Category Archives: Blogosphere

Bad pennies, etc.

Posted on December 14, 2006 | Comments Off on Bad pennies, etc.

They do, in fact, always turn up. Eason Jordan, for instance, the disgraced former president of CNN (known to American veterans as the Communist News Network) has a new Internet news site focusing entirely on Iraq. Which is odd (or appropriate, perhaps) considering he was best known for sucking up to Saddam before the 2004 liberation. Until, that is, he asserted at several foreign venues that the American military was purposely targeting journalists for death. Something tells me his new venture will not be far afield of his old employer and may even come to rival al Jiz for mendacity. But we shall see.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Iraq, Scribbles, The War, Troops

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12th Man or 12th Imam? You decide.

Posted on December 13, 2006 | Comments Off on 12th Man or 12th Imam? You decide.

While the mad Iranian president hosts his make-believe conference of the history-challenged discussing whether the Holocaust actually occurred, Roger L. Simon has come up with a brilliant idea: a counter symposium on whether the 12th Imam actually exists, or is this mythic religious figure proof of insanity in his believers–like the president of Iran? We already know he’s mad.

I have just the venue, the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. Because it could be that a tragic misspelling has been at work here all along. In other words: is the 12th Imam a genuine religious figure? Or merely the misunderstood 12th Man of Texas A&M University football?

Will the 12th Imam (12th Man?) make an appearance at the 50 yard line at the upcoming game when Texas A&M surely will beat California? Will the mad president of Iran be in a luxury box? Will he be suited up in maroon to step in to aid the team? Or are his followers just maroons? Watch the game Dec. 28 and find out!

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Posted in Blogosphere, Texas Football, The War

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Those Christmas trees in Seattle

Posted on December 11, 2006 | Comments Off on Those Christmas trees in Seattle

That rabbi who succeeded in getting fifteen Christmas trees banned from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport might be attracting rousing cheers from some Muslims, a secular busybody or two, pushy atheists and the ACLU, but at least one Israeli Jew finds his behavior antithetical to the Hebrew bible.

"I would recommend that the learned rabbi…check [the] Torah, there definitely must be a mention of ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (by Moses, I believe?) or, in simpler words: ‘What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man’ (Hillel). Unless there was a new edition I am not aware of."

Meanwhile, some Christmas trees are reappearing on airline counters at the airport. And the Orthodox rabbi, Elazar Bogomilsky, says he didn’t mean to be a grinch, although he did threaten to sue. He only wanted a Hannuka menorah, in honor of the Festival of Lights which begins Friday, to have equal time with the trees, but airport officials chose to remove the trees, instead.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Israel, Scribbles

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Hannukah, Hanukkah, or Channuka?

Posted on December 10, 2006 | Comments Off on Hannukah, Hanukkah, or Channuka?

When you’re translating to English from a language with a different alphabet (especially one without vowels), nobody can decide how to spell it. But that’s no biggie. Not when the holiday begins only a few days from now (Friday, actually), and there’s the first-ever blog carnival about it to attend. So attend.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Israel, Scribbles

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Will the real Jamil Hussein please show up

Posted on December 10, 2006 | Comments Off on Will the real Jamil Hussein please show up

Afterall, the Associated Press has based no less than 61 articles on this fellow, who they say is an Iraqi police captain. Meanwhile, CENTCOM and the Iraqi government deny that he even exists. AP insists he does, but so far hasn’t persuaded him to go talk to either so they might change their tune. And the MSM’s detractors among the blogosphere are having quite a time mocking AP. So will the real Jamil Hussein (assuming he does exist) please show up and put this controversy to rest. Otherwise, the AP has quite a few corrections to issue. Madison dot com weighs in with a fisking of AP’s latest snippy "assurances," to put it kindly.

Via a host of blogs, including Instapundit, Black Five, and Confederate Yankee 

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Posted in Blogosphere, Iraq, The War

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Oil for the people

Posted on December 9, 2006 | Comments Off on Oil for the people

Mohammed at Iraq the Model reports the government is considering a move often suggested in the blogosphere, but which American officials seemed not to have taken seriously.

"…yesterday al-Sabah brought the news that the parliament is discussing a suggestion to set aside 30% of oil sales income to distribute among the citizens of Iraq. The draft law sets 3 classes of payments according to age and subsequent needs and responsibilities; from one month to 6 years, from 6 to 18 years and the third one 19 years and older. People who migrated from Iraq, those with salaries higher tha[n] 1 million dinars/month and convicted criminals will be excluded from the payment program, the report added. The people here met the news with some delight, hope and some skepticism too although the announcement came through the government’s paper."

If it pans out–and Mohammed also reports that oil exports are up almost 15 percent from last year–the project would make Iraq a world model for fairness in the use of natural resources, as well as a regional one for democracy. It might even inspire a measure of sectarian peace.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Iraq, The War

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Instaflop

Posted on December 5, 2006 | Comments Off on Instaflop

Getting linked by Instapundit is supposed to be the sine qua non of free blogger publicity, producing a fabled Instalanche (Insta plus avalanche) of hundreds if not thousands of new unique visits. So imagine my surprise when my first such link, at about 5:45 a.m. today had, by just a few minutes ago, failed to produce one fifth of one hundred. Yep. Only fifteen, according to Sitemeter. There could be a few more which, for some reason unknown to me, failed to get listed as referrals by Sitemeter. After all, I did collect thirty-eight visits altogether, which is almost four times my normal daily average. But most of them came from people clicking on comments I had left on other blogs in the past few days, or the six three blogs which blogroll me, or referrals from Google searches on various subjects. Fourteen were counted as unknown referrals, a few of them daily constant readers plus some others checking in weekly, or whatever. Not that I am not grateful to be linked by Professor Reynolds (I am, I am), just puzzled at how far off the predicted result has been. Maybe it will improve overnight. I can’t stick around to find out, as must arise early to get Mr. Boy to school. Mom, who usually takes him mornings, is away, traveling on business.

UPDATE  And the overnight total? Wait for it. Two. 

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Posted in Blogosphere, Mr. Boy, Site building

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