Conservative Writers, and David Brooks, Meet With Obama for Dinner, Detente
— Ace

David Brooks, George Will, and Bill Kristol. Whether David Brooks is even a bit conservative at this point is questionable.

I doubt it means anything. Obama wants to make a show of his "post-partisan" politics of Hope and Change, that he's "reaching out" and blah bah blah, and the other guys want to meet with the president-elect. Who wouldn't? I wouldn't turn down a chance to meet with a president-elect.

Despite speculation, Limbaugh wasn't there. He was in DC to meet with Bush.

Posted by: Ace at 09:35 AM | Comments (95)
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Man Who Wanted To Slit The Throats Of Airline Passengers And Burn People To Death In Their Office Was Tortured Roughed Up A Bit
— DrewM

Since they won't have George Bush to kick around much longer (though you know they will try), the left has a newly minted hero today. Susan Crawford, who is the person appointed by the administration with charging Gitmo detainees, used the 'T' word. There will be much rejoicing in across the leftyshpere today no doubt.

The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a "life-threatening condition."

"We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani," said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview since being named convening authority of military commissions by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in February 2007. "His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case" for prosecution.

..."For 160 days his only contact was with the interrogators," said Crawford, who personally reviewed Qahtani's interrogation records and other military documents. "Forty-eight of 54 consecutive days of 18-to-20-hour interrogations. Standing naked in front of a female agent. Subject to strip searches. And insults to his mother and sister."

At one point he was threatened with a military working dog named Zeus, according to a military report. Qahtani "was forced to wear a woman's bra and had a thong placed on his head during the course of his interrogation" and "was told that his mother and sister were whores." With a leash tied to his chains, he was led around the room "and forced to perform a series of dog tricks," the report shows.

The interrogation, portions of which have been previously described by other news organizations, including The Washington Post, was so intense that Qahtani had to be hospitalized twice at Guantanamo with bradycardia, a condition in which the heart rate falls below 60 beats a minute and which in extreme cases can lead to heart failure and death. At one point Qahtani's heart rate dropped to 35 beats per minute, the record shows.

My 'Give 'O Shit' meter doesn't even budge on this one, never has, never will.

You want torture? I'll give you fucking torture. How about this...you are at work and suddenly there is a tremendous crash and fire. After huddling with your co-workers you realize you are 80 stories up and cut off from rescue by an out of control fire below you. The heat is becoming so intense that you can't stand it much longer. So you you try and call your loved ones and if you're lucky you get through. Maybe you get to say goodbye to them directly or you leave leave a voice mail that will haunt them forever. Then you break a window, hang hundreds of feet above the ground and let go.

That's torture. more...

Posted by: DrewM at 06:26 AM | Comments (204)
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Top Headline Comments 01-14-09
— Gabriel Malor

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:13 AM | Comments (41)
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Man Sells Teenage Daughter into Marriage for Cash, Beer, Meat andÂ…Gatorade? (And you can haz overnight open thread in case no one else fashions one out of macrame) (genghis)
— Open Blog

Well, I can certainly understand the first three items, but Gatorade?

So only 13 days into the Age of Obama, we already have a frontrunner for “Father of the Year.” According to this story from California:

”(CNN) -- A California man sold his 14-year-old daughter to an 18-year-old man for cash, beer and meat -- then called police when the prospective bridegroom didn't live up to his end of the deal, authorities said Tuesday.”

“Marcelino de Jesus Martinez, 36, of Greenfield, California, was arrested Monday and booked into the Monterey County Jail, Greenfield police said in a statement. He faces felony charges of receiving money for causing a person to cohabitate, police said.”

Causing a person to cohabitate is against the law? *sigh* I did not know that. Well, the people chained up in my basement will be happy to hear that, now that I have to free them. And they were such hard workers. Also, there's probably no reason to go into the issue about calling the cops when something like this goes wrong since it's so common these days: "I was trying to score some heroin/hooker/yellow-cake uranium and dude ripped me off!" We've all seen the stories, or been personally involved in them. But back to the story:

”Martinez had arranged through a third party to have his daughter marry the older teenager, identified by authorities as Margarito de Jesus Galindo, of Gonzales, California. In exchange, Galindo was to pay Martinez $16,000 and provide him with 160 cases of beer, 100 cases of soda, 50 cases of Gatorade, two cases of wine, and six cases of meat, Greenfield Police Chief Joe Grebmeier told CNN.

Again, I can understand most of this grocery list, but the Gatorade? ThatÂ’s just simply wrong.

New ad slogan: ”Now more than just a source for essential electrolytes, but also a primary component of your under-aged daughter’s pre-arranged marriage contract!"

(Pre-emptive disclaimer since I know someone will freak out about making fun of this story...yes, it's very sad and wrong. And we all feel bad about the fate of the girl.)yes

Posted by: Open Blog at 08:36 PM | Comments (110)
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Smartest Woman in the Room Says We'll Work "Smarter, Not Harder"
— Dave in Texas

All we have to do is "revitalize" the mission of "diplomacy".

That should do the trick.

WASHINGTON – Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that she intends to revitalize the mission of diplomacy in American foreign policy, calling for a "smart power" strategy in the Middle East and implicitly criticizing the Bush administration for having downgraded the role of arms control.

Seems to me that killing your enemies is the most effective method of arms control there is, and one that ought not be downgraded hastily.

In related news, Hillary further embraced her deeply held conviction (see what I did there?) that public service is a sacred trust between the people and their government, and potential conflicts of interest are best addressed with full and open financial disclosure.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, President-elect Barack Obama's choice for secretary of state, rejected calls Tuesday for more details about donors to her husband's foundation, saying she has revealed enough to avoid even the hint of conflicts. An Associated Press review found that Clinton stepped in at least a half-dozen times on issues involving businesses and others who later gave to the charity.

Clinton said as secretary of state she will not be influenced to act on behalf of her husband's contributors, which include foreign governments.

"It will not be in the atmosphere," Clinton said.

Granted, that sounds a lot nicer that "How does my ass taste, Lugar"? But I think it was the same thing.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:11 PM | Comments (98)
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Hope and Change: Obama Cooking the Books on the Economy?
— Ace

Obama's pick to run the executive OMB was previously the director of the Democratic-run CBO.

He's now predicting doomsday type numbers up to five times worse in terms of deficit than the CBO he ran was predicting a month ago.

Because, of course, the worse predictions he makes now, the better Obama looks later.

Clinton did this too, of course, claiming the numbers on the economy were sooooo much worse than he'd known that he'd have to cancel that middle class tax cut we were all so anxious for.

Bush tried this a bit himself. He said, during the long recount battle, the economy had stalled. Democrats and their spokesmen in the MSM claimed he was making it all up, just "talking the economy down."

Of course, two weeks after Bush was sworn in, Greenspan reported that the current rate of GDP growth was, and I do quote, "zero point zero."

So the economy had fallen from 3.5% (or thereabouts) to 0.0% growth in the period Bush claimed the economy had stalled, but the Democrats and the MSM of course all contended that all of this dramatic fall-off must have happened from the very minute Bush was elected.

Obama's really setting a new high in setting the bar for lowered expectations. And, even more than Clinton, he has the lapdog media to snap to his commands.

Posted by: Ace at 03:31 PM | Comments (90)
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Science Confirms: We're Awesome
— Ace

Human beings are "SUPERPREDATORS" substantially driving the evolution of other animals, and at a faster than natural pace, by hunting the crap out of them and bending them to our superpredatory wills.

Hey, polar bears?

You're welcome.

Thanks to Arthur.

Posted by: Ace at 02:49 PM | Comments (85)
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"Come and Touch It, Dave:" Knick Sued for Gay Sex Harassment By Chauffer
— Ace

Man on man defense.

Is it true? I don't know. The allegations go a bit farther into gilding-the-lily territory:

[The chaffeur David] Kuchinsky, 36, who is straight and Jewish, also alleges racism, saying Curry hurled slurs at him, including "f- - - ing Jew," "cracker," "white slave," "white devil" and "grandmaster of the KKK."

Curry, a former Chicago Bull, said last night he was "shocked" at the allegations. "It's false, and everyone who knows me knows I'm not a racist," he said after the Knicks beat the Hornets in New Orleans. "I've never made a comment like that, playing, or nothing. . . . That's incredible, man."

Curry's lawyers were in court today filing a Motion to Keep This on the DL.

Posted by: Ace at 02:31 PM | Comments (40)
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Bush in Pictures: "My Way"
— Ace

This is a bit snarky, and I wouldn't link it in the main blog usually, but as "My Way" is a Paul Anka song (as he endlessly tells us all), I guess I have no choice in the matter.

via PetiteDov.

Posted by: Ace at 01:35 PM | Comments (27)
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"We Want to Kill All the Jews"
— Ace

Neo-Nazis join pro-Hamas rally, Gateway Pundit headlines.

"Join?"

Quick, let's pressure Israel to make the "hard choices" necessary for peace. Because they're really the ones in need of a serious attitude adjustment.

Thanks to CJ.

Posted by: Ace at 01:24 PM | Comments (47)
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