On Fecklessness

In my name

2004-08-15T17:37:00.000+10:00

Unremarkable picture?

Read the caption.

Via Vodkapundit

For want of a root

2004-08-13T16:20:00.000+10:00

For the greater good there should be a program to enable the "socially unfortunate" to get laid. Here's why.

A sad day for Israelis worldwide

2004-08-13T15:59:00.000+10:00

This is absolutely disgraceful:

While on a tour of the museum at the Auschwitz death camp in Poland on Sunday, a group of around 50 Jewish university students from Israel, the U.S. and Poland were verbally attacked by a three-member gang of French male tourists.

Nowhere in the article will you find the words "and were torn limb from limb".

Pathetic. 50 students intimidated by 3 frenchmen. Arts students are obviously pansies the world over.

Vietnamese communists know a good thing when they see it...

2004-08-12T23:20:00.000+10:00

Not sure if this picture is on the level or not. Like I'd be suprised though.

43 old whiners

2004-08-11T19:27:00.000+10:00

This is the best I've seen from Andrew Bolt:

Only recently, Gration signed a petition which hysterically attacked the Government's "fascist" anti-terrorism laws and cried: "We do not want Australia to be turned into a carbon copy of Hitler's Germany."
He barely blushed when that document was found to be the work of the far-Right Citizen's Electoral Council, and backed by a gaggle of Muslim "spokesmen" including radicals such as Grand Mufti Taj El-Din El-Hilaly, who has called suicide bombers "heroes".
Still, it's nice to see Gration objecting to fascism, having once negotiated Paul Keating's infamous secret defence pact with Indonesian dictator Suharto.

Read it all.

Sex me up

2004-08-10T21:38:00.000+10:00

New to my vocabulary: Warporn.

Slack taken up

2004-08-09T20:52:00.000+10:00

I've been too busy to dig into the claims that Kerry's Vietnam record is a bit on the nose. John Hawkins has helpfully summarised a lot of what I should have read myself. If this gets into the mainstream media (and it probably won't) then I'd say Kerry's finished.

You're terrible, Muriel

2004-08-08T05:43:00.000+10:00

Andrew Bolt does Toni Collette:

It was touching, this concern of Collette to save us from American films, American accents and American vacuity, particularly when she is so busy here, promoting Connie and Carla, the latest American film to star her.

So why is Collette here flogging the very kind of vacuous American film she warns will make us a mindless "country of clones", and must be stopped?
Who knows? I'd ask her, but don't know which of her houses to ring - the $5 million Sydney mansion, the country property or the Tamarama home.

Gotta love being lectured on the FTA by second rate actors. If I want a lecture on economics, I'l ask for one from an economist. If I want a lecture on culture... who am I kidding, no straight man has ever wanted a lecture on culture. Do boobies count as culture?

Yesterday's hero

2004-08-07T21:08:00.000+10:00

Remember Labor's "star recruit" Peter Garrett?

He disappeared from sight on about the 10th of July and hasn't been heard from since. Can't think why.

1200 'minutemen' surrender, 300 don't

2004-08-07T19:22:00.000+10:00

Michael Moore, Wednesday, April 14th, 2004:

The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not "insurgents" or "terrorists" or "The Enemy." They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win. Get it, Mr. Bush?

Iraqi Police General Directorate, Saturday, August 7, 2004:

"Over 1200 criminals have surrendered to Iraqi forces," it said, adding that the holy city of Najaf had been "secured".
It said most of the captured militiamen were criminals who were released from Iraqi prisons by ousted president Saddam Hussein before last year's US-led invasion.

Nice work by the Iraqis, bit much of the prisoner taking and not enough of the summary execution for my liking but there's democracy for you.

The reporters tried to contact Sadr:

No-one in Sadr's Najaf office was immediately available for comment on the statement.

No shit, Sherlock? Bet there's an answering machine message: "Nobody can come to the phone right now - we're either dead in the street or kneeling in wet pants, begging for our lives."

Oops

2004-08-02T22:11:00.000+10:00

Looks like the asterix has the night off at the Australian:

"I said `what are you doing, I'm a cop', then the person kicked me a couple more times and then I fell unconscious'," he said.
Insp Lee said the attacker responded "fucking pig, fucking cunt" after Const Allen told him he was a police officer.

F*cking charming.

Update: Ever the do-gooders, several dots have now got together to take up the slack:

Insp Lee said the attacker responded "f...ing pig, f...ing c..." after Const Allen told him he was a police officer.

The last straw?

2004-07-11T18:36:00.000+10:00

Mark Latham must have lived for years terrified of his past becoming public. It might have paid him to seek forgiveness from his first wife:

OPPOSITION Leader Mark Latham demanded an "open marriage" from his first wife, Gabrielle Gwyther, during a visit to Spain in 1997, she claims.
As their marriage fell apart, the young Labor frontbencher told his wife he wanted more "flexibility" to explore life's opportunities, Ms Gwyther claims.
Mr Latham, possibly Australia's next prime minister, put the request to her as they sat in a cafe in Madrid after her long flight from Australia, Ms Gwyther said.
"He wanted 'new experiences'. It was like he wanted to do other things. My understanding was that he was asking for an open marriage," she said.
She told the Sunday Herald Sun that Mr Latham went "very strange" during 1997 and started seeing other women in Canberra during parliamentary sitting weeks.

Dumbass.

Meanwhile his new love must be feeling a little spurned:

OPPOSITION Leader Mark Latham today ruled out appointing star recruit Peter Garrett to the environment portfolio should Labor win the coming election.
Mr Garrett has been an longstanding advocate for the environment and outspoken opponent of Tasmanian logging practices.
Former ALP powerbroker and environment minister Graham Richardson today told the Nine Network's Sunday program he expected Mr Garrett to be the next Labor environment minister.
Mr Latham said while Mr Garrett would eventually serve on the front bench, his first task was to get elected to the Sydney seat of Kingsford Smith.
He said he had no plans to shift his current environment spokesman Kelvin Thomson.

Should be interesting to see that relationship go sour as Garrett realises that he's going nowhere and has sold out everything he believes in for nothing.

The headlines

2004-07-01T07:23:00.000+10:00

I just opened the Australian version of Google News; much to comment on:

The UN is proving itself incapable of delivering food. But it's OK - they've drawn up a draft resolution.

Saddam is in Iraqi custody; the Guardian describes his trial as "the painful process of holding the former dictator and his henchmen accountable". It's not clear if this will be more or less painful than decades of his rule. The Guardian probably doesn't care.

The Saudis are joining the war on terror and have killed Abdullah Mohammed Rashid al-Rashud, described by the Saudis as "one of the most dangerous suspects in the kingdom" and by Reuters as a "top Saudi Qaeda spiritual guide". When killed this gentle cleric was in a car packed with explosives wearing an explosive belt.

Our very own prodigal son, David Hicks, has his lawyers claiming that his trial is being rushed. About a week ago the lawyers were complaining that he'd been in custody for years with no trial. The SHM scare quote generator hasn't been run across their Hicks story where the headline reads "Military hearing for Hicks cast in doubt" (quotes are mine and sentiment is detainee's lawyers only).

Afghanistan

2004-06-30T17:58:00.000+10:00

The good news.

Iraq explained (for the dullards)

2004-06-29T19:22:00.000+10:00

John Howard explains the Iraq War:

He said the handover was crucial not only for Iraq and the Middle East but the world.
"If Iraq can become the first democratic Arab state that will be a very historic event and it will, over time, alter the dynamics of the Middle East for the better," Mr Howard said.
"On the other hand, if this experiment fails, if the terrorists win, the cost of that in the Middle East will be very severe indeed.
"And the cost around the world, the boost it will give to terrorism around the world, will be quite incalculable."

Still unclear? Let's see if I can assist:
Scenario A - Democracy catches on in the middle east; resulting prosperity/security pushes Islamic Jihadis to irrelevance.
Scenario B - Democracy fails; eventually Islamic Jihadis acquire and use a nuke; US protects itself by nuking Islamic Jihadis and whatever Arab cities they happen to be in.

Either way the Islamic terrorists lose - it's just the amount of glass that varies.

Welcome back

2004-06-29T18:52:00.000+10:00

Mohammed gets it:

Having witnessed the way the allied forces stormed into the country, overran major towns and took control of Baghdad last year, how many of us would have expected this power transfer to happen so soon? Even when many of us expressed optimism about the eventual exit of Paul Bremer and his men, there were lurking fears whether the handover time schedule would be kept up. It could have dragged on for one reason or another.
And, how curious it was to note the fact that it was the US coalition authority that was more keen on handing over power, and also that the reason why they advanced the ceremony by two days was that the forces of disruption would not get a chance to harm and hurt the civilians on the scheduled day of power handover. The allies wanted it to be a surprise, so that no evil designs could succeed. See, how they care about people. And, all these days, some people were crying, "Occupation!, Occupation!". But, what have they got to say now?

Here's what Paul McGeough is saying in Australia:

Iraqis retook control of their country in a furtive Baghdad ceremony yesterday intended to wrong-foot any insurgency plans to disrupt a formal handover that was to take place tomorrow.
At 10.26 local time (4.26pm Sydney time) on a sultry morning, the US administrator, Paul Bremer, handed a blue-bound document to the Chief Justice of the Iraq Supreme Court, Midhat Mahmoud.
There was no flag-raising or brass bands as officials of the new government gathered with Mr Bremer and David Richmond, his British counterpart, in a windowless room amid intense security.

Furtive! No flag raising! No brass bands! No windows! Doom! Gloom!

Steenking meeces

2004-06-26T05:31:00.000+10:00

For a period yesterday I was the not so happy owner of two top of the line cordless meeces; the Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 2 and the Logitech MX-700.
I've had the Logitech since it was first bought out and it hasn't impressed. I've had to pull it apart three times now to "adjust" the buttons (think plastic vs soldering iron); they just stop working as the microswitches wear a small indentation in the plastic underside of the button. The drivers are uninspiring to say the least.
So I bought the top of the line Microsoft offering; the cordless Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 2 (with leather look - don't ask). I saw it for $100 at Hardly Normal's and had a $100 gift voucher. It was fate - a marriage made in heaven.
The honeymoon ended the moment I used it. It had about 20 degrees of "lean" to it. Not really a problem says I, the orientation tab will take care of that. If there was an orientation tab. Bugger. Opened Firefox to see what the www thought I could do about this. Found the second problem; the scroll wheel is very sensitive and the middle mouse button is very insensitive. Several attempts later I managed to middle click on the URL. Nothing. So I opened the driver software again and found the buttons tab. Stumbled into the third problem - you cannot remap the middle mouse button to "middle mouse button". Unbelievable. While I was there I looked to see what choices I had for the tilt switches attached to the mousewheel. None. It will only scroll horizontally which is pointless if you have a 21 inch screen.
So I drive, swearing, back to Harvey Normans and find the "service" desk.
"It's not a button - it's a wheel" claims the moron behind the desk. After 30 seconds of turning the box over in his hands, as if it somehow has more than six sides, he admits that he is wrong. After 10 minutes of incredibly slow paperwork I'm off to get my money back from the cashier.
The cashier is dealing with a woman who has refunded two items and wants a fax. She also has a credit from somewhere else and wants an extended warranty. Time slows to a crawl...
Anyhow, if you're an ubergeek, or just an overpaid nerd bachelor looking to buy a new mouse be warned that the world's two most expensive mice are complete trash.

Firefox 9 and some tweaks = no advertising

2004-06-21T19:24:00.000+10:00

Put up with popups? Firefox blocks popups straight out of the box.
Register for access? Not now.
Surf through ads? I think not.

Try it - you won't go back.

When scare quotes lie

2004-06-21T18:45:00.000+10:00

Fairfax are pushing the boundaries with their scare quotes in this article.
In a report under the headline British troops 'tortured' Iraqis is a paragraph which reveals that the entire story is very likely to be incorrect:

A doctor at nearby Amara hospital who was the first to see the bodies cast doubt on the claims, however. The doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, examined the corpse of Jemindari.
He said: "What we saw on examination is multiple bullet entries and exits. Also I can say is his arm wasn't severed like what was written on the form by Dr Adel [Majid]. His right shoulder was severely destroyed yet still the right arm was connected by some tissue.
"Also, you couldn't say whether the right eye was removed after death or before. But such an injury might happen in war, perhaps a bullet came into his right eye and pressed it inside the skull. And as for the signs of slashing around his neck it could be another bullet passing very near to his neck caused that wound."

So the scare quotes in this case mean "this report is almost certainly untrue and completely unfounded but we are hopeful our readers are too stupid to actually read past the headline"

Time the pretending stopped

2004-06-19T13:05:00.000+10:00

I don't believe much in coincidence. So I'm looking forward to more details about how the Saudis managed to kill Abdulaziz Al-Muqrin just after Abdulaziz Al-Muqrin's group killed American Paul Marshall Johnson.
The Saudi security forces knew where Abdulaziz Al-Muqrin was just after Paul Johnson's death - so it's reasonable to suspect they knew beforehand. Or claim they stumbled across him keystone cops style.

This may be a more significant event than it first appears, the US may use this failure to force the Saudis to finally join the War on Terror.

On a lighter note

2004-06-14T09:42:00.000+10:00

I have a fantastic headache, the domestics to do (as in cleaning etc., not wildly rogering the scullery maid) and a generally crap day ahead. Till I read this:

A MAN who had been sitting up a tree since April to protest against a Queensland development has fallen from his perch, forcing protesters to change their strategy.
Daniel Jones, 28, was taken away by ambulance with a broken wrist and ankle on Saturday night as his protest against a supermarket on the Sunshine Coast hinterland came to a crashing halt.
Mr Jones had been perched in the bunya pine since April 14 in a bid to stop it being cut down to make way for a Woolworths store in Maleny.
Protesters have vowed to continue their fight against the development on the ground, saying the tree-top vigil was too dangerous to continue.

To top this off the last thing he should have heard before the ambulance door closed is the chainsaw starting up.

Google news headlines say it all

2004-06-11T16:56:00.000+10:00

The current headlines on Google News Australia:

Garrett now in the ALP - The Age
'Super significant': Garrett's ALP membership approved - Sydney Morning Herald
Peter Garrett supports Tasmanian pulp mill - ABC Online

"Ungrateful" redefined

2004-06-11T06:46:00.000+10:00

The UN is attempting (the UN is attempting again) to build housing in the Jenin camp for the peace loving Palestinian people. The peace loving Palestinians don't think the houses are large enough.
So the matter was settled the traditional Palestinian way - gunmen repeatedly threatened the workers till the work was suspended.

From Diesel and Dust to urine and wind

2004-06-10T16:54:00.000+10:00

Mark Latham's decision making process scares me.
Cons:
Peter Garrett doesn't live in the electorate,
he isn't a member of the Labor party,
he hasn't voted in 10 years,
his nomination has met with disgust from local party members,
and he disagrees with Federal Labor on key environmental/greens/democrat issues such as Pine Gap and logging Tasmanian rainforests that no-one ever visits.

Pro:
Peter Garret will appeal to the youth vote. As much as a 51 year old millionaire has-been can appeal to youth voters.

Scarier still is the suspicion that the average young Australian can't see this for the cynical manipulation that it is.

No added value

2004-06-08T18:49:00.000+10:00

I'm not contributing much here at the moment; I'd like to blame work but they just pay me a bucketload to turn up and work my arse off for 36 hours a week. I'd like to say I have a hectic social life but that's just laughable. Truth is I'm getting lazy.
So I'll only post if I find something worth posting about that I can add some value to.

Islamic propaganda officer wounded by friendly fire

2004-06-08T06:32:00.000+10:00

Apparently some of the Islamic rank and file "militants" don't recognise their propaganda arm when they see it.

RIDDLED with bullets, BBC correspondent Frank Gardner pleaded for his life in the Saudi capital shouting to bystanders to help a fellow Muslim, a police officer told AFP today.
"I'm a Muslim, help me, I'm a Muslim, help me," the British father of two daughters cried in Arabic, the officer said.
Gardner was stretched on the road, covered in blood from multiple bullet wounds in a slum area of southern Riyadh known as a hotbed of hardliners.
A fluent Arabic speaker with a degree in Arab and Islamic Studies, he was carrying a small copy of the Koran, the Muslim holy book, a device used by Westerner reporters to try to reassure Islamist militants.
He was gravely wounded and his Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers killed yesterday evening as they filmed near the home of Ibrahim al-Rayyes, a wanted terror suspect killed in a clash with security forces in the area last December.
Gardner was in a coma on today at King Faisal Specialist Hospital after undergoing emergency surgery.
"He is in a coma and very critical," one doctor said, adding however that bleeding had stopped and "he has improved in the last six hours."
The 42-year-old was hit by many bullets to the stomach and feet and transferred to the capital's Al-Iman Hospital.
Saudi newspapers reported that the gunmen had left him for dead.
"Frank is in a critical but stable condition in intensive care after surgery," a British embassy spokesperson told AFP earlier today.

Note that he may or may not actually be a Muslim. Don't make me explain which side the BBC is on.

No so preciousss

2004-06-03T19:20:00.000+10:00

Some time ago I got dragged along to watch the last of the homo-erotic Hobbit love stories. We stood up to leave three times but it just wouldn't bloody stop. Some people in the audience were loudly wondering where baby hobbits come from if all the male hobbits were gay.
But even filled with pudgy underage boys, pedophiles and Hollywood "wank", the movies were incredibly popular. With straight people too. How the hell does that work?
We have a girl at work who has pictures of the effemininate Legless or whatever his name was all over her cubicle. I was bored recently so I asked her if she realised she was bisexual. Unhappily she wasn't interested in someone more manly, namely me. On the plus side I still have my job.

Anyway, my dislike of the Hobbits is dwarfed by Mike Jerico's obsessive hatred of the Lord of the rings.

And he didn't think much of Legless either; the "pointless transgender creature in Lord of the Rings".

Is ALP MP Leo Mcleay a traitor?

2004-06-03T18:49:00.000+10:00

It's not only espionage novels that combine elements like these:
A Federal opposition ALP MP
The Hezbollah secretary-general
The Lakemba Mosque
The Federal seat of Watson
Moslem extremist Sheikh Hilaly

The Gnu Hunter joins the dots.

If this is what he's been unable or unwilling to conceal what sordid deals are going on out of the public eye?

Iraq - the Real Time Strategy Game

2004-05-31T19:00:00.000+10:00

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 is an ass

2004-05-30T07:23:00.000+10:00

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.

Is that thing Kosher?

2004-05-20T12:33:00.000+10:00

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.

CPL Jones: "They don't like cold steel up 'em!"

2004-05-20T07:39:00.000+10:00

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.

The best kept secrets in Iraq

2004-05-19T15:49:00.000+10:00

Very slowly the good oil is coming out of Iraq.

My grammer is good. Like.

2004-05-18T22:51:00.000+10:00

You are a GRAMMAR GOD!

If your mission in life is not already to
preserve the English tongue, it should be.
Congratulations and thank you!

How grammatically sound are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Most economical SMH story ever?

2004-05-18T07:21:00.000+10:00

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.

Nick who?

2004-05-17T12:45:00.000+10:00

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

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

Mark Latham is scaring me now

2004-05-17T12:06:00.000+10:00

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.

RSVP

2004-05-17T09:28:00.000+10:00

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.

An old soldier in a new army

2004-05-16T14:36:00.000+10:00

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.

Daily Mirror editor sacked

2004-05-15T08:29:00.000+10:00

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.

The politically incorrect Gene Simmons

2004-05-14T13:30:00.000+10:00

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".

And from the No Shit Sherlock files:

2004-05-14T05:58:00.000+10:00

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?

Maltreatment of "prisoners"

2004-05-14T05:33:00.000+10:00

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?

Retrosexuality

2004-05-13T20:44:00.000+10:00

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!

Same wavelength, better signal to noise ratio

2004-05-13T20:16:00.000+10:00

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.

Right Wing News

2004-05-13T17:02:00.000+10:00

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

Nick Berg wins the war?

2004-05-13T06:02:00.000+10:00

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.

Arab "outrage"

2004-05-06T13:49:00.000+10:00

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!

Not my dollars...

2004-05-06T12:08:00.000+10:00

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?

More sports

2004-05-06T11:38:00.000+10:00

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...

Anthony Mundine - the man?

2004-05-06T11:07:00.000+10:00

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."

Ebay weirdness

2004-05-04T12:18:00.000+10:00

Getting married?

Tragedy

2004-05-03T21:41:00.000+10:00

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."

Templates

2004-05-03T20:57:00.000+10:00

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

The newly single Mike Jerico doesn't.

Squats = not so bad after all

2004-05-03T20:52:00.000+10:00

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

Squats = bad

2004-05-03T13:08:00.000+10:00

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.

Anzac day

2004-04-25T17:54:00.000+10:00

The PM has spent the day with the troops for Anzac day.

In Bagdad.

2004-04-25T07:24:00.000+10:00

Philip Adams (pompous windbag, plaigarist,and socialist millionaire):

The likes of Tim Blair and Imre Salusinszky, of Gerard Henderson and Andrew Bolt, ignore Bush’s long history of mediocrity and mendacity. They and their ilk turn deaf ears to documented accounts of his sleazy business affairs and seem indifferent to the fact that, as governor of Texas ("all Stetson, no cattle"), he set an all-time record by approving the executions of 150 people.

In Phil's world less murderers and rapists is a bad thing.

I need a screenprinter and an arabic phrasebook

2004-04-24T09:20:00.000+10:00

Number 210 on the list of 213 Things Skippy is No Longer Allowed to Do in the U.S. Army:

"Must not make T-shirts up depicting a pig with the writing "Eat Pork or Die" in Arabic to bring as civilian attire when preparing to deploy to a primarily Muslim country."

Gilly you bloody champion!

2004-04-21T19:10:00.000+10:00

Goodonyamate!

PRIME Minister John Howard has congratulated Stuart MacGill on the "strength of his character" after the cricketer made himself unavailable for the tour of Zimbabwe, citing moral concerns.

And the PM is right on the money too. Bit of a disappointment that the rest of the team isn't following his lead.

Something new

2004-04-21T18:56:00.000+10:00

It's an "I'm a bit of a lefty but I can think for myself" moment over at Johann's place.

But what are the facts? The Human Rights Centre (HRC) in Kadhimiya has been set up by Iraqis themselves from the ashes of Baathism. They have been going methodically through the massive - and previously unexplored - archives left by the regime, which document every killing in cold bureaucracy-speak. The HRC have found that if the invasion had not happened, Saddam would have killed 70,000 people in the past year. Not sanctions: Saddam's tyranny alone.
"Even once you factor in the war and everybody who has died since, it's not as many people as that," Sama explains. "So this war has indisputably saved lives over the past year. Saddam's victims might not have been appearing on your TV screens, but they would be just as dead."

War=good! Well, gooder than the staus quo anyway.

I'm preaching to the choir again

2004-04-21T18:50:00.000+10:00

It's another of those "wish I had that guys talent" posts:

Cathy's world

2004-04-21T05:53:00.000+10:00

"You seem to really know your way around cocktails," my sister said disapprovingly. "I guess you're some kind of a lush now."
I don't know that much about cocktails, just for the record. But I do know that jokes that start "Man walks into a bar..." don't normally continue with "...and orders a decaf coffee."

Where are all the chicks like this round these parts?

What Iraqi's want - who gives a fuck?

2004-04-18T22:03:00.000+10:00

Certainly not Mark Latham.
" LABOUR today defended its plan to pull Australian troops out of Iraq by Christmas, despite a plea by the Iraqi Governing Council.
Council member Ahmad Chalabi told ABC TV Australian troops should remain for at least 12 months to help stabilise the country and said it was a shame the issue had become politicised."

It's also significant that the comments were made to the ABC and were made public (rather than being filed Sir Humphrey Appleby style).

Headline: "Hamas names new leader"

2004-04-18T21:50:00.000+10:00

Only there's no naming going on.
"THE Hamas group named a new Gaza Strip leader today, but declined to reveal his identity as part of a new policy launched after Israel assassinated - for the second time in less than a month - the group's leader."

How is the new guy going to get his 72 virgins if the Israeli's don't know who to kill next?

Number 9 and rising

2004-04-16T13:11:00.000+10:00

John Howard is leading this country to be a world leader again. This time toward a better corruption ranking by abolishing ATSIC.

The Kiwi's are number 1. In other news New Zealand has discovered currency and goverment.

Some home truths - terpsboy style

2004-04-16T13:01:00.000+10:00

"There is no place on God's earth, throughout all of history, where Muslims and non Muslims have had a peaceful coexistence."

Of course he's wrong, there have been civilisations where various flavours of infidel have led lives in peaceful coexistence with Muslims. They were called Dhimmi.

Not-so-shit journalism

2004-04-13T16:01:00.000+10:00

Mark Steyn on the recent goings on in Fallujah.

Ok, it's more of an editorial. Sue me.

Yet more shit journalism

2004-04-13T05:57:00.000+10:00

I'm a bit late off the blocks on this one but this story and the various copies give me the shits:

A senior Defence adviser has been sacked after refusing to write media briefings that supported claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.
Engineer and analyst Jane Errey was an adviser to former Chief Defence Scientist Dr Ian Chessell and wrote briefings for Defence Minister Robert Hill. Her job at Defence gave her access to secret intelligence on Iraq's weaponry from the Defence Intelligence Organisation and the Office of National Assessments.
Ms Errey claims that on the day before the Iraq war started, she was asked to write what she believed was "sexed-up" propaganda about Iraq's capabilities.
The next day - March 20 last year - she went on holiday rather than write what she claimed would have been a misleading briefing.
But she was sacked last Monday, after more than nine years at Defence, on "performance grounds".

A few points omitted by the impartial media that I'd like to make;

The DSTO is not in the intelligence business,
Ms Errey is also a senior member of the Australian Democrats,
Why was Defence Minister Robert Hill having his briefings written by a senior member of the democrats?
When asked in a time of war to do her job she took a holiday instead,
Did she actually get asked to exaggerate in her report?

So to summarise: A senior member of a political party that opposes the war, refuses to do her job in a defence department during that war. She is fired. She goes to the press.

The only thing sexed up here is the story itself.

Update: People at the Courier Mail read blogs (or do their own research)!

I'm not gay!

2004-04-02T06:00:00.000+10:00

I learned recently that Tripitaka WAS a woman. Thank God; up till then I had thought HE was hot and damn the kittens.

Suprise?

2004-04-01T19:27:00.000+10:00

What do you get when you apply an ignition source to 233 rockets?
Apparently no rocket scientists were invited to oversee this ceremony.

The sun shines from Alexander Edwards' dead arse

2004-04-01T19:22:00.000+10:00

Dickhead student gets an arse full of chrome. Darwin cheers.

Why are we here?

2004-04-01T19:04:00.000+10:00

1. Print this out.
2. Wrap it around a cricket bat.
3. Educate lefties in the head with it.

Ten days later, Reagan bombed Libya, despite our dear ally France refusing the use of their airspace. Americans bombed Gadhafi's residence, killing his daughter, and dropped a bomb on the French Embassy "by mistake."

The wedge returns

2004-03-30T08:07:00.000+10:00

Say what you like about John Howard - but he's the consummate politician:

PRIME Minister John Howard will be hoping to drive a wedge between Labor MPs today when he forces a parliamentary vote on Australia's troops in Iraq.
Mr Howard will introduce a motion in the House of Representatives this afternoon expressing support for the 850 Australian troops in Iraq and for the government's plan to keep them there until their job is done.
But with the government having the numbers to defeat the amendment, opposition MPs will have to decide between voting with the government, voting against the motion and being seen as refusing to support the troops, or abstaining from the vote altogether.

Margo is going to go off!

The dead have lawyers

2004-03-30T08:00:00.000+10:00

DESCENDANTS of slaves filed a $US1 billion ($1.35 billion) lawsuit against British insurer Lloyd's of London and American tobacco giant RJ Reynolds today, accusing them of profiting by committing genocide against their ancestors.

One of the defining traits of genocide is a lack of decendants. So these people are either using the wrong emotional term or don't exist.

DNA testing has made a "direct connection" between Farmer-Paellmann to the Mende tribe in Sierra Leone, whose people "were kidnapped, tortured and shipped in chains to the United States", the lawsuit said.

Sierra Leone. Lovely place with 2 million refugees and thousands dead from 13 years of civil war. Maybe RJ Reynolds should charge the descendants for saving them from the current state of their "homeland".

Adjusting linkage - do not change the channel

2004-03-24T18:51:00.000+11:00

I am somewhat slack with admin stuff.
Added Todd McKenzie - looks like a charming chap but may be not as PC as he appears.
Added Tim Blair because Sister Mary said it's compulsory.
Added Day by Day because we need to free Damon.
Added Frank because he scares me. Frank scares us all.
Added The bitching Monaro as he has links to hot girls with clothing deficiencies.
Added the Man of Lettuce cause he's a cabbie with a heart of gold, unlike those fuckers parked in the middle of the street near Norths Leagues.

Video games and Middle East violence

2004-03-24T17:50:00.000+11:00

13 year olds slay endboss without having to use savegame:

I'm betting the players thought this RPG was lame; forced to go through pointless "training" levels, then 30 endless "frag minions of Yasser" levels and when you finally get the good equipment, full health/armour and L33t buffs you camp the endbosses spawn point to find he's a guy in a wheelchair with 10 hit points and crap loot.

Yassin's Chair - Magic item

Enables wearer to command any NPC with INT <45

INT -10
AGI - 75
Save VS missile -100

Maybe they'll release a patch.

Yahoo news - now with bogans!

2004-03-24T17:32:00.000+11:00

I visit Yahoo news daily. Today, a pair of old worn jeans and a bottle of baby oil on this mincing, androgenous clown is news:

A model wears an outfit from the fall/winter collection of designer Jie at Fashion Week in Toronto, Tuesday March 23, 2004. (AP Photo/Adrian Wyld, CP)

Announcer: "Now here's Stevo with this years new look; 1990's jeans and oiled nipples. He's ready for work on the small block chev in the living room, collecting his dole check or taking Shantelle to the Penrif Macca's for a romantic night on the town."

Margo turns up the steam

2004-03-24T17:06:00.000+11:00

I got halfway through the second paragraph before the penny dropped...

I'm preferring to think that reflects poorly on her. But the jury's still out.

Update: It changes the translation everytime you refresh. I got a mostly tame one the first time.

Lets hope Paradise doesn't have wheelchair access

2004-03-22T20:15:00.000+11:00

The spiritual leader of Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin has been killed by the Israeli's. Merde in France hits the nail on the head:

"Break out the pigskin shitsack for the remains"

Update: Frank has more. As usual.

From the Nattering Nabob of Nebuchadnezzar

2004-03-22T19:59:00.000+11:00

Jason Van Steenwyk is home from Iraq and feeling "a little dissociated from everything".

***You notice Matt fitting an onion to his belt

We had a guy in our unit whose wife would wait till he got back from being out bush, shake him awake on his first night and whisper "stand to!". He'd roll over to get his webbing and weapon and fall out of the bed. Bitch.

Fisk could use a fact checker

2004-03-22T19:17:00.000+11:00

Via Paul & Carls daily diatribe

Fisk has assembled a page of pictures of bombs and titled it "Weapons of Terrorism and Mass Destruction".
He couldn't resist including this picture:

The charmingly named USNavyTurds.jpg.

I took a minute to check the picture out and confirmed it is a fake.

Further down there's another picture of armament fitters arming an aircraft with some sort of munition cleverly disguised as a centreline fuel tank:

Devious imperial troops fit WMD disguised as fuel tank to aircraft.

Then there's the scariest picture of all:

Time traveling oppressors from the 1960's in action carpet bombing innocents in Iraq.

Yet again I wonder if Fisk and his kind aren't employed to make the peace movement look like loonies...

The devil went to Georgia

2004-03-22T12:39:00.000+11:00

Fresh from their failure to outlaw the teaching of evolution, the "Crusaders for Christ" are trying to ban some books in schools:

The group's leader, the Rev. Dwight Holcomb, told board members, "You're going to answer to God Almighty for your decision."
Among the books the Crusaders for Christ want banned are "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck, "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury and "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.

I'm betting that Dwight has more than a passing familiarity with the banjo (and I absolutely refuse to use the words "cousin" and/or "sister" at the end of that sentence).

Beware the Indians Kerry

2004-03-22T12:11:00.000+11:00

There's a downside to marrying into an incredibly rich capitalist family and then running for President as a lefty.
From the Times of India:

H J Heinz & Co, the family business of Kerry and his wife Teresa, has spread its ketchup operations across the world. Of the 79 factories that the food processor owns, 57 are overseas. Heinz makes ketchup, pizza crust, baby cereal and other edibles in such countries as Poland, Venezuela, Botswana, Thailand, and most of all, China and India.

On an unrelated note; why is it always a pleasure to read Indian english?

Fashion

2004-03-21T09:21:00.000+11:00

I used to work in the fashion industry. So I understand the requirement for changing fashions every year - it's to encourage women to buy more clothes than a small village could possibly need.
But why the hell retool, redesign and remarket new men's boots every damn year? It's not like last years boots are going to make me feel all retro is it?
All it does it piss men off who find boots they like and then cannot buy more the next year.
Fuck you very much, Colorado.

UN gets usual results - faster

2004-03-19T07:48:00.000+11:00

From the Australian's breaking news page this morning:

04:30 Serb nationalists rampage

Angered by ethnic clashes in Kosovo that targeted their kin, Serb nationalists rampaged today in Serbia, torching mosques and threatening Kosovo's ethnic Albanians with "slaughter and death".

06:30 UN to meet on Kosovo violence

The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting today on the worst violence in Kosovo since the province's war ended in 1999 and the United Nations took over its administration.

07:00 Kosovo clash leaves 31 dead

Ethnic violence between Kosovo's Albanian and Serb communities has killed at least 31 people and injured some 500 others, a UN official said today.

Update:
09:40 UN staff evacuated

UNITED Nations staff in Kosovska Mitrovica were being evacuated by NATO-led peacekeepers and taken to an undisclosed location today, a UN official told AFP.

Wake up Australia!

2004-03-19T00:46:00.000+11:00

Kev cuts to the heart of the matter:

Get over it you dipshits. It's about Moslem extremists trying to kill us Infidels

Go check it out; it's got added wookiness* too!

*Wookie not guaranteed to please.

Diversity of opinion keeping us safe.

2004-03-18T09:04:00.000+11:00

The person who pasted this hotchpotch of mangled cliches together is a:
A: builder,
B: soldier,
C: engineer,
D: PhD student in politics and international relations.

The tables of perception have been turned, and those who have fixed there colours to the mast of tunnel vision will be blown away by the resurgence of UN multilateralism: the only Coalition with diversity of opinion enough to keep us safe, and win this war.

Bah. The UN has used it's monopoly on diversity of opinion to keep people "safe" in Rwanda, Kosovo, Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe etc. "Safe" in this case means beyond further harm. On account of being dead and all.
This crap is beyond ridicule.

Sit. Roll over. Play dead. Beg. Good Spain!

2004-03-18T08:40:00.000+11:00

See? When you are a good dog I don't have to hit you; isn't that what you want?

Totally screwed

2004-03-18T08:35:00.000+11:00

Involved in a small road accident? Happens all the time, no worries.
Involved in a small road accident while pissed? Exchange details and get a tow truck fast.
One of the other vehicles is a Police Booze bus? You're screwed.

Breaking news: Hell freezes over

2004-03-16T21:53:00.000+11:00

The BBC has published results of a poll they commissioned in Iraq that "suggests Iraqis are happier than they were before the invasion, optimistic about the future and opposed to violence." Has the world gone topsy turvy? The BBC not spinning Iraq in a negative light?

But wait; there's more:

It suggests that the reporting of the daily attacks on the occupying forces in Iraq could be obscuring another picture.

No shit Sherlock. And the BBC has been called the Bagdad Broadcasting Commission for which reason?

But admitting that their reporting was hiding the real situation is a sign that the times are a-changin at the BBC...

Update: The BBC story was heavily edited/rewritten last night (19:02 GMT). I can't see that the editing has changed the article's main points though. One change was the removal of the other news organisations that commissioned the study - the American ABC was one.
Also, the story was attributed to David Loyn and now is anonymous.

Come to sunni Iraq for the Jihad...

2004-03-16T19:43:00.000+11:00

and stay for the retreat, imprisonment, humiliation and shoe beatings. Via Tim Blair.

Ahmed Abdel Razzaq went to Iraq to fight the Americans and die a martyr. He ended up in a U.S. prison camp after the Iraqis he went to defend captured and sold him for $100.

That's around $1.33 a kilo; pigs fetch more (and smell better).

Lebanese Nadim Khoder denies firing a shot in Iraq but came home in a wheelchair after losing both legs in U.S. custody.
The 24-year-old said a fellow inmate tripped a cluster bomb while they were clearing rubbish by the perimeter fence. A hairdresser who was the main breadwinner in a family of 10, Nadim says he plans to sue for compensation.
"When I was in the hospital far away from my family, surrounded by foreigners, I was always angry. I used to cry to feel better," he said.

Hey Islamofascists - if you are going to actually fight soldiers (rather than bomb women and children) don't send your cry-baby hairdressers.

Spain

2004-03-16T10:44:00.000+11:00

Lileks on Spain:

At least Spain knows what’s expected of them now. If they remove the Socialists from power some day, they can expect a few bombs here and there to remind them of their place.
It’s like sitting on a cooler of raw meat with tigers prowling around, and deciding to put down your rifle so you can throw some steaks at the tigers.

Dihydrogen monoxide almost banned

2004-03-15T18:47:00.000+11:00

Dihydrogen monoxide is an odorless, tasteless chemical that can be deadly if accidentally inhaled.
So city officials were going to ban it in Aliso Viejo, California.

If I were Mark Latham...

2004-03-15T16:13:00.000+11:00

I'd make a promise; in the event that the federal election is attacked, as has happened in Madrid, I would triple the number of troops fighting the war on terror.
Because otherwise I might get to be PM over the bodies of my countrymen.

Palestinians killed for having "suspicious silhouettes"?

2004-03-14T08:38:00.000+11:00

The Australian is carrying this story of two men killed by Israeli forces:

TWO Palestinians were killed by Israeli army gunfire today in the Gaza Strip near the Karni crossing point into Israel, security sources from both sides said.
Israeli army sources said troops saw two "suspect silhouettes" in a prohibited area approaching the security fence dividing the two territories and opened fire, hitting them both.

So according to the Australian these guys were killed for having suspicious silhouettes. Naughty Israeli troops!

Yahoo has a lot more facts:

A relative of one of the two Palestinian militants, shot and killed by Israeli forces in an off-limits military zone between Israel and the Gaza Strip, weeps in the hospital's morgue shortly before their funeral in Gaza City Saturday March 13, 2004. The two militants, identified as Mohammed Haboush, 20, and Saed Mraesh, 20, from a small Gaza militant group called the Ahmed Abu al-Resh Brigades, were armed and were apparently trying to cross the fence to stage an attack when they were killed by the Israeli troops.

So the information the Australian "missed" is that these guys were:

in a off-limits military zone,
members of a "militant" group; the Ahmed Abu al-Resh Brigades,
armed and
getting into position to attack.

That's a lot of details to omit (because as usual these little details make the Palestinians look bad). Maybe the story will be updated later; it was posted at 1850 last night so I am not holding my breath.

And for the record this is a suspicious silhouette (from the "goons" at Something Awful):

Flawless stomach and a murder charge

2004-03-13T09:39:00.000+11:00

This slack jawed cretin refused a caesarian section solely because it would have scarred her stomach. One of her babies died as a result.
Now she has been charged with murder. The usual suspects are unhappy:

"It's very troubling to have somebody come in and say we're going to charge this mother for murder because we don't like the choices she made," Driessen said.

Driessen is a law professor at Brigham Young University. Naturally.
One of the choices she made was to rather "lose one of the babies than be cut like that" and;

A nurse, Regina Davis, told police she instructed Rowland to go immediately to one of two other hospitals, but that Rowland said she would rather have both babies die before going to either place.

Hopefully the surviving baby doesn't have it's mother's intellect and is removed from her care.

The war in perspective

2004-03-12T16:18:00.000+11:00

Let's consider where the war (in purely strategic terms) would be right now if the enemy didn't attack on 9/11?

Iraq would still be working on WMD programs,
Iraq would still be funding and encouraging suicide bombers to kill children in Israel,
Iraq would still be training terrorists,
Afghanistan would still be training terrorists,
Libya would still be working on the A bomb,
Iran's nuclear program would be under no pressure,
Pakistan would still be handing out the nuclear how-to book to anyone with cash and bad breath,
We would still consider Germany and France allies,
We wouldn't realise that the UN has become a dictator's club,
Our military alliances would not be as strong as they now are,
Our enemies would think us still weak,
Our intelligence agencies would not have access to the enemy's leaders,
Our enemies would not fear us, but
above all, we would not know war had even been declared.

The western world can withstand 9/11s, Bali bombings and Madrid bombings indefinitely. They are not a threat to our existence.

The direct and only real threat to our existence is our enemy obtaining WMD. Which are now, as a result of militarily insignificant warnings such as 9/11, a lot harder for our enemy to obtain.

I miss compliments like this one...

2004-03-12T15:04:00.000+11:00

This is the sort of comment I don't attract: "Reading this blog is roughly the equivalent of watching a homeless guy trying to negotiate 11 layers of dirty clothing in order to masturbate."

If you visit, do not open the picture. You have been told.

IRC does the passion

2004-03-11T18:42:00.000+11:00

thebud: the passion of the christ?
Indago: if i wanted to see a bad actor get nailed, I'd watch the paris hilton video