Bitter Irony for Londoners

Glenn Reynolds over at Instapundit links to this CNN.com story. The lesson to learn from this is not "It did not need to happen" but rather, "It need not happen again."

Now THAT'S Ugly!

The judges for the Worlds Ugliest Dog contest, who were expecting to see ugly dogs, reportedly recoiled when they saw the eventual winner. I must admit that I did, too. Of course, there is an official website.

And, yes, I checked it out on Snopes.com

[HT: Between Two Worlds & Chocolate & Vodka]

The Sole Survivor

Froggy Ruminations has the story of the ONE who survived in Afghanistan.

Beam Him Up

James "Scotty" Doohan James "Scotty" Doohan , the actor who played the chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise, has passed away at the age of 85. His eternal mission . . . to boldly go where no infinitives have been split before.

Is the ESV For You

While rummaging through UK Blogs in the wake of the London attacks, I discovered Adrian Warnock's UK Blog. It quickly became one of my regular reads.

Adrian has written extensively on the new English Standard Version bible. If you are looking for a new translation or are just curious about the ESV, you may want to see what he has to say about it.

The Roberts Choice - A Stroke of Genius?

The speculation today has been that a female jurist would be named to replace Justice O'Connor. It has been assumed that would be the safe pick. However, the President has just announced John Roberts as his choice. From what I hear, he should be a fine choice and is widely respected on both sides of the aisle.

I think it may be a strategic stroke of genius. If Schumer, Durbin & Company try to block Roberts with a filibuster, it will likely fail. If they accidentally do the smart thing and save the filibuster option for Rehnquist's replacement, the President can then choose a female jurist for Chief Justice which will be impossible for them to filibuster. The majority of the Dems will not want to be seen as blocking the first female Chief Justice. Checkmate.

My New Diet

As usual, it's probably not what you expected. Although, I think Martin would have appreciated it.

Moral Clarity In Dallas

Little Green Footballs congratulates the Dallas Morning News for rejecting the moral relativism that causes many of their fellow journalists to equate George Washington with extremists who murder children. Chrenkoff expands on it here.

Meanwhile, Mohammed at Iraq the Model notes the silence from Arab countries following yesterday's homicide bomber terrorist attack.

When Pigs Fly?

I don't think this qualifies.

Ear Candy

No, my friend Muzzy has nothing to worry about. I have no intention of trying to compete with his weekly serial, "Music Monday". However, thanks in part to Muzzy's Music Mondays (Note to self: Always avoid alliteration), I have decided to share a few not-so-secret MP3 downloads with those who happen to stop in and read my blog.

Elizabeth Fraser, lead singer of the Cocteau Twins needs no introduction. Ms. Fraser has a few MP3s on her site. Just click on the word "Sound" on the left side of the page. Unfortunately, due to download abuse, the Cocteau Twins took down the free MP3s they had on their website.

Sam Phillips - no, not that Sam Phillips, this Sam Phillips - is the wife of T-Bone Burnett. I've been a fan of her music since before she was Sam. Her MP3s are here and also here.

And finally, in my opinion, the best has been saved for last. Karin Bergquist of Over the Rhine is one of my favorite vocalists. She uses her beautifully melancholic voice to wring out every last ounce of emotion from each song. You can find OTRs MP3s here.

These MP3s are all found on the artists' official websites and are perfectly legal to download. If you like what you hear, be sure to buy their albums. Not only will this keep them making great music, but it will also encourage them to provide more free songs so that they can sell more albums. Isn't capitalism great!

Not Your Mom's Recipe

This Sky News report highlights some interesting details from the investigation of the London terrorism attacks. One in particular caught my eye:

The bombs contained about 10Ibs of explosives. This suggests they were not homemade, but had a commercial or military purpose.

The MSM has been saying that the relatively small amount of explosives indicated that they were homemade. I guess they can't be right about everything.

Triple Digits

Well I finally made it to 100 posts on Solablogola. I would have made it sooner if I'd quit taking the occasional 2-1/2 month hiatus.

** CAUTION: SHAMELESS PLUG AHEAD **

Of course, it's also due to the fact that I split my posts between this blog and my other blog, The Impudent Finger. Didn't someone say something like, "A blog divided against itself cannot stand"?

To that, I say "D@#% the blog statistics, full speed ahead!"

Liberals 101

John & Paul of Powerline have a couple of posts that use the SCOTUS to shed some light on how Liberals think. Here's John on the role of SCOTUS. Paul writes about replacing Justice O'Connor. Apparently George and Ringo had nothing to add.

Was London Evented?

One of my major frustrations since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the USA is the use of the word "events" to describe what happened. It's now beginning to happen with the London attacks which, so far, have resulted in 50 dead and several hundred wounded. Although one can argue it is technically accurate because the murder of 3,000 in the USA or 50+ in London can be generally described as "Something that takes place; an occurrence. . . A significant occurrence or happening. . . A social gathering or activity". Well, the last one might be a stretch, but maybe rescue workers looking for body parts at Ground Zero or in London's Underground could be considered a social activity.

The problem with describing America's 9/11 or London's 7/7 as "events" is that it strips them of any moral context. It would be like describing the Nazi death camps as temporary communal housing facilities - technically true but it ignores what the Nazis did to millions of innocents. (If you don't like Nazi analogies: it would be like calling drug smuggling an import/export business.) Likewise, calling these terrorist attacks "events" puts them in the same catagory as a family reunion, a football game or an ice cream social. America, Bali, Madrid and London were not "evented". They were attacked. Let's call it what it really is.

"The war on Terror goes on."

President Bush is giving a statement right now. He expressed that anything the USA can do to help Tony Blair and our British allies has been offered. He also said he has consulted with the Department of Homeland Security. The President also said, "The war on Terror goes on." He also echoed the statement that was given by Tony Blair earlier today that the attacks will not stop the G8 summit.

Breaking News: al-Qaeda Hits London

The London has been rocked by multiple explosions in the Underground and at least one double-decker bus. Although not official, al-Qaeda has to be the number one suspect. The BBC story is here.

Update: Scott Johnson at Powerline has more...

Reality Bites: Kiwis May Abandon Kyoto

The New Zealand Herald reports that the Kiwis may be figuring out that Kyoto is not in their best interest . . . to the tune of $1,000,000,000. Yes, that's one billion-with-a-B dollars. Instead of a net $500,000 benefit from Kyoto, they are now expecting a negative impact of $500,000. Isn't it interesting how radical environmentalism is not quite as necessary as when it's only the USA that has to take the economic hit.

I'm reminded of a scene from the Tom Hanks film "Big". Hanks plays a character who is a kid in an adult's body. After getting a job developing toys for a toy company, he comes up with the idea to create a comic book with a chip that allows the reader to determine the story line. It's a brilliant idea, except the cost would be so great that there was no way it would sell. Hanks' immature character was clueless when it came to economics. The same seems to be true of the Left. As Kyoto demonstrates, they have no concept of the economic impact of their policy positions. Those who have to live with the consequences cannot afford to be so naive.

(Hat Tip: Tim Blair)