Perhaps We Watch Too Much TV

Mia often asks me to write words on a sheet of paper so that she can type them on the computer. Today she started off with the usual: Flower, Winnie the Pooh, Thomas. But pretty soon she was requesting Tool Belt Diva, Barkitecture and (I swear I'm not making this up) Fox News Live.

She loves to watch HGTV. She may be the only kid in America that says "Mamma, can we watch a home impwovement show?" But I may have to cut her off. Last week I heard her saying "I feel so sexy." After a moment of horror, I realized she was parroting one of those god-forsaken diet commercials they run all day.

$74 A Barrel

My mom owns a small patch of land in western Kansas, the remains of the her grandparents family farm. An oil company has bought the drilling rights for the farm. If they strike oil, she gets a small percentage. I guess that's the up side of $74 a barrel. I hope the down side isn't having to camp out on the farm when Kansas City gets nuked.

Timing Is Everything

The History Channel is running Countdown To Armageddon tonight.

War, Pestilence, Famine and Death. In that order.

Pleasant dreams.

Did WWIII Start While I Was At Target?

I just got home from shopping, checked the news and saw that Hezbollah rockets have hit Haifa for the first time ever. A "sharp escalation." One Israel is bound to take very seriously.

Remember The Day After, that 80's nuclear war? The scene I remember most was students registering for class while a TV in the background reported the escalating crisis. They had no idea they would be dead before the start of the next semester. But, of course, you keep living your life right up to the point where you can't. What else are you going to do?

"Disproportionate act of war"

Check out this nuanced comment from France:

France criticized Israel’s campaign in Lebanon, including the attack on the airport, as “a disproportionate act of war.”

If states fought wars proportionally, wars would never be won. Every war escalates beyond the original act of violence. If it didn't, it wouldn't be a war. But it wouldn't be peace, as the French presume. It would be a Hatfield and McCoyesque eternal feud. Much like we've seen in Israel for the last fifty years, except Israel doesn't pick off random Arabs in response to random violence against its citizens.

Tell It To Lieberman

Must be seen to be believed. John Dean interviewed by Keith Olberman. Dean has a new book out claiming that nearly all "authoritarian personalities" are found among conservatives. There is so much wrong in this interview I don't even know where to start.

Conservatives need to gin up an enemy to inspire unity. Conservatives march in lock step with the leader. Conservatives are very aggressive in helping out their "authority figure". Nope, none of that would ring a bell with Lieberman (or more significantly, the citizens of North Korea, Cuba, China, Cambodia or the Soviet Union).

Also, I'm not sure how conservatives can be blindly following their leader and yet there be so many factions within conservativism that the movement can only be held together by hatred of an enemy.

And, by the way, Bush is intentionally provoking terrorism to supply the bogeyman he needs to do his dastardly deeds (didn't quite catch what those were supposed to be).

Wow. Just Wow.

Via The Real Ugly American.

Uh-Oh

This can't be good news if you're Lebanese: IDF issuing callup orders for reservists. Also from the article:

A very high ranking military officer said that if the soldiers were not returned in good condition, Israel would turn Lebanon back 20 years by striking its vital infrastructure.

Defense officials said that Defense Minister Amir Peretz has instructed the IDF to take all the necessary steps to retrieve the kidnapped soldiers.

After IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz concluded his security briefings in the Kirya in Tel Aviv on Wednesday afternoon, a senior IDF officer said the military was preparing for a large operation against Lebanon. Communities along the northern border had been instructed to prepare accordingly.

Lots more at the Jerusalem Post and Hot Air.

Lieberman Derangement Syndrome

I suspect a new strain of BDS is a work. Apparently, anyone kissed by Bush also evokes the deranged fury of the far-left. You know they're peeved when they break out the giant paper mache puppets:


This obsession with a kiss on the cheek has to be diagnosable. Granted, I wasn't thrilled to see Bush walking hand-in-hand with Saudi Prince Abdullah, but I got over it without pharmaceutical assistance.

(Via this HuffPo post where you can check out a fine example of LDS, complete with commenter accusations of "dual loyalty")

Update: Lieberman is a JFK Democrat:

In addition to being a standard-bearer for the party's tradition of equal opportunity and upward mobility, Kennedy was a muscular internationalist who understood that force was sometimes necessary in order to protect the nation's freedom and security. [snip]

... if Lieberman is defeated, a disastrous message would be sent to the nation that centrist hawks are unwelcome in the Democratic Party.

"Message sent and received," said the former Democrat. (Via the Influence Peddler)