I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them - Isaac Asimov

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Oh, won’t this be fun to watch.

A powerful group of conservative Christian leaders decided Saturday at a private meeting in Salt Lake City to consider supporting a third-party candidate for president if a pro-choice nominee like Rudy Giuliani wins the Republican nomination.

The meeting of about 50 leaders, including Focus on the Family’s James Dobson, the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins, and former presidential candidate Gary Bauer, who called in by phone, took place at the Grand America Hotel during a gathering of the Council for National Policy, a powerful shadow group of mostly religious conservatives. James Clymer, the chairman of the U.S. Constitution Party, was also present at the meeting, according to a person familiar with the proceedings.

“The conclusion was that if there is a pro-abortion nominee they will consider working with a third party,” said the person, who spoke to Salon on condition of anonymity. The private meeting was not part of the official CNP schedule, which is itself a closely held secret. “Dobson came in just for this meeting,” the person said.

Welcome to the GOP’s apocalypse. If I had a dollar for every time these nutbars threw one of their temper tantrums, I could have enough money to help Ron Paul get the nomination.

Two really important phone conversations came across my conscince today. The first from my brother, and the next from a dear friend, whose opinion I trust in all matters. The topic was the Hack-choo-hijab American tour, and the latter was the state of Iran in the world. As many of you might already know, my brother (to my dismay) has converted to Islam in order to marry his wife. She’s an Afghani woman, whose family escaped the Russian war there. Our topic was Hack-choo-hijab, and his symapthees lied with the midget. When I tried to discuss it with him, he said that we should have just ignored him, as a ‘bad man.’ I accused him of terror sympathy and he retorted that these problems are genreated less by real beef, and more by current world politics. I was a little disgusted the little tyrant had wooed my brother and his new family. Okay. Moving forward.

I got a call today from a dear friend. He was unreachable for the last two months and I couldn’t figure out why. Today I got a call and an answer to the question. He’s been living in Iran with his family for the last two months. I asked him about the current situation there. He told me that 90 to 95 percent of the poeple hate this president and are now divorcing themselves from religion. he cited very religious relatives (he was a victim of the war, and was bombed by Iraqis in the eighties) and said that even the most stalwart religious of his realtives are now refusing to pray, and generally are saying “fuck religion.” then he blew my mind with a statement. He said “People think this guy is exactly like Bush, he doesn’t speak for them.”

I couldn’t help but feel a sick parallel. A religious zealout who answers not to his people, but in the interest of a “God.” I wonder just how far the fruit can fall from the religious tree. I’d love to hate this guy, but my freind has a point. How much does Bush represent us? Conservatives? Even religious. Is that us? Or is it a leader who just does whatever the fuck he wants, whenever he decides to do it?

It certainly rocked my world. To hear that Iran is basically carrying the same sentiment and skepticism of their government as we do was shocking, but not really. The parallels of hearing about a people that don’t feel represented by their leaders hit a lot closer to home. You decide. 

I saw that “Eastern Promises” movie today. A lotta bore, and not a lotta action. I might have have been a little nicer about it, if 310 to Yuma hadn’t already hit the ‘killer with a conscience’ vein. Don’t listen to me, go see it for yourself. Bring a pillow and a blanket, though. It’s no GOODFELLAS.

Get your fuckin’ shinebox.

Update:

Oh yeah, it’s filmed in East London. Yawn.

So I’ve crossed the state line.  I’m at a rest stop just east of El Paso, and they have free wi-fi.  Pretty fucking cool.  I’m going to keep going for a couple more hours.

Check y’all muthafuckaz later.

It sucks to be a terrorist when your own teacher turns against you.

Brother Osama, what is to be gained from the destruction of entire nations-which is what we are witnessing in Afghanistan and Iraq-seeing them torn with plague and famine? What is to be gained from undermining their stability and every hope for a normal life? Three million refugees are packing into Syria and Jordan alone, not to mention those who are fleeing to the East and the West.

The nightmare of civil war which now reigns supreme in Afghanistan and Iraq brings no joy to the Muslims. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) heard about a man named Harb (meaning “war” in Arabic), he promptly changed his name to something else, because the Prophet hated war.

Allah says: “Fighting is prescribed for you, though you detest it.” [Surah al-Baqarah: 216]

War is something hateful that must only be resorted to under the most dire and compelling of circumstances when no other way is found.

Who stands to benefit from turning a country like Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, or Saudi Arabia-or any other country for that matter-into a battlefield where no one feels safe? Is the goal to obstruct the government? Is that, then, the solution for anything?

Is this the plan-even if it is achieved by marching over the corpses of hundreds of thousands of people-police, soldiers, and civilians, even the common Muslims? Are their deaths to be shrugged off, saying: “They will be resurrected in the Hereafter based on the state of their hearts.”

Indeed, all of those who are slain will be resurrected based on the state of their hearts. The question we must ask ourselves, however, is in what state are we to be resurrected? How are we going to find ourselves when we meet our Lord? How will it be for someone who has all those countless deaths weighing down upon him, whether he wants to own up to them or not?”

This could be a big deal in the Arab world, as this guy was a huge influence on Bin Laden, and even he thinks Binny has gone too far.

Violence in Iraq was down in September:

September’s preliminary death toll is at least 62, according to military reports, the lowest number since August 2006 when 65 American troops were killed in the war.

...

As for Iraqi civilian deaths, authorities have reported that 296 bodies were found dumped in Baghdad this month—the lowest monthly total this year. In August, there were 428 bodies found.

...

Attacks across Iraq have dropped “to their lowest levels” since February 2006 when the bombing of Samarra’s Askariya Mosque sparked a national wave of fighting between followers of the two sects, according to Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander of the Multi-National Corps.

...

During the past year, civilian casualties in Baghdad have dropped from an average of 32 per day to 12, Odierno said on September 20. He said violence is down 50 percent in the capital but did not elaborate on how that figure was determined.

This is good news. Not great news—12 killings a day is still way too many. But good news. However, the political situation may be getting worse. So whether this is a temporary lull or a good step on the road to stabilization remains to be seen.

Still, it’s incredible what happens when you put competent people in charge of a larger force. Whudda thunk it? I wonder how many Americans and how many Iraqis would still be with us today had this been done before the last election. Every month makes it clear that the biggest problem in Iraq was Don Rumsfeld.

So it looks like the roadside motels are all offering wi-fi now, so I’m at a Motel 6 in the middle of the fucking desert in God knows what redneck town near the California/Arizona border.  You wanna know how redneck this place is?  We ate dinner at the Denny’s next door and the waitstaff were all white rednecks.  Not Mexicans, but white.  There isn’t a white Denny’s waitress anywhere in Los Angeles county, but the entire staff here were white rednecks.  The fucking BUSBOY was even white. 

I’m surprised there wasn’t a tree with a noose hanging from it in the front yard.  Seriously, after living in LA for so long, which is practically part of Mexico, it was actually creepy to be in there.  Plus the food sucked.  Mexicans cook much better than ignorant white rednecks, which is just one of the reasons I’m such a big supporter of immigration—immigrants have more to lose, and thus work harder and do a better job.

But that’s a discussion for later.  Now I’m going to get a drink, relax, and get some sleep in an actual bed (i.e. not a fucking air mattress) for the first time in nine days.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Sometimes people tell you to fuck off. Then, sometimes you tell them to FUCK OFF!! It’s been a pretty hot topic in Sweden to have a burqa ban. I think Europe, in general, is just about sick and fucking tired of being told what to do by their Islamic guests. Even the libtards are finally waking up and smelling the sandalwood. Chiggy check:

The poll, the third of its kind taken by Uppsala University to measure Swedes’ views of diversity, shows a rising number of people supporting a headscarf ban.

In 2005, 43 percent wanted a ban on Islamic female head coverings. This year, 49.8 percent of the 1,065 people asked supported a ban.

Holy racial tension, politically correct and approved of bat-person!! I thought America was in the face of the culturally more sensitive overlords on how to constuct biases! Could even the Swedes finally have had enough of pandering to shitheads? Maybe:

Hardening attitudes on the headscarf question were not the only sign of deteriorating race relations. More than one in three of those asked said they agreed with the statement that “many foreigners come to Sweden simply to take advantage of our social welfare.”

Ouch. I guess liberal feel goodness is once again trumped by reality. Even in Sweden.

Lee asked me to post and let y’all know that he is on the road, sans computer, and will likely not post again until he hits Texas.  So...uhh…

Lee’s on the road and won’t be posting, probably until he hits Texas.

See what I did there?  That’s comedy.  Shitty comedy, but hey, this is a free website, you think I’m going to waste the good stuff on you?

What?  When am I ever going to get paid a single penny to write, say or pantomime anything that even resembles the funny?  Well, everyone’s a friggin’ critic aren’t they?  And all I was trying to do was to help Lee by telling you that he’s on the road and won’t be posting until he reaches Texas.

(I’ll stop.  This could literally go on forever.)

We’ve been branded a terror state:

The CIA and the U.S. Army “trained terrorists and supported terrorism, and they themselves are terrorists,” the parliament said, according to IRNA.

The Iranian parliament said the condemnation was based on “known and accepted” standards of terrorism from international regulations, including the U.N. charter.

The parliament said it condemns the “aggressions by the U.S. Army, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan” and calls on the United Nations to “intervene in the global problem of U.S. prisons in Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and secret jails in other countries,” IRNA reported, quoting a statement from Iranian lawmakers.

The Iranian parliament also decried the CIA’s and U.S. Army’s involvement in the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, U.S. involvement in the Balkans, Vietnam and the U.S. support of Israel.

Seriously? Hiroshima?

I’m posting this more out of amusement than anger. As the CIA said, this isn’t even worth responding to. The most I can do is get annoyed that Gitmo and renditon have given them something of genuine import to write on the list of bad things we’ve done. Still, it makes me proud to be an American than when they’re listing our atrocities, they’re reduced to revisionist history and writing “supporting Israel” seventy-eight times in crayon. You can almost see the mullahs sitting around, coming up with this.

Mullah 1: So what else have they done?
Mullah 2: Supported Israel.
Mullah 1: Yeah, but we’ve already written that down 77 times.
Mullah 3: Didn’t they fight a war in Vietnam? Like back in the 70’s or something?
Mullah 1: {Writing} Vi-et-nam. Ok, anyone else?
Mullah 4: Didn’t they drop an A-bomb on those Buddhist infidels in Japan?
Mullah 1: {Writing} Hi-ro-shi-ma and Na-ga-sak-i.
Mullah 2: They support Israel!
Mullah 1: Hmm. I think I’ve got some space left to write that again.

Lee was right about this whole blogging thing. You don’t have to make stuff up. Just let the idiots make fools of themselves.

PS - Here’s a fun exercise. Do a find-replace of Iran with Moveon.org or somesuch far left organization and tell me that it doesn’t look like their kind of press release.

Oh, God, not this crap again.

A recent poll found that 55 percent of Americans believe the U.S. Constitution establishes a Christian nation. What do you think?
I would probably have to say yes, that the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation. But I say that in the broadest sense. The lady that holds her lamp beside the golden door doesn’t say, “I only welcome Christians.” We welcome the poor, the tired, the huddled masses. But when they come here they know that they are in a nation founded on Christian principles.

Look, there’s still a lot to like about John McCain. But he should leave the pandering to the fundamentalists to guys like Romney and Huckabee, who seem tailor-made for that. What happened to the guy who once called the Chrstian right a threat to our institutions?

Newt Gingrich is opting out of the 2008 election.

I’ve met Newt. He was elected in the gerry-mandered uniformly Republican district next to the one I grew up in. He always crossed me as a very smart man. But his personality - and moreover, the venom it drew from the Left - was a big problem. He is, in many ways, the exact opposite of Mitt Romney.

I’m sure the daunting prospect of fund-raising is part of the reason he’s not running. A bigger part is that he had no chance in hell of winning.

Update: On the other hand, in a world in which a Cubs-Red Sox World Series is a likely event, anything is possible.

Friday, September 28, 2007

It’s still Jerry’s world, we just live in it (Scroll down for the story):

“Newman learns that bottles and cans can be refunded for 10 cents in Michigan (as opposed to 5 cents in many other states). Kramer tells him it’s impossible to gain a profit from depositing the bottles in Michigan due to the total gas, toll booth and truck rental fees that would compile during the trip, but Newman tries to find a way."-Wikipedia description of “The Bottle Deposit, Part 1,” aired May 2, 1996

“Authorities said they arrested 10 people and seized more than $500,000 in cash after breaking up a smuggling ring that collected millions of beverage containers in other states and cashed them in for 10 cents apiece in Michigan."-WDIV-TV Web site (Detroit), Sept. 26, 2007

Hey, it beats using ten thousand shopping carts…

Well, the Graebel Van Lines guys will be here at 8 tomorrow morning to pick up my stuff, so I’m packing up the desktop.  I’ll still be on the laptop, of course, but the next time I blog from this thing it’ll be from Communist China.

Ah so. 

Tomorrow morning I leave for Texas.  I’ve been sleeping on an air mattress for a week, so the first motel I sleep in will be like sleeping in the fucking Ritz.  God moving sucks.

He’s thinner, he’s funnier, he’s more likable, he’s better known, and he’s got much better political views than that fat bastard Michael Moore.  Check out the preview of The Drew Carey Project on Reason.tv.  Enter the password sizzle, which will be good until 10/08/07.

I can’t fucking wait.