Do you have the general impression that people living in and around D.C. tend to be wussier than folks elsewhere?

Yeah, me to, and I actually lived there briefly.

Take a typical D.C. resident like Dave @ Garfield Ridge for example. I rest my case.

I always thought that it was the obsession with politics that caused this general D.C. wussiness. But it seems I was wrong.

It's the water.

McLEAN, Va. - Some species of male fish in the Potomac River and its tributaries are developing female sexual traits at a frequency higher than scientists have seen before, raising concerns about pollutants in a waterway that provides drinking water for millions of people.

The so-called "intersex fish," which produce immature eggs in their testes, were discovered in the Potomac rivershed in 2003 and have also been found in other parts of the country.

But the frequency that the U.S. Geological Surveys found last year is much higher than what has been found elsewhere, said fish pathologist Vicki Blazer.

In some Potomac tributaries, nearly all of the male smallmouth bass caught in last year's survey were the abnormal fish. In the Potomac itself, seven of 13 largemouth bass exhibited female characteristics, including three that were producing eggs.

Now you can see why dealing with the federal government involves so many bitchy people.

The water authority, which draws from the Potomac and Occoquan rivers to provide service to roughly 1.5 million people, is working with USGS and other agencies to research and develop ways to improve water treatment to eliminate potentially harmful compounds.

The water treatments used by Fairfax Water, including ozone and activated charcoal, have been shown to reduce levels of estrogenic compounds, she said.

Of course, it will ultimately be up to Karl Rove to decide who gets water with the "estrogenic compounds" filtered out.

Posted by: Ace at 03:39 PM | Comments (18)
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I found this business card while cleaning out my desk. I don't even know if Mr. Paul Anka is still touring.
I cropped it so you morons Anka fans wouldn't harass my buddy C.J. Powell. Last time I talked to him, I think he said he was on the road with Don Henley...

I was going to try to mail it to Ace but none of the Thai Hookers in Boise knew his address.
I did a Google search for C.J. Powell and Anka and this was one of the results.

Posted by: Ace at 01:12 PM | Comments (10)
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Last night on O'Reilly Kim Powers, or whatever the chick is Allah digs, insisted no Democrat Congressman believes that 9/11 was an inside job.

How about a Congressional nominee? Elected by the Democratic voters of Florida's District 15?

Hat tip to max. Someone mentioned this in a thread earlier, and I googled for half an hour to find it.

Video: Cut a commercial, quick.

Thanks to Roy.

Posted by: Ace at 12:48 PM | Comments (21)
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Demands Clarification (Repudiation) of Supreme Court Ruling; Demands Congress List Specific Acts Illegal During Interrogations Of Terrorists

Drudge Baffled

A summary from Allah and coming video.

Was:Update On Bush Speech: 9/11 Families Will Be In Attendance; WH Requests Networks Carry It Live

This seems big.

But I still think it might just be an announcement of granting POW status to 9/11 bigs, and a challenge to Congress to change the law. ABCNews seems to suspect the same thing.

Is there some connection between the Pakistan peace deal and the White House's "big news"?

I'm dreaming of something right now that makes superficial sense but I think it's too pie-in-the-sky to even speculate about. You can probably guess. I'm too embarrassed to even admit where my mind is drifting.

Via Allah, who I'm sure will have the video faster than anyone else.

Excuse me while I turn on the TV.

Here it comes... He's winding up to justify giving Khalid Sheikh Mohammad POW status.

He's setting it up to claim he needed to deny him such status before, but now it can be granted.

Horrible.

No... Now he seems ready to throw down the legislative/political gauntlet.

He's now saying that our security depends on getting information from terrorists.

Although it could go either way. He mentions the need for "prosecuting" terrorists, which is hard to do with information derived from coerced interrogations.

He's definitely laying down the gauntlet. Not really huge news, but important.

A forceful connect-the-dots of terrorist plots broken up thanks to CIA detentions/coercive interrogations... Including a pushback against media claims that a terrorist called Zubediah (sp?) was merely a nutjob who knew nothing at all.

It's definitely an important political speech.

The Democrats will either have to ratify this program or justify granting full Bill of Rights protections to foreign illegal combatant terrorists.

I have to say I'm bewildered this speech wasn't given before.

Wants Congress To Repudiate Supreme Court Decision On Granting Geneva Protections For Terrorists: Congress must list the "specific, recognizable offenses" that will invoke a War Crimes prosecution against interrogators.

Nice. Make Congress specifically say what is illegal -- and, by their omission, what is legal.

Congress dare not make belly-slapping illegal.

Put up or shut up.

Posted by: Ace at 09:36 AM | Comments (286)
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US forces will not be permitted in NW Pakistan to hunt bin Ladin.

And, of course, as Pakistan itself has made a peace pact with the Taliban/Al Qaeda jihadis, they won't be hunting for bin Ladin either.

Indeed, a general has stated that bin Ladin will be granted amnesty so long as he behaves like a "good citizen." A good citizen, though, in Pakistan means a terrorist.

He's recanted those statements, but I think he was speaking truthfully the first time around.

The left is crowing about this. I'm not sure why. This is a clarifying moment, and those never work out for the left.

For five years Pakistan has been playing a game with the US. Musharraf captured a few Al Qaeda here and there, but would not move against bin Ladin. He's too popular in Pakistan, home of millions of "Asian youths."

It's not as if Bush didn't know this. But, short of declaring war on Pakistan, what was he too do? A fraction of a loaf is better than no loaf at all.

But now Pakistan has annouced it will not be giving even the pretense of a fraction of a loaf.

For years, when lefties have claimed they wanted to flood troops into Northwest Pakistan and "get bin Ladin," I've asked: So, you want to go to war with Pakistan?

The question is now plainly put to them. Yes, it now appears we are, essentially, at war with Pakistan, at least if we want to continue hunting for bin Ladin.

Is the left ready for this move? For five years they've been claiming they were gung-ho to invade a very populous, jihadi-supporting, nuclear-armed state.

Was that all talk?

I want all left-wing bloggers to sign up for the invasion of Northwest Pakistan, now.

Or are they chickenhawks?

Although Allah calls this a "disaster," I don't see it as being any different than the status quo.

It's always been this way. Pakistan has finally simply stated it clearly for the world.

Update: I'm so unsurprised by the news that the left is delighting in bad news for America I didn't even bother to note it the first time 'round.

Of course they're happy bin Ladin now has a sanctuary. Why shouldn't they be? Their poltiical goals are in near-perfect alignment.

Posted by: Ace at 09:14 AM | Comments (22)
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Hot Air got tipped by someone in the WH to watch.

No idea what this could be.

Is this the news??!! That Bush will grant POW status to Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and other 9/11 ringleaders?

Allah's take is interesting-- that by doing what the Democrats claim to want (and which the Supreme Court lawlessly demanded), it puts the issue up with no wiggle room for the upcoming short Congressional session.

The Democrats have been allowed to equivocate on this issue. They have carped at Bush for his handling of 9/11 detainees without suggesting precisely what they would do with them.

Now they'll have to decide. A bill will either ratify their status as protected, legal soldiers of war or it will strip them of it.

No wiggle room.

On the record. Put it to a vote.

Posted by: Ace at 09:00 AM | Comments (23)
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In an attempt to lend gravitas to my IB partner, Michael, I am going to post some actual ... you know ... content. Don't worry: it'll only hurt a minute.

I got inspired by Gateway Pundit's post last week on the Venezuelan presence of Hezbollah. I put up a spike here at Ace's, which pointed to my own blog. There I listed out a brief history of Jihadi activity in the Tri-Border region (Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina) of South America, as well as the tendency to bleed north into Colombia (which the US Government vehemently denies).

It turns out that there's a guy - Mugniyeh - whose job seems to be coordinating and facilitating the South American arm of Islamo-fascism for Hezbollah. According to Clint Taylor over at Hot Air, there are quite a few connections between Chavez and Hezbollah. I read this to mean that Chavez believes that there is political and militiary expediency to this connection, and that is telling. There are equivalent connections between elements of Islamo-fascism and Marxist/Commuinist revolutionary groups throughout South America (which I also highlighted in my post and which the US Government is quick to dismiss).

more...

Posted by: Ace at 08:20 AM | Comments (8)
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Britain's Daily Mail gives the Truthersa weirdly credulous hearing, and insists the theory comes from "top men."

Who?

Top men.

The 9/11 terrorist attack on America which left almost 3,000 people dead was an "inside job", according to a group of leading academics.

Around 75 top professors and leading scientists believe the attacks were puppeteered by war mongers in the White House to justify the invasion and the occupation of oil-rich Arab countries.

...

But leading scientists say the facts of their investigations cannot be ignored and say they have evidence that points to one of the biggest conspiracies ever perpetrated.

Professor Steven Jones, who lectures in physics at the Brigham Young University in Utah, says the official version of events is the biggest and most evil cover up in history.

He has joined the 9/11 Scholars for Truth whose membership includes up to 75 leading scientists and experts from universities across the US.

Okay, Jones is a "philospher of science," which means he's not a scientist, but that word is in there, so he's a "leading scientist" and/or "top expert."

So-- with all this academic firepower on the Truthers' side, let's take a look at the people who oppose them.

Christopher Pyle, professor of constitutional law at Mt Holyoake College in Massachusetts, has dismissed the academic group.

Not a "top" professor, so ignore him.

He's the only dissenting voice quoted.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 08:10 AM | Comments (92)
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This is just plain, old fashioned, sick and disgusting.

How bad is it? It even sinks below the standards and practices of the AoS Lifestyle! And you didn't think that was possible.

From the story:

A Cassville police officer arrived at the St. Charles Cemetery on Saturday night after a neighbor alerted police to suspicious activity, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday. The officer found an abandoned vehicle parked near the cemetery. Minutes later, the complaint stated, the officer saw Alexander Grunke walking toward the vehicle, dressed in black and sweating profusely.

After being questioned, Grunke told the officer his brother and Radke were trying to dig up a grave, according to the complaint.

The two drove into the cemetery to find the partially dug grave of a 20-year-old woman who was killed in a motorcycle accident Aug. 27 in Cassville. The diggers had only managed to reach the top of the grave's concrete vault.

Nicholas Grunke and Radke were arrested Sunday morning in Beetown, about eight miles from the cemetery.

The complaint said Radke told police that Nicholas Grunke had asked him to help dig up the Cassville woman's body and take it to Grunke's house, so that Grunke could have sex with it. On the way to the cemetery, Radke said, they stopped by a Dodgeville Wal-Mart to buy condoms "because Nick wanted to use them when he had sex with a corpse," the complaint added.

He picked up condoms? I told you this kind of behavior wasn;t part of the AoS lifestyle.

All of which begs the question...how did the pervs select the intended victim of this act of desecration?

Grovier said the three did not know the woman but had seen her picture in a newspaper obituary.

Ahhh...the obituaries. Well, it's cheaper than Match.com, I suppose.

Anyway, fellows, there are likely going to be a few live bodies where you are going next. And condom usage probably won't be a high priority.

I do hope you enjoy your stay.

Posted by: Ace at 07:47 AM | Comments (32)
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MC Dan Rather lays dope rhymes over "Back in Black." Cool stuff.

Via Allah.

Man Arrested After Crotch Bursts Into Flames. Indicted on one count of dating Lindsey Lohan.

Via Hubs And Spokes.

Muggers Steal Victim's Pants. Later steal a hat and a pizza from someone else. (No, really.)

Man Fears Ticket From Traffic Camera, So He Blows It Up With Thermite From Welding Job. Bonus: He's in jail now. Double bonus: The camera he destroyed was actually a dummy camera and wasn't taking pictures of anything.

Last two viia Fark.

"Spiritual Consultant" Cleanses Houses of "Negative Energy" So They Can Be Sold.

Chapman, 52, is a petite woman who wears a half-dozen bracelets on each wrist with turquoise, lapis lazuli, tiger's-eye, citrine, tourmaline, moonstone and mother of pearl, all of which give her protection and enhance her intuitive ability, she said.

The Fremont resident said she uses a pendulum and candle to help cleanse homes of negative energy by going from room to room in a counter-clockwise direction. Afterward, she uses a combination of sea salt, sage and her hands to send "healing energy." She charges a $300 flat fee for her work.

Part of her job, as she sees it, also involves finding homes -- in this case for the spirits that inhabit some houses.

"We need to send them to a better place," she said. "And we give them escorts -- angels, seraphim, what you will -- to assist them on their journey."

"They're here." "Go into the light," right? They've already made that joke:

"Not everyone wants to talk about it. This is 'woo-woo' stuff," Chapman added.

But it is not so unusual. In 2004, centuries-old Indian remains were found at Hidden Oaks, a development of 21 $2.8 million homes in Lafayette, according to developer Branagh Development Inc.'s Web site. After the discovery, the developer took a series of steps, including relocating remains to a central area and honoring the dead, a state official said.

"There might have been a small offering of tobacco or a bigger ceremony," said Larry Myers, executive secretary for the California Native American Heritage Commission. "No one wants 'Poltergeist.'"

That's a real estate truism to rival "location, location, location."

Thanks to "anyperson," apparently hailing from the "someone" school of screennames.

Posted by: Ace at 07:46 AM | Comments (3)
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