Thursday digest

- In another desperate plea for attention, Cindy Sheehan is going on a hunger strike for the summer.

Money quote: "While others are celebrating July 4th with barbeques, we’ll be showing our patriotism by putting our bodies on the line to bring our troops home.”

Pack your bags, middle America, the far left is sending you on a guilt trip. How can you ignorantly chow down on hot dogs and potato chips this weekend when Cindy and friends aren't eating in the name of "peace"?

I have to wonder at what point this gets embarassing.

- On that note, after wishing for a return to the 60s where society experienced "the age of enlightenment led by religious figures who want to greet Americans with a moral, uplifting vision" (just don't take the brown acid, right, Doctor?), Howard Dean said the idea that raising the minimum wage would negatively impact unemployment is a bunch of "economist mumbo-jumbo".

I don't know about you, but if I owned a fast-food joint and the government made it more cost-prohibitive for me to hire a 14-year old with only babysitting experience, I'd be less likely to do so, thereby ensuring that 14-year old didn't develop the skills necessary to get a good start in the labour market.

We can always count on Dean regularly demonstrate why we should all be thankful that he didn't become the President of the United States.

(And who do you think he had in mind when he was referring to a "religious figure" with a "moral, uplifting vision"? I'm guessing Jerry Garcia, myself.)

- How do these people get into Canada in the first place?

From the Globe and Mail:

Wives of four of the central figures arrested last month were among the most active on the website, sharing, among other things, their passion for holy war, disgust at virtually every aspect of non-Muslim society and a hatred of Canada. The posts were made on personal blogs belonging to both Mr. Amara and Ms. Farooq, as well as a semi-private forum founded by Ms. Farooq where dozens of teens in the Meadowvale Secondary School area chatted. The vast majority of the posts were made over a period of about 20 months, mostly in 2004, and the majority of those were made by the group's female members.

Look at some of the quotes:

"All Muslim politicians are corrupt. There's no one out there willing to rule the country by the laws of Allah, rather they fight to rule the country by the laws of democracy".

"Look at these pathetic people ... They should all be sent to Saudi, where these sickos are executed or crushed by a wall, in public" (in reference to gay Muslims).

"May Allah crush these Jews, bring them down to their knees, humiliate them. May Allah make their women widows and their children orphans" (after Hamas' leader was killed by Israelis).

"Are you accepting a system that separates religion and state? Are you gonna give your pledge of allegiance to a party that puts secular laws above the laws of Allah? Are you gonna worship that which they worship? Are you going to throw away the most important thing that makes you a Muslim?" (in reference to how voting in Canadian elections is anti-Islam).

"This filthy country ... (W)e hate Canada".

I believe these quotes speak for themselves. Any Trudeaupians out there care to respond?

- The genius of Ariel Sharon: By pulling out of Gaza, he gave the Palestinians an opportunity to demonstrate that they could peacefully co-exist with Israel. Less than one year later, they've shown they can't by Hamas' kidnapping of an Israeli soldier. I believe this is what Sharon expected would eventually happen, and the minute that Palestinian leadership inevitably let their hatred get the better of them through the commission of an act of violence, Israel would bring the hammer down, as they're now doing. Hamas walked right into his trap and things are going completely in accordance with Sharon's script. However, I think that by the disproportionate response to the kidnapping, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli PM, may have overplayed his hand if he wanted to get world opinion squarely in his corner.

- Finally, all the catfighting on the set of The View further reinforces my suspicion that deep down, all women secretly hate each other. And at this time, I'd like to offer up the lyrics to Brad Paisley's "You Need A Man Around Here".