Bjorn Lomborg: Good Gay

I didn't know he was gay!! That changes everything. He must be right then.

Both my long-term readers may know that my real professional interest is in environmental policy. Seriously. I'm a wuss greeny at heart. But what is a greeny to do when he also hates government? To paraphrase my illustrious namesake, Dale Gribble, "People don't ruin the environment, governments do."

Dr. Lomborg's book, The Skeptical Environmentalist, sits on that portion of my office shelf within quick reach. What can I say? I'm a fan.

So when I read this post by Diogones over at anti-com I was--how you say in English?--oh yeah, happy.

If Lomborg's book is too thick, Ronald Bailey basically has the same thesis, but is easier reading. Further, Lomborg doesn't argue that global warming isn't real. His major thesis is that the costs of addressing the problem far exceed any benefits. Since global warming will primarily hurt people in developing nations, there are far more important things to address. Oh, you know, like AIDS, malaria, clean water...........

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Jawa Philatelia

Have you collected your MPJ stamps yet??

Lightsaber salute: Sharp as a Marble and Jeff Jarvis

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Rodney Alexander Switches Parties

Rodney Alexander has long been a little pet peeve of mine. During the 2002 campaign he ran a series of television spots that were so obtuse that none of my students could identify to which party he belonged. This ad has become a staple in my introductory American National Governmnet course as a way to show how politicians use symbols that can be interpretted in a variety of ways.

My favorite part of the ad? The fade out shot of Rodney Alexander walking through a field with what is allegedly his family. His 'wife' is clearly 20 years younger than him and his 'children' are toddlers. Throw in some oblique references about 'protecting our children and our senior citizens' and you have an A+ thirty second political ad that tells you absolutely nothing about the candidate.

For once I am inclined to agree with David Anderson that Mr. Alexander is 'self serving'. However, calling a politician self-serving is like calling an In-n-Out Burger Double-Double 'tasty'. It's definitional. Also, I predict Mr. Alexander wins handily and remains in office indefinitely. He switched because his district is increasingly becoming Republican.

Lightsaber salute: Kevin Aylward

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They've Got THE FUNNY

Surfing using bloglines is definitely the way to go. The problem with using it is that you get to read so much stuff in so little time. Nay, TOO MUCH stuff. Hence, how to share with your good readers the most important news of the day? And by important, I mean funny.

Warning: Do not drink milk while reading.

-Bill left out the ever important jawa slur. Look it up and then you'll see why my blog ought to offend you.
-Speaking of racial slurs.
-Iowahawk, finally, takes off the gloves and makes Kerry's Vietnam record his bitch.
-Gordon becomes William F. Buckley's bitch in his exclusive interview with the erudite and double-lizzle conservative.
-Ted Rall, makes John Kerry his bitch. (can't remember where I picked up link)
-Ace has some advice for PP, bi-yatches!

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Suspect Arrested Taping Landmarks

Highly political move. I question the timing.

Might I also suggest to Dean Esmay this: Yes, the government of Pakistan is a close ally. No, the people of Pakistan are not our allies. And unfortunately government offices in Pakistan are filled with Pakistanis.

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When Women Were Women

Decadent capitalist Dean Esmay has been having quite a bit of fun over a report by the Instapundit on the merits of porn.

After careful examination of the pics Dean linked to I can definitely say that none of them can even compare to the beauty of Fay Wray. Alas, the world will be a lesser place in her absence. Via Jeff Quinton, I learned of her demise. Unlike Dean's, my tribute is safe for work. *sigh* I long for the days when women were women and apes were a thinly veiled metaphor for the lustful nature of men.

Fay Wray 1907-2004. RIP. more...

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Jews Attacked at Auschwitz

Via the Omniscient Allah this JPOST story:

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

Evidently incited by the presence of an Israeli flag wrapped around the shoulders of Tamar Schuri, an Israeli student from Ben Gurion University, the first assailant ran at the group while its members were being guided through a model gas chamber and crematoria and began swearing and hurling anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli insults.

"He told us to go back to Israel and said that we were stupid and should be ashamed to walk around with an Israeli flag," testifies Maya Ober, a 21-year-old Polish student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan and member of the Polish Union of Jewish Students (PUSZ), which organized the 16-day summer learning program along with the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS).

After the initial altercation, a second assailant
grabbed Ober by the arm. "One of the guys held me by the arm and wouldn't let go," says Ober, who lost several members of her family at Auschwitz. "I was afraid. I couldn't move and I didn't know what he was going to do.

"I was shocked. Although I have met anti-Semitism many times, I never expected to meet it at Auschwitz, where so many of my relatives were killed," she says she spoke to the assailants in French and that in addition to being "brutish and vulgar," their sentiments "made absolutely no sense."

Weinbaum, who has been to Poland more than 30 times on educational tours, says he never before saw anything like what happened, happen. "It was simply shocking," he says. "In some way, I felt that these men were satisfied to visit Auschwitz. This was another reminder that in Western Europe there is sympathy for dead Jews; it's just the live ones that they cannot tolerate."

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Kerry's Main Swiftboat Defender Served With Him Less Than a Week!

Captain Ed has been following this one pretty closely and pretty much demolishes Kerry's rejoinders to the Swifties. NZ Bear thinks the Swiftie campaign would be the undoing of the Kerry candidacy--this was BEFORE NZ Bear knew about this. Novak knocks one out of the park:

O'Neill told me that these former sailors served with Kerry no more than five weeks. Jim Rassmann, now part of the Kerry presidential campaign, was a Special Forces lieutenant spending a few days with Kerry when he fell or was knocked off the swift boat while under fire and was fished out of the Mekong River by the future candidate.

Wait a second, let me get this straight, the main defender of Kerry's 'band of brothers', the man who viciously attacks the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth for not serving on John Kerry's boat, only served with him for a couple of days!!!!!!!! Are you kidding me? All the reports I had ever seen about this man was that John Kerry had saved his life--not that they only served together a couple of days.

This is a totally devestating revelation to me and completely undermines the Kerry camp's assertions.

Shamelessly linked at the Beltway Traffic Jam.

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Another Bulgarian Beheading Video

For original story, images, and links to video on this Bulgarian who was beheaded please scroll past updates section.

UPDATE 10/08: Kenneth Bigley executed in Iraq by Zarqawi terrorist organization. The story is developing, but sources in Fallujah claim Bigley beheaded. For the latest information, links to video, and images on the Kenneth Bigley murder please go to the MAIN PAGE or by CLICKING HERE for the 10/08 report.

For the latest information, links to video, and images on hostages in Iraq please check the main page by CLICKING HERE.

Here is a list of all the victims of Islamic Beheadings since late July this year.

10/08 Kenneth Bigley Executed in Iraq Images and Video Here.
10/02 Iraqi Victim Barie Nafie Dawoud Ibrahim Beheading Video and Images Here
9/22 American Hostage Jack Hensley Beheading Video and Images Here
9/20 American Hostage Eugene Armstrong Beheaded on Video Here
9/13 Turkish Hostage Beheaded on Video Here
9/08 Three Muslim 'Informants' Beheaded by the Religion of Irony
8/31 12 Nepalese Hostages Killed, 1 Beheaded Here
8/26 Italian Hostage Enzo Baldoni Murdered Here
8/25 Alleged CIA Agent Beheaded in Video Here
8/13 Another Alleged CIA Agent Beheaded on Video Here
8/11 CIA Agent Executed: Another Beheading Video
8/09 Another Bulgarian Beheading Video
8/02 Turkish Hostage Murdered
7/28 Bulgarian Beheading Video
7/27 Kashmir Rebels Bomb Hospital, Behead Three
7/27 Paul Johnson Beheading Video and Images Here
-----------------
Begin original post:

AP:

CAIRO, Egypt - Four masked, black-clad men who said they belong to a group that has claimed responsibility for kidnappings and killings in Iraq (news - web sites) beheaded a man identified only as a Bulgarian in a video posted on the Internet Monday....The militants in the video said they were from the Tawhid and Jihad group, which had claimed to have kidnapped two Bulgarian truck drivers June 29 and demanded Iraqi detainees be released in exchange for their lives.

The beheaded body of one of the drivers, Georgi Lazov, was found in the Tigris River in Iraq in mid-July and a tape was released showing his death. An announcement late last month of the discovery of a second decapitated body in an orange jumpsuit and a head in a bag near the Tigris River had prompted fears that Ivaylo Kepov too had been killed, but there was no video of his slaying.

Updates as they happen.

I previously posted about this here.

UPDATE I: The problem with blogging is you often write something before thinking too hard. This is NEW video. What I had before was not VIDEO, only still images from the video. Zarquawi's group had posted a message saying they would release the video in the future, along with some vidcaps they posted the day of the announcement. This is the video they announced.

UPDATE II: In the Bullpen has graciously offered to host the video in .zip format.

UPDATE III: Just to reiterate--this is new VIDEO, not a new beheading. The video shows either Georgi Lazov or Ivaylo Kepov who were both murdered sometime around July 13 or 14. See this post for a list of the 14 hostages murdered since 9/11.

UPDATE IV: Wizbang also has the video--but server is slow.

UPDATE V: Chris Short has also graciously offered to host the video (very fast), and has a good blog roundup. The version I sent him is the Real Video Version, and therefore does not need to be unzipped when downloaded. Scroll to bottom of post to get video.

Others on the trail: Jeff Quinton, James Joyner, In the Bullpen, Command Post, On the Third Hand, Wizbang

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Kerry's 'Secret Plan' Revealed...sort of

John Kerry laid out his heretofore 'Secret Plan for Bringing Home the Troops' in an op-ed in USA Today. James Joyner does a first-rate job of deconstructing the plan, as does McQ. My thoughts run along similar lines, but I wanted to add a few sentiments:

• Lead NATO to make the security of Iraq one of its global missions and to deploy a significant portion of the force needed to secure and win the peace there. NATO participation will open the door to greater international involvement from non-NATO countries.

I love this one. File this under the Personality Theory of International Relations. Kerry is an absolute idiot. He believes the reason NATO isn't more involved is because George W. Bush (or his administration) doesn't have the leadership capacity to get NATO on board. McQ, rightly, notes that most NATO countries are already on board and James sarcastically asks if this is the same NATO with Germany and France in it? Also, is this the same NATO that is fudging out of it's commitments in Afghanistan--a war that NATO supported (link via Right on Red):

[there is] confusion and delay [over] Nato's provision of extra troops it promised to bolster security for the landmark presidential elections due on 9 October.... there has still been no announcement of when they [the fresh NATO troops] are coming. Meanwhile, the security situation has deteriorated, with mounting attacks on election workers registering voters.

What Kerry is really saying is that Germany and France would cooperate, if only a different President was in office. This theory of international relations completely overlooks the notion of national interest---that nations act in certain ways because it is in their interest to do so. So why would a Kerry administration somehow change the national interests of France and Germany? This is a naive theory of how the world works...and dangerous!!

• Internationalize the reconstruction efforts in Iraq to end the continuing perception of a U.S. occupation and help coordinate the rebuilding.

Since we have already done this, and continue to do so, this is a non-sequitor. This is the I will do what Bush is doing, but since I'm not Bush I will do it better theory of public administration. John Kerry must believe he has super-human powers. It's like saying a new coach could bring more wins over the last one, however the new coach will use the same playbook. Again, file this under a theory in which personality is the driving force behind public policy. Same policy + different administration = success. Again, naive and dangerous.

• Launch a massive and accelerated training effort to build Iraqi security forces that can provide real security for the Iraqi people, including a major role for NATO. This is not a task for America alone; we must join as a partner with other nations.

Again, somehow NATO would get more involved if only there was a different administration. Utterly stupid. Also, if Kerry wants more training to be given to the new Iraqi forces, why the hell isn't he in the Senate authoring a Bill that would fund this project of his--if it is something different than what the administration is already doing? Oops, I forgot, Kerry is too busy to try to get his 'new' not-really-a-plan-plan going in the Senate. How many Bills has Kerry voted on this year, anyway?

• Plan for Iraq's future by working with our allies to forgive Iraq's multibillion-dollar debt and involve our allies in the development of a new Iraqi constitution and the political arrangements needed to protect minority rights. At the same time, we should convene a regional conference with Iraq's neighbors to secure a pledge of respect for Iraq's borders and non-interference in Iraq's national affairs.

Err....again, what is new about this? Kerry's plan is to impose his will on the Saudis or the Kuwaitis, both of which have said they will not forgive Iraq's debt. How about France? Does he know something about France that I don't? Somehow France will be forgive Iraq's debt--the same France that loaned Iraq money, even during the embargo, so that Iraq could buy French goods prohibited them under US law!!!!!!!!!!!!

People, Kerry is more dangerous than I thought. His is a classic example of an ego run amuck. He believes that his personality can somehow change the course of history and the interest of nations. This is not a 'realistic plan' as he claims. It is sheer fantasy.

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Who Outted Khan?

Jay Tea blames the NY Times. Atrios blames......can you guess? Look for the answer below. more...

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Planned Parenthood Superhero: 'Choice Chick'

I have a feeling she won't make the cut down at the Hall of Super-Best Friends. This is too funny to even comment on. However, notice that she wears glasses while in her superhero uniform--the exact opposite of those symbols of patriarchal oppression Superman and Spiderman, who wear glasses to conceal their true identities.

PS: Just when we thought PP couldn't get any sillier.....

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Don Henley Must Die

Mojo Nixon was right. Inspired by Gleeful Extremist and Dr. Chaos.

On second thought, the lyrics don't need any changes whatsoever. Read them in the extended entry. Also, instead of buying Don Henley's newest crap, why not go down to your local store and buy an old Mojo Nixon album? And if they don't have Mojo Nixon...well, then their store could use some fixin!!!! more...

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John Kerry Named First Metrosexual President

As long as I'm thinking about Senator Kerry, his colleague Senator Pundit found an interesting article in the Toronto Sun.

Two questions: 1) Aren't Canadians gay by definition, and hence people who read Canadian papers metrosexuals themselves? 2) Why stop at metrosexual, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Kerry is all the way gay. I yield the floor.

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Orwell Alert: John Kerry

Methinks Texas Native is on to something here.

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Fear and Loathing in Iraq

This blog rocks:

Right now Lt Armeni is in critical condition in Germany. He was wounded on that attack on 05 AUG 04. I received a e-mail from his father thanking me for this site which allowed him a little more insight to the event that critically wounded his son on that day, and to continue praying for him. I am asking everybody to please include Lt Armeni and his family in their prayers. It would mean a lot. To me, and everybody else here. I know of at least five guys here who are alive today because of his actions on that day.

Indeed, let's pray for Lt. Armeni.

PS-unlike that Johnny Depp film with a similar name about that nutjob Hunter Thompson, this blog is not gay.

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Right Wing Blogger Arlert

As long as I'm on Atrios and Kos I might as well throw Willis in there.

Just remember, it's not about the facts. It's about the timing, man. The timing.

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Right-Wing Media Alert!

According to Atrios, that is:

There's something we used to hear a lot -- that incumbents with under 50% approval ratings are in deep deep trouble. We haven't heard it much since Bush dropped below 50.

In national polls, Kerry is almost always ahead. In electoral vote analysis, Kerry has consistently been ahead.

In another year, the press would be (rather unfairly) writing Bush's epitaph and painting him as an inevitable loser. I'm not suggesting that's the appropriate way to cover this (or any) campaign, but they do seem to be doing a pretty good job of not mentioning the obvious -- right now, Kerry's ahead, and that isn't good news for that other guy.

Kerry is ahead???? I hadn't heard that one before!! Thanks for your amazing insight.

Moron.

Is he watching the same 'media' I am watching? Because if he is, then perhaps he can explain how just about every story covering the campaign brings up the fact that Kerry is ahead?

Oh, more on that right wing media from Captain Ed.

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Kos--Insane, Stupid, or Traitor?

When you equivicate between beating prisoners, which is routinely practiced in just about every country in the world--even in places which aren't 'brutal dictatorships'--then you are either insane, stupid, or a traitor (traitor here defined as giving comfort to the enemy). Kos may be all three:

The new Iraq looks just like the old one....

We replaced one brutal dictatorial regime with another brutal dictatorial regime.

Yup. Just like it.

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Marine in Al Jazeera Documentary

I may not have mentioned it in awhile, but why haven't we bombed al Jazeera? This is not a joke. We should completely oblitirate that organization. This is war. In war, propaganda outlets are legitimate targets.

Needless to say, I support the Interim Government's decision to close it down. But why for only a month?

Via Joe Gandalman (Dean Esmay is probably in the gulag, too) this link to a Boston.com article:

WASHINGTON -- For most of the central figures in the Arab-produced documentary film "Control Room," the grisly images that emerged from the US invasion of Iraq last year were no cause for a change of opinion

Jehane Noujaim, the producer, gives an inside look at the war through the eyes and lenses of Al Jazeera's journalists, based at US Central Command headquarters in Doha, Qatar. And over the length of her film, the chasm only widens between US military officials who speak about the "liberation" of Iraq and the Al Jazeera reporters skeptical of the invasion.

The exception is a Marine lieutenant named Josh Rushing.

Rushing, who was a Central Command spokesman assigned to escort the documentary makers during their time in Qatar, is among the film's most sympathetic characters. He is portrayed as a thoughtful young man moved over time by the grim reality of war.

At no point is he shown doubting the justness of the US effort in Iraq, yet the film documents a friendship between Rushing and an Al Jazeera reporter, Hassan Ibrahim. There are also moments on camera when Rushing is wrestling with the film's central themes: war, bias and the Arab world's strongest media outlet.

The article is a two-part series. I highly recommend it. Apparently, some of the brass were a little peeved at a Marine in an al Jazeera produced film and Rushing is thinking about not re-upping. Of course, most Marines don't re-up for a variety of reasons. I don't blame the brass for being peeved or Rushing for wanting to get out.

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