Celebrating his 60th birthday, the President of the United States: George Bush.
Celebrating their 14th birthday, the Mary-Kate and Ashley of the neo-Nazi movement: Prussian Blue.
[Okay, the girls’ birthday was last week, but they blogged about it today]
WTF?
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research recently began funding a new research area that includes a study of blogs. Blog research may provide information analysts and warfighters with invaluable help in fighting the war on terrorism.
Oh, lChrist. I’m moved to respond.
Dear Air Force:
Are you fucking insane? Have you lost all your marbles? You have incredible investigative tools in your arsenal. Hell, you have an arsenal at your disposal.
So you think that, in order to defeat al Qaeda, it’s worthwhile to analyze blogs? Regular Americans’ blogs? Don’t you know who bloggers are? They’re just people with opinions and too much free time.
Please, oh please. Let the grown-ups run government again.
A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION is a vulgar movie, which makes fun of Christians and implies that everyone goes to heaven….
NY POST: Vitriol aside for a moment, how would you define a liberal, politically speaking?
ANN: Naive, misinformed fanatical Mother Earth-worshipers and fervent America-haters — and those are their good traits.
RELATED: Angered by allegations of plagiarism directed against her, Ann Coulter calls the New York Post a "tabloid" which, you know, it is.
The English language is always evolving, and I dig the English language (in fact, I use it all the time).
So that’s why I’m always interested in seeing what new words have made it into the dictionary.
A century ago, in 1806, these "new words" (among others) were added to Webster’s Dictionary:
Americanize verb: to render American
caddy noun: a small box for tea
checkers noun pl.: a game
chore noun: a small job, domestic work
demoralize verb: to corrupt, undermine or destroy moral principles
emphasize verb: to pronounce with a stress of voice
energize verb: to give strength or vigor
flytrap noun: a trap to catch flies
hydrant noun: a pipe to conduct and deliver water
immigrant noun: one who removes into a country
inapproachable adjective: not to be approached
inexact adjective: not exact or precise
insubordination noun: disobedience or want of submission to authority
leanto noun: the part of a building that appears to lean upon another
notice verb: to see, regard, observe, attend
orthoepy noun: the art of just pronunciation
penmanship noun: the act, art, or use of writing
pry verb: to look into with close inspection, to raise with a lever
publicity noun: a public state, notoriety
sectarian adjective: pertaining to a sect
skittles noun: a game like ninepins
slang noun: vulgar language, cant phrases [low]
slat noun: a thin piece of timber connecting larger ones
slatternly adjective: negligent in dress, sluttish
snowshoe noun: a light frame to walk with on snow
spry adjective: nimble, brisk, quick in action
surf noun: waves or swell of the sea breaking on shore
velveteen noun: a cloth made of cotten and linen
What "new words" have been added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary this year? Here’s a small sample:
Technology and ComputersScience and MedicinePop CultureThe Human ConditionBusiness and IndustryMiscellaneous
And another new one which I’m sure you already use: to google
What words would you add? (And kids, "bling" was made a word three years ago…)
116 foreign policy experts were asked how Bush is doing on the Global War On Terrorism. The results were weighted to factor out partisan bias. The short answer: we’re going down the wrong track.
Iraq’s government is studying a request from some local insurgent leaders to supply them with weapons so they can turn on the heavily armed foreign fighters who were once their allies, according to two Iraqi lawmakers.
Leaders claiming to represent about 11 insurgent groups asked for weapons to fight foreign al-Qaeda elements in Iraq, said Haider al-Ibadi, a Shiite lawmaker and member of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Dawa Party.
So let’s get this straight. We’re in Iraq defending the Iraqi people from insurgents, while the Iraqi government gives weapons to those insurgents, so that everybody can attack al Qaeda, who wouldn’t have been in Iraq in the first place had we not invaded.
Gotcha.
Michelle Malkin organized a huge protest in front of the New York Times building on the Fourth of July. The purpose was to express outrage at the Time’s "leaking" of "classified information", thus jeopardizing the lives of Americans blah blah blah.
16 people, not including the organizers and journalists, showed up.
Apparently, the New York Times is still in business.
RELATED: More amusement at Malkin outrages here, including the manufactured scandal that the New York Times published photos of Cheney’s and Rumsfeld’s summer homes (Malkin et al said it was an invitation to terrorists to kill Cheney and Rumsfeld — it turns out that the photos were published with Cheney and Rumsfeld’s permission, and the Secret Service okayed it as well!)
More thoughts from Greg Sargant.
Back in 2004, the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ (based at Dr D. James Kennedy’s Coral Ridge Ministries) praised the efforts of a school board in Delaware to promote Christianity among the children under its care:
Despite threats of litigation from the ACLU, one Delaware school district has made it abundantly clear that they will not surrender America’s Christian heritage without a fight.
For years, the Indian River School District (IRSD) Board of Education of Sussex County, Delaware, has opened with an invocation. Recently, they received a threatening letter from the Delaware chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) demanding that they discontinue their tradition of prayer.
After seeking legal counsel, a meeting was called, and community residents gathered at the Frankford Elementary School. In response to the ACLU’s threats, IRSD board president Harvey Walls asked board member Dr. Donald G. Hattier to deliver a prayer. Amid the crowd’s loud cheers, Hattier rose and recited George Washington’s prayer which was offered during America’s fight for independence…
The Delaware Daily Times added:
Many begged the school board not to take Jesus away from their children. Others read scriptures from the Bible citing instructions given by Jesus.
One parent announced that a petition was being circulated and so far more than 300 people had signed it.
Board members listened for more than an hour during the public comment period, making no opinion statements themselves.
Commenting on the ACLU’s complaint, Jan LaRue of Concerned Women for America asked (link in original):
Where are the self-proclaimed ‘Guardians of Liberty‘ when a California school district is indoctrinating school kids with Islam?”…“This is one more example of the ACLU’s jihad to end public acknowledgement of the God of the Bible.”
(LaRue is referring to the California case discussed here)
However, the school board’s “brave stand” appears to be itself a bit of a “jihad” (as LaRue defines the term), according to Jews on First:
A large Delaware school district promoted Christianity so aggressively that a Jewish family felt it necessary to move to Wilmington, two hours away, because they feared retaliation for filing a lawsuit. The religion (if any) of a second family in the lawsuit is not known, because they’re suing as Jane and John Doe; they also fear retaliation. Both families are asking relief from "state-sponsored religion."
The lawsuit by the Jewish family (the Dobrichs) alleges that the local pastor, Jerry Fike, in his invocation, followed requests for "our heavenly Father’s" guidance for the graduates with:
I also pray for one specific student, that You be with her and guide her in the path that You have for her. And we ask all these things in Jesus’ name.
In addition to the ruined graduation experience, the lawsuit alleges that:
War on Christians? Hardly. For some, it’s a war by Christians.
Jesus’ General writes the Stop the ACLU Coalition, who published personal information about the Dobrichs (which resulted in their having to flee the school distract after getting threats).
Look, I know it’s been out a while, but it takes time for movies like this to make their way to rural North Carolina.
But no matter where you are, you really ought to see this movie. I’m pretty well informed about environmental issues, and it even opened my eyes.
Yes, on one level, it could be described as an Al-Gore-Gives-A-Powerpoint-Presentation movie, although Al Gore is not the issue (the whole film is non-partisan), and it’s a lot more engaging then Powerpoint. Al Gore is merely the messenger, and it’s the science (which he makes accessible) which reaches you. Because of the subject matter, it’ll have you on the edge of your seat, more so than a fictional adventure movie. In ten years (unless we do something now), global warming will be the daily topic on everybody’s lips — much more than 9/11 was — and you best get informed now.
Don’t take my word for it — Educate yourself. See the movie and/or visit the website.
UPDATE: Amanda Marcotte writes the review I would have written if I had more time.
The National Journal reports that Bush himself told Cheney to leak classified information in order to discredit Joseph Wilson.
More on this later, I’m sure… but it’s hard for this Administration to get all blustery when newspapers supposedly leak classified information.
Just another example of how badly this government is fighting the war on terrorism:
NEW YORK (AP) — A CIA unit that had hunted for Osama bin Laden and his top deputies for a decade has been disbanded, according to a published report.
Citing unnamed intelligence officials, The New York Times reported Tuesday that the unit, known as "Alec Station," was shut down late last year.
The decision to close the unit, which was created before the September 11, 2001, attacks, was first reported Monday by National Public Radio.
The officials told the Times that the change reflects a view that al Qaeda’s hierarchy has changed, and terrorist attacks inspired by the group are now being carried out independently of bin Laden and his second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The CIA said hunting bin Laden remains a priority, but resources needed to be directed toward other people and groups likely to initiate new attacks.
"The efforts to find Osama bin Laden are as strong as ever," said CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise Dyck.
"This is an agile agency, and the decision was made to ensure greater reach and focus."
A former CIA official who once led the unit, Michael Scheuer, told the Times that its shutdown was a mistake.
Meanwhile, read how the Coalition of The Willing is now the Coalition of The Nothing.
Anyway, the notion that bin Laden doesn’t have much influence over al Qaeda operations is belied by this article which came out just today:
WASHINGTON – The flurry of messages from Osama Bin Laden and his deputy this year suggests the pair is regaining control over Al Qaeda operations for the first time since the U.S. toppled the Taliban, two top experts told the Daily News.
"It means their command and control over Al Qaeda is probably stronger than we thought it was," said Michael Scheuer, who ran the CIA’s Osama Bin Laden unit and is the author of "Imperial Hubris."
You can track the Shuttle in real time here.
Winston-Salem residents can view the Shuttle (possibly) at these times:
THE FOLLOWING ISS SIGHTINGS ARE POSSIBLE FROM MON JUL 03 TO SAT JUL 15
| Mon Jul 03/09:16 PM | 10 above NNE | 10 above NE | |||
| Mon Jul 03/10:51 PM | 45 above NW | 45 above NW | |||
| Tue Jul 04/09:38 PM | 19 above N | 12 above E | |||
| Tue Jul 04/11:13 PM | 13 above W | 13 above W | |||
| Wed Jul 05/10:02 PM | 61 above NW | 38 above SE | |||
| Thr Jul 06/10:24 PM | 18 above W | 22 above SW | |||
| Fri Jul 07/09:12 PM | 62 above NNW | 11 above SE | |||
| Sat Jul 08/09:34 PM | 21 above WSW | 10 above S | |||
| Wed Jul 05/10:07 PM | 50 above WNW | 70 above SSE | |||
| Thr Jul 06/10:24 PM | 18 above W | 22 above SW | |||
| Fri Jul 07/09:12 PM | 62 above NNW | 11 above SE | |||
| Sat Jul 08/09:34 PM | 21 above WSW | 10 above S | |||
