Monthly Archives: August 2010

Why does the star of one of my all time favorite movies have to be such a godawful idiot? He, Sean Penn and Matt Damon are all apparently vying for the same role of village idiot. I don’t think Cusack should be operating a vehicle, honestly. He’s dangerously stupid. It’s sad, really. I mean, he doesn’t even know he’s stupid. He just is. I know there’s been a Twitter war between him and sane people for some time now, which kind of gives a sense of his maturity level. Some of the #JohnCusackFilmProjectPitches (or whatever it’s called) were hilarious.

I hate it when actors become real people! Thank God I don’t know anything about Mads Mikkelsen other than he is an amazing actor. That’s all I need to know.

Mr Obama said: ‘Given the fact that, you know, in none of these situations are you gonna fix things overnight, it’s not surprising that somebody like a Mr Beck is able to stir up a certain portion of the country.”

So what portion of the country are you speaking of, Mr President? The “bitter clingers” with their guns and their religion? Or the “typical white people” who are afraid of a brother in the White House?

There was a lot of Facebook outrage on Saturday, at least in my news feed. “Glenn Beck is an ass!” is generally the tenor of the meltdowns. I wanted to ask, “Do you even know why, or do you think that because Jon Stewart told you Glenn Beck was an ass?” It’s of no use, you know, fighting illogic with reason, so I just linked an article mentioning that one of MLK, Jr.’s relatives was speaking at the gathering. I doubt anyone even read it.

Whatever.

Oh yeah, and the fact that a whole lot of Americans think you’re Muslim has nothing to do with your imaginary birth certificate. That’s a separate–and less credible–conspiracy theory.

The stupid people in this country aren’t the ones who made their way to a Glenn Beck rally this past weekend, the stupid people are the soft, pampered, upper middle class latte sipping socialists wearing their fourth favorite Che Guevara tee, mocking the losers from flyover country who actually think–chuckle–that they can make a difference. Hardline communism has been replaced by the more socially acceptable “social democracy” and “planned economy” models of the faltering European Union, and the cafe crowd (they fancy themselves quite a bit more educated and sophisticated than you) have been indoctrinated from all-day, state-mandated kindergarten. No education except the one the old hippies want your kids to have.

I hate the movie Up. It makes me cry like a baby. The first time I saw it was on the plane to Sydney; I feel terrible for that farm boy from outside Melbourne who was sitting next to me as I bawled in the dark. Mr. HG was passed out from the Tylenol PM and I sobbed through Up and 500 Days of Summer and the stupid Time Traveler’s Wife.

Stupid emotionally manipulative movies! I’d much rather have watched Valhalla Rising on the plane, dammit.

I mention this because Bluebell was quite alarmed to see her mother fighting back tears as they watched Up together this afternoon. She hugged me and said, “It’s gonna be okay, Mama.” Which of course made me cry harder.

On a completely unrelated note: I had the most delicious avocado and feta sandwich this afternoon. Simply lovely.

… but he’s just going to disappear again, like men always do. I just don’t know if I can handle the heartbreak.

In all seriousness, I’m totally looking forward to it.

I hate skinheads. I mean, I really, really, really hate them. They are the flipper babies of society, idiots so worthless that sterilization should be mandatory. Russia apparently has a bit of a skinhead problem, and they’ve been implicated in the death of Novayagazeta‘s reporter, Anastasiya Baburova. While Barburova was investigating certain Neo-Nazi groups, she was also a member of Autonomous Action, an anarchist group. Novayagazeta is one of the last independent newspapers in Russia, and three of its reporters have already been murdered. Coincidence? Perhaps.

I’ve been sidetracked, sorry. I meant to write about Russian skinheads attacking music fans but when I came across Baburova and Markelov’s names, I couldn’t think of anything else. Here’s the story of the alleged murderers arrest and arraignment from last November.

Our journalists have it so easy, and they still bitch and moan. I hope the truth of Baburova’s and Markelov’s murders is uncovered and the murderers brought to justice.

I recently picked up The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indriðrason. I’ve read Swedish and Norwegian crime novels (or, “police procedurals”) but I’ve never read anything from Iceland–other than Sagas of the Icelanders, which is fascinating but not exactly current.

I love it so far. Fascinating history, with an emphasis on the turmoil within Iceland during the Cold War. I had no idea! Just as I knew very little about the Danish Resistance during WWII until I watched Flame & Citron and started researching. Iceland has always fascinated me. Such a tiny place, but so volatile. Scandinavian mythology and literature is so heavily influenced by environment, with the ice giants and whatnot. So different from Greek mythology, although the universal themes are there. And I do so love the Valkyries…

Anyway, I’m enjoying The Draining Lake. Very good.

This is pretty damn intense, regardless of which side you land on. The issue is not black and white, and it’s definitely not easy to discuss. I have to agree with at least one thing Jay Baker says: I love my friends, too.

Why?

The decision at least temporarily scuttles what was supposed to be the signature trial of a major al-Qaeda figure under a reformed system of military commissions. And it comes practically on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the attack, which killed 17 sailors and wounded dozens when a boat packed with explosives ripped a hole in the side of the warship in the port of Aden.

In a filing this week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department said that “no charges are either pending or contemplated with respect to al-Nashiri in the near future.”

I am desperately trying to understand this administration’s view of our enemies, but every conclusion I come to based on their actions scares me. Stubborn naiveté in the face of all this reality is a terrible quality in a leader. It’s going to get a lot of good people killed.

Have you ever read Toby Harnden at The Telegraph? I come across his stuff frequently–and always swear that I will read him regularly, and then promptly forget to bookmark him–and I always enjoy it. He’s an excellent writer.

Anyway, he’s got a great piece about that loser, Julian Assange, and the cultish following he’s garnered amongst the professionally paranoid and largely unhinged crowd. I actually find it incredibly difficult to find the right words for Assange and his tinfoil hat army, on account of the emotion this whole situation stirs in me–with the dead Afghan informers and all–so it’s nice to have a link to give you that isn’t, you know, extremely pissed off. Harnden makes several good points, and does a good job of simply asking the questions that should be asked about this douchebag.

Among the Wikileaks groupies – an online crowd that seems to swell by the day – Assange didn’t even need to attempt to distract. For people who question every aspect of the American government and military, they are surprisingly eager to suspend all critical judgment in this instance.

I’m glad somebody noticed. I wonder what the ratio of Assange’s true believers to XFiles superfans would turn out to be, if scientific polling were to be attempted. Probably the same as true believers to idiots with The Lone Gunman complete series DVD set. I wonder if it confused them when their hero, Stephen Colbert, called out Assange on the “Collateral Murder” hit piece. Their heads must have exploded.

Most seriously, however, the documents contained the names of numerous Afghans who had helped British and American forces. Just in case the Taliban have a problem locating them, they also included grid locations and villages along with the names.

[ . . . ]

In fact, he is a highly political campaigner, and his message that he wants only to protect the vulnerable is undermined by the possibility that ordinary Afghans may already have died because of Wikileaks.

What a hero. Way to pick ‘em, Wikifreaks.

I don’t — I mean, I’m not — I don’t know what to say to this. Uh . . . tough break, guy.

OMG this guy is such a baby. Thousands of Afghani informants will more than likely lose their lives because of Assange’s “courage,” and yet he whines about a rape charge that may or may not have been unsubstantiated.

A Swedish duty prosecutor on Friday night issued an arrest warrant for Assange over an allegation of rape but chief prosecutor Eva Finné abruptly withdrew it on Saturday, saying new information had come to light.

On Wednesday she said there was no reason to believe a crime had been committed in that case, but said she had enough evidence to continue investigating a separate molestation allegation against Assange.

So, he’s still being charged for molestation. Hmm. So he’s a creep, regardless. I notice that this molestation charge is not the one he’s whining about. Classic misdirection. How… him.

Assange had stayed with the woman who made the molestation allegation for a
few days, according to Aftonbladet.

The allegations against the former hacker appeared to be linked to his refusal to leave the woman’s home when she asked him to go, it reported.

Smear campaign? Or just some 39 year old socially-impaired loser who can’t figure out that “no” means no? Too much internet porn, I guess.

I feel like I should get one of these so I can lament the absence of Mark Steyn in true Victorian style. It’s just not fair. I’m so bored! What’s the point of living if there’s no Steyn to read? I swear he does this on purpose so that we remember how much we love him.

Enough already! We collectively cry, “Uncle!”

If you’ve been able to convince yourself that abandoning Afghanistan to the monsters, read this.

Many Afghan girls were not allowed to attend school during the Taliban’s rule from 1996 to 2001. Girls’ schools began reopening after the Islamist regime was toppled. The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, estimates that 2 million Afghan girls attend school these days.

But female educational facilities, students and teachers have come under vicious attack as the insurgency has strengthened and spread from Taliban strongholds in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand.

A report compiled last year by the humanitarian agency CARE documented 670 education-related attacks in 2008, including murder and arson. Much of the violence in what CARE called an “alarming trend” occurred at girls’ schools.

Claiming to support “women’s rights” is not enough. Standing for something is often risky, although the “risk” involved in the free world is hardly comparable to the risk taken every day by these girls and their teachers. Yes, radical Islam is scary. We’re facing a geopolitical bully, but there are some things that transcend fear, (or fear masquerading as political correctness). American soldiers will die as we renew our efforts to push back the Taliban and its fellow travelers, which is regrettable. But children will continue to die at the hands of extremists if we leave. We’re there; let’s finish what we started. Make it safe for girls to go to school and break the cycle of ignorance that has facilitated the Taliban’s stranglehold on the region.

Little girls should not have to face death every day just to learn to read.

No really, I’m as surprised as the next person that Hitler had serious issues. I do find the results of Hitler’s DNA test to be such sweet, sweet justice, as there are still throngs of sick (cusses) who revere the mad bastard. How you feeling about that Master Race now, bitches?

LOL, you worthless wastes of space.

Anyway, I am about 99% certain that Hitler knew about his Jewish roots. Self-hating, murderous freak.

[For the record, I do not envy Hitler's surviving relatives. That would be a terrible life, having a connection to such a evil man.]