Less than we profess to

Kristi and I saw What the Bleep Do We Know!? last weekend. Much ado about nothing. The film professes to explore connections between quantum physics, human biology, and our perception and creation of reality. It's really a thinly veiled attempt to sell the wares of new age authors.

A case in point is a woman billed as Ramtha, the head of Ramtha's School of Enlightenment. The founder of this school—and the woman through whom Ramtha speaks in the film—is one JZ Knight, who since having been visited in her Tacoma, Washington, kitchen in the late ‘70‘s has been raking in fortunes as a speaker whilst defending her copyright claim on the 35,000-year-old spirit she's created.

It turns out that another inspirational speaker in the film, a chiropractor, is one of Ramtha's devotees, as are the three creators of the film. Though enough have left this movie entranced sufficiently to sustain it with bewildered word of mouth, I found myself wishing that my powers of self-actualization were powerful enough to recover the two hours of my life lost watching this cinematic tripe.

The Vast Pro-Kerry Conspiracy

From Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs…

Upon rereading the Newsweek piece on the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and their crusade against John Kerry, the following passage leaped out at me; it explains everything about why Kerry refused to respond to the Swifties’ accusations:

But as early as Aug. 5, when the Swifties were just getting traction, Edwards wanted to push back, hard. McCain had just told the Associated Press that the Swift Boat ads were “dishonest and dishonorable... the same kind of deal that was pulled on me.” Edwards wanted to begin a speech, “I join with Senator McCain in calling on the president to condemn this dishonest and dishonorable ad.” But Kerry headquarters said no. Stephanie Cutter, the boss of the Kerry communications shop, explained that the campaign didn’t need to give the Swift Boat vets any more attention than they were already getting.

Edwards played along, but his aides were indignant. They warned the veep candidate that the story was already out of control and about to get worse. Historian Douglas Brinkley, author of a wartime biography of Kerry, cautioned that Kerry’s diary included mention of a meeting with some North Vietnamese terrorists in Paris. Edwards was flabbergasted. “Let me get this straight,” the senator said. “He met with terrorists? Oh, that’s good.”

North Vietnamese terrorists.

And this was written in his own diary—the diary he refused to release during the campaign.

Once again we see the almost unbelievable extent of mainstream media’s collusion with the Kerry campaign to hide any facts that would have damaged Kerry’s chances; if this had come out pre-election, it could have ruined him.

So Kerry, his biographer, and the media all conspired to hide it from the American electorate.

Birds of a feather

Taken in late July while I was in Austin, Texas on business, this photo features yours truly and Scotty "Botty Wotty The Neon Cowboy" Closter, a minor local celebrity in Austin. Since getting his degree in audio engineering from Webster University, he has worked in freak shows and runs a neon sign business. He has done work for Lyle Lovett and Jesse James of Monster Garage.

Scotty also has the distinction of being perhaps the funniest person I've ever met. Despite his muttonchops, I admire him a great deal.

Hot Wings

I really miss Wings Over Belleville, where I used to go for take-out sometimes once or twice a week. Emily eventually took to eating hot wings herself, despite her being only two years old. Whenever I arrived home with them and she was still up, she recognized the bag and could be counted on to say "Daddy, I want a hot wing," and "Daddy, I want another hot wing." Even if it was especially spicy, she'd tough through it and come back for more.

I miss sharing meals with my buddy girl. I hope there are hot wings in heaven.

Whew!

America the Beautiful, or the 51% that remains of it, has voted to preserve what's left of that which makes this country great. We eagerly await Kerry's concession lecture.

Sometimes Inconvenient, "Terrorists" Join America

The News in Brief
ST. LOUIS—Former freedom fighters, whom some have accused of “terrorism,” have joined in the bounty of America. On many urban street corners, entrepreneurial former insurgents may be seen propositioning wayward husbands. One finds them seeking the grace of Allah in many speakeasies—at slot machines, roulette wheels, and blackjack tables. Some, inured to unskilled labor, call to collect donations for the families of their fallen comrades, or to campaign on behalf of the Democratic National Committee. Others enterprisingly offer to clean windshields in the bustling streets of New York; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; Chicago; Detroit; Los Angeles; San Francisco; and Seattle. Although occasional mass murder still occurs abroad, such incidents have fallen to the acceptable levels set forth by the administration. Under President Kerry’s leadership, “terrorism” has been restored to a mere nuisance.

‘Bin Laden’s Tape is a Tape of Capitulation and Bankruptcy’

More from The Middle East Media Research Institute

Progressive columnist Dr. Mamoun Fandy wrote an article in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram titled 'Bin Laden Votes for John Kerry: A Tape of Admission, Voting and Capitulation.' The following are excerpts from the article.

'Osama Bin Laden Announced his Vote for John Kerry'

"The new phenomenon in the U.S. elections is that non-Americans are voting in the elections in the hope of changing America's course. [ U.N. Secretary-General] Kofi Annan, for example, voted for [Senator] John Kerry when he criticized [President] Bush's policy in Iraq and described the invasion of Iraq as an illegal action. On the other hand, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi voted for Bush in his recent visit to the U.S. when he thanked the U.S. and its president in [his address] to the Congress and in the White House. Recently, Osama bin Laden announced his vote for John Kerry in his latest tape, which was presented to us by the political porn channel [i.e. Al-Jazeera].

"The most important thing in the tape is his sincere admission that he is the man who had planned the September 11 attacks. He specified the motives that justified this operation, which began to ferment in his mind since Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982…

"The main point in this case is that Osama himself admitted to carrying out the operation which his friends and disciples were denying for a long time. And here we have evidence, in sound and image, that the man [i.e. bin Laden] is the primary [party] responsible for the events of September 11 and that neither the Mossad nor the CIA were behind the [events], as the low-ranking [Arab] commentators have claimed. Nor the Serbs, as the senior political commentators have claimed."

'Bin Laden Does Not Refer at All to Jihad in This Tape'

"The second point is that the tape is one of capitulation and bankruptcy, and not one of threat and warning, since bin Laden appears in regular robes and not in a military uniform with a rifle on his side. Bin Laden has relinquished his military [character] and his arms. This, of course, is intentional on the part of the public relations administration within Al-Qa'ida and outside it.

"In addition, bin Laden does not refer at all to Jihad in this tape. There was no [mention] of Hadiths or of Koranic verses, and not even a mention of the month of Ramadan, which we [mark] today. The tape is devoid of religious manifestations and is devoid of any [mention] of the conflict between East and West, or [the war of] the Mujahideen against the infidel Crusaders, whether Christians or Jews.

"Bin Laden's speech was restricted to technical issues of U.S. foreign policy and its relations with the Middle East. In addition, it was restricted to an attempt to influence the voters in every [U.S.] state, with [bin Laden] stating that [each] state is responsible for its own security by means of its vote – and bin Laden's lack of understanding of the internal situation in the U.S. is [yet another] issue, which I will not elaborate on here."

'This Tape Resembles the Announcements of Commercial Companies Which are Going Out of Business'

"The tape tells George Bush: 'Leave us alone, and we will leave you alone.' It is obvious, from both the language and the body language, that this is a speech of a man who is capitulating, withdrawing, or trying to 'change his spots' from a Jihad fighter to a politician. This tape resembles the announcements of commercial companies which are going out of business.

"Bin Laden gave justifications for the events of September 11, and admitted responsibility for them, and here he is announcing that he votes for John Kerry in the elections. His speech contained expressions borrowed from the Democratic Convention or from Kerry's speeches, such as the story of George Bush telling a girl in Florida a tale about a goat. This expression appeared frequently in John Kerry's speeches, and it is obvious that whoever wrote bin Laden's speeches has democratic leanings, or at the very least that he follows John Kerry's speeches with interest. Moreover, bin Laden appeared in the tape as if he were advisor to Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, for he provided hints, free-of-charge, about the way to [better] preserve U.S. security.

"The outcome of the election we will know today or tomorrow, but the tape will remain a tape of admission, voting, and capitulation."

Bin Laden Threatens US States Not to Vote for Bush

From The Middle East Media Research Institute, by way of Little Green Footballs

MEMRI’s translation and analysis of the Osama bin Laden videotape, verified by a radical Islamist web site, reveals that the video was calling for the defeat of George W. Bush and offering a pact of protection (dhimmitude) to US states that don’t vote for Bush: Osama Bin Laden Tape Threatens U.S. States Not to Vote for Bush.

The tape of Osama bin Laden that was aired on Al-Jazeera (1) on Friday, October 29th included a specific threat to “each U.S. state,” designed to influence the outcome of the upcoming election against George W. Bush. The U.S. media in general mistranslated the words “ay wilaya” (which means “each U.S. state”) (2) to mean a “country” or “nation” other than the U.S., while in fact the threat was directed specifically at each individual U.S. state. This suggests some knowledge by bin Laden of the U.S. electoral college system. In a section of his speech in which he harshly criticized George W. Bush, bin Laden stated: “Any U.S. state that does not toy with our security automatically guarantees its own security.”

The Islamist website Al-Qal’a explained what this sentence meant: “This message was a warning to every U.S. state separately. When he [Osama Bin Laden] said, ‘Every state will be determining its own security, and will be responsible for its choice,’ it means that any U.S. state that will choose to vote for the white thug Bush as president has chosen to fight us, and we will consider it our enemy, and any state that will vote against Bush has chosen to make peace with us, and we will not characterize it as an enemy. By this characterization, Sheikh Osama wants to drive a wedge in the American body, to weaken it, and he wants to divide the American people itself between enemies of Islam and the Muslims, and those who fight for us, so that he doesn’t treat all American people as if they’re the same. This letter will have great implications inside the American society, part of which are connected to the American elections, and part of which are connected to what will come after the elections.”(3)

Another interesting aspect of the speech is the fact that while bin Laden made his specific threat to each U.S. state, he also offered an election deal to the American voters, attempting to influence the election by these means rather than influencing it through terrorist attacks. (4) This peace offer is a theme that follows up on his April speech directed to Europe, in which he offered a truce. (5) The Islamist website Al-Islah explains: “Some people ask ‘what’s new in this tape?’ [The answer is that] this tape is the second of its kind, after the previous tape of the Sheikh [Osama bin Laden], in which he offered a truce to the Europeans a few months ago, and it is a completion of this move, and it brings together the complementary elements of politics and religion, political savvy and force, the sword and justice. The Sheikh reminds the West in this tape of the great Islamic civilization and pure Islamic religion, and of Islamic justice...”

Will the United States go the way of Spain and the rest of surrending Europe? Ironically, it’s “safe” to write off the terminally blue states.