Wasn't the Butcher of Salvador honored on a stamp once?

Kinda completely totally off-topic, but you might want to hear what the Saudi foreign minister is saying about Iraq

This whole thing in Basra is really ominous, IMO. Story here.

Ah well. I should be worrying about my sister in Houston instead... or thinkin' 'bout stamps.

But how many stamps can you fit on a subhuman and how much does it cost to mail one? I've got one I've got to get gone.

Stop hyperventilating.

The Saudi's obviously want us to stay in Iraq as long as possible and will adjust their view towards that end.

The Basra thing is just a con to get the brits to pony up a bunch of cash for a new jail.

"Ever wonder how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"

It depends on the tune. [/obscure reference]

Ive always sorta pondered the old ones. Like:
If a tree falls in the forest... why won't Chimpy McHaliburton stop his illegal war?!? and
What is the sound of one hand clapping?
A: Roberts is an extremist!

Thanks, guys. I feel a lot better now. I knew I could count on you for some perspective.

I mean, you're right, why would the Saudi monarchy worry about a popular uprising? And with the example of Basra, what's to worry about?

Some reports say that the jail was being run by a local Shiite religious militia, not the Basra provincial government. These reports seem not to take into account the fact that the Basra provincial government consists of 41 seats, 20 of them held by the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and 21 by a coalition led by the fundamentalist Shiite Fadila (Virtue) Party. SCIRI has a paramilitary, the Badr Corps, which ran candidates in the Jan. 30 elections.

Nothing to worry about there. I'm sure this is all going according to plan.

I just can't figure out how putting fierce anti-Americanism into power is a win for us.

I just can't figure out how putting fierce anti-Americanism into power is a win for us.

I don't get it. Mr. Mugabe is nothing if not ... articulate.

And, he makes a hell of a margarita.

Oh, sorry, thought I was over at Goldstein's.

Found that Butcher of Salvador stamp.

Tubino, speaking of movies and BJs, have you seen The Brown Bunny?

I did. Chloe Sevigny can give a good BJ.

Since we are being all philisophical and shit, ever wonder what is Vincent Gallo's appeal?
I can't figure it out, but this guy has a cult following. Gallo is freaky looking. His acting skills are suspect. His singing is awful. Vincent's movies, his own movies, are horrendous.

Brown Bunny is bad. Very bad. It has many long scenes of Gallo's character, Bud, drving his van on the highway, and driving, and driving. The dialogue was laughable.

Tubino, definitley see the Brown Bunny for it's train-wreck quality. But remember to smoke a joint first.

He is no artiste. My best guess is Gallo is a genius laughing all the way to the bank (and getting lots of ass on the way). I dig that.

I just can't figure out how putting fierce anti-Americanism into power is a win for us.

Obviously it justifies our continued presense and ability to imperialistically exploit Iraq's oil.

After all, the war was all about the oil and benefits to Halliburton right?

I don't get it. Mr. Mugabe is nothing if not ... articulate.

I really like Robert Mugabe - he's the complete commie/hard leftist "package". Oppression, death squads, economic destruction, cronyism, ineptness, along with pithy soundbites and photogenic appeal.

Its hard to find all those admirable qualities in one package. Mandela never really got the death squads and economic destruction aspects up to WorldClass™ standards.

Never saw Brown Bunny. The only thing about Vinnie Gallo that seemed appealing to me was his taste in audio equipment. I liked some phrases he came with, too.

Oh, if we're going to play Name Your Favorite Tyrant, my money's on Bokassa. Declared himself president, then president for life, then emperor of the Central African Republic in the sixties. He had a thing about Elizabeth II's coronation, and spent tens of millions in a personal imitation of it that might've been designed by Elvis' tailor.

The English would have nothing to do with him, of course. But the French, even more of course, were his staunch allies. But he was mad enough for long enough that even the French press couldn't take it any more (though the French president was safely bought and paid for, it was said, in diamonds). When schoolchildren protested the expensive school uniforms they were required by law to wear, a number of them were killed and, rumor had it, eaten by Bokassa. Always with the cannibalism, that guy.

He was overthrown by some other ruthless bastard with French help, then lived in exile in France. No death squads, though. He preferred a more...personal touch.

Wasn't Pat Robertson involved with Mugabe in a business deal? Or was he only involved with Charles Taylor?

If tubby says something in the forest, and no one is around to hear him, is he still wrong?

First victims of Rita.

Link won't pass the filter. Substitute "aa" for "**"

http://www.wf**.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=www.wf**.com/050923_0655busfire_wz.wmv

Happened about an hour ago, just south of Dallas.

"Kinda completely totally off-topic..."

Do you have a blog, tubby? Can you post there, where no one gives a shit?

oh sortelli, nobody gives a shit here either.

Now children, play nice! Don't make me get the hose.

The stupid question of whether or not a falling tree makes a sound if no one is there to here it should be crammed right back up the stoner's ass that shat it out in the first place.

A more pertinent question might be that if a five thousand pound bunker buster hit Michael Moore squarely on his corpulent noggin, spreading his butterball ass evenly over the tri-state area, will the price of my Thanksgiving turkey consequently go down?

I meant 'hear.' Me need coffee.

Man, it's so quiet in here you could hear a pin drop, then listen to an unknown but highly debated number of angels swearing, cursing, and rubbing their little angel tookuses.

will the price of my Thanksgiving turkey consequently go down?

Based on the law of Supply and Demand, the answer is yes. In fact, supply may rise so sharply that the Piggly Wiggly will pay you to take one home.

If anyone had actually read Aquinas writings, then they would have been amazed at how closely his arguments mimic modern quantum physics. I guess if you get a smart guy thinking about how pure energy behaves you get similar results. After all neither Aquinas nor the scientists that framed modern quantum theory had information to work with. They did it off of pure brain power.
Rusty

Updated story on the bus fire.

Meanwhile, a friend of mine told me he was refueled yesterday on I-45 by a TxDOT truck. Apparently someone had their shit together and planned for long waits on major Texas highways.

Dave,

In Florida, hurricane evacuation routes are marked by signage. Is that true in Texas? It seems everybody wants to use the interstates. Are the surface streets/secondary highways jammed up too?

Oh yeah, just about every road within 100 miles of the coast is marked. My wife's brother and family (and kids and grandkids and dogs and a cat) bugged out Wednesday, took back roads, and it still took em 8 hours (normally 3). It's a lot of people on the move, and a lot who waited longer than they probably should have. Many who left the NW Houston area headed back yesterday since it looks like Beaumont/Port Arthur area is fixing to take one up the squeakhole. Lot of refineries there.

Signs like this on major roads too - first time they've been used for this.

"Lot of refineries there."

We will be feeling their pain!

you got that right (click on next under graphic)

News alert - more flooding in New Orleans, early report says breached levee

If you go half to go halfway there before you can go all the way there how can you ever get all the way there?

If you go half to go halfway there before you can go all the way there how can you ever get all the way there?

If you have to post it once before you post it twice, how can you ever post it twice... before you get halfway there?

Yeah, I wondered about that for awhile, but then two dudes named Newton and Leibniz killed the question with a new weapon called "integral calculus."