Archives for February 2007
Six Months or Bust
Published on 28 Feb 2007 at 11:37 pm.
5 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, military.
UK Guardian, citing “former senior administration official” says the “Baghdad brain trust” of officers advising Petraeus gives the US in Iraq six months before the wheels fall off the cart:
Talk On
Published on 28 Feb 2007 at 11:10 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under Iran, Iraq.
Iran and Syria want to talk. It’s just not clear how much or what about. March 10, with the five permanent UN Security Council members in attendance:
Support the Troops!
Published on 28 Feb 2007 at 10:46 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under Uncategorized.
Some nifty ideas on how to make the most of a Murthized military. (h/t jawa)
Hoisted by His Own “Padilla”
Published on 28 Feb 2007 at 10:32 pm.
4 Comments.
Filed under Guantanamo, al qaeda.
Jose Padilla, not crazy enough to skate. Judge notes he was able to sign his own statement alleging torture, so he’s sane enough to stand trial and participate in his own defense.
Read ‘Hoisted by His Own “Padilla”’
RFK Jr: Money for Pols = Science Fiction Nightmare!
Published on 28 Feb 2007 at 11:23 am.
6 Comments.
Filed under pols.
RFK Jr. rips Bush on enviro policy. Great quote, worthy of filing away for future reference:
“We’re living in a science-fiction nightmare in this country … because somebody gave money to a politician.”
Read ‘RFK Jr: Money for Pols = Science Fiction Nightmare!’
Transylvanian Community Service
Published on 28 Feb 2007 at 10:48 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under pervs, vampires.
Convicted perv’s prison-penned tome about Dracula gets two years knocked off his sentence:
Read ‘Transylvanian Community Service’
Wales vs. McDonalds
Published on 28 Feb 2007 at 10:20 am.
5 Comments.
Filed under Britain.
“Have you got anywhere with McDonald’s, have you tried getting it banned? That’s the key.”
Evolution = Conservative Values
Published on 28 Feb 2007 at 12:32 am.
7 Comments.
Filed under anthronerdism.
David Brooks posits the passing of the notion of innate human goodness, supplanted by recognition of natural tendencies to competitiveness and strife.
Read ‘Evolution = Conservative Values’
Yea, Verily, Shall Ye Stuff the Dead Stripper in There
Published on 27 Feb 2007 at 11:23 pm.
No Comments.
Filed under celeb.
One of John Hawks’ local TV news guys treats John Cameron’s Jesus Tomb project with all due solemnity, piety, etc:
My first reaction, I thought they should take the bones, put them back in the box, pop in Anna Nicole Smith, and put them back in the tomb.
Read ‘Yea, Verily, Shall Ye Stuff the Dead Stripper in There’
Talk, Cheap
Published on 27 Feb 2007 at 11:01 pm.
6 Comments.
Filed under Iran.
Condoleezza Rice says the United States will join Iraq in sitting down with Syria and Iran.
Anyone care to guess whether anything good will come of this? If it leads to serious talks, if there are any agreements, what they will be worth?
“You Are in an Arab Country”
Published on 27 Feb 2007 at 10:46 pm.
7 Comments.
Filed under middle east.
A Saudi poet’s lament, via MEMRI:
Read ‘“You Are in an Arab Country”’
Self-Loathing Libs
Published on 27 Feb 2007 at 10:32 pm.
5 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, Cheney, blogs.
Huffpo hatefest expunged, after up to 400 commenters spew vile about Taliban bomb outside Cheney’s gate at Bagram. Comments like this one:
Surge Good
Published on 27 Feb 2007 at 12:27 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under Iraq.
Gateway with another view from inside:
Operation enforce the law is so far going better than expected and appears to continue this way. I spoke to my father in Baghdad, he said that the street is very impressed by the operation and receiving much cooperation from the people. They have done in four days what we [...]
About That Oil
Published on 27 Feb 2007 at 11:19 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, Stratfor.
Stratfor on the Iraqi cabinet’s draft oil revenue-sharing legislation says its the US a “new claim to success in its nation-building efforts for Iraq.”
Some potential problems, however:
Taliban Targets Cheney
Published on 27 Feb 2007 at 10:15 am.
7 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, Pakistan.
“At 10 a.m., I heard a loud boom.”
Soon after the blast, Cheney — who officials say was never in danger from the blast at the sprawling base — went ahead with talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the capital.
Asked if he had ever considered changing his plans to go to Kabul, Cheney said that [...]
Blame Game
Published on 27 Feb 2007 at 10:07 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under Iraq.
Perle, not caught up in trendy apology craze, dishes out blame to Newsmax, which keeps demanding to know when he stopped beating his wife. He whacks Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, George Tenet and the National Securtiy Council, acknowledges the mistakes … Bremer’s, not Rumsfeld’s … but just won’t apologize for Iraq!
Apologism Rules
Published on 27 Feb 2007 at 9:17 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, pols.
Eli Lake at the New York Sun on the growing Iraq apology trend and (a couple of the reasons) why the apologists* are full of it:
Surrender Enthusiasts Surrender
Published on 27 Feb 2007 at 2:17 am.
10 Comments.
Filed under Uncategorized.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic leaders backed away from aggressive plans to limit President Bush’s war authority, the latest sign of divisions within their ranks over how to proceed.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday he wanted to delay votes on a measure that would repeal the 2002 war authorization and narrow the mission in [...]
Read ‘Surrender Enthusiasts Surrender’
Walking While Blonde
Published on 27 Feb 2007 at 12:09 am.
4 Comments.
Filed under celeb.
Someone told animal rights activist Pamela Anderson* her sheepskin boots were made of sheepskin. Caught walking while blonde, she takes her Uggs off.
I think Jessica Simpson still has her, though.
Thanks Tim, for this important development.
Michelle: Dumb and Dhimmi. Blondes get no respect!
Ace: Grateful for evidence of advanced moronbrain status!
*Real people have fake blonde hair! And other stuff!
Fake Rocket Real
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 11:40 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under Iran.
Gateway reported on Iranian rocket fauxtography. Stratfor, reporting on a rocket launch, suggests fake but real:
Monday Night Milvid
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 10:45 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under military.
French … maybe French Canadian … anti-tank crew in action.
h/t Seraphic Secret
On Blixin’
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 10:37 pm.
4 Comments.
Filed under Iran.
Hans Blix, pro-bribing of humiliated mullahs:
More Stuff
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 10:20 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under Iraq.
A polyurethane blob dressed up to look like a rock, all full of Iranian stuff. Found in the back of a truck in a raid in Hilla:
More Gore
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 12:40 pm.
13 Comments.
Filed under celeb, pols, warmalism.
Still feeling globally warm and fuzzy after the Goracle’s trip to the mountaintop? Drop by his house.
Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service.
Inconvenient, if true: Gore’s electrical usage has jumped [...]
Jesus, Still MIA
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 12:17 pm.
4 Comments.
Filed under Uncategorized.
It must be getting close to Easter, says the Anchoress. The I-found-Jesus-stuff crowd is out again.
Anc and others are not impressed by the Discovery Channel’s Jesus Tomb claim.
Dienekes picks apart the Jesus DNA thing and looks forward to a new round of Da Vinci Codism.
Faith will just have to remain mysterious.
Pak It Up
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 11:53 am.
7 Comments.
Filed under Pakistan, al qaeda.
Cheney shows up unexpectedly and tells Musharraf what he doesn’t want to hear:
Fight There
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 11:06 am.
5 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, pols.
Lieberman in the WSJ to his fellow Democrats* … stop and think about what you’re doing before you act. It’s a tall order. Lieberman gamely, and with stark clarity, lays out the nature of the impasse in Washington and the case for supporting the current security operations in Baghdad:
What is remarkable about this state of [...]
Asian Games
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 10:42 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under China, india.
Historynet’s Judith Klinghoffer, Indiablogging, rounds up recent tension-boosters in and around the neighborhood and gets a bad 1914 feel off it.
Oscar Goreming
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 1:03 am.
4 Comments.
Filed under celeb, pols, warmalism.
I’m not sure if this is a spoof. Washington Post:
Gut Strain
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 12:51 am.
6 Comments.
Filed under anthronerdism.
I already had a gut feeling about this. But apparently the DNA of bacteria we carry around in our guts tells the story of our origins. We’ve been carrying this stuff around since Africa. Its been evolving. Anthropology.net:
Original Sins, Fair Game
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 12:45 am.
3 Comments.
Filed under pols.
Newspapers and leftie blogs are abuzz with the warmed-over news from the 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial election that Mitt Romney’s got polygamists up his Mormon family tree. Sweetness and Light notes a lack of interest in polygamy, and other stuff, up Barack Obama’s family tree. Wild guess here, but I’m going to take it:
Read ‘Original Sins, Fair Game’
Illegal Criminals
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 12:17 am.
5 Comments.
Filed under crime, illegals.
The AP and other articles I saw failed to include this key bit of information. The man suspected of kidnapping a 13-year-old boy and leaving him tied to a tree in the woods in a ransom scheme reportedly is an illegal alien who had already been deported once. Doesn’t belong here. Shouldn’t be tying people [...]
“Once-Promising Strategy”
Published on 26 Feb 2007 at 12:06 am.
16 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, Uncategorized, pols.
Murtha trips over shark, falls under bus as other Dems look on idly. The funny part about this Washington Post article is the way it appears to be suggesting that if Murtha had just sprung his troop-undercutting plan by surprise next week, or if Democrats had leapt to his defense, his “once promising strategy” might [...]
Read ‘“Once-Promising Strategy”’
Kharnival of the Iranities
Published on 25 Feb 2007 at 11:39 am.
6 Comments.
Filed under Iran, media, military, pols.
The messages on Iran and out of Iran are so mixed, no wonder everyone’s confused. It’s a regular Iranian funhouse:
Read ‘Kharnival of the Iranities’
Carnival of the Insanities
Published on 25 Feb 2007 at 10:37 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under blogs.
Dr. Sanity rounds up the lunacy.
Read ‘Carnival of the Insanities’
Sunday Morning Mutiny
Published on 25 Feb 2007 at 10:15 am.
13 Comments.
Filed under Britain, Intel, Iran, media, military.
The London Times says up to five top U.S. generals and admirals will resign if we attack Iran.
Here are some of the key phrases:
Tough Talk!
Published on 24 Feb 2007 at 7:59 pm.
10 Comments.
Filed under Iran, North Korea, pols.
Bill Richardson appears to be saying this with a straight face:
The recent tentative agreement with North Korea over its nuclear program illustrates how diplomacy can work even with the most unsavory of regimes. Unfortunately, it took the Bush administration more than six years to commit to diplomacy. During that needless delay North Korea developed and [...]
Appeal for Patience
Published on 24 Feb 2007 at 1:00 pm.
9 Comments.
Filed under Iraq.
Our essential eyes on the ground, Mohammed at Iraq The Model, updates the surge, counsels the media and pols to cool it, voices optimism and notes that Baghdadis would be happy with more checkpoints with longer waits. He and his pals went through seven in a two-hour tour of Karkh and Resafa. Mohammed offers up useful pointers [...]
Kumbaya, My Lord
Published on 24 Feb 2007 at 10:55 am.
13 Comments.
Filed under Iran, Israel.
If another aircraft carrier group in the Gulf and a couple of detentions in Iraq made Ahmadinejad sound like a flower child, this news ought to make him start sounding like Gandhi:
Poster Kids
Published on 24 Feb 2007 at 10:13 am.
16 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
CBS will be trotting out some anti-war vets for a big special tomorrow. USMC Sgt. Liam Madden and about 1,000 others who want to squawk but are unwilling to face court martial for their beliefs like Lt. Watada. They sent a petition to Congress under a whistleblower provision:
“Just because we volunteered for the military doesn’t mean [...]
IAEAsy
Published on 23 Feb 2007 at 11:58 pm.
5 Comments.
Filed under Iran, North Korea, UN.
So how come mullahs and third-rate leftover Stalinists are interested in doing business with the IAEA?
The Wondah Down Undah
Published on 23 Feb 2007 at 11:43 pm.
15 Comments.
Filed under Australia, Cheney, Iran, Iraq, al qaeda.
Cheney, in an interview with The Australian’s Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan, puts another shrimp on the barbie:
Ahmadinejad’s Disinformation Service
Published on 23 Feb 2007 at 9:02 pm.
8 Comments.
Filed under Iran, Iraq, media, military.
Remember when CNN was Saddam Hussein’s rangefinder service? Back in the Gulf War, when the Iraqis would launch their Scuds and the CNN reporters would call them in live.
“That one’s just on the outskirts of Dhahran!”
“That one’s a little northwest of my position here at the such-and-such hotel in Tel Aviv!”
Read ‘Ahmadinejad’s Disinformation Service’
Affinity Soul-Deep
Published on 23 Feb 2007 at 9:10 am.
12 Comments.
Filed under Australia, Cheney, Uncategorized.
Our Dark Lord Cheney in Oz, heralds the deep bond of the soul between two great nations.
“Australia and America share an affinity that reaches to our souls.”
Good News Bad News
Published on 23 Feb 2007 at 12:25 am.
28 Comments.
Filed under Good News Bad News, Iran, Iraq, Islam, media, military, pols.
Sometimes they make it sound bad when its good. Sometimes they make it sound good when its bad. Sometimes good is good, and bad is bad, but not for the reasons you might think.
Good news on Iraq: Senate Democrats are moving to rewrite history, by limiting the Iraq war authorization they voted in 2002. Good news how?
Chimp Surprise
Published on 22 Feb 2007 at 7:48 pm.
4 Comments.
Filed under anthronerdism.
Chimps, smarter than they look. They’re using spears. Apparently its only sheila chimps, though. The blokes can’t be bothered.
It should be no surprise that chimps are smarter than they look.
I don’t know what the big deal is about chimps using spears. So what? But what’s with girl chimps outperforming guy chimps? What are the guy chimps doing?
Occam’s Punji
Published on 22 Feb 2007 at 10:04 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under military, vietnam.
Damn, that’s sharp! And nasty! Occam’s punji stick will eff you up!
Our Vietnam chopper jock’s serialized tale of being targeted for assassination by the VC continues over at Castle Argghhh!!!
Trinh smiled to ease Phouc’s apprehension. “Soldier Phouc, you have performed your mission well. But I feel that I may have missed something of import in the message. Now [...]
Blogging Time
Published on 22 Feb 2007 at 9:33 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under Islam, blogs, middle east.
Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil gets four years for insulting Islam and Hosni Mubarak … the United States needs to get all over that.
Quote of the Year …
Published on 22 Feb 2007 at 2:36 am.
8 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, military.
… so far, but this will be tough to beat:
“If you talk to these sheiks, they’ll tell you that they’re in no hurry to see the Americans leave al-Anbar.
“One thing Sheikh Sattar keeps saying is he wants al-Anbar to be like Germany and Japan and South Korea were after their respective wars, with a long-term [...]
FDR, Hitler … Natural Allies!
Published on 22 Feb 2007 at 1:49 am.
20 Comments.
Filed under Iran, celeb, media.
Got to hand it to the Iranians. They know their audience. The charm offensive continues with unnamed senior Iranian official kissyface with Christiane Amanpour. It’s got a coy kind of 1940s spy thriller noire thing going on:
