I'll huff and I'll puff ... ecoweenie alert!
Steve Brandt in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune provides some levity in Mold was the last straw for this 'innovative' house:

What makes it heartbreaking, people say, is how eagerly Sherri Simmons looked forward to moving into the new farmhouse-style house just off Lake Street in Minneapolis.

"I've been excited from beginning to end," she said in 1998 as the house neared completion.

This was no ordinary house. It was a house stuffed with straw -- in the walls, in the foundation, and, under the original plans, in the attic.

The nonprofit developers boasted that the house was only the third straw-insulated house erected under the Minnesota building code. They touted it as a groundbreaker for sustainable and affordable construction.

Then the straw began to rot.

Simmons no longer lives in the house because it no longer exists. It was condemned by the city and demolished last year.

Notice the keyword: "nonprofit".

Two Minneapolis nonprofit agencies, Southside Neighborhood Housing Services and the Community Eco-Design Network, teamed up in the mid-1990s and worked together on the straw-bale house.

Eco-Design co-founders Eric Hart and Rick Peterson said they could deliver a house with prefabricated modular construction for less cost than standard city-subsidized housing.

Their system included insulating straw bales stacked inside a post-and-beam frame. Instead of a basement, a slab of concrete was poured over additional bales.
...
Southside had a 20-year record of providing loans and grants to people with moderate or lower incomes to buy and renovate housing. It acted as the house's developer, while Eco-Design's role was winning plan approval, handling bidding and managing construction.

One preconstruction budget for the project totaled $91,000, but the house ended up costing more than $200,000, Hart said. The state contributed $20,000, and other nonprofits committed more. Southside absorbed the brunt of the costs, selling the house to Simmons for $83,000.

Nice discount! And it sounds like the taxpayers (AKA the "state") only got clipped for 20K! Such a deal! But wait, there's more.

I'll skip the construction details, the "volunteer" work crew charging their power tools with solar cells, the mold, and the city condemning the house after the removal of the moldy straw caused the house to sway in the wind. Instead, let's track down the money:

Still, condemnation didn't seal the house's fate. Southside could have made the repairs. But Rogers said Southside didn't have enough money.

In 2000, a state audit had severely criticized Southside's handling of more than $1.1 million in public money.

Notice the key phrase "public money". Our tax dollars are hard at work again. This time providing entertainment.

It's tin foil beanie time, eh!
Mark Steyn in the Telegraph:

But if I had to name my all-time favourite cabal to which Bush is in thrall it would have to be the one revealed in a long think-piece in the Boston Globe the other week. The Globe identified the various murky figures who've been the most assiduous promoters of the new American imperium: David Frum, the Bush speechwriter who coined two thirds of the phrase "axis of evil" (his original idea was "axis of hate"); Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post; Michael Ignatieff of Harvard; and Mark Steyn, some loser with a Brit newspaper.

And what do all these unsavoury characters have in common? Circumcision? Gefilte fish? No; as the Globe noted, "Frum, Steyn, Krauthammer, and Ignatieff all hail from Canada".

A cabal of sinister Canadians? Oh, sure, go ahead, scoff. But, if Tony Blair is under the control of a cabal of sinister Jews, what you really need to ask yourself is what cabal is the cabal of sinister Jews under the control of?

Who knew?

Unforeseen Consequences Alert!
Victorino Matus at the Weekly Standard:

The GROM Factor
Haven't heard of Poland's Special Forces? They're real, they're serious, and they're here to save the day.

IT CAME AS A SURPRISE to many when the U.S. postwar plans for Iraq were finally revealed. Like Gaul, Iraq would be divided into three parts: an American zone, a British zone, and a Polish zone. But what role did Poland play during the war? It turns out a very important one--albeit one that was kept mostly secret.

One of the primary objectives during the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom was the port at Umm Qasr. Without it, delivering adequate humanitarian aid to the rest of Iraq would have been nearly impossible for the coalition. Not long after the start of the war, the port was secured--in large part thanks to GROM, Poland's elite commandos.

Who even knew Poland had special forces? For a while, not many. The Polish government waited three years before publicly disclosing GROM's existence. Standing for Grupa Reagowania Operacyjno Mobilnego (Operational Mobile Response Group), the name actually stems from a special-forces commander, Gromoslaw Czempinski, who, during the first Gulf War, led a Polish unit into Western Iraq to rescue a group of CIA operatives. One of the other men on that secret mission was Slawomir Petelicki--the father of GROM.

Much more about GROM by following the link. It was certainly nice to have them at the ball. But not everyone is smiling according to Roger Boyes at the UK Times:

Germans dismayed that Poles could command their troops

GERMANY has responded angrily to a proposal that its troops be deployed in northern Iraq under the command of Poland, one of the newest members of Nato.

The United States recommended that Poland take over the military administration of northern Iraq, in charge of peacekeeping duties. The force under its command would number about 7,000, including contingents from Nato members such as Romania, Bulgaria and possibly Germany.

Peter Struck, the German Defence Minister, said he would "look into" the proposal, but was clearly opposed.

Poland, which contributed 200 men to coalition forces in Iraq, had promised 10,000 men for a peacekeeping force. This has shrunk to 1,500, with troops from other countries added. The US will be responsible for central Iraq and Britain for the south.

Neither Germany nor France had expected to take a leading military role in postwar Iraq, but the idea that Poland could take charge has stirred a hornets’ nest. President Kwasniewski of Poland will try to resolve the matter when he meets German and French leaders tomorrow, but there is no mistaking the dismay in "old Europe" as Poland flexes its muscles.

What's that annoying whine I hear?

He's dreaming of a virgin with light brown hair
Via LGF: Palestinian students recreate paradise to show what awaits "martyrs":

Plastic trees, goldfish swimming in a generator-powered fountain, posters of the dead on the wall: This is a model of the paradise Islamic militants say awaits those killed in fighting with Israel, including suicide bombers.

The display at the West Bank's largest university, An Najah, was assembled by supporters of the violent Hamas group who said they wanted to raise students' morale after 31 months of fighting with Israel.

Sounds like a real hootenanny! But what about the ... you know ... virgins?

Missing from the display of heaven were the 72 virgins. Organizers said they weren't sure how to depict them. "We don't know what (heavenly) virgins look like," said one of the organizers, a Hamas member and engineering student who only gave his first name, Ahmed.

I'll help ya out, Ahmed:

Everyone's doing it!
On Wednesday I mentioned that John Bono was building an Axis of Weasels card deck over at No Replacement for Displacement. Now I see that NewsMax is selling a Deck of Weasels:

Life in the minor leagues
Minor league baseball is a world apart from the "big business" major leagues as Jeff D'Alessio reports in Florida Today:

Win or lose, the Brevard County Manatees and Vero Beach Dodgers are strongly advised to leave the field immediately following tonight's Florida State League baseball game in Viera.

Either that, or run the risk of getting trampled by hundreds of moms on a mission.

Tonight is "Don Traver's World Famous Diamond Dig" at Space Coast Stadium, when women are invited to tear up the infield for a chance to win half-carat diamond earrings.

"They squeal, they scream, they yell," said Traver, a Suntree jeweler. "They'll dig until their hands get blisters. Some of them even come with kneepads.

"Quite frankly, all you see are butts and elbows, I'm telling you."

Here's how it works: Before today's 5:05 p.m. doubleheader, white chips which can be redeemed for diamonds will be buried in the infield clay between first and third base. Following the second game, any woman 18 and older -- preferably mothers -- can come onto the field, where they'll be given half of a paint stirring stick. When Traver, the emcee, gives the go sign, they're free to start digging.

The best part is that no goofballs have yet popped up claiming that having it limited to women only is unfair to the transgendered or similar dreck.

The Dig, an old promotion brought to Brevard seven years ago by Dunn, has been borrowed by other minor-league teams, which are always looking for creative ways to put fannies in the seats.

And, boy, do they come up with some doozies. Here's a list of the 20 best that we discovered in an informal survey of minor-league executives.

Much hilarity in the list - here's one I liked:

Animals -- real or fake -- are always good for a few chuckles. Like Laura the Elephant, whom the West Michigan Whitecaps hired in 1997 to throw out the first pitch. "She did fine many times," said Matt O'Brien, now the GM of the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Pelicans. "But the best was when she took the ball and ate it right there on our pitcher's mound."

Better that end than the other end! Nothing like a mound on the mound.

Maggie has issues!
Right-Thinking from the Left Coast alerts us to a remarkable spew from Magaret Drabble in the Telegraph. Here's a brief excerpt:

My anti-Americanism has become almost uncontrollable. It has possessed me, like a disease. It rises up in my throat like acid reflux, that fashionable American sickness. I now loathe the United States and what it has done to Iraq and the rest of the helpless world.

There's much more in a similar vein with some special rancor for the troops who paint names and shark's teeth on their vehicles. Apparently Maggie is really, really, really upset that the coalition forces kicked some Islamofascist butt.

Aside from wondering how Maggie came to lose her medications, I was mostly puzzled as to who the hell Margaret Drabble was. A little Googling produced the fact that she's an author and that:

Lonely pregnancies, jealous sisters, fears of physicality, and loss of identity are Margaret Drabble's specialties.

Well I'll be gobsmacked - all of the literati down at the store had completely overlooked this paragon!

And will continue to do so.

The Human Comedy
Belly Flop Turns Rotten With Dead Fish Antic:

A belly flop contest at Campus Pool this weekend got a little fishy during one fraternity's performance.

Junior business economics major Kevin Sanderson was sent to the hospital Sunday after a mishap in the belly flop competition at the Delta Gamma Anchor Splash. Sanderson entered the competition with three of his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers - Jeff Thorp, Sten Ericson and Gavin Kelly - and three dead catfish. During the course of events, Sanderson ended up with a fish stuck to his face and a trip to the hospital.

"It was hilarious," Sanderson said. "The guys were laughing and I was laughing too, but the girls were all screaming."

Kevin is not the sharpest tool in the drawer.

Man killed in pipe bomb stunt:

A Northamptonshire man who was fascinated with explosives blew himself up after putting a home-made pipe bomb in his mouth and lighting the fuse, an inquest has heard.

Kevin Barnes, 20, of Joseph Priestly Court in Daventry, took the device into his mouth and flicked a lighter as his petrified flatmates and girlfriend looked on.
...
His girlfriend, Elizabeth Elliot, said: "My opinion was that Kevin was mucking about but didn't actually mean for the pipe bomb to go off.

So what was he going to do with the lit pipe bomb? Hand it to Liz?

Philly Nude Models May Wear Union Label:

Complaining of low pay, cold rooms and air laden with paint fumes and charcoal dust, models who pose nude at a Philadelphia art school voted Wednesday to join a union.

"We were at a loss about how to get the schools to pay attention to us," said Claire Hankins, 39, who led the effort to organize artists' models at the Moore College of Art and Design.
...
Hankins wants the all-women's art school to raise its $11 hourly rate and provide its 40 to 60 models with warm, clean, safe spaces in which to work.

The Moore models said that disrobing for art school classes is hard work that requires them to hold a pose for long periods under sometimes difficult conditions. The studios at Moore and other art schools often lack private changing areas, adequate heaters and outside air, Hankins said.

"In the building where models do most of their work, there's no fresh air coming in," said Hankins, a model for nearly 20 years.
...
Gary Kapanowski, a District 47 organizer, said he does not know of any other school in the country where nude models have organized, though he hopes that will change. "The labor movement needs to reach out to constituencies beyond the normal groups," he said.

Yes, there is a picture in the original article, but don't click through just for that.

Add one to the Weird Sea Stories
Richard Spencer at the Telegraph - Chinese navy did not know submarine was missing:

The Chinese navy was unaware that one of its submarines was in trouble until a fisherman spotted the vessel's periscope sticking out of the water close to an offshore island.

That must have been a heck of a 911 call.

It is not clear how long the accident happened before the vessel was discovered by the fisherman, but the fact that the navy did not know one of its submarines was missing is an additional humiliation for a military unused to the glare of publicity.

Around 70 sailors on board the vessel, the crew plus 14 observers, were found suffocated "at their posts", victims of a sudden mechanical malfunction that may have been caused by human error, navy sources quoted on the internet said.
...
On state television on Monday night, President Hu Jintao, and Jiang Zemin, his predecessor who is still head of the central military commission and commander-in-chief, were seen touring the boat and meeting relatives of the dead.
...
"Sources said they were not discounting the possibility that a crew member may have mistaken an exhaust valve for an intake valve resulting in the suffocation of the entire crew," it said, without explaining how this could happen.

Another theory is that a chemical leak "perhaps caused by battery fluid mixing with seawater" might have affected the ship.

A third, from a Hong Kong defence specialist quoted by the South China Morning Post suggested that a new diesel engine was undergoing tests.

Diesel-powered submarines are supposed to switch off their engines during a dive and run on batteries, and if this procedure failed, the crew's oxygen could have been used up.

Mistakes will always happen, but we're talking a technology that is a century old.

Anyone for Bridge?
From No Replacement for Displacement:

Why must we waste time stopping rape squads in Iraq, when in Augusta, women are ruthlessly forced to tee off on the back nine?

Check out the rest of the Axis of Weasels card deck that John is building in multiple posts on the main site.