Overnight Open Thread

As they say, history tends to repeat itself. Are current events in the Arab world beginning to look similar to previous historical times? Arnaud De Borchgrave thinks so. Is Syria 2011 The Spain Of 1936?

The Spanish civil war (1936-39) killed 500,000 as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union backed opposite sides -- and Franco's fascists emerged victorious and remained in power until 1975.

In the Middle East, Syria's civil war -- which some observers are calling Spain II, or a prelude to World War III -- has been under way since Feb. 17, 2011. Saudi Arabia is helping arm Syrian rebels who now call themselves revolutionaries. Russia and China are backing the Syrian dictatorship, which is allied with Iran.

Russia, China and Iran are on the side of Syria's "Alouite dictatorship" headed by Bashar Assad. He inherited the country's dictatorship from his father Hafez who died in 2000 after almost 30 years in power.

Last week, a hastily organized Syrian plebiscite for a new constitution theoretically dissolved one-party rule but, also theoretically, gives Bashar Assad 18 more years in power for a total of 28, just one year shy of his father's record.

Between the end of the French mandate in 1945 and the military takeover of air force chief Gen. Hafez Assad in 1970, Syria experienced 21 coups. So no one is taking any bets on Assad's political longevity.

Unless Iran's current view of a rapidly declining U.S. superpower can be reversed, a number of Arab Gulf rulers will be tempted into longer lasting accommodation with Tehran.

The Hero And The Fluke

Outstanding article by Derek Alexander contrasting the infamous Fluke (no, not the one from the first season of X-Files) and the Marine who busted Medal of Honor fraudster Xavier Alvarez. The Hero And The Fluke.

But the point I want to make is just how dissimilar these women are. I decided (lazy as I am) to actually do a bit of research on each women (a full five minutes on Google). Anyway I thought of it this way. If both these women were applying for a job at your firm - who would you hire?

To help in your decision making I have assembled a list of accomplishments and a mini résumé at the end:

Ms. Campbell, a 10 year veteran of the Marine Corp.
Ms. Fluke is a 10 veteran of academia.

Ms. Campbell calls out Xavier Alvarez for dishonoring Medal of Honor recipients.
Ms. Fluke lies in front of congress and gets invited on The View.

Ms. Campbell finds another job after her termination.
Ms. Fluke wants me to pay for her to have sex.

Costliest Tweets

Nice to know Ace had a hand in one of them! 5 Of The Costliest Tweets Ever.

Anthony Weiner, the former Democratic congressman for New York, resigned last June after sending a sexually explicit photo of himself to a college student over Twitter. At first, Weiner claimed that his Twitter account was hacked, telling reporters he was the victim of a "prank." While he lost his $174,000-a-year job -- the standard salary for members of both the House and the Senate -- he also walked away with the equivalent of around $1.2 million in retirement benefits after just a dozen years in office.

Doggeh Video

Snorin' Pug gets a kitteh massage.

Christina Hendricks

Pretty timely article of moron favorite Christina Hendricks Talking About Nudity in light of the fact that someone allegedly stole some of her private pics and posted them online.

Call Of Duty PC Mod

Now that is one awesome lookin' rig. Call Of Duty Case Mod Has Spinning Gatling Gun, Energy Drink Fridge.

I'm sure most of you are playing Mass Effect 3 now but here's a peek at a game I just might looking forward to this fall.

Zombie University

There could be value in studying catastrophes and pandemics to but to make the focus on Zombies is just ridiculous. MSU Online Course Faces Zombie Threat. Can't wait for the first Associate Professor Of Zombie-American studies. Too bad zombie threat isn't code for #occupy nitwit because how you deal with zombies can equally apply to those idiots.

Of course, you may want to get your hand on one of these if the zombie apocalypse comes. US Military Mulling What To Do With Surplus of MRAPs.
h/t Genghis

Coffee Benefit

Hmmm. I love me some coffee but here's something new. To Lose Weight, Just Drink Coffee. Alas, it's not that easy. In order to achieve the same affect as one hour of exercise, you'd need 50 cups of java a day.

Combat Camera

To close, how about a little A-10 and LAV-3 action?

SoS Update

Here's a quick link to tonight's SoS update and the Che'tards.

Tonight's ONT brought to you by:

Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to maet or CDR M. Otherwise send tips to Ace.

PUT TEXT YOU WISH TO USE AS VISIBLE LINKING-LANGUAGE HERE &topic=world_news"> posted by CDR M at 10:15 PM

| Access Comments