Congratulations to the Iraqi people! And a just rebuff to the beheaders...

Covey Corner

Being a long-time "7 Habits" fan, I've been recommending Stephen Covey's "The 8th Habit" to all. One of my victims sends back this as his favorite excerpt so far:

The truth is you can never succeed with stockholders until you first succeed in the marketplace, and you can never succeed in the marketplace until you first succeed in the workplace. (page 110)

Now you know why you need to read it too...

T-SHIRT SPOTTING: "I'm trying to find myself. If I should get back before I return, please ask me to wait."

Glenn has an interesting and varied (read: this one isn't amenable to a 10-minute solution) post on the decline of American science. Check it out.

"Then Achmed the Saudi raises his hand. Now, you have to understand, Achmed is pretty much the team wiseass, so half the room was smiling and the other half was cringing when he stood up. “Imam,” he says, “let’s go back to phase number one on your waterfall chart. Ummmm, how does this expel-the-crusaders thing happen again?”

So Zawahiri just sorta stands there, mute for a minute, and says, “well, er, the vision statement is really very simple. We build mindshare with the masses with six-sigma beheading QC processes, and then the kaffirs will run away like in Vietnam. We just need to be ready for it, like the Vietnamese.”

Achmed just stands there and looks at him, completely deadpan.

“No seriously, this is exactly what happens with best-of-breed insurgencies, like Vietnam,” says Zawahiri. “It’s in all the books.”

So then, Achmed does this sarcastic confused look, and starts scratching his temple with his left stump. Man, it’s a good thing they broke for lunch, because I thought I was going to fucking crack up."

Today's Islamic Nihilism Update

Phares takes on Dr. Z's "old news". Actually, I think that the interesting part is of course not the old news -- although our peurile fascifist crowd could never digest that without their heads literally melting. No, the interesting stuff is the possibility that the Islamofascists are actually considering the need to stop machine gunning children to death so they can gain more sympathy from the populace.

Not that is a given mind you -- it's a worthy debate since Dr. al-Z has brought it up though.

Of course, anyone with an actual functioning brain would realize within about 12 nanoseconds that even the need for such a debate would be the very definition of nihilistic insanity.

End. Full Stop. Cuckoo.

About that (Reid-ian) Theocracy...

The Repulsive Chirac

CHECK THIS OUT:

"Perhaps Chirac's deepest friendship has been with Saddam Hussein.[30] The two first met in December 1974 when Prime Minister Chirac visited Baghdad to negotiate trade agreements, including the delivery of a nuclear reactor[31] later destroyed by an Israeli air raid in 1981. When Hussein visited France the following September—his only visit to a Western country[32]—then-prime minister Chirac said, "I welcome you as my personal friend. I assure you of my esteem, my consideration, and my affection."[33]

Resigning from government in 1976, Chirac founded the Rassemblement pour la Republique, which would soon become France's largest political party. There remain persistent rumors that Hussein helped finance the party, supported by allegations by Lebanese arms merchant Sarkis Soghanalian[34] and by various Iraqi politicians. In 1992, Saddam reportedly threatened to expose French leaders who had earlier accepted his largesse. "From Mr. Chirac to Mr. Chevènement, politicians and economic leaders were in open competition to spend time with us and flatter us," the Iraqi leader reportedly said. "We have now grasped the reality of the situation [of France's support for the 1991 Gulf War, a betrayal in Saddam's eyes]. If the trickery continues, we will be forced to unmask them, all of them, before the French public."[35] According to an aide, Chirac's friendship with Hussein was such that he would stop for a night in Baghdad whenever he traveled between Paris and Asia.[36]"

I'd tell you what I really think of Chirac and the French except it would scald your eyeballs. You might check out "The Wanted War" for a mild introduction though... [HT Power Line]

Like A Moth To The Drain

"It does, however, demonstrate the toxic combination of hyperbolic media and sensational events. Not content with reporting the news that happened before their eyes, media outlets had to reach beyond the news to report events that never happened, all without doing even basic research to determine the veracity of their reports. How difficult would it have been for NBC or the New York Times to get a test of the water before unleashing reports on the so-called toxic soup? How about getting reporters to verify accounts of rapes and murders by the score before airing such rumors to a repulsed nation?

How many people did these reports turn away who might otherwise have offered assistance? Laughably, the media gave itself a big pat on the back within days of the Katrina disaster, declaring themselves vindicated after a year of CBS memo debacles and Eason Jordan embarrassments. Only much later can we see that they learned nothing over that past year and have moved themselves even closer to the National Enquirer in terms of credibility. Instead of congratulating themselves, the media needs to eliminate the hysterics that drive the news coverage during unfolding catastrophes to make sure that they don't contribute even more damage to the victims and the nation."

TODAY'S NYeT: "Perhaps the Gray Lady finds democracy too distasteful for her scrubbed hands, but the rest of us find these developments very pleasing and reason for hope of eventual unity and peace.

Or if you can't cheer up, at least hire someone who knows how to write an honest editorial."

Brother Michael Is Back

"In a world like that, several things happen. Above all, creative activity ceases to exist, since culture depends on advancing knowledge and improving understanding. Neither of these interests the clerical fascists who rule the terror countries. They want good little Muslim androids, who will accept the preposterous belief that all knowledge was acquired several centuries ago and that man’s only worthwhile intellectual activity is to imbibe that knowledge in order to recite it when called for.

The most devastating critique of such a system is laughter, which the leaders of the terror regimes can not and dare not tolerate. Laughter bespeaks fun, and fun is totally forbidden. Remember the Taliban, from whose caves Osama bin Laden and his merry band of killers emerged about ten years ago? They not only locked away all the women, they banned music. Some French film producer went all over Afghanistan, filming eerie landscapes featuring poles driven into the ground, wrapped with audio tape. The only sound was the rustling of the tape in the wind. This was the country in which Osama et al. found the perfect atmosphere for their preparations for the jihad."

"If you had high hopes for the President Bush's shiny new Tax Reform Commission, then do yourself a favor and dash your hopes on some sharp pointy rocks right now."

And just keep scrolling while you're there...

Well, no, we didn't actually mean the really rich!

"No doubt the bien pensants will still be hooting at born-again Texans on the day the House of Lords gives a second reading to the Sharia Bill."

About that Caliphate...

"We suffered a stunning surprise attack at the hands of the Japanese in 1941, just as we have from al Qaeda. The Japanese believed that their religion (a divine Emperor) would provide the ultimate victory, and their kamikaze bombers destroyed themselves in attacking us in their emperor's name. Sound familiar?"

"something didn't still doesn't feel right."

Did I mention the high cost of high school failure?

I don't either.

Happy Columbus Day...

"But we are living in a strange world when cynical opportunism can masquerade as moral superiority, and get away with it."

"It's the same people who think that hatred consists of nothing more than a misunderstanding, and that a nice, friendly conversation cures evil."

UMPH... Pants're tight...

Looks like time for another Salvation Army donation...

"Why are we hearing this stuff from Beldar and not the Administration?"