So Which Is It ? Global Warming Or Ice Age ?

Global warming set to hit Europe badly: environment agency.

Failing ocean current raises fears of mini ice age.

It's like dueling banjos... or dueling idiots...

Europe is facing the worst climate change in five millennia as a result of global warming, the European Environment Agency (EAA) warned. Europe's four hottest years on record were 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2004, the agency said Tuesday.

The ocean current that gives western Europe its relatively balmy climate is stuttering, raising fears that it might fail entirely and plunge the continent into a mini ice age.

"Ten percent of Alpine glaciers disappeared during the summer of 2003 alone," the report said. "At current rates, three-quarters of Switzerland's glaciers will have melted by 2050. Europe has not seen climate changes on this scale for 5,000 years."

The dramatic finding comes from a study of ocean circulation in the North Atlantic, which found a 30% reduction in the warm currents that carry water north from the Gulf Stream.

The slow-down, which has long been predicted as a possible consequence of global warming, will give renewed urgency to intergovernmental talks in Montreal, Canada, this week on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

"Without effective action over several decades, global warming will see ice sheets melting in the north and the spread of deserts from the south. The continent's population could effectively be concentrated in the centre," EAA Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade said.

You know what that means !




1.5 MB Windows Media Viewer


How can anyone take this pseudoscience seriously ?

Irony: Peace Activists Taken Hostage

Al-Jazeera broadcast an insurgent video Tuesday showing four peace activists taken hostage in Iraq, with a previously unknown group claiming responsibility for the kidnappings.

The aid group Christian Peacemaker Teams has confirmed that four of its members were taken hostage Saturday.

German television broadcast photos Tuesday showing a blindfolded German woman being led away by armed captors in Iraq.

"The team's work has focused on documenting and focusing public attention on detainee abuses, connecting citizens of Iraq to local and international human rights organizations, and accompanying Iraqi civilians as they interact with multinational military personnel and Iraq's government officials," the group said.

These are the same people that sponsored the Adopt-a-Detainee Campaign.

The Adopt-a-Detainee Letter-Writing Campaign, beginning in March 2004, matched individual detainees with congregations, mosques, synagogues, and peace groups in North America and around the world. These groups wrote letters to U.S., Iraqi and other relevant officials on the detainees' behalf.

I wonder who they'll write to now ? Do you think the followers of the "Religion of Peace" will react favorably to a letter writing campaign or simply behead them as they usually do ?

Those who coddle terrorists should not be surprised when they become victims.

Grizzly Mama: Holy Crappa-Moly!

Grizzly Mama: Holy Crappa-Moly!



Happy blogobirthday Grizzly Mama !

Slithering Reptile ?!?!

NZ at the TTLB Ecosystem has modified his algorithms and code so overnight I went from


a Marauding Marsupial


to a Slithering Reptile.

I'm so depressified.

Time For Heroes ?

"Heroes Abroad, Unknown At Home" - In today's New York Times David Brooks (a conservative columnist) describes the heroics of Marines in combat in Iraq, then bemoans the fact that Americans aren't getting the hero stories from the frontlines. He blames Americans.

Second, why aren't there more stories about war heroes like Christopher Ieva? The casual courage he and his men displayed is awe-inspiring, but most Americans couldn't name a single hero from this war. That's because despite all the amazing things people are achieving in Iraq, we don't tell their stories back here. That's partly because in the post-Vietnam era many Americans - especially those who dominate the culture - are uncomfortable with military valor. That's partly because some people don't want this war to seem like a heroic enterprise. And it's partly because many Americans are aloof from this whole conflict, and couldn't tell you a thing about Operations Matador and Steel Curtain and the other major offensives.

And whose fault is that ? Our "press" doesn't tell us these things. It's not "Stupid Americans", it's "Stupid American Press".

Readers might be a bit confused if they recall the similar New York Times story from August bemoaning the fact that there are no hero stories from the Iraq war. But the difference between it and this latest version is that in the earlier example the Times blamed the Pentagon for their lack of heroes.

Here's the Marine Corps account of why Captain Christopher S. Ieva received a Bronze Star award.

Great post from Greyhawk at The Mudville Gazette.

Double Standards And The Date Rape Myth

Women taking responsibility for their own safety and actions? Nonsense. They don’t have to. They’re empowered. Personal responsibility is every liberal’s worst nightmare, and when speaking of ‘groups’, like ‘women’ and ‘blacks’ and ‘the poor’ and ‘the underpriveliged’, it’s near anathema. As Vox Day put it, “The reason many people believe a woman is at least partly responsible for her own victimization is because in many cases that is demonstrably true.”

I recently read a study claiming that one in two women will be a victim of rape.

Sure. And I’m Lady Jane Grey.

Think about it. Does this mean that one in two men is a rapist? Or are there a few really busy guys out there?

If you're a man accused of rape, you are considered guilty until proven innocent.
Remember guys, always carry a recorder with you.

Hat Tip: Kit Jarrell at Euphoric Reality.

Bruce Willis To Make Pro-War Movie

ANGERED by negative portrayals of the conflict in Iraq, Bruce Willis, the Hollywood star, is to make a pro-war film in which American soldiers will be depicted as brave fighters for freedom and democracy.

It will be based on the exploits of the heavily decorated members of Deuce Four, the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry, which has spent the past year battling insurgents in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul.

Willis attended Deuce Four’s homecoming ball this month in Seattle, Washington, where the soldiers are on leave, along with Stephen Eads, the producer of Armageddon and The Sixth Sense.

The 50-year-old actor said that he was in talks about a film of “these guys who do what they are asked to for very little money to defend and fight for what they consider to be freedom”.

Unlike many Hollywood stars Willis supports the war and recently offered a $1m (about £583,000) bounty for the capture of any of Al-Qaeda’s most wanted leaders such as Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, its commander in Iraq. Willis visited the war zone with his rock and blues band, the Accelerators, in 2003.

“I am baffled to understand why the things I saw happening in Iraq are not being reported,” he told MSNBC, the American news channel.

He is expected to base the film on the writings of the independent blogger Michael Yon, a former special forces green beret who was embedded with Deuce Four and sent regular dispatches about their heroics. Yon was at the soldiers’ ball with Willis, who got to know him through his internet war reports on http://www.michaelyon.blogspot.com/. “What he is doing is something the American media and maybe the world media isn’t doing,” the actor said, “and that’s telling the truth about what’s happening in the war in Iraq.”

I don't go to movies very often these days, but I will be there standing in line opening night for this one. Thank you Bruce !

Bruce Willis comes out fighting for Iraq’s forgotten GI heroes

Willis is likely to take on the role of the unit’s commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Erik Kurilla, 39, a Bruce Willis lookalike with a chest full of medals, more hair than Willis and a glamorous blonde wife.

He was injured in August after being shot three times by insurgents “in front of my eyes”, Yon recorded in his blog: “He continued to direct his men until a medic gave him morphine and the men took him away.”

Kurilla now has a titanium plate in his leg. He met Willis at the ball and said that his men were “very excited and appreciative that he was there”.

When the battalion arrived in Mosul in November last year the city was under threat from insurgents. “We faced very heavy fighting for about three months,” Kurilla recalled. “Every patrol was making contact with enemy forces. We would hit them where they slept, where they worked and where they ate.”

Today the picture was very different, he said. “I have watched a city that was in absolute chaos turn into one that has a viable Iraqi security force, which is taking the lead in fighting the terrorists.”

Yon, 41, went to Iraq after a friend from high school, Scott Helveston, a former navy Seal, was hanged from a bridge in Falluja in an incident that shocked the world. Yon had never blogged before but was the author of Danger Close, a book about his experience as a green beret when he killed a man in a bar-room brawl. He was charged with murder and acquitted on the grounds of self-defence.

Expect the MSM to put him through the same crap they put Mel Gibson through.

Bruce Willis offers $1mn to capture bin Laden

Action superstar Bruce Willis is offering $1 million to any civilian who gives information to help capture terrorists Osama Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Hat Tip: Heidi at euphoricreality.net

Baltimore Officials Puzzled By Stolen Light Poles

Some streets of this crime-weary city are getting darker at night because thieves are stealing 30-foot light poles, presumably to sell as scrap metal.

About 130 aluminum light poles have disappeared in the last several weeks, puzzling authorities and prompting residents to wonder how the 250-pound objects are being stolen.

"I've been here 23 years, and I've seen just about everything," Mike Decker, owner of Decker's Salvage Co. "People will steal anything here."

The culprits appear to have gone so far as dressing up as utility crews, police say, and placing orange traffic cones around the poles about to be felled, to avoid arousing suspicion among motorists.

It definitely is brazen," said Officer Nicole Monroe, a city police spokeswoman. "It surprises me that people would be so brazen as to do something like this."

Light poles vanishing

Thieves are sawing down aluminum light poles. Some 130 have vanished from Baltimore's streets in the last several weeks, authorities say, presumably sold for scrap metal. But so far the case of the pilfered poles has stumped the police and left many local residents wondering just how someone manages to make off with what would seem to be a conspicuous street fixture.

The poles, which weigh about 250 pounds apiece, have been snatched during the day and in the middle of the night, from two-lane blacktop roads and from parkways with three lanes on either side of grass median strips, in poor areas and in some of the city's most affluent neighborhoods. Left behind are half-foot stubs of metal, with wires that carry 120 volts neatly tied and wrapped in black electric tape.

"It's a newfound phenomenon; I have to say we haven't seen this before," a spokesman for the city's transportation department, David Brown, said. "Apparently, the culprits know what they're doing because we're talking about 30-foot poles here. It's not like you can stick one in a grocery cart and get rolling."

Some observers here -- in calls to talk radio programs, letters to newspapers, chats over a beer or coffee -- wonder how the thieves have eluded police for this long.

"If the cops can't catch guys who're cutting down 30-foot poles, how are they going to crack a major drug gang?" said Chip Franklin, a talk-show host on WBAL Radio, a local news and talk station. "What's next? Someone taking a downtown building?"

It will cost about $156,000 to replace each pole, the metal arms that extend over roads and the glass globes, city officials said.

Beyond the financial loss, Monroe said, the thefts could increase the danger of other crimes.

"From a public safety standpoint, what these thieves are doing is just horrible," she said. "People want well-lit areas when they're walking and when they're driving in the city."

Pole theft "is a crime," she said, "and we will actively pursue anybody" caught doing it or suspected of it.

Who Killed Christmas ?

Warning: The file is 18.2 MB so high speed is pretty much a must. (Windows Media Viewer)

8 MB Windows Media Viewer version for Broadband connections.

1 MB Windows Media Viewer version for Dial-Up connections.

"It was the Christmas that made everyone cry (except maybe the Jews)."

From Robot Chicken.

People Wonder Why I Hate Christmas Shopping

Why do people put themselves through this every year ?
Are they masochists ?
Can't they think of another day to shop ?
People's stupidity never cease to amaze me.

Former Canadian MOD Warns Of Pending Intergalactic War

Check out the headline:
Former Canadian Minister Of Defence Asks Canadian Parliament Asked To Hold Hearings On Relations With Alien "ET" Civilizations
Obviously English is a second language to whoever wrote it.

On September 25, 2005, in a startling speech at the University of Toronto that caught the attention of mainstream newspapers and magazines, Paul Hellyer, Canada's Defence Minister from 1963-67 under Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prime Minister Lester Pearson, publicly stated: "UFOs, are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head."
Mr. Hellyer went on to say, "I'm so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say something."
Hellyer warned, "The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning. He stated, "The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them, if they so decide."

The Bush administration won't do anything about illegal aliens crossing our borders but he's about to start a war with aliens ? Riiiiiiiiiiight.

Besides, everyone knows we've had moonbases since 1980 under the command of SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation) !


They have the SID in orbit (Space Intruder Detector) so we can detect when those aliens are, well, intruding !


They have plenty of Interceptors on hand to take out those pesky aliens !

Sure they only have one missle each, but they're really good shots !

If they get by the Interceptors, Sky One will get them !


Sky One is of course launched from sea by the Skydiver making it hard to detect !


And if they manage to get by them, the ever ready SHADO Mobile units are waiting for them on the ground !


Here's a documentary on how
SHADO keeps us safe from the alien menace. (2.4 MB Quicktime)


No need to worry if they get by SHADO, the MIB have it well in hand.



Note: The English and Canadians spell it Defence, not defense or D-Fence.

Brave Muslims Declare Jihad Against Infidel Cheetah Cubs

U.S. troops found two cheetah cubs one of them blinded being forced to fight each other for the amusement of jeering children in this dusty, forgotten village.
The soldiers of the U.S. counterterrorism task force for the Horn of Africa were in the region carrying out humanitarian work when they came across the three-month-old cheetahs "performing" at a restaurant run by Mohamed Hudle. The Djibouti-based task force provides intelligence-gathering help to countries in the region, tries to bolster cooperation and border protection, and mounts humanitarian projects aimed at improving the U.S. military's image among Muslims.

I say we blind Mohamed and force him to "perform".

The troops provided medical treatment to the blinded cub, fed them both and tried to persuade Mohamed to hand them over to wildlife officials. They contacted U.S.-based cheetah experts as well as Ethiopian authorities.
"I don't see why I should hand them over," Mohamed said. "When I was younger I looked after goats and camels, so I know what animals need."
Mohamed said he would only give up the cheetahs if he was paid $1,000 for each cub 10 times the average income in this impoverished Horn of Africa nation with an estimated 77 million people.
His sons, 4-year-old Abraham and 2-year-old Nur, pulled the cubs' tails and dragged them around their sun-parched yard by ropes tied tightly to their necks. Other children followed, poking and teasing the frightened cats.

Yeah, sounds like this peaceful, loving Mohamed knows just what an animal needs.

Is there such a thing as a compassionate Muslim ?
No really, is there ?

Follow up 11/27/2005: U.S. GIs to Help Rescue Ethiopia Cheetahs

Two endangered cheetah cubs held captive and abused at a remote village restaurant are to be rescued by an Ethiopian veterinarian and U.S. soldiers, an environmental official said.


Befekadu Refera, an official of the national Environmental Protection Agency, said the veterinarian would take the cheetahs away from Gode on Saturday and hand them to U.S. troops for safekeeping until the animals are flown to the capital, Addis Ababa.


"The U.S. Army will not take the cheetahs without Ethiopian officials being present," Befekadu told The Associated Press. "The vet will give some medical treatment to the animals and then on Monday or Tuesday they will flown to Addis Ababa courtesy of the U.S Army."

Befekadu, of the EPA, said once the cubs are brought to the capital, they would be cared for on the large grounds of the National Palace, home to several Abyssinian lions rescued by former Emperor Haile Selassie.

Hat Tip: Angie at Ang's Weird Ideas.

Interview With Camille Allen: Artist Dolls and Sculptures

49media has an interview with Camille Allen.
Long time readers of this blog know I really enjoy her work.

New Mouse

713 KB Windows Media Viewer

Happy Thanksgiving !

Found at An Extraordinary Ordinary Life.

Stuffing

Hat Tip: Fred.

Clever Turkey

Hat Tip: Fred.

Mannequin Mating

A teenager has been charged with indecent exposure after he was caught trying to have sex with a female mannequin on display at an arts centre.

Security guards found Michael Plentyhorse, 18, sprawled with the dummy on the floor with his trousers and pants down.

Police spokesman Loren McManus said: "There was inappropriate activity between him and the mannequin.

"That's the only way I know how to put it."

Guards said they had noticed several times before that the dummy's clothes had been removed at the centre in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, US.

If convicted, Plentyhorse may be registered as a sex offender.

Hope Matchan, of the prosecutors' department, said: "People might say it's relatively harmless.

"But I certainly would want to know if this person was my neighbour."

You can't blame the guy really, look at her with those come-hither eyes.

So Who Were The Cowards That Voted To Cut & Run ?

Three cowards at least had the courage to vote what they believe. Those three were:

Jose Serrano ( - NY)
Robert Wexler ( - FL)
Cynthia McKinney ( - Ga)

Six voted present, they didn’t even have the courage to give the troops an up or down vote!

Jim McDermott ( - WA)
Jerrold Nadler ( - NY)
Maurice Hinchey ( - NY)
Major Owens ( - NY)
Michael Capuano ( - MA)
William Lacy Clay ( - MO)

See a trend here?

Hat Tip: Badger Blogger

The E-mail Weapon: Troops Tackle Bad Media

After my return from Iraq I received phone calls and emails from military friends as they either came back to the US on leave or finished their tours and re-deployed “Stateside.” The typical phone call went like this: “I’m back. It’s great to be home. What’s up? How are you doing?” Then, the conversation quickly moved on to: “What’s with the press and Iraq?” The press usually meant television. On tv Iraq looked like it was going to Hell in a handbasket of flame and brutality; however, the images of carnage didn’t square with the troops’ experience.

Remember this quote: First, there is definitely a terrorism problem. Not an insurgency, not a guerilla war, not a resistance. That is the ground truth in Iraq.

I am sick of the media constantly telling us that this is another Vietnam and that we are in a quagmire. They are lying to us. They want the terrorists to win. Austin Bay Blog gives us a way to fight the disinformation they shove down our throats every day.

Found over at Austin Bay Blog.

Poor Little Lamp

4.9 MB QuickTime



Found over at Duncan's TV Ad Land.

al-Zarqawi Toast ?

The Elaph Arab media website reported on Sunday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of the al-Qaida in Iraq terror group, may have been killed in Iraq on Sunday afternoon when eight terrorists blew themselves up in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
The unconfirmed report claimed that the explosions occurred while coalition forces surrounded the house in which al-Zarqawi was hiding. American and Iraqi forces are looking into the report.

Al-Zarqawi Rumored Killed

There are rumors circulating in the Middle East concerning the possible death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The rumors originated with Arab television, were picked up by the Jerusalem Post and now are alive in several venues.

What is known is that the United States attacked a location in Mosul in which eight individuals were reported killed and burned beyond recognition. It would appear that the attack was triggered by some intelligence and that the intelligence held open the possibility that the command cell of al Qaeda in Iraq was there. The attack either blew up the site or the team committed suicide.

It is interesting that the attack came on the heels of Jordan's intense attack on jihadists within its borders and on anyone linked to al-Zarqawi. This followed the bombings of three hotels in Amman. Today, for example, al-Zarqawi's own family in Jordan condemned him. Jordanian security has lashed out in all directions after that attack. It is speculative -- but not unreasonable -- to assume that the Jordanians, during their crackdown, secured intelligence on the location of al-Zarqawi's command cell.

Al-Zarqawi's Family Denounces Him And Voices Support For Jordanian King

Family members of al-Qaida in Iraq chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi say it'll be "doomsday" before they have anything more to do with him.

The Jordanian-born terror leader claims responsibility for the deadly, November ninth hotel bombings in Jordan that killed 59 people.

His family renounced him today, telling Jordan's King Abdullah that they will "sever links with him until doomsday."

The statement said anyone who carried out such violence in the kingdom does not enjoy its protection.

It's a serious blow to al-Zarqawi, who will no longer enjoy the protection of his tribe.

I hope this is true. If it is, this is a great milestone in the war against Dhimmitude.


US hopes al-Zarqawi died in gunfight

US forces have sealed off a house in the northern city of Mosul where eight suspected al-Qaeda members died in a gunfight - some by their own hand to avoid capture.

A US official said that efforts were under way to determine if terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among the dead.

Three insurgents detonated explosives and killed themselves to avoid capture, Iraqi officials said. Eleven Americans were wounded, according to the US military.

Like so many reports from the MSM, this one was peppered with statistics of how many Americans have been killed in Iraq, how many people died this weekend, we torture terrorists, blah blah blah. They can not even report on the good news without twisting it into bad news. Freedom bad, Dhimmitude good. They are practically rooting for the terrorists. It's amazing that these asshat reporters still feel that they're unbiased.

Ex-cellmate says al-Zarqawi was tortured

Good. I hope it was excruciating.

Offering possible partial clues as to why the Jordanian-born al-Qaida leader chose Amman for triple hotel bombings earlier this month, the former cellmate, Yousef Rababaa, said: "He hated the intelligence services intensely, and the authorities didn't know how to deal with his new ideology."

New ideology ? Mohammad practiced terrorism ! This is not a new ideology.

Rababaa, who spent three years in jail with al-Zarqawi until both were freed under a royal amnesty in 1999, recalled his cellmate's inflexible, radical Islamic ideology.

See what appeasement and tolerance gets you ? They have declared war ! Any gesture of goodwill is seen by them as weakness.

"He divided the world between Muslim and infidels," Rababaa said, adding that al-Zarqawi was quiet at the time and did not show a violent nature.

The Koran divides the world that way. It also instructs Muslims to not show the infidels (us) their true nature until ready to strike.

"I didn't see that side of him, although he had very strong opinions. I am very surprised at where he is today," said Rababaa, suggesting that maybe someone helps al-Zarqawi plan his terror operations.

"He had very little education, only medium intelligence. But he was very brave," Rababaa said.

Sending others to behead and blow up innocent people is brave ? He is/was a coward. Like most Muslims, he had very little education. Only the Koran instructed him. That's what makes them dangerous.

He did not specify how he knew al-Zarqawi had been tortured or offer any specific evidence to back the claim.

Well why should he ? The western press will be only to happy to report this alleged torture as fact ! We all know that the MSM wants the terrorist bastards to win. They prove it every day in their "unbiased reporting".

UPDATE 2-US investigating whether Zarqawi among Iraq dead

Again, true to form the LameStreamMedia fails to name this bastard as a terrorist. He's an "insurgent", a "guerrilla chief". Even though the article admits this:

When an Islamist Web site showed a video last year of a man severing the head of American hostage Nicholas Berg, the CIA said Zarqawi was probably the one wielding the knife.

Oh, and as far as al Qaeda is concerned, it's just an "organization".

Disgusting.

Meteorite Strikes Pickup Truck In The Desert !

5.8 MB QuickTime>

A group of recreationists videotaping their desert outing suddenly spot something unusual in the sky above. It's a meteor! The flaming ball smashes directly into the ground around a passing pickup truck, the blast sending the cameraman and his companions reeling. Amazing! Even more amazingly, the truck is apparently unscathed by the impact, promptly starting up again and driving off to the accompaniment of cheers from the onlookers.

Not.

This Is A Big Ad

Ethan

From Camille Allen.

Enraged Giant Wooden Gundam Overlord ® Attacks Journalist !

A Giant Wooden Gundam Overlord® crushed a reporter and photographer to death today after the reporter kept mispronouncing Gundam.

"How many times do I have to say Gundam not Goddamn damn it !?!"

Republicans Refuse To Honor Springsteen

An effort by New Jersey's two Democratic senators to honor the veteran rocker was shot down Friday by Republicans who are apparently still miffed a year after the Boss lent his voice to the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

The chamber's GOP leaders refused to bring up for consideration a resolution, introduced by Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Jon Corzine, that honored Springsteen's long career and the 1975 release of his iconic album, "Born to Run."

Good.

India, Pakistan Open Kashmir Frontier

India and Pakistan opened their disputed border in Kashmir for the first time in 58 years Saturday, a temporary measure to allow divided families to check on each other after the region's devastating earthquake.

Lingering fear and suspicion repeatedly delayed the opening, a landmark event in relations between the nuclear-armed rivals. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, a Himalayan territory split divided between the two but which both claim in its entirety.

It's a start.

Sorry Again For The Lack Of Posts

I've been trying to improve the layout of the site.
The changes are subtle, but I think they were worth the effort.
I think it looks a little cleaner now.
Your thoughts ?

Muppet Thanksgiving

Yummy !