Well, well. Those thirty days felt like 30 years. I hope my guest bloggers kept you entertained.

How did the book turn out, you ask? Uh, well... it's shit, actually. It was an excellent writing exercise, and a good excuse to take a break from the news, but the story and characters are terrible. Two years ago I wrote a fictionalized account of the angel who saved my worthless life, and it was great. But this... I felt nothing. The fact is I am a far better diarist than I am a novelist. Perhaps because I cannot suspend disbelief for very long, or perhaps (and probably) because I am a narcissist who can only stare at her own navel, and I have little interest in things that don't directly affect me. So be it. So I shall stick to diarizing my life, and holding forth on the issues of the day.

It's great to be back at Girl on the Right. There truly is no place like home.

... and I'll use it if I want to, even if it is still November.

Today's playlist is: Silence.

Silence is all I hear today. The past few weeks have been a cacophony of talk, email, words without end, music. Today, though I cock my ear to hear a voice, there is only... silence. I don't like it. I'm not used to it. Though I may complain from time to time about the noise, I prefer it to the loneliness of silence. The silence allows the thoughts to come and go at will; allows the demons to come play, tiptoeing through the wreckage.

With the holidays on the horizon, people are busy. I, too, have been putting in the hours to close the year out. But that has contributed to the general background din. Today is too quiet, with everyone else shouldering their own burdens, and me with a bit of down-time.

So to the Ladies, and to the others (you know who you are) who generally provide the email to-and-fro throughout my day: I miss you. I hope you're catching up, and that you'll be back soon.

"After converting to Islam in college, he held a job at the Ashland, Ore., office of Al Haramain, a Saudi-funded charity that sent money to al Qaeda.

"In a fascinating memoir due in stores in February, My Year Inside Radical Islam Gartenstein-Ross describes how he was drawn to Islam because he saw it as a religion of peace.

"Over time, however, he watched himself and those around him seduced into a fanaticism that required them to loathe not only non-Muslims, but also Muslims who belonged to the wrong sect, listened to music or shaved. He had expected an open, accepting religion, only to hear sheikhs arguing that Muslims who leave the religion should be killed, that it is acceptable to kill civilians for jihad and that good Muslims should work to replace democratic governments with Shariah law."

(...)

"Once when a local reporter visited Al Haramain to write a piece on Ramadan, a co-worker refused to shake her hand, launched a defense of sorts of Algerian terrorists and lambasted a French policy that prohibited schoolgirls from wearing the hijab in class. The comments never made the story. Gartenstein-Ross writes, 'And so, as I often did, the reporter chose not to acknowledge that a real clash of values existed here.'"

"The jihadists' every victory is also a defeat. Every time they srike militarily, more people wake up from their Religion-of-Peace slumber to the reality and magnitude of what we are facing. Likewise, even as CAIR and Co. successfully mau-maus and intimidates the media (even the 'conservative' media), it sows the seeds of the undoing of its own campaign: witness Tucker Carlson's unwillingness to take any race-hate nonsense from Arsalan Iftikhar.

"Will they succeed in criminalizing scrutiny of Muslims before enough of the public wakes up in time to stop it? Maybe. But each of their victories will bring them closer to defeat."

"Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the grand sheikh of Al-Azhar said: 'In Islam, circumcision is for men only. From a religious point of view, I don't find anything that says that circumcision is a must (for women).' The edicts of these two clerics are considered binding.

"The final statement of the conference was: 'The conference appeals to all Muslims to stop practicing this habit, according to Islam's teachings which prohibit inflicting harm on any human being.'"

"One of the Muslim panelists said if anyone offended his religion, he would strike him.

"A lawyer, Anthony Julius, responded that Jews had lived as minorities under two powerful hegemonies, Christian and Muslim, and had been obliged to learn how to deal nonviolently with offense caused to them by the sacred scriptures of both. He started by referring to an anti-Semitic passage in the New Testament %u2014 which passed without comment.

"But when he began to list the passages in the Koran that denigrate Jews, describing them as monkeys and pigs, the panelists went ballistic. One of them, Madeline Bunting of the Guardian, put her hand over the microphone and said words to the effect, 'I am not going to sit here and listen to any criticisms of Muslims.' She was cheered, and not one of the journalists in the audience from right or left uttered a word about free speech -- not hate speech, mind you, but free speech of a moderate nature."

This chart came from a survey performed this past June. Have a look:

Lets have a closer look at what those numbers really mean:

Average % of Muslims that think targeting civilians is acceptable (sum of "Often/Sometimes" column and "Rarely" column [hard {bold} numbers only] divided by 10 [countries polled]=

35.2%

Number of Muslims planet-wide (provided by wiki) = 1,400,000,000

Number of Muslims planet-wide that think it's OK to go jihad on your civilian ass, to defend their religion, in some or all circumstances:

1,400,000,000 x 0.352 = 492,800,000

Wanna narrow it down some? Let's look strictly at the "Often/Sometimes" column:

Total of hard (bold) numbers = 198

divide by 10 = 19.8% average

multiply by 1.4 billion = 277,200,000

That's 277 million Islamists running around out there who think it's absolutely OK to go jihad on your civilian ass in order to defend Islam. Think about that for a minute. If you need some perspective for that number, it's almost equivalent to the entire population of the United States.

In order to be fair, we should define "defend Islam". Here's how Dictionary.com defines defend:

de‧fend  /dɪˈfɛnd/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[di-fend] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–verb (used with object)

1. to ward off attack from; guard against assault or injury (usually fol. by from or against): The sentry defended the gate against sudden attack.

2. to maintain by argument, evidence, etc.; uphold: She defended her claim successfully.

3. to contest (a legal charge, claim, etc.).

4. Law. to serve as attorney for (a defendant): He has defended some of the most notorious criminals.

5. to support (an argument, theory, etc.) in the face of criticism; prove the validity of (a dissertation, thesis, or the like) by answering arguments and questions put by a committee of specialists.

6. to attempt to retain (a championship title, position, etc.), as in a competition against a challenger.

–verb (used without object)

7. Law. to enter or make a defense.

And here's what Islam considers an attack, assault or injury:

• Isreal's Existence
  
• Cartoons
  
• Women NOT wearing the burka
  
• Ice cream swirls
  
• Writing the truth about Islam
  
• Christianity
  
• etcetera
  

These people have more beefs than the perpetually peeved Palidea (Let Freedom Reign's MoonBat of the Week for the last gajillion months). Speaking of our MoonBatty friend, she takes a different view of the numbers above. She completely ignores the negative and instead comments that 64.8% of Muslims absolutely don't want to kill us. If you get a chance, ask Palidea if her mother is Muslim and it'll help you put her apologist arguments into context.

Crossposted at LFR and North American Patriot

From Andi's World:

We're looking to stuff and deliver hundreds of stockings to our wounded troops. Any donation, no matter how small, will help.

You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Please be sure to note that your donation is for Operation Santa/Bethesda and Walter Reed, otherwise your donation will go to the general fund for Operation Santa.

Donations by mail can be sent to:

Marine Corps Family Foundation
4000 Lancaster Drive- Suite 57
Salem, OR 97309

Thanks in advance for your help. It's hard to describe the joy these troops feel when strangers work to ensure that their Christmas is as good as it can possibly be.

"Also at fault are the U.S. education system, which according to an American Muslim from John Hopkins University, doesn't 'put enough emphasis on teaching about the values of 20 percent of the world population,' as well as Muslims themselves, some of whom 'misinform by being poor representatives of their religion and its values,'...""

"However some non-Muslim customersare furious they were not told their hamburger meat was slaughtered and blessed in accordance with Islamic rules laid down in the Koran."

I'm a bit surprised this happened in Australia, of all places.

Or not.

Rick, we really need you to step in and say something devastating about the chick wearing your old jean jacket... Ok, mine.

Today's Toronto Sun has this story :

Sat, November 18, 2006

'Blame Canada' again

Cartoon ripsfish trawling

By TARA BRAUTIGAM, THE CANADIAN PRESS

ST. JOHN'S -- They've taken on Mel Gibson, Saddam Hussein, Satan and Jesus.

Now the potty-mouthed kids from South Park are featured in an online ad -- and their target is the Canadian government and its opposition to a ban on bottom trawling on the high seas.

Greenpeace posted a video spoof online starring Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman, who slam Canada's stance on deep-sea dragging as a round of talks on sustainable fisheries began at the UN.

The boys -- animated as different species of fish -- single out Canada and Spain, expletives included, before a large net scoops "Squiddy" off the ocean floor.

"Oh my God! They killed Squiddy!" Stan yells.

"You bastards!" Kyle replies.

Then the group breaks into song, to the tune of the Oscar-nominated Blame Canada,"bashing Canadian officials for their refusal to support the ban and mocking Spanish fishermen who trawl "because we can."

My first impression after reading that was: "Not Friggin' Likely! The folks at South Park would never help out Greenpeace!" And I was right. Here's the "on-line ad":

In case you've forgotten, here's what the South Park kids really sound like: Help the helpless

Am I annoyed that the enviro-nazi's would taint South Park by trying to associate them with their movement? Only a little. I'm sure the folks at South Park Studios are thinking of a way to get even as you're reading this post. Payback will be a bitch I'm sure.

What's got me annoyed is the way "Tara Brautigam" from the Canadian Press bought into it and gives the impression that it's actually the South Park kids in the ad. She doesn't tell us that Greenpeace uses likenesses or voices that sound similar. Nope, not at all. Did she do any research beyond talking to a Greenpeace PR hack? I'm inclined to think she didn't.

It's just another example of shitty journalism and why you, dear reader, should never trust anything out of the MSM (or blogs) unless it can be verified.

/rant

Crossposted at LFR

Germany "well on the way to becoming a Muslim state by 2050"

I hit my 20,000 word mark last night. Yay me. So here's what I've been listening to...

18th Floor Balcony - Blue October

I raised my hands as if to show you I was yours
That I was so yours for the taking
And I'm still so yours for the taking
And that's when I felt the wind pick up
I grabbed the rail while choking up
No words to say, And then you kissed me....

Are You the One That I've Been Waiting For - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

There's a man who spoke wonders though I've never met him
He said, "He who seeks finds and who knocks will be let in"
I think of you in motion and just how close you are getting
And how every little thing anticipates you
All down my veins my heart-strings call
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?

I Hold No Grudge - Nina Simone

I'm the kind of people
You can hurt once in a while
But crawling just ain't my style
I hold no grudge
Deep inside me there's no regrets
But a gal who's been forgotten may forgive
But never once forget

Love is Stronger Than Pride - Sade

I won't pretend that I intend to stop living
I won't pretend I'm good at forgiving
But I can't hate you
Although I have tried
I still really really love you
Love is stronger than pride

Devil Woman - Marty Robbins

I told Mary about us, told her about our great sin
Mary just cried and forgave me, Mary took me back again
She said if I wanted my freedom, I could be free evermore
But I don't want to be and I don't want to see Mary cry anymore.

Devil woman, devil woman, let go of me
Devil woman, let me be
Just leave me alone,
I want to go home.

In Liverpool - Suzanne Vega

Just like the boy in the bellfry
He's crazy, he's throwing himself
Down from the top of the tower
Like a hunchback in heaven
He's ringing the bells of the church for the last half an hour
He sound's like he's missing something
Or someone that he knows he can't have now
And if he isn't, I certainly am

Not sure if I commented on this back in June or not:

A construction company discriminated against an employee when it fired him after his pre-employment drug test showed traces of marijuana, an Alberta judge has ruled.

Justice Sheilah Martin said the man should have been treated like someone with a drug addiction, and that is considered a disability in a growing body of human rights case law across Canada.

It is believed to be the first time that Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench has addressed the issue of pre-employment drug testing under human rights legislation, the Canadian Press said.

The ruling is "important for all workers," said Leanne Chahley, an Edmonton labour lawyer who regularly represents unions. It means that a worker does not have to be disabled to challenge a policy as discriminatory, she said.

It also means that companies cannot use drug tests to weed out potential employees who test positive.

Now, not only can companies "not" use pre-employment screening, they have to accommodate pot users:

TORONTO, Ontario (Reuters) -- The use of medical marijuana has given two Toronto professors the right to something that many students could only dream of -- access to specially ventilated rooms where they can indulge in peace.

The two, at the esteemed University of Toronto and at York University to the north of the city, suffer from chronic medical conditions that some doctors say can be eased by smoking marijuana. They are among nearly 1,500 Canadians who have won the right to use the drug for health reasons.

Using human rights legislation, the two petitioned their employers for the right to light up in the workplace. They faced a legal struggle, but the universities eventually agreed.

As an Occupational Health and Safety Professional, I have a problem with this. If someone wants to get stoned to ease their "pain", that's their business. Unless it's on one of my job-sites. Then it becomes my business. Why? Because they're STONED! They're high! They're blasted! They're not firing on all cylinders! That may be fine for some professor in Ontario as we all know they're effed-up to begin with but what about when it's the guy who's operating one of these:

No biggie right? Very few of you will ever be on a site where equipment like this is running around right? How about situations where the work-site can reach out and touch you? Cabs, couriers and highway tractors. What about all those folks who "work" on the same roads you travel on every day? Do you think they'll be exempt from having the "right" to be stoned at work? Guess again. The idea of "safety sensitive positions" is continually being challenged in front of the human rights tribunals.

In a world where employers have a lot of trouble firing pot-heads and in fact, have to accommodate them, expect to see more of this in the future:

Robert Spencer on the Vegas Symposium:

"Islamic spokesmen in the West make statements like Mir's to non-Muslims every day, and those non-Muslims are eager to hear them and be reassured about Islam. But I continue to maintain that such reassurance is worthless if these moderates are not able or willing to do battle with the jihadists on theological grounds. If the moderate version of Islam is not convincing to Muslims, it is worthless. And if I can see the holes in it from an Islamic standpoint, so can Muslims. "

Audio files of some of the conference speakers here.

Atlas Shrugs goes to something called the "Speaking Truth to Islam forum in Vegas:

"...more than a couple of speakers were contacted by government agencies and by media (in one case CNN) to strongly recommend they not speak at this symposium."

"Government agencies" I can see, but "CNN"? I don't get it.

Okay, okay. Back by popular request (by the blog mistress), I'm back ("I'm" meaning "E.M." purveyor of the illustrious American Princess) with this weeks Cracker Jack philosophy, and uber-pretentious song lineup.

When things are bad, you find out who your real friends are. They don't include Lincoln Chaffee, though I'm not sure if he's ever been on the list. Saying its bad, even, seems to me to be a massive overstatement, and despite the rationalization being thrown into full swing (how many are defending their call not to vote now), its really not necessary. In true Karl Rove tradition, even the mistakes we made will be little tiny gifts to ourselves, hopefully including the systematic implosion of at least one multiplayer nutroots blog with local ties.

Somehow, the world didn't end. The trees aren't bursting into flames (global warming is apparently at bay since Democrats won the election and reversed it with their Hollywood celebrations), we're not falling over dead, and I certainly don't feel and less inclined to relentlessly mock our elected officials. Once, those officials were mostly Republican, so my feeble attempts at satire felt almost...treasonous. Now, I can rip apart the children of the majority party's predisposition to posting records of their drunken benders on MySpace and feel nothing except the slow blackening of my own uncaring soul. And who cares? I'm Republican and a legal mind. There's an escalator waiting to take me to Hell.

Otherwise, its been a good week. The sun is shining, the grass is green(ish) and the finishing stanzas of that song are still months away. Christmas? Heavens, no. The year can stagnate on this week forever. Its just enough time away from finals that I don't feel any particular pressure, just enough time away from the start of school that I've figured out a system by which I can read and prepare just enough to comprehend, but not nearly enough to pass an exam. Theres no Christmas shopping, or threat of bikini weather. Its not snowing, its not raining, but Michigan is in a perpetual state of warmish brown mud and fallen leaves. To some, this would be depressing, and to those gainfully employed, blah. But to the student, its priceless.

The music this week is a little big Austin City Limits, a little bit Euro (both the Rakes and The Long Blondes are top of the charts in England, but only recently debuted in the states), a little bluesy and a little bit alt-country, a genre I typically avoid, but seem to find produces quality folk singers who've attached themselves to Rhett Miller just to market themselves to the hip.

1. Retreat -- The Rakes
2. Once and Never Again -- The Long Blondes
3. Everybody Lets Me Down -- Ad Astra Per Aspera
4. White Daisy Passing -- Rocky Votolato
5. We Intertwined -- The Hush Sound
6. Hotel Roosevelt -- Augustana
7. Walk In The Park -- Oh No! Oh My!
8. Rock Me Baby -- B. B. King & Eric Clapton
9. Beware of the Boys -- Panjabi M.C. (by now, how many of you have discovered that I have a thing for Asian Underground...hm?...hm?)
10. Lonely Boy -- The Eisenhower

Bonus, by request: Lebanese Blonde -- Theivery Corporation (also somewhat Asian Underground, but co-opted into indie-dom by Zach Braff)

Happy listening, and happy mud.

"Your Curmudgeon remains of the opinion that only a rigid quarantine of the Islamic world can put a satisfactory end to the Long War. However, it will take some time (and a lot of attitude adjustment of the sort not normally accomplished with alcohol) to get there from here. Surviving the interval with little or no damage must therefore take priority.

"But how does one defend against a diffuse threat of this sort, whose agents are unrecognizable until they shout 'Allahu Akhbar!' and grope for the trigger on their explosive vests?

"Clearly, no perfect defense is possible. However, we can take a large step toward a satisfactory defense by once again becoming a people in arms:

"Get your shooting skills polished up. If you've never shot before, now's the time to learn."

But not inciting murder, for carrying a sign that read "Behead those who insult Islam".

Sounds like he had OJ's "How do you spell DNA?/One in a billion means he could still be that 'one'..." jury or something...

Maybe they were, like, "Well, you could still live without your head, right? If you attached it to a machine and stuff?"

When 12 Englishmen can't (or won't) understand English, where does that leave us?

They are not worthy to share the internet with this one.

Bow down to the BEST BLOG EVER.

(and remember, you're not worthy)

"The court heard evidence from a 43-year old forensic scientist, Ruth Ramage, who said that Kriss was probably alive when he was set on fire. His charred and virtually naked body was discovered by a cyclist."

"When one witness spoke to the police, giving vital evidence, his Muslim employers sacked him."

"We've been through this countless times, but I don't think conservatism is going to dwindle off into the twilight and be invisible at midnight and never return. This is what people were saying in 1976 when Reagan lost to Ford, and Ford lost to Carter. Those were dark days, folks! But then along came Jimmy Carter. You can always count on the Democrats, at some point, to revive conservatism in this country by being who they are -- and who they are is very liberal as we all know.

"The normal ebb and flow and cyclical nature of politics is obvious. It's just so damn frustrating to have made such progress in 1994 and it happened here again. Two years after '94, the conservatives made the mistake of thinking that the country had become conservative, and they stopped being ideological, and they stopped teaching. They stopped leading a movement and began what they began. It happened here again. The assumption that: 'Okay, conservatism is in power now. The people know who we are. They like who we are. Stop teaching.'

"You can never stop teaching."

I live in Canada and here's a quick look into our little socialist republik:

• We have no property rights. None. If the government wants what I've got, they can take it without compensation.


• We have unfettered abortion. There are no rules.


• We are not allowed to bear arms.
  


• We are the second highest taxed population in the free world. We don't see tax freedom day until early June every year.
  
  
• We rely on others for our national defense. Liberal governments have stripped our military to the point that our soldiers have to hitch rides on US transports.


• Our government actively participates in the breaking-down of the family.


• Our schools are places of lib-left indoctrination instead of education and critical thought.


• Our Supreme Court is stacked with activist judges from the lib-left. They're writing laws from the bench which completely bypasses our elected representatives.


• Unions dictate our country's financial policy.


• We're friendly with Cuba.


• It's legal for a 35 year old man to have sex with a 14 year-old boy. Our legislators recently raised that age to 16 but the bill is still sitting with our lib-left senate.


• Child pornography has been ruled as "art" by our courts.


• Our taxes supply drugs to drug addicts.


• Our justice system isn't.


• Our media is controlled by the state. We're not allowed to view US programs or channels unless the state approves it.


• Children can murder without any real consequence.


• and the list goes on and on and on...

The Democrats and their far-left base want to make the US a mirror image of Canada. Don't let them do that. Your society is too precious to give up to socialism. As you folks go to the polls today, please vote Republican.

Crossposted at LFR and North American Patriot

Before Sunset

Celine: Yes, obviously, I can't deal with the day to day life of a relationship. Yeah, we have, you know, this exciting time together and then he leaves, and I miss him, but at least I'm not dying inside. When someone is always around me, I'm like suffocating!

Jesse: No, wait, you just said that you need to love and be loved...

Celine: Yeah, but when I do it quickly makes me nauseous! It's a disaster... I mean I'm really happy only when I'm on my own. Even being alone...it's better than...sitting next to a lover and feeling lonely. It's not so easy for me to be all romantic. You start off that way and after you've been screwed over a few times...you...you…you forget about all your delusional ideas and you just take what comes into your life. That's not even true I haven't been...screwed over, I've just had too many blah relationships. They weren't mean, they cared for me, but... there were no real...connection or excitement. At least not from my side.

Jesse: God, I'm sorry, is it...is it really that bad? It's not, right?

Celine: (Shaking her head with eyes nearly watering.) You know...it's not even that. I was...I was fine, until I read your fucking book! It stirred shit up, you know? It reminded me how genuinely romantic I was, how I had so much hope in things, and now it's like...I don't believe in anything that relates to love. I don't feel things for people anymore. In a way...I put all my romanticism into that one night, and I was never able to feel all this again. Like...somehow this night took things away from me and...I expressed them to you, and you took them with you! It made me feel cold, like if love wasn't for me!

Jesse: I... I don't believe that. I don't believe that.

Celine: You know what? Reality and love are almost contradictory for me. It's funny...every single of my ex's...they're now married! Men go out with me, we break up, and then they get married! And later they call me to thank me for teaching them what love is, and…

Jesse: (Smiling sympathetically.) Oh God. (Rubs his face with both hands.)

Celine: …and that I taught them to care and respect women!

Jesse: (Pointing at himself.) I think I'm one of those guys.

Celine: (Yelling.) You know, I want to KILL them!! Why didn't they ask ME to marry them? I would have said "No", but at least they could have asked!! But it's my fault, I know it's my fault, because...I never felt it was the right man. Never! But what does it mean the right man? The love of your life? The concept is absurd; the idea that we can only be complete with another person is...EVIL!! RIGHT??!!

Jesse: (Sheepishly.) Can I talk?

Celine: (Speaking more quietly.) You know, I guess I've been heartbroken too many times. And then I recovered. So now, you know, from the starts I make no effort…because I know it's not going to work out, I know it's not going to work out.

Jesse: You can't do that. You can't do that, you can't live your life trying to avoid pain, at the expense of en...

Celine: (Interrupting.) OK, you know what? (Moving her fingers to mock the movement of Jesse's mouth as he speaks.) Those are words! I've gotta...I've gotta get away from you. (To Philippe.) Stop the car, I want to get out!

Jesse: No, no, no, don't...don't get out.

Celine: You know, it's being around you...

Jesse: Keep talking...

Celine: (Jesse grabs her arm) Don't touch me! (Slaps his hand.) You know, I wanna get on a cab...

(To Philippe.) Monsieur! Arretez-vous! Non, non, c'est bon, au feu la! Juste au feu, au coin, il y a un metro meme! Je veux prendre le metro.

Jesse: (To Philippe) No, no, no, keep going... (To Céline) No, listen, I'm just so happy... (To Philippe) Thank you, just keep going...(To Céline.) Alright. Look, I am just so happy, alright...to be with you. I am. I'm so glad you didn't forget about me. OK.

Celine: No, I didn't...and it pisses me off, OK? You come here to Paris, all romantic, and married, OK? Screw you! Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to get you or anything. I mean, all I need is married man! There's been so much water under the bridge, it's...it's not even about you anymore, it's about that time, that moment in time that is forever gone, I don't know!

Jesse: You...you say all that, but you didn't even remember having sex. So...

Celine: (Flatly, with resignation.) Of course I remembered.

Jesse: (Confused.) You did?

Celine: Yes! Women pretend things like that. I don't know…(Laughs.)

Jesse: (Still confused.) They do?

Celine: Yeah, what was I supposed to say? That I remember the wine in the park and...us looking up at the stars fading away as the sun came up? We had sex TWICE (claps her hands), you idiot!

Jesse: Alright, you know what? I'm just...happy to see you, even if...you've become an angry, manic depressive activist. I still like you! I still enjoy being around you!

(Reaches out to touch her face, but pulls his hand back quickly, before she notices.)

Celine: And I feel the same. (Laughing.) I'm...I'm sorry, I don't know what happened. I just...I had to let it all out. I...

Jesse: Don't worry about it.

Celine: I'm so miserable in my love life, in my relationship, I always act as... like...you know, I'm detached, but I'm... I'm dying inside. I'm dying because I'm so numb. I don't feel pain, or excitement. I'm not even bitter, I'm just...uh…

Jesse: You think you're the one dying inside? My life is twenty four-seven...BAD.

Celine: I'm sorry.

Jesse: No, no, no...I mean, the only happiness I get is when I'm out with my son. I've been to marriage counseling, I've done things I never thought I would have to do. I lit candles, bought self-help books, lingerie...

Celine: Did the candles help?

Jesse: HELL. NO. (Plaintively.) Alright, I don't love her the way she needs to be loved, and...I don't even see a future for us. But then I look at...at my little boy, sitting at the table across from me, and I think I would have suffered any torture to be with him for all the minutes of his life. You know, I don't wanna miss out on one. But then...there's no joy, or laughter, in my home. You know, and I don't want him growing up in that!

Celine: Oh, no laughter? That's terrible. My parents have been together for 35 years and even when they have a bad fight they end up laughing like crazy.

Jesse: I just...I don't wanna be one of those people who are...getting divorced at 52 and falling down into tears admitting that they never really loved their spouse, and they feel that their life has been (waves his hand, as if being pulled) sucked up into a vacuum cleaner! You know, I want a great life. I want her to have a great life. She deserves that! Alright? But we're just living in a pretense of a marriage, responsibility and all these...just...ideas of how people are supposed to live. Then I...I have these dreams...

Celine: What dreams?

Jesse: (Looks away distantly.) I have these dreams, you know, that I'm…I'm standing on a platform, and uh, you keep going by on a train, and...you go by, and you go by, and you go by, and you go by, and I wake up with the fucking sweats, you know? And then I have this other dream, oh...where you're...pregnant, in bed beside me, naked, and I want so badly to touch you, but you tell me not to and then you look away and...and I...I...I touch you anyway, right on your ankle and your skin is so soft and I wake up in sobs, alright? (Inhales deeply.) And my wife is sitting there looking at me, and I feel like I'm a million miles from her, and I know that there's something...wrong! (Céline reaches out to stroke Jesse's face, but pulls her hand back before he sees her.) You know, that I ca...that I can't keep living like this, that there's gotta be something more to love than commitment. But then I think that...I might have given up...on the whole idea of romantic love. That I...I might have put it to bed that...that day when you weren't there. You know, I think I might have done that.

Celine: (Eyes starting to water again.) Why are you telling me all this?

Jesse: I'm sorry. I don't know, I'm...I...I should...I...I shouldn't have.

Celine: You know, it's so weird...that people think they are the only one going through tough times. I mean when I read the article I thought...your life was perfect. A wife, a kid, a published author. (Jesse laughs.) Your personal life is more of a mess than mine! I'm sorry! (Both laugh.)

Jesse: Well...I'm glad it's good for something.

"The Church of England's only Asian bishop, whose father converted from Islam, has criticised many Muslims for their 'dual psychology', in which they desire both 'victimhood and domination'."

Hey, we charge extra for that!

An unpleasant cab ride in Australia:

"He was clearly an intelligent, middle-class man and he was incensed that a pack of Muslim baiters should be telling him what his daughter should do with her hair.

"As we made our way up the steps of the George cinema to see the work of Antonioni, my friend said what anyone who had been subjected to this burst of passion would say: 'And he's a moderate Muslim!'...

"The last thing we need in this supposed new age of terrorism and war on terrorism is any kind of prejudice against decent Muslim people, but decent Muslim people, by the same token, should be making every effort to emphasise what they have in common with the rest of us...."

Or the lack thereof. Must read interview, in which former terrorist supporter dismisses "root causes" like poverty and "imperialism".

I found some related links to go with it, including the essay "Sex: Jet Fuel for Jihad".

A few adjectives come to mind: sick, hypocritical, dumb, twisted and so on."

Our Love Affair - Frank Sinatra & Tommy Dorsey

A love affair would be such fun
We'd be the envy of everyone
Those famous lovers we'd make them forget
From Adam and Eve to Scarlett and Rhett

Too Much Love Will Kill You - Brian May

Too much love will kill you
Just as sure as none at all
It'll drain the power that's in you
Make you plead and scream and crawl
And the pain will make you crazy
You're the victim of your crime
Too much love will kill you every time

Fell In Love With a Boy - Joss Stone

Can't keep away from the boy
The two sides of my brain need to have a meeting
Can't think of anything to do
My left brain knows all love is fleeting
He's just looking for something new
I've said it once before but it bears repeating

I've Fallen in Love With You - Joss Stone

I've fallen in love with you
Please tell me what else was there to do?
When feeling lips like yours
And looking into eyes like yours
I might as well face it cause it's true
Yes, I've fallen in love with you

Onion Girl - Holly Cole

I'm a bit unstable
She said, with a Cheshire grin
So many cracks in my sidewalk boy
Now don't you fall in
Feels like the things that I've wanted the most in this life
I can't have, so you see
I've been damning the world before it damns me
She said I'm naked, and shameless, and peeling back the layers
Like an onion girl
Don't try to save me, just stay away
Cause I might make you cry

She Kissed Me - Terence Trent Darby

She's negative as can be
And she's weak emotionally
But she kissed me, and she put it there
She's got a chip on her shoulder blade
And her attitude makes me afraid
But she kissed me, and she put it there

Hands Clean - Alanis Morissette

Just make sure you don't tell on me
Especially to members of your family
We'd best keep this to ourselves and not tell any members of our inner posse
I wish I could tell the world
Cause you're such a pretty thing when you're done up properly
I might want to marry you someday
If you watch that weight and you keep your firm body

Sous le ciel de Paris - Yves Montand

Pres de Notre Dame
Parfois couve un drame
Oui mais a Paname
Tout peut s'arranger
Quelques rayons
Du ciel d'ete
L'accordeon
D'un marinier
L'espoir fleurit
Au ciel de Paris

Saturday at 8PM ET

Hello all, this is E.M. from American Princess. While I'm not much of a substitute Wendy--there is no way that I could ever be so adept at getting a fatwa declared on me without finding an internet one and filling in my name, just to make myself feel better about my contribution to the fight against the Islamic Jihad. I'm more of a "make fun of elected officials" type girl. But what I do do, every week, is engage in a little bit of self-indulgent introspection, which, while not quite a informed and experience as Wendy's, and is often solidly less interesting, is comparable in the sense that its accompanied by this weeks soundtrack, a collection of random indie/elitist/obnoxious songs that have either something or nothing to do with my experience over the past week. Its called the Friday Random Ten (hot and creative, I know).

Here goes...

I've been missing my own personality a little, since between sitting in traffic, sitting in an office, sitting in front of the television, I've been forced to listen to other peoples bad music for two weeks straight, trying to figure out where my own tastes fit into their selected soundtrack. It doesn't mostly, and I feel absent from the entire process, but sometimes I get lucky. Sometimes, the music thats been playing around me has created an odd world that I'm unused to, or one that I vaguely remember--an audio deja vu. Noise can do that. Its partly how you remember the way that your surroundings made you feel. Sofia Coppola, for example, is a master at manipulating music to set a mood, and her movies can carry a taste, just like certain days can. Standing downtown this week, I was feeling a little tied to the same period of my life three or four years ago, feeling the same way. Part of it was the cold winter wind--unseasonable--and part of it was the sound of cars passing on the Ann Arbor street, a memory of being lost in the city with someone who wouldn't keep me warm in the cold air, running from parking space to theater and back to parking space in the dark, almost getting hit by passing cars as we dashed across a street with a cultural disregard for the traffic signals. The city smelled the same, it felt the same, but there was a bit of gratitude for the company of the former night deep in my soul, as I lived in the present. I missed those days--that sort of blissful ignorance that is only recognizable in hindsight--but I didn't miss those days. What it was, in the end, was a reminder that I'm constantly growing up and going forward, and that in itself is pleasant. My life is going to have repeated experiences, but theres something nice in knowing that they add to the soundtrack, and don't erase it.

And now the soundtrack of the Ann Arbor night means something new to me. It means a good night, tired but happy, spent with a friend, pretending that the bottom level of the theater was full so that I could see a movie from a balcony. Its a normal night--nothing particularly special--but the next time I enter the same place, I'll remember that moment first, and the lonely, cold moment second.

In that sense, I'm including both solid old music, and good new stuff in the random ten. Theres a little thats decades old, a little thats years old, and a little thats months old. They're all part of the same mix, the soundtrack for this week.

1. In Other Words -- Ben Kweller
2. Become the Enemy -- The Lemonheads
3. Golden Touch -- Razorlight
4. High School Never Ends -- Bowling For Soup
5. The Troubled Life Of No One Else -- The Sessions
6. Answering Bell -- Ryan Adams
7. Side -- Travis
8. Whats An Ocean For? -- White Whale
9. Just Like a Woman -- Bob Dylan
10. Lost In The Supermarket -- The Afghan Whigs

Enjoy the music, and have an awesome weekend.

"Australia's besieged top Muslim cleric has vowed to retire from religion and tape over his mouth in public for six months if he is found guilty of inciting rape or denigrating women."

"At that point, a helpful reader at my website pointed out that Chapters' site had a convenient feature enabling one to search the inventory to find the nearest store with a copy in stock. A reader in Halifax then wrote back to say that she'd looked and there were no copies anywhere in Atlantic Canada, and after that she'd given up.

"Another helpful reader pointed out that there was a copy at the Chapters branch on Robson Street in Vancouver, which we passed on to the Halifax gal, as Robson Street is a convenient and easy drive from Nova Scotia. Mr. P. Mennel from Vancouver then wrote to say he'd been to the Robson Street branch and, although the computer did indeed show my book as being in the store, the clerk had been unable to find it.

"We posted this on my website in hopes we could catch the Halifax lady before she reached Saskatchewan."

More [click]

"But some of the men who have lost their security clearance are suing airport authorities. They claim they are being discriminated against because of their religion."

Oh Look!

Someone must have taken old Lurch aside, smacked him upside the head, and told him to apologize(ish):

As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop.

I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended.

It is clear the Republican Party would rather talk about anything but their failed security policy. I don’t want my verbal slip to be a diversion from the real issues. I will continue to fight for a change of course to provide real security for our country, and a winning strategy for our troops.

Did he make this statement at a press conference? Nope! At a speaking engagement? Nope! (All of his engagements for the week have already been canceled.) Instead he pasted that little statement up on his website.

Crossposted by LFR

"Ken Livingstone today defended the right of Abu Hamza's son to work for a Tube contractor -- despite his conviction for terrorism in Yemen.

"Mohammed Kamel Mostafa, 25, from Wembley, was given a security pass and had access to restricted areas -- including tunnels under Parliament -- during his time as a labourer at nights and weekends on the Underground."

I didn't jump on the Kerry bashing bandwagon yesterday, because I suspected he was insulting Bush & Co., not the US Armed Forces, and indeed, that's the line Kerry is taking now.

What gets me (and thanks to loyal RelCath reader Lawrence for the tip) is this line from the CTV story:

"Bush was not a brilliant student in his university days."

No, he wasn't. (But who is, since Ivy League grade inflation became the norm?)

And those "brilliant" folks at CTV obviously don't know that Bush's IQ is likely higher than Kerry's. (Note: that article is by a guy who really dislikes the President...) Factual critiques of Bush & Co.s military service or lack thereof are fair game -- but be careful who you're calling "dumb".