Will Smith Speaks

If you ever needed an excuse to miss the movie "I am Legend" starring Will Smith, Smith himself might provide you with adequate reason.

Actors are people naturally gifted with panache and self-esteem (sometimes unnecessarily.) Rich actors are able to add to that arsenal a platform in which to use the first two gifts. Unfortunately, actors are no more gifted than the salesman, the farmer, the engineer, the housewife, the auto worker, the doctor, the retiree, the architect, the teacher, the clerk, the butcher, the baker or the friggen candlestick maker when it comes to things such as intelligence, analytical ability, or common sense. Actors simply have the gall to say whatever flies into one ear and a tall soapbox from which to project that minuscule thought onto the rest of us.

So, when Will Smith tells you that Hitler was basically a good person, you can be quite certain that Mr. Smith, though a good actor, heaped in self esteem, loaded with flair and blessed with riches, is little more than an arrogant and distressingly loud idiot.

h/t to LX in the Right Michigan comments

A Christmas Wish from Omar Bakri

Omar Bakri has every reason to hate the west. After being booted from Saudi Arabia many years ago, he set up shop in London where he and his large family lived with their noses in the public trough for some 19 years. So, of course, hating the West and all things Western is more than understandable.

Now Bakri, as reported in The Daily Mail, has a few items on his Christmas wish list:

1. A mass boycott of Christmas
   
2. Make Christmas forbidden
   
3. A terrorist attack on Britain in Observance of Christmas

'Tis the season in the Religion of Peace.

h/t Dhimmi Watch

A Wonderful Story For the Christmas Season

Via PowerLine, please read this AP story about a young soldier in Iraq:

MAUSTON, Wis. - Capt. Scott Southworth knew he'd face violence, political strife and blistering heat when he was deployed to one of Baghdad's most dangerous areas. But he didn't expect Ala'a Eddeen.

Ala'a was 9 years old, strong of will but weak of body — he suffered from cerebral palsy and weighed just 55 pounds. He lived among about 20 kids with physical or mental disabilities at the Mother Teresa orphanage, under the care of nuns who preserved this small oasis in a dangerous place.

"Allah" Is a Muslim Only God

Several months ago, Tiny Muskens, the retiring Roman Catholic Bishop of the Netherlands, decided it would be best to dispense with all the different names for God and embrace the name Allah.

"Allah is a very beautiful word for God. Shouldn't we all say that from now on we will name God Allah? ... What does God care what we call him? It is our problem."

Well, apparently it is more than just our problem as the Malaysian government has decided that Allah is only the name of the Muslim God.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A Catholic weekly newspaper in Malaysia has been told to drop the use of the word "Allah" in its Malay language section if it wants to renew its publishing permit, a senior government official said Friday.

The Herald, the organ of Malaysia's Catholic Church, has translated the word God as "Allah" but it is erroneous because Allah refers to the Muslim God, said Che Din Yusoff, a senior official at the Internal Security Ministry's publications control unit.

"Christians cannot use the word Allah. It is only applicable to Muslims. Allah is only for the Muslim god. This is a design to confuse the Muslim people," Che Din told The Associated Press.

It is pretty sad Bishop Muskens, when you cannot even appease properly. Why don't you just start praying toward Mecca and get it over with?

h/t Dan at Protein Wisdom

The Episcopal Church

Two interesting posts by Christopher Johnson at the Midwestern Conservative Journal. The first, Stepping In It, refers to the Archbishop of Canterbury's feeling that much of the Christmas story is little more than a "legend." Johnson is quite familiar with Rowan Williams, the Archbishop, and he is not at all surprised.

One could argue that chipping away at this or that aspect of the story undermines the reliability of the Gospel accounts. And if one is permitted to "reinterpret" minor aspects of the story, major ones may soon come under suspicion. Including the most important part of all.

Once again, all this is standard-issue leftist western Anglican thinking and is the reason that people are beating down the doors of Church of England, Anglican Church of Canada and Episcopal churches these days[/sarcasm]. Dr. Williams may have been his usual clumsy, tone-deaf self but I don't see anything here that warrants such a firestorm.

The second article is titled Ichabod and it discusses the Rev. Anne Fowler's personal testimony on why abortion was just peachy for her and why it might be just as peachy for everyone else. As Johnson writes:

The Rev. Anne Fowler demonstrates once again that the Episcopal "Church" is no longer Christian in any meaningful sense[...]

Indeed.

Feel the Peace of Islam in Pakistan

That Religion of Peace is at it again, this time in Pakistan where the death toll could reach as high as 50, where a suicide bomber attacked a place of worship.

At least 38 people have been killed in a suicide attack on a mosque in north-western Pakistan, police say.

The explosion tore through the mosque, near the city of Peshawar, as about 1,000 people offered prayers for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

Among the worshippers was Aftab Sherpao, interior minister in the outgoing government. He survived the attack but said his son was injured.

The violence comes as Pakistan prepares for a general election next month.

More from the BBC.

Meanwhile in Germany, scores of thousands nod their head in agreement.

Fight Global Warming: Hug a Nerd

It is only the latest battle front on the war against global warming.

Women must stop admiring men who drive sports cars if they want to join the fight against global warming, the Government's chief scientist has urged.

Might I suggest a '95 Buick with little rust and a kick-ass stereo? The seats don't recline all that well, but I have removed all the crap from the back seat, you know, just in case.

h/t Protein Wisdom

Do not Judge! (UNICEF photo of the year)

Just because this hairy old pedophile is over 40 and his bride-to-be is only 11 is not a reason for you western infidels to pass judgment.

After all, the Profit himself took a bride at age 6 and patiently waited to consummate the marriage until she had reached a ripe old nine.

More commentary at dhimmi watch.

All cultures and religions are equal! Nothing to see here. Move along.

Universal Health Care Coverage in Michigan

One really has to wonder what it is about governments in general and the State of Michigan in particular that makes bureaucrats believe that our benevolent leaders in Lansing have the ability to do much of anything other than collect a pay check.

Our state is awash in red ink and is falling farther and farther behind states such as Indiana, Texas, North Carolina and even, gasp, Alabama in its quest for job creation. Our public schools are far from the top, our roads and bridges brittle, and our prisons overcrowded and poorly staffed. Unemployment? Well, it is high. Our tax base? Shrinking. The only measurable statistic by which Michigan is at the top or near the top is in out-of-state bound rental moving trucks.

So, what could an elected offical, buoyed by our state's stunning success in all other areas of governance, be expected to do other than to try and get the state to assume even more responsibility over our lives? Well, today's hero for the masses is Lt. Gov. John Cherry who, among others, is planning on launching a petition to put on Michigan's ballot a proposal to provide universal state wide health care coverage. Now, who could ever envision anything going wrong with that?

From today's Detroit Free Press:

A campaign that claims support from key Michigan labor and religious groups, the AARP and Lt. Gov. John Cherry who plans to launch a petition drive next month to ask Michigan voters to approve statewide, universal health care.

The coalition would amend the state constitution to require the Legislature to enact "affordable and comprehensive health care coverage" in the same way the constitution mandates state support of free public education.

Health Care for Michigan, headed by former state Rep. John Freeman, an Oakland County Democrat, is to appear today before a state elections panel to ask for approval of its petition forms. But the campaign is already well under way, spokesman Gary Benjamin said Tuesday. The group's polling shows broad popular support for the idea, he said.

The amendment would "create a duty to provide health care coverage for everyone," Benjamin said. "But it's not a plan; it's a constitutional amendment."

This ought to make Michigan more competitive in the job's marketplace--a burdensome tax placed on the backs of employers who only have to move across the state boundary to avoid the red tape and financial burden. All this while being able to relocate their staff (and in case no one noticed, their taxpaying staff) to a locale where vastly superior private health care providers are in charge of the medical field.

Let me get this straight--after all the difficulties this state has experienced over the past few years, the best thing these socialists have to offer Michigan job creators is an added incentive to pull up roots and move elsewhere? Wow, that is a real accomplishment. Maybe we aren't being blown away but we are certainly being swept away.

Alas, this looks like a program that could see massive support among Democrats. What's not to like? We can always worry about paying the bill later.

Another Spears

From the shocking biological sciences department:

Jamie Lynn Spears, the 16-year-old "Zoey 101" star and sister of Britney, told OK! magazine that she's pregnant and that the father is her boyfriend, Casey Aldridge.

"It was a shock for both of us, so unexpected," she said. "I was in complete and total shock and so was he."

Let me guess...you flunked all your science classes, applied biology, child development and the most basic sex education course.

How unexpected could pregnancy be after unprotected sex, unless you are a blazingly illiterate dipstick? Don't answer that, you have a budding career to worry about.

And this child has what chance?

A DVD Sing-Along for Muslim Children in the UK

That wonderful Religion of Peace is actively recruiting the next generation of suicide bombers through a sing along DVD. The DVD, on sale in the UK, uses song and cartoon characters to promote murder.

A children's sing-along DVD for would-be suicide bombers is being investigated by police after being found on sale in one of Britain's terrorist hotbeds.

The disturbing disc of music videos - part of an Egyptian-made series - shows a young girl singing about following in the footsteps of her suicide bomber mother.

Among other wonderful themes.

h/t to The Religion of Peace.

A Casual Observer Advises the ACLU on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of the Founding Fathers: Volume 2

“Let the pulpit resound with the doctrine and sentiments of religious liberty. Let us hear of the dignity of man’s nature, and the noble rank he holds among the works of God.” —John Adams

I think you should play the "America is an agnostic nation" angle here. Adams was an unapologetic evangelical ruffian and not really worthy of historical comment.

Does the estate have any money?

Thanks to the Patiot Post.

From Congressman Bart Stupak

From the right flap of the good Congressman's PDF file delivered to me in my e-mail:

Congressman Bart Stupak
Wants to Hear From You!

1. The war in Iraq is not working and I'm fighting in
Congress to change the course. I want to hear what
you think. Do you believe we should:

___Stay the course

___Continue to fund the war, but set a timetable

___Redeploy our troops

___Immediately withdraw

___Other: ___________________________

Mr. Stupak, it is less than honest to submit a form to me that requires my agreement with your assessment that "the war in Iraq is not working" when it is my intent to give you an honest answer while also disagreeing with your opinion.

Things in Iraq are working. Please stay the course.

Palestinians Hit The Jackpot

That big slot machine of international aid came up 7-7-7 for the wannabe state of Palestine when the dhimmi league of free Earth pledged more than $7 billion in aid today. Major donors include the EU, US, UK, Japan, Germany, France and Korea.

Notably absent from the list of known money pledging countries were any oil rich Arab or Muslim states.

Other thoughts are at Dhimmi Watch.

Dan Fogelberg

Sad news out of Maine today. Dan Fogelberg has died of prostate cancer.

One of the most memorable concerts I ever attended was at Reunion Arena in Dallas back in 1983 with Dan Fogelberg performing. I had two front row seats for a solo acoustic performance and I was lucky enough to be able to attend with the beautiful Jyme Borges. It was an evening I will never forget.

Rest in peace.

The "I'm Gone for the weekend" Post

I'm gone for the weekend.

Descriptive post headings are what set this blog apart from all others. Well, that and the whining. And hating.

Andy McKee Once Again

It has been several weeks since I've plugged Andy McKee at Candyrat records.

Here is Heather's Song.



Incidentally, I've tried to play guitar for the past 20 years. Watching Andy makes me feel at once blessed yet wondering why I haven't turned the old Fender into a plant stand. Or kindling.

Anarchists and Christians UNITE!

An article today in FrontPageMag highlights that oddest of marriages between St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Baltimore, with Red Emma's, an activist group of anarchists. A portion of the story:

Red Emma's, an anarchist bookstore and café in Baltimore, has come to the rescue of struggling St. Paul's United Methodist Church, whose originally female pastor now claims to be a man.

The Baltimore Sun published an entertaining piece on November 27 about the new anarcho-Methodist partnership, though it omitted the transsexual angle. "Anarchists and Methodists may seem like unlikely business partners," the Sun reported understatedly. But this "quirky venture" has brought "new energy" to the small congregation, whose doors might otherwise shut without the infusion of anarchist funds.

"It's a crazy little project," anarchist Kate Khatib of Red Emma's explained to the Sun. "There are not many churches that would reach out to a bunch of crazy anarchists, and there are not many anarchists that would reach out to a bunch of crazy Methodists."

I suppose though that partnerships among crazies are a bit more common than partnerships formed between crazies and people of more lucid texture.

After reading the whole article I couldn't help but wonder which namesake would be least pleased with such a partnership--St. Paul or Red Emma?

My Take on the Democrat Debate

I was unfortunately exposed to some of the Democrat debate earlier today.

It becomes clearer to me every time I am so exposed that I have very little in common with the modern Democrat Party. I am also convinced that the founding fathers had even less in common with this generation's collection of socialist utopians and nannystate activists.

There is not an existing problem in this country or on the face of this Earth for that matter, that the blathering leftists on the panel of rhetoricians do not have a solution for--and each of these solutions involves taking money from citizens and redistributing that income to the laboratory of social experimentation. And, even when they do absently recognize that families and individuals have some responsibility for our society's outcomes, they ricochet off that notion headlong into even more eloquent platitudes that describe why people cannot survive without the government's benevolent hand.

According to that esteemed group health care is a civil right, schools are failing because they are underfunded, all of our foreign policy problems are the cause of cowboy diplomacy and our disrespect of other cultures, corporations are evil and we must take our democracy back. We need to tax more, fund more, regulate more, legislate more, mandate more, steer more and talk more. Oh, and Iowa is a really cool place.

At one point toward the end John Edwards even had the audacity to proclaim that the founding fathers did not intend for things to turn out this way--as if they would embrace the socialist policies of Edwards and remove from citizens the responsibilities of self preservation and sustenance and place these sacred charges on the doorstep of government--like some abandoned baby, which is probably where pre-Kindergarten comes in, now that I think of it.

My personal opinion is that if any of the founding fathers ever met John Edwards in an alley he would get his ass beaten for uttering such a blatant misrepresentation. And for the hair.

A Nativity Scene Direct From Palestine

'Tis the season, at least for many...

This year the evil Jews refuse to even allow the wise men to get close to the stable, at least in this Nativity scene pushed by the Amos Trust.

A nativity set with a difference - this year the wise men won't get to the stable.

The Campaigners Christmas gift:- poignant, ironic and made in Bethlehem.

Available in two sizes

£12.00- smaller version (featured)- 15 cm (long)x 9 cm(wide) x 9 cm(high). (There is an additional charge of £2.50 for postage and packing)

£50.00 - larger version - perfect for a church - complete with a detachable separation barrier that can be replaced by a more traditional stable. (There is an additional charge of £7.00 for postage and packing)

Currently sold out of both sizes - we are waiting for further supplies to come in from Bethlehem.

What is not indicated by the craftsmen or Amos Trust is whether suicide vests are being worn under the clothing of the three men of middle eastern descent. No bigger than that fence is though I think an explosives laden vehicle could blow up those Jews in no time.

From Hugh Fitzgerald at Dhimmi Watch:

Those behind this, whether they are in the Amos Trust or simply talked those in the Amos Trust into this act of vulgar antisemitism, are either sly and sinister, or possibly merely completely ignorant. They demonstrate either willful denial or complete ignorance of the history of the Arab Muslim war on non-Muslims, a permanent war if not always open warfare, and that is not limited to that focus of the world's media, the siege of Israel.

Much more...