Remember when you'd suggest that the Left doesn't take the threat of terrorism seriously, and they'd immediately begin stuttering "How dare you question my patriotism!" ? Remember how they kept assuring us they were all rootin'-tootin' eager to fight terrorists and miscreants all over the world, except that they just wanted to fight other dangerous rogue states (Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Texas, etc.)?

That was before the election, of course, back when they were still trying to con the nation. Now that they've lost, they have less incentive to lie, and they're coming clean about their actual beliefs.

Guess what? We were right all along, as David Corn now admits:

To provoke argument—or in this case, counter-argument—it’s useful to ask, how does the Al Qaeda threat compare to the threat of global warming? Or the threat of global AIDS? Or the threat of drunk drivers? AIDS and DWIers kill far more people than Al Qaeda has. Global warming could lead to death, disease and dislocation affecting millions.

Ahh.... I see. Al Qaeda is a major threat, right up there with global warming and drunk drivers. I feel so reassured as to liberals' comittment to fighting terrorism. Why, they might come up with an accord about it or something!

I just pulled that link out of Junkyard Blog's post, but the whole thing is worth reading.

Posted by: Ace at 12:07 PM | Comments (10)
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God knows I'm not the easiest person in the world to offend, but I think that Mafia hoods beating up an Al Qaeda terrorist in jail -- and threatening to kill him -- is just gob-smackingly vile.

No, wait. That's not the right word. "Fucking hilarious." That's what I meant:

International terrorism charges and allegations of ties to al Qaeda might be enough to scare away some cellmates, in some countries.

But Italian mobsters jailed on the island of Sardinia, apparently outraged by terrorism, beat up an Algerian terror suspect and threatened to kill him unless he got himself transferred to a new prison.

The same threat was made against at least one other Algerian inmate.

"You guys set off bombs and do massacres. If you don't change prisons, you're dead," the criminals were reported to have told Saadi Nassim, in comments confirmed by his lawyer.

Look, I'm not a fan of prison rape, but I have to say in this case I'm willing to make an exception.

Thanks to NickS.

Update: Thanks to Tall Dave for suggesting a Godfather reference.

Yeah, I know I always use the Sonny Corleone one. I like it. I'll try to think of another one.

Posted by: Ace at 11:58 AM | Comments (9)
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Symptomatic of the national Democratic Party platform as well:

The question for Democratic legislators is whether they're going to tarnish their party brand name in California by chasing two unpopular goals: same-sex marriage and driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

Both issues are easily grasped by voters, riling conservatives and making many moderates uncomfortable.

They're of particular interest after the presidential election, when the Republican red tide continued to spread across the American heartland and into California's interior.

For many voters, the Democratic brand name has become increasingly synonymous with the label "liberal." If not for the fear of liberalism, why would nearly 61 million Americans — including 5.5 million Californians, 44% of the state's electorate — vote to reelect a president who had so mismanaged both a war and the national treasury?

...

Some Democratic lawmakers realize they must be careful not to fall into the same trap of fighting futilely for causes that offend voters.

...

"Republicans are defined as trying to create jobs and balance the budget while we're defined as the party of gay marriage and illegal immigrants," Canciamilla says. "It's a tremendous mistake. If we're going to be taken seriously, we have to be dealing with more important issues."

There's an idea, huh?

Posted by: Ace at 11:41 AM | Comments (7)
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Because, you know, it's the only award that really matters. Because it's the people who choose it. And whatever the hell else they always say:

“Now, normally I wouldn’t make a very big deal out of something like this,” Moore writes on his Web site. “But then a group of top Republicans took out a full page ad in USA Today. [and among other things they] issued a not-so-subtle threat to the Academy Awards voters that, in essence, said don’t even THINK about nominating ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ for Best Picture. And [Fox newsman] Bill O’Reilly recently bellowed that if the Oscars recognize my work this year, Middle America will boycott Hollywood. Oops. I guess he spoke too soon. Because now along comes Middle America’s favorite awards show, the People’s Choice.”

"Normally I wouldnÂ’t make a very big deal out of something like this"?!?! Is this Michael Moore we're talking about? The first time I ever saw this loathesome toad was on Letterman -- years ago, hyping Roger & Me -- and he did almost nothing else in the interview but name the awards his little home movie had won in various regional film competitions.

And I haven't stopped hearing about his various awards -- almost always from his own misformed frogmouth -- since. For God's sake, I know this fat sack of fat's resume better than I know my own.

This vile pustule plugs his movies as relentlessly as Arnold Schwarzegger, but it's much worse, because 1) Schwarzenegger does it with a kind of archly-knowing hucksterism and humor, and 2), Schwarzenegger is a promotional Terminator. That's what he does. That's all he does. And he will not rest, he will not sleep, he will not stop until you've gone out to see Junior at least twice.

But, you know, Moore normally doesn't make a "very big deal" out of stuff like this.

Since the increasingly-nasty Andrew Sullivan has named a mean-spirited award after the indispensible "God knows, I'm not the easiest person to offend," apparently blithely unaware that his blog consists of very little except him taking excitable umbrage at-- well, at just about anything at all. If a Republican farts in Poughkipsee, Andrew Sullivan has to note how "gob-smackingly vile" he finds that theocratic flatulance.

So the first winner of the Andrew Sullivan Award For Vain Self-Delusions: Michael "I don't normally make a very big deal out of this sort of thing" Moore.

Please let me know if you make similar finds.

And...

You can vote against Fahrenheit 9-11 here (UPDATE: Voting now closed!). I would suggest everyone voting for one film so that Moore definitely doesn't win -- I picked The Incredibles, a movie I haven't seen but which people seem to like -- but make sure you vote for something.

It's so childish. Can you believe the overweening ego of this dick, campaigning so hard for some meaningless internet-voting award?

Update: That Link... should work-- it's the link from Moore's site, that brought me right to the category I wanted to vote in -- but it seems for some reason to not be working.

This link brings you to the People's Choice Awards, but then you have to scroll through a lot of other categories to get to the one you want.

Sorry. Don't know what else to do.

Voting Now Closed?! Yeahp, the link doesn't work because three minutes after I put it up, they closed the voting.

That's my kind of timing.

Posted by: Ace at 10:13 AM | Comments (13)
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Thanks to your votes, Ace of Spades HQ has now been voted the top blog of the top 100 blogs.

I mean, after you exclude all those blogs which were nominated for best overall blog, best conservative blog, best humor blog, best culture blog, etc. Ace of Spades HQ is therefore the very best of the top 100 blogs, assuming you exclude all the better blogs from consideration.

But it's a big honor, and I'm really grateful to those who voted. I'm not sure how yet, but somehow this has to aid in the Quest for Crazy Blog-Money.

A Little Kim Richards? Someone suggested it, and why not?

I can't find any good photos at the moment, but I did find this mpg of the Hello, Larry opening credits. Kim's a little young there, but hey, it's when I fell in love with her, so what the hell.

I can't believe I know all the lyrics to that stupid opening theme.

And what the hell is Meadowlark Lemon doing in there?

That doesn't really work in any of my fantasies at all.

Well, okay, Meadowlark's in one of my sexual fantasies. But only one. See, I always have this sex-dream about playing for the Washington Senators and then Meadowlark Lemon comes up to me to throw a bucket of water on me, except it's not water, it's confetti, and but then I realize it's not even confetti, it's cut-up naked photos of Jon-Erik Hexum having sex with Greg Evigan.

What does it all mean? I don't know. I've been in therapy for eight years trying to figure that one out.
more...

Posted by: Ace at 08:42 AM | Comments (17)
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Good stuff.

Posted by: Ace at 08:33 AM | Comments (3)
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Found on Free Republic: micro-cameras mounted on golden eagles give you first-person POV for eagles in flight.

You also get to see a little bit of an eagle-vs.-buzzard aerial dogfight, but trust me, it's not that good. Low expectations are your friend for that one.

Posted by: Ace at 10:36 AM | Comments (7)
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I know most conservative bloggers think this is getting out of hand, but I don't know.

Granted, these reactions always seem like, well, overreactions. But, ultimately, rules are rules, and as ticky-tack as these violations always seem, the rules are there for a reason: because some kids actually kill other kids in school.

As the frazzled engineer explained to Gary Sinise in Apollo 13: "I'm not just making this shit up."

It's hard to precognitively separate the dangerous ones from the ones who just wanted to bring an extra pair of scissors to school. And precognition is especially dangerous in our current lawsuit-happy government by trial lawyers.

A five day suspension isn't the worse thing that could happen to someone. Hey, I know. I'm sure a lot of you do.

Posted by: Ace at 10:23 AM | Comments (23)
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Okay, I guess this is where I'm supposed to say "Now there is a man" and all that.

But dude, please. You can always get a new wedding ring. You can't get a new ring finger.

For crying out loud. Grand romantic gestures are wonderful, but one must draw the line when it comes to permanently maiming yourself.

That's my rule, and so far it's kept me out of a lot of trouble.

Posted by: Ace at 10:15 AM | Comments (7)
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So much for "looking into the soul" of Putin.

Seems like the Cold War is on again, doesn't it?

I don't want to take too cheap a shot on Pat Buchanan, but he did, after all, defend Russia's behavior here, and accuse the US in meddling in Ukrainian politics. I await his retraction. Or perhaps his defense of Russia's use of poisoning as a political tactic.

Update: All About Dioxin A run-down of the symptoms of dioxin poisoning.

PS, mainstream media: most bloggers know the correct rules of usage for "affect" and "effect." You shouldn't, for example, write--

What Are Dioxins and What Is Their Affect?

right in your headline, unless your article is about the mood and demeanor of dioxin poison.

Just sayin'. I mean, I know you guys have all the training, editors, safe-guards, and layer upon layer of fact-checking, and I know that of course you get "most of this stuff right."

Still. It's called Elements of Style by Strunk and White. Splurge and invest the $5.95 necessary to pick yourself up a copy.

Bush Administration Undertaking "Broad Review" of Its Russia Policy: Seems like former Undersecretary for Russia Condi Rice is the perfect person Secretary of State for these dangerous times:

For the past four years, the administration muted its criticism of Russia's approach to democratic values as Washington tried to build a "strategic partnership" with Moscow to fight terrorism and weapons proliferation.

But the Bush team's approach has faced growing doubts, including from some within the administration.

Now in his second term, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin has reduced press freedom and cracked down on political opponents at home while working against pro-Western forces in neighboring countries such as Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

Questions about U.S. policy have gained a new urgency in the past three weeks, as the United States and Russia have sparred over the presidential election in Ukraine. Washington and the European Union rejected the results as rigged, and after public protests, the matter went to the country's Supreme Court, which overturned the victory of the candidate favored by Moscow.

The outcome appears to suggest that a more aggressive U.S. policy may aid democratic forces throughout the region.

"It is fair to say we are reassessing this relationship as we go into the new term," said a U.S. official who asked to remain unidentified.

He said a key question was whether Moscow, with its deep involvement in the Ukrainian election, had pushed the issue to a "tipping point," leading the administration to consider a more assertive approach.

Posted by: Ace at 10:11 AM | Comments (7)
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