Some of it's the sort of thing that's good but I can't link because, you know, now I'm all respectable and stuff.

This Saddam post is a good place to start. The title of the post is the main draw.

And then just sort of shoot around.

Posted by: Ace at 05:00 PM | Comments (6)
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Aaron Burr elects a new Jackass of the Week (warning: he doesn't say "jackass"; he uses the long, bad c-word, in big font): Tom Brokaw.

I enjoyed this. I think you will too.

It seems that upon Reagan's death, Brokaw refused to say much nice about him, claiming that "history would have to judge," many years from now.

Oddly enough, Brokaw wasn't previously hesitant to share his feelings about Reagan -- all negative, you won't be shocked to hear. He didn't feel the need to wait for the judgment of history during the eighties.

Posted by: Ace at 04:13 PM | Comments (2)
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For some reason, the recent photos of Saddam Hussein put both Allah and me in an automotive frame of mind. Why? Who knows. Sometimes it just happens that way.

Some good photoshopping and captioning here.

Posted by: Ace at 03:01 PM | Comments (4)
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Remember back when the left was so furiously anxious that The Passion of the Christ would inflame worldwide passions against Jews?

For my part, I sympathized with those concerns -- which were, and remain, quite real.

But it's a difficult call-- can one say that the most important part of the Christian religion should never be filmed because of the tendency that it might inflame anti-Jewish feelings?

more...

Posted by: Ace at 02:52 PM | Comments (7)
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This makes me physically angry. I don't know what other response could possibly be appropriate.

Can there be any doubt at this point whose side the left is on?:

Buried inside a July 1 New York Times story about Hollywood's boyish new sex symbols (Toby Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, et al.) is the revelation of something much more interesting. Hollywood is suddenly making big-budget epics about the subjugation of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf by the white-skinned peoples of the West. Is this, um, really a good idea?

...

A new Hollywood genre struggles to be born: the 9/11 Apology Flick.

Prerelease buzz has it that the Crusader movie (whose original title, The Crusades, has now been changed to Kingdom of Heaven) casts Bloom not as a Crusader but as a plucky young peasant who fights to repel the Christian infidels from Jerusalem.

[details on the other pictures omitted, but worth reading]

...

It's quite possible that one or all of these movies will portray the West more favorably than Chatterbox presumes, or (in the case of Alexander's homosexuality) in a way that Egyptian and Iranian moviegoers might conceivably accept sympathetically. But that would only make these projects more provocative to Islamist terrorists, and therefore even less advisable. Why make these movies at all? ...

Where's Hollywood's customary timidity on the rare occasion when we need it? Can't it take a rain check?

"But wait," stout defenders of liberty may say. "If Hollywood stops making big-budget movies about the Crusades and Alexander the Great, the terrorists will have won." The obvious logical flaw here is that Hollywood had no interest in making such movies before the World Trade Center fell. The urge to make them now seems not only reckless, but perverse.

Tim Noah is generally a useless hyperpartisan dickweed, but he strikes gold here. I deleted big sections of his piece to comply with fair use, but seriously, read the whole damn thing.

This is absolutely disgusting. I can only repeat Noah's conclusion: Hollywood had no interest in these subjects before 9-11. But after 9-11, it suddenly has three major films in production giving succor to the terrorist cause.

Michelle Malkin previously castigated Hollywood for its perverse "Let's take a wait and see attitude" regarding making patriotic, pro-American films in a time of war.

But it seems that wasn't perverse nor transgressive enough for our brave artists.

They're now manufacturing pro-Islamist entertainments. They not only refuse to show the America/Western Civilization in a favorable light, they are determined to actively inflame anti-American/anti-Western passions.

Major Hat-Tip to Ken J for pointing this article out to me. Lord knows that I wouldn't have read Tim Noah without his link.

Does Anyone Remember... the plot and villains of numerous films being changed in order to spare Muslims' sensitivities?

The Sum of All Fears had its villains changed from Muslim extremists to conveniently-white-and-Western neo-Nazis.

The Arnold Schwarzenegger film Collateral Damage was changed in the pre-production-phase, due to Muslim complaints, so that the villains weren't Islamic terrorists but were, rather, Columbian drug-dealers. (Don't fucking Columbian drug-dealers or Neo-Nazis have any lobbyists in LA???!!!)

If Hollywood can manage to deftly avoid inflaming American passions against Muslim extremists, why do they seem incapable -- or unwilling -- to similarly avoid inflaming the passions of Muslim extremists against Americans?

Seems they can't have it both ways. They can't freely change the plots and characters in some films in order to avoid taking a position on the current war while simultaneously claiming "We must follow our artistic muses with no thought of outside considerations whatsoever" when they're making films which will almost certainly incite Muslim extremists' passions against America.

Hey, Hollywood: An Irish-descended friend of mine tells me he feels like punching Britons in the face whenever he watches In the Name of the Father or Braveheart. And he's not kidding. He may be half-kidding, but he means it just the same.

What do you think the response will be in Islamabad to your Crusader film, praytell?

Posted by: Ace at 12:48 PM | Comments (53)
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EXLCUSIVE. MUST CREDIT TO ACEWIRE NEWS SERVICE.

W A S H I N G T O N -- Internet entrepreneur Nick Denton shocked the wired world when he announced his newest overhyped, underwhelming new-media sensation.

Calling herself "Jihadette," the newest addition to Denton's cyberspace stable will blog from her studio apartment/secret bomb-factory in downtown Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Denton said that Jihadette will emulate Washington-based Wonkette's trademark sassy, gossipy style-- but with a decidedly pro-Islamist take. "There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, at least 10% of whom are sympathetic to the terrorist cause," Denton said at a press conference held in the Regency Hotel. "This population is currently underserved as regards snarky, gay-rumor-peddling gossip. The Jihadette blog seeks to correct that."

The Acewire News Service has managed to obtain Jihadette's first two posts, which will be published at 10:00 PM (Riyadh time) today:

Rectum? Why I Hardly Even Knew 'Em!

The name Musab al-Zarqawi is an anagram for "I Like Big Weiners," if you add and subtract a few letters....

The word on the Arab Street is that handi-wipes aren't Yasser Arafat's only obsession. His other interest? Dirty, filthy cock...

Iran's intelligence agency reports that captured Islamist hero Khalid Sheik Mohammed was threatened with brutal homosexual gang-rape if he did not disclose the connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. Khalid's snarky response? "What's the catch? Cheese off, copper. I can do ten men standing on my head"...

New Jihadette Feature: Is He a Jew?: American Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist: Degenerate offspring of apes and demons?

Sources say no. But why take chances? ...


Translating Moqtada al-Sadr

Jihadette is proud to present Moqtada al-Sadr's most recent prayer/rant, and what he actually means by this.

Acewire Update: Ace of Spades is saddened to report that Jihadette was savagely beheaded fifteen seconds after this story was posted.

Before her death, and before she even posted a single piece, she managed to be linked by 8,865 other blogs, including Instapundit.

RIP, Jihadette.

Posted by: Ace at 11:22 AM | Comments (8)
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This is so commonplace now I'm less and less interested in even mentioning it. But, as a conservative, I prefer to stand on ceremony:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing expanded briskly for a 13th straight month in June while construction spending cooled a bit in May, according to two reports showing the economy's robust expansion on track.

The Institute for Supply Management said its June survey of factory activity edged down to 61.1 from May's 62.8 level but still reflected hearty growth in the sector that makes up less than a fifth of the economy. A reading above 50 signals growth.

High readings in new orders, production and another solid month of hiring showed strong growth is helping manufacturers heal the wounds of the sharp downturn that led to roughly 3 million job losses.

"I would characterize this as very robust conditions for the manufacturing sector," said Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corp. in Cleveland.

Markets showed little reaction to the economic news..."

I know the feeling. It does get monotonous, doesn't it?

In a hopeful sign for inflation, the prices index also eased down further from its nearly 25-year peak hit two months earlier, falling to 81.0 in June from 86.0 a month earlier. In recent weeks both oil and gasoline prices have come down from their record peaks, though they remain relatively high.

Big deal. So inflation is tame, manufacturing is resurgent and robust, and we're in the biggest and fastest economic boom in 20 damn years.

What about Abu Ghraib? Everyone knows that's the real story.

Obligatory, half-hearted cowbell:

Sigh.

Posted by: Ace at 10:36 AM | Comments (6)
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And speaking of Washingtonienne, Rusty Shackleford decides to ruin my whole damn day by forwarding me this:

Yesterday [Jessica Cutler] sold a novel based on her exploits to HyperionDisney (Walt). Her agent, Michael Carlisle of Carlisle & Company, said the price was "a substantial six figures," and Hyperion would not be more specific. Not only did he sell her novel, he said, but she will also pose nude for the November issue of Playboy. Ms. Cutler's novel will be called "The Washingtonienne," after the name of her blog. Mr. Carlisle said that Ms. Cutler would not speak to the press until the book was published, perhaps a year from now.

Hey, thanks a lot, Rusty. If you've got any more good news, like that maybe my dog Scamp just got busted for synthesizing crystal meth with intent to distribute, be sure to let me know.

Ya big creep.

Posted by: Ace at 10:13 AM | Comments (11)
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Seriously: these mathematical models constructed by statistics and economics experts are really stunning:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Polls may show the presidential race in a dead heat, but for a small band of academics who use scientific formulas to predict elections President Bush (news - web sites) is on his way to a sizable win.

That's the conclusion of a handful of political scientists who, with mixed results, have honed the art of election forecasting by devising elaborate mathematical formulas based on key measures of the nation's economic health and the public's political views.

As Tiger Tanaka would say: Very sexiful.

Most of these academics are predicting Bush, bolstered by robust economic growth, will win between 53 and 58 percent of the votes cast for him and his Democratic opponent John Kerry (news - web sites).

What delicious little minxes these models are.

Their track record for calling election outcomes months in advance has often been surprisingly accurate. In 1988, the models projected Bush's father, former President George Bush, would win even though Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis enjoyed a double digit poll leads that summer.

And in 1996, one model came within a tenth of a percentage point of Clinton's actual vote share.

Hubba, hubba!

But as hot as they might be, these models are, as usual, sometimes pretty airheaded:

"...

But one glaring error is what the forecasters are perhaps best remembered for: they predicted in 2000 that Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) would win easily, pegging his total at between 53 and 60 percent of the two-party vote.

Thanks to RudeJelly, whom I imagine must know Washingtonienne.

Posted by: Ace at 10:07 AM | Comments (1)
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I've been negligent about promoting SimonWorld's New Blogger Showcase. He'll be promoting new voices in the blogosphere there, so check him out. I've also put up a link to his site in my own New Blogger Showcase, so it'll be there when you want to check it out.

Meanwhile, the Living Room is also promoting what it calls "underblogs," or blogs that aren't getting the attention they deserve. Give a mention there to your favorite under-linked blogs.

Posted by: Ace at 10:00 AM | Comments (1)
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