Do You Know What Day It Is?

Why, it's the Flying Spacemonkey's birthday. You should go wish him a Happy Birthday because the best gifts are those from the heart (and warm wishes are way cheaper than actual gifts).

Happy Birthday, Spacemonkey! :)

Beta Blogger...

just killed my inner child.

The template is hostile, folks.

It's like that guy I went out with once at age 19. Sure it looks cool in its leather jacket but is it really worth the drama? If I get rid of it, will it keep calling and stopping by my house flashing those pretty pearly whites (pretending I didn't walk away muttering "I never want to lay eyes you again...")?

Ok, I'm not giving up just yet (I really like the leather coolness, and it smells nice too).

In case anyone else has (or is thinking of) upgrading to Beta Blogger, I will detail the issues and solutions as I go in order to make this as painless as possible. In the event that this process does become too painful to endure, Blogger does save your old template and you can make it all go away with little effort (although I will warn you now that you should make your own copy of the "classic template" before making permanent changes because Blogger only saves the last template you've saved after the initial Beta upgrade).

Clear as mud so far, huh?

Anyhow, the first issue encountered (after locating the old template and discovering, the hard way of course, that it's a whole new ballgame now) is HaloScan's comment/trackbacks not working with Beta Blogger.

Therefore I present- Getting Haloscan to work in Beta Blogger.

"For all you Beta Bloggers: Haloscan comments do work in Beta!"

Yay! Follow the link above to learn how. Thank you,
Logical Philosopher. Maybe.

We'll see how it works out.

Have any suggestions for your favorite Uber-Conservative (or actually know what the heck you're doing and want to take over and do it for me)? Please leave a comment. :)

Update- Until Haloscan works this Beta Blogger issue out, there will be no Haloscan (at least not for moi while using the current template).

Verdict? Beta doesn't always mean better.

Blog Reorganization

I thought I'd make a few changes to the blog and it seems that it is a wee bit more complicated than I originally thought. Schweet though, huh? But now it looks like work and I just want coffee (will finish later).

I leave you with a warning. When blogger says you will lose some information when changing your template, this really means lots.

If you're in need of enlightenment (go somewhere else), check out-

Loose Canons
Islamic Brownshirts
By Jed Babbin


"Of the many wrong lessons the Clinton presidency taught us, the cheap apology is one that continues to haunts us. The world became accustomed to America -- through our lip-quivering president -- apologizing reflexively for every offense, real or imagined. Apologies have since become expensive. Because the radical Islamists demand -- and we supply -- an endless stream of apologies for conduct that is either entirely justified or inoffensive, they are winning their campaign of intimidation. Like Hitler's Brownshirt "Sturm Abteilung," the Islamofascists seek political dominance by violence and intimidation. And we, like the Weimar Republic before us, are letting the fascists get away with it.

Some, such as Charles Krauthammer, find irony in those who inflict violence to prove Islam is a religion of peace. To some, there is humor to be mined from the irony. For the rest of us, it's among the few parts of this war we can fight personally. We must summon up outrage at fascists who have intimidated the president of the United States out of calling them what they manifestly are. President Bush (I recall only one speech, and only two uses of the term) called them Islamic fascists. Which happens to be an historically defined and precisely accurate term. The cacophony of complaints from phony allies such as the Saudis and Islamists here intimidated the president out of further use of this enormously useful political term..

Now the Pope has drawn death threats from the "religion of peace" because of his reference to a 14th-century Byzantine emperor's statement about Islam being spread by the sword. The Pope has been driven to express regret (without technically apologizing) and is meeting today with Islamic representatives to calm them. He will fail to mollify them one way or the other because nothing can. Even if he accedes to their demands they will pronounce themselves unsatisfied and ask him to do more to prove he respects them more than they respect him. If my mother's mother were still alive, I've no doubt she'd have been penning a letter to the pontiff. In her rounded script, she would have written in the kindest terms she knew, "Dear Pope Benedict: Enough with the apologies already!" And she'd have been more correct than the president or the pontiff.

The Islamic Brownshirts are serving the same two purposes that Hitler's did. First, to intimidate people and separate them from their freedom to speak out against an ideology that aims to enslave them. Second, to legitimate the use of violence to punish anyone with whom they disagree. Someone who calls himself a "cleric" -- be it Moqtada al-Sadr or some radical imam in America -- has no more right to circumscribe our public debate or the Pope's speeches than did Hitler. Under the First Amendment, free speech still lives. In too many nations, including most of Old Europe, the Islamic Brownshirts have already killed it.

Italy and France surrendered preemptively. Spain fell when the Madrid train bombings caused its government to be defeated in an election held a day later. Britain, as Melanie Phillips has documented brilliantly in Londonistan, gave up free speech eagerly in favor of multiculturalism. The country that gave us the Magna Carta is now a place in which a street preacher can be fined about $500 for parading with a sign that says, "Stop immorality. Stop homosexuality. Stop lesbianism," but Muslim thug Abu Izzadeen (the former Trevor Brooks) is not spoken to rudely when he incites murder. When France fell in June 1940 Churchill said, "What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin." Europe has surrendered to the Islamic Brownshirts. Their battle is over. Ours has begun."

Read the rest.

You Just Can't Make This Stuff Up

Well, you could, but why bother?

Update on Six Flags Great America's Halloween-themed FrightFest (the amusement park is daring customers to eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach in exchange for unlimited line-jumping privileges).

As if that's not ridiculous enough all on its own, PETA Leaps to the defense of ‘gentle’ cockroaches in the Six Flags promotion.

"Cockroaches have been given a bad (reputation) in our society," said PETA spokeswoman Jackie Vergerio. "They are gentle, complex animals."

We can all rest assured that this guy, at least, won't be jumping any lines.

In other news-

Sheik Abu Saqer, leader of Gaza's Jihadia Salafiya Islamic outreach movement, which seeks to make secular Muslims more religious, called the pope a "puppet" for "that Crusader George Bush."

The Gaza imam said the only Christian-Muslim dialogue that is acceptable is one in which "all religions agree to convert to Islam."

Also, Iran TV: 'Pirates of Caribbean' a Zionist plot
Campaign links Disney to Jews, says 'Aladdin' denigrates Arabs


WND reported then that Prof. Hasan Bolkhari, a cultural adviser to the Iranian Education Ministry, told Iran's Channel 4 the Tom and Jerry cartoon is a Jewish conspiracy.

An excerpt of that video also was made available by MEMRI then.
"The Jewish Walt Disney Company gained international fame with this cartoon," said Bolkhari. "It is still shown throughout the world. This cartoon maintains its status because of the cute antics of the cat and mouse – especially the mouse."

I guess Pinky and The Brain represent Ahmadinejad and Chavez.

Does Mighty Mouse represent Jesus Christ?

"Here I come to save the day!!"

I'm Shocked! (Ok, I'm Over It)

Clinton comes unglued. (video)

I guess that's what happens when a Democrat who has been coddled by the media for so long is finally asked this very simple question. (He totally has that "I did not have sexual relations with that woman!" look on his face again, doesn't he?)


Also, Malkin has a post up About that National Intelligence Estimate everyone should read.

Within this post is a reference to The Sword of the Prophet, the politically incorrect guide to Islam. For those of you who'd rather stare into the solar eclipse (or this photo) with the naked eye (thanks, Insolublog, thanks a whole lot) than spend your hard earned cash to learn more about Islam, the The Prophet of Doom, is a good (free) resource.

From the website-

Overview

Prophet of Doom presents the Qur'an in chronological order and in the context of Muhammad's life as it is known through Ishaq's Sira (Biography) and Tabari's Ta'rikh (History). There is no better way to understand Islam's lone prophet, his god, their message, or their purpose--especially since the Qur'an itself is a jumbled and incoherent mess.

The translation presented in Prophet of Doom was a blend of the literal Noble Qur'an by Khan (the one found in most American mosques), and English translations by: Ahmed Ali, Pickthal, Yusuf Ali, and Shakir. Collectively, these represent the five most respected and universally accepted Muslim translations of Allah's book.

To validate Craig's scholarship in regard to his presentation of the Qur'an, you will need access to all five of these. While we encourage you to conduct your own investigation of the Islamic scriptures, you may be comforted to know that of the many thousands of emails we have received from angry Muslims claiming that Craig has misrepresented their religion, no one has found an inaccurate Qur'anic portrayal.

To compose the The POD Qur'an, we consolidated the references made to each Qur'anic Surah in the book and then placed them in numerical, rather than chronological order. Every reference was pulled directly from Prophet of Doom just as it was presented in the book, and thus most contain Craig Winn's commentary as well as related Hadith.

While you will learn much more reading the Qur'an in chronological order--the order it was supposedly revealed and thus the order it is presented in POD--and with its surahs set within the context of Muhammad's life, we understand that most people are accustomed to the Qur'an's current order--jumbled, and devoid of circumstance, place, time, and chronological order as it may be.

The POD Qur'an can be set along side the five Muslim translations that served as its basis to demonstrate that Craig did not "cherry-pick" the most rotten verses from a Qur'anic tree filled with nurturing ones. The POD Qur'an also proves that Craig didn't take Qur'an verses out of context or misrepresent them. The simple truth is that immorality, violence, and idiocy completely dominate the texts of the Islamic scriptures.

It is also important to note, that Muslims have recently published more politically correct versions of the Qur'an and of the Hadith. Although they cannot fix the author's (Muhammad/Allah's) complete lack of moral character and intelligence, the recent renditions have sought to remove many violent verses, rewriting them to suit modern sensibilities. Therefore, if you own a "politically correct" Qur'an or a sanitized Hadith collection, we ask that if you come across an instance where it appears we may have misrepresented Muhammad/Allah's actual message, that you take the time to review all five of the most universally accepted and respected translations, and buy printed versions of the Hadith collections, before you criticize our scholarship. If you take the time to do this, what you will discover is that today's Muslims are obediently following their prophet/god's policy of lying to and deceiving Infidels so as to make us easier prey. Don't let that happen to you.

Teh Saturday Funny

Police called after one flea is found on student's kitten

Animal lover Robert Emberson thought he was doing a good deed when he adopted a stray kitten from a cat charity.

The police, it seems, did not agree.

A few weeks after giving the 16-week-old cat a new home two officers swooped on his house accompanied by charity workers to demand he return his new pet.

The action came after a single flea had been spotted on the kitten, named Plume, by one of the charity's officers during an earlier visit to check the animal's welfare.

The heavy handed reaction astonished 18-year-old Mr Emberson, from Canvey Island in Essex, who complained that the officers could have been better spent dealing with troublemakers that plague the area.

(Yeah, it was way funnier when I misunderstood and thought the overzealous charity workers named the little lone flea, Plume.)

Death to fleas!!



Women arrested after bizarre sex sting

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A police sting took an odd turn when an officer pretending to be a john met a suspected prostitute pretending to be an officer.

Police spokesman Sgt. Tom Connellan said here's what happened Thursday:

A male undercover officer driving in a neighborhood known for prostitution was flagged down by a woman. The woman got in his car and they went to a nearby parking lot to negotiate a price for sex.

She asked the officer if he was a cop and he said no.

"That's OK, because I am," the woman said as she pulled out handcuffs and a two-way radio. She barked into the radio: "Move in!"




Wanna cut in line? Eat a live cockroach

GURNEE, Illinois (AP) -- Why wait in line when you can just eat a cockroach?

That's the question Six Flags Great America is asking thrill seekers during a Halloween-themed FrightFest. The amusement park is daring customers to eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach in exchange for unlimited line-jumping privileges.

The promotion, which has Lake County Health Department officials shaking their heads, starts October 7.

Anyone who chows down the entire 2- to 3-inch horned cockroach gets a pass for four people to cut to the front of ride lines through October 29.

Park officials insist it's safe to eat the crunchy critters, but health officials are cautioning participants.

(Ok, that's not really funny or even "frightening", it's just plain old stupid. And gross.Oo)



Defendant hurled slipper at judge

An Indian man allegedly hurled a slipper at a court judge who promptly threw a paperweight back in reply.

Nazir Mohammad was in court in Baroda on charges of housebreaking and theft when he jumped out of the witness box and rushed towards the judge.

The robber, reportedly irritated with the slow pace of the case, took off his slipper and threw it at Chief judicial magistrate C D Vaghela.

Judge Vaghela immediately picked up a paperweight from his desk and threw it back at the accused, reports Midday.


I leave you with talking dogs, one possessed little kitty, and facetious critters.

Have a great weekend! :)

All Ahmadinejad, All The Time

Mesmerized Media

When will Ahmadinejad’s radical religious beliefs get covered?

By Joel C. Rosenberg


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinjad has certainly launched a charm offensive through the American media. First was his “exclusive” interview with Mike Wallace on CBS’s 60 Minutes. This week, the Iranian leader is on the cover of Time. Yesterday, he did a lengthy interview with NBC’s Brian Williams, the only network interview he agreed to on this trip. And, of course, Ahmadinejad’s speech Tuesday blasting the United States (while on American soil) made headlines around the world.

Yet something has been curiously absent from all this media coverage. American journalists aren’t asking Ahmadinejad about his Shiite religious beliefs, his fascination with the coming of the Islamic Messiah known as the “Twelfth Imam” or the “Mahdi,” his critique of President Bush’s faith in Jesus Christ and encouragement of President Bush to convert to Islam, and how such beliefs are driving Iranian foreign policy.

Time’s cover story and exclusive print interview with Ahmadinejad never broached the subject of his eschatology. Nor did Williams. Nor did Wallace. Nor does a just-released book, Confronting Iran: The Failure of American Foreign Policy And the Next Great Crisis in the Middle East, by British Iran expert Ali M. Ansari. Nor does almost any of the saturation coverage Ahmadinejad is receiving.

Journalists aren’t typically shy about asking tough, probing questions about the religious views of world leaders. President Bush has been grilled at length about being an evangelical Christian and how this informs his foreign policy, particularly with regards to Israel and the Middle East. Clearly the pope’s views of Christianity and Islam are now under fire. Why such hesitancy when it comes to the religious beliefs of a leader who has called for the Jewish state to be wiped off the planet and urges fellow Muslims to envision a world without the United States?

Read more...

It does seem "odd" that journalists would miss this tidbit considering Ahmadinejad's praying at the UN so recently.

TRANSLATOR: Today's world, more than ever before, longs for just and righteous people with love for all humanity, and above all, longs for the perfect righteous human being and the real savior who has been promised to all peoples and who will establish justice, peace, and brotherhood on the planet. Oh, Almighty God, all men and women are your creatures, and you have ordained their guidance and salvation. Bestow upon humanity that thirst for justice, the perfect human being promised to all by you, and make us among his followers and among those who strive for his return and his cause.

(He sorta left the part out where love, justice, peace, and brotherhood are achieved via warfare & chopping off our heads. Oopsie.)

Transcript...


Ahmadinejad: I’m not anti-Semitic

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a press conference in New York on Thursday "We love everyone in the world - Jews, Christians, Muslims, non-Muslims, non-Jews, non-Christians.

"We are against ugly acts. We are against occupation, aggression, killings and displacing people - otherwise we have no problem with ordinary people. Everyone is respected. ... We declare this in a loud voice," he said.

Wow, really?! Well, as long as you say it loud...cool. That clears it all up. We can all just relax and forget about his nuclear aspirations then, I guess.

Riiight.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has openly called for Israel to be wiped off the map. - Aljazeera.Net

Admadinejad said, "As the imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map."

"Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury" -International Herald Tribune

There are also the anti-Semitic comments themselves to contend with.

(Let's be inclusive and not leave Democrats out by forgetting their softening of a Senate resolution condemning the president of Iran for said anti-Semitic comments.)

Yes, Admadinejad's recent statement is a rather large pill to swallow. Especially considering his embrace of a faith that encourages its followers to lie to "infidels" (yeah, that means you), deceive, make war with, maim and kill them.

Why, exactly, is it that journalists deem this madman's radical religious beliefs, which drives his political views and actions, off limits or unimportant?

Update: Mr. Huber, writing for the Daily Kos, describes Ahmadinejad's remarks to the UN as "nothing short of brilliant". He goes on to add, "In eloquent, measured fashion he [Ahmadinejad] admonished the rest of the world to join him in telling the United States of America to pound sand up its canyon, and the rest of the world subtly but perceptibly smiled and nodded "yes.""

If retired U.S. Navy Commander Jeff Huber, who writes from Virginia Beach, Virginia, can be used as "the lefty example", I'd have to conclude that the answer is-

Because journalists are rather smitten with Admadinejad and agree with him completely regardless of his radical religious beliefs. Furthermore, they're silent on the topic of these dangerous beliefs so as to not muddle the part of his message they do agree with (and would like more Americans to agree with as well). Also, obviously absent is the usual outrage at the idea of one way and one God, prayer expressed publicly, and a whole laundry list of other things lefties ordinarily tend to rail about. They're not complaining. Ahmadinejad is more than happy to answer questions about his beliefs. They're simply not asking.