McCain, Pence to take reporters on tour of Hell

“I don’t think it’s really any hotter than Indianapolis in the summertime, said Rep. Pence, and we plan to show that. We’ll be doing some typical warm weather activities, like skating, and maybe some barbequeing, followed by a nice swim.
Senator John McCain indicated that the Satanic leftwing media was three months behind in its reporting of the temperatures in Hell. “I could take you swimming in Hell right now,” the Senator claimed.

The two dressed in insulated and heat reflective aluminum coverall suits with oxygen breathing systems, will be escorted and guided by Brigadier Preacher Jerry Falwell, who thinks that his “tithe” approach (a ten percent increase in contributions to Falwell’s PAC) has rolled back the Devil’s ability to heat up Hell to uninhabitable levels. “Of course, there must be a political approach as well, said Rev. Falwell, but the contributions made to our “Cool as Hell” campaign are already making a noticeable difference. Falwell then led the party into a large refrigeration truck, rented for the occasion, where the afternoon’s demonstrations and photo-ops would occur.

Just before entering the refrigeration truck, his reporter happened to look upwards, where a C-130 Hercules could be seen dropping orange fireretardant chemicals.

Saturday Big Lebowski Roundup

rolling on Shabbez?

OMG Jeff Bridges is ripped, for his Iron Man role.

To see the Gutterballs sequence with ELO’s “Turn to Stone” instead of Kenny Rogers’ “Condition…” go here.

That’s my homework, Walter!

UPDATED: EFP factory found in Iraq

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“Iraqi army soldiers swept into the city of Diwaniya early this morning to disrupt militia activity and return security and stability of the volatile city back to the government of Iraq,” the US military said in a statement. Bleichwehl said troops, facing scattered resistance, discovered a factory that produced “explosively formed penetrators” (EFPs), a particularly deadly type of explosive that can destroy a main battle tank and several weapons caches.

As Juan Cole points out, it was always ridiculous to suggest that country like Iraq, with a huge oilfield industry, could not make these devices.

UPDATE: The Washington Post initially carried this Reuters story, as above, but then changed it to omit the EFP factory and substituted this (h/t Atrios):

The U.S. military said two U.S. soldiers died in separate roadside bombings in the east and west of Baghdad on Friday.

One of the bombs was an explosively formed projectile, a particularly deadly type of device which Washington accuses Iran of supplying Iraqi militants.

An Easter sermon

From Robert Wright, NYTimesSelect:

….Suppose, for example, you were nurturing a nascent religious movement in the Roman Empire, and your antagonists welcomed excuses to harass you. Suppose, that is, you were the Apostle Paul. When Paul preaches kindness to enemies, he uses not the formulation found in the Gospels, but the one from the Hebrew Bible, complete with the coals of fire.

Of course, Mr. Bush is more in the shoes of the Roman emperor than of Paul. America isn’t a small but growing religious movement. It’s a great power threatened by a small but growing religious movement — radical Islam. But the logic can work both ways. Great powers, by mindlessly indulging retributive impulses, can give fuel to small but growing religious movements. If you want to deprive jihadists of ammunition, make it hard for them to persuade others to hate us.

Right after Paul espouses kindness to enemies, he adds: “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Sounds like naïve moralizing until you look at those Abu Ghraib photos that have become Al Qaeda recruiting posters.

The key distinction is between man and meme. Yes, a great power can always kill and torment enemies, and, yes, there will always be times when that makes sense. Still, when you’re dealing with terrorists, it’s their memes — their ideas, their attitudes — that are Public Enemy No. 1. Jihadists are hosts for the virus of hatred, and the object of the game is to keep the virus from finding new hosts.

The Internet is fertile ground for memes, and jihadists are good at getting the brand out. One of the few things Osama bin Laden has in common with the Jesus of the Gospels is belief in the power of viral marketing.

The ultimate in viral marketing was Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice. Deemed a threat to the social order, he was crucified under Roman auspices. But the Romans forgot one thing: If you face a small but growing movement that threatens the imperial order, you shouldn’t attack the men in ways that help the memes.

Mr. Bush says his favorite philosopher is Jesus. One way to show it would be to spend less time repeat- ing the mistake of the Romans and more time heeding the wisdom of Christ.

Amen, bruhtha.

John McCain on 60 Minutes: “yes, I lost my mind…but I didn’t get a nap that day…you should still vote for me….”

NEW YORK Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a ’60 Minutes’ segment coming on Sunday says he misspoke in comments he made about security in Baghdad and acknowledged that heavily armed troops and helicopter gunships accompanied him when he visited a market there.
’60 Minutes’ correspondent Scott Pelley accompanied McCain to Baghdad and then interviewed him afterward after the senator drew wide ridicule.
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My questions for the Senator:

Do you realize that you put the lives of soldiers and Iraqis in danger that day

Were you intoxicated or taking any drugs of any kind?

Would you agree that you deceived the American people on the situation in Iraq?

Are you planning to withdraw from the presidential race?

Are you planning to retire from public office and/or any other responsible position?