Heh, imagine that. Down to only 20 non-nations in the unilateral non-coalition now, with only 11,000 non-participating troops.

...The latest defectors include Denmark, which withdrew a 460-strong contingent from the southern Iraqi city of Basra in August and replaced it with a small helicopter unit.

In a recent newspaper interview, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen conceded his country and other coalition members miscalculated when they thought “that foreign troops would be welcomed with open arms like liberators.” Seven Danes were killed in Iraq.

Obviously PM Rasmussen didn't get the democrat's memo about "world pariah" and "unilateralism". I bet this simpering dolt doesn't even put the right cover sheet on his TPS reports! I suggest an immediate Pelosi junket to Denmark to straighten out this fool and get him on the right page. Denmark didn't send any troops for the non-coalition, they must have sent a couple of companies of crack penguin herders for the Baghdad zoo, and those seven fatalities were due to random lightning strikes and a couple of unlucky cases of the dreaded penguin plague. I'm sure a strong Pelosi tongue lashing will get PM Rasmussen back on track in a jiffy. The mantra about Denmark's presence in Iraq must be the Scandi/Penguin link. Anything else is unacceptable.

H/T Tigerhawk

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 11:20 PM | Comments (16)
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I just got this notification from PJM. Not sure you morons would even have noticed, but if you have seen off-color ads, it's not actually PJM. It's malware on your computer infecting the ads displayed to make them show what the malware wants to show.

Just wanted to give you a heads up on a problem some users have experienced and what we're doing about it.

Recently, some users complained about explicit ads that seemed to only show at night. These ads were also seen on non-PJM sites such as Powerline, LA Times and Sitemeter.

The good news is that the ads are not coming in through one of our ad networks. Apparently, Doubleclick ad tags have been the target of "Malware," which can hijack the ad display. In order to get the bad ads, a userÂ’s computer has to be previously infected with the Malware (not obtained through Pajamas Media).

Unfortunately, this is a problem for those users whose computers are infected with a specific Malware program who visit ANY site with Doubleclick ad tags. At this time, we donÂ’t know the full details of the Malware but weÂ’ve been told it can be removed using Ad-Aware.

If you are experiencing this problem, you should download and run the Ad-Aware free product:

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

As we continue to research the issue and find new information, we will pass it on to you.

I hope that hasn't happened to anyone. But if you've got malware, and even if you don't, running that AdAware program is helpful.

Posted by: Ace at 06:25 PM | Comments (35)
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Nuance.

Senator Clinton, who is using images from ground zero in a new television ad for her presidential campaign, sharply criticized President Bush when he put pictures from the World Trade Center site in his campaign advertising.

"The President has said in the past that he would do nothing that would politicize this terrible tragedy," Mrs. Clinton was quoted as saying in the Daily News on March 6, 2004, shortly after Mr. Bush's ads were released. "I hope that they would be more sensitive going forward."

Mrs. Clinton's new 30-second ad, which is running in Iowa and New Hampshire, includes a black-and-white still photograph of firefighters walking through the rubble and another of Mrs. Clinton wearing a dust mask as she met with rescue personnel.

"She stood by ground zero workers who sacrificed their health after so many sacrificed their lives, and kept standing until this administration took action," an announcer says over the post-attack images, which are the first to appear in television advertising from a 2008 presidential candidate.

...

"Our message to all politicians is, ‘Keep your hands off Ground Zero,'" the brother of one of those killed, David Potorti, of Cary, N.C., told USA Today in 2004.

Reached yesterday, Mr. Potorti said he was not familiar with Mrs. Clinton's ad but still opposes use of ground zero imagery by any politician.

A spokesman for Mrs. Clinton declined to respond to a query yesterday about her campaign's views on appropriate and inappropriate uses of the ground zero imagery. The New York Sun was alerted to her 2004 comments by a rival presidential campaign, which asked not to be identified.

A spokesman for the International Association of Fire Fighters, Jeffrey Zack, said his union's objection to Mr. Bush's ads was not to the images per se, but to the implication that the president led efforts to help first responders. "We would object to the use of 9/11 images by anyone who uses them while distorting their record," Mr. Zack said. He offered no critique of Mrs. Clinton's ad.

What? The ads implied he led the first responders? What?

He led them from where? Omaha? Washington DC?

This is the best these corrupt hypocritical hacks can do?

More: BP sends me this background:

I took note of your posting on Hillary's blatant hypocrisy with 9/11
imagery. However, I did want to pass along some information about IAFF's PAC, if you don't have it already. The article noted that it failed to criticize Clinton, though it blasted Bush. Well, IAFF's PAC has donated over $8,000 to Clinton, with it being one of the 25 most active federal PACs in the nation. It donates overwhelmingly to Dems.

In 2004, instead of asking union members directly which candidate they wanted to support, IAFF sent out a list of ideals, allowing members to select which they wanted in a candidate. The union bosses then decided which candidate they felt best met the description. Several union insiders claim Bush was never even considered.

Not sure if that adds anything, but thought I'd pass it along.

It's not merely their hypocrisy. It is, of course, the MSM's as well which loves citing such organizations as if they're dispassionate, apolitical neutral arbiters when they are very much political actors and furthermore very much in the Clinton camp.

Reporters know all this, of course. And yet such details somehow aren't considered important enough context for their reports.

Posted by: Ace at 04:08 PM | Comments (17)
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Murphy becomes only the 3rd serviceman to be recognized with the countryÂ’s highest military honor as part of the Global War on Terror and the first for action in Afghanistan.

Murphy, known as “Mikey” to his friends and family, shot and wounded, managed to crawl onto a ridgeline and radio headquarters at the nearby air base for them to send in reinforcements. Taliban fighters were closing in on the team’s position, shooting their weapons and firing rocket-propelled grenades.

“Mikey was ignoring his wound and fighting like a SEAL officer should, uncompromising, steady, hard-eyed, and professional,” Luttrell wrote in his recently published book, Lone Survivor, about his military experiences, his team and the events of that day and the deaths of his teammates, his friends.

The fighting grew more intense, but the team pressed on in the close-quarters battle. At one point, Luttrell wrote, Murphy took his mobile phone, “walked to open ground. He walked until he was more or less in the center, gunfire all around him, and he sat on a small rock and began punching in the numbers to HQ.”

“I could hear him talking,” Luttrell wrote. “ ‘My men are taking heavy fire ... we’re getting picked apart. My guys are dying out here ... we need help.’

“And right then Mikey took a bullet straight in the back. I saw the blood spurt from his chest. He slumped forward, dropping his phone and his rifle. But then he braced himself, grabbed them both, sat upright again, and once more put the phone to his ear.

“ ‘Roger that, sir. Thank you,’ ” Luttrell heard Murphy say, before the lieutenant continued to train fire on the enemy fighters.

“Only I knew what Mikey had done. He’d understood we had only one realistic chance, and that was to call in help,” Luttrell wrote. “Knowing the risk, understanding the danger, in the full knowledge the phone call could cost him his life, Lieutenant Michael Patrick Murphy, son of Maureen, fiancé of the beautiful Heather, walked out into the firestorm.

“His objective was clear: to make one last valiant attempt to save his two teammates,” he wrote.

You can find more on this American Hero at Blackfive.

Army Sergeant First Class Paul Smith and Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham are the only other Medal of Honor recipients for service in the GWoT. Both were recognized for their actions in Iraq.

Posted by: DrewM. at 03:44 PM | Comments (40)
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Jackie Mackey Paisley Passey could learn a few things from Jonathan Fitzgerald Tartan Page.

He's got a douchey page up on Match.com, but worse, after a woman politely, via a form letter, declines interest, he writes back:

I think you forgot how this works. You hit on me, and therefore have to impress ME and pass MY criteria and standards - not vice versa. 6 pictures of just your head and your inability to answer a simple question lets me know one thing. You are not in shape. I am a trainer on the side, in fact, I am heading to the gym in 26 minutes!

So next time you meet a guy of my caliber, instead of trying to turn it around, just get to the gym! I will even give you one free training session, so you don't blow it with the next 8.9 on Hot or Not, Ivy League grad, Mensa member, can bench/squat/leg press over 1200 lbs., has had lunch with the secretary of defense, has an MBA from the top school in the country, lives in a Buckhead high rise, drives a Beemer convertible, has been in 14 major motion pictures, was in Jezebel's Best dressed, etc. Oh, that is right, there aren't any more of those!

Regards,

John

Placating? I think not.

Thanks to The Influence Peddler.

Posted by: Ace at 01:48 PM | Comments (106)
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According to one American entrpreneur, Frank Sadlo, founder of condom company TheyFit, which manufacture what Frank claims are the world's first "custom-fit" condoms.

It's not just about well-endowed men in cramped prophylactic quarters, Sadlo told a meeting Thursday of delegates from 21 countries under the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization.
When given a choice, he said many men prefer condoms smaller than the standard minimum 6.3 inches long, with more than half ordering those less than 5.12 inches.

Frank says new standards and choices will encourage more acceptance and use of the condom, to the benefit of all mankind.

The five day meeting of delegates from over 21 countries is the 24th meeting of it's kind, which began in 1975. Not only are standards under discussion, but innovation and creativity in design, features and packaging.

Innovation for male condoms has focused on adding textures to enhance sexual pleasure, or offering different colors or lubricants. At the meeting, South Korean manufacturer Unidus displayed its "Long-Love" condom — featuring desensitizing cream inside to prevent premature ejaculation so men "make a lasting impression."

How long does it have to go before you make a lasting impression, is it longer than say, oh just to pull a number out of the air, sixty seconds?

Condoms can vary in width, but generally do not vary in length.

Widths vary but condom length is usually standard, as it believed latex can stretch to fit all men. The average adult penis is 5-6 inches long, experts said.

Huh.

Well I think they're lying.

Posted by: Dave In Texas at 12:54 PM | Comments (51)
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How remarkable. The president of Southern Illinois University is accused of plagiarism in his doctoral dissertation, and a committee made up of his employees find him totally innocent.

That’s not to say he didn’t plagiarize. The report, a copy of which was given to The Chronicle earlier today, finds “many instances” in Mr. Poshard’s dissertation in which “the words of others are present in a continuous flow with student Poshard’s own words, so that readers cannot distinguish between those sources.” Remarkably, the report does not deem those instances to be plagiarism. They are, instead, “errors and mistakes.”

The committee, made up of seven Southern Illinois faculty members, writes that there are a number of mitigating factors, such as the lack of a definition of plagiarism in the graduate-student handbook at the time. It goes on to say that his many failures to properly credit the work of others was “consistent with the informal style” practiced by others in his department. It recommends that Mr. Poshard be allowed to correct the “incorrect practices” in the dissertation and that no disciplinary action be taken.

Makes me wonder as to the tenure status of these seven professors, and whether any SIU students will try this defense next time they are caught copying the works of others without attribution.

This committee set a pretty bad precedent - I hope for the university's sake no litigious students get disciplined for plagiarism in the future. It's enough to make you think people shouldn't investigate their bosses.

Posted by: Slublog at 12:44 PM | Comments (18)
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(Bumped and Updated)
Officer Suing Family "Placed On Leave", Suit Reportedly Dropped

A one year old infant in Florida falls into a pool and is now so severely brain damaged that he can not walk, talk or swallow. You might think little Joey Cosmillo is the victim in this case but it turns out thereÂ’s someone who thinks they are the real victim and sheÂ’s suing the Cosmillo family to get what she thinks is coming to herÂ…

One of the rescuers, Casselberry police Sgt. Andrea Eichhorn, is suing, alleging the family left a puddle of water on the floor that afternoon, causing her to slip and fall.

The boy's grandparents, named in the suit, are mystified and angry.

Eichhorn last week sued Richard Cosmillo; his wife, Maggie Cosmillo; and the boy's mother, Angela Cosmillo, accusing them of negligence. They were careless, according to the suit, and allowed the home they shared to become unsafe.

"The loss we've suffered, and she's seeking money?" said Richard Cosmillo, 69, the boy's grandfather. "Of course there's going to be water in the house. He was sopping wet when we brought him in."

Eichhorn last week sued Richard Cosmillo; his wife, Maggie Cosmillo; and the boy's mother, Angela Cosmillo, accusing them of negligence. They were careless, according to the suit, and allowed the home they shared to become unsafe.

I guess after diving into the pool to save her baby, JoeyÂ’s mom should have been thoughtful enough to clean up the floor, then maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe she should have done it while paramedics were working franticly to save her sonÂ’s life. I mean itÂ’s not like sheÂ’s a doctor and was of any help at that point. What else did she have to do, besides just stand there? Come on lady, grab a damn mop!

Hopefully this case will be dismissed ASAP with as little inconvenience and cost to the Comillo’s as possible. Then I hope they turn around and sue Sgt. Eichhorn. I am not sure what the cause of action would be. Does anyone know what the Latin for ‘general doucheyness’ is?

UPDATE:

Sgt. Eichhorn has been ‘placed on leave’ by her department and according to commenter JarvisW Fox News is reporting the suit is being dropped.

I think thatÂ’s a very good move by the city. From a public safety standpoint they canÂ’t have people afraid or refusing to call emergency services for fear of being sued by first responders.

Posted by: DrewM. at 12:05 PM | Comments (100)
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Apparently he has no party affiliation.

I gave some of the New Jersey papers covering this story something of a pass in failing to report on his political affiliation on the theory that they could plausibly claim "Most of our readers know that Atlantic City is run by the Democratic machine."

What possible excuse does the LATimes have? Do they similarly assert that their left-coast readers of course know that NJ is almost entirely a machine state?

This is one of the most egregious practices of media bias, partly because it's so easily demonstrable -- and correctable. But they continue to insist that they will speak no ill of the Democratic Party, and continue to Stalinesquely airbrush inconvenient nonpersons out of the party whenever they prove embarrassing.

Meanwhile, of course, the Republican affiliation of every Republican who's caught dirty is trumpeted to the Heavens themselves, most often in the headline.

And yet they will not comment on this practice, nor explain their reasons for doing so, nor justify it, nor change it.

Because they're The Deciders. They decide. You don't see the words "explain" or "justify" or "change" in the phrase The Deciders, do you?

Posted by: Ace at 12:04 PM | Comments (20)
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There are no secrets on-line. The internet is a world class cheating machine, but also a world class secrets exposing machine.

In one bombshell e-mail message provided to The NATIONAL ENQUIRER, the woman confesses to a friend she's "in love with John," but it's "difficult because he is married and has kids."

In another e-mail, she writes: "Last night and this a.m., he actually has amazed me. He is a great man. My heart is loud and my head is silenced."

Disclosed her friend: "She initially confided in a few of her closest pals that she was sleeping with 'a married man named John.'

"It became clear the married man was John Edwards. They got together whenever they could, mostly at hotels where Edwards and his campaign staff stayed."

The woman later spelled it out in a phone call to her pal and talked openly about having an affair with Edwards.

The friend says the woman told her that she "had a crush on John. One thing led to another, and they soon ended up in bed together. But she knew there was no way he was going to leave Elizabeth, a wife battling cancer."

...

His spokesman said that allegations Edwards had an affair are "false, absolute nonsense."

The woman's friend told The NATIONAL ENQUIRER: "As the affair went on, she said that both she and John began to feel real guilty and they decided to end it."

Emails can be faked, but I imagine the National Enquirer has done some amount of legal legwork and determined that the headers and such in the email are real or at least good enough forgeries to withstand a defamation suit.

Posted by: Ace at 11:56 AM | Comments (62)
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