Finally.

CHICAGO — A girl and her grandparents have sued the Chicago Board of Education, alleging that a substitute teacher showed the R-rated film "Brokeback Mountain" in class.

The lawsuit claims that Jessica Turner, 12, suffered psychological distress after viewing the movie in her 8th grade class at Ashburn Community Elementary School last year.

...

The lawsuit also names Ashburn Principal Jewel Diaz and a substitute teacher, referred to as "Ms. Buford."

The substitute asked a student to shut the classroom door at the West Side school, saying: "What happens in Ms. Buford's class stays in Ms. Buford's class," according to the lawsuit.

Ms. Buford's Class Schedule:

7:30-8:15 Men Shaving Their Balls

8:20-9:05 Men Shaving Other Mens' Balls

9:15-10:00 Two Dudes In A Camaro Boning The Hell Out Of Each Other And Listening To Bad Company

10:05-11:50 Guys Fisting Each Other For Money And Then Spending The Money On More Fisting

lunch

12:10-12:45 Men Going Down On Men They Just Met At The Gym While Other Men Take Pictures

12:50-1:35 Homeroom

In other news, Ace is about to tell me that I'm not welcome around here anymore.

Posted by: AndrewR at 01:08 PM | Comments (27)
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The catch: They continue their I-shall-not-dignify-that-with-a-response attitude towards charges of bias coming from the right.

They react rather vigorously to such charges from the left, of course.

By way of background, part one: Right-leaning bloggers have been critiquing the media -- not just in terms of opinion, but in baldly mistating easily-verified facts, for years.

By way of background, part two: Left-leaning bloggers began doing this fairly recently in order to "work the refs" a bit and push reporters back towards their natural left-leaning state.

By way of background, part three: Recently the left-leaning Radar Online quoted Thomas Edsall as saying boring, useless David Broder represented "the voice of the people." Left-wing bloggers went apeshit over the story, as they dislike Broder for speaking ill of Harry Reid and speaking in favor of caution on the part of the Democrats. (Caution is of course a dirty word among the nutroots.) Liberal reporters like Joe Klein immediately sprung to Broder's defense, even engaging in blogfeud type back and forths with the noxious Glenn Greenwald. Left-liberal Jonathan Alter continues the overreaction, stating that Edsall didn't even say that at all.*

My point -- and I do have one -- is that straight MSM types have been reacting to this rather minor and trivial incident for going on a week now. The left of the blogosphere speaks, and the MSM responds.

They almost never respond to even caught-dead-to-rights-criticism from the right. Instapundit has been correcting -- sometimes several times a week -- the media's constant mistatement of George W. Bush's "famous sixteen words," words so famous the media cannot remember them at all and always claim he stated that Saddam was seeking uranium from Niger specifically. Not only has no MSM type never responded to Instapundit regarding this, they apparently are entirely unaware of the constant corrections, as they continue misstating the "sixteen words so famous we have no idea what they are" virtually every time they "report" them.

My point here isn't to whine that the MSM pays us no mind. My point is simpler: the media claims to be neutral politically, and yet, it seems, while they have all the time in the world to read left-wing blogs and respond to them, they don't even bother to read the biggest of the right-leaning bloggers.

Glenn Greenwald they have bookmarked. Instapundit, it seems, they've never heard of. How else to explain why not a single editor or reporter in all of the MSM seems aware that Bush did not mention Niger at all in his "famous sixteen words"?

Consider the fact that, as far as "right-leaning bloggers" go, not only is Instapundit rather famously moderate in tone, he's also very moderate in politics. Indeed, he's not even a conservative -- he's a libertarian, somewhat passionate on two issues that skew to the right (war, guns), nearly as passionate on a passel of other issues that skew to the left (gay marriage, decriminization of drugs), and many issues that skew neither way in particular, but are more "goo goo" (good government) concerns (earmarks). Overall, sure, he's right-leaning, and everyone (including himself, I'd imagine) would say so. But overall, he's a very moderate sort of right-leaning blogger.

And the biggest blogger there is on the right.

So how on earth could it be that while the MSM, supposedly politically neutral, has never read Instapundit, while it clicks on Firedoglake, Glenn Greenwald, Atrios, and the Daily Kos all the doo-dah day?

It's a truism that you are what you eat. Politically and intellectually, you are what you read. If you're not even reading the most moderate and most famous of right-leaning bloggers, obviously you have absolutely no interest whatsoever in any argument coming from the even the soft, moderate right, and consider all such criticisms and corrections coming from such quarters to be, per se, beneath contempt and not worth the dignity of a response.

And if you're scanning the very immoderate leftwing blogs -- furiously immoderate in tone, and often as furiously immoderate in actual politics -- it seems fairly obvious that you consider such blogs to be reasonable, worth reading, worth keeping tabs on.

The criticisms of left-wing blogs need to be addressed, even when they're of a particularly trivial and shrill nature. Even the most substantive and basic criticism from the right -- the word "Niger" was not mentioned in those "famous sixteen words," nor even in that "famous State of the Union address" in its entirety -- are not merely ignored by the media. They're unknown to the media.

I knew as soon as I heard Steven Colbert's criticism of the media at that White House press dinner two years back it would reverberate in the media, and would have results. Despite the fact the criticism was coming from a TV clown. Because the media is always willing to consider the proposition that they're biased politically -- biased, of course, too far to the right.

The left is the media's constituency -- they address the concerns of the left, respond to the criticisms of the left, feel wounded by the attacks from the left. And yet the hundreds of thousands of words of criticism from the right have been entirely ignored for thirty or forty years running.

And yet they're "neutral" in terms of politics. Sure.

The left's assault on the media has produced dramatic results. The NYT fired Judith Miller for her supposedly bad reporting on Saddam's WMD. The entire media is determined to "question the timing" as well as the seriousnes of each and every terror bust. Chastened by the left's charge that the media acted as the Bush Administration's dupes on Saddam's WMD program, they are now "correcting" that past bias by underplaying and undermining reports about Iran's quest for nukes.

Despite the fact that Iran has all but admitted they're seeking nukes. But perhaps they were put up to that by Karl Rove. Who knows.

If the media is determined to pay pennance for bad reporting -- for questions that went unasked, for stories that went unwritten, lapses that ultimately led to foreign policy blunder of historic consequence -- perhaps they should re-examine their pre-9/11 coverage of terrorism and Al Qaeda in the same self-flagellating, let-us-never-sin-again way they're treating their coverage of Saddam's WMDs.

Was the media overly credulous as to Bush's statements about WMDs? Did its "supine posture" on WMDs help lead the country into war?

Fair questions. But how about these questions: Was the media overly credulous as to the Clinton Administration's assertions that the original WTC bombing was a small conspiracy with little connection to world terrorism? Was the media "intellectually incurious" as to whether law enforcement and indictments could stop a well-organized terrorist organization with a global reach? Did the media help permit 9/11 to happen by refusing to strongly question Clinton as to whether ineffectual pinprick missile strikes on empty shacks and camel hitching-posts had really dissauded bin Ladin from coommiting further terrorist actions against the US, or in any way degraded his ability to do so?

As long as the media is the mood for searching self-examination as to what role their negligence and credulity led to the Iraq War -- well, perhaps they should also take time to reflect on what role their negligence and credulity led to 9/11.

They're big on "accountability" now, for both themselves and the government, but only if "accountability" for themselves suggests they move more leftward, and only if "accountability" for the government is restricted to exposing the Bush Administration's miskates.

Of course not a single MSM type will read this, nor respond to it.

But they will continue to addressing every criticism from Glenn Greenwald jot-by-tittle.

Because that's what an objective, neutral, fair and balanced media does, of course -- it addresses, responds to, and incorporates only those criticisms laid by the left.

* Jonathan Alter's Beautiful Mind: Curiously, though Alter was a witness to the statement, he claims Edsall didn't say it, but if he did say it, he said it with an air of irony:

I don't remember him calling Broder "the voice of the people," but if he did, it was said with a pleasantly arch tone, neither serious nor sarcastic.

FWIW, Edsall is a good reporter (and one who admits liberal bias, to boot), and I take Alter's basic point that journalists tend to be cynical, or at least posture as cynics, and thus would be unlikely to call anyone "the voice of the people" with anything but an ironic air.

But Alter's "reportage" on this is bizarre -- he can't remember Edsall saying it, but is very clear in his recollecting that if Edsall did say the thing he can't remember him saying then he remembers him saying it "with a pleasantly arch tone, neither serious nor sarcastic." It seems strange for him to have such a strong memory of how the phrase was said, given that he doesn't remember Edsall saying it at all.)

Posted by: Ace at 12:48 PM | Comments (23)
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Local Childrens' Risk Of Being Eaten By A Lizard Increases By .01%

"Animal trappers believe the monitor stays hidden in the weeds (of a retention pond), probably feasting on turtles and bird eggs, going nowhere near the bait inside the traps and lying low," Local 6's Kimberly Houk said. "(It's) keeping the neighborhood on edge."

Experts said monitor lizards are fierce predators and their bite alone can kill their prey.

They are fast runners, have powerful tails and feed on insects, birds and mammals.

I saw one take down a small deer on some nature program years ago. Their bite is so filthy with bacteria that the wound festers and poisons the animal in a short period of time.

Florida Game Officials have asked residents in possession of Burmese Pythons, Iguanas, and other dangerous exotics, to please release them into the retention pond as well, so that they can get some video of wicked lizard-on-snake combat.

Posted by: LauraW. at 11:59 AM | Comments (21)
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At the end. The first two minutes are dominated by a very nuanced discussion on the proper way to beat one's wife.

Hm? Beating women? Compelling them to drink the pus from your nose?

It's the Religion of Hotness, Yo!

Via Hot Air.

Meanwhile, one million Turks rally to protest their government from moving in the direction of imposing more Islamist hotness.

More than a million secular Turks demonstrated in the Aegean port city of Izmir on Sunday in a major show of strength against the Islamic-rooted government as Turkey prepares for early general elections.

The huge demonstration in the country's third-largest city — a secular stronghold where Islamic parties fare poorly — followed similar protests in Ankara and Turkey last month. On Saturday, a bomb placed at an Izmir market killed one person and injured 14 others, but there was no claim of responsibility for the attack, nor evidence that it was linked to the demonstration.

About 1.5 million people joined the rally, a military official told The Associated Press, which would make it the largest protest so far by secular Turks fearful that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's is conspiring to impose religious values on society.

...

Some wore paper hats with the slogan: "No to Islamic law, no to military coups: a democratic Turkey" demonstrating disapproval of a military threat last month to intervene in the presidential elections in order to safeguard secularism. The military has ousted civilian governments in the past.

The protests have aimed to pressure Erdogan not to nominate Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as a presidential candidate. The secular establishment sees him as an Islamist and he was forced to suspend his bid after the secular opposition boycotted the voting process in parliament.

Thanks to Mr. Civility.

Posted by: Ace at 11:39 AM | Comments (15)
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I really ought to sue Mickey Kaus for intellectual property threat. Sullivan is my bitch, not his.

I'll just link this so I can find it later when I'm drawing up the legal complaint. Second item: Wusses. When others use it, it's homophobic; but then two months later, Sullivan is calling people wusses when they disagree with him.

Kaus' first item is much more important -- George Stephanopolous apparently questioned Barack Obama fairly closely about affirmative action (which doesn't invalidate my theory that the liberal media refrain from asking probing questions about wedge issues that hurt Democrats -- it jut adds nuance.)

Obama apparently expressed some degree of support for the idea that affirmative action ought to be based on demonstrable poverty (that is, a class-based, not race-based, model). Kaus calls it a "Sister Souljah moment."

I call it silliness. Obama never says much of anything, except that once he's president, whatever his policies may be (and he's not detailing them), the healing will begin. He thinks he's running for the office of Paladin of the United States.

So this tepid vague support of a common-sense idea is keeping with that. Sure, he supports that. Maybe sorta. Just like he supports almost everything -- maybe sorta. He maybe sorta supports the majority white position on this issue, and he maybe sorta supports the majority black position on this issue. Not too black, not too white. He's a Goldilocks of race (but not too gold, either, buddy!).

He maybe sorta supports pretty much everything, because that's what it takes to heal this country's racial wounds -- maybe sorta treatments, performed by Barack Obama, doctor of holistic maybe sorta medicine.

It maybe sorta helps Obama to have no clearly defined polcies, too. So that the maximum number of people can believe, if they choose, that Obama maybe sorta shares their politics.

Thanks to Blacksheep.

More: The quotes and some analysis at the Corner.

Obama is of course speaking in a maybe-one-day-I-hope sorta way when he talks about moving from race to class based affirmative action. He's talking about some vague future he hopes we'll get to.

It means absolutely nothing. It's not a repudiation of current race-based affirmative action, God knows, or even a specific plan to phase it out over, say, fifteen years. It's just a minor pander to white independent voters in the interests of "healing."

Posted by: Ace at 11:19 AM | Comments (22)
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Above the Fold Update: Al Qaeda knows who its allies are.

Mohamad al-Janabi, a reputed al-Qaeda member in the nearby city of Salman Pak, said in a interview that he was unable to contact his comrades in Mahmudiyah to determine whether they were responsible for the attack.

But he added: "I can assure you that we will start pressuring Bush in a new way at the same time he is facing pressures from the Democrats and the American people. And there will be no problem to sacrifice 10 soldiers in order to abduct a single American soldier and get him on television screens begging for us to release him."

Notice Al Qaeda is not pressuring us to stay, which is odd, because I keep being told that Al Qaeda loves having American troops in Iraq and Bush is "playing right into their hands."

I don't think this is going to have the effect Al Qaeda seeks. It's getting harder and harder for the media to pretend that Al Qaeda isn't the major source of violence and terrorism in Iraq -- and the biggest cause of US troop deaths -- and they're going to have a hard time avoiding using the words "Al Qaeda" when they run these tapes.

Question: Would these tapes be considered a "coordinated" media buy for the Democrats under McCain-Feingold? Will the FEC investigate?

Maybe that's the way to get the media remotely perturbed at Al Qaeda -- we can sell them on the idea that "Al Qaeda is swift-boating Iraq." They really do seem to despise "swift-boating."

...

It's terrible. How they got captured, exactly, the article doesn't say.

housands of U.S. soldiers searched Sunday for three Americans who were missing after their patrol came under attack in an explosion that killed four of their comrades and an Iraqi army translator....

The Islamic State in Iraq, an al-Qaida front group, said it had captured several soldiers in the attack, but offered no proof to back up its claim, posted on an Islamic Web site.

The search for the missing Americans began after insurgents attacked a patrol of seven U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter before dawn Saturday near Mahmoudiya.

The U.S. military said Saturday that five people were dead and three were missing.

On Sunday, U.S. spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell confirmed that the Iraqi interpreter was among the dead - and that all the missing were Americans. He said about 4,000 U.S. troops were involved in the search.

...

Mahmoudiya is about 20 miles south of Baghdad in an al-Qaida-dominated area known as the "triangle of death." Two U.S. soldiers were massacred there last year after they disappeared at a checkpoint.

Posted by: Ace at 10:57 AM | Comments (146)
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Kinda funny amateur video about relationships. It's funny enough for a watch (light content warning).

Thanks to Allah.

Posted by: Ace at 10:44 AM | Comments (9)
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Excellent.

Pretty On Pink.

This is the "Taliban Zarqawi" that was reported surrounded by Afghan troops a few weeks ago, along with a group of his fighters. Including his brother, it seems -- who's also reported dead.

Check out this amazing catch by Allah:

The Taliban however denied that its notorious one-legged commander was dead, promising to produce a fresh recording of his voice to prove that he was alive.

Allah commented prior to the confirmation of Dadullah's death:

The Taliban is promising a “fresh voice recording” of Dadullah to prove that he’s alive. This was a guy known for his videos, mind you, so the fact that they’re promising audio only is telling.

Can anyone else think of a major Al Qaeda figure once known for his videos but lately only making sporadic "fresh voice recordings"?

Did the Taliban just give away a standard operating procedure it would have been better to keep secret?

More: from Dan Riehl, including the fact that at least 70 "insurgents" have been killed in this latest coalition push through southern Afghanistan.

Posted by: Ace at 10:35 AM | Comments (46)
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Rock paper scissors. A random game featuring no skill whatsoever.

And the world's non-greats at this non-game will come to Vegas to pit their non-skills against each other.

It's like Highlander for the singlularly unambitious.

Ever since he was crowned regional champion, Matt Corron has been stopped on sidewalks and in bars by folks who want a crack at beating him. Last week, a stranger had to pay for Corron's breakfast after challenging him -- and losing -- at the Boulevard Diner in Worcester.

Corron rarely loses at Rock, Paper, Scissors, and for his talent he's on his way to Las Vegas this weekend for a shot at $50,000 and a national title.

...

The two-day 2007 USA Rock Paper Scissors Tournament Finals will bring together more than 300 regional finalists from across the nation...

A lifelong devotee who discovered that there was a professional Canadian league, Leshem decided to start one here. He's written a set of rules, trained referees, and has unsuccessfully petitioned the International Olympic Committee to make it one of their events. At this weekend's event at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, a paramedic will be on standby because wrist and shoulder injuries often occur, Leshem said. ESPN is expected to air footage of the competition this summer.

A bit of strategy: The "masters" of the "sport" say don't throw rock first, as that's the most common first "move."

Posted by: Ace at 07:24 PM | Comments (35)
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Good news, for a change, from Allah. Thanks, I needed that.

Yesterday he noted that many of those MPs who signed the Sadrist demand for an American withdrawal are wavering. It may be a case where many MPs were playing politics with their typically schizophrenic Arab-Muslim constituents. They always need a scapegoat, after all, and always need to posture like they're fighting the Infidel, even if the Infidel is the one goddamn thing keeping their shitwater country from exploding into catastrophic civil war.

Another good link from Hot Air concerns the increasingly unhinged Keith Olbermann, now comparing himself to his firefighter grandfather in terms of courage for braving the flames. (Here, the flames of truth, or something, I guess, rather than those actual flames that can hurt you.)

This is the finger I operate the rescue crane with!

Posted by: Ace at 06:50 PM | Comments (20)
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