Unfortunately, if Paris Hilton started a political blog, I'm sure that it would rocket straight to the top.

My favorite snippet?

Paris eagerly posed for a poster to tout Sean Combs' "Vote or Die" crusade during the recent presidential election, then didn't vote - or, for that matter, even register, according to public records obtained by Lowdown.

Let's revisit her PSA.

Ah, that's the stuff.

"Not so loud, kid, Santa had a late night last night."

This slideshow is just awesome. Much better than horribly acted videos starring the First Terrier.

(Via Wizbang)

UPDATE: Oh my, this Santa looks like the possessed King of Rohan from the Lord of the Rings movie.

UPDATE: Slightly off topic, but now I'm beginning to grasp the enormity of the early trauma that shaped Jeff Goldstein into the man he is today.

Panning a movie review without actually having seen the movie is tricky ground, but I have some skepticism about Philip Kennicott's WaPo take on the newly released screen adaptation of Phantom of the Opera, specifically this line:

It apologizes for the fact that when Rossum's character, the ingenue soprano Christine, gets her first big break, she doesn't actually produce very good music. But there's the ever-loving camera, emphasizing not her singing but the response of others to the music, so we love her through them, and forgive a voice that would be laughed out of a real opera house.

(Emphasis mine)

Two things fuel my doubt:

1. Her voice sounded very good in the brief clip that I saw on an HBO special the other day. The song was delivered hesitantly because that reflected the nature of the specific scene, but seemed pretty competent nevertheless. (To judge for yourself, "Enter Flash site," "Skip" intro, click on "The Music," open "Media Player" and listen to track 2, "Think of Me.")

2. And then there's this:

Born and raised in New York, NY, Emmy Rossum is already an entertainment veteran, having performed with the likes of Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti in the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, and has sung in a Carnegie Hall presentation of "The Damnation of Faust," conducted by James Levine. During her tenure at the Metropolitan Opera, Rossum performed in over twenty different operas in six different languages, and had the pleasure of working under the direction of Franco Zefferelli in "Carmen" and Tim Albery in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream."

"[A] voice that would be laughed out of a real opera house[?]" Even underplayed, on a bad day, obviously not.

Otherwise, Kennicott's hopelessly snobby judgment that "a bad novel that became a bad musical lives on as a gleefully bad movie," misses the point of Andrew Lloyd Weber's interpretation of the original story - it's intended as a visually exciting rock and roll reinvention of the operatic genre. In short, it's just entertainment. While his criticisms of the hyperbolic action and plot holes may hit the mark (as these are aspects of the musical), I suspect that anyone that enjoyed the stage version without being horrified that Andrew Lloyd Weber was "stealing" from "Puccini," might appreciate the film as well.

But that's just my instinctual guess.

UPDATE: Ain't the internet grand? A reader e-mails the following story:

Emmy Rossum was a break-out star/singer in "Songcatcher." At age 16. She sang traditional ballads in that film, mostly a cappella.

The film debuted about 5 years ago at Sundance to an audience of a couple hundred. Being involved in the film, I was lucky enough to be there. After the screening, the filmmakers were up front doing Q&A. Someone in the audience asked if the singing was "real" in the film. The director turned to Emmy - she was maybe 18 then (actually she was way younger - Ed) - and asked if she'd like to answer. From a cold sit, in Utah mountain air, she broke into an (a cappella) of one of the songs. Superb, under any condition. I have rarely witnessed a Hollywood crowd stunned into silence, but she did it.

Anyone who criticizes Emmy Rossum's chops, her voice that is, just doesn't know what they are talking about.

In addition, she's fairly hot, though young.

UPDATE: ninme has some related thoughts. And Robbo the Llama agrees, in his own snobby way. Shocker.

SMASH continues his take on deserter Pablo Paredes and his supporters, along with his ongoing dissection of the West Coast anti-war movement. There are pictures.

Well folks, aside from my initial, strong aversion to her manipulative and wildly successful "scoop" of discovering, celebrating and collaborating with the dubious exploits of Washingtonienne, while patronizingly claiming innocent detachment during their obvious huddle, Cox basically seizes every possible opportunity (and she gets plenty of them) to minimize the importance of the new medium. Which gets old. Speak for yourself. And crucial to my annoyance is the fact that I don't find her wit nearly impressive enough to eclipse the offenses.

You want to make formulaic, raunchy jokes? Great, I sometimes employ similar humor and certainly appreciate the style in healthy doses. You want to publish false exit polls on election day? Not-so-great, but everyone makes mistakes, and the world kept spinning. But you want to take every opportunity to poo-poo the legitimacy of amateur journalists and writers in widely read mainstream publications and forums? Now you're torching up bags of dog-crap and leaving them outside of my front door.

Florida Cracker has also noticed the trend.

And the mainstream media, besides being naturally and slavishly enthralled by a young, photogenic face framing a purty potty mouth, loves the apparently self-deprecating sound bites that also minimize the entire medium. Loves them. A Jonathan Klein-like sample quote from Wonkette:

"For a Revolution you need to leave the house."

This rote attempt at ironic hipster cleverness and smarmy deprecation has been proven false - all you really need is the will, internet access and a good mind. A phone and a digital recorder are helpful.

Which goes to show that Wonkette understands about as much about the impact and potential of blogging and the flattening of hierarchies through technology as I understand about the fascination with her site. Which is why I usually don't bother to comment on the specific appeal of its content.

So there you have it. Some people just rub me the wrong way, I suppose. Wonkette, much like the nannering "highbrow hussy" at the New York Times, Old Navy commercials and cookies with raisins in them, tops my very special list.

UPDATE: Warm sashimi is on that list too, especially when it's delivered.

UPDATE: Or cookies with nuts. Raisins and nuts? I'd rather eat glass.

Thanks, Den Beste.

(Via Instapundit)

This quote annoys me on many levels ...

What did you think of the bloggers' role in the Dan Rather affair?

I think they did a disservice to the debate because they made the debate about the documents and not about the president of the United States. There was another half to that story that had to do with verifiable events of what Bush may have been up to.

... namely the typically clueless questioning publication, the narrow minded, ideologically-driven inaccuracy of the quote itself ... and the distasteful identity of the overhyped interviewee. The merit of Bush's service can be viewed as a completely distinct issue from the use of blatantly false documentation by a major news organization just prior to an election.

Guess who? No peeking.

(Via a ticked off e-mail from Geraghty)

UPDATE: Powerline bothers to rip her line to shreds. Hypothetical, abstractly analogous question for Newsweek: would you interview a stripper for her expertise on brain surgery? The woman's most notable "contributions" consist of snarky jokes about anal sex and pimping the career of a prostitute with cooperative reporter-subject faux-lesbian pics* - what are the odds that she grasps that the maintenance of a fragile public trust is necessary to ensure the healthy function of the fourth estate in a representative democracy?

UPDATE: Malkin has more.

* Ok, ok, so maybe there's a possibility that I asked Bob Schieffer to cooperate in a similar ploy, but he refused, dammit.

UPDATE: "Angers" changed to "annoys" - more accurate.

From Time's Man of the Year press release and the current issue:

“Michael Moore’s got to be the worst for me,” former President George H.W. Bush tells TIME’s Hugh Sidey when asked about the low point of this last term. “I mean, he’s such a slimeball and so atrocious. But I love the fact now that the Democrats are not embracing him as theirs anymore. He might not get invited to sit in Jimmy Carter’s box (at the Democratic Convention) again. I wanted to get up my nerve to ask Jimmy Carter at the Clinton thing (the opening of Bill Clinton’s library), ‘How did it feel being there with that marvelous friend of yours, Michael Moore?’ and I didn’t dare do it.”

Hell yeah, 41; hardcore. What a cool guy the elder Bush is turning out to be, now that we can get to know him sans the candor prohibitions of elected office.

... to Powerline for their appropriate recognition in Time Magazine. They easily deserve such great credit for Rathergate, as it's doubtful that any of us would have quickly taken the steps to carefully scrutinize the suspicious documents without their prescient vetting and convincing presentation of what initially seemed like a run-of-the-mill conspiracy theory from the fever swamps of the internet. The daily excellence of their blog is also a key factor, of course. Fantastic job, guys.

It's also important to note that Free Republic members initiated the Rather scrutiny, LGF's early overlay of a Word document turned the abstract concept of fake documentation into a powerful visual statement that animated the story, and Ratherbiased was hot on my heels with obtention of expert analysis specifically intended to resonate with mainstream media outlets and give the story early legs in the press. These kudos don't even touch the dozens of bloggers that stepped up with important investigative work, the important summary work done by Allahpundit and Instapundit, or the vital, steadfast leadership of Hugh Hewitt and Jim Geraghty during the highs and lows of the investigation. Open-source journalism is a team sport, and all of these bloggers showed great cooperation and initiative.

What a year, eh?

After watching this terrifying monstrosity,* I've undergone a drastic political conversion.

No wonder we're so hated in the Arab world.

I think that I may hate us now too.

* Click on the picture of the dog and ornament to watch the video

(NO THANKS to Florida Cracker, whose judgment has been hopelessly compromised by the inhalation of raw sewage fumes)

M,M,J,B,P,NS,41 y.o. lunatic ISO online sound producer. See ad.

Murder!

Intrigue!

Conspiracy!

Wasted youth!

PURE EVIL!*

* ("Pure Evil" is a funny captioned slideshow, by the way. Via Cranky)

Story:

"I'm no [expletive] clown either. . . . This guy started a jihad."

Parody:

Chase: Fuck Bush.
Hitchens: I see. Would you care to elaborate on that remark, or should I just verbally perform a colostomy on you right now and dispense with the niceties?
Chase: Fucker. Bush, I mean. Fuck him.

The WaPo removes the f-bombs and replaces them with "[expletive]," whereas I give you the unvarnished, cold, hard truth. Well, the "truth" in the form of some guy's completely made-up, wildly improbable parody interview, but you catch my drift.

I'm not merely publishing obscenity; such is the raw reality of comedy.

We're on a Holiday posting schedule here.

UPDATE: Some noteworthy academic expression. I suppose I need to read the whole article for context, as Frank brings up a good point.

Looking for gifts? Please consider my sponsor's wares. If you're looking to scare the kids and neighbors, I recommend the "Give 'Em Zell!" shirt. Otherwise, a simple "W" seems like a staid alternative, though if you live in a dark blue area like me, it'll still scare the crap out of people.

Please consider helping IMAO take down Scrappleface in this latest about.com awards poll. The relevant category is "Best Political Humor Blog."

Need a reason? Pajama-blogging is one thing. Bathroom blogging is another. But public restroom- blogging? Whoa. Frank goes hardcore.

Apparently, I'm the number three search result on google for "Michael Moore" "Jimmy Carter." And guess who I'm ranked behind? You got it - the National Review.

Arrgghhhhhhhh.

In cool news, I seem to be number one for a search of "can fallujah be secured," for my post that links a letter from an optimistic Marine. What a neat miniature example of google and blogs side-stepping the conventional coverage and predetermined narrative of traditional channels like the NYT. Sweet.

UPDATE: But of course. (thanks, jmaster)

Everything you ever wanted to know about NORAD's tradition of tracking Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, but were just too damn lazy to ask:

This is the 50th season that NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa. The tradition began after a Colorado Springs store's advertisement for children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included a misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first "Santa" call on Christmas Eve 1955. Realizing what had happened, Colonel Shoup had his staff check radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Indeed there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa's position. Thus, the tradition was born.

No word on Hannukah Harry. Rumor has it, he was shot down over Long Island by a Nike Ajax tactical nuclear SAM in 1961. What a schlimazel. A shandeh for the kinder. Gets me farklempt just thinking about it.

"We are simple people who chose principles over fear."

It's unfortunate that their principles include murdering children, massacring Iraqi recruits and destroying public works.

And yes, Mr. Mustard, the ANSWER folks love, and I mean love that stuff.

This is called "healthy prioritization."

Does anyone know a way to contact the folks that run/ran Bloghosts?

Because if something like this happened to me, I'd be pretty upset.

And so, Kerry Spot wins.

I know that you're disappointed. Some of you are no doubt suffering from Post-Election Selection Trauma (PEST). And I know that a great number of you have initiated rallies and vigils around the NY and DC offices of the National Review, as well as the houses of Jim Geraghty and Jonah Goldberg. There's talk of lynching.

Well I'm here to tell you that that talk is just crazy talk. Crazy talk.

I appreciate your dedication and willingness to fight (and perhaps, bizarrely, kill) for something that you believe in; a blog that dreams of a brighter America, an America where the little guy can start a web site that triumphs over a blog that's an effective arm of the Military-Industrial Complex. I know, because I still dream of that America too. Now, usually only when I'm asleep.

But an INDC victory was just not meant to be. We fought a good, noble fight, and the taste of defeat is bitter, but at the end of the day - we're all right-leaning, hawkish, American bloggers that are all up in CBS's grill. And as right-leaning, hawkish, American bloggers that give people like Bill Moyers and Mary Mapes night-sweats and stress-related incontinence, we need to move past our internecine bitterness and swelling, dark, bile-choked hatred at our second major awards defeat at the hands of the Goddamn National Review and ... and unite behind Jim Geraghty's principled and spirited leadership of the blogospheric Pajamahadeen. For the good of right-leaning, hawkish, American bloggers that smack Dan Rather around like a fleshy wiffle-ball everywhere.

So raise your chins. Put down your torches, ropes and mitre saws. And join with me in congratulating the Kerry Spot for its award as "Best New Blog" for 2004. Under the Geraghty Administration, INDC will continue to fight for you. And remember: we can always redouble our efforts, come back strong and win "Best New Blog" next year.

Thank you for your support.

On a serious note:

Read More »

I've got jury duty today, so no posting until later. I plan to employ a reliable George Carlin quote during the selection process:

"Oh, I'd be a great juror. I can spot guilty people ... (snaps fingers) just like that! It's all in the distance between their eyes."

I make a small contribution to a brief WaPo primer on blogging. Once again, no link for INDC, though the other sites have links, which is progress for an online MSM feature that references blogs. Otherwise, no complaints, and the piece features some very good advice for brand new bloggers. The correct use of trackbacks and active commenting on other sites, as well as the occasional e-mail release and consistently original content are the best ways to grow your blog. Patience and a thick skin are helpful, I imagine.

UPDATE: Hilarious. Click all the way through to Goldstein's version of the blogging primer. Dirty.

Do yourself a favor and watch this exceptional tribute.

(Via LGF)

Vote Patterico!

You know, NBC anchor Brian Williams probably thinks he's better than some guy that sits around in his jammies and posts up Llama sex pictures on a web site.

And I have to admit, I think he's right.

Since the Llamas, Flea and Recycler are buried in the polls and a tight race is brewing at the top, I'm encouraging y'all to vote for the divine SondraK, because her site is a daily hodgepodge of delightfully crude, hilarious and visually stimulating humor. Vote for Knowledge is Power!

UPDATE: And Patterico! Patterico! Patterico!

UPDATE: In addition, someone sent me a rather disturbing picture of the Llamas which forced me to pull my endorsement. Considering the fact that they're both supposedly "happily married," well ...

(Warning: NSFW)

Read More »

Unfortunately, as the Captain, I'm obligated to go down with the ship.

UPDATE:

Voice in my ear: Why are you flogging the web awards, why aren't you blogging about this, or that? Or even that?! Huh?!!!

Me: Well, because I feel like taking it easy, and I'm going to after I get out the last pictorial and some end-of-year goodies, including INDC's "Year in Pictures," which should be cool. So chill. And vote. And I think I liked it better when you just told me to kill people.

UPDATE: And give Protein Wisdom a boost. While I'm about 3,000 votes behind NRO, he's only about 300 behind Srappleface. Vote!

Ace makes some great points as he tackles the latest cliched MSM swipe at bloggers. I'll let him do the dirty work:

Time and time again, the mainstream media gets things flat-out wrong, or at least very distorted, by deliberately leaving out critical information that would make the audience better informed but which would hurt the "story" -- not the facts, mind you, but the "story" -- by making it more ambiguous, less emphatic, less sexy.
...
As they say, every profession is a conspiracy against the layman. And in this instance, the conspiracy is, as usual, the credentialed professionals protecting themselves by employing a fairly flexible standard as far as their own accuracy and credibility.

But for those outside the profession -- for those not on a major-media outlet's payroll -- the standard seems to be quite a bit more strict, doesn't it? We get most of this stuff right doesn't seem to apply to us.

(Emphasis mine)

While partisanship is a huge font of bias in the mainstream media, I maintain that the desire for simplistic, dramatically tense, ironic and sensationalistic narratives is an even larger problem. And reporters regularly shoehorn selective facts to fit a desired narrative with no consequence except a regular paycheck and perhaps a raise. Even CBS's egregiously biased and malicious airing of a partially fraudelent, incomplete story has thus far gone more than three months without any professional responsibility, and went nearly two weeks without even basic acknowledgement that the documents may have been fakes.

In contrast, blogger mistakes and fact checking take place at lightning speed. If the mainstream media could somehow combine their vast resources with actual enforcement of their cobwebbed professional standards and the pressure for accountability inherent in open source journalism, the end product would be improved exponentially.

And people like me might even be put out of a ... hobby. After all, what would we have to bitch about? Perhaps I could collect stamps, or maybe start snapping up those adorable hummel figurines. Or learn how to bake. Mentor a child. The possibilities are endless.

UPDATE: Say Anything has more:

For every right-leaning blog advocating one point of view there is another blog advocating an opposite perspective. In that respect blogs are self-regulating. When a blogger posts inaccurate information other bloggers and readers can give immediate feedback through linking, commenting and email.

And this sort of peer-regulation has begun to effect the “old media” already which is exactly why CBS is writing this sour-grapes diatribe. Bloggers already take on journalists when they get the facts wrong in their stories or columns. Some journalists have begun to embrace this sort of review and are the better for it. Some are resisting, where it be out of misplaced pride, partisan hackery or even a sentimental feeling for the status quo. Whatever.

Vote babalu now!

Here's a good reason why.

UPDATE: Another reason. And another. He did that for charity. I think.

... for Dick Cheney.

It’s hard to explain the phenomenon, but I’m a little horrified to tell you that in his way Cheney is well, a rock star. Yes. He has that quality. Had I not seen it with my own eyes, felt the heat with my own body, I’d not believe it. Because television is not particularly kind to Cheney. He appears rather craven, hulking, cold. Icily authoritative, and laughably pompous. A know-it-all who’s often wrong. But on that stage, in person, with the hot lights blazing and the jumpy, patriotic country-rock music blaring and the beat-beat thumping, he comes across well, the words that spring to mind are debonair dashing weirdly sexy blechhhhhh!!!

Cheney has sex appeal with women. Men stare at him in envy and awe. And not just women you’d expect, like your mom or grandma. Cheney connects with babes. And makes them blush and flush and cry with joy or something. Oh blechhhh! And yet, it’s true. I drove, I arrived, I saw with my own eyes.

Who knew? I suppose that she did ...

(Via Dean)

UPDATE: Crossroads Arabia has a contextual perspective on the author.

Drudge has a pretty interesting post:

Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Edward Lee Pitts is embedded with the 278th Regimental Combat Team, now in Kuwait preparing to enter Iraq, and is filing articles for his newspaper. Pitts claims in a purported email that he coached soldiers to ask Defense Secretary Rumsfeld questions!

Apparently Mr. Pitts "just had one of" his "best days as a journalist," and it involved influencing the story by coaching participants. To what degree, we don't know. I'm not certain if that qualifies as "journalism;" it may. Without a doubt, it's certainly not "reporting."

UPDATE: Malkin has more:

The reporter sounds like a bit of a creep, but his heart seems to be in the right place and whether or not soldiers were "coached," the e-mail does not take away from the fact that the armor gap is a real problem.

Contrary to the reporter's narcissistic impression, however, both the Pentagon and other media have been dealing with the problem.

UPDATE: A more complete treatment from Editor & Publisher:

“The NY Times reporter asked me to email him the stories I had already done on it, but I said he could search for them himself on the Internet and he better not steal any of my lines. I have been trying to get this story out for weeks, as soon as I found out I would be on an unarmored truck, and my paper published two stories on it. But it felt good to hand it off to the national press. I believe lives are at stake with so many soldiers going across the border riding with scrap metal as protection. It may be to late for the unit I am with, but hopefully not for those who come after.

UPDATE: Awptimus has a great post that deals with the underlying armor issue.

From SMASH:

Pablo,

I hope you don’t mind if I dispense with the military BS and address you informally. After all, you just took off your uniform and refused to go on deployment, so I doubt that military courtesy would make much of an impression on you.

You’ve just made a very critical decision, possibly the most important one of your young life. You decided to abandon a commitment that you made four and a half years ago by refusing to go on a six-month deployment to the Arabian Gulf on the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard. In doing so, you claim that you’re taking a stand against a war you believe to be unjustified. I’m sure that making such a statement makes you feel like a man.

OK then, let’s talk – man to man.

Read the rest.

"Is anybody else reading Maureen Dowd these days (I know, the question should stop there) and thinking, 'Wow, it's like an older Wonkette?'"

Yeah, I'm linking the competition, but good is good.

Vote Blackfive!

Why? Well, just for starters, he finds things like this.

Hitchens scores an eminently sensible goal, via TacJammer:

Hitchens: Michael Moore openly says that he regards the murderers and torturers and beheaders in Iraq as the moral equivalent of America's founding fathers. Vester: Which a number of people in this room take a dim view of.

Hitchens: I should hope.

Vester: Why do you in particular... I mean, you're tough on Michael Moore in your book. Why?

Hitchens: Well, because he's a scumbag.

I repeat, amen.

I'd be curious to see a response from Kevin Drum.

"Jim Geraghty is not any place. Jim Geraghty is not on the move everywhere. The National Review is a snake moving in the desert. They hold no place in the polls. This is an illusion."

The CBS Producer rearranges deck chairs on the Titanic:

As the Memogate investigation appears to be winding down (the report is said to be set for release in days), it appears that Mary Mapes, the controversial producer behind the report that sparked the whole controversy, has been struggling mightily to save her job and her professional reputation.

Earlier in the scandal, before CBS had semi-admitted that its story was wrong, Mapes had been referring reporters to a bogus study by a Utah State University professor which claimed to support the authenticity of the documents CBS said were written by George Bush's former Texas Air National Guard supervisor.

Since CBS appointed a panel headed by the former head of the Associated Press and an ex-U.S. attorney general, Mapes has been acting very much to save her professional skin, writing up a 68-page statement in her own defense and repeatedly lobbying the commission to persuade it of her view that the documents which she obtained from a crackpot Texas Democrat could be true in spirit, if not in fact.

The "fake but accurate" defense is a close relative of the "chewbacca defense." The inherent irony is, it's revelatory for her to put so much effort into a 68-page report that's in her own self-interest, as opposed to putting any effort into fact-checking the original story that was constructed to smear a hated President. The mental contortions required to go to such lengths to deny culpability (including shopping for more fake expert analysis) indicate that she probably hasn't learned many lessons from the scandal. And probably never will.

UPDATE: My prediction? She gets fired from CBS and picks up a job at PBS within 60 days.

This is courage:

Mr Yushchenko had said recently that he would soon reveal proof that his opponents had tried to assassinate him, but a spokeswoman said he had no plans to travel to Vienna.

Mr Yushchenko fell ill on September 6 and was rushed to Rudolfinerhaus four days later with severe abdominal pain and lesions on his face and trunk. His liver, pancreas and intestines were swollen and his digestive tract covered in ulcers, but doctors could not explain the symptoms. Against their advice he went back on the campaign trail after a week, but returned to the clinic two weeks later with back pain.

Again he returned to campaigning, with his face half paralysed and a catheter inserted in his back so that doctors — still baffled — could inject painkillers into his spinal column.

Skipping the pain aspect, something tells me that John Edwards would have quit the race in a similar cosmetic situation. Then again, I can't think of too many people that would have the strength to continue. That's a tough man.

Note: This post is best appreciated if read aloud with an Australian or Queen's English accent. It's a continuation of INDC's popular Moonbat Science Series. Thank you.

Part One

Part Two

And, welcome back! By the end of our previous installment, we'd revisited some common moonbat species, explained some moonbat mythology, had a brush with death and communed with our first beastie! Let's rejoin the swarm!

Chastened by my brief encounter with an overprotective game warden that unnecesarily warned me about feeding the fauna, I wandered down the marble steps of Temple Jebediah in search of a new place to conduct my studies. Lo and behold, in the shadow of the Monument to White Patriarchal Oppression of the Exalted Tribes of Sapphic Womyn (the Washington Monument, to you and me), I finally spotted them and caught my breath; the first Killer Organized Worker Moonbats, or "Killer Orgees."

I couldn't make my study too obvious or directly engage them, lest they sense any anti-collectivist impulse and beat me savagely.

Read More »

It's a very busy day, and part two of the moonbat post is very long. FYI.

Once again, INDC Journal changes lives:

I have to say, what I find particularly interesting about your website is that, not long ago, I myself was a moonbat. My wonderful husband, (a right wing gun nut), has been working on me for the past twenty years to change my political views, but it wasn't until I independently started reading well-reasoned anti-moonbat literature on blogs like yours that I finally started to see the light. Your blog was actually the one that did the turning, which is why I gave a(too small!) donation a while back.

What's really funny is that I used to work for the Soviets on Soviet trawlers as a Russian translator during the height of the Cold War. I saw my friends under threat of being hauled off and being sent to the camps if they said the wrong thing in said of the political commissar. I KNOW the threat of totalitarian governments, whether they be communist, fascist, or islamist. Why did it take so long for me to open my eyes to the blindness of those who think that "making nicie nice" is the only way to deal with those who, because of their hate-filled upbringing, want to kill us?

Incidentally, we have two adopted sons from Kosovo who are Muslim. I have the greatest respect for Muslims. Islamo-fascists, on the other hand....

It's hard working here at a university--a bastion of moonbat-dom--and seeing how the kids are constantly fed a line of inaccurate left wing propaganda. It's even harder because in my classes I try to play fair and not bring up politics (out of place anyway in engineering), but other professors apparently don't play by the same rules.

Anyway, sorry for the long ramble. Thanks again for your wonderful website--please keep doing those wondeful photo-essays. Pictures truly are worth a thousand words!

One moonbat conversion at a time. It's possible.

And to be honest, combating moonbat propaganda was one of my main reasons for starting and continuing this blog. Boy, I love those e-mails.

*** Spot-on Chris Matthews parody.

*** Chirac est un ver qui mange du fromage!

*** Hollywood reaction to Theo Van Gogh's murder. Well, sort of.

*

This is pretty amusing.

Vote Cranky as a Marble! Or Sharp Neocon!

Today!

"If 9/11 had never happened, John Kerry would be president-elect today." -- Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell

Ok Special Ed, whatever. If 9/11 had never happened, John Kerry wouldn't have necessarily won the nomination, as the voters wouldn't have sought out some lame pseudo-standard of strength on national security that relied on Vietnam, Vietnam, and did I mention - Vietnam?

... to Florida Cracker. Donnah runs a great blog. Bookmark or blogroll it.

Apparently, 24 years ago, Dan Rather talked (about) "smack" with Ladies' Home Journal:

Everyone mentioned his groundbreaking performance hanging onto a tree during Hurricane Carla. Not many mentioned the time he had the Houston Police Department shoot him up with heroin.

Rather talked about the incident 24 years ago in an interview in the Ladies' Home Journal, of all places. "As a reporter -- and I don't want to say that that's the only context -- I've tried everything. I can say to you with confidence, I know a fair amount about LSD," he said. "I've never been a social user of any of these things, but my curiosity has carried me into a lot of interesting areas."

Wow. What is the frequency, Kenneth?

Damn. The only thing the DC Metro Cops ever administer to me is pepper spray.

Thanks to reader Toby Marcell, who adds:

"... and do I expect Dan's final sign-off to end with his bolting up from his chair, stripped to the waist, screaming, 'I AM THE LIZARD KING!'?

yes, yes I do."

... to vote for INDC Journal over the National Review's Kerry Spot Blog in Wizbang's Weblog Awards:

Jim Geraghty is a fancy journalist that gets paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to write all day, whereas I get paid next to nada and have a full-time day job. He's so rich, he went to Europe. Europe. That's like Epcot Center for rich people.

Try and pronounce "Geraghty."

Geraghty's picked up the annoying NRO tendency to refer to himself in the third person. He repeatedly stated "Jim Geraghty likes guns. Big ones. Oh yes, Jim Geraghty likes ..." during his last appearance on Cam Edwards' show.

Sources inform me that Geraghty voted for John Kerry in a bid to keep his little dog-and-pony show going for another four years, and sacrificing the national security of our country for a paycheck seems a bit selfish to me. But hey, your call.

Several other sources have confirmed that Jim Gergahty is a practicing pedi-phile - he's been repeatedly spotted sniffing the women's shoe racks at the Pentagon City Mall and prattles incessantly about Star Jones' "arches." In addition, Mary Gergahty is a thespian.

I wonder what NRO readers in Red State America might think if they were aware of these peculiar proclivities? I guess we'll find out.

Jim Geraghty: registered Green.

Jim Geraghty and the Kerry Spot are owned by the National Review. The National Review was founded by William F. Buckley. William F. Buckley used to have lunch with Irving Kristol. Irving Kristol founded the NeoCon cabal of evil Zionists that are trying to take over the world. You do the math, people. (Hint: Kerry Spot's dominance in the polls is a plot by the J-O-O-S)

Dan Rather? A huge fan.

What does "Kerry Spot" mean, anyway? I looked it up: it's like the "G-Spot" ... only on a Frenchman.

And the top reason why you should vote for INDC over the Kerry Spot ...

Because this spanking is getting painful.

Remember, once per day, every day. Like brushing your teeth.

UPDATE: Lies, lies, slanderous lies! (Except the parts about misssspellings and non-reciprocal linkage)

UPDATE: One joke edited for enhanced funniness.

This could be my favorite daily hate e-mail of them all:

Your constant whining has grown annoying, so much so that I can’t read you anymore. Your site used to be informative and interesting, back before you became so pathetically pretentious and self-aggrandizing. “I must consider carefully who I will give the all-important INDC Journal Endorsement.” Reality check: you’re a journalist. You scribble observations abut what the important people are doing, which has apparently led you to the delusional notion that you yourself are somehow important too. And now, to top it all off, you’re actually whining about the fact some people don’t like you??

You’re in no position to complain about anyone’s criticism.

In short, stop being such an obnoxious, preening little self-indulgent pansy, and just do your fucking job.

--Not a fan anymore

1. The reason that I said I had to "consider other endorsements carefully" was because I have multiple friends in other categories, so I didn't want to insult anyone by choosing a favorite. Interesting how fundamentally miserable people choose to interpret things, no?

2. If I "just" did my "job" ... I'd never blog. I'm not a "journalist" in the professional sense of the word - I work in marketing. If it's any consolation, my charming little friend and former reader, this is a common misperception.

This one was so dissonant and nasty that it actually made me laugh after a minute. Thanks for writing! I'm sure that your friends and family feel blessed by your daily presence in their lives.

UPDATE: Man, this guy has a good point.

Note: This post is best appreciated if read aloud with an Australian or Queen's English accent. It's a continuation of INDC's popular Moonbat Science Series. Thank you.

Part One.

On a recent Sunday in the nation's capital, a crisp autumn chill crept into the air and a Presidential election loomed large on the horizon, conditions perfect for seasonal gatherings of moonbats around the green and marblespace of the National Mall. My enduring love for these magical creatures sparked intense excitement and anticipation of an amazing and heretofore unique research safari. For you see, this time, I not only planned on observing the moonbats from a distance, or quietly braving their midst, rather, I set out with the determination to actually engage these gorgeous creatures with direct communication, during one of the annual gatherings of the most dangerous moonbat subspecies in the entire world.

Without further ado then, INDC Journal presents, "Dances with Moonbats ... Moonbat Xtreme!!!"

Read More »

Here are the finalists for the 2004 Weblog Awards run by Wizbang. I'm nominated in "Best New Blog." I have some reservations about the distribution and choice of finalists that have absolutely nothing to do with my own category or placement (which is great), but I actively encourage you to vote Protein Wisdom for "Best Humor Blog," and don't vote Wonk - I mean, She Who Will Not Be Named or Linked or "Screw 'Em" Kos for "Best Blog." (Not like you'd be that obscenely nuts anyway).

I have multiple favored horses in other categories, but they conflict me. I'll have to consider other endorsements carefully (UPDATE: What I mean by this is that I don't want to offend any blogs I like, not that I consider my endorsement somehow important).

Vote early and often, as the rules allow you to vote once per day.

UPDATE: First multiple endorsement:

Best Culture Blog
The Llama Butchers, Ghost of a Flea and the Daily Recycler are all in my list of top 10 most-visited blogs. The Llamas and I have a long, stormy history of passion and betrayal, whereas Flea provides most of my music and patriarchal cheesecake pictures and the Recycler and I are dirty Rovian political collaborators. Please vote for one or all of them (remember, multiple votes, multiple days).

I also endorse Pennywit for "Best Liberal Blog."

"Best Latino, Caribbean, or South American Blog:" babalu blog

"Best Asian Blog:" Simon World

"Best Canadian Blog:" small dead animals

The sentiment expressed on this t-shirt might seem cute or tongue-in-cheek, but it's actually a foreign policy maxim that helped define the latter half of the 20th Century. I heartily endorse it.

Maureen Dowd gives us a glimpse of her upbringing:

As my mom said, discussing her belief that Martha Stewart had been railroaded by jealous men, "If men could figure out how to have babies, they'd get rid of us altogether."

This may explain quite a bit about the tone of her columns. Never fear though, MoDo - us white males still need you for the cleanin' and the nursin' and the sexin.' Oh yes, the sexin.'

Until we complete the robots, that is.

UPDATE: Ok, this woman will be spared replacement in the impending fembot upgrade, because this blog post kicks so much ass:

"I know that women have surpassed men, in many respects, by embracing their femininity and frivolity."

This may be the case for Maureen Dowd, but this is not how most women get ahead. She knows it but isn't going to let the truth get in the way of a good temper tantrum. Plenty of women have gotten ahead, not by embracing their feminity and frivolity, but by using their smarts, by hard work and by being shrewd. Just think of Condoleeza Rice and Carly Fiorina. They don't trade in their feminity, they're just confident in their abilities. Feminists think for a woman to succeed she either has to use her feminine wiles [what they consider a sell-out] or, if I may be crude, by being ball-crushers [the preferred way]. Hillary Clinton comes to mind in the second example.

"The irony of all of this is twofold. One, the people making the decisions about who should fill the anchor chairs are the same elitists with whom Maureen Dowd parties. Two, these decision makers who complain about the evils of capitalism still live by it. The reason news anchors are male is marketplace driven, and the marketplace isn't made of men only. The networks occasionally try to force what the market doesn't want, like female sportscasters in male locker rooms. In the end the market, in the form of ratings, makes the decision for them. If the marketplace wants a female anchor, there will be one. Somewhere out in the Midwest, where they breed anchors, there may be a young woman who will someday sit in Tom Brokaw's chair. Then again, given the ratings at NBC, ABC and CBS, there may not be a chair to fill."

Read the rest.

Sean Gleeson solves the mystery of Murrow's ghost.

(Via Protein Wisdom)

Hilarious:

Hacker1: Dude, Rove totally owns the blogosphere. Most of the popular bloggers write only what Rove tells them.

Frank: Like who?

Hacker1: Well, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, half the people at the Volokh Conspiracy, and Scott Ott of Scrappleface.

Frank: I knew it!

Hacker2: The phrase "Axis of Weasels" was all Rove's idea.

Frank: So he controls the bloggers to combat the left-wing blogs like the DailyKos?

(both hackers laugh)

Hacker1: Dude, Rove personally writes DailyKos.

I knew it!

UPDATE: Wow, Dean called it!

Drudge has a penchant for abortion issues, monster hurricanes and sensational quotes without context, but have you also noticed that he puts up a story like this about every few weeks?

MIAMI -- Miami-Dade County animal control officers and homicide investigators are investigating the death of a woman found dead inside her home, surrounded by dozens of animals.

Police said the woman lived alone and neighbors told them she hadn't been seen for days.

Police found about 30 cats, three dogs, two birds and three dead ducks inside the house.

The relative wealth of gross animal stories results from the fact that they reflect a consistent psychological condition labeled "animal hoarding," which has characteristics of delusion and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder:

According to Gini Barrett, director of the American Humane Association Western Regional Office (Tamaki, 1997), animal hoarders are well-known to animal care professionals. "Collectors exist in almost every community, large or small, rural or urban. They are in a state of denial that prevents them from seeing the filth or understanding their animals are sick, dying or dead. They need help," she said.

More recently, Patronek (1999) surveyed animal shelter operators about their experiences with people who hoard animals. Detailed information was obtained on 54 cases. An animal hoarder was defined as "someone who accumulates a large number of animals; fails to provide minimal standards of nutrition, sanitation and veterinary care; and fails to act on the deteriorating condition of the animals (including disease, starvation and even death) or the environment (severely overcrowded and unsanitary conditions), or the negative impact of the collection on their own health and well-being." These findings support some of Worth and Beck's conclusions. Most cases were female (76%), a large proportion (46%) were 60 years of age or older; most were single, divorced or widowed; and almost half lived alone. The most common animals involved were cats (65%) and dogs (60%). Based on the data collected, Patronek estimated that there are 700 to 2,000 new cases of animal hoarding every year in the United States.

The finding that most people with this problem tend to be older and female (Patronek, 1999) suggests a developmental and gender-role link that may also have to do with feelings of vulnerability. Most of the people interviewed as part of the HARC project were relatively isolated and socially anxious, perhaps causing interactions with animals to be more comfortable than interactions with people. In these cases, animals may come to replace people in the hoarder's social world, which is consistent with the tendency observed among those interviewed to maintain their living spaces more like animal pens than human homes. This may suggest a disturbance in the way human attachments are formed.

The cliche of "the old cat lady" is around because it's a bona fide mental health trend. Interestingly, that article suggests that hoarders don't simply collect the animals because they're situationally lonely; most actually become isolated because of the behavior that causes them to collect the animals and shun people in the first place.

My brother's a cop, and he picked up and committed an old lady with dozens of dying cats and rabbits earlier this year. The smell was so bad that officers got sick by merely opening the door - every surface in the house was covered in feces and urine. I'm not sure why these events make the local news, or why Drudge loves linking them so much, but they're actually a pretty common occurrence.

Ken Jennings finally loses on Jeopardy:

Jennings's skill left 148 challengers in the dust, some so awestruck they asked for autographs, others so annoyed that they bonded over the Internet. In the green room before playing, challengers tried to psych him