First Door on the Left

A few wingnuts are jumping up and down over this one, screaming “In the post-9/11 world, this is how you deal with airplane hijackers!”

Mauritanian Hijacker Gets in Hot Water

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Canary Islands (AP) – A fast-thinking pilot with passengers in cahoots fooled a hijacker by braking hard upon landing, then accelerating to knock the man down. When he fell, flight attendants threw boiling water in his face, and about 10 people pounced on him, Spanish officials said Friday.

The Air Mauritania Boeing 737 carrying 71 passengers and a crew of eight was hijacked by a lone gunman brandishing two pistols Thursday evening shortly after it took off from Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, for Gran Canaria, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, with a planned stopover in Nouadhibou in northern Mauritania.

The hijacking alarmed Spanish officials because a trial of 29 people accused in the Madrid terrorist bombings of 2004 had begun the same day in Madrid. But the man’s motives were not terrorism; he wanted the plane to fly to France so he could request political asylum, said Mohamed Ould Mohamed Cheikh, Mauritania’s top police official.

Newsflash here, bubbas… This is the way to deal with scumbag hijackers in any world.

I never bought into that whole idea of a pre-9/11 and a post-9/11 world. The world did not magically change on that day. What did change was the way in which the world is perceived by many Americans, mostly conservatives. They finally realized that this planet is a dangerous place. It extends beyond the little cocoons they had built themselves in which all they had to do was go to work, come home, make babies and drive around in their Mercedes and BMWs.

That was, and remains, a very difficult lesson for many of them to learn.

It has been a long time coming…

House Passes Iraq Resolution With 17 G.O.P. Votes

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 — After four days of emotional debate over the extent of presidential powers in wartime and the proper role of Congress, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution today denouncing President Bush’s plan to send more American troops to Iraq.

The 246 to 182 vote in favor of the non-binding but nevertheless important measure set the stage for a crucial Senate debate on Saturday on how to debate the administration’s Iraq policy, or indeed whether it should be debated at all.

There had been virtually no doubt about the outcome in the House today, given the Democratic majority in the chamber and the fact that a significant number of Republicans had also signaled their backing for the resolution, which expresses support for American troops but not for their commander-in-chief.

Because I still cannot type with only my left hand…

(Click to enlarge.)

Posting will likely be light here for the next while. My right arm is in a sling and I am right handed. I fell and broke the bone in my right elbow and it will require surgery to repair. The surgery has not yet been scheduled but I am hoping it will be soon.

I’ll be back. In the meantime, keep fighting the good fight!

Update: I hope you are not buying into all these television dramas that portray doctors who actually give a crap, because — believe me on this — in real life, they don’t.

The rabid righties in America are all up in arms over the type of airplane that will be provided Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. It seems that since 9/11, the government has provided the Speaker with an airplane for security purposes. This only stands to reason, since the Speaker is only two heartbeats away from the presidency.

Speaker Pelosi’s predecessor, Denny Hastert, used a C-20 like this one…

That’s well and good, since it served his purposes well. It could seat 12 comfortably and fly non-stop from Washington, D.C. to Mr. Hastert’s home district in Illinois, a distance of about 700 miles. However, it will not cover the distance to Ms. Pelosi’s home district in California, a distance of about 2,800 miles.

For security purposes, Ms. Pelosi would like a plane that would be able to cover the distance between her home and the District of Columbia without having to stop to refuel. Perfectly understandable.

Hence, the Republicans are floating that rumor that Ms. Pelosi is insisting upon a C-32…

ABC News reports that this is “a luxurious and specially configured version of the Boeing 757-200 commercial intercontinental airliner. The plane seats 45 passengers with business-class accommodations and a crew of up to 16, depending on the mission. It features a communications center, a fully enclosed stateroom for the primary passenger, a changing area, a conference facility, an entertainment system, and a convertible divan that seats three and folds out to a bed.”

This is the type of airplane used by Laura Bush, who, last I heard, held no Constitutional office or place in the line of succession to the presidency. The Republicans are screaming, however, that it is a bit much for the Speaker of the House, though it could easily fly from D.C. to California without refueling.

There is, according to the ABC News report, another option: the C-37A.

This plane has a range of 6,300 miles and carries 12 passengers and a crew of five. It should make everyone happy, even the Republicans.

It will be interesting to see which airplane Speaker Pelosi ends up with, though this whole topic seems rather ludicrous during a time when our troops are fighting and dying in a civil war in Iraq on which we are spending over $2 billion per week.

The right wing in America is severely lacking in the humor department. They always have been. I mean… Dennis Miller?

Fox News has taken it upon themselves to try to address this deficit. They have begun airing a show called “Red Eye.” I guess this is supposed to be their answer to Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” I do not believe Jon Stewart has much to worry about.

Here is a clip from “Red Eye” in which the panelists (if you care to call them that) are discussing Joe Biden’s recent comments about Barack Obama:

Now, here is a clip from “The Daily Show” in which Jon Stewart has Joe Biden himself on to explain his recent comments about Barack Obama:

Quite a difference, no? Somehow I do not believe the folks at Comedy Central are going to be losing much sleep over their new competition at Fox News Channel.

Remember Ted Haggard? He’s the evangelical minister who had an affair with and bought meth from a male prostitute in Denver. After three weeks of intensive counseling, he is now completely cured. He’s not gay anymore. He is now completely heterosexual.

For sure. (Snap!)

Update: While perusing tonight’s television viewing options, I noticed this blurb about “Boston Legal“…

A man sues a company for not delivering on its promise to “cure” him of his homosexuality; Denise discovers she is pregnant.

Should be interesting.

Mo. Suspect Charged With Molesting Boys

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri man accused of kidnapping two boys and holding one for more than four years was charged Monday with molesting them nearly 70 times.

The charges were the first time authorities have openly accused Michael Devlin of molesting the children.

Devlin, a 41-year-old pizzeria manager, was charged with 69 counts of forcible sodomy, all felonies and each punishable by up to life in prison.

St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch said 17 of the counts related to 13-year-old Ben Ownby, who disappeared Jan. 8, and the remaining counts were related to Shawn Hornbeck, now 15, who was abducted in 2002.

Hopefully the trial will be quick and they’ll get this sicko in prison where he belongs. Guys like this have a tendency to not last very long in prison.

As if there were really ever any doubt…

Giuliani Nearing Full-Fledged Candidacy

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor whose popularity soared after his response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, moved closer to a full-fledged campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday.

In a sign that he’s serious about running for the White House, the two-term mayor was filing a so-called “statement of candidacy” with the Federal Election Commission, said an official close to Giuliani’s campaign.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting any disclosure by Giuliani. The former mayor had public appearances in New York scheduled for later in the day.