In the news, Touchdown Jesus aka the King of Kings, a sixty foot high statue of Jesus with his hands raised to the sky (seemingly to catch a touchdown, thus the moniker), burned to the ground after being struck by lightning. Its true, I am not making this up.... Built at a cost of $250,000, the monument was a tourist drive by attraction since built in 2004. While the author of the report blamed Charlie Weis (the statue being 270 miles south of Notre Dame's home in South Bend), I couldn't help but imagine ways the newspapers (or especially the Onion types) could have reported on the incident:
- Touchdown Jesus is on Fire!
- Another miracle.... Jesus invokes lightning...
- Jesus burns dedication statue as inadequate tribute
- Builders put up statue... God says no thanks...
- Zeus to Jesus - Take that
- Touchdown Jesus burned for dropping the ball
- The King of Kings goes down in a ball of fire
The association to Notre Dame also puts an appropriate spin on it, especially considering Notre Dame has lost 9 of the last 10 bowls it has been in and last won the national championship 22 years ago.
The funniest parts of the news report were:
- Police started issuing citations to the gawkers who snarled traffic
- People were grabbing foam pieces of the statue to take home
- People would often be startled by the statue when they drove by
Good news (I guess) is the founder said the statue would be rebuilt.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Big surprise from the New York Times today.
Our government has discovered a trillion dollars in minerals in Afghanistan.... Wow so there is something to fight for over there in addition to democracy... Or did we know that all along?
I mean we went there first to get Osama Bin Laden, right? Never got him...
Then we helped some old Unocal guy named Karzai become the president... And he and his cronies are taking full advantage of their positions (the article mentions one of his ministers got a $30 million bribe from the Chinese to assign a contract for a copper mine to them)...
And we recently decided we need to send more troops there and expand the war...
All for democracy?
Or for a trillion dollars worth of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium...
Our government has discovered a trillion dollars in minerals in Afghanistan.... Wow so there is something to fight for over there in addition to democracy... Or did we know that all along?
I mean we went there first to get Osama Bin Laden, right? Never got him...
Then we helped some old Unocal guy named Karzai become the president... And he and his cronies are taking full advantage of their positions (the article mentions one of his ministers got a $30 million bribe from the Chinese to assign a contract for a copper mine to them)...
And we recently decided we need to send more troops there and expand the war...
All for democracy?
Or for a trillion dollars worth of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium...
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Can't get enough of Colbert.... Skip ahead to the 2:40 mark for the evils of the world cup....
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Sport Report - Soccer Debate - Marc Fisher & Mark Starr | ||||
| ||||
Today, on Woot Kids, they are selling a Hannah Montana soccer ball for only $1.99 plus S&H.
So for all you fans of Hannah Montana, you have to have this in your collection....
And for all of you who aren't fans, what better way to say I love you than to kick this ball as much and as hard as you can.....
Sorry couldn't help myself, now back to the regularly scheduled programming....
So for all you fans of Hannah Montana, you have to have this in your collection....
And for all of you who aren't fans, what better way to say I love you than to kick this ball as much and as hard as you can.....
Sorry couldn't help myself, now back to the regularly scheduled programming....
I am sure we all heard the news, two young men from New Jersey were arrested on their way to Egypt and then supposedly to Somalia for intent to commit "violent jihad" and terrorism. Boy we all breathed a sigh of relief. Another two nutjobs off the street.....
Except....
In an interview with CNN, the mother of one of these two says her son was a stupid kid, not a terrorist. And she says the whole trip was arranged by "Bassim", who they suspect is an "informant" or possibly another case of an "agent provocateur". The guy was the one to reassure her that her son and his friend were going with him to Egypt to study arabic. Further, the son was also set to marry a lady in Egypt, which would contradict the alleged plan of these two. (side note: looking at their arrest photos themselves gives you a feeling about the two(I mean c'mon denim and corduroy grey shirts ;-) ), in light of other evidence circulating the news, such as the below photo which I used to make a point in a previous blog post. BTW, Where is the PETJ to condemn this (People for the ethical treatment of juice) Also, these guys were supposedly members of the "Islamic thinkers society". Boy, what a name of an organization for someone alleged to have said ""My soul cannot rest till I shed blood. I wanna like be the world's [best] known terrorist". The organization claims to be non violent while printing posters that say "exterminate the zionist roaches))...
To me, based on the superficial data we have, it looks like another fishy case of agent provocateurs framing someone who has issues to begin with. According to the mother, her son saw 16 or 17 psychiatrists to treat his anger issues, so he was definitely not a stable person. Could he have said the things he is alleged to have said? No question, based on the profile we are seeing. Especially if he was egged on or led that way....
This is eerily similar to the tragic case of Imam Luqman. At least though in this case, the feds did not go in with their guns blazing, and left the guy to die on the pavement. If these guys needed treatment(which is pretty obvious), they should be institutionalized other otherwise dealt with appropriately. But to take someone with such issues, and lead them on/set them up to make them seem like terrorists to make a splash of a supposed terror is just plain wrong. Lets see how the facts line up....
Except....
In an interview with CNN, the mother of one of these two says her son was a stupid kid, not a terrorist. And she says the whole trip was arranged by "Bassim", who they suspect is an "informant" or possibly another case of an "agent provocateur". The guy was the one to reassure her that her son and his friend were going with him to Egypt to study arabic. Further, the son was also set to marry a lady in Egypt, which would contradict the alleged plan of these two. (side note: looking at their arrest photos themselves gives you a feeling about the two(I mean c'mon denim and corduroy grey shirts ;-) ), in light of other evidence circulating the news, such as the below photo which I used to make a point in a previous blog post. BTW, Where is the PETJ to condemn this (People for the ethical treatment of juice) Also, these guys were supposedly members of the "Islamic thinkers society". Boy, what a name of an organization for someone alleged to have said ""My soul cannot rest till I shed blood. I wanna like be the world's [best] known terrorist". The organization claims to be non violent while printing posters that say "exterminate the zionist roaches))...
To me, based on the superficial data we have, it looks like another fishy case of agent provocateurs framing someone who has issues to begin with. According to the mother, her son saw 16 or 17 psychiatrists to treat his anger issues, so he was definitely not a stable person. Could he have said the things he is alleged to have said? No question, based on the profile we are seeing. Especially if he was egged on or led that way....
This is eerily similar to the tragic case of Imam Luqman. At least though in this case, the feds did not go in with their guns blazing, and left the guy to die on the pavement. If these guys needed treatment(which is pretty obvious), they should be institutionalized other otherwise dealt with appropriately. But to take someone with such issues, and lead them on/set them up to make them seem like terrorists to make a splash of a supposed terror is just plain wrong. Lets see how the facts line up....
Monday, June 07, 2010
Abu Dhabi just unveiled a building that put to shame the leaning tower of Pisa. The new Capital Gate Building leans much more than the classic tower of Pisa....
Some poor lady seems to have taken the loss of the distinction to heart, and has unfortunately jumped from the slightly leaning tower of Pisa.
What a world we live in...
Some poor lady seems to have taken the loss of the distinction to heart, and has unfortunately jumped from the slightly leaning tower of Pisa.
What a world we live in...
Who better than the Onion to spice up the anticipation for the World Cup....
Nation's Soccer Fan Becoming Insufferable
A useful email forward (can't verify authenticity or source unfortunately):
Putting Names To Faces
Lawrence of Cyberia
June 3, 2010
A brief introduction to the nine Turkish people shot dead on 31 May 2010, by Israeli soldiers who attacked the Turkish vessel M.V. Mavi Marmara, as it attempted to transport humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip.
1. Ibrahim Bilgen, 61, an electrical engineer from Siirt. Member of the Chamber of Electrical Engineers of Turkey. Married with 6 children. (link - link - link - link)
2. Ali Haydar Bengi, 39, from Diyarbakir. Graduate of Al-Azhar University, Cairo (Department of Arabic literature). Married with 4 children. (link)
3. Cevdet Kiliçlar, 38, from Kayseri. Originally a journalist, later an aid worker with the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH). Married with two children. See him participating in an IHH African relief project here. See his Flickr photos here. (link - link)
4. Çetin Topçuoglu, 54, from Adana. Former amateur soccer player and taekwondo champion, who coached Turkey's national taekwondo team. Married with one son. See his Facebook page here. (link - link)
5. Necdet Yildirim, 32, an IHH aid worker from Malatya. Married with a three-year-old daughter. (link)
6. Fahri Yaldiz, 43, a firefighter who worked for the Municipality of Adiyaman. Married with four children. (link)
7. Cengiz Songür, 47, from Izmir. Married with seven children. (link - link)
8. Cengiz Akyüz, 41, from Iskenderun. Married with children aged 14, 12 and nine. (link)
9. Furkan Dogan, 19, student at Kayseri High School; planned to become a doctor. Son of Dr. Ahmet Dogan, Assoc Prof at Erciyes University. A Turkish-American dual national, with two siblings. (link - link - link)
(This post liable to change as more details become available).
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Another big catch in the war on terror....
or so we are to think....
A couple in Ohio, with dual citizenship, US and Lebanese, was caught conspiring to send money to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia formed to fight Israel that the US government has labeled as terrorists.
Amazing. Another success in our war on terror.... except....
Hmmm...
If I read the article correctly, all the money that was to be sent was supplied by the FBI....
And the person who asked them to send the money in exchange for payment was an FBI informant or more aptly an agent provocateur....
So let me get this straight, this couple was approached, offered money to send money "back home" to Lebanon to reach Hezbollah, and are thus charged with a crime of conspiring to fund terrorism?
I would love to do a survey. Go and ask 100 people from all walks of life if they would be willing to deliver money to some overseas shadowy recipient in exchange for some ridiculous sum of money (the article mentions they hoped to get paid $300,000 - $400,000 for delivering $500,000 - $1,000,000). Lets even say hypothetically that the recipient is Hezbollah... Hmm Wikipedia dot com .... look up hezbollah.... "is a Shi'a Islamist political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon.[3] Hezbollah is now also a major provider of social services, which operate schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shiites, and plays a significant force in Lebanese politics." Hmm they don't sound so bad... Anything in there about attacking America or Americans? Nope....
Especially in this challenging economy, I guarantee you a substantial percentage would say "what the heck" and agree to it.
And then lets charge each one of those with conspiring to fund terrorism.
Fair's fair, right?
The credibility of our law enforcement is at stake if the use of such tactics becomes more widespread. Just reading that article on its face raises significant questions about this investigation and charge. Of course, all of us "reasonable" people will say, they should not have agreed and they should have called the police. But tempt any person enough, and almost anyone will cave in to the temptation being dangled in front of them to violate their own principles. As they say, "every person has their price".
If law enforcement can send in fake criminals to incite and fund criminal activity (effectively bribe people to commit crime or go along with a crime) and then charge all of those who go along, that's not law enforcement. That's criminal conspiracy and selective prosecution. In lay terms, the "criminals" were "framed". Plain and simple.
The problem takes an even more unfortunate twist when those targeted are seemingly exclusively from one religious or ethnic group.
or so we are to think....
A couple in Ohio, with dual citizenship, US and Lebanese, was caught conspiring to send money to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia formed to fight Israel that the US government has labeled as terrorists.
Amazing. Another success in our war on terror.... except....
Hmmm...
If I read the article correctly, all the money that was to be sent was supplied by the FBI....
And the person who asked them to send the money in exchange for payment was an FBI informant or more aptly an agent provocateur....
So let me get this straight, this couple was approached, offered money to send money "back home" to Lebanon to reach Hezbollah, and are thus charged with a crime of conspiring to fund terrorism?
I would love to do a survey. Go and ask 100 people from all walks of life if they would be willing to deliver money to some overseas shadowy recipient in exchange for some ridiculous sum of money (the article mentions they hoped to get paid $300,000 - $400,000 for delivering $500,000 - $1,000,000). Lets even say hypothetically that the recipient is Hezbollah... Hmm Wikipedia dot com .... look up hezbollah.... "is a Shi'a Islamist political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon.[3] Hezbollah is now also a major provider of social services, which operate schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shiites, and plays a significant force in Lebanese politics." Hmm they don't sound so bad... Anything in there about attacking America or Americans? Nope....
Especially in this challenging economy, I guarantee you a substantial percentage would say "what the heck" and agree to it.
And then lets charge each one of those with conspiring to fund terrorism.
Fair's fair, right?
The credibility of our law enforcement is at stake if the use of such tactics becomes more widespread. Just reading that article on its face raises significant questions about this investigation and charge. Of course, all of us "reasonable" people will say, they should not have agreed and they should have called the police. But tempt any person enough, and almost anyone will cave in to the temptation being dangled in front of them to violate their own principles. As they say, "every person has their price".
If law enforcement can send in fake criminals to incite and fund criminal activity (effectively bribe people to commit crime or go along with a crime) and then charge all of those who go along, that's not law enforcement. That's criminal conspiracy and selective prosecution. In lay terms, the "criminals" were "framed". Plain and simple.
The problem takes an even more unfortunate twist when those targeted are seemingly exclusively from one religious or ethnic group.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)