Strangest thing I've read in a while:

Germans Feel Tensions at New Mexico Air Force Base

"Vera Kieren, a teacher at the Deutsche Schule, said it happened when her husband told a convenience store cashier recently that their daughter did not drink Coca-Cola.

"The cashier said, 'But she does live in this country, doesn't she?' " said Kieren, who moved to Alamogordo with her family three years ago from Baden-Baden, in southwestern Germany.

"It's been a bit tense for us with the issues in Iraq," Kieren said, surprised at the implication that any right-thinking parents in the United States would have their children drinking Coca-Coca."

I feel a new marketing slogan coming soon: "Drink Coca-Cola. All the REAL Americans do."

Sheesh.

Cheers to Skippy for linking to me.

Ok, Orlando just got slaughtered. Stupid Pistons. They're still up 3-2, though. They'll close 'em out next game.

I should be studying, and I'm now irritated because I just typed out this post but erased it by going back in IE. But I found this on fox news (no caps on purpose; they don't deserve it):

"'They were wrong on every level going into this conflict … every prediction has been proven false,' said Sean Hannity, radio talk show host and co-host of Fox News' Hannity and Colmes. "It's really all built on a foundation of antipathy and animosity toward George Bush."

I'm not entirely sure what we were wrong about. There have been no WMDs found, no credible links to Al-Qaeda, we were not greeted whole-heartedly as liberators, and recent reports have told us that the gov't was lying (or "over-emphasizing"). I've been trying to find a picture on the statue fall to compare it to pics of the protests that went on not long ago, but haven't found one yet. I think we'd find that the protestors have the greater numbers. I'm getting sick of this "We were right because we won" argument. No one doubted that we'd win. Most figured it would be quickly. It looks to me like we were proven right.

Oh, and the article's date says May 01, 2003. Now, it isn't even Thursday on the East coast yet. Pretty symbolic. Fox is always getting ahead of themselves.

Ya know the end of The O'Reilly Factor, when they show a side shot of him, and he marks with his pen on a piece of paper? Doesn't he look like Mr. Wilson when he does that? Or at least Mr. Wilson from one of the movies. So that would be, Walter Matthau, I think. Either way, he seems like he should be yelling "Get off my lawn!" or something.

Why oh why is the Orlando Magic game on NBA TV? Bastards. Who the hell gets NBA TV?

You can now comment on a specific post. Please do, any feedback is welcome.

A cease fire with an Iranian terrorist group, the Mujahedeen Khalq, has been called by the U.S.

But just a week or so ago they bombed their principal bases, according to the Herald Tribune:

"Without public announcement, American forces have bombed the principal bases of the main armed Iranian opposition group in Iraq, which has maintained several thousand fighters with tanks and artillery along Iraq's border with Iran for more than a decade."

Interesting. Looks like public relations to me. Allow the damaged group to keep their arms, negotiate a cease fire, you make it look like you're putting pressure on Iran when you really aren't.

More on U.S. support of Iran at Emperor's New Clothes.

There's apparently been documents linking Saddam and bin Laden found.

"The Sunday Telegraph says reporter Inigo Gilmore discovered the files in the bombed headquarters of the Mukhabarat, the feared Iraqi intelligence service."

"He told the BBC: "I noticed on some of the documents there were some marks erased out... we scraped away with a razor and underneath we found the name Bin Laden three times and obviously realised this was highly significant."

"He said: "Perhaps significantly the CIA had been through many of these buildings but they seem to have missed this particular document."

Ok, so the CIA goes through the building, then the reporter goes in and finds these hugely significant documents? And a couple papers claim to have found them. So the CIA misses them, and a bunch of reporters come in and they all find it. Or were there copies for each?

And why, as one article I read says, were some documents burnt, but not this one. It just had "bin Laden" whited out. If you were burning documents, isn't this one that you'd burn? How stupid is it just to white out incriminating words?

The coming days will be interesting.

Thought this was a good thing to post: The video of Bush at the Booker school on 9/11. It's..........interesting.

It's here, here, or here.

From the NY Times:

"United States soldiers opened fire on Iraqis at an antiwar demonstration here, and according to local hospital officials killed 15 people and wounded about 75. An American officer said today that the troops opened fire after being "intentionally" shot at by some of the protesters, a claim disputed by residents."

I've seen claims that they fired on protestors after they threw rocks at our troops. Looks like this is something we'll really never know the answer to.

"Lost in this whole controversy is one important point: That the Dixie Chicks' music profoundly blows."

- The Onion

How true, how true.

O'Reilly on WMD

"One of the interesting post-war debates is about WMDs. Some war critics are demanding to see them right now. However, these are the same people that wanted to give Hans Blix and his crew more time to find the weapons. So, what's up with that?"

What's up with that is the fact that the U.S. knew he had weapons. We had the intelligence. There was thousands of tons of the stuff and we knew it was there. So, it follows that when we go into Iraq, with more access than the inspectors ever had, we should be able to find them rather quickly. Plus, they were supposed to have been able to use them on 45 minutes notice. Maybe some people are a bit impatient, but if we knew they were there, where are they? Did we not keep surveillance on them?

"Now, I've stopped putting the anti-American loons on this broadcast because, really, there isn't a discussion, there's only ranting. Kind of feel guilty about that because The Factor wants to hear all rational voices, but I've come to the conclusion that anyone who wants his own country to be damaged is not really rational. It would be like wanting your own family to be hurt."

No, you've stopped putting dissenters on becuase they irritate you and if you actually put someone articulate on, you have to cut their mic so you don't look like an ass. I have a feeling O'Reilly has a skewed view of what a patriotic American is, also. Maybe I'll share my views on that later. All 6 of you that have visited the blog will be waiting with baited breath.

If you haven't heard of Nationstates, I suggest you check it out. You can make your own nation, and shape it by deciding issues that the game presents you with. Here's mine:

The Disputed Territories of Speedkill
"You mess with the penguin, you die."

UN Category: Father Knows Best State
Civil Rights: Below Average Economy: Good Political Freedoms: Outlawed

Location: Ultimate Metal
The Disputed Territories of Speedkill is a large, safe nation, remarkable for its absence of drug laws. Its hard-nosed, cynical population of 26 million are ruled by a mostly-benevolent dictator, who grants the populace the freedom to live their own lives but watches carefully for anyone to slip up.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent, corrupt government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Defence, and Social Equality. The average income tax rate is 62%, and even higher for the wealthy. Private enterprise is illegal, but for those in the know there is a slick and highly efficient black market in Uranium Mining.

Political activists are routinely executed, the latest Harry Potter book is a bestseller, scientists regularly clone human beings for research purposes, and the government is avowedly atheist. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is relatively low, thanks to the all-pervasive police force. Speedkill's national animal is the killer Devo Penguin, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the copy of MAYH.


The penguin reference is due to the fact that my flag is Sparky from This Modern World. Hopefully he doesn't mind.

*whistles*

"We at Emperor's Clothes have charged that the US-led Empire in general and the Bush administration in specific has a two-faced policy. While professing support for Israel, and supplying military aid, the Empire also uses Israel as a convenient scapegoat and, most important, foments anti-Jewish racism by creating the false impression that aggressive US policies are dictated by Israel. This serves to strengthen Muslim fundamentalism, which the US-led Empire then uses as a political weapon in the Balkans, in the Indian subcontinent, in Central Asia and, as we shall discuss in an upcoming article, even in Western Europe."

- The Emperor's New Clothes

If that site isn't essential, I don't know what is.

I dislike Bill O'Reilly very strongly. Ok, I hate him. There. I said it. But I watch his show. I don't know either.

It was funny to see him make fun of a trannsexual yesterday. Or sick. You could see it either way.

Paul Krugman in the NY Times.

His comments on the stunning revelation that the U.S. was misled into war on Iraq.

We'll file this in the "No, Really?" section.

Ok, maybe the links will be up someday.

Update: They are up. How about that.

Well, uh, I guess this is working. Hello, I'm Jeff, this is really just a test post so, yeah.