Not the first time we've heard this rumor, as My Pet Jawa notes.

I kinda hate even bringing it up, but... his link is interesting.

Okay, this is the sort of rumor-mongering that bloggers are slammed for. But if the media is chattering about it behind closed doors, why shouldn't the public know what they're chattering about?

Thanks to Someone.

I've Got the Funniest F'n' Readers Update: EricJ offers:

Who cares if Bin Laden's dead? Don't they know there's a war on?

Posted by: Ace at 10:38 AM | Comments (15)
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At the risk of alienating Traffic Santa, I will direct your attention to this post by Instapundit.

I find it disingenuous to suggest that, just because there is a "war on," as Instapundit notes, all other domestic political jockeying -- at least of the kind Instapundit disapproves -- should stop.

He plays this card constantly. Whether it's the RAVE act, or cracking down on Ecstacy, or, now, a law making it illegal to take a child across state lines for an abortion-- he uses the "We're fighting a war" non-sequitor as an argument against any proposal or law or initiative he doesn't like.

Well, Instapundit: You seem to favor civil unions, and you argue in favor of them frequently. Don't you know there's a war on? How can we divert our attention to such a minor domestic issue when there's a war on?

It strikes me as very curious that Glenn Reynolds thinks we have lots of time to pursue domestic initiatives of which he approves, but, when it comes to socially-conservative intiatives, the entire government is far too busy, or should be far too busy, to pursue such initiatives.

After all--there's a war on!

Fine. There's a war on.

Then stop agitating for civil unions. Or decriminalizing drugs. Or any other libertarian change to the status quo.

I'm not saying I disagree with him on each of these initiatives or laws... but honestly, it's just plain disingenous to use the "War On" defense for only those domestic issues/initiatives he disfavors.

It's Just Like Newton and Leibniz Update! Dang... Matt sent me this tip to Galley Slaves making the exact same point, and even a bit feistier, too.

Worth reading. He wonders if, given there's a war on, we should be talking about Mazdas or digitical cameras, either.

I swear, I didn't see his post before I wrote mine.

But I will say this isn't the first time I've hit Instapundit up on this.

And Now Ramesh Ponorununununu (Whatever) Update!: Seriously, I've been hitting up Instapundit for this self-serving and silly War On argument since the beginning of the blog.

But now National Review Online notices too, giving Galley Slaves the NROlanche.

Well.. okay. They were technically first. Today.

Thanks to Nick.

Indeed! Update: Slublog notes Instapundit's carefully-considered opinion that the Pledge of Allegiance just doesn't matter... when there's a war on.

Deal Accepted: Okay, Ramesh, I will learn how to spell your name, as you were nice enough to link me and all.

Posted by: Ace at 08:51 AM | Comments (77)
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Jules and Vincent explain the Vatican and Catholic rituals for you.

Simpsons Did It! Update: John from Wuzzadem wasn't the first. Another, earlier Pope Fiction parody. This one includes the Gimp scene.

Posted by: Ace at 07:04 AM | Comments (11)
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Hypersound. Subaudible soundwaves that, when directed at a person, become audible, and sound as if they're coming from inside the subject's own head.

Minority Report displayed hypersound advertisements (along with something even more annoying: computerized determination of what sort of person you were and therefore what ads might appeal to you). But it's really not sci-fi. It's something that's coming fairly shortly.

This cat just won a $500,000 prize from MIT for his HyperSonic sound system, so this is no crank making wild claims about his perpetual motion device:

Elwood "Woody" Norris pointed a metal frequency emitter at one of perhaps 30 people who had come to see his invention. The emitter — an aluminum square — was hooked up by a wire to a CD player. Norris switched on the CD player.

"There's no speaker, but when I point this pad at you, you will hear the waterfall," said the 63-year-old Californian.

And one by one, each person in the audience did, and smiled widely.

...

Norris said the uses for the technology could come in handy — in cars, in the airport or at home.

Handy? It's going to be a nightmare.

Although it will be very useful if you want to gaslight someone... at least in the next couple of years, before people are generally aware that "demonic voices inside your head" may not be the result of schizophrenia but rather a prank being played on you by your geek buddy Stinky.

"Imagine your wife wants to watch television and you want to read a book, like the intellectual you are," he said to the crowd. "Imagine you are a lifeguard or a coach and you want to yell at someone, he'll be the only one to hear you."

Imagine you're walking down the street and you are bombarded with a dozen in-your-head advertisements, like "Drink Coke!" or "Hey! Great website! Agree with everything you say!"

Norris holds 47 U.S. patents, including one for a digital handheld recorder and another for a handsfree headset. He said the digital recorder made him an inventor for life.

"That sold for $5 million," Norris laughed. "That really made me want to be an inventor."

Shut up, really?

Thanks to LauraW.

Okay... This Could Be Fun Update: Hubris opines--

I can only imagine the myriad applications for the gents in my native West Virginia whose idea of flirting was to hang out of a truck and yell "what are you doin' with them titties later?!"

I've been waiting for just this sort of high-tech covert Mr. Microphone since I was 7.

Imagine driving down the street anonymously pestering a hundred women with "Hey good lookin', be back to pick you up later!"

Good times. Good times.

All Technology Is First Deployed For Sexual Purposes Update: You know those bars they used to have, and maybe still do, where every table has a phone and so you can call other tables and try to hook up with other people?

This would be better/worse. At least it would be different and a novelty... for a year, which is the best a trendy bar can expect anyway.

It would give me a chance to use the "smooth rap" I've developed for the ladies over the years, but never had the balls to use, like, (in my best Jamie Gumm "It puts the lotion on its skin" impression) "First, I will begin by strangling your pets. Second, I will break into your home and... touch things."

Posted by: Ace at 06:59 AM | Comments (22)
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Under investigation by police... so of course they're alleging that their right to dissent is being "chilled:"

A 23-year-old Brevard County woman was charged with making a false police report at Rollins College in Winter Park last year.

Prosecutors on Thursday filed two misdemeanor charges against Desiree Nall of Palm Bay. The charges of making a false police report and making a false official statement are each punishable with up to one year in jail.

Desiree Nall's husband, Jeff, said Friday that his wife will contest the charges.

As RiehlWorld reports, both are "professional activists." Desiree Nall is President of the Brevard County NOW chapter, and her husband is a communication director there. And both are "associated" with MoveOn, according RiehlWorld.

Nall told Winter Park police in November that she was raped by two men in a Rollins College bathroom, authorities said.

"The college was on high alert, and the neighborhood was in confusion because there was a lot of fear," Winter Park police spokesman Wayne Farrell said.

The rape report was made during rape-awareness week on the Rollins campus, Winter Park police Sgt. Pam Marcum said.

As Instapundit asked the other day (IIRC): if hate-crimes are to be punished severely, shouldn't false claims of hate crimes be punished equally severely? The effect on society seems similar; if we're increasing penalties for bringing fear to minority groups, shouldn't we also increase penalties for false claims of hate crimes which likewise bring fear to minority groups?

And if rape is a serious crime -- which, of course, it is -- we can hardly treat false claims of rape as a minor matter or college prank.

Posted by: Ace at 06:49 AM | Comments (11)
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I didn't give a crap about this stupid site -- quite frankly, I still don't know really what the hell it's supposed to be -- but my readers have now made me hate it.

I do that-- I go from "no opinion" to "volcanic black hatred" in 5.3 seconds.

People have noticed that you can punk this stupid-ass geek-circle-jerk, so I think we ought to.

Andrew, he of "roses are red, violets are blue" fame, just added a newly unearthed historical tidbit to the old boring account of the Battle of Hastings (scan down to "External Links" at bottom):

It should also be noted that Indiana Jones took part in the action, riding in an armored canoe pulled by two dragons with wheels for feet; the battle ended when he sliced off the head of Cobra Commander with a garlic press. He later celebrated by swabbing his wang in honey and finding an anthill.

Okay... start punking and post your punks here. I'll see about compiling the best of them on Friday or over the weekend. Not a competition, just an exhibition as they say.

Stephen Sondheim's Bio Updated: See if you can find the subtle insertion.

At about the age of ten, around the time of his parents' divorce, Sondheim became friends with Jimmy Hammerstein. Jimmy's father was the well-known lyricist/playwright Oscar Hammerstein II. Hammerstein taught Sondheim the basics of the musical after the boy came to him with a show he had written for a school performance. Though Hammerstein's reaction was negative, he saw the youngster's potential. As a training exercise, Hammerstein told Sondheim to write four pieces:

A musical based on a good play (which became All That Glitters)
A musical based on a bad play (which became High Tor)
A musical based on an existing novel or short story not previously dramatized (which became Mary Poppins)
An original musical (which became Climb High)

A man can survive in the desert for 10 days by drinking his own urine. Even if you're not in the desert, it makes for a hell of a party trick. Really "breaks the ice"! Try it!

None of these "assignment" musicals was produced professionally. High Tor and Mary Poppins have never been produced at all, because the rights holders for the original works refused to grant permission for a musical to be made.

Did you catch it? That's right-- Hammerstein did not ask Sondheim to compose a musical which would become Climb High.

Don't Bother Update: This game is so old they have a big ass page for collecting up "Bad Jokes and Other Deleted Nonsense."

Damnit... I'm always three years behind the "cool crowd."

Posted by: Ace at 02:47 PM | Comments (42)
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Why wasn't I informed immediately?

he last thing I want to do is get into a fight with a powerful celebrity who has a blog read by tens of people -- Rob Burnett

Update: Clicking on Karol's link, and then the source story, will result in the discovery that due to this spat, Rosie O'Donnell will not be appearing on the Letterman show in order to promote her Hallmark Retard-Family Classics movie, Riding the Short Bus With My Sister.

Posted by: Ace at 02:36 PM | Comments (14)
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Just because we're arguing about the "real King Arthur" in the comments... VonKreedon (who played a fantasy role-playing game while in jail, remember) suggests anyone interested check out this site about the "historical" Arthur.

I like this tip from Fat Kid a little more:

Friends Find Buried Treasure in Backyard

METHUEN, Massachusetts (AP) -- It's the stuff of fantasies, and Tim Crebase found it buried under two feet of earth in his own backyard.

..

Crebase said the find came three weeks ago when he and Villcliff were trying to dig up a small tree.

Crebase, 23, heard a thud and saw that he'd hit a piece of wood. Another look, and he saw the wood was part of a two-foot-wide box.

He ripped the top off and found nine rusted cans that he and Villcliff, 27, cracked open to find about 1,800 bills, including more than 900 $1 bills, 200 $2 bills, and 300 $20 bills dated from 1899 to 1929.

There were also piles of gold and silver certificates and scores of notes from local banks in Methuen, Haverhill, Amesbury, Newburyport and beyond.

[The treasure was subsequently valuated by an expert as being worth in excess of $100,000.]

"I'm a pessimist; I was waiting until I got a professional review before I jumped to any conclusions," Villcliff said. "Tim, however, was singing and dancing. He was ranting like a rabid monkey."

I'm glad these guys found it. They deserve it.

Posted by: Ace at 02:20 PM | Comments (10)
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96 Google hits for "Naked Arab Jenga" -- all AoSHQ.

Thanks to David.

I can't wait to tell my mom.

Yes, It's a Slow News Day as Far as I'm Concerned Update: So, I could mention Randi Rhodes; but everyone knows about that, and I don't think I've been unclear on this sort of crap in the past.

So, instead of talking about that, I'll note that Andrew decided to start me up a Wikipedia entry, describing this site as a "moronblog maintained by a moron."

For once, I suppose, Wikipedia is accurate enough.

Deletion: I took a shot at Mickey Rourke; I don't think it's especially deserved, so I deleted it.

Posted by: Ace at 12:52 PM | Comments (42)
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It's a simple point, I think. Judges have granted themselves the ultimate say in legislation-- a power not mentioned in the Constitution, and only negated through the extremely difficult amendment process.

Given the scope of this power, shouldn't they restrain themselves in exercising it? Shouldn't they look for outside restraints on the scope of their self-declared power, rather than relying upon their own whims or idiosyncratic (and politicized) senses of "justice"?

And if they're looking for an outside restraint on their power, why not allow the actual words of the Constitution itself -- the document they are supposedly interpreting, and the document from which they supposedly derive their power to overrule Congresses and Presidents -- to be that external restraint?

By refusing to be bound by the actual words of the Constitution, liberal activist judges have both made a mockery of their own claims of "interpreting" the document, and have futhermore thrown off the last restraints on their incredible power, retraint that could be obtained by simply limiting themselves to words found explicitly within the four corners of the Constitution.

Right Reason makes similar points, only better. And also starts off by quoting one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies-- the "subtext/text" bit from Whit Stilman's bumptuously-jingoistic Barcelona.

Posted by: Ace at 11:18 AM | Comments (21)
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