Fred Saberhagen Returns To The Empire Of The East

Fred Saberhagen returns to The Empire of the East with Ardneh's Sword. I won't give anything away but it is a very good link to the Swords Trilogy. As usual it features Saberhagen's excellent story-telling and more than the usual plot developments and twists and it is suitable for any age.

I went back and also got The Face of Apollo, Ariadne's Web, The Arms of Hercules, God of the Golden Fleece and Gods of Fire and Thunder. I had not read him since 1991. Catching up was very enjoyable.

The Law Is A Ass, A Fool: Or, Senescent Justices Who Should Be Dozing On Their Back Porches Instead Of Trying To Manage The War On Terror

An unbelievably frightening opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court. Al Qaeda is entitled to Geneva Convention protection. I wonder when it, itself, became a signatory. And for the life of me I cannot find the provision which says that it is within the rules of war for terrorists to hijack civilian planes and crash them into buildings killing thousands of civilians including children.

Oak Leaf at Polipundit is way ahead on the story.

It did not take long at all for our "loyal opposition" [Loyal? Like hell. -ed.] [Sarcasm, ok? -NK] to interepret this opinion as declaring us guilty of committing war crimes. Unbelievable.

Forget same-sex marriage, flag burning and even a Right To Life Amendment. We desperately need a Constitutional Amendment taking away the power the Supreme Court arrogated to itself in Marbury v. Madison.

I left this comment at DJ Drummond: Anybody who thinks that this case is not better captioned Clerks of the United States Supreme Court vs. George W. Bush underestimates both the left's resentment of the President over social issues and the influence of liberal law school graduate law clerks on the senescent Justices who should be dozing on their back porches instead of trying to manage the war on terror.

We Did It Once And We Can Do It Again

If two members of AIPAC can be indicted for conspiring with a government official to obtain classified information so can the reporters and editors of The New York Times for doing the same thing, in my view, for far less noble motives. Follow Patterico's links for the story in case you don't already know it.

I am very disappointed at the weak-kneed reaction of the Administration -- asking NYT to "pretty please" not publish -- once they found out about the leaks. They should have responded immediately with arrest warrants.

ThoughtsOnline has a very interesting and credible speculation about the Administration's timid response.

And there is another credible speculation on the sources of the leaks.

UPDATE: It may be that all the foregoing was pointless. From Patterico:
"This, by the way, may be one reason that the Administration is showing no visible signs of wanting to prosecute the newspapers: the information published by the papers had apparently been declassified before publication."
It's less bad in context. Read the whole post. But it does look as though we have been defending the honor of a complacent cuckold.

Top 50 Conservative Songs of All Time

Xrlq is composing a list of the top 50 conservative songs of all time. My nominations are in his comment section. I hope that Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Willie the Wimp" makes it just because it's such a fun song even though it's not as obviously conservative as the others.

An Explanation For Ann Coulter's Chronically Malnourished Looks

She makes herself throw up with the disgusting things she says.

Hugh Hewitt is on my side.

MORE: OK, what’s sauce for the goose …: “This broad, Ann Coulter, is a millionairess, lionized on TV and in articles and blog discussions about her, revelling in her status as a celebrity and stalked by wingnuts looking for her autograph. I have never seen anyone enjoying the deaths of the 9/11 victims and the grief of their families so much.”

Ursprache?

Aphrael asks, and rightly so, since when is "ursprache" an English word. Hmmm. I am reluctantly rethinking my opposition to the U.S. Senate's declaration of English as our official language. Scheisse.

The World Is A Little Bit Better Place

Sorry, Mr. Donne, but this death does not diminish anyone. Maybe there's something in that 06-06-06 stuff after all. How far from Babylon is that place where he was killed?

Source: Xrlq.

D.J. Drummond has a transcript of the reading of Zarkawi's will.

Akaka Caca

Mary Katharine Hamm of hughhewitt.com has a very good critique of the Akaka grotesquerie. Yes, it's definitely unconstitutional so will the House go along and if so will the President veto it (like he has ever vetoed anything)?

Blogger Obligations, Bouzoukis And Resurrected Interests

Somehow, I seem to have attracted regular visitors. Welcome, all four of you. Which kind of makes me feel that I should post something more than once a week and it should not be my poetry.

A long, long time ago in a place far away, I was young, energetic and interested in music. So I bought an old played out bouzouki and found a bouzouki teacher. Then, I met the woman who is now my wife. So much for bouzouki lessons. She was much more interesting. I gave the bouzouki to one of my many cousins.

What with one thing and another between married people, we acquired a daughter who is now taking music lessons. Lately, I have been taking her there and it has resurrected my interest in learning to play the bouzouki. So tonight I ordered this one. We'll see how my neighbors, who have registered very definite protests against the playing of my trumpet, didjeridoo, cornemuse and bagpipe chanter on my back porch, react to it.