It's an article of faith that the best way to prevent yourself from being robbed is to make yourself a difficult target, yes? Likewise, the nation of riflemen must be armed and then nobody will mess with you, correct? Of course.

But then, someone goes and comes up with a better way to prevent being robbed. This just in, from Gaza:

Rather than give up his explosives, the [suicide] bomber detonated them, killing himself and the two robbers near the border fence between Gaza and Israel. Palestinian security officials said the gunmen were criminals who were involved in a car theft ring that brought stolen vehicles from Israel to Gaza.

The robbers were immediately denounced as "agents of Israel" by a Hamas official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Ostensibly, he's hoping to avoid the Hellfire how-do-you-do from a hovering Apache. The source also pointed out that, "Anyone who tries to stop a fighter from doing his work is a collaborator." On the other hand, Palestinian security forces declared the robbers to be ordinary thieves.

The full story is available from Ireland On-Line.

Tip of the Wisconsin hat to Interested-Participant

Posted by: Country Pundit at 08:44 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This is the first time I've ever actually seen the whole thing. Frankly, I'm glad my college years weren't like that. Better to er, not have something to explain, you know. In the words of a former President, "In order to preserve future political viability..."

Anyways, while watching the uber-polished and super-slick face of Omega House president Greg Marmalard, it struck me that I'd seen his face somewhere before. I thought about it throughout the movie, and then I realized it: He looks like Jennifer Garner. Wowsers.

Has anyone ever seen these two together at the same time? Could be...

Posted by: Country Pundit at 02:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A half-century ago, it was common to fund war debt by the Government's hideously everpresent campaign to "BUY WAR BONDS NOW OR ELSE OUR BOYS DIE HORRIBLY". We seem to have gotten past that---maybe the bond market isn't quite what it used to be---but the President at one point encouraged people to go spend money.

Since then, war and its impact on the civilian populace have changed. Instead of lining up for ration cards that cover sugar, gasoline, and other things, we're sitting around complaining because gas is increasing in price or grousing because the stock market's not back to 12,000 as it was during the years of Hope and Glory.¹

Anyways. Since the economy's supposedly a defining factor of our progress in the war against Islamist terror---like USA, Inc. is going to be taken over by al-Qaeda, LLC in a tender offer---the President has indeed urged us to go out and spend money. By the way, that helps his re-election effort too.²

Since I'm going to be a spectator to the war effort---if it's ever necessary for me to be on the field of battle, then manpower's the least of our worries---I've often wondered just what the heck I'm supposed to do. Well, mindful of the President's advice, I went out in recent periods and loaded up on DVDs:

The Final Countdown
Kill Bill, Volume 1
The Matrix: Revolutions (Yeah, I've got the other two; might as well...)
National Lampoon's Animal House
K-19
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Go figure. I've done my part, yet again, for the war economy and for the re-election of President George W. Bush. I expect my post in the Department of Defense or Department of Transportation to be passed out immediately. Paging Donald Rumsfeld and/or Norman Mineta... more...

Posted by: Country Pundit at 11:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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According to the little day-by-day calender in my carrel, today is the birthday for Mr. George Takei.

George Takei, when not appearing as a South Vietnamese officer or North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho (nearly 30 years apart), also had a role in Star Trek, as Hikaru Sulu. Mr. Sulu started as a science type in his earliest appearances and then moved to Enterprise's helm for the next twenty years. Sulu finished his broadcast & motion picture run as commander of NCC 2000, USS Excelsior in 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Takei also took a dip into politics, with an unsuccessful run for Los Angeles City Council in 1973. For more on this guy, who's been working hard since 1956, see his official biography.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 07:34 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 I've met him a couple times, and heard him sing "Waltzing Matilda". He's a nice guy

Posted by: Ith at April 20, 2004 07:48 PM (Q8zt1)

2 Heh! I'm glad to hear he's a nice guy. I'd be amused at hearing an American of Japanese extraction sing the national anthem (de facto if not de jure) of Australia. Talk about your culture clash! I'd hoped (vaguely; never got involved with anything) that he'd get to anchor the next Star Trek series before "Enterprise" was announced, as captain of Excelsior. Alas, no such luck.

Posted by: The Country Pundit at April 20, 2004 07:59 PM (QUo4+)

3 I'd hoped the same thing.

Posted by: Ith at April 20, 2004 09:00 PM (Q8zt1)

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One of the more interesting things to do during the period of open hostilities with the Baathist regimes was to watch TV news for updates. Me, I found Fox News useful for one thing alone, namely Jennifer Eccleston.

Sure enough, I'd use Fox's Web-based correspondent archive to catch up on what the gal entitled "Miss Shock and Awe" or "The Desert Fox" (with apologies to Rommel) had to say. Silly? Probably. Amusing? You betcha. A solid use of bandwidth that otherwise would have been taken by undergrads downloading MP3s from a then-functional peer-to-peer network.

Anyways. With the fall of the Saddam Hussein statue, I once again ignored television news and gradually forgot about the gal I once referred to as "Jenny Ec". An off-hand search through Google today led me back to the largest Eccleston fansite that I know of, jennifer-eccleston.com.

There, it's revealed that Eccleston is now working for the NBC News group, and she's still overseas. I don't know when she left FNC, but she's been with NBC News since some time in late March, it would appear. If NBC's websites weren't tied up in the horrific mess that constitutes msn.com, I'd go around and dig up the official page, if any, for her. The last known report filed by my favorite foreign correspondent was on 11 April 2004 from the Vatican, in the nine o'clock hour on NBC's Today program.

Hooray for her employment.

Today's blogging has been weak due to the fact that I've been tied up with academic responsibilities, which even I can't get around to shirking. In related news, I'm slipping back in the Ecosystem rankings. Bother!

Posted by: Country Pundit at 08:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Does anyone know anything good about the 1996 Julia Roberts vehicle Mary Reilly? It got recommended to me by Amazon the other night, and I'm debating as to whether I ought to go and look for the thing.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 04:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Everyone's heard of a movie where improbable events take place aboard a US Navy aircraft carrier, right? It stars the Grumman F-14A Tomcat, has a romantic side-plot for the women to pay attention to, a lead who later becomes a player on an NBC television drama, and gorgeous aviation footage.

Top Gun, right? Wrong.

I'm talking, of course, about The Final Countdown, a 1980 motion picture starring Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, James Farentino, Katharine Ross, Charles Durning, and Ron O'Neal, with a score by John Scott. more...

Posted by: Country Pundit at 12:51 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Today, the first of April, is Grace Lee Whitney's birthday. The world knows her for playing Lieutenant Commander Janice Rand, first as a yeoman aboard NCC-1701 U.S.S. Enterprise on TV and then as Communications/Operations Officer aboard NCC-2000 U.S.S. Excelsior.

Happy birthday, Ms. Whitney.

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