Matt travels the Silk Road

Matt Sanchez's latest report is a must-read:
Silk Route--Not So Smooth

When it's not the hard rocks knocking the Humvee chassis back to the motor pool tent for re-fitting, there's the crumbling soil that causes the flared tires to sink off the side of the paths and possibly into culverts. The same culverts where bad guys stuff explosives and wait for American vehicles to pass by. My bags were going to get lighter, I thought, as I set out with the 70th Engineers to go looking for some of those stuffed explosives along those difficult roads.

Go read it all.

The Bear necessities

UPDATED
Bear sings!

Maria sent me this:
Reuters's Andrew Wallenstein is shocked, SHOCKED! that Bear Grylls spent a night or two in a motel:

But this British adventurer is now the subject of an investigation by U.K.'s Channel 4, which already has confirmed that Grylls checked into motels on a few occasions when he was depicted on TV having slept under the stars.

Considering how, when I watch the program, I sit there hoping Bear would be staying in a motel, I'm actually relieved to hear it.

Andrew's outrage comes from his belief that,

"Wild" restored a sense of realism to being marooned and sold us on the fantasy that we could learn the actual skills for survival.

Perhaps the show restored Andrew's belief that he could learn the actual skills for survival. Every time I've watched that show it has restored my belief that I would have been dead by the first ad break.

I look forward to the 3rd Man Vs Wild season.

Go for it, Bear.

UPDATE
Bear sings!

Thank you to the friend (and Bear fan) who prefers to remain anonymous.



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Lybia, France, the EU and the Middle East

Siggy of Sigmund Carl and Alfred, and Dymphna and Baron Bodissey of Gates of Vienna and I just completed today's podcast. I'll be blogging more about it later, but for now, please listen.

Bar imitates life

Via Babalu
Trendy spot in the big city: Socialista

And it's just like Cuban "socialism":

The bien-pensant finance it: TV producer Ben Silverman, Harvey Weinstein and Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler.
There's a two-tier system for the benefit of the elite: "gaining entrance to the upstairs lounge is a long shot for most," and you need a secret phone number.
Just like in the island-prison: little-person doorman serves as comandante.
You must pay your dues: "Unless you're amigos with investors Sting, Harvey Weinstein, and Giuseppe Cipriani, you'll be leveled a minimum tab for table service that may have you shouting 'Down with capitalism!'"
You get the same-old, same-old, but pay through the nose: "SIGNATURE DRINK Socialista (vodka, fresh citrus, spiced syrup), $16." A lot of bucks for an OJ w/vodka.
And the bulls*** flows on: "the hard knocks of elitism built on equality were on view on a recent Friday night"

Do the guys washing the dishes get free schooling and healthcare, I wonder? Do they have to swim out of the place when their shift is over?

Socialista: for the useful West Village idiot that drinks!

Hillary's stripes on parade, again

Via Larwyn, 30 letters: In the '60s, a Future Candidate Poured Her Heart Out in Letters

Some things haven't changed - Hillary's still divorced from the middle class:

"God, I feel so divorced from Park Ridge, parents, home, the entire unreality of middle class America," she says. "This all sounds so predictable, but it's true."

At least now she's not showing up in public in those dreadful striped trousers which first made their appearance in April and which the NYT shows again:

I had a similar pair of slacks in the 1970s, that era of "What was I thinking?" fashion:

However, ugly as the striped trousers are, I've never slipped down this slippery slope:

"I'm sitting here at a stolen table in a pair of dirty denim bell-bottoms, a never-ironed work shirt and a beautiful purple felt hat with a purple polka-dotted scarf streaming off it," she writes

Good lord.

NYT: We're winning in Iraq, and other items

UPDATED
See Iraq briefing
According to the NYT, Iraq - We're winning! As Allison said,

Much of it will sound familiar if you've been reading Michael Totten's dispatches.

Elsewhere, the Telegraph: Paper backs off Maliki-Petraeus row because they made up the story.

UPDATEFrom today's White House Briefing: (emphasis added)

Points From Rear Adm. Fox Briefing, Baghdad , Iraq : July 30, 2007

Our offensive operations continue with increasing evidence that the surge is pressuring terrorists, keeping them off balance, and eliminating safe havens. We have established a degree of tactical momentum that we will continue to build on.

· We continue to pressure former sanctuaries in the Baghdad Belts, around Ramadi and in and around Baqouba.

· We are denying al Qaeda Iraq (AQI) freedom of movement and disrupting extremist secret cells while increasing local citizens' confidence in the Coalition and Iraqi Security Force.

The number of caches found and cleared continues to grow.
· In the last week, Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces seized more than 120 weapons caches.
· We have seized more weapons caches in the first six months of this year than all of last year combined.

Leads and tips received from Iraqi citizens are up and helping us discover these weapons caches. Last month there were some 23,000 tips a month, four times the number at this time last year.

We are seeing more and more Iraqis turning against violence.
· On July 7, 100 Sheikhs and 400 religious and political leaders met in Ramadi for a conference called "Promise of the People."
o They agreed to "The Ramadi Covenant" - a solemn agreement between tribes and most importantly with the Government of Iraq that is a clear sign the people of Iraq are rejecting the hatred, violence, sectarianism and Taliban-like state offered by AQI.
· In Baqoubah, 50 tribal leaders met at the governor’s house on July 14 to discuss security, services, and pledged to work together in the Muqdadiyah Tribal Conference.
· On July 16 in Taji, Sunni and Shia shieks pledged unity to one another to stop the sectarian attacks, each signing a map next to their village.
· On July 23, 16 local shieks and tribal leaders in Khalis pledged on behalf of some 75 shieks to work to end the violence.

-------------------------------------------------------Via Larwyn, the Judiciary Committee Clown Show
Update: Schtackink Da Courts
-------------------------------------------------------
The Acorn doesn't fall far from the tree: Whose Ox Is Gored: After Bush's victory, liberals shouted "Voter fraud!" Why have they changed their tune?

now liberals are accusing the Bush Justice Department of cooking up spurious claims of voter fraud in the 2006 elections and creating what the New York Times calls a "fantasy" that voter fraud is a problem.
...
Instead, Sen. Leahy and other liberals are busy dismissing concerns about voter fraud, no doubt in an effort to make certain the Justice Department drops the issue as a priority before the 2008 election. But the blunders and politicization of parts of the Bush Justice Department notwithstanding, voter fraud deserves to be investigated and prosecuted. The Justice Department may be dysfunctional and poorly led, but the Democratic Congress seems more interested in paralyzing its activities than helping to fix the problem.

-------------------------------------------------------
I just finished reading HP7 and LaShawn has a nice article about it, WITH SPOILERS, Harry Potter and the Inevitable End
-------------------------------------------------------
Via Maria, ALLERGIC TO 'NO'
WHY 'REHAB' FAILS LINDSAY LOHAN & OTHER CELEBRITY ADDICTS
-------------------------------------------------------
Via CatHouseChat and Evangelical Outpost, Photosynth.
-------------------------------------------------------
Reminder: Podcast today at noon

Harry Potter, shoes, The Carnival, and tomorrow on BTR

UPDATED
Check out the Blogathon!
Since a family member is away and took with him HP7, last evening I went and bought another copy. Blogging will be light until I finish the book (halfway there).

---------------------------------------------------------
The subject of shoes proved popular in the It'll Never Happen post. Here's my latest purchase - mine are black patent:

Comfortable, goes well with slacks and skirts, and on sale.
(Let's hope Amazon doesn't show the HP book link instead of the shoes! Here's the direct link)
---------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow July 30 at noon (EDT), my guests will be Baron Bodissey and Dymphna of Gates of Vienna, along with Siggy. We will be discussing Hazelton, Gates of Vienna's new calendar, and Sarkozy's visit to Libya.

My first BTR show with GoV and SC&A was fascinating and very popular, and I'm sure this one will be, too.
Please join us!

---------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Sanity has the Carnival of the Insanities

---------------------------------------------------------
UPDATEAlabama Improper is having a Blogathon for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Please visit.

Do the Debate

The Republican candidates don't want to do a YouTube debate, and they should.

Apparently they mind that the Democrat YouTube "debate" was a circus, was infantile and doesn't look Presidential. If they mind that, I wonder why they're running. I mean, aren't people still talking about the time Bill Clinton played the sax on Arsenio? Does anyone mention that Clinton can't play the sax?

Here's some advice (yes, I'm giving advice twice on one week) guys:

Do it.
When your rival goes on a beauty contest and gets a heck of a lot visibility and generates a storm over whether one candidate will talk without preconditions to every lunatic despot running amok, what you do is go out, make an even better beauty contest, and you outdo them every step of the way.

The Dems had theirs at the Citadel? You have yours at the Air Force Academy (no ofense intended to Citadel alumni reading this blog; it's only a figure of speech) .
The Dems showed Hillary's butt? You show Ron Paul's shoes.
The Dems loved asinine questions? You point out the asininity AND come up with a smart answer.
The questions favor the left? You explain why you are right, and Right.
The Dems stack they questions they like? You stack the questions that are good.
The Dems think they're edgy? You show you are gutsy.
The Dems had a snowman? You have Bozo.
The questions start with "why", or "don't you think", in an acusatory tone? You reply in clear, well-thought-out answers where you shine.

Compete, outdo, outperform, and win.

Competition improves the product, folks, and you can outdo and outshine 'em. That's why you're running.

Or isn't it?

It’s a question of putting on a good show.

Newsbusters, American Mind and Hit and Run have more on it.

Patrick Ruffini has the petition.



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[If anyone can help me figure out why the right sidebar isn't in place, I'll be most grateful. Please email me.
Update
Special thanks to Cassandra for her help!]

Disquieting thought of the day, in two parts

Part 1: Another Russian sub blows up, while Putin spreads his brand of charisma in Guatemala and sells nine subs to Venezuela.

Part 2: US 'plans huge Saudi arms deal'.

Shootout at the Gare du Nord, and the week's round-up

No Pasaran has the video:

Via Lawyn, Don Suber has the week's round-up, which saved me the work. Also, please visit Pajamas Media daily and check out the Scroll.

Two sides of the same propaganda coin

A brief look at the international press gives you an idea of how the PR wars are fought:

From Spain's El Pais, via Lady Godiva:

El proyecto socialista de Chávez divide a sus partidarios entre pragmáticos y radicales
El ex ministro de Defensa venezolano avisa: "Antes de redistribuir la riqueza, debemos crearla"

Señaló que el socialismo que se pretende instaurar en Venezuela no tiene por qué estar reñido con la democracia ni con la propiedad privada.

My translation:
Chavez's socialist project splits his followers as partisans or radicals.
Ex-Minister of Defense warns: "Before we redistribute wealth, we must creat it"
"He pointed out that the socialism they are attempting to establish in Venezuela doesn't have fight against democracy or private property."

Things were a tad more blunt over in Germany:

Via Baron Bodissey,

Bürger sollen "überflüssigen Reichtum" abgeben
"Citizens should hand over superfluous wealth"

which in plain English means: "Hand over your wallet!"

It will never happen:

Updated
I'm opening a new category today: "It'll never happen".

This category will include quotes that will never, ever cross the lips of a straight married man speaking to his wife.

The first two:

"I know what we can do next: Let's take you shoe shopping!"

"Is that the only store we're going to?"

Feel free to add your own (and keep it clean).

Update
Baron Bodissey:

"You were much prettier when you were younger."

Obviously the Baron values his life.

Sigmund, Carl and Alfred:

"Sure, I'd LOVE to go to the Ice Capades!"

"I've said it before, I'll say it again- indigo is YOUR color!!"

"You know, we'd have a lot more fun if we brought your mother along"

"Sweety, would you please hold the TV remote?"

"Wow- those Manolo's really are worth the money!"

"You know, I have idea. Why not clean out the garage and turn it into a craft center. After we set that up, we could get a coordinated garage storage system, maybe in the that pale aubergine color you like so much."

"Can we talk? You really don't listen to me anymore and that's starting to hurt my feelings."

"You know, Oprah said...."

"I don't care what Mary says about Jenny Craig. She's still chunky."

Hmmm... Siggy shares my dislike of ice skating, crafts, and Oprah....

And don't miss the comments section!

Update
A gentleman who doesn't want to be named emailed,

Hon, why don't you watch some more HGTV?

Those words will never be uttered at casa de Fausta.

Francis Porretto:

"Yes, I know there's lipstick on my collar, dear. What do you think of the shade?"

"You know, you really don't have enough shoes. There's a sale at Nordstrom's just now. Busy?"

"If you need more closet space, we can always convert the garage. I don't really need all those power tools."

(In reply to the most annoying question my wife asks me -- and she asks it repeatedly) "For dinner? How about gazpacho, leeks vinaigrette with shrimp, marinated zucchini, a bottle of Cotes du Rhone Rouge '59, and for dessert maybe an orange mousse?"

Keep them coming!



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A Canadian Doctor Describes How Socialized Medicine Doesn't Work

Imagine having a hernia operation go wrong and instead of getting immediate medical attention, being referred to a pain clinic.
Waiting in the emergency room for five days to be admitted to a hospital.
Having a lottery to get a doctor's appointment.

That's the kind of thing that caused Dr. David Gratzer to change his mind.

Go read his article.

The Little Wicked Wicket Gate, and a few other items

I was just talking to Baron Bodissey and remembered an excellent post of his, The Little Wicked Wicket Gate where he discusses Orthodox Secularism. His message is as relevant today as it was then.
---------------------------------------------------
Cindy Sheehan goes to NYC.
Again.
---------------------------------------------------
Wiretap Debacle: How politics has gutted the terrorist surveillance program.

Accommodation as an Islamist Political Instrument
---------------------------------------------------
NonParty Politics doesn't like what he saw in the Daily Show...
---------------------------------------------------
Michael Totten interviewed Barry Rubin a couple of weeks ago. Rubin's the author of The Truth About Syria. Here's the Amazon link:

---------------------------------------------------
In a lighter mode, there is kaffir, and then there's kaffir.

Sarko meets Gaddafi

The Tour de France was the big news yesterday in France, for good reason: ETA detonated two small explosive devices (the article didn't specify what kind of devices), and Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen of Denmark was removed from the race and fired from his team after winning the 16th stage yesterday. Since the Tour ends on Sunday, this was way more than the usual excitement, particularly since this morning the Tour resumed with no-one wearing the yellow jersey.

But for the news addict like myself, there was another item of interest. Sarko's on a tour of Africa and dropped by Muammar Gaddafi's.

Always the fashion plate, Gaddafi wore a white suit with the emblem of African unity prominently pinned over his heart, black shirt and a wide (silk chiffon, maybe?) sash. Sarko looked appropriately French in traditional business garb. The day before yesterday Sarko was in Liberia, were he was warmly welcomed. Today Sarko's in Senegal, where he probably will have to work a little harder.

As it turns out, the Libya meeting took place a day after Libya released the six Bulgarian medics who had been convicted of deliberately infecting Libyan children with HIV. The medics had confessed under torture and had been sentenced to death. According to the BBC,

The medics' release was made possible by a deal struck in Tripoli on improving Libya-EU ties, following years of negotiations.

Not one to let a good opportunity go to waste, Sarko - whose trip was strategically timed - showed up, and the Guardian has the headline:
Sarkozy flies to Libya to reap rewards of medics' release

Mr Sarkozy ignored criticism that he and his wife Cecilia had been grandstanding by intervening at the end of the eight-year crisis when the hard work had been done by the European commission and other EU governments. Mrs Sarkozy joined in negotiations and then flew to Sofia with the freed medics.

Sarko and Gaddafi/Gadafy also agreed to work on a nuclear energy project that will turn sea water into clean drinking water.

Shall we drink to that?

Update, Friday 27 July
Nidra Poller examines the reaction in France.
Update, Sunday 29 July
Pinky and the Brain!

"Fidel absent as Cuba celebrates"

Says the Beeb,

Fidel Castro has written a series of articles but not appeared in public
Cuba's acting president, Raul Castro, is leading revolution day celebrations, filling in for his brother Fidel who was last seen in public a year ago.

Ah, huh!

And why would that be?

Update
Meanwhile, over in Venezuela...

What's for breakfast?, and other morning questions

Blueberry pancakes, that's what!

Did Gonzo Lie?

From Maria,
Back to the Future in the Middle East?

Past presidents and statesmen as diverse as Madeleine Albright, James Baker, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Brent Scowcroft have weighed in with various remedies to our supposed blunders in the Middle East since September 11.

Apparently, Americans are supposed to forget these supposedly brilliant strategists' dismal records of dealing with Middle East terrorism, Islamic radicalism and murderous dictators. However, their three decades of bipartisan failure helped bring us to the present post-9/11 world.

So before the United States abandons its present policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, we should at least recall the past record - which may be best summed up as the ying of Democratic appeasement and the yang of Republican cynicism.

From Larwyn,
An Intent to Misinform?

So, You Want to Join al-Qaeda?

More dead from heat in government-controlled healthcare, this time in Hungary

The universal healthcare system in Hungary (PDF file) is financed through income tax and social-insurance taxes.

Maria just sent this: Hungary heatwave kills hundreds

Up to 500 people have died in the past week from a heatwave in Hungary, a top health official has said.
...
The daily mean temperature in the past week had reached 30C, she said.

In the southern city of Kiskunhalas, the temperature reached a record high of 41.9C.

Here in the USA, the elderly and frail move to Arizona and Florida, where they swim in cooled swimming pools and a 30C day (86oF) in the Summer is an invitation to have dinner on the veranda.

In 2003 15,000 elderly and frail people died during a heat wave in France. Many died in the emergency rooms waiting for someone to bring them water.

For more on socialized healthcare disasters, Socialized Healthcare has plenty.



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Remember those Cuban doctors Fidel sent to Venezuela?

Via Mike's America,
Growing numbers of Cuban doctors sent overseas to work are defecting to the USA

A large number of the defectors have fled from Venezuela, which has received some 14 000 Cuban medical professionals, more than the rest of the world combined. Currently, dozens have sought refuge in neighbouring Colombia, often living in precarious conditions, while they await permission to enter the USA.

Andres paid a price to get to Colombia. He and his wife had been assigned to the city of Punto Fijo on the northwestern coast of Venezuela, not far from the border. Their escape went smoothly until they reached the frontier, where Venezuelan guards refused to permit them to cross because the visas on their passports were valid only for travel within Venezuela. Only after Andres bribed the agents with nearly all their possessions did the guards let them leave Venezuela. “We gave them all the money we had, cellular phones, watches, and they let us cross”, he said. “We were in Colombia and we had reached freedom. We felt free.”

Andres and his wife were fortunate because not all defecting Cubans get across the border but are, instead, arrested and shipped back home. Once across the border, however, Andres and his wife found themselves stranded in north east Colombia's harsh Guajira desert without contacts or money to continue travel. Eventually, however, they were given a lift by truckers, who carried them to the capital, Bogota.

In Bogota, Andres has lived with two other defectors in an unused storage room provided by a church group. They have also received assistance from the UN High Commission for Refugees. But, as they wait for their US visas, many of the Cubans are fearful because of their uncertain legal status in Colombia, whose government has given few of them refugee status.

The working conditions are those of slave labor:

Several Cuban defectors interviewed in Bogota said that they fled not only because of oppression in their own nation, but also because of unreasonably poor and demanding work conditions in Venezuela. Andres said that he could not stand the conditions in Venezuela, where he lived in a crowded house with a leaky straw roof which he shared with fifteen other Cuban doctors waiting to be put to work.
...
The doctors also said that in Venezuela, Cuban minders monitored their movements, prohibiting non-work contact with Venezuelans. When not at work, the Cubans were required to be at home after 6 pm. One couple said that after they pointed out some problems with the programme, officials threatened to send them back to Cuba in retaliation.

The Cubans said that the programme they worked in, called “Inside the Barrio”, was also plagued with mismanagement and inefficiency. Although many clinics were severely understaffed, newly-arrived medics sometimes sat for months waiting for assignment to a post, they said, and often conditions in the clinics were rudimentary lacking even basic medicines.

And they're fleeing from Bolivia, too.

Read the article. Earlier this year the WaPo had

You should also bear in mind that Cuba's suffering shortages of healthcare workers because one-fifth of Cuba's health care labor supply - some 14,000 doctors and 6,000 health workers - has been contracted out to work in Venezuela. In return for these medical services, Cuba receives 90,000 barrels of discounted oil per day.

Chew on that the next time you read/hear about the charismatic-leader-helping-the-poor-offering-free-health-care-education-adult-literacy-and-job-training-initiatives-that-help-millions-of-Venezuelans/Cubans/Bolivians, and every time you hear about the excellent Cuban healthcare and other myths.

Too bad the folks who have been playing SICKO at the downtown movie theater for the past 5 weeks, and the folks who watch the movie don't care much about reality.

Update
Slide show: Cuban Healthcare in Decline (h/t The Real Cuba).

Update, Friday 27 July
More on the Sicko Propanganda.



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Criticize Hugo and get thrown out of the country

Red State and Gateway Pundit post about this:
Chavez: Critical Foreigners to Get Boot (emphasis added)

President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that foreigners who publicly criticize him or his government while visiting Venezuela will be expelled from the country.

Chavez ordered officials to closely monitor statements made by international figures during their visits to Venezuela - and deport any outspoken critics.

In addition from the obvious where he's made clear that no one is allowed to criticize him, what this means is that he's continuing the crackdown on the media. Rest assured that by doing this, Hugo's reading the riot act to all foreign correspondents.

Of course, he's doing it for the sake of "national dignity."

"National dignity," indeed, as Hugo's not shy about criticizing and abusing others; for instance:
Venezuela's Chavez calls Honduran cardinal 'imperialist clown' for criticizing him

President Hugo Chavez called a cardinal from Honduras an "imperialist clown" after the Roman Catholic prelate warned of increasing authoritarianism under the Venezuelan president.

"Another parrot of imperialism appeared, this time dressed as a cardinal. That's to say, another imperialist clown," Chavez was quoted as saying in a bulletin posted Tuesday on the state-run news agency's Web site.

While Political clashes shake Venezuela's strained oil industry, Hugo continues to use oil proceeds towards his arms race: Belarus plans to sign several deals to supply more than $1 billion worth of arms to Venezuela, a Belarusian official said Monday.

And now for irony:
From the same Guardian article,

He said Cuba's 80-year-old ``Maximum Leader'' gave him a copy of former CIA Director George Tenet's recently published memoir and told him: "'Read it, Chavez, because that is the most perfect killing machine ever invented and I'm a survivor ... I survived more than 600 (assassination) attempts.'"

The "most perfect killing machine", indeed.

As far as "legitimately elected", Hugo's made clear that the law providing for unlimited re-election applies to him only (link in Spanish), and no one else. The Beeb is happy to chime in in support

Mr Chavez was re-elected to a third term last year with support from the millions of impoverished Venezuelans who back his social development policies.

even as they state that

The assembly consists solely of politicians who back the president.

No matter how you cut it, It's all about Chavez.

More: Am I not welcome back to Venezuela?

Update:
Obama would meet without precondition with leaders of Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela and Iran. Just watch what you say when you're in Caracas, Obama.



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The New Republic lies, and a few other items

Fact or Fiction?
The New Republic's "Shock Troops": Fact or Fiction? Looking more and more like fiction
Scott Thomas, Franklin Foer & The New Republic- Beatdowns all around
Doubting Thomas: Simple Questions for the New Republic
They Don't Really Support the Troops: The latest from the New Republic and the Nation
--------------------------------------------------------
Former Gitmo Prisoner In Suicide Bombing

The US has released hundreds of detainees from its Guantanamo Bay prison under pressure from human-rights groups, demanding an end to the detention of suspected terrorists captured mainly in Afghanistan. The US has warned that releasing these prisoners will result in their return to terrorism, creating more danger for civilians and for the military still working to bring an end to the Taliban and their allies, al-Qaeda. More than a few have been captured a second time or killed in battle with Western forces.

This time, the terrorist committed suicide by grenade rather than get captured alive in an attempt to take a couple of his enemies with him

--------------------------------------------------------I didn't watch the YouTube "debate: but Captain Ed and Stephen did.

James didn't watch, either.

Special thanks to Larwyn.

2 "24" items

Via Pajamas Media, Jack's going green, which doesn't bide well,

and

The Anchoress found out that next season they're having a woman president,

just in time to get the world used to the idea. Ummm...not exactly news - as with the cleavage and the pink suits, we’ve been here before.

Last season was pretty lame. Next season promises to be lamer.

So long, deadly mullet:

I may not be...

... the world's most popular blogger, but at least I'm not a fake.

More blogging tomorrow.

Dear Ada Brunstein, and other matters

DEAR ADA BRUNSTEIN,
I was reading the NYT this morning looking for blogging material while on the road and came across your article in the NY Times Styles Modern Love section, The House of No Personal Pronouns.

We have never met and will probably never meet, but it's time someone took you by the hand and gave you some sound advice. I normally don't give advice to strangers but recently I have come across a number of people (men and women) in situations comparable to yours. Two have confided in me. Believe me, you are not alone in your dilemma. There are many Adas out there.

Let me start by pointing out that you are in a long-term relationship. You may refer to your lover as "boyfriend" but after a year of this, recognize the fact that you are in a long-term relationship. Call him boyfriend, lover, paramour or whatever else.

The short version of my advice is this:
Leave him right now, cold turkey, permanently, and don't ever go back to him.

That means getting up, walking away, throwing away the key to his house and changing the key to your place (maybe even moving to a new place of your own). Erase his phone number off your phones and block his calls.

Here is why:
In your article you mention how

"in the past my jealousies have gotten the better of me".

Allow me a small digression from your current dilemma to explain that it is not wise to engage in prolonged arguments with your man as to whether you would be OK with him sleeping with Uma Thurman, be it in theory or in practice. The appropriate response on your part would be to state in abruptly clear unambiguous terms that of course it would not be OK with you. If he protests, complains, or doesn't acknowledge that you're not putting up with any of that, it's time to break up.

If you expect an exclusive, monogamous relationship, you must make it absolutely clear.

But back to your current dilemma:
You entered into this relationship for the purpose of proving a point:

"This was going to be the new me. A stronger, cooler, nothing-fazes-me sort of girlfriend who would prove I've outgrown the formerly jealous me. I would be unconventional, brave, hip and oh-so-bohemian in my nonchalance."

Congratulations; you have proved your point. You are cool, nonchalant, bohemian, brave, and everything you set out to demonstrate. And you have done so in spades.

And here's the rub: While relationships with divorced men are very difficult because a great many men still love their ex-wives, you are in the middle of an even greater mess because he's not a divorced man.

Two questions:
Is he still married?
Is he still living in the same house as his wife, sharing living quarters?

Of course, the answer to these two questions is yes. While you would like to think that there has been a separation, that they have moved on and moved out, the physical fact remains that neither of them have. They both remain exactly where they choose to be: smack in the middle of each other's lives and living together under the same jointly-owned roof.

And now for the skinny, from two points of view:
First the cynical, since I'm not above cynicism:

A great deal of satisfaction in life comes from being able to 'play your game'. You are 'playing your game' when you are in control of your circumstances. The situation you describe where you have to ask, "does she mean to lay claim to her place while putting me in mine?" is a situation where you are playing her game. And legally it is her place.

Make no mistake: you will be playing her game for as long as you are attached to her man.

Yes, he is her man.

And the second point of view,
From the point of view of love:
Nowhere in the article did you mention the word love.

I have to assume that, since you are a writer, this is not a mere lapse.

Love is not an easy thing. Poets, philosopher, and psychologists have spent whole lives trying to decipher, explain, and understand it. All of them would probably agree that love means commitment.

This man has shown absolutely no commitment to you. In addition, by remaining in a relationship with him, you are denying yourself the opportunity to find someone who would love you , who would commit to you.

Ask yourself, Are you so afraid of love that you must remain with this man?

Give yourself a chance at love and leave this situation, where you are allowing a marriage to drag you into their very dysfunctional and downright perverse "whirlwind of ifs and thens", to use your phrase, and leave him.

You have already wasted a year. Don't waste a minute more.

I realize that the odds are that you will not read my advice, and that even if you read it you won't follow it, but you have been told. You can't use "nobody told me" as an excuse.

Update, Monday 23 July
Welcome, Dr Helen readers. You'll probably enjoy this post, too.
-------------------------------------------------------
In other insanities, it's time for the Carnival


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I'll be on the road for the greater part of tomorrow so there won't be a podcast, but you can listen to the Gerard and Siggy show.

The obligatory Harry Potter post

Captain Ed liveblogged the party, while Jon Swift says Harry Potter is a brat.

I'm eagerly waiting for the book to arrive in the mail.

Other than that, if you haven't bought it yet, buy here:

The loathesome AI: a movie review

Last night The Husband and I watched Artificial Intelligence: AI, the movie Steven Spielberg released in 2001.

We watched on cable TV, and briefly discussed during the ad breaks.

I knew AI was a box office flop, but had no idea why. All I knew was that it was a story about a boy robot and his friend, a gigolo robot, or something to that effect.

Well, there was plenty of reason for that film to flop, as it turns out.

On the surface, this is a retelling of Pinocchio in a high-tech setting. You are wrong if you think this film is suitable for children: There are sexual situations, violence, cruelty, and the message of the film is thoroughly pessimistic.

The film is overloaded with symbolism, which at times is explicit, "In the world of Orga, blue is the color of melancholy," and at a few rare times left for you to understand, but the sensory overload of special effects and audio has the effect of numbing you to whatever there is.

AI's high tech world is filled with gadgets and toys whose purpose is to ease the humans' lives. The humans use these toys, including the robots, to not only do their work, but also to conveniently ease or avoid the pain of real human-to-human relationships. To that end, they have manufactured sentient toys, called "supertoys", like a noxious-looking teddy bear that was thisclose to being a replica of an ewok, and also sentient, feeling, self-aware robots.

The humans refer to each other as "orgas" and to the robots as "mechas".

"Orgas" are cruel, sadistic beings (and don't tell me the scriptwriters had never heard of orcs, with whom they share several character flaws), who, rather than make the robots with an On/Off switch - something Mr. Data's maker had the presence of mind to do - dispose of the screaming, protesting robots in the most horrifying ways imaginable: Not only through a Roman Circus-like show which provides a truly disturbing sequence in the film, but by the human mother cruelly abandoning the loving (robot) child, David, in the woods.

David's quest then becomes to find the blue fairy that will turn him into a real boy so his mom will love him.



"Mecha" love is never the same as "Orga" love, and Jude Law's character, Gigolo Joe, has plenty of experience on that. In one of the more memorable scenes, Joe explains to David,

She loves what you do for her, as my customers love what it is I do for them. But she does not love you David, she cannot love you. You are neither flesh, nor blood. You are not a dog, a cat, or a canary. You were designed and built specific, like the rest of us. And you are alone now only because they tired of you, or replaced you with a younger model, or were displeased with something you said, or broke. They made us too smart, too quick, and too many. We are suffering for the mistakes they made because when the end comes, all that will be left is us. That's why they hate us, and that is why you must stay here, with me.

Poor David lives his existence unable to go beyond what he was created to be. Unfortunately in this film this is a parable for the human condition.

The message of this relentlessly depressing movie is that chasing your dreams is a useless quest, and that, try as he may, man will never overcome the limitations of his nature.

The nihilists in The Big Lebowski had better attitudes than that.

To complete the obnoxiousness of it all, the Narrator also drones on about melting icecaps and greenhouse gases.

I would speculate that the effect of this morose film on someone who's feeling sad or depressed would be equivalent to sitting down to listen to a stack of Billie Holiday CD with a bottle of booze immeditely after a break-up: it would increase your urge to defenestrate.

Avoid it.



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A comment on "Shilling For Auntie"

E. Buki of Pamphlet Primer and Bleuet left a most interesting comment to yesterday's post, Shilling for Auntie:

I have to thank the British taxpayers as my son was born on their bill. My wife is a British citizen and has her rights to the National Health Service. Never mind the incompetence that the midwives in the NHS hospital displayed in not helping open the passages my son passed through and which nearly suffocated him before his first breathe. The point is that while my wife and I waited for her cervix to open to the optimal metric width I watched a talk TV program on the BBC. The usual complaints about US military power in Iraq was discussed and when a retired member of the British Armed Forces called in to provide his opinion something approximating this exchange occurred.

Host: So what you are saying is the US did not go into Iraq simply because of WMD but because of sanctions against Iraq that were not being upheld by the UN?

Caller: That is correct.

Host: Well then why hasn't the US gone in to enforce the sanctions against Israel?

Caller: Oh G-d, well Israel's Army isn't like Iraq's Army was.

Host: So, what you are saying is that since the Israeli Army could protect itself against the Americans that is why the US is leaving them alone and even supporting them.

Caller: Uh yeah, I think that makes sense.

It’s this sort of misinformation that British Television should now be made famous for. I would have liked the host of this program to be reminded that there are no UN sanctions against Israel.

I am sorry I can't remember the program's name but it ran on February 16th 2006. I don't recall which BBC channel either. I was focused on more meaningful issues in my family life.

Another interesting method used to install political agendas is typified by the following. I sat amazed as a documentary shown with footage taken from news, private cameras and security cameras told the story of Britain's single largest traffic mishap. Traffic became backed up on the M-1 and M-5 and G-d knows how many other major expressways. An accident had caused the mother of all pileups and back-ups on these major arteries as well as the side roads leading to them. Due to the backup of traffic and lack of routes off the highway those scheduled to take over in the towers of one of London's airports could not make it to work. Those who had been working the tower all night were forced to remain although exhausted. Passenger planes collided due to this, which further aggravated the state of transportation in the nation. People were stranded overnight on these transportation venues. I think they called this documentary "The Day Britain Stood Still". It was something of the sort. Lawsuits and sackings ensued from this mess and even years later all involved were traumatized by the deaths in the air, the deaths on the road and the deaths of those who had been stuck over night on the highways in freezing weather. It wasn't until the story went black that one was informed they had watched a mockumentary designed to teach the people of Britain what could happen if one or the other political party had its way in deciding how much money went to the Ministry of Transportation. It’s not the same as distorting the news or excluding relevant information but it is similar in its intent to express a bias as truth.

Thank you, E. B.

Friday afternoon zinnias

Shilling for Auntie

It doesn't take much digging to find example after example of the BBC bias:
From just the last 24 hours:

• Yesterday the BBC suspended a number of editorial leaders.
• Democracy Project posts about the Beeb's use of fake competition winners.
• Melanie Phillips writes about The protocols of the BBC, the latest on a number of incidents where the BBC has lied about or misrepresented Israel.

Then there was the story they made up out of whole cloth about the Queen throwing a snit last week.

And the time the BBC Radio 4 Today program host got his comeuppance, when trying to patronize John Bolton, who the Beeb characterizes as a "strident character".

In other, habitual, ways the Beeb's impartiality is nonexistent, for instance:

• The folks at the Beeb don't bother remove anti-Semitic comments from its Noticeboards.
• The BBC uses "peace be upon him" when referring to the prophet Mohammed in its Islam page of its official Religions and Ethics website - shouldn't they be referring to Jesus, then, as "Our Lord Jesus Christ" in its Christianity page?

All the while, the Beeb is playing with a huge budget of close to $7billion (£3.2bn) which from the most part comes from British taxpayers, who are supposed to take it all in, passively and receptively.

So it is with amusement that I read this article by Simon Jenkins, who believes that

The castigation of the corporation in the royal photo-shoot affair has lost all sense of proportion

It's not just the "royal photo-shoot affair", Simon.

Of course, having the tip of the iceberg finally surface does get people upset and asking them for zero tolerance, doesn't it?

Update
As I was saying...



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Dems kill "John Doe"

Poster via Gateway PunditIn yet an other example of its characteristic idiocy and denial, the Democrats have killed "John Doe".

John Hinderaker:

Democrats on the House/Senate conference committee have dropped from the Homeland Security bill the provision that would protect "John Doe" citizens from lawsuits when they report suspicious behavior to the authorities.

This is a good example of how Congress really works. The "John Doe" measure passed the House on a 304-121 vote, which means that many Democrats didn't want to go on record as opposing the measure. Instead, they killed it quietly in conference committee. So now Democrats in "swing" districts--those must be the ones where voters take seriously the risk of terrorist attack--can tell voters that they voted for the measure, and take no responsibility for the fact it never became law. This dodge is as old as the Republic.

It also shows the importance of party affiliation. If the Republicans still controlled Congress, a majority of conferees never would have voted to strip "John Doe" protection out of the bill

Michelle Malkin, who has the roll call: not one Republican voted against it.

Others blogging about it:
Captain's Quarters, who wants to know how Democrats can posture as responsible guardians of national security while throwing citizen tipsters to the litigating wolves in his post at Heading Right
Center for Vigilant Freedom
Hot Air
Take Our Country Back
Atlas Shrugs
Betsy's Page

Let's see if the Democrats are willing to vote publicly against such protections for American bystanders.

More links at Pajamas Media

Update
Obi's Sister



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14,000 DOW!!

Attention all bloggers,

The White House has posted on line for the first time the press briefing by Tony Snow, both the transcripts and the slide shows.

This is a welcome change, and as a blogger I'm very pleased to see it.

Yesterday's explosion near Grand Central...

... took place just as I was finishing my shift. I posted immediately that at the time (7PM Estern), there were no injuries reported.

Unfortunately, this morning we know there was one death and 30 injuries, two of them critical. Considering the location - near 41st Street and Lexington Avenue - and the time of day, it is a miracle that it wasn't worse.

CNN and the BBC have photo slide shows, and they are all too reminiscent of the 9/11 images that are so engraved in our minds.

Fortunately, the explosion was not caused by an act of terrorism but by a steam pipe explosion, which have occured before

Manhattan is home to the largest district steam system in the world, according to the Web site of the city's Economic Development Corp. While most of the city's buildings have on- site boilers to provide heat during the winter, the Con Edison Steam Business Unit heats 1,800 buildings, serving more than 100,000 commercial and residential customers through a series of underground pipes running from the Bowery in lower Manhattan to 96th Street.

Consolidated Edison's steam network links many end-users to central power plants through a network of pipes carrying either steam or heated/cooled water under high pressure. The New York Steam Co. began providing such service in lower Manhattan in 1882.

In 2000, a steam pipe explosion near New York University's Bobst Library on Washington Square blew a 15-foot crater into the street on Washington Square South, and spewed debris and traces of asbestos into the air. The 1989 blast that killed three sent debris several stories into the air.

The 83-year-old pipe exploded just before 6PM, right in the middle of rush hour, when cold water reached the hot steam pipe.

The WaPo has video of the scene.

Ed Driscoll and Dan Riehl have more.

Memes, women and terror

Jeremayakovka replied to last week's tag before I asked, but today he has Eight Theses On Being Jeremayakovka

In terror, time and language collapse. What remains in the mind (if anything) is the will -- yet even that is often displaced. Tossed in that surf, my body became a vivid, constricted concert of heart, lungs, throat, nostrils, a concert bellowing in stunning, perfect pitch: Confront terror with every fiber of your being. If you don't, it will seize you and make off with you. Fight it NOW or succumb forever.

Go read the rest.

Obi's Sister makes her own jewlery, Alice the Camel listens to my podcasts (Thank You, Alice!!), Spanish Pundit loves tea, and Lady Godiva (in Spanish) likes people who don't talk a lot, tell the truth and don't beat around the bush.

Great news: Media Mythbusters Wiki Page!

Media Mythbusters Blog has inagurated their Media Mythbusters Wiki Page

This is great news, and I'll be visiting often.

The holy all-nighter

First we have the pompous picture of Harry achieving Nirvana:

which topped the Reuters story Democrats start all-night push for change in Iraq

Then there's The Secret Senator Mindmeld, and all those Dems, grumpy from staying up late, telling each other scary stories at the sleepover

So what did this accomplish? Nothing.

Darleen has the picture of what the Dems want.

I wonder what Harry's looking like just now.

Update
Meanwhile, over in Iraq, look whose gig is up...



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Yes, I added that photo at Pajamas Media, and am very pleased to announce I'm one of their editors

Preventing the West from Understanding Jihad

Walid Phares writes about those who are Preventing the West from Understanding Jihad

In the 1990's, apologist literature attempted to convince readers and audiences in the West that Jihad was a "spiritual experience only, and not a menace." [1] That explanation has now been shattered by Bin Laden and Ahmedinijad. So in the post-9/11 age, a second strategy to delay public understanding of Jihadism and thereby gain time for its adherents to achieve their goals has evolved. It might be called the "good cop, bad cop" strategy. Over the past few years, a new story began to make inroads in Washington and the rest of the national defense apparatus. A group of academics and interest groups are circulating the idea that in reality Jihad can develop in two forms: good Jihad and bad Jihad.

The practice of not using "Jihad" and "Jihadism" was lately defended by two academics at the National Defense University [2] who based their arguments on a study published by a Washington lobbyist, Jim Guirard.[3] On June 22, 2006, Jim Garamone, writing for the American Forces Press Service, published the study of Douglas Streusand and Harry Tunnel under the title "Loosely Interpreted Arabic terms can promote enemy ideology." Streusand told CNN that "Jihad is a term of great and positive import in Islam. It is commonly defined as striving or struggle, and can mean an internal or external struggle for faith." [4]

Read the rest.

In the meantime, CAIR has been busy lately:
CAIR Accuses Bush Office Of Being Anti-Muslim
The National Press Club allowed CAIR to to throw a reporter out of a press club.

Podcasting with Gerard and Siggy

In yesterday's podcast, I had the distinct pleasure of talking to two of the best bloggers around, Gerard Vanderleun of American Digest and Siggy of Sigmund, Carl and Alfred. We talked about anti-Americanism, English cooking (including toast) and several other topics.

On the subject of education, we discussed a generation of students growing up without a real education on what it means to be an American:
Gerard:

Classical education's being replaced by presentism and relativism

On middle class values and conditions:
Siggy:

When you are part of an economic group, you become an oppressor.... People are driven to hatred, and then to violence, when they realize they can not control others with their beliefs

Gerard:

Exactly; this is called the Vision of the Annointed, which is one of the best books I've ever read which outlines this mindset. The problem in America is that you have this great divide, and again, you have three generations of a certain elite leftist ideology that feeds upon itself that is driving the educational system, and not only that, is driving social services as well.

We also talked about commercialand, the pattycake war, the grains that bind, and Bill and Hillary.

The podcast is such fun, it might even be fattening.

All that, and Siggy and I discussed the necktie dilemma - Is Siggy a necktie guy?

Will Gerard and Siggy revoke my blogging license since I'm a morning blogger?

Listen to the podcast and find out!



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The tall story

Yesterday Taranto (scroll down to Political Tall Tales h/t Larwyn) posted on the AP anti-American propaganda story that asserts,

just as it has in so many other arenas, America's predominance in height has faded.

Like Taranto, I wondered,

What are the "so many other areas" in which "America's predominance . . . has faded"? AP reporter Matt Crenson never gets around to telling us.

However, as Americans born and raised in Puerto Rico, my siblings and I have been doing our part towards "America's predominance in height": my brother is 6', his daughters are 5'8' and 5'9", my sister and I are 5'10", her husband (also born and raised in PR) is 6'4, their son is 6'6", and their daughters are 5'7" and 5'10". The Husband and our son, born and raised in the continental US, are also over 6'.

Not only are we working towards continuing "America's prominence in height", we're doing our share towards supporting all sorts of related industries, such as longer mattresses, cars with more leg room and head room, and longer skirts, trousers and shirts.

And when my siblings and I were growing up in PR, we didn't have health insurance, either.

We are, however, fortunate to have been born from a long line of tall ancestors.

Crenson goes on to say,

Tall people are healthier, wealthier and live longer than short people.

I forget who it was that asked, If Michael Bloomberg was taller, would he be mayor of a better city?

On the other hand, the Indians (the ones from India, not the ones from Cleveland) are finding out that

Six feet is still a good height, it is still a respectable height, but it is no longer a commanding presence.

But I digress. As Taranto points out, Crenson's ideology shines through and through.

The AP story ends in yet more propaganda:

"In some ways it gets to the fundamentals of the American society, namely what is the ideology of the American society and what are the shortcomings of that ideology," Komlos said. "I would argue that to take good care of its children is not part of that ideology."

Whether that's true is debatable; the height gap doesn't measure how much Americans love their children. But at a minimum it does indicate - in raw feet and inches - whether the nation is giving its youngsters what they need to reach their full biological potential, or selling them short.

What it doesn't say is how tall is Matt Crenson, its author.



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Iranian games

A brief round-up of Iranian news shows the games are on:

There's the video game,:
Iran's New Game: `Rescue Nuke Scientist'

An Iranian hard-line student group unveiled a new video game Monday that simulates an attempt to rescue two Iranian nuclear experts kidnapped by the U.S. military and held in Iraq and Israel.
...
"We tried to promote the idea of defense, sacrifice and martyrdom in this game," Fakhrian said.

Does that means that you win if you blow yourself up at the end? And what about the 72?

The real-life nuclear game:
IAEA, Iran agree visit at disputed reactor site

The EU energy game:
US criticises Turkey-Iran gas deal

The American-hostages-on-TV game:
Iran Puts Detained Scholars Before TV Cameras

The fashion game:
Iran police step up crackdown on unIslamic dress, yet again. Mannekins are not safe, either.

The currency game:
Iran Asks Japan to Pay Yen for Oil, Start Immediately

The new axis game:
Oiling the axis - Iran and Venezuela develop closer ties

Lest you think that all these games amount to a lot of fun, a lot of people don't agree with you.

Today in Blog Talk Radio: Gerard Vanderleun of American Digest

Gerard VanderLeun of American Digest is my guest today at noon, along with Siggy. Don't miss it!

La Vie en Rose, and that boxer

Jean-Pierre Martins and Marion Cotillard share a tender moment
Anyone familiar with the life of Edith Piaf knows that her life was full of hardship and tragedy. The passion she poured into her songs was equal to, if not greater than, her magnificent voice.

The movie La Vie en Rose (originally titled La Môme) is the most emotionally intense film I've watched in years. Actress Marion Cotillard's monumental tour de force as Piaf is astonishing, enthralling, and heartbreaking.

In addition to the cast of excellent actors (is there a French film that doesn't have Depardieu in it?), the sets, locations, and costumes are perfect and further envelop you in the atmosphere.

The only misgivings that I have about the script is that it ignores the period of Piaf's life when she was not a victim, during World War II. Additionally, in spite of the cinematic Piaf's protestations that the Americans "don't get me, and I don't get them", in the film (and in life) she spent substantial part of her life working in the US, where she was a huge success in both coasts.

I immediately liked the character of Marcel Cerdan (played by the very handsome Jean-Pierre Martins, who actually has a boxer's physique), the boxer who was the love of Piaf's life. Unlike Piaf's character, in the film he "gets" Americans and takes her to a diner for a pastrami sandwich on their first date. Like "ugly Americans" who ask for ketchup when eating in France, Piaf pushes away the pastrami and insists on going to a French restaurant. Marcel obliges, and jokingly orders a hot pastrami there, too - definitely, my kind of guy.

In spite of my misgivings, from the musical standpoint this film is a great tribute to one of the most influential singers of the 20th Century.

Bring a lot of Kleenex, and leave the kids at home: the movie's R-rated for sexual situations, violence, drug use, and language.
French with English subtitles. Those not familiar with street French will probably rely on the subtitles for the first half of the film.

Here's the trailer


Here's the original Piaf, singing Non, je ne regrette rien in 1961 with composer Charles Dumont



technorati: La Mome, La Vie en Rose
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The full story, the modern Wife of Bath, and today's other items

My friend Captain Ed posts on A Case Of Missing Context At The Gray Lady

Readers who want the whole story have to read the Los Angeles Times to find out what else Maliki said about the Iraqi position:

Maliki, a Shiite, put on a brave face in the wake of the rising demand in the U.S. among Democratic and Republican legislators for withdrawal from Iraq.
He pleaded for time, pledging to achieve the passage of legislation that Washington has demanded as a condition of its continuing support, including an oil revenue sharing law, a revised constitution and the easing of government work restrictions for former supporters of President Saddam Hussein, who was captured, tried and executed after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Maliki also said that Iraqi security forces could use more training from U.S.-led forces and needed more weaponry.

You know the NYT's faltering when you get the full story from the LAT.

Also via Captain Ed, a terrific article by Rod Liddle, Having a torrid time at the BBC - Busy Blurting Confessions. Nobody lets it rip like the Brits, and Liddle's in fine form. Read it all, but here's a sample,

Then came the television news teams 'fessing up that they may have inadvertently misled the public over the single European currency, the inherent competence and decency of Hamas, Fatah and the Taliban, the desirability of unconstrained immigration and the notion that bunging loads of money in aid to Africa would solve that continent's problems. Oh, and a whole bunch of other stuff about the dangers of smoking and global warming and being fat. The BBC's "gypsy unit" turned up too, to confess that not everyone who had reservations about encroachment by Britain's traveller community were necessarily racist middle-class bigots. They were late, though, because their cars had been nicked.

Rod Liddle knows what he's talking about since,

Rod Liddle left his post as editor of the BBC's Today programme in 2002, after a row about impartiality in an article he wrote for The Guardian.

Rod, if you're reading this, email me when you come to Princeton and I'll buy you a beer.

Rod also writes about Jane Felix-Browne, a.k.a. Zaina Mohamad al-Sabah, the latest incarnation of the Wife of Bath who was fond of pilgrimage and fond of a much younger man. Jane/Zaina, like the Wife, has been married five times, is middle-aged (if people live to be 102, since she's 51), enjoys travel, and married a much younger man (a 26 yr-old).

There ends the resemblance to the WoB: the WoB might have been madly in love with her young husband but she wasn't crazy enough to marry the 1380s equivalent of Osama Bin-Laden's son and move to Saudi Arabia.

One must consider, however, that the WoB was a woman of the 14th Century, and Jane/Zaina's now the daughter-in-law of a guy that wants to send us back to the 10th Century, so it's all in the spirit of the times.

Time and time again I have seen many marriages fall apart where the age difference was >15 years (but never one where the husband already had another wife since I've never met any polygamists), but let's just say that'll be the least of Jane/Zaina's troubles.

Osama, or so they say, is praising the martyrdom of others:

"The happy (man) is the one that God has chosen him to be a martyr,"

says he, while depriving himself of that happiness. it's time to resurrect one of my old limericks from back in 2004:

There once was a boy named Osama
who never respected his mamma.
He blew up the World Trade
and is now in a cave,
hiding away, like Saddam-a

I realize that my limerick is a rerun, but so is Osama's video; that completes the trio.

Venezue-lan-born Vladimir Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, a.k.a. Carlos the Jackal, sneers at Al-Qaeda's 'amateur' killers from his prison cell in France.

Not that that makes them less deadly.

On to unrelated stuff:
The French are a lot bigger optimists than I thought: Now they have free bicycles. Bon chance on that, mes amis!

Francis Porretto has a post on Fred Thompson which convinced me that the Dems must see Fred as the first viable Southern Presidential candidate since Bill Clinton - and they are scared.

Never mind men's neckties; how do you walk in these?

Should a country this crazy have nuclear weapons?
Speaking of insanities, Dr Sanity has the Carnival




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