Man accused of harassing a neighbor

by gnome.

Police have taken a dim view of a man's glowing garden gnome and threatened him with arrest unless he removes it.

The solar-powered policeman figure stands sentinel in the garden of Gordon MacKillop's home in Treovis, near Liskeard.

His neighbour, former policeman John McLean, says the gnome is annoying and upsets buyers viewing his home.

Now police have served Mr MacKillop with a notice for "placing a garden gnome with intent to cause harassment".

Ht to chase me ladies.

How nerdy am I?

Must-have for terrorists

from the Purple Avenger:

The digital pocket Koran


The perfect gift for stylish modern "on the go" jihadis who you're having a problem finding a gift for. Explosives can be difficult to obtain and tricky to transport/store. Firearms can get you into legal problems for executing a "strawman" purchase. The digital pocker Koran has none of these liabilities.

Stylish. Sleek. A marvel of modern electronic wizardry. The digital pocket Koran includes a built in clock/timer, cell phone, GPS, and special plug for hooking up detonators. You will be stylishly equipped for even the most demanding detonation scenarios.

Newt Gingrich makes a point

From today's Opinion Journal:

T

he analysis Mr. Bush offers the nation--before the Joint Session on Sept. 20, 2001, in his 2002 State of the Union, in his 2005 Second Inaugural--is consistently correct. On each occasion, he outlines the threat, the moral nature of the conflict and the absolute requirement for victory.

Unfortunately, the great bureaucracies Mr. Bush presides over (but does not run) have either not read his speeches or do not believe in his analysis. The result has been a national security performance gap that we must confront if we are to succeed in winning this rising World War III.

Gingrich's article is very complex and deals with many problems, which I do not want to discuss here. But one thing is very clear: the president has not tamed the bureaucracy, and like a lion tamer who ignores the lion, is attacked and undermined. He must have learned this stuff at Harvard Business School--that's the only place that would be dumb enough to counsel an executive not to control his suboordinates. The timeservers and placemen have undermined him at every turn. This Richard Armitage mess is just the latest example.

Is anyone asking for Armitage's resignation? Of course not. Does anyone control the CIA, which has been wrong about 95 percent of the time in the last 50 years? Heaven forbid. Has anyone kicked ass in the State Department? Ha. Ha. So these folks make a monkey of the president and run rings around him--and get away with it!

I can't imagine Roosevelt or Truman putting up with it. Or Reagan.

Reflections on Delaware vs New Jersey

1. Delaware is prettier. My neck of the woods in NJ kind of had a used-up look, as if it were coated with a barely visible coating of dust.

2. People in Delaware are friendlier.

3. But Delaware drivers are dumber. Way dumber. Many of them seem to be driving in their sleep. They dreamily change lanes or make left turns in front of oncoming traffic. They'd be run over by an 18-wheeler if they dared to drive that way in New Jersey.

4. On the bright side, Delaware drivers drive more slowly. Particularly when they are in front of me in the left lane.

5. People who come to your house to fix things are more incompetent in the First State. Particularly Verizon and Comcast. The guys who attempt to fix computers. Plumbers. I'm sure the Garden State had its share of clucks, but they didn't darken my door. My computer guy was brilliant. Cablevision worked. However, I do have a wonderful handyman, and I'm not going to tell you who he is.

6. Less crime in Delaware. Or so I thought. However, since I had my wallet stolen once and my car broken into twice in the past year, I am re-thinking this, and installing a burglar alarm and motion detectors.

7. Delaware has fewer cops lurking around. NJ cops had a way of lying in wait for drivers, then ticketing them for something. Advantage Delaware. I suppose this would be a disadvantage if you happened to need a cop. So far, I haven't.

8. DE--lower taxes all around. NJ--highest property tax of the 50 states. That was the deal maker for me. In NJ, I kept running out of money before I ran out of month. I get to keep more of my money here.

9. Shopping. New Jersey wins. No question.

10. Medical care: New Jersey has my knee doctor, who is a genius. Delaware obviously does not, but the docs seem competent. It's a draw. St Francis Hospital, DE, is confusing and has a terrible parking situation; Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, the same.

New Jersey: in all its grotty and gritty ways, it just felt like home. Delaware: it will feel like home as soon as I learn where everything is.

I need some fresh blood in my blogroll

Everybody reads the Big Ten or Big 20 bloggers: you know who I mean. I read them too. Instapundit, etc.

I'm looking for some new bloggers, new ideas, new insights. I love quirky ideas. I like funny stuff, too.

If you read this and enjoy coming here, and if you blog with a certain amount of regularity*, please comment and I will add you to my blogroll and try to read you regularly.

*Regularity does not mean once every 6 months.

Note: That doesn't mean you're never allowed to have a vacation.

Nightmare scenario

from Dave Nalle, what might happen if the hard left takes over.

I hope he's wrong.

The latest in British hospital gowns

for Muslims.

l












For Jewish women, a modest suggestion from Pillage idiot:

becoming, isn't it?

My life as a Democrat

I wasn't always a Republican; I began life as a Democrat. This was particularly useful in Albany, NY, where Republicans did not have potholes in their streets fixed or the snow removed (There was a lot of snow).

Albany had a notorious Democratic political machine, reaching back to Martin van Buren, I guess. We had a county boss--Irish--who pulled the strings behind the scenes. Our Mayor, Erastus Corning II or III or V--I don't remember, was the longest serving mayor in the United States. He came from a fine old family. He didn't live in Albany, of course, having a nice place in the suburbs, but had a fictitious domicile of record on South Lake Avenue, I remember.

The Dems hired a lot of the local citizens as elevator operators or gardeners or such--something that would be done by a machine elsewhere. Also supplied baskets at Christmas, I think. They would clean your street if you applied to the proper person, and were a Democrat.

When we first moved to Albany, we lived on the second floor of an old house with very high ceilings, and therefore a long of flight of stairs. You really had to be young or strongly motivated to drop in chez Charm.

A regular visitor was our district leader, a little old man with a bad smoking habit. He would ring our doorbell, then climb the stairs, wheezing continually. He would take a few minutes to catch his breath, and then tell us who to vote for in a tremulous voice. We said okay and voted for whom we pleased.

We then bought a house. When we acquired it, it was assessed at a low figure, say $10,000. As soon as the property changed hands, the assessment went up to three times that. We were told that we had to call our Committeeman and ask him to represent us in lowering the assessment. Every time I called the guy he was going to a wake or funeral. (He was also Irish. And a politician.)Or a meeting. Or a wedding. Mr Charm prevailed upon someone in the know to talk to him, and he filed our assessment request. The cost immediately dropped back to $10,000.

Well, one thing led to another, and we moved to NJ. I took a notion to vote in the Republican primary; I knew one of the candidates. So I registered as a Republican. I tried to go back once or twice, but was too indolent. After a while I started to act like a Republican, and think like one. It was too late.

One of my friends, who had been an ardent and active Democrat, moved from the city to the suburbs. She called up someone in the Dem Party and offered to volunteer. They told her they didn't need any volunteers.

So she volunteered for the Republican Party. They were happy to have her. She was an indefatigable worker and knew everybody. She became a staunch Republican activist and rose to be County Republican Chair.

It's the first step that counts.

Jewish community shoots self in foot

Endorses racist Jew-hater.

Among other things ... are: Ellison's local leadership of the Nation of Islam, his defense of the "truth" of an attack on Minneapolis Jews as "the most racist white people," his affiliation with convicted murderer and Vice Lords gang leader Sharif Willis, his support of the Vice Lords gangbangers charged (and subsequently convicted) with the murder of Minneapolis police officer Jerry Haaf, his outrageous attacks on law enforcement authorities, his demand that Symbionese Liberation Army terrorist Sara Jane Olson be freed, and his concern for the continuing freedom of convicted cop-killer Assata Shakur on the lam in Havana. Not one of these elements of Ellison's public record has been reported in the local media.

We have used Ellison's various public incarnations as Keith Hakim, Keith X Ellison and Keith Ellison-Muhammad to raise the question: Who is Keith Ellison? In the course of the present campaign, Ellison has held himself out as a friend of the Jewish people and of the state of Israel. Several prominent Jewish supporters have vouched for him in the face of a long public record that belies his present avowals. As a kind of exclamation point or capstone to our "Who is Keith Ellison?" series, we reported the appearance of Hamas supporter and CAIR executive director Nihad Awad at an August 25 fundraiser for Ellison. Awad's appearance for Ellison went unreported by the Star Tribune except indirectly in the quotation of a debate statement by candidate Michael Erlandson a week later.

So tell me, what else is new?

A lot about WalMart,

and some stuff I didn't know about Target:

I want you to do some research,... twice a week go to Walmart,and walk thru the store,and look at all the employees,then drive over to Target,and do the same thing,do this for six months,then tell me how many employees that work at Target you see that worked there 6 months ago,and do the same with Walmart. I can guarantee that the number will be higher at Walmart. Why? Because Target has a policy that after the employees 90 day probation period is over they are slowly written off the schedule,that way they don't have to pay insurance or give a raise,and they hire a new employee,and do it all over again. They will tell the employee that they are still employed there,but right now they need to give more hours to new employees so they can train them,and this goes on until the employee quits,because they can't make it one 6 hours a week.

A young person in my family was subjected to the same treatment--hours cut until they were non-existent, and I think it's a rotten thing to do. I wondered why Target is always hiring people--there are signs all over the store, and they have a kiosk where you can apply right then and there.

We don't have a WalMart; I have to make do with Target, and an occasional visit to Costco. But I wish we did have one. Why? Because competition benefits the consumer.

Glenn Ford is dead

I always liked him, possibly because Mr Charm resembled him in his youth.

GF had a good long life, and when he died his significant other was 44 years younger than he.

Way to go, Glenn!

My sentiments exactly

let' not have any more independent counsels.

Labor Day! Bah humbug.

I thought today would be a good day to have something fixed on my car. I drove hither and thither, and no-one was open, not even Jiffy Lube. I can't believe Labor Day has such deep meaning to the population in general. Apparently here in the boonies everyone takes Labor Day off.

Labor Day as a holiday doesn't have much going for it. It doesn't appeal to patriotism, it isn't religious, it doesn't have fireworks. All it has is Jerry Lewis and the depressing thought that the summer is over. The swimming pools close and school opens. Whoopee! The stores, which are already decked out for Halloween, now bring out their Christmas decorations.

I know it is unreasonable, but I like stores and gas stations and drugstores to be open all the time. Movies too. That's why I like New York City. No holiday or happening overwhelms it. Christmas, Yom Kippur, Ramadan; the city is bigger than any of them. Something is always open, something is always going on somewhere. It gives one the feeling of unlimited possibility, even if it is only the possibility of refilling a prescription or buying a quart of milk.

The whole metropolitan area, North Jersey, Westchester and Long Island, seem to have caught on too. Years ago, stores closed on holidays. Now I believe they are only closed Christmas and Thanksgiving. It's not that I want to buy anything. I just want to know that I could.

Against multiculturalism

The Bishop of Rochester weighs in on the situation in Britain:

[I]n the name of multiculturalism, mosque schools were encouraged and Muslim pupils spent up to six extra hours a day learning the Koran and Islamic tradition, as well as their own regional languages. Finally, there are the grievances. Some of these are genuine enough, but the complaint often boils down to the position that it is always right to intervene where Muslims are victims (as in Bosnia or Kosovo), and always wrong when they may be the oppressors or terrorists (as with the Taliban or in Iraq), even when their victims are also mainly Muslims.

Given the world view that has given rise to such grievances, there can never be sufficient appeasement, and new demands will continue to be made. It is clear, therefore, that the multiculturalism beloved of our political and civic bureaucracies has not only failed to deliver peace, but is the partial cause of the present alienation of so many Muslim young people from the society in which they were born, where they have been educated and where they have lived most of their lives. The Cantle Report, in the wake of disturbances in Bradford, pointed out that housing and schools policies that favoured segregation, in the name of cultural integrity and cohesion, have had the unforeseen consequence of alienating the different religious, racial and cultural groups from one another.

A very significant number of policies will have to be rethought. In this, the Government will need expert help. There must be greater encouragement for moderate Muslim voices to be heard more clearly. All religious leaders, representing any faith, wanting to work here, must be required to show that they are properly qualified, can speak English and are willing to undertake courses in adaptation to culture in this country: a number of suitable institutions offer such courses. Immigration policy should be shaped in such a way as to be able to discover whether potential immigrants have sympathy for characteristically British values and for the way of life here.

The cultural heritage of people who come here must be respected. They should be able to take pride in their language, literature, art and spiritual background. At the same time, if they are to adjust to life in this country, they should be prepared to live in mixed communities, and not on their own. Their children should attend school along with those who come from the host culture, or from other cultures and traditions. They should be willing to learn through the medium of English and to be socially mobile, rather than "ghetto-ised" on the basis of religion, language or culture.

Politicians keep talking about the need to teach British values so that there can be national cohesion. But what are these values, and whence do they come? The most fundamental of these has to do with the innate dignity of all human beings, with fundamental equality, with liberty and with safety from harm. Those learning such values will know how to respect the dignity of people who are quite different from them in appearance, language or belief.

They will not see themselves as superior because of their religious or cultural roots, but regard every human life as of equal worth. They will be committed to freedom of belief and of expression. They will know that their fellow citizens have the right to safety from harm and that this extends not only to individual security, but also the safety of those institutions, such as democracy or a free press, that make liberty possible and actual.

Values, however, are not free-standing; they are deeply rooted in a vision of society. Whether we like it or not, characteristic British values arise out of the Christian faith and its vision of personal and common good. These were clarified by the Enlightenment and became the bed-rock of our modern political arrangements. The Enlightenment, however, by consigning Christianity to the private sphere, also removed the basis and justification for these values in the public sphere.

It is this basis and justification that needs to be recovered if our values are to be secure, and if they are to help inculcate the virtues of generosity, loyalty, moderation and love that lead to personal fulfilment and social wellbeing.

Read the whole thing. The comments are thoughtful and interesting as well.

Here we go again

from Thomas the Wraith:

The Times UK has disturbing news.

On Thursday an all-party parliamentary inquiry will state that anti-Semitic violence has become endemic in Britain, both on the streets and university campuses. The report will call for urgent action from the Government, the police and educational establishments. ... ...

The July incidents “were more dispersed than usual”, Mr Gardner said. “It is usually a small number responsible for a large number of attacks, but these were very widespread across the country and included graffiti attacks on synagogues in Edinburgh and Glasgow.”

The attackers, when visible, are from across society, he said. “When it’s verbal abuse, it’s just ordinary people in the street, from middle-class women to working-class men. All colours and backgrounds. We hardly ever see incidents involving the classic neo-Nazi skinhead. Muslims are over-represented.” ... ...

In Hampstead Garden Suburb, swastikas and the words “Kill all Jews” and “Allah” were daubed on the house and car of Justin Stebbing. Dr Stebbing, who works at a hospital, said: “I felt violated. It’s horrible.”

Jon Benjamin, of the Board of Deputies, said: “The problem is the spin that Israel is an irredeemably evil regime, and we are concerned that it may become common currency to connect British Jews with this."

The same old, dreary story.

I want one of each

A miscarriage of justice in the Natalee Holloway case

from Potfrey.

Round-up on Armitage-Plame-Fitzgerald

if anyone cares.

For me, the most interesting thing about the whole mess (courtesy of your tax dollars) is the journalistic preening.

Three weeks before Armitage spoke to Novak, he made a similar, offhand disclosure of Plame's employment to Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward, the former colleague added. Armitage disclosed the conversation to Fitzgerald after Woodward reminded him of it in October 2005, and Woodward subsequently gave a deposition about the conversation.

"Of course, I have nothing to say about sources," Woodward said yesterday.

The pompousness and arrogance of this is breath-taking. Journalists seem to believe they are protected by divine right, like priests, or long tradition, like doctors or lawyers. They are wrong. And shield laws that protect them are a mistake. They are ordinary citizens, and should be obliged to obey the laws--just like everyone else.

The whole idea of anonymous sources needs to be scrutinized. It encourages tale-bearing by those with an axe to grind. A criminal defending himself in a court of law gets to confront his accusers. Why not a government official similarly accused?

I hope this will be the end of special prosecutors. Not one of them has done any good, and they have done a world of harm. Just ask Scooter Libby.

Summer doldrums

Nothing is happening, no-one is watching. All the big guns at Fox appear to be on vacation this week, leaving Team B in charge. Hannity and Colmes actually had a segment, I'm not kidding, about a midget who hit his head on a sink while shaving. He is sueing the prison officials for discrimination against the handicapped.

Can I fit the world "lame" in here somewhere?

Did the Fox journalists let us down by not dying?

We report, you decide.

I think the next time Fox hires journalists they should make sure they hire someone who has the integrity to die rather than convert to Islam. Perhaps they might screen prospective hires by asking on the job application if they would choose death or Islam. They could even stage a mock scenario where someone bursts into the room during the job interview and puts a gun to the applicant's head just to test the response. Clearly, Fox News must do whatever is necessary to avoid risking such a lapse in judgment again.

Now, I know some of you must be thinking: "What would you do, ... if someone tried to force you to convert at gunpoint?" Well, it's very easy for me to say that I would not convert if they held a gun to my head or to the heads of my family or to the heads of my pets or even if they held a gun to the head of La Shawn Barber or Debbie Schlussel. I can state that without any hesitation whatsoever. Of course, no one is holding a gun to my head right now.

So I'm reading this really good courtroom drama

Suddenly, just as the DA is pointing his finger at a witness, and our heroine is racing to get to court with the one person who will prove our hero's innocence, the action stops dead. The author then proves that he is a really thinking, caring and sensitive person who has credentials from the thinking-sensitive-caring community,
by inserting a sermonette on how dumb (evil, racist, vicious) President Bush is. This puts me completely out of the mood, causing me to ponder how dumb (irrelevant, witless) this is in the context of a novel. I no longer enjoy the book. I want to throw it out the window.

Why does every author, on whatever subject, have to make it clear that he/she is politically on the side of the angels? I swear, if you read an article on how to propagate marigolds, the author is sure to throw in a completely beside-the-point diatribe on Bush. If it is an older work, the darts are aimed at Reagan. Either way, I'm not interested. Not only not interested, turned off.

As a bonus, I think the author is a jackass.

While I'm on the subject, what makes Tim Robbins think I give a s**t what he thinks about anything? I've actually disliked Meryl Streep since she made her views of Alar known and practically destroyed the Chilean apple business.

Memo to actors, author, painters, journalists: Stay on topic.

A tribute to Naguib Mahfouz

by an Iranian living in London.

In 1989, after Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa for apostasy against Salman Rushdie, a blind Egyptian theologian, Omar Abdul-Rahman, told a journalist that if Mahfouz had been punished for writing this novel, Rushdie would not have dared publish his. In 1994 Islamic extremists attempted to assassinate the 82-year-old novelist, stabbing him in the neck outside his Cairo home.

Read the whole thing.

The Carnival of Comedy is up

at Steve the Pirate.

Israel needs the death penalty

and damn soon. Whether Hez kidnapped Israeli soldiers to achieve the release of prisoners is doubtful. They probably just felt like killing, torturing, and upsetting Jews and showing the world what big, bad guys they are.

However, the prisoners Hez says it wants released, particularly Samir Kuntar, could not even be used as a pretext if Israel had the death penalty, and used it. If it's good enough for Eichmann, it's good enough for Arab terrorists.

Israel has no qualms about targeted assassination. So why not the death penalty? These guys all want to rejoin Allah ASAP. It would be a real kindness to give them a helping hand.

Gender confusion?

Poor guy.

Dear Ann Landers: What are first date panties?

Can someone enlighten me?

I got a new pair of first date panties. I am optimistic that they will be worn sometime soon. I also got becca a pair of fdp's. She was so embarrassed I thought she might just walk out of the store. Hers is black, sheer, thong with ruffles and this feather type thing on the crotch. perfect first date panties.

What would second date panties look like? Engagement panties? Wedding panties? The possibilities are endless.

A new holiday

coourtesy of I got news:

Today is BlogDay! Yay!

What is BlogDay? It's simple. We're celebrating bloggers and the blogosphere by going out and finding 5 new blogs that we didn't know about before. We're telling them that we've nominated them for BlogDay and we're listing them. I say "we" cause I hope you'll join me. It's fun.

Good idea!

Vacations from blogging?

Mark posted this

From the Wall Street Journal:

I

n the height of summer-holiday season, bloggers face the inevitable question: to blog on break or put the blog on a break? Fearing a decline in readership, some writers opt not to take vacations. Others keep posting while on location, to the chagrin of their families. Those brave enough to detach themselves from their keyboards for a few days must choose between leaving the site dormant or having someone blog-sit.

Sigh.

Pumping, and not pumping, gas

My regular readers (Hi there, both of you) will know I have a thing about pumping gas. I seriously dreaded leaving New Jersey because you aren't allowed to fill your own tank in the Garden State.

When I first moved to Delaware, I thought I'd get used to doing it myself. So far, I have managed to snooker someone else into pumping for me every time. I've now developed a real phobia about doing it.

Then I drove to Massachusetts, with my partner in crime, BG. BG not only can't pump, she can't even drive. On the way, as is inevitable, we had to stop for gas in some godforsaken place in upstate New York.

Park car. Check. Open gas tank. Check. Get out credit card. Check. Okay so far. Then I fumble with the gas cap--I can't get that sucker open.

An older man sees me and BG struggling futilely with the gas cap. He comes over to "show" us how to do it. He opens the cap, filled the gas tank, and then demonstrates how to close it. We thank him profusely.

He leaves with a jaunty, "Good luck, girls!"

So far, so good.

In Lenox, I remembered, there is a full-service gas station, complete with attendant. I stopped there and got the attendant to do the dirty deed.

On the way home, I had to go through New Jersey, so I got a full tank pumped for me. Pure bliss--my vacation was a success.

Two who googled me

1. Naked while drinking Diet Coke

2. Pronounce Skuylkill?

The others are even less interesting.

Just think, there's another poor soul out there like me, not knowing how to pronounce Skuylkill!

Islam is the religion of peace: discuss.

by Astute Blogger.

Question: If Israel has to give up its territory, why shouldn't Islam give up the Christian and animist countries they conquered? Fair is fair.

If Bush were really a dictator...

he would have Jimmy Carter rubbed out.

My little brother

 
Who now has grey hair and a beard, and three children. 

What does John Kerry want to be President of?

The smoking hole in the ground that will be all that remains of this country when our enemies finish us off?

Just asking.

A couple of teenagers overheard in the diner

Girl I: "If I had to pay my own phone bill, I'd kill myself."

Girl II: "You mean you don't pay your own phone bill?"

Girl I: "Are you kidding? My last phone bill was over 560 dollars."

If I were her mother, she wouldn't have to kill herself. I'd do it.

An ode to the Ginsu knife

From Jack.

I feel sorry for Wal-Mart

First, Andrew Young, and now Al Gore is making nice.

Corporate disaster is sure to follow.

Advice for Mayor Nagin...

on how to run a city:

We lived in Chicago for awhile. There were a couple of snow disasters awhile back -- and the people of Chicago promptly voted out the mayor who failed to get the snow plowed. The result is that the streets in Chicago get plowed. The streets in Chicago will probably continue to get plowed for two years after Armageddon.

Richard Daley's been in office for a couple of decades. It's the family business, his father Richard J Daley's remembered fondly as Da Mayor. But, do you think for a second that Richie Daley will let his city die while he's photo-opping Democrat talking points? Do you think for a second that he'd keep his office if he did?

Read the whole thing.

I've been memed

by Snoopy:

Book that changed my life: (face turns red) It was Mary Poppins, when I was about 7. A chapter book. I was able to read it from start to finish, proving to me that I could read real books (not picture books), and started a long career of pleasure.

Books I've read more than once: There are so many. Let's start with Pride and Prejudice. Morte D'Urban by F. X. Powers, which I've read so many times I can't read it any more.

Books I'd like to read on a desert island: Middlemarch. I read it once, and loved it. But have been unable to re-read it yet. It's a long book, so if I haven't been rescued by the time I've finished it, call off the search.

Book that made me laugh: The first Jeeves book had me rolling on the floor, howling. Subsequent applications of P G Wodehouse had a similar effect. He's great for chasing the blues.

Book that made me cry: Jude the Obscure. I cried more from annoyance than anything else. I must admit that Jude was an unlucky cuss. His author, Thomas Hardy, obviously had it in for him.

Book I wish I'd written: Pictures from an Institution, by Randall Jarrell, a wicked send-up of a "progressive" girls' college, written over 50 years ago.

Book you wish had never been written: the da Vinci Code. Its presence on the bestseller list makes me wonder whether democracy is such a hot idea.

Book I'm currently reading: Paradise News, by David Lodge. Excellent. I'm racing through it.

Book I'm meaning to read. In Search of Lost Time, by Proust. I can't seem to finish it. Maybe I'll pack it with Middlemarch for my desert island sojourn.

Tag 5 other unlucky souls:
Rachel; Air Force Wife; Akaky; Matt; and Greta.

Al Gore's global warming messes up my vacation

What a weird summer! First rain, torrential rain, then heat that practically set the lawn ablaze, than when I go on vacation, freezing!

I froze my butt off in Canada, came home and did my laundry, then went to the Berkshires to enjoy some of their rainy, cold weather. We wore all our clothes--at the same time--and even stopped off at a local Marshall's to buy a couple of jackets to protect us from the elements.

Tanglewood was terrific, as usual, but very few people turned out for Friday evening's concert.

I blame it all on Al Gore's global warming. Not content to invent the Internet so child molesters could more easily find victims, he had to go and invent global warming, which caused the Berkshires to lose their sunny charm. All the motels had vacancy signs.

Innkeepers of Massachusetts, unite! Put a stop to this international menace, and foil his knavish tricks.

If someone doesn't take action, what catastrophe will happen next? I hate to even think about it.

Going away again

 
to the beautiful Berkshires. Back Saturday or Sunday. 

At typical school in rural England

From our friends at Little Frigging on the Wold.

This post made me think twice

It's so easy to get discouraged, if you watch the MSM and listen to the talking heads. This post is reassuring.

[T]ying Iranian-backed Shi'a militias in with Baathist and Salaafist fighters (who spent a significant amount of time and effort killing Shi'a) is wrong at best, dishonest at worse.

What this uptick in violence represents is not an angry country trying to rid itself of an occupying power... that's silly. If that's what the goverment wanted, all they have to do is say "leave," rather than "please don't go away yet." What this is is the increased aggression of foreign-backed militias. They've gotten themselves into a zealous, earth-cleansing crusading frenzy, helped by the Hezb'Allah drama and Ahmadouchebag's apocalyptic rhetoric, and by god they're going to purify their land with fire and blood. (they really do talk like that you know)

There may be a civil war in Iraq if no suitable peaceful way is found to reduce these militias; but it won't be sectarian. It'll be US- backed/nationalist/loyalist and Iran-backed/religious/rebel. If we depart without leaving a secure, unchallanged government (in whatever form) then we've handed the country to Iran and invited intervention by the other Arab powers. They've been working against us almost from the beginning, first with money, then with bombs and bullets.

The Baathists are beaten, and Al Qaeda is beaten. Now it's a war by proxy with Iran. Inshal'lah, after them there won't be another enemy and we can go home. Or invade Iran. Whatever.

Read the whole thing.

I can't forget how we were snookered during the Vietnam War by the MSM, led by Walter (the most trusted man in America) Cronkite. We won the Tet offensive! Who knew? It was presented as a disastrous loss, and there was no-one to say otherwise.

I did feel that my country was besmirched when we left hurriedly, abandoning thousands who had counted on our support. We had blood on our hands -- a shameful episode in American history.

The media did not approve of the invasion of Iraq even before it occurred, and have gone out of their way to paint it as a disaster. Of course, our political leadership is at fault for not making a case with the American public. Apparently this is a lost art. The last President who took the trouble to educate the electorate was FDR.

Meanwhile, the press has done a world of harm, particularly the NY Times. The publicity they gave to Stalin and Fidel Castro was crucial to persuading the American people to buy into the schemes of these two enemies of humanity.

If I find even myself, a skeptic, inclined to believe the worst, how about the rest of the public?

Meanwhile, the beat goes on. Lebanese children's bodies are shown pulled out of the rubble. Apparently Israeli children are bulletproof. And Hezbollah is a big benefactor of the Arabs.

Keep up the good work.

Babies in bathtubs

 
  

Kofi and dear, dear friend, 2000

 

How many believe the UN will give the Israelis a fair shake? Raise your hands. No-one. I thought not. 

Disgusting!

Don't read it!

I warned you!

Actors (and other show biz types) we can love

Nicole Kidman and others speak out against terrorists:

"We the undersigned are pained and devastated by the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organisations such as Hizbollah and Hamas," the ad reads.

"If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die.

"We need to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs."

A who's who of Hollywood heavyweights joined Kidman and Murdoch on the ad.

The actors listed included: Michael Douglas, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Danny De Vito, Don Johnson, James Woods, Kelly Preston, Patricia Heaton and William Hurt.

Thanks to Texas rainmaker for the heads-up.

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

  



Rainy day, craggy landscape, driving wind, stormy sea--perfect.

Whattayabet

that Hezbollah, Kofi Annen, the Pres of Lebanon, and Jacques (400 troops!) Chirac jointly win the next Nobel Peace Prize?

That's how bad an idea the ceasefire is.

Studly guys wanted

no experience needed.

German national conscience suffers from a poor memory

Poor Gunter Grass!

He occupied a place that has no parallel in Canada, the U.S. or Britain. He was a national moralist-in-chief, often called "the conscience of the postwar generation." He hated the postwar government of Konrad Adenauer, whom he considered a puppet of Washington, and he was appalled by the consumerism that accompanied economic recovery in the 1950s. He thought Germans too eager to forget the crimes of the Nazis, especially the Holocaust. Rightly, he believed that wound should "be kept open," as he said when accepting the Nobel Prize.

Grass was no communist, but he looked benignly on communist East Germany and favoured appeasing the Soviets. He believed the U.S. started the Cold War. He was the kind of Western intellectual Lenin meant when he used the phrase "useful idiots."...

His credibility shrank when the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 revealed East Germany as a prison. He was appalled to see East Germans pouring into West Berlin, seeking, of all things, fresh fruit. He was also dismayed by the apparent victory of capitalism: "Capitalism has never been more barbaric, beast-like than after the victory over the communist system." ...
His self-importance knew no bounds. In the 1980s I was with him at a conference in Budapest of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. He began his speech with a parody of modesty -- "My name is Gunter Grass," he said, as if there was anyone in the room who didn't know the king of German letters was among us. He made it clear that he stood far above the petty struggle between Washington and Moscow. He made his point (a proposal for a new East-West cultural institute) and then vanished, there being no one else at the conference he cared to hear.

During his long career as a public man, Grass has never passed up a chance to speak out for outspokenness. "The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open," he liked to say. Though not necessarily in all cases, of course.

He joins the ranks of the immortals--the immortal whited sepulchers, I mean.

Baby carriages, Pier 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Pier 21 is where the immigrants to Canada landed. There was a display of antiquated or quaint items. One of them was this pair of baby carriages.

 
I had one like the one in back for my oldest daughter. Of course, now English prams are as popular as hoopskirts, but they were quite the thing then, back in the twentieth century. 

Jewish Community Center, St John's, NB

There is only a small remnant of the community left. I couldn't get a picture of the synagogue, but this is the Jewish Community center.  

I'm back, but not for long

 

I'm just as mean as ever. Exposure to 17 Democrats is about 16 Demos too many. My family members are really nice, interesting people--but;

They excoriate Lieberman;

My brother is "very impressed" with Ron Dellums;

They don't allow you to have a different opinion; when I tried gently to differ with my dad, he was almost in tears. Well, the man is 94, and I don't want his death on my conscience.

Don't get me wrong. My family members are nice, but differing from them on politics is like dropping in on the Pope and putting down the Holy Ghost or telling him the Trinity is a childish concept. It's a religion with them.

More later. 

I'm sailing

to Nova Scotia. Back next Thursday.

Lieberman makes a point

which the Democrats don't understand.

“How the heck can we be in a battle in which we are fighting as Democrats and Republicans against each other when these terrorists certainly don’t distinguish based on our party affiliation?” Mr. Lieberman said. “They want to kill any and all of us.”

Indeed.

Miriam's porn site

That's one of the google searches that came to my site. The searcher must have been very disappointed.

Other google searches which led to me: serious boobs; breasts + worship; illegal aliens in New Jersey; how to get rid of old books; and of course, Natalee Holloway.

Go figure.

Little girl

  

More little girls

Flappers

My mum and chum, back in the day
  

Lieberman's loss: good or bad for the Jews?

My grandma's guiding principle was, is it good or bad for the Jews? Thus, in her lexicon, Roosevelt=bad, Truman=good. Truman aided the founding of Israel, therefore he was better for the Jews.
According to realclearpolitics, it's bad for the Democrats:

CT Senate Results Bad News For Dems

[I]f these numbers hold up (Lamont 52%, Lieberman 48%) it is just about the worst result possible for the Democratic Party. First, it almost guarantees that Lieberman will run as an independent.... Lieberman's 48% makes him the clear favorite in the three-way. Republicans Chris Shays and Rob Simmons have received a boost in holding on in their vulnerable districts, two seats the Dems have to win if they hope to capture the House. And as much as mainstream Democrats may try to downplay this result as a Connecticut issue, the rejection of a three-term Senator who was the party's VP nominee only six years ago will have repercussions throughout the country and they don't help the Democratic Party.

Yes, it's bad for the Jews. Why? Because it's bad for the whole country. The Dems just want to bring down Bush, even if the country falls down around their ears. That an honest man who stands by his principles should be defeated by a country club twit doesn't not bode well. For the Jews, the Dems, everybody but the Cindy Sheehan wing of the party.

It is most upsetting to me that Lieberman should be rewarded for his years of service by this treachery. The man who was his party's vice-presidential nominee to be thrown over like this! I hope the Democrats come to their senses. A good sound trouncing is what they need.

I must control myself--I have a big event this weekend. I'm going to Mel Gibson's bar mitzvah.

I hope his circumcision went well.

I understand that a couple of drinks makes the pain bearable. Get plenty of Manischevitz, Mel.

A peaceful summer evening

in Little-frigging in the Wold.

Mel Gibson amuses me

not through his films. I've never been able to stay awake through one of them, except the Patriot, which I saw in a theater. I think the sheer lameness of the film kept me awake, or maybe I had an ample supply of popcorn.

In these glum times he provides a little comic relief. First by his stupid remarks, then the way everyone piled up on him, and then his breast-beating and multiple apologies. I expect to see him in a tallit and payes any day now, praying at the west wall.

I enjoy the Gibson jokes that are floating around the Internet, the cartoons, the parodies on late night tv, the cartoons, etc. Gibson has given me more pleasure in his role as a rank anti-semite than he ever did through his efforts at legit entertainment.

We can all dump on Gibson without harm. It's good, clean fun, and it doesn't hurt him any. He still retains his millions, his family, his many homes and his other possessions, including Malibu, apparently.

I admit to a bad case of schadenfreude, taking delight in the foibles and misfortunes of others, particularly rich, famous others. I like to read about Naomi whatsherface's attack on her maids, Whitney whoever absently leaving her baby in the middle of the street or dropping him on his head. A really juicy divorce can keep me going for weeks. The Woody Allen-Mia Farrow thing was a gift, a story full of fascinating details. Did you know that Woody has a gym, a real gym, in his Manhattan apartment? Also, that he refuses to bathe if the drain is not centered in the floor of the shower? Needless to say, she's also nuts.

Mr Charm pretends to be above all this petty stuff, and only reads the war news and the political news, which make him despondent and angry.

There are two reasons why I enjoy celebrities' capers: 1. They prove that you don't have to be smart to be rich, which is a comfort; and 2. It's a pleasure to read about someone dafter than my own family.

Plagiarism by Hezbollah

Copying the Jews!.

I like to run a clean, family-friendly blog...

so don't click on the link.

Give people what they want

and they will be sure to show up.

The Rev Ian Gregory, a cleric well known to readers of The Daily Telegraph for launching the Campaign for Courtesy in an attempt to improve manners, has embarked on a new project which he calls "Christianity without religion".

Out goes the "archaic mumbo-jumbo" of church services and the "silly arguments about things that don't and shouldn't matter"; in come chats about anything that makes you feel good and the world's first dedicated "laughter room" because "laughter is as important as prayer".

You can get people to church if it stops being about "religion." This reminds me of one of those ardent discussions librarians have about "getting people into the library." This despite the fact that those who never come to the library give us the least trouble and are our biggest fans.

All sorts of ideas were suggested to increase library attendance. As these notions got wilder and drifted further from our purpose (being a library), someone finally suggested that we would attract more people if we sold crack. The discussion ended, and none too soon.

I wonder if the churches have ever tried distributing narcotics? They would get a whole new type of customer.

Thanks to Rachel.

Can war ever be the answer?

I spotted a Kerry/Edwards supporter sporting this bumper sticker: War is not the answer.

What if the question is, Name a three-letter word that means armed conflict?

Pennsylvania man seeks more freedom

in Mexico.

Ted Pollard of Wayne traces his roots in America to Nicholas Cooke, colonial governor of Rhode Island. His grandfather, Rear Adm. Edward Ellsberg, was an accomplished World War II leader and a prolific author. His cousin is Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame.

"That was patriotism," he said of Cooke's refusal to help the British halt the colonial rebellion. Studying his family's past, he's learned "what it means to be an American and what it means to be free."

But today, he fears, "those freedoms are eroding."

So, Ted Pollard, 61, president of the Radnor Historical Society and former township commissioner, plans to leave his country - for good.

Pollard joins a growing number of U.S. citizens who have found the grass is greener in Mexico, Panama, Argentina, even Croatia - literally in dozens of countries around the world.

[]
The U.S. State Department doesn't have statistics on the number of citizens moving permanently out of the country. Laura Tischler, spokesperson for the Bureau of Consular Affairs, said yesterday that was because people cannot be compelled to register at U.S. embassies or consulates.

For many people, taxes, real estate prices, and increasing costs of living provide reason enough to search the world for more economical lifestyles or more affordable retirement.

Of course, the financial incentive sweetens the deal:

"I was in Mexico a year and a half ago," Pollard said. "I found a lovely four-bedroom house with a swimming pool and a little house out back, for an office. Taxes were a hundred bucks; $125,000 for the house. That really got me thinking.

"I can live pretty well someplace else for what I pay in taxes, insurance and heat here."

His business, a health-care Web site, is portable; he has no family ties to keep him here and is looking for new challenges. "I want to be able to go do things while I'm able to," Pollard said.

He'd been thinking of moving "off shore" for years for the economic benefits and the adventure, but lately a "darker side" to American life has strengthened his resolve, allying him with others fed up with the direction of the country's politics and priorities.

"We're moving, really, toward a police state in this country," Pollard said, citing as examples the Patriot Act and the NSA's tapping of phone calls. "It's very sad, very scary," he said, adding that "9/11 was the catalyst."

Mexico, he acknowledged, "is not perfect." Although it has its drug problems and commonplace corruption, he said, "I'm not talking about drugs, but about actions that infringe on your liberties." No one he's talked to who has moved to Mexico has "expressed that kind of fear," Pollard said.

"I grew up in Maine; I was a lobsterman when I was a kid," he said. "There's a theory about putting lobsters in cold water and then turning on the heat, and they cook slowly... . By the time they realize they're too hot, they're cooked.

"Well, the same thing is happening to the people in this country... . Suddenly, you'll be totally in the grips of the power elite and won't have the freedom to be able to move about and do the things you want to."

[]


Pollard said he has heard the "snide" remarks and wondered if people who came to America were likewise considered traitors by their countrymen. What he's planning, Pollard said, "is not like draft dodgers during the Vietnam War."

Of course, that's not a big deal for patriots like Pollard.

Army discovers soldier involved in community theater

and throws him out.

They asked him if "he understood the military's policy on homosexuals, if he had any close acquaintances who were gay" and if he had "ever engaged in homosexual activity or conduct." Of course, the fact that he wanted to learn Arabic in the first place was already highly suspect and his alleged homosexuality alone would be incompatible with military service. But these factors were not the main reason for Copas's discharge. After interrogators had worn him down, they posed the question that would finally hammer the nail in the coffin of his military career: They asked "if he was involved in community theater. He answered affirmatively." Once investigators had confirmed their suspicions of Copas's thespianism, he was discharged from the military.

You can't be too careful--he might turn out to be another Tom Cruse.

Pedophile defends lifestyle

I haven't seen such chutzpah since the last time Jimmy Carter opened his mouth.

Some scientific terms explained

by Stephenesque:

Q: How does the Greenhouse Effect work?

A: Dinosaurs are pressed into a Fossil Making Machine (FMM) which then catches fire when you try to drive it to Kyoto. Fumes from the burning FFM fall into the holes in the Ozone layer and form massive tropical greenhouses in the atmosphere which slowly turn the Earth into a huge, prize-winning cucumber that withers away and everybody dies.

Read the whole thing.

If you must get falling down drunk, wear nice undies...

and have a wax.

The heroic rescuer of dead children

Shiloh Musings noticed this, as did others:

The men parading around with dead children dressed as "rescue workers" are the same man, photographed again and again. He's the main actor.... The same man was caught in similar photos in 1996 parading around with a dead child, which means that he is a professional dead-child parader, a very prestigious job that has been created by terrorists concerned about CNN's ratings.

Could this be true? I can't verify it.

Surviving Ikea

A guide for the modern man.

About those Maryland drivers...

They aren't the best drivers, even when driving while Christian:

The first observation is this, drivers from Maryland with bumper stickers on their car that read “Jesus said ‘Love your enemies.’ I don’t think that he meant to kill them” are neither good nor polite drivers. Okay… Perhaps this is a bit of hyperbole and your Maximum Leader using potentially faulty inductive reasoning to cast aspersions on all drivers from Maryland with insipid bumper stickers on their cars. On the other hand, if he were to conduct a scientific study of the phenomenon he believes his initial reasoning would stand.

Maryland drivers with insipid stickers on their cars, according to your Maximum Leader’s observations, tend to swerve erratically within their lane as well as change lanes suddenly and without signaling. They also seem to like to cut you off as you are getting into a left turn lane.

[]
Your Maximum Leader wonders how this Maryland driver would react to their home being katushka rocketed by their fundamentalist neighbors in Delaware. He suspects that the Maryland driver would turn the other cheek and fervently hope that their house was katushka-proof. In the end, your Maximum Leader doubts that the Maryland driver would last long against the fundamentalist Delawareans.

In any case, your Maximum Leader would prefer to stay close to the SUV-driving mom with the NRA Life Member window decal, the Marine Corps license plate, and the bumper sticker which read “Note to self: Pillage THEN Burn.” She’s a survivor.

We in Delaware are ready if these Marylanders start giving us a hard time. Just remember that, when the Delaware contingent showed up to fight the American Revolution, they were the most smartly turned out bunch George Washington had seen in the whole Continental Army.

They made a desert and they called it peace

From Daniel Pipes:

The current situation reminds me of a very famous statement by Tacitus, the Roman historian. In judging the Roman conquest and occupation of Britain, he said of the Romans, "They made a desert and called it peace." We see something similar to that in Lebanon. The Syrians have conquered Lebanon, and they have made a desert of it.

This was written in 1997. Not much has changed. Syria and Iran are still calling the shots. They are financing and supplying Hezbollah, and any peace agreement which does not disarm Hezbollah will make Lebanon, and perhaps eventually Israel, a desert.

In Latin: Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.

Conservatives are hugging Michael Moore

Query: How do they get their arms around
him?

Is there a hug extender for people who have short arms? Perhaps it is sold over TV for three easy payments of $19.95?

I don't think this is that crazy...

Kids reading to dogs?

It's not the worst idea. It keeps the kids reading, keeps their reading skills sharp over the Summer, and doesn't hurt the dogs.

Plus, the dogs are uncritical listeners; their approval must be very supportive for the kids.

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce

From Insolublog.

The thought mill

is a blog which is new to me. Here's an interesting, thought-provoking post.

And she has me on her blogroll! A superior blogger indeed!

Oy vey!

Nasty German demonstrator. Ugh.

Lessons in self-righteousness from a German? Yeah, maybe in a thousand years.

Not your runof-the-mill library sex offender

You non-library folks probably think nothing exciting ever happens in a library. Well, it just so happens, we have our sexy moments too. Flashers, nudists, porn viewers, and so on. But this chap is special:

A 27-year-old woman reported to police that on July 11, she was in a study room at the Boardman branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County when a man, who police say was Colella, came in and closed the door.

[]

He told her that he was conducting a sociology project and that he had to kiss people's feet and record their reactions. The woman said she wasn't interested, but he kept insisting and she told police that she believed that he wasn't going to leave unless she agreed.

She relented and he briefly kissed the bottom of her foot, and then without warning he began sucking her toe, according to a police report. She then pulled her foot away and the man asked her reaction to which she replied she was freaked out....

She went home and later called the library where personnel told her to notify police.

DiMartino said that Colella is also a suspect in a similar incident in 2000.

In that case, a 17-year-old girl reported that she was reading in the library one afternoon when a man about 19 years old walked up to her and told her that she had pretty feet. He then lay down on the floor and began kissing and caressing them.

When he was done he asked if he could have her socks. The girl refused and the man asked if he could buy them. She refused again and he left.

I like the part about the socks. Nice touch.

Ht to right jokester.

For the corset lover in all of us

They come in styles for women and men.

The tao of voicemail

It's safer to be a hypocrite.

Johnny Virgil does it again

The man is a genius.

Warning: not for delicate stomachs.

Risque new fashions from Teheran

Definitely NSFW --if you're a muslim.

Game upgraded

Monopoly enters the 21st century.

The anti-obesity police are after you

Trying to legislate what you put in your stomach.

Via Rachel.

Why don't the powers that be issue a handbook for living, detailing just what we must do? It would be simpler.

They could have spot inspections of our homes and offices (Bloomberg is already doing it in New York City) to see if we are in possession of a pack of cigarettes or--God forbid--chocolate cake. They could issue tickets on a sliding scale: first offense, warning; second offense, hang a scarlet letter around your neck; third offense, re-education camp; fourth offense, life in prison on a diet of nothing but Cheerios and broccoli, and an apple every Christmas. (The Jews could have their apples on Rosh Hashanah, in respect for their cultural tradition. And maybe a matzoh ball for Passover.)

Did it ever occur to the powers that be to educate people and let them make their own decisions? This approach had some success with smokers. No-one was left in doubt about the hazards of smoking. Most people I know who used to smoke quit. Despite all the propaganda about how difficult it was to quit, how addictive smoking was, etc, etc., many people decided to give their lungs a break. I, personally, have all the will power of a jellyfish, but I quit, and am now holier than thou.

Quagmires we have known and loved

Colombia can have a quagmire all by its ownself.

I was talking to a guy at the airport the other day who told me the US is creating a quagmire in Colombia, as if the Colombians weren’t perfectly capable of organising their own quagmires. They’ve been having a quagmire ever since they got independence from Spain, and I resent the way these Americans try to claim the credit for everything.

Yankee Imperialism!

Bitching about the library patrons

is something we all do from time to time. Libraryosis has a good one.

Ah, but I could a tale unfold! And by God I'm going to do it. Mrs. Dempsey wasn't only an old lady, she was a SENIOR CITIZEN. She was born that way. She went right from mewling and puking to whining and bitching. She was also on a FIXED INCOME.

Back in the day, when we had VCRs, she borrowed some videos, one of which she returned damaged. It was actually off its spool. The clerk at the desk explained that she had to pay for the ruined video--I think it was $20. Mrs D replied that this vicious video had ruined her equipment, and she was in no way at fault! We should have paid her for the repair of her equipment! And anyway, she was a SENIOR CITIZEN.

She went on to ask why $20? We explained that that was the replacement cost. Mrs D didn't think she should have to pay for a brand new video, we had already gotten some use out of it, hadn't we? It wasn't new any more. And she was a SENIOR CITIZEN.

She went around and around on this with the clerk, who then called her supervisor, who told her the same thing. Her next interview was with lucky me, the head honcho. I explained it all again. As she was taking up a whole morning's worth of time of three library employees, who theoretically could have been doing something else, I asked her how much she thought was fair. She thought a dollar would do the trick. And there we agreed to disagree. Oh, yes, and before she left, she asked me if I could give her daughter a job.

A couple of weeks later, I got a call from the board president, who had also had a discussion with Mrs. D. Apparently he had persuaded her to pony up $10. She also asked him if we could give her daughter a job. His reply is not part of the record.

A day or two later, Mrs D came into my office. She opened up one of those change purses with a snap closure, and grudgingly doled out 10 singles, slowly, one at a time. This was supposed to make me feel bad, as she was a SENIOR CITIZEN and LIVING ON A FIXED INCOME.

I gave her a receipt and thanked her for bringing the matter to a successful conclusion. Then she asked me to give her daughter a job.

She wasn't the worst of the job-seekers, however. One man came to me and asked me to give his mother a job. There wasn't much she could do, he explained, as she spoke little English. I think he considered the library a high-class sort of day care for seniors.

Another family used to leave their brain-injured son in the library for hours. If he had just sat still we wouldn't have known him from our other nutcases, but he insisted in walking around the card catalog (which we still had then) over and over, gathering speed like a jet engine, and making much the same noise.

Then there was Mildred. She came in with her stuffed doll, which she seated next to her. We were okay with that. But when she started to call various staffers over to engage the doll in conversation, admire its wardrobe, and discuss its politics, something had to give. I ordered the entire staff not to speak to the doll. That put an end to it. Mildred was crazy, but she was not stupid.

More faces

 
 
 
  

Still more faces

 
 
 
  

Art kills

Read it and weep

Thta's what I did, on encountering this piece. It's pretty sickening.

Hezbollah are not freedom fighters. They are not revolutionaries. They are not even terrorists. What they are is serial murderers. Think Jeffrey Dahmer, writ large. The hostages are just a pretext--any excuse would do. They are consumed by bloodlust.

Israel could rob them of that pretext by instituting the death penalty. Give them a fair trial and shoot them.

Unofficial Carnival of Comedy

Since no-one sent me anything, I have taken matters in my own hands and am putting out the unofficial or Counter-Carnival of Comedy. I am going to concentrate on bloggers who make me laugh.

The theme is health and fitness, and generally getting ahead in life. Let's call it health, wealth and fitness. Oh, yes, and world peace.

First up: Johnny Virgil. If you can read this without laughing out loud, call 911. Your situation is desperate.

Do you believe you are turning into one of your grandparents? If so, seek professional help immdiately.

It goes without saying, you'll feel better if you are obscenely rich. Stephenesque tells you how.

Annoyed librarian is generally annoyed with something, this time it's the ALA. Haven't you been told that stopping your meds would result in this, AL?

Our friend Buckley scores a coup--he interviews Ahmanjob, uh Ahnmjihad --oh, hell the president of Iran, dammit! That guy's a sick puppy! Not a very good outlook on world peace with him in charge!

Needless to say, good health requires the cook to have clean hands.

How to get ahead in the law business.

The learned and erudite Akaky (by the way, isn't that an odd name for an Irishman?--just asking--meditates on closing (or opening) the library. For a refreshing change, no toilets are mentioned.

Well, tht's it. The unofficial, endorsed by nobody, UnCarnival is up. If anybody ever sends me any info or posts on the Official Carnival, I will post them too.

Discovering a new country

Leon Weiseltier point out that some people don't live in the United States.

Some lefty bloggers have their own nation:

Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of the The New Republic and a general critic of bloggers, rejected the "complexity" explanation.

"Why would you expect complexity from bloggers, left, right, or Martian?" Wieseltier wrote in an email to the Forward. "They are not in the complexity business on any issue. Maybe the problem is not complexity but complication — the way in which sympathy with Israel's campaign against Hezbollah, and therefore with the use of force, might complicate their lives in progressiveland, where they live."

I know lots of people who live in Progressiveland. They have their own loyalties, their own flag, their own leaders--Cindy Sheehan, Michael Moore, and Michael Berg among them. Their flag is the American flag turned upside down.

They believe the Soviet Union never meant any harm, and that Alger Hiss was innocent. Israel is evil. The Canadian health system is the best in the world. If you try to discuss any of these matters with them, you will discover the meaning of invincible ignorance.

Fisking Richard Cohen

A good collection of links to the Washington Post's token Jew. Read them, and report back. There will be a quiz.

In Cohen's world view, everybody should give up territory to the guys who had it before them. Thus, Americans should feel guilty for conquering the Indians and should let them run casinos and sell tax-free cigarettes wherever they think they were when the evil round-eyes displaced them. However, if someone preceded the Indians, they should give up the land to whoever was there before the land bridge disappeared. The Mexicans should give their country back to the Mayans, if any can be found.

How does Cohen think the Kosovars came to be Muslims? Or the Iranians, for that matter? They were conquered, that's how. The natives were given a choice between converting to Islam or dying. After thinking it over, they converted, and became crazier than the Muslims who had conquered them, in terms of sheer bloody-mindedness. Now if the Iranians give their land back to pre-Islamic Persia, maybe Israelis should give up Israel. But neither eventuality is likely to happen.

But Cohen is wrong on the facts. Jews have always lived in Israel, despite the best efforts of their enemies to kill them off. Palestinians, far from being natives of the region with anything that might be called a state, were just a bunch of nomads noodling around the area, annoying all their neighbors. Remember when they were expelled from Jordan?

Meanwhile, their Arab brethren have refused to let them settle in other Arab countries and have kept them for 60 years in UN refugee camps, where they seethed with hatred.

Now along comes Jimmy Carter, encouraging these lowlifes to think they had a "country" and a "leader." Carter created Yassir Arafat and subsequent presidents planted their lips on his rear end for 20 years. Arafat had no power, but we pretended he did. Arafat couldn't go to the movies without a written note from the Israeli Prime Minister, but we acted as if he were head of a mighty power.

Then there's the deal with Hezbollah. They promised to lay down their arms. This will happen when the IRA lays down theirs, which is to say never. It's easy to give a promise when you don't mean it and no-one is going to call you to account.

Now Israel has to deal with the whole bloody mess. The world's freedom rests on the shoulders of a small country. What a burden!

Boobs by the numbers

or letters.

Evil Glenn's best accomplishments at his own law firm

How did Evil Glenn make his firm a top-notch legal resource?

He ordered all the potted plants to be watered daily with the blood of the newest associate.