From Shamus at John Cheese's site:

Every time I watch one of those ads with the guy from Die Hard 4 telling me how easy and user-friendly his computers are to use, I thank God that he granted me the gift of intelligence so that I don't need to use Apple products to keep up in life. That's not to say that I'd describe myself as a "PC guy", either. It's just that Apple seems to market its products exclusively to people with a much lower than average IQ, and I wouldn't feel any pride in bragging to people that I prefer Mac. It feels like it would be admitting defeat. "I don't know what a hard drive is or how files work or how to double-click things, and the last time I got an error message I poured bleach into my CPU, and that's why I use a Mac!" I feel as though I'd be like the chubby, quiet kid with the Neanderthal brow in elementary school who got held back a grade for repeatedly cutting himself with the grown-up scissors, so now he has to use the big purple plastic safety scissors. And then Justin Long saunters in with his smart-casual attire and mild I-swear-I-won't-fuck-your-daughter expression, and announces smugly that that kid is the coolest kid in the class because he uses iShears.

The editiorial comments are pretty funny too.

Posted by: AndrewR at 11:04 AM | Comments (74)
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I'll put this up while I work on my Die Hard review.

Posted by: Ace at 11:00 AM | Comments (38)
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Wonderful:

Gunners fired shots after an aircraft carrying President Gen. Pervez Musharraf took off from a military base Friday, officials and witnesses said, in an apparent assassination attempt that has added to the sense of crisis enveloping Pakistan.

It was unclear if the incident was linked to an army siege of a radical mosque in the capital. However, it underlines concerns about the threat posed by Islamic militants to Pakistan's stability and role as a key U.S. ally.

Compounding the gloom, police said a suicide attacker pedaled a bicycle bomb into a military convoy in the northwest, killing four soldiers.

...

The plane later landed safely in the town of Turbat for a visit to Pakistan's flood-ravaged south.

If confirmed, the attack would be at least the fourth attempt on Musharraf's life since his decision to side with the United States in its war on terror enraged Taliban and al-Qaida-linked radicals in Pakistan.

Within minutes, police and troops had surrounded a house in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near Islamabad. Officials said two anti-aircraft guns and a light machine gun were found on the rooftop.

...

Officials said the owner of the house had been taken in for questioning and that they were looking for a couple who rented the property this week.

Thanks to dri.

Posted by: Ace at 10:36 AM | Comments (14)
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I've found the line I'm going to take the next time I get into an argument with a lefty about anything health-related:

President Sarkozy has fallen foul of intellectuals and critics who see his passion for jogging as un-French, right-wing and even a ploy to brainwash his citizens.

...

“Is jogging right wing?” wondered Libération, the left-wing newspaper. Alain Finkelkraut, a celebrated philosopher, begged Mr Sarkozy on France 2, the main state television channel, to abandon his “undignified” pursuit. He should take up walking, like Socrates, Arthur Rimbaud, the poet, and other great men, said Mr Finkelkraut.

“Western civilisation, in its best sense, was born with the promenade. Walking is a sensitive, spiritual act. Jogging is management of the body. The jogger says I am in control. It has nothing to do with meditation.”

He went on to deplore other such "right-wing" activities as treating sewage, not loading your gun before you clean it, and avoiding herpes, none of which have anything to do with meditation either.

Things get fun in the comments:

Jogging is an addiction like a drug addiction. If some people like jogging, so be it. If some people like pot or some other substance, so be it. Myself, I don't do either, but who am I to prevent other people from doing what they like and which harms no one else?

Frankly, I find drug users better company than joggers.

bernarda, Paris, France

So do I, but only because joggers won't give you a "desperation handjob" in return for a crack fix.

And then there's this guy:

When the officers run, the troops worry... A still valid principle.

Ronnie, Paris, FRANCE

I think that last one made me have a stroke.

I may be missing the point of all this, but I think what they're trying to say is that all the fat, lazy Americans who don't exercise and weigh themselves with livestock scales are really...progressives?

Via Hot Air.

Posted by: AndrewR at 07:52 PM | Comments (94)
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Vindication? Or the typical degeration of the academy from rigorous scholarship to pop-"academic" pandering?

here are some signs academy is softening its [anti-pop-"medievalism"] attitude, as fans who grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons or online games like EverQuest take up scholarly pursuits themselves. At this yearÂ’s leading academic conference on medieval studies, held in Michigan, an event showcasing games like an online version of D&D drew a crowd of doctoral students and professors.

Posted by: Ace at 03:01 PM | Comments (19)
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Thanks to steve_in_hb, via neither_steve_in_hb_nor_not_steve_in_hb.

Posted by: Ace at 01:11 PM | Comments (24)
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Run down by a car. Beaten by an intruder. Shot. Then locked up with killers.

"Oh God, what have I done to deserve this?"

"I mean, okay, besides all that. The life of violent criminality I give you."

Thanks to Roland.

Posted by: Ace at 01:02 PM | Comments (9)
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Shhh! Don't tell the other guests or they'll all want some!

"It was a lady who at the end of the meal at a friend's house, and after washing the dishes ... decided to take the leftovers of the meal down to the basement to store in the deep freeze," Wilwerth said. "Once she opened the deep freeze, she discovered the bodies."

Guests alerted police, who identified the bodies of the man's wife and her 12-year-old son. The bodies appeared to have been kept in the deep freeze for several weeks.

Wilwerth said the suspect acknowledged that a domestic quarrel had escalated and his wife had been stabbed, but she said he had not explained the circumstances of the child's death.

A FoxNews producer "expressed regret" that the killer had no associations with professional wrestling whatsoever.

Thanks to Paul.

Live Quiet Or Die Hard: Neighbor upset by noisy fireworks opens fire, killing three.

Not quite in the spirit of the day, eh?

Posted by: Ace at 12:49 PM | Comments (24)
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Ten to the 42nd power, actually-- and that does represent the net mass of "life, the universe, and everything." (Actually it's 3 x 10 to the 42nd kg, but close enough for a comedy writer.)

It's really not a terribly interesting question and answer, though. I prefer the mice's "How many paths must a man walk down?"

Posted by: Ace at 12:36 PM | Comments (14)
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Video.

In the Profiles in Modern Courage department, note how her male colleague is willing to lend one hand to assist her in fighting off a deranged lard-ass -- but is not willing to set down his documents and folders in order to lend her the other hand.

Thanks to dri.

Posted by: Ace at 12:27 PM | Comments (51)
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