Fahrencrap 9/11 will be shown free-of-charge in Seoul in an effort to get more Koreans to see the movie and oppose the deployment of Korean troops to Iraq. Mission accomplished, Michael Moore.

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Some good stuff on Instapundit today. First, a quote from reader David Pinto:

We've done a pretty good job of surrounding potential trouble makers. Pakistan has the US on one side and India on the other. Iran has the US on two fronts. And Syria has the US and Israel on two fronts. Not a bad strategic maneuver.

Indeed, as Glenn would say. And then there's this link on what really happened to the oil-for-food money...

Ain't that a kick in the pants?

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I am doing a three-person chat with Red 6 and Blue 6 as we speak! Husband and Best Friend are talking shop, and I'm sitting back and enjoying them being themselves. It's great to see them let off some steam and make jokes. I can't wait to see it in person...

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Sorry, I put off all my grading this weekend to make meatloaf and sit around doing nothing, so I'm swamped today. You'll have to read someone else's blog instead...

But I will let you in on my backed-up knitting project. Here's my newest sweater:

Yeah, it's a pile (and not a very clearly photographed one, at that). I ran out of yarn right at the very end, so I'm waiting for my mom to mail me another skein. It's gonna look like this eventually, but for now I'm stuck with a pile of pieces.

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This is when I let out a huge incredible-hulkish growl.
Germany to Drop Charges Against 9/11 Plotter

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I was just sitting at the kitchen table grading papers when I looked up to see a Military Police vehicle parked in front of my house and an MP out in my yard. I froze. We live right next to a corner where lots of people get tickets, so I knew he was probably just clocking people, and I know in the rational parts of my brain that MPs do not do casualty notification, but I decided to check it out. He said there had been a noise complaint in the area, so he was listening for loud music. I told him that when your husband's deployed, an MP is the last person you want to see in your yard. He laughed and apologized, and when I walked back in the house, I realized I was shaking and crumbling fast.

No matter how many times you imagine the scenario -- and believe me, we lie in bed on bad nights and think about it -- I guess nothing can really prepare you for that knock on the door. As I shut the door and swallowed the lump in my throat, I wondered if I really would be as strong and brave as I am in my imagination.

I didn't feel very strong ten minutes ago.

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According to Garrison Keillor, the definition of a Republican is

...hairy-backed swamp developers and corporate shills, faith-based economists, see-through fundamentalist bullies with Bibles, Christians of convenience, freelance racists, hobby cops, misanthropic frat boys, lizardskin cigar monkeys, jerktown romeos, ninja dittoheads, the shrieking midgets of AM radio, tax cheats, cheese merchants, cat stranglers, taxi dancers, grab-ass executives, gun fetishists, genteel pornographers, pill pushers, chronic nappers, nihilists in golf pants, backed-up Baptists, Crips and Bloods of the boardroom...

Wow, those are some fun descriptions. Though try as I might, I just can't fit myself into any of those categories, despite the fact that I have met many cats that I would've liked to have strangled. If he added war cheerleaders and clueless fucktards, then I'd fit right in...

(Via Powerline)

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1 Unless someone will own up to having put LSD into Keillor's coffee, he should see his brain-care specialist at once!

Posted by: Francis W. Porretto at July 18, 2004 08:37 AM (MzH7h)

2 Maybe we aren't as divided as we think. I could name a Democrat that fits each of those descriptions! In fact, John Kerry is trying hard to be all of them this year!

Posted by: Mike at July 18, 2004 01:27 PM (tJNpU)

3 I'm a Republican. And I'm also an American of Mexican descent, a woman, a writer, with two degrees both in American and English Literature, a wife, an ex-liberal and ex-democrat. Geez my list is less exotic than Keeler's, but much more honest, and I bet there are many more out there that fit my list rather than Keeler's stereotypical rant that use words to confuse and label rather than illuminate and define. To a writer from a writer: never abuse the truth with words that attempt to sound like the truth, because when you do you reveal the soul of your pen and the ink becomes the blood that spills rather than keep the arteries of truth alive.

Posted by: Moor at July 18, 2004 05:51 PM (xvwyL)

4 Keillor is an ass. I refuse to listen to him on AFN on Sundays anymore.

Posted by: richard at July 19, 2004 01:32 AM (dY+QS)

5 Glad to see you recovering from the troll attack of a couple weeks ago...

Posted by: Princess Jami at July 20, 2004 05:46 PM (0gPLe)

6 I read recently that the difference between the Left and the Right is that the Right thinks that their opponents are mistaken, wrongheaded or unrealistic while the Left thinks their opponents are stupid, corrupt and evil. Keillor expresses that latter sentiment well, but he goes over the top. It feels as though he is desperate to prove something. Who's he trying to convince-- himself?

Posted by: Louis Wheeler at July 24, 2004 01:19 AM (mYqjP)

7 http://make.imoney555.com/8kbb/ pathspuffedwalked

Posted by: salty at July 24, 2005 09:17 PM (PlaNP)

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This, via Greyhawk, is one of the funniest things I've heard in a while:

I had to pull radio watch in the War Room last night, and somebody left a copy of the April edition of People Magazine there. So on radio watch, I read how Survivors Rob and Amber are in Love, Kelly Osborne is in Rehab, Omaarosa has a suprising past, and how Reese Witherspoon and hubby Ryan Phillippe bought a house in Los Angeles for 4.9 million. And you know what, after reading that magazine, for a split second, I was glad I was here in Iraq, and not back in America.

Hawk talks in the same post about the lore that people spout off as fact, namely that no one is interested in joining the military anymore because of the deployments. I understand that to not be true, even though I've heard several of my students say the same thing. We talk often in our class about avoiding "lore", like Americans are the fattest people on the planet or more black men are in prison than in college. These common-knowledge bullcrap statements are thrown around all the time because people think they could be true and never bother to research them. Same with the enlistment: it seems plausible that people would no longer want to join the military knowing the dangers involved, but it seems that recruitment and retention rates are steady. That article took me ten seconds to find; why don't most people bother to take those ten seconds before they propagate lore?

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I just finally watched the movie Miracle.
I. Loved. It.
But I bet you guessed I would...

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I found this blog post via Annika's comments section, which made me think of this post I read a long time ago. Do we need to pay more attention to the semantics of this war?

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My mom sent me a nice story a few weeks back that I meant to post and never did. Here's what she wrote:

I just had the nicest thing happen to me. The Insight repairman just came to fix my computer. He fixed it and I now have internet again (as you can see). He says my computer needs to be "cleaned up."

We visited and I told him you have a blogsite that I read every day and that you're in Germany and [husband] is in Iraq. He has a daughter named Sarah too! He went out to his truck two different times and got equipment to fix the computer. When he left, he said he wasn't going to charge me---that with my son-in-law fighting for him in Iraq that that was the least he could do in return. He wanted to be sure I had internet to keep in touch with you. Technically, he didn't have to stay and fix it. I almost cried; wasn't that nice? You see, there are good people in this world who know that we're doing the right thing.

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Some interesting Stars and Stripes articles this morning:
Keane: U.S. 'seduced by Iraqi exiles,' didnÂ’t plan properly for insurgency
Iraqi soldiers take pride in learning U.S. military skills

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There's a strange fine line you walk when you're a white girl who likes rap music. One of my students was writing his paper on the FCC and he wanted to use Eminem as an example of censorship but couldn't think of a good way to work it in. I quoted him a couple of lines from an Eminem song that I thought he could use, and he looked at me in awe: "You know Eminem?" We then talked at length about different rap albums, he made a couple of recommendations that I haven't heard yet, and we had a nice time. He even dared me to teach class in ebonics and encouraged me to use more slang! It was a pretty funny conversation, but it was nice that I never once got the feeling that I was "stealing his culture", which is the feeling I often get when I express interest in rap. I told him I especially enjoy the music for the language and that I can relate a bit to Nelly's Midwest tales, but I know that I certainly can't relate to many of rap's messages the way that he -- a young black kid from NYC -- can. I would never pretend to.

Which is why what John Kerry did at the NAACP looks especially foolish and freaky to me. You can express respect and admiration without making yourself part of the in-group. You can share common ground, but there is a fine line you need to respect.

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Bunker wrote about recycling the other day, and I was reminded of his post this morning when I saw a news clip on the Pentagon Channel here about a recycling program at Ft Knox (no hit on google though). Apparently they're tearing down some old housing, and they've decided to recycle what they can. People in the area are encouraged to come take cabinets, doors, wood, etc while the buildings are still standing. One man interviewed said that he was using the wood to start a new business -- a campsite for kids -- and that he's saved $35,000 so far in supplies from being able to take wood from the recycled buildings. Ft Knox also has saved over $100,000 in not having to pay to dump the materials. Now THAT is a recycling program I completely support, one that pumps money back into the community.

This morning the AFN News channel was on and on about Martha Stewart. I switched over to the Pentagon Channel and caught their news broadcast instead. Top stories: the tale of a group of MPs in Iraq who are transferring duties over to the Iraqi police, the birthday of the Army Rangers, and the recycling program at Ft Knox. Much more interesting, in my opinion, than Martha Stewart.

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1 Reusing is far more effective than recycling.

Posted by: Mike at July 17, 2004 04:21 PM (tJNpU)

2 The recycling program at Ft. Knox is a great idea but not an ideal situation in which to live. The way families in these areas are left to live in very close proximity with half torn buildings for an extended period of time is very dangerous for children. Broken glass inside and out, missing doors and windows, stair wells ripped out, and chunks of sheetrock laying about in an open building sometimes just a couple feet from your front yard where children play is a hassle. If I wasn't stressing about my own little ones wandering off into the building next to me while I ran to pee, I was running off older unattended children playing around and in them. I felt like I could never relax for one second. I even had people coming to collect doors drive their truck through my front yard where my 2 and 3 yr old daughters were playing....looking at us like WE were in THEIR way. This program on Ft. Knox is a terrific idea, but one that needs a little more tweaking I think

Posted by: JJ at July 18, 2004 12:28 AM (8IhJm)

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I read about this story on a billion blogs today. I finally read the whole thing, and my stomach is a mess. I felt scared to death.

Oh yeah, Mama, don't read it. I'll never get you on a plane in September.

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California education chief calls preschooler 'stupid dirty girl'. See also Anger, Boiling over. (via Allahpundit)

The California State Education Secretary made fun of a little girl's name. The NAACP got involved, saying it never would've happened if the girl were white. Um, the girl is white. And when the NAACP figured that out, they said

"Race is not a factor in this issue," Dymally said in Thursday's statement, adding that Riordan had apologized a second time. "It is time for us to move on."

So the State Education Secretary makes fun of a six year old, and it's no big deal, as long as she's not a minority. For the love of pete.

Reminds me of a story back in high school. Our teacher was calling roll on the first day and came to our Indian friend's name, which she proceeded to make fun of, saying it sounded like the noise you make when you sneeze. He was a little taken aback, but retorted with the funny quip, "Well, at least I'm not a Pollack," since her name was obviously Polish. He was kicked out of class and sent to the Dean. As he got up and walked out of class, he said, in a calm tone I'll never forget, "But you sneezed my name."

Come to think of it, those two stories aren't that related. Well, except that they both involve jackasses.

MORE TO GROK:

My bad: Dymally is not associated with the NAACP. They made ridiculous errors and bad judgement calls independent from one another.

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So it's been a while since I checked my blog email. I found lots of nice emails, another $5 for the sewing machine, this beautiful link from Tanker, and an email from my best friend from high school who found my blog and thought she recognized me. Yep, it's me, the same girl who stole a lunch tray from the cafeteria and used to say "buty" all the time. It's good to hear from you.

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Den Beste has a good post about the difference between "Can I?" and "May I?" At the end he touches on persuading vs bullying; what I want to know is why so many in this world point a finger at the US as the world's bully, when France is the one telling other nations to shut up...

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Sander asks an interesting question...

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Lileks is also cool.

I hate this; God I hate this. But I don’t have any longing for normalcy, as Noonan put it the other day, because normalcy was a delusion, a diaphanous curtain draped over the statue of Mars. Nor do I want a time out, a breather, an operational pause. I want to cut to the chase. I want Iran in the hands of its people and leaning to the West again, I want Lebanon independent of Syrian rule, I want Syria isolated and cowed, Arafat dead and buried in the land of his birth – or Paris, symbolically – and the Saudi Civil War done and over with pragmatists in power. I'd like this all tomorrow please.

Noon is fine, if it works for everyone else.

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