If there ever comes a time when someone decides to declare a man the "Last Conservative Standing", I have a feeling Alabama's Junior Senator Jeff Sessions will walk away with that title.

He has been one of the Senate's most stalwart advocates of conservative principles since his election in 1996, and he may be the single most effective opponent of the amnesty bill that opponents have, despite having to face overwhelming pressure from Alabama's Agricultural interests, which represents one of the most powerful voting/political blocs in the State.

Today, he delivered a speech highlighting what he termed "sneaky lawyer tricks": a series of loopholes in the bill that should enrage every American citizen.

Sessions has identified 20 of them. I am going to cut and paste them all in the extended entry, as the list and their explanations are quite long. I encourage everyone to read them, and to forward them to anyone who might want a few more reasons to oppose the bill.

Finally, I should note that my friends on the Hill tell me that Sessions may be facing a challenge by Alabama's Democratic Agricultural Commissioner, in large part due to his stance on this bill. Apparently, Alabama's Ag Community is more concerned with importing slave labor than returning a good man to Washington. If you are looking for a conservative Senator to get behind in the 2008 election cycle, you should consider giving Senator Sessions a look, if only to say "Thank You" for his continued willingness to fight the good fight.

After the jump: Sessions Identifies 20 Amnesty Loopholes more...

Posted by: Jack M. at 06:45 PM | Comments (107)
Post contains 2643 words, total size 19 kb.

On CNN now. These 7pm start times keep sneaking up on me.

Cute Moment: Lightning plays havoc with Giuliani's microphone as he attempts to answer question regarding Catholic bishop suggesting his "personal opposition" to abortion is similar to Pontius Pilate's purely personal opposition to the crucifixion of Christ.

Shock! CNN's gaggle blown away by McCain.

This Should Be Hysterical: CNN supposedly picked "likely Republican voters" -- both actual Republicans and right-leaning indepedents -- to ask the candidates questions.

Let's see how scorchingly liberal the questions are.

Off to a good start -- a woman who lost her husband brother to the war wants to know how to get us out of Iraq.

I'm so surprised CNN found this questioner!

Why, you'd think liberals had some sort of premeditated strategy to put forward victims to push their policies or something!

More! Environmentalism, prescription drug subsidies, and now, from the affiliate's handpicked (liberal) blogger, a question as to whether or not to install a Canadian style single-payer national health care system!

Wow! These "likely Republican voters" sure are reflecting my concerns and interests!

Posted by: Ace at 03:33 PM | Comments (273)
Post contains 187 words, total size 1 kb.

A battle-scene from 300 with voice-overs from Unreal Tournament.

Like I said, graphically violent.

Thanks to RDBrewer.

Related: Kind of done to death, but whatever. The Top Ten Most Kickass Videogame Weapons, with the Gravity Gun, again, topping the list.

The Gravity Gun is basically the videogame weapon equivalent of Stairway To Heaven. Being number one on the countdown is guaranteed, sweet money in the bank.

Retrofuturist Rayguns: Available from WETA, the special effects house that did Lord of the Rings and Master and Commander. A semi-funny throwback advertisement runs on the page.

Remember, though, John Edwards says owning an aetheric oscillator device is a priviledge, not a right.

Like to see Silky Pony say that to John Carter.

I got this from someone whose tab I closed before I decided to link this. Sorry.

Also stolen from that same site (I think), a blog that announces that "Robots are the new Kittens," and sets out to posting all those corny kitten pics and photoshops, except with, you know, robots.

Star Wars History: The First Time As Tragedy, The Second Time As Farce, The Third Time as Deliberate Farce: Funny clips from the Lucas-approved, Mark-Hamill-voiced Robot Chicken SW parodies.

Gee, if Lucas had shown this much humor and sense of fun in the prequels, peoplel would still like Star Wars.

Posted by: Ace at 01:28 PM | Comments (14)
Post contains 240 words, total size 2 kb.

Paying to have a photo taken with the President -- rapidly becoming one of those jobs Americans won't do.

Posted by: Ace at 12:49 PM | Comments (15)
Post contains 49 words, total size 1 kb.

You know how they always say that our culture will utlimately win the war for us?

I don't know. Between this and suckling from a female coworker's breast in order to reduce sexual tensions at the workplace, I'm startin' to think it will work the other way 'round.

SOME see it as a divinely sanctioned safety valve to ease sexual frustration; others call it a hypocritical cover for prostitution.

The Shia Muslim tradition of temporary marriage, or sigheh, allows a man and a woman in Iran to marry for a set period of time, ranging from an hour to 99 years.

I'm thinking the median will be closer to one hour than 99 years.

However, the practice is regarded as illicit sex by the majority Sunni community.

Even in Iran, it has been considered socially taboo and uncommon, but now the country's hardline interior minister has ignited controversy by promoting temporary marriage as a way of countering a perceived increase in illegal extra- and pre-marital sex.

Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a cleric, said: "We have to find a solution to meet the sexual desire of the youth who have no possibility of marriage. Temporary marriage is God's rule. We must encourage that."

Sexual frustration is acknowledged as a problem by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Half the country's population of 70 million is aged under 30, there is high unemployment and many young Iranians complain they cannot afford to get married or buy a house.

For some, sigheh strikes a balance between the needs of the flesh and the legal demands of marriage.

Gaining speedy conjugal rights simply requires registering the relationship with a local notary or, more commonly, taking an oral vow before a cleric.

...

Sigheh is seen as a way of channelling young people's sexual urges under Iran's strict sexual segregation. "I have no money to set up a matrimonial life. I don't want prostitutes. What should I do with my sexual needs?" asked Reza Sarabi, 23, a taxi driver.

One of his colleagues joked: "It's like being able to change your old car."

Critics say temporary marriages are biased in favour of men and will exacerbate prostitution, which is illegal in Iran but on the rise.

Bill Clinton just emailed to write "Sigheh, eh...?" Somehow, he closed with an emoticon of him scratching his chin in delighted curiosity.

I didn't know they had those.

Thanks to Vilmar.

Bad Video Reference after the jump. more...

Posted by: Ace at 12:29 PM | Comments (28)
Post contains 502 words, total size 4 kb.

As Allah might say, a little "red meat:"

DALLAS (AP) - The town of Farmers Branch may not yet begin enforcing its voter- endorsed law barring the rental of apartments to most illegal immigrants, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay extended his temporary restraining order blocking the law until June 19, when he plans another ruling on whether the measure can be enforced while it is subject to legal challenges.

During a hearing Tuesday, lawyers for the Dallas suburb acknowledged there were still "drafting issues" with the ordinance. They presented a document outlining how the ordinance could be salvaged if the court finds portions of it are flawed.

The ordinance requires managers to verify that renters are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants before leasing to them, with some exceptions. Violators face fines of up to $500, and each day would be considered a separate violation.

Attorneys for the city had no comment after the hearing.

Opponents of the ordinance have argued that it is unconstitutional, discriminatory and too vague.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people whatever federal judge feels like exploring the studio space with penumbras and emanations.

Pah - Yes, I forgot about Phyler v. Doe. So the equal protection clause does apply. I hope this case does force a reconsideration of that decision, made by many of the same legal eagles who brought you Roe v. Wade.

Posted by: Slublog at 12:23 PM | Comments (22)
Post contains 278 words, total size 2 kb.

Slublog finds this particularly infuriating:

A Republican Congressman whose district was carried by John Kerry and twice by Bill Clinton told me his offices have gotten 600 phone calls against the bill and one in favor.

But they don't care.

Let me make it plain as day to all of you:

We conservatives are willing, verging on eager, to purge out every single one of you, if it is necessary to do so. We may forfeit what tiny chances we have of winning back Congress, but we will invest our hopes for a share of the government in a Presidential candidate who stands strong against this bill.

Every single one of you voting for this bill is looking into your political grave. There will be casualties; there will be a bloodbath.

Prepare for your unscheduled retirement and/or "more time to spend with your family." This will not be forgotten nor forgiven.

You are less than useless to us; you are actively part of the problem. And we're not putting up with it anymore.

Enjoy your last unchallenged primary. Enjoy your last cent of contributions from grassroots contributors. Enjoy your last term as our "representatives."

You're done. You've radicalized the right into a Kos-like political vendetta machine, and we will not only cut our own throats in order to slice yours, we'll enjoy doing so.

You've destroyed the party. Now it's our turn to demolish what's left of the wreckage and begin building again -- and your services will not be required in this endeavor.

John Edwards: Illegals Have A Right To American Citizenship: RonH wonders why this isn't all over the blogosphere. Good question; I'll do my part.

He says it near the end if, unlike me, you grow weary of staring gog-eyed at his dreamy Sean Cassidy-esque locks.

Clarification: Edwards says that it's a "hard one" to decide if an illegal working here for one year has a "right" to citizenship, but says "five years, definitely," meaning five years definitely transforms this into a right.

Thanks to See-Dub for correcting me -- but he does say it.

Posted by: Ace at 11:44 AM | Comments (75)
Post contains 364 words, total size 3 kb.

A strangely non-Christlike threat from The Messiah.

Then again, Jesus said something like "I have come as a sword," didn't he?

Obama continues speaking in empty platitudes, assuring us that he will "heal" the nation not via any tangible, well-detailed programmatic solution but rather simply through his status of High Priest of his own Cult of Personality. He's deliberately slippery on most policy questions (except for the War on Terror, which must be lost in order to begin the "healing") because he's running more or less entirely on his genetic biography -- half-black, half-white, half-Christian, half-Muslim, all peace and all healing and all things to all people.

As vapidly gauzy a sentiment as that is, I prefer it greatly to veiled threats of new Reginald Denny's being bludgeoned into brain damage should we chose someone less infused with Divine Melanin.

Walking Away From Amnesty Bill: Obama objects particularly to the guest-worker provisions, but otherwise sounds decidedly "racist" as regards enforcement.

"I'm not going to vote for something if I think ultimately that it's going to repeat mistakes of the past and not going to solve the problem," Obama told reporters Monday. "At the end of the day, if I don't think it's quite there, it'll have to wait until I'm president."

Here's the genius of the Democrats getting the Republicans to pass this bill:

The Democrats are deathly afraid of passing something on their own that is so controversial and can be used against them in upcoming elections. That's why, of course, Nancy Pelosi demanded that Bush provide her with 60-70 Republican votes for the amnesty -- to provide the Democrats with "bipartisan cover."

More and more, though, it seems as if Republicans won't be providing a fig-leaf of bipartisanship for the bill's passage; they'll be the majority supporters of the bill.

So, not only do the Democrats get lots of new permanent-Democratic voters, not only do they get a wildly unpopular bill passed, but they get to do so while blaming Republicans as being the majority supporters of the bill.

That's win-win-win for them.

And what do we get out of it?

Well, we get the scary-important "touchback" provision requiring an illegal alien to take a two hour bus trip to Mexico City before re-entering the country as an amnestied Z-visa worker. If we're lucky.

I agree with Obama's basic take, though, minus the part about him being resurrected and announcing his simultaneous bids for President and Prince of Peace. Doing nothing, for now, is wonderfully attractive option -- at least until we have a President in office who can be trusted to negotiate a true "grand bargain," rather than simply making the "awesome" Sen. Kennedy's dreams come true.

Thanks to someone for that last bit.

Re: Black Riots: Didn't NYC kinda-sorta elect the useless Nero David Dinkins on the promise that simply by electing a black mayor the city would more or less eliminate black-white tensions and rioting?

How did that work out again...?

Posted by: Ace at 11:15 AM | Comments (35)
Post contains 512 words, total size 3 kb.

I've been quiet as a mouse on this, because, you know, what can I say? Jeri Thompson is pretty hot, and that's more or less what Scarborough was saying. The "working the pole" reference was a callback to the previous guest, who was discussing pole-dancing aerobics, and not, it seems, necessarily an accusation that Jeri Thompson is a stripper or works that other pole.

Mary Katharine Ham is pretty unoffended by the whole imbraglio. Yeah, imbraglio. Best I can do.

Don Surber notes the sudden descent into 17th century prudery among liberal women (did I say "sudden"? I meant "longstanding") in knocking Jeri Thompson for having a nice pair of cans. Or, in a reference to Carrie I like, to her "dirty pillows."

It's a strange thing, but a woman can be lovely in all sorts of ways and people can note this without becoming unhinged or lecherous about it, but if she has a big chest, suddenly it's Benny Hill time. (Guilty as charged on this point!)

I remember noting a long time ago, in my head, that in elevated literature (or literature posturing as elevated), in an description of a woman, her breasts were not mentioned, or were described as small. Small breasts = high art; large breasts = low pandering.

Apparently large-breasted women are only fit for discussion in stroke magazines and more lurid pulp fiction. Strange, because, you know, about one-third of the female population is large-breasted. It's not as if we're talking about something luridly exotic like, I don't know, having nipples the size and shape of circus peanuts or something.

Just doing my part to liberate one-third of all women from the shackles of literary/cultural disrespect.

I guess the take-away here is that Joe Scarborough is engaging in Howard Stern style shock-jockism ("Welcome Margaret Carlson... oooh, look at you... oh the things I'd do to you... in my mind I've got you with a spank-paddle and Eleanor Clift over your lap"), but then again, who the hell cares about Joe Scarborough? I don't care that he's an MSNBC liberal zombiebot at this point; I got over that minor trauma long ago. It's just that he's awful as a broadcaster.

Or, as my new favorite put-down has it, "He sucks. At life." (Put-down courtesy of PetiteDov.)

Posted by: Ace at 10:26 AM | Comments (48)
Post contains 389 words, total size 3 kb.

That's right, yo. The "tough, strong" enforcement provisions of the amnesty bill forbid an employer to even check if a job applicant is illegal (whoops, there goes any effectiveness of that tough, strong new employee ID card).

Instead, an employer is required to hire "blind" -- assuming an employee is legal -- and then, only weeks or more likely months (years?) after the strong, tough federal agency has completed its background check, fire the employee if found to be illegal (or, of course, retain him if legal).

Which means that new illegal immigrants have a strong new incentive to come here illegally -- they can work for months at a time at a job without fear of having their status discovered. And when they're fired -- they can just move on to the next employer, who's also forbidden from conducting a legal-employment check on them before hiring.

Also at the link: McCain now claims anyone who disagrees with him on this reckless, ill-considered abortion of a bill...

...would intentionally make our country's problems worse ...

Intentionally, no less! He's further warning of (threatening?) Paris-style car-burnin' riots if his bill isn't passed.

And amidst all the claims that the GOP desperately needs to pass this bill to have any hope of wooing Hispanic voters, Fred! surges five points amont Hispanic Republicans while strongly opposing the bill, while John "General Jack T. Ripper" McCain loses an equivalent amount.

Posted by: Ace at 09:14 AM | Comments (100)
Post contains 272 words, total size 2 kb.