Rock music has lost a legend. Jeff Healey, the blind Canadian rocker with the unique laptop guitar playing style, passed away yesterday of cancer at the age of 41. Although he had been blind since he was a year old, Jeff began his musical career at age three, first mastering the guitar and eventually learning to play both the trumpet and clarinet. He died just one month before the release of his latest album, his first in eight years titled Mess of Blues. He will also notably be remembered as the lead singer of the rock band featured in the classic 80Â’s guy flick Roadhouse.

Posted by: Open Blog at 07:54 AM | Comments (33)
Post contains 111 words, total size 1 kb.

In a way, I don't know, this is sort of expected. Reporters are jackasses to attempt to get Hillary to swear about facts that are simply unavailable to her, and furthermore concern her slick, deceptive opponent. If this were a trial, the question would be struck for asking her about information about which she has no competency to answers.

So she answered properly, I guess.

Nevertheless, one can answer properly and really enjoy the insinuation created, can't one? Hillary sure seems to in this vid.

Question: Barack's occulted heritage having been successfully raised as an issue by Hillary, is it politically safe for Republicans to ask about it?

And even if we can get away with it (barely), is it too cheap and too nasty?

I continue to have problems with this. I do so dearly want to use this somehow. I just can't figure out how to do it in such a way that doesn't make me sound like a horrible religion-baiting bigot, which I suspect may be an early warning indicator.

You fellers are clever. You come up with something.

I guess the closest I can come is the left's insistence, as seen in such Benetton-like cult of personality holy chants such as this, is that Obama uniquely belongs to the world due to his multiracial mutlinational mutlireligious background.

And quite frankly I agree with them, but that's not a good thing. I don't think a US President should belong to the world. I think he ought to belong to America.

PS, Althouse seems to have made the same facts-not-personally-known-of point I have. I didn't lift; it's just the first thing that pops into one's head if one is legally trained, it seems.

Since I'm linking Althouse anyway I'll also link this, I don't know, thing about the letters "NiG" being visible on the child's pajamas in Hillary's phone-call ad.

I assume the pajamas say good NiGht or something.

But others suspect a deliberate insinuation of the word nigger into the debate (or "Nigero," whatever a Nigero is).

I think that's daffy, but whatever, grist for the mill. If Hillary wanted to insinuate race into the, um, race, for God's sake, she could come up with a more effective way than this, which is both too subtle (three letters on kid's pajamas?) and too crude (throwing the word "nigger" out there in 2008?) at the same time.

Posted by: Ace at 07:49 AM | Comments (56)
Post contains 429 words, total size 3 kb.

Marines are now receiving hunting training to better enable them to see and understand their environment using their instincts and senses. The goal is to help them become the hunters and not the prey in Iraq and other places.

Too many troops felt fear when they left their bases in Anbar province, the vast western region of Iraq where Marines hold the lead combat role for the U.S. military.

“Fear is a terrible thing. The Marines felt they were being hunted. They felt they were bait for the insurgents,” (Marine Col. Clarke) Lethin said.

“How do we teach our Marines to be the hunters? How do we bring the confidence back?” Lethin said. “Sometimes technology is not the answer. We think we have the answer in Combat Hunter.”

The unorthodox program draws on the expertise of an eclectic mix of consultants. There are the tracking abilities of David Scott-Donelan, a former officer in the South African Special Forces and a veteran of civil wars in Africa. Then there's African guide Ivan Carter, as well as others who would rather not be identified by the Marine Corps.

Training drills also reflect the hunting skills of Marines from rural areas and, as an unclassified Marine briefing said, the life experiences of those “who have lived in disadvantaged areas of large cities.

You have to hand it to the Marines for being creative. While other services often focus on technology, the Marines once again demonstrate their belief that their most powerful weapon is a well trained and prepared Marine.

The program is the brainchild of Marine General James Mattis, who is likely to be remembered as one of the great Marines of his time.

Posted by: DrewM at 07:41 AM | Comments (18)
Post contains 309 words, total size 2 kb.

3 missiles, one newly remodeled house.

It was a deliberate, precise strike against a known terrorist and his associates," one U.S. military official said in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the record.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:56 AM | Comments (16)
Post contains 49 words, total size 1 kb.

To refresh everyone's memory - After last weeks NAFTA bashing by both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama CTV reported that an Obama adviser had made contact with the Canadian government telling them to expect the bashing but not to worry it was all just rhetoric.

The Obama campaign and the Canadian embassy promptly denied the reports so CTV named names specifically Austan Goolsbee, the senior economic policy adviser for the Obama campaign.

Now in spite of continued denials from the Obama campaign a memo has emerged which backs the CTV story:

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) - Barack Obama's senior economic policy adviser said Sunday that Canadian government officials wrote an inaccurate portrayal of his private discussion on the campaign's trade policy in a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The memo is the first documentation to emerge publicly out of the meeting between the adviser, Austan Goolsbee, and officials with the Canadian consulate in Chicago, but Goolsbee said it misinterprets what he told them. The memo was written by Joseph DeMora, who works for the consulate and attended the meeting.

Goolsbee disputed a section that read: "Noting anxiety among many U.S. domestic audiences about the U.S. economic outlook, Goolsbee candidly acknowledged the protectionist sentiment that has emerged, particularly in the Midwest, during the primary campaign. He cautioned that this messaging should not be taken out of context and should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans."

Goolsbee continues to deny that he made any such statement blaming the entire episode on a misunderstanding:

The memo obtained by the AP was widely distributed within the Canadian government. It is more than 1,300 words and covers many topics that DeMora said were discussed in the Feb. 8 "introductory meeting" between himself, Goolsbee and the consul general in Chicago, Georges Rioux.

Goolsbee "was frank in saying that the primary campaign has been necessarily domestically focused, particularly in the Midwest, and that much of the rhetoric that may be perceived to be protectionist is more reflective of political maneuvering than policy," the memo's introduction said. "On NAFTA, Goolsbee suggested that Obama is less about fundamentally changing the agreement and more in favour of strengthening/clarifying language on labour mobility and environment and trying to establish these as more `core' principles of the agreement."

Goolsbee said that sentence is true and consistent with Obama's position. But he said other portions of the memo were inaccurate.

...

The Canadian memo said that when Rioux "asked whether we could expect to hear more of this as the elections progressed, Goolsbee thought not. In fact, he mentioned that going forward the Obama camp was going to be careful to send the appropriate message without coming off too protectionist.

"As Obama continues to court the economic populist vote, particularly in upcoming contests like Ohio, we are likely to see a continuation of some of the messaging that hasn't played in Canada's favour, but this should continue to be viewed in the context in which it is delivered," DeMora wrote in the closing section.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Goolsbee's visit was not as an emissary from the campaign, but as a professor from the University of Chicago. He was not authorized to share any messages from the campaign, Burton said.

Burton, who was on the call while Goolsbee described his visit to the AP, said, "It all boils down to a clumsy, inaccurate portrayal of the conversation."

Asked if he agreed with Burton, Goolsbee said he did.

I'll let you guys decide who is more credible. The campaign spokesman and the policy adviser to the guy running for President, who is possibly damaged by this memo? Or, the people who wrote the memo, which was widely circulated in the Canadian government, and who are interested in maintaining the trade agreement? HMMMM that's quite the stumper!

OK we all know what really happened Karl Rove used his super mind control powers to make Goolsbee go to the Canadian consulate. He then influenced this DeMora guy to write this memo. Finally he called CTV and planted the story so that immediately prior to the Texas primary Hillary could make a comeback.

(Actually in comments on some left wing sites commenters really are suggesting Rove is behind this story. Is there no end to his nefarious scheming?)

Posted by: Open Blog at 12:25 AM | Comments (25)
Post contains 751 words, total size 5 kb.

A demonstration (unintentional, I'm sure) of why the Democrats are having such a hard time this year:

And there we have one of the most puzzling conundrums of the 2008 Democratic contests. Black voters of all socioeconomic classes are voting for the black candidate. Men are voting for the male candidate regardless of race or class. But even though this is also a year with the first major female presidential candidate, women are split every way they can be. They're the only voting bloc not voting their bloc.

It's not quite the same as the CNN hair salon gaffe in South Carolina, but it's close. The author goes on to discuss how "women can be fickle," concluding that they aren't "strategic enough to form a meaningful political movement directed at taking power."

I will give the author credit for hilariously introducing the idea of women split according to class by quoting Maria Shriver asking Californians to vote for Obama:

So urgent was the matter, [Shriver] said, that she had come to the rally "straight from my daughter's riding lesson."

Ouch.

Related: Michelle Obama gives Iowahawk a good reason to repost his women in the class war classic: Aid Pours In For Victims Of 'Mommy Madness'. (Thanks to gengis for the link.)

Mrs. Obama is really turning out to be a goldmine for this type of thing. Here's Warren Meyer reacting to her remarks last week about educational debt:

I think it's so cute when my fellow Princeton grads who pull down nearly a half million dollars a year complain about being put down by "the man."

Finally: In the "Too Good To Pass Up" category comes this picture from a moron too embarrassed to let me tell you his name. I title it "From My Teenaged Nightmares/ Sci-fi Themed Wet Dreams": more...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 11:43 PM | Comments (27)
Post contains 324 words, total size 2 kb.

Virginia's highest court ruled on Friday 4-3 to uphold the conviction and sentence of one of the world's biggest assholes:

Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, N.C., considered among the world's top 10 spammers in 2003, was convicted of massive distribution of junk e-mail and sentenced to nine years in prison.

[...]

Prosecutors presented evidence of 53,000 illegal e-mails Jaynes sent over three days in July 2003. But authorities believe he was responsible for spewing 10 million e-mails a day in an enterprise that grossed up to $750,000 per month.

The reason for the close vote is that some of the justices believe that Virginia's anti-spam law is too broad and will restrict some political or religious speech that is anonymous and sent unsolicited in bulk. Jaynes' case is notable because his is the first domestic spam conviction.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 11:25 PM | Comments (13)
Post contains 145 words, total size 1 kb.

Unimpressive fellow, retired Gen. Wes Clark, thinks that John McCain doesn't have the military experience that prepares a person to be commander-in-chief. Byron York at the Corner has the goods from a conference call with retired military who support Clinton:

"Everybody admires John McCain's service as a fighter pilot, his courage as a prisoner of war. There's no issue there. He's a great man and an honorable man. But having served as a fighter pilot — and I know my experience as a company commander in Vietnam — that doesn’t prepare you to be commander-in-chief in terms of dealing with the national strategic issues that are involved. It may give you a feeling for what the troops are going through in the process, but it doesn't give you the experience first hand of the national strategic issues."

What does give you first-hand experience of strategic issues? According to Clark: being the First Lady, traveling overseas a lot on the taxpayers' dime, and seven years in the Senate.

This was a conference call, but I don't know if anyone asked the obvious question. McCain has Clinton beat for time in Congress. Over the years he's had many overseas trips where he represented the United States, not least his noteworthy service in the Navy. I guess Clark thinks that sleeping with Bill Clinton makes up for the difference. Idiot.

Variation on a theme: Here's Obama from the stump today slamming Clinton for not having the right stuff and then beclowning himself on the same topic:

Now, I have to say when it came to making the most important foreign policy decision of our generation – the decision to invade Iraq – Senator Clinton got it wrong. She didn’t read the National Intelligence Estimate, Jay Rockefeller read it, but she didn’t read it.

I donÂ’t know what all that experience got her because in my experience if you have a National Intelligence Estimate and the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee says, 'You should read this, this is why IÂ’m voting against the war,' then you should probably read it. I donÂ’t know how much experience you need for that. She didnÂ’t first give diplomacy a chance.

Well played, Senator. If only we'd tried to talk to Saddam Hussein.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 10:54 PM | Comments (18)
Post contains 382 words, total size 3 kb.

The 1980's Big Hair look is back.

What? Too much drama?

O RLY?

Actually, I don't know what the big deal is. Young men looked so nice back then, with their spiffy floral-pattern suit jackets, lacy scarves, bangly bracelets, dramatic eyeliner, taut hymens, and pink glittery lipgloss.

OK, that's the last time I abuse the flaming skull. Probably. 78% certainty, anyway.

Posted by: LauraW at 04:42 PM | Comments (60)
Post contains 105 words, total size 1 kb.

Once they were vikings. Now? So easily shocked, soooo wooden and prissy.

HARSTAD, Norway, March 2 (UPI) -- A group of British soldiers in northern Norway for winter exercises decided to do a drunken striptease in a bar in Harstad, a report said.

Once they had their clothes off, the soldiers urinated on the floor of the Sfinx bar and on each other, Aftenposten reported.

It's the judgmental tone of the bar manager's quote that really got my hackles up. Like he's got some God-given inalienable right to not have to see naked British soldiers screaming, waving their peens around, and urinating on each other.

Helloooo people??? It's a BAR, not Westminster Abbey.

Some people pay for that kind of entertainment. To the tune of $20/ month automatically billed to their Visa card and discreetly labeled "Martha Stewart's Sewing Secrets Vol. 7" so as not to arouse spousal suspicion.

I'm just sayin'. Guy's a fascist.

Posted by: LauraW at 01:32 PM | Comments (37)
Post contains 161 words, total size 1 kb.