Life Is Hard...

Edible Arrangements

It's time for another Life Is Hard product review! I bought this for my Mom's birthday. One word: Delicious

Ohh, THOSE Foreign Leaders!

Was this who John Kerry was talking about? Heh.

Democratic Underground Smells Like Rotten Eggs

There is a great poll on the Democratic Underground web site that says just about everything you need to know about the DU'ers. (Hat tip: LGF)

To quote:

Poll question: Is Bush ahead in the polls because most Americans are racist?

The polls show most Americans support a foreign policy that embraces preemptive strikes outside legal bounds (ie. Iraq).

They are willing to kill foreigners willy-nilly behind a policy that says "all Muslims are a POTENTIAL threat." Never mind the ramifications of killing innocent people, as long as these attacks hinder terrorists they are justified.

Skipping an extended discourse about how, in this case, legality has been determined by who paid the largest bribe to the French and the Russians, let us proceed directly to the point: I guess that old saw about the need to break a few eggs to make an omelette only applies when the omelette is a Stalinist Terror State, not an occupation by the freedom-loving Anglosphere?

P.S.
Of course, poll results are currently 60% in favor of all Americans being racists.

Mystery Photo

Extra-Special Bonus Points if you can guess what this is a picture of:

Good guesses from the guys at work: (all wrong, btw)

1. Globuals from the Mars Rocks.
2. Solar Flare.
3. X-Ray or MRI of a human eyeball.

Thoughts On The Outcome Of A Nuclear Terrorist Attack

I challenged myself and some friends to think about the potential side-effects from a successful nuclear attack by terrorists against an American city, setting aside the obvious smoking crater. This is a work in progress, but here are a couple of our thoughts.

1) The state containing the destroyed city would almost certainly become a lock for the Republicans. And this would NOT be because everyone had a change of heart or any such foolishness. On the contrary, it would be caused by demographics: Even the "Blue States" aren't really blue... once you wipe out the big metropolis that dominates the vote. Imagine California without Los Angeles, New York without New York City, Illinois without Chicago... Blue States that would be turned Red in an instant. A fiery instant.

2) I was surprised to learn that it is possible to perform a forensic examination of a destroyed city and potentially determine who was responsible. (And they call Economics the Dismal Science!!) Apparently, nuclear blasts do leave a signature that can be traced. Thus, it might not be possible to have an 'anonymous' bomb as I originally thought. Somehow, this must be seen as good news. If the scientists can determine the source, then appropriate punishment can be dealt out for the guilty, without exterminating every possible perpetrator in a blaze of fusionious death.

The Bolt Of Israel Falls From Above

You know, it is refreshing to see at least one nation treating the so-called War On Terrorism like a real war, and actually killing the terrorists. Come on, Sharon! Blow up some more terrorists for us!

What Are They Fighting For, Mike?

Mike Moore hath spoken:

The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not "insurgents" or "terrorists" or "The Enemy." They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win.

When we fought our revolution it was for freedom. So, the question on my mind is, what are these insurgents fighting for? Tyranny? Anarchy? Theocracy?

Somehow, I doubt they are fighting to protect the rights of homosexuals or to save the planet from greenhouse gasses.

[Sorry, no link. Whatever meager following I have will be spared a reference to Moore's web site. You'll just have to trust me.]

Agusta National Excerpt

Just finished reading this fascinating article about the fight for Agusta National. Highly recommended.

Quote:

McCarthy espoused a more pugnacious approach. "The worst thing you can do when dealing with an attack activist like Martha Burk is compromise," he says. "To survive, you have to go on the attack -- investigate the activists, hold them accountable for their track record and their ideological inconsistencies. You have to take on the press that is often conspiring to give the activists a platform to espouse their views. It's like the argument of appeasement versus aggression in geopolitics, and we all know how Neville Chamberlain fared."

There Are Two Kinds Of People In This World...

Those that understand math, and those that organize 'Earth Day' celebrations that last for eight days.

"Lion Cut" Kitty

I went to visit Laura at the animal shelter today and here was this cutie, Patrick, who had his fur shaved because he had gotten it so tangled and knotted that it was just hopeless.

Language Of Ignorance

With each passing day I become more convinced that Islam is a religion built on simple concepts: tyranny, poverty, ignorance, and depravity. Fundamentalist Islam is just the pursuit of these four goals of Islam by the most radical means possible. Nothing that I read in this article causes me to doubt my opinion.

Here we have an Arab intellectual lamenting the affect of Islam on the Arab world. Note his field of study... pre-Islamic Arabic poetry! Possibly because there has not been any notable achievement in post-Islamic poetry, short of the Koran itself?

I quote from the article:

Salman Masalha: A book selling 5,000 copies across the Arab world is a rare achievement. The average book published in Israel sells more copies than a successful book in the entire Arab world. This also has to do with the economic situation. Reading books is a privilege for people who have spare time and money. The poverty that sweeps the Arab world leaves the individual struggling for survival his whole life. How is he supposed to read a book? He must bring food for his children, his family."

Question: "So why not switch the approach and start writing in colloquial [Arabic]?"

Salman Masalha: "Impossible. We don't talk about theater, films, or television series. It's impossible to write research [about] art or history in the colloquial. You need the literary [language]."

Question: "Is the situation of the Arabs in Israel any different?"

Salman Masalha: "I think it's similar. There are 200 readers, no more, among Israel's Arabs."

Even the language itself is depraved. It is the physical realization of NewSpeak, where thoughts and ideas that don't fit the Islamic model (aka Ignorance) are not capable of expression in the common speech!

Spring Photo-Blogging

I'm feeling peer pressure to post my own Spring Photo-Blog! I mean, everyone else is doing it. And since I already caved on the whole digital camera thing and sprung for a new Olympus Stylus 410, I really have no excuse.

So without further adieu, here is Spring in Cleveland courtesy of myself and the Stylus 410. (Photos are © April 4, 2004. Or in other words, taken this morning!)

First, we have the beautiful Rocky River gushing with Spring showers snow & ice storm run-off...

Metro-Parks Roads lined with flowers snow...

Spring foilage... (covered in snow)

Picturesque Spring Vistas...

Ah Spring, we hardley know ye, here in Cleveland!