baldilocks

Moving Fast

Whoah!  When I looked at the Amazon Bestseller Rating for Tale of the Tigers yesterday, it was at 1.6 million plus.  Today it's at 249,002!  Does anyone know about how that has happened?

And, care to make it even lower?

Clearing Up a Misconception

Christianity is not about changing yourself to make God happy. It’s about allowing God to change you. It’s 90% him and 10% you.

--Steve Graham, A New Creation...

He who has an eye, let him read.

A Coronation?

President Obama will welcome a, shall we say, colorful cast of characters into the country in the upcoming week for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.*

Does Homeland Security know about this? Oh wait. Forget I asked.

In addition, President Obama will preside over the meeting of the Security Council on the 24th and it will be the first time in the history that a US President has done so. I'm sure that the Russian delegation will hand him his 'Thank You' gift sometime during that farce.

Nervous? You're not the only one.

(Photo belongs to Politico)

*Pictured (L-R): Iran's Ahmadenijad, Venezuela's Chavez, President Obama, Libya's Gadaffi and Zimbabwe's Mugabe.

Awesome (UPDATED)

Watching the 9/12 Tea Party Protest on Fox Interactive.  Godspeed to them all.

UPDATE: Who's there?

Stephen Green the VodkaPundit

Stacy McCain

UPDATE: 1.5 million in attendance.

God love Senator Jim Demint (R-SC).  I never thought I'd say that about a U.S Senator.

UPDATE:  Live Webcam.  And Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) can't seem to find the word 'Czar' in the U.S. Constitution.

(Thanks to Ace of Spades HQ who has a couple of breathtaking photos.)

UPDATE: From VodkaPundit:

 

That's pretty much the case.  Once you folks who object to the government redistributing your money to others realize this, you'll be truly free.

UPDATE: A NYC firefighter who responded to the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 reminds us that people are still dying from the diseases that come from inhaling the remains of two disintegrated office buildings and two destroyed jet aircraft.

UPDATE:  I think we've just heard a coinage: Million Patriot March.

UPDATE: Highlights (via Michelle Malkin)

UPDATE:  A whole load of photos are here.  A million people, easily.

UPDATE: I can't wait to see what the ground covered looks like afterward--certainly no worse than did the National Mall following Presidential Inauguration Day 2009.

UPDATE: Wow.

The Second Revolution

In the wake of what appear to be a stolen election by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (as if all Iranian presidential election outcomes since 1979's revolution aren’t determined in advance by the mullahs), Iran’s people are rising up against their rulers in favor of the opposing candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi.  As with any revolution, it isn’t pretty.  It is, however, breath-taking.

Instead of going on over things about which I have only cursory knowledge (as if that has stopped me before) here are some words you should read and photos you should peruse.

How an authoritarian theocracy puts down dissent (photos and videos).

Totten—Iran’s government is the Foe of the World:

“Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei’s police and the Basij militia are using violence and terror to suppress the Iranian people at home. His terrorist proxies fire missiles at Israel while torturing, maiming, and murdering Palestinians. He sponsored a violent coup d’etat against the elected government in Beirut last year with his Hezbollah militia. He sponsors a terrorist insurgency against the elected government of Iraq, while his fanatical proxies shoot and kill American soldiers. A car bomb cell belonging to the regime’s Lebanese franchise was recently arrested in Azerbaijan, and more cells were rolled up in Egypt. Terrorists sponsored and encouraged by him and his predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini, have murdered civilians from Argentina to Japan.

The regime’s only allies in the world are terrorist armies and Bashar Assad’s Baath Party state in Syria. Assad himself, like Khamenei and Ahmadinejad, is a pariah among the Arabs, Persians, Turks, Kurds, Azeris, and Israelis who make up the region.

 In Tehrangeles, support for the people.

 Obama Administration: No condemnation for Iran's violent government suppression of protest.  I thought that the president’s “We’re all Muslims now” speech had made things all better in the Muslim world! 

The world waits for the Leader of the Land of the Free.

(Thanks to Hot Air)

Landslide

Congratulations to President-elect Obama and to the Democrats.

As it became apparent that Barack Obama was going to be elected president, I called up my step-dad to see what was on his mind. We had a long conversation about the way history seemed to be heading and during the conversation, I looked up at the TV and noticed that the Electoral College Vote count was 287 for Obama. Done deal.

When I mentioned this to Dad, a man who is a Bible-believing Methodist pastor and staunch conservative Republican who voted for John McCain as did I, he said this: "Don't you ever go to bed at night without praying for that man."

I will not. He--and we--will need it.

Pro-Life in Action

In the last few days since the greater American voting public became aware of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s existence, that of her husband Todd and of her five children, a wild rumor has been spread by the Left about the birth of her youngest—that he is actually the offspring of the Palins’ oldest daughter, a seventeen-year-old. Never mind the incredible viciousness of the rumor, the illogic of it stops a thinking individual in his tracks.

Well, as it turns out, the daughter really is pregnant right now.

Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin's five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, McCain aides said.

"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us," the Palins' statement said.

"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support," the Palins said.

Isn't God hilarious?

One hopes that the Left would just stop right now with the “prying into the vaginas of others” as Ann Althouse so memorably puts it. But you know that they will find some other angle of attack and it will be just as stupid and it will alienate normal Americans even further from their candidate of choice.

Speaking of Obama, anyone know what he has to say about this whole state of affairs? I’ll bet he’s fuming over the fact that Palin’s selection as McCain’s running mate has completely eclipsed his DNC coronation. Come on, kinsman! Step on that tongue again and give us some fodder. Perhaps reiteration of that '"punished" with a baby' concept?

And I thought that the 2004 presidential election was a soap opera.

(Thanks to Hot Air)

UPDATE: Well done, Senator Obama.

Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama Monday afternoon issued a strong statement to "back off" reports of Bristol Palin's pregnancy, telling reporters families — and especially children — are off limits in this presidential campaign.

Mr. Obama, campaigning here, also noted that his own mother was 18 when she gave birth to him.

"People's families are off limits," he said. "People's children are especially off limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. "

"I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories," he added. "That shouldn't be a topic in our politics."

He knows that the continuation of this horror would do nothing but hurt his chances. He's right.

Waiting for the Man

Invesco Stadium, right now.

(Click to enlarge.)

Separated at Birth

It's beginning to feel like it...and that each of us was born in a separated dimension. You know who I'm talking about.

I've been busy as a bee today—in a good way.

However I have to take time to share a few things.

LA Weekly will be featuring a profile of me on Thursday, the 21st. The subject? My mirror life with Obama and the effort to save the Kenyan school named in his honor.

Oh, yeah and the site is up! A lot more basic than I had envisioned but we’ll see what happens as I add features.

And here's the hot newsflash: my mother is white. Well, that’s what Jerome Corsi assumed when he used my father’s four-year old Obama op-ed as reference material for his best-seller The Obama Nation.

[Philip] Ochieng's point in writing this insightful piece was not just to set the record straight on Obama Senior. More important, he sought to describe how Obama Junior, when first visiting the "Home Squared" of his father's native village during his 1992 trip to Africa, was confronted with the perplexing accusation, "You're lost!"

The expression comes from the Luo verb lal, which Ochieng explained means to disappear or be away for a long time without an explanation. "Simply by being born and growing up in America, Barack Junior had never been a Luo: He had lal," Ochieng wrote.

From there, Ochieng argued Obama Senior "had lost his way by marrying a white woman -- Barack Junior's mother." Ochieng confessed that he shared this plight. For decades he was estranged from his daughter, who was born of a white woman who left him while Ochieng was in the United States studying.

My mom’s response: “Well, that certainly isn’t the first time someone has described me in that manner.” (I could hear her smirking over the phone.) Well heck, me neither. However, my father does mention my name in the op-ed and a quick bit of Google work would have revealed that I was probably not half white. It's an...interesting...assumption. But what can one expect from someone who uses Andy Martin as a source?

The part about my parents’ separating also leaves the impression that my father was in the US studying while my mother was in another country. Wrong. They separated—later divorced--while both lived in the US in the same abode.

Out there somewhere is a list of things which are allegedly wrong about Corsi’s book. I don’t know what any of the items on the list are but if it's an accurate list, then this item should be on it.

Seemingly unrelated: my step-father and I were agreeing the other day that there are no coincidences. You'll see what I'm talking about on Thursday.

UPDATE (January 31, 2009): After seeing the misconception about my family on the web several times in the last six months I finally got to contact Mr. Corsi about the mix up. He was very nice about it.

Waiting (UPDATED)

Like most others who care, I'm waiting to see what the exact rude thing is that Jesse Jackson has said about Barack Obama and felt the need to apologized for--things said while the former was in FNC studios and thought that his microphone was turned off.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson apologized Wednesday for saying Obama is “talking down to black people” during what he thought was a private conversation with a FOX News reporter Sunday.

Jackson also made an off-hand comment about cutting off a part of Obama’s anatomy.

Yikes. Bill O'Reilly will break the exact wording of the alleged offense in a few minutes.

Of course, this is silly. It will be fun, however, to have yet another glimpse of how the MSM's designated "black leader" thinks and what his real attitude is toward his would-be usurper. This thing is giving me a Saul-David vibe.

And least, such a triviality is more interesting that the Hot News Flash that professional athletes are, for the most part, alley cats and have frightening taste.

UPDATE: It turns out that Jackson's wording is pretty much as stated above, with Jackson saying to an FNC reporter Reed Tuckson from the UnitedHealth Group that he'd like to "cut [Obama's] nuts off." Leaving aside the question of whether O. has any nuts to sever, at first O'Reilly and his guests seemed to characterize the dust-up as a difference of opinion regarding faith-based programs, but the topic of envy did come to the fore. Additionally, O'Reilly was incredulous at the contention that Obama was talking down to blacks and at how Jackson's vitriolic words--some of which were, apparently, too nasty to air--seemed disproportionate to the disagreement.

One thing I noticed: Jackson's words did not match his demeanor. Looking for the video.

UPDATE: For those who haven't seen it:

I wonder what else Jesse said.

Why the Russians Are PO'd (Re-edited)

Short of an all-out MAD ignition scenario, a missile shield protecting Eastern Europe would render a Russian attack on the Europe Union totally ineffective. Richard Fernandez explains how and why, reminding us that a government-culture which is still capable of disposing of an Alexander Litvinenko in such a hair-raising manner, remains capable of anything--especially when it deems that its back is to the wall.

Russia is mad because its government has this fantasy in which the West would attack it and it would retaliate, be victorious and regain its former glory. I know, I know. Why would the West want to attack Russia? That question doesn't matter. What matters it that it is convenient for the Russian government to believe that we would want to. This belief provides a premise for the conclusion that Putin's Medvedev's Russia should revert to the old Cold ways when Russia was strong. And a missile shield makes that fantasy less likely to become reality.

Richard also discusses the effect a proposed missile shield could have on Iran's nuclear dreams--basically laying out the rationale for a Russia-Iran alliance.

Nervous?

(Thanks to Instapundit)

[Re-edited for clarity; thanks to Tully]

How They Spent Their Fourth of July

...and the 21st century's 'Greatest Generation' follows suit: 1,215 troops re-enlist in Baghdad.

“You and your comrades here have been described as America’s new greatest generation, and, in my view, you have more than earned that description,” [MNF-I commander General David] Petraeus said. “It is the greatest of honors to soldier here with you.”

What else need be said?

(Thanks to Hot Air)

Jungle Boogie

Yes, I'm still up.

Lions and buffaloes and crocs tangle. And the winner is...well you'll just have to watch.

(Thanks to Ace)

Black Man Preaching

If there absolutely, positively must be a black POTUS right now, why couldn't it be this guy running, aside from the fact that he's probably not thirty-five yet? (slight language alert)

Black & White on the Grey Matters 2 (War)

If he were a little older, I might be in love.

(Thanks to One Cosmos)

UPDATE: I saw gray hair so maybe he's older that first thought. But I'm taken.

UPDATE: Watch the guy's whole library. Again, be mindful of the language.

God Bless America

Says this Iraqi minister. I hope he survives his gratitude.

Listen to the whole thing (or, rather, read the subtitles to the end).

Iraqi Politicial Tells the Truth
(Thanks to Ace)

Odyssey

Tom Mboya’s passion*—to provide the ‘elite’ of his nation with Western education so that they might come back home and build on the home turf—has borne some unforeseen fruit, both large and small.

Because of Obama’s prominence, Mboya’s endeavor has recently received the type of publicity of which the latter could have only dreamed back in the late fifties. However, it seems that, whether in America or Africa, Mboya operated by Jesus Christ’s axiom that when one asks, he/she shall receive. And it appears that Obama and I have many earthly beings to thank for the providence of being born American. One such being is American expatriate Gloria Hagberg.

From a 2005 profile:

Resting on a couch at the United Kenya Club in Nairobi, 92-year-old Gloria Hagberg is a lady at peace with the heavens and all below.

She came to Kenya 50 years ago and fell in love with the country and its people. Now in the sunset of her life, she spends her day going through scrapbooks and photo albums of her rich career as an educationist.

And she is not about to leave Kenya. "This is the only home I know," she insists.

Her best memories are of the time when she and her late husband, Gordon Hagberg, helped about 5,000 Kenyan students go to America for studies in what is commonly known as the airlifts between 1958 and 1962.

Among them were two future vice presidents of Kenya, the late Dr Josephat Karanja and Professor George Saitoti.

Others who passed through her hands later became senior politicians and some members of the Cabinet. They include Arthur Magugu, Dr Adhu Awiti, Samuel Adoyo and Kimani wa Nyoike.

She also nurtured journalists Hilary Ng’weno and Philip Ochieng before they took up their scholarships in the US. [SNIP]

Her role in the airlift project was to conduct pre-airlift classes for students who had qualified for the scholarships and to make their flight arrangements.

The classes were mainly to introduce them to America and counsel them on how to make it as students in a foreign country.

"It was not as easy as it sounds," she recalls. "Many of them had never been to Nairobi, let alone fly to New York." [SNIP]

Her husband’s memoirs capture the hectic moments in the following words: "Students flocked to the office where Sumat Patel and J.K. Jani were coping with the restless line. These two gentlemen were among the many who gave their time and money to get the airlift off the ground. Their energetic resourcefulness was later to be described as something akin to a miracle by the time the third airlift had safely delivered its passengers across the Atlantic."

But to get the job done, they were able to get tickets at fares that were half of the normal amount.

Gloria recalls a 5,000-plus crowd gathering at the airport that evening. They were members of family and well-wishers who had come to witness the historic day. She, her husband and the late Cabinet ministers Mboya and Gikonyo Kiano stood with the crowd to wave Kwaheri.

"The excitement was so high you could feel it in the air. The crowds were cheering and dancing, almost causing a stampede at the waving bay. Security people had to intervene to stop the frenzied crowds from jumping into the restricted area," she remembers.

Two days later the students arrived in New York flying via London. Gloria had already confirmed their bookings at the Hotel Martinique on 32nd Street at Broadway. Here the travel-weary students found tens of journalists waiting to report the event.

"I was so delighted to receive a cable that the students had landed safely in the US and were headed for their respective colleges. My husband and I went for a special dinner to celebrate the achievement." [SNIP]

Gloria recalls the second airlift taking place in September 1960. This one had 148 students who she had taken through her pre-flight course. They arrived in New York on September 13 aboard two DC-4 aircrafts. Fifty compatriots from the first airlift were at hand to meet the new arrivals.[SNIP]

Within 10 days of the arrival of the second group came a further 242 students.

"It was like a military invasion with hundreds of Kenyans landing in the US every week," she recalls with delight.

(Emphasis mine.)

How about that? I highlighted the instances of flight to show that, unless one is looking at a roster of passengers, it would be easy to confuse who was on which flight. Additionally, there were many, many people who provided resources--financial and otherwise--to bring these students to America. I tip my not-wig to them and, of those gone on, to their memories.

My source wondered whether Mrs. Hagberg was still alive. As of February, she was indeed--riding out the turmoil in her adopted homeland in relative safety (scroll down). February 1 was her 95th birthday.

I wonder how many Americans there are who are descended from these “invaders.” Obama and I may be the most narcissistic ones, but it's not possible that we're the only ones.

(A most heartfelt thanks to Buy Danish)

*Part of the airlift timeline is here.

I'm Terrified

Terrorists need love too. They also need beard-grooming techniques. Yuck.

Broken Hearts

Some of you folks are beginning to sound like jilted lovers. I kept telling you that Obama wasn't a Muslim but a Communist (okay, a Socialist). He may ally with known racists--and, hopefully, it will sink his candidacy--but BHO is a mere cipher; a vessel. As William Amos put it at Hot Air,

We were wondering if Barack was a Manchurian Candidate; I think the answer is yes. The only question is for who?

Obama coats his lack of self in Black Liberation Theology--an ego-based, God-as-Sugar-Daddy ideology. But it could have been any other ideology that was equally as metaphysically empty; he suited up in this one because it fit the best for obvious reasons.

Some of us are still trying to clue you all in as to the exact nature of Obama's fraud. So when you stop fretting over the fact that He Done You Wrong, when you stop letting your ego and your fear blind your judgment, pay attention to the big, hairy clues in the guy's background. (No. The other clues.)

They've been sitting there all along.

UPDATE: What Cobb said:

The great charade of this debacle is that critics and fans from the left and right have placed the burden on Obama to be their magic negro, to prove once and for all that Americans are capable of bridging racial gaps.

We Can't Say He Didn't Warn Us

Ace calls this Obama campaign video an advocacy for a McCain presidency. Maybe.

It's all there: pull out of Iraq immediately, no "unproven" missile defense systems, no nukes, hamper development of future R&D of combat tech.

What more could the Give Peace a Chance crowd--or America's Enemies--ask for?

:::shudder:::

Open Contempt for the Military Goes Mainstream

Before I had to take care of some out-of-house business this morning (picking up my bifocals), I happened to catch this part of President Bush’s press conference.

Q What is your reaction to the MoveOn.org ad that mocked General Petraeus as General "Betrayus," and said that he cooked the books on Iraq? And secondly, would you like to see Democrats, including presidential candidates, repudiate that ad?

THE PRESIDENT: I thought the ad was disgusting. I felt like the ad was an attack not only on General Petraeus, but on the U.S. military. And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad. And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org -- or more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the United States military. That was a sorry deal. It's one thing to attack me; it's another thing to attack somebody like General Petraeus.

(Emphasis mine.)

The adjective 'most' might be a stretch on the president's part, but 'how many' is a less important question than 'who.'

I had wondered what had caused the questioner to bring up the “Betray Us” incident again. When I returned home, however, I found out that Senators Clinton and Reid, the front-runner for the 2008 Democrat Presidential nomination and the Senate Majority Leader, respectively, both voted against a resolution

To express the sense of the Senate that General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the full support of the Senate and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces.

The resolution passed 72-25-3. (Democrat presidential candidates Obama and Biden were among the three not voting.) Says Allahpundit to Senator Clinton, “They own you now."

As if there was any doubt. Consider this a Commander-in-Chief preview.

If You Didn't Know...

Now you know.

"The reports that you provide to us really require the willing suspension of disbelief..."

--Senator Hillary Clinton to General David Petraeus following his Iraq progress report submitted to the US Senate on September 11, 2007.

Clinton & Co. need to explain.

But they won't; it's not required in order to win--at least not yet.

UPDATE: The general responds: "Hey, Chica; you voted for the war and asked for a report!" Well, he didn't use those words exactly (click for video).

(Thanks to Don Surber)

Castro Dead?

Of course we know that rumors of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's death have been greatly exaggerated before. Keep an eye, however, on Babalu Blog, where Val is optimistic but cautious.

Nothing is official, lots of buzz, no confirmation. However, was told something that may make unfortunate sense: the Cuban government has gotten us all riled up only to proudly and snidely display fidel castro in full green fatigues regalia.

(Thanks to Hot Air)

UPDATE: Keep an eye on Perez Hilton also (although I'm hoping that Val scoops PH).

IMMEDIATE BACK STORY: Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said earlier today that Castro was "doing very well" in the wake of a recent surgery.

UPDATE: From WSVN in Miami (via Babalu):

FOX News cites multiple officials at the White House saying there is nothing to back up rumors coming out of Miami that Fidel Castro is dead.

From Duranty to Beauchamp

At the American Thinker, Randall Hoven has compiled an extensive list of media hoaxes. Beauchamp's there, Rather's there and so is one 2008 presidential candidate:

Joe Biden, U.S. Senator and candidate for President (1988). Plagiarism. He withdrew from the 1988 presidential race after being discovered "delivering, without attribution, passages from a speech by British Labor party leader Neil Kinnock... a serious plagiarism incident involving Biden during his law school years; the senator's boastful exaggerations of his academic record at a New Hampshire campaign event; and the discovery of other quotations in Biden's speeches pilfered from past Democratic politicians." He's still a Senator, and back in the race for 2008.

Many of the fabricators/sloppy researchers/slanderers, etc. have paid the price for their errors. However, still others--individuals like Senator Biden or news agencies like serial offender Reuters--have remained in positions of prominence and continue to influence American public opinion. Keep watch.

Off Topic

Shout out: I just want to say 'hi' to the loyal fan I have who lives in Ireland.

From France With Love (!) (UPDATED)

Does this mean that we have to stop making fun of the French?

Omaha Beach, July 4, 2007

It sure looks that way.

(Thanks to Pajamas Media and Gateway Pundit)

UPDATE:

From the Embassy of France link:

About The French Will Never Forget (TFWNF) (www.thefrenchwillneverforget.com):

This non profit organization was founded in 2003 by 4 individuals, Paul Bensabat, Jean-Pierre Heim, Patrick du Tertre and Christian Millet (Presidents and co-founders of this association). The committee in France is composed of Olivier Brane, Emmanuel de la Taille, Anne Colombe de la Taille and Jacques Noel Bilet.

This program is one of the very few grassroots organizations with the objective of reinforcing at all times the friendship between the French and the American Peoples and constantly demonstrate the eternal gratitude that the French people has for its American ally for the sacrifices she did during World war II to liberate France.

I think that we astonished Americans have overloaded TFWNF's server.

UPDATE: View from the top of the hill.

Baldilockses Are Everywhere

No, that's not me.

Like many people do, I have my name on Google alert status. So when I received an alert about Kenya's 2006 Miss World contestant, I was stunned. A nineteen-year-old girl named Juliet Ochieng (note the spelling of the first name) was indeed Miss Kenya and a Miss World contestant last year.

Other reasons why a searcher would know that Juliet and I are different people are the great gulfs between our ages and our weight--with mine being the greater in both cases. (I'm old enough to be this beautiful young lady's mother and who wouldn't I kill to have a 24-inch waist again!)

However, the coolest thing which the other Miss Ochieng and I have in common is this: we are both rockin' the shorn head!

'I Don't Need Your Love'

Pat Dollard: these young Americans have a message for scorners of America's volunteer warriors. Those with faint hearts, weak stomachs, virgin ears and those with not-so-understanding bosses might want to skip this one. It's raw.

(Thanks to Jordan Golson)

Bragging

It was around 80 degrees here in LA. This isn't a photo of LA.

(Thanks to David in Maryland)

Why My Hair is Dark Instead of Grey

No offspring.

Boy, is this kid ever in trouble with Mom and Dad.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A 16-year-old from Florida who traveled to Iraq on his own without telling his parents was put on a flight home Friday, the U.S. Embassy said, while warning Americans of the dangers of undertaking similar journeys.

Farris Hassan, of Fort Lauderdale, had been under the care of the U.S. Embassy after being on his own in Iraq for several days. [SNIP]

The teenager, whose parents were born in Iraq but have lived in the United States for about 35 years, says he wanted to travel to Baghdad to better understand what Iraqis are living through.

"I thought I'd go the extra mile for that, or rather, a few thousand miles," he told The Associated Press.
Skipping a week of school, he left the country on Dec. 11, telling only two high school friends of his plans. His travels took him to Kuwait and Lebanon before he arrived in Iraq on Christmas Day.[SNIP]

Hassan does not speak Arabic and has no experience in war zones, but he wanted to find out what life was like there.

"He is very driven and he is very patriotic. He believes in democracy," his mother said.

More ‘stones’ than brains, but he appears to have a lot of the latter also. It was reported that some of the Iraqis were...nonplussed, shall we say, by hearing Farris' American English come out of his Iraqi-appearing face.

Someone give this kid a job to keep him out of trouble! I'm sure his mom and dad will thank you.

Read his essay regarding his reasons for going to Iraq.

(Thanks to Pajamas Media)

Showing Gratitude

Though I have very many things to be thankful for, it would seem boring and self-serving to list them; it would be a long yawner of a post. Better and more humbling demonstrations of gratitude exist.

Via FoxNews, here’s Rebuilding Together: Serving Those Who Serve, one of several enterprises that are assisting permanently-handicapped military men and women who received their injuries from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Applicants must meet the above criteria, must own their own home (or live with the homeowner) and must meet income requirements. (I would assume that this means that they can’t make too much money.) The FoxNews report featured the home of two OIF soldiers (married to each other), one of whom had lost both of his legs. Rebuilding Together sponsored the remodeling of the home, featuring the installation of a wheel-chair ramp, the lowering of the front steps (so the gentleman could more easily navigate them using his prosthetics), the specialization of the kitchen and one thing I found really amazing: a bathroom pulley device installed so that the injured man could bath himself (and, presumably take of other usual bathroom tasks).

However, when I went to Rebuild Together’s main website, I discovered that its main mission is to rebuild and repair homes for America’s hurricane victims. Their stated goal is to rebuild 1000 houses damaged/destroyed by Katrina and Rita.

This type of organization represents what America is all about. I, for one, am grateful such endeavors exist, though, obviously, I gain no benefit from them. Such people are examples for us all to follow.

Giving Back

All they can spare is more than enough.

"I am Colonel Abbas Fadhil; Tadji Military Base Commander,” Abbas wrote. “On behalf of myself and all the People of Tadji Military Base; I would like to console the American People and Government for getting this horrible disaster [Hurricane Katrina]. So we would like to donate 1.000.000 Iraqi Dinars to help the government and the People also I would like to console all the ASTs who helped us rebuilding our country and our Army. We appreciate the American's help and support. Thank you." [SNIP]

“We are all brothers,” said Abbas. “When one suffers tragedy, we all suffer their pain.”

If that doesn’t put a lump in your throat, what can?

(Thanks to the Mudville Gazette)

Data's Ancestor

Here are the droids that some of you may be looking for.

Japanese scientists have unveiled the most human-looking robot yet devised - a "female" android called Repliee Q1.

She has flexible silicone for skin rather than hard plastic, and a number of sensors and motors to allow her to turn and react in a human-like manner.

She can flutter her eyelids and move her hands like a human. She even appears to breathe.

Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University says one day robots could fool us into believing they are human. [SNIP]

"More importantly, we have found that people forget she is an android while interacting with her. Consciously, it is easy to see that she is an android, but unconsciously, we react to the android as if she were a woman."

(Thanks to Venomous Kate)

An Eloquent Response

Read this. All of it.

Certain people should get down on their knees and beg forgiveness from the author of the linked post. Come home soon, Sir.