Let me preface this by saying I am talking about this like a sport event, not a partisan.  I know a fair bit about politics in the UK, but I don't take sides.

On this Gordon Brown snafu, when I saw it over and over and over again last night I had two thoughts:

1. That this does reinforce a commonly held view of the candidate, and in this type of campaign those things usually stick.  It is not so much the actual event, but that they are a placeholder for a pre-existing concept of the candidate -- in this case that Brown is "not one of us" and is aloof. (Other examples are the John Edwards Hair YouTube, Bush the First amazed at the grocery scanner, or looking at his watch in a debate, Dukakis in the tank, looking like a tool).

2. My own personal opinion of Brown improved.  The lady may or may not be a bigot, but she was saying bigotted things.  If it were I who were still miked up after such an encounter I'd be so out of the race it is not even funny -- I thought he showed tremendous restraint.

Islamic Extremist Unleashes on Triscuits

South Park's recent episode showing Muhammad inside a bear suit elicited violent threats from Revolution Muslim, a radical Islamic web site. The site's warning that South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone might suffer the same fate as murdered Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh led Comedy Central to censor the episode, much to the dismay of pundits and bloggers.

But the blogosphere got a chance to chuckle at a lighter side of Revolution Muslim's hatred: its condemnation of a crunchy cracker. In an interview with Gawker discussing the threats, Revolution Muslim editor Younus Abdullah Mohammed launched a bizarre attack on an American snack staple, calling the reporters "Darwinist f------ who are as despicable as the rest, walking around eating your Triscuits."

In a follow-up post, Gawker's Ravi Somaiya asked the obvious question: Why Triscuits? Seeking clarification from Mohammed proved little help:

When pressed on his choice of Triscuits as a snack-based insult, [Mohammed] was curt in his response. "It doesn't matter what your favorite crackers or cookies are. They are not more important than the hegemonic wars the West is fighting against Islam." He refused to elaborate further on his disdain for the delicious wheaty squares.

Baffled and bemused, Somaiya sought answers from the offending package itself. "Perhaps the squares, made of "soft white winter wheat," are too decadent," he mused, tongue deeply in cheek. "Indeed the ingredient is described as "a kind of cashmere of wheat because of its soft texture and delicate taste.""

As with South Park, the blogosphere has rushed to plant its flag in the Triscuit camp. Marshaling the Twitterverse was MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, who defiantly tweeted, "I, too, stand with the Triscuits." Somaiya provided the last word, calling for worldwide freedom of crackers.

We consider this to be a coded call for unity and peace. The religious and the secular alike must enjoy the crackers of their choice, free from the tyranny of snack censorship.

Foolz said:

What the hell is a Triscuit?

It certainly sounds like it desrves disdain, though. Triscuit...

 It's a cracker brand from Nabisco. Not sure if there is an Australian version.

Coopersville said:

C.O.P.S., Bravestar, Filmation's Ghostbusters,  the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon, Nicky Gnome, Today's Special. Shows that almost everyone's forgotten or just don't care about is my specialty.

I've come to appreciate COPS.

Mekere said:

Yay, thread jumping! /o/

I tried Wow, It was the most boring evening ever. Of course technically the game was good and I recognise that Blizzard made a good job, but frankly I played too many different MMO before Wow, so I was really disappointed to see that there were no novelty..

...

Oh wait, there was one actually. The ! above NPC's head.

...

I hated that.

Just be glad you didn't have time to come up against a Paladin in PvP.

I had been watching the case of the Science teacher who hit the student in the head with the dumbbell pretty closely since it felt so close to home.

I must say I found this very uplifting and it gave me a sense of justice and satisfaction.  Does it make me evil?

Yodariquo said:

bugsonglass said:

I had been watching the case of the Science teacher who hit the student in the head with the dumbbell pretty closely since it felt so close to home.

I must say I found this very uplifting and it gave me a sense of justice and satisfaction.  Does it make me evil?

That article seems to focus entirely on the charge of attempted murder.  Surely it wasn't all or nothing; that is, it would still qualify as assault, right?

 yes, the teacher had already pleaded guilty of accidentally causing grievous bodily harm

Yodariquo said:

Hey Jamie, watch your laptop!

Luckily the size of the breasts in Jamie's porn is unrestricted so he should be fine.