Discount-Mats.com

In case you're looking for a place NOT to buy mats, Discount-Mats.com is a place to avoid. In case you haven't gotten the various emails that are making the rounds, this place openly admits it's scorn and hatred of the United States troops in Iraq. And no, this isn't one where they can claim they're supporting the troops, because they openly declare that they wouldn't even ALLOW the troops to purchase their products.

From Snopes:

Below is an email exchange between a friend of mine's husband and a company that sells different types of mats. He is stationed in Iraq and was inquiring as to whether or not the company ships overseas. He wanted to get the troops better gear to sleep on. This is the companies response. I am floored. I am floored as a military wife and as an American. Please repost this so that this company will hear us loud and clear that we do not stand for this. Whatever your view is on this war - these troops are just following orders. Most are passionate about what they are doing. You can disagree with the war without disrespecting our troops.

---

From: SGT Jason Hess

Sent: Tue Jan 16 3:25

Do you ship to APO addresses? I'm in the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Iraq and we are trying to order some mats but we are looking for who ships to APO first.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: contact@discount-mats.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 9:44 PM
Subject: Re: Feedback: from discount-mats.com

SGT Hess,
We do not ship to APO addresses, and even if we did, we would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq.

Bargain Suppliers
Discount-Mats.com

Strangely enough, if you try to go to their web site now, it says, "Discount-Mats.com is Experiencing Technical Difficulties..."

Good. Miserable bums.

*** Update:
Welcome new readers! If you found this site via a search engine and like what you see, be sure to follow the link at the top of the page to the main page and see what else we're talking about.

Recently a site that provided a large amount of public information about these anti-American Pakistanis has been hacked as they attempted to hide the information from being exposed to the public. To help spread the word about this information, I will be mirroring updates from Euphoric Reality from time-to-time. Here's a few:

The Muslim Website Connection

UPDATE 1 Jan 21 1226:

The company’s domain is registered to:



Faisal Khetani

PO Box 270693

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53227

Administrative Contact:

Khetani, Faisal sportsfitness@gmail.com

3259 S.106th Street

West Allis, Wisconsin 53227

United States

(414) 543-9634 Fax

Site is down and experiencing technical difficulties

UPDATE 2: Jan 21 :

Since the Discount Mats website is still down with technical difficulties, here is another avenue of approach:

Faisal Khetani is also a supposed fitness expert/consultant and publisher of some fitness publications like the Dream Body newsletter. His other website is Weight Lifting Workout Routines. Another email address is: contact@weight-lifting-workout-routines.com

Another phone number: 414-736-8394

This additional venture of Khetani’s is also registered to the same above contact information. It’s definitely the same guy.

UPDATE 3: Jan 21

Snopes has since qualified their entry with this statement (as of this afternoon):

Since we’ve only heard from one side, we can’t yet rule out the possibility (as occurred with a similar email) that Sgt. Hess may have received a response from someone who was not authorized to be corresponding with the business’ customers.

They’ve also changed the button from green (”True” to yellow to indicate “a statement of undetermined or ambiguous veracity”.

However, if the company owner wished to clear his good company’s name, and blame some nameless, faceless non-authorized employee, wouldn’t he respond to the inquiries by Snopes?

UPDATE 4: Jan 22

Faisal Khetani’s websites are all linked together, and are also linked to Quality Discount Scooters owned by Ahmed Bushra and Basketball Drills and Plays owned by Sajid Nasir.

Registered through: Teknon Domains

Domain Name: QUALITY-DISCOUNT-SCOOTERS.COM

Created on: 06-Dec-05

Expires on: 06-Dec-08

Last Updated on: 06-Dec-05

Administrative Contact:

Bushra, Ahmed qscooters@gmail.com

3270 W American Dr

Greenfield, Wisconsin 53221

United States

414-736-5971

Domain Name: www.basketball-drills-and-plays.com

Administrative Contact:

Sajid Nasir (sajidnasir@gmail.com)

+1.0014143240427

Fax:

3270 W American Dr

Greenfield, WI 53221

US

Creation date: 08 Mar 2003 03:22:22

Expiration date: 08 Mar 2007 03:22:22

Now there are some interesting coincidences about all these websites owned by Muslims who happen to all live in the Milwaukee area. The sports sites, one owned by Faisal and the other owned by Sajid are the exact same format and established the same month. They are nothing more than low-grade generic copy-and-paste sports information. The blogs were set up with a few token blog entries, with generic links (one even uses the sample Wordpress links that come with the blog), and then abandoned. Likewise, the Discount Mats and Discount Scooters sites share similar formatting and generic links.

So what’s the deal with these mostly fake websites? I’m just askin’…

If I lived in the Milwaukee area, I’d be doin’ more than askin’…I’d be driving by the addresses above to see what’s what with those locations.

UPDATE 5: Jan 23

The VP of Discount Mats also happens to be the owner of Basketball Drills and Plays, Sajid Nasir. These Muslims are all inter-connected through their bogus websites. Interesting…

As well, Faisal Khetani, 24, runs his business out of his home, where he lives with his parents, Ramzan and Amina Khetani (both aged 55). (Ramzan Khetani works for the State of Wisconsin in their engineering department for state facilities. Does that ring any alarms for anyone?) His parents have been sure to tell the media that they “support the troops.” But Khetani has not bothered to say anything like that. However, we’re meant to believe Khetani when he says he “fired” that “employee”. Whatever. Let’s not be naive: there was no employee. His so-called business (which I’m thinking is not legit) is run out of his home, for pete’s sake.

UPDATE 6: Jan 23

Snopes has changed their classification again to “True” (green button). As well, they have updated their webpage with some stern statements from his buddy and so-called VP, Sajid Nasir:

“It’s really getting out of control,” said Nasir, who described the messages as “angry and vulgar.”

UPDATE 7: Jan 23

Fox picked up the story, as did Rush Limbaugh in his first hour today, and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

UPDATE 8: Jan 23

From Newsbusters, who picked up this story two days later with no attribution to the bloggers (US!) who did all the work on outing this guy, but only cited the Milwaukee Journal and Fox:

Khetani claims that the person responsible for this ignorant affront to a US soldier was fired. In a recent communication with Miss. Kirkland, Khetani said “As I told my local reporters, the individual who made those statements has been held responsible and liable and what they spoke of apo addresses is absolutely true, but the second half was their own personal opinion and not the opinions of the company.”

Khetani also confirmed, though, that he and the members of his company are also against the efforts in Iraq which seems to contradict his first claim that the fired employee’s email didn’t represent the company.

I will say this, my company most certainly doesn’t support the war, and we do hope that the policies will change. However the personal opinions stated by the former member of Discount-Mats.com were very strong and personal and other members within our company certainly feel that his actions were not justified.

Let us hope that this man’s company finds a corresponding measure of “success” in equal levels with his support for the country to which he has immigrated in order to make his fortune.

In that same letter, Khetani also threatened Kirkland with unleashing the wrath of “major muslim organizations” on her for her “insults”. He closed by telling Kirkland, “you can be sure that there are million of muslim activists as well that will do something about your foul statements…. your statements against Muslims and your direct insults will not go unheard, I assure you.”

Threats, indeed. Bring it on, Muslim.



UPDATE 9: Jan 23 1329

I’ve found another bogus website affiliated with this Muslim group: Jewelry Spot, set up by 24 year-old engineering student Ahmed Bushra in June of ‘06, and like the other blogs, abandoned soon thereafter.

(414) 967-9509

2495 N Oakland Ave

Milwaukee, WI 53211

(map)

UPDATE TEN: Jan 23 1355 Tip from 1st Cav RVN (thank you, darlin’!)

Sajid Nasir, the so-called VP for Discount-Mats, is also a Muslim activist at UW-Milwaukee:

American Society of Muslim Students (Check out that link and this one!)

Classification: Social Action

Mail: Union Box 297

Office: Union 355

229-3078

Contacts:

Adam Abdi

Sajid Nasir

Email: muhamma2@uwm.edu

Purpose: Promotion of the teachings of Al-Islam in conjunction with UWM standards.

Activities: Lectures, seminars, forums, sales, exhibition, conventions, gatherings.

He penned this pungent missive to the Badger Herald:

Letters to the Editor

Thursday, February 16, 2006



Printing of cartoon hateful

After I heard that your newspaper reprinted the cartoons, I was deeply disturbed and sadened [sic]. I couldn’t help but ask, “why would they do something like this…why do they hate us?” I thought the university environment was supposed to encourage diversity, and learning, not bigetory [sic] and hatred. I personally demand that your paper appologizes [sic], and admits its mistake by reprinting the hatefull [sic] cartoons.

Sajid Nasir

UW-Milwaukee

As well, and in addition to the basketball drills and plays website, Nasir runs Yoga-Advice: another generic, copy-and-paste junk info website (with a dead blog, too):

Yoga-Advice

Contact: Sajid Nasir

1020 E Pleasant St

Phone: 414-324-0427

Milwaukee,WI 53212

How many bogus websites is that now? SIX?

UPDATE 11: Jan 23 1500

Faisal Khetani’s brother, Salman RamzanAli Khetani, is a Ph.D. with a B.S. in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering from my alma mater, Marquette University, and a fellowship award honorable mention from the National Science Foundation. When you do a google search for Salman Khetani, you’ll find that Salman Khetani is quite knowledgable and involved in toxicity studies, engineered tissue, and disease studies. Might be nothing. At the very least, it’s… interesting.

---

(H/T to Euphoric Reality). In addition, Ms Underestimated has some video coverage.

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Illegal to Report Crime?

Once again, when reporting on the activities of the Democrats, I really do wish I were making this up. Unfortunately for freedom and America, I'm not. Here's a legal proposal (a bill) from a Democrat in Arizona

An individual ... commits domestic terrorism if the individual [is] not affiliated with a ... law enforcement entity and patrol[s] to detect alleged illegal activity and if the individual is armed with a firearm or other weapon.

So, by the letter of this law, if I am in the doorway of my own house and I'm armed, and I open the door to see if a crime is being committed (after hearing a scream), I'm a "domestic terrorist."

This one is a special one for those of you on the left who claim that it's the Republicans who are trying to take away your freedoms and rights.

Look, we already have absolutely nothing for a southern border. Our military is disarmed and our border patrol has been told that they will be sent to jail if they actually chase anyone. I have absolutely no idea why we have "checkpoints" on the roads anymore at all -- if someone runs it, the border patrol has been shown that they will be thrown in jail if they actually chase anyone. The military has been ordered to retreat and run if anyone shows up armed.

So the citizens of this country are absolutely forced to defend themselves because the government has shown that they are utterly incapable of doing one of the very few things they are actually supposed to do, and this moron, Kyrsten Sinema, wants to lock up those few people who are actually willing to defend themselves.

Hey Krysten Sinema, you can go suck eggs, too. You're an obvious enemy of freedom. I'm sorry that you hate freedom and America so much. How about you move to Mexico yourself, you communist bastard?

Oh, how I yearn for freedom.

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NC Democrats Need MORE

The entire budget of the state of North Carolina is "only" 19 billion dollars. That's dramatically up, thanks to Democrats, even from just a year ago, when it was 18 billion. But this year those same Democrats are working on spending $2.7 billion MORE dollars on "mental health" needs.

So, are you ready for your 14.2% tax increase? That would end up being an increase in the state sales tax AND income tax of 1%. But don't worry, the Democrats are sure to be able to spend all that "extra" money and more. They've got "needs," you see.

This time it's "mental health." They're concerned that some North Carolina counties spend more on mental health than others. No, they don't seem concerned that there are different salaries in different areas and different cost of living expenses in different counties -- they're ONLY interested in the fact that Mecklenburg County spends more per person on mental health than other counties.

And if they were really interested in "fixing" this "problem," instead of looking to make other counties spend MORE, they'd tell Mecklenburg to take their "mental health" needs to the cheaper counties! After all, if you could pay $6 for a gallon of gas in your town, but it was $1 the next town over, what would you do? Most normal people would drive to the other town and pay less. But Democrats in North Carolina would rather force the town that charges $1 for gas to charge $6!

The leech director of Mental Health Services says

IÂ’d encourage everyone, whether theyÂ’re affected by mental illness or not, to push for funding

Well of COURSE the leech that would directly benefit from the "funding" in the form of personal CASH would ask for more! I say again -- if you are employed by government, you should lose your right to vote. What is this person's job function? What does he do to "earn" cash? He asks people to vote for Democrats that will give him money!

That's wrong, plain and simple. Government produces nothing. Sure, people suffer from mental health problems. But it is quite literally impossible for government to solve all the problems of all the people. I wish the anti-freedom Democrats who run North Carolina would stop trying. We'd all be a lot freer, happier, and yes, richer.

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Tarheel Tavern #100

Welcome to the 100th edition of the Tarheel Tavern!

What a great honor it is to be the host of this, the 100th edition of this carnival. Now I know this isn't one of the biggest or well-known carnivals, but it's one of my personal favorites. Why? Because it's more local. It's more personal. It's posts from people who live in, or blog about North Carolina.

The very first Tarheel Tavern was way back in February of 2005. It was hosted at Science and Politics. Now there's a WIDE range of political views in North Carolina, so to attempt to moderate those strong emotions, the first few carnivals were not allowed to have political posts. Instead, it was to be a focus on how bloggers are people and how the bloggers of North Carolina appreciate North Carolina.

Over the years, that "temporary" theme seemed to continue, for the most part. Sure, people were free to submit political posts, but the majority of submissions seemed to focus more on goodness and happiness in North Carolina. That helped make the carnival more of a nice place to visit and read, rather than a contentious place where NC bloggers fought over political viewpoints.

Now, almost two years later, the carnival continues. It's on it's last legs, as last week had no host. If you're interested, please do volunteer to host this and keep it going. Then again, the internet moves pretty fast -- carnivals may be a thing of the past. Only time will tell. In the meantime, onwards to Carnival #100!

This week the Tavern will be served up as a full 7-course meal. Did you know that you can have up to 21 courses in a formal dinner? I think I might have to try that some time before I die. 21 courses, wow. But we've got seven here today.

1st course - Appetizer:

The Tarheel Banker from ephemera: a tribute to the long history of Banking in Charlotte. Ephemera asks,

Was Charlotte even on the map in 1967?

Now that's a question you don't want to ask today's city leaders, because they're all about making Charlotte known worldwide. What as? Well, that part isn't all that clear, but they certainly feed the need to be popular. And yes, banking has been a huge part of Charlotte for quite a long time.

Next up, according to my official meal guide, is the 2nd course - sit-down, seated Appetizer:

Final notes on the Science Blogging Conference and Anthology over at A Blog Around the Clock. This post is a great description of what they hope will be an annual event: a North Carolina Science Blogging conference. And it wasn't just for bloggers:

to mix science bloggers with others who are interested in science communication - scientists and students, science teachers, librarians, writers and journalists, journal editors and local elected officials, software developers and science museum staff.

I hope that it turned out well this weekend!

Next up, the 3rd course - Gourmet Salad:

Assert A Surge Iraqi submitted by Scrutiny Hooligans.

Now Screwy Hoolie, the author of that post, promises drinking at Asheville Brewing Company, in Asheville, EVERY Thursday. That's about 2 hours from my house, but I might have to make the drive one Thursday, just to hear him recite the poetry like this week's submission. I'm just not sure how I'll make it back for work on Friday after "drinking liberally."

After that is the 4th course - Sorbet, for a palate cleanser:

I Shot The Sheriff But I Didn't Shoot Deputy Dog by the one and only Billy the Blogging Poet.

This entry couldn't fit any better into our seven course meal here, as you might have guessed -- it's a poem by Billy. And it's light and silly, I think. Well, it might be dark and depressing, depending on how you read it. I won't try and explain, just head on over and see what you think about it! And well, if you don't like that poem, check out the rest of his site, I'm sure you'll find something you like there.

Finally we get to the 5th course - The Main Course:

Slowly She Turned provides the main course with Erring on the side of caution -- a post that actually went along with the "suggested topic" of this week's tavern (and yes, it was only a suggestion, so it's fine that other didn't follow the "theme").

This week in North Carolina, some areas saw a bit of nasty weather. No, nothing compared to what the folks in the west were dealing with a few weeks ago, but in North Carolina, we don't have thousands of plows and salt trucks, so it doesn't take much to completely immobilize entire counties.

Slowly She Turned offers a little bit of quite good advice regarding the weather, especially for those of us in North Carolina who don't see hazardous weather very often.

Once you're done digesting that main course, we're proud to deliver the 6th course - Gourmet Dessert:

Now this is no light dessert to laugh and converse over. No, this one is a rather heavy, strong dessert that will stay with you for quite awhile. Colonel Corn's Camera tells up about Raw Emotion -- and it's not a calm, easy emotion. But it might make you think a little more before you complain about sitting in the next traffic jam.

Everyone will have to deal with some strong emotions at some time in their life, usually when they're least prepared for it. But without any emotions, life would be a rather slow and boring existence. Without the lows, there wouldn't be any highs, would there?

Finally, today, as you digest your wonderful meal, we have the 7th course - Lattes:

And while you sip, read about Business Advice for Artists and Sensitive People, presented by Christine Kane.

Just read that title again, and think about how much something like that might be needed. Quite often, those who are gifted in the areas of arts aren't as gifted in the areas of logic and business. So it seems only logical that they're going to need help in areas of business. I know I sure need help in the area of arts!

And as an added bonus, there's already a lot of comments and discussion going on over there on this topic, so grab your drink, sit back, and join in the conversation!

---

Well, that's all for this week's carnival. I hope you enjoyed your stay and had time to wander around and visit all those who were kind enough to add their submissions for this week. Remember, if you're blogging in or about North Carolina, you can submit your own blog posts each and every week. Also, the carnival is in need of future hosts -- if you'd like to host and enjoy the tavern, submit and volunteer to host!

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New Neighbor #46

Welcome again, good readers, to this week's New Neighbor. For those who haven't seen this feature before, this is a weekly post that appears each Sunday afternoon. Usually this is the only post for Sundays, but this week the Tarheel Tavern will also appear. Each week Ogre reads through some new blogs from the massive blogroll on the right side of the main page, right now the Evangelical Blogroll, and finds a new blog to highlight and introduce to you, my kind reader. This week, it's

Beauty and the Bull

I have to say, this blog almost didn't make the cut for this week's "Neighbor" feature. I looked at the blog, glanced at a couple articles and decided that I'd feature it. Then I noticed the picture at the top of the blog. Poor, deluded, Bull. I'm thinking he should put a picture up of "The Swamp..."

Anyway, back to the blog. The latest entry is neat. I'm not sure, but I think Bull is really hoping to obtain some wolf-like super powers. And I'm not sure "Wolf Lord" is quite enough of a superhero name. Feel free to add other choices in his comments.

He's also got up a post about the latest American Idol. To be honest, I've never seen the show. Really. I have absolutely no desire to watch other people make fools of themselves. Well, I guess I do, I just see it all day long just by watching the Democrats and other politicians. But if you like that sort of thing, he'll give away the whole season in one post.

Now the blog does promise to be about "Bull and Ashley," but you might notice a slight lack of posts from this mysterious Ashley. However, about a week ago, she did make an appearance explaining her absence. She speaks of these "social engagements." Wow, that sounds painful. Well, to me, anyway.

So hey, the blog's been around since March of 2006, so I guess that makes it almost old, eh? It's a clean layout, pretty much just personal stuff, but why not head over and have a read this Sunday afternoon? What else did you have to do? And I'm not posting anything else until you get over there and read (well, at least not until tomorrow morning, and the Tavern this will be here later this afternoon).

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Ed Brown

The story about Ed Brown is spreading. I mentioned it here last week under the title "Live Free or Die." For those educated in government schools, that's the state motto of New Hampshire.

I've been following this case rather closely and have been in contact with numerous people who have actually been on the ground and have visited with Ed. Ed is a very nice guy. And the Fox News story really mentions the crux of this story. Once again, not for the first time, someone is asking the government a question that simply cannot be answered. When it comes to taxes, Ed says,

Show us the law that requires us to pay [income] taxes, and we'll pay it immediately

The government has never been able to show this law. I remember a few years back when full-page ads were run in newspapers offering $50,000 to anyone who could show the law. The reward went unclaimed. Well, the IRS, of course, tried Ed and his wife and found that they were guilty of "avoiding taxes" and "hiding their income."

Folks, they didn't hide or avoid. They blatantly and openly didn't pay. They also got in trouble for "money laundering" for having funds transferred under the federal reporting limit. In case you're not aware of that law, certain financial institutions are required to fill out federal forms when transactions exceed a certain amount (it used to be $10,000). So, for example, when I was going to receive $15,000, I asked for it in two checks: $7,500 each. I guess that makes me a criminal, too.

Ed does have quite a number of people up there with him. And Ed's rather set in his ways. He is very non-violent. He has vowed not to shoot government trespassers. However, he said that he will also not leave his property against his will.

He was found guilty on Friday, but sentencing is not until April. It's not currently clear whether the judge has issued a warrant for his arrest, but the judge may do so at any moment. I don't know what will happen if they attempt to take Ed by force. If they do so now, there will be a bloodbath because Ed's simply not going. My guess is that the government will attempt to wait him out and won't do anything until closer to the sentencing date.

But there is a way for government to end this without bloodshed -- but they have to leave Ed alone. He's not bothering anyone. He's self-sufficient and won't go anywhere or harm anyone. He's not committed any crime that's hurt anyone in any way. But they're going to get him -- because if they don't, others might actually follow his lead.

Good luck, Ed, and Godspeed.

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100th Tarheel Tavern

In case you needed reminding, if you're blogging from or about North Carolina, the deadline to submit carnival entries for the 100th edition of the Tarheel Tavern is tonight! It should be posted either Sunday or Monday! Come on North Carolina Bloggers, send in your entries!

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Vandalism Elmwood Cemetery

A Press Release regarding the Elmwood Cemetery:

We have been sickened by the latest theft and vandalism at Elmwood Cemetery. We have attempted help stop this by addressing our city leaders on this issue and making various police reports. Sadly, our city leaders talk a good game but do nothing. The same has been for the police department no follow up nor has arrest been made.

The Confederate section is apart of history that has met with theft and vandalism again.

Sadly, we found new vandalism in Pinewood Cemetery in two locations. It sickness us find these headstones broken on purpose. This type of criminal activity is horrible an outrage to the families and citizens of Charlotte.

The vandalism has consisted of statues on burial plots broken, some beheaded, various headstones broken, and some bashed into pieces. Even monuments have had pieces chipped, which have lead to further cracking. Elmwood and Pinewood Cemetery has been the victim of vandalism for too long.

Again, we are concerned regarding the lack of responsibility we have encountered. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department has not followed up on reports filed. A police officer only has contacted us once and left a message. We have tried to contact him back, several times and have not heard from him. There have not been any arrests in regards to the vandalism. The aloof behavior is why people do not take the time to become more involved. This has not been an uncommon behavior by police or city officials.


Have any questions please feel free to contact us.

Mark A. Palmer
704/525-0313
Historic Preservation of Elmwood and Pinewood Cemetery

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Friday Feast

Well, I'm not completely sure what this is, but I found it over at Raven's, so I thought I'd give it a shot. The directions say:

While our questions may sometimes be related to food, the main idea here is to feed your mind by asking thought-provoking, mind-stimulating questions.

Each Friday when you visit this meme, you will find 5 enticing courses for your mind to gobble up:

Appetizer
- a quick, tasty morsel to get you started

Soup
- smooth and warm to soothe your mind

Salad
- a nutritious blend of "veggies"

Main Course
- a hearty portion that is sure to satisfy

Dessert
- light concoction for your sweet tooth

Okay, so here goes nothing:

Appetizer
Which television shows do you just refuse to miss?

Television? Isn't that a medium that was used for communication back in the 20th century? Do people still have those things? What for? Oh, wait, I remember that thing now -- it's the propaganda tool used by leftists world wide today, isn't it?

Soup
Who did you last speak to on the telephone?

Tell-uh-what? Horrible, nasty devices. I don't like them one bit. Therefore, I don't use them. Why? I dunno. But really, I just don't use those things.

Salad
How many pillows do you keep on your bed?

What is this, a quiz about little-known things that people don't have? Why spend money on a bed when there's a perfectly good floor right over there? Heck, if you have a bed, doesn't it just cover up the floor space so you can't use it any more? And if you do get rid of that floor space, why would you bother with a pillow? That's just not natural. Really. Go lie down. Now, how elevated is your head? Oh, it's not? Then why would you want to sleep with your chin pressed towards your neck? You people are silly.

Main Course
Name one addition to your computer (software, hardware, etc.) that you'd love to have.

Okay, at least I understand this question! I need the brain-to-text translator. That way I could get a lot more done by just telling the machine exactly what I wanted it to do, without having to figure out how to explain it to the computer.

Dessert
What is your favorite foreign food?

Roast Terrorist.

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Random Pictures

So, have you looked at your hard drive lately? When I post pictures here, I usually save them to one of my computers first, then upload them here. That "pictures" folder on this computer now has 330 files. Wow, I wonder what's there?

Most of them, I can account for. I know what I was doing and what I was thinking when I see pictures like this one:

Raven will like that one.

Heck, I even remember when Contagion inspired this one:

I can remember when Quality Weenie and I were having our car wars that caused me to have this one:

And I certainly remember creating the series that included this poster

But there's a few, I just can't explain. I wonder why in the world, for example, I find this little guy in the "My Pictures" folder

I have no idea. And what's with this one?

And why do I have a picture of a pile of chains?

Oh well, it must be time for a new computer.

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Osama Challenge

Last week, Stevin of Ionetic commented on The Friday Llama:

Again, my prediction that you could post photos of llama nostrils with success has been fulfilled.
I've got a new challenge for you: post photos of Osama in a Hello Kitty outfit.

Well, we aim to please here at Ogre's. So, after an exhaustive search and frame-by-frame analysis of various of Osama's (bin Laden, not Obama) recent videos, the staff on crack crack staff of Ogre's Politics and Views found a video that had been altered after it had been recorded. Extensive analysis has allowed us to re-create the unaltered video pixel by pixel. From that video, we extracted this still shot:

Who'd a thunk Osama (bin Laden, not Obama) was a Hello Kitty fan?

Posted by: Ogre at 06:08 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Sexist for not judging by sex

The route to political correctness and insanity continues, this time aided by the once respected Harvard University. A professor there, who resigned, then un-resigned, is complaining that the school is sexist (or the new, even more PC term: guilty of gender discrimination) because they refuse to hire based entirely on a person's sex.

Yes, you read that correctly. In order for you, in today's screwed-up version of an "Accepting" and politically correct society, which Harvard supports, to NOT be guilty of "gender discrimination," you must hire someone based completely on their gender and not due to their actual abilities.

I continue to agree the liberalism is a mental disorder. You have to have a really warped and diseased mind to actually say things like this with a straight face, AND actually believe them. In a logical, real world, this is utter and total insanity. But that's not where Harvard University exists, apparently.

At "issue" here is the landscape architecture department at Harvard. I'll wait while you stop laughing. Yes, they really have such a department. And don't jump to conclusions -- the department is not about designing landscapes, it's about advancing socialism through communist-style city planning:

The profession of landscape architecture is rich in scope, ranging from the design of urban landscapes such as New York City's Central Park, to the reclamation of brownfields, to the ecological planning of large tracts of land such as the regional watershed management of the western United States.

But this clinically insane lunatic reality-challenged loon maroon fool clueless moonbat professor at Harvard is complaining because this "department" has a whopping six professors and none of them are women. She complains because they didn't hire any women.

She's not complaining because they chose faculty based on merit, but on sex. She doesn't address how many women vs. men actually applied for any of the positions, or even if ANY women have EVER applied for the positions. The simple lack of a woman is evidence that they are racist homophobes, guilty of the hate-crime of "gender inequity." Why she hasn't called for and demanded the arrest of the head of the department is unknown.

People like this are utter and complete morons. They are incredibly selfish and enemies of freedom. They would never survive on their own in a world where hard work is rewarded. This woman wants preferences and cash simply because she was born without a penis.

Go back to London, "Professor" Schwartz, where you can enjoy the muslim takeover and be forced to ask permission from a man to walk the streets. Try producing and working for a living instead of trying to take away my personal freedoms. And Miss Schwartz? Go suck eggs.

Posted by: Ogre at 04:02 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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A New Race: Hair

Yes, the ACLU has filed another lawsuit. I guess that's not really news, because actually, that's pretty much all the ACLU does -- file lawsuits, obtain taxpayer cash as a result, and then use that cash to hire more people and file more lawsuits. But this lawsuit really stretches the imagination, even for the ACLU.

The ACLU is claiming that hair is a race. Really. They are actually claiming that dreadlocks are a protected form of race under the federal civil rights act of 1964. They're not clear as to whether the hair actually has to be attached to a person, or if hair that has been cut actually has civil rights that can be violated, too.

Folks, this IS the ACLU of today. They exist to destroy and break down anything that is American. They honestly despise the freedoms protected by the United States Constitution.

Now, you can argue all you want about whether the federal "civil rights" act has been violated. In a true court that was governed by the rule of law and that was interested in justice (no, I haven't actually seen one of those), it wouldn't really matter. You see, there's a law that's more supreme to minor "federal" laws. It reads something like this:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In that law, it clearly states that Congress shall make no law abridging the right of the people to peaceable assemble. This is often referred to as the right of freedom of association. That ensures that the Congress, should they obey the Constitution, simply cannot force people to associate with anyone they don't want to.

So do I have the freedom to dislike certain types of hair? Under the Constitution, yes. According to the ACLU, no. Do have I have the right to prohibit things I personally don't like in a place that I have built? Under the Constitution, yes. According to the ACLU, no. Do I have the right to only associate with people that I, personally, want to associate with? According to the Constitution, yes. According to the ACLU, no.

The ACLU is a powerful, destructive force, strongly opposed to freedom. They should be stopped at all costs. They will work with terrorists and others who do not like Democracy and freedom and they will not stop until America has been destroyed. Join them and celebrate communism, totalitarianism, and slavery; or oppose them and work for freedom and human decency.

Posted by: Ogre at 02:01 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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NC Tax Reform

Recently, about every other day in North Carolina, there's "news" articles that are calling for a total overhaul of the tax system. Why? Primarily because the Democrats in the General Assembly last year spent BILLIONS more than they had and this year, before the session really gets started, they're already a BILLION dollars short. Therefore, if they redo the tax system, they can get more money -- which would be the primary reason for any "reform" by Democrats. I would be a month's pay that any "reform" introduced by Democrats will increase the overall take to the government.

I've got an idea? You want tax reform? I'll give you tax reform -- but let's make it FAIR. And yes, I'm well aware that any concept of fairness and taxes will NEVER happen as long as the Democrats continue to rule the North Carolina General Assembly with their iron fist. But I can dream of a good, free, fair system.

First, zero income tax. Completely and totally remove all taxes on any income. I don't care where it comes from, don't tax it. Other states do this, and it works just fine. Let people keep the money they earn like the damn North Carolina Constitution says they should.

Then implement a uniform sales tax. It would include a prebate for every household to cover consumption taxes on the poorest households. That ensures that taxes collected are determined by how much one spends, NOT how much one earns. In addition, NO tax on used goods. If you only buy used items, you pay no taxes on them. They've already had taxes collected on them once, it's not fair to tax them again.

This would be revenue-neutral - -not designed to decrease or increase the income to the state. However, it would still save money because managing this system would great decrease the expenditures by the state revenue offices. It's fair, and it would work -- which is why there's NO way the Democrats of North Carolina would EVER consider it.

Posted by: Ogre at 12:02 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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High School Quiz

You Passed High School with an A+

You have the brains of a high school graduate... at least!

Well, I don't know about that. I suspect in today's government schools if you got at least 1 right, you'd actually "pass." And sadly, there's a lot of information on that quiz that every single American SHOULD know.

Posted by: Ogre at 08:05 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Mainstream Muslims

Those who support Islam (Democrats, Terrorists, The Media, etc.) keep screaming and screaming that the terrorists are only a "small part" of the religion and that "any religion" has it's extremists. Instead we are told to ignore the terrorists who continue to use religion as their excuse to murder and listen to the "moderates" of the religion, who greatly outnumber the terrorists and extremists.

Well, the BBC, much to their own massive shock and surprise, decided to give that a try. They went to the most moderate, mainstream mosque in England they could find. They went to a place suggested by high-ranking Muslims who have sat upon government boards designed to "increase understanding" of Islam. All Muslims apparently agreed that this was a place of moderate Islam. So, what happened there?

British Muslims must "dismantle" British democracy - they must "live like a state within a state" until they are "strong enough to take over."

So they're not only lying, constantly, when they claim they're peaceful, they're actively supporting a total takeover of all governments, to replace them with a worldwide, Islamic state with totalitarian control of all aspects of life.

They are told to hit and beat 10-year old girls if they do not wear the proper religious clothes because it's the only way the girl will understand.

We Muslims have been ordered to do brain washing

Allah has created the woman deficient.

Take that homosexual man and throw him off the mountain.

All non-Muslims are liars

All Christians and Jews are enemies of Islam. All non-Muslims should be killed by crucifixion and left to bleed for 3 days.

This is the message of moderate Islam. Unfortunately, few will believe this and still insist it's a nice, peaceful religion. Fools.

Posted by: Ogre at 04:04 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Tobacco O.K. -- If It Stinks

That's correct, the legislature of West Virginia is considering banning any tobacco that "tastes sweet." I only wish I could be making up such horrible, utterly useless functions of government. Part of the new, proposed, "law:"

The Legislature finds that the current general prohibition of selling tobacco products to children is an insufficient and ineffective means in which to address the problem. The Legislature, therefore, adopts a public policy that the importation, sale and distribution of candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes in this state cannot be tolerated.

In other words, the legislature is really saying,

We passed a law to try and stop you from having the freedom to smoke, but that wasn't enough. Since one law didn't force you all to stop doing what we, personally, do not like, we're going to pass another law, and for some reason, you'll all obey the SECOND law.

And no, these aren't new -- flavored cigarettes have been sold in WV for OVER 100 years. But now they're evil.

It's not clear how many different commissions and legislative panels will be set up to taste test all cigarettes that will be sold in the state to determine exactly which cigarettes taste too much like candy and fruit, and which ones taste bad enough to actually be sold in the state. So far, they're only actually limiting the NAME of the cigarettes, not the actual taste -- so they could see candy-flavored cigarettes, they just couldn't CALL them candy-flavored cigarettes.

Can someone please explain to me why we have government?

Posted by: Ogre at 02:05 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Blatantly Biased "News?"

In an alleged news article by the Associated Press there's nothing but blatant, left-wing propaganda. In fact, there's almost no facts in the entire article!

There's little argument that North Carolina needs to act swiftly to protect its natural resources.

That's how the article starts. "Little argument?" I can find thousands of people who absolutely and completely disagree with that "little statement." I can find tens of thousands who would disagree that it's any of government's business to "protect" any natural resources at all.

Shellfishing grounds are shrinking due to pollution.

Not true. There's absolutely no way to prove that at all. Are they shrinking? Maybe. But maybe they're just moving. And if they are shrinking, is it due to pollution? Maybe it's due to algore's Global Warming (TM). Or maybe it's "evolution." To claim it's because of pollution shows a blatant agenda and total disregard for factual information. Remember -- this is in a "Global News" article.

Development is taking over acres of timberland and farm fields every day.

Well gee, we can't have that, can we? That would mean people could actually, well, have a place to live. It's stated as a bad thing -- apparently the Associated Press would prefer that everyone live in grass huts where they direct and nowhere else. Let's go check how many people in North Carolina are starving because of "loss of farm fields?" Oh, none? Damn that progress, anyway.

The question is where conservation will fall in the state's hierarchy of need when lawmakers consider doling out dollars in the coming session.

Welcome to the leftist view of government. Their only purpose is to "dole out dollars." Magical dollars that the government creates -- not that they steal from productive workers. And notice that conservation is automatically accepted as a "need" of the state. And yes, that's the all-powerful and all-knowing State that you slimy peon people are too stupid to understand or comprehend. Remember: Global News Article.

Wary of taking on new debt, the Legislature declined last year to act on a proposed billion-dollar bond package to buy and preserve land and historic sites across the state.

Gee, you think? The open complaint here is that the government had the gall to NOT go into debt when they clearly should have. Why, if the government had gone a few more billion into debt, there's be open fields as far as the eye could see and shellfish would prosper on the shores. Of course, people would be living in disease, filth, and misery, but that's okay with the Associated Press.

What a horrible, slimy, socialist organization. And they still manage to claim to be a "news organization" -- and they can say that with a straight face. What scum.

Posted by: Ogre at 12:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Food Quiz

I know it's been at least 10 minutes since Smokey's taken a quiz, so here you go:

You Are French Food

Snobby yet ubiquitous. People act like they understand you more than they actually do.

Eh? FWench? Ugh.

Found at Tink's via One Happy Dog.

Posted by: Ogre at 08:03 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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New Advertiser

Why not check out a new blog this week? This week, New York Nitty Gritty has graciously contributed to Ogre and has the top advertising slot over there on the left side (on the top of the main page).

It's an EXCELLENT photo blog. If you like quality pictures, you really should head on over and take a peek...

Posted by: Ogre at 06:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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