Where's the beef?

Oh. Ohhhh. Sorry to have asked.

A troublesome trio of transvestites allegedly laid siege to a Memphis McDonald's restaurant Sunday night, sparking a brawl with the restaurant's crew, according to reports.

Police said they were working on a more detailed description of three men dressed in drag who came into a McDonald's restaurant and started swinging.

Restaurant employee Martez Brisco was working the drive-through window when he reportedly got into an argument with the suspects. When Brisco ignored them tapping at the window, they came in.

...

The transvestites allegedly struck the manager with a tire iron, and when he swung back, the drag queens took off their stiletto boots, removed their earrings and prepared to attack. The manager, Albert Bolton, was covered with scratch marks after suspects clawed him with their fingernails.

Bolton grabbed a pot of scalding french-fry grease and hurled it at his attackers. One of the cross-dressers then smacked Bolton with a wet floor sign, sending him to the hospital in an ambulance, WMC-TV reported.

Sounds fake, but apparently it's real.

When a transvestite takes off his stiletto boots... be on notice it's on, baby.

Thanks to JackM.

Perp Strut: Dan Riehl has the pictures. The trio has been arrested.

Posted by: Ace at 10:43 AM | Comments (30)
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...for relentlessly poor-mouthing the economy and convincing retailers they had to resort to desperate measures to get you to buy something.

Of course those deep discounts resulted in a big 4-5% uptick in sales over last year's figures. Which, of course, the media is also ignoring.

Posted by: Ace at 10:26 AM | Comments (24)
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Pardon all the sports stuff today, but wow, what an awful game.

I didn't watch it of course. But I did watch some of the pre-game stuff. The game was delayed until 9 due to lightning and the fact that the field was a sodden, puddle-pocked "quagmire." Which meant the pre-game crew had to s-t-r-e-t-c-h in promoting a game simply incapable of promotion. Pittsburgh vs. Miami? Awful, and the outcome was never in doubt.

Though, actually, it turned out to be: 3-0 Pittsburgh, the game's only score coming with 17 seconds left.

How do you promote this? It's like attempting to gin up interest in a live gay sex show starring Wilford Brimley and Dan Dierdorf. The only point of interest is whether Dan Dierdorf will shut up at any point during the grotesqueries, or will manage to keep yapping even when he's got a face-full of Brimley's Wilford.

What the hell did the broadcasters talk about throughout this abortion? I imagine they discussed the coming Patriots/Colts playoffs showdown, whether the NFC offers a truly worthy Superbowl opponent this year, and perhaps some novels they're seriously thinking about writing some day.

Via Hot Air's headlines.

UPDATE [Dave in Texas]: Ricky Williams out for the rest of the season.

Posted by: Ace at 09:48 AM | Comments (31)
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Would never try it, but I admit curiosity.

The green liquor that is sometime called the queen of poisons has been banned since 1915.

However, some companies have found away around the ban, WJXT-TV reported.

"It was outlawed because of the narcotic quality," said Riverside Liquors owner David Joudi. "It's already being imported into the states under camouflage of packaging."

I can't tell if this article is badly written or if the writer is being cagey. What's on store shelves now? The real stuff or the legal (non-narcotic) stuff? They don't really say.

Explain to me [Gabe]: What's the big deal with absinthe? Is the fascination derived from the fact that it was banned or are there some other qualities I'm unaware of? Morons, explain to this innocent lad.

Explanation [Ace]: Absinthe is a potent liquor but what makes it notorious is the fact that wormwood is somehow in it. Whether it's aged in wormwood casks or what I don't know, but wormwood is in there. And wormwood has hallucinogenic properties -- mild, I'm guessing -- and I think can be poisonous or induce madness at high doses.

A lot of people drank absinthe in the 1800's/early 1900's. Van Gogh was a big drinker, and some claim his phatasmagorical landscapes were influenced by absinthe hallucinations. And also, some say he went mad on the stuff.

So it has a romantic/dangerous pedigree. Plus there's this whole ritual to drinking it. It's a clear greenish fluid, but usually it's drank after being poured over a cube of sugar, which turns the stuff a milky yellow color.

I drank some one time. A friend had gotten it in Spain. I don't know if it was real absinthe -- with the wormwood -- or a safer sort, without the wormwood. I know I got really drunk off it but I think it might just have been that I drank too much of it. Not sure if I had any sensory distortion, apart from the typical amount one experiences when shitfaced.

I know I don't particularly want to drink it again. I woke up with a dead hobo next to me, which I guess isn't such a big deal, as I'd also gone to sleep with a dead hobo next to me, as I usually do.

But the thing is -- it was a completely different dead hobo. There's a head-scratcher for ya.

So that's why I wouldn't drink it again. Plus -- Atkins.

Debunking [Ace]: Sinistar:

Apparently a lot of the rumors of its narcotic qualities come from the use of nasty additives used when producers couldn't meet demand or were looking to cash in. Similar things happened with gin, but absinthe had different qualities, and was popular with artists, it probably got a boost in mystique from that.

The only issue is a compound in it called thujone, which can be a carcinogen. Of course, a few sage leaves carry much more than a bottle of absinthe. There's a scientist named Breaux who has been studying absinthe, finding old bottles and original recipes and recreating them. From what I've seen, he seems to indicate most of the mystique is bullshit, its just an enjoyable drink. Its actually kind of interesting how he's working to revive it.

Mike Z:

It used to be popular among intellectuals, especially the European literary set. Absinthe was thought to be have certain stimulant and narcotic qualities that set it apart from ordinary alcohol. The fact that so many notables suffered from and sometimes died from "absinthism" was taken as an indication that the stuff was especially bad and should be banned. This seemed to be confirmed when studies suggested that thujone, an active chemical in wormwood - a primary ingredient in absinthe, was a convulsant poison in large quantities. However, other alcoholic beverages, such as vermouth, are also flavored with wormwood and thus contain thujone and it doesn't appear that the amount of thujone in absinthe is anywhere near sufficient to induce seizures. Recent thought is that the people who suffered from absinthism were just plain old alcoholics and that absinthe's popularity had more to do with its exceptionally high alcohol content (between about130 and 160 proof) than any special narcotic properties.

Posted by: LauraW. at 09:47 AM | Comments (50)
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Answer: probably, though the fact that they finally get him to repeat his discredited claims hardly makes them true.

Thanks to Doubleplus Undead.

Posted by: Ace at 08:51 AM | Comments (14)
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So Michael Totten is told by a Marine Lieutenant, and the Marine seems to have the Sabermetrics to back this assertion up.

Posted by: Ace at 08:44 AM | Comments (9)
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The only positive thing I can think of about Hitler’s time on earth–I’m sure he would have eliminated all bloggers. In Colonial times, bloggers were called “Pamphleteers.” They hung on street corners handing them out to passersby. Now, they hang out on electronic street corners, hoping somebody mouses on to their pretentious sites. Different medium, same MO. Shakespeare accidentally summed up the genre best with these words from a MacBeth soliloquy: “. . .a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. . .”

That's a quote from a Philadelphia sportswriter responding to a baseball blogger who, fairly politely and rationally I think, wrote him an email telling him that his pick for MVP was wrong. The blogger based his conclusion on Sabermetric stats (Sabermetrics are just a non-traditional way of analyzing stats which seem to be far more indicative of actual performance than traditional baseball stats; they're being used more and more by clubs to make personnel decisions) and told the sportswriter his choice was second-best.

Not exactly the sort of discussion you would think would call for praise of Hitler in response, but that's what happened.

Know what, pal? Bash this. . .Tell your bloggers, my career against theirs. . .

Unable to argue against the blogger's conclusions, and also unable to say something mundane like "Well, obviously the two men are pretty closely ranked in statistics, whichever way you cut it; I just think Rollins was more deserving," the guy, as is so typical, makes his stand on the fact that he is, in fact, In The Media and therefore right. The Media has deemed him worthy; ergo he is worthy. The Media is always right in their evaluations; that's why they're The Deciders, after all.

He also mentions his multiple layers of editorial oversight, as if that matters in this argument, when facts and stats are not in dispute.

Let me offer my own Hitler analogy. Hitler appealed most of all to the "insecure class," those who had a little something of a life going but not so much of one they didn't fear losing what they had. They were somewhat comfortable economically and socially, but not comfortable in retaining that position. So Hitler offered them a narrative and an enemy and convinced them that under his plan, they wouldn't have to worry -- their identity as true-blooded Germans would be enough to sustain them in the position they feared losing.

It seems the media offers its lesser lights a similar reassurance. Join the party, chant the slogans, hate the chosen enemies of the party, and the party will take care of you. You need not fear the grasping lower classes and interloping foreign-types who want to take what you have away from you.

It's always the weakest, least members of a group that are the most passionate about their membership in the group. The group gives them what they do not have of their own merits: a somewhat undeserved sense of personal value.

Just saying, since Hitler was brought up and all.

Thanks to AndrewS.

More... A reader writes in to say this guy is a total dick: more...

Posted by: Ace at 08:34 AM | Comments (98)
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I put this up in the sidebar yesterday, not figuring it would actually turn bad, even though he'd been hit in a major artery of the leg. He died, I guess in surgery.

Dave in Texas emailed this:

There's a local radio talk show guy in Waco named Garret Lewis who mentioned some things this morning on air he got from another radio guy who works in a station in Killeen, who knew Taylor, played ball with him at Miami and played in the pros for a while, I'll try to get his name, mentioned some things that are interesting but not earth shattering. He has been in contact with the family. Taylor's dad was a police chief in the Miami area, and said they think they have a suspect.

Looks like it was a burglary gone bad. Taylor kept a machete by thebed after a break in 8 days ago... he didn't want guns in the house cause he's living with his girlfriend and there's a little girl in the house. He supposedly heard something early the morning he was shot, grabbed it and went downstairs and opened the door, surprised the guy who shot him in the groin. He had suffered so much blood loss he was already going to suffer some brain damage. Probably the cause of death, happened early today.

I'll try to get the guy's name, I don't know that it's newsworthy, but interesting, and sad.

Article here.

Posted by: Ace at 07:52 AM | Comments (21)
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Gateway Pundit has links to articles, video, and photos right here. Seventy-seven police officers have been injured, some with shotgun wounds.

The violence was more intense than during three weeks of rioting in 2005, said the official, Patrice Ribeiro. Police were shot at and are facing "genuine urban guerillas with conventional weapons and hunting weapons," Ribeiro said.

Some officers were hit by shotgun pellets, Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said. She said there were six serious injuries, "people who notably were struck in the face and close to the eyes."

They're learning. The YOUEEs were prepared for a more violent clash this time. So far sixty three vehicles and five buildings have burned and that's only after the second day. Will Sarkozy put up with three more weeks of this?

Update [Ace]: From an earlier MSNBC account, according to genghis:

"Youths were seen firing buckshot at police and reporters. A police union official said a round from a hunting rifle pierced the body armor of one officer who suffered a serious shoulder wound."

I don't see that in the current MSNBC/AP story, so perhaps they've stealth-corrected. These guys know nothing about weapons, so they may have mistaken shotguns firing solid slugs as rifle shots.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:32 AM | Comments (29)
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Tuesday, the Washington Post will have an interesting article on the GOP's current minority status and the increasingly difficult task we have ahead of us.

[GOP] Party officials insist that the retirements -- 17 members of the House and six senators -- are simply the result of individual decisions and not indicative of a broader negative sentiment within the party. "I don't hear a drumbeat that 'We're not effective and I don't like it here anymore,' " said National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.).

[...]

Many retirements have come in seats and states that are competitive between the parties. Republican senators' retirements in Virginia, Colorado and New Mexico have created races in which Democrats are favored to win next November. The same holds true in the House, where open GOP districts in Ohio, Arizona and Illinois are primed to go to Democrats.

Emboldened by the House and Senate majorities they won last year, Democrats have had almost no retirements. Five members of the House are stepping down or running for higher office in 2008, but none of the vacated seats is expected to be competitive. No Senate Democrat up for reelection this cycle has announced plans to retire.

Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott officially announced his retirement early today; Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert made a surprise announcement that he had officially resigned.

The article dances around the idea that Republicans are "getting while the getting is still good." I think that low morale, caused by the prospect of years in the minority, is contributing to the problem, especially for members of Congress who saw their power peak during the early Bush years. Members who were toppled by the 2006 election are noticing that the GOP won't be retaking their committee chairs anytime in their congressional careers.

Part of the problem is that there is no one in the party that can credibly ask members that are thinking about leaving to stay. The obvious choice for that role, President Bush, doesn't seem up to the task, either by choice or because he's too busy fighting the war and the Democrats in Congress at the same time. The GOP just doesn't have many promises to give for incumbents who are ready to call it quits.

I don't mean to be Mr. Doom & Gloom, but Republicans need to be aware that, barring some unusual event, they will not be taking Congress back any time soon. The WaPo article notes that the Democrats have us outmatched when it comes to money, too:

Republicans also face a daunting financial gap at the congressional level, the likes of which they have not seen in decades. At the end of October, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had $29 million in the bank to spend on House races -- roughly 14 times the $2.56 million its Republican counterpart had at that time.

The disparity on the Senate side is smaller but no less significant. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee showed $23.4 million on hand at the end of October, compared with $9.5 million for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

The difference in funds to some degree reflects low morale among Republican donors, too. And if Republican congressfolk and Republican donors are having a mopey moment, you can bet that Republican voters are, too.

Things aren't all bad, though. The positive news coming out of Iraq is slowly working its way into the public mind. At this point, Democrats cannot benefit at all from good news in the War on Terror. Unfortunately, I doubt very much that Election 2008 will focus so exhaustively on the war like the elections in 2004 and 2006.

Economic indicators are also generally good (and have been), which reflects well on the President who--against all reason--wears the Chief Economist hat. That, too, is suspiciously taking its sweet time getting into the think skulls of Economic Eeyores. However slowly people learn of it, some of that good news will hopefully be taken up by the Republican presidential candidates credible promises of more to come.

In short, the GOP is facing an uphill battle, one that is getting steeper. I'm praying for a leader who will pull the party back together. God willing, whichever presidential candidate we select will be that leader. If not, it's going to be a long eight years.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 11:12 PM | Comments (79)
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