On Fecklessness

Brilliant:

I want that "Public Support" meter to rise and fall according to Troops Lost, Length of Conflict, Innocents Killed and Whether or Not There is Anything Else On TV That Week. I want to lose 200 Public Support points because, in a war where 8,000 units have been lost, one of my Mutalisks happened to be caught on video accidentally eating one clergyman. Then, later, my destruction of an entire enemy city goes unnoticed because the Nude Zero-Gravity Futureball championship went into overtime.

The law prevents me owning a gun. I'm not supposed to need one - the law will protect me.
Perhaps they mean the law in Lebanon.

NSW police arrested Jamal on September 17, 1999, charging him with five counts of discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, another of causing danger to the public by discharging a firearm and a further charge of stealing a motor vehicle.
Later that day he fronted Central Local Court where he stood in the dock clutching a copy of the Koran.
But he breached bail conditions by failing to report to police after a court appearance in March and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Jamal had previously served 16 months in jail on cannabis possession charges. He was also due to face court on two separate firearms-related charges.

Bail? How the hell did he get bail? What could his lawyer possibly have said to get him bail after a drive by shooting?

And where do I get a gun?

Update: Apparently John Brogden and the Police Minister agree. Well, except for the gun bit:

Mr Watkins said Mr Jamal had met bail conditions until he fled Australia some time earlier this year.
"I don't believe that this person should have got bail in the first place, but after spending two years in jail awaiting bail, the court did give him bail," he said.
"Certain questions need to be asked as to what happened to this person in the months after that and how this person left Australia, presumably with false documents.
...
NSW Opposition Leader John Brogden today said he was appalled Mr Jamal could flee the country.
"I'm stunned that somebody who is implicated in shootings, in particularly shooting up a police station in Sydney, is allowed to go free on bail and we now discover that they are (allegedly) a potential terrorist," Mr Brogden said.

The ABC's Compass program will air a story on Sunday about the "difficulties" facing homosexuals who are Hasidic Jews.
They won't be doing a similar story on Islamic homosexuals living under Sharia law because it doesn't fit their agenda - and it's just not tasteful to interview someone you have to dig up.

Articles 108 -- 113:

Sodomy is a crime, for which both partners are punished. The punishment is death if the participants are adults, of sound mind and consenting; the method of execution is for the Shari'a judge to decide. A non-adult who engages in consensual sodomy is subject to a punishment of 74 lashes.

Terrorists shouldn't be allowed to play with the rough lads from the highland regiments:

OUTNUMBERED British soldiers killed 35 Iraqi attackers in the Army’s first bayonet charge since the Falklands War 22 years ago.
The fearless Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders stormed rebel positions after being ambushed and pinned down.
Despite being outnumbered five to one, they suffered only three minor wounds in the hand-to-hand fighting near the city of Amara.
The battle erupted after Land Rovers carrying 20 Argylls came under attack on a highway.
After radioing for back-up, they fixed bayonets and charged at 100 rebels using tactics learned in drills.
When the fighting ended bodies lay all over the highway — and more were floating in a nearby river. Nine rebels were captured.
An Army spokesman said: “This was an intense engagement.”

An excellent result.
It's interesting to note that 100 - 35 - 9 = 56. Thats approximately 56 brave "rebels" that hitched their skirts to run away and hide.

Very slowly the good oil is coming out of Iraq.

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Developments positive to the war in Iraq are carried very quietly by the SMH. Today, the discovery of Sarin in Iraq gets three sentences. In contrast the Abu Ghraib prison gets yet another full article.

For more detail on the sarin found you need to go to Fox or the Australian.

Update: The SMH is now carrying the AP version.

Remember Nick Berg? The guy who was beheaded by the religion of peace recently?

I do. You might. The media doesn't.

Howard today:

"If the coalition were to retreat from Iraq, it would deliver an enormous victory for international terrorism," he told Brisbane radio 4BC.
"Whatever link people may have said, did or didn't exist between international terrorism and Saddam Hussein, there is no doubt terrorists are investing an enormous amount in the success of the insurgents in Iraq at the present time.
"There is no doubt whenever there is a backward move by the coalition, the terrorists put that in a victory column against the west."

Latham today:

"The Howard government has said that this is to find weapons of mass destruction that basically didn't exist, and they sent young Australians to war for a false purpose," Mr Latham told ABC Radio.
"So that in itself is damning. And then they said this is now about the reconstruction of Iraq, and the prison torture scandal undermines the credibility of that.
"It has been one debacle after another, unhappily.
Mr Latham said he remained firm in his belief that Australian troops should return home by Christmas.
He said the solution to Iraq lay in an operation led by the United Nations, with a force including Arab states.

Arab states? Under UN "control"? What drugs is this idiot on? Arab states are dictatorships, the last thing they want their subjects seeing is a democracy in the region.
I'm starting to think Latham is a seriously dangerous man - I hope to God he's just grandstanding and has no intention of pushing his disastrous ideas into legislation if his populism gets him in as PM.

I have a female friend who recommended RSVP to me (I'm single). I had a look around and it's the comedy mother lode. Funniest profile yet:

PLEASE RESPECT MY "IDEAL PARTNER" & HAVE A PIC PLEASE! Get a clue-smokers stink so don’t apply. PS guys with KIDS, stalkers, alcoholics, gamblers, any addictions; bad hygiene; have a psychopathic ex; current/past AVOs; Asian women fetish & NO SENSE OF HUMOUR need not apply ;-) ! If U find the above interesting, then ensure U have something 2 read about yourself. 4 line profiles don't excite

Can I just get 1 thing straight? This has been an interesting study of male behaviour! Even though I’ve spelt out the obvious, some guys STILL ignore my Ideal Partner section. So if U smoke, have kids, have no pic or can’t write more than a4 line profile, THEN I’M JUST NOT INTERESTED IN YOU! Got it? Because some guys just ignore & don’t respect my simple requests, so please save yrself the rejection! Of course my 1st impression is on wot U have written 2 sell yrself & yr attention 2 detail, like can U spell or at least use a spell-checker?

Just a few personal issues to address there. Well, you can be pretty sure she's genuine and not Todd trawling again I guess.

Something else the media won't be rushing to cover - the new Iraqi army.

I feel I’m somebody now. I’m respected and get all what most people get. Do you believe that they threw one of the Iraqi officers out of the army because he used us to do him personal services, like carrying his bags, and when we complained about his behavior, they told him “ Do you see any of us, American officers use our soldiers? You can go home. You still have the mentality of the old regime and you can’t fit in this new army!” imagine that! They listen to our complains, we the soldiers, and bring us justice even if it involved the higher ranked officers. This had never happened in the old army.

The Daily Mirror has sacked editor Piers Morgan after admitting that the photo's they published earlier as pictures of British troops mistreating Iraqi prisoners are faked.
The BBC has an interesting analysis of the pictures themselves.

Long tongue and big brass balls too:

The Israeli-born US musician went on to say Islam was a "vile culture" that treated women worse than dogs.
Muslim women had to walk behind their men and were not allowed to be educated or own houses, he said.
"Your dog, however, can walk side by side, your dog is allowed to have its own dog house... you can send your dog to school to learn tricks, sit, beg, do all that stuff – none of the women have that advantage."
He went on to say the west was under threat.
"This is a vile culture and if you think for a second that it's going to just live in the sands of God's armpit you've got another thing coming," he said.
"They want to come and live right where you live and they think that you're evil."
Simmons said the United Nations approach did not work and the west had to "speak softly and carry a big stick".

The Australian:

THE Government has accused Opposition Leader Mark Latham of delivering a Budget reply light on detail and tax policy.

Mr Latham last night made his formal Budget reply speech, revealing few details while making general promises of tax cuts to the low paid and a plan to force young people into work.

Labor? Short on details? Who'd have thunk it?

The Australian today (via AP):

It also alleged British mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners in southern Iraq, including hooding, but nothing as severe as the accusations against the US forces.

Hooding a prisoner is mistreatment?

I was present for an interrogation once where the door was opened with the prisoners face, he was hit repeatedly and thrown several times from his chair. He was wearing a hood so we couldn't see that his nose was broken till he was removed from the room.
If anyone had been taking photo's we'd have all ended up on the front page. Once you get someone out of uniform with a hood on he can be anyone of any nationality being mistreated by the bad soldiers.
So it turns out that the Daily Mirror didn't check their facts and published pictures they claimed were of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment mistreating prisoners.

How many jihadi's picked up the family AK-47 because of this story?

Finally; the guide.

A Retrosexual will have at least one outfit in his wardrobe designed to conceal himself from prey. Check.

A Retrosexual opens doors for a lady. Check.

A Retrosexual should have at least one good wound he can brag about getting. Bugger. To the shed!

Ever find yourself agreeing with almost everything someone else thinks - to the point that you feel obligated to have at least one contrary thought to save looking like a arselicking dullard?

Meet the Gnu Hunter

Once I find something I don't wholeheartedly agree with there I'll let you know.

If The Media Treated Basketball Games Like They Treat The War On Terror

Iraqis may end up owing Nick Berg their freedom.
Yesterday the media were outraged about the mistreatment of the various murderers and terrorists the US Army is holding in the Abu Ghraib prison.
Today the media have been forced to be outraged about the videotaped killing of Nick Berg. Some more clueless and rabidly left wing media organisations are trying to pretend that the misunderstood Islamic terrorists hadn't killed anyone until the abuse at Abu Ghraib was reported, but on the whole, most figured that pushing their antiwar and anti Bush/Howard agenda would piss their readers off.
So American voter sentiment, not particularly effected by the Abu Ghraib affair will swing even further to Bush which will ensure the Iraqis a democracy.

We need to stop giving the enemy credit for their media savvy; videotaped beheadings when the media is fighting tooth and nail for you is not real bright.

From Yahoo's news pages:

Egyptian lawyers Adli Henri, left, and Abdel-Gawad Ahmed, watch President Bush (news - web sites) in an interview about U.S. soldiers' abuse of Iraqi prisoners on Al-Arabiya TV Wednesday, March, 5, 2004, at the Egyptian Lawyers Syndicate in Cairo, Egypt. The abuses shown in photographs published worldwide outraged the Arab world, but many Arabs say Bush's words won't make a difference. Only two lawyers present watched the interview, but more were in another room watching a soccer game. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

Yep, outraged I tells ya!

But if you're Victorian this is where your tax dollars are headed - rocket science:

Last November, Ms Allan announced a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the impact of negative body image on young people.
"(The statistics) show this is an issue that young people are concerned about," Ms Allan said.
"They are feeling under pressure and we want to understand why they are feeling that pressure.
"(The parliamentary inquiry) is a chance to bring together a whole range of people who are already working and doing great work in this area, whether it's health professionals, youth workers, or community organisations.
"Also there's a lot of research and academic work and there are families and carers who are greatly concerned about this issue."

Hmm, teenagers, taught from birth that they are not responsible for their actions, see supermodels but gorge themselves on foods high in sugar and fat.
Job's done! Ms Allen, I prefer cash.

Maybe we should save some time here and just name the problem and immediately blame it on a rich white man?

How often do we see the term hero misused to refer to a sportsman in the media?

Now Australia needs it's Olympic hero's to stand firm and send a message to our enemies...

The habitually biased SMH on Mundine's loss to Manny Siaca last night:

'I'll take the loss like a man,' Mundine said.

that's not quite how I remember his after fight comments. I remember it more like the Courier Mail does:

A stunned Mundine: "I thought I won the fight. I'll go back to the drawing board and talk to my team. I thought I won.
"I thought I outboxed him, what can you do, man?

Well, you could try to be half the man your opponent was last night and take it like... a man?

From what I saw Manny Siaca chased Mundine around the ring from round two, knocked him down, never looked in danger and acted like a gentleman and true sportsman after the fight.

Mundine, on the other hand, turned up with a "rap gansta" entourage, spent the entire fight in retreat, hit his opponent hard once or twice and was a poor loser. Frankly, I'm betting that the ankle injury gets the blame soon.

Anthony Mundine - the man? No.

The frenchman perhaps.

Update: Danny Green is not holding back.

Even Green, Mundine's arch foe, who says he'll fight Mundine today if The Man wants it, was surprised at his passionless exit from the WBA super-middleweight throne.
"Siaca was slow and tailor-made for Mundine but once Anthony was hurt he didn't want to get hit again," Green said.
"He's got a heart the size of a Tic Tac.
"If Mundine fights me I won't hang back like Siaca.
"He can try to run but I'll make him fight."

Update: Neither is Jeff Fenech:

"Put it this way, I'd offer up Danny Green to fight both those guys on the same night," Fenech said. "Siaca can't fight . . . and right now, Anthony's got nothing. I was at a pub in Wagga watching the fight and the whole place was cheering when he was beaten. Everyone I spoke to said the same thing. Anthony just has to stop talking shit and prove his potential.
"Anthony's not a bad kid but he has to stop listening to some of the people around him. Of course he can beat Siaca. That's why he chose to fight him in the first place. Everyone in boxing knows he only fights people he knows he can beat. He has to do things properly now."

Getting married?

Tragedy? I'm going with shithouse parenting.
"Tragedy continues to stalk a 64-year-old Pakistani doctor. With four sons serving long prison sentences for gang rape, he will seek today to claim the body of a fifth son from the Glebe morgue."

I have a bog standard template used by about a million blogger users.

The newly single Mike Jerico doesn't.

Upped the weight, no headache. Modern medicine be damned - punishment works just fine.

I went to the gym two weeks ago. Did heavy squats; several patrons looked on as I go to Fitness First and no-one ever does parallel squats at Fitness First ('cause it takes effort and it's harder to pick up a "tidy apartment and a small dog" man when your face is red).
I finished with a sore lower back. So I punished it with way too many back extensions. Then I spent some time leaning limply against the wall, mustered my strength and hobbled out. Remembered to hold the rail down the stairs. This time.
While I was resting against another (the third) wall on the way home, a stunning blonde cycled past. Obviously no mothering instinct at all because she didn't even glance at me. Either that or my slack jawed bleary look put her off offering mouth to mouth. Mortified I continued struggling home.
I got home eventually and lay down for an hour till realised I had a headache.
Which stuck with me through the next two weeks. Till today.

So I'm going back to do squats this afternoon as a warning to the rest of the body - you screw me around again and I will hurt you good like.