I guess an open thread for non-political stuff.

Like this -- underwear that comes straight from the factory with crap-stains on it. Why? To hide your money in, so that thieves won't take it.

That's from David Thompson's Friday round-up of goofy stuff.

Anyway. Open thread. And I guess Open Blog, why not. This new podcast about D&D 4th Edition isn't going to listen to itself.

Posted by: Ace at 05:28 PM | Comments (23)
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Am I really going to link the unhinged Larry Johnson?

Yes I am.

He's not saying much more than I did before: Jeremiah Wright's "Christianity" isn't really Christianity, it's Farrakhan's Nation of Islam with the serial numbers filed off and "Mohammad" swapped out for "Jesus."

But he's a liberal, so he's allowed to say it. And there's actually a chance someone in the media might consider that obvious point worth pursuing.

Via Instapundit. The hapless Oliver Willis makes a brief, meaningless appearance.

And, Oh: Jim Geraghty on liberals, whom are irony-proofed right at the factory at no extra charge. Regarding Obama's denigration of small-town Americans as only "clinging" to religion due to frustration:

Boy, I'd hate for people to get bitter, and to cling to antipathy to people who aren't like them because of, say, a religious leader... You know, somebody preaching hate from the pulpit or something like that. Good thing Barack Obama is always on top of circumstances like that, and would never stand for that...

In case any small-town Pennsylvanians are (mouth) reading, I'll attempt to explain:

Geraghty is saying that Obama shouldn't be knocking Pennsylvanians for practicing a hate-based religions given that he subscribes to the hate-based religion of Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Okay: Now let me try explaining this to Oklahomans--

Obama is a bad man.

Posted by: Ace at 05:15 PM | Comments (27)
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Wire ties.

These wire ties. In the wheel well. Which were one and one quarter inch apart, instead of the FAA mandated one inch apart.

The 1/4" spacing on these fabric wire ties blew away the travel plans of a quarter of a million people. Is it because the FAA asserted itself (after having been embarrassed that some of their inspectors might have been on the take with the Southwest 737 debacle) and of course Congress stepped in to do "right things"?

I know. I'm asking bullshit questions that they can't respond to. Well fuck them. I want responses.

I'm no engineer, nor do I play one on television, but could not this non-flight risk concern have been addressed over time? I get it, I know, if the Dave in Texas Truck has an issue, he can pull over into the bar ditch without fear of flame.

I ask as a flier who didn't have to get fucked over by American this week.

Was it politics that inconvenienced a quarter of a million passengers these past couple of weeks? This week in particular?

And by that I mean was it a grand-standing asshole named James Oberstar, Dickhead-Minn?

I have needs. I wants to know.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:47 PM | Comments (29)
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An emissary of hope. And change. And banjo.

It's patriotic, too, y'all. You heard Yankee Doodle Dandy in there, right?

I feel so fuckin' healed right now it burns like ice.

Hmmm... I have linked not one but two videos starring Ronnie Cox today.

I am betting this is a blogospheric first.

I think someone owes me another Blogger of the Year award or somethin'.

Oh, incidentally: It's not dueling banjos, for crying out loud. One of them is a guitar.

But I guess small-town folk refer to jess about any old music-makin' device as a banjo. The difference is this is a banjo you finger and strum, this here's a banjo you blow into, this otha one here is one of them Grand Banjos you sit yo'self down in front of and tickle the keys of.

Posted by: Ace at 04:40 PM | Comments (43)
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Bumped. And flaming-skulled.

Well, it is what he said, more or less.

Actually he said this at a San Fransisco fundraiser (of course), but I can't wait 'till Pennsylvanians hear about this. Obama on the "resentments" of small-town Pennsylvanians:

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them...And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Nevermind all that stalking and sodomizing of city-slickers from Atlanta.

This isn't Obama "misspeaking," either. Remember, in that speech on race -- the greatest speech since Abraham Lincoln -- he first seemed to allow that white Americans had legitimate complaints about affirmative action and black crime rates, but then claimed those frustrations were actually misdirected anger about corporations.

This is pure leftist cant -- it's all "false consciousness" stuff, all what our Corporate Masters want us to think, playing us all against each other as they line their pockets with our sweat and tears.

Guns, border security, even religion itself aren't really legitimate points of interest. Instead they're all part of the "culture of fear" indoctrinated into us by the corporate emperors really running this country.

Thanks to Larwyn.

USADawg:

This is how Barry and his core supporters really think. Anyone who doesn't live in an urban center without 2 Starbucks per block is an ill-read hick and anyone who believes in God or the 2nd Amendment is an angry, frustrated potential abortion clinic bomber. The degree of condescending pretentiousness here is staggering.

Audio! Dude! Maybe if you tell them they're stupid and they smell like weasels on the rut you'll pick up 5% in Pennsylvania!

More! How bad is this gaffe? Well, even Hillary Clinton hacks are calling it condescending, and liberal spinner Kirsten Powers admits that there are some things that liberals say to each other when "among friends" that just don't play so well in Wilkes-Barre or Beaverton.

Which is interesting:

What other sorts of things do you liberals say to each other behind closed doors, Ms. Powers?

Why it's almost as if you have one way of speaking among the progressive elite and another language entirely for the rubes you'd presume to govern.

And which manner of speaking represents your real beliefs and expresses your real agenda? It's a mystery we'll never quite be able to puzzle out, I'm sure.

(See later updates for this stuff.)

Allah writes:

If you missed the Standard’s post a few weeks ago on the various complaints about “distractions” that creep into Obama’s rhetoric, read it now. This is of a piece with it. Everything in the Obama universe, including gun rights evidently, that doesn’t fit his agenda is a byproduct of external forces conspiring to manipulate the masses to keep his agenda at bay. Exit question: How does Hillary leverage this? Does she dare get the video and stick it in an ad?

Good point. I saw this for the warmed over "false consciousness" hard, hard leftist cant it was, but I didn't think to connect it up with Obama's endless talk of "distractions" -- distractions (such as religion!!!) which keep us from seeing the True Oppressors and Real Enemies.

This shit you and me talk about every day? Terrorism, border security, abortion, God, guns, etc.? All distractions from the real issues, which Obama never gets quite 'round to detailing for us but you can probably guess it doesn't involve a capital gains tax reduction.

Empower the people, baby. Rise up against the corrupt white power system. And if you have to "bamboozle" and "hoodwink" a few of 'em to get there, no big shakes.

As a great man once said, you can't make an ommlette without breaking a few eggs.

Obama's Political Education: Here is exclusive archival footage of Obama being groomed for his candidacy by ace campaign manager David Axelrod:

Update: Allah tells me I'm being unfair to KP. I guess because it's an honest admission of how liberals talk to each other in private, so not something she should be attacked for. She's not saying she does it, necessarily. She's just telling us the way it is.

But while I take his point, I still am hellacurious as to what other things liberals might say that sound "totally normal" to them but doesn't play outside of Upper West Side dinner parties and Georgetown fundraisers and San Fransisco salons.

Give her points for honesty, yes, but a few demerits for not expanding on precisely what other sorts of very-derogatory stuff they might say about the hicks in the sticks, or what other Marxist cant they might find themselves easily slipping into when they're not careful.

Why are they allowed to keep their secret liberal code secret?

Oh, and Obama responds. Lifted from Allah, go there if you want the link to the source:

“Senator Obama has said many times in this campaign that Americans are understandably upset with their leaders in Washington for saying anything to win elections while failing to stand up to the special interests and fight for an economic agenda that will bring jobs and opportunity back to struggling communities. And if John McCain wants a debate about who’s out of touch with the American people, we can start by talking about the tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans that he once said offended his conscience but now wants to make permanent,”

I think he just called all this a distraction from the need to repeal the Bush tax cuts.

How do you folks read it?

Connecting It Up To Yet Another Slip of the Tongue: WS:

it isn't a gaffe, just a revealing slip of the tongue. Orthodox, secular liberals like Obama tend to explain religious fervor as a symptom of fear and bitterness. Likewise the irrational racism, xenophobia, and attachment to firearms of the "typical white person."

You all cling to God and guns because you live in shitholes and you have nothing goin' on for yourselves economically.

This is one degree away from saying "Religion is the opiate of the masses."

Heh: Spamhead writes:

Of course Obama is wrong. Rural Pennsylvanians loved their guns, hated foreigners and minorities and used religion as a front for their hatred loooong before the mills closed.

Yeah, right?

I don't get this whole "society/economic alienation causes hatred of the other" type shit. I've hate "The Other" the moment my postnatal brain became aware that there was such a thing as "The Other."

I'm proud to say that no one needed to teach me how to hate.

Correction: Okay, okay... I changed King of Prussia to Wilkes-Barre.

Posted by: Ace at 04:23 PM | Comments (174)
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Below is a silly video of a drunk chicky out clubbing with the girls. The woman who made it has an equally silly website. Enjoy your Friday night! (mild language warning)

Posted by: Open Blog at 03:49 PM | Comments (17)
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You've heard the fake stage cackle this shrill witch employs to deflect any difficult question she wishes to clumsily imply is so silly as to be beneath response.

But on this one... I don't know, this almost sounds real. But she sounds like a maniac pinhead laughing at it. Is she really that arrogant and self-deluded about her integrity that she thinks a perfectly reasonable conflict-of-interest question is absurd?

That's what the laugh says.

She sounds just plain unhinged to me.

Via Instapundit, who just began building his own news network with his own military reporter/correspondant in Iraq.

Maybe CBS can outsource to him.

Posted by: Ace at 03:00 PM | Comments (8)
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French troops ended a hostage drama aboard the French yacht Le Ponant on Friday in Somalia after the shipÂ’s owners paid an estimated 2 million dollar ransom. All 32 of the hostages were recovered safely as where 6 of the 12 pirates. The remaining 6 pirates along with a substantial portion of the ransom were not recovered.

Reports stated that a French military sniper aboard a rescue helicopter fired on a pirate vehicle on shore, disabling its engine. The 6 pirates riding in the car were captured by the French soldiers.

On Monday, the pirates sailed the ship to the Somali port of Eyl, about 300 miles north of Mogadishu, and some 250 miles from where they originally seized the luxury yacht. It was there that they demanded a ransom for the crew of 10 Ukrainian and 22 French nationals, six of which were women. Other reports listed 6 Philippine citizens as part of the crew held hostage. Late this week, the owner of Le Ponant negotiated and paid an alleged 2 million dollar cash ransom to the pirates.

"It's obviously a very delicate and difficult context, and so the only thing you should take from this is the outcome — crew members who are going to be able to go home to their families,"

Said Jean-Emmanuel Sauvee, a spokesman for the shipÂ’s owner. Comforting words for the future hostages of these emboldened pirates.

Posted by: Open Blog at 02:17 PM | Comments (12)
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Someone's been reading this site, I see.

Proudest day of my life.

Silvio Berlusconi has said only "retards" will vote for his rivals in ItalyÂ’s general election.

"I do not believe that Italians could be retarded enough to fall into a trap like this," said the media magnate in his final rally in front of the Colosseum.

Mr Berlusconi used the word "grullo", a grave insult in Florentine dialect.

...

Meanwhile, his main rival, Walter Veltroni, blasted Mr Berlusconi as a man from a different era.

"I hear this talk about Stalinism, about taking up arms or revolution and I think: What planet are we on? What year are we in?" he said, to 100,000 cheering supporters in Milan.

Yeah, that's what I would normally think, but check out how "enlightened" Canada's becoming.

Thanks to Junkyard Blog, which has a 7/7 bomber on the run, as well as some links to some games (scan down to "Who Loves Ya, Baby?"). One's a zombie shooter, the other's a... gritty Victorian mystery thingee, with whores. Or "doxies," as See-Dub calls them, channeling the DMG.

Posted by: Ace at 12:59 PM | Comments (11)
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The HRC confessed it had no jurisdiction to keep harassing Mark Steyn and MacLean's, but decided to brand them "guilty" anyway in dropping the case.

Richard Warman, once a member of the HRC and now a guy making money off filing suits before it, is attempting to muzzle Canadian bloggers using the same fascist tactics he's grown wealthy on.

Warman's not just suing me. He's suing some of the biggest names in the Canadian blogosphere - from Kate McMillan of Small Dead Animals to Kathy Shaidle of Five Feet of Fury (or, Five Feet of Furry, as the lawsuit says on page 2), to Free Dominion, the largest conservative chat site in Canada. Warman's goal is breathtaking in its chutzpah: he wants to muzzle the Canadian conservative Internet. It's not just his goal - it's the goal of the CHRC itself, and its friends at the Canadian Jewish Congress, who have stated their goal is to "tame" the Internet - or at least those voices they disagree with. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the CJC was bankrolling Warman's lawsuit - they've done joint legal work together before, and Warman's number one defender is on the CJC's legal committee. The CJC hates conservatives, and this would be a way for them to do damage to the conservative blogosphere without taking the political flak for it.

Take a look at the language Warman's lawsuit uses to smear Free Dominion. At paragraph 17, Warman calls them an "extreme right-wing discussion forum". Look at that language - hardly distinguishable from the CHRC's and CJC's boilerplate insults reserved for neo-Nazis. That's what this lawsuit is about: an attempt by the CHRC's biggest star to try to marginalize Canadian conservatism. And why not? The CHRC has moved from targeting white supremacists to targeting mainstream conservatives like Mark Steyn; the Alberta HRC has already gagged Christian pastors and taken a run at Calgary's bishop, and two years ago they charged me with publishing the Danish cartoons of Mohammed. Surely attempting to criminalize conservatism is just the next, natural step for these congenital censors.

And enjoy this chilling quote:

Freedom of speech is an American concept, so I don't give it any value.

-- Dean Steacy, Canadian Human Rights Commission.

You know, by and large I consider anyone crying "fascism" to be something of a lunatic. Even if in a good way, like a well-meaning kook.

But if Canada is going this way, I guess I'm the crazy one after all.

Posted by: Ace at 12:47 PM | Comments (37)
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