NPR thinks it knows the answer. Not really a surprise; it's their same answer for everything about the right: Racism.

Among adults, the sport is also growing because people from Latin America, Africa, and the West Indies have brought their love of the beautiful game to an increasingly multicultural United States. As sports journalist Simon Kuper wrote very adroitly in his book Soccer Against the Enemy, "When we say Americans don't play soccer we are thinking of the big white people who live in the suburbs. Tens of millions of Hispanic Americans [and other nationalities] do play, and watch and read about soccer." In other words, Beck rejects soccer because his idealized "real America" - in all its monochromatic glory – rejects it as well. To be clear, I know a lot of folks who can't stand soccer. It's simply a matter of taste. But for Beck it's a lot more than, "Gee. It's kind of boring." Instead it's, "Look out whitey! Felipe Melo's gonna get your mama!"

As for Liddy, let's be clear. There is not in fact hard anthropological evidence that early soccer games were played with a human head. Interestingly, though, there is an oft-told legend that the sport took root in England in the 8th century because the King's army playfully kicked around the detached cranium of the conquered Prince of Denmark. Notice that this tall-tale is about Europe not "South American Indians". I think we're seeing a theme here.

But maybe this isn't just sports as avatar for their racism and imperial arrogance. Maybe their hysteria lies in something far more shallow. Maybe the real reason they lose their collective minds is simply because the USA tends to get their asses handed to them each and every World Cup. After all, as G. Gordon asked, "Whatever happened to American exceptionalism?" When it comes to the World Cup, the exceptional is found elsewhere. Could Beck, Liddy, and company just have soccer-envy? Is it possible that if the USA was favored to win the World Cup, Beck himself would be in the streets with his own solid gold vuvuzela? I feel that to ask the question is to answer it. In fact, this is as good a reason as any to hope for a mighty run by the US team. It would be high comedy to see Beck and Friends caught in a vice between their patriotic fervor and their nativist fear.

Wow, for this automatic writing NPR pays people.

Here's a less hacky explanation. Or a series of them. more...

Posted by: Ace at 02:01 PM | Comments (780)
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It's nice to know that Democrats aren't only whiny bitches when it comes to losing to Republicans.

Vic Rawl seems to be putting more effort into this than he did into his campaign.

“The strange circumstances surrounding Tuesday’s vote require a thorough investigation. For better or worse, this protest process is the only platform currently available for that investigation,” he continued.

The former lawmaker outlined slightly different reasons for the protest than were originally offered up by his campaign.

On Friday, the campaign enlisted a group of national academic experts who claimed there were troubling differences between the results of the absentee and election-day ballots.

But while Rawl said the analysis of the returns were “ongoing,” he focused Monday on stories of problems with voting machines.

“These range from voters who repeatedly pressed the screen for me only to have the other candidate’s name appear, to poll workers who had to change program cards multiple times, to at least one voter in the Republican primary who had the Democratic U.S. Senate race appear on her ballot,” he said.

At least he didn't trot out 'the Republicans did it' meme. I mean, what was that plan supposed to have been?

1-Get nominee on ballot

2-????

3-Profit!

To believe the 'plant theory' you have to presume Jim DeMint and the SC GOP (joke that it is this year) were worried about Rawl who was trailing by 19 points in a Republican year.

Earlier on FNC one of the reporters said Greene was going to court to explain to the judge why he had 10K to spend on running for the Senate but needed a public defender. That should be an interesting answer.

At least one Democrat is floating the idea, that Greene is a few bottles short of a 12 pack.

State Rep. Todd Rutherford told Fox News that he went to Greene's house to discuss with him how Greene succeeded last week in becoming the candidate to challenge Republican Sen. Jim DeMint in the November election, but he found it difficult to decipher an answer.

"About two questions into a conversation with him, it would become apparent that he is not probably fit to answer the questions befitting a Senate candidate," said Rutherford, a Democrat. "If he was put into this, then it is a joke that is funny to all the rest of us, but he doesn't get it -- because I don't know that his mental status is such that he can get it."

Now, I'd be lying if I said that thought hadn't crossed my mind as well but I think that about most Democrats. As for answering questions in a manner befitting high office, I think Bob "The Grabber" Etheridge has shown that's a flexible standard for Democrats.

Just a reminder...Greene didn't just barely win, he won by 18% (scroll down). To steal that kind of number you need professionals like SEIU or ACORN involved. If he had that kind of support, Greene would be getting more love from Dems than he is.

Posted by: DrewM at 12:25 PM | Comments (200)
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Two recent articles, one from the New York Times, and one from a far more respectable, professional, and mainstream outlet, BigGovernment.com.

NYT reporter Pamela Paul covers Hirsi Ali's recent appearances, including at one of those cocktail parties -- actually a dinner party -- we've heard so much about. This one hosted by David Frum.

The appetizer? Condescension:

Whither the conservative establishment in today’s bilious political landscape? Certainly the typical Tea Party denizen, with his “I Wanna Party Like It’s 1773” T-shirt and “You Lie!” trucker hat, would seem out of place on the Frums’ well-tended grounds, nibbling chicken skewers and mini-B.L.T.’s. In the presence of Ms. Hirsi Ali, at least, there was a sense of shared purpose.

First course? Self-flattery:

Also present was The Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker, prom-girl pretty and winner of a Pulitzer this spring for “gracefully sharing the experiences and values that lead her to unpredictable conclusions,” including a rebuke of Sarah Palin. “Like all the best conservatives, I started off as a liberal,” she trilled. In a similar display of the intellectual right’s discomfort with Wasilla-brand populism, Ms. Frum mocked a speech by Ms. Palin in April on The Huffington Post. (“There was not a single memorable line, not a single new political idea, not a single proffered solution beyond the cliché.”) And lending a poignant immediacy to the rejiggered state of affairs was the Republican Senator Robert Bennett, ousted last month in the Utah primary for his votes on health care and Wall Street reform. A certain kind of nomad, all.

But finally the main course:

“Feminists are confused by her because they’re paralyzed by political correctness,” said Ms. Sommers, who along with Ms. Parker joined Mr. Hitchens’s post-dinner cluster of party smokers in the garden, where someone had left a packet of Nat Shermans (“No artificial additives!”) on a small wrought-iron table.

The conversation turned to Iran. “Look at the way the left stood up to South Africa. Where are the feminists when it comes to the situation for women in Iran?” Ms. Sommers said. “Liberal intellectuals are more offended by Islamophobia than they are by sharia,” or Islamic law, Mr. Hitchens offered.

“Some people find my views controversial,” Ms. Hirsi Ali said during a speech at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in February. “They argue that I should be silenced.” She spoke about how growing up under Islam and immigrating had incited her to activism. “I get e-mails from Muslim individuals who say there are so many things I agree with you on, and I want to come out and say these things, but I can’t because I don’t want to live like you. I don’t want to be threatened, I don’t want to run the risk of being killed.”

By 11 p.m., the guests had finished the remaining bottles of red wine and berry-topped petit fours. The FrumsÂ’ daughter had long ceased splashing in the pool and gone up to bed. The taxis were running late and makeshift carpools were hastily cobbled together.

Out front, Ms. Hirsi Ali’s security protection kept a discreet guard. “Ayaan is the gold standard of dissent,” Mr. Hitchens said. “It’s about physical and moral courage and honesty and grace under pressure. And she obviously meets that standard.”

Meanwhile, a more reputable journalist, "Mr. Wrestling IV," attended a book signing in the People's Collective of Santa Monica.

The best question of the evening came from a young man who simply asked what would be the best way to bring about an “Enlightenment” in the Muslim world. She replied that the best way would be to ask them questions about their religion and cause “cognitive dissonance” among those who blindly follow the violent exhortations of their imams. I actually laughed out loud when she used those words, as the cognitive dissonance occurring at that moment in the Track 16 gallery was practically audible. I could swear I heard the word “What?!?” thudding over and over again in the formerly comfortable brains of those around me.

The only applause of the night (!) signaled the end of the evening, and as I lined up to have my book signed by Ms. Ali, I was struck by how short the line was. Out of the 150 to 200 people I guessed were in attendance, only about 25 or so lined up to greet this remarkable individual. As I made my way down the line, I passed pockets of fervent discussion, and caught fragments here and there. I overheard one rather agitated gentleman say, “I just think there are problems in this country that she just doesn’t understand! I mean, what’s the difference between a fanatical mass-murdering Taliban regime and a mass-murdering evangelical Christian in the White House, which this country voted in for eight years?!?”

In Nomad, Hirsi Ali states unequivocally that Christianity and Islam are definitely not equivalent, if for no other reason than Christianity’s willingness to tolerate questioning and even blasphemy without issuing death sentences, and actually calls for a “strategic alliance” between secular people –atheists like herself, Richard Dawkins, and others –and Christians in order to combat the oppression inherent in an unenlightened, unreconstructed Islam (Nomad, pp. 240-241). If this man had asked Ms. Ali his ridiculous question, she could have answered it handily. So why didn’t he? Why was he huddled in the farthest corner of the room spewing his nonsense to his nodding compatriots? What about Ayaan Hirsi Ali had flummoxed him and his fellow travellers into circles of insular outrage?

Well, she was black, so they could not dismiss her as a racist; she had lived in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, The Netherlands and the United States, so they could not call her an ignorant provincial hick; she was an avowed atheist, so they could not call her a Christian bigot on a crusade against peaceful Islam; and she was multi-lingual, articulate, and brilliant, so they couldnÂ’t just call her stupid. All the pejoratives they usually apply to people who disagree with them wouldnÂ’t work, and so they were left to confront her ideas, and those ideas stripped them naked, rent their garments of superiority and condescension into tatters at their feet, and left them angry and confused, whining to each other in the corners of the room, unable to say anything to her face. Their favorite weapons, ad hominem name-calling and sneering condescension, were disarmed.

That's a good point -- this man could have engaged in the free exchange of ideas and posed the question to Hirsi Ali herself, and gotten himself the answer. (Or, at least: an answer.)

Instead he remains silent in her presence, but then asks the question in a purely rhetorical manner to his like-minded FreeMinds (TM), where he doesn't risk getting an answer that might provoke him into thinking.

These FreeMinds (TM) sure don't seem as eager to collect data as advertised.

Posted by: Ace at 11:42 AM | Comments (130)
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And I don't mean "control" in a good way. I mean "control" as in "plans attacks."

Matt Waldman, a Harvard researcher whose research is published by the London School of Economics, said there was extensive collaboration between the ISI and the Taliban, led by Mullah Omar, as well as a second faction, the Haqqani network.

He drew his conclusions from interviews with nine Taliban field commanders in Afghanistan who said ISI agents were working closely with the groups.
“According to both Taliban and Haqqani commanders, it controls the most violent insurgent units, some of which appear to be based in Pakistan,” he wrote.

“Insurgent commanders confirmed that the ISI are even represented, as participants or observers, on the Taliban supreme leadership council, known as the Quetta Shura, and the Haqqani command council.”

This was already often speculated.

Posted by: Ace at 10:33 AM | Comments (123)
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Yeah, I'm pretty sure that the actions of Democrat Bob Etheridge of North Carolina fit the definition of assault.

The Congressman says he has a right to know who these two college kids are. Um, no. Actually, they do have the right to do exactly what they did, the Congressman can even look that up.

Etheridge is no doubt a little cranky about being tied to the Obama agenda because, well, it's killing him. Especially on health care, which he wound up voting for despite what his district was telling him.

In EtheridgeÂ’s district 47% of voters said theyÂ’d be less likely to vote for him this fall if he supported the bill. And 47% said theyÂ’d be less likely to vote for him this fall if the Democrats in Congress passed the bill, regardless of how Etheridge himself voted.

I hope these kids file charges.

BTW- Am I the only one surprised to find out that a Congressman who voted for ObamaCare is actually a violent tea bagger? Big tent indeed.

Update: Bob "Hands Of Furry" Etheridge has himself an opponent, Renee Ellmers. I'm not saying you should vote for her because she's a nurse and an attractive woman. That would be wrong. I'm saying vote for her because she calls ObamaCare,, um, ObamaCare on her website and seems to be solidly on the conservative side down the line.

Her campaign really needs to use this Etheridge video in a spot. Start with him saying "Who are you" and then cut to voters saying they live in the district and are upset with his votes on issue a,b,c, then show the Who Are You? bit and have Ellmers say, "I'm Renee Ellmers and I approve this message because it's time we send a conservative to Washington who will fight the Pelosi/Obama agenda, not citizens who ask questions".

Thanks to "mrp" for putting me some information on Ellmers.

Posted by: DrewM at 07:44 AM | Comments (562)
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Why is all the good stuff always under the worst places in the world?

The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.

The vast scale of AfghanistanÂ’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said.

While it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war.

That last thought is a nice one but if the Taliban was willing to fight so hard for the country when it was a dirt poor wasteland, I'm thinking their interest in winning has only gone up. And when I say 'the Taliban' I really mean the Saudis, Pakistanis and everyone else on the planet. Anything that draws the strategic interest of Russia and China is rarely helpful to us.

Most people seem to think Obama is committed to bugging out of Afghanistan starting next year. Will this new variable have an effect on that or will his desire to placate the left heading into '12 outweigh all other considerations? If these new mineral deposits are seen has having an impact on his decision expect to see "No Blood for BlackBerrys" signs.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:50 AM | Comments (148)
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Flag Day!

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 04:58 AM | Comments (166)
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Some rare economic good news! Production rises while prices fall, particularly in the American manufacturing sector. Unfortunately, this doesn't help the jobs picture much as the production gains come mostly from automation and efficiency gains in the supply and delivery chains.

Stock futures were up slightly over the weekend, meaning that the markets may be able to consolidate some of the gains from late last week.

More after the jump. more...

Posted by: Monty at 03:06 AM | Comments (85)
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End of the weekend for some, just another day for others, but all are welcome at the ONT party.

Star Wars: Kurosawa Edition

A lot of people claim that Lucas pretty much ripped off Star Wars from Kurosawa, but much as I love to bust on Lucas I think this is being uncharitable. I'd say he took the parts of Hidden Fortress that made it a good story and movie and moved it to space, added a back story, some Campbell-ian hero's journey details, amazing special effects and ended up producing a masterpiece. So at worst you could say he was inspired by Kurosawa and made a revamped mash-up that stands on its own.

Part of his genius was to take story elements, none of which was new, from a lot of sources and put them together in a nearly perfect way. Of course Kurosawa himself stole a lot of his ideas from American westerns (particularly John Ford films) and translated them into a Japanese context. Clearly there's been a lot of cross-pollination back and forth between US and Japan films. So if you're a young filmmaker looking for ideas like Lucas (or Tarantino), you might as well as 'steal' them from all of the best.

If you're interested in Star Wars filmgeekery, there's a lot more here on the influences that led to Star Wars.

And The Hidden Fortress is well worth watching on its own merits even if you're not a Star Wars fan.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:53 PM | Comments (811)
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He means Bush did it. (Hah, couldn't resist.) No, he means he's planning to take the fight for oil "over there." (Hah, did it again. Sorry.) No, seriously, he must mean that it was an intentional attack that killed thousands of people and terrified a nation.

Oh, well then he must just be comparing a piddling oil spill in the Gulf to the largest, deadliest, most disruptive terrorist attack in United States history because he's an asshole.

Don't get me wrong. The spill is a BFD, as the Vice President would say, but it isn't even in the same hemisphere as 9/11. Not even the same planet. The spill, an accident, will have substantial consequences for Gulf state economies, and if the Democrats have their way will further cripple the domestic petroleum industry. That's a big deal, but it doesn't "echo 9/11."

Obama is comparing the two for the simple and repulsive purpose of inflating the spill's significance. Y'see, if it's on the scale of 9/11, well then he can be forgiven a bit for handling it so poorly. After all, it's so unprecedented and world-shattering. And if he eventually manages to sort it out (or at least take the credit when BP does) then, why, he'd just be the Awesomest One Evar.

The full piece from Politico's Roger Simon has to be read to be believed, but the 9/11 comparison really takes the cake. Click over for the whole thing, but here are some highlights:

He is pathetically unaware of how much a crybaby he still sounds about his treatment from the press.

Hardening one of his persistent complaints throughout his presidency, Obama expressed frustration with press coverage of his administration’s response, declaring that “the media specifically is demanding things that the public aren’t demanding.” He contended that “the overwhelming majority of the American people” have reasonable expectations.

Even Maureen Dowd (link is to Don Surber) is calling him out about being "elitist, too, as well as thin-skinned and controlling" with respect to the press.

And then it gets really serious. Is President Obama micro-managing decisions on the Gulf response like President Johnson mismanaged the Vietnam War?

“What the public wants to see is us solving this problem. And that may not make for good TV. Me sitting in a meeting with [Energy] Secretary [Steven] Chu and [Gulf national incident commander] Thad Allen and looking over maps and figuring out how boom gets someplace, that’s not something that is high theater. But ultimately that’s going to make the biggest difference in terms of whether or not the Gulf recovers.”

I really hope that was just a hypothetical and not an actual statement of what he's been up to. Frankly, I'm surprised by the confession given the miles of oil booms that the President and his crack team let sit in a warehouse.

Obama's back to blaming anyone but himself (suprise!) for the problems faced by the Democrats running up to November:

“So I’m going to be fighting on [Democrats in Congress'] behalf and doing everything I can and using my bully pulpit to communicate that fact to the American people,” he said. “I know there’s an anti-incumbent mood out there right now because … people are frustrated about the hit that the economy has taken. … But what I’m going to remind people of is we didn't create this mess.”

Oh, but you didn't fix it either, buddy boy. Simon suggests that this interview previews the White House strategy for the elections this fall. If so, I pray that they stick with it. 'Cause God knows that the electorate always perks up for a whiny, sad-sack President.

His delusion:

And he said he will use the rest of his presidency to try to put the United States on a course toward a “new way of doing business when it comes to energy.”

He sure will. In Portuguese.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:24 PM | Comments (134)
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