Proving once again that the "courage" of the artistic community does not apply when actual courage is required, a feminist author in India has agreed to censor her latest book in hopes that the Jihadists will allow her to "live peacefully."
Muslims in Khartoum demonstrated how Islam is the "Religion of Peace" by taking to the streets with clubs and swords to demand that the British schoolteacher who allowed her students to name their teddy bear "Mohammed" be put to death.
A grim Christmas message for kids from the mayor of Seattle. Greg Nickels told small children he's launching "Operation Save Santa" to protect the big guy from global warming. At a Christmas tree lighting, Nickels warned the kids they had to use energy efficient light bulbs, or climate change could melt the North Pole --- and drown Santa, his elves and all his reindeer.Translation: Submit to my policies or the fat guy gets it.
Mark you calendars, because one of the few surviving examples of the infamous Futuro house is up for sale in Paris on 27 November.
Paris is again burning as "youths" attack policemen and set cars alight.
I realised then that a baby would pollute the planet - and that never having a child was the most environmentally friendly thing I could do.On the bright side, this sort of eco-dottiness is quickly self-correcting, since for all her self-righteous posturing all she's doing is surrendering the world to someone else's children.
Brussels wants to scrap labels saying 'Made in Britain'Translation:
Brussels wants to scraplabels saying 'Made inBritain'
A Middlesborough man has declined counselling after his wheelie bin was stolen.
It's Thanksgiving here in the United States, so I'm off for some quality family time and poultry overload.
10. You will pardon a turkey - just like President Bush, but for the right reasons.Except the the presidential turkey is still alive while mine will be dead whether I pardon it or not. Is the bird supposed to spring like Lazarus from the supermarket deep freeze?
9. You'll celebrate life and good fortune, rather than death and misfortune.
Um... The bird is dead already, so the point is moot. And if the alternative is nut cutlets, I fail to see where the "good fortune" comes into the picture.
8. You won't suffer nightmares about how the turkey lived and died.
Don't now. Won't ever. Even if the shade of my departed feast showed up at midnight decked out like Marley's Ghost complete with chains, it would still be a turkey, which has the inherent fear factor of an overstuffed pigeon.
7. You won't have to call the Poultry Hotline to keep your family alive.
Not since I grasped that whole germ theory thing. The only threat a turkey will have to my family's life is if it's a killer cyborg turkey from the future hunting Sarah Connor. And that hasn't happened to me more than a couple of times.
6. You won't have to sweat the saturated fat and cholesterol.
I don't know what you do, but I generally sweat sweat.
5. Your vegetarian friends will adore you.
Oh, I'm really looking forward to that!
4. Your kids will tell their friends about their cool "tofurky."
The school bullies are really looking forward to that.
3. You won't fall asleep during the football game.
My napping habits are my own affair.
2. You are what you eat. Who wants to be a "butterball"?
Vegetarians in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
1. Commercial turkeys are too fat to have sex. Could happen to you.
And vegetarians are too... No, it's too easy a shot.
It's Thanksgiving in the States tomorrow and if you are still trying to sort out your menu, my friend here would like to make a suggestion.
Britain’s contemporary artists are fêted around the world for their willingness to shock but fear is preventing them from tackling Islamic fundamentalism. Grayson Perry, the cross-dressing potter, Turner Prize winner and former Times columnist, said that he had consciously avoided commenting on radical Islam in his otherwise highly provocative body of work because of the threat of reprisals.Anytime an "artist" starts bleating on about "speaking truth to power", "pushing the envelope", being "transgressive" and how "courageous" they are, feel free to respond with slow, sarcastic clapping.
Perry also believes that many of his fellow visual artists have also ducked the issue, and one leading British gallery director told The Times that few major venues would be prepared to show potentially inflammatory works.
“I’ve censored myself,” Perry said at a discussion on art and politics organised by the Art Fund. “The reason I haven’t gone all out attacking Islamism in my art is because I feel real fear that someone will slit my throat.”
J. Michael Lennon, literary agent of the late Norman Mailer:(Kurt)Vonnegut was the American Mark Twain. He even looked liked him.And with that, the case against Mr. Lennon was proven.
There really was greatness in the "greatest generation." It fought and won World War II, then came home to achieve widespread prosperity and overcome segregation while seeing the Cold War through to a successful conclusion. But the greatest generation had one flaw, its greatest flaw, you might say: It begat the baby boomers.
A bit of post-Cold War retroactive nervousness from the BBC.
The replica of Colossus, the world's first true computer that was built during the Second World War, was beaten in a cipher-breaking race with a modern computer.
For your Christmas wish list: A Humvee-mounted laser cannon.
Jihadist Imam Abu Hamza al-Masri has lost his court challenge and can be extradited to the United States, where he faces eleven terrorism charges carrying a potential sentence of 100 years.
Get your Christmas shopping done early this year by ordering that special someone the Tercenturian Hamper from Fortnum & Masons. It's a snip at only £20,000 and includes these stocking stuffers:Presented in a three-tiered English willow hamper set
Roger Simon looks at why the American public is staying away from Hollywood's anti-American films in droves.
Its proposes raising alcohol prices, restricting pub opening hours and better food labelling to fight obesity.Each of these proposals sounds "reasonable," but taken together and in context of recent legislation it reveals a mindset that regards the public not as those whom the government serves, but as subjects to be controlled and conditioned. I find it a bit frightening when a government equates "protecting public health" with "trampling on ancient liberties of freeborn Englishmen."
The government said it was taking steps to protect public health.
Sim Jae-duck, South Korea's Mr. Toilet, has built a house shaped like a water closet.
God of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far-flung battle-line,
Beneath whose awful Hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget lest we forget!
The tumult and the shouting dies;
The Captains and the Kings depart:
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget lest we forget!
Far-called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget lest we forget!
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word
Thy mercy on Thy People, Lord!
Rudyard Kipling
Guardian headline:Muslim politician could be kingmaker in Danish elections
This one brings back painful memories of my early writing days; bung a shilling in and pound away like mad before the time ran out. Fine for banging out the odd article, but hell of a lot of pressure while searching for the mot juste.
Another reason why the Imperial system is superior to the anachronistic metric: Kilograms are unreliable.
If someone had told me four years ago that the new president of France would be making conciliatory overtures to the United States, I'd have thought him stark raving mad.
My daughter's kindergarten asked us to pack an emergency kit for her in case of earthquake and the like. We sent along this one, but for some reason her teacher said they prefered something more along the lines of crackers and colouring books.
If you're in Poitiers, France and have $30,000 going spare, you can pick up this automatic doggie washing machine that will have your pup squeaky clean in no time.
It's the 90th anniversary of the October Revolution and the BBC's James Rodgers looks at the hard time Russia's Communists have today:These were people who toiled all their lives to build a Communist utopia, only to find that their reward was a penance of a pension doled out in the harsh, new, capitalist Russia of the 1990s.
The Holy Grail.
The Writers Guild of America goes on strike, which means that the entire Hollywood entertainment industry is in peril of grinding to a halt and potentially no more episodes of Desperate Housewives will be forthcoming.
This will not end well.
For your Friday enjoyment we are proud to present the premiere of Creative Electrical Outlet's latest video feature, Lost Weekend; a story of weekends, larceny and decaf coffee starring the 21st century's answer to Lunt and Fontaine, Amy Walton and Glen Hamilton. Written by Glen Hamilton.
Police said they were keeping "an open mind" about the motive for the vandalism.And I'm keeping an open mind about the intelligence of the Devon constabulary.
Under legislation that came into force in August, police in England and Wales will now have the power to ban from town centres those who are thought likely to be troublesome drinkers. The ‘directions-to-leave orders’, which last for 48 hours, apply not to those who have drunk anything, but to those who police believe are about to start doing so. Those breaching the order or failing to comply can be arrested or fined up to £2,500.
This is just the latest raft of legislation implemented by a Labour government that, as a consequence of its attempts to invert the principle of innocent until proven guilty in so many spheres of public policy, has now seemingly assumed the power of clairvoyancy. For instance, in June a leaked document from the Home Office recommended that council staff, charity workers and doctors tip off police about individuals they believe might commit a violent crime. Like the ASBO, introduced in 1998, no firm evidence is required for those making the accusation, merely the hearsay or opinion of those doing the snitching. In March the Home Office made the proposal that every child in Britain be screened to assess how likely it is that he or she will become a criminal. The idea is that by taking into account such things as school marks, truancy rates and substance abuse, you can see if an 11-year-old child will grow up to become a murderer. Adults might now find themselves on a government list of pre-criminals. Five London boroughs have already started to use a database that profiles high-risk ‘future offenders’ as part of a pilot scheme for a nationwide database. The aim is to give the police a list of the 100 most dangerous potential offenders, based on psychological profiling.
Teachers at a primary school have been ordered to dress up as Muslims to promote multiculturalism.
The West Midlands school is belatedly celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid and told its pupils and teachers to don traditional Muslim dress for the day.
All 257 pupils, most of whom are Christians, and 41 teachers - two of whom are Muslims - dressed up.
A morning assembly was held to mark the event and an afternoon party was strictly for women only, because Muslim husbands object to wives mixing with other men.
Sally Bloomer, head of Rufford primary school in Lye, West Midlands, told The Sun: "I have not heard of any complaints. It's all part of a diversity project to promote multi-culturalism."
Such willful blindness in the service of cultural suicide is breathtaking.
Update: Maybe it's just overreaction. After all, it's not as though a Labour think tank was advocating the sacrifice on the altar of multiculturalism of every institution that Britain has left.
“Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated,” according to Sheik Omar Jabouri, spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic Party and a member of the widespread and influential Jabouri Tribe. Speaking through an interpreter at a 31 October meeting at the Iraqi Islamic Party headquarters in downtown Baghdad, Sheik Omar said that al Qaeda had been “defeated mentally, and therefore is defeated physically,” referring to how clear it has become that the terrorist group’s tactics have backfired. Operatives who could once disappear back into the crowd after committing an increasingly atrocious attack no longer find safe haven among the Iraqis who live in the southern part of Baghdad. They are being hunted down and killed. Or, if they are lucky, captured by Americans.
Some graphic evidence.
