September « 2010

Yes, I know this is a little late in the news cycle, but the thought just came to me today: how to do a book-burning when the offending book is electronic-only?

Burning kindles/nooks would be toxic.

Deleting files... not quite the same visuals.

Print it out and burn the paper? Run the printouts through a shredder?

But why go to the trouble of printing out the text anew? Just rummage through office recycle bins, tell other people that it's a printout of whatever heretical book, and then run through the shredder. Stick the results in a hamster cage.

See, I'm just full of ideas! And I'm not even charging for them.

Meep

Meep is a member of the Irish Catholic mafia, having a suspiciously high number of green-eyed, red-haired friends. While she doesn’t have red hair herself [except when she goes into the sun (rare for any vampire)], she does have green eyes. She’s a raving Papist and is a life actuary on the side [i.e., she counts dead people]. An amateur pain-in-the-ass [willing to go pro!], she likes covering retirement, mortality, math, and education issues.

Filed under: Invincible Ignorance, Ni Una Idea 1 Comment

23Sep/1010

Today in Snaqwells History

I'm going to take a moment, a day really, to celebrate an event that should have never had to happen. It's now after midnight here in Chicago, so it's Friday, September 24th. I will be returning home later today, and it will be a rather sentimental and emotional homecoming for me.

In June of 2009, I filed for divorce for reasons that really don't matter at this point. After a summer of deep animosity and struggle, during which she never gave up on me, I collapsed in a heap in a hotel room in Montana. I returned home that night, went to the house to help put the kids to bed; had a pleasant evening with her and then returned to my apartment. The next night, September 24th, was different. After putting the kids to bed, I returned again to my apartment and cried some more. Not 5 minutes after I got home, I called her on the phone. I told her I was going to call my attorney and tell him to call off the whole thing; and she told me to come home.

I won't go so far as to suggest every marriage can or should be salvaged; but in direct opposition to so many words I uttered in the summer of 2009, mine was both worthy and capable of being saved. We celebrated 12 years this past June, but today is my 1 year celebration of clarity.

Adam Wells

Living life at 84 mph and 7000 feet. All I ask is that you don't block traffic, act like a professional, and don't act all surprised when your actions have consequences. Oh, and don't complain about the refs; trust me, they don't care if your team wins or not.

Tagged as: Marriage 10 Comments

23Sep/103

Bono’s ONE foundation charity named for percentage of donations doled out

Ugh.

Previously on POWIP: Most Pompous Rock Bands, Performers, Lyrics

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Filed under: Too Lazy to Categorize 3 Comments

23Sep/104

“Please, Sir, I want some more.”

From NRO:

Sa'd Arafat: Allah honored wives by instating the punishment of beatings.

Interviewer: Honored them with beatings? How is this possible?

Sa'd Arafat: The prophet Muhammad said: "Don't beat her in the face, and do not make her ugly." See how she is honored. If the husband beats his wife, he must not beat her in the face. Even when he beats her, he must not curse her. This is incredible! He beats her in order to discipline her.

In addition, there must not be more than ten beatings, and he must not break her bones, injure her, break her teeth, or poke her in the eye. There is a beating etiquette. If he beats to discipline her, he must not raise his hand high. He must beat her from chest level. All these things honor the woman.

She is in need of discipline. How should the husband discipline her? Through admonishment. If she is not deterred, he should refuse to share the bed with her. If she is not repentant, he should beat her, but there are rules to the beating. It is forbidden to beat her in the face or make her ugly. When you beat her, you must not curse her. Islam forbids this.

Read the whole thing for more helpful tips.

Some toddlers are terrible bigots. Addressing that is what education is all about.

Related would be How To Make a Zombie.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Filed under: Too Lazy to Categorize 4 Comments

23Sep/103

U.N.real

NYT:

The U.S. delegation walked out of the U.N. speech of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday after he said some in the world have speculated that Americans were actually behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks, staged in an attempt to assure Israel's survival.

He did not explain the logic of that statement that was made as he attacked the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ahmadinejad said there were two theories about the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks:

— That a "powerful and complex terrorist group" penetrated U.S. intelligence and defenses.

— "That some segments within the U.S. government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy and its grips on the Middle East in order also to save the Zionist regime. The majority of the American people as well as other nations and politicians agree with this view."

The Americans stood and walked out without listening to the third theory that the attack was the work of "a terrorist group but the American government supported and took advantage of the situation."

The kicker?

"Very recently the world witnessed the ugly and inhumane act of burning the holy Quran," Ahmadinejad said.

Two American backpackers still hostage, women stoned to death, gays hanged, peaceful protesters shot in the streets, political prisoners raped and tortured, and this is what you got in reply?

UN out of US; US out of UN.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Filed under: Too Lazy to Categorize 3 Comments

23Sep/1015

The Magical Healing Power of Boobs

I was just in a massage session working on the client's sciatic pain when he suggested rubbing my boob on it might make it feel better.

(Before I continue: this is a person I've known for a million years so I simply told him in my professional opinion, no, that would not make his sciatic nerve feel better at all.)

I should probably be offended. Instead I'm kind of fascinated. Why would he think my boob would fix anything? Why would he think that I would think that it would? Hell, what if I had done it? What if it really DID heal him?! Is it possible that men have been right all these years and boobs really are magical?

Magical or not, I won't be adding Boob Therapy to my brochures.

Falahime

Falahime Blah blah blah, Wyoming, blah blah, massage therapist, details cars, used to sell beer, blah blah, hunts big game. That’s about all there is to me; I’m pretty simple.

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Tagged as: and boobs, boobs 15 Comments

23Sep/102

Slo-Mo Olsen Twins Video Fascinating, Terrifying

Via Guyism:

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Filed under: Too Lazy to Categorize 2 Comments

23Sep/100

Majammad’s Pork Rinds – Attn James Wolcott – Crank Craving Attn Over Here

In support of cartoonists - who, as Dan points out below, are pussies (by which is meant weak-kneed hacks, by and large) - and free speech.

You can't eat just one, by baAllah!

Enoch_Root

AKA. Bobby Donn Brubaker (the most popular man in Mesa, AZ), the Umbrella of Terror, Jack Ketch.

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Filed under: Too Lazy to Categorize No Comments

23Sep/103

Dhimmi Cartoonists

I'll let Treacher give the background:

Norris is the Seattle cartoonist who has gone into hiding after launching, and almost immediately repudiating, “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.” It was her way of standing with Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park, who stirred controversy earlier this year by making fun of Mohammed. Well, more accurately, they made fun of the Islamic dogma prohibiting the depiction of Mohammed. That inspired Norris to do a silly little cartoon mocking extreme religious fundamentalism, and now she’s under threat of death by extreme religious fundamentalists.

Here's the offensive document. You can fairly feel the hate oozing out of this one:

And here's Kevin Ward commenting:

Molly was informed that she was on a hit list cobbled together by American in Yemen exile, Anwar-Al-Awlaki, who inspired the Fort Hood Massacre. The FBI advised her to go into hiding. She is not in a witness protection program, but of her own accord has changed her name and is no longer in the area. Will someone explain to me why this is not a HUGE story? An American citizen has taken the extraordinary steps of changing her identity resulting from threats on her life because she has "blasphemed" Islam. Whatever one thinks of her idea, this is still a free country! Why will no one stand up and defend her? Why must she hide for exercising her God given right to speak freely? She is now in hiding not because of the threats on her life, but because NO ONE has defended her.

It's shameful. Most shameful of all, though, would have to be the reaction of other cartoonists, those brave drawers of truth to power who lampoon our pretensions and show us how things truly are.

On Twitter, I've followed @dcagle (Darly Cagle) for some time. He seems a nice enough leftist who wants also to keep the righties interested enough in his tweets not to block him, and he has a website that aggregates political cartoons from all over the US. It is hosted, apparently, by MSNBC.

At the time when the Muhammed cartoon mess was happening, I challenged him on several occasions to draw something about it. Silence. And now that Molly Norris has had to go into hiding to escape the Islamist mob, I've challenged him again. No response. It truly is despicable that they, of all people, have nothing to say about the plight of Molly Norris. Naturally, they have a lot to say about the people who are protesting slumlord and fraud Imam Rauf's Cordoba Initiative mosque. Whether it's due to personal fear, or orders, expressed or implied, of their editors, it stinks that they are such cowards as not to stand up even for practitioners of their own profession.

Bruce Bawer's recent piece on Camille Paglia (whom I also adore but miss) makes a similar point.