This ought to send at least a small shiver throughout the media.
KISMAYO, Somalia, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Islamist gunmen who captured the Somali port of Kismayo have forcibly closed a private broadcaster which they accuse of distorting news about protests against the takeover, journalists said on Friday.
Islamist official Ibrahim Shukri said the station had spread false information.
"We saw them as a danger to security. They have a responsibility and should not report false news," he said.
Here's the "false" news according to eyewitnesses:
Shukri denied reports a boy was killed in a protest and that his [Shukri's] fighters burnt a Somali flag upon arrival on Monday. Both had been widely reported by media, sourcing eyewitnesses.
Shukri responds:
"The flag was not burnt, it was lowered. ... Yesterday they falsely reported we arrested women, tortured and raped them while in our custody. These are serious and false accusations."
The Islamists' spokesman, Abdirahim Ali Mudey, said: "The radio station remains closed until the management apologises and they prove where they got the false information from."
Throw out constitutional rights and human rights; don't need them. Life is just so simple under Islam that it can be summed up in one word: submission.
Source: threatswatch.org
I was perusing the headlines at Drudge when this one caught my eye: Cigarette Smoking Significant Contributor to Gobal Warming. *Sigh* Will Gore ever just go away?!
Speaking as one who considers smoking a detestable habit, it is a legal substance and people are free to use it, just not in my direction, please.
Those liberal stalwarts of privacy and personal freedoms don't blink an eye when they pass legislation that erodes those freedoms, as long as the caveat is "it's for your own good." Well, their aim to snuff out the tabacco industry on a micro level didn't work as well as they hoped when they raised taxes on packs, or banned cigarette ads and banned smoking in bars or restaurants. So now it's time to light up the macro! Instead of being for our own personal good, it's now for "the preservation of civilization."
On a similar note, the NYC Health Department wants to regulate what kind of fats restaurants use in their cooking. No artificial trans fatty acids allowed. Remember, it's for our own good.
7-Eleven has made the decision not to carry fuel from Venezuela.
Convenience store operator 7-Eleven Inc. is dropping Venezuela-backed Citgo as its gasoline supplier at more than 2,100 locations and switching to its own brand of fuel.
Citgo is a Houston-based subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, and the foreign parent became a public-relations issue for 7-Eleven because of comments by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Chavez has called President George W. Bush the devil and an alcoholic. The U.S. government has warned that Chavez is a destabilizing force in Latin America.
7-Eleven spokesman Margaret Chabris said that, "Regardless of politics, we sympathize with many Americans' concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez."
We live in a great country. Chavez need not be looking over his shoulder worrying about fatwah's being issued against him because of his mockery of our President at the U.N. No effigies of Chavez have been burned and there are no riots here in the streets burning Venezuelan flags and asking for his head on a platter.
We just use the pocketbook.
Update: This is getting interesting.Yahoo has a more comprehensive story on this in which Oil Price Information Service gives a different reason for 7-Eleven pulling their contract with Citgo.
"This has nothing to do with Chavez," said Oil Price Information Service director Tom Kloza. "They (7-Eleven) just didn't want to be tied to one supplier."
President Clinton put a hit out on Santa.
Probably because Santa always has that "smirk" on his face.
It's been a week full of political turmoil, with Clinton's head-popping rage at Chris Wallace; Condi rips Bill; Hillary stands by her man; and even President Bush jumps into the fray. That's a lot of semi-colons.
Dennis Prager weighs in on the irony between Pope Pius and Pope Benedict XVI; how the kind pope meets with Muslim leaders to diffuse their hysterical reaction to his comment. Of course there are more articles on how Muslim rage is coercive and manipulative. We're always thankful for a lesson in Islamic Fascism by Victor Davis Hanson.
Just when I start to despair over our country not waking up and taking the war on terrorism seriously, or the media ignoring Muslim threats to take over the world, of the possiblity of voting terrorist sympathizers into office in November, or seeing this young MTV generation slipping away into moral oblivion...Sunday morning came:
"For all day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I had said, "I will speak thus," Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children. When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me--Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end." Psalm 73:14-17.
Not exactly their "end" but being reminded yet again that politics is not the ultimate answer; it's just what is wonderful and frustrating about our republic. I can be simultaneously elated over various Republican victories and annoyed by their stupidity like voting for more spending, or not supporting our president. But then, Sunday morning comes.
When my blood pressure was going up over one story after another of Muslim outrage and the world's co-dependent enabling of their outbursts, I heard the good news Sunday morning that four Muslims had recently converted to Christianity and were going to be baptized in the comming week. One of their fathers happens to be an Ayatollah. We also had a couple come to the front to be prayed for as they were going back into Southeast Asia to share the Gospel to Muslims. Yet another couple was leaving for Lebanon on a missions trip. Our pastor then asked the congregation to commit the Muslim celebration of Ramadan to intercessory prayer -- that those Muslims who are seeking truth during this time will indeed meet the Truth.
Ezekiel 18:23 & 32 says:
"Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord God, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live?..."For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies, " says the Lord God. "Therefore turn and live!"
Balancing a deep faith in God, being a conservative Republican and enjoying political discourse is like navigating the high beam in gymnastics. One slip, one misstep, and you're on the ground. It would be easy to just concentrate on only spiritual matters while ignoring what's going on in the world, or getting involved in politics to the exclusion of spirituality.
As things heat up in the political arena prior to our election, or reach critical mass around the world through Islamic terrorism, it's good and it's comforting to go into the sanctuary of the Lord. There we are reminded that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but spiritual, and we can take an active part by daily intercession.
Psalm 73 ends with this declaration:
"But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works."
There's no other way to say it: I'm entirely swamped in my graduate studies. People had told me that it's nothing like the carefree days of undergraduate work; the days in which working 20 hours a week for one's alma mater and simply going to class the rest of the time was more than sufficient for survival. I believed those people then, but I know they're correct now.
I will say this. I do love the graduate world, however. While my tenure as an undergrad yields no complaints, it was inevitable, every day to come in contact with the dreaded "Man, if I can only get a C in this class" students. These people added to the comedic affect of college, but in no way contributed to the academic element of life. Things are entirely different in my grad program, as only 9 people were accepted into my emphasis to begin with, it's an intimate group of thoughtful, responsible people.
As far as the change in course curriculum, it has been difficult to adjust to the style of graduate seminars and classes. The model has always been a lecture. But it's not so in graduate classes, apparently. Now we're responsible for mastery of course material, and, in fact, will be called upon randomly in class to present the research assigned for the present class. No room for slackers here. Just my kind of environment--keeps me on my toes and no dippy comments to distract my respect for the institution's admission process.
I'm currently working on a number of papers regarding the epic and heated debates between phonics and whole language, the overdiagnosis of learning disabilities and much, much more. These topics are of great interest to me, but I in no way would want to impose them on this lovely readership unless solicited. So, if you're dying to know what your kids, or future kids, might learn (or not learn) in school, let me know. Otherwise, I'll keep the "shop talk" to a minimum.
Enjoy the dawning of the fall season.
The WHO just lifted a ban on DDT.That's good news, but not for the countless millions who died from typhus or malaria over the last 30 years in the Third World.
Overlooked in all the hoopla over the announcement, however, is the terrible toll in human lives (tens of millions dead — mostly pregnant women and children under the age of 5), illness (billions sickened) and poverty (more than $1 trillion dollars in lost GDP in sub-Saharan Africa alone) caused by the tragic, decades-long ban.
Much of this human catastrophe was preventable, so why did it happen? Who is responsible? Should the individuals and activist groups who caused the DDT ban be held accountable in some way?
Rachel Carson kicked-off DDT hysteria with her pseudo-scientific 1962 book, “Silent Spring.” Carson materially misrepresented DDT science in order to advance her anti-pesticide agenda. Today she is hailed as having launched the global environmental movement. A Pennsylvania state office building, Maryland elementary school, Pittsburgh bridge and a Maryland state park are named for her. The Smithsonian Institution commemorates her work against DDT. She was even honored with a 1981 U.S. postage stamp. Next year will be the 100th anniversary of her birth. Many celebrations are being planned.
It’s quite a tribute for someone who was so dead wrong. At the very least, her name should be removed from public property and there should be no government-sponsored honors of Carson.
Ugandan newspaper New Vision had this to say about the ban (Aug. 6, 2006):
Thanks to Carson’s book, after the US ban on DDT there is a global malaria burden of 300-500 cases and 1.5-2.5 million deaths annually, mostly among young children. What is most tragic in our context is that the disease kills an African child every 30 seconds (Roberts, D. R. et al – “DDT, Global Strategies and a Malaria Control Crisis in South America, 1997).
Steve Milloy asks an excellent question: how will the organizations responsible be held liable? This would be the biggest class action suit in history.
Business are often held liable and forced to pay monetary damages for defective products and false statements. Why shouldn’t the National Audubon Society, Environmental Defense, Sierra Club and other anti-DDT activist groups be held liable for the harm caused by their recklessly defective activism?
Here's a research assignment for science majors:Environmentalists and peace activists are intertwined, so how many deaths were a result of the environmentalist DDT ban, versus the number of deaths as a result of war in any given decade from 1972 to the present.
From Yahoo/AP:
The rest of the article, as well as accompanying photos of presidential doodles can be found here. And lest anyone think this reveals nothing about the man in the Oval Office:
"Just as our dreams and little Freudian slips can mean something about us, doodles can be indicative of the person and issues and things that he is dealing with," says Cabinet editor-in-chief Sina Najafi.
Personalities emerge at a glance: John Adams' hard, straight lines and precise geometrical patterns; Theodore Roosevelt's rugged sketch of two dogs staring across a campfire; Dwight Eisenhower's plain, practical illustrations; Ronald Reagan's childlike portraits, including of himself in a cowboy hat.
President Kennedy, known for separating his life into compartments, would enclose words and numbers inside circles and boxes. Events long after his death give one doodle an unintended chill: A small circle with the numbers "9-11" contained within. Just to the lower left on the page, the word "conspiracy" is underlined.
Lest Muslim apologists think this blog is anti-Islamic or Islamophobic, let me reassure you: this blog is about telling the truth, and the truth is, a 70 year-old Catholic nun was murdered in Somalia because Muslim clerics across the globe have called for the death of the pope, and obviously, anyone Catholic.
How many wake-up calls do we need before we stand strong and united against this evil? 3,000 deaths or one Daniel Pearl or one nun at a time, either way, this must stop.
My heartfelt thanks and gratitude are extended to Pope Benedict XVI, who did not issue an apology.
I had to chuckle at the "I'm sorry you were offended..."
Pope Benedict XVI "sincerely regrets" offending Muslims with his reference to an obscure medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman," the Vatican said Saturday.
Benedict "thus sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful and should have been interpreted in a manner that in no way corresponds to his intentions," Bertone said in a statement.
The pontiff's courage is to be admired and respected. I will be praying diligently for him, for his safety and well-being, and that he will not capitulate to the demands of Islam.
Open letter to CAIR:
In all fairness to Pope Benedict XVI and your demands for an apology from him, we would like to see the global Muslim community extend an olive branch of peace and respect to all other religions of the world by apologizing and denouncing all acts of terrorism around the world, and apologizing for Islam's continued violations of the Geneva Convention with regard to kidnapped hostages and prisoners. We would appreciate repentance and apologies for the brutal slaughter of school children in Russia, Sudan and Indonesia by Muslims, as well as an apology from the global Muslim community for enslaving women and children in Africa and parts of the Middle East, for honor killing your daughters and for encouraging your faithful to beat their wives. We're also waiting for apologies regarding Islamic mockery of Judaism and Christianity printed in ME newspapers on a regular basis.
We believe the aforementioned actions would show good faith on your part in a genuine dialogue of religious tolerance and peace.
Thank you and awaiting your reply,
Dee
First thing I clicked on this morning was a picture of Turkish Muslim students burning an effigy of the pope in response to Pope Benedict's quote:
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's ruling Islamic-rooted party joined a wave of criticism of Pope Benedict XVI on Friday, accusing him of trying to revive the spirit of the Crusades with remarks he made about the Muslim faith.
Benedict quoted from a book recounting a conversation between 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and a Persian scholar on the truths of Christianity and Islam.
Is there no end to the tender feelings of Islamic peoples? Are they so immature that even to quote an historical figure is to inflame their sensibilities? I'm tired of this and hopefully the entire world is tired of their over-the-top responses to the slightest criticism. This is nothing more than manipulation by Muslims to silence their critics. Like a spoiled child misbehaving in public, knowing his parents are mortified but without the intestinal fortitude to do anything, continues to scream and thrash about until he gets his way. So the weak parent constantly capitulates, murmmering soft platitudes and promises to their uncontrollable brat hoping to appease, persuade and cajole him into behaving. Guess what? It never works! They just get brattier and more abusive in their behavior.
The Pope's words were "deeply disturbing for Muslims all over the world, and had caused great hurt and anguish," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In Cairo, Egypt, about 100 demonstrators gathered in an anti-Vatican protest outside the al-Azhar mosque, chanting "Oh Crusaders, oh cowards! Down with the pope!"
Anguish? Deep hurt? Puhleeze. When was the last time you saw this type of hysterical reaction when Jews or Christians were ridiculed and mocked, which is a daily occurrance in Islamic newspapers. It's a common occurrance in Hollywood's portrayal of anything Christian. The reason Christians and Jews don't do this is we are taught from an early age that maturity means being in control of your impulses and anger. Rage is never acceptable in polite society. And people who are easily offended have few friends, have problems in the workplace and of course if they're married, have marital problems or are divorced. Rage doesn't work. Why are we tolerating Muslim rage?
Salih Kapusuz, a deputy leader of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party, said Benedict's remarks were either "the result of pitiful ignorance" about Islam and its prophet, or a deliberate distortion.
What he's saying is anything from history that doesn't portray Islam in a positive light is either (a) ignorance, or (b) a deliberate distortion.
More about the pope from the same guy:
"He has a dark mentality that comes from the darkness of the Middle Ages. He is a poor thing that has not benefited from the spirit of reform in the Christian world," Kapusuz was quoted as saying by the state-owned Anatolia news agency. "It looks like an effort to revive the mentality of the Crusades."
Historical data reveals it was the Islamic killing of early Christians and Islamic battles for hegemony that instigated the Crusades. Now Muslims are re-writing history; throw in ad hominem and the manipulation is complete:
"Benedict, the author of such unfortunate and insolent remarks, is going down in history for his words," he said. "He is going down in history in the same category as leaders such as (Adolf) Hitler and (Benito) Mussolini."
This is so typical of the left and of Islam. If someone disagrees with you they are accused of being Nazi's or fascists. The comparison of the pope to those men is ridiculous, but of course, taken seriously by the world's leaders.
Here is the most brilliant statement of all. It completely captures the essence of Islam, the religion of peace, the religion of tolerance:
"Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.
Yet more insane goings on in our universities across the nation.
Cair VP Eric Meek was lecturing on what Islam and Christianity have in common, and one unbelievably arrogant supposition made was that if Jesus were alive today, He would of course, be Muslim.
"If Jesus were here, he'd be a Muslim, and he'd say what I'm saying," he said. The hour lecture was followed by an hour and a half question and answer period, when Meek opened the floor to any attendees with questions.
"In today's world where Islam is a hot button issue, we would like to present Islam to the public in its true form of peace and brotherhood with the common person," he said.
Translation: the true form of peace and brotherhood with the common person means total submission to Islam and shari'a. Hopefully during q&a someone asked him for an explanation as to why we are not seeing any peace and brotherhood coming from Islam.
Richardson junior Ayman Taleb, president of MSA, said the group's main goal is to make students on campus aware of Islam and some of its teachings.
"People would be dazzled at the fact that Muslims revere the same God that Christians and Jews do, and revere all the prophets mentioned in the Bible," he said.
The Bible does say that Lucifer is beautiful. Maybe dazzling.
Tip: lgf
Even historical quotes can cause the Muslims to seethe.
Muslim religious leaders have accused Pope Benedict XVI of quoting anti-Islamic remarks during a speech at a German university this week.
Questioning the concept of holy war, he quoted a 14th-Century Christian emperor who said Muhammad had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things.
A senior Pakistani Islamic scholar, Javed Ahmed Gamdi, said jihad was not about spreading Islam with the sword.
Then what exactly has been taking place in the Middle East, Israel, The Twin Towers, the Madrid bombing, Beslan, Bali and London, to name a few? If jihad is not about spreading Islam with the sword, then why were hostages Steven Centanni and his photographer forced to convert to Islam? Their other choice, I believe, was death.
In all fairness, Islamic scholar Javed Ahmet Gamdi told a partial truth: No, they no longer use swords to behead hostages or kill people. They use dull rusty knives and suicide bombers.
Here's what the Pope had to say:
"In his speech at Regensburg University, the German-born pontiff explored the historical and philosophical differences between Islam and Christianity and the relationship between violence and faith.
Stressing that they were not his own words, he quoted Emperor Manual II Paleologos of Byzantine, the Orthodox Christian empire which had its capital in what is now the Turkish city of Istanbul.
The emperors words were, he said: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
Benedict said "I quote" twice to stress the words were not his and added that violence was "incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul"."
Pope Benedict is a very courageous man to speak the truth when nowadays it may cost you your life by doing so. We will never forget the victims of 9/11, Daniel Pearl, Nick Berg, Theo Van Gogh, and thousands of others who have been savagely incinerated, beheaded or murdered in the name of Islam.
Al Franken is still waiting for his checks, but if rumor is true, he'll be waiting a very long time.
Won't be saying "I told you so", although it's a wicked temptation. A few comments from the uber left-wing former employee, Janeane Garofalo:
Janeane Garofalo, who quit her job as co-host of the network's evening show Majority Report in July, says her paychecks had been arriving on-time, and that her departure had nothing to do with the network's finances. But she didn't have kind words for the "radio suits"—guys like interim CEO Jim Wiggett, network president Gary Krantz, and president of programming Jon Sinton—who have been running the place into the ground.
"They've been making bad decisions since the day I got there," Garofalo says. The network's staff, Garofalo says, is tireless and committed to the cause of progressive radio. "And then you have a handful of business people with no politics whatsoever. I can't fathom the decisions they make."
Note to Janeane: having the right (which would be left) politics would not have saved the station. You need good business sense and integrity. Air America is still under investigation by the DOI for the "loan" taken from the Boys and Girls Club:
And then there's the matter of the $875,000 the network owes to the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club. As has been extensively covered on right-wing blogs, Cohen convinced the nonprofit club—he sat on the board—to OK a massive interest-free loan to keep the network afloat in its early days. When news of the arrangement broke—liberal radio net steals from poor kids!—Air America agreed to repay the loan in full, and the New York City Department of Investigation started looking into the propriety of the transaction.
Can't remember a time when Democrats were ever concerned with propriety. As far as seeing the light, Tom Embrescia has this to say:
As for why Air America can't seem to turn a profit, Embrescia says it may have been a mistake to launch an entire left-wing talk radio network in one shot. "Maybe it should have been one or two programs," he says.
Or just maybe the left has very little to offer the general public.
There is a revolutionary development in behavioral adaptation of the species coming to a theater near you. By that I mean the beyond seditious, tasteless British film showing our President being assassinated.
Big buzz has turned into big bucks for controversial film "Death of a President," as Newmarket inked a deal Monday in Toronto to release in U.S. theaters the pic about the fictional assassination of President Bush.
However, folks are not taking too kindly to British film-makers Range and Finch making a film like that about our President; it's been reported that they have been receiving death threats.
Here's the point. These men and all those like them are proving evolution to be false (and with a last name like Finch, this is even more delicious).
What we are actually observing is the slow and painful process of the oh so enlightened liberals from the movie industry devolving into a mass of chaotic vulgar putrescence.
We honor the brave men and women who gave their lives saving others, as we mourn all the innocent victims of 9/11.
We will never forget.
Since the Americans have turned over control of Abu Graib to the Iraqi's, the terrorists now want the Americans back. Are we surprised? Those evil, murderous, torturers known as the U.S. military were actually humane to these prisoners.
The witness said that even in the thieves' section prisoners were being treated badly. "Someone was shouting 'Please help us, we want the human rights officers, we want the Americans to come back'," he said.
Special diets are no longer a part of the Iraqi-run prison.
Prisoners interviewed in the presence of their jailers said they were frightened for their safety. They complained that chicken and milk had been cut from their rations, leaving them on rice and water. They also complained about the oppressive heat.
Haleem Aleulami, who was released from the jail last week, three weeks after being arrested in Ramadi for carrying a pistol in his car, said the Americans had treated him better when they ran the jail. He claimed that visits from the International Red Cross staff had dried up and accused local human rights workers of being members of Shia groups who turned a blind eye to problems in the jail.
The prisoners knew what would happen when the Iraqi's took over.
And Khalid Alaani, who was also picked up in Ramadi suspected of involvement in Sunni terrorism, said: "We preferred the Americans. We asked to move with them to Baghdad airport because we knew the treatment would be changed because we know what the Iraqis are. When the Americans left everything changed."
The Iraqi's are no-nonsense when it comes to frills such as food and air temperature.
One officer, Capt Ali Abdelzaher, said: "We have a problem with the financing for the food, not like the Americans, and there is a technical problem with the air conditioning."
I'm waiting for massive apologies by Nancy Pelosi, Hillary and Teddy. Of course they would demand the Americans return to Abu Graib and investigate this outrage. But we'll never see that day. We'll also not see our msm covering this. They'd sooner kill themselves than admit our military is not evil. Besides they have no stomach for eating crow.
I know the anti-Bush song should have made me lose respect for John Mayer more than this, but had he really been dating Jessica Simpson, the enjoyment I receive in listening to his music would have been permanently tainted.
So, it's with much relief that I inform all that Entertainment Tonight is reporting that what might have been will not be between Mayer and new divorcee Simpson.
I can now go about the weekend knowing that almost all is right with the world.
The Dems are about to have an aneurism over The Path to 9/11 airing on ABC.
"The Path to 9/11" is a conservative attempt to rewrite the history of September 11th to blame Democrats. The Walt Disney Corporation could have given Americans an honest look at September 11. Instead, the company abandoned its duty to the truth -- and embraced the fiction known as "The Path to 9/11."
Make sure you click on this link and fill out a comment to ABC encouraging them not to censor this film. We're grown-ups, we don't need the Democratic Party filtering movies for us.
And that includes Bill Clinton.
Liberals certainly don't mind censorship if it benefits them:
A furious Bill Clinton is warning ABC that its mini-series "The Path to 9/11" grossly misrepresents his pursuit of Osama bin Laden - and he is demanding the network "pull the drama" if changes aren't made.
ABC spokesman Jonathan Hogan last night defended the miniseries as a "dramatization, not a documentary, drawn from a variety of sources, including the 9/11 commission report, other published materials and personal interviews."
I thought Democrats loved dramatizations and documentaries. Does anyone remember Bush being furious and outraged after Michael Moore's hit piece and demanding theaters "pull it"? I don't.
I can almost guarantee you have no clue what that title means. I'll give you a hint: it's an apology. Something that's yet to happen.
Vexed? Clueless? Another hint.
Okay, that was less of a hint, and more of giving you the answer, but it's not like you were going to guess. It was last year that I got into a fight over The Infallible Mr. Rove, and I still stand by what I said then:
"you know, actually, I don't think "May the Fleischer be with you" is such a bad catch-phrase. I can honestly see Ari as a vulcan, holding up his fingers in a V and saying, "Live long, and prosper. That's the President's official stance, as I've said over and over again. Next question...Jeff?""
Okay, that's completely confusing.
Maybe I should've said something about this being a non-story, as it turned out to be, as evidenced by the complete death of the Plamegate story. And I've moderated, and no longer wish to have Karl's babies. Now, that Joe Biden, ROWR!!!
I think somebody slipped a mickey into my latte.
Any writing instructor will tell you, the title of the story is as important to the success of the story as anything else. A great story can be survived by a horrible title, but a marginal story will lose interest with a bad title. I say all that to say this: I'm terribly disappointed that I didn't think of this first - Portia, in Porsche, Struck by Porsche.
Discuss.
UPDATE: I should add this about the Portia. For the longest, I was pronouncing it as it's written, "Portia." Well, not exactomundo, as I was Spanglishing it, into "por tia" (for my aunt). So, while all you bookworms were pronouncing it like that Shakeys guy said, I was pronouncing it like those people to whom I rarely translate English.
I'm not saying I get a free pass for not pronouncing it correctly, I'm saying I was pronouncing a word one way, and in our multi-cultural society, we can't always say things the right way the first time. In fact, I can't seem to get people to realize there's no part of my name that is even remotely Scottish. It's an OS, not a heritage.
So are the common pratfalls of communication. We say one thing, meaning a completely different thing. I learned Academy Spanish in college, and spend my days trying to figure out what the kids are saying when they think I can't understand them. Which is partially true, but only partially.
ALSO thought I'd point out that I'm off the gas-guzzling SUV kick. Seems like too much waste. Not that I don't want 700 horse-power in my dually, but where am I gonna park the thing?
The beloved Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin has died, killed by a stingray off the coast of Australia.
He is survived by his wife and two children, ages six and three, as well as by millions of little, adoring fans worldwide.
Hat tip: The Pirate
From Her Earth.com:
One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws Against Women in Iran
Iranian women's rights activists are initiating a wide campaign demanding an end to legal discrimination against women in Iranian law. The Campaign, "One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws," which aims to collect one million signatures to demand changes to discriminatory laws against women, is a follow-up effort to the peaceful protest of the same aim, which took place on June 12, 2006 in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran. Preparation activities in support of this campaign commenced in June of 2006 and the campaign will be officially launched on August 27, during a seminar entitled: "The Impact of Laws on Women's Lives."
The collection of a million signatures in support of changes to the law is only one of several aims of this campaign.
The Demands of Campaign are not in Contradiction to Islamic Law: The demand to reform and change discriminatory laws is not in contradiction to Islamic law and is in line with Iran's international commitments. Iran is a signatory to the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights and as such, is required to eliminate all forms of discrimination. Based on these commitments, the government of Iran needs to take specific action in reforming laws that promote discrimination.
On the other hand, these demands are in no way contradictory to the foundations of Islam. In fact, the changes being demanded by this campaign have been a point of contention and debate among Islamic jurists and scholars for some time. Ayatollah Sanei'i and Ayatollah Bojnourdi, to name a few, have for years called for a revision and reform of laws which are discriminatory against women, and have explicitly stated that such reforms are indeed not contradictory to the basic beliefs of Islam. A million signatures supporting changes to discriminatory laws, will demonstrate to decision-makers and the public at large that a large segment of the Iranian population is in support of revising discriminatory laws against women and that these demands are not limited to a small segment of society. This campaign will also demonstrate to law makers that Iranian women are serious in their demands to change current laws.
To sign the online petition demanding the reform of oppressive and discriminatory laws in the Middle East, click here.
To find out more about this campaign, visit this site.
Not that it should come as a surprise to anyone following NCAA football, but USC slaughtered the Arkansas Razorbacks tonight, ending with a final score of 50-14.
Heading into halftime, the Trojans weren't as strong as they could have been, but they more than made up for a slow start in the second half.
The full story is at ESPN.
Fight on, boys.