It's a growth industry!

Dr Who cut short:

Filming of the new series of Doctor Who has been hit by a shortage of dwarf actors.

Producers needed them to play little blue aliens in the new BBC sci-fi drama, reports the Mirror.

But most midget actors have already been snapped up for the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie or to play Gringotts Bank staff in the new Harry Potter film.

Executive producer Russell T Davies said: "It's very difficult to employ persons of restricted growth when, as our producer Phil Collinson says, `Bloody Gringotts and the Chocolate Factory are filming at the same time'."

Persons of restricted growth? Does that make Michael Moore a person of unrestricted growth?

What a maroon!

It's ABC's Terry Moran again:

At President Bush's press conference yesterday, ABC News reporter Terry Moran described the case of a Jordanian activist, Ali Hattar, who Moran said had been arrested and charged with slander for promoting a boycott of U.S. goods. Moran called it an "abuse of human rights," and invited the President to condemn it, saying, "If you won't, sir, then what ... do your fine words [about freedom] mean?"

President Bush said he was unaware of the case. He was in good company. The Hattar case appears never to have been mentioned by any news outlet in the U.S., including Moran's own network, that is, until Moran asked his question.

There's a Mad Hattar in this story too. It's Terry.

Nothing like some blogfodder

Deano!

CLINTON AIDE BACKING DEM DEAN:

Longtime Clinton aide Harold Ickes yesterday threw his support behind Howard Dean for the Democratic National Committee's new chief, fueling the growing belief Dean is unstoppable.
...
Ickes claimed Dean is a "real moderate" but Republicans are rooting for him just as they did in his failed 2004 presidential bid — which died with a scream in Iowa — convinced he will alienate swing moderates.

Howie! C'mon down!

"They baptized Hillary Clinton in Cedar Creek last Sunday..."

That's not quite how I remember the lyrics, but I was put in a gospel singing mood by Gerard Baker's London Times send-up of Her Heinous trying out her sheep's clothing for the 2008 election - Hillary Clinton gets religion and an AK47:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
September 15, 2005

At a public ceremony near Waco, Texas, Senator Clinton was received yesterday into full communion with the Church of Jesus Christ of the Repenting Transgressors.

As her sponsors, the Rev Jerry Falwell and the Rev Pat Robertson looked on lovingly, the New York senator was fully immersed in the swirling waters of the Brazos River. A gospel choir sang a collection of spiritual hymns, including, Lo, the Yankee Queen In Bright Array, Rises and It Takes a Village to Smite the Evil.

Mr Falwell welcomed Mrs Clinton, dressed in a white toga, as a reformed sister in the family of former sinners.

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Voter,” he said. “The prodigal daughter has come home to the Lord! The sheep that was lost is found.”

I liked the part where she appeared at the NRA convention, too.

(Hat Tip: Betsy's Page)

Culture Vulture News: A&E stinks out the joint again

Tim Goodman in the SF Chronicle - A&E hits new lows with 'See Arnold Run'; see critic run even faster:

As if the A&E Network hadn't proved conclusively in recent seasons just how far it has fallen -- it has a roster of dreck to which few can compare -- a new biopic on Arnold Schwarzenegger confirms that nobody at the cable channel has much taste or, for that matter, smarts.
...
Apparently this will be another calendar year during which none of A&E's executives bothers to go out and buy a box of clues. And so the laughs are all yours as "See Arnold Run" unfolds Sunday as two of the most embarrassing, ridiculous hours of filmed television in some time.
...
Here's a caveat. And you should heed it: "See Arnold Run" is terrible. It's a movie so bad that even Mariel Hemingway's oh-honey-you-shouldn't-have take on Maria Shriver ranks among the very least of its crimes. Yes, if you're in the right frame of mind, the Arnold-Arianna-Barbara performances will make you howl. But that is a desperately sad place to imagine yourself.

Much more by following the link, but once again I wish I had been a fly on the wall at the meeting where all the minions congratulated the Big Cheese on this swell idea.

Poseur Alert!

Gosh, it's another one of those academic "revolutionaries!" When the revolution comes, Ward Churchill is more likely to be cleaning latrines. Badly.

I missed the fat old souse's rant

But that's OK, Iowahawk has the details:

It Is Finally Time To Exit The Oldsmobile

Iowahawk Guest Commentary by Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Like all Americans, I had high hopes for the future of the Oldsmobile and its passengers, as we struggle against the onrushing water and its poorly-designed shoulder belts. But as claustrophobia sets in we must begin to sober up and face the truth: hope is no longer an option.

It is time for us to recognize that our continued presence in this volatile region is a hinderance to the Oldsmobile and its people. Rather than helping the situation we are further weighing down the Oldsmobile, causing it to sink faster and faster into the quagmire of Chappaquidick Bay, creating a dangerous situation for both ourselves as well as its passengers who are desperately seeking an air pocket in which to start a better life.

That is why I believe we have reached the point where we must take a deep breath and immediately depart the Oldsmobile. We must seek through the watery darkness and release the belt latch of madness that has kept us here, and reach out for a sane and honorable window crank.

Good ole Ted! He never changes. He loves to abandon people.

Ain't we got fun!

Red State fills us in on Roll Call Contributing Writer Stuart Rothenberg's deconstruction of the crack "campaign strategists" at a couple of prominent leftoid blogs including my personal fave, the Fat-faced Punk. Lots of good clean fun for the whole family:

But when it comes to campaign savvy or understanding how the campaign committees operate, two of the most high-profile liberal bloggers have an exaggerated sense of their own importance and insights.

Gosh, I thought Kos had the smooth moves down pat!

As one of the commenters observes:

"I only wish he hadn't written this piece, leaving our friends to blindly cut off their own legs. Then again, I've not seen anything to give the indication that they will be influenced by this article, anymore than they follow political history."

True enough, but this could encourage mainstream Democrats to become less panicky at the prospect of facing the disapproval of their activist base. Which would be a good thing for the country in general, but not so good for the GOP. :)

Hey, split the difference like John Kerry! Be a flaming leftoid except when you are conning the folks to vote for you.

Pond Scum

Rope, tree, Fontan. Some assembly required. I must have missed the part of World War II where Ernie Pyle was embedded with the Gestapo.

Who left the door unlocked at the asylum?

Sigh. I take some time off for remunerative employment and everything turns into a target rich environment. Hugo Chavez and Babs Boxer in passionate embrace. Who'd a thunk it?

Steve Case was a Nazi stooge too!

Mr. Poor Impulse Control took time off from mourning the billion bucks he owes the United Nations to whine about Fox News:

CNN founder Ted Turner has called the Fox television network a "propaganda voice" of the Bush administration and compared Fox News Channel's popularity to Adolf Hitler's rise in Germany before World War II.
...
Fox News in New York issued a statement saying, "Ted is understandably bitter having lost his ratings, his network and now his mind — we wish him well."

And don't worry about the billion, welsher! Kofi got his pal Jacques to put in a plea for United Nations taxes.

Good one Hugo!

Then the Senate Democrats became unhinged and ran a hatefest for Condi Rice lead by the Kleagle himself, Bobby Byrd. Classy. But not as classy as the pet Latin American wingnut of the Democrat party, Hugo Chavez, who opened his yap to deliver this beauty:

Just days after U.S. Secretary of State-nominee Condoleezza Rice said at her Senate confirmation hearings that Chávez was ''a negative force in the region,'' he suggested she needed the type of companionship he could not satisfy. ''I will not make that sacrifice for my country,'' he said Sunday.

It's the dog with the smallest bone that's always barking. Someone must have handed Hugo a magnifying glass so he could remember what he was talking about.

Moonbat Poster Child

Of course, not all the Donk Senators came off badly from their extended whine. Babs Boxer confirmed her position as the primo Moonbat Poster Child with a mailing from the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee that told of her courageous effort to abuse Condi. It's a two hankie job fer sure, and it even features her high school graduation photo instead of a more current snap like the one above. Maybe she can get together with Hugo Chavez and do a soft porn film? Even Hugo ought to be capable of that. Or a comedy routine.