10. Tonto's family totem includes the eagle, bear, and Trickster Coyote; Ward Churchill has no family totem, but his mantle does proudly display a signed photograph of Dick Cavett

9. Tonto rides a chestnut Appaloosa he calls "Scout;" Ward Churchill rides a teal Volvo S40 he calls "deductible business expense"

8. Tonto is an expert tracker with an unerring sense of direction; Ward Churchill knows the locations of all Starbucks in the greater Boulder area

7. Tonto has committed his life to fighting injustice and the villainy of Butch Cavendish; Ward Churchill has committed his life to getting that corner office currently held by a "technocratic cryptofascist" named Samuel Kornbluth, Professor of Ancient Languages

6. Tonto is an expert warrior with the bow and tomahawk; Ward Churchill "gives great memo"

5. Once per year, Tonto ingests a large quantity of peyote and psychoactive mushrooms to execute what he calls a "Vision Quest;" Ward Churchill, the same, except he calls this "every Thursday Night after the faculty meeting"

4. Tonto wears little except a loincloth and warpaint; Ward Churchill favors the "warrior skins" he bought at Banana Republic and Chess King

3. Tonto can tell the time of day, within ten minutes, by simply looking at the sun or stars; Ward Churchill can do the same, except the stars always tell him it's August 27th, 1968

2. Tonto favors the appellation "Kimosabe," meaning "Longtime Friend;" Ward Churchill is fond of "Little Eichmanns," which he now claims means "really nice and cool people who didn't deserve to die at all, and I'm not just saying that to keep my cushy paper-pushing job"

...and the Number One Comparison Between Tonto and the "American Indian" Ward Churchill...

1. There is no evidence that an Indian named Tonto ever existed; the same for the "Indian" Ward Churchill

Hat Tip to My Readers: A lot of readers have sent me tips about the fraudulence of Churchill's claims of Indian ancestry. I ignored those tips, figuring that we were just arguing over whether he was one-sixteenth Cherokee or one-thirty-second. Until reading Ann Coulter's column, and catching the remarks of a CU Law Professor on O'Reilly last night, I didn't know that there was absolutely no evidence that Churchill has any Indian heritage whatsoever, and in fact no Indian tribes will recognize him for that reason.

So his entire career -- and his persona, and his con-artist schtick -- is built on a lie.

Sorry I didn't jump on this earlier.

Loose Shit Update: I incorrectly called Tonto's horse "Smoke," when of course it was "Scout." I think Butch Cavendish's horse was Smoke.

Posted by: Ace at 07:59 AM | Comments (12)
Post contains 457 words, total size 3 kb.

Stinging piece by Matthias Dapfner, Chief Executive of the huge German publisher Axel Springer AG, published in the big German newspaper Die Welt:

One cannot help but recall Britain's Neville Chamberlain waving the laughable treaty signed by Adolf Hitler, and declaring European "Peace in our time".

What else has to happen before the European public and its political leadership get it? There is a sort of crusade underway, an especially perfidious crusade consisting of systematic attacks by fanatic Muslims, focused on civilians, directed against our free, open Western societies, and intent upon Western Civilization's utter destruction.

It is a conflict that will most likely last longer than any of the great military conflicts of the last century - a conflict conducted by an enemy that cannot be tamed by "tolerance" and "accommodation" but is actually spurred on by such gestures, which have proven to be, and will always be taken by the Islamists for signs of weakness.

Only two recent American Presidents had the courage needed for anti-appeasement: Reagan and Bush.

His American critics may quibble over the details, but we Europeans know the truth. We saw it first hand: Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War, freeing half of the German people from nearly 50 years of terror and virtual slavery. And Bush, supported only by the Social Democrat Blair, acting on moral conviction, recognized the danger in the Islamic War against democracy. His place in history will have to be evaluated after a number of years have passed.

In the meantime, Europe sits back with charismatic self-confidence in the multicultural corner, instead of defending liberal society's values and being an attractive center of power on the same playing field as the true great powers, America and China.

On the contrary - we Europeans present ourselves, in contrast to those "arrogant Americans", as the World Champions of "tolerance", which even (Germany's Interior Minister) Otto Schily justifiably criticizes. Why? Because we're so moral? I fear it's more because we're so materialistic, so devoid of a moral compass.

For his policies, Bush risks the fall of the dollar, huge amounts of additional national debt, and a massive and persistent burden on the American economy - because unlike almost all of Europe, Bush realizes what is at stake - literally everything.

While we criticize the "capitalistic robber barons" of America because they seem too sure of their priorities, we timidly defend our Social Welfare systems. Stay out of it! It could get expensive! We'd rather discuss reducing our 35-hour workweek or our dental coverage, or our 4 weeks of paid vacation... Or listen to TV pastors preach about the need to "reach out to terrorists. To understand and forgive".

These days, Europe reminds me of an old woman who, with shaking hands, frantically hides her last pieces of jewelry when she notices a robber breaking into a neighbor's house.

Appeasement? Europe, thy name is Cowardice.

Read the whole thing.

Similarly... I ripped into Europe with a piece called Arrogance, Thy Name is Europe.

Posted by: Ace at 07:00 AM | Comments (5)
Post contains 514 words, total size 3 kb.

At least some hate speech won't be tolerated from some people:

Hate Acts Will Not Be Tolerated

September 20, 2001

Dear Campus Community:

Some of you may have heard, or read in the newspapers, about an incident of hate on campus Tuesday evening, and the appearance of hateful racist essages in Norlin Library graffiti. These incidents were clearly a reaction to the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Though cleaned off immediately, the graffiti leaves a hateful message behind and the impact is widespread, affecting all of us. The CU campus police department is investigating the incident, along with a report of harassment of a CU student of color.

I urge you: If you hear of anyone or observe anyone stepping outside
the boundaries of tolerance and sensitivity toward members of our community, including Muslims, international students or visitors, please contact the
CUPD at 303-492-6666 immediately. Anyone witnessing the Norlin Quad incident Tuesday night is also asked to contact the police. Students are reminded that probation, suspension or expulsion could result from
engaging in hate acts. I hope you will heed the reminders that anger focused on any individual or group is misguided, unfair and unfounded. We must pull together to protect and support each other.

Thanks to reader RCL, who would like to apprise CU's Chancellor of some post-9/11 hate speech he's read:

Sir,

"...the appearance of hateful racist messages...the impact is widespread..."

With the current contratemps surrounding Ward Churchill, it's good to know that the Chancellor has a history of intolerance for hateful behaviour.

"...If you hear of anyone or observe anyone stepping outside the boundaries of tolerance and sensitivity toward members of our community...Students are reminded that probation, suspension or expulsion could result from engaging in hate acts."

Sounds good so far. Ah, my mistake. "Little Eichmanns" aren't part of "our community" and this warning is clearly addressed to students, not faculty.

"...I hope you will heed the reminders that anger focused on any individual or group is misguided, unfair and unfounded..."

Good point. Of course, we must realize that some displays of anger are less misguided, less unfair and not quite so unfounded as others.

"...We must pull together to protect and support each other."

Presumably "each other" not to include any "Little Eichmanns" who are lurking about.

Good to know that the administrators at CU are on top of this sort of thing. Wouldn't want things to get out of hand.

Sincerely,

rcl

And... If you've not gotten around to reading this delicious Ann Coulter column on Churchill-- named, giggle, "Sitting Bull-Shit," I advise you to do so immediately:

Churchill's claim that he is an Indian isn't an incidental boast, like John Kerry pretending to be Irish. It is central to his career, his writing, his political activism. Churchill has been the co-director of the American Indian Movement of Colorado, the vice chairperson of the American Indian "Anti-Defamation" Council, and an associate professor and coordinator of American Indian Studies at the University of Colorado.

By Churchill's own account, a crucial factor in his political development was "being an American Indian referred to as 'chief' in a combat unit" in Vietnam, which made him sad. This is known to con men everywhere as a "two-fer."

In addition to an absence of evidence about his Indian heritage, there is an absence of evidence that he was in combat in Vietnam. After the POW Network revealed that Churchill had never seen combat, he countered with this powerful argument: "They can say whatever the hell they want. That's confidential information, and I've never ordered its release from the Department of Defense. End of story." Maybe we should ask John Kerry to help Churchill fill out a form 180.

...

In light of the fact that Churchill's entire persona, political activism, curriculum vitae, writings and university positions are based on his claim that he's an Indian, it's rather churlish of him to complain when people ask if he really is one. But whenever he is questioned about his heritage, Churchill rails that inquiries into his ancestry are "absolutely indefensible."

Churchill has gone from claiming he is one-eighth Indian "on a good day" to claiming he is "three-sixteenths Cherokee," to claiming he is one-sixty-fourth Cherokee through a Revolutionary War era ancestor named Joshua Tyner. (At least he's not posing as a phony Indian math professor.) A recent investigation by The Denver Post revealed that Tyner's father was indeed married to a Cherokee. But that was only after Joshua's mother –- and Churchill's relative -– was scalped by Indians.

By now, all that's left of Churchill's claim to Indian ancestry is his assertion: "It is just something that was common knowledge in my family." (That, and his souvenir foam-rubber "tommyhawk" he bought at Turner Field in Atlanta.)

Over the years, there were other subtle clues the university might have noticed.

Churchill is not in the tribal registries kept since the 1800s by the federal government.

No tribe will enroll him –- a verification process Churchill dismisses as "poodle papers" for Indians.

In 1990, Churchill was forced to stop selling his art as "Indian art" under federal legislation sponsored by then-representative — and actual Indian! — Ben Nighthorse Campbell, that required Indian artists to establish that they are accepted members of a federally recognized tribe. Churchill responded by denouncing the Indian artist who had exposed him. (Hey, does anybody need 200 velvet paintings of Elvis playing poker with Crazy Horse?)

In the early '90s, he hoodwinked an impecunious Cherokee tribe into granting him an "associate membership" by telling them he "wrote some books and was a big-time author." A tribal spokeswoman explained: He "convinced us he could help our people." They never heard from him again — yet another treaty with the Indians broken by the white man. Soon thereafter, the tribe stopped offering "associate memberships."

If Churchill's an Indian, so am I. I have a better claim to Indian heritage than he does. I can't tell you the number of times I've cried looking at garbage strewn over the natural beauty of our land, nor the number of times I've secret wished that Billy Bear would kick Eddie Murphy's ass in 48 Hours.

I can put my head to the ground and tell how many people are pursuing me, so long as they're within visual range, and they're not hiding or anything like that.

And on numerous occasions I've done the Billy Jack trick of telling my opponents precisely what I would do to them in the next few seconds -- "First, I'm going to kick you in the jaw, then I'm going to throw your body into your buddies and romp on their heads as they fall to the ground like screaming, brain-concussed dominoes." My actual execution of these pre-announced manuevers may leave something to be desired, I admit, but I'm working on it.

Where the hell is my tenure? I've got a cracker-jack bit of academic analysis I long to write, tentatively titled Student Loan Guy: The "Little Eichmann" Who Continues to Exploit My People.

I am also pretty sure that something in my heritage makes me the true and legal owner of the entire state of New Jersey. I'm not greedy-- the white man can keep Bayonne and Elizabeth and Camden; I just want the rest.

Posted by: Ace at 06:29 AM | Comments (5)
Post contains 1233 words, total size 8 kb.

So says this guy:

Were you aware...? That everyone who went to Sundance came back with a cold/flu/Andromeda Strain kinda deal? It's true! Actually, my inner movie mogul wants to pitch as a conspiracy flick: "It's all part of a plot to eliminate America's latte-swilling, movie-making, coastally-dwelling cultural elite thanks to a bio-weapon released in give-away crap! Think 24 meets The Player, but for Oxygen! -- with Virginia Madsen as the only person who can stop it! "

And yeah, I've still got it. It just won't go away. It's like Herpes of the sinuses and upper-respiratory system.

Actually, the super-flu might have been targeted at bloggers... a lot of them seem pretty sick.

Call Eason Jordan. I think I've got a big story for him.

Thanks to RL.

Posted by: Ace at 02:38 PM | Comments (11)
Post contains 141 words, total size 1 kb.

Okay, I'm a Star Wars dork, I admit. But come on.

There are a lot of great pictures (and some decent snarking), but the first is one of my favorites.

This is Boba Fett? Aren't dorks at least supposed to have an eye for detail and some amount of obsessiveness about getting things right?

Did Boba Fett wear Dockers Husky (TM) khaki shorts in a deleted scene I'm not aware of?

Not even SondraK's Haute Couture WTF of the Day touches these guys.

Thanks a lot to Ron, who must need a glass of water right now, after all that crying he did after the Super Bowl.

Posted by: Ace at 02:34 PM | Comments (15)
Post contains 121 words, total size 1 kb.

Yeah, Big-Time.

My title, not Michelle Malkin's, though I think mine is "punchier."

In case there was any doubt, this was not Eason Jordan's first flirtation with noxious, conspiracy-theorist anti-Americanism. And Ms. Malkin lays it all out-- this time, for non-blog readers.

Posted by: Ace at 01:37 PM | Comments (8)
Post contains 50 words, total size 1 kb.

Friend and fellow blogger Dawn Eden got fired by the "conservative" NY Post for trying to balance an article by adding some minor pro-life sentiments to a piece she felt dealt cavalierly with disposable embryos... and possibly just for having a "faith-friendly" blog.

It turns out that firing her wasn't enough; some bitch at the Post had to go leak to Women's Wear Daily and attempt to further damage her career. Pretty vindictive.

Well, Dawn finally gets her say in today's New York Observer:

The Post hired her full time in 2003. She loved editing and writing punning headlines. But she landed in hot water after giving an interview to Gilbert, a G.K Chesterton magazine, in which she talked about her faith and working at the Post.

She said her boss, chief copy editor Barry Gross, chided her, telling her, "Some people already think the Post is conservative, and we donÂ’t need New York readers also thinking itÂ’s a Christian paper and that there are Christians working there."

"I donÂ’t recall saying that," said Mr. Gross. "But I canÂ’t swear that I didnÂ’t. I mean, thereÂ’s no question people think weÂ’re conservative." He added that he did caution her to cool it a bit in the future.

There was another chat with Mr. Gross after Ms. Eden resisted working on an article about a murdered porn star. SheÂ’d made it clear that she was disgusted with the cheerful, lurid commentary.

But Mr. Gross wasnÂ’t around on Jan. 8 this year, when Ms. Eden was given a story by Post reporter Susan Edelman to copy-edit. The story was about women with terminal cancer who want to have babies: Through in-vitro fertilization, multiple embryos are fertilized and implanted one at a time until as many as 12 survive.

According to Ms. Eden, she was repelled by what she interpreted as a "cavalier" attitude about the embryos in Ms. EdelmanÂ’s story: "Treating them as a manufactured commodity that donÂ’t have significance as human life," Ms. Eden said. (Ms. Edelman declined to comment when reached by The Observer.)

"I got choked up," Ms. Eden said. "How are people going to ever understand the complex issues involved here, if the story they’re reading reduces it to ‘Oh, isn’t this nice? We can just make lots of embryos and not worry about whether they live or die.’"

Ms. Eden read a line in the draft of the story: "Experts have ethical qualms about this ‘Russian roulette’ path to parenthood." She saw her opportunity: She added a phrase: " … which, when in-vitro fertilization is involved, routinely results in the destruction of embryos." And where Ms. Edelman had written that one woman had three embryos implanted "and two took," Ms. Eden changed that to read: "One died. Two took."

Ms. Eden said she thought she was performing a service for the reader, since she believed that the Post had been "notoriously oblivious" to the nuances involving embryonic life.

"In retrospect, my first loyalty should have been to my employer," she said.

The article, with Ms. EdenÂ’s alterations, came out on Jan. 16. Post editors were furious. Mr. Gross told her to apologize to the writer, Ms. Edelman, which Ms. Eden promptly did, calling her own actions "unwarranted and wrong."

Ms. Edelman replied with an e-mail under the subject heading "SABOTAGE":

"Dawn You are the most unprofessional journalist I have ever encountered in all my years in this business. A disgrace. Sue Edelman."

Things soon got worse, as editors at the Post discovered her Dawn Patrol blog.

She waited. Mr. Gross came over to tell her she couldnÂ’t blog on company time anymore.

Mr. Allan called her into his office and fired her.

"Probably the second most surprised person in the office the day she was fired, after Dawn, was me," said Mr. Gross. "IÂ’m still not pleased about it, but the call wasnÂ’t mine."

Keep it in mind the next time you're tempted to buy the N.Y. Post.

I guess this should also be kept in mind by Churchill's defenders, who insist on a fairly absolute right to free speech. Again, this strong-form version of the right to free speech -- without professional consequences -- would seem to only apply to those pigs who have learned to walk on two feet.

More... Dawn Eden corrects a few of the Observer's mistatements on her blog, which apparently was so dangerous it threatened the very continued operations of the NY Post.

And Still More... Alarming News weighs in, noting that whatever "slant" Dawn added was just the opposite of the slant the reporterette in question had put there herself.

Did the reporterette have that right? I suppose so. Still-- there is the legal principle of "clean hands" to consider.

Posted by: Ace at 11:42 AM | Comments (25)
Post contains 802 words, total size 5 kb.

So, General Mattis offended the Washington Press Corps by saying what most soldiers know is true -- some people need killin', and there is some satisfaction in serving that need.

Varifrank puts these comments in perspective by offering some quotes from great American military leaders, like Admiral Halsey:

“Before we are through with them, the Japanese language will only be spoken in hell.”

Well, that's not very sensitive at all, Admiral.

And of course Patton tops that. Why on earth would he call the Japanese "purple-pissing"? What the hell does that even mean?

More... Great piece about Mattis, and the thesis that some people need killin', at NRO.

And he quotes King Henry's (Shakespeare-penned) St. Crispin's Day speech before the battle of Agincourt.

For which such poetry-quothing some commenters will undoubtedly call him a "pussy." (Hee-- still a little sensitive about that!)

Posted by: Ace at 11:27 AM | Comments (16)
Post contains 150 words, total size 1 kb.

Interesting piece explaining why Asia isn't a bunch of whining bitches about the War on Terror like some continents I could mention:

With the partial exception of Indonesia and Malaysia, Asian states have found they feel comfortable with the US in the age of terror. They understand and generally sympathise with the US's operating principle in this period. All of us in this part of the world have come to our similar positions through our distinctive cultural and political processes, but the commonality of the pro-US posture is almost an illustration of the central tenet of classical realism in foreign policy – that states, regardless of who runs them, will generally act in their strategic interests.

The Bush administration understands it is in much better shape in Asia than in Europe. A US official in Washington recently explained to me why: "There is a structural, or strategic/cultural reason. In Europe the nation-state is 500 years old. Polls show many Europeans have either a pan-European or a sub-national identity. Nationalism is in decline.

"In Asia, nation-states are young, especially the post-colonial states. Sovereignty is incredibly sensitive.

"So a 19th- century balance of power approach comes naturally. US policies, even if they're unpopular, fit the Asian Zeitgeist. In response to 9/11 Southeast Asian leaders really got it. They understand power and are reassured by the US use of power."

This is in great contrast to the EU view which sees nation-states as primitive and wants to dissolve their identitites and sovereignties in the postmodern EU virtual reality.

Nonetheless a balance of power approach is hardly a comprehensive agenda for the US for the future in Asia. But the US official had an answer for that too: "The trend in the region is towards democracy and market liberalisation. No one is going backwards except Burma. So we, the democracies, own the future."

...

There is at least one sense too in which Thaksin [PM of Thailand and WoT supporter] can be seen as the most democratic of Thailand's leaders. He ran on a specific program, polarised politics around the program, got elected on the program and implemented the program, all of which are extremely novel innovations in Thai history.

Of course there are real negatives as well....

For all that, Sunday's election was an authetnic expression of the Thai national will. It is a result which upsets left-wing intelligentsias everywhere. No wonder it was ignored.

Thailand is as big as Germany, and yet, for some reason, Judy Woodruff doesn't want to talk about it.

Posted by: Ace at 11:15 AM | Comments (4)
Post contains 441 words, total size 3 kb.

Who wants to name a flower or a paramecium? But everyone wants to name a monkey.

Incite has the story of how you-- yes, you! -- can name your own new species of monkey. And it's kind of a cute species, too. As far as monkeys go.

You just know George Soros is ponying up a lot of cash to name the monkey George W. Bush.

Posted by: Ace at 11:08 AM | Comments (10)
Post contains 84 words, total size 1 kb.