Is Pakistan Helping the Taliban?

From Tammy Bruce:
Pakistan Accused of Funding, Arming Taliban

They also have nukes. What do you do with an "ally" like Pakistan...?
     

Pelosi, Tuna, and the limits of "Compassion"

The Democrats raised the minimum wage, because no one could raise a family on the current wage. Never mind that minumum wage is for entry level jobs. Never mind that no one can raise a family on the new minimum wage either. Never mind that employers will have to cut jobs to meet the new wage requirements. Democrats are insisting it was the right thing to do, because it was "compassionate".

But apparently there are exemptions from this compassion. Nancy Pelosi gives us a perfect example of this. She has moved to exempt American Samoa from the minimum wage, to the benefit of Starkist Tuna, a San Francisco Company, which has workers in American Samoa. I don't doubt that they are also a big campaign contributer for her. The Democrats rule San Francisco; there is no other significant party to appeal to.



But will anyone investigate this? I doubt it. If a Republican did this, it would be front page news. But Pelosi gets a pass by the media.

I lived in San Francisco for 23 years, and the S.F. Democrats were always practicing "Do as I say, not as I do", exempting themselves and their minions from rules they expected others to follow. Surely that is the last thing we need to have in Washington D.C. as well?


Related Link:

Nancy Pelosi, Democrats and Flexibility
     

Sunday Funnies 01/14/07

You can read Cox and Forkum's related links on this topic HERE.

Farm Report 01/13/07

Twelve Dwarf Gang-Bangers Get Death Sentence



The situation with 13 Brides for 12 Brothers has not worked out well. The large females ignore the small males. As a result, the males now stalk the females as a group, focus on one and isolate her, then badger her and force her to submit.

We're solving the problem by recycling the 12 brothers into dog food:




The dogs are very happy. The 12 brothers are now 10, and counting.

The hens egg production tripled when we started letting them forage outside. But then it began to drop off again. I soon discovered why:




They have begun laying eggs outside in the salal bushes on the edge of the lawn. I discovered this nest by accident. One of the dogs found another one.

The solution for this has been to only let them out in the afternoon, since most of them have laid their eggs by then.

We have had our first big snowstorm here in Robin's Wood. Here I am with one of the dogs on the first snowy morning:




OK, I admit, two inches of snow isn't much of a "storm" for many folks, but it is rather a lot for the Oregon Coast. Pat has more photos on his blog, of the farm that first morning, here and here.

We had no significant snow last year, and just a dusting the year before. Usually it just melts with the afternoon sun, but not this time. We had still more snow in the late morning:






The sun finally came out in the afternoon, and the snow began to melt and fall from the tree branches:




But temperatures were still quite cold, and as the sun set freezing temperatures resumed, so the snow has stayed on the ground.








Welcome to "Cold Comfort" Farm!

I had to break ice for the animals this morning, and it was so thick that I broke a brick on the ice while trying to reopen the duck pool. The ducks aren't happy unless they have some water to swim in, no matter how cold. The weather report says this is arctic air over us now, and it may last a few more days.

The water pressure pump on the well froze again, and Andy had to thaw it out with a blow torch. We've got to work on insulating that today, but right now I have to take the dogs for a walk, before they go stir crazy. The fun never stops! ;-)
     

Nokia Star Trek Linux Tablet Thingie

Star Trek meets Linux on Nokia 770 LCARS PADD


This little Nokia tablet computer has been modified with a Star Trek Next Generation Theme, with graphics and sound effects from that show. It's kind of funny, because it seems to fit so well; it's almost like a device you would see them using on the TV show.

As a kid, I thought it would be neat to have some of the devices they used on Star Trek. Slowly, it seems like we are getting them. The Nokia tablet connects to the internet, and a new model has just been released. The future is here! ;-)

Other Nokia videos

More about the Star Trek theme for the Nokia 770

The newest model Nokia Linux Tablet just released

As had been anticipated, the N800 bears a high resemblance to its older sibling, the 770. Key changes include: addition of a VGA-resolution web cam; microphone moved to a more phone-friendly position; two full-size SD card slots, instead of a single RS-MMC slot; built-in stereo speakers, instead of a single speaker; scroll rocker for web page scrolling; redesigned top-mounted buttons and 5-way cursor pad; built-in stand; and a few mechanical tweaks. [...]

Visit the link for more photos specs and information.
     

Bush's Speech and Troop Increases

It was a good speech by President Bush last night. Little Miss Chatterbox gives us an excellent summary here:

Bush Combats the Summer Soldiers and Sunshine Patriots

She has excerpts of some of the best parts. She also rightly points out:

[...] I know I shouldn't be surprised but I can't believe what doomsayers the Democrats and the Drive By Media are being about this new approach. As Rudy Guiliani said if Bush had come up with a different strategy the Democrats would be whining that we need more troops. It saddens me that there is so much venom for the President that the Democrats can't even cheer for their own country. They aren't even giving this plan a chance. They denounced it before the speech was even given. The Democrats and the Drive By Media are truly "summer soldiers" and "sunshine patriots".[...]

Yes, if Bush walked on water, the press would complain he couldn't swim. Thank goodness we didn't have these folks around in WWII.




Other folks around the world DO have a clue about what we are up against, and are fighting back. We need to give them our support.



The Democrats continually underestimate our enemies, weaken our security and undermine our foreign policy. Too many of them are concerned soley with domestic issues, to the point where they are oblivious to dangers that threaten us.



I don't think all the Democrats are that oblivious; hopefully we can get some bi-partisan cooperation by the grown-ups in both parties to tackle these issues head on, before they overwhelm us. The steps outlined in the President's speech can work, if we support them and stop encouraging the enemy, whose favorite and most effective weapon seems to be our own MSM.


Related Links:

Neal Boortz on Bush's Speech As always, he gets to the point.

And Debra Saunders reminds us just how things could get worse, if we cut and run now:
Waiting for Bush to save the day

The most naive sentence in the English language is: It couldn't get any worse. That's an argument many who have protested the war give for getting out of Iraq -- that nothing could be worse than 3,000 U.S. troops killed as the Iraq insurgency has grown stronger.

There is something worse: Some 3,000 U.S. troops dead, followed by the collapse of the Iraqi government, thousands of Sunni Arabs dead, Iraqis who worked with the coalition forces assassinated and their families butchered, and thousands more refugees swarming across the Middle East. Something worse would be 3,000-plus troops dead after a defeat that has emboldened jihadists, who want to kill Americans, and have become convinced that if they do, the United States won't fight back -- not for long, anyway.

The worst of it is: Defeat in Iraq is assured, if that's what Americans choose. Yes, the Bush administration has made horrible mistakes -- start with too few troops -- that have cost American lives. It also can be said, however, that the antiwar movement has stoked the insurgency by showing that civilian and military casualties could lead to troop withdrawal -- and that has increased the coalition's death toll and made it harder for the coalition to succeed. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) We can't just walk away. If we do, we shall pay more dearly for it than we will by fighting it through till the end. It's time to end the half-hearted efforts, and do what needs to be done.


And last but not least, this from Tammy Bruce:

Sack of sh*t Al-Sadr

Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army Gets Ultimatum

Excellent news. We are indeed moving right ahead. I noted on Tammy Radio today, and in posts here, the one true sign that the new Iraq approach is serious and will work is when Muqtada al-Sadr, Iran's primary Death Squad agent in Iraq, is dispatched and the Death Squad itself, is eliminated. The Mahdi Army will not voluntarily disarm, btw, opening the door to its annihilation. How we actually handle this situation is the key move. It is why the military is saying we will know "within months" if the new strategy (i.e., killing the enemy) will work, primarily because they expect al-Sadr to be gone. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) This should have been done long ago. Better late than never.
     

Little Mosque: Opinions?

Little Mosque on the Prairie


There are a few more clips on YouTube here.

My previous post about this show has been pulled up in search engines since the first episode aired. People seem interested in the show, and I'm wondering what the opinions are thus far.

There was this somewhat odd preview/review:

Little Mosque On The Prairie, though fun, isn't exactly cutting-edge

An excerpt:

[...] If you can get past the SNL-sounding parody title, you'll find a charming, low-key comedy.

Unlike the usual fish-out-of-water scenario in which an ignorant and often arrogant newcomer is taken down a peg or two by the quirky but knowing locals (see Men In Trees), Little Mosque makes the locals (God-fearing white folks) ignorant and intolerant and the butt of most of the jokes, while the members of the Muslim community are peaceful, conciliatory and occasionally sharp-tongued. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) The reviewer thinks this sounds just great. I suppose it does, if you think religious white people are ignorant and intolerant.

This really, is the hypocrisy of Multiculturalism. It pretends to be about being equally respectful of all cultures, but too often the reality is that it's about respecting any culuture but our own.

Imagine someone making a "comedy" about ignorant and intolerant god-fearing Muslim folks? It would never happen, of course. So why is it ok to disparage Christians that way? Isn't respect supposed to be a two-way street?

Anyhow, that was just one review, one person's opinion. As I browsed through other articles, I came across an interview with the show's creator, Zarqa Nawaz. It went into a little more depth than others I've seen, and revealed some insights into what she says she wants to do. An excerpt:

Canadian TV show explores lighter side of being Muslim

[...] The strongest insurance against outrage from the faithful is that the force behind "Little Mosque" is Zarqa Nawaz, a Canadian Muslim of Pakistani origin whose own assimilation, particularly after she left Toronto for Regina, Saskatchewan, 10 years ago, provides much of the comic fodder.

"It rests on my shoulders to get the balance right between entertainment and representing the community in a reasonable way," Nawaz, a 39-year-old mother of four, said in an interview here. "You have to push the boundaries so you can grow and evolve as a community."

There are examples given in the interview. You can see that she is pushing some of the boundries in her own Muslim community, and asking things and bringing up issues that aren't commonly addressed with more traditional Muslims. So in one way, you automatically want to support her in this. Yet in another way, when you look at these issues (I leave it to you to read the interview), it's kind of sad, as these are the kinds of things the rest of the modern world has already dealt with 60 or more years ago. If Christians were struggling with these ideas, they would be pronouced ingnorant and intolerant. But when Muslims do it, they are defended by the same people who denouce the Christians. Go figure.

I'm curious about the show, because it does sound like she is trying to do something different. Even if it's not perfect, it could have some interesting elements.

I remember when NBC's controversial series "The Book of Daniel" aired in the US. That particular show made two fatal errors, IMO. Yet many things about it were quite good, I was sorry to see it cancelled. Too bad it's creator didn't tread more lightly in a few areas.

I can only speculate about "Little Mosque", as it's not broadcast here. I will update this post with any further interesting links if anything interesting turns up. If you have seen the show, what do YOU think?

UPDATE 9:30 am
Here is a review from the Torontist:

Little Mosque: A Bloop Double (If We Use Baseball Metaphors)

[...] The best word to describe the pilot episode of Little Mosque on the Prairie is "clunky." It's not unfunny, but this is definitely a show finding its footing.

The show's biggest letdown is that it treats the obvious ethnic conflict between "average white Canadians" and Muslim-Canadians so very, very badly. It's played for laughs - which is good because it's a comedy - but the jokes aren't funny because the Dumb White Folks are so clownish and buffoonish you feel like you're being told to laugh, or worse, lectured on tolerance and diversity. (It doesn't help that Neil Crone's boring Rush Limbaugh parody and Sitara Hewitt's gratingly self-righteous young Muslim woman make one want to put on a blindfold and earmuffs until they go off the screen.)

On the bright side, however, the show picks up very nicely on another conflict - the fact that Torontonians and Albertans hate each other. (Torontoist is biased, as we are located in the greatest city in the world and not in a province full of tar-sand-loving rednecks.) There's a lot of promise here as an additional theme, not least because Zaib Shaikh plays Amaar, the new imam from Toronto, as a total city boy who knows what's best in life - like low-fat cappucinos. [...]

It also goes into some details about the cast and characters, etc. I can't reprint the whole thing here, but it's worth following the link. It's not a long review, and the comments made below it are interesting, too.

The reviewer, Christopher Bird, seems to understand that a pilot episode is the most difficult, and that you can't judge a whole show by one episode; that it is indeed a show that is still trying to find it's footing. In his opinion they have made some mistakes, but much depends on where they go from here, as the characters develop. His ending comment sums up his opinion well, ending on a hopeful note.
'


Related Link:

Can Laughing at Each Other Help?
     

Star Parker Defends Oprah's Philanthropy

Oprah Winfrey has been getting some flack for spending millions of her own money to open a school for girls in South Africa. She has critics who maintain that she should be spending that money here in the USA. Conservative columnist Star Parker offers us a sensible defense of Oprah's decisions in a recent article, "Lesson in education from Oprah". Some excerpts:

[...] I can't say that Oprah and I have similar visions of how the world works. When I was working on welfare reform 10 years ago I did her show and it was quite clear that Ms. Winfrey and I are on very different wavelengths.

But now I'm going to defend her.

First of all, it's her money. Unlike many in the entertainment business, Oprah isn't hanging around Washington lobbying for you and me to pay for her pet programs. She isn't even doing Oprah-thons asking us to send in checks.

Oprah made her few billion on her own and she runs her own philanthropy program. It's her money, and it's her business how she chooses to give it away. [...]

She goes on with several other strong points in Oprah's defense, and even discusses Oprah's attempts at helping American inner city kids. Oprah admits failing at this, but Star points out that throwing money at American education is NOT the answer to it's problems:

[...] Who knows how Oprah's school in South Africa will fare?

But could she possibly waste any more money on education than our own government does?

How about our Department of Education, with a budget of $90 billion this year? DOE got started in 1979, compliments of President Carter, with a budget of $14 billion. Anybody out there think our kids are doing six times better on tests?

Despite appropriations for elementary and secondary education that are, in real dollars, more than 50 percent higher today than in 1980, reading scores for 9-year-old kids are virtually unchanged. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) That is just shocking. And why has all this money made NO difference? Star tells you exactly why, as well as the solution. Do read the whole thing, it's short and Star doesn't waste your time. If education in this country really matters to you, this is a must read.

U.S. talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, centre, and students cut the ribbon during the opening of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in the small town of Henley-on-Klip, South Africa, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007. Winfrey opened a school Tuesday for disadvantaged girls, fulfilling a promise she made to former President Nelson Mandela six years ago and giving more than 150 students a chance for a better future. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

Related Links:

Myth: Schools Need More Money

The plantation that Hillary loves

Oprah's school in Africa
     

Sunday Funnies 01/07/07

This last comic is in memory of Joe Barbera, co-founder of the famous Hanna-Barbera Animation Studios, who passed away at the age of 95 on December 18th.

His obituary, his life story, got somewhat lost in all the holiday events last month, so I thought I'd remember him here today. So many of us grew up with the many, many wonderful cartoon characters and shows his company created and produced. For a stroll down memory lane, visit Hanna-Barbera.com.

Thanks for the memories, Joe! Your works will live on for a long time to come.
     

Canada's "Little Mosque on the Prairie"

Cast members with director. Photo: AP

Rondi Adamson at the Brussel's Journal Blog informs us about a new Canadian TV show:

Little Mosque on the Prairie

Canadians are not known for the quality of the television they produce. Yet a Canadian sitcom set to debut on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (the CBC) next week is getting slightly more publicity than Gulf Wars I and II combined. And not just in Canada. CNN and The New York Times – among others – have given airtime and column space to “Little Mosque on the Prairie.” The title is a play on the 1970s family show, Little House on the Prairie, based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. But the “prairie” in question here is a fictional town in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The series is said to focus on Canadian Muslims interacting with their non-Muslim neighbours, and all the hilarity that will naturally ensue.

While I object strongly that my taxes are used to pay for the CBC, I don’t object to the idea of this show itself. And if hilarity actually does ensue, I’ll be happy. But I’m dubious. The show’s creator, Zarqa Nawaz, a Canadian Muslim filmmaker who wears a traditional hijab, has noted “that while the classic sitcoms All in the Family and The Jeffersons dealt with bigotry and racism for the first time on American television, their success was based on the hilarious delivery of those issues, not on preaching to viewers.”

First of all, I would be willing to argue that All in the Family was indeed preachy, but that aside, Canada’s public broadcaster has had little success where sitcoms are concerned, and regularly scores low ratings against American shows that most Canadians would prefer to watch. The CBC is, however, long on preachy.

One must also take into account the CBC’s propensity for anti-American and anti-Israeli bias in its news coverage, and for increasing dhimmitude in the years since 9/11. [...]

I think Canada likes to pride itself as the most politically correct multicultural nation. It will be interesting to see what they manage to turn out. Like Adamson, I don't have high hopes that it would even be funny; probably just preachy and boring, but until several episodes have been broadcast, we can only speculate.


Little Mosque on the Prairie creator
and producer Zarqa Nawaz.
(Sophie Giraud/CBC)

I wonder if Zarqa Nawaz wants to see Sharia law officially supported in Canada? If the answer is yes, then is this just a way of trying to soften up the Canadian public to accept that? No one has asked her any questions like that in any interviews I've read, so we can only wonder.

For her part, Nawaz maintains the show isn't political, it's a comedy, and it's about making people laugh. She denies that CBC hired any outside consultants to ensure the show would not offend Muslims. She says she's taken care of that herself, by bouncing jokes off her friends, and that there will be nothing to offend Muslims. She talks about wanting her own children to see characters like themselves on Canadian TV, etc.

The show premieres next Tuesday and then will air on Monday nights and be repeated on Wednesday nights. I'd say "wait and see", except most of us in the US won't see it (except perhaps those near the border within broadcast range of CBC?). We'll have to wait and see what the Canadian audiences have to say about it.

UPDATE 01/10/07:
Clips from the show and more here: Little Mosque: Opinions?


Related Links:


Camels on hand to celebrate premiere of "Little Mosque on the Prairie"

CBC's Little Mosque to break new ground

Canadian comedy hits close to home

The Background of Multiculturalism
     

Spiders On Drugs

Just when you thought you had seen it all...

(Hat tip to TammyBruce.com)

The 110th Congress takes charge...

And what a bunch they are! A real mixed bag.

The media was having a Love Fest with Nancy Pelosi becoming the first female speaker of the house. I lived in San Francisco for 23 years, and Pelosi is a very familiar figure to me. I've already given some of my opinions about her in an earlier post. San Francisco Democrats are among the most far to the left in the Democratic party, and I don't doubt that in that sense, Nancy Pelosi has left her heart in San Francisco. It's the home of her constituents, and her real beliefs.



She gave a polished speech, that said all the right things. She understands what a Washington politician needs to do. And that photo op with all the children surounding her... she gave us all a real San Francisco Treat there. I'll give you an example.

I remember in San Francisco, there was this ridiculous wealthy socialite, Pat Montandon. She was an apologist for the Soviet Union, and she used to travel around the world urging appeasment to the Soviets, for the sake of world peace. She would surround herself with children, and travel with them. She called them "children as peacemakers", but I think it was really more like "children as props". They make great props to hide your agenda behind.

Surround yourself with children, and you are then supposedly on a moral high ground, where no one can question you. At least, that's the theory. More SF leftist BS, IMO.

I think Pelosi was just taking a page out of Montandon's book. Is that too harsh? Perhaps. After all Nancy really is right in one way; Congress really will be all about children, when you consider that some of her associates act like children trapped in adult bodies.



But I'm not going to speculate about what she might do. She's been given a big honor now. The reality is that she is now the House Speaker, and she was put there by due process. The fact is, we WILL now see what she's going to do.

I also expect Democrats to act like Democrats, and Socialists to act like Socialists. And like good partisans, they will fight to keep the power they have, and do everything they can to gain more.

It's too bad the Republican's didn't do the same. They are going to pay the price for that now, and they have no one but themselves to blame.



Can some good come out of this? Maybe. I think the Republicans became complacent and lazy, because the opposition party was so weak and ineffective. But now they have some real opposition, some competition. Perhaps now they will have some insentive to get their act together. Perhaps W. will even by some miracle be able to occasionally use that veto power that he has so long neglected.



Perhaps there will even be some real bi-partisan efforts to get some things done. I'd like to believe Pelosi's speech was more than just Washington-speak window dressing. We shall see.

But it's for our foreign policy that I fear the most. The Democrats have an abysmal record with foreign policy. Both Carter and Clinton weakend our military and security. The Democrats seem blinded to real dangers as they focus themselves on their socialist agenda. Their focus is not on national security. Where are they going to steer us to?


There are such grave decisons on the horizion. In the next two years there are going to be decisions made that affect the lives of millions. Bad decisions might cost the lives of millions.

I'm saying my prayers for ALL the members of the Administration, the Congress and the Senate, and the Supreme Court too; I pray that they are guided to make wise decisions.




The next two years won't be boring. No doubt there will be lots for bloggers to blog about.


Related Links:

The Coronation of Nancy Pelosi

Liar or Idiot? Pelosi puts her foot in it.

Two Visions, and the Fork in the Road

Is Europe Nancy Pelosi’s America?