Because George Soros is certainly grateful for George Soros.

I was reading Tammy Bruce's new book, The New American Revolution, and came across this passage. She's writing about Malignant Narcissism (caps hers), and brings up George Soros as one afflicted with the condition.

Pretty strong words, I thought, and didn't really expect her to back it up. But his own words do indicate narcissism bordering on full-on megalomania:

"If truth be known, I carried some rather potent messianic fantasies with me from childhood, which I felt I had to control, otherwise they might get me into trouble," [Soros] once wrote. When asked to elaborate on that passage by The Independent, Soros said, "It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of God, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out."

Emphasis mine.

So, as you smother your turkey in gravy today, give a little prayer to George Soros, who was courageous enough to take his feeling of being "some kind of God, the creator of everything" and dare to "live it out." It is to Him we should all pray.

Some even say Soros created the turkey in His image. Flesh of my flesh and all that.

Mmmmm... Soros-flesh.

Posted by: Ace at 08:40 AM | Comments (16)
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Replaces RETRACTED item.

Breakfast with Joe and Valerie?

Although I just published this bit as a screamer of a story, I now have to retract it. Upon further review, Generation Why?'s ducks aren't really in order, and my initial assertions were overstated and cannot be supported.

Stll, an interesting avenue to stroll down.

Could be nothing. Could be something.

Posted by: Ace at 06:51 AM | Comments (9)
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Not really. But kinda funny.

Posted by: Ace at 11:10 AM | Comments (22)
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A Go-Ped is a scooter with a relatively large engine. In this video, it races a Trans Am.

I know that in short sprints a man can beat a horse (we're better accelerating from zero), and of course a motorcycle and beat a car, so I wasn't expecting to be too surprised if the Go-Ped beat the Trans Am right out of the blocks. The odd thing, though, is that the Trans Am pulls to a small early lead, and then the Go-Ped actually overtakes it.

The Trans Am driver may have held back. Or he may be a chimp when it comes to changing gears.

The Go-Ped does move pretty fast, though.

Another thing your kids will want that you can't possibly give them. It'd be safer to give them that Gary Glitter "Sensual Mysteries of the Orient" Adventure Weekened they've been clamoring for.

Posted by: Ace at 11:03 AM | Comments (24)
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That's what tenured flake Robert Jensen wants us all to celebrate tomorrow.

One indication of moral progress in the United States would be the replacement of Thanksgiving Day and its self-indulgent family feasting with a National Day of Atonement accompanied by a self-reflective collective fasting.

In fact, indigenous people have offered such a model; since 1970 they have marked the fourth Thursday of November as a Day of Mourning in a spiritual/political ceremony on Coles Hill overlooking Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, one of the early sites of the European invasion of the Americas.

Not only is the thought of such a change in this white-supremacist holiday impossible to imagine, but the very mention of the idea sends most Americans into apoplectic fits -- which speaks volumes about our historical hypocrisy and its relation to the contemporary politics of empire in the United States.

I'll compromise with you, Bobby. I'll have one less spoonfull of yam and then, during a station ID break during the Dallas-Denver game, I'll momentarily recall that old "pollution makes Indian cry" ad with Ironeyes Cody.

In exchange, I'll ask you to please shut the fuck up, for all of eternity. You're more annoying than Madonna going on about her new children's book (about the magic of Kabbalahic/tantric yoga-sex) in that idiotic Detroit-on-Thames accent of hers.

Ya gotta meet me halfway here, Bobster.

Posted by: Ace at 10:10 AM | Comments (58)
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Remember the adjunct professor at Warren Community College (NJ) who said "real justice will happen when soldiers turn their weapons on their superiors?"

Gone.

Although the man's harassment of a conservative student and treasonous statements are offensive, I think we have to be very careful about protecting the right to free speech of everyone in the academic comm--

Oh, screw it, I can't pretend. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Posted by: Ace at 09:56 AM | Comments (25)
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Okay, yeah, I'm basically just running down the articles at Lucianne.com right now, but I can't help it. There's a lot of good stuff there today.

Iraqi Army Stepping Up

There seems to be a great deal of ignorance about the details of Iraqi force development and the level of progress that is -- and is not -- being attained. The risk is that rather than understanding that Iraqi forces may be able to achieve enough critical mass to allow major Coalition force reductions in 2006, the present lack of understanding will end in "snatching defeat from the jaws of uncertainty."

Heh.

...

Key developments include:

-- A continued increase in the number of Iraqi units able to take the lead in combat operations against the insurgency. There are now 88 Iraqi army and special operations battalions conducting combat operations against the enemy -- an increase of nine since the July report. Of the 88 operational units, 36 are assessed as being "in the lead" or fully independent....

-- Progress of Iraqi units in assuming responsibility for the battle space... Iraqi forces have taken responsibility for security in several areas of Iraq and now have the lead in one Iraqi province, roughly 87 square miles of Baghdad and over 450 square miles in other provinces.

-- A continued increase in the number of units and individuals trained, equipped, and formed into operational status. More than 87,000 soldiers, sailors, and airmen have now been trained and equipped.... A total of 68,800 police have been trained and equipped....

Incidentally, did anybody notice the new Lefty Meme? Fred Kaplan (useless-- completely useless) fleshed it out in the amateur webzine Slate. Basically, the idea is that Republicans want to cut and run, too; the Democrats are just honest about it, and have a plan.

The idea, I think, is that when Bush begins announcing troop withdrawals -- which he of course planned to do from the start, after achieving victory -- they'll say, "See, withdrawing the troops was our idea. We have 'good idears' when it comes to national security."

Uhhh, right. Eventually leaving a battlefield is "your idea." Seriously. You were the first to think of exiting a war once it's over. You're so scary-smart it makes me wonder if you have psychical powers and other things of that nature.

Iraqis and Soldiers Don't View War As a Lost Cause

Max Boot Up Their Ass:

WHEN IT COMES to the future of Iraq, there is a deep disconnect between those who have firsthand knowledge of the situation — Iraqis and U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq — and those whose impressions are shaped by doomsday press coverage and the imperatives of domestic politics.

...

Yet in a survey last month from the U.S.-based International Republican Institute, 47% of Iraqis polled said their country was headed in the right direction, as opposed to 37% who said they thought that it was going in the wrong direction. And 56% thought things would be better in six months. Only 16% thought they would be worse.

American soldiers are also much more optimistic than American civilians. The Pew Research Center and the Council on Foreign Relations just released a survey of American elites that found that 64% of military officers are confident that we will succeed in establishing a stable democracy in Iraq. The comparable figures for journalists and academics are 33% and 27%, respectively. Even

Lieberman Vows: We Will Not Quit Until Victory Is Secured

A little afternoon Joementum:

U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman told Iraq's prime minister Wednesday that U.S. forces will remain in Iraq until their mission is complete, despite growing unease in Congress about the progress of the conflict here.

"We cannot let extremists and terrorists, a small number, here in Iraq deprive the 27 million Iraqis of what they want which is a better freer life, safer life for themselves and their children" Lieberman said after his meeting with Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

The Connecticut Democrat, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the cost of success in Iraq would be high "but the cost for America of failure in Iraq would be catastrophic -- for America, for the Iraqi people and I believe for the world."

Good to know that there are still one or two Democrats who get it.

Posted by: Ace at 09:43 AM | Comments (41)
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1500 more detained, currently playing "choosies" for Naked Arab Jenga teams.

"We took Chris Matthews' advice, and really endeavored to understand these people," a Pentagon spokeman said. "And then, once we sufficiently understood them, we atomized them with high-explosive precision munitions. I think this is a compromise approach both the left and right can agree upon."

Mary "Unicorn" Jamblowitcz, an advocate for CodePink, wasn't pleased with the report. "This only makes more terrorists," she asserted.

The Pentagon rebutted: "Sure, but only if you're counting the component chunks of them."

Posted by: Ace at 09:20 AM | Comments (9)
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A full year before the 2006 midterms? I question the timing.

Energy prices turned lower Wednesday after a new government report showed the nation's crude oil inventories continue growing and remain above historical levels.

Crude futures rebounded from five-month lows this week as the onset of cold weather in the northeastern states stoked supply concerns because of expectations for increased heating-oil demand. The region is the world's largest market for that type of fuel.

But the Energy Department reported U.S. commercial crude oil stocks last week expanded by 400,000 barrels from the week before, standing at 321.8 million barrels. At that level, "crude oil inventories remain well above the upper end of the average range for this time of year," the department said.

Oil prices began falling in electronic trading as many analysts projected an upbeat report. A barrel of light, sweet crude for January delivery lost 69 cents to $58.15 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

...

On Wednesday, the department said stockpiles of gas and distillate fuels — such as heating oil — also grew last week. Meanwhile, overall demand for petroleum products is down 1.6 percent from the year-ago period, the department added.

...

Other Nymex prices also slipped, with heating oil falling nearly 3.6 cents to $1.70 per gallon and natural gas losing 14.4 cents to $11.47 per 1,000 cubic feet. Gasoline dropped 1.85 cents to $1.469 per gallon.

How 'bout them market forces?

Still, I hope the SUV craze abates.

In related news, Nancy Pelosi called for investigations into the record profits generated by corporations she calls "Big Botox."

Meanwhile... Consumer optimism said to be "bouncy" and "bouyant:"

U.S. consumer confidence improved in November as gasoline prices eased and the drag on sentiment from Hurricane Katrina abated, a report showed on Wednesday.

The University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment recovered from a two-month slump to 81.6 this month from 74.2 in October, just above forecasts around 80.6.

"It looks like the economy is stabilizing after the hurricane-related stresses and we're heading into the holidays with an upturn in confidence that is encouraging and bodes well for good consumer spending over the next month or so," said Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards and Sons.

Improvements took place across the board, with the survey's current conditions component jumping to 100.2 from 91.2, while the expectations measure climbed to 69.6 from 63.2.

Posted by: Ace at 09:08 AM | Comments (21)
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Ruth M. Siems will be prepared and cremated in just three (3!) easy steps.

Her ashes will then be reposed in a glazed turkey.

The viewing will occur tomorrow, on Thanksgiving, but the actual funeral will not happen for the traditional three days, which coincidentally is precisely when the turkey and stuffing sandwiches run out.

I question the timing.

Posted by: Ace at 09:03 AM | Comments (13)
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