John Hinderaker is skeptical; he points out that "the lions don't have to lie down with the lambs for our interests to be vindicated," and explains:

I am deeply skeptical of the "Goldilocks" theory of victory in Iraq: we have to have just the right number of troops to be successful; not too many, not too few. It's hard to imagine what 149,000 troops can accomplish that 140,000 couldn't--especially if the mission of most of those additional 9,000 is to pacify Baghdad.

Via Insty, who has a few more surge links here.

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. . . discusses how he decided on brain research over marine biology.

Funny stuff.

He and his girlfriend were living a mile south of me at the time, in a slightly-less-slummy area of Venice, California. He spent all his time fixing up a van he planned to take on a trip around the country. It was a Ford, or maybe a Chevy.

Because this was David rather than someone else, the preparations actually led to a road trip around the country in that same van. He and his girlfriend went into Canada, where he used the subjunctive while conversing in French.

I made them a tape for the trip. It was during my Elvis Costello/Graham Parker phase. One hundred twenty minutes of new wave silliness, with a bit of Joan Armatrading thrown in.

How fun to remember.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:17 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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On Pit Bulls and Profiling.

The segment about dogs is reassuring, given that my mother owns a pit; the material about profiling humans is provocative. I think a few of my readers will find it especially challenging.

Pour a fresh cup of coffee, read the whole thing, and let me know what you think.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:53 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Protest the New Year!

Oh, and—maybe government-mandated 35-hour workweeks, while you're at it.

Via Sed Contra.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:07 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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And I love spiders! This rawks.

Via Tammy B.

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I confide in her rather earnestly that I'm considering growing up this year.

She giggles. "Don't be hasty," she tells me.

"Oh, I'm not going to just jump in blindly," I assure her. "I'm still doing a cost-benefit analysis."

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Excuse me. I meant, Pete's sake.

H/t: Darrell. As he points out, this is a perfectly legitimate use for RFID.

I'm a bit staggered by all the negative comments: turns out there's a huge anti-sake lobby out there! My feeling is, almost any wine that is served hot is good. And red wine is better than white not just because of all the interesting tannins and whatnot, but because it's served closer to room temperature.

Those of us with a high surface-area-per-volume have an interest in such things . . .

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:06 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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He's still a dork.

But apparently he's not suffering too much.

H/t: Ace.

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Sez:

Why are all these American women haranguing me? Do they not have husbands to keep them quiet?

I believe Attila the Hub has been wrestling with this issue for years. On the one hand, there are days that he'd love to keep me quiet. On the other hand, if he managed to do that I wouldn't make him laugh. So there's that.

I get the feeling there are some Middle Eastern men who do not look to their wives for intellectual stimulation.

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. . . gets into everything.

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do I have to fight for my right to party?

I mean, I could simply party, and cut out the middleman. Saves time.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:27 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I love the idea of exposing Leftist hypocrisy, but I think the contest should be expanded beyond the Bay Area.

Also, I'm not sure about including the Honda Civic in the winner's circle. Thirty MPG may not be outstanding, but it's hardly awful. (Of course, I realize that if we're really waging war for oil, and it's a bad thing to do, these people shouldn't be driving at all. So there's that.)

Via Ace.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:53 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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. . . over at Tammy Bruce's place regarding the morality of pay raises for public servants in general, and Federal judges in particular.

It reminds me of Catherine Beecher's campaign to get women into the teaching profession, especially on the western frontier. Her argument was precisely this: cash-strapped towns in the West could get a qualified female teacher for a quarter or a third of what a male teacher would cost.

And a lot of women got work in those "pink-collar" jobs for years: it became an easy and respectable way to get out of the house. But now the entire profession is underpaid because the tradition of underpaying was established. All this flows from the notion of work as something one does from civic-mindedness, a desire to give. I believe deeply in that, but it does lead to "brain drains" in any number of fields.

The reasons for which society is willing to pay for certain skills are often bizarre and arbitrary.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:32 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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A pretty girl, some old vehicles, and morale-boosters for the troops. How fun. And it's tax-deductible! Get a headstart on next year's deductions.

Via Iowahawk, whose link on my sidebar is still messed up. (And, yes: it's that weird problem with my memory that won't let me fix it just yet. Stupid Mac. Stupid Movable Type.)

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:10 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 God Bless Gina Elise and her cause! Hope she sells a billion calendars!

Posted by: Darrell at January 03, 2007 01:38 PM (Z6bcw)

2 If I buy two calendars do I get a date with her? How about three, four? Give me a number!

Posted by: Sean Hackbarth at January 03, 2007 05:31 PM (QJ5cf)

3 Send her a pair of 100% cashmere socks. Girls go crazy for them and can't wait to try them on. She'll remember you forever! . . .With every heavenly step she takes! Or something like that. Buying her current press-run might work, too. How should I know? I'm thinking about building a robot. I bet a robot would like 100% cashmere socks. But that's a matter of her programming, isn't it?

Posted by: Darrell at January 03, 2007 09:36 PM (NMuNH)

4 You guys are hiarious! Thank you so much for your support! It means a lot to me! If you have any questions about the project or suggestions, feel free to email me PinUpsForVets@aol.com Happy New Year!!! Gina

Posted by: Gina Elise at January 04, 2007 06:53 AM (SLFj+)

5 I sent one to an injured vet who served in Iraq or Afghanistan. And Gina will be delivering it in person! I know that alone will brighten their day! They take PayPal and ordering is a snap. And you might just hear from Gina, too! So what are you waiting for?

Posted by: Darrell at January 04, 2007 12:12 PM (C5cDZ)

6 Whew! I'm perspiring after coming back from there. YowYowYowYow!! Classic! old-style pinup girl. She ought to be painted on a few aircraft fuselages.

Posted by: Desert Cat at January 04, 2007 09:19 PM (xdX36)

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He has his own blog now. Huzzah!

He cops to making stuff up for AP, but explains:

They had this girl call and she sounded hot, so we started doing a phone sex thing. She'd say something like, "I want to brush your fanny with the hem of my very modest garments," and then I would reply with, "I saw six burning corpses outside a mosque today, you dirty bitch!"

So you can see how something like that can get started.

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Don Surber takes a look, and points out that in Iraq, this war beats the hell out of Saddam's "peace" with respect to civilian casualties.

H/t: Insty.

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There's a nice update here.

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Ace has dug out some fun facts about Jamil Hussein—stuff AP never told us about the guy at all.

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. . . about a guy who still tends bar at the age of ninety.

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In the good way.

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1 I saw a matching toothpick holder somewhere -- boing-something or other. -B

Posted by: Bob at January 03, 2007 06:41 AM (CP6tB)

2 Too mainstream for me

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 03, 2007 09:16 AM (zxOEV)

3 I made my own years ago. I call mine "Socialist Bastard." No dystopic visions of the future for me. I leave that to the French and other defective cultures. No offense intended, Mira d'Oubliette. You are not without hope. I suggest you find homemade pierogi, though, instead of that "pirogi" crap. Sauerkraut or sauerkraut & mushrooms ("k"apusta z grzybami) are always tasty. You have the cooking part down pat. Take a knife out of your "socialist bastard" and mark them first before you cook them. That way you don't have to play pierogi roulette when you eat. Unless you want to. Some cultural traits are hard to leave behind. Like drinking wine, smoking cigarettes, and contemplating suicide. I find that if you embrace capitalism and free markets, you can strike one of those off the list. I've never met a secular humanist cat. Or one that practices carbon rationing. Note to LMA--Your system is telling me that "k"apusta is questionable content. Don't make me call the Polish Anti-Defamation League!

Posted by: Darrell at January 03, 2007 10:26 AM (d8VyY)

4 How funny--you never know what's going to trip that filter . . .

Posted by: Attila Girl at January 03, 2007 10:55 AM (zxOEV)

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