Great commentary at Crooks & Liars and Pandagon.
Of particular note is the guy who says he hasn’t enlisted because he is more “career-oriented.” I presume that means he’s too fucking important to act as cannon fodder in the war he supports so much. Seriously, how do these people sleep at night?
…necrotizing fasciitis comes along. At least as of yesterday, the man was still alive & fighting. Good luck, man. That’s nasty, scary stuff.
Dear Michael Vick:
If even half the allegations against you are true, then you are truly a pitiful and pathetic waste of space, perhaps useful for your salvage value after you fight those trained dogs yourself–that’s my recommended punishment, anyway.
CP
I think I get it now. Repubs in Congress make it impossible for the new Dem majority to get anything done by doing all the same things they recently chided the Democrats for doing, except doing it with more brazenness and assholery. That way, they can later mock the Democrats for being weaklings. Vote for the bully.
A TV commercial for Sideshow Bob is shown.
[scene shows prisoners going in a revolving door and coming out immediately]
Voice: Mayor Quimby supports revolving door prisons. Mayor Quimby even released Sideshow Bob — a man twice convicted of attempted murder.
[scene shows prisoners leaving on escalator and ski lift]
Can you trust a man like Mayor Quimby? Vote Sideshow Bob for mayor.
Dear Minutemen:
I don’t doubt that you have a deep and abiding love of this country. I don’t doubt that you believe you are doing the right thing. I may completely and absolutely disagree with you, but at least you are being honest about your beliefs and feelings.
And those beliefs and feelings have become increasingly horrifying to this particular proud American. Please try to remember that a lot of (perhaps most) Hispanics were born here, and therefore have every right to be in this country. Harassing Catholic Churches will get you nowhere–and please, please, please stop making Bill Donohue seem like a reasonable man!!!
CP
Once again, Texas has lost one of its great ones. That’s three in just the last year: Ann Richards, Molly Ivins, and now Lady Bird Johnson. Say what you will about her husband (the other LBJ), but she had class and she made Texas a better place. Amid all the controversy and homage, remember that Texas is a far better place just for these three having once been here.
Just read this excerpt. I’m speechless.
RED OAK, Texas – An 18-year-old man was arrested Friday and accused of killing a zebra named Zambi in a drive-by shooting.
Zambi was shot dead July 5 as he grazed in a pasture at HiView Farms outside of Waxahachie, about 30 miles from Dallas, said Lt. Kevin Ketchum of the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office. The farm is also home to camels, llamas and ring-tailed lemurs.
***
Joshua Romano and four friends were swimming in a creek but had to leave because of rain. They spotted the zebra as they were driving down a road near the farm. That’s when Romano pulled out a deer rifle and shot Zambi dead, Ketchum said. The animal was worth about $10,000.
Romano’s friends tried to prevent him from shooting the zebra, and the driver sped up to make the shooting more difficult, Ketchum said.
Juan Cole has a great post today on the Kurds in Iraq, Iran, Turkey and elsewhere, and how this whole U.S.-occupation-of-Iraq thing could lead to bigger problems.
[T]here is at the least an issue in the Kurdish terrorist groups that are operating from US-occupied Iraq against Iraq’s neighbors. The US is not able to stop the PKK from operating against an ally, Turkey, so I don’t think it could stop the Iranian Kurdish terrorists, PEJAK, from operating against Iran. But it is also probably true that there are elements in the US military, in the intelligence services, and in the Washington power elite that are connected to PEJAK and are either happy about its activities or subtly enabling them.
It’s a lot of speculation, hearsay, and other inconclusive whatnot, but it is worth being reminded that there is a whole nation in the region that spans several countries and may piss off a lot of said countries while getting pretty pissed itself. Kurdistan was supposed to become a separate state after World War I, but it didn’t happen. Now Kurdistan exists in Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, and slivers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, among the largest distinct ethnic groups without their own state. The Iraqi Kurds have done alright since 1991, but things can get complicated really fast for all of Kurdistan if we’re not paying attention. And we’re not.
I had no idea that this was in the Bill of Rights of the Texas Constitution:
Article 1 – BILL OF RIGHTS
Section 4 – RELIGIOUS TESTS
No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being. (Emphasis added)
Other states do this, too, although these clauses tend to not stand up to court challenges.
Still, why risk it? Should I ever run for office, I shall declare my faith in the Invisible Pink Unicorn:
