Yes, it DOES look like Iraq!

Remember this?

Great line of the day

I found this linked on another blog but I apologize that now I cannot credit it -- at first, I wasn't sure whether I understood the argument here, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made as an explanation of the Ted Haggards of this world.
From Steve Schalchlin's blog Living In The Bonus Round, On Manhood, Women and Homosexuals:

. . . evangelicals, for the most part, do not believe that homosexuality, as an orientation, actually exists. For them, ALL "homosexuals" are actually heterosexuals who've been either seduced into gay sex or fallen into it because they got demasculinized by women . . . One of the psychiatrists, Dr. Paul Cameron, whom they both embrace and reject in varying ways, teaches that gay sex is way more fun than straight sex and, therefore, all straight men could turn gay if exposed to gay sex . . . Their total denial of the FACT of homosexual persons is what drives men like Ted Haggard into a marriage, and then, subsequently, into the arms of a male hustler. The drugs, IMO, were not only about enhancing the sex act itself, but they also enabled him, in those hours alone with the muscle guy, to forget the wife and kids and career as a gay-hatin' leading light of the evangelical movement. . .

Another heckuva job

So, the Bush administration thought they were being so-o-o-o-o clever by scheduling the Saddam trial verdict for two days prior to the mid-terms. They thought it would reinforce their "look how safe we've made you" theme. Instead, its going to reinforce the Democrat's "look how violent Iraq is" theme:

Many of Saddam's fellow Sunni Arabs, along with some Shiites and Kurds, are predicting a firestorm of violence if the court sentences the ex-president to death, as is widely expected . . . But most Shiites, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, are likely to be enraged if he escapes the gallows.

So either way, Iraq will explode by Monday morning.

Horse rescue

BBC photos tell the story of the Dutch horse rescue, a story which has been reported around the world.


The horses were stranded at a farm north of Amsterdam when the land around them flooded.


The nearest land was only a few hundred metres away but there were fears that submerged barbed wire might hurt the horses if they tried to swim to safety.


Animal welfare officers and firefighters waded through the waters to map out an escape route.


Four women from a local riding club then led the herd to safety.


The one horse that failed to follow the herd was eventually brought to safety, but collapsed and needed attention from veterinarians. It is expected to recover completely.

Prophecy

Sorry for the lack of posts - I've been fighting a cold.
I couldn't help but notice this one -- considering today's events, Wolcott turns out to be a prophet:

. . . All Republican political figures are gay, especially the men. When President Bush insists on kissing one bald head after another, the psychosexual symbolism speaks for itself. He's planting his lips on big uncircumcised Kojak peckers. When Rush Limbaugh packs his Viagra and jets off on a tropical jaunt with the guys, it's assumed there are saucy wenches awaiting him under the sultry palms, but I wonder--I wonder if it's cabana boys making the hammock sway under the moonlight. Republican women--those masochistic saints--are more like Joan Allen playing Pat Nixon under layers of frosting, their rigid smiles forged by years of living a lie with a man infatuated with other men and too timid to take out a subscription to Details magazine, lest he be exposed. The closet in which he dwells doubles as a panic room with a convenient minibar, so that if he ever stumbles or strays, he can blame it on the creme de menthe, not the burning yearning of his heart. . .

Who's next?

Because of Iraq

These "VoteVets" ads are very strong and here's the best one yet.

Great line of the day

From the Comments on Steve Gilliard's story about how the the American government is now promoting a no-sex policy for young adults:

If you've reached the age of 25 without having lost your virginity, you don't exactly need lessons in how not to have sex. You're probably an expert at it.

CONGRESSMAN CALL ME

The bloggers are showing the Democrats how to fight back.

How the Republicans can win

Echidne writes:

Isn't it fascinating how everything bad is the fault of the powerless liberals and progressives? Everything. Iraq war is lost because of us. Fascism makes mousesteps forwards because of us. Even all Bush's errors are because he tries to rule like one of us.
The only solution is to put the liberals and progressives in power.

And then, obviously, the conservatives will think they are actually running everything!
Works for me...

Finding the wizard

Jamieon Foser from Media Matters writes an Open Letter to the "Gang of 500".
Here's the shorter version:

Scarecrow: . . . some people without brains do an awful lot of talking... don't they?
Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right.

Science marches on

Blogs here and here and here are linking to this:

New Element on Periodic Table
A major research institution has just announced the discovery of the densest element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Bushcronium."
Bushcronium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 311. These particles are held together by dark forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.
The symbol for Bushcronium is "W". Bushcronium's mass actually increases over time, as morons randomly interact with various elements in the atmosphere and become assistant deputy neutrons in a Bushcronium molecule, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to believe that Bushcronium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass".
When catalyzed with money, Bushcronium activates Foxnewsium, an element that radiates orders of magnitude more energy, albeit as incoherent noise, since it has 1/2 as many peons but twice as many morons.

Stupid driving

Why would parents drive like this?:

. . . the car was trying to pass three other vehicles in a no-passing zone outside Henryville, Que., when it struck an oncoming vehicle.

Result: children orphaned.
There are times -- more often than I am aware of, probably -- when I drive poorly. But driving stupidly is another issue. Its the opposite of defensive driving; its offensive driving.
The worst offensive driving we ever saw was one summer day between Banff and Lake Louise - single lane, lots of curves, lots of RVs, lots of trucks -- and crazy people constantly pulling out to pass four, five, six vehicles at a stretch, relying on someone else to pull over and let them back into line or else for the oncoming traffic to hit the shoulder.
UPDATE: Commenter SouthernQuebec notes that police are now saying it was the other driver who was driving stupidly and caused the accident, not these parents. A tragedy either way, of course, but at least these poor people were not endangering their own children.

This is priceless

If you don't get MSNBC or watch Olbermann, enjoy!

Of course Dick Cheney doesn't support torture

...yeah, sure.