Just in time for Halloween

Michelle Malkin, amongst others, posted these pictures from USA Today. You might notice a little difference between the two:

Halloween Condi









Whoo, pretty scary, eh?

Then, there's "unpossessed" Condi here











Oh man, the lights went off! I actually sent an email to USA Today. They blamed it on a 'new guy' that went a little too far lightening up the picture. Hmmm, wonder why nothing else got 'lighter' than the whites of her eyes? Halloween joke? Maybe, but how about doing Hillary while we're at it? Balance...

And for fun, Donald Rumsfeld

So which was it?

As you can see, ABC news wasn't quite so clear the first time. If you didn't catch it over the weekend, a Nazi group was going to march in Toledo, Ohio. With all the hubbub, the local police canceled the march. They didn't take one step. On the other hand, protesters definitely did take certain steps. Breaking windows, looting, burning, vandalizing...sigh.

Some more of what's out there...Beer and Jesus

Well, here was a post from that same site that I was getting the 'kudos' from. I don't think its much of a stretch to say that there's a correlation between ultra liberal, " bush planned 9/11" genre of blogs, and Godlessness. My take is in Italics

the top ten reasons why beer is better than jesus:

number ten: no one will kill you for not drinking beer;

I would guess that this reference goes back some 500 years to the Spanish Inquisition. Considering we've operated under the First Amendment for the last 200 years, I've not read of non-Christians being burned, lately.

Ironically, you can even in the year 2005 be killed for being an infidel by refusing to convert to Islam. So, in that regard, I would submit that beer is better than beheading someone.

number nine: beer doesn't tell you how to have sex;

Now here, I would heartily disagree. After all, how many instances are there of people having sex in situations they ordinarily never would have, without beer? What made you do it with that coyote ugly gal you met at the bar, your best friend's wife, your wife's best friend, underage teenagers at a party, and on and on...beer.

number eight: beer has never caused a major war;

Ok, so again we're going back a thousand years. In the twenty odd years I played in bars and nightclubs, I never once saw fights break out with Bibles flying back and forth with people yelling, "Immersion! No, sprinkling!". On the other hand...you get the picture

number seven: they don't force beer on minors who can't think for themselves;

Oh really? How many minors have been pressured into underage drinking by older folks (see sex reference above) or by their peers?

number six: when you have a beer, you don't knock on people's doors trying to give it away;

Of course not! Why be generous to strangers with YOUR beer? You keep giving it away, and eventually you'll run out. Now Jesus, on the other hand...

number five: nobody's ever been burned at the stake, hanged, or tortured over his brand of beer;

For the third time....how many hundreds of years ago?

number four: you don't have to wait 2000+ years for a second beer;

Assuming the 'non-believer' perspective behind this top ten list, its a good thing we're still waiting. You folks wouldn't like how it would turn out when He does come back.

number three: there are laws saying beer labels can't lie to you;

Yeah? I don't guess that all the advertising that equates beer with drop dead gorgeous super-models being around ordinary looking guys is 'dead-on' truth in advertising.

number two: you can prove you have a beer;

Depends on how many you've had. At some point, you may have difficulty proving that you exist.

and the number one reason why beer is better than jesus:

if you've devoted your life to beer, there are groups to help you stop.

Considering all the destructive behavior associated with alchohol and alchoholism, you're right.

I'm not sure we need groups to stop people from feeding, clothing, and housing the poor, healing the sick, and even helping alchoholics quit drinking.

Sheesh, this was too easy....

Well, at least Al Qaeda understands its not about oil

This from the WaPo...

Now, I'm always hammering the left for quoting articles with 'unnamed sources', so I'll be circumspect here. However, considering the Post's left-of-center posture, I'm thinking I'm on pretty solid ground.

So, what do we have here?

"The United States has obtained a letter from Osama bin Laden's deputy to the leader of Iraq's insurgency that outlines a long-term strategic vision for a global jihad, with the next phase of the war to be taken into Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, according to U.S. officials."

That's nice...he's sharing a vision. So why is OBL's number 2 sharing with Zarqawi?

"The letter of instructions and requests outlines a four-stage plan, according to officials: First, expel American forces from Iraq. Second, establish a caliphate over as much of Iraq as possible. Third, extend the jihad to neighboring countries, with specific reference to Egypt and the Levant -- a term that describes Syria and Lebanon. And finally, war against Israel."

There's your answer: Iraq is the first step...but wait, there's more.

"I want to be the first to congratulate you for what God has blessed you with in terms of fighting in the heart of the Islamic world, which was formerly the field for major battles in Islam's history, and what is now the place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era."
(emphasis mine).

So, I guess we can call Iraq "Jihadist Central", eh? Huhwuzzat? Bush just told us Iraq was the central part of the war on terror. He must have put those bad, bad Al Qaeda guys up to saying the same thing with some of those billions of dollars earmarked for Halliburton.

Boy, that Karl Rove is some kind of genius. Who would of thought of bribing those guys to back up W?

Or, maybe going to Iraq was the uh, ummm, right thing to do?

Now, here's the best part...

"In one indication of tensions between the al Qaeda leadership and its Iraqi division, U.S. officials said, Zawahiri writes about the need to maintain popular support. He is critical of Shiite Muslims and says a clash between the Sunni-dominated movement and the Shiite sect is inevitable, officials said, but he rebukes the leader of Iraq's insurgency for its brutal tactics -- noting that hostages can just as effectively be killed with bullets rather than by beheading, officials said."

Yeah, bullets are better. Not near as inflammatory in imagery. I mean, innocent people are just as dead, but without all those negative connotations. Yeah, lets 'ix-nay' the 'eheading-bay' from now on.

Boy, if this document is real..