August 2006 Archives
Its been one year exactly since I posted the first entry on this blog.
In celebration of this momentous event, I have changed the tag line at the top of each page to my favorite bon mot of Dorothy Parker, "What fresh hell is this?" The quote nicely sums up the theme that this blog has evolved to represent.
The whole Armor of God Pajama set will help your children to depend on God to protect them from their fears, doubts, and uncertainties at night so their sleep can be restful and peaceful.
You really have to go to this site just for the sheer kitsch high that you will get. Those rising clouds are just too great!
Satin has kind of always has creeped me out anyway.
Onward christian business!
Credit to the always valuable Cruel Site of the Day.
Recently I posted that Bush stated "… we have given our officials the tools they need to protect our people".
It however seems more important that we retain our "moral purity" by keeping gays out of the military, than retaining badly needed Arabic language skills.
The U.S. Army recently discharged a highly regarded Arabic linguist who was the target of an anonymous email “outing” campaign. Former Sergeant Bleu Copas was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., and was a member of the prestigious 82nd Airborne Division. A decorated Sergeant who received impressive performance reviews, Copas also performed in the 82nd Airborne Chorus. His dismissal, under the federal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel, brings the total number of Arabic language specialists dismissed under the ban to at least 55. Neither Copas nor his command know who was the source of the email campaign.
Credit Truthdig.
Following Ned Lamont's victory over Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic senatorial primary, the GOP posted the following image on the front page of their website.
Follow this link and you can clearly see that the party whose leader campaigned for President as being a "uniter, not a divider", initially posted the image with the photo of Democratic party leader Howard Dean manipulated so that he would appear with a Hitlerian mustache. After they were caught, they modified the photograph to remove the "enhancement".
Lovely folks, huh?
From Steven Berlin Johnson's blog on the argument that anti-Iraq-war advocates, specifically the Democrats should be making:
This plot demonstrates the seriousness of the threat posed against us, and, if all the early indications prove to be right, the continuing existence of the Al Qaeda network. It also demonstrates that top-notch law enforcement work, coupled with international collaboration -- and, yes, some wire-tapping -- can truly make us safer. If we had been in charge after 9/11, we would have devoted our military and law enforcement resources exclusively to tracking down Islamic terror networks, with the highest priority given to hunting down Osama Bin Laden. We wouldn't have introduced the huge distraction of Iraq, which has both been a terrible drain on resources and lives, and made us many new enemies in regions where we need more friends. If you elect us this fall, we promise a renewed focus on the enemies that actually threaten us directly. While we can't immediately withdraw from Iraq, we propose a steady re-allocation of manpower and money from Iraq to the immediate threats on American lives. We believe in the war on terror just as firmly as the Republicans do. We just think it should concentrate on capturing terrorists, not rebuilding the electrical grid in Bagdhad.
Couldn't agree more.
Yep, but it could all be over on August 22.
Better cancel those holidays. We now have a date for Armageddon, and it's a week on Tuesday - August 22.This information comes from no lesser source than the Wall Street Journal, where Bernard Lewis, President Bush's favourite historian, provides the details.
"In Islam, as in Judaism and Christianity," the professor writes, "there are certain beliefs concerning the cosmic struggle at the end of time - Gog and Magog, anti-Christ, Armageddon, and for Shiite Muslims, the long-awaited return of the Hidden Imam, ending in the final victory of the forces of good over evil, however these may be defined.
"Mr Ahmadinejad [the Iranian president] and his followers clearly believe that this time is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the US about nuclear development by August 22. This was at first reported as 'by the end of August', but Mr Ahmadinejad's statement was more precise."
Lewis continues: "What is the significance of August 22? This year, August 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to 'the farthest mosque', usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (cf, Koran XVII.1). This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and, if necessary, of the world."
From Bush's statement today on this morning's regarding the discovery of the plot to blow up airplanes:
This country is safer than it was prior to 9/11. We've taken a lot of measures to protect the American people. But obviously, we're still not completely safe, because there are people that still plot and people who want to harm us for what we believe in. It is a mistake to believe there is no threat to the United States of America. And that is why we have given our officials the tools they need to protect our people.
I emphasize his statement: "It is a mistake to believe there is no threat to the United States of America." … who exactly is it that is saying that there is not a threat posed by terrorists? No one of course. Yet again Bush makes a straw man argument to try and make people believe that his approach is infallible and the only one true course of action, and the comment passes through the media with no challenge or comment. I've posted on this tendency before.
It is great that the powers that be in Britain are "on the case" and have apparently thwarted this plot. They are doing their jobs, and any responsible government would be doing the same. And it deserves attention in the news. But really now, where is the perspective. I have looked at CNN and MSNBC this morning and it appears to be the only news that is happening in the world. This is a disturbing and all too familiar phenomenon. Just like the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah has pushed the civil war in Iraq (which was already sorely under-reported) out of the media's attention, now today's event has pushed everything else out of view.
