I don’t get it:

Thursday’s bombing was condemned by Arafat and also forced the cancellation of scheduled truce talks. But a spokesman for the Al Aqsa Brigades, who uses the nom de guerre Abu Mujahed, said the group was still carrying out attacks because no cease-fire agreement was in place.

“Arafat did not give any orders (to halt attacks), there is no cease-fire declaration yet,” Abu Mujahed said. He said his group would be willing to observe a formal truce, “but the Israelis continue their aggression and assassinations and we will continue our attacks.”

If this murdering, terrorist scumbag is within camera range, isn’t he also within range of a rifle?

I don’t get it: Thursday’sPost + Comments

James Lileks beat Mr. Moore like a rented mule in his latest screed. Or should I say a rented jackass.

James Lileks beat Mr. MoorePost + Comments

Not much to post today, but there is this:

A woman whose two huge dogs mauled a neighbor to death in a San Francisco apartment building was convicted of murder and manslaughter Thursday. Her husband was found guilty of manslaughter.

Good, I hope both of them spend a long time rotting in jail cells, with nothing to do but avoid prison rape and filling out legal briefs for their fellow felon roommates. They are scum, and they deserve everything they got from the jury and more.

Those people had those dogs, which were loaded weapons- cocked and ready to go off on anyone or anything, and they had no regard for any of their fellow citizens. Those dogs were known to go off if they smelled too much of naturally occurring human hormones in the air.

Before someone makes a specious and stupid argument about my loaded weapon analogy, there is no connection between gun ownership and these dogs as ‘loaded weapons.’ If you think so, tell me the last time you rifle or your pistol took a crap on the living room floor. These were living, breathing killing machines, and the people who owned them had a willful and reckless disregard for human life and anything other than their own narrow desires. If you want to make the dog as loaded weapon/anti-gun argument, the only analogy that would be comparable to owning those two dogs would be for someone to litter a grade school playground with loaded AK-47’s. Then the analogy might hold- but that would be anathema to responsible gun ownership, as any gun owner would tell you.

At any rate. So long. You couldn’t keep your vicious animals caged, so now you get to spend a considerable chunk of your life behind bars. Too bad they won’t require you to eat out of a big bowl like the animals that you are. My only regret is the jury couldn’t find your defense attorney guilty of being a Grade-A bitch for torturing the victim’s partner throughout the trial.

Not much to post today,Post + Comments

Will Warren’s latest poem is dedicated to a certain governor of California.

Will Warren’s latest poem isPost + Comments

This may be one of the greatest opening lines in blog history:

You got your French Fries, which are soaked in grease, and your French Toast, which is soaked in eggs, and your French Cooperation, which is soaked in sanctimony.

This may be one ofPost + Comments

From the Kick them While they are Down Files:

Among them are new revelations about the tangled finances of the former president’s brother, Roger Clinton. In the course of the pardon investigation, committee lawyers uncovered unexplained deposits of hundreds of thousands of dollars in blank traveler’s checks in his bank account. They also found evidence that Clinton – a rock and roll singer, but never a terribly successful one – was paid enormous sums by foreign governments for performances overseas. And they discovered a $15,000 money transfer from Bill Clinton to his brother at a time when Roger Clinton faced growing pressure to tell authorities what he knew about the pardon matter.

Amusing and everything, but this is a non-issue anymore. Nothing will ever come of it, and this is the real Republican addiction- Clinton-bashing. Let them ooze their way into history, and quit having top journalists at major conservative journals wasting time on these issues. There is enough going on out there that really needs to be debated.

From the Kick them WhilePost + Comments

I do not know if there is global warming or not. I am inclined to believe that it is a possibility, but I can also see the arguments that are made that this is just a normal fluctation. Sometimes it seems like the debate is not really a debate, but a playground name-calling incident. At any rate, this just made me laugh. If this is not from the style over substance files, I do not know what is:

UN pokes holes in Kyoto plan

Kyoto is also unlikely to have much impact in stopping the effects of global warming, but nations should sign it anyway, says Dr. Robert Watson, chairman of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the chief spokesman on climate change for the World Bank.

“Kyoto, as it is currently constructed, does send an important signal to governments and industry that there is a market for more energy-efficient … technologies,” Dr. Watson said yesterday in Ottawa. But without the United States as a signatory, it is difficult to see how the emissions-credit scheme might work for Canada, he said. “I can’t see how Canada can help meet its obligation by selling anything to the U.S., if the U.S. isn’t part of the protocol.”

Translation: Global warming is an important issue, but if you refuse to do exactly what we want, we will refuse any of your attempts to address the issue in a manner other than what we prescribe.

At least in this article, the scientists are admitting what they do not know, which is refreshing.

Dr. Watson acknowledged there is still much to learn about climate change, but said the world cannot wait for perfect knowledge before taking action.

“There are scientific uncertainties, but the weight of evidence suggests that we humans are responsible for most of the observed warming in the last 50 years. We believe that future climate change is inevitable and for most people in the world the impact will be negative.”

Or are they?

The impact of global warming in Canada is already apparent in the Arctic where ice thickness and coverage is being reduced, Dr. Watson said. Earth’s mean average temperature is expected to rise 1.4 degrees Centigrade to 5.8 degrees Centigrade by 2085.

“For many parts of Canada, the change in temperatures could be towards the upper 5, 6 to 7 degrees Centigrade — there is a huge amplification [in temperature effect] as you go north into the Arctic area,” Dr. Watson said.

I do not know ifPost + Comments