Big Hair? At this point, I think I can only say that sometimes simple directions aren't the best for obscure routes, and I can't take complete responsibility for someone's tardiness on Saturday...hey, at least I called and asked. Now about that big hair thing....and do I have to cut holes in all my jeans now?

EVERYBODY'S PROBLEM The stout-hearted roast beefs of Old England at Samizdata (hi Alice!) weigh in on this whole "I'm not anti-semitic, I just hate the Jews" meme being produced by the Left in the UK. As usual, read the whole thing.

Anti-Semitism is a problem for us all, because civilisation-destroying evil is a problem for us all. Would Marxist nutters be trying to take over Europe right now if Europe hadn't annihilated a vast swathe of its own cultural topsoil sixty-five years ago? I wonder. In considering the Holocaust, most attention has been given to its direct victims, as is appropriate. However, we must also consider that it was a form of self-administered lobotomy for Continental European culture [ ... ] ... Tom Dalyell, the Leader of the House accusing Blair of having built his war policy on "being unduly influenced by a cabal of Jewish advisers”, rather than on any kind of moral or political substance. As Jack Straw (one of the “cabal”)’s spokesman responded: "If these reports are accurate, these remarks are too unworthy to be worth a comment." I agree, in theory anyway. But Mr Dalyell also said, "I am not going to be labelled anti-Semitic." Well, sorry Mr Dalyell, but you are anti-Semitic. Objecting to the influence of British MPs on the basis of their Jewishness can hardly be described as anything else. And I am amazed at the new respectability anti-Semitism has achieved since the growth of left-wing anti-capitalism inspired by the actions of good nations in the war. [ ... ] The kind of brain that can turn liberation into annihilation in one fell slander is not the kind of brain we want festering in the UK. I don’t know exactly how we’re going to deal with it, but we are definitely going to have to find ways soon. Otherwise the next suicide bomber might indeed turn up in Oxford Street M&S, and it might be you or me who gets blown to smithereens in the frozen ready-meals section. And the next person who tells me that targets should not attract trouble in the first place can go and live in Switzerland and get citizenship there and then write me an essay entitled, "What would have happened in WWII if the UK and the US had acted like us." Zionism: it's not just for Jews anymore.

And for any anti semites who might think we're rattled by them, well, okay we probably are, but when the going gets tough, the tough buy Israel Bonds! $46 million from New York on Sunday! Suck on that! (Hat tip - Meryl Yourish, recently seen at services with a handsome airman. Watch this space for salacious lies and filthy gossip...)

Anyone care to guess... the hair colour of the girl who can't remeber where she parked her car this afternoon and is now out looking for it while I take the whole class by myself? You're not helping the stereotype Nadene.

For no reason at all... Here's my Amazon Wish List. Go ahead and analyse me. BTW its birthday season in the Hill tribe. Father was first I'm next and whats-his-name in last. So will I get a flatering sumary of achievements like father got or will he finally publish one of these alleged stories he has about me. Perhaps the threat of retribution deter him once again?

WHAT I'M LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW I don't want to give anyone the impression that I'm some sort of angry loner, holed up in his apartment, obsessing about enemies and plots and muttering "You talkin' to ME?" at the mirror or anything. But lets face it, it wouldn't be terribly wide of the mark at the moment, what with the antisemitism, and the violence against Jews that isn't being reported in the media, and the paralysis of the Jewish community leadership (such as it is), and just the general atmosphere of gathering doom. When the longest-serving MP in the House of Commons can get away with casually suggesting that powerful Jews in America and the UK are conspiring to start a war in Israel's interests, then I think it's safe to assume nothing good is waiting around the corner. A cursory examination of Jewish history would suggest that a few warning flags ought to go up. Of course, in the most extreme circumstances, when the torch-wielding mobs start roaming the streets looking for Yids, we can employ our Secret Semitic Survival Tactic of all crowding together in the nearest highly flammable synagogue to chant tehillim. One of these days, that's BOUND to actually work! In the meantime, I'm listening to The Men They Couldn't Hang, and "Ghosts of Cable Street".

England, 1936. The grip of the Sabbath day In London town the only sound Is a whisper in an alleyway Men put on their gloves and boots have a smoke before they go From the west there is a warning of A wind about to blow Liek Caesar marching to the East Marches Mosley with his men Dressed in their clothes of deepest black Like a gathering hurricane This is the British Union With its flag of black and red A flag that casts a shadow in Berlin and in Madrid Chorus: So listen to the sound of marching feet And the voices of the ghosts of Cable Street Fists and stones and batons and the gun With courage we shall beat those blackshirts down So mile by mile they come on down To a place called Cable Street And other men are waiting there Preparations are complete Mosley comes so close They now can see his outstretched arm A hand raised up that way Never took the future in its palm The battle broke as the fists and the batons fell From the barricades came the sound of the wounded yells Jack Spot burst through with a chair leg made of lead Brought down a crashing blow on Mosley's head And so we learn from history generations have to fight And those who crave for mastery Must be faced down on sight And if that means by words, by fists, by stones or by the gun Remember those who stood up for Their daughters and their sons

I'M NOT ANTI-SEMITIC, BUT... ...we have to do something about all these damn kikes.

The Labour MP Tam Dalyell yesterday scornfully brushed aside accusations of anti-semitism but stood by the allegation that has landed him in political trouble, that "there is far too much Jewish influence in the United States" and one over-influential Jew in Tony Blair's entourage.

Things have come to a pretty pass indeed when reality itself is so over the top that satire becomes redundant. I suppose the obvious question that needs to be asked of Tam Dayall is, what precisely is it he wants to see happen to resolve The Jewish Question? Banning Jews from the civil service? Removal of civic rights, including the right to vote and stand for election to Parliament? Instituting background checks on all government appointments to see if they have any taint of Jewish blood? Of course, you realise it's been tried before.

Odd...
Imshin doesn't say anything about having a party....

Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel's Wars and Israel Independence Day 6-7 May 2003 - 4-5 Iyar 5763


Thanks to Imshin for the link.

And by the way...
If you get a chance to go to services with Meryl, do so. As a bonus, it was teacher appreciation night, and I got to see Meryl get some recognition for the work she's been doing for the past few months. A wonderful, relaxing evening, even if I did have to call three times for directions, and had to break it to her that the 'money man' picture is backwards...

Technical annoyance kinda thing
And no, I'm not talking about the three rounds of caged death match that I endured yesterday trying to come up with a decent CSS based three column design for our new Moveable Type weblog. New Weblog? Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on, going to be a couple of days before its ready for prime time, since I wasted most of the weekend on the red herring of a CSS based design *sigh*. Nope, what I'm on about is this: I'm surfing around through non-commercial sites (like, weblogs), I'm sitting, minding my own business reading an article at someone's personal site, and all of a sudden, in the background, pop-up city. Usually one trying to emulate some bogus 'memory low - increase now!' or 'your downloads are slow - make em fast' bullcrap. Noticed it for a couple of months now, but it has really gotten to bug me lately, because I've been paying attention to where I've been before these things pop-up, and I'm not hitting any 'smoking gun' locations. I've gone in and manually hunted down and killed all the little ad server cookies I could locate, and any others that look to be 'helping to enhance my web surfing experience,' to no avail. Call me a control freak, but I really hate it when the damn machine does things for reasons that aren't apparent. 'Puters only do exactly what they're told to, and I don't really relish the idea that someone has told my machine to stick this crap in my face at regular intervals. Needless to say, if I could somehow induce a really bad case of athletes foot upon the people responsible for this annoying crap, you'd easily be able to spot them in public, because they'd be walking awfully funny. All that aside, don't go away kids, because we are within mere days of the launch of the newest internet phenomena (yes, after ranting about egregious advertising practices, I'm not averse to engaging in it myself) -

Silent Running TV!

Best part is, no increase in TV tax for our readers in the UK.

THE ARTFUL DODGER'S LATEST MOVE IN THE CHESS GAME OF LIFE Not satisfied with marrying Sasha Castel, a merger of two bloggers so influential there was talk that the Securities Exchange Commission might have to examine it for possible violations of federal anti-tust laws, Andrew Dodge, one the very few Republican/Tory vampires in captivity, is making a bid for literary immortality. Needless to say, our would-be overlords in the Brussels-based Fourth Reich do not come away unscathed...

Andrew Ian Castel-Dodge is an author, reviewer, blogger and soon to be game designer, as well as an occasional actor and lead singer of a rock band, Recently he was the solo star of a documentary filmed in London. Here we release the first in his series of three cyberpunk novels set in a decaying European Union. Below you will find And Glory, in the coming months Blogcritics will publish the two other novels in the trilogy. You can order this e-book for the price of $3.99.

Middle East Peace Phase II What you want to bet that if we took two divisions and a couple of Air Force wings and rolled on over into Iran, we would be greeted by throngs of Iranian celebrants in the streets? If I was Mad Mullah, I wouldn't be saying things like this.

And there I was.... Right after Sept 11, I was assigned duties as a force protection battle captain at the base I was stationed. Late one night, some soldiers on my shift were bored so they started watching a DVD. It was The Ladies Man. I'm not sure if you have seen this movie, but there is a scene where he is going around showing an audition tape to radio stations. For comic effect, the producer splices about 15 sound bytes in a row of the ladies man saying "DOGGY STYLE". As luck would have it, this man walks into my office and wants a briefing about the force protection status of the base while the ladies man is echoing "DOGGY STYLE" in the background. I'm standing there with my mouth open with a very frightened look on my face. He didn't say anything to me, but my battalion commander let me have it the next day. PS.. if he doesn't look familiar, he is the guy that was giving the daily CENTCOM briefings during the war.

Its Saturday in the US of A, so you know what that means...
Frank is spreading more filthy lies about Glenn Reynolds. In this week's episode: The Manchurian Candidate connection... And what the hell is up with the moped?

A SINGLE JEWISH GRANDPARENT... ...was all it took for you life to be in danger under the Nazis. And they didn't particularly care if you were a Christian. And today it seems some on the Left have dusted off a few of the old documents from last century's earlier flirtation with European Unity for a more modern, but no less sinister purpose. Link via Andrew Sullivan, who I don't think quite realises the full, ghastly significance of the final reference.

...quoted Labour Member of Parliament Tam Dalyell, the longest serving member of the House of Commons, as saying he thought Blair was unduly influenced by a cabal of Jewish advisors. Margolick said Dalyell named Peter Mandelson, a former Blair cabinet member, Lord Levy, Blair's chief fund-raiser and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, an Anglican who has a Jewish grandparent.

Is it just me, or was there a sudden chill? The Nuremberg Laws were quite specific and detailed about race. Here are the operative sections.

ARTICLE 2. (2) An individual of mixed Jewish blood is one who is descended from one or two grandparents who, racially, were full Jews, insofar that he is not a Jew according to Section 2 of Article 5. Full-blooded Jewish grandparents are those who belonged to the Jewish religious community. [ ... ] ARTICLE 4. (1) A Jew cannot be a citizen of the Reich. He cannot exercise the right to vote; he cannot hold public office. (2) Jewish officials will be retired as of December 31, 1935. In the event that such officials served at the front in the World War either for Germany or her allies, they shall receive as pension, until they reach the age limit, the full salary last received, on the basis of which their pension would have been computed. They shall not, however, be promoted according to their seniority in rank. When they reach the age limit, their pension will be computed again, according to the salary last received on which their pension was to be calculated. [ ... ] ARTICLE 5 (1) A Jew is an individual who is descended from at least three grandparents who were, racially, full Jews... (2) A Jew is also an individual who is descended from two full-Jewish grandparents if: (a) he was a member of the Jewish religious community when this law was issued, or joined the community later; (b) when the law was issued, he was married to a person who was a Jew, or was subsequently married to a Jew; (c) he is the issue from a marriage with a Jew, in the sense of Section I, which was contracted after the coming into effect of the Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor of September 15, 1935; (d) he is the issue of an extramarital relationship with a Jew, in the sense of Section I, and was born out of wedlock after July 31, 1936.

So here we are in 2003, after having supposedly won the war and driven a stake through the heart of the fascist beast; and an MP in the House of Commons, the Mother of Parliaments and the supposed guarantor of the rights of Englishmen, is busily denouncing the Foreign Secretary as a Mischling in the second degree!

FURTHER TO THIS WHOLE "CULTURAL VICTORY" MEME... Ian Murray, at "Edge of England's Sword", notes the latest polling on British atitudes towards foreign countries indicates that decades of Europhilic media brainwashing appear to have been washed away more or less in an instant, and we're back to where we should have been all along, side by side with our American cousins and damning the French for cowards and the Germans for bullies. Capital!

The research, carried out at the tail-end of the conflict in Iraq, shows three quarters of Britons (73%) consider America to be Britain's most reliable ally - with Australia getting the second highest poll position with one in 20 (four per cent) naming it. European countries do not fair so well, with France, Germany and Ireland considered Britain's most reliable ally by just one per cent each.

It's interesting to experience this modern phenomenon of old patterns of belief and behaviour reasserting themselves after lying dormant in a morass of post-modernist decline-of-the-west cultural relatavist nonsense for so long. I'm becoming more and more convinced that most of the people on the Left aren't seriously interesting in reforming Western civilisation, with correcting its imbalances and making it live up to its own ideals. I believe many, if not most of them, actually hate their own culture and want to see it destroyed. Largely because they are starting to realise they have no hope of ever gaining power through democratic means. Their ideas are increasingly discredited, and their influence had already been starting to slip before September 11th, 2001. That date of course provided all of us with a bucket of ice-water in the face, and the Left is now is very serious trouble. Last night on my way home from work, I passed the usual suspects sellng Green-Left Weekly on the Flinders St/Swanston St corner, right next to the Railway station entrance. They were shouting "End the Occupation, all foreigners out!" with exactly the same fanaticism and singular lack of success as the occasional Christian fundamentalist street preachers. Am I alone in wondering if the experience of being totally ignored and proven definitively wrong over the Iraq issue may produce a wave of domestic political terrorism in the not too distant future? Some of these people are desperate enough to consider it. Their world view is collapsing, the certainties they live their lives by are challenged as never before, and their prescriptions for a better world incresingly regarded as irritatingly childish and nonsensical. Some of these people are going to snap soon, and a Baader-Meinhof/Red Brigades/Weathermen-style 70's flashback is not beyond the bounds of possibility. That, or a comeback tour by Bony M, and I couldn't say which would be more damaging. In the meantime, I for one welcome some of the older relationships and attitudes that are now being re-established. And just to screw with the Left's collective head some more, here it is, your weekly moment of Anglospheric Zen.

England's Answer By Rudyard Kipling Truly ye come of The Blood; slower to bless than to ban; Little used to lie down at the bidding of any man. Flesh of the flesh that I bred, bone of the bone that I bare; Stark as your sons shall be -- stern as your fathers were. Deeper than speech our love, stronger than life our tether, But we do not fall on the neck nor kiss when we come together. My arm is nothing weak, my strength is not gone by; Sons, I have borne many sons, but my dugs are not dry. Look, I have made ye a place and opened wide the doors, That ye may talk together, your Barons and Councillors -- Wards of the Outer March, Lords of the Lower Seas, Ay, talk to your gray mother that bore you on her knees! -- That ye may talk together, brother to brother's face -- Thus for the good of your peoples -- thus for the Pride of the Race. Also, we will make promise. So long as The Blood endures, I shall know that your good is mine: ye shall feel that my strength is yours: In the day of Armageddon, at the last great fight of all, That Our House stand together and the pillars do not fall. Draw now the threefold knot firm on the ninefold bands, And the Law that ye make shall be law after the rule of your lands. This for the waxen Heath, and that for the Wattle-bloom, This for the Maple-leaf, and that for the southern Broom. The Law that ye make shall be law and I do not press my will, Because ye are Sons of The Blood and call me Mother still. Now must ye speak to your kinsmen and they must speak to you, After the use of the English, in straight-flung words and few. Go to your work and be strong, halting not in your ways, Balking the end half-won for an instant dole of praise. Stand to your work and be wise -- certain of sword and pen, Who are neither children nor Gods, but men in a world of men!

Read it to your local neighbourhood Professor of Sociological Femino-Linguistic Analysis. With any luck, his head will twist right off...

Yawn Presented with a situation such as the one we are facing in Korea, if I was POTUS, I would simply BOMB THE FUCK OUT OF THEM. Why does an idiot like Kim, Jong Il think he can play with the big boys? Hey kimchi breath, it doesn't matter if you have nukes, your missiles that deliver them take three days to fuel, arm, and launch. Go ahead and roll one out on a launch pad and see how long it and your country continue to exist.

No surprises here
United States Of America - The most well-renouned country in modern day times.
The militaristic superpower, the United States
of America are also known as the bossiest
nation.

Positives:
Known Worldwide A Beacon to Others. Powerful. Fast Food. Negatives:
Bossy. Despised by Most Others. Elitest.

Which Country of the World are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

KNOWN FOR HIS MORDANT WIT... Alastair Campbell is Tony Blair's Director of Communications and Strategy, and by this acount of 10 Downing St on the eve of war, deserves to be one of the stars of "The West Wing".

The Prime Minister is working on his broadcast announcement to the nation that British troops will tonight be engaged from "air, land and sea". How should he begin it? "My fellow Americans," suggests Campbell. Tony Blair does not even begin to laugh.

I dunno, I nearly wet myself when I read it! I cabn just imagine Toby Zeigler coming out with a line like that. Then there's this other President Bartlett moment...

"I want to end with God Bless You," he says. There is a noisy team revolt in which every player appears to be complaining at once. "That’s not a good idea." "Oh no?" says the Prime Minister, raising his voice. "You are talking to lots of people who don’t want chaplains pushing stuff down their throats." "You are the most ungodly lot I have ever . . ." Tony Blair’s words fade away into the make-up artist’s flannel. "Ungodly? Count me out," complains speechwriter Peter Hyman, who is Jewish. "That’s not the same God," the protesters insist. "It is the same God," says the Prime Minister, scribbling fiercely on his text.

Let me guess... IT'S THE J.E.W.S! They want someone in power that they can easily label a terrorist or dangerous, someone you should be afraid of and be ready to attack. I have a suspicion that Mr. Abbas may not live to see his policies come to life because the "Fear Party" is a dangerous machine and peace makers tend to have abbreviated careers i.e. JFK, Gandhi, and MLK. I do believe that George Bush has gone on record as saying he will not deal with Yassar Arafat. So I guess that blows your little stupid theory straight to hell. Moron.

Odd pairing, interesting results
For some reason this strikes me as the oddest pairing since Bing Crosby and David Bowie. Frank J and Bill Whittle: The Interview Sessions. Go take a bathroom break, spread some plastic sheeting over your keyboard and monitor, and then go on over and check them out.

I have been thinking... I never knew that G. W. Bush served in the military, and even was a pilot (or maybe I just did not pay too much attention to the fact during the election campaign). So I was pleasantly surprised last night. Sure, it was a PR stunt, and not a bad one, either. But coolness aside, I think it is a plus to have a president who has some idea about how military operates, especially in times of war. It is not for nothing that so many Israeli PM's have been former generals. While thinking about W's background, and how much (or little?) I was able to learn about it during his election campaign, I remembered the time just before the elections, as I very often have been since 9/11. Just a couple of days before the vote I had a conversation with a neighbor, who told me she was going to vote for Bush. As one of the major reasons for this she gave the need to support the military, which has been severely undermined under Clinton. Despite the fact that I voted for Gore, this actually seemed like a pretty good reason, although at the time it still did not sound important enough for me to change my mind. Then she mentioned something that stuck in my mind, and that was the bombing of the USS Cole. It did not make much sense to me at the time, and we did not get a chance to elaborate on the issue, but I kept thinking about it repeatedly. I don't think I was even fully aware of the existence of al-Qaida and bin-Laden at that time, and that bombing seemed just like an isolated incident. It was in the ME, after all... Of course, after 9/11 everything became so much clearer. I don't know much about my neighbor’s and her family's background, and if they are connected to the military, or some information sources in any way (which could have explained her being better aware of the imminent danger than other ordinary people). What I am curious about is how many people who were in a position to know, actually knew, and how much hell did they, or did they not try to raise over the issue during the Clinton years. I am especially curious how many of those people were Republicans. Like, say, members of various classified committees of Congress. I am also wondering why was it that the Republicans tried to topple Clinton not over security and defense concerns, but over Monica Lewinski issue.

A MODEST PROPOSAL Okay, so the Saudis are so inbred they're starting to produce an insustainable proportion of genetically damaged offspring. This is what happens when cousins marry. It's called genetics, it's been known for a while, you might try cracking a few science textbooks other than "Selling Crude Oil for Fun and Profit". Never fear though, Laurence Simon has a Cunning Plan that once again reassures us that beneath his cuddly exterior beats the granite heart of a ruthless, sadistic maniac. But funny, so we forgive him! The plan is - import the Palestinians as fresh breeding stock!

Forgo the mythical "Right of Return" in United Nations Resolution 242 and instead welcome, embrace, and frequently hump the Palestinians into your cultures. Actively keeping them out of your cultures and bedrooms for a few generations should have had the desired effect of keeping them genetically distinct enough to breathe some life into your gene pools. I know, I know... there's a danger in treating the Palestinians as mere gene samples. They're batshit insane and bloodthirsty right now after Yasser Arafat's soaked them in the anti-culture of hate for a few decades. It would be like trying to breed pandas that have wolverines and sawblades glued to them.

Unless you're into that sort of thing of course...

THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD I know Michael Douglas muttered weakly that it was just a metaphor as Annette Benning advanced on him in the Lincoln Bedroom in "The American President", but check out that photo of Bush in his flight suit again. Has that guy got a package on him, or what? Another spinoff benefit of today's little action-hero stunt is, apparently, going to be a series of medical mishaps among leftist New Zealand commentators.

The best thing about this entire Bush jetting onto the Abe Lincoln thing is that Russell is going to pop a blood vessel. McLauchlan may well have a coronary. And would you look at that tackle...I know he's cinched up tight in the parachute rig but crickey! No wonder the man is taking on the islamo-fascists.

Well, I guess any red-blooded male, upon experiencing a carrier landing, might be a tad...excited. Meanwhile, Donald Sensing reports on a nice bit of Navy protocol.

In the Navy the custom is that when a commanding officer visits a ship, he is announced aboard by a bosun who simply states the name of his command. Hence, the commanding officer of Sixth US Fleet is announced, "Sixth Fleet, arriving." When that moment came today, the bosun called out, "United States, arriving!"

What, all of them? Better let the mess crew know... Oh, and here's my favourite quite from "The American President":

President Andrew Shepherd: My nervousness exists on... several levels. Number one, and this is in no particular order, I haven't done this in a pretty long time. Number two, uh, any expectations that you might have, given the fact that I'm... you know... Sydney Ellen Wade: [approaching seductively] The most powerful man in the world? President Andrew Shepherd: Exactly, thank you. I think it's important you remember that's a political distinction; it comes with the office. I mean, if, uh, Eisenhower were here instead of me, he'd be dead by now.

THESE PROCEEDINGS ARE CLOSED!

Sleeps with the Swishes?
Are we going to see the gay rights activists up in arms about this one? Tales of the Fairy Godfather. Fugedaboudit....

Well, color Glenn dissappointed
Glenn isn't all that impressed with the President flying out to the TR -

The jet-pilot arrival, on the other hand, rang false. The whole leader-who-flies-jets thing seems, somehow, Third World to me. People say that it'll make great campaign footage in 2004, but I actually doubt it -- or at least, I think it will backfire if they do too much of this. The President is commander-in-chief, but he's a civilian leader, and Americans want him to be one.

Sorry Glenn, jets onto carriers is waaaay cooler than a sax and some cheap sunglasses. I maybe, possibly, might think this was just a bit of a stunt if he jetted out, made the speech, then left. But he isn't leaving. He's spending the evening with 5000 or so American Sailors and Marines that have spent 10 months - almost an entire year - the longest recent carrier cruise, participating in not one, but two major campaigns. Belittle if you will the potential useage of footage for the campaign trail, but this is as much about the C in C visiting his troops. That, plus anyone that's ever gotten the kick out of flying a jet wouldn't eeeeeven pass up the chance for a carrier trap, with the bonus that he gets to swap carrier landing stories with dad now. Yes, the American people want a civilian leader. That's what they've got. Emphasis on leader - a component that was sadly lacking from the previous administration. But go ahead and cluck if you have to, Prof....

So, what's up with this?
Very intriguing questions in an article by Tim Graham over at The Media Research Center. Looks like all the major American Networks that were all too happy to give George Galloway face time for his anti-war hystrionics have been, well, absolutly mute on the subject of Mr. Galloway, and the evidence that he accepted payoffs from Saddam. There is also a one liner that mentions that apparently Jim McDermott (Ba'athist - Washington State) took about five grand for his legal defense fund from the Iraqi Ba'athist contractor that arranged the trip he took to Baghdad so he could go on camera and call Bush a liar. Where's the coverage? Oh, right, it got bumped for more outrage over missing clay pots, and the lack of 132 premium cable channels on three TVs per household, even in rural areas of Iraq. (Via The Corner)

The Commander in Chief
Ladies and Gentlemen, today George W. Bush made history, by being the first sitting President of the United States to make a trap landing on a US Navy Aircraft Carrier underway.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Good on ya, Mr. President.

And you thought he didn't care
Well of course he does! As an example, Laurence has thoughtfully designed this easy to review and learn poster for aspiring bulldozer bait loonbat morons sensitive souls willing to be ruthlessly used by a thinly veiled organization collaborating to assist the Pelestinian campaign of terror. No, this post was not fabricated simply as something to put up to remove that really, really nasty 'old!' marker that he's using on his blogroll for unupdated blogs. Talk about your negative re-inforcement...

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE I enjoy playing computer games, especially those huge-scale build-your-own-civilisation thingys such as, er, Civilisation. There's one thing that occasionally happens in Civilisation III that always makes me feel particularly good, and that's when a city belonging to a rival civilisation wakes up one morning and realises my culture is incredibly sophisticated, powerful, attractive and wealthy, but their own is still holding committee meetings to decide whether to investigate this "wheel" invention any further, while dealing with an increasingly powerful groundswell of opposition to this highly dangerous and untested new technology, "fire". And bless their little cotton socks, they say "Sod this, we're backing the winner" and suddenly I have a delegation of civic notables outside my Palace asking for permission to become part of my kingdom. Or republic, or People's Democratic Socialist Arab Jamhariya, or democracy or whatever scheme for relieving the plebs of their money I've got going at the time. And the borders of my civilisation expand, amid much rejoicing. And if I continue to build up my cities, installing wonders of the world, ruling peacefully and well, with a healthy, employed, educated public living long and prospering, why it's entirely possible that all the other nations of the world may one day have to admit that I'm the dog's bollocks, the cat's whiskers, and various other things indicating that I have won the sweetest victory of all - Cultural Domination! It's happening right now for real. Can you feel it? All I have to go on is myself of course, but it's clear that if I were a city, I'd have defected to the United States already. Since September 11th, I've found myself coming to sympathise with, empathise with and increasingly identify with the USA. The attack on America was also an attack on the modern democratic Western world. The World Trade Center represented all of us, not just America, and New York is definitely the capital of the world. When it was attacked, I felt violated. It was an attack on us all. It was an attack on me. I find myself 19 months after the event to have become intellectually assimilated by America. My political frame of reference has shifted completely. My internal map of the world used to have London at its centre. Coronation St, Bruce Forsthye, Morcambe and Wise and the Queens Christmas message were part of my upbringing. When I visited London as a teenager, I found that it was not unfamiliar. I was able to navigate the Tube system easily, I knew where the important public buildings were, the language and culture were utterly familiar to me. It was different, but it wasn't in any sense "foreign". At university, politics were still UK-centred. "Thatcher!" was the worst epithet available, and the Left were still banging on that "The Miners! United! Shall never be defeated!" (They were. By Thatcher!). Billy Bragg, Neil Kinnock, and privatisation were part of the background to political discussion in New Zealand at the time. If there was a cultural cringe, if we were looking over our shoulder, it was in the direction of London. But now, I find all my ideas coming from New York and Washington. Not always from Americans mind you. Andrew Sullivan and Christopher Hitchens are both Brits, but they live in the US. I'm ordering books by Dinesh D'Souza and from Amazon.com, and wondering if David Horowitz isn't perhaps just a little too over the top. I curse the Dummycrats, and rejoice when Cynthia McKinney and her ilk are driven from office. God held me, I even know what the demographics of the 4th Congressional district in Georgia are, and whether cross-party voting is allowed in the primaries (they are, which is how Denise Majette was able to defeat McKinney thanks to Republican votes). American politics is now my passion, which is a shame, as I used to be able to give anyone who cared to listen a blow-by-blow description of the train-wreck that was the Bermondsy by-election! (Which gave us Peter Tatchell, who still hasn't learned to shut his gob I note) Not any more. The centre of gravity has shifted, and for me, and many, many others I suspect, the navel of the world is now Times Square rather than Westminster. America is, without perhaps even meaning to, in the process of winning a cultural victory in the great game of nations. Osama bin Laden, who is without doubt tactically a very clever, cunning and shrewd man while simultaneously being in strategic terms as dumb as a rock, said something quite smart (by accident I'm sure). He said when people see a weak horse and a strong horse, they will naturally prefer the strong horse. We do. It's America and the cause of freedom. I'd bet the farm on that nag.

Cry Cuddly and let slip the Bears of War! Ok it's not Shakespeare, but they are cuddly. Say hello to the newest products available from Silent Running The Shop. These bears are available in either green or camo uniforms as seen, with either the Army or Marines T shirt saying "My dad liberated Bagdad and all I got was this lousy teddybear". Now before we leap on the sexist wagon and try to run me down with it, I only had room for the two samples. If anyone wants one that says "Mom, brother, sister, bloke I once met in a bar" or anything else just email me and I'll set it up and pass you the link. I'm also happy to provide any artwork if you want something else on the t shirt. Silent Running will not be making anything from the sale of these bears as I've set them up to sell at cost, however NMFA will be collecting a percentage. Don't let that stop you from purchasing any of our other fine products though, or you can help us to go pro by donating with the link up top. --------- Army Bear ----------------- Marine Bear ---------

Place your bets, place your bets please
Reports are that the bombers at Mike's Place in Tel Aviv were operating with British Passports. Anyone care to lay odds on exactly how long it will be before the name 'Finsbury Park' pops up? Maybe it won't, but somehow I get the feeling that I won't be too surprised if it does.

Paging Dr. Bill, Dr. Bill, pick up on line 7
Dr. Bill has some sound medical advice, and a few things on other, um, crap.

Hey kids, its Career Day
In Frank's world at IMAO. Tom Daschle gets it in the chops! The only thing missing - you guessed it, monkey pictures. No, wait, he's got those too. So, there you have it, a little something for everyone, from the man with the cojones (que grandes son, ese! Chuleta!) to expose Glenn Reynolds as a hobo killing, satan worshipping puppy blender. Ooops, there is one thing missing. Frank has apparently neglected to recommend that everyone come over here and toss us a buck or two to help us escape evil, evil Blogger. We're confident that Frank will remedy that shortly, even if he does call us a bunch of cheapskates in the process.

Public Service Announcements: Allison has written an overview of Israeli English blogs, and she is lucky enough to have been able to do it as part of her day job. Go check it out. Hopefully, next such overview will include your's truly. A new group blog, Free Speech, is looking for contributors. If you are interested, go and send Del an e-mail.