sea of confusion and you are my beacon of hope!
Feel free to respond to this email with your advice. Please keep in mind that I am something of an anglophile, so this is not confrontational. Please remember, too, that I am merely an American. That means I am not very bright. It means I have no culture or sense of history. It also means that I am barely literate, so please don't use big, fancy words.
Set me straight, folks!
Dayton, Ohio
My not-so-little brother David has a new blog - Hogue the 10th. Welcome, David, to the blogosphere.
Fellowship 9/11
*Parody of Fahrenheith 9/11 that exposes the "real reasons" behind the War on Mordor.
You've got to give these guys credit. They put real thought and effort into the contrivance of these scams. Like Mulder from the X-Files, I want to believe (just not enough to give them my bank account number).
Dear Friend,
As you read this, I don't want you to feel sorry for
me, because, I believe everyone will die someday.
My name is MR ANDREW STEWART a merchant in Dubai, in
the U.A.E.I have been diagnosed with Esophageal cancer .
It has defiled all forms of medical treatment, and
right now I have only about a few months to live,
according to medical experts.
I have not particularly lived my life so well, as I
never really cared for anyone(not even myself but my
business. Though I am very rich, I was never generous,
I was always hostile to people and only focused on my
business as that was the only thing I cared for. But
now I regret all this as I now know that there is more
to life than just wanting to have or make all the money in
the world.
I believe when God gives me a second chance to come to
this world I would live my life a different way from
how I have lived it. Now that God has called me, I
have willed and given most of my property and assets
to my immediate and extended family members as well as
a few close friends.
I want God to be merciful to me and accept my soul so,
I have decided to give also to charity
organizations, as I want this to be one of the last
good deeds I do on earth. So far, I have distributed
money to some charity organizations in the U.A.E,
Algeria and Malaysia. Now that my health has
deteriorated so badly, I cannot do this myself
anymore.
I once asked members of my family to close
one of my accounts and distribute the money which I
have there to charity organization in Bulgaria and
Pakistan, they refused and kept the money to
themselves. Hence, I do not trust them anymore, as
they seem not to be contended with what I have left
for them.
The last of my money which no one knows of is the
huge cash deposit of$18,000,000,00 that
I have with a finance/Security Company
Abroad.I will want you to help me collect my money
and dispatched it to charity organizations.
I have set aside 20% for you and for your time,Please
endeavour to contact me if you are willing.
God be with you.
ANDREW STEWART
In response to some points made by Tensas a few posts down, I am posting this important piece by Paul Kengor.
Against incredible odds, George W. Bush may have laid the ground for Middle East democracy in the two most unlikely places, the Taliban's Afghanistan and Saddam's Iraq. Nowhere were women more repressed than in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Nowhere were humans generally more repressed than in Iraq under Saddam. Between the two, Saddam was the biggest destabilizer in the world's most unstable neighborhood.
How will George W. Bush have achieved this? In both cases, by force — military force issued in reaction to September 11. September 11 handed him the opportunity. We can be certain that on that awful morning, as Osama ghoulishly smiled from a cave in Afghanistan, a rout of radical Islamic terror, defeat of dictatorship in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a potential wave of democratic freedom in the Middle East was not what Mr. bin Laden had in mind. But neither did he have in mind the response of George W. Bush.
To the extent that the Middle East becomes democratic, and peaceful — a very big "if" that remains to be seen — President Bush will have sowed the seeds in Afghanistan and Iraq. One man will have changed the course of history, making the 21st century rosy instead of bleak. And if such a monumental transformation happens, George W. Bush will be the toast of history, quite a change from today, where he is the focus of dripping hatred from millions in America and around the world. If only the haters could briefly put aside their passions and pause to see the remarkable stage of history possibly unfolding before their eyes. And if only our media could put aside partisanship and superficiality to ponder and relay the big picture.
Generally, I'm a Fox News fan and even, at one time, was a Bill O'Reilly fan. That was a long time ago and since then, have developed a serious dislike for the man and his show. O' Reilly tries to maintain an air of sophisticated moderation on political issues (the so-called "no-spin zone"), but always seems to come off as an arrogant jerk rather than impartial commentator.
That being said, a recent sexual harassment suit has been filed by Fox News producer Andrea Mackris alleging many instances of lewd and downright disgusting statements made by O'Reilly. Many of these statements are word for word, so my thinking is that they probably have been recorded on some type of device and transcribed for the lawsuit.
Is O'Reilly innocent? Perhaps, perhaps not. Time will tell. The lawsuit is very specific on many points which can no doubt be verified or disproved through cell-phone records or recorded messages.
Halloween came early for John Kerry tonight. As the night wore on, Kerry began the transformation into Lurch right before our very eyes. Bush, on the other hand, won the morbid spectacle in horrific fashion, bloodying Kerry on his nightmare of a liberal record.
I have to wonder about all the so-called 'undecideds' out there. If you are undecided at this point, I'm sorry, but you should not be allowed to vote. How much do you, Mr. Undecided, have to know about John Kerry or George Bush, to decide which one is the best candidate? Do us all a favor and sit your ignorant self out of this election.
(Hat tip to the Captain)
Al Jazeera has reported on a recent unearthing of a killing field in Iraq done by investigators of Saddam and the crimes alleged against him and his cruel administration.
Hoping to unearth crucial evidence that could help in convicting deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, investigators said nine trenches in a dry riverbed at the Hatra site in northern Iraq contained at least 300 bodies, and possibly thousands.
Those buried included children still clutching toys.
"It is my personal opinion that this is a killing field," said Greg Kehoe, a US lawyer appointed by the White House to work with the Iraqi Special Tribunal.
"Someone used this field on significant occasions over time to take bodies up there and to take people up there and execute them".
"I have been doing grave sites for a long time, but I have never seen anything like this, women and children executed for no apparent reason," Kehoe said. "It's a perfect place for execution".
Mark Steyn has an incredibly blunt article on Ken Bigley's death at the hands of terrorists in Iraq.
Paul Bigley can be forgiven his clumsiness: he’s a freelancer winging it. But the feelers put out by the Foreign Office to Ken Bigley’s captors are more disturbing: by definition, they confer respectability on the head-hackers and increase the likelihood that Britons and other infidels will be seized and decapitated in the future. The United Kingdom, like the government of the Philippines when it allegedly paid a ransom for the release of its Iraqi hostages, is thus assisting in the mainstreaming of jihad.
By contrast with the Fleet Street-Scouser-Whitehall fiasco of the last three weeks, consider Fabrizio Quattrocchi, murdered in Iraq on April 14th. In the moment before his death, he yanked off his hood and cried defiantly, “I will show you how an Italian dies!” He ruined the movie for his killers. As a snuff video and recruitment tool, it was all but useless, so much so that the Arabic TV stations declined to show it.
Everything is free now,
That's what they say.
Everything I ever done,
Gotta give it away.
Someone hit the big score.
They figured it out,
That we're gonna do it anyway,
Even if doesn't pay.
I can get a tip jar,
Gas up the car,
And try to make a little change
Down at the bar.
Or I can get a straight job,
I've done it before.
I never minded working hard,
It's who I'm working for.
(Chorus)
Every day I wake up,
Hummin' a song.
But I don't need to run around,
I just stay home.
And sing a little love song,
My love, to myself.
If there's something that you want to hear,
You can sing it yourself.
'Cause everything is free now,
That what I say.
No one's got to listen to
The words in my head.
Someone hit the big score,
And I figured it out,
That we're gonna do it anyway,
Even if doesn't pay.
(Everything is Free Now (c) Gillian Welch)
When it comes to interpreting music, I am an idealist hoping for romance mixed with tragedy. So, it should be no surprise that upon the first 10 or so hearings of Gillian Welch's song Everything is Free (from The Revelator), I thought that she was writing about a down-on-her-luck songwriter who was going to play music his or her own way regardless of whether or not he or she made it to the big time or made a lot of money.
However, the other day, as I was listening for the umpteenth time, it hit me that the song could be about file-sharing of music. Have you ever had an epiphany like this? Anyway, I thought maybe I was way out in left field, but upon further research found these two web articles suggesting this is the meaning.
For Gillian Welch, 'Free' Has A Cost
"Everything is Free" by Gillian Welch
So say certain intel sources in Iran.
From Worldnetdaily-
Iran's cleric leaders are harboring Osama bin Laden, according to two
Iranian intelligence officials cited in a new book.
The sources say they have seen the al-Qaida terrorist leader alive and
well, although he no longer resembles the picture on FBI wanted
posters.
...
Wow. What a difference between this debate and the last. Bush was in charge of his game while Kerry fired shots willy-nilly like Johnny Ringo after Doc Holliday's fatal shot to Ringo's head. But Tombstone references aside, Bush was fantastic and clearly won the debate. Kerry struggled for a clear and cogent position statement on abortion and embryonic stem-cell research but President Bush was clear and backed it up with his record. Bush scored many points by going back again and again to Kerry's liberal voting record in the Senate. A great line was "You can run but you can't hide from your record." Very nice.
Other debate reaction can be found at Barlowfarms, the Corner, Hugh Hewitt, Powerline, Captain's Quarters, just to get you started. 
As we sat around the table this evening, the children were all abuzzin' about the day.
To stoke the excitement, I queried, "Do you know what day's coming soon?"
"What, Daddy, what?" they excitedly wondered.
"Reformation Day!" I declared.
"Woohoo! I'm so excited!" The oldest exclaimed.
Probing their knowledge, I asked her, "Do you know what Reformation Day is?"
Without a second to ponder, she declared knowingly, "Halloween!"
Mad props go to my not-so-little brother David for the find of the day. In the New Zealand News, we get an exclusive first glimpse of the stars of the new The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe movie.
Pretty cool and much better than the PBS actors:
I know that I joke a lot about my respect for Nick Saban, the head football coach of the LSU Tigers, but man, he has such a profound understanding of leadership and success that he could be CEO of any corporation he wanted.
This is why I had to hear what he was going to say about LSU's pounding at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs last Saturday. Georgia dominated early and scored often. So did Saban get down on the team? (From the Baton Rouge Advocate):
"I think that the players, if they have any pride in themselves and what they do and what they work toward, I feel that they will respond, should respond," Saban said, "If they don't respond, then maybe we're coaching the wrong guy -- from a competitive standpoint, in terms of what they need to do to play better.
"Now, does that mean we're going to become a dominant team overnight? Probably not, but we can make progress toward that and make improvement toward that.
"Me yelling and screaming at these guys right now? If we need to do that, I think we're in trouble. The same way with the staff. You know, nobody takes these losses harder.
"It's kind of amazing to me that people call in and write in like losing the game is harder on them than it is on the players. You know, I don't sleep well at night when we play that way. Hardly at all. It affects everything that you do, because it is your life, and it doesn't change whether it is your first job or your last job.
"It's important to you. You work hard to try to do things the right way. It's not the reward or the punishment that you get for it; it's the pride that you have in the way you do things.
"Hopefully, our players will feel the same way about it and work harder to try to get better.
"But I do think -- and I've said this before -- this has been a difficult team because a lot of good stuff happened last year. A lot of expectations this year. Not enough emphasis on working hard.
"Things being difficult, and all that, and 'How can we make it easy, coach?' ... 'Why do we have to run progressives today? We won the game last week, so why don't you give us a bone?'
"You beat Mississippi State. That's what you're supposed to do -- no disrespect to them.
"But, it's always been: (we're) too easily satisfied. You know, life is difficult, and I can't really make it easy. There's nothing I can do as a coach to make going to Georgia to play the No. 3 team in the country in that atmosphere easy for anyone.
"We've got lots of guys on our team that really don't understand that. They don't get it. So ...
"I think maybe they get it now."
If this story from CNSNews is legitimate, then we may have a major story on our hands. We, as bloggers, have a responsibility to put it out there, ask the experts to take a look, and remain objective until we have more information.
Exclusive: Saddam Possessed WMD, Had Extensive Terror Ties
Go, pajamahadeen, go!
During the debate, Senator Kerry said:
“But if and when you do it [act preemptively], Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons.” (hat tip to Fourth Rail)
What this Global Test may look like:
Officially Authorized, Internationally Recognized Global Test
|
