Allah's personal choice for the greatest blog-entry ever written.

Posted by: Ace at 09:19 AM | Comments (11)
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Now here's a blog-party: a Festivus celebration, including the aluminum pole, the airing of grievances, and the celebration-capping Feats of Strength.

In related news, I'm planning a "Yuletime in the Forgotten Realms" party, in which all merry-makers will come dressed as important personages from this popular Dungeons & Dragons campaign.

I should warn everyone that I have dibs on both Elminister, the wise wizard, and Drizzt the Drow Ranger/Assassin. I'll be doing costume changes throughout the night according to my quite-unstable mood swings.

You guys can come as Iuz or Bigby or someone lame like that.

Posted by: Ace at 09:17 AM | Comments (10)
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Hugh Hewitt was right, as were the Kong-sceptics. Allah sends that Narnia, in its thirteenth day of release, beats Kong, on its eighth day of release, on a Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Kesher Talk has a whole series on the factual background behind Munich. A lot of which isn't anywhere to be found in Steven Spielberg's terrorist apologia.

Posted by: Ace at 09:10 AM | Comments (19)
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They've been forbidden to report that the only songs on the iPod, recorded 3000 times, is W.A.S.P.'s Fuck Like A Beast, followed by The Emperor's March from The Empire Strikes Back.

Thanks to SJ.

Correction! It turns out I was wrong that Dick Cheney only has two songs on his iPod; tipsters inform me he has others, including "Ride of the Valkyries," "My Way" (a nod to the man who taught him everything about management, Mr. Paul Anka), and "Muskrat Love."

There may be others. Loose shit on my part.

Posted by: Ace at 08:28 AM | Comments (32)
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Another top-secret program we're reading about for some reason. Although I wouldn't be surprise if this one were leaked by an Administration-friendly source, to remind the shrill opposition that this isn't Chutes and Ladders we're playing.

The U.S. government has launched a top secret search for terrorists believed to be in possession of a ‘dirty bomb’ (radiological weapon which combines radioactive material with conventional explosives), the U.S. News and World Report revealed on its website Friday.

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According to the report, authorities are conducting tests in hundreds of Muslim sites, including mosques, homes, businesses and warehouses to detect radioactive activity.

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Experts contend that the impact of a ‘dirty bomb’ would be disastrous, with thousands killed and downtowns rendered uninhabitable.

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The search, which the U.S. News and World Report says is being conducted without a court order, is focusing on Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Seattle and Las Vegas.

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According to the report, those who protested the search teamsÂ’ entrance into Muslim site without warrants were told that it was a legal procedure and that they may lose their jobs if they object.

Merry Christmas!

Thanks again to Allah.

Posted by: Ace at 08:26 AM | Comments (4)
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And yet Karol and Allah want me to see this with them today:

...it may be that reality is setting in, and reality bites, as we all know. On Monday, "Brokeback" was 51 percent off from Sunday. On Tuesday, it was down 9.1 percent from Monday. By Wednesday, it was off another 7.6 percent. All in all, it dropped to No. 10 on its 13th day out.

Today, "Brokeback" nearly doubles its number of theaters to 217, but this may be a real litmus test. There is hardly a straight male in the U.S. who will see this movie voluntarily. No matter how well made it is—-and it is very well crafted by a hugely talented group of people—-it’s hard to imagine a suburban wife coaxing hubby to the Cineplex on Saturday night to see two men consummate their passion.

Noted film critic and Pauline Kael disciple Eric Cartman expressed doubts about the public's hunger for such a film.

Posted by: Ace at 08:12 AM | Comments (18)
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Sorry for the double post; this one's just to keep the previous comments alive.

Posted by: Ace at 08:12 AM | Comments (11)
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As you probably know, the earmark for the bridges was redacted, but then Congress just issued Alaska a $454 M blank check. The same amount that had been earmarked for unnecessary bridges.

The state budget -- now with that extra money -- simply adds bridge construction back into the mix.

I try to be an optimist, so--

1) At least this shows that the state, if paying from its own funds (and those funds now are the state's), still would want the bridges. In other words, they didn't only want the bridges if they could make New Jersey voters pay.

2) I assume the federal goverment will be off the hook for the inevitable cost overruns.

3) I have a soft spot for transportation projects, and I do believe this is one area where the government should be spending money, as a general matter. Bridges and roads are something the private sector can't do (please, libertarians, spare me the turnpike/private road arguments), and they do add to economic development.

On the downside-- Congress just won't give up its pork. They'll "cancel" projects for a brief time just until they think the heat's off, and then, when they think no one's looking, the pork goes right back in.

Posted by: Ace at 08:03 AM | Comments (11)
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Thanks to Allah for this.

The Mullahs think the Iranian blogosphere -- which they call "Weblogistan" -- is a threat to their regime, and they're right.

With almost all Iran’s reformist newspapers closed down and many editors imprisoned, blogs offer an opportunity for dissent, discussion and dissemination of ideas that is not available in any other forum. There is wistful yearning in many Iranian blogs, and a persistent vein of anger: “I keep a weblog so that I can breath in this suffocating air,” writes one blogger. “I write so as not be lost in despair.” Blogs by Muslim women are particularly moving in their bitter portrayal of life behind the veil.

The Iranian State has done its utmost to smother the nascent Iranian blogosphere. In 2003 the Government began to take direct action against bloggers — more than 20 have been arrested, on charges ranging from “morality violations” to insulting leaders of the Islamic Republic. One blogger was sentenced to 14 years in prison for “spying and aiding foreign counter-revolutionaries”; in October, Omid Sheikhan was sentenced to a year’s jail and 124 lashes for a weblog featuring satirical political cartoons.

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It is less the political content of the blogs that terrifies IranÂ’s Government than the mere existence of this space outside its control, where Iranians are free to say whatever they wish to one another. Here in Weblogistan they can tell jokes, flirt, mock their leaders and share music files, unencumbered by mullahsÂ’ fiats or state decrees.

I wonder what they'll do when they realize they can have that freedom they so savor in the real world, as well as on the internet. more...

Posted by: Ace at 08:52 PM | Comments (7)
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Or at least a drastic reduction in them?

So it's not so much a question of replacing the Humvee, as much as it is developing a brand new armored vehicle with the same speed, climb, and general off-road performance capabilities of a Humvee.

That may well be the MUV-R, and that vehicle could be on the ground and running in the fourth quarter of 2006, a phenomenal feat considering the concept was realized one year ago. And vehicles weren't initially slated to roll of the line until 2007.

Today, a fully armored proof-of-concept vehicle is charging over the hills and racing around the mud and red clay roads in the backcountry of South Carolina, not far from where the Buffalo and Cougar are manufactured in Ladson.

At 10-12 tons — more than twice the weight of an up-armored Humvee — the MUV-R cruises at 65 miles per hour with burst speeds of up to 80. It can carry 6-to-10 fully armed soldiers, and it has a roof-mounted weapons system, remotely controlled by the right front-seat passenger, giving a whole new meaning to the term, "riding shotgun."

Moreover, the vehicle's design features can enable it to withstand — basically deflecting — enormous blast and ballistic impact from every angle.

Read the whole article to appreciate how difficult and lengthy a process it is to develop an entirely new military vehicle.

Thanks to Polipundit, which also tells us of NBC's delightful new series about a drug-addicted Episcopal priest whose family and secretary are engaging in lots of illicit sex.

Posted by: Ace at 08:34 PM | Comments (6)
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