Open thread today.

Feel free to discuss anything-- yesterday's elections and referendums, 'Jarhead,' if you've seen it (cuz I would really like to), France, OR, most importantly..Restaurants you would recommend in New York City.

The Cotillion is up!

If you want to check out some right of center chicks blogging, Not A Desperate Housewife has all the links you need.

Beautiful Atrocities..

comes out of seclusion (ok, he probably was actually going outside and doing stuff, like having a life) to give us his unique perspective on the riots in France.

Hilare!!!! (that's french, ya know...;-) )

I had to laugh.

I was listening to Rush in the car a few minutes ago and he was discussing Sen. Tom Harkin's ongoing campaign to "balance" Rush on Armed Forces Radio.

Rush pointed out that they have NPR 24hrs a day and he is only on one hour, even though the troops request the full 3 hours. It seems a liberal radio show host, Ed Schultz, was given the green light to get on AFR and then denied and then a roar was made about it and now he is greenlighted again.

Rush says that a lot depends on what the soldiers request. I have no problem with having a liberal radio host on AFR. Let the market decide.

But that isn't what made me laugh. Rush played an audio of Sen. Harkin at Paul Wellstone's funeral. Harkin was going on and on about fair wages for (and I quote) "those who clean our bathrooms and mop our floors."

Uhhhh.... you mean wives?

I just think it is hilarious how the liberal elite don't even see how they sound. Like Rush pointed out, don't most Americans clean their own bathrooms and mop their own floors?

But those like Harkin and Kennedy want better wages for those who clean their bathrooms and mop their floors.

Here's an idea I want to pass on to Harkin and Kennedy. You know those people who clean for you? PAY THEM MORE!!!!!

I think it would be interesting to know how much Harkin and Kennedy do pay the people who clean, do the yards, and drive them ect... Do they pay them minimum wage? And if they hire services, do they make it clear that they will pay more to insure that the workers get more than minimum wage?

Put your money where your mouth is, I always say.

A turning point in European history?

Daniel Pipes from the New York Sun gives us a brief historical perspective on the riots in Paris, if you're interested. Good links as well.

via NRO

They are reading blogs...

and apparently lifting material from them as well.

via NRO

When ex-wives attack.

New Jersey's nasty politics got even nastier earlier this week with the Governor's race:

From The Star Ledger:

"U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine's ex-wife said yesterday he "compromised his ideals" to get elected by cutting deals with political bosses, and that his pursuit of power "destroyed" their family.
Joanne Corzine said she was reluctantly breaking her silence because her ex-husband is giving an inaccurate portrayal of himself in his campaign for governor.
She said that when she campaigned by his side five years ago, she urged him not to get involved with Democratic political bosses, but he contributed millions of dollars to them to "buy their loyalty."

"It changed him. I think once you go down that road of making deals, compromising your ideals to get somewhere, it's easier to do it the next time," she told The Star-Ledger in an interview.
For the first time, she also said her ex-husband's affair with Carla Katz, president of New Jersey's largest state workers union, led to the breakup of their marriage.
"I think the relationship between Jon and Carla was the catalyst to our separation," she said.
Joanne Corzine met Jon Corzine in first grade and was married to him for 33 years. The couple raised three children together before divorcing two years ago.
"We grew up together. We came from first grade on. And our family was a unit and I think with the ambition that kind of took over our life -- his ambition -- it really destroyed our family as we knew it," she said.
"When he ran for Senate, family values were an important part of his campaign. We all helped campaign. And then when he got into the political arena, that changed, and I think people should know that because values are the core of what a person is."
Tom Shea, a senior campaign adviser to Corzine, had previously said the senator's romance with Katz began only after his separation from Joanne Corzine in March 2002. Last night, Jon Corzine did not dispute his ex-wife's statement on when the affair began."

Corzine's Republican opponent, Doug Forrester aired a TV commercial that features a disparaging quotation from the former Mrs. Corzine:

"All I could think was that Jon did let his family down, and he'll probably let New Jersey down, too," she told the Times."

Ouch. Ouch.

Should Forrester have used that in his commercial? What do you think? Since she did say it publicly and to a newspaper, it seems to me to be fair game.

Hmmm....

PARIS (AP) France's Cabinet authorized curfews under a state-of-emergency law Tuesday in an extraordinary measure to halt the country's worst civil unrest in decades after violence raged for a 12th night.

Extraordinary? Is it just me or is the French's response to the "worst civil unrest in decades" with rioting and burning out of control, a bit....too little too late? Especially the "too little" part. I mean giving the rioters a time to be home seems sort of ridiculous in the extreme. These kids are burning the neighborhoods down. Does anyone think they will obey a curfew?

What am I missing here? Some French fear of being grounded?

Wow.

Another Defense lawyer in the Saddam trial killed. It's becoming almost as dangerous to be a lawyer on that team as it was to live under Saddam's rule.

Can someone explain to me who and why they would want to kill these lawyers?

Why are these young people rioting in France?

Y ahoo news has this:

LE BLANC MESNIL, France - Bands of youths roaming Parisian suburbs burned more than 500 vehicles and hurled stones at police Friday, as the worst rioting in a decade entered its second week and spread elsewhere in France. The U.S. warned Americans against taking trains to the airport via strife-torn areas.

And Yahoo News explains why:

"The violence has exposed deep discontent in neighborhoods where African and Muslim immigrants and their French-born children are trapped by poverty, unemployment, racial discrimination, crime, poor education and housing."

But Victor Hanson Davis gives us a slightly different view.

I'll go with his:

"In the case of the Paris rioters, there are other explanations for their behavior that are more accurate than liberal clichés about “frustration.” As Dr Jack Wheeler puts it, “The problem is not that these Moslem kids are unemployed, but that they are unemployable. They are illiterate, unskilled except in crime, don't speak French well, refuse to assimilate into French culture and think being Moslem is more important than being French. Worse, they are paid by the French welfare state not to work, living well off the dole (and crime). The problem was epitomized by these words of a young Moslem rioter to a French reporter: 'In the day we sleep, go see our girlfriends, and play video games. And in the evening we have a good time: we go and fight the police.'”


Read the whole thing. It's good. As usual.

What might have been.

Dave Price over at Dean's World summarizes nicely the cost of NOT going to war:

"There's a relevant concept in business finance called "opportunity cost." It's the "cost" of not having the benefits of things you didn't do. What would Iraq's state be today had we not invaded, the opportunity cost of a decision not to invade? No Iraqi free press, no elections, no right to protest, the continued existence of state-sanctioned rape rooms and torture/murder centers, civil rights groups banned, continued Iraqi state support of terrorism, continued uncertainty about clandestine WMD development and WMD stockpiles, the continuation of the massive Oil-For-Food corruption, and very little hope of any of that changing. We'd be looking at another few decades of low-intensity war enforcing the no-fly zones, which inflamed Muslim opinion toward the U.S., or alternatively allowing Saddam to slaughter hundreds of thousands more Kurds and Shia, which we'd also be blamed for. Syria would likely still control Lebanon. And on top of all that, the looming end of the sanctions regime, allowing Saddam to pursue his WMD programs unfettered --with $60/barrel oil."

And we can't forget the two madmen sons waiting in the wings. The ones who so enjoyed the rape and torture rooms.

Liberals shouldn't try to be funny.

Seriously. Please. Stick to what you do best...whine and complain.

This is kinda cool...

Forbes has The E-mail Time Capsule. You type a message to yourself or to your children or maybe your young daughter types a message to herself about what she wants to accomplish for example. The e-mail can be sent back to you even 10 or 20 years later!

via boing boing

Say What??

Saudi to pay for weddings to fight terror

"RIYADH - The Saudi government said that it plans to keep former Guantanamo inmates from returning to terrorism by paying for their weddings. Assistant interior minister for security affairs Prince Mohammed Bin Naif Bin Abdel Aziz said that the government would also provide the men with a monthly salary bonus. The program is being set up for five of the 121 Saudi nationals held at Camp Delta after they were captured in Afghanistan."

Bombings or Brides, you CHOOSE!!!

Ok, whatever works.

Forgive me..

for making fun of a serious subject, but my college age son sent me the following e-mail (and if you knew him, it would be even funnier)

WARNING: Police are warning all men who frequent clubs, parties and local pubs to be alert and stay cautious when offered a drink from any woman.

Many females use a date rape drug on the market called "Beer". The drug is found in liquid form and available almost everywhere. It comes in bottles, cans, from taps and in large "kegs".

"Beer" is used by female sexual predators at parties and bars to persuade their male victims to go home and have sex with them. A woman needs only to get a guy to consume a few units of "Beer" and then simply ask him home for no strings attached sex. Men are rendered helpless against this approach. Many times these unfortunate men are swindled out of their life's savings in a scam known as a "relationship". In extreme cases, the female may even be shrewd enough to entrap the unsuspecting male into a longer term form of servitude and punishment referred to as "marriage".

Please! Forward this warning to every male you know. If you fall victim to this "Beer" and the women administering it.....there are male support groups where you can discuss the details of your shocking encounter

Rove must stay.

Bush letting go of Rove would send a message that the left can dictate things and that is unacceptable.

Bill Kristol also give several reasons Rove must stay, the most important being...winning.

"After all, it was with Rove as his primary adviser that Bush put together the remarkable back-to-back election successes of 2002 and 2004. Bush had barely won the presidency in 2000, and Republicans had lost five Senate seats. Yet with Rove's advice, Bush was able to help the GOP gain seats in both the House and the Senate in 2002 and 2004, as well as building a three million vote majority in the 2004 presidential election."

This is why the left hates him so. This is why this campaign to "get" Rove has been so vicious. This is why the left went into a tizzy when he wasn't indicted.

Rove knows how to win. Period. While I was busy having babies in the 90's, Rove was busy turning our state from Democrat to Republican. Replacing a very well liked Democrat governor, Ann Richards (who everyone thought was unbeatable, including myself) with a man named George W. Bush.

There's loyalty, and then there is just common sense. Rove should and must stay.

Kristol also points out that every time Bush's poll numbers have dropped it has been when he has tried to be bipartisan instead of pushing a Republican agenda. (see Social Security reform and the pork-laden highway bill)

The bottom line message here to Bush should be to stop trying to compromise with those who only want to bring you down. Stand strong on your agenda of advancing pro-growth and pro-family tax reforms. Explain in simple terms the reasons we stay the course in Iraq, and don't be afraid to appoint the judges YOU want appointed. Once again, don't try and please those who only wish you harm.

And for God's sake. Keep Rove.

A daring escape...

And a not so daring recapture. Here in Houston a man sentenced to death escapes jail by changing clothes and flashing a fake badge to securities.

Ok, imagine you're this man. You have just escaped the gas chamber. You are in Houston and they can't find you. You head for the Mexican border, right? Once you're in Mexico you're a free bird, they will never catch you. And what is even sweeter, the border is just a hop, skip, and jump away.

But what do you do??? You go to Shreveport, La. and get drunk and get caught.

Ah, the mind of a criminal.

Not to overstate the obvious...

But everything that is happening now in France illustrates why we should never have respect for anything they say. They are weak willed, frozen in the face of decisions, and incapable of shutting down the violence that rocks their country.

Online Lessons In Terror.

From the TimesOnline:

AN Al-Qaeda website containing detailed instructions in Arabic on how to make nuclear, “dirty” and biological bombs has attracted more than 57,000 hits and hundreds of readers’ inquiries. Terrorism experts are warning that the site could be boosting the organisation’s appeal to would-be assassins in Britain and abroad.

The manual, posted on October 6 on a forum titled Al-Firdaws, or Paradise, contains 80 pages of instructions and pictures of kitchen bomb-making techniques. It is divided into nine lessons under the overall heading The Nuclear Bomb of Jihad and the Way to Enrich Uranium, and is dedicated as a “gift to the commander of the jihad fighters, Sheikh Osama Bin Laden, for the purpose of jihad for the sake of Allah”.

As well as describing how to make a nuclear bomb from enriched uranium — impossible for the layman — the manual explains how to make simple bombs that can blow up anything from electrical generators to petrol stations.

Read more.

They may live in tents and rarely bathe, but they have the internet. I hope we are paying attention.

Splendor In The Ass....

Ok, sorry. I just couldn't resist that one. Warren Beatty is following around Schwarzenegger as Schwarzenegger travels the state drumming up support of ballot measures that would curb the power of the Democrat- controlled Legislature and the state's public employee unions. Another measure he backs would extend the trial period for teaches to get tenure.

On the one hand Beatty says this about Schwarzenegger's campaigning, "To me, this is an abuse of the initiative process." And yet when asked if he would be running for Governor in the future, Beatty says, " "I don't want to run for governor. I want to say what I think."

So Beatty wants to say what he thinks, but he doesn't want the Governor to do so?

Such is the mind of a liberal.

*note: Although my post title may sound like a gay porn movie, it isn't. For those not familiar with old movies,the title is after the movie that first made Beatty famous, "Splendor In The Grass." Which is an interesting movie about a young girl who goes insane because she can't have sex with Beatty. Simply put, of course...;-)