Jimmah Earl, you know what's really a disgrace? You are, you schmuck.
| the Wit |
| CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean you're pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat. I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer. Your sense of humor takes the most effort to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion. Also, you probably loved the Office. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check it out here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/.
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My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
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| Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid |
(via Nin, who is a fellow Wit)
It's rather late getting to the story, so while I was going to write some angry rant about the recent outrage by the Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania at a military funeral, I think Mr. Mustard (AKA Russell Wardlow) sums up what I would have said quite nicely. Therefore, since I'm lazy, I'll tell you to read that instead of me trying to reinvent the wheel.
I've been reduced to limiting my usual snide comments and thinly disguised insults to private email.
Can anyone out there help the Bingster with uploading MT Blacklist? He's as pathetically ignorant about such things as I.
I hear that Tree Hugging Sister has promised to show her TOWACAs if the upload is successful
It seems that discussing "root causes" of terrorism (and mocking such discussion) has once again become popular in the wake of the attacks in London. Being too lazy to list root causes here, I'll just link to my previous post on the subject.
See Dick Run
Run, Dick, run.
Please, Dick, run.
Oh please please please please please, Dick, run.
Who knew our first grade reading books contained such sage political wisdom?
I don't EVEN want to know where it came from...
What I do want to know, though, is if any of you have heard that before. I hadn't, but the story says it "has gained traction in the international press and on the Internet".
Apparently, I STILL don't do enough gun blogging so I miss out on the cool perks. My man Jeff has not only been mentioned in Outdoor Life and gotten a weekly gig on Cam Edwards's radio program, he has now been offered a loaner gun from a manufacturer. Outstanding!
You'd think a Kennedy would be a little more sensitive to sneaking in the issue of a candidate's religion, but this is Scotch Ted we're talking about.
"The question you didn't ask," Kennedy said, "was about Mormonism, whether it would hurt him in a national campaign."One would also have thought a Kennedy would word that last sentence a little more carefully."The answer is no," Kennedy answered. "We've moved on. That died with my brother Jack."
Alex Beam writes an entire column about how Romney's MORMONISM!!!!! is not really relevant to the campaign.
So what can Romney expect now, as he dips his toe into the presidential waters? No one is going to trash his religion unless they have to, meaning unless his candidacy shows signs of success. But I've already been pitched on a quirky column item about the funny garments Mormons wear while worshiping. How tasteful. Maybe I can make fun of Hasidic Jews' curly forelocks and the pope's curious headgear while I'm at it.Hmm. From dean of a business school to president of an entire university. Naw, nobody'd ever do anything like that without being "dictated" to.Another consultant with ties to the Democrats suggested that I address a more substantive question, raised by Harvard Business School dean Kim Clark's recent decision to leave HBS for the presidency of Brigham Young University-Idaho. In May, Clark, who is Mormon, received a call from his church's president asking him to leave Harvard and head for Idaho.
So would Romney likewise feel obliged to follow the dictates of the church's president, whom Mormons believe to be a divinely inspired prophet?
Next up: Howard Dean explains that Joe Lieberman's religion is irrelevant to his campaign because "we've move on from considering them Christ-killing shylocks".
I mean, it's not like she's supermodel material.
Clinton offered goats and cows for Chelsea's handNo, I'm not going to make any barnyard animal jokes. I'm sure she's a nice young lady and worth at least 40 goats and 20 cows. And unlike Bingley's, they might be unsullied.
25.07.05 2.20pmBy Meera Selva
Bill Clinton, used to a warm reception on his global goodwill missions, came away from Kenya this weekend with more than he bargained for.
The former US president must now consider whether the offer of 40 goats and 20 cows, made by an apparently love-struck local official, is sufficient to persuade him to give up his daughter Chelsea for marriage.
And man, does Jeff ever write some gun porn.
FONDLING MY GUNHe should entitle this piece "Lady Chatterly's Winchester". Damn, I think I need a cigarette......I spread them all out before me, clean them all even if they don't need it. I touch and feel and examine them and think about how cool they are and how I could take my .22 and [In your dreams --ed.] win every target shooting competition in the world. I smell the remnants of Hoppe's, the odor of oil. I run my fingers over the craftsmanship and check the magazines and fuss over the "blueing" on some of them. I fuss over the sights, the trigger actions, the grips. I try the balance and aspect over and over. I'm in LOVE...
I hold them, feel them and caress them...
I hold my P-45 and think, "you will protect me from EVERYTHING". I hug my Marlin .22 bolt and think, "I had you when I was 14-years-old".
So. I fondle and molest my guns... Owning them is like taking in your art collection; gazing lovingly at each piece of work.
I have my small collection spread out before me now and I think I will give each one some lovin'.
Firearms and the Second Amendment are all we have standing between us and a totalitarianism, fascist government dreamed-up by the leftist, liberal members of our once frontier, bold nation.Well said, Gunstud.
Have you fondled your guns today?Not yet, but it's still early.
UPDATE: Fred Phelps rears his ugly head again, too. Can we start shooting yet?
Because then I could enjoy the idea that some people will roast in a special corner of Hell:
Vandals Set Flags, Soldier's Family's Car On FireMy emphasis. The cowardly little shits even stole the flags off the porch.Not even 24-hours after Private First Class Tim Hines's wife and family said goodbye at his funeral, American flags that had adorned their Fairfield yard were piled beneath a car and burned.
Hines' sister-in-law woke up to hear her car alarm around 5:30 a.m. and saw her car on fire.
As firefighters brought the fire under control they discovered a pile of around 20 American flags underneath the car.
Neighbors say Hines' wife's family had flags line their front yard and on the porch.
Those were taken as well as flags in neighboring yards.
[...]
The flags, they say, had completley lined their yard.
"The yard was gorgeous. They had flags all the way around the front, from the street up to their porch," said Rumley. "Whoever did this went clear up to their porch and took the flags down."
In the meantime the American Legion and others promised Hines' family they would have new flags by the end of the day.Quite so.Hours after the fire a donation of flags arrived at their home.
In no time, family, friends and neighbors lined the yard once again.
"I think that's the most important things, don't give up, do not give up. I really feel that way," said Doris Morris, another neighbor.
Sadly, it is illegal to shoot scumbags like this but one can always hope to find a suitably outraged judge to put their asses away and make them pay for the car.
Via here by way of here, with additional comments here.
Bingley gets thoughtful on a Saturday morning.
Apologies to Jay and to Deb, who misses me.
From self-defense in a fast-food drive-thru to lesbian burros and donkey semen, all in one post.
I think we have taken "running the gamut" to a whole new level.
I say:
IT
That which does not kill me makes me stronger.
He's several hundred miles away (but I suggest THS monitor the mileage on the Studebaker, just in case).
Look, I know the modern world is stressful. I don't want to live in a state whose tallest mountain is a curb. I couldn't tolerate the three H's of life in Florida (heat, humidity, hurricanes) and the steady diet of Kentucky Fried Flamingo. I'm sure it would get to me, too.
But WTF??
What a load of revisionist bullshit. The press trips all over themselves to fawn over Fidel Castro:
Castro: I'm Honored to Be Elian's FriendWell, how nice for him. That's not too awfully bad as press fawning over communists goes I suppose, but let's continue:HAVANA - Cuban President Fidel Castro said in a speech published Friday that he's honored to be a friend of Elian Gonzalez, the boy at the center of an international custody dispute five years ago.
"I have the privilege to be his friend," Castro said Thursday night during Elian's sixth-grade graduation in the coastal city of Cardenas, east of Havana.
Elian, now 11, was the subject of a high-profile legal and ideological battle between his father in Cuba and family members in South Florida, both who claimed custody...Something's missing here. Let's turn to my local all-news TV station to see how they cover it:After a seven-month battle, Elian returned with his father to Cuba in June 2000.
U-S courts eventually intervened in a fierce legal battle and he was sent back from Miami to be with his father in Cuba.Well, I noticed in my search for this story that it appears that all of the hits at TV websites use the same story as KRON. They all seem to be missing the same element of the story. Let's check the Florida papers:
His father wanted him returned to Cuba, however, and an April 2000 raid, federal agents seized the boy, then 6.OH YEAH, THAT'S IT! The damn courts never got to "intervene in a fierce legal battle" because Janet Reno ordered federal agents to take the kid at gunpoint without going through the hassle of court. And her boss couldn't wait to get in Castro's good graces by sending him back to the
But you wouldn't know that from TV news.
...of the only truly effective crime preventative.
Santa Monica robber killed by intended victimsNow for the downside:
Associated PressSANTA MONICA, Calif. - A man who tried to rob two people at gunpoint in a fast-food restaurant drive-thru was shot and killed by one of his intended victims early Thursday, police said.
[...]
The victims, two men, were in the Santa Monica drive-thru shortly before 5 a.m. "when a masked suspect approached their vehicle and displayed a knife and handgun," said police Lt. Frank Fabrega.
A struggle ensued, and the suspect stabbed the passenger in the hand. The driver then pulled out a handgun and shot the suspect, who fled on foot and collapsed a short distance away, Fabrega said.
Police said the gun used to shoot the suspect belonged to the intended victim, but it was unclear whether he had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.[My emphasis] I hope to hell he had a CCW permit. Santa Monica is one of those lefty enclaves that consider armed victims a greater threat to society than armed robbers.
Inspired by comments in the post below, I turned to The Box Office Oracle to generate a ridiculously brainless quasi-Japanese-ish summer movie that would have Kurosawa turn in his grave (though hopefully it'd make him laugh, too).
I give you...
Office Drones of the Shogun (PG-13)
(Animation/Historical Epic/Martial Arts/Office Politics)
Starring Brendan Fraser and Cameron Diaz
Also Featuring John Leguizamo, Steve Buscemi, Shannon Elizabeth, Brittany Murphy
Directed by Sam Raimi
Screenplay by John Logan and Charlie Kaufman
Projected Budget Range: $50 - $60 million
Planned Release Date: June
Projected Box Office Receipts:
$15.69 million (Opening Weekend)
$93.6 million (Total Domestic Gross)
Chance of getting Oscar Nomination: 4%
Chance of winning at least one Oscar: 1%
Daughter Number Two had a good time at her orientation, got registered for the classes she wanted, toured the campus, and is excited about college.
I plastered numerous rocks and soft targets (paper) with the new rifle (review to follow later), brought home some newly killed pork and some veggies from Auntie's garden, sweated a lot (a balmy 111 when I got there).
Since I was expecting the hot weather, I knew I would spend more than the usual amount of time indoors so I took along some movies I hadn't yet seen, two classics I've wanted to see for some time and one future-classic. The reviews:
The Magnificent Seven - spectacular. It's one of the last of the great "hero" westerns, but paved the way for the next generation of 60s ("anti-hero") westerns, and now I'm itching to see Seven Samurai. The short documentary about making the film was very interesting, too. They got all the major parts casted and signed just hours before a planned actors' strike. Several of the actors were eager to get parts in it, having just seen Seven Samurai. I knew some of this - one big item I didn't know was that Kurosawa was a fan of Hollywood westerns, which heavily influenced Seven Samurai.
UPDATE: I just have to say a little more about this movie, specifically about the DVD version. First: Even if you have seen it, it is worth renting the DVD version. Trailer A is good and straightforward, but Trailer B is a hoot. Somebody wrote a really goofy theme song for it (NOT to be confused with the incredible score of the movie itself, it sounds like some half-drunk college glee club wrote it). Second, it is fascinating to see the actors themselves talk about making the film in the documentary portion. This was Horst Buchholz's first Hollywood movie (he was credited as "Introducing Horst Buchholz") and he had a moderately heavy German accent in the documentary, but none in Mag7. He went back to Germany after Mag7 and doesn't seem to have made anymore movies in Hollywood. Eli Wallach also had a bit of a "non-Western" accent (it sounded almost British, though he was from Brooklyn), but played Calvera marvelously. But the one who astounded me was Rosenda Monteros (Petra), who seems to not speak English at all (at least, she used an interpreter in the documentary). She had the most beautiful (yet completely understandable) accent in Mag7. I assume this means she learned her lines phonetically (IIRC, Antonio Bandaras did also in his early films). What really astounded me, though, is that 41 years after making Mag7, she is still one hell of a dish (the documentary is from 2001). Ay, caramba, what a babe!
And speaking of "anti-hero" westerns, The Wild Bunch was very good, though getting hit in the face with that much nihilism and "anti-heroism" in one package is just a bit much. I recommend it, but be prepared to hate nearly every single character in the movie except Deke Thornton and Angel (even William Holden and Ernest Borgnine are not very likeable in this one, though they each have their own "code of honor", if you can call it that).
As for the third, and future classic, I took along, this two-word review says it all:
FUCK YEAH!!!!
And in the category of "Don't Let the Door Hit Your Ass On The Way Out," HRH Prince Bandar bin-Sultan, Saudi Ambassador to the US since practically the dawn of time and therefore Dean of the Washington Diplomatic Corps, has finally decided to call it quits and, you know, "spend more time with his family."
Of course, the downside to this is that there still will BE another Saudi ambassador and as the article points out, it's almost certainly bound to be yet another useless sleazy terrorist-coddling royal asshole.
For those who don't know, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit hears cases from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, and is based in New Orleans. For purely personal selfish reasons, regardless of larger philosophical considerations, I would love to see a judge from the Fifth get tapped to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, and this is at least rumored to be likely.
Why would I love this? Well, because it would give a huge public boost to my beloved alma mater and therefore to my resume. Which is why it would also make me pleased if Bill Pryor was named to the Supreme Court--he was first in his class at Tulane before joining the Alabama AG's Office--though I think he hasn't been on the 11th Circuit long enough and thus expect that if the President ever seeks to elevate him, it'll be for a later vacancy.
UPDATE: Oh well, but John Roberts is a great pick, too. Keep an eye on the Fifth for any additional vacancies, though. I'd particularly like to see Edith Jones, whom the president's father foolishly passed over in favor of David Souter, ultimately replace Rehnquist as Chief.
Taking Daughter Number Two to a college orientation, then off to the wilds of NorCal for some shooting fun (and probably some intensely hot weather).
Might have another post or comment in the a.m., but if not, see you when I get back.
A blogger and his family have been threatened with a fatwa. The FBI contacted Chris with word of a credible threat against him for his posts on Team Infidel.
Gullyborg tells a little about why Chris is not a soft target, but he can't be everywhere and several family members have been threatened.
I know some readers were not happy about the particulars of Team Infidel, but it is outrageous that anyone should be threatened with death for exercising their free speech/free press rights. Everyone knows that, had TI made similar posts about the Bible, the NEA would have showered them with grant money.
Spread the word. We will not be intimidated.
It's very funny in that "what did you expect, dummy?" sort of way.
You recall the flap about VRWC talk show hosts going to Iraq. Melanie Morgan of the local Morning Show has been checking in each morning with interviews with soldiers.
This morning she was interviewing a woman from the Bay Area and the show's producer managed to get in touch with her teenage daughter. Mother and daughter haven't been able to speak in months but were able to this morning, hampered only by the three-second delay in the satellite transmission.
Truly an "Awwww" moment.
The US is, of course, the home of the outrageous lawsuit but you gotta give the Frogs some credit for sheer chutzpah.
I don't do nearly enough of it, so here goes.
I caught most of "Mythbusters" last night. One of the myths was called "Bullet Proof Water". I missed the first part of the show and specifics of the myth, but I gathered it dates to the Civil War and involves how deep a soldier would have to be underwater to escape enemy bullets (I presume this meant a soldier fleeing by swimming a river). Any comments from people who saw the program are very welcome.
Anyway, it was an eye opener. Shooting straight down, of course, resulted in the greatest depth of penetration though, obviously, the length of penetration, irrespective of angle, would be the true measure of bullet penetration. Shooting at an angle (as a soldier from a riverbank would) requires less depth underwater because of the oblique bullet track. [If it occurred to anyone connected with the show they didn't mention it, but my first concern in trying something like this would be the bullet skipping off the water rather than penetrating. I don't know how shallow an angle it takes to do this but the angle they worked with appeared to be safe.]
Some results were not surprising. They started with a Minie ball fired from a Civil War rifle (looked to me like the classic Springfield but I'm not very familiar with them), a shotgun slug, and a handgun bullet, all at subsonic velocities. All had penetration on the order of a few feet (I missed most of this portion, so no details). Bullet velocity declined very quickly so that being underwater by a couple of feet appears to protect one from shooters. IIRC, they were shooting at an angle of about 23 degrees 30 degrees [thanks Tyler!] to the surface of the water so that 2 feet in depth is less than 6 feet of bullet track.
The real eye-openers were the modern rifle cartridges. They started with a .223 (55 grain bullet, about 2500 fps). This had less penetration than the subsonic bullets. Why? The bullet fragmented on impact with the water, leaving only shards of copper and lead on the bottom of the indoor public swimming pool being used for the test. This was not an expanding or frangible bullet; it was the standard, current-issue, full-metal-jacket, US military ammunition.
Now, I know that many shooters out there, both military and civilian, look askance at the .223 as an effective round so they took the obvious next step and graduated to the classic M1 ball round (.30-06, 160 grain FMJ, about 3000 fps). Same result � nothing but copper and lead shards.
Then they went for the big gun - .50 BMG (600 grain FMJ, about 3500 fps). Same result. I was amazed how much damage water can do to a (presumably) well-constructed bullet.
So it appears that, at least at an angle of little over 20 degrees, it doesn't take much water to protect you. All firing was done within 10 feet of the water, so bullet velocity was basically muzzle velocity. Naturally, if the velocity declines sufficiently the bullet will not fragment � at that point, most likely, the penetration would be greatest for heavier, pointed bullets but it doesn't look to me like it would be vastly greater than the subsonic rounds above.
I would highly recommend watching the TV listings to see if you can catch this episode in rerun if you missed it last night. Oh, and before I forget, the rest of the show involved strapping rockets to a playground swing. That was pretty cool, too.
We need to be able to identify him as one of those to be spared when we start killing lawyers:
Widow sues Kaiser in delivery room tragedyAnd this is Kaiser's fault... how?Suit alleges hospital negligence after husband collapsed
By by Associated Press
SAN BERNARDINO � A widowed mother of two sued the Kaiser hospital system alleging her husband fainted while helping her give birth and fatally struck his head when he fell.
The lawsuit claims Steven Passalaqua, 33, died last year after he was asked to help hold his wife, Jeanette, while a needle was inserted in her back for an epidural anesthetic injection during labor.Same question.
"This avoidable tragedy was a direct result of Kaiser's ordinary negligence in failing to exercise reasonable care to prevent foreseeable injuries to Steven," according to the suit, which was filed last week in San Bernardino County Superior Court.Avoidable? Forseeable injuries? Not to sound callous about a tragic accident, but how in the blue blazes is Kaiser supposed to foresee that the guy's a sissy that can't stand needles? Especially needles that aren't even going into him?
According to the lawsuit, Mrs. Passalaqua was delivering her son on June 30, 2004, at a Kaiser hospital the suit did not name.I notice the story didn't name the lawyer, either. Come out and fight like a worm, boy!
"Jeanette was shaking, and Kaiser's employee requested that Steven put his arms around her and hold her during the administration of the epidural," the suit said.And the negligence is... ?
The first attempt to inject her failed. During the second, Passalaqua saw the needle enter his wife's spine, said "here we go again," released his wife, lost consciousness and fell backwards, hitting his head on an aluminum cap molding at the base of a wall, according to the suit.And... what? Kaiser should have put the aluminum cap someplace else? They should have foreseen that some weenie would faint on it?
Passalaqua suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain that worsened and he died two days later, the suit said.Again, I don't want to sound callous, especially since he leaves two kids behind, but I don't see any basis for a lawsuit when the guy faints at the sight of a needle.
Is it live or is it Harold and Maude?
(Via the Bingster, who foolishly sent me the link before he posted on it knowing full well that I would steal it without attribution)
I want to conduct a little survey. I received by email a list of Palestinian jokes by a standup comic of Palestinian descent named Goffaq Yussef [Ed.: I misread it, he's Muslim, don't know if he's Palestinian]. My question is: should I post them? I thought they were pretty funny, but perhaps I'm not the best judge.
I'll take votes in the comments for 10 minutes or until noon, whichever comes first. Or as long as I want.
UPDATE: Well, the consensus seems to be "go for it". Since it's been ages since anyone declared a good jihad against me (or as the kids say, "phatwa"), here goes:
A LITTLE MUSLIM HUMOR
Jokes from Muslim stand-up comic Goffaq Yussef. Maybe a sign of peace when
we start hearing humour from a Palestinian perspective...
Good evening gentlemen, and get out, ladies.
On my flight to New York there must have been an Israeli in the bathroom the
entire time. There was a sign on the door that said, "Occupied."
What do you say to a Muslim woman with two black eyes?
Nothing! You told her twice already!
How many Palestinians does it take to change a light bulb?
None! They sit in the dark forever and blame the Jews for it!
Did you hear about the Broadway play, "The Palestinians"? It bombed!
What do you call a first-time offender in Saudi Arabia? Lefty!
Did you hear about the Muslim strip club?
It features full facial nudity!
Why do Palestinians find it convenient to live on the West Bank?
Because it's just a stone's throw from Israel!
Why are Palestinian boys luckier than American boys?
Because every Palestinian boy will get to join a rock group!
A Palestinian suspect was being grilled by Israeli police.
"Honest, I'm not a suicide bomber," he said. "I didn't say I wanted to blow
myself up so I could sleep with 72 virgins. All I said was I'm dying to get
laid!"
What does the sign say above the nursery in a Palestinian maternity ward?
"Live ammunition."
Palestinian girl says to her mommy: "After Abdul blows himself up, can I
have his room?"
UPDATE: Peteb in the comments notes that the she wasn't introduced that way on the show. I listened to the entire link provided and didn't hear her referred to that way, either (possible I missed it, it's hard to listen to her drivel closely). I will assume, then, that Dave in London either misheard or was referring to perhaps a promo spot or something like the reference noted by Peteb. Being the kind-hearted person I am, I won't, without actual evidence, bring up the other possibility.
Just heard a little snippet on the radio provided by frequent Morning Show correspondent Dave in London. We know the BBC (motto: "Where British Tax Dollars Go To Die") dropped use of the word "terrorist" in record time after the murders in London; Dave gives another small example of the anti-American and anti-Western bent of the BBC (other motto: "credibility is undermined by careless use of words which carry emotional or value judgments but those stupid American cowboys don't understand that").
Where was I? Oh yes. On July 1, a BBC "news" personality by the name of Gavin Esler had an interview with someone he introduced as a "Respected authority on American foreign policy".
Please put down any liquids before clicking on the extended entry to learn the identity of this "Respected authority on American foreign policy".
You know, I've always found the All-Star Game kind of stupid, but that's no reason for me not to be happy with the AL winning its EIGHTH IN A ROW (discounting Bud Selig's ridiculous "tie" in 2002). "Expansion league?" Bite me, Ken. ;-)
You're damn right, Sarah Boxer! I'm brutishly flaunting my five-figure salary, the up-to-11 hours a day of (brutishly flaunted) leisure time when I'm not at work or in my (brutishly flaunted) five-year-old car with 110,000 miles on it. I'm brutishly flaunting my modest house in a decent neighborhood, my two kids in college, and the alarm clock that goes off at 4am. And if I had two residences, like Sarah Boxer does, I'd brutishly flaunt BOTH of them.
But as Mad Magazine used to say, "If you got it, brutishly flaunt it!"
Best spam subject line ever:
Emily - We're Waiting To Place People Under You
Eureka! Are they waiting to place people on top of me as well and if so, is that legal in California?
The Weekly Check on the Bias is up. Jeff really doesn't know why AI wants to kill black children, but it seems pretty obvious they do. Funny, I thought liberals were against that sort of thing.
I heard this one on the radio too, but I can't locate a link. That's too bad because it's a great story (no idea if it's true or not, but I hope so). Unfortunately I missed a lot of the details but here's the short version.
Seems there was a baker (professional or amateur, I don't know) who was well known for his cinnamon rolls. He refused to share the recipe, saying he would keep it secret for as long as he lived. And he did. He eventually moved to Israel, continued to bake the cinnamon rolls, and kept the secret for 75 years.
He died a few days ago and at his funeral, his family and friends saw that on his heastone was ... the recipe.
I heard this on the radio on the way to work, and Mr. Bingley found the story. Amazing. As our local RWDBs say, the BBC is like PBS on speed.
Can someone please attempt to explain to me what could possibly be the appeal of this?
Be it known that I am capable of making any blog #1 on google. That's a far better gift this holiday season than some dumb old star.
If you would like to be #1 on google, send a check or money order for $29.95 plus $2.00 shipping and handling ($6.95 outside the continental US), and I will personally provide you with your very own phrase in your comments section, which will become #1 on google within just a few days.
Don't wait. Operators are standing by.
UPDATE: Well, at least SOMEBODY knows how to do it right (thanks, Kathy)
Damn I hate it when headline writers don't bother to actually read the story.
Muslims Join People of Other Faiths in Condemning TerrorismGood. I was happy to hear that Muslims would condemn the murders in England. Let's get to it.
Source: kcbs
Publication date: 2005-07-10(KCBS) - Muslims in the Bay Area stood along side Christian ministers and Jewish community leaders to speak against this week's bombings in London.
Muslim community leaders called on the public to educate their neighbors about the Islam, and how its doctrine of peace differs from extremist ideology.Still waiting for the condemnation�
"If people could just open their hearts and minds and come to our open houses," Amina Ansari of the Council on American Islamic Relations told KCBS's Margie Shafer, "they would learn that education is the key--not hatred and anger and resentment."Oh lovely. They get a quote from one of the largest organizations of terrorism-apologists in the country. Still waiting for a condemnation�
Ansari and other Muslim leaders were joined by Christian and interfaith ministers at the Islamic Society of San Francisco, where religious leaders urged tolerance and understanding towards American Muslims.Yeah, yeah, whatever. Condemnation, please?
"We have a lot of prejudices in our churches and in our communities," said Franciscan priest Friar Vitale. "We have to stand up to that prejudice."Off topic! Where's the condemnation?
Ansari said the Council on American Islamic Relations, a civil and human rights organization, began receiving hate e-mails on Thursday morning.Gee, I wonder why? Here you have a perfectly good opportunity to condemn terrorism, with a pre-fab headline all ready to go, and all you do is whine about mean e mails."E-mails, profanity," said Ansari, "People think Muslims are terrorists."
Souleiman Gahli, president of the Islamic Society where the demonstration was held, stressed to those gathered that extremists who commit violence do not share the same beliefs as ordinary Muslims.Good, now we're getting somewhere. Condemnation on the way�"We will not let them speak on behalf of Islam.," Ghali said. "We will be standing up for Islam and for the values of Islam, for what the Prophet has taught us."
Rev. James DeLang, president of the Interfaith Council of San Francisco, tried to put the message into a Christian perspective.Wait, WTF happened to the condemnation?
"If someone in the name of Christ were to do these things that were done in London," DeLang said, "I would be both devastated, angered, and distressed that such a terrible act had been done in the name of the one in whom I believe."Yeah, and the government would be nailing their sorry asses instead of pandering to whiny crybabies like Ansari.
Marwa Elzankaly, an attorney with the Bay Area Association of Muslim Lawyers, said that government officials need to be educated about Islam even more than the general public.Yes, they should all have Daniel Pipes on their reading lists. And Bernard Lewis.
"Praying five times a day, going to the mosque should not be a basis for whether or not you may or may not have engaged or support terrorist activities," Elzankaly said.No one said it was. But it's a simple fact of reality that, while not all Muslims are terrorists, pretty damn near all terrorists are Muslims. Until the "moderates" wake up to that fact and start pushing back against the extremists instead of crying about some e-mail, they will be viewed with suspicion (and understandably so).
She opposes provisions of the USA Patriot Act that make surveillance of community groups easier to do, a sentiment shared by some of the Christian religious leaders called to speak.How about opposing the murders of innocent people while you're at it?
"We've got to face up to prejudice, whether it comes form the people in the pews, or the government and the Patriot Act," Vitale said.Jesus Christ, Vitale, you already said that and you're starting to sound like an Anglican. Now step aside so we can get to that condemnation we were promised.
Oh crap, the story's over. And not one word of condemnation, just a half-hearted "they don't represent us" and a bunch of whining.
Dear Tree Hugging Sister is right in the middle of Hurricane Dennis, only ten months after Ivan. She seems to be OK, but I know I can speak for Emily and Ken in wishing her and her family well.
And I want to go BACK to Florida?! WTF is wrong with me?
Terjoha posted this in the endless FUCK YEAH! comments below, but I thought of all things that these lines by Noel Coward (the unabridged version not in the comments) deserved space of their own:
London Pride has been handed down to us.
London Pride is a flower that�s free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it for ever will be.
Oh Liza! See the coster barrows,
Vegetable marrows and the fruit piled high.
Oh Liza! Little London sparrows,
Covent Garden Market where the costers cry.
Cockney feet mark the beat of history.
Every street pins a memory down.
Nothing ever can quite replace
The grace of London Town.
There�s a little city flower every spring unfailing
Growing in the crevices by some London railing,
Though it has a Latin name, in town and country-side
We in England call it
London Pride.
London Pride has been handed down to us.
London Pride is a flower that�s free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it for ever will be.
Hey, lady! When the day is dawning
See the policeman yawning on his lonely beat.
Gay lady! Mayfair in the morning,
Hear your footsteps echo in the empty street.
Early rain and the pavement�s glistening.
All Park Lane in a shimmering gown.
Nothing ever could break or harm
The charm of London Town.
In our city darkened now,
Street and square and crescent,
We can feel our living past in our shadowed present,
Ghosts beside our starlit Thames who lived and loved and died
Keep throughout the ages
London Pride.
London Pride has been handed down to us.
London Pride is a flower that�s free.
London Pride means our own dear town to us,
And our pride it for ever will be.
Grey city! Stubbornly implanted,
Taken so for granted
For a thousand years.
Stay, city! Smokily enchanted,
Cradle of our memories and hopes and fears.
Every Blitz your resistance toughening,
From the Ritz to the Anchor and Crown,
Nothing ever could override
The pride of London Town.
I guess I need to post this for the record, even though I hate blogging about blogging:
Part of the reason I wasn't typing about my outrage on this tiny little space of the web following the bombing of London is because I was too distracted by the scrambling around to find out if people that I CARE ABOUT and their loved ones were safe. Does that let me off the hook for not writing a two thousand word essay on why I think it's bad to blow up innocent people while they travel to work on what should have been a normal day like any other? And for the love of whatever pie in the sky, the outrage for every person with the smallest shred of human decency is a fucking given. You are not a special person because you've taken the time to explain your feelings. Caring when something like London happens is not noble. It is normal.
I honestly have no idea who who formally promted so many bloggers to defend themselves on the subject, but I'm with Sheila, who took a nod from this most excellent post by Michele. This space is not a definitive catalog of our thoughts on every subject in the world. I am not under any contract other than the trust of those of you who have become friends (lucky, lucky me) and will not promise anyone here anything beyond what I want when I want it. I have never written a post saying that I worry for hungry orphans, that I'm disgusted that there are parts of the world where slavery still exists, or fully articulated my feelings on the UN's official condemnation of dwarf tossing, but that doesn't mean I don't care about them.
I apologize for the snarky tone there.
Also for the record, the recent bomb blasts in London were only a few in what have been literally thousands of attacks on that city in the course of her long, glorious and sometimes very sad history. Her sons and daughters do not weep in the same manner as America's when she is attacked. They don't make time for outrage. If you haven't read Andrew Sullivan's post on British stoicism, please do yourself the favor right now.
"Right now, a million kettles are boiling."
Damn straight.
That post reminded me of something I saw shortly after the 9/11 attacks. I was sitting with my father watching news coverage at Ground Zero. Some men had formed a workman's line and were passing off debris that was being removed from the wreckage of the World Trade Center. The destruction was massive and it was going to take months, possibly years and involve a crew of hundreds equipped with huge industrial machinery. Everybody knew this. Yet there these men were, picking up the pieces with their hands in a gesture so small, you could almost fairly describe it as futile. My father made a comment about their efforts being pointless and how much quicker it would be once the larger, organized task was underway. All I could think to answer was "it's better than standing around and crying."
STOICISM.
We're Not Afraid. Piss on all those candy-ass headtilting "we're sorry" pussies.
I especially like this guy.
Via Don Wilson in the comments.
UPDATE: BAHAHAHA! Holey Moley, they're up to 750 ALREADY! Kick ass, people!
This stays at the top all day today. (Suggested by Robert Mayer, who also notes that the Union Jack became the first foreign flag ever to be raised over the State Department)
Fuck you. Go get your sorry ass raped and killed by one of your Islamoscum friends. Via KK.
I saw this image at Andrea's and it struck me that a currently common phrase could use a comma for the duration of the War as a gesture of solidarity of the Anglosphere.
UNION, JACK!
In the Mirror, of all places:
By George Galloway's logic, British squaddies in Iraq are the root cause of dead bodies at home. How can anyone bear to be so wicked and stupid? How can anyone bear to act as a megaphone for psychotic killers?
He continues:
We shall track down those responsible. States that shelter them will know no peace. Communities that shelter them do not take forever to discover their mistake. And their sordid love of death is as nothing compared to our love of London, which we will defend as always, and which will survive this with ease.
As Glenn says, read the whole thing.
(via Hugh Hewitt)
WunderKraut has a little google game going. For what phrases is your site Number One on Google? I already left two at the CotS post that spawned the idea.
So get thee thither and comment.
I have never seen the guy look or sound more exhausted. There was a long gaping pause between each of his words, and "ums" and "uhs" that aren't part of his normally polished pitch-perfect speech pattern. In his quintessentially British stoic defiant way, he went on about what the G8 meeting had been scheduled to deal with almost as if the bombing yesterday never took place, yet he was visibly struggling: had he simply collapsed at the podium, it would not have surprised me.
Those of you who read this blog regularly (and I'm aware we've had just a FEW new visitors yesterday and today) know that I've had my differences with Blair, going all the way back to when I did opposition research for the Tories in 1996. I still look forward to the Labour Party's eventual electoral defeat. But now isn't the time for that sort of thing. He has stood by America's side come what may, and now he deserves no less from us in return, so as just one American voice, I cannot say "thank you," enough.
Sheila has a great series of entries up right now starting here with a letter that starts "Dear Terrorists":
I think it's time for a history lesson. I realize that you are uninterested in infidel history. This has been the case even during the glory days of Islam, during the West's dark ages, when you were far ahead of us in terms of education, infrastructure, science, astronomy, everything. You flourished. Europe floundered. European countries would send diplomats and scientists and envoys to your countries, so that they could study in your universities, use your astronomical observatories, and write home about the customs of your land. You all never returned the favor. Because we were infidels. What could you learn from infidels?Perhaps that was true in the Dark Ages, but it is no longer true, and you are ignorant now of reality.
Well, I am here to tell you that you are WAY off in your estimation of the British character. Are you aware of even the FRACTION of stuff these people have endured on their own soil?
The first thing I thought of as I read those posts was Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year, which was set in 1665 during an outbreak of the bubonic plague in London. The outbreak was referred to as "the great visitation" in the introduction.
These are people that call an outbreak of the plague a "visitation."
Lost in all the coverage of the London attacks is this appalling story:
Political talk isn't cheap, according to rulingUtterly, utterly appalling. Political contributions are subject to limits, now apparently speech may be subject to contribution limits.
By BILL VIRGIN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTERTalk-radio hosts regularly discuss candidates and ballot issues, often with a particular point of view in favor of one or opposed to another.
Do those comments constitute a financial contribution to a campaign?
Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham thinks they do. In a ruling issued Friday, Wickham said the comments and activities by KVI-AM (570) hosts Kirby Wilbur and John Carlson on behalf of the Initiative 912 campaign are in-kind contributions that must be reported to the Public Disclosure Commission.
Wrote [Judge] Wickham, "In the area of speech, requiring disclosure of in-kind contributions for media time allocated to campaigning for a political campaign will not restrict that campaigning, but merely require it to be disclosed to the general public, much the same as any other valuable contribution." As part of his ruling he ordered No New Gas Tax to disclose "all in-kind media contributions."Um, isn't there very act of talking on the radio a form of "public disclosure"?
The ruling has attracted attention beyond Washington's borders. "It is absolutely stunning in terms of the philosophical and theoretical questions it raises," says Michael Harrison, publisher of the talk-radio trade magazine Talkers; Harrison adds that he's not aware of a similar case elsewhere in the country.Funny, it happened a week ago and I've seen absolutely nothing about it. Has anyone else?
Michael Harrison called it right, though. "Absolutely stunning" it is, indeed.
Via Trigger Finger, who has many more comments (Trigger Finger found by way of my man Jeff).
In the wake of the London bombings, of course, come the inevitable comparisons to the Blitz. Rudy Giulani, among others (including this post found via Jeff Soyer), brought it up and commented on the stoicism of the British.
Dave in London, a frequent correspondent to the KSFO Morning Show, wrote to the show noting that none have yet mentioned the other part of the British response: unleashing the RAF to turn the terror bombing back on Germany, including the firebombing of Dresden. "THAT is how you win a war", as the man says.
And I mean ENFORCE, as in holding trials and hanging the scumbags in Gitmo instead of treating them like houseguests. And it's why I consider Durbin, et al., traitors:
7 July 2005; 12:54 ET: Preliminary reports from a source inside the Pentagon indicate that one of the operatives involved in this morning's bombings in London was recently released from the prison at Guantanamo.Yeah, it's preliminary but reportedly several Gitmo releases have already been recaptured on the battlefields so it's certainly not implausible.UPDATED 10:35 PM ET: A clarification was made by the source providing this information, noting that "one of the bombers who is believed to be involved in this attack was recently released from the prison at Guantanamo, Cuba." The source did not elaborate about how the suspect was reportedly identified so early, although suggested he was onboard bus 30 that exploded outside of the British Medical Association at 9:47 local time. We are continuing our investigation.
Can anyone out there please explain why anyone who enables terrorists, contributes money to terrorists, apologizes for terrorists, excuses terrorists, blames the victims of terrorists, and/or otherwise provides any kind of support whatsoever for terrorists, should not be considered a terrorist and treated accordingly?
I won't link to the bastards, but just check around and you'll find them. Galloway. Kossacks (apparently that's what they call themselves). Democratic Underground. Why should we not simply believe what they are trying to make obvious? They are on the side of the Islamists and are therefore enemies of the West, of freedom, and of humanity.
This is not to be callous in light of the horrors that happened today in London, but I thought our British friends could use as many gestures of support as possible. If you want to read further, check the extended entry and feel free to add anything to the list that you like.
Bangers! FUCK YEAH!
Mash! FUCK YEAH!
Goofy hats! FUCK YEAH!
The Queen! FUCK YEAH!
Boddingtons! FUCK YEAH!
The MI-5! FUCK YEAH!
Monty Python! FUCK YEAH!
Blood pudding! ER...fuck yeah!
Mad Cows! FUCK YEAH!
Scotland! FUCK YEAH!
The Royal Navy! FUCK YEAH!
The Beatles! FUCK YEAH!
PG Tips! FUCK YEAH!
Page Three Girls! FUCK YEAH!
Black taxis! FUCK YEAH!
Beefeaters! FUCK YEAH!
The Union Jack! FUCK YEAH!
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
--Henry V, Act III, Scene 1
...as Emily said, is with the people of London today, through tears of rage more than sorrow. I love that city dearly, and if there's one comfort I do feel it's that the monsters who did this picked the wrong place and the wrong people to fuck with.
Along with our friend Andrew, as Ken noted below, Tim Worstall is also a good place for lots of updates on today's attacks in London.
Yes, they were ATTACKS. This is not a "tragedy." Tragedies are the result of uncontrollable human error. This was intentional. It was calculated to harm as many innocent people going about their daily business as possible. The savages responsible MEANT TO KILL.
To all of our friends in Britain, our hearts are with you today. I hope you and those close to you are safe.
Why I don't support aid to Africa. In a nutshell.
They really shouldn't have called it "Live 8". They should have called it "Live Ones".
Find.
Kill.
Repeat.
UPDATE: Andrew Ian Dodge is liveblogging
Holy crap. Has Nicholas Kristof been replaced by a pod person? He said some very flattering things about President Bush and conservatives, and some very unflattering things about President Clinton. Registration probably required.
Bush, a Friend of AfricaThat sound you hear is the sound of ice forming in Hell.
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: July 5, 2005Those who care about Africa tend to think that the appropriate attitude toward President Bush is a medley of fury and contempt.
But the fact is that Mr. Bush has done much more for Africa than Bill Clinton ever did, increasing the money actually spent for aid there by two-thirds so far, and setting in motion an eventual tripling of aid for Africa. Mr. Bush's crowning achievement was ending one war in Sudan, between north and south. And while Mr. Bush has done shamefully little to stop Sudan's other conflict - the genocide in Darfur - that's more than Mr. Clinton's response to genocide in Rwanda (which was to issue a magnificent apology afterward).
So as the G-8 summit meeting convenes this week, focusing on Africa, it's worth acknowledging that Mr. Bush, and conservatives generally, have in many ways been great for the developing world. At their best, they bring a healthy dose of hands-on practicality to their efforts.
The liberal approach to helping the poor is sometimes to sponsor a U.N. conference and give ringing speeches calling for changed laws and more international assistance.Read the whole thing. Naturally, Kristof can't help with a little Bush-bashing toward the end (probably even deserved) but still, it's a great step in the right direction for him to recognize that Bush is not the focus of evil in the world.In contrast, a standard conservative approach is to sponsor a missionary hospital or school. One magnificent example is the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, where missionary doctors repair obstetric injuries that have left Ethiopian women incontinent.
ChIraq is French. He probably already has a spotted dick.
Interesting little sidelight to the Olympics story. Instaman notes the story about Chirac badmouthing English food, saying:
"You can't trust people who cook as badly as that. After Finland, it's the country with the worst food."The punchline? The linked story doesn't say it nor does this one, but I heard on the radio that two of the judges were Finnish. Chirac may have killed Paris's chances with his comment. [UPDATE: A little more from the radio: apparently, Paris actually was the favorite before Chirac opened his mouth]
HAHAHAHAHA!
UPDATE II: Instalanche! Thank you kindly, Perfessor! And already a trackback from the Netherlands. I'd like to thank the Academy...
UPDATE C: Maybe the French can start their own Olympics. "Competitive smoking, mixed doubles rudeness, freeform rioting, and the individual ennui endurance challenge."
Hmm. I don't recall hearing anything about this in the local media. Or the national media.
Budapest planning to erect bust of Ronald Reagan in city parkUnlike liberals in this country, they don't seem to claim that Reagan had nothing to do with the fall of the Soviet Union. Also unlike liberals in this country, they don't mourn the fall of the Soviet Union.BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) - The city council will vote this month on a plan to erect a bust of former President Ronald Reagan in a park, officials said Monday.
A small center-right party, the Hungarian Democratic Forum, proposed the idea for putting a bust of Reagan near an existing statue of George Washington in City Park, a popular recreation site in the capital.
Szoke said he expected other parties to back the proposal, based on preliminary talks.I suspect those talks didn't include the Communist Party. But then, after the Unpleasantness in '56 and another 30-some years of Soviet domination, it's entirely possible that there are no Communists in Hungary. Live ones, anyway.
"Although he never visited Hungary, Ronald Reagan was the American president who most contributed to the democratic changes in this country," said Democratic Forum councilman Laszlo Szoke. "He was one of the most meaningful conservative politicians who helped end communism."Not that you'll hear that much in our media. They don't like to remember it. But the mayor of Budapest does:
The motion was tabled by Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) councillors and supported by G�bor Demszky, the Mayor of Budapest.Sounds like it worked. Right on, Ronnie.Demszky said that a letter from the former US president had saved him from being imprisoned for his opposition to the then r�gime.
The letter had called for Demszky's trial to be carried out in a "fair and legal" fashion.
Ward Churchill got a raise from the chickenshit administrators in Colorado. They call it a "merit increase". What he really merits, of course, is fragging.
On the other hand, he is attempting to do the administration's job by filing a complaint against himself.
You say "Huh?" That's what I said, too.
As for the other charges against him, he doesn't expect the review to go well:
Churchill, a tenured professor of ethnic studies, said the initial review will probably go against him because the committee is stacked with faculty from the hard sciences, which has"Not rigged", in ethnic studies, apparently means "stacked with overpaid, undereducated, race-baiting commies". Oh well, I guess he'll have to prove his case by linear, Eurocentric logic and evidence, instead of whatever passes for logic and evidence in ethnic studies.differentactual standards for evidence and interpretation than social sciences."This has been rigged," he said.
Those Texas Hold'em trackback-spamming pricks are back. Die you filthy roach-humpers.
Tuesday, June 28 -- flew down at (groan) 6:30 in the morning, checked into impersonal corporate downtown hotel, unpacked, gradually wandered over to South Beach.
Tuesday night -- enjoyed South Beach
Wednesday, June 29 -- first interview at the State Attorney's office: responded as two prosecutors threw increasingly complex hypotheticals at me. They liked me and so, after lunch, had second interview with a Chief Assistant that was (relatively) more low-key. Met with recruiting coordinator, told to call back about third interview for Friday.
Wednesday night -- enjoyed South Beach
Thursday, June 30 -- called about third interview, told to call back later. Called back later; told to call back Friday. Wandered around Cloud City, er, downtown Miami, dropping resumes at legal search firms in some measure of desperation.
Thursday night -- enjoyed South Beach
Friday, July 1 -- called back yet again, told they probably want me for a third interview , but they can't do it now, so I probably have to fly back down again later. Went to more legal search firms just in case.
Friday night -- REALLY enjoyed South Beach
Saturday, July 2 -- hung out at ManCamp with Val, Steve and associated hangers-on. Talked politics and shit. Ate immense amounts of exceptional Cuban food including (since I'm such a bad Jew) the obligatory roasted pig. Got rather trashed on Steve's homemade beer, but at least I didn't pass out like he did.
Saturday night -- did not go to South Beach, unfortunately, since I knew I had to leave pretty early Sunday morning.
Sunday, July 3 -- ankles bitten to pieces by mosquitoes while waiting for hotel shuttle to airport. Mild congestion turns into what I can only imagine a stroke feels like (or worse) due to changing air pressure as plane descends into Charlotte. Experience serendipity as I meet gorgeous young Floridian law student girl studying in Boston on flight back...but more about her later...hopefully.
All in all, not too bad.
I have no great insights or grand prose to give you this Independence Day. I can't do any better than giving you a repeat of my Patriotic Band Nerd:
and a repeat of a most eloquent quote by Benjamin Harrison, which more than any other I have ever read captures the solemnity and gravity of the signing of the Declaration of Indepencence:
I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead.Happy Birthday, America. And many more.
And to all our military personnel serving everywhere in the world, our sincerest thanks and all our support. We owe you, in the words of a grand document, "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor". You have never failed us; I only hope we will not fail you.
Shannon has some fun with an article comparing ad agencies to cults. I have added some emphasis.
-The cult is authoritarian in its power structure. The leader is regarded as the supreme authority. He or she may delegate certain power to a few subordinates for the purpose of seeing that members adhere to the leader's wishes and roles.Hmm. Sounds like a typical law firm. And more than a few biotech companies.-The cult's leaders tend to be charismatic, determined, and domineering. They persuade followers to drop their families, jobs, careers, and friends to follow them. They (not the individual) then take over control of their followers' possessions, money, lives.
-The cult's leaders are self-appointed, messianic persons who claim to have a special mission in life.
-The cult's leaders center the veneration of members upon themselves.
-The cult tends to be totalitarian in its control of the behavior of its members.
-The cult tends to have a double set of ethics. Members are urged to be open and honest within the group, and confess all to the leaders. On the other hand, they are encouraged to deceive and manipulate outsiders or nonmembers.
-The cult has basically only two purposes, recruiting new members and fund-raising. Established religions and altruistic movements may also recruit and raise funds. The cults may claim to make social contributions, but in actuality these remain mere claims, or gestures. Their focus is always dominated by recruiting new members and fund-raising.
-The cult appears to be innovative and exclusive. The leader claims to be breaking with tradition, offering something novel, and instituting the only viable system for change that will solve life's problems or the world's ills. While claiming this, the cult then surreptitiously uses systems of psychological coercion on its members to inhibit their ability to examine the actual validity of the claims of the leader and the cult.
UPDATE: Link fixed. Duh. I'll write more about this later.
