More proof that the Bush Administration, for all its talk about the "War On Terror" being a "new kind" of war, is still fighting a 20th century enemy: they want to restart building nuclear bombs at the pace of 125 per year.
Ostensibly, it is to replace "outdated" nuclear bombs from the Cold War. The U.S. built its last nuclear weapon in 1989.
Just what we need. A nuclear arms race. Let’s encourage othe countries (and its more than just Russia) to play.
Bit of a surprise last night, as Mandisa was knocked off way before her time.
I think there may have been a little bit of obese-ism behind the votes (on the other hand, I’m reminded that Ruben Studdard a couple of years ago).
The bottom three were Mandisa, Elliot, and Paris. Yup, the two blacks and the Jew. C’mon, America.
Elliot, in my opinion was the only one who really should have been there. He should have been joined by Ace and Bucky.
Play at home (H/T Americablog) by supplying your own interpretation of these graphics from the Department of Homeland Security website!
Our choices are below the fold….
They say that condoms can be made available as a last resort. But fuck that. Condoms should be flowing like rivers, falling from the skies like rain, in every country where AIDS is wreaking havoc upon its population. Not another single dime should be spent on a billboard, a pamphlet, a button, advocating abstinence until we have made sure that everyone who already is having sex, is having safe sex. Then we can worry about denying innate urges. Until safe sex is the standard, directing the majority of funding toward these ludicrous policies rooted in repression is catastrophically foolish.
Not just condoms, of course. Part of AIDS prevention does require education. But abstinence is only a part of that education. I mean honestly, how can we hope to wipe the epidemic of AIDS when political leaders think this?
Looks like Bush is actually teaching kids something:
A new online poll conducted by Scholastic magazine says more than 80% of kids don’t want to be the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth.
Amazingly, that’s a nearly total flip from 2004, when 75% of the elementary and middle school children did want to rule the roost from the White House.
I guess that’s what happens when you put a life-long slacker and bumblehead in a "role model" position.
This isn’t going to go down well with the Religious Right:
And, thanks to some pretty impressive advance planning by her two mommies, Colleen Gillespie and Alisa Surkis of Brooklyn, N.Y., Ella won’t be the only child with gay parents who’ll be scooting a colorful egg with a spoon on the White House lawn.
"As a parent, you want everything for your child," says Colleen Gillespie. "We want this event to tell our daughter that she is as welcome on the White House lawn as any other kid in the world."
It turns out, First Lady Laura Bush agrees.
"Mrs. Bush is the overseer of the event, and all families are welcome to attend," her spokesman Peter Watkins told me when asked about the hundreds of gay families who hope to roll eggs April 17.
So far, 250 gay families plan to go.
But, but, but . . . doesn’t Laura Bush know that Jesus was intolerant? How could she allow children of gay parents to participate in festivities that celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection — events like rolling eggs on a lawn?
Hmmmm, maybe this satirical article is a sign of things to come.
The funniest thing I’ve seen in a while — interpretations of actual graphics from the Department of Homeland Security webpages.
If you spot a terrorist arrow, pin it against the wall with your shoulder.
After exposure to radiation it is important to consider that you may have mutated to gigantic dimensions: watch your head.
If you lose a contact lens during a chemical attack, do not stop to look for it.
Hurricanes, animal corpses and the biohazard symbol have a lot in common. Think about it.
From CNN:
Top intelligence officers from several Arab countries and Turkey have been meeting secretly to coordinate strategies in case civil war erupts in Iraq and in an attempt to block Iran’s interference in the war-torn nation, Arab diplomats said Tuesday.
The meetings came after several Arab leaders voiced concerns about possible Shiite domination of Iraq and sect leaders’ alliance with Iran.
The four diplomats said intelligence chiefs from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and non-Arab Turkey held a series of meetings over the past few weeks to assess the situation in Iraq and work out plans to avoid any regional backlash that may result from sectarian conflict in Iraq.
Gee. I thought the whole point of the Iraqi War (after, you know, disarming it of WMD) was to spread peace and democracy throughout the Middle East.
But it looks like all we are spreading is sectarian conflict.
…its Deputy Press Secretary gets busted for using DHS computers to solicit a 14 year old girl, with whom he subsequently engages in phone sex.
[Yes, yes, I know it wasn’t really a 14 year old girl, but an undercover cop posing as a 14 year old girl. But that’s pretty much beside the point, isn’t it?]UPDATE: More from CNN
UPDATE 2: My. God. How many perverts do we actually have in the Dept. of Homeland Security?
An oceanographer from the University of Florida explains (PDF format) that Jesus may have actually not walked on liquid water, but on a patch of frozen water — i.e., ice.
All I can say is: thank God for TIVO.
I’m with Simon — I don’t like country music. And what little of it I do like, doesn’t involve Kenny Rogers (who looked like death warmed over).
It was the country constestent’s night to shine, and my girl Kellie did very good. Bucky, the other country boy, probably saved his neck for another week.
Everybody was bearable at best. I’m sorry, but country music is boring. I was actually happy with Chris Daughtry, who showed he could sing a ballad without rocking out, and do it well. I think Katharine McPhee really shined — she may have been the best of all last night.
Taylor Hicks — who I usually like — phoned it in, and I think he knew it.
It’s tough to say who will go. I’m hoping Ace. It may be Elliott though.
Michelle Malkin is up in arms because (according to her sources) NBC’s Dateline is looking for Muslim men to show up at public events with hidden cameras. It’s all for a story about anti-Muslim sentiments in America.
Michelle writes:
The apparent "sting" involves targeting Nascar and other sporting events. ‘Cause that’s presumably where the fair and balanced NBC news staff thinks all the bigots are.
What is Michelle saying? What is she worried about?
If they can’t find bigots at a NASCAR event, then NBC has no story, right? And if these men experience bigotry, then — wouldn’t she have to agree — that there is a story?
Besides, Michelle is going beyond the ceiling of unhinged hypocrisy, seeing is how she’s been trying to get the mainsteam media to publish the Muhammad cartoons.
UPDATE: When I say "Michelle Malkin", I mean "Michelle Malkin and/or her ghostwriter".
UPDATE 2: Hmmmm. Apparently, Michelle’s readers have devised a plan to foil NBC’s Dateline — a plan which includes acting nice to any Muslims they see at NASCAR events lest they be exposed as bigots. Not to be normal, but to act nice. Kind of speaks for itself. For people who claim to have nothing to worry about, they certainly are cicling the wagons. Ironically, I think the thesis of the dateline piece is already being demonstrated by these right wing buffoons.
… is up. Read his legacy.
Shorter Phyllis Schlafly: "Men who beat up their wives shouldn’t be put in jail, because then they won’t be able to take care of their wives like God intended."
Shorter Marie Jon: "The mere presence of brown-skinned people hurts me emotionally."
Shorter Nathan Tabor: "I’m going to take a bold stand here, and urge that we not vote for Bill Clinton as our next president."
Shorter Felicia Benamon: "I don’t know how to solve the illegal immigration problem, but it’s not difficult."
Shorter Bret Prelusky: "Don’t call me racist just because I think Bill Clinton is sexually promiscuous like all black people."
Yesterday, I wrote about a scientific study showing that being the subject of other’s prayers does not help you, especially if you know that you are being prayed for.
In the interest of "balance", here’s another study which shows that regular church attendance can extend your life an additional 1.8 to 3.1 years.
Two points:
(1) By comparison, regular physical exercise can extend your life 3 to 5 years. So it is for more effective. (And cheaper — the study states that maintaining regular physical exercise costs $4,000 for each year of additional life; compared to $7,000 for regular church attendance).
(2) But if you want to go the religion route, just be aware that a good portion of the additional 1.8 to 3.1 year benefit will be spent, you know, in church.