Harold ("Who?") Pinter Wins Nobel Prize For Lunatic Crankery
— Ace

Well, actually for literature. Gee, wasn't there a time people read his shit? Glad those days are long past.

He's what I like to term an "unhinged asshole":

The playwright said: “The US is really beyond reason now. It is beyond our imagining to know what they are going to do next and what they are prepared to do. There is only one comparison: Nazi Germany.

“Nazi Germany wanted total domination of Europe and they nearly did it. The US wants total domination of the world and is about to consolidate that.

“In a policy document, the US has used the term ‘full-spectrum domination’, that means control of land, sea, air and space, and that is exactly what’s intended and what the US wants to fulfil [sic]. They are quite blatant about it.”

It's amazing to me that smart people are capable of such vicious stupidity. The "full-spectrum domination" he alludes to is a war doctrine, and, as far as I know, no professional military has ever sought something short of full-spectrum domination. No generals, except perhaps a few Italian or French ones, ever proposed the "Let's Get Our Asses Kicked But Not So Badly As To Be Complete Embarassments Partial-Spectrum Semi-Domination" doctrine.

Who's to blame? Well, for once, not Bush, exactly. You.

Pinter blamed “millions of totally deluded American people” for not staging a mass revolt.

Johnny Coldcuts has a thoughtful rejoinder to Mr. Pinter. Coldcuts Content Warning.

Posted by: Ace at 12:31 PM | Comments (19)
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Rich Russians Pay Millions For Outsized Penises
— Ace

Thus begins the long-feared Meat-Missile Gap.

But actually, they're suddenly into statues and paintings with enormous dorkbats.

Definitely some gay agenda at work here. You do huge penises, it's art. You draw a comic book with women with ridiculously large breasts, it's porn.

We straight dudes are so oppressed it's... why it's gob-smackingly vile, that's what it is.

Thanks to Bohemian Conservative, who thinks the guy from the Highlander series (I think) was robbed for the James Bond role.

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Cool (Old) Thing I Just Found Out About
— Ace

You can check your mentions across the blogosphere, and make a cool trendline graph comparing you to one or two other bloggers or search-terms.

The one above is me vs. Excitable Andy. He's winning, of course, but it's not a runaway.

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Gerry Daly at RedState: Opposing Miers Could Have Very Bad Consequences
— Ace

He notes that Bush's disapproval rating is now in the range that has caused previous Presidents to lose House and Senate seats.

And that Republicans abandoning Bush could lead to defeats in 2006 and even 2008.

Something to think about. He echoes my worry: Bush has screwed up badly, but punishing him for his screw-up could lead to the Democrats taking over the War on Terror.

The Conference Call: Ken Mehlman arranged a conference call with conservative bloggers (no RNC love for Ace, as usual), and you can read about the call at PoliPundit, Ankle Biting Pundits, Professor Bainbridge (liveblogging the call), and Ed Morrissey of Captain's Quarters.

Digest: Mehlman seemed unable to answer questions asking for "concrete" evidence of Miers' constitutionalism; he urged people to wait until the hearings (apparently forgetting the script calls for Miers to say almost nothing at all); he urged people to trust Bush, as Bush knows how important this is; and he pointed out that Miers was involved in vetting and suggesting many of Bush's other picks for the federal courts, many of which are quite pleasing to conservatives.

Most on the conference call weren't particularly swayed.

Miers "Praised" The Federalist Societ in 2005 Speech?: Well, not quite. It's all soft-soap stuff, noting that they're important for bringing diverse voices to the debate on the Constitution and the like. Nothing that actually expressly endorses the Federalist Society's mission of bringing back the Constitution into Constitutional Law.

Frankly, if asked nicely enough and comped with free airfare and hotel, I could give the same sort of anodyne "diversity and debate is good" speech to the NAACP (while avoiding any actual endorsement of the group.)

Then again, I'm a whore.

This Isn't Going To Please Michael Update: Miers conservative on social questions and liberal on economic ones.

The glass is half empty.

And I don't know if someone's personal politics are necessarily a good indication of how they would rule as a judge. A judge, according to strict constructionalism/constitutionalism, isn't supposed to simply act as a superlegislator and enact their own laws according to their political preferences. They're supposed to determine if the Constitution actually speaks to a particular issue, and if so, what it says precisely (noting, but not being bound by, 200+ years of judicial interpretation).

I'm just as against a judge who would claim "The Constitution says abortion is illegal" as one who says "The Constitution says abortion is a guaranteed right."

I still have no evidence that Miers is anything other than an O'Connor, unbound by any judicial philosophy that would restrict her decisionmaking to clauses actually found in the Constiution, just deciding cases according to what she thinks is good, right, or just.

Now, I wouldn't mind conservative judicial activism as much as I mind liberal judicial activism, but both are bad, and both erode democracy itself by taking political questions from the people and reposing all power to decide them in the hands of nine unelected judgeds.

Posted by: Ace at 10:30 AM | Comments (120)
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Put Some Ditties In Your Titties
— Ace

Breast Implants May Become Music Storage Devices

Computer chips that store music could soon be built into a woman's breast implants.

One boob could hold an MP3 player and the other the person's whole music collection.

In related news, bras will eventually be measured in terms of gigs.

BT futurology, who have developed the idea, say it could be available within 15 years.

BT Laboratories' analyst Ian Pearson said flexible plastic electronics would sit inside the breast. A signal would be relayed to headphones, while the device would be controlled by Bluetooth using a panel on the wrist.

According to The Sun he said: "It is now very hard for me to thing of breast implants as just decorative. If a woman has something implanted permanently, it might as well do something useful."

Do something useful? This just in: Ian Pearson is a homo.

Thanks to Matt.

Alternate Headline Update: "Is it Real or is it Mammorex?" suggested by Scott.

Posted by: Ace at 10:07 AM | Comments (24)
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Wooden Shoes and Burkas
— Dr. Reo Symes

Dutch moving to ban burkas in public?

The countryÂ’s hardline Integration Minister, Rita Verdonk, known as the Iron Lady for her series of tough anti-immigration measures, told Parliament that she was going to investigate where and when the burka should be banned. The burka, traditional clothing in some Islamic societies, covers a womanÂ’s face and body, leaving only a strip of gauze for the eyes.

Mrs Verdonk gave warning that the “time of cosy tea-drinking” with Muslim groups had passed and that natives and immigrants should have the courage to be critical of each other. She recently cancelled a meeting with Muslim leaders who refused to shake her hand because she was a woman.

The proposals are likely to win the support of Parliament because of the expected backing by right-wing parties. But they have caused outrage among Muslim and human rights groups, who say that the Government is pandering to the far Right.

After that Theo Van Gogh wake up, itÂ’s good to see some Europeans step up to the plate, face down the euro-weenie, open culture suicide pact mentality and recognize a problem growing in their midst.

Still though, bans on clothing?

It’d be nice if Europe could find some middle ground. Stop it’s cycling between a caricature of some spineless lefty-librarian, mamby-pamby and the freedom trampling “Hammer Party” from The Wall

EuropeÂ’s a funny place. Reminds me of an alcoholic, always talking bout the evils of drink, lecturing everyone on that Great Satan, droning on how itÂ’s the furthest thing from their minds and lips.

Despite their protests though, every now and then you see a flash, letting you know somewhere, deep inside, they still itch to get their hands on a flask, guzzle down some of the good stuff – and when they do, brother, look out, cause they’re going on a bender.

Posted by: Dr. Reo Symes at 09:29 AM | Comments (10)
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Repeating Myself
— Ace

Whatever her qualifications or politics, Bush's nomination of Miers has succeeded in provoking open warfare in the once-united Republican Party.

There's bad blood boiling in the blogosphere, and I have to think that's pretty much what's going on in the rest of politically-attuned Red State America. It's bad now and it's likely to get worse.

Brilliant. A real masterstroke.

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Is That An M4, or are You Just Happy to See Me?
— LauraW.

Sex in Uniform; Scratchy but Not Impossible

Naturally, our brave military men and women are, well, men and women.

This article is an interesting read. Not only for the universal truths about human beings. But also because it is about our young people, at the peak of their physical condition, furtively coupling in the hot sand like angry jackhammers meeting soft, yielding pavement.
OK, no, not really:

By their sheer numbers, most male soldiers are not regularly having sex, despite some male braggadocio to the contrary. But testosterone-induced swagger being what it is, word of others' exploits tends to get around.
Male soldiers figure anywhere from a quarter to three-quarters of their female comrades are accepting of sex while on deployment.
Perhaps surprisingly, many female soldiers say those guesses are probably low.
"If you include all the girls who are having sex with girls, it's much closer to every one of us," said one female enlisted soldier from the 146th.

Well. HELLOOO NURSE
It would be better for ladies to remain ladies, regardless of their particular proclivities. The last things our troops need are pregnancies and diseases, when they have so much else to worry about. But troops are members of the same society in which we all were raised.

But such exploits have consequences for female soldiers who do not make themselves available for conquest.
Zike, one of the senior soldiers in a barracks at Camp Ramadi comprising women from other units, says she walks to and from the mess hall with her hat pulled low over her eyes.
"You make eye contact with them and they'll be all over you," says Zike, a resident of Indianapolis. "I try to look as unapproachable as possible."

Well, that's not much different than working at an insurance company, to tell you the truth.

Zike, who is married, feels fortunate to have fallen in with the 222nd.
"It's unlike any other battalion I've ever been in," she says. "It's like I inherited 500 big brothers - I've never seen that many happily married men in my life."
Married women, on the other hand, are considered "up for grabs" until they demonstrate otherwise, at which point, many female soldiers bitterly say, they are considered to be "bitches."

Yeah, well, these are young, horny men. I hope the journalist doesn't think this attitude is unique to the frontlines.

All in all, a good read, rich with quotes from our people in Iraq. A slice of life, as they say.
Thanks to our Utah correspondent, skinbad, whose daughter weaves snakes in her hair like a tot Medusa.

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Syrian Minister "Commits Suicide;" Was Questioned Regarding Hariri Assassination
— Ace

He committed suicide? IQTT (I question the timing).

But I like the result.

I think we should question Bashar Assad and the various sand-dune shoguns pulling the strings of this retarded puppet. Maybe we'll have more "suicides."

My Pet Jawa notes that even many MSM outlets are putting scare-quotes around "committed suicide."

Posted by: Ace at 01:26 PM | Comments (10)
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Deal Reached On Iraqi Constitution; One Sunni Group Announces Support
— Ace

Good news:

Days before a crucial vote on a draft constitution, Iraqi negotiators say they've reached a deal on the document.

That prompted at least one Sunni Arab group to announce it will now vote in favor of it.

That's the first break in ranks among Sunni Arab leaders, who've been campaigning against the draft constitution in Saturday's vote. Shiite and Kurdish leaders support it.

While Iraqis prepare for that constitutional referendum, bombings and shootings have killed nearly 50 people in the span of a few hours. Most of the dead are civilians.

Liberal-slash-idiot Kevin Drum is, of course, quite down on the positive news:

It takes the Washington Post nine paragraphs before they get around to telling us what this compromise entails, but here it is:

The major concession from Tuesday's talks was agreement by the Shiites and Kurds that a committee be created early next year to consider amendments to the constitution....Any changes recommended by the committee would have to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of parliament and a national referendum.

That's it? A committee will "consider" amendments? And even if they recommend some, they still won't go anywhere unless they get broad Shiite and Kurdish support in parliament followed by majority support in a referendum?

Somebody really needs to explain what the Sunnis think they're getting here. It sounds like nothing more than a vague brush off to me. Just vote for the constitution now and we promise to seriously consider your objections at a later day. Honest.

I'm all in favor of anything that makes a peaceful transition in Iraq more likely, but I've read half a dozen stories about this agreement and every one of them makes it sound like at least some Sunnis are ecstatic over this deal. Conversely, none of them mention that it's essentially meaningless.

And this is a bad thing... how?

Here's a possible reading: the Sunnis are beginning to accept that they are no longer the masters of Iraq, and even more important, that simply butchering schoolteachers and blowing up police stations is very unlikely to return them to power.

So they're taking the best deal possible given their weak political position. Accepting reality. Understanding now that, while they have some power, they have only the power of a decided minority.

Does this solve all of the problems in Iraq? Will it appease all Sunnis? Of course not. But first things first-- passing the constitution is a major political and propagandistic achievement.

And most political problems are never "solved," anyhow. They are perpetually kicked down the road through compromises and promises of revisiting the issues at a later date. The issue of slavery, for example, wasn't really resolved in 1789, either.

Thanks to the Blogometer.

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