Patterico's Pontifications

Posted 12/08/2003 06:53:00 PM by Patrick
HEWITT/SMASH EVIL PACT AND VOTING REMINDER: In order to take advantage of the corrupt deal just reached between Citizen Smash and Hugh Hewitt, I would like to take this opportunity to remind readers how to vote.

Please click on this link and vote for Patterico -- just like Hugh says.

Please vote every 12 hours. If you cannot, you may have to remove your wizbangblog.com cookie, or block cookies from his site. Please do not do this to cheat -- it's wrong, and besides, he'll find out. But if you need to do this to vote every 12 hours, go for it.

All I have to do to accept my part in this evil pact with a clear conscience is to vote for Hugh for best conservative blog at this link -- but I was doing that regularly anyway. You should too.

UPDATE: I am unable to check the results without voting again (which I cannot legally do), so I asked a friend on the phone to check my status. Apparently I am still trailing the "Bitch Girls" by 8 votes. This cannot stand. It is an insult to Hugh Hewitt to imply that he cannot mobilize his audience to overcome this paltry deficit. I implore Hewitt listeners to demonstrate Hugh's influence by voting for me, again and again, every 12 hours, as long as it takes until the "Bitch Girls" are buried beneath a mountain of Hewitt-inspired votes for Patterico.

P.S. Hugh and Smash: it's pronounced "Patter-EEK-oh."

Posted 12/08/2003 06:50:00 AM by Patrick
DEAN'S WORLD DISCUSSION: There is an interesting discussion going on at Dean's World regarding the environment, Michael Crichton, overpopulation, and related issues. Check it out.

Posted 12/08/2003 05:55:00 AM by Patrick
HENTOFF: Although I am coming to it a few days late, I nevertheless recommend Nat Hentoff's latest column on Schiavo.

Posted 12/08/2003 05:54:00 AM by Patrick
MOVE TO MOVABLE TYPE: I worked on this last night with Xrlq, who was very generous with his time as he dealt with various cat issues. I am part of the way there. Soon enough I'll be packing up to the simpler "patterico.com" address -- with hopefully fewer outages, better-working comments, more features, a different look, and other improvements.

Posted 12/07/2003 03:26:00 PM by Patrick
HOWARD DEAN EXPLODES WITH RAGE: Tacitus has the shocking photographic evidence. Just click on the link and scroll down.

Not for weak stomachs!

(Via Pejmanesque.)

Posted 12/07/2003 02:41:00 PM by Patrick
0SPAM: I have taken the advice of Xrlq and begun running 0Spam.com -- the most impressive anti-spam program I have seen. And it's free.

0Spam is especially effective when used in conjunction with MailWasher, another anti-spam program I have used for months now. With MailWasher, you receive no spam, but may spend some time marking and bouncing junk mail. With 0Spam, you need only review your junk mail folder once every week or two to make sure you're not losing good mail. Anything that might theoretically sneak through (which, so far, is absolutely nothing) would get caught by MailWasher.

This is almost miraculous. I highly recommend both programs -- especially 0Spam. (I am now using it with the patterico address as well -- so first-time writers may be forced to confirm their human identity. I have added the appropriate warning under the e-mail link.)

If you are frustrated by spam, you should do yourself a favor and download these free programs today.

Posted 12/07/2003 12:15:00 AM by Patrick
DOWDIFICATION SPREADS AT THE NYT: The ever-forgiving Xrlq (motto: "Quotation marks? Schmotation marks!") probably has no problem with this distortion of a quote in the New York Times. The story was about the new head football coach of Mississippi State. Every other news outlet to cover the event quoted him as saying:

I am the first African-American [football] coach in the S.E.C., but there ain't but one color that matters here, and that color's maroon.

The Times quoted him as saying:

I am the first African-American coach in the S.E.C., but there is only one color that matters here and that color is maroon.

The condescension is palpable.

It is interesting (and slightly encouraging) that the new Times ombudsman sees a problem here.

Posted 12/07/2003 12:06:00 AM by Patrick
E-MAIL FROM A CAPTAIN WHO ATTENDED THE BUSH THANKSGIVING DINNER: Here is an inspiring letter from a captain who was at the Bush Thanksgiving dinner:

Bremer then said that we should probably get someone more senior to read the speech. Then, from behind the camouflage netting, the President of the United States came around. The mess hall actually erupted with hollering. Troops bounded to their feet with shocked smiles and just began cheering with all their hearts. The building actually shook. It was just unreal. I was absolutely stunned. Not only for the obvious, but also because I was only two tables away from the podium. There he stood, less than thirty feet away from me! The cheering went on and on and on.

Soldiers were hollering, cheering, and a lot of them were crying. There was not a dry eye at my table. When he stepped up to the cheering, I could clearly see tears running down his cheeks. It was the most surreal moment I've had in years. Not since my wedding and Aaron being born. Here was this man, our President, came all the way around the world, spending 17 hours on an airplane and landing in the most dangerous airport in the world, where a plane was shot out of the sky not six days before.

Just to spend two hours with his troops. Only to get on a plane and spend another 17 hours flying back. It was a great moment, and I will never forget it.

Before you get too skeptical, you should know that snopes.com has declared this genuine, in part based on posts from NRO's The Corner, here and here.

Posted 12/06/2003 11:37:00 PM by Patrick
FOOTBALL IS FINALLY CAUGHT AND SPIKED: Damian Williams finally received justice yesterday.

Posted 12/06/2003 11:34:00 PM by Patrick
BACK TO THE MOON: Bush says we should go to the moon again. Sounds good to me.

Posted 12/06/2003 11:20:00 PM by Patrick
FLAG BURNER PROSECUTED: Looks like this guy has a pretty damn good appeal.

Posted 12/06/2003 08:54:00 PM by Patrick
MORE PROOF THAT HUMANS WILL CHEAT AT ANYTHING: Even Weblog Awards.

Posted 12/06/2003 08:39:00 PM by Patrick
SPY WIPER FIX? Here is a thread that has a possible fix for the ugly Spy Wiper problem.

Also check out this site.

Posted 12/06/2003 06:09:00 PM by Patrick
THOSE MATERIALISTIC COMMIES: Via the newly blogrolled Captain's Quarters comes this post notifying us of the Communist Party USA's online merchandise store.

At the top of the page is the slogan: "Shop 'till Capitalism Drops!" The sales pitch continues:

Into materialist philosophy? Or just want a commie bear? You want "Bush Out 2004" under where? Does your baby need a Karl Marx bib? For these and other commodity fetishes, start shopping here!

Discerning readers will be reminded of Monty Python's World Forum Sketch, in which Karl Marx answers questions about British soccer as he desperately tries to win a lounge suite.

UPDATE: Not surprisingly, this has drawn the attention of the Commissar.

Posted 12/06/2003 12:55:00 PM by Patrick
BLOGROLL ADDITIONS: Patterico's blogroll is constantly expanding as he finds new blogs with quality writing -- or as he adds blogs that he has been reading for some time, but inexplicably failed to link to.

The new links include blogs from both categories. They are worth a visit. If you like them, tell them in their comments that you heard about them here.

Welcome to Captain's Quarters and Wizbang.

UPDATE: Thanks to Captain Ed for the kind mention!

Posted 12/06/2003 12:11:00 PM by Patrick
AUTHORITIES FLOAT PHONY STORY: Via How Appealing comes the latest news regarding the murder of the Assistant U.S. Attorney from Baltimore, which I first mentioned here.

This story says that authorities "suspect the killing was the result of a personal relationship that turned violent and was not linked to his work."

I don't buy it.

Obviously, I don't know what the authorities know. But this story may be part of a campaign of misdirection, designed to make the true suspects believe they are no longer under suspicion -- which could cause them to be careless and make some mistake that would give them away.

This possibility seemed to me even more likely once I read this story in the Washington Post, and learned that the stab wounds were

shallow puncture wounds described as "prick marks" on his chest, neck and head, suggesting he had been tortured, according to a coroner who examined his body.

Let's review the facts, as set forth in the two stories linked above. A prosecutor receives on his cell phone a late-night phone call that causes him to go to his Baltimore office, where records show he (and his car) were at 11:20 p.m. His body is found at 5:30 the next morning, in the same car, which is nose down in a creek in rural Pennsylvania. The body is fully dressed in suit and tie, with a work identification badge. He was apparently tortured and murdered. And he left his eyeglasses and cell phone in his office -- things that you would think he would take with him if he had voluntarily left the office to go home for the night.

Are we to believe that, in under 48 hours, the authorities eliminated the possibility that there is a link between his death and any case that he ever worked on?

For that to be true, they would have to know who did it and why. Because they couldn't arrive at that conclusion that quickly through the process of elimination.

It's a phony story, folks. The authorities don't know who did it, but the possibility that it was related to his job has not been eliminated, in my opinion.

UPDATE: The FBI is stating that nothing has been ruled out.

Posted 12/06/2003 08:22:00 AM by Patrick
VOTE EARLY AND OFTEN: Wizbang's 2003 Weblog Awards are open for polling. Patterico's Pontifications is nominated for Best Marauding Marsupials Ecosystem Level Blog. If you enjoy Patterico and would like to vote for his blog, you can do so by clicking here.

I need your vote!

And you can vote early and often. You can vote once every 12 hours, through December 14, 2003. So bookmark the location of the Marauding Marsupials contest, and give your voting fingers regular exercise!

P.S. The Ecosystem is explained here. The list of Marauding Marsupials is here. The list is fluid, based on ever-changing hit counter statistics; it is where this blog was at the time of the nominations.

P.P.S. In the first iteration of this post (up for only about 10 minutes) I incorrectly stated that Patterico was the only Bear Flagger nominated in this category. I don't know how I overlooked e-Claire. In any event, this poses no problem for the League. Vote for whichever you like best -- but if you feel torn between us, vote for one of us in the first 12-hour period of the day, and the other in the second 12-hour period! That way you will be elevating the Bear Flaggers above the rest, without favoring one over the other.

P.P.P.S. Patterico is now tied for the top spot with "The Bitch Girls." Hmmm.

I note it now because I expect this can't last. Anyway, thanks for the votes.

Posted 12/05/2003 06:26:00 AM by Patrick
HELP WIZBANG: Kevin Aylward at Wizbang has lost his job, just in time for Christmas. This would be a good time to hit his tip jar (located on his main page, or directly accessible by clicking here).

Kevin is, of course, the man behind the 2003 Weblog Awards, the Bonfire of the Vanities, and the ever-handy Wizbang Trackback Form. As he says in the comments to this post below, he gives and gives and gives!

I think it would be very cool if every single Bear Flagger dropped some amount, however small, in Kevin's tip jar. Think of it as a Christmas collection, like at your office. You give a little, but when everybody does the same, it adds up. I count 41 current Bear Flaggers. If we all left Kevin some small amount, it would not only make a noticeable difference for him over the holidays, but it would be a real show of support -- a statement that Bear Flaggers will come together to help worthy people in times of need.

Posted 12/05/2003 05:53:00 AM by Patrick
THE COUNCIL HAS SPOKEN: The winners in this week's Watcher's Council vote have been announced. Congratulations to Alpha Patriot for the winning Council entry: President Bush Visits Iraq; and to USS Clueless for the winning non-Council entry: A letter from Tehran.

Posted 12/04/2003 08:44:00 PM by Patrick
NEWS FLASH: In breaking news, Fox News has a story with the shocking headline: FBI: Terrorists Could Use Planes as Weapons.

Posted 12/04/2003 08:04:00 PM by Patrick
TRUTH IS MORE IRONIC THAN FICTION: In a story that sounds like a parody but is not, the Dog Trainer today reports that a rap label previously called "Murder Inc." has changed its name to "The Inc.":

"It seems as though no one is really looking at the talent," label chief Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo said at a news conference in New York, where he was joined by label stars Ja Rule and Ashanti. "All of these big records, and people would still come back and focus on the negative word 'murder.'"

You can't make up stuff this good.

P.S. Tends to remind one of the rapper named C-Murder who was convicted of -- well, I'll let you guess.

Posted 12/04/2003 06:37:00 PM by Patrick
FEDERAL PROSECUTOR MURDERED: This is disturbing. (Via How Appealing.)

Posted 12/04/2003 05:55:00 AM by Patrick
BRITS EXPLAINED: Via Dave Barry's Blog comes this story, about people deliberately ingesting worms for medical reasons. The story has so many priceless quotes that one is tempted to advise readers (InstaPundit-style) to Read the Whole Thing.™

For example, the doctor who recommends this therapy says:

People have what I consider an irrational fear of worms. Nobody wants to go to the toilet and look into the toilet and see something wiggle.

How utterly irrational. Another good quote:

Another person feeling the benefit of a worm infestation is academic researcher Alan Brown . . . Dr Brown examines his own faeces under the microscope to try to gauge how many worms currently reside within him.

"Given the number of eggs there, there's about 300 hookworms in my guts."

Can't you hear the pride in his voice?

Finally, the story offers this insight: "One third of Britons carry the toxoplasma parasite in their brain."

I have no idea what the "toxoplasma parasite" is, but I feel oddly certain that this parasite is somehow responsible for much of the confusing behavior displayed by many Britons as of late, including:

* Those statements by the mayor of London that George Bush is "the greatest threat to life on this planet" whose policies will "doom us to extinction";

* The actions of the Britons who toppled George Bush's statue in Trafalgar Square; and

* Eating kidney pie.

UPDATE: As you can see, Patterico's Pontifications just posted priceless phrases from a piece about people across the pond proudly partaking of parasites. What luck that Venomous Kate's letter of the day is "P"!

Posted 12/04/2003 05:55:00 AM by Patrick
WELCOME: To new Bear Flagger Little Miss Attila.

Posted 12/03/2003 10:37:00 PM by Patrick
MY KINGDOM FOR A SCREENSHOT: I just checked N.Z. Bear's Ecosystem rankings. This can't last, but -- Patterico is currently sitting just above Balkinization -- the blog of my extremely liberal former Con Law professor Jack Balkin.

My God, that is sweet.

Posted 12/03/2003 10:00:00 PM by Patrick
SCHIAVO UPDATE: Calblog has the latest on the right to ~~die~~ kill in Florida. (Via Xrlq.)

Posted 12/03/2003 09:57:00 PM by Patrick
WATCHER'S COUNCIL NOMINATION: For the second time, I have been nominated for best non-Council post in the Watcher's weekly contest. Regardless of the outcome, the nomination is an honor.

Posted 12/03/2003 06:30:00 PM by Patrick
HINT TO TEACHERS: Don't tell your first-grade students that there's no such thing as Santa. (Thanks to reader Dean L. [aka Dean I] for the pointer.)

Posted 12/03/2003 06:10:00 PM by Patrick
IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! IT'S . . . STEVE LOPEZ!: Dog Trainer columnist Steve Lopez says that Abercrombie & Fitch has decided to discontinue what sounds like an incredibly tasteless catalog:

Abercrombie & Fitch, the incorrigible clothier that proudly markets thong underwear to adolescent girls, has suddenly yanked a Christmas catalog that touted group sex and made Victoria's Secret models look like choir girls.

"It's been rotated out of stores to make room for the new fragrance," said Hampton Carney, A&F's New York flack.

From descriptions I have read, it does sound as though the catalog was in very poor taste, given that the store targets some very young customers. But why do you think the company discontinued it? Do you think the decision was due mainly to the tens of thousands of people who threatened a nationwide boycott? Or was it due to Steve Lopez's single column on the issue?

Here's what Lopez says:

Carney claimed the decision had nothing to do with my giving A&F a good beating two Sundays ago, or with several boycott campaigns around the country. They just needed to clear space to "launch" the new perfume.

"You expect me to believe that?" I asked Carney.

Yup, Steve Lopez gets results. Oh, and tens of thousands of potential customers across the country may have helped . . . a bit.

In unrelated news, Lopez recently had a column titled Handing Out Hope, a Dollar at a Time, about a retired Roman Catholic priest who hands out dollar bills to people on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. Lopez writes movingly of the hordes of people who line up to get the dollar bill, which will pay for food -- or liquor, or perhaps 20% of their next crack fix.

The column is interesting because it marks Lopez's realization that even one dollar can be a lot of money to some people. Lopez, who gets paid $300,000 a year to write three columns a week, had previously mocked people who looked forward to saving an average of $140 each on their car taxes. Several weeks ago, I wrote a post taking Lopez to task for this insensitivity.

Lopez claims that his sudden realization of the value of a dollar had nothing to do with my giving Lopez a good beating in my previous post.

You expect me to believe that, Steve?

[Warning for irony-impaired: May not have really happened. Lopez's denial may be fictitious.]

UPDATE: Post linked to Outside the Beltway's Traffic Jam.

Posted 12/03/2003 05:49:00 PM by Patrick
THE ~~MORE~~ LESS THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE IDIOTS STAY THE SAME: It's official. Batzel v. Smith, 333 F.3d 1018 (9th Cir. 2003) is still the law, and the people who threatened to sue Justene at Calblog are still idiots.

Posted 12/03/2003 06:50:00 AM by Patrick
CARNIVAL OF THE VANITIES: Begging to Differ hosts this week's Carnival of the Vanities.

Posted 12/03/2003 05:53:00 AM by Patrick
BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES: Wizbang's Bonfire of the Vanities is up, here. It has the worst posts of the blogosphere. Not surprisingly, one of mine is included.

Posted 12/02/2003 09:17:00 PM by Patrick
SCHIAVO UPDATE: According to Fox News, an independent guardian has said that there is "no reasonable medical hope" that Terri Schiavo will improve -- but also recommends swallowing tests to see if she can learn to eat on her own (something that the probate judge has consistently opposed).

I'm not sure why he wants the swallowing tests if he has already concluded that there is no reasonable hope for them to work. Sounds like he's not so sure. . .

Posted 12/02/2003 08:45:00 PM by Patrick
THE FOOTBALLS ON DEAN: Little Green Footballs has a very amusing post criticizing certain statements that Howard Dean made on Hardball. Dean apparently said that it would be fine with him if the International Criminal Court at the Hague tried Osama bin Laden -- despite the fact that the Hague is not entitled to impose the death penalty. LGF also notes that Howard Dean says we should rely on the Soviet Union to address Iran's nuclear capabilities -- despite the fact that no such country exists.

Scary stuff, and good observations from Little Green Footballs.

UPDATE: Patio Pundit has more on Dean's appearance. (Via The Southern California Law Blog.)

Posted 12/02/2003 06:37:00 PM by Patrick
WIZBANG'S 2003 WEBLOG AWARDS: Nominate a blog for Wizbang's 2003 Weblog Awards. Should you wish to second Patterico's self-serving nomination based on Ecosystem categories, he is currently a Marauding Marsupial. Or you could "fourth" his nomination for Best New Blog.

Or, I suppose, you could nominate some other blog. If you really wanted to.

Posted 12/02/2003 06:01:00 AM by Patrick
BYRON YORK ON THE DEMOCRATIC MEMOS: Interesting analogies in this essay by Byron York on the leaked Democratic memos.

UPDATE: Melanie Kirkpatrick at the WSJ also asks why the press is so silent. As if she didn't know. You never heard of liberal bias, Melanie?

She also points out that the memos were not, in fact, purloined. Sen. Leahy's folks failed to put up a firewall, so that all staffers, Republican and Democrat alike, could read everything that was on the shared server. So it appears that no skullduggery was necessary to obtain the memos.

Posted 12/02/2003 06:01:00 AM by Patrick
TRACKBACKS WITH BLOGGER: Reader C.J.A. saw a trackback I did on someone else's blog, and wrote to inquire how I was able to do that from a Blogger blog. The secret is Wizbang's Standalone Trackback Form.

Thanks, Wizbang -- both for the trackback form, and for the pointless Paris Hilton Traffic! The perverted visitors are continuing to roll in. . .

Posted 12/01/2003 10:10:00 PM by Patrick
20 QUESTIONS WITH RICHARD POSNER: How Appealing's excellent monthly interview with an appellate judge is a special treat this month, as Howard Bashman interviews Richard Posner. Read it here.

It is a sad commentary on the perversion of our nominations process that this brilliant judge says he would have a difficult time being nominated today.

Posted 12/01/2003 09:08:00 PM by Patrick
MADSEN'S PATHETIC DEFENSE: Wayne Madsen has this pathetic defense of his ridiculous column (discussed here Saturday) on Bush's alleged "6 a.m." Thanksgiving dinner with the troops -- you know, the one that was really at 6 p.m., except that Madsen screwed up the time and wrote a whole column based on that mistake.

Madsen's explanation? I don't really understand it; you'll have to read it yourself. I think he's saying that he got the timing wrong, and it's George Bush's fault, somehow. Or maybe he didn't get the timing wrong, and there is some conspiracy out there to cover up the true facts. I can't really tell which.

(Via Volokh.)

Posted 12/01/2003 06:04:00 AM by Patrick
GOOD POINT: I saw a pretty convincing letter to the editor regarding gay marriage in yesterday's Dog Trainer:

Convicted murderer Lyle Menendez, who is serving a life term without possibility of parole, was wed in prison to a woman he never knew before his incarceration and with whom he will never be allowed to consummate the marriage (Nov. 21). So much for the argument that marriage is a unique union of two individuals for the purpose of procreation.

The absurdity is that a man who killed his parents in cold blood and will never set foot outside the state penitentiary has greater legal rights to protect the so-called sanctity of his relationship with the person he loves than law-abiding, taxpaying citizens who happen to be gay or lesbian.

Robert J. Switzer

West Hollywood

Hard to argue with that.

Posted 11/30/2003 11:46:00 AM by Patrick
SPLITTING INFINITIVES: Xrlq's excellent post on an error-laden Ass. Press story got me thinking about split infinitives. I noticed that the AP story in question split an infinitive, and I thought that it was about the only thing in the story that the AP got right. I think that splitting infinitives is sometimes necessary to avoid sounding stilted.

Since people have generally teamed up against me on the quotation mark controversy and the "an historical" controversy, I figured I'd offer bloggers yet another chance ~~violently to disagree~~ to violently disagree with me on a grammatical issue.

UPDATE: Xrlq notes that this is (as you might think) a debate that others have already had. The good Prof. Volokh has previously weighed in, in favor of split infinitives -- to which Xrlq responded with this rather complicated discussion. Xrlq appears to (basically) agree with Prof. Volokh and me, but argues that it's not really splitting an infinitive because the "to" is not part of the infinitive. [Previous grammatical awkwardness in the preceding sentence corrected, thanks to an observation by Xrlq in the comments. Gotta be careful with your grammar when you're talking about grammar!] Xrlq denies that this is hairsplitting, but I'm not so sure. Read his post and reach your own judgment.

In any event, it's nice not to have people swarming to disagree with me the way they did the last couple of times. (I'm still right.)

Posted 11/30/2003 10:57:00 AM by Patrick
CALBLOG ON ANTI-SEMITISM: Calblog has a nice essay on Anti-Semitism and the Cure, bringing together some of the recent outrages that show this particular form of discrimination is still alive and well in the world. Justene's solution: teach your children about it.

Posted 11/29/2003 08:42:00 PM by Patrick
WELCOME: Welcome to the two new Bear Flaggers: eTALKINGHEAD.com and Jockularocracy.

Posted 11/29/2003 12:45:00 PM by Patrick
INCREDIBLY STUPID COLUMN EXPOSED, OR, WHY YOU SHOULD THINK TWICE WHEN YOU'RE THE ONLY GUY IN THE WORLD WITH AN AMAZING INSIGHT: Hahahahahahaha. A guy named Wayne Madsen at a leftist site called CounterPunch has an entire column making fun of George Bush for supposedly forcing military personnel to eat that famous Thanksgiving dinner at 6 a.m. The only problem, as Brian O'Connell points out, is that they ate the dinner at 6 p.m.

Based on his sloppy mistake about the time, Madsen writes a whole piece mocking the supposed 6 a.m. dinner. In the process, he makes plenty of idiotic statements. For example, he claims that

our military men and women were downing turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and non-alcoholic beer at a time when most people would be eating eggs, bacon, grits, home fries, and toast.

He also says:

I would have thought most of the troops, many of whom are support personnel who work relatively normal working hours, would have been more surprised when they were ordered to get up before sunrise to eat Thanksgiving dinner between 6:00 and 7:30 A.M.

Madsen is proud that he is the only guy who figured this out. He says that "the abysmal and sycophantic Washington and New York press corps seems to have completely missed the Thanksgiving 'breakfast dinner.'" So why does he think nobody else remarked on the unusual timing of the dinner?

Chalk that up to the fact that most people in the media never saw a military chow line or experienced reveille in their lives. So it would certainly go over their heads that troops would be ordered out of bed to eat turkey and stuffing before the crack of dawn.

Or, Mr. Madsen, you could chalk it up to the fact that you are an idiot.

This is rich. Hurry and look before they figure out how stupid they were and take it down. Maybe one of you computer-savvy types can even save us a screen shot, to preserve the evidence. That way we can all laugh at this imbecile for years to come.

(Via Pejmanesque.)

UPDATE: It gets better. O'Connell confronted Madsen with the evidence (click on the O'Connell link above for the update), and Madsen is sticking with the story! He is basing his argument on a Washington Post report that contains an obvious typo. O'Connell pointed out the mountain of proof that the dinner really took place in the evening (again, see O'Connell's update), and Madsen appears to be ignoring it.

This means that the ridiculous piece will probably stay up at Counterpunch, as a powerful testament to liberals' desperate need to believe the worst about Bush -- even when doing so proves them to be utter fools.

UPDATE x2: Thanks to Eugene Volokh for the mention, but the credit goes to Brian O'Connell for catching this nonsense. Make sure to visit his posts (linked above) for the full story.

UPDATE x3: A commenter to this post says Madsen has "apparently retracted" the story. Well, sort of, but not really. As Brian O'Connell notes, Madsen has a statement at Indymedia which acknowledges that the story is bogus. But the original article is still up at Counterpunch, with no retraction or admission of error as of 9:15 a.m. Pacific time on Sunday, November 30. That ain't much of a retraction, in my book. [UPDATE: Actually, O'Connell says in the comments to this post that he e-mailed Madsen about this "retraction" and Madsen says that the Indymedia statement is not his. So there has been no retraction at all -- not even one of the half-assed variety.]

Madsen's bogus story is still making its way through the loony portion of the internet. The Counterpunch version is linked at anti-war site WHATREALLYHAPPENED.COM and is copied at the Jeff Rense site. Until Madsen issues a correction at the source, this lunacy will continue to spread -- to the great amusement of many like myself.

UPDATE x4: Anticipating Madsen's inevitable decision (still not forthcoming!) to remove this idiocy, intrepid reader Richard has saved us a copy, here. Bookmark it, as an enduring document of the left's persistent willful blindness to obvious facts in their pursuit of Bush-bashing.

Posted 11/29/2003 12:02:00 PM by Patrick
WOULD THIS BOTHER YOU?: The other day I was driving home from work, waiting to get onto the freeway, when I saw something that made me mad. I wonder whether other people would react the same way.

On this particular stretch of road, cars line up to access the freeway onramp during the evening commute. Inevitably, when cars line up like this in Los Angeles on a predictable schedule, you will see street vendors and/or beggars. On this block, I always see the same two people: a guy selling flowers (roses for $5) and another guy who just stands there and begs for money. I sometimes buy roses from the one guy; I never give anything to the other one.

Usually these two fellows are separated from each other. The flower guy tends to stand on the curb offering his flowers. Sometimes he has fruit. By contrast, the beggar walks up and down the rows of cars, trying to make eye contact with you, and forcing you to respond to his request for money.

But on this particular day, the two were standing right next to each other: the one guy with the inexpensive flowers, and the other with nothing to offer but his outstretched hand. In front of me, I saw a car pull up to the two of them, lean out the window, and give money -- to the beggar.

Understand: both men are clearly poor. The only difference I could see between them (other than their differing races) is that one of them was offering goods in return for money, and the other was not.

It made me angry that someone would give money to someone who was doing absolutely nothing to earn it -- right in front of the nose of the guy who was working for his meager living.

Am I the only one annoyed by this?

Posted 11/29/2003 11:23:00 AM by Patrick
AMMUNITION TO RESPOND TO LIBERALS: For the next time you are in an argument with a liberal, you can respond with the following facts when he/she says:

Why isn't the President regularly attending military funerals, like his predecessors did? They didn't.

Why do we never see any public show of support by Iraqis for the American presence? We have.

Posted 11/29/2003 11:23:00 AM by Patrick
FROM THE "EVERYTHING'S NOT COMPLETELY PEACHY" FILE: Comes this Fox News story about powerful explosives apparently abandoned and concealed in haste on the outskirts of Albuquerque.

Posted 11/28/2003 10:27:00 PM by Patrick
IT'S FREE, AND YOU CAN FIND IT RIGHT HERE: Click here for what you're looking for. . .

SEE YOU AT PATTERICO.COM!

posted by Patterico
8:13 PM

If you are not immediately redirected to patterico.com, please click here.

Posted 11/28/2003 10:27:00 PM by Patrick
SPY WIPER HELP: For those looking for help because their browser was hijacked by Spy Wiper, read this post and the comments. A potential fix is in the comments; let me know if it works.

UPDATE: I am keeping this post at the top of the page for at least the rest of the day, and possibly longer, due to the interest this is getting from people victimized by this company. This also means that you may be missing new posts if you stop reading with this one.

UPDATE x2: Xrlq has useful links on the topic.

Posted 11/28/2003 08:42:00 PM by Patrick
JEFFREY TOOBIN, LEGAL GENIUS: Regarding the Michael Jackson case, renowned legal ~~idiot~~ expert Jeffrey Toobin says: "The Jackson team trashed this kid, and that's an interesting approach."

"Interesting" how? As in "unpredictable"?? We never thought Mark Geragos would trash the victim??? What in the hell are you talking about, Toobin?

Idiot.

Posted 11/28/2003 08:01:00 PM by Patrick
THE INDEPENDENT GOES GOBBLE-GOBBLE: The British rag The Independent shows it is a serious news publication with this headline about Bush's trip to Iraq: The Turkey Has Landed. (Hat tip: Calpundit.)

Posted 11/28/2003 08:00:00 PM by Patrick
I ~~HATE~~ STRONGLY DISLIKE ~~HATE~~ SPEECH: From Best of the Web comes this silly story:

Gonzaga University has reaffirmed the value of freedom of speech after unfairly disciplining a student group for posting fliers with allegedly 'discriminatory' language," the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education announces in a press release.

As we noted last month, the Young Americas Foundation chapter at the Catholic campus in Spokane, Wash., got in trouble for using the word hate -- though it was merely citing the title of guest speaker Daniel Flynn's book, "Why the Left Hates America."

"Administrators chose to place a disciplinary letter in the group's file for using the words "the left hates" on the fliers, suggesting that that use of the word 'hate' was 'discriminatory' and might constitute 'hate speech.' " This presented administrators with a logical conundrum, since if the word hate is "hate speech," all they can say without running afoul of their own stupid rule is that it might constitute "speech."

I assume that administrators will not be troubled by the conundrum, but will rather apply adapt Congress's age-old rule that "the rules we make don't apply to us."

Posted 11/28/2003 01:22:00 PM by Patrick
WHY THE UNITED NATIONS IS USELESS: Israel cannot even get a resolution passed by the United Nations calling for the protection of Israeli children. As explained in this BBC story:

Israel has withdrawn its first United Nations draft resolution in nearly 30 years in the face of strong opposition. The Israeli draft, which called for the protection of Israeli children from terrorism, mirrored one on Palestinian children passed earlier this month.

But mostly Arab opponents of the text introduced changes Israel could not accept, ambassador Dan Gillerman said.

(Via Watcher of Weasels.)

Posted 11/28/2003 01:22:00 PM by Patrick
THE DOWNSIDE OF BEING A U.S. CITIZEN: Meet the only guy on the planet who wishes that he were a Mexican citizen rather than an American citizen: David A. Garcia. Yesterday, Garcia was arrested in Mexico for the murder of a Burbank police officer, and was turned over to U.S. Marshals. As our local Dog Trainer explains:

Mexican authorities have previously resisted returning fugitives to the United States to face the death penalty, but most of those cases have involved Mexican citizens. Garcia, like his parents, is a U.S. citizen.

Too bad.

Posted 11/28/2003 10:51:00 AM by Patrick
GREAT AGGREGATOR: I have discovered a great aggregator called BlogLines. It was recommended by The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler. It has many advantages over AmphetaDesk, which I had previously used. It requires no downloads. It allows you to organize your blogs into folders. Most important, it remembers what you have read so that you don't need to scroll through miles of already-viewed items.

This tool will save you hours of time. Check it out now.

Posted 11/28/2003 08:13:00 AM by Patrick
COUNCIL WINNERS: The Watcher's Council has spoken. The winners are:

Winning Council entry: The Weaseliest of Weasels by Free Will

and

Winning non-Council entry: Revolution - Beyond Instalanche by The Politburo Diktat (aka the Commissar).

A special congratulations to the Commissar for the latter post, which is (like most of the Commissar's entries) quite entertaining. And I'm not just saying this because I have a place (Pattericosk) on the Commissar's Map of the Blogosphere, which is explained at this post.

Posted 11/27/2003 08:14:00 PM by Patrick
THE HAMMER COMES DOWN: Michael Jackson's attorney Mark Geragos recently said: "We will land on you like a ton of bricks, we will land on you like a hammer, if you do anything to besmirch this man's reputation."

In unrelated news, the Los Angeles Dog Trainer today reports that certain unnamed sources say Jeffrey Borer, the XtraJet Executive being investigated in connection with the surreptitious taping of Jackson aboard an XtraJet aircraft, has been an FBI informant for years. The Dog Trainer has also learned that Borer was in federal prison. Borer vigorously denies having been an FBI informant.

The story says: "Geragos could not be reached for comment." Very interesting, since Mark Geragos is very rarely unavailable for comment. But I'm sure the unnamed sources have no connection to him, or to the threat quoted above.

Posted 11/27/2003 12:32:00 AM by Patrick
SPY WIPER HIJACKING UPDATE: I have noticed that I have been getting a lot of Google hits from people looking for information on Spy Wiper. Apparently due to my recent post about how my browser was hijacked by this company, Patterico is high on the Google list when you search for "Spy Wiper." Moreover, Patterico is apparently the top site not maintained by the company (and thus the first site that people click on if their browsers were also hijacked).

BoiFromTroy has disclosed that he had the identical thing happen to him, quite recently. He reports that the offending company is called "Mail Wiper, Inc." and is based in Georgia. Given his report, other similar reports, and the numerous Google searches, I believe that this is an experience many people are having right now. I would therefore like to invite comments on two topics:

1) If you have had your browser hijacked by this company, describe your experience in the comments. Tell us the date and exactly what happened. I sense there is a lot of frustration out there. Please vent it here.

2) I would also like to hear from anyone with insights on what can be done to stop this company's hijacking of people's browsers. I am less interested in technical fixes, virus software, etc. and more interested in legal opinions as to steps that can be taken against the company. Is this illegal? To whom should people complain? Any and all relevant suggestions are welcome.

UPDATE: I put a potential fix in the comments. It worked for at least one person. Please leave feedback as to whether it works for you.

Posted 11/26/2003 09:34:00 PM by Patrick
POOR, POOR RETALIACRATS™: The Washington Post decries the tactics of the Republicans in Congress, who the Post says have not been negotiating sufficiently with Democrats. The Post calls this "contempt for the minority." To use a favorite phrase of Angry Clam's, boo freakin' hoo. What about the contempt for the majority shown by Democrats who filibuster perfectly qualified judicial nominees?

UPDATE: Reader L.V. writes with this thoughtful comment: "4 radical freaks you moron. Jackass conservatives tried to filibuster 60 the last time around. Like that wasn’t a waste of my tax dollars. [expletive]ing hypocrite."

Another leftist helping to raise the level of discourse. Thanks, L.V., and a Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Posted 11/26/2003 08:45:00 PM by Patrick
NEW HOME PAGE: After two awful days of having Talking Points Memo as my home page (to avoid the home page that browser hijackers Spy Wiper forced on me), reader and General Good Guy Steve G. has taught me how to edit my registry and reset my home page. Patterico is now my home page. Thank you, Steve!

P.S. I also finally managed to fix the permalinks, which I broke by adding comments.

Posted 11/26/2003 05:34:00 PM by Patrick
FROM THE P.C. FILE:

Los Angeles officials have asked that manufacturers, suppliers and contractors stop using the terms "master" and "slave" on computer equipment, saying such terms are unacceptable and offensive.

. . . .

Dennis Tafoya, director of the affirmative action office, said in a separate memo that an "exhaustive search" had been undertaken to find all such labels and replace them with more "appropriate" ones. A form was sent to all departments to identify equipment carrying the labels "master" and "slave" or any other offensive terms.

Your tax dollars at work.

Keep this story in mind the next time some liberal argues that waste in government is a myth.

(Thanks to reader Steve G. for the pointer.)

UPDATE: This is apparently going all around the blogosphere. I have to say that Baldilocks has the best comment I have seen on it so far. Something about Ritzes. Go see it for yourself.

Dale Franks says: "Next thing you know, male/female connectors will be named patriarchal/oppressed connectors."

UPDATE x2: Even Kevin Drum thinks this is stupid.

Posted 11/26/2003 05:29:00 PM by Patrick
PROOF THAT GOD UNDERSTANDS IRONY: First there was the guy who was critically injured while being initiated into the Ku Klux Klan. And now comes another example of God's sardonic sense of humor, via this story from the Anchorage Daily News:

A local businessman who had just finished testifying against a proposed no-smoking ordinance in Homer collapsed with a heart attack in the city council chambers Monday night and could not be revived.

Robert Keys, 70, a former smoker, told a packed city council meeting he thought businesses should have the option to decide for themselves how to limit smoking. He said he sat at a table of smokers every morning for coffee and conversation at a local restaurant without trouble.

"It hasn't bothered my health any. I'm 70 years old and still kickin'. Pretty good, too," Keys testified. In fact Keys, a veteran, said he'd just had an echocardiogram about six weeks ago at the hospital at Elmendorf Air Force Base.

"They told me I had the heart of a very young person. So I think all this baloney about it affecting people's health is just that. Baloney."

Keys returned to his seat in the council chambers. Less than five minutes later, gasping noises from Keys interrupted further testimony. The room was cleared and emergency help summoned. . . . Attempts to resuscitate Keys en route to the hospital were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest in the emergency room at South Peninsula Hospital, Homer Fire Chief Bob Painter said.

Thanks to reader Laudio (Dean I) for the pointer.

Posted 11/26/2003 06:14:00 AM by Patrick
Q&A WITH DISABILITIES ADVOCATE: Those who have followed the Schiavo case may be interested in this Q & A with disabilities advocate Stephen Drake regarding end-of-life planning.

Posted 11/26/2003 06:10:00 AM by Patrick
LET THEM SING IT FOR YOU: This is interesting. Bonus points if you can guess each song and artist. (Via Dave Barry's Blog, as pointed out by reader Dean L.)

Posted 11/25/2003 08:43:00 PM by Patrick
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Regarding the secret taping of Michael Jackson by "XtraJet", Jeffrey Borer, an XtraJet corporate officer, defended the company's decision to investigate the possibility of selling the tapes. According to Borer, once the tapes were discovered, the company "explored the opportunity as any businessperson would."

Now that's good business.

Posted 11/25/2003 06:00:00 AM by Patrick
ARNOLD TERMINATES LICENSES FOR ILLEGALS: Arnold is having an effect already.

UPDATE: Xrlq is suspicious.

UPDATE x2: Or maybe not. See comments.

Posted 11/25/2003 06:00:00 AM by Patrick
SCRAPPLEFACE SCORES AGAIN: If you haven't read it already, you must put down that bag of Cheetos and immediately read the ScrappleFace Interview with the Chinese Premier. Brilliant.

Posted 11/24/2003 09:36:00 PM by Patrick
TED RALL, SCUMBAG (REVISITED): I first learned that Ted Rall supports Howard Dean at xrlq's blog, here. Eugene Volokh has a good explanation why Dean should be embarrassed. And I have posted about Rall a couple of times myself, here and here.

Posted 11/24/2003 06:10:00 AM by Patrick
COMPUTER PROTECTION RACKET: Some company has started an internet protection racket. They somehow commandeered our browser and changed our home page. Now, when we open Internet Explorer, we are taken to a page that tries to sell us a program called "Spy Wiper." This page does tricks like popping our CD-ROM open, or launching Notepad. Then we get a warning that says (I am paraphrasing): "If your CD-ROM popped open, or your Notepad launched, you need to download our program."

I'd give you the link, but I'm afraid that if you went there, the same thing might happen to your computer.

If I had the people responsible for this here, it would be simple; I could just strangle them. As it is, I must settle for some other solution. If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

UPDATE: I have received requests from computer-savvy people for me to publish the URLs of the site that hijacked my browser. Here they are -- but beware: if you don't know what you're doing, don't click on them:

http://default-homepage-network.com/index2.html

http://default-homepage-network.com/index3.html

The first one is the one that pops open your CD-ROM and launches a menacing message on Notepad.

Through a comment at xrlq's site, I saw a link to something called "Hijack This." But how do I know this isn't another scam program? (By the way, it's probably just coincidence, but this all started about 24 hours after I installed and ran Ad Aware 6.0 -- a program I downloaded after reading about similar problems others had been having.) I don't know what programs to trust anymore.

UPDATE x2: It happened to BoiFromTroy too.

UPDATE x3: Well, I fixed the problem in a strange way. I first followed BoiFromTroy's advice, and installed all Windows updates and got rid of all cookies. This didn't fix the problem. Then I remembered that the liberal blog Talking Points Memo has a feature whereby you can make that site your home page by clicking on the appropriate link. So I did that, and Spy Wiper's page was gone.

I had previously set the Drudge Report as my home page, and frankly, I'd rather have that (or Patterico, for that matter) as my home page, rather than Talking Points Memo. But Josh Marshall is preferable to Spy Wiper, so until someone explains how I can take back control of my computer, this will have to do.

UPDATE x4: Problem fixed, thanks to reader Steve G. No more having to look at Josh Marshall's self-satisfied mug every time I open a new browser. Thanks, Steve!

I still want to make this company pay. I am soliciting suggestions as to how to accomplish that, at this post.

Posted 11/23/2003 08:01:00 AM by Patrick
WEEKEND BEAR FLAG LEAGUE REVIEW: It's four days since the last Bear Flag Review. What can Bear Flaggers do in just four days? Take a look and see:

Aaron has this provocative rant about Islam.

Ith's blood boils.

Deb, who is very busy, gets her 20,000 visitor while she snoozes.

The Angry Clam has a photo of a goofy guy and a pun to go with it.

Baldilocks notes the anniversary of the death of a good man on November 22, 1963: C.S. Lewis.

Blogosferics does its own linkfest.

BoiFromTroy attempts to bump up his Google standings for the benefit of people looking for the Paris Hilton video.

Justene is now truly the mother hen.

CaliforniaRepublic.org now has e-mail updates. You can subscribe by e-mailing them at subscribe@californiarepublic.org

Citizen Smash says that, like Howard Dean, he has had back pain. But he came by it in a different way.

Cobb notes some interesting public opinion polls, including religious divides on gay marriage.

Bill Quick says (in strong words) that the Dean medical deferment is irrelevant to his campaign for President.

Dale Franks says that Afghanis feel safer than they did three years ago. Can we let them vote in the 2004 presidential election?

Xrlq has a brilliant translation of the Infotel demand letter to Justene.

E-Claire has disturbing information about turkey & gravy-flavored soda pop -- that information being that such a thing exists.

Spooky reports on the prescription drug plan.

Howard Owens says that real writers write because they love to do it, not to build a large audience. That's also why you do a Bear Flag Review.

Infinite Monkey David says Lee Harvey Oswald was sent from the future.

The Interocitor whacks the wacky Ninth Circus.

The Irish Lass reminds us of her post on 100 Things You Should Do in California -- a post well worth a reminder.

The Left Coast Conservative has ended his affair with Mountain Dew. I say you're better off without her. By the way, the secret ingredient in turkey and gravy-flavored soda pop is: turkey and gravy.

Lex Communis is on a road trip, but had a post noting a discussion on inclusive language.

Michael Williams slams the ACLU's incessant yapping, and has a scary theory to boot.

Miller's Time discusses a real-life episode of Gilligan's Island.

Molly recommends a stocking stuffer, for those who like this kind of thing: a talking Ann Coulter doll. I can think of a few liberal in-laws who would enjoy this. . .

The Mulatto Advocate sheds the s88239886 identity. Isn't it nice to be a name and not a number?

Pathetic Earthlings has a different gift idea for those who don't want the Ann Coulter doll: flourescent fish.

Patio Pundit has this disturbing picture of a turtle chowing down.

Patrick Prescott asks you not to wish him a "Happy Turkey Day." I would add only this: make every day Thanksgiving. Every person reading this has a lot to be thankful for. Don't take life for granted.

Patterico has comments! (Well, I have a comments feature, anyway. I'm still working on the actual comments. Help me out by leaving one!)

PrestoPundit discusses Hayek and gay marriage.

The Right Coast has a recipe for scotch and water. It's more involved than you might think. The secret ingredient is: scotch. (Blended scotch.)

Breaker blasts John Dvorak's dissing of blogs. Drop Breaker a comment to prove Dvorak wrong.

Bryon Scott is back!

The Shark fisks notorious jerk Ted Rall.

SoCalLawyer keeps us up to date on lap dancing in L.A.

Tone Cluster says World War III is on our doorstep.

The Window Manager discusses the Pulitzer awarded to genocide denier Walter Duranty.

UPDATE: As a bonus, BoiFromTroy (who often shoulders the work of the Review) is presenting a Rocky Top Sampler. It is given in honor of the "alliance" (whatever that means) between the Bear Flag League and the Rocky Top Brigade.

Posted 11/23/2003 01:46:00 AM by Patrick
BERLIN PHIL AT DISNEY: I saw the Berlin Philharmonic at Disney Hall Friday night. They performed Bartok's "Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta" and Schubert's Ninth Symphony. The Bartok is familiar to anyone who has seen Kubrick's "The Shining." It is great music -- very spooky, and well suited to a horror film. Unlike Esa-Pekka conducing Haydn's Creation (which I saw recently), Rattle trusted the acoustics of Disney Hall to carry the softest pianissimos to the highest points in the hall. When the few dozen audience members afflicted with tuberculosis were not hacking away, Rattle's calculation was very successful.

As when the Vienna Phil performed the Schubert Ninth in Orange County a year or two ago, I noticed a wonderful crispness to the woodwind section, especially during the repeated triplets in the first movement. But unlike the Vienna Phil, the Berliners really have swing. You can tell that each individual player really feels like both an accomplished artist on his/her own, and a part of an organic unit. The players really get into the music in a visible way I have never seen with any other orchestra.

The usual L.A. standing ovation was greeted with unusual behavior by a conductor. Rattle travelled throughout the orchestra. shaking hands with individual players in the woodwind, brass, and percussion sections. He rarely bowed from the podium, choosing instead to stand among orchestra members, as if to deprecate his own position as conductor, and rather to acknowledge the huge talent of the orchestra itself. It was a welcome and appreciated gesture.