From the upcoming Fantastic Four sequel. I guess the movie underperformed, so they're adding a special guest star.

Does this mean the movie will have Galactus in it? Maybe just setting up the next one for Galactus.

Thanks to orKo.

Posted by: Ace at 03:46 PM | Comments (34)
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When life gives you lemons...

Ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein said in a letter released on Wednesday that he would go to the gallows as a "sacrifice" and called on his former Iraqi subjects to unite against their enemies.

Saddam, in a letter written to the Iraqi people from his cell before his appeal against a death sentence failed, said: "I sacrifice myself. If God wills it, he will place me among the true men and martyrs."

Many Iraqis agree, apparently, as hundreds of them are signing up to be Saddam's executioner, or "martyrdom enabling professional:"

undreds of Iraqis have applied to act as executioner of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein following the confirmation of his death sentence by Iraq's appeals court, an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Wednesday.

Bassam al-Husseini was quoted as saying by US television channel ABC that members from all three leading religious communities and all ethnic groups were among the applicants.

Iraq does not have an official executioner and no such position had been advertised, ABC said.

Meanwhile, an Italian Senator says "A democracy cannot be established with hanging."

After the jump, Italian fascist Benito Mussoli offers his thoughts (macabre content warning). more...

Posted by: Ace at 03:33 PM | Comments (12)
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In fairness, who doesn't?

The Kanamara Matsuri (Festival of the Steel Phallus) is an annual Shinto fertility festival held in Kawasaki , Japan in spring. The exact dates vary, but the main festivities fall on a Sunday. The penis forms the central theme of the event thatÂ’s reflected everywhere; in illustrations, candy, carved vegetables, decoration, a parade of mikoshis, etc.

Candy?

The Kanamara Matsuri is centered around a local penis-venerating shrine...

Also called "My Sister."

... once popular among prostitutes who wished to pray for protection against sexually transmitted diseases. Today, the festival is used to raise money for HIV research.

Created back in JapanÂ’s Edo period (1603-1867) to pray for sexual safety (especially against syphilis) among KawasakiÂ’s prostitutes, this Shinto gathering now helps raise money for HIV/AIDS research. But the festival attracts more than just those interested in fighting STDs; it also draws Japanese couples looking for good fertility luck, a large gay/lesbian crowd...

No, that's impossible.

... lots of proud locals, and scores of interested foreigners who come to gawk at the gigantic portable plaster phallus shrine and buy souvenir John Thomas lollypops and charms.

This only adds to my long-held theory: The Japanese are really, really friggin' weird.

Thanks to rcl, who writes:

Like me, for them, "the penis forms the central theme of the
event..". In my case, the event is a pending charge. I wonder if I can use this enlightened philospohy in my current legal imbroglio, where my penis plays such a key role?

He supplies no details about this matter. Thankfully.

Posted by: Ace at 03:06 PM | Comments (15)
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This seems like something someone should do something about:

The U.S. military says it has evidence linking a group of Iranians and some Iraqi associates, detained in raids last week, to attacks against U.S. forces. The military also said that some of those detained had been involved in shipments of weapons to groups in Iraq.

In its first official confirmation of the raids last week, the military said Tuesday that it had confiscated maps, videos, photographs and documents in a raid on a site in Baghdad. The military said that it had arrested five Iranians and that three of them had been released.

The Bush administration has described the two Iranians still being held as senior military officials. Major General William Caldwell, the spokesman for the U.S. command here, said in an e-mail that the military had "gathered specific intelligence from highly credible sources that linked individuals and locations with criminal activities against Iraqi civilians, security forces and coalition force personnel."

"Some of that specific intelligence," Caldwell said in the e-mail, "dealt explicitly with force-protection issues, including attacks on MNF-I forces." MNF-I stands for Multinational Force- Iraq, the official name of the U.S.-led foreign forces there.

...

The Iraqi government has been silent about the arrests, but some officials spoke Tuesday night of intense behind- the-scenes talks by its political elite over how to handle the situation.

...

Caldwell's statement indicated that the location itself was of central importance. The military gathered "specific intelligence from highly credible sources that linked individuals and locations with criminal activities," it said. The crimes were committed against Iraqi civilians, security forces and Americans.

The allegations, if true, would mark the first time since the U.S. invasion that Iranian officials were discovered in the act of planning military action inside Iraq. Tehran has denied the Iranians were doing anything illegal in Iraq.

Again, Iran relies on gasoline imports for its economy, having only a few native refineries, and those don't make enough gas. Take them all out, blockade them. We can afford to take the hit on oil prices. They can't afford to have their only source of foreign cash cut off, nor can they afford to have no gasoline whatsoever.

Posted by: Ace at 03:01 PM | Comments (4)
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Perhaps Bergerized?

Posted by: Ace at 02:51 PM | Comments (5)
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From Powerline:

This is a true story....Check out this photo from our mess hall at the US Embassy yesterday morning. Sen. Kerry found himself all alone while he was over here. He cancelled his press conference because no one came, he worked out alone in the gym w/o any soldiers even going up to say hi or ask for an autograph (I was one of those who was in the gym at the same time), and he found himself eating breakfast with only a couple of folks who are obviously not troops.

Posted by: Ace at 01:46 PM | Comments (43)
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One of Jessica Cutler's sex-buddies got a lawyer and is suing her for revealing the details of their online affair.

Not quite sure what the theory of the case is. Truth is a defense, and the woman only wrote about six or seven entries. How many lies could she have told?

And this doesn't seem too defamatory:

Cutler called him the "current favourite" and said he resembled George Clooney, liked spanking and disliked condoms.

"He's very upfront about sex," she wrote. "He likes talking dirty and stuff, and he told me he likes submissive women."

All positive stuff, except for the crack about looking like aging lanternjaw George Clooney.

If the case goes to trial, its outcome will be important both to bloggers and to people who chronicle their lives on sites such as MySpace.

True... but I don't see how he can win. I think the online diary thing is a little creepy, but it's not actionable.

Ah, memories.

Posted by: Ace at 01:38 PM | Comments (16)
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They're waiting for another one of their six-bazillion multiday holidays, and then they'll extirpate him, "rapidly."

The Baath Party threatens to hit U.S. targets in retalliation.

Uhhhh... aren't they doing that already? Didn't we just hit another "grim milestone" were US casualties in Iraq exceeded those suffered on 9/11?

Posted by: Ace at 01:34 PM | Comments (7)
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It seems it was my blog that got the rest of the dextrosphere panned by Rago. He either hasn't read most right-leaning blogs or admits they're good (such as Bill Roggio).

But not mine.

HH: Are you familiar with Mudville Gazette?

JR: No, IÂ’m not.

HH: Black Five?

JR: Nope.

HH: Ace of Spades?

JR: From time to time.

HH: Have you read his review of your piece?

JR: I might have, yeah.

Via See-Dub at HotAir. Make sure you read IowaHawk's parody of Rago's whine, Blogs Make Me Puke, linked there.

Posted by: Ace at 01:28 PM | Comments (27)
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From the LA Times:

WASHINGTON — After years of playing a marginal role in the Iraq war, congressional Democrats plan to move quickly next month to assert more control and undercut any White House effort to increase troop levels...Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), the incoming chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Tuesday that he intended to call key administration officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to testify at as many as a dozen hearings.

Last year, though, Biden was saying the opposite:

Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America," disputed Bush's notion that sufficient troops are in place..."I'm going to send him the phone numbers of the very generals and flag officers that I met on Memorial Day when I was in Iraq," the Delaware Democrat said. "There's not enough force on the ground now to mount a real counterinsurgency."

It's like they don't even care about pretending to be consistent anymore.

I'll just note that it's the Executive Branch, not the Legislative, that's supposed to wage wars. And also that Joe Biden is a tool.

Posted by: AndrewR at 01:12 PM | Comments (22)
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