Blogcritics has a Halloween post round-up for your reading pleasure. There is a Halloween short story collection over at William’s blog.

Dave has pointed me to Allah’s blog where Allah commented thusly:

Confidential to the decadent and more than slightly Satanic Dodgeblogium: You DARE to worship a god other than Allah? Allah does not know who this “Ctulhu” character is, kufr, but when he finds out he is going to kick that Jew deity down a flight of fucking stairs.

Cthulhu would not be pleased to see his name diminished and misspelled, all in the same breath. Only slightly Satanic? I will have to crack the whip on the staff at Dodgeblogium; we are losing our touch of evil!

You can go ask Abd al-Azrad over at Call of Cthulhu blog.

I shall be adding Allah and lapsed Muslim al-Azrad to the blogroll forthwith.

In other news: Michael Howard might have something to worry about in the end. A vampire-killing kit has just been sold by Sotheby’s for $12,000.

A label on the kit says: This box contains the items considered necessary for persons who travel into certain little known countries of Eastern Europe where the populace are plagued with a particular manifestation of evil known as Vampires.

You think the annoymous buyer might have the initial Ms A Widdecombe MP?

Ben fisks some of the more daft paranoias about All Hallows Eve.

Happy Halloween! Make sure to keep it traditional if you can. Drunken orgies of sex and gluttony would do nicely.

“During his campaign, Californias governor-elect, Arnold Schwarzenegger, got himself into hot water with his praise of Adolf Hitlers oratorical skills. Maybe he should have reminded people of a dark secret that went down the public-school memory hole long ago, for obvious reasons: the mutual admiration society that existed between Hitler and other Western leaders during the 1930s.” (10/29/03)

I have routinely, including last night at a speaker meeting which I spoke at, praised Hitler’s oratory power and ability. He was the most powerfully gifted speaker of the 20th century. He used his oratory power for evil. It possible to argue that the fact he was able to turn an entire nation into the greatest evil this world has ever seen shows the levels of his oratory power.

To criticise someone for admiring Hitler’sspeaking abilities is absurd and rather pathetic.

Via: Rational Review

“The two students who gunned down 12 classmates and a teacher at Columbine High School bragged about making pipe bombs and said they were looking for a ‘ground zero’ two years before the bloodbath — and authorities knew it, the sheriff said Wednesday. Authorities have said they knew about violent rants by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold in 1998, a year before the shootings, and that a search warrant was not acted upon. But Jefferson county Sheriff Ted Mink, who took office in July, said Wednesday that someone had called the sheriff’s office a year earlier, in 1997, to tip off authorities about a Web site run by Harris.” (10/29/03)

Via: Rational Review

“A medical doctor who acted as a senior leader in the doomsday cult that carried out the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo’s subway will be hanged for his role in that crime and several other murders. Tomomasa Nakagawa, 41, was sentenced to die Wednesday by the Tokyo District Court for helping to make the sarin nerve gas used in the subway attack, which killed 12 people, and another earlier attack that killed seven people. He was also found guilty of taking part in
earlier cult murders.” (10/30/03)

On the other hand, the IRA are still dithering.

“The IRA ruled out hopes of an early resolution to the disarmament row threatening the Northern Irish peace process last night when it said there was little chance of movement unless the Ulster Unionists
kept their promises. In their first statement since the plan to restore devolution at Stormont broke down last week, the Provisionals insisted they had satisfied their side of the bargain by destroying the biggest batch of weapons yet.” (10/30/03)

Both via: Rational Review

You’ve seen car commercials on TV, I presume?

The ones with the family minivan rocketing around treacherous corners on the Pacific Coast Highway in full four-wheel-drift?

With tiny little type at the bottom of the screen:

Professional driver on closed course. Do not attempt.

OK, liability and all that. But what am I to make of the new Taco Bell commercial, for something that looks like a chicken stir-fry dish?

Not that I really care, because I wouldn’t eat at Taco Bell on a dare.

However, on the bottom of the screen:

White meat not available in Canada.

What, exactly, does this mean? Is there no white meat in Canada? Are there no chickens left in Canada? Must we make do with a dark meat turkey stir-fry? It sounds like something Mom would come up with five days after Thanksgiving.

Or God help us, could this have some connection to the mad cow crisis? A Taco Bell stir-fry with quarantined hamburger, crawling with BSE prions. It’s making me gag more than Mom’s theoretical turkey concoction.

I’ll bet those cute lil’ seal pups’ve got plenty of tasty white meat inside them.

Now it transpires that Gen de Chastelain did not have to treat the actual amount of Sinn Fein/IRA’s so-called “decommissioning” with secrecy. According to today’s Telegraph:

“The Canadian head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning said legislation allowed “for confidentiality if a paramilitary group wishes to exercise that right”.

“But his assertion, during ‘off-the-cuff comments’ before his press conference last week, was incorrect, according to political and legal sources. They say there is no provision for confidentiality in the legislation governing decommissioning.”

Why is an independent commissioner showing such ineptitude? He has managed to damage Mr Trimble: who could, as a result of this, face a fate similar to that of IDS. The MPs can’t oust Mr Trimble, but the Ulster Unionist council could.

But then it could be OK: there’s Mr Donaldson or Mr Burnside waiting in the wings to save the day. Only they could save the electoral fortunes of the Ulster Unionist Party, if de Chastelain’s move has the potentially devastating electoral impact upon the UUP as I suspect it will.

ELECTION PREDICTION: sweeping DUP gains, major UUP losses. DUP 30, UUP 15 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

Who am I talking about? Dean? Clark? Gephardt?

No, of course not. I’m talking about Sen. Zell Miller (D – GA), the author of A National Party No More. In the first part of Sean Hannity’s interview with Senator Miller on Fox News last night (part two tonight at 8.00 CT, 2 AM GMT), the Senator demonstrated himself to be a Democrat and a gentleman. He is a conservative Democrat in a state that, until last year, had not elected a Republican Senator for a long time. Max Cleland was seen as too anti-Bush; the electorate dumped Max for Sax(by Chandliss) as firmly as the liberal Minnesotans rejected Walter Mondale (more on him later).

There is one man who can lead the Conservative Party to victory at the next general election. That man is Michael Howard.

The Government is in disarray: split on Europe, split on reform of the public services, split on Iraq, split on who gets the Happy-Face biscuit in the Commons tearoom. This may sound like the Tories in the 1990s and, in what one can hope is a final act of disloyalty, 90 Tory MPs (some of them faceless; others, like Boris Johnson and Fanny Maude at least having the guts to admit it was them what did it, guv), they have removed IDS; a man who has done so much to unite the Party and to oversee the development of radical policies that make me proud to be a member of the Party (see Peter’s excellent post for a fine tribute to a great man).

Here’s a great way to create a stable source of income and make plenty of friends. Much unlike the current Conservative Party.

On last night’s Newsnight Paxman wondered aloud if the country is ready for a Tory leader with Transylvanian blood. What with Udders’ comment that he “had something about the night to him”, one wonders what we shall see from the political sketch writers.

If Howard is Frank N’ Furter, who is Janet? Teresa May?

Any suggestions for the rest of the cast?

On a side note: when it got out (thanks to F…..) that I was a member of and rock critic for the London Vampire Group, I received a decent amount of crap from younger Tories. Now that it looks as if the new leader hails from Dracula country (via Wales), might they be more accepting?

Update: Jackie says those glasses have to go.

It seems that even Cthulhu followers need their holiday songs. Not only can you order a CD, but it comes with a handy songbook as well.

Via: Tikkabik

“If homeland securitys extreme precautions against terrorists havent gotten under your skin, look again. Thats just what theyre about to do — with VeriChips. A VeriChip is a rice-sized radio frequency identification microchip designed for tracking everything from products to people. The company who created the chip (Applied Digital Solutions) has announced that organizations in Brazil and Mexico have begun implanting the chips in children. ... Depending on
the publics response, some American’s can expect to find VeriChips being offered in the U.S. as part of a child-identification program very soon.” (10/28/03)

Is it me or is this just creepy? I would never chip my child; surely a mobile phone is good enough?

Via: Rational Review

From: Are You Metro?

You are so Metro.

Congratulations.

Our advice: Kiss your girlfriend, buy yourself a new pair of jeans, and hit the clubs.

Link via: Telemachus

Rational Review reports:

“Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton launched a blistering attack on Howard Dean yesterday, accusing his rival of promoting an ‘anti-black agenda.’ ‘Howard Dean’s opposition to affirmative action, his current support for the death penalty and historic support of the NRA’s [National Rifle Association’s] agenda amounts to an anti-black agenda that will not sell in communities of color in this country,’ Sharpton said in a statement. ... Donna Brazile, who managed Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign, yesterday dismissed Sharpton’s attacks as a ploy to boost his standing in the polls.” (10/29/03)

“Every year military recruiters visit law schools across the country looking for some of the best and brightest to serve as lawyers in the armed forces. But the militarys policy regarding homosexuals is excluding just that, according to several lawsuits being filed. Three groups of university students and law professors have filed suit against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, protesting the militarys ‘dont ask dont tell’ policy for homosexuals. The most recent suit comes from a Yale professor and 43 of his colleagues, hoping to bar military recruiters from the law schools career office because the military, unlike other employers, refuses to sign a non-discrimination pledge.” (10/28/03)

While I was at Colby, the socialist/hard-left Professors tried to ban the CIA from recruiting. I was one of those students who challenged them and suffered academically until I graduated. We challenged the Profs both at the university and in the press. The Professors finally backed down, but those ranged against them suffered badly.

“Two Snellville [GA] students have filed a federal lawsuit against their high school for suspending them over criticisms of a teacher they posted on a Web site. ... [Lloyd] Goldsmith and [Alexander]
Morgan were suspended in March, after the two made postings on an off-
campus Web site created by another student as ‘an outlet to provide students, teachers and parents at Brookwood High School or other citizens a place to vent and post comments concerning a particular Brookwood teacher … with whom many students were experiencing frustration and difficulty,’ said the lawsuit, which was filed Aug. 22.” (10/29/03)

Via: Rational Review

Any MT gurus in the house? The front panel Search function of my new blog returns this error:

Building results failed: Error in MTINCLUDE tag: Can’t find included template module ‘Header’

(Angle brackets around MTINCLUDE deleted.)

The internal admin search works fine, though.

For other types of searches, this would be just dandy.

Yes:75
No: 90

Leadership contest here we come! The plotters have taken him down…

I feel sorry for Iain.

David Davis will be make a statement in a bit; it will be interesting to see what he has to say. Michael Howard has confirmed he will stand.

JFM thinks she sees the dire influence of Cthulhu creeping about the Blogdom in these last few days before Hallowe’en. The following analysis will prove her point, she believes.

MommaBear, who is still a good friend of the proprietor of this site and also a member of The Axis of Weevil, has been given permission to use one of Andrew’s Cthulhu stories as her contribution to the Great Horror Story Collection over at Possumblog, which is AoW Central.

One must be a believer in Cthulhu’s great powers to see that this unusual set of blogs have a strong interconnection.

Wonder what my old (and I do mean OLD) friend Samizdata Illuminatus has to say about all this?!

MPs have voted to decrimilise cannabis today. This half-way house is silly and one wonders why they don’t go the whole way and make it legal.

IDS needs a “straight majority” of Tory MPs to keep his job. You would have a hard task of finding that at the best of times.

This week’s Carnival of Vanities is up today. Our own Jon Scott has his excellent piece on Northern Ireland featured in this week’s collection.

Michael Howard and his deputy Liam Fox are trying to stitch up the Tory leadership to keep out David Davis. DD is popular with the constituencies, but the MPs prefer Howard. Davis is more likely to be able to attract new voters to the Tory cause.

Of those, Mr Howard was emerging as the favourite, with Mr Davis as the challenger and Mr Ancram and Mr Yeo each being urged to head a “stop Davis” movement of MPs.

If it looks like a stitch-up, the Tory Party as a whole will go ballistic.

A couple of things that give pause for thought:

1. The front runner never wins in the Tory Party
2. Matthew Paris thinks its a forgone conclusion for Howard

Will the MPs dare to fix the election?

Update: Brian has commented on IDS’ woes and an interesting discussion has resulted.

Update: Briffa has discoved that Polly has a favourite candidate…guess who?

I’ve always found Christopher Caldwell one of the more perceptive American commentators on Europe. I’d sort of lost track of him since he doesn’t seem to be in The Weekly Standard anymore, but here he is effortlessly riffing on Germany and Romania.

“Is it a no-no for students to satirize affirmative action at the University of California-Irvine? The answer is a resounding ‘Yes!’ Last week, the university administration shut down an ‘affirmative action bake sale’ run by the College Republicans. Members of the group offered students donuts at prices ranging from ten cents to one
dollar, depending on each student’s race and gender. The obvious message: It’s wrong to treat people differently based on immutable characteristics. But apparently you can’t say that in public.” (10/28/03)

Via: Rational Review

“Drinking a little red wine could protect against a serious lung disease, researchers have shown. A chemical in wine, resveratrol, appears to damp down inflammation in the potentially fatal lung condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Researchers writing in the journal Thorax found the chemical was more effective than existing medications for COPD. But experts say the best way to stop lung damage is not to smoke.” (10/28/03)

Another good reason to drink red wine, not that I need one. Can’t wait to see the reaction from neo-prohibitionists of both booze and tobacco.

Via: Rational Review

“A judge said it was evil to take drugs into remote communities and jailed a well-respected Ramingining man to 28 days jail. ... But the court heard Browne was an exceptionally compassionate man who contributed siginificantly to his community’s troubled youth. Justice Mildren said he had no choice in imposing a custodial sentence as Browne had a previous conviction. The judge said it did not matter if Browne intended to sell the drugs or give them away. ‘Communities need to be protected from the evils of marijuana,’ Justice Mildren
said.” (10/27/03)

INSATIABILITY BROWN

Teacher vacancies in secondary schools have trebled since 1997, with 1,942 unfilled posts in England, compared with 649 when Labour came to power.

Via: Adam Smith from ePolitix

Via Dean Esmay:

My friend Kyle recently told me this joke. Warning: it’s a little vulgar.

A pirate walks into a bar. Oddly enough, he has a steering wheel sticking out of the front of his pants.

He waddles uncomfortably up to the bar and orders a beer. Everyone is kind of looking at him. The bartender serves him his beer, and says, “Excuse me sir, I can’t help but ask. I notice you have a steering wheel stuck there in front of you. Isn’t that kind of uncomfortable?”

The pirate says:

Whilst catching up on the blog and links to others, I came across this from PetBunny and thought it was worth posting here:

“How come,” I asked Andy, “whenever something upsets the Left, you see immediate marches and parades and rallies with signs already printed and rhyming slogans already composed, whereas whenever something upsets the Right, you see two members of the Young Americans for Freedom waving a six-inch American flag?”

“We have jobs,” said Andy.
(P.J. ORourke Shrine)

Says it all, really.