Oh daddy

"Katie is a young girl's name. Her name is Kate now; she's a child-bearing woman."

-Tom Cruise on Katie, sorry, Kate Holmes. Can't anybody stop him from being so crazy in public all the time?

I'm back on Sunday, who wants to go?

Philip Klein calls United 93 a must-see. I think I'm ready.

Buh-bye

Air America to Lose NY Flagship on Aug. 31

The Russians are coming.

Joe Grossberg sends me this map from the 2000 census about how many people in America speak Russian at home. It's a whole lot more than I imagined. Idaho, in particular, has an astounding amount.

What my friends are blogging

*Fisch celebrates Father's Day early with a sweet story about his dad. My father would have so kicked my ass if I did what Fisch had done in this post.

*Zelda rounds-up my birthday party. Some pictures exist here and here. Yes, I may have been drinking.

*Dawn Summers has decided that playing good poker was overrated and now plays 4-5 to pre-flop raises and complains when she is outdrawn. She also believes that who you are at 12 is who you will always be. I say just because her growth was stunted at 12, there's no need to make a theory for the rest of us.

*Ari had a weird cabbie experience.

*Joey McKeown is on a poetry kick and wants the ladies to know he's more than just a hot body-- he's also a big bank account.

*American Legends reports that the Yanks and the Mets are seeking tax relief. Seriously, me too.

*My Urban Kvetch has a pop-culture round-up that includes porn stars, Britney and the latest Hollywood fad of having bastards. Do we still use the word 'bastards' in 2006? Eh, whatever, I will.

Government at its finest

New Jersey has a strange law that all gas stations be full-serve. If you've ever driven down the Jersey Turnpike or the Garden State Parkway, this will be a familiar feeling:

I sat in the car, aching, pondering the four-hour drive ahead while watching a long-lost, slow-motion play written by Kafka unfold in the warm failing light of an approaching summer's eve. Left-side gas-pump lines were many cars deep and right-sided ones were nearly empty. Sullen attendants shuffled unhurriedly from car-window to pump to register kiosk to car window and on again while men and women and families sat trapped, bladders full, in their tiny metal boxes. And I came unglued. My tongue lashed forth in a torrent of obscenity-laced policy proposals and cruel punishment suggestions for all those responsible. My poor fiancé, concern and a hint of fear in her eyes, endured the high-volume tirade. I am ashamed to admit I participated in some Jersey-bashing. I like New Jerseyians — some of my best friends are New Jerseyians. But New Jersey has gone completely sideways when it comes to gas stations.

Read the whole thing for how government regulation is to blame.

Via Dana Superstar.

That's an awfully strange coincidence

The woman who says she was raped by three members of Duke's lacrosse team also told police 10 years ago she was raped by three men, filing a 1996 complaint claiming she had been assaulted three years earlier when she was 14.

So, how over is this case?

Personally, I don't think men should do most of those things at any age.

Rightwing Sparkle posts a list of things men over 30 shouldn't do.

Via Ace.

The Congressman and the fratboys

There's a mini-scandal brewing in NY involving a Republican Congressman attending a frat party and, possibly, being photographed with pot-smokers.

Of course, Daily Kos, among others, are weighing in with important, issue-orientated criticism. This photograph is the evidence.

Eh, I've seen a joint once or twice in my life-- where is it in this photograph? The guy in the front of the pic holding two fingers up to his mouth has nothing between said fingers. And, the guy in the background is smoking on something that appears to be white with an orange tip which, in America, is called a 'cigarette'.

When Myth Becomes History (by guest blogger Dorian Davis)

Rolling Stone magazine attacks George W. Bush

The newest cover of Rolling Stone magazine — a cartoon sandbagging President Bush — is a mere appetizer for the seven-course meal of distortion and bile served up by historian Sean Wilentz (The Rise of American Democracy) in his cover story, "The Worst President in History."

Mr. Wilentz revises history, in the most irresponsible way, with half-truths that his less sophisticated readers will, probably, devour without much second-guessing. This is not simply an attack on President Bush. This is history ripped free of its moorings in logic and reason. In other words, it is a myth.

Don't hate me because I'm in 85 degree weather

I'm the Bahamas for a wedding and spent the day lazying around the resort and hanging out with the 50 or so friends that are also on the island. I have my laptop so blogging will resume soon.

Oooh a veto, haven't seen that in awhile....

Bush Makes Levee Request and Also Threatens a Veto

Dare to dream.

Quote of the Day

"Tony already knows most of you, and he’s agreed to take the job anyway."

-Bush to the White House press corp on Tony Snow becoming his press secretary.

Yet another nightmare

Mick Jagger Joins a New ABC Sitcom

For the love of G-d, no.

Michael Jackson eyes 50 Cent collaboration

Update: Whew! I've never been so happy to find out something I posted was a hoax.

Way to ruin my favorite restaurant

From a review of Scalinatella on Menupages.com:

The place is incredible and easily one of the best restaurants in the city. I saw Michael Moore and his wife eating with Modonna and Guy Richie not too long ago. Absolutely incredible restaurant.

Dumbest headline ever

Holocaust Survivors Grow Poorer in Israel

I'm fairly sure they are not 'poorer' than they were during the Holocaust.

D'oh.

A candidate for mayor of New Orleans uses an image of herself at Disneyland's New Orleans Square in her literature.

Hat-tip W.O.

Blogroll Update

Here, There & Everywhere:
Michelle Malkin has launched a new conservative internet broadcasting site called Hot Air, , with everyone's favorite demigod, Allahpundit and Junkyard Blog's Bryan Preston. Should be pretty cool.

NYC:
Green GOP

Texas:
Discerning Texan

Also, I've deleted some blogs from the blogroll that haven't been updated in awhile. If I deleted yours and you plan to resurrect your site, do let me know.

Classy

Costa Cruises, an Italian-based Cruise company, has started running cruises that stop in Tripoli, Libya. Here is the itinerary for a cruise this June:

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE DEPART
Mon Jun 12 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 5:00pm
Tue Jun 13 Catania, Sicily 2:00pm 7:00pm
Wed Jun 14 Tunis, Tunisia 1:00pm 6:30pm
Thu Jun 15 Gabes, Tunisia 11:30am 9:30pm
Fri Jun 16 Tripoli, Libya
IMPORTANT NOTE: Libya will not allow U.S. citizens and persons born in the U.S. to disembark in Tripoli. Costa will not allow passengers with Israeli passports or Israeli stamps in their passports to embark a cruise that visits Libya. 8:30am 6:00pm
Sat Jun 17 Valletta, Malta 8:00am 6:00pm
Sun Jun 18 At Sea
Mon Jun 19 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 9:00am

I sort-of understand Libya prohibiting Americans visiting Tripoli. It isn't very smart, but it isn't far-out either, considering the history between our countries. But Costa Cruises essentially banning Israelis, and anyone who has ever visited Israel, from boarding this Cruise is offensive. Why don't the Israeli passengers get the same offer as the Americans, ie: feel free to cruise with us but you're not getting off the ship in Libya? Or does Costa not care about Israeli business?

Via Ark.

I hear a collective sigh of relief

Judge: Web-surfing worker can't be fired

"C.I.A. Analyst Played by the Rules" (by guest blogger Dorian Davis)

"indepedent"

"a person with great integrity"

"played by the book"

"never deviated from the rules"

"good"

"good, substative person"

"concerned"

I'm starting to suspect that the NYTimes supports Mary McCarthy.

Seriously, how much do I love Cathy Seipp?

A lot:

Anyway, you fear a lot of things when you get a cancer diagnosis, but luckily my biggest fear has so far not materialized -- that I would become a nicer person.

There, I said it.

I like Big Love better than Sopranos.

"My baby's got a secret"

I really enjoy the site Post Secret. People send in their secrets on postcards which are then displayed on the site. Most of the secrets tend to be about regret or depression, but some are just random, human secrets that we all have. Anyway, they have a book out, and some events coming up surrounding it, if anyone is interested. I'll be at the one in NYC on May 3rd.

Funny That

I've spoken to many (most recently, one gentleman this past weekend) who have tried to convince me, in essence, that I'm evil by nature of my political leanings. The argument, since 2002, goes like this: the government is trying to brainwash the people into submission, and my ilk are enablers. My response is simple: 1) if a $2.3 trillion government is trying to brainwash the people, one would think they would do better than to let such fellows run around announcing these plans all willy-nilly...

Something I'm going to tell you every few months

Hey, did you guys know I co-write a poker blog with Dawn Summers? No? Well, it's a good thing I mentioned it then, isn't it!

Eye on '08

The Note reports that the "most generous contributor this [FEC reporting] round: Former Governor Mark Warner (D-VA), who spent more than $250,000 helping other candidates."

I hope Republicans are looking at him as a serious contender for '08 and not spending their time focused on the may-or-may-not-run Hillary. Warner is a challenge we should fear. He's a popular ex-governor of a southern state. He isn't a liberal senator from a liberal northern state (like Hil or Kerry). In other words, he's got a real shot. Worry.

Bring him on

Kerry 'thinking hard' about '08 run'...

The phrasing of the headline makes me worry there will be a second

Snoop Dogg publishing first novel this Fall...

Want to hear a Snoop Dogg joke?

Why does Snoop use an umbrella?

For drizzle.

Well, that settles it

If Pink hates President Bush, so do I!

What a world

Liberal stay-at-home mom finds herself shunned by the left.

"I have one conservative standpoint," says Flanagan. "I really have traditional emotions about having a full-time, at-home parent, be it mom or dad. For that, the left has excoriated me, humiliated me, called me names in print - one of which I had to look up."

She doesn't think of herself as a theorist, as her new book, "To Hell With All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife," makes clear. But in a culture of universal female grievance, she earns elite female disdain for noticing how much good men (sometimes) have to put up with.

It sounds like most of her argument involves being good to your man, something her critics find unacceptable. An age where being good to your spouse is a controversial idea--wow.

And everything she stands for....

Salon.com features an article by a liberal writer that has everything: pretentiousness, America-hating, snobbery, the works. Read it and tell me if you manage not to despise her.

H/T Ron.

Doing good while eating well

A bunch of NY restaurants are doing something called Dining For Darfur. If you eat at one of the participating restaurants on April 30, 5% of the restaurant's gross sales for the evening will go to the International Rescue Committee’s humanitarian relief efforts in Darfur and in the refugee camps in Chad.

Priorities

A big lefty blogger, Maryscott O'Connor of My Left Wing, got profiled in the Washington Post. Tim Blair notes that Maryscott was unhappy with the picture used in the article. Read the article and imagine it was about you. Would the picture really be your main concern? And not the fact that you came off as completely batshit crazy with every word you said?

Could the UN be more pointless?

On April 10th the UN Disarmament Commission elected Iran as one of its Vice-Chairpersons. Yes, seriously.

Via Redhot.

Google searches of the day

*Who is a fashionista? That's right, it's me.

*Though hot, he has a bad moustache and he cries. Though this is uncalled for.

*I could teach you, but I'd have to charge.

*If you find out where they hold this, I'm in.

*This is an interesting one, especially the suggested alternative searches.

Ok, who is taking me?

This is the best birthday present ever.

Via Ari.

If by 'crash' they mean 'attend without incident'

Gay people crash White House event.

Me, me, me

Though most of it is lies and half-truths, Dawn Summers has a hilarious post recounting our friendship.

Maybe it's an immigrant thing....

....but I never understood the whole misogynist 'barefoot and pregnant' phrase. I mean, I get the pregnant part but why barefoot?

Obligatory pre-birthday Amazon Wish List link

For me? You shouldn't have!

Ha and ha some more

NYC transit union fined $2.5 million for illegal strike:

A judge on Monday fined the union representing bus and subway workers $2.5 million for the illegal strike that shut down the city's mass transit system in December.

Judge Theodore Jones, of state Supreme Court in Brooklyn, also ruled that Transport Union Workers Local 100's automatic dues collection would be suspended for 90 days. The union has about 33,000 members.

The judge imposed fines on two smaller transit unions: Local 726 was fined $125,000 and Local 1050 was fined $187,000.

What my friends are blogging

On love and sex:

*Seldom Sober has the cutest love story of all time and not just because it involves an adorable redhead.

*Dawn Eden defends the chaste life in a great post about rejecting meaningless sex.

*Fisch finds it rare to 'click' with someone and mulls over the reasons that it matters. (Jewish chicks in NY should snap him up while they still can).

*Ari recently had surgery but had some fun before going under the knife. Safe for work only because it's words and not images.

On international affairs:

*Have you read Mark Steyn's latest piece on Iran's nuke announcement? "President Ahmadinejad, who is said to consider himself the designated deputy of the "hidden Imam," held a press conference this week -- against a backdrop of doves fluttering round an atom and accompanied by dancers in orange decontamination suits doing choreographed uranium-brandishing. It looked like that Bollywood finale of ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin,'' where they all pranced around to "This Is The Dawning Of The Age Of Aquarius."" Well, Yaron at Daily Lunch has pictures.

On miscellaneous subjects I find amusing:

*Jessica doesn't think math can be biased. That's just not true, math hates redheaded Jewish girls from NY.

*I think Dorian Davis is going for some kind of 'shortest posts ever' award. He's clearly in the lead for it.

*I went out for a drink with Joey McKeown last week and threatened his life if he didn't blog more. He ignored me completely.

Find the controversy

Newsflash: There is such a thing as manliness and women are not it.

Destroy Them

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up outside a fast-food restaurant in a bustling area of Tel Aviv during the Passover holiday Monday, killing eight other people and wounding at least 49 in the deadliest Palestinian attack in more than a year.

The Palestinians' new Hamas leaders called the attack a legitimate response to Israeli "aggression."

If the point of the Palestinians having their own state, with their own leadership, is not to hold them accountable for things like this, then I don't get its purpose. I want to see an Israeli response, and I want it to be harsh and decisive:

The bomber struck at about 1:40 p.m. at "The Mayor's Falafel" restaurant, which was targeted in a Jan. 19 attack that wounded 20 people. The restaurant is in the bustling Neve Shaanan neighborhood near Tel Aviv's central bus station, which was crowded with holiday travelers.

Police said the restaurant hired a security guard after the earlier bombing, and that guard apparently was injured in Monday's blast.

A witness, Moussa al Zidat, said the guard asked the apparent bomber to open his bag.

"I saw a young man starting to open his bag. The guard begins opening the bag, and then I heard a boom."

Witness Israel Yaakov said the blast killed a woman standing near her husband and children.

"The father was traumatized. He went into shock. He ran to the children to gather them up and the children were screaming, 'Mom! Mom!' and she wasn't answering, she was dead already ... it's a shocking scene," Yaakov said.

Another witness, 62-year-old Sonya Levy, said she had just finished shopping when the blast occurred.

"I was about to get into my car, and boom! There was an explosion. A bit of human flesh landed on my car and I started to scream," she said.

A legitimate response to Israeli aggression? Ok, let's see some legitimate Israeli aggression in response.

Gore in 08'!

"If you love your planet, if you love your children, you have to see this film"- From a trailer about a new global warming flick called 'An Inconvenient Truth' starring Al Gore. Hysterical much?

The film "weaves the science of global warming with Al Gore’s personal history and lifelong commitment to reversing the effects of global climate change."

Ben Smith sees the reaction to the film's trailer on the upper west side of Manhattan as proof that Gore is a plausible alternative to Hillary. I say applause for Gore on the UWS is exactly why Gore is not a plausible alternative to anybody. The things that excite this rabidly leftist crowd would have no such effect on their Democratic counterparts in Iowa, South Carolina or New Hampshire. It would be a dream for Republicans for Democrats to run on Global Warming in '08.

One Republican advantage for 2008 is that Democrats in NY, and other solid blue states, have zero in common with Democrats in most other places. The story of Rick Crawford remains my favorite illustration of this disconnect. A lot can change in 2+ years, no doubt about it, but the Democrats still currently seem to be running on the same anti-Bush platform. It's just not going to be enough, especially seeing as Bush can not run for re-election. Add global warming to the mix and I would be the house on the GOP. Al Gore couldn't win an election as a sitting VP during a healthy economy in peacetime. I just don't see Democrats giving him another chance now that he's moved so decisively toward the left. It would be a total kamikaze move, one that I, obviously, would completely welcome.

Que?

GEORGE W. Bush is a one- term president now serving deep into his second term.

-Dick Morris

"I'm not Anti-Semitic, I'm just anti-Zionism"

Sure ya are.

Hat-tip Sara.

Nobody Panic.....

....but I'm going to be 29 in like 22 hours.

One for you, nineteen for me (by guest blogger Peter)

"The IRS sent back my tax return saying I owed $800. I said `If you'll notice, I sent a paper clip with my return. Given what you've been paying for things lately, that should more than make up the difference.'"
-- Emo Philips

This time of year always unleashes my inner Sam Adams. Filling out my tax return forms is a depressing exercise for me as I see just how much money I've made over the past year and how much of that was taken from my pocket at virtual gunpoint by the thugs of the IRS. Worry not, I will spare you the soliloquies I've given Karol about corrupt crooks, socialist agendas, and Charles Rangel tooling around town in a car paid for by people like you and I.

As usual, I'm due to receive a tidy sum of cash back from the feds but have to give even more money to the city and state of New York. To New York's credit, the amount of money I have to pay them is a mere fraction of what the feds have to pay me, so New York actually did a much better job all along of estimating how much to take out of my paychecks initially.

All these years I've resented New York and let the feds off the hook because, psychologically, it's better to receive than to spend. But now that I realize New York, and not the feds, actually let me hold on to my money rather than keep what didn't belong to them, I'm torn. So I pose a question to you, dear readers-on-loan: is it better for the government to slightly underestimate what they need to take from you and demand more later on, or to wildly overestimate what they need to take and return it later?

I used to have a music blog (by guest blogger Peter)

But now I don't. Anyway, here's some stuff I figured I'd pass along:

I bought Sibylle Baier's Colour Green after reading this post on Gorilla vs Bear. There's a whole backstory to this album which I won't get into here but, more than 30 years since they were recorded, the songs were just released for the first time. Since I'm feeling lazy, I'd describe it as a female Nick Drake with less complicated guitar work.

Speaking of Germans, I first found Alpendub a few months ago and stumbled across them again tonight. As the name suggests, it's dub as performed by traditional alpine instruments. Augustus Pablo meets the Sound of Music? You decide. (via Tuning)

If French pop is your thing, Clothilde is worth checking out. BlowUpDoll is hosting her out of print album and I was quite obsessed with her for a while.

Lastly, I'm not sure how I missed this initially, but I just found the Sun Ra Batman and Robin album I've been unable to find in stores on Beware of the Blog. It's as fun as I imagined it to be.

Filler (by guest blogger Peter)

Karol's gone for the weekend and asked me to fill in for your reading discomfort. In case you want to skip my ramblings, she'll probably be back tomorrow night with a post-Sopranos post.

For those of you left, here's some delightful strangeness for your Saturday.

If you like the Mets, don't like the Red Sox, or just want to watch one of the greatest World Series comebacks re-enacted through vintage Nintendo, I advise you to click here. I really don't know what else one can say about this, other than it's really cool. (via the Griddle)

Your opinion

I saw a preview for the film 'Hard Candy' a few weeks back when I went to see Capote and I'm completely intrigued. And repulsed. I can't really tell which. Thoughts? (Go to Navigation and then Trailer and Clips).

I hate fake Brooklyn and everything it stands for

Here is a perfect illustration why I call areas like Park Slope, Williamsburg and so on 'fake' Brooklyn. The difference? People in 'real' Brooklyn have lives.

Via Englishman in NY.

I'm afraid for our future

Comedy Central censors an episode of South Park about censorship. Make sure you read the whole insane story.

Start being nicer now, Dawn

'Skeleton woman' dead in front of TV for years

If only the whole world had our problems....

Some New Yorkers don't want their buildings to have doormen because they don't feel like saying hello to someone twice a day.

If only he wasn't pro-choice, for gay marriage, married three times....

A new film "'Giuliani Time' seeks to do for Giuliani what Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" did for President Bush - namely, shine an unsparing light on the darker corners of his life and career, just as he starts to run for President."

Well, seeing as I credit Fahrenheit 9/11 at least partly for Bush's re-election, it may be time to rethink my "Rudy can't win in '08" stance.

His name is Cain

If you're the praying type, would you please include my hero Herman Cain in your prayers? He was recently diagnosed with colon cancer and will be undergoing surgery soon.

Regular readers of this site know how much Herman Cain means to me. Whenever I'm disenchanted with politics and politicians, whenever I think they're all the same and nothing matters, thinking of Herman Cain makes me remember that there are very real exceptions. If you've never listened to or met the man, get his books, check him out. He's just so special and different. As I wrote when his U.S Senate race came to an end:

If you work or volunteer in politics, I hope you will someday have the opportunity to work for someone that you admire as much as I admire Herman Cain. He is a breath of the freshest air, he is honest, direct, engaging, brilliant, funny and very, very real. He will never forget your name after meeting you. He will never try to pretend to be something he isn't. It takes guts that I can barely understand to do what he did down here in Georgia. He shaped the debate, his opponents ended up using his language and positions as their own. He is a force, if you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak, go do it. You will never forget it. You will not be the same when it's over. I know he will do great things and I will be watching closely.

Be well, Herman. I'll be praying for you.

Burning down embassies and churches is one thing....

....but now Muslims have gone too far:

Indonesia Muslim hardliners attack Playboy building

Englishman in New York

John Derbyshire over at National Review has confessed that he was, at one time, an illegal immigrant to the U.S. I love his response to people writing in to call him a hypocrite for opposing illegal immigration today:

I look on it as being sort of like the reformed drunk at a temperance meeting.

Besides, there's INSIDE and OUTSIDE. I can recall thinking, as an i-i, that Americans were kind of naive about immigration. Since the naivety was to my personal advantage, I didn't complain. AS AN AMERICAN, and having jumped through all the darn immigration hoops at last (seven years to Green Card, nine more to citizenship), I'm entitled to another point of view.

And I must say, if back then I had felt the heavy hand of an INS officer on my shoulder, I'd have said "It's a fair cop, guv'nor," and gone quietly. It would never have occurred to me that I had any rights in the matter---much less to march down Fifth Avenue with a Union Jack demanding rights.

If you believe Noam Chomsky....

....then you are a sucker:

One of the most persistent themes in Noam Chomsky's work has been class warfare. The iconic MIT linguist and left-wing activist frequently has lashed out against the "massive use of tax havens to shift the burden to the general population and away from the rich," and criticized the concentration of wealth in "trusts" by the wealthiest 1%. He says the U.S. tax code is rigged with "complicated devices for ensuring that the poor -- like 80% of the population -- pay off the rich."

But trusts can't be all bad. After all, Chomsky, with a net worth north of US$2-million, decided to create one for himself. A few years back he went to Boston's venerable white-shoe law firm, Palmer and Dodge, and, with the help of a tax attorney specializing in "income-tax planning," set up an irrevocable trust to protect his assets from Uncle Sam. He named his tax attorney (every socialist radical needs one!) and a daughter as trustees. To the Diane Chomsky Irrevocable Trust (named for another daughter) he has assigned the copyright of several of his books, including multiple international editions.

Chomsky favours massive income redistribution -- just not the redistribution of his income. No reason to let radical politics get in the way of sound estate planning.

When I challenged Chomsky about his trust, he suddenly started to sound very bourgeois: "I don't apologize for putting aside money for my children and grandchildren," he wrote in one e-mail. Chomsky offered no explanation for why he condemns others who are equally proud of their provision for their children and who try to protect their assets from Uncle Sam. (However, Chomsky did say that his tax shelter is OK because he and his family are "trying to help suffering people.")

Via the beautiful Jessica of New Vintage.

How much of a victim are you?

And how badly do you want to get into the college of your choice?

Today

Via Ren, I learn that love of my life Vincent Gallo turns 44 today. Happy birthday Vincent!

Today is also poker pro Chris "Jesus" Ferguson's birthday. I know that because he is my My Space friend. Have a good one, Jesus.

I think April is the best month for birthdays. Don't you agree?

Out of control

Rapper Proof of D12 ('I'm gonna let the world know that Proof is hot') killed at a nightclub in Detroit.

Blogroll Update

NYC:

Bloggerale- JD at Bloggerale is a lot like the no-longer-blogging Ken Wheaton. Except better looking and nicer.

Alan Shuster- Alan is a cool youngster I know. His blog is new and I'm looking forward to see what he does with it.

Yes, it's about poker

Dawn and my little poker blog that could has been chosen Blog of the Week on Best Poker Blogs. Go on over and highly rate us, please.

Exactly the same

According to London Mayor Ken Livingstone, the Tianamen Square Protests in China were very similar to the poll tax protests in Trafalgar square. Except for that whole tanks being called in to run people over thing.

Oh, and also "We have a different set of human rights than the Chinese have." Someone needs to give Commie Ken a definition of 'human rights' and how they don't differ from country to country.

Via Ace of Spades.

I'm waiting for pro-life churchgoers around the world to riot and set things on fire

Hat-tip Ark.

Bye-bye

Roger Toussaint, the head of the union that *illegally* shut down New York's transit system just in time for the holidays, has received 10 days of jail time. It's not enough, but at least it's something.

Your Space

My friend Fisch (who, sidenote, posted an interesting moral dilemma yesterday, check it out here) encouraged me to use My Space and now I am a total addict. I check into it 500 times a day....for what, exactly, I'm not sure. It's sort of like instant messenger, except it's public and has pictures, videos and music. Turns out, My Space is a moneymaker, for more than just the owners of the site.

Question

If illegal immigrants do the jobs that Americans won't do, won't making them Americans necessitate importing more illegal immigrants to do the jobs that they will no longer want to do?

Me, me, me

Just in time to change my age from 28 to 29 (that'll actually happen a week from tomorrow), I have updated my About Me page, including a new pic taken by Peter to prove this theory. Of course, the first 15 pictures he took of me were atrocious. I'm not sure what that means.

After all this time, the same-old is the best they can do

Time magazine's political columnist Joe Klein blames consultants, polling and television for why Al Gore and John Kerry lost their respective elections. Very original, Joe.

The genius has spoken

Via Dorian Davis, I learn that one of the most brilliant legal minds of our time has spoken out on the Valerie Plame 'kerfuffle'...Mr. Ben Affleck:

"Bush probably also leaked" Valerie Plame's name and so “if he did, you can be hung for that! That's treason!"

And to think I used to think all he was good for is cavorting with a half-naked Jennifer Lopez in her videos.

Conservative Carnival (by guest blogger Dorian Davis)

Check it out!

Got myself a gun...

...and shot myself in the head to not have to listen to a philosophical Tony Soprano anymore. I mean, I find it hard enough to buy that this gangster goes to a psychiatrist, doesn't beat his misfit son, likes ducks and dinosaurs and now I'm supposed to believe he's interested in science and religion and the coexistence of the two? Sorry, but no.

I finally got around to watching last Sunday's episode. It wasn't terrible, but that's because I now expect so little.

Next time, the goal will be to win!

We didn't win the presidency, nobody feels that more than I do every single day, but you know what, we won 10 million more votes then Bill Clinton won when he won re-election in 1996. We exceeded our goals in every single precinct in America and the lesson is: next time we're just going to set bigger goals. We're going to go out there and get the job done. We're going to turn this country around, win back our future, and win back what we deserve, and we're going to make this country what it can be.

That is so gay

Welcome to this week's "I love Cathy Seipp" post. She's got a great piece on the Independent Women's Forum site on all things gay.

Scary quote of the day

"The good news is Democrats don't have much of a plan. The bad news is they may not need one."

-GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio on the poll numbers for Bush and Congress.

Blogroll Update

NYC:

Azi Paybarah, formerly of the the Politicker and the NY Press, is now blogging for the NY Sun. 51st State went live today.

And I thought those two crazy kids were going to make it

83 days after marrying Kim for a second time, Eminem files for divorce.

Rioting Hasids

I've been meaning to write about the rioting Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn ("following the ticketing and later arrest of an elderly community member who'd been using a hand-held cellphone while driving" bizarro), and how disgusting and unacceptable I found their behavior and how, see, I don't just criticize Muslims for rioting.

Any Hasids that rioted or burned anything have my full disgust, I assure you, and I'm in full agreement with the NY Post editorial about the role of police in this situation.

But, in can't be denied that something strange is going on. Isn't it kind of odd that the person in this photo looks nothing like the people surrounding him? What does this mean, exactly?

Poker is not a crime

It used to be, that I when I found myself on some crazy-ish adventure, be it at a Phish show in another state on a school night (I hate Phish, btw) or in Amsterdam for 5 days by myself, I could shrug my shoulders and say 'well, I'm not going to be 18 forever, may as well do this now.' The shrug gets harder to do when I'm, ahem, 28.

Still, be that as it may, I found my 28-year old self on a whirlwind 3-hour trip to Washington, DC, on a Wednesday, with my good friend and frequent commenter, Pheeleepok, after a late-night game the previous night and an almost-full day of work. Dawn and her Honda had bailed at the last possible second sending me scrambling for not only a companion but also a method of transportation. One rental car and one Pheel later, I was on my way to our nation's capital.

The event I was attending was being hosted by the Poker Players Alliance, a group that "fights for the rights of poker players" and works very hard to keep poker legal. The pros were in town to lobby Congress on a bill currently before the House that would make online poker illegal.

No matter what you think of poker in particular, or gambling in general, I don't see how reasonable people can support this kind of government action. Whether you're a "God says we shouldn't gamble" conservative or a "what about the children?" liberal, the idea of Congress regulating any part of the internet should be offensive to you. It is to me. For the record, I play zero online poker. It's just not for me. I love holding cards, shuffling chips, sitting at the table. But I will fight any Congressman or Senator that tries to promote these kinds of Bills, because, really, I'll be damned if they start messing with my internet. So, if you care about keeping poker legal, or if you just care about keeping Congress's mitts off the internet, join the Poker Players Alliance.

The event was a lot of fun and I got to play at a table with Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and chat with both him and Howard Lederer. Greg "Fossilman" Raymer was, unfortunately, not able to make it. Photographs are here but as I note below "All photos of me should be judged by the fact that I had 3 hours sleep the previous night and had just spent the day working followed by a 4-hour car trip. I'm much cuter than these pics, swear."

Cross-posted at my poker blog 'I Had Outs'.

Update: Julian Sanchez has more on the party, and on the proposed law. He's a lot smarter than me so do go read him for the full picture of what this is all about.

Could I be more excited?

I'm going to DC tonight for something like three hours to do this. And I can't wait.

Update: Rumors of my conversion are greatly exaggerated.

Update: More pictures here. All photos of me should be judged by the fact that I had 3 hours sleep the previous night and had just spent the day working followed by a 4-hour car trip. I'm much cuter than these pics, swear.

Keep scratching

CT. Senator Dodd Reports He Has 'Itch' For 2008 Presidential Bid

Things I think but don't say in the elevator

Seriously, guy? Patchouli? To work?!

Things I learn on "My Space"

On Wednesday of this week at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be: 01:02:03 04/05/06 This will not happen again for a thousand years.

Thanks Bridgka.

Blogroll Update

NYC: Today is Ben Smith's last day at The Politicker. Check him out starting tomorrow at the Daily Politics blog.

Maybe next year

I'm still not on the NY Press 50 most loathsome New Yorkers list. I have at least 2 friends on the list, and my love Vincent Gallo is on it too, so I guess that counts for something.

No really, I'm scared.

This blog is my own personal nightmare.

Update: John Podhoretz feels the same way.

I like Tom Delay more than ever

I love the way Tom Delay is making his exit. He said he is "looking forward to being liberated outside the House, doing whatever I can to unify the conservative cause."

He also sounds serious about helping Republicans: "The challenge has always been in the interest of the constituents' cause and the Republican majority. I'm more interested in growing the Republican majority than my own future."

I hope he means it.

Funny forwards

From Steffany:

How Smart Is Your Right Foot?

1. While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction!!

From Fisch:

Enter your first name for your own personal slogan.

I don't remember what my original one was when Fisch sent it to me this morning, but just now I got: Life's Pretty Straight Without Karol.

Ain't that the truth.

Just a comment

While I love Tartan Week, happening all this week at Grand Central Station, because I love Scotland and all things Scottish, I find it weird to see the Mexicans hired to hand out Tartan Week pamphlets wearing kilts.

Liars!

I've always heard that you can't actually 'catch up' on sleep. I think whoever made that up just wanted a more productive society because I slept for 13 hours last night and I feel phenomenal. After averaging 5 hours of sleep for the past month or so, I crashed out at 7:00pm last night for what was supposed to be a pre-Sopranos nap. I woke up at 8:00am today. It was so good (despite missing Sopranos). So, if you're feeling worn out, go to bed while it's still light out and don't wake up until the next day. I highly recommend it.

What's happening in the Hudson Valley?

John Hall, from the band Orleans (they sang "Still the One" back in 1975) is running for Congress against New York's Sue Kelly. My friend Jeff Cook, a small-government conservative, decided last week not to challenge Kelly in a primary. Look for Jeff to do great things elsewhere. John Hall? Well, if it's politics or music, let's keep him around politics.

Attention America

The most disgusting man in NY politics is running for Congress.