I can't blame him for wanting to walk away from this story. I didn't have much interest in pursuing it again either, and didn't until he prompted me to.

But:

Look, you canÂ’t claim for weeks on end (replete with mocking graphics) that a guy doesnÂ’t exist and then, when evidence emerges that he does, turn on a dime and trumpet the fact that he used a pseudonym as HUGE news. ItÂ’s news. ThatÂ’s as much as can be said for it.

But.

You also can't claim for weeks (replete with dismissive, haughty I-shall-not-dignify-these-accusations-with-a-response stonewalling) that of course a "Capt. Jamil Hussein" exists, why we've been talking to him for years, it's your own stupid faults you can't find "Capt. Jamil Hussein," why, if you were over here in Iraq rather than on your soft white asses in your climate-controlled cubicles you could find "Capt. Jamil Hussein" easily yourself (all the stores sell him in six-packs), and then turn on a dime and claim that of course everyone should have known you were using a fake name, and had they just searched through all possible names containing the first name "Jamil," everyone could have easily confirmed the existence of a "Jamil Not Hussein" themselves.

Can you?
more...

Posted by: Ace at 11:51 AM | Comments (32)
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It's not an insult, it's an intervention.

First of all, take special note of the Unidentified Hand on the Plushy Roll:

Furthermore, if you watch this tape carefully, you can see a Mystery Man opening an umbrella just before Tigger suddenly jerks.

Why is he opening an umbrella? I don't see any clouds in the sky. Is he signalling that it's an all-clear for the tail yank?

Now the "Official Story" would have us believe that the kid made no contact with the Plushy Roll. But watch how it moves after he releases it:

Back, and to the right.

Back, and to the right.

Back, and to the right.

Back, and to the right.

Back. And to the right.

They say fucking around with Tigger never prospers. For when it prospers, none dare call it fucking around with Tigger.

Posted by: Ace at 11:10 AM | Comments (26)
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There is no "I" in amphetamine.

Well, just the one I guess.

Thanks to Retired Geezer.

Posted by: Ace at 10:41 AM | Comments (20)
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Content warning -- has the audio track from Full Metal Jacket. All that cussin'.

It's pretty funny to see the elves spewing this filth.

Thanks to Mike.

Posted by: Ace at 10:36 AM | Comments (8)
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Allah doesn't consider this news. I think it is.

It's not "HUGE" as Confederate Yankee thinks, but it's news.

As was speculated numerous times, and directly asked of AP, AP was in fact giving their source a psuedonym. And the real name is, in fact, the name that some bloggers have been asking about for a while.

Not citing an unnamed source; giving him a false name. Confederate Yankee notes that this is, of course, a breach of AP's policies.

It's somewhat understandable that the cop in question wanted to be called by a false name -- an unnamed source invites a search for the leaker. A false name invites a search too, but for a guy who doesn't exist. And given the situation in Iraq, it's kinda-sorta understandable AP gave him his fake name. And it's kinda-sorta understandable why they stonewalled -- they couldn't admit they were using a psuedonym. Not only would that be an admission of a journalistic breach, but, more importantly, it would endanger the guy they were trying to protect.

(It's not a big thing that this guy denies being AP's source -- of course he denies it. That was the whole point of the fake name. He's forbidden by MOI from speaking to the press, so of course he's not going to admit doing so.)

But the news here is that AP did in fact deceive the public, and did in fact stand by its deception, and furthermore -- did in fact misrepresent the Iraqi MOI's "admission" of a source named "Captain Jamil Hussein," if Flopping Ace's CPATT source is correct. They admitted a source, but not by that name, because it's not the guy's name. That's a fairly large breach. One can excuse the pseudonym breach on grounds of prudence, but how to excuse AP falsely reporting the government's confirmation of a police officer named "Jamil Hussein"? That's a deception to protect only their own reputation, not their source's well-being.

Patterico has doubts the AP did misrepresent the alleged "confirmation," but if there is no "Jamil Hussein," which seems to be the case, I can't see the government confessing "error" in not finding a name in their records when that name did not, in fact, exist in their records. Does that sound like any government you know of? Copping to mistakes it didn't make?

And, while this will all go down in MSM/leftwing blog legend as a horrid mistake by rightwing bloggers, the facts seem to stand: There was no Jamil Hussein; AP deceived the public by providing a false "name" of a source; rightwing bloggers were correct there was no police captain by that name; rightwing bloggers were further correct in their speculations about what the source's name might really be.

Some crow was eaten, but perhaps a few forkfulls too many.

Don't expect AP or the left to partake of its fair share.

Posted by: Ace at 10:33 AM | Comments (37)
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And a few other data points suggesting that, as regards Iran's "mischief" in Iraq, we're past the time for fucking about.

Posted by: Ace at 10:00 AM | Comments (23)
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It's all about the golden rings:

Jackson and his production company Wingnut Films are currently embroiled in a legal dispute with New Line Cinema over royalties from The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. And the lawsuit has enraged the film studio so much they won't allow the Jackson a chance to the upcoming fantasy prequel.

He fumes, "He's got a quarter of a billion dollars paid to him so far, justifiably, according to contract, completely right. "And this guy... turns around without wanting to have a discussion with us and sues us and refuses to discuss it unless we just give in to his plan. "I don't want to work with that guy any more. Why would I? So the answer is he will never make any movie with New Line Cinema again while I'm still working at the company."

I don't know. A quarter billion dollars is a lot of money. But then, studios have bad reputations about paying out the money they're supposed to.

Posted by: Ace at 09:33 AM | Comments (25)
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(NYT Link.) It is simply the most amazing technological breakthrough since radio communications.

Imagine-- a cellphone. Imagine -- an iPod. Imagine -- a very small digitial movie player.

Now imagine them -- all together in one beautiful, lust-inspiring package.

And now just imagine being able to burn the rather-limited battery life of your cell-phone watching the grand spectacle of David Lean's masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia on a 3x2 inch widescreen.

Now imagine if there were some way to encourage free media to write gushingly about what is, at its heart, a fucking phone.

Some possible incentive, if you will. Some way to get "buzz-makers" to pimp this now-how-much-would-you-pay Ronco miracle phone.

Now imagine, even better, if some of those buzz-makers knew about a previous product give-away for those writing about tech stuff, and you didn't even have to bribe them in advance to write about your product; they knew, or at least suspected, if they pimped the Ronco Miracle Phone they might just be contacted about getting a freebie.

Now how much would you pay?

Apologies to Allah for this. Collateral damage and all that. I know he's above this. Or at least I think he is. Or at least I guess I don't know and don't care if he's above this or not. I just know that only the lefties get the goodies, like all-expenses-paid trips to Amsterdam, so it doesn't really matter if he pimps the iPhone or not, and I think he knows that too.

Anyway, as I'm on the right wing and am definitely not getting any free swag from Apple, as I have no opinions to influence besides a bunch of drooling imbeciles whose idea of a really hot new invention is a "fidjo" (which is just a fiddle with a banjo glued to its back), I can, clean of all mercenary motives, declare emphatically that I could give a rat's ass about Steve Jobs or his darling little techsessories and fashion-forward widgets.

TRex-- enjoy the phone. Should prompt literally duos of conversations.

Thanks to OgreGunner for tipping me to the Microsoft Vista giveaway a while back.

Am I outraged? Not really.

Am I jealous? Slightly.

Am I personally above any of this? No, not by a longshot.

Still... figure as long as I'm not getting anything from the picnic basket, might as well take a piss on the sandwiches.

Plus, I really hate iPods, Steve Jobs, the cult of cutesy aesthetics, and the fetishization of trivial status-symbol whatsits.

On the other hand, if someone wants to send me a really powerful desktop or kickass HDTV, well. Those are actually useful, aren't they?

Eat Me, Steve Jobs: Jagoff.

Jerkweed.

Correction: An anonymous poster corrects me:

Ace, if you are going to bash something based on it's tech specs, at least do your homework and get them right. When held in wide-screen orientation, the iPhone screen is 3"x 2". For diagonal measurment of 3.5" And the 160 "pixels" you refer to is actual 160dpi (or ppi). That pixels per inch. Very high resolution. The screen you are sitting in front of now, is likely no more than 98 dpi.

Fair enough. Consider it corrected.

Posted by: Ace at 11:13 PM | Comments (209)
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Romney strongly arguing in favor of abortion, back in his 1992 senate campaign against bridge-diving enthusiast Ted Kennedy.

Instapundit and his Repubican co-host, Dr. Helen, interview him. He says he's evolved, with a little crowd-pleasing self-deprecation about being older, wiser, and heavier.

Hugh Hewitt has the transcript, if you don't want to listen:

"Of course, I was wrong on some issues back then. I'm not embarrassed to admit that. I think most of us learn with experience. I know I certainly have.

"If you want to know where I stand by the way, you don't just have to listen to my words, you can go to look at my record as governor. Frankly, in the bluest of states. Facing the most liberal media in the country. I've led the fight to preserve traditional marriage. I've taken every legal step I could conceive of, to prevent same sex marriage.

"I have also taken action to protect the sanctity of life. I vetoed bills that authorized embryo farming, therapeutic cloning, Plan B emergency contraception, and of course a redefinition of when life was going to begin as well.

"I've also fought for family. I've promoted abstinence education in the schools.

"I fought for English immersion in our schools and school choice. And of course as you'd expect from a Republican, I've held the line on taxes and I've worked to re-instate the death penalty.

"And I'm proud that at the same time, I've fought discrimination. I believe every American deserves equal opportunity.

"Now, that's my record. And maybe that's why people on the other side are dredging up 13 year old history and attacking me now."

I don't know. Who cares, really? I think if a politician cares strongly about one issue beyond his own career, he's in the upper tier of principle.

I just think we're being unrealistic to think a politician cares so strongly about every single issue as to have formed an unwavering opinion on each of them from an early age from which he has never once deviated.

I know Rudy Giuliani really hates crime, really likes cops, and thinks raising taxes is a fool's game.

Am I troubled by his position on social issues? Not terribly. I expect him to flip-flop on them, mostly. Because I really don't think he cares a lot about abortion or gay marriage or even immigration. So I don't think it will be too psychically damaging for him to suddenly reverse his previous positions.

Romney did the same.

John McCain kinda-sorta did the same, when -- supposed staunch pro-life advocate he -- said he'd discuss a possible abortion with his daughter were she to, hypothetically, tell him she intended to get one.

And I'm not really terribly sure that if Mr. Says What He Means, Means What He Says Bush really cares that much about these issues either.

The governing class, no matter what their stated politics, comes out of the same coastal monied class that all good liberal twacks do. That rubs off some.

Voters want their leaders to strongly embrace their particular values, and care about them strongly, but each voter has a different set of priorities he needs his leader to unswervingly support. Meaning that we have politicians who are supposed to care about everything passionately.

We have a word for people who care about everything passionately. We call them "maniacs."

I'm not sure what Mitt Romney really cares about the way I know what Rudy Giuliani really cares about. Time will tell, I guess. At the current moment I like the fact that Romney says all the right things, but... I'm also bothered that he says all the right things.

Almost as if he's calculating what positions to take for best political positioning.

Again, we'll get a sense of what he really cares about eventually. If we end up getting to see a real core there, and that core seems like the sort of thing we'd want making life and death decisions, we'll like him. If not, then not.

But this is all pretty weak tea. Whoever put this video on YouTube hopes we'll all be shocked, shocked to find politics going on in politics.

And I'll be equally bored when I find out that it was Rudy's people, or McCain's people, or Gingrich's people who loaded the Romney speech on to YouTube.

Scandal! Skull-duggery!

Whatever.

Isn't this all starting awfully early? I really don't want to even bother with this crap yet.

Can y'all just wait for maybe May or June?

Posted by: Ace at 10:08 PM | Comments (28)
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Thanks to Roy.

That BubblePly site is going to be big.

For about a month.

Then, not so much.

Posted by: Ace at 08:37 PM | Comments (8)
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