Saw a headline on CNN yesterday that read:

"Wife, 65, fought cougar with log,"

which is much funnier if you think of it in terms of the other definition of the word cougar.

Anyone ever notice that the weather on any given day is used as evidence for or against global warming?

Minneapolis, 36 degrees: "&*%$ing greenhouse effect is ruining snowmobiling season."

Minneapolis, -16 degrees: "Global warming my &*%$ing ass."

New Hound

I finally caved. We have a dog. This is Maddy. Lea wanted to name her Madison. I wanted to name her Mad Dawg. So we're calling her "Maddy" as a compromise for the time being. Doesn't really matter at this point since she only answers to "Betty."

She's eight months old this week. We were originally looking at a ten-week-old pug named Tank and offered to babysit this gal just to get a feel for things. We just ended up liking Maddy so much that we decided she'd better stick around.

Thus, the newest addition to the Clarks:

Art imitates life.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (the group responsible for this, this and this) is ragging on 24 for allegedly feeding prejudice against Muslims. Why? Because Season 6 begins with a an 11 day terror spree by Islamist fundamentalists. The notion that extremist Muslims could advocate mass bloodshed is apparently very offensive.

Once again, CAIR has no idea what the hell they're talking about. First of all, FOX and the producers of 24, if anything, have gone out of their way to avoid categorizing one group. They've toed a thin line, considering the show debuted immediately after September 11, 2001. Cochran and Surnow have put together an ethnically diverse rainbow of bad guys for Jack Bauer to do battle with: Mexican drug cartels (Season 3), Serbian assassins (Season 1), Americans (every season), Russian separatists (Season 5), Germans (Season 2), even an English guy who just didn't like us for some unexplained reason (Season 3). You seen any British terrorists outside of a James Bond movie? I know haven't. Seasons 2, 4 and 6 have focused on Islamic fundamentalists, but in a show about terrorism, it's more than a little difficult to avoid Muslim extremism. At the end of the day, 24 could not remain credible if it avoided the 800 pound gorilla in the room.

Second of all, whenever Islamic fundamentalism is at issue, the writers are careful to condemn prejudice and destroy preconceived notions in the story line. Season 2 involves a terror cell in possession of a nuclear weapon. Instrumental in the search to find the weapon is a diplomat from an unnamed Muslim nation (again, because the writers avoid stereotyping--you rarely hear the word "Muslim" either). And while the writers imply throughout the season that a young Arab man named Reza is a part of the plot, the viewer ultimately discovers that his young, white, blonde fiancee is the true conspirator. You're backhanded for assuming that the mysterious young man with the accent is responsible. In the present Season 6, while a Muslim terror organization has detonated a suitcase nuke in suburban Los Angeles, Jack Bauer cannot prevent more attacks without the help of a former terrorist named Assad.

The writers' intent is clear: while they are not going to sidestep the contemporary issue of Islamic terrorism, they do destroy the misguided notion that a person's skin color or religion makes them a terrorist or extremist. CAIR misses this point entirely: while Islamic terror is a part of our lives, the key to destroying misconceptions and battling extremism lies in the hands of moderate Muslims willing to do something about it. CAIR is not such a group. It apparently would rather confront a fictional TV character than real bad guys.

It is an indisputable fact that Islamist terror is on the rise in the world. An unfortunate consequence of terrorism is a fear of groups associated with terrorism. If you're a member of such a group who wants to destroy these sterotypes, your beef shouldn't be with people who acknowledge that there is a problem, like the creators of 24. It should be with the people who are hijacking your religion in the first place. Treat the disease, not the symptoms.

Middle East Online: Iran offered to cut off Hezbollah and Hamas

If this proves true, then the US's failure to accept the overture would rank among the worst decisions of this administration.

LONDON - Iran offered to cut off aid and support for the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas, and promised full transparency on its nuclear programme, in a secret letter to the United States soon after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

According to the BBC, the letter, which it obtained, was unsigned, but the US State Department understood that it came with the approval of the highest Iranian authorities.

The Islamic republic also offered to use its influence to support stabilisation in Iraq, and in return asked for a halt in hostile American behaviour, an abolition of all sanctions, and the pursuit and repatriation of members of the Mujahedeen Khalq (People's Mujahedeen MKO).

UPDATE: The BBC broke this story. Their article is here.

Offers, including making its nuclear programme more transparent, were conditional on the US ending hostility.

But Vice-President Dick Cheney's office rejected the plan, the official said. ...

One of the then Secretary of State Colin Powell's top aides told the BBC the state department was keen on the plan - but was over-ruled.

"We thought it was a very propitious moment to do that," Lawrence Wilkerson told Newsnight.

"But as soon as it got to the White House, and as soon as it got to the Vice-President's office, the old mantra of 'We don't talk to evil'... reasserted itself."

I can't even articulate how frustrated I am right now. This had the the potential to be a Nixon-China moment, and Cheney blew it to hell.

Well, I brought sexy back. Boy…was that ever a mistake. Now there’s entirely too much sexy around here and, quite frankly, I don’t know what to do with it. I think my only option might be to send sexy back.

Thus, I’m sending sexy back.

(Yeah)

Worth checking out:

The Jack Bauer Kill Counter.

And by the way...

...who are the idiots who gave the Golden Globe for Best Drama to Gray's Anatomy? Unless the skinny chick was forced to pop a cap in McSteamy or the Asian chick to save America at some point during the last season, it is absolutely not the best drama on television. Maybe it's me. Maybe I missed that episode. Or it could just be that Gray's Bits 'n Pieces deserved the Globe. After all, the blonde chick wouldn't cash the check that the guy she was engaged to for ten minutes willed to her. OOOOOOH. How dramatic. Ya know what? Jack Bauer chopped Chase's arm off to save his life. He faked his own death. He survived two years being tortured in a Chinese prison. And I'm supposed to give a damn that Gray has to decide if she's more attracted to Chris O'Donnell or Patrick Dempsey? Please.

Hell, they can keep their Golden Globe. It's no Emmy. And we all know who has a few of those...

24: The First Four Hours...

Even though I'd seen the spoiler on Drudge, that totally blew me away. I'm still a bit stupefied. This season proves, once again, that nothing's off the table. If you haven't seen it yet and plan on picking it up off of iTunes or something, then you should probably stop reading.

Jack finds out just a few moments too late what Curtis's beef with Assad is. Assad attacked Curtis's unit in the midst of Desert Storm. Curtis was injured and four of his men were taken. They were later beheaded by Assad. So needless to say, Curtis wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of President Palmer's pardon of all of Assad's previous crimes. Once Assad is out of Jack's sight, Curtis brandished his gun and puts it to Assad's head. With Curtis about to kill CTU's most valuable asset in its attempt to stop Abu Fayed, Jack does what he has to.

He fires at and kills Curtis. I figured that Curtis was going to be trouble ala Tony trying to kill Christopher Henderson last season. My guess was that he would kill Assad at some inopportune time and get hauled off to a holding cell. I never would have guessed that Jack would do it.

And as Jack is on all fours, puking from the realization that he's just killed Curtis Manning, one of CTU's teams arrives at the location of Fayed's suitcase bomb. During the firefight, off it goes. Mushroom cloud. In suburban LA.

I'm psyched to see how Surnow and Cochrane develop this. Last season had one hell of an opening. This one started out slow, but it definitely tops it.

Another Miss USA state title holder, Ashley Harder of New Jersey, has resigned her crown due to her overly suggestive surname.

Just kidding. She's pregnant. And that's against the rules apparently. If you're married, then that's probably kosher...But it would kinda contradict the whole "Miss USA" thing.

Possible 24 spoiler.

To see the text, highlight the space below.

Drudge is reporting that the second half of the 24 premiere tonight may contain a low grade nuclear detonation. That would certainly up the ante a bit, but it wouldn't be the first time that Joel Surnow and Robert Cochrane have taken that route. In Day 2, a nuke was detonated over some California desert without any fatalities.

But if that were to happen in an urban area--during the premiere no less--it would certainly open up some new territory for the show. I'd be glad to see a new and different development. Something other than a mole for once.

And by the way, just how many Palmers are there??

Just in case you forgot:

See Blogs4Bauer for more info.

Did America just open up a big ol' can of crazy in the last 24 hours?

US: Iraq PM is 'on borrowed time'
Troops raid Iranian offices in Iraqi city

Turns out that Mexican food is a cure for cancer...

...Which means I have yet another reason to hit Chipotle on the way home from work.

Just saw "LOL" graffitied on a building.

Not sure that really needs any commentary.

Britons to be scanned for FBI database

I'd be insulted too. This is something we used to reserve for Iranians coming into the country.

I betcha Neosporin could make one hell of a lip balm...

UPDATE: Neosporin does, in fact, make a lip balm.




Still, I bet it's pretty good.

*&%#ing $#*&!!!!!

THAT JUST HAPPENED.

43-42 OT.

Mad props to Boise State. Sometimes getting cute pays off.

Now how 'bout that playoff?

My uncle Mark is in town this week. He lives all the way out in Northwestern Montana, so I don't get to see him all that often. He and my dad grew up in an Irish Catholic family with seven kids in all, the majority of whom attended Great Falls Central High School, the Catholic school in town. At that point, there were only two high schools there: Central and Great Falls High, where the heathen youth went and continue to attend today.

On the night of GFH and GFC's big rivalry football game one year, some cretin from GFH drove by Central and threw a water balloon full of blue paint against the front wall of Central High.

Mark turned it into a giant picture of Jesus.