The Right To Self Defense Upheld [Say Anything]
— Ace

A criminal in West Virginia tries to hold up a 7-Eleven. During the crime the criminal is distracted by an employee allowing another employee to pull out her personal fire arm and hold the criminal captive until authorities arrive.

This brave woman's prize for standing up to criminal scum? Termination from her employment for violating 7-Eleven's "don't bother the criminals" policy.

Thankfully, when the termination was legally challenged, the courts upheld the idea that a persons right to self defense was more important than corporate policy.

Posted by: Ace at 08:33 PM | Comments (7)
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Flying Japanese Sex Robots. [Dave at Garfield Ridge]
— Ace

Okay, so these Japanese robots aren't built for sex. . . yet.

But c'mon, everything in Japan eventually comes back to sex. Robot sex, alien tentacle sex, soiled panty vending machines. The whole country has a bizarre love/hate relationship with sex. Kind of like the last girl I dated, who loved hating sex with me.

H/T to The Digital Brownshirt, who has a new blog of his own that Ace will never link to on his dime. Just remember who's your buddy, who's your pal-- that's right, *I* am.

Oh, and dude-- your blog is a mess. Go visit Jennifer at Demure Thoughts, she'll give you advice on how to make yourself presentable.

Posted by: Ace at 08:16 PM | Comments (5)
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Samuel L. Jackson Thinks Like A Terrorist [Say Anything]
— Ace

Here's an excerpt from Samuel L. Jackson's interview with Maxim Magazine (May 2005 issue) where he's talking about the political activism of his youth:

Maxim: Did you really take people hostage when you were in school?

Jackson: The board of trustees was meeting, and we wanted some things to change—like more African-American studies, student representation on the board, community representation—a lot of different things. And they didn’t want to meet with us. So we found out where they were meeting, went into the building with padlocks and chains, and locked them in until they would meet with us. And that was all cool. We talked to them for a couple of days, got involved, and they said they would give us immunity for doing what we did, because we had good cause. But the school board, unbeknownst to the board of trustees, summarily expelled us. After a year or so, I went back and graduated. And now, they have my name in concrete on campus.

Maxim: Was that the most radical thing you did?

Jackson: I can’t tell you. OK, I can hint at it—we used to steal people’s credit cards and buy guns because we expected an armed revolution to happen in America. At one point the FBI showed up at my mom’s house and told her it was time for her to get me out of Atlanta, because if I didn’t leave Atlanta I was gonna end up dead. She got me out of there.

The hostage thing I can take or leave. Were I running things I would have had them all thrown in jail. Locking people into a building is not protected free speech in my mind. The part I can't get over is where he admits to stealing people's credit card numbers to buy guns for an armed revolution!

Some of you might tell yourselves that this is just some youthful indiscretion. Some pretty freakin' serious youthful indiscretion, but probably something he's not proud of any more.

Well, given this statement from the same interview, you're wrong: more...

Posted by: Ace at 07:52 PM | Comments (15)
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Andrew Sullivan: I Don't Like Him Very Much. [Dave at Garfield Ridge]
— Ace

Ace of Spades groupie Megan is quite sad that her blogging hero is gone this week. When asked what I, the lowly ringer, could possibly do to improve her mood, she begged for a hit-piece on Andrew Sullivan, like Ace used to do. You know, back when he was as funny as Megan thinks he is now.

For the record, I've done my fair share of snarky Sully bashing-- see here, or here. Or here.

But fine, those are all posts on my site, which Megan never reads, because Megan loves Ace, and not me. That's okay, I'm a husky boy, my ego can take it. I am under no illusions that I am even *half* as talented as Ace, and he's got the Sitemeter results to prove it.

Okay, let's all go see Excitable Andy's site today, and see if there's anything worth making fun of, shall we?

This is going to be gob-smackingly vile, isn't it?

[Graphic by John] more...

Posted by: Ace at 06:55 PM | Comments (10)
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Howard Dean Reaches Bottom, Digs. [Dave at Garfield Ridge]
— Ace

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic National Committee leaders embraced feisty party boss Howard Dean on Saturday and urged him to keep fighting despite a flap over his blunt comments on Republicans.

After a meeting of the DNC's 40-member executive committee at a downtown hotel, members said Dean was doing exactly what they elected him to do -- build the party in all states and aggressively challenge Republicans.

"I hope Governor Dean will remember that he didn't get elected to be a wimp," said DNC member Gilda Cobb-Hunter, a South Carolina state representative. "We have been waiting a long time for someone to stand up for Democrats."

Wow, Gilda, you've been waiting for, what, all of three minutes?

Yeah, you Democrats never "stand up" for each other.

Bill Clinton, he never stood up for Democrats.

Al Gore? Shirking violet.

Hillary Clinton? Man-calves, but girlish heart.

John Kerry? Cuddly French-loving wuss.

Ted Kennedy? Nothing but beer muscles.

Why, before Howard Dean arrived, the Democrats were positively polite, adhering to Marquis of Queensberry rules at every turn. If only those mean-spirited Republican wolves hadn't been so gosh-darn evil in their hoods and cross-burning and child-eating.

Why, before Howard Dean arrived, Bill "Gummi Worm Penis" Maher and Whoopi "Rock Hard Turtle Penis" Goldberg were actually funny. It was only when Republicans started making the baby Jesus cry that Democrats started "standing up for all Americans" by bashing half of all Americans.

The best thing about Howard Dean, aside from his intoxicating entertainment value and musky, Victor Mature-like scent, is that he's doomed to failure. A spectacularly humiliating, embarrassing public failure. And it will inevitably be suffered at his own hand.

Dean's pathologic need for attention will continue to drive him to ever-more ridiculous statements and wacky gambits. Hell, he might as well just go ahead and set fire to himself now.

You know it's only a matter of time.

I just hope he flames out on Russert, so I can TiVo it.

Posted by: Ace at 06:04 PM | Comments (16)
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Missing Pretty Girl Syndrome. [Dave at Garfield Ridge]
— Ace

Commenting on the Riehl World's thorough coverage of the Natalee Holloway case, Michele Malkin has her own post on the MSM hypocrisy when it comes to the wall-to-wall coverage.

Obligatory yet sincere disclosure: this is a terribly sad story, and probably a tragic one. Yet, as Rusty Shackleford succinctly captures, it's far from the only story worth reporting on.

Malkin, echoing Eugene Robinson's earlier opinion in the Washington Post, posits that the MSM coverage in this and similar cases equals "Missing Pretty Girl Syndrome"-- the media focusing only on cases that involve young, attractive white women. Meanwhile, hundreds if not thousands of similarly tragic stories occur daily to ugly women, old men, and people of color, all equally neglected by the 24-hour news networks.

I think it's hard to argue with this theory, but I think that there are not one but *two* factors at work here. more...

Posted by: Ace at 05:18 PM | Comments (6)
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I Bet *He* Has. [Dave at Garfield Ridge]
— Ace

Come now, Monica wasn't *that* fat. . .

Posted by: Ace at 03:24 PM | Comments (26)
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"Hoist The Black Flag" Replay Schedule - Zelda of The Urban Grind
— Ace

Hey everyone,

If any of you missed this past Tuesday's show, you can find the replay schedule here.

Enjoy!

Posted by: Ace at 03:21 PM | Comments (2)
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MIA Guest Blogger
— Ace

One of the bloggers who was invited to take part in this guest-hosting spot is Dan from Riehl World View.

He won't be able to make it because he's up to his ears in monster traffic, owing mostly to his recent in-depth reporting on the story of Natalee Holloway, the 18-year old Birmingham, AL student who diappeared on May 30th while on holiday in Aruba.

Dan sends his apologies to Ace in this post:

...Ace, what can I say – you are … well, Ace. I’ve admired your talent, adaptability buoyed by a certain consistency, and Herculean effort to maintain and grow a large blog for some time.

More important youÂ’ve been a friend and have never forgotten a friend with a smaller blog when you could help him out with a link, or whatever.

If you're interested in the Natalee Holloway story, and you're looking for reporting with a lot more substance and context then the 24-hour speculation-fest that's on cable news right now you should check out Riehl World View.

Posted by: Ace at 02:40 PM | Add Comment
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North Korea Solutions. [Dave at Garfield Ridge]
— Ace

What to do, oh, what to do about North Korea?

USA Today's Al Neuharth had an editorial in Thursday's edition entitled "Are We Nuts Over North Korea?" I don't know if we are nuts, but after reading the editorial, I can vouch for Neuharth's insanity.

South Koreans aren't panicking over possible North Korean nukes. Their overriding goal is ultimate reunification.

Funny, that's North Korea's goal too. Although probably in not the same manner as South Korea would desire.

A "bullet train" runs from Seoul, the South Korean capital, to here. There's talk of extending it across North Korea, perhaps in time for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

I'm certain that your average North Korean citizen will tearfully wave as the sealed train passes them by, and your average North Korean gulag inmate will die of exposure building the rail line.

On a practical and personal note, I was able to buy North Korean booze on the south side of the DMZ at the popular "Unification Village" store.

And obviously, Al hit Kim's tipple as he wrote this piece.

North Korea's dictator Kim Jung Il is a bad guy. But he's not suicidal. Even if he has the bomb, the chances of him nuking his neighbors (or us) are as far-fetched as was Bush's claim that Iraq's Saddam Hussein was a threat to us with weapons of mass destruction.

Har, har. You're a knee slapper, Al! What, did your North Korean hooch suddenly give you psychological insight into the mind of the world's most reclusive dictator? Gee, there's nothing to worry about, Kim's not suicidal, Al vouched for him!

As for the far-fetched claim about Saddam Hussein, guess who could have been first in line to offer a little cash to Kim Jong Il in exchange for a gift-wrapped nuke? The only thing Saddam's looking to buy now is a fresh pair of BVD's sans skid marks.

Any thought of a preemptive military move against North Korea is nuts. Instead, Bush should talk and walk toward tearing down this wall, à la President Ronald Reagan in Berlin in 1987.

I certainly don't relish the prospect of a military confrontation with North Korea. Unlike Al's, my day job involves understanding the military issues involved in all their gory detail.

Yet, his use of Ronald Reagan's name to endorse a "tear down this wall" strategy in North Korea, self-serving yet admirable, ignores one simple fact: South Korea doesn't want that wall torn down. more...

Posted by: Ace at 01:36 PM | Comments (7)
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