The title says it all. For those not schooled in the forgotten art of face recognition, that's Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (henceforth, Dinnerjacket) in the picture together.

Get this: they're calling themselves an Axis of Unity after construction of a joint petrochemical plant. And their platform? Opposition to the United States. Can anyone say, "asking for it?"

"In comments certain to please his hosts, who have often called on the United States to leave Iraq, Chavez branded those invading Iran's neighbor as "barbarians", drawing parallels with the European colonization of Latin America centuries ago."

And suddenly, Venezuela's primary export became irony.  The television stations critical of Chavez would have taken issue with this statement ... if he hadn't shut them down.  The Iranian women who were beaten to death for daring to be outside without a burkha or a male relative could not be reached for comment because they're, you know, DEAD. 

On the other hand... just keep pushing boys.  Get your nukes.  Kick US companies out of your countries and steal from them while you're at it.  Then, when we carpet bomb your pathetic armies into tiny piles of ash and take your oil as restitution for wrongs done, no one will bat an eye.

Posted by: Joseph at 02:41 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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To all the lefties that will howl about this: can we really be sure that Bush even knows what it means to commute a prison term?

After all, chances are good that old Arbusto thinks it means that Libby has to commute to prison every day - like really far, using only one of them thar Razer Scooters on account of his nickname and all.  Just saying.

Dang it's easy to pick on President Bush.  This guy should have gone loony sooner.  He's a regular fountain of material.

Posted by: Joseph at 02:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Now look people. When high ranking officials in your local Catholic church are begging foreign powers to invade your country, it might be time to consider that there's a problem.

ZIMBABWE’S leading cleric has called on Britain to invade the country and topple President Robert Mugabe. Pius Ncube, the Archbishop of Bulawayo, warned that millions were facing death from famine, unable to survive amid inflation believed to have soared to 15,000%.

Mugabe, 83, had proved intransigent despite the “massive risk to life”, said Ncube, the head of Zimbabwe’s 1m Catholics. “I think it is justified for Britain to raid Zimbabwe and remove Mugabe,” he said. “We should do it ourselves but there’s too much fear. I’m ready to lead the people, guns blazing, but the people are not ready.”

Some parts of Zimbabwe have seen 95% of crops fail, leaving families with only two or three weeks’ food supply to last a year. Prices in the shops are more than doubling every week and Christopher Dell, the American ambassador, predicts that by the end of the year inflation could hit 1.5m%.

That's 1.5 million percent mentioned at the end.  If only Ron Paul was available to save them from the terrors of fiat money, they'd be saved.  But no, he wouldn't intervene, because he's the only true conservative left in the world.

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The BBC is running a series on "Obstacles to Peace" in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The link goes to their story on Jerusalem.

Well, allow me to add my own particular observations. Currently the biggest obstacle to peace is that, for the Palestinians, there is no acceptable solution to the conflict that allows for the existence of a Jewish state. You can't negotiate with genocidal thugs. There. Done.

I can't believe that the sub-moronic reporter at the BBC has the nerve to write screeds like this:

They say they face discrimination; restrictions on building or renovation, disregard by the municipality even though they pay taxes, bureaucratic obstacles if they marry Palestinians from elsewhere, confiscation of their papers, revocation of their residency rights if they take residency or citizenship in another country or spend more than seven years abroad.

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Add this to the heap.

So apparently the son of the President of Chad (it's a country, I swear), was found dead in France. I guess the charming fellow had developed quite the reputation as a leader of men:

Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) spokesman Makaila Nguebla told Reuters news agency that Brahim Deby was a reason why top Chadian officials joined the rebellion.

"He is at the root of all the frustration. He used to slap government ministers, senior Chadian officials were humiliated by Deby's son.

 Cute kid.  Shame what happened to him and all. 

Posted by: Joseph at 11:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The US would like to stick missile defense platforms in Poland and the Czech Republic. 

Putin is claiming that he sees "such facilities in what has traditionally been Moscow's sphere of influence as a threat to Russian security."  Again, translating from Serpent Tongue:

"How can we threaten whoever we please with your annoying missile defense system in place?!?"

These missiles shoot down other missiles Vladimir.  That only "threatens" you if you plan on ensuring your security by launching (or threatening to launch) nuclear missiles. 

Posted by: Joseph at 11:46 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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There is a very special place in Hell reserved for the perpetrators of this monstrosity.

They martyred the fake Mickey Maus, telling kids it was an Israeli that did it.  This sick garbage has to stop.

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Thank heaven for the IAEA. Who else could keep us safe from psychotic jump-suited midgets with nukes?

The head of an International Atomic Energy Agency team said the terms of a deal had been agreed "in principle".

Olli Heinonen said he would report to the IAEA board next week but any further terms had to be agreed by the five nations in talks with Pyongyang.

North Korea agreed in February to shut the plant in return for foreign aid.

The deal was agreed between North Korea and its partners in nuclear disarmament talks - the US, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.

The Yongbyon nuclear site, about 100km (65 miles) from the capital, is the centrepiece of North Korea's nuclear programme.

Well if they've agreed "in principle" than all is just super fantastic then isn't it? I wonder if IAEA staff would be ok with being paid "in principle." I told the IRS that I did my taxes, "in principle" and it didn't work out for me that well. Mysterious!

Mr Heinonen earlier said his team was "satisfied" with a tour of the Yongbyon reactor site.

"We were able to see all of the places we wanted to see. I'm satisfied with the inspection," Japan's Kyodo News agency quoted Mr Heinonen as saying.

"The North Korea side has been extremely co-operative," he said at the conclusion of the two-day inspection.

Color me reassured and confident in the success of these endeavors. I mean, with the high standards this cat professes to espouse, who wouldn't be encouraged that he's "satisfied" with the "extremely co-operative" whacko North Korean Communists.

Posted by: Joseph at 10:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Savor the rich, oaky taste of fine Irony.

Coming to a nutroots blog near you, a new headline:

"No blood for Wheat in Africa!"

Posted by: Joseph at 10:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Some folks try to be subtle when they play the race card.  This guy?  Not so much.

And now, we see the "Super Protected Perpetual Victim" fight of the century!  It's the ultimate battle between accusations of racism and homophobia; two protected minorities enter, one protected minority leaves!

Get the popcorn, this should be entertaining.  If nothing else, it will tell us all what the top level minority is.  What wins, race or sexual orientation?  "Four hundred years of oppression and slaveryâ„¢" or vicious remarks made against someone who "just can't help how they were bornâ„¢"?

I swear I think I could make a card game out of this.  It'd be like on of those monster collecting CCGs, but instead of monsters you'd have protected minority groups of varying strengths.  Instead of resource points, you'd have grievances.  Then for effects cards you could have like "Media Blitz!" or defensive cards like "Rehab."  Oh man.  I could make a mint.

Posted by: Joseph at 08:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Looks like there might be an enzyme that attacks the DNA of the AIDS virus.

I'd like to propose an alternative cure: stop screwing everything that moves.  Maybe that makes me "old fashioned," but honestly.  Oh, and remove victim status from people who contract AIDS.  All the confidentiality BS surrounding the disease is insane.  If a person with AIDS knowingly has sex with someone who doesn't have the virus, and does not tell the uninfected person about it well in advance, they should be charged with endangering someone's life.

People know what spreads the disease.  People know they could avoid it completely by not taking stupid risks.  But people persist.  Does no one have a survival instinct anymore?  Is it that important that people be allowed to nail anyone and anything that moves without a single consequence or a single person looking at them askance for it?

Of course, I'm glad there's a cure on the horizon, particularly for all the folks that get it through tainted blood supplies (it happens).  It's just that I can't help but think that if folks just stopped sleeping around as much this disease would have a really hard time spreading.

Posted by: Joseph at 08:16 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Ladies and gentlemen, present for your approval, the "Amazing Evolving Microbes!"

To be fair, all these guys are really doing is monitoring the leftovers they've had in their refrigerators since the 80's.  But still.  It's interesting to watch how the microbes change over time and adapt to their environments. 

On the other hand, it's rather silly to take this as a confirmation of all evolutionary theory as the Times article seems to.  Should the things start tossing spears and debating the existence of a strange, pink, shabbily dressed god that alters their glucose mixture, then we'll talk.

Posted by: Joseph at 08:03 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Fascinating.

In other news, Bill Clinton has filed suit for copyright infringement, noting that he managed this with Al Gore years ago.

In all seriousness, this article is well worth a read - it even manages to give insight into the odd little world of research scientists:

There will be some unease about how this effort is being driven by Dr Venter, who provokes strong emotions in those who know him.

He enraged the scientific establishment when his private venture competed with a Government backed international consortium to read the entire genetic code.

To show the process worked Dr Venter’s team had first added two genes to the genome to be transplanted: one conferred antibiotic resistance, and the other caused bacteria that used it to turn blue.

“For the first time, God has competition,” said Pat Mooney of ETC Group. Indeed, given that today’s paper in Science gives a snapshot of Dr Venter’s work some time ago in his lab, he may have already created Genesis in a test tube.

Posted by: Joseph at 02:27 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Apparently a few political analysts out in the world have decided that the defeat (oh how nice that sounds) of the Amnesty bill will hurt the GOP in '08 ... by shifting more votes to Hillary?

"Hispanic voters will undoubtedly blame the Republicans for the failure of the bill,” says Morris, co-author with Eileen McGann of the new book "Outrage: How Illegal Immigration, the United Nations, Congressional Ripoffs, Student Loan Overcharges, Tobacco Companies, Trade Protection, and Drug Companies Are Ripping Us Off . . . and What to Do About It."

Posted by: Joseph at 01:58 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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According to a recent poll a majority of Americans would consider voting for an independent candidate for president.

I'm going to hazard a guess and say that the 67% that said they would consider casting a ballot for an independent come from such a wide range of political leanings that it would be impossible for one candidate to appeal to all of them.

I think the more important finding here is that many Americans are growing dissatisfied with our 2 party system, and the political ruling class that it appears to foster.  Consider the widespread outrage it took to kill this Amnesty monstrosity.  If our legislators are that disconnected from their constituents, perhaps it's time that we instituted a system that enforced greater accountability.  Or we could at least arrange for someone to sock Trent Lott in the face every time he opens his yapper.  That'd do it for me.

Posted by: Joseph at 01:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Here we have Senator and amateur performance artist Lindsey Graham performing a traditional interpretive dance on one of his favorite subjects:

I thought we could all use a little humor with the dark tidings that seem to come out of congress day by day. Unfortunately, I kinda creeped myself out making this image.  It was too easy. 

UPDATE:  Ding dong the BILL IS DEAD!  MUAHAHAHA!  I think I might add a tear to Kabuki Lindsey.

Posted by: Joseph at 10:53 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Check out the image below with AP's caption.

"Protesters march past the Capitol in Atlanta, Wednesday, June 27, 2007. Immigrants, Native Americans and refugees from the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast gathered Wednesday in Atlanta to kick off the U.S. Social Forum a five-day forum covering a host of issues from racial justice to globalization."

I can't help but chuckle a little bit when I see pictures like this. I mean, the transparent ploy for sympathy here in noting that there's a contingent of Katrina victims when nonesuch are visible in the picture is just silly. But that protest sign. Oy.  I'm going to have to agree with a vampire on this issue:

You won. All right? You came in and you killed them and you took their land. That's what conquering nations do. That's what Caesar did, and he's not going around saying, "I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it." The history of the world is not people making friends. You had better weapons, and you massacred them. End of story. - Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

What I don't get is on what basis that your average Native American had more right to the land than the anglo-immigrants did?  Just because they were there first?  Oh, and as for genocide, I'd wager European diseases wiped out more Native Americans than any military action.  But seriously, it's a moot point.  The killers are dead, the victims are long dead, and what we've got now bears little resemblance to what we had. 

Yes, it would have been better if the anglo immigrants had learned to live with their native neighbors (assuming diseases didn't wipe them out completely).  Perhaps the white guys were really in the wrong and deserved to lose.  If all the various native tribes had banded together or had any sort of organized government they could have managed it easily.  But that just didn't happen.  Arguably, religious and cultural differences wouldn't have allowed it to happen - we're talking about a people who don't even have a concept of land ownership here, still fighting tribal battles after all.  There was a clash of civilizations, racism on the part of the immigrants (reinforced by an often barbaric series of cultures), there were battles, and the natives LOST.  End of story.  It's not nice, it's not pretty, but there it is.  Deal. With. It.

No amount of crying is going to bring back all your various tribal governments or grant you your own little pocket nation inside a larger one just because people feel sorry for what happened to your ancestors.  It will, on the other hand, quite handily piss a lot of people off who had exactly nothing to do with the slaughter of indigenous peoples.  Hell, a goodly portion of the white folks here in the US immigrated long after that anyway.

We came, we conquered, we're done feeling bad about it.

Posted by: Joseph at 10:39 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I'm slowly becoming convinced that whatever part of the brain that creates proper names for people is slowing dying out among gamers.  It's being replaced by that wizened organism that spits out annoying internet callsigns (see logo above).

First, some context.  If you're playing a roleplaying game, you're not naming an avatar - you're naming a person in a world.  This would seem like a simple concept, but people seem to screw it up in a shocking variety of ways.  Bloodxdemon is not a person's name.  Or at least not a sane person. 

Coincidentally, I've got a fascinating new calculation that will determine just how much a complete and utter DORK you are.

Σ (X) x Your Age = Your Dork Factor.

Where X = the number of times you use death, blood, fire, burn, demon, necro, mega, super, or any form of punctuation in what should be a PROPER NAME.

0!:         Congratulations, you're not a freaking retard!
> 13:      You've obviously still young.  You get a pass.
14 - 16:  Wake up little Billy!  It's grow up time!
17 <:       You'd better be an FBI agent posing as a 16 year old boy.  If not, DIE IN A FIRE YOU WASTE OF AIR. 

Ok, that's a touch harsh.  Point is, make a real name for your characters.  Please.  Do it for the children.

Posted by: Joseph at 05:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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... "Well it certainly does SUCK."

Nike is moving in on Mary Poppins' territory trying to make cleaning fun and all.  They better watch themselves - she'll shiv ya.

Posted by: Joseph at 02:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Saunter on over to LGF and take a look at the poll they conducted on the immigration bill before congress right now. It would appear that the great Lizard Army doesn't much care for it. Color me shocked.

In other news, LGF veterans know the poster named "Gordon" is back, and throwing in his 2 cents. He makes quite the interesting series of arguments.  Not coincidentally, they're the same arguments the pro-amnesty crowd makes.  Take a look.

There is a clear solution to the immigration issue with Mexico. We should have an open border with Mexico, allowing free flow of people both ways.

But before we do this, we must work with Mexico to improve security. Mexico must agree to coordinate with our security services to prevent terrorists and Jihadists from entering Mexico and then the U.S. This will mean extending what I presume are our sea and air defenses to Mexico, and establishing controls along the border with Guatemala (which is a lot shorter than our border with Mexico). Mexico must also improve its law enforcement capabilities - this is something that Presidente Calderon is already working vigorously on.

I see no reason why Mexico wouldn't agree to these measures in return for providing an open border between our two countries. Mexican citizens should be allowed into the U.S. at official border checkpoints, upon proof only of Mexican citizenship and no criminal record. Then we'll know that anyone crossing the desert is engaged in criminal activity of an actual harmful nature, and can be dealt with accordingly.

Mexico's per capita gross national product is only 16% of ours ($7,000 to $44,000). But let's look at the European Union. The new Eastern European EU members have per capita gross national products that are a fraction of the Western members. Poland's is only 25% of Germany's for example. Yet there are still millions of Poles in Poland - they haven't all left to become plumbers in France and elsewhere.

My belief is that a majority of the Mexicans who want to be in the U.S. are already here. A few million more still won't tip the scales - there are 100 million Mexicans and 300 million of us. Furthermore, an open border, and full implementation of NAFTA, will make the Mexican economy grow faster. It is currently projected to grow at 3.5% per year, faster than our 2.5%, and it has been growing faster for the past decade. For And it could grow faster - India, another imperfect democracy, has an economy growing at a rate of over 7%. If Mexico can start growing faster, with out help, there will be less economic incentive for Mexicans to come work here.

As for the lack of assimilation, the statistics, and the logic of American history and economics, don't back those claims up. By the third generation, three-quarters of Mexican-Americans don't even speak Spanish as a second language. Even among those who speak Spanish at home, half of them also speak English fluently. And the reason these people are coming here is not turn the U.S. into Mexico - they're here because they want to succeed and prosper like previous immigrants have done. And they know that the path to success includes English language fluency.

Furthermore, what is the problem with bilingualism? One of the hindrances to American competitiveness in world economic markets is our lack of fluent foreign language speakers among businessmen and others. Spanish fluency opens up economic markets in huge swaths of the globe.

As for the "taking jobs away from Americans" argument, that's bunk. Americans don't want jobs paying minimum wage doing hard physical labor. But, you say, employers should just pay high wages, and then Americans will do this work, right? It doesn't work that way. If lettuce pickers start earning $20 per hour, the price of lettuce goes much higher. Fewer people buy lettuce, fewer people plant it, and guess what? Those jobs have disappeared. Economics is not a zero sum game. Anyway, I believe our goal should be an open border with Mexico.

Posted by: Joseph at 12:07 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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