In the name of "sensitivity," Islamic schools will be permitted to conduct their own inspections. Special rules for the de facto state religion, after all.

And a "leading" British education group advocates an end to teaching patriotism.

Patriotism should be avoided in school lessons because British history is “morally ambiguous”, a leading educational body recommends.

History and citizenship lessons should stick to the bare facts rather than encouraging loyalty to Britain when covering subjects such as the Second World War or the British Empire, the Institute of Education researchers said. Teachers should not instill pride in what they consider great moments of British history, as more shameful episodes could be downplayed or excluded.

The slave trade, imperialism and 20th century wars should be taught as controversial issues while students are deciding how they feel about their country, the report says.

Three quarters of teachers felt obliged to tell students about the danger of patriotism. The survey suggested neither pupils nor teachers wanted patriotism endorsed by schools.

I have a feeling that Islamist schools, now unfettered by outside inspections, will not be teaching that Islamist values are "morally ambiguous."

So while Islamic schools promote an unhinged pro-Islamist agenda, it's now just wrong to pipe up for the unifying values of Britain.

Thanks to CJ.

Posted by: Ace at 01:02 PM | Comments (34)
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Apparently we've solved every major problem in the world and can now move on to the secondary stuff.

The ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee wants N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell to explain why the league destroyed evidence related to spying by the New England Patriots.

New England Coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 by the N.F.L. after the Patriots were caught stealing defensive signals.

In the stretch of 12 days, from Sept. 9 to Sept. 20, the Patriots were caught filming the JetsÂ’ defensive signals in violation of N.F.L. rules, ordered to hand over all tapes of illegal filming to the league office, fined $750,000 and made to forfeit a first-round draft pick.

Then the N.F.L. announced it had destroyed the evidence.

In a telephone interview Thursday morning, Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania and ranking member of the committee, said that Goodell would eventually be called before the committee to address two issues: the leagueÂ’s antitrust exemption in relation to its television contract and the destruction of the tapes that revealed spying by the Patriots.

“That requires an explanation,” Specter said. “The N.F.L. has a very preferred status in our country with their antitrust exemption. The American people are entitled to be sure about the integrity of the game. It’s analogous to the C.I.A. destruction of tapes. Or any time you have records destroyed.”

I guess it keeps the alte kacher busy. Like whittling.

Thanks to Driver.

Posted by: Ace at 12:41 PM | Comments (31)
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Apparenty it's unrealistic that women ever take unwanted pregnancies to term.

Given the current climate, sure, that's probably not the most frequently taken path. But then reviewers go all goofy for quirky independent films where decidedly more marginal choices are made -- like a guy who devotes his life to having sex with his Real Doll. Those odd choices are celebrated by reviewers as opening our eyes to a world of possibilities.

Giving birth to an unplanned child, though? Dude, how absurd. Let's not bother making movies about such bizarre and unrealistic people.

We need movies that really speak to the heart of the experience of life, like Gay Cowboys Eating Pudding. Such stories have a potent resonance for all of us.

Posted by: Ace at 12:27 PM | Comments (23)
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I'm not playing hooky; I'm just not finding anything interesting to post about. There's news out there, I just have nothing new to say about it. My cobloggers seem afflicted by the same malaise. Or maybe they just have lives.

I'm also aware that the McCain bashing gets old, even for readers who don't like McCain.

So Open Blog for this weekend. If you don't have a pass and want to post, drop me a line at aceofspadeshq.

You have to add a bit more.

It's at gmail.com.

I'm separating the address like that because I think netbots scan sites for email addresses.

I'll be posting here and there, but as I'm apparently spent and burned out for now I figured maybe some of you have interesting news to post.

Posted by: Ace at 12:16 PM | Comments (16)
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The Deciders.

Incidentally, the networks will claim they're employing some sort of objective, if sensationalistic, standard: If it bleeds, it leads. And so they will claim, to the extent they address the criticism at all, that they're simply reporting on violence in Iraq, and as violence falls, so does their coverage.

The problem with that claim is that while they do relish covering every Al Qeada or insurgent attack in Iraq, they do not seem to have much appetite for reporting on our troops' big victories against Al Qaeda. There's some bleeding there, too, and by their own standard that ought to be leading.

But they're just not interested. Only Al Qaeda "victories," such as they are, apparently merit any reporting whatsoever.

Posted by: Ace at 11:56 AM | Comments (11)
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ThereÂ’s a good bit of difference between the number Iraqi officials say were killed in the two attacks (over 70) and what the US military can confirm (around 30) but the numbers donÂ’t change the awfulness of this attack.

As a Soldier home on leave from Iraq once told me about the enemy over there, “some people just need to be killed”. This is no doubt who he had in mind.

The chief Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, claimed the female bombers had Down syndrome and that the explosives were detonated by remote control, indicating they may not having been willing attackers in what could be a new method by suspected Sunni insurgents to subvert stepped up security measures.

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said the bombings showed that a resilient al-Qaida has "found a different, deadly way" to try to destabilize Iraq.

"There is nothing they won't do if they think it will work in creating carnage and the political fallout that comes from that," he told The Associated Press in an interview at the State Department.

Despite the significant improvements in security weÂ’ve seen over the last few months, this is an awful reminder of how relatively easy it is for a barbaric enemy to spread wanton death and destruction.

Just how this is supposed to rally Iraqis to their side I am not sure. The reality is these terrorists arenÂ’t a political force but rapid rabid dogs that need to be put down. My guess is attacks like these are only going to drive more and more Iraqis to help American troops track down these foreign killers.

Posted by: DrewM. at 09:57 AM | Comments (171)
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And that war is between your mother's immune system and several dozen revolting crud-like organisms she invited into her body during a series of increasingly deviant and disturbing acts involving lower primates and even a few invertebrates.

Also, she eats exclusively at Hometown Buffet.

I hereby declare a flame war.

Frankly, some of you are getting too uppity for your own good. Walking for short distances on your hind legs and trying to form words with your face-holes. At first it was amusing, but enough is enough.

Bring it. Suckers.

Posted by: LauraW. at 08:55 AM | Comments (214)
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