Free Republic

That’s what Johnny Depp ended up with in indelible ink after his failed romance with Winona Ryder. I wonder what the Obamidiots are going to do with that pretentious red, white and blue circle after the sheen has worn off that nickel alloy they’re idolizing? 'The crew at Fatty’s Custom Tattooz in Washington, D.C., is gearing up for the new administration with “Obamathon.” Starting Friday and running through Inauguration Day, patrons can get a free Obama ’08 tattoo with the purchase of another tat costing $200 or more. And if a chest piece featuring the First Family isn’t fanatical enough,...

From the Christian Science Monitor, a news report that officials in Pakistan have arrested a large number of people suspected of participation in the Bombay terrorism. Of course, the murdering thugs involved hid themselves behind the trappings of civilization. Thus, in shutting down the “charity,” Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which fronted for the terrorists, the following occurred: "'We have arrested a total of 124 mid-level and top leaders of JuD in response to a UN resolution — 69 from Punjab, 21 from Sindh, eight from Balochistan and 25 from the NWFP — blocked six websites associated with the organisation and closed down its...

Where are the statesmen and nation-builders of the Palestinians? There are none. No Palestinian, no Arab Muslim (no Muslim?), has appeared with the mind of a Jefferson or a Hamilton or an Adams. As I have said before, no one lives in Gaza who is capable even of the low-level mimicry that is all that is needed to build an entire world of commerce, education and peace there between Israel and Egypt. Surely, desire for such a nation is a prerequisite of competence, and desire is lacking as well. Many clear-eyed Western observers (such as Steyn) have traced the roots...

What if the Islamists stand to defeat us, not because they embrace death, but because they embrace God (however malformed their image of him is)? What if we stand to lose, not because we love life, but because we love only ourselves? I’ve just started Witness. Not surprised to find that I’ve never had an original thought in my head, I see that he expresses thoughts with which I fumble as I examine the West and Islam. Chambers did not forsee the deadly war we wage with militant Islam, but he knew the nature of our most existential battle: the...

I have no problem with assassinating the Iranian President and all the wackjob mullahs around the world. I think we ought to task our Special Ops guys with just that job, maybe do a double-team with Mossad. I think we would open up a whole new level of understanding with our jihad-jolly friends if they began to fear deeply for their personal safety. And I think we ought to have a certain tolerance for collateral damage along the way, because they would hide themselves among their most vulnerable and innocent. This is a war to the death, and you don’t...

Michelle Malkin,on the ball as ever, has done her homework. From her latest column (H/T: NRO) come these revelations about those hard-working UAW guys: "…the UAW owns and operates Black Lake Golf Course — a “championship caliber” course opened in 2000 that’s part of a larger “family education center” and retreat nestled in 1,000 acres of property in Onaway, Mich. ...While membership in the union has plummeted, the UAW retains assets worth $1.2 billion... And while the UAW and carmakers cry poor, they’ve operated massive joint funds for years that have paid for lavish items such as multi-million-dollar NASCAR racer...

Seems the humanitarians over in Gaza have been busy: "On Tuesday, Hamas legislators marked the Christmas season by passing a Shari’a criminal code for the Palestinian Authority. Among other things, it legalizes crucifixion." And we should do anything with these defectives other than put them down, why? (From Caroline Glick at the Jerusalem Post)

I’ve written extensively about Western civilization in these pages, noting that in a West that seems increasingly intent on its own extinction, the United States remains the heart of the flame—the exemplar of all that man at his best can create. Melanie Phillips, over at the Spectator, rightly points out that Israel stands as Western civilization’s avatar; or perhaps more tellingly, our canary in the coal mine: "The issue of Israel sits at the very apex of the fight to defend civilisation. Those who wish to destroy western civilisation need to destroy the Jews, whose moral precepts formed its foundation...

Someone please explain to me the intricacies of men’s wallets. The QC needs a new one, and Max wants one of his very own for Christmas (a REAL leather one, please); so off I went in search of the same. Nordstrom’s had some that looked just like wallets for $98, while Kohl’s had some that looked just like wallets for $25 (on sale for $15). Upon close examination, I observed that some are “slim;’ some are tri-fold (others bifold), and some have “extra capacity.” I punted and bought several varieties from which the QC may choose. Max is being given...

Do it without dragging the rest of us along with you. The liberals in charge of higher education in this country exercise no judgment when it comes to admitting “foreign” students, just as those we task with controlling immigration show no savor for their duty. Thus, an Egyptian man who once attended the University of South Florida has been found guilty of aiding terrorists through a video he posted on YouTube (where he showed how a radio-controlled car could be used to blow up infidels). From Tampa Bay On-Line: "TAMPA - Defense attorneys for a 27-year-old Egyptian man who pleaded...

He will not stop making biscuits on my belly. I shoo him away; back he comes. I smash him down flat on my lap; he pops back up and starts kneading. He is purring loudly enough to wake the dead, too. Maybe I smell bad or something. Cats are truly inscrutable. Which is probably why Jonah Goldberg doesn’t like them. You always do know where you stand with a dog. The Goldberg household is getting a feline inhabitant; Jonah is going to do a contrast and compare of Cosmo and the cat. Well, I can give him a few points...

I have discovered the only sure way to get Horus to exercise: I have to wander aimlessly from room to room in the house; Horus then follows me (sometimes even running ahead and jumping on furniture in defiance of fat-cat-gravity). I know from prior experience that simply projecting myself from a to b will not work. Horus seems to know that I have a purpose and a destination, and he waits me out (since frequently I return from b to a). Ah, but let me go in search of something I have misplaced (in this case a copy of “In...

Is still not a rose. Amir Taheri, writing in The New York Post, calls what happened in India an expression of “pan-Islamism.” He writes: "This may be an indication that pan-Islamism is gaining ground among the younger generation of Indian Muslims. The key feature of pan-Islamism is its goal of “liberating” all lands that once were ruled by Muslims - from India to Spain and southern France, passing by parts of China and Russia, as well as the Balkans." Can we drop the euphemism now? Radical Islam is a fascist ideology adhered to by murdering reprobates who don’t deserve the...

As we talk about trees. Andy McCarthy points out that our focus on the minutiae of Islamic terrorism is causing us to overlook the infinitely more meaningful ideological nature of TROP’s war against the West. I can’t say it better than Andy, so I’ll just quote him: Naturally, these local operatives are spurred, in part, by local and regional issues. But, though themainstream pressrecoils from this reality,such local issues are fitted to an ideological framework that is global, hegemonic, and more about the ultimate triumph of fundamentalist Islam than, say, a Palestinian state, Kashmir, Danish cartoons, economic inequality, or whatever...

Actually, the idiocy displayed by this commenter over at Concerned Democrats for McCain is almost inspired. I have to admire someone who can shut down her cognitive functioning so completely that she sees nothing wrong with an Obamabot tattooing a number on his forearm to “commemorate” his service to the One. I am not at all astonished that this same supposedly tolerant, open-minded, working-for-justice Lefty is supremely intolerant and dismissive of someone who disagrees with her. While I used to think that only Christians were fair game for intolerance and contempt (while blacks and Muslims especially must not be exposed...

I am always the treat maven at our house on Halloween, while the QC wanders the neighborhood with the younger boys, drinking a beer with the other husbands and making sure the kids don't throw up from too much sugar before they even get home. I answer the door, exclaiming over costumes and admonishing the much older kids still out begging for candy they could buy themselves. This year, I think I shall have two treat bowls. Bowl One: An extravaganza of delectables. All the best, regular-sized, deluxe candy bars. Twix, Snickers, Milky Way, Reese's, Hershey's, you-name-it. Freely given, shared,...

I feel like I fell asleep and awoke in a world created by an horrific collaboration by Huxley, Orwell and Kafka. We are about to elect to the presidency a man suckled on socialism, a man whose soulmates loathe America, a man whose followers actively work to silence dissent while engaging in the ugliest “free” speech themselves, a man whose thugs think nothing of violating seemingly every individual liberty enumerated in the Bill of Rights, a man whose smug arrogance and sanctimonious will-to-power are disguised by facile verbiage—an anti-Lincoln, a cooler, nicer Mao—and most people, even those who won’t vote...

We have Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Auto…(Big Government)…why not Big Word? Seems like lexicographical mergers and acquisitions have occurred without anyone saying a, well, a word. I noticed as I was perusing my gigantic dictionary last night that it is not merely “Webster’s;” it is “Random House Webster’s” unabridged. Pretty soon we’ll see OED engulfing them all. I don’t think bigger is better when it comes to our weird and funny language. The process of admitting new words to the lexicon is an organic one, to be sure (just think about how easily we all use Google as a...

We give the Amish entirely too much credit. Now you can pick up the “Best/Worst-Dressed” edition of People and read about Amish puppy-abuse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Seems that those unworldly folks of faith have figured out that Americans can’t resist cute puppy eyes in a pet store. Massive Amish puppy mills are churning out sub-standard pups, caging animals in enclosures too small to allow the animals to stand, and shooting sick and unproductive animals. At least one of these good people shot all of his dogs when he learned that the authorities were planning to pay him a visit....

Now that I have navigated successfully the Bermuda Triangle of Storage that is the Closet of Doom, I realize that Horus rightly has been concerned about my welfare when I am up in the office. Especially when I go into the closet! When I occasionally would venture in there to look for something that had been swallowed up, he would follow me in with all his feline indicators on high alert. I just chalked it up to inexplicable cat behavior, bt now I know that he truly feared for my well-being. Not that I am anthropomorphizing, really. He wasn’t concerned...