Logic & Sanity

President Stupidly

What does our president have to say about yesterday's terrorist attack?

The president made the comments as the commander of Fort Hood, the US’s largest base for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, quoted witnesses as saying the suspected gunman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, shouted the Muslim declaration “Allahu Akbar” – God is great – as he opened fire. Speaking at the White House, Mr Obama said: “We don’t know all the answers yet, and I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts.”

So a person of the muslim faith, who's known for prior anti-American statements, kills a dozen American soldiers while yelling "Allakh Akhbar", and we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Yet Obama didn't extend the same consideration to the Cambridge police back in July. Quite telling.

"Snapping like a dog..."

A respected Russian artist was arrested after mixing wine and prescription drugs before allegedly drinking liquid soap and attacking flight attendants on a trans-Atlantic flight.

British-based Galina Rusanova is accused of of punching and kicking flight attendants and - at one point - 'snapping like a dog' while trying to bite a crew member's leg.

I flew to Kiev end of March, and as part of keeping ourselves occupied during the 10 hour flight, we got a bottle of whiskey from the on board duty free catalog. Got to love AeroSvit - the steward brought the bottle along with three plastic cups and my cousin, I, and a girl (we met at the terminal before boarding) had quite a good time consuming it.  A couple sitting in the next aisle got creative with their whiskey bottle and juice, by using a Starbucks commuter mug as a cocktail shaker. We had a great time without bothering other passengers or giving the flight attendants a hard time.

I fear that due to idiots like this they are going to forbid alcohol consumption from flights altogether.  It's almost as if people have to get licensed to drink when flying.

Promises, promises...

John Edwards says if he's elected president, he'll institute a New Deal-like suite of programs to fight poverty and stem growing wealth disparity. To do it, he said, he'll ask many Americans to make sacrifices, like paying higher taxes.

Edwards, a former Democratic senator from North Carolina, says the federal government should underwrite universal pre-kindergarten, create matching savings accounts for low-income people, mandate a minimum wage of $9.50 and provide a million new Section 8 housing vouchers for the poor. He also pledged to start a government-funded public higher education program called "College for Everyone."

"It is central to what I want to do as president to do something about economic inequality. I do not believe it is okay for the United States of America to have 37 million people living in poverty," he said in a meeting with Monitor reporters and editors this week. "And I think we need, desperately need, a president who will say that to America and call on Americans to show their character."

At every stop, Edwards said, he tells voters he'll ask them to sacrifice. Asked to describe what he means, he described his plan for increases in capital gains taxes, saying taxes on "wealth income" should be in line with those on work income.

Minimum wage - $9.50 an hour? Why not $12? $15? $50/hour? Then we would all be driving BMW's and living it up! I simply refuse to believe that Edwards actually believes what he says. Tax the "rich"! What a novel concept! It's pretty obvious that John "My Little Pony" Edwards will say whatever to get elected. Sure, most politicians do, but this is pretty blatant right here.

Poems from Guantnamo

THE JUST-released "Poems from Guantnamo: The Detainees Speak" is a collection of 22 poems by 17 detainees at the US detention center at Guantnamo Bay. Edited by Marc Falkoff, each poem had to be cleared by the Pentagon. The result offers a rare glimpse into the lives of the prisoners.

Ah! The evil americans didn't jail terrorists! They jailed poets! Sadly, this is not surprising. Soon they'll be naming streets in France after them.

Same old double standards

London Mayor Ken Livingstone called on Britons Saturday not to demonize Muslims after a double car bomb plot was foiled in the capital, amid fears of a Islamist terror threat.

At the same time he criticized Britain over its ties with Saudi Arabia, which he said had fuelled intolerance in the past through its Wahhabist form of Islam, creating a "major problem."

"In this city, Muslims are more likely to be law-abiding than non-Muslims and less likely to support the use of violence to achieve political ends than non-Muslims," he told BBC Radio.

"Red Ken" Livingstone makes some feel good statements in support of the London's muslim community by claiming that non muslims in the city are more prone to violence and breaking the law. One can only imagine the furor that would've broken out if the situation was reversed. Imagine non muslims attacking muslims in London, and Mr. Livingstone making a statement pleading with the muslim community not to demonize the non muslims, because you see, non muslims are less prone to violence, and less likely to break the law. Imagine what would have happened then.

I am not going to get into who's more law abiding and less violent, but its worth noting that statements like these are pretty much in line with the general liberal thinking. Stereotyping/profiling is frowned upon, but only when its used against one of the officialy certified grievance groups. Quota systems at schools are good, but not when they prevent a minority student from joining. Violence is bad, but only when its from our side. Anybody and everybody else, no matter how loony or vicious, will get romanticized.

Idiot of the week

A routine test drive turned into a frightening carjacking for a Manhattan salesman yesterday when his would-be buyer kicked him out of the vehicle and drove off, police said.

But the dim-witted customer was caught shortly after the brazen 11 a.m. ripoff when he returned to the showroom on 11th Ave., police said.

"He left a copy of his license at the dealer," said an investigator at the scene. "Not a smart guy."

Adhanom Hayet, 26, had been driving the maroon 2007 Nissan Murano around the West Side with the salesman when he suddenly shoved the dealer out of the SUV at 60th St. and Broadway.

Minutes later, Hayet showed up at the Potamkin showroom where he parked the SUV and walked away, but not before the salesman arrived in a police cruiser and pointed him out, cops said.

After a short foot chase involving some two dozen police, Hayet was tackled and arrested at 10th Ave. and 51st St., witnesses said.

Definately not too bright! But ofcourse he's not a criminal or anything, his mother has a theory

Carol Adhanom said her son, who has no prior arrests, came to New York to visit college friends. She said the incident was “out of character” for her son and suggested that something might have set him off.

“Maybe the salesman said something racially motivated,” she said. “Theres a lot missing from this puzzle.”

If the salesman was a racist wouldn't he not even let her bundle of joy take the test drive? Why this specific theory? Hey, I got a better one! How about - the salesman gave him the car as a gift and then changed his mind! Bastard! :(

Indecent proposal

Singer Sheryl Crow has said a ban on using too much toilet paper should be introduced to help the environment.

Crow has suggested using "only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where two to three could be required".

The 45-year-old, who made the comments on her website, has just toured the US on a biodiesel-powered bus to raise awareness about climate change.

She teamed up with environmental activist Laurie David for the shows.

The pair targeted 11 university campuses to persuade students to help combat the world's environmental problems.

"I have spent the better part of this tour trying to come up with easy ways for us all to become a part of the solution to global warming," Crow wrote.

"Although my ideas are in the earliest stages of development, they are, in my mind, worth investigating.

"I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting."

Sounds like her brain is in the earliest stages of development.  Unfortunately for Ms.Crow, her titanic intellect is in the world full of icebergs.  It would take quite a few squares of paper to wipe all the bullshit from her mouth alone.  Hey, Sheryl, why not stop wasting fuel by not going on tours?

...and if anything, they should be printing the New York Times in 2ply.