Terrorbusters!
There's a shitload of terrorists out there, this we know. That may frighten you a bit, and it's okay. Thunder is scary. So are Draculas. Some most people are even afraid of clowns. But you can relax. The CIA's newest anti-terror logo will put you at ease:
In all seriousness, this is the CIA's new "Terrorist Buster" logo. I'm not sure, but I think the CIA is contracting out their graphic art work to Kinkos. Just a guess.
I really don't have anything to say about this because it's almost too silly to make fun of. I did like the AK-47 though.
Bustin' makes me feel good.
H/T to Used Wigs.
Who Ya Gonna Call?
The Dodd Totally Told You So
Dodd Speaks Out on Unilateral Sanctions Against Iran:
"I recognize the obvious threat a nuclear Iran poses to the region and beyond, and that we must stop Iran's continued support for international terrorism. Unfortunately, the action taken by the Administration today comes in the context of escalating rhetoric and drumbeat to military action against Iran. I am deeply concerned that once again the President is opting for military action as a first resort.Clinton, of course, voted for it, and, in all-too-typical fashion, Obama didn't vote at all.
The glaring omission of any new diplomatic measures by the President today is the reason I voted, and urged my colleagues to vote, against the Kyl -Lieberman resolution on September 26. The aggressive actions taken today by the Administration absent any corresponding diplomatic action is exactly what we all should have known was coming when we considered our vote on the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment, and smacks, frankly, of a dangerous step toward armed confrontation with Iran.
UPDATE: I've got a piece on Dodd at Comment is Free.
Quote of the Day
"There's less than 1 percent of the population of Iowa that is African American. There is probably less than 4 or 5 percent that are minorities. What is in Washington? So look, it goes back to what you start off with, what you're dealing with."—Democratic Senator, presidential candidate, and unbelievable douchehound Joe Biden, on why rural Iowa public schools, for instance, perform better than public schools in Washington, D.C.
His campaign, btw, helpfully clarified that he wasn't making a"race-based distinction," but was instead engaging in "a discussion of the problems kids face who don't have the same socio-economic support system (and all that implies—nutrition, pre K, etc.) entering grade school and the impact of those disadvantages on outcomes." Uh huh. I might be more inclined to buy that explanation if Biden didn't have a history of being a racist wankstain who does things like wax regretful about how Delaware wasn't part of the Confederacy.
Have I ever mentioned how much I loathe Joe Biden? 'Cuz I really, really do.
[Via Wonkette. H/T Blogenfreude.]
From The Ministry Of Homeland Security
Take heart and rejoice in our recent accomplishments to keep our Homeland safe and secure:
Our success against the Enemy continues, as they manage to slip by and set fire to the Homeland.
Our ability to respond quickly to domestic terrorism is bolstered by our inability to efficiently test our citizens for dirty bomb exposure.
Our active participation in climate change will save those who would normally perish in the winter.
Work and consume.
a question and an answer
First, the question. A book came out earlier this year addressing homosexuality and is aimed at kids, to "positively influence the lives of thousands of children growing up in tumultuous and confusing times". The book? Does God Love Michael's Two Daddies?. Oh yes, it is every thing you're thinking it is. There isn't a description on Amazon but I found it on the publisher's site (emphasis theirs, btw):
For the last 15 years, the homosexual community has been publishing children’s books promoting homosexuality, starting with the book Heather Has Two Mommies. Other books such as Daddy’s Roommate and My Two Uncles have followed suit. To our knowledge, no comparable children’s book designed to combat the promotion of homosexuality is available on the market—until now. Does God Love Michael’s Two Daddies? is a professionally designed and illustrated book that promotes God’s love for all individuals, while at the same time showing, in a loving way, that homosexuality is wrong. This book has tremendous potential to positively influence the lives of thousands of children growing up in tumultuous and confusing times.I half expected World Ahead Publishing to be behind it but, no, it is Apologetics Press, an evangelical apologetics organization that describes itself as being a "defender of Christianity".
So what is the answer to, not just the question posed by the title of this book, but to the motivations and people behind such nonsense?
A movie.
for the BIBLE tell me so is an award-winning documentary that looks into scripture and "in the process reveals that Church-sanctioned anti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a significant (and often malicious) misinterpretation of the Bible." Check here for a listing of current screening locations.
Police Kill One Arson Suspect; Arrest Another
Amid worries of new blazes adding to the firestorm already afflicting the region, a man in Hesperia has been arrested on suspicion of arson, and police reported shooting and killing another arson suspect after chasing him out of scrub behind Cal State San Bernardino.At least two of the 23 fires that have burned across almost half a million acres and destroyed nearly 2,000 homes are suspected to be the work of arsonists. The cause of those fires are under investigation, as is the shooting death of the man who was identified as "a suspicious person in a brush area."
…The confrontation that ended in the shooting death started about 6 p.m. Tuesday when San Bernardino university police spotted a man in a rural area of flood channels and scrub near the campus. University police tried to detain the man, but he got into his car and fled, authorities said. When he began to ram officers' vehicle, they shot him.
…About three hours later in Hesperia, a man was seen by a female motorist squatting along the side of Highway 173 just south of Arrowhead Lake Road. Sheriff's officials say John Alfred Rund, 48, of Hesperia had just started a fire along the flat, isolated, scrubby road. The woman called police…
A CHP helicopter, using infrared equipment, caught sight of Rund on his motorcycle… He was being held on $750,000 bail on suspicion of arson and is to appear in court tomorrow in Victorville.
It's difficult for cool heads to prevail amidst a half million acres of flames. I fear that flaring tempers may need containing as much as the fires themselves at this point.
Googly Goodness Meme
Via PZ, originated by The World's Fair. Here's the lowdown: "[T]he premise is that you will attempt to find 5 statements, which if you were to type into google (preferably google.com, but we'll take the other country specific ones if need be), you'll find that you are returned with your blog as the number one hit."
This was surprisingly easy.
1. Melissa McEwan
2. Queen Cunt of Fuck Mountain
3. feminazi cooter
4. drip of dogwank
5. anti-Catholic bigot
There are others, ones of which I'm proud, like "rape is not a compliment" or "tradition is a dog whistle" for example, and some that reflect Shakesville traditions, like "blogwhoring" and "nostalgia sublime," but I figured those five were the ones everyone wanted to see, for good or bad totally fucking frustrating.
Almost But Not Quite
Secretary of State Rice admits that the United States screwed up on the Maher Arar case, the Canadian engineer who was seized in New York five years ago and sent to Syria where he was tortured.
Rice, speaking at a U.S. congressional hearing, said the United States has told Canada "that we will try to do better in the future."Talk is cheap, Madame Secretary; what are we going to do to make amends? After all, the Canadian government has apologized for their role in the incident and agreed to pay him $10 million for his trouble.
"We do not think that this case was handled as it should have been. We do absolutely not wish to transfer anyone to any place in which they might be tortured," she said.
When asked whether the United States relied on diplomatic assurances from Syria that the engineer, Maher Arar, would not be tortured, Rice said she would respond later because her memory of certain details "has faded a bit."
Apparently, Ms. Rice was speaking only for herself:
The Bush administration has not apologized. Arar's name remains on watch lists that forbid his entry into the United States.He's just another one of the over 755,000 people on the watch list.
Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.
Most Expensive Litter Box Evah
Via Metafilter. The transcript is, approximately, "Ahhhh! No, Giant Kitty! Please don't poop on me! Ewwww! Grody to the max! Wait—no peeing! Blurgh!" Followed by a solemn voiceover noting the cheetah was "literally, a cat on a hot tin roof."
Terrorists, Terrorists Everywhere
Remember what I said on Monday about hysteria being the flipside of denial, how turning everyone into a suspect is just as dangerous as pretending there's no problem at all?
Well, this is the result of a government run by a bunch of hysterics: Terror watch list swells to more than 755,000
The government's terrorist watch list has swelled to more than 755,000 names, according to a new government report that has raised worries about the list's effectiveness.In addition to the very real concerns about our governing hysterics having rendered a vaguely useful tool totally ineffectual, there's also a rather amusing irony in the fact that these are the same ridiculous jerkoffs who keep telling us that their war on terror is making the world safer, even as they add thousands of people to the terror watch list. Of course, not all these people really are terrorists, but hysterical blindness makes it difficult to tell actual terrorists from run-of-the-mill ideological enemies, I guess.
The size of the list, typically used to check people entering the country through land border crossings, airports and sea ports, has been growing by 200,000 names a year since 2004.
…"They are quickly galloping towards the million mark — a mark of real distinction because the list is already cumbersome and is approaching absolutely useless," said Tim Sparapani of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The March Toward Iran
"They have taken the bridge and the second hall. We have
barred the gates but cannot hold them for long. The ground
shakes. Drums. Drums fill the deep. We cannot get out.
The shadow moves in the dark. It is coming…"
New Steps by U.S. Against Iranians:
The Bush administration will announce a long-debated policy of new sanctions against Iran on Thursday, accusing the elite Quds division of the Revolutionary Guard Corps of supporting terrorism, administration officials said Wednesday night.Meanwhile, ABC news reports that "$88 million to modify B-2 stealth bombers so they can carry a newly developed 30,000-pound bomb called the massive ordnance penetrator, or, in military-speak, the MOP" has been folded into the administration's $196 billion emergency funding request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with a one-line explanation for the request that it's in response to "an urgent operational need from theater commanders." Since there's no obvious target in Iraq or Afghanistan requiring a stealth bomber with that much fire power, defense analysts say "the most likely target for this bomb would be Iran's flagship nuclear facility in Natanz, which is both heavily fortified and deeply buried."
The administration also plans to accuse the entire Revolutionary Guard Corps of proliferating weapons of mass destruction, the officials said. While the United States has long labeled Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism, the decision to single out the Guard reflects increased frustration in the administration with the slow pace of diplomatic negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Both designations will put into play unilateral sanctions intended to impede the Revolutionary Guard and those who do business with it. This is the first time that the United States has taken such steps against the armed forces of any sovereign government.
Superb.
Why do I get the feeling that Bush is far less interested in avoiding World War III than starting it?
It's Beginning to Look a lot Like... What, Again?
I just wanted to make a quick point about the "War on Christmas" idiocy, which as many of you know, I've *ahem* calmly discussed in the past. As Andrew Sullivan wryly points out, it starts earlier every year.
Wonkette links (thank goodness, because I refuse) to the latest bit of stupidity for this Christmas season. As we all know, the best way to deal with any social or political issue you feel strongly about is to slap a magnet on your car. And what a delightful assortment we have! "It's Still A Wonderful Life! Merry Christmas!" Recalling, of course, that Jesus-packed famous film with whatshisname... complete with a happy photo of the real First Family. Then we have the charming "Merry Christ-Mas! An American Tradition," which will go nicely with "This is America! And I'm going to say it: Merry Christmas!" on your other SUV, because as we all know, Christmas is only celebrated in America.
A few points:
If you can look at these things and still have trouble figuring out that this whole "War on Christmas" thing has been cooked up out of sugarplum dreams and elf farts for the sole purpose of taking money away from the gullible, I don't know how to help you.
Second, the last magnet I mentioned in particular just goes to point out how the people who have been duped into believing that this "war" actually exists aren't concerned with Christmas in the slightest bit. "This is America, and I'm Going to Say it: Merry Christmas" is not an invitation to join in the celebration of the season. This is a challenge. It all boils down to this: the people that will display this sticker are hoping you have an adverse reaction when you see this on their car. This would be the best possible outcome, because then you, in your Christmas-hatin' way, have completely justified their twisted world view. You see! The War on Christmas does exist, and that heathen just proved me right! This isn't a celebration, it's a confrontation.
Deep down, consciously or unconsciously, they are trying to spread ill will.
You know, just like Christ would do.*
Personally, I celebrate and love the Christmas season, and I'm gloriously infuriated that the holiday has been twisted into yet another chance to play "us vs. them." This has nothing to do with Christmas itself; this is another thinly veiled red vs. blue game that we are forced to play by their screaming, thin-skinned insistence. Saying "Happy Holidays" isn't an attack on Christmas, it's a way of being all-inclusive and spreading goodwill.
You know, just like Christ would do.**
* Joke.
** Not a joke.
Leave G-d Alone!!!! What has He ever done to YOU!?
And He's having a bad millenium!!!!
With breaking news that the San Diego blazes are a result of G-d's fire and brimstone-response to teh gays, teh people who hate America, etc., etc., etc., you'd think the people who claim to really Love the Lord would be doing their best to divert attention from His deteriorating aim.
Last time He tried this, and brought judgment deluge-style onto New Orleans because they were about to celebrate perversity and/or had 5 abortion clinics (we can't really be sure which was the real problem for G-d, because that's "Not For Us To Know"), He accidentally damaged or destroyed over 2000 of His own Houses of Worship on the Gulf Coast - more than 900 were Southern Baptist!!!
And just yesterday, He slipped up and set fire to a Baptist church in Rancho Bernardo!!! (Boy, I bet He's feeling really embarrassed about that, what with all the press the past couple of days about His "Big Wrathful Comeback".)
I mean, won't you people have a heart?! G-d is OLD! Like, at least 6000 years old, since He was around to create the Earth!
[Seriously -- I am so sick of this shit. I happen to believe in a Divine Creative Force, and my God doesn't have time to sit around trying to figure out a way to screw people over.
My God is the helping hand at the emergency tent, and demands that I hold other beings in compassion. So when I read the home-page of the website of the Baptist church in San Diego that was burned, my first thought (even though most in that congregation probably think I'm going to burn in hell, and would smirk at the thought of it) was not "Hmph! Serves 'em right!", but: "Wow, that must be really, really hard on them."]
Question of the Day
Who's your favorite TV cop of all time? Before you immediately dismiss this as the stupid question of limited appeal it might appear to be at first blush, consider how many there actually are from which to choose! From Andy Griffith to Cagney & Lacey to the cops of both Hill and Jump streets and right on to the vast casts of the L&O and CSI franchises, there must be hundreds of TV cops for your consideration.
No question, my hands-down favorite cop of them all, though, is Abe Vigoda's Detective Fish from Barney Miller—the show my granddad, who was NYPD, always said was the most realistic cop show on television.
Who's the mothafuckin' boss up in here?
Jeralyn breaks down the day in Democrat Dipshittery for us:
Who's in Charge? "Dream Act" Fails, Southwick WinsAwesome.
…The Senate vote to advance the Dream Act failed today.Supporters needed to get 60 votes to advance the DREAM Act, which would have allowed illegal immigrants who plan to attend college or join the military, and who came to the United States with their families before they turned 16, to move toward legality. The final vote was 52-44....In another defeat for Democrats, the Senate today confirmed conservative Judge Leslie Southwick to a seat on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.Liberal and civil rights groups opposed Southwick. They charged that as a state appeals judge for 13 years he consistently sided with businesses over workers and consumers.Republican-Lite Sen. Diane Feinstein and Sen. Ben Nelson of the Gang of 14 crossed sides and voted with the Republicans.
Says Jeralyn: "With votes like these, it's difficult to believe the Democrats are the majority party in Congress." Um, yeah. The Lissie Train has officially arrived at Irritation Station with the Democrats.
Rape: Still Not Hilarious, Still Not a Compliment
Today's "Crankshaft," a King Features Syndicate cartoon created by Tom Batiuk and drawn by Chuck Ayers, which is run in 300+ papers worldwide:
Via Jessica, who notes, "Not only does it attempt to make a joke out of rape, it also plays on the gross myth that only young, 'attractive' women get sexually assaulted. Which, of course, is a version of 'rape is a compliment'."
I'd also like to point out that the first comment at Feministing is, heartbreakingly: "My aunt was older than that when she was raped. She died as a result."
Ho ho ho!
And, you know, as a couple of other commenters point out over there, rape isn't the only thing from which women (elderly or otherwise) have to protect themselves.
If you'd like to contact King Features Syndicate about running this horseshit, you can email them here.
This Week's Hits
Last week it was the Religious Reich's turn in the spotlight with their convention in Washington to see which of the GOP candidates could get through their Inquisition and corner them where they stood on gay-bashing. This week it's time to go after brown people; David Horowitz is rallying his troops on college campuses for Islamofascism Awareness Week (catchy titles seem to be beyond him), and now Fred Thompson has rolled out his plan to control illegal immigration.
Of course, terrorism is never far from these people's minds or motivations, and Horowitz seems to think that Muslims are the greatest threat this nation has ever faced. As a commenter at TPM noted,
In honor of Islamofascism awareness week I am busy rewriting all of my old history books in order to properly show that the danger of some men in caves, along with one moderate regional power are in fact a greater threat to the United States then were the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, the secessionist Confederacy, and even the Redcoats from our founding days. Mostly the work is easy, however I am having a bit of trouble figuring out how to explain that Reagan the Infallible in fact saw that these Islamofascists were a greater threat than the Evil Empire even when he was supporting them in Afghanistan.Fred Thompson takes a hard line on immigration, including increased border security (also known as the Full Employment for Fence Companies Act), sanctions against employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens (aka the Rotting Vegetables Recycling Act, coupled with the Change Your Own Sheets at the Marriott Act), and making English the official language of the United States and English proficiency a requirement for citizenship because that's one sure way to stop non-English speakers from crossing the border. (Of course, if English proficiency was applied retroactively, we could deport 99% of the trolls that inhabit the comment fields at The Free Republic.) Sen. Thompson's approach seems to be somewhere between the amnesty favored by the president and Sen. John McCain and the get-the-boxcars plan put forth by Tom Tancredo, who's gotten to the point that he's calling the cops on witnesses at a Congressional hearing.
And the GOP seriously wonders why they can't get much traction with minority voters.
Stay tuned: next week they'll launch a full-frontal assault on bicycle riders.
Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.
La Jolla and Gomorrah
James Hartline, professional "ex-gay" crackpot, knows why San Diego County is burning: Teh Gayz!
Mayor Jerry Sanders, of course, is the Republican who tearfully expressed his intention to reverse his stance on same-sex marriage after realizing he could not tell his lesbian daughter than her relationship was fundamentally different from and less important than that a mixed-sex couple's. What a zany rebel! No wonder God wants to smite him!They shook their fists at God and said, "We don't care what God says, we will issue our legal brief to support gay marriage in San Diego!" Then Mayor Jerry Sanders mocked the Christian vote and signed off on this rebellious legal document to support same-sex marriage.
And then the streets of La Jolla under the Mt. Soledad Cross began to cave in.
They shook their fists at God and said, "We don't care what the Bible says, We want the California school children indoctrinated into homosexuality!" And then Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law the heinous SB777 which bans the use of "mom" and "dad" in the text books and promotes homosexuality to all school children in California.
And then the wildfires of Southern California engulfed the land like a raging judgment against the radicalized anti-christian California rebels.
Anyway, I'd like to invite James Hartline to get in line behind Bill O'Reilly at my lemonade stand, where I'll be handing out free samples of juice with a side order of SHUT THE FUCK UP!
