Who knew?

Who knew that Playboy would be a symbol of defiance against Islamism?

Why don't we get that?

Nutjob

Nick Berg's father is a real piece of work.

Duh!

What not to do when you're a Saudi.

Too funny

The 'Top 11 Things That Anti-War Protesters Would Have Said At the Normandy Invasion on D-Day (Had There Been Anti-War Protesters At Normandy)'.

Via Instapundit.

Musab al-Zarqawi killed

Musab al-Zarwawi, terrorist and supposed leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, was killed by U.S. forces overnight.

We won't miss him.

Michelle Malkin has a roundup.

Will the theocons please stop?

The movement to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman has failed once again as the Senate failed to reach even a 51-vote majority in favor of it.

Sen. Judd Gregg, R-NH, put it best:

Gregg said that in 2004, he believed a Massachusetts Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in that state would undermine the authority of other states, like his, to prohibit such unions.

"Fortunately, such legal pandemonium has not ensued," Gregg said. "The past two years have shown that federalism, not more federal laws, is a viable and preferable approach."

Good. Theirs is a pathetic and losing effort. The faster the theocons drop this issue, the better off the Republican party will be.

Patrick Kennedy: I'm black

Patrick Kennedy is an ass for saying he was prepared to be treated like he was "an African-American in Anacostia" by the police for his May 4th accident where he appeared drunk, yet on-the-scene Capitol Police were told by superiors not to give him a Breathalyzer and to drive him home instead.

No, Patrick, you should be prepared to be treated like what you are: a pathetic drunk.

'Boycott Israel' hypocrisy

Read this post by Cathy Young about the hypocrisy of the leftist that want to boycott Israel for so-called 'racial apartheid'.

Sullivan's questionable reading comprehension

Andrew Sullivan has a post in which he links to an LA Times article regarding changes (the removal of Article 3 of the Geneva Convention) in what Sullivan believes to be the Army Field Manual. The post is a must read, though not in the way you would think. It is 'must read' in reading comprehension, or, rather, the Andrew's lack thereof.

To be fair to Andrew, the LA Times article header 'Army Manual to Skip Geneva Detainee Rule' is misleading. In fact, the article is actually talking about the removal of Article 3 from the DoD Directive 2310.01, the DoD Enemy POW Detainee Program, which, on quick read, is not part of the Army Field Manual. I think that Andrew is thinking that Article 3 is being removed from Field Manual 34-52, which deals with intelligence interrogation.

So, in reality, Andrew's sensibilities on torture are still being preserved by the McCain Amendment, which prohibits interrogations "not authorized by and listed in the United States Army Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogation." However, his passion and zeal have once again produced a post based on flawed reading.

I'll throw Andrew a bone, though: a post about actual changes in the AFM.

**UPDATE** June 5, 2006 9:16PM

It also sounds like, from the article, that Article 3 was removed some time ago, perhaps in 2002, and that there was an effort recently to put it back in, thus the backstory of the article.

Among the directives being rewritten following Bush's 2002 order is one governing U.S. detention operations. Military lawyers and other defense officials wanted the redrawn version of the document known as DoD Directive 2310, to again embrace Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention.

Interesting. Does this mean that the LA Times article is not about the removal of the Article, but about the failure to reinsert it? If so, what's news about it then? Hmmm...This sounds like old news made to appear new to further push public opinion against the Bush Administration.

Is America slipping?

An insightful read in the June 12 issue of Newsweek by Fareed Zakaria regarding America's 'dominant force in technology, innovation, productivity, and profits.'

I'd have to agree with much of what he says, though I think he puts a conspicous emphasis on immigration regardless of the immigrant's skill set when we should actually be encouraging the immigration of those who have highly desirable skills only. Let's face it, all other things being equal, it's preferable to take an engineer over a janitor any day.

'Massacre Marines blinded by hate'

I just love this article in The Times entitled 'Massacre Marines blinded by hate' regarding the still unclear events in Haditha, where U.S. Marines are accused of unlawfully killing Iraqi civilians in retaliation for a roadside bombing.

The Times throws in the titular quote from Corporal James Crossan, a Marine injured in the incident. It's particularly damning:

A MEMBER of the US Marines unit accused of murdering 24 unarmed Iraqis said yesterday that his colleagues “were blinded by hate” and lost control before the massacre.

Corporal James Crossan, who was injured in the roadside bomb attack that appears to have triggered the incident, was speaking just before President Bush said that he was troubled by the reports. “If laws were broken there will be punishment,” he said.

Several members of the unit were young and inexperienced and may have snapped after seeing one of their colleagues killed by the bomb, Corporal Crossan said. “I think they were blinded by hate . . . and they just lost control.”

Pretty strong stuff, huh? Sounds conclusive? Well, it would be if the very next sentence didn't say that he passed out after the initial bombing.

What's clear here is the Cpl. Crossan was asked for an explanation regarding why the Marines might have snapped had they actually committed the crimes of which they are accused and was quoted to sound like he actually witnessed the events.

What a classy newspaper The Times is!